June 26th 2023
Joe Biden Protesteth Too Much
Biden always looks shifty, never more so than today when insisting the U.S…had nothing to do with the Wagner mutiny. The FSB know this. Yevgeny Prigozhin will be undergoing severe questioning. The Anglo U.S NATO will moralise but it is nothing they wouldn’t do. Look what has happened to Julian Assange for simply publishing western war crimes. NATO set Russia up and are at war with Russia in order to drag it down to their common level and get back on the same path of ruin and exploitation they began with puppet Yeltsin. They are habitual liars obsessed with secrecy, wealth and power. Democracy , equality and diversity are their favourite lies.
R J Cook
UK carried out ‘routine operation’ over Black Sea near Russian border
A little earlier we heard reports from the Russian defence ministry that two of its fighter jets had intercepted three British warplanes that approached its border above the Black SeaJ.
The “foreign warplanes” turned around and distanced themselves from the Russian border after the Russian fighter jets approached, the ministry said in a statement.
It added: “The Russian planes safely returned to their airfield. There was no violation of the Russian border.”
The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed this, saying an RAF RC-135W Rivet Joint aircraft and its two Typhoon escorts were carrying out a “routine operation in international airspace over the Black Sea”.
“The RAF and Russian aircraft and their crews operated in a safe and professional manner throughout,” the MoD said.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-66006142
June 17th 2023
What are the most pressing world problems?
Published August 2018 · Last updated May 24th, 2023
We aim to list issues where each additional person can have the most positive impact. So we focus on problems that others neglect, which are solvable, and which are unusually big in scale, often because they could affect many future generations — such as existential risks. This makes our list different from those you might find elsewhere.
It’s also a constant work in progress, doubtless incomplete and mistaken in some ways, and may not align with your worldview — so we also provide a guide to making your own list. To learn why we listed a specific issue and how you can help tackle it, click the profiles below and see our FAQ below.
Get notified when we add new problems to these lists.
Join over 150,000 people who get our newsletter — you’ll receive updates twice a month on our latest research into the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them.
Our list of the most pressing world problems
These areas are ranked roughly by our guess at the expected impact of an additional person working on them, assuming your ability to contribute to solving each is similar (though there’s a lot of variation in the impact of work within each issue as well).
- 1. Risks from artificial intelligenceThe development of AI is likely to greatly influence the course we take as a society. We think that if it goes badly, however, it could pose an existential threat.Read more
- 2. Catastrophic pandemicsBiotechnological developments threaten to make much deadlier pandemics possible, due to accidental leaks or malicious use of engineered pathogens.Read more
- 3. Nuclear warNuclear weapons were the first genuine man-made existential threat. Despite some progress, we have not reduced the threat of nuclear war enough.Read more
- 4. Great power conflictWe haven’t yet fully reviewed this issue, but it seems like one of the biggest risk factors for existential catastrophe. We don’t yet know what individuals can do to help, but plan to investigate.Read more
- 5. Climate changeBeyond the suffering it’s already causing, worse climate change could increase existential risks from other causes and affect standards of living far into the future.Read more
We aim to list issues where each additional person can have the most positive impact. So we focus on problems that others neglect, which are solvable, and which are unusually big in scale, often because they could affect many future generations — such as existential risks. This makes our list different from those you might find elsewhere.
It’s also a constant work in progress, doubtless incomplete and mistaken in some ways, and may not align with your worldview — so we also provide a guide to making your own list. To learn why we listed a specific issue and how you can help tackle it, click the profiles below and see our FAQ below.
Get notified when we add new problems to these lists.
Join over 150,000 people who get our newsletter — you’ll receive updates twice a month on our latest research into the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them.
Our list of the most pressing world problems
These areas are ranked roughly by our guess at the expected impact of an additional person working on them, assuming your ability to contribute to solving each is similar (though there’s a lot of variation in the impact of work within each issue as well).
- 1. Risks from artificial intelligenceThe development of AI is likely to greatly influence the course we take as a society. We think that if it goes badly, however, it could pose an existential threat.Read more
- 2. Catastrophic pandemicsBiotechnological developments threaten to make much deadlier pandemics possible, due to accidental leaks or malicious use of engineered pathogens.Read more
- 3. Nuclear warNuclear weapons were the first genuine man-made existential threat. Despite some progress, we have not reduced the threat of nuclear war enough.Read more
- 4. Great power conflictWe haven’t yet fully reviewed this issue, but it seems like one of the biggest risk factors for existential catastrophe. We don’t yet know what individuals can do to help, but plan to investigate.Read more
- 5. Climate changeBeyond the suffering it’s already causing, worse climate change could increase existential risks from other causes and affect standards of living far into the future.Read more
Building capacity to solve problems
We also prioritise issues that enable others to have a greater impact regardless of which issues turn out to be most pressing, through building community and infrastructure, research, and better decision making.
- Building effective altruismWe are part of effective altruism, so we might be biased — but we think growing and improving this network of people working on solving the world’s most pressing problems is one way to do a lot of good.Read more
- Global priorities researchRigorously investigating how to prioritise global problems and best address them will make the efforts of people aiming to do good more effective.Read more
- Improving decision making (especially in important institutions)Can the decision-making processes of the most powerful institutions be improved to make important decisions better in a range of areas?Read more
We think all these issues present many opportunities to have a big positive impact. If you want to help tackle them, check out our page on high-impact careers.
Similarly pressing but less developed areas
We’d be equally excited to see some of our readers (say, 10–20%) pursue some of the issues below — both because you could do a lot of good, and because many of them are especially neglected or under-explored, so you might discover they are even more pressing than the issues in our top list.
There are fewer high-impact opportunities working on these issues — so you need to have especially good personal fit and be more entrepreneurial to make progress.
Civilisation resilienceIf we make it more likely that the world’s population could eventually recover from a catastrophic collapse, we could save the possibility of a flourishing future even if a catastrophe does occur.Read more
‘S-risks’Worse than extinction would be a long future of great suffering. The study of these suffering risks (‘s-risks’) aims to specifically minimise the chance of a terrible outcome.Read more
Artificial sentienceWe may soon create machines capable of experiencing happiness and suffering, whose wellbeing will matter just like our own. But our understanding of consciousness is so incomplete, we might not even realise when this becomes possible.Read more
Promoting positive valuesIf we could effectively spread positive values — like (we think!) caring about the wellbeing of all sentient beings impartially — that could be one of the broadest ways to help with a range of problems.Read more
Risks of stable totalitarianismIf a totalitarian regime ever becomes technologically advanced enough and gains enough global control, might it persist more or less indefinitely?Read more
Space governanceEven as investment in space increases, we have very little plan for how nations, companies, and individuals will interact fairly and peacefully there.Read more
Improving incentives and governance for global public goodsThere are many ‘public goods’ problems, where no one is incentivised to do what would be best for everyone. Can we design mechanisms and institutions to mitigate this issue?Read more
Risks from atomically precise manufacturingThe ability to manipulate the creation of molecules would plausibly have large impacts and could be crucial in many of the worst — and best — case scenarios for advanced AI.Read more
Risks from malevolent actorsSome of the worst possible futures might be less likely if we better understood why some people intentionally cause great harm (and how that harm could be limited).Read more
Improving individual reasoning and cognitionThe world’s most pressing problems pose immense intellectual challenges. Better reasoning by researchers and decision-makers could give us a better shot at solving them.Read more
More world problems we think are important and underinvested in
We’d also love to see more people working on the following issues, even though given our worldview and our understanding of the individual issues, we’d guess many of our readers could do even more good by focusing on the problems listed above.
Problems many of our readers prioritise
Factory farming and global health are common focuses in the effective altruism community. These are important issues on which we could make a lot more progress.
Factory farmingEvery year, billions of animals suffer on factory farms, where standards of humane treatment generally range from low to nonexistent.Read more
Easily preventable or treatable illnessPreventable diseases like malaria kill hundreds of thousands of people each year. We can improve global healthcare and reduce extreme poverty with more funding and more effective organisations.Read more
Other underrated issues
There are many more issues we think society at large doesn’t prioritise enough, where more initiatives could have a substantial positive impact. But they seem either less neglected and tractable than factory farming or global health, or the expected scale of the impact seems smaller.
Whole brain emulationDigitally running specific human brains — ‘mind uploading’ — might be a safer way to get some of the benefits of artificial intelligence, but might also pose its own risks.Read more
Wild animal sufferingThere is an unfathomable number of wild animals. If many of them suffer in their daily lives and if we can find a (safe) way to help them, that would do a lot of good.Read more
Safeguarding liberal democracyLiberal democracies seem more conducive to innovation, freedom, and possibly peace. There’s a lot of effort already going into this area, but there may be some ways to add more value.Read more
Immigration restrictionsKeeping people from moving to where they would have better lives and careers can have big negative humanitarian, intellectual, cultural, and economic effects.Read more
Spread of false ideas on social mediaThe algorithms that social media companies employ to curate content may be contributing to harmful instability and erosion of trust in many societies.Read more
Science policy and infrastructureIncentives shaped by universities and journals affect scientific progress. Can we improve them, e.g. to speed up development of beneficial technologies (and limit the proliferation of risky ones)?Read more
High-leverage ways to speed up economic growthFaster economic growth could improve global standards of living and cooperation, and might help future generations flourish.Read more
Mental healthDepression, anxiety, and other conditions directly affect people’s wellbeing. Finding effective and scalable ways to improve mental health worldwide could deliver large benefits.Read more
Frequently asked questions
The recording may not reflect the most recent changes to this article.
What are these lists based on?
Why did you make this page?
Why don’t you list more familiar global issues?
Isn’t it inappropriate to rank different issues?
Should I just take your word for it that these are the most pressing problems in the world?
How do you think your list is most likely to be wrong?
Why do you have a list if you don’t think it’s right?
Do you think everyone should work on your top list of world problems?
I want to help tackle one of these global issues. What should I do?
I’m not motivated to work on any of these issues. What should I do?
My values are pretty different — how can I figure out my own list of world problems?
How do I figure out which world problem is the best fit for me to work on?
New to 80,000 Hours? Take a look at our career guide.
Our career guide is based on 10+ years of research alongside academics at Oxford. It aims to teach you how to find a fulfilling career that does good.
It’s full of practical tips and exercises. At the end, you’ll have a draft of your new career plan.
Enter your email and we’ll mail you a book (for free).
Join our newsletter and we’ll send you a free copy of The Precipice — a book by philosopher Toby Ord about how to tackle the greatest threats facing humanity.
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Our research
- Start here
- Career guide
- List of world problems
- List of careers
- Advanced series
- New releases
- All our research
Take action
Follow us
About us
80,000 Hours is a project of the Effective Ventures group, the umbrella term for Effective Ventures Foundation (England and Wales registered charity number 1149828 and registered company number 07962181, and also a Netherlands registered tax-deductible entity ANBI 825776867) and Effective Ventures Foundation USA, Inc. (a section 501(c)(3) public charity in the USA, EIN 47-1988398).
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© 2023 – all rights reserved. Please contact us if you wish to redistribute, translate, or adapt this work.
Building capacity to solve problems
We also prioritise issues that enable others to have a greater impact regardless of which issues turn out to be most pressing, through building community and infrastructure, research, and better decision making.
- Building effective altruismWe are part of effective altruism, so we might be biased — but we think growing and improving this network of people working on solving the world’s most pressing problems is one way to do a lot of good.Read more
- Global priorities researchRigorously investigating how to prioritise global problems and best address them will make the efforts of people aiming to do good more effective.Read more
- Improving decision making (especially in important institutions)Can the decision-making processes of the most powerful institutions be improved to make important decisions better in a range of areas?Read more
We think all these issues present many opportunities to have a big positive impact. If you want to help tackle them, check out our page on high-impact careers.
Similarly pressing but less developed areas
We’d be equally excited to see some of our readers (say, 10–20%) pursue some of the issues below — both because you could do a lot of good, and because many of them are especially neglected or under-explored, so you might discover they are even more pressing than the issues in our top list.
There are fewer high-impact opportunities working on these issues — so you need to have especially good personal fit and be more entrepreneurial to make progress.
- Civilisation resilienceIf we make it more likely that the world’s population could eventually recover from a catastrophic collapse, we could save the possibility of a flourishing future even if a catastrophe does occur.Read more
- ‘S-risks’Worse than extinction would be a long future of great suffering. The study of these suffering risks (‘s-risks’) aims to specifically minimise the chance of a terrible outcome.Read more
- Artificial sentienceWe may soon create machines capable of experiencing happiness and suffering, whose wellbeing will matter just like our own. But our understanding of consciousness is so incomplete, we might not even realise when this becomes possible.Read more
- Promoting positive valuesIf we could effectively spread positive values — like (we think!) caring about the wellbeing of all sentient beings impartially — that could be one of the broadest ways to help with a range of problems.Read more
- Risks of stable totalitarianismIf a totalitarian regime ever becomes technologically advanced enough and gains enough global control, might it persist more or less indefinitely?Read more
- Space governanceEven as investment in space increases, we have very little plan for how nations, companies, and individuals will interact fairly and peacefully there.Read more
- Improving incentives and governance for global public goodsThere are many ‘public goods’ problems, where no one is incentivised to do what would be best for everyone. Can we design mechanisms and institutions to mitigate this issue?Read more
- Risks from atomically precise manufacturingThe ability to manipulate the creation of molecules would plausibly have large impacts and could be crucial in many of the worst — and best — case scenarios for advanced AI.Read more
- Risks from malevolent actorsSome of the worst possible futures might be less likely if we better understood why some people intentionally cause great harm (and how that harm could be limited).Read more
- Improving individual reasoning and cognitionThe world’s most pressing problems pose immense intellectual challenges. Better reasoning by researchers and decision-makers could give us a better shot at solving them.Read more
More world problems we think are important and underinvested in
We’d also love to see more people working on the following issues, even though given our worldview and our understanding of the individual issues, we’d guess many of our readers could do even more good by focusing on the problems listed above.
Problems many of our readers prioritise
Factory farming and global health are common focuses in the effective altruism community. These are important issues on which we could make a lot more progress.
- Factory farmingEvery year, billions of animals suffer on factory farms, where standards of humane treatment generally range from low to nonexistent.Read more
- Easily preventable or treatable illnessPreventable diseases like malaria kill hundreds of thousands of people each year. We can improve global healthcare and reduce extreme poverty with more funding and more effective organisations.Read more
Other underrated issues
There are many more issues we think society at large doesn’t prioritise enough, where more initiatives could have a substantial positive impact. But they seem either less neglected and tractable than factory farming or global health, or the expected scale of the impact seems smaller.
- Whole brain emulationDigitally running specific human brains — ‘mind uploading’ — might be a safer way to get some of the benefits of artificial intelligence, but might also pose its own risks.Read more
- Wild animal sufferingThere is an unfathomable number of wild animals. If many of them suffer in their daily lives and if we can find a (safe) way to help them, that would do a lot of good.Read more
- Safeguarding liberal democracyLiberal democracies seem more conducive to innovation, freedom, and possibly peace. There’s a lot of effort already going into this area, but there may be some ways to add more value.Read more
- Immigration restrictionsKeeping people from moving to where they would have better lives and careers can have big negative humanitarian, intellectual, cultural, and economic effects.Read more
- Spread of false ideas on social mediaThe algorithms that social media companies employ to curate content may be contributing to harmful instability and erosion of trust in many societies.Read more
- Science policy and infrastructureIncentives shaped by universities and journals affect scientific progress. Can we improve them, e.g. to speed up development of beneficial technologies (and limit the proliferation of risky ones)?Read more
- High-leverage ways to speed up economic growthFaster economic growth could improve global standards of living and cooperation, and might help future generations flourish.Read more
- Mental healthDepression, anxiety, and other conditions directly affect people’s wellbeing. Finding effective and scalable ways to improve mental health worldwide could deliver large benefits.Read more
Frequently asked questions
The recording may not reflect the most recent changes to this article.
What are these lists based on?
Why did you make this page?
Why don’t you list more familiar global issues?
Isn’t it inappropriate to rank different issues?
Should I just take your word for it that these are the most pressing problems in the world?
How do you think your list is most likely to be wrong?
Why do you have a list if you don’t think it’s right?
Do you think everyone should work on your top list of world problems?
I want to help tackle one of these global issues. What should I do?
I’m not motivated to work on any of these issues. What should I do?
My values are pretty different — how can I figure out my own list of world problems?
How do I figure out which world problem is the best fit for me to work on?
New to 80,000 Hours? Take a look at our career guide.
Our career guide is based on 10+ years of research alongside academics at Oxford. It aims to teach you how to find a fulfilling career that does good.
It’s full of practical tips and exercises. At the end, you’ll have a draft of your new career plan.
Enter your email and we’ll mail you a book (for free).
Join our newsletter and we’ll send you a free copy of The Precipice — a book by philosopher Toby Ord about how to tackle the greatest threats facing humanity.
Join our newsletter
Get weekly updates on our research, plus jobs and other opportunities to get involved.
Get 1-1 advice
Want to tackle a pressing global problem with your career?
Our research
- Start here
- Career guide
- List of world problems
- List of careers
- Advanced series
- New releases
- All our research
Take action
Follow us
About us
80,000 Hours is a project of the Effective Ventures group, the umbrella term for Effective Ventures Foundation (England and Wales registered charity number 1149828 and registered company number 07962181, and also a Netherlands registered tax-deductible entity ANBI 825776867) and Effective Ventures Foundation USA, Inc. (a section 501(c)(3) public charity in the USA, EIN 47-1988398).
What Erdogan’s win means for the West — and the world
Turkey’s Erdogan ran on a nationalistic message. He just secured another presidential term.
By Jen Kirbyjen.kirby@vox.com May 28, 2023, 3:18pm EDT
Jen Kirby is a senior foreign and national security reporter at Vox, where she covers global instability.
In April, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan showed off Turkey’s first drone, tank, and helicopter carrier. It was a not-so-subtle message weeks before the Turkish elections: Turkey is flexing its power, its independence, and Erdoğan is the guy making it happen.
It turns out, Turkish voters seem to want some version of Erdoğan’s nationalism.
Erdoğan prevailed in a May 28 runoff against opposition candidate Kemal Kiliçdaroğlu, winning another presidential term, according to unofficial results from Anadolu, the state news agency. Erdoğan is ahead with 52.1 percent of the vote, and Kiliçdaroğlu trails behind with 47.9 percent, with most of the votes counted.
The outcome seemed almost inevitable after Erdoğan led in the first round of elections, despite a fairly united opposition that promised to restore Turkish democracy and repair ties with the West.
Of course, it wasn’t a completely fair fight. Erdoğan largely controls the media and state resources, and he exercised those levers ahead of the election. Erdoğan’s built-in advantage, with a side of election irregularities, almost guaranteed he’d win, and he did.
Erdoğan is set to become Turkey’s long-serving leader, and his reelection will have profound implications for Turkey — and the rest of the world. Erdoğan has tried to exert Turkish power in the region and beyond, pursuing a nonaligned and assertive foreign policy. He believes in a multipolar world, with Turkey as a power among others. He has reoriented Ankara away from — but not completely abandoned — the West, using his leverage tobalance Turkey’s relationships, but also to play competitors off each other in ways that benefit Turkey’s (and Erdoğan’s own) interests.
These are things like showing off Turkey’s military hardware, as Erdoğan seeks to build up the country’s homegrown defense industry as a sign of its global independence. Or things like launching an operation into northeastern Syria. Or things like picking fights with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), of which Turkey is a member, even if Erdoğan doesn’t always act like it. Or things like getting closer to Russian President Vladimir Putin, buying Russian weapons systems, and continuing to buy Russian oil after Moscow launched its war in Ukraine — even as he’s selling Kyiv battlefield drones.
“He wants to see the birth of the Turkish Empire, the belief that Turkey is destined to be a hegemon, regionally, but also a global power in [the] 21st century,” said Asli Aydintaşbaş, visiting fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution. “There is a bit of a new imperial sentiment, obviously, but he has convinced the Turkish public that this is the course Turkey should take.”
Erdoğan uses this nationalistic vision for his domestic political advantage. He did so before the election, and experts said, he is unlikely to reverse course now, even if his power is secure. For Erdoğan, said Sibel Oktay, associate professor of political science at the University of Illinois Springfield, “foreign policy is not just about prioritizing national security, but also ensuring that whatever you do at the foreign domain somehow strengthens your hands at the next election.”
Even if Erdoğan’s nationalism has shielded his popularity, the crises that came close to unseating him in this election are not dissipating, and are likely to get more destabilizing. Turkey’s economy is in shambles. Parts of the country are still recovering from a catastrophic earthquake earlier this year. Erdoğan has built the state around himself, dismantling democratic institutions and institutionalizing corruption and self-dealing.
Erdoğan will have to deal with these crises, even as he seeks to assert Turkey’s influence around the world. Tumult at home might force him to temper his ambitions — or it could fuel them, as he seeks success abroad to avoid what he cannot, or will not, fix at home.
“He’s just won a mandate from voters who have made it very clear that they support Erdoğan — despite everything that’s happened to the economy,” said Nicholas Danforth, editor at War on the Rocks and senior non-resident fellow at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy.
It is a very nationalist voter base, Danforth said, that “appears very willing to pay the economic price that they think — and that Erdoğan insists — is necessary to follow his foreign-policy vision.”
Erdoğan is probably not going to become a great ally all of a sudden
Erdoğan’s belief in a multipolar world means he doesn’t quite buy into the Western-led order. Turkey is a longstanding NATO member, but Erdoğan has tried to forge a more independent foreign policy, one that weens Ankara off its Washington dependence. In doing so, Erdoğan tapped into an anti-Westernism in Turkish society and supercharged it.
His hostility toward the United States, in particular, intensified after a 2016 coup attemptagainst him. Erdoğan blames Fethullah Gülen, a cleric who has lived in exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, for orchestrating the power grab. Erdoğan has insisted the US extradite Gülen, which it has not done, saying Turkey lacks evidence. (Gülen denies involvement.)
The rift has deepened from there. Turkey detained an American pastor on trumped up terrorism charges in 2016, which led to a lopsided trade spat until the pastor’s release two years later. In Syria, the United States partnered with Syrian Kurdish fighters to battle ISIS, which Erdoğan sees as an existential threat because of its ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Kurdish separatist group.
In 2017, Turkey brokered a deal with Russia to buy its S-400 surface-to-air missile defense system, which came amid warming ties between Ankara and Moscow. The United States warned Turkey that a NATO ally probably shouldn’t go off and buy Moscow-made military stuff, but Turkey did it anyway. The US imposed sanctions on Turkey and kicked it out of its fighter jet program.
Other issues have driven a wedge between Turkey and the West, but Erdoğan’s do-what-he-wants foreign policy has really been on display during the Ukraine war.
Turkey has not gone along with other NATO allies to sanction Russia, and has been scooping up cheap Russian oil. Most significantly, Turkey has held up Sweden’s NATO membership, over what Erdoğan claims are Stockholm’s lax policies toward the PKK and other groups that Turkey deems terrorist organizations. Erdoğan dropped objections to Finland joining the allianceearlier this year, but he hasn’t yet budged on Sweden, saying it needs to extradite dozens of so-called terrorists, though Stockholm claims it doesn’t even know who the people are. But it was a politically popular position, and something Erdoğan wanted to rally supporters around during elections.
NATO wants Sweden a full member by the time of its big summit in July, so Western officials are hoping that Erdoğan’s win will make him a little more amenable. But it seems very likely that the United States will probably have to sweeten the deal by allowing Turkey to buy F-16s again. The Biden administration has signaled it’s ready to let Turkey buy upgraded equipment, but it ultimately needs Congress’s approval.
Although, nothing is guaranteed with Erdoğan. As experts said, it’s not that Erdoğan wants to fully break with the West, he just wants to do things his way. “He sees this election as an opportunity for the West to reset relations with him, on his terms,” Danforth said.
Erdoğan isn’t alone in envisioning a more independent foreign policy in a more multipolar world. Other countries, like India or Brazil, are trying to maintain ties to Washington where it serves them, but seek strategic distance where it doesn’t. They have also sought balance between Russia and the West on the Ukraine war. The difference, though, is that Turkey is a NATO member, and the rest are not.
“[Erdoğan] is transactional, but not irrational,” Aydintaşbaş said. “Essentially, I think he’ll want a new bargain with the West, and the terms of that would be: accept me as I am, including what I do domestically, including what I do regionally. And then we can talk.”
The promise and peril of Erdoğan’s balancing act
Erdoğan is not irrational, which means he also understands something fundamental about Turkey’s NATO membership: it’s part of what gives him his clout. “Turkey’s power very much stems from the fact that it’s in NATO,” said Merve Tahiroğlu, Turkey program director at the Project on Middle East Democracy.
That power is partially about sway with other members within the alliance, of course, but also outside of it. Specifically, with Vladimir Putin. Turkey and Russia have deepened their cooperation in recent years. A lot of this is situational: they are dealing with each other more in places where they have competing interests, like in Syria and in Libya. Even as they are not always working toward the same aims, they have kept the lines of communication open.
Erdoğan has used his relationship with Moscow to try to play both sides — not fully befriending Russia, but playing footsie enough to irk the West (a tension that also serves Russia interests).
How successful Erdoğan has been at pulling off this balancing act probably depends on the eye of the beholder. For his supporters, this is Erdoğan exerting his influence in that multipolar world he envisions. For his critics, he’s a wishy-washy partner whom few fully trust.
Ukraine is also an example of how Erdoğan has attempted to play all sides.
When it comes to Russia, Turkey has tried to distinguish itself from much of the rest of the NATO alliance. “We are not at a point where we would impose sanctions on Russia like the West have done. We are not bound by the West’s sanctions,” Erdoğan told CNN recently. “We are a strong state and we have a positive relationship with Russia.” Turkey continues to welcome Russian businesses, also a small lifeline for Turkey’s struggling economy.
At the same time, Erdoğan has kept communication open with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and has repeatedly recognized Ukraine’s territorial integrity, including since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. Turkey has sold Ukraine military hardware; the Ukraine battlefields have become a showcase for the Turkish-made Bayraktar drones. Erdoğan also helped broker the UN-backed Black Sea grain deal, which has allowed for the transport of Ukrainian grain out of otherwise blockaded ports.
All of that puts Turkey in a pretty unique position, especially when Kyiv and Moscow get to the point of wanting or needing to talk. “Turkey has a real chance, and Erdoğan specifically, has a real chance and willingness to broker this,” Oktay said.
At the same time, Erdoğan is sort of sitting on the sidelines, rather than trying to influence events. “I think from the Western perspective, having Turkey act as a reliable ally, putting more pressure on Moscow to end the war sooner, would be a more valuable contribution than having itself available as a moderator,” Danforth said.
This is the good and the bad of Erdoğan’s balancing act: it really is all about Turkey. That brings Turkey prominence, but it also risksoverestimating how much he can actually influence global events.
Still, Ukraine could potentially be his chance to leave that historical mark, if he wants it. “I think Erdoğan might think of this as his opportunity, as his sort of crowning achievement in his last term, and making him a historic figure in international relations,” Oktay said of Ukraine. “He’s already become a historic figure for Turkish politics.”
The world Erdoğan wants to create — and what’s standing in his way
The Erdoğan who went into these elections is the Erdoğan who will emerge from them. And, as experts said, he may use his victory to try to make a more lasting change in Turkey’s international posture. “Turkey of today is a Turkey that thinks of itself as a pole in itself, as a country that should negotiate between different power centers in a multipolar world,” Aydintaşbaş said.
Or as Tahiroğlu put it: “His foreign policy vision is entirely about making Turkey great again.”
The question, really, is whether Erdoğan can execute this vision, and what that might actually mean for Turkey. Erdoğan will have real challenges after this election. The economy is on the verge of crashing, and he did it no favors by doing things like pumping money into the economy ahead of the elections. This means real pain for ordinary Turks, including those who reelected him. Erdoğan’s weak economic stance may give the US and Europe — a key trading partner — a little bit more leverage over him, too.
And though Erdoğan won, the fact that this election went to a runoff shows that many Turks are disillusioned with his reign. That sentiment isn’t going anywhere, and that opposition could get stronger as Turkey faces economic turmoil. Those realities may hamper his ambitions, regionally and globally.
That does not mean Erdoğan’s influence will fade entirely. He did to Turkey’s foreign policy what he has done to Turkey’s state: taken it, reshaped it, and put his agenda at the center. What that looks like depends, again, on a lot on how you see Erdoğan. His supporters see him reestablishing Turkish influence and power, a visionary leader in the Muslim world. His critics see him as an unreliable ally — somehow making Ankara more isolated as it tries to extend its influence everywhere.
“Erdoğan’s been more successful than a lot of his critics predicted,” Danforth said. “And he’s been a lot less successful than his own propaganda would have you believe.”
June 9th 2023
Donald Trump indicted over classified documents case
By George Bowden
BBC News, Washington DC
Former US President Donald Trump has been charged over his handling of classified documents after he left the White House.
Mr Trump, 76, faces seven charges including unauthorised retention of classified files, US media reported. The charges are not yet public.
It is the second indictment of Mr Trump and the first ever federal indictment of a former president.
He is campaigning to make a return to the White House in 2024.
Legal experts say the indictment will not limit Mr Trump’s ability to run for the presidency again.
In a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Mr Trump said he was innocent and had been summoned to appear at a federal court in Miami, Florida, on Tuesday afternoon, where he will be arrested and hear the charges against him.
“I never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former president of the United States,” he wrote.
He added: “This is indeed a dark day for the United States of America. We are a country in serious and rapid decline, but together we will Make America Great Again!”
Mr Trump’s attorney Jim Trusty told CNN the former president had received details of the charges in a summons document.
He said they include conspiracy, false statements, obstruction of justice, and illegally retaining classified documents under the Espionage Act.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) declined to comment and the indictment has not been publicly released.
An indictment is a document that sets out details of charges against a person, ensuring they have notice of alleged criminal offenses.
The Secret Service will meet Mr Trump’s staff and his security officers to plan his journey to the Miami courthouse.
https://emp.bbc.co.uk/emp/SMPj/2.49.3/iframe.htmlMedia caption,
Watch: How much do you know about classified documents?
Special prosecutor Jack Smith has been considering evidence in the documents case since he was appointed to oversee it by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November.
