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This content originally appeared on The Real News Network and was authored by The Real News Network.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on The Real News Network and was authored by The Real News Network.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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The Israeli military has launched its biggest operation in the occupied West Bank in close to two decades, with hundreds of troops, backed by armored vehicles, bulldozers, fighter jets and drones, conducting simultaneous raids in the northern cities of Jenin and Tulkarm. At least nine Palestinians were killed overnight, with an additional 11 injured. In total, at least 652 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank since October — nearly 150 of them children — most of them during near-daily raids by the Israeli military. Israeli officials have indicated that the raids are just the first stage of an even larger operation in the West Bank. “They are trying to repeat the Nakba. … They are trying to repeat the same ethnic cleansing, the same genocide that is committed in Gaza,” says Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, who joins us from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. “Their goal is ethnic cleansing. Their goal is annexation of the West Bank.”
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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A video and photograph of a cargo vessel have been shared in Chinese-language social media posts that claim they show vessels from the Evergreen Group – Taiwan’s shipping and transportation conglomerate – flying a Chinese flag while passing through the Red Sea in July.
But the claim is false. Evergreen vessels have not passed through the Red Sea since December 2023.
A video of a cargo ship was posted on Chinese social media Bilibili on Aug. 17.
“A cargo ship belonging to China’s Taiwan-based Evergreen Group passed through the Red Sea flying the five-star red flag without incident. Previously, the Houthis have repeatedly attacked passing ships in the Red Sea, but ships flying the Chinese and Russian flags have usually been able to pass through safely,” the video’s caption reads.
The 12-second video shows multiple scenes, including China’s national flag, the Five-star Red Flag, and a cargo ship with an “EVERGREEN” sign on it.
Separately, a photo of what appears to be Evergeen’s cargo vessel was shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Aug. 18, alongside a caption that reads: “The Evergreen Hotel refused to fly the Chinese flag, but Evergreen Marine flew the Chinese flag when it passed through the waters under the jurisdiction of the Houthis in the Red Sea.”
A number of influencers posted photos of Evergreen ships purportedly flying China’s flag (Screenshots/X, Weibo and Bilibili) The claim began to circulate online after Chinese social media users criticized a decision by a branch of the Taiwanese Evergreen Laurel Hotel in Paris to refuse to fly China’s national flag during the Olympics.
Some users further criticized the Evergreen Group, the hotel’s parent company, for what they said was double standards after several of its ships passed through the Red Sea in July while flying the Chinese flag for protection.
Evergreen Group is a Taiwan conglomerate with businesses in shipping, transport and associated services such as energy development, air transport, hotels and resorts.
Taiwan has been self-governing since it effectively separated from mainland China in 1949 after the Chinese civil war, but China regards Taiwan as a renegade province that should be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.
However, the claim about the Evergreen vessels flying the flag is false.
Vessels in question
Reverse image searches found the two vessels seen in the Bilibili video and the photo on X are Evergeen’s EVER ALP and EVER BUILD.
A comparison of the EVER ALP and the EVER BUILD with the respective Chinese influencers’ content. (Photo/AFCL) According to the ship tracking service Marine Traffic, both vessels are under the jurisdiction of Panama.
Since the internationally recognized United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea stipulates that a ship must sail under the flag of the state to which it is registered, those ships should fly Panama’s flag.
Information on the EVER ALP and EVER BUILD. (Screenshot/Marine Traffic) According to a contingency plan issued by Evergreen in December 2023, all of its cargo vessels originally scheduled to pass through the Red Sea between Asia, Europe and the eastern United States would be rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope due to the threat of attacks on merchant ships.
Since the release of the contingency plan by Evergreen, the EVER ALP has not passed through the Red Sea, while the EVER BUILD has only sailed between northeast China and Thailand, nowhere near the Red Sea.
Records from the ship tracking service Marine Traffic also show that neither the EVER ALP nor the EVER BUILD has sailed through the Red Sea since the group issued its contingency plan.
The respective routes of both vessels recorded on Marine Traffic show that they have not entered through the Red Sea in the last 9 months. (Screenshots/Marine Traffic) A representative of Evergreen told AFCL that it had not changed its company-wide shipping reroute around the Cape of Good Hope, and the company required its vessels to follow the international and industry practice of flying the flags of the country under whose jurisdiction they sail.
Hoisting a different country’s flags
A former Taiwanese Coast Guard official told AFCL that, in practice, there are cases when a ship might fly a different country’s flags.
It is common for ships to fly another country’s flag alongside their own registered state flag to show goodwill when passing through that country’s territorial waters, the official said.
In disputed waters, ships from one country involved in the dispute might fly the flag of the other country to reduce the risk of interference from the rival state’s authorities or militias.
