Tissues, toilet paper, paper towels and diapers getting more expensive

- Get ready to pay a little more for Pampers, Charmin, Bounty, and Puffs.

Procter & Gamble said on Tuesday that it was in the process of raising Pampers’ prices in North America by 4 percent. P&G also began notifying retailers this week that it would increase the average prices of Bounty, Charmin, and Puffs by 5 percent.

P&G is raising prices because commodity and transportation cost pressures are intensifying. The hikes to Bounty and Charmin will go into effect in late October, and Puffs will become more expensive beginning early next year.

These products are significant sales drivers and market share leaders for P&G.

Food companies, such as Coke, Boston Beer, Hershey, and Tyson Foods, have announced price increases in recent weeks, but P&G’s move will serve as a test for how willing Americans are to pay up for big household brands. The strategy could leave the company vulnerable to low-cost competitors or pushback from retail partners. Walmart was P&G’s biggest buyer in 2017, accounting for 16 percent of its $65 billion in sales.

“There is uncertainty and will be volatility with these pricing moves. They will negatively impact consumption. We’ll have to adjust as we go and as we learn,” Chief Financial Officer Jon Moeller told analysts on Tuesday.

Britons see Brexit turning sour, half want chance to vote again: poll

LONDON (Reuters) - Two-thirds of Britons now think the government will end up with a bad deal when Britain leaves the European Union early next year, and half want the chance to vote on what happens next, Sky News reported on Monday, citing its own poll.

With less than eight months until Britain is due to leave the EU, Prime Minister Theresa May has yet to find a proposal to maintain economic ties with the bloc that pleases both sides of her divided party and is acceptable to negotiators in Brussels.

The Sky poll said 65 percent of British voters thought the government would end up with a bad deal - an increase of 15 points from March - and half support a referendum to choose between leaving with a deal, leaving without a deal or staying in the EU. The poll indicated 40 percent opposed such a vote, while 10 percent did not know.

When asked to choose between three options - May’s deal, a no deal or staying in the EU - 48 percent said they would prefer to stay in the EU, 27 percent wanted to leave with no deal and 13 percent would opt for the government’s deal.

Sky Data interviewed a nationally representative sample of 1,466 Sky customers online between July 20 and 23. Data are weighted to the profile of the population.

The shift in public opinion comes as May has stepped up planning for a so called “no-deal” Brexit that would see the world’s fifth largest economy crash out of the EU on March 29, 2019 without a trade agreement.

A separate poll on Friday suggested that the proportion of voters who favor a referendum on the final terms of any Brexit deal had overtaken those who do not for the first time.

May has repeatedly ruled out holding another public vote on Brexit, saying the public spoke at a June 23, 2016, referendum, in which 51.9 percent of the votes cast backed leaving the EU while 48.1 percent backed staying.

Her main opponents in parliament, the Labour Party, are also not advocating a second referendum, meaning that, despite growing support and a vocal campaign for another vote, there is no obvious path for one to take place.

However, the potential for major political upheaval remains, with May’s minority government facing a series of make-or-break moments in the Brexit process over coming months.

She must find a way to strike a deal with the EU, which has already rejected her preferred plan on trade, then sell that deal to her deeply divided Conservative Party, before putting it to a vote in parliament. Failure at any of those three hurdles could cost her her job.

With China's Help, Cambodia Strongman Set to Extend 33-Year Rule

- As Cambodians prepare to go to the polls on Sunday, a win is all but assured for strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen in an election that highlights China’s growing influence in Asia over the West.

Following a narrow election victory in 2013 over opposition leader Sam Rainsy and his Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), Hun Sen -- who’s been in power for 33 years -- has since disbanded the party, silenced his critics and forced the closure of most independent media.

In that time he’s grown ever closer to China, accepting cash from Beijing in return for supporting its geopolitical aims in the region – particularly regarding disputed territory in the South China Sea. When the U.S. and European Union pulled funding for the election, China stepped in with $20 million for equipment, including polling booths, laptops and computers.

As a staunch supporter of Hun Sen’s regime, Beijing has billions of dollars at stake. This month, U.S. security-research firm FireEye said it found evidence of a Chinese hacking team infiltrating computer systems belonging to Cambodia’s election commission, opposition leaders and the media.

Teen infected with hookworms after being buried in sand at Florida beach

florida

- A Tennessee teenager and several other people visiting a Florida beach have been infected with hookworms. Michael Dumas, a 17-year-old from Memphis, was on a mission trip to South Florida with friends when they visited the Pompano Beach, just north of Fort Lauderdale, CBS Miami reports.

Dumas was photographed having a good time and being buried in the sand by his group on June 20. The beachgoers didn't know it would leave the teen covered in scars only days later.

Dumas reportedly began to suffer ear aches and had bumps under the skin of his legs and thighs. Doctors quickly diagnosed him with a severe case of hookworms. At least four other people in Dumas' group were also infected that day, CBS Miami reports.

Michael's mother, Kelli Dumas, documented the gruesome condition on Facebook as her son's feet swelled up from the infection and required dermatologists to try to freeze the worms with liquid nitrogen. "He could actually feel the worms moving in his body," Dumas said, via WJAX.

Bomb detonated near US embassy in Beijing, but no major injuries reported

- A single attacker detonated a bomb near the U.S. embassy in Beijing on Thursday, an embassy spokesperson told NBC News.