Last year, Mr Trump’s Florida resort Mar-a-Lago was searched and 11,000 documents were seized, including around 100 marked as classified. Some of these were labelled top secret.
There were reports last week that prosecutors had obtained an audio recording of Mr Trump in which he acknowledged keeping a classified document after leaving the White House in January 2021.
It is against US law for federal officials – including a president – to remove or keep classified documents at an unauthorised location.
Legal experts say Mr Trump will still be able to enter the White House race.
“He can be indicted any number of times and it won’t stop his ability to stand for office,” says David Super, a professor at Georgetown University Law Centre.
Mr Super noted that Mr Trump could continue to run for office even if convicted in the documents case.
The property and reality TV mogul is currently the frontrunner among Republican candidates for the White House, according to opinion polls.
As Mr Trump issued a fundraising email with the subject line “BREAKING: INDICTED”, several leading Republicans voiced their support for him.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, said it was “unconscionable for a president to indict the leading candidate opposing him”.
“House Republicans will hold this brazen weaponisation of power accountable,” he wrote on Twitter.
Mr Trump’s rival for the 2024 nomination, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said: “We have for years witnessed an uneven application of the law depending upon political affiliation.
“The DeSantis administration will bring accountability to the DOJ, excise political bias and end weaponisation once and for all,” he added.
Vivek Ramaswamy, who is also in the running, said he would “commit to pardon Trump promptly on January 20, 2025, and to restore the rule of law in our country”.
But another candidate, Asa Hutchinson, said Mr Trump’s alleged actions “should not define our nation or the Republican Party”.
A separate probe into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which Mr Trump lost, is also being overseen by Jack Smith, a former war crimes attorney who is known as a dogged investigator.
Mr Trump became the first former president to be charged with a crime this April, after he pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records over a hush-money payment to a porn star.
He faces a trial in that case in New York next year.
Additional reporting by Madeline Halpert
Donald Trump indicted over classified documents case
By George Bowden
BBC News, Washington DC
Former US President Donald Trump has been charged over his handling of classified documents after he left the White House.
Mr Trump, 76, faces seven charges including unauthorised retention of classified files, US media reported. The charges are not yet public.
It is the second indictment of Mr Trump and the first ever federal indictment of a former president.
He is campaigning to make a return to the White House in 2024.
Legal experts say the indictment will not limit Mr Trump’s ability to run for the presidency again.
In a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Mr Trump said he was innocent and had been summoned to appear at a federal court in Miami, Florida, on Tuesday afternoon, where he will be arrested and hear the charges against him.
“I never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former president of the United States,” he wrote.
He added: “This is indeed a dark day for the United States of America. We are a country in serious and rapid decline, but together we will Make America Great Again!”
Mr Trump’s attorney Jim Trusty told CNN the former president had received details of the charges in a summons document.
He said they include conspiracy, false statements, obstruction of justice, and illegally retaining classified documents under the Espionage Act.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) declined to comment and the indictment has not been publicly released.
An indictment is a document that sets out details of charges against a person, ensuring they have notice of alleged criminal offenses.
The Secret Service will meet Mr Trump’s staff and his security officers to plan his journey to the Miami courthouse.
https://emp.bbc.co.uk/emp/SMPj/2.49.3/iframe.htmlMedia caption,
Watch: How much do you know about classified documents?
Special prosecutor Jack Smith has been considering evidence in the documents case since he was appointed to oversee it by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November.
Last year, Mr Trump’s Florida resort Mar-a-Lago was searched and 11,000 documents were seized, including around 100 marked as classified. Some of these were labelled top secret.
There were reports last week that prosecutors had obtained an audio recording of Mr Trump in which he acknowledged keeping a classified document after leaving the White House in January 2021.
It is against US law for federal officials – including a president – to remove or keep classified documents at an unauthorised location.
Legal experts say Mr Trump will still be able to enter the White House race.
“He can be indicted any number of times and it won’t stop his ability to stand for office,” says David Super, a professor at Georgetown University Law Centre.
Mr Super noted that Mr Trump could continue to run for office even if convicted in the documents case.
The property and reality TV mogul is currently the frontrunner among Republican candidates for the White House, according to opinion polls.
As Mr Trump issued a fundraising email with the subject line “BREAKING: INDICTED”, several leading Republicans voiced their support for him.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, said it was “unconscionable for a president to indict the leading candidate opposing him”.
“House Republicans will hold this brazen weaponisation of power accountable,” he wrote on Twitter.
Mr Trump’s rival for the 2024 nomination, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said: “We have for years witnessed an uneven application of the law depending upon political affiliation.
“The DeSantis administration will bring accountability to the DOJ, excise political bias and end weaponisation once and for all,” he added.
Vivek Ramaswamy, who is also in the running, said he would “commit to pardon Trump promptly on January 20, 2025, and to restore the rule of law in our country”.
But another candidate, Asa Hutchinson, said Mr Trump’s alleged actions “should not define our nation or the Republican Party”.
A separate probe into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which Mr Trump lost, is also being overseen by Jack Smith, a former war crimes attorney who is known as a dogged investigator.
Mr Trump became the first former president to be charged with a crime this April, after he pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records over a hush-money payment to a porn star.
He faces a trial in that case in New York next year.
Additional reporting by Madeline Halpertv
June 8th 2023
Republic & Honesty – Is That Too Much To Hope For When Fake Liberal Democrats Use Wealth Driven Power To Bury Truth ?
| Hi Reader, The wealth gap in America has been widening for decades. For the last two years, we’ve been investigating and exposing how America’s billionaires are using their wealth to avoid paying taxes, influence policy and accumulate even more money. Our hope is that shining a light on this important information will spark a national conversation, rooted in facts, about how our tax system works and whether everyone is paying their fair share. We’ve exposed how mega billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Warren Buffett exploit the current tax system to pay little to no federal income tax (in fact, Bezos actually received a $4,000 tax credit for his children in 2011). Many billionaires’ hobbies and side businesses, such as horse racing or owning a professional sports team, offer huge tax write-offs that allow them to pay little or no income taxes for as much as a decade at a time. We’ve also explained how more than half of America’s 100 richest people exploit special trusts, allowing them to pass their fortunes onto their heirs without paying estate taxes, costing the government untold billions of dollars. And our latest story uses never-before-seen IRS records to examine dozens of cases where high-level corporate executives made millions of dollars through timely trades of competitors’ stocks. Investigations like these are time-consuming and expensive. We’re able to produce this kind of journalism because of readers like you. As a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on donations from individuals for the majority of our funding. Today, I’m asking you to join ProPublica with a donation of any amount. Give today and stand up for powerful journalism that shines a light on stories that make a real difference. Thanks so much, Jill Shepherd Proud ProPublican |
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| 08/06/2023Thursday briefing:The Kherson dam disaster has left thousands of Ukrainians adrift – and that’s just the start |
Esther Addley |
| Good morning. Two days after the destruction of Ukraine’s Nova Kakhovka dam led to widespread flooding, it’s clear that we are only beginning to appreciate the impact of what happened – and what it could mean for the environment, local agriculture and the course of the war.At the heart of this story, however, are the people who live downstream on the Dnipro river, who have already endured months on the frontline and now find themselves living through a personal and environmental calamity.The Guardian’s Dan Sabbagh is in Kherson, the biggest city to be affected; he spoke to me about the scene on the ground and its wider implications. First, the headlines. |
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| Five big stories |
| 1UK news | Boris and Carrie Johnson hosted a close friend overnight at Chequers when a number of Covid restrictions were in place, the Guardian has been told. Johnson’s spokesperson said the stay was “entirely lawful” and sources close to him said Maloney was allowed to be there for childcare reasons at a time when Carrie Johnson was pregnant.2Immigration | A Guardian investigation has found that the Home Office has provided more than £3m in funding to Turkish border forces in the last year to prevent migrants reaching the UK. The Home Office has also supplied Turkish border forces, including the national police and the coastguard, with equipment and training.3Environment | The United Arab Emirates’s state oil company has been able to read emails to and from the Cop28 climate summit office, the Guardian revealed. The UAE is hosting the climate summit in November and its president, Sultan Al Jaber, is also chief executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. The revelations have been called “explosive” and a “scandal” by lawmakers.4Politics | Woking council, the most heavily indebted local authority in England, has declared it is effectively bankrupt after a risky investment spree involving hotels and skyscrapers by its former Conservative administration left it facing a £1.2bn deficit.5Media | The Daily and Sunday Telegraph are to be put up for sale after the Barclay family lost control of their crown jewel media assets in a bitter row with the newspaper group’s lender. Potential buyers include DMGT – the owner of the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, MailOnline, Metro and the i. |
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| In depth: ‘We don’t know what the new landscape will look like’ |
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| Hundreds of thousands are without drinking water, according to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. As many as 80 towns and villages and about 42,000 people are at risk. Landmines have been dislodged and are floating to unknown locations downstream, according to the Red Cross. Meanwhile the first reports of casualties have emerged, with at least three dead.The destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam is not confirmed to be Russia’s doing, although Zelenskiy has said he “does not understand” how anyone could doubt it, and some international observers agree (Moscow, for its part, blames Ukrainian “sabotage”). But there is no question its impact has been enormous.“This is a huge crisis,” said Dan Sabbagh, the Guardian’s defence and security editor, who has been reporting from Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict, adding that there is “something elemental” about the scale of the flooding. “It’s just a massive river. We don’t know where the river boundary will end up. We don’t know what the new landscape will look like.”How are people coping?The water was still rising, though more slowly than before, when Dan spoke to me yesterday from central Kherson. He was standing at a crossroads that ordinarily would be hundreds of metres from the riverbank; instead, he said, the kerb had become “quite a busy little port” as rescue boats came and went.For eight months last year, Kherson was occupied by Russian forces; parts of it have been heavily damaged by shelling and many people had already left the city by the time the floods hit. “Younger people tend to get out as fast as they can,” said Dan. “The residents who have stayed on are mostly older, and have point blank refused to go.”For many of those who remained, though, the flooding has forced them out of the homes they resolutely refused to quit. As we spoke, Dan described an inflatable dinghy arriving, carrying a woman in her 70s and an older man who was unable to walk, who had been rescued along with “the obligatory dog”. A basket of five brown cats had been brought in a little earlier; in the background a dog was barking.“There are a lot of abandoned pets – you see them everywhere. It’s just a feature of a war zone.”What about the wider impacts? |
 |
| Alongside the thousands of homes and lives casually ruined, there are warnings of large scale consequences elsewhere in the region.Zelenskiy called the flooding “an environmental bomb of mass destruction”, and Kyiv has said this is Europe’s biggest ecological catastrophe since Chornobyl (also in Ukraine) in 1986.As well as the impact on wildlife, the country’s agriculture ministry has warned that the fields of southern Ukraine could “turn into deserts” by next year, as their irrigation relied on the now-drained reservoir. The collapse of Ukrainian agriculture could also have a significant impact on the global food market.What happens next?“The flood water is muddy, it’s full of detritus and organic material, it’s got some of that iridescent sheen of oil on it,” said Dan. “It’s going through sewage facilities, cemeteries. It is fundamentally unclean. You know that it is going to be a smelly, grubby, disgusting mess when it comes to cleaning up.”Overall, he said, “the legacy of this will be with us for a long time. At this stage, we’ve moved past the initial shock into the practical phase, and only later we will see all of the impacts and the environmental changes. We’re right at the beginning of this.”Despite the scale of the floods, however, Dan said we should not underestimate the resilience of the Ukrainian people. Two women in their 50s or 60s, who were watching the rescue efforts, told him they would not leave their apartments, though the ground floor of their block was already inundated.“I have seen this many times. The determination and resilience of people here is extraordinary. Those women have no intention of moving. And in one sense, I am confident that people will get through this.” |
| I’m writing to you from Kyiv, as the Ukrainian counter-offensive begins. The outcome is grimly uncertain. Thousands of Ukrainian soldiers equipped with battle tanks supplied by the west are massing, ready to advance. The Russians have dug in. Vladimir Putin still believes he can win in Ukraine. And Europe’s biggest conflict since 1945 continues to rage. Last week I awoke at 2.30am to the sound of explosions and tracer fire in the sky, as Moscow bombarded Kyiv again – for the ninth time this month. |
June 7th 2023
https://climatefocus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ClimateDamageinUkraine.pdfJune
Exclusive: Accounting for war – Ukraine’s climate fallout
By Sarah Mcfarlane and Valerie Volcovici
June 6, 20236:17 AM GMT+1Updated 17 hours ago
[1/5] Firefighters work to extinguish fire following recent shelling at an oil storage in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the town of Shakhtarsk (Shakhtyorsk) near Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, October 27, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
LONDON, June 6 (Reuters) – The war in Ukraine is deepening the climate crisis at time when global greenhouse gas emissions are already running at a record high, according to report by carbon accounting experts who have tallied the overall impact of the conflict.
The report, which is due to be released on the sidelines of the U.N. climate summit in Bonn this week, calculates that the first 12 months of the war will trigger a net increase of 120 million tonnes of greenhouse gases, equivalent to the annual output of country such as Belgium.
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A group of researchers led by Dutch expert Lennard de Klerk looked at a range of contributors to emissions, from fuel used by vehicles, to forest fires, to changes in energy use in Europe and the future reconstruction of buildings and infrastructure.
“We didn’t expect the emissions of war would be so significant and it’s not only the warfare itself that contributes to the emissions, but it’s also the future reconstruction of the destroyed infrastructure,” said de Klerk by phone from his home in Hungary near the border with Ukraine.
Carbon accounting will be in focus at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai this year as countries assess progress against climate goals agreed in Paris in 2015, and de Klerk said it was crucial military emissions were included.
June 6th 2023
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 Executive Branch FDA Makes Huge Move Against COVID Vaccine |
SAS veteran Oliver Schulz charged with war crime of murder over killing of Afghan man in field
/ By Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop and Mark Willacy
Posted Mon 20 Mar 2023 at 1:59amMonday 20 Mar 2023 at 1:59am, updated Mon 20 Mar 2023 at 7:22amMonday 20 Mar 2023 at 7:22am
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A decorated former SAS soldier shown in a Four Corners story shooting an Afghan man in a wheat field has become the first Australian serviceman or veteran to be charged with a war crime under Australian law.
Key points:
- Oliver Schulz, 41, completed several tours of Afghanistan
- Australian Federal Police arrested the former SAS soldier at Jindabyne, NSW, this morning
- He has been charged over a 2012 killing during a raid in southern Afghanistan
Former trooper Oliver Schulz, 41, was arrested by the Australian Federal Police at Jindabyne in the New South Wales Snowy Mountains this morning, after a years-long investigation into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.
In a statement, the AFP said it would be alleged he murdered an Afghan man while deployed to Afghanistan with the Australian Defence Force (ADF).
Mr Schulz has been charged with the war crime of murder under the Commonwealth Criminal Code.
His case was mentioned in Queanbeyan Local Court this afternoon, where his solicitor made no application for bail. He has been remanded in custody to appear at Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court on May 16.
His charge, the ABC understands, relates to the shooting death of Afghan man Dad Mohammad during an ADF raid in May 2012 in Uruzgan Province in southern Afghanistan.
That killing was revealed in March 2020 by the ABC’s Four Corners program, which broadcast footage showing Mr Schulz shooting Mr Mohammad while the Afghan man lay on the ground.
If found guilty, Mr Schulz could face life in prison.
Case could set international precedent, legal expert says
His arrest marks a historic shift in the response to suspected military wrongdoing, both in Australia and among Western allies, who have avoided holding war crimes trials in civilian courts, according to international law experts.
“It’s unprecedented,” said University of Tasmania law professor Tim McCormack, a special adviser on war crimes to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
“We’ve never had a situation in the past where a member of the ADF, either current or former, has been charged with a war crime and slated for trial in a civilian court.
“I suspect that this will be an important precedent for the British, for the Canadians, for the New Zealanders and, hopefully, for other state parties [to the ICC].”
Mr Schulz was awarded the Commendation for Gallantry for his service in Afghanistan, where he completed multiple tours.
He was stood down by the ADF after the killing was revealed by ABC Investigations and Four Corners.
Killed man was father of two young girls
The Four Corners program, Killing Field, broadcast explosive footage taken from a helmet camera worn by the dog handler from Mr Schulz’s patrol.
It shows an SAS dog mauling Mr Mohammad in a field, before the dog is called off and Mr Schulz is seen training his weapon on the man.
Mr Mohammad was a father of two, in his 20s, from the village of Deh Jawz-e Hasanzai.
Four Corners identified the dead man and tracked down his father and brother during its investigation.
“They can arrest him,” his father, Abul Malik, told the program in 2020. “Why did they have to kill him?”
“He was married and had two daughters,” said Dad Mohammad’s brother, Jamshid.
“The youngest one was about a month old and the other was three years old at the time.”
Four Corners also revealed that the ADF had investigated the killing months after the 2012 incident, following complaints from Afghan villagers.
However, ADF investigators cleared Mr Schulz after being told Mr Mohammad had been “tactically manoeuvring”, was carrying a radio, and had been shot in self-defence.
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After Four Corners’ story, the incident was broadcast around the world.
The then-prime minister, Scott Morrison, described it as “shocking and alarming” and then-defence minister Linda Reynolds referred the incident to the AFP for investigation.
That investigation was later taken over by the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI), the body set up to probe alleged war crimes after the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force inquiry, which was led by Paul Brereton, an Army Reserve Major General and New South Wales Supreme Court judge.
The Brereton inquiry handed down its findings in November 2020, recommending that 23 incidents and 19 individuals be referred for further investigation by police.
Defence support services:
- The Defence all-hours Support Line is a confidential telephone and online service for ADF members and their families 1800 628 036
- Open Arms provides 24-hour free and confidential counselling and support for current and former ADF members and their families 1800 011 046
- Soldier On is a national support services provider for Defence personnel, contemporary veterans, and their families. Contact during office hours 1300 620 380
- Defence and Veterans Legal Service (DAVLS) can be contacted on 1800 33 1800
That inquiry recommended that any alleged war crime should be prosecuted in a civilian criminal court in a trial by jury, rather than in a military tribunal.
During Senate estimates hearings in February, the Director-General of the OSI, Chris Moraitis, said the agency was investigating between 40 and 50 alleged offences.
Attorney-General’s consent required for war crime prosecution
ABC Investigations understands that a dedicated OSI team made up of homicide detectives and an intelligence officer examined the Killing Field incident for more than two years.
This year, a brief of evidence was signed off by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, whose consent is required to start a war crime prosecution.
“The willingness of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions to use that legislative framework is a very significant thing,” Professor McCormack said.
“If states don’t take seriously their national obligations and responsibilities, then it’s left to the International Criminal Court [to prosecute], and the work is so overwhelming, the ICC doesn’t have the resources to deal with all of that.
“Not a lot of states have got great track records in taking their national responsibility seriously.”
In a statement, the AFP said it was working with the OSI “to investigate allegations of criminal offences under Australian law related to breaches of the Laws of Armed Conflict by Australian Defence Force personnel in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016”.
“As the matter will be before the court and the investigation is ongoing, no further comment will be made,” the statement said.
War crimes charges must be tried before a jury under Australian law.
Under the Commonwealth Criminal Code, a killing constitutes the war crime of murder if the victim is neither a combatant nor out of action due to injury or damage.
Prosecutors must also prove that the perpetrator knew, or was reckless to, this fact.
The killing does not constitute a war crime if it occurred as a result of an attack on a military objective, during which the perpetrator did not expect excessive civilian casualties.
Biden is America’s oldest president – but tripping over a sandbag tells us nothing
Age, cognitive health and physical fitness are all fair concerns but the president’s tumble could have happened to anyone
Fri 2 Jun 2023 20.48 BST
It’s a story so benign and unremarkable that it’s embarrassing it’s getting any coverage at all: man trips, falls, stands back up and walks it off. Except, of course, that the man is Joe Biden, who at 80 and seeking re-election is currently competing to be the oldest president in US history.
On Thursday, Biden was at the US Air Force Academy graduation ceremony handing out the last diploma when he tripped over a black sandbag. He got back up with a hand from Secret Service agents, and walked himself back to his seat. By all accounts, he was fine.
This isn’t the first time a president or White-House-seeker’s stumble or unsteadiness has proven to be ripe fodder for both the opposition and the media. Donald Trump, who before Biden was the oldest first-term president in US history, was wobbly on his feet at the graduation ceremony for the US Military Academy at West Point in 2020, and seemed to struggle to raise a glass to his lips. That fueled broad speculation about the then-president’s health.
Read More https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jun/02/biden-fall-sandbag-age-president
NATO Protection Racket by R J Cook
Comment
The outgoing head of the RAF, Sir Mike Wigston, originally set a target of having 40 percent women and 20 percent of personnel from ethnic minorities by 2030. An RAF Squadron Leader told his colleagues to stop recruiting “useless white male pilots” and considered reducing boarding to have a balanced board, a leaked email has said. Squadron Leader Andrew Harvin, who worked in the Officer and Aircrew Selection Centre, sent the email to his colleagues on January 19, 2021.
If it is not racist or sexist for Harvin to make this policy statement, then I see no reason not to comment on the sort of useless white upper middle class female journalists writing the kind of pernicious ideological garbage as we see above. I have no idea whether Biden is fit for the U.S Presidency and , having seen how Donald Trump’s presidency was neutered, it hardly matters who the president is just so long as elite Anglo U.S media ensures it is a democrat.
This ‘uni’ student news paper girl shows no originality, critical faculties or logic other than twisting the reality that this very old president was so unaware of his surroundings that he tripped over. She says the accident could have happpened to anyone – making the excuse that she saw acclaimed non drinker Donald Trump struggle to put a glass to his lips. Whatever the point of that little piece of sophistry, anybody is not President of The United States with his metaphorical finger on the nuclear button; a man who signed off on $37 billion for corrupt NATO proxy Ukraine’s imperial war on Russia. Avuncular Joe Biden must not seem to falter. This war has been coming from at least 2008. Trump threatened the plan. Hence the campaign to smear him as a Russian agent. Clinton led the conspiracy theory campaign to undermine Trump’s legitimacy. Then when the boot was on the other foot, Trump’s allegations of election rigging were discounted as subverting precious democracy.
The Anglo – U.S elite are fake liberals. It is easy to fool the white masses while stirring up BAME resentment and grievances which only the Democrats can resolve. The most absurd and latest Trump smear campaign was the former glamour magazine correspondent accusing him of raping her and ‘changing her life’ in either 1995 or 1996. It was so life changing she lost her memory but she still wom $4 million. The self righteous fake liberals will stop at nothing – as I discovered when Thames Valley Police made a 7 officer dawn raid on my home , led by Acting DC Bellamy, in February 5th 2018 because they had a tip off that I was working as a whore for my son and his gangster friends in a home based brothel. They even wrote to my doctor telling him that I was guilty and insane. That is just one of many nasty malicious parts to a police campaign that has more than changed my life. It had been hoped to force me onto anti psychotics to wipe my memory, and more, because only brain damage will rid us of nasty life changing experiences.
It is a sick joke that Britain and the U.S claim to be the homes of democracy. If that were true then they would not keep going on about it. The masses are distracted by LGBTQI , feminism , BAME , BLM and football. Mainstream elite media claims to be independent while owned by billionaires. Over 62 % of global wealth is owned by 3 % of the world’s population and Russia is currently shut out because for the time being it has leaders who are not seduced by the EU gravy train or intimidated into membership of the NATO Protection Racket. Nor does this great nation want to be taken over by western masses moron culture and mass immigtarion ‘diversity’ and western style gang crime.
R J Cook
June 2nd 2023
Top Voices Want Open War on Russia by R J Cook
Zelensky is always on the go but always avoiding overwhelming evidence that he heads a corrupt regime, as explained in the following article. Now he is back banging the drum again for ‘open war’ on Russia. He and his predecessors have lied from the outset about how they, with NATO, provoked this appalling war where lives are discounted into death as more evidence of Ukraine’s virtue against Russian evil.
Britain was and still is principal war cheerleader. Former Millfield Public School boy Ben Wallace spent 7 years in the army where he rose to the dizzy heights of Captain at the end of his career. The closest he got to a war zone was the tail end of ‘the troubles’ in Northern Ireland , promoted for his role in ‘leading ‘ his men to capture a known IRA cell in 1991.
Then he found is way into politics and his extraordinary promotion to Secretary of State For Defence ( sic ). His phlegm y resonating tones and Churchillesque voice , fellow Churchill wannabe Boris Johnson have resonated across world media calling for all out war on Russia. There is more than circumstantial evidence that their hero Churchill went out of his way to avoid peace during World War Two which was to be ‘his finest hour’ – see ‘Hess, Hitler & Churchill’ by Peter Padfield.
Here in the U.K the seriousness of the Ukraine War takes a backseat to trivia in mainstream news because the masses are not supposed to question reasons for this carnage. They must, as they were conned in two previous wars, be patriotic , sacrificing their lives if necessary. Wallace has much in common with bumbling Churchill and lunatic Corporal Hitler who were military disasters. Putin is not a military man. With so many disadvantages it is difficult to envisage a Russian victory in the long run., NATO has been working up to this since their Minsk lies. They have a sophisticated propaganda system and have been scaring their people with the Russian menace for years. Europe is overwhelmed by many social divisions, much linked to rampant uncontrolled third world immigration. This war invites all to face a ‘common’ manufactured enemy.
Feminists and their Trans Exclusionary Radical ( TERF ) division have thoughts and voices only for their dirty little hate crime libel and slander that transsexuals are so overwhelmed with desire for the modern version of aggressive big close cropped women that they will sacrifice their genitals to get into women’s safe spaces to rape them with fingers and other penis like objects. I suppose it is nice to have state sanctioned targets for their self righteous hatred of men. It must also be nice to be so cosseted sitting in judgement on lesser beings – blissfully unaware that cornering Vladimir Putin may well lead to nuclear war. That is unless he dies by one means or another or wants western hypocrits to convict him of war crimes.
R J Cook
Zelensky in Parliament: Open war with Russia just got one step closer
Chris Nineham 8 February 2023
Zelensky addressing Parliament. Photo: Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
The cross-party clamour for escalation on display in Westminster is dangerously irresponsible, writes Chris Nineham
Wednesday’s speech by Ukrainian President Zelensky in Westminster was a carefully choreographed piece of war theatre. The key mover behind it was the discredited former prime minister Boris Johnson, who has been urging ever greater military support to Ukraine.
The terrible war in Ukraine has raged for nearly a year. Stop the War has repeatedly condemned Russia’s unjustified invasion but we also recognise that this has become a proxy war between Russia and Nato and it contains the seeds of dangerous escalation.
Applause began the moment Zelensky came out of a side-entrance dressed in khaki sweatshirt and made his way to the raised lectern. MPs from both parties repeatedly interrupted the half-hour speech with furious clapping. Only a handful of world leaders have been allowed to give speeches at parliament’s oldest building, including Charles de Gaulle, Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama.
Zelensky was introduced by Speaker of the House of Commons Lindsay Hoyle with the words “We are honoured you put yourself at risk to address us and again shine a light of the fact your country is still fighting for its survival.” During the speech Zelensky presented Hoyle with a Ukrainian fighter pilot’s helmet, on which were the words “We have freedom. Give us the wings to protect it.”
The aim was to boost pro-war sentiment in general, but also to use the British parliament to pile pressure on other western powers to provide fighter planes for Zelensky’s war effort.
Both the US and Germany have refused to deliver planes to Ukraine, knowing that to do so would be deeply provocative to Russia. It would provide Ukraine with the capacity to strike deep into Russian territory. It would mean western and Russian planes confronting each other in Ukrainian airspace, taking us to the edge of open war between Nato and Russia.
Ignoring these concerns, the British government has offered to train Ukrainian pilots on modern Nato fighter jets in a clear hint that it may follow up by providing the hardware.
Boris Johnson, unmistakably behind today’s event, issued a call after the meeting for British Typhoon jets to be sent immediately to the Ukrainian government. He has repeatedly dashed prospects of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia and sees sending planes as another opportunity to stoke war.
The cross-party clamour for escalation on display in Westminster today is dangerously irresponsible. It takes place against the background of spiralling tensions between the US and China – tensions that nearly came to a head in last week’s spy balloon incident.
It also comes at a time when austerity and inflation have created a desperate crisis for millions of people in this country, a situation actually made worse by the war in Ukraine.
In this frightening context, the anti-war movement has a big responsibility. Despite widespread popular misgivings about the western response to the Russian invasion here and around the world, Starmer has silenced anti-war Labour MPs, making it clear that MPs who criticise Nato will have the whip removed.
Just a few months ago even leading military figures in the US were saying publicly that negotiations were necessary to end this war. Like almost all conflicts, the war in Ukraine will ultimately end in negotiations, but the current policy of escalation makes the prospect of peace talks more and more remote, prolonging the agony of the Ukrainian people.
Despite this and repeated warnings from foreign policy experts that there can be no winners in this war and that Nato policy over the last few decades has contributed to the crisis, there is no space in the British media or politics for anti-war voices.
It is crucial in these circumstances that everyone who is against escalation from both sides and wants to see a peaceful resolution to this terrible war takes a public stand.
Protests calling for peace talks are taking place across Europe around the anniversary of the Russian invasion in two weeks time. Activists report that in most European countries a majority of people oppose involvement in the war and support calls for peace. In Britain the Stop the War Coalition and CND have called a demonstration in London demanding negotiations and an end to the war. We urge you to join us.
Help fund the fight for socialism
Counterfire is growing, but we want revolutionary socialist organisation in every corner of the UK. We’ve launched a crowdfunder to employ more organisers, put on more events and produce more publications. Please help us reach our target and donate today.
Chris Nineham
Chris Nineham is a founder member of Stop the War and Counterfire, speaking regularly around the country on behalf of both. He is author of The People Versus Tony Blair and Capitalism and Class Consciousness: the ideas of Georg Lukacs.
Zelensky does the anti-corruption dance for the corrupt EU
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/if-paris-worth-mass-europe-worth-search
Turning on his old allies, the Ukrainian leader’s campaign against inequity has still not done enough to impress the EU assessors — but who are they to pass judgement, asks DENNIS BROE
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy poses for a photo with soldiers after attending a flag-raising ceremony in the recaptured city of Izium, Ukraine, on September 14, 2022
IN THE later part of the 16th century, Henry Navarre, the first French king from the house of Bourbon, wanted to ascend to the throne. Henry was a Huguenot, a Protestant, nearly assassinated in the Saint Bartholomew day bloody massacre of Protestants by Catholics in Paris.
