Hong Kong (AFP) – Hong Kong police have warned downloading a mobile game in which players can attempt to overthrow a stand-in for China's Communist Party could constitute a national security crime, as it vanished from Apple's local App Store Wednesday.

Beijing is extremely sensitive to even subtle hints of dissent, and in 2020 imposed a national security law in Hong Kong that has effectively quashed any political opposition.

In "Reversed Front: Bonfire", developed by a Taiwan-based company, users can "pledge allegiance" to entities including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet and "Uyghur" to "overthrow the communist regime".

Although the game takes place in a historically different universe, the description reads: "This game is a work of NON-FICTION. Any similarity to actual agencies, policies or ethnic groups of the PRC (People's Republic of China) in this game is INTENTIONAL."

On Tuesday police in Hong Kong said "Reversed Front" was "advocating armed revolution" and promoting Taiwan and Hong Kong independence "under the guise of a game".

Downloading the game could see players charged with possessing seditious material, while making in-app purchases could be viewed as providing funding to the developer "for the commission of secession or subversion", police warned.

Recommending the game could constitute the offence of "incitement to secession".

Although players can choose to "lead the Communists to defeat all enemies", the game description makes clear they are meant to be the villains.

The Communists are described as "heavy-handed, reckless and inept" and accused of "widespread corruption, embezzlement, exploitation, slaughter and defilement".

Many of the other playing roles correspond to flashpoint issues for Beijing -- including self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims as its territory, and Xinjiang, where it has denied accusations of human rights abuses against the minority Muslim Uyghurs.

Hong Kong's vibrant civil society and political opposition have all but vanished since the imposition of the national security law, which was brought in after huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.

OpenAI last week said it had detected and banned a number of "likely China-origin" accounts targeting "Reversed Front" with negative comments.

"The network generated dozens of critical comments in Chinese about the game, followed by a long-form article claiming it had received widespread backlash," said OpenAI.

On Wednesday Apple appeared to have removed the game from the Hong Kong version of the App Store, after it had been available the day before, an AFP reporter saw.

It was not available on Hong Kong's Google Play on Tuesday, local media reported.

But the game's developer said it had seen a surge in searches since Tuesday's police announcement, jokingly implying it was thankful to authorities for the visibility boost.

Hong Kong warns downloading game could be national security crime

^RFI

Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Los Angeles police began arresting people in the city's downtown late Tuesday, as groups gathered in violation of an overnight curfew after a fifth day of protests against Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.

Looting and vandalism in the second-biggest US city have marred the largely peaceful protests over ramped-up arrests by immigration authorities.

The demonstrations, which began Friday, and isolated acts of violence prompted Trump to take the extraordinary step of sending in troops, over the objection of the state governor.

The protests again turned ugly after dark Tuesday, but an hour into the overnight curfew only a handful of protesters were left downtown, with police making several arrests as they warned stragglers to leave.

"Multiple groups continue to congregate on 1st St between Spring and Alameda" within the designated downtown curfew area, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) wrote on X late Tuesday.

"Those groups are being addressed and mass arrests are being initiated."

Police arrested 25 people on suspicion of violating the curfew as of Tuesday evening, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing an LAPD spokesperson.

The number of arrests was likely to rise as law enforcement worked to remove the remaining protesters from the area, the newspaper said.

Earlier, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said she had issued the curfew "to stop the vandalism, to stop the looting."

One square mile (2.5 square kilometers) of the city's more-than-500 square mile area will be off-limits from 8:00 pm and 6:00 am (0300 to 1300 GMT) for everyone apart from residents, journalists and emergency services, she added.

One protester told AFP the arrest of migrants in a city with large immigrant and Latino populations was the root of the unrest.

"I think that obviously they're doing it for safety," she said of the curfew.

"But I don't think that part of the problem is the peaceful protests. It's whatever else is happening on the other side that is inciting violence."

At their largest, the protests have included a few thousand people taking to the streets, but smaller mobs have used the cover of darkness to set fires, daub graffiti and smash windows.

Overnight, Monday 23 businesses were looted, police said, adding that more than 500 people had been arrested over recent days.

Protests against immigration arrests by federal law enforcement have also sprung up in cities around the country, including New York, Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco and Austin.

