Internal round andnbsp, participation by 14 & nBsP, investors at an up-round with and / or Phillip Capital, and the leadWith & nbsp revenue growth of 80 % in 2023, industry-leading net profit margins in the mid-teensWORQ, Malaysia’s leading coworking provider, announced an undisclosed pre-Series B funding amidst the backdrop of…Continue Reading
In some important business, Kazakhstan has been experiencing a” head dump” of skilled and educated staff for more than ten years. This might be beginning to alter.
Fuel and gas-fueled economic development in Kazakhstan has slowed in part as a result of changes in commodities prices around the world. The government has made an effort to extend the market in order to encourage long-term growth. However, a severe skill shortage has resulted from insufficient primary education, and some skilled workers have moved abroad in search of better opportunities.
With initiatives like the Bolashak programme, which offered scholarships to Kazakhs to pursue their education at unusual universities, officials in Kazakhstan have made an effort to stop the brain drain. The system was partially successful, but it fell short in important areas like data technology. Additionally, some academics decided never to go back to Kazakhstan for personal or professional reasons.
Surprisingly, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to a significant emigration of both individuals and businesses from Russia to Kazakhstan. This is opening up a brand-new possibility for long-term” head gain” and economical advancement. However, due to an overly optimistic balancing of competing policy objectives, Kazakh policymakers run the risk of missing this chance.
Russia has experienced three significant ripples of migration since its invasion of Ukraine. Software workers and outspoken war opponents were among the first wave to flee persecution. This marked the start of a tendency for Russian small and medium-sized businesses to relocate to Kazakhstan, where Almaty is the country’s largest metropolis. The number of Soviet businesses in Kazakhstan increased by about 4,000 between January and September 2022.
Around July 2022, a second immigration wave took place. This included people with less portable businesses and families with children who were in school age who planned to leave at the start of the battle but needed longer periods of preparation.
Following the limited participation order issued by Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 21, 2022, a second wave appeared. In the week after the mobilization, 98, 000 Russians fled to Kazakhstan & nbsp.
Even as state media pundits branded the emigrants( relokants ) traitors during the first two waves, Russian officials’ responses were muted. More rage was sparked by the third wave & nbsp. For” draft dodgers and those who surrender willingly ,” Russia introduced lengthy prison sentences. In the third wave, about 700,000 Russians — mostly men qualified for partial mobilization — fled.
Relokants & nbsp, a sizable portion of the population, are fighting-age men with their families and partners. Many of them are experienced professionals in fields like artistic industries, health services, and information technology.
Some areas of northern Kazakhstan experienced significant labor shortages prior to the war, which were alleviated by the Russian immigrants. 20 job openings for Russian doctors were advertised by one district hospital in Ayagoz, Abai Province, & nbsp, and they were given” comfortable housing” as an incentive.
Obviously, a large number of immigrants likewise flocked to Almaty and Astana, two of Kazakhstan’s major cities, which helped to boost the real estate market. Rents for one-room apartments in Almaty & nbsp’s middle-income neighborhoods increased by$ 415 to$ 1040 per month between March and July 2022.
Kazakh policy must strike a balance between its domestic and foreign policy priorities and relokants & nbsp. Kazakh officials must be cautious to avoid upsetting their northern neighbour given Russian military involvement in towns like Zhanaozen during andnbsp, as well as widespread unrest in Kazakhstan during 2022. & nbsp,
Some Kazakh institutions still have remnants of Communist rule, and Kazakhstan’s primary working terminology is still Russian.
However, since the invasion of Ukraine, Kazakhs’ attitudes toward Moscow have deteriorated. The number of Kazakhs who thought Russia would invade Kazakhstan had doubled six months after the initial intrusion. Mood against war was mixed with sympathy for common Russians fleeing its repercussions.
Around the middle of 2022, a backlash against Soviet immigration started to appear on Telegram and online chat board. According to an A & nbsp poll conducted in December 2022, 38 % of Kazakhs were against the immigration of migrants. According to the ballot, worries about rising costs and apprehension about immigrant social unrest were the main causes of the growing foe. & nbsp,
30 % of respondents to the survey also expressed concern that” followers of the Russian earth” were infiltrating Kazakhstan in a concerted effort to destroy the nation.
The Kazakhstan-Russia border has historically been somewhat open because both nations are members of the Eurasian Economic Union. The Kazakh government changed its border restrictions in December 2022, prompting instructions andnbsp that officials were making long-term living in the nation unaffordable for many & nBsP, relokants. & nbsp,
More than 90 out of 180 times were no longer permitted for approaching Eurasian Economic Union visitors to stay in Kazakhstan. As a result, Soviet immigrants were compelled to obtain official documents like property permits.
Some Russians who entered Kazakhstan rather registered to stay in Uzbekistan without much trouble because they were able to get stable employment there. However, Kazakh politicians kept tightening their immigration restrictions in 2023 by mandating that registration be accompanied by knowledge of the language, history, and culture of their people.
When Kazakhstan gained its independence in 1991, Kazakhs made up only 40 % of the population and Slavs 44 %. Kazakhs will make up the majority of the people in 2023, but Russian effect will still be felt strongly. The president’s ability to accommodate immigrants is constrained by domestic political and transnational sensibilities.
The wartime wave of relokants & nbsp offers an influx of new talent, regardless of the reason for the government’s tightening of immigration. This represents Kazakhstan’s best opportunity in years to combat the supremacy of oil and gas and sluggish economic development.
Misha Monteiro-Benson works as a research associate at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute.
This andnbsp, post, and was initially published by East Asia Forum and are being reprinted with permission from Creative Commons.
Along with Israel’s much-discussed knowledge loss, there is growing awareness that many of the high-tech weapons produced by the United States and Israel don’t live up to expectations. & nbsp, Many European systems operate in a similar manner.
