www.bbc.com Executions at highest level since 2015, Amnesty International says
But Amnesty International also says only 15 countries carried out the death penalty, the lowest on record
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cross-posted from: https://sopuli.xyz/post/25101698
The number of state executions around the world has reached its highest level in ten years, a new report by Amnesty International has said.
More than 1,500 recorded executions took place in 2024 with Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia accounting for a combined 1,380 and the United States for 25, the charity found.
Despite this rise, the report also found that the total number of countries carrying out the death penalty stood at 15 - the lowest number on record for the second consecutive year.
Amnesty International's Secretary General Agnes Callamard said the "tide is turning" on capital punishment, adding that "it is only a matter of time until the world is free from the shadow of the gallows".
While these figures are the highest they have been since 2015 - when at least 1,634 people were subject to the death penalty - the true overall figure is likely to be higher.
Amnesty International says the figu
Canada’s answer to Tesla showcased at global trade fair in Germany
cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/20580103
With protests happening at Tesla dealerships around the world and U.S. President Donald Trump unleashing tariffs that could devastate the Canadian auto sector, now seems the perfect time for Project Arrow 2.0 to make its debut at Hannover Messe, the world’s biggest technology fair.
Project Arrow, Canada’s first locally made zero-emission vehicle, was designed by a student team at Carleton University in Ottawa and built – with 97 per cent Canadian components – in Oshawa at Ontario Tech University’s Automotive Centre of Excellence.
First unveiled in 2023 at the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas, the car has since moved from concept to the brink of (almost) mass production, with the latest version presented at in Hannover, where Canada is the partner country at the f
Canada’s answer to Tesla showcased at global trade fair in Germany
With protests happening at Tesla dealerships around the world and U.S. President Donald Trump unleashing tariffs that could devastate the Canadian auto sector, now seems the perfect time for Project Arrow 2.0 to make its debut at Hannover Messe, the world’s biggest technology fair.
Project Arrow, Canada’s first locally made zero-emission vehicle, was designed by a student team at Carleton University in Ottawa and built – with 97 per cent Canadian components – in Oshawa at Ontario Tech University’s Automotive Centre of Excellence.
First unveiled in 2023 at the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas, the car has since moved from concept to the brink of (almost) mass production, with the latest version presented at in Hannover, where Canada is the partner country at the fair and Durham Region’s booth – with a handful of local dignitaries
Will Mr. Sanchez raise this issue of the Chinese soldiers fighting for Russia against Ukraine? I mean, as "China would be a key strategic partner for Spain and Europe" ...
Might not be a bad idea to collaborate with China ...
This is exactly the point. Renewables are the future, but Europe must not replace its dependence on Russian oil with dependence on Chinese tech. Given that China is a decisive supporter of Russia's war in Ukraine (and falsely claims that former Sovie-republics like Ukraine, the Baltic states, and others have no independent legal status), it is clear that Beijing is not exactly a friend of Europe to say the least.
It is absolutely necessary for the EU to (re-)build its wind and solar sector.
Germany funds Eutelsat internet in Ukraine as Musk tensions rise
Berlin has been paying for Ukraine's access to a satellite-internet network operated by France's Eutelsat, as Europe seeks alternatives to Elon Musk’s Starlink.
Eutelsat’s chief executive Eva Berneke told Reuters the company has provided its high-speed satellite internet service to Ukraine for about a year via a German distributor.
[...]
Berneke said it was funded by the German government, but declined to comment on the cost.
Berneke said there were fewer than a thousand terminals connecting users in Ukraine to Eutelsat’s network, which is a small fraction of the roughly 50,000 Starlink terminals Ukraine says it has, but she said she expected the figure would rise.
"Now we're looking to get between 5,000 and 10,000 there relatively fast," she said, adding it could be "within weeks".
Asked whether Germany would also fund that additional provision, Eutelsat spokesperson Joanna Darlington said the issue was under discussion.
"We don’t know yet how the EU collectively or country by
EU hones in on Central Asia in race for raw materials: Experts say the idea is to offer competitive deals and build local industry while encouraging sustainable mining
www.dw.com EU hones in on Central Asia in race for raw materials – DW – 04/02/2025
The EU has raised billions for the region to diversify supply chains and reduce dependence on China. Experts say the idea is to offer competitive deals and build local industry while encouraging sustainable mining.
