China: After crackdown on Hong Kong, overseas communities carry the torch to keep Tiananmen memories alive (apnews.com)
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German Chancellor Scholz to Putin: we will defend 'every square inch' of NATO territory (www.reuters.com)
NATO’s recent move to strengthen its eastern border is aimed at deterring Russia, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Sunday, adding that it should be clear to Moscow that the alliance will be ready to defend itself if necessary....
75-hour weeks, obscure audits, and blatant “whataboutism”: Factory employees refute fast-fashion company Shein’s promises to make improvements (www.publiceye.ch)
Two years after our pioneering investigation into Shein’s southern Chinese manufacturing plants, a follow-up investigation highlights what the online fashion giant’s sustainability rhetoric is worth. Illegal working hours and piecework wages remain a typical feature of the everyday lives of the workers interviewed. Hence the...
G7 countries, EU plan new sanctions against banks using Russia's alternative to SWIFT, SPFS, to evade Western sanctions (tr.im)
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Anyone know who composed the AIN anthem for the 2024 Olympic Games? (www.youtube.com)
Here’s the official statement from March, which includes the MP3 file, but no other information. olympics.com/…/ain-eligibility-review-panel-estab… #Paris2024 #Olympics
Luxury perfumes linked to child labour as the industry's supply chain auditing systems are deeply flawed, investigation reveals (www.bbc.com)
- The very few companies that own many luxury brands, which include L’Oréal and Estée Lauder, are squeezing budgets, resulting in very low pay, forcing Egyptian jasmine pickers to involve their children often aged as young as 5....
German army officer sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for spying for Russia (www.bbc.com)
The man, identified only as Thomas H, had been a captain in the army’s procurement office when he contacted Russian embassy in Berlin and passed on secret military information....
A major pause in relations between Russia and China, economist says (russiapost.info)
By Vladislav Leonidovich InozemtsevThe author is Director of the Moscow-based Centre for Research on Post-Industrial Societies, a nonprofit think-tank, and a professor and the chair at the Department of World Economy, Faculty of Public Governance, Moscow State Lomonosov University.–...
NATO’s boss wants to free Ukraine to strike hard inside Russia (www.economist.com)
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Russia: Loss of state-owned energy giant Gazprom, the first in decades, shows the Kremlin's struggle to fill EU gas sales gap with China (www.reuters.com)
- Gazprom posted a loss of $7 bln in 2023, first since end-1990s***- Gazprom’s pipeline gas sales to Europe slump******- Russia banks on business with Asia******- Price of Russian gas for China seen gradually declining***...
Israel breaking international law, says Germany's Habeck – DW – 05/25/2024 (p.dw.com)
As governments crack down on fast fashion’s harms, could Shein lose its shine? (theconversation.com)
By Elaine L Ritch, Reader in Fashion, Marketing and Sustainability, Glasgow Caledonian University...
Mexico's drought, heatwave and water shortage are so bad even police are blocking traffic in protest (apnews.com)
Burning Sun: Exposing the secret K-pop chat groups - BBC World Service Documentaries (youtu.be)
Japan protests over Chinese ambassador's "extremely inappropriate" comment about Japanese people who would be "dragged into the fire" if they support Taiwan's independence (www.reuters.com)
Japan has lodged a protest against the Chinese ambassador’s “extremely inappropriate” comments about Taiwan, chief cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Wednesday....
Russia is waging a shadow war on the West that needs a collective response, Estonian leader says (www.independent.co.uk)
Perched on the open ramp at the rear of a British Chinook helicopter, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas flew home from the annual Spring Storm military exercises, pleased to see NATO allies cooperating. But she later said that other types of warfare were on her mind....
Foreign businesses operating in China and Taiwan raise concerns about Beijing's recently-revised state secrets law (www.dw.com)
China’s expanded Law on the Guarding of State Secrets, which was passed by lawmakers in February, took effect on May 1 to bring it into line with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent efforts to broaden national security-driven regulations....
Jailed Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi says she is facing a new trial after she accused the security forces of sexually assaulting women (www.bbc.com)
In a message from Evin prison where she is being held, Ms Mohammadi said the trial relates to an audio post, in which she condemned a “full-scale war against women” by the Iranian regime....
Chinese nationals are trying to get to Australia by boat over a weak economy and political oppression at home (www.abc.net.au)
As night fell over the Indian Ocean, Li thought he would die in his boat....
Prime Minister of Estonia: NATO troops training in Ukraine will not lead to an escalation of war (westobserver.com)
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'A big mess is brewing’: Thousands of Russian fighters are flooding into Libya, raising concerns over what the Kremlin might be planning (meduza.io)
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Which German websites help disseminate pro-Russian narratives (insightnews.media)
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How the Kremlin launders disinformation around the globe, attempting to sow division and undermine democracy (www.info-res.org)
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A Ukrainian recon commander in Kharkiv said its first line of defense was missing, in a 'betrayal' that allowed Russian troops to just walk in (www.yahoo.com)
Lesbian Women Set on Fire in Argentina (www.hrw.org)
Three lesbian women have died and one more is in critical condition in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after a man threw a Molotov cocktail into their boarding house room on May 6, setting them all on fire. One woman, Pamela Fabiana Cobas, was severely burned and died almost immediately. Her partner, Mercedes Roxana Figueroa, died of...
