Can you see the difference?

 

Guess wich one is Miss Zimbabwe and Miss Portugal

Remember Wan Kuok Koi aka "BrokenTooth"?

Front page of Time magazine - "Enter the Dragon"

Known as ‘Broken Tooth’ and notorious for being former leader of the 14K triad, Wan Kuok Koi was arguably Macau’s most infamous criminal. His name is synonymous with the now long-gone pre-handover triad-related violence that shook the city in the 1990s.

In 2012, a few months before his release from prison, where he served 14 years following convictions for criminal association, loan-sharking, and illegal gambling, his imminent freedom stirred anticipation.

What has he been up to over the past decade?

Martin Purbrick, a former Hong Kong Royal Police officer who, during the 1990s, worked alongside a special intelligence unit comprising Portuguese officers in the Macau Judiciary Police (MJP), alleges that senior security representatives met with Wan shortly before his release.

In his newsletter Asian Crime Century, Purbrick claims that they asked Wan to leverage his influence in the underworld to keep violence to a minimum and to establish a platform that promoted peace, harmony, and unity rooted in Chinese culture and history.

In 2013, Wan became President of the World Hongmen History and Culture Association (世界洪門歷史文化協會), which, according to Purbrick, had the stated aim “To love the nation, organise cultural exchange activities in various places, and pass on the history and culture of the Revolution of 1911.”

In February 2018, in a speech that was leaked in a video clip, Wan revealed plans to set up a “Hongmen Security Company” for Chinese merchants involved in the “One Belt, One Road” initiative, emphasising that the association’s motto was “loving and supporting the country, Macau, and Hong Kong.”

Wan, through his Hongmen association, has drawn attention since at least 2020, when he was named in a joint advisory issued by the US Department of State, US Department of the Treasury, and US Department of Commerce. The advisory described him as an example of a criminal element involved in Cambodia’s casino industry.

That same year, he was linked to a series of arrests on the island of Palau, which targeted and deported hundreds of predominantly Chinese nationals engaged in illegal online gambling operations based in the country.

In 2021, Macau authorities were notified by Interpol that Wan Kuok Koi was wanted. The Interpol red alert was reportedly issued at the request of Malaysian authorities on suspicion of fraud.

by João Paulo Meneses

Macau: Acabou a política de "um país, dois sistemas"

  

Os funcionários públicos que pratiquem actos considerados desleais à RAEM – incluindo os portugueses – poderão ser demitidos, prevê a proposta de alteração ao Estatuto dos Trabalhadores da Administração Pública de Macau apresentada na sexta-feira pelo Conselho Executivo. 

André Cheong, secretário para a Administração e Justiça e também porta-voz do Conselho Executivo, alertou que conversas privadas ou comentários publicados em redes sociais poderão ser tidos em conta para avaliar a lealdade"

Heightened state of alert and war in Sweden

  

 To strengthen the country's defence capability, the state of alert may be heightened. During a state of heightened alert, all of society must work together to ensure essential functions. 

Heightened state of alert

The government can decide on a heightened state of alert to strengthen Sweden's ability to defend itself. This can happen, for example, in the event of wars and conflicts in our neighbourhood, or if the situation in the rest of the world seriously affects our country or threatens our security and independence. In times of heightened state of alert, you must follow the advice of the authorities and keep yourself updated on what is happening. If compulsory military service is introduced, you must report for duty immediately.

Hightened state of alert is a collective term for the levels of preparedness "increased state of alert" and "highest state of alert".

Increased state of alert

Increased state of alert is the lower of the two levels. If the government decides on increased state of alert, Sweden is deemed to be in danger of war or that there are extraordinary circumstances caused by a war outside Sweden's borders. Society must then begin to adapt to meet the needs of total defence. At the same time, ordinary functions must continue as far as possible.

Highest state of alert

Highest state of alert is the highest of the two levels of preparedness and automatically applies if Sweden becomes involved in a war. If the Government decides on the highest state of alert, it may also be a question of a war risk (i.e. not war). All societal activities must then support the total defence. Authorities and municipalities must be organised for war and compulsory military service will be introduced.

How do I know if there is a heightened state of alert ?

You can get information about high alert through radio and television. Swedish Radio P4 is the emergency channel and must be able to quickly reach the public with important information in the event of a crisis or heightened state of alert . Emergency alarms are also used to announce that the country is on high alert. Read more about preparedness alarms and aircraft alarms further down the page.

