Tag: ARGENTINA

‘Police shot at us deliberately’: Friend of French woman who lost eye in Yellow Vest clashes to RT

‘Police shot at us deliberately': Friend of French woman who lost eye in Yellow Vest clashes to RT

French police put lives at risk during Yellow Vest protests, RT heard. A friend of a woman who lost her eye at a rally says police was targeting bystanders deliberately, while a reporter claims her helmet was confiscated.

A 20-year-old student, identified as Fiorina, came to Paris for a “Yellow Vest” rally last weekend, Maxime Jacob, the woman’s friend, told RT France. “I was around when we were at Champs Elysees. At around 12am we asked gendarmes to let us leave the place but they were ordered not to allow anyone out.”

ALSO ON RT.COM80yo woman dies after being hit in face by projectile amid Yellow Vest protests

At some point, violent rioters attacked a store nearby, setting protective shutters on fire. Suddenly, riot police began dispersing the crowd so that fire brigades could make it to the site. “We were on the left, very far away [from there],” Jacob explained, saying he and Fiorina were pushed back to a police barricade.

But, he claims, police fired shots on both sides regardless of where the arsonists were. “And then, during another attack, an anti-riot grenade exploded several meters away from me,” he recalled. “Seconds later, Fiorina was hit and she fell to the ground.”

Jacob believes his friend wasn’t hit accidentally.

There were multiple shots and they deliberately fired towards civilians.

According to French media, the projectile that injured Fiorina’s eye could have been fired from a Flash-Ball, a non-lethal weapon developed by a French firm as an alternative to other, more intrusive tools like rubber bullets or batons. The Flash-Ball can use a range of ammunition, but a soft 44mm rubber ball is the most common one.

A paramedic provided first aid but was unable to perform on-site surgery. Fiorina was taken to a nearby hospital but even professional ophthalmologists couldn’t help.

Jacob said that while he doesn’t oppose the use of force to restore order, there are “no justifications to an attack on people… who are just looking on and have no protective gear, no gas masks.”

The issue of protective equipment came to light earlier in December when a French photographer claimed riot police compromised her safety during Paris rallies. While covering the protests, Veronique de Viguerie engaged in an argument with officers who said she should keep away from the area.

“They told me: ‘Look, there’re projectiles flying all over the place, you should be mad not having a helmet. Be a professional, it’s not safe here, come back with your helmet on’,” de Viguerie told RT France. Covering the rallies next time, she brought a helmet and a gas mask but the equipment was confiscated at a police checkpoint.

ALSO ON RT.COMRT France reporter injured in the face as police tackle Yellow Vest protest in Paris

“Some officers played cowboys, it seems, they didn’t follow an order and did put photographers at risk by confiscating their protecting gear.” She claimed many reporters were injured by Flash-Balls during skirmishes between police and protesters.

Two RT reporters, Peter Oliver and Lucas Leger, were injured in the middle of the unrest. Oliver was hit by a rubber bullet while Leger was wounded by a projectile in his face.

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Not journalism but propaganda: Fact-checkers turn on Facebook for spreading its own fake news

Not journalism but propaganda: Fact-checkers turn on Facebook for spreading its own fake news

Journalist fact-checkers who signed up for a controversial partnership with social media giant Facebook to combat fake news are abandoning ship citing ethical concerns and shady practices.

The fact-checkers became disillusioned with Facebook after the company ignored requests for meaningful data that showed the impact of the anti-fake news initiatives. Participating journalists anecdotally reported minimal results and Facebook allegedly did nothing to assuage their concerns.

Facebook began courting journalists and roughly 40 media partners, including AP, Snopes, and Politifact for the project in the aftermath of the 2016 US presidential elections but despite the noble intentions and lofty goals, research and anecdotal evidence suggest the debunking had little effect. Facebook’s hiring of the Definers PR firm to smear critics was the final straw for many disillusioned do-gooders.

ALSO ON RT.COMStanding against Soros: Facebook board defends COO Sandberg’s decision to snoop on billionaire“They’ve essentially used us for crisis PR,” Brooke Binkowski, former managing editor of Snopes, said to the Guardian.“They’re not taking anything seriously. They are more interested in making themselves look good and passing the buck … They clearly don’t care.”

Binkowski went one step further, accusing the platform of spreading its own fake news and pressuring debunkers to help Facebook’s advertising partners.

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“I strongly believe that they are spreading fake news on behalf of hostile foreign powers and authoritarian governments as part of their business model,” Binkowski said. “I was bringing up Myanmar over and over and over… They were absolutely resistant.”

