Italy Smoking: Want to Light Up in Milan? Not Any More, You Can't

BBC: It's all change for the trendy crowds along the canals of Milan, used to holding a glass of aperitivo in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Because a ban on smoking outdoors has just come into force in a range of public places.

Smoking within a 10m (30ft) distance of other people is no longer permitted from Tuesday at bus and tram stops as well as in the city's parks and green spaces, sports and recreational grounds, children's play areas, stadiums and cemeteries.

Italy was the first country in the EU to pass a law backing an indoor ban on smoking in public places in 2003.

Milan is now the first Italian city to introduce such an extensive outdoor ban, part of a package of measures to improve air quality and combat climate change.

Other planned regulations, which will come into effect in phases over the next three decades, also target factors like car emissions and heating fuels. » | Dany Mitzman | Bologna | Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Majority of Europeans Fear Biden Unable to Fix 'Broken' US

THE GUARDIAN: Survey finds more Europeans than not say US cannot be trusted after four years of Trump

A majority of Europeans believe America’s political system is broken, that China will be the world’s leading power within a decade, and that Joe Biden will be unable to halt his country’s decline on the world stage, according to a report.

While many welcomed Biden’s victory in November’s US election, more Europeans than not feel that after four years of Donald Trump the US cannot be trusted, according to the study by the European Council on Foreign Relations.

“Europeans like Biden, but they don’t think America will come back as a global leader,” said the thinktank’s director, Mark Leonard. “When George W Bush was president, they were divided about how America should use its power. With Biden entering the White House, they are divided about whether America has power at all.” » | Jon Henley | Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Chris Hedges on the Bleak Future of the USA (Audio Only)

A chilling speech by Chris Hedges, Pulitzer prize winning journalist and political activist, given at St. Andrew's - Wesley United Church in Vancouver, CA on March 3, 2017.
Listen HERE »

Lights Go Out on Trump's Reality TV Presidency but Dark Legacy Remains

THE GUARDIAN: For four years the outrages piled up so high they were hard to keep track of but the coronavirus pandemic proved to be one crisis he couldn’t bluster away

In a cold, sombre, damp Washington four years ago this Wednesday, Donald Trump took the oath of office as the 45th president of the United States and delivered an inaugural address now remembered for two words: American carnage.

He delivered, but not as he promised. Trump pledged to end the carnage of inner-city poverty, rusting factories, broken schools and the scourge of criminal gangs and drugs. Instead his presidency visited upon the nation the carnage of about 400,000 coronavirus deaths, the worst year for jobs since the second world war and the biggest stress test for American democracy since the civil war.

“It’s not just physical carnage,” said Moe Vela, a former White House official. “There’s also mental carnage and there’s spiritual carnage and there’s emotional carnage. He has left a very wide swath of American carnage and that is the last way I would want to be remembered by history, but that is how he will be remembered.” » | David Smith in Washington | Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Brexiters Are Waking Up to the Damage They've Done

THE GUARDIAN: From horse racing to fishing to road haulage, British industry is in chaos. No wonder leavers are turning on each other

Brexit has beached the fishing boats at Hastings. The two-man crew of Paul Joy’s boat Kaya have left for shore jobs, after the price of the huss they land fell to just 2p a kilo. Exports to the European Union are Brexit-blighted, with fishers across Britain poleaxed by new costs and regulations, their catches rotting before they reach EU markets. It’s costing them millions already.

For the past two years Joy, a passionate Brexiter, has consistently told me he believes his industry would be shafted in any trade deal. “Betrayed, sacrificed,” he says, outraged at the government’s failure to secure British fishing rights for 12 miles around the coast, and now crippled by the export costs. So when foreign secretary Dominic Raab has the effrontery to tell the BBC’s Andrew Marr that this is “a great deal for the fishing industry”, he must know it’s not true.

Other industries want to know if Boris Johnson’s promised “compensation” for fishing losses means a huge subsidy in perpetuity for this less than 0.2% sliver of the economy? Because the problems exploding in one industry after another, in less than three Brexit weeks, are not going away.

Friction is the new normal. As the chief EU negotiator, Michel Barnier said firmly last week, things have “changed for good”. UK choices mean “mechanical, obvious, inevitable consequences when you leave the single market and that’s what the British wished to do”. It’s not French revenge, or bloody-minded Brussels, but ordinary life as a third country. » | Polly Toynbee | Monday, January 18, 2021

Biden’s Incoming Chief of Staff Warns That the Virus Death Toll Will Reach 500,000 by the End of February.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Officials in the incoming Biden administration braced the country for continued hardship in the days after the inauguration, with the president-elect assuming control of a struggling economy and surging coronavirus outbreak in less than three days.

Ron Klain, President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s incoming White House chief of staff, had a dire forecast for the course of the coronavirus outbreak in the new administration’s first weeks, predicting that half a million Americans will have died from the coronavirus by the end of February. The current toll is nearing 400,000.

“The virus is going to get worse before it gets better,” Mr. Klain said in an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “People who are contracting the virus today will start to get sick next month, will add to the death toll in late February, even March, so it’s going to take awhile to turn this around.”

Average daily U.S. deaths from the virus have risen to well past 3,000, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has sounded the alarm about a fast-spreading, far more contagious variant of the coronavirus that officials project will become the dominant source of infection in the country by March, potentially fueling another wrenching surge of cases and deaths. » | Chris Cameron | Sunday, January 17, 2021

Opinion: The Extraordinary Courage of Aleksei Navalny

THE NEW YORK TIMES: After a near-fatal poisoning, Russia’s top dissident steps back into the bear’s den.

Aleksei Navalny knew he would be arrested as soon as he stepped foot on Russian soil, and he had no illusions about what this could mean.

Mr. Navalny had been abroad since August, after all, because President Vladimir Putin’s political goons had poisoned him, and had failed to kill him only because a pilot had diverted his flight to Omsk, where doctors kept him alive until he could be evacuated to Germany. Ironically, his flight was diverted again on Sunday — this time by Russian authorities afraid of the welcoming crowd gathering at the Moscow airport where his flight was supposed to land.

Mr. Navalny knew he would be arrested, because he has been arrested several times before. Repression is the only way Mr. Putin knows. But he is also learning that, in the era of social media, every arrest on a trumped-up charge only broadens Mr. Navalny’s following and amplifies his indictment of the corruption of Russia’s rulers. » | The Editorial Board | Sunday, January 17, 2021

Nicholas and Alexandra | by HRH Prince Michael of Kent | Parts 1 & 2

Narrated by Jack Perkins, presented by HRH Prince Michael of Kent, includes interviews with Prince Nicholas Romanov (1922-2014), and people who were born in the late 19th century, and witness to Nicholas II's reign.

For almost a century their fabled dynasty and tragic fate have been enveloped in myth and surrounded by mystery. Now, with the opening of the former Soviet Union, the true story of Nicholas and Alexandra can be told. This groundbreaking production, filmed on location throughout the former Soviet Union and Europe, presents a treasure trove of information and documents that have been kept secret for decades. Intimate diaries, letters, and personal effects from the once-sealed imperial archives tell the astonishing story of the Romanovs' reign. Chilling eyewitness accounts, testimony from executioners, and a somber exhumation finally put to rest the enigma of their dynasty's horrifying end. Stunning, fact-filled and grand, this is the ultimate chronicle of a romance that changed the world.

Originally produced by A&E Biography, 1998.

Prof. Wolff on the Capitol Hill Riot: Capitalism's Last Gasp?

Sterben & Tod – Warum haben wir Angst davor? | Philosophie | Bleisch & Bossart | SRF Kultur – Ein Gespräch in Schweizerdeutsch (Schwiezertüütsch)

Muss man vor dem Tod Angst haben? Vielleicht nicht vor dem Tod, denn den Zustand des Totseins erleben wir ja nicht mehr. Ist es also das Sterben, das uns beschäftigt? Barbara Bleisch und Yves Bossart diskutieren über Facetten der Endlichkeit – vom Sekundentod bis zum ewigen Leben und fragen: Wäre Unsterblichkeit die Lösung?

