Link: https://www.rt.com/business/428651-us-nord-stream-firms-sanctions/

The White House is on the verge of introducing penalties against companies engaged in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which will deliver Russian natural gas to the EU across the Baltic Sea.

The US government is planning to sanction European corporations that joined the pipeline project, which is led by Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom, three sources close to the issue told Foreign Policy news magazine. Apart from Gazprom, the project is being undertaken by German energy firms Wintershall and Uniper, French multinational Engie, British-Dutch oil and gas giant Royal Dutch Shell, and Austrian energy company OMV.

Link: https://www.rt.com/usa/428580-hawaii-volcano-kilauea-crater/

According to experts at the US Geological Survey, explosions have expanded the crater by 10 times its original size in the last month. The pit is now thought to measure around 120 acres – that’s about the size of 90 American football fields.

The Kilauea volcano has destroyed more than 80 homes since it first erupted four weeks ago. The USGS estimates that the lava flow has covered an area equal to 5.5 square miles – around four times the size of New York’s Central Park.

Link: https://www.activistpost.com/2018/05/precedent-set-state-supreme-court-rules-police-cant-arrest-students-for-using-medical-marijuana-on-campus.html

The Arizona State Supreme Court ruled this week that college students who are medical marijuana users will no longer have to live in fear of being arrested and labeled as felony drug users if they are caught on campus with their medicine. The ruling also has national implications in states where cannabis is legal for medicinal use but possession on campus is not

Link: https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/66125/us-forces-cypriot-banks-to-crack-down-on-accounts-of-russian-clients-.html

Russians keeping their cash in Cypriot banks have been caught up in a massive audit of accounts by lenders and watchdogs in the island state. The step was reportedly triggered by pressure from Washington.

Banks in Cyprus now require Russian customers to confirm earnings and tax payments, to produce bank statements for the past year, as well as estate documents, title deeds of business ownership, and a detailed description of their enterprise, according to financial writer Elena Tofanyuk, as quoted by Russian daily Business FM. Previously, Russian clientele were required to produce only a passport and utility bills.

In February, the US financial authorities accused Latvia’s ABLV Bank of large-scale money laundering and threatened the lender with sanctions. The allegations evoked a run on deposits with the bank losing around €600 million ($695 million) in holdings, resulting in its liquidation.

Link: http://govtslaves.info/2018/05/citizens-fight-back-as-city-fines-arrests-them-for-cracked-driveways-improperly-stacked-firewood/

Doraville city has been named as a defendant in a lawsuit from residents who claim that they have received tickets and have even been threatened with arrest and sentenced to court-ordered probation for the crime of having a cracked driveway, chipped paint on their houses, and overgrown vegetation or improperly stacked firewood in their yards. Doraville has 8,000 residents, its municipal court sees 15,000 cases per year, brings in revenue in excess of $3 million—$1 million from traffic tickets alone. The city criminalizes violators of its city code with misdemeanors, a fine of $1,000 and the potential of spending a year in jail. Its town attorney acts as prosecutor and judge, and the revenue brought in by fining and ticketing its residents makes up 30 percent of the city’s annual budget.

Link: https://www.rt.com/news/428150-freedom-flotilla-gaza-blocked/

The Israeli military, enforcing a naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, have prevented two Palestinian boats from reaching the open sea. On Tuesday dozens of small motor boats and two larger vessels carrying 17 people departed from a seaport in Gaza Strip. Their stated goal was to break out of the Israeli-enforced naval blockade of the area and travel to an undisclosed location. Three other events under the same name, which involved ships trying to reach the Palestinian territories despite the blockade, were thwarted in the past by the IDF.

The first case in 2010 ended in a controversial raid by Israeli commandos on six ships, in which 10 activists were killed. The Tuesday attempt was far less dramatic. The IDF intercepted the two passenger boats some six to seven nautical miles off the coast and seized the larger of them, arresting 12 people on board, journalist Hind Khoudary reported from the scene. The captain of the second boat was ordered to return and complied.