ALSO ON RT.COMUK MPs seize documents expected to expose Facebook’s covert data harvesting

In addition, fact-checkers received increased death threats and harassment from members of the online far-right as well as conservatives who accused both Snopes and Facebook of exhibiting a left wing bias.

“They threw us under the bus at every opportunity,” Binkowski said. A Facebook spokesperson claimed the company is now offering journalist safety training for partners.

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Kim LaCapria, a former content manager and fact-checker with Snopes, also left due to the malign influence Facebook was exerting. She accused the company of giving the “appearance of trying to prevent damage without actually doing anything.”

She claimed that on more than one occasion she and her colleagues found themselves wasting their time debunking satire websites or debunking information that affected Facebook advertisers.

She also decried the financial arrangement Facebook has with Snopes. “That felt really gross,” she said. “You’re not doing journalism anymore. You’re doing propaganda.”

ALSO ON RT.COMFacebook spied on Android users’ calls & texts while pretending to care about privacy

Several media partners became jaded when it emerged that Facebook had conducted a smear campaign tying opponents to billionaire Jewish philanthropist George Soros.

“Why should we trust Facebook when it’s pushing the same rumors that its own fact-checkers are calling fake news?” said a current Facebook fact-checker who was not authorized to speak publicly about their news outlet’s partnership.

It’s worth asking how do they treat stories about George Soros on the platform knowing they specifically pay people to try to link political enemies to him?

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Strasbourg gunman cried ‘Allahu Akbar’ during attack, has 27 convictions – prosecutor

Strasbourg gunman cried 'Allahu Akbar' during attack, has 27 convictions – prosecutor

Strasbourg gunman, identified as a 29-year-old who has a criminal history, shouted “Allahu Akbar,” according to public prosecutor. Four people have been detained on suspicion of having links to the suspect, who is on the run.

Witnesses said that the suspect, previously identified as Cherif Chekat, was yelling “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) during the shooting rampage, Remy Heitz, the Paris prosecutor, told a press conference on Wednesday.

“Considering the target, his way of operating, his profile and the testimonies of those who heard him yell ‘Allahu Akbar’, the anti-terrorist police have been called into action,” Heitz explained.

Chekatt was wounded in the arm during a subsequent shootout with police but managed to flee the scene hijacking a taxi, the prosecutor said, confirming earlier media reports. He said that four of his relatives were put under arrest overnight.

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The 29-year-old has been convicted 27 times for several offenses committed in France, Germany, and Switzerland. That aside, he was shadowed by DGSI, France’s homeland security agency, for harboring extremist views.

Chekatt’s neighbors say he was “destabilized” in prison, according to AP. “You can just tell,” one neighbor said of the man, touching the side of his head. Another unnamed neighbor said the shooting suspect was rarely home. Police are now guarding the building where Chekatt is believed to have lived, which is in an outer neighborhood of Strasbourg.

The shooting at Strasbourg’s busy Christmas market left two people dead, one brain dead and 12 injured in what French authorities called an act of terrorism. Police have said Chekatt was a native of Strasbourg who comes from an immigrant family.

He was due to be arrested and searched prior to the attack in connection with a homicide-robbery case, but again managed to evade detention. Responding to the shooting, the authorities deployed multiple armed officers and a counter-terrorism team to deal with the situation.

In the aftermath of the attack, the government has put a ban on all public events in Strasbourg. However, no restrictions were placed on public events in other parts of France.

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Shooting in Strasbourg: 4 killed, 11 injured near Christmas market (VIDEO)

Shooting in Strasbourg: 4 killed, 11 injured near Christmas market (VIDEO)

At least four people have been killed and 11 others injured in a shooting incident in the northeastern French city of Strasbourg, close to one of the oldest and biggest Christmas markets in Europe.

The suspect had engaged police in a shootout before fleeing the scene and is still on the run. According to some reports the assailant was allegedly wounded by Sentinel soldiers, while others suggested he might have injured a police officer.

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The gunshots were fired close to one of Strasbourg’s Christmas markets at the Kleber Square located right in Strasbourg’s old city, which is a UNESCO world heritage site.

The entire Great Island (Grande Ile), where the historic center of the city is located, has been cordoned off by the police. All bars and restaurants located in the area have been closed with visitors and tourists asked to stay inside.

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The French Interior Ministry has called on public to remain indoors amid what it called a ‘serious security event’ in the city. A video posted on social media allegedly shows people injured in the shooting lying on the street.

Following the incident, the city was put on lockdown. As a precaution, the European Parliament building was also closed. The local media reported also that public transport was not working.

The shooter, who is still on the run, has been identified, the French media said, without revealing any details about the suspect.

