The Hitler Family

German Academics and Authors Call for End to 'Gender Nonsense'

THE GUARDIAN: Open letter hits back at demand for more gender-neutral nouns

A group of German authors, comedians and academics have added fuel to the flames of an increasingly bad-tempered culture war over language bias by calling for a fightback against “ridiculous linguistic constructions” designed to make German more gender-neutral.

In an open letter published by the Dortmund-based German Language Association, signatories including the philosopher Rüdiger Safranski, novelist Peter Schneider, comedian Dieter Hallervorden and the former head of the country’s domestic intelligence Hans-Georg Maassen, hit back against calls for more gender-neutral generic nouns.

In German, where nouns have either a male, female or neuter gender, words for mixed groups of people are traditionally based on the masculine form. If you are talking about a group of teachers, for example, you would say die Lehrer, not die Lehrerinnen. » | Philip Oltermann | Friday, March 8, 2019

Former Chief of Staff John Kelly: We Don't Need a Wall from Sea to Sea

At an appearance at Duke University on Wednesday, President Trump's former chief of staff and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said he doesn't believe we need a wall along the Mexican border from "sea to shining sea." Bob Cusack, editor-in-chief of The Hill, joined CBSN to discuss the day's political news.

Occupation – The German Tragedy

Theodor Morell Documentary - Biography of the Life of Hitler's Doctor Theodor Morell

Biographical Documentary on the life of Hitler's Doctor Theodor Morell. A documentary on the life of Dr. Theodor Morell. From his upbringing, to him being appointed the Fuhrer Adolf Hitler's doctor and administering him with powerful combinations of medications.

Andrew Bacevich: The US-Saudi Relationship Is a Principal Source of Instability in the Middle East

We look at a number of recent developments in U.S.-Saudi relations, a day after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a confirmation hearing for retired four-star general John Abizaid to become U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia. On Monday, the Trump administration gave a private briefing to senators on the investigation into the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in October. Senators slammed the briefing for providing no new information. Meanwhile, The New York Times has revealed new details about the jailing and torture of a doctor with U.S. citizenship in Saudi Arabia. Walid Fitaihi is a Harvard-trained doctor who has been jailed without charge since 2017. We speak with Andrew Bacevich, a retired colonel and Vietnam War veteran, author and professor emeritus of international relations and history at Boston University, and William Hartung, director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy.

EU Rebukes Saudi Arabia over Human Rights at UN Forum l Al Jazeera English

As many as 36 countries, including all the European Union members, have signed a statement criticising Saudi Arabia's human rights record. It calls on the kingdom to cooperate with a United Nations-led investigation into the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and to release the detained activists. Al Jazeera's Nadim Baba reports from Brussels.

Paul Manafort Sentenced to 47 Months in Prison

President Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been sentenced to 47 months in prison.

Paul Manafort Is Sentenced to Less Than 4 Years in 1 of 2 Cases Against Him

THE NEW YORK TIMES: ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Paul Manafort, the political consultant and Trump presidential campaign chairman whose lucrative work in Ukraine and ties to well-connected Russians made him a target of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, was sentenced on Thursday to nearly four years in prison in the financial fraud case that left his grand lifestyle and power-broker reputation in ruins.

The sentence in the highest-profile criminal case mounted by the special counsel’s office was far lighter than the 19- to 24-year prison term recommended under sentencing guidelines. Judge T. S. Ellis III of the United States District Court in Alexandria, Va., said that although Mr. Manafort’s crimes were “very serious,” following the guidelines would have resulted in an unduly harsh punishment. » | Sharon LaFraniere | Thursday, March 7, 2019

Manafort Has Been Sentenced. Who Is He?

Donald Trump Faces Litany of Investigations into Business Practices | Al Jazeera English

As the probe into US President Donald Trump's alleged collusion with Russia in the 2016 election continues to heat up, he faces multiple investigations on several fronts. His aides will have to answer questions over the alleged misuse of campaign funds, taking money from a foreign state and whether he's profited personally while in office, among other matters. Al Jazeera's Patty Culhane reports from Washington, DC.

Inside the Unprecedented Partnership between Fox News and the Trump White House

President Trump has long acknowledged top-rated Fox News as his favorite media outlet, and the network relishes its role as a conservative voice. But its increasingly close relationship with the administration is drawing criticism. William Brangham talks to the New Yorker's Jane Mayer about an unprecedented “feedback loop” and whether the president has made policy decisions to help Fox succeed.

