Society's ChildS


Fire

Paris descends into chaos! Riot police use grenades and water cannons against striking firefighters


RT
Tue, 28 Jan 2020 18:59 UTC
Firefighters on fire
© Charles Platiau/ReutersFirefighters simulate setting themselves on fire during the protest in Paris.
Striking French firefighters faced off against riot police who deployed water cannons and smoke grenades, and erected large metal barriers to block off the fire service as they protested in Paris on Tuesday.

Several thousand firefighters protested understaffing, the threat to their government pensions and a lack of recognition of their work, including risk premiums that match those of the police and the gendarmerie.

Police decried the fact that many protesting firefighters had abandoned the prearranged route, and it didn't take long before the march descended into clashes with riot police.


Police repeatedly deployed a variety of crowd control grenades despite several controversies stemming from their use against both the Yellow Vest protesters and the pension reform protesters.


At one point, multiple firefighters symbolically set themselves on fire in protest at government pension reforms.

Comment: What will it take for the Macronies to seriously address civilian issues? Apparently firefighters setting themselves on fire does not register, nor does a year of public uprising provide enough incentive to tackle public concerns. Is it a failure of society? A failure of government? Perhaps Macron should prioritize solutions for France before glibly dictating policy and protocol to other countries.
The civil decay in Paris is reaching new levels as firefighters 'ignite' in protest:




Firefighters set themselves on fire to dramatize a point as tensions heat up!

See also:

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Star of David

West Bank: Palestinian anger over Trump's 'deal of the century' met with tear gas, rubber bullets


RT
Wed, 29 Jan 2020 14:05 UTC
Palestinian teargas
© Reuters/Mussa QawasmaA Palestinian demonstrator uses a sling to hurl back a tear gas canister fired by Israeli forces in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Injuries have been reported as Palestinian protesters face Israeli security troops in the West Bank in non-stop protests after Donald Trump announced his peace plan for the region.

Scores of protesters flooded the streets in different parts of the West Bank, demonstrating against a US-proposed plan that they expect to lead to annexation of much of Palestinian land.

In Bethlehem, protesters have been throwing stones at Israeli forces, and setting tires on fire. They also burned a US flag. Israeli security troops responded with tear gas to disperse the crowds. Sources from the Palestine Red Crescent Society told local media that they have been treating those who were hit with tear gas canisters as well as suffocation due to the gas itself.

Kick burning tire
© Reuters/Mussa QawasmaA Palestinian demonstrator kicks a burning tire during a protest in Bethlehem.
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NPC

CNN panel mocks US president's supporters as 'credulous rubes' - Trump responds with Twitter blast

Rhea Mahbubani
Business Insider
Wed, 29 Jan 2020 19:23 UTC
lemon wilson ali cnn mock trump supporters
© CNN
CNN anchor Don Lemon laughed until he cried during a Saturday show that featured panelists Rick Wilson, a former GOP strategist, and New York Times columnist and CNN contributor Wajahat Ali who mocked President Donald Trump's supporters — Wilson going so far as to call them "the credulous Boomer rube demo."

The topic at hand? State Secretary Mike Pompeo's tense interview about Ukraine and Marie Yovanovitch with NPR host Mary Louise Kelly, after which she said he yelled the f-word at her.

"[Pompeo] also knows deep within his heart that Donald Trump couldn't find Ukraine on a map if you had the letter U and a picture of an actual physical crane next to it," Wilson said, prompting Lemon to burst into laughter. "He knows that this is, you know, an administration defined by ignorance of the world. And so that's partly him playing to the base and playing to their audience. You know, the credulous boomer rube demo that backs Donald Trump."

Comment: Nothing new in this behavior from CNN. They have an agenda and stick to it.

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Arrow Down

Best of the Web: Democracy in meltdown: In almost every country, people's faith in democratic systems is at rock-bottom levels

Peter Andrews
RT
Wed, 29 Jan 2020 17:55 UTC
france protest
© Getty Images / NurPhoto / Alain PittonToulouse, France. January 24th 2020.
A new study has delivered a huge reality shock to career politicians and liberal elites — that dissatisfaction with democracy has been rising for decades, and especially in the developed world is approaching an all-time global high.

World leaders love to toot the horn of democracy. To take just three recent examples, Angela Merkel, Justin Trudeau and even Barack Obama have all weighed in on how great their country's democracies are. This would be all very well, if only the people agreed.

But according to research published this week by the Bennett Institute for Public Policy, a think-tank based at the University of Cambridge, they do not. The findings were borne by asking citizens a simple question; whether they were satisfied or dissatisfied with democracy in their countries. Surveys conducted between 1973 and 2020 were analysed.

In total, the question was posed to over 4 million people. By combining all of these sources they were able to outline the changing perceptions of democracy over the past 25 years worldwide, and over the past 50 years in Western Europe.
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No Entry

Crucial Pakistan-Afghan border crossing closed after reported rocket attack


RT
Wed, 29 Jan 2020 17:39 UTC
torkham border
© Global Look Press via ZUMA Press / Sidique / Xinhua
The Torkham border crossing, one of the principle land connections between Afghanistan and Pakistan, has been shut down for all traffic. It comes after a reported rocket attack from the Afghan side.

