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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/29144929

During his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, Trump’s nominee for FBI director Kash Patel vowed to investigate human trafficking if confirmed. However, a new review from AccountableUS - a rights group - found Patel has profited millions from a company notorious for the practice.

At Issue:

• Patel’s financial disclosure revealed he owns between one and five million dollars in Elite Depot Ltd. stock. Elite Depot is the ultimate controlling party of Shein, the Chinese fast fashion realtor. Patel noted that he could participate in matters related to the financial interests of the company if he received a written waiver from Trump.

• Elite Depot’s board is comprised of Shein executives but also the company’s investors. Two of these investors—IDG Capital and Sequoia Capital—faced scrutiny from lawmakers last year for their reputed ties to the Chinese Communist Party and its military apparatus.

• In recent years, Shein has drawn bipartisan criticism over their business practices, including the use of forced Uyghur labor. Just this week, the Trump administration considered adding Shein to the Department of Homeland Security’s “forced labor” list. In May 2023, members of Congress asked the SEC to require Shein certify that their products did not use forced Uyghur labor. Throughout 2024, politicians, including former senator and current Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Senator Tom Cotton, and a coalition of state AGs, stated their concerns about Shein’s business practices.

...

During his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, Trump’s nominee for FBI director Kash Patel vowed to investigate human trafficking if confirmed. However, a new review from AccountableUS - a rights group - found Patel has profited millions from a company notorious for the practice.

At Issue:

• Patel’s financial disclosure revealed he owns between one and five million dollars in Elite Depot Ltd. stock. Elite Depot is the ultimate controlling party of Shein, the Chinese fast fashion realtor. Patel noted that he could participate in matters related to the financial interests of the company if he received a written waiver from Trump.

• Elite Depot’s board is comprised of Shein executives but also the company’s investors. Two of these investors—IDG Capital and Sequoia Capital—faced scrutiny from lawmakers last year for their reputed ties to the Chinese Communist Party and its military apparatus.

• In recent years, Shein has drawn bipartisan criticism over their business practices, including the use of forced Uyghur labor. Just this week, the Trump administration considered adding Shein to the Department of Homeland Security’s “forced labor” list. In May 2023, members of Congress asked the SEC to require Shein certify that their products did not use forced Uyghur labor. Throughout 2024, politicians, including former senator and current Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Senator Tom Cotton, and a coalition of state AGs, stated their concerns about Shein’s business practices.

...

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/29143627

Archived

Here is the original version in Russian.

At least 12 regions in Russia have set up interactive museums in schools dedicated to the so-called “special military operation” museums in schools, where students participate in quizzes about the war in Ukraine and view battle-damaged buildings through VR headsets, according to a report by the independent exiled Russian publication Verstka.

The IT company “Digital Space” («Цифровое пространство»), which previously developed VR simulators for school subjects such as physics, chemistry, and biology, was behind the software for these exhibits.

[...]

These “museums” can operate on regular computers, interactive screens, or VR headsets, depending on the school’s resources. The company’s website states that museums dedicated to the “special military operation” have been installed in schools and youth centers across 12 Russian regions, but social media reports and procurement data suggest that their actual number is growing.

[...]

The company's representative, Andrey Chizhov, stated that since 2023, the firm has supplied equipment and software to approximately 250 Russian schools.

The “museum’s” exhibits include 3D models of weapons and military equipment, video messages from Vladimir Putin, articles on so-called “Nazism in Ukraine,” and a timeline of the war, which concludes with a slide claiming: “Kharkiv is a Russian city, the enemy will be defeated,” with the date listed as “coming soon,” rather than a specific time.

They also highlight certain “benefits” of taking part in the war — such as reduced interest rates on real estate purchases through Russia’s military mortgage program.

Students can also use VR headsets for 360-degree virtual tours of exhibits such as a war-damaged house in Siverskodonetsk (known as Sievierodonetsk until 2024) and the interior of captured Ukrainian military equipment.

