Wednesday, 8 March 2017

Kim Jong-nam death: Mystery video of son emerges

In the short and censored clip, the man says: "My name is Kim Han-sol, from North Korea, part of the Kim family."
He says he is with his mother and sister, but there are no details on the date or location. It's the Kim family's first public comment since the murder.
Kim Jong-nam died after attackers smeared nerve agent on his face in Kuala Lumpur airport, Malaysia.
Relations between North Korea and Malaysia have been severely strained since the 13 February murder, with North Korea barring Malaysians from leaving its territory and Malaysia responding in kind.
However, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on Wednesday appeared to have struck a softer tone with Pyongyang, saying his country still wanted to negotiate on the issue.
He also said there were no plans to cut diplomatic relations.

What is in the video?

The 40-second clip features the man identified as Kim Han-sol sitting against a grey wall. In perfect, slightly accented English, he introduces himself and says: "My father has been killed a few days ago. I'm currently with my mother and my sister."
He shows what appears to be a North Korean diplomatic passport to confirm his identity, though the details have been blocked out, and says he is "grateful to..." before the audio and image are censored.
He ends by saying: "We hope this gets better soon."
As his father was killed on 13 February, it is unclear when and where the video was filmed, and what Kim Han-sol's current whereabouts are.
Officials at South Korea's Unification Ministry and National Intelligence Service say the man in the video is Kim Han-sol.

Who posted the video?

It was put online by a group called the Cheollima Civil Defense - they have not previously been heard of, and appear to have registered a website and YouTube account only recently.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the group presumably assists escaping North Koreans - there is a town south-west of Pyongyang named Cheollima. They sent the video link to the Malaysia correspondent for Channel News Asia.
A message in English on the CCD website said it had responded to a request for protection from "survivors of the family of Kim Jong-nam".
"We have in the past addressed other urgent needs for protection. This will be the first and last statement on this particular matter, and the present whereabouts of this family will not be addressed."
It also thanked several countries for offering emergency humanitarian assistance, including the Netherlands, China and the US and "a fourth government to remain unnamed", while giving particular thanks to the Netherlands ambassador in South Korea, AJA Embrechts.

Who is Kim Han-sol?

Image captionKim Han-sol gave an interview to Finnish television in 2012
He is believed to be 21, and has lived a low-profile life since his father's exile, growing up in Macau and China.
In 2012, he appeared in a TV interview for Finnish TV from Bosnia, where he was studying, saying he had never met his powerful uncle or his grandfather, the late Kim Jong-il.
He said he had "always dreamed that one day I would go back and make things better and make it easier for the people" of North Korea.

Where has the murder investigation got to?

Media captionKim Jong-nam was poisoned with an extraordinarily potent chemical weapon called VX
Kim Jong-nam was once seen as a potential future leader of North Korea, but was bypassed for succession in favour of his younger half-brother. He has since lived in exile.
Though it fiercely denies this, North Korea is widely assumed to have carried out the attack with the deadly toxin, potentially to remove a threat to the leadership.
Mr Kim's body remains in a mortuary in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia has said it will not release it until the Kim family provides DNA samples.
Two women have been charged with murder - one Indonesian, one Vietnamese - but both say they were duped into killing Kim, and believed they were taking part in a televised prank.
Malaysia is seeking seven North Koreans, including a diplomat - it believes three suspects are hiding in the North's embassy in Kuala Lumpur, which has been surrounded by police.
Image captionKim Jong-nam sought help at the airport shortly after his face was smeared with the deadly VX nerve agent
North Korea has yet to confirm that the dead man is Mr Kim - he was travelling under a passport in a different name.
It says the man died of a heart attack, not a chemical attack, and is furious that a post-mortem was carried out. It has accused Malaysia of conducting a biased investigation and colluding with its enemies, and is demanding to be given the body.

Tit-for-tat exit bans

In an extraordinary move on Tuesday, North Korea banned Malaysians in the country from leaving, citing security reasons.
Malaysia called this an "abhorrent act" which was "in total disregard of all international law and diplomatic norms", then did the same thing for North Koreans in Malaysia.
Both countries have already expelled each other's ambassadors.
In Malaysia's state of Sarawak, immigration officials have detained dozens of North Koreans with expired work permits.
So far, 140 North Koreans working in the private construction sector are being held by the authorities, who say they are awaiting further instructions from the government.
Meanwhile, North Korea is refusing to allow approximately 11 Malaysian nationals to leave the country.

