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Prolonging the misery they created: UK government 'making it impossible' for Syrian refugees to reunite with families


Sputnik
Mon, 12 Sep 2016 11:49 UTC
Syrian refugees
© SputnikBashar and his wife
Thousands of Syrian refugees are making the perilous journey to the EU, fleeing war, abuse and death. They are hoping to forge a new life in the UK. However what they find when they arrive is far from a safe haven.

The UK government is preventing Syrian refugees from being reunited with their families and as a result, some are having to return to war-torn Syria, risking their lives just to be with their loved ones. Bashar Al-Kawaret, a 32-year-old former pharmacist from Syria, had a good job, life and loving family. He studied for 12 years and worked hard, but lost it all in one day when the first massacre took place in Damascus in 2011.

"I was at the hospital when it happened. After this, the part of Damascus that we lived in was under siege," Bashar told Sputnik.

​Bashar was called for military service and decided this was the time he had to escape war-torn Syria or his and the life of his family would be in severe danger. He fled the country on November 23 in 2011, traveling to Egypt, where he stayed for three months. Then he went to Turkey and traveled by land to Greece. Once in Athens he went to Calais and then he hid himself in a lorry, arriving in the UK.

Comment: The British government who has played a pivotal role in igniting the conflicts in the Middle East now continues to show its contempt for the plight of these people who they see as expendable in its geopolitical games. If the UK government prefers for the refugees to return home, they might consider assisting the real anti-Daesh coalition that is actually committed to defeating terrorism in Syria.

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Heart - Black

Human Rights Watch report: Filthy and degrading conditions in child refugee centers in Greece

Nika Knight
Common Dreams
Fri, 09 Sep 2016 15:37 UTC
refugee children
© Petros Giannakouris/Associated PressRefugees at the Moria detention center on the Greek island of Lesbos in April 2016.
A scathing report from Human Rights Watch reveals the degrading and inhumane conditions under which hundreds of refugee children in Greece are being forced to sleep in dirty, vermin-infested police station cells, detention centers, and coast guard facilities for months at a time—in violation of Greek and international law.

"The Greek government justifies the detention of unaccompanied children as a temporary protection measure in the child's best interest," the report notes. "In practice it is anything but."

Hundreds of thousands of migrants have arrived in Greece so far this year as a wave of asylum seekers attempts to enter Europe through the coastal nation, as the report, titled "'Why Are You Keeping Me Here?' Unaccompanied Children Detained in Greece," observes.

Thousands of unaccompanied refugee children have also endured horrific sea crossings, the threat of trafficking, and other abuses to reach Greece, only to then face the country's chronic shortage of facilities and lack of a protection system for minors, Human Rights Watch found. The situation was made even worse when other European nations closed their borders to refugees.

Comment: More on the plight of refugees:

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Airplane

Terror on easyJet flight as migrant being deported to Venice screams in two-hour frenzy

Simon Murphy, Martin Beckford and Adrian Hearn
Daily Mail
Sun, 11 Sep 2016 15:31 UTC
easyJet airplane
Holidaymakers were forced to endure a terrifying two-hour flight alongside a migrant who repeatedly screamed 'Allahu Akbar' and 'death is coming' - as it emerged the Home Office is using budget airlines to deport illegal immigrants.

Children were reduced to tears and travelers feared a terror attack until it became clear that the handcuffed man was being guarded by Home Office officials.

But there was no official explanation from the captain or crew as he kicked, thrashed about and threatened passengers and crew in an expletive-strewn tirade.
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Eye 1

Cops using artificial intelligence to stop crimes before they happen, researchers warn

Jasper Hamill
The Sun
Mon, 12 Sep 2016 14:54 UTC
Minority Report
Samantha Morton starred in Minority Report, playing a woman who had pre-cognitive abilities and could predict crimes before they happened
Cops are already using computers to stop crimes before they happen, academics have warned.

In a major piece of research called "Artificial Intelligence and life in 2030", researchers from Stanford University said "predictive policing" techniques would become commonplace in the next 15 years.

The academics discussed the crime fighting implications of "machine learning", which allows computers to learn for themselves and then solve problems just like a human.

This technique will have a major effect on transport, healthcare and education, potentially bringing massive benefits as well as putting millions of jobs at risk.

But in the hands of cops, AI has the potential to have a massive impact on society by allowing law enforcement to have an "overbearing or pervasive" presence.


Comment: That's a scary thought considering the "overbearing or pervasive" presence they already have.


