Society's ChildS


Red Flag

UK Ministry of Justice announces sexist policy of only jailing female offenders for violent crimes


RT
Wed, 27 Jun 2018 15:29 UTC
shackles
© Vickie Flores/ Global Look Press
Female offenders will be put behind bars only in cases where they commit violent offences, the justice secretary has revealed. David Gauke said short custodial sentences have failed to halt the "cycle of reoffending."

The Ministry of Justice published a strategy on its website Wednesday outlining plans to scrap short custodial sentences as they have failed to stop people from re-committing crime. The government will instead build five trial residential centers as part of a shift towards community care.

The new plans to "break the cycle" of sentencing female offenders to prison come after it emerged a great majority of them are behind bars for minor crimes such as shoplifting. Fewer than 40 women out of the almost 4,000 currently in jail in England and Wales have committed a violent offence.
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Cross

Restrictions on religious freedom on the rise globally - Christians and Muslims most widely targeted

Katayoun Kishi
Pew Research Center
Thu, 21 Jun 2018 15:29 UTC
prayer nun religion
© Art Stocker / Shutterstock.com
Restrictions on religion increased around the world in 2016, according to Pew Research Center's ninth annual study on global restrictions on religion. This is the second year in a row that overall restrictions on religion - whether the result of government actions or by individuals or societal groups - increased in the 198 countries included in the study.

Here are some of the key findings from the new report:

1 More than a quarter (28%) of countries had "high" or "very high" levels of government restrictions on religion in 2016, an increase from 25% the year before. This is the largest share of countries in these categories since 2013. Countries in the "high" or "very high" categories scored at least a 4.5 on the Government Restrictions Index. The index is a 10-point scale based on 20 indicators of government restrictions on religion, including limits on proselytizing and public preaching, or detentions and assaults of religious group members. Laos, for example, joined the "very high" restrictions category in 2016, due in part to a new government decree that allows the Ministry of Home Affairs to stop any religious activity that it sees as counter to policies, traditional customs or laws within its jurisdiction.
pew religion
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Arrow Up

Saudi Arabia to increase production of oil to record levels


RT
Wed, 27 Jun 2018 15:26 UTC
oil refinery
© Ahmed Jadallah / Reuters
OPEC leader Saudi Arabia is set to increase oil production to a record 10.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in July, Bloomberg reports.

This is a significant rise from 10.03 million bpd in May. That would surpass the previous high of 10.72 million in November 2016, according to Bloomberg.

Riyadh and other OPEC members are under pressure from the United States to pump more oil. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized OPEC for limiting oil production.

"Looks like OPEC is at it again," Trump tweeted in mid-April. "Oil prices are artificially Very High! No good and will not be accepted!" He criticized the cartel again in May and after last week's meeting, where OPEC and non-members agreed to raise production by 1 million bpd.
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Car Black

BMW warns Brexit could force closure of factories due to customs delays

Athal Milmo
inews.co.uk
Mon, 25 Jun 2018 15:22 UTC
bmw group
BMW has issued the starkest warning yet from a major business of the consequences of a hard Brexit by warning that lengthy custom checks could force the closure of its UK factories.

A senior executive at the German car maker said significant delays in importing components once Britain has left the EU could end production at its UK plants, which include the factories making the Mini and Rolls-Royce cars.

Airbus

The warning is the latest evidence of international companies with major operations in Britain going public with their Brexit concerns after Airbus said it would leave the UK if no transition deal is struck with Brussels.

Last night, lobby groups representing business leaders from the US, Canada, India and Japan made the rare move of issuing a joint statement to warn London that failure to solve the issues thrown up by Brexit urgently would put trade worth £100bn at risk.

A day after Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt slapped down Airbus for its "inappropriate" intervention, Business Secretary Greg Hands rebuked his Cabinet colleague by saying any company supporting large numbers of jobs in Britain was "entitled to be listened to with respect".
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Rocket

Russia military developing 'research units' manned by contract servicemen


RT
Wed, 27 Jun 2018 15:06 UTC
russian contractor research
© Evgeny Biyatov / SputnikThe Aerospace Forces' science company stand at the international exhibition of the Russian Armed Forces in Kubinka, near Moscow
The Russian Defense Ministry is considering the plan to create several units, engaged in research and development of new weapons and hardware, which are manned by professionals on a contract basis, a senior official has said.

Acting head of the ministry's directorate for research and development and modern technologies, Roman Kordyukov, told Interfax news agency that the plan can be implemented before the end of this year in the 'Era Technopolis' - a special military facility that is now being created near the south Russian town of Anapa.

