Ukraine's government wants to sell thousands of state-owned assets that are overwhelmingly unprofitable, inefficient, or nonoperational — sometimes all three. But it's facing a problem. Low prices aren’t enough to attract the foreign investors Ukraine wants most, particularly those from Europe.

After weeks of protests over the dismissal of former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, the movement is losing momentum as organizers struggle to decide what comes next and President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to ignore their central demand.

The data in EuroMoMo is quite stable now: The heatwave in calendar week 26 resulted in more than 15,000 excess deaths across Europe. That was worse than the flu wave this January.

Also, interesting that it was primarily France and Belgium. Then Germany.

For Portugal it was a rather normal week, it seems.

Escaping to a cool, simple cabin in a rural corner is a long-held Swedish tradition. We’ve found two idyllic options in overlooked Gunnarsbyn, near the Arctic Circle

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/10681984

Senior Home Office leader surveyed 916 Chinese students in the UK for his doctoral research.

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UK universities are turning a blind eye to widespread coercion of Chinese students by crime gangs, a police expert has said. David Wilson, a regional leader of the Home Office’s Organised Immigration Crime Task Force, made the claim after surveying 916 Chinese students in the UK as part of his doctoral research.

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He found that one in eight Chinese students had either personally come under pressure to help crime gangs or knew someone who had faced such pressure.

“Universities should be trying to identify the problem or at least admitting that there is a problem,” said Wilson.

He warned that “Chinese organised crime is the biggest single thematic crime threat to the UK in terms of both its criminal and national security implications”.

Wilson’s research, the most comprehensive known investigation of China-linked gangs in the UK in recent decades, also found multiple weaknesses in police forces’ ability to tackle the issue, including a shortage of language skills, cultural understanding and Chinese officers able to work undercover when necessary.

Alicia Kearns, a shadow junior Home Office minister, called Wilson’s work “vital research”.

She said it was clear that Chinese criminal networks — like gangs of other nationalities — were involved in drugs, prostitution, political repression, modern slavery and espionage.

Students from China account for 23 per cent of overseas students at UK higher education institutions, making them the second-largest national group behind learners from India.

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Chloe Cheung, UK public affairs manager for the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, which campaigns for Hongkongers’ rights, endorsed Wilson’s findings.

She called for universities to establish mechanisms for students to make anonymous reports of foreign interference.

“Hong Kong and Chinese students on campus are highly vulnerable to recruitment by criminal networks, as these operate transnationally and can use family and other connections back home to exert leverage on victims,” Cheung said.

In one of the few prosecutions of a Chinese student for involvement in organised crime, Xiaotong Huang, a student from Beijing at the University of Stirling, was jailed in 2023 for 18 months for laundering £85,000 on behalf of a Glasgow-based organised crime boss of Chinese origin.

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Wilson said criminals typically lured students by first doing them small favours such as lending them small amounts of money. The Chinese embassy in the UK said its government was “firmly committed” to combating transnational crime, including that aimed at students.

“It actively engages in international law enforcement co-operation to that end,” it said. “The law enforcement authorities of China and the UK have maintained communication and co-ordination on these matters, and we hope both sides will continue to strengthen such co-operation.” Most of the coercion uncovered in the study involved crimes such as accepting a bank transfer for someone else or agreeing to accept a package for someone else.

Disguised bank transfers can facilitate money laundering, while the packages often contain drugs or other contraband goods. A small proportion of respondents, 1.2 per cent, reported being aware of young women who had been coerced into sex work, such as performing for pornographic webcam sites.

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Wilson said organised crime groups were sexually exploiting “young Chinese girls”.

Universities UK, the higher education trade body, said it was vital students understood UK law when studying in the country and that they felt able to report outside influence and receive support in resisting it.

“We are committed to continuing to partner with government to support and equip students to do so,” it said.

But it added that universities could not tackle the issue alone. The organisation said: “Ultimate responsibility for identifying and investigating suspected criminal activity must lie with the appropriate legal authorities.”

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Here is the study: Algorithm Manipulation: China’s Image on TikTok as Seen by Polish Users (pdf)

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The issue of content manipulation on non-Western platforms, such as TikTok—the international version of the Chinese platform Douyin, launched by ByteDance in 2017—is particularly important for understanding the influence of authoritarian regimes on online discourse in democratic societies such as Poland, where freedom of expression is constitutionally guaranteed and protected by law.

A new study examines the potential implications of algorithmic manipulation affecting Polish users through six keywords: Xinjiang, Tibet, Tiananmen Square Massacre, Taiwan, human rights in China, and re-education camps in China. Given TikTok’s large user base in Poland, it can be argued that manipulation of the platform’s algorithms may influence how the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is perceived by Polish society.

