MagNewsUS

Japan mass grave 1800s, Thousands of bodies found in mass grave. Archaeologists have dug up the remains of more than 1,500 people, many of them believed to have died in an epidemic, buried in a 19th century mass grave in Osaka, Japan. Officials at the Osaka City Cultural Properties Association studying the remains said they believe the remains were of young people who died in the late 1800s. The Umeda Grave, one of seven historical burial sites in Japan’s bustling merchant city of Osaka, was unearthed as part of a redevelopment project near a main train station. The more than 1,500 remains were found during the latest round of excavation that started in September 2019, following an earlier 2016-2017 study that dug up hundreds of similar remains at adjacent locations, according to Yoji Hirata, an official at the association. As in the earlier excavation, the remains of some of the people showed lesions on their limbs, suggesting they fell victim to an epidemic in the region. All the rem

 Kayaker message in a bottle 1985 floating in a Delaware river. A kayaker who discovered a message in a bottle floating in a Delaware river was able to reunite the letter with the woman who wrote it 35 years ago. Brad Wachsmuth thought the bottle bobbing in the water about 2 miles (3 kilometers) offshore of the Broadkill River was a piece of trash when he spotted it Aug. 8, just a few days after Tropical Storm Isaias swept through the area, WBOC-TV reported. “As we usually do as kayakers, we try to pick up trash out of the water when we can," he told the station this week. But Wachsmuth's friend noticed there was something inside, and the two fished out the letter written by Cathi Riddle and her cousin, Stacey Wells, dated 35 years ago — Aug. 1, 1985. It described their family pets and asked potential future readers if they had any of their own, among other childhood musings. Wachsmuth brought the letter to the Milton Historical Society and a curator reached out to family

 Hong Kong new distancing rules as cases drop. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn on Tuesday apologized for overstating the life-saving benefits of treating COVID-19 patients with convalescent plasma. Scientists and medical experts have been pushing back against the claims about the treatment since President Donald Trump’s announcement on Sunday that the FDA had decided to issue emergency authorization for convalescent plasma, taken from patients who have recovered from the coronavirus and rich in antibodies. Trump hailed the decision as a historic breakthrough even though the value of the treatment has not been established. Hahn had echoed Trump in saying that 35 more people out of 100 would survive the coronavirus if they were treated with the plasma. That claim vastly overstated preliminary findings of Mayo Clinic observation. Convalescent plasma is a century-old approach to treating the flu, measles and other viruses. But the evidence so far has not been co

 Melania Trump Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, Disparaging Remarks. 'Tis the summer of the Trump tell-all. This July, it was President Trump's niece  Mary Trump with her book   Too Much and Never Enough . Now reports have bubbled up about  Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady , the debut book by Melania Trump's former friend  Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, out September 1st. Journalist Yashar Ali  recently reported  that, according to two sources, Wolkoff taped the First Lady “making disparaging remarks” about President Trump and his adult children. Wolkoff plans to publish the comments in her upcoming book. "It’s unclear what exactly Wolkoff is alleging that the first lady said about the president and his adult children," Ali reports, "but two sources familiar with the contents of  Melania and Me  confirmed that she reveals the details in her book, including harsh comments about Ivanka Trump, the president’s elder daughter and a

 Boris Johnson Humphry Wakefield,  Johnson plans to quit as PM in six months. Downing Street has been forced to deny a claim that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is planning to quit the top job in six months time due to his health. The source of the claim? None other than the father-in-law of Johnson’s senior strategist, Dominic Cummings. His wife’s father is Sir Humphry Wakefield of Chillingham Castle in Northumberland (near Bamburgh), and he is said to have told a holidaymaker who visited the castle that the PM is still suffering from the long-term effects of Covid-19. The octogenarian baronet, whose daughter Mary Wakefield is Commissioning Editor at the  Spectator  magazine, likened the premier to a horse that is made to work while injured, according to the  Times Diary . ‘If you put a horse back to work when it’s injured it will never recover,’ it reported him as saying. Number 10 have dismissed the claim as ‘total nonsense’. The claim isn’t total rubbish since many of those who

