Need for greater military autonomy also accepted, says report for Munich Security Conference, which takes place this week

Europe has come to the painful realisation that it needs to be more assertive and more militarily independent from an authoritarian US administration that no longer shares a commitment to liberal democratic norms and values, a report prepared by the Munich Security Conference asserts.

The report sets the scene for an all-out ideological confrontation with the Trump White House at the high-level annual meeting of security policy specialists, which starts on Friday.

In a now infamous speech to last year’s MSC, the US vice-president, JD Vance, claimed European elites were suppressing free speech and “opening the floodgates” to mass migration. The address marked the moment Europe realised the Trump administration would no longer be a reliable trading and security partner.

A Meta spokesperson said the EU had "no reason" to intervene over it changing the app in January.

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/7129092

BBC News Persian has verified the identities of more than 200 of the thousands of people killed during Iran's brutal crackdown on the recent widespread protests.

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Pictures of and information about victims identified by BBC News Persian can be seen in this page on the BBC News Persian site (text in Persian).

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Among those killed were Mansoureh Heydari and her husband, Behrouz Mansouri. A family friend told BBC News Persian that the couple had joined the protests in Bushehr, in south-west Iran, when both were shot dead by security forces on 8 January.

The security forces had opened fire on protesters gathered outside a mosque, they said. Behrouz was struck in the head and fatally wounded. Mansoureh, who had initially been running away, returned to her husband but was later shot as well.

The couple died side by side in the street, leaving behind two children aged eight and 10.

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Many of the faces featured in the project are young men and women, mostly in their late teens to early 30s.

One 17-year-old art student, Ghazal Damarcheli, was shot outside her family home in the city of Karaj, west of Tehran, on 9 January.

A source close to the family told BBC News Persian that even after her death, the family faced pressure, as security forces refused to allow them to bury her nearby. Her remains were instead interred in a remote cemetery, far from the family home.

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In a related report, an Iranian photojournalist shares unseen images of Tehran protests.

For days, Iranian photographer Yalda Moaiery tried in vain to reconnect to the internet. It was only on January 23 that she succeeded, thanks to a VPN. She was then able to send around 40 photographs taken during the major demonstration on January 8 in Tehran, as well as the funeral of a 39-year-old man killed by regime forces in the city of Karaj on January 9. These images are among the very few visual accounts, provided by a professional, of this crackdown carried out behind closed doors. - (archived version)

The next system update for Windows 11 could break your printer. Here's what you need to know.

In the race for AI, tech firms are asking for their staff to work long hours. But there are risks, experts say.

Modern cars are packed with internet-connected widgets, many of them containing Chinese technology. Now, the car industry is scrambling to root out that tech ahead of a looming deadline, a test case for America’s ability to decouple from Chinese supply chains.

New U.S. rules will soon ban Chinese software in vehicle systems that connect to the cloud, part of an effort to prevent cameras, microphones and GPS tracking in cars from being exploited by foreign adversaries.

The move is “one of the most consequential and complex auto regulations in decades,” according to Hilary Cain, head of policy at trade group the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. “It requires a deep examination of supply chains and aggressive compliance timelines.”

Carmakers will need to attest to the U.S. government that, as of March 17, core elements of their products don’t contain code that was written in China or by a Chinese company. The rule also covers software for advanced autonomous driving and will be extended to connectivity hardware starting in 2029. Connected cars made by Chinese or China-controlled companies are also banned, wherever their software comes from.

Iran sentenced Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi to over seven more years in prison after she began a hunger strike, supporters said Sunday, as Tehran cracks down on all dissent following nationwide protests and the deaths of thousands at the hands of security forces.

The new convictions against Mohammadi come as Iran tries to negotiate with the United States over its nuclear program to avert a threatened military strike by US President Donald Trump. Iran’s top diplomat insisted Sunday that Tehran’s strength came from its ability to “say no to the great powers,” striking a maximalist position just after negotiations in Oman with the US.

Mohammadi’s supporters cited her lawyer, who spoke to Mohammadi. The lawyer, Mostafa Nili, confirmed the sentence on X, saying it had been handed down Saturday by a Revolutionary Court in the city of Mashhad. Such courts typically issue verdicts with little or no opportunity for defendants to contest their charges.

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/47138870

The management of a Chinese-owned gold mine in Zimbabwe is facing legal action from the union after subjecting female workers to mandatory HIV testing before summarily dismissing them. The union describes the management’s actions as a flagrant breach of national laws on privacy, equality and non-discrimination.

At Xiao Honguqiu’s Famona gold mine, three women workers were compelled to undergo HIV tests and subsequently dismissed on 22 December 2025, regardless of the results, while more than 60 male colleagues faced no such requirement. The Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Minerals Workers Union (ZDAMWU), an IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, condemned the practice as a form of sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination.

Zimbabwe’s Constitution and labour legislation safeguard workers’ dignity, equality before the law and protection from gender discrimination. The right to privacy, including the confidentiality of health information such as HIV status, is similarly enshrined. Employers are expressly barred from forcing disclosure of HIV status. The 2021 Cyber and Data Protection Act further criminalises unauthorised disclosure of personal health data by third parties, including online.

The dismissals reportedly followed information obtained from an online platform that exposed one worker’s HIV status. The affected worker has filed a police report at Nyathi Police Station near Bulawayo against the individual responsible for the posting. ZDAMWU has lodged a formal complaint with the Zimbabwe Gender Commission, which is now investigating the matter and weighing potential legal action against the company.

