London, Sept 14 (BBC/UNB)- Facebook has launched a new feature allowing Instagram users to flag posts they think contain fake news to its fact-checking partners for verification. But questions remain as to whether it goes far enough to counter the amount of disinformation on the image-sharing platform, reports BBC.

The move is part of a wider raft of measures the social media giant has taken to tackle the problem of fake news on social media.

Facebook announced in May that it would start reducing the reach of false content on Instagram and gradually extend its fact-checking partnership to include the image-sharing platform. It also said it would start blocking hashtags and posts that spread anti-vaccine misinformation. Most recently, it tightened its political advertising rules ahead of next year's US presidential election.

Launched in December 2016 following the controversy surrounding the impact of Russian meddling and online fake news in the US presidential election, Facebook's partnership now involves more than 50 independent fact-checkers in over 30 countries.
The new flagging feature for Instagram users was first introduced in the US in mid-August and has now been rolled out globally.

Users can report potentially false posts by clicking or tapping on the three dots that appear in the top right-hand corner, selecting "report", "it's inappropriate" and then "false information".

Facebook provides fact-checkers with a dashboard of flagged posts. Fact-checkers can also check content of their own choosing. They use a rating system to determine whether it contains false or misleading information.
The usual procedure on Facebook is that stories that are rated false, contain a mixture of accurate and inaccurate claims, or have false headlines will appear less prominent in users' news feeds. Accounts, pages and groups that repeatedly share misleading stories will be notified and face restrictions on distribution and their ability to make money from advertising.

Instagram's new flagging tool uses a similar dashboard and rating system. Posts rated as false by fact-checkers will be downgraded on its hashtag search and explore pages, two big methods people use to find new posts on the platform.

Facebook says that if a fact-checker rates a story as false on Facebook and it then appears on Instagram, an extra button can be clicked to rate it on there as well.

One notable difference is that an Instagram user whose content is reported and rated will not be notified.

Stephanie Otway, a spokeswoman for Instagram, said: "This is an initial step as we work toward a more comprehensive approach to tackling misinformation."
 

Dhaka, Sept 13 (UNB) - A new malware called the ‘Joker’ is now plaguing Android apps and can reportedly steal money from your account by presenting itself as a premium subscription. The malware has been named after the iconic Batman villain, Joker. According to an analyst at CSIS Security Group named Aleksejs Kuprins, the malware has infected 24 apps on the Google Play Store, which have now been removed, reports The Indian Express. 

According to Kuprins, the malware was downloaded and installed by over 4,72,000 Android users. Though the infected apps have now been removed, it is unclear if a number of users are still at risk.

Infected apps include Advocate Wallpaper, Age Face, Altar Message, Antivirus Security- Security Scan, Beach Camera, Board Picture Editing, Certain Wallpaper, Climate SMS, Collate Face Scanner, Cute Camera, Collate Face Scanner, Cute Camera, Dazzle Wallpaper, Declare Wallpaper, Display Camera, Display Camera, Great VPN, Humour Camera, Ignite Clean, Leaf Face Scanner, Mini Camera, Print Plant Scan, Rapid Face Scanner, Reward Clean, Ruddy SMS, Soby Camera and Spark Wallpaper.

If you have any of the apps that have been listed, we recommend that you delete them immediately. Most of the apps in the list didn’t have any region restrictions and have potentially infected users in over 37 countries including India, US, UK and other European and Asian countries.

The Joker malware integrates itself into Android apps and simulates the sign up process of a premium service. The infected apps while in use click on an advertisement within the app, which starts the sign up process silently.

The user doesn’t have any hold on what the app does, as it gains access to their SMS messages, copying the OTP that gets sent to authenticate a payment. The money then gets promptly deducted from the user’s bank account.

Dhaka, Sep 12 (UNB)- Advance booking for dazzling ‘Huawei Nova 5T’ smartphone from Bangladesh started Wednesday and will continue until September 18.

Huawei, the world’s leading technology company, has brought its new nova series five-camera smart phone in Bangladesh, featuring fast charging, stylish design, powerful processor, EMUI 9.1, 8GB of RAM and all flagship features.

The device was recently launched in the world market, can be booked in advance at Pickaboo, the popular online shop, from Bangladesh. The announcement came from an event of knowledge sharing with journalists in Dhaka. The phone will be available in the local market from September 18. 

"Nova series phones are always well accepted by the customers. The device has been released for Bangladeshi customers soon after it was unveiled in the world market," said, Kelvin Yang, Country Director of Huawei Consumer Business Group (Bangladesh).

The special feature, five cameras were used on the phone. Of those, four cameras of 48 megapixels, 16 megapixels, 2 megapixels and 2 megapixels are behind the phone while a 32-megapixel selfie camera on the front. 

HD, wide-angle, macro and bokeh lenses are set in the back cameras to capture colorful and high-resolution images anytime and anywhere. Due to having a good aperture, an accurate and clear picture can be found in a small light. 