 Pedro Sanchez lockdown, Spanish PM Rejects New Lockdown Amid Surge in Virus Cases. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has rejected a new national lockdown, putting pressure instead on regional authorities to come up with a response as the nation re-emerges as the epicentre of  the coronavirus pandemic in Europe. "The evolution is not good, it is worrying especially in some regions and we need to tackle it," Mr Sanchez said on Tuesday (Aug 25) at a news conference after a Cabinet meeting in Madrid. The central government will provide whatever support the regions need and they will be authorised to declare a local state of emergency if necessary, he said. "We need to take control, we need to flatten this second curve that is now rising in a threatening way," he added. The comments were the first the beleaguered Premier has made in public since Aug 4. His absence fostered the impression that the government was rudderless at a time when coronavirus infection rates we

 AstraZeneca COVID-19 antibody trial, intended to prevent and treat COVID-19.  ( 0 ) Drugmaker AstraZeneca said the new trial, which will involve dozens of healthy participants in Britain, is funded by the U.S. departments of Defense and Health and Human Services. File Photo by Drago Prvulovic/EPA Aug. 25 (UPI) --  Multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca announced Tuesday that it has started a clinical trial for an antibody therapy intended to prevent and treat  COVID-19 . The company said the experimental drug, AZD7442, combines of two monoclonal antibodies derived from convalescent patients with COVID-19, the company  said  in a statement. The antibodies were discovered by scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and licensed to AstraZeneca in June. Pre-clinical studies showed they can block the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 from binding to host cells, protecting against infection in cell and animal models of disease. The trial, which will involve doz

 Fauci vaccine approval, that had not completed clinical trials. Anthony Fauci , the nation's top infectious disease expert, is warning against prematurely distributing a potential coronavirus vaccine through an emergency use authorization, saying it could negatively harm the testing for other vaccines.  “The one thing that you would not want to see with a vaccine is getting an EUA [emergency use authorization] before you have a signal of efficacy,” Fauci, a key member of the White House coronavirus task force,  said in an interview with Reuters .  He added that “one of the potential dangers if you prematurely let a vaccine out is that it would make it difficult, if not impossible, for the other vaccines to enroll people in their trial." More than 100 possible vaccines to fight off the coronavirus are being developed around the world. Drug manufactures including Moderna, AstraZeneca and Pfizer have all developed candidates that are now in phase 3 clinical trials. The Mary

 Jerry Falwell Jr. resignation from his role as president of Liberty University. Jerry Falwell Jr. has resigned from his role as president of Liberty University after 13 turbulent years at the helm of the prominent evangelical Christian school, he told the  Wall Street Journal  late Monday. It follows a day of back-and-forth after Liberty University released a statement that said Falwell had offered his resignation and then withdrawn it. "On the first day of classes of Liberty University’s fall term, Jerry Falwell, Jr., agreed to resign as its President and from its Board of Directors but following media reports about the resignation, withdrew it," the statement said. However, the Wall Street Journal reported that Falwell confirmed in a phone call with a journalist that he had indeed sent his resignation letter. "The board put me on leave, took away my duties as prez, and that's not permitted by my contract," the Wall Street Journal reported Mr Falwell said. &qu

 Brenton Tarrant victims, New Zealand mosque shooting victim tells gunman. The moment was a rare display of emotion at his sentencing, despite hearing dozens of harrowing victim impact statements over the last two days, which outlined the horrifying impact of his attacks.  Tarrant, 29, is being sentenced on 51 charges of murder, 40 charges of attempted murder, and one terror charge, following hateful massacres at Christchurch’s Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre in March 2019. Muslim convert Nathan Smith was telling the court how he had survived the shooting to find himself in the midst of horror, with fellow worshipers dying all around him, while they waited for ambulances. “When you get a free minute, which you will have plenty of,” he said, before pausing momentarily due to a reaction from Tarrant.

 KFC Finger Lickin' Good, because of the coronavirus pandemic. Global fast food giant KFC says it is halting its "Finger Lickin' Good" slogan given the current hygiene advice because of the coronavirus pandemic. "We find ourselves in a unique situation - having an iconic slogan that doesn't quite fit in the current environment," the company said. It has altered its packaging with the phrase obscured but KFC said the phrase would return when the time was right. KFC outlets closed temporarily in March, but most have now reopened. The company revealed its new look through a YouTube video, showing the slogan pixelated on posters and its food "buckets", saying: "That thing we always say? Ignore it. For now." Some people commented on social media the slogan was not a health hazard as you were already eating with your own hands. But the finger-lickin' message has caused concern since the pandemic began. In March, the Advertising Standard

