Corax
US attorney's aide Tawanna Hilliard accused of using government computers to identify and expose snitches for her Bloods gang member son Tyquan Hilliard, who is serving ten years in prison for robbery, the mother faces up to 20 years in prison on obstruction charge alone
World
US issues warrant to seize Iranian oil tanker Grace 1, day after Gibraltar orderes its release, over violations of International Emergency Economic Powers Act, bank fraud, money laundering and terrorism forfeiture statutes, warrent addressed to US Marshals Service or any other duly authorized law enforcement officer
Greenland's foreign minister tweets "We're open for business, not for sale" in response to Donald Trump's alleged interest in buying the island, in 1946 former President Harry Truman tried to purchase Greenland from Denmark for USD 100 million in gold, which wasn't made public until 1991
Chinese actress Liu Yifei, star of new Mulan remake, voices support for Hong Kong's police force, prompting calls for boycott, the naturalised US citizen writes "I also support Hong Kong police" on Chinese social media platform Weibo
Five people to be flown across the Atlantic to sail the yacht Malizia II, which takes Greta Thunberg to the UN Climate Change Summit, back to Europe, skipper Boris Herrmann will also take the plane for the return journey
Christchurch shooter Brenton Tarrant writes letter from prison cell to a man in Russia, six-page letter warning of a great conflict is published on 4chan, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis says Tarrant won't be allowed to write any more letters
Matteo Salvini respond to Hollywood actor Richard Gere's call to let illegal migrants enter, saying the millionaire can take them back with him to Hollywood on his private plane and support them in his villas
Jeffrey Epstein found dead inside his jail cell two weeks after being placed on suicide watch after he was found semi-conscious in his prison cell, was accused of trafficking involving underage girls who were made to have sex with high-powered businessmen and politicians
Donald Trump freezes all Venezuelan government assets in US, says measures necessary due to continued usurpation of power by illegitimate Maduro regime and its human rights abuses, threatens sanctions against anyone assisting Maduro or his loyalists
Miscellaneous
New website Shameplane.com calculates how much Arctic sea ice melt a traveler's flight causes, spreading Swedish-born concept of "flygskam", or "flight shame"
Franz Kafka papers scattered across Europe finally brought together in Jerusalem as last batch arrives in Israel after 11-year search, includes hundreds of personal letters, drawings and journals, will now be published online, National Library of Israel says
McDonald's UK admits paper straws too thick to recycle, straws infuriates customers who say they dissolve in soft drinks and make milkshakes hard to drink, the replaced and dumped plastic straws company call "100 per cent recyclable" are fetching high prices on eBay
United Airlines flight from Glasgow to Newark cancelled when both pilots turn up drunk, arrested by police on suspicion of being under the influence of drink or drugs, incident comes three years after two other UA pilots were jailed for being drunk before flying same route
Canadian woman encounters a cougar while walking her dog in British Columbia, failing to scare off the cat by waving her arms and yelling, she plays Don't Tread On Me by Metallica on full volume and the puma bolts
Man donates his deceased mother's body to Alzheimer's research, her remains are secretly acquired by United States military for USD 6,000, strapped to a chair and blown up in an experiment
Wet Las Vegas spring spawns grasshopper hordes large enough to show up on weather radar, state entomologist says he's seen this type of swarms at least four times in 30-plus years, appears after a wet winter or spring
Thai Future Forward Party (FFP) accused of being a threat to constitutional monarchy and of links to Illuminati, former adviser to chief Ombudsman points out the upside-down triangle in FFP's logo resembles the sign of Illuminati, who was behind efforts to overthrow monarchies in Europe and played a role in US Declaration of Independence, FFP counters allegations in Facebook video
Media
Facebook collects audio from voice chats on Messenger and pay contractors to listen to and transcribe them, tech giant says it only affect users who have given their consent, but doesn't disclose in its data-use policies it transcribes user audio, Bloomberg reports
India's government contacts international media such as Al Jazeera and BBC over alleged fabricated Kashmir videos, claims only 20 people were present at protest which report says 10,000 took part in, news organisations say videos are geniune and they can provide raw footage if required
Federal judge orders Daily Stormer founder Andrew Anglin to pay Jewish woman Tanya Gersh USD 14 million in damages, Gersh and her family were harassed for years after Anglin posted her name and contact information in article covering her dispute with Richard Spencer's mother
