Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by dotadellpro

Malaysia 2021 Q1 GDP drop

dotadellpro — Tue, 11 May 2021 14:06:39 +0800

Drop by 0.5% YoY

I predict Q2 to be worse than Q1 too.

KLSE deep red

dotadellpro — Wed, 31 Mar 2021 11:20:29 +0800

What is happening today

SG ke arah kuasa besar IT

dotadellpro — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 14:03:30 +0800

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-zoom-sin...=technologyNews

Zoom to expand presence in Singapore with R&D centre, hire hundreds

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Zoom Video Communications Inc, the video-conferencing services provider, said on Wednesday it would expand its presence in Singapore by opening a research and development centre, where it will hire hundreds of engineering staff.

Zoom said in a statement that is also doubling its data centre capacity in the country. The San Jose, California-based company opened the Singapore data centre, its first in Southeast Asia, in August.

The company has seen a surge in users of its video conferencing service this year, with millions of workers and students using its video platform as they work and study from home due to the coronavirus-led lockdowns.

“We plan to immediately hire employees, leveraging Singapore’s highly educated engineering talent pool. Our new R&D center and data center will play a critical role in Zoom’s continued international growth,” said Velchamy Sankarlingam, president of product and engineering for Zoom.

Armed with lucrative grants and incentives, Singapore in recent years has been ramping up its efforts to lure tech firms and investors, including global players such as Facebook, Alphabet’s Google, and Chinese tech giants Tencent and Alibaba.

Last month, Singapore announced a new work visa for foreign executives of technology firms, a sector the low-tax global business hub hopes will power future economic growth.

Zoom has previously said its hiring plans for Singapore would include engineers and sales staff.

While the share price has climbed sharply in 2020, Zoom warned last month that its margins would remain under pressure going into 2021 as its high number of free users makes it hard to offset a spike in costs to maintain its growth.

Q1 to Q3 GDP Growth for many countries

dotadellpro — Mon, 16 Nov 2020 15:59:04 +0800

Q3

China : +4.9%
Vietnam : +2.6%
Korea : +1.9%
Malaysia : -2.7%
HK : -3.4%
Indonesia : -3.49%
Thailand : -6.4%
Singapore : -7.0%
UK : -9.6%
Philipines : -11.5%

Congrats to Malaysia, for become second best performing economy in South East Asia. Philipines become sick man of South East Asia.

East Asia looking strong this quarter too.

Q1 and Q2 results in this spoiler.

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

Sos in this spoiler.

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

US hospitals cannot cope anymore!

dotadellpro — Tue, 10 Nov 2020 16:45:01 +0800

https://www.inforum.com/newsmd/coronavirus/...an-stay-at-work

BISMARCK — North Dakota's hospitals have reached their limit, and the coming weeks could push them past their capabilities, Gov. Doug Burgum said at a news conference on Monday, Nov. 9.

Due to a major shortage of health care staffing, the state's hospitals have a severe lack of available beds. Rising COVID-19 hospitalizations and high noncoronavirus admissions, some resulting from residents who deferred health care earlier in the pandemic, have caused the crunch on medical centers.

Burgum said hospitals are implementing their "surge" plans, and some will be voluntarily stopping elective surgeries to free up staff. He added that the state will coordinate with hospitals to move nurses to medical centers in most dire need of staff.

In an attempt to alleviate some of the staffing concerns, Burgum announced that interim State Health Officer Dirk Wilke has amended an order that will allow health care workers with asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 to continue working in hospitals' COVID-19 units. The Republican governor said hospital administrators asked the state to take the extraordinary step.

The move aligns with "crisis" guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since only patients with COVID-19 could receive care from doctors and nurses with the virus, Burgum said there was little risk of more spread. He added that health care workers in COVID-19 units already wear protective gear to prevent them from contracting the virus.

Burgum also announced that the state would be sending out new-age rapid tests to hospitals, nursing homes, schools and colleges. He said the tests that can produce results in as little as 15 minutes could free up health care workers who might have been relegated to the sidelines while waiting for test results.

The governor added that the state is looking to hire emergency medical technicians and paramedics to run COVID-19 testing operations, which would allow nurses who are currently administering tests to begin working in hospitals.

In a reflection of the stress on hospitals, Burgum moved every county in the state to the orange-coded "high risk" level on the state's official COVID-19 gauge. All of the state's most populous counties were already at the risk level, which comes with recommendations for restaurants, bars and event venues to limit capacity to 25%.

Many counties in state, including Cass and Grand Forks, meet two of the three main criteria for the "critical risk" level, but Burgum has never moved a county to the red-coded status. The highest risk level would come with mandatory business closures and a stay-at-home order. Burgum directly contradicted a recent medical study published by the CDC, saying that "shutting down the economy doesn't necessarily slow the spread" of the virus.
Burgum said mask-wearing, social distancing and hand-washing are the most important actions North Dakotans can take to relieve some of the pressure on hospitals. He also echoed hospital administrators in saying that residents should continue to seek routine outpatient care to avoid a further build-up of hospitalizations from neglected health issues.

