Today's News: May 29, 2018

World News

U.S. Missionary Home After Two Years Behind Bars in Venezuela
Reuters – American missionary Josh Holt, held by Venezuela without trial on weapons charges since 2016, returned home with his wife on Saturday after the South American country’s socialist government unexpectedly released them.

Tensions soar as Israel hits Gaza militant bases after mortar fire
AFP – Israel said it struck dozens of militant targets in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday in response to a barrage of mortar and rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave in the most severe military flare-up since a 2014 war.
Separately on Tuesday morning, Palestinians launched boats from Gaza to protest Israel’s blockade of the strip in what they said would be a peaceful demonstration.

Trump: North Korean Official on Way to U.S. to Discuss Possible Summit
Washington Free Beacon – resident Donald Trump on Tuesday said North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un’s top official in charge of relations between North and South Korea, Kim Young-chol, is on his way to New York to discuss a possible summit.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

Supreme Court refuses to hear challenge to Arkansas abortion law
Fox – The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled to allow Arkansas to put in effect restrictions on how abortion pills are administered, rejecting an appeal from the Planned Parenthood affiliate in Arkansas that asked the court to review an appeals court ruling and reinstate a lower court order that had blocked the law from taking effect.

Televangelist seeks donations for $54 million jet…
NOLA – Jesse Duplantis, the Destrehan-based prosperity gospel televangelist with a global reach, is asking disciples for money to buy a jet that costs $54 million “so we can go anywhere in the world in one stop.” He seeks the donations in a video posted last week on his ministry’s website. “I really believe that if the Lord Jesus Christ was physically on the Earth today, he wouldn’t be riding a donkey,” Duplantis

Media blackout as Trump, Congress make significant progress on agenda
Washington Times – While much of America wasn’t looking, President Trump and Congress actually have been getting some work done together.
Congress passed three significant bills before the Memorial Day recess that Mr. Trump has signed or will sign into law in coming weeks, including a partial rollback of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial industry regulations, a move that supporters — including many Democrats — say will spur lending by small banks in small towns nationwide.
As he signed the regulation-cutting measure late last week, the president said lawmakers are bucking the tradition of legislative loafing in a midterm election year.
“For a Congress that they say, you know, won’t be doing much because we have an election coming up, I think we’re doing an awful lot,” Mr. Trump said. “I think we’re doing more than any Congress in a long time.”

Veteran News

Korean War Veteran Fights to Keep American Flag Flying in Independence, Iowa
Fox – A Korean War veteran is speaking out after city officials in Independence, Iowa, voted to take down a giant American flag because maintenance costs were too high.
Officials voted unanimously last month to take the flag down, saying that high winds frequently damage the flag.
On “Fox & Friends,” Bill Coulter revealed that the upkeep costs are only $10 a month, and he’s willing to pay for it out of his own pocket to keep the stars and stripes flying.

Economy & Business

Another euro crisis? Italian chaos reawakens concerns
Fox – Italy’s political turmoil is sending a wave of concern through Europe’s 19-country currency union as tremors are felt in financial markets.

Starbucks Will Be Closed This Afternoon for Racial Bias Training—Here’s Everything You Need To Know
People – f you’re looking to get your Starbucks fix this afternoon, you’ll have to wait. In April, Starbucks announced they would be closing all company-owned stores nationwide (more than 8,000 locations) for a mandatory racial-bias education on May 29. Over 175,000 employees will participate in the training, and closing their stores is estimated to cost up to $12 million in revenue.

World Isn’t Prepared for Retirement
Bloomberg – It’s not just America. New data show people all over the globe don’t understand basic concepts of investment and inflation.

U.S. Sanctions Target North Korea’s Vast International Finance Network
Wall Street Journal – Choking off Pyongyang’s revenue remains a challenge for U.S. officials
Though North Korea has faced one of modern history’s most comprehensive sanction regimes, Pyongyang still raises cash overseas through a sophisticated network of agents tapping markets around the world.

Trump plans 25% tariffs on Chinese tech
Washington Times – The Trump administration on Tuesday moved forward with a plan to impose 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion of “industrially significant technology” from China ahead of a meeting to discuss a trade deal between the two countries that Trump says will be more fair to America.
The White House also announced plans to apply broad limits on Chinese tech investment.
The 25 percent tariffs will include goods related to the “Made in China 2025” program, the announcement said. The final tariff list will be published June 15.

