Society's ChildS


Fire

Huge gasoline tanker explosion forces highway shutdown in Utah (VIDEOS)


RT
Fri, 19 Jan 2018 11:25 UTC
Tanker explosion
© UDOT
A double-tanker truck loaded with gasoline has exploded on Interstate-15 in Salt Lake County, Utah, forcing the closure of the highway in both directions. No injuries have been reported.

The vehicle fire occurred Thursday evening near the 7200 South area of I-15 in Midvale. The Utah Department of Transportation, news crews and witnesses captured the inferno on video, as traffic came to a standstill. Fire crews were still battling the blaze at 8:30pm local time, one hour after the Utah DOT initially reported the incident on Twitter.
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Russian Flag

Two-meter-long Nile crocodile found in St. Petersburg basement (PHOTOS)


RT
Fri, 19 Jan 2018 17:56 UTC
Nile crocodile
© Patrick Lefevre / Global Look Press
Locals in St. Petersburg are in shock after police found a ruthless maneater - a Nile crocodile - in the basement of a building in the city's southwest. The predator was living among Kalashnikovs, sniper rifles and a mortar shell.

The fuss about the cold-blooded beast started among Russian Twitter users after local press released photos of the dangerous predator. The Nile crocodile was around two meters in length was crawling inside a basement, Fontanka.ru reported on Thursday.

The crocodile didn't resist or attack the officers when it was captured. It is now in the care of veterinary services. The problem is that the animal is an 'illegal immigrant' - it doesn't have any documents and, unfortunately, can't be taken by a zoo.

The officers were searching the house of Pavel Baranenko, founder of Red Star patriotic group in St. Petersburg and famous for organizing reconstructions of historic events. The search was made as part of an investigation into illegal trafficking of explosives.
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Handcuffs

Two guards in French prison attacked by 'radicalized inmate'


RT
Fri, 19 Jan 2018 14:54 UTC
Borgo Prison
© STEPHAN AGOSTINI / AFPBorgo Prison
Two guards at a French prison in Corsica have been attacked and seriously injured by a radicalized inmate, a local prosecutor and a prison union said. The perpetrator reportedly shouted 'Allahu Akbar' while attacking the guards.

The incident took place in Borgo Prison on Friday morning, Prosecutor of Bastia City Caroline Tharot said, as cited by AFP. The type of weapon used in the attack was not specified.

UFAP-UNSA penitentiary union confirmed in a statement that the inmate was indeed radicalized. It is not clear whether he was radicalized before being jailed or while serving his sentence.

Both guards are in hospital, one with stab wounds to the face and back.

Comment: See also: Convicted murderer assaults 7 French prison guards amid protests for more security

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Rocket

Components for S-400 defense systems, destined for China, damaged during storm in English Channel


Sputnik
Fri, 19 Jan 2018 18:49 UTC
Recharging S-400 Triumf
© Sputnik/ Grigoriy SisoevRecharging an S-400 Triumf anti-aircraft weapon system during the combat duty drills of the surface to air-missile regiment in the Moscow Region
A number of auxiliary components for S-400 air defense systems that had been sent from Russia to China under the 2014 contract were damaged during the shipment by sea, the Russian defense industry cooperation service (FSMTC) said Friday.

According to FSMTC spokeswoman Maria Vorobyeva, a ship carrying the components has been caught in a storm while passing the English Channel and was forced to return to Russia.

"As a result, part of the auxiliary components shipment on board was damaged. The evaluation of damages for insurance purposes is underway," Vorobyeva said.

Comment: See also: Russia starts delivering S-400 missile system to China

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Gold Seal

The New Bourgeoisie, Critical Theory and Jordan B Peterson

Uri Harris
Quillette
Wed, 17 Jan 2018 16:43 UTC
jordan peterson interview
Earlier this week, clinical psychologist Jordan B. Peterson appeared on Britain's Channel 4 in an interview with TV journalist Cathy Newman. It didn't go well. Journalist Douglas Murray described it as "catastrophic for the interviewer", while author Sam Harris called it a "nearly terminal case of close-mindedness". Sociologist Nicholas Christakis perhaps described it best:

Christakis mentions two important things about Newman. First, she seemed hostile towards Peterson, clearly going into the interview with a moral prejudice towards him. Second, she seemed unable to engage with his arguments, instead misrepresenting them ("You're saying women aren't intelligent enough to run top companies?") or taking issue with them (during a conversation about unhealthy relationships, Newman asked: "What gives you the right to say that?" Answer: "I'm a clinical psychologist.") At one point, she was rendered speechless.
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Attention

Axe & Molotov cocktail at Russian high school: Attackers injure 3 people, start blaze - conflicting reports - UPDATE


RT
Fri, 19 Jan 2018 07:55 UTC
Russian high school in Ulan-Ude
© RuptlyRussian high school in Ulan-Ude
Three attackers, at least one of them armed with an axe, stormed a school in the Siberian city of Ulan-Ude and used a Molotov cocktail to set the building on fire. It is the second school attack in Russia in the space of a week.

