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Military Junta Forces Surrender in Myawaddy, Myanmar

Military Junta Forces Surrender in Myawaddy, Myanmar

The military dictatorship that took power in Myanmar three years ago has suffered another major loss, this time on the eastern border with Thailand. Troops had been under attack for weeks by ethnic Karen insurgents joined with other anti-coup forces.

Hundreds of troops guarding the strategic border town of Myawaddy have agreed to surrender. Myawaddy serves as the primary route for Myanmar’s overland trade with Thailand.

On Friday, the Karen National Union said it had accepted the surrender of a battalion headquartered in Thanganyinaung, approximately 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) west of Myawaddy. It shared a video of its ecstatic troops displaying a big stockpile of weaponry they had taken.

Over the weekend, Karen forces negotiated with Myawaddy’s last remaining battalion, which appears to have agreed to surrender.

This is a significant defeat for the military junta, which has recently been driven out of major territories along the Chinese border in Shan State and Rakhine State near the Bangladesh border.

Thousands of soldiers have already been killed, surrendered, or defected to the resistance, forcing the military to force conscription on the public to compensate for the losses.

Since Myanmar’s independence in 1948, the Karen National Union has fought for ethnic Karen self-rule. However, it suffered a series of losses at the hands of government forces in the 1990s and was part of a nationwide ceasefire in 2015.

Myanmar KNU

KNU troops at the 70th Karen Revolution Day celebration in Karen State in 2019

The 2021 coup changed that, with the KNU declaring that the toppling of Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government rendered the truce null and void. Karen State was a popular destination for dissidents fleeing the severe military suppression of rallies following the coup since it was relatively close to Yangon, Myanmar’s major city, and provided the best path to the Thai border.

The KNU has assisted in training many volunteer fighters from the cities, who have since joined it in repeated attacks on military strongholds.

The KNU has also attempted to coordinate its actions with those of other major insurgent organizations, such as the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force to the north of Karen State and the Kachin Independence Army in the far north of the country.

The balance of power in Karen State has recently changed in favor of the opposition since a formidable militia located on the Thai border that had previously supported the military regime switched sides earlier this year.

Overwhelmed by fighting in so many other parts of Myanmar, the military has been unable to strengthen its positions in Karen State, and it has lost control of the important routes leading to the border.

Thousands of noncombatants have already lost their houses as a result of the conflict in Karen, and many more are reportedly migrating towards the Thai border in expectation of further air attacks in the coming days. The military junta has responded to these defeats by unleashing additional air strikes on regions now controlled by the militants.

Myanmar Junta

Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, a 64-year-old general, has spent his entire career in the influential military.

Myanmar Junta Cracks Down Even Harder

Meanwhile, the New York Times says that hundreds of innocent people have been killed, and tens of thousands of pro-democracy protestors have been detained in Myanmar’s military jails. The return of military control has caused turmoil in Myanmar in recent years.

The reigning military junta is becoming increasingly ruthless as a rebel insurgency gains traction in the countryside. It has stepped up its efforts to arrest dissidents and others who refuse to join its army. And it is administering progressively deadly treatment to individuals in prison.

More than 100 prisoners died in the first two months of the year as a result of abuse or neglect, according to human rights organizations and former detainees.

They claim that conditions in military-run jails have worsened further, with prisoners denied food, appropriate sanitation, and health treatment, as well as subjected to brutal abuse.

In February, the military declared a forced conscription, indicating it was on the defensive. The military could use that directive as an excuse to initiate a new arrest campaign, as anyone who resists conscription risks up to five years in prison.

The junta has stated that it will begin emptying prisons, releasing thousands of captives. However, any such freedom is likely to be temporary: rights groups point out that last year, the junta issued similar “amnesties,” only to re-arrest many of those who were released.

myanmar prisons

Prison security officials prepare for the reported release of inmates outside Insein prison in Yangon.

Myanmar Witness, a rights organization, claimed to have reviewed satellite images that revealed the construction of entire new prison complexes and new buildings near existing jails.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), approximately 120 dissidents died in military prisons in the first two months of this year, and 602 died in similar circumstances last year.

According to the group, around 1,500 people have perished in junta prison since the coup in February 2021. It claimed that the current dictatorship tortured and killed dozens of inmates. More than 20,000 individuals are believed to be under the junta’s captivity, while the civilian dead toll has topped 4,500.

The reigning military, known as the Tatmadaw, has long been infamous for bombing civilians, using them as human shields, persecuting minorities such as the Rohingya, and torturing pro-democracy campaigners.

