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Police close off Temple Mount to Jewish worshipers over rules violations after clashes with Palestinians


RT
Wed, 19 Jul 2017 17:43 UTC
temple mount
© Ammar Awad / Reuters
Police have closed off the Temple Mount to Jewish worshipers, after a group of Jewish visitors broke the rules of conduct. It follows days of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police near the site, which is holy to both Jews and Muslims.

Jerusalem District Police Commander Major-General Yoram Halevy ordered that the Temple Mount be closed to Jewish worshipers and visitors on Wednesday morning.

The order came after a group of Jewish visitors breached the rules of conduct by bringing sacred books to the site and trying to pray there. After one of the individuals was warned, another took out a holy book and the group was removed by security forces, Haaretz reported.

The Temple Mount, known as the Ḥaram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) to Muslims, has been the subject of violent clashes since Sunday, with Palestinians protesting Israel's placement of metal detectors at entrances.
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Eye 1

Video of young woman wearing miniskirt in Saudi Arabia prompts heated debate on social media


RT
Tue, 18 Jul 2017 20:24 UTC
A young woman wearing miniskirt in the desert
© منوعات - Tube / YouTube
A young woman wearing miniskirt in the desert
Footage of a young woman in a miniskirt and crop top, wandering in a village in conservative rural Saudi Arabia, has sparked heated debate on social media. Some are calling for the model to be punished, while others are demanding new rules for women's dress.

The video, initially posted on Snapchat, shows a woman posing at a deserted historic fort in the village of Ushaiger, 200km northwest of the capital, Riyadh, Saudi media reported on Monday.

The village is located in the region of Najd, which is known for its traditional mores.


Saudi officials immediately called for measures against the woman, saying that she violated the Muslim country's dress code, Okaz newspaper reported.

Comment: Saudi police have arrested a young woman who was earlier filmed wearing a miniskirt and crop top, wandering around a village in a conservative rural area near the country's capital, local media reported. The footage sparked debate on social media.
Information on the woman's arrest was released by the Riyadh-based Al-Ekhbariya TV channel on Tuesday.

Earlier, the local government of Riyadh said that the authorities were taking the "necessary measures" to find the woman, who was accused of "walking around... in indecent clothing," as cited by AFP.

. ..

The incident has divided the Saudi public, with some calling for the woman to be punished, while others praised her.
Update (July 19): A woman who was detained for wearing a miniskirt and a crop top in Saudi Arabia has reportedly been released without charges, after her arrest led to international criticism of the kingdom's conservative government.
A statement released by the Saudi Center for International Communication says that police released the woman on Tuesday evening after a few hours of questioning, AP reported.

"She was released without charge and the case has been closed by the prosecutor,'' the statement said, adding that the video, which went viral, was published online without her knowledge.

Police arrested the woman for wearing "immodest clothes" on Tuesday, after many called for her to be detained, saying she had violated the kingdom's conservative Islamic dress code.


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Gold Coins

Gender-gap among the wealthy BBC media elite?


RT
Wed, 19 Jul 2017 17:18 UTC
BBC hq
© Peter Nicholls / Reuters
BBC presenters' six-figure salaries have been published, exposing a stark gender pay gap, with the top-earning woman on £1.5 million less than the highest-paid man.

The top seven BBC earners were all white men. Chris Evans, former Top Gear presenter and Radio 2 host, topped the list, earning between £2.2 million and £2.25 million (US$2.87 million and US$2.93 million) in 2016/2017.

Match of the Day's Gary Lineker earned between £1.75 million and £1.8 million, chat show host Graham Norton made more than £850,000, and news presenter Jeremy Vine earned up to £750,000.

The revelations came as the BBC published for the first time the salaries of its staff who were paid more than £150,000 in the last financial year. The broadcaster fought against the list being published, but was forced by the government as part of its new 11-year royal charter.

Comment: What is outrageous here is that anyone is paid such staggering amounts to sell lies to the public using their own tax dollars.

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Ambulance

Banker and former head of Spanish savings bank found dead at hunting estate of gunshot wound to the chest


RT
Wed, 19 Jul 2017 17:27 UTC
Miguel Blesa
© Sergio Perez / Reuters
Miguel Blesa, former chairman of savings bank Caja Madrid
Miguel Blesa, the former head of the ill-fated Spanish savings bank Caja Madrid, has been found dead at a hunting estate in the southern province of Cordoba with a gunshot wound to his chest.

A spokesperson for the Guardia Civil told Bloomberg that a worker from the estate called the police at about 8 a.m. An investigation has been opened into the death of the 69-year-old banker.

