Society's Child
The top official warned that Hungary may sign another deal with Russia if Exxon fails to resolve the issue by September.
"Exxon Mobil can be the game changer in the energy supply of Europe," Szijjarto said in an interview with Reuters. "But they should finally make their final investment decision."
The project is focused on gas deposits in the Romanian part of the Black Sea, which represent great potential for diversification of energy supplies for Central and Eastern Europe, according to London-based consultancy Deloitte. Once tapped, the reserves could reportedly generate $26 billion in revenue for the Romanian exchequer over the next two decades.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that gives the government authority to block transactions that involve information or communications technology that "poses an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States."
According to the executive order, the technology that could be blocked will be that which is "designed, developed, manufactured, or supplied, by persons owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of a foreign adversary."
Battle for 5G
While Huawei isn't named in the policy, the U.S. has long-accused the Chinese telecoms equipment maker of being closely-linked to China's ruling Communist Party. Washington has also alleged that Huawei's telecom equipment poses a national security risk because it could be used by Beijing for espionage. Huawei has denied these claims.
In a statement to CNBC on Thursday, Huawei said that further moves to block it from the U.S. market could have a damaging impact on America's 5G development.

Pechier is already under “judicial supervision,” having been charged in May 2017 with poisoning seven other patients, two of whom died, between 2008 and 2017. All of the victims were otherwise healthy before they mysteriously suffered cardiac arrest, and investigators later found potassium levels five times the lethal dose in their blood.
Anesthesiologist Frederic Pechier has been taken into custody in connection with 42 "serious adverse events," including 20 deaths that happened on his watch during the 17 years he worked at clinics and hospitals in Besancon, eastern France. He was already indicted in seven other cases, two of which involved fatalities, in 2017.
Prosecutors claim Pechier tampered with anesthesia pouches used by colleagues for otherwise routine operations. This caused patients to have cardiac arrests, giving the doctor a chance to swoop in at the last minute and rescue them, gaining him the respect of his fellow doctors and the admiration of his victims, it is alleged. If true, the scheme appears to have worked - his peers reportedly considered him a "brilliant" anesthesiologist.

