The Kingdom vs Captagon: Arab News investigates war on drug in latest Deep Dive

Special The Kingdom vs Captagon: Arab News investigates war on drug in latest Deep Dive
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Updated 02 February 2023

The Kingdom vs Captagon: Arab News investigates war on drug in latest Deep Dive

The Kingdom vs Captagon: Arab News investigates war on drug in latest Deep Dive

RIYADH: The rogue Assad regime in Syria and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon are the primary source of a potent and toxic drug that is destroying lives across the region, an Arab News investigation has revealed.

The 14-month investigation — “The Kingdom vs Captagon — was carried out by the Arab News Research and Studies Unit, whose team conducted exhaustive research, interviews and information gathering in Beirut, Jeddah, Makkah and Syrian Kurdistan.

Recognizable by the distinctive twin half-moons logo, which gives the drug its Arabic street name Abu Hilalain,or Father of the Two Crescents, Captagon pills are easy to make, readily available and cheap to buy.

“While Captagon is known widely across the region, the outside world is still only coming across its notoriety and persistent dangers to children and families,” said Tarek Ali Ahmad, head of the Research and Studies Unit.“As journalists, it is our duty to raise awareness and uncover the truth behind what is happening.”

Mohammed Al-Sulami, Arab News’s regional manager in Saudi Arabia, said: “The drug smuggling operations the Kingdom is facing, and the targeting of its youth, are not novel. This war started a long time ago, and the Saudi government has been ferociously fighting and harnessing all capabilities to protect its citizens.

“The continuous seizure of large quantities of Captagon is not only evidence that the country is being targeted,but is also testimony to the immense efforts of the competent authorities, who have been relentlessly tracking and capturing smugglers and dealers.”

The Kingdom vs Captagon
Inside Saudi Arabia's war against the drug destroying lives across the Arab world

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France to ban TikTok on work phones of civil servants -minister

France to ban TikTok on work phones of civil servants -minister
Updated 24 March 2023

France to ban TikTok on work phones of civil servants -minister

France to ban TikTok on work phones of civil servants -minister
  • The French government will ban entertainment app to protect civil servants online

PARIS: France will ban the use of Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok on the work phones of civil servants, Civil Service Minister Stanislas Guerini said on his Twitter account.
"In order to guarantee the cybersecurity of our administrations and civil servants, the government has decided to ban recreational applications such as TikTok on the professional phones of civil servants," he said in a statement.


British parliament blocks TikTok on all parliamentary devices

British parliament blocks TikTok on all parliamentary devices
Updated 23 March 2023

British parliament blocks TikTok on all parliamentary devices

British parliament blocks TikTok on all parliamentary devices
  • Britain last week banned the Chinese-owned video app on government phones
  • The United States, Canada, Belgium and the European Commission have already banned the app from official devices

LONDON: Britain’s parliament will block TikTok on all devices on its network following a similar ban on government devices, becoming the latest Western institution to bar the Chinese-owned video app over security concerns.
“Following the government’s decision to ban TikTok from government devices, the commissions of both the House of Commons and Lords have decided that TikTok will be blocked from all parliamentary devices and the wider parliamentary network,” a parliament spokesperson said.
Britain last week banned the Chinese-owned video app on government phones.
“Cyber security is a top priority for parliament,” the spokesperson added.
The United States, Canada, Belgium and the European Commission have already banned the app from official devices.
TikTok has come under increasing scrutiny due to fears that user data from the app owned by Beijing-based company ByteDance could end up in the hands of the Chinese government, undermining Western security interests.
The British parliament’s ban was announced as TikTok’s chief executive
faced questions
from US lawmakers who are convinced the app should be barred for being a potential national security threat to the United States.


