Today's News: December 03, 2019

World News

Former vice mayor of China’s Lyuliang City sentenced to death for corruption
CGTN – Zhang Zhongsheng, former vice mayor of Lyuliang City in north China’s Shanxi Province, was sentenced to death on Wednesday for taking bribes, the Intermediate People’s Court of Linfen in Shanxi Province said.
According to the court, Zhang received bribes in cash and property worth a total of 1.04 billion yuan (165 million US dollars) from 1997 to 2013. Apart from being sentenced to death, Zhang has also been deprived of all his political rights for life and all of his properties are forfeited.
China’s schoolchildren now smartest in world
Chinese students far out-stripped peers in every other country in survey of reading, math and science ability, underscoring a reserve of future economic strength and the struggle of advanced economies to keep up.
NKorea Gives Trump ‘Christmas’ Choice in Veiled Threat
North Korea said it was preparing a choice of “Christmas” gifts for President Donald Trump, in the country’s latest effort to pressure the U.S. to offer more concessions in nuclear talks before the new year.
Top North Korean diplomat Ri Thae Song said in a statement Tuesday that the onus was on the U.S. side to determine how the regime would behave through the holiday season. Ri also accused the Trump administration of attempting to drag out talks and “use it in favor of the political situation and election in the U.S.,” according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
“Drawing nearer is the year-end time limit the DPRK set for the U.S.,” Ri said, referring to North Korea’s formal name. “What is left to be done now is the U.S. option and it is entirely up to the U.S. what Christmas gift it will select to get.”
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has refrained from tests of nuclear bombs and missiles capable of carrying them to the U.S. for more than two years as he pursued unprecedented talks with Trump. But in recent months, he has warned that he would find a “new path” if the U.S. doesn’t ease up on sanctions and other policies that Pyongyang views as hostile.
State Department Says US May Announce Plans on New Start Treaty With Russia Soon
Sputnik – Last month, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that the extension of the Russian-US Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) is the only way to avoid further erosion of arms control and ‘prevent strategic stability degradation.’
The US State Department has said that Washington may announce its plans on the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia in the near future.
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale, said in his prepared testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday that the US does not exclude extending the New START Treaty, but that it wants to include a broader range of systems such as non-strategic nuclear weapons-related clauses in the document.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

Trump criticizes European allies before NATO anniversary meet
Reuters – U.S. President Donald Trump lashed out at European allies before a NATO anniversary summit in London on Tuesday, singling out France’s Emmanuel Macron for “very nasty” comments on the alliance and Germany for spending too little on defense.
Underlining the breadth of strife in a transatlantic bloc hailed by its backers as the most successful military alliance in history, Trump demanded that Europe pay more for defense and also make concessions to U.S. interests on trade.
The attack echoed a similar tirade by Trump ahead of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s last summit in July 2018.
Trump calls Democrats ‘unpatriotic,’ spars with Macron at NATO gathering
NBC – President Donald Trump came out swinging at friends and foes here Tuesday, accusing Democrats of being “unpatriotic” and calling remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron “very, very nasty.”
“I think it’s very unpatriotic of the Democrats to put on a performance where they do that,” Trump said of the House impeachment inquiry, in his first public comments since arriving in London. “I do. I think it’s a bad thing for our country. Impeachment wasn’t supposed to be used that way.”
The president also rattled markets by suggesting trade deal negotiations with China might not end until after the election next year.
Trump made the remarks during a pair of wide-ranging question-and-answer session with reporters, each lasting well over half and hour.
Trump campaign to blacklist Bloomberg News
Axios – President Trump’s 2020 campaign announced Monday it will no longer allow reporters from Bloomberg News to obtain credentials to cover Trump campaign events.
The big picture: Campaign manager Brad Parscale described the decision to ban Bloomberg reporters as a reaction to Bloomberg News’ announcement that it would no longer do investigative journalism on Democratic 2020 candidates, following the entry of the media outlet’s owner, Mike Bloomberg, into the presidential race.

