Welcome to Sott.net
Fri, 05 Nov 2021
The World for People who Think

Society's Child
Map

Cross

How Evangelical Christians use their political power - and risk setting the Middle East ablaze

Jonathan Cook
Middle East Eye
Mon, 08 Jul 2019 12:35 UTC
Televangelist TB Joshua,
© Reuters
Televangelist TB Joshua, a Nigerian evangelical preacher, touches a man's head as he leads a religious retreat on Mount Precipice, Nazareth on 23 June
TB Joshua is the latest in a wave of pro-Zionist preachers taking an active interest in Israel - and Palestinians will pay the price

The recent arrival of Africa's most popular televangelist preacher, TB Joshua, to address thousands of foreign pilgrims in Nazareth produced a mix of consternation and anger in the city of Jesus's childhood.

There was widespread opposition from Nazareth's political movements, as well as from community groups and church leaders, who called for a boycott of his two rallies. They were joined by the council of muftis, which described the events as "a red line for faith in religious values".

Joshua's gatherings, which included public exorcisms, took place in an open-air amphitheatre on a hill above Nazareth that was originally built for papal masses. The site was used by Pope Benedict in 2009.

The Nigerian pastor, who has millions of followers worldwide and calls himself a prophet, aroused local hostility not only because his brand of Christianity strays far from the more traditional doctrines of Middle Eastern churches. He also represents a trend of foreign Christians, driven by apocalyptic readings of the Bible, interfering ever more explicitly in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories - and in ways that directly aid the policies of Israel's far-right government.
      Read More...
Eye 1

Lockheed Martin's Coatesville, PA plant to remain open after Trump's request, saving over 400 jobs

Katherine Lam
Fox News
Thu, 11 Jul 2019 00:00 UTC
Sikorsky Helicopter plant in Pennsylvania
© Google Maps
Lockheed Martin Corp. announced Wednesday the Sikorsky helicopter plant in Coatesville, Pennsylvania will remain open.
Lockheed Martin Corp announced Wednesday it will keep the Sikorsky helicopter plant in Pennsylvania open after President Trump requested the facility remain active, saving about 465 jobs.

Marillyn Hewson, the company's chairman and CEO, said in a statement posted on Twitter that she decided to keep the facility in Coatesville open because "it's a good operation with an excellent workforce."

"At the request of President Trump, I took another look at our decision to close the Coatesville, PA, facility and have decided to keep it open while we pursue additional work," Hewson said in a statement Wednesday. "It's a good operation with an excellent workforce. We look forward to working with the government and PA Congressional delegation to find more for this facility."

Trump applauded Hewson's decision moments later in a two-part tweet.
      Read More...
Dollar

US retail apocalypse continues: Estimated 12,000 shops could close by end of 2019

Kelly Tyko
USA Today
Fri, 12 Jul 2019 14:18 UTC
Gymboree store closing
© USA Today
The retail apocalypse isn't showing any signs of slowing down.

Six months into 2019, there have already been 20% more store closings announced than in all of 2018, according to a new report from global marketing research firm Coresight Research.

Based on Coresight Research's figures and retailers' earnings reports, more than 7,000 stores are slated to shutter this year with thousands of locations already gone.

Bankrupt footwear company Payless ShoeSource, which closed its remaining U.S. stores last week, accounts for about 37% of the closings.

The "going-out-of-business" sales and liquidation of other brands is expected to continue. Coresight estimates closures could reach 12,000 by the end of the year, the report said.

Coresight, which has offices in Manhattan, London and Hong Kong, tracked the 5,864 closings in 2018, which included all Toys R Us stores and hundreds of Kmart and Sears locations.
      Read More...
Dollars

Drivers grab flying cash after armored truck spills over $100K onto Atlanta, GA highway

Char Adams
People
Thu, 11 Jul 2019 11:50 UTC
Cash on highway
Weather forecast: "Cloudy with a chance of cash."

Drivers near an Atlanta suburb were in for a surprise Tuesday night when an armored car spilled thousands of dollars onto Interstate 285 around 8 p.m. in Dunwoody, Georgia, prompting more than 15 cars to stop and grab the cash, according to the Dunwoody Police Department.

"The armored car crew said the side door came open while they were driving and money spilled out onto 285," police said in a statement posted on Facebook. "Officers and the truck crew gathered a few hundred dollars that was still there when officers arrived, but plenty was taken by passerby's sticky fingers. The exact amount is currently unknown."

Video of the scene showed cars parked along the right shoulder on the westbound section of the highway as drivers picked up the money strewn across the pavement. The vehicle dropped between $100,000 and $175,000 onto the highway and authorities quickly responded to a report of "money flying all over the road," according to WXIA.
      Read More...
Handcuffs

R&B singer R. Kelly arrested on federal sex trafficking charges

Naaman Zhou and Edward Helmore
Guardian, UK
Fri, 12 Jul 2019 12:39 UTC
R Kelly arrested on federal sex trafficking charges
© Amr Alfiky/AP
R Kelly is facing two sets of federal sex abuse charges, one from New York prosecutors and another from prosecutors in his home town of Chicago, after he was arrested on Thursday night while out walking his dog.

