George Osborne's Evening Standard Backs Lib Dems for EU Elections

THE GUARDIAN: Editorial in former chancellor’s paper is latest breakaway by Cameron-era Tories over Brexit

The Evening Standard, edited by the former Conservative chancellor George Osborne, has urged readers to consider voting Liberal Democrat in the European elections, in the latest sign of David Cameron-era Tories breaking with the party over Brexit.

The London newspaper said the Lib Dems had the “courage from the start to say the referendum result was a mistake” and as a result, “voters have started to think again about them”.

However, the Standard stopped short of a full endorsement for Vince Cable’s party, simply saying “we wish them well”.

Other prominent Conservatives have been punished by the party in recent days for endorsing the Lib Dems in the elections, including the former deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine. It is not known whether Osborne remains a paid-up member of the Conservative party, but the carefully phrased endorsement means he is likely to escape being censured. » | Jim Waterson, Media editor | Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Family of Jailed Saudi Feminist Loujain Al-Hathloul: She Was Waterboarded, Flogged & Electrocuted

Is Nationalism Killing the EU? | State of Europe

Since the last European parliamentary elections in 2014, nationalist right-wing parties have made significant gains in many European states. Does the growing influence of right-wing nationalism pose a threat to the ideal of European unity?

To understand what moves Europe's citizens, DW's Max Hofmann traveled around the continent seeking the perspectives of key players and those directly affected by the major issues of today. For example, how the migration drama on the southern coast of Italy originates and ends partly in eastern Germany. Or how right-wing populists in France try to lure in voters - and how comparable political forces in Poland have used similar tactics to gain seats in government. In investigating the topics of environment and climate protection, Hofmann visits the EU Climate Change Dossiers and the EU's largest per capita plastic waste producer: Ireland. Through each trip, Hofmann seeks to better understand the connections and centrifugal forces at play across Europe.

Far-right Facebook Groups 'Spreading Hate to Millions in Europe'

THE GUARDIAN: Avaaz uncovers 500 accounts using fake news to spread white supremacy message

A web of far-right Facebook accounts spreading fake news and hate speech to millions of people across Europe has been uncovered by the campaign group Avaaz.

Facebook, which is struggling to clean up the platform and salvage its reputation, has already taken down accounts with about 6 million followers before voting in the European elections begins on Thursday. It was still investigating hundreds of other accounts with an additional 26 million followers, Avaaz said.

In total, the group reported more than 500 suspect groups and Facebookpages operating across France, Germany, Italy, the UK, Poland and Spain. Most were either spreading fake news or using false pages and profiles to artificially boost the content of parties or sites they supported, in violation of Facebook’s rules.

The networks were far more popular than the official pages of far-right and anti-EU populist groups in those countries. The pages taken down by Facebook so far had been viewed half a billion times, Avaaz estimated. » | Emma Graham-Harrison | Wednesday, May 22, 2019

EU to Investigate Nigel Farage over Expenses Funded by Arron Banks

THE GUARDIAN: Move follows revelations MEP failed to declare lavish funding from year of Brexit referendum

The European parliament is to investigate Nigel Farage for failing to declare lavish expenses funded by Arron Banks.

The European parliament president, Antonio Tajani, “today refers the Farage issue to an advisory committee”, a source told the Guardian.

The advisory committee is a group of five MEPs who act as watchdogs over the parliament’s code of conduct. It stipulates that all members must declare expensive gifts and report whether third parties fund attendances at events.

Last week, Channel 4 revealed Farage was generously funded by Arron Banksin the year of the Brexit referendum. Invoices, emails and documents showed Farage benefited from a £13,000-a-month Chelsea home, a car with a driver, and promotional visits to the US in 2016. » | Jennifer Rankin in Brussels | Tuesday, May 21, 2019

May Offers MPs Vote on Second Referendum in 'New' Brexit Deal

THE GUARDIAN: Customs union vote also included in ‘10-point offer’ in last attempt to break impasse

Theresa May has offered MPs votes on a second referendum and a temporary customs union in her last attempt to get a Brexit deal through parliament.

Amid widespread expectation that the withdrawal agreement bill (Wab) will be heavily defeated early next month, and reports of serious rows in cabinet, the prime minister used a hastily arranged speech to warn of serious political disruption if Brexit is not delivered.