The governor said the next few weeks could make the strain on hospitals even worse as the spread of COVID-19 spirals out of control. Only about 20% of those hospitalized in North Dakota have COVID-19, but patients with the virus put a greater strain on staffing than normal patients because hospitals must employ nurses to support their peers in full protective gear who cannot easily leave the COVID-19 unit.

COVID-19 cases, deaths continue to climb
As the pandemic continues to rage in North Dakota, the state Department of Health reported five deaths from COVID-19 and a record-high number of active cases.

The deaths came from all over the state with one each in Burleigh, Stutsman, McKenzie, Walsh and Mountrail counties.

The department says 644 North Dakotans have succumbed to the illness since March, and deaths have been climbing at a rapid pace over the last three months. The state has averaged nearly 10 COVID-19 deaths per day in October and November.

At least 383 of the state's deaths have come in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. Eleven facilities have more than 15 active cases in residents, including Lutheran Sunset Homes in Grafton, which has 55 infected residents.

There are now a record 10,865 North Dakotans known to be infected with the virus.

North Dakota has reported the most COVID-19 cases and deaths per capita in the nation over the last week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The whole region is experiencing a surge in cases, with South Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Montana and Minnesota all seeing increasing cases.

The number of hospitalized residents due to the COVID-19 rose to 254 on Monday. Another 129 patients were initially hospitalized with some other ailment but later tested positive for COVID-19. Forty-eight residents with the virus are in intensive care.

Burgum has faced increasingly louder calls from doctors and political opponents to issue a statewide mask mandate, but the first-term Republican has so far rejected the measure in favor of relying on the "personal responsibility" of residents. However, Burgum has recently begun supporting mask requirements enacted at a local and county level.

Williston Mayor Howard Klug signed a citywide mask order into law on Monday, Nov. 9, joining local leaders in Fargo, Grand Forks and Bismarck. Most of the mask mandates passed by cities, counties and American Indian reservations in North Dakota do not come with penalties for residents who refuse to wear masks.

The Health Department reported 1,160 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday. All but seven of the state's 53 counties reported at least one new case.

Cass County, which includes Fargo, reported 216 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday. The state's most populous county has 1,542 infected residents.

Burleigh County, which encompasses Bismarck, reported 214 new cases Monday. The county again has the most active cases in the state with 1,586. Morton County, which sits just west of Burleigh County and includes Mandan, reported 61 new cases and has 533 active cases.

Grand Forks County reported 166 new cases, bringing its active case count up to 1,350.

Ward County, which includes Minot, reported 93 new cases, bringing the number of infected residents to 1,527.

About 15.6% of the 7,455 residents tested as part of the latest batch received a positive result, but 25.6% of residents tested for the first time got a positive result.

North Dakota does not report a seven-day rolling average for positivity rate, but Forum News Service calculated the rate to be 16.1% for all residents tested and 24.3% for tests taken on previously untested residents.

Q3 GDP Growth by Country during the COVID-19

dotadellpro — Mon, 21 Sep 2020 17:14:34 +0800

[YOUTUBE]w7CI-pbkFpc[/YOUTUBE]

Malaysia forecasted -6.4% (Worst in South East Asia)

I can't find our favourite neighbour stats but Thailand forecast is -1.5% and Indon is -1.2%

US -14%
India -10%
China +3.1%

Breaking! Big banks stocks dropping

dotadellpro — Tue, 01 Sep 2020 15:42:48 +0800

CIMB 3.22 -0.08
MAYBANK 7.18 -0.15
PBBANK 15.88 -0.54

But

HLBANK 14.7 +0.70

What is happening to our big banks? All breaking monthly lows.

Maybank and CIMB nearing yearly low.

Q2 GDP growth of the world most advance economies

dotadellpro — Tue, 01 Sep 2020 10:23:16 +0800

India is now sick man of Asia.

July exports at second highest on record of RM97.1

dotadellpro — Fri, 28 Aug 2020 12:42:41 +0800

July exports at second highest on record of RM97.12b

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s exports in July 2020 rose by 3.1% to RM92.53bil from a year ago and it was the second highest export value ever registered, after RM97.12bil in October 2018.

A statement by the Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI) on Friday China continued to be the biggest export market for the fourth consecutive month comprising iron and steel products, solid-state storage devices (SSD) and palm oil.

MITI said for July, the total exports were also the highest export value ever recorded for the month of July.

Exports grew by 11.7% from June’s RM82.82bil. The exports also exceeded a Bloomberg survey of a 1.4% decline.

Exports of manufactured goods in July 2020, which accounted for 87.5% of total exports, rose by 4.7% y-o-y to RM80.94bil.