The European Union's first-ever summit with the five resource-rich states of Central Asia, will focus on critical minerals needed for a growing defense industry and the bloc's green transformation.
The EU is taking a keen interest in Central Asia that comprises Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, as realization seeped in that Europe was far too dependent on China for critical minerals.
As EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa meet Central Asian leaders in the Uzbek city of Samarkand, sustainable development and Russia's attempts to evade sanctions, among other issues, will be on the table.
But most attention will be paid to infrastructure development required to tap into the region's valuable resources.
...
The European Institute for Asian Studies (EIAS) noted that the potential for production expansion is significant. "Kazakhstan currently produces 19 of the EU's 34 critical raw materials and is p
www.eco-stylist.com How Shein and Temu Are Making the Whole Fashion Industry Less Sustainable
Shein and Temu are ultra fast fashion giants that have taken the fashion industry to new lows. But what ARE the costs of their unbelievably low prices? And what can we do about it?
cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/20327401
We have all been sucked in by those videos circulating online of “My $200 Shein Haul” or “Everything I bought for less than $5 from TEMU Review”, but who actually are the two new giants on the ultra fast fashion scene?
In a world where it seemed the general consensus had shifted towards more environmental and ethical consumption, how have these two brands established a global network reaching 150 countries worldwide, and what is at stake if they continue to grow unchecked?
...
How Are They So Cheap?
- Labour: The general rule is if you are paying an unbelievably low price for a product, the person making it has been paid an unfair wage for their labour. Often this means involvement of forced, child or penal labour and workers are subjected to awful conditions and chemicals. US lawmakers have previousl
www.eco-stylist.com How Shein and Temu Are Making the Whole Fashion Industry Less Sustainable
Shein and Temu are ultra fast fashion giants that have taken the fashion industry to new lows. But what ARE the costs of their unbelievably low prices? And what can we do about it?
cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/20327401
We have all been sucked in by those videos circulating online of “My $200 Shein Haul” or “Everything I bought for less than $5 from TEMU Review”, but who actually are the two new giants on the ultra fast fashion scene?
In a world where it seemed the general consensus had shifted towards more environmental and ethical consumption, how have these two brands established a global network reaching 150 countries worldwide, and what is at stake if they continue to grow unchecked?
...
How Are They So Cheap?
- Labour: The general rule is if you are paying an unbelievably low price for a product, the person making it has been paid an unfair wage for their labour. Often this means involvement of forced, child or penal labour and workers are subjected to awful conditions and chemicals. US lawmakers have previousl
www.eco-stylist.com How Shein and Temu Are Making the Whole Fashion Industry Less Sustainable
Shein and Temu are ultra fast fashion giants that have taken the fashion industry to new lows. But what ARE the costs of their unbelievably low prices? And what can we do about it?
cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/20327401
We have all been sucked in by those videos circulating online of “My $200 Shein Haul” or “Everything I bought for less than $5 from TEMU Review”, but who actually are the two new giants on the ultra fast fashion scene?
In a world where it seemed the general consensus had shifted towards more environmental and ethical consumption, how have these two brands established a global network reaching 150 countries worldwide, and what is at stake if they continue to grow unchecked?
...
How Are They So Cheap?
- Labour: The general rule is if you are paying an unbelievably low price for a product, the person making it has been paid an unfair wage for their labour. Often this means involvement of forced, child or penal labour and workers are subjected to awful conditions and chemicals. US lawmakers have previousl
www.eco-stylist.com How Shein and Temu Are Making the Whole Fashion Industry Less Sustainable
Shein and Temu are ultra fast fashion giants that have taken the fashion industry to new lows. But what ARE the costs of their unbelievably low prices? And what can we do about it?
We have all been sucked in by those videos circulating online of “My $200 Shein Haul” or “Everything I bought for less than $5 from TEMU Review”, but who actually are the two new giants on the ultra fast fashion scene?
In a world where it seemed the general consensus had shifted towards more environmental and ethical consumption, how have these two brands established a global network reaching 150 countries worldwide, and what is at stake if they continue to grow unchecked?
