#association of southeast asian nations
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ranjith11 · 1 year ago
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The Silent Rise of ASEAN | asean global superpower | Geography facts
In this video, the Geography Guru takes you on an incredible journey into the heart of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). 🌍 Dive deep with us as we unveil the silent yet robust ascendancy of ASEAN, a crucial alliance that often goes unnoticed. From its humble beginnings in Bangkok, Thailand, to becoming an economic powerhouse with a strong cultural foundation, ASEAN is truly a force to reckon with. Join us as we explore this remarkable journey.
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thejewishlink · 1 year ago
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Israel, Vietnam Sign Free-Trade Agreement
By Pesach Benson • 25 July, 2023   Jerusalem, 25 July, 2023 (TPS) — Israel and Vietnam signed a free trade agreement in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Minister of Economy and Industry Nir Barkat announced. It is Israel’s first free trade agreement with a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The agreement was signed by Barkat and his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Hong Dien in the…
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carlocarrasco · 2 years ago
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Philippines aiming for 3-4 gold medals in the 32nd SEA Games
Even as the Philippines will be sending a reduced number of athletes to the 32nd edition of the Southeast Asian Games (also referred to as SEA Games and Cambodia 2023) in Cambodia anticipating a tough battle ahead, the nation’s triathlon team is aiming high to achieve SEA Games triathlon gold medal success there this May, according to a Philippine Star sports news report. Take note that the SEA…
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reasonsforhope · 29 days ago
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"Canada's parliament has passed a bill that that will cover the full cost of contraception and diabetes drugs for Canadians.
The Liberal government said it is the initial phase of a plan that would expand to become a publicly funded national pharmacare programme.
The government estimates one in five Canadians struggle to pay for prescription drugs.
The federal government still has to negotiate individual funding commitments with Canada's provinces and territories.
A report from parliament's budget watchdog estimates this bill will increase federal spending by C$1.9bn ($1.3bn; £1bn) over the next five years.
Canadians currently pay for prescription drugs through a mix of private, public and out-of-pocket plans.
The programme will cover 100% of the cost of diabetes and contraception medication for those who do not have drug plan coverage, and out-of-pocket costs for those who do.
The federal government estimates that nine million Canadian women of reproductive age will have access to common types of contraception under the plan.
Birth-control pills and IUDs can cost between C$100 and C$300 a year.
The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada hailed the ball as a "historic achievement".
"Women across the country will be able to make choices about contraception based on what's best for their lives, not their wallets," it said.
In addition, some 3.7 million Canadians have been diagnosed with diabetes.
Diabetes drugs covered include insulin - for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, which can cost between C$900 and C$1,700 a year - and Metformin, which helps lower blood sugar levels for people with type 2 diabetes.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the bill's passage "real progress" and urged provinces to quickly move forward with signing agreements.
The federal health minister has said he hopes that some provinces will have the plan in place by the end of this year, with all on board by next spring."
-via BBC, October 11, 2024
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ranilla-bean · 9 months ago
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The Iconoclast: Appendix
This is the appendix for my fic The Iconoclast, in which I will discuss some of my cultural and historical inspirations for the worldbuilding.
Disclaimer: I'm certainly not an expert on or practitioner of all the cultures I took inspiration from. In outlining my influences I hope to show my admiration and give appropriate credit to them.
Contents
Intro
Religion
Martial culture
Talent show
Miscellaneous
The Iconoclast is set in the same world as ATLA, about 800 years before the era of the cartoon. I was inspired by 10th-11th century societies; the Fire Nation is inspired by the Khmer empire, Kyoshi Island is inspired by Heian period Japan, and so on. Of course, the aesthetics of Hari Bulkan are heavily inspired by Angkor—Virtual Angkor was a huge help in visualising the city. 
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The immense population of Angkor was sustained by intricate water management techniques. The Khmer built reservoirs to collect water and sustain agriculture through the dry season. However, the impressive structures of Angkor had a dark side: they were built by enslaved labourers. Enslaved labour was extracted through human trafficking and debt bondage. In The Iconoclast, I integrated the institution of slavery with the caste system.
The exception to my adherence to periodisation was in the Inuit traditions that inspired the Southern Water Tribe, as the 10th-11th centuries appear to have been a period of migration eastwards across the Arctic for Inuit people. In addition to this, periodisation in Inuit history is more difficult to reconstruct due to the colonial destruction of knowledge. As a result, I took broader inspiration from pre-colonial Inuit culture.
Religion
The Fire Nation is based on the Khmer empire, which in this period adhered to Hinduism before the uptake of Buddhism. The cult of the Devaraja (lit. “god-king” in Sanskrit) arises from the specifically Southeast Asian branch of Hinduism. The Devaraja is regarded as the avatar (in this case, a human incarnation) of Vishnu. The Khmer king was marked out by dress: he wore a golden crown, or a wreath of flowers. His palms and the soles of his feet were stained red. He wore a sampot patterned all over with flowers—the more flowers, the higher the status.  
