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May 08, 2024
An increase in online scams is expected ahead of the FIFA World Cup, warns a Dubai-based cybersecurity expert, warning people to beware of fake and fraudulent websites and emails that can look official.
“It is fair to consider that there will always be an increase in online scams around significant large-scale events,” Emad Fahmy, Systems Engineering Manager for the Middle East at cybersecurity firm NETSCOUT, told Al Arabiya English in a recent interview. interview on Wednesday.
Fahmy said cybercriminals often use mega-events like the FIFA World Cup, which kicks off on November 21 in Qatar, “as a pretext to lure and catch unsuspecting fans or users.”
While maintaining connectivity during a major event like the World Cup can be challenging, the even bigger challenge is keeping user data secure.
“During events of this magnitude, malicious actors often take advantage of their [the event’s] escalate and intensify attacks on critical cloud infrastructure with new and sophisticated tactics, such as exploiting and identifying stolen credentials to amplify ransomware attacks,” he said.
“Attendees can often expect to encounter numerous fake and fraudulent official-looking websites and emails, enticing them to find cheap tickets, and simply streaming and watching these events live will expose them to multiple additional scams.”
Fahmy warned that the use of unauthorized service providers can result in the theft of credentials, passwords and credit card information. Other threats include falling victim to ransomware or malware that can infect a user’s phone or computer.
“These can cause the unwitting victim to spread the malware to family and friends, lose sensitive data, or even suffer significant financial consequences,” it added.
Attack Mitigation
A “rigorous and comprehensive approach” needs to be taken when dealing with mega-events, Fahmy said, urging the need to incorporate more than just basic security standards.
“The organizations that are involved in these events must take additional responsibility in developing and operating the security necessary to create a more secure software system,” Fahmy said.
“There is no better way to mitigate cyber attacks [during] events so prominent that I first understand them thoroughly.”
The cybersecurity expert urged users to approach digital communication or website links in connection with the World Cup with caution.
Users should avoid clicking on suspicious emails or website links and ensure that they are always using the latest versions of web browsers and never enter their login, password or credit card information on suspicious websites as there is a high probability that they could be scams, waiting to catch the next victim.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup will take place in Doha, Qatar, from November 21 to December 18.
The long-awaited event is the first World Cup to be hosted in a Middle Eastern country.
According to FIFA, 1.8 million match tickets were sold in the first two sales batches, but the Federation has not yet mentioned the total number of tickets that will be available./agencies
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FIFA announced Friday that semi-automated offside technology will be used at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
World football’s governing body said in a statement that each stadium will receive 12 cameras beneath the roof synchronized to track 29 data points on every football star's body 50 times per second.
"Al Rihla, adidas’ official match ball for Qatar 2022, will provide a further vital element for the detection of tight offside incidents as an inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor will be placed inside the ball.
"This sensor, positioned in the centre of the ball, sends ball data to the video operation room 500 times per second, allowing a very precise detection of the kick point," it explained.
FIFA also said a 3D animation of the offside situation would be shown on the big screen and on the television coverage for spectators following at home.
"This 3D animation, which will always show the best possible perspectives for an offside situation, will then be shown on the giant screens in the stadium and will also be made available to FIFA’s broadcast partners to inform all spectators in the clearest possible way," it added.
This technology was successfully trialed at last year's FIFA Arab Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, according to FIFA.
The 22nd edition of the international football showpiece event, which is the first-ever winter World Cup, is scheduled from Nov. 21 to Dec. 18 with 32 teams in eight groups./aa
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50% of footballers face online abuse: Study
Staff
June 20, 2022
A study published by FIFA revealed Saturday that more than 50% of footballers playing in the European Championship and African Cup of Nations were targets of cyberbullying and online abuse.
Much of the abuse came from fans of the players' home nations.
"Homophobic (40%) and racist (38%) comments provided the majority of the abuse," said the independent report published to coincide with the United Nations International Day for Countering Hate Speech.
Using artificial intelligence to track over 400,000 posts on social media platforms during the semifinals and finals of Euro 2020 and 2021 African Cup of Nations 2021, the study found that "over 50% of players received some form of discriminatory abuse."
FIFA said with the World Cup in Qatar just five months away, they will work with the players union FIFPRO to implement a plan on how to protect players from abuse on social media.
