Link: https://www.rt.com/usa/415850-hawaii-officials-apologize-missile-alert/

Faced with a public outcry following a false missile alert, Hawaiian officials apologized, saying an automated method of retracting warnings will be introduced and two employees, instead of one, will handle it in the future.

“We did everything that we can, immediately, to ensure that it will never happen again… so a single person will not be able to make an error that triggers another false alarm,” Vern Miyagi, Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA) administrator said, as he accepted responsibility for the incident.

It was a single mouse click by a HI-EMA employee during a routine test that sent the entire state of Hawaii into panic, Miyagi revealed.
The wrong button was pushed on the test, it went into actual event versus a test,” he said. It was not literally a button, but part of a screen the employee erroneously clicked on to activate the alarm, according to Miyagi. As to why it took the agency nearly 40 minutes to inform the public that the alert was bogus, Miyagi said that officials were forced to go through a number of steps as there was no deactivation template in place.

“There was no an automated way to send a false alarm cancellation. We had to initiate a manual process and that was why it took a while to notify everyone,” Governor David Ige said.

Link: https://www.rt.com/news/415882-arctic-soviet-nuclear-bees/

A species of bee has been discovered that is miraculously capable of surviving in the high arctic region where the Soviet Union once tested nuclear weapons for decades, according to a new study.

The ‘Bombus glacialis’ species lives on the archipelago of Novaya Zemlya, which the Soviet Union closed off decades ago to carry out scores of nuclear tests. While previously considered to be a subspecies of the B. polaris - one of the only other arctic bee types in the world - a recent study published in Polar Biology confirmed B. glacialis to be its own species.

Link: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/01/13/hawaii-emergency-officials-say-ballistic-missile-threat-alert-was-mistake.html

Hawaii emergency officials confirmed Saturday that an alert warning that a ballistic missile was inbound to the island was a mistake.

Earlier Saturday, Hawaiian citizens reported receiving an emergency alert on their phone that stated: “BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.”

House Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, tweeted in regard to the alert: “HAWAII – THIS IS A FALSE ALARM. THERE IS NO INCOMING MISSILE TO HAWAII. I HAVE CONFIRMED WITH OFFICIALS THERE IS NO INCOMING MISSILE.”

Link: http://www.thedailysheeple.com/preparing-for-the-unthinkable-cdc-to-hold-briefing-on-how-to-prepare-the-public-for-a-nuclear-detonation-in-america_012018

Centers For Disease Control and Prevention have scheduled a briefing for later this month that will teach healthcare professionals how to better prepare the public for a nuclear detonation in America.

The “teaching session” will target doctors, nurses, epidemiologists, pharmacists, veterinarians, certified health education specialists, laboratory scientists, and others and will be held January 16th.

A spokesperson for the agency said planning for the event has been underway for months — in fact, since CDC officials took part in a “radiation/nuclear incident exercise” led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency last April

Link: https://www.macrumors.com/2018/01/05/apple-faces-23-lawsuits-for-iphone-slowdowns/

Apple faces over two dozen lawsuits around the world that either accuse the company of intentionally slowing down older iPhones, or at least of failing to disclose power management changes it made starting in iOS 10.2.1.

The lawsuits include 24 class action complaints in the United States, Apple is also being sued in Israel and France.

An excerpt from Sullivan-Stefanou's complaint:

Unbeknownst to iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and iPhone 6s owners, Apple inserted code into iOS 10.2.1 that deliberately slowed down the processing performance of these phones by linking each phone's processing performance with its battery health. Absent the code inserted by Apple, the reduced battery capacity of these phones would not have negatively affected processing performance.

Many of the lawsuits demand Apple compensate all iPhone users who have experienced slowdowns, offer free battery replacements, refund customers who purchased brand new iPhones to regain maximum performance, and add info to iOS explaining how replacing an iPhone's battery can prevent slowdowns.

The legal action comes after Apple's revelation it may at times dynamically manage the maximum performance of some older iPhone models with chemically aged batteries in order to prevent the devices from unexpectedly shutting down, an issue that can be made worse by cold temperatures or a low charge.

