World News

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4885911

**The Russian economy is showing more and more signs that growth is slowing, and economists are beginning to talk more and more about stagflation – a combination of low growth and high inflation. As no-one can openly blame the Ukraine war, the Central Bank highlights “external factors,” while business leaders and government-connected economists blame the Central Bank for imposing record high interest rates. **

[...]

An economic slowdown is a very serious problem during a period of high inflation. And, in modern Russia, it is impossible to treat it using Reaganite methods: slashing spending and reducing regulation to attract foreign investment. Cutting funding for the war and the defense sector is politically inconceivable in Russia at the moment. Even acknowledging that the war and sanctions triggered this cycle of overheating and decline is impossible. That means the Central Bank may well end up being held responsible.

[...]

The Central Bank earlier this month published a report analyzing financial flows. The conclusion was that Russia is on the verge of an economic slowdown. In October, the volume of incoming payments via the Central Bank’s payment system (about half of all payments made in Russia) was down 2.9% compared with the third quarter average. This sort of decline was visible in all industries the Central Bank studied.

[...]

The slowdown is not simply due to declining output in the raw material extraction industries (this has been ongoing for several months amid falling export prices), but also a stuttering manufacturing sector. The only place growth is still noticeable is in sectors linked to the military. Everywhere else in the economy growth is absent, or, at best, anemic.

[...]

All this data has prompted economists to revise downward their projections for Russian GDP growth.

[...]

In a report published Monday, economists from the Institute of Forecasting at Russia’s Academy of Science said that “slowing economic activity and deterioration of financial indicators are becoming increasingly evident in a number of sectors.” And Russia’s Center for Macroeconomic Analysis and Short-term Forecasting (CMASF) spoke openly in a report Wednesday about possible stagflation. The center (run by the brother of Defense Minister Andrei Belousov) flagged the risk of a recession and falling productivity, especially in low-profit sectors and industries with long project implementation timeframes.

[...]

Russian business leaders line up to attack Nabiullina

Executives at big Russian companies who are unhappy with interest rates at 21% have been angrily criticizing the Central Bank and its head, Elvira Nabiullina. Influential lobby group, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), this week even suggested forcing the Central Bank to coordinate its monetary policy with the government.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4885443

Beijing risks entanglement in multiple international conflicts, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the intensifying hostilities between Israel and Iran.

This involvement directly contradicts China’s Global Security Initiative (GSI), an international policing framework through which China’s leader, President Xi Jinping, seeks to position China as a diplomatic fulcrum, promoting peace and stability worldwide. This paradox reveals Beijing’s dilemma: can China maintain its self-proclaimed mediator role while aligning itself with states involved in ongoing conflicts?

As these partnerships become more of a liability than an asset, Beijing appears to be approaching a strategic crossroads. Will China recalibrate its relationships with these conflict-prone nations to preserve its diplomatic credibility, or will its aspirations as a global mediator be jeopardized by its ties to states that fuel regional destabilization?

North Korea’s Role in the Ukraine War

The deployment of North Korean soldiers to support the Russian war in Ukraine has sparked global concerns. While the US has turned to China to intervene and prevent further troop deployments by North Korea, the actions of Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin could complicate Beijing’s regional and international influence.

[...]

Yet, tighter Russian-North Korea cooperation benefits China. It ensures North Korea has an additional patron, which helps preserve the stability of its regime. As RUSI Fellow Samuel Ramani highlights, “China has also leveraged Russia’s diplomatic clout to get Tumen River access, which could tie the Sea of Japan to the Polar Silk Road. North Korea opposed Tumen access historically, and all China had to do for this was store Russia-bound North Korean arms in Zhejiang port.”

[...]

Nevertheless, complications keep arising. The influx of $1 billion in hard currency from artillery sales and additional hundreds of millions from remittances tied to North Korean troop deployments could reduce Pyongyang’s economic reliance on China – a crucial lever Beijing has traditionally used through calibrated adjustments in sanctions enforcement.

[...]