This will involve scanning recognized hate speech terms published to identified social media accounts, and once detected, prevent that comment from being seen by the recipient and their followers.
"Although the offending message remains visible to the person who originally made the comment, its visibility and reach will be significantly reduced," said FIFA./AFP
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An Afghan citizen has turned his home into a school in a southern province of Afghanistan after all village schools were destroyed during the 20-year war, which ended with the complete withdrawal of US forces from the country in August last year.
Najibullah Ishaq, 29, of Tulakan village, about 40 kilometers (24 miles) from the Kandahar city, the capital of the same-named province, volunteered to help children with their studies.
Children in the war-torn country have a very tiny possibility to attend school and get an education due to decades of armed conflict, political crises, and now depressing economic conditions.
According to the report published by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in January, 7.9 million school-age children in Afghanistan face great difficulties in accessing educational opportunities.
Afghan volunteers across the country are taking responsibility for children's access to educational opportunities, and Ishaq is one of them, who has converted his home into a school because there are no buildings available to educate local children.
Ishaq, who runs an advertising business for a living and has three children, also pays the salary of teachers who come to the village every day to educate children.
He also provides stationery like notebooks and pencils to the children.
The school currently has 50 students enrolled, studying on the floor.
Ishaq told Anadolu Agency that if his financial means improve, he will improve the condition of the school as well. He also expressed his desire to establish schools in his village that provide education from elementary to high school.
The students come to school six days a week, from Saturday to Thursday, and they are quick learners, he added.
“I am confident that there will be individuals among them who will do great things in the future," Ishaq stressed./aa
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Liverpool's Salah wins PFA Player of Year award
Staff
June 10, 2022
Liverpool's Egyptian star Mohamed Salah won the 2022 Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) Player of the Year award Thursday.
"Mo Salah takes home PFA Player of the Year Award," the PFA said on its website, adding he has won the award for the second time in his career.
A Liverpool regular since 2017, Salah previously won the 2018 PFA Player of the Year award.
His club Liverpool also paid tribute to the 29-year-old for this honor.
"The PFA Player of the Year…Congratulations, Mo Salah," the Reds said on Twitter.
"It’s a great honour to win a trophy, individual or collective, and this one is big, so very happy and very proud of that. This one is a really good one to win, especially because it’s voted by players. It shows you that you’ve worked really hard and you get what you worked for," Salah said.
Salah scored 23 goals and made 14 assists in 35 English Premier League appearances in the 2021-22 season, in which Liverpool finished second.
Manchester City were crowned the 2022 champions after they bagged 93 points in 38 matches. Their nearest opponents, Liverpool, had 92.
Meanwhile, Manchester City's English midfielder Phil Foden, 22, won a second consecutive PFA Young Player Of The Year award.
Foden, who previously clinched the award in 2021, scored nine goals in 28 Premier League matches to help Man City win the 2022 league title.
In addition, the PFA Premier League Team of the Year was also revealed as Salah has been included in the best starting 11.
- PFA Premier League Team of Year
Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker (Liverpool)
Defenders: Joao Cancelo (Manchester City), Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea), Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
Midfielders: Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Thiago Alcantara (Liverpool)
Forwards: Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane (Liverpool), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)/a
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Children who cannot receive an education due to poverty and insufficient educational infrastructure in Somalia are benefitting from scholarships provided by the Turkish Maarif Foundation (TMV).
In the capital Mogadishu, where education is provided almost entirely through private institutions, many families cannot afford to send their children to schools.
But Maarif schools provide education to 1,200 students in the cities of Hargeisa and Mogadishu on three campuses.
Yakup Abdinur Absir, 9, has 12 siblings and lives in one of the tiny houses in Mogadishu. He is one of the students who has received a scholarship from the TMV.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), Absir said he is happy to have joined the school and wants to become a teacher in the future.
Ihsan Cerrah, TMV's Somali representative who has been managing the educational institution for three years, said the schools have symbolic importance as they are the first ones taken over from the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey.
Cerrah said they provide education from kindergarten level to high school, and they are also carrying out feasibility studies to start education activities in two more regions in the East African country.
He said Maarif schools provide quality education and the majority of its students are accepted into Turkish universities. Students here receive English, Arabic and Turkish lessons as well, he added.
