After five months of research, a whistleblower says Facebook allows terrorist sympathizers to thrive not only by failing to remove their accounts, but also by auto-creating celebratory videos and pages for terrorist groups.

The National Whistleblower Center in Washington (NWC) has published a 48-page comprehensive study into how Facebook neglects to curb, and even boosts, Al-Qaeda affiliated militants’ outreach, arguing that Facebook’s lack of action facilitates the recruitment of terrorists.

The study, conducted by an unnamed whistleblower from August through December 2018, showed that out of 3,228 accounts belonging to ‘friends’ of self-identified terrorists, only 30 percent were removed by the platform.

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These “friends” hail from around the world. Those who were singled out for the survey are based in the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Among them, “many openly identified as terrorists themselves and shared extremist content,” the executive summary of the report states.

The social media giant, which recently prided itself on taking down 99 percent of Al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) related content before it is reported by users, actually creates such content itself with its auto-generating tools, according to the report.

For example, it refers to an auto-generated page Facebook “set up” for Al-Shabaab militant group, complete with an ISIS logo. Somalia-based Al-Shabaab has long been associated with Al-Qaeda. In 2015, a splinter group of its fighters pledged allegiance to IS.

The page came about because some users listed their membership in the terrorist group as their job occupation, prompting Facebook’s AI to create a “local business” page.

Another popular feature embedded in the Facebook algorithm allows for glorification of terrorism and extremism, the report says, referring to “celebration” and “memories” videos. It turns out that the seemingly innocuous feature makes no distinction between a user sharing a video with, say, birthday celebrations, and violence-filled extremist content. One such chilling “celebration” video featuring puddles of blood racked up over 2,000 likes, the report notes.

The “frame” feature that allows users to pledge allegiance to a favorite sports team or express support for a country, has been abused by terrorist sympathizes to pledge allegiance to extremist groups – and Facebook is apparently OK with it, since before a frame can be used publicly it must be approved by a Facebook moderator, the study points out.

The whistleblower was able to establish that at least a portion of users who self-identify as terrorists on their account pages, actually are terrorists. Out of 63 profiles of those who liked Al-Qaeda affiliate Tahrir Al Sham’s (formerly Al-Nusra) auto-generated “business page” on Facebook, 31 were confirmed to be actual terrorists active in Syria’s Idlib province by a local NGO.

The NWC says it has filed a petition with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for it to “sanction Facebook for its dishonesty about terror and hate content on its website.”

Facebook has come under fire for what some believe was a slow and half-hearted response to the recent mosque attack in New Zealand, which saw an attacker livestreaming the massacre of 50 Muslims. Although the video was taken down, copies spread throughout social media.

Responding to allegations that it aids terrorist supporters, Facebook told AP that it has been investing heavily into stamping out terrorist content and is “detecting and removing terrorism content at a far higher success rate than even two years ago.”

“We don’t claim to find everything and we remain vigilant in our efforts against terrorist groups around the world,” the company said.

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A ship that was set to carry arms to Saudi Arabia has apparently left France without them, a day after a protest at port. Activists rallied to stop the delivery, saying the weapons could be used to slaughter civilians in Yemen.

The Bahri-Yanbu, a cargo ship that was meant to deliver the latest shipment of French weapons to the Gulf kingdom arrived in the port Le Havre on Thursday. Protesters gathered there to denounce their government’s refusal to stop arms trade with Saudi Arabia after reports revealed that French weapons have been used by Riyadh in its four-year-long military campaign in neighboring Yemen.

“Why do we continue to feed countries that have a disrespectful international behavior and why do we continue to fuel the war? The question should be put to the President of the Republic,” said National Assembly member Jean-Yves Lecoq, who took part in the protest.

On Friday, the ship left the French coast and set sail to Spain without loading arms at Le Havre, Reuters reported citing local officials and ship tracking data. This apparently gives at least a temporary win for the protesters.

Earlier French Defense Minister Florence Parly said the shipment did not pose a threat to people in Yemen and was purely defensive. “As far as the French government is aware, we have no proof that the victims in Yemen are the result of the use of French weapons,” Parly said in an interview with BFM. She wouldn’t detail which weapons the ship is to carry to the Saudis.

The French government has been criticized by rights activists for continued arms trade with the Saudis despite a report by the investigative news site Disclose last month. The site leaked a classified military memo, which said French tanks and artillery were used in the war against Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Disclose said the upcoming shipment included eight truck-mounted Caesar howitzers, but AFP news agency cited a government source as denying this claim.

