Europe Pub

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.

Most european countries use 2 round elections or proportional representation. In Britain, they use FPTP.

Under FPTP, whoever comes out first likely wins an absolute majority in parliament. It doesn't matter if the party didn't receive a majority of votes.

Alleged gunman faces nine charges including second-degree murder in New York state case

Luigi Mangione is due to appear in Manhattan state court on Monday for the first day of a potentially weeklong proceeding to weigh the legality of evidence gathered during his arrest after the killing of a prominent healthcare executive.

Mangione was apprehended last December in the murder of senior United HealthCare figure Brian Thompson last December. In addition to state-level charges, he faces a Manhattan federal court case.

Thompson’s brutal slaying on the streets of New York city triggered an intense manhunt for the killer, but also sparked an outpouring of anger at the practices of the US for-profit healthcare industry. Since his arrest Mangione has attracted some enthusiastic supporters, both online and at his court appearances.

"Reviving the blue-collar boom that Americans experienced during the first Trump term has been a day one priority for the administration," the White House told Newsweek, while citing improvements to real wages and manufacturing output in 2025.

The latest Labor Department data puts the issue of employment into sharp relief. September's delayed jobs report showed an encouraging uptick in overall hiring but no pause in blue-collar employment's long-term decline.

Of the five industry groups or "supersectors" that could be broadly considered "blue collar"—manufacturing, mining and logging, transportation and warehousing, utilities, and construction—only the latter saw an increase in September. Construction's 19,000-job gain was also insufficient to offset the monthly loss of 25,300 jobs in transportation or manufacturing shedding a further 6,000.

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.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/54126025

Is It Really FOSS? is a website that reviews software that claims to be free & open source. This effort has unfortunately become necessary as projects increasingly start to "do the talk of open source", without actually "doing the walk" – effectively misrepresenting themselves as FOSS when they aren't.

Which is why we're extra happy that our offline map & navigation app has now been added to the website, listing us as a green "Yes, it's open source" ✅

Hong Kong (AFP) – A Hong Kong student, who was reportedly detained by police after handing out flyers calling for an independent probe into a fire that killed 146 people, left a police station on Monday.

Miles Kwan left the Cheung Sha Wan Division police station in a taxi on Monday afternoon, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.

The 24-year-old pulled down his face mask and nodded at reporters from the taxi as it drove out of the police station. He did not comment.

Kwan was among several people behind a petition over the fire that broke out in high-rise towers of Wang Fuk Court housing estate last Wednesday, which became the world's deadliest residential building fire since 1980.

The petition called for government officials to be held accountable, an independent probe into possible corruption, proper resettlement for residents, and a review of construction oversight.

Local media reported on Saturday that Kwan was arrested for "seditious intention" by national security police, citing unnamed sources.

Multiple news outlets reported late on Sunday that another two people, including former district councillor Kenneth Cheung, were similarly arrested.

Asked by AFP about the three cases, police declined to confirm if any arrest had been made, saying only that they "will take actions according to actual circumstances and in accordance with the law".

Kwan said Friday 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," he told AFP at the time.

Hong Kong's anti-corruption watchdog has arrested 11 people in connection to the blaze, with three of them also being arrested by police for manslaughter.

Mourners who turned up by the hundreds near Wang Fuk Court continued to leave notes of remembrance on Monday, some calling for accountability.

"Rest in peace, Hong Kongers don't give up on freedom and truth, don't stop being angry," one unsigned note read.

Another read, "Hope your deaths were not in vain, the truth must come out for your sakes."

So there’s a huge stray cat problem and population in Corfu and I’m trying to make a tiny difference. This is the first cat I’ll be trapping myself and releasing. Today my friend‘s mom dropped off a trap and we’re gonna set it up and see what happens. I’ll keep you guys posted

(Edit: edited to say I am sure he is a stray because he doesn’t belong to any of my family which are the only people that live around me and there’s only a main road that you would have to cross to get here and I’ve been feeding him for three months either way, the vet will confirm if he’s microchip or not too. Also, I’m not releasing a randomly I’m going to release them right where he comes to eat. )