The technology also allows school students to complete interactive quests with questions such as “Why did the Russian army withdraw from Snake Island?” and “Which of the following sources can be considered reliable?” — with the following options: independent outlet Meduza, independent outlet Novaya Gazeta, or state-run TASS (with TASS being implied as the “correct” response).

Meduza and Novaya Gazeta have been highly critical of the Kremlin and have faced severe restrictions in Russia as a result.

[...]

[Today, both Meduza and Novaya Gazeta are published from exile. Novaya Gazeta’s editor-in-chief, Dmitry Muratov, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 alongside Maria Ressa, a journalist from the Philippines, for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression].

[...]

TASS, meanwhile, is a state-owned news agency. It is fully owned and operated by the Russian government and reports directly to the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications, which falls under the authority of the Russian Presidential Administration.

The creation of “special military operation” museums in Russian schools began in the spring of 2023, following a directive from Vladimir Putin. At the same time, Putin ordered that war-related artifacts be transferred to schools across the country for display and that students be educated about the history of the war.

Archived

Here is the original version in Russian.

At least 12 regions in Russia have set up interactive museums in schools dedicated to the so-called “special military operation” museums in schools, where students participate in quizzes about the war in Ukraine and view battle-damaged buildings through VR headsets, according to a report by the independent exiled Russian publication Verstka.

The IT company “Digital Space” («Цифровое пространство»), which previously developed VR simulators for school subjects such as physics, chemistry, and biology, was behind the software for these exhibits.

[...]

These “museums” can operate on regular computers, interactive screens, or VR headsets, depending on the school’s resources. The company’s website states that museums dedicated to the “special military operation” have been installed in schools and youth centers across 12 Russian regions, but social media reports and procurement data suggest that their actual number is growing.

[...]

The company's representative, Andrey Chizhov, stated that since 2023, the firm has supplied equipment and software to approximately 250 Russian schools.

The “museum’s” exhibits include 3D models of weapons and military equipment, video messages from Vladimir Putin, articles on so-called “Nazism in Ukraine,” and a timeline of the war, which concludes with a slide claiming: “Kharkiv is a Russian city, the enemy will be defeated,” with the date listed as “coming soon,” rather than a specific time.

They also highlight certain “benefits” of taking part in the war — such as reduced interest rates on real estate purchases through Russia’s military mortgage program.

Students can also use VR headsets for 360-degree virtual tours of exhibits such as a war-damaged house in Siverskodonetsk (known as Sievierodonetsk until 2024) and the interior of captured Ukrainian military equipment.

The technology also allows school students to complete interactive quests with questions such as “Why did the Russian army withdraw from Snake Island?” and “Which of the following sources can be considered reliable?” — with the following options: independent outlet Meduza, independent outlet Novaya Gazeta, or state-run TASS (with TASS being implied as the “correct” response).

Meduza and Novaya Gazeta have been highly critical of the Kremlin and have faced severe restrictions in Russia as a result.

[...]

[Today, both Meduza and Novaya Gazeta are published from exile. Novaya Gazeta’s editor-in-chief, Dmitry Muratov, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 alongside Maria Ressa, a journalist from the Philippines, for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression].

[...]

TASS, meanwhile, is a state-owned news agency. It is fully owned and operated by the Russian government and reports directly to the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications, which falls under the authority of the Russian Presidential Administration.

The creation of “special military operation” museums in Russian schools began in the spring of 2023, following a directive from Vladimir Putin. At the same time, Putin ordered that war-related artifacts be transferred to schools across the country for display and that students be educated about the history of the war.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/29141151

Archived

Activists from WalkFree, an international human rights group that aims to end modern slavery, estimate that roughly 1.9 million people in Russia are being kept in some form of bondage. St. Petersburg alone has hundreds of so-called workhouses, and thousands more are scattered all across the country. Almost all of them operate illegally, and workers are forced to labor for humiliatingly low wages — or for free. Some of these houses are disguised as religious communities or rehabilitation centers and even receive impressive government contracts. Residents who wish to leave and find a normal job are often severely penalized. Meanwhile, workhouse owners make millions, living lives of luxury.

...

