What they were offering – through a programme titled Safe Place for Science – was a sort of “scientific asylum”, offering three years of funding at their facility for about 20 researchers.

On Thursday the university said it had received 298 applications in a month, of which 242 were deemed eligible. The applicants hailed from institutions such as Johns Hopkins University, Nasa, Columbia, Yale and Stanford, it said in a statement.

Most of the applications were sent using encrypted messaging, the university’s president, Eric Berton, wrote in the French newspaper Libération.

cross-posted from: https://rss.ponder.cat/post/161342

Siamangs are the largest of the 20 gibbon species, and belong to their own genus, Symphalangus. Distributed across Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia, and the southernmost part of Thailand, their unforgettable and emblematic call defines the soundscape of the hill forests in the region. Despite still having several population strongholds across their range, with their number likely being around 100,000 across Sumatra, they are classified as endangered on the IUCN Red List. Gibbons, also known as “small apes,” receive far less conservation attention than their “great ape” cousins, and so the trafficking of gibbons is still a big and increasing threat to their long-term survival. By contrast, orangutan trafficking has decreased over the last five years and is seen as a higher-profile crime compared to trafficking gibbons. Among all gibbon range countries, Indonesia is the hotspot for gibbon trafficking, which is reflected in the numerous wildlife rescue centers across the country that shelter gibbons. Of all gibbon species, the siamang (Symphalangus syndactylus) is the most trafficked, making it one of the most, if not the most trafficked ape species, globally. Recent news highlights this trend, with five Siamang infants being confiscated at Chennai International Airport in India. As Mongabay recently highlighted, India is becoming the main destination for smuggled gibbons, likely coming from Sumatra via Malaysia. On March 3, Indonesian authorities off the coast of North Sumatra busted a ship en route to Malaysia, and among human trafficking victims, 10 gibbons, of which seven were siamangs, were also being trafficked. Siamangs spend…This article was originally published on Mongabay

From Conservation news via this RSS feed

SAN SALVADOR (AP) — Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia on Thursday evening in El Salvador, coming face to face with the wrongly deported man after two days in the country pushing for his release.

The Democratic senator posted a photo of the meeting on X but did not provide an update on the status of Abrego Garcia, whose attorneys are fighting to force the Trump administration to facilitate his return to the U.S.

[...]

Van Hollen’s trip has become a partisan flashpoint in the U.S. as Democrats have seized on Abrego Garcia’s deportation as what they say is a cruel consequence of Trump’s disregard for the courts. A federal appeals court said Thursday in a blistering order that the Trump administration’s claim that it can’t do anything to free Abrego Garcia from an El Salvador prison and return him to the U.S. “ should be shocking. "

Republicans have criticized Democrats for defending the prisoner and argued that his deportation is part of a larger effort to reduce crime. White House officials have said that Abrego Garcia has ties to the MS-13 gang, but his attorneys say the government has provided no evidence of that and Abrego Garcia has never been charged with any crime related to such activity.

[...]

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials acknowledged in a court filing earlier this month that his deportation was an “ administrative error.” The government’s acknowledgment sparked immediate uproar from immigration advocates, but White House officials have dug in on the allegation that he’s a gang member and will not be returned to the United States.

[...]

The fight has also played out in contentious court filings, with repeated refusals from the government to tell a judge what it plans to do, if anything, to repatriate him.

[...]

Human rights groups have accused Bukele’s government of subjecting those jailed to “systematic use of torture and other mistreatment.” Officials there deny wrongdoing.

Rice, the world’s most consumed grain, will become increasingly toxic as the atmosphere heats and as carbon dioxide emissions rise, potentially putting billions of people at risk of cancers and other diseases, according to new research published Wednesday in The Lancet.

Eaten every day by billions of people and grown across the globe, rice is arguably the planet’s most important staple crop, with half the world’s population relying on it for the majority of its food needs, especially in developing countries.

But the way rice is grown—mostly submerged in paddies—and its highly porous texture mean it can absorb unusually high levels of arsenic, a potent carcinogenic toxin that is especially dangerous for babies.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/32905914

Archived

Here is the original report, It Does Matter Where You Stay: International Hotel Chains in East Turkistan.

Key takeaways:

• Five international hotel chains—Accor, Hilton, InterContinental (IHG), Marriott, and Wyndham—currently operate in the Uyghur Region amidst ongoing crimes against humanity and genocide.

