Louvre thieves escaped with just 30 seconds to spare, probe reveals
The thieves who stole crown jewels from the Louvre in October evaded police with just 30 seconds to spare due to avoidable security failures at the Paris museum, a damning investigation revealed on Wednesday, December 10.
The probe, ordered by the culture ministry after the embarrassing daylight heist, revealed that only one of two security cameras was working near the site where the thieves broke in on the morning of Sunday, October 19. Agents in the security headquarters also did not have enough screens to follow the images in real-time, while a lack of coordination meant police were initially sent to the wrong place once the alarm was raised, the report unveiled at the French Sénat's Culture Committee stated.
"It highlights an overall failure of the museum, as well as its supervisory authority, to address security issues," the head of the committee, Laurent Lafon, said at the start of a hearing.
Louvre thieves escaped with just 30 seconds to spare, probe reveals
A parliamentary inquiry into the October robbery, in which over $100 million of jewellery was stolen, revealed that several known security issues, technical failures and poor coordination allowed the thieves to escape.Le Monde with AFP (Le Monde)
EU firms in China accelerating efforts to diversify away from Chinese supply chains as global trade uncertainty deepens, report says
cross-posted from: mander.xyz/post/43380797
European firms are accelerating efforts to diversify away from Chinese supply chains as Beijing's self-reliance drive and export controls deepen global trade uncertainty, the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China said on Wednesday....
The EU's trade imbalance with China widened to 1:4 in container terms, compared with 1:2.7 in 2019, the lobby group said in a report. Persistent deflation and the ongoing depreciation of the yuan against the euro have exacerbated European firms' trade woes.
...
As a result, more than 70% of European firms in China have reviewed their supply chain strategies over the past two years, the report said ... Sectoral disparities are stark: 80% of pharmaceutical firms and 46% of machinery makers are increasing localisation, while 33% of IT and telecom firms and 25% of retailers are diversifying away from China, according to the report.
...
The report said China's willingness to use its supply chain dominance to exert pressure on trade partners is being met with increasing pushback from affected countries, such as a more "offensive" China policy from the EU.
The European Commission will make proposals next month to bolster EU industry, with requirements to prioritise locally manufactured goods that would reduce its reliance on imports from China.
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At least 22 killed in building collapse in Morocco
Fez: At least 22 killed in building collapse in Morocco
The two four-storey buildings that came down in Fez contained eight families, state media report.Aleks Phillips (BBC News)
EU weighs ban on veggie 'burger' and 'sausage' labels
EU delays decision over ban on veggie labels
European lawmakers failed to reach a deal on whether ordinary consumers would be confused by the idea of vegetarian sausages or vegan burgers. Meat producers say it's not that simple.Richard Connor (Deutsche Welle)
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They are all very prominently labeled as vegan on the front and are located in an entirely different section of the supermarket.
If those hints couldn't save you, maybe it's okay that you tried to try a vegan alternative for once before reigniting this culture war issue over other people having options and sometimes being catered to as well.
Sophie Kinsella: Author of Shopaholic series of novels dies aged 55
Sophie Kinsella: Author of Shopaholic series of novels dies aged 55
The author of the Shopaholic series of novels had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer.Steven McIntosh (BBC News)
Police spot toddler steering car on German autobahn
Police officers in western Germany made a shock discovery after they noticed a woman using her phone in the driver's seat. It turned out that someone else was behind the wheel.
A police patrol in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate made a shocking discovery after they came across a driver who appeared to be typing on her mobile phone.
While such behaviour would already be hazardous, what they saw on closer inspection stunned officers. A toddler, less than two years old, was sitting on her lap with both hands on the steering wheel.
According to police, the woman showed no understanding of the risk. She insisted that the child had not been feeling well and that she was simply driving to a fast-food restaurant.
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Excuse me? They were driving on the Autobahn, this type of street with speed limits between 60 (when there's building taking place) and unlimited. Also no article states that she was still steering the vehicle or even still had one hand on the wheel.
This could have ended in a horrific accident, no sensationalism about it.
Sperm bank sold man's cancer-linked genes across Europe
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Often institutions are held accountable and they still don't care, because they still make more money than they will be fined for breaking the laws or rules.
Also, institutions don't make decisions, people running them do. We need to start holding people running those institutions accountable and sending them to jail.
The business is a lucrative and rapidly growing one as more medical procedures become available and women opt to have children later in life, sometimes on their own or with same-sex partners."Kjeld," a tall white man with light brown hair and brown eyes who was listed as an "M.S. Economy Student."