There were no injuries, other than to the bomber, the official & Chinese police said.

"There was an explosion at approximately 1 p.m. today in the public space off the South East corner of the Embassy compound," the spokesperson told NBC. "According to the Embassy's Regional Security Officer, there was one individual who detonated a bomb. Other than the bomber, there were no injuries. The local police responded."

Chinese police said a suspect detonated a firework-like device near the embassy and injured his hand. Police identified the bomber as a 26-year-old man surnamed Jiang from the Inner Mongolia region of the country. Officials did not provide a suspected motive.

The New York Times reported that the blast was heard blocks away in the city.

Chinese media outlet Global Times reported on Twitter that a witness said police took away a woman "spraying gasoline on herself" outside the embassy around 11 a.m. The state-run outlet said in a subsequent Twitter post that it was not "proved yet" that the incident was connected to the explosion near the embassy that occurred later.

Despite that earlier altercation, local media reported that a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the afternoon's explosion was an isolated incident.

A witness told Reuters they saw Chinese police examining a vehicle outside the embassy, and another witness said there were seven to eight police vehicles near the embassy and the road next to the complex had been closed off.

Images and videos posted on Twitter showed a large amount of smoke and what appeared to be police vehicles surrounding the vast structure in northeastern Beijing on Thursday afternoon.

Police did not immediately respond to the incident, the Associated Press reported. ContinueReading

Japan heatwave: Death toll climbs to 80 after nation declares deadly temperatures a natural disaster

independent.co.uk - Japan’s blistering heatwave has claimed its 80th life, according to authorities in the country where thousands have also been rushed to hospital because of the high temperatures.

Officials have urged citizens to stay indoors to avoid temperatures, which have exceeded 40C in some areas.

The government said it might pay to help state schools install air conditioners and suggested extending the summer holiday, which started this week for many students.

It comes as the Asian nation’s weather agency declared the heatwave, a natural disaster.

“Record temperatures are continuing across the country and emergency measures to protect students and their well-being has become an issue,” chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, told a news briefing.

Public broadcaster NHK has also advised frequent sips of water to keep hydrated and said people should restore salt levels depleted by sweat and stay indoors.

It has also aired videos with instructions on treating victims of mild heat-stroke.

Temperatures came close to 40C earlier this week in many cities, just short of Monday’s record of 41.1C in the city of Kumagaya, northwest of the capital, Tokyo. ContinueReading

Venezuela's inflation on track to top 1 million percent, IMF says

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Economists say inflation in Venezuela could top an astounding 1 million percent by year's end as the country's historic crisis deepens. The International Monetary Fund predicted the decline Monday.

The once wealthy oil-producing nation of Venezuela is in the grips of a five-year crisis that leaves many of its people struggling to find food and medicine, while driving masses across the border for relief into neighboring Colombia and Brazil.

Shortages in electricity, domestic water and public transportation plague millions of Venezuelans, who also confront high crime, the IMF noted.

Socialist President Nicolas Maduro often blames Venezuela's poor economy on an economic war that he says is being waged by the U.S. and Europe.

IMF economist Alejandro Werner says that if the prediction holds, Venezuela's economy will contract by 50 percent over five years.

Werner says it would be among the world's deepest economic falls in six decades.

"The collapse in economic activity, hyperinflation, and increasing deterioration ... will lead to intensifying spillover effects on neighboring countries," Werner wrote in a blog post.

4 Men Arrested in the UK in Connection with Suspected Acid Attack on 3-Year-Old Boy

LONDON—Four men have been arrested after a 3-year-old boy was attacked with a corrosive substance in the UK.

The boy was attacked while sitting in his stroller in a Home Bargains store in Worcester, West Midlands, on Saturday, July 21.

He was left with serious burns on his face and arm although he has now been released from hospital. The long-term implications of his injuries are unknown, West Mercia Police said.

Three men were arrested in London on suspicion of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm and are aged 22, 25, and 26, police said.

A 39-year-old man from Wolverhampton in the West Midlands was arrested on Sunday, July 22 on the same charges and is in police custody.

Police said the motive for the attack was “unclear” but they were treating it as a “deliberate act towards the child.”

‘Jewish state’ law sparks outrage among Jews

JERUSALEM - A recently-approved Israeli law that recognizes Israel as the “nation-state of the J*wish people” has invited a storm of condemnations and outrage in Israel and among Jewish groups.

Approved by Knesset (Israel’s parliament) on Thursday, the legislation also states that a “united Jerusalem” is the capital of Israel and that Hebrew is the country's official language, stripping Arabic of its earlier designation as an official language while recognizing its “special status.”

Tamar Zandberg, chairwoman of the left-wing Meretz Party, described the law as “shameful”.

“Zionism is no longer a national movement, but a forceful nationalism that humiliates the minority and establishes racial supremacy,” she said.

Opposition leader Isaac Herzog said “it is sad that the last speech for him as the head of opposition will be against this backdrop.”

“History only will determine whether the law will benefit Israel or not,” he said.

Former foreign minister Tzipi Livni said the legislation was only to benefit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Netanyahu wants the law for his fight,” said Livni, a member of the Zionist Union.

Her party, the largest opposition party with 24 seats in Knesset, had voted against the law during its three readings.

Netanyahu has earlier hailed the legislation, describing its passage as a “defining moment for Zionism and Israel.”

