IQBAL - User contributions [en]

Dragon bets on blockchain to cut costs for Asia s gambling business

2018-07-04T23:37:57Z

BryanLazenby:

By Farah Master HONG KONG, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Dragon Inc, which is looking to raise more than $400 million in what would be the world's largest initial coin offering (ICO), is betting its focus on Asia's booming gambling industry can lure investors despite mounting concerns over a bubble forming in the virtual currency bitcoin. Dragon Chief Executive Chakrit Ahmad told Reuters the company had secured four junket partners - operators that connect China's wealthy punters to casinos in Macau and elsewhere - who had already committed a total $265 million in a private sale of the tokens, accounting for more than half of those available. In a proposal paper reviewed by Reuters, Dragon said its business model uses blockchain technology to get around the costly credit processes often used by the opaque junket industry, which contributes to more than half of gambling revenues in the Chinese territory of Macau. The use of blockchain technology means transaction costs are around 1 percent, rather than typical junket transaction fees of around [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh 5 ngày 4 đêm từ Hà Nội]-7 percent. "We provide a better, more convenient and more cost-effective solution for them. If they (gamblers) want to exchange their winnings into fiat currency and then carry it themselves, they are free to do so. But the likelihood is they will revert back to digital currencies," Ahmad said. The public sale of the tokens on December 8 comes amid explosive growth of ICOs to raise money in cryptocurrencies. An ICO allows the issuer to raise funds without having to fulfil often rigorous regulatory requirements that would have to be met by venture capitalists or companies in mainstream markets. Some regulators say such schemes lack transparency and carry major risks. ICOs and bitcoin are banned in mainland China. Dragon investors will get tokens that can be exchanged for gambling chips in Dragon-affiliated casinos or they can hold the tokens for investment purposes. The proceeds raised will initially be used to support Dragon's junket operators by providing them with funds to establish systems that will exchange Dragon's digital tokens for gambling chips. The ultimate goal stated in the proposal is to fund the construction of a floating casino hotel which would only accept Dragon tokens. Some Macau watchers are sceptical of the business model due to increased scrutiny from Beijing and as more than 90 percent of punters in Macau originate from the mainland. "If it facilitates funds moving out from China it is subject to China's view on it," said Ben Lee, managing partner at Macau- based consultancy IGamiX. Macau's Monetary Authority said it had told financial institutions not to provide services directly or indirectly for tokens and virtual currencies due to considerable risks, including money laundering and terrorist financing. Macau's Gambling Inspection and Coordination Bureau did not respond to [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] repeated requests for comment. Dragon's Ahmad said the ICO would not be affected by China's ban as many investors hail from Hong Kong and Macau as well as Japan, South Korea and Russia. FORMER GANG BOSS Junket operators, also known as VIP room promoters, act as facilitators for Macau's huge casino resorts, such as those run by Wynn Macau and Sands China, and operate in a legal grey area where they are not permitted to provide credit facilities and collect debts in the Chinese mainland. Instead, they utilize an opaque network of agents - making it harder to regulate the businesses. Dragon's Ahmad said the company [http://Www.msnbc.com/search/planned planned] to start operations in Indochina in January and Macau by the first quarter of 2018. The ICO grabbed attention when former Macau gang boss Wan "Broken Tooth" Kuok-koi, who served 14 years in jail for attempted murder, loan sharking and money laundering, attended a signing ceremony in September. Ahmad said that Wan was not tied to Dragon's junket partners. Lawrence Ho, head of Melco Resorts - with [http://Realitysandwich.com/?s=casinos casinos] in the Philippines and Macau - told Reuters he would be fine with junkets operating in his casinos using digital currencies, provided it was allowed by the regulator. Still, a Macau gaming consultant who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, said the ICO would likely set off alarm bells in Beijing. "It is clearly aimed at mainland players, who make up 90 percent of gaming volumes, giving them a digital way to circumvent the country's forex controls," he said. (Reporting by Farah Master; Additional reporting by Thomas Wilson in Tokyo; Editing by Martin Howell) Advertisement

Myanmar restricts used car imports

2018-07-03T23:18:38Z

BryanLazenby:

Myanmar has restricted imports of right-hand drive used cars in a bid to boost local production, draw foreign investment -- and phase out notoriously chaotic driving habits. Almost all of the cars on Myanmar's road are second-hand, 90 percent of them from Japan, even though the two nations drive on different sides of the road. Used car imports surged after the government liberalised restrictions in 2012, the year after breaking from half a century of isolationist military rule. Almost all of the cars on Myanmar's road are second-hand, 90 percent of them from Japan, even though the two [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] nations drive on different sides of the road �Soe Than WIN (AFP/File) But until recently Western trade sanctions blocked imports of left-hand drive cars from Europe and the US, forcing motorists to turn to Japanese vehicles. As a result horn-beeping drivers routinely veer into the centre of the road to guage whether it is safe to overtake and buses unload passengers into the middle of busy streets. But that is set to change after the government banned imports of right-hand drive cars from this month. The move aims to boost local manufacturing and attract much-needed foreign investment, top priorities for Myanmar's newly elected government. Foreign automakers are now eyeing the largely untapped market of some 55 million consumers as a potential bright spot at a time [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] of lacklustre sales in Southeast Asia. Only seven out of 1,000 people own cars in Myanmar, compared to 200 in neighbouring Thailand, said Nissan regional senior vice president Yutaka Sanada. "Out of the ASEAN countries, Myanmar, in terms of the opportunity, is bigger than our neighbours," he told AFP on Wednesday at the launch of the Japanese giant's first locally manufactured car. Ang Bon Beng, senior regional director of Indochina at Nissan's partner Tan Chong Group, predicted annual sales would grow 5-10 percent in the next few years. "If you look at the current market of Myanmar, 95 percent are used cars," he said. "But this country has decided it wants to liberalise" Myanmar has been the top market for Japanese second-hand car exports for the past three years, according to the Japan External Trade Organisation. Safety campaigners say the ban on imports of used right-hand drive cars will save lives and mean rickety old bangers are taken off the streets. Others hope it will ease the daily gridlock that chokes the streets of the commercial capital Yangon, home to most of the country's cars. But many locals complain the ban has simply driven up the cost of [https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&q=second-hand%20cars&btnI=lucky second-hand cars] and they cannot afford to buy new. Prices have risen 20-30 percent since it was announced in November and U Soe Tun, chair of industry body MAMDA, said they could double this year. "If I'm buying a car, I want to buy a car imported form Japan like Toyota and Nissan," said rice shop owner Soe Nyut Aung. "I have a limited budget and second-hand cars are cheap." Advertisement

French Foreign Legion soldiers were the toughest in the world

2018-07-02T19:33:09Z

BryanLazenby:

BOOK OF THE WEEK AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD by Jean-Vincent Blanchard (Bloomsbury �20) As a boy, I�d always more than half-wondered if the French Foreign Legion was an invention of Hollywood. Cary Grant and Gary Cooper capered about in the desert wearing those distinctive hats with the white hankies dangling down the backs of their necks. Laurel and Hardy ran away [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] to join the Foreign Legion, as did Jim Dale in Carry On . . . Follow That Camel, which was filmed in exotic Camber Sands. Marty Feldman directed, co-wrote and starred in The Last Remake Of Beau Geste, with Peter Ustinov as the sadistic sergeant. A new book by Jean-Vincent Blanchard examines the legendary, vicious (and racist) French Foreign Legion, whose soldiers marched in 50C heat till their boots filled with blood Edith Piaf had a famous song about a night of hectic passion with a tattooed recruit, which she compared to (and I translate) �a thunderstorm through the sky�. And it is her image of the moody and uncompromising Legionnaire, attracted by the promise of �blood, bullets, bayonets and women in an Arab land�, that gets closest to the historical and psychological truth, as laid before us in this gripping, disturbing and controversial account of the Legion�s first century. For the all-volunteer corps of the French Army, founded in 1831, was neither comical, nor an excuse for high-spirited larks. It was brutal and often monstrous. Created to participate in France�s colonial expansion to Algeria, Morocco, Madagascar, Indochina and Mexico, �we scare people, we inspire fear and perhaps admiration, which is a little too thin a reward sometimes; but love, never�. RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next Sex, [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh] soldiers and a very special relationship: Pals were... He was a doctor to royalty and collector supreme who created... Share this article Share Even the unique right to hire men regardless of their nationality was a cynical move. Since Napoleon and his casualties were still a living memory, the French government wanted an army �that could face danger and human losses without drawing the political backlash that French-born victims would elicit�. Out of this came the Legion�s [http://www.houzz.com/?search=legendary%20appeal legendary appeal] to ne�er-do-wells, broken-hearted lovers, criminals, political refugees and �scions of aristocratic families leaving behind gambling debts�. Anyone physically fit was accepted, especially if they had teeth strong enough to bite the biscuit rations. No questions were asked at the headquarters in Sidi Bel Abbes, Algeria. The band of outcasts were fearless and had 'no families, no ideals' and 'no loves� �You can choose a new name if you like,� recruits were told. �We don�t ask for documents.� As mercenaries, the men fought for the Legion itself, united against everyone else. �Legio Patria Nostra,� ran the motto - the Legion is our country. �We don�t give a damn what we fight for. It�s our job. We�ve nothing else in life. No families, no ideals, no loves.� By 1900, there were 11,500 men in this band of scary outcasts. Blanchard calculates that between 1831 and 1962, when Algeria was grudgingly granted independence and the French left North Africa, approximately 600,000 people had joined up. It is chilling to discover that Jean-Marie Le Pen spent a formative three years in the Legion, and that recently a retired commander was arrested for making anti-Islam protests at Calais �The substantial majority of them were Germans or Northern Europeans,� we are informed. The rest were Belgians, Spaniards and Britons. There was one Turk, one New Zealander and lots of Americans during the Great Depression of the Thirties. Exhausting route-marches in Saharan temperatures of 50c with heavy backpacks, where �acid sweat burned your skin� and �you march with your shoes full of blood�, would not be my cup of tea. But, according to Blanchard, the typical Legionnaire was a man who found �redemption and an existential purpose through camaraderie and abnegation�. �Excessive revelry� was condoned by the generals, who believed �one did not build empires with virgins� A Legionnaire who was shot in the stomach and lying on the ground with his intestines escaping was heard to murmur to his captain: �Are you happy with me?� This is the kind of stoicism that was expected. �Excessive revelry� was condoned by the generals, who believed �one did not build empires with virgins�. Sex with prostitutes was encouraged, despite the risk of venereal disease, as were heavy drinking and brawling. How [http://www.Ehow.com/search.html?s=hilarious hilarious] it must have been to terrorise the natives - the Legionnaires �can hardly keep beating, so hard they laugh�, ran a report. The [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh] French government maintained that this imperial experiment was to bring �reason, progress, science, culture and freedom� to backward jungle regions and wildernesses' The French government maintained that this imperial experiment was to bring �reason, progress, science, culture and freedom� to backward jungle regions and wildernesses. The Legionnaires were expected to fight �in the professed name of civilisation and� - here comes the catch - �in the name of racial superiority�. While we can applaud their achievements as engineers - digging and building roads, constructing forts and laying telephone lines - the fact remains that, for these mercenaries, �the gift of French civilisation� in practice meant the opportunity for the savage conquest of African tribes and, in Indochina, the Vietnamese patriotic resistance. Legionnaires went about �civilising the barbarians of this world with cannonballs�. Villages were pillaged and burned, the women raped, the men decapitated. �We were allowed to kill and plunder everything,� recalled a soldier. �We went to the villages and surprised the people in bed.� One Legionnaire received no censure when he made a tobacco pouch from cured human skin. Nevertheless, killing civilians must have taken its toll - indeed, Legionnaires were among the most screwed-up soldiers in history. In a group of 350 men, 11 deaths were put down to suicide, but there may have been many more, disguised in the record as death from disease. The belief was: �It is better to be dead than go through hell.� The Legionnaires were expected to fight �in the professed name of civilisation and� - here comes the catch - �in the name of racial superiority� There was alcoholism and much illness - typhoid, tropical fever, dysentery, malaria. In Legionnaires� hospitals, a coffin, slathered with quicklime, was placed in readiness under a patient�s bed. It was said of a soldier about to die that he was off to �eat bananas by the roots� - i.e. be buried in soft soil. The deliberate hardship was not unlike that of a religious order, with its renunciation of worldly comforts - though entertainment involved lots of drag shows. Legionnaires made �splendid female impersonators�. Homosexual activity was commonplace, as you�d expect with �5,000 young solid males, boiling with vigour and vitality� at a loose end in the fort. When Kaiser Wilhelm tried to discourage Germans from joining up by publishing articles warning against sexual abuse in the desert, men with Heidelberg duelling scars raced to enlist. As 43 per cent of the corps was German, perhaps it is no surprise the Foreign Legion didn�t rescue France when the country was occupied by Nazis during World War II. The French government maintained that this imperial experiment was to bring �reason, progress, science, culture and freedom� to backward jungle regions and wildernesses Blanchard�s story concludes with the centenary of the corps in 1931, the parades and so forth. I am keen to read a further volume about post-colonial activities, particularly because, since 1962 when Sidi Bel Abbes was abandoned for a new HQ in Marseille, 50,000 men have felt the need to run away and join the Legion. It is chilling to discover that Jean-Marie Le Pen spent a formative three years in the Legion, and that recently a retired commander was arrested for making anti-Islam protests at Calais. Advertisement

