The UK is sending Ukraine more long-range Storm Shadow missiles so it can disrupt Russian military operations targeting its civilian infrastructure before the winter, people familiar with the matter said.

The resupply of the British-made cruise missiles was discussed by Prime Minister Andy Burnham and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy when the Ukrainian leader visited London on Wednesday, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity about a weapons consignment that hasn’t been publicly announced.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.online/c/euro@feddit.online/p/2031344/investigation-eu-citizens-private-messages-are-run-through-palantirs-software

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Radically rethink reciprocity

Beijing criticises the [EU's] revised Cybersecurity Act as unfairly targeting Chinese companies, while its own procurement notices explicitly name European companies as supply-chain risks to be removed from critical infrastructure.

Beijing’s complaints about Europe’s risk mitigation actions should be met with a plain and pragmatic observation: China does the same, more extensively and less transparently. Beijing criticises the revised Cybersecurity Act as unfairly targeting Chinese companies, while its own procurement notices explicitly name European companies as supply-chain risks to be removed from critical infrastructure. Its grounds go well beyond technical faults or security incidents: a supplier’s foreign origin is itself disqualifying under a top-down localisation drive.

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The EU should stress its own “legitimate right”, in Beijing’s own phrase, to protect critical infrastructure, and use the evidence of China’s localisation drive to address asymmetric procurement conditions through the International Procurement Instrument. Trust cannot be a one-way street. Chinese companies should not compete freely for EU public contracts while European firms face systematic exclusion or replacement in China.

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Openness itself is no longer a virtue, but increasingly a vulnerability. Those trends are not going to reverse any time soon. By eliminating European exposure in its own energy infrastructure, the Chinese leadership has set the tone. It is on Europe to take the message.

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cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/11901972

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Chinese brands including BYD, Chery and SAIC's MG have already established a foothold in Europe, while newer entrants are racing to build dealer networks, parts operations and brand recognition.

For some, the stakes are existential.

"If they drop exports in Europe, they die," said Francois Roudier, secretary general of the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA).

The pressure stems from China itself, where the world's largest car market has become increasingly crowded.

More than 100 automakers compete in China, where state support from national, provincial and city governments has helped sustain local champions and delayed long-expected consolidation that could entail significant job losses.

[Among some 130 Chinese car brands, only three are profitable, and analysts say more than 100 will go bankrupt.]]

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Analysts say overseas performance, particularly in Europe, is likely to become an increasingly important measure of which automakers can thrive independently.

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The EU is currently in talks with China to lift restrictions the country imposed on Sindlhauser Materials GmbH, a German company in ASML’s supply chain, as the sanctions risk putting the company out of business. In return, the EU would remove restrictions it placed on one unnamed Chinese firm accused of aiding Russia in the war with Ukraine, according to an Oct. 14 Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter.

Lithuania expects to make progress toward restoring diplomatic representation with China by the end of the year, Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said Wednesday, expressing confidence in Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys’ efforts to improve ties.

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/11900295

Ukraine’s Tencore and Canada’s Dominion Dynamics will launch production of TerMIT unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) in Canada for Ukraine and NATO partners.

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During the AUSA 2026 international defense exhibition, Tencore and Dominion Dynamics signed a memorandum of understanding.

In addition to localizing production, the partnership includes integrating Canada’s AuraNet autonomous control and navigation system.

Tencore will transfer technology and train Canadian specialists to prepare for full-scale production.

Dominion Dynamics, in turn, will integrate its AuraNet hardware and software suite for command, control and autonomy, and develop a specialized TerMIT variant for operation in extreme Arctic conditions.

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The first Canadian-made production units are scheduled for release in 2027.

“The partnership with Canada gives us a scalable production base, resilient supply chains and a reliable energy system, allowing us to launch this production cycle alongside allies who need proven solutions,” Tencore co-founder Roman Tkachenko shared.

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In June, it was reported that Germany would also manufacture UGVs for Ukraine under a joint venture between Quantum Systems and Tencore.

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cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/11898205

UK: "Successful engagement with China must always be framed by an understanding that China is an inherently hostile authoritarian state that does not share our values", report says

"The PRC [People's Republic of China] is not China, nor the custodian of Chinese history, culture or values. What it promotes, whether on UK universities campuses through Confucius Institutes, through “art and cultural” engagement, through social media and through personal exchange, is political narrative," a report published by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac), an international group of China experts, says.

For many years UK China policy has been 'beset by incoherence,' with different departments pursuing mutually contradictory approaches. As a result, Ipac states, past engagement with Beijing has often "exposed the UK to the risks of interference without delivering the opportunities promised."

Although British expertise exists, it is often siloed and “not translated into capability”, says Ipac, pointing to budget cuts as an additional problem.

The organization's report says that engagement with China 'must rise above party politics.'

'The elected government should work with other parties in Parliament to determine the UK’s long-term relationship with China. We need sustained cross-party dialogue, and a shared commitment to putting the UK’s long-term interests first. Whatever our political differences, we should recognise that the opportunities and risks presented by China demand a united and considered national response.'

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Ipac counts almost 50 MPs among its members, including from Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Scottish National party, the Greens and Reform.