• International hotel chains have significantly expanded their presence in the Uyghur Region, with at least 115 hotels operational as of April 2025. At least another 74 hotels are in various stages of planning or construction from Accor, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott, Minor Hotels, and Wyndham. A total of 189 hotels from international chains are either open, or are planned to open, in the Uyghur Region.

• Three international hotel chains—Hilton, IHG, and Wyndham—are located in areas administered by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) (新疆生产建设兵团), an entity under targeted sanctions by the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, for its grave and systematic human rights violations.

• Hilton, through a franchisee, built a Hampton by Hilton hotel on the site of a demolished mosque in Khotan, following an extensive government campaign that left more than 10,000 mosques destroyed throughout the region. Despite international scrutiny, including an inquiry from the US Congress in 2021, the hotel opened for visitors in 2024.

• Accor has been exposed to Uyghur forced labor in two ways: (1) through a franchisee’s participation in a “labor transfer” program called the Hundred Project (百名工程); and (2) through its strategic partner in China, H World Group Limited (华住酒店集团), which has benefitted from “Xinjiang Aid” (对口援疆) programs, identified by experts as a high-risk indicator of Uyghur forced labor.

• Ownership structures and management partnerships between international hotel chains and Chinese companies link international chains to state-owned companies, creating ties that financially benefit and advance the interests of a government responsible for crimes against humanity.

• Hilton Hotels in the Uyghur Region host state propaganda events and promote tourism sites that erase a non-state version of Uyghur culture and history.

• International hotel chains’ operations in the Uyghur Region may be in violation international standards, including the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct, and the International Labour Organization’s Forced Labour Convention (C29) and Abolition of Forced Labour Convention (C105).

Original news link can't handle traffic

https://trendsnewsline.com/2025/04/15/anonymous-leaks-10tb-of-data-on-russia-shocking-revelations/

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/32890027

Archived

“If [the] government goes to the bank with a list of 100 Uyghur names and says, you know, ‘give me the bank balance for these people [and] how much money they have.’ The bank will print it out and hand it over to the CCP [Chinese Communist Party]. Then, they shut down the bank accounts, freeze their assets, and they take their properties,” she said.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/32890522

• Ukraine president says China providing artillery and gunpowder
• Zelenskiy also says Beijing helping make weapons in Russia
• Beijing accused of direct military aid for Russia for first time
• Russia waging a more than three-year-old invasion of Ukraine

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/2468670

Archived link

...

The Serbian government wanted to launch golden passport programs in 2022 and then significantly simplify the issuance of citizenship to Russians working in the country, reducing the residency period before applying for citizenship to one year. But, as the Financial Times reported, the European Commission put pressure on Belgrade. They threatened to suspend the Serbia-EU visa-free regime, if the granting of citizenship through investor schemes is deemed to pose an increased risk to the internal security and public policy of the Member States of the European Union.

As IStories discovered, European countries still have something to fear. In hundreds of decisions on granting Serbian citizenship for services rendered from 2022 to April 2025, the names of dozens of Russians closely connected to the military-industrial complex, the Kremlin, oligarchs, state corporations, and even special services are listed. None of them appear on sanctions lists and, therefore, can travel freely with a Serbian passport.

...

Several Russian billionaires from the Forbes list and people formerly associated with managing the assets of oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Alexei Mordashov also became citizens [of Serbia], however, there is no information about their current relationship with the Russian government.

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/2458687

Archived link

On the morning of April 15, Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti published — and later deleted — two Telegram posts that appeared to show military drone operators directing strikes against Ukrainian territory from a makeshift control center located inside a residential high-rise in Moscow City, the Russian capital’s business district.

The first post claimed that a “combat FPV drone, controlled from Moscow, struck an Armed Forces of Ukraine target in Chasiv Yar at an ultra-long distance for the first time.” The second post said the UAV, piloted remotely from Moscow, had been launched by the drone unit of the Espanola brigade, which was operating near Chasiv Yar — a city in the Bakhmut District of Ukraine’s Donetsk Region, most of which is under Russian control.

A six-minute video accompanied the posts, showing the coordination of the drone strike in detail. Both posts, along with the video, were removed within 90 minutes of publication. The Telegram channel CHTD first noticed that the posts had been taken down.

...

