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.

Link: https://sputniknews.com/us/201801021060471168-us-airports-computer-breakdown/

Travelers entering the US have been growing increasingly frustrated at long security queues as immigration desk computers at various US airports shut down for about two hours on Monday.

Link: https://www.rt.com/usa/414764-cannabis-california-legal-2018/

Californians woke up on Monday to a stimulating New Year’s gift: legal recreational cannabis. The state is set to become the world’s largest regulated, commercial market of recreational marijuana. Over two decades after California legalized the medical use of marijuana, America’s most populous state joins Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and Nevada to grant stores licenses for selling recreational pot to adults 21 or older.

Under Proposition 64, which passed in November 2016, Californians can also legally grow up to six plants for personal use and possess as much as one ounce.

Tax revenues from sales of cannabis are expected to generate at least one billion a year

Link: https://www.rt.com/news/414766-iran-officer-killed-protests/

One officer was killed and three were wounded in the protests in Iran, Reuters reports, citing state media. It is understood that a “rioter” opened fire on police in Najafabad, although the timing of the shooting is unclear.

Iran is still witnessing a wave of demonstrations, which are being held in many cities across the country. The protests initially began on Thursday, as people took to the streets to express their discontent over soaring food prices and unemployment.

However, a number of the rallies soon turned into larger anti-government demonstrations as the crowds directed their anger at the Iranian government and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Link: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-12-22/bombshell-dhs-report-reveals-30-federal-inmates-illegal

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released its findings on the immigration status of federal prison inmates, as mandated in a controversial Executive Order signed during the President Trump's first week in the White House. The report reveals that of the 37,557 confirmed immigrants in the federal prison system, 35,334 (94%) of them are in the United States illegally - which means out of a total of 185,507, federally incarcerated individuals, over 19% are confirmed illegal immigrants - which, in 2014, cost U.S. taxpayers $1.87 billion to house.

Link: https://www.rt.com/business/413931-bitcoin-plunges-30-percent/

The price of bitcoin fell to less than $12,000 on Friday, according to CoinDesk.com. That makes an 27-percent drop since its previous slide, and more than 40 percent since it reached the historic $20,000 mark last week.

The cryptocurrency has experienced its second major drop in just days. Rival bitcoin cash has also fallen, plunging to $2,536 per coin, following its rapid climb of more than 50 percent to almost $4,330 per token on December 20.

Link: https://www.rt.com/usa/414231-marijuana-us-sales-rise/

Legal cannabis sales in the US have seen a sharp increase this year, with total purchases growing by 30 percent, a report by Marijuana Business Daily says. It suggests sales could grow even more next year.

Legal pot sales could increase by another 45 percent in 2018, the latest annual report by Marijuana Business Daily said. The publication, a trade news website for professionals in the recreational and medical cannabis industry in the US, further forecasts that legal weed sales in America could quadruple between 2016 and 2021, with the marijuana market eventually hitting highs of $17 billion in sales.

Link: https://www.rt.com/news/414194-bus-moscow-crash-tunnel/

Five people were killed by a bus that crashed down the stairs of an underground passage in western Moscow, police said. The driver of the bus was taken into custody.

Link: https://www.snopes.com/2017/12/21/marijuana-activist-since-1960s-facing-california-pot-charges/

Irvin Dana Beal, 70, of New York, was arrested Saturday in Northern California after prosecutors said his rental car was spotted weaving across the road and driving 20 miles below the speed limit. James Statzer, 51, of Michigan, also was arrested.

The arrest occurred along a well-traveled highway in California’s famed Emerald Triangle area, known for its high-grade pot. A police dog smelled marijuana during the stop and 22 pounds of the drug was found.

Beal has been promoting marijuana’s medical benefits for decades. Recreational sales of marijuana become legal in California on Jan. 1, and medical marijuana has been legal in the state since 1996. But it’s still illegal to transport large quantities of the drug or to take it out of state.

It’s not uncommon for traffickers to think they can now transport pot risk-free, said Deputy District Attorney Colleen Murray, who is prosecuting the case.

Defense attorney Tom Ballanco said it’s not clear if his two clients thought they were acting legally.

Link: http://tass.com/defense/982119

"This year, the security services have foiled the plans of preparing over 60 terror-related crimes," "It is necessary to strengthen both external and internal contours of Russia anti-terror security, carry out work to eliminate financial and recruitment networks, counter the attempts by extremists and radicals to influence the youth, the attempts to spread the ideology of hatred, religious intolerance and aggressive nationalism,"Putin said at a special ceremony devoted to Security Service Workers’ Day.