Today's News: February 25, 2020

World News

Nearly 300 Convicted Terrorists to Be Released From French Prison by 2023

Breitbart – French Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet has revealed that there will be nearly 300 convicted terrorists released from French prisons by 2023, 43 of them by the end of this year.
The French minister said that after the 43 releases this year, another sixty convicted terrorists would be set for release from prison in 2021 and added that they would all be subjected to additional measures to monitor their behaviour upon release, RTL reports.

South Korean Crisis Response Coordinator Commits Suicide

ZeroHedge – As South Korea confirms another 144 cases during the day on Tuesday to bring the country-wide total to 977, the small East Asian nation has become home to the largest outbreak outside China. The country’s death toll also climbed to 11. The second-highest death toll outside the mainland after only Iran.
On Tuesday, President Moon Jae-in traveled to Daegu, the city where more than half of the country’s cases have been detected, and pledged to avoid the draconian restrictions Chinese authorities implemented in Wuhan, and across Hubei. Though he also advised residents to stay indoors. His comments were accompanied by a warning from the South Korean government advising foreigners to put off travel to the country.
However, Moon’s bold promises were somewhat blunted by the fact that the government has implemented a containment policy on Daegu, North Gyeongsang Province, according to a party official cited by Yonhap. Other reports claimed South Korea is in the process of drafting a supplemental budget, while Moon has declared Daegu a “special disaster zone.”
As Daegu sinks into isolation, Korean Air Lines and Asiana Airlines announced they would suspend domestic flights to the city until next month. A Singaporean government minister warned that the city-state could impose sweeping travel restrictions targeting South Korea if the outbreak gets worse. Korean Air also said it’s working with government health authorities to prevent the spread of the virus after a crew member fell sick.
But in Seoul took on a more morbid tone Tuesday following reports in the local press that a civil servant from the Ministry of Justice’s Emergency Safety Planning Office jumped off a bridge in Seoul at around 5 am local time Tuesday.
The official was one of several individuals charged with overseeing the government’s response to the virus. As cases soar and hysteria mounts, we suspect this news won’t exactly help quiet the public’s nerves.
Finally, over in the US, the CDC has upgraded its travel notice for South Korea to “avoid nonessential travel”.

Fourth person from quarantined ship dies as Japan plans new measures

AFP – A fourth person has died in Japan after becoming ill aboard a coronavirus-stricken cruise ship, local media reported Tuesday, as the government vowed new measures to fight the outbreak. Nearly 700 people on board the Diamond Princess, which spent two weeks quarantined off Japan, have so far tested positive for the virus. The health ministry declined to comment on the reports.

Spain reports first coronavirus case on mainland, hotel in Canaries locked down

Reuters – Spain discovered its first case of the coronavirus on the mainland on Tuesday after a four-star hotel in the Canary Islands was locked down for tests when a guest, and then his wife, were found to be infected.

Desperate to stop spread, countries limit travel

AP – Police manned checkpoints in quarantined towns, guests were confined to their rooms in a hotel in the Canary Islands, governments issued travel warnings and more flights were suspended Tuesday as officials desperately sought to stop the seemingly inevitable spread of a new virus.
Clusters of the illness continued to balloon outside mainland China, fueling apprehension across the globe that was reflected in sagging financial markets.
The crisis pushed into areas seen as among the worst-equipped to deal with an outbreak as well as some of the world’s richest nations, including South Korea and Italy. As it proliferates, the virus is bringing a sense of urgency for local officials determined to contain it but often unsure how.

Fight Breaks Out in Italian Supermarket Amidst Food Shortages

Infowars – A video out of Italy shows customers in a supermarket brawling as food shortages caused by fears over coronavirus spreading continue to prompt panic buying.
“Supermarket shelves have been stripped bare due to panic-buying amid rising tensions and visible public anxiety, as evidenced by a brawl in the aisles,” reports RT.
The clip shows two men shouting at each other before one of them throws a punch and a brawl ensues.

