Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Six In The Morning Wednesday August 2

North Korea: US not seeking regime change, says Rex Tillerson

The US government is not seeking a regime change in North Korea, the secretary of state says, amid tensions over Pyongyang's weapons programme.
"We're not your enemy," Rex Tillerson said, adding that the US wanted a dialogue at some point.
But a Republican senator said President Donald Trump had told him there would be a war with North Korea if its missile programme continued.
Pyongyang claimed its latest missile could hit the US west coast.
The second test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Friday, celebrated by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was the latest to be conducted in defiance of a United Nations ban.






Wiki warriors: activists fighting to keep truth of brutal Marcos regime in Philippines alive

Revisionism becoming rife amid signs the descendants of the former dictator have never been closer to a political comeback

“It’s basically like playing in the sandbox. You build a sandcastle and then another kid comes along and just kicks it over.” That’s how it feels to be on the front lines of information warfare in the Philippines, explains computer programmer Carlos Nazareno.
The 39-year-old is one of a handful of committed “Wikipedians” who edit sensitive pages about Philippine history, including that of former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos and the years he ruled the country under martial law.
The task has taken on greater significance in recent months, amid concerns the former ruling family is closer than ever to making a political comeback, and fears the incumbent president Rodrigo Duterte is using similar tactics. Duterte declared martial law in May to crush an Islamist insurgency on this island of Mindanao – a state that has since been extended until 31 December.



This is how Facebook's shut-down AI robots developed their own language – and why it's more common than you think

None of this is a huge surprise: the neural network robots behind Google Translate made up their own language long ago which is 'not readable or usable for humans'



There has been a real flurry of interest in the last couple of days in a couple of chatbots (reassuringly named "Bob" and "Alice") developed by Facebook AI Research. Reports have been flying around of these robots creating their own sinister coded language, along with incomprehensible snippets of intriguing exchanges between the two of them. One example is this:
Bob: I can i i everything else
Alice: balls have zero to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to

German-born girl returns after deportation to Nepal

After eight grueling weeks away Bivsi Rana has arrived back in Germany, the place she calls home. Greeted by fellow classmates at the airport, she appeared happy to be among familiar faces.

Bivsi Rana, a German born Nepalese girl, arrived at Dusseldorf airport on Wednesday to a crowd of supporters holding signs that read: "Welcome Bivsi!"
Upon arriving at the airport, her brother greeted her along with her fellow students. At first, she was overcome with joy, bringing her to tears. But as her classmates and supporters gathered around her, she appeared tranquil.
After eight grueling weeks, 15-year-old Bivsi returned to the place she calls home, Germany. Despite being born in the country, German authorities pulled Bivsi out of her classroom in May and deported her and her parents to Nepal that same day.


The fierce 'war of images' in Venezuela's election


Venezuelans were called to vote in a new constituent assembly on Sunday July 30 by president Nicolas Maduro – a vote that was boycotted by the opposition. On social media, supporters and critics of the government went head to head in a "war of images" during the day.

Venezuelan voters were asked to choose the 545 members of a constituent assembly formed by Maduro as the best way of calming tensions in the country. For four months, Venezuela has been shaken by almost daily, violent demonstrations against the government, resulting already in over 120 deaths.

Theoretically, the newly elected MPs should have certain powers and be able to write a new constitution for the country. But for the opposition, who have had a majority in the Assembly since December 2015, it's just a way of shoring up the powers of the president and securing his position.


New female opposition leader's baby plans quizzed, hours after taking power

Updated 0818 GMT (1618 HKT) August 2, 2017


New Zealand's new opposition leader said it was "unacceptable" for a professional woman to be questioned on her plans for children, hours after she faced exactly those queries.
Jacinda Ardern was elected as the new leader of New Zealand's Labour opposition on Tuesday in a unanimous vote, following the resignation of former leader Andrew Little.
    Little quit earlier in the day, according to local media, after taking responsibility for the Labour party's continued poor polling.







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