Livestream
Special Interview
Video Streaming
International News (6777)
February
TikTok to ramp up fight against fake news, covert influence ahead of EU elections
Written by nuke
FILE PHOTO: EU flag and TikTok logo are seen in this illustration taken, June 2, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration -
Voinews, Brussels - ByteDance-owned social media platform TikTok said on Wednesday it will ramp up its fight against fake news and covert influence operations in the run-up to European Parliament elections in June with a local language app in all 27 countries.
Tiktok said the individual local language "election centres" build on work it first started in 2021, which accelerated last year when Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and Spain went to the polls.
Quoted from CNA News, The app is designed to better inform Europeans about the electoral process.
Governments and politicians around the world are concerned about the spread of misinformation and the use of AI-generated deepfakes to influence elections and especially the role of social media platforms.
Some 30 per cent of European Parliament lawmakers use TikTok, the company said.
"Next month, we will launch a local language Election Centre in-app for each of the 27 individual EU member states to ensure people can easily separate fact from fiction," TikTok's head of trust & safety EMEA Kevin Morgan said in a blogpost.
"Working with local electoral commissions and civil society organisations, these Election Centres will be a place where our community can find trusted and authoritative information," he said.
The company worked with news checkers to produce educational videos about the electoral process and misinformation via the election centres during national elections in previous years.
Morgan said TikTok, which currently works with nine fact-checking organisations in Europe, plans to expand its fact-checking network and launch nine additional media literacy campaigns this year.
It will introduce dedicated covert influence operations reports in the coming months to increase transparency and accountability//(CNA-VOI)
February
In Tokyo, world's first sovereign transition bonds make their debut
Written by nuke
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends a bilateral meeting with Kenyan President William Ruto at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Japan, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. Shuji Kajiyama/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo -
Voinews, Tokyo - In a world first, Japan auctioned sovereign climate transition bonds on Wednesday although the bonds met with slightly weaker-than-expected demand.
Quioted from CNA News, Climate transition bonds are a relatively new class of bonds which aim to fund shifts by companies, or in this case a government, to having a lesser impact on the environment.
They are distinct from green bonds where the proceeds are earmarked for a specific project or are focused on the profile of the issuer.
The sale of 800 billion yen ($5.3 billion) in 10-year transition bonds was the first in Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's plan to sell 20 trillion yen of climate bonds over the next decade to help the nation with its goal of cutting greenhouse gases to zero by 2050.
The proceeds are expected to go towards projects such as low-cost wind power generators and airplanes that use alternative fuels.
The bonds were priced to yield 0.74 per cent on Wednesday, with pricing somewhat lower than expected. Yields on the bonds were 0.655 per cent a day earlier in the so-called "when-issued" market, which is a market for securities yet to be issued. Yields on bonds move inversely to prices.
"I would say expectations prior to the auction were too high. Still the yield on climate bonds was little lower than the yield for 10-year JGBs, which means the bonds enjoyed a premium," said Keisuke Tsuruta, a fixed income strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
Regular 10-year Japanese government bonds were yielding 0.755 per cent on Wednesday.
Japan's finance ministry plans to sell 800 billion yen of five-year transition bonds on Feb. 27, which will be followed by 1.4 trillion yen of transition bonds in the fiscal year starting in April//(CNA-VOI)
February
China's Pacific ally Solomon Islands expected to call election for April
Written by nuke
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare shake hands at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Jul 10, 2023. (File photo: Reuters/cnsphoto) -
Voinews, SYDNEY - Solomon Islands is expected to next week call a national election for April, with China security ties emerging as a key issue as political parties launch campaigns in the Pacific Islands nation.
Quoted from CNA news, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare switched diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China soon after the 2019 election that brought him to power, later forging a security pact with Beijing that alarmed Washington and Canberra, and set off a race for influence in the strategically located Pacific Islands.
A prominent opposition party figure, the United Party's Peter Kenilorea, said he wanted the China security pact reviewed, and would also seek to re-establish diplomatic ties with Taiwan, the Solomon Star newspaper reported on Wednesday (Feb 14).
Opposition leader Matthew Wale said at a campaign launch for a coalition of democratic parties on Wednesday that a referendum could be held to decide the country's relationship with China.