The 18-page New York indictment charges Kelly with racketeering and sex-related crimes against women and girls, in an 18-page federal indictment that accuses the singer and members of his entourage of recruiting women and girls to "engage in illegal sexual activity".

Besides racketeering, the indictment includes charges of transporting for prostitution and coercion or enticement of a female and alleges that Kelly had rules for the women, including not allowing them to eat or use the bathroom and not permitting them to look at other men and telling them to keep their heads down.

The 13-count Chicago indictment filed on Friday details efforts by the accused to cover up sexually explicit videos of Kelly with underage girls. Prosecutors say the defendants paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to victims and witnesses to make sure they would not cooperate with law enforcement.

Comment: See also:

      Read More...
Handcuffs

7 FSB officers arrested, facing charges of armed robbery, possible 8 more


RT
Thu, 11 Jul 2019 16:00 UTC
FSB armored vest
© Sputnik/Yevgeiy Biyatov
A new scandal has rocked the Federal Security Service (FSB) after seven of its operatives were detained in Moscow over an alleged robbery. Following the case, FSB veterans have warned about criminals infiltrating the agency.

A total of seven FSB operatives, including members of its elite counterterrorism units, were detained in Moscow last week. The officers are suspected of involvement in a large-scale robbery, having allegedly snatched some 150 million rubles ($2.5 million) of shady origin from a private business.

They have been charged in connection with a single case of armed robbery, a source close to the investigation told TASS on Thursday. So far, no other malicious activity by the group has been uncovered.

Five of the suspects are being held in detention facilities, while the other two have been placed under house arrest pending trial. The case could yet transpire to be even bigger, as Russian media reported that investigators have named eight more suspects, all of whom are also FSB officers.

A string of high-profile cases have rocked Russian law-enforcement agencies recently, and have been described as 'very troubling' by veterans of the Soviet-era KGB - the predecessor of the FSB.
      Read More...
Oil Well

What sanctions? German-based Siemens officially applies to localize gas turbine production in Russia


RT
Fri, 12 Jul 2019 18:13 UTC
gas turbine siemens
© Global Look Press / Maurizio Gambarini
German conglomerate Siemens has applied for a special investment contract to localize production of its high-capacity gas turbines in Russia. The move follows a 2017 scandal over the supply of Siemens turbines to Crimea.

Under the terms of the contract, the components of the 'hot gas path' and the gas turbine automatic control system will be localized in Russia until the middle of 2023, according to the Siemens press service.

The planned localization level of the SGT-2000E turbine will be at least 90 percent. The process will take place at the Siemens Gas Technology Turbines (STGT) plant, which is a joint venture between Siemens and Russia's Power Machines.
      Read More...
Eye 1

Cops: Man steals car with kids inside, fatally beaten by mob


ABC News
Fri, 12 Jul 2019 08:13 UTC
Carjacking
Authorities say a man who stole a car with three young children inside was fatally beaten by their father and other men.

Philadelphia police say the car was parked at a pizza restaurant with its engine running when the man drove off around 9:15 p.m. Thursday. The children's mother was inside the restaurant, talking with the father of two of the kids.
      Read More...
Star of David

West Bank barrier continues to destroy Palestinian lives 15 years after ICJ declared Separation Wall illegal

Yumna Patel
Mondoweiss
Wed, 10 Jul 2019 01:23 UTC
palestinians border wall israel
© Active Stills
The Wall
Tuesday July 9th marked the fifteenth anniversary of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision to declare the Israeli separation wall in occupied Palestinian territory as illegal under international law.

Israel began construction of the separation wall, known by many as the Israeli "Apartheid Wall", in 2002 in the middle of the Second Intifada. Israeli officials said the wall was a necessary "security precaution against terrorism" from Palestinian attackers coming from the West Bank.

But with the construction of the wall, came unprecedented demolitions of Palestinians homes along the planned route, massive land confiscations, and the division of dozens of Palestinian communities along the Green Line.

Comment: Israel has rightly intuited that though it may be criticized, no government will take steps to rein it in, while it enjoys the protection of the US. It has therefore set its sights further afield:

Israel begins home demolitions in Golan Heights, plotting illegal annexation of Syrian territory

      Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Volvo CEO laments Sweden's high crime rate, says company might move its HQ abroad


RT
Thu, 11 Jul 2019 22:23 UTC
Volvo
© Reuters / Bob Strong
FILE PHOTO: A sign is seen outside the Volvo Car Corporation Headquarters in Gothenburg May 20, 2010.
The head of the Swedish car manufacturer Volvo has created quite a stir at home, saying that his company struggles to attract foreign specialists due to the lack of public security and may be considering moving elsewhere.

Speaking to the daily Svenska Dagbladet, Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson lamented the fact that the auto manufacturer has been gradually losing its appeal to foreign tech experts and engineers, as well as top managers. The problem, according to him, partly lies in the fact that the specialists are reluctant to move to Sweden's second largest city of Gothenburg, where Volvo's headquarters are located, because of the arguably high crime rate.

"We are building cars, we cannot solve this problem," Samuelsson told SvD. "Yet, one can still point out that this problem does exist." Among the other issues he mentioned were the lack of affordable housing and schools.

Comment: See also:

      Read More...
Amazon Smile
Revolt! T-shirts