Six In The Morning

 Pope Francis: Huge crowds gather in Manila for Mass

  18 January 2015 Last updated at 05:27

BBC

Huge crowds have gathered to see Pope Francis celebrate an outdoor Mass in the Philippine capital Manila.

Thousands of people arrived at Rizal Park on Sunday morning, hours before the Mass is due to begin.

Twenty years ago, more than five million people attended a Mass celebrated here by Pope John Paul II.

The Vatican said Pope Francis would dedicate the service in part to the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, which devastated the country in 2013.

The Mass will be the Pope’s final full day in the Philippines, where there are 80 million Catholics, concluding his six-day tour of Asia.

If all right-thinking people are united against terrorism, where are the ‘Je suis Nigeria’ banners?

 World View: Al-Qaeda-type jihadis killed 2,000 people in a few days, which the world largely ignored

  PATRICK COCKBURN Sunday 18 January 2015

President Obama is being criticised for not joining the 40 other world leaders at the mass march in Paris in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo massacre. But, by playing down rather than playing up the terrorist killings, Obama may have shown a surer instinct about how to deal with such attacks, however horrific, than those leaders who did turn up.

It is understandable that governments and people want to show solidarity against terrorism. But in many respects, the gargantuan size  and overblown rhetoric of those responding to the murders of 17 people by three terrorists, treating the episode as if it was Pearl Harbour or 9/11, plays straight into the hands of al-Qaeda and its clones.

 “Islamic State” releases hundreds of elderly Yazidis



 Without warning, “Islamic State” has orchestrated a mass release of hostage Yazidis. Most of those let go were eldery or infirm and were likely a burden on the Islamist militia group, observers said.

DW-DE

The “Islamic State” (IS) terror militia group has released hundreds of Iraq’s minority Yazidis on Saturday after holding them since August, officials and activists confirmed. Those freed were mostly elderly, disabled, or unwell, including some infants with serious illnesses.

The victims were freed on the edge of the city of Kirkuk and met by Kurdish peshmerga forces. Some were in wheelchairs and others were leaning on canes as Kurdish doctors and nurses ushered them to a health center for immediate medical attention. After moving from place to place for months, one of the freed Yazidis described being loaded in buses, where they were sure they would be executed, before being freed at the entrance of Kirkuk.

Executions a ‘headache’, but must go ahead, says Indonesian A-G

January 18, 2015 – 5:28PM

Jewel Topsfield Fairfax foreign correspondent

Indonesia’s Attorney-General hopes there won’t be many more batches of executions in Indonesia this year, following the killing of five foreigners and an Indonesian on Sunday for drug crimes.

His comments come as the Netherlands and Brazil recalled their ambassadors in Indonesia to protest against the execution of their citizens.

The decision to kill Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira, the first Brazilian to be executed overseas, “gravely affects relations”, said Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

Niger death toll rises after cartoon protests

At least five more killed in capital Niamey on second day of protests against Charlie Hebdo cartoon.

 Last updated: 18 Jan 2015 04:10

The president of Niger says at least 10 people have been killed in two days of violent protests over a French publication’s cartoon depicting Prophet Muhammad.

President Mahamadou Issoufou said that five people died after demonstrations in the capital city of Niamey on Saturday. The victims were inside churches and bars that were set ablaze, he said.

The deaths came after at least five people were killed in the town of Zinder on Friday after prayer services there.

The violence erupted after the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo published a new cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad. The issue, published on Wednesday, was the first following a January 7 attack on its headquarters that left 12 dead.

 New Snowden documents show that the NSA and its allies are laughing at the rest of the world

“I drink your milkshake”

 By T.C. Sottek  

A team of nine journalists including Jacob Appelbaum and Laura Poitras have just published another massive collection of classified records obtained by Edward Snowden. The trove of documents, published on Der Spiegel, show that the National Security Agency and its allies are methodically preparing for future wars carried out over the internet. Der Spiegel reports that the intelligence agencies are working towards the ability to infiltrate and disable computer networks – potentially giving them the ability to disrupt critical utilities and other infrastructure. And the NSA and GCHQ think they’re so far ahead of everyone else, they’re laughing about it.

We already know that the US is already capable of launching complex digital attacks that can cause physical damage to its enemies. A computer virus known as Stuxnet, discovered in 2010, was deployed as part of a joint operation between the US and Israel that ravaged Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility, destroying many of the country’s nuclear centrifuges. Since then, the NSA’s top brass has boasted of newer and more powerful digital weapons.