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Fri, 05 Nov 2021
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Bad Guys

Violent gang riots breakout in Brazilian prison: 'Seven people beheaded, and six burned to death'

riot brazil
© TV FolhaBV / YouTube
At least 25 inmates have reportedly been killed in a bloody Brazilian prison riot involving rival gangs on Sunday.

Rioting broke out at a northern facility known as the Agricultural Penitentiary of Monte Cristo, Roraima, when prisoners from one wing of the prison attacked rival inmates, according to news outlet Globo.

Seven people were reportedly beheaded and six others burned to death during the violence, which broke out during prison visiting hours as convicts were meeting with their relatives.

Comment: For further reading: Brazil world's seventh most violent country: 1.1 million murdered in 30 years


Robot

Robot 'journalists' to write news and sports stories for Britain and Ireland's national news agency

robot reporter
© Getty
Robot journalists are set to start working at Britain and Ireland's national news agency.

Non-human hacks will be rolled out to cover sports, football and elections for the Press Association in the next few months.

The cybernetic scribes will be "more accurate" than flesh and blood journos in some cases, according to PA's editor in chief Pete Clifton.

Addressing the Society of Editors conference in Carlisle this morning, Mr Clifton said: "This won't be replacing any of our fantastic journalists, it will be more a case of offering an extra level when it comes to short market reports, election results and football reporting."

Comment: Zombie nation gets upgrade with robot reporting reboot


USA

Nearly 40 percent of Americans report election has caused tension with family or friends

US voting machines
© Clay Jackson/AP
Nearly 40 percent of Americans have experienced tension with friends or family over the 2016 presidential election.

Together with SSRS, a survey research firm, ABC News asked voters how often they discuss the presidential election with relatives or friends and whether the subject causes any friction.

Ninety percent of Americans talk about the presidential race often with friends or family, the survey shows.

Of those, 58 percent discuss the election very often and 32 percent somewhat often. Only 4 percent never talk about the presidential election.

Thirty-seven percent of respondents said the 2016 race has caused tension with relatives or friends.

The major-party nominees, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, are two of the most disliked presidential candidates in history. An ABC News/Washington Post released today found that 63 percent of registered voters see Trump unfavorably and 57 percent have an unfavorable view of Clinton — the highest such ratings for major-party candidates in ABC/Washington Post polling dating back 32 years.

Even though the presidential contest is causing at least some friction in many voters' relationships, more than three-quarters of Americans think it is appropriate that children pay attention to the race. Seventy-one percent of respondents said it is appropriate that children pay attention to the election, and 29 percent said it is inappropriate.

Snakes in Suits

Stop the War Coalition invites Boris Johnson to debate UK's 'shambolic' foreign policy

Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson
© Justin Tallis / Reuters
Britain's Stop the War Coalition has invited Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to join a public debate on UK foreign policy after he controversially urged the group to stage protests outside the Russian embassy in London last week.

Stop the War described the UK's foreign policy towards the Middle East and Russia under Johnson's leadership as "alarmingly shambolic."

In a statement, the group invited Johnson to debate British foreign policy, especially his claim that negotiations with Russia over the Syrian crisis have "run out of road" and his thinly veiled suggestion that force may be necessary against Moscow.

"After Boris Johnson's extraordinary outbursts last week Stop the War has requested a public debate with him on foreign policy," the group said.

Comment: Johnson definitely needs to be called out on his hypocrisy but he will most likely decline to join the debate. Too bad because it might be fun to watch this clown debate.


Pills

Surgeons find 53 sacks of cocaine in belly of 'drug mule' who collapsed at airport

Waldemar Wojtczak, 45
© Miami Herald
Waldemar Wojtczak, 45, who is accused of trafficking in cocaine after half-a-kilo of the drug was found inside his belly.
When a Polish man collapsed at Miami International Airport, he was rushed to the hospital — where doctors removed half a kilo of cocaine from his belly. That's more than a pound of the illegal drug.

In all, surgeons found 53 small rubber sacks inside the stomach of Waldemar Wojtczak, 45, who nearly died from ingesting the narcotics. The pellet-sized sacks were immediately handed over to Miami-Dade narcotics detectives, who had donned scrubs and witnessed the procedure inside the operating room at Hialeah Hospital.

Wojtczak has recovered and was formally charged Monday with cocaine trafficking and the rare state charge of using commercial transport while committing a felony. Through a Polish interpreter, he pleaded not guilty on Monday at his arraignment.

