Comedian Wins Landslide Victory in Ukrainian Presidential Election

THE GUARDIAN: Petro Poroshenko concedes defeat as Volodymyr Zelenskiy takes over 70% of votes, promising: ‘I won’t mess up’

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, an actor and comedian with no political experience other than playing the role of president in a TV series, has won a landslide victory in Ukraine’s presidential election, with near-complete counting showing he has won over 70% of the vote.

The incumbent, Petro Poroshenko conceded defeat on Sunday evening before results started coming in.

According to official results released on Monday morning, with 85% of the vote counted, 41-year-old Zelenskiy had won 73.4% of the vote, compared to Poroshenko’s 24.4%. » | Shaun Walker in Kyiv | Monday, April 22, 2019

Iraq's Oldest Christian Town Celebrates Easter without Isis

THE GUARDIAN: Hamdaniya has been reclaimed from the extremists who made it a hotbed of violence

The church ceiling was still scorched and some cherished relics missing, but after five years of war and exile, their tormentors were finally gone.

When the men and women of Iraq’s oldest Christian town gathered for Easter mass this weekend, they did so knowing that the Islamic State extremists who had chased them away were not coming back. Their battlefield defeat two months ago meant the people of Hamdaniya (also called Qaraqosh) could once again celebrate without fear.

A large congregation shuffled into pews that only two years ago lay in splintered ruin, both in the Church of the Immaculate Conception and every other church in Hamdaniya, which, like much of the rest of northern Iraq, had been overrun by extremists from Isis.

A priest in bright red robes holding a gold crosier in one hand and a small cross in the other spoke in Syriac only blocks away from where militants plotted chaos and even genocide for vulnerable communities. » | Martin Chulov in Hamdaniya | Sunday, April 21, 2019

Marlene Dietrich - Ein Engel in der Dämmerung

Dokumentation über Marlenes letzte Lebensjahre in Paris. Neben diversen Archivaufnahmen von Marlene, werden Maria Riva, Peter Riva, Werner Sudendorf (Filmmuseum Berlin), Marlene's Freund Louis Bozon ua. interviewt. Sehr zu empfehlen, um mal den Blick auf die etwas andere Marlene zu erhaschen.

Mayor Pete

Once a long-shot, Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of Indiana's fourth-largest city has been rising in the polls for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, attracting dollars, attention, and name recognition (if not pronunciation). The Afghanistan War veteran, Rhodes scholar and trained pianist talks with CBS News' John Dickerson about the importance of narratives, coming out, what youth brings to public office, and reanimating his party's values for a new era, including a connection with faith.

(Un)Welcome: Sweden's Rise of the Right

In this installment of CBSN Originals’ ongoing examination at how migration is reshaping the world, Adam Yamaguchi travels to Sweden to examine how a record influx of migrants has coincided with the recently welcoming and politically progressive nation's swift shift to the right.

How Can Stateless People Cross Borders? | DW Documentary

After the end of the First World War, millions of people in Europe became stateless refugees. A newly devised passport created by the League of Nations’ High Commissioner for Refugees was their salvation.

In the aftermath of the First World War, more than two million people fled the Russian Revolution and the Armenian massacres. To prevent them from returning to their home countries, their respective governments revoked their citizenships. These permanent exiles had no choice but to start anew elsewhere and spread out around the world. To deal with this fraught situation, Norwegian diplomat Fridtjof Nansen, the League of Nations’ first High Commissioner for Refugees, worked hard to create a passport for these "stateless" persons. The so-called "Nansen Passport" was introduced on 5 July 1922. It was a symbolic document that made history as the first international legal instrument for the protection of refugees. This identity card and travel document allowed them to enter all the member states of the League of Nations at a time when many European states were closing their borders because of fascism, anti-Semitism and war and paying increasing attention to the legal status of both residents and foreigners. Famous artists such as Anna Pavlova, Vladimir Nabokov, Marc Chagall, Igor Stravinsky and Robert Capa, as well as more than a million other stateless persons, mostly refugees from Russia and the Ottoman Empire, received these precious passports. States have not used collective deprivation of citizenship as a weapon since 1945, but the UN General Assembly did not officially ban it until 2012.

The Princesses of Monaco – Intimate Portrait

When Hollywood queen Grace Kelly married Prince Rainer of Monaco, she brought elegance and class to the tiny principality previously known as "a sunny place for shady people." But the couple's daughters, Caroline and Stephanie, became known for rebellious, scandal-seeking behavior, seemingly designed to tarnish their mother's aura of dignity.

Ironically, it was through tragedy - Grace's 1982 death in a terrifying car accident, and later the death of Caroline's husband - that the family finally made peace with itself. Today, Caroline and Stephanie are Princesses on their own terms: out of the public eye and raising families of their own. THE PRINCESSES OF MONACO: the fairy tale faltered; the family endures.