Lastly, ships from smaller or less powerful nations often fly the flag of a more powerful country when passing through pirate-infested waters to create a deterrent, the official explained, adding that Taiwan did not legally permit ships under its jurisdiction to engage in the second or third scenarios.
Translated by Shen Ke. Edited by Shen Ke and Taejun Kang.
Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) was established to counter disinformation in today’s complex media environment. We publish fact-checks, media-watches and in-depth reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers’ understanding of current affairs and public issues. If you like our content, you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Dong Zhe Asia Fact Check Lab.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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In the polls, convicted felon Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are essentially tied. Jill Stein, Cornel West, and RFK, Jr. are third-party candidates, supported by far-right dark money groups aiming to “Ralph Nader” the election in Trump’s favor. Meanwhile, mainstream media—especially the New York Times—continues to normalize MAGA fascism. Amidst growing election anxiety, it might be difficult to hear the pleas from the Uncommitted movement and their Democratic allies, who are advocating for a permanent ceasefire and hostage deal to end the war in Gaza.
To help us understand the Uncommitted movement and its significance in this election, this week’s guest is Palestinian-American and Georgia state representative Ruwa Romman. She was on a short list of Palestinian-Americans who submitted a two-minute speech for the DNC, which was ultimately rejected, despite the invitation to Democratic leadership to collaborate on the text. Though not an Uncommitted delegate herself, Rep. Romman will explain how to bridge our differences and move forward with a unified front. Holding our elected officials accountable isn’t just a civic duty—it’s essential for enacting real change and enforcing laws effectively, especially those to hold war criminals like Netanyahu and Hamas accountable. Despite the challenges ahead, there’s a glimmer of hope.
This week’s bonus show, exclusive to our Patreon supporters at the Truth-teller ($5/month) level and higher, delves into how Trump broke the law (yet again!) to come to power in the 2016 election by accepting an illegal campaign donation from Egypt’s dictatorship. To access this and all bonus episodes, be sure to subscribe to the show! Thank you to everyone who supports Gaslit Nation—we couldn’t make this show without you!
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Join us at a Gaslit Nation event! Gaslit Nation Patreon supporters at the Truth-teller level and higher, join the conversation at our live-tapings! Meet these incredible authors! You can also drop your questions in the chat or send them ahead of time through Patreon! Subscribe at Patreon.com/Gaslit to join the fun!
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September 16 at 7:00 PM ET: In-person live taping with Andrea and Terrel Starr at the Ukrainian Institute of America in NYC. Celebrate the release of In the Shadow of Stalin, the graphic novel adaptation of Andrea’s film Mr. Jones, directed by Agnieszka Holland. Gaslit Nation Patreon supporters get in free – so message us on Patreon to be added to the guest list. Everyone else can RSVP here: https://ukrainianinstitute.org/event/books-at-the-institute-chalupa/
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September 17 at 12:00 PM ET: Virtual live taping with investigative journalist Stephanie Baker, author of Punishing Putin: Inside the Global Economic War to Bring Down Russia. Her book has been highly praised by Bill Browder, the advocate behind the Magnitsky Act to combat Russian corruption.
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September 18 at 4:00 PM ET: Virtual live taping with the one and only Politics Girl, Leigh McGowan, author of A Return to Common Sense: How to Fix America Before We Really Blow It.
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September 24 at 12:00 PM ET: Virtual live taping with David Pepper, author of Saving Democracy. Join us as David discusses his new art project based on Project 2025.
Show Notes:
WATCH: Kamala Harris addresses war in Gaza 2024 at Democratic National Convention | 2024 DNC Night 4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oogNVOqnChc
Watch: Palestinian American Lawmaker Gives Speech the DNC Wouldn’t Allow on Stage
How to Stop Trump from Stealing the Election https://www.gaslitnationpod.com/episodes-transcripts-20/2024/7/30/how-to-stop-trump-from-stealing-the-electionnbsp
Fani Willis vs. Trump: The Nazis Strike Back https://www.gaslitnationpod.com/episodes-transcripts-20/2024/01/24/fani-willis-trump-nazis
This content originally appeared on Gaslit Nation and was authored by Andrea Chalupa.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, has finally admitted what we knew all along: Facebook conspired with the government to censor individuals expressing “disapproved” views about the COVID-19 pandemic.
Zuckerberg’s confession comes in the wake of a series of court rulings that turn a blind eye to the government’s technofascism.
In a 2-1 decision in Children’s Health Defense v. Meta, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a lawsuit brought by Children’s Health Defense against Meta Platforms for restricting CHD’s posts, fundraising, and advertising on Facebook following communications between Meta and federal government officials.
In a unanimous decision in the combined cases of NetChoice v. Paxton and Moody v. NetChoice, the U.S. Supreme Court avoided ruling on whether the states could pass laws to prohibit censorship by Big Tech companies on social media platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.
