Society's ChildS


Cell Phone

Hungary has no evidence of Huawei threat, plans rapid 5G rollout

Gergely Szakacs
Reuters
Fri, 21 Jun 2019 17:13 UTC
huawei
Hungary has no evidence that equipment from Chinese telecoms giant Huawei poses a security threat, a government minister said on Thursday, adding that Budapest was mulling incentives to accelerate the rollout of a high-speed 5G network.

The United States and some of its Western allies believe Huawei Technologies' equipment could be used for espionage, and see its expansion into central Europe as a way to gain a foothold in the European market. Huawei denies the accusations.

Washington is concerned in particular about the expansion of Huawei, the world's biggest maker of telecoms equipment, in Hungary and Poland.

Budapest has so far shrugged off the security concerns and on Thursday Innovation and Technology Minister Laszlo Palkovics told Reuters that Hungary had yet to receive any evidence beyond what he called accusations leveled at Huawei.
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Dominoes

India looks to Russian crude as Iranian imports crash

Tsvetana Paraskova
Oilprice.com
Thu, 20 Jun 2019 17:10 UTC
oil refinery
India and Russia continue to bolster their energy cooperation, and now India is looking at ways to establish oil shipping routes from Russia's Far East India's east coast.

During the meeting (between India's Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan with Yury Trutnev, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister and the Russian president's top envoy to Russia's Far East), India and Russia discussed the opening of "new frontiers of co-operation" between India and Russia's Far East, especially in the oil and gas sector, Pradhan tweeted.

"We had substantive discussions on new opportunities for energy sector emerging from establishment of shipping routes from Far Eastern Russia to east coast of India," the minister added.

India also invited Russian companies to invest in future city gas networks across the country and expressed India's interest in boosting its oil and gas investments in Russia, including in the Far East, Pradhan said.
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Stock Up

Bitcoin extends monster rally as it confidently moves toward $10,000


RT
Fri, 21 Jun 2019 17:08 UTC
bitcoin
© Global Look Press / Klaus Ohlenschläger
The price of Bitcoin has surged, exceeding its one-year high. The world's most popular cryptocurrency was trading at nearly $9,900 on Friday, continuing its 2019 rally that has seen its value nearly triple.

Bitcoin jumped around six percent and reached $9,872.47 at 13:18 GMT on Friday, setting a new record for the year, according to data from CoinDesk. The new highs come after the cryptocurrency saw its price drop to below $9,000 on June 18 before bouncing back.

Other digital currencies also rose on Friday, as typically happens when Bitcoin rallies. The third and second largest cryptocurrencies, Ethereum (ETH) and XRP, were up 7.79 and 4.25 percent correspondingly.

Bitcoin has more than doubled in price since the start of the year, when it was trading at $3,689 per coin. Since January 1, the price of the cryptocurrency has risen around 267 percent.

Some Bitcoin bulls have already predicted that this upward move may signal that Bitcoin can soon reach the psychological level of $10,000. Not everyone is so positive, however, with the CEO of Euro Pacific Capital Peter Schiff calling the trend "a sucker's rally."
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Nuke

China could build 30 Silk Road nuclear reactors by 2030


RT
Fri, 21 Jun 2019 17:06 UTC
nuclear power plant
© Global Look Press / S. Ziese
Beijing needs to take full advantage of the opportunities provided by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and give more financial and policy support to its nuclear sector, senior Chinese industry official Wang Shoujun said.

"Going with nuclear power has already become a state strategy, and nuclear exports will help optimize our export trade and free up domestic high-end manufacturing capacity," he said at the China People's Political Consultative Conference.

According to the official, China has to improve research and development, localize the production of key nuclear components, and grow both the domestic and foreign nuclear markets to make the most of the country's "comprehensive advantages" in costs and technology.
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Fire

Fire 'like a nuclear bomb' rips through Philadelphia refinery

Jarrett Renshaw
Reuters
Fri, 21 Jun 2019 17:00 UTC
refinery explosion
© MATT ROURKE / AP
Firefighters were working to bring under control a massive fire at Philadelphia Energy Solutions Inc's refinery on Friday that has resulted in damage that could keep the affected unit shut for an extended period, according to Philadelphia city officials and company sources.

Philadelphia fire officials said several explosions sent a massive fireball into the sky, engulfing the surrounding areas in smoke after 4 a.m. EDT (0800 GMT), following the ignition of a fire that started in a butane vat at the 335,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) refining complex, the largest and oldest on the U.S. East Coast; there has been a plant on the site since 1870.