"China is a superpower both militarily and economically, and there is much also to be gained from a relationship with China ... We need to see what our national interest is," Wale said at the livestreamed event.
He criticised Sogavare for not consulting the provinces before switching ties to China, which led to the largest province, Malaita, refusing to cooperate with Beijing for several years.
"The possibility of a referendum is a very real possibility to decide it once and for all," Wale said.
At his campaign launch, Sogavare pointed to the Pacific Games held in Honiara, with stadiums donated by China, as a major achievement.
His party pledged to "strengthen the relationship with China through a 'look North' foreign policy while nurturing ties with other traditional partners such as Australia", a statement said.
The election will officially be called by the country's governor-general on Feb 20.
Wale said Apr 17, expected to be the polling date, was "a day for accountability", after Sogavare had "prioritised Pacific Games over medicines".
Honiara's operating theatres leaked in the rain and patients slept on the floor at the hospital, he said.
In his campaign speech, Wale was critical of "elite capture".
"We have a government that is not controlled by Solomon Islanders ... A government that receives money to make sure that the status quo continues," he said.
Wale did not name China in the speech, but the Prime Minister's Office previously confirmed China had provided US$2.49 million for a fund spent at Sogavare's discretion, with payments made to 39 out of 50 lawmakers.
Sogavare's office has previously rejected claims the money was used to maintain power//(CNA-VOI)
February
Indian police blockade capital from protesting farmers
Written by nuke
Farmers gather along a highway blocked by police as they try to march towards India's capital (Photo: AFP/Shammi MEHRA) -
Voinews, India - Indian riot police fired tear gas on Wednesday (Feb 14) at columns of farmers on tractors seeking to breach heavily guarded roadblocks and march on the capital to demand guaranteed crop prices.
Farmers in India this week launched the "Delhi Chalo", or "March to Delhi", in an echo of January 2021, when they broke through barriers and rolled into New Delhi on Republic Day during a then year-long protest.
But this time around, the lines of hundreds of tractors have been stalled by fearsome barricades of concrete blocks and lines of razor wire.
Quoted from CNA news, the farmers are demanding a law to fix a minimum price for their crops, in addition to a clutch of other concessions including waiving loans.
Tear gas was fired at Shambhu, about 200km north of the capital on the border between Punjab and Haryana states where the main group of farmers has been stopped, AFP reporters at the scene said.
"The police are treating us as if we have come from an enemy country," said Mohan Singh, a 65-year-old farmer from Punjab's Kapurthala district, some 415km by road from Delhi.
"All we want to do is go to Delhi and ask for our rights, but more than 150 of us have been injured."
Haryana state police said in a statement on Tuesday night that "heavy stones" were hurled at police and 24 officers had been hurt.
Farmers in India have political influence due to their sheer numbers, and the renewed protests come ahead of national elections likely to begin in April.
Two-thirds of India's 1.4 billion people draw their livelihood from agriculture, accounting for nearly a fifth of the country's GDP, according to government figures.
After first deploying tear gas on Tuesday, police fired fresh barrages on Wednesday, including dropping canisters from the air by drone as tractor-driving farmers tried to open the road by dragging barricades away.
"We are just waiting for the green signal from our leaders," said Santokh Singh, 65, from Ludhiana in Punjab. "Once that comes, we will break all the barriers."
But farm union leaders used microphones to call for restraint from supporters.
"We will win this battle and go to Delhi," one of them shouted. "But we cannot afford to get carried away."//(CNA-VOI)
February
India Says Qatar Freed Eight Ex-Navy Personnel
Written by Rama Shidqi P.
VOInews.id: India's foreign ministry said Monday that Qatar had freed eight ex-navy personnel. As reported by AFP on Monday (12/2/2024), they had previously been arrested and sentenced to death, reportedly for spying for Israel.
February
Philippines Landslide Toll Jumps to 54 Dead
Written by Rama Shidqi P.
VOInews.id: The death toll from a massive Philippine landslide near a gold mine abruptly rose to 54 on Sunday (11/2/2024), local officials said. Nineteen bodies were recovered from beneath the rubble in the southern mountain village of Masara on Sunday, with 63 other miners and residents still missing, said the municipality of Maco, and provincial disaster official Randy Loy. As reported by AFP, the previous death toll given stood at 35.
