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Roger Waters funds operation to rescue abducted children from Syria


Sputnik
Thu, 24 Jan 2019 09:18 UTC
Roger Waters
© Mario Anzuoni/Reuters
Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters used a private jet to reunite a Trinidadian mother with her two children, who were kidnapped by their now-dead father to live in the so-called Daesh caliphate.

Speaking with Channel 4's Jackie Long, Roger Waters has disclosed some details of the rescue operation of seven-year-old Ayyub and 11-year-old Mahmud, two boys from Trinidad, who were stuck in Syria after their father from Daesh* died.

"While Clive [Stafford Smith] and the others went across the Tigris and went to the camp and got the boys, it took hours and hours, and hours, and hours, much longer than you would imagine, to get them back and through all the police check-points...", he told the TV host.

Comment: Roger Waters is a rare entertainer with a conscience and stands in stark contrast to the majority of celebrities who bore us with their virtue signaling (when they aren't bashing Trump).

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Handcuffs

Israeli citizen jailed for nearly a year for bumping into Egyptian woman


Sputnik
Thu, 24 Jan 2019 19:59 UTC
public beach Sharm el-Sheikh
© AP Photo / Vinciane Jacquet
An empty public beach is seen in Namaa Bay, Sharm el-Sheikh.
Yusuf al-Assam, a 19-year-old Israeli citizen from the town of Tel Sheva in southern Israel, was arrested last April while on a family vacation at an unidentified resort in Sharm el-Sheikh. At the time, al-Assam was a senior in high school.

"He was playing with his little nine-year-old brother on the water slides and hit some girl," Assam's father, Khaled, recently told Ynet News. "When he got off the slide, she slapped him."

"There was commotion, and my son was detained until the police came and took him away," he added.

The young Egyptian woman, whose identity was not revealed, filed a complaint with police in Sharm el-Sheikh stating that Assam groped her chest on the water slide and thus offended her honor.
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Fire

Four explosions occur within 24 hours in Sweden

Jim Hoft
The Gateway Pundit
Wed, 23 Jan 2019 19:38 UTC
Sweden explosions
The last day has seen an unprecedented number of bombings across the country of Sweden, with local businesses and family homes being targets.

Shortly after 4 AM on Tuesday morning the Swedish police were alerted to an explosion at a family home in the city of Värnamo.

"It was a powerful explosion, the front door has been completely blown away" Police officer in charge, Peter Ström, commented to Värnamo Nyheter.

This is the second bombing in this city alone so far this year, and it is suspected to be part of an ongoing criminal gang war in the area.

Later on in the evening saw the second bombing of the day, this time in a Stockholm suburb. Police were called to the scene around 10 PM after a loud explosion was heard at an apartment building containing family homes and local business.

Comment: See also:

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Pistol

Kalashnikov sales soar despite Western sanctions


Digital Journal/Agence France-Presse
Thu, 24 Jan 2019 16:24 UTC
Putin with Kalashnikov
© Alexey Druzhinin, Ria-Novosti/AFP/File
Russia's Vladimir Putin, seen handling a replica Kalashnikov assault rifle at a shooting gallery in Moscow in 2012.
Russian arms manufacturer Kalashnikov said Thursday its sales rose sharply in 2018 despite Western sanctions that the firm acknowledges are causing customers to think more than twice before placing orders.

"Overall, the year was rather successful for the group, which is especially important when you are working under sanctions," the group's new head Vladimir Dmitriyev said in an interview published in the Russian business daily Kommersant.

Sales at the maker of the famed AK-47 assault rifle rose by 86 percent from 2017 to hit around 40 billion rubles (535 million euros, $607 million at current exchange rates) and production rose by 20 percent.
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Red Flag

Alibaba billionaire Jack Ma warns tech revolution may cause World War III


RT
Thu, 24 Jan 2019 17:36 UTC
war technology
© Sputnik; Reuters; Wikimedia Commons
Chinese entrepreneur Jack Ma says the spate of technological advances around the world could lead to a new global conflict between major powers looking to assert their dominance.

"The First World War was because of the first technology revolution. The second technology revolution caused World War II," he told the audience during a discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"This is the third technology revolution - we're coming."

