1 US defence budget at $560bn (BBC) The US Senate
has approved a new annual defence bill expanding the military campaign against
Islamic State (IS). The bill approves a general Pentagon budget of $496bn plus
$64bn for US wars abroad.
The US-led coalition has launched more than 600 air
strikes against IS militant targets in Iraq since the campaign began on 8
August. The US, with Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates, has also carried out almost 500 attacks on IS in neighbouring Syria
since 23 September.
Until now, US operations against IS had been funded
from the existing Pentagon budget. The new bill, which was passed by 89 votes
to 11, approves $3.4bn for the direct deployment of US forces against IS, and a
further $1.6bn for training Iraqi Kurdish forces for two years.
2 Greek crisis 2.0? Not quite yet (San Francisco
Chronicle) Greek stocks and bonds have been hammered this week, a reminder of
the bad old days of Europe's debt crisis when the very future of the euro
currency was called into question. Analysts say a repeat is unlikely though
there's an outside chance that political turmoil will disrupt Greece's bailout
lifeline and keep Greek markets, at the very least, on edge for weeks.
So far Greece's turmoil hasn't spread to other
countries in the 18-country currency union, the way it did back in the crisis'
most acute phase between 2010 and 2012. A key sign: Prices for government bonds
of other heavily indebted eurozone countries — such as Spain and Italy — are
not suffering in sync with Greek bonds, as they did before.
Why do people seem to think the doomsday scenario
isn't likely? Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras has moderated some of his statements
recently. He has said any nonpayment of debts would first be discussed with
creditors, and that private-sector creditors would be spared. That has people
breathing easier that he'll eventually strike some sort of deal with
international lenders.
3 Social media as weapon of mass destruction (Najla
Al Rostamani in Khaleej Times) Social media has turned into the perfect
battleground for anyone and everyone to take out their vengeance and biases,
and show off their discriminatory attitudes and opinions. It has grown to become the platform that
allows the ugliest of all to go on the attack against all who stood in
disagreement with them.
What is more worrying though is how social media is
being utilised as a tool to spread rumours,
wrong information, and misguided
assumptions. The magnitude of such destructive behaviour is immeasurable. And it reflects how ill equipped many can be
when they are allowed a window to express their opinion or stance on
matters. In the so called age of
information, has social media turned into the strongest, most powerful and
ultimate platform of misinformation?
Like demagogues, they move in herds going on the
attack and causing harm and havoc — knowingly or unknowingly, intentionally or
unintentionally, but always damagingly. And at times, it seems that social
media is being used as a tool that instills ignorance, prejudice, bigotry, and
most important of all a means to dilute issues and underestimate problems. The
entire process is driven by a ping pong match mentality — one that is based on
abusive language, ill-founded accusations, and the tarnishing of reputations.
All have to be repeated, and better still outmatched.
It is unfortunate that social media is being
employed as a serious weapon of mass destruction of reputations and facts. Its
nature of mass outreach has made it an excellent channel of disseminating
wrongful acts and thoughts. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of all is its
capacity to lead some masses into blindly becoming misinformation disseminators
rather than challengers who opt to use their common sense to question the
authenticity of what they are being fed.
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