“People in desperate circumstances”

Illegal advertisements for workhouses pepper walls all over St. Petersburg. The ads promise “help in a difficult life situation”: free housing, food, and most importantly, daily payouts. Such promises appeal mainly to homeless people, migrant workers, victims of fraud, and ex-cons — those who have nowhere else to turn.

“I'm from Belarus,” Viktor [not his real name] explains. “About six years ago I came to St. Petersburg to earn money. I was in the restoration business, making good money. But I started drinking and using drugs. I got kicked out of work and ended up on the street. I didn't feel like going home. So my friends and I decided to call the number on the business cards.”

As it turned out, promises of help in workhouses always come with very strict demands. All workhouse residents had to work eight-hour shifts every day at whatever location the workhouse assigned for them.

...

“Like prison”

Workhouses in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and other large Russian cities are similar to one another. As living quarters, they use detached houses or three-room apartments — and sometimes even basements, according to our homeless interviewees. An average institution houses and employs from 12 to 30 people. “There were bunk beds in the bedrooms, with a distance of about a meter between the beds. Not too cramped, I guess. Like in prison,” Viktor says.

...

How much does a workhouse bring in

A workhouse is a highly profitable business with minimal costs. The Insider calculates that a ten-strong crew brings the workhouse a net income of nearly $5,000 a month. According to former workers, all managers and CEOs earn enough money to buy apartments and cars rather quickly, and some “invest in the business,” expanding the network of workhouses and opening new branches.

...

Archived

Activists from WalkFree, an international human rights group that aims to end modern slavery, estimate that roughly 1.9 million people in Russia are being kept in some form of bondage. St. Petersburg alone has hundreds of so-called workhouses, and thousands more are scattered all across the country. Almost all of them operate illegally, and workers are forced to labor for humiliatingly low wages — or for free. Some of these houses are disguised as religious communities or rehabilitation centers and even receive impressive government contracts. Residents who wish to leave and find a normal job are often severely penalized. Meanwhile, workhouse owners make millions, living lives of luxury.

...

“People in desperate circumstances”

Illegal advertisements for workhouses pepper walls all over St. Petersburg. The ads promise “help in a difficult life situation”: free housing, food, and most importantly, daily payouts. Such promises appeal mainly to homeless people, migrant workers, victims of fraud, and ex-cons — those who have nowhere else to turn.

“I'm from Belarus,” Viktor [not his real name] explains. “About six years ago I came to St. Petersburg to earn money. I was in the restoration business, making good money. But I started drinking and using drugs. I got kicked out of work and ended up on the street. I didn't feel like going home. So my friends and I decided to call the number on the business cards.”

As it turned out, promises of help in workhouses always come with very strict demands. All workhouse residents had to work eight-hour shifts every day at whatever location the workhouse assigned for them.

...

“Like prison”

Workhouses in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and other large Russian cities are similar to one another. As living quarters, they use detached houses or three-room apartments — and sometimes even basements, according to our homeless interviewees. An average institution houses and employs from 12 to 30 people. “There were bunk beds in the bedrooms, with a distance of about a meter between the beds. Not too cramped, I guess. Like in prison,” Viktor says.

...

How much does a workhouse bring in

A workhouse is a highly profitable business with minimal costs. The Insider calculates that a ten-strong crew brings the workhouse a net income of nearly $5,000 a month. According to former workers, all managers and CEOs earn enough money to buy apartments and cars rather quickly, and some “invest in the business,” expanding the network of workhouses and opening new branches.

...

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/29136407

Serbs are once again taking to the streets to protest the corruption and political dysfunction of President Aleksandar Vučić and his ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) with Prime Minister Miloš Vučević already resigned.

The demonstrations began after a concrete canopy above the entrance of Novi Sad’s railway station collapsed on November 1, crushing fifteen people in the country’s second-largest city. The station had reopened only in July after undergoing repeated renovations as part of a project to modernize the Belgrade-Budapest railway under China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). ...

[Edit typo.]

Serbs are once again taking to the streets to protest the corruption and political dysfunction of President Aleksandar Vučić and his ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) with Prime Minister Miloš Vučević already resigned.

