cross-posted from: https://lemmy.today/post/43794185

In a warm bunker, lined with wooden logs, it is Dmytro’s job to monitor and help the drone crews on the frontline. Perhaps a dozen video feeds come through to his screen on an increasingly hot section of the front, running roughly from Pokrovske to Huliaipole, 50 miles east of Zaporizhzhia city.

Dmytro, 33, is with the 423rd drone battalion, a specialist unit only formed in 2024. He cycles through the feeds, on Ukraine’s battlefield Delta system, expanding each in turn. The grainy images come from one-way FPV (first person view) drones; clearer footage, with heights and speed, from commercially bought Mavic drones; at another point there is a bomber drone, available munitions marked in green.

Maksym, 29, and Serhii, 24, have just returned from five days on the front, part of a mixed crew of FPV and Mavic pilots. Now they are resting, one playing a video game, Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl, a post-apocalyptic shooter set in the exclusion zone surrounding the destroyed nuclear power plant – raising the obvious question of whether there is any similarity to their frontline work.

"It helps us do our job,” Maksym says, smiling. “If you are flying a jet in one of the battlefield games, it’s basically the same as flying a Mavic. It’s good practise.”

A group of endangered “galaxy frogs” are missing, presumed dead, after trespassing photographers reportedly destroyed their microhabitats for photos.

In early 2020, he found seven members of the “magical” species in the Western Ghats rainforest in India, but could not visit them during the Covid pandemic. When he went back later, the frogs had disappeared, according to a report from the ZSL.

At first he suspected brown mongooses of causing the damage, but they are not strong enough to overturn a log. Then he asked his tracker if he had seen anyone.

These nature photographers had been turning over logs in their search for the endangered species, according to the trackers. When they found them, they would capture and prop up the frogs for photos. But they didn’t wear gloves, even though these delicate creatures breathe through their skin and are incredibly sensitive.

“We’re really hopeful that we can encourage people to act more ethically so that incredible species like the galaxy frog can continue to thrive for millions more years.”

Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a naval blockade of “sanctioned oil vessels” leaving and heading to Venezuela, sharply escalating his pressure campaign against Caracas.

The US has for months been building a major military deployment in the Caribbean – with the stated goal of combatting drug trafficking, but Venezuela views the operation as a campaign to oust Nicolas Maduro.

Trump said the armada – which includes the world’s largest aircraft carrier – “will only get bigger” until Venezuela returns “to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us”.

The alleged Bondi attacker who survived a shootout with police has been charged with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder and one count of committing a terrorist act in what investigators allege may have been “inspired by Isis”.

New South Wales police charged Naveed Akram, 24, on Wednesday, after he was arrested at the scene and taken to a Sydney hospital with critical injuries on Sunday night.

Akram was charged after waking from a coma on Tuesday, with the matter heard in court on Wednesday afternoon.

He did not apply for bail, and will next face court again on 8 April.

The unthinkable has happened. The US is Europe’s adversary. The stark, profound betrayal contained in the Trump administration’s national security strategy should stop any further denial and dithering in Europe’s capitals. Cultivating “resistance Europe’s current trajectory in European nations” is now Washington’s stated policy.

But contained within this calamity is the gift of clarity. Europe will fight or it will perish. The good news is that Europe holds strong cards.

The US’s bet on AI is now so gigantic that every Maga voter’s pension is bound to the bubble’s precarious survival. AI investment now rivals consumer spending as the primary creator of American economic growth. It accounted for virtually all (92%) GDP growth in the first half of this year. Without it, US GDP grew only 0.1%. Despite Donald Trump’s posturing, he is on shaky economic ground.

Trump’s political coalition is shaky, too. In July and again this month, he has been unable to force Senate Republicans to pass his AI moratorium bill, which would have prevented states from drafting their own AI laws. The Steve Bannon wing of Maga fears that AI will displace workers en masse, and is appalled by what children are exposed to on digital platforms. Maga voters particularly mistrust big tech’s political power. Tech is a dangerous topic for Trump.

I tried to study a bit from beej.us and I appreciated the style of teaching, but ultimately thought it wasn't for me as it didn't go much into depth and focused more on creating C programs. Is there some source from where I can learn in a comprehensive yet easy to understand manner the fundamentals of computer networking, at least to the extent that is relevant for selfhosting?

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/43794611

A Taiwanese government-backed drone alliance and a Polish uncrewed system industry group have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop a "non-China" drone supply chain and work together on key technologies.

The MOU, signed by the Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance (TEDIBOA) and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems (PISB) in Poland on Wednesday, would improve ties between the Taiwanese and Polish drone industries, the alliance said in a statement.

Beyond paving the way for creating a non-China supply chain and integrating drone systems, the MOU would also support laws favorable to the market and plans for joint testing at cross-border technology exhibitions, it said.

...

In an op-ed, a researcher Konrad Szatters published a comment in CHOICE (China Observers in Central and Eastern Europe):

This development sheds light on several broader issues. It offers insight into how CEE countries are reassessing their technological and security dependencies. It also suggests that Taiwan is finding practical, relatively low-profile, forms of engagement with Europe, and highlights that certain EU member states are willing to explore such avenues of cooperation. This creates an opportunity for Taiwan to strengthen its ties with Europe and make itself more indispensable for its partners, especially in the context of EU’s ongoing ‘de-risking’ from China. Finally, it highlights gaps in Europe’s own defense-industrial capabilities and shows the direction of choices certain governments may make when domestic supply becomes limited.

A Taiwanese government-backed drone alliance and a Polish uncrewed system industry group have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop a "non-China" drone supply chain and work together on key technologies.

The MOU, signed by the Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance (TEDIBOA) and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems (PISB) in Poland on Wednesday, would improve ties between the Taiwanese and Polish drone industries, the alliance said in a statement.

