World News

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said early Wednesday that he would soon lift the military rule he imposed overnight, after the parliament voted to reject his martial law declaration.

Yoon had declared martial law late Tuesday, vowing to eliminate “anti-state” forces as he struggles against an opposition that controls the country’s parliament and that he accuses of sympathizing with communist North Korea.

Less than three hours later, parliament voted to lift the declaration, with National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik declaring that the martial law was “invalid” and that lawmakers “will protect democracy with the people.”

Five separate institutions across Afghanistan have confirmed that the Taliban had instructed them to close until further notice, with videos shared online showing students crying at the news.

[...]

However, the closure appears to be in line with the group's wider policy on female education, which has seen teenage girls unable to access secondary and higher education since August 2021.

The Taliban have repeatedly promised they would be readmitted to school once a number of issues were resolved - including ensuring the curriculum was "Islamic". This has yet to happen.

One of the few avenues still open to women seeking education was through the country's further education colleges, where they could learn to be nurses or midwives.

Midwifery and nursing are also one of the only careers women can pursue under the Taliban government's restrictions on women - a vital one, as male medics are not allowed to treat women unless a male guardian is present.

[...]

In videos sent to the BBC from other training colleges, trainees can be heard weeping.

"Standing here and crying won’t help," a student tells a group of women in one video. "The Vice and Virtue officials [who enforce Taliban rules] are nearby, and I don’t want anything bad to happen to any of you."

[...]

Another student revealed they "were only given time to grab our bags and leave the classrooms".

"They even told us not to stand in the courtyard because the Taliban could arrive at any moment, and something might happen. Everyone was terrified," she said. "For many of us, attending classes was a small glimmer of hope after long periods of unemployment, depression, and isolation at home."

[...]

France's minority government is on the brink of collapse after Prime Minister Michel Barnier used special powers to force through his budget without a vote in parliament.

Furious opposition parties said they would back a no-confidence motion to oust the former Brexit negotiator in a vote that could take place as early as Wednesday.

Barnier opted to push through controversial reforms to social security by invoking presidential decree after failing to win enough support for the measures.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/5320635

It is the first time chief executive Tadashi Yanai has directly addressed the contentious issue. China is a crucial market for Uniqlo not just for customers but also as a major manufacturing hub.

Xinjiang cotton was once known as some of the best fabric in the world. But it has fallen out of favour after allegations that it is produced using forced labour by people from the Muslim Uyghur minority.

[...]

Many global brands removed products using Xinjiang cotton from their shelves, which led to fierce backlash in China. Brands such as H&M, Nike, Burberry, Esprit and Adidas were boycotted.

Sweden's H&M saw its clothing pulled from major e-commerce stores in China.

At the time, Mr Yanai - who is Japan's richest man - refused to confirm or deny whether Xinjiang cotton was used in Uniqlo clothing, saying he wanted "to be neutral between the US and China".

His decision not to take a side helped Uniqlo to remain popular in China's huge retail market.

But speaking to the BBC in Tokyo about the firm's measures to be more transparent about where the materials in its clothes come from and how they are made, he said: "We’re not using [cotton from Xinjiang]."

"By mentioning which cotton we’re using..." he continued, before pausing and ending his answer with "Actually, it gets too political if I say anymore so let's stop here".

[...]

Retailers like Uniqlo are also facing intense competition from ultra-fast fashion as brands like China's Shein and Temu gain popularity with price-conscious customers.

But Mr Yanai says “I don’t think there’s a future for fast fashion".

"They’re producing clothes without any careful consideration which you only wear for one season. That is a waste of the planet’s resources."

He adds that Uniqlo's strategy is to focus on essential items that can be worn for years.

[...]

Archived version

China is pushing a flawed peace process while deepening economic ties with Israel.

[...]

Eli Friedman, a Cornell University professor who focuses on labor and development in China, explained some of the dynamics between China and Palestine in a recent webinar. It must be understood, he said, that “China is not responsible for the genocide” in Gaza; responsibility lies with Israel and the U.S., followed by other European powers. “The idea, though, that China is interested in the liberation of Palestine is also extremely problematic,” he added. “China is Israel’s second biggest trading partner after the United States, and actually not too far behind.” In particular, Israel and China cooperate extensively in technology and military sectors. “When the U.S. after 1989 in Tiananmen Square was saying, we can’t sell military equipment to China, Israel kept selling [them] military equipment — Israel is kind of a back door, and they’ve had a lot of cooperation in that respect.”

