Australia is emerging as an alternative destination in global people smuggling routes involving Chinese nationals, as tougher US border controls push smuggling networks to test new maritime pathways through South-East Asia.

Last week six Chinese nationals who arrived in Australia by sea were found in a remote Indigenous community in Western Australia and detained by border authorities.

WA Police said the group had travelled on an unidentified vessel and was believed to be part of a larger attempt to reach the country by boat. A Rigid-Hulled Inflatable Boat beached on a beach with border force agents and two men in life vests.

[...]

Similar incidents have been recorded in Western Australia and the Northern Territory over the past year, and migration lawyer Sean Dong says he is seeing an increasing number of attempts by people from China.

[...]

While Chinese nationals arriving by sea remain rare, the case points to a broader rerouting of irregular migration from China, known as "walking the route", driven by tougher US border controls under the Trump administration.

With fewer legal migration options available, smugglers are using countries in South-East Asia such as Indonesia as transit hubs to probe Australia's maritime frontier.

[...]

"Walking the route" refers to Chinese nationals using irregular and often dangerous pathways to leave China and reach other countries without legal documents, visas or formal migration channels.

The term first became widely known in China through journeys to the US via Latin America and the Mexico border, but it is now also used to describe attempts to reach Australia by sea.

These journeys are typically organised by people smuggling syndicates, commonly referred to as "snakeheads", who coordinate transport, transit points and illegal border crossings.

[...]

Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition, told the ABC that many people are unaware of the scale of Operation Sovereign Borders, the policy introduced in 2013 to prevent maritime arrivals of asylum seekers.

"I think some people still believe that there is a general humanitarian reputation in Australia," he said.

Mr Rintoul said Chinese asylum seekers were not unusual in this regard, and often faced the same constraints as others who had attempted irregular journeys.

Many, he said, had no realistic way to migrate legally, either because of poverty or because they were unable to obtain the necessary travel documents.

Others may avoid formal travel channels because they are known to authorities — including political activists or members of persecuted ethnic or religious minorities — leaving few options beyond irregular routes.

"For them, travelling by plane may not be possible."

[...]

Alex Karp, the CEO of controversial tech company Palantir, raised eyebrows during a recent live interview with the New York Times. In a viral video of the discussion, Karp defended his company to the Times' Andrew Ross Sorkin, gesturing dramatically with his arms, bouncing up and down on his chair, and struggling to make his point.

Palantir’s X account shared the video on Sunday morning and announced Karp is launching The Neurodivergent Fellowship: "If you find yourself relating to [Karp] in this video — unable to sit still, or thinking faster than you can speak — we encourage you to apply."

Palantir announced Karp himself would conduct final interviews for the fellowship. In a reply to the first message on X, the company included an application link to the fellowship, which is available in Palantir’s New York City and Washington, D.C. offices.

"The current LLM tech landscape positions [neurodivergent people] to dominate," according to the application. "Pattern recognition. Non-linear thinking. Hyperfocus. The cognitive traits that make the neurodivergent different are precisely what make them exceptional in an AI-driven world."

Palantir, a data and analytics company co-founded by conservative "kingmaker" Peter Thiel, was quick to argue that the fellowship is not a DEI initiative.

"Palantir is launching the Neurodivergent Fellowship as a recruitment pathway for exceptional neurodivergent talent," according to the application, "This is not a diversity initiative. We believe neurodivergent individuals will have a competitive advantage as elite builders of the next technological era, and we're hiring accordingly for all roles."

I can think of one - auld lang syne. Are there any others? Why not? If anything, New Year's is celebrated by everyone whereas Christmas isn't.

Mozilla is in a tricky position. It contains both a nonprofit organization dedicated to making the internet a better place for everyone, and a for-profit arm dedicated to, you know, making money. In the best of times, these things feed each other: The company makes great products that advance its goals for the web, and the nonprofit gets to both advocate for a better web and show people what it looks like. But these are not the best of times. Mozilla has spent the last couple of years implementing layoffs and restructuring, attempting to explain how it can fight for privacy and openness when Google pays most of its bills, while trying to find its place in an increasingly frothy AI landscape.

Fun times to be the new Mozilla CEO, right? But when I put all that to Anthony Enzor-DeMeo, the company’s just-announced chief executive, he swears he sees opportunity in all the upheaval. “I think what’s actually needed now is a technology company that people can trust,” Enzor-DeMeo says. “What I’ve seen with AI is an erosion of trust.”

Mozilla is not going to train its own giant LLM anytime soon. But there’s still an AI Mode coming to Firefox next year, which Enzor-DeMeo says will offer users their choice of model and product, all in a browser they can understand and from a company they can trust. “We’re not incentivized to push one model or the other,” he says. “So we’re going to try to go to market with multiple models.”

-_-

Critics warn the vaguely worded proposal could have a chilling effect on internet freedom

The Danish government has ignited a firestorm of criticism after proposing a new bill that would make it illegal to use a VPN to access geoblocked streaming content or bypass restrictions on illegal websites.

The proposal, which is part of a larger legislative effort to combat online piracy, has alarmed digital rights advocates who fear it could have far-reaching consequences for internet freedom in the country.

The proposal was immediately condemned by privacy advocates. Jesper Lund, chairman of the IT Political Association, expressed deep concern over the bill’s ambiguous language, stating it has a "totalitarian feel to it."

"Even in Russia, it is not punishable to bypass illegal websites with a VPN," Lund told Danish broadcaster DR, pointing out that the proposed Danish law could go further than measures seen in more authoritarian states.

The approvals were required under Israel’s Land Law because Nvidia is a foreign-controlled company. The deal will allow the global technology giant to establish a new development campus on state land, allocated without a public tender and at a 51% discount.

The proposed 51% land discount is valued at tens of millions of shekels. Officials cited the significant economic impact on northern Israel, noting that thousands of employees would work directly at the campus and that hundreds of additional businesses are expected to benefit from providing services to the site.

According to the plan, Nvidia will build a unique, large-scale campus unlike any previously seen in Israel, modeled in part on the company’s headquarters in Santa Clara, California. The project is expected to span approximately 160,000 square meters and employ about 8,000 workers

cross-posted from : https://lemmy.zip/post/55112131

Namely, BYD, which owns over 40% of the overall local market. That’s not 40% of the local EV market, but 40% of the OVERALL market.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/55112019

Chile has become the latest country in Latin America to veer toward the right, electing a deeply conservative veteran politician who has long attracted comparisons to Donald Trump.

The president-elect, José Antonio Kast, has expressed nostalgia for the 17-year military dictatorship of the late Gen. Augusto Pinochet, opposed the legalization of same-sex marriage and advocated in recent years for a constitutional ban on abortion.

Those stances, which some say sabotaged Kast’s previous presidential bids in the increasingly liberal country, didn’t seem to matter in Sunday’s election.