Society's ChildS

Map

Majority of Europeans say Muslim immigration should be stopped

Europeans immigrants
© Global Look Press via ZUMA Press
More than 55 percent of Europeans say that immigration from Muslim-majority countries should be stopped, a poll from a London-based think tank says.

The poll, carried out by the Royal Institute of International Affairs, also known as Chatham House, a group which analyzes major international issues and current affairs, was released on Tuesday.

More than 10,000 people from 10 European states took part in the survey. The respondents were given the following statement: "All further migration from mainly Muslim countries should be stopped."

Bulb

San Francisco reaches deal for free tuition at City College

Mayor Ed Lee and Supervisor Jane Kim
© Liz Hafalia, The ChronicleMayor Ed Lee and Supervisor Jane Kim
City College of San Francisco will be free of charge to all city residents under a deal announced Monday by Mayor Ed Lee and Supervisor Jane Kim that college trustees hope will lead to an enrollment jolt and more state funding for the school.

Under the agreement, which is expected to take effect in the fall, the city will pay $5.4 million a year to buy out the $46-a-credit fee usually paid by students.

The city's contribution will also provide $250 a semester to full-time, low-income students who already receive a state-funded fee waiver. They will be able to use the money to pay for books, transportation, school supplies and health fees. Part-time students with fee waivers will get $100 a semester for the same purpose.

"Now we can say to California resident students that your City College is free," Lee said at a City Hall news conference with Kim, City College trustees, faculty members, acting Chancellor Susan Lamb and others. "This is a good story."

Attention

France shocked by death of 5yo boy beaten by stepfather for bedwetting

Yanis Notre Ange
© FacebookYanis Notre Ange
The shocking death of a 5-year-old boy who was found near the side of a town canal only in socks and underwear with multiple head fractures has stirred the French media. The boy is said to have been cruelly punished by his stepfather for wetting the bed.

The incident took place in the commune of Aire-sur-la-Lys, located in northern French Pas-de-Calais department at about 2:45am on Monday. The boy, identified as Yanis, was found some 200 meters from the house of his stepfather, 30, and his mother, 22, police said, Le Parisien newspaper reports. La Voix Du Nord newspaper, however, reported that the house belonged to the boys' stepfather and his mother lived at a different place.

The couple, which had not been known to police before, were unemployed. Married since August 2015, they did not have any other children.

Rescuers from CODIS (Departmental Operational Center of Fire and Rescue) who arrived at the scene of the incident said the boy died of "cardiac arrest." Police stated that the stepfather alerted them about the incident, saying that the child was found unconscious.

The child's parents were taken for questioning on suspicion of "voluntary violence causing death without intention" into police custody in near-by Saint-Omer commune, police said. French media cited sources as saying the boy had a broken nose and traces of old injuries.

Fire

15,000 homeless after Philippines slum devastated by fire

Residents look on as a fire destroys hundreds of houses Manila
© Noel Celis / AFPResidents look on as a fire destroys hundreds of houses at an informal settlers community in Delpan, Tondo, Manila on February 7, 2017.
A massive blaze at an overcrowded slum in the Philippines capital of Manila, has left at least 15,000 people homeless.

The fire swept through the shanty town after breaking out in the Parola Compound near the city's port late Tuesday night. It raged for 10 hours into Wednesday morning, according to authorities cited by Reuters.

Hundreds of firefighters fought to contain the flames. Seven people were injured in the rapidly-spreading blaze, according to fire officer Edilberto Cruz.

"The houses in that place are all (made of) light materials. That is why the fire was quick to spread. We are just lucky that no-one was killed," he said, as reported by AFP.

Cult

Professors at Indiana University call FBI, investigates white supremacy fliers found on campuses nationwide

protect your heritage
© Identity Evropa / YouTube
Professors of color at Indiana University (IU) contacted the FBI after their office doors were littered with fliers from a white supremacy group.

The fliers were "posted under cover of darkness" by a group that identifies itself with white supremacy, according to a statement released on Monday by IU's Provost and Executive Vice President, Lauren Robel.