...
How Are They So Cheap?
- Labour: The general rule is if you are paying an unbelievably low price for a product, the person making it has been paid an unfair wage for their labour. Often this means involvement of forced, child or penal labour and workers are subjected to awful conditions and chemicals. US lawmakers have previously warned of an ‘extremely high risk’ that Temu and Shein were using forced l
Why solar panels in the UK are inseparable from Chinese slave labour: Experts say Britain should follow other countries and take tougher stance
cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/20326500
The pursuit of net zero has relied on Uighur Muslims forced to work in appalling conditions. Experts say Britain should follow other countries and take tougher stance.
...
Many of the Chinese workers who are helping us to go green do not want to be at those factories. They do not arrive at work to manually crush silicon and load it into blazing furnaces because of a love of renewables, much less to earn a decent wage.
They are there as part of a mass forced labour programme by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that critics describe as a genocide. A reliance on men and women from the Uighur Muslim minority living in detention centres has helped the Xinjiang region to become the epicentre of the solar industry over the last 15 years.
At its peak, **analys
Why solar panels in the UK are inseparable from Chinese slave labour: Experts say Britain should follow other countries and take tougher stance
cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/20326500
The pursuit of net zero has relied on Uighur Muslims forced to work in appalling conditions. Experts say Britain should follow other countries and take tougher stance.
...
Many of the Chinese workers who are helping us to go green do not want to be at those factories. They do not arrive at work to manually crush silicon and load it into blazing furnaces because of a love of renewables, much less to earn a decent wage.
They are there as part of a mass forced labour programme by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that critics describe as a genocide. A reliance on men and women from the Uighur Muslim minority living in detention centres has helped the Xinjiang region to become the epicentre of the solar industry over the last 15 years.
At its peak, **analys
Why solar panels in the UK are inseparable from Chinese slave labour: Experts say Britain should follow other countries and take tougher stance
cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/20326500
The pursuit of net zero has relied on Uighur Muslims forced to work in appalling conditions. Experts say Britain should follow other countries and take tougher stance.
...
Many of the Chinese workers who are helping us to go green do not want to be at those factories. They do not arrive at work to manually crush silicon and load it into blazing furnaces because of a love of renewables, much less to earn a decent wage.
They are there as part of a mass forced labour programme by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that critics describe as a genocide. A reliance on men and women from the Uighur Muslim minority living in detention centres has helped the Xinjiang region to become the epicentre of the solar industry over the last 15 years.
At its peak, **analys
Why solar panels in the UK are inseparable from Chinese slave labour: Experts say Britain should follow other countries and take tougher stance
The pursuit of net zero has relied on Uighur Muslims forced to work in appalling conditions. Experts say Britain should follow other countries and take tougher stance.
...
Many of the Chinese workers who are helping us to go green do not want to be at those factories. They do not arrive at work to manually crush silicon and load it into blazing furnaces because of a love of renewables, much less to earn a decent wage.
They are there as part of a mass forced labour programme by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that critics describe as a genocide. A reliance on men and women from the Uighur Muslim minority living in detention centres has helped the Xinjiang region to become the epicentre of the solar industry over the last 15 years.
At its peak, **analysts believe that 95 per cent of the world’s solar modules were potentially ta
How a trade war could boost small-scale farming in southwestern Ontario
[...]
According to Ethan Wallace, a vice president with the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA), the idea of a trade war helping small-scale farmers has merit.
"The farm to table marketers, the farmers with the roadside stands, the small and medium-sized producers that the market direct to consumer, are the ones that stand to gain the most out of out of all of this," Wallace said. "As consumers decide to buy local, they're looking for those people."
The hope for the industry as a whole, Wallace said, is that those consumers also prioritize looking for Canadian labels in grocery stores.
That's because while smaller operations can benefit from the broadening of their customer base, larger farms that have specialized in products that are often exported won't be so lucky. Crews work to get cut hay into bales and into an awaiting tractor trailer in Thorndale, Ontario.
[...]