The pope, backed by the Spanish monarchy, opposed Henry’s accession. Henry then decided to convert and when asked why the conversion, is supposed to have shrugged his shoulders and said: “Paris is worth a mass.”
Volodymyr Zelensky desperately wants Ukraine to be accepted into the European Union. However, Ukraine is universally characterised, and perennially ranked, as one of the most corrupt countries in Europe, so Zelensky, in an attempt to further Ukraine’s candidacy, is supposedly cleaning house, proclaiming new reforms that “will change the social reality.”
Ukrainian police and prosecutors recently searched the homes of a former Zelensky backer, the billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky suspected of embezzling funds in a key petroleum company, and the ex-minister of the interior Arsen Avakov who resigned in a scandal over a “mysterious” Airbus helicopter crash that killed the then-current interior minister, two other ministers, and 15 children.
The EU has demanded corruption reform and apparently Zelensky has, as did King Henry, as he now seeks to indict former backers like Kolomoisky, shrugged his shoulders — figuring “Europe is worth a search.” Europe though has not crowned this monarch and instead, in a new report, claims that corruption in Ukraine “remains unchanged.”
This is a key question not only for Ukraine but also for the West which is shipping, largely untracked, huge supplies of weapons and materials, much of which may never reach the battlefield.
In August of last year, a CBS documentary claimed that of the $23 billion the US was supplying to Ukraine, only perhaps in some cases 30 to 40 per cent were making it to the front lines.
The initial report was attacked and then censored not because it was inaccurate — but because it did not promote the war. Likewise, the president of Nigeria recently reported that weapons in the hands of armed terrorists in his country came from Ukraine.
Of course, Zelensky himself is no paragon of virtue. He was elected on a platform of peace and halting corruption. As a peacemaker, he recently revealed that like Angela Merkel in Germany and Francois Hollande in France, he had no intention of ever implementing the Minsk Accords which would have afforded partial autonomy to the Donbas region and halted the drive to war.
As for pilfering the state coffers and corporate malfeasance, for almost three years he delayed implementing his proposed anti-corruption “bureau for economic security,” and, in that time, being judged on the side of the oligarchs, his initial popularity plummeted from 57 to 29 per cent before the war.
There is a “let he who casts the first stone” element to this as well. The EU, thoroughly captured by a bourgeois ruling elite, is no paragon of honesty. A female prosecutor in Greece, Eleni Touloupaki, initiated an investigation into bribes from the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis, which has led to a claim by the government against the company for €214 million.
In response, the subsequently installed conservative regime charged the prosecutor with “abuse of power” and suspended the office of anti-corruption from which she had launched her investigation.
This is overt corruption — but the systemic, covert, kind is rampant in the EU also. In France, its emperor Emmanuel Macron, who passes laws in the assembly by decree rather than by vote, continues to propound his pension “reform,” claiming there is no money to support the system while the profits of the French equivalent of the Fortune 500, the CAC 40, have never been greater.
Likewise, he freely gives €100m to Ukraine and announces French spending on arms and weapons will increase by one-third from now until 2030, a time when he claims the pension fund will be under pressure and running dry.
The other Western European bastion of honesty is Germany, complicit by its silence in what Seymour Hersch alleged was the blowing up of the Nord Stream pipelines by the US and Norway, the result of which has enormously increased the price of energy in German factories, some of which have closed, and in German homes, some of which are now freezing.
While the country’s industrial might is diminishing, its Chancellor, the Social Democrat Scholz, has approved the shipment of Leopard tanks to Ukraine and so once again, as with the Panzers of the Nazi era, a newly rearmed Germany will send its forces across its border into the East.
On second thought, maybe Ukraine does belong in the EU — not because it has reformed its level of corruption but because the rest of Europe is sinking to its level; “birds of a feather…”
Bad Timing – comment by R J Cook
The global white liberal chattering elite classes live in world of privilege where their opinions and clamour for ever more behaviour controlling laws, ties the masses up in more knots than any Boy Scout or sailor ever knew.
So we have saintly Australian SAS war hero, Ben Roberts-Smith, behaving as SAS soldiers do ,expecting that operating outside the rules of war will pass unnoticed. He lost his defamation case because it ignored the other government rule of plausible deniability.
Ultimately those at the top, operating in the shaddows would sell their own grandmother to save themselves and their vile hypocritical system. This should be a lesson to troops of any rank operating in the field. No doubt he expected another blind eye response as with the illegal incarceration of U.K war crime whistle blower Julian Assange.
R J Cook
May 31st 2023
Ben Roberts-Smith: How decorated soldier’s defamation case has rocked Australia
By Tiffanie Turnbull
BBC News, Sydney
For months on end, Australia’s most-decorated living soldier sat stoically in a Sydney courtroom as dozens of witnesses accused him of war crimes, bullying peers, and assaulting his mistress.
But Ben Roberts-Smith was not the one on trial.
The 44-year-old had brought the case, suing three Australian newspapers over a series of articles in 2018 which he says defamed him. He argues they ruined his life by painting him as a callous man who had broken the moral and legal rules of war, disgracing his country in the process.
But the media outlets say they reported the truth, and have set out to prove it.
It is the first time in history any court has been tasked with assessing allegations of war crimes by Australian forces.
Warning: This article contains descriptions of violence which readers may find upsetting.
Lasting 110 days and costing up to an estimated A$25m ($16.3m, £13.2m), the trial has heard extraordinary and at times bizarre evidence about every facet of Mr Roberts-Smith’s life.
It sparked a media frenzy, captured national attention, and has made Mr Roberts-Smith the public face of accusations of Australian war crimes in Afghanistan.
After sifting through volumes of evidence, this week a judge is due to hand down a decision in the historic case.
Hero or criminal?
When Mr Roberts-Smith finished his final tour of Afghanistan in 2012, he returned home a hero.
He received Australia’s highest military award – the Victoria Cross – for having single-handedly overpowered Taliban machine-gunners who had been attacking his Special Air Service (SAS) platoon.
More accolades and admiration followed. He was crowned Father of the Year in 2013, appointed to high-profile executive positions, given prestigious speaking engagements and featured in massive portraits in the Australian War Memorial.
But Mr Roberts-Smith’s shiny public image was shattered in 2018 when journalists Nick McKenzie, Chris Masters and David Wroe started publishing articles about his alleged misconduct in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times.
The newspapers claim Mr Roberts-Smith was involved in six murders of unarmed prisoners or civilians while deployed in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012 – which he strenuously denies.
According to the newspapers, these included a handcuffed farmer the soldier had kicked off a 10m cliff – a fall which knocked out the man’s teeth, before he was subsequently shot dead.
Another was a captured Afghan teenager so terrified a witness recounted him “shaking like a leaf”. He told the court Mr Roberts-Smith later claimed to have shot him in the head, boasting it was “the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen”.
The Federal Court also heard that Mr Roberts-Smith had used a machine gun to kill a captured fighter whose prosthetic leg was then taken as a trophy, and later used by troops as a drinking vessel. Other murders were ordered by him to initiate or “blood” rookies, the papers claim.
The Geneva Convention – international rules intended to limit the savagery of war – prohibits the torture, killing or cruel treatment of prisoners, while also offering protections to wounded and sick soldiers.
“Not a single one of the murders we allege… involved decisions that were made in the heat of battle… the ‘fog of war,'” said Nicholas Owens, a barrister for the newspapers.
But Mr Roberts-Smith says he has always honoured the rules of engagement. He argues five of the killings occurred legally during combat, and a sixth didn’t happen at all.
The former SAS corporal’s legal team argues the most serious allegations Mr Roberts-Smith faces were made up by jealous colleagues – “liars” and “gossips” – to smear him.
“What he did not expect was that having been awarded the Victoria Cross, he would have a target on his back,” his barrister Arthur Moses told the court.
The journalists had “jumped on the rumours like salmon jumping on a hook”, publishing them as fact, his team said, arguing that the trial evidence – once weighed – would exposed them as inconsistent, “fanciful” and “salacious”.
To support their claims, the newspapers called witnesses including Afghan villagers, a federal minister, and many former or serving elite soldiers.
They ended up unearthing even more damaging allegations. One of Mr Roberts-Smith’s close friends – who gave evidence anonymously – said there were another three alleged murders in Afghanistan that Mr Roberts-Smith was accused of being involved in, in addition to those outlined in the newspapers’ case.
Much evidence was also devoted to claims Mr Roberts-Smith bullied peers. The war hero conceded he had punched a fellow soldier in the face in front of their entire patrol, but denied threatening another with “a bullet in the back of the head” if his performance didn’t lift.
But Mr Roberts-Smith’s versions of events were at other times corroborated by witnesses, along with official field reports, though the newspapers allege these were falsified to cover up crimes.
Astonishing evidence on other issues also emerged during the defamation case, including:
- Admissions from Mr Roberts-Smith that he had set fire to several laptops to wipe his data
- Claims he had buried classified information inside a child’s lunchbox in his backyard
- Testimony from a private investigator that Mr Roberts-Smith had asked him to take the blame for anonymous, threatening letters to soldiers who were co-operating with war crimes inquiries.
Mr Roberts-Smith also watched on as his ex-wife Emma described the moment a woman with whom he’d had an extra-marital affair turned up at the family home, unannounced and nursing a black eye, saying she had become pregnant with his baby.
The woman – whose identity is protected – cried on the witness stand as she recounted the evening when she alleges Mr Roberts-Smith punched her in a hotel room, after she had embarrassed him at an event. He denies this and claims her injury was caused by a fall at the event.
Mr Roberts-Smith has not been charged over any of the allegations and no findings have been made against him in a criminal court.
‘Code of silence’
But the evidence also put a spotlight on the usually hidden world of the SAS.
In November 2020, a landmark report found credible evidence that Australian forces had unlawfully killed 39 civilians and prisoners in Afghanistan from 2007 to 2013.
The head of the Australian Defence Force said it laid bare an unchecked “warrior culture” among some soldiers – particularly within the SAS – who had allegedly taken “the law into their own hands”.
- Australian elite troops ‘killed Afghan civilians’
- Australia ex-SAS soldier charged over alleged war crime
The trial heard from retired and serving SAS soldiers who said any potential misconduct was rarely reported due to a “code of silence” within the regiment, while others defended their actions as necessary.
Many giving evidence were there unwillingly, having been subpoenaed, and three refused to speak about some allegations fearing self-incrimination.
One soldier, who testified that he witnessed Mr Roberts-Smith execute someone, said he resented being compelled to give evidence against him.
“I still don’t agree with the fact [Mr Roberts-Smith] is here, under extreme duress, for killing bad dudes we went over there to kill,” he said.
Almost three years after the landmark Brereton Report, local media have reported more than 40 soldiers are being investigated for their roles in alleged war crimes, but charges have only been laid against one.
And so the judgement in Mr Roberts-Smith’s defamation trial is a huge moment for Australia – both legally and culturally – says Peter Stanley, the former principal historian at the Australian War Memorial.
Soldiers serving under Australia’s banner have almost certainly committed war crimes before, he says, but up until this year none had ever been charged.
And while the broader population may not always agree with the wars Australia has fought, there has long been “great pride in the way in which [it] has fought – this is what’s known as the Anzac legend”.
“The Ben Roberts-Smith episode is just a precursor to the major series of war crimes investigations, allegations, prosecutions, and possibly convictions that we’ll see over the next few years,” he told the BBC.
“It certainly made [him] the litmus test.”
What happens now
The judge – Anthony Besanko – will first decide if the articles are defamatory, and if so, he’ll then consider any defences.
In Australia defamation is a civil matter, meaning the burden of proof is lower than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard required during criminal cases. The newspapers only have to prove the allegations are more likely to be true than not.
They argue that proving even one of the six murders alleged, to that standard, could be enough to win the case.
But the law says Judge Besanko must take particular care in weighing the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence if there are grave consequences for those involved.
The criminal allegations being made by the media outlets fell “at the very highest end of objective seriousness… [and] strike at the very heart of Mr Roberts-Smith’s morality and humanity,” Mr Moses said in closing.
The stakes are also high for the newspapers, with experts saying a loss could result in the highest defamation payout in Australian history.
“We need to remind ourselves that the legal case is not a war crimes trial,” Mr Stanley says.
“[But] there’s a lot riding on this outcome – it’s not just the reputation of one man, it’s our faith in the defence force… and our faith in the system of media that we rely on to give us a truthful and accurate version of the world.”
Related Topics
- Australian elite troops ‘killed Afghan civilians’
- Published19 November 2020
- Australia ex-SAS soldier charged over alleged war crime
- Published20 March
Foreign fighters in Ukraine speak out on their willingness to serve: ‘I had to go’
More than 20,000 fighters from 52 countries volunteered for Ukraine’s military.
November 6, 2022, 4:12 PM
2:21
about:blank
Zelenskyy calls for more air defense aid after deadly Russian assaults
Zelenskyy calls for more air defense aid after deadly Russian assaults
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on allies for more air and missile defense systems after Rus…
When Andy Huynh watched the news of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, he started losing sleep. All he could think about was the struggle of the Ukrainian people against an aggressor he felt was violating their sovereignty and opening the world up to a third World War.
“All my personal problems didn’t feel important anymore … It felt wrong just to sit back and do nothing,” he said. “I had to go.”
The Alabama man was not alone. Two days after the invasion, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for “friends of Ukraine, freedom and democracy” to serve as volunteers in the Ukrainian military. More than 20,000 volunteers from 52 countries responded, many of whom had served in the U.S. Army, British Army, and, like Huynh, the U.S. Marine Corps, according to Ukrainian officials.
Their experience is credited by Zelenskyy for bolstering the war effort for Ukraine, especially since NATO countries have rejected sending ground troops in fears of starting their own conflict with Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in March that 16,000 volunteers from the Middle East would be joining his country’s fight.
Tanya Mehra, a senior research fellow at the International Centre for Counterterrorism at The Hague, said the mobilization of foreign fighters on battlefields dates to 1816 and they have played prominent roles in conflicts in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya and Somalia since the 1980s.MORE: US says Russia’s ‘dirty bomb’ claims are pretext for escalation in Ukraine
The evolution of foreign-born fighters has created distinct classes of fighters, from mercenaries who join conflicts primarily for financial gain, Mehra said, and others who are driven by ideological reasons. Mercenaries, she said, who are outsourced contractors for small governments, tend to be associated to “increases in violence and higher civilian casualties,” which can prolong the conflict, whereas foreign fighters become part of the state military, which makes them “accountable for the acts they have committed.”
Many of those foreign fighters serving in Ukraine tend to be older than your average soldier, and in a stage in their lives where they felt they could help through their years of experience.
John Harding, 59, joined the Ukrainian military in 2018, when the country was fighting Russian-backed separatists. As a professional combat medic who served in Syria, the British-born Harding put his experience to use on the battlefield. But he also found he was in demand as a trainer for other medics who had no idea how to apply first aid in a hostile combat environment
“Medics are notorious for getting themselves killed,” Harding said. “You may know how to apply a torniquet, but you also need to know how to apply a tourniquet while watching out for snipers.”
One American, who did not want to use his name because he is still fighting in Ukraine, said he joined the Ukrainian military in April because he felt “it is important for the world to stand up with the Ukrainians and resist aggression.” Having grown up in a military family and a U.S. Air Force veteran himself, the man took leave of his job in IT while living in central Europe to join the fight.
Today, he uses his background in engineering systems, cybersecurity and computer networks to operate drones in anti-tank and stinger missions. He said his squad was responsible for taking down a Mil Mi-28 Russian helicopter on July 18. The man said his homemade bombs and grenades are constructed using Coke cans and some of the 60 kilograms of TNT captured during an offensive in September. They take flight via off-the-shelf commercial drones.
The man said that the number of foreign fighters he encounters, the majority of whom were from the U.S., has decreased since the spring. The intensity of the fighting weeded away what he called the “TikTok warriors” who were not prepared for the danger, or length, of the missions. He remains fighting after seven months because of ideological reasons, but also because of the survivor’s guilt he felt when two men from his squad — Huynh and Alex Drueke, also from Alabama — were captured on June 9 following a firefight.
“I felt I lost my two brothers. They followed me to this unit. I felt very guilty,” he said. “Part of the reason I stayed this long is because of them.”MORE: Putin’s martial law declaration in Ukraine ‘speaks to his desperation,’ Blinken tells ABC
Huynh and Drueke, a U.S. Army veteran, spent 105 days in captivity, including a month in a Russian “black site,” where they endured daily torture. In late September they were released, along with eight other foreign-born volunteer fighters from England and Canada and more than 200 Ukrainian soldiers.
Harding was among those men released. He met Huynh and Drueke in a prison cell after having been captured in May when a Ukrainian unit he was with in Mariupol was forced to surrender. The torture he suffered has led to a diagnosis of permanent neurological damage to his hands, along with broken ribs and damage to his sternum. One aftereffect is “more psychological”: “I have mood swings which I don’t have control of,” he said.
He now lives close to family in Luton, a town in the southeast of England. The results of ongoing medical treatment will determine his ability to work.
“Would I do it again? Knowing what I know, probably not. Would I do it again if I didn’t know? Yes, I would,” he said. “The only thing I would have done different is I wouldn’t have surrendered. I would have fought to the very last round.”
Like Harding, Drueke and Hyunh also say they have no regrets. Back home in Alabama, they are adjusting to their former lives. Hyunh is engaged and will marry soon, while Drueke is contemplating his next career move. They have bonded, not just with one another, but with Harding and the other men in their unit who are either still in Ukraine or returned home. One day they hope to reunite, either in the U.S. or in England — or even Ukraine itself to help rebuild.
“Honestly, Ukraine has really surprised the world. We did not expect them to be that feisty, that strong, that determined,” said Drueke. “They are amazing people.”
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Foreign fighters in Ukraine speak out on their willingness to serve: ‘I had to go’
More than 20,000 fighters from 52 countries volunteered for Ukraine’s military.
November 6, 2022, 4:12 PM
2:21
about:blank
Zelenskyy calls for more air defense aid after deadly Russian assaults
Zelenskyy calls for more air defense aid after deadly Russian assaults
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on allies for more air and missile defense systems after Rus…
When Andy Huynh watched the news of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, he started losing sleep. All he could think about was the struggle of the Ukrainian people against an aggressor he felt was violating their sovereignty and opening the world up to a third World War.
“All my personal problems didn’t feel important anymore … It felt wrong just to sit back and do nothing,” he said. “I had to go.”
The Alabama man was not alone. Two days after the invasion, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for “friends of Ukraine, freedom and democracy” to serve as volunteers in the Ukrainian military. More than 20,000 volunteers from 52 countries responded, many of whom had served in the U.S. Army, British Army, and, like Huynh, the U.S. Marine Corps, according to Ukrainian officials.
Their experience is credited by Zelenskyy for bolstering the war effort for Ukraine, especially since NATO countries have rejected sending ground troops in fears of starting their own conflict with Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in March that 16,000 volunteers from the Middle East would be joining his country’s fight.
Tanya Mehra, a senior research fellow at the International Centre for Counterterrorism at The Hague, said the mobilization of foreign fighters on battlefields dates to 1816 and they have played prominent roles in conflicts in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya and Somalia since the 1980s.MORE: US says Russia’s ‘dirty bomb’ claims are pretext for escalation in Ukraine
The evolution of foreign-born fighters has created distinct classes of fighters, from mercenaries who join conflicts primarily for financial gain, Mehra said, and others who are driven by ideological reasons. Mercenaries, she said, who are outsourced contractors for small governments, tend to be associated to “increases in violence and higher civilian casualties,” which can prolong the conflict, whereas foreign fighters become part of the state military, which makes them “accountable for the acts they have committed.”
Many of those foreign fighters serving in Ukraine tend to be older than your average soldier, and in a stage in their lives where they felt they could help through their years of experience.
John Harding, 59, joined the Ukrainian military in 2018, when the country was fighting Russian-backed separatists. As a professional combat medic who served in Syria, the British-born Harding put his experience to use on the battlefield. But he also found he was in demand as a trainer for other medics who had no idea how to apply first aid in a hostile combat environment
“Medics are notorious for getting themselves killed,” Harding said. “You may know how to apply a torniquet, but you also need to know how to apply a tourniquet while watching out for snipers.”
One American, who did not want to use his name because he is still fighting in Ukraine, said he joined the Ukrainian military in April because he felt “it is important for the world to stand up with the Ukrainians and resist aggression.” Having grown up in a military family and a U.S. Air Force veteran himself, the man took leave of his job in IT while living in central Europe to join the fight.
Today, he uses his background in engineering systems, cybersecurity and computer networks to operate drones in anti-tank and stinger missions. He said his squad was responsible for taking down a Mil Mi-28 Russian helicopter on July 18. The man said his homemade bombs and grenades are constructed using Coke cans and some of the 60 kilograms of TNT captured during an offensive in September. They take flight via off-the-shelf commercial drones.
The man said that the number of foreign fighters he encounters, the majority of whom were from the U.S., has decreased since the spring. The intensity of the fighting weeded away what he called the “TikTok warriors” who were not prepared for the danger, or length, of the missions. He remains fighting after seven months because of ideological reasons, but also because of the survivor’s guilt he felt when two men from his squad — Huynh and Alex Drueke, also from Alabama — were captured on June 9 following a firefight.
“I felt I lost my two brothers. They followed me to this unit. I felt very guilty,” he said. “Part of the reason I stayed this long is because of them.”MORE: Putin’s martial law declaration in Ukraine ‘speaks to his desperation,’ Blinken tells ABC
Huynh and Drueke, a U.S. Army veteran, spent 105 days in captivity, including a month in a Russian “black site,” where they endured daily torture. In late September they were released, along with eight other foreign-born volunteer fighters from England and Canada and more than 200 Ukrainian soldiers.
Harding was among those men released. He met Huynh and Drueke in a prison cell after having been captured in May when a Ukrainian unit he was with in Mariupol was forced to surrender. The torture he suffered has led to a diagnosis of permanent neurological damage to his hands, along with broken ribs and damage to his sternum. One aftereffect is “more psychological”: “I have mood swings which I don’t have control of,” he said.
He now lives close to family in Luton, a town in the southeast of England. The results of ongoing medical treatment will determine his ability to work.
“Would I do it again? Knowing what I know, probably not. Would I do it again if I didn’t know? Yes, I would,” he said. “The only thing I would have done different is I wouldn’t have surrendered. I would have fought to the very last round.”
Like Harding, Drueke and Hyunh also say they have no regrets. Back home in Alabama, they are adjusting to their former lives. Hyunh is engaged and will marry soon, while Drueke is contemplating his next career move. They have bonded, not just with one another, but with Harding and the other men in their unit who are either still in Ukraine or returned home. One day they hope to reunite, either in the U.S. or in England — or even Ukraine itself to help rebuild.
“Honestly, Ukraine has really surprised the world. We did not expect them to be that feisty, that strong, that determined,” said Drueke. “They are amazing people.”
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May 29th 2023
Buckle up because El Niño is almost here, and it’s going to get hot
/
Prepare for temperatures reaching ‘uncharted territory,’ the World Meteorological Organization warns.
By Justine Calma, a science reporter covering the environment, climate, and energy with a decade of experience. She is also the host of the Hell or High Water podcast.
May 17, 2023, 11:00 AM GMT+1|
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The next five years are almost guaranteed to be sweltering, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned today. Climate change has already raised baseline temperatures for the planet. Now, a weather pattern known as El Niño is going to make things even hotter when it develops later this year.
That one-two punch from El Niño and climate change is expected to “push global temperatures into uncharted territory,” WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in a press release today. “This will have far-reaching repercussions for health, food security, water management and the environment. We need to be prepared.”
“We need to be prepared.”
There’s a 98 percent chance that one of the following five years will be the warmest on record, according to a WMO report released today. There’s also a 98 percent likelihood that the average temperature for the entire five-year period will be hotter than the previous five years.
The planet is already running a fever. The last eight years have been the eight hottest on the books, the WMO reported in January. In the past few years alone, we’ve witnessed the jaw-dropping damage that extreme temperatures can bring.
The most extreme summer heatwave ever recorded in North America buckled roads and triggered a spike in emergency department visits in the Pacific Northwest US in 2021. China suffered its most severe heatwave on record last year. It was so widespread and long-lasting — stretching out more than 70 days — that it was likely also the most severe heat spell ever documented in the world, according to weather historian Maximiliano Herrera. Another record-smashing heatwave in July of last year sent temperatures in the notoriously cool and cloudy UK soaring above 40 degrees Celsius for the first time — an event researchers found to be “virtually impossible” without climate change.
All of that went down despite the mitigating effects of a rare and unusually long-lasting “triple-dip” La Niña from September 2020 until the March of this year. Think of it as the opposite of El Niño; La Niña is a weather pattern that has a cooling effect on the planet.
Right now, with neither La Niña nor El Niño taking place, trade winds over the Pacific Ocean help push warm waters westward from South America toward Asia. As that happens, cooler water rises from deep in the ocean toward the surface. Those trade winds weaken with El Niño, allowing warm water to flow back east. The warmer water also pushes the Pacific jet stream, a fast-flowing air current, southward — which can influence the weather.
El Niño is expected to take shape sometime between May and July and last at least until the winter, according to the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center. It can take up to a year before El Niño starts to affect global temperatures, the WMO says, which could be 2024 in this case.
With El Niño likely to push the mercury up even higher than we’ve seen during the persistent La Niña event over the past few years, global temperatures could soon breach a worrying benchmark. There’s now a 66 percent chance that during at least one year between 2023 and 2027, the annual average global temperature will rise more than 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than the preindustrial era (aka before burning fossil fuels created enough greenhouse gas pollution to heat the planet).
Related
- The forecast for 2023 is hot
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To be clear, 1.5 degrees of warming is a big deal. The Paris climate agreement strives to keep the world from warming beyond that threshold. So far, the planet has warmed by around 1.1 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels — which is the main driver of the more extreme weather we’re already seeing today. There’s still a slim window of time to achieve that goal — since the WMO predicts that the world will only temporarily overshoot the 1.5-degree target over the next five years.
“This report does not mean that we will permanently exceed the 1.5°C level specified in the Paris agreement, which refers to long-term warming over many years. However, WMO is sounding the alarm that we will breach the 1.5°C level on a temporary basis with increasing frequency,” Taalas said in the press release.
Not that long ago, in 2015, the chance of the world experiencing warming above 1.5 degrees Celsius was near zero, according to the WMO. And in 2021, the likelihood was just 10 percent. But we’re living in a different world today — and without swift action to tackle climate change, it’s going to keep throwing us a lot more curveballs.
May 20th 2023
Syria: Dismay and fear as Bashar al-Assad returns to Arab fold
- Published
- 6 hours ago
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By Jeremy Bowen
BBC International editor, Lebanon
President Bashar al-Assad strode into the Arab League summit in Jeddah, relishing the clearest recognition yet that he has won his war for Syria.
He was embraced by the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. A decade ago, the Saudis funded anti-Assad militias. Now the prince, known as MBS, wants to remake the Middle East, and he needs Syria onside.
In a speech, President Assad insisted that Syria would always belong to the Arab world. But other countries should not interfere with what happened inside its borders.
“It is important to leave internal affairs to the country’s people as they are best able to manage them,” he said.
By the people, President Assad meant the leader and his supporters. Between them, the princes and presidents at the summit have locked up many thousands of their opponents.
Events in Jeddah are being viewed with dismay by Syrians who blame the Assad regime for destroying their country, including all the Syrian refugees I have spoken to in Lebanon.
Lebanon, small and poor, has had to tolerate well over a million Syrians fleeing the war. That is the equivalent of a quarter of the Lebanese population – something like the UK accepting over 15 million refugees.
Now many Lebanese have had enough, making Syrians a convenient scapegoat for their own country’s chronic economic and political problems.
In the last few weeks, the army has deported around 1,500 of them back over the border at gunpoint, sometimes leaving children behind in Lebanon or forcing children out without their parents.
A refugee family speaking on condition that their identities were kept secret talked about life in a town near Beirut where a curfew has been imposed on Syrians.
The children have been thrown out of school. The turmoil in their lives is clear in their teenage daughter’s anguished artwork. Their father views the authoritarian Arab leaders embrace of Bashar al-Assad with contempt – and fear.
“The Assad regime is a dictatorship – the same as the other Arab regimes. They’re helping each other, cooperating against the people.”
In a refugee camp in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, Assad’s presence in Jeddah was another crushing blow. Nasser and Marwa, a couple who’ve been here since 2013, fear Assad’s return to the Arab League might be an excuse for more deportations.
Marwa said she woke up every morning thanking God she hadn’t been deported.
“Now we’re always afraid of the raids. I always imagine that they will come and take all the men and deport them.”
Nasser said he faced being drafted into the army if he went back. He escaped Syria to avoid fighting for the regime. He’s desperately worried about what would happen to his wife and their 18-month-old daughter Lillas if they are forced back.
Nasser was disgusted with the Arab League’s decision to readmit Assad’s Syria.
“After everything that he’s done, they’re hosting him. I don’t understand it, after all the killing and destruction, and the misery in Syria – it’s not acceptable.”
Syria, and the Assad regime, remain under US and European sanctions. Amnesty International, the human rights group, said that the president “turned Syria into a slaughterhouse”.
The UK government, Amnesty said, should “strenuously oppose any attempt to bolster Assad’s international standing”.
Some members of the Arab League agree. Qatar, which also funded the armed opposition in Syria, does not approve of Assad’s gradual return to Arab respectability.
But as well as the wider geopolitical plans of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who believe the Assad regime is a Middle Eastern reality and Syria a country they need to influence, there are other reasons for wanting to court Assad.
Jordan, as well as the Saudis, are fighting the spread of a narcotic drug called Captagon, which is made in Syria and smuggled into their countries. It is an amphetamine that was given to fighters to boost their endurance but is now widely used as a recreational drug.
The US and UK have imposed sanctions on named members of the Assad family who they say are heavily involved in the Captagon trade. Some estimates say the business is worth more than $50 billion (£40bn) a year.
