Today's News: April 04, 2019

World News
Gangsters with links to the 7/7 London bombings stole £8billion from British taxpayers in 20-year fraud before funnelling cash to Pakistan to support Osama Bin Laden
Daily Mail – A network of fraudsters stole billions of pounds from taxpayers in a 20-year crime spree on an industrial scale, funneling tens of millions to terrorists including Osama Bin Laden, according to police and intelligence files.
An investigation by The Sunday Times has revealed how a sprawling gang of British Asians infiltrated government departments, associated with Abu Hamza and one of the 7/7 bombers, bought Ferraris with personalised plates and cosied up to politicians including Tony Blair – all while keeping their operations so secretive investigators had to resort to tying a camera to a dog to glean intelligence from inside one of their factories.
The files show four HMRC investigators pleaded with bosses to prosecute the crimelords but were rebuffed – and one claims he was prevented from sharing HMRC data with MI5 because the Revenue wanted to maintain the confidentiality of the terror suspects’ tax records.
Russia stakes hold on Arctic with military base
AP – Missile launchers ply icy roads and air defense systems point menacingly into the sky at this Arctic military outpost, a key vantage point for Russia to project its power over the resource-rich polar region.
The base, dubbed Severny Klever (Northern Clover) for its trefoil shape, is painted in the white, blue and red colors of the Russian national flag. It has been designed so soldiers can reach all of its sprawling facilities without venturing outdoors — a useful precaution in an area where temperatures often plunge to minus 50 Celsius (minus 58 Fahrenheit) during the winter, and even in the short Arctic summer are often freezing at night.
It’s strategically located on Kotelny Island, between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea on the Arctic shipping route, and permanently houses up to 250 military personnel responsible for maintaining air and sea surveillance facilities and coastal defenses like anti-ship missiles.
The Russian base has enough supplies to remain fully autonomous for more than a year.
No-deal Brexit outlawed as May faces fury
CNN – UK lawmakers have finally agreed on something related to Brexit.
By the narrowest of margins, the House of Commons voted in favor of legislation which forces the UK government to request another extension to the Brexit process. The bill, which passed by 313 votes to 312, seeks to prevent Prime Minister Theresa May yanking the UK out of the European Union without an agreed deal.
It came as the May’s Conservative party descended into civil war over her strategy.
Two ministers resigned from May’s government in protest at her efforts to seek a compromise with the opposition leader, Jeremy Corbyn. One of her most senior ministers warned that a long extension to the Brexit process was inevitable.
Senior figures in both main parties raised the prospect of a second referendum to obtain the British public’s backing for any deal — and to offer the choice of remaining in the EU.
Ex-Croatia PM jailed after court ups his corruption sentence
Fox – A top Croatian court has increased to six years the corruption sentence against former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and ordered his immediate imprisonment.
Sanader was transferred to a Zagreb prison on Thursday evening after the court upheld prosecutors’ appeal of the 2017 sentence of four and one-half years in prison for corruption in a 2009 property sale in Zagreb.
Sanader served as prime minister from 2003 to 2009. He is the highest-ranking official tried for corruption in Croatia.
The former premier has faced several corruption trials that are in various stages of proceedings. He has denied any wrongdoing, claiming that charges against him are political.
Bomb in Somalia’s capital injures 6 near police academy
Fox – A Somali police officer says a car bomb exploded near the gate of a police academy in the capital, Mogadishu, injuring six people on Thursday evening.
Migrants planning border push clash with police in Greece
Fox – Clashes broke out Thursday between migrants and Greek police outside a camp in northern Greece, where hundreds gathered in the hope of reviving a route that saw hundreds of thousands enter more prosperous countries in Europe.
U.S. News, Politics & Government
House votes to end Yemen war, rebuffing President
AP – The House on Thursday voted to end American involvement in the Yemen war, rebuffing the Trump administration’s support for the military campaign led by Saudi Arabia as Congress for the first time invoked the War Powers Resolution to try and stop a foreign conflict.
The measure now heads to President Donald Trump, who is expected to veto it, with the White House citing “serious constitutional concerns.” Congress lacks the votes to override him.
House approval came on a 247-175 vote. The Senate vote was 54-46 on March 13.
“The president will have to face the reality that Congress is no longer going to ignore its constitutional obligations when it comes to foreign policy,” said Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel of New York, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He said the humanitarian crisis in Yemen triggered by the war “demands moral leadership.”
House Democrats to sue Trump over border wall emergency
RT – Determined to stop President Donald Trump’s efforts to build a wall along the US-Mexico border, House Democrats voted to challenge his national emergency declaration in court.
Armed civilians living off the grid to catch migrants illegally crossing the border
11alive – The group doesn’t consider themselves vigilantes or a militia, and says their mission is simply “to document the crisis on the border.”