I conceptualised Zuko as being seen as an incarnation of the sun. Following Hinduism, this would be Surya. Fanon tends to use “Agni”, in fact the god of fire. Either way, as a non-practitioner of this religion, I’ve personally avoided using gods still worshipped today in my worldbuilding. My inspiration has largely been in the philosophy of religion.
Such philosophical ideas include: dharma, avatara, ahimsa, and brahman vs. atman. I found the Bhagavad Gita highly informative in developing these concepts—themselves debated in Hinduism—as well as ideas about the dilemma of Arjuna and the imagery associated with Krishna. I had an enlightening conversation with my friend Tana, who convinced me of the need to address the legacy of caste and casteism arising from the text. Ideas of caste carry certain baggage in the western world that I wanted to pare back, hence the differing terminologies of “in-” and “out-caste” used in The Iconoclast.
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The philosophies of Hinduism overlap with and develop in slightly different ways in Buddhism, which I explored through Choden. One instance is the Hindu notion of the Chakravarti, an ideal universal emperor (lit. “the one whose wheels are turning” in Sanskrit). A non-secular Chakravarti would in fact be a Buddha, someone who has reached enlightenment. Since Choden is the one who introduces this concept, I used the more literal term “the Turner of the Wheel” to disambiguate from “Buddha” (which immediately draws certain connotations), and also to draw a more direct relationship between the Arjuna imagery associated with Zuko.
This religious worldview stands in contrast to animism of pre-/early Shinto Japanese religion and Inuit spirituality, as reflected by Suki and Sokka. Princess Mononoke was in fact a huge inspiration! I conceived of the kami in the context of Shintoism before the major influence of Buddhism; Suki also worships at a kamidana shelf.
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For the Inuit, all things have anirniq, “breath/soul”, which lingers even after death. Therein lies the tension: between the need to hunt for survival and the vengeful soul that the act of killing liberates. The website I used as my source has a great quote on this: “the great peril of our existence lies in the fact that our diet consists entirely of souls.” These souls must be placated through ritual and observance of taboo. 
Importantly, I was interested in how each practitioner of religion approaches that philosophy in their individual ways, so none of the characters are perfect “representatives” of an ideal embodiment of that religion. Zuko is wary of his god status. Choden’s obsession with Zuko as Chakravarti makes her an outlier among the airbenders. Sokka trusts his “material” technologies of survival (i.e. weaponry) over spirituality, even though he practises the rites still, such as the smearing of lampblack and ritual words.
Martial culture
Sokka’s weapons generally mirror the ones he had in the show, with some additional embellishment. The snow knife is used to cut snow, but applied into a martial context by Sokka. The metal is sourced from a meteorite and cold forged; my inspiration was the Cape York meteorite, which Greenlandic Inuit used to fashion tools. Sokka’s club is made of jawbone, the strongest bone and stronger still from a herbivore. I combined the caribou and wombat into the “caribombat” for this, a nod to both an important Arctic animal to Inuit culture and to Sokka’s antipodean roots.
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Suki is based on early samurai. She uses the fans from the show, but instead of the katana (which we see her wield in “Appa’s Lost Days”) she uses a tanto, which is a kind of predecessor of the katana and can be used as an offhand blade or a weapon in its own right. Women could also carry a smaller version of this blade for self defence. Her armour is Heian period do-maru armour, which was a lighter development on older styles of armour, made of scales of lacquered leather. I was particularly in love with the idea of her having a helmet and a men-yoroi mask, which was used as facial armour.
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Zuko’s fighting style is inspired by bokator, a Khmer boxing style. He uses the short sticks instead of the dual dao, which can become truly dynamic weapons!
Talent show
Suki’s performances are based on the Japanese tea ceremony and bianlian from Sichuanese opera. The preparation method of the Japanese tea ceremony—whisking powdered tea—is in fact borrowed from the Chinese Song dynasty, which fits the time period of the world. Bianlian involves a performer very quickly changing a series of masks to a secret technique. It’s way more fun to watch on video than to read, I admit!
Osha’s dance is… meant to be the royal Cambodian ballet. The dance evokes the apsaras, dancing celestial beings in Hindu culture (incidentally, they are depicted on the walls of the fire temple on Full Moon Island). And just like western ballet, it takes years of training and skill to master!
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Miscellaneous
Druk is, in this conception, a naga instead of… whatever unholy mix of cultures’ dragons LoK drew him as. Nagas are found across South and Southeast Asian cultures, and in Khmer culture they are typically represented as serpents—sometimes with multiple heads. They are associated with water, prosperity, and various other positive connotations. There’s a whole rabbit hole I don’t really want to get into about why I’m putting a water-associated creature in the Fire Nation (East Asian dragons are associated with water too!) but I do want to point out that there is a natural phenomenon on the Mekong called “naga fireballs” so… I’m running with that. 
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Full Moon Island is Crescent Island… before the eruption that turned it into a caldera.
Osha’s name is not a health and safety pun; I’m not American and I call it WH&S, it was a total coincidence. It means “shining” in Sanskrit—apt for a Fire Nation character, I think. 
