Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Boko Haram: Behind the Rise of Nigeria's Armed Group
An investigation into the origins and ideology of the rebel group and its bloody rise.
Since 2010, people in northeastern Nigeria have lived in constant fear of being attacked.
In the past years, Nigeria's rebel group Boko Haram has repeatedly attacked schools, churches, mosques and markets, but state institutions such as police stations and military facilities have remained primary targets.
The group provoked global outrage in April 2014 when they kidnapped 276 schoolgirls in Chibok, northeastern Nigeria. The kidnapping received global condemnation and sparked the solidarity campaign #BringBackOurGirls.
Six In The Morning Wednesday May 31
Kabul bombing: Huge explosion rocks diplomatic district
Dozens of Afghan civilians killed after massive explosion rips through the heart of the capital's diplomatic district.
A suspected truck bomb has ripped through the heart of Kabul's diplomatic district, killing at least 80 people and wounding hundreds, in a powerful blast described by officials as "one of the biggest" to have hit the Afghan capital.
Sources said Wednesday's suicide attack took place near Zanbaq square, in Kabul's 10th district, close to shops and restaurants, as well as government offices and foreign embassies.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, told Al Jazeera that the group was not responsible for the attack.
Activists investigating Ivanka Trump's China shoe factory detained or missing
Three men from New York-based rights group China Labor Watch were looking at conditions at plant where Trump shoes are assembled
A labour activist working undercover investigating abuses at a Chinese factory that makes Ivanka Trump shoes has been detained by police and two others are missing, raising concerns the company’s ties to the US president’s family may have led to harsher treatment.
Hua Haifeng was being held by police on suspicion of illegal surveillance, his wife Deng Guilian said. Hua had worked for labour rights organisations for more than a decade and was investigating a factory in southern Guangdong province for New York-based rights group China Labor Watch.
Hua, 36, attempted to travel to Hong Kong last week but was stopped at the border. He was later questioned by police in Shenzhen, a city on the border with Hong Kong, and was released. He then traveled to Jiangxi province and disappeared, before his wife was notified by police.
In the age of Islamic literalism we should remember the Egyptian scholar who fought back
Listening to Abu Zeid’s words today, they might have been used to condemn Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s Isis pronouncements – or indeed the army of Saudi Arabian imams who preach the Salafist-Wahhabi cause so beloved of Isis
In the age of Isis, we should remember Nasr Abu Zeid. He was a hero of his time, who would, had he lived – now that the Salafist cult has been let loose in the Europe of his exile as well as the Egypt that was his home – have long ago been murdered. Before I telephoned him for the first time in Cairo, I wondered if he’d be still alive to talk to me by the time I reached his home.
Almost exactly 22 years ago, I rang the bell and it was his wife Ibtihal who opened the door in a tired way, weary beyond her 37 years, pointing to the sitting room where her husband was waiting to explain to me why they wouldn’t divorce each other. The price was already high. Islamists had called for his death. Others had accused Ibtihal of “fornication” because she refused to leave the husband she had been told to divorce by the Egyptian Appeals Court and was thus living out of wedlock.
What would Europe's 'fate' be without the US?
Without US support and its "nuclear umbrella," analysts believe Russia could swing the balance of power in the region despite a weaker military. Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron hold the keys to self-sufficiency.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says it's time for Europe to take its fate into its own hands, given a Trump Administration attitude toward European defense that's too tepid for the comfort of some NATO governments. Countries that are underspending may naturally be feeling overexposed, with the US threatening to "moderate" support for those not meeting the alliance mandate of 2 percent of GDP budgeted for defense. If US President Donald Trump made good on his threats, what kind of security could Europe provide itself?
Former European Defense Agency official Nick Witney believes there's never been a more pressing need - nor a better opportunity - for Europe to get serious about this. With Trump's threats coming from one direction and Russia's from the other, the election of France's new cool headed president, Emmanuel Macron, gives Merkel the best set of circumstances she's going to get for shoring up Europe's self-reliance.