After Bloomberg confirmed he was running, Bloomberg News’ editor-in-chief John Micklethwait sent a memo to newsroom staffers saying the organization would continue its tradition “of not investigating Mike (and his family and foundation) and we will extend the same policy to his rivals in the Democratic primaries.”
Micklethwait said Bloomberg News would keep investigating the Trump administration, as it is “the government of the day,” but that it would reassess how it covers Trump if Bloomberg wins the Democratic nomination.

Group Launches $2M Anti-Impeachment Ad Campaign
Newsmax – An outside group backing President Donald Trump is targeting 27 Democratic lawmakers in a $2 million anti-impeachment ad campaign, The Hill is reporting.
America First Policies is launching the ads this week on social media, broadcast and cable television and in local newspapers. The ads will include the names and office phone numbers of specific vulnerable Democrats and urge people to call and pressure them to vote against impeachment.
One of those lawmakers is Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., whose district went for Trump in 2016.
“Investigations, lies, a witch hunt,” the narrator says in one ad directed at her. “The radical left will stop at nothing to impeach President Trump. Better trade deals delayed, stronger borders obstructed, funding for our incomplete.
“A do-nothing Congress focused on a witch hunt and your Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger is siding with them. So call Congresswoman Spanberger. Tell her to end the witch hunt and oppose impeachment.”
According to The Hill, the group says its polling has revealed Americans are skeptical of impeachment and would rather Congress focus on other issues.
“Instead of focusing their time and taxpayer money on hyper-partisan investigations, Congress needs to get back to the work of the people,” said AFP president Brian Walsh. “This impeachment charade has gone on for far too long and has produced no evidence the president is guilty of any crime.”
Congress pushes ahead on impeachment with nation split.
AP – The House is plunging into a landmark impeachment week, with Democrats who once hoped to sway Republicans now facing the prospect of an ever-hardening partisan split over the question of removing President Donald Trump from office.
Lawmakers were getting their first look at the House Intelligence Committee’s impeachment report Monday night behind closed doors, and Chairman Adam Schiff said on MSNBC that it will be released Tuesday. The findings are expected to forcefully make the Democrats’ case that Trump engaged in what Schiff calls impeachable “wrongdoing and misconduct” in pressuring Ukraine to investigate Democrats and Joe Biden while withholding military aid to the ally.
For Republicans offering an early rebuttal ahead of the report’s public release, the proceedings are simply a “hoax,” with Trump insisting he did nothing wrong and his GOP allies in line behind him. Trump tweeted his daily complaints about it all and then added a suggestive, if impractical, question: “Can we go to Supreme Court to stop?”
With the Judiciary Committee set to launch its first hearing Wednesday, the impeachment proceedings are presenting a historic test of political judgment in a case that is dividing Congress and the country.
Departing for a NATO meeting in London, Trump criticized the House for pushing forward Monday with proceedings while he was heading overseas, a breach of political decorum that traditionally leaves partisan differences at the water’s edge.
Court Hands Congress a Win in Battle for Trump’s Bank Records
Newsmax – A federal appeals court in New York has upheld the legality of congressional subpoenas seeking President Donald Trump’s banking records but said sensitive personal information should be protected.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Tuesday.
The decision came after The House Financial Services and Intelligence committees asked Deutsche Bank and Capital One to turn over records related to Trump’s business ventures as they investigate “foreign influence in the U.S. political process.”
Trump and three of his children challenged the subpoenas.
A judge had ruled that the subpoenas were legitimate.
The 2nd Circuit agreed though it said the lower court should implement a procedure protecting sensitive personal information. It also gave litigants a limited chance to object to disclosure of certain documents.
US Marine Charged With Haiti Gun Smuggling
Newsmax – A U.S. Marine caught smuggling guns into Haiti told investigators he wanted to help the country’s military learn marksmanship and defeat “thugs” causing instability, according to a criminal complaint.
The criminal complaint filed last week in a North Carolina federal court charges Jacques Yves Duroseau with smuggling firearms. Prosecutors say Duroseau flew from North Carolina to Haiti with baggage including eight firearms but lacked needed authorization to take them abroad.
US Seeks Permission to Resume Federal Executions
Newsmax – The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Monday for permission to begin executing federal inmates as soon as next week.
The Justice Department said in a filing late Monday that lower courts were wrong to put the executions on hold.
Attorney General William Barr announced during the summer that federal executions would resume after a 16-year hiatus. The first execution by lethal injection had been set for Dec. 9.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, D.C., temporarily halted the executions after some of the chosen inmates challenged the new execution procedures in court. Chutkan agreed with the inmates that the government was circumventing proper methods in a quest to carry out executions quickly.

