ISIS Ruling Aims To Settle Who Can Have Sex With Female Slaves

 ISIS theologians have issued an extremely detailed ruling on when "owners" of women enslaved by the extremist group can have sex with them, in an apparent bid to curb what they called violations in the treatment of captured females.

The ruling or fatwa has the force of law and appears to go beyond the ISIS's previous known utterances on the subject, a leading ISIS scholar said. It sheds new light on how the group is trying to reinterpret centuries-old teachings to justify the sexual slavery of women in the swaths of Syria and Iraq it controls.

To read the fatwa click here: http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/doc/slaves_fatwa.pdf

The fatwa was among a huge trove of documents captured by US Special Operations Forces during a raid targeting a top Islamic State official in Syria in May. Reuters has reviewed some of the documents, which have not been previously published.

Among the religious rulings are bans on a father and son having sex with the same female slave; and the owner of a mother and daughter having sex with both. Joint owners of a female captive are similarly enjoined from intercourse because she is viewed as "part of a joint ownership."

The United Nations and human rights groups have accused the ISIS of the systematic abduction and rape of thousands of women and girls as young as 12, especially members of the Yazidi minority in northern Iraq. Many have been given to fighters as a reward or sold as sex slaves.

Far from trying to conceal the practice, ISIS has boasted about it and established a department of "war spoils" to manage slavery. Reuters reported on the existence of the department on Monday.

In an April report, Human Rights Watch interviewed 20 female escapees who recounted how ISIS  fighters separated young women and girls from men and boys and older women. They were moved "in an organized and methodical fashion to various places in Iraq and Syria." They were then sold or given as gifts and repeatedly raped or subjected to sexual violence.

Dos And Don'ts

Fatwa No. 64, dated Jan. 29, 2015, and issued by ISIS's Committee of Research and Fatwas, appears to codify sexual relations between ISIS fighters and their female captives for the first time, going further than a pamphlet issued by the group in 2014 on how to treat slaves.

The fatwa starts with a question: "Some of the brothers have committed violations in the matter of the treatment of the female slaves. These violations are not permitted by Sharia law because these rules have not been dealt with in ages. Are there any warnings pertaining to this matter?"

It then lists 15 injunctions, which in some instances go into explicit detail. For example:

"If the owner of a female captive, who has a daughter suitable for intercourse, has sexual relations with the latter, he is not permitted to have intercourse with her mother and she is permanently off limits to him. Should he have intercourse with her mother then he is not permitted to have intercourse with her daughter and she is to be off limits to him."

ISIS's sexual exploitation of female captives has been well documented, but a leading ISIS expert at Princeton University, Cole Bunzel, who has reviewed many of the group's writings, said the fatwa went beyond what has previously been published by the militants on how to treat female slaves.

"It reveals the actual concerns of IS slave owners," he said in an email.

Still, he cautioned that not "everything dealt with in the fatwa is indicative of a relevant violation. It doesn't mean father and son were necessarily sharing a girl. They're at least being 'warned' not to. But I bet some of these violations were being committed."

The fatwa also instructs owners of female slaves to "show compassion towards her, be kind to her, not humiliate her, and not assign her work she is unable to perform." An owner should also not sell her to an individual whom he knows will mistreat her.

Professor Abdel Fattah Alawari, dean of Islamic Theology at Al-Azhar University, a 1,000-year-old Egyptian centre for Islamic learning, said ISIS "has nothing to do with Islam" and was deliberately misreading centuries-old verses and sayings that were originally designed to end, rather than encourage, slavery.

"Islam preaches freedom to slaves, not slavery. Slavery was the status quo when Islam came around," he said. "Judaism, Christianity, Greek, Roman, and Persian civilizations all practiced it and took the females of their enemies as sex slaves. So Islam found this abhorrent practice and worked to gradually remove it."

In September 2014 more than 120 Islamic scholars from around the world issued an open letter to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi refuting the group's religious arguments to justify many of its actions. The scholars noted that the "reintroduction of slavery is forbidden in Islam."