"I think Somalia is the country where the Turkish language has the most demand ... in the fields of politics, trade and diplomacy. We need to contribute to this. The progress of bilateral relations will be based on the language factor," the official said./aa
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FIFA rejects Algeria's World Cup appeal
Staff
May 08, 2022
Algeria's desperate bid to replay its World Cup playoff with Cameroon was rejected by FIFA, who said Saturday the dossier is "considered closed."
Algeria won the first leg of the play-off 1-0 in March but lost the return leg 2-1 at home after extra time to miss out on one of the five berths at the finals for African nations.
"FIFA can confirm that the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) submitted a complaint to FIFA's Disciplinary Committee in relation to the FIFA World Cup qualifier Algeria vs. Cameroon played on 29 March 2022, and subsequently FAF also requested to have FIFA's Referee Committee feedback," a FIFA spokesperson told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Saturday.
The committee itself said in a report that "all the incidents that occurred during the match were carefully examined by the two video referees, in accordance with the Laws of the Game and the protocol of video assistance to the referee."
After 90 minutes in Blida, Cameroon led 1-0. In the 28th minute of extra time, Ahmed Touba scored a goal that would have put Algeria through, but Karl Toko Ekambi replied in the fourth minute of added time at the end of extra time.
The Algerian federation said the refereeing of the second leg by Gambian Bakary Gassama was "scandalous."
Algeria coach Djamel Belmadi repeatedly blasted the refereeing in the match and in Africa in general.
Algerian fans have demonstrated outside FIFA's headquarters in Zurich./AFP
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Former Wimbledon Tennis champion Boris Becker has been jailed for two years and six months after breaking the terms of his 2017 bankruptcy agreement.
Becker was sentenced to prison Friday following a trial at London’s Southwark Crown Court. He was charged under the government’s Insolvency Act.
Earlier this month, the former men’s tennis world number one and three- time Wimbledon champion was found guilty of moving hundreds of thousands of pounds from his business account and failing to declare ownership of a property in Germany.
The former star was accused of withholding millions of pounds worth of assets, which included his Wimbledon trophies, as well as a £700,000 ($880,000) bank loan and 75,000 shares in a tech firm to avoid paying back his debts.
"This defendant has now lost literally everything. He has already paid an extremely heavy price for his mishandling of his financial affairs but also as a result of his offending,” Becker’s lawyer said in a statement before the sentencing./aa
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Religious culture and moral knowledge course teacher Kevser Çelebi encourages students to participate actively in her lessons with the project she developed with her colleagues that integrates origami art into lessons to make abstract concepts more concrete.
Çelebi, who has been teaching religious culture and ethics for about eight years, started to work at Kartal Soğanlık Teacher Salih Nafiz Tüzün Primary School in 2015.
With her colleagues, she initiated the "Origami with Tales, Stories and Anecdotes" project, which they started on the international platform "eTwinning" last October.
Çelebi told Anadolu Agency (AA) that while they were thinking about making lessons more fun and conveying national and spiritual values to children in a better way, they thought of origami, the Japanese art of folding paper.
Çelebi stated that they initially developed the project with seven teachers, and their number increased to 10 with the participation of Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge teachers from different cities.
"We determine a theme every month. We do an origami activity related to the narrative of the theme. The new generation of children is more active and more mobile; therefore we have considered the constructivist approach. Frankly, we wanted it to be student-centered so that children would not get bored in the lesson and actively participate. For example, we did a patience activity, after telling the story of the Prophets Job and Jonah, we made a fish origami," she said.
Çelebi stated that she aimed to teach the origami technique to students in this way.
Mentioning that she explained the steps to the students one by one: "Students progress with me at every step. I sometimes support them when they cannot progress. We use peer learning from time to time. With peer learning, the child says 'I can do it, I can succeed,' and also shows patience while helping their friend. And when they can't, they gain values such as tolerance," she added.
Çelebi stated that they saw the positive effects of this project on students, and they received very positive feedback from parents and students. Noting that the students come to the lesson quite motivated, she said, "When I say, 'We will have an origami activity next week,' the students come to the lesson with enthusiasm and excitement."
Expressing that they want more teachers to participate in the project they have developed, she added: "Our Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge course is an abstract field and children in the younger age want to see a little more concrete elements in the lesson. Learning becomes more permanent with concrete objects."