The demonstrations began after a concrete canopy above the entrance of Novi Sad’s railway station collapsed on November 1, crushing fifteen people in the country’s second-largest city. The station had reopened only in July after undergoing repeated renovations as part of a project to modernize the Belgrade-Budapest railway under China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). ...

[Edit typo.]

Original article (requires registration).

Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) maintains client relationships with companies supplying the Russian defence sector, revealing previously unknown dimensions of the bank’s involvement in Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine.

Bloomberg’s investigation shows that Raiffeisen’s Russian subsidiary earned more than $600,000 last year from providing payment and foreign exchange services to companies producing materials for Russian arms manufacturers. One such company, Russian chemical manufacturer Unichim, received payments into a Raiffeisen account after supplying acids for use in missile systems to a sanctioned company with close ties to the Russian navy.

Raiffeisen Bank International has repeatedly stated that it seeks to exit Russia and that its Russian unit has “implemented monitoring and screening tools to comply with… all applicable sanctions”. Bloomberg’s findings, however, underscore that the operational risks for companies still doing business in Russia have become nearly impossible to avoid. After reporting a drop in its annual profits for the first time in nine years following a US$ 2bn asset grab by a Russian court, RBI may now also find itself facing compliance-related risks over its client relationships in Russia.

[...]

30 civil society organizations from Ukraine and abroad had previously raised a similar warning in an open letter to RBI’s CEO Johann Strobl in May 2023, cautioning that “Russia has made it next to impossible for foreign businesses to operate in the country without becoming directly complicit in Russia's war efforts”. The open letter did not receive a response.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/29128602

Archived version

Making innovative garments that are hard-wearing and above all affordable: this is Decathlon’s recipe for success. However, confidential documents obtained by Disclose tell a very different story about the sports retail giant. Child labour, exploited Uyghur workers in China, connections with deforestation in Brazil, etc.: our revelations show that the multinational is prepared to do anything to maximise profits.

...

Although the brand has invested millions not to be typecast as a “low cost” brand, the two words are ubiquitous in internal documents that an internal source shared with Disclose. Low prices are what drives the brand to have most of its garments made by subcontractors. Decathlon has 1,264 subcontractors around the world and only nine production sites of its own. For maximum profitability, the manufacturer looks first and foremost for the cheapest factories, namely those “working for low-price brands involved in mass production,” according to an internal document listing subcontractor selection criteria. One would have thought that such an aggressive commercial strategy was the preserve of Chinese fast fashion giants such as Shein and Temu.

Its main suppliers are in Asia: in order of importance, in China, Vietnam and Bangladesh. The latter is actually described as a “low cost country” in an internal roadmap. Making garments in the country — where more than half the population live in slums — is a “strength” for Decathlon, according to the same document. In Bangladesh, the group works with suppliers described as “extremely low cost”. They employ adolescents who may legally be paid less than the minimum wage. Other factories in its production chain in the country are described as “clandestine” by a former member of staff. Although they supply up to 10% of the components of a shoe, the brand conducts no audits there, Disclose can reveal in the first part of its investigation.

...

The thirst for profit also lured Decathlon into the arms of other problematic subcontractors in China. The second part of our investigation, published on Thursday 6 February, in partnership with Cash Investigation, reveals that one of its main local partners resorts to the forced labour of Uyghurs, a Muslim minority persecuted by Beijing. Our undercover investigation in two Chinese factories also reveals that Decathlon uses cotton from Xinjiang, the Uyghur home region, where forced labour accusations are rife.

Our investigation on the multinational with 931 million euros profit in 2023 also took us to Brazil. The third part, published in partnership with Dutch media outlet Follow the Money on Saturday 8 February, looks into the origin of another raw material: the leather that is used to make the famous Quechua walking boots. The factories that assemble them in Vietnam use cattle hides from Brazil at the risk of contributing to eradication of primary forests in the country.

...

Archived version

Making innovative garments that are hard-wearing and above all affordable: this is Decathlon’s recipe for success. However, confidential documents obtained by Disclose tell a very different story about the sports retail giant. Child labour, exploited Uyghur workers in China, connections with deforestation in Brazil, etc.: our revelations show that the multinational is prepared to do anything to maximise profits.

