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Ex-Development Secretary says government officials 'at the highest levels' knew of Oxfam sex abuse, attempted to cover-up the scandal


RT
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 08:34 UTC
Oxfam
© Peter Nicholls / Reuters
Government officials knew about aid workers' sex abuse but tried to keep it quiet, claims ex-Development Secretary Priti Patel. It follows allegations Oxfam staff paid people - possibly underage - for sex in Haiti and Chad.

The British aid agency faces a crunch meeting with International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt on Monday, which could see it stripped of its £34-million ($47-million) annual government funding.

Oxfam has rejected accusations that it covered up stories of its staff using prostitutes in Haiti in 2011. The personnel involved were on a relief mission following the devastating 2010 earthquake that killed some 220,000 people. An internal inquiry into sexual exploitation, downloading of pornography, bullying and intimidation found there had been a "culture of impunity" among staff during the operation.

A confidential report from the investigation in 2011 concluded that children may have been among those abused. A source with knowledge of the case claims they saw footage of a party that they described as "like a full-on Caligula orgy," with prostitutes wearing Oxfam-branded shirts, the Times reports.

Comment: See also: Oxfam staff 'paid prostitutes for sex in Haiti during earthquake recovery - then charity covered up scandal'

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Ambulance

1 dead, 22 injured in train crash in province of Styria, Austria


RT
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 15:03 UTC
Train crash
© APA / AFP
At least one person has died and more than 20 injured following a train crash in the Austrian province of Styria.

One train derailed following a sideways collision with another locomotive at around 1pm local time in the southeastern town of Niklasdorf. Writing on Twitter, Austrian police confirmed that a woman was fatally injured in the incident. Three children are among the 22 injured who have been taken to hospitals in the area.
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Blue Planet

WADA Informant's Allegations Against Putin, Russia Groundless - Kremlin


Sputnik
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 12:42 UTC
doping testing
© AP Photo/ Felipe Dana
The allegations of World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) informant and former head of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory Grigory Rodchenkov against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia, in general, are groundless, it is nothing but a lie, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.

"Such insinuations and statements of a person who, even in a show can be seen with the naked eye as a person suffering from psychological, and maybe even mental problems, can hardly be taken seriously. I can only say that, of course, any accusations against our country on this issue are groundless, especially the statements he made about President Putin are nothing more than lies," Peskov told reporters.

At the same time, Rodchenkov, who appeared on CBS Scott Pelley's 60 Minutes program the day before, alleged that over 20 countries were practicing doping in their respective sports programs, in an interview with the CBS broadcaster.

Comment: Peskov is right - it is obvious that Rodchenkov is suffering from mental problems. His accusations mean nothing.

See:

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Rocket

Israel deploys anti-missile systems on border with Syria according to eyewitnesses


Sputnik
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 11:22 UTC
Israeli Air Force F-16
© CC BY-SA 2.0 / Rob Schleiffert / F-16I Israel
The reported downing of an Israeli F-16 in Syria on February 10 cut short the country's long-term aerial dominance in the region: that was the first Israeli plane lost in 35 years, since 1982 - the time of the Israeli war in Lebanon.

The Israeli military has deployed anti-missile systems, as well as "missile defense batteries" on the northern part of country's border with Syria, near the city of Baka al-Gharbiya, the Jerusalem Post newspaper reported Monday, citing eyewitnesses.

As the media outlet specifies, some witnesses posted alleged photos of "trucks carrying the batteries on central highways in northern Israel."

According to the newspaper, on early Saturday Israel also deployed eight warplanes to target positions inside Syria.

However, the Israeli Defense Forces have yet to comment on the media reports.

Comment: Obviously, having one of their invincible jets shot down has got the Israeli military concerned. See:

Syria Shoots Down Israeli Jet - It's About Time

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Jet3

Footage shows Israeli F-16 in flames before crash, confirming it was shot down

Judah Ari Gross
Times of Israel
Sun, 11 Feb 2018 11:33 UTC
Israeli F-16 wreckage
© Yehunda Pinto via AP
In this image made from video provided by Yehunda Pinto, the wreckage of an Israeli F-16 is seen on fire near Harduf, northern Israel, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018.