Iran’s deputy health minister: I have coronavirus

Guardain – Iran’s deputy health minister said he has contracted the coronavirus and placed himself in isolation, a day after appearing feverish at a press conference in which he downplayed its spread in the shrine city of Qom and said mass quarantines were unnecessary.
Iraj Harirchi posted a video on social media on Tuesday acknowledging he had caught the virus, which appears to be taking rapid hold in parts of Iran. The news has underscored widespread fears that the outbreak may have passed a tipping point, before authorities had been able to gauge its full extent.
Images of one of the country’s most senior public health officials appearing sweaty and pale and acknowledging he had contracted the disease left many Iranians deeply troubled and are likely to further paralyse a county reeling from its rapid onset. In the short video, Hirachi acknowledged that “many may get infected” echoing concerns that have taken root in the rest of the Middle East, which is home to millions of people living in densely packed refugee camps.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

CDC confirms 34 cases of coronavirus in United States, but still refuses to test more than a few hundred people in total

NaturalNews – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is reporting that there are now 34 confirmed cases – and possibly a 35th case – of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) in the United States, accelerating fears that a widespread outbreak is now occurring on our own native soil.
According to reports, 21 of these 34 cases involve patients who were repatriated from foreign countries by the State Department, and of these all but three were evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship that is now docked at Yokohama, Japan.
As for the other 13 patients, these are all separate cases that didn’t involve the Diamond Princess cruise ship, but rather travel to and from Wuhan.
The most recent confirmed diagnosis occurred in Humboldt County, California, in an individual who recently returned from a trip to mainland China, CDC head Dr. Nancy Messonnier told reporters during a recent phone call.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) says that a close contact of this most recent patient is also showing symptoms of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), but that both individuals “are doing well and self-isolating at home.”

More than 8000 Californians under “self-quarantine” for coronavirus, almost none of them tested… zero enforcement of “voluntary” quarantine measures… medical INSANITY on parade

NaturalNews – With global coronavirus infections now topping 80,000 according to “official” numbers, California now has 8,000 people under self-quarantine, which essentially means they’re given suggestions to avoid interacting with others.
According to the SF Chronicle, the California Department of Public Health just released this number earlier today. Yet apparently none of these people have been tested for the coronavirus, since California isn’t releasing any numbers describing how many people are being tested (hint: it’s essentially zero).
According to California’s Dept. of Public Health coronavirus page, a grand total of “185 persons have been tested to date,” but all that testing has been conducted by the CDC in Atlanta. “At this time, the only laboratory testing for the novel coronavirus is being done at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) laboratory,” says the California government’s web page.

Sanders doubles down on his Fidel Castro praise amid criticism: ‘Teaching people to read and write is a good thing’

Fox – Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., doubled down on his remarks praising former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro during a televised town hall on Monday night after he raised eyebrows for complimenting the brutal leader’s education reforms.
“When Fidel Castro first came into power … you know what he did? He initiated a major literacy program. It was a lot of folks in Cuba at that point who were illiterate and he formed the Literacy Brigade … and they went out and they helped people learn to read and write You know what? I think teaching people to read and write is a good thing,” Sanders said in response to criticism.
He continued, “I have been extremely consistent and critical of all authoritarian regimes all over the world including Cuba, including Nicaragua, including Saudi Arabia, including China, including Russia. I happen to believe in democracy, not authoritarianism. … China is an authoritarian country … but can anyone deny, I mean the facts are clear, that they have taken more people out of extreme poverty than any country in history. Why you criticize when I say that — that’s the truth. So that is the fact. End of discussion.”

Joe Biden Says He Worked on Paris Climate Deal with Long-Dead Chinese Leader

Breitbart – Former Vice President Joe Biden mistakenly claimed on Monday that he worked on the Paris Climate Accord with former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping — who died nearly 20 years before its signing.
Biden made the gaffe while citing his accomplishments in President Barack Obama’s administration.