Kim Jong-nam death: Mystery video of son emerges

In the short and censored clip, the man says: "My name is Kim Han-sol, from North Korea, part of the Kim family."
He says he is with his mother and sister, but there are no details on the date or location. It's the Kim family's first public comment since the murder.
Kim Jong-nam died after attackers smeared nerve agent on his face in Kuala Lumpur airport, Malaysia.
Relations between North Korea and Malaysia have been severely strained since the 13 February murder, with North Korea barring Malaysians from leaving its territory and Malaysia responding in kind.
However, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on Wednesday appeared to have struck a softer tone with Pyongyang, saying his country still wanted to negotiate on the issue.
He also said there were no plans to cut diplomatic relations.

What is in the video?

The 40-second clip features the man identified as Kim Han-sol sitting against a grey wall. In perfect, slightly accented English, he introduces himself and says: "My father has been killed a few days ago. I'm currently with my mother and my sister."
He shows what appears to be a North Korean diplomatic passport to confirm his identity, though the details have been blocked out, and says he is "grateful to..." before the audio and image are censored.
He ends by saying: "We hope this gets better soon."
As his father was killed on 13 February, it is unclear when and where the video was filmed, and what Kim Han-sol's current whereabouts are.
Officials at South Korea's Unification Ministry and National Intelligence Service say the man in the video is Kim Han-sol.

Who posted the video?

It was put online by a group called the Cheollima Civil Defense - they have not previously been heard of, and appear to have registered a website and YouTube account only recently.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the group presumably assists escaping North Koreans - there is a town south-west of Pyongyang named Cheollima. They sent the video link to the Malaysia correspondent for Channel News Asia.
A message in English on the CCD website said it had responded to a request for protection from "survivors of the family of Kim Jong-nam".
"We have in the past addressed other urgent needs for protection. This will be the first and last statement on this particular matter, and the present whereabouts of this family will not be addressed."
It also thanked several countries for offering emergency humanitarian assistance, including the Netherlands, China and the US and "a fourth government to remain unnamed", while giving particular thanks to the Netherlands ambassador in South Korea, AJA Embrechts.

Who is Kim Han-sol?

Image captionKim Han-sol gave an interview to Finnish television in 2012
He is believed to be 21, and has lived a low-profile life since his father's exile, growing up in Macau and China.
In 2012, he appeared in a TV interview for Finnish TV from Bosnia, where he was studying, saying he had never met his powerful uncle or his grandfather, the late Kim Jong-il.
He said he had "always dreamed that one day I would go back and make things better and make it easier for the people" of North Korea.

Where has the murder investigation got to?

Media captionKim Jong-nam was poisoned with an extraordinarily potent chemical weapon called VX
Kim Jong-nam was once seen as a potential future leader of North Korea, but was bypassed for succession in favour of his younger half-brother. He has since lived in exile.
Though it fiercely denies this, North Korea is widely assumed to have carried out the attack with the deadly toxin, potentially to remove a threat to the leadership.
Mr Kim's body remains in a mortuary in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia has said it will not release it until the Kim family provides DNA samples.
Two women have been charged with murder - one Indonesian, one Vietnamese - but both say they were duped into killing Kim, and believed they were taking part in a televised prank.
Malaysia is seeking seven North Koreans, including a diplomat - it believes three suspects are hiding in the North's embassy in Kuala Lumpur, which has been surrounded by police.
Image captionKim Jong-nam sought help at the airport shortly after his face was smeared with the deadly VX nerve agent
North Korea has yet to confirm that the dead man is Mr Kim - he was travelling under a passport in a different name.
It says the man died of a heart attack, not a chemical attack, and is furious that a post-mortem was carried out. It has accused Malaysia of conducting a biased investigation and colluding with its enemies, and is demanding to be given the body.

