September 6th, 2019 - Daily News Brief - a podcast by TRT World

Daily News Brief for Friday, September 6th:

*) North Carolina faces 'long night' as Dorian's Bahamas toll rises

At least 30 people have been killed in the Bahamas since Hurricane Dorian slammed into its northern Islands on Sunday, with authorities warning that the death toll will be "staggering".

Recovery efforts are now underway as residents desperately search for loved ones.

Dorian has now moved to the US East Coast, bringing with it flooding, dangerous winds and torrential rain and causing hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate.

*) US army chief says thousands more need to be trained in N Syria

US Army Chief General Joseph Dunford says between 50,000 to 60,000 fighters “need to be trained in northern Syria to hold their ground.”

A coalition spokesperson put that number at closer to 40,000 earlier in May.

The training will be provided to members of the SDF, with which the US partnered within the region to fight against Daesh.

The SDF is dominated by the YPG, which is the Syrian branch of the PKK group, which is deemed a terrorist organisation by the US, EU and Ankara. It has been waging a deadly armed campaign against Turkey for four decades.

*) Zimbabwe’s longtime leader Robert Mugabe passes away

Zimbabwe's former president Robert Mugabe has died aged 95, the country’s incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced.

Mugabe was a former guerrilla chief who took power after the end of white minority rule in 1980.

He presided over a country whose promise was eroded by economic turmoil and human rights violations.

Mugabe's November 2017 resignation, which he initially ignored, escalating calls for the longtime president to quit, triggered celebrations in Harare.

*) UK's Johnson says he would ‘rather die’ than delay Brexit

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson laid out his alternatives to ask Brussels for another Brexit delay and pushed for a snap election.

Johnson said he would rather be “dead in a ditch” than ask Brussels for an extension to the Brexit deadline.

MPs in the House of Commons passed a bill that could stop Johnson from leading a no-deal Brexit but they also rejected his call for a snap election.

*) Facebook, Microsoft launch contest to detect deepfake videos

And finally,

Facebook has announced that it will invest 10 million dollars towards developing tools to detect deepfake videos, which depict people doing or saying things they have not.

In one case, film director Jordan Peele mimicked Obama's voice and used software that doctors his facial expressions.

US lawmakers and social media sites have suggested these videos could be used to manipulate election outcomes.

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