Society's ChildS


Fire

Six injured in explosion at incense factory in suburb of Paris

paris ambulance
© Loic Venance
Six people, two of them seriously, have been injured in an explosion at an incense factory in Montrouge, a southern suburb of the French capital, French media reported Monday.

The explosion occurred at about 11 a.m. local time (10:00 GMT) and the emergency service arrived at the scene shortly afterward, with two individuals most seriously injured sent to two different hospitals in Paris, according to Le Parisien newspaper.

A century-old factory, where Armenian Paper incense was produced, reportedly stored vats of ethanol and was, therefore, a high explosion risk.

The newspaper also reported, citing locals, that the actual cause of the blast was still unknown.

Nuke

Fukushima breakthrough? The operator at Japan's TEPCO finds possible nuclear fuel debris

damaged Fukushima nuclear plant's No. 2 reactor
© TEPCO / Handout via ReutersThis handout image shows a material below the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant's No. 2 reactor, January 30, 2017.
The operator of Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant may have finally found a portion of nuclear fuel debris responsible for a lot of the lingering contamination from six years ago. If confirmed, it will dramatically improve clean-up efforts.

One of the most difficult aspects of the cleanup was getting to those hard-to-reach places where residual nuclear material remained. The substance is so toxic that even specially-made robots designed to probe the underwater depths beneath the power plant crumble and shut down.

The exciting find on Monday was made by a remote-controlled camera fitted on a long pipe, MHK reports. Underneath the No. 1 plant, just below the inactive Reactor 2 - one of three that had melted down in 2011 - scientists with TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) saw a black spot they had not seen before, and one not visible in recordings taken prior to the catastrophe.

Pistol

Istanbul: Gunman kills one, injures two in restaurant attack

Turkish police
© Huseyin Aldemir / AFPTurkish police
A gun attack has been reported at a restaurant in Istanbul. At least one person was reportedly killed and two others injured, according to Turkish media.

The incident happened at a popular restaurant near the historic Anadolu Hisar fortress on the Asian side of Istanbul.

Some reports state that the sole attacker has been apprehended.

Preliminary reports say the shooting was not a terrorist act. Some reports claim that the shooter targeted a person who had killed his father a decade ago.

Chess

Chechen soldiers enter Aleppo to ease interaction with locals

chechen soldiers
Chechen Special Forces
Russia has sent Chechen soldiers to Aleppo as part of its military police battalion tasked with restoring law and order in the Syrian city. The Chechens, who are mostly Muslims, could ease relations with the locals, a Middle East expert told RT.

The battalion was sent to Aleppo late December after the city was liberated from the militants, providing security to humanitarian aid workers and Russian sappers who are helping Syrians rebuild their lives. It has now been tasked with maintaining law and order on the streets of the city devastated by the drawn-out conflict.

The head of Russia's Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, revealed that around 400 soldiers from Chechnya are participating in the policing and law enforcement operation as well as helping with the reconstruction efforts in Aleppo.

Attention

Two UK activists arrested for attempting to disarm Saudi-bound planes and prevent more war crimes in Yemen

activists try disarm warplanes Saudi Arabia
Quaker Sam Walton and Reverend Dan Woodhouse were arrested after allegedly trying to disarm warplanes bound for Saudi Arabia
Two men have been arrested in Lancashire, UK for trying to disarm and prevent Saudi-bound warplanes from taking off and delivering weapons that they say would be used to bomb Yemen. They are being held on suspicion of criminal damage.

The two men detained on Sunday had somehow gained entry into the BAE Systems site in Warton, where the planes were reportedly awaiting departure. The men - Reverend Dan Woodhouse, a Methodist minister in Leeds, and Sam Walton, a Quaker - say their actions were intended to "save lives," in a statement on Facebook.

The activists say the jets were intended to replenish Saudi Arabian weapons supplies, to be used on Yemen.

"Stopping or even delaying Saudi Arabia having more planes with which to bomb Yemen would save innocent lives and prevent war crimes," Rev. Woodhouse said.

Comment: The US and UK have mostly turned a blind eye to the Saudi war crimes in Yemen as they have both been making billions from arms sales.


Cult

Pope Francis voices concern over 'hemorrhage' of priests and nuns from the church

Pope Francis
© L'Osservatore Romano/ APPope Francis poses with bishops and cardinals at the Clementine Hall, at the Vatican Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017. Pope Francis says he’s concerned about the “hemorrhage” of priests and nuns from the Catholic church. Francis on Saturday told participants at a Vatican gathering to discuss religious life that loss of clergy weakens the church.
Pope Francis says he is concerned about what he calls a "hemorrhage" of priests and nuns from the Catholic church.

The pope on Saturday told participants at a Vatican gathering on religious life that the loss of clergy is weakening the church.

First among the factors he cited as causing nuns and priests to quit their vocations is a society that discourages lifelong commitments. Francis lamented that many conduct their lives based on "a la carte" choices.

