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Thought control wars: UK universities are struggling to deal with 'toxic' trans rights row

Anna Fazackerley
The Guardian
Tue, 30 Oct 2018 17:32 UTC
Prof Rosa Freedman transgender rights
© Linda Nylind for the Guardian
Prof Rosa Freedman says Reading University has been 'faultless' in supporting her, while others fear being seen as illiberal.
Abuse on campus, fear of speaking up - feminist academics say some universities aren't protecting them

Last Tuesday morning, an angry student shouted at Prof Rosa Freedman outside the students' union at Reading University. She was a "transphobic Nazi who should get raped", he yelled.

Freedman packed up and went home. She felt shaken and, "for the first time on campus, afraid of physical violence".

The abuse didn't come out of the blue. Freedman, professor of law, conflict and global development at the university, is one of a number of feminist academics expressing concerns about proposed changes to the Gender Recognition Act that would make it easier for trans people to have their preferred gender legally recognised. Freedman says she has been treated like a "pariah" by some academics, students and trans activists as a result.

Comment: The voice of reason has no place in a mad society.

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Fish

Russian Navy frogmen break world record with 416m dive


RT
Tue, 30 Oct 2018 08:06 UTC
russian dive record
Three Pacific Fleet frogmen broke the Russian Navy's diving record and brandished the national flag as they descended 416 meters into the Sea of Japan during a thrilling underwater rescue training exercise.

The experienced divers had to spend three days in a compression chamber before they could begin the journey into the dark void using a diving bell, operating from the Igor Belousov navy rescue ship, the Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday.

During their mission, the frogmen surveyed the area and practiced connecting oxygen lines to a submarine model. The men also unfurled the Russian flag to celebrate their record-breaking dive.

Comment: Russia is proving itself as one of the world leaders in everything from technology to agriculture to diplomacy:

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Bomb

'Terrorist probe opened' as 1 killed & 3 injured at local FSB HQ in northern Russian province


RT
Wed, 31 Oct 2018 16:59 UTC
bombing FSB arkhangelsk
© Sputnik / Vladimir Trephilov; (L) Ruptly; (C) Sputnik / Vladimir Trephilov (R) vk.com / Мария Вавилина
FSB HQ, Arkhangelsk
A blast has occurred at the headquarters of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) in the northern city of Arkhangelsk. The suspected perpetrator has succumbed to injuries and three more people are in the hospital.

Local Governor Igor Orlov told reporters that an unknown device went off and its type is being determined. He also elaborated on the number of casualties.

"Three are in hospital. There is one dead, the person is being identified," Orlov said.
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Heart - Black

Circus horror: Watch as lioness attacks 4 year old girl during show


RT
Mon, 29 Oct 2018 11:44 UTC
lion attack child circus

Screenshot from a YouTube video of the incident.
A traveling circus performance in Russia was interrupted in a horrible way after a lioness suddenly attacked a 4-year-old girl through the fence around the arena.

The terrifying incident, which was caught on video, happened in Uspenskoye, a town of some 12,000 residents, located in the Krasnodar region in southern Russia. The footage, filmed by one of the spectators, shows the lioness lying on the floor after instructions from the tamer. She then suddenly rushes across the arena and reaches out at a small girl standing with her back to the animal at the first row of seats. Cries of horror are heard as circus workers rush to save the child.

The girl, with claw and bite wounds on her face and chest, was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery. According to medics, her life is not in danger, but she is to be transferred to the regional capital, where a better child trauma center will continue her treatment.

Comment: Those who visit circuses that beat animals into submission to be used for entertainment shouldn't be surprised to find that the animal is still actually wild. Although it does seem that animals are going on the attack more frequently these days:

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Bomb

Suicide bomb near Afghan prison kills 7, injures 5


Sputnik
Wed, 31 Oct 2018 15:49 UTC
kabul
© AP Photo / Dar Yasin
A suicide bomb attack near a prison in Afghan capital of Kabul has killed at least seven people and injured five, local media reported.

A suicide bomb that exploded early Wednesday morning near Pul-e-Charkhi prison targeting a prison staff vehicle in Afghan capital of Kabul killed at least seven people and injured seven, Tolo News reported, citing security sources.

The security sources also told the news channel that most of the employees in the targeted vehicle were women.

This is the second time this week when a blast rocks the Afghan capital. Another suicide bomb explosion hit Kabul early on Monday, injuring 6 people. The suicide attack struck in front of the headquarters of Afghanistan's election commission office.

