News Headlines - 21 October 2019

▽TikTok is the latest platform to pull ISIS propaganda videos | Engadget

TikTok may have a terrorism problem. According to The Wall Street Journal, Islamic State militants have been posting short propaganda videos to the platform. That's especially concerning because TikTok is so popular with impressionable teenagers.
According to WSJ, the videos showed things like corpses being paraded through the streets, ISIS fighters and women who call themselves "jihadist and proud." Some videos were set to catchy songs, and some used TikTok filters with stars and hearts. They were shared by nearly two dozen accounts... Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have fought their own battles against terrorist content, and now that TikTok has become one of the most popular apps in the US, it will likely face similar challenges.

▽Hong Kong protests: police fire water cannon, blue dye at mosque, tear gas - The Washington Post

Hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy protesters returned to the streets of Hong Kong on Sunday, defying a ban on assembly before being violently dispersed by police tear gas and a water cannon.
A police water cannon filled with stinging blue dye blasted protesters along a major thoroughfare in Kowloon. It also hit a small group standing guard outside a mosque - an important spiritual nexus for the city’s largely South Asian Muslim community - leaving bystanders choking and vomiting and eliciting a rare apology from authorities.

▽Thailand's king strips consort of royal, military titles for undermining the queen - UPI.com

Thailand's King Maha Vajirallongkorn on Monday stripped his consort of her royal and military titles, saying she tried to undermine the queen.
A royal order issued on Monday stated that Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi, 34, was unsatisfied with her position as royal consort and asserted pressure on Queen Suthida by acting like the queen herself, which caused confusion and obstructed both the nation and the monarchy.

▽Japan refused to grant Natalia Poklonskaya visa without giving any reason

The deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation from the Crimean region, Natalya Poklonskaya, was refused a visa for a tourist visit to Japan... The deputy stressed that she wanted to go to Japan with a tourist visit. Her documents from the Moscow embassy were sent to the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo. After that, it transpired that the Japanese side decided not to provide the Russian parliamentarian with a visa.

▽UK among most generous countries in World Giving Index

The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) study asked people if they had helped a stranger, given money or volunteered for a good cause in the month before being interviewed.
The research, which took place over a decade, surveyed 1.3 million people in 128 countries in total.
Figures from annual surveys taking place between 2009 and 2018 were combined to make the findings.
The World Giving Index 10th edition report identified the United States as the most generous country, while China was ranked bottom.
Here are the top 10 highest scoring countries in the CAF report:
1. United States
2. Burma
3. New Zealand
4. Australia
5. Ireland
6. Canada
7. UK
8. Netherlands
9. Sri Lanka
10. Indonesia