China aligns with Africa

 
Leaders hold summit on deepening ties in a divided world

Strong bonds: African leaders applauding Xi (centre) after his speech at the opening ceremony of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People. — AFP

Is China Using Africa to Become the Next Global Superpower?? || USA vs CHINA?

President Xi Jinping has vowed to provide Africa with $50 billion in financial support over the next three years and strengthen military cooperation in an effort to deepen China's relations with the continent. Xi outlined his policy goals at the opening ceremony of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

Dozens of African leaders gathered in Beijing for a summit that signals China’s influence in a continent that it hopes will be a key ally in pushing back against a US-led global order.

Chinese President Xi Jinping promised the leaders billions of dollars in loans and private investment over the next three years and proposed that relations with all African countries that have diplomatic ties with China be elevated to the “strategic” level.

“We have always supported each other, setting an example for new international relations,” he said at the opening of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

Since the forum’s inception in 2000, China has become a major player in Africa, investing in mining, infrastructure and development under Xi’s Belt and Road initiative.

African leaders, while welcoming China’s support, are pushing for aid that aligns with their goals of industrialisation and expanding agricultural exports to address trade deficits.

Xi outlined 10 “partnership actions” that included training for African politicians and future leaders, a further opening of the Chinese market, agriculture demonstration areas, vocational and technical training, green energy projects and 1 billion yuan (RM608mil) in military grants.

“While commending the overall progress so far achieved, we also appreciate the announcement of further areas of partnership actions,” said Tanzania’s President, Samia Suluhu Hassan, speaking on behalf of eastern Africa.

“We salute a new characterisation of China-Africa relations.”

Xi said China would eliminate tariffs on products from most of the world’s poorest countries, including 33 in Africa, in an expansion of existing tariff exemptions.

The relationship has moved beyond trade and investment to take on political overtones as China seeks allies in Africa and elsewhere to define the norms governing global economy and how countries interact with each other. — AP

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'Use AI to counter AI': Experts call for upgraded tech, system to counter AI-powered cybercrimes amid deepfake scandal

 

AI technologies Photo: VCG

Experts call for attention and countermeasures to prevent cybercriminals from using new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) powered deepfake technology amid growing concerns over the issue around the world. 

Numerous chat rooms suspected of creating and distributing deepfake pornographic material with doctored photos of ordinary women and female service members have been reportedly discovered on messaging app Telegram recently, with many of the victims and perpetrators known to be teenagers, The Korea Times reported last week.

Telegram had removed certain deepfake pornographic content on its platform and apologized for its response to digital sex crimes, the Yonhap News Agency reported Tuesday citing South Korea's media regulator.

The issue has raised outrage among South Korean netizens, which soon spread to its Chinese neighbors after some South Korean netizen brought it to Chinese social media platforms.

But it is just the tip of the iceberg of the Telegram's deepfake porn scandal. On August 28, a court in Paris filed a charge against Pavel Durov, 39-year-old Russian billionaire and founder of Telegram, for being complicit in the spread of images of child sexual abuse, as well as a litany of other alleged violations on the Telegram messaging app.

While Durov responded mockingly to the charge by changing his Twitter handle to Porn King, global scientists, governments and regulators view the issue as an urgent alert for them to strengthen measures to prevent cybercrimes powered by new technologies.

Deepfake refers to a kind of technology that uses a form of AI technology called deep learning to make images of fake events, hence the name deepfake.

The core principle of deepfake technology is to animate 2D photos using specific image recognition algorithms or to implant a person's face from a photo into a dynamic video, The Beijing News reported citing an industry observer named Ding Jiancong.

Recently, voice synthesis has also gradually been incorporated into the concept of deepfake. With the gradual maturity of AI large model technology in recent years, some AI image generation models, while pursuing greater realism, have inadvertently become accomplices in AI face-swapping or AI nudity, Ding said.

For instance, the well-known large model Stable Diffusion was developed with a one-click nudity feature, which once became widespread. Although the model later modified its related functions to curb such behavior, the open-source nature of the technology has already opened a "Pandora's box," making it difficult to close again, Ding warned.

Apart from the new deepfake crime, there are also two other types of risks brought about by new technologies, Xiao Xinguang, chief software architect from Chinese cybersecurity company Antiy, told the Global Times.