At the United Nations, which runs a huge relief operation in Syria and Lebanon, there is cautious hope Syria’s readmission to the Arab League might somehow become a circuit breaker that allows diplomatic progress.
Imran Riza, the UN’s deputy special coordinator for Lebanon, tried to find a positive.
“If what’s happening now in the region is going to help to get us to a political solution then it’s a good thing.”
But the UN does not support forced repatriation. It insists that Syrian refugees cannot return home until their country is safe and secure. That is a long way off.
President Bashar al-Assad broke his country to save his regime. There has been no justice for his victims.
But there is a lesson for ruthless, authoritarian leaders, not least his close ally, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, whose decisive military intervention in 2015 helped the Assad regime to victory.
Wait out the storm and you can outlast your enemies.
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Comment This is very good news as long as the pernicious perfidioius Anglo U.S elite and warrior minions can be held at bay. They have serious issues with Assad and policies raping the Middle East ever since their hedonistic stooge Shah of Iran was toppled and they set up the Iraq Iran War, with ongoing consequeces. Islam is a major obstacle to progress and human rights, easily manipulated by global wealth.
R J Cook
May 19th 2023
‘Trump Card – Tales of Womanly Woe’ by R J Cook.
The following stories are definitive of the double standards applied when a man wins his case against a woman’s abuse allegations compared to a woman’s. Cases in point here are those of Amber Heard versus Johnny Depp and E Jean Carroll versus Donald Trump. Trump is a liberal hate figure so automatically guilty. Heard is a vulnerable pretty little female who would never lie.
Feminist supporting Sky News had an angry sneering female reporter mocking Johnny Depp’s apparent indifference to Holly Wood last Tuesday who have dropped him. It was clear that she represented dominant female prejudice that if a woman alleges rape or any other form of abuse, however long after the alleged event, the accused is guilty. This is why Scotland is pioneering judge only rape trials, for the specific reason of getting more convictions regardless of evidence.
Scotland also pioneered the absurd and transgender trivialising policy of gender self identification. This has led to two recently publicised cases where one convicted rapist put on a wig and ladies puffa jacket before announcing ‘I am woman.’ Yesterday another Scottish rape case involved another part time self identifier who is at best a transvestite. All of this is grist to the feminist mill that men will do anything to rape women – the latter being capable of lying because women are inherently good.
Last week I watched feminist educationalists addressing a Parliamentary Committee regarding policies to double down on lessons teaching boys respect for women. One agonised looking 30 something mum came out with an extraordinary reason for banning the sort of violent pornography that feral fatherless schoolboys apparently watch on mobile phones. She said that this was the cause of widespread erectile dysfunction. I have never watched violent porn because it sound like a very depressing and hopeless angle on life – as if rolling wars aren’t depressing enough. But it seems odd that males of any age would watch such material to achieve erectile dysfunction. There are obviously deeper reasons for erectile issues to which aggressive feminism, with its double standards and insistence that being female is a ‘protected status’ owes much responsibility.
The fact that Donald Trump was found guilty on the basis of one 79 year old woman’s here-say is a warning to all men outside of the elite – like Prince Andrew- or political targets like Donald Trump. There is a clear pattern of harassment in his case , with the New York bastion of fake liberalism, the last place he can expect justice for anything they dig up or fabricate to destroy him.
As a writer who has kept diaries and records since 1963 when I was given my first Letts Diary, I know that serious writers are never mistaken about dates – for my police readers take note, I can prove exactly where I was on October 2nd , 4th and 5th 2008. Since E Jean Carroll was a columnist for snooty ‘Elle’ magazine at the time, I find it hard to believe that she kept no diary and did not make an entry for such a traumatic event that took away her life – announcing to the media, that she is now elated to have gotten it back. It also mystifies me that she followed Trump to a ladies changing room where lingerie was the subject of discussion. The fact that this coincides with wider efforts to ruin his election campaign and so much money is on offer from the ‘nefarious’ me to industry should be a warning to every man outside of the mainstream ruling global mafia.
Apart from my extreme concern for justice and fears for my two sons in this terrible police state culture, I see Donald Trump as the only hope for U.S and world leadership in spite of his shortcomings. This Mafia will do anything to stop him , including election rigging. As for Johnny Depp, he is another victim of the emasculation of art in a world where A1 will soon takeover script writing and so called ‘sensitivity readers’ are there to rewrite past classics and create dumbed down PC versions of great movies. Author Salman Rushdie, is a victim of modern day sensitivities and intolerance because his ‘Satanic Verses’ managed to upset both Thatcher’s greedyTories and Islamists. He lost an eye when a Muslim lunatic attacked him for his views. The intention was to carry out the 1986 fatwa h.
Addressing a conference last Tuesday, brave Rushdie declaimed about this mentality, insisting that books should be of their time. He said ‘If people don’t like a book, they shouldn’t read it.’ If only it were that simple. For devout Muslims there is only one book and fixed God given ideas on how to live. That is the way back to the Dark Ages. But the politically correct may be offering worse, exploiting religious differences and so called diversity as means to their ends. Meanwhile the rich and powerful are protected , don’t pay their share of the taxes, control a lying controlling mainstream media, protect their profits from consequences of the current ‘cost of Ukraine war crisis, pump out new laws to stifle any physical or mental resistance while building giant rockets ships to escape a planet that may be beyond redemption.
R J Cook
Amber Heard files appeal against Johnny Depp libel trial verdict
After a six-week trial in Virginia, the jury found in favour of Johnny Depp – now, Amber Heard is appealing the decision. Depp had sued Heard over a Washington Post article she wrote in 2018, in which she described herself as a victim of domestic abuse – but did not name her ex-husband.
Entertainment reporter @gemmapeplow
Monday 5 December 2022 11:23, UK
Amber Heard has filed an appeal against her ex-husband Johnny Depp’s US libel lawsuit win.
Following a trial lasting several weeks earlier in the year, a jury in Virginia found in favour of Depp, ruling that a 2018 Washington Post article written by Heard was defamatory.
The actor was awarded $15m (£12m) by the court – comprising $10m (£8m) compensatory damages and a further $5m (£4m) in punitive damages – but the judge capped the punitive damages in accordance with legal limits, resulting in a total of $10.35m (around £8.5m).
Depp’s case was that Heard defamed him in the article, in which she described herself as a victim of domestic abuse.
While she did not mention the 59-year-old by name, he argued that the implication was clear – and denied allegations of abuse.
The Court of Appeals of Virginia received an opening brief for Heard’s appeal on 23 November and US media outlet Deadline has shared details of the 68-page report. It comes after the Aquaman actress filed an official notice that she would appeal earlier in the summer.
Heard, 36, is calling for the original verdict to be dismissed, or for a new trial to be held, according to the document.
Lawyers for the actress argue that Depp and the case have “no meaningful connection” to Virginia and that it was “wholly inconvenient” for him to sue there rather than California – where “both parties lived and where Depp claimed to have suffered reputational harm”.
They said Fairfax County Court, where the trial took place, was “mistaken” in its conclusion that Depp’s claims arose in the state because the Washington Post’s servers are located there.
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They have also argued that the case should not have gone to trial at all in the US following the verdict in Depp’s separate case against The Sun in the UK in 2020, which he lost – the judge in that case ruled an article published by the newspaper about abuse allegations against Depp was “substantially true”.
Heard’s lawyers also say that there were “evidentiary errors that severely prejudiced” the actress during the US trial.
The US trial verdict
After six weeks of testimony, the Depp v Heard court case came to an end on 1 June, with the jury finding that a 2018 article Heard wrote for the Washington Post, about her alleged experiences as a survivor of domestic abuse, was defamatory towards Depp.
Heard won on one count of her counter-suit, successfully arguing that one of Depp’s attorneys defamed her by claiming her allegations were “an abuse hoax” aimed at capitalising on the #MeToo movement.
The jury awarded her $2m (£1.5m) in damages.
Following the US trial verdict, Depp has been throwing himself into his music career, performing with Jeff Beck and announcing a tour for his rock supergroup Hollywood Vampires in 2023.
He also made a surprise cameo at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards – joking with the audience he “needed the work” as he was projected on stage dressed as an astronaut.
Sky News has contacted representatives for Depp and Heard for comment.
Trump attacks ‘biased’ judge and will appeal after jury finds he sexually abused writer E Jean Carroll in changing room
Jurors award the former Elle magazine advice columnist $5m in damages – but Trump won’t face criminal penalties as it was a civil case.
Donald Trump has promised to appeal and called it a “disgrace” after a jury found him liable for sexually abusing a writer in the 1990s.
The former US president was also found to have defamed E Jean Carroll, but the civil trial rejected her claim she was raped during the encounter.
Trump must pay the former Elle magazine advice columnist $5m (£4m) in damages.
Donald Trump has promised to appeal and called it a “disgrace” after a jury found him liable for sexually abusing a writer in the 1990s.
The former US president was also found to have defamed E Jean Carroll, but the civil trial rejected her claim she was raped during the encounter.
Trump must pay the former Elle magazine advice columnist $5m (£4m) in damages.
Ms Carroll, 79, said they ran into each other in a department store in Manhattan in 1995 or 1996 and that Trump ended up raping her in a changing room.
Trump lashed out on his Truth Social site, calling the outcome “a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time” and a “disgrace”.
He claimed the judge was biased and made sure “the result was as negative as it could possibly be, speaking to, and in control of a jury from an anti-Trump area…”
The nine-person jury deliberated for just under three hours before finding him guilty on Tuesday.
Following the verdict, Ms Carroll said she sued Trump to “get my life back” and that “today the world finally knows the truth”.
“This victory is not just for me but for every woman who has suffered because she was not believed,” she said.
She testified that the attack happened after a chance encounter with Trump at the Bergdorf Goodman store across the street from Trump Tower.
She said it started as a light-hearted interaction in which they teased each other about trying a piece of lingerie, before Trump became violent inside a dressing room.
Read more:
Sexual abuse finding will resonate through presidential campaign
What other investigations is Trump facing?
May 17th 2023
| “Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most.” ABRAHAM LINCOLN |
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May 12th 2023
‘Values and freedoms’
The EBU added that a Ukrainian design agency had been involved in designing art work for the Eurovision, and 11 Ukrainian artists, including last year’s winners Kalush Orchestra, will be performing.
Anglo – U.S dominate Europe. Brexit was to shut out the U.K masses, not that they were ever really meant to benefit. Britain’s Tory elite reigned supreme 1979 – 97. Blair followed with his New Labour,acting like Thatcher on steroids. The European Union became a tighter and closer police state. However something seemed to be going wrong. By the time Boris was on the parliamentary throne Europe was to blame for all of the country’s ills. He plotted for the referendum with slogans like ‘getting our country back’ and ‘Brexit means Brexit’.
These were just vacuous slogans. The real idea was at best the ‘Norway Model’ so that the British could work with the United States directing elite capitalist planet eating policies. So we have super rich British Prime Minister Sunak clamouring to have Zelensky to address the dreadful musical vinegar event called Eurovision. Zelensky doesn’t think they will get a big break through in Ukraine so he is getting his excuses in early. Sunak is helping him to fight the ban on him using the big trashy Europe wide event to sell his war as an even bigger event.
The reasons why Russia had no choice but to make a stand against the EU and NATO moving ever closer are never mentioned . Their intent is to reduce Russian culture to their gravy train. These arrogant people discredit Russia as if it is still the old Soviet Union. Old documentaries on Soviet tyranny abound. We are not supposed to know that U. K’s monarch’s Russian cousin’s tyranny caused the 1917 revolution and that the U. K’s arrogant Churchill led the western charge to overturn it. That did much to turn Lenin’s ideal into an oppressive system no better than the Tsar, though Stalin did bring the sprawling empire into the modern age. He was replaced by Ukrainian Nikita Khrushchev. Ukraine shares much of Russian identity which is why western media stays quiet on Zelensky’s regime genocide of Ethnic Russians in the Donbas,
In a sense that tacky Eurovision camp environment is a perfect place for a tacky third rate actor and clown. Britain’s corrupt banal elite are expert at hiding their evil underbelly and real intent. Sunak, another glib fast talking showman loves it. U.K arms manufacturers are having a field day. The Middle East has been a gold mine, along with U.K supported genocide in Yemen where the RAF are coordinating bombing missions for Saudi Arabia.
Sometime soon I will apply my thoughts to U.K Values and Democracy/
R J Cook
Eurovision: Ukraine’s Zelensky should address contest, says Rishi Sunak
By Paul Seddon
Politics reporter
Rishi Sunak is “disappointed” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has not been allowed to address this year’s Eurovision, his spokesman says.
The organisers, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), say it would breach its political impartiality.
But Downing Street said it would be “fitting” for Mr Zelensky to speak given Russia’s invasion of his country.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is also calling for the Ukrainian leader to be allowed to make a speech.
Ukraine was meant to be hosting this year’s Eurovision after winning it last year, but it is taking place in Liverpool instead after Russia’s invasion.
It has been reported that Mr Zelensky wanted to make a video appearance at the contest’s final on Saturday, to an expected global audience of 160 million.
- When is the Eurovision 2023 final and who is in it?
- Russia banned from 2022 Eurovision Song Contest
- Zelensky: We must wait before starting offensive
But in a statement on Thursday, the EBU said it had turned down a request from the Ukrainian president to address the event, despite his “laudable intentions”.
However, Mr Sunak’s spokesman questioned the decision on Friday, saying: “The values and freedoms that President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine are fighting for are not political, they’re fundamental”.
The spokesman argued that Eurovision “themselves recognised that last year” by banning Russian artists from participating.
Eurovision was conceived in the 1950s as a way of promoting post-war unity between European states. As a result, politics has always been kept at arm’s length.
It’s a policy that’s never been easy or comfortable to enforce. In 2005, Lebanon was due to make its debut when it refused to air Israel’s entry. As a result, it received a three-year ban from the contest, and never took part.
Georgia also fell foul of the rules in 2009, when they submitted a song called “We Don’t Wanna Put In”.
The lyrics were a thinly-veiled critique of Russia’s Vladimir Putin, following the previous year’s Russo-Georgian war. When the country refused to amend the song, they were suspended.
The commitment to neutrality is so strong that, last year, organisers agonised over what to do about Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
Although Russia was eventually banned, Eurovision’s executive supervisor Martin Osterdahl said it had been a hard decision to make.
“It was, and it still is,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
But, he added: “How Europe feels very much affects the contest. When we say we are not political, what we always should stand up for are the basic and ultimate values of democracy.”
Critics of the decision to decline President Zelensky will say the contest has already made a political move by banning Russia. And their argument isn’t without merit.
But the EBU would counter that supporting a war-torn country is very different to allowing the leader of that country to make a call to arms.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-65574033
May 10th 2023
COVID Vaccines
Strange Cell Diseases Reported After COVID Vaccination
COVID Vaccines
Strange Cell Diseases Reported After COVID Vaccination
Elite Conspiracy Is Western Way Of Life.
COVID Vaccines
Little Me by R J Cook
Little Me by R J Cook
Back in the 1980s a very good female friend and colleague of mine at an Aylesbury school was most distraught when I made my usual good morning visit to her room. She was devastated because her partner had been arrested for an alleged rape 28 years earlier.
Another relevant memory from back in 2000, was riding a mare called Molly, passed a field containing a stalion. I had been warned the stalion was there and that mares come on heat.Heat lasts for about 4 à 7 days depending on the mare and are repeated every 3 weeks. However, the mare does not come into heat during the winter period. These only occur from April to October..
Mare cycles generally last 21 days with them expressing signs of heat for 4-7 days. Estrus is expressed outwardly by; raising the tail, frequent urination, “winking” or eversion of the vulva, squealing, and posturing which entails widening the back legs while rounding the hind quarters.
Needless to say, my passage passing the Stalion’s field was interesting. I needed a good hold on the reins. “Horses generally neigh to attract attention of other horses or of people. Molly was certainly doing this for the stalion as we passed the field gate. For stallions their sense of smell allows them to identify a mare who is coming into season, even up to half a mile away. MSolly could certainly smell him as he galloped across his field. Stern measures were required but I kept control,though Molly took her revenge by standing on my foot while I was taking off her tack later in the yard. She appeared to be smiling at me.
Most female mammals experience a hormone-induced oestrus or “heat”, but women are not thought to, and are not considered to be aware of when they are most fertile. However , Some women are responsive to sexual overtures on all, or at least many (especially if they have had enough sleep) of the days in their cycle.
Having an interest in sex throughout the cycle is one of the characteristics of humans that distinguishes us from other mammals. My points here are : 1) It is devastating and absurd for a woman to come out of the blue with allegations of a 27 year old unreported rape claim, in a situation where it is a woman’s word against a man’s. 2) Women are capable of lying. This should be accepted if equality of treatment is to have any credibility. 3) Women like and need sex for physical and psycholgical reasons.
Additional points are :4 ) Increasing numbers of men are turning off sex , forced by partners to use viagra, many turning gay or outing as transsexual 5 ) Many are ruined by divorce 6) Increasing numbers of both sexes commit sucide.
Later on, I will expand on all of these points and their applications to Donald Trump’s latest problem. Suffice it say, Trump’s latest sex accuser told world press that she did it for women of the world. She gloated ,while saying “Trump survived all those impeachment hearings,but it was 5′ 9” me and my little blonde lawyer who beat him.”
R J Cook
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Donald Trump Trump Gives Ominous Warning Before CNN Showdown
V
| Wednesday briefing:How a jury concluded Donald Trump is a sexual predator |
| Archie Bland |
| Good morning. When E Jean Carroll, a magazine writer, came forward to describe how she was sexually assaulted by Donald Trump in a Manhattan department store in 1996, Trump called her claim “a complete con job” and accused her of making it up to sell books. But yesterday, a New York jury – in a civil, rather than criminal, case – disagreed. They found that he was liable for sexual abuse and defamation – and ordered him to pay her $5 million in damages.The jury did not find that Trump had raped Carroll, as she alleged. But it said that he was shown by a preponderance of the evidence to have sexually abused her, and then told a malicious falsehood about her that did serious damage to her reputation. After years of credible allegations of sexual misconduct against Trump, yesterday’s verdict is the first time that a court has said that such a claim has been proven to be true.Step back from the circus that invariably surrounds Trump and his behaviour, and the fact that the leading Republican candidate for president has been found by a jury to have been liable for sexual abuse – defined as subjecting a victim to sexual contact by physical force – appears extraordinary. Today’s newsletter explains the complex legal process that led to this point, and what it might mean for Trump’s prospects of returning to the White House. Here are the headlines. |
May 9th 2023
Trumped – A Foregone Conclusion
Trump Guilty As Charged ?
Summary
- Donald Trump sexually abused and defamed writer E Jean Carroll, a New York jury finds in civil case
- But the former president was cleared of rape over the alleged assault in a department store in the 1990s
- The jury awarded the writer almost $5m in damages for the battery and defamation charges
- Trump did not testify, but the jury – made up of six men and three women – was shown a video deposition where he denied the rape
- The claim was brought to trial after New York passed a law that allowed survivors to sue years after their alleged sexual assault
- The burden of proof in a civil case is lower than in a criminal trial – a preponderance of the evidence rather than beyond a reasonable doubt
The political fallout
Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent
A jury of nine New Yorkers has concluded that it is more likely than not that Donald Trump sexually abused a woman in the 1990s.
While that may not make a dent in Trump’s base within the Republican Party, where his supporters view the US legal system with scepticism and have stood by him through all manners of adversity, it is a ruling that could sting if he wins the Republican nomination in 2024.
In the 2020 presidential election – as well as the 2018 and 2022 congressional midterms – many suburban voters, particularly women, recoiled from Trump’s brand of brash politics.
A finding that Trump sexually abused and defamed E Jean Carroll – as well as his belligerent performance during a taped deposition for the case – can only push those kinds of voters farther away from him.
Perhaps that will take a political toll on the former president’s re-election chances. At the very least, it is another historic first for a former president who already has one criminal indictment and possibly others to come.
How Carroll won against Trump
Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court
In the end, this case hinged on E Jean Carroll’s credibility. Although the trial lasted two weeks, it only took about three hours for the jury to reach a verdict.
Some members of the nine-person jury may have largely decided they believed Carroll after hearing her testify about the assault in graphic and vivid detail.
The aggressive cross-examination of Carroll by Donald Trump’s lawyer may not have helped his case, according to legal experts. Over the course of two days, Joe Tacopina repeatedly pressed Carroll on how she acted, including why she did not scream during it.
“When it becomes so brash in tone, there is a point where it feels like you’re beating up on this witness personally,” said Kristy Greenberg, a former federal prosecutor in New York. “When you cross that line, I think that’s where you start to lose the jury.”
May 7th 2023
At Least 9 Injured in Shooting at Texas Outlet Mall
There were fatalities, the authorities said, but they did not offer specifics after gunfire erupted at the Allen Premium Outlets in Allen, Texas, on Saturday. Officials said the gunman was dead.
By Mary Beth Gahan, Remy Tumin, Claire Fahy and Lauren McCarthy
Mary Beth Gahan reported from Allen, Texas.
May 6, 2023Updated 8:36 p.m. ET
At least nine people were injured and an unspecified number of others were killed after a shooting at a mall north of Dallas on Saturday, the authorities said.
At a news conference Saturday night, Brian E. Harvey, the chief of police in Allen, Texas, confirmed that people had been killed but did not provide further details.
May 4th 2023
Ugly Truths Of Mass Migration Which Has Nothing To Do With Asylum & Is Bringing Third World Standards Of Religious Mania, Rampant Overpopulation, War, Gang Crime And Disease – Under Elite Control, Of Which King Charles III Is a Supreme Example. The Global Rich Hypocrits Are Planet Eating Liars, Thriving On Mass Ignorance And Poverty. They Desperately Need To Lie Their Pants Off, Risking Nuclear War To Bring Vladimir Putin Back In Line.
R J Cook
Immigration has become an intractable political issue in the rich world.When government leaders take a hard line against inflows of people seeking a better life, they’re slammed as uncaring. Measures deemed too lax spark criticism even from liberals that the state doesn’t have the capacity to absorb the newcomers and only fans anti-immigration sentiment. Key Reading: US Readies 1,500 Troops to Cope With Border Migrant Surge Biden Eyes New Rules to Deter Border Crossings After Title 42 Sunak’s Crackdown on Channel Migrants Passes Commons Hurdle UK Seeks to Scare Off Migrants With Plan to House Them on Barge Italy Wants NATO to Help Combat Russia-Driven Migrant InfluxUS President Joe Biden’s decision to send 1,500 troops to help secure the US-Mexico border demonstrates the perilous politics of immigration as he seeks a second term in 2024.With pandemic-era restrictions that enable the rapid removal of undocumented migrants due to be lifted next week, Biden is hoping to avoid chaos along the 1,951-mile frontier that would fuel Republican complaints of a weak policy. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government, trailing in opinion polls ahead of elections next year, is trumpeting a proposal to deport undocumented migrants to Rwanda. The United Nations says such a policy will expose refugees to “serious harm” and is incompatible with Britain’s international obligations.In the Mediterranean, reports of capsizing ships and drowning migrants coming from North Africa have become routine. More than 3,231 were reported dead or missing last year alone, according to the UN. Italy has asked NATO and the European Union for help in dealing with the crisis.While population movement is fueled by poverty, political repression, criminal gangs, wars and increasingly climate change, for many families, migration is a sound investment. Remittances from the US to Honduras or from South Africa to Zimbabwe ensure that families back home can survive.For the US, in particular, immigration has long been shaped by images conjured up by “The New Colossus,” the 140-year-old poem by Emma Lazarus at the base of the Statue of Liberty in New York, with its exhortation to “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”As the election politics play out, though, that seems increasingly like a dream that’s being stifled. — Karl Maier |
 A sign in Spanish protesting the treatment of migrants near the US border in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on March 29. Photographer: Nicolo Filippo Rosso/BloombergListen to our Twitter Space discussion today at 8am ET (1pm London) on the renewed tensions in the South China Sea and the impact on Asia and the US.Understand power in Washington through the lens of business, government and the economy. Sign up for the new Bloomberg Washington Edition newsletter delivered weekdays. And if you are enjoying this newsletter, sign up here. |
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Averting a catastrophic US debt default risks coming down to as few as seven days, underscoring the threat of the partisan impasse in Congress. Between now and June 1 — when the Treasury Department may run out of sufficient cash — Biden and House and Senate members are scheduled to be in town at the same time for the sum total of one week.New sanctions are being prepared by Ukraine’s allies against Russia to tighten the net on President Vladimir Putin’s economy, Alberto Nardelli reports. A key goal of the packages — which will be prepared separately by the EU, US, Japan and Canada but jointly coordinated — will be to close loopholes and tackle sanctions evasion.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made a surprise visit to Finland today to join Nordic leaders in discussing efforts to help his country against Russian aggression. Russia’s oil exports jumped above 4 million barrels a day last week, offering no sign that Moscow has delivered on its threat to cut output, according to tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. The transition to clean energy depends on copper, yet analysts at Wood Mackenzie estimate the world will be short about 6 million tons of the metal by the next decade. While exploration has ticked higher of late, spending remains far short of what is required and there are simply not enough new mines.The mood among many Turkish voters is tilting against Recep Tayyip Erdogan and could thwart the president’s reelection bid on May 14. Workers suffering from brutal inflation, young people worried about grim prospects and wavering support among once-steadfast voters from the Turkish diaspora are combining to threaten Erdogan’s grip on power, with polls showing a first-round victory out of reach.Turkey’s inflation slowed to less than 50% for the first time in over a year, but underlying pressure on prices is rising. |
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Turkey’s Election Won’t Make the West’s Dreams Real: Bobby Ghosh Britain Needs a King, Even If It’s Charles III: Max Hastings ‘Godfather’ of AI Should Have Spoken Up Sooner: Parmy OlsonAmid post-Brexit chaos, a cost-of-living crisis, scandals and policy misfires, the UK’s governing Conservative Party is facing big losses at local elections in England tomorrow. As Lucy White reports, the polls are also a test of whether Labour under leader Keir Starmer has what it takes to get back into power at a general election expected next year. Sunak and Starmer. Source: Bloomberg/Getty Images |
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| The Country Where Bankers’ Pay Is Booming: Saudi Arabia What Constitutes a ‘Bailout’? Did US Banks Get One? COP28 President Al Jaber Seeks End of ‘Fossil Fuel Emissions’Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva raised the possibility of using the Shanghai-based New Development Bank established by BRICS countries to help Argentina over its financial crisis. Lula, speaking after talks with Argentine President Alberto Fernandez yesterday, took aim at the International Monetary Fund — which has a $44 billion loan agreement with Buenos Aires — saying he is working “to remove its knife from Argentina’s neck.” Read how the US ambassador to the UN is using a visit to Brazil to highlight the different approaches Washington and Beijing are taking to investment in the country, in a bid to balance Lula’s tilt to China.Tune in to Bloomberg TV’s Balance of Power at 5pm to 6pm ET weekdays with Washington correspondents Annmarie Hordern and Joe Mathieu. You can watch and listen on Bloomberg channels and online here. |
| News to Note |
The Biden administration has decided to remain quiet publicly on what it sees as India’s democratic backsliding, according to senior US officials, as Washington intensifies efforts to keep New Delhi on its side in the rivalry with China. US House lawmakers are requesting information from Nike, Adidas and at least two other companies on whether they are importing goods produced by forced labor in China. Hungary’s parliament passed legislation aimed at de-politicizing the courts in an effort to unlock almost half of the funds the EU has blocked over rule of law and corruption concerns. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol urged China to reduce the nuclear threat posed by North Korea, responding directly to Beijing’s displeasure over the US ally’s new security agreement with Washington. Pakistan’s rival political forces have agreed to hold provincial and national elections on the same day, a move that signals a slight concession from Imran Khan, who has been pushing for snap polls.And finally … Norway’s biggest oil and gas companies are reviving exploration plans in the Arctic waters, as the government agitates for fresh discoveries in the Barents Sea, which is estimated to hold more than 60% of the country’s undiscovered hydrocarbon resources. While exploration success so far has been limited, Kari Lundgren reports that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put Oslo under growing pressure to pump more natural gas to its European neighbors as the continent moves to sever energy ties with Moscow. The Arctic Explorer LNG tanker sits at anchor in a fjord outside Hammerfest in April 2017. Photographer: Mikhael Holter/Bloomberg |
India Beware Of NATO. Foreign Aid Benefits Ruling Western & Westernised Ruling Elite.
The Morning Filter 04 May 2023  |
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| Welcome to the Morning Filter newsletter, your guide from The Hindu on the major news stories and events to follow today. |
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Here are the latest updates and the big news stories to follow today 1. ‘Scuffle’ between wrestlers protesting at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, police personnel  A scuffle allegedly broke out between the wrestlers staging a protest at Jantar Mantar and some police personnel, leading to head injuries to a couple of protesters. The protesting wrestlers alleged that they were manhandled by the police personnel. Several videos of the incident went viral on social media, one of which showed some protesters accusing one policeman of being drunk. 2. NCLT to hear Go First plea for insolvency proceedings today  Go First approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Wednesday (May 3) and sought the admission of its insolvency plea. It owes creditors ₹11,463 crore, the airline said in its insolvency filing. The NCLT Delhi has listed the matter for Thursday.3. Jaishankar to hold bilateral talks with Chinese, Russian counterparts today but dialogue unlikely with Pak FM  External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is set to hold separate bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang and Russia’s Sergey Lavrov at a beach resort in Goa on Thursday on the sidelines of a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) amid rapidly evolving regional security situation.4. Meghalaya: Union Minister Nityanand Rai to inaugurate key land port Union minister Nityanand Rai will inaugurate the newly constructed land port at Meghalaya’s Dawki town on Thursday, which is expected to boost trade and commerce between India and Bangladesh, officials said. 5. Imran Khan has time till today to appear before a Pak court after taking exception to his persistent absenceA Pakistani high court on Wednesday asked former premier Imran Khan to appear on Thursday in person while granting him a day’s extension in bail pleas in nine cases and warning that it may cancel his interim bail over his persistent absence from hearings. 6. Telangana CM KCR to inaugurate new BRS office in Delhi Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will inaugurate the new building of his party Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in the national capital on Thursday. 7. Amit Shah, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to visit SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal’s village todayUnion Home Minister Amit Shah and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will visit Badal village in Punjab’s Muktsar on Thursday to pay homage to SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal who passed away recently. |
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May2nd 2023
| Private satellites spotted a new Chinese blimp. Finding out what China’s military is up to with the airship requires digging into other features at its holding facility in Xinjiang. |
| Japan’s prime minister went to Africa thinking of China. Fumio Kishida is meeting with the leaders of four countries that have recently, coincidentally or not, forged close ties with China. |
| India blocked 14 mobile messenger apps on security fears. They were likely being used by terrorist groups in Jammu and Kashmir to communicate with people in Pakistan. |
| France’s new retirement age fueled May Day protests. Nearly 800,000 people demonstrated nationwide against president Emmanuel Macron’s overhaul of the country’s pension system. |
| You can ask why JPMorgan Chase agreed to buy the failed First Republic Bank out of regulatory receivership. But a better question might be, why not? CEO Jamie Dimon has been heralded as Wall Street’s white knight, saving Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual in 2008 (not without remorse), and now is sweeping in to catch First Republic. |
| It begs the question: Does Dimon have a savior complex, or did he just see a chance for a big bank to get bigger? His affinity for a certain TV show could offer some clues. |
| 216 gigawatts: A record high electricity demand in India, set on April 18.This summer is likely to see more records, and let’s just say Indian power companies are not not excited about what higher temperatures mean for their business. |
May 1st 2023
Lies That Life Is Black and White ( Bob Dylan ), by R J Cook
This is a short comment on the following and related issues. The world population divides not into men and women, black or white. The essential difference is between rich and poor. Empowerment of women is an elite con funded by the likes of aged billionaire George Soros. Any power a working class woman gets comes from the working men who would give her far more real power and protection than the state – if that State could be prevented from grinding those men down with poisonous alarmist feminist propaganda. Female empowerment is about rubbishing working class men to block their social mobility.
