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Russian F1 officials want to revive 'grid girls' tradition at Sochi Grand Prix


RT
Thu, 05 Apr 2018 19:10 UTC
grid girls
© Hoch Zwei / Global Look Press
Russian F1 officials could go against trend and revive the traditional 'grid girls' role for the 2018 Grand Prix in Sochi, where scantily-clad women accompany the sport's top drivers on the race track.

The position was controversially abolished earlier this year, with F1 bosses claiming it was at odds with modern "societal norms," replacing them with 'Grid Kids' for the 2018/19 season, an initiative whereby young racers would accompany the drivers.
However, Russian Grand Prix organizing committee head Dmitry Kozak rubbished that idea, and said the grid girls could return at the 2018 event, which is scheduled for September 30 at the Sochi Autodrom.

"Naturally it is not right to bring out children, who are afraid of the engineering, at the races. We need to be grown up here," Kozak said at a press conference in Moscow on Thursday, Interfax reported.

"Girls advertise automobiles in all motorsports - it looks attractive and fitting. If we manage to reach an agreement, then we will revive the tradition. And besides, our girls are the most beautiful," he added.

Comment: Previously:

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Pirates

US assisted Daesh in attempt to gain control of Syria's oil


Sputnik
Wed, 04 Apr 2018 11:43 UTC
Syrianoilfields
© AFP/Yousserf Karwashan
Syrian Rmeilane oil fields, Hasakeh Province.
The US is trying to establish control over Syrian oil fields, Syrian Deputy Defense Minister Mahmoud al-Shawa said, speaking at the Moscow Conference on International Security.

Mahmoud al-Shawa he said that the United States had "decided to invent various pretexts to justify keeping the illegal presence of their bases and troops on Syrian soil in order to establish control and domination over the oil fields in order to separate Syria." The deputy minister stressed that Washington was also assisting the Daesh terrorist group for this purpose.

The US grossly violated humanitarian law during the conduct of military operations in Syria, Mahmoud al-Shawa said. He noted that after the forces of Russia and Iran "contributed to the end of the war of attrition," the United States stepped up its presence in the northern part of Syria. "This was accompanied by US-Israeli aggression, a gross violation of international humanitarian law in order to support terrorist groups," al-Shawa said at the conference.

The US-led coalition of more than 70 members is conducting military operations in Syria and Iraq. The coalition's strikes in Iraq are conducted in cooperation with Iraqi officials, but in Syria are not sanctioned by the Syrian government or the United Nations Security Council.

Russia has been supporting Syrian government forces in their fight against terrorism at the request of President Bashar Assad since 2015.

Comment: A reasonable assumption. Oil field greed is just one of many illegitimate reasons to remain in Syria.

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Star of David

Israel calls in Air Force to kill single Palestinian man at Gaza security fence


RT
Thu, 05 Apr 2018 17:59 UTC
palestine demonstrators
© Said Khatib / AFP
Palestinian demonstrators clash with Israeli forces near the Israel-Gaza border
Israel has shown it is ready and willing to use the might of its air force, as it did in order to kill a single "armed terrorist" - a Palestinian man spotted at the border fence with Gaza.

"Overnight, an IAF aircraft targeted an armed terrorist adjacent to the security fence in northern Gaza," the Israeli Army said in a statement. It added that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) operations against "terrorists" will not allow "any harm to the security of Israeli civilians."

It is unclear what kind of aircraft or how many were dispatched for the operation. The Palestinian who came under Israeli fire succumbed to his injuries in Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the Palestinian Health Ministry says.
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Stormtrooper

Trump sends National Guard to Mexican border as migrants vow to continue advance


RT
Thu, 05 Apr 2018 20:14 UTC
Immigrants arrive at the border, Mexico
© Carlos Barria / Reuters
Immigrants arrive at the border, Mexico
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday night to send the National Guard to beef up security at the Mexican border and combat illegal immigration.

The deployment will be done in conjunction with border state governors and will begin immediately.

"The threat is real," Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said at a press conference. "We continue to see unacceptable levels of illegal drugs, dangerous gang activity, transnational criminal organizations, and illegal immigration flow across our border."

Precise details about the deployment will be worked out in the coming days, but according to NBC sources, the troops will have no actual physical contact with immigrants. Instead they will provide surveillance and a visible presence to assist border patrol and customs agents.
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Health

Mom given suspended sentence after almost starving her eight-month old baby to death while on raw diet (Update)


RT
Wed, 10 Aug 2016 18:43 UTC
baby in arms
© Reuters
A breastfeeding mother from Sydney has been sentenced to a suspended jail term after she almost starved her eight-month old baby to death while on a strict 'fully raw' diet.

The mother, 33, a maternity ward nurse, was handed a 14-month suspended jail sentence at Campbelltown Local Court on Wednesday after her eight-month old baby boy almost died, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The woman went on a raw food and water-only diet which was supposed to help treat her son's eczema. She reportedly followed the recommendations of Leppington naturopath Marilyn Bodnar, 60.