Koike takes on Japan's old-boy network, but denies run for PM
By Linda Sieg and Ami Miyazaki
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike is challenging Japan's old-boy network in the capital, where she thrashed a ruling party rival to win her post and now aims to lead reform-minded candidates to victory in a city-wide July election.
A popular former TV announcer who speaks Arabic and English, Koike is the leader of a mega-metropolis with an economy bigger than Holland's and a budget on par with Sweden's - and her reformist image has some politicians betting she could become Japan's first female premier in a few years.
For now, the former defense minister says her sights are set firmly on a July 2 Tokyo metropolitan assembly poll, where she's targeting a majority for her fledgling "Tokyo Citizens First" party and its allies.
Koike, in an interview with Reuters, compared herself to French President Emmanuel Macron, whose election marked a meteoric rise and whose party now needs a majority in June parliamentary elections so he can carry out reforms.
How America's 'ground-zero' for modern slavery was cleaned up by workers' group
Alejandrina Carrera is covered from head to toe.
Long pants tucked into her shoes. Long sleeves tucked into her gloves. And layers of material covering her entire head and face, a protective shield against the brutal south-Florida sun.
Today, the oppressive heat is her only worry.
Yet that wasn't the case when Carrera first came to the United States from Mexico 20 years ago, a migrant farmworker in search of a better life. She was just 14 years old, scared, vulnerable, and alone.
"I was very young, I didn't have my father or mother, no one," she says.
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Different News From Japan
How to buy Japan’s adorable, delicious cat-shaped bread【Photos】 https://t.co/07ue8378MH via @RocketNews24En— Taro Aso (@Nishinasuno) May 30, 2017
82-year-old DJ puts unique spin on Tokyo's club scene https://t.co/ffTAgmWvmy— Taro Aso (@Nishinasuno) May 30, 2017
When will Mosul be liberated?
The Iraqi army has launched an offensive to recapture the remaining enclaves still held by ISIL.
Iraqi government forces say they are closing in on the last remaining parts of western Mosul still held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS).
The western part of Iraq's second city is ISIL's last remaining Iraqi stronghold. The latest phase of the battle for Mosul - launched last October - was announced on Saturday.
The fighting is focussed on three western neighbourhoods. Recapturing them will pave the way for Iraqi forces, backed by US-led coalition airstrikes, to begin a final push for the Old City.
Six In The Morning Tuesday May 30
Philippine army battles to contain Isis attacks from spreading to second city
Curfews and heavy military presence in Iligan, a city of 350,000, amid fears Islamist militants may seek to expand conflict
Police and security services have imposed a night-time curfew and increased their presence in a second Philippine city following reports that Islamist militants fighting fierce battles in Marawi might pose as civilians to sneak out and open a new front.
More than 90% of Marawi’s 200,000 population have fled a week of street clashes and aerial strikes. Many have relocated to Iligan City, 38km (24 miles) to the north, where authorities have implemented a 10pm to 4am curfew.
Posting on the city’s Facebook page, police had said curfews were not a complete lockdown but “containment action” – using both stationary and mobile checkpoints as well as “police visibility to negate the occurrence of same incident at Marawi City”.After Manchester, Britain is experiencing the fear that Syrian children live with every day
The attack in Manchester was, sadly, not unique. Those grieving join a sorrowful community across the globe made up of people who have lost loved ones to extremist violence
“At least 68 children died in an Isis attack in Syria this week too.” Several friends have posted this remark on my Facebook and Twitter newsfeeds in the days since 22 people were murdered in a terror attack on Manchester Arena last Monday.
“Those children are just as deserving of our sympathy,” they wrote, sharing a link to articles about the bombing of a Syrian bus. Except, of course, that news story was from April – and the attack wasn’t even carried out by Isis.
Venezuela opposition figures wounded as anti-govt demos intensify
CARACAS (AFP) -
Two leading Venezuelan opposition figures were wounded in anti-government protests Monday, as demonstrators vowed to intensify pressure on President Nicolas Maduro and against his plans to hold a constitutional assembly.
