SAN FRANCISCO, USA: Facebook Inc. is adding tools on Wednesday to make it easier for users to report so-called “revenge porn” and to automatically prevent the images from being shared again once they have been banned, the company said.
“Revenge porn” refers to the sharing of sexually explicit images on the Internet, without the consent of the people depicted in the pictures, in order to extort or humiliate them. The practice disproportionately affects women, who are sometimes targeted by former partners.
Facebook has been sued in the US and elsewhere by people who said it should have done more to prevent the practice. The company in 2015 made clear that images “shared in revenge” were forbidden, and users have long had the ability to report posts as violating the terms of service.
Beginning on Wednesday, users of the world’s largest social network should see an option to report a picture as inappropriate specifically because it is a “nude photo of me,” Facebook said in a statement.
The company also said it was launching an automated process to prevent the repeat sharing of banned images. Photo-matching software will keep the pictures off the core Facebook network as well as off its Instagram and Messenger services, it said.
Users who share “revenge porn” may see their accounts disabled, the company said.
Facing criticism, the company last year met representatives from more than 150 women’s safety organizations and decided it needed to do more, Antigone Davis, global head of safety at Facebook, said in a phone interview.
A specially trained group of Facebook employees will provide human review of each reported image, Davis said.
The process to prevent repeat sharing requires Facebook to retain the banned pictures in a database, although the images are blurred and only a small number of employees have access to the database, the company said.
Prosecutors and lawmakers have also sought ways to prevent the spread of “revenge porn,” seeking additional penalties for a practice that they said has ruined careers and families and even led to suicide. (Reporting by David Ingram)
Facebook to use photo-matching to block repeat ‘revenge porn’
Facebook to use photo-matching to block repeat ‘revenge porn’
Johnson Controls Arabia celebrates export milestone of Saudi-made scroll chillers to US
JEDDAH: A batch of 300 Saudi-made scroll chillers are set to be exported to the US in what is a first for the Kingdom, the CEO of Johnson Controls Arabia has announced.
Speaking to Arab News, Mohamad Al-Shaikh revealed the market value of the products stands at SR100 million ($26.66 million), and the shipment will come from the Johnson Controls Arabia Manufacturing Complex in King Abdullah Economic City.
Though the domestic demand for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment and technology is growing, the total addressable market for Saudi Arabia is still small compared to the global demand, the executive said.
Reflecting on the milestone of the company’s largest export order to date, Al-Shaikh said: “It is a very proud moment for us as a Saudi company to reach a level where our Saudi-made products are compliance competitive to meet all the quality requirements according to the specification for the United States’ market.
“We have reached the maturity level where we are able to use Saudi talents, Saudi engineering and Saudi supply of chain to ship our fine products to the US market.”
The company plans to increase exports from 30 percent to 60 percent of its total production output over the next three years, aligning with the national industrial strategy and Vision 2030 to enhance economic diversification and local production development.
He said: “We are thrilled also to announce our most ambitious and largest export order of 1,000 YORK Scroll Chillers for next year over three phases.”
The event also housed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Johnson Controls Arabia and the Saudi Export Development Authority.
This agreement aims to establish a strategic account for JCA, enhancing Saudi Arabia's non-oil exports capable of competing on a global scale, in line with Vision 2030.
Additionally, Johnson Controls Arabia announced the groundbreaking for a new factory expansion, supported by the Local Content and Government Procurement Authority. The expansion will start manufacturing water-cooled chillers with a high capacity of up to 6,000 tons of cooling, the world’s largest air conditioning product.
During his opening keynote, Al-Shaikh underscored the company’s dedication to innovation, sustainability, and supporting the local content through exports of Saudi-made products.
“This milestone reflects our unwavering commitment to advancing local content and the Saudi-made initiative, which are integral to the Kingdom's economic diversification efforts. By exporting Saudi-made products to the US market and 26 other global markets, we are not only contributing to the growth of our economy but also showcasing the quality and innovation of our Saudi products on a global stage,” he stated.
After commending the long-standing bilateral trade relations between the Kingdom and the US, Al-Shaikh added: “At JCA, we have a vision and a strong commitment to the Saudi Market, where we focus on reinforcing localization and boosting job creation to support the economy while giving back to the community.”
