USA - There has always been some suspicion that pharmaceutical companies would rather keep people sick and on drugs than cure them... with the industry bringing in over $453 billion in the United States alone in 2017, many people have a hard time considering that these companies don’t have their customers’ best interest at heart. The idea that these companies would want to keep us sick is dismissed by many as a “conspiracy theory,” but let’s not forget that these companies and their high-level investors are here to sell drugs, not save lives. Goldman Sachs analyst Richter estimated the market size for gene therapies could be as large as $4.8 trillion... However, he has some concerns about how the ability to cure diseases could negatively impact the industry’s bottom line.

NORTH KOREA - Kim Jong-un has pledged a "new history" in relations with his neighbour as he became the first North Korean leader to set foot in South Korea since the end of the Korean War in 1953. In a moment rich with symbolism and pomp, South Korean leader Moon Jae-in and Mr Kim shook hands at the border. Mr Kim said it was the "starting point" for peace, after crossing the military line that divides the peninsula. It comes just months after warlike rhetoric from North Korea. Much of what the summit will focus on has been agreed in advance, but many analysts remain sceptical about the North's apparent enthusiasm for engagement. The meeting - the first between Korean leaders in more than a decade - is seen as a step toward possible peace on the peninsula and marks the first summit of its kind for Mr Kim.

NORTH KOREA - Chinese scientists have concluded that North Korea's nuclear test site has partially collapsed, potentially rendering it unusable. The test site at Punggye-ri has been used for six nuclear tests since 2006. After the last, in September, a series of aftershocks hit the site, which seismologists believe collapsed part of the mountain's interior. It concluded that eight and a half minutes after September's test, there was "a near-vertical on-site collapse towards the nuclear test centre". On Saturday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced he was suspending his country's nuclear and missile tests. The surprise declaration came ahead of historic talks with South Korea and the US.

USA - The US media has taken a negative view of the possibility of peace on the Korean Peninsula - afraid perhaps, of what the US government also fears, that Seoul will conclude that “the problem is not the North Koreans; the problem is the United States,“ journalist Steve Gowans told Radio Sputnik’s Loud & Clear. "I think there's a fear that the South Koreans could drift into the Chinese orbit and out of the US orbit," Gowans said. "The South Koreans may agree to what the United States doesn't want and the US media doesn't want under any circumstances and that's the withdrawal of US troops from the peninsula," Gowans said.

USA - The US Secretary of War James Mattis is prepared to lead the US military into war with Russia based on nothing more than his belief that the Syrian government used chlorine gas against civilians, while admitting there’s no evidence that this is what happened. Syria would not, within a few hours of its liberation of the Syrian people of Douma, have used chemical weapons against the civilian population for which its soldiers were dying in order to liberate. I remember when a person who claimed to believe something for which there was no evidence was either a religious fanatic or an ideologue. No serious person would express a conviction when there was no evidence to support it. This raises questions as to Mattis’ fitness for office. He is prepared to lead the US into war with Russia based on nothing but his belief. This is insanity.

USA - How much money is in your checking account? Here’s why it matters — and what it might say about you. Markets are experiencing another period of volatility this week, and new research suggests checking account customers are doing something that indicates they don’t feel as secure as they would like about the economy. They’re not feeling as safe as some economists would have expected. “The consumer ...keeps warehousing more checking dollars,” said Michael Moebs, economist and Chief Executive of Moebs Services. “The average Joe and Jane still are very leery of the economy.”

USA - On April 11, 2018, AE911Truth added a new piece to our library of technical articles titled, “Documenting the Destruction of Physical Evidence at the World Trade Center.” The purpose of publishing the article on that date was to provide well-sourced information supporting the claim that New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s role in destroying the WTC evidence was “well-documented” — a claim we made in an accompanying news article, “Lawyers and Victims’ Families File Petition for Federal Grand Jury Investigation,” on the same day.

RUSSIA – Russia and China have pledged to strengthen their bilateral military and political ties as part of a strategic cooperation that challenges US interests, especially to Washington's stance on Middle East allies Syria and Iran.

USA - President Donald Trump did not restrain giving his opinion about the “terrible” Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, warning Iran against restarting its nuclear program. “You’ll find out about that. It won’t be so easy for them to restart. They’re not going to be restarting anything. They restart it, they’re going to have big problems, bigger than they’ve ever had before,” Trump said during his meeting with Macron at the White House. The Iranians warned that if the United States withdrew from the deal, they would restart their efforts to develop nuclear weapons. Trump repeated that the deal reached under the Obama administration was a “terrible deal.” “It’s insane. It’s ridiculous,” Trump said when reporters asked about the deal. “It should never have been made, but we will be talking about it.”

GERMANY - Germany’s solar industry has crashed and burned after the government drastically cut its subsidies. In 2012 over 7000 megawatts of new solar capacity were added. But in 2012 the boom ended abruptly as new laws on feed-in rates were enacted in order to keep the solar energy supply from going out of control. In 2017, only 600 megawatts of new capacity were expected to be added. That’s a 90% drop!

USA - Massachusetts courts have had a bad year. A Massachusetts lab technician, Sonja Farak, came to work high every day for 8 years. Well technically, sometimes she arrived sober but was soon high as a kite. She worked in a lab that tested drugs confiscated from arrested suspects. Of course, she wasn’t supposed to personally test the drugs… that was what the lab equipment was for. In 2014 Farak was sentenced to 18 months in prison and was released in 2015. It took another three years for the courts to toss 11,000 convictions tainted by the worker. That is right, the people that Farak helped wrongly convict stayed in prison for another three years after Sonja Farak was released.

USA - Have you heard? Cleaning is a life-saving form of exercise, but using cleaning sprays has the same effect on lungs as smoking 20 cigarettes a day. Household cleaners are also known to decrease reproduction in mice studies. But what you may not know is that the most ubiquitous counter cleaner has over a hundred unlisted ingredients, many of which are toxic or carcinogenic! The fact that it is sold in every grocery store and has only a few ingredients listed on the container lulls the public into thinking it is safe. Comet Disinfectant Powder Cleanser, which emitted 146 contaminants when used as directed, including formaldehyde, benzene, chloroform and four other chemicals identified by the state of California as causing cancer or reproductive harm.

USA - A Broward County Sheriff Deputy who dared to question the official narrative around the Parkland shooting has been found dead under suspicious circumstances. On April 1, Jason Fitzsimon was found dead on his sofa. According to police, the 42-year-old had been in excellent health prior to his untimely death.

FRANCE - Emmanuel Macron has called for a “new deal” with Iran after Donald Trump criticised the current nuclear agreement as “insane” and “ridiculous”. The French president said the deal should cover Iran’s ballistic missiles activity and involvement in the Middle East, including Syria, as well as nuclear issues. The comments will not calm EU fears that Mr Trump is preparing to rip up the existing Iran deal when it is up for renewal on May 12.  That agreement was secured by Barack Obama, his predecessor, and waives economic sanctions in turn from Iran not pursuing its nuclear programme.  Convincing Mr Trump to stick by the deal was one of Mr Macron’s stated goals for his three-day state visit to America, with the French leader initially saying there was no “Plan B”. 

CHINA - Military personnel around the world have been put on high alert after China revealed a second ocean aircraft carrier which has been sent out for testing. The revelation means China will have two fully functioning aircraft carriers capable of projecting firepower well beyond their borders in case of all out war. China now has two aircraft carriers in its fleet following the launch of the Liaoning in 2012. However, two more are on the way, according to state reports, which has caused the likes of the US, South Korea and Japan to be placed on full alert.