Doctors treating the U.S. embassy victims of suspected attacks in Cuba have discovered brain abnormalities as they search for clues to explain hearing, vision, balance and memory damage, The Associated Press has learned.

It's the most specific finding to date about physical damage, showing that whatever it was that harmed the Americans, it led to perceptible changes in their brains. The finding is also one of several factors fueling growing skepticism that some kind of sonic weapon was involved.

Medical testing has revealed the embassy workers developed changes to the white matter tracts that let different parts of the brain communicate, several U.S. officials said, describing a growing consensus held by university and government physicians researching the attacks. White matter acts like information highways between brain cells.

One of these reasons [increased popularity] is that President Nicolás Maduro shows an increase in his positive image in the last months that stands at 31.1%, placing himself well above the opposition leaders such as Henry Ramos Allup, Henrique Capriles or Leopoldo López.

Although analysts of opposition tendency have tried to minimize the data of Venebarómetro, the certain thing is that if the comparison extends - in terms of acceptance or popularity towards other leaders of the region and the world - we find that Maduro is above Juan Manuel Santos (18%), Enrique Peña (22%), Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (23%) and Mariano Rajoy (29%). All rulers who to a greater or lesser extent have strong support from influential media and financial elites.
The rising curve of Maduro, according to the survey, has its turning point in the call for a National Constituent Assembly (ANC) held in May 2017, amid the violent protests called and led by the opposition that left hundreds of dead, injured and unquantifiable patrimonial damages to the nation.

In 2017, much of the unconventional war resources against Venezuela were concentrated in propaganda, dirty warfare (called "guarimbas") and the economy, in order to transfer the social and human costs of the financial sanctions agenda of the country. opposition and the United States towards the figure of Maduro.

The staff of a nursery school located 300 meters from a US base in Okinawa has found an object, which apparently fell on the roof from a US helicopter. Some 50 children were playing in the grounds at the time of the flyover.

The object was discovered on the roof of the Midorigaoka nursery in Ginowan City, which is located beside the US Marine Corps Futenma Air Station. The staff found it on Thursday at around 10:20am, just after a US military aircraft flew over the daycare facility, reports NHK.

Head of the nursery, Takehiro Kamiya, said staff went to check what had happened when they heard a loud sound from the roof. They found a cylindrical object that was 10cm long and 7cm in diameter. It had a warning sign that read: "Remove before flight" painted in English, according to footage shown by the TV channel.

The director said the nursery provides daycare for 61 children. Around 50 of them were playing in the garden outside at the time of the incident, while others were inside. Nobody was injured, but people working at Midorigaoka say the outcome could easily have been different.

It is no secret that success in life can often stem from who you know-but while the connections you make may be willing to vouch for your character in some instances, would they continually work to protect your reputation by suppressing the truth and ignoring dozens of allegations of sexual assault? In the case of elite moguls like Harvey Weinstein, the answer is yes.

The women who have come forward about their encounters with Weinstein have told stories of a sex-obsessed Hollywood producer who used his ability to give them a role in a movie that would launch their career as an excuse to sexually assault them. But it was not just Weinstein-he had an entire team behind him, enabling his behavior.

In a lawsuit accusing Weinstein of violating sex-trafficking laws, British actress Kadian Noble claimed Weinstein enticed her to come up to his hotel room to discuss a possible role in a movie. When Weinstein began touching Noble, and she indicated that she was uncomfortable, she said he put her on the phone with a producer from his company. The producer told Noble that "she needed to be 'a good girl and do whatever he wished,' and if she did, then 'they would work' with her further."

However, Harvey's protection extended beyond The Weinstein Company. According to a report from The New York Times, Weinstein held the coveted title of "F.O.P" or "Friend of Pecker," which signaled his close friendship with David Pecker, the chief executive of American Media Inc. who is responsible for publications such as the National Enquirer, Star, Sun, Weekly World News and Globe.

Bitcoin rocketed above $19,000 for the first time on Thursday before falling sharply from its record high.

In trading on the Coinbase exchange, the digital currency hit a high of $19,340 before falling more than 20 percent from that level to $15,198.63. At 12:02 p.m. New York time, the cryptocurrency traded at $16,260.01. The price on Coinbase is often at a premium over other exchanges. Coinbase is one of the major cryptocurrency exchanges accounting for a third of bitcoin trading volume.