“China wants economic influence in the region,” he continued. “They want the system to continue to function smoothly.” Israel is a key player in the region that China wants to be able to relate to, therefore China “want[s] Israel to be able to continue to persist more or less as it is. Now, they also want an end to the occupation. China’s official stated position on Israel is a two-state solution … but they’re not going to do anything to fundamentally disrupt” economic relations with Israel.

[...]

“Chinese state-owned companies operate the port of Haifa, and they’re leading a big expansion of the port in Ashdod, which is just to the north of Gaza. They’re building an expansion of the Tel Aviv light rail system. So Chinese state capital is heavily invested in the literal infrastructure of genocide. If tomorrow, the Chinese companies said, ‘We’re going to shut down the port of Haifa and we’re not going to allow any weapons or materials to support the genocide,’ that would have an enormous impact on the development of things in Gaza. And they are not doing that. I think it’s important to note that, because there’s not a genuine, solidaristic interest in the liberation of Palestine.”

[...]

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Monday the presence of a Russian attack submarine in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea was "very worrisome".

"That’s very concerning. Any intrusion into the West Philippine Sea, of our EEZ, of our baselines, is very worrisome," Marcos told reporters, referring to part of the South China Sea within the Philippines' maritime zone.

A Russian Kilo-class submarine was sighted 80 nautical miles off the western province of Occidental Mindoro on Nov. 28, Navy spokesperson Roy Vincent Trinidad said in a statement on Monday, confirming a report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper.

Philippine navy frigate Jose Rizal established radio contact with the Russian submarine, which confirmed its identity as UFA 490 and its intent.

"The Russian vessel stated it was awaiting improved weather conditions before proceeding to Vladivostok, Russia," Trinidad said, without elaborating on why it was in the area.

Philippine naval forces escorted the submarine to ensure compliance with maritime regulations, he added.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/5291198

Archived version

“Instead of taking responsibility for peace and security in the world as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China is opposing our core European interests with its economic and weapons aid to Russia,” German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said in an emailed statement before departing Berlin airport on Sunday for her two-day visit to Beijing.

Vladimir “Putin’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine is a direct threat to our peace. I will also speak in Beijing about the fact that we cannot simply ignore this in our relations with China.”

The European Union is proposing to sanction several Chinese firms that it claims helped Russian companies develop attack drones that were deployed against Ukraine. Baerbock will meet her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing to address this issue, her spokesman said. Germany’s top diplomat will also discuss the humanitarian situation in China, as well as EU tariffs against Chinese electric vehicles that were introduced in October.

Addition:

China Is Studying Russia’s Sanctions Evasion to Prepare for Taiwan Conflict -- (Archived link)

China has been supporting Russia’s economy since the start of the Ukraine war by buying its oil while supplying it with everything from microelectronics to washing machines.

Meanwhile, Beijing has been getting its own strategic benefit: a real-world case study in how to circumvent Western sanctions.

An interagency group, set up by China in the months following the full-scale invasion, has studied the impact of sanctions and produced reports regularly for the country’s leadership, according to people familiar with the matter. The goal is to draw lessons about how to mitigate them, particularly in case a conflict over Taiwan prompts the U.S. and its allies to impose similar penalties on China, the people said.

As part of the effort, Chinese officials periodically visit Moscow to meet with the Russian Central Bank, the Finance Ministry and other agencies involved in countering sanctions, the people said.

The Chinese study effort, which hasn’t previously been reported, is emblematic of the new age of economic warfare unleashed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, where the lines between economic policy and geopolitical strategy are increasingly blurred. That trend is only likely to be amplified by Donald Trump’s second presidential term, where he plans to turbocharge the use of tariffs as a tool for negotiation and coercion.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/5294198

• Pyongyang’s involvement and Russia’s testing of new ballistic missiles in Ukraine mark “a new phase in the war”
• Call on Beijing to end all military or dual-use assistance given to Russia
• MEPs ask for more sanctions against sectors of special economic importance for Russia

In a resolution adopted on Thursday (28 November), the European Parliament condemned Russia’s use of North Korean troops against the Ukrainian army and its testing of new ballistic missiles in Ukraine. These recent escalatory steps represent a new phase in the war and a new risk for Europe’s security as a whole, MEPs argue, calling on the EU and Ukraine’s other partners to respond accordingly.

[...]

