Once, a guide stopped tourists from leaving a mall for 40 minutes until one bought something. Read more at straitstimes.com.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said on Sept 27 it has conducted secret inspections into recent allegations of forced shopping, with findings confirming that such practices exist on some level among tourism packages there.
The city hired several foreign nationals to pose as tourists in seven low-priced package tours – three that were sold in China and four sold in Vietnam – to check the programmes’ quality.
Most of the packages focused more on shopping than tourism, which the city government’s agents said hindered them from enjoying Seoul’s history and culture.
Once, a guide stopped tourists from leaving a mall for 40 minutes until one bought something. Read more at straitstimes.com.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said on Sept 27 it has conducted secret inspections into recent allegations of forced shopping, with findings confirming that such practices exist on some level among tourism packages there.
The city hired several foreign nationals to pose as tourists in seven low-priced package tours – three that were sold in China and four sold in Vietnam – to check the programmes’ quality.
Most of the packages focused more on shopping than tourism, which the city government’s agents said hindered them from enjoying Seoul’s history and culture.
It says it has listened to concerns about the tool, which continuously screenshots online activity.
Microsoft says it has “listened to feedback” following a privacy row over a new tool which takes regular screenshots of users’ activity.
It was labelled a potential “privacy nightmare” by critics when it was unveiled in May 2024 - prompting the tech giant to postpone its release. It now plans to relaunch the artificial intelligence (AI) powered tool in November on its new CoPilot+ computers.
[...]
When it initially announced the tool at its developer conference in May, Microsoft said it used AI "to make it possible to access virtually anything you have ever seen on your PC", and likened it to having photographic memory. It said Recall could search through a users' past activity, including their files, photos, emails and browsing history.
[...]
But critics quickly raised concerns, given the quantity of sensitive data the system would harvest, with one expert labelling it a potential “privacy nightmare."
[...]
[Pavan Davuluri, Microsoft's corporate vice president of Windows and devices says] that "Windows offers tools to help you control your privacy and customise what gets saved for you to find later".
However a technical blog about it states that “diagnostic data” from the tool may be shared with the firm depending on individual privacy settings.
[Microsoft says in a blog post that users can remove Recall entirely by using the optional features settings in Windows.]
Can artificial intelligence really enrich fossil-fuel companies and fight climate change at the same time? The tech giant says yes.
[...] as Microsoft attempts to buoy its reputation as an AI leader in climate innovation, the company is also selling its AI to fossil-fuel companies. [...] the tech giant has sought to market the technology to companies such as ExxonMobil and Chevron as a powerful tool for finding and developing new oil and gas reserves and maximizing their production—all while publicly committing to dramatically reduce emissions.
Although tech companies have long done business with the fossil-fuel industry, Microsoft’s case is notable. It demonstrates how the AI boom contributes to one of the most pressing issues facing our planet today—despite the fact that the technology is often lauded for its supposed potential to improve our world, as when Sam Altman testified to Congress that it could address issues such as “climate change and curing cancer.”
[...]
For years, Microsoft routinely promoted its work with companies such as Schlumberger, Chevron, Halliburton, ExxonMobil, Baker Hughes, and Shell. Around 2020, the same year Microsoft made ambitious climate commitments that included a goal to reach carbon negativity by 2030, the tech firm grew quieter about such partnerships and focused on messaging about the transition to net zero. Behind the scenes, Microsoft has continued to seek business from the fossil-fuel industry; documents related to its overall pitch strategy show that it has sought energy-industry business in part by marketing the abilities to optimize and automate drilling and to maximize oil and gas production. Over the past year, it has leaned into the generative-AI rush in an effort to clinch more deals—each of which can be worth more than hundreds of millions of dollars. Microsoft employees have noted that the oil and gas industries could represent a market opportunity of $35 billion to $75 billion annually, according to documents I viewed.
[...]
From a business perspective, of course, Microsoft’s pursuit of massive deals with fossil-fuel companies makes sense. And such partnerships do not necessarily mean that the company is contradicting its climate commitments. Microsoft executives have made the case that AI can also help fossil-fuel companies improve their environmental footprint.
[...]
