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630km-traffic jams & storming buses: Transport workers' strike propels Paris into logistics hell


RT
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 13:23 UTC
Traffic jam
© Global Look Press / imago-images.de / Vincent Isore
Angry commuters stood in "endless" queues at bus terminals and flooded crowded Metro stations, as the transport workers' strike caused severe disruptions of traffic in and around Paris.

The gloomy Monday morning kicked off with traffic jams spanning more than 630km down major highways in the busy Ile-de-France region, which encompasses Paris and its suburbs.

Torrential rain exacerbated the transport collapse, sparked by the strikes carried out by workers at state-run railway company, the SNCF, and the RATP Group, which provides bus and tram service, along with operating the Paris Metro.

The workers began striking on Thursday, in protest against the controversial pension reform. The media, meanwhile, reported about "endless" queues at train stations and people desperately "storming" the few buses which were not cancelled due to the strike.
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X

This is the reason why LGBT acceptance is declining

Blaire White
The Post Millennial
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 17:46 UTC
scary drag queen
There appears to be some turbulence ahead for the LGBT community. According to a national survey by GLAAD, LGBT acceptance appears to be declining in America. Interestingly, it's declining among a group that is often touted as the most accepting and socially "woke" — millennials.

The survey reports that the percentage of young people who reported being "somewhat" or "very" comfortable with LGBT people dropped from 53% to 45%. This is the second year in a row that the number has fallen. While many gay publications have shared this survey and rang the alarm, I've yet to see anyone online offer a measured opinion of why this is occurring beyond "ORANGE MAN BAD."

Comment: See also:

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Bomb

Swedish bomb squad robot defuses explosive device left outside pizzeria


RT
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 09:39 UTC
Bomb squad robot
© REUTERS/Lars Helsinghof/Scanpix
Police in Eksjo, Sweden received reports of a suspicious object outside a pizzeria, shortly after 3am local time Monday. A bomb squad robot was immediately deployed to investigate the threat.

"It's some kind of explosive object," a police spokesman said as officers established a one-block security cordon around the area. A nearby residential building was also evacuated as a precautionary measure.
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Bullseye

'Catch and release is over': Border apprehensions drop for sixth month in a row

Jason Hopkins
Daily Caller
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 11:08 UTC
Mexico border
© REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez
Enforcement actions at the U.S.-Mexico border fell again in November, marking six consecutive months of declining apprehensions.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) enforcement actions totaled 42,649 in the month of November, according to data obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The data — a combination of the 33,510 arrests and 9,139 inadmissible aliens at the border for that month — show a six percent decline from October.

The Department of Homeland Security celebrated the latest numbers, and pointed to policies undertaken by the Trump administration as the root cause.

"The president's strategy to address the historic flood of Central American family units illegally crossing the border has worked. And, thanks to the policies President Trump has implemented across the board, catch and release is over," a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement obtained by the DCNF.
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Arrow Down

Secret Service logs 'disappeared' because they showed collusion with right-wing mob, Blumenthal tells RT


RT
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 13:08 UTC
US Secret Service agents
© REUTERS / Carlos Barria
US Secret Service agents prepare to enter the Venezuelan Embassy to evict and arrest the final four supporters of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Journalist Max Blumenthal says assault charges against him have been dropped by the US government partially because the case would have turned into a great embarrassment for the Secret Service.

Blumenthal was subjected to an early morning arrest in October on a five-month-old warrant, which stemmed from an accusation against him and fellow activist Ben Rubinstein. A Venezuelan opposition activist said they attacked her when they were delivering food to people who took cover in the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington DC trying to prevent supporters of US-backed self-proclaimed president Juan Guaido from taking over the place.

The journalist says the charge was bogus from the start, but his defense took a surprising turn when Blumenthal's lawyer requested exculpatory evidence in the form of logs from the US Secret Service, whose agents were present at the scene. If agents failed to call an ambulance after a violent incident resulting in an injury, a lack of such call would indicate that the allegations were false, he reasoned.

However, the logs for the day were completely missing. Blumenthal believes the Secret Service obstructed the request because the logs would confirm that they were acting hand-in-glove with the crowd trying to take over the diplomatic mission, he told RT.

Comment: See also: 'I plan to seek justice': Max Blumenthal vows legal action after US govt drops 'bogus' assault charges against him

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Biohazard

Uranium contamination site partially collapses into Detroit River, waste was created during the Manhattan Project

Dave Battagello
Windsor Star
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 12:24 UTC
detroit
© Raymond Boyd/Getty
Canada Steamship Lines makes its way along the Detroit River and the Detroit skyline, and is photographed from the Riverfront in Windsor, Ontario, Canada on September 26, 2019.
A shoreline property in Detroit listed for decades by the U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency as a contaminated site due to its use of uranium and other dangerous chemicals during manufacturing dating back to the 1940s has partially collapsed into the Detroit River.