Darth Vader’s Swim with Turtles

In these times of Star Wars frenzy, I have to make a revelation: no, I am not your father – you’re thankfully quite a number to read this so I’d have a tad too many children, although I’m a guy so technically I do have millions of little Sebastians available… but I digress as I barely started my post and the thought is slightly creepy too. So: I may not be your father, but I am… Darth Vader. Yep, that’s right, Darth Vader himself. Well if not himself, at least my heavy, slow breathing in a snorkelling tuba would clearly give me away or indicate some family connection, you have to give me that.

I felt at peace though, swimming in the straits between Gili Air and Lombok island in Indonesia – but my breathing initially clearly wasn’t. I was still breathing more rapidly than necessary. I knew I could finally relax but I had to consciously focus on slowing my breathing down.

Slowly inhaling air through my mouth – my nose was stuck in the snorkelling mask I was wearing – I started mentally counting up to the number six. I then held my breath for two seconds, before slowly expiring for another eight long seconds. The deep sound of air flowing through the tuba resonated in my ears, I sounded more and more like Darth Vader (or maybe like a whale, that would probably be a more accurate comparison), but thankfully my panting didn't disturb anyone nor the creature right below me.

I had suddenly remembered this breathing technique from a cute little squarish book full of simple quotes and relaxation methods. Too much of a rational mind, I had never been very keen about the topic of meditation, mindful introspection and other semi-Eastern voodoo-style stuff; Sam Harris'sWaking Up, a Guide to Spirituality Without Religion had however started to open up my mind a little, before I got my hands on that anthology of quotes and other simple, occasionally simplistic (but does it really matter if they work?), suggestions.


The beloved sea creature was calmly feeding itself, grazing algae and sea grass. I had been looking for turtles for a few days now. It's only when I finally saw one from close up that I realised how their shell camouflaged itself so easily with the brown-yellowish colour of the almost completely dead coral and of the sea grass it was feeding itself from.

Okay, let me admit how lame I was in detecting those turtles: they were more than one metre (three feet) in diameter... so yes, I really wasn't very good at detecting their subtle, if lethargic, movements. Most times they were submerged a mere metre below the surface, their rugged-edge carapace dangling and hitting rocks as the sea was ebbing and flowing. I couldn’t really mock them for being entirely focused on eating, not worrying about waves carrying them away: I was myself so intent on going into the sea that I blindly walked on the dead coral, fins on my feet, falling down like a clumsy clown and hurting myself against the sharp rocks every time a slightly bigger-than-expected wave would come crashing in.

I did eventually figure out a technique: walking backwards into the sea (no, it wasn’t quite moonwalking à la Michael Jackson but “almost”) and, just as importantly, taking the time to identify the areas where the coral had been blown up to let boats come alongside the shore. So if you ever travel to the eastern side of Gili Air, get in about a hundred metres north of Satu Tiga cottages where a few boats are anchored, let yourself drift with the currents, and get out at the little white flag that signals the blown-up channel right before the beach walls. Swim right at the frontier between the coral and the deeper sea where all the tropical fish of all colours and sizes – yes, including things that look like mini-sharks, yikes – love to swim around.

Temptation to swim with the turtle holding onto its hard carapace was high – I never watched The Little Mermaid (“it’s for girls”) so the closest analogy would be Aladdin and his flying carpet (no, I didn’t say the turtle was a carpet, argh!). So did I do it? I’m not sure I want to make you more jealous – or risk being demonised because turtles should be left undisturbed. Let’s just say I “accidentally” brushed against its large, paddle-like flippers. I followed the turtle as it swam away: it was quite a feeling to be able to swim at the same pace as the sea mammal, with no one and nothing else around except that beautiful uniform blue colour of the deep sea in the background. My heart leapt in small bursts of joy as one turtle led me to another, and yet another, and when their large beady eyes seemed to stare at me for a few seconds. Those days were good days for Sebastian.

At the surface of the sea, boats were whizzing around. Children were playing football on the beach – I would dismally lose later on but, to be fair and because I have to find a scapegoat, a player on my team attempted useless headers, literally planting his head into the sand without even touching the ball, what the heck – well, it’s not tomorrow that Indonesia will be on the world map of football (sorry). Tourists were tanning under the sun, sipping some watermelon or pineapple juice. The turtle couldn’t care less about all those mundane activities. It couldn’t be bothered by my presence either.