Henrique Capriles, a former opposition presidential candidate, said he and his team were beaten by National Guard troops as they left a rally that had been broken up by tear gas.
"They cornered us, they beat us... They robbed us all. They took my team's watches, radios, gas masks. When I asked them 'What's wrong with you?' their reaction was to give me a blow to the face. Did they want to kill us?" he told reporters.
Banned outfits in Pakistan operate openly on Facebook
Activity of 41 sectarian, terrorist, anti-state organisations is accessible to every user on the social network.
AHANZAIB HAQUE | OMER BASHIR
They exist in plain sight, just one search and one click away from any of Pakistan’s 25 million Facebook users.
An investigation carried out by Dawn across the month of April 2017 has revealed that 41 of Pakistan’s 64 banned outfits are present on Facebook in the form of hundreds of pages, groups and individual user profiles.
Their network, both interconnected and public, is a mix of Sunni and Shia sectarian or terror outfits, global terror organisations operating in Pakistan, and separatists in Balochistan and Sindh.
Why North Korea's older-style Scud missile is bad news
North Korea has revealed why it launched an older style, short-range Scud missile on Monday.
After a flurry of launches this year that have alarmed the international community because they appear to significantly extend the range that North Korea's missiles could travel, the "cheap" Scud fired on Monday travelled just 450 kilometres.
But North Korean missile watchers believe the regime's latest launch could be an attempt to perfect a guided-missile system, which, if combined with the longer range missiles capable of flying 4500 kilometres, could allow North Korea to conduct precise attacks against military targets.Britain's young voters are angry, not apathetic
Updated 0744 GMT (1544 HKT) May 30, 2017
Just over a year ago, 20-year-old Londoner Kismet Meyon was homeless. It was the second time she'd found herself without a roof over her head.
Her boyfriend gave her a place to stay, but it prompted her to think about others left without homes: "What if I was someone who didn't have a boyfriend to go to?" she asks.
Meyon had never been interested in politics before. But her brushes with homelessness convinced her that getting involved in politics was the best way to change society. Now she's working with other young people to influence the policies of London's mayor Sadiq Khan and she's studying for a degree in politics and international relations.
Monday, May 29, 2017
Afghanistan: Asylum Denied
Europe is deporting thousands of Afghans back to a country which has been embroiled in chaos and war for decades.
With the war intensifying in Afghanistan, hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing to Europe in the biggest influx of migrants seen there since World War II.
Faced with increasing opposition to immigration, the EU has drafted a plan to deport 80,000 Afghan asylum seekers back to their country.
Leaders in Germany say parts of Afghanistan are safe to return to, but the facts point to a different reality.
Six In The Morning Monday May 29
Manchester attacks: MI5 probes bomber 'warnings'
MI5 is to hold an inquiry into the way it dealt with warnings from the public that the Manchester suicide bomber, Salman Abedi, was a potential threat.
The security service, which was alerted to Abedi's extremist views three times prior to last Monday's attack, will examine how it dealt with the warnings.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd said it was right for MI5 to review its processes.
Early on Monday a man, 23, was arrested in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, on suspicion of terrorism offences.
Greater Manchester Police said they had also executed search warrants at addresses in the Whalley Range area of Manchester and in Chester overnight.
Portland attack: Donald Trump called on to make statement about double murder
Veteran journalist Dan Rather leads a chorus of people calling on the president to acknowledge the heroism of Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche and Rick Best
Pressure is mounting on the US president, Donald Trump, to make a comment on the racist attack in Portland, Oregon that left two men dead.
Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, 23, and Rick Best, 53, were fatally stabbed on Friday while intervening to stop a racist attack on a Muslim teenager on a commuter train.
The pair have been honoured as heroes by Portland’s mayor and the FBI, but the president has remained silent, despite tweeting 10 times on Sunday on topics ranging from healthcare to fake news.North Korea fires 'ballistic missile' towards Japan
South Korean president calls emergency meeting in response to launch
North Korea has fired an "unidentified projectile", believed to be a ballistic missile, towards Japan, South Korean officials have said.