For instance, we were informed that the German Leopards and the Abrams tanks were far better to Russian tanks and may transform the Ukrainian battlefield. The Ukrainians understand and have publicly stated that if those vehicles are used, they will be destroyed, so much, the Abrams tanks have not been sent into war.
The Leopard vehicles were also intended to be a game-changer. However, Russian guns, uavs, and mines have destroyed the tanks despite their excellent electronics and targeting systems, cutting-edge weapons and excellent gasoline power plant.
The Europeans’ interest in a new tank to remove the Leopard and French Leclerc tank may come as no little surprise, especially the Germans, French, Spanish, and Italians. However, the concept of this cylinder predates Ukraine and needs to be updated. In any case, if a new tank is actually built, it will take between ten and fifteen years to complete.
Unfortunately, at the same time that Israeli intelligence failed in its mission, we don’t know if that failure was technological or analytical. In Israel, the highly successful Iron Dome air defense system & nbsp was swamped by thousands of Hamas missiles and unable to protect civilians from missile damage.
What we do know is that Hamas was able to breach Israel’s sophisticated fence system on the Gaza border and launch a massive land invasion while also launching airborne attacks( missiles, drone, & nbsp, paragliders) and seaborne assaults( go-fast boats ).
Additionally, there is a statement claiming that Iron Dome’s communications and nbsp IP addresses were compromised. The revelation of Iron Dome’s Internet addresses could result in the system being blocked or diverted, but this record has not been verified and may never be. & nbsp,
The issue of security affects command and control systems in the US, Europe, and Israel. & nbsp, Because the Russians have created a variety of jamming systems, there have been significant issues with Western hardware in Ukraine.
A picture of the Stinger missile’s issue is available. Stingers gained notoriety in the middle of the 1980s when the US gave them to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan, where the transportable one-man air defense weapon was used to destroy low-flying Russian aircraft gunships, transportation aircraft, and fighters. The Russians lacked efficient defenses. & nbsp,
More than 1,400 Stinger missiles, both from battle stocks, have been sent by the US to Ukraine. The 250 Stingers were suddenly delivered in May of last year after Taiwan’s order for them was delayed from 2019 to 2023. & nbsp,
The US no longer produces innovative Stingers; instead, it only renovates existing ones. The US Army has today announced a plan to launch an” faster and more survivable” Stinger weapon. RTX and Lockheed Martin, two protection companies, are preparing to face off against one another to create the Stinger’s replacement. & nbsp, However, the project has come to a halt because there is currently no funding available.
The Army estimates that it will take five years to create the fresh Stinger. & nbsp, Then the missiles will need to be produced, which will take an additional two to four years. & nbsp, In reality, it means that the US will only have a small number of outdated Stinger missiles because the majority of them have been sold to foreign buyers, particularly Ukraine.
The Army has discovered that Russian blocking systems have exposed older Stingers, which is also noteworthy. Additionally, The Army is aware that Choppers are not very effective against drones, which lowers expectations that they will be a match for extremely potent armor-killing aircraft like Russia’s Lancet. & nbsp,
The Ukraine War appears to have taught the Army a valuable lessons, but it is still taking some time to develop an option. & nbsp,
Additionally, it significantly complicates the standard platform by giving the potential Stinger a ability against drones. Additionally, the Army has not thought about using a man-portable anti-drone weapon and an aeroplane weapon separately.
The Army has also decided that it will try to design a” new” Abrams, known as the M1E3, rather than upgrading the existing Abrahms tanks that are already in stock— a project it has already started calling & nbsp, SEPv4.
The Army wants to make the M1E3 a ground-up style that is lighter and better protected, particularly from behind attacks from enemy planes and robots. & nbsp, It has long been understood that tanks are more vulnerable from above due to a lack of armor protection.
Instead of continuing with the Jewish Trophy Active Defense System, which now provides 360-degree protection, the Army wants to build in effective protection. & nbsp, The Army claims that Trophy is too heavy given the tank’s enormous weight even without Trophy installed. Without team, ammunition, or add-on systems, the Abrams container currently weighs 70 tons.
With some of the Leopards and British Challengers stuck in mud and smooth surface, Ukraine has shown that large heavy vehicles have significant running issues there. Additionally, ultra-heavy tanks immediately tear up roads and clear tank tracks.
The Army’s ability to produce the M1E3 Abrams container is unknown. The plan is no finalized, and it might not be feasible.
A specific issue coming out of Ukraine is the risk of mine. The Russians have flooded areas and roads with air-launched mine. It is challenging to clear them, and the Russians have consistently destroyed mine-clearing tools provided by the US and NATO.
The Russians have also improved their mine-clearing collection costs in the interim. Forbes claims that the MICLIC system is a” rocket-propelled, rope-like explosive.” The series charge is carried across the minefield by the rocket as it is propelled into the air. The plan is for the ensuing burst to set off any underground mines, rapidly clearing a path.
World War II saw the development of MICLIC methods, and Canada produced the Snake and Conger, two-man compact models. The British created Giant Viper, a much more extensive structure, in the 1950s.
The M58 is the latest US system. Ukraine has received it, but few, if any, of them have been observed on the field. & nbsp, For transportation, it needs a truck or an armored vehicle.
US armoured cars, particularly the Bradley, have performed poorly in Ukraine, much like tank. Similar to the German Marder, France’s AMX – 10C, and other armored personnel carriers, Russian artillery, mining, helicopters outfitted with anti-tank and nbsp, as well as missiles and drones like the Lancet, have shown to be effective goals. In addition, & nbsp,
There are solutions to defend the topside of armoured vehicles, but there aren’t many options to shield the armor’s bottom.
The US has long been aware that mine were a problem for weapons, whether they were used by an enemy with specialized equipment or even by shady organizations like al Qaeda, the Taliban, and ISIS in Iraq and Afghanistan.
