Iran threatens on state TV to destroy Israel, Azerbaijan

Iran threatens on state TV to destroy Israel, Azerbaijan
A quarter of Tehran’s residents are Azeri and many others live in the northwest near the border with Azerbaijan. (Twitter videograb)
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Updated 26 October 2022

Iran threatens on state TV to destroy Israel, Azerbaijan

Iran threatens on state TV to destroy Israel, Azerbaijan
  • Music video broadcast days after military exercises near Azerbaijan’s border

LONDON: Iran has threatened Israel and Azerbaijan in a video on state television, which set army operations to a song warning that “anyone who looks at Iran the wrong way must be destroyed.” 

The video, whose lyrics were in the Azeri language, was shown a few days after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps held exercises near Iran’s 700-kilometer border with Azerbaijan.

“Israel … don’t stray too far from your path, don’t dig your own grave with your own hands … Iran declares this so that Azerbaijan knows and understands … anyone who looks at Iran the wrong way must be destroyed,” read the lyrics of the song, broadcast on Iran’s Azeri-language Sahar TV.

CaucasusWarReport, an open-source intelligence group, said that “the threat was openly made for the first time in an Iranian governmental channel Sahar in a controversial manner as the channel’s main language/audience is Iranian Azerbaijanis.

“With over 20 million Azerbaijani in Iran, the paranoia of an internal turmoil (rebellion) worries Iran.”

Azeris make up around 16 percent of Iran’s population and are the country’s biggest ethnic minority. A quarter of Tehran’s residents are Azeri and many others live in the northwest near the border with Azerbaijan.

Relations between the two states have grown increasingly tense in recent years. Tehran accuses Baku of destabilizing Iran by openly promoting secession for its ethnic Azeris.

Tehran is also wary of its relations with Israel, which is a major arms supplier to Baku.
 


TikTok CEO says company at ‘pivotal’ moment as some US lawmakers seek ban

TikTok CEO says company at ‘pivotal’ moment as some US lawmakers seek ban
Updated 58 min 58 sec ago

TikTok CEO says company at ‘pivotal’ moment as some US lawmakers seek ban

TikTok CEO says company at ‘pivotal’ moment as some US lawmakers seek ban
  • Shou Zi Chew to testify before congress to try to address US data security concerns
  • Chew said ban would damage businesses, individuals as platform confirms it has more than 150 million active monthly US users

WASHINGTON: TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said the Chinese-owned short video app company faces a pivotal moment as a growing number of US lawmakers seek to ban the popular app over national security concerns.
Chew said in a video posted on TikTok early Tuesday the app now has more than 150 million active monthly US users. “That’s almost half the US coming to TikTok,” Chew said. TikTok in 2020 said it had 100 million US users.
Chew, who will testify Thursday before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said: “Some politicians have started talking about banning TikTok.”
“Now this could take TikTok away from all 150 million of you,” he said in the video that features the US Capitol in the background.
He asked TikTok users to leave comments about what they wanted US lawmakers to know about “what you love about TikTok.”
Chew also said 5 million US businesses use TikTok to reach customers.
TikTok’s critics fear its US user data could be passed on to China’s government by the app, which is owned by the Chinese tech company ByteDance. TikTok rejects the spying allegations.
TikTok also said Tuesday it had updated its community use guidelines and offered more details of its plans to secure the data of US users. The company said it had started to delete this month US user protected data in data centers in Virginia and Singapore after it started routing new US data to the Oracle Cloud last year.
Last week, TikTok said the Biden administration demanded that TikTok’s Chinese owners divest their stake in the app or it could face a US ban.
TikTok, which has said it has spent more than $1.5 billion on rigorous data security efforts, said “if protecting national security is the objective, divestment doesn’t solve the problem: a change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access.”
A growing number of US lawmakers support a ban on TikTok. This includes Energy and Commerce Committee chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, congressional aides told reporters on a call Monday. On Friday, six more US senators backed bipartisan legislation to give Biden new powers to ban TikTok.
On March 1, the US House Foreign Affairs Committee voted along party lines to give President Joe Biden new powers to ban TikTok.


Google suspends Chinese shopping app amid security concerns

Google suspends Chinese shopping app amid security concerns
Updated 21 March 2023

Google suspends Chinese shopping app amid security concerns

Google suspends Chinese shopping app amid security concerns
  • Google urged users to uninstall any Pinduoduo app not downloaded from its own Play store

HONG KONG: Google has suspended the Chinese shopping app Pinduoduo on its app store after malware was discovered in versions of the app from other sources.
Google said in a statement Tuesday that it suspended the Pinduoduo app on the Google Play app store out of “security concerns” and that it was investigating the matter.
The suspension of the Pinduoduo app –- mainly used in China –- comes amid heightened US-China tensions over Chinese-owned apps such as TikTok, which some US lawmakers say could be a national security threat. They allege that such apps could be used to spy on American users.
Pinduoduo is a popular e-commerce app in China which often offers discounts if users team up to buy multiples of an item. Google warned users Tuesday to uninstall any Pinduoduo app not downloaded from its own Play store.
“Google Play Protect enforcement has been set to block installation attempts of these identified malicious apps,” Google said in its statement. “Users that have malicious versions of the app downloaded to their devices are warned and prompted to uninstall the app.”
It was unclear if there are similar security concerns around the Pinduoduo app for Apple users, and Pinduoduo was still available to download from Apple’s iOS store Tuesday.
PDD Holdings Inc, which operates Pinduoduo, did not immediately comment. Hong Kong traded shares in the company tumbled 14.2 percent on Tuesday.


