Please… we truly need your help. The rain hasn’t stopped since yesterday, and the cold is unbearable. Our suffering is very hard, honestly… the situation is more difficult than words can explain 😭 Any donation can help us and ease what we’re going through. https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-mohameds-family-to-reach-safety-outside-gaza

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/45651005

When two dating apps, Blued and Finka, disappeared from the Apple AppStore in China on November 11, a whole world threatened to disappear.

The apps are two of the most popular among China’s LGBT+ community. Blued had been downloaded tens of millions of times, according to the BBC.

In taking them down, the authorities removed two major LGBT+ spaces, leaving little in their place.

[...]

Apple said it removed the apps “based on an order from the Cyberspace Administration of China”.

[...]

The disappearance of both Blued and Finka “will affect a lot of LGBT+ people's lives very significantly”, [the specialist in China’s queer culture at the University of Nottingham, Bao] Hongwei says. “It sends a chilling and very clear message to ordinary LGBT+ people that they can't pursue their own personal interests and desires.”

[...]

Before targeting Blued and Finka, the Chinese authorities led a campaign against authors of the “Boy's Love”, or Danmei, same-sex romance stories, some of which feature explicit love scenes between men.

Several Danmei writers, most of whom are female, have reported being arrested and questioned by the authorities, and in recent months two major Danmei sites have either shut down, or drastically reduced and toned down their content.

In September, a censored version of American-Australian horror film “Together” was released in China with a gay marriage scene digitally altered to show a heterosexual couple.

And in early 2024, China’s dominant social platform Weibo removed viral images of Chinese dancer and transgender icon Jin Xing waving a rainbow flag.

Despite being a high-profile and immensely popular celebrity in China for years, venues across the country dropped performances by her dance troupe without explanation in January 2025.

[...]

Why is China’s LGBT+ community being targeted in this way? Rather than being specifically singled out, it is likely that it is a collateral victim of Xi Jinping’s notion of “common prosperity”.

Historically, common prosperity has meant an effort by the Chinese Communist Party to promote economic and social equality.

But in contemporary Chinese politics, “the Maoist principles about equality have more to do with uniformity,” says Hildebrandt. “You gain equality by being more like everybody else. You don't gain equality by being diverse.”

In a bid to create greater conformity within the population, “there has been a push in China to reinforce traditional family values and, in some cases, traditional masculine values,” adds Lanteigne.

At the same time, China’s population growth and economy are slowing. “The current population growth couldn't support economic growth,” explains Hongwei, meaning there has been a push to encourage heterosexual couples to have larger families to ensure an abundant future workforce.

[...]

In this context of wider policies to promote common prosperity, the LGBT+ community is not the only group facing repression, but it is an easy target.

Since the Covid pandemic, “the Chinese government has endorsed nationalist discourse and LGBT culture is seen as very politicised siding with Western ideologies”, says Hongwei.

[...]

Howdy partners. I just won the cheeseburger eating competition and boy howdy, you can the wrappers reach to the end of my boots that I wear everyday. Time to slurp me this here biscuits with gravy while driving my pick-up truck to the dollar store to buy more biscuits with gravy with my Benjamins.

Cowabunga partners. Yeehaw!

I was gonna make it get higher instead but I thought it was funnier this way

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/5614710

Archived version

• Morgan Stanley is facing scrutiny from the Republican head of the US House China committee over its role in underwriting the Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) of Zijin Gold International Co.
• The committee is questioning whether Morgan Stanley performed enough due diligence, given that Zijin Gold's parent, Zijin Mining Group, is on a US blacklist for allegedly violating restrictions on using forced labor.
• The request for information from Morgan Stanley is part of a broader review into the involvement of Wall Street banks in IPOs of Chinese companies with known ties to China's military or past track records of labor abuses.

...

I saw that people are buying $150 or $250 sockbags for their iphone. They also are buying $30 glass cups from Starbucks. Can people accept that the customer is a major part of the problem?

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/5614691

Archived version

China’s exports of tomato paste to industry powerhouse Italy have collapsed this year after an outcry over alleged use of forced labour in Xinjiang and complaints about misleading origin labelling by some Italian companies.

The western Chinese region of Xinjiang dramatically increased tomato cultivation and processing in recent years, but slumping sales to Italy and other western European markets have left it sitting on a vast stockpile of unsold paste, industry analysts say.

Italian farming association Coldiretti has led a high-profile campaign to defend the national staple red fruit against an influx of Chinese paste costing less than half of that made from their farmers’ crops.

“This is an important victory,” said Francesco Mutti, chief executive of the eponymous maker of Italian tomato-based ingredients including passata, pulp and purée. “It is a very positive signal.”

