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ISIS militants kidnap close to 20 people near Iraq city of Kirkuk


Sputnik
Wed, 26 Dec 2018 15:02 UTC
ISIS Daesh terrorist flag
Around 20 people living south of the Iraqi city of Kirkuk were kidnapped by militants of the Daesh* terrorist organisation, NRT broadcaster reported on Tuesday.

Militants attacked a village in the Rashad district, located south-west of Kirkuk, taking 14 locals hostage, Kurdish TV channel NRT reported, adding that the fate of the captives remained unknown.

According to the outlet, militants captured six more people in other villages south of Kirkuk, however one person managed to escape. Residents of several nearby villages reportedly decided to evacuate.

Comment: Though Iraqi forces declared victory over ISIS in 2017 reports allege that they have found safe haven in areas under neither Kurdish nor Iraqi control:
Nearly a year after Iraq's declaration of the defeat of ISIS, the western face of Qarachogh Mountain that overlooks Qaraj Plains is just one example where the extremists remain holed up.

"This is 100 percent true. Daesh has a presence. It is very active in the area, especially in areas populated by Arabs," said one villager from the Qaraj Plains who preferred to remain anonymous out of fear.

In the area's villages ISIS is sleeping comfortably and they are on guard at all times.

"They get assistance, food from there, or they are their family members. People see them in the villages at night. My evidence is they stop by some houses, asking for food, and assistance," added the villager.

Peshmerga have been stationed on the mountain since pulling out of Makhmour itself in the wake of the October 16 events, when Kurdish forces withdrew from the disputed or Kurdistani areas claimed by both Baghdad and Erbil.

ISIS remains active along the demarcation lines between the Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi forces creating a de facto void.

"There is a lot of movement by Daesh in Qaraj, Hilwat and all the way to western Kirkuk, Hawija, Shirqat, Qayyarah, and all the way to the back of Mosul. There are some Federal Police positions there. Daesh can freely move around the right and left side of the road," said Maj. Gen. Ziryan Sheikh Wasany, Peshmerga deputy commander of the Makhmour Front.


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Ambulance

8-year-old boy from Guatemala showing 'signs of illness' died in US custody


CNBC
Wed, 26 Dec 2018 15:02 UTC
Mexican immigration immigrant
© Jorge Luis Plata / Reuters
An 8-year-old boy from Guatemala died in government custody early Tuesday, U.S. immigration authorities, marking the second death of an immigrant child in detention this month.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a news release that the boy died shortly after midnight Tuesday.

The boy showed "signs of potential illness" Monday and was taken with his father to a hospital in Alamogordo, New Mexico, the agency said. There, he was diagnosed with a cold and a fever, was given prescriptions for amoxicillin and Ibuprofen and released Monday afternoon.

Comment: US Customs and Border Protection has since announced changes to its policies. NBC News reports:
After the 8-year-old boy's death, the agency said in a statement late Tuesday that Border Patrol would now conduct "secondary medical checks" on all children in custody, with a focus on children under the age of 10. It was not clear from the statement how and where those checks would be conducted.

It is considering requesting additional medical assistance from other agencies - including Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense - and coordinating with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the numbers of children in custody, the statement said.

The agency said it is also reviewing how it holds immigrants in custody so it can relieve problems with capacity in its centers in the El Paso, Texas, area.

With border crossings surging, CBP processes thousands of children - both alone and with their parents - every month.


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Snowflake

Season's greetings: New Banksy mural appears at steel plant in Port Talbot UK

Amanda Froelich
The Mind Unleashed
Mon, 24 Dec 2018 14:25 UTC
Banksy
It might be the holidays, but that isn't stopping some activists from demanding reform. Street artist Banksy, for instance, recently surprised the public with a new mural highlighting air pollution.

On a concrete block garage in Port Talbot, Wales, the elusive artist left a mural depicting a young child catching snowflakes in their mouth. Around the corner of the building, however, it becomes clear that the child is actually catching ash raining down from a dumpster fire.

Banksy confirmed the piece on his verified Instagram account last week. In the post, the mural is displayed. The video then pans out to reveal a grey industrial landscape and the Port Talbot steelworks plant in the background. Throughout it all, a children's Christmas song is playing. The post's caption reads, "Season's greetings."

Comment: See more from Banksy:

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Heart - Black

'People of Yemen so desperately poor they kill themselves before hunger does'


Guardian
Tue, 11 Dec 2018 12:08 UTC
Yemen
© Abduljabbar Zeyad / Reuters
As peace talks to end war in Yemen continue, three local aid workers from the Norwegian Refugee Council describe its devastating impact.

More than 10,000 people in Yemen have been killed and 3 million forced to flee their homes as a result of almost four years of fighting. An estimated 22 million people are now in need of aid and up to 14 million face starvation. As talks to end the conflict continue in Sweden, three Yemeni aid workers from the Norwegian Refugee Council talk of the physical and emotional destruction the fighting has brought to their country.

Marwan Al-Sabri, 32, water and sanitation officer in Taiz

I was young when the war started, aspirational and ambitious. I could never have imagined the power war has to trash our dreams.

I have already lost friends and relatives in this brutality. Some that have died and others I have been cut off from. I don't know where they are now; whether they are alive or dead.

Comment: The devastation in Yemen would not be possible were it not for the full spectrum support of the US, UK and much of the West:

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Cow

No sense of humor: PETA finds Popeyes "Emotional Support Chicken" box offensive


100 Percent Fed Up
Fri, 21 Dec 2018 00:01 UTC
popeye's emotional support chicken
PETA is on the warpath against the chicken chain Popeyes because of a disposable tote that says "Emotional Support Chicken" on it. No, this is not fake news but is actually a big issue for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

They issued a blistering statement to the fast-food chain for making fun of the trend of emotional support animals on airplanes. It's a hot issue right now because some airlines are cracking down and even prohibiting the use of any emotional support animals. People were bringing on ducks, snakes, and other bizarre animals and claiming they provide emotional support during flights.

