Today's News: June 15, 2018

World News

Norwegian Lawmakers Nominate Trump For Nobel
The Daily Caller – Two Norwegian lawmakers representing the populist party in the country’s legislature have nominated President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize after his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The lawmakers told their local media that Trump has “taken a huge and important step in the direction of the disarmament, peace and reconciliation between North and South Korea.” The nomination comes after Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway took a swipe at former President Barack Obama’s own Nobel Peace Prize saying “look, the last president was handed Nobel Peace Prize. This president is actually going to earn it.”

Historic Temporary Cease-Fire Takes Effect in Afghanistan
VOA News – Warring sides in Afghanistan have temporarily ceased battlefield hostilities for the first time in nearly 18 years after a Taliban limited cease-fire went into effect on Friday.

British Politician Silenced After Criticizing EU, Soros
Voice of Europe – Yesterday we reported on how British MEP Janice Atkinson’s microphone was turned off in the European Parliament for asking approved questions about Tommy Robinson. But this cowardly tactic was used earlier against her this week as well.
While defending Tommy Robinson and criticising the EU and Soros, the microphone of Atkinson was turned off. As reason was given that Atkin

Venezuela eyes first-ever use of foreign oil for contracts
Reuters – Venezuela is considering producing fuels from foreign crude oil for the first time, according to planning documents seen by Reuters, as the country struggles to meet its obligations despite having the world’s largest crude reserves.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

IG faults Comey, FBI in report on Clinton email investigation
NY Times – The Justice Department’s inspector general on Thursday painted a harsh portrait of the F.B.I. during the 2016 presidential election, describing a destructive culture in which James B. Comey, the former director, was “insubordinate,” senior officials privately bashed Donald J. Trump and agents came to distrust prosecutors.
The 500-page report criticized Mr. Comey for breaking with longstanding policy and publicly discussing — in a news conference and a pair of letters in the middle of the campaign — an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server in handling classified information. The report was a firm rebuke of those actions, which Mr. Comey has tried for months to defend.

‘Judicial Watch’ President Tom Fitton on I.G. Report: Don’t Trust The Media, Read It Yourself
Real Clear Politics – Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton joins Tucker Carlson to talk about the Justice Department inspector general’s report’s findings in the handling of the Hillary Clinton investigation.
Fitton said the 500-page I.G. report is “the beginning of the story” and “the connection between Peter Strzok, the Clinton emails, and the Russia investigation has yet to be investigated by the I.G.”
“Judicial Watch uncovered the Clinton email scandal,” he explained. “So it is disheartening to see documented evidence of the FBI and DOJ bending over backwards to protect Hillary Clinton, and deferring to her on virtually every issue, and deciding early on not to prosecute her, and just go through the motions of an investigation. Despite all the evidence we had uncovered that she knew what she was doing was inappropriate, she was warned by her national security team not to do it, and she did it to avoid disclosure and accountability.”

Trump calls ‘fake news’ the country’s biggest enemy
The Hill – President Trump on Wednesday declared that the nation’s “biggest enemy is the Fake News,” particularly NBC and CNN for their coverage of the North Korea summit.
“So funny to watch the Fake News, especially NBC and CNN,” Trump tweeted.
“They are fighting hard to downplay the deal with North Korea. 500 days ago they would have ‘begged’ for this deal-looked like war would break out. Our Country’s biggest enemy is the Fake News so easily promulgated by fools!”

Judge Sends Paul Manafort to Jail Pending Trial
Newsmax – A federal judge on Friday sent Paul Manafort to jail pending trial after he was charged with witness tampering, in the latest episode in a slow fall from grace for a man who was President Donald Trump’s campaign chairman in 2016.

Berkeley declares ‘climate emergency’ worse than World War II, demands ‘humane’ population control
Fox – The Berkeley City Council on Tuesday night declared what it called a “climate emergency” with more global significance than World War II, and demanded an immediate effort to “humanely stabilize population” and “reverse ecological overshoot.”
The resolution, which invokes the global conflict between the Axis and Allies, charges that Americans bear an “extraordinary responsibility to solve the crises” facing the environment.