Scrutiny of the tomato supply chain in Europe has heightened since some companies in Italy — the world’s largest exporter of finished tomato ingredients ready for consumers — were found to have mixed Chinese tomato paste into wares promoted as Italian.

[...]

Tomato News, which tracks the global processing industry and trade, estimates China has a stockpile of 600,000 to 700,000 tonnes of tomato paste — equivalent to roughly six months of its exports.

While China’s total tomato paste exports by volume fell 9 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2025, sales to western EU countries dropped 67 per cent, and Italy’s purchases were down 76 per cent, Tomato News said.

“Clearly Europe has become a difficult place to export to,” said Martin Stilwell, president of Tomato News. Chinese customs data shows the value of processed tomato exports to Italy plunged to less than $13mn in the first nine months of 2025 from more than $75mn in the same period of last year.

[...]

China has turned Xinjiang, home to the mainly-Muslim Uyghur minority, into a low-cost, export-oriented tomato paste production hub spearheaded by large state companies, one of which is a subsidiary of the paramilitary Production and Construction Corps that helps run the region.

China processed 11mn tonnes of fresh tomatoes into paste in 2024, up from 4.8mn tonnes in 2021, according to Tomato News. With European demand collapsing, the Asian nation has more than halved the volume of the fruit processed to an expected 3.7mn tonnes this year, Stilwell said.

[...]

“They are struggling to sell, which explains why they have to cut back — otherwise they would merely be building inventory in China,” he said.

Xinjiang’s tomato industry has been dogged by allegations of use of forced Uyghur labour

[...]

The influx of Chinese tomato paste into Italy came under the spotlight in 2021 when the Carabinieri police raided a leading processing company and seized tonnes of canned tomato concentrate that included Chinese paste but was falsely labelled “100 per cent Italian”.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/5614691

Archived version

China’s exports of tomato paste to industry powerhouse Italy have collapsed this year after an outcry over alleged use of forced labour in Xinjiang and complaints about misleading origin labelling by some Italian companies.

The western Chinese region of Xinjiang dramatically increased tomato cultivation and processing in recent years, but slumping sales to Italy and other western European markets have left it sitting on a vast stockpile of unsold paste, industry analysts say.

Italian farming association Coldiretti has led a high-profile campaign to defend the national staple red fruit against an influx of Chinese paste costing less than half of that made from their farmers’ crops.

“This is an important victory,” said Francesco Mutti, chief executive of the eponymous maker of Italian tomato-based ingredients including passata, pulp and purée. “It is a very positive signal.”

Scrutiny of the tomato supply chain in Europe has heightened since some companies in Italy — the world’s largest exporter of finished tomato ingredients ready for consumers — were found to have mixed Chinese tomato paste into wares promoted as Italian.

[...]

Tomato News, which tracks the global processing industry and trade, estimates China has a stockpile of 600,000 to 700,000 tonnes of tomato paste — equivalent to roughly six months of its exports.

While China’s total tomato paste exports by volume fell 9 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2025, sales to western EU countries dropped 67 per cent, and Italy’s purchases were down 76 per cent, Tomato News said.

“Clearly Europe has become a difficult place to export to,” said Martin Stilwell, president of Tomato News. Chinese customs data shows the value of processed tomato exports to Italy plunged to less than $13mn in the first nine months of 2025 from more than $75mn in the same period of last year.

[...]

China has turned Xinjiang, home to the mainly-Muslim Uyghur minority, into a low-cost, export-oriented tomato paste production hub spearheaded by large state companies, one of which is a subsidiary of the paramilitary Production and Construction Corps that helps run the region.

China processed 11mn tonnes of fresh tomatoes into paste in 2024, up from 4.8mn tonnes in 2021, according to Tomato News. With European demand collapsing, the Asian nation has more than halved the volume of the fruit processed to an expected 3.7mn tonnes this year, Stilwell said.

[...]

“They are struggling to sell, which explains why they have to cut back — otherwise they would merely be building inventory in China,” he said.

Xinjiang’s tomato industry has been dogged by allegations of use of forced Uyghur labour

[...]

The influx of Chinese tomato paste into Italy came under the spotlight in 2021 when the Carabinieri police raided a leading processing company and seized tonnes of canned tomato concentrate that included Chinese paste but was falsely labelled “100 per cent Italian”.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/45649428

Archived

[...]

Ultra cheap e-commerce platforms Temu and fast fashion brand Shein are selling products made from Chinese cotton despite the high risk of links to slavery.

More than 80 per cent of Chinese cotton is produced in the Xinjiang province where an estimated more than 800,000 Uighurs are enslaved.

This masthead has seen multiple examples of cotton products made in China available for sale on Temu and Shein, including clothing and bedding.

Australian Human Rights Institute director Justine Nolan said there was a heightened risk of slavery with any cotton products made in China.

