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People

Terror fears and economics caused thousands of French Jews to emigrate to Israel in 2016

Eiffel tower
© AFP 2016/ Philippe Lopez
Around 5,000 French Jews emigrated to Israel in 2016, continuing an aliyah trend that has seen 40,000 Jewish citizens of France quit the country in a decade.

The Jewish Agency for Israel (JAI) released the figures days after the second anniversary of the attacks on the office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and kosher supermarket Porte de Vincennes in Paris, where four shoppers were shot dead. Daniel Benhaim, head of Israel-funded Agency's French office, said insecurity in the wake of such attacks had served as a "catalyst" for Jews already thinking of leaving.

Oscar

Diplomat says Meryl Streep's anti-Trump diatribe can be linked to outgoing administration

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman believes that no one should be humiliated whether they share the "right" political views or not

Meryl Streep
© Paul Drinkwater/NBC via AP Meryl Streep
US actress Meryl Streep's on-stage tirade against President-elect Donald Trump could be traced to the outgoing Obama administration, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova wrote on her Facebook page.

Comment:


House

Chicago and New York in worst financial shape among large US cities

New York city
© Allen McGregor/Wikimedia Commons
Chicago and New York rank at the bottom of a new analysis of fiscal strength based primarily on data from 2015 financial reports issued by the cities themselves. The analysis includes 116 U.S. cities with populations greater than 200,000. See the full rankings here.

Chicago's position at the bottom of the ranking is no surprise to anyone who follows municipal finance. The Windy City has become a poster child for financial mismanagement, having suffered a series of ratings downgrades in recent years. Aside from having thin reserves and large volumes of outstanding debt, Chicago is notorious for its underfunded pension plans.

For example, the city's Municipal Employees' Annuity and Benefit Fund (MEABF) reported $4.7 billion in assets and $14.7 billion of actuarially accrued liabilities at the end of 2015, representing a funded ratio of just 33 percent. The actuarial calculations rely on a controversial practice of discounting future benefits at a rate of 7.5 percent, which is the assumed return on the fund's portfolio return. If a more conservative assumption was employed, MEABF's liabilities would be higher and its funded ratio lower.

Bandaid

Fox News settles sexual harassment claims by former host

Bill O'Reilly
© ReutersBill O'Reilly
Fox News reached a financial settlement several months ago with former host Juliet Huddy, who claimed she was sexually harassed by two top figures at the cable news network, the WSJ reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.

In a letter from her attorney to Fox News, Huddy claimed she had been harassed by "The O'Reilly Factor" host Bill O'Reilly and Fox News co-President Jack Abernethy, the Journal reported.

Fox News, a unit of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc, paid a six-figure settlement to Huddy, but believes the claims are false, the Journal reported.

The settlement came when Fox News was dealing with sexual harassment claims against former network chief Roger Ailes, the Journal said.

Wigdor LLP, which is representing Huddy, declined to comment. Fox News did not respond to a request for comment.

Map

Five injured in Ohio power plant explosion; second plant explosion in Tri-State area

Ohio plant explosion
© WLWT
Five people have been reportedly injured in an explosion at a power plant in Adams County, Ohio.

The blast took place at JM Stuart Generating Station, a four-unit coal-fired power plant, at around 1pm local time, WDNT.com reported the Environmental Protection Agency as saying.

Five people were hurt in the explosion, according to WCPO.com.

None of the injuries are life-threatening, Adams County Sheriff Kimmy Rogers said, WLWT.com reported. However, medical helicopters have been dispatched to the area.

There are at least 300 employees at the plant. The explosion reportedly occurred in Unit 1 of the plant, which stores equipment. It also has a turbine generator which could be one of the possible sources of the explosion, officials say.

This is the second explosion at a plant in the Tri-State area today. At around 11am local time a sugar silo exploded at a Perfetti Van Melle plant in Erlanger, Kentucky.

There were no reports of injuries.
Ohio plant explosion
© Google Maps

Comment: A local news outlet also reported that witnesses heard the explosion followed by black smoke coming from one of the stacks of the generating plant.

