Spain will send a navy vessel to support the Global Sumud Flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced in New York on Wednesday, the El Pais newspaper reported, Anadolu reports.
“A maritime action vessel equipped with all the necessary resources will set sail from Cartagena tomorrow in case it is necessary to assist the flotilla and carry out any rescues,” Sanchez said.
Officials stressed that the mission of the European ships would not be to confront possible Israeli aggression but rather to provide humanitarian assistance if needed. The Spanish Navy vessel will operate in international waters.
From the late 1960s until 1992, Danish authorities forced around 4,500 Inuit women, around half of all those of child-bearing age, to wear a contraceptive coil — or intrauterine device (IUD) — without their consent.
Noninvasive brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are safe, cost-effective, and hold promise for many, but face challenges such as imprecise, unintuitive control.
China's top market regulator has drafted basic requirements for food delivery platform services for public consultation. The move marks the government's latest effort to step up oversight of industries that have drawn wide social attention.
The Grayzone was informed that Shillman announced his termination of contributions to TPUSA during a private dinner of another organization he funds, the American Freedom Alliance (AFA). According to an attendee of the event, which was held in Los Angeles on September 6, Shillman stated that he would be ending his donations to Kirk, diverting them instead to reliably pro-Likud, anti-Islam groups like AFA.
Besides nurturing the career of Kirk, Shillman has sponsored the David Horowitz Freedom Center, named for the neocon operative who Kirk described as his “mentor.” Anti-Islam activists from Frank Gaffney to the English hooligan Tommy Robinson, to Dutch politician Geert Wilders and Canada’s Rebel Media have benefitted from Shillman’s support as well. Shillman has also invested substantially in the career of Laura Loomer.
The AFA’s homepage is currently promoting a $250,000 matching fund donation from an unnamed donor directly below a tribute to Kirk.
My understanding is that Chinese EVs are pretty much superior in every way to their American counterparts, but will we ever get the chance to test drive one over here?
Ahhhhh ok so a western politician insulted dear leader so of course y’all are spun up about it while the rest of us don’t even remember that it happened
What do you mean by "dear leader?" I oppose both Trump and Harris, and think Harris is displaying clown-like behavior by attacking Trump while attacking the left.
To be fair, China is socialist, the "problem" is that that's increasingly obvious to be a good thing that has brought the PRC tremendous success, led by the CPC.
All states are "authoritarian," though. States are extensions of the ruling class in any given class society, capitalists in capitalist economies and the working class in socialist economies. The state wields the authority of the ruling class against other classes whenever class conflict arises. The extent to which authority is used depends on the circumstances a given society is in, Nazi Germany and modern Germany both have the same capacity for authoritarianism but are in different circumstances (though that seems to be changing).
The only way to get beyond such talk of "authoritarianism" is to eliminate the state by eliminating its basis, class society, and the only way to do that is to collectivize all of production and distribution. Until we get there, it's necessary for the working class to be the ruling class that oppresses the capitalists.
È ormai, al di là di tutto, tornato per me il periodo dell’anno in cui devo professionalmente mettermi a mannaggiare, perché inevitabilmente l’università spaccata è ricominciata. E stavolta in realtà non ho proprio parole, perché non so se essere contenta del fatto che le cose non si prospettano troppo indecenti… o se disperarmi del fatto […]
universitaria rompenza, mo che ogni cosa riparte e son rogne!