There are conflicting reports about the number of attackers; while the Buryatia Republic authorities say that there were at least three, the Russian Investigative Committee is looking for a lone perpetrator.

Initial reports in the local media said a student stormed the high school with an axe and attacked a teacher and at least three students. He chopped off one of the victim's fingers, according to some reports.

According to the Buryatia Republic authorities, four people were injured, including an attacker. Later on Friday an official from the regional health ministry told TASS that seven people had been injured, "six children and a woman." He didn't specify whether the attacker was among them.

Comment: See also: Teens inspired by Columbine Massacre go on knife rampage at Russian school, 15 injured

Update: RT reports
A video has emerged showing the alleged arrest of a teen who stormed a school in the Siberian city of Ulan-Ude, and used a Molotov cocktail to set the building on fire. The attacker tried to commit suicide after the assault.

The footage shows the alleged perpetrator lying on the ground, apparently in the school yard, with three police officers tying his hands. The suspect does not appear to resist law enforcers.


Six people, including a teacher, were wounded in the attack on Friday morning. One of the victims, a 13-year-old girl, is reportedly in a coma. The attacker, a student in the school, allegedly chopped off one of the victim's fingers, and hit several children in the head with an ax.

The teen, identified by local media as 'Anton,' attempted to kill himself after the attack. According to local media, he stabbed himself with a knife and then jumped from a window.

He had earlier told a girl at the school about his plans via the Viber messaging app, a local woman said, according to Ruptly. "The boy told her [the girl] not to go to school because 'there will be a massacre,'" she added.


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Stock Up

Russian stocks surge to all-time high riding strong ruble momentum


RT
Fri, 19 Jan 2018 17:09 UTC
Moscow
© Anton Denisov / Sputnik
The Russian key ruble stock index - MICEX - surged to a historic high on Friday, surpassing the 2,300 mark. The ruble was also near multi-year highs against the US dollar.

The MICEX touched a record 2,306 mark before sliding to 2,288. The dollar-traded RTS Index was trading flat at 1,274 points. The RTS is still far from its record, seen in 2008, when it was double its current level.

The ruble remains one of few currencies in surplus against the greenback over the last 52 weeks. The Russian currency is up over five percent against the dollar in the last year. The ruble was trading at 56.6 against the dollar and 69.5 against the euro.
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Card - VISA

Visa won't process cryptocurrency-based transactions


RT
Fri, 19 Jan 2018 16:55 UTC
VISA credit card
© Philippe Wojazer / Reuters
The largest cryptocurrency, bitcoin, is a commodity and not a payment system, according to Visa's chief executive. Visa will also not give bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies a platform for wire transfers and exchanges.

"I don't view it as payment system player," CEO Alfred Kelly told CNBC.

"We at Visa won't process transactions that are cryptocurrency-based. We will only process fiat currency-based transactions," he added. Visa is the world's largest credit card company.
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Bug

Vermin, filth, drugs & suicide: Appalling conditions in Britain's 'worst' prison (PHOTOS)


RT
Fri, 19 Jan 2018 16:30 UTC
cockroach trash
© justiceinspectorates.gov.uk
Prison chiefs are being ordered to explain their "abject failure" over squalid living conditions in Liverpool prison. Inmates are living with broken windows, rats, cockroaches, damp and leaking toilets, an official report reveals.

The damning report, published on Friday highlights the plight of one prisoner with mental health needs who was left for weeks in a dark and damp cell with broken windows, exposed wires, no furniture besides a bed and a blocked lavatory. It took the personal intervention of Chief Inspector of Prisons Peter Clarke to get him moved from "such appalling conditions."

Many of the 1,155 prisoners have to endure squalid conditions with hundreds of broken windows, jagged glass in the frames, filthy toilets inside cells and rats living in rubbish piles, according to inspectors who made an unannounced visit in September last year. The category B prison, which has a capacity of 1,060, has been rated "poor" for safety - the lowest level - three times in four years.
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Sherlock

Rape charges against Oxford University student dropped after new review of evidence


RT
Fri, 19 Jan 2018 16:37 UTC
Oliver Mears
© Oly Mears / FacebookOliver Mears
A two-year rape case against an Oxford University student has been dropped just days before his trial, after a "new set of eyes" re-examined the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) case against him.

Oliver Mears, 19, from Horley, Surrey, was on track to become a successful scientist before being arrested on suspicion of raping and indecently assaulting a woman at a party in July 2015.

His trial had been set down to start on Monday, but the CPS asked the judge to record a not guilty verdict after the evidence was reviewed, the Times reports. After Mears spent two years in limbo, the prosecution said it would not be submitting any evidence.

"This has been hanging over Oliver for two years and he has been under enormous stress for 10 percent of his life. It was a very poor and slow investigation by the police and there has been very late disclosure," a source, who asked not to be identified, told the newspaper.

"Some of the material requested which would have been useful to the defense has still not been received," the source added.
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