Johnson Controls Arabia has made significant strides in local manufacturing, with 80 percent of its sales coming from locally manufactured products.
The company’s exports have also grown to account for over 30 percent of its total production, demonstrating its commitment to global expansion and market diversification.
Pakistan working to issue domestic green sukuk bonds by December — finance minister
- Proceeds of green bonds used to finance climate change mitigation, adaptation and environmental projects
- According to recent World Bank study, Pakistan faces potential annual GDP losses of up to 1 percent due to climate-related risks
KARACHI: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Friday the Pakistan government was working to issue domestic green sukuk bonds by December 2024 to fund environmentally sustainable infrastructure projects.
The green sukuk is a Shariah-compliant interest-free bond in which instead of interest, investors receive an agreed share of the profits generated by the pool of underlying assets, which are partially owned by investors. Proceeds of green bonds are used to finance climate change mitigation and adaptation, and environmental projects.
“The government is working on issuing domestic green sukuk bonds by December 2024 to finance sustainable development projects,” Aurangzeb said as he delivered an online keynote speech at the UK-Pakistan Green Investment Forum, organized by the British High Commission in Pakistan.
In his address, the finance minister emphasized Pakistan’s commitment to addressing climate change and promoting green investment opportunities, and highlighted Pakistan’s vulnerability to the adverse effects of climate change, despite its low contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions.
According to a recent World Bank study, Pakistan faces potential annual GDP losses of up to 1 percent due to climate-related risks.
Acknowledging a significant funding gap in adaptation, resilience, and mitigation projects and the need for a better portfolio of green investment projects, the minister emphasized Pakistan’s reliance on the private sector for support in this regard and highlighted the government’s efforts to enhance investor confidence in bankable green opportunities.
He also outlined Pakistan’s plans to utilize innovative financing instruments like green sukuk to raise international climate finance.
Pakistan ranks among the top 10 countries worldwide most affected by climate change and natural disasters.
Iraq requests end of UN assistance mission by end-2025
- Prime PM said Iraq wanted to deepen cooperation with other UN organizations but there was no longer a need for the political work of the UN assistance mission
BAGHDAD: Iraq has requested that a United Nations assistance mission set up after the 2003 US-led invasion of the country end its work by the end of 2025, saying it was no longer needed because Iraq had made significant progress toward stability.
The mission, headquartered in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, was set up with a wide mandate to help develop Iraqi institutions, support political dialogue and elections, and promote human rights.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani said Iraq wanted to deepen cooperation with other UN organizations but there was no longer a need for the political work of the UN assistance mission, known as UNAMI.
The mission’s head in Iraq often shuttles between top political, judicial and security officials in work that supporters see as important to preventing and resolving conflicts but critics have often described as interference.
“Iraq has managed to take important steps in many fields, especially those that fall under UNAMI’s mandate,” Sudani said in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Iraq’s government has since 2023 moved to end several international missions, including the US-led coalition created in 2014 to fight Islamic State and the UN’s mission established to help promote accountability for the jihadist group’s crimes.
Iraqi officials say the country has come a long way from the sectarian bloodletting after the US-led invasion and Islamic State’s attempt to establish a caliphate, and that it no longer needs so much international help.
Some critics worry about the stability of the young democracy, given recurring conflict and the presence of many heavily armed military-political groups that have often battled on the streets, the last time in 2022.
Some diplomats and UN officials also worry about human rights and accountability in a country that frequently ranks among the world’s most corrupt and where activists say freedom of expression has been curtailed in recent years.
Iraq’s government says it is working to fight corruption and denies there is less room for free expression.
Somalia’s government also requested the termination of a UN political mission this week. In a letter to the Security Council, the country’s foreign minister called for the departure of the Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), which has advised the government on peace-building, security reforms and democracy for over a decade. He provided no reason.
Opposition leaders in Kashmir accuse Indian government of sabotaging their campaigns
- Omar Abdullah says police canceled permissions for his rallies, asking him to reschedule without giving reasons
- Mehbooba Mufti of People’s Democratic Party also accused the police of not allowing her to hold campaign events
NEW DELHI: Opposition leaders in India’s troubled Kashmir valley have accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration of denying or canceling permissions to hold campaign events, to help his party’s “proxies.”