China is waging a 'quiet kind of cold war' against US, top CIA expert says

cnbc.com - China is waging a "quiet kind of cold war" against the United States, using all its resources to try to replace America as the leading power in the world, a top CIA expert on Asia said Friday.

Beijing doesn't want to go to war, he said, but the current communist government, under President Xi Jinping, is subtly working on multiple fronts to undermine the U.S. in ways that are different than the more well-publicized activities being employed by Russia.

"I would argue ... that what they're waging against us is fundamentally a cold war -- a cold war not like we saw during THE Cold War (between the U.S. and the Soviet Union) but a cold war by definition," Michael Collins, deputy assistant director of the CIA's East Asia mission center, said at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado.

Rising U.S.-China tension goes beyond the trade dispute playing out in a tariff tit-for-tat between the two nations.

There is concern over China's pervasive efforts to steal business secrets and details about high-tech research being conducted in the U.S. The Chinese military is expanding and being modernized and the U.S., as well as other nations, have complained about China's construction of military outposts on islands in the South China Sea.

"I would argue that it's the Crimea of the East," Collins said, referring to Russia's brash annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, which was condemned throughout the West.

Collins' comments track warnings about China's rising influence issued by others who spoke earlier this week at the security conference. The alarm bells come at a time when Washington needs China's help in ending its nuclear standoff with North Korea.

On Wednesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray said China, from a counterintelligence perspective, represents the broadest and most significant threat America faces. He said the FBI has economic espionage investigations in all 50 states that can be traced back to China.

"The volume of it. The pervasiveness of it. The significance of it is something that I think this country cannot underestimate," Wray said.

8 injured in stabbing attack in Germany

BERLIN -- Eight people were injured in an attack on a busy bus in the northern German city of Luebeck, and a suspect has been arrested, police said Friday. Local daily Luebecker Nachrichten reported, without giving a source, that a suspect had attacked passengers with a knife.

Police spokesman Duerk Duerbrook said the attack occurred in the Kuecknitz district of Luebeck, northeast of Hamburg. He told The Associated Press that authorities were still trying to determine the circumstances of the attack.

German news agency dpa quoted police as saying that three people received "medium serious" injuries in the incident, while five others received minor injuries.

The agency also quoted Ulla Hingst, a spokeswoman for prosecutors in Luebeck, as saying that police are investigating a suspicious rucksack. "Nothing can be ruled out, including a terrorist background," she was quoted as saying.

State police tweeted: "Nobody was killed. The perpetrator was overpowered and is now in police custody."

No other details were immediately available.

While the motive remained unclear in the Luebeck incident, Germany has experienced a number of terror attacks in recent years, including through the use of vehicles. In December 2016, a truck plowed into a crowd at Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people.

In April, police said they had thwarted an alleged stabbing attack plot aimed at people gathered for a half marathon in Berlin.

Global slavery report slams North Korea, repressive regimes

abcnews.com - Modern slavery is most prevalent in North Korea and other repressive regimes, but developed nations also bear responsibility for it because they import $350 billion worth of goods that are produced under suspicious circumstances, according to research released Thursday.

The Global Slavery Index estimates that 40.3 million people worldwide were subjected to modern slavery in 2016, with the highest concentration in North Korea where one in 10 people lived under such conditions. The report was compiled by the Walk Free Foundation, an anti-slavery campaign founded by Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest.

The goal of the index is to pressure governments and companies to do more to end modern slavery by providing hard data on the numbers of people involved and the impact it has around the world. For example, modern slavery in developing nations puts jobs at risk in the U.S. and Western Europe because domestic goods compete against imports produced through "exploitation of the worst kind," Forrest told The Associated Press.

"By unraveling the trade flows and focusing on products at risk of modern slavery that are imported by the top economies, it becomes clear that even the wealthiest countries have a clear and immediate responsibility for responding to modern slavery both domestically and beyond their borders," the report said. "Developed economies are exposed to the risk of modern slavery not only when this crime is perpetrated within their national borders, but also when that risk is effectively transferred to them via the products they import."

Modern slavery involves the use of threats, violence and deception to take away people's ability to control their own bodies, to refuse certain kinds of work or to stop working altogether.

The report cites coal, cocoa, cotton, timber and fish as among the products that may be tainted by modern slavery.

In North Korea, coal exports are the area of greatest concern.

The index lists Eritrea, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Afghanistan, Mauritania, South Sudan, Pakistan, Cambodia and Iran as the worst offenders after North Korea.

Repressive regimes are of particular concern because their "populations are put to work to prop up the government," according to the report.

Omega-3 supplements are essentially useless for preventing diseases, according to a new study

- There's a growing body of evidence to suggest most vitamin supplements don't do all that much. In fact, a study earlier this year found how some of the most popular vitamin supplements, including vitamin C and calcium, don't really have major health benefits.

The next pill in the firing line is fish oil. Also known as omega-3, fish oil has been widely publicised as being protective against heart disease, but according to a new Cochrane review, led by the University of East Anglia, the supplements offer little benefit to those taking them.

Omega-3 fats like alpha­linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid, are certainly good for you, because they are essential for our health.

But the review, which combined the results from 79 different trials, involving over 112,000 people, found that omega-3 supplements like fish oils didn't seem to protect the heart.

Participants were randomly assigned to either increase their omega-3 fat intake, or maintain their usual amount of fat in their diet for a year, then they were assessed for diseases of the heart and circulation.