February
Namibian President Hage Geingob Dies at 82
Written by Rama Shidqi P.
VOInews.id: Namibian President Hage Geingob died early on Sunday (04/02/2024) morning, a month after announcing he was suffering from cancer. The 82-year-old man revealed his illness to the public in January. Meanwhile, the president's office announced that Geingob will undergo treatment in the United States and return home on Friday (02/02/2024).
February
Google signs its largest offshore power agreement with Dutch wind projects
Written by nuke
FILE PHOTO: An illuminated Google logo is seen inside an office building in Zurich, Switzerland December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo -
LONDON : Technology giant Google has signed its largest ever power purchase agreement (PPA) with offshore wind projects off the coast of the Netherlands as part of efforts to green its power supply and hit climate targets, it said on Thursday.
Renewable power project developers are increasingly tying their electricity output to long-term PPAs to provide revenue security, while corporate buyers are keen to lock in supply and ensure they meet targets for sourcing clean power.
Under its largest offshore wind PPA to date, Google has agreed to take 478 megawatts (MW) of power from two new wind farms developed by Crosswind & Ecowende Consortia, joint ventures between energy companies Shell and Dutch utility Eneco.
It also announced smaller renewable PPAs in Italy, Poland and Belgium but did not disclose any financial details of the deals.
"Our ambition to operate on carbon-free energy around the clock by 2030 requires clean energy solutions in every grid where we operate," said Matt Brittin, President of Google in EMEA
Many companies with similar goals currently work on an annual basis, matching PPAs or purchases of renewable energy certificates with their yearly electricity use.
Google, however, is seeking to match each hour of electricity used with an hour of clean power production, something proponents of the method say better reflects companies' actual energy use//CNA-VOI
February
Over a third of EU firms adopt AI, bringing digital goals in reach
Written by nuke
FILE PHOTO: AI Artificial intelligence words, miniature of robot and EU flag are seen in this illustration taken December 21, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration//File Photo -
STOCKHOLM : More than a third of European businesses adopted artificial intelligence in 2023 as use of generative AI surged, a report commissioned by Amazon Web Services found.
The European Commission, the EU executive, in 2021 presented its 2030 Digital Decade vision to transform the region, with 80 per cent of the population acquiring basic digital skills, 5G connectivity everywhere and 75 per cent of EU companies using cloud services.
In 2022, however, only a quarter of EU businesses had adopted AI and a report last year estimated the European Union was at risk of falling behind its Digital Decade goals by ten years unless the governments focused on bridging the skills gap.
"Last year was pivotal; from Malmo to Milan, the accessibility of generative AI created an appetite for experimentation among consumers and businesses," Tanuja Randery, Managing Director at AWS, told Reuters.
"The accelerated uptake of AI last year has helped put Europe on track to meet its Digital Decade goals," she said.
The survey conducted by Strand Partners of over 16,000 citizens and 14,000 businesses found 38 per cent of companies were experimenting with AI.
The report estimated the positive economic impact of AI at an additional 600 billion euros, on top of an earlier estimate of 2.8 trillion euros//CNA-VOI
January
President Vo Van Thuong receives ambassadors of Poland, Spain, Bangladesh, and Mozambique
Written by steve
(unsplash.com/@sam_williams Sam Williams)
Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong on Monday received the Ambassadors of Poland, Spain, and Bangladesh, who presented their credentials and the Ambassador of Mozambique, who bid farewell at the end of his term.
As reported by Vovworld.vn (29/1) meeting Polish Ambassador Aleksander Surdej, President Thuong stressed the need for the two countries to strengthen contact and exchange of high-level delegations at all levels and the implementation of existing bilateral cooperation mechanisms.
Poland is currently Vietnam's No. 1 trading partner in the Central Eastern Europe and Vietnam is Poland's leading trading partner in Southeast Asia.
The President said he hopes the two countries will further their cooperation in economics-trade education-training, tourism, culture, and people-to-people exchanges//Vovworld.vn