Michael Cohen Has New Evidence Against President Donald Trump | Hardball | MSNBC

Michael Cohen appeared before the House Intelligence Committee for a second time. Multiple reports indicate that Cohen showed up with new evidence to back his allegation that the President's lawyers edited his false statement to Congress in 2017.

Private Jet Sales Are Soaring Thanks To Republicans’ Tax Cuts

Cohen Lawyer: ‘Literally No Way to Dispute’ That Trump Committed a Crime | The Last Word | MSNBC

Lanny Davis, one of Michael Cohen's lawyers, tells Lawrence that the hush money payments made to Michael Cohen are irrefutable evidence that Trump has committed crimes.

Senator Slams Administration After Jamal Khashoggi Meeting | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., weighs in on a closed-door meeting between Senators and Trump WH officials on the killing of Jamal Khashoggi and the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia.

Food Fight: Doubts Grow over Post-Brexit Standards

THE GUARDIAN: Soil Association raises concerns over chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef

Chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef are already infecting the debate over a post-Brexit trade deal, with one of the US’s most senior diplomats dismissing the European Union’s “museum of agriculture” approach to food safety.

The US ambassador, Woody Johnson, claimed fears over US food standards leading to lower quality food were “myths” and part of a “smear campaign” to cast American farming in the worst possible light.

The environment secretary, Michael Gove, has pledged that food standards will be the same if not better after the UK leaves the EU, but campaigners are concerned that welfare and environmental protections could be jettisoned in the rush to strike a US trade deal.

On Wednesday, the leading Brexit supporter George Eustice, who resigned from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs last week, wrote in the Guardian that the UK should not countenance signing any deal that would reduce food standards as it could “give free trade a bad name”. He called US agriculture “quite backward”. » | Lisa O'Carroll, Brexit correspondent | Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Fears Grow of Rift between Saudi King and Crown Prince

THE GUARDIAN: King Salman said to have been angered by recent moves by Prince Mohammed against him

There are growing signs of a potentially destabilising rift between the king of Saudi Arabia and his heir, the Guardian has been told.

King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman are understood to have disagreed over a number of important policy issues in recent weeks, including the war in Yemen.

The unease is said to have been building since the murder in Turkey of the dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which the CIA has reportedly concluded was ordered by Prince Mohammed. However, these tensions increased dramatically in late February when the king, 83, visited Egypt and was warned by his advisers he was at risk of a potential move against him, according to a detailed account from a source.

His entourage was so alarmed at the possible threat to his authority that a new security team, comprised of more than 30 hand-picked loyalists from the interior ministry, was flown to Egypt to replace the existing team. » | Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington and Nick Hopkins in London | Tuesday, March 5, 2019

EU Faces Nationalist ‘Nightmare’ in Next Five Years, Says Verhofstadt

THE GUARDIAN: Leader of liberal MEPs says elections in May are ‘last chance’ to fight populism

The European Union risks a populist-nationalist “nightmare” by the middle of the next decade unless centrists can win greater public backing for the European cause, the liberal leader Guy Verhofstadt has said.

Elections this May could herald a big shake-up of the European parliament. The duopoly of centre-right and centre-left is expected to lose its majority for the first time in 40 years of direct elections although Emmanuel Macron’s La République En Marche (La REM) is expected to win seats for the first time, boosting liberal forces.

Verhofstadt, the leader of the European parliament’s Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) since 2009, said pro-European centrists had “a last chance” after the vote to wrest back ground from nationalists and populists before the next electoral contest in 2024.

In an interview with the Guardian and five continental papers, the former Belgian prime minister said the EU needed an overhaul – managing the eurozone, migration and common defence – if it was to gain greater public support.

“Nothing is eternal. Nothing. Not all political institutions are eternal. To reform is a duty that we have … and if if we fail, then the tragedy, the nightmare will become reality,” he said. » | Jennifer Rankin in Brussels | Tuesday, March 5, 2019

“How to Hide an Empire”: Daniel Immerwahr on the History of the Greater United States

“How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States.” That’s the title of a new book examining a part of the U.S. that is often overlooked: the nation’s overseas territories from Puerto Rico to Guam, former territories like the Philippines, and its hundreds of military bases scattered across the globe. We speak with the book’s author, Daniel Immerwahr, who writes, “At various times, the inhabitants of the U.S. Empire have been shot, shelled, starved, interned, dispossessed, tortured and experimented on. What they haven’t been, by and large, is seen.” Immerwahr is an associate professor of history at Northwestern University.