Norwegian has worked in Gaza for 15 years and will resist attempts at stopping him returning there

A Norwegian trauma surgeon and activist who helped provide life-saving medical care during this summer's 100-day war in Gaza has said he will defy an Israeli ban on his return.

Chief surgeon Mads Gilbert, 67, has spent 15 years treating patients in Gaza and spent 51 days in Shifa hospital earlier this year treating many of the 11,000 Palestinians who were wounded in the war between Hamas and Israel.

When he returned last month to try and enter Gaza via the Erez crossing in Israel he was denied entry indefinitely.

The Israeli government now says Gilbert is banned from entering Gaza for security reasons. The Norwegian embassy in Tel Aviv has taken up Gilbert's case on his behalf after he was refused entry in October.

"When we came back to the Erez border station the Israeli soldiers told me I was not allowed to go into Gaza," he told media.

"I had a valid permit for multiple entries, an invitation from the Palestinian Ministry of Health and a recommendation from the director at my hospital."

Tablets linked to the deaths of more than a dozen women who visited a sterilization camp in India are likely to have contained a chemical compound commonly used in rat poison, two senior officials in Chhattisgarh state said on Saturday.

Preliminary tests of the antibiotic ciprocin tablets were found to contain zinc phosphide, Siddhartha Pardeshi, the chief administrator for the Bilaspur district, told Reuters.

The antibiotics were handed out at the mass sterilization held a week ago in the impoverished state. At least 15 women have died, most of whom had attended the camp.

Authorities tested the tablets after being informed that zinc phosphide was found at the nearby factory of Mahawar Pharmaceuticals, the firm at the center of investigations into the deaths at a government-run family planning camp, Pardeshi and Chhattisgarh health minister Amar Agarwal said.

Samples of the drugs have now been sent to laboratories in Delhi and Kolkata to verify that the tablets were contaminated as the preliminary report suggested, Pardeshi said.

Last Friday Philadelphia residents and tourists saw quite the sight: police officers arresting a homeless man dressed as Jesus. The man's crime, according to police, was related to his acceptance of donations.

The homeless man, Michael Grant, was allowed to accept donations, but he had decided to give the tourists something for their donations: a picture with him.

Grant never harassed any passersby, but numerous tourists found the idea of "taking a picture with Jesus" to be humorous, and so a number of them were seen donating and snapping pictures with him. Philly police took issue with that and slapped the cuffs on Grant.

Cleveland police officers recently killed a 37-year-old African American woman who died after police slammed her head on the concrete, just outside of her family's home.

Her brother explained that Tanesha Anderson was pronounced dead at Cleveland Clinic after the assault by the Ohio cops. The pronouncement came early Thursday about two hours after the police "take down" caused Anderson to bash her head on the concrete outside of her home.

"They killed my sister," Joell Anderson, Tanesha's 40-year-old brother said as he fought back tears. "I watched it."

Officers came to the house after a call from a family member who thought the police could calm the bi-polar Tanesha down, during an argument.

Police came, responding to the situation as a "disturbing the peace" call. It seemed that everyone agreed Tanesha should undergo an evaluation at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center, police sources told us.

But what happened next is described very differently by police and family members.

On this week's episode of 'Connecting the Dots' on SOTT Talk Radio, hosts Joe, Niall and Juliana discussed the G20 meeting in Australia, where the main item on the agenda was... Putin-bashing! If you're looking for true commentary on the G20 meeting because you couldn't find it anywhere on the lamestream media, this show is for you!

Also discussed: do Western leaders actually believe the lies they peddle? Or are they so invested in their 'dynamic narratives' that they will never ever, see the error of their ways?

Where did travelling, political freak-shows like the G-country meet-ups originate anyway? Believe it or not, the Bilderbergers and the 'green' environmental movement!

Noting how the West continues to target Russia's economy, and thus hurting Ukraine's economy in the process, your hosts considered what economic collapse in the US might look like. Will 'austerity' measures and backfiring sanctions cause the West to implode in on itself?

And stay tuned for this week's Extreme Weather Update: the 'Bering Bomb' polar vortex - did Russia send it to America as a gift?

Running Time: 02:13:00

Download: MP3

Latest figures shows that today's college graduates are being saddled with the burden of increasingly high student loan debt as they begin careers or start families. But isn't there a better way to finance higher-education? (Hint: The answer is 'Yes.')

When will students and recent college graduates shake off the burden of increasingly higher student debt and demand a system that serves them instead of making them servants?

The amount of personal debt being accrued by college students in the nation's private and public colleges continues to rise at shocking rates with current graduates of four-year schools exiting with a national average of nearly $30,000 in loans to repay, according to a new report released Thursday.

• Girl, 14, had six-month relationship with math teacher Elkis Hermida, 28
• In 2011, Hermida was jailed for three years for lewd acts against a child
• W. Keith Wyatt was fired for arguing she agreed to the relationship
• General counsel said he had made inappropriate remarks during case
• Recently, girl filed civil case against Los Angeles Unified School District
• Alleged district was negligent and she had been emotionally damaged
• In defense, LAUSD said victim bore some responsibility for relationship
• Also mentioned girl's sexual history and said she was mature enough
• Judge ruled in favor of district; student's lawyer is now appealing case

A California school district has fired an attorney who successfully defended it during a case claiming a 14-year-old girl was mature enough to consent to a romance with her 28-year-old teacher.