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arkipelagic · 6 months ago
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A lot of those who insist that Filipinos are Pacific Islander instead of (or, in addition to) Asian often rely on loose interpretations of the term Pacific Islander and the fact that the Philippines was used as a stepping stone in the Austronesian expansion to the east. What they ignore or may not know is that (1) the superficial similarities between Pacific Islanders and Filipinos are not unique to Pacific Islanders and Filipinos but with Austronesian-speaking peoples in general, including Austronesian-speaking Southeast Asians and (2) we Filipinos simply did not have as regular and as vigorous a contact with the Pacific Islands - if any - compared to the Asian continent. We still don’t.
Think about it: the earliest known trade network in the Philippines included what is now Taiwan and Southeast Asia, i.e., the Philippine jade culture which dates as far back as 2000 BC and lasted for 3,000 years. Nephrite jade from Taiwan was manufactured in the Philippines and distributed elsewhere in the nearby region. After that were the Sa Huỳnh-Kalanay Interaction Sphere from 500 BC through AD 100 and of course the so-called Maritime Silk Road during historical times. What followed was then the very familiar colonial era of Iberian, Dutch, and British presence in Asia.
The earliest Filipino artifact with a given calendar date is the Laguna Copperplate Inscription which was written in the year AD 900 using a Brahmic script in a combination of Sanskrit, Old Malay, Old Tagalog and/or Javanese. Upon the arrival of Magellan six hundred years later in 1521, it was a man titled rajah who greeted him in Cebu. Half a century later, the aged grandson of the sultan of Brunei was ruling Manila. To this day, among the lesser Hispanicized and Americanized ethnic groups across the Philippines, the Ivatan of Batanes speak a family of languages shared with the Tao of Orchid Island, Taiwan and the people of Bangsamoro have more in common with Bruneians, Indonesians, and Malaysians than they do with the Māori, Kanaka Maoli, or Fijians. Indigenous Borneans are closely related to Filipinos.
As for myself, I was raised in Davao where you’ll find Cebuano, Ilonggo, Kagan, Maguindanaon, Maranao, Mansaka, Mandaya, Manobo, Bagobo, Chinese Hoklo, Japanese, and Indian people live; no one local I’ve ever met has identified as Pacific Islander and there was never a question as to whether I was Asian or not because I was surrounded by fellow Asians. It’s certainly hard to deny it when your country of origin is one of the founding members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, attempted to make a Malaysian-Filipino-Indonesian confederation happen, and contains the title “Pearl of the Orient” as a lyric in the national anthem.
Does this look like an archipelago that kept close touch with polities and cultures across the Pacific Ocean for thousands of years? Does this look like a society that is more Pacific Islander than Asian?
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vigilskeep · 4 months ago
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Hi!! Do you know if there’s anywhere in thedas based on southeast asia ? It’s my first time playing dragon age and I want my character to be thai too so I’m hoping so lol
dragon age has a pretty spotty history of asian representation, but we are seeing more and more asian characters now—the main ones that come to mind being dorian from dai, and bellara and neve from veilguard—and they tend to come from the vicinity of tevinter, where veilguard will begin, so that might be a good place to start! bellara and neve’s associated local factions, the veil jumpers and the shadow dragons, will be among the options for your character’s background
i don’t know how far those asian inspirations will be applied to culture and locations more broadly, as well as just “casting”, because we haven’t been to these areas of thedas before. the nature of dragon age’s writing is that the history of thedas as a whole mimics europe’s in many ways, with each nation on the continent having its own european parallels. as previous games have been set in the predominantly white south of thedas, we’re yet to see how that’s handled in the north which we know to be primarily populated by people of colour, and how that diversity will be incorporated on a deeper level alongside the “role” in european history each nation plays, if that makes sense
all that being said, thedas is a varied place with long histories of migration, trade, imperialism, refugee movements, nomadic populations, marriage alliances of nobility, etc., between all its nations. though somewhere like tevinter might have your best shot at deeper representation and a similar-looking population, there’s absolutely nothing lore-breaking about writing your thai character into any background in thedas if you find something else more inspiring
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agentfascinateur · 4 months ago
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The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) condemns Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, and the killing of more than 39,000 Palestinians
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southeastasianists · 8 months ago
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In Dili, Indonesia’s future means trying to forget about Timor-Leste’s past
Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto, a former military officer, has been linked to alleged atrocities in Timor-Leste.
At Timor-Leste’s museum of memory, Hugo Fernandes supervises exhibits chronicling resistance and oppression during the Indonesian occupation – an era when Prabowo Subianto, now Indonesia’s president-elect, is alleged to have overseen atrocities.
Fernandes runs the Centro Nacional Chega! museum, a former prison in the capital Dili that dates to when Timor-Leste was a Portuguese colony. Faded photographs of Timorese resistance fighters and messages scrawled on the walls by prisoners who languished here during Indonesia’s brutal 24-year rule line its galleries. 
Despite the shadows cast by history, the impending ascent to power of Prabowo, a former army special forces commander who was declared the winner of the Feb. 14 Indonesian general election, has been greeted with diplomatic decorum in this tiny young nation of 1.3 million people also known as East Timor.
