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submitted 12 hours ago by xiao@sh.itjust.works to c/globalnews@lemmy.zip

Tehran (AFP) – Authorities in Iran ordered schools and offices in at least 10 provinces to close on Sunday to conserve energy amid a severe cold snap and heavy snowfall, state media reported.

Freezing temperatures have gripped the northern half of the country over the past few days, causing a spike in energy consumption.

"All government offices and schools are closed on Sunday, and remote learning has been arranged for students," the state news agency IRNA announced.

Among the provinces affected are Lorestan in the west, Semnan in the east and Gilan in the north.

Some parts of Gilan, around 130 kilometres (80 miles) north of Tehran, saw snow fall to a depth of 220 centimetres (87 inches), meteorologist Mohammad Dadras told the Fars news agency.

The shutdown decision followed a similar measure on Saturday, when authorities ordered closures in more than 20 of the country's 31 provinces because of the extreme weather.

The capital also saw closures on Saturday but those affected reopened on Sunday -- a working day -- despite the wintry conditions.

IRNA said on Sunday some areas of Tehran received up to 30 centimetres (12 inches) of snow overnight.

The snowfall caused widespread traffic disruption, and some residents cleared snow as others enjoyed snowball fights in city parks.

Snow is not unusual for Tehran in February, but the combination of heavy snow and sudden temperature drops caught many people off guard.

Heavy snow and rain across most of the country on Sunday also led to road closures.

IRNA reported travel disruptions in 25 provinces, with the heaviest impacts in the north and west where authorities advised people to stay at home for the next 24 hours.

Temperatures in at least 19 provinces fell to zero degrees Celsius or lower on Sunday, IRNA said.

Iran often orders educational institutions and offices to close during winter, citing extreme weather and fuel shortages.

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submitted 17 hours ago by xiao@sh.itjust.works to c/globalnews@lemmy.zip

Windhoek (AFP) – Namibia's first president Sam Nujoma, who died Saturday aged 95, was revered for leading his country to independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990.

A towering figure, Nujoma headed the South West Peoples' Organisation (SWAPO) that led the liberation struggle since its inception in 1960.

While SWAPO has remained in power since independence, Nujoma finally gave up the reigns in 2007 at the age of 78, two years after standing down from the presidency.

Even after he retired, Nujoma -- one of Africa's last remaining independence leaders -- was lauded in his sparsely populated country of around three million people.

The face of the larger-than-life, white-bearded liberator appears on several Namibian dollar notes. A six-metre tall statue of Nujoma greets visitors outside the Namibian Independence Museum.

Streets have been named after him at home and also in other countries in Southern Africa.

One of his last public appearances was at an Africa Day event in 2022 when he showed little sign of being 93 years old. Supported by a walker, he raised one hand in a fist and recalled the ideals of the continent's independence movements.

Two weeks earlier, in an interview with state-owned New Era newspaper, he criticised as insufficient a one-billion-euro settlement offered by Germany in compensation for its colonial-era genocide of Herero and Nama peoples from 1904 to 1908.

"Namibia must return to the negotiating table with Germany," he said, slamming Germany's cash offer as "woefully insignificant".

Almost wooden in his demeanour, Nujoma seldom appeared relaxed in public.

In finger-wagging speeches, he did not hold back his scorn for the South African governments that occupied Namibia from 1915 to 1990, calling them "boers", "colonisers" and "white settlers".

While president, he unequivocally backed Robert Mugabe's controversial land reforms in nearby Zimbabwe and was not shy to keep ties with rulers of Cuba, Libya, Iran, North Korea and China.

He called homosexuality "madness" and warned in 2001 that gays and lesbians would be arrested and jailed or deported.

His policy on AIDS earned him some international praise, but he came under fire for refusing to rehabilitate several hundred SWAPO fighters who were kept in prison in Angola accused of being "spies" for South Africa.