These adversaries employed makeshift explosives( IEDs ). Because they were constructed from larger gun shells and had a triggering system, IEDS were frequently better to little land mines.
Some people used basic car door openers or mobile devices. Others used force plates to set off an explosion. Others, particularly IEDs in populated areas, were hard-wired to a local controller. In addition, & nbsp,
Mine Resistant Ambush Protected ( MRAP ) vehicles were created by the US to transport troops. & nbsp, Mine weight is usually achieved by deflecting violent chargers using a V-Hull style. Big tires, an elevated interruption to lessen blast effects, and domestic blast-resistant seats help to reduce the vehicle’s ability to withstand an IED or mine explosion.
The US-made M1224( and various versions ) MaxxPro MRAP is one method that can be seen on the Ukrainian battlefield. 200 MaxxPros & nbsp have been sent by the US to Ukraine, where they are being used as attack vehicles. The outcomes are almost homicidal. & nbsp,
Oryx claims that as of October, Ukraine had already lost 62 MaxxPros( 47 completely destroyed, 8 damaged, 5 abandoned, and 2 captured ), or more than 30 % of the supplied vehicles. It is unknown if gun, anti-tank weapons, drones, or plane gunships were used to destroy the vehicles. MRAPs are a fairly safe way to transport troops away from the entrance lines, but they are extremely vulnerable otherwise, it is likely to be demonstrated once all the evidence is in. & nbsp,
A MRAP you transport about 10 soldiers and generally has a team of three. In addition, & nbsp,
Effective safety, better weapons and failsafe systems, ranging from mechanical systems like smoke canisters to advanced electro-optical jamming systems can help to mitigate some of the weaknesses of armoured systems. These vulnerabilities can be found in tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, or armor-equipped troop carriers like MRAPs.
One way to make it more difficult for an foe to pin this equipment is to use tanks and armor with small thermal signatures that you run at night without headlights. This would also necessitate the enemy having great night vision equipment connected to their anti-tank weapons.
However, the fact remains that on the current field, armor of all kinds faces significant survival challenges. Whether contemporary armored platforms are still front-line weapons is one of the unanswered & nbsp questions. Unfortunately, there aren’t many great choices.
By moving troops at night and launching attacks from ahead positions at dawn, Ukraine has attempted to penetrate the battlefield with sparse armor. It has occasionally hitched rides on pickup trucks and outdated vehicles. Ukraine has paid a very high price for using what amounts to an updated human wave attack, according to & nbsp. & nbsp,
Similar issues recently surfaced in Israel, where the opponent invaded enemy territory with only mild weapons, forcing the Jewish defenders to engage in combat with guns and rifles. Heavy equipment was not of much use, & nbsp. Israel suffered numerous civil and military deaths.
Americans should be aware that even if all the money in the world is immediately available and all developing potential is entirely functional, replacing lost tools, teaching lessons, or developing new solutions can take period— in reality years. & nbsp, However, the alternative — moving forward without making any changes— is even worse.
The US Army and, most likely, its NATO allies are now realizing that the NATO alliance & nbsp’s approach to warfighting needs to change immediately. This was evident well before the Ukraine War because calculations revealed some of the key issues.
Israel must change its doctrines andnbsp in order to accurately account for the new threats it faces once it has overcome the quick crisis or even during this problems.
It is abundantly clear that the entire strategy, as well as the theory and capabilities of warfighting, need to be updated, revised, and, in some cases, eliminated.
Stephen Bryen, who oversaw the Near East Subcommittee of the
As a lieutenant director of security, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and nbsp
is currently a senior fellow at Yorktown Institute and the & nbsp, Center for Security Policy.
His Substack, Weapons, and Strategy was the original subject of this andnbsp’s content. Asia Times is republishing it with their consent, nbsp.
Youth unemployment is a problem that affects all countries, but in China, the level of 21.3 % is particularly concerning because it could have an impact on other markets and political relationships in addition to being high.
The National Bureau of Statistics of China announced it would stop reporting age-specific data because it needed to” increase and improve labour force study statistics” at the same time as the rate’s discharge, which more than doubled the pre-Covid rate of May 2018.
Because of societal expectations and state policy, youth unemployment is a complicated problem, but it is even more so in China.
According to the Hukou structure, families in China must register before their residence, place of employment, and access to public services are all decided by the authorities.
Remote residents are frequently prevented by the system from utilizing industrial opportunities, which can affect their employment prospects.
The objectives that come with being the only child in the family as a result of China’s one-child scheme, which was abandoned just seven years ago, only serve to increase the stress and uncertainty felt by this demographic.
Lian Si, a sociologist, coined the term” Ant Tribe” in 2009 to describe highly educated young people trapped in low-paying, temporary jobs that impede skill development.
These young people are unable to amass cultural funds, which creates a vicious cycle that is difficult to break. This highlights a break in the profession ecology and reduces their return on their educational investment.
The” Ant Tribe” phenomenon is more than just a sign of a flawed economy. It also reveals a deeper emotional and psychological issue. Being over-educated and underemployed causes significant emotional trauma, including anxiety, depression and hopelessness.
Social changes like the” lying flat” movement and the rise of” full-time children” in China further complicate this emotional toll.
These trends redefine household expectations and challenge established standards of success, adding a new layer to the emotional challenges the younger generation faces. Long-term effects can result in a less effective and impressive workplace.
There is a disconnect between school programs and job market requirements despite the rapid growth of higher education.
Programs frequently prioritize idea over practical abilities, leaving graduates unprepared for the workforce. For instance, executive students may concentrate on calculations and theories while ignoring practical applications like internships.
Furthermore, the market is flooded with overqualified applicants, particularly in the engineering, finance, and healthcare industries. This disparity encourages numerous people to pursue further studies.
4.74 million individuals took the graduate entrance examination in 2023, a startling 135 % increase over the 2.01 million test-takers in 2017. Children unemployment and underemployment are made worse by this pattern.
