Podcasts about Myanmar

Systemic sexual violence by the Myanmar army and proxies began to be widely reported in the 2010s, in the course of genocidal violence against Rohingya in the country's west. At the same time, the Myanmar government, which was then a military-civilian hybrid, negotiated with international organisations to set up a mechanism to monitor and deal with the violence. In this episode of New Books in Southeast Asian Studies, Phyu Phyu Oo discusses her research on this violence, and attempts to deal with it through the United Nations system, published as Conflict-related Sexual Violence in Myanmar: The Role of the State (De Gruyter, 2025). In the course of the interview she explains what Conflict-Related Sexual Violence is, efforts to address it through international agreements and law, and the conditions in Myanmar, where CRSV has a long history, and has been documented by women's and right's groups since the 1990s. She also reflects on the current conditions and future prospects for addressing CRSV in Myanmar. For more on the work of the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence against Women, in which Phyu Phyu is a research fellow, visit the CEVAW website. Like this interview? You might also be interested in Elliot Prasse-Freeman discussing Rights Refused, Ken MacLean on Crimes in Archival Form, and Lynette Chua talking about The Politics of Love in Myanmar This interview summary was not synthesised by a machine. Unlike that machinery, the author gave thought to its contents. And unlike the makers and owners of those machines, he accepts responsibility for those contents. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Today's HeadlinesFormer Kenyan inmate shares the Gospel with his communitySyria's Christian community faces unpredictability as area tensions riseUnknown Nations carries Gospel to stateless Rohingya

His client, Nyo Myint, is a refugee from Myanmar who was deported by the Trump administration—first to Djibouti, then to South Sudan—along with seven other men. His lawyer is now reaching out to the United Nations to intervene. Guest: Jonathan Ryan, San Antonio-based immigration attorney and author of the Firewall Substack. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Ethan Oberman, Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

His client, Nyo Myint, is a refugee from Myanmar who was deported by the Trump administration—first to Djibouti, then to South Sudan—along with seven other men. His lawyer is now reaching out to the United Nations to intervene. Guest: Jonathan Ryan, San Antonio-based immigration attorney and author of the Firewall Substack. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Ethan Oberman, Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

His client, Nyo Myint, is a refugee from Myanmar who was deported by the Trump administration—first to Djibouti, then to South Sudan—along with seven other men. His lawyer is now reaching out to the United Nations to intervene. Guest: Jonathan Ryan, San Antonio-based immigration attorney and author of the Firewall Substack. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Ethan Oberman, Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Observers are calling this possibly the biggest human trafficking event in modern times. Hundreds of thousands of people recruited – usually under false pretences - to work in massive facilities in the border areas of Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, to promote fraudulent investment schemes and romance scams to unsuspecting citizens around the world. The scams, run by criminal gangs, are thought to be making tens of billions of dollars every year. Those recruited often find themselves, trapped, beaten and tortured. Ed Butler travels to Thailand's border with Myanmar to investigate the scale of the trade, to speak to survivors and to some of those still involved, and to explore what role the ongoing civil war in Myanmar is playing in fuelling this apparently burgeoning criminal trade, beyond the reach of international law-enforcement.This episode of The Documentary comes to you from Assignment, investigations and journeys into the heart of global events.

Interview with Joe David, Managing Director of Elementos Ltd.Recording date: 10th July 2025Elementos Limited (ASX:ELT) is positioning itself as a unique player in the critical minerals sector through its vertically integrated tin operation spanning from mine to metal production in Spain. The company's flagship Oropesa project in Andalusia has published a robust Definitive Feasibility Study demonstrating $270 million AUD NPV and 26% internal rate of return using conservative $30,000 per tonne tin pricing, well below current market levels around $33,000.The project's compelling economics stem from a differentiated vertical integration strategy. Elementos has secured a 50% option over a Spanish tin smelter located 220 kilometers from the mine site, enabling the company to capture European tin premiums of approximately $1,000 per tonne above London Metal Exchange prices. This integration transforms typical concentrate sales receiving 92-93% payables into 98-99% recovery through smelting, effectively making European smelting operations cost-neutral while accessing premium pricing.Managing Director Joe David emphasizes the strategic scarcity underlying the investment thesis: "The tin market is only 2% of the copper market... if you included every single tin development project that sit within listed companies on any of the exchanges worldwide, I think you can count them on two hands." This scarcity has intensified due to supply disruptions in Myanmar and reduced Chinese smelter utilization rates dropping to 50% from typical 70-80% levels.The company has made substantial permitting progress in mining-friendly Andalusia, which generates 90% of Spain's metallic mining revenue. Elementos is approaching the public exhibition phase, a significant de-risking milestone requiring regulatory confirmation of project feasibility. The recent Metals X investment provides funding runway while multiple parties across equity, debt, and offtake spectrums have engaged in discussions, reflecting strong commercial interest in the limited global tin development pipeline.Elementos' positioning aligns with the European Union's Critical Raw Materials Act and represents the only proposed vertically integrated primary tin operation in Europe, offering investors exposure to both structural tin supply deficits and Europe's strategic mineral security initiatives.View Elementos' company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/elementos-limitedSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com

Episode #364: Ben's simple words resonate strongly: “If I could do something small for one person, why would I not?” This episode brings together Ben and a Burmese student who goes by the moniker Little Activist. Together, they discuss the profound impact of individual gestures and transnational solidarity. Ben, who worked briefly in Myanmar with a UN agency, was moved by an episode that Insight Myanmar Podcast aired last year, in which Little Activist described how he was documenting military atrocities and sharing online information. Compelled by Little Activist's courage and the sacrifices he was making, Ben decided to offer a monthly donation to support him and his mission. For Ben, this act was more than charity; it was a way to honor the kindness he experienced in Myanmar and to inspire others to stand in solidarity with those aspiring for democracy. Little Activist's response underscored the far-reaching effects of Ben's generosity: to him, the donation was more than a lifeline, as it provided not only material support but also a morale boost. Not content to keep the fund for himself alone, Little Activist distributed portions of the donation to others in need, reflecting his enduring commitment to collective well-being. The conversation also addresses the worsening conditions in Myanmar under the junta, from economic and educational crises to escalating violence and airstrikes. Despite these challenges, Little Activist remains steadfast in his mission to document the junta's atrocities and keep Myanmar's plight visible to the world, despite censorship and surveillance. In closing, Little Activist expressed deep gratitude, emphasizing that even in the absence of robust international intervention, solidarity from individuals like Ben provides hope. His final words capture his resolve: “Even if the international giants don't care about us, we'll continue our fight, knowing there are people out there who do.”

Myanmar is an often overlooked conflict. In this revealing episode of Janes World of Intelligence hosts Sean Corbett and Kate Cox are joined by guest Tony Davis, a senior Asian security analyst and Janes contributor, to provide expert analysis of the geopolitical and humanitarian crises unfolding in Myanmar. They explore the roles of China and other regional powers, the burgeoning issue of transnational organised crime, and the future of this tumultuous region.

#cuttheclutter ULFA (I) has claimed at least three of its leaders were killed in drone attacks by Indian Army on the proscribed militant group's camps along India-Myanmar border. The Army has denied any knowledge of the attacks. In Episode 1696 of #CutTheClutter ThePrint Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta traces the origins of United Liberation Front of Asom and explains how northern Myanmar has emerged as the chink in Tatmadaw's armour. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To visit ThePrint Store: https://store.theprint.in/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Produced By: Mahira Khan

Unknown Gunmen to Unknown Drones | Why is Indian Army Denying a Big Drone Operation in Myanmar?

In accordance with Chinese laws, China has indicted 21 key members of a telecom fraud crime group operating in northern Myanmar on various charges including fraud, operating casinos, intentional homicide, drug manufacturing, and other offenses mainly targeting civilians in China.根据中国法律，中国已对一个在缅甸北部活动的电信诈骗犯罪集团的 21 名核心成员提起公诉，指控其犯有诈骗、开设赌场、故意杀人、制造毒品等多项罪行，该集团的犯罪活动主要针对中国公民。According to China's public security authorities, the criminal group is suspected of involvement in activities that led to the deaths of six Chinese citizens. It is found to be linked to over 31,000 telecom fraud cases, with fraud-related funds exceeding 10.6 billion yuan (around $1.48 billion).中国公安部门表示，该犯罪集团涉嫌参与的活动已导致 6 名中国公民死亡。经查，该集团与超过 3.1 万起电信诈骗案件有关联，涉案诈骗资金超过 106 亿元人民币（约合 14.8 亿美元）。The group is also found to have been involved in the production and trafficking of approximately 11 tonnes of drugs.此外，该集团还被查明参与制造和贩运了约 11 吨毒品。Since 2015, the criminal gang headed by Bay Saw Chain has built over 41 large-scale compounds in northern Myanmar to carry out telecom fraud and illegal online gambling operations, said the Chinese Ministry of Public Security (MPS).中国公安部表示，自 2015 年起，以白所成为首的该犯罪团伙在缅甸北部建造了 41 余个大型园区，用于实施电信诈骗和非法网络赌博活动。These scam centers have been used to aggressively carry out illegal activities targeting Chinese citizens and to lure individuals from China into crossing borders illegally to engage in gambling and fraudulent schemes.这些诈骗园区被用于大肆开展针对中国公民的非法活动，并引诱中国公民非法越境参与赌博和诈骗活动。Investigations further revealed that the criminal group maintained armed control over these centers and condoned violent enforcement tactics, including abuse, assault and even murder of lower-level telecom fraud operatives.调查进一步显示，该犯罪集团对这些园区实施武装控制，并纵容暴力管理手段，包括对底层电信诈骗人员进行虐待、殴打甚至杀害。In November 2023, the MPS established a special task force to investigate the Bay criminal group and later issued public wanted notices in December.2023 年 11 月，公安部成立专案组对该犯罪集团展开调查，并于 12 月发布了公开通缉令。In January 2024, under the China-Myanmar law enforcement and security cooperation mechanism, Myanmar handed over Bay Saw Chain and Bay Yin Chin to Chinese authorities. To date, a total of 36 key suspects involved in the case have been taken into custody.2024 年 1 月，在中缅执法安全合作机制下，缅甸将白所成、白应苍等人移交中国 政府。截至目前，该案共抓获 36 名核心犯罪嫌疑人。During the investigation, Chinese police dispatched task forces to northern Myanmar five times, collecting key evidence with the support of Myanmar authorities. Domestically, over 1,000 Chinese police officers were mobilized nationwide to gather testimony and evidence from fraud victims.调查期间，中国警方先后 5 次向缅甸北部派出工作组，在缅甸 政府 的支持下收集关键证据。在国内，全国共动员 1000 余名警力，向诈骗受害者收集证言和证据。Through joint law enforcement efforts and a series of targeted operations, Chinese and Myanmar police have apprehended over 57,000 Chinese nationals suspected of involvement in telecom fraud schemes. These actions have dealt a significant blow to major criminal groups operating in northern Myanmar.通过联合执法行动和一系列针对性行动，中缅警方已抓获 5.7 万余名涉嫌参与电信诈骗的中国籍人员。这些行动对在缅甸北部活动的主要犯罪集团造成了沉重打击。indict /ɪnˈdaɪt/ 起诉，控告telecom /ˈteləkɒm/ 电信，电讯fraud /frɔːd/ 诈骗，欺诈apprehend /ˌæprɪˈhend/ 逮捕，拘押

White House has sent out tariff letters to numerous countries but the the import taxes do not take effect till August 1st.  FM Penny Wong gave a speech in the ASEAN meeting about managing differences between allies.  Other interesting news such as the confirmation grilling of the US ambassador-designate to Singapore, the advanced RAF fighter jet stuck in India, and how Myanmar military junta received the US tariff letters.

O Yes! Hello my dear — Today is GREAT!Subscribe & Enjoy Watching:https://youtu.be/1oXAyuruZbA

Myanmar es el principal productor mundial de jade. En el norte del país, el estado de Kachin, escenario de un conflicto armado durante décadas, produce hasta el 90% de esta piedra preciosa. Según la ONG Global Witness, el 90% de esta producción se exporta clandestinamente, principalmente a China. 

