Vladimir Putin set to transfer Sergei Shoigu from Russian defence ministry (www.bbc.com)
Excerpts of interest:...
"This model acts as a subsidy for Chinese companies": Pakistan's Gwadar port exposes China's Belt and Road failure (www.dw.com)
Pakistan’s Gwadar port was meant to be a shining success for the prestigious China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), part of China’s global collection of infrastructure projects and trade networks known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). But almost two decades later, it still sits empty....
American Medical Missions Trapped in Gaza, Facing Death by Dehydration as Population Clings to Life (theintercept.com)
Inside Germany’s Taxpayer Funded Neo-Nazi Networks (www.thedial.world)
The New Propaganda War: Autocrats in China, Russia, and elsewhere are now making common cause with MAGA Republicans to discredit liberalism and freedom around the world (www.theatlantic.com)
Here is the archived version....
Former spy for China's secret police reveals operations targeting dissidents in Australia and overseas (www.abc.net.au)
The inner workings of China’s notorious secret police unit and how it hunts down dissidents living overseas – including in Australia – have been exposed by a former spy in a Four Corners investigation, raising tough questions about Australia’s national security....
China accused of targeting citizens studying abroad for political activism, with some students reporting harassment of family members back home (english.alarabiya.net)
Archived link...
'Neom' project: Forces in Saudi Arabia 'told to kill' to clear land for a futuristic desert city being built by dozens of Western companies, ex-intelligence officer says (www.bbc.com)
Col Rabih Alenezi says he was ordered to evict villagers from a tribe in the Gulf state to make way for The Line, part of the Neom eco-project....
Israel Rejected a Cease-Fire. The Media Isn’t Telling Us. (jacobin.com)
While Xi tours Europe, China feeds Russia's war machine (kyivindependent.com)
Archived link....
Protesters march again in Georgia over foreign influence bill, holding Georgian and EU flags, chanting “no to the Russian law” (www.bbc.com)
Tens of thousands of Georgians have taken to the streets of the capital Tbilisi on Saturday evening to protest a controversial “foreign influence” bill backed by the government....
China is still harrassing dissidents who fled in the 1990s. And that is increasingly causing friction with democracies over issues of espionage, surveillance and human rights (www.bbc.com)
Three decades ago, Chinese dissidents were being smuggled out of the country in a secret operation called Yellow Bird - but as one of them tells the BBC, Beijing is still pursuing them....
German lawmakers support plans to protect Ukrainian airspace from NATO territory by means of Western air defense (www.faz.net)
Archived unpaywalled link (in German)...
Chinese police activity in Hungary 'a significant risk to EU security', group of European lawmakers warns (www.reneweuropegroup.eu)
The Hungarian government’s invitation to Chinese police officers to patrol in Hungary poses a threat to European security and in particular the freedoms of Europe’s Chinese diaspora....
US warns of Russian hackers targeting operational technology in water systems across North America and Europe (www.nextgov.com)
The advisory, which also includes French, Canadian and British authorities, says that pro-Russia activists are “targeting and compromising” operational technology platforms that underpin wastewater and water treatment systems, at times posing physical threats to safety....
Chinese volunteers joined Hungarian security to harass Tibet protesters during Xi Jinping visit in Budapest (www.tibetanreview.net)
Archived link...
In China, where authoritarianism is justified by redefining the term, a woman has reportedly been beaten to death during interrogation after accusing police of murdering her husband (dominotheory.com)
The reason behind the husband’s death is equally uncertain, except to say that he died in prison in East Turkestan (Xinjiang) when serving a sentence for the “crime” of accessing overseas websites, one of six men from the same village to leave this world in similar circumstances....
Amid fresh warnings that Russia is preparing “violent acts of sabotage” in Europe and NATO states, experts say there is already a significant uptick in what appears to be covert Russian sabotage (www.france24.com)
Jenny Mathers, a specialist in Russian intelligence services at Aberystwyth University in Wales, said there has been a notable increase in the number and intensity of Russia-linked incidents for the past year, adding that “we are likely to see an acceleration of this trend"....
‘They’ve destroyed us because of some tweets’: why has Saudi Arabia targeted these three sisters? (www.theguardian.com)
cross-posted from: lemmy.ca/post/20917977...
"Peace can only come when Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are restored:" Italy’s president says Russia’s invasion of Ukraine can’t be solved by rewarding Moscow’s aggression (apnews.com)
Italy’s president told the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine can’t be solved by rewarding its aggression and peace can only come when Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are restored....
GPS jamming represents shift in Russian attacks on Baltics which affects "daily lives of people in our region", Lithuanian foreign minister says (www.lrt.lt)
Archived link...
US overtakes China as Germany's top trading partner (www.reuters.com)
The United States overtook China as Germany’s most important trading partner in the first quarter of this year, according to Reuters’ calculations based on official data from the German statistics office....
Israeli whistleblowers detail horror of shadowy detention facility for Palestinians | CNN (edition.cnn.com)
At a military base that now doubles as a detention center in Israel’s Negev desert, an Israeli working at the facility snapped two photographs of a scene that he says continues to haunt him.
European firms that rank China as a top investment destination has hit a record low, could take years to restore confidence, lobby group says (www.euractiv.com)
Archived link...
Head of PR at China's biggest search engine Baidu apologised after her comments glorifying a work-till-you-drop culture sparked public outcry (www.bbc.com)
In a series of videos posted on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, Qu Jing, said she had no responsibility for employees’ well-being “as I’m not your mother”....