Additionally, South Korea might use this situation to bolster its alliances with the West by supplying munitions to Ukraine, which could complicate China’s diplomatic outreach to Seoul, particularly within the recently revitalized China-Japan-ROK trilateral dialogue framework. This could be further strained if South Korea begins to perceive China as complicit in North Korea’s arms transfers to Russia. Accusations of tacit Chinese complicity may well escalate if Beijing continues to resist US calls to apply pressure on both Moscow and Pyongyang – demands it previously opposed when countering Iranian and Houthi assertiveness in the Red Sea.

[...]

Removing civilians from harm’s way in advance of an attack is the right thing for warring parties to do if it’s the only way to protect them. But the laws of war stipulate that this can only be done in narrow circumstances as a temporary measure, and civilians should be given a safer location where their humanitarian needs are met, says Nadia Hardman, a researcher at Refugee and Migrant Rights Division of Human Rights Watch.

Russia has vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate halt to hostilities in Sudan, where a brutal conflict between two rival generals continues unabated.

The draft of the resolution, prepared by Britain and Sierra Leone, called for the warring Sudanese Armed Forces and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces to “engage, in good faith, in dialogue to agree steps to de-escalate the conflict with the aim of urgently agreeing a national ceasefire”.

[...]

Shame on [Russian President Vladimir] for using his mercenaries to spread conflict and violence across the African continent and shame on Putin for pretending to be a partner of the Global South while condemning black Africans to further killing, further rape,” [Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy] said.

[...]

Since April last year, Sudan has been ravaged by fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces – headed by Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, who seized power in a 2021 coup – and the Rapid Support Forces, led by Gen Al Burhan's one-time deputy, Gen Mohamed Dagalo.

The conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 11 million people, including 3.1 million who have fled the country, according to UN data.

The humanitarian toll is severe, with 26 million facing acute food shortages and both sides facing accusations of sexual violence.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4865888

At least three Russian oil refineries could face closures next year as declining exports, high crude oil costs and soaring interest rates lead to mounting financial losses, Reuters reported Friday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter.

The Tuapse refinery, a large but “relatively unsophisticated” facility owned by the state-backed oil giant Rosneft, has reportedly halted production multiple times this year. Smaller independent refineries, Ilsky in Krasnodar and Novoshakhtinsky in Rostov, have been operating at half capacity for months due to weak profit margins.

The struggling refineries, which are said to have sought financial support from the government, were also targeted in Ukrainian drone strikes this year. These disruptions have been compounded by the impact of Western sanctions, which force them to sell fuel at discounted rates.

“We expect that the actual [plant] closures may take place at the beginning of next year,” a source says.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4862641

The Netherlands' foreign minister, whose ministry oversees export restrictions on top computer chip equipment maker ASML, said on Monday that China-Russia trade was "directly affecting" European security.

NATO views China as a "decisive enabler" of Russia in its war against Ukraine, given that Chinese firms are selling goods that end up as components in Russian weapons, including drones, Caspar Veldkamp said before a meeting with European Union foreign ministers in Brussels.

"I raised this twice with the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and I think as Europeans we should all do this, because this is something that China should be realizing: it is directly affecting European security," Veldkamp said.

[...]

The Dutch government has rolled out a series of progressively tighter export restrictions preventing ASML from shipping its most advanced technology to Chinese chipmakers.

ASML dominates the market for lithography tools, which are essential for making the circuitry of computer chips.

Despite the restrictions, China has still been the largest market for ASML and other top U.S. and Japanese equipment makers over the past year and a half, as Chinese firms expand capacity to make older chips not covered by restrictions, but still adequate for many military purposes.

[...]

Veldkamp said he would discuss what to do about Chinese support for Russia with other EU foreign ministers on Monday.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4858721

Moldova's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on November 17 condemned “false and unfounded statements” by Russia's newly appointed ambassador to Chisinau, Oleg Ozerov, following his comments on a Russian radio station.

[...]

In his interview, Ozerov claimed that Moldova’s economy depends heavily on Russian trade and suggested that EU accession undermines its neutrality. Moldova's foreign ministry refuted this, noting that over 65% of Moldova's exports go to the EU, compared to just 3.7% to Russia. Even Moldova’s breakaway Transnistrian region, which is backed by Russia, sends over 80% of its exports to EU markets.