Gaza: Deadly choice for civilians between getting shot, or getting fedGang violence escalates across HaitiRenewed fighting leads to surge in Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar

Stuart Pollington was born in the United Kingdom and grew up there. After college he began working and along the way he decided he wanted to travel a bit. He worked in Las Vegas for six months and then had the opportunity to work for a year in Australia. He then ended up doing some work in Asia and fell in love with Thailand. For the past 20 years he has lived in Thailand where he helped start several entrepreneurial endeavors and he began two companies which are quite alive and well.   My discussion with Stuart gave us the opportunity to explore his ideas of leadership and entrepreneurial progress including what makes a good entrepreneur. He says, for example, that anyone who wishes to grow and be successful should be willing to ask many questions and always be willing to learn. Stuart's insights are quite valuable and worth your time. I believe you will find most useful Stuart's thoughts and ideas.     About the Guest:   Stuart Pollington is a seasoned entrepreneur and digital strategist who has spent over two decades building businesses across the ASEAN region. Originally from the UK, Stuart relocated to Thailand more than 20 years ago and has since co-founded and led multiple ventures, including Easson Energy and Smart Digital Group. His experience spans digital marketing, AI, and sustainability, but at the heart of it all is his passion for building ideas from the ground up—and helping others do the same.   Throughout his career, Stuart has worn many hats: Sales Director, CTO, Founder, Digital Marketer and growth consultant. He thrives in that messy, unpredictable space where innovation meets real-world execution, often working closely with new businesses to help them launch, grow, and adapt in challenging environments. From Bangkok boardrooms to late-night brainstorms, he's seen firsthand how persistence and curiosity can turn setbacks into springboards.   Stuart's journey hasn't always been smooth—and that's exactly the point. He's a firm believer that failure is an essential part of the learning process. Whether it's a marketing campaign that flopped or a business idea that never got off the ground, each misstep has helped shape his approach and fueled his drive to keep moving forward. Ways to connect with Stuart:   https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartpollington/ www.smart-digital.co.th www.smart-traffic.com.au www.evodigital.com.au https://easson.energy     About the Host:   Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset .   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.       Transcription Notes:   Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well, hello, everyone. Once again, it is time for an episode of unstoppable mindset. And today we have a guest, Stuart pullington, who is in Thailand, so that is a little bit of a distance away, but be due to the magic of science and technology, we get to have a real, live, immediate conversation without any delay or anything like that, just because science is a beautiful thing. So Stuart is an entrepreneur. He's been very much involved in helping other people. He's formed companies, but he likes to help other entrepreneurs grow and do the same things that he has been doing. So I am really glad that he consented to be on unstoppable mindset. And Stuart, I want to welcome you to unstoppable mindset. And thank you for being here,   Stuart Pollington ** 02:14 Ryan, thank you for the invitation, Michael, I'm looking forward to it.   Michael Hingson ** 02:18 And Stuart is originally from the United Kingdom, and now for the past, what 20 years you've been in Thailand? Yes, over   Stuart Pollington ** 02:27 a bit over 20 years now. So I think I worked out the other day. I'm 47 in a couple of weeks, and I've spent more than half of my life now over in Asia.   Michael Hingson ** 02:39 So why do you like Thailand so much as opposed to being in England?   Stuart Pollington ** 02:46 It's a good question. I mean, don't get me wrong, I do, I do like the UK. And I really, I really like where I came, where I'm from. I'm from the south coast, southeast, a place called Brighton. So, you know, pretty good, popular place in the UK because of where we're situated, by the, you know, on the on the sea, we get a lot of, you know, foreign tourists and students that come over, etc. I mean, Asia. Why? Why Asia? I mean, I originally went traveling. I did six months in America, actually, first in Las Vegas, which was a good experience, and then I did a bit of traveling in America, from the West Coast over to the East Coast. I did a year in Australia, like a working holiday. And then on my way back to the UK, I had a two week stop over in Thailand, and I went down to the beaches, really enjoyed kind of the culture and the way of life here, if you like. And ended up staying for a year the first time. And then after that year, went back to the UK for a little bit and decided that actually, no, I kind of liked the I liked the lifestyle, I liked the people, I liked the culture in Thailand, and decided that was where I wanted to kind of be, and made my way back   Michael Hingson ** 04:13 there you are. Well, I can tell you, Las Vegas isn't anything like it was 20 years ago. It is. It is totally different. It's evolved. It's very expensive today compared to the way it used to be. You can't, for example, go into a hotel and get an inexpensive buffet or anything like that anymore. Drinks at the hum on the on the casino floors are not like they used to be, or any of that. It's it's definitely a much higher profit, higher cost. Kind of a place to go. I've never been that needy to go to Las Vegas and spend a lot of time. I've been there for some meetings, but I've never really spent a lot of time in Las Vegas. It's a fascinating town. Um. One of my favorite barbecue places in New York, opened up a branch in Las Vegas, a place called Virgil's best barbecue in the country. And when they opened the restaurant, the Virgil's restaurant in Las Vegas, my understanding is that the people who opened it for Virgil's had to first spend six months in New York to make sure that they did it exactly the same way. And I'll tell you, the food tastes the same. It's just as good as New York. So that that would draw me to Las Vegas just to go to Virgil's. That's kind of fun. Well, tell us a little about the early Stuart kind of growing up and all that, and what led you to do the kinds of things you do, and so on. But tell us about the early Stuart, if you would.   Stuart Pollington ** 05:47 Yeah, no problem. I mean, was quite sporty, very sporty. When I was younger, used to play a lot of what we call football, which would be soccer over, over your way. So, you know, very big, younger into, like the the team sports and things like that, did well at school, absolutely in the lessons, not so great when it came to kind of exams and things like that. So I, you know, I learned a lot from school, but I don't think especially back then, and I think potentially the same in other countries. I don't think that the the education system was set up to cater for everyone, and obviously that's difficult. I do feel that. I do feel that maybe now people are a bit more aware of how individual, different individuals perform under different circumstances and need different kind of ways to motivate, etc. So, yeah, I mean, I that that was kind of me at school. Did a lot of sport that, you know was good in the lessons, but maybe not so good at the PAM studying, if you like, you know the studying that you need to do for exams where you really have to kind of cram and remember all that knowledge. And I also found with school that it was interesting in the lessons, but I never really felt that there was any kind of, well, we're learning this, but, and this is how you kind of utilize it, or this is the practical use of what we're learning for life, if that, if that makes sense. Yeah. So, you know, like when we were learning, and I was always very good at maths, and I love numbers, and you know, when we were learning things in maths and things like that, I just never felt that it was explained clearly what you would actually use that for. So when you're learning different equations, it wasn't really well explained how you would then utilize that later in life, which I think, for me personally, I think that would have made things more interesting, and would have helped to kind of understand which areas you should focus on. And, you know, maybe more time could have been spent understanding what an individual is good at, and then kind of explaining, well, if you're good at this, or passionate with this, then this is what you could do with it. I think I remember sitting down with our I can't they would have been our advisors at the time, where you sit down and talk about what you want to do after school, and the question was always, what do you want to be? Whereas, you know, for me personally, I think it would have been more useful to understand, what are your passion you know? What are you passionate about? What are you good at? What do you enjoy doing? And then saying, Well, you know, you could actually do this. This is something you could do, you know. So you could take that and you could become, this could be the sort of career you could do, if that makes sense. So anyway, that that was kind of like, like school and everything like that. And then after school, you know, I didn't, I worked for a couple of years. I didn't really know what I wanted to do. Funnily enough, there was actually a Toys R Us opening in Brighton in one of the summers she went and got, I got a summer job there at Toys R Us. And I really enjoyed that. Actually, that was my first step into actually doing a bit of sales. I worked on the computers. So we were, you know, selling the computers to people coming in. And when we opened the store, it's a brand new store. You know, it was just when the pay as you go. Mobile phones were kind of just coming out. We had Vodafone analog, but it was the non contract where you could just buy top up cards when they first came out, and I remember we were the first store, because we were a new store. We were the first store to have those phones for sale. And I remember just being really determined to just try and be the first person to just sell the first ever mobile phone within Toys R Us. And I remember I started in the morning, and I think my lunch was at, say, 12, but I missed my lunch, and I think I was up till about one, one or 2pm until finally I managed to find someone who, who was, who me, had that need or wanted the phone, and so I made that first sale for toys r us in the UK with the mobile phone, and that that, in itself, taught me a lot about, you know, not giving up and kind of pushing through and persevering a bit. So yeah, that that was kind of my, my early part. I was always interested in other cultures, though. I was always interested at school, you know, I do projects on Australia, Egypt and things like that. And, you know, in the UK, when you get to about, I think similar, similar to America, but, you know, in the UK, where you either before or after uni, it's quite usual to do, like, a gap year or do a bit of traveling. And I just kind of never got round to it. And I had friends that went and did a gap year or years working holiday in Australia, and I remember when they came back, and I was like, Yeah, you know, that's that's actually what I want to do. So when I was about 22 it was at that point, and I'd worked my way up by them from Toys R Us, I'd already moved around the country, helped them open new stores in different locations in the UK. Was working in their busiest story of in Europe, which was in London. But I decided I wanted to kind of I wanted to go and travel. So I remember talking to my area manager at the time and saying, Look, this is what I want to do. I had a friend who was traveling, and he was meeting up with his sister, and his sister happened to be in Las Vegas, which is how we, we kind of ended up there. And I remember talking to my area manager at the time and saying that I want to leave, I want to go and do this. And I remember him sat down just trying to kind of kind of talk me out of it, because they obviously saw something in me. They wanted me to continue on the path I was doing with them, which was going, you know, towards the management, the leadership kind of roles. And I remember the conversation because I was saying to him, Look, I want, I want to, I want to go and travel. I really want to go. I'm going to go to Las Vegas or to travel America. And his response to me was, well, you know, if you stay here for another x years, you can get to this position, then you can go and have a holiday in America, and you could, you can get a helicopter, you can fly over the Grand Canyon, and kind of really trying to sell me into staying in that path that they wanted me to go on. And I thought about that, and I just said, No, I don't want to just go on a holiday. I really just want to immerse myself, and I just want to go there, and I want to live the experience. And so yeah, I I left that position, went to Las Vegas, ended up staying six months. I did three months. Did a bit in Mexico, came back for another three months. And that's where I met a lot of different people from different countries. And I really kind of got that initial early bug of wanting to go out and seeing a bit more of the world. And it was at that point in my life where I was in between, kind of the end of education, beginning of my business career, I guess, and I had that gap where it was the opportunity to do it. So I did, so yeah, I did that time in America, then back to the UK, then a year in Australia, which was great. And then, yeah, like I said, on the way home, is where I did my stop over. And then just obviously fell in love with Thailand and Asia, and that became my mindset after that year going back to the UK. My mindset was, how do I get back to Thailand? You know, how do I get back to Asia? I also spent a bit of time, about five years in the Philippines as well. So, you know, I like, I like, I like the region, I like the people, I like the kind of way of life, if you like.   Michael Hingson ** 14:23 So when you were working in the Philippines, and then when you got to Thailand, what did you do?   Stuart Pollington ** 14:30 Yeah, so I mean, it all starts with Thailand, really. So I mean, originally, when I first came over, I was, I was teaching and doing, trying to kind of some teaching and voluntary stuff. When I came back, I did a similar thing, and then I got, I get, I wouldn't say lucky, I guess I had an opportunity to work for a company that was, we were, we were basically selling laptop. Laptops in the UK, student laptops, they were refurbished like your IBM or your Dell, and we they would be refurbished and resold normally, to students. And we also, we also used to sell the the laptop batteries. So we would sell like the IBM or Dell laptop batteries, but we sell the OEM, you know, so we would get them direct from, from from China, so like third party batteries, if you like. And back in the day, this is just over 20 years ago, but back then, early days of what we would call digital marketing and online marketing. And you know, our website in the UK, we used to rank, you know, number one for keywords like IBM, refurb, refurbished. IBM, laptop Dell, laptop battery, IBM battery. So we used to rank above the brands, and that was my introduction, if you like, to digital marketing and how it's possible to make money online. And then that kind of just morphed into, well, you know, if we're able to do this for our own business, why can't we do this for other businesses? And that would have been the, you know, the early owners and founders of the of smart digital and smart traffic seeing that opportunity and transitioning from running one business and doing well to helping multiple businesses do well online and that, that was the bit I really enjoy. You know, talking to different business owners in different industries. A lot of what we do is very similar, but then you have slightly different approaches, depending on them, the location and the type of business that people are in.   Michael Hingson ** 16:47 Well, you, you have certainly been been around. You formed your own or you formed countries along the way, like Eastern energy and smart digital group. What were they? Right?   Stuart Pollington ** 16:59 Yeah. So, so yeah, going back to the computer website. Out of that came a company called smart traffic that was put together by the free original founders, guy called Simon, guy called Ben, and a guy called Andy. And so they originally came together and put and had created, if you like, smart traffic. And smart traffic is a digital marketing agency originally started with SEO, the organic, you know, so when someone's searching for something in Google, we help get websites to the top of that page so that people can then click on them, and hopefully they get a lead or a sale, or whatever they're they're trying to do with that, with that traffic. So, yeah, they originally put that together. I being here and on the ground. I then started working within the business. So I was running the student website, if you like, the laptop website, and then got the opportunity from very early on to work within the Digital Marketing Company. I've got a sales background, but I'm also quite technical, and I would say I'm good with numbers, so a little bit analytical as well. So the opportunity came. We had opened an office in the Philippines, and it had been open for about, I think, 18 months or two years, and it was growing quite big, and they wanted someone else to go over there to support Simon, who was one of the founders who opened the office over there. And that's when I got the opportunity. So I was over in Cebu for what, five, five and a half years. At one point, we had an office there with maybe 120 staff, and we did a lot of the technical SEO, and we were delivering campaigns for the UK. So we had a company in the UK. We had one in Australia, and then also locally, within the kind of Thai market. And that was fantastic. I really enjoyed working over in the Philippines again. Culture enjoyed the culture enjoyed the people. Really enjoyed, you know, just getting stuck in and working on different client campaigns. And then eventually that brought me back to Thailand. There was a restructure of the company we, you know, we moved a lot of the a lot of the deliverables around. So I was then brought back to Thailand, which suited me, because I wanted to come back to Thailand at that point. And then I had the opportunity. So the previous owners, they, they created a couple of other businesses in Thailand. They're one that very big one that went really well, called dot property, so they ended up moving back to the UK. Long story short, about maybe 10 years ago, I got the opportunity to take over smart digital in Thailand and smart traffic in Australia, which are both the. Marketing agencies that I'd been helping to run. So I had the opportunity to take those over and assume ownership of those, which was fantastic. And then I've obviously been successfully running those for the last 10 years, both here and and in Australia, we do a lot of SEO. We do a lot of Google ads and social campaigns and web design, and we do a lot of white label. So we we sit in the background for other agencies around the world. So there'll be agencies in, you know, maybe Australia, the UK, America, some in Thailand as well, who are very strong at maybe social or very strong ads, but maybe not as strong on the SEO so we, we just become their SEO team. We'll run and manage the campaigns for them, and then we'll deliver all the reporting with their branding on so that they can then plug that into what they do for their clients and deliver to their clients. So that's all fantastic. I mean, I love, I love digital marketing. I love, I love looking at the data and, you know, working out how things work. And we've been very successful over the years, which then led on to that opportunity that you mentioned and you asked about with Eastern energy. So that was about three and a