Society's ChildS


Info

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports West Mosul displacement surges 22% amid ongoing coalition offensive

Refugees
© Youssef Boudlal / Reuters
The total number of displaced civilians in the western part of the Iraqi city of Mosul has increased 22 percent week-on-week as Iraqi forces keep battling Islamic State militants, the United Nations says.

Nearly 45,000 people have fled the fighting between Iraqi government forces and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISISL) militants in western Mosul over the past week, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported on Wednesday.

The latest development brings the number of people displaced from western Mosul up to around 135,000, the UN humanitarian aid office said, adding that "camp expansion is rapidly accelerating to ensure capacity keeps pace with demand."

"Significant shortages of drinking water continue to be a major humanitarian concern in eastern Mosul city. Civilians in many neighborhoods of southwestern Mosul also have no access to the public network and are accessing untreated drinking water," the office said.

Around 330,000 people had to leave Mosul since the military operation began in October, with only 72,000 returning home, according to OCHA.

Comment: See also: Refugees describe Mosul terror: 'ISIS cut off heads, break legs and provoke airstrikes'


Cross

Pope Francis: Don't be fooled by fake reality created by social media, take control of your own life and destiny

Pope Francis
© Tony Gentile / ReutersPope Francis
Pope Francis has said that social media and reality TV distort people's perception of life, and rob it of meaning, and has urged their consumers to take control of their own destinies, rather than following the lives of others.

"In the social media, we see faces of young people appearing in any number of pictures recounting more or less real events, but we don't know how much of all this is really 'history', an experience that can be communicated and endowed with purpose and meaning," the 80-year-old Pontiff said in a message recorded for World Youth Day on April 9.

"Television is full of 'reality shows' which are not real stories, but only moments passed before a television camera by characters living from day to day, without a greater plan."

"Don't let yourselves be led astray by this false image of reality! Be the protagonists of your history; decide your own future," urged the Pope.

Fire

Dad claims he set young daughter on fire because 'she was too beautiful'

little girl
© 7 NewsThe little girl before she was burnt.
A Perth father who set his three-year-old daughter on fire told a neighbour he did it because she was "too beautiful".

Drug user Edward John Herbert admits he poured petrol over the little girl's head and doused her autistic seven-year-old sister but has pleaded not guilty to the charges on grounds of insanity.

In court on Monday, a policewoman fought back tears as she described the moment she saw the three-year-old girl in her cot with "her whole head on fire".

People 2

Transgender weightlifter sparks criticism after 'her' competition win

Laurel Hubbard transgender weightlifter
© clone 1489978896Transgender NZ weightlifter makes history
A Kiwi weightlifter has made history as the first transgender athlete to represent New Zealand and come away with a win, however the victory has been slammed by other competitors.

Laurel Hubbard, 39, won the women's over 90kg division at the Australian International competition in Melbourne on Sunday, but the win has caused a stir with some believing she had an unfair advantage.

Her combined total of 268kg was nearly 20kg better than Samoan runner-up Iuniarra Sipaia, with another 20kg back to the next lifter in the field.

Bad Guys

Exposed! San Francisco teachers union official's proud history of abusing students

San Francisco teachers union expose
© Project Veritas
An undercover video is exposing the type of folks leading the teachers union in San Francisco, and how they plot to protect educators who abuse students.

Project Veritas, a group led by conservative video journalist James O'Keefe, released secretly recorded video footage Tuesday of United Educators of San Francisco treasurer Antonio Mankini explaining to an undercover journalist how he assaulted students and "made it look like an accident."

The video centers on the journalist, posing as a teacher, soliciting advice from Mankini on behalf of a colleague who he said felt guilty for striking a student. Mankini told the journalist the teacher has nothing to worry about if "there's no evidence" and explained how he has evaded punishment for the same scenario in the past.


"Were there any witnesses? Just keep it that way. Seriously. If there weren't any witnesses, it's your word against the kid's. Kids f*cking lie. Seriously."

Mankini said in the video, which was posted to YouTube. "But if there were no witnesses, then you have that deniability and that's something that could be used," he said. "No I didn't do it. There's no scars, marks, ... or bruises or anything.
There's no evidence."