Once replete with its meal of dirt-coloured sea grass, the turtle broke the surface one last time to breathe one big gulp of air – and immediately dove vertically straight towards the floor of the deep blue sea. Sometimes I wish I could also disappear in some other-worldly pleasant-blue reality, away from feelings of responsibility, away from silly issues. Perhaps I should instead remind myself of that Buddhist analogy as regards to inner tranquillity: down there, far below the waves and the twirl of everyday life, it is always peaceful and quiet...

Privacy Advocates Celebrate The End Of The NSA’s Phone Record Collection Program

The NSA shut down its bulk phone record collection program yesterday, more than two years since former NSA contractor Edward Snowden exposed the program to journalists and prompted a global debate about surveillance technology.

The program has been marked to sunset since Congress passed the USA Freedom Actearlier this year. But in light of the terror attacks that rocked Paris earlier this month, many hawkish lawmakers have attempted to hold off on shutting it down.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence announced on Sunday that the program shut down as scheduled.

As the program came to a halt, privacy advocates took a victory lap on Monday. Here are those hot takes.

Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon wrote:

“This program’s very existence was concealed from the American public for over a decade.  Across two administrations, senior officials from US intelligence agencies and the Justice Department repeatedly made false and misleading statements that concealed the truth about what they were doing.  These officials relied on a secret body of law to justify the mass surveillance of the American people. Fortunately, in America sooner or later the truth always comes out.  When Americans found out about this secret, unconstitutional surveillance two years ago, they were rightfully outraged.  And they made their voices heard.  The result was historic reform legislation that required the government to shut this program down.”

Senator Mike Lee said:

“Today both the safety and Constitutional rights of American citizens are more secure thanks to the USA Freedom Act. Not only did the USA Freedom Act strengthen the Fourth Amendment rights of all Americans by ending the bulk collection of personal data, but it also better ensured national security by closing a loophole that prevented the government from tracking foreign terrorists once they entered the United States.”

Members of the House of Representatives also reiterated their support of the law. Bob Goodlatte, John Conyers, Jim Sensenbrenner and Jerrold Nadler issued the following statement:

“The implementation of the USA Freedom Act represents government at its best: it is the product of a robust public debate and intense bipartisan negotiations dedicated to finding a way to protect our Constitutional rights while enhancing the safety of our country. The bipartisan law ends the bulk collection of telephone metadata once and for all, enhances civil liberties protections, increases transparency for both American businesses and the government, and provides national security officials targeted tools to keep America safe.”

The implementation of the Freedom Act highlights that in a government marked by gridlock, there have been many major policy decisions that impact the tech industry from Washington this year. After little happened for the industry last year, 2015 brought significant reforms to the government surveillance and made net neutrality the law of the land.

Samsung’s New Patent Shows Off a Foldable Tablet that will Turn into a Smartphone

Samsung has filed a new patent with the UPSTO which shows off a tablet that can be folded and used as a smartphone. The patent drawings are clear on the intentions of the design, Samsung wants to offer a smartphone and a tablet in a single clever packaging. The patent attributes the design to the Korean IP authorities, since Samsung is a Korean based company plus also depicts the various forms this design innovation can be implemented in.

The project has been dubbed the Project V and it comes with the model number SM-G929 which is a slight increment over the SM-G928 a.k.a Galaxy S6 Edge+. As we said earlier, a slew of configurations have been depicted in the drawings and the horizontal clamshell which opens up like a book seems to take the precedence.

The patent has however just outlined the design and not the specifications of the screen. If the two display are hinged, then the chances are that even when unfolded, it won’t be that easy to use. We feel that Samsung might use a flex like screen which is completely foldable. It makes much sense since the patent also contains drawings of rollable screens.

Another possibility is that the display will be running across the entire breadth and will be glued to the device. This is something that Samsung had already showcased as a concept in a 2014 video. The plot twist comes in the form of an iPod icon, we are well aware of the strained relations Apple and Samsung share when it comes to patents but still the iPod logo doesn’t make much sense.

