World News

Japan’s beloved Princess Aiko is often cheered like a pop star.

During a visit to Nagasaki with Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, the sound of her name being screamed by well-wishers along the roads overwhelmed the cheers for her parents.

As she turns 24 on Monday, her supporters want to change Japan’s male-only succession law, which prohibits Aiko, the emperor’s only child, from becoming monarch.

Along with frustration that the discussion on succession rules has stalled, there’s a sense of urgency. Japan’s shrinking monarchy is on the brink of extinction. Naruhito’s teenage nephew is the only eligible heir from the younger generation.

For the ninth consecutive month, fewer passengers at Canadian airports are heading to the United States amid the trade war.

New data from Statistics Canada shows total Canadian air passenger traffic in October was up by 4.5 per cent to five million travellers from the same time last year, but the number of people on U.S.-bound trips is down 8.9 per cent to 1.2 million travellers.

Franklin the turtle is a Canadian creation beloved by generations of children, so when U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth turned him into a bazooka-wielding soldier in a social media post Sunday, many people were alarmed.

Hegseth's post featured a mock cover of a Franklin children's book titled "Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists." The image shows a smiling Franklin wearing a military helmet and vest and an American flag on his arm. He's standing in a helicopter, firing a weapon toward a boat carrying packages and a man holding a gun.

"For your Christmas wish list," he wrote above the post, an apparent attempt to make light of deadly U.S. military strikes on suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/54166876

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/54162082

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/54162187

This is why I support open source operating systems.

Without open source, you control the technology. Without open source, the technology controls you.

Any move to “wipe the slate clean” for Russia in a peace deal would be “a historic mistake of huge proportions,” the EU justice commissioner tells POLITICO.

Donald Trump’s drive to secure peace in Ukraine must not let Vladimir Putin off the hook for war crimes committed by Russian forces, a top EU official has warned, effectively setting a new red line for a deal.

In an interview with POLITICO, Michael McGrath, the European commissioner for justice and democracy, said negotiators must ensure the push for a ceasefire does not result in Russia escaping prosecution.

His comments reflect concerns widely held in European capitals that the original American blueprint for a deal included the promise of a “full amnesty for actions committed during the war,” alongside plans to reintegrate Russia into the world economy.

If lawmakers push to charge retirees for health care, it will especially hit Americans who have made France their home.

Country seen as champion of equal rights faces reckoning after senior politician says she felt compelled to quit

Increasing hate, threats and harassment against female politicians are scaring women away from public life and forcing them to censor themselves, the Swedish government’s equality agency has said, warning that this poses a “big threat to democracy.”

Women’s safety in politics has come under heightened scrutiny in the Scandinavian country since October, when Anna-Karin Hatt resigned as leader of the Centre party after only five months in office, citing hate and threats.

“To constantly feel like you need to look over your shoulder and [to] not feel completely safe, not even at home … I am affected by it much more deeply than I thought I would [be],” she said at the time.

Airbus has discovered an industrial quality issue affecting fuselage panels of several dozen A320-family aircraft, industry sources said on Monday (Dec 1).

Early results from the general election in Honduras show Nasry Asfura, leader of the right-wing National Party, has a very narrow lead.

With more than 40% of the votes counted, the conservative candidate was just ahead of former TV host and Vice-President Salvador Nasralla, according to preliminary results published by the National Electoral Council (CNE).

Asfura has been backed by Donald Trump, who has threatened to cut financial aid to the Central American nation if his preferred candidate does not win.

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/42837641

Web archived link

...

On Sunday, thousands of people had gathered outside the charred buildings in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district to lay flowers and leave mementos and messages such as “rest in peace” and “Hong Kong be strong.” At a plaza at the complex, people manning a local relief effort collected donations and distributed essentials such as clothing, bedding, diapers and food to residents displaced by the fire.

By Sunday evening, the donation booths were gone, replaced by police command tents.

Government authorities have stepped in with official relief measures and sanctioned mourning activities, such as flying flags at half-staff and the establishment of designated condolence sites.

Beijing’s national-security office in Hong Kong warned that any attempt to exploit the fire to create disorder would be punished by law. The office said anti‑China groups and individuals were spreading false information, undermining relief efforts and inciting resentment toward the government and its leaders.

Alleged rabble-rousers are “attempting to use the victims’ grief to advance their political ambitions, pushing Hong Kong back into the turmoil of the extradition-bill unrest and reviving the darkest days of violent unrest,” the security office said.

“Darkest days” refers to the months of protests and violent unrest in Hong Kong in 2019 that were sparked by a proposed law that would allow the extradition of suspects for prosecution in mainland China.

...

A petition circulated online by activists demanded an independent investigation of the fire that goes beyond construction materials and addresses how Hong Kong is run. The list of demands in the petition echoed the protest chants of 2019.

The Hong Kong Centre for Human Rights, a group of rights advocates, said that the national-security laws may keep people from expressing opinions about what happened. “They fear questions regarding the cause and handling of the disaster could be deemed as sedition,” the group said.

...