Hebrew University's Prof. Yuval Noah Harari on the Era of the Coronavirus: Living in a New Reality

Interview between journalist Romi Noimark and Hebrew University's Prof. Yuval Noah Harari on The Era of the Coronavirus: Living in a New Reality

Evangelical Christians in the USA | DW Documentary

Evangelical Christians often have a huge impact on American politics. Many of these people are socially conservative, consider themselves patriots, and believe that Americans have a constitutional right to own guns.

This documentary explores the core beliefs of America's fundamentalist Christians - including the concept of creation, as opposed to evolution.

Our report features interviews with conservative evangelicals who, for example, believe that God created the world in six days about 6,000 years ago. Our reporters traveled to the state of Kentucky to visit a Creation Museum and a Christian theme park that features a life-size model of Noah's Ark.

Christian churches in the US play a major social role, especially in rural areas. They operate schools and universities and organize music festivals that celebrate their faith.

Most fundamentalist Christians are opposed to abortion, pre-marital sex, and homosexuality. They believe that those who engage in these activities will be condemned to Hell. And some have formed paramilitary groups to defend themselves against those whom they perceive as enemies - including non-believers, Communists, and Muslims.

Donald Trump Isolated and Enraged ahead of Biden Inauguration

THE GUARDIAN: A slew of aides have deserted the president and the Pentagon has decided not to hold an armed forces farewell tribute

It was once easy to determine Donald Trump’s mood. All it took was a look at his Twitter account. But with that gone, it has never been so difficult to gain a glimpse into the president’s mindset.

Where frequently a series of all-caps tweets might have suggested an emotional, frustrated Trump, there is silence.

Where posts screeching at fellow Republicans would have indicated a more vindictive bent, or messages with exclamation points a triumphant mood, all that is left of Trump’s Twitter account – which once had 88.7m followers – is a curt message from Twitter’s admin team: “Account suspended. Twitter suspends accounts which violate the Twitter Rules.”

So how has Trump reacted to the events of the past few weeks? By the accounts available, not well. A notoriously excitable president has remained in a state of high alarm. » | Adam Gabbatt in New York | Saturday, January 16, 2021

What Will Be Trump's Legacy? Hear Historian's Prediction

CNN's presidential historian Douglas Brinkley talks with CNN's Don and former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci about what President Trump's legacy will be once he leaves office, and how the riots at the US Capitol have affected that legacy.

Deadly Earthquake Hits Indonesia's Sulawesi Island | DW News

An earthquake struck Indonesia's Sulawesi island early on Friday morning, leaving at least 34 people dead and injuring over 600 others. The head of the local disaster mitigation agency Ali Rahman told AFP that "the latest information we have is that 26 people are dead in Mamuju city." The national disaster agency said that a further eight people had died to the south of the city. Many buildings were damaged. Two hospitals and the building that houses the provincial government offices collapsed, said Muhammad Idris, secretary to the governor on national television. A large number of people are trapped under the rubble, officials said. The epicenter of the 6.2 magnitude quake was 6 kilometers (3.73 miles) northeast of Majene city and measured at a depth of 18 kilometers. Thousands of people left their homes when the quake hit. They were evacuated to temporary shelters.

Saukälte in Sibirien: Minus-Rekord - Temperatur sinkt auf minus 49 Grad

Kalt, kälter, am kältesten: Im Süden und Westen Sibiriens haben Meteorologen neue Kälterekorde gemessen. Im Dorf Teguldet nahe der Großstadt Tomsk sei das Thermometer am Wochenende auf minus 49 Grad gesunken, sagte ein Wetterexperte am Montag der russischen Staatsagentur Tass. «Westsibirien hat die Meteorologen tief beeindruckt.»

In Nowosibirsk wurden demnach zwischen minus 37 und minus 41 Grad gemessen. Frühere Rekorde in Sibiriens größter Stadt seien um 5 Grad getoppt worden. In anderen Regionen sei es so kalt gewesen wie in den vergangenen 50 bis 100 Jahren nicht mehr, sagte der Sprecher. Nach Angaben der Behörden mussten viele Menschen mit Erfrierungen behandelt werden. Außerdem habe es zahlreiche Verkehrsunfälle und Flugausfälle gegeben.

Jacob Rees-Mogg Says British Fish Are 'Happier' because of Brexit Deal

The leader of the House of Commons claimed fish delayed for export because of the introduction of the post-Brexit fishing regime were 'happier' because they are now British. 'The key is we’ve got our fish back,' he told MPs. 'They’re now British fish and they’re better and happier fish for it'

Jacob Rees-Mogg? What a tw*t! (Please insert the vowel of your own choosing.) – Mark

Former Spanish King's Ex-lover Says She Was Threatened by Spy Chief

THE GUARDIAN: Corinna Larsen tells court ‘chilling’ warning to her and her children came on the orders of King Juan Carlos

The ex-lover of Spain’s former king Juan Carlos has told a court in Madrid of the “chilling” moment when she claimed the head of the country’s intelligence services threatened her and her children on the monarch’s orders.

Corinna Larsen told the court Félix Sanz Roldán met her in London after her relationship with the king had ended to warn her that if she did not follow his instructions he could not guarantee her safety. She claimed she later returned to her home in Switzerland where she discovered a book about the death of Princess Diana and subsequently received a cryptic phone call about tunnels, which she took to be an allusion to the princess’s fatal accident in 1997. » | Sam Jones in Madrid | Friday, January 15, 2021

Philipp Blom: Wie sieht unser Lebensmodell nach Corona aus? | Sternstunde Philosophie | SRF Kultur

Für den Bestsellerautor, Historiker und Philosoph Philipp Blom ist klar: Unser Selbstbild und unser Wirtschaftssystem sind bankrott. Wir brauchen ein neues Lebensmodell für die Zukunft. Denn wir Menschen stehen nicht über der Natur. Wir sind Teil von ihr, abhängig und verletzlich. Das zeigt die Pandemie ebenso wie die Klimakrise.

«Menschen lernen nicht aus der Geschichte, aber sie reagieren auf Traumata», schreibt der deutsche Historiker und Philosoph Philipp Blom. Hinterlässt die Pandemie ein solches Trauma? Oder die Klimakrise?

Nach Blom befinden wir uns derzeit am Ende von 3000 Jahren Kulturgeschichte. Am Anfang stand das göttliche Gebot: Macht euch die Erde untertan! Aufklärung, Industrialisierung und Kolonialismus folgten diesem Glauben.


Sternstunde Philosophie vom 10.01.2021

Zucker – Die süsse Droge | Wie Zucker unsere Gesundheit gefährdet | Doku | SRF DOK

Vier von zehn Schweizern sind übergewichtig. Unter anderem ist auch der zu hohe Zuckerkonsum daran schuld. Überall ist Zucker drin. Selbst dort, wo wir es nicht für möglich halten. Eine fünfköpfige Familie aus dem Aargau hat einen Monat lang zuckerfrei gelebt. Mit überraschenden Erkenntnissen.

«Zucker macht süchtig, denn Zucker aktiviert im Hirn die gleichen Rezeptoren wie andere Drogen», sagt die Basler Ärztin Bettina Wölnerhanssen. Darum sei es auch so schwierig, Eigenverantwortung zu übernehmen, und den eigenen Zuckerkonsum zu reduzieren. Wir alle lieben Süsses. Auch die Familie Rechsteiner mit drei Kindern im Teenageralter aus Döttingen ist der süssen Verführung nicht abgeneigt. Allerdings will die Familie nun herausfinden, was der Zuckerkonsum bei ihnen bewirkt, und lässt sich auf einen Versuch ein: Alle fünf Familienmitglieder wollen einen ganzen Monat lang auf Lebensmittel mit zugefügtem Zucker verzichten. Das ist einfacher gesagt als getan. Denn in vier von fünf Lebensmitteln versteckt sich zugefügter Zucker. Selbst in solchen, die gar nicht besonders süss schmecken.

