Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by brian81st

Samsung Employee gets RM1.4m each

brian81st — Fri, 29 May 2026 20:06:34 +0800

https://thevocket.com/bukan-biasa-biasa-pek...6-juta-seorang/

Siapa sahaja yang tidak gembira apabila tiba musim pengumuman bonus, bukan? Kalau dapat sebulan atau dua bulan gaji pun sudah cukup untuk buat kita tersenyum lebar.

Tetapi, bayangkan kalau bonus tahunan yang anda terima mencecah RM1.4 juta seorang?

Kedengaran macam tak masuk akal bagi golongan ‘makan gaji’, tetapi inilah realiti manis yang sedang dinikmati oleh ribuan pekerja di bahagian semikonduktor dan cip memori Samsung Electronics.

Sanction is helping Iran government

brian81st — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 12:04:32 +0800

I ask the gemini why islamic republic remain in power compare the the previous Shah government? is it because of sanction?

While both governments were authoritarian, political science research suggests that sanctions are indeed a major reason the Islamic Republic has proven more resilient than the Shah’s regime. While sanctions have devastated the Iranian economy, they have paradoxically provided the current government with tools for survival that the Shah lacked.

1. The "Resistance Economy" and State Control
The Shah's Economy: The Shah oversaw a relatively open, pro-Western economy. His legitimacy was tied to modernization and prosperity. When the economy faltered, he had no "outside enemy" to blame for the mismanagement.

The Islamic Republic's Economy: Sanctions forced the current regime to build a "Resistance Economy". This system prioritizes self-sufficiency and gives the state—specifically the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)—massive control over the remaining resources. Sanctions essentially killed the independent private sector, making the population more dependent on the state for survival.

2. The Power of "Scapegoating" (Rally-Around-the-Flag)
External Blame: The Islamic Republic uses sanctions as a powerful narrative tool to frame all economic suffering as "economic terrorism" by the West. This creates a "rally-around-the-flag" effect, where even citizens who dislike the regime may hesitate to overthrow it during a perceived foreign attack.

The Shah's Vulnerability: Because the Shah was a close ally of the U.S., he could not blame "Western imperialism" for his domestic failures. This left him solely responsible for corruption and inequality in the eyes of the public.

3. Profiting from the "Shadow Economy"
Sanction Profiteering: Sanctions move trade into "grey" and "black" markets. Research shows that an estimated 20% of Iran's foreign trade ends up in the pockets of those who help bypass sanctions—largely regime insiders and the IRGC. This creates a wealthy, loyal elite whose survival is directly tied to the current system.

Transparent Failure: Under the Shah, economic failures were more visible and harder to hide through the "necessity" of secret trade deals.

4. Weakening the Opposition
Middle Class Erosion: Research by Farzanegan and Habibi (2025) indicates that sanctions have shrunk the Iranian middle class by as much as 28 percentage points.

Resource Depletion: A strong middle class is typically the engine for democratic change. By plunging this group into "working poor" status, sanctions force potential activists to focus on basic survival rather than political mobilization.

In short, while sanctions aim to weaken the regime, they have often functioned as a "survival manual" for the Islamic Republic, allowing it to consolidate power in ways the Shah could not.

If you want to study more, there are many research paper on this issue.

https://theforum.erf.org.eg/2025/09/30/sanc...s-middle-class/
https://ijrpr.com/uploads/V6ISSUE10/IJRPR54393.pdf

Singaporean scam usd243 million

brian81st — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 22:54:46 +0800

Malone Lam, the 20 year old who stole over 4,100 Bitcoin ($243 million) and lived a lavish life before getting caught

Malone Lam, a Singaporean citizen living in Miami, and his accomplice Jeandiel Serrano allegedly stole over 4,100 Bitcoin worth approximately $243 million from a single victim. The pair are accused of carrying out a sophisticated social engineering scam in August 2024, where they posed as Google support representatives and convinced the victim to share sensitive information, including private keys and two factor authentication details. This allowed them to transfer the Bitcoin into their own wallets.

