Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection found in tropical countries worldwide.. AFP
Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection found in tropical countries worldwide.. AFP
Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection found in tropical countries worldwide.. AFP
Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection found in tropical countries worldwide.. AFP

Social media companies take down anti-vaccine content as measles breaks out around the world


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The global trend of parents shunning vaccinations for their children has become deadly serious.

Japan is battling its worst measles outbreak in the past 10 years, with more than 170 cases reported.

And the World Health Organisation says an epidemic of the disease in Madagascar has caused more than 900 deaths.

The WHO says there have been more than 68,000 cases of the disease in the African island state, in which 553 deaths were confirmed and another 373 suspected from measles since the outbreak began in September.

Those most at risk are infants from nine to 11 months old.

The epidemic is blamed on a low immunisation rate for measles across the island nation over many years,  WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said. The vaccination rate is estimated to be less than 60 per cent, Mr Jasarevic said.

Anti-vaccine propaganda has been spread widely on social media, to the extent that networks including Pinterest and YouTube have detailed measures they are taking against misinformation on vaccines. They have been accused of enabling the propaganda.

Pinterest confirmed to AFP Monday it changed its policy last year on anti-vaccine content.

The company said it had started blocking certain searches related to vaccinations and cancer cures last year, because results were leading to harmful misinformation.

“We want Pinterest to be an inspiring place for people and there’s nothing inspiring about misinformation,” a spokesman said.

“That’s why we continue to work on new ways of keeping misleading content off our platform and out of our recommendations engine.”

The site is blocking search results and barred accounts and removed “pins” that violate its rules on medical disinformation, but the spokesman was unable to give specific numbers.

YouTube announced on Friday that it was removing ads on anti-vaccine videos to stop them making money.

“We have strict policies that govern what videos we allow ads to appear on, and videos that promote anti-vaccination content have been and remain a violation of our longstanding harmful or dangerous advertising policy,” YouTube said.

Buzzfeed had drawn attention to instances in which YouTube’s automated recommendations system had allowed some anti-vaccine videos to slip through.

Pressure is growing on social networks in the US and elsewhere to take action in the face of criticism that they have enabled the development of an anti-vaccine movement.

Several outbreaks of measles in the US have sickened 159 people since the start of the year, including 65 in Clark County, Washington state. Most of the cases involved non-vaccinated children.

US health authorities say the percentage of children aged two or over who have not been vaccinated has gone from 0.9 per cent of children born in 2011 to 1.3 per cent of those born in 2015.

In 2017-2018, the number of requests for vaccination exemptions rose for the third school year in a row in the US.

Democratic politician Adam Schiff wrote to the heads of Facebook and Google about the issue on February 14.

Facebook responded that it was looking at ways to reduce the visibility of anti-vaccine content.

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Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

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Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

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What can you do?

Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses

Seek professional advice from a legal expert

You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor

You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline

In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support

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Display: 10.9" Liquid Retina IPS, 2360 x 1640, 264ppi, wide colour, True Tone, Apple Pencil support

Chip: Apple M1, 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine

Memory: 64/256GB storage; 8GB RAM

Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, Smart HDR

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Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR, Centre Stage; full HD @ 25/30/60fps

Audio: Stereo speakers

Biometrics: Touch ID

I/O: USB-C, smart connector (for folio/keyboard)

Battery: Up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi; up to 9 hours on cellular

Finish: Space grey, starlight, pink, purple, blue

Price: Wi-Fi – Dh2,499 (64GB) / Dh3,099 (256GB); cellular – Dh3,099 (64GB) / Dh3,699 (256GB)

The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company profile

Company: Verity

Date started: May 2021

Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif

Based: Dubai

Sector: FinTech

Size: four team members

Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000

Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors

Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha

Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar

Director: Neeraj Pandey

Rating: 2.5/5

What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

Specs

Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric

Range: Up to 610km

Power: 905hp

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Price: From Dh439,000

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Racecard

6pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 Group 1 (PA) $55,000 (Dirt) 1,900m  

6.35pm: Oud Metha Stakes Rated Conditions (TB) $60,000 (D) 1,200m  

7.10pm: Jumeirah Classic Listed (TB) $150,000 (Turf) 1,600m  

7.45pm: Firebreak Stakes Group 3 (TB) $150,000 (D) 1,600m  

8.20pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 Group 2 (TB) $350,000 (D) 1,900m  

8.55pm: Al Bastakiya Trial Conditions (TB) $60,000 (D) 1,900m  

9.30pm: Balanchine Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,800m   

Company profile

Date started: 2015

Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki

Based: Dubai

Sector: Online grocery delivery

Staff: 200

Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends

The National Archives, Abu Dhabi

Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.

Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en

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The biog

Fatima Al Darmaki is an Emirati widow with three children

She has received 46 certificates of appreciation and excellence throughout her career

She won the 'ideal mother' category at the Minister of Interior Awards for Excellence

Her favourite food is Harees, a slow-cooked porridge-like dish made from boiled wheat berries mixed with chicken

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