Tit-for-tat exit bans

In an extraordinary move on Tuesday, North Korea banned Malaysians in the country from leaving, citing security reasons.
Malaysia called this an "abhorrent act" which was "in total disregard of all international law and diplomatic norms", then did the same thing for North Koreans in Malaysia.
Both countries have already expelled each other's ambassadors.
In Malaysia's state of Sarawak, immigration officials have detained dozens of North Koreans with expired work permits.
So far, 140 North Koreans working in the private construction sector are being held by the authorities, who say they are awaiting further instructions from the government.
Meanwhile, North Korea is refusing to allow approximately 11 Malaysian nationals to leave the country.

More Than Half of American Kids Say They Can't Spot Fake News

Kids have more access to news and information than at any time in history. Many of them carry a constantly updating digital device in their pockets and refer to it dozens of times a day. But most of them say they're not confident about what news is real and what isn't, according to a new survey from the U.S. non-profit Common Sense Media.
Fewer than 45% of American kids, ranging in age from 10 to 18, said they could accurately spot fake news and almost a third of them admitted that some of the stories they had shared were fake after they had passed them along. About a quarter of the 853 participants, perhaps reflecting wider differences of opinion about what is and isn't factual, weren't quite sure if some of the news they had passed along was true or not. Boys, incidentally, were much more likely to say they could spot fake news than girls.
In what may come as a shock to parents, their kids view them as the most trusted and frequent source of information about current affairs. More than 60% of kids said that in the past 24 hours, they had heard about events in the news from parents and teachers— and two thirds of them trusted information from their parents more than any other source.
In less surprising news, there was a big difference between how much news tweens (ages 10 to 12) and teens (ages 13 to 18) consulted the Internet for news. Only a fifth of tweens regularly get their news from social media networks, while almost half of teens do. And while tweens prefer to get their information from parents, teenagers favor social networks by 21 percentage points more than their younger peers do.
Weirdly, social media—which could be defined as just a bunch of friends online—was even more popular than real-life friends as a source of news for teenagers. Similarly, only about 25% of kids put their faith in news organizations to tell them the truth, but even fewer trusted their friends as heralds of good data.
The study, which was conducted via an online questionnaire in January and thus only targeted kids who are online, found that among tweens, YouTube was the most popular social media site overall. Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat followed in pretty close formation for the older kids.
As for news content, kids "see serious racial and gender bias," says James P. Steyer, the founder and CEO of Common Sense Media in the report. About half of the kids say that when African-Americans are in the news they "are more associated with crimes, violence, or other problems."
The study also found that American youngsters don't understand why more of the stories aren't about them. And they feel misunderstood and misrepresented by the media. In that way, at least, they're no different than kids have always been.

Saturday, 4 March 2017

Lyon’s eight-wicket burst sends India reeling

BANGALORE: Off-spinner Nathan Lyon claimed a career-best haul of eight wickets to help Australia bowl out India for a paltry 189 and take opening day honors in the second Test in Bangalore on Saturday.
Lyon, whose figures of 8-50 became the best by a visiting bowler on Indian soil, wreaked havoc in the final session of play as India lost their last five batsmen for 15 runs.
Indian opener Lokesh Rahul top-scored with a gritty 90 but failed to find support at Bangalore’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium — the batsman’s home ground.
Australia were 40 for no loss at stumps with openers David Warner (23) and Matt Renshaw (15) at the crease. The visitors trail India by 149 runs in the first innings.
Ajinkya Rahane added misery to India’s already existing woes after he dropped Warner on nine off pace spearhead Ishant Sharma.
Lyon though easily remained the star of the day, eclipsing former South African pacer Lance Klusner’s show of 8-64 at Kolkata in 1996.
The 29-year-old Lyon, who bettered his previous best of 7-94 against India in Delhi in 2013, once again beat the hosts at their own game of spin.
The hosts were bowled out for 105 and 107 during their opening loss in Pune last week, conceding a 1-0 lead to Australia in the four-match series.
But the pitch in Bangalore, which has an average first innings score of 451 in the last seven Tests, seemed to offer no demons like the turning track in Pune that was rated poor by the match referee.
Lyon struck shortly after lunch to get India skipper Virat Kohli trapped lbw for 12, as the batsman once again offered no shot to an Australian spinner. He was bowled by left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe in the first Test.
Kohli, who had a rare flop in Pune with scores of 0 and 13, faltered after choosing to pad up Lyon’s off-spin that headed straight onto the stumps and was adjudged lbw.
Rahul, who has survived two dropped catches on 30 and 61 at his home venue, did grind his way against the Aussie attack but got little support from the other end.
Rahul, who recorded his third Test fifty in his 15th match, finally was out to Lyon. The batsman injured his shoulder during an ugly slog against Steve O’Keefe in the latter part of his innings.
Rahul’s 61-run second wicket stand with Cheteshwar Pujara (17) seemed to be the only bit of resistance in the Indian batting. Karun Nair also contributed with 26.
Earlier pacemen Starc, who got opener Abhinav Mukund for nought, and Josh Hazlewood bowled probing spells to rattle the Indian batting early in the day.

