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Snakes in Suits

Journalist for The Economist mocked for rehashing debunked Kremlin 'hacking' allegations against Macron


RT
Tue, 17 Jul 2018 15:58 UTC
hacked
© Yuri Arcurs / Getty Images
The Economist's senior journalist Jeremy Cliffe has been mocked after rehashing the debunked story about the Kremlin 'hacking' Emmanuel Macron's campaign. Observers reminded him it was rubbished by the French secret service.

Cliffe, who runs The Economist's Berlin Bureau, tweeted about French President Macron when he was celebrating his country's victory at the FIFA World Cup on Sunday. The French leader had simply tweeted "thank you" to the French football squad right after its players claimed a spectacular win over Croatia in the final to become world champions.

The journalist, who also does punditry on channels such as BBC, CNN and NBC, used it as a pretext to write a long tweet to Macron about watching his team play in Russia in light of the Russian-hacking stories circulating during Macron's election campaign last year.

"Putin loathed Macron's liberal pro-Europeanism so much he hacked his presidential campaign to help [his then-main opponent] Marine Le Pen. But Macron laid traps, exposed the hack, became French president and is now celebrating his country's World Cup win in Russia. So let's really enjoy this moment," Cliffe wrote.
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Stock Up

US suicide rate up 28% in 18 years - blame the fading American dream?

Andy Coghlan
New Scientist
Wed, 27 Jun 2018 15:41 UTC
montana
Sobering statistics published earlier this month show that the annual rate of suicide in the US has risen by almost 28 per cent between 1999 and 2016.

A number of explanations have been put forward, including the 2008 economic crash, the upsurge in addiction to opioid painkillers and the migration of manufacturing jobs to other countries. But none alone explains why the suicide rate is rising so fast in the US as it falls in other rich countries. Is something uniquely American at work?

Figures from the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) show the country's rate of suicide was 15.6 per 100,000 population in 2016, up from 12.2 in 1999. Of all the states, Montana fares worst, with a rate of 29.2 per 100,000. The global average rate in 2016 was 10.6, according to the World Health Organization.

For comparison, the rate for the UK in 2016 was 8.9 per 100,000, down from 9.1 in 2000, according to the latest WHO data. And although rates are much higher in Russia, at 31 per 100,000 in 2016, this is a dramatic fall from 52.6 in 2000. Clearly, the US is something of an outlier.


Comment: And clearly - contrary to American prejudice - Russia is doing something right, i.e. at least they're moving in the right direction.


Globalisation and automation, which are driving job losses in the US, may partly be to blame, but the same pressures have affected all Western economies without a similar increase in the suicide rate.
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Cult

Vatican invites outrage after suggesting physical virginity is not a prerequisite to receiving a consecration of virginity


RT
Tue, 17 Jul 2018 15:37 UTC
pope francis
© Remo Casilli / Reuters
Consecrated virgins have expressed their shock and outrage after a Vatican document suggested that physical virginity is not a prerequisite to becoming a so-called 'bride of Christ.'

The surprising revelation was included in a detailed guidance document on consecrated virginity, published by the Vatican earlier this month. It followed requests from bishops who reported an increasing number of women being called to the vocation.

A consecrated virgin is a woman who has never married, who pledges perpetual virginity and dedicates her life to God. Unlike a nun, the women do not live in a community and are expected to provide for themselves. There are an estimated 5,000 consecrated virgins in at least 42 countries, about 250 consecrated virgins live in the US.
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Star of David

Israel toughens Gaza blockade by suspending energy supplies


Sputnik
Tue, 17 Jul 2018 15:24 UTC
Kerem Shalom crossing

Kerem Shalom crossing
Israel has strengthened the blockade of Gaza, ceasing the deliveries of energy to the territory through the Kerem Shalom checkpoint, the country's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

"Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has decided to close the Kerem Shalom checkpoint for energy until the next Sunday after consultations with the head of the General Staff," the ministry said in a statement.

The checkpoint will continue to pass food and medicines, the deliveries of which will be approved on an individual basis, according to the statement.


Comment: Which means at the whim of whatever psychopath is on duty at the time. A perfect situation for targeting individuals Israel considers troublesome.


Comment: Norman Finkelstein: Gaza on the brink of collapse, residents 'caged in'

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Sheriff

Ex-NY cop: Police protect and serve in white communities but hunt in black communities


RT
Tue, 17 Jul 2018 15:26 UTC
Harith Augustus
© Chicago Police Department / Reuters
Bodycam footage of Harith Augustus shows the man fleeing before he was shot at least five times by police
Violent protests have broken out after a Chicago policewoman shot and killed a black man, who bodycam footage revealed to be armed. RT's Sophie Shevardnadze sat down with an ex-NYPD cop to discuss the force and police racism.