In der Schweiz ist jedes sechste Kind zu dick. Eine halbe Million Schweizerinnen und Schweizer leiden an Diabetes. Vielen Menschen ist zu wenig bewusst, dass sie Zucker aus gesundheitlichen Überlegungen meiden oder nur in geringen Mengen konsumieren sollten. Eine staatlich verordnete Zuckerreduktion stösst auf wenig Akzeptanz: 2019 wurde die Einführung einer Zuckersteuer von den eidgenössischen Räten abgelehnt. In England hingegen hat man das Problem erkannt und reagiert. Mit der Einführung einer happigen Zuckersteuer konnte dort der Zuckergehalt in Süssgetränken massiv gesenkt werden. Heute enthält beispielsweise eine Orangenlimonade in London nur noch halb so viel Zucker wie eine Limonade derselben Marke in Zürich oder Genf.

Erwachsenen Menschen empfiehlt die Weltgesundheits-Organisation nicht mehr als 50 Gramm Zucker pro Tag. Für Kinder die Hälfte. In der Schweiz sind wir mit der doppelten Zuckermenge alarmierend weit von den WHO-Richtwerten entfernt. Die Politik macht wenig Druck auf die Nahrungsmittelproduzenten. Sie setzt auf die Eigenverantwortung der Konsumentinnen und Konsumenten. Wie schwierig das ist, musste auch Familie Rechsteiner feststellen.


Dieser Dokumentarfilm ist zum grossen Teil in Schyzertüütsch (Schweizerdeutsch) übertragen worden. – Mark

Trump 'Refusing to Pay' Rudy Giuliani's Legal Fees after Falling Out

THE GUARDIAN: President said to be offended by personal lawyer’s demand for a reported $20,000 a day

Donald Trump has fallen out with his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and is refusing to pay the former New York mayor’s legal bills, it was reported, with the president feeling abandoned and frustrated during his last days in office.

Giuliani played a key role in Trump’s failed attempts to overturn the results of November’s presidential election through the courts. The lawyer mounted numerous spurious legal challenges, travelling to swing states won by Joe Biden, and spread false claims the vote was rigged.

According to the Washington Post, relations between Trump and Giuliani have dramatically cooled. Trump has instructed his aides not to pay Giuliani’s outstanding fees. The president is reportedly offended by Giuliani’s demand for $20,000 a day – a figure the lawyer denies, but which is apparently in writing. White House officials have even been told not to put through any of Giuliani’s calls. » | Luke Harding | Thursday, January 14, 2021

The Last Days of Pompeo: Secretary of State Lashes Out as Reign Comes to an End

THE GUARDIAN: Trump’s foreign policy chief has pursued confrontation with Iran and other perceived enemies, but his efforts to disrupt diplomacy will end in failure

The finale of Mike Pompeo’s reign at the state department has been as controversial and clamorous as the rest of his 32-month tenure, but it is unclear what traces will remain after he has gone.

The last days of Pompeo have been played out in a blizzard of self-congratulatory tweets, at the rate of two dozen a day, as he seeks to write his own first draft of history.

The former Kansas congressman, with evident ambitions for a presidential run in 2024, has accented his claims of success by frequent derogatory references to the previous administration, portrayed as hapless appeasers. The political point-scoring and aggrandizement have made the use of the megaphone provided by a government Twitter account, with 3 million followers. » | Julian Borger in Washington | Thursday, January 14, 2021

Gay Hollywood: The Last Taboo (2009 – Documentary*

This documentary looks at the challenges facing gay artists in Hollywood past and present. Hollywood in the 1920s was the most homosexual-friendly place to be as most of the behind-the-camera staff were gay. However, for those in front of the camera there was no tolerance from the movie-going public. Any homosexual who wanted to maintain a career had to remain in a well-locked closet. During the 1950s, the studios provided their own "police" who would be the first to arrive at any scene of an "indiscretion" or other scandalous act. Their task was to collect and remove any evidence and then call the real police if necessary. The studios, wanting to safeguard their investments, even forced male gay actors, like Rock Hudson and Cary Grant, into sham marriages.
Watch the documentary HERE »
* This documentary is age-restricted, so it cannot be embedded. It must be watched on YouTube.

Trump Impeached Again

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The House voted on an article of impeachment that accuses President Trump of “incitement of insurrection,” and 10 Republicans supported the move. Senator Mitch McConnell said he would not agree to use emergency powers to bring the Senate back into session for a trial before Jan. 19. » | ohn Eligon and Thomas Kaplan | Nicholas Fandos and Glenn Thrush contributed reporting | Wednesday, January 13, 2021

“American Abyss”: Fascism Historian Tim Snyder on Trump’s Coup Attempt, Impeachment & What’s Next

As the House votes to impeach President Trump, the FBI warns there could be a repeat of the violent insurrection he encouraged on January 6, with Trump loyalists planning to hold armed protests nationwide ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration. We speak with Timothy Snyder, a historian of fascism, who says the riot at the U.S. Capitol was “completely and utterly predictable” given President Trump’s record of stoking extremism and undermining democratic institutions. “The American republic is hanging by a thread because the president of the United States has sought to use violence to stay in power and essentially to overthrow our constitutional system,” says Snyder.

Nahtoderfahrungen | Was passiert, wenn wir sterben? | Reportage | SRF DOK

Menschen mit Nahtoderfahrungen berichten darüber, wie es ist, mit einem Fuss im Jenseits stehen. Was passiert, wenn wir sterben? Sie reden darüber, wieso sie keine Angst mehr haben vor dem Tod. Und wie ihre Nahtoderfahrung ihr weiteres Leben verändert hat.

Andrea Pfeifer war 26 Jahre alt, als sie im Urlaub eine Lebensmittelvergiftung bekam, an der sie beinahe gestorben wäre. Was sie erlebte, als sie mit einem Fuss im Jenseits stand, behielt sie für sich. «Ich habe es ganz lange niemandem erzählt, weil man automatisch in eine Schiene reingedrängt wird: In eine spirituelle oder religiöse Schiene, wo ich überhaupt nicht hingehöre.» Heute kann sie von dem erzählen, was in jener Nacht passiert ist: «Es gab einen Moment, als etwas in meinem Körper zum Stillstand gekommen ist. Als wäre ich ein Uhrwerk: Plötzlich rastete es ein. Da wusste ich: Jetzt ist es gar nicht mehr gut.» Dann habe sie eine Bewegung wahrgenommen. «Ich habe den Kopf gedreht. Es sass jemand neben meinem Bett: ein junger Mann. Aber er war ganz etherisch, ausgefüllt mit Licht.»

Rund fünf Prozent der Menschen machen im Laufe ihres Lebens eine sogenannte Nahtoderfahrung. Aber nur wenige reden darüber – oft aus Angst, nicht ernst genommen zu werden. Bei jenen, die davon erzählen, lassen viele wiederkehrende Elemente identifizieren: Sie erleben bewusstes Sein ohne physischen Körper, berichten von einem Tunnel, von Licht, von tiefen Gefühlen des Friedens und der Liebe – und von Lichtwesen oder verstorbenen Angehörigen, mit denen sie kommunizieren konnten. Viele Schulmedizinerinnen und -mediziner sind indes überzeugt, dass es ganz simple Erklärungen gebe für solche Erfahrungen: etwa Sauerstoffmangel, zu viel Kohlendioxid oder chemische Reaktionen im Gehirn. Andrea Pfeifer kann darüber nur lächeln: «Was ich erlebt habe, ist so viel grösser als alles, was wir uns vorstellen können: Ich bin in einer Ekstase explodiert und zu Licht geworden. Es war pures Glück.»

Viele sagen, die Nahtoderfahrung habe sie verändert. «Ich habe den Eindruck, ich wurde intuitiver», erzählt die promovierte Historikerin Magdalen Bless, «ich hatte plötzlich Vorahnungen, die ich mir nicht erklären konnte.» Dem Hauswart Marcel Gasser geht es ähnlich: «Plötzlich habe ich Bauchweh. Oder Krämpfe. Mir wird schlecht. Dann ist etwas. Oder es kommt etwas.» Bei Ramón Gartmann, der als sogenannter «Lebenscoach» sein Geld verdient, gehen die Veränderungen noch weiter: «Wenn ich jemanden ansehe, sehe ich verschiedene Schichten von Energien um die Person herum.» Allen gemeinsam ist, dass das Ende des Lebens für sie den Schrecken verloren hat. «Ich freue mich auf den Tod, auch wenn ich ihn noch nicht will», sagt Magdalen Bless. «Der Tod ist ein grossartiger Übergang, in dem sich die Rätsel des Universums entschlüsseln.»