Economy & Business

US Threatens Huge Tariffs on French Goods Over Digital Tax
Infowars – The EU is “ready to respond” to US threats to impose tariffs of up 100% on French imports, including wine and cheese.
The move came in retaliation to a digital tax set to hit US giants Google, Amazon, and Facebook.
After French lawmakers voted to impose a tax on large tech companies, the US warned it would fire back with tariffs on goods imported from France.
US to reimpose steel, aluminium tariffs on Brazil, Argentina
Al Jazeera – United States President Donald Trump is stepping up tariffs directed against three allies.
Trump threatened more than $2bn in new levies on French exports.
He also announced plans to reimpose new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Argentina and Brazil, after accusing both countries of artificially devaluing their currencies.
Chinese State Media Draws Red Line on Trade Deal: U.S. Must Remove Tariffs
Breitbart – China appears to be growing more insistent that the Trump administration surrender to its demands that a so-called phase one trade deal include lifting of tariffs already in place.
Talks between the U.S. and China have stalled over conflicting demands between the two sides. The U.S. wants China to publicly pledge to buy a set dollar value of U.S. agricultural goods while China has resisted setting the level of purchases in advance. China wants the U.S. to immediately lift existing tariffs while the U.S. negotiators say a preliminary deal should only effect tariffs hikes scheduled to take effect later this month.
Trump Says US Trade Deal With China May Have to Wait Until After 2020 Election
Infowars – US President Donald Trump says it might be better to wait until after the November 2020 general election in the United States to reach a trade agreement with China.
“In some ways, I like the idea of waiting until after the election for the China deal, but they want to make a deal now and we will see whether or not the deal is going to be right,” Trump told reporters in London on Tuesday.
“I have no deadline, no. In some ways, I think it’s better to wait until after the election with China,” the US president added.