Born to poor farmers, Nujoma traced the awakening of his political consciousness to his teenage years when he moved from a tiny tribal village in northern Namibia to the harbour town of Walvis Bay.

Arriving aged 17, he lived with an aunt in a black township and was privy to adult conversations about the plight of black people under white-minority rule.

The son of poor farmers from the Ovambo tribe and eldest of 10 children, Nujoma's first job was as a railway sweeper near Windhoek in 1949 while he went to night school, according to an autobiography published in 2001.

It was there that he was introduced to Herero tribal chief Hosea Kutako who was lobbying to end apartheid rule in Namibia, then known as South West Africa.

Kutako became his mentor, shepherding the young Nujoma as he became politically active among black workers in Windhoek who were resisting a government order to move to a new township in the late 1950s.

At Kutako's request, Nujoma began life in exile in 1960, first to Botswana, and leaving his wife and four children behind.

That same year he was elected president of SWAPO, later shuttling from capital to capital in the quest for support and launching a low-level armed struggle in 1966.

On retirement from the presidency, he enrolled for a masters degree in geology, believing that Namibia's mountains contained much untapped mineral wealth.

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submitted 17 hours ago by xiao@sh.itjust.works to c/globalnews@lemmy.zip

Paris (AFP) – Elon Musk's rapprochement with US President Donald Trump, his backing of European far-right parties and attacks on diversity policies could drive European buyers away from Tesla, analysts say.

In both Germany and France, sales of the electric pioneer's cars were halved year-on-year in January 2025, while a series of isolated incidents targeting Tesla have set off alarm bells among buyers and industry analysts alike.

"Nobody wants to be associated with Musk's behaviour," said German automotive industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer.

Yet the brand and its boss are "almost inseparable", he added.

The backlash has been particularly strong in Germany, where Musk has voiced firm support for the far-right AfD party -- a political taboo in a country where the Nazi past remains a sensitive subject.

Stickers bearing the message "I bought this car before Elon went crazy" started showing up on German Tesla cars, as they had in the United States.

Musk, the world's richest man, also drew uproar with a gesture at a Trump rally critics likened to a Nazi salute -- allegations which the Tesla boss has rejected.

At the end of January, activists projected a giant image of Musk's gesture and the word "Heil" onto the outside of a Tesla plant near Berlin.

"Germany remains very sensitive to its history and Musk's political rhetoric is potentially toxic, given that Tesla consumers are partly motivated by environmental concerns," said German automotive analyst Matthias Schmidt.

"The car is good," 60-year-old Enrico Parano said about his Tesla. But the Frankfurt-based banking executive said he would think "very carefully before buying it (today) because of Musk's behaviour", and that he was considering selling his Tesla shares.

"It's scary to give money to this guy," said Adriaan, a young French doctor who bought his Tesla second-hand. He said he feared, however, an environmental catastrophe if the world put the brakes on the transition to electric vehicles.

Other incidents targeting the Tesla brand or its owner, now a close adviser of Trump, have taken place outside Germany.

In the Netherlands, a Tesla showroom was vandalised with swastika graffiti and anti-fascist slogans in early February, according to media outlet Dutch News.

In Poland, Tourism Minister Slawomir Nitras said it was "necessary to respond firmly" to Musk, hinting at a possible boycott.

Any boycott's impact would be hard to measure as Tesla has already been hampered by a number of obstacles in the European Union.

Tesla's range of vehicles is ageing and the brand has been faced with an avalanche of competing models overcrowding a slowing market.

Tesla declined to comment on the situation.

Its global sales, however, remained stable last year and since Trump's election, company shares have climbed to a record high.

"Tesla today is two sides of the same coin," said Ieva Englund of Swedish institute Novus, which conducted an online survey at the end of January.

Englund said half of the Swedish population was either positive or neutral toward the brand, praising its innovative feat and environmental impact.

Men aged between 35 and 49 years old, which Englund said could be considered as Tesla's main target group, remain "relatively positive" toward the brand.