È ormai, al di là di tutto, tornato per me il periodo dell’anno in cui devo professionalmente mettermi a mannaggiare, perché inevitabilmente l’università spaccata è ricominciata. E stavolta in realtà non ho proprio parole, perché non so se essere contenta del fatto che le cose non si prospettano troppo indecenti… o se disperarmi del fatto che pure stavolta questi non potevano fare a meno di creare aspetti rognosi; sull’orario, principalmente, eccallà. 🤖
Mamma mia, questo è così pezzotto… ma vado con ordine. Innanzitutto, nessun giorno di riposo per me, solo grandi rotture; un giorno faccio giornata quasi piena, e il resto è tutto spezzato, a volte metà giornata e a volte pure meno… ma, se questa disposizione fosse più ordinata, mi starebbe anche bene andare 5 giorni su 5; alla fine, al liceo ce ne andavo ben 6, quindi a confronto questo sarebbe gran lusso… chiaramente c’è altro. Ho per due giorni lezione all’orario più peggiore della storia, cioè le 13:30, proprio a rompimento di cazzo per fare in modo che io non possa pranzare decentemente, completo, a casina… e per inciso, pure se accettassi di convertirmi al milanesimo e pranzare alle 12, non potrei, perché a quell’ora massimo devo prendere il bus. E, in tali due giorni, ho cose solo a quell’orario… in altre parole, non solo tutto il rompimento dell’andare e del tornare è per appena una (1!) materia, ma poi c’è il classico buco merdoso per cui devo aspettare un’ora buona per l’autobus… aiuto! ☠️
Analizzando ulteriormente, poi, esce ancora del peggio, figuriamoci. Il lunedì devo andare lì la mattina presto, mentre martedì e mercoledì ho solo il pomeriggio (quello sputo di pomeriggio, come ho appena detto!), giovedì ho sia la mattina che il pomeriggio, e venerdì di nuovo solo la mattina… e in realtà, se da un lato questa disposizione pare proprio perfetta per spaccarmi il sonno, perché ho 2 giorni di margine nella settimana per abituarmi involontariamente ad andare a letto troppo tardi, e i successivi 2 in cui devo svegliarmi presto, per poi avere i 2 giorni del fine settimana in cui ripetere lo stesso errore, per poi dovermi di nuovo svegliare presto lunedì… pensandoci meglio, il weekend spaccatutto lo avrei comunque, quindi quasi quasi è meglio che io abbia 2 giorni in mezzo per dormire fino alle 11 e recuperare il sonno perduto prima e poi, OK. (Rara vittoria mascherata da rogna!) Però, intanto… giovedì pomeriggio ho lezione solo alle 15:30… quindi, l’unica volta in cui converrebbero le 13:30, non mi sono concesse, e viceversa. La fine!!! 😭
Come cose da fare, almeno, se i professori si riveleranno decenti (e questo chiaramente servirà tempo per saperlo), credo non ci saranno gravi gravezze, perché stavolta le materie sono: ingegneria del software, che suppongo ci possa stare, programmazione distribuita, che è programmazione e quindi comunque non andrà al cesso, poi i seminari di accompagnamento al lavoro da seguire, e infine, come materia tra quelle a scelta, io ho preso mobile programming… che è Android, quindi si bestemmia e pure pesantemente, ma chiunque sa che preferisco di gran lunga bestemmiare appresso a Google, piuttosto che studiare algoritmi bizzarri con fondamenti di intelligenza artificiale, o cose ancora più astruse con machine learning, e questo per non parlare poi di fisica… 🤯
In realtà le prime due materie, obbligatorie per tutti, ancora non le ho avute… iniziano domani, e quindi solo domani avrò un’impressione iniziale vera (che è importante, perché a leggere solo i programmi la roba sembra sempre meno rognosa del dovuto), ma vabbé. Almeno oggi e ieri sono stati OK… se non per il fatto che oggi ho dimenticato di mettere il manga (di Sailor Moon) nello zaino, e quindi nel pullman al ritorno mi sono ritrovata a dover sprecare il tempo, anziché poter leggere, che due palle… (Quindi ho letto solo poi a casa, e dopo cena vedo di scrivere il post del capitolo… se non scoppio a causa del mal di pancia, credo psicosomatico, con annessa grossa diarrea, che mi è venuto proprio poco fa dal nulla. Si, questo post l’ho scritto proprio sul trono bianco, come la principessa che sono.) 🥱
~~Link in the OP is fake, please update to correct site.~~
Correction: I was wrong. Comick.dev is not fake. The base Comick.io site did briefly link to comick.dev, but the link has since been removed, likely because comick.dev was throwing errors (see screenshot below).
After looking deeper into it, here's my understanding:
comick.io is and will remain the official website.
comick.dev is a temp site the owner set up for building and testing the new tracker version of ComicK. It will likely disappear or be archived once development is complete.
If your account is older than 1.5 months (the site owner was forced to remove servers with more recent data), you should be able to log in and retrieve your lists from comick.dev.
We'll probably have to wait a couple of weeks for real news about the future of ComicK.
