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Thu, 04 Nov 2021
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Attention

UK: British tourists to get detailed terrorist attack warnings

terrorist warning UK plane
© Eddie Keogh / Reuters
British holidaymakers will now be warned how likely terrorist attacks are when they go abroad because of an "evolving" extremist threat, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson says.

Johnson has announced travelers will be given more detail on how predictable attacks are in countries around the world in order to help them make "informed decisions" before leaving the UK.

Currently, holidaymakers are told there is a "high threat" of terrorism but are not given detail about the likelihood of a new attack.

Biohazard

Corporate pollution: Top 5 disasterous pipeline spills of 2016

broken pipeline in Ventura, California
© Ventura County Fire Department / Reuters
An estimated 700 barrels of crude oil spills from a broken pipeline in Ventura, California, U.S., in this handout photo posted on the Ventura County Fire Department's Twitter account and released to Reuters June 23, 2016.
A spill from an Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) pipeline in North Dakota has been contained after leaking 4,200 barrels of oil. While the 176,400-gallon leak is nothing to sneeze at, it is only the sixth worst spill of the year.

Pipelines became a hot button issue in 2016 after the public awareness grew about the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's battle against ETP and the Dakotas Access Pipeline (DAPL), that tribal leaders believed would put their drinking water at risk of contamination from potential spills. Well, they weren't exactly off the mark with that concern.

Dollar

Green cash matters: Walmart criticized for selling Black Lives merch

black lives merch wallmart
© Wallmart
Walmart is synonymous with many things in the US, such as a growing corporate culture. But activism is not really a part of its brand. Many were subsequently surprised to find Black Lives Matter gear on the retailer's website.

Customers browsing products on Walmart's Marketplace, a digital store where third-party vendors can sell their goods through Walmart, were shocked to discover that the international retailer was carrying merchandise for the anti-police brutality movement Black Lives Matter. The slogans on the shirts range from a straightforward "Black Lives Matter" to a sweatshirt with the words "Bulletproof" written on the front.

Old Glory, the third party vendor selling through Walmart's website, provides a wide range of shirts with generic slogans thrown on them from "Girls just wanna have guns" to "OMG Becky," "All Lives Matter," "Bye Felicia" and even "Blue Lives Matter."

No Entry

Four people dead, many injured after minibus 'drove into' Beijing market

Busy Beijing market
Four people are dead and many more injured after a minibus drove into a market in the northern region of Beijing. While China's traffic safety record is not exactly stellar, with many on edge following the Berlin attack, this event is noteworthy as China has faced a threat from Islamist militants operating in its far western region of Xinjiang who have been blamed for a series of attacks in recent years.

As Reuters reports, the incident happened at about 3 p.m. (0700 GMT) in a small town in Beijing's largely rural Changping district, when the minibus "drove into" an agricultural market and hit people there, Beijing police said in a short statement on their microblog.

Comment: Maybe the "red alert" smog may have something to do with the accident: Sinister smog engulfs Beijing, residents imagine alien invasion


Attention

Kids as young as 4 part of UK football pedophile investigations as historical sex abuse cases soar

Crying child
© Jumana El Heloueh / Reuters
Britain's historical child sex scandal has hit record proportions with nearly 3,500 people now under investigation over claims of abuse.

The number of suspects has more than doubled over the last 18 months, with 366 public figures now standing accused of 'non-recent' child sex offenses. In sports alone the number has risen threefold since last November, after allegations of abuse in football academies and junior league teams exploded.

Statistics released by the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) as part of Operation Hydrant show that while in May 2015 there were 1,433 suspects listed, the number had risen dramatically to 3,469 by December 2016. The number of people identified as victims stands at 3,531, with 74 percent of those who had come forward being men.

Comment: The UK isn't the only country experiencing this horrible problem: 368 U.S. gymnasts as young as 6 report sexual abuse by coaches


Bizarro Earth

Sinister smog engulfs Beijing, residents imagine alien invasion

Beeijing man observing dense smog
© Jason Lee / Reuters
As Beijing continues to battle a 'super smog' the city is facing an alien invasion, or at least that's what a number of netizens would like you to think.

A toxic haze continued to blanket Beijing for the sixth day running, with numerous factories and schools closed after 'red alerts,' which are the highest in China's four-tiered weather warning procedure, were issued, also prompting hundreds of flights to be grounded due to poor visibility on Tuesday.

While many were struggling to deal with the deathly clouds, it seems others were more concerned with the apparent impending invasion of Godzilla and Optimus Prime.

Cardboard Box

2016 summed up in one word: 'Surreal' - according to Merriam-Webster online dictionary lookups

cage keeper
Adjective joins 'post-truth' and ' xenophobia' among lexicographers' top choices to sum up annus horribilis that brought us Brexit chaos, Donald Trump, strikes and multiple celebrity deaths

Was 2016 a dream or a nightmare?

Try something in between: "surreal," which is US dictionary Merriam-Webster's word of the year.

Meaning "marked by the intense irrational reality of a dream," or "unbelievable, fantastic," the word joins Oxford's "post-truth" and Dictionary.com's "xenophobia" as the year's top choices.

"It just seems like one of those years," said Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster's editor-at-large.

Ambulance

Dozens killed and injured in Mexico after huge fireworks market explosion

mexico fireworks explosion
© Kadri Paparazzi / YouTube
A huge explosion has rocked a pyrotechnics market in Greater Mexico City, reportedly killing over two dozen people and injuring at least 70 others, including many children. Eyewitnesses captured the exact moment of the enormous blast on video.

At least 29 people died as a result of the explosions, Mexico State Gov. Eruviel Avila told local news outlets, according to AP. The initial incident took the lives of 26 people while three more died after being escorted to local hospitals.

At least 72 people, including children, are being treated for burns injuries, according to State Health Secretary Cesar Nomar Gomez Monge.

Avila, meanwhile, noted that at least 13 children who suffered burns to more than 90 percent of their bodies are being sent to Galveston, Texas for treatment.

A series of blasts happened at around 2:50pm at a fireworks market, San Pablito. The explosions were even heard in the nearby towns of Cacalco and Tultitlan, locals wrote on Twitter.


Comment: Some other fireworks related explosions and fires in recent times include:


Black Cat

Four Flint, Michigan officials charged with felonies in lead poisoning crisis

Flint water tower
© Rebecca Cook / Reuters
On Tuesday Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced that two city employees and two former emergency managers for the city of Flint will face charges related to the city's water crisis, which saw many residents exposed to water contaminated with lead and other toxins.

Dollars

Trickle down poverty: How the coming cashless society is making people desperate

money arrest
Forget about tax policies and left-right politics with the coming era of Trump.

The real trend for the direction of the economy is in the rapidly-accelerating transition to a cashless society.

This vicious move by the top of the pyramid to eliminate physical currency is a drastic step towards the near-total control of society.

Already, plastic cards and electronic payments have taken over the trend of many point-of-sale purchases, not to mention the majority of online sales, which are now very significant.

However, cash remains a major part of spending, and an important part of the individual's daily economic life.

Nonetheless, the cashless grid is setting in, and its consequences are coming down on society.

Sean of SGT Report talks with David on the dire repercussions of the cash-smackdown that is taking place within the U.S. and across the global economy.