This evil process distracts the world’s working class masses from the truth. Vamping up and reinventing religions under cover of diversity is the same old ‘suffer little children to come unto me’ that they pumped out during the nineteenth century industrial revolution, slavery, exploitation and related colonial wars. If anyone takes the Lord’s name in vain it is the vile global elite. They twist egalitarian peace lover Jesus Christ’s words into all the global off shoots of the subsequent mainstream religions including Roman Catholicism and Islam.
Religious mania is mass hypnosis, thus enabling to power and gold grabbing elites to destroy social order in Sudan and the flood of Africans from their ruined continent into Europe, bringing their backward culture with them, where they will claim the privileges of diversity and levelling up. Britain’s elite and posh left wing politicians virtue signal that all who want to enter the U.K must be let in. They have pressed Europe to follow their example, pushing Europe’s borders east to make more liebensraum , to borrow a phrase from Adolph Hitler, another deranged bigot. The posh patronising boys and girls selecting, editing and presenting the U.K news are desperately decrying the Wagner Group because they don’t want an intelligent Russo Chinese plan for Africa or Latin America.
Boat people may drown but religious bigotry and elite perpetuated poverty will keep up the supply of cheap labour to the west. Years ago I was responsible for a lot of valuable trade between Europe and my employer, The Nitrate Corporation of Chile. That trade, I am ashamed to say was all about the rich global elite. Since King Charles III is a member of the insidious Bilderberg Group worth £1.8 billion and growing massively daily, I am outraged that we are being invited to offer an oath of allegiance to him at his coronation. The Bilderberg meeting is an annual off-the-record conference established in 1954 to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. The group’s agenda, originally to prevent another world war, is now defined as bolstering a consensus around free market Western capitalism and its interests around the globe. These people have the cheek to call this democracy while denigrating Vladimir Putin as evil.
R J Cook
Technology is transforming the deadly voyage from Cuba to Florida
From Havana to Key West on a surfboard and a cellphone.
Jose Cabezas/Reuters
17 April 2023 • Havana, Cuba
- Navigation apps allow Cuba’s seaborne migrants to download and operate maps offline.
- The maps help migrants plan their routes better to avoid dangers at sea.
- The combination of digital technology, increased mobile internet access on the island, and user-friendly maritime apps has forever altered the way traditional migration is being conducted.
Last summer, Pablo Mantilla Masa, 34, set out to sea on a kite surfboard, armed with a smartphone loaded with OsmAnd, a maps and navigation app. It provides free nautical charts, with which he trained for months, tracking his speed along the coast of his native Cuba’s Varadero beach. Mantilla’s ultimate aim was to combine his surfboard skills with the charts on his phone to make the risky crossing across the sea to Florida. It would be his fourth attempt to migrate by sea since 2010.
“On one occasion, I spent four days wandering out at sea until I was able to make it back,” Mantilla told Rest of World, recalling a previous failed attempt. “Spending a night at sea is terrifying. But during the day, the sun weighed on me, I suffered from dehydration, back pain, and vomiting.”
Cubans have migrated to the U.S. by sea for a very long time. Due to the scarcity of legal pathways, most take the difficult air and land routes through Mexico, while others have opted to try the shorter but perilous journey by sea. Although there is no official death toll for the island’s seaborne migrants, known as balseros or rafters, at least 100,000 are reported to have died attempting the crossing between 1959 and 1994. More recent firsthand accounts, like that of Mantilla, recount the dangers of this journey.
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Balseros face numerous challenges, starting with the difficulty of navigating the makeshift rafts on which they take to the sea. They must maneuver through shifting currents, choppy waters, and the looming threat of shark attacks. It all adds up to a heavy physical and psychological toll as they attempt to cross the roughly 145-kilometer stretch between Cuba and the southern tip of Florida.
Smartphones and mobile internet access have altered the way Cuba’s balseros prepare for and undertake their journeys. The newest generation — “balseros 3.0” — are using digital devices, free and user-friendly navigation apps, as well as newly available e-commerce services to procure their (sometimes regulated) equipment.
“If I’d ventured out only with a compass like we did before, on seeing the waves coming at me from every direction, the sun right above me in the sky, I would’ve second-guessed the compass,” said Mantilla, who arrived in Key West with the help of a navigation app in about six and a half hours. He now works as a kitesurf instructor in Key Biscayne. “I would have made it because I was traveling in the right direction but it would have been much more stressful,” he said.
Maritime navigation apps, like OsmAnd and Navionics Boating, were initially created for those who dabble in recreational fishing and sailing. Both work on Android and iOS devices, and operate using OpenStreetMap, a collaborative database updated in real time by mappers worldwide to help other users identify diving, fishing, and snorkeling spots. The apps allow users to drop markers on the map to plan potential routes in advance, and to prevent collisions among sailors and larger vessels in busy shipping routes.
Apps like these have been around since at least 2007, but until recently, internet restrictions had prevented Cubans from downloading them. Now, thanks to the increased availability of mobile internet, would-be migrants are not only gaining access to these apps but also using online resources to learn how to use them and train for the journey. Mantilla found out about OsmAnd by searching online for recommendations on free navigation apps that worked offline. He then watched YouTube videos to learn how to use the app’s features.
Randy Milanés Pérez wishes he’d had navigation apps when he migrated in 2014. At the time, he told Rest of World, he had joined 21 other migrants on a U.S.-bound makeshift boat. They had all chipped in for a standalone Garmin GPS device, which they had acquired for $450 on the black market — in Cuba, owning an unauthorized GPS device is regulated. Milanés Pérez said they would turn the GPS on and off intermittently to balance the risk of their signal being detected by the U.S. Coast Guard’s radars with the danger of losing their way. They navigated for about 36 hours until they arrived on U.S. soil safely. They were allowed to stay, thanks to the former asylum policy of “wet feet, dry feet.”
Elián López Cabrera, 49, traveled to the U.S. on a wind surfboard. Like Mantilla, he set sail from Varadero beach, but used the Navionics Boating app instead. It was the first app he’d come across, and was completely free when López Cabrera created his account. Currently, though, users have complete access to the charts for only two weeks before there is a paywall, after which point the charts no longer update. Cubans can’t make electronic payments, unless someone abroad with a credit card pays on their behalf. This means many would now likely struggle to use the app as a migratory tool.
Before he even left the island, López Cabrera used Navionics Boating to identify three potential destinations, based on the vector of his route and the force of ocean currents along his path. The app provided guidance on how to correct his route if he veered off course.
But the weather conspired against López Cabrera: Contrary to the forecast, the wind did not propel him fast enough, and his strength was waning. He floated somewhere along his pre-planned route for a day and a half until he realized he was not going to make it to Florida. Years prior, his fate would have been sealed — he would have most likely died at sea. This time, though, he had come prepared for such an eventuality.
López Cabrera had come armed with another SIM card, registered to a U.S. number operated by AT&T. A Mexican friend visiting Cuba had furtively gifted it to him the day before he set sail. The U.S. SIM card allowed him to share his location with friends, who contacted the U.S. Coast Guard. He was rescued 15 miles south of Islamorada, an island off the south coast of Florida. He has since been paroled in the U.S. for a year, after which he can apply to the Cuban Adjustment Act to obtain permanent residency.
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The benefits of the navigation apps go beyond providing essential data for individuals who embark on unauthorized sea journeys by themselves. Apart from helping migrants overcome the physical challenges of navigating the waters of the Florida Strait, the apps provide a psychological lifeline.
“You have to be mentally healthy because the journey can get very monotonous,” said López Cabrera, but the apps help, he added. “Incredibly, there are still lots of people who don’t know that this technology is available. I’m not advising anyone to undertake this voyage, though, because [even with the apps], it’s a crazy endeavor.”
Lidia Hernández-Tapia is a multimedia journalist, translator, and scholar.
Labor
Sudan crisis: Chaos at port as thousands rush to leave
By Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondent
Port Sudan is rapidly becoming a crucial hub in the midst of Sudan’s violence. The BBC’s Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet joined the latest evacuation mission to Jeddah.
In the dead of night, as HMS Al Diriyah approached Sudan’s coast, Saudi officers flicked on sweeping search lights to secure safe passage for their warship into a harbour rapidly transforming into a major evacuation and humanitarian hub in Sudan’s deepening crisis.
Even at 2am two other hulking vessels were also anchored offshore at Port Sudan, its largest port, waiting their turn in this international rescue effort.
“I feel so relieved but also so sad to be part of this history,” Hassan Faraz from Pakistan told us, visibly shaken.
We reached the quayside in a Saudi tugboat at the end of a 10-hour journey through the night in HMS Al Diriyah from the Saudi port city of Jeddah. A small group of foreign journalists were given rare access to enter embattled Sudan, if only briefly.
“People will be speaking about these events for many years to come,” Faraz reflected, as a long queue formed on the wharf for passports to be checked against the Saudi manifest. This time, it was many young workers from South Asia who said they had waited here for three long days – after two hard weeks in this hellscape of war.
Another man from Pakistan, who said he had worked at a Sudanese foundry, spoke of having “seen so much, so many bomb blasts and firing”. Then he fell silent, staring into the sea, too traumatised to say more.
The fighting which raged in recent weeks, amidst very imperfect and partial ceasefires, is a pitched battle for power between the Sudanese army led by Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group headed by Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti.
“Port Sudan has fared relatively better in this war,” my British-Sudanese colleague Mohanad Hashim explained. “Fighting only erupted here on 15 April, the first day, but now this port city is overwhelmed by people fleeing Khartoum and other places.”
We had just sailed past the graceful Naval Club turned tented village for the displaced. Many people are now sleeping rough on the streets as they wait for a way out. Local hotels are swamped by people with passports from the world over, along with emergency consular services hastily established by embassies who have evacuated most of their staff from the capital.
Many fear there is no way out. Port Sudan is packed with people who have less lucky passports, including Yemenis, Syrians and Sudanese.
Some 3,000 Yemenis, mainly students, have been stuck for weeks in Port Sudan. “The Saudis are rescuing some Yemenis but they’re nervous about accepting large numbers,” admitted a security adviser trying to help them find a way back to their own war-torn country.
Many passengers arriving in the Saudi kingdom are provided with a short hotel stay. But it’s made clear that their own countries are expected to soon pick up the bill and arrange onward travel.
Mohanad Hashim scanned the wharf at Port Sudan, hoping to catch sight of any of his own Sudanese relatives who may be trying to make it out. The day before, at the King Faisal naval base in Jeddah where we began our journey, he suddenly found himself embracing a cousin who had made it to the Saudi city, along with two of his teenage children, after an 18-hour passage across the Red Sea.
For the Sudanese with foreign passports who make it to safe shores, the moment is bittersweet.
“Please, please help our family left in Sudan,” a pink-scarfed Rasha pleaded, one child sleeping on her shoulder, three more waving flowers handed out by Saudi soldiers. “Please tell the world to protect Sudan,” she implored us. Their family had been living near Sport City in Khartoum where gunfire erupted the morning of 15 April.
Her eight-year-old daughter Leen, speaking fluent English with an American accent, recounted in excited detail how armed men burst into their home. “We had to all hide, all ten of us, in the back room,” she declared with youthful bravado. “I stayed calm. I didn’t cry because we couldn’t make any noise.”
“They were bad, bad guys,” her younger brother chimed in. Her father explained that it had been RSF forces. Their gunmen are blamed for much of the looting and violence.
This worsening and deeply worrying war between Sudan’s two most powerful men is fuelled not just by deep personal and political animosities, but also by the competing interests and influence of major powers.
Regional heavyweights, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have long bankrolled Hemedti, who grew ever richer by sending forces to fight for their side in the early years of their destructive war against Yemen’s Houthis.
But in recent years Riyadh has also drawn close to Gen Burhan and also has longstanding ties to Sudan’s army. The tangled political geography in a country with vast mineral wealth and agricultural potential also includes Egypt, Israel and Russia, including the mercenary Wagner group.
But in this current crisis, where the United States and Britain and other would-be peacemakers are also weighing in, outside powers are now said to be speaking with one voice in trying to end this dangerous spiral and the enormous suffering of civilians.
Diplomats express gratitude for Saudi Arabia’s evacuation effort. So far, more than 5,000 people, of 100 nationalities, have made the Red Sea crossing on Saudi warships or private vessels chartered by the Saudi military. The biggest single operation on Saturday, which carried some 2,000 passengers, even included Iranians. Arch-rivals Riyadh and Tehran recently moved towards a cautious rapprochement, including reopening their embassies and consulates.
“It is our luck. We hope there will be peace between our countries,” 32-year-old civil engineer Nazli remarked as she disembarked in Jeddah with her engineer husband, who has also worked for years as an engineer in Sudan.
In Port Sudan on Sunday, as another packed tugboat sailed in choppy waters to a waiting Saudi warship, its passengers turned en masse to wave a final farewell to a country they regretted, with sadness, they may never return to.
Related Topics
- What is going on in Sudan? A simple guide
- 6 days ago
- Why Sudan’s descent into violence matters
- 20 April
- Sudan crisis a nightmare for the world – ex-PM
April 30th 2023
Power Corrupts
| A presidential election in Paraguay is hardly a global event. But Sunday’s vote in the landlocked South American nation has suddenly turned into another chapter of the US-China competition.That’s because Paraguay is one of a dozen countries that still has full diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Initiated in 1957 under the fiercely anti-communist dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner, the relationship has evolved over the decades thanks to his Colorado Party retaining power for all but five years. Key Reading: Paraguay Candidate Says Taiwan Alliance Costing Opportunities Presidential Hopeful Has Plan for an Investment-Grade Paraguay US Sanctions Two of Paraguay’s Political Elite Ahead of Vote Taiwan Loses Ally of Decades as Honduras Sides With China US-Blacklisted Leader Tightens Grip on Paraguay Ruling PartyMore recently, the cost of ignoring China for Paraguay, one of the world’s top soy exporters and a significant beef producer, has become hefty. Enter Efrain Alegre, the opposition figure fighting head-to-head for the presidency against the government’s candidate, Santiago Peña.Alegre suggested during the campaign that Paraguay isn’t getting enough out of the relationship and should consider changing sides. While his position appears to be purely pragmatic and he hasn’t explicitly pledged to start relations with China, just floating the issue was enough to stir unease in Washington.China has wooed several Latin American countries over to its side in recent years, including Panama, El Salvador, Dominican Republic and, last month, Honduras. The Asian giant’s growing influence has been irresistible in a region that produces commodities from copper to grains. Guatemala, the largest economy of the pro-Taiwan group, picks its president in June.Meanwhile, the US has taken the unusual step of sanctioning two top Paraguayan government figures, Vice President Hugo Velázquez and Colorado Party leader and former President Horacio Cartes, alleging involvement “in systemic corruption that has undermined democratic institutions.”Regardless of their merits, imposing sanctions on the eve of a crucial vote in a country that has been a historic ally of Washington has the potential to tilt the election as corruption remains a main concern among Paraguayans.It’d be a geopolitical irony if the US move unintentionally sends Paraguay into China’s arms. — Juan Pablo Spinetto |
 Alegre supporters at a rally in Asuncion on April 16. Photographer: Santi Carneri/BloombergClick here for this week’s most compelling political images, and if you are enjoying this newsletter, sign up here.Understand power in Washington through the lens of business, government and the economy. Sign up for the new Bloomberg Washington Edition newsletter delivered weekdays. |
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Russia unleashed aerial attacks across Ukraine today, killing at least 14 people and damaging several buildings. Explosions were heard in the capital, Kyiv, the first assault there in more than a month. Air defenses destroyed 21 of 23 cruise missiles and two drones during Russia’s strikes, which involved Tu-95 strategic aircraft from the Caspian Sea region, Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said.Follow our rolling coverage of the war in Ukraine. A damaged residential building in Uman today. Source: Interior Ministry of UkraineDemocrats are concerned that US President Joe Biden hasn’t raised enough money from donors in the initial days since this week’s reelection announcement, potentially underscoring the perception that his run isn’t exciting voters. The sluggish fundraising comes from a lack of outreach to major donors who can boost the early total by making big contributions to the Democratic Party, sources say. The European Union’s proposed overhaul of debt rules leaves a majority of member states without sufficient firepower to finance the climate transition, the New Economics Foundation says in a report. Only Sweden, Ireland, Denmark and Latvia would have enough fiscal space to meet climate commitments required to keep global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius under proposals put forward by the European Commission this week.A publicity counteroffensive from the US and EU is trying to halt a shift in public sentiment in Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban has turned the country increasingly eastward with years of anti-Western rhetoric. As Hungarians’ affinity grows for Russia and China, the risk is that a decline in backing for the EU might loosen the key guardrail keeping the country inside the bloc.Hungary’s president pardoned a far-right figure convicted of terrorism hours before meeting Pope Francis in Budapest, a decision that risks damaging the optics of the pontiff’s visit. |
| Best of Bloomberg Opinion |
| How Much Extra Would You Pay to Save the Planet?: Chris Bryant Ukraine’s Grain Is Needed — But Not in Poland: Javier Blas Disney-DeSantis Suit Has Looking-Glass Logic: Stephen L. CarterSudan has known just 17 years of peace in its nearly 70 years of independence, but the current conflict between the army and a paramilitary group is the worst fighting the capital, Khartoum, has seen in decades. Simon Marks and Mohammed Alamin explain how the North African nation’s democratic transition unraveled because of the rivalry between two men emboldened by foreign powers competing for sway over the country and its resources.The army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces agreed to extend what had been a largely ineffective truce for an additional 72 hours. |
April 28th 2023
| GOP uses state capitol protests to redefine ‘insurrection’ Silenced by her Republican colleagues, Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr looked up from the House floor to supporters in the gallery shouting “Let her speak!” and thrust her microphone into the air — amplifying the sentiment the Democratic transgender lawmaker was forbidden from expressing. Read More. |
| 2 US Army helicopters crash in Alaska, killing 3 soldiers Two U.S. army helicopters collided and crashed Thursday in Alaska while returning from a training flight, killing three soldiers and injuring a fourth. Read More. |
| Pence testifies before election probe grand jury: AP sourceFormer Vice President Mike Pence testified Thursday before a federal grand jury investigating efforts by then-President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, according to a person familiar with the matter. Read More. |
| Fox ratings tumble in Tucker Carlson slot after his firing Hundreds of thousands of Fox News viewers are reacting to Tucker Carlson’s firing by abandoning the network in his old time slot — at least temporarily. Read More. |
| Teens accused in rock-throwing death took ‘memento’ photo Three teens accused of driving around and throwing large rocks at passing cars, one of which investigators say killed a 20-year-old woman, circled back to take a photo of her crashed car as a “memento,” according to court documents released Thursday. Read More. |
April 27th 2023
Sudan crisis: Three ways the conflict could play out
By Joe Inwood
BBC Newsnight
Despite the tentative ceasefire and lull in fighting in Sudan, few believe this is the end of the conflict and there are questions about how things could unfold in the next few weeks and months.
The BBC has been speaking to some Sudan analysts to look at the possible scenarios.
1) A swift military victory
This seems unlikely as both sides have advantages that favour them in different phases of conflict.
It is a military junta that has split in two – with the rivals both claiming early victories.
- The army is led by Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the junta’s president
- The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is headed by Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, the junta’s vice-president.
It appears, from testimony from those leaving the capital, Khartoum, that the RSF have the slight upper hand in the city.
It is a mobile, guerrilla force that can adapt more quickly than their more conventional opponents. This capability has favoured them in the running battles in Khartoum’s city centre.
But the army is thought to have access to far greater firepower, be it tanks, artillery or dominance in the air.
With diplomats and foreigners leaving the city, it is feared this may soon be turned on Khartoum.
“In large parts of the city the RSF is swarming residential areas with fighters who are occupying homes,” says Alan Boswell from the International Crisis Group (ICG) think-tank.
“They are essentially daring the army to destroy its own city. One would presume [the army doesn’t] want to destroy Khartoum, but for them this is an existential fight.”
Both sides can also call on help from external backers, which could help prolong the fighting, according to independent Sudan analyst Jonas Horner.
The army is thought to have the full backing of regional powerhouse Egypt – though officially the northern neighbour has remained neutral.
The RSF, meanwhile, has the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Russia’s Wagner mercenary group and other regional militias on its side.
2) A prolonged conflict
There are many ways this conflict could evolve, none of them good for the people of Sudan.
“It definitely has all the elements in becoming a prolonged civil war,” thinks the BBC’s Mohanad Hashim, who is himself Sudanese.
“There has been a lot of agitation from those loyal to the former regime of Omar al-Bashir and his National Congress Party, who hold an Islamist ideology.”
Bashir was ousted from power by the army in 2019 after mass street protests. During his 30-year rule, many well-armed ethnic militias emerged.
“Bashir worked very assiduously to create these divisions between these different ethnic groups, which then created militias,” says Mr Horner.
“The security vacuum created [by his ousting] has meant that there has been a re-opening of militias because they’ve had to manage their own security.”
Were the militias to take sides, this conflict may evolve into something even more dangerous which could “widen this conflict and make it much harder to put it back in the box”, Mr Horner believes.
The potential ethnic element has many observers genuinely worried. It is also something both generals have sought to turn to their advantage.
“Before the war started, we saw both Hemedti and Gen Burhan stoking ethnic divisions, addressing their own constituencies,” says Hashim.
“We could see a scenario where the RSF, having recruited in marginalised parts of the country, tries to present itself as a figure to unify the rural areas,” says Ahmed Soliman of the Chatham House think-tank.
This could split the country with the RSF moving “to its Darfur heartlands to try and re-supply and mobilise more fighters”.
3) A peace deal
Diplomats are trying to get the two generals to agree to extend the ceasefire but when it comes to starting peace talks, no-one thinks they are likely to start any time soon.
There is also the question of what could be acceptable to ordinary Sudanese.
Hashim was in Khartoum during the revolution of 2019 and has watched the generals repeatedly fail to hand over power to civilians, culminating in the 2021 coup.
“They have had a year and a half after the coup where they failed to run the country. What sort of deal could these two men reach that could be palatable to the Sudanese?” he asks.
Everyone seems to agree that a deal will only come from external pressure.
“The idea we’d be able to get a full cessation of hostilities without significant leverage, political pressure, economic pressure being applied by regional allies, such as Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, is difficult to imagine,” says Mr Boswell.
The problem is that there are too many competing interests, many of them mutually exclusive.
Mr Horner believes that the “regional powers have some preference for a military or powerful individual to come out on top of this. This is bad news for civil society.”
However, there is a fear that if peace talks do not start soon – as are being proposed in neighbouring South Sudan – the conflict could fragment making it harder to find a resolution.
“There is still a window for peace talks. The challenge is that there isn’t a willingness to de-escalate on either side. And unfortunately the short-term diplomatic focus remains on engaging with what the two generals want, at the expense of civilian democratic ambitions,” says Mr Soliman of Chatham House.
The problem is that what both men want is directly at odds not just with the other, but more importantly with the wishes of the Sudanese people.
This is a war about power, control and wealth, one which both sides increasingly see as existential.
There is a heavy price to be paid for the ambitions of two men, and it is the people of Sudan who will pay it.
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April 22nd 2023
The monumental legacy of Cleopatra, Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, is frequently eclipsed by reductive contemporary discussions over her identity. She has been variously claimed as Macedonian, Greek, Egyptian, and African.
Debates over Cleopatra’s “race” were reactivated after Netflix released a trailer for its four-part docudrama Queen Cleopatra last week, starring Adele James, a Black actor. The series is also being narrated by Jada Pinkett Smith, who said she wants the show to “represent Black women.”
This has led some, including Egypt’s foremost archaeologist Zahi Hawass, to reiterate that Cleopatra, who was born in Alexandria, Egypt in 69 B.C. into the Ptolemaic dynasty, was of Macedonian Greek ancestry.
One Egyptian lawyer, Mahmoud al-Semary, was so incensed by the Netflix portrayal that he is taking legal action. At the same time, some Egyptians have raised concerns about racism and colorism in modern-day Egypt, an Arab country with its own Black population.
But in reality, debates around Cleopatra’s racial identity are ahistorical because they reflect contemporary views about race rather than how people were understood in ancient times. Some experts say they highlight the modern conceptualization of race that became prevalent during the 17th and 18th centuries.
“To ask whether someone was ‘Black’ or ‘white’ is anachronistic and says more about modern political investments than attempting to understand antiquity on its own terms,” Rebecca Futo Kennedy, an associate professor of Classics at Denison University, tells TIME.
“If we want to be more historically accurate, we need to understand how ancient peoples considered their ethnicities instead of universalizing and de-historicizing our own views,” she adds.
Here’s what to know about Cleopatra, Egypt’s last Pharaoh, and the discussions around her identity.
Who was Cleopatra?
Cleopatra VII was the seventh, but most well-known Egyptian ruler, to hold this name. She was the last member of the Ptolemy dynasty to rule Egypt after 5,000 years of Pharaonic rule; her reign lasted 21 years before she died by suicide in August 30 B.C.
Cleopatra was the second of five children born to King Ptolemy XII, and his wife, Cleopatra V. Tryphania. She undertook medical studies as well as learning philosophy, rhetoric, and oratory, and was believed to speak many languages in addition to her native Greek. Cleopatra was the first Ptolemaic ruler to learn native Egyptian, a now-extinct language that Spoken Coptic descended from. (Egyptian Arabic is the most commonly spoken vernacular in Egypt today.)
Upon the death of her father, Cleopatra ascended the throne in 51 B.C., sharing with one of her younger brothers Ptolemy XIII. But she eventually claimed the so-called double crown, replacing her brother as sole ruler.
Read More: Women Achieved Enormous Power in Ancient Egypt. What They Did With It Is a Warning for Today
What do we know about her ancestry?
The Ptolemy dynasty descended from Greek Macedonian roots and ruled ancient Egypt during its Hellenistic era, with marriages typically occurring within the family. The dynasty was established when Alexander the Great conquered Egypt in 323 B.C.
The part of Cleopatra’s bloodline that remains a mystery is that of her mother and paternal grandmother. However, many experts say there is no evidence to suggest either woman was Black.
As Duane W. Roller, a professor emeritus of Classics at Ohio State University, wrote for the Oxford University Press blog in 2010, “Assuming, however, that Cleopatra’s grandmother was not from the traditional Macedonian Greek stem, the question arises as to just what she was. Sources suggest that if she was not Macedonian, she was probably Egyptian. So by the time of Cleopatra’s grandparents, there may have been an Egyptian element.”
“She could have been Greek, Macedonian, Egyptian, and Roman all at the same time,” Kennedy says. She notes that the gaps on Cleopatra’s family tree leave room for people to misinterpret indigenous Egyptian identity as Black.
“The reality is that one can say that there were ancient Egyptians we would today consider ‘Black’ in so far as they were non-Arab, non-Phoenician, Africans,” Kennedy says. She notes that references to Black-skinned Egyptians are present in ancient texts, but there is a gendered element to this: “Ideologically, women were associated with pale or ‘white’ skin and men with dark or ‘black’ skin. This is a gender division, not ethnic or modern bio-racial.”
Kennedy adds that visual representations of Cleopatra that more closely resembled Egyptian rulers have been historically overlooked in favor of her likeness on coinage, which is more closely aligned with standard Greek iconography.
“These objects are for different audiences and reflect different aspects of Cleopatra’s identity. We should not separate them, but in our modern search for singular identities, we restrict Cleopatra in ways that she was not restricted to in her own life,” Kennedy says.
The messy debate over Cleopatra’s ‘race’
Racial classifications as we recognize them today are largely a product of 17th and 18th century Western anthropological thought, particularly during the European Enlightenment.
The publication of the book Systema Naturæ in 1735 saw Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus classify humankind into four distinct “varieties.” Race began as a human-coined shorthand to categorize groups based on continent and skin color.
As such, these classifications were created far too late to accurately apply to ancient civilizations. “There is a tendency in the modern world to fixate on famous figures of the past who represent civilizations,” Kennedy says. She adds there will always be groups who want to flatten and claim Cleopatra, one way or the other, to suit their narrative.
But, Kennedy says, asking if Cleopatra was Black, white, or another race is the wrong question because “it suggests that these are universal and not historically contingent categories.”
She adds: “It means that we continue to have the same conversations decade after decade instead of actually learning more about how the ancient world considered its own identities.”
Comment The white trendy lefties and angry blacks have no interests in key dynamics and facts of history. Arabs are white and Cleopatra was an Arab, a once great people until Islam took over. Pseudo intellectual blackwash may bury the truth but lies have consequences. This is about trendy white academics and journalists helping Africans steal Arab history and civilisation. It is nauseating cultural appropriation.