"Evicted and left homeless:" People displaced by East African crude oil pipeline (Eacop) ‘received inadequate compensation,' report says
More than 3,600 households displaced from their homes alongside the site of an oil pipeline under construction in Uganda have rightfully complained of being inadequately rehoused or compensated, a report published by Haki Defenders Foundation, a Kampala, Uganda-based rights group, and the University of Sheffield in the UK, has found.
The EACOP project is a joint venture between the governments of Uganda and Tanzania with French oil company TotalEnergies, and China National Offshore Oil Corporation.
While the project has been touted by project owners as important for the region’s economy, the Haki Defenders Foundation, led by Executive Director Leah Munokoh, and the Urban Institute at the University of Sheffield, say the $5 billion project, has raised significant concerns due to community displacement, environmental damage, and human rights violations.
[...]
Former Swedish PM Leaves Facebook Citing Concerns Over Democracy
swedenherald.com Stefan Löfven Leaves Facebook Citing Concerns Over Democracy | Sweden Herald
The former Prime Minister Stefan Löfven announces in a [post on Facebook](https://www
cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/20288828
The former Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven announces in a post on Facebook that he will leave the social media platform.
"I can no longer be involved in or support media platforms that contribute to undermining democracy", Löfven writes in the post.
He does, however, mean that "good forces" remain on the platform and takes the opportunity to thank his friends.
"Aware that many good forces are present here, I would like to say: thank you all friends, we'll meet in other contexts", writes the former Prime Minister.
Stefan Löfven concludes the post with an appeal.
"As long as you're here – do your best to stand up for what's good!"
Former Swedish PM Leaves Facebook Citing Concerns Over Democracy
swedenherald.com Stefan Löfven Leaves Facebook Citing Concerns Over Democracy | Sweden Herald
The former Prime Minister Stefan Löfven announces in a [post on Facebook](https://www
The former Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven announces in a post on Facebook that he will leave the social media platform.
"I can no longer be involved in or support media platforms that contribute to undermining democracy", Löfven writes in the post.
He does, however, mean that "good forces" remain on the platform and takes the opportunity to thank his friends.
"Aware that many good forces are present here, I would like to say: thank you all friends, we'll meet in other contexts", writes the former Prime Minister.
Stefan Löfven concludes the post with an appeal.
"As long as you're here – do your best to stand up for what's good!"
I agree. Unfortunately there is a lot of this bs here in this community, and it appears to come form always the same accounts.
cybersecuritynews.com Meta AI Will Begin Rolling Out Across 41 European Countries
After nearly a year of regulatory hurdles, Meta has finally begun deploying its conversational AI assistant across the European Union.
cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/20134554
After nearly a year of regulatory hurdles, Meta has finally begun deploying its conversational AI assistant across the European Union and neighboring countries this week.
The rollout, which covers 41 European countries and 21 overseas territories, marks Meta’s largest global expansion of Meta AI to date, though European users will initially access only a limited version of the technology.
European users will initially have access to what Meta describes as an “intelligent chat function” available in six European languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian.
...
The AI assistant will be integrated across Meta’s suite of applications, including WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. Users can access Meta AI by tapping a blue circle icon within these apps to initi
FoxNews' Watters on American TV: "We are not in high school. We don't need friends ... if we have to burn down a few bridges with Denmark to take Greenland ... we’re big boys ... we dropped A-bombs on Japan and now they are our ally… America is not handcuffed by history."
Addition: Here is an alternative link to Mastodon if you don't want to click Xitter: https://eupolicy.social/@Squig/114245727346349844
cybersecuritynews.com Meta AI Will Begin Rolling Out Across 41 European Countries
After nearly a year of regulatory hurdles, Meta has finally begun deploying its conversational AI assistant across the European Union.
cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/20134554
After nearly a year of regulatory hurdles, Meta has finally begun deploying its conversational AI assistant across the European Union and neighboring countries this week.
The rollout, which covers 41 European countries and 21 overseas territories, marks Meta’s largest global expansion of Meta AI to date, though European users will initially access only a limited version of the technology.
European users will initially have access to what Meta describes as an “intelligent chat function” available in six European languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian.
...