...

Although the brand has invested millions not to be typecast as a “low cost” brand, the two words are ubiquitous in internal documents that an internal source shared with Disclose. Low prices are what drives the brand to have most of its garments made by subcontractors. Decathlon has 1,264 subcontractors around the world and only nine production sites of its own. For maximum profitability, the manufacturer looks first and foremost for the cheapest factories, namely those “working for low-price brands involved in mass production,” according to an internal document listing subcontractor selection criteria. One would have thought that such an aggressive commercial strategy was the preserve of Chinese fast fashion giants such as Shein and Temu.

Its main suppliers are in Asia: in order of importance, in China, Vietnam and Bangladesh. The latter is actually described as a “low cost country” in an internal roadmap. Making garments in the country — where more than half the population live in slums — is a “strength” for Decathlon, according to the same document. In Bangladesh, the group works with suppliers described as “extremely low cost”. They employ adolescents who may legally be paid less than the minimum wage. Other factories in its production chain in the country are described as “clandestine” by a former member of staff. Although they supply up to 10% of the components of a shoe, the brand conducts no audits there, Disclose can reveal in the first part of its investigation.

...

The thirst for profit also lured Decathlon into the arms of other problematic subcontractors in China. The second part of our investigation, published on Thursday 6 February, in partnership with Cash Investigation, reveals that one of its main local partners resorts to the forced labour of Uyghurs, a Muslim minority persecuted by Beijing. Our undercover investigation in two Chinese factories also reveals that Decathlon uses cotton from Xinjiang, the Uyghur home region, where forced labour accusations are rife.

Our investigation on the multinational with 931 million euros profit in 2023 also took us to Brazil. The third part, published in partnership with Dutch media outlet Follow the Money on Saturday 8 February, looks into the origin of another raw material: the leather that is used to make the famous Quechua walking boots. The factories that assemble them in Vietnam use cattle hides from Brazil at the risk of contributing to eradication of primary forests in the country.

...

Archived

A NowSecure mobile application security and privacy assessment has uncovered multiple security and privacy issues in the DeepSeek iOS mobile app that lead us to urge enterprises to prohibit/forbid its usage in their organizations.

...

Key Risks Identified:

• Unencrypted Data Transmission: The app transmits sensitive data over the internet without encryption, making it vulnerable to interception and manipulation.
• Weak & Hardcoded Encryption Keys: Uses outdated Triple DES encryption, reuses initialization vectors, and hardcodes encryption keys, violating best security practices.
• Insecure Data Storage: Username, password, and encryption keys are stored insecurely, increasing the risk of credential theft.
• Extensive Data Collection & Fingerprinting: The app collects user and device data, which can be used for tracking and de-anonymization.
• Data Sent to China & Governed by PRC Laws: User data is transmitted to servers controlled by ByteDance, raising concerns over government access and compliance risks.

...

How to Mitigate the DeepSeek iOS App Risks

It is difficult, if not impossible, at this time to immediately mitigate the numerous security, privacy and data risks that exist in the DeepSeek iOS today. Over time, we hope the security issue will be remediated and that some of the practices impacting privacy could be addressed. But for US and EU based businesses and government agencies, it is difficult to mitigate the storage, analysis and processing of data in the People’s Republic of China. Of course, each organization can make this determination themselves and hopefully the risks outlined above provide insights and a path towards a more secure and secure iOS app.

In the meantime, there are immediate steps companies and government agencies can take:

1. Immediately stop using the DeepSeek iOS app until security and privacy failures are sufficiently mitigated
2. Determine if the data collection, privacy policy, terms of service and legal jurisdiction are issues that put your organization at risk
3. Consider leveraging the DeepSeek open source model via hosted solutions from companies like Microsoft or via self-hosting the model (e.g. via Hugging Face)
4. Investigate alternative AI apps that offer the DeepSeek open source model but with better security, privacy and data governance. Or consider other AI offerings that address your organization’s needs

...