“Prabowo’s specific actions remain unclear due to limited information,” Fernandes, the museum’s director, told BenarNews. “Accusations of human rights violations have persisted, but concrete evidence and verification are difficult to obtain.”
“Chega!,” which means “enough! in Portuguese, stands as a testament to Timor-Leste’s efforts to navigate the delicate path between preserving the memories of its dark past and promoting reconciliation with its giant neighbor next-door.
“There are differing voices within the nation,” Fernandes says. “Some activists advocate for answers regarding past atrocities, while others emphasize the importance of moving forward with Indonesia.”
In 1999, East Timor voted overwhelmingly to break away from Indonesian rule, through a United Nations-sponsored referendum. Before and after the vote, pro-Jakarta militias engaged in widespread violence and destruction. East Timor gained formal independence in 2002 after a period of U.N. administration.
The occupation, which followed after Indonesia invaded East Timor in December 1975, was marked by famine and conflict. The number of deaths attributed to that era ranges from from 90,000 to 200,000, the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor reported.
This figure includes nearly 20,000 cases of violent deaths or disappearances. The commission’s findings indicate that Indonesian forces were responsible for about 70% of these violent incidents, set against the backdrop of East Timor’s population of around 900,000 in 1999.
And according to the Genocide Studies Program at Yale University, “up to a fifth of the East Timorese population perished during the Indonesia’s 24-year occupation … a similar proportion to the Cambodians who died under the Khmer Rouge regime of Pol Pot (1975-1979).”
Since 1999, the relationship between Timor-Leste and Indonesia has evolved, with Jakarta acknowledging its former province as a “close brother” and supporting Dili’s bid to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Timor-Leste President José Ramos-Horta welcomed Prabowo’s election win and expressed readiness to collaborate with Indonesia’s upcoming new leader.
“Very pleased, very pleased,” Ramos-Horta told BenarNews when asked about Prabowo’s victory. 
As a young man, Ramos-Horta, now 74, was a founder and leader of Fretilin, the armed resistance movement that fought to liberate East Timor from the Portuguese first and then the Indonesians.
He said he had personally called Prabowo, now Indonesia’s defense minister, to congratulate him, and that the ex-general planned to visit Timor-Leste before his inauguration on Oct. 20.
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão, a former guerilla leader who spent years in an Indonesian prison, was also happy with the news, Ramos-Horta said.
“President-elect Prabowo will contribute a lot, first to Indonesia, continuing stability and prosperity in Indonesia, and then in the region, as well as strengthen relations with Timor-Leste,” he said, adding Prabowo had “many friends” in his country, including his own brother, Arsenio.
When asked about Prabowo’s human rights record in Timor-Leste, Ramos-Horta said, “That is past. It’s already almost three decades, and we do not think of the past.”
Prabowo was a key figure in the military operations that crushed the East Timorese resistance.
The Timor-Leste National Alliance for an International Tribunal (ANTI), a coalition of civil society organizations, survivors, and families of victims, said reports had implicated Prabowo in a 1983 massacre in Kraras.
Some estimates said that  200 people were killed there, earning the area the nickname the “town of widows.”
In a statement released in November, the alliance said that as the head of the Indonesian army’s special forces command, Prabowo had directed actions resulting in severe human rights abuses and crimes, including the establishment of pro-Indonesian militias blamed for post-referendum violence in 1999.
In addition, Prabowo is linked to a 1991 massacre at the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili, where some 250 peaceful demonstrators were killed, the alliance said.
In 1998, Prabowo was discharged from the military after a council of honor officers found him guilty of several violations, including involvement in the abduction and disappearance of pro-democracy activists during the 1998 student protests that led to the downfall of Indonesian dictator Suharto.
Prabowo, 72, has denied any wrongdoing and said he was only following orders from his superiors. He has never been tried in a civilian court for the alleged crimes.
Prabowo’s presidential campaign team said that witnesses, including religious figures in Timor-Leste, had denied his connection to the Krakas killings.
For many Timorese, the memories of Indonesian occupation are hard to erase. 
Naldo Rei, 50, a former child guerrilla-fighter who was repeatedly imprisoned during that period, said he could not overlook Prabowo’s human rights record.
“While I don’t want to meddle in Indonesia’s internal matters, when it comes to human rights issues, Prabowo has a very distressing track record,” Rei told BenarNews, his soft-spoken and gentle demeanor belying his resistance years.
Rei spent his youth evading capture in the Los Palos jungle after the loss of six family members, including his father, to Indonesian military action.
In the early 1990s, he sought refuge first in Jakarta, then in Australia, before settling in an independent East Timor.
Rei, who is the author of “Resistance,” a memoir detailing his experiences, voices apprehension about the trajectory of Indonesian democracy.
“Prabowo’s victory, from my perspective, squanders the democracy that the people have fought for,” he said. “How many lives have been lost? He and other generals have blood on their hands.”
Januario Soares, a second-year medical student at the National University of Timor Lorosae, represents a growing sentiment focused on the future.
“Indonesia has chosen its leader. We need to focus on the future,” Soares said as he sat in the shade of a mahogany tree outside his campus in Dili.