Link: https://www.naturalnews.com/2018-01-06-gm-nightmare-humans-created-monster-mosquito-resist-pesticides.html#

Mosquitoes have evolved a type of genetic shield to protect themselves from chemical pesticides; human interventions have sparked an evolutionary response that allows them to resist pesticides that were designed to keep them at bay.

Mosquitoes have found ways to adapt to exposure to insecticides. Some advantageous mutations in insecticide target sites are big sources of resistance, mutations are increasing enzyme activity that sequesters or degrades insecticide before it makes its way to its target within the cell. Mosquitoes are changing their typical behaviors in order to prevent themselves from coming into contact with the pesticides.

Researcher Colince Kamdem wrote: “These changes are occurring at the molecular, physiological and behavioral level, and multiple changes are often happening at the same time.

Link: https://www.rt.com/business/415060-cryptocurrency-ethereum-new-high/

Ethereum, the third-largest cryptocurrency by market value, has hit an all-time high after breaking through the $1,000 mark for the first time.

The digital currency rose above $1,000 per unit in early trading on Thursday. Ethereum’s rise echoes that of other alternative cryptocurrencies, such as ripple, which have experienced massive surges as bitcoin loses its market dominance. Ethereum’s market capitalization rose above $100 billion for the first time on Thursday, according to Coinmarketcap data. One ether was worth between $700 and $800 for most of the second half of December but, over the past week, this has rallied by 40 percent.

Ripple is still the second-biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalization after massive surges - including a 1,300-percent increase over the last month - led it to surpass ethereum a week ago.

Link: https://www.rt.com/news/415205-iran-revolutionary-guard-protests/

“Iran’s revolutionary people along with tens of thousands of Basij forces, police and the Intelligence Ministry have broken down the chain [of unrest] created... by the United States, Britain, the Zionist regime [Israel], Saudi Arabia, the hypocrites [Mujahideen] and monarchists,” a statement from the group’s Sepahnews website said on Sunday.

Link: https://www.rt.com/news/415242-3-sided-gun-battle-mexico-11-dead/

At least 11 people have died near the Mexican resort town of Acapulco following a series of gunfights between local residents, the self-appointed community militia and federal government forces.

The showdown in the La Concepcion farming community erupted Sunday morning after a group of armed men fired shots into the air during local celebrations. The self-appointed community police, or CRAC (Regional Coordinator of Community Authorities) rushed to the scene to disarm the group. Three gunmen were detained and taken to the police station along with another man who tried to urinate in front of the building.

Link: https://www.consumerreports.org/food-safety/avoid-romaine-lettuce-for-now/

Over the past seven weeks, 58 people in the U.S. and Canada have become ill from a dangerous strain of E. coli bacteria, likely from eating romaine lettuce. In the U.S., the infections have occurred in 13 states (California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Vermont, and Washington state). Five people in the U.S. have been hospitalized and one has died, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). There has also been one death in Canada.

Canadian health authorities identified romaine lettuce as the source of the outbreak in Canada, and are advising people in the country’s eastern provinces to consider eating other types of salad greens until further notice.

Link: https://www.rt.com/business/414903-egypt-mufti-ban-bitcoin/

The Egyptian Grand Mufti has issued an official fatwa, banning bitcoin which soared in value over the $20,000 mark in December. Trade in cryptocurrency is similar to gambling, which is forbidden in Islam, he said.

The fatwa was issued after consultations with several economic experts, Egypt’s Grand Mufti Shawki Allam said on Monday, as cited by Ahram newspaper.

Link: https://www.rt.com/politics/414540-moscow-court-sentences-us-investor/

A court in Moscow has sentenced US-born financier William Browder in absentia to nine years in a penal colony, after convicting him of a $79 million tax fraud.

Browder, who is now a UK citizen, is known as the main lobbyist behind the anti-Russian ‘Magnitsky Act’ sanctions.

The court also ordered Browder to pay a fine of 200,000 rubles (US$3,400). His business partner, Ivan Cherkasov, was also sentenced in absentia to nine years behind bars and handed a 200,000-ruble fine in the same case.

