Russia-China gas pipeline deal stalls over what Moscow says Beijing's unreasonable price demands in major blow for Putin (www.reuters.com)
Here is the paywalled article...
'Russia now is like 1984': Inside a Russian dystopian library (www.bbc.com)
If the billboards in Ivanovo are to be believed, Russia’s really going places....
'Mitigating factors’: Russian soldiers found guilty in domestic violence cases are getting off with just small fines (meduza.io)
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Nikki Haley writes ‘Finish Them!’ on Israeli bomb bound for Gaza (www.aljazeera.com)
cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/16260179...
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...
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy accuses China of helping Russia to disrupt upcoming peace summit (www.cnbc.com)
- The peace talks, which focus on the Russia-Ukraine conflict which started in February 2022, are due to take place at the Bürgenstock Resort in Switzerland on June 15-16....
Israel has encroached on 32% of Gaza (www.aljazeera.com)
Georgia: Intimidation campaigns against opposition, civil society, government critics as repressions - announced and orchestrated by government officials (civil.ge)
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EU seeks to reduce Hungary’s influence over the bloc's policy in the next European Commission due to obstructionist behavior (westobserver.com)
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As June 4 approaches, rights group urges China to free jailed participants, supporters, and advocates for justice of the Tiananmen massacre (www.nchrd.org)
Archived link...
Iran: 'Western pressure can hinder executions' (www.dw.com)
- At least 853 people were executed in Iran last year. Human rights activists suspect the number was actually much higher. According to Amnesty International, Iran is among the countries with the highest number of executions, second only to China–...
Russia labels wives of mobilized soldiers campaigning for their husbands' return from the war in Ukraine as 'foreign agents' (www.themoscowtimes.com)
Archived link...
He Made a PowerPoint on Mothers Starving in Gaza. Then He Lost His Government Job. (theintercept.com)
G7 countries, EU plan new sanctions against banks using Russia's alternative to SWIFT, SPFS, to evade Western sanctions (tr.im)
Archive link...
The Philippines wants bilateral understanding with its neighbors, when a Code of Conduct between ASEAN and China is, so far, only but a dream (www.rappler.com)
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Biden details a 3-phase hostage deal aimed at winding down the Israel-Hamas war (apnews.com)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday detailed a three-phase deal proposed by Israel to Hamas militants that he says would lead to the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza and could end the grinding, nearly 8-month-old Mideast war....
Espionage: In seemingly the first case of its kind, the US has charged a Chinese national with using a drone to photograph a shipyard where the US Navy was assembling nuclear submarines (www.wired.com)
The United States Department of Justice is quietly prosecuting a novel Espionage Act case involving a drone, a Chinese national, and classified nuclear submarines....
Donald Trump found guilty on all counts in hush-money trial | CBC News (web.archive.org)
Is it true that he can still run for the office even if he’s in jail?
US Treasury says US and EU must deliver a "message to China" that its firms can choose between doing business with US and EU economies or equipping Russia with dual-use goods (www.reuters.com)
Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said on Friday that Washington and the European Union must deliver a message to China that its firms face a choice between doing business with U.S. and EU economies or equipping Russia with dual-use goods....
Hong Kong government should immediately quash a court’s groundless national security law convictions of prominent pro-democracy activists, Human Rights Watch says (www.hrw.org)
On May 30, 2024, three judges handpicked by the Beijing-controlled Hong Kong chief executive convicted 14 activists and former elected lawmakers under the draconian National Security Law. Two were acquitted. Earlier, 31 other defendants had pleaded guilty in hopes of more lenient sentencing. The court will announce sentences,...
Israeli journalist says he was threatened by senior intelligence officials if he reported on attempts by the country's spy chief to intimidate ex-prosecutor (www.theguardian.com)
- An investigative reporter with Israel’s leading leftwing newspaper, Haaretz, has said unnamed senior security officials threatened actions against him if he reported on attempts by the former head of the Mossad to intimidate the ex-prosecutor of the international criminal court....
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
As Taiwan's new president took office, state media outlets in China were spitting fire. And nothing the new leader says or does, they say, can ever dampen the flames. (chinamediaproject.org)
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‘Hong Kong 47’ trial: 14 democrats found guilty in landmark subversion case (www.reuters.com)
- Fourteen of 16 convicted of subversion conspiracy***- Amnesty calls verdicts “near-total purge” of HK opposition******- Sentencing at a later date, life in prison possible******- Australia minister: ‘deep concern’ at verdict and jailed citizen***...
China’s effort to take over Taiwan without firing a shot: How influence operations, cyber-weapon hoarding, and intimidation factor into China’s Taiwan play (www.defenseone.com)
Archived link...