First, new technologies will drive the escalation of traditional threats and risks. For example, in cyberattacks aimed at stealing information or targeted ransomware, AI technologies can significantly assist throughout the entire attack process, including enhancing the efficiency of discovering attack vectors and automating attack activities, according to Xiao.

Second, the infrastructure of new technologies will become targets of exploitation. Large model platforms are becoming new hubs for information assets, and the entry points for large model applications are also becoming new exposed surfaces that are vulnerable for attacks, Xiao said.

The expert believed that with the advancement of AI technology, it is unrealistic to stop people from using AI to generate fake videos or images. Instead, it will be more effective to have strict regulations over the dissemination of technology.

Xiao was echoed by founder and chairman of 360 Security Technology Zhou Hongyi. When talking about the threats brought about by AI technologies at a forum held in North China's Tianjin municipality on Wednesday, Zhou said that "we must use AI to counter AI."

"AI technology is profoundly affecting various industries, bringing opportunities for the development of new productive forces, but also bringing many new security challenges. It is necessary to reshape security with AI and to create security large models and reshape security products with specialized large model methodologies, which will reform the security industry," Zhou said.

Strict regulations and law are also necessary. AI technology platforms should have reviews for the content uploaded and generated, and users should be required to register with their real names. There should also be severe crackdowns on tools or websites that support illegal activities, experts noted.

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Uptrend emerges for property sector

 
Investments in Malaysia fuel long-term growth

UOBKH Research maintains an “Overweight” call on the property industry,.

“Property transactions are reaching all-time highs, oversupply is dropping, and investment in the real estate sector is on the rise.”-UOB Kay Hian Research

PETALING JAYA: UOB Kay Hian Research (UOBKH Research) is keeping its optimism on the property sector, despite acknowledging that second quarter (2Q24) earnings results for the companies under its coverage were a mixed bag.

The research house said among the eight firms it reports on, four had results that were in line with its expectations, three fell short, while one exceeded projections.

The research house said: “S P Setia Bhd’s results shortfall was due to a significant impairment on its Battersea projects in Britain, while UEM Sunrise Bhd’s (UEMS) weak results were due to lower-than-expected progressive billings, caused by delays in construction and deliveries of raw materials.”

At the same time, it said IOI Properties Group Bhd (IOIPROP) also reported weaker-than-expected earnings on lower-than-anticipated contributions from China, although Sunway Bhd exceeded expectations, driven by higher progressive billings from both the group’s property and construction segments.

Despite the performances of several companies coming in below forecasts, UOBKH Research said that industry players under its coverage recorded 2Q24 net profit growth of 26% quarter-on-quarter and 60% year-on-year (y-o-y).

Outside its coverage scope, the research house said that both Sime Darby Property Bhd (Simeprop) as well as Eastern & Oriental Bhd exceeded consensus estimates on strong progressive billings.

“Developers are on track to achieve their 2024 sales targets, having reached approximately 50% of their goals so far.

“Lagenda Properties Bhd (Lagenda) and Simeprop led the way with double-digit sales growth for the quarter, as the former’s 2Q24 sales surged 19% y-o-y to Rm300mil, marking the highest quarterly sales in the company’s history,” the research house said.

Simeprop also saw impressive sales growth, with 2Q24 sales increasing by 45% y-o-y, prompting the group to revise its full-year sales target upward to Rm3.5bil from Rm3bil.

For the second half of the year (2H24), UOBKH Research said it is expecting stronger earnings from almost all companies under its coverage, with the exception of S P Setia and IOIPROP. It added that S P Setia’s land sales quantum is expected to be much lower in 2H24.

“Meanwhile, Ioiprop’s first few quarterly results for its financial year ending June 2025 (FY25) may be weak as we will see a jump in interest costs from its IOI Central Boulevard project in Singapore as that becomes fully operational in October this year,” the research house said.

Nonetheless, it believes IOIPROP has the potential to surprise on the upside due to the higher-than-expected launches recently as well as possibility of better-than-anticipated sales of Marina View in Singapore.