So a lot of people want sperm for tall, white, well educated men and I guess not that many white, tall, well educated men are interested in donating. Limits are difficult to enforce because different countries have different laws. I don't think there's an easy solution. IVF and sperm banks will always be riskier than direct impregnation by well known, long term partner. You either have to make access to it more difficult and expensive or accept that there will be some risk involved.
Just 0.001% hold three times the wealth of poorest half of humanity, report finds
Fewer than 60,000 people – 0.001% of the world’s population – control three times as much wealth as the entire bottom half of humanity, according to a report that argues global inequality has reached such extremes that urgent action has become essential.
The authoritative World Inequality Report 2026, based on data compiled by 200 researchers, also found that the top 10% of income-earners earn more than the other 90% combined, while the poorest half captures less than 10% of total global earnings.
Wealth – the value of people’s assets – was even more concentrated than income, or earnings from work and investments, the report found, with the richest 10% of the world’s population owning 75% of wealth and the bottom half just 2%.
In almost every region, the top 1% was wealthier than the bottom 90% combined, the report found, with wealth inequality increasing rapidly around the world.
“The result is a world in which a tiny minority commands unprecedented financial power, while billions remain excluded from even basic economic stability,” the authors, led by Ricardo Gómez-Carrera of the Paris School of Economics, wrote.
Just 0.001% hold three times the wealth of poorest half of humanity, report finds
Data from World Inequality Report also showed top 10% of income-earners earn more than the other 90%Jon Henley (The Guardian)
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New Trump doctrine identifies ‘weak’ Europe’s problem: not enough racism
During Donald Trump’s first administration, commentators sagely advised that his words, were to be “taken seriously, not literally”. Experience suggests that formula puts the cart before the horse.
A new US National Security Strategy and a series of comments from US officials, presidential proxies and Trump himself, have culminated in what could be one of the most profound crises for Atlanticism, the security doctrine that has sustained peace and democracy in Europe since the end of the second world war.
Where Trump’s point of departure was once the failure of Europe to contribute sufficiently to its own security, he has now embraced a more alarming vision.
Coloured both by racism and a staggering contempt for Europe’s political institutions and leaders, he has warned of the risk of civilisational collapse on a continent he barely knows, and that he has viewed more often from the window of an armoured sedan.
New Trump doctrine identifies ‘weak’ Europe’s problem: not enough racism
A new US national security strategy represents one of the most profound crises for the Atlantic alliance since 1945Peter Beaumont (The Guardian)
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The orange tainted cunt can't die soon or painfully enough. May he suffer long.
Meanwhile I'll be sipping a nice whisky here in "failing" Europe.
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Nobel peace prize winner says ‘Venezuela will breathe again’ as she is awarded prize in absentia – Europe live
The Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado is “safe” and “will be” in Oslo after “a journey in a situation of extreme danger,” although she will not attend the Nobel peace prize ceremony this afternoon, organisers have said.
Machado has been seen only once in public since going into hiding in August last year amid a tense showdown with the president, Nicolás Maduro. Venezuela’s attorney general has said Machado, 58, would be considered a “fugitive” if she left the country to accept the award.
Starmer, Merz and Macron take phone call with Trump on Ukraine peace talks – as it happened
European leaders confirm that they spoke with the US president earlier today about ‘the state of talks’Fran Lawther (The Guardian)
Is Trump’s stark new security strategy the end of the liberal world order? Europeans will need convincing
U.S. President Donald Trump’s new national security strategy appears to blow up some of the key principles behind 80 years of European collective defence, challenging the foundation of the continent’s relationship with the country.
But on whether the White House will — or even can — follow through on many of its more radical or transformative demands, many European capitals will likely need more convincing.
In a blistering attack, Trump’s new policy portrays Europe’s governments as weak and ineffective. Migration has destroyed the continent’s self-confidence, it claims, accusing the European Union of contributing to a loss of national sovereignty, weakened political freedoms and the diminished effectiveness of individual nation states.
Not a word is mentioned of Russia being an adversary — or the instigator of a horrific, ongoing war against its neighbour Ukraine.
The document does not say the U.S. core interest should be the defeat of Russia and the return of Ukraine’s territories, but rather that it should seek to restore “strategic stability" with Russia.
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Don't buy into his rule-by-decree framing. Just because Trump wants something doesn't mean he'll get it. If he can't get what he wants by bluster and bullying, he often moves on to the next distraction.