Within the scope of the project, they have marked important days and weeks for the origami activity.
"For Mawlid al-Nabi (marking the birth of the Prophet Muhammad), we had our students make a rose origami to teach about our Prophet Muhammad. When we talk about the love of our values, I had the students make a heart origami, a fox for love of animals and shaped ships on Oct. 29 that celebrate that day," she said.
Fourth-year student Ali Eren Başak said that he was very pleased with the teaching of the subjects he studied in the Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge course with origami. He found the lesson very enjoyable and said that he liked making things out of paper on the subjects. "It's really fun to learn our lessons like this," he added.
Fatma Ela Başçı, another student, stated that her teacher told stories while doing origami. Emphasizing that she both gains knowledge and increases her origami skills, "This method has brought me closer to the Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge course," she said./aa
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received a group of children at the Vahdettin Mansion in Istanbul where they followed an annual tradition of taking the seats of Cabinet ministers.
During the event that was held to celebrate National Sovereignty and Children's Day and also the 102nd anniversary of the foundation of the Turkish parliament, Erdogan symbolically gave his seat as head of state to Sukru Emre Eren.
After celebrating, Erdogan gave the floor to Eren.
Later, the eighth-grader gave a speech and introduced his Cabinet.
The day started with top government officials and politicians attending a morning ceremony in the nation’s capital of Ankara at Anitkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic. Those in attendance included Parliament Speaker Mustafa Sentop, National Education Minister Mahmut Ozer and other dignitaries.
The special day in Turkiye is marked by a festival for children and public offices, schools, and the private sector also hold programs.
The April 23 celebrations focus on children after Ataturk, the first parliament speaker. dedicated the day to children as the nation's future.
The Grand National Assembly met for the first time in Ankara in 1920 during the War of Independence to lay the foundations for an independent, secular and modern republic./aa
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Italian government forecasts showing a steady decline in education spending triggered an angry reaction on Monday from the country's trade unions, which threatened strikes and protests.
The government's multiyear economic planning document (DEF) published on Friday showed education expenditure projected to fall to 3.5% of the gross domestic product in 2025 from 4% in 2020.
The 2020 level was already well below the European Union average of around 5% of the GDP, Eurostat data shows.
The DEF projections "show grave short-sightedness that our country will pay heavily for in the future," said Rino Di Meglio, the head of the Gilda teachers union. "We will consult our members and organize protests over the next few days."
The Education Ministry was not immediately available to comment.
Italian students are among the worst performers in the European Union in mathematics, science and reading, according to the Programme for International Student Assessment tests overseen by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The DEF linked the projected fall in education spending to Italy's falling birth rate. This was rejected by the unions who said the fall in school-age Italians was being compensated for by immigration.
"We expect no decline in the school population, we have just absorbed 10,000 Ukrainian children in our schools in the last few weeks, this is what we have to face," said Di Meglio.
The teachers' section of Italy's largest union confederation, the CGIL, said it was "madness" for the government to be projecting education cuts while increasing military spending, as Prime Minister Mario Draghi has pledged to do.
The unions accused the government of backtracking on the priorities Draghi set out when he stressed the importance of education in his maiden speech to parliament 14 months ago.
"After heaps of rhetoric, we're heading for spending cuts," said Francesco Sinopoli, head of the CGIL's teaching union.
"We are returning to an austerity scenario when we should be increasing investment. If this goes ahead we will take to the streets with every possible protest, including strikes."/Reuters
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Tunisia, Morocco bag 2022 World Cup tickets
Staff
March 30, 2022
Tunisia and Morocco went through to the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Tuesday.
The Tunisian national team drew 0-0 with Mali at home, but it was enough to bag a ticket to Qatar because Tunisia won the first leg 1-0 when they visited Mali last week in Bamako.
Tunisia qualified for a World Cup tournament for the sixth time in history. They previously appeared at Russia 2018.
Morocco hammered DR Congo 4-1 to make their way to Qatar.
The Moroccan national team won 5-2 on aggregate.
Azzedine Ounahi scored twice against DR Congo, with Tarik Tissoudali and Morocco star Achraf Hakimi scoring once each to contribute to the home win in Casablanca.
Ben Malango put the ball into Morocco’s net in the 77th minute in what was a consolation goal for DR Congo.