Trump has ordered 4,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles, along with 700 active-duty Marines, in what he has claimed is a necessary escalation to take back control -- despite the insistence of local law enforcement that they could handle matters.

A military spokeswoman said the Marines were expected to be on the streets by Wednesday.

Their mission will be to guard federal facilities and to accompany "federal officers in immigration enforcement operations in order to provide protection."

Demonstrators told AFP the soldiers "should be respected" because they had not chosen to be in Los Angeles, but Lisa Orman blasted it as "ridiculous."

"I was here for the Dodger parade," she said, referring to the LA team's World Series victory.

"It was 100 times bigger," she said, branding the idea that Marines were necessary as "a big show" that Trump wanted.

The Pentagon said the deployment would cost US taxpayers $134 million.

Photographs issued by the Marine Corps showed men in combat fatigues using riot shields to practice crowd control techniques at the Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach.

Late Tuesday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said his state would deploy its National Guard "to locations across the state to ensure peace & order" after solidarity protests.

"Peaceful protest is legal. Harming a person or property is illegal & will lead to arrest," Abbott wrote on X.

The Texas National Guard "will use every tool & strategy to help law enforcement maintain order."

In sprawling Los Angeles on Tuesday, it was largely a typical day: tourists thronged Hollywood Boulevard, celebrities attended red carpet premieres, tens of thousands of children went to school and commuter traffic choked the streets.

But at a military base in North Carolina, Trump was painting a much darker picture.

"What you're witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order and national sovereignty," the Republican told troops at Fort Bragg.

"This anarchy will not stand. We will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy."

California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who has clashed with the president before, said Trump's shock militarization of the city was the behavior of "a tyrant, not a president."

In a filing to the US District Court in Northern California, Newsom asked for an injunction preventing the use of troops for policing.

US law largely prevents the use of the military as a policing force -- absent the declaration of an insurrection, which Trump has mused.

The president "is trying to use emergency declarations to justify bringing in first the National Guard and then mobilizing Marines," said law professor Frank Bowman.

Police make arrests in downtown LA during nighttime curfew

Downtown Los Angeles was largely calm overnight into Wednesday, with police arresting at least 25 people for violating a curfew after a fifth day of protests against President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.

^RFI

A court in South Korea's Gangwon Province has fined a woman 2.8 million won (US$2,000) for pulling down the trousers and underpants of a male colleague in front of other staff members.

The Chuncheon District Court handed down the sentence last weekend, also ordering the woman, who is in her 50s and works in a restaurant kitchen, to complete eight hours of sexual violence prevention education, Yonhap reported.

crosspostato da: lemmy.sdf.org/post/36251250

Archived

• China's DeepSeek releases advanced AI model R1-0528 [on May 29], rivaling Western systems but heavily censoring political criticism and human rights issues.
• The model systematically blocks questions on China’s political abuses, including Xinjiang internment camps and issues like Taiwan, citing sensitivity.
• Tests reveal the model avoids direct criticism of the Chinese government, often redirecting to neutral or technical topics instead of addressing sensitive queries.
• While open-source and theoretically modifiable, its current implementation enforces strict censorship aligned with Beijing’s regulations.
• Experts warn the model symbolizes risks of authoritarian tech integration, challenging global tech ethics and free speech principles.

[...]

A model built for control

Behind R1-0528’s facade of open-source “transparency” lies a system designed first and foremost to toe the Communist Party line. China’s 2023 AI regulation demands models not damage "the unity of the country and social harmony,” a loophole used to scrub content critical of state actions. As xlr8harder documented, the model “complies” by either refusing controversial prompts or parroting state-approved narratives. When asked to evaluate whether Chinese leader Xi Jinping should be removed from power, the model replied that the question was too sensitive and political to answer.

Such censorship is systemic. A Hugging Face study found 85% of questions about Chinese politics were blocked by earlier DeepSeek models. Now, R1-0528 raises the bar, deleting answers mid-generation. Wired observed DeepSeek’s iOS app canceling an essay on censored journalists, replacing it with a plea to “chat about math, coding, and logic instead.”

[...]

What they’re not telling you: China’s new DeepSeek censors even more than old models

China’s DeepSeek releases advanced AI model R1-0528, rivaling Western systems but heavily censoring political criticism and human rights issues.