And in a 6-3 ruling in Murthy v. Missouri , the Supreme Court sidestepped a challenge to the federal government’s efforts to coerce social media companies into censoring users’ First Amendment expression.
Welcome to the age of technocensorship.
On paper—under the First Amendment, at least—we are technically free to speak.
In reality, however, we are now only as free to speak as a government official—or corporate entities such as Facebook, Google or YouTube—may allow.
Case in point: internal documents released by the House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on Weaponization of the Federal Government confirmed what we have long suspected: that the government has been working in tandem with social media companies to censor speech.
By “censor,” we’re referring to concerted efforts by the government to muzzle, silence and altogether eradicate any speech that runs afoul of the government’s own approved narrative.
This is political correctness taken to its most chilling and oppressive extreme.
The revelations that Facebook worked in concert with the Biden administration to censor content related to COVID-19, including humorous jokes, credible information and so-called disinformation, followed on the heels of a ruling by a federal court in Louisiana that prohibits executive branch officials from communicating with social media companies about controversial content in their online forums.
Likening the government’s heavy-handed attempts to pressure social media companies to suppress content critical of COVID vaccines or the election to “an almost dystopian scenario,” Judge Terry Doughty warned that “the United States Government seems to have assumed a role similar to an Orwellian ‘Ministry of Truth.’”
This is the very definition of technofascism.
Clothed in tyrannical self-righteousness, technofascism is powered by technological behemoths (both corporate and governmental) working in tandem to achieve a common goal.
The government is not protecting us from “dangerous” disinformation campaigns. It is laying the groundwork to insulate us from “dangerous” ideas that might cause us to think for ourselves and, in so doing, challenge the power elite’s stranglehold over our lives.
Thus far, the tech giants have been able to sidestep the First Amendment by virtue of their non-governmental status, but it’s a dubious distinction at best when they are marching in lockstep with the government’s dictates.
As Philip Hamburger and Jenin Younes write for The Wall Street Journal: “The First Amendment prohibits the government from ‘abridging the freedom of speech.’ Supreme Court doctrine makes clear that government can’t constitutionally evade the amendment by working through private companies.”
Nothing good can come from allowing the government to sidestep the Constitution.
The steady, pervasive censorship creep that is being inflicted on us by corporate tech giants with the blessing of the powers-that-be threatens to bring about a restructuring of reality straight out of Orwell’s 1984, where the Ministry of Truth polices speech and ensures that facts conform to whatever version of reality the government propagandists embrace.
Orwell intended 1984 as a warning. Instead, it is being used as a dystopian instruction manual for socially engineering a populace that is compliant, conformist and obedient to Big Brother.
In a world increasingly automated and filtered through the lens of artificial intelligence, we are finding ourselves at the mercy of inflexible algorithms that dictate the boundaries of our liberties.
Once artificial intelligence becomes a fully integrated part of the government bureaucracy, there will be little recourse: we will all be subject to the intransigent judgments of techno-rulers.
This is how it starts.
First, the censors went after so-called extremists spouting so-called “hate speech.”
Then they went after so-called extremists spouting so-called “disinformation” about stolen elections, the Holocaust, and Hunter Biden.
By the time so-called extremists found themselves in the crosshairs for spouting so-called “misinformation” about the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines, the censors had developed a system and strategy for silencing the nonconformists.
Eventually, depending on how the government and its corporate allies define what constitutes “extremism, “we the people” might all be considered guilty of some thought crime or other.
Whatever we tolerate now—whatever we turn a blind eye to—whatever we rationalize when it is inflicted on others, whether in the name of securing racial justice or defending democracy or combatting fascism, will eventually come back to imprison us, one and all.
Watch and learn.
We should all be alarmed when any individual or group—prominent or not—is censored, silenced and made to disappear from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram for voicing ideas that are deemed politically incorrect, hateful, dangerous or conspiratorial.
Given what we know about the government’s tendency to define its own reality and attach its own labels to behavior and speech that challenges its authority, this should be cause for alarm across the entire political spectrum.
Here’s the point: you don’t have to like or agree with anyone who has been muzzled or made to disappear online because of their views, but to ignore the long-term ramifications of such censorship is dangerously naïve, because whatever powers you allow the government and its corporate operatives to claim now will eventually be used against you by tyrants of your own making.
Eventually, as Orwell predicted, telling the truth will become a revolutionary act.
If the government can control speech, it can control thought and, in turn, it can control the minds of the citizenry.
As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, it’s happening already.
The post Technofascism: The Government Pressured Tech Companies to Censor Users first appeared on Dissident Voice.
This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by John W. Whitehead and Nisha Whitehead.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on VICE News and was authored by VICE News.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on VICE News and was authored by VICE News.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Authorities in Vietnam are pressing on with a crackdown on social media users who are seen as critical of the government, using two articles of the Criminal Code that rights groups say are too vague, to punish those “opposing” the state and the ruling Communist Party.
