Today's News: June 18, 2020

World News

Iran slams ‘cruel’ US sanctions on Syria and promises to boost economic ties with ‘resilient’ ally

RT – Iran has denounced the latest sanctions imposed by the United States against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as “cruel” and vowed to strengthen its economic ties with Damascus.
Washington’s new “Caesar Act” restrictions came into force on June 17. The law, signed by US President Donald Trump in December last year, targets organizations providing support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in politics, trade, and the military. It also targets 39 individuals, including the president and his wife Asma al-Assad.
On Thursday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Abbas Mousavi condemned the punitive measures as contrary to international law and human rights, and accused the US of continuously trying to destabilize Syria.
“As the world deals with the coronavirus pandemic, the imposition of such inhumane sanctions will only exacerbate the suffering of the Syrian people,” he said in a statement to local media.

Nepal Parliament approves new map that includes land India claims

India has rejected the map, saying it is not based on historical facts or evidence as ties strain between neighbours.
Al Jazeera – The upper house of Nepal’s Parliament has approved a new map for the country, including land controlled by India, in a row that has strained ties between the South Asian neighbours.
India, which controls the region – a slice of land including Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani areas in the northwest – has rejected the map, saying it is not based on historical facts or evidence.

Germany’s Merkel Pushes E.U. Global Government Role: ‘The World Needs More Europe’

Breitbart – Chancellor Angela Merkel outlined her objectives Thursday for Germany’s forthcoming six-month presidency of the European Union, saying a more global role and enhanced international governance are a way forward for the troubled bloc.
“The dramatic global consequences of the (coronavirus) pandemic demand that Europe takes on more global responsibility,” Merkel told the Bundestag lower house of parliament.
“At this time, the world needs Europe’s strong voice for the protection of human dignity, democracy and freedom,” she added, Reuters reports.
As the the continued advance of the Chinese coronavirus strickens large parts of the globe, Merkel said it is a teaching moment for the world on how how to challenge “authoritarians” who seek to use it to their advantage.
“They want to undermine the rule of law. They want to harm people’s dignity. They want to undermine people’s human rights and civil rights,” she continued.
In particular, Merkel claimed the spreading of virus disinformation represented a challenge for Europe even as it has struggled to find any unified voice on the matter.
“This is something we need to stand up against, not just here,” said Merkel in the speech to the Bundestag.
This is not the first time Merkel has touted an E.U. global role.
As Breitbart News reported, last month she backed the political union to deliver guidance on handling the Chinese coronavirus pandemic based on what she claimed was the manifest evidence of the organization’s achievements.
Her simple solution remains: more E.U. in more places more often.
This is despite the evidence Europe has struggled from day one to achieve any level of unanimous agreement on what to do and how to do it.

BLM Wants to Destroy Western Civilisation, Nations, the Family Unit, Warns Farage

Breitbart – Free speech has never been so at risk as it is now, Nigel Farage has said, because this time its opponents are highly organised and their networks are putting pressure on anyone questioning the tactics of far-left movements like Black Lives Matter.
Speaking to Fox News’s Laura Ingraham on Tuesday, the Brexit Party leader warned that what makes this battle for free speech different to others in the past is “the sheer level of organisation” and support that groups like Black Lives Matter receive from the powerful progressive institutions.
“Black Lives Matter is backed up, of course, by other organisations like Media Matters. You can trace much of the funding of this back to George Soros and many other people,” Mr Farage said on The Ingraham Angle.
The former radio host recently parted ways with talk radio station LBC, over what he had suggested this week may have been as a result of leftist pressure on advertisers. Mr Farage told Ingraham that this tactic has become a tool in silencing those who question far-left orthodoxy in the media.
“What you’ve got now is you’ve got commercial organisations who if they dare even ask the question: Who are Black Lives Matter? What is their agenda? What are they really stand for? Is mob rule in our streets and tearing down statues something that’s acceptable?
“Even to question such things means that… corporate companies that advertise through television stations, radio stations, in newspapers, are now being attacked by the mob. They’ll get hundreds of thousands of emails from people saying: ‘We’ll never buy your product again if you continue to advertise with this media organisation.’
“So it isn’t just mob rule on the streets, it’s actually changing the whole shape and perception of our mainstream media.”
Farage went on to criticise British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for failing to take a hard line on violent and destructive London BLM protests. Even after the statue of wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill was vandalised twice, no arrests have been made.

