USA - On Monday officials from Pinellas County in Florida announced that an unidentified hacker remotely gained access to a panel that controls the City of Oldsmar's water treatment system, and changed a setting that would have drastically increased the amount of sodium hydroxide in the water supply.

USA - Self-anointed guardians of human freedom China, Russia, Cuba, Eritrea, and Venezuela may soon have the company of the US at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) if the Biden administration’s rush to rejoin the globalist body is a success. The diplomatic move by Washington will be a direct rebuff to former President Donald Trump who withdrew the US from the Geneva-based organization in 2018 citing its anti-Israel program and lack of a reform agenda, as Breitbart News reported. Variously described as a “bully pulpit for human rights violators,” then-US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the UNHRC is “a haven for dictators and the democracies that indulge them.” Since taking office last month, President Joe Biden has rejoined both the Paris accord and the WHO [World Health Organisation] and has signaled interest in returning to the Iran deal as well as UNESCO [United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation].

VATICAN - Pope Francis reaffirmed the fundamental right to life of unborn human beings in an address Monday to members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See. In his address, the pope touched on several crises “that were provoked or brought to light by the pandemic” in order to find ways of building “a more humane, just, supportive and peaceful world.” In the first place, the pandemic “forced us to confront two unavoidable dimensions of human existence: sickness and death,” Francis said. “In doing so, it reminded us of the value of life, of every individual human life and its dignity, at every moment of its earthly pilgrimage, from conception in the womb until its natural end.” Ten days ago, the US Bishops forcefully condemned President Joe Biden’s reinstatement of taxpayer-funded abortions around the world. The Catholic Church teaches that abortion is an abominable crime and a sin so grave that the harshest punishment the Church imposes — automatic excommunication — is attached to it.

VATICAN - Pope Benedict is "terrified" of Francis and his plans to modernise the church, as the pontiff made a landmark move to appoint Nathalie Becquart to a senior role, previously only ever held by men. The 84-year-old broke with centuries of tradition as he installed Sister Becquart to the post of undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops. She is one of two new faces named to the Synod, which is a group of bishops that studies the huge questions of doctrine. Secretary general of the Synod, Cardinal Mario Grech, hailed the move exposing how it showed Francis' wish for "a greater participation of women in the process of discernment and decision-making in the church" had come true. Her appointment has raised the prospect of her participating in Vatican votes, something women have never been able to do in the upper echelons of the Catholic church. Francis' willingness to ensure female inclusion within the church evolves, demonstrates which direction the pontiff wants the Vatican to move into, ensuring a more liberal approach to those who wish to join the faith.

USA - President Joe Biden has quickly launched a campaign to support LGBTIQ people abroad, putting their rights higher on the US foreign policy agenda than ever before. Elevating a 2011 initiative launched by his former boss Barack Obama - and reversing a turnaround under Donald Trump - Biden is expanding the scope of US efforts on LGBTIQ rights while also adjusting based on lessons learned over the past decade. In his first foreign policy speech, Biden announced Thursday he was ordering all US government agencies active abroad to promote the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer people and to come up with plans within 180 days. "All human beings should be treated with respect and dignity and should be able to live without fear no matter who they are or whom they love," Biden said in the presidential memorandum.

USA - Are you satisfied with life in America right now? Before you answer that question, consider more than just politics. Taking an overall view that encompasses every aspect of our society, are you generally satisfied with how our society is functioning at this moment or not? Needless to say, we are coming off a very tough year, and 2021 has not started smoothly either. The COVID pandemic continues to drag on, we are mired in the worst economic downturn in more than 70 years, and there is civil unrest in our streets on an almost nightly basis.

USA - With a single update, a popular barcode scanner app on Google Play transformed into malware and was able to hijack up to 10 million devices. Lavabird Ltd's Barcode Scanner was an Android app that had been available on Google's official app repository for years. The app, accounting for over 10 million installs, offered a QR code reader and a barcode generator - a useful utility for mobile devices. The mobile application appeared to be legitimate, trustworthy software, with many users having installed the app years ago without any problems - until recently. According to Malwarebytes, users recently started to complain of adverts appearing unexpectedly on their Android devices. It is often the case that unwanted programs, ads, and malvertising are connected with new app installations, but in this example, users reported that they had not installed anything recently. Upon investigation, the researchers pinpointed Barcode Scanner as the culprit.

USA - One of the newest features of the Apple iPhone 12 series of mobile devices is a strong magnet that helps align the phone on Apple’s MagSafe accessory to maximize charging – a feature that raised the curiosity of Henry Ford Heart & Vascular Institute cardiologist Gurjit Singh, MD, and his colleagues. In order to find out if their suspicions were true, Dr Singh and his colleagues took an iPhone 12 Pro and passed it over the chest of a patient with an implantable defibrillator.