After seven months in pre-trial detention, authorities in Hanoi have announced plans to prosecute Facebooker Phan Van Bach under Article 117 of the Criminal Code for “making, storing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the State of Socialist Republic of Vietnam.”
Bach, 49, has been an active campaigner for more than over a decade. He took part in protests against China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea in 2011, the Green Trees environmental demonstrations in 2015, and the protests against pollution caused by Formosa Plastics in 2016.
According to an indictment issued on July 19 and recently shared by his family, Bach is accused of using his personal Facebook account to post 12 articles and six video clips between 2018 and 2022 with content said to “distort the Party’s policies and guidelines, defame the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, deny the leadership role of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and disseminate edited images that defame state leaders and incite the masses.”
Bach was detained on Dec. 29, 2023, but his wife Nguyen Thi Yeu wasn’t allowed to see him until June 4.
“I didn’t recognize him at all. He was no longer the same person as when he left,” she told Radio Free Asia. “He was thin and had scabies all over his body.”
Her husband told her he had diarrhea as soon as he was taken to the detention camp. When he asked to go to the hospital for treatment, he was given medicine, which made him constipated.
He was put in a 40 square meter (431 square foot) cell with more than 30 other inmates, where he developed scabies.
RFA called the investigator who handled Bach’s case several times but he did not answer the telephone.
‘Propaganda against the state’
In 2017, Bach joined independent YouTube channel CHTV, reporting on Vietnam’s socio-economic issues.
Three members of the channel, Vu Quang Thuan, Le Van Dung and Le Trong Hung, are serving prison sentences ranging from five to eight years for the crime of “propaganda against the state.”
Bach often hosted live talks criticizing Vietnam’s one-party regime but in 2018 he announced he was leaving CHTV.
His Facebook page shows that in recent years he has only focused on his labor export business.
Phan Dinh Sang on trial in Ha Tinh on Aug. 26, 2024. (Saigon Liberation Newspaper) In another case in which Article 117 was used, the People’s Court of Ha Tinh province on Tuesday sentenced Phan Dinh Sang, 57, to six years in prison and two years probation, according to state-controlled media.
Prosecutors said that from 2016 to 2023, Sang created, managed, and used five Facebook accounts to participate in “reactionary” and “opposition” groups.
Vietnamese media said that, “during his time living and working in Laos, due to his dissatisfaction with the Vietnamese regime, the subject posted, distributed, and shared many articles, images, and videos with propaganda content, distorting history, and defaming the government.”
Since the beginning of the year, Vietnam has detained at least eight people and sentenced at least six others to prison under Article 117, according to RFA statistics.
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Vietnamese activist found guilty of anti-state propaganda
Vietnam jails Facebook user for 7 years for ‘insulting Ho Chi Minh’
Vietnam arrests 2 Facebook users over ‘vaguely written’ Article 331
‘Abusing freedom’
International human groups have accused Vietnam of using the vague wording of Articles 117 and 331 of the Criminal Code to quash dissent.
“Both Article 117 and 331 violate Viet Nam’s international human rights obligations and should be repealed or substantially amended to comply with the rules set out under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Vietnam is a state party, and other standards,” international human rights group Amnesty International said in 2021.
Le Phu Tuan. (Tuyen Quang Police) In a trial on Aug. 21 and 22, a court in Tuyen Quang province used Article 331 to charge another social media poster, Le Phu Tuan, with “abusing freedom and democracy to infringe upon the interests of the state and the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals,” state-controlled media reported.
The 52-year-old was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison.
Prosecutors said that from September to December 2023 Tuan used his Facebook account to livestream and post 21 videos.
Details about the content of his posts were not immediately available but prosecutors said it was unverified, unofficial, and violated the interests of the state, the rights and legitimate interests of a number of local agencies and many individuals.
The indictment said the contents were shared many times and attracted numerous comments, souring public opinion, undermining trust in the state and lowering the prestige of government agencies.
According to RFA statistics, since the beginning of the year, at least 11 people have been arrested and eight have been convicted under Article 331.
Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Vietnamese.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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It began as a devastating, confined storm off the coast of Sicily, striking the luxury yacht Bayesian in the form of a devastating water column resembling a tornado. Probability was inherent in the name (Thomas Bayes, mathematician and nonconformist theologian of the 18th century, had been the first to use probability inductively) and improbability the nature of the accident.
It also led to rich speculation about the fate of those on the doomed vessel. While most on the sunk yacht were saved (the eventual number totalled fifteen), a number of prominent figures initially went missing before being found. They included British technology entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his daughter, along with Morgan Stanley International Bank chairman, Jonathan Bloomer, and Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo.
