Swedish officials and social workers hope that abusive partners will lower their hands, take a breath and call a helpline, an unorthodox solution to a surprisingly common problem in ultra-progressive country.

The helpline is a two-year pilot project organized by local authorities in the nation's capital of Stockholm and the southern region of Skane, where Sweden's third-largest city Malmo is located. The service will start accepting calls in January.

While confidential helplines for abuse victims are already commonplace, providing support to the abusers themselves is a novel approach, one the organizers say will help them overcome shame, make amends, and stop hurting their loved ones.


There is "no obvious way of getting into contact with those perpetrating the violence," but this project can change that, project leader Christina Ericson told state broadcaster SVT.

Trained social workers and psychologists will be ready to advise and counsel the perpetrators who want to stop hurting their partners. They will also work with people who experience thoughts of beating their loved ones, and help them to avoid violence.

The Greek capital was plunged into chaos after hooded rioters threw flares at police officers, who responded with tear gas. The protests were sparked by planned changes to educational policies.

Some 2,000 people, most of them youth, took to the streets of Athens on Monday to demonstrate against a draft bill altering requirements for university entrance.

Fracking has been stopped for 18 hours again after four earthquakes in the space of half an hour this morning, including the most powerful recorded since the controversial operation got underway in Lancashire earlier this month.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) noted four earthquakes from 11.30am until 11.58am, which the first measuring 1.1 on the magnitude scale. The others measured -0.2, -0.4, and 0.1.

In a statement, Cuadrilla said the "micro seismic event measuring 1.1ML (local magnitude) was detected" while fracking was taking place at its exploration site in Preston New Road, Little Plumpton.


"This is the latest micro seismic event to be detected by the organisation's highly sophisticated monitoring systems and verified by the British Geological Survey (BGS)," it said.

"This will be classed as a 'red' event as part of the traffic light system operated by the Oil and Gas Authority but as we have said many times this level is way below anything that can be felt at surface and a very long way from anything that would cause damage or harm.

Unless you happen to live in a cave, you've probably noticed that masculinity has undergone quite a thorough examination. Actually, examination is an understatement; demolition appears to be a more fitting description. Masculinity, in some quarters, is labeled a dirty word, with some labeling it "toxic." With the abuses revealed by the #MeToo movement and the misogynistic rhetoric of Donald Trump, the desire to use such a visceral adjective is somewhat understandable, but is it warranted?

From New York to New Delhi, significant debates are taking place. Many of these debates revolve around one question: what, in both an ethical and moral sense, does it mean to be a man? This question, among many others, wrestles with the concept of "toxic masculinity."

You've likely read a lot about toxic masculinity, an all too disingenuous term used to highlight men's dominant position in society, largely achieved through the subordination of women. Critics of masculinity claim that such noxiousness helps sustain and solidify men's dominant position in a patriarchal hierarchy. More recently, the phrase has been adopted and broadcast by fourth wave feminists and supporters like The Good Men Project. Interestingly, the latter defines toxic masculinity as a "narrow and repressive description of manhood, designating manhood as defined by violence, sex, status, and aggression."

As a professor of psychology (and a man), I find the term "toxic masculinity" both offensive and misleading. Firstly, the term is depreciative-a pejorative against men. It implies that even the smallest amount of masculinity is lethal, poisonous; thus, by using the term, it invariably suggests that all men are toxic. Secondly, it's a sound bite, not a theory. "Toxic masculinity" may be a catchy, throwaway remark, but it is not supported by scientific studies. The idea of toxic masculinity unfairly characterizes all men as products picked from the same assembly line. Is the world full of horrible men? Of course it is. As a collective group, men cause a lot of damage, both mentally and physically. However, different, more appropriate ways of calling out these monsters do exist.

Protesters at California State University-Long Beach chanted "shut it down" and "Charlie Kirk must go" in response to the Turning Point USA leader's Campus Clash event on Tuesday night.

Signs reading "smash fascism," "unite to fight patriarchy and bigotry," and "No room for fascists" were held up.

"We must not allow TPUSA to hold space at CSULB and we must speak out against their hate tactics. Join us in resisting white supremacy and defending our campus community."

Antifa also encouraged CSULB students on its Twitter account and website to "please consider registering to pack the auditorium and disrupt the event." Campus Reform obtained the following footage of some of the protests.

Eight people were spotted dressed as members of the Ku Klux Klan outside a Muslim community hall in Northern Ireland. The group has been blasted as "barbarian" on social media, while the incident is being treated as hate crime.

Pictures emerged on social media of eight individuals in the white supremacist group's uniform as they stood near the Bangladesh Islamic Centre in Newtownards, County Down, on Saturday night.

Chief Constable George Hamilton branded the incident as "disgusting and distasteful" on BBC NI's The Nolan Show, and promised it would be investigated. The same center was targeted in August last year when a pig head was placed on its door.

As leaders of a state that is totally alien to the region and its indigenous peoples, Israeli political and military planners are obsessed with what they term "strategic threats".

Such "threats" have varied over the years. The prime targets have included former Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser, the Palestine Liberation Organisation and, since 1988, Hamas, Palestine's Islamic liberation movement.

The PLO, "the Hamas" (or "the Khamas" as Israeli leaders constantly - and wholly incorrectly - insist on naming it) have been joined in the last decade or so by "the BDS" - the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

The habitual, and mistaken, Israeli use of the definite article in reference to BDS is an interesting wrinkle, one more revealing of the thinking behind Israeli propaganda than may at first be apparent.

In adding "the" to BDS, Israelis and their supporters give away that they are thinking of BDS as a unitary organisation - a sort of grand conspiracy against Israel. In fact, BDS is a strategy, not an organisation.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has said that Ecuador is seeking to end his asylum in its London embassy and hand him over to US authorities.

Assange made the claim on Monday during a teleconference as part of a trial challenging Ecuador's new conditions for his asylum, according to Reuters.

The Wikileaks founder sought political asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in June 2012 to avoid being extradited to the US to face trumped-up charges and has been living there ever since.

However, his relations with the host have turned sour recently. Assange filed a lawsuit against Ecuador's Foreign Minister Jose Valencia earlier this month, accusing the government of violating his "fundamental rights and freedoms" with a set of new rules and restrictions.

America isn't doing enough to reduce its carbon footprint, NYT columnist Thomas Friedman has warned, apparently forgetting that he lives in an 11,400-square foot palace. The internet quickly reminded him of this slight oversight.

With November's midterm elections around the corner, Friedman used his byline at the New York Times to issue a deadly serious ultimatum to America: If you don't vote for Democrats, Donald Trump and the carbon emissions-loving Republican Party will murder the environment.

According to the wordsmith, it is "unconscionable" that Trump has not acted on a UN report calling for "immediate carbon emissions." But what can be done? Only a Democrat-controlled Congress can save Mother Earth, Friedman tells us.

Lecturing people about the issue did not sit well with some folks on Twitter, who reminded the humble tree-hugger that he is the proud owner of a palatial 11,400-square foot home, tucked away on a 7.5-acre lot in fancy-pants Bethesda, Maryland.

The feud between 50 Cent and Ja Rule is 'Outta Control,' with the two unlikely to kiss and make up 'In da Club' anytime soon. 50 Cent says he's purchased 200 seats to Ja Rule's upcoming concert, just so they can sit empty.

50 Cent, who has been sparring with his arch rival since at least 1999, made the announcement on Instagram, saying he bought 200 near-the-stage tickets to his enemy's upcoming concert in Texas so they can sit empty.

He followed it up with a Photoshopped image which showed him grinning away in a sea of empty seats.