Kordyukov said that initially there will be four "science companies" but did not disclose the planned strength of these units or the spheres of research they will be engaged in. The Russian military set up the first "science companies" back in 2013, offering male students to join them instead of undertaking regular military service. By April this year there are 18 such units in various branches of the forces - from military medics to military command structures and space forces.
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Dominoes

Poland changes mind on controversial Holocaust law, won't put offenders in prison


RT
Wed, 27 Jun 2018 14:53 UTC
auschwitz
© Kacper Pempel / ReutersA sign reading "Stop!" in German and Polish is seen at the former Nazi German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz
Following an international outcry, the Polish government has backtracked on legislation that criminalized any references to Poland being complicit in Nazi atrocities during WWII.

The law, which was approved six months ago, has now been watered down. Blaming Poland for the Holocaust is still a crime, but now offenders are subject to civil suits and financial penalties, according to Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

According to Morawiecki, Poland's honor still needs to be protected and offenders still "deserve to go to jail," but he acknowledged that it's impossible to carry out such sentences internationally.

The amendment was backed by the lower house of the Polish parliament and has moved on to the Senate.
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Bad Guys

Ya think? Dems fear call to shame Trump admin officials will cost votes in midterms

Edmund DeMarche
Fox News
Wed, 27 Jun 2018 14:44 UTC
The Red Hen
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders was asked to leave a Lexington, Va., restaurant owned by a Trump critic
Some Democrats are reportedly concerned that public appeals to "absolutely harass" Trump administration officials will come back to hurt them in the polls and benefit Republicans.

There have been several recent instances where Trump officials have been publicly shamed, including Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen at a Mexican restaurant and White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, who was asked to leave by an owner of a restaurant in Virginia.

On Saturday, Florida Attorney General - and ardent Trump supporter - Pam Bondi was confronted by a group of protesters outside the screening of a documentary about Mister Rogers in Tampa. A video of the confrontation shows the Florida AG leaving the theater as several people yell at her, with one woman seen shouting at her about Bondi's recent actions on health care policy and her stance on immigration.

Comment:

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Heart - Black

Tennessee police arrested after they tortured a teen in a restraint chair with a taser

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Wed, 27 Jun 2018 14:55 UTC
police torture victim
Two police officers who strapped an 18-year-old in a restraint chair and tortured him with a taser were arrested and charged with multiple crimes this week. The horrifying video was so damning that the normal process of sweeping it under the rug was not an option.

Former Corporal Mark Bryant was charged with two counts of Excessive Force Under the Color of Law, and two counts of Destruction, Alteration or Falsification of Records in Federal Investigations. Sergeant Gary Ola was charged with two counts of making false statements to federal investigators for lying to them in August of 2017 and again in May of 2018.

As News Channel 5 reports, if convicted, Bryant faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for the color of law charges and 20 years in prison for the obstruction charges, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. Ola faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.

Both officers pleaded not guilty on Tuesday and they were both released without having to pay any bail-a privilege that would most certainly not be granted to non-law enforcement officers.
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Life Preserver

German minister criticized for justifying wearing burkini at swim lessons as pragmatic solution


RT
Tue, 26 Jun 2018 12:42 UTC
burkini
The German family affairs minister rekindled the burkini debate when she said wearing a full-body swimsuit during school swim classes is "justifiable." Despite facing mounting criticism, she maintained the idea was "pragmatic."

The full-body swimsuits, dubbed burkinis, which cover the whole body apart from the hands, feet and face, could be actually helpful in providing education to Muslim girls, as they actually allow them to take part in the swim classes - something they would otherwise be forbidden to participate in largely due to the religious views of their parents, the Minister for Family Affairs Franziska Giffey told the German Die Zeit daily.

"The most important thing is the well-being of the children and that includes being able to swim," she said, explaining her stance on the issue. The minister then called wearing burkinis during school swim classes "justifiable" and pragmatic, praising an approach taken by one school in Western Germany that bought some 20 burkinis using money from some "private donations" and has been handing them out to its female Muslim pupils since at least 2016, the local media revealed. Some 15 people used the free garments over that period, according to reports.

Comment: Hopefully, one day the Muslim population of Europe will integrate enough to European culture so as to get rid of things like the burkini. But in the meantime, it is true that wearing certain clothes cannot be forced upon them - just as 'equality' cannot be forced upon societies except at a very high price. This is because for the majority of Muslims the burka is not misogynistic, but rather a sign of modesty and decency. So it is indeed a pragmatic temporary solution for Muslim girls to be allowed to use it.

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Ambulance

Explosion reported at Coryell Memorial Hospital in Gatesville, Texas


Sputnik
Wed, 27 Jun 2018 13:15 UTC
explosion hospital texas
© KCENEmergency responders at Coryell Memorial Hospital. Gatesville, Texas June 26, 2018
Police have confirmed that an explosion occurred Tuesday afternoon at the Coryell Memorial Hospital in Gatesville, Texas.

According to a hospital spokesperson, hospital patients were injured, but an exact number is not yet known, local media reported.

The explosion seems to have originated at an expansion area of the hospital that was undergoing construction. There also appears to have been a partial building collapse at the site of the explosion.
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