half years ago, right right around the COVID time, I had a meeting, if you like, in in Bangkok, with a guy called Robert Eason. He was actually on his way to the UK with his family, and kind of got stuck in Bangkok with all the lockdowns, and he was actually on his way to the UK to start Eastern energy there. And Eastern energy is basically, it's an energy monitoring and energy efficiency company. It's basically a UK design solution where we have a hardware technology that we retrofit, which is connects, like to the MDB, and then we have sensors that we place around the location, and for every piece of equipment that we connect to this solution, we can see in real time, second by second, the energy being used. We can then take that data, and we use machine learning and AI to actually work with our clients to identify where their energy wastage is, and then work with them to try and reduce that energy wastage, and that reduces the amount of energy they're using, which reduces their cost, but also, very importantly, reduces the CO two emissions. And so I had this chance encounter with Robert, and I remember, at the time I was we were talking about how this solution worked, and I was like, oh, that's quite interesting. You know, I've I, you know, the the digital marketing is going quite well. Could be time to maybe look at another kind of opportunity, if you like. So I had a look at how it worked. I looked at the kind of ideal clients and what sort of other projects were being delivered by the group around the world. And there were a couple of big name brands over in there. So because it works quite well with qsrs, like quick service restaurant, so like your fast food chains, where you have multiple locations. And it just so happened that one of the in case studies they'd had, I just through my networking, I do a lot of networking with the chambers in Bangkok. Through my networking, I actually happened to know some of the people in the right positions at some of these companies. I'd never had the opportunity to work with them, with the digital marketing because most of them would have their own in house teams, and I just saw it as an opportunity to maybe do something with this here. So I, you know, I said to Robert, give me a week. And then a week later, I said, right, we've got a meeting with this company. It's international fast food brand. They've got 1700 locations in Thailand. So when ended that meeting, very, very positive. And after that meeting, I think Robert and I just I said to Robert, you know, currently you have a plan to go to the UK. Currently you're stuck in Thailand with lockdown, with COVID. We don't know what's going to happen and where everything's going to go. Why don't we do it here? And that's where it originally came from. We decided, let's, you know, let's, let's give that a shot over here. Since then, we've brought in two other partners. There's now four of us, a guy called Gary and a guy called Patrick. And yeah, I mean, it's a bit slower than I thought it would be, but it's in the last. Six months, it's really kind of picked up, which has been fantastic. And for me, it was, for me, it was just two things that made sense. One, I love I love data, and I love the technology. So I love the fact that we're now helping businesses by giving them data that they don't currently have the access to, you know. So when you get, you know, when you when you get your electricity bill, you get it the month after you've used everything, don't you, and it just tells you how much you've got to pay. And there's not really much choice. So what we're doing is giving them the visibility in real time to see where their energy is going and be able to make changes in real time to reduce that energy wastage. And I just thought, Well, look, this is great. It's very techie. It's using, you know, date big data, which I love, using machine learning and AI, which is great. And then I also, you know, I do care about the environment. I got two young kids, so I do care about what's happening around the world. And for me, that was a win, win. You know, I got to, I got to do something with tech that was new and exciting. It's definitely new to this region, even though it's been new to the same sort of technology has been utilized in Europe and America for a number of years. So it felt new, it felt exciting. And it's also good, you know, because we are helping people on the path to net zero. You know, how can we get to net zero? How can we reduce these emissions? So, yeah, I mean that that, for me, is   Stuart Pollington ** 26:40 two different types of, in my opinion, entrepreneurial kind of journeys. One is that the with the digital marketing is, is all it's a story of working my way up to then reach the top, if you like. And whereas Eastern energy is more of a traditional kind of as an entrepreneur, this is, this is an idea. Let's do something with it and get an exciting about it. So two kind of, two different approaches to get to the ownership stage, if you like.   Michael Hingson ** 27:14 I have an interesting story. I appreciate what you're saying. The whole entrepreneurial spirit is so important in what we do, and I wish more people had it. But years ago, one of my first jobs out of college was working for a company in Massachusetts, Kurzweil Computer Products. Ray Kurzweil, who developed, originally a reading machine for the blind, and then later a more commercial version of it. And there's somebody that I had met when I was a student at UC Irvine who ended up being back in Massachusetts working for at that time, a think tank consulting company called Bolt Beranek and Newman. I don't know whether you're familiar with them. They changed their name to, I think it was CLOUD NINE or Planet Nine. But Dick was telling me one day that, and this is when mainframe computers were so large and there was a lot needed to keep them cool and so on. Anyway, he was telling me that one day the gas utility came in because the total heating bill for the six story building was like $10 and they wanted to know how BBN bolt, brannic and Newman was stealing energy and and making it so that they didn't pay very much money. And the the president of the company said, let me show you. They went down to the basement, and there they had two PDP 20s, which are like dual PDP 10s. And they put out a lot of heat, needless to say, to run them. And what BBN did was to take all of that heat and pipe it through the building to keep the building warm in the winter. Rather than paying all the gas bills, they were using something that they already had, the entrepreneurial spirit liveth well. And the bottom line is they, they kept the building well heated. And I don't know what they did in the summer, but during the winter it was, it was pretty cool, and they were able to have $10 gas bills for the six story building, which was kind of fun. No,   Stuart Pollington ** 29:39 that's brilliant, yeah, and that just goes to show me, that is what a large part of this, you know, energy efficiency and things like that, is, it's, it's, it's not about just completely replacing or stopping something. It's about better utilizing it. Isn't it? So they, you know the example you just gave there, with the heat and the wasted energy of being lost in that heat release they've used and utilized, which is brilliant.   Michael Hingson ** 30:12 I a couple of years ago. So my wife passed away in 2022 and we have a furnace and so on here, and we had gas bills that were up in the $200 a month or more up as much as $300 a month in the winter to keep the house at a temperature that we could stand. And two years ago, I thought about, how do we lower that? And I was never a great fan of space heaters, but I decided to try something. We got a couple of space heaters, and we put them out in the living room, and we have ceiling fans. So turned on the space heaters and turned on the ceiling fans, and it did a pretty decent job of keeping the temperature down, such that for most months, I didn't even have to turn the furnace on at all, and our heating bill went down to like $39 a month. Then last year, we got an additional heater that was a little bit larger, and added that to the mix. And again, the bottom line is that if I start all of that early in the morning, our heating bill is like 30 $35 a month. Now I do cheat occasionally, and I'll turn the furnace on for about 45 minutes or 50 minutes in the morning with the ceiling fans to help distribute the warmer air, and I can get the house up to 75 degrees, or almost 30 Celsius, in in a very quick time. And then with the other two space heaters running, I don't have to use furnaces or anything for the rest of the day. So I think this year, the most expensive heating bill we had was like $80 because I did occasionally run the the the heaters or the furnace, and when I was traveling, I would turn the furnace on for the cat a little bit. But the bottom line is, there's so many things that we can do to be creative, if we think about it, to make things run more efficiently and not use as much energy and eliminate a lot of the waste that that we have, and so that that has worked out pretty well, and I have solar on the house. So in the summer, when most people around here are paying four and $500 a month for their electric bills to run the air conditioning. My electric bill year round, is $168 a month, which is   Stuart Pollington ** 32:47 cool. Yeah, no, that's great that you've and you've that is a great example there of kind of how you know our approach to energy efficiency. You know what? What are you currently doing? Is there a more efficient way of doing it? Which is exactly what you found, yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 33:07 yeah, and it works really well. So I can't complain it's warming up now. So in fact, we're not I haven't turned the furnace or anything on at all this week. This is the first week it's really been warm at night. In fact, it was 75 degrees Fahrenheit last night. I actually had to turn the air conditioner on and lower the house to 70 degrees, and then turned it off because I don't need to keep it on, and made it easier to sleep. But it's it's amazing, if we think about it, what the things that we can do to make our energy lives more efficient, lower the carbon footprint, and all those kinds of things. So I hear what you're saying, and it's and it's important, I think that we all think about as many ways as we can of doing that. I   Stuart Pollington ** 33:56 think one of the biggest problems with energy is just invisible. You don't, you know, you don't really see it. No. So just, it's just one of those. You just don't really think about it. And again, you only get, you only get told what you've used once you've used it. Yeah, so it's too late by then. And then you go, Oh, you know, you might get an expensive bill. And go, oh, I need to be careful. And then you're careful for a few days or a week, and then again, you don't see it until you get your next bill. Yeah, it's really hard as with anything. I mean, it's a bit like going to the gym. If you go to the gym or the fitness and you just do it sporadically. You don't really have a routine, or, you know, it's gonna be very hard to achieve anything. But then if you, if you set your mind to it, if you maybe get a trainer, and you get a you go onto a better diet, and you follow your routine, you can you will see the results. And it's very similar to what we do. If you've once you've got the data, and you can actually see what. Happening, you can make proper, informed and educated business decisions, and that's what we're trying to do with that is to help businesses make the right decision on the path to net zero   Michael Hingson ** 35:11 well, and you have to develop the mindset as the consumer to bring in a company like yours, or at least think about yourself. What can I do consistently to have a better energy pattern? And I think that's what most people tend not to do a lot, and the result of that is that they pay more than they need to. The power companies like it, the gas companies like it. But still, there are better ways to do it so. So tell me you have been in business and been an entrepreneur for a long time. What is maybe an example of some major crisis or thing that happened to you that you you regard as a failure or a setback that you have had to deal with and that taught you something crucial about business or life.   Stuart Pollington ** 36:08 Brilliant question. I mean, I would, I would guess, over 20 years, there's been a lot of different, sorry, a lot of different things that have happened. I think probably, probably an impactful one would have been. And this taught me a lot about my team, and, you know, their approach and how everyone can pull together. So it would have been, I think it was about, it was when I was in the Philippines. So it would have been about maybe 1212, years ago, we're in Cebu, and there was a big earthquake, and when it hit Cebu, I think it was quite early in the morning. It was like 6am and I remember the whole bed was kind of shaking and rocking, and we, you know, had to get out of the condo. And we're, at the time, living in a place called it Park. And in the Philippines, there's a lot of cool centers, so it's very much 24/7 with an office environment. So as we're coming out of the condo, in literally pants, as in, when I say pants, I mean underwear, because you literally jump out of bed and run. And they were like 1000s, 1000s of all the local Filipinos all all in their normal clothes, because they've all doing the call center work. And I remember just, you know, sitting out on the ground as the aftershocks and whole grounds moving and and, and that that was a very, you know, personal experience. But then on top of that, I've then got over 100 staff in in Cebu at the time that I then have to think about. And, you know, is everyone okay? And then, because of the time it happened, Luckily no one was in the office because it was early, yeah, but it all but it also meant that everything we needed   Michael Hingson ** 38:08 was in the office. Was in the office. Yeah, yeah. So,   Stuart Pollington ** 38:10 so I remember Matt, you know, I remember getting a group of us there, was myself and maybe three or four others from the office, and I remember getting in my car, drove to the office. We were on, I think it's like the eighth or ninth floor, and they didn't want to let us in because of, obviously, the earthquake, and it was a, it was a couple of hours later, and you've got to be obviously, you know, everything needs checking. You still got all the aftershocks, but we managed to let them allow us to run up the fire exit to the office so we could grab, you know, I think we were grabbing, like, 1520, laptops and screens to put in the car so that we could then, and we had to do that of the fire exit, so running up, running down, and that was all into The car so we could then drive to a location where I could get some of my team together remote and to work in this. I think we ended up in some coffee shop we found that was open, and we had the old free G boost kind of the Wi Fi dongles, dongles. And I just remember having to get, like, 1015, of my team, and we're all sat around there in the coffee shop in the morning. You know, there's still the after shops going on the I remember the office building being a mess, and, you know, the tiles had come in and everything, and it was all a bit crazy, but we had to find a way to keep the business running. So we were in the Philippines, we were the support team. We did all of the delivery of the work, but we also worked with the account managers in the UK and Australia as their technical liaisons, if you like. So we. Helped do the strategy. We did everything. And so with us out of action, the whole of Australia and of the whole of the UK team were kind of in a limbo, so we really had to pull together as a team. It taught me a lot about my staff and my team, but it also kind of it taught me about, no matter what does happen, you know, you can find a way through things, you know. So at the time that it happened, it felt like, you know, that's it, what we're going to do, but we had to turn that around and find the way to keep everything going. And yeah, that, that that just taught me a lot of you know, you can't give up. You've got to find a way to kind of push on through. And yeah, we did a fantastic job. Everyone was safe. Sorry. I probably should have said that. You know, no one, none of my team, were affected directly from the from the earthquake, which was great, and we found a way to keep things going so that the business, if you like, didn't fall apart. We,   Michael Hingson ** 41:09 you know, I guess, in our own way, had a similar thing, of course, with September 11, having our office on the 78th floor of Tower One, the difference is that that my staff was out that day working. They weren't going to be in the office. One person was going to be because he had an appointment at Cantor Fitzgerald up on the 96th floor of Tower One for 10 o'clock in the morning, and came in on one of the trains. But just as it arrived at the station tower two was hit, and everything shook, and the engineer said, don't even leave. We're going back out. And they left. But we lost everything in the office that day, and there was, of course, no way to get that. And I realized the next day, and my wife helped me start to work through it, that we had a whole team that had no office, had nothing to go to, so we did a variety of things to help them deal with it. Most of them had their computers because we had laptops by that time, and I had taken my laptop home the previous night and backed up all of my data onto my computer at home, so I was able to work from home, and other people had their computers with them. The reason I didn't have my laptop after September 11 is that I took it in that day to do some work. But needless to say, when we evacuated, it was heavy enough that going down 1463 stairs, 78 floors, that would have been a challenge with the laptop, so we left it, but it worked out. But I hear what you're saying, and the reality is that you got to keep the team going. And even if you can't necessarily do the work that you normally would do you still have to keep everyone's spirits up, and you have to do what needs to be done to keep everybody motivated and be able to function. So I think I learned the same lessons as you and value, of course, not that it all happened, but what I learned from it, because it's so important to be able to persevere and move forward, which, which is something that we don't see nearly as much as sometimes we really should.   Stuart Pollington ** 43:34 Yeah, no, no, definitely. I mean the other thing, and I think you you just mentioned there actually is it. You know, it was also good to see afterwards how everyone kind of pulls together. And, you know, we had a lot of support, not just in the Philippines, but from the UK and the Australia teams. I mean, we had a, we had a bit of an incident, you know, may have seen on the news two weeks ago, I think now, we had an incident in Bangkok where there was a earthquake in Myanmar, and then the all the buildings are shaking in Bangkok, yeah, 7.9 Yeah, that's it. And just, but just to see everyone come together was, was it's just amazing. You know? It's a shame, sometimes it takes something big to happen for people to come together and support each other.   Michael Hingson ** 44:27 We saw so much of that after September 11. For a while, everyone pulled together, everyone was supporting each other. But then over time, people forgot, and we ended up as a as a country, in some ways, being very fractured. Some political decisions were made that shouldn't have been, and that didn't help, but it was unfortunate that after a while, people started to forget, in fact, I went to work for an organization out in California in 2002 in addition to. To taking on a career of public speaking, and in 2008 the president of the organization said, we're changing and eliminating your job because nobody's interested in September 11 anymore, which was just crazy, but those are the kinds of attitudes that some people have, well, yeah, there was so little interest in September 11 anymore that when my first book, thunderdog was published, it became a number one New York Times bestseller. Yeah, there was no interest. It's   Stuart Pollington ** 45:31 just, I hope you sent him a signed copy and said, There you go.   