cross-posted from: https://piefed.ca/c/germany/p/576937/der8auer-i-got-scammed-eur40-000-aliexpress-special

• Invidious
• Youtube

Roman aka Der8auer, owner/founder of Thermal Grizzly products, got scammed out of €40,000 by placing raw material orders in China and has made this video to alert people to be more aware that these kinds of situations can happen.

Then you might think, ok, what about legal action right?

You try to get your money back somehow in China, but the chances of success for this in China is super low.

Like for a German company doing something in China like this; it's almost impossible that you will succeed and it will cost you a lot more time and money.

The move threatens one of the best-known humanitarian operations in the devastated enclave. Though Israel has sought to downplay the group’s importance, Doctors Without Borders says it runs or supports more than 20 percent of the remaining hospital beds, operates clinics for people with traumatic injuries and chronic illnesses, treats malnourished children and other patients, and distributed 700 million liters of water last year.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/58015666

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/44742454

Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) faked the death of Denis Kapustin, commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), and claimed the bounty placed on his head by Russia's intelligence service, HUR chief Kyrylo Budanov revealed on Jan. 1.

"Welcome back to life," Budanov said on a Telegram video, while congratulating Kapustin and the intelligence team involved in the operation.

The announcement follows reports published on Dec. 27 stating that Kapustin, also known by his nom de guerre "White Rex," had been killed during a combat mission in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. In its Jan. 1 statement, HUR said those reports were part of a complex special operation that misled Russian intelligence services.

Russian intelligence services had ordered his assassination and allocated a bounty of $500,000 for the successful completion of the assassination.

"Our side also obtained the funds allocated by Russian intelligence services to carry out this crime," Budanov was told by the commander of the Timur special unit in the video.

"As of now, the RDK commander is on Ukrainian territory and is preparing to continue carrying out assigned tasks,."

...

Web archive link

Not news in a traditional sense, but factual and current information about the state of the world that probably fits better here than lemmy.ca's other communities with traffic.

But we live in a world where a minority – the richest 1% – are responsible for more emissions than 66% of the world’s population, polluting and plundering the planet for their own gain. According to Oxfam, these wealthiest 1% own more wealth than 95% of the world’s population but reportedly contribute just 0.3% in taxes

Only 1% of people are responsible for half of global aviation emissions, the vast majority of people (80%) have actually never flown

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/43734791

Just as Russian President Vladimir Putin was clear about his intentions toward Ukraine, Chinese President Xi Jinping has left no doubt about his plans for Taiwan. The only way to deter him from pursuing "reunification" with the island is to make clear that the costs of doing so will be punishing.

Web archive link

...

Last month, Japan’s new prime minister, Takaichi Sanae, stated that Chinese aggression against the self-governing democratic island could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, warranting a military response.

Takaichi is right, but it is not just Japan that would be affected. Because Taiwan produces 90% of the world’s most advanced semiconductors and hosts one of its most vibrant globalized tech ecosystems, a blockade or invasion would send shockwaves through the global economy, potentially tilting the race for AI leadership in China’s favor. The fall of free Taiwan would also upend the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific, placing much of Asia under China’s yoke, while cementing China’s chokehold on the South and East China Seas. For these reasons, a conflict over the island has the potential to escalate into a broader war.

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cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/43239009

Web archive link

Here are the documents (in Russian).

• After Russia launched its full-scale war against Ukraine, China decided to purchase Russian aircraft, combat vehicles, ammunition, and equipment to enhance its paratroopers.
• Chinese officers and representatives of defense manufacturers have repeatedly visited Russia to inspect examples of weaponry and negotiate deals.
• In 2023 and 2024, Beijing entered into several confidential contracts with Moscow to acquire Russian armaments, with the funds intended for Russian arms manufacturers being subject to international sanctions.
• The known deadline for implementing some of the contracts is 2027.
• The Kyiv Independent has identified several dozen Chinese military personnel and employees of arms manufacturers who continued to cooperate with the Russian arms industry, thereby violating international sanctions.

...

A little over a month after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Russian government received a request from China, according to leaked correspondence reviewed by the Kyiv Independent.

In it, Beijing asked to buy a set of weapons and armored vehicles for airborne troops. The request, numbered ZH2022-Y53, was received on April 7, 2022, the documents show.

Three weeks later, according to the documents, Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation instructed Rosoboronexport, the state-owned company responsible for all arms exports from Russia, to demonstrate Russian air-droppable combat vehicles to a Chinese delegation.

...

The agreements are set to provide sanctioned Russian arms manufacturers with revenue from the export of their weaponry to China. In return, China will receive weaponry and equipment for its airborne forces, the PLAAF Airborne Corps, which have been strengthening amid expectations of an attack on Taiwan.

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A key element of the cooperation is the steady flow of Chinese officers and defense industry officials who have been traveling to Russia since 2023 for closed-door talks. By piecing together leaked Russian documents with photos and travel data, the Kyiv Independent was able to identify many of these previously anonymous visitors by name and rank.

Chinese Major General Fan Jianjun was photographed during his visit to the annual Russian arms forum in the Moscow suburbs in August 2023. He was pictured showing then-Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu models of Chinese weaponry.

Fan Jianjun represented China's highest military authority, the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China (PRC). In 2023, he led the Bureau of Military Equipment and Technical Cooperation within the Equipment Development Department of the PRC Central Military Commission.

The Bureau's procurement division purchases imported weapons and equipment for China, including from Russia.

None of the Russian media that covered the event mentioned who was in the photo next to Shoigu.

...

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/54551509

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/39830329

Chinese fighter jets directed fire-control radar at Japanese military aircraft near Japan's Okinawa islands in two incidents, Japan's defence minister said on Sunday, condemning the move as "dangerous".

"These radar illuminations went beyond what is necessary for the safe flight of aircraft," Shinjiro Koizumi posted on X, adding that Japan had lodged a protest with China over Saturday's "regrettable" incident.

A fire-control radar lock is one of the most threatening acts a military aircraft can take because it signals a potential attack, forcing the targeted aircraft to take evasive action.

cross-posted from: https://piefed.ca/c/privacy/p/378099/we-lost-the-fight-against-chat-control

• Invidious
• Youtube

Jordan Bardella, leader of France’s far-right National Rally party, was hit on the head with an egg Saturday, just days after another incident in which a protester threw flour at him.

Bardella was at an event in Moissac, southwest France, to promote his latest book when a man broke the egg on his head.

The suspected attacker, a 74-year-old man, was arrested and taken into custody for violence against a public official, prosecutor Montauban Bruno Sauvage told AFP.

A complaint has been filed in Bardella’s name over the incident.

On Tuesday, Bardella was covered in flour during a visit to an agricultural fair at Vesoul, in the east of the country.

Police detained a 17-year-old teenage boy before releasing him the following day, and he will have to attend a course on citizenship.