[...]

The ministry criticised Russia for imposing politically motivated trade embargoes, contrasting this with the EU’s transparent trade rules. “EU countries are reliable partners for Moldova's agricultural goods, while Russia's embargoes have harmed local producers and families,” it said.

Addressing neutrality, the ministry highlighted Russia’s violation of Moldova's constitutional neutrality through its military presence in the Transnistrian region, maintained against Moldova’s will.

It dismissed the suggestion that EU membership compromises neutrality, citing Austria, Ireland and Malta as neutral EU member states.

[...]

[Molodova] urged Ozerov to adhere to the Vienna Convention and cease spreading propaganda, focusing instead on diplomatic norms and practical solutions to benefit citizens in both countries.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4854819

Germany's Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who is currently the Green Party's chancellor candidate in the upcoming elections, said that if elected, he would send Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly asked his allies for long-range weapons so that the Ukrainian military can attack Russian logistics centers and military bases far behind the front line and within Russian territory.

But until now, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has chosen not to supply Taurus cruise missiles, saying they could enable Ukraine to also hit targets in the Russian capital Moscow.

[...]

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron reacted to the Russian air barrage on Ukraine, saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin "does not want peace and is not ready to negotiate."

"It's clear that President Putin intends to intensify the fighting," Macron said.

He made the remarks as he prepared to leave Argentina to attend the G20 Summit in Brazil.

[...]

The French president, however, said Ukraine's allies "must remain united .... on an agenda for genuine peace, that is to say, a peace that does not mean Ukraine's surrender."

Macron highlighted that his country's priority was to "equip, support and help Ukraine to resist."

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4853883

[The article is an analysis of the cooperation agreement signed between Finland and China by two Finnish scholars.]

Geopolitical tensions were prominently featured in the discussions between the two heads of state [of Finland and China during Finland's president in Beijing this week]. In contrast to the laudatory tone of the Chinese media, the the Finnish President's official press release stated that the central topic of the talks was Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, as had been the focus of previous visits of EU leaders as well. [Finnish President] Stubb, who earlier stated [Chinese President] Xi could end the war in Ukraine with “just one phone call”, reportedly focused on convincing the Chinese president of the importance of the conflict for Finland and the rest of the European Union, emphasizing that Putin could not be trusted.

Yet apparently, China cannot be completely trusted either. Far from boosting cooperation, the New Joint Action Plan signed by Finland and China represents a reality different from the praises in Chinese media. Strikingly, the plan, which describes the main avenues of Sino-Finnish future cooperation, is only five pages long [and] the focal points of the plan give an impression of shrinking cooperation.

[...]

The Arctic domain is entirely absent from the new Sino-Finnish action plan. In contrast to the 2019 plan, which envisioned deepening Arctic cooperation in the fields of law, research and marine technology, the new plan does not mention the Arctic at all.

The omission is rather unsurprising. Since the signing of the 2019 plan, the Arctic security situation has changed dramatically and Finland’s Arctic projects involving Chinese stakeholders have been quietly cancelled or put on ice. Examples include the termination of the planned Arctic railway project connecting Norway’s Kirkenes and Rovaniemi, and the Finnish security authorities’ refusal to provide satellite services to China in the Arctic Space Center in Sodankylä or to rent an airport for Arctic research flights near the Finnish Defence Forces’ firing range in Kemijärvi.

[...]

This state of affairs reflects broader suspicion towards Chinese intentions, as the Finnish media have increasingly reported on the covert activities of Chinese “united front groups” and scholars with connections to military-civilian fusion projects, for instance. Finally, in 2023, a Chinese container vessel, on its way to St. Petersburg via the Arctic Northeastern passage, destroyed a gas pipeline linking Finland and Estonia. Before its ill-fated journey, the vessel, Newnew Polar Bear, was celebrated in the Chinese media as a harbinger of increased Arctic cooperation between China and Russia. Whether the incident was intentional or not (the investigation is still ongoing), it caused a flurry of media speculation on a possible Chinese grey-zone operation in the Baltic Sea.