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Web archive link

Photograph, first published by anti-abortion campaigner Joanna Howe, purportedly taken at Townsville hospital

Spotify is tightening the rules for developer access, setting a clear course for its platform in 2026.  The company is adjusting the terms and conditions

I have a couple (e.g spam, uni, personal) and it's so profoundly unhelpful to make me sign into them one at a time by coordinating between 2 or more different devices. an occasional spot check for security would make sense if I was just booted out of one account, but instead it logs me out of every single one at once?? What gives?

I have been selfhosting for mostly to have everything available for me and my family. I have separate server running Yunohost for my business stuff that currently has Nextcloud, Trillium Notes and Forgejo for file management, notes and code repository. Now I am getting an employee that would probably needs access to files and project management tools.

I currently don't have project management software since I just use Trillium Notes for task planning. I will probably install some, but have not yet decided what to use. I should probably install something (or have system) for managing employee information like personal information, time reporting, holidays etc.

Are you selfhosting your business? What are the tools that you are using? I am specifically interested if you have employees and how you are managing that?

(Although it is also interesting to hear if you are single person company and how you are managing everything)

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So, I had to go nuclear and I’ve ended up with only a singular cloud backup of what was a Synology DS 412+.

The backup itself is through the Synology Amazon Glacier app.

I’m looking to ultimately move the data away from both Amazon and Synology.

My question then falls into two parts:

1. Am I able to extract said archive from Amazon without using the Synology app?

2. If the above is not possible, am I able to run the Synology os on hardware not from Synology itself?

I do understand the data extraction can end up being pricy even at a mere 12TB. I’m okay with that. That’s the price we’ve accepted for making it easier to move across the world.

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/47134012

On 9 February 2026, Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison under Hong Kong’s draconian National Security Law, including spurious charges of "collusion with foreign forces” and conspiring to publish “seditious” material. Prosecutors cited more than 160 Apple Daily articles as examples of “seditious publications.” Forced to close by Hong Kong authorities in June 2021, Apple Daily was the territory’s largest mainstream independent newspaper, known for delivering independent reporting. His guilty verdict was delivered on 15 December 2025, but sentencing has been delayed by two months.

Jimmy Lai was tried alongside six former senior staff at Apple Daily. CEO Cheung Kim-hung received six years and nine months in prison; chief editor Ryan Law Wai-kwong, 10 years; executive editor-in-chief Lam Man-chung, 10 years; associate publisher Chan Pui-man, seven years; managing editor of the English edition Fung Wai-kong, 10 years; and lead editorial writer Yeung Ching-kee, seven years and three months. Two other co-accused, pro-democracy activist Chan Tsz-wah, and activist Andy Li, were respectively sentenced to six years and three months, and seven years and three months. Li is believed to be forcibly held in a high-security psychiatric institution in Hong Kong.

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Since 2020, the Hong Kong government has prosecuted at least 28 journalists, eight of whom are currently detained. Hong Kong is ranked 140th in the 2025 RSF World Press Freedom Index, having plummeted down the rankings from 18th place in just two decades. China ranks 178th of the 180 countries and territories surveyed.

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Web archive link

I built Statistics for Strava, a self-hosted, open-source dashboard that gives you fun and detailed stats from your Strava activities. You can track any workout over time, visualize trends, and get new insights. All while keeping your data private on your own server.

And the best part: you don't need a Strava premium account

Key Features

• Dashboard – See all your stats and charts at a glance
• Activities - Browse a detailed list of everything you've done
• Monthly View - Monthly stats with an interactive calendar
• Gear stats - Track how much you've used each bike, shoe, etc.
• Custom gear - Add custom gear setups (instructions)
• Maintenance Tracking - Keep tabs on gear wear and tear (instructions)
• Eddington - For your distance milestones
• Segments & Efforts - Dive into your segment history and times
• Heatmap - Visualize where you’ve been active the most
• Strava Rewind - A fun way to look back on your year in motion
• Challenges - See which Strava challenges you've conquered
• Activity Photos - Relive your moments with a photo archive
• AI workout assistant - Get personalized workout suggestions and insights powered by AI
• User badges - Shareable badges you can embed on your website, blog, or forum profiles
• PWA support - Use it like a native app on your phone

I’d really appreciate any feedback or suggestions!

• Live demo: https://statistics-for-strava.robiningelbrecht.be/dashboard
• GitHub: https://github.com/robiningelbrecht/strava-statistics
• Docs: https://statistics-for-strava-docs.robiningelbrecht.be/#/

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/47133726

The Maldives said on Thursday that it objected to the UK-Mauritius deal on the Chagos Islands to transfer sovereignty from Britain to Mauritius.

Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu told parliament that the government formally submitted objections to the UK on November 8, 2024, and January 18, 2026, expressing “rejection of this decision.”

A statement from the presidential office said Muizzu conveyed to British Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy during a call on December 15 that the Maldives wanted further consultations on the matter.

Muizzu told lawmakers that legal proceedings have commenced to recover the maritime area lost following a ruling by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

He also announced the government’s decision to rescind a letter sent by former Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to Mauritius on August 22, 2022, which recognised Mauritian sovereignty over the Chagos Islands.

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