Michael Hingson ** 45:35 Noah was even more fun than that, because this person had been hired in late 2007 and she did such a great job that after about 18 months, the board told her to go away, because she had so demoralized the organization that some of the departments were investigating forming unions, you know. So I didn't need to do anything. Wow, so, you know, but it, it's crazy, the attitudes that people have. Well, you have it is, it's it's really sad. Well, you have done a couple of things that I think are very interesting. You have moved to other countries, and you've also started businesses in unfamiliar markets. What advice? What advice would you give to someone who you learn about who's doing that today, starting a business in an unfamiliar market, or in a foreign country, or someplace where they've never been?   Stuart Pollington ** 46:34 Yeah, again, good questions. I looking back and then so and seeing what I'm doing now, and looking back to when I first came over, I think chambers, I think if I have one, you know, obviously you need to understand the market you want. You need to understand, like the labor laws, the tax laws and, you know, the business laws and things like that. But I think, I think the best thing you could do in any country is to check out the chambers. You know, I'm heavily involved and active with aus Jam, which is the Australian Chamber of Commerce, because of the connection with smart traffic in Australia, in Sydney, the digital marketing. I'm also involved with bcct, the British chamber as British Chamber of Commerce Thailand as well, that there's a very big AmCham American Chamber over here as well. And I just think that the chambers can help a lot. You know, they're good for the networking. Through the networking, you can meet the different types of people you need to know, connections with visas, with, you know, work permits, how to set up the business, recruiting everything. So everything I need, I can actually find within this ecosphere of the chambers. And the chambers in Thailand and Bangkok, specifically, they're very active, lots of regular networking, which brings, you know, introductions, new leads to the business, new connections. And then on top of that, we've had, we've had a lot of support from the British Embassy over in in Thailand, especially with the Eastern energy, because it is tech based, because it is UK Tech, and because it is obviously something that's good for the environment and what everyone's trying to push towards. So I think the two key areas for me, if you are starting a business in an unfamiliar area, is one. Check out the chambers. So obviously the first one you'd look at is your own nationality. But don't stress too much about that. I mean, the chambers over here will welcome anyone from any nationality. So, you know, utilize the chambers because it's through that that you're going to get to speak to people, expats, already running businesses. You'll hear the horror stories. You'll hear the tips. It will save you some time, it will save you some money, and it will save you from making similar mistakes. And then also talk to your embassy and how they can maybe support you. We've had, again, some great support from the British Embassy. They've witnessed demo use. They've helped us with introductions. On the energy efficiency side,   Michael Hingson ** 49:26 one of the things that clearly happens though, with you is that you also spend time establishing relationships with people, so you talk about the chamber and so on. But it also has to be that you've established and developed trusting relationships, so that you are able to learn the things that you learned, and that people are willing to help teach you. And I suspect that they also realize that you would be willing to help others as well.   Stuart Pollington ** 49:55 Yeah, and I think I mean yes, and I'm talking about. And I mentioned, sorry, networking and the changes. But with networking, you know, you don't, you shouldn't go in there with the mindset of, I'm going into networking. I want to make as many sales as I can. Whatever you go into the networking. Is an opportunity to meet people, to learn from people you then some of those people, or most of those people, may not even be the right fit for you, but it's about making those relationships and then helping each other and making introductions. So you know, a lot of what I do with the chambers, I run a lot of webinars. I do workshops where I do free training on digital marketing, on AI, on SEO, on ads, on social. I use that as my lead gen, if you like. So I spend a lot of time doing this educationally and helping people. And then the offshot of that is that some of those will come and talk to me and ask me to how I can help them, or they will recommend me to someone else. And you know, we all know in business, referrals are some of the best leads you can get.   Michael Hingson ** 51:11 Yeah, by any, by any definition, one of, one of the things that I tell every sales person that I've ever hired is you are a student, at least for your first year, don't hesitate to ask questions, because in reality, in general, people are going to be perfectly willing to help you. They're not going to look down on you if you ask questions and legitimately are looking for guidance and information. Again, it's not about you, it's about what you learn, and it's about how you then are able to use that knowledge to help other people, and the people and the individuals who recognize that do really well.   Stuart Pollington ** 51:50 No, exactly, and I don't know about you, Michael, but I like, I like helping people. Yeah, I like, it makes me feel good. And, yeah, that's, that's a big part of it as well. You know   Michael Hingson ** 52:01 it is and, and that's the way it ought to be. It's, that's the other thing that I tell them. I said, once you have learned a great deal, first of all, don't forget that you're always going to be a student. And second of all, don't hesitate to be a teacher and help other people as well.   Speaker 1 ** 52:16 Man, that's really important. Yeah, brilliant.   Michael Hingson ** 52:20 Now you have worked across a number of sectors and market, marketing, tech, sales, energy and so on. How did how do you do that? You You've clearly not necessarily been an expert in those right at the beginning. So how do you learn and grow and adapt to be able to to work in those various industries.   Stuart Pollington ** 52:41 Yeah, I mean, for the marketing, for the marketing, it helps that I really was interested in it. So there was a good there was a good interest. And if you're interested in something, then you get excited about it, and you have the motivation and the willingness to learn and ask the questions, like you said, and then that is where you can take that kind of passion and interest and turn it into something a bit more constructive. It's a bit like I was saying at the beginning. It's the sort of thing I wish they'd done a bit maybe with me at school, was understand what I was good at and what I liked. But yeah, so with the marketing, I mean, very similar to what you've said, I asked questions. I see it just seems to click in my head on how it worked. And it kind of made sense to me. It was just one of these things that clicked, yeah. And so for the marketing, I just found it personally quite interesting, but interesting, but also found it quite easy. It just made sense to me, you know. And similar, you know, using computers and technology, I think it just makes sense. It doesn't to everyone. And other people have their strengths in other areas, but, you know, for me, it made sense. So, you know that that was the easy part. Same with Eastern energy, it's technology. It makes sense. I love it, but at the end of the day, it's all about it's all about people, really business, and you've got your people and your team, and how you motivate them is going to be similar. It's going to be slightly different depending on culture and where you're based, in the type of industry you're in, but also very similar. You know, people want praise, they want constructive feedback. They want to know where they're gonna be in a year or five years. All of that's very similar. So you people within the business, and then your customers are just people as well, aren't they? Well, customers, partners, clients, you know that they are just people. So it's all, it's all, it's all about people, regardless of what we're doing. And because it's all very similar with tech and that, it just, yeah, I don't know. It just makes sense to me. Michael, I mean, it's different. It's funny, because when I do do network and I talk to people, I say, Well, I've got this digital marketing agency here. Work, and then I've got this energy efficiency business here. And the question is always, wow, they sound really different. How did you how did you get into them? But when, again, when I look at it, it's not it's it's tech, it's tech, it's data, it's people. That's how I look at it,   Michael Hingson ** 55:16 right? And a lot of the same rules apply across the board. Yes, there are specific things about each industry that are different, but the basics are the same.   Stuart Pollington ** 55:28 That's it. I, in fact, I that isn't almost, there's almost word for word. What I use when I'm explaining our approach to SEO, I just say, Look, you know, there's, there's three core areas with SEO, it's the tech, the on site, it's the content, and it's the off site signals, or the link building. I said they're the three core areas for Google. They've been the same for, you know, 20 years. Within those areas, there's lots of individual things you need to look at, and that changes a lot. And there's 1000s of things that go into the algorithm, but the basics are the same. Sort your tech, sort the text, sort the tech of it out, the speed of the site and the usability. Make sure your content is good and relevant and authoritative, and then get other sites to recommend you and reference you, you know So, but, yeah, that's very similar to how I try and explain SEO. Yeah, you know all this stuff going on, but you still got the core basics of the same.   Michael Hingson ** 56:29 It is the same as it has always been, absolutely. So what do you do? Or how do you deal with a situation when plans necessarily don't go like you think they should, and and all that. How do you stay motivated?   Stuart Pollington ** 56:45 I mean, it depends, it depends what's gone wrong. But, I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm a big believer in, you know, learning from your mistakes and then learning also learning from what went wrong. Because sometimes you don't make a mistake and something goes wrong, but something still goes wrong. I think it helps. It helps to have a good team around you and have a good support team that you can talk to. It's good to be able to work through issues. But, I mean, for me, I think the main thing is, you know, every like you were saying earlier, about asking questions and being a student for a year. You know everything that happens in business, good or bad, is a lesson that should help you be better in the future. So you know the first thing, when something goes wrong, understand what's gone wrong first. Why did it go wrong? How did it go wrong? How do we resolve this, if we need to resolve something for the client or us, and then how do we try and limit that happening in the future? And then what do we learn from that? And how do we make sure we can improve and be better? And I think, you know, it's not always easy when things go wrong, but I think I'm long enough in the tooth now that I understand that, you know, the bad days don't last. There's always a good day around the corner, and it's about, you know, working out how you get through   Michael Hingson ** 58:10 it. And that's the issue, is working it out. And you have to have the tenacity and, well, the interest and the desire to work it out, rather than letting it overwhelm you and beat you down, you learn how to move forward.   Stuart Pollington ** 58:25 Yeah, and that's not easy, is it? I mean, let's be honest. I mean, even, even being when we were younger and kids, you know, things happen. It does. We're just human, aren't we? We have emotions. We have certain feelings. But if you can just deal with that and then constructively and critically look at the problem, you can normally find a solution.   Michael Hingson ** 58:46 Yeah, exactly. What's one piece of advice you wished you had learned earlier in your entrepreneurial career?   Stuart Pollington ** 58:56 Um, I Yeah. I mean, for this one. I think, I think what you said earlier, actually, it got me thinking during wise we've been talking because I was kind of, I would say, don't be afraid to ask questions just based on what we've been talking about. It's changed a little bit because I was going to say, well, you know, one of the things I really wish I'd learned or known earlier was, you know, about the value of mentorship and kind of finding the the right people who can almost show you where you need to be, but you could, you know, but when people hear the word mentor, they think of either or, you know, someone really, yeah, high up who I could I'm too afraid to ask them, or someone who's going to cost you 1000s of dollars a month. So actually, I'm going to change that to don't be afraid to ask questions, because that's basically what you'd expect from a mentor, is to be able to ask. Questions, run ideas. And I think, I think, yeah, I think thinking back now, understanding that the more questions you ask, the more information you have, the better your decisions you can make. And obviously, don't be afraid to learn from other people's experience, because they've been through it, and potentially they could have the right way for you to get through it as well.   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:24 And you never know where you're going to find a mentor. Exactly,   Stuart Pollington ** 1:00:28 yeah, no, exactly. I think again, you hear the word mentor, and you think people have this diff, a certain perception of it, but it can be anyone. I mean, you know, if I my mom could be my mentor, for, for, for her great, you know, cooking and things that she would do in her roast dinners. You know that that's kind of a mentor, isn't it making a better roast dinner? So I think, yeah, I think, I   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:54 think, but it all gets back to being willing to ask questions and to listen,   Stuart Pollington ** 1:01:02 and then I would add one more thing. So ask the questions, listen and then take action. And that's where that unstoppable mindset, I think, comes in, because I think people do ask questions, people can listen, but it's the taking action. It's that final step of having the courage to say, I'm going to do this, I'm going to go for   Michael Hingson ** 1:01:23 it. And you may find out that what was advised to you may not be the exact thing that works for you, but if you start working at it, and you start trying it, you will figure out what works   Stuart Pollington ** 1:01:37 exactly. Yeah, no, exactly. That's it, yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 1:01:41 Well, what a great place to actually end this. We've been doing this now over an hour, and I know, can you believe it? And I have a puppy dog who probably says, If you don't feed me dinner soon, you're going to be my dinner. So I should probably go do that. That's   Stuart Pollington ** 1:01:57 all good. So for me, I'm going to go and get my breakfast coffee. Now it's 7am now, five past seven in the morning.   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:03 There you are. Well, this is my day. This has been a lot of fun. I really appreciate you being here, and I want to say to everyone listening and watching, we really appreciate you being here with us as well. Tell others about unstoppable mindset. We really appreciate that. Love to hear your thoughts and get your thoughts, so feel free to email me with any of your ideas and your your conceptions of all of this. Feel free to email me at Michael H, I m, I C, H, A, E, L, H, I at accessibe, A, C, C, E, S, S, I B, e.com, you can also go to our podcast page. There's a contact form there, and my podcast page is www dot Michael hingson.com/podcast, and Michael hingson is spelled M, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I N, G, s, O N. Love to hear from you. Would really appreciate it if you'll give us a five star rating wherever you're watching or listening to the podcast today, if you know anyone and steward as well for you, if any one of you listening or participating knows anyone else that you think ought to be a guest on unstoppable mindset, we'd love to hear from you. We'd love introductions, always looking for more people to tell their stories. So that's what this is really all about. So I really appreciate you all taking the time to be here, and Stuart, especially you. Thank you for being here. This has been a lot of fun, and we really appreciate you taking your time.   Stuart Pollington ** 1:03:26 Thank you, Michael. Thank you everyone. I really enjoyed that. And you know, in the spirit of everything, you know, if, if anyone does have any questions for me, just feel free to reach out. I'm happy to chat.   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:39 How do they do that? What's the best way, I   Stuart Pollington ** 1:03:41 think probably the LinkedIn so I think on when you post and share this, you will have the link. I think   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:49 we will. But why don't you go ahead and say your LinkedIn info anyway? Okay, yeah.   Stuart Pollington ** 1:03:53 I mean, the easiest thing to do would just be the Google search for my name on LinkedIn. So Stuart pollington, it's S, T, U, a, r, t, and then P, O, L, L, I N, G, T, O, N, and if you go to LinkedIn, that is my I think I got lucky. I've got the actual LinkedIn URL, LinkedIn, forward slash, I N, forward slash. Stuart pollington, so it should be nice and easy.   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:19 Yeah, I think I got that with Michael hingson. I was very fortunate for that as well. Got lucky with   Stuart Pollington ** 1:04:23 that. Yeah, they've got numbers and everything. And I'm like, Yes, yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:30 Well, thank you again. This has been a lot of fun, hasn't   Stuart Pollington ** 1:04:33 it? He has. I've really enjoyed it. So thank you for the invitation, Michael.   **Michael Hingson ** 1:04:42 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Episode #363: In post-coup Myanmar, where conventional aid channels with humanitarian intentions risk getting diverted and empowering the military junta, Blockchain technology presents a nuanced alternative. An anonymous Blockchain researcher, 7k, highlights both the promise and the pitfalls of digital solutions. He explains that “Blockchain is a fundamental technology that enables cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to emerge or work,” offering a potential detour around junta-controlled centralized banks. However, he acknowledges that crypto is not without its own challenges and pitfalls: the risk of arrest, fraudulent schemes like money laundering, and practical obstacles such as limited accessibility, elevated costs, and the necessity for user-friendly interfaces. He notes that Blockchain offers a potential bypass to centralized banks controlled by the junta. Unlike centralized servers susceptible to control and surveillance, Blockchain functions as a distributed ledger, providing transparency coupled with pseudonymous transactions. This characteristic, according to 7k, could offer a layer of protection against the junta's oversight, enabling more secure operations for the people of Myanmar and aid organizations. Moreover, in a nation grappling with a rapidly depreciating kyat, cryptocurrencies offer a potentially more stable store of value. The technology's utility extends beyond finance, with initiatives exploring Blockchain-based digital identities for marginalized communities like the Rohingya, who have historically been denied recognition.