But the deadlock around Swedish Tesla employees who have been on strike for more than a year demanding better wages and work conditions, as well as Musk's recent actions "make everyone else see red", she said.

20

Istanbul (AFP) – Israel's "lack of commitment" is putting the Gaza ceasefire in danger of collapse, a senior Hamas official told AFP on Saturday with talks yet to start on its second phase.

In an interview with AFP, Hamas political bureau member and former Gaza health minister Basem Naim warned the deal was in danger, but said the Palestinian militant group did not want to return to war.

The fifth release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners took place on Saturday, about halfway through the six-week first phase of the ceasefire deal.

The fragile ceasefire, which took effect last month, brought to a halt more than 15 months of war sparked by Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Israel's retaliatory campaign in Gaza has left its Hamas rulers weakened but not crushed, and questions remain over how the devastated territory will be run in a post-war phase.

Question: You say Hamas remains committed to negotiations to extend the ceasefire, but is there still the possibility of a return to war?

Basem Naim: What we see from delay and lack of commitment in implementing the first phase and the attempt to create a political, international, diplomatic, and media environment to pressure the Palestinian negotiators upon entering the second phase, certainly exposes this agreement to danger and thus it might stop and collapse.

The return to war is certainly not our wish or decision. But if one party decides to return to war, certainly our Palestinian people who endured for 15 months and have resistance in their heart will be ready to respond appropriately.

Question: The negotiations for the ceasefire's second phase were supposed to start this week in Doha. When will they take place?

Basem Naim: We were expecting the dialogues for the second phase to start... last Monday. We are still ready to go. But the occupation is delaying... till now I do not have any specific date for starting the negotiation process... Maybe in the coming days there may be a start.

Question: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been talking about normalising ties with Saudi Arabia. What's your response?

Basem Naim: We call on them not to normalise. We call on all Arab countries, both those currently normalising and those considering normalisation, to retract from this because this entity that usurped Palestinian land 76 years ago poses a threat to the entire region, not just the Palestinians. It is the cause of most of the region's problems, and we call on all of them to stop this normalisation or any new steps towards normalisation.

Question: What is your reaction to US President Donald Trump's plan to take over Gaza and move its inhabitants to other countries?

Basem Naim: To force a whole population of two million people to leave their homeland for any reason is a crime against humanity and ethnic cleansing. This proposal is therefore rejected. All Arab countries without exception, Islamic countries, and many countries around the world took a clear stance rejecting this offer... because the Palestinian people will refuse to leave. And there is no state ready or prepared to receive them.

24

Vilnius (AFP) – The three Baltic states on Saturday cut ties with Russia's power grid to join the European Union's network, the culmination of a years-long process that gained urgency with Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania -- all former Soviet republics that are now in the European Union and NATO -- had wanted to block Russia's ability to geopolitically blackmail them via the electricity system.

"We have removed any theoretical possibility of Russia using energy (grid) control as a weapon," Lithuanian Energy Minister Zygimantas Vaiciunas told AFP on Saturday.

The European Commissioner for Energy, Dan Jorgensen, said: "This is indeed a historic day."

"I like the light better when there's no Russian electrons involved," he told reporters in Estonian capital Tallinn.

"It's important to underline that this is about security... No European country should be dependent on Russia for anything," he added.

Vaiciunas said the Baltic states had completed the disconnection process at 9:09 am (0709 GMT).

Latvia later physically cut a power line to Russia.

"Now we have complete control over our power grid," Latvian Energy Minister Kaspars Melnis told reporters while holding a piece of the dismantled wire.

Vaiciunas said the Baltics were now operating in so-called "isolated mode" before they integrate with the European grid on Sunday.

A total of 1.6 billion euros ($1.7 billion) -- mostly EU funds -- have been invested in the synchronisation project across the Baltic states and Poland.

The Baltics have long prepared to integrate with the European grid but faced technological and financial issues.

The switch became more urgent after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, spooking the Baltic states into thinking they could be targeted.