However, the immediate reaction to May’s proposals from MPs was overwhelmingly negative, with even previously loyal Conservatives coming out against it. » | Peter Walker and Rowena Mason | Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Will Europe's Populist Leaders Make a Breakthrough? | Inside Story

Mainstream politicians face a challenge from the far right as 400 million Europeans vote in this week's European Parliament elections. Elections for the European Parliament get underway on Thursday.

Immigration and the economy are dominating the political agenda, and the rise of the far-right is dominating the headlines.

On Saturday, right-wing leaders from nearly a dozen EU countries, including France, Germany and the Netherlands gathered for a rally in Milan to show their unity. The gathering was led by the Italian Deputy Prime Minister, Matteo Salvini, who wants to form a far-right block within the EU Parliament.

Some analysts believe that the future identity of European politics––and the EU itself––is at stake. So, how will voting shape the continent?

Presenter: Barbara Serra | Guests: Theofanis Exadaktylos, senior lecturer in European politics at the University of Surrey; Anand Menon, director of the UK in a Changing Europe initiative and a former special adviser to the House of Lords EU committee; Stefano Vergine who is an Italian journalist focussing on economics and foreign affairs

Does Europe Need the USA? | Full Debate | George Galloway, Phillip Collins, Bronwen Maddox

Is the US in dangerous decline? Many in Europe welcomed the decline of the US and its retreat from global intervention. Now with Russia flexing its muscle it feels less comfortable. No doubt the Britons felt similarly when the Romans left. Is the reality that Europe needs to be sheltering under the wing of a superpower? Or should we rapidly rearm in a troubled multipolar world?

Iran's Basic Goods Prices Double as Fall of Rial Continues | Al Jazeera English

US sanctions are making life in Iran increasingly difficult for its people. Iranians say their devalued currency is a more pressing problem. Al Jazeera's Zein Basravi reports from Tehran.

Macron wirft Moskau Förderung von Rechtspopulisten in der EU vor

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: „Die Russen und einige andere haben noch nie so zudringlich extremistische Parteien finanziert und ihnen geholfen“, beklagt der französische Präsident. Ihr Ziel sei es, „Europa abzuwickeln“.

Wenige Tage vor der Europawahl hat Frankreichs Präsident Emmanuel Macron Russland vorgeworfen, extremistische Parteien in Europa stark zu fördern. „Die Russen und einige andere haben noch nie so zudringlich extremistische Parteien finanziert und ihnen geholfen“, sagte Macron in einem Interview, das französische Regionalzeitungen am Dienstag veröffentlichten. „Man muss besorgt sein, man darf nicht naiv sein.“

Macron nannte auch den ehemaligen Berater des amerikanischen Präsidenten Donald Trump Steve Bannon, dem er eine weiter bestehende Nähe zur amerikanischen Regierung unterstellte. Es gebe zum ersten Mal eine Zusammenarbeit zwischen „Nationalisten und ausländischen Interessen mit dem Ziel, Europa abzuwickeln“, sagte Macron. » | Quelle: nto./Reuters | Dienstag, 21. Mai 2019

Boris Johnson Not Fit to Be PM, Says Tory Minister

THE GUARDIAN: Margot James, of moderate One Nation Tory group, hits out at leadership hopeful’s ‘fuck business’ remark

Boris Johnson has been branded an unacceptable candidate to be prime minister by the Conservative minister Margot James, because of his “fuck business” remark when asked about companies’ concerns over Brexit.

James, a business minister and leading member of the One Nation Conservative group, said the comment meant Johnson was not fit for “high public office” as she addressed a Creative England event in London.

Speaking later to the Guardian, she said some of her colleagues promoting Brexit at any cost to business had the “wrong attitude”.

“I don’t think people in the public eye should be using language like that to discuss the concerns of the business community,” she said. “It’s the dismissive attitude to business that’s a problem among some people for whom Brexit is everything.” » | Rowena Mason, Deputy political editor | Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Trump Says the Military Industrial Complex Is Pressuring Him Into a War with Iran

With a thirty year Boeing veteran at the Pentagon, Patrick Shanahan as Acting Secretary of Defense, and with John Bolton and Mike Pompeo at the helm, war with Iran is likely says the former chief of staff to Secretary of State, Col. Larry Wilkerson

Democracy Now! Top US News & World Headlines — May 21, 2019

Hungary Accused of Fuelling Xenophobia with Anti-migrant Rhetoric

THE GUARDIAN: Council of Europe’s damning report says human rights violations must be urgently addressed

Europe’s top human rights watchdog has accused Hungary’s government of violating people’s rights and using anti-migrant rhetoric that fuels “xenophobic attitudes, fear and hatred”.

