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German broadcaster ARD under fire after initially refusing coverage of stabbing of teen girl with refugee as suspect


RT
Mon, 01 Jan 2018 12:46 UTC
Refugees
© Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters
Migrants enter a new temporary refugee camp set-up at at Berlin's fairground 'Messe Berlin' in Berlin, Germany.
German public broadcaster ARD is under fire online for its coverage of a crime by a refugee suspect. The channel would not immediately report last week's fatal stabbing of a teen girl in the town of Kandel.

The stabbing was an apparent crime of passion. A refugee from Afghanistan is suspected of killing his German ex-girlfriend after a bad breakup. The crime happened two weeks after the girl's family complained to the police about the Afghan, who, they said, threatened and harassed her online and on the phone after she ended the relationship.

The story received nationwide coverage in Germany, but some outlets seemed reluctant to report it. In particular, public service broadcaster ARD initially refused to report the crime after the news broke on Thursday.

Marcus Bornheim, a deputy editor-in-chief for ARD's newsroom, said the story was not promptly reported on the TV news program Tagesschau because it was about a crime of passion that involved minors. In a Facebook post, he denied claims that the broadcaster was trying to somehow suppress the story, stressing that the regional branch of ARD, the SWR Fernsehen, did report the story. He later added that the 8pm news broadcast would have a short report on the crime.

Comment: See also: Several arrested for suspected sexual assault in Berlin and Cologne during New Year's Eve festivities

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Attention

Iran: Nationwide protests leave 10 people dead


RT
Mon, 01 Jan 2018 17:39 UTC
Iran protest
© AFP
FILE PHOTO Iranian students run for cover from tear gas at the University of Tehran during a demonstration driven by anger over economic problems, in the capital Tehran on December 30, 2017
At least 10 people were killed amid nationwide protests across Iran, which have entered the fifth day, Iranian state TV reports.

"In the events of last night, unfortunately a total of about 10 people were killed in several cities," state TV said in a package aired on Monday, without elaborating, as cited Reuters.

According to the report, security forces repelled protesters who attempted to take over police stations and military bases.

"Some armed protesters tried to take over some police stations and military bases but faced serious resistance from security forces," it said, as cited by AP. The report, however, did not specify the location of the attacks.

Earlier on Monday, a local MP from the southwestern Iranian town of Izeh told ILNA news agency that two people were killed during mass rallies. That brought to at least four the number of fatalities in the ongoing protests. The first two deaths were reported on Sunday by the authorities in the city of Doroud (Dorud), 325 kilometers southwest of Tehran.

Comment: See also: Iranian President vows to address economic problems in light of nation-wide protests - while still noting the outside influence of unrest

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Gold Coins

Australian bitcoin users find their accounts frozen by 'Big Four' banks

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Mon, 01 Jan 2018 17:25 UTC
bitcoin cryptocurrency
Adding to the pressures on bitcoin early this morning, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that bitcoin users across Australia are reporting that their accounts have been abruptly frozen by the country's "Big Four" banks. And while the banks have remained largely tight-lipped about the closures, many angry account-holders are jumping to conclusions and blaming the banks for punishing them because of their involvement with bitcoin.
Bitcoin investors are claiming Australia's banks are freezing their accounts and transfers to cryptocurrency exchanges, with a viral tweet slamming the big four and an exchange platform putting a restriction on Australian deposits.
According to the Herald, cryptocurrency trader and Youtuber Alex Saunders called out National Australia Bank, ANZ, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac Banking Corporation on Twitter for freezing customer accounts and transfers to four different bitcoin exchanges - CoinJar, CoinSpot, CoinBase and BTC Markets.


Comment: Establishment panic? G-20 members pushing to discuss Bitcoin at next meeting

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Handcuffs

Several arrested for suspected sexual assault in Berlin and Cologne during New Year's Eve festivities


RT
Mon, 01 Jan 2018 12:59 UTC
Police patrols Berlin
© Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters
Police patrols at a Christmas market in Berlin, Germany
Police have arrested several people in Berlin and Cologne over suspected sexual assault against women during New Year's Eve celebrations, police and media say. Most of the suspects were young men from Syria and Afghanistan.

At least seven people were arrested for sexual assault in the German capital, police said, as cited by Die Welt newspaper.

The incidents took place during a New Year's Eve festival at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate area, which drew hundreds of thousands of spectators, according to the event's organizers.

"Cases of sexual assaults were unfortunately reported during Welcome2018 events in Berlin. We do not tolerate such acts. Suspects were arrested," Berlin police tweeted on Monday morning.
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Black Cat 2

Hunt for the cat killer thought to have killed 400 animals across England


Brinkwire
Mon, 01 Jan 2018 13:51 UTC
cat killer
The M25 cat killer is thought to have killed around 400 cats and small animals, leaving their maimed bodies in the open to 'horrify' people.

Police are looking for the killer, who has been labelled a 'psychopath', who kills the animals with a blunt object before cutting them with a sharp implement.