OpenAI tech gives Microsoft’s Bing a boost in search battle with Google

OpenAI tech gives Microsoft’s Bing a boost in search battle with Google
Updated 23 March 2023

OpenAI tech gives Microsoft’s Bing a boost in search battle with Google

OpenAI tech gives Microsoft’s Bing a boost in search battle with Google
  • Page visits on Bing have risen 15.8 percent since Microsoft unveiled its artificial intelligence-powered version
  • BingAI represents a rare opportunity for Microsoft to take on Google Search near-market dominance

LONDON: The integration of OpenAI’s technology into Microsoft-owned Bing has driven people to the little-used search engine and helped it compete better with market leader Google in page visits growth, according to data from analytics firm Similarweb.
Page visits on Bing have risen 15.8 percent since Microsoft Corp. unveiled its artificial intelligence-powered version on Feb. 7, compared with a near 1 percent decline for the Alphabet Inc-owned search engine, data till March 20 showed.


The figures are an early sign of the lead the Windows maker has taken in its fast-moving race with Google for generative AI dominance, thanks to the technology behind ChatGPT, the viral chatbot that many experts have called AI’s “iPhone moment.”
They also underscore a rare opportunity for Microsoft to make inroads in the over $120 billion search market, where Google has been the dominant player for decades with a share of more than 80 percent.
Gil Luria, an analyst at D.A. Davidson & Co, said that he expects Bing to gain market share in search over the next coming months, especially if Google continues to delay the integration of generative AI into its product.
While Bing AI has been available to most users around the world since February, Google began the public release of its chatbot Bard only on Tuesday.
“Bing has less than a tenth of Google’s market share, so even if it converts 1 percent or 2 percent of users it will be materially beneficial to Bing and Microsoft,” Luria said.
App downloads for Bing have also jumped eight times globally after AI integration, according to app research firm Data.ai. Downloads for the Google search app fell 2 percent in the same period, the data showed.


Still, some analysts said that Google, which in the early 2000s unseated then leader Yahoo to become the dominant search player, could overcome the early setbacks to maintain its lead.
“Google’s ranking algorithm can have a competitive edge over that of competitors,” Yongjei Jeong, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities in South Korea said, referring to how Google’s algorithm helped it beat Yahoo Search.


TikTok congressional hearing: CEO Shou Chew grilled by US lawmakers

TikTok congressional hearing: CEO Shou Chew grilled by US lawmakers
Updated 24 March 2023

TikTok congressional hearing: CEO Shou Chew grilled by US lawmakers

TikTok congressional hearing: CEO Shou Chew grilled by US lawmakers
  • CEO Shou Zi Chew said TikTok is at pivotal moment as he prepares to testify before Congress to address platform security concerns
  • US could demand TikTok's Chinese owners to divest their stakes or face a potential ban

WASHINGTON: US lawmakers on Thursday battered TikTok’s CEO about potential Chinese influence over the platform and said its short videos were damaging children’s mental health, reflecting bipartisan concerns about the app’s power over Americans.
CEO Shou Zi Chew’s testimony before Congress did little to assuage US worries over TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance and added fresh momentum to lawmakers’ calls to ban the platform nationwide.
Over five hours of testimony, Chew repeatedly denied the app shares data or has connections with the Chinese Communist Party and argued the platform was doing everything to ensure safety for its 150 million American users.
Chew said TikTok for more than two years has been “building what amounts to a firewall to seal off protected US user data from unauthorized foreign access. The bottom line is this: American data stored on American soil, by an American company, overseen by American personnel,” Chew said.
But not a single lawmaker offered support for TikTok, as they deemed Chew’s answers on China evasive and aired concerns over the power the app holds over US children.
Others accused TikTok of promoting content that encourages eating disorders among children, illegal drug sales and sexual exploitation.
“TikTok could be designed to minimize the harm to kids, but a decision was made to aggressively addict kids in the name of profits,” said Representative Kathy Castor, a Democrat, at the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce committee hearing.
Chew responded to many pointed questions by saying the issues were “complex” and not unique to TikTok.
The company says it has spent more than $1.5 billion on data security efforts under the name “Project Texas” which currently has nearly 1,500 full-time employees and is contracted with Oracle Corp. to store TikTok’s US user data.
But critics were not appeased as the company failed to announce any new efforts to safeguard privacy.
Chew, who began his testimony by referring to his Singaporean roots, said: “We do not promote or remove content at the request of the Chinese government.”
He added: “It is our commitment to this committee and all our users that we will keep (TikTok) free from any manipulation by any government.” He said the app strictly screens content that could harm children.
It is not clear how lawmakers will proceed after the hearing or how quickly they might move to pass legislation to strengthen the Biden administration’s legal powers to ban TikTok.