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Starlink rival Eutelsat OneWeb gains as investors bet it could benefit from geopolitical tensions

Shares surge 23% after Ukraine says SpaceX had restricted military-grade satellite services

Analysts say OneWeb ​cannot quickly replace Starlink despite investor optimism

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Over the four decades since regaining its independence from Soviet-dominated rule, Poland has been transformed. Excluding oil-exporting states and financial hubs, incomes have converged with western levels at the fastest rate in the world; from 40% of the EU average in the mid-1990s to 81% last year.

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National income surpassed $1tn (£755bn) last year, ranking Poland among the world’s 20 largest economies. International Monetary Fund projections show income per capita will soon overtake Japan and Spain.

“Four decades ago, we were in – excuse my English – deep, deep shit,” says Marcin Bosacki, the Polish deputy foreign minister.

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Since 2004, the average monthly wage has more than tripled in nominal terms to 8,904 złoty (£1,723) last year. The net monthly salary in Warsaw has risen by 120% since 2016, according to Deutsche Bank, lifting it above Rome and Lisbon. A meal for two in the capital now costs more than in Tokyo and the price of a cappuccino has doubled.

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As part of its growth plans, Poland is pushing to become a regional tech hub, bolstered by a $1bn investment fund backed by public and private capital to support tech startups and AI companies. The number of high-growth firms is rising, including ElevenLabs, an $11bn AI audio generation and voice cloning company named after 11 November – Poland’s national independence day.

There are strong foundations for its ambition. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s annual programme for international student assessment (Pisa) scores ranks Poland equal to the UK among the top countries in Europe and globally for maths, while a greater share of adults have higher education qualifications than in Germany.

On the eastern side of the Vistula River in the gritty and creative working-class district of Praga, the campus of the games company CD Projekt Red shows the progress being made.

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The Insider's correspondent in Ukraine examined a mesh modem — one made by China’s Xingkai Tech — that was found in a Russian Gerbera drone. Then, posing as a Russian military supplier, they obtained evidence that the Chinese company is knowingly willing to sell its modems to the Russian drone factory in Alabuga.

Several banks, including DBS Bank, China Merchants Bank, and Ping An Bank, are actively facilitating these sales. Mesh networks are the most practical technology for controlling Russia’s long-range drones over Ukraine. They allow operators to control drones manually and send commands in flight, exploiting gaps in Ukrainian air defenses. According to The Insider’s estimates, Xingkai Tech accounts for about half the market for high-power mesh modems used in Gerbera and Geran drones, making its supplies critical to Russian military manufacturers.

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[An investigator from the research platform] Nordsint explicitly stated that the end user was a military production facility. Chinese company Xingkai Tech’s director raised no objections.

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Judge Beatriz Biedma, responsible for the investigation into the hiring of David Sánchez in the Badajoz Provincial Council, brother of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has had a specific protection and escort device from the National Police since this Wednesday, which acts "applying the appropriate protocols."

This has been explained by the Government delegate in Extremadura, José Luis Quintana, when asked by the media about this security measure. Quintana has confirmed that "such a device has been arranged" and has detailed that "in light of supposed threats and the existence of danger, she presents a statement to the Police."

In this way, "logically and following the appropriate procedures," the National Police "has established a security device for her applying the appropriate protocols." Regarding how long this protection will last, he has asked to "see what the next steps are" and has reiterated that "in principle" he can confirm that the measure is in effect.

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It is worth remembering that Beatriz Biedma stated before the judge of the "Leire Díez case," Santiago Pedraz, that she felt persecuted, anxious, and uncomfortable due to various situations of alleged harassment attributed to former magistrate Luis Sáenz de Tejada, whom the Civil Guard links to the alleged plot. However, she made it clear that this did not influence her actions in instructing the case regarding the brother of the head of the Executive.

[Leire Diez is a consultant reportedly close to Spain’s ruling Socialist party PSOE. Back in the spring, authorities started to probe Socialist party payments to Díez in an attempt to sway cases affecting the Socialist party and the government.]

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According to a report from the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard, one Spain’s law enforcement agencies, there has been a plot trying to neutralize Biedma.

According to his statement, former judge Luis José Sáenz de Tejada, sent from Leire Diez, called on the phone on December 23, 2024 and told that Biedma was “a fucking pain in her ass and that she had to be eliminated.”

UC also reports [about] a member of the Los Rocos [drug] clan, known as Moto Mouse.

After being asked about the true sense of expressions such as “eliminating” or “giving it a sieve,” it was quite clear: “Eliminating means killing her. A scare wasn’t going to make it.”

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After Biedma's statement as a victim before Pedraz, the current proceedings are part of the investigation into an alleged network aimed at interfering in judicial proceedings affecting the [ruling Socialist party] PSOE.

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Saxony-Anhalt Gov. Sven Schulze of the Christian Democratic Union criticized the initiative. He noted that the resolution did not mention Russian aggression, even though Russia shells Ukrainian cities daily. Schulze said the AfD and BSW wanted to deprive Ukraine of the ability to defend itself. The state government will decide how to proceed after further discussion.

