Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by kexue

PRC International Math Olympiad 2 times full marks

kexue — Tue, 01 Jun 2021 18:35:48 +0800

First level Genius

[YOUTUBE]bEcqTWZIIL4[/YOUTUBE]

US spied on Merkel, EU officials through

kexue — Tue, 01 Jun 2021 11:17:20 +0800

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/31/us...h-danish-cables

US spied on Merkel, EU officials through Danish cables: Report
Danish broadcaster says US used a partnership with Danish intelligence to spy on top European officials.

In addition to Merkel, above, the NSA spied on the German foreign minister and former opposition leader at the time, DR said [File: John Thys/Pool via Reuters]
In addition to Merkel, above, the NSA spied on the German foreign minister and former opposition leader at the time, DR said [File: John Thys/Pool via Reuters]
31 May 2021
The United States used a partnership with Denmark’s foreign intelligence unit to spy on European leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, according to Danish public broadcaster Danmarks Radio (DR).

The findings are the result of an internal investigation conducted by the Danish Defence Intelligence Service (FE) in 2014 and 2015, DR said in a report on Sunday, citing nine unnamed sources who had access to the classified information.

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According to the investigation, the US National Security Agency (NSA) used a collaboration with FE to eavesdrop on Danish information cables to spy on senior officials in Sweden, Norway, France and Germany from 2012 to 2014.

In addition to Merkel, the NSA also spied on then-German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and former German opposition leader Peer Steinbruck, DR said.

The investigation found the NSA had access to extensive data streams that run through internet cables to and from Denmark and intercepted everything from text messages and telephone calls to internet traffic including searches, chats and messaging services.

Denmark, a close US ally, hosts several key landing stations for subsea internet cables to and from Sweden, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

One DR source described FE’s access to the cables as having “strategic significance” for relations between the US and Denmark.

The FE launched the internal investigation – code-named “Operation Dunhammer” – following concerns about Edward Snowden’s leaks in 2013 revealing how the NSA works.

But upon receiving the Dunhammer findings, FE’s top management at the time did not scrap the collaboration with the NSA, according to DR.

Danish Minister of Defence Trine Bramsen, who took over the defence portfolio in June 2019, was informed of the spying in August last year. That same month, she suspended the head of the Defence Intelligence Service and three other officials.

DR said Bramsen declined to comment on its report but told the broadcaster that the “systematic eavesdropping of close allies is unacceptable”.

Biden ‘deeply involved’
In Washington, the NSA did not immediately reply to a request for comment from the Reuters news agency, while the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) also declined to comment.

Snowden, the former NSA contractor-turned whistleblower, accused US President Joe Biden of being “deeply involved” in the case. The US leader was vice-president when Snowden blew the lid on the NSA’s mass spying programme.

“Biden is well-prepared to answer for this when he soon visits Europe since, of course, he was deeply involved in this scandal the first time around. There should be an explicit requirement for full public disclosure not only from Denmark, but their senior partner as well,” he tweeted.

A spokesperson for the German chancellery told Reuters it only became aware of the allegations when asked about them by journalists. The spokesperson declined to comment further.

Steinbruck, the former German opposition leader, condemned the alleged US spying.

“It is grotesque that friendly intelligence services are indeed intercepting and spying on top representatives of other countries,” he told German broadcaster ARD. “Politically, I consider it a scandal.”

Sweden’s Minister of Defence Peter Hultqvist told Swedish SVT broadcaster that he “demanded full information on these things”.

And Norway’s Minister of Defence Frank Bakke-Jensen told broadcaster NRK that he “took the allegations seriously”.

The French government on Monday said the allegations are “extremely serious” if proven.

“It is extremely serious, we need to see if our partners in the EU, the Danes, have committed errors or faults in their cooperation with American services,” Europe Minister Clement Beaune told France Info radio.

“Between allies, there must be trust, a minimal cooperation, so these potential facts are serious,” said the minister.

US tyre maker Goodyear faces allegations of

kexue — Mon, 31 May 2021 22:36:34 +0800

Years of Exploitation of foreign labor come to the end

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/busine...-abuse-14918282

KUALA LUMPUR: American tyre manufacturer Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is facing accusations of unpaid wages, unlawful overtime and threats to foreign workers at its Malaysian factory, according to court documents and complaints filed by workers.

