Tag Archives: WorldNews

Is Oleg Deripaska the missing link in the Trump-Russia investigation?

3718.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=forma

The Russian oligarch could face greater scrutiny after disclosure that Paul Manafort discussed Ukraine peace plan with associate

A recent disclosure that Trump’s campaign chairman and a key Russian business associate discussed a Ukraine peace plan in mid-2016 could signal more scrutiny of a powerful Russian oligarch by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election, former prosecutors and intelligence officials told the Guardian.

The timing of the talks between Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, a veteran political consultant, and Konstantin Kilimnik, his longtime aide who allegedly had ties to Russian intelligence in 2016, occurred in New York on 2 August.

Continue reading…

Cameroon arrests opposition leader who claims he won 2018 election

What will Bolton and Trump do with Cameroon? Threaten as they are Venezuela?

3398.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=forma

Maurice Kamto and several others held following protests against result of October poll

The Cameroonian opposition leader who claims he won last year’s election has been arrested.

Police arrested Maurice Kamto on Monday along with several other opposition figures, including one who was pulled out of his hospital bed where he was recovering from gunshot wounds sustained at a protest against the central African country’s longtime president, Paul Biya.

Continue reading…

Facebook accused by Brussels over ‘patchy’ attitude to fake news

2953.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=forma

EU commissioner warns internet firms in clampdown ahead of European elections

Facebook and its new head of global affairs, Nick Clegg, stand accused by Brussels of taking a “patchy, opaque, and self-selecting” approach to tackling disinformation.

The description was said to apply to a number of internet companies by the EU commissioner, Sir Julian King, at the publication of a progress report on the attempt to clamp down on fake news before May’s European elections.

Continue reading…

Intelligence chief contradicts Trump on North Korea and Iran

4387.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=forma

In a statement to the Senate, Daniel Coats said North Korea is unlikely to give up its nuclear weapons

The head of US intelligence has said that North Korea is “unlikely to give up” its nuclear weapons because its leadership sees them as “critical to regime survival” – in comments which contrasted sharply with Donald Trump’s own assessment.

Daniel Coats, the director of national intelligence, made his assessment in a written statement on “worldwide threats” to the Senate on Tuesday, which was noteworthy for the many ways it differed from the rhetoric favoured by the president and his top aides.

Continue reading…

May thinks she’s won. But the reality of Brexit will soon hit her again | Rafael Behr

5568.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=forma

The Brady amendment passed. But ultimately the problem is not the deal, or the backstop, or Brussels: it is Brexit itself

British politics now follows the tortured pattern of addiction. Inside the addict’s head the most important thing is getting to the next Brexit fix, scoring the best deal. But from the outside, to our European friends and family, it is obvious that the problem is the compulsive pursuit of a product that does us only harm. On Tuesday night Theresa May thought she had scored: a slender majority in parliament voted for an imaginary agreement in Brussels, stripped of the hated “backstop”. Tory Eurosceptic ultras and the DUP pledged conditional allegiance to the prime minister if she delivers “alternative arrangements” for a seamless border on Northern Ireland. But no one has any idea what those might be and the EU has already ruled out a renegotiation on terms that might satisfy the hardliners. The transient buzz of Tory unity will yield to the chilly comedown of Brexit reality, as it always does.

Related: Brexit: MPs vote on anti-backstop and article 50 amendments – Politics live

Continue reading…

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez knows yesterday’s radicalism can become tomorrow’s common sense | Jeff Sparrow

4000.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=forma

Those who want to change the world can’t shape their ideas according to the conventional wisdom about what the public will accept

You might have seen the clip floating around social media. It’s a panel discussion from the World Economic Forum at Davos, in which Michael Dell, the billionaire CEO responds to a question about a 70% marginal tax rate on the wealthiest Americans, a proposal recently floated by US representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

“No, I’m not supportive of that,” Dell says, to much laughter from the assembled plutocrats. “And I don’t think it will help the growth of the US economy. Name a country where that’s worked.”

Continue reading…

He built Starbucks into a global brand, but can he conquer Trump?

Smell the coffee! Being rich does not mean we need pay attention to anything but your coffee. Time to stop worshiping rich as if they know something about government and democracy just because they are rich.

10758562-4x3-140x105.jpg

Howard Schultz, who built Starbucks into a mega-brand, has set his sights on America’s top job. But history suggests his plan to run as an independent could cost him, writes Micheline Maynard.