Popular 13-foot python

2018-07-01T21:01:35Z

BryanLazenby:

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A [http://www.empowher.com/search/site/popular%20python popular python] snake named Monty that came to the Louisville Zoo in Kentucky in 1981 has been euthanized. The 13-foot, 38-year-old Burmese python died Tuesday at the zoo. Zookeepers say they decided to have the python euthanized because it had not been eating well, was losing weight [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] and was diagnosed [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] with lymphoma. Bill McMahan, [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh 5 ngày 4 đêm] supervisor of the HerpAquarium where Monty lives, says the python was a great ambassador for his species and had made appearances on local TV stations with its handlers. Pythons are constrictors, so they have no fangs and are [http://www.newsweek.com/search/site/typically%20fed typically fed] poultry, rodents and rabbits. They are native to southern China, Burma, Indochina, Thailand and the Malay Archipelago. Advertisement

The Archers´ star Timothy Bentinck humbled´ by MBE

2018-07-01T08:37:18Z

BryanLazenby:

The Archers� star Timothy Bentinck has said he was �astonished and humbled� to be made an MBE. The actor, known for voicing the character of David Archer in the BBC Radio 4 drama, thanked those who have �supported me through the ups and downs of surviving� in his profession. The 65-year-old, who was born on a sheep station in Tasmania, has played David in The Archers since 1982. Timothy Bentinck as [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] David Archer (BBC/PA) He also has TV credits to his name and makes regular appearance in the theatre. Bentinck started doing voiceovers as a child and has even lent his voice to the �Mind the gap� announcement on [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] London Underground�s Piccadilly line. He said in a statement: �I am astonished and humbled by this award. �It is not [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] something I ever expected and I can only thank profusely those unknown people who proposed me, also my family and friends who have supported me through the ups and downs of surviving as an actor.� Bentinck is made an MBE in the Queen�s [http://news.sky.com/search?term=Birthday%20Honours Birthday Honours] for services to drama. Advertisement

Prince Henrik husband of Danish monarch dies aged 83

2018-06-29T13:53:34Z

BryanLazenby:

Prince Henrik, the French-born husband of Danish monarch Queen Margrethe, has died at the age of 83, Denmark�s palace has said. A statement on the royal house�s website said the prince died in his sleep late on Tuesday, with the queen at his side. Henrik, [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] who publicly vented his frustration at not being the social equal of his wife or their son, was made prince consort when Margrethe acceded to the throne in 1972. The flag at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen flies at half-mast (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix/AP) The jovial prince was known for being frank and forthright. The palace said last week that his health had �seriously worsened� and that Olympic official Crown Prince Frederik was rushing home from the Winter Games in South Korea. He had been transferred earlier on Tuesday from a Copenhagen hospital to the family�s residence north of the capital, �where he wishes to spend his last moments,� the royal palace had said. A later statement said Henrik, who had been diagnosed with dementia last year, died in his sleep at 11.18pm and that his two sons were also at his side. In one of the world�s oldest kingdoms that prides itself on having a stable royal house with no [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh] scandals, Henrik caused one in August 2017 by announcing that when he died he did not want to be buried next to Margrethe in the cathedral where the remains of Danish royals have gone for centuries. Denmark�s Prince Henrik pictured in 2011 (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File) The queen already had a specially designed sarcophagus waiting for the couple. Born on June 1 1934, in south-western France to parents with the noble titles of count and countess, Henri Marie Jean Andre de Laborde de Monpezat married Denmark�s future queen in 1967. Henri became Henrik and converted to Denmark�s state Lutheran Church. However, he found it difficult to fit in with Denmark�s egalitarian lifestyle. He was titled prince consort, the husband of a reigning queen but not a king, and he was not in the line of succession - his oldest son Frederik being the heir. In the mid-1980s, Henrik publicly said he wanted a pay cheque instead of relying on the queen, who gets annual allowances. The law was eventually changed to give him roughly 10% of the annual allocation Parliament makes to royals each year. In a 2002 interview, Henrik again stunned Danes by saying he felt he had been pushed aside in his own home, not only by his wife but also by his son. This followed the annual royal new year�s reception for foreign diplomats, where Frederik had been host because his mother was unavailable due to a broken rib. �For many years I have been number two,� Henrik told Danish tabloid BT. �I have been satisfied with that role, but after so many years in Denmark I don�t suddenly want to become number three and become some kind of wearisome attachment.� Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik of Denmark with Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh after the Danish couple�s arrival at Windsor Castle (PA) Henrik lived his first five years in French Indochina. He graduated from universities in Paris, [http://Www.Newsweek.com/search/site/learned%20Mandarin learned Mandarin] and Vietnamese and spent a year at the Hong Kong University from 1958-1959. After his move to Denmark, Henrik, a keen pianist, was active in different organisations and wrote poetry, memoirs and books, including a coffee table book on French gastronomy in 1999. Margrethe and Henrik also owned a chateau in south-western France where they retreated every summer. As a member of Denmark�s royal family, he held honorary ranks of general in the Danish army and air force, and was an admiral in the navy. In September 2017, the palace announced that Henrik had [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] undergone tests at Copenhagen�s university hospital. The diagnosis was dementia and �the extent of the cognitive failure is greater than expected,� the palace said. In January, he was admitted to a hospital with a lung infection. Henrik is survived by his wife, sons Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim, and eight grandchildren. Advertisement