In addition, the judge ruled that the pair must compensate the Russian state to the amount of 4.6 billion rubles ($79 million)

Link: https://www.rt.com/usa/415033-dow-passes-25000-strong-jobs-report/

Wall Street opened with a bang, with the Dow soaring past 25,000 points for the first time ever, following a job data report showing the private sector added 250,000 jobs in December. President Donald Trump took to Twitter after learning of the news and attributed the historic rise in the stock market to past regulation cuts he set forth as president. He also promised more were on the way.

Link: https://www.rt.com/business/414447-russia-natural-gas-fuel-putin/

Russia should follow the lead of Gazprom and have more cars running on natural gas instead of traditional gasoline, according to President Vladimir Putin. It is cheaper and more eco-friendly, he said.

“Gas fuel is, of course, more environmentally friendly. And we have great competitive advantages in this because we have enough of this fuel. More oil and petroleum products can be sold on the foreign market, as it is more profitable than gas sales,”

Link: https://www.rt.com/news/414720-pyongyang-us-mainland-nuclear-range/

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has declared his county a nuclear power in possession of technology capable of striking the US mainland.

“The US mainland is in our nuclear strike zone,” Kim said in his New Year’s message which was broadcast on Chosun Central TV. “The United States will never start a war with me and our country,” and Pyongyang has “completed the creation of North Korea’s nuclear forces," he added.

Tensions between Washington and Pyongyang reached unprecedented levels last year, as the North continued to pursue its missile and nuclear programs. Washington said all options, including a military solution, are on the table. Pyongyang has so far refused to negotiate its nuclear status. In 2018, Kim promised to focus his country’s efforts on the “operational deployment” of nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles; said Washington “will never” be able to start a war of aggression against Pyongyang as long as the North remains a nuclear power.

Link: http://tass.com/world/983861

North Korea completed establishing the national nuclear force in 2017, the country’s leader Kim Jong Un said in a New Year address broadcasted by the country’s state TV on Monday.

"We completed the creation of our country’s national nuclear forces," he said in a speech to sum up the results of the outgoing year 2017.

"The nuclear button is always on my working desk," the North Korean leader added.

Link: https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201801031060485872-usa-trump-tweets-korea-talks/

US President Donald Trump: North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.” Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works! Seoul is proposing to hold high-level talks on January 9 with Pyongyang at the demilitarized zone between the two countries, South Korea's Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said on Tuesday.

Link: https://www.rt.com/usa/414851-mike-tyson-cannabis-farm-ranch/

Mike Tyson breaking ground on a 40-acre marijuana farm in California.

The move by the former world heavyweight boxing champion comes hot on the heels of the state’s decision to legalize the drug for recreational use.

The Tyson Ranch, which will also have a research and development arm, is on a remote plot of desert land in California City, a town near Death Valley National Park, Some 20 acres of the site will reportedly be devoted to marijuana cultivation. The planned Tyson Cultivation School will teach prospective farmers how to develop their own strains and conduct research to develop its clinical uses. Plans are also said to include a “glamping” campground with cabins as well as an amphitheatre.

Link: https://www.rt.com/news/414871-north-korea-hotline-south-talks/

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un has ordered to reopen the border hotline with Seoul for negotiations, according to a televised statement.

The discussions will focus on sending North Korean athletes to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics which will kick off in South Korea next month.

The North will open dialogue at 7:00am GMT (3:00 pm Pyongyang time) at the shared border village of Panmunjom, the statement said as cited by Yonhap. Kim Jong-un had said he was open to talks with Seoul in his New Year address, saying the two Koreas should "lower the military tensions on the Korean Peninsula to create a peaceful environment." Kim added that efforts should be made by “both the North and the South."

Seoul's presidential office welcomed the reconciliatory message, and the unification minister suggested holding talks next week in the demilitarized zone along the inter-Korean border.

There has been no inter-Korean communication since February 2016, when Pyongyang cut the channels in protest at Seoul’s closing down of a joint industrial complex which employed North Koreans.

Link: https://sputniknews.com/europe/201801021060467780-france-vehicles-burnt-new-year/

Mass disorders erupted on New Year’s night in France leaving more than 1,000 cars burnt, the country’s Interior Ministry said in a statement.