Pumpkin 2

Hysteria: Target officials remove clown masks from stores after 'creepy clown' scares

clowns
© Facebook
Target officials said Sunday they have removed some clown masks from stores and online due to the recent rise of "crazy clown" scares.

A recent craze that has gone to social media shows people wearing creepy or scary looking clown masks and going up to people to scare them. There have been arrests associated with the creepy clown craze, and a high school soccer coach was fired after a photo of himself wearing a mask at his team's final practice appeared on social media.

Many of the instances were intended to be pranks, but some feel the incidents went too far and were threatening.

Comment: Clowns scare kids: They're 'universally disliked by children,' British researchers discover


Snakes in Suits

Destroying minds: British child soldiers recruitment condemned by doctors and veterans

Child with UK soldiers
© Eddie Keogh / Reuters
In a scathing report released on Tuesday, veterans and doctors slammed the UK for recruiting child soldiers under the age of 18, arguing they are misinformed and far more likely to be killed in action, suffer long-term health issues, or commit suicide.

The report entitled 'Recruitment of Child Soldier by the British Armed Forces,' which was fronted by the public health charity Medact, draws on damning testimony from those who joined the military as children to make a scientific and ethical case for raising the recruitment age to 18.

Aside from making a moral case against the practice and exposing what they consider opaque and dishonest recruiting tactics, the authors argue that young adolescents are incapable of making informed decisions, given the way military careers are "glamorized," while their youth and stage of brain development also mean that they are more likely to be damaged by service.

"Minimum age laws exist to protect children from smoking, drinking, driving and watching violent films," Dr. David McCoy, Medact's director, told the Guardian. "It's time for the UK to fall in step with the vast majority of countries and raise the minimum recruitment age to 18," he said.

Map

The 3 Million: EU citizens demand rights in UK after Brexit

EU UK flags Brexit
© Neil Hall/ Reuters
Europeans resident in the UK assembled in Parliament on Tuesday to demand MPs safeguard their rights after Brexit.

Citizens from several European Union member states helped launch the new pressure group 'The 3 Million' in the Houses of Parliament, aiming to pressure MPs to defend EU nationals' rights over the coming years.

"There's a widespread feeling among EU citizens that we have been unfairly treated since the referendum," said the group's French chair, Nicolas Hatton.

"The rise in hate crimes toward us and the insistence of the government to consider us as bargaining chips in the future Brexit negotiations has created unprecedented anguish and anxiety in our communities and we will welcome the support of the representatives of the British people today and in months to come."

Comment: The people of the UK gave a strong signal to leave the EU with their vote for Brexit. If EU nationals wish to stay in the UK, they cannot expect to retain the same conditions. They are after all living in a host country as guests and need to adapt to the changes of the country in which they live.


Flashlight

Florida sees spike in drugs washing up on beaches; 400 pounds of marijuana found floating off coast this month

marijuana seizures florida
© US Customs and Border Patrol
The Coast Guard and agents from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized more than $300,000 worth of marijuana floating in the water or washed up on Florida beaches during 15 separate events between September and October 2016.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of marijuana is floating off Florida's coast and are being washed up onto its beaches, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

"There has been a significant spike in drugs washing up on shore," said Todd Bryant, the division chief for CBP in Miami. He said the increase might reflect a "shift in smuggling methods" by those who traffic in illegal drugs.

CBP said between Sept. 15-Oct. 12, almost 400 pounds of marijuana worth more than $300,000 were found in several places on Florida's coast.

Sheriff

On-duty officer exposes how to tell good cops from bad

police badge
Officer Robert Howard is not one of those cops who rolls up to a party looking to smash some heads. No, according to this Berkeley cop, those officers have no business on the force and epitomize all that is wrong with police in America today.

Instead of treating everyone he comes across as a slave who needs to obey his every whim, Howard takes a novel approach — he treats them with respect.

In a video uploaded to Facebook over the weekend, Howard is recorded doing something that seems to have vacated modern policing which is interacting with the community and talking with people, instead of fishing for criminal activity through various means of legalized lying and threats.

According to the uploader, Spade Newcash, he and some friends and family were hanging out in front of his driveway when a cop pulled up. Spade had no idea whether or not this cop was about to throw them on the hood of his car or arrest them for doing nothing wrong. But what they got instead was a person who knows what it is like to be human.

Comment: Blowing the whistle comes with drawbacks and it takes an act of courage to stand up for what is right.