Magnify

What's he like? Up close and personal with 'The Donald'

Ryan, Trump, Kenny
© Kevin Lamarque/ReutersTrump, Ryan and Kenny attend the annual Friends of Ireland St Patrick's Day lunch.
Donald Trump showed his softer side to a group given unique access to him at the White House and Capitol Hill. After all, the Irish-American vote is crucial to the success of the Republican Party. Trump showed he's a tough politician in the Irish sense. President Donald Trump can be courteous, engaging, friendly and even vulnerable. I know because I spent a day in his company as part of the Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny press entourage last Thursday.

Lemon

Food fight: Moscow extends import ban on Turkish agricultural products in response to stiff tariffs imposed on Russian products

Turkey Russia agricultural dispute
© Umit Bektas / Reuters“The issue of full or partial removal of restrictions on Turkish fruit and vegetable products for the Russian market should be discussed in conjunction with the removal of counter restrictions on Russian products from the Turkish side."
Russia will not lift the import ban on Turkish vegetables, fruit, and meat, according to agriculture watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor. Last week, Turkey imposed stiff tariffs on Russian wheat and corn, making exports unprofitable.

According to watchdog spokeswoman Yulia Melano, "the issue of full or partial removal of restrictions on Turkish fruit and vegetable products for the Russian market should be discussed in conjunction with the removal of counter restrictions on Russian products from the Turkish side."

Last week, the Russian media reported that Turkey had imposed a 130 percent tariff on wheat, corn and sunflower meal that is making deliveries highly unprofitable for local businesses.

Robot

New national database to record 'zombie' effects of illegal designer drugs created in UK

Drug addict
© Andrew Winning/Reuters
A national database listing the effects of so-called 'zombie' drugs has been created for doctors to swiftly detect any new kinds of synthetic narcotics arriving on the market.

The Report Illicit Drug Reaction (RIDR) website, which will feature urgent clinical reports, will allow doctors to keep constantly up to date with new psychoactive substances (NPS) and relevant treatments.

The database is a platform where doctors can report symptoms deriving from illegal synthetic drugs, as well as receive advice on how to deal with side effects resulting from new substances which have been on the market for just a few hours.

It is hoped the new database will alleviate the pressure on A&Es dealing with "tricky" cases during the weekend.

Dr Sarah Elise Finlay, an emergency medicine specialist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, said: "The information and advice provided by this new system will ultimately ease some of the burden and stress of managing those tricky overdose and poisoning cases in the early hours over the weekend.

Pirates

Neo-Nazi Ukrainians vandalize Russian bank while police turn blind eye

Ukraine vandels Russia bank
© Ruptly
"In the city of Nikolayev, as well as across Ukraine, the action has been organized by All-Ukrainian Union Svoboda, the National Corps and the Right Sector," one of the activists at the offices of Sberbank said in Ukrainian.

National Corps is a Ukrainian far-right nationalist party formed last year on the basis of the Azov Civil Corps, a regiment of Ukraine's National Guard, and veterans of another far-right armed group, the militant Azov battalion.

The Right Sector, described as a far-right and neo-fascist party, has been one of the major forces behind the Ukrainian military coup that saw President Viktor Yanukovych in February deposed in 2014.

The nationalists taking part in the defacing of the bank offices were operating in broad daylight, with onlookers and police alike watching without showing any intent to intervene.


Comment: It's worth noting that the city of Nikolayev was subjected to one of Nazi Germany's earliest massacres. Nazi Death squads reportedly killed 35,782 soviet civilians between September 16th through the 30th in the 1941 Nikolayev massacre. It's a deep shame on the people of Ukraine and those who have died to allow the re-emergence of this foul and diseased ideology.


Eye 1

Facebook has expanded roll-out of fact-checker in 'fake news' crackdown

Facebook  fact-checking facility
© Valentin Wolf / www.globallookpress.comFacebook announced the fact-checking facility following the US elections last year.
Facebook has expanded the roll-out of its fact-checker tool to combat 'fake news' as more users report the appearance of the 'disputed' message alert. The pop-up lets users know when a story's accuracy is questionable before they share it.

Users in regions including the US have reported seeing the warning, advising them that "before you share this content, you might want to know that the fact-checking sites, Snopes.com and Associated Press disputed its accuracy."

The alert then allows the user to share the story or cancel.

Comment: "The very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world. Lies will pass into history." - George Orwell