Society's Child
Venice authorities have called on its citizens to decide whether they want to split their municipality in two - on one side the historic city and islands which are famously built on stilts on the lagoon, and on the other the inland and more residential 'frazioni' known as Mestre.
It's a decision that beggars belief at a time when referendums across Europe, approved or attempted, seem to be sowing more divisions than any actual prospect of civil neighbourliness.
But the case for a referendum in Venice isn't one based on cultural identity or fear of foreign government; instead its focal points are mass tourism, depopulation and urban decay.
On Wednesday September 25 Veneto Region's president Luca Zaia announced that the referendum was legitimate and could go ahead in two months, even though he did not have the support of Venice mayor Luigi Brugnaro, who urged all residents not to take part in "yet another referendum on separation."
David Merritt, whose 25 year-old son was one of two victims killed by convicted terrorist Usman Khan in a savage stabbing spree, appeared to condemn Johnson for using the death of Jack as justification for harsher sentencing. He shared a tweet on Monday morning from Ash Sarkar, a contributing editor at Novara Media, that also hit out at Home Secretary Priti Patel.
Just a day after the murders, Johnson declared that a Tory government led by him would toughen terror sentences and stop criminals entering the UK from the EU. He also claimed there would be a crackdown on early release for convicted terrorists, insisting that "the practice of automatic early release where you cut a sentence in half" isn't working.
An alleged video showing a Saudi helicopter being downed near the frontier with the Saudi Arabian region of Asir, which borders the northern part of Yemen, has been published on social media platforms.
The video shows an alleged Saudi Apache attack helicopter that was reportedly hit by a new surface-to-air missile launched by Yemeni air defences. Riyadh has yet to confirm or deny the Houthis' claims.
Comment: Sputnik, 1/12/2019: Houthis claim 2nd aircraft shot down over Yemen
Houthi Rebels said they have shot down an unmanned drone over northern Yemen just a day after claiming to bring down a Saudi Apache helicopter, Yahya Sarea, the group's military spokesman, said on Saturday.
"Yemeni air defences were able to shoot down a Chinese-made Wing Loong fighter reconnaissance aircraft in the Hiran district of Hajjah province this evening during hostilities", Sarea said in a post in Twitter.
Sarea added that the operation was caught on tape and that footage will be published shortly.
The world-first mobile phone detection cameras, according to Transport for NSW, which manages the state's transport services, operate day and night in all weather conditions to determine if a driver is handling a mobile phone.
"It's a system to change the culture," the NSW police assistant commissioner, Michael Corboy, told Australian media last week.
Making or receiving voice calls while driving in NSW is legal, but only when using a hands-free device. All other functions, such as video calling, using social media and photography, are illegal while behind the wheel.
Comment: Not to mention a new revenue stream for NSW.
Demonstrators have reportedly set the Iranian consulate building in the Iraqi city of Najaf on fire for the second time in a week as violent protests rock Iraq's southern regions.
Protesters, mostly young people, have reportedly accused the Iraqi elites of being corrupt and serving the interests of foreign powers, especially Iran, while the country is plagued by endemic poverty and mass unemployment.

People shout slogans during a protest against the alleged rape and murder of a 27-year-old woman in Hyderabad, India, December 2, 2019.
The four accused men currently in custody for the barbaric crime are Mohammad Pasha, Jollu Shiva, Jollu Naveen, and Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu. Each of their families have faced public humiliation and intense scrutiny in the wake of the devastating crime.
"If my son is wrong, burn him the same way she was burned. Isn't the victim also the daughter of a mother? I am suffering today, I can imagine what the girl's mother is going through," Chennakesavulu's mother Jayamma said. "You hang him, kill him or shoot him dead. Will you listen if I say I want my son back? You give whatever punishment. I have a daughter too," she added while fielding questions from journalists in Telangana.
"You do anything. God only knows," the mother of the accused Siva said, echoing comments made by the parents of the accused Mohammad.
Comment: Previously: Priyanka Reddy case: How police cracked 'Hyderabad Horror' rape-murder in 24 hours

A crane carries the ‘narco-submarine’ refloated near Vigo, north-eastern Spain.
A crane carries the 'narco-submarine' refloated near Vigo, north-eastern Spain. Photograph: Salvador Sas/EPA
Spanish police have arrested a man alleged to be the pilot of the "narco-submarine" that was intercepted off the coast of Galicia last weekend carrying three tonnes of cocaine.
Two other men were arrested at the scene after allegedly trying to scuttle the semi-submersible vessel and swim to shore on 24 November.
Comment: Hmmm. Wonder if the confiscated submarine had anything to do with this:
150kg of 'diamond' cocaine washes up on French beaches, locals urged against 'treasure hunting'
"I have no words. In this area of Bolivia, there are only two journalists. A Mexican colleague who covers the protests for a French outlet and me. The area is surrounded by military and police. Today I saw a massacre."
Comment: See also:
- 'They're killing us like dogs.' The massacre in Bolivia
- With the US-backed right-wing coup in Bolivia nearly complete, the junta is hunting down the last remaining dissidents
- Russian intelligence states that coup in Bolivia is an attempt to destabilize all of Latin America
- The legacy of bias: How Human Rights Watch whitewashed the right-wing massacre in Bolivia
- Bolivia's U.S. appointed president has given the military a license to kill protestors
The incident happened on Monday in the Kobani district of Aleppo Province, along the Syrian-Turkish border, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The military policemen were on a reconnaissance trip in preparation for an upcoming patrol with Turkish forces when an improvised bomb detonated on the road.
It appears as though German museums are going through a rough patch, when even the infamy of the once-omnipresent and menacing East German secret police, or Stasi, cannot shield its displays from thieves' sticky fingers.
The museum, located in the former Stasi headquarters in Berlin's eastern district of Lichtenberg, was robbed during Saturday night or into the early hours of Sunday, police said in a statement, adding that a thief or thieves broke into the building through a window on the second floor, smashed several showcases and got away with valuable military decorations and jewelry.
They also had, apparently, plenty of time to escape; the theft was only discovered by a museum staff member on Sunday morning. The identities of the intruders or even their exact number, are still unknown.
Comment: See also:
Manufactured terror: MI5 lifted surveillance of London Bridge terrorist weeks before attack