The idea that AI’s climate benefits will outpace its environmental costs is largely speculative, however, especially given that generative-AI tools are themselves tremendously resource-hungry. Within the next six years, the data centers required to develop and run the kinds of next-generation AI models that Microsoft is investing in may use more power than all of India. They will be cooled by millions upon millions of gallons of water. All the while, scientists agree, the world will get warmer, its climate more extreme.
[...]
Microsoft isn’t a company that exists to fight climate change, and it doesn’t have to assume responsibility for saving our planet. Yet the company is trying to convince the public that by investing in a technology that is also being used to enrich fossil-fuel companies, society will be better equipped to resolve the environmental crisis. Some of the company’s own employees described this idea to me as ridiculous. To these workers, Microsoft’s energy contracts demonstrate only the unsavory reality of how the company’s AI investments are actually used.
[...]
The maker of ChatGPT promised to share its profits with the public. But Sam Altman just sold you out.
Since its founding in 2015, its leaders have said their top priority is making sure artificial intelligence is developed safely and beneficially. They’ve touted the company’s unusual corporate structure as a way of proving the purity of its motives. OpenAI was a nonprofit controlled not by its CEO or by its shareholders, but by a board with a single mission: keep humanity safe.
But this week, the news broke that OpenAI will no longer be controlled by the nonprofit board. OpenAI is turning into a full-fledged for-profit benefit corporation. Oh, and CEO Sam Altman, who had previously emphasized that he didn’t have any equity in the company, will now get equity worth billions, in addition to ultimate control over OpenAI.
In an announcement that hardly seems coincidental, chief technology officer Mira Murati said shortly before that news broke that she was leaving the company. Employees were so blindsided that many of them reportedly reacted to her abrupt departure with a “WTF” emoji in Slack.
WTF indeed.
Cash Reserve Ratio in China decreased to 9.50 percent in September from 10 percent in August of 2024. This page provides - China Cash Reserve Ratio- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.
The People's Bank of China (PBoC) lowered the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for banks by 50bps, the second reduction this year aimed at bolstering a stuttering economy. The change, which takes effect today, Sept. 27, was signaled earlier in the week by Governor Pan Gongsheng, bringing the weighted average RRR to 6.6%.
This move will free up about CNY 1 trillion in new lending, with the central bank leaving room for another cut this year.
Additionally, the PBoC trimmed the 7-day reverse repo rate by 20bps to 1.5%. This rate is used to determine the nation's key lending rates. It also stated interest rates for 14-day reverse repos, as well as temporary repos and reverse repos, will continue to be adjusted in line with changes to the 7-day reverse repo rate. China has ramped up the rollout of policy initiatives this week, with its top decision-making body, the Politburo, pledging to introduce further fiscal and monetary support measures to prevent further deterioration of the econom
Hurricane Helene continues to unleash its fury across the Southeast after leaving 49 people dead in multiple states, leveling communities and stranding many in floodwaters after the historic storm made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region Thursday night as a monstrous Category 4 hurricane with roaring 140 mph winds.
The policy blueprint for a Republican administration says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ‘should be broken up and downsized’
As Florida braced for Hurricane Helene, some weather and politics observers were mad about Project 2025.
“Reminder that Project 2025 would dismantle the National Weather Service and NOAA,” wrote the League of Conservation Voters on X.
NOAA is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, founded in 1970.
[...]
“Project 2025 wants to get rid of NOAA, wants to get rid of the National Weather Service — the people that tell you the weather and help you prepare for hurricanes,” said Moskowitz, a past Florida emergency management director under Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla.
Moskowitz quipped about how hurricane forecasting would function under Project 2025 and a Trump administration.
“Maybe we will just do it with a Magic 8 ball or maybe with a Ouija board. Or maybe we will do hurricane cones like President Trump did, right where he just circled in another state that wasn’t in the cones,” Moskowitz said.
[...]
Democracy Watch released the submission it has filed with the Hogue Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Canadian politics responding to both the Stage 2 Factual Phase hearings, and also the initial Policy Phase consultation documents.
DWatch’s 32-page submission calls on the Inquiry to broaden the scope of its examination this fall of whether Canada’s anti-foreign interference system is effective, and its witness list, to address all the loopholes and flaws in federal laws, and weak enforcement systems, that allow for secret, undemocratic and unethical foreign interference activities. Democracy Watch is an intervener in the Inquiry and is represented at the Inquiry by Wade Poziomka and Nick Papageorge of Ross & McBride LLP.
