Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by joe_star

'Traumatised': Vande Bharat passenger finds dead

joe_star — Tue, 06 Feb 2024 17:32:03 +0800

The Indian Railways has once again come under scrutiny for the quality of food served on its trains. A passenger travelling from Rani Kamlapati to Jabalpur Junction on the Rewa Vande Bharat Express was shocked to find a dead cockroach in his meal. However, IRCTC took note of the incident and responded to the viral post on X.

The passenger named Dr Shubhendu Keshari posted images of the non-vegetarian thali he received onboard. The pictures clearly showed the presence of the cockroach. Alongside the photographs, Dr Keshari also shared a picture of the complaint form he filled out at Jabalpur station about the unsanitary condition of the food.

https://www.indiatoday.in/trending-news/sto...al-irctc-reacts

For three decades, Nagorno-Karabakh sought

joe_star — Sat, 30 Sep 2023 14:17:15 +0800

GORIS, Armenia — For more than three decades, the self-declared Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh strove for independence and international recognition, in defiance of U.N. resolutions that affirmed Azerbaijan’s sovereign claim to the region.

On Thursday, barely a week after a lightning military operation by Azerbaijan, that quest for statehood — and the dream of a separate homeland for its overwhelmingly ethnic Armenian population — died.

Samvel Shahramanyan, the president of Nagorno-Karabakh, signed a decree to dissolve the breakaway state, which Armenians call Artsakh, and all of its institutions on Jan. 1.

In some respects, the outcome reinforced the international order by restoring Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. That could offer some hope to countries such as Ukraine, whose borders have been violated and territories stolen, and potentially serve as a warning to regions such as Catalonia in Spain and Kurdistan in Turkey and Syria, which want to redraw maps to match their aspirations for ethno-nationalist self-determination.

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For three decades, Nagorno-Karabakh sought statehood. That quest is dead.

By Francesca Ebel
Updated September 28, 2023 at 6:53 p.m. EDT|Published September 28, 2023 at 4:06 a.m. EDT

Ethnic Armenians fleeing the Nagorno-Karabakh region rest on a roadside after crossing the border with Azerbaijan, near the village of Kornidzor, Armenia, on Thursday. (Anatoly Maltsev/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
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GORIS, Armenia — For more than three decades, the self-declared Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh strove for independence and international recognition, in defiance of U.N. resolutions that affirmed Azerbaijan’s sovereign claim to the region.

Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russia’s war in Ukraine.
On Thursday, barely a week after a lightning military operation by Azerbaijan, that quest for statehood — and the dream of a separate homeland for its overwhelmingly ethnic Armenian population — died.

Samvel Shahramanyan, the president of Nagorno-Karabakh, signed a decree to dissolve the breakaway state, which Armenians call Artsakh, and all of its institutions on Jan. 1.

In some respects, the outcome reinforced the international order by restoring Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. That could offer some hope to countries such as Ukraine, whose borders have been violated and territories stolen, and potentially serve as a warning to regions such as Catalonia in Spain and Kurdistan in Turkey and Syria, which want to redraw maps to match their aspirations for ethno-nationalist self-determination.

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But the U.N. resolutions that recognized Azerbaijan’s borders had long denounced the displacement of civilians and demanded a durable cease-fire and peaceful negotiations to resolve the territorial dispute.

The brief and brutal military offensive last week by Azerbaijan, which was condemned by the international community, caused still-untallied civilian deaths and set off an exodus of residents who say they fear genocide and, in any case, are unwilling to live under Azerbaijani rule.

More than 76,000 people — over half the region’s residents — have crossed the border to Armenia. Some officials believe the entire population will leave.

President Biden dispatched two top officials to Armenia and Azerbaijan this week to address humanitarian conditions and to press Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to accept an international mission to ensure the safety of Nagorno-Karabakh’s residents

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/0...baijan-armenia/

TLDR
- Azerbaijan beseiged the area for several months then invaded, Armenia and Russia peacekeepers just standby and the local army surrender
- 75k of the 150k population already flee to Armenia, afraid will get genocide
- US and West big fail in striking peace deal. Just a week ago they said an agreement can be reached
- New refugee crisis looming in Armenia as they say they can only absorb 40k refugees
- Maybe Turkey and Azerbaijan will be emboldened to invade south Armenia to establish their own corridor??

Surprise no thread here yet on this news, guess no one really give a fark about this corner of the world.

Mca, Mic, Gelakan

joe_star — Fri, 25 Nov 2022 16:30:21 +0800

I see mca got so many wisma, same for mic got so huge building and gelakan also got wisma pgrm. How they can afford to maintain all this infrastructure when their parties doing so badly since last 15 years?