The object was launched from the Wonsan region on North Korea's east coast and aimed eastwards, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
President Moon Jae-in of South Korea has called an emergency meeting of the National Security Council to assess the launch.
The projectile is believed to be a Scud-type missile that travelled around 280 miles before landing in the Sea of Japan, South Korean military sources said.ISIS in Southeast Asia: Philippines battles growing threat
Updated 0806 GMT (1606 HKT) May 29, 2017
The black flag of ISIS has been raised in the Philippines.
At least 103 people have died in the city of Marawi on the southern island of Mindanao in less than a week as fighters affiliated with the so-called Islamic State engaged in violent clashes with government forces, and martial law was declared over the entire island.
Local resident Chico Usman said the militants had entered the predominantly Muslim city of some 200,000 suddenly, on the afternoon of May 24, wearing masks and carrying assault rifles. "Everybody was shocked and ran into their houses," he said, adding they could hear gunfire and fighting until the following morning.
VILLAGERS SAY YEMENI CHILD WAS SHOT AS HE TRIED TO FLEE NAVY SEAL RAID
FIVE CIVILIANS INCLUDING a child were killed and another five were wounded in the latest U.S. Navy SEAL raid in Yemen, according to eyewitness accounts gathered by The Intercept.
The raid by U.S. commandos in the hamlet of al Adhlan, in the Yemeni province of Mareb on May 23, also destroyed at least four homes. Navy SEALs, with air support from more than half a dozen attack helicopters and aircraft, were locked in a firefight with Yemeni tribesmen for over an hour, according to local residents.
Details from five eyewitnesses in the village conflict with statements made by the Department of Defense and U.S. Central Command, which have not acknowledged that civilians were harmed. Official military reports claimed seven militants from the Yemen-based Al Qaeda branch, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, were killed “through a combination of small arms fire and precision airstrikes.” Two commandos were also reportedly lightly wounded in the gunfight. Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis told reporters on May 23 there were “no credible indications of civilian casualties.”
4 Japanese firms invested heavily in cluster bomb makers: NGO group
(Mainichi Japan)
Four Japanese financial firms invested heavily in cluster bomb manufacturers between 2013 and 2017, said the Dutch nongovernmental organization (NGO) PAX.
According to a report released by PAX, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., Orix Corp. and Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co., Ltd. all invested considerable sums of money into cluster bomb makers up until March 2017 -- with the figures coming to U.S.$914 million, U.S.$606 million, U.S.$354 million and U.S.$40 million, respectively.
The findings revealed that Japan, which in 2008 signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions prohibiting the use, development and production of cluster munitions, had the highest number of its domestic financial institutions investing in cluster bomb makers among other signatory countries.
Sunday, May 28, 2017
Trump Unleashes Another Whiny Tweet Storm
Donald Trump back from his why is everybody mean to me world tour has unleashed upon the world another whiny tweet screed about the fake news and the mistreatment of Jared Kushner and the scandal that his consuming is brief time in office: Russia. Of course it's all fake news and media is lying.
Facebook and the ethics of moderation
We examine Facebook's challenge in moderating content. Plus, the people monitoring the social web
Facebook's status: Tech or media company?
This week, the British newspaper The Guardian revealed hundreds of internal Facebook documents that outline the site's ground rules for content moderators. From violence to racism, revenge porn to child abuse - the picture that emerges is one of a company struggling with its responsibilities as a media platform and how to cope with more 1.3 million posts per minute, in multiple languages.
Six In The Morning Sunday May 28
British Airways to resume most flights but delays still expected
British Airways has warned of further delays and cancellations as it resumes flights following the major IT failure that saw most services cancelled from Heathrow and Gatwick on Saturday.
Thousands of passengers had their plans disrupted, while some who did get to travel had to do so without luggage.
The airline has said it will refund reasonable costs to passengers, and assist them with rebooking flights.
Disruption is expected to continue throughout the bank holiday.
