World News !news@beehaw.org

Breaking news from around the world.

News that is American but has an international facet may also be posted here.

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cross-posted from: https://rss.ponder.cat/post/96099

Cross-post da: https://beehaw.org/post/18183849

Archived

A prominent Shanghai surgeon pointed to anaesthetics that do not put patients to sleep. A respected Beijing cardiologist questioned blood pressure medication that failed to regulate. A former editor at a leading online health platform went as far as to accuse domestic drugmakers of fraud.

The concerns became public discussions this past week when some top doctors and hospital leaders called on the government to change how it buys drugs for its public hospitals.

[...]

The outburst of scrutiny, unusual in a country where the authorities keep a tight grip on public criticism of the government, was a rebuke of Beijing’s campaign to lower medical costs. **Officials are working to shore up China’s national healthcare system, which is under financial pressure in part because of

If there is a better community for me to post this in please let me know prior to deleting this post.

Do any of you use Ground.news? It's pretty great at finding multiple sources of information on the same topic and helping to compare biases. Sometime in the not-too-distant past they stopped including articles from RT.com. I'm not really sure why. I found it really helpful when people would post from the Russian government news agency and show them other sides of the story, or when they actually posted decent stuff, share it from something that isn't so often crap.

New Democrat MP Charlie Angus is calling on Elections Canada to launch an investigation into Elon Musk and his social media platform X, saying he is concerned about potential interference by the tech billionaire in the next federal election.

In a two-page letter to Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault, Angus said Musk has been playing a role in recent elections in a variety of countries, donating millions of dollars to conservative candidates and using X, formerly known as Twitter, to amplify the political messages of candidates he favours.

"He has formed alliances with right-wing populist leaders, amplified extremist influencers and spread hate disinformation towards marginal groups," Angus wrote.

Archived

The World Trade Organusation (WTO) case was opened in 2022 after China imposed restrictions on imports from Lithuania following the opening of the Taiwanese representative office in Vilnius.

In January 2024, it was reported that the EC had decided to temporarily suspend the proceedings, calling it “a procedural step taken for technical reasons related to the need to assess certain elements”.

Suspension means that the case is not formally closed, but that the proceedings are not ongoing. The proceedings may be suspended for a maximum of one year, after which the case is closed altogether if not renewed.

[...]

Before the EC announced its decision, Beijing issued a press release calling for talks and a solution to the problem.

“The door to dialogue is always open, and China is ready to strengthen communication and e

Archived

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday warned that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin wanted to "manipulate" Donald Trump, after the Kremlin chief praised the U.S. leader and said he was ready for talks with him.

Kyiv earlier warned against any Putin-Trump peace talks on the near three-year war without its and European participation.

"He wants to manipulate the desire of the President of the United States of America to achieve peace," Zelensky said during a daily evening address on social media. "I am confident that no Russian manipulations will succeed anymore."

He said Putin, who launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, was ready to continue the war and "manipulate the leaders of the world."

Putin had earlier praised Trump as a "smart" leader who might have prevented the conflict from sta

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/24657192

Summary

In a virtual speech at the World Economic Forum, Trump suggested Canada could become a U.S. state to avoid his proposed tariffs on imports.

The remark elicited gasps from the audience.

Trump claimed the U.S. does not need Canadian lumber, energy, or vehicles, vastly overstating the trade deficit between the two nations.

He reiterated his intention to impose tariffs, potentially as high as 25%, on imports from Canada and Mexico starting February 1.

Economists warn such tariffs would raise prices for U.S. consumers.

Cross posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/18168481

Archived

A forum in Bangkok this month underscored China’s ambition to work with local partners in Southeast Asia to impact public opinion there. A closer look at one of the propaganda vehicles meant to accomplish this goal suggests carelessness reigns down below such high-level exchanges.

On January 17, a high-profile forum on Sino-Thai cooperation in Bangkok brought together journalists, media specialists, and think tank researchers from both countries. Attended by former Thai deputy prime minister Pinit Jarusombat, who in retirement has become a regular on PRC state media to stress the importance of cultural ties, was also an opportunity for Beijing to outline its vision for media cooperation — which emphasizes the dominance of narratives in the favor of China’s leadership.

Pinit serves as president of the Thai-Ch

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/18156820

Archived

[...]

More than 200,000 people in Hong Kong live in sub-divided flats like [...], often cloaked in a musty odour and plagued by bedbugs during sweltering summers.