Is it really the buildings still belong to them or sold off already?

How about their help center? Micheal Chong one still open?

Rafizi Pandan

joe_star — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 16:03:18 +0800

I will stand in Pandan in GE15, says Rafizi

GEORGE TOWN: PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli said he wants to stand in Pandan in the 15th general election (GE15), the seat which he first won in 2013 when he made his parliamentary debut.

He said he had made this clear to the party leadership which had yet to finalise the list of candidates for the election.

“I have made it clear that I want to defend Pandan, pending the party’s decision.

“This is because I can campaign more effectively at the national level for PKR candidates if I stand in Pandan where we have very good support and are quite established,” he told reporters in Penang.

The seat is currently held by Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/...15-says-rafizi/

Lol rafizi so pandan looking for safe seat too?

Irony will be if pandan voters turn tables on him

Illogical to sentence rapist to 1050 years in jail

joe_star — Thu, 15 Sep 2022 20:25:09 +0800

Wtf, rape his 12 yo stepdaughter over 100 times, currently age 34 and can be release after 28 meaning only 62 years old, still can rape when he comes out.

On top of that his lawyer want to appeal reduce some more in appeal court. Hope they reinstated 1000 years jail and add more rotan

PETALING JAYA: It is illogical to impose a jail term that is longer than the average life expectancy of Malaysians, a High Court has observed in the case of a man convicted of raping his stepdaughter numerous times.

In reducing the jail term to 42 years from 1,050 years, judge Azmi Abdullah said he was guided by a 2009 Court of Appeal ruling that a custodial sentence should not be unreasonable and should take into account the life expectancy of an accused or appellant.

The judge said the 1,050-year jail term imposed on the man, who is now 34 years old, was obviously illogical as he would not live to reach that age.

Azmi said the jail term ordered by the trial judge (in the sessions court) was based on an emotional judgment and manifestly excessive.

“Most people cannot even reach the age of 100,” he said in his judgment as to why he reduced the jail term of the man to 42 years.

The man, who was unrepresented during his trial in the sessions court, had pleaded guilty to committing the offences at a house in Sungai Way, Selangor, from Jan 5, 2018 to Feb 24, 2020.

He sexually assaulted the girl 50 times in 2018, 32 times in 2019, and 23 times in 2020, bringing the total number of charges to 105. The girl was 12 in 2018.

The sessions court had, on Jan 27, 2021, ordered the man’s 1,050 jail term to begin from the date of his arrest on Jan 20 last year.

Following the reduction of the jail term to 42 years, and with one-third remission for good behaviour, the man could be freed after serving 28 years.

However, the man, now represented by lawyers K A Ramu and V Vemal Arasan, has filed a final appeal to the Court of Appeal, to further reduce his jail term.

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/...utm_medium=Push

India Is Stalling the W.H.O.’s Efforts to Make

joe_star — Tue, 19 Apr 2022 11:14:51 +0800

The agency has calculated that 15 million people have died as a result of the pandemic, far more than earlier estimates, but has yet to release those numbers.

An ambitious effort by the World Health Organization to calculate the global death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has found that vastly more people died than previously believed — a total of about 15 million by the end of 2021, more than double the official total of six million reported by countries individually.

But the release of the staggering estimate — the result of more than a year of research and analysis by experts around the world and the most comprehensive look at the lethality of the pandemic to date — has been delayed for months because of objections from India, which disputes the calculation of how many of its citizens died and has tried to keep it from becoming public.

More than a third of the additional nine million deaths are estimated to have occurred in India, where the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stood by its own count of about 520,000. The W.H.O. will show the country’s toll is at least four million, according to people familiar with the numbers who were not authorized to disclose them, which would give India the highest tally in the world, they said. The Times was unable to learn the estimates for other countries.

The W.H.O. calculation combined national data on reported deaths with new information from localities and household surveys, and with statistical models that aim to account for deaths that were missed. Most of the difference in the new global estimate represents previously uncounted deaths, the bulk of which were directly from Covid; the new number also includes indirect deaths, like those of people unable to access care for other ailments because of the pandemic.

The delay in releasing the figures is significant because the global data is essential for understanding how the pandemic has played out and what steps could mitigate a similar crisis in the future. It has created turmoil in the normally staid world of health statistics — a feud cloaked in anodyne language is playing out at the United Nations Statistical Commission, the world body that gathers health data, spurred by India’s refusal to cooperate

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/16/health/g...-who-india.html

TLDR: WHO estimate additional 9 million deaths, and death toll in India itsself is over 3 million, but India trying to get this report silenced because their official toll only 500k

Now you know why CCP is still coming down so hard on covid, unlike West and democracy which rather cover up the truth at expense of ppls lives

Voter demographics by Constituency

joe_star — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 13:42:20 +0800

Anyone know where to find the demographic breakdown of parliament and state seats? Like how many % Malay, Chinese Indian, age breakdown etc?

