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Remembering Humanity’s Triumph over a Virus, 40 Years on (AFP)
As scientists scramble for a COVID-19 cure and vaccine, the world marks on Friday a pertinent anniversary: humanity’s only true triumph over an infectious disease with its eradication of smallpox four decades ago.
On May 8, 1980, representatives of all World Health Organization (WHO) member states gathered in Geneva and officially declared that the smallpox-causing variola virus had been relegated to the history books, two centuries after the discovery of a vaccine.

Facebook Removes Accounts Linked to Extremist Group QAnon (Barbara Ortutay, Associated Press / Spokesman-Review)
Facebook says it has removed several groups, accounts and pages linked to QAnon, taking action for the first time against the far-right U.S. conspiracy theory circulated among supporters of President Donald Trump.
The social-media giant made the announcement Tuesday as part of its monthly briefing on “coordinated inauthentic behavior” on its platforms. That’s Facebook’s term for fake accounts run with the intent of disrupting politics elections and society.
In addition to the QAnon accounts, Facebook also removed accounts linked to VDARE, a U.S. website known for posting anti-immigration content, as well as accounts in Russia, Iran, Mauritania, Myanmar and the country of Georgia.
QAnon is a right-wing conspiracy theory centered on the baseless belief that Trump is waging a secret campaign against enemies in the “deep state” and a child sex trafficking ring run by satanic pedophiles and cannibals. For more than two years, followers have pored over a tangled set of clues purportedly posted online by a high-ranking government official known only as “Q.”

Convicted British Terrorist Wins First Round of Legal Battle against Government Ban on Early Release from Prison (Charles Hymas, The Telegraph)
A judge has ruled that the Government’s ban on early release of terrorists may be a breach of their human rights

French Commander: Extremists in Africa Try to Exploit Virus (Carley Petesch, AP / Washington Post)
Islamic extremists in West Africa’s Sahel region are trying to exploit COVID-19 to gain followers but haven’t had much success, according to the commander of the French military’s Operation Barkhane there. The coronavirus has had little impact on counterterrorism operations by the more than 5,000 French soldiers in the arid region just below the vast Sahara desert, Gen. Pascal Facon told reporters Tuesday.

European Prisons Releasing 1,000 Returned ISIS Fighters in 2020 Poses New Security Challenge (Damien McElroy and Nicky Harley, The National)