A damning report from the Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights, Dunja Mijatović, concluded: “Human rights violations in Hungary have a negative effect on the whole protection system and the rule of law” and should “be addressed as a matter of urgency”.

The commissioner, whose report is based on meeting government ministers and civil society groups during a five-day visit to Hungary in February, issued a devastating critique of the Hungarian asylum system that has resulted in “practically systemic rejection of asylum applications”. Voicing alarm at the “excessive use of violence” by police in removing foreign nationals, she criticised a policy of denying food to those refused asylum. » | Jennifer Rankin in Brussels | Tuesday, May 21, 2019

How Ukip Normalised Far-right Politics

Since the Brexit vote in 2016, Ukip is no longer primarily concerned with attacking the EU. Now led by Gerard Batten, the party has started to normalise far-right ideas and has given roles to figures including Tommy Robinson. The Guardian's Peter Walker asks how it happened and examines what it means for British politics

THE GUARDIAN: Racism on the rise since Brexit vote, nationwide study reveals » | Robert Booth, Social affairs correspondent | Monday, May 20, 2019

Democracy Now! Top US News & World Headlines — May 20, 2019

Marine Le Pen Denies Steve Bannon Has Role in Her EU Election Campaign as He Sets Up Camp in Paris

THE TELEGRAPH: Steve Bannon was on Monday at the heart of a row over whether the ex-Trump strategist is playing an active role in French far-Right leader Marine Le Pen’s European election campaign.

The accusations came after the American president's controversial former eminence grise decamped to a palatial Parisian hotel days before the vote.

The elections for the European Parliament on May 26 in France will see President Emmanuel Macron's centrist party go head to head with Ms Le Pen’s National Rally, or RN, formerly known as the National Front.

Polls suggest that they are neck and neck with Mr Macron, Europe’s self-styled centrist champion, warning it would be a “catastrophe for France” should she finish ahead on Sunday. She has called for him to resign should he fail to do so.

Mr Bannon told Le Parisien this weekend he had opted to come to France as its election was "by far" the most important among EU member states. He predicted an “earthquake” next Sunday. » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Monday, May 20, 2019

The Tories Have Forgotten Their Pro-EU Voters. And They’ll Pay for It

THE GUARDIAN: In my home town, I’ve seen how middle-class angst over Brexit is creating an existential threat to the party which could once count on their votes

In a seemingly endless season of Tory nightmares, this week looks set to mark the most dreadful phase so far. The Conservatives are about to endure a set of elections that they never thought they would face. Only four years ago, the party won a general election; now, there is talk of them finishing fifth, or even sixth. With every Tory moan of pain, Nigel Farage’s nicotine grin grows ever larger. And out in the country, there is an overlooked Conservative crisis: one bound up not with the part of the population that voted for Brexit, but with the liberal, pro-remain swathe of the country without whom the future of Conservatism looks bleak indeed. » | John Harris | Monday, May 20, 2019

Republicans Terrified That Their Anti-Abortion Crusade Will Cost Them 2020

Republicans from Pat Robertson to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy are terrified that the string of strict anti-abortion laws that Republicans are passing are going to cost them dearly in 2020. They deserve it. The Republican Party has no idea how far they are setting back reproductive rights for women in this country, and given the backlash that we’ve already seen, it seems likely that Republicans are going to pay dearly in the near future. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins discusses this.

Donald Trump's Peace Conference Will Fail, Palestinians Say

THE GUARDIAN: ‘Deal of the century’ will begin with economic workshop that does not address core disputes

Peace efforts that ignore Palestinian political aspirations will fail, senior Palestinian officials have said, after the Trump administration announced an economic conference will take place next month as the first step of its long-awaited Middle East peace plan.

Washington said on Sunday that Bahrain had agreed to host a “Peace to Prosperity” workshop to discuss the potential economic incentives of its still-undisclosed plan, which Trump has promised over the last two years would be the “deal of the century”.

A spokesman for the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, on Monday cast doubt over the Bahrain conference. “Any plan without a political horizon will not lead to peace,” Nabil Abu Rdeneh said. » | Oliver Holmes in Jerusalem | Monday, May 20, 2019