Out of the 67 witnesses scheduled so far for the Inquiry’s hearings this fall, 52 are Cabinet ministers or government representatives, and 12 come from other federal parties or Parliament, none of whom are likely to point out loopholes or flaws that benefit themselves, their lobbyist friends or party supporters. Last March, Democracy Watch submitted to the Hogue Inquiry a list of 10 key witnesses and about 140 key questions to ask them, but the Inquiry has not, so far, scheduled 5 of the 10 witnesses to testify.
Report obtained by western officials would point to a significant escalation of Beijing’s involvement in the conflict
A new report obtained by Ukraine's allies points to a Chinese company sending a range of purpose-built military drones to Russia for testing, with the ultimate destination being Ukraine.
The deal occurred last year, according to a western official, who was unable to disclose the name of the company. However, they said there was “clear evidence now that Chinese companies are supplying Russia with deadly weapons for use in Ukraine”.
“While the Chinese government might not admit it, they are going to struggle to keep their increasing support under wraps,” added the official, appearing to accuse Beijing of being involved or aware of the delivery.
They also confirmed a Reuters report from earlier in the week that Russia is believed to have established a weapons programme in China to develop and produce long-range attack drones for use in the war against Ukraine. [...]
Across the U.S., with 40 days until the Nov. 5 election, state and local officials say they are puzzled by what to expect from Facebook.
Election misinformation about the U.S. presidential election is going viral on Facebook while Zuckerberg makes amends with the GOP - a false claim recently went viral “and there wasn’t anything happening to stop it," one official said.
Derek Bowens has never had such an important job. He’s the director of elections in Durham County, North Carolina, one of the most-populous areas of a state that’s increasingly viewed as crucial to the 2024 presidential contest.
So when a former precinct official emailed Bowens in July to warn him of a post containing voting misinformation that was spreading virally on Facebook, Bowens quickly recognized that he may be facing a crisis.
The post, written as if from an authority on the subject, said voters should request new ballots if a poll worker, or anyone else, writes anything on their form, because it would be invalidated. The same incorrect message was spread on Facebook during the 2020 election, but the platform flagged the content at the time as “false information” and linked to a story that debunked the rumor by Facebook’s fact-checking partner, USA Today.
Bowens said no such tag appeared on the post, which was widespread enough that the North Carolina State Board of Elections had to issue a press release on Aug. 2, informing voters that false “posts have been circulating for years and have resurfaced recently in many N.C. counties.”
“It was spreading and there wasn’t anything happening to stop it until our state put out a press release and we started engaging with our constituency on it,” Bowens told CNBC in an interview.
The elections board wrote a post on Facebook, telling voters to “steer clear of false and misleading information about elections,” with a link to its website. As of Wednesday, the post had eight comments and 50 shares. Meanwhile, multiple Facebook users in states like North Carolina, Mississippi and New Jersey continue to share the ballot misinformation without any notification that it’s false.
Report obtained by western officials would point to a significant escalation of Beijing’s involvement in the conflict
A new report obtained by Ukraine's allies points to a Chinese company sending a range of purpose-built military drones to Russia for testing, with the ultimate destination being Ukraine.
The deal occurred last year, according to a western official, who was unable to disclose the name of the company. However, they said there was “clear evidence now that Chinese companies are supplying Russia with deadly weapons for use in Ukraine”.
“While the Chinese government might not admit it, they are going to struggle to keep their increasing support under wraps,” added the official, appearing to accuse Beijing of being involved or aware of the delivery.
They also confirmed a Reuters report from earlier in the week that Russia is believed to have established a weapons programme in China to develop and produce long-range attack drones for use in the war against Ukraine. [...]
Report obtained by western officials would point to a significant escalation of Beijing’s involvement in the conflict
A new report obtained by Ukraine's allies points to a Chinese company sending a range of purpose-built military drones to Russia for testing, with the ultimate destination being Ukraine.
The deal occurred last year, according to a western official, who was unable to disclose the name of the company. However, they said there was “clear evidence now that Chinese companies are supplying Russia with deadly weapons for use in Ukraine”.
“While the Chinese government might not admit it, they are going to struggle to keep their increasing support under wraps,” added the official, appearing to accuse Beijing of being involved or aware of the delivery.
