Network overload triggers blackouts in Kyiv, other Ukrainian regions
Officials said on Tuesday night that blackouts hit Kyiv and several other Ukrainian regions due to network overload and lingering damage from earlier ...
Singapore has directed Meta, the parent company of Facebook, to block Singaporeans' access to posts by three foreigners accused of attempting to influence the country's upcoming election along racial and religious lines.
Singapore has ordered Facebook parent Meta to block Singaporeans' access to posts made by three foreigners accused of trying to influence a national election next month on racial and religious lines.
The orders were issued after some posts deemed "intended to promote or prejudice the electoral success or standing of a political party or candidate", the Elections Department and home affairs ministry said on Friday.
Meta did not respond to a request for comment. Two of the three people whose posts were blocked rejected the accusations.
The May 3 election, the first under new social media rules introduced in 2023, looks set to be dominated by the People's Action Party, which has won most seats in every vote since independence in 1965.
The rules bar foreigners from publishing online election advertising, which it defines as online materials that could help or hurt any political parties or candidates.
Authorities identified the foreigners behind the posts as Iskandar Abdul Samad, treasurer of the Islamist party Parti Islam Se-Malaysia; Mohamed Sukri Omar, its party's youth chief in the Malaysian state of Selangor; and Facebook and Zulfikar bin Mohamad Shariff, an Australian who renounced his Singapore citizenship in 2020.
The PAP-led government said their posts interfered with domestic politics and influenced citizens to vote on racial and religious lines.
Authorities found that Zulfikar had accused Malay-Muslim lawmakers of failing to represent Muslim interests. Sukri had reposted Zulfikar's post and Iskandar had expressed support on social media for the Workers' Party's vice chair.
Iskandar did not respond to a request for comment.
In a Facebook post on Saturday about the order, Sukri said he never sought to interfere in the election and his concerns were for the plight of Malay-Muslims in Singapore "a community increasingly marginalised in various aspects, whether in education, economy, or cultural freedom."
Parti Islam Se-Malaysia secretary general Takiyuddin Hassan said the views of the two party leaders did not reflect its official policy or stance.
While the party respected Singapore's concerns, the government's response to their remarks was "somewhat exaggerated and unilateral," he added.
Zulfikar on Facebook said that the order showed the PAP and its supporters were scared and that "desperation reeks".
The Workers' Party said in a statement on Saturday that it has no control over foreign parties who express support for its candidates. The PAP did not respond to a request for comment on Zulfikar's remarks.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
A tsunami threat was issued in Chile after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the Drake Passage on Friday. The epicenter was located 135 miles south of Puerto Williams on the north coast of Navarino Island.
The war in Ukraine has reached a strategic impasse, and it seems that the conflict will not be solved by military means. This creates a path toward one of two alternatives: either a “frozen” phase that can last indefinitely or a quest for a durable political regulation.
Officials said on Tuesday night that blackouts hit Kyiv and several other Ukrainian regions due to network overload and lingering damage from earlier Russian strikes.
Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched on Tuesday through the northern Italian city of Udine ahead of Italy’s World Cup qualifier against Israel, ending their mostly peaceful rally with clashes involving police.
Cameroon opposition candidate Issa Tchiroma declared victory late on Monday in the country's 12 October presidential election, urging President Paul Biya to accept defeat and "honour the truth of the ballot box".
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reached a staff-level agreement with Pakistan that would unlock $1.2 billion in funding once approved by the Fund’s Executive Board.
Google has joined forces with the World Bank Group to develop artificial intelligence-based public digital infrastructure aimed at supporting developing markets.
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