‘Political earthquake’ as Thai princess runs for PM against military junta

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Surprise move pits Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Varnavadi against leader of 2014 coup

The sister of Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn has been unveiled as a prime ministerial candidate in next month’s elections in a country where strict lèse-majesté laws make criticism of the royal family in effect illegal.

On Friday, the Thai Raksa Chart party confirmed princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi had joined the race, a move one expert said had created a “political earthquake”.

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Rome’s war of words with President Macron may prove self-defeating | World news | The Guardian

The danger is that the stream of insults pouring off the Italian party leaders’ Facebook pages has not just political but also economic consequences, with Italy coming off worse. Trump can insult with impunity since he heads a superpower. Italy, by contrast, is less powerful, and an alliance with Viktor Orbán’s Hungary is hardly a sufficient shelter. Already some businesses that co-operate across the Franco-Italian border are feeling uneasy. Alitalia is hoping for French capital to save the airline. Infrastructure plans such as the Turin-Lyon high-speed rail link are in doubt. Italy, in recession and heading for only 0.2% growth this year, will need some allies in Europe and in Brussels. Its banking system remains undercapitalised. M5S is determined to show it is on the side of the people, and not the bankers, but translating that emotion into practical budgetary policy is proving difficult. Insults by contrast come easier, and cheaper.

Source: Rome’s war of words with President Macron may prove self-defeating | World news | The Guardian

Oscar nominees: ‘Women are missing stamp of approval’ says Jane Fonda

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Only 25% of non-acting nominees at Academy Awards are female, with no women in best directing category – report

Women make up only a quarter of non-acting nominees at this year’s Oscars, it has been calculated.

A study by the Women’s Media Center – an organisation co-founded in 2005 by Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan and Gloria Steinem – established that 25% of behind-the-camera nominees were female – and none were in the categories for directing, cinematography, editing, original score and visual effects.

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Friday Open Thread | James Comey: Take down the confederate statues now | 3CHICSPOLITICO

Comey argues that the Confederate statues are “much larger and more powerful symbols of that oppression — symbols born of a similar desire to keep black people down.” He describes them as “gigantic bronze embodiments of that same racism.” “They loom over Virginians every day,” Comey writes. “If Virginia’s leaders want to atone for a troubling legacy, changing state law so Richmond’s statues no longer taunt the progress of our country would be a good place to start.” The former FBI director argues that the statues of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and Stonewall Jackson “weren’t put up to celebrate history or heritage; they were put up as a message: The 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution aren’t going to help you black folks because the South has risen from that humiliation. Jim Crow — a name rooted in blackface mockery — is king.”

Source: Friday Open Thread | James Comey: Take down the confederate statues now | 3CHICSPOLITICO

Much Has Been Confirmed in Dossier at Heart of Donald Trump Scandal – SPIEGEL ONLINE

Cohen and three other Trump emissaries met with people in Prague, including a man named Oleg Solodukhin. The meeting allegedly had to do with paying off Romanian hackers who, under the direction of the Kremlin, had been working to undermine the Clinton campaign. Cohen and Solodukhin reportedly discussed how they could funnel the money to the hackers and how the cooperation between Trump and Putin’s people could be covered up. Steele wrote that Trump’s people and the Russians agreed at the meeting that the Romanian hackers should go into hiding and “other operatives should head for a bolt-hole in Plovdiv, Bulgaria where they should ‘lay low.'” What a story! — that is, if it’s true. Trump’s lawyer allegedly conspired with the Kremlin. If this can be proved, it would amount to treason, but so far there is no concrete proof. Late last year, the U.S. newspaper publishing group McClatchy reported that one of Cohen’s mobile phones had logged on to a cell phone tower near Prague at the time in question. The journalists referred to four anonymous sources. But Cohen has repeatedly stated that he has never been to Prague or anywhere else in the Czech Republic. Oleg Solodukhin, the allege

Source: Much Has Been Confirmed in Dossier at Heart of Donald Trump Scandal – SPIEGEL ONLINE

‘Disgusting’ razor wire must go, say U.S. border city residents | Reuters

“They’re turning our town into a military base. It’s like the front lines of some kind of war zone,” Nixon, 68, told the Nogales City Council on Wednesday night. “Please take a stand and at least have them get rid of the razor wire. It’s a public nuisance, it’s lethal.” Minutes later, the council unanimously passed a resolution condemning the use of the concertina wire as an indiscriminate use of lethal force normally reserved for battlefields and high-security prisons.

Source: ‘Disgusting’ razor wire must go, say U.S. border city residents | Reuters

NYPD Targets Cyclists In Hell’s Kitchen: ‘I Saw An Officer Shove A Guy Off Of His Bicycle’

WTF!!!

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On Monday morning, cyclist Joseph Chaim was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Hell’s Kitchen. No arrests have been made. On Thursday afternoon, NYPD officers stood one block from where Chaim was killed and ticketed cyclists, according to one witness who took video of the encounter, knocking one cyclist off his bike in order it issue a citation. [ more › ]

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