Saudi Arabia led a coalition of Arab nations supported by the US and the UK to intervene in Yemen in March 2015, after the Houthi ousted a Riyadh-allied president from the country. The Saudis say the rebels are backed by their archenemy Iran and have to be defeated to curb Tehran’s regional influence.

The war led to what the UN calls the largest humanitarian disaster in the world today, with coalition airstrikes and blockades being a major contributing factor. Yemeni civilians are suffering from shortages of food, medicine and fuel and the devastation of infrastructure. They are also regularly killed or injured by coalition airstrikes, which the Saudis insist to be unintended collateral damage.

Three people were taken to hospital after being injured when an Air Canada plane they were traveling on collided with a fuel truck at Toronto Pearsons Airport.

The aircraft made contact with the Menzies fuel truck on the runway as it was taxiing to the gate at about 1:30am local time Friday, the Toronto Star reports. The plane had been heading to Sudbury, but returned to Pearson due to bad weather.

Passengers and crew were evacuated from the aircraft and moved to the terminal, while airport emergency services responded to the collision. A number of people were treated by paramedics and three people were taken to hospital after sustaining “minor injuries,” the Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA) said.

Both the aircraft and fuel vehicle have been removed from the area and the airport is operating as normal, spokesperson for the GTAA Ryan White said.

The aircraft reportedly suffered damage to its nose.

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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov when he travels to Russia next week, the US State Department said in a statement.

The visit comes as relations between Moscow and Washington are at a new low over accusations of Russian meddling in US elections, disagreements over approaches to Venezuela and Iran’s nuclear program, as well as the US ditching the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty followed up by Russia suspending its participation.

On May 13, the Secretary of State will visit the US embassy upon his arrival to Moscow as well as meet with the US business leaders and exchange program alumni to hear their thoughts on the issue of US-Russian relations. The State Department also said he will discuss “the full range of bilateral and multilateral challenges” with Lavrov and Putin during a meeting in the southern city of Sochi on May 14.

Pompeo met Lavrov in Finland earlier this week at the Arctic summit.

“An issue high on the agenda for their discussions will be arms control,” the State Department said, adding that the US President Donald Trump would like to work out new arms control agreements that would “reflect modern reality” by including a “broader range of countries and account for a broader range of weapon systems than current [US] bilateral treaties with Russia.”

The US pulled out of the INF arms control treaty with Russia in February. Trump said last week that he and Putin discussed the possibility of making it a “three-way deal” with China, adding that Beijing “would very much like to be part of that deal.” Moscow repeatedly said it was ready for talks but it was the US who shied away from the negotiations.

Even though it was Washington that was the first to pull out from the INF, the State Department statement also bluntly said that “the Secretary will have a very candid conversation about concerns in our bilateral relationship, including Russia’s breach of longstanding arms control agreements like the INF.”

Washington also could not help but once again state that “no administration has been tougher than the Trump administration in imposing costs on Russia for its malign activities,” as the Russian meddling scandal has been omnipresent on the American political arena and one of the major tool used by the Democrats in their political fight against Trump.

At the same time, the US also said it would strive to “find ways to cooperate [with Moscow] in pursuit of shared interests.” Washington particularly hailed Russia’s role in the Afghan peace process and its cooperation with the US in the field of counterterrorism.

Earlier this week, Lavrov also said that cooperation between the US and Russia could have “a very significant and positive role” in resolving most international issues. The Russian minister also noted that it is important to build this joint work on finding common solutions while avoiding one-sided approaches, which are often lobbied by Washington.

Ukraine, Venezuela, Iran, Syria, and North Korea were also all listed as topics that are expected to be discussed during the negotiations in Sochi. Trump talked to Putin on the phone for an hour last Friday, discussing a wide range of issues, including Venezuela, North Korea and nuclear arms control.

Last week, Washington’s protégé and opposition leader Juan Guaido failed to get enough support to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The US blamed Russia partially for the coup’s collapse and urged Moscow to stay out Venezuela. Lavrov slammed Washington’s “unprecedented campaign to oust the legitimate government” and once again called for a political solution to the conflict.

This week Iran has announced a suspension to some of its obligations under the landmark agreement – officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – after Washington piled up a series of sanctions on the country and sent an aircraft carrier group & task force to the region to send a message. Moscow said Tehran’s reaction was understandable, and urged Tehran and European countries to fulfill their obligations.

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The US and Palestine clashed at a UN Security Council meeting when Palestinian minister Riad Malki called the US peace plan a “surrender,” and US envoy Jason Greenblatt slammed the council for “anti-Israel bias.”

