Ukraine media outlets report that Ukrainian lawmaker Ihor Kopytin from the Mykolaiv region is at the center of a scandal with Russian firms

The head of the Verkhovna Rada subcommittee on defense industry and MP from Mykolaiv region, Ihor Kopytin, came to the attention of journalists because of his alleged support for companies associated with businessman Roman Mileshko. These are companies that regularly receive government orders for aircraft repairs, despite their ties to Russian beneficiaries and sanctioned entities.

According to media reports, Roman Mileshko is a longtime acquaintance of Kopytin, a former cadet of the flight institute and an employee of the MP’s company Rotor Ukraine. He is connected to Kopytin through business ties and mutual acquaintances: Volodymyr Khilkevych, an aide to the MP, worked for Mileshko’s company, and his election trustee ran another company with the same owner.

So they are becoming more like China?

The LGBT+ legal equality index (2025) captures to which extent LGBT+ people have the same rights as straight and cisgender people. It combines 15individual policies, such as the legality of same-sex relationships, marriage, and gender marker changes. It ranges from 0 to100 (most equal).

It is hard to put something like equality in one single index, but it may give you a hint, at least when gaps are large.

The LGBT+ legal equality index (2025) captures to which extent LGBT+ people have the same rights as straight and cisgender people. It combines 15individual policies, such as the legality of same-sex relationships, marriage, and gender marker changes. It ranges from 0 to100 (most equal).

As yo can see on the lined map, the EU, including Germany, and together with countries like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, South Africa, Nepal, and several countries in Latin America rank top.

Yeah, they did so with other countries that are neighbouring Russia.

In related news, CEO of Russia-backed Indian refiner Nayara resigns after EU sanctions.

To put that in context the article doesn’t provide:

In March 2024, Gazprom had attempted to sell its 50% stake in European company Wintershall Noordzee and 100% of subsidiary Gazprom International UK Ltd. for ~340 million euros. The sale was blocked, however, after initially successful lawsuits by the two Ukrainian companies mentioned in the article.

Separately, the G7 countries immobilized almost 300 billion euros in Russian sovereign assets at the onset of the full-scale war in 2022, funneling the profits to Ukraine. In 2025, for example, Ukraine received ~18 billion euros from these profits for defense and reconstruction.

Good to see that people’s protests (and democratic allies’ concerns) lead to a change in politics.

Back in May this year, Bloomberg reported that China сut drone sales to Ukraine, West but continued supplying Russia.

It would be better if the author said why exactly “Europe is on a self-destructive course with no plausible remedies for mounting problems”. The whole article contains not a single number or any other sources. This is just a propaganda rant that appears to come from always the same accounts.

AP writes:

[…] “A group of passengers [44 minors and eight adults] engaged in highly disruptive behavior and adopted a very confrontational attitude, putting at risk the safe conduct of the flight,” Vueling said in a statement. “We categorically deny any suggestion that our crew’s behavior related to the religion of the passengers involved.”

A Civil Guard spokesperson said the captain of the plane ordered the removal of the minors from the plane at Valencia’s Manises Airport after they repeatedly ignored the crew’s instructions.

On Thursday, the Federation for Jewish Communities of Spain expressed concern about the incident. The group said that Vueling needed to provide documentary evidence of what happened on the plane.

“The various accounts circulating on social media and in the media to which we have had access do not clarify the cause of the incident,” the organization said […]

@avidamoeba@lemmy.ca

Another article said it was something about wishing death to arabs.

Which article was that?

There is a thread already here on this issue: https://feddit.org/post/16135663

Project Syndicate reports:

Libyan National Army commander and self-proclaimed “field marshal” Khalifa Haftar is a warlord with no formal or legal authority, yet he wields brutal control over eastern and southern Libya with Russia’s backing. In recent years, the family has ensured that Russian bases are as effective at extracting wealth as they are at importing military assets.

[…]

In many ways, Libya and the Haftar alliance are the linchpin of Putin’s new foreign-policy strategy. Known as the “Karaganov doctrine” after Russian political scientist Sergei Karaganov, this strategy portrays Russia as an anti-colonial liberator intent on democratizing the global order by rallying non-Western countries against the West. The irony, of course, is that Russia’s anti-colonial project is built on war crimes, coups, and the extraction of African wealth to benefit Russian elites.

[…]

In February, members of the Haftar family traveled to Minsk, where they finalized an agreement to develop the port of Tobruk. Landlocked Belarus may seem like an unlikely partner for a port-development project, but the true value of the deal lies in giving Russia effective control over a new Mediterranean harbor and propping up a loyal ally.

While it is hardly surprising that Russia would exploit Libya’s geostrategic position and oil wealth, it is less clear why Europe has allowed the Kremlin to establish a foothold on its doorstep. European governments must act swiftly before the threat becomes even harder to contain.

[…]

Project Syndicate reports:

Libyan National Army commander and self-proclaimed “field marshal” Khalifa Haftar is a warlord with no formal or legal authority, yet he wields brutal control over eastern and southern Libya with Russia’s backing. In recent years, the family has ensured that Russian bases are as effective at extracting wealth as they are at importing military assets.

[…]

In many ways, Libya and the Haftar alliance are the linchpin of Putin’s new foreign-policy strategy. Known as the “Karaganov doctrine” after Russian political scientist Sergei Karaganov, this strategy portrays Russia as an anti-colonial liberator intent on democratizing the global order by rallying non-Western countries against the West. The irony, of course, is that Russia’s anti-colonial project is built on war crimes, coups, and the extraction of African wealth to benefit Russian elites.

[…]

In February, members of the Haftar family traveled to Minsk, where they finalized an agreement to develop the port of Tobruk. Landlocked Belarus may seem like an unlikely partner for a port-development project, but the true value of the deal lies in giving Russia effective control over a new Mediterranean harbor and propping up a loyal ally.

While it is hardly surprising that Russia would exploit Libya’s geostrategic position and oil wealth, it is less clear why Europe has allowed the Kremlin to establish a foothold on its doorstep. European governments must act swiftly before the threat becomes even harder to contain.

[…]

Why is Github, as a U.S. company, not asking the U.S. to fund Open Source?

Which countries would qualify as democratic outside the EU and the Western world, if any?

There is a thread already here on this issue: https://feddit.org/post/16135663

Yes, in that case I guess it is credible, but as a principle I fully agree.

Women’s rights are sensitive territory in China – over the last decade, authorities have cracked down on almost every form of independent feminist activism.