Results showed no significant difference in death rates, with 8.8% of people taking omega-3 dying compared to 9% of those in control groups. There was also no significant difference in the rates of heart attacks or strokes.

Amazon workers strike in Germany, joining action in Spain and Poland

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Thousands of workers will walk off the job on Tuesday at Amazon warehouses in Germany to demand better working conditions, joining colleagues in Spain and Poland in taking action that coincides with a major sales promotion.

The Verdi services union called the one-day strike to back its demand for labor contracts that guarantee healthy working conditions at fulfilment centers run by the world’s largest e-commerce company.

“The message is clear - while the online giant gets rich, it is saving money on the health of its workers,” said Stefanie Nutzenberger, Verdi’s top official responsible for the retail sector.

The one-day strike at six facilities in Germany coincides with Seattle-based Amazon’s Prime Day promotion. Workers in Spain are out on a three-day strike, meanwhile, while in Poland they are staging a work to rule, Verdi said.

Amazon said it expected only a fraction of its 12,000 workers in Germany to join the strike, and that there would be no impact on Prime Day deliveries.

It also said Amazon fulfilment center jobs offered competitive pay and comprehensive benefits from the first day of employment. Permanent staff earn 12.22 euros ($14.31) an hour or more after two years.

“We believe Amazon’s Fulfillment Center jobs are excellent jobs providing a great place to learn skills to start and further develop a career,” the company said in comments emailed to Reuters.

Germany is Amazon’s second largest national market after the United States. Net sales grew by 20 percent last year to $17 billion, accounting for 9.5 percent of the total, according to the company’s annual report.


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Teenage Girl Prepares Herself To Be The First Human Being To Step Foot On Mars

inquisitr.com - Ahead of NASA’s planned 2033 manned mission to Mars, it appears as though the organization may have found the perfect candidate for what may be their biggest undertaking yet, and it comes in the form of 17-year-old Louisiana resident Alyssa Carson.

Teen Vogue reported an exclusive one-on-one interview with the future space traveler and learned some remarkable things about her love of stars and planets. Innocently enough, her passion for space travel began with a fondness for the children’s television show The Backyardigans, in which five friends undergo imaginary adventures in their backyard, one of which is a trip to Mars.

“I thought, ‘This red planet is so cool'” she said. “I started watching videos of rovers landing on Mars. I had a gigantic map of Mars in my room I would look at. We started getting telescopes so we could look at space.”

At only 7-years-old, Carson attended her first space camp in Huntsville, Alabama, of which she only speaks fondly of, stating, “that was the weekend of my life. I got to learn everything I had been wanting to know and more… I got to see a life-size rocket.”

When she was 9, the young science lover met NASA astronaut Sandra Magnus. In this meeting, she told Carson that she was, in fact, her age when she decided to go to space.

It was in that moment that the future explorer knew then that her love of space was no passing hobby. “I did the same thing as other kids, like switching my mind about careers, wanting to be a teacher or the president one day,” she stated. “But the way I always thought about it was I would become an astronaut, go to Mars, come back, and then be a teacher or the president.”

The future space explorer loved her time at the camp so much that she returned 18 more times, subsequently becoming the first person to attend all three NASA camps in Alabama, Canada, and Turkey.

Although you must be 18-years-old to enroll in NASA’s official astronaut program, the organization has reportedly already noticed her ever-growing knowledge and abilities and are trying to make it as easy as possible for her to achieve her goal by the time of the mission.

In 2033, she will be the mission’s perfect candidate, at 32-years-old and with technology fully equipped to handle the voyage, Carson would be far better trained and have a much longer time involved in the first Mars landing than virtually anybody else.

Despite being a decade or so removed from this massive expedition, many other entities have stepped forward looking to send the future astronaut into space sooner.

Other well-known organizations from SpaceX to MarsOne are considering sending her into space, albeit not to Mars, much earlier. “If we can find a mission for her in the next two years, she will be the first kid in the world to go to space,” said her father Bert Carson, “If we can get it together before she’s 20, she’ll be the first teenager.”

Haiti Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant resigns

BBC - The Prime Minister of Haiti, Jack Guy Lafontant, has resigned after days of violent protests against fuel price rises.

In a speech in the lower house of Congress in the capital, Port-au-Prince, he said President Jovenel Moïse, had accepted his resignation.

There had been calls for a vote of no-confidence in Mr Lafontant in Congress during the riots.

At least four people were killed with shops and buildings burnt and looted.

The unrest started after the government unveiled a proposal to remove fuel subsidies.

This would have increased the price of petrol by 38% diesel by 47% and kerosene by 51%.

The capital, Port-au-Prince, was immobilized and dozens of shops and businesses attacked.

The government responded by suspending the reforms.

In February, the country signed an agreement with the International Monetary Fund to carry out structural reforms to promote growth.

The IMF argued getting rid of the fuel subsidies would free up cash for other things like education, health and job creation.

But many of the protestors accused the government of being out of touch with their economic difficulties in one of the world's poorest countries.

A government spokesman said the suspension of the fuel price rises was temporary while the political crisis was tackled.

But opposition MPs in Congress warned that if the price increases were reinstated there would be more violence and protests on the streets.

The IMF suggested on Thursday "a more gradual approach" to ending fuel subsidies which were expected to generate around $300m (£226m).