They stopped purchasing Russian gas and electricity after the invasion but their power grids remained connected to Russia and Belarus, controlled from Moscow.

This left them dependent on Moscow for a stable electricity flow, which is crucial for factories and facilities requiring a reliable power supply.

...

4

Rami Abu Jamous is keeping a diary for Orient XXI. The founder of Gaza Press, an agency which helped and interpreted for western correspondents, he was obliged by the Israeli army to leave his Gaza City apartment with his wife Sabah, her children, and their two and a half year-old son, Walid, in October 2023. Having taken refuge since then in Rafah, they are now trapped in that destitute and overcrowded enclave like so many other families. For this diary of his, he has received two awards, the Prix Bayeux for war correspondents in the printed press category, and the Prix Ouest-France. This space has been dedicated to him in the French section of the site since 28 February 2024.

...

34

Washington (AFP) – The United States on Friday announced the approval of the sale of more than $7.4 billion in bombs, missiles and related equipment to Israel, which has used American-made weapons to devastating effect during the war in Gaza.

The State Department has signed off on the sale of $6.75 billion in bombs, guidance kits and fuses, in addition to $660 million in Hellfire missiles, according to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA).

The proposed sale of the bombs "improves Israel's capability to meet current and future threats, strengthen its homeland defense, and serves as a deterrent to regional threats," DSCA said in a statement.

And the missile sale would "improve Israel's capability to meet current and future threats by improving the ability of the Israeli Air Force to defend Israel's borders, vital infrastructure, and population centers," it said.

Israel launched a hugely destructive offensive against Hamas in Gaza in October 2023 in response to an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian militant group that month.

The war has devastated much of Gaza -- a narrow coastal territory on the Mediterranean -- resulting in the displacement of much of its population, but a ceasefire has been in effect since last month, bringing a halt to the deadly conflict and providing for the release of hostages seized by Hamas.

In response to concerns over civilian deaths, then-president Joe Biden's administration blocked a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel -- larger than those in the latest proposed sale -- but his successor Donald Trump reportedly approved the shipment after returning to office.

While the State Department has approved the sale of the bombs and missiles, the transactions still need to be approved by Congress, which is unlikely to block the provision of the weapons to Washington's closest ally in the Middle East.

10

A joint summit between the East African Community and the Southern African Development Community will take place today and Saturday in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The Presidents of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Paul Kagame and Félix Tshisekedi, are both expected to attend.

Both presidents were supposed to meet in December in Angola and sign a peace agreement, but the meeting was cancelled. Both parties blamed each other for failed talks as tensions escalated.

A source close to the Congolese presidency said: "From this summit, we expect an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional withdrawal of Rwandan troops and their auxiliaries, the reopening of Goma airport for humanitarian reasons, and the return of the city to the official administration."

Tina Salama, the spokesperson for Félix Tshisekedi, added, "We also expect severe sanctions against Rwanda,"

The situation is at a "pivotal moment" United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, adding that the conflict "risks engulfing the entire region" and urged the parties to work together for peace.

The rebels seized Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo, last week, then on Wednesday took another mining town - Nyabibwe - in the South Kivu province, in a push towards the provincial capital Bukavu, violating the ceasefire they had declared on Tuesday.

Two regional organisations, East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), are organising the summit and have both expressed their desire to hold a joint meeting as soon as possible to align their positions and prevent the risk of a regional escalation.

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni and Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud are also expected to attend the talks.

For Rwanda, a key issue is the role of the SADC mission in the DRC, according to RFI's correspondent in Kigali, Lucie Mouillaud. Kigali describes this force as "offensive" and is calling for its withdrawal, along with that of the Burundian troops.

But the EAC and the SADC have differing views on solutions to the conflict.

The EAC advocates direct negotiations between the Congolese government and the M23, a solution that Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi has so far refused to consider.

This led him to replace the EAC’s peacekeeping force in the DRC with that of the SADC, which is calling on Rwanda to first withdraw from Congolese territory, as the government in Kinshasa wants.