“This was contributed by higher exports of electrical and electronic (E&E) products, rubber products, other manufactures especially SSD, optical and scientific equipment, wood products as well as iron and steel products.

“Exports of agriculture goods (7.1% share) surged by 30.4% y-o-y to RM6.57bil, boosted mainly by exports of palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products, ” it said.

However, exports of mining goods (5.1% share) fell by 30.2% y-o-y to RM4.68bil mainly on lower exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

MITI said E&E products, valued at RM39.54bil and constituted 42.7% of total exports, increased by 9.2% from a year ago.

However, petroleum products, valued at RM5.97bill, 6.5% of total exports, decreased by 7.1%.

There was an increase in palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products, valued at RM4.76bil, increased by 52%;

MITI said a total of 4.15bil in optical and scientific equipment were exported, which was a 9.9% rise.

As for rubber products, exports were valued at RM4.01bil, representing a 93.9% jump.

It also pointed out that exports to China continued to expand for four consecutive months, up by 13.9% to RM15.58bil.

This was driven by higher exports of iron and steel products, other manufactures (SSD), palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products as well as manufactures of metal.

MITI also said the US was the second largest export market for Malaysia in June.

Exports surged by 28.6% to RM11.16bil supported mainly by higher exports of manufactured goods, including E&E products, rubber products, wood products, petroleum products as well as machinery, equipment and parts.

Imports

Imports declined by 8.7% to RM67.38bil from RM73.8 billion in July 2019. This decline was sharper than a 4.5% fall in the Bloomberg survey.

The three main categories of imports by end use which accounted for 67.2% of total imports were:

Intermediate goods, valued at RM32.16bil or 47.7% share of total imports, decreased by 17.3%, following lower imports of processed industrial supplies, particularly iron and steel;

Capital goods, valued at RM6.74bil or 10% of total imports, decreased by 19.7%, due mainly to reduced imports of capital goods (except transport equipment), particularly parts of machinery and mechanical appliances;

Consumption goods, valued at RM6.38 billion or 9.5% of total imports, rose by 0.1%, as a result of higher imports of durables, particularly parts of machinery and mechanical appliances.

Total trade, surplus

Trade surplus expanded by 57.5% to RM25.15bil compared to RM15.97bil in July 2019 and was the highest monthly trade surplus ever recorded.

Total trade decreased by 2.2% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM159.92bil as lower trade was recorded with Australia, Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia and Japan.

Higher trade was registered with the US, India, Bahrain, China, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong SAR.

On a month-on-month (m-o-m) basis, total trade, exports and imports recorded growth of 10.4%, 11.7% and 8.7%, respectively while trade surplus grew by 20.6%.

Q1 and Q2 GDP growth for many countries

dotadellpro — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 14:16:00 +0800

Q1 (sorted from highest to lowest)

Vietnam : +3.82% (10-year low)
Indonesia : +2.97% (weakest since 2001)
Malaysia : +0.7% (weakest since 3Q 2009 )
Philippines : -0.2% (first time negative in 22 years)
South Korea : -1.4% (biggest decline since 4Q 2008)
UK : -2.0%
Thailand : -1.8% (the deepest contraction since the flood-hit fourth quarter of 2011)
Singapore : -2.2% (worst GDP year-on-year contraction since 1Q 2009)
US : -4.8% (lowest level since the 8.4% plunge in Q4 of 2008)
China : -6.8% (first decline since at least 1992, when official quarterly GDP records started)
Hong Kong : -8.9% (biggest fall since the government began tracking comparable data in 1974)

Q2

China : +3.2%
Vietnam : +0.32%
South Korea : -3.3% (worst GDP contraction South Korea has experienced since 1998.)
Indonesia : -5.32% (the lowest since the first quarter of 1999)
Hong Kong : -9.0% (contracted for the fourth straight quarter, only one quarter behind the longest recession on record, when Hong Kong's economy shrank for five quarters in 1998-1999.)
US : -9.5% (steepest decline in nearly 70 years of quarterly data)
TH : -12.2% (biggest decline since the Asian financial crisis in 1998)
Singapore : -13.2% (worst on record)
Phillipines : -16.5% (lowest since 1981)
Malaysia : -17.1% (worst performance in nearly 22 years)
UK : -21.7% ( worst on record )

Q1 Sos

MY : https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/bnm-...measures-impact
SG : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/busine...vid-19-12577146
HK : https://www.thestar.com.my/news/regional/20...as-gdp-dives-89
SK : https://pulsenews.co.kr/view.php?year=2020&no=421550
PH : https://www.rappler.com/business/260156-gro...ippines-q1-2020
ID : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/i...e-2001-12703550
CN : https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/17/china-econo...oronavirus.html
US : https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/29/us-gdp-q1-2...st-reading.html
TH : https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/192140...y-rate-to-0-50-
VN : https://vietnamtimes.org.vn/vietnams-gdp-gr...-low-18849.html
UK : https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2...n-business-live