USA - DC Public Schools have announced that they will be using a race-based curriculum sent out by Black Lives Matter to teach students during Black History Month. An email sent to parents refers to children as “communal children” and prioritizes “disrupting the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement.” According to a report from the Daily Wire, who obtained the email, the program calls for allowing everyone to “choose their own gender,” even children in elementary school. The critical race theory-based curricula uses Black Lives Matter’s “13 Guiding Principles,” which the Wire reports pushes for “queer and transgender affirmation and ‘restorative justice,’ among other priorities. The guide calls for the dismantling of the ‘patriarchal practice’ of requiring mothers to parent their children while also participating in ‘justice work.'” “We are committed to disrupting the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and ‘villages’ that collectively care for one another,” the guide reads. “Especially ‘our’ children.”

USA - In the past year, this virus has changed everyone's life. Death, in an instant, became a constant worry for many. Schools closed and parents looked for ways to explain this new normal to their children. Industries shuttered, savings dried up and many families suddenly found themselves having to decide between paying rent or buying food. Quarantining and social distancing made holidays and celebrations look different. When trials began to show high efficacy and effectiveness for vaccines, it offered a glimmer of hope for millions of people. In the United States, that glimmer turned into a bright promise of returning to some semblance of our full lives after the FDA approved the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. But the rollout has proven to be less than perfect. According to Steve from Maryland, he and his wife are in group 1B, but even though the state has moved on to group 1C, when he tries to get an appointment "there is nothing within a 50-mile radius. Disheartening."

USA - The Gates Are Open – It took Joe Biden two weeks to open up the flow of unlimited numbers of migrants into the United States. Fake asylum seekers are starting to pour across the US southern border again. The migrants are released almost immediately into the US to live the “American dream.” The word is out. The US border is open once again!

USA - President Joe Biden is de-listing the Houthi rebels of Yemen as a terrorist organization, despite the fact that the group attacks civilians, considers the US an enemy, and is armed and funded by Iran. As Breitbart News has previously reported: “The Houthis are a jihadist organization whose slogan is ‘God Is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel, a Curse on the Jews, Victory to Islam.'” The Biden administration announced the move on Friday, ostensibly to allow humanitarian aid to reach Yemen. It follows an announcement by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan that the US was ending its support for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen on behalf of the legitimate government. The Houthis launched the war in 2014. Iran backs the rebels, partly because control of Yemen gives Iran a strategic position across the Bab el Mandeb Strait from US forces that are stationed in Djibouti on the Red Sea. Both sides in the civil war have committed atrocities.

IRAN - Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called on the US to drop all of its sanctions against the country if it wants Iran to return to its own commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal. Khamenei tweeted on Sunday that despite Iran previously fulfilling its own obligations as part of the agreement, the US and Europe violated their promises. “Iran has fulfilled all its obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal, not the United States and the three European countries... If they want Iran to return to its commitments, the United States must lift all sanctions first,” he said. As part of the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran agreed to reduce its nuclear facilities and limit its uranium enrichment stockpile, while the other parties agreed to lift certain economic sanctions against Iran. Former US President Donald Trump, however, pulled his country out of the deal in 2018 and implemented more sanctions – an act which the EU deemed illegal – prompting Iran to drop its own commitments and continue with its nuclear efforts.

USA - Lead, arsenic and deadly heavy metals are discovered in popular BABY FOOD as House subcommittee slams Walmart and two others for refusing to cooperate and warns they might be 'obscuring even higher levels'. Arsenic, lead and other toxic metals that can harm brain development have been found in many popular baby foods, including organic brands. The US Food and Drug Administration considers arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury harmful to human health. 'Children's exposure to toxic heavy metals causes permanent decreases in IQ, diminished future economic productivity, and increased risk of future criminal and antisocial behavior,' the report reads. According to the FDA, the metals found have 'no established health benefit' and 'lead to illness, impairment, and in high doses, death.' Hansen said parents who are concerned should switch to unprocessed fruits and vegetables.

USA - Big Brother is spying on you in thousands of ways, and all of that info now goes into centralized “Fusion Systems”. On the other side of the Atlantic, a joint European surveillance project known as ROXANNE is causing a great deal of concern… Big Brother is watching you. Sadly, most people don’t realize how extensive the surveillance grid has now become. As you drive to work or to school, license plate readers are systematically tracking where you travel.