México recibe casi 8 millones de visitantes en mayo  Sheinbaum defiende el Chocolate del Bienestar  Ataque aéreo en Myanmar deja 23 muertos  Más información en nuestro podcast

US tariff increases on imports from Canada and other nations, weapons supplies to Ukraine, Myanmar's tariff reduction request, rising gold prices, and Singapore's new Business Adaptation Grant. Synopsis: A round up of global headlines to start your day by The Business Times. Written by: Howie Lim / Claressa Monteiro (claremb@sph.com.sg) Produced and edited by: Claressa Monteiro Produced by: BT Podcasts, The Business Times, SPH Media --- Follow Lens On Daily and rate us on: Channel: bt.sg/btlenson Amazon: bt.sg/lensam Apple Podcasts: bt.sg/lensap Spotify: bt.sg/lenssp YouTube Music: bt.sg/lensyt Website: bt.sg/lenson Feedback to: btpodcasts@sph.com.sg Do note: This podcast is meant to provide general information only. SPH Media accepts no liability for loss arising from any reliance on the podcast or use of third party’s products and services. Please consult professional advisors for independent advice. Discover more BT podcast series: BT Mark To Market at: bt.sg/btmark2mkt WealthBT at: bt.sg/btpropertybt PropertyBT at: bt.sg/btmktfocus BT Money Hacks at: bt.sg/btmoneyhacks BT Market Focus at: bt.sg/btmktfocus BT Podcasts at: bt.sg/podcasts BT Branded Podcasts at: bt.sg/brpod BT Lens On: bt.sg/btlenson See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Het was weer eens de week van de importheffingen. Eén voor één kwamen ze via Truth Social als ware het de winnende nummers voor de lotto. Allemaal getrokken door Trump. 25%, 40%, 36%, het reservegetal is 24%. Al die heffingen voor landen als Myanmar, Libië en Brunei klinken nogal willekeurig. Maar Trump verzekert: er zit echt een logica achter. Dat het niet altijd om handel gaat, blijkt wel uit Brazilië. Dat land krijgt 50% heffingen omdat ex-president Bolsonaro voor de rechter moet. Hij wordt beschuldigd van een couppoging. Dat komt voor Trump iets te dichtbij. Hij noemt het een heksenjacht. Waren al die dreigbrieven uiteindelijk vooral een manier om te verbloemen dat de deadline weer eens werd verschoven? Bernard en Jan bespreken het, net als de Epstein files. MAGA-influencers zijn boos. Jarenlang werd beloofd dat die cliëntenlijst openbaar zou worden gemaakt. En nu zegt Trumps eigen Ministerie van Justitie dat die lijst niet bestaat. Heb je vragen, opmerkingen, kritiek of complimenten, dan kan dat met een tweet naar @janpostmaUSA of @BNRdewereld, of met een mailtje naar dewereld@bnr.nl. Je kunt ook je vraag inspreken of intikken op de Amerika Podcast WhatsApp: 06 28 13 50 20.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The United States has announced new tariffs for over half of the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China's largest trading partners, which analysts said is a calculated escalation of Washington's efforts to reconfigure global supply chains away from Beijing.美国宣布对中国最大的贸易伙伴东南亚国家联盟（Association of Southeast Asian Nations）一半以上的成员国征收新关税，分析人士表示，这是华盛顿有意将全球供应链从北京重新配置的升级。The prospect of higher US tariffs could translate into higher prices for US consumers already grappling with persistent inflation and would undermine the stability of global supply chains, they added.他们补充说，美国提高关税的前景可能会转化为已经在努力应对持续通胀的美国消费者的更高价格，并将破坏全球供应链的稳定性。US President Donald Trump on Monday set out plans for a 40 percent tariff on goods from Myanmar and Laos, a 36 percent tariff on goods from Thailand and Cambodia, a 32 percent tariff on Indonesia, and a 25 percent tariff on goods from Malaysia.美国总统唐纳德·特朗普周一制定了对缅甸和老挝商品征收40%关税、对泰国和柬埔寨商品征收36%关税、对印度尼西亚商品征收32%关税和对马来西亚商品征收25%关税的计划。"These tariffs appear designed to make it economically disadvantageous for these Southeast Asian countries to maintain deep supply chain links with China, forcing a decoupling by increasing the cost of their exports to the US market if Chinese inputs or intermediate goods are involved," said Chen Wenling, former chief economist at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges.中国国际经济交流中心前首席经济学家陈文玲表示：“这些关税似乎旨在使这些东南亚国家与中国保持深厚的供应链联系在经济上处于不利地位，如果涉及中国的投入或中间产品，则通过增加其对美国市场的出口成本来迫使脱钩。”。The new tariffs will take effect on Aug 1 unless these countries can broker new trade deals with the White House. Trump threatened to raise rates even higher if any of the countries sought to evade the US duties by shipping through other nations.新关税将于8月1日生效，除非这些国家能够与白宫达成新的贸易协议。特朗普威胁称，如果任何一个国家试图通过其他国家运输来逃避美国的关税，他将进一步提高税率。Zhou Mi, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said, "Additional tariffs will inevitably impact everyday affordability for US families."中国国际贸易经济合作研究院研究员周宓表示：“额外的关税将不可避免地影响美国家庭的日常负担能力。”"Moreover, they will disrupt global supply chains, compounding the challenges facing the already fragile global economic recovery," Zhou said.周表示：“此外，它们将扰乱全球供应链，加剧本已脆弱的全球经济复苏所面临的挑战。”。According to Trump, there will be no tariff if these countries or companies within the countries decide to build or manufacture products within the US, and that "in fact, we will do everything possible to get approvals quickly, professionally and routinely — in other words, in a matter of weeks".特朗普表示，如果这些国家或国内公司决定在美国境内生产或制造产品，将不会征收关税，“事实上，我们将尽一切可能快速、专业和常规地获得批准——换句话说，在几周内”。Earlier this month, Washington already made a deal with Vietnam, an ASEAN country that would see its exports to the US face a 20 percent tariff — lower than the 46 percent Trump had threatened in April.本月早些时候，华盛顿已经与东盟国家越南达成协议，越南对美国的出口将面临20%的关税，低于特朗普4月份威胁的46%。But Vietnamese goods would face a higher 40 percent tariff "on any transshipping", when goods shipped from Vietnam originate from another country, such as China.但当从越南运来的货物来自中国等其他国家时，越南货物将面临“任何转运”40%的更高关税。Guan Jian, a partner at Beijing Grand Win Law Firm, said the US approach toward Vietnam, imposing steep tariffs on goods suspected of being transshipped from another country, including China, could very well become a standard playbook in its future trade negotiations.北京大赢律师事务所合伙人关建表示，美国对越南采取的做法，对涉嫌从包括中国在内的另一个国家转运的货物征收高额关税，很可能成为其未来贸易谈判的标准策略。Chen, former chief economist at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said that China has forged tightly knit industrial and supply chain ties with ASEAN countries, which have become China's top trading partners for five consecutive years. In some ASEAN nations, over 70 percent of the intermediate inputs in their manufacturing sectors are sourced from China.中国国际经济交流中心前首席经济学家陈表示，中国与东盟国家建立了紧密的工业和供应链关系，东盟国家已连续五年成为中国最大的贸易伙伴。在一些东盟国家，其制造业70%以上的中间投入来自中国。"The numbers tell the story. It's not easy for Washington to undermine the market-driven integration," Chen said.陈说：“这些数字说明了问题。华盛顿不容易破坏市场驱动的一体化。”。reconfiguren.重新配置/ˌriːkənˈfɪɡər/standard playbookn.标准策略/ˈstændəd ˈpleɪbʊk/