Dieser Dokumentarfilm ist zum Teil in Deutsch aber zum großen Teil in Schwyzertüütsch. – Mark

De Blasio: City of New York Severing All Contracts with Trump Organization | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Mayor Bill de Blasio, D-NY, joins Morning Joe to discuss why New York City is severing all contracts with the Trump Organization and what it means. Aired on 1/13/2021.

George Conway: Trump Is Leaving in Complete Disgrace | Morning Joe | MSNBC

A growing number of Republican lawmakers publicly endorsed impeaching President Donald Trump ahead of a Wednesday vote in the House. Attorney George Conway says support for Trump is collapsing and he compares and contrasts Trump with Richard Nixon. Aired on 1/13/2021.

Mike Pompeo Claims without Evidence That Iran Is Al-Qaida's New 'Home Base'

THE GUARDIAN: Move seems designed to restrict Biden administration’s options as secretary of state confirms killing of al-Qaida leader in August

The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has claimed, without providing evidence, that al-Qaida leaders have established a new “home base” in the Iran, in what appeared to be his latest effort to raise the political cost of the next administration reviving the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran.

Speaking with just eight days left in office, Pompeo alleged that Iran was “the new Afghanistan”, telling a news conference in Washington: “Unlike in Afghanistan, when al-Qaida was hiding in the mountains, al-Qaida today is operating under the hard shell of the Iranian regime’s protection.” » | Julian Borger in Washington | Tuesday, January 12, 2021

This assertion appears to be manifestly absurd! Al-Qaeda is a Sunni terrorist group. Iran is Shia. Sunnis and Shiites hate each other with a vengeance. This alone makes Pompeo’s assertion highly unlikely to be true. Pompeo is playing to people’s ignorance. He, in his position, should know better than this. The man needs to go back to school! – ©Mark Alexander

The Guardian View on Covid's Widening Gaps: The Rich Are Getting Richer

THE GUARDIAN: Rishi Sunak ought to make it clear that it is the real economy that needs rescuing, not the City

For speculators, the cryptocurrency party was just starting. At the beginning of last year one bitcoin was worth £5,614 before almost reaching £30,000 at the end of last week. On Monday, Britain’s financial watchdog took the punch bowl away, by warning bitcoin investors that they could lose all their money. While it may sober up a few of the partygoers many will find solace in their bank balances. Anyone who bought cryptoassets at the beginning of the year was sitting potentially on a 400% gain, an extraordinary return in a year when a health crisis has morphed into an economic one.

Thanks to the government’s actions, owners of assets have had a very good pandemic. Shares in London are back to where they were in late February last year. House prices in 2020 rose by 6%, helped by the chancellor’s temporary stamp duty holiday. Economic euphoria needs a drug. It turns out that the dealer with the best supply of credit is the government. Its central bank has flooded the financial system with cash meant to be loaned to chase a positive rate of return. In Britain’s distorted economy investors, even in the midst of Covid, prefer to make outlandish short-term capital gains rather than income from productive investment. » | Editorial | Monday, January 11, 2021

Ex-Melania Trump Adviser: First Lady Is President's Enabler

Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, author and former senior adviser to first lady Melania Trump, speaks to CNN's Brianna Keilar about her article in The Daily Beast where she writes that Melania and the President "lack character, and have no moral compass."

Turkish Televangelist Sentenced to 1,075 Years for Sex Crimes

THE GUARDIAN: Adnan Oktar was detained in 2018 along with more than 200 other suspects in his group

A Turkish court has sentenced a Muslim televangelist who surrounded himself with scantily clad women he called “kittens” to more than 1,000 years in jail for sex crimes

. Adnan Oktar preached creationism and conservative values while women in revealing outfits – many of whom appeared to have had plastic surgery – danced around him to upbeat music in the TV studio.

The bearded 64-year-old was detained in 2018 along with more than 200 other suspects as part of a crackdown on his group by the financial crimes unit of the Istanbul police.

He was sentenced to 1,075 years for crimes including sexual assault, sexual abuse of minors, fraud and attempted political and military espionage, the private NTV broadcaster reported. » | AFP in Istanbul | Monday, January 11, 2021

Republicans Beg Democrats Not to Impeach Trump Again

Republicans are now claiming that impeaching Donald Trump for a second time would just be too darn divisive at a time when the country just needs to heal. The real reason they are against impeachment is because it is going to put them in the tough position of having to publicly stand up to the President, or publicly admit (with their vote) that they are secretly ok with everything he has done. Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins discusses this.

Governor Schwarzenegger's Message Following This Week's Attack on the Capitol

This is my message to my fellow Americans and my friends around the world after January 6, 2021.

Trump Impeachment: Democrats Formally Charge President with Inciting Insurrection

THE GUARDIAN: Trump set to become the first president to be impeached twice / Pelosi: Trump a ‘deranged, unhinged, dangerous president’

Donald Trump is set to become the first US president to be impeached twice, after Democrats in the House of Representatives formally charged him with one count of “incitement of insurrection”, over the Capitol Hill riot.

Five people died in the attack last week, which Trump prompted when he told supporters to “fight like hell” in his attempt to overturn election defeat by Joe Biden.

On Monday, as security officials scrambled to ensure that the inauguration next week would not be marred by violence attached to protests planned for the day, Democrats in the House moved swiftly.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who in an interview on Sunday called Trump “a deranged, unhinged, dangerous president”, initiated a plan in two parts.

An initial resolution called on Vice-President Mike Pence to support removing Trump under the 25th amendment. » | Tom McCarthy, national affairs correspondent | Monday, January 11, 2021

Dutch Officials Seize Ham Sandwiches from British Drivers

THE GUARDIAN: Personal imports of meat and dairy products banned from EU since Brexit transition ended

Dutch TV news has aired footage of customs officers confiscating ham sandwiches from drivers arriving by ferry from the UK under post-Brexit rules banning personal imports of meat and dairy products into the EU.

Officials wearing high-visibility jackets are shown explaining to startled car and lorry drivers at the Hook of Holland ferry terminal that since Brexit, “you are no longer allowed to bring certain foods to Europe, like meat, fruit, vegetables, fish, that kind of stuff.”

To a bemused driver with several sandwiches wrapped in tin foil who asked if he could maybe surrender the meat and keep just the bread, one customs officer replied: “No, everything will be confiscated. Welcome to Brexit, sir, I’m sorry.” » | Jon Henley, Europe correspondent | Monday, January 11, 2021

So Brexiteers can't have their cake and eat it too after all! Who would have 'thunk' it! Unfortunately, sensible Brits will now have to pay for the shortsightedness of these people who are stuck in the twentieth century. Fossils and fools all! – ©Mark

Nach Gewalt am Kapitol: Melania Trump „enttäuscht und entmutigt“

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Melania Trump hat ihr Schweigen seit dem Gewaltausbruch am Kapitol gebrochen. Gewalt sei niemals zulässig, sagt sie. Und: „Es war die Ehre meines Lebens, als Ihre First Lady zu dienen.“

Amerikas First Lady Melania Trump hat ihr Schweigen seit dem Gewaltausbruch von Anhängern des abgewählten Präsidenten Donald Trump am Kapitol gebrochen. „Ich bin enttäuscht und entmutigt über das, was letzte Woche passiert ist“, erklärte sie am Montag in einer ausführlichen Mitteilung. „Es ist erbaulich zu sehen, dass so viele eine Leidenschaft und Begeisterung für die Teilnahme an einer Wahl gefunden haben, aber wir dürfen nicht zulassen, dass Leidenschaft in Gewalt umschlägt. Unser Weg nach vorne besteht darin, unsere Gemeinsamkeiten zu finden und die freundlichen und starken Menschen zu sein, von denen ich weiß, dass wir es r />
sind.“

Melania Trump drückte den Angehörigen der Toten im Zusammenhang der gewalttätigen Erstürmung des Kapitols ihr Mitgefühl aus, wobei sie zuerst die gestorbenen Teilnehmer nannte und dann die beiden Polizisten, von denen einer außerhalb des Dienstes starb. » | Quelle: dpa | Montag, 11. Januar 2021

Melania Trump pays tribute to dead of Capitol attack but casts herself as victim »

How White Evangelicals Sold Their Soul to Donald Trump to Bring About Armageddon (2018)

Frank Schaeffer, former Evangelical explains how white evangelicals in the United States put faith before country, before human rights, in making a "Devil's Bargain" to support Donald Trump despite his less than Christian actions, for a handful of policy and power goals, namely moving the United States embassy into deputed Jerusalem, all of this to bring about the end of days foretold in the book of Revelations, Armageddon!

