Sunday, January 8, 2017

Six In The Morning Sunday January 8

Israel apology after plot against UK politicians

Al Jazeera reveals discussions of Israeli diplomat and UK civil servant to 'take down' anti-settlement politicians.



The Israeli embassy has apologised to UK Deputy Foreign Secretary Sir Alan Duncan for comments made by one of its staff members on plans "to take [him] down" due to his criticism of Israel's settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.
The comments, made by senior political officer at the Israeli embassy Shai Masot, were secretly captured on film during a six-month undercover operation by Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit, which reveals plots by the Israeli diplomat and a British civil servant to destroy the careers of senior politicians.
In a conversation with Maria Strizzolo, who was then chief of staff to MP Robert Halfon, the deputy chairman of the ruling Conservative Party, Masot asked her if he could give her some names of MPs he would suggest she "take down".



Police and fear stalk the streets of Dhaka as clothes workers fight for more than £54 a month

Garment workers in Bangladesh endure harsh conditions and the world’s lowest minimum wage

Fewer workers than usual have been gathering for cups of chai near the guarded, grey towers of Ashulia, a hub for garment factories on the outskirts of Dhaka. “Everyone seems scared of being harassed by the police,” says one tea seller, frowning from his stall.
Ashulia’s garment factories, which produce clothing for ranges on sale across the developed world, are alive with activity but the tension brimming in the air – and the lines of armed guards posted outside some gates – echo the anger that has swept the area.
Last month, tens of thousands of workers clocked in then immediately returned to the streets, joining the largest protests since those that followed the collapse in 2013 of the Rana Plaza clothing factory, causing more than 1,100 deaths.



Revealed: How dangerous fake health news conquered Facebook

Exclusive: Misinformation published by conspiracy sites about serious health conditions is often shared more widely than evidence-based reports from reputable news organisations



The widespread circulation of fake health news on social networks is misleading and potentially dangerous, health officials have warned.
Misinformation published by conspiracy sites about serious health conditions is often shared more widely than evidence-based reports from reputable news organisations, according to analysis by The Independent. Of the 20 most-shared articles on Facebook in 2016 with the word “cancer” in the headline, more than half purport claims discredited by doctors and health authorities or – in the case of the year’s top story – directly by the source cited in the article.
Facebook has introduced measures allowing users to flag disputed news shared on the site following concerns the circulation of deliberately fictitious articles could have influenced the US election.


The PC MonsterHas Political Correctness Gone off the Rails in America?

Few terms are as divisive in today's United States as "political correctness." A concept that was intended to create greater freedom in the country may instead have resulted in the opposite. It also helped strengthen the right wing.


It's a Friday afternoon in Oberlin, Ohio, around one month before the country heads to the polls to elect Donald Trump as its next president. The final classes and lectures of the week have just ended, and a young woman comes walking by in bare feet with a hula hoop gyrating around her waist while others are performing what seems to be a rhythmic dance to the African music that's playing. Two black students are rapping.

It's the kind of scene that could easily play out on a beach full of backpack tourists, but this is unfolding at one of the country's most expensive universities.


Riding bikes and fighting taboos in Afghanistan



Three months ago a handful of young Afghan boys launched a freestyle cycling club in Kabul. It went viral when teenage girls also joined the club – a big deal in a conservative society like Afghanistan. 
The group are an unusual sight in the country: jumping over ramps, hopping over kerbs, sliding down handrails, stairs and ledges with their BMXs, and dressed in baseball caps and branded streetwear more reminiscent of hip-hop videos. But for three months now the group can be seen practising in Khatam Park in the west of the capital Kabul. Fifty teenagers, among them 15 girls, meet regularly to ride and practise tricks in the country’s first freestyle cycling club, which has been dubbed the Drop and Ride club.


South Korean Buddhist monk in critical condition after setting himself on fire over ‘comfort women’ deal


AP

A South Korean Buddhist monk is in critical condition after setting himself on fire to protest the country’s settlement with Japan on compensation for wartime sex slaves, officials said Sunday.
The 64-year-old monk suffered third-degree burns across his body and serious damage to vital organs. He’s unconscious and unable to breathe on his own, said an official from the Seoul National University Hospital, who didn’t want to be named citing office rules.
The man set himself ablaze late Saturday during a large rally in Seoul calling for the ouster of impeached President Park Geun-hye, police said. In his notebook, the man called Park a “traitor” over her government’s 2015 agreement with Japan that sought to settle a long-standing row over South Korean “comfort women” who were forced into sexual slavery by Japan’s World War II military, police said.










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