Lynch, co-founder of the British data analytics firm Autonomy and co-founder and investor in the cybersecurity firm Darktrace, had been recently acquitted by a US federal jury of fifteen counts of fraud and conspiracy, along with his co-defendant Stephen Chamberlain, regarding Hewlett-Packard’s acquisition of Autonomy in 2011. While the firm’s acquisition had cost a mighty US$11 billion, HP wrote off a stunning US$8.8 billion within 12 months, demanding an investigation into what it regarded as “serious accounting improprieties, disclosure failures and outright misrepresentations at Autonomy.” Clifford Chance was instructed by Lynch to act for him following the write down of Autonomy’s value in November 2012, hence Morvillo’s presence.
Lynch had his fair share of unwanted excitement. The US Department of Justice successfully secured his extradition, though failed to get a conviction. The investor proved less fortunate in a 2022 civil suit in the UK, one he lost.
For all his legal travails, Lynch stayed busy. He founded Invoke Capital, which became the largest investor in the cybersecurity firm Darktrace. Other companies featured in terms of funding targets for the company, among them Sophia Genetics, Featurespace and Luminance.
Darktrace, founded in 2013, has thrived in the thick soup of security establishment interests. British prime ministers have fallen within its orbit of influence, so much so that David Cameron accompanied its CEO Nicole Egan on an official visit to Washington DC in January 2015 ahead of the opening of the company’s US headquarters.
Members of the UK signals intelligence agency GCHQ are said to have approached Lynch, who proceeded to broker a meeting that proved most profitable in packing Darktrace with former members of the UK and, eventually, US intelligence community. The company boasts a veritable closet of former operatives on the books: MI5, MI6, CIA, the NSA, and FBI. Co-founder Stephen Huxter, a notable official in MI5’s cyber defence team, became Darktrace’s managing director.
Other connections are also of interest in sketching the extensive reach of the cyber industrial complex. This need not lend itself to a conspiratorial reading of power so much as the influence companies such as Darktrace wield in the field. Take Alexander Arbuthnot, yet another cut and dried establishment figure whose private equity firm Vitruvian Partners found Darktrace worthy of receiving a multi-million-pound investment as part of a push into cybersecurity.
Fascinating as this is, such matters gather steam and huff on looking at Arbuthnot’s family ties. Take Arbuthnot’s mother and Westminster chief magistrate, one Lady Emma Arbuthnot. The magistrate presided over part of the lengthily cruel and prolonged extradition proceedings of Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks and hounded for alleged breaches of the US Espionage Act. (Assange recently pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information under the Espionage Act of 1917.) Any conflict of interest, actual or perceived, including her husband’s own links to the UK military community as former UK defence minister, were not declared during the legal circus. Establishment members tend to regard themselves as above reproach.
With such a tight tangle of links, it took another coincidence to send the amateur sleuths on a feverish digital trawl for sauce and conspiracy. On August 17, a few days prior to Lynch’s drowning, his co-defendant was struck while running in Cambridgeshire. Chamberlain died in hospital from his injuries, with the driver, a 49-year-old woman from Haddenham, assisting at the scene with inquiries.
Reddit and the platform X duly caught fire with theories on the alleged role of hidden corporate actors, disgruntled US justice officials robbed of their quarry, and links to the intelligence community. Chay Bowes, a blustery Irish businessman with an addiction to internet soapbox pontification, found himself obsessed with probabilities, wondering, “How could two of the statistically most charmed men alive meet tragic ends within two days of each other in the most improbable ways?”
A better line of reflection is considering the influence and power such corporations exercise in the cyber military-industrial complex. In the realm of cyber policy, the line between public sector notions of security and defence, and the entrepreneurial pursuit of profit, have ceased to be meaningful. In a fundamental sense, Lynch was vital to that blurring, the innovator as semi-divine.
Darktrace became an apotheosis of that phenomenon, retaining influence in the market despite a scandal spotted record. It has, for instance, survived claims and investigations of sexual harassment. (One of those accused at the company was the most appropriately named Randy Cheek, a sales chief based in the San Francisco office.)
In 2023, its chief executive Poppy Gustafsson fended off a stinging report by the US-hedge fund Quintessential Capital Management (QCM) alleging questionable sales and accounting practices intended to drive up the value of the company before it was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2021. This sounded rather typical and seemed eerily reminiscent of the Autonomy affair. “After a careful analysis,” QCM reported, “we are deeply sceptical about the validity of Darktrace’s financial statements and fear that sales, margins and growth rates may be overstated and close to sharp correction.”
QCM’s efforts did no lasting damage. In April this year, it was revealed that Darktrace would be purchased by US private equity firm Thoma Bravo for the punchy sum of US$5.32 billion. The Darktrace board was bullish about the deal, telling investors that its “operating and financial achievements have not been reflected commensurately in its valuation, with shares trading at a significant discount to its global peer group”. If things sour on this one, Thoma Bravo will only have itself to blame, given the collapse of takeover talks it had with the company in 2022. Irrespective of any anticipated sketchiness, Lynch’s troubled legacy regarding data-driven technology and its relation to the state will remain.