Facebook offers news outlets millions of dollars to license their content for its new News tab, to be launched later this year, no longer interested in driving traffic to traditional news sites
The movie The Hunt portrays liberal elites kidnapping and hunting "deplorables" who express pro-life positions or are deemed racist, hits theaters in September
Network provider Cloudflare terminates 8chan's service, says evidence shows suspected El Paso shooter as well as the Christchurch shooter posted to the website before the attacks, wishes to work with policy makers regarding "lawless platforms" such as 8chan and Daily Stormer
Ines Pohl, Deutsche Welle editor-in-chief: The Frankfurt tragedy where an Eritrean man threw an 8-year-old in front of a train will have serious consequences for an already-tense societal debate, balancing insecurity with maintaining Germany's identity as a prosperous country – important to report truthfully and impartially, and the perpetrator's origin is a part of the full truth
Russian Embassy in Syria has Twitter account suspended after posting video showing fully functional Idlib market the White Helmets said was destroyed by Russian airstrikes, Russian Foreign Ministry calls suspension flagrant freedom of speech violation
Politics
Donald Trump says US must in one voice condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy, following recent mass shootings, outlines policy for more co-operation between agencies and social media companies and calls for death penalty for hate crimes and mass murders, adding that mental illness and hate pull the trigger, not the gun
Leftist congresswoman Ilhan Omar to divorce husband and father of her three children for second time, bust-up comes as critics demand answers as to whether she married her own brother in-between the two marriages in a successful bid to get him into the United States
New Leader of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg issues list of rules to staff, non-titled males to be referred to as Esquire, imperial measurements to be used and banned words include equal, speculate, invest, unacceptable, yourself, hopefully, disappointment and lot
Boris Johnson to become next UK prime minister after being elected new Conservative leader, wins twice as many votes as Jeremy Hunt, takes over from Theresa May on Wednesday, promises to deliver Brexit on 31 October, unite the country and defeat Jeremy Corbyn
Sweden extends smoking ban to public places including outdoor restaurants, train stations and playgrounds, extends 2005 law which banned smoking inside bars and restaurants, PM Stefan Löfven wants country to be smoke-free by 2025
Liberalism has outlived its purpose and come in conflict with interests of majority of people by promoting immigration, open borders and multiculturalism, says Vladimir Putin in interview with Financial Times
Boris Johnson and foreign minister Jeremy Hunt only two candidates left in race to become British prime minister after a fifth and final ballot of Conservative lawmakers, with Johnson earning 160 votes versus Hunt's 77
President Trump reveals 2020 re-election campaign slogan "Keep America Great", says if he loses, people will criticize the new slogan, but doesn't consider a loss to be within realm of possibility
Opinion
Robert P. Murphy: Plastic bans provide no benefit as OECD countries contribute less than 5% of the plastic waste from land sources and the bans come with unintended consequences such as increased sales of environmentally worse paper and cotton bags, costs are however real with increased spread of diseases and less convenience
Graham Dockery: Greta Thunberg sail across the Atlantic reveals the disregard and contempt the elite have for the miserable masses, common folk can't hire Monegasque royalty for a USA trip on a EUR 4 million yacht, to demand people to give up car and air travel, eat insects and have fewer children is the ultimate in anti-humanitarianism
Patrick Minford: No deal Brexit followed by US-UK trade deal would result in US goods at best world prices, meaning some 20% lower UK prices without EU trade protection, EU-UK tariffs would be paid by EU traders both ways, as EU would need to match new prices on UK market, this leading to EU being more obliging in Brexit negotiations
Charles Day: Article in EU 31 October Brexit extension law in effect means Britain already left EU on June 1, as UK has not ratified Withdrawal Agreement, but EU makes bad law all the time which no one seems to read, UK does not need guiding beneficence of people who can not even do the simplest, yet important, tasks properly
Costas Lapavitsas: New EU appointments still more evidence it is impossible to reform the transnational juggernaut of Brussels, were supposed to reflect results in EU elections, Britain confronted by an EU that is not the confident giant some imagine it to be, as new deadline for Brexit approaches
Caitlin Johnstone: Julian Assange's lawyer says Assange's health situation makes it impossible to conduct a normal conversation with him, has been transferred to hospital wing of Belmarsh prison, met with silence by mainstream media
76 retired generals, admirals and ambassadors urge Trump to de-escalate conflict with Iran to avoid dragging US into a war at immense financial, human and geopolitical cost
Trent England: The Electoral College is a check on government power, a restraint on the majority and requires geographic balance, rural Americans would be serfs if we abolished it
Sky Views: Government is quietly creating digital passport without us noticing, porn block a testing ground, government's Robust age verification introduces inescapable ID checks built into the foundation of browsing, home office also explores age verification technology, public debate silenced by warnings of the "monsters" of the internet
Brendan O’Neill: Anyone who doubts the green movement is morphing into millenarian cult should take a look at Greta Thunberg, the monotone voice, look of apocalyptic dread in her eyes and talk of coming great fire that will punish us, echoes 1600s preachers warning parishioners of the coming hellfire if they fail to give up their witches, Extinction Rebellion a public manifestation of millenarian fear, bourgeois depression and contempt for ordinary people
Europe
Donald Trump says US must in one voice condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy, following recent mass shootings, outlines policy for more co-operation between agencies and social media companies and calls for death penalty for hate crimes and mass murders, adding that mental illness and hate pull the trigger, not the gun
Leftist congresswoman Ilhan Omar to divorce husband and father of her three children for second time, bust-up comes as critics demand answers as to whether she married her own brother in-between the two marriages in a successful bid to get him into the United States
New Leader of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg issues list of rules to staff, non-titled males to be referred to as Esquire, imperial measurements to be used and banned words include equal, speculate, invest, unacceptable, yourself, hopefully, disappointment and lot
Boris Johnson to become next UK prime minister after being elected new Conservative leader, wins twice as many votes as Jeremy Hunt, takes over from Theresa May on Wednesday, promises to deliver Brexit on 31 October, unite the country and defeat Jeremy Corbyn
Sweden extends smoking ban to public places including outdoor restaurants, train stations and playgrounds, extends 2005 law which banned smoking inside bars and restaurants, PM Stefan Löfven wants country to be smoke-free by 2025
Liberalism has outlived its purpose and come in conflict with interests of majority of people by promoting immigration, open borders and multiculturalism, says Vladimir Putin in interview with Financial Times
Boris Johnson and foreign minister Jeremy Hunt only two candidates left in race to become British prime minister after a fifth and final ballot of Conservative lawmakers, with Johnson earning 160 votes versus Hunt's 77
President Trump reveals 2020 re-election campaign slogan "Keep America Great", says if he loses, people will criticize the new slogan, but doesn't consider a loss to be within realm of possibility
North America
US attorney's aide Tawanna Hilliard accused of using government computers to identify and expose snitches for her Bloods gang member son Tyquan Hilliard, who is serving ten years in prison for robbery, the mother faces up to 20 years in prison on obstruction charge alone
Study showing white police no more likely to shoot minorities draws fire, researchers studied 900 fatal US police shootings in 2015 concluding there is no racial bias among police, undercuts central tenets of Black Lives Matter movement who claim black men dies at the hands of police due to colour of their skin
US trend sees drop in sports participation among poor and middle-class families, while children from better off families participate in ever great numbers, according to The Aspen Institute's Project Play report, attributed to rising cost of playing sports and hope of securing college admissions
Jeffrey Epstein autopsy finds his neck broken in several places, such injuries can occur to people who hang themselves or who are strangled, unclear when autopsy report will be finished or made public
Naked burglar arrested in Los Angeles when found stuck in chimney, where hid after being confronted by owner of another home he tried to burglarize, claims someone laced his drink the night prior
US Attorney General Bill Barr slams inadequate Manhattan jail where Epstein died, saying there will be accountability, issues stark warning to Epstein's co-conspirators and assures case will continue against anyone complicit
Jeffrey Epstein told guards and other inmates weeks before he died someone tried to kill him, death comes 24 hours after court documents were unsealed implicating powerful men in sex scandals, Epstein was not on suicide watch at the time of his death, FBI and Inspector General to open investigations
Miniature horses allowed as service animals on airplanes according to updated US Department of Transportation guidance, up to three animals per person allowed, reptiles and spiders banned
Marvin Minsky, AI pioneer at MIT, named by witness in deposition released in connection with Jeffrey Epstein underage girls sex trafficking investigation, known previous associate of Epstein, deposition also names Prince Andrew of Britain and former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson
Armed former firefighter makes citizen's arrest of 20-year-old donned with body armor and military fatigues carrying tactical weapons and 100 rounds of ammunition while filming himself at Walmart in Springfield, MO, customers fled as store manager pulled the fire alarm, no shots fired and no one injured
Latin America
Cuba imposes price controls on basic foods such as beans and pork to tame inflation as it increases state wages and pensions, regional price controls on taxi fares and haircuts introduced in recent weeks – butcher says margins are gone, and produce seller has stopped selling price-controlled lemons
Brazil implements policy prohibiting entry for dictator Nicolás Maduro and high-ranking Venezuelan regime officials, list to be updated continuously
Venezuela issues US travel warning following the mass shootings, writes growing violence finds echo and sustenance in "speeches and actions impregnated with racial discrimination and hatred against migrant populations", cites population's indiscriminate possession of firearms reason to avoid certain areas
At least 52 people killed in prison riot in Altamira jail in Pará state in Brazil, two rival gangs battled for five hours, 16 dead decapitated and part of building set on fire suffocating many, prison has a capacity of 200 but was occupied by 311 prisoners
Brazil appoints Jair Bolsonaro's son Eduardo its ambassador to US, president criticised for nepotism but says decision aims to improve relationship with Trump government
Cuban shortage of over 40 key medications, blames shortages of raw materials, patients camp out at pharmacies hoping to secure a prime place in line in hope for a new shipment, meantime Cuba sends "slave doctors" abroad in exchange for lucrative contracts and to earn praise from leftist American celebrities
Venezuelan 16-year-old Rufo Chacón blinded after being shot in face with rubber bullets 52 times of which 16 hit his eyes during San Cristobál protests against cooking gas shortages, same time boy's younger brother received blow to his skull from police baton, two officers awaiting trial
Asia
Beijing warns it could use its power to quell demonstrations in Hong Kong, as hundreds of China's People's Armed Police conducts exercises at sports stadium in Shenzhen that borders Hong Kong, says China has option to forcefully intervene without a repeat of June 4th incident in 1989
China accuses US of collaborating with violent extremists in effort to undermine stability in Hong Kong, one activist playing an active role in ongoing anti-Beijing protests was photographed meeting with senior official from US Consulate
Chinese officials reject US request for two US Navy ships making port visits in Hong Kong in coming weeks, citing ongoing unrest, deputy spokesman for the US Navy's Pacific Fleet refers to Chinese Government for further information about why request was denied
Satellite photos show armored personnel carriers belonging to China's paramilitary People’s Armed Police in and around sports complex in city of Shenzhen just across Hong Kong harbor, Chinese state media says exercises were planned before hand and are not linked to ongoing unrest
Safety equipment shops selling articles anti-government protesters use spared global downdraft shaking Hong Kong's economy, but lately reality of a slowing economy is kicking in, economy expected to grind to a halt in coming quarters
Cathay Pacific Airways manager Merlin Swire condemns protests in Hong Kong and vows support for city's government and Beijing, as airline suspends a second pilot and fires two ground staff for engaging in or supporting demonstrations, amid worries over further sanctions from China causing more damage to its brand
Flight check-in suspended at Hong Kong International Airport for second consecutive day because of anti-government protests, police wearing riot gear deploy pepper spray to push protesters back, city leader Carrie Lam says violence during protests would push Hong Kong down a path of no return
One woman dead and one hospitalised after attempted mass stabbing in broad daylight in Sydney Tuesday afternoon, suspect arrested after being apprehended by civilians, police say footage showing the man shouting "Allahu akbar" will be investigated
MIDDLE EAST
Iran advise Israel to stay clear of US-led flotilla in Persian Gulf, waring it could spark a war, Tehran vows to protect its sovereignty in Strait of Hormuz, accusing US of enforcing its unilateral oil sanctions through military pressure after political extortion has failed
Yemeni southern port city of Aden seized by UAE-backed separatists Southern Transitional Council, Saudi-led coalition intervenes in support of Yemeni government