Further sanctions for countries providing military support to Russia

Denouncing Iran, Belarus and North Korea for their military support of Russia, MEPs urge the EU member states to further strengthen the sanctions regime against these countries. They stress that both Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and North Korea’s participation in the war and its nuclear and missile programmes constitute grave threats to the rules-based international order.

Involvement of China

MEPs also call on Beijing to end all military or dual-use assistance it is giving to Russia, adding that a refusal to change course risks seriously affecting bilateral EU-China relations. Instead, China could use its significant influence over North Korea and Russia to help reduce tensions, they say.

[...]

Archived version

Over the past few months, multiple women say they have been targeted by Taliban officials and detained under anti-begging laws passed this year. While in prison, they claim they were subjected to sexual abuse, torture and forced labour and witnessed children being beaten and abused.

All the women say they were forced to beg on the streets to feed their children after being unable to find paid employment. Since the Taliban retook power, women have been barred from most forms of paid work.

[...]

In May, the Taliban passed a new law prohibiting “healthy people” from begging on the streets if they had enough money on them to pay for one day’s food. A commission was established to gather beggars in Kabul and across other provinces to register and categorise them as “professional”, “destitute” or “organised”, which involves taking their biometric data and fingerprints. According to Taliban officials, more than 50,000 beggars have already been “rounded up” in Kabul alone.

[...]

Along with multiple reports of rape and torture of women arrested under anti-begging laws, former detainees also say they witnessed the abuse of young children in prison, with one woman alleging that two children were beaten to death while she was in detention.

“No one dared speak,” [a woman who has been imprisoned and is now released] says. “If we spoke up, they’d beat us and call us shameless. Watching those children die before my eyes is something I’ll never forget.”

The death of detainees rounded up under anti-begging laws is factored into the wording of the Taliban’s new law, in which Article 25 states: “If a beggar dies while in custody and has no relatives or if the family refuses to collect the body, the municipal officials will handle the burial.”

[...]

The ruling Georgian Dream party’s disputed victory in the country’s Oct. 26 parliamentary election, which was widely seen as a referendum on Georgia’s aspirations to join the European Union, has sparked major demonstrations and led to an opposition boycott of the parliament.

The opposition has said that the vote was rigged with the help of Russia, Georgia’s former imperial master, with Moscow hoping to keep Tbilisi in its orbit.

The government’s announcement that it was suspending negotiations to join the EU came hours after the European Parliament adopted a resolution that condemned last month’s vote as neither free nor fair. It said the election represented another manifestation of Georgia’s continued democratic backsliding “for which the ruling Georgian Dream party is fully responsible.”

European election observers said October’s vote took place in a divisive atmosphere marked by instances of bribery, double voting and physical violence.

• Rebels with the group Hay’et Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) have seized control of large parts of Aleppo, one of Syria’s largest cities, after a surprise offensive this week.
• The renewed fighting in Aleppo marks a new phase in Syria’s long-running civil war, which began in 2011 during the Arab Spring protests.
• The forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had previously held Aleppo, with the support of allies in Iran, Russia and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
• Russia has responded to the rebel offensive with air strikes, though its military resources are expected to be stretched thin due to its continuing war in Ukraine.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/5231417

Archived link

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council and a vocal critic of Western nations, has reportedly purchased a 3.5-million-pound (USD4.4 million, EUR4.2 million) luxury yacht manufactured in the United Kingdom.

The vessel, named Hurry Up, was produced by Plymouth-based Princess Yachts in 2024 and imported into Russia through a foundation allegedly linked to Medvedev, according to the investigative outlet The Insider.

The foundation, known as the Foundation for the Support of National Maritime Programs, facilitated the import through a related company, documents reveal.

The foundation is headed by Dmitry Ustratov, an associate of Ilya Yeliseyev, a long-time confidant of Medvedev and overseer of his financial interests.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/5231314

Archived link

In yet another move to tighten its grip over Tibetan culture and identity, China has forcibly relocated approximately 200 students from the Lhamo Kirti Monastery school in Amdo (present-day Sichuan province) to state-administered residential schools. This controversial action is part of Beijing’s wider strategy to control Tibetan education and assimilate Tibetan identity, according to intelligence sources.

The Lhamo Kirti Monastery school, a traditional hub for Buddhist learning, has been entirely shut down. Reports indicate that four Tibetan youths who resisted the forced transfer were detained, subjected to political re-education, and subsequently enrolled in a local government school under duress.