The post Mike Lynch, Probability and the Cyber Industrial Complex first appeared on Dissident Voice.
This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by Binoy Kampmark.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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The two persons who have been most frequently named in social media theories as accused in the R G Kar rape and murder case in Kolkata are Arshean Alam and Golam Azam. Both of them work as house staff at the same hospital where the female postgraduate trainee’s (PGT) body was found on August 9. An Alt News investigation has already established that Arshean Alam was at his home at the time of the commissioning of the crime and is being targeted without any evidence of involvement whatsoever. This story is about Golam Azam and his whereabouts on the night of the incident.
Right-wing X user Hindutva Knight (@HPhobiaWatch) tweeted images of Arshean and Golam, claiming that the Bengal government was trying to protect them. The tweet has garnered 22 Lakh views and has been retweeted over 7,000 times. This claim was further amplified by Right-wing columnist Madhu Kishwar, who shared a list that included Arshean and Golam’s names. Kishwar alleged that all the people on the list had been absconding. She claimed that their names “explain(ed)” why there was a “determined attempt to shield them” and added that one man (arguably referring to Sanjay Roy, the prime accused and only person arrested in the case) had been “tricked into raping her dead body.”
Media outlet ABP Live mentioned Golam Azam’s name in a report.
Twitter user @MrNationalistJJ tweeted pictures of the social media profiles of three individuals, one of which is Golam. This user claims that these three, whom he identified as ‘the culprits’, had left the country. (Archive)
Golam’s name was circulated with the same claim by various other social media users. On Facebook, a post mentioning his name as a suspect was published on a group page named West Bengal Doctors Forum. (Archives 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
Facebook has since been flooded with these claims. Below is a 40 second screen recording of some posts on Facebook making the same allegation.
Alt News Investigation
Dr Golam Azam, a 2018-entrant into the MBBS course at R G Kar medical College and Hospital, completed his mandatory one-year internship and subsequently became a house staff at the chest medicine department of the same hospital, much like Arshean. He was on duty on the night of the alleged rape and murder.
During investigation, Alt News recorded three testimonies: one from a source within the Kolkata Police, one from a doctor who was also on duty at the emergency ward that night, and one from another junior doctor from the chest medicine department.
The emergency ward is on the ground floor of the emergency building, while the seminar room, where the body was found, is on the third floor.
Below is a graphical representation of the corroborating testimonies that we got:
Testimony I: Kolkata Police
A Kolkata Police source gave their testimony to Alt News based on their examination of the CCTV footage. They told us, “On that day, Dr Golam’s duty was on the ground floor. He went twice to the third floor, first to have dinner. He had dinner with the victim and others, and that was between 12 and 1 am. Then he came down. Then CCTV clearly shows that he is going to the third floor around 3 am. He is seen entering a room where some tests are conducted. After that, he’s seen coming out with certain papers and going towards the seminar room, and within 5-6 minutes he comes back and comes down to the ground floor. Around 3:15, he is seen leaving the hospital and never comes back again that night. While on the third floor, he peeps into the seminar hall momentarily to look for Dr ***. (Alt News is withholding this name. This is not the victim.) He comes back in the morning after people inform him that this is what has happened.”
The autopsy of the slain doctor put the time of death between 3 and 5 am. Further, Sanjay Roy, the prime accused, was seen entering the emergency building of the hospital around 4 am and leaving the building 40 minutes later.
Keeping the above time frame in mind, several significant details come out from the above testimony.
- Golam Azam went to the third floor around 3 am.
- He is seen with some papers in his hand peeping into the seminar room.
- He comes back to the ground floor within 5-6 minutes.
- He leaves the emergency building at 3.15 am and comes back only on the following morning.
Alt News found in its probe that after leaving the emergency building, Azam went to the hostel on the campus. This was corroborated by the Kolkata Police source. They confirmed to us that they had examined footage from the CCTV camera outside the hostel.
Testimony II: Doctor at the Emergency Ward who was on Duty that Night
Alt News spoke to a doctor in the emergency ward who was on call on the same day. Their duty hours overlapped with that of Golam’s. According to their statement, Golam’s duty hours began at 9 pm on August 8.
This doctor told us, “He went upstairs around 1 am to have dinner with the victim and other colleagues. Later, he mentioned that there were no more chest patients, so he was leaving. I saw him taking his bag and exiting the emergency ward. I, too, was in the emergency ward at that time. I don’t recall the exact time he left, but it was after 2:30 am. The ER was very busy that night, so I didn’t check the time.”
The most crucial detail in this testimony is that Golam left the emergency some time after 2.30 am that night. This corroborates the testimony from Kolkata Police. Although the second testimony does not have the exact time Golam left, they confirmed that Golam met them in the emergency and informed them he was leaving because there were “no more chest patients.” He then took his bag and left.
