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Today's News: October 29, 2018

Top Headlines
 
Pentagon to deploy 5,000 active-duty troops to southern border to halt migrant caravan
USA Today – The Pentagon will deploy up to 5,000 active-duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border in an effort to prevent members of a migrant caravan from illegally entering the country, a U.S. official said Monday.
About 2,100 National Guard troops are already fanned out across the border under an order from President Donald Trump earlier this year. In recent weeks, the president has been warning repeatedly about the dangers posed by a caravan of mostly Central American migrants, which has swelled to an estimated 7,000 people and is continuing its slow trek north through Mexico.
Administration officials said last week that they were considering a plan to send up to 1,000 active duty troops to the border, but that deployment has increased to 5,000, according to the Department of Homeland Security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the plans before a formal announcement Monday afternoon.
he troops are not expected to conduct law enforcement activities, but instead provide backup support to Border Patrol agents manning the border.
 
Fox Business pulls episode of ‘Lou Dobbs Tonight’ with ‘Soros-occupied State Department’ remark
Washington Examiner – Fox Business on Sunday said it pulled an episode of “Lou Dobbs Tonight” that contained what critics said was anti-Semitic sentiment just a day after a gunman killed 11 people in a synagogue in Pittsburgh.
In the segment, Judicial Watch official Chris Farrell claimed a Central American migrant caravan moving towards the U.S. southern border is being funded by the “Soros-occupied State Department.” Farrell was referencing George Soros, a Jewish billionaire and political activist who routinely funds Democratic candidates and initiatives.
“We condemn the rhetoric by the guest on Lou Dobbs Tonight. This episode was a repeat which has now been pulled from all future airings,” Fox Business senior vice president of programming Gary Schreier said in a statement.
A spokeswoman said Farrell “will no longer be booked on Fox Business Network or Fox News Channel.”
 
Trump taps ex-Monsanto executive to lead wildlife agency
AP – President Donald Trump says he is nominating a former executive at agribusiness giant Monsanto to head the Fish and Wildlife Service.
Aurelia Skipwith of Indiana is currently deputy assistant Interior secretary for fish, wildlife and parks.
A biologist and lawyer, Skipwith spent more than six years at Monsanto and has worked at the Agriculture Department and U.S. Agency for International Development.
If confirmed by the Senate, Skipwith would be the first African-American to head the wildlife agency, which has 9,000 employees and a $2.8 billion annual budget.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has been without a Senate-confirmed director since Trump took office in January 2017.
Oregon voters will decide fate of state’s controversial sanctuary law
Fox – Voters in Oregon are about to weigh in on one of the most controversial topics of our time. Should the local government provide sanctuary to immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally?
Ballot Measure 105 would repeal the country’s oldest sanctuary state law, passed almost unanimously in Oregon in 1987. It bars local police from using resources to enforce immigration law.
Oregonians for Immigration Reform is spearheading the repeal effort. Leaders say it is policies like this that encourage the caravan of Central Americans making its way through Mexico to the U.S. border.
“Oregon has laid out the welcome mat for people to come into our country illegally,” said Cynthia Kendoll, President of OIR. “On one hand we say, ‘don’t try to cross our border,’ on the other hand we say, ‘if you get here, we’ll take care of you.”
According to the Center for Immigration Studies, there are 300 sanctuary city jurisdictions, including seven states. Immigrant rights groups working to defeat the repeal of Oregon’s law are trying to keep the focus local and not on caravans, President Trump or the border wall.
 
World News
 
Indonesian Flight Carrying 189 Crashes Into Sea
CNBC – A Lion Air flight carrying 189 people, including crew, from the Indonesian capital of Jakarta crashed into the sea off the island of Java on Monday shortly after take-off, according to officials.
There was no immediate word on fatalities or injuries.
The Ministry of Transportation has confirmed that 189 people were on board the plane, after initially reporting that there were 188 passengers. According to the ministry, Lion Air flight JT610 took off from Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta airport and lost contact with the air traffic controller at around 6:33 a.m. Monday (7:33 p.m. ET Sunday).
The plane was headed to the city of Pangkal Pinang off the island of Sumatra.
 
China military ordered to ‘prepare for war’ with west
The Sun – CHINA’s President Xi Jinping has told his military commanders to “concentrate preparations for fighting a war” as Beijing ramps up fighting talk with the West.
The communist ruler’s instructions come amid rising tensions over the future of the South China Sea and Taiwan and weeks after a Chinese warship tried to ram a US Navy destroyer.
 