There were also fuel protests in 2015 where demonstrators demanded a reduction in prices.

US Okays 1st Drug to Treat Smallpox, Just in Case Terrorists Revive Contagious Killer

Washington: US regulators on Friday approved the first treatment for smallpox — a deadly disease that was wiped out four decades ago — in case the virus is used in a terror attack.

Smallpox, which is highly contagious, was eradicated worldwide by 1980 after a huge vaccination campaign.

But people born since then haven't been vaccinated, and small samples of the smallpox virus were saved for research purposes, leaving the possibility it could be used as a biological weapon.

Maker SIGA Technologies of New York has already delivered 2 million treatments that will be stockpiled by the government, which partially paid for the development of the drug, called TPOXX.

To test the drug's effectiveness, monkeys and rabbits were infected with a similar virus and then given the drug.

More than 90 percent survived, the company said. Its safety was tested in several hundred healthy volunteers, who were not infected with smallpox.

Smallpox killed about 300 million people worldwide in the 20th century before its eradication. Symptoms include fever, fatigue and pus-filled sores.

Is Trump trying to collapse Britain’s government?

washingtonpost.com - On Thursday night, British Prime Minister Theresa May treated President Trump to a lavish dinner with 150 guests at Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill, one of Trump’s great heroes. Just as the dinner was winding down, the Sun, a British newspaper, released a bizarre and breathtaking interview with Trump during which he sneered at May’s latest Brexit plans, praised her main political rival and gave another jolt to her teetering government. It’s the old story: Who needs enemies when Trump is your friend?

The interview — equal parts insane, insulting and incendiary — essentially derailed Trump’s visit to Britain almost before it even began. The American president is doing everything he can to collapse the government of the United States’ most important ally. And in the process he’s imperiling relationships that are crucial to American and international security. (Now he’s trying to backpedal by calling the interview “fake news,” blithely ignoring the fact that the Interview was taped.)

It was insane when Trump falsely claimed that U.S. gross domestic product “has doubled and tripled” since he took office. (Tripling GDP takes decades, not 18 months.) Or when he absurdly claimed that his poll numbers are better than Abraham Lincoln’s. (Presidential approval ratings didn’t exist when Lincoln died in 1865.) Or when he wondered aloud why we don’t hear the “beautiful name” of England as much anymore, compared with the United Kingdom. (The answer, Mr. President, goes back to the 1707 Acts of Union; and when people mention Wales this week, they’re not talking about belugas.)

It was insulting when he insinuated that he has a secret Brexit strategy that May ignored. That seems highly unlikely given that his ignorance about the European Union’s basic functioning is on display every time he discusses it. He also caused offense with a highly personal attack on London Mayor Sadiq Khan, whom he accused of weakness on migrants and terrorism. (The mayor of London has as much control of British immigration policy as the mayor of Toledo, Ohio, has control over the United States’ borders.)

Finally, the interview was incendiary — for British politics and for the “special relationship” between the United States and Britain, a pillar of the current system of international security.

May’s government is already teetering as a result of the Brexit negotiations, which are not going well. Trump just gave her a shove. May already faces the risk of an internal party challenge that could topple her government. When Trump casually dropped the remark that her latest plan, a compromise designed to soften the blow of withdrawal from the E.U. for British businesses, would lead to the United States abandoning or downgrading trade relations with Britain, it was 10 Downing Street’s worst nightmare come true. That makes an internal revolt by the hard-core “Brexiteers” more likely.

Trump’s interview also imperils international security. When his questioners pressed him about Dawn Sturgess, a British woman who recently died from the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok, Trump continued to play up the value of a good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mind you, this is just one week after the British government again accused the Kremlin of using the nerve agent to murder British citizens on British soil. By failing to clearly and unequivocally condemn the Russians’ action, Trump is simply emboldening them. Why shouldn’t Moscow just do it again? As long as it’s Putin who’s pulling the trigger, apparently, no one is softer on terrorism than Trump.

It’s astonishing to think that Trump arrived in Britain only yesterday, considering the amount of political and diplomatic wreckage he is already leaving in his wake. It’s imperative that someone — anyone — on either side of the Atlantic stand up to him before he blows apart the “special relationship.”

After a Week of Turmoil, British Government Publishes Its Plan for Brexit

LONDON—The British government published in detail the long-awaited plan for its future economic relationship with the European Union, including proposals that have disappointed the financial-services industry because they accept a significant reduction in the sector's access to Europe.

The contents of the 98-page document have already torpedoed a fragile truce between warring factions in Prime Minister Theresa May’s ruling Conservatives over how close the U.K.’s economic ties to the EU should be after the country’s departure from the bloc in March 2019. Two cabinet ministers resigned this week when details of the plan were finalized.

The government hopes the proposal will inject fresh momentum into Brexit talks with less than nine months to go until Britain’s planned withdrawal. Yet Mrs. May now faces the twin challenges of steering her plan through Parliament and persuading a skeptical EU to sign up to it before the time for negotiations runs out.

The so-called white paper, published Thursday, proposes an ambitious free-trade area between the U.K. and the EU after Brexit. It suggests new institutional arrangements to oversee the new partnership and resolve disputes, citing international precedents such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and the EU’s own association agreement with Ukraine.

The paper effectively commits the U.K. to mirroring EU product regulations in to preserve cross-border trade in goods, while seeking a freer hand on services—a move that London acknowledged will inevitably mean less business for U.K.-based financial firms from EU customers.