In interviews with Reuters, six current and former foreign workers, and officials with Malaysia's labour department, say that Goodyear made wrongful salary deductions, required excessive hours and denied workers full access to their passports.

The department confirmed that it had fined Goodyear in 2020 for overworking and underpaying foreign employees. One former worker said that the company illegally kept his passport, showing Reuters an acknowledgement letter he signed in January 2020 upon getting it back eight years after he started working at Goodyear.

The allegations initially surfaced when 185 foreign workers filed three complaints against Goodyear Malaysia in the country's industrial court, two in 2019 and one in 2020, over non-compliance with a collective labour agreement.

The workers alleged that the company was not giving them shift allowances, annual bonuses and pay increases even though these benefits were available to the local staff, who are represented by a labour union.

The court ruled in favour of the foreign workers in two of the cases last year, saying that they were entitled to the same rights as Malaysian employees, according to copies of the judgement published on the court's website. Goodyear was ordered to pay back wages and comply with the collective agreement, according to the judgement and the workers' lawyer.

About 150 worker payslips, which the lawyer said were submitted to the court as evidence of unpaid wages and reviewed by Reuters, showed some migrants working as many as 229 hours a month in overtime, exceeding the Malaysian limit of 104 hours.

The foreign workers are claiming about RM5 million (US$1.21 million) in unpaid wages, said their lawyer, Chandra Segaran Rajandran. The workers are from Nepal, Myanmar and India.

"They are put in a situation where they are being denied their full rights as what is provided for (by law)," he said, adding that it amounted to "discrimination".

Goodyear, one of the world's largest tyre makers, has challenged both verdicts at the high court. The appeal decision is expected on Jul 26.

The verdict for the third case, over the same issues, is due in the coming weeks.

READ: US seizes shipment from Malaysia's Top Glove over forced labour concerns

READ: US Customs seizes Malaysia's Top Glove shipment following forced labour finding

Goodyear declined to comment on any of the allegations, citing the court process.

According to the court ruling last year, Goodyear Malaysia argued that foreign workers are not entitled to the benefits of the collective agreement because they are not union members.

According to the ruling, a union representative testified that foreign workers are eligible to join and are entitled to the benefits in the collective agreement even if they are not members. The court agreed that the foreign workers' job scope entitled them to those benefits.

Goodyear told Reuters that it has strong policies and practices relating to and protecting human rights.

"We take seriously any allegations of improper behaviour relating to our associates, operations and supply chain," a representative said in an email.

The union - the National Union of Employees in Companies Manufacturing Rubber Products - did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment on the workers' complaints.

Goodyear's Malaysia operation is jointly owned by the country's largest fund manager, Permodalan Nasional Berhad, which directed queries to Goodyear.

FINES AND VIOLATIONS

Workers said that they faced intimidation from Goodyear after they filed the lawsuits. Goodyear declined to comment.

"The company had different rules for different sets of workers," said Sharan Kumar Rai, who filed one of the lawsuits and worked at Goodyear in Malaysia from 2012 until last year.

The foreign workers filed the first two lawsuits in July 2019. Soon afterwards, Goodyear asked some to sign letters, without their lawyer’s knowledge, that they would withdraw from the legal action, according to their lawyer, police complaints filed in October 2019 and a copy of the letter seen by Reuters.

Reporting a complaint to police does not always result in criminal charges but can trigger an investigation.

Industrial court chairman Anna Ng Fui Choo said in her ruling that the letter "was an act of unfair labour practice".

Malaysia's labour department told Reuters that it had investigated and charged Goodyear in 2020 over nine violations of labour laws, unrelated to the lawsuits, regarding excessive hours and wrongful salary deductions. It fined Goodyear RM41,500 (US$10,050), it said.

Malaysia has in recent years faced accusations from its own Ministry of Human Resources and authorities in the United States of labour abuse at its factories, which rely on millions of migrant workers to manufacture everything from palm oil to medical gloves and iPhone components.

Today 844-808+98=134 admited to ICU

kexue — Sat, 29 May 2021 19:01:16 +0800

sekian

Tour view of Shopee shenzhen, China

kexue — Thu, 27 May 2021 22:38:22 +0800

[YOUTUBE]1B9OkGQVhnQ[/YOUTUBE]

PRC Shein overtakes Amazon

kexue — Thu, 27 May 2021 20:58:21 +0800

Shein‘s quiet rise has reached a crescendo as the fast fashion e-commerce app takes the crown from Amazon as the most downloaded shopping app on iOS and Android in the United States, according to data from app tracking firms App Annie and SensorTower.

