Myanmar’s junta said on Monday it raided one of the country’s most notorious cyberscam centers and seized Starlink satellite internet devices. Myanmar government media The Global New Light of Myanmar said the military “conducted operations in KK Park near Myanmar-Thai border” and had “seized 30 sets of Starlink receivers and accessories,” according to the AFP news agency. AFP said that number is only a fraction of the Starlink devices they identified using satellite imagery and drone photography. On the roof of one building alone in KK Park, images showed nearly…
Category: RFA
Myanmar junta admits it’s unable to conduct election across entire country
The European Union’s Special Representative for Human Rights Kajsa Ollongren said on Thursday that they would not send observers to an election in military-ruled Myanmar, as it was unlikely to result in a credible outcome, according to the Reuters news agency. It follows Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing admitting on Wednesday that the military-backed administration will be unable to conduct an upcoming general election across the entire country, as a civil war triggered by a 2021 coup rages on. myanmar-elections Election officials display a ballot as they count votes…
South Korea issues travel ban after nationals trapped in Cambodia scam centers
RFA Perspectives — South Korea issued a “code-black” travel ban for parts of Cambodia on Oct. 15 and dispatched a team of high-level officials to help nationals lured into working in scam compounds and secure the release of those held against their will, according to the Reuters news agency. More than 1,000 South Koreans are believed to be among about 200,000 people of various nationalities involved in the scam compounds in Cambodia, South Korea’s National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac told reporters. Video: Why Cambodia and Southeast Asia became a scam…
US, UK sanction Cambodian conglomerate, alleging role in scam networks
The U.S. and British governments on Tuesday announced a sweeping crackdown on cyber-scam networks in Southeast Asia accused of luring workers with fraudulent job ads or fake romantic relationships, forcing them to extract billions from people across the world through a range of deceptions, then laundering the money they received. The U.S. Treasury Department said it had targeted 146 people in the Prince Group, a multibillion-dollar Cambodian conglomerate, including its 38-year-old leader Chen Zhi. “The rapid rise of transnational fraud has cost American citizens billions of dollars, with life savings…
China arrests underground church founder, pastors
The founder of one of China’s most prominent underground churches and dozens of its pastors and members have been arrested, the founder’s family and a church spokesperson said, part of a multi-city crackdown in recent days. Jin Mingri, who founded Zion Church, a house of worship not sanctioned by the Chinese government, was arrested at his home in the city of Beihai in the southern region of Guangxi on Friday evening, his daughter, Grace Jin, and a church spokesperson, Sean Long, told reporters. Grace Jin said she was concerned for…
China sharpening forces for possible future attack, Taiwanese report says
China is growing more aggressive in its military activities near Taiwan and also in its online efforts to weaken Taiwanese trust in government, the island’s defense ministry said on Thursday. In a new edition of a report released every two years, the defense ministry said that Beijing is sharpening its ability to stage a surprise attack against the democratically governed island, which China claims as its territory. The report cited seven rounds of major Chinese war games around the island since 2022 and other non-combat operations — known as grey…
Strike on festival protest in Myanmar kills at least 20, residents say
A military strike on Monday night hit a group in central Myanmar’s Chaung U township who were gathered to mark the Thadingyut full moon festival and to demonstrate against the military junta that rules the country. Video: Myanmar junta bombs full moon gathering (RFA) The attack killed at least 20 people, according to a Reuters report that cited an eyewitness, the human rights group Amnesty International, and members of the shadow National Unity Government and an armed resistance group in the area. An event organizer told Agence France-Press that 40…
Hanoi floods again amid typhoon-spawned rains
Residents and businesses in Hanoi on Tuesday were coping again with flooding as storms triggered by Typhoon Matmo have submerged major roads, particularly in inner-city districts. Commuters pushed motorbikes through calf-deep water in some areas. Several schools closed or moved classes online. Some flights from Noi Bai International Airport have been rescheduled or delayed. For many, it’s an unpleasant return to the flooding just last week from Typhoon Bualoi, which killed at least 51 people in Vietnam and caused around $600 million in damage. Flooding caused by Typhoon Matmo in…
Two suspects at large as Thai court sentences hitman for Cambodian politician killing
BANGKOK — A Thai gunman was sentenced to life in prison on Friday for the killing of a Cambodian opposition politician in Bangkok, with the former lawmaker’s widow left questioning who ordered the killing. Lim Kimya, 74, a former legislator and member of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) as well as an outspoken critic of veteran Cambodian leader Hun Sen, was shot dead by Aekaluck Paenoi, a former Thai Marine, in footage captured on closed circuit television in the afternoon of Jan. 7 on a busy street in…
Hong Kong plans big AI-powered surveillance boost
Surveillance in Hong Kong is set to intensify, with tens of thousands of new cameras and AI facial-recognition software deployed in the coming years, the city’s security chief said Friday. A web of around 4,000 closed-circuit television cameras already scans Hong Kong, part of a police crime-fighting program. And the city already uses artificial intelligence to monitor crowds and read license plates. Under the city’s new plan, the number of cameras will balloon to 60,000 by 2028, according to documents submitted to the legislature. And AI technology “will naturally be…