He believes strengthening relations between the two countries is vital.
“The civil war left us divided, and in that division, we inadvertently opened our doors to Indonesia,” Soares said. “What followed was a period of violence against our people, a scar in our history.”
Yet, when it comes to Prabowo’s role in that history, Soares admitted he did not know much.
“The Indonesian people have made their choice. Perhaps Prabowo is the best among the contestants; that’s why they chose him,” he said.
Soares said he opted for a pragmatic approach toward the past, focusing on improving the quality of life and seeking benefits for the present and future.
“People change over time, and I believe Prabowo has changed too.” 
Damien Kingsbury, a political expert specializing in Timor-Leste, said Timorese leaders were obligated to maintain a delicate diplomatic stance due to the small nation’s reliance on Indonesia for imports and its aspirations to join ASEAN, the Southeast Asian bloc. Indonesia is one of ASEAN’s founding members.
“Of course, Ramos-Horta must be diplomatic,” said Kingsbury, a professor at Deakin University in Australia, who has written extensively on Timor-Leste and Indonesia.
“He is president of a small country that has an unhappy history with Indonesia and does not want to create any possible problems,” he told BenarNews.
Kingsbury pointed out that while Ramos-Horta, a Nobel laureate and prominent diplomat, is well-versed in the language of diplomacy, there is a generational gap in awareness of the nation’s tumultuous past.
“Younger people may not be aware of events of 20, 30 and 40 years ago, but that does not mean they did not happen,” he said.
“It must leave a bitter taste in the mouths of many that Timor-Leste’s leaders need to be polite to Prabowo.”
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mariacallous · 3 months ago
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The FBI, working closely with an international team including the Czech and Baltic intelligence services, has helped link a series of international cyberattacks to a shadowy unit associated with the Russian secret service, the GRU.
According to a joint cybersecurity advisory report issued on Friday, the cyberattacks were undertaken by a group tied to Unit 29155 of the GRU.
Previously, the same unit has been blamed for an explosion at an ammunition site in 2014 in Vrbětice, deep in the Czech Republic’s southeast, as well as “attempted coups, sabotage and influence operations, and assassination attempts throughout Europe.”
However, in 2020, Unit 29155 expanded its portfolio “to include offensive cyber operations.”
Among other objectives, this offshoot group was used to collect information for espionage, cause reputational harm by stealing and leaking sensitive information, and destroying data.
“Unit 29155 cyber actors [are assessed] to be junior active-duty GRU officers under the direction of experienced Unit 29155 leadership,” said the report.
“These individuals appear to be gaining cyber experience and enhancing their technical skills through conducting cyber operations and intrusions,” it continued. Additionally, the report assessed that non-GRU officers had also been recruited, including known cybercriminals.
The unit is believed to be responsible for unleashing WhisperGate, a multi-stage wiper that has been deployed against the Ukrainian government, non-profit and tech organizations since January 2022. In addition to launching WhisperGate against Ukraine, the group has also targeted NATO states as well as countries in Latin America and Central Asia with its activity, including website defacements, infrastructure scanning, data exfiltration, and data leak operations. “Since early 2022, the primary focus of the cyber actors appears to be targeting and disrupting efforts to provide aid to Ukraine,” the report revealed. Furthermore, over 14,000 cases of domain scanning had also been recorded, with these impacting 26 NATO members and several other EU nations. “Whether through offensive operations or scanning activity, Unit 29155 cyber actors are known to target critical infrastructure and key resource sectors, including government services, financial services, transportation systems, energy, and healthcare sectors of NATO members, the EU, Central American, and Asian countries,” said the report. Led by the FBI, the investigative operation also involved teams from Britain, Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Estonia, Latvia, and the Czech Republic. Together, their joint findings have enabled the Cybersecurity Advisory to develop tactics, techniques, and procedures to thwart further actions by Unit 29155.
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ranjith11 · 1 year ago
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The Silent Rise of ASEAN | asean global superpower | Geography facts
In this video, the Geography Guru takes you on an incredible journey into the heart of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). 🌍 Dive deep with us as we unveil the silent yet robust ascendancy of ASEAN, a crucial alliance that often goes unnoticed. From its humble beginnings in Bangkok, Thailand, to becoming an economic powerhouse with a strong cultural foundation, ASEAN is truly a force to reckon with. Join us as we explore this remarkable journey.
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thehopefuljournalist · 1 year ago
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In the previous post I introduced Greenpeace. These are some wins from June posted on their website.
- Hyundai Construction Equipment commits to help stopping illegal mining in the Amazon
Greenpeace East Asia released the Stop the Excavators report in April of this year, calling to heavy machinery manufacturers to take measures that prevent their equipment being used illegally, in ways that cause violations of human rights.
This exposé revealed that Hyundai Construction Equipment is apparently the favoured brand used in illegal mining in Indigenous Lands in the Amazon.
Hyundai has now announced a series of measures to protect the forest, and will act to prevent this in the future.
