New Orleans City Council and Mayor Mitch Landrieu have continued their plan to remove monuments to Confederate history by removing a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis on Davis Street. The statue stood for 106 years. The removal was conduced in the middle of the night, as Landrieu said removals would be done, early Thursday … Read more
A piece of the world’s second-largest diamond, found 2 years ago by Vancouver’s Lucara Diamond company, just sold for $17.5m. The big rock in question is the 1,109-carat “Lesedi La Rona.” They wanted $70m for it at the auction, but no one bid higher than $60m so they still have it. The $17.5m diamond is … Read more
The reports are being denied by the White House, but The Washington Post broke the story today that in a meeting the president told the Russians highly classified security information about ISIS (something about airline safety and laptops). Among the questions being raised is how this will effect the relationship with the unnamed U.S. partner … Read more
The message delivered from the White House through Stuart Jones, acting assistant secretary for Near East affairs, was: “The regime is responsible for killing as many as 50 detainees per day at Saydnaya. Credible sources have believed that many of the bodies have been disposed in mass graves. We now believe that the Syrian regime … Read more
Microsoft President Brad Smith complained that various governments “stockpile vulnerabilities.” In other words, governments and agencies find weaknesses in technology and then keep that information to themselves in case they want to use it. Smith said the current WannaCry malware event was a very rare one, combining a piece of very sophisticated software (to do … Read more
Everywhere humans and elephants coexist, they come into conflict, resulting in injuries, deaths, and ruined crops. While governments compensate farmers and others for injuries and ruined crops, people in countries like Tanzania and Kenya have said they believe the government’s real priority is the elephants, which bring in tourist dollars. A few years ago by … Read more
The President said he was willing to meet the North Korean leader if the right circumstances presented themselves. “If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would absolutely, I would be honored to do it,” Mr Trump said in an interview with Bloomberg News. In the interview, Trump also said that … Read more
The new bill has been approved, and it includes an extra $20 billion for defense. Immigration and border patrol get an 8% increase, but there is nothing for a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. The defense amount includes a 2.1% pay raise for military personnel. There was also nothing in the bill about … Read more
The President’s new TV and online campaign touts the accomplishments of his first 100 days in office, including tax cuts, approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, and the appointment of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. Read more
Have you ever wondered about fake art and the authenticators who can tell the difference between real and fake? In this article, world-renowned art authenticator Dr Kilian Anheuser of Geneva’s Fine Arts Expert Institute (FAEI) explains the problem of art fakes in the $60bn yearly art market, what types of paintings are more often forged … Read more
The President’s 100 Days advertising campaign was denied by CNN when his team tried to buy space for their new 30-second video ad, which has a shot of 5 news personalities, including one from CNN, with “FAKE NEWS” printed over them. The anchors include CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell and Rachel Maddow, ABC’s George … Read more
A 25% improvement in the black death rate since 1999 was reported by the CDC this week. They analyzed for age-specific trends among 4 age groups: 18 to 34, 35 to 49, 50 to 64 and 65 and older. Whites, who live 4 years longer than blacks on average, have seen worse death rates since … Read more