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'Babel' nightclub in Sweden rocked by powerful explosion

Babel explosion
© AFP/Andreas Hillergren/Scanpix Sweden
A popular nightclub in Malmö was damaged in a powerful explosion in the early hours of Monday.

No one was injured in the blast, which was heard across large parts of central Malmö shortly after 1.30am on Monday.

Babel, a popular nightclub and concert venue in the Möllevången area, was damaged in the explosion, which shattered windows on the first floor. A car parked on the street outside was also damaged.

Police examined the property overnight. The explosion is believed to have been intentional, but in the morning it was still unclear what had caused the detonation.

"It's not a New Year's rocket exactly, but obviously something more powerful," police spokesperson Kim Hild told regional newspaper Sydsvenskan.

As The Local has previously reported, while Sweden is generally a peaceful, safe country with low crime rates, police have had difficulty addressing violence in its third-biggest city.

In recent years, there have been grenade attacks, shootings and incidents of car arson.

Heart - Black

UK 'Killer clown' scares woman into premature birth

Clown
© Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP
Clowning around isn't so funny anymore.
A UK woman who was eight months pregnant prematurely gave birth after she was startled by a 'killer clown'. The woman is said to be doing well after a 17-year-old frightened her as part of the bizarre craze.

The latest victim of the clown craze was reported on Facebook by a friend of the woman, who described the incident saying a "stupid 17-year-old kid" jumped on the mother-to-be dressed as a clown in Whitwick, Leicestershire.

"It's a nonsense craze that needs stopping," she added.

Comment: See also:
  • Copycat clowns spread to the UK prompting police to threaten jail time



People

Public opinion poll shows ethnic tensions in Russia at all-time low

Russian language students testing
© Kirill Kallinikov / Sputnik
For work patent issue, foreign citizens are undergoing electronic testing of Russian language knowledge at the Uniform Migration Center, Moscow Region.
The share of the Russian population which claims to feel ethnic tensions in the areas where they live is now 18 percent - the lowest since 2005, when researchers first addressed the issue, reports the independent public opinion center Levada.

Their research reveals that 79 percent of the respondents saw no, or very little, signs of ethnic tensions in the areas where they reside, with four percent saying the question was too complicated for a simple, direct answer.

At the same time, the share of the population which sees the possibility of violent mass conflicts on ethnic grounds was 14 percent this year, compared to 12 percent a year ago, and only 10 percent in 2009. The vast majority of Russians (84 percent) do not believe that ethnic tensions in the country could result in violence.

Comment: Contrast this with the refugee hysteria in Europe and the rising racial tensions within the United States.


War Whore

Cop caught chasing after women while publicly masturbating — said he had to do it to stay awake, gets placed on paid vacation

Cop publicly masturbating
Killing a man by tasering him to death while in handcuffs won't get you charged as a law enforcement officer. However, whipping out your penis and masturbating will, as a Pennsylvania cop is quickly learning.

Bethlehem police officer Glenn C. Woolard is now backpedaling, claiming that the multiple instances of women reporting his public masturbation — next to them — were just a big misunderstanding.

Woolard, 35, allegedly confessed to state police during an interview Friday that he was masturbating in his parked car in a parking lot on North Krocks Road in Lower Macgunie Township Sept. 27, according to a criminal complaint.

During the same interview, he also confessed to masturbating again a week later, this time, while driving down the road.

Comment: See also: Dashcam evidence of cop raping women while on duty leads to his arrest


Fire

Symbolic: Fire breaks out in Berlin's landmark Europa-Center tower

Europa-Center building fire
© Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters
Smoke and fire is seen on the roof of the Europa-Center building in Berlin, Germany October 11, 2016.
A fire has broken out at the Europa-Center building complex, one of Berlin's landmarks, reports on social media indicate. Photos and videos on Twitter show huge plumes of smoke rising from the roof of the high-rise.

Flames broke out on the rooftop of the 21-storey high-rise tower, Berliner Zeitung reported on Tuesday.


Gear

Confrontations escalating: South Korean coastguard threatens to shoot Chinese fishing boats

korean coast guard south china sea
© Arun Sanksr / AFP
Violent confrontations could escalate between South Korea and Chinese boats found fishing in its waters after the US ally sanctioned a greater use of force, including the use of firearms, to control its sea border.

The threat of lethal force comes as China publically berated the US over its operations close to artificial islands Beijing has built in the South China Sea, and its plan to deploy a missile defense system to South Korea.

China's ambassador was summoned by South Korean officials to protest the latest clash off the Korean peninsula's west coast, in which a coastguard patrol boat sank last week after being rammed by a Chinese fishing vessel. There were no reported casualties.

Three Chinese fishermen were killed last month when a fire broke out on their boat after a South Korean coastguard threw flash grenades into their cabin.