Greenblatt attacked the council for its alleged bias at the Thursday meeting, criticizing it for not focusing on Hamas and Islamic Jihad rockets instead of “rehashing tired talking points.” 

Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister Riad Malki slammed the US’ so-called ‘deal of the century’ for Israel and Palestine, as “not a peace plan, but rather conditions for surrender.” He said that President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital “in blatant violation of international law” showed it was “not possible to have faith” in the US plan.

“Every decision the US administration has taken since has simply confirmed its disregard for Palestinian lives, for Palestinian rights,” Malki added, before later accusing the US of totally adopting the Israeli position.

Greenblatt and Jared Kushner’s peace plan will be revealed next month. An alleged draft of the plan, reportedly leaked by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs sources to Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, suggests Palestinians will be given a demilitarized ‘New Palestine,’ state while the illegal Israeli settlements will remain in place and be annexed by Israel.

The Security Council meeting was called to discuss Israeli settlements, which UNSC Resolution 2334 condemns as a “flagrant violation” of international law. Greenblatt said it was “surprising and unfair” that Israel had not been invited to speak at the session and that the “obsessive” focus on settlements was a “farce.”

Key issues in the peace process are the settlements and the contested city of Jerusalem, which Israel wants as its capital, while the Palestinians want East Jerusalem as theirs. The alleged leaked draft says the city will be a shared capital, but run by an Israeli municipality, as it is now.

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The US Justice Department has taken possession of North Korea’s second-largest freighter, seized in Indonesia last year for allegedly shipping coal in violation of UN sanctions, ratcheting up tensions between the two countries.

The DoJ has asked a federal judge to transfer ownership of the 17,000-ton Wise Honest – North Korea’s second-largest bulk cargo ship – to the US through civil forfeiture, a controversial legal process that allows authorities to take possession of vehicles and other property involved in felonies like drug smuggling.

This process has never been used to seize a North Korean ship for sanctions violations, but because the DPRK used American banks to finance the ship’s upkeep, the US is entitled to take it, according to the complaint, which charges the vessel itself with crimes including money laundering.

Accusing the Korea Songi Shipping Company of “concealing the origin of their ship” to sell coal in violation of UN sanctions, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman alleged the Wise Honest was also used to “import heavy machinery to North Korea, helping expand North Korea’s capabilities and continuing the cycle of sanctions evasion.”

Korea Songi, reportedly a subsidiary of a company controlled by the North Korean military, is additionally charged with breaking American law by using three different US banks to pay for the ship’s upkeep to the tune of $750,000.

Indonesian authorities detained the ship en route to American Samoa after receiving a photograph that appeared to show the vessel being loaded with coal. The captain was charged with improper documentation, a violation of Indonesian maritime law, and convicted. The US seized the ship under warrant in July, but it is only now being towed to American Samoa, according to the Justice Department.

In recent days, North Korea has test-fired long-range multiple rocket launchers and what is believed to be short-range missiles. But Justice Department officials insist the decision to take possession of the Wise Honest is unrelated to the drills. The latest launches were conducted on Thursday. The South Korean president alleged that they came in response to stalled nuclear talks with Washington.

Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met in Hanoi, Vietnam in hopes of another breakthrough in denuclearization. The summit failed, however, with North Korea pinning the blame on Washington.

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Sporting the URL boycotteurovision.net Israel’s PR website masquerades as part of a campaign to boycott the Eurovision song contest in Tel Aviv, but actually features pro-Israel narrative.

For most people who follow the issue, the acronym ‘BDS’ refers to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which aims to financially pressure Israel into improving treatment of Palestinians. However, according to a new website promoted via ads on Google, it now stands for how Israel is “beautiful, diverse, sensational.”

Despite the deceptive URL and the fact that the page doesn’t identify itself as run by the Israeli government, Tel Aviv’s PR ministry confirmed to Reuters that they were behind the campaign.

Gilad Erdan (Minister of Strategic Affairs) said that the ads and website “show Israel as it really is, a diverse, beautiful and sensational place, while at the same time, successfully dispelling the lies BDS spreads.”

Meanwhile, with less than a week to go before the Eurovision takes place in Tel Aviv, the actual Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement has been ramping up its efforts to encourage people to snub the competition. They were none too pleased with the Israeli government’s latest counter-measure.

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“After its theft of Palestinian land and culture, Israel is now trying to appropriate a symbol of our nonviolent resistance,” said Alia Malak, of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI).

Although the competition is intended to bring countries around the world together, the contest has been politicized a number of times.

Last year’s winner, Israel’s Netta Barzilai, yelled out “Next time in Jerusalem!” after receiving the trophy for her spirited chicken-themed song ‘Toy’. The statement was seen as controversial given that not even the US had yet recognized Jerusalem as the country’s capital.