Comment: See also:

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Cross

Pakistan supreme court overturns blasphemy death sentence for Christian woman accused of insulting Muhammad

Memphis Barker
The Guardian
Wed, 31 Oct 2018 15:30 UTC
tlp pakistan
© AFP / Arif Ali
Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) party supporters at a rally demanding Bibi's death.
Pakistan's supreme court has struck down the death sentence for blasphemy handed down to Christian woman Asia Bibi, in a long-delayed, landmark decision that has seen the judiciary praised for its bravery in the face of threats of violence and protest from the country's Islamist groups.

The court, in a three-member bench led by chief justice Saqib Nisar, released the verdict on Wednesday morning in Islamabad, three weeks after they had reached a decision.

The delay followed threats by blasphemy campaigners to hold large protests and kill the judges if they did not uphold the death sentence. Members of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik (TLP), a new political party dedicated to punishing blasphemy, blocked roads in Lahore and pelted police with stones after the ruling.

"Her conviction is set aside and she is to be relieved forthwith if not required in other charges," said Nisar, reading out the judgment.

"It is ironical that in the Arabic language the appellant's name Asia means 'sinful'," reads the judgment written by Justice Asif Khosa, "but in the circumstances of the present case she appears to be a person, in the words of Shakespeare's King Lear, 'more sinned against than sinning'."

Comment:









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Black Cat 2

West Virginia man turns himself in to police for strangling 9 cats to death, charged with animal cruelty


WVNews
Tue, 30 Oct 2018 15:23 UTC
cats in cage
© Caters News Agency
Morgantown Police charged man with animal cruelty after he killed nine cats.

Officers from the Morgantown Police Department responded to a house on Walnut Street at around 5:20 a.m. on October 30, where a suspect wanted to report himself for animal cruelty.

Officers spoke with the suspect and he led them to his residence on Harding Avenue and there were nine dead cats, according to a press release for the Morgantown Police.

The suspect told officers he had strangled the cats, according to the release.

According to the press release, Monongalia County Animal Control was called and attempted to secure and care for any remaining animals at the residence.

James Gregory Wicker, 43, of Morgantown has been charged with animal cruelty.
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Red Flag

Diplomatic tensions flare after Saudi Arabia executes migrant maid who killed her employer's father


RT
Wed, 31 Oct 2018 15:07 UTC
saudi arabia protest
© Reuters / Darren Whiteside
Saudi Arabia's execution of a migrant maid has sparked diplomatic tension with Indonesia at a time when the kingdom is facing international condemnation for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Saudi authorities executed Tuti Tursilawati on Monday without informing the Indonesian government, Indonesia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. It's the third time in three years that the kingdom has executed an Indonesian citizen without informing their government in advance.

Tursilawati was charged with premeditated murder after she beat her employer's father to death with a stick in 2010, the Jakarta Post reports. She said she was acting in self-defense and that he had been sexually abusing her. The woman ran away after the killing and was reportedly raped by nine Saudi men before she was taken into custody. She was sentenced to death in 2011 and was one of 18 Indonesians on death row in Saudi Arabia.

Comment: You'd have to be pretty desperate to go to work in Saudi Arabia:

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Attention

Top officials among 25 killed in Afghanistan helicopter crash


RT
Wed, 31 Oct 2018 14:51 UTC
helicopter
© Reuters / Mohammad Ismail
An Afghan army's helicopter.
At least 25 people were killed after an Afghan helicopter crashed in the western part of the country, authorities confirmed to local media. Provincial officials and top military officers are reportedly among the casualties.

As the story unfolded, the Taliban claimed credit for the attack, saying their militants shot the helicopter down. Afghan authorities blamed the incident on the bad weather.

The head of the Farah provincial council and the deputy commander of the Afghan Army's 207th corps are said to be among the officials on board the ill-fated aircraft.
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Pills

London-based pharma company charged after infant deaths due to contaminated food products


RT
Wed, 31 Oct 2018 13:56 UTC
pills
© Srdjan Zivulovic / Reuters
Pharmaceutical company ITH Pharma Ltd is facing criminal prosecution following the deaths of babies at several British hospitals, police have announced.

London-based ITH Pharma Ltd is facing criminal charges after allegedly supplying contaminated feed to premature babies between May 27 and June 2, 2014.

The charges come after an investigation was launched in 2014, after three babies died and another 20 needed treatment over contracting septicemia (blood poisoning).

Scotland Yard said in a statement on Wednesday: "ITH Pharma Ltd, based at Premier Park, NW10, has been charged with seven counts of supplying a medicinal product which was not of the nature or quality specified in the prescription on 27 May 2014.
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