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Latest poll shows Russians see return of superpower status as Putin's main achievement in previous term


RT
Mon, 07 May 2018 19:16 UTC
Vladimir Putin
© Moskva News AgencyVladimir Putin attends a concert near the Red Square in Moscow
Russians have named internal stability and the return of superpower status to their country as main achievements of Vladimir Putin's past presidential term, but urged improvement in policies targeting economic inequality.

In the latest poll conducted by an independent Russian public opinion research organization, Levada Center, ordinary Russians were asked what they saw as the main positive result of Putin's work as Russian president during his third term, in 2012-2018. 47 percent of respondents named the "return of superpower status to Russia" as the main achievement of the country's leader.

38 percent said it was the stabilization of the situation in the North Caucasus region, 27 percent named "prevention of the collapse of the Russian Federation," 24 percent mentioned the increase in wages and pensions and 22 percent said it was the continuation of economic reforms in the country.

Comment: See also:

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Newspaper

Qatari fund becomes strategic partner of Russian oil giant Rosneft


RT
Mon, 07 May 2018 17:12 UTC
Buildings are seen on a coast line in Doha, Qatar
© Naseem Zeitoon / ReutersBuildings are seen on a coast line in Doha, Qatar
An agreement which provides for the acquisition of an 18.93 percent stake in Russian oil giant Rosneft by Qatar sovereign fund (QIA) is strategic, according to company spokesman Mikhail Leontyev.

He told RIA Novosti that QIA will become a major shareholder in Rosneft, along with the British oil company BP. Under the deal which was announced Friday, QIA will own 18.93 percent of Rosneft, becoming the third-largest shareholder after the Russian state, which holds 50 percent and, BP with 19.75 percent.
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Telephone

When president's 'communications style' makes her 'uncomfortable' UN envoy Haley avoids Trump by phoning instead


RT
Mon, 07 May 2018 17:03 UTC
Trump Haley
© Kevin Lamarque / ReutersPresident Trump and US UN envoy Haley
US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley says she feels at ease with confronting Trump on the issues she feels uncomfortable with, including criticizing the US President's unique "communication style," which she refuses to defend.

Donald Trump has his own "communication style, but you're not hearing me defend that," the UN ambassador noted during an interview with CBS, after the presenter Rita Braver asked if she believes the presidential behavior to be "sometimes reprehensible."

"What I will tell you is, if there is anything that he communicates in a way that I'm uncomfortable with, I pick up the phone and call him," Haley said.

Comment: One big happy family?

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2 + 2 = 4

University of Melbourne staff set to strike over academic and intellectual freedom definition

Henrietta Cook
The Age
Mon, 07 May 2018 16:26 UTC
University of Melbourne
© Craig SillitoeStaff at the University of Melbourne have voted to go on strike
University of Melbourne staff have voted to go on strike to protest what they say is an attack on free speech.

Hundreds of academics and professional staff will walk off campus next Wednesday to oppose a proposed new workplace agreement put forward by the university.
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Quenelle

Prestigious Parisian university forced to shut amid protests over Macron's unpopular education reforms


teleSUR
Thu, 03 May 2018 00:00 UTC
Protests France
© ReutersA protester walks with a placard with the message, "Students United with Railway Workers" during a demonstration by French state-owned railway company SNCF workers.
The Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris is the latest of numerous universities across France to face sit-ins against President Emmanuel Macron's reform of the education system.

One of France's most prestigious universities was forced to shut Thursday after student protesters staged a campus occupation against government plans to make public higher education less accessible.

All classes were canceled and riot police could be seen outside the campus Thursday after protesters - several dozen, according to students - began their sit-in following a meeting on Wednesday night, while a memorial to Normale Sup' staff and students who died in World War I was scrawled with anti-police graffiti, prompting some to express their anger on social media.

Comment: All is not so heavenly in 'Jupiter's realm' - Mounting tensions over Macron's reforms are making France a time-bomb:

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Cross

Bending the knee on the altar of political correctness: Episcopal Church removes 'husband and wife' from marriage liturgy

Paul Bois
The Daily Wire
Thu, 03 May 2018 00:00 UTC
traditional marriage
The Episcopal Church became a dead and dying place the moment their Anglican brothers overturned a longtime ban on contraception at the 1930 Lambeth conference. Since then, Episcopalianism has been running around in circles as it tries to pin the tail on the theological donkey.

On top of delivering a nuclear blast to traditional marriage in 2015, the U.S. Episcopal Church now seeks to further increase their woke creed by totally nixing the terms "husband" and "wife" from their marriage liturgy. References to "procreation" will be eliminated, as well.