’NOT ABOUT THE OWNERSHIP’
Some 20 US senators — 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans — have backed bipartisan legislation giving President Joe Biden’s administration a path to ban TikTok, and the app’s fate has added a new element to tensions between Washington and Beijing.
TikTok last week said the Biden administration demanded its Chinese owners divest their stakes or face a potential ban.
When asked about a potential divestiture, Chew said the issue was “not about the ownership” and argued US concerns could be addressed by moving data to its US storage centers.
China’s commerce ministry said forcing TikTok’s sale “will seriously damage the confidence of investors from all over the world, including China, to invest in the United States,” and that China would oppose any sale.
Some lawmakers cited China’s comments to reject TikTok’s contention that it is separate from the Chinese government.
At Thursday’s House hearing, Representative Neal Dunn asked Chew if ByteDance has spied on Americans at Beijing’s request. Chew answered, “No.”
Republican Dunn then asked about US media reports that a China-based team at ByteDance planned to use TikTok to monitor the location of specific US citizens, and repeated his question about whether ByteDance was spying.
“I don’t think that spying is the right way to describe it,” Chew said. He went on to describe the reports as involving an “internal investigation,” but was cut off by Dunn, who called TikTok’s widespread use “a cancer.”
Shares of US social media companies that compete with TikTok for advertising rose on Thursday, with Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. closing 2.2 percent higher and Snap Inc. up 3.1 percent.
“SNAP and META are up on idea that the CEO didn’t do well and TikTok may be banned,” said Thomas Hayes, chairman and managing member of Great Hill Capital. “I think the rumors of TikTok’s demise may be greatly exaggerated.”

’SAVE OUR CHILDREN’
Democratic lawmaker Tony Cardenas said Chew was a “good dancer with words” and accused him of avoiding tough questions on evidence that the app has harmed children’s mental health.
Chew said the company was investing in content moderation and artificial intelligence to limit such content.
Representative Diana DeGette, a Democrat, said TikTok’s efforts to prevent the spread of misinformation on the platform were not working.
“You gave me only generalized statements that you’re investing, that you’re concerned, that you’re doing work. That’s not enough for me. That’s not enough for the parents of America,” DeGette said.
Representative Gus Bilirakis showed the committee a collection of short TikTok videos that appeared to glorify self-harm and suicide, or outright tell viewers to kill themselves.
“Your technology is literally leading to death,” Bilirakis said. “We must save our children from big tech companies like yours, who continue to abuse and manipulate them for your own gain.”
Chew told Bilirakis that TikTok takes the issue of suicide and self-harm “very, very seriously.”
TikTok is not available in China, where ByteDance offers a Chinese equivalent Douyin. Still, the hearing was closely watched in the country, with related news posts gathering millions of views on microblogging site Weibo where many users expressed sympathy for Shou and criticized US “hostility.”
Hu Xijin, a former editor-in-chief of state-run tabloid Global Times, said in a tweet on Thursday: “The US is robbing TikTok this time, but it is hypocritically going through the process of a hearing.”
On Friday, the Chinese foreign ministry at a regular news briefing said it had never asked companies to collect or provide data from abroad to the Chinese government in a way that violated local laws, and that the US was presuming TikTok’s guilt and “unreasonably suppressing” the company.
ByteDance did not reply to a request for comment.