Beyond paving the way for creating a non-China supply chain and integrating drone systems, the MOU would also support laws favorable to the market and plans for joint testing at cross-border technology exhibitions, it said.

...

In an op-ed, a researcher Konrad Szatters published a comment in CHOICE (China Observers in Central and Eastern Europe):

This development sheds light on several broader issues. It offers insight into how CEE countries are reassessing their technological and security dependencies. It also suggests that Taiwan is finding practical, relatively low-profile, forms of engagement with Europe, and highlights that certain EU member states are willing to explore such avenues of cooperation. This creates an opportunity for Taiwan to strengthen its ties with Europe and make itself more indispensable for its partners, especially in the context of EU’s ongoing ‘de-risking’ from China. Finally, it highlights gaps in Europe’s own defense-industrial capabilities and shows the direction of choices certain governments may make when domestic supply becomes limited.

...

The nationalist populist Serbian president railed against critics of the project for destroying an investment of "at least €750 million" ($880 million).

"As a state and as a nation, we are major losers," Vucic told media in Belgrade.

"We will now be left with a destroyed building, and it is only a matter of time before bricks and other parts start falling off it, because no one will ever touch it again."

Serbia's organized crime prosecutor this week published an indictment against Culture Minister Nikola Selakovic and three other officials for allegedly committing illegal acts by removing the General Staff building's status as a "cultural asset,” which was required for construction to proceed.

The complex had been granted protected cultural heritage status in 2005.

...

The investment firm Affinity Partners, linked to Kushner, [said] that he was backing away from the controversial hotel and real estate project after weeks of protests and following the indictment.

...

Web archive link

Authorities in Russian-occupied Crimea have confiscated property belonging to 84 individuals and companies, including Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk, a former undisputed heavyweight world champion. The move was announced by Vladimir Konstantinov, the Moscow-appointed “head” of Crimea’s State Council, in a post on his Telegram channel.

Konstantinov described Usyk as a “supporter of Nazi ideology,” claiming the boxer had “repeatedly condemned the special military operation” and organized fundraising efforts in support of Ukraine’s armed forces.

The list of confiscated assets also includes property owned by Ukrainian businessman and former member of parliament Ihor Franchuk. According to Konstantinov, Franchuk “holds an active anti-Russian position” while continuing to own assets in Crimea, including stakes in several companies, among them Lilaste LLC and the Crimean school Tescao. The “authorities” also seized property belonging to several Ukrainian citizens who, they allege, are fighting in Ukraine’s military, as well as assets of Tavrida-Plaza LLC, which is owned by Ukraine’s TMM Group.

...

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/40428439

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is not publicly backing any candidate in the race to replace Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky in Illinois’s 9th Congressional District. But in private, the group is fundraising for Democratic state Sen. Laura Fine, who has distanced herself from AIPAC and said she isn’t seeking its endorsement.

AIPAC board president Michael Tuchin hosted a private fundraiser for Fine on Monday at his Los Angeles law office, where an Intercept reporter was turned away in the building’s front lobby. “The Intercept should not be here at all,” said a building security guard, relaying a message from fundraiser organizers.

After spending years exerting largely unchecked influence over elected U.S. officials, AIPAC appears to be putting more distance between itself and several of its preferred candidates this midterm cycle amid public outrage over Israel’s genocide in Gaza — and as a growing slate of progressive candidates position themselves explicitly against the group. But AIPAC and the broader pro-Israel lobby are still working to shape the next Congress to preserve the U.S.’s diplomatic alliance with Israel and maintain the steady flow of weapons shipments.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/47438942

China’s government has long sought to silence dissent abroad, but recently there’s been a disturbing escalation: harassment through sexually explicit letters targeting activists outside the country.

Hongkongers Carmen Lau and Ted Hui are exiled activists who face arrest warrants back in Hong Kong under the draconian National Security Law. They revealed last week that anonymous individuals were distributing in the United Kingdom and Australia sexually explicit deepfakes depicting them and their families. While police investigations in both countries could not trace the origins of these images, after Lau went public, a Chinese government spokesperson defended the pursuit of “wanted fugitives” as “legitimate and reasonable.”

There is evidence that the Chinese government was directly involved in a similar case in 2024, when anonymous online accounts circulated threatening and sexually suggestive posts targeting the 16-year-old daughter of Deng Yuwen, a US-based critic of the Chinese government, that were subsequently traced back to China’s security agencies. These tactics appear to have surged in recent years: the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a think tank, noted the increasingly gendered nature of online harassment against critics of the Chinese government as early as 2022.

[...]

Governments need to take effective steps against “transnational repression”—cross-border abuses against activists and their families. First, they should publicly condemn such acts, especially harassment designed to psychologically abuse, shame, and marginalize critics.

Second, they need to investigate cases thoroughly, track patterns of transnational repression, and establish reporting mechanisms for diaspora communities. The US and Australian governments have taken some of these actions; other governments should follow suit.

Third, governments should commit to transparency by regularly reporting on progress addressing transnational repression.

Finally, governments need to commit to prioritizing victims. Beyond a law enforcement response, authorities should provide resources to support victims’ digital security and mental health needs, so that those exiled may enjoy the same rights as everyone else in their new country and feel safe again.

[...]

Lithuanian fuel network Jozita and Russian-backed company Gazimpeks allegedly exported thousands of tons of Russian liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to Ukraine using inaccurate or falsified certificates from Lithuania’s Orlen Lietuva refinery, according to an investigation by the journalistic research centre Siena.

The investigation notes that under Ukrainian law, the origin of “diluted” European gas does not need to be changed when mixed with Russian LPG, creating a loophole that allowed companies to bypass import bans even after sanctions on Russian fuel were enacted.