The Alibaba founder's comments echoed those he made two years ago, when he said that automation and the rise of artificial intelligence would create internal social upheaval and a geopolitical redistribution of power between the leaders and those left behind.
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Fire

Explosion rocks area near Russian Embassy in Damascus


RT
Thu, 24 Jan 2019 17:26 UTC
Russian Embassy in Damascus, Syria
© Sputnik / Mikhail Alaeddin
Russian Embassy in Damascus, Syria
A blast has occurred in the Syrian capital of Damascus close to the Russian Embassy, the diplomatic mission has confirmed. The explosion has inflicted only material damage, according to SANA news agency.

A car bomb detonated in the area, according to state TV. Other media outlets, however, suggest that the attack might have been carried out by a suicide bomber. The explosion has apparently caused only material damage, no casualties have been reported so far.

Several government buildings, as well as the Embassy of Russia, are located in the vicinity of the area, where the blast occurred.

The explosion occurred some 500 meters away from the Embassy, Russian mission confirmed, adding that its staff was not affected by the blast.

A number of photos, purportedly showing the scene of the blast, have emerged online. The explosive device was apparently planted in an old blue car, which was badly damaged in the explosion.

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Dollar Gold

Russian crypto guru to RT: Forget bitcoin, get ready for blockchain revolution


RT
Thu, 24 Jan 2019 17:14 UTC
blockchains
© Pexels.com
The buzz around cryptocurrencies which were making headlines not long ago has finally abated. The time has come for the blockchain technology itself, says Russian tech entrepreneur Aleksandr Ivanov.

The founder and CEO of Waves Platform and Vostok project told RT on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos that blockchain is a basic fundamental technology which could be used practically in all spheres.

It is currently applied in the sphere of public administration and the business sector, with companies like Russia's biggest lender Sberbank trying to adopt it.
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Stock Up

China forecasted to surpass US in total retail sales in 2019


eMarketer
Wed, 23 Jan 2019 17:08 UTC
Shoppers in Beijing, China
© Getty
Shoppers in Beijing, China
China is poised to become the world's top retail market in 2019, displacing the US. China's retail sales this year will surpass that of the US by more than $100 billion, according to eMarketer's latest worldwide retail and ecommerce forecast.

This year, China's total retail sales will grow 7.5% to reach $5.636 trillion. For comparison, US retail sales will grow 3.3% to reach $5.529 trillion. Growth rates are slowing for both countries, but China's growth rate will exceed that of the US through 2022.

"In recent years, consumers in China have experienced rising incomes, catapulting millions into the new middle class," said Monica Peart, senior forecasting director at eMarketer. "The result has been marked rise in purchasing power and average spending per person."
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Red Flag

School in Russian Far East under fire for allegedly letting mobsters give sex-ed lecture to middle school boys


RT
Thu, 24 Jan 2019 16:52 UTC
writing
© Sputnik / Maxim Blinov
A school and a local administration in the Russian Far East found themselves at the centre of a scandal after reports that local mobsters were invited to give a "sex-ed" lecture to middle school boys.

A post published on internet board Pikabu, described how teachers gathered male students of 10 to 12 years old in a middle school in Mikhailovskoye settlement to attend a closed lecture.

Allegedly, the lecture was held by local mobsters, invited by the former school principal.

In comments, the user, presumably a parent of one of the schoolboys, said that the lecturers told the children to live "by the code" and warned them that homosexual relationships weren't acceptable and gays "face consequences" in prisons. The boys were reportedly threatened not to tell their parents or other teachers about the lecture.
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Airplane

Argentine football star Emiliano Sala missing presumed dead as plane disappears over English Channel


Sky Sports News
Wed, 23 Jan 2019 16:31 UTC
Emiliano Sala
© Sky Sports News
Emiliano Sala had signed for Cardiff City at the weekend
'The search is ongoing and a decision whether to continue will be taken later today.'

The search for a missing plane carrying Cardiff striker Emiliano Sala and a pilot is now a recovery operation, the Channel Islands Air Search has said.

The 28-year-old Argentine, who completed his move from Nantes on Saturday, was on board an aircraft which disappeared from radar near the Channel Islands on Monday evening.

Guernsey Police said it had searched 280 square miles using multiple aircraft over five hours on Wednesday, but there was "as yet no trace" of the missing aircraft.

Comment: UPDATE 21 Jan - 17:00 CET

They've called off the search. What's odd about this is that the plane seems to have literally disappeared without a trace. They really should have come across some wreckage by now. The English Channel is not a large area. To give you an idea how rare this is, a plane hasn't completely disappeared in the English Channel since WW2...

Are we looking at another MH370 here?

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