Sunday Post

...  atque escas habeamus mentionem .....

 
 B@$#@rds:

A survivor hidden in a tree says he watched Boko Haram extremists firebomb huts and heard the screams of children burning to death, among 86 people officials say died in the latest attack by Nigeria's homegrown Islamic extremists.

Scores of charred corpses and bodies with bullet wounds littered the streets from Saturday night's attack on Dalori village and two nearby camps housing 25,000 refugees, according to survivors and soldiers at the scene just 5 kilometres (3 miles) from Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram and the biggest city in Nigeria's northeast.

The shooting, burning and explosions from three suicide bombers continued for nearly four hours in the unprotected area, survivor Alamin Bakura said, weeping on a telephone call to The Associated Press. He said several of his family members were killed or wounded.

The violence continued as three female suicide bombers blew up among people who managed to flee to neighbouring Gamori village, killing many people, according to a soldier at the scene who insisted on anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to journalists.

(Sidebar: um, was that hashtag for nothing?)




Thirty-one years ago, in revenge for the Indian government's storming the Golden Temple, Sikh extremists planted a bomb on Air India flight 182, killing three hundred and twenty-nine people.

Premier Kathleen Wynne was given a ceremonial robe of honour during her visit to the Sikh Golden Temple in Amritsar Sunday, amid controversy in the Indian press that suggested she would be denied the honour because of her views on same-sex marriage.

**

The only person convicted in the 1985 Air India bombings has been granted statutory release from prison to a halfway house.

Inderjit Singh Reyat was charged with perjury in 2006 for repeatedly lying during his testimony at the trial into the bombing deaths of 331 people, mostly Canadians.

Reyat was found guilty in 2010 and sentenced to a record nine years in prison, or seven years and seven months after accounting for time served.

Under the law, offenders must be granted statutory release after they have served two-thirds of their sentence.

If true, this guy has only days to live:

An EgyptAir mechanic whose cousin joined Islamic State in Syria is suspected of planting a bomb on a Russian passenger plane that was blown out of Egypt's skies in late October, according to sources familiar with the matter.

 


Speaking of airplanes and terrorism, Canadian companies can now exploit labourers in a mad theocratic state:

Iran is the second-largest economy in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region after Saudi Arabia, according to the World Bank.

As western nations imposed sanctions, Iran turned to China and India for many goods including gold, wheat, aluminum and steel.

However, Canada has lagged in joining other countries that have already lifted sanctions — including Britain and other European nations.

In fact, Italy’s Saipem, an oil-engineering firm, already has tens of billions in Iranian contracts.

Certain Canadian industries could still benefit from this. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has pinpointed some sectors that have good possibilities of doing work in Iran...

When Iran tightens its grip on the region, can Bombardier pat itself on the back for making that happen? 

I wonder when Kim Jong-Un will finally lay waste to Japan:

Speculation mounted Friday that North Korea is preparing a rocket or long-range missile launch to follow its recent nuclear test, with Japan reportedly ordering its military to shoot down any projectile that threatened its territory.

The three-ring circus of disgraced CBC "celebrity" Jian Ghomeshi begins:

Ghomeshi — the former host of CBC radio's popular culture show "Q" — has pleaded not guilty to four counts of sexual assault and one count of overcoming resistance by choking.

The judge-alone trial, which is expected to last several weeks, involves three complainants and will be closely watched by many across the country.

And what a merry party it will be if he is acquitted. 

Also: of course Trudeau won't stop funding the CBC. It helped get him elected:

Thomas Mulcair and an NDP critic are expressing concern over a published interview where Canada's heritage minister appeared to leave open the possibility that the Liberals may back down from their campaign promise to raise the CBC's budget by $150 million.

We are being watched:

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service repeatedly obtained taxpayer information from the Canada Revenue Agency without presenting a court-approved warrant for the data.

The government has eyes on you...

Estate of Lucy Maude Montgomery, just sue these wastrels:

P.E.I.'s most celebrated red-head has been dragged into an ongoing dispute over access to abortion in the small province.

Abortion rights activists have enlisted Anne of Green Gables — the freckle-faced fictional character known for her bright red braids — in their campaign to pressure the provincial government to allow abortions to be performed on the Island.