Para comenzar la cuarta hora de Capital Intereconomía conectamos con el Profesor de Investigación del CSIC, Ricardo Prego para que nos explique qué son las tierras raras, para qué se utilizan y dónde se encuentran con motivo de la creciente tensión entre China y Myanmar. En el Foro de la inversión hablamos con Ruth Marín, Manager de Relación con Inversores de Crescenta. Además Gabriel López, Ceo de Inverdif ayuda a nuestra audiencia con las mejores ideas de inversión en el Consultorio de Fondos. En el Foro de la inversión hablamos con Ruth Marín, Manager de Relación con Inversores de Crescenta. Además Gabriel López, Ceo de Inverdif ayuda a nuestra audiencia con las mejores ideas de inversión en el Consultorio de Fondos.

From the BBC World Service: 14 countries received a letter from the White House saying a pause on tariffs due to expire Wednesday will now be extended to Aug. 1. Japan and South Korea are among the countries facing a renewed threat of 25% tax on U.S. exports, with other import duties ranging from 30% for South Africa to 40% for Myanmar and Laos. We hear reactions. Plus, a move to ban employer misconduct NDAs in the U.K.

From the BBC World Service: 14 countries received a letter from the White House saying a pause on tariffs due to expire Wednesday will now be extended to Aug. 1. Japan and South Korea are among the countries facing a renewed threat of 25% tax on U.S. exports, with other import duties ranging from 30% for South Africa to 40% for Myanmar and Laos. We hear reactions. Plus, a move to ban employer misconduct NDAs in the U.K.

First, we talk to The Indian Express' National Legal Editor, Apurva Vishwanath about the ongoing debate about the words socialist and secular in the Preamble. She shares the importance of these terms in the Constitution of India and what all can happen in case they are removed.Next, we talk to The Indian Express' Mihir Vasavda about Pakistani athletes competing in sporting events and competitions that are hosted by India. He shares that even though visas of all Pakistani nationals residing in India were cancelled post the Pahalgam attack, why athletes from across the border will be allowed to come to India. (14:27)Lastly, we talk about the situation in Myanmar and how it is leading to refugees moving into Mizoram. (22:19)Hosted by Niharika NandaProduced and written by Niharika Nanda, Shashank Bhargava and Ichha Sharma Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar

Episode #362: Myanmar has recorded the world's worst casualties from landmines and explosive ordnance for the first time, with over 1,000 casualties in 2024 alone, 29% of whom are children. The inaugural episode in our “Navigating a Minefield” series kicks off with Bekim Shala, a humanitarian mine action expert whose journey in the field began in his native Kosovo, heavily contaminated by landmines during the breakup of Yugoslavia. Witnessing the human toll there, he recognized the importance of mine action. “By being exposed to people who have been injured really quickly, it became clear how important this work is,” Shala says. His work has since taken him to numerous conflict and post-conflict zones, including Eritrea, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, and Vietnam before arriving in Myanmar in 2016. As a coordinator for humanitarian mine action in the country, Shala led a team contributing to explosive ordnance risk education (EORE) and secured permissions for surveys through engagement with Naypyidaw, while pushing for permission to conduct de-mining. Shala believes that “had COVID-19 not struck and the coup not unfolded, [they] would have been clearing landmines in Myanmar by now.” However, the 2021 coup worsened the situation, with landmines now pervasive across all states and regions, moving increasingly into residential zones. This shift, coupled with indiscriminate mining by less experienced parties, has led to an increasing threat to civilians that could take decades to defuse. Most landmines are factory-produced by the Myanmar military, although improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are also made by some ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) and People's Defense Forces (PDFs). Systematic clearance is impossible given the conflict and lack of permissions. As Myanmar is not a signatory to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, Shala's strategy focuses on engaging all parties to reduce landmine use, especially in civilian areas, looking ahead to a future where the country can be cleared of explosive ordnance. “Even small reductions, such as refraining from use in populated areas or encouraging basic record-keeping of where landmines are laid, can shave decades from the other end,” he says.

Phototherapy is one of the most effective and quietly revolutionary treatments in public health. Every year, hundreds of thousands of newborns around the world develop severe jaundice and for most, a simple blue light can prevent irreversible brain damage or even death. But access to that light isn't universal.In this episode, we explore the science of jaundice and bilirubin, why newborns are particularly vulnerable, describe the mechanism by which blue-green light helps clear toxic levels from the body, and the global inequality in access to this life-saving intervention. We also highlight public health wins, like the innovative Crib A'Glow device and impactful interventions in countries like Myanmar.From the history of phototherapy's discovery in 1950s England to the modern challenges faced in low-resource settings, this episode brings you deep into the intersection of neonatal care, technology, and global health.Citations:Impact of Universal Bilirubin Screening on Severe Hyperbilirubinemia and Phototherapy Use - PMCFAQs About Phototherapy | Newborn Nursery | Stanford MedicineNeonatal hyperbilirubinaemia: a global perspective - The Lancet Child & Adolescent HealthNeonatal jaundice: phototherapy - PMCBurden of severe neonatal jaundice: a systematic review and meta-analysis | BMJ Paediatrics OpenNeonatal Hyperbilirubinemia: Evaluation and Treatment | AAFPAcceptability and operational feasibility of community health worker-led home phototherapy treatment for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia in rural Bangladesh | BMC Pediatrics | Full TextGlobal Prevalence of Severe Neonatal Jaundice among Hospital Admissions: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis - PMCDisclaimer:The information in this episode of Transmissible: A Public Health Podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult a licensed healthcare provider for diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition.The views expressed in this episode are solely those of the host and any guests, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), any other government agency, or any affiliated institutions.Although every effort has been made to present accurate and up-to-date information, listeners should be aware that medical knowledge continues to evolve, and this content may not reflect the most current clinical guidelines or policies.

