cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/40520980

Lubna Masarwa
18 December 2025 14:28 GMT

Earlier this year, a United Nations inquiry accused Israel of using sexualised torture and rape as "a method of war... to destabilize, dominate, oppress and destroy the Palestinian people".

The Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem has described the Israeli prison system as a "network of torture camps" within which prisoners were subjected to "repeated use of sexual violence" including "gang sexual violence and assault committed by a group of prison guards or soldiers".

Last year, Israel's Channel 12 published a leaked video which appeared to show Israeli soldiers sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee.

In response to questions from MEE, the Israeli Prison Service said it "categorically rejected" the allegations of abuse described by the prisoners.

Yet again, I'm buying gifts for people and need gift ideas. This crowd really came through last year and I'd love to try it again!

I don’t want to make rules, but I think we need a couple:

1. Let’s at least cap them at $50ish. Telling people you want a DJI Drone, a Steam Deck or PS5 simply isn’t realistic. I’m not looking for ideas in that price range (even though I’d probably love all these, myself).
2. Avoid intimate stuff. I’m not talking sex toys (though avoid those too - I’m not buying my sister-in-law a dildo), but more things that are really personal like jewellery, watches and stuff that you need to know the person’s tastes to get right.

Two-year deal will cover most of Ukraine’s needs, but will be secured against EU borrowing rather than Russian assets

European Union leaders have decided to provide a massive interest-free loan to Ukraine to meet its military and economic needs for the next two years, after failing to agree on using frozen Russian assets, diplomats said in the early hours of Friday.

“We have a deal. Decision to provide €90bn ($106bn) of support to Ukraine for 2026-27 approved. We committed, we delivered,” EU Council president Antonio Costa said in a post on social media.

With public finances across the EU already strained by high debt levels, the European Commission had proposed using frozen Russian central bank assets to secure a huge loan to Kyiv, with joint borrowing against the EU budget as a second option.

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/7073049

cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/14221

Zohran Mamdani's victory in New York City owed no small debt to Palestine activists, many of whom mobilized behind his campaign. But how will this relationship fare once he enters City Hall? There are some early tests that will let us know.

Last month, activists gathered outside New York City’s Park East Synagogue to protest an event hosted by Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organization that assists Jewish individuals in relocating to Israel.

The protest, which was organized by the Palestinian Assembly for Liberation (PAL Awda), was condemned as antisemitic by pro-Israel groups and leaders over chants of “globalize the intifada” and “death to the IDF.”

“No New Yorker should be intimidated or harassed at their house of worship,” declared New York Governor Kathy Hochul. “What happened last night at the Park East Synagogue was shameful and a blatant attack on the Jewish community.”

All eyes naturally turned to mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who was repeatedly confronted with antisemitism smears throughout the campaign over his criticisms of Israel.

Now, on the verge of assuming power, Mamdani is attempting to navigate the city’s political terrain.

In the case of Nefesh B’Nefesh, his team attempted to criticize both sides of the issue.

“The Mayor-elect has discouraged the language used at last night’s protest and will continue to do so,” said Mamdani’s press secretary Dora Pekec in a statement.

“He believes every New Yorker should be free to enter a house of worship without intimidation, and that these sacred spaces should not be used to promote activities in violation of international law,” she added, a reference to Nefesh B’Nefesh’s connections to illegal Israeli settlements.

Just two days after the protest, a meeting Mamdani held with Rabbi Marc Schneier raised concerns among his left-wing base.

Schneier, who is president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, said he called on Mamdani to push for legislation that would prohibit demonstrations from being held outside any house of worship, and that the mayor-elect responded positively.

In a statement released after the protest, PAL Awda reaffirmed its commitment to opposing settler recruitment sales, regardless of where they take place.

“Zionists may hide them in homes, schools, and places of worship-knowing well that state officials and the media will join them in weaponizing accusations of antisemitism against protesters,” it read.

From Mondoweiss via This RSS Feed.

The voice could also say "Can I get a HELL yeah? CAN I GET A HELL YEAHHHH??!!", "This is a certified HELL YEAH moment", "HELL YEAH, COMRADE", or other utterances containing the phrase "hell yeah".

I do not know what effect this feature would have otherwise.

