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Moldova said two Russian “decoy” drones that are used to mislead Ukrainian air defences during attacks violated Moldovan airspace and crashed deep inside its territory on Sunday, endangering the population.

The drones were found in the northern village of Borosenii Noi and the southern village of Firladeni, local police said, after a Russian drone attack on neighbouring Ukraine. No one was reported hurt.

“We firmly condemn these aggressive incursions and reiterate our condemnation of Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine,” Deputy Prime Minister Mihai Popșoi said.

Moldova, which lies between Ukraine and NATO member Romania, was formerly a part of the Soviet Union and is now seeking to join the European Union by 2030 under pro-Western President Maia Sandu.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4642877

Russia and Ukraine have carried out their largest drone attacks against each other since the start of the war.

Russia's defence ministry said it intercepted 84 Ukrainian drones over six regions, including some approaching Moscow, which forced flights to be diverted from three of the capital's major airports.

Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 145 drones towards every part of the country on Saturday night, with most shot down.

[...]

Ukraine's attempted strike on Moscow was also its biggest attack on the capital since the war began, and was described as "massive" by the region's governor.

Most of the drones were downed in the Ramenskoye, Kolomna and Domodedovo districts, officials said.

[...]

Russia and Ukraine have carried out their largest drone attacks against each other since the start of the war.

Russia's defence ministry said it intercepted 84 Ukrainian drones over six regions, including some approaching Moscow, which forced flights to be diverted from three of the capital's major airports.

Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 145 drones towards every part of the country on Saturday night, with most shot down.

[...]

Ukraine's attempted strike on Moscow was also its biggest attack on the capital since the war began, and was described as "massive" by the region's governor.

Most of the drones were downed in the Ramenskoye, Kolomna and Domodedovo districts, officials said.

[...]

Den USA und der Welt steht eine zweite Amtszeit von Donald Trump bevor. Erneut wurde Trumps Zugkraft unterschätzt, erneut nicht gesehen, wie erfolgreich er mobilisiert – auch im Ausland. Die globale Rechte, darunter die in Teilen rechtsextreme AfD, sieht in ihm längst eine Galionsfigur.

Eine CORRECTIV-Analyse zeigt: Einige prominente AfD-Bundestagsabgeordnete stärken ihm seit Jahren den Rücken. Andere verbreiten seine Narrative hierzulande ungefiltert weiter.

Trump und seine „Make America Great Again“-Kampagne (kurz: MAGA) gelten für die Partei insgesamt offenbar als Vorbild, so zumindest formuliert es Alice Weidel. Auch seine Russland-Politik wird bei der AfD gefeiert: Manche sehen in ihm einen „Friedensbringer“.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4632724

This coercive practice, known as “distant water fishing” (远洋捕捞), involves poorer inland governments reaching beyond their jurisdictions to “catch” companies based in wealthier coastal provinces. They accuse them of fraud or other wrongdoing, freeze and confiscate their assets, and then compel them to pay large fines.

A government-run research organization earlier published a memo suggesting that nearly 10,000 companies operating in the city of Shenzhen and elsewhere in Guangdong Province have suffered such “cross-jurisdiction law enforcement.” That memo, meant for internal circulation, attracted widespread attention after it was published in part in an October media report.

[...]

A top economist, Zhou Tianyong (周天勇), had warned in late September that local governments across China have been extorting money from entrepreneurs using the Chinese Communist Party’s “disciplinary commissions.” These commissions, responsible for enforcing Party ideology and discipline, have detained entrepreneurs in their “liuzhi” detention system, where detainees are routinely tortured, intimidating them so they agree to pay the money demanded. Zhou’s post has since been deleted.

[...]

The Chinese government has sought to jumpstart its sputtering economy and restore business confidence by reiterating the Party’s support for private entrepreneurship.

But whatever reassurances the government may profess, in authoritarian systems where the laws are under the government’s control, nobody is truly safe.

[Edit typo.]

This coercive practice, known as “distant water fishing” (远洋捕捞), involves poorer inland governments reaching beyond their jurisdictions to “catch” companies based in wealthier coastal provinces. They accuse them of fraud or other wrongdoing, freeze and confiscate their assets, and then compel them to pay large fines.

A government-run research organization earlier published a memo suggesting that nearly 10,000 companies operating in the city of Shenzhen and elsewhere in Guangdong Province have suffered such “cross-jurisdiction law enforcement.” That memo, meant for internal circulation, attracted widespread attention after it was published in part in an October media report.

[...]

A top economist, Zhou Tianyong (周天勇), had warned in late September that local governments across China have been extorting money from entrepreneurs using the Chinese Communist Party’s “disciplinary commissions.” These commissions, responsible for enforcing Party ideology and discipline, have detained entrepreneurs in their “liuzhi” detention system, where detainees are routinely tortured, intimidating them so they agree to pay the money demanded. Zhou’s post has since been deleted.

[...]

The Chinese government has sought to jumpstart its sputtering economy and restore business confidence by reiterating the Party’s support for private entrepreneurship.

But whatever reassurances the government may profess, in authoritarian systems where the laws are under the government’s control, nobody is truly safe.

[Edit typo.]

Archived link

During the 79th General Assembly of the United Nations, a joint statement was issued by the United States, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, calling attention to the situation in Tibet and East Turkistan.

In a statement, Kalon Norzin Dolma, Head of the Department of Information and International Relations, acknowledged the efforts of the coalition, particularly Australia, which led the initiative.