Amerikaanse president Donald Trump het 'n tarief van 25 persent op invoere vanaf Japan en Suid-Korea vanaf 1 Augustus aangekondig, terwyl hy die eerste twee van 'n verwagte 12 briewe aan handelsvennote op sy Truth Social-platform onthul het. Hy het bygevoeg dat as hulle besluit om hul tariewe op Amerikaanse goedere te verhoog, sal daardie getal by die 25 persent gevoeg word. Trump het later ook 25 persent-tariewe op Maleisië en Kazakstan aangekondig, 30 persent op Suid-Afrika en 40 persent op Laos en Myanmar. Die Withuis se perssekretaris, Karoline Leavitt, het by 'n perskonferensie oor die tariewe gepraat.

US President Donald Trump said Monday on social media that 25-percent tariffs will be imposed on imports from Japan and the Republic of Korea, respectively, beginning Aug 1.纽约-美国总统唐纳德·特朗普周一在社交媒体上表示，从8月1日开始，将分别对来自日本和韩国的进口商品征收25%的关税。In his letters addressed to the leaders of the two countries, Trump said the new tariffs will be separate from all other sectoral tariffs.特朗普在致两国领导人的信中表示，新关税将与所有其他部门关税分开。Later on, he announced that similar letters were sent to the leaders of 12 other countries, namely Malaysia, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Myanmar, Laos, Tunisia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina , Cambodia, and Thailand, informing them that tariffs ranging 25 percent to 40 percent will be charged starting next month.随后，他宣布已向马来西亚、哈萨克斯坦、南非、缅甸、老挝、突尼斯、印度尼西亚、孟加拉国、塞尔维亚、波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那（波黑）、柬埔寨和泰国等12个国家的领导人发出类似信函，通知他们将从下个月开始征收25%至40%的关税。The tariffs rate on Malaysia, Kazakhstan and Tunisia will be 25 percent, and it will be 30 percent for South Africa and BiH. Indonesia will face a tariffs rate of 32 percent, and Bangladesh and Serbia will see 35 percent. Tariffs rate on Cambodia and Thailand will be 36 percent, and for Laos and Myanmar it will be as high as 40 percent.马来西亚、哈萨克斯坦和突尼斯的关税税率将为25%，南非和波黑的关税税率为30%。印尼将面临32%的关税，孟加拉国和塞尔维亚将面临35%的关税。柬埔寨和泰国的关税将为36%，老挝和缅甸的关税将高达40%。In the almost identical letters, Trump asked leaders of these countries to understand that the tariffs rates number "is far less than what is needed to eliminate the Trade Deficit disparity we have with your Country."在几乎相同的信件中，特朗普要求这些国家的领导人明白，关税率数字“远低于消除我们与贵国贸易逆差差距所需的数字”Trump warned that if these countries raise their tariffs in response, the United States will increase its tariffs by the same amount.特朗普警告说，如果这些国家提高关税作为回应，美国将以相同的幅度提高关税。He said that there will be no tariff if these countries or their companies decide to build or manufacture products within the United States, and that "in fact, we will do everything possible to get approvals quickly, professionally, and routinely -- In other words, in a matter of weeks."他说，如果这些国家或其公司决定在美国境内生产或制造产品，将不会征收关税，“事实上，我们将尽一切可能快速、专业和常规地获得批准——换句话说，在几周内。”He also said that "if you wish to open your heretofore closed Trading Markets to the United States, and eliminate your Tariff, and Non Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers, we will, perhaps, consider an adjustment to this letter."他还说，“如果你想向美国开放迄今为止关闭的贸易市场，消除关税、非关税、政策和贸易壁垒，我们也许会考虑调整这封信。”White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday afternoon that Trump plans to issue an executive order to extend the pause on "reciprocal tariffs" from July 9 to Aug 1.白宫新闻秘书卡罗琳·莱维特周一下午表示，特朗普计划发布一项行政命令，将暂停“互惠关税”的时间从7月9日延长至8月1日。"So, the reciprocal tariff rate or these new rates that will be provided in this correspondence to these foreign leaders will be going out the door within the next month or deals will be made," said Leavitt.莱维特说：“因此，在给这些外国领导人的信件中提供的互惠关税税率或这些新税率将在下个月内出台，否则将达成协议。”。On Wednesday, Trump said that the United States had struck a trade deal with Vietnam that includes a 20-percent tariff on the Southeast Asian country's exports to the United States.周三，特朗普表示，美国与越南达成了一项贸易协议，其中包括对这个东南亚国家对美国的出口征收20%的关税。reciprocal tariffsn.互惠关税/rɪˈsɪprəkl ˈtærɪfs/sectoral tariffs.n.部门关税/ˈsɛktərəl ˈtærɪfs/

Watch The X22 Report On Video No videos found (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:17532056201798502,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-9437-3289"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="https://cdn2.decide.dev/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs");pt> Click On Picture To See Larger Picture The Fed is way behind with rate cuts, Trump is showing the world that the Fed is political and he is moving the country away from wealth confiscation. Trump is now issuing letters to many countries, the [CB] is in panic, their system is coming to an end. The [DS] is fighting back with everything they have. The will fight to keep the illegals in the country because if they lose the illegals they lose the ability to cheat in the elections and use the illegals to cause riots. FBI released a memo which reveals that Epstein killed himself and there is no client list or videos. Think about why the memo was released, why was there no date or other marking that are normally on a press release or memo. Did the FBI just expose a leaker? Did the FBI go along with it. Does POTUS telegraph his moves? Would you reveal the evidence now? Justice is coming.   Economy White House Trade and Manufacturing Economy Advisor Peter Navarro Discusses the Misalignment With Fed Chair Powell White House Trade and Manufacturing Advisor Peter Navarro talks about how the Fed monetary position is lagging with the intent of Trump's MAGAnomic policy.  In the short review, Chairman Jerome Powell is approximately 0.50% in rate cuts behind the growth plan of President Trump.   Trump tariffs are the reverse of decades of ‘exfiltration' of American wealth. Just as there was a shift when the value of the Wall Street economy surpassed the value of the U.S. Main Street economy,    Source: theconservativetreehouse.com  Trump's tariff policy prioritizes AI, ‘big things': ‘We're not looking to make t-shirts and sneakers' President Donald Trump said that his tariffs strategy, aimed at boosting U.S. industry by taxing foreign products or forcing other nations to lower their trade barriers, is not intended to bring low-skill work such as garment manufacturing to America. “We're not looking to make sneakers and T-shirts. We want to make military equipment. We want to make big things. We want to make, do the AI thing,” Trump said. Source:  worldtribune.com Trump Announces Tariffs For South Africa, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Kazakstan The letters closely follow those sent out earlier in the day to Japan and South Korea, whose products will be hit by a 25 percent tariff rate beginning August 1. Trump told Myanmar and Laos that they will face 40 percent tariffs on their exports, slightly lower than the rates announced at the Trump administration's April 2nd Liberation Day event. In April, Trump said Myanmar would face a 44 percent tariff and Laos a 48 percent tariff. South Africa will face 30 percent tariffs, the same rate announced on Liberation Day. Kazakhstan and Malaysia will both face 25 percent rates, Trump said. Kazakhstan was looking at a 27 percent tariff on Liberation Day and Malaysia was set to be hit with a 24 percent tariff. The administration appears to be fixing tariff rates in five percentage point steps, rounding up or down from the Liberation Day tariffs.   (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:18510697282300316,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-8599-9832"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="https://cdn2.decide.dev/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs"); Political/Rights Schumer demands investigation of Trump Weather Service vacancies in wake of Texas flooding

Max travels from the Philippines to Thailand to take a high-paying job at a casino. But when he arrives, he's instead taken to a camp in the jungles of Myanmar and put to work in a call center running phone scams across the globe. His sister Charlie learns the only way to get him home is also to work for the syndicate.  In order to meet Max's quota, his brother joins the labor camp while Charlie tricks new recruits into the scam factory. With the hope of rescue slim, they're left with few options to win Max's freedom - either negotiate an impossible financial settlement or flee from armed guards into the wilderness. The Wondery podcast “Scam Factory” takes us inside the most dangerous call center in the world. Host Denise Chan tells Charlie's story of high-stakes fraud and moral dilemmas. It also features interviews with her victims conned into forced labor. It asks the question: how far would you go to save a loved one?OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "SCAM FACTORY" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: Scooby-Doo, where are  you? For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon.Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com.

Obedience. Resistance. The inner cost of doing what's right. In this episode of Wolff Peace, host Avis Kalfsbeek explores the tension between obeying unjust laws and standing for justice. From Plato's Crito, where Socrates chooses death over escape, to the early years of Aung San Suu Kyi's nonviolent struggle in Myanmar, we reflect on what it means to remain true to your conscience—even when the consequences are great. In this episode: Plato's argument for lawful obedience and moral integrity Aung San Suu Kyi's long house arrest and evolving legacy Two reflection questions for your inner and outer peace practice Visit aviskalfsbeek.com to learn more about the podcast, books, and upcoming episodes in the Wolff Peace series. Music: “Dalai Llama Rides a Bike” by Javier “Peke” Rodriguez Bandcamp: https://javierpekerodriguez.bandcamp.com/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QuyqfXEKzrpUl6b12I3KW Try my voice clone “Amaya Calm” on Eleven Labs for your audio book or other creative project: https://try.elevenlabs.io/peace Robert Paul Wolff's Political Man and Social Man: Amazon link

Episode #361: “I am Burmese. I feel like it is my duty and responsibility to speak about it.” With these words, Myet opens a conversation that explores Myanmar's past and present, weaving together personal history, political critique, and spiritual insight. Raised under military rule, Myet witnessed the silencing of dissent and the trauma that shaped her parents' generation after the 1988 uprising. After resettling in the West, she was struck by how little people knew about Myanmar's history and suffering. “We do not exist in the imagination of the world as a place of suffering,” she says, highlighting the disparity in global attention, where some crises are prioritized for their geopolitical weight, while others, such as Myanmar's, remain largely unacknowledged. Myet critiques Myanmar's 2010–2020 “transition” as a façade that never disrupted military power. She praises the post-coup resistance as more decentralized and inclusive, led by youth, women, queer activists, and ethnic minorities. Here, she urges deeper forms of solidarity, calling on the international community to abandon simplistic narratives and instead “care” in meaningful ways. “For me, the opposite of violence is not just peace. It's care.” Spirituality grounds Myet's resilience. A daily meditator, she draws on both the Burmese monk U Jotika and the Western teacher Eckhart Tolle to cultivate presence and self-understanding. Rather than aiming for perfection, her practice is about “being,” not “achieving.” She also speaks to the burden of survivor guilt: “Sometimes I feel guilty, just to be secure.” Yet she refuses to give in to despair. Her closing message is direct and urgent: “The world needs to care before it's too late.”

Send us a textPaetongtarn is out, an Indonesian influencer is arrested and sentenced to 7 years in Myanmar's Insein prison, a new Constitutional Court decision on election scheduling is causing a stir.For a free trial of Reformasi newsletter, go to reformasi.infoRead Erin's newsletter Dari Mulut Ke Mulut here: https://darimulut.substack.com/It takes a lot of money to run a podcast. You need subscription fees for hosting, audio recording services, editor's salary and music licensing. Luckily, you, estemeed listeners of Reformasi Dispatch podcast can help us.You can donate to us on buymeacoffee.com/reformasi and help us grow!