They also confirmed a Reuters report from earlier in the week that Russia is believed to have established a weapons programme in China to develop and produce long-range attack drones for use in the war against Ukraine. [...]
This is just another blatant propaganda campaign by China. The government in Beijing obscures its domestic supply chains, and there is much evidence for grave human rights violations and crimes against humanity in China, particularly in Xinjiang and Tibet.
[Edit typo.]
Chinese hackers breach US internet providers, targeting sensitive data and critical infrastructure. Government responds as cybersecurity concerns esca
Nation-state threat actors backed by Beijing broke into a "handful" of U.S. internet service providers (ISPs) as part of a cyber espionage campaign orchestrated to glean sensitive information, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
The activity has been attributed to a threat actor that Microsoft tracks as Salt Typhoon, which is also known as FamousSparrow and GhostEmperor.
"Investigators are exploring whether the intruders gained access to Cisco Systems routers, core network components that route much of the traffic on the internet," the publication was quoted as saying, citing people familiar with the matter.
The end goal of the attacks is to gain a persistent foothold within target networks, allowing the threat actors to harvest sensitive data or launch a damaging cyber attack.
This 'Schoolhouse Rock' video about Trump's Project 2025 is hilarious while making great points about the dangers of the GOP plan.
Many Americans still don't know about Project 2025, the plans Republicans will implement if Trump becomes president. There's a hilarious but scary 'Schoolhouse Rock' video (4 min) about Trump's Project 2025 that's worth watching and sharing. Just like the original Schoolhouse Rock videos, the simple song explains the horrible details of Trump's plan in a way that gets the point across.
In another must-watch video on Trump's Project 2025, Mehdi Hassan summarizes all 30 chapters of Project 2025 in just two minutes. Watch this video and share it with people who haven't heard about Trump's plan to turn America into a theocracy.
Read Trump's Project 2025. It's aiming at the same things.
You have not been alone with this if I may say so :-))
If you are a U.S. citizen living overseas, for more information about voting from abroad you may go to: https://www.fvap.gov
With his "absurd and baseless rant on 'Truth' Social, Americans abroad join a host of other groups of US citizens Donald Trump has threatened and feels shouldn’t be allowed to participate in our elections," the organization says in a statement.
"This represents yet another assault by Trump on the 'suckers and losers' he believes make up the US military; the Department of Defense is the agency entrusted with administering the entire overseas voter program."
[...]
Democrats Abroad International Chair Martha McDevitt-Pugh had this to say in response to Trump's un-’Truth’:
> “Trump’s Project 2025 campaign is premised on stripping away the rights and freedoms that Americans enjoy. Now this election denying, two-time popular vote loser is attempting to preemptive delegitimize the votes of deployed military and civilian voters abroad. That we’re in Trump's head, and he perceives us as a threat to his scraping a win, is yet more evidence of the critical importance of overseas voters and Democrats Abroad, which mobilizes them. We expect many Americans abroad to use votefromabroad.org and help finally turn the page on this MAGA-maniac. As Vice President Harris says ‘when we vote, we win!”
The Powerful Religious Sect Behind U.S. Court-Packing and Project 2025
Yesterday we learned that Kevin Roberts, the cosplaying Yall Qaeda coal roller truck driving, Lucchese cowboy boot-wearing president of the Heritage Foundation whose Project 2025 preaches the centrality of “the family” as the foundation of American society, a foundation to be achieved in part by forcing impregnated incest and rape victims to give birth, is so far astray from the teachings of Jesus that he reportedly once bragged about killing a neighbors’ dog with a shovel.
[...]
Today [...] Opus Dei [a Catholic organization that exists today at the red-hot center of the judicial and right-wing donor world in Washington D.C.] has achieved influence at the highest echelon of American power. The organization has been increasingly active in Washington since at least the early 1990s when it set up shop at 15th and K — the heart of the capital lobbying industry. From there, one of its priests (wearing a spiked garter under his robes to restrict his bodily urges) converted at least a half dozen of the top right-wingers in Washington to the Opus Dei brand of regressive Catholicism. Among his converts — future Trump administration National Economic Advisor Larry Kudlow, and other men in the highest echelons of American law and government — future House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Senator Sam Brownback, failed Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, and many other leaders who found themselves in need to priestly guidance.
