With seven weeks to go until Germany chooses its next leader, security experts are on high alert for online meddling efforts that they fear could damage confidence in the poll.
Security services are tracking disinformation on the web after claims of Russian and Iranian interference cast a pall over elections elsewhere.
Officials fear that phishing attacks, which Iran is suspected of carrying out in Germany, could allow hackers to discredit candidates by leaking confidential material or sending fake messages from their accounts.
But experts say that foreign saboteurs are not the only threat to next month's election, with some false claims originating from fringe groups within Germany.
Some of these have sought to sow doubts about the electoral process, echoing the false claims of fraud which culminated in a deadly mob attack in the US.
While Germany’s pen-and-paper voting means that any cyberattacks are unlikely to alter the result, they could potentially hold up the count or, together with disinformation, trigger confusion about the process.
“The fear a couple of years ago that disinformation was used to actually sway individual votes — we haven’t seen that,” said Julian Jaursch, a digital policy expert at the New Responsibility Foundation (SNV) in Berlin.
“The threat that I see is a more general threat — it can be used to sow confusion and discord and make people mistrust each other and mistrust the process.”
September's election will be closely watched around the world as Europe’s biggest economy gets a new leader for the first time in 16 years. Angela Merkel’s successor as chancellor will have to navigate a series of foreign policy issues including relations with Russia and Iran.
The Alliance for Securing Democracy, a monitoring group, said Russia was the most influential player in stirring up controversy online.
Media outlets linked to Moscow have attacked the Green party candidate Annalena Baerbock, who wants to scrap a major gas pipeline to Russia. Accounts linked to Iran have focused on sanctions and nuclear talks.
Other Green candidates have been targeted by disinformation efforts which attributed fake quotations to them or targeted them with hate speech.
But the Greens were not the only victims, and any party or candidate could become the target of online meddling, said Mr Jaursch.
“It just depends on the topic that is popping up at the moment and the actors that are willing to act on it,” he said. “I think there’s heightened awareness compared to [the last election in] 2017. That’s a good thing.”
Phishing threat
German authorities have warned lawmakers to watch out for online scams and offered training on the subject to political parties.
Intelligence services are on guard after German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer promised to do “everything imaginable” to protect the election.
Hacking attempts have already been observed against politicians, which authorities believe could be an effort to leak real or fake material from their accounts.
“Personal information attained this way could be published in a selective or misleading way in order to discredit people and parties,” said Thomas Haldenwang, the head of a domestic intelligence agency, last month.
Attacks so far have largely been unsuccessful but “we definitely see the interest of certain states in exerting influence on this year’s parliamentary election,” he said.
Julia Schuetze, a cybersecurity expert at SNV, said authorities were more prepared than ever but that politicians and voters needed to do their part.
“In the end, parties themselves are responsible,” she said. “They should have enough awareness now and take their own measures.”
Facebook, which is under scrutiny for failing to stop disinformation on its platform, said it had a dedicated team working on the German election.
You have a ton more actors that are actually just domestic German individuals or groups
Julian Jaursch
Anyone who wants to use the site to run a political advert in Germany must prove that they live there and reveal who paid for it, Facebook said.
Ms Schuetze said authorities had not revealed where possible threats came from, but that Russia would be one suspect after accusations of its interference elsewhere.
“It’s definitely a possibility that they’re trying to apply the same techniques in the German elections,” she said.
Within Germany, some false claims about election security have emerged from far-right circles linked to the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Some AfD members allegedly spread disinformation about a state election in June at which the party was beaten by the centre-right Christian Democrats.
Conspiracy theorists linked to anti-lockdown protests were blamed by German authorities for a rising tide of extremism and anti-Semitism in the country.
“When it comes to disinformation, you have a ton more actors that are actually just domestic German individuals or groups,” said Mr Jaursch.
“That doesn’t necessarily have to come from Russia, that doesn’t necessarily have to come from Iran or China. That might as well just be fellow citizens.”
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Leaderboard
63 - Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA)
64 - Rory McIlroy (NIR)
66 - Jon Rahm (ESP)
67 - Tom Lewis (ENG), Tommy Fleetwood (ENG)
68 - Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP), Marcus Kinhult (SWE)
69 - Justin Rose (ENG), Thomas Detry (BEL), Francesco Molinari (ITA), Danny Willett (ENG), Li Haotong (CHN), Matthias Schwab (AUT)
The Bio
Name: Lynn Davison
Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi
Children: She has one son, Casey, 28
Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite Author: CJ Sansom
Favourite holiday destination: Bali
Favourite food: A Sunday roast
Mica
Director: Ismael Ferroukhi
Stars: Zakaria Inan, Sabrina Ouazani
3 stars
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Their favourite city: Dubai
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Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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The five pillars of Islam
RESULT
Aston Villa 1
Samatta (41')
Manchester City 2
Aguero (20')
Rodri (30')
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
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Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
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Past winners of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
2016 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
2015 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes-GP)
2014 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
2013 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)
2012 Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus)
2011 Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
2010 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)
2009 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Quick facts on cancer
- Cancer is the second-leading cause of death worldwide, after cardiovascular diseases
- About one in five men and one in six women will develop cancer in their lifetime
- By 2040, global cancer cases are on track to reach 30 million
- 70 per cent of cancer deaths occur in low and middle-income countries
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- Genetic mutations play a role in 5 per cent to 10 per cent of cancers
- Up to 3.7 million lives could be saved annually by implementing the right health
strategies
- The total annual economic cost of cancer is $1.16 trillion
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