In response to the frequent skirmishes, South Korean coastguard officials announced on Tuesday they would authorize the use of handguns and onboard cannon to attack Chinese vessels they deem threatening.

Clipboard

14 reasons why 'the Trump tapes' don't matter by Dilbert creator Scott Adams

Dilbert creator Scott Adams

Dilbert creator Scott Adams
None other than anti-Trump GOP establishmentarian Erick Erickson (yeah seriously) threw down the gauntlet at Dilbert Creator Scott Adams following the Access Hollywood recording in which Donald Trump said bad things eleven years ago...

Well, he didn't have to wait long... Challenge accepted!
I'll give you my thoughts, in no particular order.

1. If this were anyone else, the election would be over. But keep in mind that Trump doesn't need to outrun the bear. He only needs to outrun his camping buddy. There is still plenty of time for him to dismantle Clinton. If you think things are interesting now, just wait. There is lots more entertainment coming.

2. This was not a Trump leak. No one would invite this sort of problem into a marriage.

3. I assume that publication of this recording was okayed by the Clinton campaign. And if not, the public will assume so anyway. That opens the door for Trump to attack in a proportionate way. No more mister-nice-guy. Gloves are off. Nothing is out of bounds. It is fair to assume that Bill and Hillary are about to experience the worst weeks of their lives.

Comment:


People

Kim Dotcom runs 'Trump vs Clinton vs Putin' Twitter poll: Guess who is winning?

Trump, Putin, and Clinton
© Sputnik / Reuters
He's not American, nor in the race for the White House, but Vladimir Putin is a more popular choice for US President than Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton in a new Twitter poll conducted by Kim Dotcom.

The Russian president is currently polling at 58 percent, with Trump at 24 percent and Clinton on 18 percent with over 6,000 votes cast. The poll asking "Who do you want to be the next President of the United States?" was posted on Twitter by internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom.

Putin's lead in the polls comes as no surprise as the US sees an election bitterly disputed between two of the least popular candidates in history.

Sunday's debate saw Trump attacked over a video which emerged of him boasting about being able to "grab" women "by the p*ssy," in a conversation with TV host Billy Bush in 2005.

Clinton faced further attacks over the use of a private email server and a Wikileaks release which included transcripts of some of her paid speeches before Wall Street firms.

Comment: From the Edgar Cayce readings:
What then of nations? In Russia there comes the hope of the world, not as that sometimes termed of the Communistic, of the Bolshevistic; no. But freedom, freedom! that each man will live for his fellow man! The principle has been born. It will take years for it to be crystallized, but out of Russia comes again the hope of the world.



Snakes in Suits

Bought and paid for? California judge gives Nestlé free pass to keep stealing water from drought stricken national forest

nestle water
A California federal judge just gave Nestlé the go ahead to continue stealing water from the San Bernardino National Forest.

Nestlé has become infamous for trying to privatize (steal) water from over 50 springs throughout the United States, though residents in the small towns they monopolize have tried fighting back.

In a recent turn for the worse, a federal judge in California just gave the corporation permission to continue drawing water from the San Bernardino National Forest despite holding a permit that expired in 1988.

Activists were hopeful, that on at least one accession, they could stop Nestlé from taking water from drought-stricken California. The Courage Campaign Institute (CCI), the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), and the Story of Stuff Project (SSP) launched a lawsuit in 2015 against the U.S. Forest Service for allowing Nestlé to keep drawing water.

Comment: Nestle continues stealing world's water during drought

Nestle has become another much hated corporation for its complete disregard for people and the environment. Despite years of drought, the company continues to suck millions of gallons a year from California aquifers with no restrictions. It pays the same rate as an average residential water user, but is then able to sell it back at mammoth profits.

See also:


Binoculars

Police in California, Texas fail to report 660 officer-involved deaths

 Jason Miczek/Reuters
© Jason Miczek/Reuters
Hundreds of police departments in two states were found to have broken laws mandating police reports for in-custody deaths. Registries required by California and Texas were missing a total of 660 deaths from 2005 to 2015.

They are the only two states that require law enforcement to report all in-custody deaths, but it seems enforcing the law is trickier than anyone imagined. Research from Texas State University in San Marco found that the two states did not report hundreds of deaths that involved officers during a 10-year period.

Texas was found to have failed to report 220 use-of-force fatalities, and California had 440 unreported deaths from 2005 to 2015, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Both Texas and California attorneys general confirmed that many hundreds of cases were missing. While failing to file such a report is a misdemeanor in Texas, there is no punishment for it in California.

Comment: All of these terms, use-of-force fatalities, officer-involved-deaths, in-custody-deaths. One could be led to believe they're all the same thing. Ahh, the simple world of the activist - how black and white it all must seem.