Thursday, March 7, 2019

Six In The Morning Thursday 7 March 2019

The message to China behind Singapore's US F-35 jet plan

Updated 0558 GMT (1358 HKT) March 7, 2019


They are at the cutting-edge of America's elite stealth jet technology, capable of seamlessly connecting pilots for co-ordinated missions.
And now Singapore wants to become the fourth country to enmesh US F-35 warplanes above and around the South China Sea -- a move likely to be greeted with trepidation in Beijing.
In a speech before Parliament last week, Singaporean Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen announced a plan to buy up to 12 F-35 warplanes from the US. If the deal goes through, Singapore will become the fourth American ally in the Pacific to own them.


Huawei sues US over government ban on its products

Chinese company files lawsuit claiming restriction is unlawful, harms consumers and violates constitution

Huawei is suing the US over a government ban on its products, raising the stakes in a protracted diplomatic incident between China, the US and Canada, where a senior Huawei executive is facing extradition.
In a statement on Thursday, the company said it had filed a lawsuit in the district court in Plano, Texas, calling for the ban on US government agencies buying Huawei equipment or services to be overturned.
“This ban not only is unlawful but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition, ultimately harming US consumers. We look forward to the court’s verdict and trust that it will benefit both Huawei and the American people,” said Guo Ping, Huawei’s chairman.

'IS' families leave as militants make last stand in Syria

Thousands of evacuees have been pouring out of the small village of Baghouz in Syria, the last remnant of the "Islamic State" (IS) caliphate. Many of the evacuated IS women remained defiant, praising the extremist group.
About 400 "Islamic State" (IS) fighters were captured while trying to escape the besieged town of Baghouz in eastern Syria, a senior commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the anti-IS Kurdish militia, told reporters on Wednesday.
The jihadists enlisted the help of people smugglers, said the officer, who asked to remain anonymous.
Hundreds more militants surrendered on Wednesday, although the exact number was not immediately clear. The fighters, with women and children, made up around 2,000 people who left the village during the day.

The enemy within: Shadow of Japanese colonial rule hangs over S Korea


By Claire Lee



A century after mass protests against Japanese colonial rule in Korea the issue of those who collaborated with Tokyo -- many of whom later become part of the South Korean elite -- remains hidden in the shadows.
When the Seoul government signed a 1910 treaty handing sovereignty over the peninsula to Japan, their new overlords awarded 76 key politicians and officials Japanese noble titles and pensions worth millions.
Over the next 35 years, hundreds of thousands of Koreans worked for colonial authorities as civil servants, soldiers, teachers or police.

Trump 'disappointed' if North Korea rebuilding Sohae launch site


US President Donald Trump has said he would be "disappointed" if North Korea is confirmed to be rebuilding a rocket launch site.
Satellite images published on Wednesday suggest Pyongyang is restoring a siteit had pledged to scrap.
Work to dismantle the Sohae satellite launch site began last year and was seen as a concession by Pyongyang.
Talks between Mr Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un broke down at a summit in Vietnam last week.

Mark Zuckerberg Is Trying to Play You — Again



March 7 2019

IF YOU CLICK enough times through the website of Saudi Aramco, the largest oil producer in the world, you’ll reach a quiet section called “Addressing the climate challenge.” In this part of the website, the fossil fuel monolith claims, “Our contributions to the climate challenge are tangible expressions of our ethos, supported by company policies, of conducting our business in a way that addresses the climate challenge.” This is meaningless, of course — as is the announcement Mark Zuckerberg made today about his newfound “privacy-focused vision for social networking.” Don’t be fooled by either.
Like Saudi Aramco, Facebook inhabits a world in which it is constantly screamed at, with good reason, for being a contributor to the world’s worsening state. Writing a vague blog post, however, is far easier than completely restructuring the way your enormous corporation does business and reckoning with the damage it’s caused.


No comments:

Translate