Overall, it said excluding land sales gain, sector net profit for 2024 and 2025 are expected to grow by 13% and 20%, respectively, driven by higher progressive billings on higher property sales and launches.

On a separate note, the research house said August share prices for property counters were hit by negative sentiment, driven primarily by the emergence of sinkholes in Kuala Lumpur, which itself led to the suspension of construction approvals in the capital.

UOBKH Research reported that the latest directive now requires planning permission applications for buildings in the city to include a geotechnical study by certified engineers.

“We gather that these geotechnical study rules have been in place since 2022, and are not new regulations.

“Developers in Kuala Lumpur such as Mah Sing Group Bhd also reiterated that they have been following all the guidelines and are in compliance with all the requirements, including the necessary geotechnical studies, hence, they do not anticipate issues with ongoing projects or future launches,” it added.

Maintaining an “Overweight” call on the property industry, UOBKH Research believes a long-term uptrend has emerged in the sector, fuelled by record-high total investments in Malaysia over the past two to three years.

It said property transactions are reaching all-time highs, oversupply is dropping, and investment in the real estate sector is on the rise.

“This growth is supported by several key factors including the expansion of industrial developments, which provides developers with new expansion opportunities and reduces reliance on residential projects, as well as increasing land values driven by the establishment of special economic and financial zones, rising demand for data centres, and new infrastructure projects,” it noted.

Top picks for the sector are IOIPROP, Lagenda and Mah Sing, with target prices of RM3, RM2.32 and RM2.29, respectively.

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Your first line of defence, tracking scams: National Scam Response Centre (NSRC), 997 hotline, National Fraud Portal (NFP), emakMule portal

 

Boosting efficiency: A woman reading about the NFP, which is poised to greatly enhance the process of scam reporting and fund tracing. — AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star

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The platform’s ability to centralise and standardise fraud reporting across play its part and stay vigilant against scammers, say police

Public must play its part and stay vigilant against scammers, say police

KUALA LUMPUR: Check before your click, say the police.

Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf has urged the public to use the SemakMule portal (https://semakmule.rmp.gov.my/) before making any financial transaction online.

“Use the SemakMule portal to verify and check the list of mule bank accounts, phone numbers and shell companies used by scammers.

“The portal was established in 2020 to list phone numbers and mule bank accounts, but it has since been improved to (include) the names of shell companies,” he told The Star yesterday.

Comm Ramli said that so far, a total of 216,074 mule accounts have been listed on the site along with 178,006 phone numbers used by scammers.

“We also listed a total of 3,904 shell companies used by scammers,” he added. 

Some 27 million visitors have logged in to the portal since its inception, and about one million of the searches have been positive, meaning transactions made to mule accounts were prevented.

Comm Ramli hopes that the public would be able to fully utilise the improved SemakMule portal to prevent from getting scammed.

“We will never relent in our enforcement efforts against scam syndicates, but we hope the public can play its part by staying vigilant,” he said.

Comm Ramli said scammers are coming up with new modus operandi to dupe victims into giving them their money, including using generative artificial intelligence to produce fake videos, as well as audio and text messages.

“Scammers are resorting to new and innovative ways to dupe victims. We have encountered cases recently in which scammers used deepfake technology to mimic the voice of a victim’s friend to dupe them.

“Use the SemakMule portal to prevent being scammed. The public can also report any scam to the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) by calling the 997 hotline,” he added.

According to Comm Ramli, other methods used by scammers include advertising dubious investment schemes on social media and phone scams, where scammers call up victims posing as officers from government agencies.

Meanwhile, on the establishment of the National Fraud Portal (NFP), Comm Ramli said it was a good anti-scam effort.

“We welcome the NFP, especially when it can further enhance the role of the NSRC in detecting scams faster, (enabling us) to help the victims.

“It will certainly boost the fight against scams,” he said.

Comm Ramli also hopes that financial institutions will be able to fully utilise the NFP, to enhance security measures.

“It (NFP) is a step in the right direction but at the same time, we urge banks and other financial institutions to upgrade their security, both internally and externally against any threat be it malware or ransomware.

“We also hope they will be able to better secure the data of their customers as well,” he said.

This year alone, over RM1.6bil in losses have been recorded from commercial crimes, including scams, Comm Ramli noted.

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