Since officially launching its Polar Silk Road in 2017, China has attempted to expand its presence within the Arctic countries through economic, diplomatic and scientific cooperation, but it now seems that the Arctic leg of the Belt and Road is not extending to Finland or into its neighbouring Nordic countries either. Consequently, China's Arctic expansion now increasingly relies on Russia.

Finland’s distancing from Arctic cooperation with China reflects deeper dynamics than mere domestic concerns. As the great power competition between “democratic” and “authoritarian” camps intensifies, Finland is increasingly “de-risking” from China, while integrating with its Western partners.

[...]

Finland’s changed approach to China provides the latest example for the Chinese leadership that there is a price to be paid for its “strategic straddle”; attempting to maintain business-as-usual relations with Europe while de facto enabling a brutal invasion in Ukraine. Naturally, this straddle is most severely felt in Russian neighbour states, including Finland, which shares the longest border with Russia in Europe.

[...]

Symbolic of the deteriorating Sino-Finnish relations, two giant pandas leased to Ähtäri zoo by China in 2017 are set to return to China eight years ahead of schedule due to financial problems. One might ask whether this reflects a broader reality for China’s Arctic cooperation in the future?

In its new lawsuit, Ben & Jerry's says that Unilever has breached the terms of the 2022 settlement, which has remained confidential. As part of the agreement, however, Unilever is required to "respect and acknowledge the Ben & Jerry's independent board's primary responsibility over Ben & Jerry's social mission," according to the lawsuit.

But, according to the lawsuit, "Ben & Jerry's has on four occasions attempted to publicly speak out in support of peace and human rights. Unilever has silenced each of these efforts."

Ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Brazil visit on November 20, Brasilia has junked China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), becoming the second BRICS country after India to reject Beijing’s multi-billion dollar venture.

Earlier in December 2023, Italy, the only G7 country to have signed for BRI, also withdrew from China’s vast infrastructure initiative.

This move by Brazil—an influential player in the BRICS bloc—signals rising concerns about the long-term implications of China’s expanding global footprint through the BRI.

Prioritizing Strategic Autonomy

Under President Lula da Silva’s leadership, Brazil seeks to strengthen its ties with China while avoiding the formal commitments associated with joining the BRI.

Brazilian officials are actively pursuing Chinese investments without formal accession to the BRI, reflecting the country’s desire to maintain strategic autonomy while exploring various infrastructure and trade projects with China.

In an interview with the Brazilian newspaper O Globo, Celso Amorim, Brazil’s special presidential adviser for international affairs [...] clarified that Brazil does not view Chinese trade and infrastructure projects as “an insurance policy,” stating, “We are not entering into a treaty.”

[...]

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4764066

Archived link

The choices, and the stakes, would remain very similar to what they were in February 2022, says Historian Anne Applebaum, senior fellow at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University and the School of Advanced International Studies.

"Either we [the Western democracies] inflict enough economic pressure and military pain to convince Russia that the war can never be won, or we deal with the far more ominous, and far more expensive, consequences of Ukraine’s loss."

“Land for peace” sounds nice, but the president of Russia isn’t fighting for land. Putin is fighting not to conquer Pokrovsk but to destroy Ukraine as a nation. He wants to show his own people that Ukraine’s democratic aspirations are hopeless. He wants to prove that a whole host of international laws and norms, including the United Nations Charter and the Geneva conventions, no longer matter. His goal is not to have peace but to build concentration camps, torture civilians, kidnap 20,000 Ukrainian children, and get away with it—which, so far, he has.

Putin will truly stop fighting only if he loses the war, loses power, or loses control of his economy. And there is plenty of evidence that he fears all three, despite his troops’ slow movement forward. He would not have imported thousands of North Korean soldiers if he had an infinite number of Russians to replace the more than 600,000 soldiers whom he has lost to injury or death. He would not have paid American YouTubers to promote anti-Ukrainian propaganda if he wasn’t worried by the American public’s continued support for Ukraine. His economy is in trouble: Russian inflation is rising fast; Russian interest rates are now at 21 percent; Russian industries particularly vulnerable to sanctions, such as liquefied natural gas, are suffering. The Russian navy was humiliated in the Black Sea. The Russian military has still not recaptured territory lost in Russia’s Kursk province, conquered by the Ukrainians last summer.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4765221

[The article is originally published by AP.]