President says two Supreme justices need to recuse

Washington Examiner -President Trump said two liberal Supreme Court justices should recuse themselves in all future cases which involve him.
In a late night tweet on Monday, the president said Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg should step back from “all Trump, or Trump related, matters,” citing a quote made on Fox News’s Ingraham Angle.
“Sotomayor accuses GOP appointed Justices of being biased in favor of Trump.’ @IngrahamAngle @FoxNews This is a terrible thing to say. Trying to ‘shame’ some into voting her way? She never criticized Justice Ginsberg when she called me a ‘faker’. Both should recuse themselves on all Trump, or Trump related, matters,” Trump tweeted. “While ‘elections have consequences,’ I only ask for fairness, especially when it comes to decisions made by the United States Supreme Court.”

Trumping Trump? Top White House Official Says U.S. “Desperate” for More Immigrants

New American – Real wages for low-skilled workers are now growing at the fastest rate in memory, at least partially due to immigration policies yielding a tight labor market. Yet a top White House official nonetheless stated last week that the United States is “desperate” for more immigrants, apparently contradicting President Trump’s position.
As the Washington Post reports, “Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told a crowd at a private gathering in England on Wednesday night that the Trump administration ‘needs more immigrants’ for the U.S. economy to continue growing, according to an audio recording of his remarks obtained by The Washington Post.”
“‘We are desperate — desperate — for more people,’ Mulvaney said. ‘We are running out of people to fuel the economic growth that we’ve had in our nation over the last four years. We need more immigrants,’” the paper continued.
“Mulvaney’s remarks appear in contrast to the public position of several top figures in Trump’s White House — especially that of senior policy adviser Stephen Miller — who have been working to slash legal and illegal immigration through a slew of policies that aim to close off the U.S. border to foreigners,” the Post also informs. “They have insisted that the steady arrival of newcomers depresses wages for the blue-collar U.S. workers whose votes helped lift Trump to the presidency in 2016.”

Trump Moves Forward With New Rule: No Green Cards for Welfare Users

New American – The Trump administration is moving forward with implementation of its “public charge” rule, which restricts issuance of green cards for immigrants who would be dependent on government welfare upon receiving permanent resident status.
Democrats have opposed the rule, but officials maintain it is a necessary step to protect American taxpayers.
“It’s consistent with our law for over 140 years, it’s a core American value of self-sufficiency, and it’s just plain old logic — what country wants to bring welfare problems into its society? We don’t want to do that,” said acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli. “We’re happy to open our doors to people from all over the world but we expect them to stand on their own two feet.”
The rule was initially slated to take effect in October of last year after being published in August, but was halted by various court challenges. In January, however, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted preliminary injunctions in a 5-4 vote. And on Friday, the court ruled the same way on a separate injunction for Illinois — allowing the rule to go into effect throughout the country beginning Monday.

Judge to Consider Roger Stone’s Request for New Trial

WSJ – Roger Stone is back in court on Tuesday to try to convince a federal judge he deserves a new trial, days after he was sentenced to more than three years in prison amid ongoing legal drama surrounding the case.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson scheduled a private hearing at 2 p.m. to consider Mr. Stone’s request, which is based on allegations that a juror misled the court when answering questions during the jury selection process.

Economy & Business

Wall Street edges higher a day after sharp sell-off

Reuters – U.S. stock indexes ticked slightly higher on Tuesday as investors dipped their toes in the water a day after worries about the worldwide spread of the coronavirus sent the S&P 500 and the Dow Industrials to their biggest daily declines in two years.

Walgreens wins Supreme Court battle over religious employee who refused to work Saturdays

Fox – The U.S. Supreme Court handed Walgreens a big win on Monday by turning away an appeal from a fired Florida worker who said he couldn’t work on Saturdays because of his religion.
Darrell Patterson, a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, sued the pharmacy chain after skipping out on a mandatory training session he was supposed to run. He argued his religion prohibited him from working on Saturdays to observe the Sabbath, which starts at sunset on Friday and ends at sunset on Saturday.
Instead of working on Saturday, Patterson came in a few days later and held the training session. Despite the delay, his Orlando branch still met the internal deadline set by the company on training.
In 2014, Patterson sued Walgreens in federal court, accusing the Illinois-based retailer of violating his religious rights by not adequately accommodating his no-Saturdays request and then trying to demote him without any guarantee he would not be scheduled to work Saturdays in the future.

