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He claims Trump would act immediately upon winning the election, before taking office. Which sounds legally dubious, but not that that's ever stopped Trump....

cross-posted from: https://monyet.cc/post/5875366

Note: for people unfamiliar, Malay is the ethnic majority of Malaysia. Bumiputera is a term used to describe Malay and the indigenous people of Malaysia, and a lot of government initiated program will have considered Bumiputera first, while ethnic minority like Chinese and Indian tend to get sidelined.

One example, government initiated matriculation will have quota system of 90% bumiputera while the 10% is shared among other ethnic minority.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/17606053

Editor's note: This article contains details and images that may be disturbing to some readers

Muhammed, who was 'like a one-year-old', was separated from his family after an Israeli dog mauled him. His decomposed body was found a week later

The climate crisis is causing the length of each day to get longer, analysis shows, as the mass melting of polar ice reshapes the planet.

The phenomenon is a striking demonstration of how humanity’s actions are transforming the Earth, scientists said, rivalling natural processes that have existed for billions of years.

The change in the length of the day is on the scale of milliseconds but this is enough to potentially disrupt internet traffic, financial transactions and GPS navigation, all of which rely on precise timekeeping.

The length of the Earth’s day has been steadily increasing over geological time due to the gravitational drag of the moon on the planet’s oceans and land. However, the melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets due to human-caused global heating has been redistributing water stored at high latitudes into the world’s oceans, leading to more water in the seas nearer the equator. This makes the Earth more oblate – or fatter – slowing the rotation of the planet and lengthening the day still further.

Chinese e-commerce retailers were quick to cash in on the assassination attempt on former United States president Donald Trump last Saturday (Jul 13), with T-shirts of the image of him waving his fist going on sale hours after the news broke.

On popular e-commerce platform Taobao, the first batch of t-shirts went on sale less than three hours after the shooting happened in Pennsylvania at about 6.11pm local time, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.

A Taobao seller told the news outlet she put the T-shirts on sale as soon as she read the news. Within three hours, she received more than 2,000 orders from China and the US.

Vance is one of Trump's most vocal supporters and an outspoken critic of U.S. aid to Ukraine.

. . .

Vance has said that it would be "completely irresponsible" for Ukraine to join NATO. He has also argued for the U.S. to focus solely on preventing Chinese expansion, even if that means sacrificing sovereign Ukrainian lands to Russia.

"Any peace settlement is going to require some significant territorial concessions from Ukraine, and you're gonna have a peace deal, because that's the only way out of the conflict," Vance said in February.

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A top Russian tank touted by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the "world's best" has suffered at least 100 losses in the war in Ukraine, according to open-source information.

The losses were recorded by Oryx, an open-source intelligence site that relies on visual evidence to confirm and track war losses on both sides. More T-90Ms may have also been lost in combat but not recorded. Business Insider was unable to independently verify the information.

Losses, per the site's analysis, include destroyed, damaged, and captured vehicles.

Scientists have for the first time discovered a cave on the Moon.

At least 100m deep, it could be an ideal place for humans to build a permanent base, they say.

It is just one in probably hundreds of caves hidden in an “underground, undiscovered world”, according to the researchers.

Countries are racing to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon, but they will need to protect astronauts from radiation, extreme temperatures, and space weather.

Helen Sharman, the first British astronaut to travel to space, told BBC News that the newly-discovered cave looked like a good place for a base, and suggested humans could potentially be living in lunar pits in 20-30 years.

Gambian lawmakers have blocked an attempt to re-legalize female genital cutting after months of debate. The practice remains common in the West African country, despite the upheld ban.

Gambian lawmakers on Monday upheld a 2015 ban on female genital mutilation (FGM), despite pressure from religious traditionalists in the West African country.

Lawmakers rejected a controversial bill, introduced earlier in 2024, that sought to enshrine "female circumcision" as a religious and cultural practice.

Following months of heated debate, legislators ended the bill's chances by rejecting all its clauses and blocking any further vote.