On the edge of Peru’s coastal desert [...] the megaport of Chancay, a $1.3 billion project majority-owned by the Chinese shipping giant Cosco, is turning this outpost of bobbing fishing boats into an important node of the global economy. China’s President Xi Jinping inaugurates the port Thursday during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Peru.

The development [...] has met a skeptical response from impoverished villagers, who say it is depriving them of fishing waters and bringing no economic benefit to locals.

“Our fishing spots no longer exist here. They destroyed them,” said 78-year-old fisherman Julius Caesar — “like the emperor of Rome” — gesturing toward the dockside cranes. [...]

The Peruvian government hopes the port 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of Lima will become a strategic transshipment hub for the region, opening a new line connecting South America to Asia and speeding trade across the Pacific for Peru’s blueberries, Brazil’s soybeans and Chile’s copper, among other exports. Officials cite the port’s potential to generate millions of dollars in revenues and turn coastal cities into so-called special economic zones with tax breaks to lure investment.

“We Peruvians are focused primarily on the well-being of Peruvians,” Foreign Minister Elmer Schialer told The Associated Press.

But many of Chancay’s 60,000 residents are unconvinced. Fishermen returning to port with smaller catches complain that they have already lost out.

The dredging of the port — which sucked sediment from the seabed to create a shipping channel 17 meters (56 feet) deep — has ruined fish breeding grounds, locals said.

“I’ve been out in the water all day and I’m always needing to venture farther,” said Rafael Ávila, a 28-year-old fisherman with sand in his hair, returning to shore empty-handed and exhausted.

“This used to be enough,” he said, pointing at his painted dinghy. “Now I need a larger, more expensive boat to reach the fish.”

[...]

With some of the world’s largest container ships to berth at Chancay Port in January 2025, residents also fear the arrival of pollution and oil spills. In 2022, a botched tanker delivery at La Pampilla refinery nearby sent thousands of barrels of crude oil spilling into Peru’s famously biodiverse waters, killing countless fish and putting legions of fishermen out of work.

Today a glance at the moribund town center, featuring mostly empty seafood restaurants, tells the story of diminished fishing stocks and decimated tourism even without the port being operational.

The port’s breakwater changed the currents and destroyed good surfing conditions, locals said, affecting everyone from ice vendors to truckers to restaurant owners. “No to the megaport” is spray-painted on a wall overlooking the waterfront.

“This port is a monster that’s come here to screw us,” said 40-year-old Rosa Collantes, cleaning and gutting slimy drum fish on the shore. “People come to the port and they say ‘Wow, tremendous!’ but they don’t see the reality.”

[...]

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4757760

Ireland: Cork City Council first to pass motion committing to "using factual and accurate information in council discussion and debate"

The motion commits all local representatives to using factual information in their contributions to the Council and in debates.

It was brought forward by Councillor Pádraig Rice, following an election pledge as part of the CheckTheFacts campaign by Belong To', a non-profit dedicated to the LGBTQ+ Youth Ireland, which the organisation had developed in response to the increase in misinformation and disinformation both in Ireland and internationally.

**Increase in Hate Crimes in Ireland **

In May 2024, Ireland's An Garda Síochána published its annual figures on hate crimes in Ireland showing a 12% increase in the number of reported hate crimes and hate-related incidents, while the European Digital Media Observatory reported in 2023 that the LGBTQ+ community is one of the most consistent victims of mis- and disinformation in the European Union.

Commenting on the motion, Cllr Rice said: “We are in an age of misinformation, and Cork City Council is not immune to that. For my part, I intend to call out misinformation, and I have called on my Council colleagues to do the same.”