Over the past 14 years, the stage show Tatas for Toys has donated an estimated $183,000 worth of toys to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.

Research in Indiana lays groundwork for highways that recharge EVs of all sizes across the nation

https://archive.is/sfYWG

Slopcore

sorry personal things came up and we just can't have horny this holiday, please go back to eating your wheat and legumes until further notice

These people obviously have unquestionable control over everything by wealth and influence. People underneath them suffer under their 'leadership' whether it is working unhealthy hours for shit pay to working in unsafe environments where they're subjected to abuse or harm.

Yet there are pockets of people, where if you express the desire of these kinds of people who lead to die, will defend them because reasons. The top reason being that they don't like the idea of life being taken away. However, the way I see it is that, if you are in high positions and anybody suffers by a big number because you're a poor leader or so. I think the idea of jail or any justice imposed sentence is beyond them.

Lots of people forget because it's been 5 years, but Trump allowed 350,000 americans to die under a mishandled pandemic. Was the pandemic going to take lots of lives anyways? Yes, but I argue that it could've been negated and handled better. But no, that's not what we saw happen.

And it is because of that kind of gross example, I wish death on Trump everyday, anyday.

And people argue "oh, he should be in jail to think about his crimes and the law will prevail" blah blah. People have been clamoring for jail time for lots of powerful people, only to find that very few of them do. To them, time is like money, they're too busy counting how many days they have left before they're back out and will attempt to re-capture their influence and wealth to resume what they did before again.

So I feel that by sentencing these people to death, we are taking away immediately, what enjoyment they have, in spending making hundreds to thousands to even millions of people suffer and having their lives be worse off.

https://archive.ph/2025.12.17-154356/https://www.reuters.com/world/china/how-china-built-its-manhattan-project-rival-west-ai-chips-2025-12-17/

I am probably quite agender, as I have no intrinsic sense of my gender. I simply accepted my AGAB (assigned gender at birth) without questioning it. At some point, I realized that I don't feel any connection to this gender, no feeling like other people have. I also don't see it as something that influences my personality and I don't apply to gender norms. I just don't care about gender. (This btw. also makes it harder for me to understand people whose sense of gender is so strong that they even reject their AGAB, although I accept their feeling, of course.) So how do you “feel” gender?

Violence has erupted in Bangladesh following the death of a prominent leader of the youth movement that ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Sharif Osman Hadi was shot by masked attackers while leaving a mosque in Dhaka last week and died of his injuries on Thursday while being treated in Singapore.

The heavens shine down on me only the rest of commifornia remains damned

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/40514066

By Hannah. Smith
Published date: 18 December 2025 15:40 GMT

At a protest outside the Ministry of Justice on Wednesday, four people were arrested for “racially aggravated public order offences” for their use of the Arabic word “intifada”, meaning uprising.

The move comes in the wake of the Bondi Beach shooting in Sydney on Sunday, in which two gunmen targeted a Hanukkah event, killing at least 15 people.

Several public figures have sought to link the shootings to Palestine activism, specifically referencing the chant.

Facebook is testing a system that charges users for sharing web links, in a move that could prove to be a further blow to news outlets and other publishers.

Meta, the social media platform’s owner, said it is carrying out a “limited test” in which those without a paid Meta Verified subscription, costing at least £9.99 a month, can only post two external links a month.

The test appears to involve a subset of Facebook pages and user profiles on Professional Mode, which includes features used by content creators to monetise their posts.

News organisations are not included in the test. However, the move could hit newsrooms and other media publishers as it may stop their users from sharing their content.

The latest trial is part of a campaign to find ways of encouraging Facebook users to sign up to Meta Verified, which costs from £9.99 up to almost £400 per month per profile depending on the tier. It offers extra account features and security.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/51826015

Across the US this year, farmers have seen costs soar and the price of their produce tumble as Donald Trump’s flagship tariffs sparked a trade war with China.

American farmers, who voted en masse for Trump last year, are now warning of the worst economic crisis since the 1980s, when soaring interest rates and a slump in exports saw the price of crops and the value of farmland collapse. About 300,000 farmers defaulted on their loans and thousands were driven into bankruptcy.

“We spent a hell lot of time in China building relationships, building those markets,” he said. “And then you basically piss it all away, to be blunt.”