The change comes after a year-long study and focus groups with students, staff, and families.
After a year-long study and focus groups with students, staff, and families, MHS officials made the announcement as part of an effort to improve students' mental wellness.
"We are moving to a recognition system eliminating valedictorian and salutatorian honors, and shifting to recognizing students who have achieved outstanding academic success through a multitude of pathways. The recognition system will reward our students for genuine academic success based on their academic accomplishments. This will help reduce the overall competitive culture at MHS to allow students to focus on exploring learning opportunities that are of interest to them," said Mason High School Principal Bobby Dodd.
Students graduating in the class of 2020 and beyond will continue to be recognized for their academic performance using the Latin honors system. Mason High School students with a GPA of 4.00 and above will be designated summa cum laude. MHS Students with a GPA between 3.75 and 3.99 will be designated magna cum laude. MHS students with a GPA between 3.51 to 3.74 will be designated cum laude.
Comment: Pandering to students by attempting to 'reduce the culture of competitiveness' may make their high school experience less stressful but fails to prepare them for the real world where they will be tested at every opportunity to prove their competence.
"It could be considered an act of war for them [US authorities] to allow the parallel government, which is unrecognized, which controls no institutions of government and is essentially a fake government" to take over the diplomatic premises, Blumenthal told RT after US authorities tried to raid and evict the so-called 'Embassy Civilian Protection Collective' on Monday, before allowing activists to stay.
If the US tracks on this embassy, which is sovereign Venezuelan territory under international law, it is an act of war that could potentially be reciprocated against.
Being a journalist in a nation where the government can put you in jail for unfavorable reporting is understandably risky, but at least one can hope to find international support after getting into trouble. Foreign governments and international organizations would cry foul and try to pressure the persecutors.
Well, Kirill Vyshinsky didn't get this response. On March 15, 2018 he was arrested by agents of the SBU, Ukraine's powerful national security agency, and charged with treason. Vyshinsky holds both Russian and Ukraine passports. His alleged crime was that he waged "information warfare" against Ukraine, or at least that's what the SBU said at the time. The accusation may result in a 15 year jail term.
Comment: See also:
- Western media silent on illegal detention of Russian journalist Kirill Vyshinsky, imprisoned without fair trial in Ukraine
- Russia demands OSCE action over Ukraine's treatment of journalist in custody
- Ukraine prolongs imprisonment of news agency chief without trial, denied help, health deteriorating
- Head of Russian news agency's office in Ukraine goes on 'trial for treason'
- Rally at Ukrainian Embassy in Moscow demands release of Russian journalist
The National Crime Agency said the people arrested are aged between 29 and 53 and are from Sheffield, Rotherham, Leeds, Dewsbury, and Maidstone in Kent. All have been bailed or released under investigation pending further inquiries. The spokeswoman said the victims in the latest cases were aged between 11 and 26 at the time of the alleged offences.
The National Crime Agency, often called 'Britain's FBI', is conducting a huge investigation after a 2014 report found more than 1,000 young girls had been abused in the South Yorkshire town. Scandals have since engulfed other towns and cities, including Newcastle, Telford and most recently Huddersfield, with a series of similar gangs jailed.
Vulnerable young victims were typically given drugs and alcohol before being passed around between men of Pakistani heritage to be raped and sexually assaulted at will. Authorities did little to tackle the abusers or save their young victims from their terrible ordeals, often due to fears over being labelled racist.
The latest arrests are part of the ongoing Operation Stovewood investigation.
Towards the end of 2018, the NCA said it had 151 designated suspects, 275 other people under investigation and 296 female survivors of exploitation actively engaging with officers.

The Alabama Senate has passed an abortion ban that would be one of the most restrictive in the United States. The bill would make it a crime for doctors to perform abortions at any stage of a pregnancy unless a woman's life is threatened or in case of lethal fetal anomaly.
It would be one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the United States. The bill would make it a crime for doctors to perform abortions at any stage of a pregnancy, unless a woman's life is threatened or in case of a lethal fetal anomaly.
The vote was 25-6, with one abstention.
Doctors in the state would face felony jail time up to 99 years if convicted. But a woman would not be held criminally liable for having an abortion.
There are no exceptions in the bill for cases of rape or incest, and that was a sticking point when the Alabama Senate first tried to debate the measure last Thursday. The Republican-majority chamber adjourned in dramatic fashion when leaders tried to strip a committee amendment that would have added an exception for cases of rape or incest.

The surveillance video shows Bishop allegedly push Fournier out of the door of the stopped bus.
Witnesses say the victim had been asking Bishop to be nicer to the passengers before being pushed out the doors and onto the ground.
The incident took place on March 21, 2019.
The victim, identified as 74-year-old Serge Fournier, was left hospitalized. He reportedly died from his injuries on April 23.
The 16-year-old girl, who was not named, had run a poll on photo-sharing app Instagram with the question "Really Important, Help Me Choose D/L", hours before jumping off the roof of a building in Sarawak, on Malaysia's east, on Monday, district police chief Aidil Bolhassan told Reuters.
The 'D/L' meant 'Death/Life', and the poll had showed 69% of the girl's followers chose 'D', he said.











Comment: The one silver lining may be the delay of 5G implementation in the US; experts are ringing alarm bells over its health consequences while the wireless industry continues to suppress any negative information.
- 5G wifi: A global health catastrophe in the making
- 5G technology is the "stupidest idea in the history of the world" says Washington State science prof
As for attempting to contain China by blocking access to US technology - while it may take time, ever industrious China will find (or create) replacement suppliers for needed components. US firms will be left out in the cold because Washington doesn't comprehend the concept of win-win negotiations.