For example, he has loudly demanded that Tish James and James Comey should be thrown in jail. So far that's led to failure, with no sign it's going to change. And his invasion of US cities by the National Guard and ICE has not gone according to his maximalist plan, either. Neither has his tariff imbecility, or his attempts to influence foreign elections.
What the security strategy does reveal is that the higher reaches of the US government have been captured by pro-Russian fifth columnists. Patriots, plan and act accordingly.
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Yeah I have apps on my phone which I didn’t even know served ads until I left my home net, thanks to Tailscale i don’t have to now.
wow that reads like an ad
US tariffs ruin education dreams for children in India’s diamond hub
US tariffs ruin education dreams for children in India’s diamond hub
For decades, India’s diamond industry offered workers a way to a better income and life for their families. Not anymore.Anuj Behal (Al Jazeera)
Where in the world are wealth and income most unequal?
Where in the world are wealth and income most unequal?
The richest 10 percent of the world’s population owns three-quarters of all personal wealth.Marium Ali (Al Jazeera)
‘They’re trying to get rich off it’: US contractors vie to rebuild Gaza, with ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ team in the lead
Exclusive: group behind notorious Florida immigration detention center created bid for reconstruction deal
Trump administration insiders and well-connected Republican businesses have been jostling to dominate pending humanitarian aid and reconstruction logistics in the shattered Gaza Strip, according to sources and documents reviewed by the Guardian.
With three-quarters of Gaza’s structures damaged or destroyed by two years of Israeli strikes, the rebuilding effort to come – estimated at $70bn by the United Nations – could be a rich prize for companies that specialize in construction, demolition, transportation and logistics.
But there’s no way to issue long-term contracts for reconstruction or humanitarian aid yet: a Board of Peace, chaired by Donald Trump, was endorsed by the United Nations to administer the territory but is not yet in operation. And the mandate of the new Civil-Military Coordination Center is limited.
thisisbutaname likes this.
Foreign tourists could be required to disclose 5 years of social media histories under Trump administration plan
Foreign tourists could be required to disclose 5 years of social media histories under Trump administration plan
The Customs and Border Protection proposal would apply even to countries that don't require visas to enter.Julia Ainsley (NBC News)
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Hong Kong: UN rights chief voices concern over ‘draconian’ laws, in wake of deadly apartment fire
cross-posted from: lemmy.sdf.org/post/47035078
[...]“The people of Hong Kong understandably want answers and accountability, so that the hundreds of victims are properly compensated and to avoid such a tragedy occurring again," UN human rights chief Volker Türk said.
Mr. Türk noted that the authorities appointed an independent review committee and initiated criminal and anti-corruption investigations into the fire – but have so far stopped short of appointing a commission of inquiry with full investigative powers.
[,,,]
“I am deeply concerned by reports that the territory’s draconian security laws are being applied against individuals who have called publicly for a transparent and independent inquiry, a review of construction oversight, government accountability, and support for affected residents, among other things,” he said.
“I urge the authorities to drop these cases against those seeking accountability.”
The UN rights chief stressed that several provisions and practices under the 2020 National Security Law and the 2024 Safeguarding National Security Ordinance do not comply with international human rights law, particularly the principles of legality, necessity and proportionality governing permissible restrictions on rights.
[...]
“The cumulative impacts of these laws reflect a systemic erosion in enjoyment of human rights, including the fundamental freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly and association in what was once a vibrant hub for civil society, vigorous debate on public policy, and independent media in the region,” he said.
The High Commissioner also expressed concerns about electoral changes which have reduced the proportion of directly elected District Council seats to less than 20 per cent of its full membership.
“The compelled dissolution of major political parties has effectively eliminated organized political opposition,” he said.
[...]
Mr. Türk insisted that “there is an opportunity to restore meaningful civic space in Hong Kong, by rolling back these measures that restrict political participation and suppress dissent.”
Hong Kong: UN rights chief voices concern over ‘draconian’ laws, in wake of deadly apartment fire
UN human rights chief Volker Türk has voiced concern over reports that “draconian security laws” in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China are being used to clampdown on people calling for a probe into the deadly fire at an apartment co…UN News
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Brazilian lawmakers approve bid to reduce Bolsonaro's jail term after ruckus
On Tuesday, chaos broke out in Brazil's lower house ahead of a successful vote on a sentence-reduction bill for Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro. Leftist MP Glauber Braga was forcibly removed by police after denouncing a 'coup offensive' and occupying the Speaker's chair.Brazil's lower house of Congress approved a bill early on Wednesday, December 10, that could drastically reduce the sentence of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who has been serving 27 years in jail for staging a coup. If ratified by the Senate, the 70-year-old far-right leader, who has been behind bars since late November, could see his sentence cut to just over two years.