Russia issues chilling warning it is ‘preparing for war’ over the US withdrawal from landmark missile treaty
Daily Mail – Russia has warned it is ‘preparing for war’ after US President Donald Trump announced he would be withdrawing from a landmark nuclear missile treaty this week.
Senior Russian arms control official Andrei Belousov made the declaration after Russia lost a vote at the UN to gather support from other nations for the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Reduction Treaty.
‘Here recently at the meeting, the United States said that Russia is preparing for war,’ Belusov said after the vote.
‘Yes, Russia is preparing for war, I have confirmed it.
 
Khashoggi hit squad ‘smoked and drank alcohol on cheerful ride home’ after the killing, taxi driver says – as journalist’s friend ‘claims he was about to expose Saudi chemical weapons use’
Daily Mail – A Saudi hit squad smoked and drank alcohol on a ‘cheerful’ ride back to the airport after allegedly murdering Jamal Khashoggi, their taxi driver has said.
The driver claimed that one of his passengers on the way back from the Saudi consulate in Istanbul was a senior intelligence officer close to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Turkey claims a 15-man security squad was sent to murder Khashoggi, while Riyadh denies the crown prince had any knowledge of the killing.
Last night a friend of Khashoggi claimed the journalist was about to reveal that Saudi Arabia was using chemical weapons in its war with Yemen.
 
Assange says Ecuador seeking to end asylum, hand him to USA
Reuters – Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said on Monday that Ecuador is seeking to end his asylum in its London embassy and hand him over to the United States, citing a new set of rules governing his residence at the Andean nation’s diplomatic mission as evidence.
Assange spoke from the embassy via teleconference at the first hearing of a lawsuit in Quito that was initiated by his legal team against the Ecuadorean government. The lawsuit challenges the new rules, which require him to pay for medical bills, phone calls and clean up after his pet cat.
During the hearing, Assange said the new rules were a sign Ecuador was trying to push him out, and said Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno had already decided to end his asylum but had not yet officially given the order.
His comments prompted the South American country’s top government attorney, Iñigo Salvador, to interrupt him and warn him not to make political statements during the proceedings.
Court officials told journalists they could not record any of the statements made during the hearing.
Salvador did not directly respond to Assange’s allegations, but he had told reporters last week Assange was welcome to stay in the embassy with the new rules. He also said the United Kingdom in August had assured Assange would not be extradited if he left the embassy, where he has lived since 2012.
 
EDL founder Tommy Robinson ‘set to make £1million when he visits the US on speaking tour’ in deal that would make him one of the best funded far right figures since World War Two
Daily Mail – Tommy Robinson could make more than £1million if he is allowed to travel to the US for a trip next month making him one of the best funded figure since World War Two, campaigners say.
The English Defence League founder, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon has been invited to Washington by congress members, just weeks after being released from prison.
He was asked by the US think tank the Middle East Forum (MEF) and the David Horowitz Freedom Centre, a right-wing Conservative foundation to address members at a closed door meeting.
 
U.S. News, Politics & Government
 
Evacuated after ‘health attacks’ in Cuba and China, diplomats face new ordeals
NBC – Some diplomats and their doctors tell NBC they’re concerned the U.S. wants to downplay what happened. Some suspect harassment has continued inside the U.S.
For the past 18 months, more than two dozen U.S. diplomatic staffers once stationed in Cuba and China have endured an ordeal that is equal parts medical mystery, political stand-off and bureaucratic muddle.
Cuba and China deny any role. While the U.S. hasn’t named a culprit, it says the “health attacks” caused brain injury and other physical harm. Physicians enlisted by the State Department have identified what they call a “Brain Network Disorder” acquired by U.S. personnel serving abroad, say U.S. officials, that includes structural changes to the brain not found in any previously known disorder.
 
