Independent: Christian fundamentalist schools teaching girls they must obey men

Christian fundamentalist schools are teachingchildren that creationism is fact, that gay people are “unnatural” and that girls must submit to men, according to a series of claims.

Former pupils and whistle-blowers have told The Independent that the schools, which originated in the US but are now dotted around the UK and registered as independent or private schools, teach children at isolated desks separated by “dividers” from other students. It is thought more than a thousand children are being taught at dozens of schools, although little is known about them. [...]

By extension, it is believed that children must teach themselves in order to get closer to God. Children are therefore expected to spend the first half of each school day teaching themselves by reading textbooks in silence, while facing the classroom walls in specially designed booths, which mean they cannot see children around them or interact with them. In the second half of the school day, children are taught in groups.

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London Evening Standard: Couple find unexploded World War II bomb in their basement...but delayed calling police because they 'didn't want to wake the neighbours'

Stephen Sin, 44, found the incendiary device at his home in Crystal Palace on Wednesday but did not want to cause a scene late at night.

Mr Sin, along with his wife Janice Hardy, moved the unexploded bomb into the garden and carried on with their day before alerting the police on Thursday afternoon.

The 44-year-old told the Croydon Guardian he was initially reluctant to call the police straight away because they did not want everything to “stand still”.

Ms Hardy said she previously read a story about someone finding an unexploded bomb but added it caused chaos in the neighborhood.

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Deutsche Welle: Protests against the Kadyrov Bridge in St. Petersburg

The protests were triggered by plans to name a city bridge after the former president of the Russian Republic of Chechnya, Akhmad Kadyrov. The responsible city commission gave its approval to the initiative in late May, and a city government representative said that the body sought to "extend the hand of friendship to the Chechen people." [...]

The prospect of the bridge being named after Kadyrov has been causing fights for weeks. Activists have been collecting petition signatures since the idea became public and hope to persuade regional Governor Georgy Poltavchenko to block the plan. In a matter of days, they had collected more than 70,000 signatures for the online petition. Director Alexander Sokurov, who won the Golden Lion at the 2011 Venice Film Festival, was among those who signed it. The liberal opposition party Yabloko, which has a large following in St. Petersburg, intends to push for a referendum on the issue. [...]

The activists' case against the "Kadyrov Bridge" is not necessarily a lost cause. About ten years ago, citizens won a major victory against an even mightier opponent: the energy giant Gazprom. The company wanted to build a skyscraper in the middle of St. Petersburg, yet after much protest, it was forced to find a new site - away from the historic city center. "When we took up the fight against the Gazprom Tower, everyone told us it was already a done deal," recalls the independent city council member Olga Galkina. Now she is collecting signatures against the Kadyrov Bridge. "We won then, and we will win again this time."

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Deutsche Welle: Kijowski: "Poland needs a strong civil society"

When Walesa moved into the spotlight as head of the Solidarity labor union, he had no idea that he would decisively accelerate his country's path to democracy. He moved the masses then, as Kijowski is doing now. Still there is one major difference. Back then, the movement sought to topple a totalitarian regime, today protests are directed at the policies of a democratically elected government. Kijowski is the first to emphasize that fact. [...]

What the two have in common, however, is a special talent - some even say charisma - that helps them mobilize the masses. When Kijowski founded the Committee for the Defense of Democracy (KOD) he consciously drew upon a legendary Communist era organization: the Workers' Defense Committee (KOR), which fought against the old regime in the 1970s. The KOR, Walesa's Solidarity and today's KOD are all movements that have captivated residents in Poland's big cities.

The most recent mass demonstrations began in the winter of 2015, when temperatures hovered around -15˚C (5˚F), and they have grown larger each week. It remains to be seen whether the movement can force the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government to change its current course. As does the question of whether Kijowski will become "today's Lech Walesa." He shrugs off questions about his political ambitions or people's attempts to focus too much on him personally. He constantly repeats, "We do not want to topple the legally elected government, we just want to stop the dismantling of Polish democracy."

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The Guardian: Russia's 'valiant hero' in Ukraine turns his fire on Vladimir Putin

“Putin and his circle have recently taken steps which I believe will almost inevitably lead to the collapse of the system,” Strelkov said. “We don’t know yet how, and we don’t know when, but we are certain it will collapse, and more likely sooner than later.” [...]

Strelkov, who studied history and models himself on the White officers who fought the Bolsheviks during the Russian civil war, has been put on international sanctions lists for his role in the Ukraine war. Last week, Polish MP Małgorzata Gosiewska presented a report on alleged war crimes committed by Strelkov to the international criminal court in the Hague, and hopes an inquiry will be launched.

Strelkov does not deny having people shot for looting, but claims the executions were legal, as they were carried out according to a Soviet law on wartime justice.

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