AMAZON Opens Cashierless Supermarket in Latest Push to Sell Food

WSJ – Amazon.com Inc. is rolling out its checkout-free “Go” technology in a large grocery store and plans to license the cashierless system to other retailers.
Amazon Go Grocery will open in Seattle on Tuesday. It uses an array of cameras, shelf sensors and software to allow shoppers to pick up items as varied as organic produce and wine and walk out without stopping to pay or scan merchandise. Accounts are automatically charged through a smartphone app once shoppers leave the store.

Energy & Environment

California: President Trump Signed Bill Allowing Water to Flow to Farmers Instead of the Pacific Ocean. Governor Newsom Sues Trump.

Edward Griffin – Trump announced his administration had finalized an order removing regulatory roadblocks and enabling the giant Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta pumps to open the floodgates so that millions of gallons additional water can flow to urban Southern California and the Valley that supplies two-thirds of the country’s fruits and nuts and more than a third of its vegetables. The state should have control over its water resources that have been rationed by the feds. In response, Governor Newsom, following a repressive Agenda 21 environmental plan, sued the Trump administration to block new rules that would let farmers take more water, claiming it would push endangered populations of delta smelt, chinook salmon and steelhead trout to extinction.

Key California reservoir to be drained due to earthquake risk

AP – In a dramatic decision that could significantly impact Silicon Valley’s water supply, federal dam regulators have ordered Anderson Reservoir, the largest reservoir in Santa Clara County, to be completely drained starting Oct. 1.
The 240-foot earthen dam, built in 1950 and located east of Highway 101 between Morgan Hill and San Jose, poses too great of a risk of collapse during a major earthquake, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which regulates dams, has concluded.
“It is unacceptable to maintain the reservoir at an elevation higher than necessary when it can be reduced, thereby decreasing the risk to public safety and the large population downstream of Anderson Dam,” wrote David Capka, director of FERC’s Division of Dam Safety and Inspections, in a letter to the Santa Clara Valley Water District on Thursday.
Anderson Reservoir is owned by the Santa Clara Valley Water District, a government agency based in San Jose. When full, it holds 89,278 acre feet of water — more than all other nine dams operated by the Santa Clara Valley Water District combined.
In a statement Monday, Norma Camacho, the water district’s CEO said the impacts of draining the largest reservoir in Santa Clara County will be significant.

Science & Technology

Leaked Reports Show EU Police Are Planning a Pan-European Network of Facial Recognition Databases

The Intercept – A police investigator in Spain is trying to solve a crime, but she only has an image of a suspect’s face, caught by a nearby security camera. European police have long had access to fingerprint and DNA databases throughout the 27 countries of the European Union and, in certain cases, the United States. But soon, that investigator may be able to also search a network of police face databases spanning the whole of Europe and the U.S.
According to leaked internal European Union documents, the EU could soon be creating a network of national police facial recognition databases. A report drawn up by the national police forces of 10 EU member states, led by Austria, calls for the introduction of EU legislation to introduce and interconnect such databases in every member state. The report, which The Intercept obtained from a European official who is concerned about the network’s development, was circulated among EU and national officials in November 2019. If previous data-sharing arrangements are a guide, the new facial recognition network will likely be connected to similar databases in the U.S., creating what privacy researchers are calling a massive transatlantic consolidation of biometric data.
The report was produced as part of discussions on expanding the Prüm system, an EU-wide initiative connecting DNA, fingerprint, and vehicle registration databases for mutual searching. A similar system exists between the U.S. and any country that is part of the Visa Waiver Program, which includes the majority of EU countries; bilateral agreements allow U.S. and European agencies to access one another’s fingerprint and DNA databases.