‘Simply irresponsible’: Air Force spent $326,000 on coffee cups it kept breaking
USA Today – An Air Force official admitted the branch’s multiple purchases of coffee cups that break easily and cost $1,280 each “is simply irresponsible,” vowing to pursue ways to fix the mugs instead of continually buying new ones.
Buying and replacing the special mugs, which can reheat liquids aboard air refueling tankers in flight, has cost the Air Force $326,785 since 2016, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said in a letter.
The letter, dated last Wednesday to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, came after Grassley questioned “yet another report of wasteful spending in the Department of Defense” in an earlier letter.
In an Oct. 2 correspondence, Grassley asked Wilson about a Fox News report that found a squadron at California’s Travis Air Force base had spent $56,000 on the metal mugs in the past three years alone, which service members kept dropping and shattering.
Tech. Sgt. James Hodgman, a squadron spokesman, explained the problem to Fox News.
“Unfortunately, when dropped, the handle breaks easily leading to the expenditure of several thousand dollars to replace the cups as replacement parts are not available,” he said.
 
New suspicious package addressed to CNN discovered at Atlanta post office
NBC – Another suspicious package was sent to CNN — the third mailed to the network in a week — and intercepted at an Atlanta post office, officials said on Monday.
A U.S. Post Office at 400 Pryor Street SW was evacuated shortly after calls came to local police at 9:30 a.m., officials said.
The bomb squads of both the FBI and Atlanta police rushed to the scene, which is about 1.2 miles from CNN headquarters in Atlanta, according to federal officials.
The piece of mail was safely removed, authorities said.
 
Masked Gunman Allegedly Bursts into McDonald’s, Gets Shot Dead by Armed Father
Breitbart – A masked gunman allegedly burst in a Birmingham, Alabama, McDonald’s Saturday night only to be shot dead by a father who was dining with his two teenage sons.
AL.com reports that the incident occurred around 10:45 pm, when the restaurant manager unlocked the door to let the father and his sons exit the lobby. The masked gunman allegedly burst inside “as the door was opened…and opened fire.” The father was able to pull his handgun and return fire, fatally wounding the masked suspect.
A woman who was waiting for her food at the drive-thru recalled hearing “eight or night shots ring out.” She said those shots were followed by the sound of two more.
The suspect was transported to a hospital and pronounced dead.
The father and one of his sons were wounded in the exchange of gunfire but both are expected to survive.
 
Judicial Watch Docs Prove Migrant Caravan Funded By Soros & Other International Organizations
Infowars – Billionaire globalist George Soros used State Department resources and taxpayer funds to advance his leftist political activities, including influencing migration policy, according to documents obtained by Judicial Watch earlier this year.
The 32 pages of records show the Obama administration sent U.S. taxpayer money to Soros-backed groups in Albania to fund his subversive political activity, and that he assisted the State Department in deciding how to allocate taxpayer funds for certain grants.
The documents obtained through Judicial Watch’s FOIA lawsuit reveal the mechanism by which Soros-backed groups are able to organize efforts like the migrant caravans through groups like Pueblos Sin Fronteras, and the leftist coalition known as CARA.
 
Economy & Business
 
AI predicts Warren Buffett’s holdings at risk from hedge funds
Financial News London – A new study of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett’s investment business, by a UK-based fintech company that analyses how artificial intelligence technology affects markets, has estimated that more than $10bn worth of the company’s holdings are potentially vulnerable to activity by short-selling hedge funds.
 
Science & Technology
 
China to Build its First Permanent Airstrip Antarctica
Infowars – China has signaled its ambition to start work on a new Antarctic airstrip as the country continues to increase its presence on the icy continent on Australia’s southern doorstep.
A report in the official newspaper of the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China said the airfield is expected to be completed in a couple of years and will be used for scientific expeditions and tourist groups.
“Building an airstrip will clearly increase access and scientific capacity for China and is consistent with its aspirations to ramp up its activities in the region,” said ANU’s professor Donald Rothwell, a leading expert in International Law who specializes in the polar regions.
 