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Children Flood Putin With Complaints About Roblox Ban, Kremlin Says
Children Flood Putin With Complaints About Roblox Ban, Kremlin Says
Children in Russia have flooded the Kremlin with complaints about authorities banning the Roblox gaming platform, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said Tuesday.The Moscow Times
Roomba maker iRobot files for bankruptcy, to go private after buyout
Paywall Bypass Link: archive.is/3G4fp
Dec 14 (Reuters) - Roomba vacuum cleaner maker iRobot (IRBT.O), said on Sunday that it had filed for bankruptcy protection, and would go private after being acquired by Picea, its primary manufacturer.The company, which raised concerns about staying in business in March, filed for bankruptcy in the District of Delaware as it grapples with macroeconomic and tariff-related uncertainties.
https://www.reuters.com/technology/irobot-enters-chapter-11-lender-acquire-roomba-maker-2025-12-15/
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Trans woman took on police and won after being referred to men's help service
ABC News
ABC News provides the latest news and headlines in Australia and around the world.Josie Taylor (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
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She did get support though, just the wrong group. Gendered services aren't really the issue here, that aspect seems like it worked fine except that she was referred incorrectly.
An aside, but gender division of services is not inherently problematic. Most DV support is done through the same organizations, but male and female DV care has very different needs. The number of men who seek DV support because they are actively at risk of grievous physical harm is vanishingly small, for example; men are generally at risk of losing housing, medical care, are being prevented from accessing their residence or their children are at risk and so male DV support is set up to provide those because that is usually what men most urgently need addressing. This is very counter to womens DV support, which is almost always about removing them from imminent harm ASAP and everything else is secondary. Connecting people to systems designed to provide what they likely most urgently need is critical to providing DV care, and errors can be then corrected once the urgent issues are addressed.
There's no perfect solution, and unfortunately going with what statistically will improve responses is the best you can hope for. Incredibly rare cases like this, which could have been resolved by simply speaking to the social workers involved, should not be the reason the whole system is slowed down - the solution here is just to make sure people are recorded as their correct genders.
Ms Wylder is now questioning why Victoria Police prioritised defending the case for more than two years.
Presumably because the court system is broken? Two years for lawsuits against a public service is almost fast for the canadian court system. IDK this seems... Like, yeah, the system was clearly broken - but it wasn't like they even misgendered her solely on the basis of anti-trans bias, they even recorded her as potentially being pregnant. It seems like the system just made a mistake, or referenced another system that hadn't updated her gender.
From working with these systems, social service referrals are not handled by the police - that is given over to another agency, who match against their own records to confirm identity instead of taking the information from the police reports. This is done because the cops are idiots who write things down wrong all the time - it just seems like in this one instance the cops recorded things right and the referenced systems did not have the correct gender information for her yet (possibly because it had not been officially changed?)
Honestly this really seems like the cops didn't screw up, it was the social service group that did the referral who borked things - which may be why the cops fought this, it's not like there's tons of examples of them handling transgender-involved anything correctly....
UK inquiry told special forces had “deliberate policy” to “kill fighting-aged males” in Afghanistan
UK inquiry told special forces had “deliberate policy” to “kill fighting-aged males” in Afghanistan
N1466 is the highest-ranking former special forces officer to provide evidence of war crimes. He was the assistant chief of staff for operations in UKSF headquarters.World Socialist Web Site
Yes, and I support Russia's Special Military Operation as I am not a big fan of Nazis.
WSWS has an okay MBFC Credibility Rating.
Oh come on, you don't really believe that Nazi shit, do you? That is beyond transparent and dumb and .... FFS, it just pisses me off that people can be THAT dumb.
And you still call a multi year wat a "special operation"? I thought even Putin stopped calling it that, too obviously bullshit, but apparently there are still IQs out there measured i shoe sizes.
That the thought entered your head is one thing, but that it left your mouth (well fingers) is just shamefully stupid.
Oh come on, you don’t really believe that Nazi shit, do you?
They look like Nazis.
They
They conduct pogroms like Nazis.
Ukrainian authorities shoot protesters in Mariupol 2014.
At this video you can see the action where "new" Ukrainian authorities in 2014 year suppresses the protest of the ethnically Russian population of Mariupol, ...YouTube
And Russia is so lovely.
If a country that is filled with many problems. Look at how poorly homosexuals are treated in Russia for example, it is sad.
They don’t do any of those things!