The killer was first given the moniker 'the Croydon cat killer' as the killings took place in the South London area in October 2015.

Yet in the past three years, animals in Surrey, Manchester, Sheffield and Birmingham are believed to have been killed by the cat killer.
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People

Gallup Poll: Melania Trump is more popular than Kate Middleton and Beyoncé

Tim Marcin
Newsweek
Wed, 27 Dec 2017 00:00 UTC
melania trump
© Doug Mills/The New York Times
More folks admire first lady Melania Trump than singer Beyoncé or Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton, according to the latest poll from Gallup released Wednesday.

Americans were asked by the polling firm, "What woman that you have heard or read about, living today in any part of the world, do you admire most? And who is your second choice?" It was apparently a tight race, but Trump ultimately proved more popular among the survey's 1,049 respondents.

Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton was the most admired woman among the Americans polled by Gallup, receiving 9 percent of votes. Former first lady Michelle Obama was second at 7 percent, while media mogul Oprah Winfrey was third at 4 percent. Trump, Beyoncé and Middleton all earned 1 percent of votes, but it appears the current first lady edged out the singer and British royal.
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Fire

Huge multi-storey car park blaze 'destroys 1,400 vehicles' in Liverpool, UK

Chris Harris
Euronews
Mon, 01 Jan 2018 11:01 UTC
Huge car park fire in Liverpool, UK

A massive blaze engulfs vehicles parked at a multi-storey car park near the Echo Arena, at the waterfront in Liverpool, England on Sunday afternoon.
A fire in a multi-storey car park in Liverpool has destroyed hundreds of vehicles, say police.

A huge blaze has destroyed up to 1,400 vehicles in a multi-storey car park in the northern English city of Liverpool.

An accidental fire in one vehicle spread to others nearby, according to initial assessments by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (MFRS).

Police said all vehicles in the car park - thought to have been used by those attending an international horse show at the adjacent Liverpool Echo Arena - were destroyed in the fire.

No-one was injured in the incident and emergency services said dogs and horses had been rescued or led to safety.

Firefighters were first called around 16.40 on Sunday but were still at the scene the following morning, New Year's Day.

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Sheriff

Blue privilege: Florida cop traps innocent man in a gas station and severely beats him in fit of road rage

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Sun, 31 Dec 2017 00:00 UTC
cop road incident Florida

A former Hernando County Sheriff’s deputy has been charged and arrested for initiating an unprovoked and violent attack on an innocent man in a disturbing case of road rage at a gas station in Hudson, Florida.
Road rage is a very real and very dangerous issue in America today. All too often a simple honk of the horn can end in a wreck, violence, or worse. However, when the person who rages carries a badge and a gun, they can claim legal authority to ticket, kidnap, cage, or kill you. All too often, because the aggressor is a police officer, they are never held accountable for their actions. However, in the incident below, an officer's aggression was so egregious, that he was actually arrested for it.

A former Hernando County Sheriff's deputy has been charged and arrested for initiating an unprovoked and violent attack on an innocent man in a disturbing case of road rage at a gas station in Hudson, Florida.

What makes this act of rage so disturbing is that the former deputy wasn't involved in the initial act which led to the rage. He was acting as a hitman of sorts at the request of a family member.
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Fire

Burn, baby, burn! New Year tree goes up in flames in Russia's Far East (VIDEOS)


RT
Sun, 31 Dec 2017 16:48 UTC
Tree on fire
© muse_crochet / Instagram
Take a look at how hardcore New Year's celebrations can get in Russia: A New Year's tree devoured by flames in a Far Eastern city took it to the next level, setting social media on fire.

The 25-meter high plastic tree in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk took its time to get started, but began burning right after the fireworks display. In videos posted from the scene, a voice can be heard calling on the visibly nonchalant crowd to keep their cool, take 30 steps away from the burning tree, and go on celebrating.
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Attention

What you'll never hear in the Western press: Ten reasons life is better in Russia than in the US

Anatoly Karlin
The UNZ Review
Fri, 22 Dec 2017 00:00 UTC
moscow
© Maxim Zmeyev / Reuters
It has now been exactly a year since I returned to Russia.

One of the questions I get asked the most from Russians and foreigners alike is whether I enjoy living here, or whether I am disappointed. My answer is that it fell within my "range of expectations". I like to think that this is a function of my perception of Russia prior to 2017 having been reasonably accurate, and considering I was blogging as "Da Russophile" on Russia matters until 2014, that's pretty much an accolade. In my experience, the typical response of visiting foreigners and expats to life in Russia is one of pleasant surprise, no wonder since Russia might as well be "Equatorial Guinea with hackers" so far as the Western media today is concerned. However, I banally didn't have anything to be particularly surprised about, pleasantly or otherwise.

Even so, there are areas where Russia shines, as well as some where it doesn't (that's for an upcoming just published post on 10 Ways Life in America is Better than in Russia).

First, the good points - where Russia performs better than the United States.

Comment: Further reading:

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