Six In The Morning

Russia trolls 'spreading vaccination misinformation' to create discord

Social media bots and Russian trolls have been spreading disinformation about vaccines on Twitter to create social discord and distribute malware, US researchers say.

Troll accounts that had attempted to influence the US election had also been tweeting about vaccines, a study says.
Many posted both pro- and anti-vaccination messages to create "false equivalency", the study found.
It examined thousands of tweets sent between 2014 and 2017.
Vaccination was being used by trolls and sophisticated bots as a "wedge issue", said Mark Dredze from Johns Hopkins University.

"By playing both sides, they erode public trust in vaccination, exposing us all to the risk of infectious diseases," he said.
Earlier this month, the World Health Organization (WHO) said cases of measles in Europe had hit a record high, with experts blaming this surge in infections on a drop in the number of people being vaccinated.



Rohingya crisis: 132 MPs across region call for Myanmar to be referred to ICC

Members of parliament have called for Myanmar military to be brought to justice for its ‘murderous operation’

Hannah Ellis-Petersen, south-east Asia correspondent

Fri 24 Aug 2018 06.06 BST 

 

 

More than 130 members of parliament, across five countries in south-east Asia, have demanded that Myanmar be investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC), the most united condemnation from the region since the violence began against the Rohingya a year ago.

In a joint statement released by Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights, they called for the Myanmar military to be “brought to justice” for its “ murderous operation in Rakhine State”.

Speaking on behalf of those 132 who had issued the statement, APHR member Charles Santiago, a Malaysian politician in the ruling coalition, said: “As Myanmar is clearly both unwilling and unable to investigate itself, we are now at a stage where the international community must step in to ensure accountability.”

 

 

 

Donald Trump told 'the countdown to impeachment has already started'

 

US president publicly addresses prospect of removal from office for first time

 

 

Tom Embury-Dennis

@tomemburyd

 

 

 

Donald Trump has been warned the “countdown” to impeachment is underway, after his former lawyer implicated the president in crimes committed during the 2016 election.

On Thursday, Mr Trump publicly addressed the prospect of impeachment for the first time, claiming the market would “crash” if his presidency was threatened.

“I don't know how you can impeach somebody who has done a great job,” Mr Trump told Fox News. “I will tell you what, if I ever got impeached, I think the market would crash. I think everybody would be very poor because, without this thinking, you would see – you would see numbers that you wouldn't believe, in reverse.”

 

 

 

Modern slavery in Germany: Preying on the vulnerable

Slavery may be banned worldwide, but the practice continues to this day. In Germany, instances of forced prostitution and labor exploitation have fueled debate about what contributes to slavery and how it can be stopped.

 

 

More than 40 million people around the world currently live in modern slavery —167,000 of them in Germany. That's according to the Global Slavery Index, compiled by Australia's Walk Free Foundation.
Historically, slavery was based on institutionalized oppression, where one person was legally recognized as the owner of another. The practice's modern day equivalent functions somewhat differently. "Slavery is no longer legal, but it is like a chameleon and lives on in secret," said Dietmar Roller, chairman of the German office of the International Justice Mission (IJM), which fights human trafficking around the world.

 

 

Peter Dutton and the other losers will be lucky to avoid seeing his career turn to ashes

 

What a collapse for a party that promised conservative values. What an indictment on cabinet ministers who unleashed chaos.
The biggest loser in any leadership spill is always the former leader, but this bedlam has more casualties than Malcolm Turnbull.

 

Peter Dutton reached for the leadership trophy and found himself clutching a funeral urn instead. He will be lucky to avoid seeing his career turn to ashes.

Dutton exaggerated his support and fooled too many of his colleagues and some in the media. His tactics brought government to a halt. Rather than clearing the air, his ambition choked the Parliament.

 

 

 

Pope to Visit Ireland, Where Scars of Sex Abuse Are ‘Worse Than the I.R.A.

 

 

By Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura

 

If any place illustrates the depth and depravity of child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church — and why the Irish are so angry about it — it is this unlikely corner of the country, where among rolling hills of wild heather, castles and bucolic fishing villages, predatory priests terrorized children with impunity for decades.

 

County Donegal, which overlooks the Atlantic in northwestern Ireland, has fewer than 160,000 residents, but it may have the worst record of clerical abuse in the country. According to a watchdog group that monitors the Catholic Church in Ireland, 14 priests have been accused in recent years, four of whom were convicted. They include the Rev. Eugene Greene, one of the nation’s most notorious pedophile priests, who served nine years in prison for raping and molesting 26 boys between 1965 and 1982, though the real figure may be far higher.