"We should not have too high expectations," Sematumba told RFI, for whom simply holding this summit with all the announced participants would already be "a diplomatic success" in itself.

Reports of rebel advance towards Bukavu on Thursday sparked panic in several towns and villages including in Bukavu, where the Catholic university suspended academic activities scheduled for Friday, a statement said.

The rebels, signalling their intent to govern seized areas, assembled hundreds in a Goma stadium to introduce newly appointed administrators and urge a return to work and school.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that hundreds of thousands are displaced in Goma, with former displacement sites north of the city looted, destroyed, or abandoned. He added that healthcare facilities are overwhelmed, and essential services such as schools, water, electricity, and communications are severely disrupted.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Wednesday estimated that at least 2,800 people died in Goma.

(with newswires)

26

Bengaluru (India) (AFP) – Each morning Indian farmer R Murali opens an app on his phone to check if his pomegranate trees need watering, fertiliser or are at risk from pests.

"It is a routine," Murali, 51, told AFP at his farm in the southern state of Karnataka. "Like praying to God every day."

Much of India's vast agricultural economy -- employing more than 45 percent of the workforce -- remains deeply traditional, beset by problems made worse by extreme weather driven by climate change.

Murali is part of an increasing number of growers in the world's most populous nation who have adopted artificial intelligence-powered tools, which he says helps him farm "more efficiently and effectively".

"The app is the first thing I check as soon as I wake up," said Murali, whose farm is planted with sensors providing constant updates on soil moisture, nutrient levels and farm-level weather forecasts.

He says the AI system developed by tech startup Fasal, which details when and how much water, fertiliser and pesticide is needed, has slashed costs by a fifth without reducing yields.

"What we have built is a technology that allows crops to talk to their farmers," said Ananda Verma, a founder of Fasal, which serves around 12,000 farmers.

Verma, 35, who began developing the system in 2017 to understand soil moisture as a "do-it-yourself" project for his father's farm, called it a tool "to make better decisions".

But Fasal's products cost between $57 and $287 to install.

That is a high price in a country where farmers' average monthly income is $117, and where over 85 percent of farms are smaller than two hectares (five acres), according to government figures.

"We have the technology, but the availability of risk capital in India is limited," said Verma.

New Delhi says it is determined to develop homegrown and low-cost AI, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to co-host an AI summit in France opening on Monday.

Agriculture, which accounts for roughly 15 percent of India's economy, is one area ripe for its application. Farms are in dire need of investment and modernisation.

Water shortages, floods and increasingly erratic weather, as well as debt, have taken a heavy toll in an industry that employs roughly two-thirds of India's 1.4 billion population.

India is already home to over 450 agritech startups with the sector's projected valuation at $24 billion, according to a 2023 report by the government NITI Aayog think tank.

But the report also warned that a lack of digital literacy often resulted in the poor adoption of agritech solutions.

...

17

After negotiating with authorities for five years, three organisations from Italy, Iraq and Belgium have now opened Baghdad's first skatepark.

It is not the first in the country, however: that honour went to the northern city of Sulaimaniyah.

The new skatepark at the sports ministry in a Baghdad suburb provides a welcome means of escape for young people in a country that has endured decades of conflict and crisis.

It also offers a rare respite from the often scrutinising gaze of conservative Iraqi society.

Zubaidi, wearing a pink sweater, watched fellow enthusiasts, both professional and amateur, as they rolled on colourful boards in the open-air park.

"When my friends first told me about skateboarding, I was scared," she said -- not just of falling but also because of what people might say and because her parents might not approve.

"But when I tried it, it just filled me with a beautiful energy," she added.

The skatepark project "is about inclusivity and community, about having a place for everyone", said Ishtar Obaid of Iraq's "Forsah" association.

Forsah, which means "opportunity", was one of the three organisations that spearheaded the project.