And now, realistic-looking LEGO bites. Enjoy.

 

But Wait! There's More!

There usually is...

And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod   The high untrespassed sanctity of space,   Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

To thank the unions that worked so hard to malign the previous government, the Liberals have promised to repeal two bills that required the unions to disclose how much of their members' dues they've spent and how unions are certified:

The Liberal government is repealing two contentious union-related bills, a move it says heralds a new relationship with organized labour after 10 acrimonious years under the Conservatives.

Labour unions have wanted the government to overturn a law that changed how unions can certify and decertify, known as Bill C-525, and another that required unions to publicly disclose their spending to the Canada Revenue Agency.

The Liberals neutralized the latter bill, C-377, in late December when the government waived requirements for unions to track all transactions over $5,000.

Paul Bronfman, who backed Justin Trudeau's campaign for head puppet of Canada and whose party openly opposes Israel and refuses to liquidate ISIS, withdrew his support from York University until a pro-Palestinian mural was removed:

For over a decade, Paul Bronfman, president and CEO of Comweb Group Inc., has provided “goods and services in kind,” through its subsidiary William F. White International Inc., as well as financial support to York’s film program in the form of film production equipment, technical services, teaching and learning centres. (He wouldn’t reveal exactly how much he’s donated.)

After learning about a mural titled Palestinian Roots, which hangs above an entrance in the student centre, he decided to withdraw his support unless the painting came down.  

It features a man wearing a scarf that shows the Palestinian flag and a borderless Israel. He’s holding two rocks behind his back. In front of him are a bulldozer and a building. The words “Peace” and “Justice” are written in several different languages.

Bronfman says anyone who thinks he’s holding students’ hostage as a result of withdrawing his support should “get over it.”

“I’m not getting a lot of blowback from students; I’m getting a lot of support from them,” he tells Yahoo Canada News.

He says that the only way the university would resolve the issue would be to take the mural down. He learned about it after reading a column written by Avi Benlolo, president of the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies.

A statement from Joanne Rider, York University’s spokeswoman, explains that since the mural is located in the student centre, it’s the centre’s decision, as it’s a separate and distinct legal entity.

“We have consulted widely with experts who have concluded that the University cannot compel its removal,” she wrote. “We know the subject of the artwork is offensive to some individuals and groups. We understand and respect their concerns. As a result, York’s administration continues to explore all available options to address the concerns in ways that will ensure we continue to foster an environment reflective of our core values of diversity, respect and inclusivity.”

And I say: go to hell, Paul Bronfman. You backed an Israel-hater. You can't complain about the hatred of Israel in a hotbed is Israel-hatred now.




Yes, but the current prime minister called prioritising persecuted Christians "disgusting" and shook hands with any number of potential rapists:

Newly released government documents paint the clearest picture to date of how the Conservative government's controversial approach to Syrian refugee resettlement played out last year.

Before last winter, the previous government had only committed to take in 1,300 Syrian refugees from the millions fleeing the civil war there and spilling into surrounding countries.

Former prime minister Stephen Harper had been under intense pressure — including from inside his own cabinet — to increase that total, but only agreed to accept a further 10,000 provided that religious and ethnic minorities were prioritized.

The policy, unveiled last January, was contentious. The vast majority of the Syrian refugee population is Muslim. The decision to hone in on "religious minorities" prompted allegations the government was biased against Muslims and was also violating United Nations principles governing refugee resettlement.

(Sidebar: is raping and murdering Christians and Yazidis a violation of human rights?) 

Manitoba MP Brian Pallister believes that notorious disabled person-hater Nellie McClung belongs on our money:

Manitoba's Progressive Conservative leader wants suffragette Nellie McClung to be given a prominent spot on a Canadian banknote.

The Queen is the only woman currently featured on a bill.

Brian Pallister says in a letter to the Bank of Canada governor that McClung should be recognized for her role in the enfranchisement of women.

The reason why Iran and other mad theocrats can make such inroads in the post-modern West is because of crap like this:

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has praised Italy as a "very hospitable" country after a controversy over the prudish cover up of naked statues at a Rome museum ahead of his official visit. Rouhani maintained he didn't ask for revealing sculptures at the Musei Capitolini (Capitoline Museums) to be concealed, saying there had been "no contacts" on the issue between his delegation and the Italian government.