In January, I returned to Damascus after 14 years in exile. The last time I had stood in the city’s streets, towering statues of Hafez al-Asad and Bashar al-Asad loomed over the squares. Following the collapse of Bashar Al-Asad’s rule in December of 2024, those statues now lay in fragments—some torn down, others left to decay.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/32829728

The European Commission is closely monitoring containerized imports from China amid growing fears that the high US tariffs will force a redirection of trans-Pacific trade flows and flood Europe with Chinese goods.

While there is no evidence yet of increasing volume from China above seasonal norms, the commission is taking no chances and has deployed an “Import Surveillance Task Force” to track any irregular changes in trade.

“The commission is monitoring imports closely to ensure that it detects in good time any potential increase in imports due to trade diversion,” Olof Gill, spokesperson for trade at the European Commission, told the Journal of Commerce Wednesday.

The US’ 145% tariffs on Chinese imports came into effect April 9, leading to significant frontloading ahead of that date and a large-scale cancellation of cargo bookings thereafter. Some shippers are requesting containers already in-gated at Chinese origins not be loaded on ships, while others have asked that containers be pulled completely from port, according to a trans-Pacific carrier executive.

[...]

With the door to US trade effectively slammed shut, Chinese manufacturers are urgently looking for alternative markets in which to offload their surplus inventory. Europe’s huge consumer base is an attractive target, and the European Commission is shoring up its defenses against any incoming wave of cheap Chinese products that could displace European-made goods.

[...]

The concerns of the European Commission might be valid. According to Sea-Intelligence Maritime Analysis, carriers have announced an all-time high in capacity sailing out of Asia toward North Europe this week at 411,600 TEUs, beating the record set in early March of 2021, with very limited capacity blanked.

“Surely not a coincidence, and even though some of it should have sailed last week, it’s not canceled but set to sail this week,” said Peter Sand, chief analyst for rate benchmarking platform Xeneta.

The average transit time from China to North Europe is 54 days, meaning the first shipments from any diverted trade will begin to arrive in early June.

Casper Ellerbaek, global head of ocean freight at DHL Global Forwarding, said strong bookings from Asia to Europe have been sustained through recent weeks, but that was aligned with DHL’s usual book of business.

“There is indeed speculation within the market that, as US demand decreases due to the Trump tariffs, China may seek alternative markets to offload its goods at competitive prices,” Ellerbaek told the Journal of Commerce, adding, however, that it was too early to definitively identify that trend.

[...]

Also not yet seeing a significant rise in China volume was Marc Meier, global head of ocean freight at Toll Group. But he warned that could change.

“One thing we can say is that all signs point towards China and others having to play more in other markets, so Asia to Europe will surely receive more focus,” Meier told the Journal of Commerce Wednesday.

[...]

Another potential issue is that any surge in Chinese imports will quickly exacerbate the severe port congestion that is still causing delays across the major North Europe and Mediterranean gateways. A host of factors are responsible for the bottlenecks, including full container yards at most terminals, crane maintenance in some ports, berth congestion, rail disruption from line closures in northern Germany and low water levels on the Rhine River impacting inland connections.

[...]

While Europe prepares for a possible wave of Chinese imports, the spot market has finally arrested its steady slide that began in late December. Xeneta data shows that China to North Europe rates are up 7% since April 1 at $2,514 per FEU.

But while an increase in Chinese imports may help rising rates, it won’t last, according to Rico Luman, senior economist at global Bank ING.

“It will be the first reaction because of this disruption but afterwards the massive overcapacity in container shipping will weigh on rates once again, because that is the backdrop to all of this,” Luman told the Journal of Commerce.

“This tariff discussion is not good news for global trade, and I expect rates to drop again over the course of this year,” he added.

archived (Wayback Machine)

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/32772873

Archived

Here is the original Reuters report.

More than one hundred Chinese citizens fighting for the Russian military against Ukraine are mercenaries who do not appear to have a direct link to China's government, [according to reports].

But Chinese military officers have, with Beijing's approval, been touring close to Russia's frontlines to draw lessons and tactics from the war. The officers "are absolutely there under approval," [a former Western intelligence official] said.

China has for years provided Moscow with material support to help aid its war against Ukraine, primarily in the shipment of dual-use products – components needed to maintain weapons such as drones and tanks.

Beijing has also supplied Russia with lethal drones to use on the battlefield. In October, the Biden administration sanctioned for the first time two Chinese companies for providing the weapons systems to Moscow.