Key points:

• The results show that the average Polish user of the platform, seeking information on topics related to China – especially sensitive issues such as Xinjiang, Tibet, human rights, and re-education camps – would receive content that was overwhelmingly pro-Chinese in nature.
• In the case of TikTok, there is no censorship mechanism ... Nevertheless, the study results indicate that it may seek to suppress topics deemed undesirable or controversial.
• **This stands against the transparency and unrestricted access to information guaranteed by the EU and Polish law **and demonstrates that apps from countries with controlled information environments may not be willing to sufficiently safeguard their products against information manipulation.
• The results of the conducted research indicate that there are at least several English-language accounts on the app responsible for spreading pro-Chinese propaganda messages. A few characteristics indicate their direct links to the Chinese propaganda mechanism, including they exclusively discuss topics important to the PRC’s message, promote an extremely pro-Chinese message, attempt to discredit individuals criticizing the CCP’s {Chinese Communist Party's] actions, and publish large amounts of professionally prepared content despite posing as, for example, ordinary tourists in China.
• Their scale of operations is large enough to contribute to shaping the views and attitudes of their audiences. Currently, the scale of operations of Polish-language propaganda channels is relatively low, but it cannot be ruled out that this will increase in the future.

Furthermore, it should be assumed that English-language content also represents an attractive source of information and knowledge for Polish users of the app.

Many of the materials classified as „pro-China” based on the adopted criteria contained statements or statements fully consistent with messages approved by the Publicity Department and other bodies directly subordinate to the CCP [Chinese Communist Party].

• The app does not designate state-owned channels as “state-controlled media,” as Facebook does. This means that it is impossible to determine which channels on the platform operate directly under government control.
• Meanwhile, research conducted by, among others, Taiwanese insittutions indicates the existence of a network of channels directly uploading propaganda content from the Chinese version of the app (Douyin) to TikTok.

Furthermore, a June 2025 DoubleThink Lab opinion poll ... revealed that Taiwanese frequent users of the platform are turning to pro-China and anti-American views. In case of this study, it was Mandarin-language content aimed at Taiwanese users, but it cannot be ruled out that the pro-Chinese content described in this report could similarly shape users’ (including Polish users) perception of China.

On a regional scale, as revealed in a report published in October 2025 by the Moldovan Centre for Strategic Communication and Countering Disinformation (Centrul Pentru Comunicare Strategica Si Contracarare A Dezinrmarii, 2025), the platform’s non-transparent algorithm and lack of AI content moderation were used, among others, by entities linked to the Russian Federation to attempt to influence voters’ beliefs in the 2024 presidential elections.

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The issue of an effective metric for measuring the “impact” of cognitive activities – including China’s propaganda offensive – is currently being addressed by global and European organizations researching FIMI (Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference), which refers to the manipulation of and interference in the information environment by external actors (such as Russia and China).

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The examined material raises legitimate doubts about the impartiality of the TikTok app. It is impossible to definitively answer the question whether this is solely the result of the algorithm itself or the presence of a significant number of propaganda channels on the platform, whose activities are not moderated or labeled in any way.

This raises doubts, especially considering the platform’s subordination to a Chinese entity (ByteDance) operating within the Chinese legal system. Therefore, the app has significant potential to become a tool for shaping audience attitudes and views in the event of large-scale influence operations. Given the scale of Sino-Russian cooperation in information exchange, the TikTok app may pose a potential threat to the security of Polish users.

Therefore, it is recommended not only to approach content appearing on the platform critically, but also to refrain from publishing sensitive data on the platform – this is particularly relevant for government entities and individuals associated with the state apparatus.

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[Edit to insert direct link to the study.]

Germany's tax-free "mini-jobs" help 6.9 million people earn up to €603 a month. Now the government wants to scrap them. We meet the workers and small shops who could lose out.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine mobilizes unprecedented support for military among young Jews, though many still can’t reconcile themselves with past crimes – or far-right bigotry today.

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At press conferences by former Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, instead of media representatives, employees at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were present, posing as journalists and creating the impression of a full hall, as the media outlet 444.hu reports (in Hungarian), citing its own sources.

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Instead of independent journalists, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' staff were seated at Péter Szijjártó's press conferences, using many of the ministry's staff as what 444.hu calls "bio-decorations".

Referring to sources in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the report says that

the Ministerial Cabinet sent a letter to the heads of the organisational units stating that in a few days' time Péter Szijjártó would hold a joint press conference with his foreign partner in the conference room, and that the staff of the organizational unit and its departments were hereby cordially invited to the event.

So far, this could even be a nice invitation, in case someone has nothing better to do besides work.

But the letter also stated how many people were expected to attend, and that the managers should send in advance who would be attending the event.

