Commented - World News

Israeli tanks advance into Rafah's centre despite global leaders' outcry over the horrors at Sunday's strike on tent camp ( www.reuters.com )

- Residents said Rafah's Tel Al-Sultan neighbourhood, the scene of Sunday's night-time strike in which tents and shelters were set ablaze as families settled down to sleep, was still being bombarded....

Large economies offshore wealth & corruption perceptions ( beehaw.org )

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Myanmar: Young insurgents changing the course of a forgotten war ( www.bbc.com )

Polish foreign minister calls for long-term rearmament of Europe ( www.theguardian.com )

Radosław Sikorski also says he favours deepest possible inclusion of UK in EU defence structures...

China Dissent Monitor: protests by Chinese people increase in first quarter 2024 with labor protests being the most widespread reasons for dissent, researchers say ( freedomhouse.org )

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Uyghur organisation says members of the ethnic group in France face “intimidation and harassment” amounting to “repression” by the Chinese state in legal complaint ( www.euractiv.com )

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Russia’s misinformation machine targets Slovakian assassination attempt, debunked narratives suggest Ukrainian military aid was a factor in attack ( www.bloomberg.com )

It didn't take Russia's misinformation machine long to settle on who was to blame for the first assassination attempt on a European national leader in more than two decades....

Syria: protests against HTS face repression in Idlib ( countervortex.org )

China: Mass Relocations of Tibetans Coerced by Extreme Pressure and Misleading Information, Rights Group says ( www.hrw.org )

- The Chinese government is using extreme forms of pressure to coerce Tibetans to relocate their long-established villages....

Activists lament 'impunity' of Iran's Raisi after crash death ( www.france24.com )

Human rights groups and emigre opposition factions expressed regret that Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi's death meant he never saw justice for crimes they say he committed during decades as a leading figure in the Islamic republic.--...

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War in Ukraine: Peace on Russian terms will not mean an end to human suffering, Estonian Prime Minister says ( www.eurointegration.com.ua )

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Taiwan's new president calls on China to stop threatening the island and accept the existence of its democracy ( www.bbc.com )

- Beijing dislikes Taiwan's new President William Lai and his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which they see as pro-independence. It has ramped up military incursions around Taiwan's waters and airspace since his election win in January....

Estonian parliament adopts law allowing use of Russian frozen assets ( www.riigikogu.ee )

Estonian MPs passed a law that enables the use of Russian assets frozen under international sanctions to compensate Ukraine for war damages....

Taiwan's outgoing president says boosting her country's military was the only way to defy China's threat - and that 'democratic countries need to support Ukraine' ( www.bbc.com )

When Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan's President who soon leaves office after eight years and hands over to her successor William Lai, swept to power in 2016, she was dismissed as a dull bureaucrat. But she stood up to an increasingly authoritarian and aggressive China under Xi Jinping; she held on to a vital US alliance under Donald Trump...

Slovakia: Suspect in court as Putin’s friends capitalise on shooting of prime minister Robert Fico ( www.theguardian.com )

Media is barred from hearing as 71-year-old man appears in closed session over attempted assassination of prime minister....

Estonia ‘seriously’ discussing sending troops to ‘rear’ jobs in Ukraine, official says ( breakingdefense.com )

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China-Russia relations: Putin and Xi no longer have a partnership of equals ( www.bbc.com )

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Syrians Facing Expulsions at Home and Abroad ( unicornriot.ninja )

Reports on China’s Bad Lending Data Disappear on Chinese Social Media ( www.bloomberg.com )

- Total credit demand in China fell in April for first time since 2005...

Research and espionage: an institute staffed by Russian intelligence officers is recruiting students and scientists abroad ( theins.ru )

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Austrian weapons continue to flow to Russia despite EU sanctions and Austria's stance of neutrality, which Vienna uses to justify its refusal to officially supply weapons to Ukraine ( theins.ru )

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China's anger grows as Myanmar has chosen Russia for the construction of a strategic seaport, despite Beijing's interest in the project ( swarajyamag.com )

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Putin in China seeking support for Ukraine war effort ( www.dw.com )

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing Wednesday for two days of meetings with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. Putin's second trip to China in six months will focus on military and financial assistance....

Concerns grow about the wellbeing of Chinese journalists Zhang Zhan after supposed jail release as she failed to make contact with the outside world ( www.theguardian.com )

Zhang Zhan, 40, a lawyer turned citizen journalist, was detained in May 2020 after she travelled to Wuhan to report on the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. Her videos and social media posts drew attention to the government’s stifling of information about the spread of the disease and the harsh lockdowns that were being...