News and Headlines: In The News, Immigration, Politics, World News, Tech Watch/Censorship, Commentary/Opinion.

In The News:

9-11 first responders finally get their own tribute at Ground Zero

The Glade was dedicated on Thursday, the 17th anniversary of the official conclusion of search-and-recovery efforts and is now open to the public, serving as a compelling reminder of selfless heroism and sacrifice and the struggles and challenges so many continue to face.

Called the Memorial Glade, it’s a path winding through the southwest corner of the plaza, lined with six granite monoliths, each weighing between 13 and 18 tons, hand-chiseled at the Rock of Ages Manufacturing Company in Vermont.

The stones are inlaid and bound with strips of steel salvaged from the Twin Towers, and the stones are designed to point skyward, symbolizing strength and determination, according to the designer, who said they were crafted to look bruised but not broken, representing the strength of human spirit.

Tens of thousands of police officers, firefighters, federal agents, paramedics and civilian volunteers spent days, weeks and months working on the pile, searching for victims, clearing rubble and debris, and restoring order to the chaos, while breathing toxic fumes, leading to thousands of serious illnesses and deaths.

Edward Gallagher, Navy SEAL charged with war crimes, released pending trial

A military judge released Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher from custody Thursday, drawing gasps in a San Diego courtroom.

The judge, Capt. Aaron Rugh, said releasing the platoon leader was a remedy for prosecutors interfering with his Sixth Amendment right to counsel.

Defense attorney Tim Parlatore had accused prosecutors of a “rogue, relentless, and unlawful cyber campaign” that may have violated attorney-client privilege and hurt his client’s ability to get a fair trial.

‘TOO PARTISAN’: New York Times Bans Reporters From Certain CNN, MSNBC Shows

The decision by The Times comes a few weeks after Special Counsel Robert Mueller released the report from his Russia investigation, which largely contradicted much of Maddow’s programming from the last two years.

Maddow, in particular, saw a massive decline in ratings, losing “half-a-million viewers in just one week after special counsel Robert Mueller’s report indicated that he did not find enough evidence to support collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia,” The Daily Caller reported.

CNN’s ratings were so devastated following Attorney General William Barr’s letter to Congress that Fox News host Tucker Carlson beat CNN’s entire prime time lineup combined by more than 1,000,000 viewers.

Maddow faced widespread criticism over many of the salacious and unverified claims she pushed on her show during Mueller’s investigation.

“Sources told the magazine the Times’ executive editor Dean Baquet expressed concerns certain primetime shows are becoming more opinionated and that reporters who appear on their shows would be ‘perceived as being aligned’ with the show’s politics,”

US holds CBD hearing as fans, sellers await legal clarity

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration held a hearing Friday to collect information about cannabis compounds such as CBD, which is already available in candy, syrups, oils, drinks, skin patches and dog food.

No decisions are expected immediately, but the hearing is seen as an important step toward clarifying regulations around the ingredient.

“There is mass confusion in the marketplace,” said Peter Matz of the Food Marketing Institute, one of dozens of speakers who addressed the FDA panel.

Other speakers including academic researchers, businesses and consumer advocates urged the FDA to move quickly, noting that the industry is growing rapidly with little oversight. That is raising concerns about the accuracy of product labels and people not realizing how much they may be consuming through various products.

Before the hearing began, acting FDA Commissioner Ned Sharpless noted critical questions remain about the safety of CBD, such as how much is safe to use daily and the compound’s effects on pregnant women and children.

Missouri abortion clinic to stay open for now after court order

Planned Parenthood sued Missouri this week after state health officials said the license for Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood in St. Louis was in jeopardy, meaning the clinic could have closed at midnight unless the judge granted the request for a temporary restraining order.

Health officials had refused to renew the clinic’s license because, they said, they were unable to interview seven of its physicians over “potential deficient practices,” according to documents filed in a St. Louis court.

The legal battle in St. Louis comes a week after Missouri Governor Mike Parson, a Republican, signed a bill banning abortion beginning in the eighth week of pregnancy, making Missouri one of nine U.S. states to pass anti-abortion legislation this year.

Alabama executes man for 1991 slaying of pastor during robbery

The condemned man, Christopher Lee Price, was pronounced dead at 7:31 p.m. at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. Price released a statement through his attorney before the execution, apologizing for the 1991 death of Pastor Bill Lynn.

“A man is much more than his worst mistake,” Price said while strapped to a gurney.

Price was the second Alabama inmate to be put to death in as many weeks.

In a statement, Republican Gov. Kay Ivey said Lynn’s family “can feel at ease knowing that justice has been administered. I pray that, after all these years later, his family can feel a sense of peace and comfort.”

Record flooding causes levee breach in western Arkansas

The Arkansas Department of Emergency Management said crews went door to door to recommend evacuation for about 160 homes.

Yell County Emergency Manager Jeff Gilkey told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that rapid currents from the river ripped a 40-foot (12-meter) section from the levee. Aerial video posted by the sheriff’s office Friday showed water pouring through the hole.

“There was nothing we could do to stop it,” Gilkey said.

National Weather Service data showed a dip in the water level at Dardanelle, likely due to the breach.

A flash flood warning was issued early Friday for the area, and forecasters said residents should be prepared for rapidly rising water. Local officials said they were uncertain where the water would end up.

Chicago police told not to ‘investigate’ Jussie Smollett weeks before charges dropped, documents reveal

The directive was among the more than 400 pages of case reports, arrest files and supplementary files pertaining to the Smollett criminal investigation made public Thursday after a March ruling by Cook County Judge Steven Watkins.

Among the redacted reports, were notes from two detectives who said the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office informed them on Feb. 28 — just one week after Smollett turned himself in — they could “no longer investigate the crime.”

Nebraska man sentenced for marrying, having sex with daughter

Travis Fieldgrove, 40, married his daughter, Samantha Kershner, 21, last October, The Omaha World-Herald reported.

Kershner reportedly told police that three years ago she had asked her mother who her father was and after her mom arranged a meeting they pursued a father-daughter relationship.

The relationship turned sexual last September, police said, according to The World-Herald. Kershner’s mother told police about the relationship and the two were arrested in January.

Records reveal man’s obsession with Bulgarian camgirl before allegedly killing his family

The files — released Wednesday by the Seminole-Brevard State Attorney’s Office and obtained by The Post — contain dozens of pornographic images and videos from a flash drive seized by authorities investigating the relationship between Grant Amato, 29, and camgirl Silviya Ventsislavova, before Amato’s parents and brother were found dead in their Chuluota home on Jan 25.

The records also contain a Jan. 4 note detailing an ultimatum given to Amato by his parents, Chad and Margaret Amato, mandating that he immediately end his “preoccupation” with Ventsislavova, get a job and repay the $200,000 he owed his family.

“But family does not expect this possibility,” according to the note, which also gave Amato the option of joining the military, particularly the Air Force.

The two-page note, which was marked up with a yellow highlighter, also warned that Amato could expect no more financial help from his family if he failed to meet the obligations.

“This is a promise — you better heed the warning — it’s real,” the note read.

‘We had group sex but we didn’t kill her’: US Bitcoin tycoon and his wife arrested after the death of teenage model in Malaysia break their silence to insist they are innocent

In their first interview since they went to ground, Alex and Luna Johnson told MailOnline of their sorrow over the death of Dutch model Ivana Smit, whose naked body was found 14 storeys below their balcony in December 2017.

They insisted that they had nothing to do with her death, saying that they have left behind their party lifestyle after a ‘witch hunt’ that saw them questioned by police in Kuala Lumpur.

The husband and wife were arrested when Miss Smit’s naked body was found 200ft beneath their apartment after a wild night out.

Colorado dad charged in the death of son found encased in cement in Denver storage unit

Leland Pankey, 39, was charged with first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in a death and tampering with a deceased human in the death of his son, Caden McWilliams, 7, the Denver District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

Caden’s body was found on Dec. 23 inside a Denver storage unit. Police say the body was found encased in a block of cement placed inside a dog carrier.

“What began as a domestic violence call to the Aurora Police Department rapidly evolved into a homicide investigation because responding officers cared enough to ensure the involved children were safe,” District Attorney Beth McCann said. “We have now implicated both parents in this truly horrific crime.”

Police were led to Pankey after investigating his wife’s allegations of domestic abuse. Elisha Pankey, faced with child abuse charges related to Caden’s death, met with investigators in March.

Rolling Thunder chief predicts biker descent on DC if Dems impeach Trump

“I think he’s doing a great job, and I wish Nancy Pelosi and her cronies would get off his back,” executive director Artie Muller said Thursday after returning to New Jersey from the group’s final planned national gathering in Washington.

Muller is likely to be joined by throngs of fellow bikers if a pro-Trump rally were to take place. Many members of the POW/MIA organization are fiercely supportive of Trump, even if they are sticking to their plan to fragment the Memorial Day gathering into regional rides after 32 years of descending on Washington.

Francis “Mac” MacDonald, the president of a Rolling Thunder chapter in Virginia, said he “and most of our chapter” would ride in Trump’s defense but stressed it would be in a personal capacity.

He bans political and religious talk among his chapter in favor of unifying ideals.

The numbers involved in a pro-Trump rally could be large. More than 1 million bikers are believed to have traveled to D.C. for this year’s Rolling Thunder rally. And infrequent, unrelated biker activism has drawn large numbers, including a 2013 ride that brought thousands of bikers to counter-protest a 9/11 event originally billed as the Million Muslim March.

4 from Indiana sentenced for veterans’ fundraising fraud

Federal prosecutors say James Linville was sentenced this week to five years in prison; Joanie Watson was sentenced to more than three years; and Thomas Johnson and Amy Bennett were sentenced to three years.

All four had been indicted on charges alleging that they solicited funds from individuals and businesses in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio.

They allegedly pocketed more than $125,000 in cash, gift cards, merchandise and other donations to the Wounded Warrior Fund Inc. and the Wounded Warrior Foundation Inc.

Dad loses eye, part of nose after common symptom leads to cancer diagnosis

Graeme Heward, from Lymm, Cheshire, has been left with a hole in his face after doctors had to remove his right eye and part of his nose to tackle the tumor.

The 58-year-old had spent months dealing with eye problems and had felt pressure on his sinuses but believed he was nothing more sinister than conjunctivitis.

Graeme has had countless surgeries to go back and remove parts of the tumor in his nasal lining, correct his breathing, and fit his prosthetic.

Medics can’t give him any more radiotherapy or cut away the tumor any further due to it pushing on a major blood vessel, so he will never be cancer free but
regular chemo is preventing it from spreading.

Fake News: Chick-fil-A NOT Giving Away Sandwiches And Beverages For Their 37th Birthday

Is Chick-fil-A giving away 2 free spicy or regular chicken sandwiches and 2 large beverages for their 37th birthday?

No, that’s not true: a scammer created a fake Facebook page impersonating the brand and the link in the viral post with the so-called offer leads to a link that will randomly display advertising or other offers of questionable value.

The story originated from a post on a fake Facebook page that read:

Immigration:

Rep. Collins: What I just saw at the border will break your heart

After returning from a trip to the U.S. southern border, Republican Rep. Doug Collins issues a challenge to Democrats to come to the table and fix the crisis.

Mexico dispatches team to DC negotiate tariff solution, as Trump demands illegal immigration remedy

The president on Thursday announced the new tariffs, which are slated to go into effect on June 10.

Trump said that a new five percent tariff would be placed on all Mexican imports to pressure the country to do more to help crack down on the surge of migrants trying to cross the U.S. Southern border.

Trump warned, though, that the tariff percentage would gradually increase up to 25 percent “until the illegal immigration problem is remedied.”

Grassley urged the president to “consider alternatives,” such as “imposing a fee on the billions of dollars of remittances that annually leave the United States to Mexico”—something Grassley said “will only encourage illegal immigration.”

“I support nearly every one of President Trump’s immigration policies, but this
is not one of them,” Grassley said.

Sarah Sanders: Mexico needs to ‘step up and do more’ to assist in the border crisis

Sanders told “America’s Newsroom” on Friday morning that the tariffs are in response to Mexico’s unwillingness to “step up and do more” in regard to immigration.

“The president has been asking them for months to do that,” Sanders said. “Now he is putting some measures in place that hopefully will get them to engage more so that they will start to help us in this process.”

The press secretary argued that on Wednesday a group of more than 1,000 people attempted to enter the country at one time together and that Mexico should take responsibility in helping return people crossing illegally to their home countries.

Border patrol agents detained the group, the largest amount attempting to cross at one time to date, according to Customs and Border Patrol.

TRUMP ADMIN NOW VETTING SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS OF VISA APPLICANTS

A State Department official told The Daily Caller on Friday that visa application forms have been updated to ask applicants for their social media identifiers.

The social media accounts will then be checked against government watchlists to ensure there are no “red flags” associated with the applicant’s online statements.

If the applicant is discovered to have been flagged by the government, the State Department will put the application aside and conduct more research into the applicant’s online behavior to ensure they are not a threat.

“There have been incidents where terror attacks have been planned almost entirely on social media,” the official explained. “This is one more step in strengthening U.S. border security.”

Nearly 9-in-10 Illegal Aliens Recently Released into U.S. Not Showing Up to Court Hearings

Since December 21, 2018, DHS has released at least 190,500 border crossers and illegal aliens into the interior of the United States. Acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan told Congress this month that those foreign nationals are eventually given work permits that allow them to take U.S. jobs while awaiting their asylum hearings.

In testimony before Congress this month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials said that the agency had recently conducted a pilot program with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to test how many recent illegal aliens would show up to their asylum hearings after being released into the U.S.

The results, an ICE official told Congress, were that about 87 percent of illegal aliens, or almost 9-in-10, recently released by DHS into the U.S. did not show up to their asylum hearings. With illegal aliens not showing up to their scheduled hearings, the ICE official said, the agency is then forced to grapple with attempting to locate and deport each illegal alien, an almost impossible task that strains federal resources.

Pictured: Group of 1,000 Illegal Immigrants, the Largest Ever Seen at the Border

The group of 1,036 illegal migrants were apprehended in the El Paso, Texas, border sector on May 29. All of the aliens were from Guatemala, Honduras, or El Salvador.

Surveillance footage showed them streaming across the border, appearing to move through a hole in a fence. They were apprehended south of downtown El Paso, between the Bridge of the Americas and Stanton Street Bridge.

“The apprehension of 1,036 individuals in a single group—the largest group ever encountered by Border Patrol agents—demonstrates the severity of the border security and humanitarian crisis at our Southwest border,” said CPB Deputy Commissioner Robert Perez in a statement.

Judge Who Allegedly Helped Illegal Alien Escape Wants to be Paid During Trial

Newtown District Court Judge Shelley Richmond Joseph, 51, was arraigned on an obstruction of justice charge and other charges on April 25 at the federal courthouse in Boston. She pleaded not guilty.

Joseph wants to have her salary reinstated while her criminal case unfolds. She was suspended without pay after being indicted on the charges.

Joseph’s attorneys filed a motion on May 30 with the Supreme Judicial Court, requesting the reversal of the order suspending the judge’s pay, reported Mass Live. Joseph earned $181,000 last year.

SHERIFF SAYS DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE SHOULD BE ARRESTED FOR SIGNING SANCTUARY BILL

“The sanctuary city, or sanctuary state issue, is actually causing the problem we have on our border,” the Spokane County sheriff explained.

“When the United States is signaling to illegal immigrants that you can cross that border with no repercussions, we are going to have more and more problems. I disagree with the progressive socialists’ view that there was no crime associated with illegal immigration.”

The harsh criticism comes after Inslee, who is also running for the Democratic presidential nomination, signed legislation earlier in May that impedes ICE’s ability to catch illegal immigrants in the state.

“There is no way that this law is going to be followed because I have a responsibility to make sure that criminals are taken off the streets of my county, regardless of immigration status. I will be helping my federal partners do that,” Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said Friday on Fox News.

Politics:

Trump’s approval rating hits highest point in two years

The survey found that 48 percent approve of the job Trump is doing, compared to 52 percent who said they disapprove.

That’s up from 45 percent approval in March. The last time the president’s job approval rating reached 48 percent in the Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll survey was in June of 2017.

Trump appears to be getting a lift from the economy, with a record 62 percent approving of his approach to employment and 59 percent approving of his handling of the economy.

“People’s views on the economy are gradually pushing Trump’s numbers up and his actions on other issues like China and immigration are neutral to positive,” said Mark Penn, the co-director of the Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll survey.

“Every point of increase in this range of 45 to 50 improves the possibility of re-election.”

WILLIAM BARR BLASTS MEDIA FOR IGNORING SURVEILLANCE AGAINST TRUMP CAMPAIGN

“Normally the media would be interested in letting the sunshine in and finding out what the truth is,” Barr said in an interview with CBS News. “And usually the media doesn’t care that much about protecting intelligence sources and methods.

But I do and I will.”

“I’ve been in the business as I’ve said for over 50 years long before they were born and I know how to handle classified information and I believe strongly in protecting intelligence sources and methods.”

Barr did not specify instances where journalists have published information about sources and methods.

But as The Daily Caller News Foundation has reported, newspapers like The New York Times and Washington Post have published numerous stories disclosing classified information about sources and methods used in the Russia probe.

California Dems propose resolution linking Israeli government to massacre at Pittsburgh synagogue

The document was one of a slew of secretive, unpublished proposals obtained by Fox News that are slated for debate beginning Friday morning.

Some of the draft resolutions would mandate that Democrat officials work to “nullify” President Trump’s pro-Israel policies.

One document directs party officials to take a subsidized trip to Israel only “if they undertake to devote an equal amount of time to visiting Palestinian towns, villages and refugee camps in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.”

Party officials said they would not discuss the private documents. “We won’t be commenting on resolutions that have not yet been finalized, debated or adopted,” California Democratic Party spokesman Roger Salazar told Fox 
News.

Other resolutions set to be debated at the convention, which will conclude on Sunday, include some condemning U.S. policy in Venezuela, as well as proposals on a host of domestic issues.

Gavin Newsom: We Welcome Women to California to Have Abortions

Newsom’s proclamation was intended as a response to pro-life laws that have been enacted recently in conservative states, which he called “extreme laws that violate the fundamental rights of women.”

Liberal states have also enacted laws that end all restrictions on abortion, including partial-birth and late-term abortions.

The rush to legislate coincides with renewed anticipation that the Supreme Court might overturn the Roe v. Wade precedent, now that the arrival of Justice Brett Kavanuagh means that it has a 5-4 conservative majority.

The proclamation largely reiterates California’s own existing laws protecting abortion as “reproductive freedom,” which he described as “a fundamental right for all Californians.”

Franklin Graham Calls on People to Pray for Trump This Sunday

On June 2, Graham and 250 Christian leaders are calling on people to set aside time in earnest prayer for Trump.

When I talked to him on Tuesday’s “Washington Watch” about what prompted the idea, he says he felt an urgency in his heart.

The attacks on the president are intensifying, he explained, to a level we’ve never seen before.

How Many Were Really Spied On?

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and the court created to oversee its implementation are going to be in the news quite a bit in the upcoming weeks.

This is because the FISA court plays a central role in the ongoing “Spygate” scandal, which is only the biggest political scandal in the history of the United States, dwarfing even the Nixon Watergate scandal.

New evidence has surfaced that it wasn’t only former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page who was the subject of FISA court hearings during the 2016 presidential campaign.

At least three other persons in the Trump campaign were targets of FISA court hearings, according to a member of Congress who sits on the House Judiciary Committee.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) helpfully revealed that during her questioning of former Attorney General Loretta Lynch in a closed-door hearing of the House Judiciary Committee on Dec. 19, 2018.

Andrew Gillum Hit with Federal Subpoena for Campaign Records

Prosecutors want information regarding John H. Jackson, CEO of the Schott Foundation for Public Education. Gillum served as a board member of the charity until March 2017.

The Florida Democrat also served as president of a related non-profit, Opportunity to Learn Action Fund, until 2017. The subpoena asks for documents on Gillum’s political action committee Forward Florida and his midterm 2018 campaign.

Last month, Gillum settled a state ethics case, agreeing to pay a $5,000 fine for receiving gifts from a lobbyist.

He was also Tallahassee’s mayor during an FBI corruption investigation into city hall that led to three arrests earlier this year. Gillum claimed during the campaign he wasn’t a target in that investigation.

World News:

Car bomb targets U.S. convoy in Kabul, killing four bystanders and wounding four U.S. troops

It was the second suicide attack in Kabul in the past two days, following a blast Thursday at a military academy that killed six.

Police spokesman Ferdous Faramarz said three other bystanders were also wounded in Friday’s attack. Col. David Butler, a spokesman for the U.S. military, said the U.S. injuries were very minor.

After the attack, photos circulating on social media showed tall plumes of smoke rising over eastern Kabul, which is also home to a number of U.S., NATO and Afghan security complexes.

All Germans urged to wear kippah in protest against antisemitism

The kippah protest has been called to coincide with al-Quds Day, when protesters gather to remember the occupation of East Jerusalem by Israel during the six-day war in 1967. Al-Quds is the Arabic name for Jerusalem.

The demonstration is typically a magnet in central Berlin for anti-Israel demonstrators, and attracts Hezbollah and Hamas sympathisers as well as neo-Nazis sporting antisemitic slogans and symbols.

The demonstration – dubbed Deutschland trägt Kippa (Germany wears the kippah) – has been welcomed by Josef Schuster, the president of the Central Council of Jews, who said it was a sign of solidarity and “helpful but insufficient”.

The German tabloid newspaper Bild has been one of the most vocal supporters of the protests, even publishing a cut-out kippah for readers to download and print.

Protesters in Iran, Iraq burn Israel, US flags on ‘Quds Day’

Held each year on the last Friday of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, Iran has marked Quds Day since the start of its 1979 Islamic Revolution by the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Al-Quds is the Arabic name for Jerusalem, and Iran says the day is an occasion to express support for the Palestinians.

This year’s protests took place as the White House is promoting the June 25-26 meeting in the Gulf state of Bahrain as the first phase of its Mideast peace plan.

As rallies began across the Iranian capital, demonstrators set fire to American and Israeli flags, as well as effigies of President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The rallies all headed to Tehran University, where the ceremony ended at Friday’s noon prayers. Similar rallies took place in 950 cities and towns across the country.

Turkey Says No Delay in Delivery of S-400s From Russia

Turkey’s purchase of the Russian systems has strained its already tense ties with the United States, a NATO ally, which says the S-400s are not compatible with the alliance’s defense network and pose a threat to F-35 stealth fighter jets which Turkey is due to receive.

Ankara has since proposed forming a working group to assess the U.S. concerns, but has yet to hear back from Washington on that proposal. The United States has warned of sanctions if Turkey presses ahead with the deal.

Speaking with reporters in Singapore, acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said while he was not aware of a working group, he had spoken with his Turkish counterpart in the last week and they were making progress on discussions.

Canadian province will prohibit sale of gas-powered cars by 2040

By the time 2040 rolls around, the province will completely prohibit the sale of gas-powered vehicles — that is, if the law’s terms don’t change within the next 30 years.

Clean Energy Canada policy director Dan Woynillowicz told CBC News in a statement:

“This is going to go a long way toward addressing a problem we’ve had in British Columbia, which is we have more British Columbians interested in buying electric cars than we have electric cars on dealership lots.”

While California’s EV sales are doing well, The Verge notes that BC’s ZEVA is the first location in North America to pass legislation that aims to ban the sale of gas-powered cars.

The US has been lagging behind Europe when it comes to EV adoption for years, and a similar law could change that.

Rep. Mike Levin from Southern California and Sen. Jeff Merkley from Oregon recently proposed a bill also called Zero-Emission Vehicles Act that would prohibit sales of gas-powered cars in the US by 2040, but so far, the odds aren’t looking good.

South Korea scrambles to curb African swine fever spread after North Korea reports outbreak in pig farms

The country’s agriculture ministry claimed Friday that North Korea first reported to the World Organization for Animal Health that 77 of the 99 pigs at a farm in Jagang province died of the disease and another 22 pigs were culled.

North Korea’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper on Friday published articles about the spread of the African swine fever across Asia, but appears to have omitted that it has also spread in the country.

The disease, which is harmless to humans but deadly for pigs, has ravaged farms in China over the past few months, where over a million pigs had to be culled. It has since spread to Vietnam, Cambodia and Mongolia.

Venezuelan Refugees in Colombia Threatened with ‘Social Cleansing’ amid Migration Wave

The threats took place in the municipality of Soacha, south of Bogotá, where pamphlets were handed out warning that the “time for social cleansing has arrived.”

The pamphlets, produced by an anonymous group, declare that on May 21st would begin the “cleansing of Venezuelans and the depraved” from the municipality, reportedly a reference to those from the LGBT community.

This month, the Director General of Colombia’s Migration Agency Christian Krüger Sarmiento revealed that over 1.2 million Venezuelans have fled to Colombia as a result of the economic and humanitarian crisis in their homeland, which continues to worsen as Nicolás Maduro’s socialist regime clings on to power. Colombia’s Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo said last October the country is expecting to receive around four million Venezuelans by 2021 if the Maduro regime is not removed.

The constant arrival of Venezuelans, the world’s largest migratory flow behind those fleeing the Syrian civil war, has caused significant tension within local communities fearing high levels of unemployment, a rise in crime, and potential undercutting of wages.

Obama Tells Overseas Crowd that U.S. Law Allows ‘Anybody To Buy Any Weapon, Anytime’ Including ‘Machine Guns’

“Some of you may be aware our gun laws in the United States don’t make much sense,” Obama said, “Anybody can buy any weapon any time — without much if any regulation, they can buy it over the Internet, they can buy machine guns.”

Tech Watch:

Amid censorship fears, Trump campaign ‘checking out’ alternative social network

The Twitter-like platform was initially hatched last year as a tool for digital news outlets to claw revenue back from big social networks like Facebook.

But as those platforms purge some of the internet’s most inflammatory supporters of President Donald Trump over posts deemed dangerous or offensive, Parler has carved out a niche among these banned right-wing influencers — like Gavin McInnes, Laura Loomer and Milo Yiannopoulos.

As conservative distrust of social media giants rises to the top of Washington’s political agenda, Parler has also gained the notice of some bona fide Republican leaders:

Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale and Utah Sen. Mike Lee both began posting on the site this month.

According to one person close to Trump’s campaign, the president’s team is considering setting him up with an account on the site.

Parler CEO: Social media is supposed to be a community forum

Parler CEO John Matze discusses social media’s war on free speech and the rise of censorship.

Over two billion medical records, bank statements, and more are at risk of being exposed, study finds

To simplify it at the consumer level, that data includes customer data such as passport scans and bank statements, as well as business information like intellectual property — basically any file that may be stored or shared on the internet.

Digital Shadows Photon Research Team is the one shining the light on that staggering number — a statistic made even more mind-boggling because that 2.3 billion total is a 50 percent jump (750 million files) from last year’s analysis.

Maybe the most staggering consumer concern that the Photon Team uncovered was some 4.7 million personal, medical-related files are being left out in the open — including patient records, X-ray scans, and physician’s notes. Health record data breaches are nothing new, but they are concerning nonetheless -especially when the consumer counts on agencies like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to prevent cybersecurity attacks on medical devices.

All indications point to consumers’ favorite digital hooligans — cybercriminals — as the force lurking in the background and conducting this grab-and-run mission.

“It would appear threat actors are also attempting to monetize this exposure,” theorizes Harrison Van Riper, a Strategy and Research Analyst with Digital Shadows. “Within our data set, Photon detected … 17 million files had been held hostage by various ransomware variants.”

Commentary/Opinion:

Tucker: Impeachment looks certain

Increasing number of Democrats calling to impeach Trump following Mueller’s statement.

Rep. Scalise responds to impeachment threats

Democrats band together on impeachment; reaction from House Minority Whip Steve Scalise.

Real News Insights w/ Rose Tennent

All along it was the DEMOCRATS who can’t accept the results of the 2016 election. They created a total HOAX and continue the illegal Witch Hunts!