THE GUARDIAN: Prince Rainier of Monaco » | Dennis Barker | Wednesday, April 6, 2005

Greece to Ask Germany for Billions in War Reparations

THE GUARDIAN: MPs vote to put pressure on Berlin as European parliamentary elections loom

Greece is poised to send Germany a formal diplomatic note detailing its demand for billions of euros in wartime reparations after MPs voted overwhelmingly for the emotive issue to be raised officially.

In a move bound to stir sentiment ahead of crucial European parliament elections, Athens vowed to pile pressure on Berlin, taking legal and diplomatic steps that will throw the spotlight on crimes committed during the brutal Nazi occupation.

“It is an open issue that must be resolved,” Greece’s deputy foreign minister, Markos Bolaris, told the Guardian, hitting back at German insistence that compensation claims had been conclusively settled.

“For matters of this kind there is international justice,” he said on Friday. “In all disputes the EU abides by it, on principle. Germany may say it has been resolved but what counts is international law.” » | Helena Smith in Athens | Sunday, April 21, 2019

On Contact: Russiagate & Mueller Report with Aaron Mate

Chris Hedges discusses with Nation reporter Aaron Mate how despite the categorical statement in Robert Mueller’s report that Donald Trump and his campaign did not collude with Russia, the conspiracy theories by the nation’s mainstream media show little sign of diminishing.

Sri Lanka Easter Attacks: Multiple Explosions Hit Churches, Hotels | Al Jazeera English

Sri Lanka was rocked by multiple explosions, including at churches, on Easter Sunday, a police spokesman said. One of the explosions was at St Anthony's Church in the Kochchikade district of the capital, Colombo. Another church in Negombo was also hit. Police also reported explosions at the Shangri-La, Kingsbury, and Cinnamon Grand hotels. Al Jazeera's Minelle Fernandez joins us by phone now from Colombo.

THE GUARDIAN: Sri Lanka imposes curfew after more than 150 killed in attacks » | Jason Burke and Benjamin Parkin in Delhi | Sunday, April 21, 2019

Millions for Notre Dame – But Nothing for Us, Say Gilets Jaunes

THE GUARDIAN: Yellow vest protesters angry over high taxes and inequality march in Paris days after blaze

Riot police and protesters have fought running battles in the centre of Paris as gilets jaunes anti-government demonstrators in fluorescent yellow vests led street marches over what they called “a crisis” of high taxes and economic inequality.

Less than a week after the fire that destroyed the roof and spire of Notre Dame Cathedral, firefighters rushed to put out multiple small fires around the Place de la République, as motorbikes, bins, bicycles and cars were set alight on roads and pavements. Groups of masked men threw projectiles and police fired teargas. Some rioters in masks smashed the window of a sports shop and ran in to loot it, emerging with bags full of goods. » | Angelique Chrisafis in Paris | Saturday, April 20, 2019

How Mayor Pete’s Moments Are Translating Into Big Dollars | Deadline | MSNBC

The Daily Beast’s Sam Stein, Politico’s Anna Palmer, former DOJ spox Matt Miller, and WaPo’s Robert Costa on Mayor Pete’s powerful moments as he rises in the 2020 polls

Robert De Niro Calls Donald Trump a 'Wannabe Gangster'

THE GUARDIAN: Oscar-winning actor says US president has proven himself to be a ‘total loser’ with no morals

Robert De Niro has criticised Donald Trump again, calling the US president a “total loser” and “wannabe gangster”.

The actor has been involved in a long-running dispute with Trump, saying “fuck Trump” at the Tony awards last year.

Trump responded by saying De Niro was “a very low IQ individual”.

During an appearance on the Late Show With Stephen Colbert on Friday, De Niro told the host he had tried giving Trump a chance. “That’s what I said right after he was elected. Give him a chance. I give everybody the benefit of the doubt. This guy has proven himself to be a total loser.” » | Press Association | Saturday, April 20, 2019


THE GUARDIAN: Robert De Niro wins ovation for 'Fuck Trump' speech at the Tony awards » | Catherine Shoard | Monday, June 11, 2018

Julian Assange: Within Washington's Grasp? | The Listening Post (Full)

The Tobacco Conspiracy – Documentary

This France-Canada co-production goes behind the scenes of the huge tobacco industry, whose economic power has been expanding for five decades at the expense of public health. A gripping investigation covering three continents, Nadia Collot's film exposes the vast conspiracy of a criminally negligent industry that conquers new markets through corruption and manipulation. To confront the tobacco cartel, anti-smoking groups are organizing and scoring points, but the fight remains fierce. With ist diverse viewpoints, shocking interviews and riveting images, The Tobacco Conspiracy deftly defines the issues in a complex situation where private interests and the public good collide. Enlightening and engrossing, this documentary is a hard-hitting critique of an industry gone mad.