- ReconAfrica suspends oil drilling in Okavango Delta
The Canadian oil company ReconAfrica has stopped drilling in Namibia’s Okavango Delta, after it was faced with lawsuits and environmental concerns. For now, the drillings have only been suspended, but this is a step in the right direction, proving that people power can work wonders.
In 2019, ReconAfrica announced fracking in some of Africa's most sensitive (both in terms of water supplies and as livelihoods for the communities in the area) environmental areas. Namibian youth climate activists, indigenous, environmental and human rights groups have been working since then to prevent this from happening.
- ASEAN steps up commitment to end forced labour and human trafficking practices of migrant fishers
In May 2023, ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) leaders officially adopted the first ASEAN Declaration on Migrant Fishers Protection in history. This declaration follows many years of active campaigning by human rights advocates and civil society organizations. The campaign aims to push stronger policies to protect Southeast Asian migrants working in fisheries and their rights.
This declaration emphasised that protecting and fulfilling the rights of migrant fishers is an entire migration cycle (recruitment, placement, and repatriation), and so is a shared responsibility among the ASEAN states.
- Local fishers and civil society join forces to reforest mangroves in Senegal
The local community in the traditional fishing town Joal in Senegal started reforesting mangroves in a show of what direct action is really about.
Joal is located near mangrove forests, that are essential breeding grounds for many fish species, and are vital therefore for the fishing communities in those areas. They also store more carbon than tropical forests, and are capable of curbing climate impacts such as floods.
- Dutch creative agencies choose to no longer work with fossil fuel companies
23+ creative agencies in The Netherlands put together a Fossil No Deal, stating that they will stop working with fossil companies and no longer encourage fossil passenger transport. They call it verdrag verantwoord verleiden, a treaty for responsible seduction.
- Thailand applies new PM2.5 ambient standard
In the beginning of June, the new PM2.5 ambient standard was officially applied in Thailand. 
The new standard is now 15 μg/m3 for the annual standard and 37.5 μg/m3 for 24-hour standard, which is in keeping with the revised WHO air quality guidelines. This is a big step in the right direction to help reduce PM2.5 and solve air pollution in the country.
Greenpeace Thailand is still not at rest, though, and are continuing to fight to get the PM2.5 at its source, that is from the industries.
- In New Zealand, FSC abandons plans for ‘GE learning’ process
Greenpeace Aotearoa and other environmental organizations have been pressuring the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification scheme to abandon its plans for a ‘Genetic Engineering (GE) learning’ process.
The long-standing principle of not certifying GE trees came under threat  after pressure from FSC certified plantation  company Suzano from Brazil that has a subsidiary doing GE eucalyptus tree research trials (for glyphosate resistance). 
- Citizens say yes to net zero emissions in Switzerland
 Swiss citizens have voted in favour of a new law to reach net zero emissions by 2050. The new climate law, which was initiated seven years ago, passed a referendum with about 59% of the voters.
Net zero is now enshrined in the “federal law on climate protection, innovation and strengthening energy security“.
Let me know if there's anything else you'd like to see, news from your own countries, or if you'd like to add anything or share.
I'm also here to listen, my DMs and Asks are always open :)
Love you all, and see you next time, be safe!
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davekat-sucks · 7 months ago
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Honestly the rhetoric of “Japan isn’t a perfect place” is so hollow at this point because of how obvious Japan’s societal problems are. Yes, Japan does have low birth rates, yes Japan has a harsh and unforgiving work culture, yes Japan does not have a society that reaches out to or discusses mental health of its population, creating a drive towards the growing hikikomori culture where you just stay inside your house all day and ROT. And finally, yeah many Japanese people do not like immigrants, immigration, or foreigners. This is a mix of European tourists being inconsiderate of their culture (it’s getting so bad tourists are getting banned from some districts of Japan for repeatedly taking pictures of geishas even though there are signs with visual clues of stick figures taking pictures of a geisha with a BIG CIRCLE WITH A SLASH THROUGH IT and this also applies to even simple stuff like ignoring the painted rows for getting on trains in a filed line, and a lot of little cultural divisions that you gotta learn before stepping into Asia’s biggest cultural exporter.
Of course, it’s not just the tourists, Japan also hates immigrants mostly because of the continuous cloud of Japanese nationalism that remains in the nation even after the war, which at best preserves landmarks and iconography of old imperial Japan (the naval flag hasn’t changed since 1868, even though the rising sun flag is now associated by Americans, many Chinese mainlanders, and Southeast Asians as a flag of oppression and war crimes since WWII, unless your Thailand, because Japan let Thailand keep their king and even join the Axis powers as an independent state) and at worst racism against Koreans and Chinese people that denies the terror at unit 731 and the massacre of Nanking.
Finally a lot of societal pros and cons of Japan come from 2 things:
1. America is Japan’e sugar daddy, it raised the country from rubble after WWII and created an economic miracle that modernized it so fast that by the 1980s it was developmentally ahead of countries like Italy and France.
2. Japan is dominated by one party since WWII and it only lost that majority for about 4 years after the economic crisis in 2008. It was Shinzo Abe that got the party’s grip on Japan, and economic state, back in the groove.