Democrats are calling for a state representative to step down as chairman of the House State Government Committee after they said he made "homophobic" remarks by accusing a colleague of being gay when he touched his arm at a meeting.

During a state government committee meeting in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Tuesday night, lawmakers were in the middle of debating a land-use bill before everything came to a screeching halt when state Rep. Matthew Bradford (D-Montgomery) momentarily touched state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe's (R-Butler County) forearm.

"I'm a heterosexual. I have a wife, I love my wife. I don't like men, as you might," Metcalfe interrupted Bradford, who was sitting next to him. "But stop touching me all the time."

"It's like, keep your hands to yourself. Like, if you want to touch somebody, you have people on your side of the aisle that might like it. I don't," Metcalfe added.

Border Patrol agents from the Del Rio Sector arrested two previously deported child sex offenders in one day. The arrests came on November 29 near the border towns of Carrizo Springs and Eagle Pass, Texas.

Agents assigned to the Carrizo Springs Station on Highway 277 South near Carizzo Springs stopped Rogelio Zelaya-Pineda, a 43-year-old Honduran national. The town is located about 40 miles from Eagle Pass. During a background investigation, agents learned that a Stark County, Ohio, court convicted the Honduran man for a felony sex crime involving a child, information provided to Breitbart Texas by U.S. Border Patrol officials reported.

Later that same day, Eagle Pass Border Patrol agents arrested a 33-year-old Mexican man who illegally crossed the border. Once again, a records check showed that a McHenry County, Illinois, court convicted Jesus Andres Garrido-Cuevas on a charge of aggravated sexual assault in 2009. A Jefferson County, Wisconsin, court also convicted Garrido-Cuevas on a charge of sexual assault of a child.

Immigration officials previously deported both of these men. The two foreign nationals now face new charges of re-entry after deportation as a sex offender. If convicted, they each face up to two years in federal prison.

"How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God! In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!" (Jesus, New Testament)

In Jonathan Demme's superb 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs,homicidal manic Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) asks FBI agent Sparrow (Jodie Foster) about the killing of the Spring lambs. She relates how the lambs all went to their slaughter in silence. Such it is with most of our Amerikan public, under the command of our current empire. Many go forth to their demise in relative apathetic silence:

• Half of our tax money goes down the rabbit hole of military spending, with few complaints or perhaps even FULL RECOGNITION of this fact from the Congress, the mainstream media and of course John and Joan Q Public.
• This new 'Tax Reform Bill' AKA 'Giveaway to the Super Rich, the Corporations and the Pentagon' will cut more and more of the once cherished 'Safety Net' while not one word of how much is still being spent on the military.
• The propaganda spin that 'We are at war' will continue to mesmerize most of the public and of course the media and Congress.
• We have NOT been officially 'At war' since Congress last declared war was in 1941.
• Our military operates out of over 1000 bases in over 100 different countries, and we still occupy Afghanistan and parts of Iraq... ILLEGALLY!
• All of our sporting events still spend the opening minutes in celebration of our military even though we are NOT at war!
• Many of our neighbors drive around with cars carrying specialized license plates honoring our military, as if we are still 'At war'.
• Ever notice how the 'born again' right wingers love to huddle around Jesus, as if he would ever condone our immoral and illegal invasions/occupations? Or if he would ever condone this obscene current system which celebrates the super rich? Any of those holy rollers remember their New Testament:

As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "There is still one thing you haven't done," he told him. "Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."At this the man's face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God! In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!"

Police have confirmed reports of an active shooter situation at Aztec High School in Aztec, New Mexico. All area schools are on lockdown.

The shooter is in custody but it is not known how many people have been wounded, KRQE reported citing local officials.

After a long wait, Vladimir Putin has confirmed that he will seek re-election in Russia's presidential election next year. He made the announcement in Nizhny Novgorod at a concert dedicated to the 85th anniversary of the Gorky Automobile Plant. Meduza collects some of the early reactions from Russians pouring in on social media.

Many of the comments on Twitter highlight the near quarter of a century Putin will have spent in power, following his likely victory in next year's election.

Woohoo! Putin will stick around until 2024, when I'll turn 27. My whole life under one ruler! Feel that stability!

He wants to stay in power for 21 years. In my view, that's a tad too much. I invite everyone not to consent.