For decades, the Catholic church in many developed countries has seen the number of priests and nuns on the decline.

Clipboard

California campaign to secede starting to collect signatures needed for 'Calexit' vote

California flag
© AFP Photo/Mark RALSTONProponents of "California Nationhood," or Calexit, are pushing for independence on grounds the state is out of step with the rest of the US and could flourish on its own.
A campaign for California to secede from the rest of the country over Donald Trump's election is gaining momentum, with supporters allowed to start collecting signatures for the measure to be put to a vote.

California's Secretary of State Alex Padilla gave the green light on Thursday for proponents of "California Nationhood" -- also known as Calexit -- to start collecting the nearly 600,000 signatures needed for the measure to qualify on the November 2018 ballot.

The 585,407 signatures required by July 25 represent eight percent of registered voters in California -- the most populous state in the country with nearly 40 million residents and the world's sixth-largest economy.

Should the initiative make it on the ballot, a "Yes" vote would repeal clauses in the California Constitution "stating California is an inseparable part of the United States and that the United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land," a statement by Padilla's office said.

Voters would then need to decide in another referendum in 2019 whether California should become a separate country.

Eye 2

Reports suggest Kurdish militias tortured children to extract ISIS confessions

child soldier ISIS islamic state
© Jamal Saidi / ReutersChild soldiers fighting for Islamic State
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) - who controls parts of northern Iraq - systematically tortured boys as young as 11 using beatings, electric shocks and rape threats, to force confessions of involvement with Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) according a new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW).

"KRG authorities should ensure the wellbeing of children captured after living under ISIS and not mistreat them," Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at HRW said. "The brutal abuse of children produces false confessions, can cause lifelong suffering, and blurs the moral line between ISIS and its foes."

In December, HRW researchers visited Erbil, the unofficial capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, where they spoke to 19 of at least 183 children, who are being held by Asayish, the KRG security force. Of those interviewed, 18 were Sunni Arabs, and all but one told researchers that they had suffered physical and mental abuse after being captured when KRG advanced on Nineveh, Salah al-Din, and Kirkuk in the past several months.

Cult

'Sadistic rituals and sexual abuse' practiced at Germany's elite Pfullendorf military base

German soldiers
© Hannibal Hanschke / Reuters
Recruits and service personnel have been subjected to humiliating acts, violent rituals and sexual abuse at an elite military base in southern Germany, according to a report first published by Der Spiegel daily and later confirmed by the German military.

"Sexual abuse and sadistic actions" were "common practice" during a medical training course named "Combat First Responder" which recruits from all military branches had to attend at the Pfullendorf military base in Baden-Wuertemberg, Der Spiegel reported citing an internal military investigation that was kept secret.

The investigation was triggered in October 2016 after a female officer addressed the German parliamentary commissioner for the army, Hans-Peter Bartels as well as the German Defense Minister, Ursula von der Leyen.

The female lieutenant complained that she had to go through various humiliating and degrading exercises and rituals during her medical training at the base. The recruits were forced to get naked in front of the fellow service members while other soldiers were filming them, she said at that time, according to Der Spiegel.

The soldiers attending the course also had to take part in "absolutely senseless and apparently sexually motivated medical exercises" that involved soldiers inserting roller bandages into their anuses. Both male and female recruits had to go through this. Such "drills" were also photographed, the officer added.

The officer's complaint prompted an internal investigation into the matter that confirmed all the officer's statements, Der Spiegel reports. The investigators also found that the violations at the base were not limited to degrading training exercises, but also included violent and humiliating rituals for new recruits.

Quenelle - Golden

Counter color revolution: Popular "anti-Soros" movement launched in Macedonia

Stop soros
A new global initiative called Stop Operation Soros (SOS) was recently launched in Macedonia to curb the influence of one of the US' most controversial billionaires.

Just a week after Hungary moved to counter the influence of the numerous organizations funded by globalist billionaire George Soros, a movement dedicated to mitigating Soros-funded efforts of political and social engineering emerged in Macedonia. Known as Stop Operation Soros (SOS), the initiative was founded by three top Macedonian journalists with the aim of "de-soros-itizing" the country. During a press conference, Nikola Srbov, columnist for pro-government new portal Kurir and SOS co-founder, argued that Soros had monopolized civil society and, through his organizations, was working to subvert and suppress dissenting views:
"We've witnessed the takeover of the entire civil sector and its abuse and instrumentalization to meet the goals of one political party. That is unacceptable and goes beyond the principles of civic organizing."
He added that
"The Open Society Foundation, operating under the Soros umbrella, used its funding and personnel to support violent processes in Macedonia. It has monopolized the civil society sector, pushing outside any organization which disagrees with the Soros ideology."

Comment: Morose Soros has been long due for a serious comeuppance. Nice to see that the world is catching on to his society-destroying games.

See also: Wayne Madsen: Soros on the ropes