Also commenting was Moninne Griffith, CEO of Belong To, who said: “I wish to express my gratitude to Cllr Rice for bringing forward this motion as he committed to doing in the local election campaign. We know that misinformation impacts heavily on marginalised communities in particular and the circulation of misinformation has real-life consequences.

“The Being LGBTQI+ in Ireland research from Trinity College Dublin, published this year found that 1 in 4 members of Ireland’s LGBTQI+ community have been punched, hit or physically attacked due to being LGBTQI+, and 72% experienced verbal abuse due to being LGBTQI+. These incidents do not happen in isolation. They are fostered in an environment of misinformation and disinformation. So we thank Cllr Rice and all counsellors who voted to pass this motion for their commitment to facts.”

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4755903

Archived link

European leaders should have started preparing for another Trump presidency long ago. They had been warned.

Now, leaders should envisage a world where NATO no longer exists—or where the United States is no longer the leading force in the alliance, writes Phillips Payson O’Brien, Professor of strategic studies at the University of St Andrews, in Scotland. He is the author of The Strategists: Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt, Mussolini, and Hitler—How War Made Them, and How They Made War.

"In some ways, this is more scary psychologically than in practice. Europe—which is to say, the democratic countries enmeshed in institutions such as NATO and the European Union—has the economic and technological resources to underwrite a serious defense effort. It has a large and educated enough population to staff modern armed forces. It also has some strong and growing military capabilities. For instance, European states either have received or will receive in the coming years as many as 600 F-35 fighters—the most advanced and capable aircraft in the world. Such a force could dominate the skies against a clearly inferior Russian opponent."

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4755500

A car attack that killed 35 people in China has sparked questions about a recent spate of public violence, as officials continue to censor discussion on the incident.

On social media, many are discussing the social phenomenon of "taking revenge on society", where individuals act on personal grievances by attacking strangers.

Police said the driver who ploughed into crowds at a stadium in the southern city of Zhuhai on Monday night acted out of unhappiness over a divorce settlement.

While it is believed to be China's deadliest known act of violence in decades, it follows a string of attacks in recent months, including a stabbing spree at a Shanghai supermarket and a knife attack at a Beijing school.

Amid a national outcry over the Zhuhai incident, President Xi Jinping has vowed "severe punishment" for the perpetrator. Police said the 62-year-old driver, who has been arrested, is in a coma due to self-inflicted wounds.

On Chinese social media platforms, many expressed shock at his actions and asked if it was a symptom of deeper societal problems.

One comment that went viral on Weibo read: "How can you take revenge on society because your family life is not going well? You've taken the lives of so many innocent people, will you ever have peace of mind."

“If there is a widespread lack of job security and huge pressure to survive... then society is bound to be full of problems, hostility and terror,” a user said on WeChat.

Another person wrote in a widely-shared post: "We should be examining the deep-rooted, social [factors] that have fostered so many indiscriminate [attacks on] the weak."

A number of violent attacks in China have been reported this year, including a mass stabbing and firearms attack in Shandong in February which killed at least 21 people.

In October, a knife attack at a top school in Beijing injured five people, while in September, a man went on a stabbing spree at a supermarket in Shanghai, killing three people and injuring several others.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4725833

Maria Troyanivska had come home early the night a Russian drone hit her bedroom.

“It flew in through the window, right into her room,” her mother Viktoria tells the BBC. After the explosion, she and her husband Volodymyr ran from the next room to find their daughter’s room on fire.

“We tried to put it out, but everything was burning so strongly,” she says through tears. “It was impossible to breathe – we had to leave.”

The Russian Shahed drone killed the 14-year-old in her bed, in her suburban apartment in Kyiv, last month.

“She died immediately, and then burned,” her mother said. “We had to bury her in a closed coffin. She had no chance of surviving.” BBC/Kamil Dayan Khan Maria's bedroom in suburban Kyiv

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4731180

"We keep on raising flags and complaining about it, but they keep on sending them," said President Surangel Whipps Jr, the pro-US leader re-elected this week.

"They continually don't respect our sovereignty and our boundaries and just continue to do these activities," he told AFP from Palau's commercial centre Koror.