He nevertheless implied the gesture was appreciated. "I know that Italians are a very hospitable people, a people who try to do the most to put their guests at ease and I thank you for this," he told a press conference in the Italian capital.

And there one has it. It has gotten to the point where, like good little sheep, the weak men of Europe do the bidding of an emotionally retarded culture.

Of course the mad men who run Iran can't appreciate art when it's not rubble. Why cover it up? Is Italy ashamed of its Classical past?

Yep.




What does wearing pajamas in public say? It says that one is not only of an ovine personal nature but that one is so g-d- lazy and without any self-respect that one would rather look like one has just rolled out of bed and not showered than at least put on a decent (and might I say clean?) pair of jeans before traversing out. Just like those fat chicks who wear messy ponytails with headbands, puffy ski jackets, sweatpants and UGG boots (like a uniform, as El Barto might say), SLOB is now haute couture:

After noticing a growing number of adults wearing pyjamas – not just to the school gates in the morning, but also at meetings, assemblies and even the Christmas show and parents' evenings – primary school head Kate Chisholm wrote to parents asking them to wash and get dressed before the school drop-off.

"It just got to the point when I thought, 'enough's enough,'" she told the BBC. "I'm not trying to tell people what to do with their lives, but I just think being a good role model first thing in the morning – getting yourself up, getting yourself dressed, ready for business, out to school – is a really good example to set."

Chanel help us all.




Holy Father, please make your criticisms more Biblical. If you are going to rub elbows with wealthy eco-liar, Leonardo DiCaprio, then it helps to make it clear about whom you are really speaking:

In the light of this love, which is strong as death (cf. Song 8:6), the real poor are revealed as those who refuse to see themselves as such. They consider themselves rich, but they are actually the poorest of the poor. This is because they are slaves to sin, which leads them to use wealth and power not for the service of God and others, but to stifle within their hearts the profound sense that they too are only poor beggars. The greater their power and wealth, the more this blindness and deception can grow. It can even reach the point of being blind to Lazarus begging at their doorstep (cf. Lk 16:20-21). Lazarus, the poor man, is a figure of Christ, who through the poor pleads for our conversion. As such, he represents the possibility of conversion which God offers us and which we may well fail to see. Such blindness is often accompanied by the proud illusion of our own omnipotence, which reflects in a sinister way the diabolical “you will be like God” (Gen 3:5) which is the root of all sin. This illusion can likewise take social and political forms, as shown by the totalitarian systems of the twentieth century, and, in our own day, by the ideologies of monopolizing thought and technoscience, which would make God irrelevant and reduce man to raw material to be exploited. This illusion can also be seen in the sinful structures linked to a model of false development based on the idolatry of money, which leads to lack of concern for the fate of the poor on the part of wealthier individuals and societies; they close their doors, refusing even to see the poor.  

I don't expect most people to think deeper than that.


And, yes, I will be giving up sweets for Lent.

Mid-Week Post

So much to talk about...


Wow. I didn't see the "bullied" defense coming:

A 17-year-old boy accused of shooting four people to death in a remote Saskatchewan community described himself as an “outcast” at home and victim of bullying at school, say his friends.

The teen, who made his first court appearance Monday, was known to hold his emotions inside and rarely spoke, even when hanging out with his high school buddies in La Loche.

“He was the black sheep of the family,” said Noel Desjarlais-Thomas, who described the accused as one of several friends who always hung out together.

The 16-year-old said the teen suspect would message the others in his circle of friends about not being treated equally or fairly by his family.

“He just said he was going to do something. He never really said much after that,” Desjarlais-Thomas said Monday.

“We’d ask ‘Why?’ He never really told much. After that, it would just go blank. The conversation would just stop and something else would happen, the subject would (change.) No one ever thought this was going to happen.”

Perry Herman, who also knows the accused, said the teen was teased about his large ears.

“So many of those times that those boys joked around with him about his ears and whatnot, he didn’t get up and say, `You boys stop talking to me like this, it’s hurting my feelings.’ He just bottled it up.”

Herman said the bullying must have been going on for a long time.

The suspect, who can’t be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder.

