Inside the compounds of Asia’s $10 billion scam industry, where trafficked staff sleep at work and log 16-hour days texting ‘hello’ over and over – Fortune

  1. Inside the compounds of Asia's $10 billion scam industry, where trafficked staff sleep at work and log 16-hour days texting 'hello' over and over  Fortune
  2. Indians who fled a Myanmar cyberscam center are being flown home from Thailand  AP News
  3. Karen Rebels Declare Curfew to Stop Flow of Fugitive Scammers  The Irrawaddy
  4. Myanmar strikes on scam centers dismissed as 'smoke screen'  Nikkei Asia
  5. Scam centers in southeast Asia are on the rise despite crackdowns  livingstonenterprise.net
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Film festival in New York cancelled after China puts pressure on directors

Participants ask for their films not to be shown at IndieChina event, which was due to launch this weekend

An independent film festival due to start in New York this weekend has been cancelled after several film-makers pulled out due to harassment from the Chinese authorities, raising concerns about transnational repression.

The inaugural IndieChina film festival was planned to take place between 8 and 15 November. But on 5 November the festival’s curator, Zhu Rikun, posted on Facebook that he had been forced to cancel 80% of the planned screenings because film-makers had pulled out.

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Iran plotted to assassinate Israel’s ambassador to Mexico, U.S. officials say – Axios

  1. Iran plotted to assassinate Israel's ambassador to Mexico, U.S. officials say  Axios
  2. Iranian plot to kill Israel's ambassador to Mexico contained, US official says  Reuters
  3. Iran plotted to assassinate Israel’s ambassador to Mexico, U.S. and Israeli officials say  NBC News
  4. Israel accuses Iran of plot to kill ambassador to Mexico  DW
  5. Iran accused of plot to assassinate Israeli ambassador to Mexico  The Guardian
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Woman found guilty of harassing Madeleine McCann’s parents – BBC

  1. Woman found guilty of harassing Madeleine McCann's parents  BBC
  2. Why this woman believed she was Madeleine McCann - and what she did next  BBC
  3. Polish woman who claimed to be Madeleine McCann convicted of harassing missing UK girl's parents  New York Post
  4. How woman who found fame by claiming to be Madeleine McCann harassed missing girl’s family  The Guardian
  5. Madeleine McCann's parents respond after harassment conviction of woman who claimed to be their daughter  Sky News
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European Union vessel reaches ship raided by pirates off Somalia; all 24 crew on board safe – AP News

  1. European Union vessel reaches ship raided by pirates off Somalia; all 24 crew on board safe  AP News
  2. Somalia piracy: Attackers fire grenades and board vessel off Somali coast  BBC
  3. Special forces sent to tanker hijacked by Somali pirates  The Independent
  4. Attackers board a ship off the coast of Somalia after firing rocket-propelled grenades  abcnews.go.com
  5. Somali pirates board first ship in 18 months  Financial Times
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Habsburg family unveils secret royal jewel stash in Canada – DW

  1. Habsburg family unveils secret royal jewel stash in Canada  DW
  2. The Florentine Diamond Resurfaces After 100 Years in Hiding  The New York Times
  3. Austrian royal diamond thought to be lost for more than 100 years resurfaces in unexpected place  New York Post
  4. Famed Florentine diamond surfaces in Canada after century-long disappearance  The Guardian
  5. Habsburg's Florentine diamond found in bank vault after a century  Euronews.com
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EU could water down AI Act amid pressure from Trump and big tech

European Commission confirms reports it is looking at postponing parts of landmark legislation

The European Commission is considering plans to delay parts of the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act, after intense pressure from businesses and Donald Trump’s administration.

The commission confirmed that “a reflection” was “still ongoing” on delaying aspects of the regulation, after media reports that Brussels was weighing up changes with the aim of easing demands on big tech companies.

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Mother of transgender teen accuses Queensland government of privacy breach that could have ‘outed’ her child

Revelation comes as LNP accused of ‘intimidation’ after demanding sensitive medical details from parents of transgender children

The Queensland government released private information about the mother of a transgender teenager – information she says potentially “outed” her child – to a stranger.

The revelation came as the state government was accused of “intimidation” and “an invasion of privacy” after demanding confidential medical information from parents of transgender children who are considering a further legal challenge to its controversial ban on puberty blockers.

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Hit for six: why India’s Women’s Cricket World Cup win is victory for equality

Sacrifices made to reach final – defying social stigma, lack of resources and juggling jobs between training – makes victory still more extraordinary

Growing up in rural India, Shafali Verma always knew she had a hunger to play cricket. But in her small town of Rohtak, in the north Indian state of Haryana, cricket was not a game for girls. Aged nine, desperate to play, she cut her hair short, entered a tournament disguised as her brother, and went on to win man of the match.

Verma’s determined father, Sanjeev, in the face of refusal from every cricket academy or training centre who would not accept his daughter, enrolled her as a boy. “Luckily, nobody noticed,” he recalled, as Verma made her debut for the national women’s team at 15 years old.

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Sudan’s bloody conflict is plagued by foreign influence – here is what we know – CNN

  1. Sudan’s bloody conflict is plagued by foreign influence – here is what we know  CNN
  2. Crawling to escape slaughter, people flee Sudan paramilitary group on their hands and knees  NBC News
  3. Rebels Post Videos of Mass Killings in Darfur as the World Watches  The New Yorker
  4. The Bloodlands of Africa  Tablet Magazine
  5. 'Fifty or sixty people in a single street': Witnesses describe civilian killings in Sudan's al-Fashir  Reuters
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China Commissions 3rd Aircraft Carrier Fujian – USNI News

  1. China Commissions 3rd Aircraft Carrier Fujian  USNI News
  2. China’s New Aircraft Carrier Enters Service, a Sign of Naval Ambitions  The New York Times
  3. China launches new aircraft carrier in naval race with the US  BBC
  4. New Aircraft Carrier Advances China’s Naval Power  The Wall Street Journal
  5. US and China seek to project power with huge and expensive aircraft carriers  The Guardian
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Hundreds of dolphins found dead in Amazon lake were in water hotter than a jacuzzi, study finds – CBS News

  1. Hundreds of dolphins found dead in Amazon lake were in water hotter than a jacuzzi, study finds  CBS News
  2. Amazon lakes became ‘simmering basins’ as temperatures spiked to 105 degrees  CNN
  3. Amazon lakes hit ‘unbearable’ hot-tub temperatures amid mass die-offs of pink river dolphins – study  The Guardian
  4. Amazon Lakes Hit Record Heat in 2023 Drought Causing Dolphin Deaths  Букви
  5. One lake in the central Amazon reached 41 °C and four others exceeded 37 °C in 2023  Science Media Centre España
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