EU ‘Systematically Attacking’ Efforts to Secure Borders, Hungary Warns

Infowars Europe -The European Union is working to undermine national efforts to secure national borders, according to Hungary’s top government spokesman.
“Brussels is preparing to challenge the immigration rules of the Hungarian constitution,” Secretary of State for International Communication Zoltán Kovács told Magyar Hírlap. “They want to force us to change the provisions of our constitution that prohibit migration.”
Kovács was responding, in part, to European Commission Vice President Vera Jourová, who recently claimed the Hungarian government is spreading “fake news” via a national survey explaining to citizens that E.U. member states are expected to welcome waves of illegal migrants – even during a pandemic.
“Contrary to the Vice President’s statement, the truth is that in recent years the European Commission has systematically attacked all our steps aimed at strengthening the European border, strengthening border protection,” Kovács said.
Kovács asserted the E.U. works closely with non-government organizations (NGOs) “that clearly support and even organize illegal migration,” and have tripled their funding for NGOs for the coming 2021-2027 European Commission budget.
“This also shows that the Committee is working systematically to weaken European border protection and to take away from the Member States, especially Hungary, the means by which it can take effective action against illegal migration,” he said.

Chinese scientist who was removed from Canadian lab sent deadly viruses to Wuhan Institute of Virology

NaturalNews – Deadly viruses were sent from Canada’s National Microbiology Lab to a Wuhan laboratory months before the coronavirus outbreak, recently released documents show, and the scientist who sent them was removed from the only level 4 lab in Canada over a “policy breach.”
Live Ebola and Henipah viruses, which are among the deadliest viruses on the planet, were sent to Beijing on a commercial flight with Air Canada from the Winnipeg lab to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which is believed by many to be the place where the coronavirus behind the current pandemic originated.
The viruses were sent by Dr. Xiangguo Qiu, a medical doctor and virologist who was reportedly escorted from the lab five months later. Her husband, research scientist Keding Cheng, and her Chinese students were also removed from the lab as part of an investigation. Their security access was also revoked.
Dr. Qiu hails from Tianjin, China, and first came to Canada for her graduate studies in 1996. Considered a brilliant scientist, she helped to develop the Ebola treatment ZMapp.
Canadian officials have said the shipments weren’t related to coronavirus and that Dr. Qiu’s eviction from the lab in Winnipeg was not connected to the shipment, but some experts aren’t so sure.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

Trump Signs Law Authorizing China Sanctions Over Abuse of Uighurs

Deutsche Welle – Donald Trump has signed into law an act that authorizes sanctions against Chinese officials over the mass incarceration of Uighur Muslims. The move is likely to deliver a fresh blow to the already tense US-China ties.
S President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed into a law an act authorizing sanctions against Chinese officials over the mass detention and surveillance of Uighur Muslims in China’s western Xinjiang province. The new legislation is the most significant action by any country to punish China over its treatment of ethnic minorities.
“The Act holds accountable perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses such as the systematic use of indoctrination camps, forced labor and intrusive surveillance to eradicate the ethnic identity and religious beliefs of Uyghurs and other minorities in China,” Trump said in a statement.
The Uighur Human Rights Act, which passed through Congress with near unanimous support, requires the US administration to identify Chinese officials responsible for the “arbitrary detention, torture and harassment” of Uighurs and other minorities in Xinjiang. The US would then move to freeze any assets held by those officials in its jurisdiction and ban their entry into the country.

Supreme Court rules in favor of ‘Dreamers,’ says Trump can’t end DACA without justification

RT – The Trump administration can’t shut down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program without better justification, the Supreme Court has ruled, nullifying one of the president’s signature actions on immigration.
Trump’s Department of Homeland Security failed to provide an adequate reason for shutting down the program when it declared an end to DACA in 2017, the court ruled on Thursday. The Obama-era initiative has allowed almost 800,000 young immigrants who arrived in the US illegally as children to remain in the country.
The decision represents a serious defeat to one of the president’s chief accomplishments on immigration, which was a central issue in his 2016 campaign. However, Trump has the option of presenting a more detailed justification for shutting down the program.