There were four injuries reported, according to a company statement, and all workers were treated on-site. The extent of the damage is unknown, but appears to be more serious than a previous fire less than two weeks ago in a different unit at the complex.
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Dollar

'Like a debtors' prison': American who fled to China from $30k in student loans


RT
Fri, 21 Jun 2019 16:51 UTC
student debt
© Reuters / Randall Mikkelsen
Millions of Americans are struggling under the weight of student loans, but the government would rather bomb Iran than fix it, the graduate who packed his bags for China to escape his own crippling college debt tells RT.

Chad Albright completed his degree in public relations at Millersville University, a mid-sized public college in Pennsylvania, at the end of 2007. The timing couldn't have been worse: saddled with $30,000 in student debt, Albright entered the job market just as an unprecedented mortgage crisis sent the American economy spiraling into recession.

With few job prospects, Albright said his options were limited.
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Bomb

Shiite mosque blast kills 10 in eastern Baghdad


Sputnik
Fri, 21 Jun 2019 16:50 UTC
Iraq street
© AP Photo / Hadi Mizban
No terrorist group has immediately claimed responsibility for the Friday attack on the mosque, according to the Iraqi media.

Ten people died and thirty more sustained injuries as a result of an explosion in Imam Mahdi's mosque in the Baladiyat district of the Iraqi capital, the Baghdad Today media outlet reported citing its security sources.

According to the local media, a terrorist wearing a suicide belt had conducted the attack.

The site where the blast took place has been cordoned off by security services.

There are conflicting reports on the death toll; the local media outlet Baghdad Informer reports that the explosion resulted in the death of seven people.
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Dominoes

Medic says he, not Navy SEAL accused of war crimes, killed injured ISIS teen in stunning turnaround


RT
Fri, 21 Jun 2019 16:47 UTC
Edward Gallagher
© REUTERS/Mike BlakeU.S. Navy SEAL Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher
A high-profile court case against decorated SEAL Eddie Gallagher, accused of killing an ISIS teen fighter and shooting at civilians in Iraq, has taken a sudden twist: the medic witness claimed responsibility for the boy's death.

The testimony of Special Operator 1st Class Corey Scott, deployed to Mosul, Iraq with the Navy Seal medical team in 2017, has the potential to turn the premeditated murder case against Gallagher upside down.

Taking the stand on Thursday, Scott gave a startling confession: while Chief Gallagher did stab the wounded ISIS prisoner handed over by Iraqi forces to the US at the height of the Mosul battle, the knife blows did not kill him. Scott claimed that it was he who suffocated the prisoner shortly afterwards by blocking his breathing tube with his thumb.
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Whistle

Anarchist university group threatens to dox students who join conservative clubs

Brian Min
The College Fix
Fri, 21 Jun 2019 16:40 UTC
doxxing
Earlier this month an anarchist group that consists of UT Austin students called the Autonomous Student Network shared a tweet threatening to dox students who considered joining the Young Conservatives of Texas and Turning Point USA during freshman orientation.

"Hey #UT23! Do you wanna be famous? If you join YCT or Turning Point USA, you just might be. Your name and more could end up on an article like one of these," the tweet said, linking to previous doxxing posts of conservative students at the school. "So be sure to make smart choices at #UTOrientation."

Last year the network released extensive personal information of pro-Brett Kavanaugh demonstrators at UT Austin, including their names, photos and contact information. It went so far as to post some of the phone numbers of the employers of students and encouraged its adherents to call them to get them fired.
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Bad Guys

Assange lawyer reveals Pentagon behind pursuit of WikiLeaks publisher


RT
Fri, 21 Jun 2019 16:34 UTC
assange
© Reuters / Hannah McKay
A lawyer for WikiLeaks' Julian Assange has confirmed that the Pentagon - not the White House or any other government agency whose secrets he leaked - was driving the nearly decade-long campaign to destroy the publisher.

After asking officials at the Obama administration if they "really wanted" the publisher for whistleblowers and warning that "there are dangerous precedents here," Assange lawyer Geoffrey Robertson said they responded:
We don't want him, but the Pentagon does, and the Pentagon may eventually get its way.
Robertson's "high connections" got him an audience with Obama administration insiders after he learned of the secret grand jury they had convened against Assange in 2010, he told Phillip Adams on ABC's Radio National on Thursday. When Robertson warned them of the First Amendment implications of charging a publisher under national security laws, however, they already knew what kind of precedent it would set.
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