Some of the most powerful figures in American politics and political finance today have Opus Dei connections. One of the most effective Opus Dei-affiliated Catholics in DC today is Leonard Leo, bagman for rightist billionaires, who spent decades working to capture the federal judiciary for the anti-choice movement. Five of the six members of the right side of the Supreme Court are right-wing Catholic — Chief Justice Roberts, Amy Coney Barrett, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh who replaced Opus Dei adjacent Antonin Scalia after Mitch McConnell refused to let Obama fill his vacancy for almost a year. These modern-day priest-kings have been working to force American law into line with a creed most Americans — including the vast majority of Catholics — reject — all under the guise of “religious freedom.”
[...]
First to NBC News: The Democratic Association of Secretaries of State plans to spend at least $5 million to support top election officials in four states.
Democratic group launches legal fund to help secretaries of state in key U.S. states defend against an anticipated post-election deluge of lawsuits.
In plans shared first with NBC News, the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State plans to spend at $5 million to support top election officials in Maine, Michigan, North Carolina and Nevada. Officials with the group said they may expand their reach to other states as needed and could spend more if fundraising is strong.
The group began aggressively raising money and campaigning to elect Democratic secretaries of state, who oversee elections in many states, in the wake of former President Donald Trump's false claims of voter fraud in 2020. It first funneled money to deal with postelection litigation to then-Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs in 2022 to deal with postelection litigation.
“This is us trying to help our people but also help democracy,” said Travis Brimm, the group’s executive director.
Vladimir Putin’s statements about the Kremlin’s updated nuclear doctrine reveal his fear that Ukraine might be allowed t...
Vladimir Putin’s statements about the Kremlin’s updated nuclear doctrine reveal his fear that Ukraine might be allowed to use long-range missiles to strike targets inside Russia, Lithuanian Defence Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas has said.
“We have all heard Putin’s words; I believe the key message is not what he said, but that when he talks about the new concept, he clearly signals that granting long-range strike capabilities to Ukraine is a really important issue he fears,” Kasčiūnas told a press conference on Thursday.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, who is visiting Lithuania on Thursday, said the West is not intimidated by Putin’s “nuclear rhetoric”.
“I can reiterate that this is Putin’s rhetoric; he speaks loudly and spreads his threats, and we should not be intimidated by that. We will do what we consider right. He can spread this through his channels, but it will not scare us,” Pistorius said.
[...]
Putin said later on Wednesday that the changes [in the political situation] would allow Russia to launch a nuclear response to a “massive air attack”.
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had not yet received permission from the United States or the United Kingdom to use long-range missiles to strike targets on Russian territory.
[Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky is urging the West to allow this, but Washington is seeking more detailed information on how Kyiv would use these weapons and how their use would fit into a broader war strategy
[...]
Editors at a now-defunct news site published articles about the city's national security crackdown.
A Hong Kong Court has jailed two journalists who led a pro-democracy newspaper after they were found guilty in a landmark sedition case last month.
Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, editors at the now-defunct Stand News media outlet, had published articles about the crackdown on civil liberties in the city under China.
Chung was sentenced to 21 months, while Lam was given 11 months, but was released on medical grounds. The publisher behind Stand News - Best Pencil - has been fined HK$5,000 (US$643; £480).
It is the first sedition case against journalists in Hong Kong since the territory's handover from Britain to China in 1997.
After a lengthy trial, which began in October 2022 and was originally scheduled to last just 20 days, district court judge Kwok Wai-kin Kwok found that 11 articles published by Stand News were seditious and that Stand News had become a "danger to national security".
Their newspaper's editorial line supported "Hong Kong local autonomy", Mr Kwok said in a written statement.
"It even became a tool to smear and vilify the Central Authorities [in Beijing] and the [Hong Kong] SAR Government," he added.
Editors at a now-defunct news site published articles about the city's national security crackdown.
A Hong Kong Court has jailed two journalists who led a pro-democracy newspaper after they were found guilty in a landmark sedition case last month.
Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, editors at the now-defunct Stand News media outlet, had published articles about the crackdown on civil liberties in the city under China.
Chung was sentenced to 21 months, while Lam was given 11 months, but was released on medical grounds. The publisher behind Stand News - Best Pencil - has been fined HK$5,000 (US$643; £480).