Same-sex couple carries same baby, calls experience ‘priceless’
ABC – A North Texas couple is believed to have made medical history as the first couple to deliver a baby they both carried.
Ashleigh and Bliss Coulter, of Mountain Springs, are now happy mothers to a healthy 5-month-old baby boy named Stetson, all thanks to a procedure called Effortless Reciprocal In Vitro Fertilization or Effortless Reciprocal IVF.
Ashleigh described that usually with same-sex couples, “one of them typically births the child and they use the sperm donor.”
“The other mom has to adopt the child,” she added.
But both Bliss and Ashleigh wanted a way to be a part of bringing their child into the world.
A friend suggested the couple watch a news clip about Dr. Kathy Doody, a fertility specialist from the C.A.R.E Fertility Clinic in Bedford, and some of her previous work.
Ashleigh and Bliss scheduled a consultation with Doody in 2016 and learned about the possibility of them both carrying the baby using Effortless Reciprocal IVF.
The couple was hopeful they would find a solution to their problem but Ashleigh said she “didn’t really think it was possible until we heard it from Dr. Kathy’s mouth.”
Doody explained that Effortless IVF itself is not noteworthy but this would be “the first time where both of the mothers physically carried the baby.”
Effortless IVF refers to a form of IVF whereby the eggs and the sperm are introduced in a device called an INVOcell capsule. They are then being placed in a woman’s vagina to simulate the conditions in an incubator.
Reciprocal IVF involves the eggs and sperm being incubated in a laboratory by an incubator. An incubator provides a temperate environment and moves gasses and substances, like toxins, away from the embryos.
Since with Effortless IVF, the INVOcell capsule needs to be placed in a woman’s body, Bliss was able to have her eggs fertilized and embryos form inside her instead of using an incubator.
Doody said it works because “the woman has kidneys, a liver, and lungs, which allow the body acts as a natural incubator.”
With Ashleigh and Bliss, Doody harvested eggs from Bliss and introduced it to sperm from a donor in the INVOcell. It was then placed in Bliss to allow fertilization and formation of the embryos for five days. The embryos were then removed and frozen until Ashleigh was ready to receive them.
With traditional Effortless IVF, the woman who donates the egg is usually the one that will receive the embryo. But because the egg and embryo came from Bliss and were put in Ashleigh, this makes this case unique.
After Ashleigh was done with her hormone treatments, Bliss’ embryo was placed in her. Ten days later, on their first try, the couple was pregnant with their first child.
 
Secret ‘passage to the underworld’ tunnel discovered beneath Mexican pyramid
Fox – Archaeologists in Mexico have discovered a mysterious tunnel and chamber beneath the Pyramid of the Moon in the ancient city of Teotihuacán.
Researchers from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) and the Institute of Geophysics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) located the hidden spaces at the famous site near Mexico City.
Human skeletons have been found in other tunnels excavated at the Pyramid of the Moon, prompting speculation that similar remains may be inside the newly-discovered tunnel.
The tunnel, which runs to the southern part of Teotihuacán’s Plaza of the Moon, is the latest fascinating find to shed new light on Mexico’s ancient history. An ancient mask depicting a 7th-century Maya king, for example, was recently discovered in southern Mexico.
 
Health
 
Peanut Allergies Triple in Just 20 Years
Daily Mail – Life-threatening peanut reactions among children have become ‘almost epidemic’, an expert has warned.
Dr Scott Sicherer, director of the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at New York‘s Mount Sinai hospital, said the rise in cases is impossible to deny.
Peanut allergies tripled from affecting one in 250 children to just one in 70 between 1997 and 2008, a study by the institute found.
‘It really is almost an epidemic,’ Dr Sicherer told CNBC. ‘When you’re living with a food allergy, it’s like you’re living in a landmine situation.
‘Every meal, every snack, every party, every social activity — is that food that can hurt me going to be there?’
He added anecdotal reports from school nurses suggest two children in every classroom suffer from a peanut allergy.
 
Recent research suggests that even low exposure to glyphosate can contribute to liver damage
NaturalNews – Back in 2015, the American Liver Foundation estimated that at least one in four Americans was living with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), an illness that can affect even those who drink little or no alcohol. People in their 40s and 50s are most vulnerable, especially those who carry extra weight around their bellies.
But while maintaining a healthy weight and taking other reasonable precautions to optimize health, including eating a nutrient-dense diet and getting regular exercise, are important ways to prevent this disease, a recent study found that chronic exposure to even very low doses of Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide can also be linked to the development of NAFLD.
 