Science & Technology

Bionic neurons could enable implants to restore failing brain circuits
The Guardian – Scientists have created artificial neurons that could potentially be implanted into patients to overcome paralysis, restore failing brain circuits, and even connect their minds to machines.
The bionic neurons can receive electrical signals from healthy nerve cells, and process them in a natural way, before sending fresh signals on to other neurons, or to muscles and organs elsewhere in the body.
One of the first applications may be a treatment for a form of heart failure that develops when a particular neural circuit at the base of the brain deteriorates through age or disease and fails to send the right signals to make the heart pump properly.
Rather than implanting directly into the brain, the artificial neurons are built into ultra-low power microchips a few millimetres wide. The chips form the basis for devices that would plug straight into the nervous system, for example by intercepting signals that pass between the brain and leg muscles.
“Any area where you have some degenerative disease, such as Alzheimer’s, or where the neurons stop firing properly because of age, disease, or injury, then in theory you could replace the faulty biocircuit with a synthetic circuit,” said Alain Nogaret, a physicist who led the project at the University of Bath.
The breakthrough came when researchers found they could model live neurons in a computer program and then recreate their firing patterns in silicon chips with more than 94% accuracy. The program allows the scientists to mimic the full variety of neurons found in the nervous system.
Writing in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers describe how they fed the program with data recorded from two types of rat neuron, which were stimulated in a dish. The neurons were either from the hippocampus, a region that is crucial for memory and learning, or were involved in the subconscious control of breathing.
Amazon’s “Ring” doorbell now being used to create watchlists of “suspicious” neighbors to be reported to police
NaturalNews – Just as we warned, Amazon’s questionable tech offerings aren’t actually about making your life simpler, easier, and more convenient. They’re about spying on you, your family, and your friends – and in the case of Amazon’s “Ring” doorbell, it’s about building a secret watchlist for government spooks to better identify and track your “suspicious” neighbors.
According to reports, the Jeff Bezos empire has formed a partnership with law enforcement that involves Amazon handing over facial recognition data from people’s Ring doorbell systems, which are equipped with tiny cameras and wi-fi systems that relay everything they “see” back to Amazon, which then sends it to local police departments.
Hidden documents obtained by The Intercept reveal that Amazon is actively setting up a supposed “crime-fighting surveillance camera division” that involves pairing artificial intelligence (AI) systems with advanced tracking software.
“Ring, Amazon’s crime-fighting surveillance camera division, has crafted plans to use facial recognition software and its ever-expanding network of home security cameras to create AI-enabled neighborhood ‘watch lists,’” writes Sam Biddle for The Intercept about this truly dystopian program being launched by none other than Amazon.
“The planning materials envision a seamless system whereby a Ring owner would be automatically alerted when an individual deemed ‘suspicious’ was captured in their camera’s frame, something described as a ‘suspicious activity prompt.’”
Despite the outcry over privacy, New York District starts testing facial recognition system on public school students, staff
NaturalNews – he Lockport City School District in upstate New York has spent approximately $4.2 million on the installation of 417 cameras in its high school, middle school and six elementary schools. The new surveillance system will use facial recognition software to monitor students and staff on a day-to-day basis. The school district’s goal is to alert law enforcement when sex offenders and other criminals enter the premises. The cameras will also detect whether illicit drugs, firearms or other weapons are present on campus. Officials hope to mitigate crime and stop potential shooters, but the technology presents several privacy challenges.
School district to monitor students and target subjects using a database and intrusive facial recognition system
Lockport City is the first to roll out such an invasive system. The district is using Aegis camera systems, which were installed back in October 2018. The district’s automated facial recognition software was activated on June 3, 2019 and became operational across all their schools in September. The sophisticated fleet of cameras is now scanning student and faculty faces in real time, tracking their movements, reading their expressions, and analyzing their motivations.
District officials can enter any video footage or personal identifiable information into the database. The cameras will cross reference people’s faces in real time with information that was uploaded into the database. The system is developed by SN Technologies Corp. and implements proprietary software that can also identify several types of firearms in a crowded room.
Despite its potential to thwart violence and illicit activity, parents, privacy advocates, and some legislators are pushing back against the invasive facial recognition system. Privacy experts warn that the technology can be misused and that it represents a gross violation of individual privacy rights. For one, the system will allow officials to target select students and members of the community. Power-hungry superintendents and principals will be able to treat select students as subjects and track their whereabouts. School officials will be able to enter any source material into the database, including images of students they expelled, people they do not like in the community, or mug shots from the local jail. When their fleet of cameras scans these faces in real time, they are cross-referenced with photos in the database. When the software finds a match, a warning is sent to school authorities.
School officials will also be able to work with local law enforcement when the cameras detect an individual who is barred from campus. Those barred from campus may include former employees that school officials did not like. School officials will be able to place suspicious students or potential gang members in the database, targeting individuals without any due process. Furthermore, the public will not be allowed to access the database and find out if they are being monitored or singled out.