A group of armed civilians are taking matters into their own hands and vowing to protect the country from an influx of migrants crossing through the rugged terrain of the Chihuahuan Desert.
The United Constitutional Patriots have set up camp in Sunland Park, New Mexico, a town tucked in the southeast corner bordering El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua.
The KENS 5 Border Team drove down a dirt road along the border fence to meet members of UCP, who have lived off-grid for the past 47 days.
Jim Benvie and a man nicknamed “Viper” were on watch Wednesday afternoon. They said they are volunteering to help U.S. Border Patrol agents with extra sets of eyes and ears.
El Paso buckles under migrant surge… 600 arrivals a day
Texas Tribune – Federal agencies have re-directed agents to deal with a growing wave of migrants and the president is threatening to close the border. Meanwhile, local shelters face a daily dilemma: 500 to 600 new arrivals who need somewhere to go.
Private Militia Serves as Eyes and Ears of Border Patrol Near El Paso
The New American – The United Constitutional Patriots, which might be called a “militia” but for its small numbers, is a group composed mostly of armed ex-servicemen who have set up a camp near Sunland Park, New Mexico, on the border with the Mexican state of Chihuahua. However, their mission is not to apprehend or fire at illegal border crossers, but to be the eyes and ears of Border Patrol agents. Mauricio Casillas of station KVIA’s Good Morning El Paso, interviewed the group’s commander, John Horton, who said: “This country was built on three things: God, guns and guts. That American flag has to keep flying. It’s in danger, a lot of danger right now.”
Horton said the group has weapons, but they are for self-defense. “We don’t want Rambos. We don’t want someone down here just to create a problem,” he said. “We’re not going to have any shootings. We’re against it. We are armed for our own protection.”
Mormons repeal ban on baptisms for children of gay parents
AZ Central – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is repealing rules unveiled in 2015 that banned baptisms for children of gay parents and made gay marriage a sin worthy of expulsion.
The surprise announcement by the faith widely known as the Mormon church reverses rules that triggered widespread condemnations from LGBTQ members and their allies and marked a jarring shift from the religion’s push to carve out a more compassionate stance on LGBTQ issues.
The rules banned baptisms for children living with gay parents until they turn 18, disavowed same-sex relationships and received approval from global church leaders
Economy & Business
IMF: Monopolistic Power Growing Around World
Market Watch – Growing monopoly power is seen across the developed world, which could be a contributor to ills ranging from lackluster investment growth to growing income inequality, a new International Monetary Fund report finds.
The IMF paper, released ahead of its World Economic Outlook, finds that firms’ price markups over marginal costs rose by close to 8% since 2000 in advanced countries. The study looked at nearly 1 million firms across 27 countries. It didn’t find the same markups in the emerging markets it studied.
What’s also consistent is that these markups have been concentrated among a small fraction of what it calls dynamic and innovative firms. These firms perform better than others in terms of productivity, they invest more in intangible assets like patents and software, and they’ve gained market share.
Science & Technology
There is mysterious ‘undocumented technology’ hidden on Intel computer chips, researchers say
Metro – Computer experts have claimed that the chips which power most of the computers in the world are hiding mysterious and ‘undocumented’ technology. Analysts from Positive Technologies alleged that Intel chips and processors contain an enigmatic ‘logic signal analyser’ capable of reading ‘almost all data on a computer’. The claims are likely to alarm conspiracy theorists, even though the research does not prove long-standing rumours that the NSA has hidden ‘back doors’ on computer chips which are used to spy on billions of people. Maxim Goryachy and Mark Ermolov revealed their findings at the Black Hat Conference, a gathering of hackers and cybersecurity specialists in Singapore.
SPACEX fires up Mars spaceship for first time, rattling homes for miles around.
Business Insider – With a deafening roar that rattled windows, SpaceX — the rocket company founded by Elon Musk — fired up its new Mars rocket ship prototype for the first time on Wednesday.
The roughly 60-foot-tall stainless-steel rocket ship, called the “Starhopper” (previously the “Test Hopper“), is a basic prototype of a much larger vehicle called Starship. When completed, perhaps in the early 2020s, the two-stage launcher may stand perhaps 400 feet tall and be capable of landing its nearly 200-foot-tall spaceship on Mars.
The Starhopper prototype gave a full-throated yet brief one-second roar of its sole Raptor engine at 7:57 p.m. CDT on Wednesday, based on Business Insider’s eyewitness account.
Health
Not just for dessert: Add a dash of cinnamon to your coffee for a healthier and “richer, less bitter” drink
NaturalNews – The next time you find coffee to be too bitter for your taste, sprinkle some cinnamon onto it. The spice makes for a much richer and healthier condiment than the usual cream, milk, or sugar used to blunt the strong taste of coffee.
Coffee is widely consumed for a number of health benefits. It warms the body, gets the heart pumping, increases energy levels, raises alertness, and helps people stay awake. However, coffee can be difficult to swallow due to its bitter flavor. The stronger the blend, the more bitter it tastes.
