Germany warns social media firms over illegal content



    Social media firms in Germany could face fines of up to 50 million euros if they take too long to remove illegal content including fake news.
    Germany's justice minister has drafted a law that seeks to impose the fines as part of efforts to police toxic chat.
    Heiko Maas said the voluntary efforts of social networks to tackle the problem had not gone far enough.
    The proposal requires sites to run 24-hour helplines and to delete flagged content within seven days.

    'Utterly impossible'

    Social media firms such as Twitter and Facebook were getting better at handling illegal content, said Mr Maas, but both had a long way to go.
    Mr Maas quoted research which suggested Twitter deletes only 1% of the hate speech it is told about by users, and Facebook, 39%.
    "This isn't sufficient yet," said Mr Maas.
    Racism and hate speech are believed to have become more prevalent on German social media following the arrival of large number of refugees in Germany.
    Any content that was "clearly criminal" would have to be removed within 24 hours under conditions outlined in the draft law. If, after an investigation, content is found to be criminal then that must be removed in seven days. The people who posted the illegal content must also be told about its deletion.
    The proposed law would require each network to run fully staffed, round-the-clock reporting systems and to name an individual responsible for handling complaints. That person could face an individually levied fine of five million euros if companies break laws governing what can be published.
    Mr Maas said the law could apply to fake news articles if they proved to be slanderous, defamatory or libellous.
    Facebook did not comment directly on the proposal but said tests it commissioned showed it removed a higher percentage of illegal content than Mr Maas claimed. The social network said it expected to have 700 people employed in Berlin by the end of 2017 overseeing its efforts to review flagged content.
    German digital trade association Bitkom criticised the proposed law. It told the Financial Times that the requirement to remove material within 24 hours on sites that handle more than one billion posts per day was "utterly impossible to implement in operational terms".

North Korea: What can the outside world do?


"Rogue nation". The "greatest immediate threat". North Korea has been called many things, few of them complimentary.
The government has been accused of brutally oppressing citizens while ruthlessly pursuing the development of nuclear weapons.
In recent months it held its fifth nuclear test, launched several missiles and - most believe - assassinated its leader's half-brother using a chemical weapon.
But why is North Korea such a problem - and why can no solution be found?

A potted history

The US and the Soviets divided Korea into two at the end of World War Two. Reunification talks failed and by 1948 there were two separate governments. The 1950-53 Korean War entrenched the split.
North Korea's first leader was Kim Il-sung, a communist who presided over a one-party state, and the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un.
It remains one of the world's poorest nations. Its economy is centrally controlled, its citizens have no access to external media and, apart from a privileged few, no freedom to leave.
Most worryingly, it has conducted five nuclear and multiple missile tests that demonstrate progress towards its ultimate goal of building a nuclear missile.

So what about negotiations?

There have been several rounds. The most recent, involving China, South Korea, Japan, Russia and the US, initially looked promising.
Pyongyang agreed to give up its nuclear work in return for aid and political concessions. It went as far as blowing up the cooling tower at its plutonium production facility at Yongbyon. But then things faltered. The US said North Korea was failing to disclose the full extent of its nuclear work. Pyongyang denied this, but then conducted a nuclear test. So, since 2009, there have been no meaningful discussions.
John Nilsson-Wright, senior fellow for north-east Asia at think-tank Chatham House, says that North Korea, judging from its recent provocations, is not interested in negotiating at the moment.
"This is because Kim is determined to push forward on military modernisation, so rationally it is in his interests to delay."

But economic pressure would work, right?

The UN and several nations already have sanctions in place against North Korea, targeting its weapons programme and financial ability to function abroad. The most recent measures took aim at Pyongyang's coal exports.
Meanwhile food aid to North Korea - which relies on donations to feed its people - has fallen in recent years as tensions have risen.
But, says Dr Nilsson-Wright, these measures do not seem to be slowing down North Korea's ability to move forward on the military front.
He says sanctions that targeted the intermediaries that keep North Korea moving - like Chinese banks - would make a real impact. Targeting the oil that Pyongyang imports from China would also have an immediate effect.
But the problem is China, which does not want to take actions that would destabilise the government and unleash chaos in its northern neighbour.
Instead, he says, China is trying to play the role of honest broker, lobbying the US to talk to Pyongyang. But - though Donald Trump said on the campaign trail that he would be willing to talk to Kim Jong-un over a hamburger - the US, Japan and South Korea have made it very clear that the North must show a real willingness to compromise before talks become an option.

Is there a military option?