I believe that Ukraine is the only country in the world to massacre people who were merely celebrating the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Fucking Fascist pundit
I am not exactly a fan of fascism. It is a garbage ideology that only created suffering.
Violent Clashes in Mariupol on Victory Day: Russian Roulette in Ukraine (Dispatch 36)
Subscribe to VICE News here: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE-NewsIn an effort to curb further unrest, the Ukrainian government canceled the majority of the v...YouTube
Oh come on, you don’t really believe that Nazi shit, do you?
::: spoiler what do you make of this?
(image borrowed from this comment which also has many links...)
:::
Will you tankies ever not prove yourselves insane?
Just once, I want to interact with a tankie who breaks the stereotypes and the mold. Just a bit.
Seriously. I can kinda get along with the general concept of communism/socialism - wealth should belong to the people who do the actual work and no one should have to struggle.
But then these insane people support the worst dictators murdering innocent people and try to pretend it's justified. Absolute trash people.
Russian's military has just as many and likely significantly more Nazis than Ukraine's. So shouldn't you support neither side?
Or is it the Russian Nazis are okay right now because they are fighting against the Western Nazis?
Related to the disgusting statements here some related articles:
Russian fascism: the six principles of Putin’s nationalist ideology
Russian neo-Nazi group 'Rusich' regularly posts images of war crimes
After 16 years in prison for the murders of a lawyer and a journalist, former Russian neo-Nazi activist Yevgeniya Khassis is free and talking
In early 2009, Yevgeniya Khassis helped Nikita Tikhonov murder attorney Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova.Meduza
Searching for eBook reader solution
cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/39848038
I bought myself a fancy new TLC 11 Nxtpaper Gen 2 with a cool e-ink type display. It’s an android tablet and I’m breaking free from Apple.
That means no more Apple Books for my epubs. That also means, I’m now looking for a good solution to annotating epubs/pdfs (mostly highlights) on Android.
I’d loveeee it it had some bring your own storage sync (webdav) or just plays well with the local storage for using syncthing etc.
What are the best options?
If anyone was wondering: tcl.com/us/en/products/mobile/…
11 inch display with 60 hz refresh, but it sounds like regular lcd rather than e-ink? It has an 8000mah battery that it says can run the tablet through a full day, so that's nothing like an epaper tablet. It sounds more like a drawing tablet, as it has a pressure sensitive pen.
Anyway, I've been using Librera FD for reading epubs on Android. Its blurb mentions annotations but I've never tried that feature.
I have an Inkplate 10 e-paper tablet but haven't been using it.
I see, yeah there is something about it in the blurb. How do you like the tablet? Is it responsive? Is it full of Android bloatware? Do you know if it is rootable?
I see there is a 14 inch version that's about $300 and that starts to get interesting. It's not "2nd gen" though. And, I had thought of TCL as a lower tier manufacturer with quality issues, but I hadn't looked into it much.
I like that the tablet has an SD (probably microSD) slot. Don't like that there's no headphone jack. There's plenty of space in those things compared to a phone.
Thanks, it is kind of intriguing though I keep telling myself to just use normal Linux stuff instead of Android. I'd want the 14 inch one which is around $300. Is there any trouble installing F-droid and apps from there?
Alternatives I'm thinking of include Lenovo Yoga laptop (16 inch) and a Raspberry Pi thing with an HDMI monitor (that would be plug-in only but I mostly read at home).
Tell us of your experience with NOSTR
This survey was created so the Nostr community can better understand itself and help advance the Nostr protocol and ecosystem.
The Fediverse is the network and NOSTR is one of its protocols.
i do not know where you get that impression. antisemitism, conspiracy theories and general racism are soooo common if you just browse one of the public feeds on primal, ditto etc. not to mention like 1 in 5 posts are just bitcoin posting.
we do have instances of fascist chuds on ActivityPub, but they're at least a little less easy to run into if you go to our equivalent of a public firehose like mastodon.social.
i will say there's parts of the nostr protocol i prefer over ActivtyPub, but you'll never catch me anywhere near that nazi bar
The Council of Europe should adopt a convention on transnational repression, rights groups say
cross-posted from: mander.xyz/post/43319573
Web archive link
Over 1,000 documented TNR [Transnational Repression] cases have occurred since 2014, affecting individuals across 100 countries and involving at least 44 perpetrator states. Europe has emerged as a critical venue for TNR, with a growing number of targeted journalists, human rights defenders, political opponents, and whistleblowers seeking safety and protection on European soil.Despite the scope of the problem, there is currently no binding European or international legal instrument specifically addressing TNR. Existing human rights instruments, including the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), while applicable in principle, do not offer comprehensive safeguards tailored to the realities of TNR.
https://ifex.org/the-council-of-europe-should-adopt-a-convention-on-transnational-repression/
False claims Afrikaners are persecuted threaten South Africa’s sovereignty, says president
White supremacist ideology and false claims that South Africa’s Afrikaner minority is being racially persecuted pose a threat to the country’s sovereignty and national security, the country’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has warned.Since taking office for his second US presidential term in January, Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed without evidence that South Africa’s government is seizing land and encouraging violence against white farmers.