Nancy Pelosi: The 2021 60 Minutes Interview

Days after her own office was ransacked by Trump supporters, the speaker of the House talks to Lesley Stahl about what she experienced that day and more.

US Democrats Move Forward with Second Impeachment of President Trump | DW News

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday that she was ready to begin the second impeachment proceedings against US President Donald Trump if his cabinet fails to remove him from office under the 25th Amendment. The Democratic lawmaker said that the House will try to pass legislation on Monday urging Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and "declare the president incapable of executing the duties of his office." If that fails — which is considered the most likely outcome — Pelosi said that the House would move ahead with impeachment proceedings, although she did not say when that would be. "In protecting our Constitution and our Democracy, we will act with urgency, because this President represents an imminent threat to both,'' the House speaker said.

Trump, who is scheduled to leave office on January 20, has received sharp criticism following the violence in and around the US Capitol building on Wednesday. Trump has been accused of inciting the violence, by addressing a large rally on the National Mall in front of the US Capitol, saying he would join them when they "walk down to the Capitol" earlier that day. Since losing the Nov. 3 election, Trump has falsely claimed he was the victim of widespread fraud. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told American broadcaster CBS in an interview that will air Sunday that "the person that's running the executive branch is a deranged, unhinged, dangerous president of the United States." Trump was previously impeached under two articles: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in regards to allegations that Trump sought to discredit then-Democratic candidate Joe Biden in the lead up to the 2020 US presidential election. The articles were written up in 2019 and the trial was held in January 2020.

The Republican-controlled Senate did not find him guilty of either article. A two-thirds majority is required for a conviction.

Trump Got Crushed Worse Than Any President in 100 Years

According to the numbers, the last time a political party lost the White House, the House, and the Senate in a single term was in 1932, meaning that the Republican Party being ruled by Donald Trump was the biggest political loser in the past 100 years. This isn't surprising in the least, as the Party hasn't had a new idea in 40 years, and the public is quickly catching onto that. Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins discusses this.

Trump Fear of Prison Could Push Him Toward Resignation and a Pence Pardon | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC

Rachel Maddow points out that of the myriad ways that Donald Trump could be made to leave office early before he can do any more damage to the United States, one he may actually pursue on his own is resignation if he sees it as a way to avoid criminal prosecution. Aired on 1/9/2021.

Capehart to Trump: If You Want to Make America Great Again, Leave | MSNBC

Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and more Republicans are called out, in the wake of the Capitol insurrection by a pro-Trump mob, by Jonathan Capehart in his weekly analysis, ‘The Bye Line.’»

Schwarzenegger Rebukes Trump and Compares Capitol Riot to Kristallnacht

THE GUARDIAN: Ex-Republican governor of California compares breach to night in 1938 when Nazi thugs attacked Jewish Germans and their property

Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a stinging rebuke of Donald Trump on Sunday, comparing the riot at the US Capitol which the president incited to Kristallnacht, the night in November 1938 when Nazi thugs attacked Jewish Germans and their property, a harbinger of horrors to come.

He also compared American democracy to a weapon he wielded onscreen as Conan the Barbarian nearly 40 years ago, saying: “Our democracy is like the steel of this sword. The more it is tempered, the stronger it becomes.”

In a video posted to social media and scored to rousing classical music, the 73-year-old former Republican governor of California said he “would like to say a few words to my fellow Americans and to our friends around the world about the events of recent days”.

“I grew up in Austria and was very aware of Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass,” he said. “It was a night of rampage against the Jews carried out [by] the Nazi equivalent of the Proud Boys [a quasi-fascist group of Trump supporters].” » | Martin Pengelly | Sunday, January 10, 2021

Le couvre-feu avancé à 18 heures dans les Bouches-du-Rhône

LE POINT: Le Premier ministre Jean Castex a annoncé que huit nouveaux départements étaient concernés par le couvre-feu avancé à 18 heures à partir de dimanche.

Alors que le Covid-19 circule très activement dans certains territoires, notamment dans le Grand Est, en Bourgogne-Franche-Comté et dans la région Sud, Jean Castex a annoncé que huit nouveaux départements basculeront dimanche 10 janvier sur un couvre-feu avancé à 18 heures. À cette heure, la mesure a été confirmée pour les Bouches-du-Rhône ainsi que pour le Bas-Rhin et pour le département voisin du Haut-Rhin, où le taux d'incidence atteint 229 pour 100 000 habitants et 251 pour les personnes de plus de 65 ans, précise la préfecture. » | LePoint.fr (avec AFP) | Publié : vendredi 8 janvier 2021 ; modifié : samedi 9 janvier 2021

Bouches-du-Rhône »

What Began the Rise of Fascism in Europe? | Titans of the 20th Century | Timeline

Winston Churchill struggles to resume a political career; Gandhi begins the fight that will bring his people their freedom; Major Dwight D. Eisenhower serves as Gen. Douglas MacArthur's chief of staff; Ho Chi Minh in Paris; Mussolini grabs power.

Kampfansage aus Nordkorea: Kim Jong-un: «USA bleiben unser grösster Feind»

TAGES ANZEIGER: Nordkoreas Machthaber Kim Jong Un hält staatlichen Medien zufolge an seiner feindlichen Politik gegenüber den USA fest.

Vor dem Regierungswechsel in den USA fordert Nordkoreas Machthaber Kim Jong. Un mit neuen Kampfansagen den künftigen amerikanischen Präsidenten Joe Biden heraus.

Beim achten Kongress der herrschenden Arbeiterpartei in Pjöngjang bezeichnete Kim die Supermacht USA als «grössten Feind» und kündigte den Ausbau des Atomwaffenarsenals seines Landes an. «Die aussenpolitischen Aktivitäten müssen sich darauf konzentrieren, die USA zu unterwerfen», zitierten ihn die Staatsmedien am Samstag. Den USA warf er erneut eine feindselige Politik vor. » | sda/oli | Samstag, 9. Januar 2021

Nach dem Sturm auf das Capitol: Auf Trump wartet ein zweites Impeachment

TAGES ANZEIGER: Die Demokraten scheinen fest entschlossen zu sein, Donald Trump aus dem Amt zu entfernen. Künftige Kandidaturen könnten ihm so verwehrt bleiben. Dafür müssten aber auch die Republikaner mitmachen.

Nancy Pelosi, die mächtige demokratische Sprecherin des Abgeordnetenhauses, Nummer drei in der politischen Rangfolge nach dem Präsidenten und dessen Vize, scheint fest entschlossen zu sein, Donald Trump für den Sturm auf das Capitol am Mittwoch zur Rechenschaft zu ziehen. Am Freitag sprach Pelosi eine Drohung aus, die kaum zurückzunehmen sein wird: Wenn Trump nicht «unverzüglich» zurücktrete oder sein Vize Mike Pence nicht ebenso unverzüglich ein Amtsenthebungsverfahren nach Zusatzartikel 25 der Verfassung einleite, dann werde der Kongress ein zweites Amtsenthebungsverfahren gegen Trump beginnen. » | Thorsten Denkler, New York | Samstag, 9. Januar 2021

Extended Conversation with Vicky Ward on “Kushner, Inc.” (2019)

Web-only extended interview with investigative journalist Vicky Ward, author of “Kushner, Inc.: Greed. Ambition. Corruption. The Extraordinary Story of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.”