It briefly shared power with Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government before regaining complete rule three years ago.

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Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding, But Still Accounting 48% Search Revenue

Google

Google is so closely associated with its key product that its name is a verb that signifies “search.” However, Google’s dominance in that sector is dwindling.

According to eMarketer, Google will lose control of the US search industry for the first time in decades next year.

Google will remain the dominant search player, accounting for 48% of American search advertising revenue. And, remarkably, Google is still increasing its sales in the field, despite being the dominating player in search since the early days of the George W. Bush administration. However, Amazon is growing at a quicker rate.

google

Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding

Amazon will hold over a quarter of US search ad dollars next year, rising to 27% by 2026, while Google will fall even more, according to eMarketer.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the forecast.

Lest you think you’ll have to switch to Bing or Yahoo, this isn’t the end of Google or anything really near.

Google is the fourth-most valued public firm in the world. Its market worth is $2.1 trillion, trailing just Apple, Microsoft, and the AI chip darling Nvidia. It also maintains its dominance in other industries, such as display advertisements, where it dominates alongside Facebook’s parent firm Meta, and video ads on YouTube.

To put those “other” firms in context, each is worth more than Delta Air Lines’ total market value. So, yeah, Google is not going anywhere.

Nonetheless, Google faces numerous dangers to its operations, particularly from antitrust regulators.

On Monday, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Google must open up its Google Play Store to competitors, dealing a significant blow to the firm in its long-running battle with Fortnite creator Epic Games. Google announced that it would appeal the verdict.

In August, a federal judge ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly on search. That verdict could lead to the dissolution of the company’s search operation. Another antitrust lawsuit filed last month accuses Google of abusing its dominance in the online advertising business.

Meanwhile, European regulators have compelled Google to follow tough new standards, which have resulted in multiple $1 billion-plus fines.

google

Pixa Bay

Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding

On top of that, the marketplace is becoming more difficult on its own.

TikTok, the fastest-growing social network, is expanding into the search market. And Amazon has accomplished something few other digital titans have done to date: it has established a habit.

When you want to buy anything, you usually go to Amazon, not Google. Amazon then buys adverts to push companies’ products to the top of your search results, increasing sales and earning Amazon a greater portion of the revenue. According to eMarketer, it is expected to generate $27.8 billion in search revenue in the United States next year, trailing only Google’s $62.9 billion total.

And then there’s AI, the technology that (supposedly) will change everything.

Why search in stilted language for “kendall jenner why bad bunny breakup” or “police moving violation driver rights no stop sign” when you can just ask OpenAI’s ChatGPT, “What’s going on with Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny?” in “I need help fighting a moving violation involving a stop sign that wasn’t visible.” Google is working on exactly this technology with its Gemini product, but its success is far from guaranteed, especially with Apple collaborating with OpenAI and other businesses rapidly joining the market.

A Google spokeswoman referred to a blog post from last week in which the company unveiled ads in its AI overviews (the AI-generated text that appears at the top of search results). It’s Google’s way of expressing its ability to profit on a changing marketplace while retaining its business, even as its consumers steadily transition to ask-and-answer AI and away from search.

google

Google has long used a single catchphrase to defend itself against opponents who claim it is a monopoly abusing its power: competition is only a click away. Until recently, that seemed comically obtuse. Really? We are going to switch to Bing? Or Duck Duck Go? Give me a break.

But today, it feels more like reality.

Google is in no danger of disappearing. However, every highly dominating company faces some type of reckoning over time. GE, a Dow mainstay for more than a century, was broken up last year and is now a shell of its previous dominance. Sears declared bankruptcy in 2022 and is virtually out of business. US Steel, long the foundation of American manufacturing, is attempting to sell itself to a Japanese corporation.

Could we remember Google in the same way that we remember Yahoo or Ask Jeeves in decades? These next few years could be significant.

SOURCE | CNN

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2024 | Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

trump

Washington — Trump Media,  The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will not hear an appeal from social media platform X about a search warrant acquired by prosecutors in the election meddling case against former President Donald Trump.

The justices did not explain their rationale, and there were no recorded dissents.

The firm, which was known as Twitter before being purchased by billionaire Elon Musk, claims a nondisclosure order that prevented it from informing Trump about the warrant obtained by special counsel Jack Smith’s team violated its First Amendment rights.

The business also claims Trump should have had an opportunity to exercise executive privilege. If not reined in, the government may employ similar tactics to intercept additional privileged communications, their lawyers contended.

trump

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

Two neutral electronic privacy groups also joined in, urging the high court to hear the case on First Amendment grounds.