So Japan is a complex society with many people, a long history, complex politics (did you know Japan is one of the only countries in the global north to have a communist party represented in its parliament?) and it has problems, very human, and some of it does stem from the free-market Conservative politics of the country, and some of it was practices and cultural norms translated to the modern day.
The issue is the phrase “Japan ain’t a paradise ya know” does not address any of this, it more or less just attacks a superficial belief that people who like anime and complain about “wokeness” in western media like anime because anime generally does not explore or address social movements or political philosophy that deals with LGBTQ rights, racism, economic inequality, social justice, or political theory compared to modern american media which has integrated many more openly queer main characters and usually fights a villain who is a megalomaniac aristocrat who wants to get rid of some “other” to return society to “the good old days” and take power as this “great man” which must do what the unwashed masses could not stand up to. The assumption is since anime, and generally in genres like slice of life and shonen (and even beyond the scope of anime, tokusatsu) does not cover topic of modern political and social climate, it’s because Japan doesn’t have to deal with these issues, and is to the anime viewer, a harmonious, enriched, and bountiful society where there’s no crime, no poverty, and everyone is proud to be Japanese and accepts their place in society no matter how trivial their job or position in their community is.
The thing is: NO
Many popular anime and cartoons in Japan can cover modern social issues or political philosophy, it’s just that not all of it is going to get so popular that it gets dubbed or shipped to translation publishers like Crunchyroll or Viz media. The other thing is some Japanese media can cover older or more personal struggles in their works, it can get popular, and that’s alright! Not every piece of media that avoids talking about modern issues is anti-woke! Sometimes a fine story is a fun break from reality, a way to ease your stress from a day at work.
I think when people say “Japan isn’t a paradise you think it is” I think they’re saying that Japan has active movements that fight for more modern political causes like LGBTQ rights and economic reform, and that inevitably, they will win. Some courts in Japan are already considering same-sex marriage to be a right. That’s great.
The thing is, what the nu-fan is also saying is that the pressure of the American audience, and the growing progressive movement in Japan will reform the production and distribution of Japanese media that will introduce a new wave of authors, writers, and even animators who will be more woke than any previous generation of Japanese artists that preceded them.
And when Japan’s media landscape goes woke, where will you turn to to “escape the nu-fans” South Korea?
As if there’ll be 2 Koreas within the next decade.
🇰🇵🇰🇵🇰🇵
Then there's Western companies that are trying to ask JP creators to change, edit, and censor their works in order to fit the standards for Western audiences. If they don't try to persuade them, they do it in more subtle ways through localization without their knowledge. And they will take that advantage that the creator will be fine with it because most don't understand English or Western culture. Sites like Pixiv that is limiting US and UK NSFW content because they don't wish to change the rules for other countries for a site that was exclusively made for Japan. It's why people are starting to accept AI translations as a new way to translate anime/manga/video games over localizers like Crunchyroll. I also think there is a difference in addressing Japanese's political and society issues over policing their media and having to alter it in order to make a quick buck. It's just as bad as Disney removing one gay reference since it isn't part of the big plot to get dem Chinese bux. At least stuff like Apex Legends is having some balls to not LGBT+ shit for Saudi Arabia release without fear of losing money or being killed.
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not-so-rosyyy · 2 years ago
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I have a question do some Filipino consider themselves Pacific Islander in Guam we have a lot of people from there who say they are but when I visit the states many would identify as Asian I’m just curious the lilo and stitch live action may me think a lot about how colonization ruin the islands in the pacific and people don’t know what a native Hawaiian actually is
hi! sorry for the late response to this. as far as I can tell, this debate of how Filipinos identify is only an issue in the diaspora, most especially with young Filipino-Americans. but for those of us here in the Philippines, I can tell you we don't identify as Pacific Islanders. we're geographically located in Southeast Asia, so for all it's worth, WE ARE ASIANS.
all of this is a bit more complicated, tho. I think most of the confusion with our identity stems from the fact that America tends to lump Asians & Pacific Islanders together in one category. but since our people's culture & history are very unique from the rest of our Asian neighbors, Fil-Ams struggle to find where they really belong in the cultural melting pot.
they sometimes find it hard to identify strictly as Asians, because "asian" in the US is often only associated with those from the Sinosphere (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc). most Americans and those very same Asian neighbors also tend to exclude Filipinos from the group because we have more similiarities with Latin cultures now due to having been a Spanish colony for 300+ hundreds years. (we used to be part of the Spanish East Indies that also included Guam, in fact). but then, we also can't identify as Hispanic since...well, we obviously aren't. we do share a genealogical history and Austronesian heritage with Pacific Islanders, though (for example: similar language, tribal tattooing, etc).
so, all things considered, I think the feeling of being an outsider in the Asian community is part of the reason why some Fil-Ams identify more with Pacific Islanders. and I can't really fault them for that.
to me, however, it's absurd to strictly classify us into a single ethnic category. we're a multi-race nation. a typical Filipino family can have one member look like chinese, another will look mestiza, and another one will look like your average polynesian. some of our indigenous peoples are even black. our people's ethnic DNA is a rainbow, and--I say this without exaggeration--our skin colors are literally the Fenty shade range.
that said, the Lilo & Stitch casting debacle is still a mistake...and not so much because of ethnicity, but because of ✨colorism✨. the girl they cast as Nani is mixed European-Filipino, and is clearly fair-skinned...and Nani is very much NOT.