Blazing jet seen streaking across sky in video that bolsters view aircraft was shot down by a Syrian anti-aircraft missile

Surveillance camera footage released Sunday showed an Israeli F-16 was on fire before it crashed on Saturday, apparently strengthening the prevailing view that the aircraft was shot down by a Syrian anti-aircraft missile.

In the black-and-white video, the plane could be seen streaking across the sky in flames before crashing in the distance in a blaze of light.

The pilot and navigator ejected from the plane before the crash and parachuted to the ground near the Jezreel Valley where the jet crashed.

The condition of the pilot, who was seriously injured, has since been upgraded to moderate; while the navigator flying with him was released from Haifa's Rambam Medical Center Sunday after being lightly wounded.


Comment: It sounds like Israelis are still in disbelief.

Syria Shoots Down Israeli Jet - It's About Time

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Map

Memo for Israel: Moscow is unaware of any Iranian military base near Palmyra, says deputy FM


Sputnik
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 12:01 UTC
Palmyra
© Sputnik/ Mikhail Alayeddin
Palmyra recaptured by Syrian Arab Army backed by Russian Air Force
The Russian Foreign Ministry has no information about Iran having a military base near the Syrian city of Palmyra, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Monday.

"No, I do not have such information," Bogdanov told reporters when asked whether Moscow was aware of Iran's military base near Palmyra.

Speaking further, the senior official noted that Russia was urging to avoid the escalation of tensions in the region after Israel's strikes on Syria.

"We call on everyone to be calm, to prevent a very dangerous escalation in countries of the region," Bogdanov told reporters.

Comment: The comment about no Iraninan bases near Palmyra is significant because it contradicts the Israeli justification for bombing Syria this time:
Syria Shoots Down Israeli Jet - It's About Time

[...]

This is the first time an Israeli F-16 was brought down since Israel began using the jets in the 1980s. The Israeli narrative around the events is typically hypocritical. According to Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus, an "Iranian drone" was intercepted and brought down over Israeli territory.

According to several sources, the Israeli military stated that it had the offending drone in its possession. But then Conricus posted a video to twitter supposedly showing the 'Iranian drone' being destroyed.

If that video is truly of the 'Iranian drone', I suppose the Israelis could technically have 'it' in their possession, in the form of 10,000 tiny fragments. But you'll forgive me if I call BS on this one.

Anyway, the 'drone incursion' provoked the initial Israeli attack on what Conricus claims was "an Iranian drone control facility near the desert city of Palmyra". As the Israeli jets were returning to Israel, they came under sustained Syrian anti-aircraft fire leading to the crash of the F-16 near Harduf. [...]
Unless the Israelis meant a mobile control facility. But even so, this is a minor point considering that Israel has been bombing Syria for a long time to cover the terrorists on the ground, in the hope that they will topple the Assad government. Who gave them the moral or legal right to do so?

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Magnify

Swedish Tax Agency calls for action against immigrant polygamists


Sputnik
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 12:09 UTC
wedding marriage
© CC0
Hundreds of people registered or living in Sweden are involved in polygamist relations, despite the fact that polygamy is outlawed in the Nordic country. Although first reported at the height of the migrant crisis in 2015, little has been done since to address the practice described as degrading to women.

Although Sweden vocally disapproves of polygamy, there are still a total of 307 Swedish residents officially involved in polygamist marriages, a number which has been spurred by and is constantly rising due to immigration from Muslim countries, where polygamy is accepted. At present, though, it is possible to officially register a foreign polygamy provided that it is valid in the country of origin and that neither of the spouses has been affiliated with Sweden before the marriage, the Dagens Juridik legal newspaper reported.

In total, 169 people living in Sweden have 354 spouses registered in officially recognized polygamist marriages. Some of the women, though, have never been registered in Sweden or have emigrated. Additionally, there are about 500 instances of polygamy not accepted as legal by the authorities.

To address this growing discrepancy, the Swedish Tax Agency has in a statement called for sharpened legislation that would harmonize public records with the rules of the criminal and the marital codes. First and foremost, the agency has demanded that no forms polygamy should be accepted, regardless of where the marriage has been contracted.
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Snowflake

Snowflakes freak out after Mike Pence refuses to stand during Winter Olympics opening ceremony

Ariel Zilber
The Daily Mail
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 12:28 UTC
Mike Pence Winter Olympics

Vice President Mike Pence (seen far right with his wife, Karen) is being accused of hypocrisy for staying seated while the Korean unified team entered the Pyeongchang stadium Friday night for the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics
Vice President Mike Pence, who criticized NFL players for kneeling in protest during the national anthem, is being accused of hypocrisy for staying seated while the Korean unified team entered the Pyeongchang stadium Friday night for the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.

