Today's News: April 05, 2018

World News

Students clash with Kashmir police in Srinagar
Al Jazeera – Students injured while condemning killings of civilians and fighters by Indian forces in separatist stronghold.

London murders: Met seen as losing control of streets warns ex-officer
BBC – A former senior police officer has warned that Scotland Yard appears to have lost control of London’s streets and has accused the Met leadership of a “deafening” silence as the capital’s murder toll for the year moved past 50 and provoked demands for urgent action.
The day after two further murders in Hackney, London, Victor Olisa, the Met’s former head of diversity and head of policing in Tottenham, said he feared that the violence could get worse.
And he warned that budget cuts and new demands on police were taking officers off the street and away from gathering intelligence.

US reportedly mulling options in anticipation of Iran deal pull-out
RT – President Trump’s inner circle is already drafting a new policy in anticipation of the US pulling out of the Iran deal, according to reports. The move would likely alienate the US from its allies and inflame regional tensions.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

Troops await orders for Trump border security deployment
ABC – National guard contingents in U.S. states bordering Mexico awaited guidance Thursday on the what duties they’ll be assigned to help fight illegal immigration and drug smuggling along the border, and a Pentagon official said it has not yet been determined whether the troops will be armed.
The deployment is in “very early planning stages,” the National Guard in Texas said in a statement.

Muslims: Settlement will prevent illegal NYPD surveillance
Washington Post – The New York Police Department has agreed not to conduct surveillance based on religion or ethnicity and to listen to Muslims as it develops new training materials as part of a deal to settle claims it illegally spied on Muslims for years after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The agreement announced Thursday by the city and the Islamic community also calls for the city to pay $75,000 in damages and nearly $1 million in legal fees. It also ensures surveillance in New Jersey will follow rules defined in another landmark civil rights case.
“Today’s settlement sends a message to all law enforcement: Simply being Muslim is not a basis for surveillance,” said Farhana Khera, executive director of Muslim Advocates, a legal advocacy and educational organization.

More California Cities Join Revolt Against ‘Sanctuary State’
Breitbart –
Two more California cities, Fountain Valley (Orange County) and Escondido (San Diego County), joined the growing revolt this week against “sanctuary state” laws enacted by Governor Jerry Brown.

Lawsuit Claims DNA Test Proves Fertility Doctor Impregnated Woman with His Own Sperm
Breitbart – Kelli Rowlette has filed a lawsuit against Dr. Gerald Mortimer and his associates for allegedly secretly using his own sperm to father her.
Rowlette’s parents went to Dr. Mortimer in 1979 at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Associates of Idaho Falls, where her mother was diagnosed with a “tipped” uterus and her father with low sperm count and motility. The procedure to inseminate Rowlette’s mother was intended to mix 85% of her father’s sperm with 15% from a college student of similar appearance.
Instead, Dr. Mortimer allegedly used his own — on three separate occasions. Now, a DNA test run by popular family tracing website Ancestry.com allegedly revealed to the 36-year-old daughter that her true biological father is Dr. Mortimer. Understandably, she is displeased. She has filed a suit not only against Mortimer but his wife Linda McKinnon Mortimer and the practice itself.

Police: Missing CDC Worker Timothy Cunningham’s Body Recovered in Atlanta River
Newsmax – Police say the body of a CDC employee reported missing more than six weeks ago has been found in an Atlanta river.
Atlanta Police Department spokesman Carlos Campos said in a news release Thursday that Timothy Cunningham’s body was recovered by rescue workers in the Chattahoochee River in northwest Atlanta late Tuesday evening.

Economy & Business

Target settles claims it screened blacks, Hispanics out of jobs
Reuters – Target Corp has agreed to review its policies for screening job applicants and pay $3.74 million to settle a lawsuit claiming its use of criminal background checks kept thousands of blacks and Hispanics from obtaining employment.

China signals tough stance on trade as U.S. officials push talks
Reuters – China would win any trade war with the United States, the country’s state media said on Thursday, as U.S. officials sought to ease market jitters over escalating tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.

Energy & Environment

Houston requires developers to elevate new buildings in floodplains
Christian Science Monitor – Seven months after hurricane Harvey’s extreme flooding, the city of Houston has approved a law that requires new construction in floodplains to be built above ground level. More than 25 percent of Harris County is located within the 100-year floodplain.