“You just couldn’t say the risk is low when you’ve got over 80 per cent of cotton coming from Xinjiang,” she said. “That’s a high risk.”

[...]

China produces about 20 per cent of the world’s cotton, with about 84 per cent coming from the Xinjiang province. The US banned cotton from the Xinjiang province in 2022 under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.

Ms Nolan said retailers and manufacturers would need to ascertain whether the cotton was produced in China or was sourced from a supply chain outside of China.

“The reality of actually finding that out is very difficult,” she said. “There’s a heightened risk for any cotton products coming out of China that they are tainted by forced labour.”

Conversely, Ms Nolan said Australia had a very strong cotton industry. “I would say cotton coming out of Australia is a hell of a lot safer than cotton coming out of China.”

[...]

Archived

[...]

Ultra cheap e-commerce platforms Temu and fast fashion brand Shein are selling products made from Chinese cotton despite the high risk of links to slavery.

More than 80 per cent of Chinese cotton is produced in the Xinjiang province where an estimated more than 800,000 Uighurs are enslaved.

This masthead has seen multiple examples of cotton products made in China available for sale on Temu and Shein, including clothing and bedding.

Australian Human Rights Institute director Justine Nolan said there was a heightened risk of slavery with any cotton products made in China.

“You just couldn’t say the risk is low when you’ve got over 80 per cent of cotton coming from Xinjiang,” she said. “That’s a high risk.”

[...]

China produces about 20 per cent of the world’s cotton, with about 84 per cent coming from the Xinjiang province. The US banned cotton from the Xinjiang province in 2022 under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.

Ms Nolan said retailers and manufacturers would need to ascertain whether the cotton was produced in China or was sourced from a supply chain outside of China.

“The reality of actually finding that out is very difficult,” she said. “There’s a heightened risk for any cotton products coming out of China that they are tainted by forced labour.”

Conversely, Ms Nolan said Australia had a very strong cotton industry. “I would say cotton coming out of Australia is a hell of a lot safer than cotton coming out of China.”

[...]

You're voluntarily doing the peoples commodity production, but you could've stopped at any time. The bourgeoisie don't exist, nobody owns your means of production. Thank you Comare Xi and Comrade Don.

I'm not sure if this is the right place but me and my friend group have lately become privacy conscious and wanted to stop using discord and other types of social media, and only log onto self hosted options that only we can access.

we've eliminated something like Revolt (now named Stoat due to it missing ideal features and the developers being anti-decentralized (as well as being extremely hostile to the userbase noticably...)

Does anyone have any idea what would be an ideal service to use?

Happy weekend, y'all! Any plans for the weekend? Going to play some Dragon Quest IX; I never finished it and, I feel like checking on my old save file. Hope I don't have to restart!

Feel free to use this thread to talk about anything you'd like to get off your chest or just whatever is on your mind. Have a great weekend!

Mining company BHP has been found liable for a 2015 dam collapse in Brazil, known as the country's worst-ever environmental disaster, by London's High Court.

The dam collapse killed 19 people, polluted the river and destroyed hundreds of homes.

The civil lawsuit, representing more than 600,000 people including civilians, local governments and businesses, had been valued at up to £36bn ($48bn).

The claimants' lawyers argued successfully that the trial should be held in London because BHP headquarters "were in the UK at the time of the dam collapse".

@nostupidquestions Do you always have either dead pixels, loose charging port, or broken hinge with Acer laptops?

"Iɴ ᴄᴀsᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴍᴏᴍ ᴅɪᴅɴ‘ᴛ ᴛᴇᴀᴄʜ ʏᴏᴜ"

I'm depressed and I wanna listen to music... 🥲

Its just fearmongering right?

I don't max the volume, just turn it high enough to hear it, if I used speakers, I'd also turn it so that my ears detect the "same volume" so I don't get why headphones is worse? Literally the same volume.

Also privacy, I don't want others to know what I'm listening, the fuck lol.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/53082816

Protesters in Pokemon costumes stomped around the United Nations climate conference on Friday to send a message to Japan: end financing of coal and natural gas projects across Southeast Asia and other regions of the Global South.

“Japan is actually delaying the fossil fuel phase-out across Asia” by funding energy projects, mainly liquefied natural gas developments, in countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, said Hiroki Osada with Friends of the Earth Japan, one of the protest organizers

The government-owned Japan Bank for International Cooperation financed $6.4 billion in loans for coal projects and $874 million in loans for gas projects from 2016 to 2024, according to a 2025 study by the Philippines-based research and advocacy organization Center for Energy, Ecology and Development based on public government and banking data.

https://archive.ph/20251109191103/https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2025-11-09/how-much-of-silicon-valley-is-built-on-chinese-ai

The balls

{Kochi mite!|pose for the fans}