Link: http://www.investmentwatchblog.com/u-s-army-surgeon-general-says-all-soldiers-to-be-microchipped-for-full-time-monitoring-and-information-culling/

SOLDIERS MAY SOON BE CARRYING MONITORING DEVICES THAT CAN ALERT DOCTORS THOUSANDS OF MILES AWAY TO MEDICAL EMERGENCIES AND THE NEED FOR TREATMENT. THE DEVICES MAY EVEN BE IMPLANTED IN SOLDIERS AND CONTINUOUSLY MONITOR THEIR STATUS, THE ARMY’S TOP DOCTOR SAID IN DESCRIBING THE NEAR FUTURE OF ARMY MEDICINE.

Link: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/mayor-de-blasio-prepare-new-york-marijuana-legalization-article-1.4000084

Mayor de Blasio will tell the NYPD to stop arresting people for public pot smoking — and launch a new group to officially prepare the city for the outright legalization of marijuana in New York.

De Blasio, who has long opposed making recreational pot legal, now says he thinks legalization is inevitable and is creating an official task force to get ready for the day when that happens. While pot remains illegal, Hizzoner will direct the NYPD to give summonses to people they catch smoking in public instead of arresting them. "With marijuana legalization likely to occur in our state in the near future, it is critical our city plans for the public safety, health and financial consequences involved," he said.

Link: https://www.infowars.com/white-south-african-farmers-claiming-persecution-at-home-seek-refuge-in-australia/

More than 200 farmers from South Africa have applied for humanitarian visas in Australia after allegedly suffering attacks for being white, according to the Australian Home Affairs Ministry. The step was slammed by the South African opposition, which called Australia, and those willing to escape there, ‘racist.’ Last year, 82 people were killed in a record 423 farm attacks, there have been 109 attacks and more than 15 murders in 2018. The controversial reform may jeopardize commercial farming in the country, according to the Transvaal Agricultural Union of South Africa. South African government may repeat the mistake made by the government of Zimbabwe, which passed a state-sanctioned purge of white farmers in 1999-2000. The measure plunged the country into famine.

Link: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-05-20/arizona-preparing-post-earthquake-inflow-400000-californians

Associated Press reports that local organizations are participate in an exercise to practice how the state would respond to a migration of 400,000 people after a catastrophic earthquake in Southern California.

The Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs said participants in the National Mass Care Exercise will learn how to provide food, shelter and medical services in an emergency scenario. Planning for the exercise has been underway for nearly a year

Link: https://www.activistpost.com/2018/05/ny-schools-to-install-facial-recognition-tech-used-by-police-and-military.html

Starting next school year, schools in New York’s Lockport district will be equipped not only with bulletproof glass and surveillance cameras but also with facial recognition technology used by police forces and military units. Documents recently obtained by Wired magazine showed that during a sports events where South Wales police used facial recognition tactics, “2,297 [matches] turned out to be false positives and 173 were correctly identified – 92 per cent of matches were incorrect.”

Link: https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/65985/sweden-distributes-be-prepared-for-war-leaflet-to-all-48-million.html

The Swedish government has begun sending all 4.8m of the country’s households a public information leaflet telling the population, for the first time in more than half a century, what to do in the event of a war.

Om krisen eller kriget kommer (If crisis or war comes) explains how people can secure basic needs such as food, water and heat, what warning signals mean, where to find bomb shelters and how to contribute to Sweden’s “total defence”.

The 20-page pamphlet, illustrated with pictures of sirens, warplanes and families fleeing their homes, also prepares the population for dangers such as cyber and terror attacks and climate change, and includes a page on identifying fake news.

“Although Sweden is safer than many other countries, there are still threats to our security and independence,” the brochure says. “If you are prepared, you are contributing to improving the ability of the country to cope with a major strain.”