Some people who want to enjoy the benefits of coffee but cannot stand its bitter taste deliberately dilute the drink. They mix hot water with coffee to make the bitterness more manageable. Needless to say, reducing the amount of coffee also diminishes its effects.
Other people use condiments to reduce the bitter flavor of coffee. They add cream or milk to increase the smoothness and richness of the drink, as well as sugar to directly counter the bitterness with its polar opposite flavor.
However, these condiments can be unhealthy if taken in large amounts. Consuming lots of processed sugar, in particular, is bad for the metabolism because it increases the risk of metabolic disorders like diabetes. (Related: Medicinal benefits of cinnamon.)
Study reveals the stunning secrets of SEAWEED and its role in human brain evolution
NaturalNews – A new study from the University of Southern Denmark investigates the historic role that nutrition has played in the evolution of the human brain. If it weren’t for essential nutrients such as magnesium and zinc, modern brains would not be able to function. Throughout history, the primitive hunter-gather must have stumbled across nutrient-dense foods such as seaweed. Coastal areas were very attractive to early homo sapiens. Various species of micro-algae could have been the key food that expanded the cognition of early mankind.
Over several millennia, human brains have changed. One way or the other, man’s cognitive abilities are going to adapt to the circumstances. In the quest for knowledge, or perhaps by accident, mankind must have stumbled upon the very elements that augment cognitive function. Perhaps the apple wasn’t enough. The discovery of seaweed must have opened up entirely new capacities for human knowledge since it contains highly concentrated sources of magnesium, zinc, vitamin B12 and poly-unsaturated fatty-acids (PUFAs).
Magnesium plays a central role in human cognition. It protects neurons and boosts new memory development. Zinc is a crucial element for learning, development, and memory. Poly-unsaturated fatty-acids (PUFAs) also help build the brain.
Nutrient-dense seaweeds could have changed the entire thinking process of coastal cultures, broadening their perspective, enlightening their visionary traits, and stimulating interpersonal communication. Nutrients that nourish the nervous system could have been the key that guided Homo sapiens out of a primitive state.
Shiny hair, stronger nails: Add these 8 biotin-rich foods to your diet
NaturalNews – If you are losing hair faster than normal, you might be one of those rare individuals who suffer from a deficiency of biotin. This is easily remedied, however, by eating foods that are naturally rich in this B vitamin.
Also known as vitamin B7, biotin supports the healthy growth of hair, skin, and nails. It is taken as a health supplement by people suffering from hair loss, especially if they were deficient in the vitamin to begin with.
Large quantities of biotin can also found in certain food groups. A diet plan made up of these foods can maximize the amount of the vitamin obtained from these natural sources
Nuts, sweet potatoes, and dark leafy veggies are rich in biotin
Vegetarians have a number of food options if they want to increase their biotin levels through natural means. Dark leafy vegetables, nuts, onions, and sweet potatoes contain good amounts of the vitamin.
Eating a handful of almonds, peanuts, or sunflower seeds can meet half the recommended daily intake of vitamin B7. The aforementioned edible seeds are not even the richest nut-based source of the vitamin, but they are certainly some of the tastiest ones for snacking purposes.
Sweet potatoes are also rich in vitamin B7. A cup of the edible tuber contains up to six micrograms of biotin. In addition to having way more biotin than ordinary taters, sweet potatoes are also a healthier source of carbohydrates.
While all vegetables have biotin, dark leafy greens contain slightly greater amounts of the nutrient, making them much better sources of the vitamin. Broccoli and spinach contain some of the highest levels. Other good candidates are kale and lettuce.
These vegetables should be eaten fresh and with minimal preparation. Boiled spinach, for example, will retain most of its nutrient content.
Last but not least is onion. In addition to having lots of biotin on its own, it makes animal liver easier to consume.
Eat animal liver, cooked egg, fish, and dairy products as well
Arguably the best source of biotin is animal liver. Beef and chicken liver are the most potent sources; eating three ounces of beef liver provides you with enough biotin for the day.
If you cannot stomach the taste of liver, try increasing the number of eggs you eat each day. A single egg can have up to 10 micrograms of biotin, so eating three each day will serve the same purpose as the beef liver.
However, you have to cook the egg first. Do not eat raw eggs as a protein drink. Raw egg contains avidin, a protein that disables biotin, thereby making your biotin deficiency worse.
Certain fish are an even healthier source of biotin. A serving of salmon provides as much as five micrograms of vitamin B7, while a similar amount of tuna gives one microgram. Furthermore, both fish have lots of omega-3 fatty acids that keep the scalp moist and strengthen hair.
Finally, dairy products can increase the biotin levels in the body. A serving of mild cheddar cheese, a cup of two-percent milk, and yogurt can therefore help prevent hair loss from biotin deficiency.