Donald Trump: ‘Wacko’ John Bolton a ‘Liar’ and a ‘Disgruntled Boring Fool’

Breitbart – President Donald Trump on Thursday criticized his former National Security Advisor John Bolton after information from his book criticizing the president leaked to the press.
“Wacko John Bolton’s ‘exceedingly tedious’ (New York Times) book is made up of lies & fake stories,” Trump wrote on Twitter, citing a story from the New York Times about the contents of his book.
Trump said Bolton was “disgruntled,” after he was fired in September 2019.
“Said all good about me, in print, until the day I fired him,” Trump wrote. “A disgruntled boring fool who only wanted to go to war. Never had a clue, was ostracized and happily dumped. What a dope!”
Trump also reminded his followers on Twitter that former President George W. Bush fired Bolton.
Information from Bolton’s book In the Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir was published by the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday even though the Justice Department sued to stop it from hitting stores on June 23.
Other media outlets have obtained physical copies of the book.

Georgia Bureau of Investigations Says Atlanta DA Jumped Gun Charging Officer With Felony Murder

RT – A state agency that has been assisting Atlanta police in investigating the killing of Rayshard Brooks has said that it was blindsided by the charges filed against a former officer amid reports of mass walk-outs on the force.
“The GBI was not aware of today’s press conference before it was conducted. We were not consulted on the charges filed by the District Attorney,” the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said on Wednesday.
Noting that they’ve made significant progress in investigating the incident, the agency said that they still need time to finish the job.
Our goal in every officer involved shooting case we are requested to review is to complete a thorough, impartial investigation before we submit the file to the respective District Attorney’s Office.
The GBI released its statement shortly after Fulton County DA Paul Howard announced the charges against former police officer Garret Rolfe, who is facing eleven charges, including that of felony murder for his role in the killing of Brooks last Friday.

Economy & Business

Another 1.5 million Americans have applied for unemployment

RT – The US Labor Department’s weekly jobless claims report shows that initial applications for state unemployment benefits totaled a seasonally adjusted 1.508 million for the week ended June 13.
The figure is down slightly from the 1.542 million claims in the prior week. The 11th straight weekly drop would push claims further away from a record 6.867 million in late March. Still, applications would be roughly double their peak during the 2007-09 Great Recession.
“People will say claims are coming down, but for an economy that is reopening, that is a huge number,” Steven Blitz, chief US economist at TS Lombard in New York, told Reuters.
“The economy is losing workers and employment beyond the initial impact tied to businesses that shut down. There are a lot of industries that are getting hurt and that’s starting to cascade down, that is what those numbers are showing,” he added.
Companies, including those in manufacturing, retail, information technology, and oil and gas production, have all announced job cuts. State and local governments are also slashing jobs.
Economists expect an acceleration in layoffs when the government’s Paycheck Protection Program (part of a historic fiscal package worth nearly $3 trillion) runs out.

Tucker Carlson: ‘Big Tech monopolies have now surpassed the federal government as the chief threat to our liberty’