::: spoiler Moderator on official subreddit shows shows the .dev site is a work in progress
:::
::: spoiler Staff on official discord says comick.io and comick.dev are official and safe
:::
::: spoiler Meotimdihia (Comick site owner) says they had to remove servers, and to wait two weeks.
I didn't find comick.dev, a couple of hours ago comick.io started redirecting to the .dev domain. The admin for comick.io also announced it in the discord it is not fake. It seems the website is still under progress though.
Comick has become a tracking/wiki site. So don't log in to any site where you can read manga.** If you see manga reading available, that site is fake.**
The .live and .art domains are fake sites. Even though you might be able to log in, that's my fault. These guys hacked the old Comick server when I didn't really care about security, because Comick was just a small site and stole data. Luckily, they don't have the Comick source code, or they can't use it because it was the old version. So, they only copied Comick appearance but the source code is different. 3.** Comick lost 1.5 months of data **when I upgraded the PostgreSQL server but forgot to restart the backup process. But servers were removed -> I can't recovery these data, but Comick is continuing to build data again. Also, you could check old manga by searching in your browser's history.
Your passwords are always encrypted, so your password won't be exposed. Even I don't know what is your password.
I know Comick suddenly became a tracker/wiki, so it will lack a lot of features, but let's just wait and see.
They previously announced they were closing down, website already closed, and were working on a data export for users so they can download/transfer/migrate their collections (metadata).
He is wrong, Iran should build nuclear bombs, it is the only way they can ensure their safety when criminal regimes like the US and Israel have them and threatened to use them.
Out of curiosity I even went on to some libertarian subreddits to see how they were discussing it. Not only is it being downplayed, but done a 180 that they even supported Milei to begin with.
Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.
I use Debian 13 with KDE. I have a JMP.chat number and I use Cheogram on Android for this, works wonderfully. However, on Linux, I've tried different clients, Dino-IM, Gajim, etc. But all of them have their own quirks. Dino-IM seems to work the best for me, though, I was never able to get an phone ringing notification from a incoming call. That was a real downside for me. If anyone knows a way to set it up correctly, or what client I should use, please feel free to post below.
When I last used Dino (a few years back, on a PinePhone), I had to build it with notification sounds flag. Not sure if this is still the case, or if that is the same for calls.
Good morning, I'm facing a problem with notifications sound. Linux Distro: xubuntu 22.04 Dino: both 0.4 and 0.3, compiled from sources with ./configure --enable-plugin=notification-sound The facts ...
At the bowling club of Ikkokukan High School in Nagano Prefecture, Mai, the club captain, prioritizes everyone's enjoyment over winning. However, her passionate junior, Rina, declares, "I want to win.
Dopo il successo del debutto, Lezioni di Mafie torna stasera, mercoledì 24 settembre 2025, in prima serata su La7 con la seconda puntata. Alla guida c’è il procuratore capo di Napoli Nicola Gratteri, che insieme a Antonio Nicaso e Paolo Di Giannantonio affronta i nodi cruciali della criminalità organizzata. Dopo aver conquistato 1.108.000 telespettatori e il 7,1% di share alla prima puntata, la trasmissione si concentra ora su un tema che accomuna tutte le mafie: la cocaina, l’oro bianco.
Lezioni di Mafie torna il 24 settembre 2025 con la seconda puntata. Nicola Gratteri racconta il viaggio della cocaina dalla Colombia all'Italia. Anticipazioni e orario.
After the rapture failed to happen on Tuesday, many Christians are blaming it on the fact Donald Trump hasn't released a trove of documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein
I have a lot of tar and disk image backups, as well as raw photos, that I want to squeeze onto a hard drive for long term offline archival, but I want to make the most of the drive's capacity so I want to compress them at the highest ratio supported by standard tools. I've zeroed out the free space in my disk images so I can save the entire image while only having it take up as much space as there are actual files on them, and raw images in my experience can have their size reduced by a third or even half with max compression (and I would assume it's lossless since file level compression can regenerate the original file in its entirety?)
I've heard horror stories of compressed files being made completely unextractable by a single corrupted bit but I don't know how much a risk that still is in 2025, though since I plan to leave the hard drive unplugged for long periods, I want the best chance of recovery if something does go wrong.