R J Cook
When Culture Wars Come To The Public Library – The New Yorker
When the Culture Wars Come for the Public LibraryA Montana county’s battle shows how faith in public learning and public space is fraying.  Illustration by Emmanuel Polanco Today, the writer E. Tammy Kim takes us behind the scenes of her new story. During the first year of the pandemic, I was working in western Montana and heard about a controversy at the public library in Kalispell, a gorgeous city near Glacier National Park. The local library system had a peculiar name, ImagineIF. It had won a number of state and national awards, but was now beset by culture-war tussles (a kids’ story time featuring a gay-fairy-tale book drew offense) and clashes between the library staff and the board of trustees. Under pressure, the beloved head librarian had resigned and moved away. The area, I learned, was changing. Pandemic newcomers were rushing in, and the culture was shifting rightward, away from what had been the community’s heterodox ways. But other people lived there, too: queer and gay youth, people activated by the Black Lives Matter movement, libertarian environmentalists. The public libraries in Montana, as in so many places, were especially important to minority groups; this seemed to make the institutions a target of backlash. After returning to New York, in 2021, I kept tabs on news from the region, including the latest stories about the ImagineIF libraries. More staff members left, and more books were challenged. The library board went from politically mixed to entirely partisan, drawn from the right wing of the local G.O.P. The conflict appeared to be escalating: hardcovers shot through with bullets were left in the overnight book drop in Kalispell. These developments had a unique Western-states flavor, but tracked the proliferation of library wars all over the country. Attempts to ban books and shutter entire libraries are on the rise. Parents are accusing neighborhood librarians of brainwashing their children. Why is this happening? History is full of such episodes, yet each story reveals a peculiar configuration of power and the public square. I returned to Montana to investigate how residents view the ImagineIF controversy, and what it might foretell for the rest of us. Read the storySupport The New Yorker’s award-winning journalism. Subscribe today » |
 From the News Desk |
| The Political Scene Jim Jordan’s Singular Pursuit of JusticeRepublicans in Congress are united on at least one thing: the defense of Donald Trump. By Jonathan Blitzer |
 Tune in: On The Political Scene podcast, the host Tyler Foggatt speaks to Jay Caspian Kang about how the killing of Bob Lee exacerbated tensions in San Francisco over crime and prosecution. |
 Editor’s Picks |
| Essay My Family and the Monterey Park ShooterMy mom and my uncle spent their evenings at the dance studios of the San Gabriel Valley. After a mass shooting, I finally saw what those studios looked like on the inside. By Sarah Wang |
| A Reporter at Large Crooks’ Mistaken Bet on Encrypted PhonesDrug syndicates and other criminal groups bought into the idea that a new kind of phone network couldn’t be infiltrated by cops. They were wrong—big time. By Ed Caesar Annals of Artificial Intelligence There Is No A.I.There are ways of controlling the new technology—but first we have to stop mythologizing it. By Jaron Lanier |
 Culture Dept. |
| Cultural Comment The Cannabis Edible Goes MainstreamAmid the legalization of marijuana in many states, the market for cannabis edibles has become a showcase for clever design. By Alexandra Lange |
| Time Travel Dept. The Nelly Bly You’ve Never Heard OfEve Kahn, the biographer of Zoe Anderson Norris, a.k.a. the “Queen of Bohemia,” tours the late writer’s downtown haunts. By Hannah Goldfield The Pictures Owen Wilson, Art MonsterOn a museum-hopping day in Paris, the star of “Paint” makes it clear that he knows his Picassos. By Lauren Collins |
 Fun & Games Dept. |
| Name Drop Play Today’s Quiz Can you guess the notable person in six clues or fewer? By Will Nediger Daily Shouts Who Goes First at a Four-Way Stop? According to Freud: What happened in your childhood that led to this obsession with who gets to go first? By Talia Argondezzi Crossword A Beginner-Friendly Puzzle City that’s home to the Space Needle: seven letters. By Elizabeth C. Gorski Daily Cartoon Thursday, April 20th By Brendan Loper |
| P.S. Elon Musk continued his quest to conquer Mars today with the launch of the SpaceX Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built. (It exploded in the air, but still.) How can humanity prepare for the possibility that we’ll get there eventually? Revisit Tom Kizzia’s report on a NASA-funded study in which six prospective astronauts spent eight months isolated in a dome in Hawaii to simulate group dynamics in space. “Even in a low-drama group . . . there are bound to be moments: attacks of claustrophobia or arguments over dessert.” |
| Today’s newsletter was written by Austin Elias-de Jesus. |
April 21st 2023
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- Russian ambassador interferes in Bulgarian elections
Russian ambassador interferes in Bulgarian elections
By Krassen Nikolov | EURACTIV.bg
The position of the Russian ambassador is unprecedented, as until now, a foreign diplomat had not allowed himself to express direct preferences towards a Bulgarian politician. [Shutterstock/rawf8]
EURACTIV is part of the Trust Project >>>
The Russian Ambassador to Sofia, Eleonora Mitrofanova, said that if she were a Bulgarian citizen, she would vote for the leader of the radical pro-Russian party Vazrazhdane, Kostadin Kostadinov, in violation of the Vienna Convention which lays down rules for diplomatic and state relations that Russia signed in 1986.
Mitrofanova has long been a controversial voice in Bulgaria, an EU member state that struggles with a strong pro-Russian sentiment both in society and at a political level. She was interviewed by Bulgarian influencer and former journalist Martin Karboski.
“If I am a Bulgarian voter, I understand the policy of the leadership, and I understand what is happening, I will probably vote either with ‘I do not support anyone’ or for Kostadin Kostadinov,” said Mitrofanova.
‘I do not support anyone’ refers to an option on the ballot paper whereby voters can de facto vote while expressing they do not support any candidates or parties.
Such comments could be considered a violation of Article 41 of the Vienna Convention, a treaty which lays down the obligations and protocols for diplomatic staff and host countries. Article 41, point 1 states they must “not interfere in the internal affairs of that State.”
When pressed on her comments, Mitrofanova continued.
“Of all the so-called opposition parties, Kostadinov at least expresses a pro-Bulgarian position, which I like. I think he has a balanced approach in foreign policy,” added Mitrofanova.
The position of the Russian ambassador is unprecedented, as until now, a foreign diplomat has never directly expressed preference towards a Bulgarian politician.
Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Vazrazhdane has almost constantly defended the Russian point of view in the conflict. The party is already third in the Bulgarian parliament, while Kostadinov denies that he defends pro-Russian positions.
In March 2022, Ukraine expelled Kostadinov from its territory and imposed a 10-year ban on him from entering Ukraine on reports that he was a Russian spy. “No, I wouldn’t say that he represents Russian interests in Bulgaria,” says Mitrofanova.
Mitrofanova denies that the Russian embassy finances influencers, politicians and journalists in Bulgaria, saying they do not have money to do so. In the summer of 2022, Lena Borislavova, the head of Prime Minister Kiril Petkov’s political office, announced that the Bulgarian secret services had information that Russia was paying €2,000 per month to public speakers.
“We have never paid any trolls, in fact, our financial resources are limited. Everything is directed towards military needs and welfare payments. Nothing like this has happened in our politics or foreign policy. We have no money for Bulgarian trolls, not even journalists,” Mitrofanova said.
Mitrofanova advised the pro-Russian Bulgarian parties to say they love Bulgaria, not Russia.
At the same time, the Russian Ambassador also spoke about economic reorientation towards China.
“We are reorienting economically towards the East. We are a Euro-Asian country, but we cannot give up our identity. I think that time will pass, and today’s political elites will leave. Ten years will pass, and everything will gradually fall into place,” she says.
According to her, Russian people “do not feel that a military operation is taking place.”
(Krassen Nikolov | EURACTIV.bg)
Comment The United States ,U.K and their NATO showed exactly what international agreements mean to them when they violated Minsk in order to provoke war with Russia and justify ( sic ) NATO expansionism in the name of defence ( sic ). We are not supposed to notice U.S backed regime change in America , stooge regimes in Africa or who was behind the assassination attempt on Imran Khan and why.They are not even signed up to be accountable for their manyfold war crimes.Then there is the matter of Obama and the U.K lecturing France on why they should never elect Marie LePen. These people have no moral basis from which to lecture or judge anyone or country. They are all about lies ,greed and power.This is a poor recipe for solving the horrendous problems this class of people have inflicted on this raped planet. Elon Musk’s SpaceX escape to the moon and beyond for a minority was shown for what is was worth yesterday. It expelled a lot of greehouse gases,exploding before it left the earth’s atmosphere.
R J Cook
April 20th 2023
Rupert Murdoch: Will he be damaged by the Fox News and Dominion case?
- Published
- 1 day ago
By Katie Razzall
Culture and media editor
The 19 July 2011 was the “most humble day” of Rupert Murdoch’s life.
Until now, at least.
On that day in 2011, the world’s most powerful media mogul was called before Parliament’s culture and media committee as the phone hacking scandal engulfed his UK newspaper operations.
The final straw had been the revelation that the News of the World had listened in to the voicemails of the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler.
The horror of it still resonates (and the story of phone hacking is far from over).
Back then, Murdoch’s damage limitation exercise was swift. He shut down the 168-year-old newspaper and apologised privately to the Dowler family.
The man who has had such a hold over Britain’s media since he arrived in London in the late 1960s to buy the News of the World was forced into that humiliating one-liner.
“This is the most humble day of my life,” he told MPs (with the theatre of the event heightened by his then wife Wendi Deng later launching herself at a protester who attacked her husband with a custard pie).
Now Murdoch has been forced into another humiliating climbdown, this time in relation to his US operations.
Comment Hilary Clinton, the Democrats and elite media spent Trump’s entire term of office denying his victory and blaming the Russians. The U.S electoral system is wide open to fraud. This judgement does not prove otherwise. But the less fortunate in the U.S need to beware of billionaire and elite self styled media who are in charge. They want the world which is why they want Ukraine and Crimea. There is less reason to believe Trump was responsible for the Capitol Riots than that it was arranged by the FBI to discredit him.
In today’s New World Order Politics only the despicable right believe in and act out conspiracies according to goodie democrats. The Left sui generis know this. So they pillory Trump et al while ridiculing his for reasonable suspicion regarding his presidential defeat. It is the odious fake left liberals and their money grabbing power mad equals in the U.K who are the true exceptionals when it comes to power grabbing and war crimes. They major in hypocrisy. R J Cook
April 19th 2023
Fox News lawsuit: Can it afford the $787.5m Dominion settlement?
- Published
- 9 hours ago
Related Topics
https://emp.bbc.co.uk/emp/SMPj/2.49.2/iframe.htmlMedia caption,
‘Fox has admitted to telling lies about Dominion’ – CEO
By Peter Hoskins and Michelle Fleury
BBC News
In a last-minute deal, Fox News has settled a defamation lawsuit from voting machine firm Dominion over its coverage of the 2020 US election.
The network, controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his family, agreed to pay Dominion $787.5m (£634m).
While the payout is large, it means Fox avoids what was billed by some as the defamation trial of the century.
However, the network faces a second, similar lawsuit from another election technology firm, Smartmatic.
The settlement means that Fox and Dominion can now put the case behind them with both firms being able to claim victory.
“The reality is two big companies in this case, are by nature risk averse. And any time you got a jury, it’s risky,” David Logan, professor of law at Roger Williams University, told the BBC.
At almost $800m, it is one of the biggest ever financial settlements in a defamation case.
“It’s obviously a significant number, and we shouldn’t dismiss that. I mean, it is a really, really large number,” Angelo Carusone, president of left-leaning media watchdog Media Matters for America, told the BBC.
However, it is less than half the $1.6bn initially sought by Dominion.
To put the payout into context, parent company Fox Corporation reported net income of $1.23bn for the last financial year
It is also sitting on large reserves of cash – around $4bn, according to recent company filings.
Rupert Murdoch and his family – who control the News Corp media empire which includes Fox News, The Times of London and The Wall Street Journal – are estimated to have a fortune of $17.6bn, according to Forbes magazine.
The deal also spares Fox executives, including Mr Murdoch, and some of the network’s anchors from having to testify in one of the most high-profile defamation trials in history.
April 18th 2023
Fox News settles defamation case with Dominion
- Published
- 4 minutes ago
Related Topics
By Bernd Debusmann
BBC News, in court
In a last-minute deal, US voting technology firm Dominion has settled with Fox News just before their defamation trial was due to begin.
Dominion had sought $1.6bn (£1.3bn) from Fox, whom it claimed spread falsehoods about its voting machines in the 2020 presidential election.
The final settlement agreed between both parties was for $787.5m.
In a statement, Fox said the settlement reflected its “commitment to the highest journalistic standards”.
Dominion chief executive John Poulos told a press conference the “historic settlement” included Fox “admitting to telling lies, causing enormous damage to my company”.
Opening arguments in the case had been due to begin on Tuesday afternoon.
The announcement of a settlement came after an unexplained delay of several hours once jury selection had finished, prompting speculation that settlement talks were underway behind the scenes.
On Monday, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis announced that the start of the trial would be delayed by 24 hours.
Although he gave no reason, US media reported that it was to give both sides the opportunity to reach a settlement.
On Tuesday morning, however, both sides appeared to be digging in for a lengthy trial, with a Dominion spokesperson vowing to “prove Fox spread lies causing enormous damage”.
The settlement allows Fox to avoid having a number of its top executives – including chairman Rupert Murdoch and TV stars such as Tucker Carlson – testify in open court.
Comment This is another bad day for freedom of speech. The smug patronising comfortable new left are unstoppable it seems. R J Cook.
April 17th 2023
EU rejects Ukraine grain bans by Poland and Hungary
Related Topics
By Robert Greenall
BBC News
The European Commission has rejected bans introduced by Poland and Hungary on Ukrainian grain imports.
The two countries said the measures were necessary to protect their farming sectors from cheap imports.
The ban applies to grains, dairy products, sugar, fruit, vegetables and meats and will be in force until the end of June.
The Commission said it was not up to individual member states to make trade policy.
While the Commission has said that unilateral moves will not be tolerated, it has not yet specified what measures it would take against Poland and Hungary.
“In such challenging times, it is crucial to coordinate and align all decisions within the EU,” its spokesperson said in a statement.
Most Ukrainian grain is exported via the Black Sea, but Russia’s invasion last year disrupted export routes and resulted in large quantities of the grain ending up in central Europe.
A deal with Russia, brokered by the UN and Turkey, allows Ukraine to continue exporting by sea – but Ukraine accuses Russia of slowing the process with over-zealous inspections.
Poland and Hungary announced the move on Saturday. The decision came after complaints from local farmers who said they were being undercut by cheaper Ukrainian grain flooding their markets.
On Sunday, Polish Economic Development and Technology Minister Waldemar Buda clarified that the ban applied to goods in transit as well as those staying in Poland.
He called for talks with Ukraine to set up a scheme to ensure exports pass through Poland and do not end up on the local market.
Ukraine says the move contradicts bilateral trade agreements.
A statement by Ukraine’s Agriculture Ministry said it had “always been sympathetic to the situation in the Polish agricultural sector and responded promptly to various challenges”.
“At present, unilateral drastic actions will not accelerate the positive resolution of the situation,” it added.
Ministers from Poland and Ukraine are due to meet to discuss the issue in Poland on Monday.
Related Topics
April 10th 2023
‘Senseless act of gun violence’ – President Biden
US President Joe Biden has called today’s mass shooting “a senseless act of gun violence”.
He says “too many Americans” are paying for “inaction” with their lives, as he urged Republicans in Congress to do more.
“When will Republicans in Congress act to protect our communities?”
It echoes Biden’s renewed calls for gun-control legislation, but his desire to pass new reforms faces familiar obstacles.
Many Republican senators represent states with large pro-gun communities.
The BBC’s North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher walks us through some of those hurdles here.
Two officers injured, one in critical condition
At least two officers were among the eight people injured during a gunfire exchange between Louisville police and the gunman at the Old National Bank this morning.
Deputy police chief Paul Humphrey said two of those injured were in a critical condition, with one those being a police officer.
Police say the officer in a critical condition is undergoing surgery at University of Louisville Hospital.
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Posted at 18:0118:01
Watch: ‘My wife was panicking, locked in the vault’
A man from Kentucky says his wife, who works at the bank targeted in the shooting, hid inside the bank’s vault after hearing gun shots.
“A very traumatic phone call to get,” at 08:30 he adds.
She called him in panic, he says, asking him to call 911 – by the time he called police said they were aware of the incident and approaching the scene.
Video content
https://emp.bbc.co.uk/emp/SMPj/2.48.0/iframe.htmlVideo caption: Kentucky man’s wife hid in bank vault during shootingKentucky man’s wife hid in bank vault during shooting
Ukraine war: Who leaked top secret US documents – and why?
By Paul Adams
BBC Diplomatic Correspondent
What to make of the dozens of classified US Defence Department documents – maps, charts and photographs – now circulating on the internet?
Complete with timelines and dozens of impenetrable military acronyms, the documents, some of them marked “top secret”, paint a detailed picture of the war in Ukraine.
They tell of the casualties suffered on both sides, the military vulnerabilities of each and, crucially, what their relative strengths are likely to be when Ukraine decides to launch its much-anticipated spring offensive.
How real are these printed pages, unfolded and photographed, possibly on someone’s dining room table? And what do they tell us, or the Kremlin, that we did not already know?
First things first: this is the biggest leak of secret American information on the war in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion 14 months ago. Some of the documents are as much as six weeks old, but the implications are huge.
Pentagon officials are quoted as saying the documents are real.
Information on at least one of them appears to have been crudely altered in a later version, but out of a dump of as many as 100 documents, that seems a relatively minor detail.
BBC News has reviewed more than 20 of the documents. They include detailed accounts of the training and equipment being provided to Ukraine as it puts together a dozen new brigades for an offensive that could begin within weeks.
It says when the brigades will be ready and lists all the tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery pieces that are being provided by Ukraine’s Western allies.
But it notes that “equipment delivery times will impact training and readiness”.
One map includes a “mud-frozen ground timeline”, assessing ground conditions across eastern Ukraine as spring progresses.
After a winter that has tested Ukraine’s air defences to the limit, there’s also a sobering analysis of Kyiv’s diminishing air defence capability, as it seeks to balance its limited resources to protect civilians, critical infrastructure and its frontline troops.
Not only do the leaked documents say a lot about the state of Ukraine’s military – they also talk about some of Washington’s other allies. From Israel to South Korea, the documents reveal internal debates those countries are having about Ukraine and other sensitive issues.
Some of the documents are marked top secret, others to be shared only with America’s closest intelligence allies.
How much of this is new?
A lot of the detail here is familiar. There’s just a lot more of it, and it’s all in one place.
Take casualty figures. It comes as little surprise to learn that the US estimates that between 189,500 and 223,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded.
The equivalent figure for Ukraine’s losses – between 124,500 and 131,000 – is also in line with ballpark figures briefed to journalists in recent weeks.
In both cases, the Pentagon says it has “low confidence” in the figures, due to gaps in information, operational security and deliberate attempts, probably by both sides, to mislead.
Tellingly, this is the one place where attempts have been made to alter the documents to make it look as if Ukraine is experiencing the worst casualties.
A version which appeared on a pro-Russian Telegram site took the number of Ukrainians “killed in action” (“16k-17.5k”) and put those on the Russian ledger, while flipping the numbers on the Ukrainian side so they read “61k – 71.5k”.
All of which brings us to the question of who leaked the documents, and why?
‘Here, have some leaked documents’
The story of how the documents found their way from the messaging platform Discord, to 4Chan and Telegram, has already been told by Aric Toler of the investigative open source intelligence group Bellingcat.
Mr Toler says it has not yet been possible to uncover the original source of the leaks, but charts their appearance on a messaging platform popular with gamers in early March.
On 4 March, following an argument about the war in Ukraine on a Discord server frequented by players of the computer game Minecraft, one user wrote “here, have some leaked documents”, before posting 10 of them.
It is an unusual, but hardly unique form of leak.
In 2019, ahead of the UK general election, documents relating to US-UK trade relations appeared on Reddit, 4Chan and other sites.
At the time, Reddit said the unredacted documents had originated in Russia.
In another case, last year, players of the online game War Thunder repeatedly posted sensitive military documents, apparently in an effort to win arguments among themselves.
The latest leak is more sensitive, and potentially damaging.
Ukraine has zealously guarded its “operational security” and cannot be happy that such sensitive material has appeared at such a critical moment.
Ukraine’s spring offensive could represent a make-or-break moment for the Zelensky government to alter dynamics on the battlefield and set conditions for peace talks later.
In Kyiv, officials have spoken about a possible disinformation campaign by Russia.
Other military bloggers have suggested the opposite: that it is all part of a Western plot to mislead Russian commanders.
Crucially, there is nothing in the documents leaked so far that points to the direction or thrust of Ukraine’s counter-offensive.
The Kremlin ought to have a pretty good idea already of the scope of Ukraine’s preparations (although Moscow’s intelligence failures have been much in evidence throughout the war), but Kyiv needs to keep its enemy guessing about how the campaign will unfold, in order to maximise the chances of success.
Additional reporting by Benedict Garman and Olga Robinson
April 7th 2023
The Prosecution of Trump Is a Good First Step. Now Do Bush.
New York’s case against Trump would be a mere footnote of history if the U.S. actually believed in holding presidents and other top officials accountable.
April 4 2023, 6:32 p.m.
Former President Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower on April 3, 2023, in New York City.
Photo: Getty Images
Everything we know about Donald Trump indicates that the historic criminal arraignment hitting him today represents but a tiny fraction of the illicit activities he’s engaged in throughout his life. This prosecution, reportedly based on more than two dozen felony indictments related to hush money payments Trump has admitted he authorized to an adult film actress in 2016, comes just days after the 20th anniversary of the start of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. Trump may be the first former president to face criminal prosecution, but that fact in and of itself is a damning condemnation of the impunity that has long permeated our system of American exceptionalism.
This case against Trump would be a mere footnote of history, albeit a wild one, if the U.S. actually believed in holding presidents and other top officials accountable for their crimes, including those committed in office. George W. Bush continues to enjoy his rebranded life as the nice painter man who can joke around with Ellen DeGeneres and share hugs with the Obamas. He would never engage in the garish behavior of the orange buffoon. Dick Cheney is somehow still alive and popping his head out to remind us all that his dark soul is still lurking. Democratic and Republican elites revere the vile living corpse of Henry Kissinger as an enduring and grand luminary of American greatness and strategic brilliance. The truth is that all of them should be serving substantial prison sentences for directing and orchestrating the gravest of criminal activity: war crimes.
https://o.prod.theintercept.com/checkout/template/cacheableShow?aid=hsZyoAWmIE&templateId=OTEXERHVRCE9&templateVariantId=OTVEIU52VT7IF&offerId=fakeOfferId&experienceId=EX3LBE28N473&iframeId=offer_d95877cf7d9b23ea09ec-0&displayMode=inline&pianoIdUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fid.tinypass.com%2Fid%2F&widget=template&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheintercept.com
Trump’s prosecution is not evidence that our much-vaunted justice system can actually be applied fairly and evenly to all, even a former president. What it really shows is that it’s possible to prosecute a cartoonish villain, even one who served as president, who publicly brags of his misdeeds and criminal activity and happens to be widely despised by the so-called adults in the room.
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Trump’s Lawyer Joe Tacopina Donated to Democratic Rep Who Called for Trump’s Prosecution
New York Times Makes Glaring Error About Iraq War — Then Corrects It Incorrectly
Trump (Allegedly) Broke the Law for No Reason
When Barack Obama first took office, he assured the CIA that no one would be prosecuted for running a secret global kidnap and torture regime under Bush and Cheney. “We need to look forward as opposed to looking backwards,” Obama famously said. Later, he referred to the heinous program as “we tortured some folks.” Yet he made it a complete nonpriority to prosecute anyone involved with the crime he admitted took place. Previously, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi steadfastly refused to even consider impeachment proceedings against Bush. The system depends on such bipartisan impunity. No prosecutor is reviewing Trump’s rollback of U.S. limitations on killing civilians abroad, and there will be no indictment for the women and children killed under his watch. If he goes down legally, it would be for his tawdry or white collar-style infractions — possibly also for more serious cases including the January 6 Capitol riot or election tampering in Georgia — but not for any war crimes he committed as president. This we do not do. In fact, the U.S. government threatens to use force against any international body that even thinks of doing so.
Related
U.S. Hypocrisy on War Crimes Is a Gift to Putin
History has a proven knack for timing, and around the same moment Trump was learning of his impending criminal charges, Russian President Vladimir Putin was hit with a war crimes indictment by the International Criminal Court, or ICC. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has created an interesting predicament for the U.S. empire on these matters. President Joe Biden said last year that Putin is a war criminal and has suggested he should stand trial for the Ukraine war. But his administration has slow-walked cooperating with the ICC. In fact, the Pentagon has blocked such cooperation for fear that prosecuting Putin would set a precedent that other nations could readily cite to demand equal application of the law to U.S. officials and personnel. For his part, Putin exhibited zero concern about his indictment, essentially taking the position, “I don’t recognize the court, the indictment is a joke, and I need to get going because President Xi just arrived in Moscow for a major public display of how little both of us care about what anyone in Washington, D.C., says.”
Since the end of World War II, the U.S. government has waged a judicial proxy war over its vanquished enemies and less-powerful nations under the banner of international justice. The Nuremberg principles, which governed the trials of Nazi and Imperial Japanese war criminals, represented a powerful framework for holding even the most senior officials accountable for war crimes. But there was a crucial caveat built into the system: These principles were designed never to be applied to the U.S. and its allies.
That’s why the men who authorized and carried out the nuclear bombings of two Japanese cities were hailed as heroes instead of prosecuted as defendants. Since 2002, the U.S., by its own law, will never subject its personnel or those of its allies to the ICC and reserves the right to conduct a military operation inside the Netherlands, where the court is based, to liberate its own accused war criminals. When international prosecutors have even implied that they might be probing American war crimes, the response from the U.S. has been extreme, including imposing sanctions on the offending court officials. The U.S., like Russia and Ukraine, has not ratified the treaty establishing the ICC.
For more than two decades, the U.S. position on international prosecutions has been to oppose a permanent international court that would have jurisdiction equally over all war criminals regardless of their nationality or position of power. Instead, it has encouraged ad hoc tribunals set up to prosecute war criminals from places like the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and other African nations. The whole purpose of this from the U.S. perspective is to ensure that these laws will never be applied to Americans or their friends. And now that stance is revealing its moral bankruptcy in the face of Putin’s crimes in Ukraine. All of this has made a farce of the notion of international law.
Read our Complete CoverageAll the President’s Crimes
The prosecution of Trump should thus serve as a reminder that the U.S. does not actually believe in holding its most powerful citizens accountable for even the most serious of acts. And that position has real consequences, including in how it can be weaponized by criminals like Putin.
Make no mistake, Trump should be prosecuted for a variety of crimes, committed both as a private citizen and public official. But if we want to claim that our system is exceptional, then the same fate should be brought to bear on the Bushes, Cheneys, and Kissingers of the world as well.
Human Wrongs Comment by R J Cook
President Clinton needs a mention here regarding sexual misconduct. He fought off several women, but was never convincing regarding the young vulnerable intern, Monica Lewinsky and what he did with her in the Oval Office. There was the matter of his semen on her little black dress and allegations as to exactly how she was smoking his cigar.
Kosovo and more war crimes ,helped by the culpable Tony Blair, created a distraction. As for the Whitewater scandal, that’s long forgotten. Then there are the Bidens and the funny consultancy money from Ukraine. The Anglo U.S exceptionalist have no right to lecture about HUMAN RIGHTS. There business is HUMAN WRONGS and Hypocrisy. That is why Julian Assange is locked away until he dies or mysteriously commits suicide. If we lived in a democracy these corrupt people would not have to keep reminding us. Any regime aspiring to the democratic ideal must be based on informed consent.
R J Cook
April 6th 2023
| Where China’s rare earth grip is loosening |
| As Western nations and their allies try to rely less on China for purified rare earths that go into everything from EV batteries to iPhones, there’s a lot of trade realignment, aka friendshoring, going on (which we’re obsessed with). One example is the ever-growing rare earth supply chain between Australia and Japan, which is weakening China’s grip over the island nation. |
| Graphic: (Mary Hui) |
| Still, China continues to enjoy significant advantages given the breadth of its industry, as Quartz reporter Mary Hui explains in the final story in a three-part series covering the nuances of this dominance. Catch up with the first two installments before digging into the final one. |
| Part I: China’s rare earths industry has a raw materials problem |
| Part II: China is on a global hunt for rare earths |
| One not-so-big number from JPMorgan’s Frank deal |
| 300,000: Customers Frank had at the time of sale, a fraction of the 4.25 million customers founder Charlie Javice claimed. Javice stands accused of defrauding JPMorgan Chase, which paid $175 million for her infamous student loan startup in 2021. |
| Air travelers, get ready for lines at these airports |
| Graphic: (Julia Malleck) |
| While airports in the US are among the busiest in the world, there are five aviation hubs outside of that country that make the top 10. |
| ✦ Love our charts? Help keep our content free and accessible to all by becoming a member. Daily Brief readers get 50% off. |
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| ⚖️ What are the criminal charges against Donald Trump? |
| 🥵 Europe led the world in heat pump sales growth in 2022 |
| The US economy’s demand for workers is finally waning |
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| Children at one school in Nigeria don’t need money to attend. Plastic bottles can cover tuition. |
April 5th 2023
Violence Escalates In Northern Ireland.
AN investigation has been launched after a man was shot in both leg in an attack in Belfast last night.
The victim was targeted outside a property in the Whitecliff Drive area of West Belfast at around 9pm last night, PSNI officers have confirmed.
“The suspects, who were all wearing dark-coloured clothing, made off from the scene on foot,’ they said in a statement.
“The victim, was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment to his injuries,” they add.
“Our investigation is at an early stage and at present we are investigating a number of lines of enquiry to determine exactly what happened, a motive and who was involved.
“However, this shooting is a clear human rights abuse and everyone in the community has the right to live free from the threat of violence.”
The SDLP’s representative for West Belfast, Paul Doherty has condemned the shooting.
“This senseless violence has no place in our community who want to see an end to gunmen roaming our streets causing chaos for people here,” he said.