Anas Bukhash, Hala Kazim partner with OSN to launch original series this Ramadan

Anas Bukhash, Hala Kazim partner with OSN to launch original series this Ramadan
Updated 21 March 2023

Anas Bukhash, Hala Kazim partner with OSN to launch original series this Ramadan

Anas Bukhash, Hala Kazim partner with OSN to launch original series this Ramadan
  • Five-episode series takes viewers through a conversational journey between mother and son

LONDON: Emirati entrepreneur and host of “#ABtalks” Anas Bukhash and his mother, Hala Kazim, have partnered with OSN to launch an exclusive original series, the platform announced on Tuesday.

The show, titled “A Sit Down with Anas and Hala,” will air on OSN+ throughout Ramadan, starting on March 23.

“Our focus at OSN remains to provide our audience with premium, must-see content, and it’s partnerships like this that enable us to be able to deliver on this promise,” said Fiona Robertson, acting head of OSN Original.

“We can’t wait for fans to go on this personal journey with Anas and Hala, and witness this special series with the two well-loved regional talents.”

In the five-episode series, mother and son take viewers on a conversational journey that explores relationships in today’s world.

“My son is my friend, and when we discuss matters deeply, there are always incredible outcomes,” said Kazim.

The duo will discuss a range of topics, including grief, creating boundaries and making connections, while offering a glimpse into their personal relationship.

“There’s nobody I enjoy speaking to more and sharing my opinion with more than my mother,” Bukhash said.

“In this series, you’ll get to hear our views and opinions shedding light on important topics that we all feel, but somehow overlook.”


Google Doodle marks Mother’s Day

Google Doodle marks Mother’s Day
Updated 21 March 2023

Google Doodle marks Mother’s Day

Google Doodle marks Mother’s Day
  • Confused about the timing? The day varies depending where you’re from

DUBAI: Mum’s across the world have been celebrated Tuesday with a Google Doodle animation – but don’t worry if you’re American, Filipino, from Sri Lanka or down under – you have a few weeks yet before you need to send flowers to your Mothers.

The Google Doodle features a series of cards that pop open to display love hearts.

Mother’s Day is celebrated on different dates around the world, but the doodle coincided with the majority of the Middle East and North Africa who mark the special day on March 21.

The spring equinox marks the day in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.

In the UK, Ireland and Nigeria, Mum’s are marked for the hard work they put in every day on the fourth Sunday in Lent – which this week fell on March 19.

The bulk of the world, mark the day on the date set by the UN – the second Sunday of May – this year that’s May 14.

The date varies from country to country, with some using the seasons to decide the date, while others use religious references.

But many would suggest that every day we should acknowledge the endless work – largely unpaid - that mother’s around the world are constantly carrying out. Maybe even lighten her work and do some of the chores yourselves.

Happy Mother’s Day mums around the world – we think you’re great!

Anatomy of a disaster
Two decades later, Iraqis are still paying the price for Bush's ill-judged war
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Israel shuts down Palestinian radio station’s Israeli operations

Israel shuts down Palestinian radio station’s Israeli operations
Updated 21 March 2023

Israel shuts down Palestinian radio station’s Israeli operations

Israel shuts down Palestinian radio station’s Israeli operations
  • Five Palestinian journalists summoned for questioning

DUBAI: Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, ordered the Voice of Palestine radio station to shut down its Israeli operations on Monday. 

Israeli police visited the radio station’s Jerusalem bureau to notify employees that the office had to shut down and summoned several Jerusalem-based Palestinian reporters for questioning, according to news reports.

Ben-Gvir’s order bars Voice of Palestine from operating within Israel but does not stop the station from continuing its work in the West Bank or Gaza.

In the order, Ben-Gvir said, “we will not allow incitement and support for terrorism and terrorists, neither by the Palestinian Authority nor by any other body.”

Israeli authorities should immediately reverse their order to shut down the Israeli operations of the Voice of Palestine radio station and should cease harassing members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a statement.

Those summoned include Palestinian reporters Layali Eid and Lana Kamela, photographers Yazan Haddad and Walid Kamar, and camera operator Firas Handawi, according to multiple reports.

Amir Abbas, director of the Marcel production company, which works with the Voice of Palestine’s parent company the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) and other outlets, told CPJ that the five journalists had contributed to various local outlets including those operated by the PBC.

Abbas was also summoned by the authorities, who interrogated him for hours. 

The Israeli police gave a verbal warning to all five journalists, as well as Abbas, to stop collaborating with the PBC from Jerusalem, and released them without filing any formal charges, Kamar and Abbas told the CPJ.

“Israeli authorities must reverse their order to close the Voice of Palestine’s operations in Israel, which was issued without citing any specific problems with its coverage,” said Sherif Mansour, CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator.

 “Palestinian journalists should be able to do their jobs freely, without fear of being interrogated, harassed or obstructed from doing their work.”

Anatomy of a disaster
Two decades later, Iraqis are still paying the price for Bush's ill-judged war
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