‘Cleanfluencers’ sweep TikTok, drawing millions

‘Cleanfluencers’ sweep TikTok, drawing millions
Updated 23 March 2023

‘Cleanfluencers’ sweep TikTok, drawing millions

‘Cleanfluencers’ sweep TikTok, drawing millions
  • With the global rise of TikTok, cleaning videos have become hugely popular on social media, inspiring a growing number to start posting content

HELSINKI, Finland: Marie Kondo may have admitted defeat, but a new generation of “cleanfluencers” is taking social media by storm, with millions watching them scour filthy homes and dole out cleaning hacks.
Digging through a mountain of trash, Auri Kananen uncovered a rotten piece of pizza on the floor of a Helsinki flat, with insects devouring it.
“I love cleaning, I love dirt,” declared the 30-year-old Finn, who has far more social media followers than Kondo, the Japanese tidying guru who has admitted embracing the messier side of life since having her third child.
Kananen has quickly become one of the world’s most successful “cleanfluencers,” traveling the globe hunting for “the dirtiest homes possible.”
“I remember when I had 19 followers. Even then it felt really cool to have 19 strangers wanting to see me clean,” said Kananen, or aurikatariina as she is known to her nine million followers on TikTok, with two million on YouTube.
In her upbeat videos, she dusts, scrubs and sorts, wearing her signature hot pink rubber gloves as zippy pop music plays in the background.
Her voiceovers often explain how the person she is helping ended up living in squalor.
“Usually people have some mental health problem or other tragedy that has happened in their lives,” Kananen told AFP.
The flat in Helsinki is the home of a depressed young man whose brother suffers from multiple sclerosis, she explained.
She can relate to people living in miserable conditions because she went through a period of depression herself, she said.
“I know how overwhelming it is,” she said.
But her experience has shown her that no situation is hopeless.
The comments sections of her videos are filled with people saying how her videos have helped them cope with their difficulties, praising her non-judgmental manner.
“I love how she is understanding the person in this situation and helping them instead of blaming them,” one commenter wrote.

With the global rise of TikTok, cleaning videos have become hugely popular on social media, inspiring a growing number to start posting content.
“I was watching videos and I thought, that’s what I do at home, I can just film myself doing it,” recalled 27-year-old Abbi, known as cleanwithabbi to her two million followers.
The English single mum films herself cleaning, doing the dishes and hoovering in her red brick home in Huyton near Liverpool.
Cleaning has always been an important part of her life as her youngest son Billy lives with sensory processing disorder.
“He really loves his routine and he does like things to be clean,” she said.
Now Abbi, who does not wish to reveal her full name, posts TikTok videos for a living. Brands sponsor her to use their products, and she earns between $720 and $1,200 a video.
Abbi — whose sons Jack and Billy are six and five — hits the record button on her phone and swiftly makes their beds, arranging the soft toys nicely.
“It relaxes me, it’s like therapy,” she told AFP.
“For me it’s like an escape from any worries I’ve got.”

Ann Russell, a 59-year-old full-time cleaner from the south of England, has a different approach.
Sitting on her sofa with her black dog Hollie, she answers a question from one of her TikTok followers, holding her phone up to her face.
To remove a felt tip mark from a wooden table without removing the varnish she recommends isopropyl alcohol: “Dip a cotton bud in it and just rub it gently.”
She said people need to be taught how to clean properly.
“If nobody told you, how on earth are you supposed to know?” she told AFP.
Russell makes between four and 12 videos every day, answering questions from her 2.3 million followers in a no-nonsense fashion.
“I turn the phone on, I talk to the phone, and that’s it. That’s about as good as it gets. I am not very proficient,” she said with a laugh.
The fact that cleaning “is satisfying” may be behind the videos’ success, Russell said.
Most of her and Abbi’s viewers are women and millennials, as well as people struggling to find the motivation to clean.
“Washing your socks, pairing them up and putting them in the drawer (gives) a sense of a good job well done,” she said.
“It makes people feel in control. And because they feel in control in their personal life, they feel that the outside world is a safer place.”