“The vintage spirits, unseen in public since they last went under the hammer 30 years ago, were the highlights of a Bonhams auction held in Hong Kong for fine and rare wines and whiskies.”
“Pollan’s new book recounts his experiences with the drugs and also examines the history of psychedelics as well as their possible therapeutic uses.”
“European Union leaders presented a determined front to stand up to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to penalize EU businesses and scupper the Iran nuclear deal.”
“Trump’s decision to scrap the nuclear deal was sharply criticised by European leaders, who have pledged to uphold their side of the agreement.”
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/13/us-sanctions-european-countries-iran-deal-donald-trump
“The biggest importer of Iranian oil is China. There are also efforts being made by China, the world’s second largest economy, to trade oil in yuan.”
Read more: http://www.ibtimes.com/europe-pay-iran-euros-oil-abandoning-dollar-2681417
“Torture was illegal in 1946. It was illegal in 1968. And it was illegal in 2002, no matter what Bush Justice Department officials John Yoo and Jay Bybee said.”
Read more: http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-conservative-case-against-gina-haspel/
“The sharpest plunge in America’s press freedom rating occurred during the Obama administration — thanks in part to its zealous prosecutions of journalists. Trump is continuing policies started by earlier presidents.”
“Both Operation LASER and PredPol are sponsored by the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance’s SMART Policing Initiative, which aims to use ‘evidence-based, data-driven’ policing strategies to try and pre-empt and prevent crime.”
Read more: https://theintercept.com/2018/05/11/predictive-policing-surveillance-los-angeles/
“A little-known service has been leaking the real-time locations of US cell phone users to anyone who takes the time to exploit an easily spotted bug in a free trial feature.”
“The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe issued a circular Friday ordering all financial institutions to terminate servicing cryptocurrency exchanges within 60 days and begin to liquidate existing crypto-related accounts.”