  Facebook Thailand block access to group critical of monarchy. Facebook has blocked access in Thailand to a million-member group discussing the monarchy, after the Thai government threatened legal action. The firm told the BBC it was preparing its own legal action to respond to the pressure from Bangkok. Thailand is seeing a wave of anti-government protests which have included unprecedented calls for reforms to the monarchy. Criticism of the monarchy is illegal in Thailand. Access from within Thailand to the "Royalist Marketplace" group was blocked on Monday evening. The page can still be accessed from outside the country. The group has more than one million members, "pointing to its massive popularity," group admin Pavin Chachavalpongpun told the BBC. Mr Chachavalpongpun said the group "provides a platform for serious discussion on the monarchy and it allows Thais to express their views freely about the monarchy, from the political intervention of the mo

  Kim Yo Jong OGD, sister may have taken over a key North Korean post. Kim Jong Un's sister  Kim Yo Jong  is effectively running one of the most important political bodies in  North Korea , officials in Seoul believe, according to South Korea's defense minister. The development, if true, likely further cements her status as the secretive country's second-most powerful figure. Speaking to lawmakers in the National Assembly on Tuesday, Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo said Kim Yo Jong is likely now in charge of the Organization and Guidance Department (OGD) of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party (WPK), the party body that deals with ideological indoctrination, party organization and political appointments. Experts say the OGD is also responsible for monitoring the estimated 3 million members of the WPK to make sure they are sufficiently loyal to Kim Jong Un and respect the teachings of the North Korean regime. Kim Yo Jong has for years been a trusted aide and co

   Jacob Blake Paralyzed From Waist Down After Being Shot (Details). Quoting Jacob Blake's father, also named Jacob Blake, the Chicago Sun-Times is  reporting that his son has been paralyzed from the waist down  after taking several shots to his back at the hands of a Kenosha police officer. The elder Blake said doctors did not know if the injury is permanent.  “I want to put my hand on my son’s cheek and kiss him on his forehead, and then I’ll be OK,” Blake's father said. “I’ll kiss him with my mask. The first thing I want to do is touch my son.” This story will be updated.

  Solar plane jump free fall, successfully in western Switzerland. SolarStratos took off from the aerodrome in Payerne at 7:40am on Tuesday with two people on board: test pilot Miguel Iturmendi and co-pilot Raphaël Domjan. Shortly afterwards, Domjan jumped from the aircraft when it reached an altitude of around 1,538 metres and cruising speed of almost 100km/h.   Domjan was able to open his parachute in time and navigate it to the Payerne aerodrome. He was welcomed by Swiss adventurer and friend Bertrand Piccard, who had circumnavigated the globe in the solar airplane Solar Impulse in 2016.  Two world records were set: the first jump in history from an electric aircraft exclusively charged with solar energy and the first solar free fall. 

 Jim Bakker PPP loan, during legal fight on fraud claims. When the U.S. government extended pandemic hardship loans to thousands of religious institutions, Jim Bakker and Morningside USA, his ministry in Blue Eye, Missouri, were among the most high-profile recipients. On April 28, the pastor received approval for an amount between $650,000 and $1.7 million in Paycheck Protection Program funds. Weeks before, the Missouri attorney general filed a complaint, the New York attorney general sent a cease-and-desist warning and the Federal Drug Administration and Federal Trade Commission sent warning letters alleging Bakker engaged in deceptive practices by touting purported  health  benefits of a silver product on The Jim Bakker Show — including a suggestion it could be used to treat or prevent COVID-19 infection, something the FDA says is false. In June, the Arkansas attorney general's office followed with its own lawsuit. Applicants seeking PPP loans were asked to certify they were

 Scott Peterson death penalty, ordered a new penalty phase trial. More than 15 years after the Christmas Eve murder of pregnant Modesto schoolteacher Laci Peterson grabbed national headlines, the California Supreme Court tossed out the death sentence of her husband, Scott Peterson, and ordered a new penalty phase trial. The court decision leaves the murder conviction in place. However, the court said prosecutors may try again for a death sentence if they wish in the high-profile case at a new penalty phase trial. “Peterson contends his trial was flawed for multiple reasons, beginning with the unusual amount of pretrial publicity that surrounded the case. We reject Peterson’s claim that he received an unfair trial as to guilt and thus affirm his convictions for murder,” the court said. But it said the trial judge “made a series of clear and significant errors in jury selection that, under long-standing United States Supreme Court precedent, undermined Peterson’s right to an impartial ju