Health

As effective as drugs but without the side effects, ginger is a powerful migraine medicine
NaturalNews – Migraines are more than just headaches. They cause a recurring, severe throbbing pain, typically on one side of the head. It is so severe that it interrupts the patient’s ability to do his daily tasks. Of an estimated one billion people experiencing migraines, many of them use painkiller drugs, which come with harmful side effects. If you’re suffering from migraine, don’t compromise your health any further by using these drugs. Instead, try ginger as a natural remedy.
A study published in the journal Phytotherapy Research revealed that ginger is as effective as pain relief drugs in relieving migraine, but with fewer side effects. In this study, researchers from Zanjan University of Medical Sciences in Iran examined the effects of ginger on a typical migraine attack and compared it to the drug Sumatriptan, which is sold under the brand name Imitrex and is one of the top-selling, billion-dollar drugs for treating migraines.
For the double-blinded randomized clinical trial, the researchers recruited 100 participants who had acute migraine without aura, the most common type of migraine headache. Then, they randomly assigned the participants to receive either 250 mg of ginger powder or 50 mg of Sumatriptan.
At the time of a migraine attack, the participants recorded the time of the onset, severity, and time of treatment ingestion. They also completed a questionnaire on response self-assessments 30, 60, 90, 120 minutes, and 24 hours following the start of the migraine. After one month, they rated their satisfaction with the efficacy of their assigned treatment and their willingness to continue with their respective treatments.
5 Foods to Boost Brain Health and Longevity
Newsmax – With the rise of fad diets, so-called superfoods, and a growing range of dietary supplements on the market, it’s hard to know what to eat to prevent dementia and increase our lifespan. But there is solid science behind the power of certain foods to protect your brain from oxidative damage and improve cognition and memory.
More and more studies are pointing to lifestyle changes to protect our brains from diseases including Alzheimer’s. Noted expert Dr. Gary Small, author of “2 Weeks to a Younger Brain” and editor of The Mind-Body Health Report, tells Newsmax that according to researchers at the University of California at San Francisco, up to half the Alzheimer’s cases are potentially attributable to “modifiable risk factors.”
Here are the five top foods to boost brain power:

Fish. According to Inverse, eating fish provides your body with a good source of protein. Oily fish in particular are chock full of the omega-3 fats Dr. Small recommends to protect memory, cognitive function, and prevent Alzheimer’s disease. There’s also a healthy amount of vitamin D in fish. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to many dreaded diseases, including Parkinson’s, vascular dementia, and others.
Berries. Colorful berries are excellent antioxidants and it’s important to eat a variety of them to reap the full benefits. Blueberries, for example, contain anthocyanins, which have been shown to protect our brains against Alzheimer’s disease, while strawberries are high in vitamin C, a vital antioxidant molecule in the brain.
Sweet potatoes. Folks in the Blue Zone area of Okinawa, Japan, where people live the longest, eat an abundance of purple sweet potatoes. However, the orange ones are also rich in antioxidants that protect your body and brain from free radical damage, according to Healthline.
Green vegetables and herbs. As Dr. Small points out, eating veggies and herbs like those found in the Mediterranean diet reduces your risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Green vegetables are rich in vitamins A and C, folate, and polyphenols that protect brain neurons against toxins and help reduce inflammation.
Beetroot. This vegetable is an excellent source of folate and polyphenols, as well as copper, manganese, and other nutrients that reduce oxidative stress and inflammation. Beets also contain nitrates, which may help increase blood flow to the brain, improve cognitive function, and reduce the risk of dementia.

One In Five Children Now At Risk For Type 2 Diabetes, Study Finds
Mind Body Green – Peeling children away from screens and convincing them to eat their greens could be the subject matter of a modern Dr. Seuss book. As playful as the rhyme may sound, though, the requests are much more serious. According to a recent study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, many children are at risk of developing chronic health conditions from prediabetes.
A study published in JAMA Pediatrics revealed that one in five children (aged 12 to 18) and one in four young adults (aged 19 to 34) are now prediabetic. This rise in prediabetes in children puts them at risk for type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and cardiovascular conditions later in life.
Researchers analyzed data from 5,786 adolescents and young adults between 2005 and 2016. Prediabetic tests look for a number of things, including impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance, and a specified amount of hemoglobin A1C, according to the American Diabetes Association.
In simpler terms, a patient’s blood sugar levels must be high enough to be concerning but not high enough to meet the criteria for a type 2 diagnosis.
The results revealed a higher rate of prediabetic young males than females and a greater risk for children than young adults. As with adults with type 2 diabetes, prediabetes was more prevalent in children and young adults with obesity.
According to a recent report, the number of young people with prediabetes is higher than in previous years. This research comes around the same time as another concerning study produced by the World Health Organization, which revealed that children worldwide are not meeting their physical fitness criteria.
These two studies reveal the urgency of proper diet and exercise and the promotion of physical activity for younger generations. Implementing early intervention strategies can reverse the current and negative trends in children’s health.
If you’re looking for ways to encourage healthy habits in your kids, try these simple exercises, which can be done in just 10 minutes, and this trick that might actually make them excited to eat nutritious food.