Spanish party financing: Podemos chief grilled in Senate over Venezuela financing links | In English | EL PAÍS

“If the question is whether any foreign government, or any outside organization [funded the party], or if Podemos had any kind of illegal financing, the answer is no,” Iglesias continued. “And I have the proof here.” The head of the party brought with him reports from Spain’s Audit Court – responsible for monitoring party financing – and the audits that had been carried out on Podemos. He produced as many as 10 lawsuits that had been dismissed by the courts relating to accusations brought by the PP.

Source: Spanish party financing: Podemos chief grilled in Senate over Venezuela financing links | In English | EL PAÍS

Vegan diets are adding to malnutrition in wealthy countries

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Hidden hunger affects over two billion people, globally. The cause is a chronic lack of essential micronutrients in the diet, such as vitamins and minerals. The effects of these nutritional deficiencies may not be seen immediately, but the consequences can be severe. They include lower resistance to disease, mental impairment and even death.

President Trump, hostage taker? – Los Angeles Times

Trump’s statement that he may intervene in the case against Meng could be one of his most dangerous “break the norms” moments since he won the White House. By putting her arrest in play as a bargaining chip in trade talks, Trump has told the world that hostage-taking is now a part of his approach to international negotiations too.  It also is a further erosion of the independence of the Justice Department. Trump has already demanded that it investigate his political foes, including Hillary Clinton, though so far the department has refused to follow his lead. It’s unclear how much it could resist him in the Meng case, but to swap her prosecution for a trade deal tells the world that U.S. arrest warrants can be made to go away if Trump gets a trade concession. While Trump may have the legal authority to intervene in a specific case, that he is willing to do so not for reasons of justice, but for political gain, is an appalling blurring of policy goals and our concept of an independent and professional Justice Department.

Source: President Trump, hostage taker? – Los Angeles Times

Cybill Shepherd says Les Moonves thwarted her hit ’90s sitcom after she rejected his advances

Actress Cybill Shepherd said that her 1990s hit TV comedy “Cybill” was thwarted after she rejected inappropriate advances by CBS Chairman Les Moonves back then.

She’s now one of the highest-profile stars to denounce the disgraced mogul, who has been accused by multiple women of decades of sexual…

Senate votes to end US military support for Saudis in Yemen

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  • Resolution to curb military aid passes by 56 votes to 41
  • Measure reflects lack of confidence in Trump over Yemen

The Senate has passed a resolution calling for an end to US military support to the Saudi-led coalition in the Yemen war, and asserting Congress’s right to decide on matters of war and peace.

The measure, which passed by 56 votes to 41, marked the first time the Senate had invoked the 1973 War Powers Resolution to seek to curb the power of the president to take the US into an armed conflict. It marked a significant bipartisan rebuke to the Trump administration, which lobbied intensively against it.

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Legal Marijuana Or Not, Green Card Holders Caught With Pot Can Still Get Deported

Legal Marijuana Or Not, Green Card Holders Caught With Pot Can Still Get Deported

While state legislators throughout the country move to legalize marijuana and expunge marijuana convictions, the case of one New Jersey father now on a path to deportation points to a wrinkle in any state law involving legal weed: Old marijuana convictions will continue to get immigrants deported. [ more › ]

The untold story of how India’s sex workers prevented an Aids epidemic | Global development | The Guardian

At the height of Avahan’s activities, Alexander and his teams were providing HIV prevention services to more than 270,000 sex workers, working in 672 towns, and distributing over 13m condoms a month. The programme, which cost $375m (£297m), is credited with an important role in the subsequent decline in India’s HIV status. Today, 2.1 million Indians are living with HIV. The prevalence of HIV is 0.22%, lower than that of the US. The reason India’s sex workers never been praised for their contribution to this achievement, says Alexander, is that this was a success story no one wanted to author: “Their selfless contribution will never be recognised because of the stigma that still surrounds this disease.”

Source: The untold story of how India’s sex workers prevented an Aids epidemic | Global development | The Guardian

‘They don’t care’: Facebook factchecking in disarray as journalists push to cut ties | Technology | The Guardian

Current and former Facebook factcheckers told the Guardian that the tech platform’s collaboration with outside reporters has produced minimal results and that they’ve lost trust in Facebook, which has repeatedly refused to release meaningful data about the impacts of their work. Some said Facebook’s hiring of a PR firm that used an antisemitic narrative to discredit critics – fueling the same kind of propaganda factcheckers regularly debunk – should be a deal-breaker. “They’ve essentially used us for crisis PR,” said Brooke Binkowski, former managing editor of Snopes, a factchecking site that has partnered with Facebook for two years. “They’re not taking anything seriously. They are more interested in making themselves look good and passing the buck … They clearly don’t care.”

Source: ‘They don’t care’: Facebook factchecking in disarray as journalists push to cut ties | Technology | The Guardian