https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj0XC2aHxrM

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/42162217

Germany is moving toward providing Ukraine with new long-range strike capabilities, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz confirming that technical consultations with Kyiv have been underway for months and are now approaching completion.

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Speaking at a press conference in Berlin, Merz said the government has agreed in principle to supply long-range missile systems to bolster Ukraine’s ability to hit Russian forces far behind the front line. He declined to reveal how many systems are being prepared or when they will arrive, framing the secrecy as a deliberate strategy.

“The Ukrainian army will be equipped with these weapons systems,” Merz said. But he added that Germany will not publicly outline timelines or quantities, arguing that “a degree of ambiguity is necessary, especially for the Russian side” to complicate Moscow’s efforts to gauge Ukraine’s battlefield reach.

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/42162217

Germany is moving toward providing Ukraine with new long-range strike capabilities, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz confirming that technical consultations with Kyiv have been underway for months and are now approaching completion.

...

Speaking at a press conference in Berlin, Merz said the government has agreed in principle to supply long-range missile systems to bolster Ukraine’s ability to hit Russian forces far behind the front line. He declined to reveal how many systems are being prepared or when they will arrive, framing the secrecy as a deliberate strategy.

“The Ukrainian army will be equipped with these weapons systems,” Merz said. But he added that Germany will not publicly outline timelines or quantities, arguing that “a degree of ambiguity is necessary, especially for the Russian side” to complicate Moscow’s efforts to gauge Ukraine’s battlefield reach.

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/42161794

• US plan would require Kyiv to give up land, accept curbs to military, sources say
• French minister: peace cannot mean capitulation
• US army delegation is visiting Kyiv

European countries pushed back on Thursday against a U.S.-backed peace plan for Ukraine that sources said would require Kyiv to give up more land and partially disarm, conditions long seen by Ukraine's allies as tantamount to capitulation.

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European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels were careful not to comment in too much detail about a U.S. peace plan that has not been made public. But they made clear they would not accept demands for punishing concessions from Kyiv.

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Moscow played down any new U.S. initiative.

,,,

A U.S. Army delegation ... was in Kyiv [and] met Ukraine's top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi late on Wednesday. Syrskyi said he told them the best way to secure a just peace was to defend Ukraine's airspace, extend its ability to strike deep into Russia and stabilise the front line.

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A new Android banking trojan named Sturnus can capture communication from end-to-end encrypted messaging platforms like Signal, WhatsApp, and Telegram, as well as take complete control of the device.

The email nickname "Brooklyn Barack" fits for all the wrong reasons.

Kyiv has been offered a “Kremlin peace plan” under the guise of negotiations. The US and Russia have reportedly prepared a peace plan for Ukraine that would involve Kyiv meeting the Kremlin’s maximalist demands, says Christopher Miller, a correspondent for the Financial Times.

At the same time, Reuters sources report that the US indicated to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Kyiv should accept Washington-prepared frameworks for ending the war with Russia. It remains unclear what security guarantees would be given for Kyiv, as there is no evidence that the Kremlin has abandoned its imperial ambitions.

Earlier, Axios wrote that Washington and Moscow were discussing a new peace plan to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/42160115

Archived link

Taiwan's Deputy Foreign Minister Wu Chih-chung called for closer Taiwan-Europe security cooperation at the Berlin Security Conference arguing that peace in Europe is closely linked to stability in the Indo-Pacific.

He noted that Taiwan is a global technological hub, producing about 70% of the world’s semiconductors and more than 95% of its advanced chips. A crisis in the Taiwan Strait, he warned, would cause the most severe disruption to the technological supply chain since World War II.

He said European countries have sent naval vessels through the Taiwan Strait several times since last year. France, the UK, and Italy have deployed carrier strike groups to take part in Indo-Pacific exercises, signaling that Europe is increasingly concerned about Taiwan Strait security.

Wu said Taiwan will increase its defense budget to NT$937.2 billion (US$30 billion) in 2026, with a target of reaching 5% of GDP by 2030, in line with NATO standards.

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/39234139

Europe is at a crossroads. The Summit on European Digital Sovereignty marks an important milestone for the EU and its member states in aligning on a shared strategy for achieving real and lasting European digital sovereignty. As the EU pursues the goal of digital sovereignty, we urge you to harness open source — that is, technology that is free to use, inspect, adapt, and share — as a key enabler of this strategy.

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/5700053

Archived version

Major French trade federations representing sectors from mass market retail to clothing and toys are suing Shein for “unfair competition”. The Asian e-commerce giant, already under government scrutiny, described the move as a “boycott attempt”.

Several sector organisations stated in a press release that Shein’s model “relies on non-compliance with regulations applicable to all players established in France”.

Alongside the Conseil du commerce de France (CDCF), organisations joining the initiative include those representing mass distribution (FCD), clothing and textile industries (Alliance du commerce, FFPAPF, Ufimh, UIT, Fédération de la maille, de la lingerie et du balnéaire), jewellery (BOCI, UBH), toys (FCJPE), franchising (FFF) and online sales (Fevad).

Through this action of “unprecedented scale”, joined by around 100 retailers including Coopérative U, Promod, Monoprix, Grain de Malice (clothing) and Besson (footwear), federations and companies “affirm their determination to restore fair competition based on respect for the law”. “They also demand recognition of the economic damage suffered” by retailers established in France and “the granting of damages proportionate to these losses”.

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The case is being heard at the Aix-en-Provence commercial court. Shein’s Irish subsidiaries have already been summoned there for “unfair competition” regarding the judicial liquidation of local menswear brand Olly Gan. This was specified during a videoconference by Cédric Dubucq, the lawyer representing the federations and companies involved.

The latter “will intervene voluntarily” during a procedural hearing scheduled for January 12. This hearing will set the date for the examination of the case's merits. Dubucq estimated that damages to the injured companies are currently being evaluated and could reach “several hundred million or even several billion euros”. He also mentioned the possibility for the public prosecutor to request the payment of a “civil fine”, a measure newly permitted by law. Trade minister Serge Papin stated in a press release that this collective action is “very good news”. He added: “It proves that the sector will no longer let itself be pushed around.” “The French economy must resist models that jeopardise our values and our security,” Medef president Patrick Martin added.

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Regarding other e-commerce platforms, Alliance du commerce general director Yohann Petiot explained: “The message we are sending today is that impunity is over.” He views the summons against Shein as a “first step”.

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The EU must seize Russia’s frozen assets, Maria Malmer Stenergard believes, because any other solution would be unfair to Ukraine’s biggest backers.

Nordic countries can't keep taking on a disproportionate share of supporting Ukraine, Sweden's foreign minister warned in an interview with POLITICO.

"A few countries take almost all of the burden," Maria Malmer Stenergard said on her way into a gathering of foreign ministers in Brussels. "That is not fair and it's not sustainable in the long run."

She added: "The fact that the Nordic countries, with less than 30 million people, we provide for one-third of the military support that the NATO countries, with almost 1 billion people, provide this year ... This is not sustainable. It's not reasonable in any way. And it says a lot about what the Nordics do — but it says even more about what the others don't do."