EU countries agree to admit travellers vaccinated

joe_star — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 12:55:47 +0800

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union countries agreed on Tuesday to open their borders to travellers from outside the bloc who have had shots against COVID-19 authorised by the World Health Organization, easing restrictions on those who received Indian and Chinese vaccines.

The EU has so far authorised vaccines produced by Pfizer-BionTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca (when produced in Europe), Johnson & Johnson and Novavax.

In addition to these shots, the WHO has also approved the vaccines produced by Chinese makers Sinopharm and Sinovac and by Indian company Bharat Biotech. It has also authorised the AstraZeneca vaccine made in India by the Serum Institute.

Until now, most EU countries have not admitted people from outside the bloc travelling for non-essential reasons if they have been vaccinated with shots not approved in the EU.

"Member states should lift the temporary restriction on non-essential travel to the EU for persons vaccinated with an EU- or WHO-approved vaccine," said a recommendation adopted on Tuesday by EU governments which would be applicable from March 1.

Restrictions will be lifted for travellers who received the final dose of the primary vaccination cycle at least 14 days and no more than 270 days before arrival. Boosted travellers will also be accepted.

EU states also agreed to lift a temporary restriction on non-essential travel for people who have recovered from COVID-19 within 180 days prior to travelling to the EU.

For people inoculated with a WHO-approved vaccine, EU states could also require a negative PCR test taken at the earliest 72 hours before departure and could apply additional measures such as quarantine or isolation.

https://news.yahoo.com/eu-countries-agree-a...-130423208.html

Finally West lifting vaccine racism on Asian vaccines. Could have done this frm the start.

Now SSS can travel to euro already

Three Countries That Should Have Been Rich

joe_star — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 18:34:00 +0800

[YOUTUBE]9u0aWoEswS4[/YOUTUBE]

6:15 onward

Early Omicron Breakthroughs Show MRNA Vaccines’

joe_star — Thu, 20 Jan 2022 18:57:06 +0800

(Bloomberg) -- Booster shots with messenger RNA vaccines such as those made by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE failed to block omicron in a study of some of the first documented breakthrough cases caused by the highly contagious variant.

Seven German visitors to Cape Town experienced symptomatic Covid-19 infections between late November and early December despite being boosted, the researchers, whose investigation was authorized by the University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch University, said in findings published Tuesday in The Lancet. All the cases were mild or moderate, providing support for the extra shots’ ability to fend off severe disease, death and hospitalizations.

Still, the findings demonstrate omicron’s ability to evade immunity generated by even the most powerful Covid-19 vaccine boosters. That underscores the need to continue fighting the pandemic with measures besides vaccination, such as social distancing and masking, the authors said.

The shots appear to generate protection against omicron with other parts of the immune system in addition to antibodies, such as T-cells, and so far hospital and mortality data have been less severe than with the delta variant that dominated earlier.

Read more at: https://www.bloombergquint.com/coronavirus-...can-study-shows

West theory of vaccine is the answer clearly proven to be insufficient. Lockdown is necessary on top of all measures to keep the disease at bay.

Also, seems like mRNA vaccines are setup for endless booster necessity?

Sinovac booster can activate cellular immunity

joe_star — Sun, 02 Jan 2022 15:43:48 +0800

KUALA LUMPUR: Preliminary results of a study conducted by the Pontifical Catholic University in Chile (UC) showed that the Covid-19 Sinovac vaccine booster dose could activate cellular immunity against the Omicron variant, on subjects who were given two doses of the same vaccine previously.

The objective of the study led by Millennium Institute on Immunology and Immunotherapy director Professor Dr Alexis M. Kalergis, was to assess whether the immunity activated by the Sinovac vaccine booster dose is able to recognise the Omicron variant.

Dr Alexis, in a statement released by Pharmaniaga today, said those who had received the Covid-19 Sinovac vaccine booster dose had T cell levels that are activated against the Omicron variant in a similar way to the original strain.

Meanwhile, UC's Academic and Scientific director for the CoronaVac Scientific-Clinical Study in Chile, Dr Susan Bueno said, it was most likely that partial recognition of these variants had contributed to the effectiveness of the vaccine among the population, despite the variants being widespread in Chile.