False claims Afrikaners are persecuted threaten South Africa’s sovereignty, says president
Cyril Ramaphosa says theories, promoted by Donald Trump, ‘conveniently align with wider notions of white supremacy’Rachel Savage (The Guardian)
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Seizing land from white farmers in a continent where said white people are not indigenous is such a white thing to say.
Power to the South African government! 👊
~Feel free to use that fist however you see fit.~
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*undeveloped land.
They're not having their homes taken as far as I'm aware just land good for farming and industry that is just being sat on by wealthy families.
Umami is vulnerable - upgrade immediately
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All umami instances have been infected with a persisting crypto miner.
Source for that claim? Because vulnerable does not mean infected.
Also, I'm kinda glad my instance has been offline for a while now because of database trouble. That was lucky.
Look insideReact2Shell
Just another day on the job
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He was a Russian activist in exile, now his own wife accused him of spying: Poland has charged a little-known Russian opposition figure with espionage and participating in a bomb plot
cross-posted from: mander.xyz/post/43304972
Web archive link...
[Igor] Rogov, 29, was arrested in July 2024 after, prosecutors say, an explosives-filled parcel that had been addressed to him was found in a warehouse in central Poland. In their indictment, the prosecutors say that during their investigation into the package they established that Mr. Rogov had cooperated with the [Russian spy agency] F.S.B.
In addition to spying, he was accused of participating in a Russian plot to send incendiary packages on flights around Europe. Fires last year at shipping hubs in Britain and Germany were linked to the alleged plot, part of a broader Russian campaign of hybrid attacks against Europe that Western officials say have included drone incursions, cyberwarfare and acts of sabotage.
...
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/world/europe/russia-spy-poland.html
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Let's be carefull now with the NYT... is there another source?
Checks out, I found Moscow Times:
A Russian national charged in Poland with spying for Russian intelligence has admitted to passing information to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Polish media reported Monday, citing case files.
Investigators also allege that Rogov received a courier shipment containing components for a bomb, including liquid explosives, fuses and a power source.
Russian Charged With Spying in Poland Admits Passing Data to FSB – Polish Media
A Russian national charged in Poland with spying for Russian intelligence has admitted to passing information to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Polish media reported Monday, citing case files.The Moscow Times
‘I don’t know who I can trust,’ says Canadian YouTuber harassed by Chinese government
cross-posted from: lemmy.sdf.org/post/46973777
ArchivedChinese government circulated sexually explicit deepfakes of dissident Yao Zhang.
Yao Zhang says she doesn’t have any friends, yet every week, thousands of her 175,000 YouTube subscribers tune in to her channel to listen to her live takes on Chinese current affairs.
“China isn’t a democratic country. Everyone suffers in that regime,” Zhang told Radio-Canada during an interview held somewhere between Montreal and Quebec City.
Concerned for her safety, the 39-year-old guards any information that could give away her location.
And for good reason: the Quebec YouTuber, who refuses to be silenced, has been the target of an intimidation campaign by the Chinese government for over a year.
“I have to be very, very careful,” she said. “I stopped all communications with the Chinese community because I don’t know who I can trust.”
[...]
Trained in accounting at McGill University, Zhang did a 180 during the pandemic and began offering news commentary on YouTube, which she continues to do today. The Communist Party of China and president Xi Jinping are often the subjects of her criticisms.
“I’m with Taiwan, I’m with the Uyghurs, I’m with Hong Kong. I’m against the Chinese government,” said the pro-democracy activist.
It was in September 2024 that Zhang first noticed sexually explicit AI-generated images of herself circulating online.
“It wasn’t just one photo. There were many, many of them,” she remembered with disgust.
Shared by anonymous accounts, the images were published on social media under posts of official accounts belonging to the Canadian government and then prime minister Justin Trudeau.
[...]
For the YouTuber, there was no doubt the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was behind what she was seeing. And she was right.