According to LifeSiteNews, the proposed changes are meant to satisfy the LGBT crowd who find the current language exclusionary. The only opposition has come from the Anglican Church, which has little more than a ceremonial relationship with Episcopalianism at this point. Back in October, Church of England Secretary-General William Nye sent the TEC a threatening letter, saying they will cut ties should they go forward with the changes. The letter did little to displace momentum.

Comment: From Christian faith to nihilistic void

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Question

Are teachers as underpaid as we've been led to believe?

Andrew G. Biggs & Jason Richwine
City Journal
Thu, 26 Apr 2018 15:16 UTC
Teachers protest
© Joe Raedle/GettyImages
Recent protests across the country have reinforced the perception that public school teachers are dramatically underpaid. They're not: the average teacher already enjoys market-level wages plus retirement benefits vastly exceeding those of private-sector workers. Across-the-board salary increases, such as those enacted in Arizona, West Virginia, and Kentucky, are the wrong solution to a non-problem.

Most commentary on teacher pay begins and ends with the observation that public school teachers earn lower salaries than the average college graduate. This is true, but in what other context do we assume that every occupation requiring a college degree should get paid the same? Engineers make about 25 percent more than accountants, but "underpaid" accountants are not demonstrating in the streets.

Comment: Could the across the board perception that teachers are underpaid be as mythical as the gender pay gap?

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Attention

Shootings, stabbings & acid attack: London shaken by violence on holiday weekend


RT
Mon, 07 May 2018 14:45 UTC
London Police
© Peter Nicholls / ReutersPolice officers enforce a cordon at the scene where a teenager was found after being shot, on Saturday, in London, Britain May 6, 2018
A spate of shootings and stabbings in London has prompted additional police patrols on the capital's streets over the bank holiday weekend.

Rhyhiem Ainsworth Barton, 17, was fatally shot on Warham Street, south London on Saturday. The attack took place in daylight, just after 6pm, and police are appealing for information.
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X

South Korea prevents activists from launching propaganda leaflets against Kim Jong-un


RT
Mon, 07 May 2018 11:54 UTC
Park Sang-hak North Korea South Korea protests
© Kim Hong-Ji / ReutersPark Sang-hak, a North Korean defector and leader of an anti-North Korea civic group, speaks ahead of propaganda balloons release in Paju, South Korea on May 5, 2018.
South Korea police have prevented activists from launching balloons and bringing propaganda leaflets to the North, following the landmark summit where the leaders of the two Koreas agreed to cease hostile activities at the border.

The activist group, spearheaded by North Korean defectors, gathered in the city of Paju on Saturday, preparing to release propaganda balloons into the North. Ahead of the planned launch, the activists were confronted by local anti-leaflet protesters, who tried to disrupt the launch. Some 150 Paju locals protested the event, and the police had to intervene when the opposing activists engaged in minor scuffles.

The balloon release, however, never happened, as the police prevented the truck packed with the items, leaflets and gas canisters from reaching the launch site. The group had prepared 150,000 leaflets, 1,000 $1 bills and 500 booklets authored by a North Korean defector, according to the group's leader Park Sang-hak. The propaganda booklet was about the economic growth and prosperity in the South that followed the 1950-53 Korean War.
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Fire

Explosions kill 23 labourers at 2 coal mines in southwest Pakistan

Asif Shahzad
Mumbai Mirror
Mon, 07 May 2018 11:38 UTC
Pakistani miners shift an injured colleague on a stretcher to carry him to the hospital after the collapse of coal mine in Quetta on May 5, 2018.
© BANARAS KHAN / AFPPakistani miners shift an injured colleague on a stretcher to carry him to the hospital after the collapse of coal mine in Quetta on May 5, 2018.
Two neighbouring coal mines collapsed after gas explosions in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, killing 23 people, officials said on Sunday.

The first accident occurred in Marwaarh, 45 kilometres east of provincial capital Quetta, due to a gas explosion on Saturday. The roof caved in following the blast triggered by the accumulation of methane gas, killing 16 miners, Deputy Commissioner Farrukh Atique told PTI.

We have recovered all the 16 bodies from the rubble caused by the collapse in the coal mine," Atique said.

There were 30 labourers inside the mine when the explosion occurred. All the injured miners were rescued and taken to the hospital. "The collapse apparently took place because of a gas explosion and the miners working at that time were trapped inside. Some died on the spot, while others who were badly injured breathed their last under the rubble," Atique said. pti

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