It was Pence who demonstrably left in the middle of a football game in Indianapolis in October over his disgust at a number of San Francisco 49ers players who knelt during the Star Spangled Banner.

Pence and his boss, President Donald Trump, have repeatedly singled out football players who have followed the example of former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and taken a knee during the national anthem.

Comment: Perhaps it's the snowflake's limited moral universe that leads them to see disrespecting one's own flag and disrespecting another country's Olympics team as essentially the same thing. Sure, they're both political statements, but one signals a lack of group loyalty while the other is aimed at a rival nation. This moral disconnect is best summed up by Jonathan Haidt when he says, "The left and right in this country ... are two separate cultures." He continues:
Six [moral] themes recur, in varying degrees, across most societies: care, fairness, liberty, loyalty, authority, and sanctity. [...]

He polled over 130,000 conservatives and liberals on moral issues and found that while conservatives rely on all six foundations equally in making moral judgments, liberals favor care, liberty, and fairness, and were often indifferent to concerns of sanctity, loyalty, and authority. Libertarians, relying primarily on the liberty foundation, had the smallest moral domain of all, which probably explains a great deal - certainly Ayn Rand.
Further reading: Eva Bartlett: The North Korea the Deep State doesn't want the world to see

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Airplane

Over 200 body fragments found at crash site of Russia's An-148 airplane near Moscow


Sputnik
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 12:15 UTC
Moscow airplane crash site An-148
© Sputnik/ Iliya Pitalev
Russian EMERCOM personnel in the Ramensky district of the Moscow region, where an An-148 passenger plane of the Saratov Airlines performing Flight 703 from Moscow to Orsk crashed on February 11, 2018.
All 65 passengers and six crew aboard the plane that crashed on Sunday were confirmed dead. The reasons for the crash are being investigated.

The Russian Emergencies Ministry has told RIA Novosti that 209 fragments of bodies had been found at the An-148 crash site near Moscow.

Earlier in the day, Russian Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said that the search for bodies of those killed in Russia's An-148 plane crash in Moscow region will continue for a week.

The passenger plane An-148, carrying out a domestic flight, crashed near Moscow on Sunday, killing 65 passengers and six crew members. According to the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia), the communication with the plane en route to the city of Orsk in southwestern Russia lapsed a few minutes after its take-off from Moscow's Domodedovo airport. The plane crashed about 21 miles from the airport, with debris spread over a wide area.

Comment: See:

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Russian Flag

'Russians look really good': WSJ hails Russian athletes' 'most stylish' Olympic uniforms


RT
Sun, 11 Feb 2018 07:50 UTC
Russian Olympic team
© Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) parade during the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, February 9, 2018.
Even Russia's detractors will grudgingly concede that Russians are easy on the eye, but the Wall Street Journal has gone further in a story praising Team Russia's PyeongChang Olympic uniforms.

Stories favoring Russia in Western mainstream media have come to be as scarce as hen's teeth, but the Olympic spirit seems to erode political tensions. On Saturday, the Wall Street Journal published an article whose headline speaks for itself: "You Can't Call Them 'Russia,' but You Can Call Them Stylish."

"I'm here to tell you: The Russians look good. Really good," author Jason Gay reported from the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics, in which Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR, Team Russia in all but name) appeared wearing neutral colors. At the ceremony, the Russians - "technically not Russians" - may have been "the most stylish athletes in PyeongChang."

The team's outfits, consisting of plain grey jackets and jeans with white scarves and beanies, were "unpretentious, easygoing, not trying too hard." The author also referred to the Russian team's uniform as "sensible... wearable" and "admirably Spartan."

Comment: Either it was a slow news day, or maybe, just maybe, the Wall Street Journal are feeling a little guilt at the completely unfair treatment of the Russian athletes. In the current climate, this is likely the only praise of Russia acceptable for a mainstream newspaper in the US - their athletes' outfits. See also:

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