"Population data shows that the Covid-19 Sinovac vaccine has worked well so far to control the variants that have emerged," she said.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2022/01/...against-omicron

Pharmaniaga: Sinovac booster shots 94% effective

joe_star — Sun, 19 Dec 2021 12:08:52 +0800

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 18): Pharmaniaga Bhd said early data from studies shows that the Sinovac vaccine booster shots are 94% effective against the Omicron variant.

The studies by Sinovac Biotech Co Ltd involved two strains of the new variant from Hong Kong, it said in a statement on Saturday (Dec 18).

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/phar...against-omicron

Good news for those who don't want mRNA/viral vector vaccine

Which ktard made this......

joe_star — Sat, 04 Sep 2021 01:28:02 +0800

Come confess

[YOUTUBE]7sIdhwJOkqQ[/YOUTUBE]

Afghan president leaves the country as Taliban

joe_star — Sun, 15 Aug 2021 22:26:59 +0800

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s embattled President Ashraf Ghani fled the country Sunday as the Taliban moved further into Kabul, officials said. His countrymen and foreigners alike raced for the exit, signaling the end of a 20-year Western experiment aimed at remaking Afghanistan.

Ghani flew out of the country, two officials told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity as they weren’t authorized to brief journalists. Abdullah Abdullah, the head of the Afghan National Reconciliation Council, later confirmed Ghani had left in an online video.

“He left Afghanistan in a hard time, God hold him accountable,” Abdullah said.

Civilians fearing that the Taliban could reimpose the kind of brutal rule that all but eliminated women’s rights rushed to leave the country, lining up at cash machines to withdraw their life savings.

Helicopters buzzed overhead to evacuate personnel from the U.S. Embassy, while smoke rose near the compound as staff destroyed important documents. Several other Western missions also prepared to pull their people out.

https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-tali...ba132c51b8e32a5

Ggwp, puppet president has fled the country rather than face Taliban justice

This is a worst disaster for US compared to Iraq, it's become same like them fleeing from Vietcong

US better take this as a lesson before invading anyone else's sovereignty again

COVID-19 origins probe should shift to U.S.

joe_star — Thu, 17 Jun 2021 12:32:48 +0800

SHANGHAI, June 17 (Reuters) - A senior Chinese epidemiologist said the United States should be the priority in the next phase of investigations into the origin of COVID-19 after a study showed the disease could have been circulating there as early as December 2019, state media said on Thursday.

The study, published this week by the U.S. National Institutes for Health (NIH), showed that at least seven people in five U.S. states were infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, weeks before the United States reported its first official cases. read more

A China-World Health Organization (WHO) joint study published in March said COVID-19 most likely originated in the country's wildlife trade, with the virus passing into humans from bats via an intermediary species.

But Beijing has promoted the theory that COVID-19 entered China from overseas via contaminated frozen food, while a number of foreign politicians are also calling for more investigations into the possibility it leaked from a laboratory.

Zeng Guang, chief epidemiologist with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told state-owned tabloid the Global Times that attention should shift to the United States, which was slow to test people in the early stages of the outbreak, and is also the home of many biological laboratories.

"All bio-weapons related subjects that the country has should be subject to scrutiny," he was quoted as saying.

Commenting on the U.S. study on Wednesday, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said it was now "obvious" the COVID-19 outbreak had "multiple origins" and that other countries should co-operate with the WHO.

The origin of the pandemic has become a source of political tension between China and the United States, with much of the recent focus on the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), located in Wuhan where the outbreak was first identified in late 2019.

China has been criticised for its lack of transparency when it comes to disclosing data about early cases as well as the viruses studied at WIV.

A report by a U.S. government national laboratory concluded that it was plausible that the virus had leaked from the Wuhan lab, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month. read more

A previous study has raised the possibility that SARS-CoV-2 could have been circulating in Europe as early as September, but experts said this didn't necessarily mean it did not originate in China, where many SARS-like coronaviruses have been found in the wild.

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-d...mes-2021-06-17/

PRC Aims for Naval Supremacy by 2050

joe_star — Tue, 11 May 2021 13:26:11 +0800

[YOUTUBE]dg2xmKNAZvM[/YOUTUBE]

Sooner we settle our SCS issues with them the better, soon we can’t turn to anyone else to “protect” us

The World Turns to China for Vaccines After India,

joe_star — Fri, 07 May 2021 22:40:56 +0800

The world is fast becoming ever more reliant on China for vaccines, with India’s raging virus outbreak stifling its ability to deliver on supply deals, even as the U.S. tries to position itself as a champion of wider access.

