The administration of US President Donald Trump is reportedly considering a ban on taking large electronic devices to the cabins of US-bound flights from UK airports. According to The Guardian newspaper, the ban would be similar to the restrictions imposed on the flights to the United States from some Middle Eastern countries. In March, the United States and the United Kingdom banned electronic devices larger than a cellphone in the cabins of direct flights to the United States from Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the UAE. The United Kingdom has implemented a similar restriction on flights from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Turkey. According to media reports, the ban might have been introduced partly due to a foiled terror attack by means of an iPad tablet, packed with explosives.
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Link: https://www.rt.com/news/386002-raqqa-un-concerns-us-airstrikes/

The offensive has resulted in "an escalating number of civilian deaths” as well as damage to vital civilian infrastructure.."In past weeks, civilians have been exposed to daily fighting and airstrikes which resulted in an escalating number of civilian deaths and injuries as well as damage to civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, markets and water infrastructure," a Monday statement from a spokesman for UN Secretary General read."There are worries" about how the US-backed operation will affect civilians, Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN Secretary-General told RT.

Link: https://sputniknews.com/asia/201704251052997596-japan-warns-north-korean-attack/

Japan has warned its citizens that, in the case of a North Korean nuclear attack, they may have as few as four minutes to rush to safety. The government's advice: those outside should proceed to a strong concrete building or underground in a calm, orderly fashion. Those already inside should stay low to the floor, take cover under tables and stay away from windows. Students are advised to hide under their desks. While "duck and cover" would do little for those engulfed by a nuclear fireball, it could protect the citizenry outside the explosion's radius from other dangers such as broken glass and other shrapnel, intense heat, thermal burns and eye damage. Japan knows this better than most. During the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japanese citizens often rushed to the windows when they saw the bright flash of light, increasing the human toll of the attack. Sales of bomb shelters and air purifiers have skyrocketed in Japan in recent months.

Link: http://www.blacklistednews.com/Groundwater_drunk_by_BILLIONS_of_people_may_be_contaminated_by_radioactive_material_spread_across_the_world_by_nuclear_testing_in_the_1950s/58104/0/38/38/Y/M.html

Researchers looked at more than 6,000 wells around the globe, some containing water more than 10,000 years old, found more than half had traces of tritium. Even at low doses, tritium has been linked with increased risk of mutation and cancer because it goes directly into the tissues of organs of the human body. Tritium is a radioactive form of hydrogen, with a 12.3 year half-life.

Link: https://www.democraticunderground.com/10141760087

A nuclear-powered U.S. submarine USS Michigan, the second Ohio-class nuclear-powered guided missile submarine in the U.S. Navy is to arrive at the South Korean port city of Busan on Tuesday, the same day North Korea is expected to commemorate the 85th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army. The U.S. supercarrier Carl Vinson is also expected to arrive near the peninsula this week.

Link: https://www.democraticunderground.com/10141760177

Two people were killed in Venezuela on Monday in renewed violence, raising the death toll in three weeks of massive demonstrations against leftwing President Nicolas Maduro to 23, officials said. Several others were seriously injured and "between life and death," said public defender Tarek William Saab. The latest casualties come on a day anti-Maduro demonstrators blocked major roads in the South American nation.

Link: http://nypost.com/2017/04/24/france-is-trying-to-stop-marine-le-pen-at-all-costs/

France’s political mainstream, shut out of the presidency by an angry electorate, united on Monday to call on voters to back centrist Emmanuel Macron and reject Marine Le Pen’s populist nationalism. Le Pen went on the offensive against Macron in her first public comments Monday.“He is a hysterical, radical ‘Europeanist.’ He is for total open borders. says there is no such thing as French culture.. There is not one domain that he shows one ounce of patriotism,” .

Link: http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2017/04/24/519333/S400-Russia-Turkey-Erdogan-Putin-Defense-Minister-Fikri-Isik

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to discuss a contract for buying the advanced S-400 long-range air missile defense system during an upcoming meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, Turkey’s defense minister Fikri Isik said on Monday that President Erdogan would discuss the deal during a planned meeting with Putin on May 3.

Link: http://www.blacklistednews.com/Outrage_After_At_Least_5_EU_Nations_Elect_Saudi_Arabia_On_UN_Women%27s_Rights_Council/58085/0/38/38/Y/M.html

UN Watch, a human rights organization monitoring the performance of the United Nations, strongly condemned the appointment of Saudi Arabia to post,citing Riyadh’s poor women’s rights record and widespread gender inequality. “Electing Saudi Arabia to protect women’s rights is like making an arsonist into the town fire chief. It’s absurd,” Hillel Neuer, the UN Watch chief, said. Every Saudi woman “must have a male guardian who makes all critical decisions on her behalf, controlling a woman’s life from her birth until death. Saudi Arabia also bans women from driving cars,

Link: http://investmentwatchblog.com/im-in-awe-of-how-fast-brick-and-mortar-retail-is-melting-down/