The Valley is expected to be sold across the European market inclusive of UK, Germany, Italy, France and Poland. It goes without saying that Samsung will also be releasing the device in South Korea. The foldable phone is still in concept state and it will take ample time to see the light of the day, the concept might also die out prematurely owing to the bottlenecks Samsung might face in the project. That being said such innovative designs are a welcome change to the rather drab looking smartphones being sold currently.

YU mocks Apple iPhones with Yutopia’s latest teaser, reveals a key feature for the upcoming flagship

YU has been teasing its upcoming smartphone, the Yutopia, for a while now. In its latest teaser for the flagship, YU has mockedApple iPhones for their battery performance.

The company took to Twitter, and posted an image with Apple’s logo with low battery demonstration, along with a caption in the middle, “Would you enjoy an apple that doesn’t last long?”. The message below the image read, “High on price, low on juice! High time; #ThinkDifferent #RaiseTheBar! #Yutopia.”

It looks like YU’s strategy to hint users that the Yutopia will feature a big battery. It could be the main selling point for the device as well, as who wouldn’t look for a smartphone with high battery capacity. To recap, in its previous teasers, YU had also revealed that the Yutopia will come in metal unibody design with chamfered edges. Other teasers for the smartphone also stated that the device might also feature QHD screen, and fast charging technology.

The YU Yutopia is being dubbed as the company’s first flagship smartphone, so it might be priced higher than the 10k bracket, unlike previous devices by YU. The pre-registrations for the device have already begun on YU’s website, and this time has no plans to sell it via flash sales.

The YU Yutopia is expected to run Android 5.1.1 Lollipop-based Cyanogen OS 12.1, and feature a 5.2-inch display with a resolution of 1,440 x 2,560 pixels, a 64-bit octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor, 4GB RAM, 32GB internal storage, 4G LTE connectivity, a 21-megapixel primary camera with 4K video recording, and an 8-megapixel secondary camera. If these specifications turn out to be true, the device will compete with the likes of the OnePlus 2, the Samsung Galaxy Note 5, theMotorola Moto X Style, and the Sony Xperia Z5.

PRICING AND AVAILABILITY ANNOUNCED FOR 2016 KAWASAKI MODELS IN UK

Pricing and availability announced for 2016 Kawasaki models in UK – and exclusive K-Options finance offer available on ZX-10R
Kawasaki UK has announced the prices for the full 2016 range – including the brand new Ninja ZX-10R, J125, ZZR1400 and ZZR1400 Performance Sport models.





Developed directly with the Kawasaki Racing Team, the new Ninja ZX-10R is the closest thing customers will get to riding the World Superbike machine. Featuring a whole host of new innovations in terms of chassis, engine and electronic upgrades, the potential of the new machine as a track day weapon and a road riders dream is considerable. It will be priced at £13,649 for the Metallic Matt Carbon grey and £13,799 for the KRT Colour scheme.

Just 75 Winter Edition ZX-10R machines are arriving in the UK. With the same matt black and white livery as the Ninja’s tested by the World Superbike Team, the new machine features the KRT ‘Snowflake’ logo, plus the Japanese kanji ‘fuyu’ character which means winter. It comes with a road-legal Akrapovic silencer as standard, as well as stainless plates on the yoke denoting its limited edition status as ‘One of only 75’ 2016 Winter Test editions. Grab yourself a piece of Kawasaki history for £14,399. Ninja ZX-10R’s are due in UK showrooms in the last week of January.

Also joining the 2016 range are the special Z800 and Z1000 ‘Sugomi Editions’ – machines that take Kawasaki’s styling and engineering concept to the next level with new Candy Crimson Red and black colour treatments, plus accent anodising and model specific Akrapovic silencers for each machine. The Z800 Sugomi Edition is priced at £8,349 and the Z1000 is £10,749.

Taiwanese Wistron enters into mobile manufacturing joint venture with Optiemus

Wistron Corporation, the world’s second largest contract manufacturer after Foxconn, has entered into a joint venture with Indian retailer and handset distributor, Optiemus Infracom to set up manufacturing facilities for telecom products in India.