Preserving unfettered access to the EU market for financial services was once a central goal of the U.K.’s Brexit strategy. But the government said Thursday it would instead seek only to negotiate a framework enshrined in international law for the close cooperation between U.K. and EU financial regulators, while preserving British autonomy on financial-sector rules. It acknowledged such an approach “means that the U.K. and the EU will not have current levels to access to each other’s markets.”

The proposal crystallizes concerns in the financial sector that Brussels and London weren’t likely to reach an agreement that broadly preserved the status quo. Already some banks have begun moving key staff to EU capitals ahead of Britain’s withdrawal. ContinueReading

Trump says “Germany is a captive to Russia.

newrepublic.com - Trump says “Germany is a captive to Russia.”

In a Wednesday meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Trumpshocked the room by complaining that “Germany is totally controlled by Russia.” The focus of the president’s ire was Germany’s reliance on Russia for roughly a third of its natural gas. “How can you be together when a country is getting its energy from the person you want protection against or from the group that you want protection against?” Trump asked.

Although Trump’s attack took onlookers aback, it follows a familiar pattern. Under fire for alleged collusion with the Russian government, Trump responds by complaining about others who have Russia ties. It’s a reprise of the famous exchange he had with Hillary Clinton in 2016, where he turned around the idea of being “Putin’s puppet” by saying, “No puppet. No puppet. You’re the puppet.”

The remarks are also of a piece with Trump’s habit of attacking American allies, as he did both before and after the G-7 summit. While it’s true that German reliance on Russian natural gas is a longstanding concern, Trump’s deployment of the issue in a public forum to berate Germany seems opportunistic.

Further, as Atlantic columnist David Frum points out, Trump misunderstands the actual American objections to a pipeline between Germany and Russia.

South Sudan government forces, allies killed hundreds of civilians -UN

GENEVA (Reuters) - At least 232 civilians were killed and 120 women and girls raped in “scorched earth” attacks by South Sudan government troops and aligned forces in opposition-held villages earlier this year, the U.N. human rights office said on Tuesday.

A United Nations investigation identified three commanders suspected of bearing the “greatest responsibility” in the violence in Unity state between April 16 and May 24 that may amount to war crimes, it said in a report.

Elderly and disabled civilians were burned alive in the attack on 40 villages, which appeared aimed at driving out opposition forces, it said. A further 132 women and girls were abducted in the assault that forced 31,140 people to flee.

“The perpetrators ...must not be allowed to get away with it,” said U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein in a statement.

Reiterating his call on the government and African Union to establish a hybrid court for South Sudan, he said the soldiers and aligned forces slit elderly villagers’ throats, hanged women for resisting looting and shot fleeing civilians.

“The brutality and ruthlessness of the attackers as described by the survivors suggests that their intent was to take a ‘scorched earth’ approach, killing or forcibly displacing people, burning their crops and homes, punishing and terrorising them to ensure that they never return,” U.N. human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told a briefing.

The U.N. report said opposition forces had also carried out armed attacks that caused civilian casualties.

YouTube is fighting conspiracy theories with ‘authoritative’ context and outside links

- YouTube is adding “authoritative” context to search results about conspiracy-prone topics like the Moon landing and the Oklahoma City Bombing, as well as putting $25 million toward news outlets producing videos. Today, the company announced a new step in its Google News Initiative, a program it launched in March. The update is focused on reducing misinformation on YouTube, including the conspiracy theories that have flourished after events like the Parkland shooting.

This update includes new features for breaking news updates and long-standing conspiracy theories. YouTube is implementing a change it announced in March, annotating conspiracy-related pages with text from “trusted sources like Wikipedia and Encyclopedia Britannica.” And in the hours after a major news event, YouTube will supplement search results with links to news articles, reasoning that rigorous outlets often publish text before producing video. “It’s very easy to quickly produce and upload low-quality videos spreading misinformation around a developing news event,” said YouTube chief product officer Neal Mohan, but harder to make an authoritative video about a developing story.

YouTube is also funding a number of partnerships. It’s establishing a working group that will provide input on how it handles news, and it’s providing money for “sustainable” video operations across 20 markets across the world, in addition to expanding an internal support team for publishers. (Vox Media, The Verge’s parent company, is a member of the working group.) It’s previously invested money in digital literacy programs for teenagers, recruiting prominent YouTube creators to promote the cause.

Will this be effective? It’s hard to say. YouTube is proposing links to text articles as a cure for misinformation, but Google Search’s featured results — including its Top Stories module — have included links to dubious sites like 4chan and outright false answers to basic questions. Unlike with deliberate “fake news” purveyors, this obviously isn’t intentional, but it makes it harder to believe that Google will provide truly authoritative answers. The Wikimedia Foundation was also initially ambivalent about having Wikipedia articles added to YouTube results, worrying that it would increase the burden on Wikipedia’s community of volunteers. ContinueReading

Researchers hopeful over experimental HIV vaccine

- An experimental HIV vaccine was safe and triggered strong immune responses in healthy adults and in monkeys, researchers report.

They say it also protected two-thirds of monkeys against an HIV-like virus.

Though results of animal studies are not always the same in humans, researchers are encouraged by this early-stage study, which included nearly 400 healthy people. For their next step, they are launching a new vaccine trial that will include 2,600 women in southern Africa who are at risk of HIV infection.

