Today's News: June 13, 2018

World News

Trump: North Korea is no longer a nuclear threat
Al Jazeera – Trump says Singapore meeting was very interesting and that North Korea has great potential for the future.

Italy, France tensions spiral over rejected migrant ship
AFP – Italy postponed high-level talks with France on Wednesday after Paris branded Rome irresponsible for refusing to take in a migrant rescue ship.
Italy’s new economy minister postponed a meeting with his French counterpart in Paris as their countries traded barbs over the treatment of more than 600 migrants rescued off the Libyan coast at the weekend.

Saudi-led forces attempt to push Yemeni militia out of port
The Christian Science Monitor – The Yemeni exiled government launched an assault Wednesday to drive out the Iranian-aligned Shiite rebels. The fight could cause issues including potential shutdowns of the port, a crucial access point for food and supplies to civilians who are at risk of starvation.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

Silence! Deputy AG Rosenstein Threatened To Investigate GOP Lawmakers and Staff; UPDATE: He’s Launching Internal Probe
Town Hall – CNN is reporting that things have escalated in the conflict between Congress and the DOJ. Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein is preparing to launch an internal investigation into the staffers who allege that he threatened to subpoena their records should he be held in contempt of Congress. House Republicans have grown increasingly impatient over the DOJ’s lethargic pace in disclosing documents relating to inquiries into the Trump-Russia investigation. The DOJ has denied that Rosenstein threatened anyone

Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen likely to cooperate as his attorneys leave case, sources say
ABC – Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s longtime confidant and former personal attorney, is likely to cooperate with federal investigators, as his lawyers are expected to leave the case, sources said.

Ryan: Trump, White House back Hill GOP plan to hold immigration votes
NBC – A compromise bill to be voted on next week will include protections for DACA recipients, lawmakers said Wednesday.

AMERICA TO HOST WORLD CUP 2026.
Yahoo – For the first time in 32 years, the men’s World Cup is coming back to North America.
FIFA’s 200-plus member associations gathered in Moscow on Wednesday and voted to award 2026 World Cup hosting rights to the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The North American bid – the product of over a decade of planning and campaigning – beat out one rival bid, Morocco’s, by a vote of 134 to 65.

Controversy After Trans High Schoolers Place 1st, 2nd In Girls Track Championships
CBS – According to News 8, petitions have been started by some parents and student-athletes to try and change the policy that allows athletes in high schools to compete for the gender specific sport they identify with. But, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference says in order for that to happen, state law would also need to change. The station spoke to several people who were largely in favor of allowing Miller and Yearwood to compete against the girls.

Thefts rise after California reduces criminal penalties
Sacramento Bee – California voters’ decision to reduce penalties for drug and property crimes in 2014 contributed to a jump in car burglaries, shoplifting and other theft, researchers reported.
Larcenies increased about 9 percent by 2016, or about 135 more thefts per 100,000 residents than if tougher penalties had remained, according to results of a study by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California released Tuesday.

Initiative to break California into 3 states to go on ballot
CNN – An initiative that would divide California into three separate states qualified Tuesday to appear on the ballot in November’s general election.

U.S. Justice Department to focus on discrimination against houses of worship
Reuters: Top News
Reuters – The U.S. Justice Department is planning to ramp up efforts to bring more civil rights lawsuits against municipalities that try to discriminate against houses of worship.

Economy & Business

Soros Invests $3 Million In NYTIMES
The Washington Free Beacon – Liberal billionaire George Soros purchased $3 million worth of stock holdings in the publisher of the New York Times, filings show.

Justice Department weighs appeal in AT&T case
Axios – The Justice Department has days to decide whether to continue its lengthy fight against AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner — but an appeal may not stop the deal from closing in the meantime.

Fed Raises Interest Rates For Second Time In 2018
NPR – The Federal Reserve increased a key interest rate again Wednesday, which will trigger higher rates on credit cards, home equity lines and other kinds of borrowing.

Bitcoin prices manipulated, says study
The Hill – Bitcoin’s massive price run-up late last year may have been the result of a price manipulation campaign, according to a new study released on Wednesday.
The paper by John Griffin, a finance professor at the University of Texas who has researched fraud in other markets, and graduate student Amin Shams, found that the virtual coin Tether was likely used to prop up Bitcoin prices late last year.

VW fined one billion euros by German prosecutors over emissions cheating
Reuters – Volkswagen was fined 1 billion euros ($1.18 billion) over diesel emissions cheating in what amounts to one of the highest ever fines imposed by German authorities against a company, public prosecutors said on Wednesday.

White House seeks to block Congress from killing ZTE deal: report
Reuters: Top News
Reuters – The White House will try to derail an effort in the U.S. Congress to block the Trump administration’s deal to allow ZTE Corp, China’s No. 2 telecommunications equipment maker, to resume doing business with American suppliers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Science & Technology

Privacy Nightmare: Smartphone Makers And Facebook’s Secret Agreement
Off Grid News – Huge privacy breach as Facebook became social media leader.
There is a frightening reason why Facebook got to be the biggest communications medium in human history. Apple, Amazon, Samsung, Microsoft, Blackberry, and other major phone makers shared the personal data of users with the Social Network.
Up to 60 companies shared data about smartphone users with Facebook in secret partnerships, The New York Times revealed. The partnerships lasted for over 10 years and only ended in April 2018.

Health

For the First Time Ever, Lawsuit Targets Billionaire OxyContin Family for Causing Opioid Epidemic
Activist Post – A landmark lawsuit is the first in the country to name the actual owners of Purdue Pharma who makes the deadly drug OxyContin for their role in the opioid epidemic.