The road passing by Torkham leads to the Afghan capital, Kabul through Jalalabad. On the Pakistani side, the crossing is connected to the capital, Islamabad through Peshawar. Torkham was temporarily shut down by the Pakistani authorities on Wednesday, with officials citing security concerns, according to media reports. The closure was said to be prompted by a rocket attack at the checkpoint, which left two Pakistani soldiers injured.

Local Afghan officials cited by media say talks are underway to reopen the crossing.

Since September 2019, the Torkham crossing, which is used by thousands of people daily, has operated around the clock. Previously, it was opened only for 12 hours a day.
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Red Flag

German army lacks infantry fighting vehicles, some soldiers forced to use CARS during drills - media


RT
Wed, 29 Jan 2020 17:36 UTC
German soldiers
© Reuters / Fabrizio Bensch
The shortage of operational infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) in the Bundeswehr is now so bad that soldiers are officially advised to use cars during training, a media report claims.

Confidential army documents obtained by the Bild newspaper suggest that military units lacking the necessary equipment should work out "alternative solutions" and find "innovative training opportunities."

The recommendations, according to the outlet, literally suggest that motorized infantry battalions who do not have enough operational IFVs should replace them with ordinary cars and then tell soldiers to pretend they are jumping out of armored carriers.
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Stock Up

Russian economic growth better than expected amid Western sanctions & global slowdown


RT
Wed, 29 Jan 2020 17:31 UTC
red square
© Pexels / Vitaly Vlasov
The Russian economy expanded by 1.4 percent last year, the Ministry of Economic Development has said in its latest report. Annual growth is weaker than in 2018, but beat the ministry's own forecast.

GDP rose 2.3 percent in the last quarter of 2019, bringing the annual results 0.1 percent higher than the Ministry of Economic Development earlier projected. Non-primary industries and taxes, as well as the manufacturing sector contributed most to the results, the report released on Tuesday says.

In 2018, Russia's GDP added 2.5 percent, according to the document, while the World Bank said that growth stood at 2.3 percent, the highest in six years, despite tightening Western economic sanctions against Russia.

Global growth decelerated to 2.9 percent last year, the slowest pace since the global financial crisis, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The forecast for 2020 is more positive, with the global economy set to expand 3.3 percent. However, the lender said that the rebound is highly sensitive to US-China trade negotiations, while the world's two biggest economies are still trying to hammer out a comprehensive agreement to end their longstanding trade war.
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Arrow Up

Gold price will skyrocket if Bernie Sanders wins 2020 presidential election, says Peter Schiff


RT
Wed, 29 Jan 2020 17:28 UTC
gold
© Getty Images / Classen Rafael / EyeEm
The price of gold, which hit its highest level in seven years, reaching almost $1,600 an ounce this week, will continue to rally, says veteran stock broker Peter Schiff.

According to him, gold bugs may see further gains thanks to Senator Bernie Sanders.

The Democratic Party 2020 hopeful's chances are on the rise, a Fox News poll released on Sunday showed. It found that 23 percent of Democratic primary voters prefer the Vermont senator, up from 20 percent in December. He matched up favorably against President Donald Trump, leading 48 percent to 42 percent in a head-to-head matchup. Former Vice President Joe Biden remains the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination at 26 percent, but that is down from last month's 30 percent.
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Fire

Blaze rips through Lagos street market as traders race against time to save their goods


RT
Wed, 29 Jan 2020 17:14 UTC
lagos market fire
© REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja
Footage of a blaze at a popular market on Lagos Island has surfaced on social media; it reportedly shows desperate traders flinging their goods off balconies as the inferno races towards them.

The fire started early Wednesday morning in the Anambra Plaza at Balogun market, a section of the market on the island. The incident comes just two months after another blaze ripped through the marketplace, destroying goods worth thousands of dollars.

The cause of Wednesday's fire has yet to be established but bewildered eyewitnesses have already taken to social media to complain about the slow response by emergency services in tackling the inferno.
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Handcuffs

Former Moscow police officers arrested over framing of Russian journalist Ivan Golunov

Jonny Tickle
RT
Wed, 29 Jan 2020 05:07 UTC
Ivan Golunov
© Global Look Press / City News MoskvaIvan Golunov
Last summer, his detention on bogus drug charges rocked the world of Russian media, leading to an unprecedented show of journalistic unity.

Now, investigators have detained five ex-police officers who are accused of fabricating the case against Ivan Golunov, a reporter for Riga-based online publication Meduza.

The former members of the Moscow Police's drug trafficking control department are currently being interrogated, according to Svetlana Petrenko, the official representative of Russia's Investigative Committee. The detainees were removed from their posts last July in the immediate fallout from the controversial incident. President Vladimir Putin also dismissed two high-ranking Interior Ministry officials over the case.
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