The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday broadened its investigation into President Donald Trump and possible obstruction of justice, authorizing subpoenas to a dozen individuals that included the President’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The committee also authorized subpoenas to current and former Trump administration officials related to the “zero-tolerance” immigration policy that led to the separation last year of migrant families who crossed the southern border illegally.
Thursday’s dual subpoena authorizations signal the Judiciary Committee is ratcheting up its probes into the Trump administration ahead of the panel’s high-profile hearing next week with former special counsel Robert Mueller.
The vote was approved on party lines, 21-12.

Iran’s underground Fordow uranium-enrichment facility has not followed the 2015 nuclear deal, according to a report released on Wednesday by the Institute for Science and International Security. Apparently, it has “never been repurposed” in that “everything required to enrich uranium to weapons grade could be quickly reconstituted in the underground portion of the facility,” continued the report.
The deal stated, “Iran will convert the Fordow facility into a nuclear, physics and technology centre. International collaboration including in the form of scientific joint partnerships will be established in agreed areas of research.”

President Donald Trump on Thursday sharply criticized Facebook’s plans to enter the cryptocurrency market, tweeting that the U.S. has “one real currency” and suggesting the social-networking giant may need to submit to heightened banking regulation.
In a series of tweets, Trump said Facebook’s plans to help launch the currency, called Libra, would have “little standing or dependability,” warning that if Facebook wanted to become a bank it should seek “new Banking Charter and become subject to all Banking Regulations, just like other Banks, both National and International.”

A new study has linked drinking just a small glass of a sugary drink per day — 100 ml, about a third of a typical can of soda — to an 18% increase in overall cancer risk and a 22% increase in risk for breast cancer.
The research, which looked at more than 100,000 French adults, links consumption of sugary drinks to an increased risk of some cancers. This follows a recent study linking sugary beverage consumption to greater risk of premature death.
“The results indicate statistically significant correlations between the consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks and risk of all cancers combined, and of breast cancer,” said Ian Johnson, nutrition researcher and emeritus fellow, Quadram Institute Bioscience, who wasn’t involved in the research.

The Palestinian Finance Ministry rejected the accusation that they were increasing terrorist stipend as “absolutely false and hypocritical” and said Washington was lending financial support to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.
“It is known to everyone that Israel’s illegal colonial settlements, funded by American taxpayer money, continue to be the obstacle to peace,” a ministry spokesman said.
PA fiscal records show no marked increase in what they refer to as “assistance for prisoners and detainees”. Monthly payments were around 42 million shekels ($11.85 million) in December 2018, decreasing to 38.4 million shekels ($10.83 million) in April 2019.

The UN is set to host a conference next year “aimed at developing new steps in the fight against global terrorism,” the Israeli UN Mission said on Wednesday.
The initiative is being led by UN Deputy Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism Vladimir Voronkov.
The event will be attended by terror victims from 121 countries.
“The UN understands that terrorism is not just part of the Middle East, but rather a global threat that must be dealt with in a wide range of tools and swift force,” Israeli UN Ambassador Danny Danon said. “We thank Deputy Secretary-General Voronkov for his contribution to the struggle against terror, and we will ensure that Israel’s experience will be reflected in the conference.”
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{Matzav.com}

President Trump spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Iran on Wednesday, the White House said, the same day the U.S. president threatened to “substantially” increase sanctions on Tehran to curb its nuclear activities.
“The two leaders discussed cooperation between the United States and Israel in advancing shared national security interests, including efforts to prevent Iran’s malign actions in the region,” White House Spokesman Judd Deere said on Thursday.
Netanyahu’s office said the leaders discussed Trump’s latest warning – issued by tweet on Wednesday – to further tighten sanctions.
“The prime minister expressed his appreciation for the president’s intention of increasing the sanctions against Iran,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

Commercial manufacturing of autonomous cars for the private market will need to wait until autonomous taxis are widespread and entrenched as an industry, Mobileye CEO Amnon Shashua stated Thursday in an article posted to Intel’s website. His words differ from statements made a few years ago by autonomous vehicle developers, Mobileye among them, who predicted such cars will reach the private market by the beginning of the next decade.
Today, a large part of the car industry understands that those phases — robotaxis and private autonomous cars — cannot progress simultaneously, Shashua said.

Amazon, the retail and tech giant with 275,000 full-time U.S. employees, will retrain a third of its domestic workforce to get ahead of technological changes that could overhaul warehouses, retail stores, transportation networks and corporate offices alike.
The company on Thursday announced the $700 million initiative that will cover 100,000 workers by 2025. The program will build on existing training programs and add workshops that can help employees move up within the company. The training is not mandatory but marks a corporate emphasis on building skills for current workers, even if that means teaching them tools that apply beyond current day-to-day roles.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to a record high on Thursday after testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell hinted that the central bank will cut interest rates later this month.
The 30-stock average rallied above 27,000 for the first time before trading shortly below that level. The Dow was up 0.5 percent just before 10 a.m. Thursday.
The Dow’s record-breaking rally comes one day after the S&P 500 broke 3,000 for the first time Wednesday morning.
Read more at The Hill.
{Matzav.com}