Q2 Sos

MY : https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/m...omic-activities
SG : https://www.straitstimes.com/business/econo...nges-worse-than
ID : https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/08...5-32-in-q2.html
VN : http://hanoitimes.vn/vietnam-positive-grow...sbc-313035.html
CN : https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-07-16/China...gOrK/index.html
US : https://wolfstreet.com/2020/07/30/no-gdp-di...l-annual-rates/
SK : https://asiatimes.com/2020/07/south-koreas-...nges-3-3-in-q2/
PH : https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/economy/...1981-1596690529
HK : https://www.straitstimes.com/business/econo...shrinks-9-in-q2
UK : https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/12/uk-gdp-plun...nd-quarter.html
TH : https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/196963...est-in-22-years

Anyone want me to add other countries to the list, can help give me sos

Different countries GDP growth

dotadellpro — Wed, 13 May 2020 13:50:18 +0800

Q1 GDP growth for 2020, sorted from highest to lowest

Indonesia : +2.97% (weakest since 2001)
Malaysia : +0.7% (weakest since 3Q 2009 )
Philippines : -0.2% (first time negative in 22 years)
South Korea : -1.4% (biggest decline since 4Q 2008)
Thailand : -1.8% (the deepest contraction since the flood-hit fourth quarter of 2011)
Singapore : -2.2% (worst GDP year-on-year contraction since 1Q 2009)
US : -4.8% (lowest level since the 8.4% plunge in Q4 of 2008)
China : -6.8% (first decline since at least 1992, when official quarterly GDP records started)
Hong Kong : -8.9% (biggest fall since the government began tracking comparable data in 1974)

Q2 Update

Singapore : -13.2% (worst on record)

Q1 Sos

MY : https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/bnm-...measures-impact
SG : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/busine...vid-19-12577146
HK : https://www.thestar.com.my/news/regional/20...as-gdp-dives-89
SK : https://pulsenews.co.kr/view.php?year=2020&no=421550
PH : https://www.rappler.com/business/260156-gro...ippines-q1-2020
INDON : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/i...e-2001-12703550
CN : https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/17/china-econo...oronavirus.html
US : https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/29/us-gdp-q1-2...st-reading.html
TH : https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/192140...y-rate-to-0-50-

Q2 Sos

https://www.straitstimes.com/business/econo...nges-worse-than

Anyone want me to add other countries to the list, can give me sos (that is no need to pay)

Being IT support very sienz at this moment

dotadellpro — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 19:16:15 +0800

Company asked people to work from home.

Those with company laptop, easy peasy. All ok before the MCO.

Those without company laptop, company ask them to use personal computer/laptop at home and need IT to setup VPN for them. This group of people so many issue.

- So obviously need teamviewer software. Some install teamviewer also need instruction.
- So many still using laptop zaman dinosaur. Lag like shit just to install VPN.
- Also so many people no internet at home. Use hotspot from phone. Damn, another reason why so laggy.
- When their PC/laptop disconnected from wifi and thier VPN connection lost, ask me what happen. Shit.
- Many aunty ask can buy laptop? Isn't it too late for this???
- Also people keep asking which telco data plan best. Same thing, isn't it too late???
- Then need to teach people how to use VPN. Screenshot with picture also some still don't understand how to use VPN.
- Many people ask why archived email not in webmail. Why files in office PC not inside server. Haiyo, this people don't under difference between PC at home and PC at work.
- Then sure got some people ask for extra "service". "Bro can help install pirated office ah?", "Bro can help check my laptop why so slow ah?". "Bro can do abcdefxyz for me ah"?

ZZZZZZzzzzz

/sekian blogspotku

China spent the crucial first days of the Wuhan co

dotadellpro — Fri, 24 Jan 2020 18:07:22 +0800

https://www.businessinsider.my/china-inform...navirus-2020-1/

China spent the crucial first days of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak arresting people who posted about it online and threatening journalists

*In the early days of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, Chinese officials arrested citizens they accused of spreading rumors about the illness online.

*Journalists have also reported being detained and threatened by Chinese authorities while covering the outbreak.

*Experts are now faulting the Chinese government for its harsh crackdown on the flow of information about the virus.

As the Wuhan coronavirus death toll rose to at least 18 on Thursday, the Chinese government is facing questions over its vice grip on the flow of information in the early days of the outbreak.

In early January, Wuhan police said they had arrested eight people for spreading “rumors” about what was then a mysterious pneumonia causing serious complications in patients.

When the coronavirus made national headlines, more and more journalists started reporting being detained or threatened with arrest by Chinese authorities while reporting on the outbreak.

The Wuhan outbreak immediately hearkened back to the SARS epidemic in the early 2000s, which the Chinese government tried to cover up. The two viruses are in the same family, which also includes the common cold and pneumonia, but Wuhan so far is much milder than SARS.

While the government was almost immediately forthcoming with the international community about this outbreak, its actions in suppressing information at home have left some experts concerned that it made the situation a lot worse.

Wuhan police make arrests as the disease spreads

Chinese officials first reported the outbreak to the World Health Organization on December 31. Early on, officials cracked down on talk about the illness online. Just four days later, Wuhan police said they had summoned eight people for spreading “rumors” about the virus.

According to Poynter, the people who were arrested posted on the social networking site Weibo and/or other messaging apps that SARS was back.

Poynter tried to figure out what had happened to the eight people, but struggled. It reported that the state-owned Global Times cited an anonymous police source who said the group was not kept in custody or punished.

Journalists are threatened and detained for reporting on the fast-moving virus

There have also been concerning reports of journalists being detained or threatened with arrest while reporting on the coronavirus in Wuhan.

The Hong Kong news outlet TVB reported on January 14 that a group of journalists, including a reporter from their outlet, were detained for hours while covering the outbreak at a Wuhan hospital that has been treating patients.

According to the report, the journalists were at Jinyintan Hospital to get a briefing in the morning when a “group of plainclothes policemen” confronted them and started asking questions.

TVB said their reporter was “then taken to the police room in the hospital for questioning, and asked to delete the materials shot in the hospital.”

Time reporter Charlie Campbell recalled a similar incident while reporting at the seafood market pinpointed as the source of the outbreak. He said he was “repeatedly threatened with arrest while observing the scene from the street.”

“A police officer at the market would only confirm they were continuing ‘analysis,'” he wrote.

History repeating itself?

China has been more transparent with the international community with this outbreak than it was with SARS. Then, the government underreported cases until a whistleblower doctor revealed the truth.

But when it comes to giving information to its own people, the message from China has been lacking.

In the early days of the outbreak, officials downplayed the seriousness of the virus, saying that it was controlled, according to The New York Times.

Poynter reported that officials initially said that the virus came from animals and could not be spread from human to human, something that later proved to be incorrect.

Just days before the entire city was quarantined, Wuhan hosted a major banquet involving 40,000 families in order to set a world record, The Times reported.

The virus wasn't even front page news on the Wuhan Evening News, the city's bestselling newspaper, from January 6 to 19, according to the Financial Times.

It was during this time that the city was hosting annual meetings for top municipal and provincial officials (January 7-17). Dali Yang, an expert on Chinese bureaucracy at the University of Chicago, told FT that this event was most certainly a factor in the toned-down government response.

"This is a major factor that the authorities in Wuhan city sought to project an air of calm and most likely delayed taking action to stop the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus," Yang said.

A public health expert, who asked not to be named, told FT: "There is a question of whether the alert [was] in place sufficiently quickly this time."

While the official order is that anyone who hides infections will be "forever nailed to history's pillar of shame," the actions taken by the government so far are telling a different story.

"The authorities are sending a signal, which is that only the government agencies can talk about the epidemic," Yu Ping, a former Southern Metropolis Daily reporter, wrote on his personal blog, according to The New York Times. "All other people should just shut up."

The crackdown on misinformation has also led to some discontent among average Chinese citizens talking about the outbreak online.

"Why is the government scared of public discussion?" one Weibo user wrote, according to Time. "They are slow to handle the crisis, but fast to shut people up."

"If the government wants us to trust them, they should be trustworthy, first," another Weibo user said. "If we have lost confidence in them, the government needs to reflect on itself instead of shutting people up."

Dont say mosque, Mosque is jew yahudi words

dotadellpro — Mon, 25 Nov 2019 12:45:41 +0800

Kachats burning banks!

dotadellpro — Mon, 25 Nov 2019 10:07:14 +0800

Whoops, wrong country. Well lets read about other countries, not HK 24/7

https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/ir...viral-1.8135607

WATCH Iran Rocked by Protests as Images of Khamenei Set on Fire and Banks Burned

Though largely peaceful, demonstrations devolved into violence in several instances, with online videos purporting to show police officers firing tear gas at protesters and mobs setting fires

Protesters angered by Iran raising government-set gasoline prices by 50% blocked traffic in major cities and occasionally clashed with police Saturday after a night of demonstrations punctuated by gunfire, in violence that reportedly killed at least one person.

The protests put renewed pressure on Iran’s government as it struggles to overcome the U.S. sanctions strangling the country after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.

Videos circulating on social media showed protesters burning images of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei while others chanted “Shah of Iran, return to Iran!” BBC aired footage of banks being burined in Behbahan and Pardis.

Though largely peaceful, demonstrations devolved into violence in several instances, with online videos purporting to show police officers firing tear gas at protesters and mobs setting fires. While representing a political risk for President Hassan Rouhani ahead of February parliamentary elections, it also shows the widespread anger among Iran’s 80 million people who have seen their savings evaporate amid scarce jobs and the national rial currency’s collapse.

