03/09/2024

TUESDAY | SEP 3, 2024

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Myanmar head pledges free and fair election

South Korea opens deepfake porn probe SEOUL: South Korean police said yesterday they had launched an investigation into encrypted messaging platform Telegram for allegedly “abetting” the distribution of deepfake porn, including explicit AI generated images. Deepfake porn includes explicit content in which the faces of individuals are digitally superimposed onto other pornographic images or videos using artificial intelligence technology. A South Korean broadcaster reported last month that university students were running an illegal Telegram chatroom, sharing deepfake pornographic material of female classmates, one of a slew of high-profile cases that have stoked public anger. “In light of these (deepfake) crimes, the Seoul National Police Agency launched its investigation last week,” said Woo Jong-soo, head of the investigation bureau at the National Police Agency. “Telegram has been non-responsive to our previous requests for account information during investigations of earlier Telegram-linked crimes,” he said. Police received 88 reports of deepfake porn last week alone, Woo said, adding that they have identified 24 suspects. The investigation was initiated after Pavel Durov, the founder and chief of Telegram, was arrested last month in France. Durov, 39, was charged with several counts of failing to curb extremist and illegal content on the popular messaging app. South Korean police have pledged to “find ways to cooperate with various investigative bodies, including the French, to enhance” their investigation into the platform, Woo said. AFP has contacted Telegram for comment. Activists say South Korea is suffering from an epidemic of digital sex crimes, including those involving spycams and revenge porn, with inadequate legislation to punish offenders. Perpetrators of deepfake crimes have reportedly used social media platforms such as Instagram to save or screen-capture photos of victims, which were then used to create fake pornographic material. This has fuelled public anger and prompted President Yoon Suk Yeol, a former prosecutor, to call for officials to “address these digital sex crimes to eradicate them completely”. – AFP BANGKOK: Thailand’s new Cabinet has been selected and should be submitted for royal endorsement within this week, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said yesterday. Senior officials in her caretaker government previously said the new government should be in place by the middle of the month. The new Cabinet is expected to retain the current finance and foreign ministers but will likely see 11 new ministers and deputy ministers, according media reports that cited unnamed sources. Sorawong Thienthong, secretary-general of Paetongtarn’s ruling Pheu Thai Party, said the new government should account for slightly more parliamentary seats than its predecessor. He declined to comment on the list of new Cabinet members. After Srettha Thavisin was removed from office as premier less than a month ago by a court order, the populist Pheu Thai quickly rallied support behind its inexperienced leader, Paetongtarn, 38, with parliament selecting her as prime minister days later. She is Thailand’s youngest premier and the second woman and fourth member of her billionaire family to hold the post. Paetongtarn is the daughter of the influential and divisive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who is still seen as a major force behind the party. The new government dropped the military aligned Palang Pracharat party and has added its oldest foe, the Democrat Party, to the coalition. – Reuters New Thai premier finalises Cabinet

o Military government announces population and household census

have denounced the rebellion. The government does not have effective control of Myanmar, having lost complete authority over townships covering 86% of the country’s territory that houses 67% of the population, the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar said in a May report. Earlier this year, thousands of young people also fled abroad after the government’s call for conscription to replenish its weakened forces. Last month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi promised technological assistance for the census-taking process for the “all-inclusive election” at a meeting with Min Aung Hlaing, according to media. The parallel National Unity Government, comprising former lawmakers and other government opponents, said the international community and neighbouring countries should denounce the election and the census process. “The government has the intention to carry out a sham election and using the excuse of a census, they are collecting information from people which they will use to terrorise them,” said its spokesperson Kyaw Zaw. – Reuters

widely derided as a sham and the outcome is unlikely to be recognised by western countries, with dozens of parties disbanded for not registering to run, including the dominant National League for Democracy (NLD), whose government the military toppled. The country of 55 million people has been in turmoil since February 2021 when the military ousted the popular administration of Nobel laureate and NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi, citing fraud in an election it won two months earlier by a landslide. Many NLD politicians, including Suu Kyi were arrested, while those who fled said the military government’s allegations of fraud over voter lists were baseless and trumped-up to justify the coup. The coup sparked widespread protests that were met with a brutal crackdown that transformed the demonstrations into an armed resistance movement. It has since combined with many established ethnic minority armies to become the most significant challenge to the military in decades. The military government in July said 27 of the parties that have registered for the election