How to get a dose of Vitamin P – which nobody has ever heard of but is vital for boosting your immunity and beating diabetes
Daily Mail – Anyone with a passing interest in their health will be able to rattle off a few of the major vitamins, and possibly take an educated guess at what they do. Vitamin C, found in oranges and other fruit and veg, is important for wound repair. And the much-talked-about ‘sunshine’ Vitamin D, produced by the skin in response to UV light, is essential for strong bones.
But Vitamin P? It might well have you scratching your head. And that’s not surprising: the term was first coined in the 1930s to describe a clutch of compounds that provide pigment to plants, and were believed to have health benefits. Fast-forward almost a century and these compounds are now better known as flavonoids.
Today, scientists have identified between 4,000 and 6,000 different kinds and we now know they are responsible for many of the flavours and smells of fruit and vegetables − and also that they protect them from invaders such as fungi, pests and bacteria.
They are equally important nutrients for the body, helping maintain bones and teeth, and for the production of the protein collagen, which provides structure to blood vessels, muscles and skin.
They are also said to help the body deal with some of the key drivers of illness, including inflammation and oxidation, a natural process by which the body’s cells ‘age’ and can become damaged and defective. That means they could help to protect against chronic disease including cancer and heart disease.
But where can you get your daily dose, and more importantly, why should you?
Citrus fruits to stave off stroke
Research in the Journal Of Nutrition found that people who ate a diet rich in citrus fruits and juices – the main source of a class of flavonoid known as flavanones – had a 31 per cent lower risk of stroke than those who ate few of the fruits.
Tea and cocoa for the heart and brain
Two mugs of tea a day could help improve heart health, according to researchers. A Taiwanese study found that people who consumed 450ml (about two mugs) of black or green tea daily for at least a year had lower arterial stiffness, compared to those who drank less tea.
Italian researchers who tested the effects of cocoa flavanols in 90 healthy people found that medium to high doses produced significant improvements on tests that measured attention and memory.
Other foods that are rich in flavanols include blueberries, cherries, red wine, apples, pears, fava beans and peanuts.
Purple veg for all-round health
The blue and red colour of foods such as blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, plums, grapes, aubergines and red cabbage is due to the presence of a type of flavanol called anthocyanin.
Eat onions to fight allergies
Broccoli, ginger, asparagus, leafy greens and, most importantly, onions are a source of the flavonoid called quercetin, which has shown to have anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic effects in laboratory studies.
 
The 10 Most Hazardous Cosmetic Products
Mercola – Top 10 Most Hazardous Products Tested
The fragrance industry has nearly 4,000 fragrance chemicals at its disposal, which companies are not mandated to disclose. BCPP hired two independent third-party testing laboratories. The first assessed volatile organic compounds and the other performed two-dimensional gas chromatography on a subset of 32 products, including shampoo, deodorant, multipurpose cleaners and lotions.
There was an average of 136 chemicals in the cleaning products and an average of 146 in personal care products. The team then compared the product name against the type of chemicals triggering hormone disruption, asthma, developmental toxins and cancer.
From this data they ranked the top 10 products with the most hazardous chemicals in terms of the highest number linked to these health effects.10 The products making the top 10 dangerous products directly from the BCPP report were:11

Just for Me Shampoo — A children’s shampoo, from a hair-relaxing kit marketed to kids of color by Strength of Nature.
JLo Glow Perfume — A fine fragrance made by Coty and endorsed by music, television and film icon Jennifer Lopez.
Kaboom with OxiClean Shower Tub & Tile Cleaner — Marketed as a “great cleaner that is safe and friendly to use,” made by Church & Dwight Co.
Olay Luminous Tone Body Lotion — Made by Procter & Gamble and marketed for its antiaging qualities.
Axe Phoenix Body Spray — A body spray made by Unilever and marketed to young men using an overtly sexual ad campaign.
Marc Jacobs Daisy Perfume — Another Coty fragrance carrying the famous designer’s name and using beatific, radiant young girls in its marketing campaigns.
Taylor Swift Wonderstruck Perfume — A Revlon fine fragrance endorsed by the beloved pop country singer Taylor Swift.
Organix (OGX) Shampoo — A Johnson & Johnson product marketed as part of a “green/sustainable” line of products to young women.
Formulation 64-RP — An industrial cleaner and disinfectant used by custodians firefighters and others.
White Linen Perfume — Created by Estée Lauder in 1978, marketed as “a beautiful perfume” for women young and old.

While these were the top 10 products, it is important to remember the team conducted tests on 140 personal care and cleaning products, the lowest of which, yellow soap, had 46 chemicals. Other cleaning products such as Kaboom with OxiClean Shower, Tub and Tile Cleaner had 229. Of the 25 personal care products tested, only three had less than 100 and none had less than 75.
 

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