The children unemployment issue in China has a ripple effect that should not be understated. High unemployment costs, particularly in countries with a sizable children people, can cause civil unrest, according to UNICEF warnings.
By obtaining a social certificate based on economic stability and prosperity, the Chinese Communist Party has long maintained its autocratic stance.
China may undergo a major internal energy transition if rising youngsters unemployment undermines this license by encouraging social disengagement or radicalization.
For unrest may flow over into foreign relations in a world that is increasingly attached. Particularly among countries with nearby financial ties to China, civil unrest can make a country less firm and thus less appealing to foreign investment.
Given China’s crucial role in global supply stores, such an inner turmoil also poses a threat to destroy supply chain worldwide.
Domestic strife and social unrest can have an impact on a nation’s international relations, as demonstrated by historic examples like the Arab Spring and Brexit.
The Arab Spring resulted in the overthrow of numerous governments, local unrest, an impact on world oil prices, and the need for European nations to reevaluate their overseas policies.
Similar to how Brexit affected international trade agreements, caused social restructuring, and forced the European Union to reevaluate its foreign policy as a whole.
Although youth unemployment is a worldwide issue, we cannot afford to ignore it given the scope of the issue in China and its potential wider impact on connected markets.
China can draw plan inspiration from other nations’ effective initiatives, like Germany’s two vocational training system. In order to better match education with labor market demands, this system makes sure that students are both professionally prepared and almost experienced.
It’s also important to address the urban / rural divide. China may encourage job growth in rural places by providing financial incentives, such as tax breaks and offers. Related strategies have been used in Australia and the US to draw medical professionals to sparsely populated areas.
The psychological impact of chronic poverty, which gets worse the longer graduates are unemployed, needs to be reduced in China as well. The problem has gotten worse since Covid, with 40 % of Chinese children reportedly being prone to mental health issues.
This is where companies for young people‘s mental heath, like those offered in Australia, might be helpful. These programs not only help the person, but they also help create a more involved, productive workforce that is crucial for the health of the country.
The unstable nature of the concert market has the potential to make the unemployment issue worse. Some Western nations, like France and the Netherlands, take job staff into account and provide social security benefits. In China, a similar concept could be used to offer advantages like pension plans and health insurance.
Last but not least, the scope and complexity of adolescent employment call for a multi-pronged strategy that crosses national boundaries.
Countries may actively collaborate on global initiatives to create career opportunities for youth and deliberately discuss effective employment strategies. The secret to creating a fresh, productive workforce that is stable worldwide is collaboration.
It’s not just a good plan to invest in younger people. It is morally necessary for shared growth and international security.
Senior Lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington’s Te Herenga Waka is Christian Yao.
Under a Creative Commons license, this post has been republished from The Conversation. read the article in its entirety.
An export restrictions agreement meant to keep Seoul in line with Washington’s larger tech war against China will allow North Korean tech companies to send American chip-making tools to their factories in China without getting agreement from US authorities.
The US Commerce Department is updating its” validated close person” list, according to South Korea’s presidential office, on Monday( October 9) to enable chipmakers Samsung and SK Hynix to provide specific US chip-making devices to their China-based production facilities for an indefinite period.
Which entities may get exports of which technology is particularly indicated on the list. Companies on the list are exempt from licensing requirements in order to deliver US software products to China. & nbsp,
In response to the US news, Choi Sang-mok, South Korea’s senior political minister for economic matters, stated that” difficulties about North Korean silicon firms’ operations and investments in China have been greatly eased.” & nbsp,
On the other hand, Foreign critics were less than enthusiastic about the carefully considered US choice. & nbsp,
An unknown investment in the chip industry stated to the Economic Observer in China on Tuesday that the US’s most recent decision should not be interpreted as a rest of the nations’ device export restrictions against China. To suggest that the US will remove its chip limits for Chinese chipmakers is premature.
He pointed out that North Korean chipmakers operate independently on the mainland of China and do not frequently collaborate or interact with native Taiwanese manufacturers. The US statement, according to him, will only strengthen economic ties between China and South Korea and lessen geopolitical tensions in the area. & nbsp,
According to a Chinese device expert, the US statement aims to lessen the damaging effects of its sanctions against China on the two South Korean companies, which are powerful negotiators because of their dominance in the memory chip industry. & nbsp,
As of the end of June this year, Samsung and SK Hynix jointly held a 50 % share in the global NAND flash market and 70 % share, according to market intelligence provider Trendforce.
Currently, Samsung manufactures 40 % of its NAND chips at its Xi’an, China, plant, compared to SK Hynix’s 20 % and 40 % DRAM chips, respectively, in Dalian and Wuxi.
DRAM chips, which are typically used in gadgets to speed up getting, lose the data they store when the power is turned off. NAND cards, which are primarily used in USB memory sticks and painful drives, can store data without power.
In an article, a Hubei-based author with the last name Wu asserts that the US wants North Korean businesses to outdo their Chinese competitors by pouring their memory chips into Chinese markets.
” The US forbade all China-based chipmakers, with the exception of South Asian ones, from obtaining its chip-making machinery.” What caused it to do that? Wu claims. ” The US may want to use South Korean companies to reduce China’s semiconductor business ,” we may be warned.
He claims that the US wants to support North Korean businesses in order to drive out Chinese rivals after realizing that its limits had failed to stop China from grooming its unique chipmakers over the past few years. He asserts that in the 1980s, the US employed the exact strategy to stifle Japan’s chip industry. & nbsp,
In order to give local chipmakers and their vendors enough money to survive and expand their businesses, he adds, China should promote its state-owned enterprises to purchase Chinese chips. & nbsp,
The Bureau of Industry and Security ( BIS ) of the US Commerce Department put a number of new restrictions on China’s chip industry on October 7 of last year. At the time, it stated that in order to receive US chip-making tools, any China-based chip factory that produces DRAM cards of 18 micrometers or less or NAND flash memory cards with 128 layers or more must apply for a certificate. In addition, & nbsp,
It stated that while services owned by multinational corporations will be decided on a case-by-case schedule, those held by Chinese institutions will likely be denied.