O Yes! Hello my dear — Today is GREAT! Subscribe & Enjoy Watching: https://youtu.be/1oXAyuruZbA

This review of Careless People by Facebook/Meta whistleblower, Sarah Wynn-Williams, covers Chapters 43-48, plus the Epilogue. The book's final pages bring to life the devastating reality of how "careless people" at the helm of an unchecked platform can negatively impact the entire world, leaving civil unrest, hate crimes, acts of terrorism, and even a genocide, in its wake. Multiple horrors seem to unfold in Sarah's final months of employment. She describes a rushed an incomplete investigation into the ongoing sexual harassment from her boss, Joel Kaplan, that clears him of any wrongdoing, learning about targeted advertising strategies aimed at teens in distress, and the terror of watching bigotry and misinformation take hold in Myanmar while being unable to stop it. BONUS: a brief recap of current cases and inquiries looking into Meta/Facebook by the U.S. Government All opinions are personal and not representative of any outside company, person, or agenda. Information shared is sourced via published articles, legal documents, press releases, government websites, public websites, books, public videos, news reports, and/or direct quotes and statements, and all may be paraphrased for brevity and presented in layman's terms.Wanna support this independent pod? Links below:BuyMeACoffee - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/BBDBVenmo @TYBBDB Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

La Pontificia Unión Misional fue fundada por el beato Paolo Manna, sacerdote italiano. Misionero en Myanmar, regresó a su patria por falta de salud, pero nunca perdió su inquietud misionera. Fundó una Pía Unión para sacerdotes con el fin de fomentar el espíritu misionero y el impulso evangelizador dentro de la Iglesia. Reconocida como Obra Pontificia en 1956, esta obra es el «alma» de las Obras Misionales Pontificias, y tiene como objetivo promover la formación evangélica para animar y formar a los fieles bautizados en su responsabilidad misionera.

Running an orphanage and an ambulance service is no easy feat, but when you're also right next to a civil war, there are a lot more complications. Catherine Riley-Bryan is a New Zealander and founder of Bamboo School, located in a village called Bong Ti in western Thailand, right next to the Myanmar border.

Episode #360: “To have my daughter summarily decide that I was complicit in genocide, I really had to think through again my logic for taking the position that we should stay. It sent me on a lot of soul searching,” confesses Ellen Goldstein, a former World Bank Country Director for Myanmar. This revelation, a central theme to her book “Damned If You Do”, encapsulates the dilemmas she faced during Myanmar's tumultuous democratic transition and the Rohingya crisis.Goldstein's decades-long career, dedicated to poverty reduction, led her to Myanmar in 2017. Initially, the World Bank's aid program brought economic reforms and growth. Yet, she quickly recognized that this prosperity masked deeper systemic issues, not reaching ethnic minorities in remote regions facing “exclusion, discrimination and abuse of civil liberties and human rights.” This exposed a fundamental flaw in the traditional development model, which often overlooked the political and systemic dimensions of poverty. A critical juncture arrived in 2017 when the military's atrocities against the Rohingya escalated. Despite a pre-approved $200 million grant to the civilian government, Goldstein faced an agonizing moral choice: disburse the funds and risk complicity, or withhold them. She chose the latter. This controversial decision, though ultimately costing her job, became a catalyst for change. And so instead of withdrawing, as some advocated for at the time, the World Bank “stayed engaged but focused on other things, such as social inclusion in conflict areas, specifically for deprived ethnic minorities.”This strategic pivot influenced a new World Bank approach for fragile states: “to never disengage but to try to engage in ways that could drive forward the right values.” Considering this shift, Goldstein advocates for moving beyond state-centric foreign aid and supporting non-state and resistance actors in Myanmar, showing how dedicated individuals can continue to create new pathways for justice and human well-being amidst tragedy.

Up top, I promise that this episode is not more politicized dribble. I hear it everywhere, every day, and I just will not make room for it in this show. Instead we'll be discussing the candidates who are so often looked over.   Welcome to the Just Dumb Enough Podcast. A show that acknowledges no one is always an expert, by dispelling misconceptions with real experts.   My guest today is David DeLong. David is on a mission to show the US, and by proxy other countries, that we do not have the labor shortage that we think we do; by introducing us to alternative options.  For example: 1 in 8 adult men in the US has been convicted of a felony, and that history alone eliminates you in most job application software. However, a one-time offender (with more than five years since release) is statistically far less likely to break the law or be arrested than any other employee in the company.  So let's reevaluate the opinion with this new data: Maybe you want more people with one-off convictions in your company, since they are likely safer and less likely to leave your team if given a chance.  ( Https://Www.ReadHiddenTalent.Com )  ( Https://Www.SmartWorkforceStrategies.Com )  ( https://a.co/d/gCET55S take you to: Www.Amazon.Com "Hidden Talent: How to Employ Refugees, the Formerly Incarcerated & People With Disabilities" )  ( https://www.youtube.com/@daviddelong4246 will take you to: Www.YouTube.Com - "David DeLong YouTube Homepage" )  Let's hire the overlooked!  So what do you think after hearing this? Would you advocate for any of the previous people to join your team? Why or why not?   In ranking news... July is upon us, and the global ranks are as follows: 1. The United States, with Wisconsin, California, and Oregon at the top.  2. England of the United Kingdom, just barely over Scotland.  3. Ireland.  4. Australia, with Queensland ahead for now.  5. Myanmar.  That's it for this week! Have a great week, a great weekend, and I'll see you all back here next week for another new episode!  Until the next episode, pretty please do all the things to help the show: rate, review, like, and subscribe.  Reach out to DumbEnoughPodcast@Gmail.Com or on any social media if you want to reach me personally.  Most importantly, Stay Dumb!  #Podcast #Education #SecondChance #Incarcerated #Disabled #Immigrant #Hiring #Workforce 

Wir alle kennen Online-Scams. Doch "Love Scams" haben sich zu einer globalen Bedrohung entwickelt. Heute sprechen viele von "Pig Butchering Scams". In Südostasien existieren Scam-Fabriken, groß wie Städte. Hunderttausende Scammer*innen arbeiten dort für ein einziges Ziel: Sie betrügen Menschen weltweit. Online. Mit gefälschten Krypto-Investments, Liebesschwindel und Catfishing. In der neuen Staffel von LEGION tauchen Khesrau Behroz ("Cui Bono: WTF happened to Ken Jebsen?") und sein Team ein in diese neue, gigantische Scam-Industrie. Eine Industrie, durch die auch Menschen in Deutschland jedes Jahr Millionen verlieren. Unsere Recherche führt uns um die halbe Welt: nach Thailand, an die Grenze zu Myanmar, auf die Philippinen, nach Hongkong und Macau, in die Schweiz und nach London. Wir sprechen mit Tätern, Opfer, Ermittlern und Geheimdiensten. Am Ende wird klar: Es geht um viel mehr als Online-Betrug. Es geht um organisiertes Verbrechen. Um Menschenhandel und Sklaverei. Und um ein weltweites, illegales Netzwerk, das bis nach Europa reicht. Fragen oder Feedback? legion@rbb-online.de Legion: House of Scam. Ab 10. Juli überall, wo es Podcasts gibt. "Legion: House of Scam" ist eine Ko-Produktion von rbb, NDR und Undone 2025.

She was once the great hope for Myanmar. Though Aung San Suu Kyi fell from grace – and now sits in jail – she still has much support. How LifeWise, a Christian group, is changing religious education in America. And what to make of butter yellow, the colour of the moment. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

She was once the great hope for Myanmar. Though Aung San Suu Kyi fell from grace – and now sits in jail – she still has much support. How LifeWise, a Christian group, is changing religious education in America. And what to make of butter yellow, the colour of the moment. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. 

Episode #359: “The real motivating force is people, it is those human relations.” Duncan McArthur, a backpacker turned decades-long humanitarian leader, found his truth not in textbooks, but in the raw, unfiltered experiences along the Thai-Burma border. His journey began as an English teacher in a Karen refugee camp, where he was inspired by the resilience and humility of the communities he worked with in the face of unimaginable suffering. Motivated to stay on the border and continue working there, McArthur soon joined The Border Consortium in 2003, a charity organization that exposed him to the complexities and frustrations of the humanitarian aid architecture. He has observed how the transition-era ‘peace industry,' as he calls it, often prioritized formal ceasefire agreements over addressing the root causes of conflict, leading to an influx of international aid workers who at times seemed more interested in career advancement than genuine impact. He also challenges the traditional notion of neutrality, advocating for Hugo Slim's practice of “humanitarian resistance” where, in certain contexts, “choosing sides is actually essential in order to reduce suffering.” In Myanmar, this might mean working with ethnic armed organizations and civil society in Myanmar to reach the most vulnerable, who live beyond the military's reach. McArthur also acknowledges the shortcomings of the UN's presence in Myanmar, which he sees as a lack of political leadership and a reluctance to directly confront the military junta. While appreciating the institution's aspirational goals, he urges a more proactive stance, including exploring satellite offices or parallel systems in neighboring countries to support sub-national authorities. McArthur's perspective is one of grounded idealism: recognizing the inherent self-interests of all actors, but seeking to align them with the greater good. “The challenge is as much as it is for negotiating access and delivering aid,” he reflects, “but also about how to strengthen the platforms that raise the voices of the oppressed and the marginalized to a meaningful level.”

Myanmar is the world's leading producer of jade. Up to 90 percent of global supply of the precious stone is mined in the country's northern Kachin state, despite a decades-long armed rebellion raging there. According to the NGO Global Witness, some 90 percent of this jade is then smuggled out of the country – almost all of it to neighbouring China. Once favoured by emperors to defy death, jade and its knock-offs continue to be worn as a status symbol. Our correspondents Yena Lee, Yorben den Hartog and Jasmine Ling report. 

- အမေရိကန်နဲ့ အစ္စရေး တို့နဲ့ ဖြစ်ခဲ့တဲ့ ၁၂ ရက်တာ စစ်ပွဲ အတွင်း အီရန်မှာ သေဆုံးသူ တထောင်နီးပါးရှိတယ်လို့ အီရန်ပြော - အစ္စရေးစစ်တပ်က တိုက်ခိုက် ပစ်ခတ်မှုကြောင့် ရိက္ခာဖြန့်ဖြူးရေးစင်တာနားမှာ ဂါဇာ ပြည်သူတွေ အသတ်ခံနေရတဲ့အခြေအနေ - ဘဲလာရုစ်မှာ ပြန်လွတ်လာတဲ့ အတိုက်အခံ နိုင်ငံရေးသမားက ထောင်ထဲက နိုင်ငံရေး အကျဉ်းသား လွတ်မြောက်ဖို့ ဆက်လက် လှုပ်ရှားသွားမယ်လို့ ပြောလိုက်တဲ့ သတင်းတွေကို တင်ဆက် ပေးထားပါတယ်။ ----- ဘီဘီစီရဲ့ ရေဒီယိုအစီအစဉ်တွေကို အင်တာနက်ဝက်ဘ်ဆိုက်နဲ့ ပေါ့ဒ်ကတ်စ်တွေကနေလည်း နားဆင်နိုင်ပါ တယ်။ အသံလွှင့်နေစဉ် တိုက်ရိုက်နားဆင်ရန် - https://www.bbc.com/burmese/bbc_burmese_radio/liveradio ----- ညပိုင်း ထုတ်လွှင့်မှု နားဆင်ရန် - https://www.bbc.com/burmese/bbc_burmese_radio/w3csxs4j ----- ညပိုင်းအစီအစဉ် ပေါ့ဒ်ကတ် နားဆင်ရန် - https://www.bbc.com/burmese/media-45625858

LGBT people face widespread discrimination in sexually conservative Myanmar but are playing important roles at many levels in the struggle to oust the regime. They include People's Defence Force commander, fashion designer in exile, woman trade union activist who was sexually abused in custody, and a community organiser, who speak of their experiences.

Gaza's health system crumbles amid ongoing aid relief denials: WHOMyanmar generals' ‘corruption' has left people in poverty: UN rights chiefViet Nam urged to continue on path to complete death penalty abolition: OHCHR 

Stories from Iran, Myanmar, Romania, and elsewhere This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.foreignexchanges.news/subscribe