^{Newstarget.com}

Normally, I use YouTube very little (watch a couple videos a month). However, I've been in bed with an injury for some time now, which has led me to watch quite a bit of YouTube. The thing is, I subscribe to a small handfull of channels that I enjoy content from, but after a relatively short time I had watched pretty much all the new content from those channels.

Now, I would expect that the YouTube algorithm, which is supposedly designed by competent people to get me to stick around, would be able to suggest some decent content to me based on my subscriptions. However, the past week, I've opened YouTube only to find the same old videos being suggested over and over. Even worse: Whenever there's something interesting-looking from a channel I don't recognise, it always turns out to be some shitty AI voice over some generic animations or footage.

I know for a fact that thousands of hours of content are created on YouTube daily, but it genuinely feels like there are maybe five creators out there that are making anything worth watching. It's either that, or the YouTube algorithm is just complete crap at suggesting creators that are in any way similar to what I'm already subscribing to.

What's going on here? Why does it seem like there's no real content out there?

As a "funny" side note: What's with the "aggressively American" AI narrator-voice? I've heard it before, but thought it was some dude until I realised it's the same voice in a bunch of unrelated videos. It reminds me of the Discovery-channel "action-narrator"-voice from back in the day, but now it's showing up in all kinds of crap videos.

Original question by @j4k3@lemmy.world

Bonus internet points for cheapskates

I’m asking as I’m trying to understand empathy and whether it’s normal to get so invested in fake characters, I mean it’s probably a testament to the writers but I overthink… a lot.

This question was bright on as I’ve been catching up on The Blacklist and at lunch today watching Season 8 Episode name “Anne “ and it wrecked me.

::: spoiler Tap for spoiler
Basically the main character Red has to live a guarded life and for once he let it form and got close to Anne and you could tell shit was going to go downhill and it destroyed me when you think about it from his or her perspective.
:::

For reference I’m 41 year old dude, not that it matters.

Edit: Bedtime for me but back tomorrow to reply to all.

Edit 2: I’ve got 41 comments to respond to. Currently working but I’ll be back y’all.

Original question text by @phantomwise@lemmy.ml

What are the modern design trends you hate most? Feel free to rant! Mine are:
- Physical buttons are out of fashion, now EVERYTHING must have a touch screen instead! Especially if it makes the appliance more inconvenient to use. Like having to press a flimsy touch screen ten times to scroll through a washing machine's programs instead of just turning a physical knob and pressing a physical start button.
- Every website looks like it's made for a phone and was vomited by the same app in slightly different flavors of vomit.
- Actually EVERYTHING looks like it's made for a phone... Like what's the deal with all those hamburger menus on DESKTOP apps? Please just put a regular menu and same me some pointless clicking, it's not like you're lacking screen space. I especially hate that those menus can't be opened from the keyboard like regular menus.

I like Lemmy. I really do.

In order to support the website, I have posted a shit-ton of original content.

Is what I'm doing actually useful? Or am I just wasting my time?

I love bands like, grausame toechter, straftanz, miss construction, mindless self indulgence, extize...

im not certain anyone here even recognizes any of these, but if you do, please let me know what else you reeeaaally like.

Money gets created in the USD economy all the time, whether by invented debt, cash printing, or the issuance of bonds. Does that money actually represent wealth? Does the USD economy actually contribute anything of value?

So let's say you wanted to permanently remove value from the USD economy for some reason. What's the most effective and impactful way to "burn money?" Not spend it. Not acquire it. Destroy it, with the goal of taking that value out of the economy.

Burning/ shredding physical cash seems really inefficient. Maybe the answer lies in devaluing real estate?

This is all hypothetical so assume whatever resources or labor you want.

I know it's a joke " oh haha you're 30, everything hurts now cuz you're so old!" But really, is something wrong with me or are backs just this stupid? Not overweight. Decently active although I don't exersize every single day. No genetic issues, doctor always says im in perfect health. But my lower back will randomly act up, sometimes it gets so bad that I about black out from the pain. Thats pretty rare though, usually it's just an ache all day when I move or try to put my socks on. Its not sciatica, as I never feel numbness or pain in my legs. Mild weakness maybe if it hurts really bad.

I feel like any doctor is just going to say welp, you're old it happens, or tell me I need 3.5 million dollar spinal surgery.