It provides a space "where people from different backgrounds" come together, and "that's the beauty of sport", said Obaid, who also advises Iraq's Olympic committee.

Her organisation plans to run skateboarding classes for children and trainers.

"It is a new chapter for sports in Iraq," Obaid said.

When the authorities approved the project in late 2024, the associations including Make Life Skate Life, a Belgian-US charity that has set up skateparks in northern Iraq, Libya and India, built the new facility in just one month.

Kjell Van Hansewyck of Make Life Skate Life said it was a "real struggle" to find a location for the skatepark.

He described Baghdad as "a crowded city with a lot of pollution and traffic jams", and lacking "public land and facilities for children".

The Iraqi capital is bustling with dozens of infrastructure and construction projects. Towering cranes and machinery dominate its streets, as new tunnels and bridges are being built.

"It is like one big job site," Van Hansewyck said.

When authorities said they could provide space at the sports ministry, the groups could hardly turn down the offer, despite this meaning skaters would have to pass through security checkpoints.

Van Hansewyck said the skatepark is "not visible from the streets", which makes it difficult for people who want to check it out.

But he is confident that passionate skaters will still promote the park and do everything possible to make it a major attraction.

...

30

Brasília (AFP) – The UN's climate chief, seeking to shore up solidarity on combating global warming as the United States retreats from its leadership role, appealed to nations' self-interest in a speech Thursday.

Speaking at a university in Brazil's capital, Simon Stiell said global heating was "dangerously high," but that real progress had been made since the landmark Paris Agreement.

He conceded many countries would miss a February 10 deadline to submit their next round of climate plans -- giving them until September to deliver "first-rate" emissions roadmaps.

Brazil is set to host the next global climate conference, COP30, in November.

"We are already headed in the right direction. We just have to implement, and implement more and faster," said the former Grenadan environment minister.

Quickly after his White House return, President Donald Trump announced the US withdrawal from the Paris deal for the second time.

"A country may step back –- but others are already stepping into their place to seize the opportunity, and to reap the massive rewards: stronger economic growth, more jobs, less pollution and far lower health costs, more secure and affordable energy," said Stiell.

He said economic reality would drive action, with climate investment now at $2 trillion.

Self-interest, he said, "above all other factors, is why the clean energy shift is now unstoppable: because of the colossal scale of economic opportunity it presents."

Only a handful of countries have so far submitted their climate plans, including Brazil and Britain, with big emitters China and the European Union expected to follow later in the year.

A UN official said that over 170 countries had indicated they were working on their new emissions goals and planned to submit them this year, most of them before COP30.

When the Paris deal was signed ten years ago, the world was heading for 5 degrees Celsius of warming above pre-industrial levels.

That was "a death sentence for humanity as we know it," said Stiell, noting that the current trajectory of 3C was still catastrophic.

The safer limit under the Paris deal is 1.5C, but scientists say that is slipping out of reach.

Last year was the hottest on record, and the combined average temperature of 2023 and 2024 exceeded the 1.5C threshold for the first time.

On Thursday, Europe's climate monitor said last month was the hottest January on record.

Last year's contentious COP29 meeting in Baku ended with richer countries agreeing to provide at least $300 billion annually by 2035 to help poorer nations progress their green transition and build resilience.

The actual need has been estimated at $1.3 trillion in developing countries -- many of whom are facing crushing debts.

Stiell said the focus this year would be to find other sources of money to plug the gap.

He stressed the funding was "not charity" but a way to curb inflation caused by climate disasters.

"Just take rising food prices, which have the fingerprints of climate-driven droughts, floods, and wildfires all over them," he said.

230

Cocaine "is no worse than whisky" and is only illegal because it comes from Latin America, said Colombian President Gustavo Petro during a live broadcast of a government meeting.

Colombia is the world's biggest cocaine producer and exporter, mainly to the United States and Europe, and has spent decades fighting against drug trafficking.