14 dead and 145 wounded from Taliban car bomb at security checkpoint in Kabul shortly after the extremist group and US reported progress on negotiating an end to Afghanistan’s nearly 18-year war – Afghans fear what would happen if the 20,000 foreign troops leave, but presidential spokesman Sediq Seddiqi says security forces are strong enough to protect the population
Hassan Rouhani promises to release British-flagged vessel Stena Impero if UK release the Iranian tanker in Gibraltar, praises professional job by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps in seizing the ship, points out protecting Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf lies on Iran’s shoulders mainly and says it’s not the others’ business
All 23 crew on British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero are safe and well, vessel’s operator Stena Bulk says after speaking to them by telephone, hoping to see more positive progress from Iranian authorities, Britain describes seizure as piracy and calls for European-led naval mission to ensure safe shipping through Strait of Hormuz
Israel Education Minister Rabbi Rafi Peretz calls massive scale of assimilation among world Jews "a second Holocaust", in US before 1970 only 17% of Jews married a non-Jewish person, in 2005 the figure was 58%, Jewish state does not allow intermarriage between religious communities, but recognizes civic marriage between Jews and non-Jews if performed in other countries
Africa
Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa says economic hardship will pass despite being compounded by natural disasters as the Transitional Stabilisation Programme lays foundation for economic turnaround – urges Church to feed the vulnerable and support government's food distribution exercise, blames greed by unscrupulous businesspeople as reason behind escalating prices of basic commodities
Politician breaking wind shuts down session of parliament in Kenya, speaker orders air fresheners brought to the chamber to tackle problem while members blames each other for offending smell
Nigerian state of Borno bans street begging, police spokesman says the command "will not fold its arms and watch unscrupulous elements jeopardise the hard-earned peace and security of the state"
More than 5 million Zimbabweans, about a third of the population, need food aid according to UN, 2.5 million people on cusp of starvation, severe drought and Cyclone Isai named as causes of crisis, UN's World Food Programme was already appealing for USD 294 million but says now an additional USD 331 million is needed
95-year-old former Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe hospitalised in Singapore since April, regularly travels to the country for medical check-ups but this time had to be kept under observation, President Emmerson Mnangagwa says Mugabe is making good progress and could be discharged soon
Half of Ebola cases remain undetected in Democratic Republic of the Congo and the epidemic could last up to three years, according to country's new Ebola response coordinator Jean-Jacques Muyembe
Namibia's land reform minister Utoni Nujoma says drought-affected farmers have themselves to blame for not fencing off and not avoiding overgrazing their land the way white farmers do, and that extending resettlement farm program risks turning the whole country into desert, lashes out at communities for "bedevilling mentality of entitlement"
One dead and 14 injured in clash between park rangers and Pygmies near Kahuzi Biega national park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – increased tensions lately as Pygmies dislike being denied access to the 6,000-square-kilometre gorilla haven, and rangers accuse the group of illegal entering and deforesting
Economy
Jyske Bank in Denmark offering customers 10-year mortgages at -0.5% interest rate, Nordea already offers 20-year mortgage with 0% interest, reflects the uncertainty in world economy and investors' fear of a crash in the near future which is why they rather take a small loss in the long run
US Department of the Treasury designates China as currency manipulator, Secretary Steven Mnuchin to engage with the International Monetary Fund to eliminate the unfair competitive advantage created by China’s latest actions
US Federal Reserve lowers interest rates by 0.25% to 2.00% and signals readiness for further cuts, first rate cut since 2008
Iran's government approves plan to remove four zeroes from currency and rename it "toman" to simplify transactions, current rial trades at around 42,000 to the USD officially and 120,000 on the street, parliament to give final approval
Boeing takes USD 4.9 billion hit to compensate its customers for 737 Max aircraft schedule disruptions and aircraft delivery delays, says it hopes aircraft will return to service in fourth quarter of 2019, FAA says it follows a process, rather than a prescribed timeline, still Boeing's share price rose 4%