“China is systematically erasing Tibetan identity by promoting Mandarin and Chinese cultural values through state-run schools,” read a note from top intelligence agencies. “Over one million Tibetan children are now in state-administered schools, separated from their families and traditional cultural roots.”

Beijing’s push to transfer students from monastic schools to government institutions is seen as part of a broader effort to suppress Tibetan Buddhism and ensure loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Increasing surveillance, restrictions on religious practices, and control over the appointment of Tibetan religious leaders—including the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama—underscore this strategy.

Recent developments coincide with a heightened security presence in Tibetan areas. In September, Chen Wenqing, the head of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, visited the Tibet Autonomous Region (Bod) and Tibetan areas of Amdo and Kham (present-day Sichuan, Qinghai, Yunnan, and Gansu provinces). Chen called for a “resolute crackdown” on separatist activities and ordered local officials to prioritize stability.

The increasing arrests of Tibetans for contacting outsiders or resisting state policies have drawn parallels to the ongoing repression of the Uighur population in East Turkestan (Xinjiang). Sources report that detainees are threatened with transfer to so-called “rehabilitation centers” if they fail to comply with government mandates.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/5201835

The UK House of Commons unanimously voted to reject China’s “distortion of the international law around Taiwan” to undermine its participation in international organizations, including the UN.

It is the fifth legislative body to condemn Beijing's interpretation of UN Resolution 2758, following Australia, Canada, The Netherlands and the EU.

The House said that UN Resolution 2758 passed on Oct. 25, 1971 — which states that the People's Republic of China (PRC) is the only legitimate government of China — does not mention Taiwan and therefore does not establish PRC sovereignty over Taiwan or define its political status.

The chamber urged the UK government to clarify its position that nothing in international law forbids Taiwan’s participation in international organizations such as the UN.

[...]

The UK continues to be a "staunch advocate for Taiwan’s meaningful international participation" in bodies including the UN and the World Health Assembly, UK Foreign Office Minister for the Indo-Pacific Catherine West said yesterday.

The UK government should condemn any attempts by the Chinese Communist Party to “rewrite history,” as this behavior does not benefit Taiwanese, the interests of the UK or the wider international community, West added.

[...]

[Labour Party lawmaker Blair] McDougall said that “diplomatic technicalities on an issue as fraught as the status of Taiwan could have far-reaching consequences for the entire world,” citing the importance of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, shipping routes and geopolitical position.

The economic toll of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be felt in every household in the UK, he added.

McDougall also stressed that the Russian invasion of Ukraine serves as a stark reminder to “form policy on a crisis before the crisis emerges,” he said.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/5166328

Original WSJ article is behind a paywall.

A Chinese commercial ship is suspected of deliberately dragging its anchor to cut undersea cables that connect countries over the internet, The Wall Street Journal reports.

International investigators reportedly believe the crew aboard Yi Peng 3, a bulk carrier full of Russian fertilizer, dragged its anchor for more than 100 miles across the Baltic seabed, damaging the cables that run across it. Two different internet links — one between Sweden’s Gotland Island and Lithuania, and another between Finland and Germany — stopped working earlier this month, prompting the investigation by authorities from all four countries and other nations.

[...]

It’s not the first time European officials have suspected Russia of undersea infrastructure sabotage since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But officials have been hesitant to accuse the Kremlin outright of interference, the Journal reports, in part for fear of further escalating tensions between Russia and Europe.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/5196555

Archived link

In response to rising geopolitical risks, foreign companies are reducing their dependence on China by strengthening economic ties with allied countries and returning production to their domestic markets, writes Chi Hung Kwan, Consulting Fellow at Japan's Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI), and Senior Fellow at the Nomura Institute of Capital Markets Research.

[...]

The 'inward direct investment' as reported in the 'Balance of Payments of China' by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange indicate a significant acceleration in the withdrawal of foreign companies from China. These statistics reveal a sharp decline in net inward direct investment, with the scale of foreign company withdrawal, including business downsizing, now exceeding new investment. In the most recent second quarter of 2024, the net flow was $-14.8 billion, marking the second negative figure recorded since the first in the third quarter of 2023.

[...]

Furthermore, as a key player in the international division of labor for electronic device production, China's factory closures and production halts during the large-scale lockdowns implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted the global supply chain. This prompted many companies to recognize the need to diversify their risk management options and to implement "China + 1" strategies.

[...]

