CryptoJacking: Your Computer Hijacked To Mine Bitcoins

              (Bill Buchanan’s article from the ABC NEWS AUS on December 21, 2017.) 

Cryptojacking: How your computer may be mining cryptocurrencies. Nothing comes for free, especially online. Websites and apps that don't charge you for their services are often collecting your data or bombarding you with advertising. Now some sites have found a new way to make money from you: using your computer to generate virtual currencies.

Several video streaming sites and the popular file sharing network The Pirate Bay have allegedly been "cryptojacking" their users' computers in this way, as has the free wi-fi provider in a Starbucks cafe in Argentina.

Users may object to this, especially if it slows down their computers. But given how hard it is for most companies to make money from online advertising, it might be something we have to get used to — unless we want to start paying more for things.

Indian COVID Much Worse Than Chinese Original

                    (Staff article from the ABC NEWS AUSTRALIA on May 28, 2021.) 

Indian variant of COVID-19 spreads as quickly, the spread of the so-called Indian COVID-19 variant: More than 311,000 people have died from coronavirus in India. 

As Victoria headed into yet another lockdown, the state's contact tracers were working to track and test at least 10,000 contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases. Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton told yesterday’s media briefing the strain of the coronavirus involved in the latest outbreak was "one of the most infectious we have seen".

The new cases confirmed in Melbourne this week have been identified as belonging to the B.1.617 lineage of the virus, colloquially known as the "Indian variant". According to Professor Sutton, while it usually took between six and seven days for a person to pass on COVID-19 after becoming infected, current cases were being transmitted "within a day".

"Unless something drastic happens, this will become increasingly uncontrollable," he warned.  The variant has also worried health officials elsewhere, with Public Health England, for example, declaring B.1.617.2 to be a "variant of concern" on May 6, and the World Health Organization (WHO) following suit on May 12.

Online, however, some social media users have suggested there is something amiss in the way the virus has spread from India to other countries. "Amazingly the Indian variant chose England rather than 8 countries on its way 4,688," one widely shared Facebook post reads. "Could have just gone 5 miles to Pakistan. Turn the News off you fools."

Htar Htet Htet: Beauty Queen Turned Insurgent

                   (Jenny Barry’s article from the KNOW INSIDERS on May 12, 2021.) 

Who is Myanmar Beauty Queen Takes Up Arm: Htar Htet Htet, former Myanmar beauty queen, has joined ethnic rebels to take up arms against the country's military leaders, posting photos of herself with an assault rifle.  

Htar Htet Htet, who represented Myanmar in the first Miss Grand International beauty pageant in Thailand in 2013, has taken up arms against the southeast Asian country's military leaders, AFP and Timesnownews.com report.

Myanmar has been in chaos and its economy paralysed since the military seized power on February 1, ousting civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Ethnic armed rebel groups have stepped up attacks on the military and police in recent months, raising fears of Myanmar spiralling into broader civil conflict, AFP report.

Another Blood Clotting Case From AstraZeneca Vaccine

                 (Staffarticle from the ABC NEWS AUSTRALIA on May 20, 2021.) 

SA man in 'very serious' condition with blood clotting connected to AstraZeneca COVID–19 vaccine: A 53-year-old South Australian man is being treated in intensive care for blood clotting that health authorities say is linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine.

It is the first case recorded in the state, with 150,000 South Australians so far receiving the AstraZeneca jab. Authorities are also investigating a second case of blood clotting in an 87-year-old woman who received the AstraZeneca vaccine last month.

South Australia's Chief Public Health Officer, Nicola Spurrier, said the man was in a "very serious condition" after receiving his first dose on May 4. He was admitted to hospital with severe abdominal pain on Tuesday.

Russian Fighter Jets & Helicopter Gunships In Burma

                   (Marwan Markar’s article from the NIKKEI ASIA on April 15, 2021.) 

BANGKOK -- The skies above Myanmar's hinterlands have thundered from Russian-made jets over the past three weeks as they bomb strongholds of ethnic rebels along the country's borders with China and Thailand. On other nights, witnesses say, Russian-made attack helicopters shattered the silence and lit up the sky.

In the country's north, the Kachin Independence Army has borne the brunt of the bombing raids this week, according to local media reports. The military, which is also known as the Tatmadaw, is using ground forces and airstrikes to reclaim the strategic Alaw Bum Hill near the Chinese border in Kachin State, which was seized last month by the KIA, The Irrawaddy news website reported.

The Myanmar military's use of such heavy firepower in rural areas controlled by various armed ethnic groups is meant to send a clear message to all that live there: The junta is in control and any resistance to the coup of Feb. 1 will be met with extreme force.

Fall Of Kharyarbon: Last Hill Overlooking Laiza (2013)

Dead KIA soldier on the Kharyarbon peak (24 Jan 2013).

The massive and brutal offensive against the high Kharyarbon peak by Burma Army began on midday January 24 as day-long shelling by the army’s 105 mm howitzer artillery guns positioned at the nearby Point-771 hilltop of Lajaryan Range which has fallen into Burmese hands just few weeks ago after a month-long fighting.

The Kharyarbon Peak is the highest position on the Kharyarbon Range overlooking the KIA’s last stronghold and headquarters Laiza on the Chinese border. Once Kharyarbon is captured KIA is basically trapped at Laiza and their only way out is into China.