Over the next five years, the partners will strategically invest around $ 200 million in best in class infrastructure, technologies and processes, to cater to growing Indian and global demands of telecom products like smart phones, tablets and smart devices.

The JV targets to create over 15,000 employment opportunities in India, over the next five years. Under the JV, the companies will kick off production of HTC smartphones, starting April 2016. Media reports suggest that Wistron’s global players may also leverage the Indian facility for domestic manufacturing.

“With this partnership, we are committed to make available world class technology products at affordable prices for global and local brands. Embarking on this new journey, we intend to emerge as one of the top three third party manufacturers in the country in the next five years,” Ravinder Zutshi, Managing Director, Optiemus Infracom, said in a statement.

The partnership aims to provide a complete end to end solution to global and Indian brands encompassing world class manufacturing infrastructure, distribution, retail and after sales.

“Our collective expertise in design, manufacturing, distribution, retail and after sales services will provide a holistic solution for brands in India,” Zutshi added.

By 2017, India is expected to overtake USA to be the second largest smartphone market globally, as per research firm IDC. The market is expected to continue to grow in double-digits over the next few years as more and more people switch to smartphones and gradually upgrade to 4G-enabled phones.

“We are excited to enter the world’s fastest growing smartphone market with our partner, Optiemus Infracom Limited. With our extensive expertise in the global ICT sector and our partner’s unique local market understanding, we plan to significantly grow and nurture the Indian technology market,” Robert Hwang, President & COO, Wistron Corporation, said in a joint statement.

Why Investing In Self Education Is A Good Idea

Investing in self education- sounds like one of those looks-good-only-in-the-book quotes, right? Benjamin Franklin had once said- An investment in knowledge always pays in your best interest.

You have heard and seen people investing in real estate and mutual funds. However, investing in self education is something that many of us are unaware about. Let’s take a look at the benefits it brings you…

– Secured: Once invested, nobody can take it from you. It also opens gate for a secure retirement.

– Earnings: We all know that once learnt, knowledge brings you dividend for the rest of your life. Infact, this is one of those, which brings you high return on not-so-big investment.

– Raises your esteem: As you don’t have to depend on anybody else for financing your education, it creates confidence and security around money.

The investment is self education requires time, effort and money. I am guessing that is one of the biggest reasons as to why doesn’t everyone master these essential skills for investing and developing financial literacy.

Financing your education is one of the greatest bargains of your life, especially if you start off at an early age. It costs little, risks nothing and gives you huge returns all your life. Is it not the best investment you’ve heard of?

We live in a fast changing, rapidly adaptive world. Things that weren’t possible yesterday, are on a high today. But to be on a look out for such opportunities, requires you to keep learning, especially updating yourself on new way of doing things.

All you need to do is put out the effort and a lifetime of benefits is yours for the taking. Afterall a little extra effort put in now, for a lifetime of financial security sounds better and more reliable than avoidance now and a lifetime of financial stress, does it not?

Voter Is Tinder For Politics

As we approach election season the average person is probably confused by the plethora of candidates. Should you vote Trump? Hillary? Dr. Fantasmus the Libertarian Cyborg? Voter can probably tell you.

This app is basically a swipe left/swipe right interface for political leanings. It asks you questions about policy and then recommends a candidate based on who you should vote for. Do you support gun control? Dance classes in public schools? There’s probably a candidate for you.

Ultimately, said founder Hunter Scarborough, the system will allow users to submit their own votes to aggregated polls, a feature that will allow for more interesting and precise information for voters and politicians.

1. 

The service has 24,000 users and the company is raising capital.

“The platform we developed only recently became possible. Thanks to new open data initiatives, we now have access to up-to-the-minute political data,” said Scarborough. “This allows us to take an unbiased numbers-based approach that other political tools lack. To ensure the highest level of accuracy, we hold politicians accountable to their actions, analyzing candidates’ voting records, public agenda, personal views, speeches, and more.”

Voter is aimed at millennials who are political active. It’s basically a way to get up to speed on various candidates in a few seconds, a valuable proposition in this era of always-on news.