Link: https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/66009/venezuelas-maduro-rejects-trumps-sanctions-expels-top-us.html

A day after being re-"elected", Venezuela's Maduro spoke on State TV rejecting U.S. sanctions - which "offend national dignity" - and expelling the top US diplomat from Caracas due to "conspiratorial behavior" against the government.

Tensions have mounted mount between the two countries following Maduro's victory in disputed presidential elections on Sunday. The White House has branded the election a "sham," and Maduro claims he "earned every vote and fought to win."

Link: https://www.rt.com/news/427432-power-plant-hawaii-volcano-lava/

A geothermal power plant has been forced to completely shut down after Hawaii's Kilauea volcano entered a more violent stage, shooting fountains of red into the vicinity and threatening the release of toxic gases from the site.

Crews at the Puna Geothermal Venture (PGV) plant worked overnight to cap the 11th and final well at the site, which provides 25 percent of the Big Island's power.

Link: https://www.rt.com/news/427439-violence-paris-macron-protests/

Paris demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron’s social policies turned violent as protesters hurled projectiles at police and broke shop windows. Officers deployed tear gas and detained some protestors.

The gathering of civil servants and their supporters on Tuesday was initially peaceful, but got heated when some protestors targeted police with stones and fireworks, and broke shop windows.

Link: https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/65837/hundreds-of-millions-stolen-after-wave-of-transferheists-rock-mexican.html

Cybercriminals siphoned 400 million of pesos ($20.4 million) out of Mexican banks, including the second largest bank: Grupo Financiero Banorte, by generating “phantom orders that wired funds to fake accounts and promptly withdrew the money,” sources close to the government’s investigation told Reuters. Sources explained how cybercriminals “sent hundreds of false orders to move amounts ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of pesos from banks including Banorte, to fake accounts in other banks.” Once the funds landed in the fraudulent accounts, accomplices would then go to local branch offices around the country and drain the accounts.

Link: https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/65816/hungry-sick-and-increasingly-desperate-thousands-of-venezuelans-are-pouring-into.html

The huge increase in Venezuelan migrants fleeing their country's economic crisis, failing healthcare system and repressive government is affecting the Cucuta metropolitan area more than any other in Colombia. It's where 80% of all exiting Venezuelans headed for Colombia enter as foreigners.

Despite turning away Venezuelans with cancer or chronic diseases, the hospital treated 1,200 migrant emergency patients last month, up from the handful of patients, mostly traffic collision victims, in March 2015, before the Venezuelan exodus started gathering steam.

Link: https://www.rt.com/politics/426625-russian-lawmakers-bill-sancions/

Russian MPs have drafted a bill which means any action or inaction that helps to implement anti-Russian sanctions from foreign states should carry criminal responsibility with punishments of up to four years in prison.

The joint document has been prepared by representatives of all four parliamentary caucuses headed by Upper House Speaker Valentina Matviyenko and Lower House Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin.

The bill states that any move which fulfills the decision of a foreign state, a bloc of foreign states or an international organization to impose restrictive measures on Russia or its citizens should be punished if it leads to the restriction or cancellation of business deals between Russian citizens or companies. The proposed punishment ranges from a fine of up to 600,000 rubles (about US$9,680) to four years of penal labor or the same time behind bars.

Link: https://www.rt.com/news/426717-idf-airstrike-hamas-gaza/

Israel has launched airstrikes targeting Hamas in Gaza as over 50 protesters have been killed at the border by the IDF. It said it was responding to terrorist activity and killed at least three terrorists.

The Israeli Defence Forces tweeted on Monday that one of its Air Force fighter jets “struck 5 Hamas terror organization targets in a military training facility in northern Gaza.”

Link: https://www.rt.com/business/426172-russia-china-trade-growth/

Trade turnover between Russia and China grew by 31 percent in the first three months of the year compared to the same period in 2017, according to the Russian customs data.

Exports from Russia to China amounted to $12.27 billion (an increase of 37.1 percent), imports to Russia from China surged to $11.8 billion dollars (an increase of 24.9 percent) in the period. The total trade turnover amounted to $24.1 billion.