As an example of electronics companies moving away from China, Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. (Foxconn), Apple's largest contract manufacturing partner, is working to reduce its dependence on China and diversify its production bases. In particular, the company has accelerated the construction of factories in India and Vietnam in response to the intensifying U.S.-China conflict since 2018 and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020.

[...]

Furthermore, as a key player in the international division of labor for electronic device production, China's factory closures and production halts during the large-scale lockdowns implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted the global supply chain. This prompted many companies to recognize the need to diversify their risk management options and to implement "China + 1" strategies.

[...]

Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. (Foxconn), Apple's largest contract manufacturing partner, is working to reduce its dependence on China and diversify its production bases.

[...]

South Korea's Samsung Electronics is also withdrawing from China [...] In 2019, it closed its last smartphone factory in China and moved production to Vietnam and India. Following that, PC production also withdrew from China in 2020.

[Japan's] Nintendo transferred part of the production of its flagship game console, the Nintendo Switch, to Vietnam in 2019 [...] Sony also closed its smartphone factory in Beijing in 2019 as part of a restructuring of its global production structure, concentrating production at a factory in Thailand.

[...]

Furthermore, content regulation and internet censorship in China is becoming stricter. The censorship system known as the "Great Firewall" restricts access to many overseas services, posing a major barrier to foreign platform companies doing business in China.

Among information technology companies, the withdrawal of platform companies has been especially significant, encompassing many of the industry's leading global players.

[In addition to platform companies like Airbnb and Amazon,] IBM, a comprehensive IT services company, announced that it will close its research and development division in China in August 2024. This will affect more than 1,000 employees. IBM plans to transfer its research and development functions to other overseas locations and will increase staff in places like India.

[...]

[In the car industry], Suzuki decided to dissolve two joint ventures, Changhe Suzuki and Chongqing Changan Suzuki, in 2018 and withdraw from the Chinese market.

[...] Hyundai Motor sold its Beijing No. 1 Plant in 2021 and its Chongqing Plant to a Chongqing city government-affiliated company in December 2023. The company also plans to sell its Cangzhou plant in Hebei Province soon.

[...] Honda announced in July 2024 that it will close its plant in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province in October and suspend production at its plant in Wuhan, Hubei Province in November. As a result, production capacity in China will be reduced by about 20% from the current annual level of 1.49 million units.

[...] Mitsubishi Motors announced in October 2023 that it would transfer its shares to its joint venture partner Guangzhou Automobile Group and withdraw from the Chinese market. Sales in China peaked at 179,000 units in 2018, falling to 33,000 units in 2022.

[...]

Nippon Steel announced in July 2024 that it will withdraw from its joint venture with China's Baoshan Iron & Steel, which supplies automotive steel sheets to Japanese manufacturers. The decision marks a significant shift in their half-century cooperation, which includes Nippon Steel's assistance in building the Baoshan Steelworks.

[...]

[As] consumption [in China's retail market] has been sluggish due to slowing economic growth and the collapse of the housing bubble [...] many foreign retail companies have decided to withdraw from the Chinese market or downsize their operations.

[...] In June 2019, Carrefour sold 80% of its Chinese business to China's Suning.com Group.

[...] Britain's Tesco sold all its shares in its Chinese joint venture to China Resources Enterprise, marking its complete withdrawal from the Chinese market.

[...] South Korea's Lotte Department Store in 2022, the company [sold its] last store in China [after operating in the country since 2008], in Chengdu, was sold. Meanwhile, Lotte Department Store has shifted the focus of its overseas expansion to Indonesia and Vietnam.

[...] Japan's Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings is also significantly scaling back its China operations. The company first entered China in 1993, [...] However, in 2022, it closed two stores in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, in April 2024 it closed two stores in Tianjin, and in June of the same year it closed its Shanghai Meilongzhen Isetan store. Currently, the company’s only store in China is located in the Isetan Renhan shopping mall in Tianjin.

[...]

Many countries have introduced policies to promote onshoring and friend-shoring to enhance their economic security. Good examples include the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act (enacted in August 2022), which encourages companies from friendly countries to invest in semiconductors in the U.S.; Japan's Economic Security Promotion Act (enacted in May 2022), which strengthens the supply chain of critical materials and promotes technological cooperation with friendly countries; and the European Semiconductor Act (enacted in July 2023), which aims to strengthen the semiconductor ecosystem.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/5165357

Companies around the world are starting to cut prices and costs and scale back activity in China, as the world's second-biggest economy continues to flag despite Beijing's efforts to turn things around.