Customers have been advised customers to continue checking the status of their flight on its website www.ba.com before travelling to the airport. Heathrow Airport is providing an updated schedule on its website, as is Gatwick.
Marawi: Isis rampage in Philippines continues with 19 civilians killed
Official death toll from week of fighting rises to at least 85 as militants clash with security forces in Muslim-majority city
Islamist militants locked in street-to-street battles with security forces in a southern Philippine city have killed 19 civilians, the military said Sunday, bringing the official death toll from nearly a week of fighting to at least 85.
The violence prompted the president, Rodrigo Duterte, to declare martial law on Tuesday across the southern third of the Philippines to quell what he said was a fast-growing threat of militants linked to the Islamic State group.
Authorities said the militants had killed 19 civilians in Marawi, a mostly Muslim-populated city of 200,000 people. These included three women and a child who were found dead near a university.
To prevent another week of terror, our state must not become a vast Isis recruiting sergeant
British Libyans and Libyan exiles who had their passports returned to fight Gaddafi were always unlikely to return as model citizens
The massacre in Manchester is a horrific event born out of the violence raging in a vast area stretching from Pakistan to Nigeria and Syria to South Sudan. Britain is on the outer periphery of this cauldron of war, but it would be surprising if we were not hit by sparks thrown up by these savage conflicts. They have been going on so long that they are scarcely reported, and the rest of the world behaves as if perpetual warfare was the natural state of Libya, Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, South Sudan, North-east Nigeria and Afghanistan.
It is inevitable that, in the wake of the slaughter in Manchester, popular attention in Britain should be focussed on the circumstances of the mass killing and on what can be done to stop it happening again. But explanations for what happened and plans to detect and neutralise a very small number of Salafi-jihadi fanatics in UK, will always lack realism unless they are devised and implemented with a broad understanding of the context in which they occur.
Iran's Supreme Leader calls the Saudi leaders 'idiots'
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned Saudi Arabia's rulers they face "certain downfall" for their close ties and the recent arms deal with the US. He said the kingdom's leaders were "an inept and worthless bunch."
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei criticized the $110 billion weapons deal announced last week between the US and Saudi Arabia, describing how the Saudi leaders were "idiots" and "milk cows for the Americans."
He was cited by the Fars news agency as calling the Saudi royal family "an inept and worthless bunch" that trades their wealth with "pagans and enemies."
The supreme leader also criticized the kingdom's leaders for siding with the US but ignoring the fate of people in Bahrain and Yemen, in reference to the Bahrain government's ongoing repression of political opponents and the civil war in Yemen, where Riyadh and Tehran are on opposing sides.Michel Temer faces tough fight for political survival
Hit by corruption allegations, Brazil's leader is likely to leave office, analysts say, though how and when are unclear.
Sam Cowie
Sao Paulo - Brazil's President Michel Temer is barely hanging on to power, accused of corruption and obstruction of justice following leaked secret recordings that appear to show him authorising bribes.
Temer has denied any wrongdoing and has so far refused to resign. Yet, analysts believe that his exit from the presidency is more than likely - though how and when still remain unclear.
The scandal comes just over a year since Temer manoeuvred to oust his predecessor, Dilma Rousseff, in a controversial impeachment process in which the former president was eventually removed after being accused of manipulating the federal budget.Map of 'imminent flooding' under development to urge prompt evacuation
(Mainichi Japan)
A land ministry research institute is developing a system of monitoring rivers in real time and sharing information on potential flooding with local governments and residents to help people evacuate before levees break or rivers overflow.
The "Kozui kikendo mieruka project (Project for Sharing Flood Disaster Risk with Local Governments and Local Communities)," launched by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT)'s National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management (NILIM) in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, is set to be completed in fiscal 2018.
According to MLIT, approximately 2,000 rivers across the country are currently being monitored at some 6,600 water-level checkpoints managed by the ministry and other entities. When water levels rise, information is disseminated on whether checkpoints -- in increments of several to about a dozen kilometers -- are flooded, are in imminent danger of flooding, should be watched with great vigilance, or should be watched with caution.
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