UKIP Launch EU Election Campaign amid Candidate Controversy

UKIP have launched their European election campaign with their leader insisting the party is the "true voice" of Brexit.

But just as Gerard Batten unveiled his top candidates, there were calls from some UKIP members to deselect one of them for offensive comments made online.

Carl Benjamin is one of the party's top listed candidates, but he's refused to apologise for a tweet he sent in 2016 to a Labour MP referring to rape. He said it was satirical. And Channel 4 News has learnt he made similar remarks at a comedy show, just last night.

Victoria Macdonald's report, does contain language you may find offensive.

What Does the Mueller Report Mean for President Trump? | Inside Story

U.S President Donald Trump is declaring "total victory" after the release of a censored version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on alleged collusion between his 2016 campaign and Russia. But outside Trump's inner circle, many are reacting very differently.

At a news conference shortly before the report's public release, Attorney General William Barr defended Trump, saying Mueller had cleared the president of any wrongdoing. But once the document was made public, many of Barr's assertions appeared, at best, questionable.

For example, Barr told reporters that the president "co-operated fully" with Mueller's investigation, but the report criticised Trump for refusing to agree to an in-person interview with the Special Counsel and for refusing "to provide written answers to questions on obstruction topics or questions on events during the transition".

Barr also said that Trump had done nothing to obstruct the investigation. But according to the report, Trump ordered a top White House official to fire Mueller and then, when that official refused, ordered him to lie about it.

Perhaps most importantly, Barr repeatedly said that the report showed there had been no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. But it actually says the Russian government tried to help Trump's campaign and that the campaign "expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts".

Congressional Democrats plan to subpoena the full, unedited report along with all of its supporting documentation.

So will the Mueller report change the discussion in Washington? Or has it already become just another partisan talking point?

Richelle Carey reports.

Guests: Joe Watkins, Republican Political Strategist and Former White House Aide to George H. W. Bush; Clyde Wilcox, Professor of Government, Georgetown University; Claire Finkelstein, Professor, University of Pennsylvania Law School

Jesus' Female Disciples | Biblical Documentary | Timeline

Theologians Helen Bond and Joan Taylor embark on a journey around the world in search of evidence of the role played by women in the beginnings of Christianity. Their quest takes them from ancient caves in Israel to catacombs in Italy, and leads them to question centuries of Christian ideology.

'Whimsical, Uninformed': French Ambassador's Parting Verdict on Trump

THE GUARDIAN: Exclusive: Gérard Araud compares regime to court of Louis XIV and warns UK over post-Brexit trade

The outgoing French ambassador to the US has compared the Trump administration to the court of King Louis XIV, filled with courtiers trying to interpret the caprices of a “whimsical, unpredictable, uninformed” leader.

Gérard Araud, who retires on Friday after a 37-year career that included some of the top jobs in French diplomacy, said Donald Trump’s unpredictability and his single-minded transactional interpretation of US interests was leaving the administration isolated on the world stage.

“When they say ‘America first’, it’s America alone,” Araud said in an interview with the Guardian. “Basically, this president and this administration don’t have allies, don’t have friends. It’s really [about] bilateral relationships on the basis of the balance of power and the defence of narrow American interest.”

He cautioned the UK against expecting any special treatment from Washington in post-Brexit trade talks, predicting that the administration would force London to accept US imports on US terms, such as looser standards for genetically modified organisms (GMOs). » | Julian Borger in Washington | Friday, April 19, 2019

Mueller's Report Would Have Signaled the End for Anyone Other Than Trump

THE GUARDIAN: Analysis: activity discovered by Mueller was not, as Trump and his allies falsely insist, standard stuff for a political campaign

For all his bluster about being a master builder, Donald Trump really made his millions through branding. From chewy steaks to failing casinos, Trump has spent decades putting lucrative lipstick on pigs.

So when faced with a sprawling criminal investigation into how Russiaworked to get him elected – and how he then repeatedly tried to obstruct the inquiry – the president devised a brutally effective public relations campaign.

During his two years under investigation by Robert Mueller, Trump repeated his newest slogan ad nauseum: “no collusion”. Some Americans seemed tricked into forgetting that conduct falling short of that bar could be seriously problematic, too.

Mueller’s 448-page report confirms that his investigators did not find any overarching conspiracy between Trump’s team and Russian operatives.

But it also lays out, in damning detail, how senior Trump advisers acquiesced with Russia’s interference, while Trump simultaneously sought the Kremlin’s approval for a property deal in Moscow that could make him millions of dollars. » | Jon Swaine in New York | Thursday, April 18, 2019