The AI assistant will be integrated across Meta’s suite of applications, including WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. Users can access Meta AI by tapping a blue circle icon within these apps to initi
cybersecuritynews.com Meta AI Will Begin Rolling Out Across 41 European Countries
After nearly a year of regulatory hurdles, Meta has finally begun deploying its conversational AI assistant across the European Union.
After nearly a year of regulatory hurdles, Meta has finally begun deploying its conversational AI assistant across the European Union and neighboring countries this week.
The rollout, which covers 41 European countries and 21 overseas territories, marks Meta’s largest global expansion of Meta AI to date, though European users will initially access only a limited version of the technology.
European users will initially have access to what Meta describes as an “intelligent chat function” available in six European languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian.
...
The AI assistant will be integrated across Meta’s suite of applications, including WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. Users can access Meta AI by tapping a blue circle icon within these apps to initiate conversations.
...
Meta has indicated this limited release is just “th
It’s one of the few English speaking sources from China.
China's Global Times is an English-language propaganda outlet in English. The Chinese Communist Party's news agency Xinhua publishes in English (as well as in German, French, and many other languages). And then there are many propaganda outlets in English and other languages in the world.
Sometimes these are openly influenced by China. The Chinese government has been spending billions of dollars (in the single-digit billions, if I recall correctly) over the last decade or so to establish a network of such propaganda outlets all across the globe (publishing news in English and other local languages), all of them collaborating with the so-called "International Communication Centers" inside China for fine-tuning Chinese anti-democratic narratives.
Other propaganda outlets are hiding their connections to the Chinese Communist Party, the recent most prominent example likely being "NewsBreak", that was once (or still is?) the most downloaded US news app, and in 2024 turned out to be of Chinese origin, and spreading AI generated 'fiction' and Beijing's propaganda.
Your statement is absolutely baseless and even downright naive if it comes from a moderator dealing with such content.
[Edit for clarity.]
Pikachu Spotted Fleeing Police Crackdowns During Turkey Protests -- [Real news, not The Onion]
People are protesting in several major cities in Turkey, and Pikachu was at one in Antalya, according to local news outlets and social media. In the video, the person in the mascot suit hauls yellow nylon ass as fast as a pair of short, inflated legs can carry them—which is surprisingly fast, actually, considering how they’re keeping up with the people running all around them. The original video was captured by Ismail Koçeroğlu, a photojournalist at Akdeniz University in Antalya [...]
And because nothing good is safe from AI—not even Protest Pikachu, arguably one of the purest pieces of iconography to come out of the resistance to the worldwide creep of authoritarianism yet—an AI-generated image of Pikachu rushing through the streets alongside protestors went viral shortly after Koçeroğlu’s video. Several local outlets have debunked the image, which is made to look like a high-resolution photojournalism shot from the ground, as being generated with AI.
If the sanctions end they’ll be able to wind down and focus on peaceful development.
Where do you get this? Even the Russian experts -those from the Central Bank, from the universities, and other entities under the direct control of the Kremlin- openly refuse such claims. The numbers -from Rosstat, Russia's national statistics office, and other Kremlin-affiliated institutions- are painting a completely different picture. Even the Russian state-media openly say that Russia's economy is in for a long-term winter, e.g., the country will be facing severe labour shortage, staggering inflation, troubles to payout state pensions.
Mr. Obermann may have a business interest here, but his remarks regarding Russia's economy are absolutely valid. Putin has turned Russia into a 'war economy' with the whole country depending on war. Even Russian economists -including from the Central Bank- warn that the country will be facing difficult times if peace breaks out (which may also mean it would be difficult for Putin to stay in power as soon as the war ends and there is no enemy anymore).
So Obermann's comment that "the internal pressure [in Russia] to deliver new victories through military conquest likely will grow", is very real. Putin put his country on a war path for the long term. For example, Russia's defense minister is an economist claiming that war would be a requirement for economic growth (this is, of course, complete rubbish, but this comes from Russia's government).
I wrote a comment regarding Russia's economy in a different thread and don't want to repeat it, so here is the link if you are interested: https://slrpnk.net/post/19670037/14488418
Rutte according to a report by AP:
“If anyone were to miscalculate and think they can get away with an attack on Poland or on any other ally, they will be met with the full force of this fierce alliance. Our reaction will be devastating. This has to be very clear to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and anyone else who wants to attack us."