“Voter gives you a fast and fun way to become reliably politically informed,” said Scarborough. Sadly swiping left or right on a particular candidate doesn’t get you a date with them, although Trogdor the Undestroyable, mayoral candidate for the Darkest Core of Deathton (near Scranton) might be a cool dude to hang out with over a beer.

Hacking Collective Anonymous Declares Total War On ISIS Following Paris Terror Attacks

The hacking group Anonymous on Sunday declared “total war” against the Islamic State, the terror organization that claimed responsibility for the attacks on Friday that killed 132 Parisians.

Anonymous also posted a video, confirming the message was in response to the events in Paris.

According to the same Twitter account, the group began taking down websites associated with ISIS this morning.

Anonymous also retweeted a link to the following message from the hacktivist group Binary Sec:

“We as a collective will bring an end to your reign of terror. We will no longer turn a blind eye to your cruel and inhumane acts of terrorism towards all other religions that are not Islam. We’ve watched you behead innocent people, kidnap and murder children, and then launch terrorist attacks in France. This will NOT BE TOLERATED ANY LONGER. We here at BinarySec live for the sole purpose of bringing down All ISIS Propaganda ONE website and/or person at a time. ISIS… Your Jihad is coming to an abrupt end . We here at BinarySec will be one of the driving forces to your end and that’s a promise. ISIS… The War Is On.”

This is not the first time that Anonymous has taken on ISIS. Foreign Policy Magazine reports that the conflict between hackers that identify with Anonymous and ISIS has waged online for more than a year. A tipping point that forced many hackers to join the cause were the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper and kosher market in Paris earlier this year.

According to the FP report from last week, hackers have taken 149 Islamic State-linked websites offline and flagged roughly 101,000 Twitter accounts and 5,900 propaganda videos.

The remaining question is whether or not these hackers aiming to achieve social good are helping or harming state-driven attempts to take out the terror group. Technology companies have said in the past that government intelligence agencies ask them not to take down ISIS-related content because, when using the legal avenues at hand, they are able to more effectively track these groups.

Muslim TV host explains how to take a stand against ISIS

The self-proclaimed Islamic State is weak because it relies on fear, Australian TV host Waleed Aly said Monday in a plea for unity in the wake of attacks in Paris that left at least 129 people dead and hundreds more injured.

In a passionate segment for The Project that has been widely shared on social media, Aly called the terrorist organization known as ISIS, or ISIL, a weak group that would be "crushed" if it ever faced a "proper army." Rather than real power, he added, the group relies on creating divisions to further its cause — Aly called on governments and citizens alike to resist that temptation.

"[ISIS] wants you to fear them. They want you to get angry. They want all of us to become hostile," Aly said in a video posted on Monday. "They want to start World War III. A global war between Muslims and everyone else. They want countries like ours to reject their Muslims and vilify them."

As politicians around the globe respond to the attacks in Paris with Islamophobic commentsand Europe's conversation about the refugee crisis turns to security, unity is key, said Aly.

"We all need to come together, I know how that sounds. I know it's a cliché, but it's also true because it's exactly what ISIL doesn't want," he said.

https://www.facebook.com/theprojecttv/videos/10153243154568441/

Aly, a broadcast journalist and a lecturer in Monash University's Global Terrorism Research Centre, said anti-Muslim sentiment only helps ISIS.

"If you're a member of Parliament or a has-been member of Parliament preaching hate, at a time when what we actually need is more love, you're helping ISIL. They have told us that," he said. "If you're a Muslim leader, telling your community they have no place here or a non-Muslim basically saying the same thing, you're helping ISIL. They have told us that," he said.

Many on social media responded to Aly's post with praise.

How to show support for France and Lebanon on your Facebook profile

In the aftermath of the Paris terrorist attacks Friday that left at least 129 dead, Facebook helped users express their sympathy for those affected by activating a tool that superimposed the French flag over their profile photo with one click.

The filter has proved popular, and news feeds have been filling up with the red, white and blue of the flag, but some are questioning Facebook's selective show of support.