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psychopasss4 · 1 year ago
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Peacebreakers Profiling: The Origins
Let's dive into MoFA's hidden archives and find out how the Peacebreakers were formed!
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[Eng. Trans]
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Official Name: The Peace Breaker, Field Survey Team, Overseas Research Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Official activity period were dated from 2098/04 to 2113/04.
Task Description: A unit that obtains and manipulates information useful to Japan from other countries.
Specialties: It's main mission is to carry out covert mission, base infiltration, foreign investigations, BlackOps Intel Gathering, Sabotage, and providing weapons and operational support to anti-government organizations supporting the Japanese government.
About the support operations against anti-government organizations, operations were carried out through third-party organizations (see Exhibit A), such as support organizations under different names in the relevant country.
Through the Ceasefire Observation Group, an organization derived from former United Nations peacekeeping forces, arms were provided to both government and rebel forces in the Southeast Asian Association (commonly known as Xi'an), and the conflict spread throughout the Union. It has been confirmed that it has been expanded to.
Selection Process:
Candidates were selected from military personnel who had belonged to the Special Forces of the National Defense Force using the Sibyl system aptitude test, and those with a particularly strong sense of patriotism and self-sacrifice were selected.
At the time of establishment, there were 31 members (led by Captain: Tsugamasa Tonami) There are also records of the unit recruiting intelligence officers and operatives locally at its own discretion during its activities after its establishment.
Activities/ Date of Operations:
Main strategies and execution records:
2099_Conflict within the Southeast Asian Union.
2111_South Asian Republic Rebellion Incident.
2112_Operation Footstamp.
2113_Involved in the operation to exterminate the Kona Island independence faction.
Current Status:
In August 2118, it was decided to disband the organization, and in the same month, the whereabouts of the unit leader and members went missing.
In October 2118, the unit's independent activities were confirmed, and since then it has continued its activities completely at its own discretion. It is presumed that the range of its activities has expanded to the former northern Russian Federation region to this day.
It is assumed that the only member of the group since its establishment was the unit commander, Tonami Tsugamasa. The true intention is unknown. The current number of troops is also unknown.
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atla-genderbender · 9 months ago
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"Just as the world will be reborn in fire, I shall be reborn as the supreme ruler of the world. From this moment on, I will be known as the Phoenix Queen!"
Concept sketch for "Phoenix Queen" Ozai.
In my previous sketch of female Ozai, her crown as Fire Lord is inspired by Chinese fengguan. Since this crown is already intricate, her crown as  "Phoenix Queen" needs to be even more elaborate. To embody her vanity, madness, and megalomania, I took inspiration from apsara crowns. By appropriating the costume of an apsara, she visually declares herself an all-powerful goddess of fire. I felt this was fitting, as in ATLA Ozai appropriates Buddha imagery to create a cult of personality that carries into the comics.
The crown that sketched here is not entirely accurate to an apsara crown. Here it is depicted as an enormous, continuous crown, fused together with gold. There are a couple of reasons I decided to do this, but the main reason is because of a scene which occurs in the TV series finale. Before Ozai fights Aang, there is an impressive shot where he is shown standing on an air balloon. In the genderbent AU, I picture female Ozai standing in the same position, wearing this massive crown. From a distance, it should appear like she is wearing a massive flaming bird on her head, or a mass of comets. This was easier to achieve by making her crown a single, fused unit. Additionally, I picture her tearing off her crown in a single smooth moth, then burning off her cape in the moments before her fight with "Aangi". This is also easier to pull off if her crown is a single, fused unit. While this design is not culturally accurate, I think it is appropriate, as she is exploiting the imagery of benevolent goddesses for evil purposes.
Depending on how you view it, her crown is supposed to look like fire, comets, or a flaming phoenix. So much gold and jewelry is employed that it might look garish. When she is turned to the side, the centerpiece of her crown should resemble the head of a phoenix. When viewed from the front, it should resemble a comet, or the Fire Nation symbol that Iroh draws in the sand.
By taking inspiration from Southeast Asian cultures, I hope it helps divorce her from association with Wu Zetian. I don't think it would be appropriate to only have the villains inspired by Southeast Asian cultures, which is one of the reasons why I also took inspiration from Southeast Asian cultures when designing "Zuka""s comics outfit. These decisions are meant to pay homage to the rich heritage of Southeast Asian cultures, rather than associating them with villainy.
An earlier iteration of this design was more inspired by the naga crowns worn by depictions of Queen Soma, where the naga heads were replaced by phoenix tailfeathers. I decided against this, as Queen Soma was a real person and it felt disrespectful to her legacy.
To differentiate her from an adult Azula, I've drawn female Ozai with a more square facial structure, and red eye makeup.
Here is what her hairstyle looks like without the crown:
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Like what I’m doing? Consider leaving me a donation via Ko-Fi.
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