Pompeo says Canada's claim to the Northwest Passage is 'illegitimate' 

Arctic nations need to adapt in 'an arena of global power,' Pompeo says 

US warns Beijing's Arctic activity risks creating 'new South China Sea' 

The US plans to beef up its Arctic presence to keep Russia's and China's “aggressive behaviour” in check in the resource-rich region, the secretary of state

Ottawa Citizen

18 hrs · 

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is calling Canada’s claim over the Northwest Passage “illegitimate” in a major speech that is being criticized for being provocative and inaccurate.

OTTAWACITIZEN.COM

Pompeo says Canadian claim to Northwest Passage is 'illegitimate'

The Arctic region has been ravaged by the impact of climate change. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had this to say: "The Arctic is at the forefront of opportunity and abundance. It houses 13 percent of the world's undiscovered oil, 30 percent of its undiscovered gas, an abundance of uranium, rare earth minerals, gold, diamonds, and millions of square miles of untapped resources, fisheries galore."

THEHILL.COM

Pompeo says shrinking Arctic sea ice presents 'new opportunities for trade'

As climate change opens up the Arctic, the frozen region is becoming a new battleground.

COMMONDREAMS.ORG

Pompeo, in Finland, Calls China Claims to Arctic 'Lawlessness'

Pompeo likened the situation to the South China Sea: "fraught with militarization and competing territorial claims."

Sri Lanka's Roman Catholic Church has called for calm and a ban on alcohol sales following violent clashes between Christians and Muslims in the city of Negombo, which was targeted in the deadly Easter bombings.

"I appeal to all Catholic and Christian brothers and sisters not to hurt even a single Muslim person because they are our brothers, because they are part of our religious culture," Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, archbishop of Colombo, said.

NEWS.YAHOO.COM

Christian-Muslim clashes rock Easter attacks town in Sri Lanka

Hundreds of security forces entered Negombo to impose a curfew after dozens of Muslim-owned shops, homes and vehicles were attacked. "I appeal to all Catholic and Christian brothers and sisters not to hurt even a single Muslim person because they are our brothers, because they are part of our religi...

Starbucks in Westeros? Coffee cup cameos in "Game of Thrones" set blunder.

Full story: http://u.afp.com/JY7j

May 7 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

On This Day: 'The Scream' found 3 months after theft

In 1718, city of New Orleans was founded.

Steve Goodman - City Of New Orleans

"City of New Orleans" is a folk song written by Steve Goodman (and first recorded for Goodman's self-titled 1971 album), ...

City of New Orleans, Arlo Guthrie

Willie Nelson - City Of New Orleans (Official Audio)

Johnny Cash - City of New Orleans (Riding the Rails, 1974)

The Highwaymen - City Of New Orleans

In 1824, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was performed for the first time.

In 1913, homemade bombs found under the bishop's throne in St. Paul's Cathedral and opposite the offices of Evening Star in Bouverie Street, were deemed by police to have been the work of suffragettes.

In 1915, a German U-boat sank the British liner Lusitania off the coast of Ireland, killing nearly 1,200 people.

In 1921, in an exclusive interview with the United Press, Sun Yat Sen, president of the Canton Chinese government, outlined his policy proposals as he sought recognition for his fledgling government.

File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI

In 1945, U.S. Army Gen. Dwight Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany from Gen. Alfred Jodl.

In 1954, rebel Viet Minh forces overran the French stronghold of Dien Bien Phu, bringing about the end of French control in Indochina and creating the division of Vietnam.

On May 7, 1994, "The Scream," Edvard Munch's famed expressionist painting, was found in a hotel room south of the Norwegian capital of Oslo three months after it was stolen

GENESIS P-ORRIDGE AND PSYCHIC TV- SIRENS

U.S. sending carrier, bombers to Mideast is 'psychological warfare': Iran

CRIMINAL CAPITALISM

Kraft Heinz to restate nearly three years of financial reports after investigation

(Reuters) - Kraft Heinz Co will restate financial reports for a near three-year period to fix errors that resulted from lapses in procurement practices by some of its employees, the packaged food company said in a filing on Monday.

The company also said it received an additional subpoena from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in March, related to the assessment of goodwill and asset impairments and a request for documents associated with the procurement operations.

Kraft had disclosed a SEC subpoena in February related to an investigation into its accounting practices and, procurement procedures. Following the subpoena, the company initiated an investigation into the procurement practices.

Kraft Heinz said the misstatement was not “quantitatively material” to its financial reports, adding that its investigation was substantially complete and that it would continue to cooperate with the SEC.

Along with the subpoena, the company had also announced a $15.4 billion write-down of its Kraft and Oscar Mayer brands in February and Monday’s filing revealed that the misstatements would increase the amount by about $13 million.

Due to these findings, the company said it would not be able to timely file its quarterly report for the period ended March 30.

“While we expect there will be more change, the worst of the uncertainty surrounding financial statements appears to be over,” Consumer Edge Research’s Jonathan Feeney said.

Shares of the company were marginally up at $32.70 in noon trading.

Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway Inc is Kraft Heinz’s largest shareholder with a 26.7 percent stake, told CNBC after Kraft Heinz disclosed the restatements that the company had his confidence.

The misstatements in Kraft’s reports for the years 2016, 2017 and the first nine months of 2018 mainly relates to the timing and recognition of supplier contracts in the procurement area.