It is worth noting that under normal circumstances, people generally don’t keep track of exact timings for events that seem routine at the moment.
Testimony III: Doctor at Chest Medicine Department
Alt News also spoke to a doctor at the chest medicine department of R G Kar Hospital who is in the know of Golam’s whereabouts from that night. They told us, “Golam was on duty at the emergency on the night of the incident. He visited the third floor twice — first at around 1 am to have dinner with colleagues, including the victim. The second visit was at 3 am to retrieve lab results. Afterwards, he went to the seminar hall to find another doctor posted at the chest department, but the doctor wasn’t there. Instead, Golam found the victim sleeping in the hall. He left the third floor within five minutes and returned to the emergency ward.”
Alt News tried multiple times to speak to Golam Azam directly, but he declined to comment. We can, however, confirm that he is not absconding and is cooperating in the investigation.
All these corroborating testimonies establish the whereabouts of Golam Azam in the emergency building between 3 and 3.15 am on the night of the alleged crime. And at 3.15 am he leaves the building and does not come back till the next morning, Kolkata Police sources confirmed to us upon the examination of CCTV footage. The prime accused is seen entering the emergency building around 4 and leaving around 4.40 am. Taken together, these establish the fact that Golam Azam can not be involved in the commissioning of the crime at R G Kar hospital that night. The social media trial of him, as such trials often are, is not backed by any evidence whatsoever.
The post Golam Azam was not in the emergency building at the time of R G Kar crime: Multiple testimonies support his alibi appeared first on Alt News.
This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Shinjinee Majumder.
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Hong Kongers fleeing a political crackdown in their home city are the biggest wave of migrants to settle in Britain since the Windrush generation arrived from the Caribbean — and they’re bringing their food with them.
While previous generations of Chinese immigrants would gravitate towards Chinatowns in London and Manchester to make and sell dim sum or roast Cantonese duck to local diners, this cohort is bringing an updated menu of Hong Kong food that offers fellow migrants a nostalgic taste of home.
Instead of being concentrated in inner city areas like their forerunners, the nearly 200,000 holders of the British National Overseas passport are making use of a lifeboat visa program to fan out across the country, from Sutton in Surrey, to Brick Lane and Canary Wharf in East London, to affordable neighborhoods in Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester.
They’re even growing their own vegetables in their backyards instead of relying on the fresh foods available through chains of Asian foods wholesalers.
A shop in the U.K. sells Hong Kong-style milk tea. (Cynthia Hung Jones/RFA) The Hong Kong food stall with the longest line of waiting diners at a weekend food market in the Canary Wharf financial district in early June 2024 offers salt beef tripe, brisket and tendon braised Hong Kong style, attracting a mixed crowd of expectant customers.
For some, it’s the taste of home, and for others raised on typical fare from earlier British Hong Kong takeaways, it’s a far cry from sweet and sour chicken balls.
“Food has always been an important part of the way that immigrant communities construct their identities,” says Hong Kong columnist Carpier Leung. “I have high hopes for the influence that this wave of immigration can have on Hong Kong cuisine.”
The new wave is already breaking on British shores.
Over the past two years, more supermarkets have started selling packages of dim sum like har gau shrimp dumplings and char siu pork buns, while Hong Kong-style egg tarts and the city’s signature mix of strong black tea with evaporated milk have started popping up in trendy cafes in areas where Hong Kongers have congregated.
You can buy street snacks like egg waffles and French toast, Hong Kong diner (or cha chaan teng) style, in Sutton and Manchester these days.
Dreams of Mong Kok
Nicole, who founded the Hong Kong nostalgia restaurant HOKO in Brick Lane, said she was drawn to the area because its grittiness and trendiness reminded her of Kowloon’s Mong Kok district.
That was home to the “fishball revolution” of 2016 when disgruntled young people — some of them supporters of the city’s independence movement — ripped up paving bricks from the area’s narrow shopping streets and hurled them at police.
Founder Nicole outside her Hong Kong nostalgia restaurant HOKO in London’s Brick Lane. (Cynthia Hung Jones/RFA) The first thing you see when you walk into HOKO is a row of evaporated milk tins used by cha chaan teng, with their distinctive red-and-white packaging. The next is the diner-style layout with high-backed, partitioned seating of the kind where low-paid office workers would rub shoulders with blue-collar workers in search of an affordable breakfast or set lunch deal.
The tables are stacked with orange melamine chopsticks, with menus in glass cases, throwbacks to Nicole’s memories of these eateries that date back to the 1960s and ‘70s in her home city. Cantopop by Justin Lo is blaring from the speaker system, while posters of Hong Kong bands bedeck the walls.
