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Attention

Zimbabwe election chaos: Police crackdown on opposition and raid MDC headquarters

Jason Burke
The Guardian
Thu, 02 Aug 2018 16:43 UTC
zimbabwean soldiers
© Siphiwe Sibeko/ReutersSoldiers patrol the streets of Harare on Thursday.
Police in Zimbabwe have launched a crackdown on opposition leaders, raiding their headquarters and accusing them of inciting violence during protests in the capital, Harare, that left six people dead.

A search warrant issued by a city magistrate and seen by the Guardian said Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), and several others were suspected of the crimes of "possession of dangerous weapons" and "public violence".

The warrant authorises police to search for and confiscate any evidence, including computers and documents, as part of their investigation.

The main headquarters of the MDC were closed on Thursday and guarded by a heavy contingent of police officers. A party official said 16 MDC workers had been taken away by the police for questioning.

Throughout the day the army patrolled the streets of Harare, after three people were shot dead on Wednesday when soldiers and police fought running battles with hundreds of protesters. Another three died of their injuries on Thursday, police said.
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Handcuffs

Cop found guilty of assault for violent attack against a 17 y.o. chained to a hospital bed

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Thu, 02 Aug 2018 16:37 UTC
police assault
A veteran cop from the Guelph police department has been charged and convicted for his role in a savage beating caught on camera of a 17-year-old boy in a hospital - who was restrained to a bed. Failing to take responsibility for his actions, the officer blamed the incident on PTSD.

The incident happened in September of 2016 after the teen was admitted to Guelph General Hospital. The teen was apparently suicidal so he'd been restrained to a hospital bed and was taken to a safe room.

As the video shows, in spite of being chained to the bed, the teen was still flailing about, trying to cause himself harm. That's when officer Corey McArthur snapped and threw a vicious elbow about the face and upper body of the teen.

The blow resulted in a massive gash below the defenseless teen's eye which had to be treated with stitches by hospital staff.

After hospital staff investigated the cause of the teen's injuries, they watched the surveillance footage and then notified police. None of McArthur's fellow cops who witnessed the attack said a thing.
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Bomb

Censored media reports: US used Hiroshima atomic bomb victims as 'guinea pigs', survivor tells RT


RT
Fri, 03 Aug 2018 15:01 UTC
Mushroom cloud of the atomic bomb
© Issei Kato / ReutersA family looks at a photograph of the mushroom cloud of the atomic bomb blast at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima.
Survivors of the Hiroshima atomic bomb were used as lab rats for US research, and the post-war occupation forces censored media reports attempting to shed light on the atrocity, a survivor of the nuclear attack told RT.

Setsuko Thurlow, a nuclear weapons disarmament activist and survivor of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, told RT's Sophie Shevardnadze that US forces occupying Japan after the end of World War Two were more interested studying the effects of nuclear warfare than they were in helping victims of the attack.

"The United States established an institution called ABCC (Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission) and people were very happy that finally we got some medication, medical experts who knew what this was all about, who would help Japanese doctors who were at a loss,"Thurlow said while speaking on Shevardnadze's SophieCo program.

"But the sole purpose of the ABCC was to study the effects of radiation on human bodies, not to help the people sick because of the radiation. The survivors felt they were used as guinea pigs twice: first time as a target, second as a subject for research."
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Star of David

Israeli navy demonstrates psychotic 'tenderness' in boarding of Gaza Freedom flotilla

Yonatan Shapira
Mondoweiss
Thu, 02 Aug 2018 15:29 UTC
Yonatan Shapira
Yonatan Shapira
Yonatan Shapira was aboard the Al Awda boat in the Gaza Freedom flotilla when it was stopped in international waters by Israeli sailors three days ago and all on board arrested. His Facebook report in Hebrew was translated by Ofer Neiman, with the headline, "Israeli citizen and Palestine solidarity activist Yonatan Shapira on Israel's dirty attack on the peaceful Gaza flotilla: ื™ื•ื ืชืŸ ืฉืคื™ืจื ืžื“ื•ื•ื— ืžื”ืžืฉื˜ - ืขื‘ืจื™ืช ืœื”ืœืŸ" That translation follows.

So just as the IDF Spokesperson said: "The overtaking of the Al-Awda ship was carried out without violence and without exceptional events".

And indeed, everything was as usual -

They slammed Herman the captain's head against the wall again and again while threatening to take him to the ship's belly and finish him off when no one is watching.

A fist in the face of Arne Birge the old mechanic.

And the finest tradition: Electric shocks. This time we wore life vests of the type that covers the chest well. But don't worry, the brave naval commando combatants just electrocuted [Tasered] Charlie, the first officer, in his head. And more electric shocks to Juergen the cook and to 60 year old Mike, a chair of a trade union and a human rights activist from New Zealand.

But at the same time, things were done with a kind of psychotic tenderness.

Comment: "Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence. Any man who has once proclaimed violence as his method is inevitably forced to take the lie as his principle." --Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

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Arrow Up

UN Mission arrives at Golan Heights border via Syria - 1st time in 7 years


Sputnik
Fri, 03 Aug 2018 14:45 UTC
Golan Heights
© Agence France-Presse/Jalaa MareyA view from the Golan Heights
The Russian military police have ensured the UN mission's passage to the foot of the Golan Heights through the Syrian territory for the first time since 2011, when the military conflict broke out in the country, Deputy Commander of Russia's Land Force Lt. Gen. Sergei Kuralenko said Friday.