Donald Trump orders investigation into France's planned tax targeting companies based abroad offering digital services in the country, US say the 3% tax based on revenue generated in the country is clearly protectionist and unfairly targets American companies, effects companies with revenue over EUR 750 million of which EUR 25 million generated in France
Democracies on track to lose global economic dominance, within five years autocratic countries will account for more than half of global income after learning to combine autocratic rule with market-friendly institutions, according to political scientists Roberto Stefan Foa and Yascha Mounk
Technology
Security researcher decides on "NULL" for personalized number plate, hoping to be invisible to DMV ticketing system, instead every ticket without a real plate is sent to him once NULL was associated with his address, earning him a total of USD 12,049 worth of tickets
Huawei unveils HarmonyOS, microkernel-based distributed operating system, claims system more powerful and secure than Android and with IPC performance five times that of Google’s Fuchsia, continues using Android with HarmonyOS as official backup plan
Tesla launches Megapack, a modular system for large-scale energy storage, units with storage capacity of 3 MWh each can be built together for energy storage facilities up to 1 GWh and 250 MW output on 3 acres of land and be delivered ready for operation in three months
Elon Musk's Neuralink develops robot-assisted method for implanting flexible electrode threads with a total of 3072 electrodes into rat brains and register data from all of them, the company sees potential to implant several units into human brains
Peter Thiel says FBI and CIA should investigate if Google has been infiltrated by Chinese intelligence, as Alphabet chooses to work with Chinese and not US military, comparing Google's AI program to the Manhattan Project
Instagram uses AI to curb bullying, asks users to think again before posting unkind comments, first introduced to English-speaking Instagram users, company also tests feature allowing users to control who sees their comments without them knowing
30% of world's VPN services secretly owned by six Chinese companies, according to study by cyber security group VPNpro
Two pistols made from 4.5 billion-year-old Muonionalusta Meteorite auctioned, could fetch USD 1.5 million, modeled after famous Colt 1911 they have been test-fired to make sure they actually work
Science
International collaboration claims to have created hybridized human-monkey embryos in China, aims to create organ factories for transplants, project leader Juan Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte previously failed to grow pig embryos using human stem cells
Russian space mission carrying the Spektr-RG telescope launched from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, joint venture with Germany aims to map X-rays across entire sky, trace the large-scale structure of Universe, provide insights on accelerating behaviour of cosmic expansion and identify a large number of new X-ray sources, including large black holes
New research on hominin skull fossil Apidima 1 suggests Homo Sapiens were in Europe more than 200,000 years ago, 150,000 years earlier than modern humans were believed to have spread to the continent, fossil was found in Greece in the 1970s
Researchers find correlation between amount of money in a lost wallet and return rate, the more money the bigger likelihood to report a lost wallet, contrary to predictions made by top-performing academic economists
Ionizing radiation not as dangerous to astronauts as previously believed, study of 418 spacefaring individuals finds no increased risk of death from cancer or heart disease
Planting trees most effective method of countering climate change, say researchers at ETH Zürich, planet has room for 500 billion more trees which would bind 200 billion tonnes of carbon and reduce atmospheric carbon by 25%
13-year-old Canadian Nora Keegan publishes research paper examining loudness of automated hand dryers on children's heights, assessing 44 different models, some operating at 110 decibels, also developed a synthetic air filter reduces noise by 11 decibels
Swedish and British scientists show individual’s genetic make-up has great influence on whether they choose to acquire a dog, concordance rates of dog ownership much larger in identical twins than in non-identical ones, next step to identify which genetic variants affect this choice using data from Swedish Twin Registry
Parents who raise their children as vegans should face prosecution, according to Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium, comes after a number of deaths related to the diet, an estimated 3% of Belgian children forced to eat vegan
32-year-old Greek woman gives birth to boy with DNA from three people, using experimental form of IVF using an egg from the mother, sperm from the father and another egg from a donor woman, some say procedure raises ethical questions, Dr Panagiotis Psathas, president of Institute of Life in Athens, says every woman's inalienable right to become a mother with her own genetic material has become a reality
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