[...]

archived (Wayback Machine)

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/2447669

Archived version

Three years into the full-scale war in Ukraine, the Kremlin’s propaganda machine is still hard at work telling Russians that the invasion is justified, Ukraine and the West are to blame, and Vladimir Putin is acting in their best interests. But U.S. President Donald Trump’s first two months back in office have complicated this narrative. His efforts to rebuild ties with Moscow have led Russian state media and officials to swing from cursing the U.S. over the war to praising its president for his kind words about Putin and his dismantling of institutions like USAID. To unpack how Russian propagandists have handled this about-face,

[In an Q&A session, the independent journalist] Ilya Shepelin, who tracks pro-Kremlin media and formerly hosted the show “Fake News” on TV Rain, unpacks how Russian propagandists have handled this about-face.

[...]

Question: For more than a decade now, Russian propaganda has pushed the idea that America is Russia’s eternal enemy, and that U.S. policy is rooted in hatred and fear of our country. But the moment Trump said a few kind words about Putin, Russian TV suddenly forgot all about this existential standoff and started gushing over this “wonderful man” and the America that’s supposedly about to become great again. Were you surprised by this sudden shift?

Ilya Shepelin: I’m not sure there’s anything left that can still surprise me — and that’s a serious professional problem [...] So no, I’m not surprised that Russian propaganda suddenly started singing America’s praises. Especially since Trump’s own style of politics fits perfectly with how Russian propaganda operates. He’s not bothered by obvious contradictions. One day he’ll post that Zelensky is a dictator with a four percent approval rating, and a week later he’ll tell a reporter he never said or thought any such thing.

[...]

It’s all about raw, exaggerated emotion — pure and simple. The same kind you see with soccer fans. If something good happens — say, Trump says Putin’s a great guy and one of the greatest leaders ever — we celebrate and gush over the U.S. president. But the moment Trump decides to extend sanctions put in place by the previous administration, we’re suddenly tearing our hair out and ripping down the posters of him we just hung over our beds.

[...]

it’s not about full-scale mobilization [of Russian people] — it’s about offering narratives that help people make peace with what’s going on [the war]. Something like, “Look, politicians around the world are hypocrites — that’s even worse than what Putin’s doing. At least he’s doing it for Russia. The others are just scheming against us.”

[...]

“Scaling” is a key idea here [as the actual fighting in Ukraine is over small villages that few people have ever heard of]. How does Russian TV portray battle maps of some village in a random district of Donetsk? They act like like they’ve stretched a map of Europe across the screen. Just zoom in close enough, and it starts to feel like we’re not talking about a few square kilometers, but hundreds or thousands. Like it’s a world-shaping event. A massive conquest.

And really, the actual territory doesn’t matter much to the propaganda. What matters is the image of the army steadily advancing, day by day, while the enemy retreats in shame, losing one village after another. And to keep it from feeling like a toy war bought off AliExpress, they constantly show our soldiers fighting and dying heroically on the front lines.

[...]

They never talk about the number of casualties on [Russian state-controlled] TV [as Russia's casualty numbers are massive]. The last official figure the [Russian] Defense Ministry mentioned was, I think, five thousand. On TV, they’re always talking about the hundreds or thousands of enemy soldiers killed, constantly showing videos of them dying. And when they talk about fallen heroes, it’s always just a few, and they’ve either saved 20 people or killed 140 enemies before they died.

[...]

Russian society is highly atomized. The people who are fighting and dying went there voluntarily, for money that’s unimaginable to most of the country. And that helps remove the sense of personal connection to the tragedies of those who’ve died. It’s seen as the price for taking the risk.

[...]

[Russian general Andrey] Gurulyov is constantly saying insane things, like that we should drop a nuclear bomb on Britain or wipe out a quarter of Russia’s population because they’re all Western agents. But suddenly [when peace negotiation started with the US], this guy ended up on the blacklist of federal channels. He disappeared from the airwaves after he called Trump a “bandit” who shouldn’t be sitting at the same table [with Putin].

[...]

Now he’s having to appear on regional channels, popping up on [far-right Russian Orthodox news network] Tsargrad TV. And you can really see how his rhetoric has changed. Now he says, “Well, of course, we all want victory, but right now the U.S. is calling for a settlement, and when the U.S. accepts our terms, that’ll be the victory.