A couple of days ago, two unexplained house explosions occurred about 250 miles north, in Toledo, Ohio.


People 2

Over 60% of Swedes see US as major threat to world peace

shop window stockholm
© Arnd Wiegmann / Reuters
The number of Swedes who believe the US is one of the major threats to world peace and security has jumped to 60 percent, an annual poll has shown, with officials noting a 6 percentage points jump since last year.

The biggest changes in the way the Swedes see the world's civil preparedness, security policy and defense have occurred in their attitude towards the United States, the recent poll carried out by the Sweden's Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) suggests.

The MSB poll was conducted from December 9-14, after Donald Trump's win in the US presidential elections in November.

"That is a significant change," MSB general director Helena Lindberg said of the jump from 54 percent in 2015 to 60 percent in 2016, according to Swedish daily Sydsvenska.

Propaganda

Abby Martin responds to New York Times propaganda outlet

Abby Martin falsely portrayed by the NYT
© teleSUR
Abby Martin, the host of teleSUR's "Empire Files," issued the following response to the Jan. 7 New York Times article falsely representing her work at RT America.

The long-awaited report by the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), allegedly proving Russian "interference" in the US election, includes a section solely dedicated to bashing RT, and specifically calls out my former show Breaking the Set, which ended two years ago, as a propaganda vector marking the beginning of the Kremlin attempt to subvert American democracy.

Desperate to push this US intelligence narrative, The New York Times called the report "damning and surprisingly detailed," while adding that it includes no actual evidence.

The very next day, on Jan. 7, the Times published another piece titled "Russia's RT, The Network Implicated in U.S. Election Meddling."

In the article, NYT journalist Russell Goldman used two blatantly false statements about my work at RT to support the argument that the network is simply a Putin-dictated propaganda outlet.


Comment: See also: 'Insane, ridiculous, embarrassing': Abby Martin blasts ODNI report and NYT for bashing RT and misrepresenting facts


Eye 2

Female Psychopath: Wife of US marshal arrested for attempting to frame his ex-girlfriend in Craigslist rape fantasy plot

Angela Maria Diaz Michelle Hadley
© Maricopa County Sheriff's Office / Orange County district attorney's officeAngela Maria Diaz, left, is accused of trying to frame Michelle Suzanne Hadley, right, seen in a booking photo from June
When officers arrived at Angela Diaz's condo last June in response to her 911 call, police say, they found her in tears, with a ripped shirt and red marks on her neck. A man had just tried to rape her in her garage, she said.

Anaheim police believed this was the gruesome result of a recent Craigslist ad, in which someone had posed as Diaz and invited men to visit her condo to participate in her "rape fantasy" encounters, even if she screamed and fought back.

Detectives became convinced the electronic trail led to her husband's ex-fiancee, Michelle Hadley, who soon faced 10 felony charges and the possibility of life in prison.

It was a bizarre enough case, but on Monday it took an even stranger turn: Authorities say they were fooled.

Palette

Many artists ignored by liberal elite

Last year's Turner Prize winner is a perfect metaphor for the fact that the liberal Left has run out of ideas.

Helen Martin
© PA2016 Turner Prize winner Helen Marten in front of her installation
Long past its sell-by date, the kind of art created by Helen Marten only survives because the taxpayer-funded gallery elite insist on foisting it on us year after year, despite the fact that if this stood in a commercial gallery few people would buy it.

If we dare to criticise it, it is because we are simply too dumb to understand the beauty of it. It is much like their esoteric faith in the EU or globalisation.

Comment:


Pistol

Bank robber holding hostages at Alabama bank

bank robbery tuscaloosa alabama
What seemed like a bank robbery at the Alabama Credit Union in Tuscaloosa turned into a hostage situation, with one suspect barricaded inside the building near the University of Alabama campus.

A gunman entered the building and took the employees inside hostage, Lieutenant Teena Richardson of the Tuscaloosa PD told AL.com.

"It didn't come in as a robbery,'' Richardson said. "We don't know what the issue is."

The FBI is on the scene and assisting Tuscaloosa police, local media have reported.