France was not the only country where tragedy has occurred in recent days. On Thursday, a double suicide attack rocked the Lebanese capital of Beirut leaving more than 30 dead. On Twitter, some have begun questioning why Facebook is actively encouraging users to show their support for France but not for Lebanon.

Although not native to Facebook's website, for those users interested in supporting additional countries in crisis, an easy-to-use alternative exists.

If you'd like to change your Facebook or Twitter profile picture to support both France and Lebanon, or any other country where violence and terror is disrupting the lives of citizens, you can use the LunaPic tool.

1. Simply choose the desired flag overlay

2. Upload your profile photo

3. You can show support for two countries at once

4. Then save and upload to social media

In what has been considered further evidence of double standards on the part of Facebook, the company activated its "safety check" feature in Paris — a tool that lets users in disaster areas notify friends they're safe — but did not in the Lebanese capital. Paris was the first time "safety check" has been activated in circumstances other than a natural disaster.

The company's CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in apparent response to the criticism, has said in a Facebook post "safety check" will be activated "for more human disasters going forward."

In response to Mashable's request for comment about why the flag tool was not also created for Lebanon, a Facebook spokesperson said: "We're offering our community the chance to change their profile pictures to show support for France and the people of Paris."

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

The Classic Car Show Becomes A Global Success

The first series of The Classic Car Show is officially a worldwide hit and is now watched in more than 100 countries The producers behind the first series of The Classic Car Show (Wise Old Fox Limited) are no doubt overjoyed with the shows reception. It has enjoyed an overwhelmingly positive response with excellent viewing figures across all 13 episodes aired on Channel 5 in the UK and international sales success through Sony Pictures Entertainment means it is now in more than 100 countries around the world. Wise Old Fox Limited is a new ambitious independent television and film production company set up by Jim Wiseman and Stephanie Fox. 

Both car lovers, they met during their time working for the Top Gear brand. They have a combined production and direction experience of 25 years across genres such as entertainment, sport, documentary making, game shows, promos, adverts and live events. Having worked for major international brands such as BBC F1, Sport Relief, CarFest, Red Bull Racing, Scuderia Ferrari, Pirelli, Celebrity Golf Cup and Top Gear. Wise Old Fox has access to some of the best directors, camera operators and editors in the world when it comes to filming cars. 

This is exactly what they did when asked to produce The Classic Car Show. Over the last ten years the classic car market has become a multi-billion pound industry with values growing ahead of equities, fine art, wine and London real estate. Top-end Ferraris have increased in value by 55 per cent in 2013 alone* and collectively the classic car market has grown faster than any other asset class, increasing by 257 per cent since 2005**. It is this growth, global intrigue and unparalleled glamour that has driven the creation of The Classic Car Show. 

The Classic Car Show is presented by renowned motoring journalist Quentin Willson and the motoring-mad supermodel turned TV presenter, Jodie Kidd. This landmark new series has travelled the globe celebrating all manner of classic cars, from the glamorous and stratospherically expensive Ferrari 250 GT California Spider to more humble icons like the MGB GT. And viewers have loved every minute. The series debut on Channel 5 earlier this year saw average weekly-consolidated viewing figures of 642,000, an uplift of some 42 per cent for the 7pm Thursday slot. 


The series reached a peak of 922,000 viewers, achieved during its first episode which averaged 750,000. As a result of the success of The Classic Car Show on Channel 5, Sony Pictures Television, which distributes the show internationally, has sold the first series to more than 100 countries around the world including: Discovery Turbo in Latin America covering 43 countries; BBC Brit in Poland; History Channel in Japan; a multi-territory deal with BBC Brit in Africa, spanning 58 countries; SBS in Australia and Mega in Greece. 

The series featured celebrity contributions from the likes of Bruno Senna, David Gandy, Steve Coogan, Britt Ekland, Tinie Tempah, Derek Bell MBE and Sir Stirling Moss, uncovered rare barn finds and gave viewers the lowdown on which classics to buy now before their values go through the roof. The show’s unique ability to highlight undervalued cars was proved when prices of the classic Ferrari 456 doubled within weeks of it being mentioned on the programme. One of the most popular episodes was the show’s James Bond Special, which celebrated cars from the 007 series and even guest-starred ex-Stig and Daniel Craig stunt double, Ben Collins. 