Energy & Environment

Hawaii Homes in Lava’s Path Were Built Decades Ago Despite Geologic Threat
Wall Street Journal – Lower Puna is one of the most affordable places to live in the Aloha State, but its subdivisions were built on an area known to be a hazard zone

Science & Technology

How to listen to what Amazon’s Alexa has recorded in your home
USA Today – If you’re worried about what exactly Amazon’s Echo-connected speaker has been recording in your home, there’s an easy way to find out.
Amazon makes all recent recordings available for listening in the companion Alexa app for iOS and Android.
Amazon has said consistently that the Echo speakers only listen in and record after you use the wake word, usually “Alexa,” to make your request. But last week it was revealed that a recording of a Portland woman was sent accidentally to someone in the family’s contact list.
Amazon has said it’s looking into what happened to prevent similar situations in the future.

Low-cost Android devices found secretly installing adware
Fox – Buying a low-cost Android tablet may sound like a bargain, but it can come with some security risks.

AI better at finding skin cancer than doctors: study
AFP – A computer was better than human dermatologists at detecting skin cancer in a study that pitted human against machine in the quest for better, faster diagnostics, researchers said Tuesday.
A team from Germany, the United States and France taught an artificial intelligence system to distinguish dangerous skin lesions from benign ones, showing it more than 100,000 images.
The machine — a deep learning convolutional neural network or CNN — was then tested against 58 dermatologists from 17 countries, shown photos of malignant melanomas and benign moles.
Just over half the dermatologists were at “expert” level with more than five years of experience, 19 percent had between two and five years’ experience, and 29 percent were beginners with less than two years under their belt.
“Most dermatologists were outperformed by the CNN,” the research team wrote in a paper published in the journal Annals of Oncology.

Gardening, Farming & Homesteading

Inside billionaires’ bunkers where richest plan to sit out apocalypse in luxurious ‘doomsday’ dugouts – with swimming pools, cinemas and wine vaults
Mirror – From sprawling bedrooms and swimming pools to an enormous wine vault, these pictures appear to show the interiors of luxury mansions.
But while they certainly depict a five-star lifestyle, they are actually taken inside some of the world’s most impressive ‘doomsday’ bunkers.

Stop Using Bug Zappers Immediately
Dr. Axe – Bug zappers may seem like a tempting solution if you find yourself Googling home remedies for mosquito bites during peak skeeter season. But there are a number of compelling reasons to avoid going the bug electrocution route.
While it seems appealing to invite pests into your yard and then fry them, science tells us that may not be such a great idea. Here are some of the major flaws associated with bug zappers that you should know about.
They don’t work. Bug zappers kill tons of beneficial insects while missing most of the biting insects that pest us, explains a University of Florida pest control expert
Be wary of zappers that market carbon dioxide as an attractant, too. Mosquitoes are drawn to carbon dioxide but studies show they prefer the natural form that is emitted from humans versus artificial sources.
Another reason to avoid zappers? Bug viruses and bacteria travel long distances upon electrocution. A nicer way of saying this is microscopic bug guts is sprayed onto people sitting around the bug zapper … and into nearby food
The best ways to avoid mosquitoes in your favorite outdoor areas are to:

Screen in the area, if possible
Use a fan; it disperses CO2 and creates wind resistance to keep mosquitoes away
Avoid drinking alcohol if you’re in a mosquito-prone area

Health

Surgeon removes 4,100 gallstones from patient complaining of abdominal pain
Fox – A man complaining of abdominal pain was cured after surgeons removed a staggering 4,100 gallstones from his body.

ATKINS diet may cause heart failure, major new protein study finds
Telegraph – The Atkins diet may raise the risk of fatal heart disease, according to a new study.
Analysis of more than 2,440 men found that those with a high protein intake faced a 33 per cent increased risk of developing heart failure, where the organ is unable to pump sufficient blood and oxygen around the body.
The Atkins diet is the best known of a range of popular commercial regimes claiming to help people lose weight by embracing low-carbohydrate, high-protein eating.