The stolen funds were laundered through various cryptocurrencies, including Monero and Ethereum, in an attempt to obscure the trail. Despite these efforts, blockchain investigator ZachXBT helped trace the transactions, which led to their arrests. The stolen funds were spent lavishly on luxury cars, watches, jewelry, and international trips. Authorities have managed to freeze over $9 million, with $500,000 already returned to the victim.

News

Charlie Teo thrives in China as Aussie ban looms

brian81st — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 18:54:58 +0800

World-renowned neurosurgeon Professor Charlie Teo is facing the prospect of a permanent ban from practising medicine in Australia — a move that could have major consequences for patients and the country’s healthcare system.

In this exclusive report, Charlie Teo reveals how ongoing investigations and audits by the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission could end his career on home soil, despite his continued performance of complex brain surgeries overseas. The controversial surgeon has been under strict conditions since 2023 following findings of “unsatisfactory professional conduct” linked to two high-risk tumour operations.

Teo claims the latest scrutiny is focused on record-keeping and consultations with Australian patients — even when surgeries were performed abroad. He warns that the crackdown could discourage other doctors from taking life-saving risks, potentially lowering the standard of care across Australia.

Meanwhile, countries like China have embraced Teo’s expertise, with international patients continuing to seek his treatment. Supporters argue his work has saved lives, while critics question his methods and decision-making.

As the debate intensifies, Teo speaks out about the personal toll, the future of his career, and what this means for Australians battling deadly brain tumours.
[YOUTUBE]uD19vdPSAkQ[/YOUTUBE]

Iran oil sanction lifted

brian81st — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 15:30:37 +0800

US lifts sanctions on Iranian oil at sea in bid to ease supply pressures

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/ma...ons-iranian-oil

The Trump administration has waived sanctions on Iranian oil purchases at sea for 30 days to ease surging oil prices driven by the US-Israeli war on Iran.

The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said the waiver would bring about 140m barrels of oil to global markets and help relieve pressure on energy supply.

The move reflects White House concern that soaring oil prices – up about 50% to more than $100 a barrel, the highest since 2022 – will hurt US businesses and consumers ahead of the November midterm elections, when Republicans hope to retain control of Congress.

Cuba

brian81st — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 15:14:52 +0800

Cuba’s electrical grid collapses amid US oil blockade
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/...us-oil-blockade

Cuba’s national electric grid has collapsed, the country’s grid operator has said, leaving approximately 10 million people without power amid a US-imposed oil blockade that has crippled the island’s already obsolete generation system.

The US has ratcheted up pressure this year on its longtime foe Cuba since capturing the Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro – Cuba’s most important foreign benefactor – in January. The US president, Donald Trump, cut off Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba and threatened to put tariffs on any country that sold oil to Cuba, strangling the Caribbean island’s already antiquated grid.

Trump said on Monday that he thought he would have the “honour of taking Cuba”, in his latest threat to the communist-run island after military operations in Venezuela and Iran.

“I do believe I’ll be ... having the honour of taking Cuba,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “Whether I free it, take it – think I could do anything I want with it, you want to know the truth. They’re a very weakened nation right now.”

Best countries for Expat

brian81st — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 15:45:10 +0800

https://www.internations.org/expat-insider/...-countries-2025

In the 2025 Expat Insider survey, Panama (1st) holds on to its crown. All of its five indices place in the top 3, and a whopping 94% of expats there are happy with their life abroad.

1) Panama
2) Colombia
3) Mexico
4) Thailand
5) Vietnam
6) China
7) UAE
8) Indonesia
9) Spain
10) Malaysia

out of the list, Kuwait was last place (46), with south korea being at 44

Ukraine new proposal from US

brian81st — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 22:23:32 +0800

https://sfg.media/en/a/us-proposal-ukraine-...as-reduce-army/

The U.S. Has Proposed That Ukraine Withdraw Its Troops From Donbas, Reduce the Size of Its Army, and Accept a Frozen Front Line in Exchange for Broad Security Guarantees.