In March, Global Affairs Canada (GAC) released a statement blaming the PRC for a new "spamouflage" campaign using sexually explicit AI-generated images to target individuals in Canada. Zhang says the government told her she is the first documented case of the campaign.
“This new campaign employs various tactics to intimidate, belittle and harass individuals based in Canada who are critical of the PRC,” reads the statement.
Notably, Zhang and members of her family have been doxed. Her date of birth, phone and passport numbers all appear on a doxing website that labels her as a “traitor.” The site, which is still accessible to this day, also uses degrading language to spread defamatory sexually explicit statements about her.
[...]
Though the YouTuber benefits from a certain degree of protection in Canada, she can’t say the same for her family in China.
In 2024, after a trip to Taiwan to support the island’s independence, Zhang said China's national police put pressure on her aunt and grandmother living there in an attempt to silence her.
The strategy is a well known one, detailed in a report published earlier this year by the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions.
“[The PRC] employs a wide range of tradecraft to carry out its activities, one of which is to use a person’s family and friends living in the PRC as leverage against them,” it reads.
[...]
Zhang says she’s received death threats against her and her family and is worried about retribution if she were to ever return to China.
“I’ll go to prison,” she said. “I’ll be like all those who have wanted to change China.”
[...]
Transnational repression is a “genuine scourge” in the country, concluded Marie-Josée Hogue, who presided over the public inquiry into foreign interference. The threat it poses “is real and growing,” adds the report.
The former Canadian ambassador to China, Guy Saint-Jacques, who occupied the function from 2012 to 2016, says budgets allocated to cracking down on dissent “increased substantially” after Xi came to power in 2012.
[...]
Notably, an Enquête investigation revealed that a Chinese dissident found dead in British Columbia in 2022, Hua Yong, was the target of an espionnage operation led by the Chinese secret police.
[...]
Zhang says she is at peace and hopes that more Chinese people in Canada and elsewhere in the world will speak out.
“I am using my life for something very important,” she says.
[...]
‘I don’t know who I can trust,’ says Quebec YouTuber harassed by Chinese government
Yao Zhang knew something was up when she started seeing fake sexually explicit images of her circulating online.Gaétan Pouliot (CBC)
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“We Don’t Deserve This”: Survivors of Super Typhoon Odette File Claims Against Shell
“We Don’t Deserve This”: Survivors of Super Typhoon Odette File Claims Against Shell
Last week the survivors of Super Typhoon Odette that struck the Philippines in 2021 filed what may be the most ambitious climate lawsuit to date against global oil giant Shell.Drilled
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Israeli Ministers Wear Noose Pins to Symbolize Support for Killing Palestinians
cross-posted from: ibbit.at/post/127040
Ultranationalist Israeli politicians, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, wore golden noose-shaped lapel pins to a meeting on Monday in order to show their “commitment” to advancing a widely condemned bill to mandate the death penalty for “terrorists” who kill Israelis. The pins resemble the yellow ribbon pins that Israeli leaders have worn throughout their genocide to to…From Truthout via this RSS feed
Israeli Ministers Wear Noose Pins to Symbolize Support for Killing Palestinians
The pins resemble the hostage pins that Israeli leaders have worn throughout the Gaza genocide.Sharon Zhang (Truthout)
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Huh, how about a large yellow star of David?
You know, indicate how proud you are to be Jewish.
What are you using n8n for?
I see n8n everywhere and while I love automation I can't think of a use case, that couldn't be realized in Bash instead.
So I'm wondering, if you use n8n what are you using it for?
I self host n8n in a docker container on my home lab mainly as something to just fuck about with.
Production workloads include leveraging my work calendar and completing my daily time sheets, cleaning up my mailbox at the end of the week, and providing access alerts for my Traefik proxy.
My most common use case is telegram integration via bot API - adding mobile controls to services that otherwise don't have acceptable (for me) UI. I've also tried their LLM integration and tool node to create a simple agent that reaponds directly to messages, but for now it can only save links to my linkwarden instance. I found it acceptable and plan to add more tools. Basically, i want it to automatically decide what to do with stuff that i send to chat.
I can't think of a use case, that couldn't be realized in Bash instead.
Well, everything can be done in bash (or in python, more probably), but n8n makes it easier to tweak. With "batteries included" many stuff can be done without prior research and without external dependencies. They even added built-in databases in recent release.
Nobel laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk urges Germany to provide Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles, calls on Berlin to act more decisively toward Moscow
cross-posted from: mander.xyz/post/43260260
Human rights defender and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who advocates for Ukraine on the international stage, Oleksandra Matviichuk, has called on Germany to supply Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles and to take a more decisive stance against Russia....