Omar Abdullah, a leader of the largest regional political party, the National Conference, said Modi’s government was trying to sabotage his campaign ahead of voting in the first of Kashmir’s three seats on Monday.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is skipping elections in Kashmir for the first since 1996, which analysts and politicians in the region say belies his narrative of integrating Kashmir with the rest of the country and bringing peace and normality to the valley ravaged by a 35-year-old uprising against India’s rule.
In 2019, Modi revoked Jammu and Kashmir state’s partial autonomy, removed its statehood and divided it into two federally-controlled territories: Muslim-majority Kashmir with Hindu-dominated Jammu, and a mountainous Buddhist territory of Ladakh.
While the BJP has not fielded any candidate in Kashmir’s three seats, it has said that, as part of its grand strategy, it would instead support other smaller regional parties, without naming which.
In a letter to the federal poll watchdog, the Election Commission of India, on Thursday, Abdullah said the police, which are under the federal government’s control, canceled permissions for his rallies, asking him to reschedule without providing any reasons.
He said on social media platform X that it was done to help the BJP’s “proxy candidates.”
His rival Mehbooba Mufti, who heads the other regional political powerhouse the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), also accused the police of not allowing her to hold campaign events.
“This attitude of the police, in which they curtail our movement to support the proxy parties of the BJP, is against the guidelines of the Election Commission of India,” she said at a rally in Srinagar on Thursday.
V.K. Birdi, the police official responsible for Kashmir, did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.
Both Abdullah and Mufti have said they were opposed to the BJP and would support an opposition Congress-led alliance of more than two dozen parties federally.
The state unit of the election watchdog has also asked PDP’s Srinagar candidate, Waheed ur Rehman Para to refrain from calling this election a “referendum” against scrapping of semi-autonomy of the region in 2019 in his speeches.
While Srinagar will vote on May 13, the elections in the other two seats will be held on May 20 and 25.
Nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan control parts of Kashmir, but claim it in full, and have fought two of their three wars over the region.
India top court grants temporary bail to opposition leader Kejriwal to campaign in elections
- Bail would last until June 1, last day of seven-phase vote, and Kejriwal would have to surrender on June 2
- Poll marred by charges that PM Narendra Modi’s government is using investigating agencies to hurt rivals
NEW DELHI: India’s top court gave temporary bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a graft case on Friday, allowing him to campaign in the ongoing general elections, boosting the opposition alliance of which he is a key leader.
The court said the temporary bail would last until June 1, the last day of the seven-phase vote, and Kejriwal would have to surrender on June 2.
The poll has been marred by charges that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is using investigating agencies to hurt rivals, accusations the government denies.
The Enforcement Directorate, India’s financial crime-fighting agency, arrested Kejriwal — a staunch critic of Modi and a key opposition leader — on March 21 in connection with corruption allegations related to the capital territory’s liquor policy.
Kejriwal’s government and his Aam Aadmi Party have denied the corruption allegations. Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party say that the investigating agencies are only doing their job and the government is not influencing them.
Kejriwal has been in pre-trial detention since April 1, and his wife Sunita has stepped in to campaign for his decade-old party in his absence.
India began voting on April 19 and elections to more than half the total 543 seats were completed with the third phase on May 7. The national capital territory will vote on May 25.
Voting concludes on June 1 and counting is set for June 4.
The Supreme Court, while hearing an appeal against Kejriwal’s arrest last week, said that it “may” consider granting “interim bail” or temporary bail to the high-profile leader “because of the elections” as the appeal against his arrest could take a while to conclude.
Kejriwal argued that he was arrested just before the vote to stop him from campaigning against Modi, who opinion polls suggest will win a comfortable majority and secure a rare third straight term.
His lawyer said Kejriwal is a serving chief minister, not a “habitual offender.”
ED lawyers argued that giving bail to a politician just to campaign will send a wrong message that there are different standards for them and other citizens. Kejriwal had to be arrested as he refused nine ED summons over six months to appear for questioning, they added.
The INDIA alliance of more than two dozen opposition parties has called the action against Kejriwal and other opposition leaders politically motivated to deny them a level playing field in the polls, accusations Modi and BJP reject.
Kejriwal’s arrest had drawn international attention, with Germany and the United States calling for a “fair” and “impartial” trial.