The US government after granted Samsung and SK Hynix a one-year waiver to remain shipping US goods to China in response to their opposition. Media reports in late August claimed that the US would prolong the exemption, which was set to expire on October 11th. The ban has now been lifted indefinitely by the two Vietnamese companies. & nbsp,
The US choice, according to Samsung, will considerably allay concerns about how its chip factories in China will operate. However, SK Hynix stated that the choice will contribute to stabilizing global semiconductor products.
The two biggest memory chip producers in China are Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp ( YMTC ) and ChangXin Memory technologies( CXMT ). According to reports, YMTC is able to produce 232-layer NAND chips( the more layers there are, the more store there is on a memory chip ). Now, CXMT may produce 19nm DRAM chips. & nbsp,
In contrast, Samsung has begun mass-producing 236-layer NAND fries and plans to do so in 2024. In order to make 321-layer Switch cards in the first half of 2025, SK Hynix is currently producing 10nm DRAM bits and 238 – layerNAND chip. & nbsp,
According to some Chinese critics, Samsung and SK Hynix can then increase their China-based creation and possibly launch a price war to take over China’s market. They claimed that several Chinese manufacturers of digital goods might try to use South Asian chips, which are typically of higher quality than those produced in China. & nbsp,
Huawei Technologies unveiled the Mate60 Pro, its flagship handset, on August 29. Its Kirin 9000s computer was a self-developed model. & nbsp,
The Kirn 9000s is a 7nm chip made by China’s top chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp( SMIC ), according to Canadian research firm TechInsights. Additionally, it claimed to have discovered two SK Hynix chips — a DRAM and a NAND chip — in the Mate60 Pro.
According to public data, SK Hynix’s DRAM and NAND chips could be produced at speeds of 50 % and 100 %, respectively, faster than those of CXMT and YMTC.
Read: The US extends the China device pavement waiver for the fabs of the allies.
@ jeffpao3 Follow Jeff Pao on Twitter at & nbsp.
A street has started to be built through Egyptian country from Azerbaijan to its procedure Nakhchivan. The” Zangezur Corridor” road, which would have connected Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan via the southern Armenian province of Syunik, will likely be replaced by this one.
Armenia had pledged to build such a path in Point 9 of the Trilateral Declaration signed in November 2020 to put an end to the Second Karabakh War’s military conflicts.
Armenia was required by that declaration to” unblock” and” guarantee the security of transport connections” as well as” arrange unhindered movement of people, vehicles, and cargo in both directions” between” the western regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.”
However, the multilateral interministerial meetings that would have planned and carried out the building of road and rail connections were repeatedly postponed and ultimately canceled by formal Yerevan( Russia was the third, facilitating party ).
Unusual meetings were held, in fits and begins, including this year, but this task has now been overtaken by events, even though it may also be realized in the future.
It is important to note that, despite claims to the contrary, Azerbaijan did not intend to make this road extrajudicial or even a part of it. The Lachin path, which is neither extralegal to Azerbaijan nor a part of Armenia, was placed parallel to this road in the Trilateral Declaration.
In fact, the Trilateral Declaration states that the Russian FSB’s Border Service had safeguard the Zangezur Corridor in the same way that it currently safeguards almost all of Armenian and Azerbaijani edges.
A major change in local dynamics may be brought about by the building of a road through Egyptian territory from Azerbaijan to its procedure Nakhchivan.
A groundbreaking meeting for the building of a bridge bridge with customs and border infrastructure was held on October 6 in Aghband, in the Zangilan district of Azerbaijan, by Shahin Mustafayev, the country’s deputy prime minister, and Mehrdad Bazrpash, an Egyptian minister of roads and industrial development.
To join to the Egyptian state of Eastern Azerbaijan, the gate will cross the Araz River. Both the development of rail links and a bridge for road traffic are anticipated.
In March 2022, a memorandum of understanding for the construction of the new highway had been signed. However, this political development was halted in late January of this year when an Egyptian person launched a fatal attack on the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran.
The consequences were instant: Azerbaijan closed its embassy, and in the past 30 years, diplomatic relations, which have always been complicated for complex historical reasons, have reached their lowest point.
Azerbaijan demanded that the offender be put on trial. The special aide to the president of Azerbaijan, Khalaf, met with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Tehran two weeks after the attacker was found guilty and given a death sentence in early October.
Amir-Abdollahian stated that Iran is” decided to expand ties” with Azerbaijan” in all areas” in addition to the fact that the ambassador of that country will be reopened.
Although the details of intra-elite conflicts within the Egyptian leadership are unclear, one might speculate that the assault may have been sparked by factions opposed to the road’s construction for their own specific reasons. These parties appear to have lost that social conflict as a result.
Within the Republic of Azerbaijan, Nakhchivan is regarded as an automatic state. It was treated similarly in Soviet Azerbaijan.
Just in 1922, the Turkish Republic recognized Nakhchivan as a part of Azerbaijan and provided Turkey with an immediate borders with it through the March 1921 Treaty of Moscow between Soviet Russia( the USSR ). Seven months later, the Treaty of Kars, which designated Turkey( and Russia ) as a guarantee of Nakhchivan’s reputation as an independent republic within Azerbaijan, confirmed this status.
So, it was symbolical when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Iranian President Ilham Aliyev on September 17 in Nakhchivan town. At that meeting, Erdogan publicly welcomed any Iranian involvement in the building of a street leading from the primary body of the country to Nakchidan.
In order to stop the exclave’s reliance on Iranian oil imports, the meeting was held as part of a groundbreaking meeting for the development of an extensive petrol pipeline from the Turkish city of Igdir.
The pipeline is designed to deliver 730 million cubic meters per year( mcm / y ), which could then be doubled if there is enough demand. The current gas demand is estimated to be 500 million cubes per y. This clause implies that Baku anticipates Nakhchivan’s active economic growth and potential population growth.
As many as 180, 000 Azerbaijanis lived in Armenia’s Syunik province in 1987 and 1988, even before Armenian military forces started fighting in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast( NKAO ) during the Soviet era. In Azerbaijan, they underwent ethnic cleansing and became migrants.
It is noticeable that this frequently overlooked ethnic cleansing occurred prior to the NKAO’s early unilateral declaration of independence in 1988.
Some Azerbaijanis who were forcibly expelled from southern Armenia are still intact today. With its traditional recollection, Azerbaijan proposes that the profit of Armenians to Karabakh may be mirrored by the same return to the ancient homelands of the people of that country in southwestern Armenia. Armenia may gain from such a walk, according to Azerbaijan, which would also be an act of justice.
The proposed Zangezur Corridor path may spur economic growth and alter the financial sociology of the area. It might help Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan establish a center school outside of Yerevan.
Although intergovernmental negotiations over a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan may result in new understandings in this regard, the revelation of this vision appears ambiguous at this time.
A code of ethics and governance for artificial intelligence ( AI ) is being developed by the Malaysian Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation( MOSTI ) in collaboration with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, representatives of government organizations, institutions of higher learning. In a Facebook article on Tuesday, October 10, Minister ofContinue Reading
RUDE HARASSMENT Japan increased the maximum time for new soldiers from 26 to 32 in 2018 in an effort to stop the collapse. The July report suggested that using more autonomous aircraft in the air, on property, and at sea is another option. According to reports, the army is evenContinue Reading
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A blackmail scam is using instant loan apps to entrap and humiliate people across India and other countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. At least 60 Indians have killed themselves after being abused and threatened. A BBC undercover investigation has exposed those profiting from this deadly scam in India and China.
Astha Sinhaa woke up to her aunt’s panicked voice on the phone. “Don’t let your mother leave the house.”
Half-asleep, the 17-year-old was terrified to find her mum Bhoomi Sinhaa in the next room, sobbing and frantic.
Here was her funny and fearless mother, a respected Mumbai-based property lawyer, a widow raising her daughter alone, reduced to a frenzied mess.
“She was breaking apart,” Astha says. A panicked Bhoomi started telling her where all the important documents and contacts were, and seemed desperate to get out of the door.
Astha knew she had to stop her. “Don’t let her out of your sight,” her aunt had told her. “Because she will end her life.”
Astha knew her mother had been getting some weird calls and that she owed somebody money, but she had no idea that Bhoomi was reeling from months of harassment and psychological torture.
She had fallen victim to a global scam with tentacles in at least 14 countries that uses shame and blackmail to make a profit – destroying lives in the process.
The business model is brutal but simple.
There are many apps that promise hassle-free loans in minutes. Not all of them are predatory. But many – once downloaded – harvest your contacts, photos and ID cards, and use that information later to extort you.
When customers don’t repay on time – and sometimes even when they do – they share this information with a call centre where young agents of the gig economy, armed with laptops and phones are trained to harass and humiliate people into repayment.
At the end of 2021, Bhoomi had borrowed about 47,000 rupees ($565; £463) from several loan apps while she waited for some work expenses to come through. The money arrived almost immediately but with a big chunk deducted in charges. Seven days later she was due to repay but her expenses still hadn’t been paid, so she borrowed from another app and then another. The debt and interest spiralled until she owed about two million rupees ($24,000; £19,655).
Soon the recovery agents started calling. They quickly turned nasty, slamming Bhoomi with insults and abuse. Even when she had paid, they claimed she was lying. They called up to 200 times a day. They knew where she lived, they said, and sent her pictures of a dead body as a warning.
As the abuse escalated they threatened to message all of the 486 contacts in her phone telling them she was a thief and a whore. When they threatened to tarnish her daughter’s reputation too, Bhoomi could no longer sleep.
She borrowed from friends, family and more and more apps – 69 in total. At night, she prayed the morning would never come. But without fail at 07:00, her phone would start pinging and buzzing incessantly.
Eventually, Bhoomi had managed to pay back all of the money, but one app in particular – Asan Loan – wouldn’t stop calling. Exhausted, she couldn’t concentrate at work and started having panic attacks.
One day a colleague called her over to his desk and showed her something on his phone – a naked, pornographic picture of her.
The photo had been crudely photoshopped, Bhoomi’s head stuck on someone else’s body, but it filled her with disgust and shame. She collapsed by her colleague’s desk. It had been sent by Asan Loan to every contact in her phone book. That was when Bhoomi thought of killing herself.
We’ve seen evidence of scams like this run by various companies all over the world. But in India alone, the BBC has found at least 60 people have killed themselves after being harassed by loan apps.
Most were in their 20s and 30s – a fireman, an award-winning musician, a young mum and dad leaving behind their three- and five-year-old daughters, a grandfather and grandson who got involved in loan apps together. Four were just teenagers.
Most victims are too ashamed to speak about the scam, and the perpetrators have remained, for the most part, anonymous and invisible. After looking for an insider for months, the BBC managed to track down a young man who had worked as a debt recovery agent for call centres working for multiple loan apps.
Rohan – not his real name – told us he had been troubled by the abuse he had witnessed. Many customers cried, some threatened to kill themselves, he said. “It would haunt me all night.” He agreed to help the BBC expose the scam.
He applied for a job in two different call centres – Majesty Legal Services and Callflex Corporation – and spent weeks filming undercover.
His videos captured young agents harassing clients. “Behave or I will smash you,” one woman says, swearing. She accuses the customer of incest and, when he hangs up, she starts laughing. Another suggests the client should prostitute his mother to repay the loan.