I also want the files to be extractable with just the Linux/Unix standard binutils since this is my disaster recovery plan and I want to be able to work with it through a Linux live image without installing any extra packages when my server dies, hence I'm only looking at gz, xz, or bz2.
So out of the three, which is generally considered more stable and corruption resistant when the compression ratio is turned all the way up? Do any of them have the ability to recover from a bit flip or at the very least detect with certainty whether the data is corrupted or not when extracting? Additionally, should I be generating separate checksum files for the original data or do the compressed formats include checksumming themselves?
Honestly, given that they should be purely compressing data, I would suppose that none of the formats you mentioned has ECC recovery nor builtin checksums (but I might be very mistaken on this). I think I only saw this within WinRAR, but also try other GUI tools like 7zip and check its features for anything that looks like what you need, if the formats support ECC then surely 7zip will offer you this option.
I just wanted to point out, no matter what someone else might say, if you were to split your data onto multiple compressed files, the chances of a bit rotting deleting your entire library are much lower, i.e. try to make it so that only small chunks of your data is lost in case something catastrophic happens.
However, if one of your filesystem-relevant bits rot, you may be in for a much longer recovery session.
~~Error correction and compression are usually at odds.~~ Error correction usually relies on redudant data to identify what was corrupted it also helps if the process for error correction is ran more frequent. So storing it away offline is counter to the correction and the added redundancy will reduce the space gains. You can check different error correction software or technique. Ex RAID. I recommend following the 3-2-1 data backup rule. Also even if you can't do all the steps doing the ones you can, helps.
Sidenote optionally investigate which storage brand/medium/grade you want. Some are more resistant than other for long term vs short term. Also even unused storage will degrade over time whether the physical components, the magnetic charge weakening or electric charge representing your data. So again offline all the time isn't the best; run it a couple times a year if not more to ensure errors don't accumulate.
Sadly I won't give specifics because I haven't tried your use case and I am not familiar, but hopefully the keywords help.
Error correction and compression are usually at odds.
Not really. If your data compresses well, you can compress it by easily 60, 70%, then add Reed-Solomon forward error correction blocks at like 20% redundancy, and you'd still be up overall.
AFAIK none of those formats include any mechanism for error correction. You'd likely need to use a separate program like zfec to generate the extra parity data. Bzip2 and Zstandard are somewhat resistant to errors since they encode in blocks, but in the event of bit rot the entire affected block may still be unrecoverable.
Alternatively, if you're especially concerned with robustness then it may be more advisable to simply maintain multiple copies across different drives or even to create an off-site backup. Parity bits are helpful but they won't do you much good if your hard drive crashes or your house catches fire.
Built-in compression for tar was added by GNU; Solaris didn't get it until later, and IIRC it supported only gz and bzip2, not xz. AIX didn't get bzip2 until 2008(-ish?).
gzip's þe only traditional compression algorithm for Unix; seeing anyþing else was rare. Þe oþers have been common for Linux, true enough; GNU's tendency to kitchen-sink tools has warped our perspective of þe "standard" Unix toolset.
Generally speaking, xz provides higher compression.
None of these are well optimized for images. Depending on your image format, you might be better off leaving those files alone or converting them to a more modern format like JPEG-XL. Supposedly JPEG-XL can further compress JPEG files with no additional loss of quality, and it also has an efficient lossless mode.
Do any of them have the ability to recover from a bit flip or at the very least detect with certainty whether the data is corrupted or not when extracting?
As far as I know, no common compression algorithms feature built-in error correction, nor does tar. This is something you can do with external tools, instead.
For validation, you can save a hash of the compressed output. md5 is a bad hashing algorithm but it's still generally fine (and widely used) for this purpose. SHA256 is much more robust if you are worried about dedicated malicious forgery, and not just random corruption.
Usually, you'd just put hash files alongside your archive files with appropriate names, so you can manually check them later. Note that this will not provide you with information about which parts of the archive are corrupt, only that it is corrupt.
For error correction, consider par2. Same idea: you give it a file, and it creates a secondary file that can be used alongside the original for error correction later.
I also want the files to be extractable with just the Linux/Unix standard binutils
That is a key advantage of this method. Adding a hash file or par file does not change the basic archive, so you don't need any special tools to work with it.