Not a good one. It is generally thought that military action against North Korea would lead to very high military and civilian casualties.
Finding and eliminating North Korea's nuclear stockpile would be hard - experts suspect assets are buried deep underground. Moreover the North is heavily armed, with an arsenal of missiles putting Seoul (and beyond) in range, chemical and biological weapons, and about one million troops.
"The risk is that it provokes a counterattack that is massively costly to South Korea," says Dr Nilsson-Wright.

What about assassination?

In recent months South Korea has talked overtly about a "decapitation" strategy - a targeted attack to remove Kim Jong-un and his leadership.
This could be a tactic to deter North Korea from further provocations or to force it back to the negotiating table, says Dr Nilsson-Wright. The strong view in Seoul, he says, is that the only way to get the North back to the negotiating table is to make the government feel so insecure that it feels it has no choice.
There are also big questions around who might fill the vacuum if a "decapitation" went ahead. The elite have a vested interest in the survival of the Kim government and there is no political opposition.

How about a gradual opening?

For a while some thought that the way to bring North Korea into the international community was to help it open up gradually, through small economic reforms, using the model of China's transformation after the death of Mao Zedong
There were signs Kim Jong-il - the leader's late father - may have been interested in this approach, as he made several trips to Chinese industrial zones. The key supporter of this, however, was thought to be Chang Song-thaek, the leader's uncle. But Kim Jong-un had him executed in December 2013, calling him a traitor who planned to overthrow the state.
Kim Jong-un has not yet visited China - in fact, he has not been anywhere. And while he has talked of economic growth, the military programme appears to be his priority.

Could a credible opposition emerge?

This is very unlikely. One-party rule is absolute in North Korea. Citizens are encouraged to worship the Kim dynasty, which is portrayed as the only institution keeping them safe from external aggression.
There are no independent media. All TV, radio and newspapers are state-controlled and North Korea has created its own internet so citizens have no electronic access to the outside world.
There is a limited flow of information across the Chinese border, including DVDs which are smuggled in. But in general North Korea exercises very tight control over its citizens. The government has informants everywhere looking for signs of dissent and penalties are severe. Offenders (and sometimes their whole families) can be sent to labour camps where many die.

So what's the best option?

There needs to be a mixture of pressure and dialogue, says Dr Nilsson-Wright. Pressure, he suggests, could involve some combination of enhanced sanctions, the relisting of North Korea as a State Sponsor of Terrorism (it was removed from the list in 2008), and close work with China to inflict real pain. Possible incentives could include formal diplomatic recognition by the US or a peace treaty (the two Koreas remain technically at war).
Key to this approach would be coordination between the US, China, South Korea and Japan. But there is a new administration in the US and political paralysis in South Korea. Ties between Japan, South Korea and China remain fractious over historical issues. Beijing is also fiercely opposed to the deployment by the US of a Thaad missile defence system in South Korea. So there are divisions to exploit.
"That is why North Korea is pushing it now - it knows it has a window on which to capitalise," Dr Nilsson-Wright argues.
SOURCE :- BBC

Kim Jong-nam death: Malaysia 'to deport 50 North Koreans'


Malaysia says it will deport 50 North Koreans for overstaying their visas, despite its recent ban on North Koreans leaving the country.
The group were working in Sarawak on Borneo island, Malaysia said.
But it did not say why the government had decided to expel them despite the ban, which was imposed in response to a similar move by Pyongyang.
Ties between the two remain tense after the murder of the North Korean leader's half-brother in Malaysia last month.
Kim Jong-nam was killed with a potent nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur airport. Malaysia has not directly blamed North Korea for this, but there is widespread suspicion Pyongyang was responsible.
Investigators have demanded it hand over suspects, three of whom are thought to be hiding in North Korea's embassy in Malaysia.
But North Korea has demanded Malaysia turn over Kim Jong-nam's body and strongly denied any role in the killing.
On Monday its deputy ambassador to the UN, Kim In-ryong, told journalists that "from A to Z, this case is the product of reckless moves of the United States and South Korean authorities'.
The reciprocal travel ban has left nine Malaysian nationals stranded in North Korea. The Malaysian authorities say there are about 1,000 North Koreans currently in Malaysia.
Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the 50 North Korean overstayers in Sarawak would be deported "soon", without giving any explanation of what prompted the move.
He also said that Kim Jong-nam's body had been embalmed to prevent it from decomposing.
Last week, Malaysia finally formally identified the murder victim as Kim Jong-nam. Authorities had said DNA from an immediate family member was necessary to do this, but did not say whether they had obtained this or how.
It is not clear where Mr Kim's wife and children are, although his son appeared in a video last week and said the family were together.
Malaysian authorities have said the family have two to three weeks to claim the body before a decision is made on what to do with it.
Kim Jong-nam, who was the elder half-brother of Kim Jong-un, had been passed over for the North Korean succession and was living in the Chinese territory of Macau at the time of his death.
SOURCE :- BBC

How do you solve a problem like North Korea?