Over the past few weeks, leaders of some of the globe’s most populous nations have sought more shots from China despite concerns about their effectiveness. Demand is expected to rise even further if the World Health Organization, as expected, authorizes vaccines from China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd. and Sinopharm Group Co. Ltd., allowing developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America to access them through Covax, the global vaccination effort.

“China has become not just the largest exporter,” said Yanzhong Huang, a China specialist and senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations. “In many countries it has become the only option.”

China’s reliability as a vaccine supplier is increasing its geopolitical clout at a time when the U.S. and the EU have been slow confronting the global pandemic as Covid hot spots rage out of control in India, Brazil and elsewhere. Compounding the difficulties, India’s crisis has dried up vaccine supplies and prompted many countries to turn toward China. Amid this backdrop, the U.S., for months preoccupied with its domestic vaccination push, has come under intense criticism for hoarding shots at the expense of a global response.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/202...CQSKJCRDWX2PW01

Africa scrambles as India vaccine export ban bites

joe_star — Thu, 06 May 2021 15:27:52 +0800

As India's export ban results in COVAX supplies dry up, African countries have been scrambling in a desperate attempt to find alternatives. The second shot is proving difficult.
Most African countries rely on COVAX, the World Health Organization (WHO) program built to ensure poor countries have equitable access to vaccines to combat the pandemic, for their vaccine supply.

The main supplier, the Serum Institute of India (SII) produces the two-shot AstraZeneca vaccine. But increased domestic demand for doses in India, where the pandemic is currently surging out of control, has interrupted supplies being flown out for COVAX.

Ahmed Ogwell, deputy director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), called the AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute in India the "backbone."

"The early part of the vaccine campaigns on the continent were really anchored on the delivery of doses from the Serum Institute in India," he told DW.

COVAX has also been elbowed out of the market by rich countries striking their own deals with manufacturers, surging ahead in immunizing their citizens.

https://www.dw.com/en/africa-scrambles-as-i...gion/a-57416845

Kesian, India and West have screwed Africa again

Bhutan races ahead in COVID-19 vaccines,

joe_star — Thu, 06 May 2021 13:34:28 +0800

MUMBAI -- While India is gripped by a runaway spread of the coronavirus, neighboring Bhutan has administered at least one vaccine dose to more than 90% of adults in just over a month.

As of Thursday, 480,330 people have received the first vaccination in the small Himalayan nation, according to the Bhutanese government, amounting to more than 60% of the overall population of about 770,000 people. Most of them received the jab within two weeks after the rollout started on March 27.

Bhutan has limited the COVID-19 spread to just over 1,000 cumulative cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. New daily infections number less than 30 patients.

This contrasts to India, where new cases have topped 300,000 for consecutive days, the worst pace of infections in the world.

Indian media have credited Bhutan's speedy vaccine program to political leaders who understand the importance of staying ahead of the infection curve.

Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering, who himself is a doctor, ordered the establishment of about 1,200 vaccine centers throughout the country. For mountain villages that are hard to reach by road, the government has dispatched helicopters to transport the vaccines.

Health Minister Dechen Wangmo told citizens it is their "sacred duty" to get vaccinated, not only for the sake of their communities but also to protect the monarch, King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, who has decided to put others before himself.

"His Majesty the King has shared thoughts about taking the vaccine only after every eligible person in the country received their shots safely," Dechen Wangmo said in a statement in early April.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Coronavir...ng-90-of-adults

India small neighbor and protectorate doing so much better, maybe it's time they cut ties from India and become fully independent.

China’s Xiamen Marathon pushes through with 12,000

joe_star — Sat, 24 Apr 2021 14:11:00 +0800

BEIJING — The 2021 Xiamen Marathon kicked off in Xiamen, Fujian province on Saturday with a total of 12,000 runners.

Originally scheduled for January 3, the race was postponed to April 10 following a circular issued on December 31 by China’s State Council task force on combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

On April 11, the organizing committee of Xiamen Marathon co-hosted the European Olympic Marathon Qualification Race together with the Italian Athletics Federation in Italy’s Siena. A total of 150 athletes took part in the competition and 51 of them gained a ticket to compete in the marathon race in the Tokyo Olympics.

The race is also the Tuscany Camp Global Elite Race of the Xiamen Marathon.

[YOUTUBE]ZjVMYcWGLqU[/YOUTUBE]

https://sports.inquirer.net/420402/chinas-x...h-12000-runners

So sad, rest of world could have also been the same if we handled the pandemic better.

Now looks like even 2022 won't be ok yet.....