The demonstrations took place in over a dozen cities in the hours following Rouhani’s decision early Friday to cut gasoline subsidies to fund handouts for Iran’s poor. Gasoline in the country still remains among the cheapest in the world, with the new prices jumping up to a minimum of 15,000 rials per liter of gas — 50% up from the day before. That’s 13 cents a liter, or about 50 cents a gallon. A gallon of regular gasoline in the U.S. costs $2.60 by comparison.

But in a nation where many get by as informal taxi drivers, cheap gasoline is considered a birthright. Iran is home to the world’s fourth-largest crude oil reserves. While expected for months, the decision still caught many by surprise and sparked immediate demonstrations overnight.

Violence broke out Friday night in Sirjan, a city some 800 kilometers (500 miles) southeast of Tehran. The state-run IRNA news agency said “protesters tried to set fire to the oil depot, but they were stopped by police.” It did not elaborate, but online videos circulating on Iranian social media purported to show a fire at the depot as sirens wailed in the background. Another showed a large crowd shouting: “Rouhani, shame on you! Leave the country alone!”

Mohammad Mahmoudabadi, an Interior Ministry official in Sirjan, later told state television that police and demonstrators exchanged gunfire, wounding several. He said many protestors were peaceful, but later masked men armed with guns and knives infiltrated the demonstration.

“They insisted on reaching the oil depot and creating crises,” Mahmoudabadi said.

The semi-official ISNA news agency later quoted Mahmoudabadi as saying the violence killed one person.

In Iran’s oil-rich Khuzestan province, online videos purported to show police firing tear gas on crowds. The province’s city of Khorramshahr also saw gunfire, as could be heard in a brief clip played on air by state television. The region has long been a political tinderbox, with its ethnic Arab population that feels disenfranchised from the country’s Persian-language majority.

Saturday morning, the start of the Iranian workweek, saw protesters stop cars on major roadways across the capital, Tehran. Peaceful protesters blocked traffic on Tehran’s Imam Ali Highway, calling for police to join them as the season’s first snow fell, according to online videos. A dump truck later dropped bricks on the roadway to cheers.

A large crowd in the city of Kermanshah demonstrated and later drew tear gas fire from police, a video showed. Others reportedly clashed in Tabriz, another major Iranian city. The online videos corresponded to Associated Press reporting on the protest.

Such protests require prior approval from Iran’s Interior Ministry, though authorities routinely allow small-scale demonstrations over economic issues, especially as the country has struggled with currency devaluation. Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli later warned on state TV that authorities would crack down on anyone threatening the nation’s security.

It wasn’t immediately clear if police made arrests. Iranian state television aired a segment Friday night trying to dispute the claims of opposition satellite news channels about the protests, calling their videos of demonstrations “fake news” in English. Demonstrators in many online videos Saturday began identifying the time and place in response.

Iranian internet access meanwhile saw disruptions and outages Friday night into Saturday, according to the group NetBlocks, which monitors worldwide internet access. By Saturday night, “real-time network data show connectivity has fallen to just 7% of ordinary levels following 12 hours of progressive network disconnections as public protests have continued across the country,” NetBlocks said.

“The ongoing disruption is the most severe recorded in Iran since President Rouhani came to power, and the most severe disconnection tracked by NetBlocks in any country in terms of its technical complexity and breadth,” the group said. The websites of state media outlets appeared affected by the outage early Sunday.

Protester chants mirrored many from the late 2017 economic protests, which resulted in nearly 5,000 reported arrests and at least 25 people being killed. Some criticized Iran’s spending abroad on Palestinians and others while the country’s people remain poor. Protests meanwhile continue in Iraq and Lebanon, two Mideast nations home to Iranian proxies and crucial to Tehran’s influence abroad.

Iran long has suffered economic problems since its 1979 Islamic Revolution cut off its decades-long relationship with the U.S. Its eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s followed, further straining its economy.

The collapse of the nuclear deal has exacerbated those problems. The Iranian rial, which traded at 32,000 to $1 at the time of the accord, fell to 122,600 to $1 in trading Saturday. Iran has since begun breaking terms of the deal as it tries to force Europe to come up with a way to allow it to sell crude oil abroad despite American sanctions.

Henry Rome, an analyst at the Eurasia Group, said that after mass protests, Rouhani was forced to back down from a 2017 plan to increase fuel prices by 50%.

“The government was clearly attuned to this risk: The latest announcement was made in the middle of the night before a weekend,” Rome said. “It took effect immediately, and it was announced without direct consultation with lawmakers.”

Spray ridsect on pregnant cockroach

dotadellpro — Wed, 13 Nov 2019 12:48:17 +0800

[YOUTUBE]aUkE5nr6ipw[/YOUTUBE]

I realize I slowpoke, got thread already I close.