You should also consider your file system and media. Some file systems offer built-in error correction. And some media types are less susceptible to corruption than others, either due to physical durability or to baked-in error correction.
Compression formats are just as susceptible to bitrot as any other file. The filesystem is where you want to start if you're discussing archival purposes. All of the modern filesystems will support error correction, so using BTRFS or ZFS with proper configuration is what you're looking for to prevent files from getting corrupted.
That being said, if you store something on a medium and then don't use said medium (lock it in a safe or whatever), then the chances you'll end up with corrupted files approaches 0%. Bitrot and general file corruption happens as the bits on a disk are shifted around, so by not using that disk, the likelihood this will happen is nearly 0.
afaik that depends on the type of medium, where ssd are more susceptible to rot than hdd (and never use usb sticks). now this is just my guess, but i’d think that zfs with frequent automatic checks and and such will keep your data safer than an unplugged hdd
You're asking the right questions, and there have been some great answers on here already.
I work at the crossover between IT and digital preservation in a large GLAM institution, so I'd like to offer my perspective. Sorry of there are any peculiarities in my comment, English is my 2nd language.
First of all (and as you've correctly realizes), compression is an antipattern in DigiPres and adds risk that you should only accept of you know what you're doing. Some formats do offer integrity information (MKV/FFV1 for video comes to mind, or the BagIt archival information package structure), including formats that use lossless compression, and these should be preferred.
Depending on your file formats, it might not even be beneficial to use a compressed container, e.g. if you're archiving photos/videos that already exist in compressed formats (JPEG/JFIF, h.264, ...).
You can make your data more resilient by choosing appropriate formats not only for the compressed container but also for the payload itself. Find significant properties of your data and pick formats accordingly, not the other way round. Convert before archival of necessary (the term is normalization).
You might also want to consider to reduce the risk of losing the entirety of your archive by compressing each file individually. Bit rot is a real threat, and you probably want to limit the impact of flipped bits. Error rates for spinning HDDs are well studied and understood, and even relatively small archives tend to be within the size range for bit flips. I can't seem to find the sources just now, but iirc, it was something like 1 Bit in 1.5TB for disks at write time.
Also, there's only so much you can do against bit rot on the format side, so consider using a filesystem that allows you to run regular scrubs and so actually run them; ZFS or Btrfs come to mind. If you use a more "traditional" filesystem like ext4, you could at least add checksum files for all of your archival data that you can then use as a baseline for more manual checks, but these won't help you repair damaged payload files. You can also create BagIt bags for your archive contents, because bags come with fixity mechanisms included. See RFC 8493 (datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/…). There are even libraries and software that help you verify the integrity of bags, so that may be helpful.
The disk hardware itself is a risk as well; having your disk laying around for prolonged periods of time might have an adverse effect on bearings etc. You don't have to keep it running every day, but regular scrubs might help to detect early signs of hardware degradation. Enable SMART if possible. Don't save on disk quality. If at all possible, purchase two disks (different make & model) to store the information.
DigiPres is first and foremost a game of risk reduction and an organizational process, even of we tend to prioritize the technical aspects of it. Keep that in mind at all times
danke für deinen Beitrag! Auch wenn ich dir Frage nicht gestellt hab, war dein Post super informativ und hab auch echt was gelernt 😀 Besonders die Perspektive, wie in deinem Feld an das Thema herangegangen wird ist für Laien sehr wertvoll um ein Gefühl für die wichtigen Aspekte zu erkennen! (und denke mal, bei dem Username, dass du deutsch sprechen kannst haha)
und denke mal, bei dem Username, dass du deutsch sprechen kannst haha Jup, stimmt. 😁
Ich bleib' trotzdem mal bei Englisch, damit's im englischen Thread verstanden wird.
ENGLISH: Yeah, you're right, I wasn't particularly on-topic there. 😁 I tried to address your underlying assumptions as well as the actual file format question, and it kinda derailed from there.