Its ascent is quiet because the startup, despite reportedly exceeding a $15 billion valuation, maintains an unusually low profile and doesn’t try to make itself known to the media. The app, dubbed the “TikTok for e-commerce” by China-focused internet analyst Matthew Brennan in this thorough piece on the startup, manufactures in China as many apparel retailers do.

The difference is Shein controls its own production chain, from design and prototype to procurement to manufacturing. Each step is highly digitized and integrated with another, which allows the company to churn out hundreds of new products tailored to different regions and user tastes at a daily rate. The strategy is not unlike TikTok matching content creators with users by using algorithms to understand their habits in real-time.

China’s Black Lake raises $77M to give factories a digital upgrade

On May 11, Shein became the top shopping app on Android by new downloads in the U.S., and six days later took the top spot on iOS as well, according to App Annie. It briefly topped the Android chart in late April. Shein also climbed to the No.1 place on the App Store chart, which measures a combination of downloads, velocity and a few other signals to determine ranks.

The origin of Shein, which was previously named “She Inside,” is little understood. On its official website, it describes itself as an “international B2C fast fashion e-commerce platform” founded in 2008. There is no mention of its founder and CEO Chris Xu. In a 2018 corporate blog posted on WeChat, it wrote that it was headquartered in Nanjing, an eastern Chinese city home known for its historical heritages and home to Chinese appliance giant Suning. It also opened offices in other major Chinese cities as well as the U.S., Belgium and the United Arab Emirates.

Shein’s low profile is perhaps expected in times of geopolitical tensions and heightened regulatory scrutiny over China-related tech companies around the world. Shein owns its sales channel and user data, which distinguishes it from the swathe of generic consumer brands relying on Amazon for customer acquisition without meaningful access to user data.

Last June, the Indian government banned Shein among 59 apps, including TikTok and WeChat, that it deemed “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.”

The company may also want to lay low and protect its secrets to success from rivals, suggested an investor focused on cross-border business. The race in China’s e-commerce export is highly competitive and it’s not uncommon to see, for example, Chinese sellers on Amazon sabotaging one another.

As of May 17, Shein was the top iOS shopping app in 54 countries and ranked top in the category on Android devices across 13 countries, according to App Annie. The app’s performance raises the question of how much it’s spending on marketing to outrival an entrenched giant like Amazon. The other question is how many of its downloads actually turn into active users.

Shein has not announced who its investors are, but Chinese media reports have listed JAFCO Asia, Greenwoods Asset Management, IDG Capital, Sequoia Capital China, Tiger Global, and Xiaomi founder’s Shunwei Capital among its backers.

Sequoia Capital China confirmed it’s an investor in Shein. Shein declined to comment for the story.

The story was updated with more context on Shein and rankings.

https://techcrunch.com/2021/05/18/shein-overtakes-amazon/

Malaysia now has more Covid

kexue — Wed, 26 May 2021 18:26:32 +0800

SINGAPORE — Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 cases are climbing rapidly and have surpassed India’s on one critical measure, according to statistics site Our World in Data.

India has been experiencing a devastating second wave since April and has the world’s second largest Covid caseload. The country’s daily case count, while trending downward, has remained elevated at hundreds of thousands of infections — far exceeding Malaysia’s few thousands a day.

But Malaysia’s daily Covid infections per million people — on a seven-day rolling basis — have exceeded that of India since Sunday, data compiled by Our World in Data showed. Latest statistics showed that Malaysia reported on Tuesday 205.1 cases per million people on a seven-day rolling basis, compared with India’s 150.4 cases.

Generally, the actual number of Covid-19 cases are higher than reported cases around the world, mainly due to the lack of testing. In India, several studies found that cases were likely severely underreported.

Still, that’s not the first time that Malaysia has overtaken India on the measure. Our World in Data showed that Malaysia’s daily cases per million people were also higher than that of India between Nov. 15 last year and March 27 this year.

Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia, has been battling a surge in coronavirus cases since the last few months of 2020. The government has since tightened restrictions multiple times, but has stopped short of a full lockdown.

The country reported a record-high increase of 7,478 coronavirus cases on Wednesday, taking cumulative infections to more than 533,300, health ministry data showed. More than 2,300 people have died and 700 infected people are in intensive care units, the ministry said Tuesday.

Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah, Malaysia’s director-general of health, said in a Twitter post Tuesday that the country’s daily Covid-19 cases are “following an exponential trend” and could trigger a “vertical surge.”

Noor Hisham, a leading figure in Malaysia’s fight against Covid, also warned that “we need to prepare for the worst” and urged people to stay at home to break the chain of transmission.

The rapid increase has come as Malaysia — and many developing countries around the world — struggles to secure supplies of Covid vaccines.

Malaysia has approved the use of Covid-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford University-AstraZeneca and Chinese biotech firm Sinovac. The government said it aims to vaccinate 80% of the population by year-end, but only around 5% have received at least one dose so far, data compiled by Our World in Data showed.

HK gal 'blinded' by police during 2020 riot

kexue — Tue, 25 May 2021 18:23:00 +0800

CIA script exposed

Mao didn't kill millions of Chinese

kexue — Mon, 24 May 2021 16:04:13 +0800

Mao 1960's didn't have fertilizer, pesticide, good crop and embargo by western block.

Encountered with bad weather, do you think he can save people from hunger?

Sarawak educated China's father of hepatology

kexue — Sun, 23 May 2021 18:14:17 +0800

Sibu chinese

https://news.seehua.com/?p=702408

在诗巫度过少年期中国肝胆医学之父—吴孟超辞世

Pentagon running ‘secret army of

kexue — Sun, 23 May 2021 15:21:59 +0800

few hundreds in /K

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/am...s-b1849963.html

Pentagon running ‘secret army of 60,000 around world’
Agents are involved in both domestic and foreign operations

Matt Mathers
@MattEm90
3 days ago
42 comments

<p>‘Signature reduction’ programme has been developed over 10 years, report says</p>
‘Signature reduction’ programme has been developed over 10 years, report says

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A secret army of around 60,000 is carrying out domestic and foreign operations for the Pentagon in a programme aimed at minimising threats to US security, it has been reported.

The force, said to be ten times the size of the CIA's clandestine element, is made up of operatives working undercover, with some of them embedded in top companies around the world, according to Newsweek.

Agents in the "signature reduction" programme, developed by the Pentagon over the past 10 years, are engaged in online as well as real life assignments and are often soldiers, civilians and contractors who evade detection with false identities.

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Newsweek reports that the secret army is carrying out its duties without the knowledge or consent of Congress.

North Korea, Russia and Iran are believed to be just some of the counties seen as hostile to the US where the agents are working. The agency has a reported budget of $900 million.

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One intelligence officer, who is unnamed, says the army operates in “signature reduction”, although the term is not officially recognised by the Department of Defense. It is, however, used to define "measures that are taken to protect operations".

Although some of the agents work in the shadows, Newsweek pointed to the case of Ryan Fogle as an example of when agents get caught.

Mr Fogle is an alleged CIA agent who was detained in Russia for allegedly trying to recruit a Russian intelligence officer.

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Footage of Mr Fogle being berated by plain-clothes FSB interrogators was released to Russian television channels in May 2013, along with photographs and video footage of a bizarrely old-school array of spying tools, including two wigs, a compass, a map of Moscow and a stack of 500 Euro notes.

At the time, the state department confirmed one of its agents had been detained, but refused to be drawn on claims they were actively engaged in trying to recruit Russian operatives.

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Newsweek's investigation also revealed how a company based in North Carolina trains agents how to change their age and appearance using disguises and equips them with a silicone sleeve that allows them to alter their fingerprints.

According to Newsweek, up to 30,000 of the country's signature reduction troops are operating around the world from Pakistan in the Middle East to West Africa in the south.