[Edit typo.]
Nah, the others must say thank you ;-)
In a not so funny note, egg prices in the U.S. are up 19,19% in February (month-on-month).
I personally feel that this speech doesn't address many issues regarding the CBDC. The most obvious imho is that ths is not a competition between the digital euro and private payment systems, nor is it an issue of digital euro versus stablecoins, as the speech appears to address.
The most pressing problem with stablecoins allegedly is a lack of transparency and regulation (what Mr. Lane suggests), as no none knows whether or not the provider maintains full reserves (Tether, a stablecoin with links to China that has reportedly also been used in Chinese-Russian trade to circumvent Swift sanction imposed by the West, has reportedly been failing in the past to present audits showing sufficient asset reserves). I agree that stablecoins appear to be a problem from this point of view (partly also because it may negatively effect commercial banking and credit business, as the speech also suggests), but I would not only focus on stablecoins when it comes to alternatives to our modern money.
"An evolutionary process towards a flexible but stable monetary system", to quote the speech, must not only entail the digitization of our fiat money, but the creation of a wide range of private currencies that are about to complement -rather than substitute- the future currency universe. Mr. Lane addresses this briefly in his speech, but then appears to offer 'only' CBDC as a solution. What we needed, however, are complementary currencies for different use cases. The digital euro is important, but only one part of the solution imho.
Private payment systems can (and should, imo) only be addressed by other private service companies. If we want an alternative for Paypal in Europe, we need something like Wero or the GNU Taler. It depends on the use case.
One major point with the digital euro is privacy. As for now, the planned so-called 'offline digital euro' -supposed to be used for very small everyday payments, e.g., you would bump your phone wallet to pay your restaurant bill, or you may even have a prepaid card rather than a phone- might be really private (to the best of my knowledge, interpreting the current plans). If you are using this offline version, the only people who have access to the payment data are you and the person/organization you pay. All checks are made only if you top up your digital wallet with your bank. (There is, however, a plan to combat criminal attempts and fraud, so it is not clear yet whether or not there will be a way for commercial banks -or the central bank- to use private data for this as the plans are not yet clear about it, afaik).
The online version of the digital euro is much trickier when it comes to privacy. According to the current plans, only your bank would see your full data (namely your transactional data and your identity), while the central bank would see your transactional data, but not your identity. However, such 'pseudonymity' is a much greater problem as it initially may seem as we know. First, a single transaction that would link your account to your identity could reveal immediately the entire data set; and, second, any change in the law -for example, a new government may hold a different view on privacy and introduces new rules- could undermine the privacy of people completely.
As Mr. Lane concludes,
The digital euro is not just about making sure our monetary system adapts to the digital age. It is about ensuring that Europe controls its monetary and financial destiny, against a backdrop of increasing geopolitical fragmentation.
Although I agree with this view in principle, controlling Europe's monetary and financial destiny is not about the digital euro alone. We need also private, complementary currencies as well as European alternatives to the private payment service providers currently dominated by U.S. companies.
And so did Germany, Canada, Mexico (here is a brief article).
Addition: Denmark tells transgender citizens to get advice before US trips
... China’s policy of heavily subsidizing key industries, which allows Chinese manufacturers to produce at a scale and cost that Western companies struggle to match.
Yes, but it's not just the subsidies. An additional important factor in this context that the article doesn't mention is the number of people in China who are forced into modern slavery. Therefore, a strong supply chain law is essential not only with regards to human rights (any trade agreement that does not include this crucial issue is useless imo), but also for a competition policy.
The article makes several good points how Germany and Europe have an advantage over China. But we need to get the human rights issue, too. That's a major point.
Cuts and caps to benefits have always harmed people, not helped them into work
[...] While spending on disability-related support has gone up [in the UK] in recent years, the overall welfare bill has not. On top of that, the proportion of people who are not in work and who are claiming disability-related social security is actually about the same as it has been for the last 40 years. Indeed, the fact it is so low, given population ageing, could be read as good news [...]