Rep. Adam Schiff: 'We Can Move Swiftly ... to Impeach This Man' | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC

Rep. Adam Schiff, who was the lead impeachment manager for Donald Trump's first impeachment, emphasizes the determination of the Democratic caucus to protect the United States from further damage by removing Trump from office. Aired on 1/9/2021.

Pelosi Calls Trump “Deranged, Unhinged, Dangerous” and Says He Should Be Prosecuted

Lesley Stahl interviewed the speaker of the House for a story airing Sunday night on 60 Minutes.

Lawrence: “We Learned Nothing New about Donald Trump This Week” | The Last Word | MSNBC

Donald Trump’s message to American Nazis this week was “we love you.” Aired on 1/9/2021.

Fmr. Top Pence Aide: 'It Is a Party of Extremism Right Now' | Zerlina. | The Choice

Olivia Troye, former top aide to Vice President Mike Pence, joins Zerlina Maxwell to discuss the consequences of the Capitol riots and the future of the Republican Party.

These Are the Legal Probes Facing Trump When He Leaves Office

CNN correspondent Randi Kaye looks into the legal probes President Donald Trump faces after he leaves the White House.

Keilar: After Everything, Ted Cruz Has the Gall to Say This

CNN's Brianna Keilar rolls the tape on all the times President Trump has embraced violence and the way Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has tried to rewrite his past support of Trump since the riot at the Capitol.

House Democrats Plan to Impeach Trump, Again

House Democrats are currently planning to introduce articles of impeachment against President Trump as soon as Monday, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. That could set up a vote in the House early to the middle of next week. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has not explicitly said when this will go to the floor. This would be the second time the House has unveiled articles of impeachment against President Trump. In December 2019, the House impeached Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Senate acquitted him on both charges last February.

Kasparov: Impeachment Now Is the Best Protection against a Future Trump | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Garry Kasparov, Richard Haass and Neal Katyal join Morning Joe to discuss this week's riot at the D.C. Capitol, preventing the next demagogic president and the DOJ being open to pursuing charges against Trump for Wednesday's riot. Aired on 01/08/2021.

The Failure of the First Queen Speech | Elizabeth: Our Queen | Channel 5

In the late 1950s technology was changing throughout the world. Queen Elizabeth II wanted to change people's perception of the monarchy through television. In 1957 Queen Elizabeth II made her first-ever Queen speech at Christmas on the BBC. Watch Elizabeth: Our Queen and see how the first-ever televised Queen speech had a bad reaction from the viewers.

Pelosi Says House Will Move to Impeach Trump If He Doesn’t Resign Immediately

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said on Friday that the House would move to impeach President Trump over his role in inciting a violent mob attack on the Capitol if he did not resign “immediately,” appealing to Republicans to join the push to force him from office.

In a letter to members of the House, the speaker invoked the resignation of Richard M. Nixon amid the Watergate scandal, when Republicans prevailed upon the president to resign and avoid the ignominy of an impeachment, calling Mr. Trump’s actions a “horrific assault on our democracy.” » | Nicholas Fandos and Luke Broadwater | Friday, January 8, 2021

Trump Announces He Will Not Attend Biden's Inauguration | Hallie Jackson | MSNBC

President Trump has announced via tweet that he will not be attending the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. NBC's Kelly O'Donnell reports on the significance of this decision. Aired on 1/8/2021.

The White House Slips Deeper into Crisis in the Final Days of the Trump Presidency

THE NEW YORK TIMES: What was already shaping up as a volatile final stretch to the Trump presidency took on an air of national emergency as the White House emptied out and some Republicans joined Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a cascade of Democrats calling for Mr. Trump to be removed from office without waiting the 13 days until the inauguration of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.

The prospect of actually short-circuiting Mr. Trump’s tenure in its last days appeared remote. Vice President Mike Pence privately ruled out invoking the disability clause of the 25th Amendment to sideline the president, as many had urged that he and the cabinet do, according to officials. » | Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman | Friday, January 8, 2021

Trump Enablers Resign after Capitol Violence | The Mehdi Hasan Show

Pod Save America Co-Host Tommy Vietor joins Mehdi Hasan to break down how GOP hacks are trying to dodge accountability for buoying Trump.

Capitol Attack Leads Democrats to Demand That Trump Leave Office

THE HEW YORK TIMES: The White House was propelled deeper into crisis as officials resigned in protest and prominent Republicans broke with the president after he incited a mob that assaulted Congress.

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s administration plunged deeper into crisis on Thursday as more officials resigned in protest, prominent Republicans broke with him and Democratic congressional leaders threatened to impeach him for encouraging a mob that stormed the Capitol a day earlier.

What was already shaping up as a volatile final stretch to the Trump presidency took on an air of national emergency as the White House emptied out and some Republicans joined Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a cascade of Democrats calling for Mr. Trump to be removed from office without waiting the 13 days until the inauguration of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. » | Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman | Published: Thursday, January 7, 2021; Updated: Friday, January 8, 2021

These Trump Supporters Say They're Proud of Chaos at Capitol

CNN's Donie O'Sullivan and Elle Reeve talk Trump supporters to get their reaction to the dangerous chaos caused by riots at the US Capitol.

USA : Mob Rule! Definitely NOT America’s Finest Hour!

America shaken after pro-Trump mob storms US Capitol building

Pro-Donald Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol building in Washington DC on Wednesday, breaking into the debating chambers and clashing with armed police. Four people died during the unrest, three from medical emergencies and one woman was shot dead in circumstances that are unclear. The siege came on the day the electoral college votes confirming Joe Biden's victory were to be affirmed by members of the House and Senate. The chaos erupted after Trump addressed thousands of protesters near the White House, repeating false claims the election had been stolen.

Invoke the 25th Amendment NOW! – Mark Alexander

Washington Attorney General: Time to Invoke 25th Amendment | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Attorney General for the District of Columbia Karl Racine says it is time to invoke the 25th Amendment because President Trump is 'unfit for office.' Aired on 01/07/2021.

“Americans Are Now Getting a Mild Taste of Their Own Medicine” of Disrupting Democracy Elsewhere

World leaders reacted in horror over the storming of the U.S. Capitol, with the U.N. secretary-general calling on political leaders to demand their followers refrain from violence. Leaders of the U.K., New Zealand, Australia, Canada, India, Japan, France, Germany, NATO and the European Council called for a peaceful transfer of power to Joe Biden. Investigative journalist Allan Nairn looks at what steps Trump may take next, and says despite protestations from President-elect Joe Biden and others that the insurrection was “not who we are,” the U.S. has a long track record of disrupting democratic processes elsewhere. “What has shaken the U.S. population so badly, this assault on the Capitol yesterday, is really nothing by comparison to what U.S. operations have done in Latin America, in Asia, in Africa, in the Middle East, to other democratic movements and elected governments over the years,” says Nairn.

America’s Friends and Foes Express Horror as Capitol Attack ‘Shakes the World’

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Global leaders watched live as a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol, and many saw it as a warning to global democracies, placing the blame squarely on President Trump.

BERLIN — As an angry mob stormed the heart of the world’s most powerful democracy, the rest of the world watched the once-unimaginable scenes unfolding in Washington with dismay and disbelief — and deep concern about what the turmoil could mean as authoritarian forces gain strength around the globe.

Many of those following live broadcasts of armed rioters forcing their way into the Capitol saw it as a stark and disturbing warning for all the world’s democracies: If this can happen in the United States, it can happen anywhere.

“We currently witness an attack on the very fundaments of democratic structures and institutions,” said Peter Beyer, the German government’s coordinator for trans-Atlantic affairs. “This is not merely a U.S. national issue, but it shakes the world, at least all democracies.”

One by one, officials around the globe responded with the sort of statements previously issued by the United States State Department when political violence consumed other countries. » | Katrin Bennhold and Steven Lee Myers | Published: Wednesday, January 6, 2021; Updated: Thursday, January 7, 2021

Gen. Colin Powell: This Was a 'National Disgrace,' But We'll Get Through It | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell says Wednesday was a 'national disgrace, but we'll come through it.' Secy. Powell questions the lack of organized security at the U.S. Capitol and he says that Congress must be ready to step in should Trump attempt something similar before he leaves office. Aired on 01/07/2021.