Science & Technology

Avoiding Facebook Lowers Stress Hormones: Study
Newsmax – Ditching Facebook may lower your stress levels, a new study suggests.The 138 participants had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol when they took a 5-day-break from Facebook, even if it was for less than a week, Newsweek reported.

Twitter: 1.2 Million Accounts Removed for Promoting Terrorism Since 2015
Newsmax – Twitter permanently suspended about 1.2 million accounts that promoted terrorism from August 2015 to December 2017, over 270,000 were removed in the latter half of 2017 alone.
“Between August 1, 2015 and December 31, 2017, we suspended 1,210,357 accounts from Twitter for violations related to the promotion of terrorism,” the social network’s public policy department wrote in a transparency report.

Supersonic passenger flights may return, but without the boom
RT – Lockheed Martin has won a $247.5 million contract from NASA to develop a supersonic jet plane quiet enough to be allowed to fly o

Gardening, Farming & Homesteading

New Jersey indoor farm can grow plants all year long while using 95 percent less water than outdoor farms, with no pesticides at all
NaturalNews – There’s something special about a new farm in Kearny, New Jersey. Headed by a former techie turned farmer, Bowery Farming is uniquely poised to serve as the blueprint for future farms with a focus on sustainability and reliability. More specifically, by applying clever new methods, the CEO and founder of Bowery Farming, Irving Fain, has created what might well be the most productive land-based farm in existence.
Technically an indoor farm, Bowery Farming is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. It doesn’t require the use of huge tracts of land and uses less than water than practically every other farm out on the planet. And yet its founder says it’s able to grow 365 days each year, regardless of any outside factors. It’s a serious operation that shows how well a system can work if prepared with proper planning and executed as well as possible.
According to Fain, their methods have allowed them to operate Bowery “totally independent of weather and seasonality.” And that’s just one of its many advantages. “On top of that though, we grow pesticide-free and agrochemical-free food. We grow more crop cycles per year than the field does, and we get more yield per crop every crop cycle,” he explained. “So not only do we grow more than 100 times plus more productively than the same square feet of farmland, but we also save over 95 percent of the water when we’re growing.”

Health

Surgeon general urges Americans to carry an overdose antidote to combat the opioid crisis
CNBC – The nation’s chief doctor wants more Americans to start carrying the overdose antidote naloxone to help combat the nation’s opioid crisis and save lives.
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams is expected to speak about the new public health advisory Thursday morning at the National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit in Atlanta.

Alfalfa: Beneficial to Both Humans and Livestock Alike
Mercola – Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is a crop that is also known as the “Queen of the Forages.” It is primarily grown in northwestern states such as Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, Washington and some parts of Nevada and California.1 Historically, the alfalfa plant was discovered by Arabian horsemen who noticed that their horses gained a boost in energy and performance once it was eaten. People who ate alfalfa also received similar benefits, which helped spread its reputation around the world.
The Agricultural Uses of Alfalfa:
Alfalfa is known throughout the agricultural world as hay, which is fed to livestock such as horses, cows and chickens. To make hay from alfalfa, the plants are allowed to grow until the early bloom period, where they are then harvested. Afterward, they are dried and cured before being fed to the animals. Alfalfa is also economically important to the U.S., because it is exported to other countries for livestock consumption.
The Various Health Benefits of Alfalfa Sprouts:
People can take advantage of alfalfa by consuming alfalfa sprouts which, despite their small size, contain a concentration of various vitamins and minerals that can help provide the following health benefits:

Improve Digestive Health A single cup of alfalfa sprouts contain 0.6 grams of dietary fiber,9 which can help improve your bowel movements. In addition, dietary fiber can reduce your risk of digestive disorders such as gastroesophageal reflux disease, constipation, hemorrhoids and duodenal ulcers.10
Reduce Inflammation Research has shown that alfalfa sprouts contain high levels of vitamins C 11 which can help reduce systematic inflammation throughout your body, prevent chronic disease and oxidative stress.12
Fight Free Radicals Some animal studies have discovered that alfalfa contains antioxidant properties with varying effects. In one example, researchers noted that alfalfa helped reduce the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS),13 while another study noted that helped inhibit lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammation.14
Manage Diabetes In a mice study published in the Pakistan Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, researchers discovered that administration of alfalfa sprouts have antihyperlipidemic and antihyperglycemic properties.15
Lower Cholesterol Levels A study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation noted that alfalfa helped reduce hypercholesterolemia (elevated cholesterol levels in the blood) in monkeys without changing HDL cholesterol levels.