Rohan recorded over 100 incidents of harassment and abuse, capturing this systematic extortion on camera for the first time.
The worst abuse he witnessed took place at Callflex Corporation, just outside Delhi. Here, agents routinely used obscene language to humiliate and threaten customers. These were not rogue agents going off-script – they were supervised and directed by managers at the call centre, including one called Vishal Chaurasia.
Rohan gained Chaurasia’s trust, and together with a journalist posing as an investor, arranged a meeting at which they asked him to explain exactly how the scam works.
When a customer takes out a loan, he explained, they give the app access to the contacts on their phone. Callflex Corporation is hired to recover the money – and if the customer misses a payment the company starts hassling them, and then their contacts. His staff can say anything, Chaurasia told them, as long as they get a repayment.
“The customer then pays because of the shame,” he said. “You’ll find at least one person in his contact list who can destroy his life.”
We approached Chaurasia directly but he did not want to comment. Callflex Corporation did not respond to our efforts to contact them.
One of the many lives destroyed was Kirni Mounika’s.
The 24-year-old civil servant was the brains of her family, the only student at her school to get a government job, a doting sister to her three brothers. Her father, a successful farmer, was ready to support her to do a masters in Australia.
The Monday she took her own life, three years ago, she had hopped on her scooter to go to work as usual.
“She was all smiles,” her father, Kirni Bhoopani, says.
It was only when police reviewed Mounika’s phone and bank statements that they found out she had borrowed from 55 different loan apps. It started with a loan of 10,000 rupees ($120; £100) and spiralled to more than 30 times that. By the time she decided to kill herself, she had paid back more than 300,000 rupees ($3,600; £2,960).
Police say the apps harassed her with calls and vulgar messages – and had started messaging her contacts.
Mounika’s room is now a makeshift shrine. Her government ID card hangs by the door, the bag her mum packed for a wedding still lying there.
The thing that upsets her father the most is that she hadn’t told him what was going on. “We could have easily arranged the money,” he says, wiping tears from his eyes.
He’s furious at the people who did this.
As he was taking his daughter’s body home from the hospital her phone rang and he answered to an obscenity-laden rant. “They told us she has to pay,” he says. “We told them she was dead.”
He wondered who these monsters could be.
Hari – not his real name – worked at a call centre doing recovery for one of the apps Mounika had borrowed from. The pay was good but by the time Mounika died he was already feeling uneasy about what he was part of.
Although he claims not to have made abusive calls himself – he says he was in the team that made initial polite calls – he told us managers instructed staff to abuse and threaten people.
The agents would send messages to a victim’s contacts, painting the victim as a fraud and a thief.
“Everyone has a reputation to maintain in front of their family. No-one is going to spoil that reputation for the measly sum of 5,000 rupees,” he says.
Once a payment had been made the system would ping “Success!” and they would move on to the next client.
When clients started threatening to take their own lives nobody took it seriously – then the suicides started happening. The staff called their boss, Parshuram Takve, to ask if they should stop.
The following day Takve appeared in the office. He was angry. “He said, ‘Do what you’re told and make recoveries,'” Hari says. So they did.
A few months later, Mounika was dead.
Takve was ruthless. But he wasn’t running this operation alone. Sometimes, Hari says, the software interface would switch to Chinese without warning.
Takve was married to a Chinese woman called Liang Tian Tian. Together, they had set up the loan recovery business, Jiyaliang, in Pune, where Hari worked.
In December 2020, Takve and Liang were arrested by police investigating a case of harassment and released on bail a few months later.
In April 2022 they were charged with extortion, intimidation and abetment of suicide. By the end of the year they were on the run.
We couldn’t track down Takve. But when we investigated the apps Jiyaliang worked for, it led us to a Chinese businessman called Li Xiang.
He has no online presence, but we found a phone number linked to one of his employees and, posing as investors, set up a meeting with Li.
With his face shoved uncomfortably close to the camera, he bragged about his businesses in India.
“We are still operating now, just not letting Indians know we are a Chinese company,” he said.
Back in 2021, two of Li’s companies had been raided by Indian police investigating harassment by loan apps. Their bank accounts had been frozen.
“You need to understand that because we aim to recover our investment quickly, we certainly don’t pay local taxes, and the interest rates we offer violate local laws,” he says.
Li told us his company has its own loan apps in India, Mexico and Colombia. He claimed to be an industry leader in risk control and debt collection services in South East Asia, and is now expanding across Latin America and Africa – with more than 3,000 staff in Pakistan, Bangladesh and India ready to provide “post-loan services”.
Then he explained what his company does to recover loans.
“If you don’t repay, we may add you on WhatsApp, and on the third day, we will call and message you on WhatsApp at the same time, and call your contacts. Then, on the fourth day, if your contacts don’t pay, we have specific detailed procedures.
“We access his call records and capture a lot of his information. Basically, it’s like he’s naked in front of us.”
Your phone is private. Or is it? A BBC investigation exposes the blackmail scam causing misery across India.
Promising easy money, loan app scammers collect personal data from customers’ phones and then use that information to threaten or humiliate people into repayment. BBC Eye goes undercover to take you inside the loan app scam, and to expose the people making money from misery, fear, and shame.
Watch on iPlayer (UK only)
Bhoomi Sinha could handle the harassment, the threats, the abuse and the exhaustion – but not the shame of being linked to that pornographic image.
“That message actually stripped me naked in front of the entire world,” she says. “I lost my self-respect, my morality, my dignity, everything in a second.”
It was shared with lawyers, architects, government officials, elderly relatives and friends of her parents – people who would never look at her in the same way again.
“It has tarnished the core of me, like if you join a broken glass, there will still be cracks on it,” she says.
She has been ostracised by neighbours in the community she has lived in for 40 years.
“As of today, I have no friends. It’s just me I guess,” she says with a sad chuckle.