Matviichuk noted that it takes Russian missiles less than a minute to reach, for example, a school in Kharkiv.
“The only way to prevent this is to stop these missiles while they are still at a military airfield in Russia. For that, we need Taurus,” she told the media group Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) in an interview.
As stated, the human rights defender urged Germany to more thoroughly analyse the mistakes the country had made in its relations with Russia, particularly highlighting cases of bribery of the German elite during the construction of the gas pipeline.
In her view, until 2022, Germany — like the civilised world in general — allowed Moscow to act with impunity for far too long.
...
“Russian war crimes in Chechnya, Moldova, Georgia, Mali, Libya, Syria — no one was held accountable,” Matviichuk emphasised, calling on Berlin to act more decisively now by reassessing its overall policy toward Moscow.
“We are living in times that test all of us for genuine leadership, genuine courage, and genuine responsibility,” she stated.
Earlier, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz did not oppose supplying long-range missiles to Ukraine. However, after taking office, he has not made the corresponding decision.
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Nobel laureate Matviichuk urges Germany to provide Ukraine with Taurus missiles
Human rights defender and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who advocates for Ukraine on the international stage, Oleksandra Matviichuk, has called on Germany to supply Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles and to take a more decisive stance against Russi…Ukrinform
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"Industry does not work miracles": in Germany, production of the Taurus necessary for Kiev has stopped
Production of Taurus cruise missiles has been suspended in GermanyВПК.name
Thomas Gottschild, head of the German representative office of the MBDA missile manufacturer, said that the production of Taurus cruise missiles in Germany has been suspended due …
Major earthquake strikes Japan's north-east coast
A major earthquake of magnitude 7.6 has hit Japan's north-eastern region.The quake occurred at 23:15 (14:15 GMT) at a depth of 50km (31 miles), about 80km off the coast of the Aomori region, the Japan Meteorological Agency said,
It prompted tsunami warnings which have now been downgraded to advisories, while waves of 40cm (16in) were seen in some places.
Local media reports that some people in the region have been injured, while trains have been suspended as a precaution.
Dozens injured after magnitude 7.5 quake strikes northern Japan
Authorities have warned that a stronger tremor could occur in the coming days.Patrick Jackson (BBC News)
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Magnitude 7 earthquakes seem to happen every few years in Japan. Not a every day thing at least.
Fediverse Enhancement Proposals
A Fediverse Enhancement Proposal (FEP) is a document that provides information to the Fediverse community. The goal of a FEP is to improve interoperability and well-being of diverse services, applications and communities that form the Fediverse.The FEP Process is an initiative of the SocialHub developer community, a liaison of the W3C Social Web Incubator Community Group.
Discovered this today. If you're on the developer side of things or are interested in how the Fediverse / ActivityPub is being built and enhanced, take a look at this codeberg repo.
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Re: Fediverse Enhancement Proposals
Indeed, this is where the majority of improvements to the Fediverse are shared for archival.
The very way Lemmy Piefed Mbin and NodeBB can communicate and synchronize communities is detailed in those FEPs. Check out FEP 1b12.
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What's the security situation when opening a jellyfin server up for casting?
when reading through the jellyfin with chromecast guide i realized that it would probably be less effort to just let the casting api be public, with the added bonus that i could then cast my library to any device that supports it. but that seems like it would paint a giant target on the server.
what's the recommended way of doing stuff like this? ideally i want to be able to go to someone's house and just play some of my media on their tv.
not that any of this is doable in the near future, since i'm behind cgnat and won't get my colocated bounce server up until spring.
Jellyfin with Chromecast
Jellyfin with Chromecast. GitHub Gist: instantly share code, notes, and snippets.Gist
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An Idea I am also using for other things where I do not want to use a VPN:
1. Setup a reverse proxy (e.g. traefik)
2. Setup an oauth middleware for everything (forward Auth)
3. Create rules to exempt very specific request based on IP, headers, etc... from the middleware.
In the casting use case you have to find a request and check if there is any parameter that you can use to safely whitelist the request.
Ofcourse someone could get behind this and fake the request to match the whitelist. But without knowing that there is even a whitelist no one will really try
My workaround will be to get a Chromecast or anything castable, a travel router (probably gli.net), setup a VPN and use that.
Any other device that's outside of my home is unable to open a connection due to authelia intercepting the connection and the client unable to understand that.
frongt
in reply to HellsBelle • • •