Selfies will be more vivid for having a 32-megapixel selfie camera with Aperture 2.0.Exposure to AI technology, the balance of the backlight will be on the selfie, and the photos taken in this camera will be brighter, fresher and clearer.

Kirin Octa-core 980 AI processor has been used on this phone with 8 GB RAM. Android Pie operating system is equipped with 128 GB of RAM. So, it is very easy to use the phone without any lagging. 

The phone will be available in three colors, including Black, Midsummer Purple and Crash Blues. The finely textured and refined design of the phone is also unique. So the eyes will soothe us only when you see a glimpse of the phone.

Additional facilities will be enjoyed for playing games and watching videos as the nova 5T set has a 6.26-inch Huawei punch full view display.

GPU Turbo technology has been used on the phone for those who love to play games. Due to having this technology, the CPU and GPU performance of the phone will be increased. As a result, the users can play large and high configuration games easily.
 

Dhaka, Sep (UNB)- Robi has recently held a workshop on ‘parenting’ for its employees aiming to train them over instilling self-esteem, confidence, adaptability in their children, and ensure overall success and well-being of their children through developing positive relationship with them.

The workshop was conducted by Zinia Jesmin Karim, Early Childhood Development Specialist where Robi employees along with their spouses attended the workshop at the Robi Corporate Office. 

The workshop specifically emphasized on the importance for parents to spend quality time with their children for overall development of their children. 

The workshop shared some innovative and joyful methods to cultivate a healthy relationship between the parents and children.
 

Cape Canaveral, Sept 12 (AP/UNB) — In a tantalizing first, scientists have discovered water at a planet outside our solar system that has temperatures suitable for life.

Two research groups announced this week that they've found water vapor in the atmosphere of a planet 110 light-years away in the constellation Leo. This so-called Super Earth is just the right distance from its star to conceivably harbor life.

It's the only exoplanet known so far to have both water and temperatures needed for life, the University College London team reported in the journal Nature Astronomy on Wednesday. But lead author Angelos Tsiaras stressed, "This is definitely not a second Earth."

Its star and atmosphere are so different than ours, "Earth-like conditions are not possible," Tsiaras told reporters. "The only question that we're trying to ask here, and we're pushing forward, is the question of habitability."

A Canadian-led team announced similar findings Tuesday. In a paper just submitted to the Astronomical Journal for publication, these scientists suggest it might even be raining there.

"This represents the biggest step yet taken toward our ultimate goal of finding life on other planets, of proving that we are not alone," the study's lead astronomer, Bjorn Benneke of the University of Montreal, said in a statement.

Discovered in 2015, the planet known as K2-18b is twice the size of Earth with eight times the mass. While it's thought to be rocky, no one knows if water's flowing on the surface. Its star, a red dwarf, is considerably smaller and cooler than our sun, a yellow dwarf, and its atmosphere is also different than ours.

Nonetheless, Tsiaras said K2-18b could help determine, "Is the Earth unique?"

The results are doubly exciting, Tsiaras noted, given this is not only the first Super Earth with water detected in its atmosphere but the planet also resides within the habitable zone of its star.

The research teams used archived data from the Hubble Space Telescope and other spacecraft to analyze the planet's atmosphere. Further observations are needed to determine whether the planet is indeed a true water world, using next-generation observatories like NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and the European Space Agency's Ariel, both due to launch in the 2020s.

Future telescopes on Earth and in space should help uncover more Super Earths orbiting red dwarf stars — believed to be the most common planets and stars in our Milky Way galaxy. Super Earths are defined as having a mass greater than Earth but less than gas giants like Uranus and Neptune; more than 1,260 have been confirmed to date.

While water already has been identified in the atmospheres of hot gas giants circling other stars, the latest findings represent the first detection of water vapor in the atmosphere of another type of exoplanet, Tsiaras said.

A NASA tally currently lists more than 4,000 confirmed exoplanets and another 4,000 potential candidates. Most have been detected using the transit method, where telescopes watch for a slight, fleeting dimming of a star's light as a planet passes in the field of view.

For now, scientists know K2-18b takes 33 days to orbit its star, so one year there is one month here. At this distance, temperatures range from minus-100 degrees to 116 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 73 degrees to 47 degrees Celsius.)

The star, glowing red in the day sky, is believed to bombard the planet with radiation harsh enough to quickly inflict any human visitors with cancer, although "life there may have evolved differently" in order to survive, noted the London team's Ingo Waldmann. A sister planet, meanwhile, orbits closer to the star and is likely too hot to be in the habitable zone.

The cloud cover isn't too thick on K2-18b, otherwise it would have obscured the water vapor in the atmosphere, according to the scientists.

The surface, meanwhile, could be wet or dry. The London data suggest water vapor makes up anywhere between 0.01% and 50% of the atmosphere — "quite a big range," Waldmann acknowledged. Either way, given the planet's mass, it would be difficult to walk on the surface.

"Maybe not quite your vacation destination just yet," Waldmann joked.