Prosecutors, however, claim that the corporation never shown that Trump utilized the account for official purposes, therefore executive privilege is not a problem. A lower court also determined that informing Trump could have compromised the current probe.

trump

Trump utilized his Twitter account in the weeks preceding up to his supporters’ attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to spread false assertions about the election, which prosecutors claim were intended to create doubt in the democratic process.

The indictment describes how Trump used his Twitter account to encourage his followers to travel to Washington on Jan. 6, pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to reject the certification, and falsely claiming that the Capitol crowd, which battered police officers and destroyed glass, was peaceful.

musk trump

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

That case is now moving forward following the Supreme Court’s verdict in July, which granted Trump full immunity from criminal prosecution as a former president.

The warrant arrived at Twitter amid quick changes implemented by Musk, who bought the company in 2022 and has since cut off most of its workforce, including those dedicated to combating disinformation and hate speech.

He also welcomed back a vast list of previously banned users, including Trump, and endorsed him for the 2024 presidential election.

SOURCE | AP

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The Supreme Court Turns Down Biden’s Government Appeal in a Texas Emergency Abortion Matter.

Supreme Court

(VOR News) – A ruling that prohibits emergency abortions that contravene the Supreme Court law in the state of Texas, which has one of the most stringent abortion restrictions in the country, has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. The United States Supreme Court upheld this decision.

The justices did not provide any specifics regarding the underlying reasons for their decision to uphold an order from a lower court that declared hospitals cannot be legally obligated to administer abortions if doing so would violate the law in the state of Texas.

Institutions are not required to perform abortions, as stipulated in the decree. The common populace did not investigate any opposing viewpoints. The decision was made just weeks before a presidential election that brought abortion to the forefront of the political agenda.

This decision follows the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that ended abortion nationwide.

In response to a request from the administration of Vice President Joe Biden to overturn the lower court’s decision, the justices expressed their disapproval.

The government contends that hospitals are obligated to perform abortions in compliance with federal legislation when the health or life of an expectant patient is in an exceedingly precarious condition.

This is the case in regions where the procedure is prohibited. The difficulty hospitals in Texas and other states are experiencing in determining whether or not routine care could be in violation of stringent state laws that prohibit abortion has resulted in an increase in the number of complaints concerning pregnant women who are experiencing medical distress being turned away from emergency rooms.

The administration cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in a case that bore a striking resemblance to the one that was presented to it in Idaho at the beginning of the year. The justices took a limited decision in that case to allow the continuation of emergency abortions without interruption while a lawsuit was still being heard.

In contrast, Texas has been a vocal proponent of the injunction’s continued enforcement. Texas has argued that its circumstances are distinct from those of Idaho, as the state does have an exemption for situations that pose a significant hazard to the health of an expectant patient.

According to the state, the discrepancy is the result of this exemption. The state of Idaho had a provision that safeguarded a woman’s life when the issue was first broached; however, it did not include protection for her health.

Certified medical practitioners are not obligated to wait until a woman’s life is in imminent peril before they are legally permitted to perform an abortion, as determined by the state supreme court.

The state of Texas highlighted this to the Supreme Court.

Nevertheless, medical professionals have criticized the Texas statute as being perilously ambiguous, and a medical board has declined to provide a list of all the disorders that are eligible for an exception. Furthermore, the statute has been criticized for its hazardous ambiguity.

For an extended period, termination of pregnancies has been a standard procedure in medical treatment for individuals who have been experiencing significant issues. It is implemented in this manner to prevent catastrophic outcomes, such as sepsis, organ failure, and other severe scenarios.

Nevertheless, medical professionals and hospitals in Texas and other states with strict abortion laws have noted that it is uncertain whether or not these terminations could be in violation of abortion prohibitions that include the possibility of a prison sentence. This is the case in regions where abortion prohibitions are exceedingly restrictive.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which resulted in restrictions on the rights of women to have abortions in several Republican-ruled states, the Texas case was revisited in 2022.

As per the orders that were disclosed by the administration of Vice President Joe Biden, hospitals are still required to provide abortions in cases that are classified as dire emergency.

As stipulated in a piece of health care legislation, the majority of hospitals are obligated to provide medical assistance to patients who are experiencing medical distress. This is in accordance with the law.

The state of Texas maintained that hospitals should not be obligated to provide abortions throughout the litigation, as doing so would violate the state’s constitutional prohibition on abortions. In its January judgment, the 5th United States Circuit Court of Appeals concurred with the state and acknowledged that the administration had exceeded its authority.

SOURCE: AP

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