If PM Trulander had the wontons or the scruples (neither of which is credible) he would scrap the Indian Act and let the parents take charge of their own damn kids:

It will take a lot more than just lip service to put right the years of systemic discrimination and underfunding endured by First Nations children, an emotional group of indigenous advocates said Tuesday as their nine-year battle with Ottawa culminated in a landmark human rights decision.

Money — specifically, at least $200 million more a year in child welfare funding in order to close the fiscal gap — would be a good first start, said Cindy Blackstock, the social worker whose tireless crusade is at the heart of the ruling.

 
Or one could put them in institutions where they would be looked after and educated.

Heaven forbid.



No wonder someone hung up on this douchebag:

Ottawa's role is not to force cities such as Montreal to accept energy projects, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday, a day after his opponents demanded he tell the city's mayor to "smarten up" and accept the Energy East pipeline.

But putting raw sewage into the river is a good idea?




But who allowed it, Premier Wynne?

Ontario's Liberal government said Monday it had allowed two colleges to create male-only campuses in Saudi Arabia, but added that a gap found in the approval process will be closed.

Reza Moridi, minister of colleges and universities, said Niagara and Algonquin Colleges applied to his ministry to establish the two Saudi campuses, and were given the green light by a previous minister in 2008 and 2012.

However, Moridi said the province's responsibility was to approve financial plans for the two Saudi expansions and it was up to the colleges to determine who was admitted.

"We see there is a gap in the process between the parts that are left for the boards of governors at the colleges to approve and the other parts that are on the government's side to approve," he said.

"We want to talk with the sector to make sure that gap is eliminated."

Like fun it will be.

Also:

 

A two-year battle with York University led to a precedent-setting outcome for student Navi Dhanota after she fought a school policy that required students seeking academic accommodations to reveal their illness or disability to staff.

Dhanota first tried to get accommodations during her undergraduate studies. She needed to write her exams in a smaller room but was told she needed a psychiatric diagnosis to do so.

The process was overwhelming. One psychiatrist told her she could have six different mental illnesses, and after facing the same problem while trying to get academic accommodations during post-graduate studies at York, she decided to fight for change.

After filing a human rights complaint against the Toronto university, Dhanota’s efforts have forced the school to rewrite its guidelines for accessing accommodation, which could influence other universities across Canada.

“I think it will certainly change how universities determine accommodations for students,” said Cathy Rose, accessibility services co-ordinator at the University of Prince Edward Island.

Pampering our snowflakes one at a time. 

The audacity:

Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy is leading the call for a new law that would lay out how Canadian politicians and bureaucrats should proceed when citizens are detained overseas.

Just in time to remember the Holocaust:

Canada confirmed for the first time on Tuesday that it plans to lift its sanctions on Tehran and said that if Airbus is allowed to sell to Iran, then its aircraft maker Bombardier Inc should be allowed to export there as well.

This is the same Iran that has since 1979 been arresting dissidents, persecuting religious minorities, killed Zahra Kazemi and enriched uranium.

Canada used to be friends with Israel.




Thank you:

Maajid Nawaz, who was formally a member of radical Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, is now seeking to challenge the narrative of Islamic extremists and form a more moderate Islam.

Currently in Australia for a series of talks, Nawaz told Yahoo7 that everyone has a role to play in how Islam can be reformed.

“We need a rational conversation about reforming Islam,” Nawaz told Yahoo7.

“That begins by everyone – in the Left, Right and Centre of politics – feeling like it is our conversation to have.

“Just like with Christianity or Judaism, which we feel we can discuss as they are our religions in our society.”

Nawaz said even non-Muslims have a role to play in this reform.

“You don’t need to be black to challenge racism, you don’t need to be gay to challenge homophobia, and you don’t need to be a Muslim to challenge Islam.

“You don’t even need to know anything about Islam to know that it is wrong to enslave and rape women like ISIS are doing with the Yazidi women.

“Where there is a specific duty is with the theologians, because the lay Muslim and obviously the non-Muslim cannot do the actual reform work in the theology.

“So there is a role for Muslim theologians in firstly being honest and candid about some of the challenging parts of the scripture and accepting that there are challenging parts,” Nawaz said.

An alleged asylum-seeker is accused of allegedly stabbing to death a female refugee centre worker:

A young asylum seeker has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a female employee at a refugee centre in Sweden.