Comment: PETA continues to alienate potential supporters with these rather ridiculous antics. They go after the low-hanging fruit, put on disgusting displays and do more to annoy than actually make salient points. While they manage to convert the crazies, the average Joe wants nothing to do with their insane ideology, which makes them ripe for mocking.

See also:

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Bizarro Earth

Car bomb kills 3, injures 12 in Iraqi Tal Afar


Sputnik
Tue, 25 Dec 2018 13:59 UTC
Iraq blast tal afar
© REUTERS / Thaier Al-Sudani
As many as three people died and at least 12 others were wounded in an explosion that hit the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar, media reported on Tuesday.

The Rudaw broadcaster reported, citing local security forces, that it was a car bomb.

​The security forces reported about two people killed and 11 others injured in the blast.

In August 2017, Iraqi city of Tal Afar has been fully liberated from militants of Daesh* terrorist group.

Comment: Just as the US promises (for the second time) to extricate it from the chaos it has been causing in the Middle East, terror attacks appear to be increasing: Also check out SOTT radio's show from April of this year: Behind the Headlines: World in Chaos: Anti-Russia Hysteria, Israel Murders Palestinians, US Leaving Syria?

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Attention

Man hijacks bus and drives it into crowd, killing 8 & injuring 22 in Longyan, China - footage of aftermath posted online


RT
Tue, 25 Dec 2018 09:36 UTC
bus crowd china
© Twitter / @zhanglucy88; Weibo; Twitter / @pZO5xK2Su74DiBW
A man has hijacked a bus and drove it into a crowd of people in China's city of Longyan, killing 8 people and injuring 22 others. The attacker is believed to have entered the bus armed with a knife and caused panic.

The incident happened in the coastal southeastern Fujian province. The assailant was reportedly detained by police. He apparently attacked passengers with a knife and, when people started fleeing, sat behind the wheel and drove into a crowd. One of those killed is thought to be a police officer.

Online footage, purporting to be from the scene, shows a road littered with parts from damaged vehicles and a group of police officers and bystanders pouncing on the alleged hijacker.

Comment: Car rammings and other (seemingly) random street attacks appear to be on rise all over the world. Below is a selection of those that happened in just the last 6 months:

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Fire

The Milo example

Mark Bauerlein
The Epoch Times
Wed, 19 Dec 2018 00:01 UTC
Milo Yiannopoulos
© Michael Masters/Getty Images
Milo Yiannopoulos speaks during an event hosted by senator David Leyonhjelm at Parliament House on Dec. 5, 2017, in Canberra, Australia.
Everyone knows who Milo Yiannopoulos is - sort of. He's that brazen, outlandish, outspoken gay conservative who attacks women and trans individuals. He goes to college campuses and unleashes hate and bile.

He's a troll, a showman, an internet provocateur. He has a following, yes, but they're alt-right white guys: racist and sexist, raunchy and ignorant. He let slip in one interview about his comfort with pedophilia, which got him ousted from all respectable outlets, and some disrespectable outlets, too, such as Breitbart and Infowars.

He's been booted from Twitter, he's lost his financial backers, and Patreon just removed him from the platform. Let's hope he's gone forever.

Comment: Milo is a controversial character, to say the least, and his antics often reveal him to be more identified with the 'Puck' trickster than objective truth speaker (his criticisms toward Jordan Peterson came across as a whiny crybaby with hurt feelings than a valid critique, for instance). But none the less, the fact that his voice is being silenced by the left who don't like to hear what he has to say means he should at least remain on the radar, even if we take his comments with a grain of salt.

See also:

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Question

Russian investigation finds men were shot in the head at close range at Chechen 'prison for gays'


RFE/RL
Mon, 24 Dec 2018 14:50 UTC
Chechen prison gay
© Novaya Gazeta
From forensic examination materials
According to documents from Russia's Investigative Committee obtained by the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper, two Chechen men who were killed in 2017 in a Chechen "prison for gays" were shot in the head at close range.

On December 24, the newspaper published a report saying that Shoto-Shamil Akayev and Ayub Ibragimov were shot on March 30, 2017, a few weeks after they went missing on February 6.

Chechen officials have said the two men were shot while trying to escape.

The Novaya Gazeta report cites documents from the Russian Investigative Committee's investigation into a complaint by Maksim Lapunov, who alleges he was abducted in Chechnya in October 2017 and held in a basement because he was homosexual. He said he was beaten in an effort to force him to name Chechens with whom he had sexual relations.

Comment: See also:

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Red Flag

Is warning girls they don't have to give hugs at Xmas good advice or a #MeToo overreaction?


RT
Tue, 25 Dec 2018 21:02 UTC
hugs
© Getty Images/Caiaimage/Robert Daly
Is Christmas a time of good cheer to celebrate with family, or a great chance to learn about consent by refusing to hug your relatives, as the US Girl Scouts suggested? Two RT guests engage in an unseasonably hot debate.

"Children have to learn self-determination and self-autonomy, and they have to realize they are in control of their bodies," Reese Everson, a campaigner against sexual harassment, told RT from Washington.

"I think we do want our children to be gracious [gift] recipients, and anything that takes away from that is completely ignoring the conversations that should be taking place between children and their parents on a daily basis," counters psychology expert and conservative voice Gina Loudon. She suggests that girls should be forewarned about any potentially treacherous contacts with family members in advance, rather than told to pull away.

Comment: The current climate by organizations to see danger everywhere is definitely not helping our children. We need to realize that it is not psychologically healthy to teach children to see so many banal and normal interactions in such a negative manner.

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