The former British colony [which has been ruled by China since 1997], ranked as the world's most unaffordable city for a 14th consecutive year by survey company Demographia, has one of the world’s highest rates of inequality.

[...]

Hong Kong aims to eliminate subdivided flats by 2049, a target set in 2021 by China’s top official overseeing the city. Beijing sees the housing woes as a serious social problem that helped fuel mass anti-government protests in 2019.

[...]

Still, Hong Kong's roughly 110,000 sub-divided flats have become notorious for high rents, with a median floor rate of HK$50 ($6.43) a square f

Archived

Over 100 fake news websites have been implicated in spreading false information as part of Russian efforts to interfere in the upcoming German parliamentary elections, according to an investigation by the nonprofit center CORRECTIV and the disinformation tracking project NewsGuard. These websites have been found to be linked to the late Yevgeny Prigozhin’s “troll factory” and Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU.

Fake news about German politicians began appearing en masse in November 2024, the investigation notes. Among the politicians targeted in the disinfo campaign are German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and the Green Party’s candidate for chancellor, Robert Habeck.

For instance, fake reports about Baerbock claim she had an affair with a male escort during a trip to Africa. Another article falsely accuses Robert Habeck of sexually assaulting a young woman several years ago. Alt

Archived

Data from Russia's Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) shows that the food item with the biggest price jump in 2024 was potatoes, which saw a nearly 92 percent increase from December 2023 to December 2024, according to RBC. Prices for onions, cabbage, and red caviar also rose significantly. Butter, which received widespread attention in Russian media last year for its rising cost, comes in fifth on the list, with a 36 percent increase. To address the soaring prices, Russia started importing butter from Turkey and the UAE. Overall, vegetables and fruits grew more expensive by 22 percent year-on-year.

Food prices increases (Dec 2023 - Dec 2024) in Russia according to official data:

• Potatoes: 91.9%
• Onions: 48.2%
• Cabbage: 44.7%
• Red caviar: 37.7%
• Butter: 36.2%
• Beets: 32.1%
• Cucumbers: 28.5%

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/53586604

Archived

Despite local protests, India is building a giant hydro dam on the Siang River to counter a Chinese dam – the world’s largest – upstream in Tibet. Millions of people in India and Bangladesh could be hurt.

The Siang River, cutting through serene hills, has been considered sacred for centuries by Jijong’s ancestors in the Adi tribal community – farmers whose livelihood depended on its water.

But all of that is now at risk [...] as India moves to build its largest dam over their land.

[...]

[But a local Indian minister] has insisted that it is “not just a hydro dam,” but that its “real objective is to save the Siang River”.

From China.

[...]

At the heart of the Indian dam project that Jijong and his community are opposing is a geostrategic contest for water and security between New Delhi and Beijing, who are locked in

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/18142273

Archived

When Zhang Junjie was 17 he decided to protest outside his university about rules made by China's government. Within days he had been admitted to a psychiatric hospital and treated for schizophrenia.

Junjie is one of dozens of people identified by the BBC who were hospitalised after protesting or complaining to the authorities.

Many people we spoke to were given anti-psychotic drugs, and in some cases electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), without their consent.

While there have been reports for decades that hospitalisation is used in China as a way of detaining dissenting citizens without involving the courts, a leading Chinese lawyer has told the BBC that the issue - which legislation sought to resolve - has recently seen a resurgence.

Junjie says he was restrained and beaten by hospital staff before being for

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/53502163

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/18153936

If successful, the move could provide Manila with one of its most influential platforms to challenge Beijing over its expansive South China Sea claims, reports China-based South China Morning Post (SCMP). A seat on the UNSC would allow Manila to spotlight China’s sweeping territorial claims in the South China Sea, which conflict with the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone

[...]

Securing a seat on the Security Council would allow Manila to spotlight China’s sweeping territorial claims in the South China Sea, which conflict with the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone and international law.

While any resolutions targeting China would almost certainly be vetoed by Beijing, a permanent member of the council, the effort itself could have significant diplomatic impact.

“The votes would embarrass Beijing,” said SCMP cited Greg Poling, director of the Southeast Asia program at the Center for Strategic and Internatio

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/53472470

• The Brazilian diplomat who will chair the next United Nations climate summit praised China on Thursday (Jan 23) as an example in the fight against climate change while admonishing rich countries for shirking their responsibilities.
• By reducing the price of solar panels and of electric cars, China is giving infinitely more support to the developing world (on climate change) than if it were just providing symbolic amounts (of aid), which is what the developed countries want.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/53502678

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/53392082