So, just by cutting someone off from federal airwaves, you can instantly change their [the people's] view of victory. Not long ago, he was demanding Odesa and Kyiv, and now he’s happy with recognition from the U.S. There’s no real issue with victory at all. Whatever they achieve in negotiations, that’s what they’ll portray as a victory.

Requests to remove books from library shelves are on the rise in the UK, as the influence of pressure groups behind book bans in the US crosses the Atlantic, according to those working in the sector.

Although "the situation here is nowhere [near] as bad, censorship does happen and there are some deeply worrying examples of library professionals losing their jobs and being trolled online for standing up for intellectual freedom on behalf of their users", said Louis Coiffait-Gunn, CEO of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (Cilip).

Ed Jewell, president of Libraries Connected, an independent charity that represents public libraries, said: "Anecdotal evidence from our members suggests that requests to remove books are increasing." The School Library Association (SLA) said this year has seen an "increase in member queries about censorship".

Most of the UK challenges appear to come from individuals or small groups, unlike in the US, where 72% of demands to censor books last year were brought forward by organised groups, according to the American Library Association earlier this week.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/32657170

The rest of the West can no longer rely on the United States. The European Union, Japan, Britain, Canada and others need to reduce their dependency on Washington while not becoming reliant on China. That means weaning themselves off the dollar, boosting cooperation in trade and defence, and reaching out to emerging economies such as India.

[...]

The more ambitious the rest of the West is in boosting cooperation among itself and with emerging economies, the lower the risk that it will have to depend on China. Australia has already turned down an offer from the People's Republic to join forces against the United States. Japan, South Korea, India and many ASEAN countries also feel threatened by Beijing. Europe is exposed indirectly because the People’s Republic is the main backer of Russia, which has invaded Ukraine.

Beijing will also be looking for new markets for its products now that the U.S. has put 145% tariffs on Chinese imports. Other countries can defend their industries by imposing anti-dumping tariffs. But it would be wise to be selective. For example, it could make sense to buy large quantities of Chinese rare earth minerals now that Beijing has severely curtailed their export to the United States. Europe and Japan could also scoop up Chinese solar panels to fast-track the roll-out of renewable energy and reduce their dependency on American gas.

Developed countries may be able to cooperate with China on issues such as climate change, which Trump has said is a hoax. But they will still need to keep their distance on many topics. Cutting dependency on both Washington and Beijing at the same time will take time and be costly. But the rest of the West could regret it if they do not.

"We, the players of the Icelandic women's national handball team, believe it is important to share our experience after having played two playoff matches against the Israeli national team this week. It is time for the international sports movement – and sports authorities in Iceland – to reassess their stance on Israel's participation in international competitions while their military operations in Gaza continue.

Playing two international matches against Israel was not an easy decision for us. We were faced with a challenge we had never encountered before: to compete against representatives of a state responsible for the deaths of countless innocent civilians – or to refuse to participate, thus allowing the Israeli team to advance. We chose to play – because we wanted to see the Icelandic flag at the World Championship, not the Israeli one.

It is neither normal nor acceptable for a national team to have to play two matches behind closed doors, arrive under police escort, and worry about their safety both on and off the court. We want to play handball with passion, for our country – but we also want the conditions we are asked to play under to align with the fundamental values of sport: peace, respect, and solidarity. For these values, and the rules of international sports federations intended to uphold them, to retain their meaning, it is fair to ask: Why is Israel still allowed to participate in international competitions?

We urge the Icelandic Handball Association (HSÍ) and the National Olympic and Sports Association of Iceland (ÍSÍ) to share our experience with the relevant international federations and to call for Israel to be banned from international sporting events while their military actions continue. We want our voices to be heard – as sportswomen, as representatives of Iceland, and as human beings. We stand united in the hope that our stance will contribute to changes that reflect the human dignity that sports are meant to represent."

Archive: https://archive.is/2025.04.12-132331/https://www.ft.com/content/3eb48a07-7cb0-4a44-9159-eb5b402c2fec

The Trump administration has excluded smartphones from its steep “reciprocal” tariffs as it battles to calm global markets by tempering its approach to the multifront trade war launched by the president. 

According to a notice posted late on Friday night by Customs and Border Patrol, which is responsible for collecting tariffs, smartphones, along with routers and selected computers and laptops, would be exempt from reciprocal tariffs, which include the 125 per cent levies Donald Trump has imposed on Chinese imports.