In civil court proceedings, the Los Angeles Unified School District argued that the unnamed student should bear some responsibility for her relationship with Elkis Hermida. The district's general counsel said Friday it is removing attorney W. Keith Wyatt from future legal matters because of inappropriate remarks he made about the case.

Lawyers and advocates for sexual abuse victims criticized Wyatt's strategy of blaming the schoolgirl for agreeing to the sexual relationship.


In July 2011, Hermida, who taught at Thomas Edison Middle School, was sentenced to three years in state prison after being convicted of lewd acts against a child. He has since been freed. However the school was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Speaking of the victim's 'responsibility' for the relationship, Keith Wyatt, LAUSD's attorney, told the public radio station KPCC: 'She lied to her mother so she could have sex with her teacher.
'She went to a motel in which she engaged in voluntary consensual sex with her teacher. Why shouldn't she be responsible for that?'

Recently, the girl filed a civil lawsuit against the school district, claiming the system was negligent and she had been emotionally traumatized by Hermida's actions. In its defense, LAUSD argued it had been unaware of the relationship between the student and her teacher, but cited a federal court decision saying a minor could consent to sex in some situations.

During the trial, Mr Wyatt also introduced the girl's sexual history and argued that she bore some of the responsibility for the half-year-long relationship, according to CBS Local.
At the end of the case, the judge ruled in favor of the district: LAUSD was cleared of wrongdoing by a civil jury, while the girl was not awarded any damages for the trauma she allegedly suffered.

A judge overseeing the Colorado theater massacre case on Friday rejected a bid by lawyers defending accused gunman James Holmes to remove himself from presiding over the forthcoming murder trial, court documents show.

Public defenders filed a motion this week asking Arapahoe County District Court Judge Carlos Samour to recuse himself for what they called his "hostile and demeaning" tone toward the defense.

Samour denied the motion, and while acknowledging that he has been blunt and at times employed "flowery language" in his rulings, he dismissed claims that he had been unfair. He said it was important for him to stay on the case to avoid further delays in the proceedings.

Holmes, 26, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to opening fire inside a suburban Denver movie theater during a screening of the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises."

Twelve moviegoers were killed and dozens wounded in the July 2012 shooting rampage.

Prosecutors have charged Holmes with multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder, and said they will seek the death penalty for the former neuroscience graduate student if he is convicted.

Although they have conceded that Holmes was the lone shooter, defense lawyers have challenged nearly every piece of evidence amassed against their client, and Samour has ruled against them in most instances.

Nearly a year after Montana initiated a method to legalize collection of roadkill, more than 800 permits have been issued.

"I'm elated," said Rep. Steve Lavin, R-Kalispell, who carried the bill in the last Legislature.

Lavin said his purpose behind supporting the bill was to get meat into the freezers of people who could use it, so animals killed in collisions with vehicles wouldn't go to waste.

"I've heard a lot of positive comments about it," said Lavin, who is also a captain in the Montana Highway Patrol. He also endured a lot of jokes about the issue.

Painless permits

Under the new law, free permits can be downloaded from the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks' website. They can also be issued by officers, such as the Montana Highway Patrol, who respond to wildlife-vehicle collisions.

"We've made it pretty painless for folks to get online and do this," said Jim Kropp, FWP's chief of law enforcement.

Although the agency had initially opposed the measure, Kropp said the program seems to be reasonably problem-free.

"There was a lot of concern at first about how we were going to get our arms around this," Kropp said. "We canvassed a lot of other states who had similar programs. No new programs are ever without problems, but we're happy with where we're at now."

Thousands of people took to the streets of Paris on Saturday to protest against austerity and condemn French President Francois Hollande for betraying his voters.

The demonstration gathered around 5,000 people, RT's Ilya Petrenko reported from the French capital.

A variety of left-wing political forces occupied an entire street in downtown Paris for the rally.

15/11/2014 France - Protest in Paris against austerity. #15nov#manifencourspic.twitter.com/rWYH52BqhB
- Global March (@global_march) November 15, 2014

The majority of those who came voted for socialist Francois Hollande two years ago and now say they were betrayed by the president they put in power.

Anti-#austerity march reaches the Seine. pic.twitter.com/LjJLIz1nF1
- Ilya Petrenko (@ilpetrenko_rt) November 15, 2014

They gathered to say 'no' to austerity and budget cuts, as well as Hollande's policies which have been dictated by EU authorities in Brussels.

The protesters carried banners and signs saying "Austerity kills" and "They betrayed Jean Jaures (the leader of French socialists in the early 1900s)."

"These austerity policies consist of massive cuts in social spending and huge tax breaks for big corporations. That's precisely what Hollande promised not to do," a demonstrator told RT.