It is the first sedition case against journalists in Hong Kong since the territory's handover from Britain to China in 1997.
After a lengthy trial, which began in October 2022 and was originally scheduled to last just 20 days, district court judge Kwok Wai-kin Kwok found that 11 articles published by Stand News were seditious and that Stand News had become a "danger to national security".
Their newspaper's editorial line supported "Hong Kong local autonomy", Mr Kwok said in a written statement.
"It even became a tool to smear and vilify the Central Authorities [in Beijing] and the [Hong Kong] SAR Government," he added.
Jan. 6 investigator says he has ‘receipts’ on Clarence and Ginni Thomas -- (archived version)
A former House GOP lawmaker says Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas should be removed from the bench over his “unethical” behavior and taunted people to challenge him.
“Come at me. I got receipts,” Denver Riggleman posted to X, calling Thomas’ wife, Ginni Thomas, “disturbed.”
Riggleman posted in response to a clip of Donald Trump saying at a rally that “people should be put in jail for the way they talk about our judges and justices.”
“Clarence Thomas is, at the least, unethical. Should be removed from the bench. His wife, Ginni Thomas, is disturbed. Come at me. I got receipts.” Riggleman said.
Just stumbled upon this blog post: Elsevier selling access to an open access article, again (2024 edition)
Addition: It's really time to change this system.
J.D. Vance Admits He’s Telling Racist Lies for Attention -- [archived version]
“Nobody is disputing that the town of Springfield, Ohio, needs help. But, you’re not just a bystander,” [CNN's Dana] Bash said. “You’re the senator from Ohio, so instead of saying things that are wrong, and actually causing the hospitals, the schools, the government buildings to be evacuated because of bomb threats, because of the cats and dogs thing, why not actually be constructive, in helping to better integrate them into the community? Because there are a lot of employers there who say that the Haitians workers are helping fill jobs that they need desperately filled.”
Rather than take any ownership of his role in spreading false claims and incendiary rhetoric, Vance recoiled, saying that any suggestion that he’d been responsible for inciting the bomb threats in Springfield was “disgusting.” The Ohio senator scolded Bash for sounding like a “Democratic propagandist” as she called him out on his reckless lying.
Here comes Saul Justin Newman: 'The data on extreme human ageing is rotten from the inside out’
In general, the claims about how long people are living mostly don’t stack up. I’ve tracked down 80% of the people aged over 110 in the world (the other 20% are from countries you can’t meaningfully analyse). Of those, almost none have a birth certificate. In the US there are over 500 of these people; seven have a birth certificate. Even worse, only about 10% have a death certificate.
I'm not a lawyer, but one reason could be that there's not (yet?) a clear criminal case that would convince a judge. It's not clear whether a crime is committed, maybe?
For example, Mr. McCabe says, "“I don’t know that I would characterize it as [an] active, recruited, knowing asset in the way that people in the intelligence community think of that term" (and similar comments), but 'don't know' could mean there's nit enough for prosecution? This is not China or Russia, where people are sentenced to.prison in closed-door trials and often not even their lawyers know what exactly their clients are accused of. Maybe we could call it another 'weakness' of democracy (which non-democratic state actors try to exploit)?
But I say 'could' and conclude I don't know either.
Just stumpled upon that (video, 20 sec): https://infosec.exchange/@littlealex/113131659214334040
Just buy from China. It's cheap :-)
Addition:
Toxic substances found in Shein and Temu products -- (August 2024)
Women’s accessories sold by some of the world’s most popular online shopping firms contained toxic substances sometimes hundreds of times above acceptable levels, authorities in Seoul said yesterday.
Chinese giants including Shein, Temu and AliExpress have skyrocketed in popularity around the world in the past few years, offering a vast selection of trendy clothes and accessories at low prices.
Shoes from Shein were found to contain significantly high levels of phthalates — chemicals used to make plastics more flexible — with one pair 229 times above the legal limit.
“Phthalate-based plasticisers affect reproductive functions such as sperm count reduction, and can cause infertility and even premature birth,” an official from Seoul’s environmental health team told reporters.
One such chemical “is classified as a human carcinogen by the International Cancer Institute, so special care should be taken to avoid long-term contact with the human body,” the official said.
The article is longer, very interesting.
Did someone say we need supply chain transparency?