Merkel gibt Trump Mitschuld an den Unruhen in Washington

Die Bundeskanzlerin hat den noch amtierenden US-Präsidenten Donald Trump für die Ausschreitungen am Kapitol mitverantwortlich gemacht. Trump habe mit seiner fehlenden Akzeptanz des Wahlsieges von Joe Biden die Situation begünstigt.

Facebook Bans Trump Indefinitely

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Facebook will block President Trump on its platforms, including Instagram, at least until the end of his term, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a post on Thursday.

“The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden,” Mr. Zuckerberg wrote. »

Violences au Capitole : jour de honte aux Etats-Unis

LE MONDE: L’envahissement du Congrès, mercredi 6 janvier, par une foule de partisans extrémistes chauffés à blanc par Donald Trump est l’aboutissement d’une présidence tumultueuse qui a fini par fracturer le pays.

Editorial du « Monde ». Elu il y a quatre ans sur la promesse de « rendre sa grandeur à l’Amérique », le président Donald Trump achève son mandat en la couvrant de honte. L’histoire retiendra que la démocratie américaine a été défiée, et un moment suspendue, mercredi 6 janvier, par une foule de partisans extrémistes que le président lui-même avait incitée à marcher sur le Capitole pour empêcher son adversaire démocrate, Joe Biden, d’être officiellement déclaré vainqueur de l’élection du 3 novembre 2020.

Ce jour noir pour les Etats-Unis est l’aboutissement d’une présidence tumultueuse qui a fini par diviser le pays en deux parties, celle qui respecte l’ordre constitutionnel et les décisions de justice, et celle qui vit dans un univers parallèle. Cet univers, nourri de théories complotistes, est celui d’une réalité alternative dans laquelle Donald Trump n’a pas perdu l’élection par une différence de 7 millions de suffrages populaires et le vote de 302 voix au collège électoral contre 232, mais veut croire qu’elle lui a été volée par une fraude massive et orchestrée. » | ÉDITORIAL | jeudi 7 janvier 2021

Democracy Now! Top US & World Headlines — January 7, 2021

Opinion: Impeach and Convict. Right Now.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Trump is too dangerous to leave in office for even another minute.

It wasn’t hard to see, when it began, that it would end exactly the way it has. Donald Trump is America’s willful arsonist, the man who lit the match under the fabric of our constitutional republic.

The duty of the House of Representatives and the Senate, once they certify Joe Biden’s election, is to reconvene, Wednesday night if possible, to impeach the president and then remove him from office and bar him from ever holding office again.

To allow Trump to serve out his term, however brief it may be, puts the nation’s safety at risk, leaves our reputation as a democracy in tatters and evades the inescapable truth that the assault on Congress was an act of violent sedition aided and abetted by a lawless, immoral and terrifying president.

From the moment Trump became the G.O.P. front-runner in 2015, it was obvious who he was and where, if given the chance, he would take America. He was a malignant narcissist in his person. A fraudster in his businesses. A bully in his relationships. And a demagogue in his politics. » | Bret Stephens, Opinion Columnist | Wednesday, January 6, 2021

How Has the World Reacted to Trump Supporters Storming US Capitol? | DW News

Leaders around the world watched in disbelief as the chaos unfolded in Washington, where supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol.

Many have condemned the violence and called for democracy to be respected. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron gave their reactions, and DW spoke to people on the street in Germany.

Around the world, there was disbelief at the scenes that unfolded in the Capitol:

- Germany's Bild newspaper talked of a "coup attempt" - and a "moment of great shame"

- In Britain, The Daily Telegraph minced no words: "Democracy under siege"

- The picture of Trump supporters storming the Capitol dominated the United Arab Emirates' Gulf News daily.

- The Nigerian Tribune offered this blistering verdict: "Trump supporters defile democracy."

- China compared the storming of the Capitol with pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

Chaos at the Capitol | Live | The Choice on Peacock

Zerlina Maxwell, Joshua Johnson, and Mehdi Hasan cover the storming of the U.S. Capitol. Zerlina. airs 6 p.m. ET weeknights on Peacock: Incisive and timely coverage of politics and current events, through in-depth conversations that unpack the latest developments in this era's breakneck news cycle and draw back the curtain on their real-world consequences.

'Trump Blows Up US Democracy': The World Watches on in Horror

THE GUARDIAN: Leaders from nations around the world condemn ‘shocking scenes’ unfolding at US Capitol

World leaders from Dublin to Ottawa reacted with shock and disquiet to the turmoil in Washington DC on Wednesday, with the head of Nato deploring what he called “shocking scenes”.

“The outcome of this democratic election must be respected,” Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary general and former Norwegian prime minister, tweeted on Wednesday evening after US president-elect Joe Biden condemned “this godawful display” and warned: “The world is watching.”

The Irish taoiseach Micheál Martin tweeted: “The Irish people have a deep connection with the United States of America, built up over many generations. I know that many, like me, will be watching the scenes unfolding in Washington DC with great concern and dismay.” » | Tom Phillips | Wednesday, January 6, 2021

Nach Polterrede des amtierenden Präsidenten: Trump-Anhänger stürmen das US-Kapitol in Washington

TAGES ANZEIGER: Vor der Bestätigung der Ergebnisse der Präsidentenwahl im Kongress und nach einer Rede von Trump ist es vor dem Kapitol in Washington zu Ausschreitungen gekommen. Die Sitzung ist unterbrochen.
» | Vincenzo Capodici | Mittwoch, 6. Januar 2021

Lockdown Catch-22: Weight Gain Can Increase Covid Severity | COVID-19 Special

Staying at home during a lockdown - with lots of time to eat and not move at the same time. No wonder many people all over the world have gained weight during the pandemic. And while it's a stretch from too much comfort eating to downright gluttony, too much body fat is bad for our health. In fact, those additional pounds can increase our risk of severe illness from Covid-19. Excess weight has always been a health risk. In times of the coronavirus pandemic, it could be lethal.

Strict Covid Restrictions Could Last Months, Boris Johnson Signals

THE GUARDIAN: PM says lifting lockdown is subject to ‘lots of caveats’ as figures show 1m people in England have Covid

Britain could face harsh restrictions for many months to come, Boris Johnson and his chief scientists warned as figures suggested more than 1 million people in England are infected with coronavirus, or one in every 50.

The prime minister said the plan to emerge from a newly-imposed national lockdown in mid-February was subject to “lots of caveats, lot of ifs”. He refused to guarantee that children would be fully back at school before the summer, calling this a “fundamental hope”. » | Jessica Elgot and Peter Walker | Tuesday, January 5, 2021

Cooper on Trump Call: It's Like Speaking to a Child

CNN's Anderson Cooper examines the call between President Donald Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which the President urged Raffensperger to "find" votes to overturn the election results.

WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Extradition Blocked by British Judge | DW News

A British judge has ruled that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange cannot be extradited to the United States to face espionage charges. The judge said extradition would be "oppressive" to his mental health. Supporters celebrated the verdict outside the courthouse in central London. Assange would have faced up to 175 years in prison if convicted of violating the US Espionage Act. In 2010, he released thousands of classified US military files online. The Australian was first arrested in Britain ten years ago, and sought asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy for seven years. His lawyers have consistently argued that Assange was acting as a journalist and is entitled to freedom of speech protections.

The Guardian View on Trump's Strategy: Overturn Result, Cheat Democracy

THE GUARDIAN: The US president is seeking to bring down a system that defeated him

This week, Donald Trump will undermine democracy in the US by supporting the claim that Democrat Joe Biden did not fairly win last November’s presidential election. A peaceful handover of power in a democracy requires losing candidates and their followers to admit defeat. But Mr Trump has manufactured a controversy purely to maintain power and to overturn a legitimate election.