Other laws can be used during hightened state of alert

High alert gives the government more freedom to act and make different decisions, and other laws can be used in addition to those that apply in peacetime. For example, the state can take over private property needed for total defence. This may include buildings, transport and machinery.

Increased preparedness also means that municipalities and state authorities must adapt their organisation and activities to the special requirements that apply. Even if there are difficult conditions, the municipality, for example, is obliged to keep activities such as elderly care, schools and sanitation running.

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Suécia prepara-se para a guerra

 

  

 

Um opúsculo de 32 páginas com instruções para a população sueca, em caso de guerra. Pormenores como onde procurar abrigo em caso de ataque aéreo, armazenar provisões e água,  medicamentos e material médico para casos de ferimentos, cibersegurança, deslocação imediata para os seus potos de combate pré-definidos, em caso de códigos tranmitidos via rádio, etc. Parece que os suecos estão mais bem informados do que nós...

 

 

 

Swedish PM says integration of immigrants has failed, fueled gang crime

  

STOCKHOLM, April 28 (Reuters) - Sweden has failed to integrate the vast numbers of immigrants it has taken in over the past two decades, leading to parallel societies and gang violence, Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said on Thursday, as she launched a series of initiatives to combat organised crime.

Many Swedes were shocked earlier this month after violent riots left more than 100 police injured. The violence erupted after a Swedish-Danish politician burned the Quran at a rally and sought to hold more in several immigrant-dominated neighborhoods. read more

 

Sweden looks into the abyss

 

The Scandinavian nation of 10.6 million people is facing a national crisis because of its failure to successfully integrate record numbers of immigrants (...) The main cause of the crisis is a combination of an open-door migration policy with no accompanying policy to help the newcomers integrate. 

The consequence has been the emergence of neighborhoods where almost all residents are immigrants, where unemployment rates are very high and where the children of immigrants go to schools where no other children, often not even teachers, are proficient in Swedish. This has served as an incubator for crime, as gangs take over where society fails.

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Jornalistas mentecaptos

 

Li e ouvi algumas dezenas de notícias, publicadas por jornais ou emitidas por jornais, rádios e televisões, a propósito da morte do Pedro Guerra. Na quase totalidade dessas notícias não vi uma referência ao facto de o Pedro Guerra ter sido jornalista, um bom jornalista e durante muitos anos. A maior parte desses idiotas encartados que pululam pelas redacções fora não tem memória que ultrapasse os últimos 15 dias da sua vida.
É verdade que o Pedro Guerra começou a trabalhar no arquivo d'O Indepente. Mas saíu daí para a redacção do jornal, pouco depois, porque alguém lhe viu capacidade e talento para ser jornalista. Nunca foi jornalista desportivo, sempre trabalhou na área política. Quando o jornal fechou, dedicou-se à difícil tarefa de comentador desportivo na televisão.

Não sei quanto tempo ele trabalhou como jornalista n'O Independente. Sei que, quando fui para lá, um 1987, ele já lá estava. E quando saí (sete ou oito anos depois) ainda lá ficou. Foi um jornalista único, tanto pela sua capacidade profissional como pelo seu fantástico sentido de humor, a sua camaradagem por todos nós e uma espantosa capacidade de fazer títulos - o "tijoleiro", termo aplicado há mais de 40 anos, nas velhas redacções do Bairro Alto e dos jornais vespertinos.

Nessas redacções havia sempre um jornalista especializado apenas em fazer títulos - daí a passar à classificação de "tituleiro" foi um àpice e a transformação da designação acabou por dar em "tijoleiro", uma brincadeira que se enraizou. Mas isto era no tempo em que os políticos falavam, parafraseando La Fontaine e os jornalistas liam livros. Parabéns, ó mentecaptos, pela vossa incapacidade em fazer uma notícia decente, sobre um evento triste mas simples. 

Pelo menos naveguem um bocadinho na Internet, sem ser para ver páginas de pornografia, e tentem encontrar lá informações correctas e quilibradas sobre o nosso camarada Pedro Guerra - sim camarada, porque como se dizia em 1981, qundo comecei como estagiário no semanário "Tempo" (já lá vão 36 anos de jornalista, com uma interrupção de sete anos) uma das primeiras lições que um jornalista mais velho me deu foi sobre a designção correcta que devíamos utilizar, nas nossas conversas: "Quando falas com outros jornalistas, dizes 'camaradas'. Colegas são as 'pu**s" - lição que me foi dada pelo meu camarada João Isidro, já falecido.