News of the World

[kyonides]

Charlie Hebdo attack: France seeks long jail terms in Paris trial

https://www.bbc.com/news/55231200

France's anti-terror prosecutors have called for defendants on trial for a series of militant Islamist attacks in Paris to be given long jail terms.
The January 2015 attacks on Charlie Hebdo magazine, a policewoman and a Jewish supermarket left 17 people dead.
Fourteen people are appearing in court and three are being tried in absentia.
One of those being tried in absentia is Hayat Boumeddiene, the fugitive partner of Amedy Coulibaly who was killed after attacking the supermarket.
Two brothers are also being sought.
Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence for Ali Riza Polat, the main defendant, who is in court.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman denies sending hit squad to Canada

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-55232926
Months ago I reported how some guy, Saad al-Jabri, accused the Saudi Crown Prince of sending hitmen to kill him in Canada for he knew too much.
The prince obviously denied he was involved in such an assassination attempt.
Normally foreign leaders are immune from prosecution but there might be an exception out there...

However Mr Jabri is suing the crown prince under of the Alien Tort statute and the 1991 Torture Victim Protection Act, which allow foreign nationals to file complaints in the US over alleged human rights abuses.

The article also reveals Mr. Jabri was an important liaison for MI6 and other Western spy agencies.

Tesla: German court halts factory plan over snake and lizard habitats

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55235802
Why do greens insist on halting the construction of the Tesla Gigafactory?

The environmentalist groups say Tesla's deforestation will destroy the habitats of sand lizards and smooth snakes, both of which are protected species. They have also expressed concern that the building work will disturb these reptiles during their winter hibernation.

Well, everything changes when protected animals like are involved there... Especially because Germans care about the environment or so it seems to be the case.

Fort Hood: Soldiers fired and suspended after Vanessa Guillen probe

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55235381

The US Army has fired or suspended 14 commanders and lower-level leaders at the Fort Hood base in Texas over a pattern of violence there, including murder, sexual assaults and harassment.
An investigation into problems at the base was launched following the killing of soldier Vanessa Guillen this year.
Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said the "issues at Fort Hood are directly related to leadership failures".
The army has also ordered a new policy on dealing with missing soldiers.
The firings and suspensions announced on Tuesday include major generals Scott Efflandt and Jeffery Broadwater.

I wonder if dismissals and suspensions are the best punishments for those former army officials.

IS tried to build pulse jet-powered drones

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-55229443

The Islamic State (IS) group attempted to develop high-speed drones powered by pulse jet engines like those used in V-1 bombs dropped on the UK during World War Two, an investigation has found.
A conflict monitor revealed the engine in a new report about how IS obtained and made weapons under its "caliphate".
Conflict Armament Research (CAR) said IS had "sophisticated production capabilities for improvised weapons".

But what's CAR!?

Conflict Armament Research is a UK-based investigative organization that tracks the supply of conventional weapons, ammunition, and related military materiel into conflict-affected areas.

The report said production became "increasingly technically advanced and quasi-industrialised" between 2014 and 2017, the height of IS's so-called caliphate.
The report said key materials used by IS forces in Iraq and Syria to produce weapons and explosives predominantly came from a small number of huge bulk purchases made by family-run businesses in Europe and Turkey.
Bulk purchases made in 2014 and 2015 continued to fuel IS weapon production until its territorial loss in 2019, the report said.

It's outrageous to learn how some families endorsed IS like that but there's something else you might keep in mind.

The report said a "fully constructed pulse jet engine" measuring more than two metres in length was found at a hospital in west Mosul, Iraq in September 2017.

So they were using a hospital as a hiding place as well!?

Denmark apologises to children taken from Greenland in a 1950s social experiment

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55238090

Denmark's prime minister has apologised to 22 children who were removed from their homes in Greenland in the 1950s in a failed social experiment.
They were taken to Denmark to be re-educated as "little Danes" who could later return to foster cultural links.
But when 16 did return they were put in an orphanage and many did not see their families again. Only six are now alive.
One of the children, Helene Thiesen, who told her story to the BBC in 2015, said the apology meant everything.
A report on the case of the children, who were from Greenland's indigenous Inuit population, was published on Tuesday.

I wonder why it took them like 60 years to apologize for it. But why did they "kidnap" such kids at all?
BBC says that back in 1951 Danish authorities decided that one way to modernise Greenland would be to create a new type of Greenlander.
So Danish authorities still had some sort of colonial mindset that let them think they could mistreat Inuit people.

Ethiopia Tigray crisis: UN team fired at on way to refugee camp

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55234100

Ethiopian troops shot at and detained UN staff after they drove through check-points in the conflict-hit northern Tigray region, government spokesman Redwan Hussein has confirmed.
The UN team ignored instructions not to be in the area, he added.
The UN team was reportedly trying to visit a camp for Eritrean refugees on Sunday when the shooting occurred.
The UN has appealed to the Ethiopian government to give it "unfettered humanitarian access" to Tigray amid concern about food shortages and medical supplies in a region with a population of more than eight million.

Even if the Ethiopian government claims it keeps everything under control in Tigray, refugees and UN forces still are in danger.

Russian 'doomsday' plane's radio equipment stolen by thieves

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55229438

Thieves have stolen electronic equipment from a Russian military aircraft known as a "doomsday plane" for its role in the country's nuclear arsenal, local media report.
Reports say unknown thieves broke into the Ilyushin Il-80 plane at an airfield in the southern region of Rostov.
It is unclear when the incident took place, but 39 units of equipment and five radio boards were taken.
Military experts say the aircraft is one of four Il-80s designed to be used as airborne command posts for Russian officials, including the president, in the event of a nuclear conflict. Interfax news agency describes them as among Russia's most classified aircraft.

Keep in mind that the last surviving nuclear arsenal pact between USA and Russia is about to expire. Incidents like this one might turn negotiations to extend it or sign a new one including China into a living hell on earth.