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WASHINGTON D.C.: US lawmakers began their hearing on Thursday of TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew over the company’s alleged ties to the Chinese government and its danger to young people, as the popular video sharing app faces a ban in its biggest market.
“TikTok has repeatedly chosen the path for more control, more surveillance and more manipulation. Your platform should be banned,” Cathy McMorris Rodgers, chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said as she began the hearing.
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BERLIN: Athletes can wear a hijab in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games athletes’ village without any restriction, the International Olympic Committee said on Friday, days after France’s sports minister banned it for the host country’s athletes.
The Olympic body also said it needed to better understand the situation in France and had been in contact with the French Olympic Committee (CNOSF).
French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said on Sunday French athletes would be barred from wearing a hijab during the Paris Games to respect principles of secularism.
“For the Olympic Village, the IOC rules apply,” an IOC spokesperson said. “There are no restrictions on wearing the hijab or any other religious or cultural attire.”
The vast majority of the approximately 10,000 athletes at Olympic Games reside in apartments in the Olympic village and share common spaces, including dining halls and recreational areas.
“When it comes to competitions, the regulations set by the relevant International Federation (IF) apply,” the IOC spokesperson said.
The sports competitions at the Olympics are organized and overseen by the individual international sports federations.
There are 32 sports on the program of the Paris Games.
“Since this French regulation relates to the members of the French team only, we are in contact with the CNOSF to further understand the situation regarding the French athletes,” the spokesperson said.
Home to one of Europe’s largest Muslim minorities, France has implemented laws designed to protect its strict form of secularism, known as “laicité,” which President Emmanuel Macron has said is under threat from Islamism.
Some Muslim associations and human rights groups allege those laws have targeted Muslims, chipped away at democratic protections and left them vulnerable to abuse.
The French decision to bar its athletes from wearing a hijab was criticized by the United Nations human rights office this week.
Paris will host the Summer Olympics from July 26 to Aug. 11 next year.
NEW DELHI: The Afghan embassy in India has suspended all operations after the ambassador and other senior diplomats left the country for Europe and the United States where they gained asylum, three embassy officials said on Friday.
India does not recognize the Taliban government, and closed its own embassy in Kabul after the Taliban took control in 2021, but New Delhi had allowed the ambassador and mission staff appointed by the Western-backed government of ousted Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to issue visas and handle trade matters.
At least five Afghan diplomats have left India, the embassy officials said. The Indian government will now take over the diplomatic compound in a caretaker capacity, one of the Afghan officials said.
Asked about the matter, an Indian foreign ministry official in New Delhi said they were looking into the developments, without giving any details.
Taliban officials in Kabul were not immediately available for comment.
India is one of a dozen countries with a small mission in Kabul to facilitate trade, humanitarian aid and medical support. Bilateral trade in 2019-2020 reached $1.5 billion, but fell drastically after the Taliban government took office.
Earlier this month hundreds of Afghan college students living in India despite the expiry of their student visas staged a demonstration in New Delhi to urge the Indian government to extend their stay.
RIYADH: Driven by the increased use of advanced technologies, most large companies in Saudi Arabia expect low levels of security threats in 2024, a threat assessment investigation has revealed.
According to the World Security Report released by London-based global security firm G4S, the Kingdom is consolidating its position as one of the best countries in the region to do business, thanks to its widespread adoption of advanced technology.
“The government’s measures to stamp down on cybercrime, along with its substantial investments in advanced technologies and digital upskilling in the context of Saudi Vision 2030, make the country an attractive hub for businesses,” said Mahmoud Mudhaffar, managing director of G4S in Saudi Arabia, in a statement.
The study found that the Kingdom had the lowest intrusion and competitor sabotage rates at 11 percent and 13 percent, respectively.
Last year, Saudi Arabia experienced lower levels of external threats related to vandalism, trespass and distributed denial of service attacks compared with the global average, the report added.
A DDoS attack is a cybercrime that involves multiple machines working together to overwhelm a target with internet traffic.
The report surveyed 1,775 chief security officers of large organizations across 30 countries, including 235 CSOs in the Middle East from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan.
The research revealed that companies in the Middle East faced the least security threats involving violent criminals at 19 percent.
CSOs who participated in the survey opined that Saudi Arabia plans to increase its use of technologies like artificial intelligence, facial recognition and machine learning.
“In particular, it appears to be embracing the use of AI. Saudi Arabia is the second highest country in the region behind Jordan to say it will adopt AI-powered surveillance and monitoring systems at 46 percent,” said G4S in the report.
The Kingdom is also the second-highest country in the region to expect to use biometrics and facial recognition technology behind the UAE at 49 percent over the next five years.
Similarly, at 44 percent, more companies in the Kingdom plan to use internet-connected technologies and connected devices compared to any other country in the region.
QUETTA/PESHAWAR: At least 52 people, including a senior police official, were killed on Friday when a suicide bomber hit close to a gathering to mark the Prophet’s birthday in southwest Pakistan, a district commissioner and hospital officials said.
The attack, in which 100 people were injured, took place in Mastung city in the impoverished Balochistan province.
“Locals were gathering for an Eid Milad ul Nabi procession when a suicide bomber attacked a police van near the rally,” Mastung Assistant Commissioner Mastung Atta ul Munim told Arab News, adding that a deputy superintendent of police was among the dead.
Dr Saeed Baloch at the Nawab Ghos Buksh Raisani Hospital said 52 had been killed and 100 were injured.
“Thirty-two dead bodies have arrived at our hospital [NGBR] and 20 were shifted to District Headquarters Hospital Mastung,” the doctor said. “The number of critical injuries is high and the death toll might increase.”
No group has as yet claimed responsibility for the attack but the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) denied it was involved.
The Daesh group is known for attacks in Pakistan and beyond on religious gatherings and on minorities.
Balochistan is also home to a decades-long insurgency by ethnic Baloch guerrillas fighting the government over accusations of exploiting the province’s rich gas and mineral resources.
HANGU ATTACK
Separately, at least three people were killed and 15 injured as an explosion ripped through a mosque located in a police station in Hangu in the northwestern Khyber Pakthunkhwa province.
“Three people have died and over 15 are injured,” a spokesperson for Rescue 1122 Hangu, Harron Khan, told Arab News.
The blast occurred during Friday prayers, as a mosque leader was delivering his sermon before a group of around 30 people.
NARJAN: The Najran Region Municipality has prepared a number of its parks to receive walkers and visitors during the cooler months of the year.
The municipality has worked with the Services Agency for Parks and Environmental Architecture, planting 65,000 flowers and pruning 2,100 trees.
The surrounding area has also been cleaned up, with litter and graffiti removed and walls and street furniture repainted.
The municipality is preparing the gardens to become a destination for visitors from all over the Kingdom during the weekends and public and national events.