Trump Won’t Sign “Moderate” House Immigration Bill
Washington Examiner – President Trump, during a surprise Friday morning interview on Fox News, said he would not sign the “moderate” immigration bill in Congress.

Catholic bishops rebuke US immigration policy, suggest ‘canonical penalties’.
Religion News – The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops opened its spring meeting this week with a stern reproach of the Trump administration’s latest immigration policies, with the group’s president suggesting the new rules on asylum are a “right to life” issue.
Some bishops followed by urging protests, including “canonical penalties” for those who carry out the administration’s new rules.

More Men Opt For Plastic Surgery: Breast reductions to botox
USA Today – Plastic surgery procedures performed on men rose 29% from 2000 to 2017.
From aging executives trying to fend off younger rivals to male models looking to make a bigger splash on the runway, more men are turning to plastic surgery to try to improve their looks, the industry’s professional organization says.
The number of plastic surgery procedures performed on men rose 29% between 2000 to 2017, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons reported Wednesday. Some 1.3 million cosmetic procedures were performed on men last year alone.

Economy & Business

Citigroup to Pay $100 Million to Settle Probe
Reuters – Citigroup Inc (C.N) agreed to pay $100 million (75.3 million pounds) to settle charges by most U.S. states that it defrauded government and nonprofit entities by manipulating Libor, an interest rate benchmark that underlies a wide range of consumer transactions.
The settlement with the third-largest U.S. bank was announced on Friday by New York State Attorney General Barbara Underwood, whose office has led a probe by 41 states and Washington, D.C. of rate-rigging by several banks.

Energy & Environment

It’s ‘raining’ green crystals in Hawaii, thanks to Kilauea volcano eruption
USA Today – In the never-ending parade of weird phenomena erupting from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano comes a “rain” of green crystals, which have supposedly been spotted on the ground after falling from the sky.
“It is literally raining gems,” tweeted Tucson meteorologist Erin Jordan, who posted a photo sent to her by a friend in Hawaii.
The gems are also known as olivine, “a common mineral in basaltic lava, which is what this eruption is producing,” said Concord University volcanologist Janine Krippner. “Olivine is formed in hot and deep magmas and is brought up to the surface during an eruption.”

It’s raining octopus! Sea creatures fall from the sky after being ‘sucked from the ocean by a waterspout and carried into coastal city’ during powerful storm in China
Daily Mail – Incredible photos have emerged from China that show octopus and other sea creatures raining from the sky after being sucked out of the ocean by a violent storm.
The images were taken in the coastal city of Qingdao in eastern China’s Shandong Province on Wednesday.

Science & Technology

Supermassive Black Hole Tears Star Apart
Astronomy – Astronomers Seppo Mattila and Miguel Pérez-Torres usually study the natural deaths of stars, but they weren’t going to pass up the chance to investigate a stellar murder.
A new paper in Science describes how they nabbed photographic evidence that a supermassive black hole in a relatively nearby galaxy tore apart and consumed part of a star in a phenomenon called a tidal disruption event (TDE), spewing jets of material in the process. Scientists have observed these cosmic crime scenes before, but this was the first time anyone managed to get such detailed images of the jets and their changing structure over time.

Health News

First human case of plague in Idaho since 1992 confirmed.
Idaho Statesman – A child in Elmore County was confirmed to be infected with the plague this week, according to the Central District Health Department, marking the first human diagnosis in Idaho since 1992.
The child is recovering after receiving antibiotics.

Frozen Salmon Tonight? You Might Be Dining On Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
Off Grid News – If you are serving your family frozen salmon from a “big box” supermarket, you might be exposing them to deadly antibiotic-resistant super bacteria.
The cheap frozen salmon sold at most American supermarkets and big-box stores is not raised naturally. Instead, it is raised in giant farms in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Chile. Chile’s aquaculture farms are the source of most of America’s salmon.