Thailand’s prime minister said Monday that eligible businesses and individuals can register from August for digital cash handouts, a controversial program that will cost billions of dollars and is meant to boost the lagging economy.

The government announced in April the widely criticized ambitious plan, named the Digital Wallet, meant to give 10,000 baht (about $275) to 50 million citizens in digital money to spend at local businesses.

However, economists have criticized the program, calling it an ineffective way to contribute to sustainable economic growth compared to other measures.

Thailand has in recent years suffered from a sluggish economy that appears to have deteriorated with no clear sign of growth. This month, the World Bank’s Thailand Economic Monitor projected GDP growth of 2.4% for the year 2024.

Brussels has reacted to Viktor Orban's "peace mission" to Moscow by snubbing Hungary's six months as European Council president. It will only send civil servants, not Commissioners, to meetings chaired by Hungary.

The executive arm of the EU in Brussels is partially boycotting Hungary's six-month stint holding the bloc's rotating presidency, in response to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's self-styled "peace mission" that he embarked on after taking up the position at the start of the month. 

In the first days of Hungary's presidency, Orban visited Kyiv, Moscow, Beijing, and Washington for a NATO summit, and then Donald Trump in Florida.

The trip to Kyiv was Orban's first since Russia's invasion, despite Hungary bordering Ukraine.

He called the trip a peace mission and tried to portray himself as one of the "very few" EU and NATO heads of government still able to hold productive talks in Moscow and negotiate with all sides.

Media in China recently reported that fuel tankers are being used to transport cooking oil. The report has ignited public outrage over food safety, which has long been an issues as suppliers cut corners to save costs.

A scandal over cooking-oil contamination in China that came to light earlier in July highlights the long-standing struggle to improve food safety measures. 

The scandal, first revealed by state-backed media The Beijing News on July 2, involves two Chinese companies that reportedly used fuel trucks to transport edible oil without any cleaning process between loads.

…

In 2005 and 2015, Chinese media uncovered similar practices of improperly transporting food oil.

Another food safety problem known to authorities is the use of "gutter oil," which is cooking oil recycled from drains and grease traps, and cheaply sold off to restaurants.

Dozens of Indian farm labourers have been freed from slave-like working conditions in northern Italy, police have said.

The 33 workers were lured to Italy on the promise of jobs and a better future by two fellow Indian nationals, police say.

But instead, they were allegedly forced to work more than 10 hours a day, seven days a week for a tiny wage which was used to pay off debts to the alleged gangmasters.

The two men - who were found with approximately $545,300 (£420,000) - have been arrested.

The exploitation of farmhands – both Italian and migrant - in Italy is a well-known issue. Thousands of people work in fields, vineyards and greenhouses dotted across the country, often without contracts and in highly dangerous conditions.

Projected results from the election commission after polls closed in Rwanda put incumbent Paul Kagame on 99.15%. Turnout was said to be 98%. Only two opposition candidates with no real profile were allowed to run.

More than 9 million Rwandans were called to vote for a new president on Monday, and according to official results, more than 99% of them supported the incumbent Paul Kagame for a fourth term.

Soon after polls closed on Monday evening, the election commission said that Kagame had won 99.15% of the votes. 

It also put turnout at a staggeringly high 98%. By comparison, even in those few countries where citizens are legally obliged to vote or face a fine, such as Australia, turnout only ever tends to be between 90 and 95%.

Tense deliberations over how and if to allow deep sea mining unfolded Monday in Jamaica as at least one company threatened to apply for permission before rules and regulations are in place.

More than two dozen countries have called for a ban, pause or moratorium on deep sea mining — including most recently Peru and Greece — as the U.N. International Seabed Authority resumed talks over a proposed mining code after last meeting in March.

“We have two very busy weeks ahead of us,” said Olav Myklebust, the authority’s council president as some countries warned that the proposed regulator framework has significant gaps and does not include some of their proposals.

Those who support deep sea mining argue that it is cheaper and has less of an impact than land mining. Among those pushing for exploitation is The Metals Company, a Canadian business that is largely expected to be the first to seek permission to start mining.