Dolma said, "On behalf of the CTA and Tibetans both in Tibet, and in exile, I extend our appreciation to the 15 nations and their leaders who have courageously raised their voices in support of justice, human rights, and peace. This gesture at the United Nations signifies solidarity and commitment to addressing the ongoing human rights abuses in Tibet".

[...]

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4632200

"The war has to end in a manner that there is accountability -- not only economic recovery and justice, but also accountability," says EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

He also suggested that $300 billion of Russian state assets frozen in the West could eventually be used to help Ukraine rebuild after the war.

"That could be used in order to pay for the accountability and for the compensation for the people who suffer it and for the destruction that has been produced by the Russian invasion," Borrell said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court and some of Moscow's lower-ranking troops have been tried in absentia in Ukraine for individual incidents.

Ukraine has made prosecuting Russia's crimes a key part of its proposal for any eventual peace agreement.

"The war has to end in a manner that there is accountability -- not only economic recovery and justice, but also accountability," says EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

He also suggested that $300 billion of Russian state assets frozen in the West could eventually be used to help Ukraine rebuild after the war.

"That could be used in order to pay for the accountability and for the compensation for the people who suffer it and for the destruction that has been produced by the Russian invasion," Borrell said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court and some of Moscow's lower-ranking troops have been tried in absentia in Ukraine for individual incidents.

Ukraine has made prosecuting Russia's crimes a key part of its proposal for any eventual peace agreement.

The foreign secretary has dismissed his previous criticism of Donald Trump as "old news" and insisted he would be able to find "common ground" with the president-elect.

When he was a backbench MP in 2018, David Lammy described Trump as a "tyrant" and "a woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath".

But in his first interview since Trump's victory, he told the BBC's Newscast podcast the president-elect was "someone that we can build a relationship with in our national interest".

Lammy praised his election campaign as "very well run", adding that: "I felt in my bones that there could be a Trump presidency."

[...]

In 2019, ahead of Trump's state visit to the UK, Lammy also posted that the then-president was "deluded, dishonest, xenophobic, narcissistic" and "no friend of Britain".

Pressed over whether he had changed his mind, Lammy said the remarks were "old news" and you would "struggle to find any politician" who had not said some "pretty ripe things" about Trump in the past.

"In that period, particularly with people on Twitter, lots of things were said about Donald Trump," he said.

"I think that what you say as a backbencher and what you do wearing the real duty of public office are two different things.

Juicy Fields hieß die Online-Plattform, die mit einem großen Versprechen warb: Jeder kann reich werden mit medizinischem Cannabis. Es geht ganz leicht, nur ein paar Klicks, dann wachsen die Pflanzen, ganz ohne Risiko, nach gut drei Monaten kann die Ernte beginnen.

Jetzt steht der Name Juicy Fields für einen Betrugsfall mit gewaltigen Ausmaßen. Er verbindet 186.000 geprellte Anleger mit einer kleinen Riege mutmaßlicher Serienbetrüger aus Russland.

[...]

Recherchen ermöglichen einen neuen Blick hinter die Kulissen des organisierten Verbrechens made in Russia: Sie zeigen, wie eine Bande international agierender Gangster in Berlin angesetzt hat, um eine ausgeklügelte Täuschungsmaschinerie in Gang zu setzen – und nach dem Zusammenbruch weiter versucht, die Opfer in die Irre zu führen.

[...]

Der Bereich Cyberkriminalität wächst seit Jahren rapide. Im April brachte ein internationales Forscherteam den ersten „World Cybercrime Index“ heraus. Das Ergebnis ist hoch brisant. Denn der größte Teil der Bedrohung geht von einer kleinen Anzahl von Staaten aus – und Russland steht auf Platz 1 der Liste. Forscher und Fachleute werten Cyberbetrug auch als Angriff des Kreml auf die demokratischen Staaten Europas. „Eine Taktik Russlands Krieg zu führen, ist der Einsatz des organisierten Verbrechens als Instrument staatlicher Politik im Ausland“, schreibt der führende Russland-Experte Mark Galeotti in einem Briefing.

[...]

In 2018 the Moldovan government launched an initiative to grow the country's IT sector - the Moldova IT Park (MITP).

This isn't a physical business park. Instead it is virtual scheme open to all IT firms in the country - and those that wish to move there from overseas. Firms that sign up only have to pay a corporation tax rate of 7%.

The MITP is part of a wider effort by the Moldovan government to modernise and expand its economy ahead of a bid to join the European Union in 2030.

This drive is being led by Moldova's pro-EU President Maia Sandu, who this week was re-elected for a second term. And last month Moldovans voted "yes" on pro-EU constitutional changes.

[...]

Dumitru Alaiba, Moldova's deputy prime minister and minister for economic development and digitalisation, is positive about where Moldova is heading.

"Moldova in the past 10 to 15 years has really proven that it's a country that can change very fast," he tells the BBC.

"This used to be a highly corrupt country, a country where, exactly 10 years ago, a billion dollars from our central banks just disappeared."

"We are moving very fast towards joining the EU, and we are reforming our economy at top speed. Of course, we have a long way to go."

[...]

Member companies of the MITP don't just benefit from the 7% corporation tax rate. They also don't need to make employer social security contributions, and staff don't have to pay income tax. [...]

The MITP has also simplified immigration procedures through the IT Visa program.

[...]