During a six-hour ministerial meeting -- broadcast live for the first time ever -- the leftist president said "cocaine is illegal because it is made in Latin America, not because it is worse than whisky."

"Scientists have analyzed this. Cocaine is no worse than whisky," he added, suggesting that the global cocaine industry could be "easily dismantled" if the drug were legalized worldwide.

"If you want peace, you have to dismantle the business (of drug trafficking)," he said. "It could easily be dismantled if they legalize cocaine in the world. It would be sold like wine."

Petro also pointed out that fentanyl "is killing Americans and it is not made in Colombia", referring to the opioid responsible for around 75,000 deaths in the United States a year, according to official data.

"Fentanyl was created as a pharmacy drug by North American multinationals" and those who consumed it "became addicted," he added.

Since coming to power in 2022, Petro has attempted to make peace with all of the armed groups that are fueled by drug trafficking in the hope of ending six decades of conflict.

Cocaine production in Colombia reached a record-high in 2023, jumping 53 percent to 2,600 tons, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

[-] xiao@sh.itjust.works 60 points 1 month ago

This is especially rich coming from a guy who lives in an area famously known as Billionaire’s Row where monthly rent would likely be north of $10,000. He’s also the founder of Buttonwood Development and Town Residential, two real estate companies that are worth quite a bit of money. Even if he paid $18 to visit his kids every single day, that’s only $6,500 or so per year. He probably spends more than that on a bottle of wine at dinner. The man just doesn’t want to walk even though we know walking is good for longevity, and the ultra-wealthy are obsessed with longevity.

😂

[-] xiao@sh.itjust.works 45 points 2 months ago

has confessed and will be prosecuted in Vietnam

They can't prosecute all these free pedophile millionaires (or billionaires), but there are plenty of people to prosecute enthusiasts who share intangible content. What beautiful justice!

[-] xiao@sh.itjust.works 115 points 3 months ago

FBI should care more about Epstein's friends instead of having fun with digital books

[-] xiao@sh.itjust.works 108 points 4 months ago

Telegram was built to protect activists and ordinary people from corrupt governments and corporations — we do not allow criminals to abuse our platform or evade justice.

Criminals according to what standard ? In some countries, activism or sympathy with a cause is considered criminal behavior.

Evade justice ?? What justice is he talking about? The justice of the United States of America, Chinese justice, or the justice of the nationalities he possesses?

Better to avoid this platform

[-] xiao@sh.itjust.works 30 points 5 months ago

When a process happens again and again then it is not a malfunction, it is a norm.

[-] xiao@sh.itjust.works 70 points 5 months ago

PhD students as well as all students of all levels need to use pirated software to fully develop their abilities.Trash this warning.

[-] xiao@sh.itjust.works 31 points 6 months ago

If I am elected president I swear to rid you of Copyright. Solemnly✋

[-] xiao@sh.itjust.works 41 points 6 months ago

Life would be so boring without pirates.

[-] xiao@sh.itjust.works 28 points 6 months ago

Potential punishments for operating a pirate karaoke system of any kind are fairly severe in Hong Kong.

Under local copyright law, “[A]ny person who, without the license of the copyright owner of a copyright work, possesses infringing copies of a copyright work for the purpose of, or in the course of, any trade or business with the view to it being used by any person commits an offense. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $50,000 (US$6,400) per infringing copy and imprisonment for four years,” Hong Kong Customs notes.

Those who engage in unfair trade practices, “including making false trade descriptions in relation to service, commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $500,000 (US$64,000) and imprisonment for five years.”

seriously -_-...

[-] xiao@sh.itjust.works 31 points 6 months ago

Next revolution will be the day we get rid of those dangerous rolling metal boxes.

[-] xiao@sh.itjust.works 31 points 1 year ago

Wish AA gonna be fine, they made me save literally hundred of US dollars...

[-] xiao@sh.itjust.works 30 points 1 year ago

The driving license should be conditional on an annual psychological examination.

A car is literally a weapon

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xiao

joined 2 years ago