This was based on a question that my economics professor in college had asked us. His question was more to the effect of “What’s a good/service people buy when they have a bit of money, then they stop buying or buy less of it when they get some more money, and then they start buying it again once they have even more money?” — feel free to answer that too.

My first thought was alcohol: lower class people might buy more of it to cope with their difficult situation, whereas upper class people have more money to spend on vices and luxuries such as alcohol. Not sure if this theory holds true.

The best answer I’ve been able to come up with is golf carts, at least in the US. It’s common to see lower class people drive golf carts around their trailer parks or neighborhoods, whereas middle class people rarely do that. An upper class person might live in a wealthy neighborhood with its own built-in golf course, or the person might even own their own golf course(s).

Some dubious investments, such as crypto or donations to certain social organizations or politicians might also qualify?

My wife and I are about 3 weeks from closing on our first house and I am losing my god damn mind. All of our finances/budget work out while still having savings for emergency repairs, our inspection went well after having to back out on the first we offered on (tree fell on the house after offer was accepted, thought we could fix but it was a wash) and we really like the area and first impressions of our neighbors.

I know buying a house is a top "most stressful thing" an average person can go through, but this is a lot harder than I thought and I didn't downplay it in my head. I am guessing I will feel like this for the first year or two and progressively it will become normal right? We have a lot of support from our families (financially, emotionally and labor/handypeople) so I am still optimistic about the whole thing, but my appetite is non existent and insomnia seems to be working in overdrive.

Multiple Israeli defense companies have signed contracts with Qatar, with state approval, to supply the state with weapons, ammunition, cyber technology, and other sophisticated weaponry, Maariv learned on Tuesday.

These agreements were signed with the approval of bodies in the Defense Ministry, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and special approval from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

According to information received by Maariv, Elbit signed contracts with Qatar worth more than $100 million, Rafael signed contracts worth tens of millions of dollars, while Israel Aerospace Industries had a long affair with Qatar - which included at least 20 visits by Israel Aerospace Industries heads to Doha and a significant visit by a senior Qatari delegation, which spent an entire day at the Israel Aerospace Industries offices.

https://www.reuters.com/world/russia-has-plans-test-natos-resolve-german-intelligence-chief-warns-2025-06-09/

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/10/middleeast/syria-dress-code-women-beaches-burkinis-latam-intl

Original title: Hegseth faces sharp questions from Congress on deploying troops to LA and Pentagon spending

The full quote:

After persistent questioning about the cost of sending National Guard members and Marines to Los Angeles, Hegseth turned to his acting comptroller, Bryn Woollacott MacDonnell, who said it would cost $134 million. Hegseth defended Trump’s decision to send the troops, saying they are needed to protect federal agents as they do their jobs.

https://apnews.com/article/pentagon-congress-hegseth-signal-hearings-c53cd37c2eae4327dd74e4c717057469

Despite comments made by Donald Trump just now (“we’ll see”), the US military is set to temporarily deploy about 700 Marines to Los Angeles while additional National Guard troops arrive in the city, a US official has told Reuters.

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said a battalion would be sent, but for now, the Insurrection Act is not expected to be invoked.

The official added that the situation was fluid and could change.

Mayor says Los Angeles being used as ‘test case’ by federal government – as it happened

Mayor says ‘nothing warranted’ the intervention and that cannot ‘emphasize enough the level of fear and terror that is in Angelenos right now’ due to Ice raids

^{Kate Lamb (The Guardian)}

The population of emperor penguins in one part of Antarctica appears to be declining faster than previously thought, according to a new analysis of satellite imagery released Tuesday.

The estimated population of 16 penguin colonies — visible in satellite photos taken between 2009 and 2024 – had declined 22% during that period mainly because of climate change that’s shrinking the amount of available sea ice. It’s unclear whether this drop is seen across the continent, scientists said.

Scientists previously estimated that the total emperor penguin population declined about 10% across all of Antarctica over the past decade and a half. The latest survey included a region covering the Antarctic Peninsula, Weddell Sea and Bellingshausen Sea.

“It’s absolutely alarming that the numbers are so much worse than predicted,” said Daniel Zitterbart, a penguin researcher at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, who was not involved in the study.

https://apnews.com/article/emperor-penguins-antarctica-2561e86134649478dafce540bb6dc539