The most recent foray was detected earlier this week, one day after claiming victory in presidential elections.

"Once again, Chinese vessels are in our exclusive economic zone uninvited."

In what appeared to be another deliberate prod, Chinese officials earlier this year bestowed new names on two underwater mountains already claimed by Palau, Whipps added.

"They're now naming some of our seamounts Chinese names. Why? Why would you do that?"

A nation of some 20,000 people, Palau is one of the few countries to recognise Taiwan's claim to statehood.

It is a stance that has angered China, which in recent years has persuaded a clutch of new Pacific friends to walk away from Taiwan in favour of Beijing.

[...]

Cuba is in the midst of an ongoing humanitarian crisis, and October’s widespread power outages are only adding to the Cuban people’s troubles. For the last six decades, Cuba has been on the receiving end of myriad sanctions by the United States government. This blockade has proved devastating to human life.

Reporting on Cuba’s blackouts have either omitted or paid brief lip-service to the effects of U.S. sanctions on the Cuban economy, and how those sanctions have created the conditions for the crisis. Instead, media have focused on the inefficient and authoritarian Communist government as the cause of the island’s troubles.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4724783

China should face “a higher cost” for supporting Russia in the war against Ukraine, the EU’s incoming foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, has said.

The former Estonian prime minister was speaking to MEPs during a three-hour hearing before she takes office, when she listed Ukraine’s victory as a priority – stronger words than vaguer formulas of support voiced by some EU politicians.

“Victory of Ukraine is a priority for us all; the situation on the battlefield is very difficult,” Kallas told MEPs in her opening remarks. “That is why we must keep on working every day, today, tomorrow and for as long as it takes, and with as much military, financial and humanitarian aid as needed.”

[...]

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4696071

Archived link

The European Union should directly use $300 billion in frozen Russian assets to finance the reconstruction of war-torn Ukraine, says Kaja Kallas, the candidate for the top EU foreign policy position.

Kallas, a former Estonian prime minister who has been nominated as the EU’s high representative, said member states should abandon their reservations about directly seizing assets, citing Kyiv’s “legitimate claims” to the funds after the Russian attack.

[...]

“We recognize that Russia has legitimate claims against us because we have their assets. But Ukraine also has legitimate claims against Russia because they are destroying Ukraine every day,” Kallas said

She hinted that Russia might have the opportunity to “reclaim” assets as part of the settlement, but added: “Given what’s going on, I doubt there’s anything left.”

To taxpayers who don’t want EU member states to pay for Ukraine’s reconstruction, Kallas said: “We shouldn’t do that. Those who are destroying Ukraine will pay for it.”

Kallas said Estonia’s initiative to send 0.25 percent of its gross domestic product to Ukraine should be adopted by other member states.

She also said that EU sanctions against Russia should not be renewed every six months and should be permanent until the 27 member states decide to lift them. “It would be better if the situation was reversed,” Kallas said.

[...]

This year, the G7 reached an agreement to seize profits from Russia’s frozen assets. However, the plan does not include confiscation. Some countries considered the potential legal implications of such a move and the risk to the euro, while others, including the US and UK, advocated bolder options such as outright asset confiscation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine knows how to handle Russia’s frozen assets. He proposed handing over the entire $300 billion to Kyiv. “Frankly, this is Ukrainian money,” he said.

The World Bank estimates that Ukraine’s total economic, social and other monetary losses from the war will be $499 billion by the end of 2023.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4695910

Ante Ivkovic herded sheep in Bosnia-Herzegovina with his father as a child. Years later, without his consent or knowledge, he says, a wind farm was built on his property by a Chinese company.

The Chinese wind farm company, headquartered in the capital Sarajevo, declined to comment on camera. In an email, they stated they relied on Bosnian documents that confirmed the concession's legality and claimed there were no unresolved ownership issues.

Ivkovic, with the help of his lawyer, is pursuing legal action to prove his ownership. His lawyer is gathering evidence from archives to build the case.

[...]

Chinese wind energy companies have been aggressively expanding into the European market, undercutting European competitors by significant margins, thanks to state subsidies. This is evident not only in Bosnia, but also in neighboring Croatia.