The experimental HIV-1 vaccine is one of five that have progressed to tests of effectiveness in humans.

While previous experimental HIV-1 vaccines have usually been limited to specific regions of the world, this vaccine combines different HIV viruses. The aim is to trigger immune responses against a wide variety of HIV strains, according to authors of the study published Friday in The Lancet medical journal.

"These results should be interpreted cautiously," study leader Dr. Dan Barouch said in a journal news release.

"The challenges in the development of an HIV vaccine are unprecedented, and the ability to induce HIV-specific immune responses does not necessarily indicate that a vaccine will protect humans from HIV infection," he added.

Barouch is director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. He is also a professor at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. George Pavlakis and Dr. Barbara Felber of the U.S. Cancer Institute wrote an editorial that accompanied the study.

"Despite unprecedented advances in HIV treatment and prophylaxis, the number of people living with HIV infection continues to increase worldwide," they wrote.

"Implementation of even a moderately effective HIV vaccine together with the existing HIV prevention and treatment strategies is expected to contribute greatly to the evolving HIV/AIDS response," the editorial continued. "It is therefore essential that a commitment to pursue multiple vaccine development strategies continues at all stages."

About 37 million people worldwide have HIV/AIDS, and there are 1.8 million new cases a year.

Lithuanian couple win world wife-carrying championship title in Finland

SONKAJARVI, (Finland) (Reuters) - Fifty-three men slung their wives or partners over their shoulders and hurtled off on an hour-long race in the small Finnish town of Sonkajarvi on Saturday, as thousands of fans cheered from the stands.

The World Wife-Carrying Championship, now in its 23rd year, draws thousands of visitors to the town of 4,200 and has gained followers across the world.

There are official qualifying competitions in countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden and Estonia. On Saturday, 53 couples from 13 countries joined the competition, organizers said.

The idea of wife-carrying as a sport was inspired by the 19th century legend of Ronkainen the Robber, who tested aspiring members of his gang by forcing them to carry sacks of grain or live pigs over a similar course.

The championship is also said to stem from an even earlier practice of wife-stealing - leading many present-day contestants to compete with someone else’s wife.

On Saturday, Lithuanian parents of two Vytautas Kirkliauskas and Neringa Kirkliauskiene won the race which involved running, wading through a slippery pool and getting through an obstacle course. The two defeated six times world champion Taisto Miettinen, a Finn.

“It’s my wife,” Kirkliauskas shouted happily after the race, “She’s the best.

The couple first competed in Sonkajarvi in 2005.

Finland, which straddles the Arctic Circle and goes through long, dark winters, is no stranger to strange sports. It has also given the world the world boot throwing, air guitar and mobile phone throwing competitions, to name just a few.

“I think because we have only three months of light we need to come up with nice stuff to do during the summertime, and we want to show everyone we have a great sense of humor,” said Sanna-Mari Nuutinen, a volunteer at Saturday’s event. ContinueReading

PR China: The US has started 'the biggest trade war' in history

CNN - China on Friday accused the United States of starting "the biggest trade war in economic history" as the two sides imposed steep new tariffs on tens of billions of dollars of each other's exports.

The Trump administration's 25% tariffs affect more than 800 Chinese products worth $34 billion such as industrial machinery, medical devices and auto parts. They kicked in just after midnight ET, which is noon in Beijing.

China's tariffs on US goods came into effect immediately afterward, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Friday.

Trump and his advisers argue the tariffs are necessary to pressure China into abandoning unfair practices such as stealing intellectual property and forcing American companies to hand over valuable technology.

Beijing insists it's the injured party.

"China is forced to strike back to safeguard core national interests and the interests of its people," the Commerce Ministry said in a statement on Friday. It accused the United States of "typical trade bullying."

The government said previously it would hit more than 500 US export items — including cars and major agricultural goods such as soybeans and meat — worth the same as the Chinese products targeted by the United States.

Mexico imposes retaliatory tariffs on dozens of U.S. goods

- Mexico on Thursday began imposing its second stage of retaliatory tariffs on dozens of U.S. goods in response to President Donald Trump’s duties on Mexican steel and aluminum exports to the United States.

The tariffs complete Mexico’s two-part retaliation on almost $3 billion worth of U.S. products. The Mexican government, which first announced its retaliation list last month, started the action on June 5 by eliminating preferential tariffs established under NAFTA on a number of products, including pork, potatoes and whiskey. The Mexican government confirmed on Thursday that the increased tariffs are going into effect.

Most of Mexico’s retaliatory tariffs will be imposed on U.S. agricultural exports, such as apples, cranberries and various cheeses. Mexico is also targeting a number of American steel products. The majority of products on the list will face tariffs between 15 and 25 percent.

Mexico’s retaliation comes after the Trump administration decided in May to end its exemptions to the tariffs on steel and aluminum for U.S. allies, such as Canada and the European Union. Canada and the EU have also pursued retaliatory tariffs on a total of almost $16 billion worth of U.S. products, such as peanut butter and kitchenware.

Mexico has said the duties will remain in place as long as the Trump administration maintains its tariffs on Mexican steel and aluminum.

Trump’s steel tariffs add to the growing trade tensions between the U.S. and Mexico that Mexico’s President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador will have to deal with in the coming months and when he takes office on Dec. 1.

