Apple's grudging accommodation of European antitrust rules by allowing third-party app stores on iPhones has left users of its Safari browser exposed to potential web activity tracking.

Developers Talal Haj Bakry and Tommy Mysk looked into the way Apple implemented the installation process for third-party software marketplaces on iOS with Safari, and concluded Cupertino's approach is particularly shoddy.

Seven wannabe European Commission chiefs — and one seeking to extend her reign — are going up against each other in the first debate of the EU election campaign.

Cross posted from: https://feddit.de/post/11633723

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday he has been encouraging countries with Patriot missile systems to donate them to Ukraine, which has appealed for more of the air defense batteries.

"I have talked to the leaders of several countries [which have Patriots]... myself here in the last two weeks, encouraging them to give up more capability or provide more capability," he said, without identifying the countries by name.

Various European Union countries possess the systems, including Spain, Greece, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden.

Austrian authorities have urged Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) to drop a deal linked to a Russian oligarch fearing a backlash from the United States, people familiar with the matter said, a blow to RBI's plans to unlock funds stranded in Russia.

RBI, the biggest Western bank in Russia, wants to buy a stake in construction group Strabag linked to Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska for 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion), a contested deal that has renewed international pressure on the Austrian lender.

In recent weeks, Austrian central bank officials have warned RBI about the deal, cautioning it could backfire if the U.S. penalises the bank, said one person with direct knowledge of those discussions.

The central bank is responsible for oversight of Western sanctions in Austria and also watches for broader financial stability.

RBI is buying the stake in Vienna-based Strabag from a company the construction group identified as earlier controlled by Oleg Deripaska. The move had come under fire from the U.S. Treasury because Deripaska is sanctioned, exacerbating tensions between Washington and RBI, which is already under scrutiny from U.S. sanctions enforcement agency OFAC.

The sale is embarrassing for Austria, given international criticism of the country for being too friendly towards Russia.

Many people they have interviewed want to see better protection for Sami lands and livelihoods. Vars said reindeer-herding Sami suffer additional discrimination as strong symbols of Sami culture who are frequently attacked as they fight to protect grazing lands against industrialisation.

Estonia and Lithuania have accused Russia of jamming GPS signals in the Baltic region.

"GPS interference in Estonian airspace by RF (the Russian Federation) has affected civil aviation in our region. In doing so Russia violates international regulations," Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said on social media.

The comments come after Finnish airline Finnair suspended services to the Estonian city of Tartu on Monday.

It said ongoing GPS disturbances had prevented two aircraft from landing.

"Finnair will suspend its daily flights to Tartu, Estonia, from April 29 to May 31, so that an alternative approach solution that does not require a GPS signal can be put in place at Tartu Airport," Finnair said in a statement.

The airline said it did not know the cause of the GPS interference but mentioned an increase in incidents since 2022, especially near Russia's Kaliningrad exclave, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Over the past few months, the project Lost in Europe has gathered data from various European countries, focusing on the disappearances of unaccompanied minors. Specifically, their analysis encompasses 2021, 2022, and 2023, categorising the missing minors by their country of origin, gender, and age.

Out of 28 EU countries, plus Moldova, Norway, the UK, and Switzerland, only 20 responded to their inquiries, and just 13 provided data. According to the available data, Italy has the highest number of registered missing unaccompanied minors, with 22,899, followed by Austria (20,077), Belgium (2,241), Germany (2,005), and Switzerland (1,226).

The number of missing children may be even higher because the data is often inconsistent and incomplete, and many countries in Europe do not even collect data on missing unaccompanied minors.

Previously, in 2021, Lost in Europe found that at least 18,000 unaccompanied minors had disappeared after arriving in Europe between 2018 and 2020. Their latest data in 2024 shows that the numbers have substantially increased.

Archived link

Moldova, who together with Ukraine last year received the green light to start accession talks with the EU, has the second-lowest GDP per capita in Europe.

“The Marshall Plan was designed to show to an exhausted continent that capitalism and democracy were a better way forward than anything offered by Communism. Today’s modern version will also need to offer similar hope to those of us working our way towards EU membership,” Sandu added.

Sandu’s call echoes similar calls for a ‘Marshall Plan’ for Ukraine made last year, both by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as well as by a number of EU member states.

In orphanages, schools, and camps, the military teaches children how to handle weapons. The Telegram channels of military brigades explain who the enemy is: Poland and the Baltic states.

In the photos taken by the Belarusian military, children are focused and attentive, and sometimes smile and even have happy faces. Here is a seven- or eight-year-old boy looking through the sight of a grenade launcher from the window of his school. Here is a younger girl in a red dress laughing happily as she looks at the heavy rifle in her hands.

In the video, teenagers and young children repeat after their peers: "I swear! I swear! I swear!", taking an oath in a solemn Soviet style.

These children are covered by the Belarusian state program "Lessons of Courage", which is aimed at the total militarization of the younger generation. They think that what adults in uniform are doing to them, preparing them for war is right.

We found these photos in the telegram channels of Belarusian military brigades. The Armed Forces of Belarus report on their work with children as part of the aforementioned state program.

The Belorusian 5th Special Purpose Brigade is exemplary in its work with children. It visits Russia to receive instructions and has managed to develop its activities in Belarus on a large scale. Having studied all the sources, we decided to use this particular brigade as an example to show how the militarization of young Belarusians is carried out.

Cross posted from: https://feddit.de/post/11576346

One hundred and twenty years after the Entente Cordiale, Britain and France are forging a new alliance, writes Amelia Hadfield, Head of Department of Politics at the University of Surrey.

The original 1904 agreement paved the way for a stronger relationship between the two countries, but this time the nations aim to use their partnership to patch up European commitment to Ukraine and exert pressure on the US.

The UK and France partnership on Ukraine has the potential to add pressure to European groups and transatlantic forums to which they both belong, in order to try and secure Europe’s borders and to make sure Ukraine has the military power to continue to push back against Russia’s territorial landgrab.

Slapps were commonly used against journalists in Croatia, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden, while reporters in Germany, Greece, the Netherlands and Poland were placed under surveillance from spyware such as Pegasus and Predator.

A member of Germany's Bundeswehr went on trial in the western city of Düsseldorf on Monday, charged with espionage activities on behalf of Russia and leaking state secrets.

The man, with a rank of captain, worked at the Bundeswehr's equipment, technology and in-service support facility in Koblenz.

This is responsible for equipping Germany's armed forces, as well as for developing, testing and procuring new equipment and technology.

He was arrested on August 9 last year and the charges against him were made public on March 19.

The European Digital Rights (EDRi), an association of civil and human rights organisations from across Europe, and Access Now coordinated an open letter supported by 11 civil society organisations that calls on the European Commissioner for Justice to provide further evidence and clarity on the decision to renew Israel’s status in the adequacy review.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/15025234

EU would need 50% tariffs to curb imports of Chinese electric cars

https://archive.md/AP2cA

In case of paywall: https://web.archive.org/web/20240429084944/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/04/28/ireland-plans-send-asylum-seekers-back-uk/