[...]

The EU has taken notice. Under Ursula von der Leyen's leadership, the EU is scrutinizing Chinese wind farms, investigating whether state subsidies are giving them an unfair advantage over European competitors. Lobbyists warn that with every new wind farm, China tightens its grip on Europe's energy supply.

"On a modern wind turbine there are around 300 sensors on the different components of the turbine, which are giving information to the wind farm owner and operator, and to the turbine manufacturer about the performance. And many people in Europe are saying, 'do we want to give that power to entities outside of Europe to control the functioning of wind turbines?'," says Giles Dickson, the CEO of WindEurope.

[...]

Will a retiree be able to assert his rights against a 160-million-euro project? This case will help determine how much property rights are worth in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4701745

Archived link

China seized the shoal, which lies west of the main Philippine island of Luzon, in 2012, and has since restricted access to Filipino fishermen there. A 2016 ruling by an international arbitration court found that most Chinese claims in the South China Sea were invalid but Beijing refuses to abide by it.

[...]

Tensions between China and the Philippines have been building over their competing claims to Scarborough Shoal and other outcrops in the South China Sea. Clashes have occurred including the Chinese coast guard firing water cannons at Filipino ships.

[...]

"What we see is an increasing demand by Beijing for us to concede our sovereign rights in the area," Manila's Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said after meeting Australian counterpart Richard Marles, adding that the Philippines was a "victim of Chinese aggression".

[...]

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce, including parts claimed by Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

At least 35 people have been killed in a car attack in southern China, believed to be the deadliest known act of public violence in the country in decades.

Police say a man crashed his car into a stadium in Zhuhai on Monday where he ran down groups of people exercising on the sports track. At least 45 people - among them elderly and children - were reportedly injured.

While reporting about the attack, BBC China correspondent Stephen McDonell was angrily ordered to stop filming.

It is not clear who the man who tried to stop the reporting was, though when sensitive stories like this unfold in China, local Communist Party officials organise groups of cadres to pretend to be outraged locals who have been given the role of targeting foreign reporters so as to prevent any coverage.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4666944

Russia exposes alarming patterns of torture used as a State-sanctioned tool of repression to stifle dissent and intimidate communities abroad, according to a report conducted by Mariana Katzarova, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation.

"Torture is used as a State sanctioned tool for systematic oppression, to maintain control and to stifle dissent", she says.

According to her research, this goes beyond isolated cases. Torture is frequently aimed at political prisoners, critics of the ongoing war in Ukraine, and migrant communities worldwide.

Normalisation of torture

One of the report’s most unsettling revelations is the portrayal of torture in Russian media.

The independent expert described the aftermath of a March terrorist attack in Moscow, where members of the Tajik minority “who haven't been tried yet and haven't been found guilty” were tortured through electric shocks and mutilation.

Following the broadcast, there were reports of law enforcement carrying out widespread sweeps, arresting and allegedly abusing migrant workers from Central Asia.

LGBTQIA+ individuals in Chechnya have also received brutal treatment from State officials there. Ms. Katzarova reported that members of the LGBTQIA+ community were systematically detained, tortured, and threatened with death unless they agreed to volunteer as soldiers in Ukraine.

Judicial impunity, no accountability

A key issue raised in the report is the failure of the Russian judicial system to prosecute torture cases adequately. Under Russian law, torture is not classified as a distinct criminal offence, allowing perpetrators to evade justice through lesser charges such as “abuse of power or authority.”

“Here we have a judicial system which is so politically influenced,” she expressed, “that there is no justice for the victims of torture.” Without recourse to the European Court of Human Rights, Russian victims must now rely solely on the UN system, which lacks the authority to pursue legal action.

Ms. Katzarova urged governments worldwide to use their criminal justice systems to prosecute torture cases from Russia under universal jurisdiction, an international principle that allows courts to try cases regardless of where the crime occurred.

The Special Rapporteur like all other independent UN human rights experts. works on a voluntary basis, is not a UN staff member and receives no salary for her work. The experts are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council and are independent from any government or organization.