"A very important event took place today, for the first time since the beginning of the conflict in Syria, the UN mission was able to use M-7 road to reach the UN position near destroyed Quneitra, that is, they have been able to pass through the Syrian territory to reach the positions controlled by the Israeli military," Kuralenko said.
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Handcuffs

Self-exiled, self-styled Russian 'performance artist' placed in disciplinary cell in French prison


RT
Fri, 03 Aug 2018 15:02 UTC
Pyotr Pavlenko
© Aleksey Kudenko / SputnikPyotr Pavlenko during his trial in Russia.
A controversial artist famous for nailing his scrotum to Red Square has been reportedly placed in a disciplinary cell at a French prison, where he is awaiting trial for setting the doors of the nation's central bank on fire.

Pyotr Pavlensky, who fled Russia after several protest performances and received asylum in France only to be charged with vandalizing public property, has been punished by French authorities, his partner Oksana Shalygina said on Facebook.


Comment: In other words, he was better treated by the Russians than the French. Think about that for a minute.


Pavlensky earned international notoriety for several protest actions in Russia involving self-harm. On various occasions he sewed his mouth shut, laid naked in a cocoon of barbed wire, cut off a piece of his ear and nailed his scrotum to the pavement of Red Square. All his actions were aimed at protesting policies of the Russian government.

One of his latest performances involved pouring gasoline on the doors of the national security service FSB and setting them on fire. A Russian court sentenced Pavlensky to a heavy fine for the vandalism, but allowed him to keep his freedom.

In February 2017 the performer and his family fled Russia (without paying the fine) and asked for political asylum in France, which was granted. He claimed the Russian authorities fabricated a new criminal case against him in revenge for his protest. Some media reports in Russia alleged he and Shalygina committed a sexual assault on another woman, but no charges against either of them were placed.

Comment: This story is just the gift that keeps giving:

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Rose

Washington's funding to support Afghan irrigation 'helped' poppy cultivation - watchdog


RT
Fri, 03 Aug 2018 12:17 UTC
Poppy field
US counternarcotics policy in Afghanistan not only failed to reduce the notorious opium production, but also contributed to increased poppy cultivation due to Washington's funding of irrigation projects, a new report said.

The US spent some $8.62 billion on counternarcotics efforts in Afghanistan in 2002-2017, a report from Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), the US government authority which oversees Afghanistan reconstruction, states. Despite these enormous 15-year-long efforts, the war-shattered country still continues to be the world's largest opium producer. Plus opium poppy remains the "largest cash crop" in Afghanistan.

"Our analysis reveals that no counternarcotics program led to lasting reductions in poppy cultivation or opium production," the document states, noting that "eradication efforts" in the country had no lasting impact. In addition, alternative development programs which often were "too short-term", failed to provide sustainable alternatives to poppy, "and sometimes even contributed to poppy production," it stresses.

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) mainly focused its efforts on "large-scale, short-term interventions" which attempted to replace poppy with another crop.
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Arrow Down

Tokyo Medical University caught tampering with exam results to 'keep women out'


RT
Fri, 03 Aug 2018 11:47 UTC
Doctor nurse hospital medical
© Bilderbox / Global Look Press
Tokyo Medical University has found itself in hot water after it was discovered to be altering exam scores for female applicants to boost the number of male doctors, prompting widespread outrage.

The fudged exam results were discovered in an internal investigation following allegations of corruption over the entrance procedures for the Tokyo medical school, Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported. The internal probe will also investigate allegations that the university was entangled in bribery to admit the son of a senior official of the education ministry.


Comment: The Japan Times reports that two university executives have quit after being accused of offering bribes, and an education ministry official has been arrested for accepting them.


The revelations have sparked outrage on social media, with one person on Thursday branding the "logic of systemic discrimination against women applicants" as "disgusting." Another called it "crazy, disturbing... stuck in the 1950s," while another pointed out that if the Japanese will apologize for "tiny train delays," how many times will they say sorry for "how they treat their women."
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Toys

Video shows French rappers fighting at airport, parts of terminal shut down


Sputnik
Fri, 03 Aug 2018 11:40 UTC
Booba and Kaaris,
© AFP 2018 / Dominique FAGET
Two French rappers, Booba and Kaaris, which were reportedly trading barbs in social media, started a real fight when they saw each other in Orly International Airport.

A video, circulating in social media, shows rappers Booba and his rival, Kaaris, as well as their entourages clashing in front of a shocked public. Booba, dressed in a black T-shirt and Kaaris, dressed in grey, reportedly known to hate each other, are seen exchanging punches.

The fight resulted in some flights being delayed and the closure of part of the terminal.

The artists were heading to Barcelona, where they were expected to play live at two different nightclubs located near one another. However, the fateful meeting is unlikely to let them get that far now, as both are currently under arrest and have been taken into custody.

Comment: According to Billboard:
Both of the artists had supposedly been beefing since a falling out took place in 2013 when Booba apparently became frustrated that Kaaris didn't side with him in his feud against Rohff.
Jesus wept. Kaaris is 38 years old and Booba is 41. This kind of behaviour has become common place amongst teenagers with no sense of purpose and amongst adults who have yet to grow up:

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Info

Wright-Patterson Air Base blames 911 call for false alarm over 'active shooter incident'


RT
Fri, 03 Aug 2018 11:47 UTC
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
© WikipediaA section of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio
An errant 911 call by an "unknown" person brought out a first response team at Ohio's Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The call was made while an active shooter training scenario played out in another part of the facility.

"There was no real world active shooter incident on Wright-Patterson AFB and base personnel remain safe," the facility said through its Twitter account, two hours after the incident made headlines in media worldwide.

One firearm was discharged reportedly during the emergency operation, used to open a door inside the medical center, where the shooter was reported to be.
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