Mall traffic is sagging. Department store sales have been in decline since 2001. Most retailers are loaded up with debt. Many have been losing money Store closings numbered in the thousands last year. “Zombie malls” vast parking lots rented to car dealers to store their excess vehicle inventory. E commerce sales are booming, including online sales by some brick-and-mortar retailers, such as Walmart and Macy’s: Over-indebted retailers are notoriously difficult to restructure and many end up being liquidated

Link: https://www.rt.com/news/385941-china-restraint-trump-north-korea/

The Chinese president called for all sides to exercise restraint during a phone call with US leader Donald Trump on the issue of Pyongyang North Korean state media warned the US of “catastrophic consequences” of its deployment of the ‘USS Carl Vinson.’ President Xi Jinping told Trump during the call China strongly opposes North Korea's nuclear weapons program, according to CCTV; “hopes that all relevant sides exercise restraint, and avoid doing anything to worsen the tense situation on the peninsula; said the nuclear issue can only be resolved quickly if all relevant countries are pulling in the same direction, adding that Beijing is willing to work with all parties – including the US – to ensure peace.

Link: https://www.rt.com/usa/385935-hang-gliding-jihadist-citizenship/

A man convicted of being a member of an Egyptian terrorist organization has had his US citizenship revoked. Khaled Abu al-Dahab was found to have trained budding jihadists to hang glide as part of a plan to bomb targets from the air in Egypt.

Link: https://www.rt.com/news/385889-paris-protests-burned-cars-videos/

Protests, violence and vandalism flared up in Paris as results of the first round of the tight presidential race were being counted. Disillusioned French youth protested what many of them see as a political “masquerade.”

Link: https://www.democraticunderground.com/10141759192

Stores are closing at an epic pace. In fact, the retail industry could suffer far more store closures this year than ever. 2,056 stores closed down in 2016 and 5,077 were shuttered in 2015. The worst year on record is 2008, when 6,163 stores shut down. "Barely a quarter into 2017, year-to-date retail store closings have already surpassed those of 2008.

Link: https://refugeeresettlementwatch.wordpress.com/2017/04/23/pence-in-australia-sure-we-will-be-taking-over-1000-illegal-aliens-now-held-in-australian-detention/

Spat between Turnbull, Prime Minister of Australia and President Donald Trump over a refugee resettlement deal struck by the Obama administration. Pence said Saturday that the U.S. would honor the agreement even if it didn’t agree with it. Under the deal, the U.S. would take up to 1,250 refugees that Australia houses in detention camps on the Pacific island nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea. Trump’s anger over the agreement led to a tense phone call with Turnbull in January and an angry tweet in which the president called the deal “dumb.”“President Trump has made it clear that we’ll honor the agreement — that doesn’t mean we admire the agreement,” Pence said during a joint news conference with Turnbull. American towns and cities are going to get illegal aliens (mostly Muslim men) who failed to be approved for asylum in Australia.

Link: http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2017/04/23/519106/Syria-Israel-Quneitra

The attack hit the al-Fawwar camp on Sunday, wounding two others, the unnamed official told the French news agency AFP. It was not clear whether the assault was an airstrike or shelling. The attack comes after Israel struck a Syrian army position in the province of Quneitra on the Golan plateau on Friday

Link: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/04/23/far-right-le-pen-and-center-right-macron-frontrunners-french-election

Front National candidate Marine Le Pen face off against Emmanuel Macron, an investment banker who hasn't held public office, in a runoff vote on May 7, as the first round of an unusual presidential election concluded with Sunday's vote. Students immediately took to the streets in protest against Le Pen's success in the first round, the Associated Press reported Sunday. Macron received about 24 percent of the vote, while Le Pen received about 22 percent, according to the French government's initial vote estimates

Link: http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/04/22/macron-arresting-deporting-terror-suspects/

Presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron slammed Marine Le Pen’s proposal to arrest radical Islamists saying it would be counter-productive to intelligence efforts. Mr Macron took direct exception to Le Pen’s comments Friday morning when the Front National presidential candidate called for the arrest of all known radical Islamists and the deportation of Islamists without French citizenship.“The goal is an intelligence goal,” Macron said. ” If you put them all in jail, first of all, it is not in accordance with the law.“The goal is to follow them. The police must be able to work in the best possible way,” zero risk does not exist, we live and we will live permanently with the threat of Terrorism.

Link: https://sputniknews.com/russia/201704221052881887-russia-parade-hardware/

Air defense weapons specifically designed for use in the Arctic will be showcased for the first time on May 9. These are Pantsir-SA and Tor-M2DT short range missile and cannon systems, both mounted on DT-30 Vityaz two-unit ATVs that have considerably improved the missile systems’ cross-country capability, all-new Su-30SM heavy fighters, Bal and Bastion coastal defense missile systems will be showcased for the first time state-of-the-art Armata tanks.

Link: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-21/why-nothing-matters-central-banks-have-bought-record-1-trillion-assets-2017

Central banks (ECB & BoJ) have bought $1 trillion of financial assets just in the first four months of 2017, which amounts to $3.6 trillion annualized, "the largest CB buying on record."