Harith Augustus died after being shot in the back at least five times by a female police officer, according to a Chicago Sun-Times report. Speaking on RT's SophieCo show, crack dealer-turned-decorated NYPD officer Corey Pegues shared a personal analogy with Shevardnadze: "I always say that in black communities they hunt, in white communities they protect and serve.

"Traditionally in the United States of America black unarmed men have been killed at an enormous rate compared to non-black Americans," Pegues told the RT host.
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V

Pamela Anderson: Americans are programmed to always blame Russia if anything's gone wrong


RT
Tue, 17 Jul 2018 15:20 UTC
pamela anderson
© Mario Anzuoni / Reuters
Baywatch icon turned activist Pamela Anderson says Americans are programmed to always blame Russia, and treatment of Julian Assange "represents everything America does when it comes to true information and freedom of speech."

The 51-year-old spoke to The Daily Beast about her association with Assange and Russian President Vladimir Putin - banishing the "sexist" claims that either relationship is romantic - and said Americans are "programmed" to blame Russia.

"We're programmed in America to think that if anything's gone wrong it's Russia's fault," she said. Anderson claims her experience of lobbying for animal rights with the Kremlin has shown her Russians can be "very emotional, very engaged and wanting to do the right thing".

"People just think Russians are very scary and stoic...It's annoying," she added. "America can be very annoying, how everything is so anti-Russia".
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Oil Well

What sanctions? Financial Times reports Russia to invest $50bn in Iran's oil & gas


RT
Mon, 16 Jul 2018 15:09 UTC
Iran flag
© Morteza Nikoubazl / Reuters
Moscow and Tehran are expanding economic cooperation, with Russia planning multi-billion dollar investments in Iran's energy sector. The move comes as major Western firms are pulling out of Iran amid the threat of US sanctions.

"Russia is ready to invest $50 billion in Iran's oil and gas sectors," Senior Adviser for International Affairs of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic Ali Akbar Velayati was cited as saying by the Financial Times.

Velayati met with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week in Moscow. The sides focused on Russian-Iranian cooperation as well as the situation in the region. According to the Kremlin, they reaffirmed their commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran's Nuclear Deal (JCPOA).

Comment: The once-mighty US petrodollar may be seeing its last days.

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Cult

Twitter roasts 'tedious old racist' Richard Dawkins for dismissing 'aggressive' Muslim prayer


RT
Tue, 17 Jul 2018 14:57 UTC
Richard Dawkins
© Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins
Best-selling atheist author Richard Dawkins has once again been branded "racist" after he tweeted that the sound of cathedral bells is much more pleasant than the "aggressive-sounding Muslim Allahu Akbar."

The Arabic phrase - which means 'God is Greatest' - is used by Muslims, usually to express gratitude and commitment to Allah, and it's sung at the beginning of the call to prayer. It also has negative connotations as a number of terrorists have shouted the words before carrying out attacks.

Dawkins, who has previously faced a barrage of criticism for claiming in a 2013 tweet that Islam is the "greatest force for evil in the world today," was again accused of Islamophobia on Tuesday morning after sending a provocative tweet.

Comment: This man is a best-selling author? Richard Dawkins seems to have some major screws loose.

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Handcuffs

China: 5-year-old clings to 19th-floor balcony for 30 minutes before being rescued


Sputnik
Tue, 17 Jul 2018 08:25 UTC
china balcony hang 30 minutes
A five-year-old boy in southwest China was rescued to safety on Wednesday after hanging from a 19th-floor balcony grille for nearly a half hour.

The unidentified boy was discovered dangling from the railings of a 19th-floor apartment around 6 a.m. Wednesday in Dazhou city in Sichuan Province, China, after neighbors heard him yelling for help, the South China Morning Post reported Sunday. The boy managed to grab onto the railings of the 19th-floor apartment after allegedly falling from the floor above.

​Police rushed to the 19th floor of the building just minutes after neighbors alerted them to the boy's situation. According to reports, the authorities broke through the apartment and rescued the boy within 30 minutes of the police call.

Comment: This is probably a case of neglect by the parents, but still, this spate of similar incidents of children hanging from balconies is strange:

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Arrow Up

UN: Number of civilians killed in Afghanistan has reached a 'record high'


RFE/RL
Tue, 17 Jul 2018 07:03 UTC
Afghanistan Kabul bombing victims

Afghan officials carry the dead body of a victim at the site of a suicide bomb attack near a Shi'ite mosque in Kabul on March 9.
The United Nations says the number of civilians killed in Afghanistan has reached a record high in the first half of the year, despite last month's cease-fire.

Deaths rose 1 percent to 1,692, although injuries dropped 5 percent to 3,430, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in its latest civilian casualty report released on July 15.

The UN says the number is the highest six-month death toll since the systematic documentation of civilian casualties started in 2009.

Overall civilian casualties were down 3 percent since last year.
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