Scientists use test-tube science to save nearly extinct rhino

nbcnews.com - Scientists say they’ve used human test-tube baby techniques to try to save the nearly extinct northern white rhino.

In an improbable experiment, they are trying to resurrect an entire subspecies using dead males, two infertile remaining females, and some closely related southern white rhinos.

And they say they also plan to use stem-cell technology to try to create a population of pure northern white rhinos in the lab.

The European team of researchers created a few early-stage rhino embryos using a technique called intracytoplasmic sperm injectionor ICSI. They used sperm from the last northern white rhino males before they died. Some of this sperm was injected into egg cells taken from females of the southern white rhino subspecies.

They ended up with a handful of embryos, some of which could potentially be implanted into surrogate rhino mothers.

While any resulting baby rhinos would be hybrids — half northern and half southern white rhino — the experiment is a first step to re-creating an extinct subspecies in the lab, the researchers report in the journal Nature Communications.

Northern white rhinos were driven to extinction by poaching and war in the countries they once roamed — Chad, Sudan, Uganda, Congo and Central African Republic.

The last living male white northern white rhino, named Sudan, died last March. Two females remain in captivity, but they are infertile. No northern white rhinos remain in the wild.

Hard-working women should go home earlier to avoid this disease, says research

(CNN) — Here's a good reason for women to work less, ask for a raise or get their partners to pick up around the house more: If women work fewer hours, it'll lower their risk of diabetes, according to a study published Monday in the journal BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care.

Researchers looked at data from 7,065 Canadians who were tracked over 12 years. What they found was that women who consistently worked 45 hours or more a week had a 63 percent greater risk of diabetes compared with those who worked between 35 and 40 hours a week.

The effect was only slightly reduced when smoking, exercise, alcohol intake and body-mass index were taken into account.

Men who worked longer hours, on the other hand, did not face an increased risk of diabetes.

It's unclear why there is a gender difference in this risk, but it may involve what women do with their time off.

"If you think about all the unpaid work they do on their off-hours, like household chores for example, they simply do more than men, and that can be stressful, and stress negatively impacts your health," said study co-author Mahee Gilbert-Ouimet, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto who has been active in this field for 12 years.

Women who work longer hours also tend to be in lower-paying jobs than men.

"Even when men and women do similar work, women earn less. Of course, that would impact women's health. Think about the stress of working harder and getting less for it," Gilbert-Ouimet said. "It's important for us to study women. They are still underevaluated in most areas of health, and it's a real shame, because if we look closer, there are still big inequalities."

Studies have shown that men who work longer hours in jobs that pay less face a greater diabetes risk. Though some studies have labeled this theory "controversial," additional research seems to point to a connection between overwork and diabetes.

López Obrador, a leftist, wins sweeping mandate in Mexican presidential election

MEXICO CITY — As votes were tallied Monday following a historic election, Andrés Manuel López Obrador appeared close to gaining control of Congress as well as the presidency — a resounding mandate for the country’s first leftist leader in decades.

López Obrador won more than 50 percent of the vote, the most in the history of Mexico’s multiparty democracy, according to incomplete returns. The electoral results will give him broad power to reshape public policy, which has largely been set by pro-American, free-market-oriented politicians in recent decades.

The peso dropped about 1 percent on news of his victory, not as dramatic a slide as some had predicted, but a sign the markets are skeptical of López Obrador’s platform, which features a surge in spending on welfare programs. In a speech late Sunday, López Obrador tried to quell concerns, saying he would not increase taxes or the public debt and would respect the country's private sector.

Preliminary results suggested members of his Morena party would take at least 260 of the 500 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Congress, and roughly 65 of 128 seats in the Senate.

President Trump loomed in the background of this vote. He was not a wedge issue — all the presidential candidates opposed his immigration and trade policies and his anti-Mexican rhetoric — but the new president will have to manage cross-border relations that are unusually fraught.

Although he has spoken bitterly about Trump for nearly two years, López Obrador said he desired a “friendship and mutual respect” with the United States.

Thousands Protest in Hong Kong on Anniversary of Handover to China

HONG KONG — Thousands of Hong Kong residents marched on Sunday to observe the 21st anniversary of the territory’s return to China from Britain, a public demonstration of their dissatisfaction with the local government and their fears about the Chinese Communist Party’s growing influence in the territory.

Previously a British colony, Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997 with the promise that it could maintain for 50 years its own political and economic systems, including civil liberties that the Chinese government denies to citizens on the mainland. But many in the city believe that its freedoms and relative autonomy are already eroding.

Organizers said about 50,000 people attended the protest this year, one of the lowest totals since the march was first held in 2003; the police had not released their estimate as of Sunday evening, although the figures from Hong Kong law enforcement tend to be much lower than those provided by pro-democracy groups.

According to some estimates, about 60,000 people participated last year, when China’s president, Xi Jinping, came to Hong Kong to observe the 20th anniversary of the handover, though he left the city hours before the march started.

Hong Kong residents march every year on the anniversary of the handover, demonstrating for democratic values and usually calling attention to particular causes. In a first, this year’s march, which was organized by the Civil Human Rights Front, explicitly called for the end of one-party rule in China.

This year, marchers protested the local government’s decision to let mainland Chinese police operate in part of a new train station scheduled to open this year. They also demonstrated against the house arrest in China of Liu Xia, the widow of the Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo, that has restricted her movements since 2010. ContinueReading