The best evidence we have right now suggests that making it more difficult to claim social security and placing more strenuous work-search requirements on claimants will simply push people with poor health (particularly mental ill-health) further away from the labour market [...]
First, Harvard’s failure to speak out discourages other, more vulnerable universities from taking action, which undermines our collective defenses. If Columbia or another university confronts the administration on its own, it will lose. If America’s nearly 6,000 universities and colleges launch a campaign in defense of higher education, odds are that Trump will lose.
Someone must lead this collective effort. And if Harvard and other leading universities remain in their protective shells, there is a good chance that no one will.
Second, and crucially, silence cedes the public debate. Public opinion is not formed in a vacuum. The social science research is clear: In the absence of a countervailing message, a one-sided debate will powerfully shape public opinion. As long as he faces no public counter-argument from leaders of higher education, Trump will punish universities and pay no cost in the court of public opinion. If Harvard and other universities make a vigorous defense of higher education and principles of free speech and democracy, much of the public will rally to its side [...]
This is a difficult market. Last year we have seen job losses and even bankruptcies of several EV brands - particularly in China, not (yet?) in Europe and the U.S. - and we will see what happens in 2025 and after.
It's an interesting article from a unusual point of view (and an unusual source).
From a macroeconomic point of view, a major problem for Russia’s civilian industry could be a lack of labour (in addition to what the article suggests regarding returning soldiers' psychological problems), as stated by several (Russian) economists. And even Russian media admitted that private companies in other sectors than military are operating at around 80% of capacity due to a lack of labour. According to the Russian consultancy Yakov and Partners, Russia could reach a worker shortage of 2 to 4 million people by 2030.
Another problem for Russia on the economic road to peace could be the banks. Sberbank and TVB, both state-owned, have been required by law to fund companies from the military complex at state-subsidised rates, not in the least because Russia’s central bank had to raise interest rates to 21% to curb a devastating inflation. Some other sectors (agriculture, construction) also benefited from state-sponsored lower-than-market rates (these public funds does not count as Russia’s official budget of 40% for military spending afaik).
According to official numbers by the bank of Russia, this led to an increase of profits for both Sberbank and VTB, but these loans -which essentially means that banks could 'mint' a large amount of money within a short time span - now amount to 16% of Russian commercial banks’ total assets. This poses a high risk to the banking sector, and it increases once the war is over and peace breaks out. Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina has warned already late last year that the Russian banking sector’s capital adequacy ratio has dropped by 2 percentage points in the course of 2024, reaching 12.5%. (Simply speaking, the Capital Adequacy Ratio is a metric used by regulators around the globe measuring a bank’s ability to absorb a sufficient amount of loss before they loose depositor funds.) Russia’s ratio is still above the minimum requirement under the so-called Basel III rules (which is 10.5% if I am not mistaken), but the drop is significant, meaning that Russian banks could be quickly running out of cushion to avoid insolvency once the situation changes.
Russia has also lost its most important economic lifeline, oil and gas, and Europe won’t come back as buyers given that the Kremlin is posing a threat to the continent.
And all this must be seen as even now, as the war is raging, the Russian economy, despite coming from a relatively low level, is already slowing down. The IMF expects a growth rate of 1.3% this year and 1.2% in 2026. Some time ago, Russian economist Natalia Zubarevich said that in Russia “there will be no collapses, but rather a viscous, slow sinking into backwardness.” Maybe she is right?
[Edit typo.]
Friendly reminder that the European Parliament lifted restrictions on MEPs, allowing them to meet Chinese officials again (the restrictions were introduced two years ago over human rights abuses in East Turkistan, a region which is referred to as Xinjiang by the Chinese regime). Maybe it's time to correct this?
Donald should not mess up with Denmark. They may not have the cards, but they have the eggs. Think of the eggs ...
In related news, Trump’s FBI Moves to Criminally Charge Major Climate Groups:
The FBI is moving to criminalize groups like Habitat for Humanity for receiving grants from the Environmental Protection Agency under the Biden administration.
Citibank revealed in a court filing Wednesday that it was told to freeze the groups’ bank accounts at the FBI’s request. The reason? The FBI alleges that the groups are involved in “possible criminal violations,” including “conspiracy to defraud the United States.”