Society's ChildS


Attention

California farmer fights $2.8 million federal fine for plowing his own field


RT
Thu, 25 May 2017 22:10 UTC
California farmer
© Lisa Baertlein / Reuters
The US Army Corps of Engineers and state authorities are seeking almost $3 million in fines from a California farmer because residue from plowing polluted creeks on his property, under environmental rules the Trump administration wants to abolish.

Federal authorities are charging John Duarte of Modesto for not obtaining permits to discharge dredged or fill material into seasonal wetlands that are considered waters of the United States, the Redding Record Searchlight reported this week.

"The case is the first time that we're aware of that says you need to get a [US Army Corps of Engineers] permit to plow to grow crops," said Anthony Francois, a lawyer for the Pacific Legal Foundation, a libertarian nonprofit working on Duarte's behalf. "We're not going to produce much food under those kinds of regulations."
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Star of David

IDF removes West Bank anti-occupation encampment set up by activists


RT
Thu, 25 May 2017 21:50 UTC
camp in South Hebron Hills
© Center for Jewish Nonviolence / Facebook
IDF soldiers have removed the last remaining tent at a West Bank encampment set up by Jewish activists from the US and Canada. The camp was erected to mark the 50th anniversary of Israeli occupation.

Soldiers embarked on the encampment, referred to by activists as the Sumud Freedom Camp, early on Thursday, Haaretz reported.

According to activists at the site, the soldiers did not present any written teardown orders for the camp, which was located in the South Hebron Hills.
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Attention

Police union chief says Theresa May's cuts to blame for need to deploy army after Manchester attack


RT
Thu, 25 May 2017 21:36 UTC
British police
© Hannah Mckay / Reuters
The leader of the Police Federation has gone public with thinly-veiled criticism of Prime Minister Theresa May, accusing her of not providing support after military personnel had to be called in to help "desperately understaffed" forces.

The union's chair, Steve White, said on Thursday that the military deployment was needed to keep the streets of Britain safe as the police "simply do not have the resources."

"The welcome support of the military to free up armed officers and offer public reassurance will no doubt be managed in the same professional, resolute way. But, as welcome as this is, we cannot avoid the reasons it is needed at all. There is no ignoring the fact that we, the police, simply do not have the resources to manage an event like this on our own," White added.
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Star of David

Israel reduces electricity supplies to Gaza amid Palestine's refusal to pay in full


Sputnik
Thu, 25 May 2017 21:19 UTC
Israel strike on Gaza
© AP Photo/ Lefteris Pitarakis
Israel has reduced its supplies of electricity to the Gaza Strip after Palestinian authorities refused to pay the monthly bill in full earlier in the week, local media reported Thursday.

Within the framework of the agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), Israel supplied 125 megawatts of electricity to the Gaza Strip in exchange for the PA paying 40 million Israeli new shekels ($11.2 million) a month for the provision. However, earlier in the week, the PA announced that it would reduce the payments down to 25-30 million Israeli new shekels.

According to The Jerusalem Post, Israel reduced the supplies to Gaza down to three hours a day after the PA made its announcement.
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Health

CBO warns 23 million people would lose health care coverage within a decade under Obamacare replacement


RT
Thu, 25 May 2017 12:39 UTC
obamacare 2.0, obamacare replacement
© Mike Blake / Reuters
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office's latest scoring of the House Republican replacement to Obamacare shows that by next year, 14 million people would lose health coverage, while a total 23 million would lose insurance within a decade.

The CBO's report Wednesday takes into account amendments attached to the American Health Care Act (AHCA) on May 4, shortly before the House bill's partisan passage which was nearly denied by just two votes. This is the AHCA's second scoring by the CBO, which released its first report in March.

Around 23 million Americans would lose health care insurance by 2026, the new report found. The CBO had previously projected 24 million people losing health coverage. However, it remains unclear how much, if any, good news the Senate Republicans can take away from the government report.

Comment: House passes Trump's healthcare bill -- Here's what you need to know

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Attention

University of Maryland enacts anti-hate action plan

Jack Pointer
WTOP
Thu, 25 May 2017 19:48 UTC
press conference
University of Maryland President Wallace Loh, center, with University of Maryland Police Chief David Mitchell, right, and Gordon Johnson, FBI special agent in charge of the Baltimore Field Office.
The killing of Lt. Richard Collins III, a Bowie State University student who was set to graduate this week, is being investigated as a possible hate crime. Suspect Sean Christopher Urbanski was reportedly a member of a white supremacist Facebook group called "Alt-Reich: Nation."