The fliers were posted on office doors, and specifically targeted "faculty members of color or scholars of race and ethnicity," Robel said, adding that they were posted to "intimidate, threaten, scare, and provoke anger among faculty, staff, students and visitors."

Charlie Geyh, a law professor at IU, responded to the incident on Facebook, calling the fliers "burning crosses for the 21st century."

Comment: It would be interesting to know who's behind "Identity Evropa."


Eye 2

Homeland Security arrests South Carolina deputy for soliciting child pornography

Christopher Wilbanks
© Greenville County Detention CenterChristopher Wilbanks
A Spartanburg County sheriff's deputy has been arrested by Homeland Security, according to the Sheriff's Office.

On Tuesday, January 31 the Sheriff's Office was alerted by the Department of Homeland Security about an investigation that involved Chris Wilbanks and inappropriate communication with a juvenile in another state.

Sergeant Wilbanks was arrested Friday as part of that ongoing investigation into child pornography, according to the Sheriff's Office. Wilbanks was arraigned in federal court on Monday morning. He faces a charge of intention to induce or coerce a minor into a sexually explicit act with the purpose of producing a visual depiction of the conduct. In the hearing, Assistant William Wilkins says the former deputy attempted to get pictures from the minor between January 2 and 4th.

Court documents show an 11-year-old girl in Washington state was taken to the police department after her mother discovered that the girl was sending nude photos to a person over the app Kik.

An investigation revealed that the 11-year-old girl had been speaking with a user by the name of "Redneck Rick" on Kik who claimed to be a 14-year-old boy in her class. Conversations on the Kik app between the girl and "Redneck Rick" revealed that he was asking the girl to send him pictures of her naked so he could see how "fit her body was."

Brick Wall

Centre shuts health mission gate on Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Bill and Melinda Gates
The Centre has shut the gate on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on a critical national health mission, and possible conflict of interest issues arising from the foundation's "ties" with pharmaceutical companies is one of the reasons.

All financial ties of the country's apex immunisation advisory body, National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI), with the Gates Foundation have been cut off.

Comment:


Quenelle

Army Corps of Engineers to grant final Dakota Access Pipeline permit; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe vows to fight

Demonstrators protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline
© Lucas Jackson / ReutersDemonstrators protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline, outside the Mizuho Bank in New York, U.S., February 1, 2017.
The US Army Corps of Engineers will grant the final easement necessary to finish construction on the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, according to a court filing. President Donald Trump had issued an executive order to review the project quickly.

Along with stating its intentions to grant the easement, the Corps also said it would terminate its plans to prepare an environmental impact statement. That requirement was issued by the Obama administration in its waning days.

The filing of the easement was sent to the US Senate with a 24-hour notice, rather than 14 days, as required, This Week reported.

The stock for Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind the pipeline, rose 0.8 percent after the announcement. It had fallen 1.5 percent earlier, according to Bloomberg.

Snakes in Suits

Audit finds that California wastewater authority mismanaged $32mn in FEMA funds

Victor Valley Water Reclamation Authority
© Victor Valley Water Reclamation AuthorityVictor Valley Water Reclamation Authority
A US government audit has revealed that a California wastewater treatment authority mismanaged millions of dollars in emergency management funds. The agency received the federal money after major flooding led to a ruptured pipeline six years ago.

The Victor Valley Water Reclamation Authority's (VVWRA) mismanagement has to do with three Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) contracts totaling $31.7 million, in which the agency was found to have not complied with numerous regulations.

A report by the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security, which conducted the audit, states that the mismanagement has led FEMA to have "no assurance that these costs were reasonable or that the authority selected the most qualified contractors."

Snakes in Suits

SEC to file lawsuit against New York Stock Exchange for 2015 blackout

New York Stock Exchange NYSE
© Brendan McDermid / Reuters
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has indicated that it will file a lawsuit against a 2015 outage on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The four-hour long blackout was the worst in the exchange's history.

The NYSE is bracing for a civil lawsuit from the SEC after a botched technology upgrade paralyzed the exchange for about four hours in July 2015. In an announcement on Tuesday, Intercontinental Exchange, the NYSE's parent company, confirmed that it had received a Wells Notice that states the SEC's intention to sue.