The boy was admitted to hospital in a near death condition, suffering from starvation and dehydration in May 2015.

Comment: Update: Perth Now reports that Marilyn Bodnar was sentenced to a maximum of 14 months in prison for her crime. She has 'vowed never to work with children again.' Hopefully, she'll have her nursing license revoked and won't be giving anyone advice on health.

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Light Sabers

Feminism, gender pronouns and the fight to change reality through language

Daphne Patai
Minding the Campus
Thu, 29 Mar 2018 17:36 UTC
gender pronouns
Last year, Jordan Peterson, a professor at the University of Toronto, made news when he refused to use the invented pronouns of the transgender movement as prescribed by Canadian law (see chart).

Pronouns these days are a new battleground, as recommendations admonish us all that the standard English pronouns, which traditionally distinguish she from he, him from her, are discriminatory and must now be reassigned or reinvented upon request.

Still, it's worth asking: By changing nouns and pronouns, is one changing one's sex? If I force you to refer to me as he when all anatomical and biological signs indicate I'm a she, have I thereby consolidated a new identity? Does saying it make it so? But then, if physical reality has no traction, why should a "woman" get outraged at the uninvited display of a "penis" in one setting (such as a late-night meeting in a hotel room), but not at precisely the same intrusion in another setting (say, a bathroom or shower room now accessible to all those who "identify as female")?
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Eye 1

Facebook forced to admit that most of its 2bn users have had their data misused


RT
Thu, 05 Apr 2018 17:32 UTC
facebook campus
© Noah Berger / Reuters
Facebook's campus on the edge of the San Francisco Bay
The personal information of 87mn users was improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica, the social media giant has said, while also admitting that they "believe most people on Facebook" have had their data misused at some point.

Facebook's powerful search engine allowed any users to search for accounts by typing an individual's phone number or email to locate the required person. While convenient and efficient, the 'Search and Account Recovery' function likely also helped "malicious actors" gain access to the personal data of "most" of Facebook's two billion users, the company has admitted. Unless the user changed their setting to block the built-in search function, they were vulnerable to potential misuse of their data.

"Given the scale and sophistication of the activity we've seen, we believe most people on Facebook could have had their public profile scraped in this way," Mike Schroepfer, Chief Technology Officer at the company, revealed in a blog on Wednesday.

"We've seen some scraping," CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged on a call with reporters, following Schroepfer's revelations.
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Handcuffs

Brazil's Supreme Court rules fmr president Lula da Silva can be jailed on corruption charges


RT
Thu, 05 Apr 2018 17:24 UTC
Supporters of former Brazil president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
© Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters
Supporters of former Brazil president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva can be jailed on corruption charges, the Supreme Court has ruled. The move would apparently block Lula's reelection bid, despite strong public support.

The Supreme Federal Court (STF) has voted 6-5 to deny Lula's plea and ruled he must start serving a 12-year prison sentence for graft. According to the ruling, Lula may now be arrested at any time and will likely not be allowed to run for president in October. The decision is the latest step in a series of actions in Brazil, which critics of the current government describe as a creeping right-wing takeover of the nation's democratic institutions.

The popular 72-year-old politician, who is leading in all polls ahead of the October presidential election, was convicted of money laundering and passive corruption last July. The court's decision apparently blocks da Silva's expected return to politics. He says his legal troubles are a result of the machinations of his political opponents.

Commonly known as Lula, the Brazilian Workers' Party icon recently spoke on an RT Spanish show hosted by former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, where he argued that corruption charges are just a tool used by his political opponents to target people in the leftist camp, including himself.
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Che Guevara

50 years on from MLK assassination and the day the dream died


RT
Thu, 05 Apr 2018 16:06 UTC
martin luther king
Wednesday marks 50 years since Dr Martin Luther King Jr was gunned down on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.

A passionate orator, King's distinctive voice captivated audiences in the United States and around the world. As one of the most visible leaders of the civil rights movement, he strove to end racial segregation and used the tactics of non-violence and civil disobedience to further the cause of workers' rights.

He was in Memphis supporting striking sanitation workers the day he was murdered, April 4, 1968. The previous night he'd given a rousing speech to the workers in which he proclaimed, somewhat prophetically: "Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now.... I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know the night that we as a people will get to the promised land."
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Jet2

F-16 jet crashes at base outside Las Vegas during routine training


RT
Thu, 05 Apr 2018 18:47 UTC
F-16 fighter jet
© Reuters
A US Air Force F-16 fighter jet lands at the Osan U.S. Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, March 20, 2018
A US Air Force F-16 jet has crashed at the Nellis Air Force Base outside of Las Vegas, during routine training on the Nevada Test and Training Range, officials said Wednesday. The pilot's condition is unknown.

The incident occurred at 10:30am local time (17:30 GMT) on Wednesday.

Nellis Air Force Base is home to the US Air Force Warfare Center, which claims to be the largest air combat training center in the world.

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