“A man has been left in hospital with potentially life-changing injuries as a result of this attack which has also caused significant distress to local residents,” he added.
US going to hell, defiant Trump says after being charged
American public not buying ‘witch hunt’ claims, political analyst says
Prof Richard Painter, former chief White House ethics lawyer between 2005 and 2007, and political analyst Eric Ham have been speaking to the BBC this morning about the case against Donald Trump.
Prof Painter explains: “It’s perfectly legal in the United States to have sex with a porn star, and probably legal to pay her $130,000 to keep her mouth shut, but if you’re running for president you have to disclose that as a campaign expenditure under federal law and he didn’t do that.”
Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 criminal charges related to business fraud during a New York court hearing yesterday.
Asked about the public’s reaction to Trump presenting himself as a the victim of a witch-hunt, Ham says “the American public is not buying it, but Donald Trump’s base certainly is, and so is the Republican Party”.
Ham says Trump has used this to his benefit, claiming to have raised millions for his 2024 presidential campaign.
Summary
- Donald Trump has given a defiant address to his supporters after becoming the first former US president to face a criminal trial
- Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 criminal charges during a historic court hearing in New York on Tuesday
- He returned to Florida immediately after where he told an audience that the case was “an insult to our country”
- “Our country is going to hell,” he said, listing all the ways that he claims to have been persecuted
- Trump also lashed out at the judge and prosecutors and claimed the case against him was politically-motivated
- The 2024 White House contender is accused of falsifying business records to cover up hush payments to two women during his 2016 election run
- Trump’s team will have until August to file any motions against the case. The next court hearing is set for December
Karen McDougal: Who is second woman mentioned by prosecutor?
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
The case against Donald Trump is focused on a payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels. However, the prosecutor also mentioned another woman.
According to background documents, a payment was made on Trump’s behalf to “Woman 1” – who evidence suggests is Karen McDougal.
McDougal is an ex-Playboy model and, like Ms Daniels, claimed she had an affair with Trump.
She said it lasted 10 months. The former president denies it ever happened.
Born in Gary, Indiana, before moving to Michigan as a child, McDougal first began modelling in swimwear competitions in her 20s.
She joined Playboy where she went on to win Playmate of the Year in 1998 and was voted “Playmate of the 90s”, second to actress Pamela Anderson.
‘New chapter’ in US history
Dr Thomas Gift, founding director of the Centre on US Politics at University College London, has told the BBC Tuesday’s events represent a “new chapter” in US history.
“Whether you are for or against the prosecution, I think you do have to say it’s a sad day to see a former president facing charges,” he said.
These events have “tarnished” the reputation of the country abroad, he said.
On Trump’s likelihood of being the forerunner for the Republicans, Gift says “a lot could happen” between now and the primaries and that it was “too early to speculate”.
But he added that looking at the current polling numbers right now, it was hard to say whether anyone had “a better shot than Trump”.
“There’s no doubt that this is helping him in the short term,” he added, explaining Trump claimed he had raised some $7m (£5.6m) in the last several days by appealing to his supporters.
Posted at 8:188:18
Trump’s bombastic and rambling speech
Sarah Smith
North America editor
The speech was short by Trump standards – less than half an hour – although it was fairly classic in that it was a long list of complaints and perceived grievances, many of which had frankly nothing to do with what happened in court in New York earlier that day.
When he was in court he said almost nothing. It was when he got back to Florida, in front of his supporters, that he had the opportunity to answer the charges. But he didn’t: he said almost nothing about what his defence would be to the allegations of falsifying business records.
Instead, he rambled on about Hunter Biden’s laptop, about how he believes the 2020 election was stolen, complaints about the FBI raiding his Mar-a-Lago home to seize classified documents.
There was very little sign of what his legal defence is going to be, apart from a bombastic display saying that his lawyers told him he’s got nothing to worry about now that they’ve seen the charges.
In a possibly risky move, he also had a go at the presiding judge, calling him a “Trump-hating judge” and even attacking his daughter because she worked for vice-president Kamala Harris.
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Speaking in Florida, the former US president said that the “only crime” he has committed was to “furiously defend” the nation from those who “seek to destroy it”.
To cheers from the audience, Trump said that he was “attacked” with investigations about Russia, Ukraine, and impeachment “hoaxes”. His supporters then booed when Trump talked about being indicted.
April 4th 2023
Alvin Bragg walks out of court and goes back in
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg – who is prosecuting Donald Trump – was just seen walking out of the courtroom – and re-entering a few minutes later.
It remains unclear if he will remain in the room for the hearing. If he does, he will be seated in the front row.
Posted at 19:1119:11
What indictment means – and other key terms
We’re aware that the jargon involved in legal reporting can be overwhelming at times – so, for this case, we’ve put together a helpful glossary of all the terms being used to describe what Donald Trump’s accused of and how we got to this point.
Arraignment: This is what Trump faces today – it’s a court hearing where someone is formally presented with the charges against them. Afterwards, the defendant is asked whether they will plead guilty or not guilty. A judge then decides whether they should be released on bail or taken into custody.
Indictment: This is what kicked this all off last week – it’s a formal written accusation that a person has committed a crime. It typically involves felony charges, though not always. Unlike regular charges from a prosecutor, an indictment is the result of a secret vote by a grand jury.
Grand jury: A group of citizens that hear evidence from a prosecutor. They vote in secret about whether they believe there is enough evidence to charge a person with a crime. Any subsequent criminal trial is held with another jury.
Felonies: Crimes punishable by a term of imprisonment of one year or more.
Under seal: A procedure in which details of the charges, including what they are and how many, are filed with the court without becoming a matter of public record.
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Posted at 19:0319:03
Inside the Manhattan courthouse
AFPCopyright: AFP
As Trump goes through the formal process of being arrested, there are a limited number of people on the 15th floor of the courthouse where he will be arraigned.
Secret service, police officers and a select few members of the media linger inside, waiting for Trump to enter the courtroom.
He is expected to make a short, brief statement before entering at around 14:15 (19:15 BST).
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Posted at 19:0019:00
Will Donald Trump have a mugshot taken?
ReutersCopyright: Reuters
There is considerable uncertainty as to whether the former president will have to pose for a mugshot.
On Monday one of Trump’s attorneys, Alina Habba, told CNN that he should not be subjected to a mugshot as his is “the most recognised face in the world” and that the purpose of a mugshot was for identification.
And on Tuesday, reports in US media suggested that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg had decided there was no need to put the 76-year-old
through the mugshot process.
Were the photo to take place, there is no guarantee the public will ever see it. Under New York State law, the former president would have to give his approval to its release, though US media have suggested he is not opposed to its publication.
White House silent on Trump
Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House
Unsurprisingly, the White House has declined to comment about Trump’s indictment and arrest in New York.
Today’s daily press briefing began with other matters – primarily Finland joining Nato, but also technology companies, gun violence and the arrest of a Wall Street Journal reporter in Russia.
Soon, however, came the first question about Trump’s indictment.
“This is an ongoing case and we’re just not going to comment,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “The president is going to focus on the American people, like he does every day.”
Jean-Pierre noted that with “hours and hours” of news coverage being dedicated to Trump’s indictment, “he will catch part of the news”.
“But this is not his focus,” she added.
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BreakingDonald Trump now under arrest
Following his arrival at court, Donald Trump is now formally under arrest and in police custody ahead of his upcoming arraignment.
He’s the first American president to face criminal charges.
How the case could play out
Donald Trump will be arraigned within the next hour at the courthouse in Manhattan.
He’ll be fingerprinted and the standard arrest paperwork will be completed. He’ll then appear in front of a judge who will read him the full list of charges.
His legal team earlier said he would not be handcuffed. That’s likely because of his large Secret Service detail, which means he is unlikely to try and escape or harm anyone (the usual reasons someone is handcuffed).
| WORDS OF WISDOM |
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April 3rd 2023
Destroying The Planet Regardless by R J Cook
British media are exultant about Finland being welcomed into NATO. They are looking forward to Erdogan being intimidated into lifting Turkey’s ban on Sweden’s membership of NATO. He is aware that the U.S has been working on regime change because it is vital to contain Russia. That will happen if Erdogan does not fall in. Ukraine’s rallying cry of fighting for Ukraine’s glory, is about fighting for the likes of their former President Poroshenko, the great Oligarch. Sky News observed how Finland fought Russia during World War Two. However, exploiting British ignorance, they did not mention their glorious people were fighting for Hitler’s Nazis.
As I write I am following Sky news U.S Skinhead correspondent James Matthews’s anxious commentary on Trump’s arrival to face court proceedings in Manhattan. Matthews began by ridiculing Trumps Boeing 737 as an example of a poor man’s life style trying to look rich – and full of left overs and cast offs from his hotels. The Democrat lawyer with him, said : “That is a perfect assessment of Trump.” White liberal Anglo U.S chattering classes.
Super Bourgeois Matthews kept repeating with undue emphasis that the former President faces criminal charges. Then his voice was bursting with morality and anxiety when he said “ Trump will not be worrying about court or jail. He lives in the moment and is using this for publicity to become president again. The reason he wants to become president again is to avoid jail.” Matthews crowed : ‘He could face more serious charges, like the Capitol Riots.”
The sophistry was incredible considering that the reason these spurious charges -out of time and involving an incriminated prosecution attorney -was to stop Trump standing fore President. Posh Scot Matthews should reflect on his country’s beloved late monarch Queen Elizabeth II who paid a hush £12 million of taxpayer’s money to one her accused son’s alleged sex abuse victims. Matthews and carefully selected company,went on to assert that Trump’s responses to his arrest was an assault on the U.S ( modelled on Britain’s ) precious justice system. Matthews went on to remind his vast TV audience of the enormous risk to United States Democracy.
The serious questions are, why did the rich jealous hypocritical Democrats , using every trick in the book, spend public money to impeach and get him out of office for his entire 4 years, accusing him of many crimes including being a Russian spy still in the pay of Vladimir Putin? Why did they have such a problem with Trump seeking a peaceful equitable relationship with Russia ? Matthews acted as if he was speaking for the world of western democracies adumbrating all of the big issues of and fear of Donald Trump.
Honesty is not common to the powerful greedy western global elite planet eaters and fake democrats. The inbred Anglo U.S elite have all the mesmerising style of superficial leaders. The EU membership swallows all the world war myths, so they make Finland feel very safe now.
Also on Sky today, a rancid U.S war mongering ‘defence’ expert chuckled over Putin’s plight. Since there is no evidence that Ukraine has the moral high ground , the logic or math(s) of this situation proves nothing to chuckle about. Global power structures need balance. Secrecy is inevitable , but not to the extent that it is like magma ready to bubble up through the cracks to devastate all around. The west out secrets the east by a long chalk. Their peoples are a mix of arrogant rulers pleasure bent liars , deferential morons who see nothing but what they can consume and intoxicate themselves with, and the autistic nerds who invent all the stuff misused for profit and related wars. So World War 3 is closing in unless Russia and China want to be a part of a system hell bent on destroying the planet regardless.
R J Cook
Turkey elections: Erdogan says he wants to ‘teach the US a lesson’
Turkey’s president enraged by US Ambassador Jeff Flake’s visit to the opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu during the election campaign
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of his ruling AKP during a meeting at the parliament in Ankara, 29 March (Reuters)
By
in
Ankara
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that his supporters should teach the United States a lesson in the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections.
Erdogan has uncharacteristically avoided criticising the West and the US so far in this electoral campaign, but made an exception during a rally in Istanbul’s Bagcilar district, where he officially opened a series of public buildings and investments. The elections will be held on 14 May.
The Turkish president cited the US Ambassador Jeff Flake’s visit to the opposition’s joint presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu last week as a reason for his anger at the US.
“We need to teach America a lesson in these elections,” he said. “Joe Biden speaks from there, what is Biden’s ambassador doing here? He goes to visit Mr Kemal. It’s a shame, give your head some work. You are the ambassador. Your interlocutor here is the president.”
Erdogan was addressing a small gathering of people at a local branch of the Turkish ultra-nationalist Idealist Hearths group, commonly known as the Grey Wolves.
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Referring to Flake, Erdogan said: “How are you going to ask for an appointment from the president from now on?”
“Our doors are now closed to him. You cannot see [me] anymore. Why? You will know your limit. You will know your duty as ambassador. You will learn how an ambassador works,” he added.
The US and Turkey, allies and strategic partners on paper, haven’t had an easy relationship since 2014, when Washington decided to ally against the Islamic State group with Kurdish armed groups in Syria, which are viewed as terrorists by Ankara.
Since then, two more US administrations have taken power in Washington, yet tensions and occasional shouting matches over a set of issues from Turkey’s purchase of Russian-made S-400 air defence systems to Ankara’s decision to hold up Sweden’s Nato bid have continued.
Last month, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu accused Flake of trying to overthrow the government by creating “strife” and told him to “take his dirty hands off of Turkey”.
Erdogan plans to host an iftar dinner as part of the holy month of Ramadan on Tuesday. It isn’t clear whether he would invite Flake.
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Trump arraignment: Private plane, agents, protests expected on journey
By Gareth Evans
BBC News
Donald Trump has left his Florida home and boarded his private plane to take a roughly three-hour flight to New York City ahead of his court appearance there.
He faces unspecified charges in connection with a payment his lawyer made to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.
The trip began as he emerged from Mar-a-Lago in front of supporters cheering him on. It could end with a more hostile crowd lining the streets of Manhattan.
Here’s a more detailed guide on what to expect from each leg of his journey.
Step one – from beachfront residence to airport
The former president, a New York native, currently resides at Mar-a-Lago, his sprawling beachfront residence and members-only club in Palm Beach, Florida.
He left home around 12:20 local time (17:20 BST).
Mr Trump is being accompanied by US Secret Service agents. One official who spoke on condition of anonymity told the Washington Post that “dozens and dozens” of agents would be required to ensure the trip is secure.
He travelled in a motorcade to Palm Beach International Airport, which is 2.5 miles (4km) from Mar-a-Lago. He has used the airport many times before and it’s about a 15-minute drive.
There has been a small number of vocal supporters outside his Florida home for days, and they could be heard cheering him on as he headed to the airport.
Step two – a personal plane to New York
Mr Trump is reportedly flying from Florida to New York’s LaGuardia Airport on his private plane – a flight of around three hours.
The aircraft, which has been dubbed Trump Force One, is a Boeing 757 that he purchased for a reported $100m (£80m) in 2011.
It has been used as a frequent backdrop for his campaign rallies and was recently refurbished and given a fresh paint job – Trump’s name features in large gold lettering.
According to the New York Times’ Maggie Haberman, several Trump aides – including senior advisor Jason Miller, spokesman Steven Cheung and campaign strategist Susie Wiles – are travelling with him.
The plane took off at 13:00. Its flight path is currently the most-tracked in real-time worldwide.
The flight’s likely destination, LaGuardia, is in the Queens borough of the city, which is on the other side of the East River from Manhattan.
The former president, as it happens, has less than positive feelings about LaGuardia. Or at least he did before a multi-billion dollar renovation was completed last year.
“You land at LaGuardia… and you walk into a filthy terminal… and you have broken terrazzo floors and that’s all you have,” he said of the airport in 2015.
Step three – from LaGuardia to Trump Tower
We expect Mr Trump to arrive at LaGuardia late on Tuesday afternoon or perhaps early evening.
From there, he’ll head to Trump Tower in Manhattan, a journey most likely taken by car. It’s about a 40-minute drive through Queens, over the East River and then into Manhattan.
Given the fact he’s a former president and a large number of Secret Service agents will be travelling with him, we’d expect to see a motorcade of vehicles making the journey. And possibly a police escort complete with flashing lights and sirens.
Trump Tower was Mr Trump’s primary residence from the 1980s until his permanent move to Florida was made official in late 2019. He attributed the move to being “treated very badly by the political leaders of both the city and state”.
At Trump Tower, he will reportedly meet with his legal team before spending the night in his penthouse that spans the top three floors of the skyscraper.
The journey will no doubt be quicker if Trump chooses to fly.
He does own a personal helicopter, and the BBC’s US partner CBS understands that it is available to fly him to Manhattan from LaGuardia if he chooses.
Step four – from Trump Tower to court
The former president’s journey from Trump Tower to the Manhattan Criminal Courts Building will be a major security operation involving large numbers of police and Secret Service agents.
The journey itself is about a 30 minute drive south through Manhattan – but that time could be much less if there’s a full police escort.
It’s not clear if Mr Trump will make remarks to the media before he leaves Trump Tower or when he arrives outside court. Regardless, there will be a huge number of cameras and reporters waiting for him there.
New York police officers will secure the area surrounding the building and nearby roads will be closed off. Street parking will also be suspended for some time.
Mr Trump’s path in and out of the building has reportedly been carefully mapped by Secret Service agents who visited the courthouse on Friday to assess the various routes.
Agents and officers will surround him as he enters and leaves in order to separate him from approaching members of the public, an anonymous law enforcement official told the Washington Post.
With additional reporting by Sam Cabral
- 03-30-23
Far-right fury over Trump’s indictment has shades of January 6
Stop the Steal organizer Ali Alexander tweeted: ‘New York has declared a civil war on the rest of us.’
As soon as news broke on Thursday that former president Donald Trump had been indicted by a New York grand jury, right-wing activists took to social media platforms like Twitter and Truth Social to issue veiled threats about the retribution to come.
“Bad move,” wrote a QAnon-branded account, @Q, on Truth Social. “Houston – activate Anons,” one user replied. Another added: “The Citizens of the United States will not be deterred by our Military . . . God is on our side.”
On Twitter, the messaging was just as inflammatory. Alt-right personality Jack Posobiec tweeted at his two million followers: “Did you really think they would just let you take your country back?” followed by tweets that simply read, “Bring it” and “Are you ready.”
Ali Alexander, the organizer of the Stop the Steal protests that led to the January 6 riots, tweeted: “New York has declared a civil war on the rest of us by indicting President Donald J. Trump and stoking violence. Pray!”
It’s hard not to miss the parallels between what unfolded on Thursday and the upwelling of online anger that eventually resulted in the Capitol insurrection. And if the aftermath of January 6 is any indication, online posts like these may well be of interest to officials and tech platforms as they monitor any potential plots to protest Trump’s indictment in the coming days and weeks.
In 2021, internal documents disclosed by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen showed that the social media company had failed to act on weeks of warnings as riot participants posted on its platform that they were going to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s election victory.
Social media posts have also played a role in the prosecutions of January 6 insurrectionists. At a hearing in 2021, a federal judge read aloud social media posts by a rioter before sentencing him to prison, saying the posts made it “extraordinarily difficult” to offer him leniency.
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Trump was suspended from Twitter and Facebook after the January 6 riots. Both platforms have since reinstated his accounts, though Trump has only returned to Facebook, and reserves his most incendiary commentary for Truth Social, where he’s contractually obligated to post first.
But since last week, Trump has unleashed a flood of Facebook ads, some of them increasingly menacing. In a 1 a.m. Truth Social post last Friday, Trump warned of “potential death and destruction” if he was charged, something that he said would be “catastrophic for the country.” On Facebook, his campaign ran an ad that blared: “I AM YOUR RETRIBUTION.”
When a Fast Company reporter asked Meta for comment on Trump’s recent activity, a spokesperson responded with a company blog post that noted “in the event that Mr. Trump posts further violating content, the content will be removed, and he will be suspended for between one month and two years, depending on the severity of the violation.”
The question now is whether Thursday’s indictment will indeed lead to any broader attempt at “retribution.” After all, it’s not as if Trump intends on staying silent. Following news of the indictment, he posted on Truth Social: ““THIS IS AN ATTACK ON OUR COUNTRY THE LIKES OF WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE. . . . SO SAD!”
April 2nd 2023
The Enduring Power of the Garbage Strike
By revealing social inequities and making urban dysfunction visible, sanitation strikes like the one now roiling Paris can be effective tools for change — and signs of larger discord.
By
Feargus O’Sullivan is a writer for CityLab in London, focused on European infrastructure, design and urban governance. @FeargusOSull
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It’s hard not to be shaken by photos taken this week of Paris streets piled high with trash. Due to a strike by sanitation workers, the French capital’s sidewalks have become storage depots for uncollected garbage, with the usually imposing Seine quayside turned temporarily into a stench-ridden, rat-teeming alley. Placed against an internationally familiar backdrop of architectural elegance, the piles of trash appear to be signs of a city in escalating breakdown — proof, as the headline of an essay by French philosopher Gaspard Koenig declared this week, that “Ratatouille was a documentary.”
The reality behind the images is, as usual, more complex. Rather than a specifically Parisian form of public dysfunction (the strikers have the support of Paris’ Mayor Anne Hidalgo), the uncollected trash is a particularly ripe manifestation of the nationwide wave of labor actions that have been shutting down substantial parts of France’s infrastructure for some days. The issue sparking the action is President Emmanuel Macron’s determination to raise of the national retirement age from 62 to 64, a plan carried through yesterday by presidential fiat — bypassing the usual vote in France’s parliament, a legal but highly controversial move.
Millions have already demonstrated against the change since January, and more protests are expected. It is hard to overstate how heavily debated the plan has been in France: It sometimes feels as if media have discussed little else for weeks. For French people, images of a trash-laden Paris are less of a sudden shock than just one more symptom of a long-gestating social and political convulsion.
Sanitation strikes are indeed remarkable in their power to bring social discord to the eyes and ears (and noses) of the wider world, and they can bring on lasting political changes. As Koenig notes, British Conservative politicians attacking Labour Party opponents still invoke the “Winter of Discontent” — a series of strikes in 1978 and 1979 that saw urban rubbish piles reach to the height of the buildings around them in London and other UK cities, not just helping to usher Margaret Thatcher to electoral victory but serving as a powerful visual representation of disorder in British culture thereafter. More from Bloomberg citylab
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Such labor actions became fixtures of urban life in Europe and North America in the 20th century. They emerged, somewhat later than disputes in other areas of industrial society, as cities took over waste collection from private entrepreneurs. The collapse of the market for “dust”— the ashy leftovers from coal-burning furnaces and appliances, which had a commercial value in brick-making and as a soil additive — made the trash trade unprofitable.
With a greater understanding of the importance of hygiene and a sharp increase in refuse from manufactured consumer goods, waste collection came to be acknowledged as a cornerstone of public health — typically without that knowledge being reflected in decent wages or working conditions for those tasked with doing the job. New York City’s epic sanitation strike of 1911, for example, came about because workers were being forced to work not just for low pay, but during the dead of night in winter, usually alone.
As France’s current example shows, uncollected trash can be a reliable signpost that a city or country is entering wider social flux. Garbage was piled high in Paris during political ferment in 1957 and 1968. Several of the most famous sanitation worker strikes in US history — in New York City, Memphis and St. Petersburg, Florida — also erupted in 1968, as America was rocked by protests against the Vietnam War, civil rights activism leading up to the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, and urban unrest following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
March 31st 2023
Here are the latest updates and the big news stories to follow today 1. Donald Trump indicted; 1st ex-President charged with crime  Donald Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury, prosecutors and defence lawyers said on Thursday, making him the first former U.S. President to face a criminal charge and jolting his bid to retake the White House next year. 2. At least 14 dead after floor of Indore temple collapses At least 14 devotees, ten of them women, were killed when the roof of a stepwell at a temple in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore collapsed on Thursday morning. Among the 19 others who were rescued alive following the mishap, some are said to be in critical condition. 3. Ram Navami violence in Howrah, Vadodara  Violence erupted in parts of Howrah district of West Bengal on Thursday over Ram Navami celebrations. Several vehicles were attacked and set on fire in Kazipara area. 4. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to chair review meeting on COVID-19 situation on Friday As COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will chair a review meeting on the COVID-19 situation at 12 p.m. on Friday. 5. Delhi court judgement on bail plea of Manish Sisodia on Friday 4 pm A Delhi Court said it would pronounce its order on Manish Sisodia’s bail plea in a CBI case for the alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy on Friday at 4 PM. 6. Shraddha murder case | Saket Court to hear arguments on charge on behalf of accused Aftab Amin Poonawala  The Saket Court is providing the last opportunity to accused Aftab Amin Poonawala to respond to the Delhi Police arguments that he murdered his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar on Friday, as he has changed his counsel three times. 7. Second G20 Sherpa’s meeting under India’s G20 Presidency, chaired by India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant The second G20 Sherpas meeting under India’s G20 Presidency is currently underway till Sunday in Kumarakom in Kerala, chaired by India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant, witnessing the participation of over 120 delegates. 8. Kerala Lokayukta to pronounce verdict on nepotism case against CM and Council of Ministers The political temperature in Kerala is set to rise with the Kerala Lok Ayukta scheduled to pass its verdict on a high-profile nepotism complaint against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday. 9. Union Minister Piyush Goyal to release Foreign Trade Policy 2023-28  India will unveil its much-awaited new Foreign Trade Policy 2023-28 on Friday, with a view to boost exports amid slowing global trade. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will announce the foreign trade policy. 10. Rajnath Singh to attend the ‘Combined Commanders’ Conference-2023’ at Bhopal The ‘Combined Commanders’ meeting is underway at Bhopal with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to review preparedness and discuss future security challenges as insecurities in the immediate environment refuse to die down. 11. Kerala High Court will again hear the matter of ‘Operation Arikomban’ The Kerala High Court on Friday will hear pleas challenging the suspension ‘Operation Arikomban’, a mission to catch Arikomban, a wild elephant that lives in a residential area. 12. Madras High Court hearing on OPS vs EPS  The Madras High Court will hear the appeal petition filed by former CM O Panneerselvam against the single judge order over the AIADMK case on Friday. The Madras High Court dismissed the interim applications filed by former AIADMK coordinator O. Panneerselvam and a few of his colleagues against the resolutions of the July 11, 2022 general council meeting and the consequent general secretary election. 13. Ruling parties in Nepal fail to reach consensus on power-sharing deal, Cabinet expansion likely on Friday Nepal’s 10-party ruling alliance on Thursday failed to reach a consensus on the power-sharing deal, causing yet another delay in the expansion of the Cabinet led by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda”. 14. IPL 2023 | Mentor vs Mentee: It’s Dhoni vs Hardik as both teams fret on ‘Impact Players’  Hardik Pandya’s youthful leadership template will meet its match in Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s time-tested improvisations as defending champions Gujarat Titans clash with eternal title contenders Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League opener in Ahmedabad on Friday. |
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March 30th 2023
Unexpected Trump
When Elon Musk restored Donald Trump’s Twitter account, a lot of people assumed the former president and one-time superuser would pick up right where he left off. But the predawn, peculiarly capitalized tirades never came.
Months later, in January, Meta followed Twitter’s lead, restoring Trump’s account after a painstaking process that saw the decision seesaw between the company’s executives and its oversight board. But again, after Trump was reinstated, silence followed.
But the possible criminal indictment now looming over Trump seems to have kick-started his return to mainstream platforms, amplifying his message to a wider audience at a time when fears of more violent political unrest, similar to the Jan. 6 riot, are already high. Last week, the same day YouTube reinstated him, Trump’s account posted identical messages on both Facebook and YouTube —“I’M BACK.” His campaign has also posted on Facebook a few times since and livestreamed his rally in Waco over the weekend on YouTube and Facebook. But the real evidence of Trump’s return so far hasn’t been on his feed. It’s in his ads.
Since last week, Trump has posted a steady stream of ads on Facebook, urging his followers to chip in to his campaign. In some respects, that’s par for the course for Trump. His 2016 and 2020 campaigns aggressively used Facebook ads for fundraising, spending upwards of $113 million on the platform since 2018, when Facebook began making those figures public. “That is absolutely why they wanted back on Facebook,” says Julie Millican, vice president of Media Matters for America, a left-leaning media watchdog group.
But in other ways, Trump’s approach to the big platforms is different this time around. Now, he has Truth Social, the anything-goes social network he founded in October 2021, and where he’s contractually obligated to post first. That’s created something of a call-and-response relationship between Trump’s more inflammatory posts on Truth Social and the way he’s targeting people on Facebook.
Case in point: In a 1 a.m. post on Truth Social Friday, Trump warned of the potential for “death & destruction” should he be criminally charged. That same day, his campaign ran Facebook ads that read ominously, “I AM YOUR RETRIBUTION.”
Asked for comment, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone directed Fast Company to Meta’s blog post about reinstating Trump’s account. That post noted that “in the event that Mr. Trump posts further violating content, the content will be removed and he will be suspended for between one month and two years, depending on the severity of the violation.” The blog post also listed new guardrails on posts that are inflammatory but don’t explicitly violate Meta’s rules. But the new rules said nothing about the implication of Trump’s posts that appear on other platforms.
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It’s worth noting that Facebook ads aren’t what they used to be. The last time Trump was advertising on Facebook, Apple had yet to implement its anti-tracking privacy changes, which have since made ad targeting more challenging on platforms like Facebook. During the recent midterm elections, political advertisers actually said they were moving money away from Facebook, believing it was becoming a less effective advertising tool. According to Facebook’s political ad archive, even over the past week, Trump’s campaign is still nowhere near the top of the charts in terms of ad spending.
Still, Millican worries that this is only the beginning and that these ads, while less overtly militant than his Truth Social posts, are still “a wink and a nod” to those posts, intended to stir up his supporters. That, she and others say, should give pause to companies like Meta and Google, which have said publicly that they believe the risk of harm from Trump’s continued use of the platform has diminished.
“These corporations have repeatedly said that they believed Trump’s threat to public safety had ‘sufficiently reduced,’” Rashad Robinson, president of the civil rights group Color of Change, told Fast Company in a statement. “But here he is, just days after YouTube reinstated him, urging his supporters to obstruct the legal system so he can avoid accountability.”
As for Trump’s suspicious silence on Twitter, his favorite former megaphone, that may have a lot to do with his ties to Truth Social. In an SEC filing last year, Digital World Acquisition Corp., the SPAC attempting to buy Truth Social, said that Truth Social gets exclusive access to Trump’s posts for six hours before he can post them on another platform.
But that deal was struck before Trump was allowed back on most other mainstream platforms. Now that his account is alive and well on Facebook, it’s hard to imagine his campaign passing up the chance to reach the audience of billions that only mainstream social media platforms can offer. “They have much greater reach,” Millican says. “And for those who are looking to monetize their feeds, that’s where they’re going to be able to do it.”
