May 04 2019

Six In The Morning Saturday 4 May 2019

North Korea launches short-range missiles

Test perceived as warning shot to US, which has imposed strict sanctions on Pyongyang

North Korea has fired several short-range missiles from its east coast, South Korea’s military said, amid growing tensions with Washington following a failed nuclear summit in February.

South Korean and US authorities are analysing details of the missiles, which were fired towards the east from the Hodo peninsula at around 9am local time.

The missiles flew distances ranging from 70kms to 200 kms (44-124 miles), according to South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff.

The plot that failed: how Venezuela’s ‘uprising’ fizzled

When the coup was hurriedly launched a day early, defections from the regime failed to materialise, Maduro remained in power and the US government looked like it had badly miscalculated

by  in Caracas,  in Washington,  in Bogotá and  in Mexico City

The video that appeared on Tuesday morning had the appearance of history in the making. In the purple light of dawn, it showed a group of armed men and a military vehicle on a road leading to La Carlota airbase in eastern Caracas.

In the foreground, stood Juan Guaidó – the head of the national assembly recognised by most western countries as the rightful leader of Venezuela – declaring the “final phase of Operation Freedom” with oratory seemingly destined for legend.

“Today, brave soldiers, brave patriots, brave men loyal to the constitution have heard our call. We have finally met on the streets of Venezuela,” Guaidó said.

Pakistan urges Facebook to take down polio vaccine misinformation

Pakistan urged Facebook to remove harmful polio-related content from the social networking site on Friday, saying it was jeopardising eradication initiatives and putting the lives of vaccinators at risk.

Polio vaccination campaigns have faced stubborn resistance for years in Pakistan.

In recent months Pakistani social media has been inundated with fake news reports and videos — garnering thousands of views and shares in the last week alone — claiming numerous children have been killed by the polio vaccine.

Thousands of parents have refused to allow their children to be inoculated.

“The parental refusals due to propaganda on Facebook regarding the vaccine is emerging as the major obstacle in achieving complete eradication of the virus,” Babar Atta, who is helping oversee the country’s vaccination drive, said in a statement.

Rockets fired from Gaza day after Israel kills four Palestinians

No casualties reported as dozens of rockets reportedly land in Israeli settlements and towns surrounding Gaza Strip.

Dozens of rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel, a day after Israeli forces killed four Palestinians in two separate incidents in Gaza.

There were no casualties reported after the rocket fire on Saturday morning, the Israeli army said.

The Iron Dome missile system intercepted dozens of projectiles, the army said, adding that about 90 rockets were fired from the besieged enclave.

WHEN ERIK PRINCE arrived at the Four Seasons resort in the Seychelles in January 2017 for his now-famous meetings with a Russian banker and UAE ruler Mohammed bin Zayed, he was in the middle of an unexpected comeback. The election of Donald Trump had given the disgraced Blackwater founder a new opportunity to prove himself. After years of trying and failing to peddle a sweeping vision of mercenary warfare around the world, Erik Prince was back in the game.
Bin Zayed had convened a group of close family members and advisers at the luxurious Indian Ocean resort for a grand strategy session in anticipation of the new American administration. On the agenda were discussions of new approaches for dealing with the civil wars in Yemen, Syria, and Libya, the threat of the Islamic State, and the United Arab Emirates’ longstanding rivalry with Iran. Under bin Zayed’s leadership, the UAE had used its oil wealth to become one of the world’s largest arms purchasers and the third largest importer of U.S. weapons. A new American president meant new opportunities for the tiny Gulf nation to exert its outsized military and economic influence in the Gulf region and beyond.

8chan, a nexus of radicalization for the Poway and Christchurch shooters, explained

The online platform is a dark, toxic corner of the internet.

On April 27, a 19-year-old man opened fire at a San Diego synagogue, killing one person and injuring three others. The incident took place six weeks after a 28-year-old man murdered 50 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The two have a disturbing commonality: They were both hanging out in the same dark corner of the internet, specifically a site called 8chan.

8chan is an online message board that since its 2013 launch has become the home of some of the most vitriolic content on the internet. It characterizes itself as the “darkest reaches” of the online world in its tagline and has fostered a reputation as a nearly lawless space for free speech — however hateful or dangerous it may be — to flourish.