Cambodia wants US deportation deal renegotiated

2018-06-27T12:39:05Z

BryanLazenby:

Cambodia's premier Hun Sen has become noticeably more critical of Washington in recent years, a period in which he has also grown much closer to China Cambodia on Tuesday said it will renegotiate a deal with Washington where convicted criminals with Cambodian heritage are deported to the Southeast Asian nation, retracting an earlier statement that the deportations had been suspended. For the last 15 years, the two nations have had a repatriation agreement allowing them to forcibly deport criminals with ties to the other country. More [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh] than 500 felons with Cambodian heritage have been deported from the US, many with few ties to their ethnic homeland or even the ability to speak Khmer. Earlier in the day Chum Sounry, a spokesman for Cambodia's foreign ministry, said news of the suspended agreement was delivered to W. Patrick Murphy, one of the State Department's most senior Asia diplomats who is currently visiting. The deal, Chum Sounry said, [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] had been "criticised by both Cambodians here and Cambodian communities in the US" as a form of "double punishment". But in a later statement he clarified that the deal was still in place and that Phnom Penh wanted it "amended". Earlier in the day he said any new deal should contain provisions ensuring repatriations are only voluntary and that deportees should have the right to visit family in the US. The US embassy in Phnom Penh told AFP it had been informed of Cambodia's desire to [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] renegotiate certain aspects of the agreement. Relations between the United States and Cambodia have grown increasingly frosty in recent years. Washington secretly bombed Cambodia during the [http://www.express.co.uk/search/Indochina%20wars/ Indochina wars] but went on to be a major donor as the country emerged from the ashes of the Khmer Rouge genocide, pouring billions in aid into the country. It also took in tens of thousands of Cambodian refugees over the decades. But Cambodia's premier Hun Sen has become noticeably more critical of Washington in recent years, a period in which he has grown much closer to China. China has lavished poverty-stricken Cambodia with billions of dollars in grants and low-interest loans over the past few decades. Unlike aid from the US, Beijing's support comes without pressure on strongman Hun Sen to clean up his government's dismal human rights record. Hun Sen's speeches routinely lambast Washington and earlier this year Cambodia cancelled annual military drills with the US military. Officials at the time denied the decision was an effort to appease rival superpower China, with whom Cambodia had recently held drills. Advertisement

User:BryanLazenby

2018-06-27T12:39:00Z

BryanLazenby: Created page with "Name: Bryan Lazenby My age: 36 years old Country: Italy City: Padula ZIP: 84034 Street: Vicolo Cieco Fondachetto 19 Also visit my site :: [http://www.vt..."

Name: Bryan Lazenby My age: 36 years old Country: Italy City: Padula ZIP: 84034 Street: Vicolo Cieco Fondachetto 19 Also visit my site :: [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh]