Daughter of Malaysian Tycoon Gives Up Inheritance for Love

Agencies
August 5, 2017

London, Aug 5: Angeline Francis Khoo, the daughter of Malaysian tycoon Tan Sri Khoo Kay Peng, has revealed that she gave up her share of the family fortune to marry the man her father had disapproved of.

Kay Peng, the 78-year-old is the chairman of Malayan United Industries, an investment holding firm with substantial stakes in lifestyle brand Laura Ashley UK and the Corus group of luxury hotels.

Forbes, which estimated his net worth at US$300mil (RM1.27bil), ranked him 44th on its list of Malaysia's 50 richest people in 2015.

Angeline, the fourth of Kay Peng's five children with his ex-wife and former Malaysian beauty queen Pauline Chai, met Carribean-born data scientist Jedidiah Francis while studying at Oxford University in 2008.

Kay Peng and Chai married in 1970, and had five children before splitting up in 2013. They have spent more than £6 million (RM34mil) between them on lawyers to fight their financial dispute, according to The news agency.

Angeline told her father she wanted to marry Francis but he refused to give her his blessing.

"I believed dad's stance was wrong, so there was no question about what was right," she said in the interview.

"I've been fortunate to have that perspective: you can have money and it's a blessing; it allows you to do things and gives you options, but there are also things that come with it, such as control.

"Money amplifies negative characteristics and that can cause problems. To walk away from that was actually very easy. I didn't even consider it."

The couple reportedly wed in the chapel of Pembroke College where Francis worked.

It was a modest £1,500 affair attended by 30 guests, with no one from the Khoo family attending.

Until her marriage, she appeared destined to work for the family business.

She spent her university holidays (she first moved to Britain in 2001 to study law at the University of Buckingham) working in the different departments of Laura Ashley, as the plan was that she would get involved in the retail side of the company.

Now a fashion designer, she also claimed she had no idea about the size of her father's wealth until it was revealed in court during a long-running divorce saga between her parents, who were married for 43 years.

Her father was ordered by a British court in April this year to pay £64mil to her 68-year-old mother as settlement for their divorce, which the latter filed for on Valentine's Day in 2013 citing his "unreasonable behaviour".

Angeline was the only witness called in her parents' divorce.

She expressed hope in the interview that her father could one day "let go of his anger and his hurt" so they could share a cordial relationship.

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Agencies
March 8,2020

Consumer watchdog Which? has claimed that more than one billion Android phones and tablets are vulnerable to hackers as they no longer supported by security updates.

According to the research report, the most at-risk phones are any that run Android 4 or older and those smartphones running Android 7.0 which can not be updated are also at risk.

Based on data from Google analysed by Which?, two in five android device users around the world are no longer receiving the important updates. Currently, those devices are unlikely to have issues, but the lack of security leaves them open to attack.

"It is very concerning that expensive Android devices have such a short shelf life before they lose security support, leaving millions of users at risk of serious consequences if they fall victim to hackers," Kate Bevan editor Which? said in a statement.

"Google and phone manufacturers need to be upfront about security updates with clear information about how long they will last and what customers should do when they run out. The government must also push ahead with planned legislation to ensure manufacturers are far more transparent about security updates for smart devices and their impact on consumers," Kate added.

Android phone released around 2012 or earlier, including popular models like the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Sony Xperia S, are particularly at risk to hackers.

Which? has made suggestions to Android users on what to consider if they have an older phone that may be at risk.

Any Android device which is more than two years old, check whether it can be updated to a newer version of the operating system. If it is on an earlier version than Android 7.0 Nougat, try to update via Settings> System>Advanced System update.

In case a user is not able tto update the phone, the device could be at risk of being hacked if it is running a version of Android 4 or lower.

A user also need to be careful about downloading apps outside the Google Play store and should also install a mobile anti-virus via an app.

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Agencies
January 7,2020

Washington, Jan 7: Facebook will ban deepfake videos ahead of the US elections but the new policy will still allow heavily edited clips so long as they are parody or satire, the social media giant said Tuesday.

Deepfake videos are hyper-realistic doctored clips made using artificial intelligence or programs that have been designed to accurately fake real human movements.

In a blog published following a Washington Post report, Facebook said it would begin removing clips that were edited--beyond for clarity and quality--in ways that "aren't apparent to an average person" and could mislead people.

Clips would be removed if they were "the product of artificial intelligence or machine learning that merges, replaces or superimposes content onto a video, making it appear to be authentic," the statement from Facebook vice-president Monika Bickert said.

However, the statement added: "This policy does not extend to content that is parody or satire, or video that has been edited solely to omit or change the order of words."

US media noted the new guidelines would not cover videos such as the 2019 viral clip -- which was not a deepfake -- of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that appeared to show her slurring her words.

Facebook also gave no indication on the number of people assigned to identify and take down the offending videos, but said videos failing to meet its usual guidelines would be removed, and those flagged clips would be reviewed by teams of third-party fact-checkers -- among them AFP.

The news agency has been paid by the social media giant to fact-check posts across 30 countries and 10 languages as part of a program starting in December 2016, and including more than 60 organisations.

Content labeled "false" is not always removed from newsfeeds but is downgraded so fewer people see it -- alongside a warning explaining why the post is misleading.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: The National Commission for Women (NCW) has issued notice to some Bollywood celebrities named in a complaint against the promoter of a company for allegedly blackmailing and sexually assaulting a number of girls on the pretext of giving them a career in modelling.

Taking cognizance of the complaint filed by social activist Yogita Bhayana of People Against Rape in India (PARI), the NCW scheduled a virtual hearing presided by its chairperson on August 6.

The complaint against Sunny Verma, promoter of a company named IMG Ventures with its headquarter in Chandigarh, alleged that he has been blackmailing and sexually assaulting a number of girls on the pretext of giving them career in modelling.

PARI's Yogita Bhayana wrote a complaint letter to NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma.

"Through his company, he (Sunny Verma) invites the girls on the pretext of organising a Miss Asia contest with a claim that the contest will launch them as models. To make it look genuine, his company has also been taking an entry fee of Rs 2,950. Once the girls apply, they are alluded by the female accomplices of Sunny Verma to submit their nude pictures in order to get the better ranking in the contest," the complaint letter said on July 31.

It alleged that Verma, after receiving the pictures and sometimes even before, used to get in touch with the girls and ask for completely nude pictures and videos.

The complaint letter said that Verma also used to allude as well as threaten the girls to submit to his sexual desires if they were interested in modelling as a career or wish to win the contest.

"Once he established a physical relationship with the girls, he used to blackmail them for regular sexual favours. Many girls from across the country have suffered a sexual and mental assault from Sunny and his accomplices," said the complaint citing several letters, texts and audio clips from several girls as proof of this modus operandi of Sunny Verma and his company.

The complaint also said that Sunny Verma has been previously also arrested on charges of sexual assault.

"We would demand that NCW should investigate the case to its depth and get the guilty punished so that any other person should not dare to exploit these kinds of innocent girls on any pretext. It will be a message to people like Sunny Verma and all associated Bollywood stars. Looking forward to strict action from NCW against sexual offenders like Sunny Verma & others," the complaint said.

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