ALSO ON RT.COMInevitable threat? Strasbourg gunman was on terror watch list, had grenades at home

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UN countries adopt the Migration Pact and applaud themselves for several minutes

By Emma R. – December 2018

UN Member States have now approved the globalist migration pact, which is said to make all migration a human right.

The agreement was passed to a several minutes long applause, when world leaders and the UN’s upper management met at the Marrakesh conference in Morocco, which began Monday.

Strong criticism has been directed at the agreement over the last few weeks, and several countries have withdrawn.

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But the criticism came too late, because now the agreement has been approved.

“I do not hear any objections. The text is adopted”, said meeting chairman Nasser Bourita at the UN conference on Monday. After that applause followed for several minutes.

The countries that withdrew from the meeting claim, among other things, that the agreement will promote more migration and restrict the national sovereignty of states.

According to them, the agreement makes no distinction between refugees and illegal migrants, and migration is made a human right. The pact’s defenders have claimed that the agreement is not legally binding.

But even politically binding agreements can ultimately have legal consequences. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said that future legal cases will use the document as a reference point.

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SUNDAR PICHAI LIES TO CONGRESS ABOUT GOOGLE TRACKING LOCATION OF USERS

Paul Joseph Watson | Infowars.com – DECEMBER 11, 2018

Sundar Pichai Lies to Congress About Google Tracking Location of Users

Falsely claims users can opt out

Google CEO Sundar Pichai lied to Congress during testimony today when he claimed that users could opt out of Google’s location tracking services, a claim that the Associated Press previously found to be false.

During his appearance in front of the the House Judiciary committee for a hearing entitled: Transparency & Accountability: Examining Google and its Data Collection, Use and Filtering Practices, Pichai claimed that users had control of what information Google stored about them.

“For Google services, you have a choice of what information is collected, and we make it transparent,” Pichai said, adding, “We give clear toggles, by category, where they can decide whether that information is collected, stored, or – more importantly – if they decide to stop using it.”

However, this is categorically untrue.

As an investigation by the Associated Press back in August confirmed, Google is tracking the location of its users even when the location tracking option is turned off.

“An Associated Press investigation found that many Google services on Android devices and iPhones store your location data even if you’ve used a privacy setting that says it will prevent Google from doing so,” the news agency reported.

Even with the option to pause location history turned off, “Some Google apps automatically store time-stamped location data without asking,” states the report.

Google’s maps app stores a snapshot of your location whenever you open it, daily weather updates on Android also record your rough location and Google searches also pinpoint and store your precise latitude and longitude down to a single square foot.

Before Pichai gave his testimony, he was confronted by Alex Jones and Roger Stone.

Anti-censorship activists who accuse Google of working with the Chinese government to out political dissidents have also made their presence felt at the hearing.

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CANADIAN COUNCILLOR WANTS TO MAKE CHRISTMAS LESS CHRISTIAN TO AVOID OFFENDING MUSLIMS

Canadian Councillor Wants to Make Christmas Less Christian to Avoid Offending Muslims

Council to look at making decorations more “diversity” friendly

 | Infowars.com – DECEMBER 11, 2018

A councillor in Victoria, Canada has succeeded in securing a review of the city’s Christmas decorations after he expressed concerns that things like Christmas trees were not secular enough and needed to be more ‘diverse’ because they may offend Muslims.

Coun. Ben Isitt has won support for the inquiry, which will look at “further secularizing or increasing the diversity of cultural elements in seasonal decorations,” reports the Vancouver Sun.

Isitt’s demands were triggered after a poinsettia, a red floral display typically seen at Christmas, recently appeared on his desk at Victoria City Hall.

“I don’t want a poinsettia. It is a symbol of the Christian faith,” he complained, adding that the city’s main sequoia tree should not be lit up and turned into a Christmas tree because that is not “inclusive” enough and may offend Muslims.

“Muslims, unless they are mixed families, they don’t have Christmas trees in their homes,” said Isitt.

However, Coun. Sharmarke Dubow, who is Muslim, said he didn’t have a problem with the Christmas tree, commenting, “I was born on Christmas Day. This is symbolic and I like them (the lights), on a personal note.”

Despite Christmas decorations being dialed back by the city in recent years, Isitt thinks “there are still many elements of Christian symbolism” which need to be removed, adding, “For me it’s the Christmas trees, it’s the poinsettias, it’s the hollies that sort of ruffle my sensibilities in terms of the expenditure of tax dollars.”

Coun. Marianne Alto responded by noting that although she didn’t celebrate Christmas, lights were a way of brightening up the dark winter season.

“I do think we need to be cognizant of the fact that while we’re seeking diversity, part of diversity is also about tolerance,” she said.

A review, most likely headed up by representatives of different faiths, will now take place in order to assure that “publicly funded decorations are as inclusive as possible.”

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