Found this little gem while wandering a small town — a pedestrian bridge completely lined with vivid red geraniums, arching over a calm river with a wooded hillside as backdrop. The kind of spot you don't expect to stumble on, but it makes the whole walk worthwhile. Full gallery and details here: https://ln.vfml.net/FNigg0

There isn’t one China, but de facto two, and both are now very different countries.

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Taiwan has become the world’s 21st largest economy, thus almost a G20 country. It provides an excellent example to the EU of a country that has a highly successful industrial policy and economic security strategy, whilst still being a vibrant democracy. Due to a breakdown of trust, Taiwan derisked from China and watches the EU’s China policies with a sense of sadness.

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The Asia-Pacific is a strategic region for the EU. It hosts nine out of the world’s 10 largest chip makers, which manufacture up to 90 % of the most important mainframe and consumer electronic products. But it’s also a region that’s standing up to tight competition and pressure from mainland China. A conflict in the region could be much worse for the global economy than what’s happening now in the Strait of Hormuz. Taiwan, for example, manufactures over 60 % of the world’s semiconductors and 90 % of the most advanced chips.

Taiwan has very strong economic and public finance credentials. It’s a USD 1 trillion economy and has almost joined the club of 20 richest countries. It’s expecting economic growth of 10.3 % this year and has enviable low public debt (less than 30 %) and low inflation (1.8%). Taiwan has also successfully derisked from China. At its peak in 2010, 82 % of its outbound investment went to China. Today, it’s only 3.8 %.

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An autocratic mainland China, which has strongly supported Russia in its war against Ukraine and pursued aggressive trade policies should make the Western world reconsider [the One China Policy].

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With the deteriorating EU-China relationship, the enormous trade deficit due to the exploitation of the EU’s markets, and China’s incapacity to stimulate domestic demand, the EU could give a warning shot by pragmatically bending its political line on the One China policy.

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As a recent CEPS In-Depth Analysis report outlines, as soon as any EU programme or instrument specifies ‘countries’ as eligible participants, it effectively excludes Taiwan from Horizon Europe association, digital trade agreements and most multilateral standard-setting bodies, which is a pity as the EU can – and should – learn so much from Taiwan.

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Cooperation [between Taiwan and the EU] currently occurs through a range of lower-profile channels that together constitute a substantive, yet architecturally fragmented, relationship. The lack of structured EU-level exchanges on cyber and economic security is a major gap given both Taiwan’s exposure and expertise. Meanwhile, Taiwan views the EU’s standard-setting capacity as a genuine strength but the EU giving a formal GDPR adequacy decision regarding Taiwan would raise political sensitivities. Taiwan is also finalising an AI risk taxonomy framework, inspired by the EU’s rules, but once again, an adequacy ruling would be political dynamite.

Yet there’s no denying that Taiwan is a core part of the ‘IT triangle’ in East Asia (comprising Taiwan, South Korea and Japan), yet a political anomaly or anachronism prevents it from fully exploiting a close EU relationship. Independent engagement from individual Member States has fortunately advanced but without formal coordination across EU workstreams.

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The world’s current political environment is an opportunity for the EU to upgrade its digital diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific, and to maximise gains in its partnerships with other Asian tech middle powers.

And that’s why the EU shouldn’t so easily shy away from trying to bend the One China policy a little, by making moves to include Taiwan amongst its growing partnerships in the region.

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Archived

It's not that I don't get the appeal of having larger artwork. But the medium itself in the way it's used and produced doesn't make sense. The whole audio production pipeline is digital. Producers take analogue audio, introduce quantisation and digitisation errors immediately to be able to use their fancy computers to produce the music (which introduces even more errors due to all filters being digital) just to then dump that digital piece of sound into an analogue medium at the very end. Nothing is gained except the digital-analogue-conversion happens before creating the medium whereas with CDs you do it after reading from that medium. Which is a stupid idea, as dust and other issues will then mess with the result you're hearing.

Now, if you're a producer that actually uses an all-analogue workflow, ignore this, I don't mean you. You also have my deepest respect for enduring that pain. Please point me towards some records that actually did this though.

Drop your recommendations for the following

• Pens (ballpoint, gel, fountain)
• metal ruler
• water bottle
• backpack
• pe bag (duffel or drawstring)
• Scissors
• Keyboard and mouse
• Laptop
• lunch box
• wallet
• lever arch folders
• sharpener
• power bank

Thanks

Toyota boss has a radical solution to catch up to Chinese automakers, which are eating its lunch worldwide. Will it work?

The spam campaign attacking Writefreely instances is out of control. Can you contact the admins you know?

@fediverse

Yesterday I received this message from my friend @elettrona:

Are you the one running the "writefreely blogs" bot, aka writefreely@poliverso.org? Because there are tons of English accounts full of links that post nonstop.

And indeed, that account republishing posts from some Italian instances had a staggering amount of spam.

