RT

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has lifted a three-year moratorium on civilian gain-of-function (GOF) research that enhances the potency of pandemic pathogens such as SARS, the flu and Ebola.

“GOF research is important in helping us identify, understand, and develop strategies and effective countermeasures against rapidly evolving pathogens that pose a threat to public health,” said NIH director Francis S. Collins in a statement.  Continue reading “‘Nature is a terrorist and we have to stay ahead’: US lifts ban on pandemic pathogen tweaks”

Mail.com

ADELANTO, Calif. (AP) — Drive by the High Desert Truck Stop, turn down a rutted road by the bail bond signs, slip behind a steel fence edged with barbed wire, and you can glimpse the future of California’s emerging legal pot industry.

In a boxy warehouse marked only by a street number, an $8 million marijuana production plant — a farm, laboratory and factory all in one — is rising inside cavernous rooms crisscrossed by electrical cables.   Continue reading “Go big, go small? The fight to survive in California pot”

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DETROIT (AP) — Lindsey Hamama has one gift on her Christmas list: to have her father home. A federal judge in Detroit is mulling whether to release her father, Usama “Sam” Hamama, who was apprehended by immigration officials as part of a roundup in June, and hundreds of others whose deportations to Iraq were suspended but remain in custody.

U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith, who will hear arguments Wednesday, blocked the deportation of 1,400 people in July to allow time to challenge their removal in immigration court. About 275 people are jailed or in detention centers in roughly two dozen states.   Continue reading “Detroit judge mulling release of detained Iraqi nationals”

RT

Speaking to RT, former US Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul said that the recent phone call between Trump and Putin was a good sign, but the hawkish wing of American politics is always standing at the ready.

On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a call to his American counterpart, Donald Trump, to thank him and CIA director Mike Pompeo for providing intelligence that helped thwart a major terrorist attack in St Petersburg. Ron Paul, who has consistently pushed for constructive relations between the United States and Russia, told RT that he was excited by the news.   Continue reading “‘Why don’t we talk to people before we use sanctions & bombs?’ – Ron Paul”

RT

The UN General Assembly will hold a special session on Thursday, following a request by Arab and Muslim states. The countries have cited the US decision to veto a draft resolution on the status of Jerusalem.

According to Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour, the General Assembly will vote on a draft resolution calling for Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel to be withdrawn. The same resolution, put to the UN Security Council, was vetoed by the United States on Monday.   Continue reading “UN General Assembly to hold rare emergency session after US vetoes Jerusalem resolution”

Mail.com

ATLANTA (AP) — The FBI is part of the probe into what caused a fire that knocked out power to the world’s busiest airport in Atlanta, but an agency spokesman said Tuesday there was no sign of anything connected to terrorism.

“There’s no indication at this point of anything nefarious,” FBI spokesman Kevin Rowson said. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has also been involved in the investigation, Georgia Power spokesman Craig Bell said.   Continue reading “FBI involved with airport blackout probe; no sign of terror”

Mail.com

BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts man convicted of leading an Islamic State group-inspired plot to behead a conservative blogger is scheduled to be sentenced. Prosecutors will ask the judge Tuesday in Boston to sentence 28-year-old David Wright to life in prison for his role in the plot to kill New York resident Pamela Geller.

The plot was never carried out. Jurors found Wright guilty in October of conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism and other crimes.   Continue reading “Man convicted of plotting to behead blogger to be sentenced”

RT

China has successfully completed its fifth round of yuan-backed oil futures testing may officially begin the contract by the end of this year. It seeks to challenge the dominance of the petrodollar.

Last week the Shanghai International Energy Exchange said the system has met all the listing requirements after rehearsals for futures trading denominated in the Chinese currency.   Continue reading “Nightmare before Christmas for petrodollar as yuan-priced crude futures due to launch”

RT

The mayors of seven major French cities say they have been “backed up against a wall” by an unending influx of refugees. Paris must address the strain on the areas, which are struggling to accommodate new arrivals, they wrote.

The mayors of Lille, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Grenoble, Rennes, Toulouse and Nantes have called out the government for inaction, asking it to do more to tackle the refugee crisis. The resources at the mayors’ disposal are far from adequate to cover the needs of asylum seekers who want to stay at already-overcrowded shelters, the mayors wrote in an article to Le Monde on Saturday.   Continue reading “French cities overwhelmed by refugee flow, govt must step in urgently – mayors”

Mail.com

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A prominent U.S. appeals court judge announced his retirement Monday days after women alleged he subjected them to inappropriate sexual conduct or comments. Judge Alex Kozinski of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a statement that a battle over the accusations would not be good for the judiciary. He said he’ll step down, effective immediately.   Continue reading “US judge steps down after accusations of sexual misconduct”

Mail.com

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Islamic State gunmen stormed a partially constructed building near an intelligence training center in the Afghan capital on Monday, triggering a gun battle with security forces.

Nasrat Rahimi, deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said the fighting ended when Afghan security forces shot and killed the three attackers without suffering any casualties. He said the gunmen, who launched their assault with a car bomb and rocket-propelled grenades, appear to have been wearing police uniforms. The militants took up positions at the construction site in order to fire down on the training center.  Continue reading “Islamic State attacks Afghan intelligence compound in Kabul”

RT

A registered child sex offender from Illinois has been given two-years’ probation for playing Santa Claus at a Christmas event. The man was banned from activities involving young kids, with dressing as Santa specifically mentioned.

