When I was a less experienced teacher, I made a big mistake. Students were composing essays in a computer lab, and one young man thought he would be clever. Instead of writing, he spent his time shopping for an online essay. A flash of his parents' gold card near the end of the class is what alerted me. He let his trick be known to the students around him and a bustle of barely repressed giggles and furtive looks ensued. When he came to the front of the class to hand it in, I handed it back and then pointed to the door. I said, loudly and firmly, "This is unacceptable and I'd like you to get out of my sight." The class went silent and I was momentarily thrilled that I'd spoken so bluntly. However, I changed my mind when that silence persisted until the end of term. Without meaning to, I'd intimidated every other student in the room, none of whom, as far as I could tell, was cheating. I'd made classroom discussions difficult, and I had no one else to blame.

The effect of the #MeToo movement, especially in Canada, is creating the same subdued atmosphere among men. Most support women and are, like my class, already behaving like reasonable human beings. Even so, their support isn't helping and this week yet another politician was forced to step down over an allegation that barely rose to the level of a bad date. Since it's clear prominent men, journalists included, cannot safely criticize the movement, prominent women of all political stripes are doing so instead. Rosie DiManno of the Toronto Star, commenting Brown's anonymous accusers states: "It is not brave to speak from the shadows. It is not courageous to vilify anybody from within bubble-wrapped camouflage." Christie Blatchford in the National Post asserts the scandal "means that every man in the world is vulnerable, not because he has necessarily misconducted himself, but because a woman may say he has." Even Margaret Atwood, renowned feminist and literary star, expressed concern. However, by simply signing a letter demanding due process be followed in the case of novelist Steven Galloway (see below), she too incurred the wrath of the #MeToo mob. Ditto the second most recognizable signatory of the letter, Joseph Boyden. He's a prize-winning author who writes about indigenous themes. To punish him, leftist critics have questioned his indigenous lineage and accused him of cultural appropriation.

The stats don't lie.

Within minutes of President Donald Trump's first State of the Union speech, CBS News revealed their YouGov poll approval ratings on it.

Unsurprisingly, 97% of Republican speech watchers liked it.

More surprisingly, 72% of Independents liked it.

Staggeringly, 43% of Democrats liked it.

Overall, CBS reported that 75% of Americans approved of the speech.

For such a seriously divisive and polarising President, who is currently languishing with just 39% personal approval ratings, these were sensationally good results.

ISIS children returning to Europe shouldn't be punished for their parents' crimes, analyst Mohammed Shafiq says. Stephen Morris of the English Democrats Party argues "they've been trained to kill."

Germany's domestic intelligence chief, Hans-Georg Maassen, warned that children of ISIS fighters in the country are "living-time-bombs." He said they could be recruited for terrorist plots. Maassen added that Germany should review laws restricting surveillance of minors under the age of 14.

Moreover, there are also concerns that children returning from Syria and Iraq could be targets for further radicalization. According to government data, about 300 people who left Germany to join ISIS have now returned to the country.

Similar concerns are being voiced in Britain. Commander Dean Haydon of the Met Police Counter Terrorism Command has warned this week that "Some terror groups are training children to commit atrocities."

The father of one of the victims of disgraced former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar attempted to attack the convicted pedophile in court during his final court hearing.

The man, named by US media as Randall Margraves, rushed toward Nassar after his daughters gave victim-impact statements in Eaton County during day two of his final hearing, the Lansing State Journal reported.

"I would ask you, as part of the sentencing to grant me 5 minutes in a locked room with this demon; would you give me one minute?" Margraves reportedly asked.

Margraves had earlier asked to have time alone with Nassar in a locked room, but Judge Janice Cunningham denied the request.

Texas father who killed his two daughters while their mother listened helplessly on the phone put to death.

A former Dallas accountant condemned for fatally shooting his two young daughters while their mother listened helplessly on the phone was put to death Thursday night in Texas but not before taunting her one last time.

John David Battaglia was executed for the May 2001 killings of his 9-year-old daughter, Faith, and her 6-year-old sister, Liberty. Battaglia and his wife had separated, and he shot the girls at his Dallas apartment during a scheduled visit.

Battaglia smiled as the mother of his slain children, Mary Jean Pearle, and other witnesses to his execution walked into the death chamber viewing area.

Asked by the warden if he had a final statement, the inmate replied: "No," then changed his mind. "Well, hi, Mary Jean," he said, looking and smiling at his ex-wife. "I'll see y'all later. Bye."

Two Georgia sisters have been indicted in the fatal spanking and beating of a 3-year-old with a baseball bat for taking a cupcake from the kitchen.

The Fulton County District Attorney's Office says LaShirley Morris, 27, and Glenndria Morris, 25, were formally charged Tuesday with two counts of felony murder, one count of aggravated assault and two counts of cruelty in the first-degree.

Authorities say it happened Oct. 21. According to the indictment, LaShirley Morris used the bat to hit KeJuan Mason repeatedly in the head while her sister - the child's legal guardian - used her hand to spank the little boy.

Glenndria Morris gained custody of Mason and his twin brother after his parents lost custody of the children. The children's mother said she lost custody when she became homeless, but was working to get the kids back, according to Fox 5 Atlanta.

White people who do a downward-facing dog are contributing to a "system of power, privilege, and oppression," according to a Michigan State University professor.

Shreena Gandhi, a religious studies professor at Michigan State, claims in an article she recently co-authored that Americans who practice yoga are contributing to white supremacy and promote the "yoga industrial complex."

White Americans should learn yoga's history, acknowledge the cultural appropriation they engage in and possibly reduce the cost of yoga classes for poor people, a group that often includes people of color and "recent immigrants, such as Indian women to whom this practice rightfully belongs," Gandhi argued.

Governor of Ankara Ercan Topaca has announced that the gas leak was behind the blast that rocked one of the prestigious districts of the Turkish capital.

According to Topaca, the blast took place in a boiler room in one of the facilities of tax office in the Çukurambar ​​district. He said that the building was empty and so far there's no information about wounded people.

Initially, a Sputnik correspondent in Ankara reported that a sound of explosion was heard in the city. Social media users said that the blast was heard in many districts of the Turkish capital. There were also reports suggesting the gas cylinder exploded in one of the office buildings.

MPs in Iceland have proposed legislative amendments to outlaw circumcision for boys, a common practice in the Jewish and Muslim communities. If passed, anyone performing the procedure may be jailed for six years.

Members of at least five political parties, including the Progressive Party, the Pirate party and the Left Green, are calling for amendments to the existing Criminal Code. Their proposed legislation says that anyone found guilty of damaging the health of a child or a woman by "removing sexual organs, in whole or in part, shall be jailed for six years."

The draft clearly rejects the notion that the law should accommodate circumcision on religious grounds. "While it is certainly the right of the parents to give their children guidance when it comes to religion, such a right can never exceed the rights of the child," the bill states.

"Circumcision involves permanent interventions into a child's body that can cause severe pain, also such an operation involves a risk of infections and other problems," the proposed measure says further.

A minivan plowed into pedestrians in downtown Shanghai Friday morning leaving 18 people injured, three of them seriously.

The minivan was carrying gas tanks and caught fire during the incident, according to witnesses cited by China's People's Daily newspaper. The cause of the crash is being investigated.

Fire trucks were dispatched to the scene and the blaze was put out.