Big names including Hermes, L'Oreal, Coca-Cola, United Airlines, Unilever, and Mercedes (MBGn.DE) said Chinese customers are curbing spending as a property crisis drags on and youth unemployment stays high.

Some are already shifting their China strategies. French carbon graphite maker Mersen said last week it would close a factory making power transmission products in China because it cannot compete with local rivals.

International food companies such as Danone and Nestle have meanwhile deepened price cuts or are seeking to boost online shopping volumes.

Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey said on an earning call that the operating environment in China remained challenging. "The economy is kind of not taking off," he told investors.

[...]

Birkin handbag maker Hermes is compensating for lower traffic in China with higher average basket values, selling jewellery, leather goods and ready-to-wear for men and women.

After opening a store in Shenzhen last week, Hermes plans a second opening in Shenyang in December and a flagship outlet in Beijing next year.

But for others, business in China has changed for the long term.

"We used to fly, I think, roughly 10 flights a day to China, and I think those days are gone," United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/5134376

The actions are part of China’s attempts to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty, Taiwan's National Security Bureau said.

'State Organs' (國有器官) documents allegations that Chinese government officials engage in organ harvesting and other illegal activities.

From last month to Friday last week, 28 incidents have been reported of theaters or institutions receiving threats, including bomb and shooting threats, if they did not stop showing the documentary, the bureau said.

[...]

Threats have also been received from Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey, Japan, Spain and Russia, suggesting that the criminals are using virtual private networks to hide their origins, it added.

The threats are part of a larger strategy by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to interfere with all levels of Taiwan’s society, the bureau said.

[...]

The bureau vowed to continue to closely monitor the [Chinese Communist Party's] CCP’s cyberintimidation attempts against Taiwanese, bolster domestic security and keep the public informed.

It also said it would seek to build up its international intelligence cooperation as well as domestic security initiatives to confront the CCP’s attempts at isolating and diminishing Taiwan.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/5134864

Archived link

The Russian leader is revisiting the Cold War playbook by using mental manipulation to silence dissidents and its use is growing

[...]

A new Russian bill, which will become law in 2025, will allow the police to gain access to the medical records of people suffering from certain mental illnesses and who are deemed by psychiatrists to be a threat to public order.

Dmitry Kutovoy, a member of Russia’s Psychiatric Association, said he had concerns that amending legislation could contribute to creating a system of oppression using psychiatry. He warned that the authorities might put pressure on medical workers to designate certain people as “activists, political opponents, and so on”.

[...]

Abuse of psychiatry to persecute and intimidate state critics was a popular practice in the Soviet Union. Dissident Alexander Skobov was condemned to compulsory psychiatric treatment twice, in the 1970s and the 1980s [and is already being used by the Russian government to silence critics, e.g., against those to oppose Russia's war in Ukraine].

[...]

One recent high-profile case was that of Viktoria Petrova, who was arrested in May 2022. She was accused of “spreading false information” about the Russian military in anti-war social media posts.

Activist Anush Panina went to support Petrova during her trial in St Petersburg.

“All of a sudden, the court announced that the hearings would be closed to the public, and sent her to a psychiatric hospital,” Panina remembered, speaking to Index from exile.

“It was outrageous and frightening.”

Panina suspects Petrova was punished for continuing to speak up while in detention and on trial. In her final statement to the court, Petrova said that Russia’s war in Ukraine was “a crime against humanity”.

[...]

politico.eu/article/elections-…

Archived version

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis on Tuesday called on NATO to draw strict red lines for Russia over hybrid attacks and to send a unified message about the alliance’s response to such actions.

[...]

Lithuania’s top diplomat noted that an investigation is underway into Monday’s crash of a DHL cargo plane in Vilnius and that “no option has been excluded so far”, adding that the incident “is definitely worrying”.

Landsbergis said that, in this context, allies must send a message both to Russian President Vladimir Putin and their own citizens that attempts by the aggressor to intimidate must stop, or else concrete action will be taken.

[...]

A Spanish national was killed, three other crew members, a Spaniard, a German and a Lithuanian, were injured when the DHL cargo plane crashed near Vilnius Airport on Monday morning.

The Boeing 737-476(SF), which was coming from the German city of Leipzig, was owned by Spain’s Swiftair and used for transporting DHL parcels.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Monday that the crash could have been an accident or a “hybrid incident” involving outside actors.

...