Comment:
"There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. But at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. You had to live—did live, from habit that became instinct—in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized."- George Orwell


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Bad Guys

'Prevent strategy' in the UK: 'Extremist' children under 10 referred to de-radicalization programs - daily


RT
Mon, 12 Sep 2016 15:10 UTC
child extremists
© youtube
Efforts to stem Islamic and far-right extremism in the UK have led to children under the age of 10 being referred to government de-radicalization programs on an almost daily basis, new figures show.

A total of 4,611 people, around half of them children and teens, have been flagged up for possible intervention in the past year to stop them falling under the influence of extremist ideologies.

The figures have jumped 75 percent since last year, when local authorities - including schools and councils - were given a statutory duty to stop people being drawn into terrorism, known as the Prevent strategy.

Islamic extremism is involved in 70 percent of those referred, while 15 percent of cases are related to far-right ideas, figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show.

In the year to June there were 2,311 referrals to the government's de-radicalization Channel scheme for under-18s, up 83 percent, including 352 cases of children aged nine or under, or an average of one per day.

The Channel program, which is voluntary, is part of the government's wider anti-terrorism strategy and was set up following the 7/7 attacks in 2005 to identify people vulnerable to extremism.
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Fire

Arson suspected at Fort Pierce mosque where Orlando shooter worshipped

Mike Clary
Sun Sentinel
Mon, 12 Sep 2016 15:18 UTC
Fort Pierce mosque
© St. Lucie County Sheriff’s OfficeThe St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office said surveillance video shows someone approaching the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce moments before a flash was seen and the fire started early today.
A fire that broke out early Monday at the Fort Pierce mosque where Orlando massacre shooter Omar Mateen prayed and worshipped is considered arson, according to investigators.

"Evidence has revealed that this fire was set intentionally," St. Lucie County Sheriff's Major David Thompson told reporters.

A 911 call about 12:30 a.m. alerted authorities that flames were coming out of Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, 1104 W. Midway Road.

There were no injuries reported and the extent of the damage has not yet been determined.

Comment:



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Briefcase

About time! HBOS bankers charged with £35 million fraud, finally on trial after two year delay


RT
Mon, 12 Sep 2016 15:13 UTC
HBOS bank fraud trial
© Agence France-Presse
The first trial for bankers suspected of being partly responsible for the 2008 banking crisis has begun in London, after the £35 million ($46.5 million) alleged scam case was postponed for nearly two years.

Eight people are in the dock at Southwark Crown Court in London this Monday, including former HBOS bank managers Lynden Scourfield and Mark Dobson, who stand accused of engaging in fraudulent behavior at the expense of the company's small business customers.

Those charged also include bankers David Mills and Michael Bancroft, as well as their wives, who are accused of giving money and "numerous high-value gifts" to HBOS managers in exchange for favors.

Comment: Britain should take a page from Iceland. But don't hold your breath on it.

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Airplane

Priority landing granted to BA flight with mid-air medical emergency


RT
Mon, 12 Sep 2016 15:04 UTC
BA flight
© Jacky Naegelen / Reuters
British Airways flight BA 274 from Las Vegas to London Heathrow has landed safely after declaring a mid-air medical emergency over Scotland.

The aircraft, a Boeing 747, left Las Vegas at 9.20pm local time on Sunday, September 11, and was scheduled to arrive at London Heathrow at 3.30pm UK time (14:30 GMT). It was about one hour away from landing when the emergency was declared.

Medics met the aircraft at Heathrow.
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People

Colin Powell heckled by protester on live TV: 'You dropped bombs on Iraq'


RT
Mon, 12 Sep 2016 14:56 UTC
Colin Powell interview
© FanNews Clips / YouTube
Former US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, was heckled during a live interview on CBS by a angry off-screen protester venting his ire over the Iraq war.

Powell was speaking on CBS This Morning about the Smithsonian's new National Museum for African American History and Culture when a protester loudly interrupted the interview. Calling from off-set, the man shouted, "You know better, Colin Powell, as a black man in America...you dropped bombs on Iraq."

Powell seemed unfazed by the incident and quipped to the reporters, "Is he one of yours?"
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Airplane

Small plane crashes after takeoff at Reno, Nevada airport killing all 3 on board


RT
Mon, 12 Sep 2016 08:37 UTC
plane crash reno tahoe airport
A plane carrying three people has crashed at Reno-Tahoe International Airport, killing everyone on board, according to an airport spokesperson.

The crash occurred after a single-engine Piper Cherokee aircraft plummeted into the airport parking lot just after take-off, according to spokesman Brian Kulpin, as cited by the Reno Gazette-Journal.
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