This is due to a very serious vulnerability that hasn't yet been patched by the developers, but which has (obviously) started to be exploited on a large scale.

I've notified all the Italian administrators of @writefreely instances, but I'm having some difficulty contacting the foreign ones.

These are the ones with the most users:

https://write.otter.homes/read
https://infosec.press/read
https://blog.liberta.vip/read
https://write.tedomum.net/read
https://val-vgms.gay/read
https://bolha.blog/read

But there are many others.

Is there anyone among you who can try this or at least spread the word?

Note: As I mentioned, the vulnerability has been known for a long time and is currently being exploited on a large scale.

https://github.com/writefreely/writefreely/issues/1649

cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1267759/when-algorithms-go-to-war

The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and other digital technologies into warfare is creating new risks for civilians. It’s raising urgent questions like who can be held accountable?, is there any proper form of human control?, and does it comply with international law? Tech companies play an increasingly influential role in military operations and are at the same time close to political power. This is a dangerous development. States can, and must, act as soon as possible to ensure a future where decisions over life and death are not made by algorithms.

For a good yawn I need to really open my mouth and push/strain my jaw muscles. If that doesnt happen, then the yawn feels incomplete to my body and it happens again and again till it works "right"

What is the reason/body function behind that?

about 3% of total passenger car sales, according to figures released on Monday by the Japan Automobile Dealers Association and other entities.

Paddleboarding through a pretty little channel 😁
Fishy underwater video here: https://loops.video/v/gWy1neV1a8

@paddleboarding@fedigroups.social @outdoor@fedigroups.social @nature@fedigroups.social @Nature@lemmy.world @photography@fedigroups.social @photography@lemmy.world

#OC #NaturePhotography #Nature #LandscapePhotography #Photography #Photo #July #Finland #Archipelago #Åland #AlandIslands #Paddleboarding #InMy #Summer #Wonderland

The partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) and the Council of Europe’s Safety of Journalists Platform today present a report (opens pdf) which outlines the deteriorating situation for media freedom and safety of journalists in Serbia. The report is a result of an international mission to Belgrade that took place in March 2026.

In 2025, Serbia recorded 209 press freedom violations – more than double the 84 documented in 2024 – affecting 359 media workers and entities. As of 16 June, 100 cases affecting 170 media workers have been recorded since January 2026.

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Since the deadly collapse of the Novi Sad railway station canopy in November 2024, which triggered the largest protests in Serbia’s history, attacks on journalists covering demonstrations have surged. Law enforcement has not only failed to protect journalists, but police officers have increasingly acted as perpetrators themselves, with at least 38 documented police attacks on journalists since 2025.

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The government of Serbia has been silent on one of the demands of the protest in Novi Sad regarding the publication of contracts with Chinese companies that reconstructed the building of the Railway Station in that city.

While the authorities claim that the concrete canopy at the entrance to the station, which collapsed on November 1 and killed 14 people, has not been reconstructed and announce that an investigation will determine responsibility, the contracts with Chinese companies hidden in Serbia,

The execution of works on the Belgrade-Budapest high-speed railway project, including the reconstruction of the Railway Station building, was entrusted to the Chinese consortium CRIC&CCCC;, which consists of the companies China Railway International and China Communications Construction Company.

The Serbian police repeatedly ignored requests by Prosecution Office to examine Chinese contractors,

The Belgrade-Novi Sad-Subotica state border (Hungary) railway project turned into a symbol of systemic corruption and negligence and triggered a massive wave of protests [that remain to this day.]

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[Serbia's media] crisis extends well beyond physical safety. Strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) continue to threaten public-interest reporting, with Serbia ranking third in Europe for the number of SLAPP cases, according to the CASE Coalition data for 2025. The continued criminalisation of insult compounds the chilling effect on journalists’ work.

In addition, media pluralism is under severe pressure. The majority state-owned Telekom Srbija has expanded its media holdings, consolidating pro-government narratives across the media landscape. Serbia’s media regulator, the REM Council, has been non-functional for over 18 months, making Serbia the only EU candidate country without a functioning media regulatory body. Coordinated bot attacks and spyware, including NSO Group’s Pegasus, have emerged as tools of digital censorship against journalists and media outlets.

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[The report calls]l on the European Union to publicly and unequivocally condemn attacks on journalists in Serbia, and to make direct funding to Serbia in strategic areas conditional on measurable improvements in journalist safety and media freedom standards.

The full report includes detailed recommendations to Serbian authorities, including the government, parliament, police, and prosecution, on the concrete steps needed to counter this crisis.

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Archived

I think this article and headline does a poor job of explaining the wider context around this one.

It is likely to be aimed at financial traders who want to see market-moving news fast. Trump’s social media posts often cause sudden swings in global markets, especially when he writes about trade and tariffs.

For firms, a delay of even seconds can be costly. Until now, banks and traders had to monitor the app manually. The new system will send posts directly to paying clients.