Sing pro-HK song also cannot already

dotadellpro — Fri, 25 Oct 2019 15:05:55 +0800

[YOUTUBE]Ee-kyLrkL3U[/YOUTUBE]

Trump Focuses on Defending Saudis, Not Striking Ir

dotadellpro — Sat, 21 Sep 2019 18:43:05 +0800

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/20/world/mi...udi-arabia.html

WASHINGTON — President Trump is sending a modest deployment of American troops to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, along with air and missile defense systems, in response to the attacks on Saudi oil facilities, which the administration blames on Iran.

Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper called the decision, which came on Friday during a White House meeting with top national security officials, “defensive in nature.” Defense Department officials said the Pentagon would deploy additional antimissile batteries to Saudi Arabia and might also deploy additional warplanes. The aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln may extend its stay in the region as well, the officials said.

Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the precise number of American troops headed to the region had not been determined, but that it would be a “moderate deployment” in the hundreds, not thousands.

Mr. Trump had been weighing whether to take direct military action against Iran in response to the attacks on Saudi Arabia, which rattled global energy markets and which Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this week called “an act of war.”

At the White House on Friday, Mr. Trump boasted that he could order a retaliatory strike “in one minute,” and boasted equally that his current restraint should be seen as a sign of strength and toughness.

Although the administration is not ruling out military strikes, senior officials indicated that, for now, the president was content to remain within the parameters of defense, not offense. Pressed by reporters about whether the administration was still considering so-called kinetic action, or military strikes, Mr. Esper said, “That’s not where we are right now.”

A senior United States official estimated that additional American forces sent to the region would number in the low hundreds. At the Pentagon, the president’s decision was interpreted to be at the more restrained end of the spectrum of options, especially since American officials have expressed their increasing certainty in recent days that Iran was responsible for the attack.

Mr. Esper said Friday night that the Pentagon was now convinced that the attacks did not emanate in Yemen.

He also said that both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates asked for additional support from the United States this week.

The new deployment adds to the 2,000 troops the United States has deployed to the Middle East since June as a show of force following a series of Iranian provocations, including attacks on oil tankers in the Persian Gulf and the downing of an American surveillance drone off its coast. Roughly 500 of those troops have gone to Saudi Arabia.

Days after the American surveillance drone was shot down this summer, Mr. Trump approved a limited military strike on Iran — but on June 20 called off the operation at the last minute. Officials said that a covert cyberoperation was carried out instead.

Earlier Friday, Mr. Trump announced a new round of sanctions against Iran’s national bank, and the administration is said to be considering a range of additional actions, including more cyberattacks. And, at next week’s United Nations General Assembly meeting, Mr. Trump and Mr. Pompeo are expected to press for a diplomatic front against Iran, although many nations — including close allies — hold the administration accountable for rising tensions in the Persian Gulf region following Mr. Trump’s withdrawal from a nuclear deal with Iran.

In describing the new sanctions, Mr. Trump said the move constituted the “highest sanctions ever imposed on a country,” but analysts called it unlikely to inflict substantially more damage to an Iranian economy already suffering from an American economic chokehold.

On the one hand, Mr. Trump volunteered that the United States boasts a “totally renovated” military that includes “new nuclear,” adding, “The nuclear is at a level that it’s never been at before.” Mr. Trump said on Wednesday that he was not considering a nuclear strike on Iran, so it was unclear why he raised the subject of nuclear weapons again on Friday.

He also seemed to revel in his authority to launch a quick strike. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office alongside the visiting prime minister of Australia, Scott Morrison, he said, “I could do it right here in front of you and that would be it.”

On the other hand, Mr. Trump complained that in 2016 he had been cast unfairly as a warmonger who was “going to blow everybody up.” He said that “people are very surprised” and “thrilled” that he has not employed the military against Iran. Responding to complaints that he has shown weakness in recent months by not responding to Iranian aggression with force, Mr. Trump retorted, “Actually, in my opinion, it shows strength.”

And while reiterating that it would be easy to deal Iran a crippling blow, he said, “I’m not looking to do that if I can.”

But he kept his options open. Speaking alongside Mr. Morrison at a news conference later in the day, Mr. Trump cautioned that he was not facing an imminent decision. “Plenty of time,” he said.

The Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said on Thursday that a military strike against Iran by the United States or Saudi Arabia would result in “an all-out war.”

The latest sanctions affect the Central Bank of Iran and the National Development Fund of Iran, “the last remaining source of funds,” said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who joined Mr. Trump in the Oval Office. “This is very big,” Mr. Mnuchin said.

Last year, the United States took the rare step to designate the head of the central bank, Valiollah Seif, as a global terrorist, and accused the bank of funneling money to Hezbollah.

In addition to sanctioning Mr. Seif last year, the Treasury Department reimposed sanctions related to purchases of American dollars by the Iranian government, which had been suspended as part the international nuclear accord.