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/46524461

Archived

Not long before he was reportedly detained, Miles Kwan approached commuters outside a Hong Kong train station, urging them to demand accountability for the deadly inferno that tore through nearby apartment blocks.

"We all feel unhappy that (Hong Kong) has come to this and we want things to improve," the 24-year-old student said Friday, while handing out flyers that called for an independent probe into the blaze, which killed at least 128 people last week, with another 150 still missing. "We need to be frank about how today's Hong Kong is riddled with holes, inside and out."

Kwan and other organizers' demands turned into an online petition that gained more than 10,000 signatures in less than a day.

A second petition with the same demands has been launched by a Tai Po resident who is now living overseas.

“Hongkongers demand the truth and justice,” read one note in the comment section of the new online petition.

But local media reported Saturday night that Kwan was arrested on suspicion of sedition by national security police and the text of the online petition had been deleted, showing how under Beijing's watchful eye, dissenting voices in Hong Kong can vanish as quickly as they appear.

[...]

Reporters' attempts to reach Kwan by phone Sunday morning went unanswered.

[...]

Kwan was reportedly detained not long after Beijing's national security arm in Hong Kong publicly condemned "anti-China forces" for exploiting the disaster and "inciting social division and stirring hatred against authorities."

Asked on Friday if he feared being arrested, Kwan said he was only "proposing very basic demands."

"If these ideas are deemed seditious or 'crossing the line,' then I feel I can't predict the consequences of anything anymore, and I can only do what I truly believe."

Kwan and a handful of activists gave out flyers at the train station near the charred residential estate Friday, demanding government accountability, an independent probe into possible corruption, proper resettlement for residents and a review of construction oversight.

The demands reflected a belief that the fire was "not an accident" but a human-made disaster, he said.

[...]

Residents of Wang Fuk Court were told by authorities last year they faced "relatively low fire risks" after complaining about fire hazards posed by the renovation, the city's Labour Department said.

The residents raised concerns in September 2024, including about the potential flammability of the protective green mesh contractors used to cover the bamboo scaffolding, a department spokesperson said.

[...]

When Britain was grappling with public fury over the devastating Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, which killed 72 people, the government announced a public inquiry.

Lawyer Imran Khan, who represented the bereaved and survivors in the inquiry, said "the lessons from Grenfell apply around the world" as all governments need to ensure high-rise residential buildings are safe.

Khan said a public inquiry with court-like powers was a better option for the situation in Hong Kong because "an internal investigation will not get to the truth and there will be no faith in it by the bereaved, survivors and residents."

Based on his experience with Grenfell residents, he said, "without justice they cannot grieve."

[...]

Near the site of the blaze a short walk away, a long queue snaked through a park as mourners brought flowers and handwritten notes of remembrance.

One unsigned note left on the ground read, "This is not just an accident, it is the evil fruit of an unjust system, which landed on you. It's not right."

Addition:

Reporting on the the deadly fires, Australia's ABC says that Hong Kong residents are asking hard questions about safety following last week's deadly high-rise tower blaze (video, 7 min).

Thousands marched in the Philippine capital on Sunday (Nov 30) demanding jail time for scores of officials, lawmakers and construction firm owners accused of pocketing billions of taxpayer dollars in a sweeping corruption scandal.

Some of the netting used by contractors at Wang Fuk Court has been found to not meet fire-safety code. Police continue to search the rubble, with more than 40 people still missing.

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/5883329

Archived version

Nato is considering being “more aggressive” in responding to Russia’s cyber attacks, sabotage and airspace violations, according to the alliance’s most senior military officer.

Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone told the Financial Times that the western military alliance was looking at stepping up its response to hybrid warfare from Moscow.

“We are studying everything . . . On cyber, we are kind of reactive. Being more aggressive or being proactive instead of reactive is something that we are thinking about,” said Dragone, who is chair of Nato’s military committee.

Europe has been hit by numerous hybrid war incidents — some attributed to Russia and others unclear — from the cutting of cables in the Baltic Sea to cyber attacks across the continent.

...

Dragone said that a “pre-emptive strike” could be considered a “defensive action”, but added: “It is further away from our normal way of thinking and behaviour.”

...

A Baltic diplomat said: “If all we do is continue being reactive, we just invite Russia to keep trying, keep hurting us. Especially when hybrid warfare is asymmetric — it costs them little, and us a lot. We need to try to be more inventive.”

...

Four people have been arrested in South Korea for allegedly hacking over 120,000 video cameras in homes and businesses and using the footage to make sexually exploitative materials for an overseas website.

Police announced the arrests on Sunday, saying the accused exploited the Internet Protocol (IP) cameras' vulnerabilities, such as simple passwords.

A cheaper alternative to CCTV, IP cameras - otherwise known as home cameras - connect to a home internet network and are often installed for security or to monitor the safety of children and pets.

Locations of the hacked cameras reportedly included private homes, karaoke rooms, a Pilates studio and a gynaecologist's clinic.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/54134551

The Office of the President of Israel has expressed concern over the proposed renaming of Herzog Park in south Dublin.