Ukraine withdraw from Donbas
According to Axios, the draft agreement consists of 28 provisions. Ukraine is asked to withdraw its forces from the Donetsk region, effectively ceding Donbas to Russia.

Reduce army size
Several provisions concern Ukraine’s armed forces. According to Financial Times, the plan calls for halving the size of the Ukrainian military, while The Economist reports a reduction by two and a half times.

Ukraine not allowed to have long range weapon
to restrict Kyiv’s use of long-range systems capable of striking Russian territory.

US security guarantees
In return for these concessions, the United States, according to Axios, pledges to offer Kyiv security guarantees in the event of renewed Russian aggression.

Countries that polluted the ocean the most

brian81st — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 11:09:15 +0800

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/visuali...ion-by-country/

Rank Country Annual Ocean Plastic Waste (Metric tons)
#1 🇵🇭 Philippines 356,371
#2 🇮🇳 India 126,513
#3 🇲🇾 Malaysia 73,098
#4 🇨🇳 China 70,707
#5 🇮🇩 Indonesia 56,333
#6 🇲🇲 Myanmar 40,000
#7 🇧🇷 Brazil 37,799
#8 🇻🇳 Vietnam 28,221
#9 🇧🇩 Bangladesh 24,640
#10 🇹🇭 Thailand 22,806
🌐 Rest of the World 176,012
Total 1,012,500

Asia car company uses illegal immigrants

brian81st — Sat, 06 Sep 2025 15:37:26 +0800

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/internatio...y-south-koreans

US immigration agents arrest hundreds at Hyundai plant, mostly South Koreans

Hundreds of workers at a Hyundai Motor car battery facility under construction in Georgia were detained in a raid by US authorities on Thursday (Sep 4), stopping work on a plant that is one of the Korean automaker’s major investments in the US.

About 475 workers, most of whom were South Korean nationals, were arrested, according to US immigration officials, the largest single-site enforcement operation in the US Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) history.

Homeland Security officials said that the workers arrested at the Ellabell, Georgia, site were barred from working in the US after crossing the border illegally or overstaying visas.

Dior 53 euro sold for 2600 euro

brian81st — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 16:34:29 +0800

https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/ital...rce-2024-06-11/

LONDON, June 11 (Reuters) - Prosecutors in Milan are investigating the supply chain of around a dozen more fashion brands, a person with knowledge of the matter said, after a unit of France's LVMH (LVMH.PA), opens new tab in Italy was placed under court administration in a worker exploitation probe.

On Monday, a Milan court appointed a commissioner to run an LVMH-owned maker of Dior-branded handbags after an investigation into four of its suppliers based in the surroundings of Italy's fashion capital uncovered illegal working conditions for staff.

On-site inspections and checks on electricity usage data led prosecutors to allege workers were employed for extended hours, working often into the night and during holidays. Some of the staff slept where they worked, had no regular contracts, with two having illegally immigrated into Italy.

The latest Milan investigation has shown a small manufacturer was able to charge Dior as little as 53 euros ($57) to make a handbag, which the fashion house then sold in shops at 2,600 euros.

Another fighter jet down

brian81st — Thu, 08 May 2025 15:49:03 +0800

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/06/politics...-is-lost-at-sea

Another F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet from the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier has been lost in the Red Sea, the second jet lost from the carrier in just over a week, five people familiar with the matter told CNN.

It is not entirely clear what happened yet, as the investigation is ongoing, but two of the people said there was some kind of arrestment failure as the jet was trying to land on the carrier and the pilot and weapons systems officer had to eject. They were recovered by a rescue helicopter and are both alive, but they suffered minor injuries, one of the people said.

The jet crashed into the sea and has not been recovered, two of the people familiar with the incident said.