This is why we need supply chain transparency and this game is over, buddy, and among the weakest points in this context is China.
Whatever we understand by a 'free market', China must really not complain about a 'non-free' market policy not in the U.S. nor in most othrr countries. That would really be hypocritical.
Just one example:
Report finds shein, temu fueled by slave labor in [China's] Xinjiang -- [archived]
The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) has released a report stating that leading fast fashion brands, Shein and Temu, are powered by "slave labor." The author of the report, Adam Savit, who is also the director of AFPI's China Policy Initiative, said that Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities are subjected to forced labor in China's Xinjiang region, benefitting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
This is just one of many similar reports. I think we should always asking ourselves when buying cheap whether there are others who who pay the price, especially in.countries like China where there is no supply chain transparency.
[Edit typo.]
Yeah, but now it gets really weird:
Totally normal response': Trump blasted for threatening ABC's license after debate flop -- [archived]
ABC took a big hit last night," Trump told Fox News. "I mean, to be honest, they are a news organization, they have to be licensed to do it. They ought to take away their license for the way they did that."
Australian University students and staff face increasing threats, foreign interference inquiry finds -- (2022)
[Australian] Universities face escalating threats to students and to national security from hostile forces, a report into foreign interference has warned [...] The report [...] specifically singled out Chinese government-funded Confucius Institutes, a $10m deal between Monash University and a Chinese company linked to industrial espionage, and talent recruitment drives that see Australian researchers work with universities overseas.
Finland shuts down Confucius Institute amid censorship, espionage accusations -- (2022)
A cooperation contract between Helsinki University and the Confucius Institute will be terminated following accusations of spreading Chinese soft power, conducting espionage, and an attempt to block discussions on Tibet. [...] Belgium closed its Confucius Institute in 2019, Sweden and Denmark in 2020, and Norway in 2021.
Chinese students signing a “loyalty” pledges to the Chinese motherland before arriving in their host country, as shows the example of Sweden.
Chinese students signing “loyalty” pledges before arrival in Sweden -- (2023)
International doctoral students who are arriving in Sweden from China are being told to sign agreements and guidelines to the Chinese government, an investigation has revealed [...] The Chinese regime requires that they also must “serve the interests of the regime” and “never participate in ‘activities’ that go against the will of the authorities”, the report said.
Sweden, Germany, and many other countries have been cutting ties with the China scholarship scheme over this practice already.
And these are just a few examples. There is much more.
Australian University students and staff face increasing threats, foreign interference inquiry finds -- (2022)
[Australian] Universities face escalating threats to students and to national security from hostile forces, a report into foreign interference has warned [...] The report [...] specifically singled out Chinese government-funded Confucius Institutes, a $10m deal between Monash University and a Chinese company linked to industrial espionage, and talent recruitment drives that see Australian researchers work with universities overseas.
Finland shuts down Confucius Institute amid censorship, espionage accusations -- (2022)
A cooperation contract between Helsinki University and the Confucius Institute will be terminated following accusations of spreading Chinese soft power, conducting espionage, and an attempt to block discussions on Tibet. [...] Belgium closed its Confucius Institute in 2019, Sweden and Denmark in 2020, and Norway in 2021.
Chinese students signing a “loyalty” pledges to the Chinese motherland before arriving in their host country, as shows the example of Sweden.
Chinese students signing “loyalty” pledges before arrival in Sweden -- (2023)
International doctoral students who are arriving in Sweden from China are being told to sign agreements and guidelines to the Chinese government, an investigation has revealed [...] The Chinese regime requires that they also must “serve the interests of the regime” and “never participate in ‘activities’ that go against the will of the authorities”, the report said.
Sweden, Germany, and many other countries have been cutting ties with the China scholarship scheme over this practice already.
And these are just a few examples. There is much more.
Yeah, and the article the user @technocrit posted before that in this community is from 2021.
This is report is more than 3 years old.
Predatory Sparrow is distinguished most of all by its apparent interest in sending a specific geopolitical message with its attacks, says Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade, an analyst at cybersecurity firm SentinelOne who has tracked the group for years. Those messages are all variations on a theme: If you attack Israel or its allies, we have the ability to deeply disrupt your civilization.
I am not sure if this 'specific geopitical message' is so unique to Israel. This is what countries like China , Russia, and others are doing as well, aren't they?