The 22-year-old victim was stabbed to death at a centre for youngsters aged between 14 and 17 in Molndal, near Gothenburg, on Monday.

She was taken to Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, but died of her wounds.

Swedish newspaper Expressen named her as Alexandra Mezher, whose family was originally from Lebanon.

She had reportedly only been working at the centre for a few months.

"It is so terrible. She was a person who wanted to do good," a cousin told the paper.

"We have cried a lot. She was such a nice person, warm and happy."

Her parents described her as "an angel".

Police spokesman Thomas Fuxborg said there were signs of a violent fight at the home.

Two people were holding down the male suspect when police arrived at the scene.

He did not give any details about the suspect's age or nationality.

(Sidebar: spoiler: he was a "migrant".)


Oh, it gets better, and by better, I mean shockingly worse:

The head of the Swedish police has sparked outrage by expressing sympathy with the teenage asylum seeker accused of murdering social worker Alexander Mezher.

National Police Commissioner Dan Eliasson, who has already admitted police cannot cope with the wave of migrant crime, said he has concerns about the ‘horrors’ and trauma the accused murderer may have witnessed.

He said he was ‘distraught’ on behalf of Miss Mezher’s family but also for the killer, saying: ‘What has that person been through? Under what circumstances has he grown up? What is the trauma he carries?’

It came as court documents showed the boy suspected of the killing is being held in a secure psychiatric that specialises in patients with psychotic illness, drug and alcohol addiction.

Now there's a country that knows how to separate the wheat from the chaff.


Also:

Denmark's parliament passed measures on Tuesday aimed at deterring refugees from seeking asylum, including confiscating valuables to pay for their stay, despite protests from international human rights organizations.

The measures, which also include extending family reunification among refugees from one year to three years, are the latest sign that the Nordic welcome for refugees is waning as large numbers flee war in Africa and Middle East for a better life in Europe.

 
I'll believe it when I see it.




And now, could these be the best superhero performances in movies? Discuss:

Hugh Jackman is Hugh Jackman. Need I really say more? As Wolverine, Jackman has found the role of his lifetime, as he has made the grouchy, rugged, and hard-nosed X-Men character into arguably the most popular superhero in movies today. It all comes down to the intensity that Jackman injects into each action he takes or line of dialouge he speaks as Wolverine. You can tell how seriously he takes the character, and thus, we as audiences, take him seriously as well and end up connecting with Wolverine just as much (if not more) than any other superhero that has come across the silver screen.

Australia Day

A merry Australia Day to all y'all.

On January 26th, Australians celebrate the founding of their country and those who made it great.

Governor Arthur Phillip, the first governor of New South Wales

William Wentworth who, along with Gregory Blaxland and William Lawson, crossed the Blue Mountains on May 31st, 1813.

 

John Curtin, prime minister during the Second World War.

This quokka

Monday Post

Lots to talk about...


James Forcillo was found guilty of shooting a mentally disturbed man who waved around a knife:

A Toronto police officer was found guilty of attempted murder Monday in the shooting death of a troubled teen on an empty streetcar, a verdict the teen's mother called a first step in changing the way police deal with people in crisis.

See-  Forcillo should have taken a page out of the "Watch As Vince Li Eats the Man He Killed" playbook.


Also:

A former junior hockey coach, convicted of molesting several of his players in the 1990s, has been granted day parole with conditions.

That's the Canadian legal system for you.




The accused killer of four people in La Loche, Saskatchewan appeared in court today:

The father of one of the victims in a northern Saskatchewan shooting burned logs at the community cemetery Monday to thaw the ground where his son will be buried.

"He was a good kid," Gerald Moise said as he poured gasoline to ignite a fire that will burn for three days over the grave site.

He remembered his son, Dayne Fontaine, as a 17-year-old who liked to be outdoors in the remote community of La Loche that sits on the edge of a lake and in the heart of the boreal forest.

"He always (went) up north with grandparents hunting and he liked quadding."

Dayne and his 13-year-old brother, Drayden Fontaine, were found dead in a home on Friday. A teacher and an aide were shot and killed shortly after at the high school. Seven other people were wounded.

Moise, who is not Drayden's father, said losing his boy is especially hard as it comes on top of other losses.