Harvard no1 in research

brian81st — Sat, 26 Apr 2025 13:42:56 +0800

Harvard University is no1 in research among all university in the world.

https://www.scimagoir.com/rankings.php?sect...anking=Research

Don't know if Harvard will be affected by recent development.

Trump struck 200 deals with 200 countries/region

brian81st — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 23:08:54 +0800

The United States has already struck 200 trade deals, President Donald Trump said in an interview this week — but he refused to say with whom.

Trump’s comments come just two weeks after he announced a 90-day pause on most of the sweeping global tariffs he imposed earlier this month to allow time for trade negotiations with hundreds of countries slugged by the punishing levies. Only China was exempted from the 90-day pause.

“I’ve made 200 deals,” Trump told Time Magazine in a wide-ranging interview published Friday, “100%.”

Pressed on which countries he had made deals with, Trump refused to say, nor did he clarify the terms of the agreements. He added that he would announce them “over the next three to four weeks,” once the negotiations are “finished.”

Given there are about 200 countries in the world, and assuming every purported deal is with a different country, Trump would need to have negotiated deals with just about every nation on the planet.

Comparing the U.S. to a “department store” and countries as customers, Trump told Time Magazine he would be uncompromising in trade negotiations.

“And on behalf of the American people, I own the store, and I set prices, and I’ll say, if you want to shop here, this is what you have to pay,” he said.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/25/tr...ariffs-00309294

this is trump speed, amazing, 200 trade deals done

companies that caused $28 trillion in

brian81st — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 12:05:38 +0800

Extreme heat caused by emissions from 111 fossil fuel companies cost an estimated $28 trillion between 1991 and 2020, according to researchers at Dartmouth College.

Their study, which was published Wednesday in "Nature," presents a peer-reviewed method for tying emissions to specific climate harms. Their goal is to help hold companies liable for the cost of extreme weather, similar to holding the tobacco industry liable for lung cancer cases or pharmaceutical companies liable for the opioid crisis.

The research firm Zero Carbon Analytics counts 68 lawsuits filed globally about climate change damage, with more than half of them in the United States.

About a third of the total cost was attributed to five companies, which can be tied to more than $9 trillion in climate damage, according to the study.

These are the top-emitting companies and the dollar amount the researchers estimate they are responsible for:

Saudi Aramco: $2.05 trillion
Gazprom: $2 trillion
Chevron: $1.98 trillion
ExxonMobil: $1.91 trillion
BP: $1.45 trillion
The researchers figured that every 1% of greenhouse gas put into the atmosphere since 1990 has caused $502 billion in damage from heat alone, which doesn't include the costs incurred by other extreme weather such as hurricanes, droughts and floods. Emissions data is taken from the public Carbon Majors database, they said.

They used 1,000 different computer simulations to translate those emissions into changes for Earth's global average surface temperature by comparing it to a world without that company's emissions.

Using this approach, they determined that pollution from Chevron, for example, has raised the Earth's temperature by .045 degrees Fahrenheit.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fossil-fuel-co...e-damage-study/

this is the report published in Nature, you want to study more
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-...www.cbsnews.com

List of demand for tariff countries

brian81st — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 18:58:27 +0800

https://newrepublic.com/post/193700/donald-...demands-tariffs

1) buy more US product and military arms
2) “simply write checks” to the Treasury Department. means all the the tariff countries can pay up to get tariff relief.

EU must buy 350B to get tariff relief

brian81st — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 18:53:11 +0800

https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trum...-tariff-relief/

The European Union will have to commit to buying $350 billion of American energy to get a reprieve from Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs, the U.S. president said late Monday, dismissing Brussels' offer of "zero-for-zero" tariffs on cars and industrial goods.

Trump's comments at a White House press conference were in response to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen saying earlier Monday that the EU had offered to drop the bloc's tariffs to zero on cars and industrial goods imported from the U.S. if Trump reciprocated.

Asked by a reporter whether the offer was enough for him to back down, Trump said: "No, it's not."