Get your shit together Germany.

cross-posted from : https://piefed.zip/c/technology@lemmy.world/p/1908525/yandex-outage-data-shows-that-instead-of-going-dark-malicious-bots-went-on-the-move

Ukraine confirmed on Wednesday that its military has been cut off from full access to SpaceX's Starlink satellite system , which reportedly interrupted some missions overnight.

Prosecutors say Serhii Kuznetsov played a leading role in a team of saboteurs that destroyed the pipelines, accusing him of a war crime.

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/11883569

[Op-ed by Derrick Wyatt, KC, is Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Oxford and a former practising lawyer who advised businesses and governments.]

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Vladimir Kara-Murza, Russian-British critic of Putin now living in the UK, said in September that as long as Putin is in power the Ukraine war is not going to stop. He added that political change in Russia is inevitable, that it may not be so far away, and that when it comes, it will be swift, sudden and unexpected. Kara-Murza is not alone in seeing the writing on the wall for Putin's presidency, and the prospect of regime change in Moscow could inspire Ukraine's European allies with an alternative strategy to Trump's Putin-leaning peace process.

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The time seems right for Ukraine's allies to start talking over Putin's head to his potential successors – to let them know that a peace that respected Ukraine's sovereignty would bring Russia a major political and economic reset with Europe as well as an end to a war that is doing serious damage to Russia.

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European conditions for a fresh start with Russia would include a seat for Ukraine's allies in peace negotiations if Ukraine asked for it, a just outcome on Ukraine's sovereignty, and agreed Russian funding . . . for Ukraine's post-war reconstruction

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Ukraine's European allies have so far been confined to the fringes of Trump's Putin-friendly peace process. Now Europe has the chance to launch an alternative peace strategy, in which it pitches an off-ramp from the Ukraine war, not to Putin, for whom anything less than a military victory seems off the table, but to his potential successor or successors, for whom a just peace for Ukraine might be an acceptable price to pay for ending the war and securing a reset in Russia's links with Europe. It would be in the UK's interest to launch or to join such an initiative. Canada – close to Ukraine and to Europe's NATO Allies, and now seeking a 'unique alliance' with the EU, might also join such an alternative strategy.

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cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/11882742

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UK prime minister ... Burnham said the institution [a new National Centre for Information Defence to be set up by his government] will “detect, attribute and disrupt” foreign information attacks.

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Sweden has a dedicated agency for exactly this purpose. Its “psychological defence” approach sees an informed public as one of the country’s most important protections against foreign manipulation.

This idea dates to 1954, when the Swedish government set up a board for psychological defence to study propaganda and keep people informed during the cold war. Its spirit survives in a line from Sweden’s household crisis booklet, carried over from wartime editions: “All information to the effect that resistance is to cease is false.”

The board was abolished in 2008, but Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 began to change minds. And in January 2022, weeks before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Sweden opened its new psychological defence agency.

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The agency is small, with about 80 staff and a budget of around 150 million Swedish Krona (£11.3 million, €13.4 million), and operates under the jurisdiction of Sweden’s defence ministry. In wartime, its job is to stop an enemy breaking down the nation’s will to resist.

In peacetime, its director, Magnus Hjort, says the agency’s main aim is strengthening public preparedness. The agency proclaims that strong psychological defence rests on an independent media, a mutually trusting society and a well-informed population.

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The agency runs an awareness campaign called “Don’t Be Fooled”, which boils effective resistance down to four habits: watch out for content designed to make you angry or afraid, think twice before sharing it, check the source and look for verifiable information.

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The psychological defence agency tailors its work to groups it considers more vulnerable. It works with civil society on a Youth Resilience Hub to prepare young people for information attacks, makes educational films for older people about election interference and ensures its awareness campaigns run in Swedish, English and Arabic.

The agency also trains councils and businesses, and offered courses to municipal and regional officials ahead of Sweden’s September 2026 elections. And it provides free training to journalists on how to spot influence operations.

Psychological defence prioritises reaching every person and teaches that, in information warfare, the citizen is the target. This message reaches every letterbox. In November 2024, Sweden posted 5.2 million copies of the agency’s latest national crisis booklet, which warns that disinformation campaigns aimed at sowing mistrust happen every day.

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The UK’s new centre already faces charges Sweden has had to answer. Within days of Burnham’s announcement, Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage labelled it an Orwellian “ministry of information”. He warned it “will be used to clamp down on free speech”.

Sweden’s psychological defence agency safeguards against concerns about censorship by only dealing with foreign influence. It treats citizens who repeat falsehoods as people to help, proclaiming that in a free society people have the right to be wrong.

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Burnham named those most at risk of foreign information manipulation: young people not in work and people struggling with the cost of living. Yet the UK’s official preparedness website says nothing about disinformation, and no part of government currently has clear responsibility for preparing the public.

Sweden gave that job to a dedicated agency, and the new National Centre for Information Defence is the obvious UK candidate. Its remit is still being settled, meaning there is still time to build preparedness into its mandate.

Detecting and disrupting information attacks will always matter, and Sweden’s experience suggests that the strongest defence is a public that recognises an attack when it sees one.

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