Tunisia and Morocco have also now qualified for the World Cup finals six times.
Morocco last played at the 2018 World Cup hosted by Russia.
Cameroon return to world football's top contest
Cameroon, who missed the previous World Cup in 2018, advanced to Qatar 2022 after beating Algeria 2-1 after extra time.
Algeria won the first leg 1-0 in Cameroon last week.
But on Tuesday, Cameroon took the second leg to extra time after their forward Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored a first-half goal to level the tie.
Home team Algeria's defender Ahmed Touba scored in the 118th minute, but Cameroonian winger Karl Toko Ekambi scored in stoppage time to send his team to Qatar.
Called the Indomitable Lions, Cameroon won on the away goals rule.
Cameroon have so far played in seven World Cup tournaments, and their last World Cup appearance was at Brazil 2014./aa
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Senegal booked their place Tuesday in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, eliminating Egypt in the African qualifiers on penalties.
The Lions of Teranga scored the only goal in regular time when forward Boulaye Dia put the ball into the net in the third minute at Stade Me Abdoulaye Wade near Dakar.
The match went to extra time because Egypt beat Senegal 1-0 in the first match of Round Three in the 2022 Confederation of African Football (CAF) World Cup qualifiers last week.
Neither team managed to find a goal after 30 minutes and the match headed to penalties.
Senegal won 3-1 on penalties to reach Qatar 2022.
Liverpool's Egyptian star Mohamed Salah will not be in Qatar but his Senegalese teammate Sadio Mane will play for his nation.
Salah was among the Egyptian players who missed penalty kicks in the shootout.
Mane scored the decisive penalty to send Senegal to the World Cup.
Senegal secured a World Cup berth for the second time in a row.
The Lions of Teranga previously played in the 2002 and 2018 World Cup tournaments.
Meanwhile, during the shootout, several Senegalese fans aimed laser pointers into the eyes of Egypt players to distract them.
Both sides faced each other in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final on Feb. 6 with Senegal beating Egypt 4-2 on penalties to be crowned winners.
Earlier Tuesday, Ghana reached Qatar 2022 despite drawing with Nigeria 1-1.
Ghana reached the World Cup thanks to an away goal advantage.
The Black Stars appeared in three World Cup tournaments in 2006, 2010 and 2014.
The 2022 World Cup will be held Nov. 21 - Dec. 18 with 32 teams in eight groups./agencies
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A Bruno Fernandes double gave Portugal a 2-0 win against North Macedonia in the European Qualifiers playoff final Tuesday to send them to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Portugal scored the opener in the 32nd minute at Porto's Dragao Stadium after Manchester United star Fernandes intercepted the ball in midfield.
The Portuguese midfielder made a one-two with his teammate Cristiano Ronaldo and then Fernandes entered the area to fire a shot that beat North Macedonian goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski.
Home team Portugal led the first half 1-0.
Fernando Santos' men made it 2-0 in the 65th minute as Fernandes scored another goal from short distance on a counter attack.
The Portuguese national team’s 2-0 win earned them a spot at Qatar 2022. Meanwhile, North Macedonia’s fairy tale ended in the playoff final.
North Macedonia shocked UEFA EURO 2020 champions Italy 1-0 last week to face Portugal.
Portugal have been a World Cup mainstay since 2002. North Macedonia have never been in the World Cup finals.
Meanwhile, Turkiye, who were previously eliminated by Portugal 3-1, lost to Italy 3-2 in a friendly match Tuesday at MEDAS Konya Buyuksehir Stadium in the Turkish city of Konya.
Cengiz Under and Serdar Dursun were the scorers for Turkiye.
Italy's Bryan Cristante and Giacomo Raspadori (2) scored for the visitors.
The 2022 World Cup will be held Nov. 21 to Dec. 18 with 32 teams in eight groups.
- Poland qualify for Qatar 2022
Meanwhile, Poland beat Sweden 2-0 at Silesian Stadium in Chorzow to go to the 2022 World Cup.
Polish forward Robert Lewandowski scored from the penalty spot in the 50th minute.
Piotr Zielinski put the ball into Sweden’s net in the 72nd minute to cement the victory.
Poland qualified for a World Cup tournament for the second time in a row.
They previously appeared in Russia in 2018./aa
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