Coronavirus could be a ‘catalyst’ for China to boost its mass surveillance machine, experts say

NBC – China could use the coronavirus outbreak to boost its mass surveillance capabilities as it looks to technology to help contain the epidemic in the world’s second-largest economy.
The Communist Party has built a vast surveillance state through different methods with technology at its core.
As artificial intelligence and the use of data becomes more advanced, Beijing has found increasingly effective ways to track the Chinese population, including facial recognition.

Health

Researchers Are Now Saying We Don’t Need To Fear This Root Vegetable

MindBodyGreen – When you think health foods, potatoes probably don’t come to mind—sweet potatoes, maybe, but not the standard potatoes of french fry and potato chip fame. Previous studies have linked eating potatoes to increased risks of some diseases, but recent research suggests something else.
A group of researchers at Pennsylvania State University have conducted research to prove that the potato is no worse than any other carb—and, in fact, it may be better.
The researchers attribute the root vegetable’s bad reputation, in part, to its traditional preparations and serving options: fried, or full of salt and unhealthy fats. They concluded that eating potatoes, prepared the right way, can be a part of a healthy diet.
For their study, the researchers had a group of 50 healthy adults, in this case based on factors such as blood pressure, cholesterol, and insulin levels, replace their regular side dishes with either potatoes or refined grains, both prepared by the Metabolic Diet Study Center at the university.
Participants ate one version of these side dishes for a month, took a two-week break, and then supplemented meals with the other option. The side dishes, regardless of potato or not, were kept to the same calorie count and carbohydrate level to isolate the impact of health to the potato itself.
They found that when participants were eating more potatoes, their levels of nutrients like potassium and fiber were higher. In addition, this study did not conclude that eating potatoes increased fasting glucose levels but that cholesterol, insulin, and cardiometabolic markers did not have any negative impact.

NIH spent more than $700 million in taxpayer money to develop coronavirus pharmaceuticals, vaccines and bioweapons

Dr. Leonard Coldwell – For the past almost 20 years, the United States government has been using your tax dollars (assuming you’re an American taxpayer) to fund research and development into vaccines and other pharmaceuticals for the coronavirus family of pathogens. And if history is any indicator, the end result of this massive financial disbursement will be obscene profits for Big Pharma, and expensive drugs for you and your family.
A new report by Public Citizen explains that the “race” has been on to develop new drug-based treatments for coronaviruses ever since the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) crisis of 2002, followed by MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) in 2012, and now the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19).
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), the report explains, has played a “singular role” in making sure that your hard-earned income makes it into the coffers of the pharmaceutical industry, which continues to argue that its monopoly-based patent system for synthetic treatments “is the most effective tool to reward and incentivize innovation.”
Big Pharma further argues that, despite having to rely upon the general public to fund its self-centered R&D efforts, this is all worthwhile because it “fulfills the promise of breakthroughs in treatments and cures for … scores of debilitating or life-threatening illnesses around the world.”
Keep in mind that unpatented natural remedies remain largely off-limits because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is bed-buddies with Big Pharma, prohibits their use under the guise that they’re “unsubstantiated” and “unproven” for medicinal use.
The only option, in other words, are patented synthetics, which wouldn’t even exist were it not for back-door dealings that transfer the wealth of American taxpayers into the coffers of the pharmaceutical industry, which Public Citizen argues isn’t even putting it to good use when it comes to the fight against infectious diseases.
“… the monopoly model has not driven significant industry investment in infectious diseases, including coronaviruses,” the report explains. “Last year, there were only six active coronavirus clinical trials involving pharmaceutical companies. All of them depended crucially on public funding.”

5 Medicinal plants that you need in your home garden

NaturalNews – Mother Nature is filled with medicinal plants that work better than most modern medicines. Many of them are even commonly used in emergency survival situations due to the effectiveness of their healing properties. If you’re looking to expand the plants in your garden, you should seriously consider adding several or all of these five medicinal plants. (h/t to Survivopedia.com)