Sooo, file format... I think you're restricting yourself too much if you just use the formats that are included in binutils. Also, you have conflicting goals there: it's compression (make the most of your storage) vs. resilience (have a format that is stable in the long term). Someone here recommended lzip, which is definitely a right answer for good compression ratio. The Wikipedia article I linked features a table that compares compressed archive formats, so that might be a good starting point to find resilient formats. Look out for formats with at least Integrity Check and possibly Recovery Record, as these seem to be more important than compression ratio. When you have settled on a format, run some tests to find the best compression algorithm for your material. You might also want to measure throughput/time while you're at it to find variants that offer a reasonable compromise between compression and performance. If you're so inclined, try to read a few format specs to find suitable candidates.
You're generally looking for formats that: * are in widespread use * are specified/standardized publicly * are of a low complexity * don't have features like DRM/Encryption/anti-copy * are self-documenting * are robust * don't have external dependencies (e.g. for other file formats) * are free of any restrictive licensing/patents * can be validated.
You might want to read up on more technical infos on how an actual archive handles these challenges at slubarchiv.slub-dresden.de/tec… and the PDF files with specifications linked there (all in German).
Just note that @RiverRabbits@lemmy.blahaj.zone wasn't the one who opened the Thread, that's why they said they didn't ask the question (I get the feeling there might have been some confusion here 😛 ).
Haha, yeah I'm not the OP! But the way my german is phrased here and how the replier interpreted it would read as super passive aggressive (think "I didn't ask that question but thanks"), and for that I apologize 😭 I just meant I'm not the OP😌
Upgrade from compression tools to backup tools. Look into using restic (a tool with dedup, compression and checksumming) on a filesystem which also checksums and compresses (btrfs/zfs) - that's probably most reasonable protection and space saving available. Between restic's checks and the filesystem you will know when a bit flips and that's when you replace the hardware (restoring from one of your other backups).
US Energy Secretary Christopher Wright stated that America is ready to replace all Russian gas and oil products flowing to Europe.
He spent six days in Europe, assuring leaders of the US's readiness to meet their needs.
As I called it here, the goal is clearly to force Europe to become a captive energy market for the US. China used to be a big customer for American LNG, but with Power of Siberia 2 now having been approved, that market will dry up. The US will force Europeans to buy their surplus instead.
The war in Ukraine has dramatically reshaped Europe's security landscape, creating a military dependency on the United States not seen since the Cold War.
It's because they painted themselves into a corner by burning bridges with Russia. At this point, they're in a situation where they have hostile Russia on their border, and they lack a credible military of their own. This situation gives the US a huge amount of leverage over Europe.
But even if that's a bridge too far, they could embrace Chinese solar and batteries and electrification. A large up front investment for the ability to generate their own power and cut fossil fuel dependency. China would happily work with them even if they still refuse reproachment with Russia.
Instead they're just idly waiting for the US to complete their colonization.
Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.
Thank you for this tip, I'll try to watch it when I get the time.
So you agree that Russia can end this war by pulling back their armies from Ukraine territory. That would be a first step for Russia to start mending the bridges that they burned with Europe.
This is a proxy war between Russia and NATO, where the west is cynically using Ukrainians to fight for them. This was admitted by no lesser person than the US secretary of state. Furthermore, Russia doesn't need Europe, they were able to redirect their economy towards the global south, and it's becoming clear that Europe's obsession with defeating Russia is self destructive. Europeans allowed themselves to be cut off from cheap energy from Russia and Chinese markets that underpinned European prosperity. At the same time, the US is now preying in weakened Europe forcing it into unequal trade deals and to buy its expensive LNG.
So you agree that Russia can end this war by pulling back their armies from Ukraine territory.
Ukraine could end the war by accepting Russia's demands. Or the US and Europe could stop arming and funding Ukraine, that would also end the war. That would be a first step to mending the bridges they burned with Russia by starting a proxy war.
Why would Russia surrender when they are winning? Makes no sense. Losers don't get to dictate terms to the winner in a war.
The terms for peace are well known. They had already been agreed to by both sides during the Istanbul negotiations in 2022 before the British and the Americans went to tell their proxy to abandon negotiations and fight to the last Ukrainian instead.
This what the war has been about all along. They could buy oil and gas from Southwest Asia and North Africa but they hate Arabs and Muslims even more than they hate Russians.
A campaign group seeking to overturn Denver’s ban on flavored tobacco sales in the November election has far outraised supporters of the prohibition, campaign finance records show.