NaturalNews – Tuesday, Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson opened his prime time cable news show with a warning about the threats so-called Big Tech poses to Americans’ liberty, particularly as a chilling effect has been sent through those that typically engage in political discourse due to Black Lives Matter.
Carlson mentioned his show was the highest-rated program on all of cable TV a night earlier, which he explained showed many Americans were not happy with what was underway in the United States right now. However, he said Big Tech was using its power to eliminate opposition to the prevailing conventional wisdom about what was underway in American politics.
“The point of telling you this is to remind you that you are not alone,” Carlson said. “You may feel like you are. Suddenly, your opinions qualify as crimes. Dare to say what you think at work, and you will be fired in the middle of a recession. Write what you think online, and you will be silenced by the Big Tech companies, so you keep your views to yourself. You have no choice. A lot of Americans are doing that right now. They are staying quiet, and that, of course, is the point of censorship — to keep people isolated and alone, to prevent a consensus that challenges those in charge.”
“If you’re forced to shut up, they can do what they want to you and your country,” he continued. “But last night’s show suggested they have not yet succeeded, though they are trying. Millions and millions of Americans agree with you. You are not crazy. Your views are not evil. What is happening to this country right now is completely and totally wrong, and that will be obvious to everyone someday when our French Revolution has ended.”
“For now, most are too afraid to say that,” Carlson added. “One of the reasons we get to say that and often do is that Fox News is an independent company. We are not dependent on the progressive tech monopoly Google to make a living here, thank heaven. Most media companies are dependent on Google. Google control 70% of all online advertising. So if you’re in the news business, you will obey Google. When Google tells you to do something, you do it. You have no choice. They can bankrupt you in a minute, and they will. In all of human history, no single entity has ever had more control over information than Google does right now. So if you are worried about the concentration of power in the hands of a few unaccountable actors and you very much should be, nobody has more unchecked power than Google does.”
Carlson explained how Google is protected by the federal government, in that it is not held accountable for what is said on its platforms. However, he said the tech giant was using its power to impose a completely different standard.
“If Google will not extend those protections to others, Google should not enjoy those protections itself, obviously,” Carlson said. “Google should have faced these consequences a long time ago. Congress should have done this years ago. It’s been clear for a very long time that the Big Tech monopolies have now surpassed the federal government as the chief threat to our liberty.”

Energy & Environment

Air Quality Impacts Early Brain Development

Eureka Alert – Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have found a link between traffic-related air pollution and an increased risk for changes in brain development relevant to neurodevelopmental disorders. Their study, based on rodent models, corroborates previous epidemiological evidence showing this association.
While air pollution has long been a concern for pulmonary and cardiovascular health, it has only been within the past decade that scientists have turned their attention to its effects on the brain, said UC Davis toxicologist Pamela Lein, senior author of the study, recently published in Translational Psychiatry.
Researchers had previously documented links between proximity to busy roadways and neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, but preclinical data based on real-time exposures to traffic-related air pollution was scarce to nonexistent.
Lein worked with UC Davis atmospheric scientist Anthony Wexler and first author Kelley Patten, a doctoral student in the UC Davis graduate group for pharmacology and toxicology, to develop a novel approach to study the impacts of traffic-related air pollution in real time. They set up a vivarium near a traffic tunnel in Northern California so they could mimic, as closely as possible, the experience of humans in a rodent model.
“This approach was a creative way to get at the question of what impacts air pollution has on the brain in the absence of confounding factors such as socioeconomic influences, diet, etc.,” Lein said. “It’s important to know if living close to these roadways poses a significant risk to the developing human brain.
“If it does,” Lein continues, “scientists can warn susceptible individuals, such as pregnant women — particularly those who have already had a child diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental disorder — to take appropriate precautions to minimize risks to the health of their child’s brain.”

Science & Technology

Norway Halts Smartphone Contact Tracing App, While Other European States Roll Out Tech

Activist Post – Norway has suspended use of its smartphone app meant to track and trace those who have been diagnosed with covid. This is amid a roll out in other European countries of contact tracing spyware technology.
Geir Bukholm, an official at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, said the decision to delete data and halt any further information gathering from the app “weakened the country’s preparedness” should the infection rate increase. The app was being tested in three municipalities before being halted, Associated Press reported.
The Norwegian Data Protection Agency fired back stating that the low infection rate meant data harvesting on the app could no longer be justified over privacy concerns.
However, this isn’t the end; a health directorate will argue against the data watchdog that it should be turned back on during a meeting on Friday due to fears of a second wave or localized spread of the infection, Associated Press reported.