The riverbank apparently collapsed under the weight of large aggregate piles stored at the site by Detroit Bulk Storage which has a long-term lease on the property for such use. The company is operated by the son of the owner of Windsor-based aggregate company Southwestern Sales.

The collapsed property is widely known as the former Revere Copper and Brass site which over many decades has been engaged in repeated controversy regarding its fate, safety and who is responsible for cleanup.

Comment: An update on the story:
Soil tests conducted Friday by Michigan environmental regulators at the site of the former Revere Copper property where a shoreline collapsed into the Detroit River showed no radiation concerns, despite the property's manufacturing history involving uranium.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) measured roughly 1,000 data points on the property. The results showed radiation levels below naturally occurring radiation levels, which are typically between five and eight microroentgen per hour (Ur/hr), the agency said.

"This affirms to us the level of radiation from the legacy site backs up what was found (previously) — that no radiological material has been swept into the river as part of this incident," said Nick Assendelft, spokesman for EGLE.

"A number of locations were measured as (EGLE officials) walked the property. They even stuck the Geiger counter and collected soil in the crevices where the soil is washing into the river, so the results cannot be disputed in any way."

EGLE did not test the property's soil for any other toxic chemicals on Friday, but did take numerous water samples in the area. These samples are going to be studied for a wide variety of chemicals, Assendelft said.

The samples are being examined at EGLE's lab in Lansing and unlikely to be known for a few weeks, he said.
See also: US chemical spill kills hundreds of fish, beaches closed - ArcelorMittal waited 3 days before they told the City

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Camera

Jeffrey Epstein's 'pimp' Ghislaine Maxwell 'planning TV defence of Prince Andrew'

Milo Boyd
Mirror
Sun, 08 Dec 2019 23:05 UTC
Ghislaine Maxwell
© Neil Rasmus/BFAnyc.com/REX
Ghislaine Maxwell is in talk with US TV networks over an interview.
A woman accused of being a pimp for Jeffrey Epstein is to defend her friend Prince Andrew.

Ghislaine Maxwell is believed to be in talks with US TV networks about an interview in which she will speak in favour of the Duke of York.

The 57-year-old, who is the daughter of disgraced billionaire Robert Maxwell, will say that Virginia Guiffre, formerly Roberts, is lying when she claims Prince Andrew slept with her when she was 17.

Comment: See also:

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Radar

Rockets hit base of Iraq military & US forces, six servicemen wounded


RT
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 23:45 UTC
Baghdad
© REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani
FILE PHOTO: Baghdad International Airport
An army basecamp near the Baghdad International Airport was struck with a barrage of rockets on Monday amid a surge in similar attacks on US-linked installations in Iraq.

Six fighters were wounded, two of them critically, after four rockets landed on the base, the Iraqi Army said. Security sources told AFP that the wounded belonged to an elite anti-terrorism unit, trained by the US.

The army found a Katyusha multiple rocket launcher in the area, along with several missiles that failed to launch. No party has claimed the responsibility for the attack as of yet.

Comment: See also:

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Hammer

This just keeps getting better: $120,000 duct-taped banana 'artwork' vandalized with 'Epstein Didn't Kill Himself' meme

Khaleda Rahman
Newsweek
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 05:19 UTC
epstein didn't kill himself
The gallery wall that featured the $120,000 artwork of a duct-taped banana at Art Basel Miami has been vandalized with lipstick — a day after the banana itself was eaten by an artist.

Maurizio Cattelan's Comedian was one of the most visited exhibits at the international art fair in Miami Beach last week. Two pieces quickly sold to collectors for $120,000 and a third edition will be sold to a museum after the price was raised to $150,000, Artnet reported.

The Miami Herald reported that on Sunday afternoon, the wall where the work was displayed was vandalized with the phrase "Epstien (sic) didn't kill himself" written in red lipstick.

Comment: See also:

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Biohazard

Former Monsanto CEO ordered to testify at Roundup cancer trial

Carey Gillam
Source
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 10:05 UTC
former monsanto ceo hugh grant
Former Monsanto Chairman and CEO Hugh Grant will have to testify in person at a St. Louis-area trial set for January in litigation brought by a cancer-stricken woman who claims her disease was caused by exposure to the company's Roundup herbicide and that Monsanto covered up the risks instead of warning consumers.

Grant, who led St. Louis-based Monsanto from 2003 until the company was sold to Bayer AG of Germany in June of 2018, and spent a total of 37 years working for Monsanto, was subpoenaed by lawyers for plaintiff Sharlean Gordon, to testify at a trial slated to begin Jan. 27 in St. Louis County Circuit Court.

The Gordon trial was originally scheduled for August of this year but was delayed as part of an effort to undertake settlement talks between Bayer and lawyers for tens of thousands of plaintiffs who are suing Monsanto with claims similar to Gordon's.

Comment: See also:

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