On Wednesday, McHenry County Court imposed the sentence on 33-year-old Taylor Blaul from Crystal Lake for violating sex-offender laws. It’s after he sported a Santa Claus costume at a Christmas fundraiser at a local animal shelter, the Chicago Tribune reports.  Continue reading “Bad Santa: Illinois child molester sentenced again for playing Santa and posing with children”

RT

Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) has threatened attacks in the United States in retaliation for Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, according to one of the terrorist group’s social media accounts.

The message was relayed on an account on the Telegram instant message service. In that message, IS said it would carry out operations in the US, showing photos of New York’s Times Square and what appeared to be an explosive belt and detonator.   Continue reading “ISIS threatens attacks on US soil over Trump’s Jerusalem decision”

Mail.com

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — More than a half-century after a Louisiana teen was sent to prison for killing a sheriff’s deputy and nearly a year after the nation’s highest court ruled in his favor, the now 71-year-old inmate will have to wait up to two months longer for his first chance at parole.

Louisiana’s parole board on Thursday postponed its scheduled hearing for Henry Montgomery, who was 17 when he shot and killed East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff’s deputy Charles Hurt in 1963. Jim Wise, vice-chairman of the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Committee on Parole, said the board needs a legal opinion from Louisiana’s attorney general to resolve an apparent conflict between two laws governing parole hearings: One says a three-member panel must decide parole for juvenile offenders, while another says anyone convicted of crimes against a law enforcement officer must face a panel of five members or more.   Continue reading “Louisiana delays parole hearing for 71-year-old inmate”

Mail.com

CHICAGO (AP) — The question of whether federal agents display racial bias by staging phony drug stash-house stings overwhelmingly in black neighborhoods is the focus of hearings in Chicago that could determine whether agencies curtail or even abandon their use nationwide.

A first-of-its-kind panel of federal trial judges on Thursday began two days of hearings on the stings. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives oversees the stings that typically involve agents posing as cartel couriers who talk suspects into agreeing to rob drugs that don’t exist from what they are told are guarded stash houses that are also fictitious.   Continue reading “Judges consider if racial bias in drug stash-house stings”

RT

Leaders of Islamic countries have called for East Jerusalem to be recognized as the capital of Palestine, stating that Donald Trump’s move last week had voided the status of the US as a mediator in the Palestinian-Israeli peace process.

The Muslim leaders had gathered in Istanbul, Turkey on Wednesday for an emergency summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). They condemned the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The controversial move was branded “an attack” on the rights of Palestinian people in the final declaration by the summit.   Continue reading “Muslim leaders call for recognition of East Jerusalem as Palestinian capital”

RT

Russian Defense Ministry representatives have arrived in the North Korean capital. It is the second visit by Russian officials in two weeks, and comes as Washington claims it is ready for direct talks with Pyongyang, while still staging war games in the turbulent region.

The delegation is headed by Deputy Director of the Russian National Defense Command Center Viktor Kalganov, and has been on assignment in North Korea since Tuesday. The officials are to remain in Pyongyang for the rest of the week.   Continue reading “Russian military delegation arrives in N. Korea, scouting any chance for dialogue”

Mail.com

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Latest on Gov. Mark Dayton’s appointment of a replacement for Minnesota Sen. Al Franken (all times local): 11:50 a.m. Minnesota Sen. Al Franken says Tina Smith will be an “excellent” U.S. senator in his place.

But Franken still isn’t setting a date when he’ll step down. Franken aid last week that he would depart “in coming weeks” after he was accused by several women of improper conduct. Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton on Wednesday appointed Smith, his lieutenant governor, to fill fellow Democrat Franken’s seat until a special election next November.  Continue reading “The Latest: Franken praises Smith; still no date to leave”

Mail.com

NEW YORK (AP) — The man accused of carrying out a bomb attack in New York City’s subway system was influenced by the sermons and writings of a radical Muslim preacher, Bangladeshi officials said Wednesday in the hours before the man was expected to have his first court appearance in the U.S.

Akayed Ullah, a Bangladeshi immigrant living in Brooklyn, had asked his wife in Bangladesh to read the writings and listen to the sermons of Moulana Jasimuddin Rahmani, the currently imprisoned leader of a banned group called Ansarullah Bangla Team, said Monirul Islam, a top official of Bangladesh’s counterterrorism department.  Continue reading “Would-be suicide bomber in New York City faces court hearing”

RT

Currencies will soon coexist on a more ‘equal footing’ in international markets, and the US dollar will be forced to share prominence with the Chinese yuan and the EU’s euro, according to global currency systems expert Barry Eichengreen.

In his book How Global Currencies Work: Past, Present, and Future, he wrote that reserve currences can and do coexist. The book, co-authored by European Central Bank economists Arnaud Mehl and Livia Chițu, was published this month.  Continue reading “Dollar’s days as world’s most important currency are numbered – Berkeley economics professor”