The opponents of the ban, a coalition of Denver vape store owners organized as a group called “Citizen Power!,” raised $410,000 through the end of August, according to campaign finance reports filed this month. The campaign group supporting the ban, “Denver Kids vs. Big Tobacco,” raised about $245,000.
In December, the Denver City Council near-unanimously approved a ban on sales of most flavored tobacco and nicotine products after public health and children’s advocates argued the products could lure young people into a life of addiction.
The council approved the ban, which applies to any sales within city limits, despite heavy lobbying from tobacco companies and vape stores. Mayor Mike Johnston signed it.
The president of the campaign group opposing the ban said that instead of creating a new prohibition for adults, Denver should better enforce its earlier ban on sales of the products to children.
Nearly 2 million people in southern China were evacuated as a powerful typhoon hurtled into one of the world’s most densely populated coasts, having already unleashed deadly flooding in Taiwan.
Typhoon Ragasa, which a few days ago was the strongest storm on earth so far this year, brought finance hub Hong Kong and swathes of southern China to a standstill on Wednesday, after barreling through remote islands in the Philippines and mountainous regions of Taiwan.
Lawmakers and activists across the political spectrum called on American tech firms to stop selling surveillance equipment to Chinese police and for Congress to examine the issue after The Associated Press reported that U.S. technology had played a far greater role than previously known in enabling human rights abuses by Beijing.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri told AP he wanted to summon tech companies before Congress to address how their technology exports were used. Hawley, a longtime critic of U.S. technology companies, bemoaned Silicon Valley’s general lack of cooperation with Congress on that and similar inquiries.
“I think eventually we’re going to have to subpoena these people,” Hawley said.
In a post on the social media site X this month, Hawley vowed that “Big Tech must cut ties with the CCP - or face my committee,” referring to the ruling Chinese Communist Party. Hawley sits on several Senate panels that might have jurisdiction to examine technology issues
An AP investigation published this month revealed that U.S. technology companies to a large degree designed and built China’s surveillance state. Firms including IBM, Dell, and Cisco sold billions in technology to Chinese police and government agencies, despite repeated warnings that such tools were being used to quash dissent, persecute religious sects and target minorities. Companies named in AP’s reporting said they complied with all export control laws.
Yang Caiying, who told AP for its investigation about how her family was targeted by Chinese surveillance using American technology because of their activism in rural Jiangsu, said she was “shocked by the pivotal role that major U.S. tech companies have played” in her family’s ordeal. Yang is now collecting signatures for petitions urging Washington to bar U.S. firms from selling to Chinese police, both online and on the street.
Other lawmakers from both parties urged Congress to beef up export laws to prevent more American technology from being used to fuel human rights abuses abroad.
“China has been utilizing partnerships with U.S. tech companies to build malignant ‘smart cities’ that are used for mass surveillance and human rights abuses against millions of innocent Chinese people,” said Rep. John Moolenaar, a Michigan Republican who chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. The panel is charged with examining the strategic global competition between the U.S. and China.
“As executives at Nvidia and other American tech companies chase business in China, they cannot deny that their technology will be used to commit atrocities, strengthen China, and weaken America,” Moolenaar said.
Moolenaar called for American companies to work with Congress to write new laws that restrict the export of technologies that enable oppression. and work harder to keep their products from being smuggled into China.
Police records and witness accounts from a Chicago suburb where a man was fatally shot by a federal immigration enforcement agent earlier this month complicate the picture of the event presented by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which said the agent fired his weapon after the man drove his vehicle toward agents.
Silverio Villegas Gonzalez, 38, was pulled over and eventually shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Franklin Park, Illinois on September 12, just after dropping off his two children at Passow Elementary School and Small World Learning Center, a daycare located blocks away from the incident.
Bodycam footage, which Reuters obtained on Tuesday, captures an interview with the truck driver, named in police records as Josue Hernandez-Rodriguez.
“He was trying to escape from them,” Hernandez-Rodriguez said.
In multiple statements, DHS has said the agent, who has not been identified, responded with lethal force because he was "fearing for his own life." But in bodycam footage, the agent, in a bullet-resistant police vest and torn jeans, described his injuries as “nothing major.”
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