The investigation and review required adjustments of about $208 million related to the costs of products sold and the findings from the investigation also revealed that there was no misconduct from any member of Kraft Heinz’s senior management.

Kraft also said it reviewed supplier contracts and found additional misstatements may or may not have resulted from the misconduct tied to its procurement practices.

“The company is taking action to improve our policies and procedures and will continue to strengthen our internal financial controls,” Kraft Heinz spokesman Michael Mullen said.

Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Sriraj Kalluvila

One in 15 US student loan recipients have considered suicide over debt, study suggests

2.8 million people owe $495 billion , as of March

The $1.6 trillion in US student debt may not pose a direct threat to the economy, but it’s causing anguish that goes far beyond financial concerns for the people who owe it.

One in 15 borrowers has considered suicide due to their school loans, according to a survey of 829 people conducted last month by Student Loan Planner, a debt advisory group.

Most student debt is held by people with balances on the lower end of the scale, with only 0.8 percent of the US population owing more than $100,000 according to Deutsche Bank economists.

They have labelled the issue as a “micro problem” for individuals, rather than a macro problem for the economy.

Yet that still equates to 2.8 million people with around $495 billion in debt as of March, according to US Department of Education data.

 Even more worrying is that it’s an increase of almost $61 billion since the end of 2017.

Student loans are the second-biggest kind of debt in America behind home mortgages and often more expensive to service relative to the amount owed because interest rates are generally higher.

Not to mention that unlike buying a home, an education isn’t a tangible asset that can be sold.

It’s also turning into a hot political issue as next year’s presidential election approaches.
Senator Elizabeth Warren has proposed a plan to cancel loans for many borrowers, while former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper addressed some of the knock-on effects for the economy in a presentation at the Milken Institute conference earlier this week.

BLOOMBERG 

Jane Birkin on making 'Je T'Aime...': 'It's about not believing in physical love. Serge was right. Bardot left him, I left him

Jane Birkin et Serge Gainsbourg - Je T'aime,...Moi Non Plus https://youtu.be/k3Fa4lOQfbA

Fifty years ago, the sound of a woman having an orgasm was a No 1 hit. Its singer talks to Simon Hardeman about sex, Serge Gainsbourg and heavy breathing

It was the year a female orgasm made it to the top of the charts. 

In 1969, Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin’s “Je T’Aime… Moi Non Plus” became the first banned record and the first foreign-language single to reach No 1 in the UK. It still is, uniquely for such a pop hit, an erotic sound-collage of two people having sex. 

Over a sultry, repetitive tune from a cheesy organ, the 22-year-old Birkin breathes, “je t’aime, je t’aime…”, while the 40-year-old Gainsbourg louchely growls “moi non plus” (“me neither”). It builds, via increasingly heavy breathing, to Birkin’s orgasmic chorusing of “tu vas, tu vas et tu viens/ entre mes reins” (“you come, you come and you go/ between my kidneys”). Yes, the words: I’ll come to them.

The song wasn’t written for Birkin. It was composed two years earlier at the behest of Brigitte Bardot, at that point probably the world’s most famous sex symbol, and with whom the French music producer and provocateur Gainsbourg was beginning an affair. Their recording, made in a vocal booth with very steamed-up windows, caused a scandal that led to her then-husband demanding its suppression (it was eventually released in 1986).

A COVER WAS DONE BY SEX MAGICK BAND  PSYCHIC TV 

Giulio Regeni: Cambridge student 'tortured to death for being British spy'

'We thought he was an English spy, we took him ... and after loading him in the car we had to beat him', witness allegedly says

Samuel Osborne @SamuelOsborne93


Giulio Regeni's body was found with broken bones and shattered teeth, and letters had been carved into his skin ( )

A Cambridge University student who was tortured to death in Egypt was murdered because he was suspected of being a British spy, according to a report in an Italian newspaper.

Giulio Regeni, an Italian man who was 28 at the time of his death, went missing in January 2016 before his body was discovered more than a week later at roadside in Cairo.

His body showed signs of torture, having suffered broken bones and shattered teeth, and letters had been carved into his skin.

Mr Regeni’s family believe he was killed by Egypt’s security services because he was researching labour unions which had opposed president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as part of his PhD at Cambridge University‘s Girton College.

Now a new witness has come forward and told Mr Regeni’s family he overheard an Egyptian intelligence agent speaking about “the Italian guy” and saying the student had been beaten because he was thought to be a British spy.

“We thought he was an English spy, we took him, I went and after loading him in the car we had to beat him,” the intelligence agent allegedly said, according to the Correre della Sera newspaper. 

“I hit him in the face,” the agent reportedly added.

The conversation is said to have taken place at a police convention in an unnamed African country in 2017.

The Egyptian agent’s name was passed to Italian prosecutors, who believe the evidence is credible.

They have requested Egyptian prosecutors outline the agent’s whereabouts at the time of the alleged conversation in 2017.

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Egypt has strenuously denied its security services were involved in Mr Regeni’s death, and initially said he died in a car accident before blaming a gang for his murder.

Italy recalled its ambassador to Cairo in April 2016 in protest at the slow pace of the probe into Mr Regeni’s death, though a replacement was sent a year later.

Lawyer investigating death of Cambridge student in Egypt disappears

Egypt police investigate news agency over article on student’s death