Social media response to the show was also overwhelmingly positive. The programme also attracted high-end commercial partners, with sponsorship from Watchfinder. For the first time in its history, luxury car brand Aston Martin provided television viewers with the opportunity to drive away in a brand new bespoke Aston Martin V8 Vantage. This was one of the most successful TV car competitions ever with an unprecedented viewer response. Russ Lindsay said: “We’re incredibly proud of The Classic Car Show. 

The whole premise of the series was to create a series celebratory in tone without gimmicks or distractions. The episodes were packed full of content to delight classic car lovers and the contributions were second to none with the likes of Bruno Senna, David Gandy and Sir Stirling Moss. “We also designed the format and content of the show for an international audience, not just a UK one, and that has been reflected in the global sales.” Russ Lindsay is the founder of Infinity Creative Media Ltd and co-founder of James Grant Management, the UK’s largest independent media, music and sports talent agency. 

Over the last 30 years, Russ has managed many of the UK’s top media and sports personalities including Phillip Schofield, Ant and Dec, Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan and Clare Balding. During his time at James Grant, Russ produced the majority of their productions in music, theatre and television. Infinity has created a unique and compelling television model, being high quality EIS eligible ‘Investor Funded Programmes’ produced for worldwide sale, the first three being The Classic Car Show, The Wine Show and The Art Show. 

The Chairman of Infinity is Lord Michael Grade; the CEO is Ross Westgate, a former news anchor at CNBC with over 20 years in the global broadcast business; the COO is Simon Drinkall who has 15 successful years in institutional and alternative investment banking. Classic Car Show executive producer and presenter Quentin Willson, said: “We’ve made TV history by celebrating classic cars in a deeply glamorous and passionate way and we’re all delighted that so many mainstream viewers, who aren’t hard core old car enthusiasts, have tuned in. 


The feedback from international viewers is the same – they tell us love the way we’ve brought beauty, style and sexiness to the world of classic cars.”

Why UK People Badly Needs Power Back Up Solutions

Many of us would like to think that United Kingdom being one of the super powers of this world, is quite self sufficient in terms of energy production. If you are one of them, then you are wrong.

The most recent statistics in this regard reveals that United Kingdom, in the recently passed first quarter of 2015, has been a net importer of electricity. The UK government report suggests that during this period of time, it has borrowed 5.2% of the total electric power consumed by the people and industries on the British soil

The electricity has been imported from three countries in Europe - France, Ireland and Netherlands, with the French being the biggest contributor. It is quite evident that the power that has been borrowed from the foreign countries has been purchased at a steep price. The price has to be more than what the British people should have paid, had the power been produced in their own country.

The common people unaware of these details, end up paying for the import in some way or the other. The net result is that the burden comes on the British taxpayers, whose money is the source of British government's treasury.

Therefore, it's time that the common people of UK start thinking along alternate lines. Instead of relying solely on the national grid power, they should try to use other alternative mechanisms to generate power of their own, which will be off the grid and the surplus can be supplied to the grid. Also, the off-the-grid power will be extremely helpful for continuing work during times of grid voltage drops, transmission line faults, blackouts due to natural calamities, etc.

There are many ways to achieve such sufficiency. One of the possible ways is to use solar panels for converting the solar energy into electrical energy. In fact, this is the most popular way of generating stand-alone power in other parts of the world. However, due to the climatic condition and ever-cloudy weather of the UK, it is an impractical approach as the efficiency level of such systems will be low for most part of the year.

Another feasible way is to use electrical generators. Individuals and enterprises can have generators at their backyards, according to the necessities or required power ratings. It is quite evident that this is not a 'one size fits all' type of solution, but quite the opposite. Also, there is a question of return on investment, stability and longevity of these generators. 

Thankfully, due to the advancement of engineering, diesel generators are widely considered as the safest bet for all such purposes. It has got everything that any sane person can demand from a generator. It is therefore in the interest of the British people that they should invest in generators as a solution to many simultaneous problems.