US courts have repeatedly thrown out Mr Trump’s evidence-free cases. This has not stopped the president’s accomplices in Congress. They, backed by Mr Trump’s vice-president, on Wednesday plan to challenge Mr Biden’s win to force a debate and votes in Congress. Some scholars point to a historical precedent as offering a slim, perhaps vanishing, chance that the nightmare will continue. Mr Trump will not let an opportunity pass to relitigate an election he lost. » | Editorial | Sunday, January 3, 2021

Trump Phone Call: Georgia Officials Shut Down Election Fraud Claims

Astonishing new evidence of a desperate President Donald Trump caught on tape trying to steal the election exposes the depth of his corruption and makes his Republican Capitol Hill allies complicit in his bid to thwart the will of voters.

In a fresh abuse of power, Trump tried to bully a top Georgia GOP official into finding votes to overturn President-elect Joe Biden's win in the state. The staggering telephone call, audio of which was obtained by CNN and first reported by The Washington Post, amounted to the most serious threat yet posed by his authoritarian instincts to American democracy.

Even before the latest outrage, this week already marked a watershed moment for Biden's coming presidency, a ruptured Republican Party and the integrity of the US political system.

The Observer View on How the West Should Deal with Rising China

THE GUARDIAN: Xi Jinping’s expansionist policies abroad and dictatorship at home make pressing the need for new geopolitical strategy

How to deal with China is the biggest geopolitical challenge facing Britain and the western democracies in 2021 – and one to which they have, as yet, supplied no coherent answer. China’s influence is growing rapidly around the world. It is predicted to overtake the US as the biggest economy by 2028. Its politicians, diplomats and military chiefs exhibit the bullish assertiveness of a new imperial superpower. This, they believe, is China’s moment.

At the same time, China is increasingly distrusted and disliked. A recent Pew global attitudes survey found negative views to be at an all-time high in Germany, South Korea and other advanced economies. Nearly three-quarters of Americans and Britons view China unfavourably, up from 35% and 16% respectively in 2002. Trust in China’s president, Xi Jinping, “to do the right thing in world affairs” has plummeted.

China’s overweening ambition and this concomitant rise in hostility are both relatively new. In Britain’s case, it is only five years since David Cameron hailed the dawn of a “golden era”. Back then, it seemed China’s strength, measured in hi-tech, investment and trade, could be safely harnessed to the UK’s advantage. Such collaboration, it was fondly believed, would ultimately hasten China’s transition from one-party state to democracy. » | Observer editorial | Sunday, January 3, 2021

Britain Opens Door to Mix-and-Match Vaccinations, Worrying Experts

THE NEW YORK TIMES: If a second dose of one vaccine isn’t available, another may be substituted, according to the guidelines.

Amid a sputtering vaccine rollout and fears of a new and potentially more transmissible variant of the coronavirus, Britain has quietly updated its vaccination playbook to allow for a mix-and-match vaccine regimen. If a second dose of the vaccine a patient originally received isn’t available, or if the manufacturer of the first shot isn’t known, another vaccine may be substituted, health officials said.

The new guidance contradicts guidelines in the United States, where the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has noted that the authorized Covid-19 vaccines “are not interchangeable,” and that “the safety and efficacy of a mixed-product series have not been evaluated. Both doses of the series should be completed with the same product.”

Some scientists say Britain is gambling with its new guidance. “There are no data on this idea whatsoever,” said John Moore, a vaccine expert at Cornell University. Officials in Britain “seem to have abandoned science completely now and are just trying to guess their way out of a mess.” » | Katherine J. Wu | Friday, January 1, 2021

‘Global Britain’ Is Willing to Trade Away Everything. Including Scruples

THE GUARDIAN: The UK’s new deal with Turkey ignores appalling human rights abuses and should have been scrutinised by parliament

The UK’s new trade agreement with Turkey, signed last week, ignores the Turkish government’s continuing human rights abuses, boosts its dangerous president, and undermines ministerial pledges that “global Britain” will uphold international laws and values. The deal took effect on 1 January without even rudimentary parliamentary scrutiny. Here, stripped of lies and bombast, is the dawning reality of Boris Johnson’s scruple-free post-Brexit world.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey’s “strongman” leader, is pleased as punch. He’s the new, biggest fan of Britain’s international trade secretary, Liz Truss, whose shabby work this is. Erdoğan hailed the deal as the start of a “new era” and a landmark for Turkey. After years of disastrous economic mismanagement and fierce rows with the US and EU over Turkish policy towards Russia, Syria, Libya, Greece and Cyprus, Erdoğan badly needed a win. Hapless Truss delivered.

The fact that Johnson used the spectre of Turkish migrants to frighten Leave voters in 2016 appears forgotten now. His government has created a favourable bilateral trade framework, and promised bespoke “upgrades”, to a leader who frequently mocks the EU and faces possible European trade sanctions. How does that square with Johnson’s vow to be “the best friend and ally the EU could have”? The level playing field is already tipping. » | Simon Tisdall | Sunday, January 3, 2021

Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell's Homes Vandalised

BBC: Vandals in the US have attacked the homes of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell.

Fake blood and a severed pig's head were reportedly left outside Democrat Ms Pelosi's California house, which was also daubed with graffiti.

The words "where's my money" and some expletives were scrawled on on Republican Mr McConnell's house in Kentucky.

It comes amid a political battle over a coronavirus stimulus package. » | Saturday, January 2, 2021

Mitch McConnell and Nancy Pelosi homes vandalised in Covid protests »

Opinion: The Wreckage Betsy DeVos Leaves Behind

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Education Department lies in ruins right when it’s needed most.

The departing education secretary, Betsy DeVos, will be remembered as perhaps the most disastrous leader in the Education Department’s history. Her lack of vision has been apparent in a variety of contexts, but never more so than this fall when she told districts that were seeking guidance on how to operate during the coronavirus pandemic that it was not her responsibility to track school district infection rates or keep track of school reopening plans. This telling remark implies a vision of the Education Department as a mere bystander in a crisis that disrupted the lives of more than 50 million schoolchildren. » | The Editorial Board | Saturday, January 2, 2021

An Embattled Public Servant in a Fractured France

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Nicolas Cadène sees the failings of France’s secular model even as he upholds it.

PARIS — France is in theory a nondiscriminatory society where the state upholds strict religious neutrality and people are free to believe, or not, in any God they wish. It is a nation, in its self image, that through education dissolves differences of faith and ethnicity in a shared commitment to the rights and responsibilities of French citizenship.

This model, known as laïcité, often inadequately translated as secularism, is embraced by a majority of French people. They or their forebears became French in this way. No politician here would utter the words “In God we trust.” The Roman Catholic Church was removed more than a century ago from French public life. The country’s lay model supplants any deity.

But, in a country with an uneasy relationship to Islam, laïcité is also contested as the shield behind which France discriminates against its large Muslim population and avoids confronting its prejudices. As a result, the job of Nicolas Cadène, a mildly disheveled official with a mop of brown hair and multiple law degrees, has become a focus of controversy. » | Roger Cohen | Friday, January 1, 2021

Lire en français »

Opinion: Britain Has Lost Itself

THE NEW YORK TIMES: My grandparents, who fled Nazi Germany for Britain, would be heartbroken to see the country today.

At long last, it happened.

Shortly before midnight on Thursday, Britain completed its exit from the European Union, replacing a close 47-year long relationship with the continent with something far more distant. Now it will have to live through difficult years of separation that will sap its political vibrancy and diminish its role on the world stage. Though a trade deal was belatedly agreed, the economic fallout may be dire, too.

Yet for many, it’s also a deeply personal moment. My grandparents, who escaped Nazi Germany on the eve of World War II, found a home in Britain — to them, it was a beacon of light and hope. But they would be heartbroken to see it today. Inward, polarized and absurdly self-aggrandizing, Britain has lost itself. In sorrow, I mourn the passing of the country that was my family’s salvation. » | Peter Gumbel* | Friday, January 1, 2021


* Mr. Gumbel is the author of “Citizens of Everywhere.”

Brexit In Effect: UK's Access to Single Market Ends

As millions around the world welcome a new year, Britain is marking the end of an era, officially ending its decades-long relationship with the European Union. The United Kingdom is no longer a member of the single market or customs union, and its new trade deal with the EU is now in effect. Al Jazeera’s Andrew Simmons reports from London on how the changes will affect people and businesses.