Some of her family still don’t speak to her. And she constantly wonders whether the men she works with are picturing her naked.
The morning that her daughter Astha found her she was at her lowest ebb. But it was also the moment she decided to fight back. “I don’t want to die like this,” she decided.
She filed a police report but has heard nothing since. All she could do was change her number and get rid of her sim card – and when Astha started receiving calls her daughter destroyed hers too. She told friends, family and colleagues to ignore the calls and messages and, eventually, they all but stopped.
Bhoomi found support in her sisters, her boss and an online community of others abused by loan apps. But mostly, she found strength in her daughter.
“I must have done something good to be given a daughter like this,” she says. “If she hadn’t stood by me then I would have been one of the many people who’ve killed themselves because of loan apps.”
We put the allegations in this report to Asan Loan – and also, through contacts, to Liang Tian Tian and Parshuram Takve, who are in hiding. Neither the company nor the couple responded.
When asked for comment, Li Xiang told the BBC that he and his companies comply with all local laws and regulations, have never run predatory loan apps, have ceased collaboration with Jiyaliang, the loan recovery company run by Liang Tian Tian and Parshuram Takve, and do not collect or use customers’ contact information.
He said his loan recovery call centres adhere to strict standards and he denied profiting from the suffering of ordinary Indians.
Majesty Legal Services deny using customers’ contacts to recover loans. They told us their agents are instructed to avoid abusive or threatening calls, and any violation of the company’s policies results in dismissal.
Additional reporting by Ronny Sen, Shwetika Prashar, Syed Hasan, Ankur Jain and the BBC Eye team. Thanks also to the undercover reporters who cannot be named for their safety.
The most important lessons that Israel can learn from the horrifying Hamas problems over the past weekend is that terrorists cannot be controlled. & nbsp,
Israel collaborated for many years with Hamas and the Palestinian Authority( PA ) by fusing incentives with restrained military actions. Big assaults, such as rockets from Gaza last May, led to revenge, typically with heat energy, and a cease-fire that was frequently broken by Egypt.
The Israel Defense Forces( IDF) carried out on-the-ground operations in Jenin and Nablus when Iranian-sponsored armies set up arms in the West Bank.
Israel granted the US permission to mediate a maritime boundary semi-deal with Hezbollah last year, enabling Lebanon to pump natural gas and benefit financially from the deal, which will benefit the latter and be used to move the Beirut government.
All in an effort to put out fires that might start a large fire.
The plan was made up of several parts. The first is” world mind,” specifically American state viewpoint, which may turn against Israel if it didn’t respond to terrorism in a way that was consistent with clearly Western standards. Israel thought that any military action needed to be swift in order to prevent retaliation from allies and friends as well as from adversaries.
Israel has also generally thought that there will be a political option at some point. Israeli leaders, such as Hamas or the PA, may have been upset with Israeli leadership, but they also spoke to them, provided them with subsidies, ignored language that veered into Nazi trope, and actually invited them to breakfast. & nbsp,
The logical response to evil was to avoid using excessive force and to pursue specific terrorists, not the management, as much as possible, often leaving the door wide open for further discussion.
Israel also believed it may eliminate enemy assets using its long-range capabilities, particularly airpower. This occasionally served as a form of revenge, but it was never able to stop the large buildup of Iranian-financed and supplied weapons, including missiles and weapons.
No six months after the Spring jet wars, Hamas recently proved this by launching thousands of rockets into Israel and destroying its heat defenses.
Israel was even aware that the US and Europe, in addition to Iran and its allies like Qatar, provided billions of dollars to the Palestinians. Violence and anger were greatly fueled by it, both directly and indirectly. & nbsp,
Israel itself provides fresh water and gas in addition to food assistance and Jewish work permits. Before the trip, 2 million Gaza Palestinians entered Israel every moment, totaling 18, 000. In some ways, it was done to aid the populace. It was intended to appease or lower Hamas, according to another.
It was no closer to being true than the Obama and Biden administrations’ offers of US economic assistance for Iran, which either appeased or moderated Tehran’s mian program.
Israelis have grown accustomed to weapon attacks from Gaza, according to a highly experienced Jewish expert who wrote about the intellect loss andnbsp that allowed Hamas attack preparations to go unnoticed. In other words, Israel built up some defenses, retaliated, and then believed it was in control of the situation while actually losing the larger war.
After vegetables and stones failed, there is no turning back. Israel needs to change its strategy as more media attention reveals the shocking wickedness of Hamas terrorists when they discovered Jewish and even international civilians to rape and kill — people were burned alive and babies were beheaded.
Some Israeli citizens have lost faith in their political institutions as a result of internal political unrest there. Although there is some temporary 1 as a result of the Gaza War and it is obvious that soldiers are loyal to the IDF, that won’t be enough. & nbsp,
Israel needs a new security approach and an inner political alternative. A strong surveillance part in the unity government would be an important step forward.
According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he wants to” love Gaza.” What does that think, though? As some victims held in Gaza will be released by Israel, who will also take in the military. Then Israel will pursue when some Hamas frontrunners as it can get, but many of them will probably attempt to cross the Egyptian border.
Who will be in charge of the Gaza Strip if and when Hamas is removed from power? Israel was theoretically retake it, but there would be a heavy load and internal threats. Additionally, it runs the risk of retaliation from Israel’s typical allies and friends, a social issue with security ramifications.
There aren’t many reasons to be optimistic about the situation. There is still some sliver of hope for an international answer until new Palestinian leadership emerges, despite the fact that the UN created an global military coalition to partially control Haiti in the lack of a national Haitian government and the face of terrible gang rule.
if it is even possible.
Stephen Bryen held the positions of Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and Staff Director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Near East Subcommittee.
Shoshana Bryen serves as editor of & nbsp, inFOCUS Quarterly, and senior director of The Jewish Policy Center.