"We have a deficit with the European Union of $350 billion and it's gonna disappear fast," Trump said. "One of the ways that that can disappear easily and quickly is they're gonna have to buy our energy from us ... they can buy it, we can knock off $350 billion in one week. They have to buy and commit to buy a like amount of energy."

so from this we know that to get relief, we need to buy the exact amount of trade deficit, to get tariff relief, but never mentioned relief how much? or rather possible Trump will impose new tariff after relief? no guarantee..

Market drop a 'Mag 7' problem, not a MAGA one

brian81st — Sat, 05 Apr 2025 22:57:27 +0800

April 4 (Reuters) - The stock market plunge has more to do with the emergence this year of China's DeepSeek artificial intelligence tool than with President Donald Trump's policies, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview released on Friday that signaled little concern about the ongoing nosedive.
"For everyone who thinks these market declines are all based on the President's economic policies, I can tell you that this market decline started with the Chinese AI announcement of DeepSeek," Bessent told conservative commentator Tucker Carlson.

"If I were to analyze in my old hat, and this is the only time I'm going to talk about it ... what's happening with the market I'd say it's more a Mag 7 problem, not a MAGA problem," Bessent, who ran a hedge fund until being tapped as Treasury secretary by Trump, said. "Mag 7" refers to the shares of the so-called Magnificent 7 - a group of seven high-performing tech stocks that had helped drive the market higher before its recent selloff. MAGA refers to Trump's "Make America Great Again" political slogan.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/treasurys-b...son-2025-04-04/

Oscar winner beaten up

brian81st — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 11:28:14 +0800

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/mi...e-b2722336.html

An Oscar-winning Palestinian director attacked in the occupied West Bank says he was held overnight in jail by Israeli soldiers who mocked his award between beatings.

Just three weeks ago, Hamdan Ballal was given rapturous applause when he accepted the Academy Award for his film No Other Land.

Now he has spoken out about his ordeal that started on Monday, when his head was “kicked like a football” as he lay in the dirt during a settler attack on his home in the occupied area.

Ballal was attending a gathering for the end of the daily Ramadan fast near Hebron, when a group of masked men attacked him.

“In that precise moment, I thought about my family, who were at home,” Ballal told The Guardian. ‘‘I ran to them and told my wife, ‘Lock the house and keep the children inside.’ They could have attacked me, but by doing so they wouldn’t have harmed my family.’’

“The soldiers pointed their rifles at me while the settler from behind began beating me,” Ballal said.

“They threw me to the ground, and the settler started hitting me on the head. Then a soldier also began beating me; with the butt of his rifle, he struck me on the head. After that, he fired his weapon in the air. I don’t understand Hebrew, but I gathered that he said the next rifle shot would hit me. In that moment, I thought I was going to die.”

Ballal was dragged from an ambulance by the mob, according to co-director Yuval Abraham.

Israeli soldiers then detained him and two other Palestinians. Ballal said he was kept blindfolded for more than 20 hours, sitting on the floor under a blasting air conditioner.

The soldiers kicked, punched or hit him with a stick whenever they came on their guard shifts, he claimed. Ballal says he heard them saying his name and the word “Oscar”.

French scientist denied US entry

brian81st — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 14:39:09 +0800

France’s research minister said a French scientist was denied entry to the US this month after immigration officers at an airport searched his phone and found messages in which he had expressed criticism of the Trump administration.

“I learned with concern that a French researcher” on assignment for the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) “who was traveling to a conference near Houston was denied entry to the United States before being expelled”, Philippe Baptiste, France’s minister of higher education and research, said in a statement on Monday to Agence France-Presse published by Le Monde. “This measure was apparently taken by the American authorities because the researcher’s phone contained exchanges with colleagues and friends in which he expressed a personal opinion on the Trump administration’s research policy,” the minister added.

On the same day that the researcher was denied entry to the US, Baptiste published a letter calling on American researchers to relocate to France. “Many well-known researchers are already questioning their future in the United States,” he wrote. “We would naturally wish to welcome a certain number of them.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/ma...entist-detained