Wednesday evening, Loh urged students to allow authorities the time "to do their work with due diligence."

But beyond that, he said, "we must do more."

The action plan, which is effective immediately, is comprised of these initial steps:
  • Establishing a hate-bias and campus safety task force — composed of faculty, staff, students and alumni — to review relevant policies and procedures. That task force will then submit a report with recommendations and guidelines;
  • Creating a rapid-response team — composed of faculty, staff and students — to provide support for victims of hate-bias incidents;
  • Allocating $100,000 in supplemental funds to the Office of Diversity and Inclusion for supporting diversity and inclusion efforts;
  • Production of an annual report on all campus hate-bias incidents;
  • Asking the university's Athletic Council to consider ways to strengthen intercollegiate athletics policy to prohibit hate-bias symbols or actions in any venue.
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Arrow Down

One year after Buenos Aires Zoo closure, hundreds of animals remain behind bars in a noisy limbo

Luis Andres Henao
Associated Press
Wed, 24 May 2017 01:39 UTC
buenos aires zoo closure
The roars of lions, snorts of rhinos and trumpets of elephants still blend with the cacophony of honking buses and screeching cars passing nearby in one of the most heavily congested areas of Argentina's capital.

A year after the 140-year-old Buenos Aires zoo closed its doors and was transformed into a park, hundreds of animals remain behind bars and in a noisy limbo.

Developers last July promised to relocate most of the zoo's 1,500 animals to sanctuaries in Argentina and abroad, but they had made no firm arrangements to do so. And a new master plan announced Tuesday still doesn't specify how they will accomplish it. Many of the animals are so zoo-trained that experts fear they would die if moved, even to wild animal preserves.

Conservationists also complain that the remaining animals still live in antiquated enclosures widely considered inhumane by modern standards - and say the city government's new plan gives few specifics of how improvements will be made.
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Propaganda

Mom shocked as her daughter's photo is used in fake Manchester terror missing child post


NZ Herald
Wed, 24 May 2017 19:20 UTC
Gemma Devine
© InstagramThis photo of 12-year-old Gemma Devine circulated as a missing person.
A mother woke to hundreds of messages of concern after her daughter's photo was plastered all over Twitter as a potential victim of the Manchester terror attack.

The only problem? Rachel Devine's daughter Gemma was in Melbourne.

The 12-year-old was safe in Australia, but someone had mistakenly used Gemma's photo on Twitter, claiming the girl was lost in the panic scenes following the deadly blast at an Ariana Grande concert.

Rachel, a blogger and photographer, has now used social media to correct the misinformation among the hundreds of desperate appeals for lost children caught in the mayhem.

Comment: Crowds flee Ariana Grande concert in Manchester following reports of explosion; at least 22 killed and 59 injured - UPDATES

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Handcuffs

Child psychopath: Brooklyn pre-teen's reign of terror over after police finally arrest him for beating 80-year old woman

Chelsea Rose Marcius
Daily News New York
Thu, 25 May 2017 04:34 UTC
Brooklyn 12 year old attacks 80 year old woman
© Gary Hershorn / Reuters/REUTERSA pre-teen terror in Brooklyn attacked an 80-year-old woman three different times — hitting her over the head with a metal rod, setting her jacket on fire with a lighter and punching her in the face, police sources said.
A preteen's reign of terror in a Brooklyn neighborhood — that includes targeting and menacing senior citizens — is over, police sources said.

A 12-year-old boy was arrested Wednesday for beating an 80-year-old woman and trying to light her on fire, authorities said.

Sources described the child as troubled. He has run away from home twice and been assaulted once.

"This kid is a real piece of work," one source said. "He's like a terror in that community."
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Attention

New study reveals most Britons feel ethnic minorities are threat to 'Britishness'


RT
Thu, 25 May 2017 21:02 UTC
UK Border
© Oli Scarff / Getty Images
The majority of Britons believe ethnic minorities living in the UK are a threat to their culture, a new study suggests

Up to a quarter of the population thinks immigrants are snatching jobs, while just over a third (34 percent) believe that they take more from the nation than they contribute, according to this year's Aurora Humanitarian Index survey.

The study also found that respondents believe Brexit will have an impact on the UK's ability to deal with the exodus of refugees flowing into Europe from war-torn areas.

A large number of people lack confidence in world leaders to tackle the refugee crisis, the survey found, and when it comes to Prime Minister Theresa May only a minority (15 percent) think she is the best figure to resolve the issue.
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