YANGON: Myanmar’s military government will conduct a nationwide population and household census next month, state media said yesterday, paving the way for a promised election next year amid raging conflict across swathes of the country. The census data collected between Oct 1 and 15 will be used to hold a general election next year, State Administration Council (SAC) chairman Min Aung Hlaing told a meeting on Sunday, state media reported. “The census can be used in compilation of correct and accurate voter lists, which is a basic need for successfully holding a free and fair multi-party democratic general election,” Min Aung Hlaing said separately in a televised speech on Sunday. The proposed election has already been

Tropical storm triggers landslides in Philippines MANILA: Floods and landslides killed 11 people after a fierce tropical storm dumped heavy rain on the Philippines for a second day, officials said yesterday.

Tropical Storm Yagi brushed past the Bicol region southeast of Manila overnight on Sunday and was expected to make landfall on the northeast coast of the main island of Luzon. As a precaution, schools and government offices across the capital Manila were shut for the day, while ferry services in affected areas were suspended and 29 domestic flights cancelled due to the weather. Three people, including a pregnant woman, were killed in a landslide yesterday in Antipolo, near the equally rain-soaked capital, said city information officer Relly Bonifacio. He said the bodies of four other people, all drowning victims, were recovered yesterday in three other areas of the hilly community, hours after creeks overflowed. The Bicol city of Naga was also hard-hit, with a man electrocuted as floodwaters rose and a baby girl drowning, rescuers said. “The floods were above head height in some areas,” said Joshua Tuazon of the city’s public safety office, adding that hundreds of residents had been rescued. More than 300 people remained at evacuation camps yesterday, with local officials saying the floodwaters in the city of 210,000 people were slow to ebb. Two landslides killed two people and damaged five houses in the central city of Cebu on Sunday, said the local disaster office.

Youths wading in a storm surge along Manila Bay yesterday. – AFPPIC

Yagi tore northwards off the coast of Luzon yesterday afternoon with sustained winds of 85kph, up from 75kph earlier in the day, the state weather service said in an updated bulletin. It was due to make landfall in the northern province of Isabela later in the day, with four towns and about 33,000 people in its path. Local officials were advised to prepare communities to evacuate flood-prone areas,

Asean-Australia Dialogue Relations and strategies to advance the Asean-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The Sydney Dialogue, which brings together global leaders, technology experts and innovators, addresses pressing issues in cyber and critical technology with a particular focus on the Indo-Pacific region. The event highlights significant trends in technology, security and geopolitics, and examines the impact of over 80 national elections this year amid shifting global power dynamics and conflicts. – Bernama said provincial disaster chief Constante Foronda. The weather service also warned of a “minimal to moderate risk” of huge coastal waves threatening communities as the storm hits land. About 20 big storms and typhoons hit the Philippines or its surrounding waters each year, damaging homes and infrastructure and killing dozens. – AFP

Economic resilience crucial for regional security, session told JAKARTA: The deputy secretary-general for Asean Political-Security Community Datuk Astanah Abdul Aziz underscored the link between economic issues and regional security during the Sydney Dialogue yesterday. resulted from geopolitical and geostrategic developments as well as from economic issues”. The session, moderated by shadow minister for home affairs and shadow minister for cyber security of Australia, Senator James Paterson, explored how economic resilience is crucial in the face of evolving global challenges.

Speaking at a panel discussion titled “Back to the Future – Building Resilient Economies in the Era of New Competition”, organised by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, she emphasised Asean’s comprehensive approach to security. Astanah said “it is important for Asean to remain resilient amid various challenges that

In a related engagement, Astanah met Australian Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Tim Watts on the sidelines of the event, according to the Asean Secretariat. The discussions focused on Asean-Australia relations in light of the 50th anniversary of