Although Israel has pulled out all the stops to assure the event will go smoothly, it comes shortly after cross-border shelling between Israel and Palestine in Gaza earlier this week. Four Israelis were killed and at least 10 injured as a result of rockets fired from Gaza, while the IDF carried out some 320 air-raids which killed 25 people and injured dozens.

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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has threatened Iran with a “swift and decisive” response to any attack on “US interests or citizens,” including those by “proxies” – leaving lots of leeway for the war he says the US doesn’t want.

“The regime in Tehran should understand that any attacks by them or their proxies of any identity against US interests or citizens will be answered with a swift and decisive US response,” Pompeo wrote in a statement warning that Iran should not mistake US “restraint” for a “lack of resolve,” and criticizing Iran for “an escalating series of threatening actions and statements in recent weeks.”

While Pompeo insists “we do not seek war,” the statement’s wording leaves ample room for it, from describing Iran’s expected offenses in vague terms (“proxies of any identity” attacking “US interests or citizens”) to suggesting the US will have a decisive role in “taking steps to give Iran the future it deserves.”

Pompeo claims Iran’s “default option” has been “violence,” echoing repeated US claims it is the “number one sponsor of terrorism” and the driver of hostilities in Yemen and Syria. When the US used this alleged belligerence as a pretext for pulling out of the JCPOA nuclear deal, despite Iranian compliance and agreement from the other partners the agreement had been a success, Iran’s reaction was to continue to uphold its end of the deal in deference to those partners. Iran has only just announced it will suspend some of its commitments under the deal because additional US sanctions have made its position untenable – and asked the EU to step up and defend it against those sanctions, which seem to be little more than punishment for following the rules.

Pompeo appeals “to those in Tehran who see a path to a prosperous future through de-escalation,” all while a US carrier strike group is headed for the region, reportedly acting on a tip from Israeli intelligence – a country that openly wants war with Iran.

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Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has previously warned US President Donald Trump that members of his administration, including Pompeo, are trying to steer him into a confrontation he does not want. Zarif also advised the US to stop blaming Iran for regional hostility toward American interests.

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Thousands marched on the abandoned village of Khubbayza to commemorate the 71st Nakba that forced Palestinians from their homes in the lead-up to the establishment of the Israeli state in 1948.

The ‘march of return’ took place at 1:30pm local time Thursday in northern Israel and a festival was held in Khubbayza itself afterwards. Thousands of Arab citizens of Israel, including a number of Arab politicians, attended the march, which was organized by the Association for the Defense of the Rights for the Internally Displaced Persons in Israel. Attendees waved Palestinian flags and chanted.

“For more than 25 years, we have been defending the right of return and consolidating it through the annual march, which is gaining increasing public momentum, reinforcing our belief in our Palestinian presence and confirming our rejection of all alternatives,” the Association for the Defense of the Rights of the Displaced said, Arab48 reports.

Khubbayza was raided by Jewish forces a few weeks after the 1948 war and was later razed by the Jewish Nation Fund. It remains unpopulated today and is surrounded by fields.

Palestinians and their supporters march for the right to return to the lands they lost amid the establishment of the state of Israel when at least 760,000 Palestinians became displaced, and the homes lost by those who were displaced in the 1967 war.

The anniversary of the Nakba is May 15, but a number of events are held on Israel’s Independence Days of May 8 and 9.

EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he was “missing” UK Prime Minister Theresa May at the informal summit of EU countries in Romania, where they – except the UK – got together to show unity amid Brexit turmoil.

The EU bigwigs gathered in the Romanian city of Sibiu on Thursday ahead of the bloc’s parliamentary elections, scheduled for late May. While the meeting is largely informal and no major decisions are expected from it, its goal is clear – EU leaders are standing together. Or, at least, appear to be doing so.

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“We will talk about our strategic agenda for the future and will agree a declaration which will make clear that, regardless of our political differences, we all believe – all member of the European Union – that acting together is better,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said ahead of the gathering.

One of the major sources of instability within the bloc – the UK, entangled in its messy Brexit process – did not attend the event. While the EU leaders insisted that Brexit was not on the agenda, PM Theresa May has seemingly given them breathing room and stayed away.

Some, however, were still “missing” her despite all the painstaking – and rather fruitless – Brexit talks the EU and the UK have been engaging in over the past months. When asked by reporters if he wished May was at the event EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker – at least half-jokingly – admitted it.

“I’m missing her,” Juncker said, shrugging slightly.

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