March 29th 2023
| Video and Podcast of the week |
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| Worldview with Suhasini Haidar | Khalistan protests | What are India’s options? Vladimir Putin, the ICC warrant and the Ukraine war | In Focus podcast |
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| The View From India 27 March 2023 |
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| Understand foreign affairs from the Indian perspective! This week, the newsletter is written and curated by Ananth Krishnan, The Hindu’s China Correspondent. |
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Indian diplomacy’s Khalistan problem  The raids and arrests on a group suspected of extremist violence and Khalistani separatism in Punjab, and the hunt for its leader Amrit Pal Singh, saw repercussions last week for Indian diplomacy around the world from the U.K. and the U.S. to Canada. Our coverage last week looked at how overseas Khalistani protests have played out, the security impact on India’s embassies and consulates, and how the Indian Government has responded. In London last weekend, protesters shouted Khalistani slogans and attempted to enter the High Commission. There clearly wasn’t adequate security from the U.K., as indicated by the fact that one protester was able to climb up to the Indian High Commission balcony and bring down the Tricolour. India lodged a strong protest pointing to the “indifference” of the British government, and summoned the British Deputy High Commissioner Christina Scott to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).Members of the Indian diaspora in the U.K. then responded by gathering outside the High Commission for a demonstration of solidarity.The U.K. government then belatedly beefed up security outside the High Commission, and at least a hundred police officers stood guard on both sides of the road and were on standby in the Aldwych neighbourhood, as The Hindu’s Sriram Lakshman reported from the scene.Then on Tuesday, U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly sought to allay security concerns of the Indian High Commission and said the U.K. government was working with the Metropolitan Police and would “make the changes needed to ensure the safety of its staff as we did for today’s demonstration”.The protests also spread to the U.S. India lodged a strong protest with the United States after acts of vandalism by pro-Khalistan elements targeting its consulate in San Francisco. The MEA summoned U.S. Charge d’Affaires Elizabeth Jones and reminded the U.S. of its “basic obligation” to protect India’s diplomatic missions on its territory. Besides the incidents in London and San Francisco, reports said that the Indian High Commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma, had to cancel an event after sword-wielding individuals gathered at a venue.A group of Khalistan supporters also gathered in front of the Indian Embassy in Washington and many of their speakers tried to incite violence, but timely intervention by an alert U.S. Secret Service and local police prevented a repeat of the vandalism seen in London and San Francisco.  India over the weekend also summoned the Canadian High Commissioner and asked the Justin Trudeau government to “arrest and prosecute” pro-Khalistan elements in Canada. And two days after the incident in London, law enforcement agencies in New Delhi removed the barricades around the British High Commission and the residence of U.K. High Commissioner Alex Ellis. India also reminded the U.K. and the U.S. that it does not want “assurances”, but expects “actions” by host countries to prevent attacks on its diplomatic missions.In this week’s Worldview, Suhasini Haidar examined whether the Khalistan separatist problem is becoming a diplomatic challenge for India, as well as whether tit for tat measures from India are the right response.The Top FiveWhat we are reading this week – the best of The Hindu’s Opinion and Analysis  Meera Srinivasan writes on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) clearing a $3 billion-Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Sri Lanka, potentially unlocking more loans for the debt-ridden island nation. The Hindu, in an editorial, cautioned that the IMF decision is no magic pill and comes with a number of conditions, and India, China, Japan and the U.S. need to cooperate if Sri Lanka is indeed able to navigate a difficult economic path. As China and Russia last week unveiled a broad long-term blueprint for their deepening relations following Xi Jinping’s Moscow visit, we looked at the takeaways for the region, from a joint pledge to work together to push back against the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy as well as criticism from both countries about attempts to “politicise” multilateral platforms, a stand that could impact this year’s G20 summit in India and prospects for a collective joint statement. Suhasini Haidar on the cornered former Prime Minister Imran Khan and the latest political crisis unfolding in Pakistan. Saptaparno Ghosh on Shou Zi Chew, the CEO of TikTok who was in the news last week as he testified before a hostile U.S. Congress, and how the social media giant is getting caught up in U.S.-China tensions. Suhasini Haidar and Samridhi Tewari on how India’s moratorium on visas has torn Afghan families asunder, and among more than an estimated 60,000 Afghans who have requested visas for India, are a large number of those married to Indian nationals. |
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Indian elites continue to hate Modi because he is not one of them
Modi is relatable. Modi is aspirational. He gives everyone a hope that if one makes up their mind, a person selling tea on railway platform can become Prime Minister of world’s largest democracy. Not once, but twice.
5 May, 2022
One of the reasons many Indians love PM Modi is that he comes from a humble background, without any royal bloodline. That he has made it to where he is now on his own, without any ‘surname’ attached to his name. Which is also one of the many reasons the ‘liberals’ of India hate him.
You see, most of the ‘liberals’ in India are the elites who have always been rich, roam around in privileged circles and are ‘journalists’ and ‘columnists’ mostly because their influential parents, spouses were either politicians, owner of media houses or just very rich.
Here is an example:
Does he even know which cutlery to use? https://t.co/xNBxN3pzXp— Rupa Gulab (@rupagulab) May 4, 2022
A Twitter handle by the name ‘Rupa Gulab’ who identifies itself as ‘writer’ mocked PM Modi when he met the Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II. You see, towards the end of the video, there is a frame where PM Modi and Queen of Denmark sit on a table and fine cutlery is placed in front of them for a meal. Gulab quips, ‘does he even know which cutlery to use?’
Keeping aside the fact that the Prime Minister of India would have a team to help him navigate through the courtesies, in India, where most people use their hands to eat, it will be quite normal to not know the ‘cutlery etiquettes’.
How many of us would find comfort in daal-chawal-ghee when we are feeling low? And how many of us will be eating the daal chawal with our hands? You see, most of us. Even if you don’t, you’d still know how to eat daal chawal with hands. Unlike the elites. Here is how they eat their daal chawal: https://www.youtube.com/embed/5LHyK9zMhMM?start=608
At around 10 minute 48 second mark, you can see senior Congress leader and Wayaand MP Rahul Gandhi mix a morsel of rice and daal with his hands and puts it in his mouth, only to have the grains of rice fly all over. Compare that with the way the two men sitting next to him are eating. Those men eat like that every day and know you’ve to bend forward and put food in the mouth so it does not fall, spoil clothes. But Rahul Gandhi doesn’t.
No one questioned if Rahul Gandhi knows how to eat with his hands.
Instead, everyone is in awe of Rahul Gandhi as the prince has decided to grace commoners in a village by his presence and ate with them. See how the camera focuses on him mixing his food with his bare hands. They want to show you how despite all the money and power he has, despite the ‘Gandhi’ family tag and even if his ancestors have been elite politicians of India, 3 of which were Prime Ministers of this great nation, ‘Rahul Baba’ is ‘down to earth’.
This is how the ‘liberals’ in India react to two different powerful politicians.
Modi, who rose the ranks in the party as an ordinary man from an ordinary background who sold tea on railway platform, gets mocked at, ridiculed because ‘he may not not know how to use cutlery’ but Rahul Gandhi, who had power, money, politics served to him on a platinum platter, whose father, grandmother and great grandfather were prime ministers (and came from illustrious families themselves) gets everyone mushing.
But even then they hate Modi. It is because barring the 1% elites in India, the rest of us are hustling. We are working hard to pay our bills. For most of us, pizza was once in a while treat. We’d find it intimidating waltzing into star hotels in Lutyens’ Delhi ordering pasta worth 2,000 rupees. Weekend brunches on The Claridges lawn is not something we’re used to. To be honest, I have never even been to one. The Khan Market elite crowd is likely aspirational for many.
But for ‘liberals’ that is the everyday thing. These very ‘journalists’ hang out at the fancy places and then gush over Rahul Gandhi’s ‘simplicity’ while mocking Modi’s humble roots.
Modi is relatable to most Indians because he is ‘one of us’, who’d happily eat khichdi-kadhi-bataka nu shaak-bhakhri as meal at end of tiring day. And not like a certain someone who goes to undisclosed foreign locations in secrecy at slightest discomfort in India.
Modi is relatable. Modi is aspirational. He gives everyone a hope that if one makes up their mind, a person selling tea on railway platform can become Prime Minister of world’s largest democracy. Not once, but twice.
This is why they hate him.
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Why India should support Russia in its standoff with the West over Ukraine
In order not to cede to China the entirety of the space that counterbalances the US, Russia should remain a node of global power, and the integrity of global power structures matters, alongside national sovereignty
6:30 AM, 23 January, 2022
5
COMMENTS
Where should India stand on the standoff between Russia and the Western allies over Ukraine? From the limited point of view of a sovereign nation’s right to choose its allies and military pacts, as well as to host foreign troops and arms, Russia’s demand for a Western guarantee against either Ukraine’s membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation or deployment of Western arms or armament in Ukraine would, on the face of it, violate accepted global norms.
India is a traditional defender of national sovereignty, even against doctrines such as the global community’s ‘Responsibility to Protect’ persecuted minorities within national borders. That would mean that India should oppose Russia and endorse American and European demands for Russia to back off from whatever it means to do with its massive troop deployments along Ukraine’s border, in both Belarus and Russia. But that would be a mistake.
Back in 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea, to energetic and unanimous condemnation by the West, India recognised the annexed Crimean Peninsula as a part of Russia and abstained on a UN resolution upholding Ukrainian territorial integrity. The same reasons that persuaded India to overlook Ukrainian sovereignty and support the annexation of Crimea remain equally valid now.
Crimea hosts Russia’s Black Sea naval fleet. Without ready access to Crimea, Russia’s naval capability would be crippled. That would reduce Russian strategic capability and diminish Russia’s ability to serve as a node of global power resisting America’s unipolar dominance.
India’s interest lies in a multipolar world, in which India itself would emerge as a pole of global power.
Since 2014, the world has evolved, to make China the principal challenger to American power, rather than Russia. Chinese universities publish more substantive research in science and technology with strategic implications than other non-American universities.
China’s hypersonic missile that orbits the earth, makes its re-entry into the atmosphere at a point far removed from where missile-detecting radars have traditionally been deployed and glides to its target faster than sound has been described by US officials as a near-Sputnik moment. The Sputnik moment refers, of course, to that significant event that shattered America’s smug confidence in its technological superiority over the Soviet Union, the launch of the first manmade satellite, Sputnik, by a Russian rocket, in 1957.
It may be worth noting that the Baikanor Cosmodrome, from which Sputnik had been launched and from which Russian spacecraft continue to be launched, is located in Kazakhstan. If Russia were to be stripped of access to facilities such as its naval base or cosmodrome or arms manufacturing facilities built during Soviet times and spread out across the vast expanse of the erstwhile Soviet Union, Russia’s status as the successor state to the Soviet Union would have no meaning.
Also read: India harvests ties with Russia to take on Sino aggression
So, even if we grant that Russia should have Crimea, why accept the demand that Ukraine should be out of NATO’s reach, that Ukraine should somehow be a no man’s land between the West and Russia? That is because major powers have always exercised their right to be secure in their own neighbourhood.
Remember the Cuban missile crisis, which took the world to the brink of nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the US? Cuba, a sovereign nation, had, after a foiled attempt backed by the US to invade and overthrow Cuba’s Fidel Castro regime, the so-called Bay of Pigs invasion, invited the Soviet Union to place some of its short and medium range ballistic missiles in Cuba. Here was one sovereign nation inviting another sovereign nation to deploy its wholly owned weapons on its sovereign territory. Why should the US have been so excited, performed a naval blockade (officially designated a quarantine, to avoid declaration of war) and readied its own missiles in Turkey and Italy pointing towards the Soviet Union? Because Cuba is all of 140 km away from the Florida coast, virtually in America’s backyard.
If the world was willing to side with the US in its demand that the Russians remove from the American backyard their missiles and war planes capable of dropping nuclear bombs on the US, why should the world not side with Russia now? Sovereignty alone is not what matters. The integrity of the world’s power structures matters as well.
When Gorbachev was trying to implement Glasnost and Perestroika, and reduce tensions with the West, NATO agreed to not expand eastwards. But then, the Soviet Union collapsed, and promises for NATO to not expand eastwards also collapsed, particularly with East European nations liberated from the Soviet yoke demanding membership of the defence alliance which accepts the Three Musketeers’ motto of ‘One for All and All for One’ — an attack on any member of the alliance would be deemed an attack on the entire alliance and the alliance, as a whole, would respond.
Also read: Why Soviet cousins Russia, Ukraine are on the brink of a war
Putin has rhetorically asked if the Americans would allow Russian missiles to be deployed in Cuba or Venezuela today, based on the principle of national sovereignty, applying which to Ukraine, the West refuses to give the guarantee that it would not be given NATO membership. For the resolution of the Cuban missile crisis, President Kennedy dismantled American missiles stationed in Turkey, and covertly, those stationed in Italy as well.
If, today, the West refuses to respect a buffer between Russia and NATO, it would only be because Russia is incomparably weaker vis-à-vis NATO than the Soviet Union was vis-à-vis the West in the Sixties. Why expect Russia to accept that without demur?
From the point of view of not just India, but of the entire world, it makes sense for Russia to remain a node of global power, balancing not just the US, but also, increasingly, China. A weakened Russia would be forced, given its posture of rivalry with the West, to play second fiddle to the West’s principal rival, China. For the sake of global multipolarity, it is better for Russia to remain a strong centre of global power, minus a NATO deployment across its border.
India should support the cause of a multipolar world that prevents China occupying the entirety of the space for a counterweight to the United States.
India’s Rahul Gandhi given 2-year jail term for defaming Modi name
Prominent opposition leader remains free for 30 days, will appeal
Indian National Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi addresses a crowd during his Unite India March in Delhi on Dec. 24, 2022. © Reuters
KIRAN SHARMA, Nikkei staff writerMarch 23, 2023 19:17 JST
NEW DELHI — Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday was convicted of criminal defamation and sentenced to two years in prison by a court in the western Gujarat state, over remarks he made in 2019 using Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surname.
The sentence was suspended for 30 days, allowing Gandhi to remain free while he appeals the verdict. Supporters rushed to his defense, with the president of Gandhi’s Indian National Congress party suggesting the ruling might have been politically motivated.
The case stemmed from a complaint filed by Purnesh Modi, a leader in Prime Minister Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in his home state of Gujarat. During a 2019 election rally, Gandhi asked why “all thieves have Modi as a common surname,” according to media accounts. Although in context he appeared to be referring to specific people, including fugitive diamond tycoon Nirav Modi, the complainant argued that he had defamed all Modis.
Gandhi, who was present in the court in Surat, Gujarat, when the verdict was handed down, later issued a cryptic tweet. “My religion is based on truth and nonviolence,” he wrote, quoting Mahatma Gandhi. “Truth is my God, nonviolence the means to get it.”
His supporters expressed solidarity with him. Congress party President Mallikarjun Kharge tweeted in Hindi that the “coward, dictator BJP government is rattled by Mr. Rahul Gandhi and the opposition because we are exposing their dark deeds,” referring to demands for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the crisis that engulfed conglomerate Adani.
As shares of Adani companies plunged following U.S. short-seller Hindenburg’s allegations in late January of “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud,” the Congress party and other opposition players attacked the government, and Modi specifically, over allegedly cozy ties with the group and its billionaire leader, Gautam Adani. Opposition lawmakers have disrupted proceedings of both houses of Parliament on multiple occasions, insisting on a formal probe.
“The Modi government has gone politically bankrupt and … slaps cases against political speeches,” Kharge said, although this particular case dates back years. “We will appeal” in the higher court, he added.
Prominent BJP members, on the other hand, hailed the decision.
“If you insult a whole surname like this, that whoever has a Modi surname is a thief, it is clearly defamatory,” senior BJP leader and former law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said after the ruling, pointing out that a similar case is ongoing against Gandhi in Bihar state, filed by BJP leader Sushil Modi. Gandhi is also on bail in that case.
“The Congress party wants Rahul Gandhi to have complete freedom [so that he] keeps on hurling abuses, but that can’t happen,” Prasad said. “We respect criticism but Rahul Gandhi doesn’t criticize, he insults the country … and its people.”
While the Congress party protested and the BJP cheered, the development could be seen as a setback for the opposition.
The Gandhi scion — great-grandson of India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru — had recently completed a highly publicized Bharat Jodo Yatra or “Unite India March,” walking 3,570 kilometers over 150 days to connect with the public. Many saw this as part of a strategy to position him as a future prime minister.
Now his hopes rest on a higher court striking down the verdict so that he can avoid possible disqualification as a member of parliament.
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CIA’s most senior officer in Pakistan ‘unmasked’ by Imran Khan’s party
This article is more than 9 years old
PTI party names man in letter to police demanding he be nominated as one of those responsible for drone strike
Jon Boone in Islamabad
Wed 27 Nov 2013 13.52 GMT
The political party led by the former cricket star Imran Khan claims to have blown the cover of the CIA’s most senior officer in Pakistan as part of an increasingly high-stakes campaign against US drone strikes.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party named a man it claimed was head of the CIA station in Islamabad in a letter to police demanding he be nominated as one of the people responsible for a drone strike on 21 November, which killed five militants including senior commanders of the Haqqani Network.
John Brennan, the CIA director, was also nominated as an “accused person” for murder and “waging war against Pakistan”.
The US embassy said it could not comment but was looking into the matter. The CIA spokesman Dean Boyd would not confirm the station chief’s name and declined to immediately comment, AP reported.
If his identity is confirmed it will be the second time anti-drone campaigners have unmasked a top US spy in Pakistan.
In 2010 another CIA station chief, Jonathan Banks, was named in criminal proceedings initiated after a drone strike. Banks was forced to leave the country.
As with the Banks case, questions will be raised about how the PTI came to know the identity of the top US intelligence official in the country.
Although nearly all foreign spies in Pakistan use diplomatic cover stories to hide their occupation, many, including station chiefs, are declared to the country’s domestic spy agency.
The letter signed by the PTI spokeswoman Shireen Mazari demanded the named agent be prevented from leaving the country so that he could be arrested. The PTI said it hoped he would reveal “through interrogation” the names of the remote pilots who operated the drone.
“CIA station chief is not a diplomatic post, therefore he does not enjoy any diplomatic immunity and is within the bounds of domestic laws of Pakistan,” the letter said.
The accusation comes at a time when drones have once again become a matter of intense controversy in Pakistan.
The country’s interior minister, Chaudhry Nisar, denounced a drone strike in early November. Although the attack killed the much hated chief of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, Nisar said it had wrecked the government’s efforts to hold peace talks with militant groups.
And it infuriated Khan, who has built much of his political platform around opposition to drones, which he claims are largely responsible for the upsurge of domestic terrorism in Pakistan in recent years – a suggestion disputed by many experts.
The 21 November strike was even more provocative as it was one of the first ever strikes outside the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, where nearly all attacks by the unmanned aircraft have taken place in the past.
The attack on a religious seminary associated with the Haqqani Network was in Hangu, an area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the province where Khan’s PTI leads a coalition government.
Khan responded with a massive rally in the provincial capital of Peshawar and ordered PTI activists to block vehicles carrying supplies to Nato troops in Afghanistan.
However, party workers have struggled to identify Nato cargo amid all the sealed containers plying the roads to Afghanistan. The exercise has received no support from the national government and the police have tried to stop PTI workers blocking lorries.
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Protests in France against pension reforms
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March 27th 2023
Three children among dead after female shooter storms US school
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Summary
- Six people, three of them children, have been killed in a primary school shooting in Nashville
- The shooter was a 28-year-old female who was killed by police, officers said
- She was armed with two assault-type rifles and a handgun, they added
- Three children were taken to hospital where they were pronounced dead on arrival
- The Covenant School in Nashville is a private Christian school for students aged three to 11
Live Reporting
Fewer shootings at private schools
Today’s shooting in Nashville proved unusual as it took place at a private school.
Such incidents in the US have historically been more likely to occur at public institutions.
From 2000 to 2018, around 94% of school shootings took place at public schools, compared with 6% at private schools, according to an analysis from the Cato Institute think-tank.
A Washington Post analysis also found that about 6% of school shootings take place at private institutions, while more than 20% of all schools in the US are private.
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The scene in photos
A 28-year-old woman opened fire at a private school, killing six including three children, before being shot and killed by police.
First responders are at the Covenant School in Nashville.
President Biden to address Nashville shooting shortly
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said that President Joe Biden will speak on the Nashville shooting shortly.
He is expected to deliver his remarks at around 14:30 local time (18:30 GMT) ahead of a scheduled address at the Women’s Business Summit.
Posted at 19:1219:12
Biden has been briefed on shooting
ReutersCopyright: Reuters
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre is now addressing reporters.
She said President Joe Biden has been briefed on the “heart breaking news” of the shooting in Nashville, and the White House is in touch with local officials.
She said Biden is calling on Congress to “do something” to address deadly mass shootings in the US.
“We know that too often our schools and our communities are being devastated by gun violence,” Jean-Pierre said.
“Schools should be safe spaces for our kids to learn and grow, and for our educators to teach.”
More details released on suspect and victims
We’ve just received a very short update from Nashville police on the victims and the suspect behind the shooting.
Police confirmed on Twitter that three students and three adult staff members from Covenant School were fatally shot by the active shooter.
They previously said they had believed the shooter, who is a female, was a teenager. They have since identified the suspect as a 28-year-old Nashville woman.
Her name has not been released.
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Posted at 19:0319:03
BreakingSuspect was 28-year-old woman – police
Nashville police have said the suspect has been identified as a 28-year-old Nashville woman.
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March 25th 2023
Tornadoes kill at least 24 people in Mississippi
Southern Tornadoes Live Updates:
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March 10th 2023
Elite Feminist Rule Conspiracy.
NEW YORK—The Open Society Foundations will invest more than $100 million over the next five years in strengthening a range of feminist-led movements and increasing their leadership across a broad range of sectors, from politics and the private sector to civil society and government.
The majority of the funding will help strengthen feminist organizations and funds around the world. Open Society is focused on growing transformative feminist political leadership through explicit investments in initiatives that support more women, transgender, and gender non-conforming people in positions of leadership in politics and governance. This includes support for expanding progressive multilateralism and feminist leadership in peace and security.
The investments will also boost efforts to ensure that women, girls, transgender, and gender non-conforming communities can make their own decisions about issues affecting their bodies and reproductive health care.
“Increased feminist leadership in all areas of public life is needed to ensure we build inclusive, peaceful, and open societies. That is why we are proud to announce a $100 million commitment to help expand such opportunities,” said Mark Malloch-Brown, president of the Open Society Foundations. “Philanthropy sits in a unique position to create a basis for women and girls to take on leadership responsibilities and mobilize their communities for progressive political change.”
Open Society will invest across several gender justice initiatives, including:
- Developing and sustaining transformative feminist leaders in politics and governance, with a focus on leaders of minority identities
- Strengthening feminist movements globally, particularly to combat rising authoritarianism
- Strengthening feminist leadership in peace and security, with a priority on women under threat of political conflict, such as in Afghanistan
- Improving access, rights, resources, and agency to make decisions about bodies and reproductive health care
- Advancing economic justice and rights for women across the board by supporting their rights as workers and providers of care
- Reshaping digital platforms to stop the targeted harassment of feminist activism online
Open Society announced the funding at the Generation Equality Forum in Paris. The forum is a global gathering for gender equality convened by UN Women and co-hosted by the governments of Mexico and France, in partnership with youth and civil society. Open Society serves as the lead philanthropic actor of the Action Coalition on Feminist Movements and Leadership, which aims to strengthen women’s rights, voice, and agency across the globe.
“From the challenges brought by COVID-19 to women and girls in the United States, to the changing peace and security circumstances in several countries, to the new opportunities in Chile and Argentina, and the new generation of emerging leaders in the African continent—we are experiencing unprecedented developments around the world,” said Kavita N. Ramdas, director of the Open Society Women’s Rights Program. “Open Society’s groundbreaking $100 million investment in feminist organizing and leadership will help ensure that more women, girls, transgender, and gender non-conforming people are able to fully engage and participate in the decision-making that affects their lives—from their homes and schools, to their workplaces and communities, to shaping constitutions and governments.”
Comment Feminism and anti white BLM propoganda are essential to elite hegemony.TERF feminist and Islamist transphobia because we. trans women are a threat to the smug self satisfied Planet Eating New World Order Ruling Elite backed White Man hating Feminists because we are too feminine.
R J Cook
This is a vital investment in feminist-led movements and gender equity.
Open Society Commits $100 Million to Feminist Movements and Leaders
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Balance of Power – China
For five years, much of Chinese politics has turned on Xi Jinping’s unrelenting quest for a third term. Now he’s got to own it.China’s parliament re-appointed Xi as president today, the final step in a process that began with the 2018 repeal of constitutional provisions intended to prevent one-person rule. The unanimous vote comes five months after a Communist Party congress that saw Xi pack leadership posts with allies while sidelining would-be rivals.Key reading:US-China Downward Spiral Raises Fresh Fears of Eventual Conflict Xi’s Third Term as President Cements Effort to Consolidate Power Xi’s Casual Chats on Stage Show Closeness With New China Leaders China’s Faith in All-Powerful Xi Shaken by Chaos of Covid Pivot China Warns US Risks Catastrophe in Push to Contain BeijingXi’s supremacy was evident in everything from the standing ovation he received to his casual chat on the rostrum with incoming premier, Li Qiang, his one-time personal secretary.Only one “no” vote was cast in voting for 18 top positions today, a demonstration of loyalty likely to be repeated in balloting for other senior roles before the annual parliamentary session wraps up on Monday.But outside the hall, faith in Xi’s leadership has been shaken, particularly after mass protests in November precipitated a chaotic exit from his Covid Zero strategy. The MSCI China Index erased all its gains for the year after the legislative session disappointed investors hoping for a clearer call to revive growth. The next five years are expected to see China sink deeper into a “negative feedback loop” with the US that’s fanning fears of outright conflict. This week, both the US and China announced military spending hikes, while Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang asked out loud who will bear the “catastrophic consequences” of a war.Having surrounded himself with yes men, it’s unclear who’d be likely to stand up to Xi at home or question his actions.The result of Xi’s political triumph is that, increasingly, responsibility for everything that happens in China rests on his shoulders. — Brendan Scott |
 Xi takes oath after his reelection in Beijing today. Photographer: Noel Celis/AFP/Getty ImagesComing Soon: Understand power in Washington through the lens of business, government and the economy. Find out how the worlds of money and politics intersect in the US capital. Sign up now for the new Bloomberg Washington Edition newsletter, delivered Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.Click here for this week’s most compelling political images. And if you are enjoying this newsletter, sign up here. |
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Getting along | Today’s White House meeting between US President Joe Biden and European Commission leader Ursula von der Leyen is likely to be convivial, despite trade tensions and the pressure of the war in Ukraine. In a bid to avoid a clash over the Inflation Reduction Act that aims to bolster the development of clean technology, they’re expected to agree on a way for European firms to benefit from some subsidies offered only to American producers.The European Union is ready to coordinate a bloc-wide approach to export controls on advanced chips, following a decision by the Netherlands to restrict some of its supplies amid pressure from the US to clamp down on China’s access to the technology.Cordial entente? | French President Emmanuel Macron has been among the most strident critics of the UK since its fateful vote to quit the EU. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will seek to turn his French antagonist into an ally today when he crosses the Channel for talks with Macron in Paris. Read here what to watch out for. The UK economy grew far more strongly than forecast in January, adding to evidence of its resilience in the face of a cost-of-living squeeze and widespread industrial unrest. The figures raise hopes the economy may avoid a protracted recession, or dodge a downturn all together.Weapons revival | As Ukraine’s NATO allies mull ways to increase the production of weapons and ammunition, crumbling towns that once produced arms for Russia may offer a ray of hope. Daniel Hornak and Andrea Dudik report on how eastern Slovakia is seeing a boost in investment as defense companies race to revive plants that once made the now impoverished region a symbol of the Warsaw Pact’s military might.British law enforcement agencies have identified large numbers of sham companies incorporated in the UK, likely for the purposes of money laundering or tax evasion, Alex Wickham and Alberto Nardelli report. Follow our rolling coverage of the war in Ukraine here. |
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| In today’s newsletter, the polarized politics of breast-feeding, and then: • The assumptions doctors make • The writer changing London’s food world • Watching all nine “Rocky” movies for the first time Biomilq and the New Science of Artificial Breast MilkThe biotech industry takes on infant nutrition.  Illustration by Bianca Bagnarelli “Breast milk is often described as a kind of elixir,” Molly Fischer writes, in this week’s issue, of the widely acknowledged “gold standard” for infant nutrition that can provide an array of benefits, including protection against asthma and diabetes. “To replicate it in a laboratory,” Fischer writes, “would be alchemy.” And yet, numerous companies have formed with such a goal. Fischer, who was pregnant while reporting the piece, visits two of these biotech startups to find out just how close they are to creating a viable lab-grown breast milk. Along the way, she describes the polarized politics of breast-feeding, and its tangled history in America—where a quarter of mothers return to work only two weeks after childbirth. “There are two factions in the world: ‘Breast is best’ and ‘Fed is best,’ ” a co-founder of the startup Biomilq says. Everyone seems to have an opinion on what’s best, and many mothers feel a pressure to get the “whole baby thing right.” Could artificial breast milk be part of the answer? Read the storyListen to podcasts? We’d like to know your favorites. Take a brief survey » From the News Desk Annals of Medicine The Assumptions Doctors Make Learning to be a physician, I realized over and over again that I was seeing only part of the picture. By Ricardo Nuila Daily Comment The Latest Attack on the Abortion Pill Is Forty Years in the Making If a Texas lawsuit prevails, mifepristone will no longer be available anywhere in the nation, even in states where abortion is legal. By Sue Halpern Daily Comment The Inside Story of the U.N. High Seas Treaty A new global agreement protects marine life in parts of the ocean that laws have been unable to reach. By Jeffrey Marlow News Desk “In the Dark,” the Acclaimed Investigative Podcast, Joins The New Yorker and Condé Nast Entertainment As part of its expansion into long-form audio journalism, the magazine is now home to the award-winning series’ first two seasons and will release its third. By The New Yorker Tune in: On The Political Scene podcast, Emma Green discusses the “woke history” wars, and whether contemporary politics are shaping our understanding of the past too much. |
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