Two staff members also told us what their job was at the time. Nothing more than filling the seats in the 50-60-seat room. It was an important requirement that they had to take their seats half an hour before the start [of the press conference], so that "by the time Szijjártó arrives, everyone should be sitting in silence. And at the end of the press conference, it was forbidden for anyone to stand up until Szijjártó had left the room."

How the organisational units dealt with the attendance varies. According to one staff member, "there was obviously no question of professional relevance; the departments and secretariats sent the colleagues whose workload on the day in question allowed it the most, and in the most exceptional case, the subordinate responsible for the region/industry was also able to sit in out of healthy professional interest". In several departments, the procedure was that the managers asked if there was anyone interested in the event, because, for example, the topic was exactly in their field, but they could not pose questions either.

However, there was a permanent fixture at these house parties: Gyula Budai, who was Szijjártó's ministerial commissioner responsible for the economic protection measures necessitated by the challenges arising from the sanctions. He was a regular participant in the "press conferences", regardless of the topics.

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Investigation against Szijjarto over his appointment at Chinese EV maker BYD and his ties to Russia

There is also an investigation ongoing in Hungary against Peter Szijjarto after public figure [and former member of the ex-ruling party Fidesz's Hungarian Civic Union] Istvan Tenyi’s statement about possible bribery.

The reason for this was Szijjártó appointment as senior manager at Chinese car manufacturer BYD. The new Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar suggested that Szijjarto’s appointment at BYD could be a public “thank you” for his assistance in the construction of the automaker’s plant in Szeged when he was a minister. The prosecutor’s office explained that such actions could fall under the article on obtaining an unlawful benefit in the interests of a business organization. If Szijjarto is found guilty, he faces a sentence of imprisonment for up to three years.

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Hungary is investigating the former Hungarian foreign minister’s ties to Russia. Szijjártó has been under scrutiny since recordings leaked earlier this year in which he briefed his Russian counterpart on meetings in the European Union and offered to help ease EU sanctions against Moscow. In a leaked recording of a phone call between Szijjártó and Sergey Lavrov, the Hungarian minister can be heard asking his Russian counterpart for arguments to use at the next meeting of EU foreign ministers. Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar has said that the recordings appear to indicate Szijjártó’s treason.

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Archived

Lithuania's border guards have discovered tunnels through which migrants are trying to enter the country from Belarus. Analysts see them as a means to destabilize the country.

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Migrants are taking a new route to enter the Baltic country Lithuania: underground tunnels. These could be yet another attempt by Belarus to foster political instability, experts say.

The country's border guards say they have found 12 such tunnels since the beginning of the year all along the Belarusian border, with a length of up to 25 meters on the Lithuanian side. They are expecting more to emerge.

Lithuania's border with Belarus is about 700 kilometers long, around 550 kilometers of which are fenced.

"We have a ground seismic system, which can detect easily when there's a high level of vibrations over a long period of time," General Rustamas Liubajevas, the commander of Lithuania's State Border Guard Service, explained to DW.

"We then wait [outside a tunnel] for the final stage of the digging and when the migrants come out, we apprehend them," he said, adding that up to 40 migrants exiting such tunnels had been arrested.

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Lithuania's prosecutor's office confirmed to DW that a pre-trial investigation was under way concerning approximately 20 people suspected of illegally digging a tunnel. Possible charges also include people smuggling. Due to the investigation, no media visits are currently authorized at the sites.

Liubajevas is surprised migrants would attempt a subterranean crossing.

"It takes a lot of effort to dig a tunnel and the migrants are arrested almost immediately — at most, one small group gets through," he said.

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The elaborate nature of the tunnels has led him to believe the migrants aren't working alone.

"They wouldn't be able to go through with this without logistical support from the Belarusian authorities, as they need a lot of material like wood to strengthen the tunnels' walls," he stressed, adding that Belarus seemingly wanted to "keep the level of tension at the border high."

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenkohas denied facilitating migration flows to neighboring states. Similar migrant tunnels were discovered in the past in neighboring Poland.

Margarita Seselgyte, Director of the Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University, seconded Liubajevas' view.

"Belarus is watching its border very closely, and the country doesn't fit in the natural migration route of migrants from Afghanistan, Iran or Sri Lanka," she told DW, adding that Minsk had to at least have turned a blind eye to any digging activity taking place near the border.

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For her, Minsk is assisting its close ally Moscow. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 partly from Belarus, where it amassed troops under the pretext of military drills.

"Lithuania has been very vocal in terms of defense against Russia, both conventional and hybrid, on an EU and Nato level, and they want to silence that voice by causing chaos in our country," the political scientist said.

"The main goal is probably to weaken support for Ukraine and disrupt European unity," she added.

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Archived