"I lost my mother and before I lost my mother, my sister (to) suicide. Now this."

He said he's trying to stay strong for the sake of his two other children.

A teen charged in the shooting stared at the floor for much of his first court appearance Monday.

The tall, thin 17-year-old, wearing an orange jumpsuit, his legs and hands shackled, was brought into a packed courtroom in Meadow Lake — a community about 350 kilometres south of La Loche.

He spoke in a soft voice as he was asked whether he understood he is not to contact anyone involved.

"There's to be no phone calls, no letters, no getting messages to any of these people or their families," said Judge Janet McIvor.

"There's to be no contact at all."

The teen, who can't be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, is to be held in custody until his next court appearance Feb. 22.

He faces four counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder.

I'm guessing a "residential school" defense is in the cards.

Whether it applies to him or not is immaterial because...

The Supreme Court of Canada on Friday upheld the principle of differential sentencing for aboriginals in even the most extreme and technical cases, such as the violation of long-term supervision orders.

In a 6-1 decision, the court endorsed the widest possible interpretation of section 718.2(e) of Canada’s Criminal Code, which requires judges to consider reasonable alternatives to imprisonment for all offenders, “with particular attention to the circumstances of aboriginal offenders.”

You have got to be kidding me:

The lead investigator behind the undercover Planned Parenthood videos faces up to 20 years in prison after a Houston grand jury decided on Monday not to charge Planned Parenthood with any wrongdoing – and instead indicted him for offering to purchase human organs from the abortion provider.

Center for Medical Progress lead investigator David Daleiden faces a second-degree felony charge of “tampering with a governmental record,” and a misdemeanor charge for violating the state's “prohibition of the purchase and sale of human organs.”

That is, jurors in the state of Texas are accusing David Daleiden of trying to illegally traffic in aborted babies' body parts.

 
(Sidebar: which he did not buy but Planned Parenthood did sell.)
 
So when police officers lie to catch a gun-runner, that, too, is an indictable offense?

Horse ssshhhhaving cream.



Putting Canada back on the world stage:

Canada plans to sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact next week, but that procedural step doesn't necessarily mean ratifying the controversial agreement is a done deal, the federal government said Monday.

International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland stressed that the government's signature on the 12-country treaty essentially means Canada can keep its spot at the bargaining table.

 

What Miss "Tipping-Point" meant to say is that though the deal was unnecessarily seen as controversial, backing out of it would be stupendously stupid even for Justin "what the hell is hummus, anyway?" Trudeau. His handlers might be able to silence some of the "Justin is an idiot" comments but they could not explain that away.

I keep saying to use the French language version of the national anthem; it's more Catholic:

Liberal MP Mauril Belanger is losing his own singing voice but that's not stopping him from trying — for a second time — to change the English lyrics to O Canada to make the national anthem more gender neutral.

Hey - remember when everyone made a huge deal about that law school no one had to attend?

Two publicly funded Ontario colleges have opened campuses in Saudi Arabia that don't allow women, and the province's minister of post-secondary education says it's up to schools to decide which students to admit.

Colleges and Universities Minister Reza Moridi said decisions on the operation of a campus, including student composition, are up to each college's board of governors.

Whither the outcry?



Nor sleet nor snow:

I thought France had shown them what for:

The Islamic State group has honed the ability to launch global attacks and is set to focus more on Europe following the Paris massacre, the chief of the EU police agency Europol said Monday.

The audacity:

The families say that Hasna Aitboulahcen, a 26-year-old woman, and Tarek Belgacem, a man in his 30s, were not armed when they were “murdered” in separate dramas. 

Aitboulahcen died five days after the November 13 Islamic State terror attacks on Paris, in which 130 people were killed. She was in a hideout in the northern suburb of Saint-Denis when it was stormed by police commandos who poured thousands of rounds of gunfire into the apartment. 

Aitboulahcen died alongside her cousin Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the Belgian-Moroccan mastermind behind the Paris attacks, and Chakib Akrouh, another terrorist. But Aitboulahcen’s family believe she was innocent of any wrongdoing and should have been given the chance to give herself up.

And now, an Ecuadoran cop saves a baby sloth:

It's a slow-moving feel-good story.