The new sanctions to the central bank are an additional layer over what the United States has already levied, said Ryan Fayhee, a partner at Hughes Hubbard & Reed who heads the firm’s sanctions, export controls and anti-money laundering practice. The impact of the new penalties on the development fund, Mr. Fayhee said, depends on how active or well-funded it is. If the fund has access to oil revenues, he said, the sanctions could have an impact. He said the extent of central bank interest and property in the United States is not known.

Tehran denies any role in the attacks, which hit two of the kingdom’s most important oil facilities, and Mr. Trump has stopped short of assigning definitive blame.

On Thursday, Mr. Pompeo said the president wanted a peaceful route. And in a briefing for reporters ahead of next week’s United Nations General Assembly, a senior administration official said the gathering would offer an opportunity for Trump officials to consult with a broad range of partners and allies.

President Hassan Rouhani of Iran may attend the international gathering, but has ruled out a potential meeting with Mr. Trump, who says that he wants to negotiate with the Iranians to resolve tensions over their nuclear program and foreign interventions throughout the Middle East.

Tldr : Trump pussy. Don't want war.

Saudi ambassador to Germany says all options on th

dotadellpro — Thu, 19 Sep 2019 15:09:53 +0800

Saudi ambassador to Germany says all options on the table against Iran

BERLIN (Reuters) - The Saudi ambassador to Germany said on Thursday all options were on the table in retaliation to attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities over the weekend that the kingdom has blamed on Iran.

Asked about the possibility of a military strike against Iran, he said: “Of course everything is on the table but you have to discuss that well,” Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud told Germany’s Deutschlandfunk radio.

“We’re still working on where they were launched from but wherever they came from, Iran is certainly behind them as Iran built them and they could only be launched with Iranian help,” he said.

Saudi Arabia displayed on Wednesday remnants of what it described as Iranian drones and cruise missiles used in an attack on the Saudi oil facilities, saying they were “undeniable” evidence of Iranian aggression.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-ar...o-idUSKBN1W40ID

But Trump chicken, doesn't want war.

Trump sees many options short of war with Iran after attacks on Saudis

LOS ANGELES/JEDDAH (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday there were many options short of war with Iran after U.S. ally Saudi Arabia displayed remnants of drones and missiles it said were used in a crippling attack on its oil sites that was “unquestionably sponsored” by Tehran.

“There are many options. There’s the ultimate option and there are options that are a lot less than that. And we’ll see,” Trump told reporters in Los Angeles. “I’m saying the ultimate option meaning go in — war.”

The president struck a cautious note as his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, during a visit to Saudi Arabia, described the attacks as “an act of war” on the kingdom, the world’s largest oil exporter.

Trump said on Twitter that he had ordered the U.S. Treasury to “substantially increase sanctions” on Iran, which denies carrying out the attacks, and told reporters the unspecified, punitive economic measures would be unveiled within 48 hours.

Trump’s tweet followed repeated U.S. assertions that the Islamic Republic was behind Saturday’s attacks and came hours after Saudi Arabia said the strike was a “test of global will”.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-ar...s-idUSKBN1W30TS

Habislah Arab Saudi

dotadellpro — Tue, 17 Sep 2019 12:13:54 +0800

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Aramc...hs-Analyst.html

Aramco’s Oil Disruptions Could Last Months: Analyst

Saudi Arabia’s disrupted oil production may last longer than originally thought, Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at Energy Aspects Ltd., told Bloomberg on Monday, with full resumption of oil production perhaps not returning for weeks—or even months.

Saudi Arabia, too, is holding a more reserved position that initially thought, believing now that less than half the capacity at the Abqaiq processing plant can be restored quickly, according to Bloomberg sources that spoke on condition of anonymity. One of the longer lead-time items of the restoration are Abqaiq’s stabilization towers that separates out the dissolved gas from the crude oil—a distillation process that sweetens sour crude, if you will.

Just the specialized parts to repair those towers could take months to get. Five out of the 18 stabilization towards were hit, indicating a “very specific, accurate targeting of those particular infrastructures,” Phillip Cornell, former senior corporate planning adviser to Aramco, cited by Bloomberg.

Abqaiq has a capacity of 5.7 million barrels per day of light crude.

To compensate, Aramco is bringing back online previously shuttered oilfields, and it is drawing on its oil reserves to cushion the blow. What can’t be compensated for by cranking up idled fields and siphoning off crude reserves is being satisfied by substituting a heavier grade oil—but all these emergency measures have limits.

Saudi Arabia’s stockpiles are only sufficient enough to last 26 days, according to Rystad Energy, so if the outage were to last “months” rather than days or weeks, customers may actually feel the supply crunch.

The Abqaiq oilfield was attacked on Saturday, for which the Houthi’s have taken responsibility. The United States, however, has placed the blame squarely on Iran.

Oil prices reacted violently to the attack, sending WTI and Brent crude both up more than 14% by mid-afternoon. WTI was trading at $62.59 while Brent was trading at $68.95 at 2:27pm EDT.