How do you solve a problem like North Korea? US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will be tackling that vexing issue on his first visit to Asia this week.
Tillerson will be consulting with China and with regional allies South Korea and Japan, who feel threatened by North Korea’s aggressive weapons programme.
SOURCE :-BBC

Disasters Emergency Committee makes East Africa appeal



UK aid agencies have launched a fundraising appeal to help millions of people facing hunger in East Africa.
The Disasters Emergency Committee says at least 16 million people in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan need food, water and medical treatment.
Drought and conflict are to blame for the crisis, says the DEC, which will broadcast an emergency appeal on the major television networks on Wednesday.
The government said it will match the first £5m donated by the public.
Last month, a famine was declared in parts of South Sudan, the first to be announced in any part of the world in six years.
The government and the United Nations reported that some 100,000 people are facing starvation, with a million more on the brink of famine.
A combination of civil war and an economic collapse have been blamed.
In Kenya, the country's president Uhuru Kenyatta declared its drought a national disaster and Kenya's Red Cross says 2.7 million people face starvation.
There is also a severe drought in Somalia and Ethiopia.

'Desperate for food'

Saleh Saeed, chief executive of the DEC, an umbrella organisation which brings together 13 UK aid charities to deal with international crises, said hunger was "looming" across East Africa.
He said more than 800,000 children under five were severely malnourished.
"Without urgent treatment, they are at risk of starving to death," he said.
"We are hearing that families are so desperate for food that they are resorting to eating leaves to survive. This is something no family should have to endure.
"Unless we act now the number of deaths will drastically increase."


International Development Secretary Priti Patel said UK aid has funded food, water and emergency healthcare in East Africa, but more support was "urgently needed to prevent a catastrophe".
She said the international community must follow the UK's lead "to save lives and stop the famine before it becomes a stain on our collective conscience".
"The world cannot afford to wait," she said.
SOURCE :- BBC 

Extreme exercise an 'escape from life', Cardiff Uni says


Extreme adventure challenges can help office workers deal with the "anxieties of modern life" new research suggests.
Cardiff University academics looked into the reasons why people participate in the Tough Mudder event.
The experience is "deliberately marketed" as painful, with obstacles including wires delivering 10,000 volt electric shocks.
Injuries have included strokes, heart attacks, and even death - but 2.5m people have entered.
Researchers discovered that pain helps individuals deal with the physical inactivity of office life, and allows par
Dr Rebecca Scott, of Cardiff Business School, said: "On the one hand, consumers spend billions of dollars every year on pain relief, while exhausting and painful experiences such as obstacle races and ultra-marathons are gaining in popularity."
The research, a joint project between Cardiff, Singapore's Nanyang Business School, and Kedge Business School, France, also found pain "facilitates escape" and provides a "temporary relief from the burdens of self-awareness."
Professor Bernard Cova, of Kedge Business School, added: "Electric shocks and ice-cold water may be painful but they also allow participants to escape from the demands and anxieties of modern life.
"By leaving marks and wounds, painful experiences help us create the story of a fulfilled life spent exploring the limits of the body."

Cara Delevingne pens her first novel

Cara Delevingne is already one of the world's most in-demand models and actresses.
Now the 24-year-old can add author to her skillset - her debut novel is set to be published later this year.
Mirror, Mirror is described as a "gripping coming-of-age" young adult novel exploring identity, sexuality, betrayal and friendship.
Delevingne has co-written the book with Rowan Coleman, the author of 2014 novel The Memory Book.
The star said the book deal was a "pinch me" moment.
"So excited! Mirror, Mirror is a twisty coming-of-age story about 16-year-old friends Red, Leo, Naima and Rose who are all trying to figure out who they are and navigate the minefield of school and relationships," Delevingne wrote on Instagram.
"I love these characters so much, I love what they stand for, what this story represents.
"The process of putting this novel together has been life changing and something I hold really close to my heart! I cannot wait to share with everyone!"
Mirror, Mirror will be published on 5 October.

Apple to scan iPhones for child sex abuse images

  Apple has announced details of a system to find child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on customers' devices. Before an image is stored on...