“We sell Hong Kong food that tells a story,” she says, listing milk tea, French toast, pork chop, Swiss chicken wings and borscht, all staples of cha chaan teng — food that arrived in a global free port from somewhere else, only to acquire a peculiarly Hong Kong twist, making it quite unlike the original.
“Swiss chicken wings” was the result of a miscommunication between English-speaking tourists and Hong Kong chefs, who heard “Swiss” when the customer said “sweet,” according to HOKO’s menu. Milk tea was brought in during British colonial times and persisted long after British tea-drinkers had forgotten all about evaporated milk.
Nicole thinks the latest generation of migrants from Hong Kong is “braver, and truer to ourselves and to Hong Kong cuisine.”
Telling the difference
Another Hong Kong eatery in east London, Aquila, has directly imported some of its ingredients from Hong Kong to ensure its dishes remain authentic.
“We have to insist on that authenticity so that British people will be able to tell the difference between Hong Kong and China [when it comes to food],” says co-founder Lucas.
The founders and manager of Hong Kong restaurant Aquila in London’s Leytonstone pose for a photo under the flags of British Hong Kong and the Republic of China (Taiwan) in June 2024. (Cynthia Hung Jones/RFA) The first thing you see when you walk into this joint is a political statement — the flags of British Hong Kong and the Republic of China, currently located in democratic Taiwan, alongside photos from the 2019 protest movement against the loss of Hong Kong’s promised freedoms that would land a person in hot water back home, under two national security laws.
But the founders don’t worry much about annoying China, which took back control of Hong Kong in 1997 and still insists on a territorial claim on Taiwan.
“I’m running a British business — what is there to be afraid of?” says Lucas. “My grandfather’s business was ruined by the Chinese Communist Party, and my family has been anti-communist ever since.”
“I hope that customers will ask why these things are on display, so I can tell them the story of Hong Kong,” he adds.
Chicken hotpot
Not all food translates easily, however. Hong Kongers have developed a passion in recent years for a local form of chicken hotpot. But Hong Kong migrant and entrepreneur Sam says he doesn’t think the dish has taken off with British diners, who prefer their chicken boneless and not floating around in scalding hot soup.
Sam started Lulu Chicken Pot, a business selling hotpot soup base, chicken nuggets and spicy sauce, but orders fell off sharply in the second year, and he was unable to pay the #3,000 (US$3,925) a month rent on his kitchen.
Lulu Chicken Pot founder Sam, out delivering hotpot orders to customers in the U.K. (Cynthia Hung Jones/RFA) “It doesn’t matter how many Hong Kongers you have following you on your Facebook page,” he says. “It’s not the same as reaching tens of millions of consumers in the U.K.”
In New Malden, south London, organic farmer Wong Yu-wing is growing vegetables that Hong Kongers love to eat, but which aren’t widely available in British stores.
He also partners with the local government to grow his vegetables in public spaces, as well as selling seeds and seedlings to other Hong Kong migrants who want to start their own vegetable plots.
Organic farmer Wong Yu-wing inspects cabbages he’s growing in New Malden, U.K., June 2024. (Cynthia Hung Jones/RFA) But the shadow of China still looms large in many people’s lives, even on British soil.
The Hong Kong March cultural festival now in its second year has seen a sharp fall in participating businesses, which organizer and former pro-democracy District Councilor Carmen Lau says is likely linked to the chilling effect of bounties and arrest warrants placed by national security police on the heads of overseas democracy activists last year, including several based in the United Kingdom.
At the same time, funding from the U.K. government has been cut or canceled, leaving several groups representing Hong Kongers in the lurch financially, she says.
‘Milk tea alliance’
Nonetheless, food and drink is still bringing Hong Kongers together.
In Reading, a town to the west of London, the local Hong Kongers’ group holds a Hong Kong market every month.
Former democratic District Councilor Carmen Lau (left), one of the organizers of the Hong Kong March cultural festival in the U.K. (Courtesy of Hong Kong March) Stallholder and former pro-democracy politician Wilber Lee sells milk tea, while displaying photos from the 2019 protests. His “Double Price For Drinks Only” stall is popular, and customers line up to get their brew.
It’s as much a political statement as a hot beverage.
“A lot of people know me and come to support me by buying my milk tea,” Lee says, adding that his stall’s branding is largely aimed at Hong Kongers, and is a humorous nod to the way cha chaan teng diners would charge double for drinks if customers didn’t buy food.
Lee’s product is deliberately aligned with the “milk tea alliance” of pro-democracy protesters across several East Asian nations, who routinely support each other online and face down the army of pro-Beijing commentators known as the “little pinks.”
He sees himself as continually engaged in the struggle to make Hong Kong free again.
“Everything I do now is to prepare for that day,” he says.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Cynthia Hung Jones for The Reporter/RFA Mandarin.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.This post was originally published on Radio Free.