The Independent has contacted the state department for comment.

today covid ICU big jump

kexue — Fri, 21 May 2021 19:31:23 +0800

643 - (587 - 50 ) = 106

Xinjiang school gal

kexue — Tue, 18 May 2021 18:34:21 +0800

[YOUTUBE]h3U-lKnMLwE[/YOUTUBE]&t=91s

Taiwan needs help?

kexue — Mon, 17 May 2021 15:05:48 +0800

Taiwan can help。。

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/art...rapidly-333-new

Breaking | Coronavirus: Taiwan sees cases continue to rise rapidly with 333 new infections reported on Monday
Newly infected include age range from five years to 90 years old
The benchmark Taiwan stock index plunged 473.2 points or 3 per cent
Topic |
Taiwan
Lawrence Chung
Lawrence Chung
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Published: 2:47pm, 17 May, 2021

Why you can trust SCMP
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A nurse wearing personal protective equipment administers AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan, on Thursday, May 13, 2021. A rising number of Covid-19 infections is prompting thousands of members of the hesitant Taiwanese public to get vaccinated. Photo: BloombergA nurse wearing personal protective equipment administers AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan, on Thursday, May 13, 2021. A rising number of Covid-19 infections is prompting thousands of members of the hesitant Taiwanese public to get vaccinated. Photo: Bloomberg
A nurse wearing personal protective equipment administers AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan, on Thursday, May 13, 2021. A rising number of Covid-19 infections is prompting thousands of members of the hesitant Taiwanese public to get vaccinated. Photo: Bloomberg
Taiwan has seen the number of its community transmitted Covid-19 cases continue to rise with 333 new infections reported on Monday, just one day after the island said it had 206 new local cases.
Health minister Chen Shih-chung said the new local cases included 158 from Taipei City and 148 from neighbouring New Taipei, with the virus infecting people aged between five years and 90 years old.
“All residents are urged to strictly follow the anti-Covid-19 rules and cut down their activities as much as possible,” Chen said in a news conference in Taipei.
The surge prompted authorities in the Greater Taipei area to announce the shutdown of all schools below university level in Taipei and New Taipei for two weeks from Tuesday.

The shutdown until May 28 will include junior and senior high schools, primary schools, kindergartens, nurseries and cram schools, according to the governments in Taipei and New Taipei.

On Sunday, Taiwan reported 206 new local cases, after announcing it had 180 new cases the previous day, prompting authorities to put Taipei and New Taipei into a soft lockdown, limiting the size of indoor and outdoor gatherings and shutting most recreational facilities and businesses.
During the weekend, family and social gatherings in Taipei and New Taipei were limited to five people indoors and 10 outdoors. Bars, nightclubs, karaoke parlours and other recreational centres were shut and religious services in temples, churches and mosques across the island were suspended.
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The usually crowded scenes in the busy Taipei and New Taipei areas were deserted as residents worried about the outbreak.
The benchmark Taiwan stock index plunged 473.2 points or 3 per cent on Monday, plagued by the sharp rise in local Covid-19 cases and their effect on business growth on the island.

/k supporters of Zionist come in to see

kexue — Sat, 15 May 2021 15:16:21 +0800

China's spacecraft landed on Mars

kexue — Sat, 15 May 2021 14:59:12 +0800

Congratulation! really a high achievement.

[YOUTUBE]A4d5DCNYycI[/YOUTUBE]

If people see a drunk girl in danger at night

kexue — Sun, 09 May 2021 15:44:24 +0800

[YOUTUBE]0Xk3cUqMO0c[/YOUTUBE]

Remains of China’s Long March

kexue — Sun, 09 May 2021 11:59:31 +0800

Most the remnants burned up during re-entry

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/art...ace-agency-says
Published: 11:13am, 9 May, 2021

Why you can trust SCMP
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The remnants of China’s Long March 5B rocket re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere at 10.24am Beijing time and fell into an open sea area at 72.47 degrees east longitude and 2.65 degrees north latitude, the China Manned Space Engineering Office said on Sunday.
The coordinates put the splash down in the Indian Ocean, close to the Maldives.
Most the remnants burned up during re-entry, the agency said, ending an anxious week as people and governments wondered where and when the space junk would fall.
The rocket, carrying the core module for China’s Tiangong Space Station, blasted off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on the southern island province of Hainan on April 29.

See inside hospital in India

kexue — Sun, 09 May 2021 00:16:05 +0800

[YOUTUBE]zrefKeWuNpQ[/YOUTUBE]

High-speed rail services cancelled

kexue — Sat, 08 May 2021 23:34:11 +0800

Services on two of the country's busiest railways are facing severe disruption after cracks were spotted on some high-speed trains.
Most Great Western Main Line trains to and from London Paddington have been cancelled, while London North Eastern Railways is asking passengers not to travel on the East Coast Main Line.
Hitachi apologised after the issue was found on some of its 800 series trains.
The railway minister warned disruption was likely for a "prolonged period".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57036247.amp