Virus app U-turn: Britain to switch to Google & Apple tech for Covid-19 contact-tracing despite rejecting it earlier

RT – The UK is set to use a “decentralized” model proposed by Google and Apple for its Covid-19 contact-tracing app. The previous model developed by the NHS sparked privacy and usability concerns.
The government is switching to a model based on technology provided by Apple and Google. Despite the replacement, the user interface will stay the same.
The news follows reports that the NHS app’s advisory board is considering dropping the current centralized model, by which data is stored on a central server controlled by authorities and opting for a decentralized approach touted by Google and Apple, by which data is kept on the users’ smartphones.
The government had dismissed this idea in the past, arguing that a more centralized model makes it “easier” to track overall trends on the spread of Covid-19 and to audit the system.
Britain has been developing its contact-tracing app, called ‘NHS Covid-19,’ since March. It uses Bluetooth signals to log when smartphone owners are close to each other, and alerts them if someone has coronavirus symptoms.

Health

OSHA SAYS MASKS DON’T WORK — AND VIOLATE OSHA OXYGEN LEVELS

Green Med Info – Peggy Hall from www.TheHealthyAmerican.org explains how the US. Department of Labor Occupational and Safety and Health Administration’s guidelines clearly show cloth and surgical masks don’t work to reduce transmission of COVID-19, and how they deplete the body of oxygen causing adverse health effects.
For additional relevant research read:

Seven Best Foods and Supplements to Enhance Your Immune System

Green Med Info – Hoping to improve your immune system? Look no further than these seven foods and supplements, which have been clinically proven to enhance immunity, improving your response to a variety of illnesses and infections. By adding them to your daily meals or weekly regimen, you can easily and affordably strengthen your immune response
Researchers have been studying natural compounds that provide immunological support for decades, but several of these compounds stand out for their therapeutic potential in the stimulation and protection of the immune system.
Try adding these seven natural substances to your diet for immune enhancement:

Vitamin C (Purely-C – 90 Capsules available @ The Power Mall)
Korean Ginseng
Astaxanthin (AstaXanthin with DHA – 90 Caps available @ The Power Mall)
Shiitake Mushrooms
Curcumin (CurcuminX4000 – 180 Veggie Capsules available @ The Power Mall)
Fermented Food
Echinacea

Researchers are excited by the possible health benefits contained in these well-researched foods and supplements. To reap their benefits, try adding the foods into your weekly meal rotation or adding the supplements to your daily regimen.

Can chia seeds help people maintain a healthy body weight?

NaturalNews – Chia seeds are crunchy and fiber-rich superfoods. But is there scientific proof that you can lose weight by eating chia seeds?
The nutritional profile of chia seeds
Chia seeds come from a flowering plant called Salvia hispanica. The superfood is full of fiber and protein that can make you feel full longer.
A one-ounce serving of chia seeds contains:

138 calories
9.75 g of fiber
4.69 g of protein
179 milligrams (mg) of calcium
95 mg of magnesium
2.19 mg of iron
115 mg of potassium

Chia seeds are also a good source of antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids. Consuming foods rich in omega-3s can help lower your risk of depression, heart disease and inflammatory bowel disease.
What are the health benefits of chia seeds?
Multiple studies suggest that chia seeds offer the following health benefits.

Improved blood sugar control – beneficial for people with diabetes
Healthy cholesterol levels
Lowered blood pressure
Reduced inflammation due to its antioxidant content
Regular bowel habits, which addresses constipation
Thinner blood due to omega-3 fatty acids, which can help prevent blood clots

In a study published in the journal Nutricion Hospitalaria, researchers looked at whether chia seeds can help promote weight loss. A total of 26 volunteers were divided into two groups: One group consumed 35 g of chia flour per day, while the other group was given a placebo. (Related: Reasons to eat chia seeds, the fiber-rich superfood.)
The scientists reported significant weight loss among those who ate chia flour. In addition, participants with abnormal cholesterol levels experienced significant improvements after taking chia flour. The team concluded that chia flour not only helps reduce overall cholesterol and increase high-density lipoprotein (or “good” cholesterol) levels, but it also helps reduce weight.
In another study published in the journal Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases, scientists assessed if chia seeds can help promote weight loss in patients with Type 2 diabetes. The team worked with 77 participants who were either overweight or obese; the participants were asked to follow a calorie-restricted diet for six months.