Friday, 3 March 2017

Ex-journalist arrested over US Jewish centre threats

A former journalist has been arrested on suspicion of making threats against Jewish community centres - in a bizarre plot against an ex-girlfriend.
Juan Thompson, 31, "allegedly caused havoc, expending hundreds of hours of police and law enforcement resources", said NYPD Commissioner James P O'Neill.
New York prosecutors said he was "stalking a former romantic interest".
The Missouri man was allegedly behind eight of some 100 threats to Jewish Community Centers (JCC) this year.

TwitterImage copyrightTWITTER
Image captionThompson's Twitter account made many references to the bomb threats

Mr Thompson was arrested on Friday in St Louis, Missouri, and will be in court later in the day.
As well as the threats against the JCCs in January and February, he is also accused of emailing a threat in his ex-girlfriend's name to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in New York City.
The next day the offices of the Jewish anti-bigotry group received a phone call claiming that explosive material had been placed inside the building.
"Today, we have charged Juan Thompson with allegedly stalking a former romantic interest by, among other things, making bomb threats in her name to Jewish Community Centers and to the Anti-Defamation League," New York-based US Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.
A spokesman for the White House said "it's still too early for us to say too much about it, but the process worked".

Authorities respond to a threat in Davie, FloridaImage copyrightAP
Image captionAuthorities respond to a threat in Davie, Florida

Mr Thompson is accused of cyber-stalking his ex-girlfriend - known in court documents as Victim-1 - which can carry a sentence of up to five years in jail.
He is also alleged to have made threats using his own real name, in a ploy to make it look like she was trying to frame him.
On 7 February, he allegedly wrote an email to the JCC offices in Manhattan, saying: "Juan Thompson put two bombs in the office of the Jewish center today.
"He wants to create Jewish newtown tomorrow."

Hoax bomb threats have triggered evacuations, causing mass disruption at JCCsImage copyrightAP
Image captionHoax bomb threats have triggered evacuations, causing mass disruption at JCCs

This was a reference to the 2012 school shooting in Connecticut in which a gunman murdered 26 people.
In several tweets presented by investigators, Mr Thompson repeatedly accused his former girlfriend of making bomb threats in his name, in order to pin the crime on him.
He claimed she had hacked his email account.
"[Victim-1], though I can't prove it, even sent a bomb threat in my name to a Jewish center, which was odd given her antisemitic statement," he posted on 24 February 2017.
He also made several posts condemning the anti-Jewish threats.

TweetImage copyrightTWITTER

It was allegedly part of a months-long campaign against his former partner after they broke up in July 2016.
Thompson began by sending an email to her manager at a New York-area social service organisation.
The message claimed she had been pulled over for drunk driving and sued for spreading a sexually transmitted disease.
He allegedly went on to threaten to publish nude photos of the woman, before escalating to the bomb threats this year.
On 24 February, he posted on Twitter: "Y'all know how to get a social worker in NY barred? I'm being stalked and harassed by a white nasty white woman."

A Stand Against Hate rally was held on Thursday in PhiladelphiaImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionA Stand Against Hate rally was held on Thursday in Philadelphia
a sign against hateImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionThe rally was organised after a local Jewish cemetery was vandalised

Mr Thompson was fired last year from the Intercept, a news website, over "fabricated sources and quotes in his articles".
Intercept management released a statement on Friday saying they were "horrified" to learn about the arrest, and that they condemn the "heinous" threats.
At least 100 phone threats have been made to Jewish centres, childcare facilities and schools in three dozen states since the beginning of January, according to the JCC Association of North America.
Three Jewish cemeteries, including one near St Louis, have also faced vandalism attacks.