Blesa, who chaired Caja Madrid from 1996 to 2010, oversaw the bank's merger with six other lenders into Bankia which in turn was rescued with €22 billion ($25.4 billion) in state aid.
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Magnify

German diplomats report refugees enduring "concentration camp conditions" at Libyan camps


Sputnik
Wed, 19 Jul 2017 17:12 UTC
dream vs. reality
German diplomats compared refugee camps in Libya with "concentration camps." The living conditions in these facilities are almost unbearable, they revealed.

In particular, they reported about "severe, systematic violations of human rights." Those include "regular mockeries, torture, rape, extortion," which have become a common practice in the camps, the report said.

At the same time, this fact still doesn't stop refugees from entering the Arab country, from which they can further move to Europe.
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Eye 1

Former US contractor in Afghanistan pleads guilty to accepting $250,000 in kickbacks


Sputnik
Wed, 19 Jul 2017 16:58 UTC
US Department of Justice
© Flickr/ Drew Douglas
US Department of Justice
A former employee of a US government contractor in Afghanistan has admitted to accepting over $250,000 in illegal kickbacks from an Afghan subcontractor, the Justice Department said in a press release.

Nebraska McAlpine, 56, of Smyrna, Georgia, pleaded guilty in Atlanta before US District Judge Mark H. Cohen to one count of accepting illegal kickbacks.

"A former employee of a US government contractor in Afghanistan pleaded guilty today to accepting over $250,000 in illegal kickbacks from an Afghan subcontractor in return for his assistance in obtaining subcontracts on US government contracts," the release said on Tuesday.
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Chart Pie

Europe's college gender gap: Does equality of outcome imply refusing female graduates?


Sott.net
Wed, 19 Jul 2017 16:56 UTC
RFE/RL published the following graphic today:
college gender gap
© RFE/RL
Let's take a quick look at what these numbers suggest.
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Bizarro Earth

Sickening: Users can simulate rape with sex robot by changing personality setting

BETH TIMMINS
The Independent
Wed, 19 Jul 2017 16:53 UTC
sex dolls
It seems a new frontier has been reached in the fast-paced world of Artificial Intelligence, but as fast as technology is able to advance, it can still be reproached for moral retrogression.

This has been the subject of debate after the recent advertisement of 'Roxxxy TrueCompanion', a robot you can buy and simulate raping with a simple switch in setting.

One of the programmable personalities for the robot is 'Frigid Farrah', described as "reserved and shy" on the True Companion company website. Like 'Wild Wendy' and 'S & M Susan' whose characteristics are self-ascribed, the website says that for Frigid Farrah, if you touch her "in a private area, more than likely, she will not be to appreciative of your advance."

In the website's description, the model lacks an attempt to reproduce consent in the real world and the company say that their robots "allow everyone to realise their most private sexual dreams."
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Health

Woman sues hospital after failed abortion forces her to carry to term


RT
Wed, 19 Jul 2017 16:33 UTC
pregnant woman
© Carlos Barria / Reuters
A struggling 37-year-old single mother of a three-year old child has sued Milan's San Paolo hospital for compensation and support payments after doctors performed an abortion that was later found out to have failed, forcing the mother to carry to term.

The woman suffers from Crohn's Disease and was concerned that the father would refuse to support the child when she decided to undergo a chemical abortion in April 2013.

She was told that the procedure went as planned. However, when she returned a month later, tests showed that the fetus remained inside her and was told that only a surgical abortion was available.
"It's medical malpractice," Vincenzo Lepre, her lawyer told the Local. "It's simply not acceptable for a patient to go to hospital, have an abortion, be told that everything is OK, and then a month later find out that they are still pregnant."
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Handcuffs

Assaults on Colorado police skyrocket 40% during encounters

Noelle Phillips
Denver Post
Mon, 17 Jul 2017 15:39 UTC
police remove man from bus
Police officers and sheriff's deputies in Colorado are increasingly under physical attack, according to new crime statistics, and they blame a number of factors.

A swelling population, an overall increase in crime, more interactions with the mentally ill, rising drug abuse and growing hostility toward police are among the reasons for the increase in assaults cited by law enforcement.

"It's layer upon layer," said Steve Johnson, chief deputy at the Douglas County Sheriff's Office. "They just contribute to a volatile situation in which law enforcement officers are the first line of defense. They have to go in and address those things."

Assaults against Colorado law enforcement officers increased nearly 42 percent between 2012 and 2016, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation's annual crime report, which was released Wednesday.

Comment: Training in crisis intervention is needed for sure, and a significant aspect of that is re-examining the aggressive training that American police forces have adopted over the past years. It's no surprise they have encountered increased aggression in people as a result of their own aggressive tactics.

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