MPs Reject No-deal Brexit by Majority of 43 in Second Vote

THE GUARDIAN: Brexit delay possible after MPs vote against leaving European Union without a deal

MPs have inflicted a fresh defeat on Theresa May, rejecting the idea of Britain leaving the EU without a deal and clearing the way for Brexit to be delayed.

After the prime minister’s deal was heavily voted down for a second time on Tuesday, she announced a government motion ruling out a no-deal Brexit on 29 March – overturning her longstanding policy of refusing to rule it out.

May promised MPs a free vote, but the motion was carefully worded, with the final sentence stating that, “leaving without a deal remains the default in UK and EU law unless this house and the EU ratify an agreement”.

However, MPs voted by 312 to 308 to support a backbench amendment which struck out that last phrase so as to rule out a no-deal exit altogether. » | Heather Stewart, Political editor | Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Trump Autographs Bibles In Alabama Because Nothing Makes Sense Anymore

Donald Trump toured disaster areas in Alabama last Friday after a monster tornado destroyed a town and left more than 20 people dead. But the President didn’t waste too much time mourning those we had lost, as he then headed to a church where he signed bibles for phony religious Republicans. This is exactly the kind of thing that the bible warned us about, and this fake evangelicals don’t even realize it. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins discusses this.

Chris Hedges: US Record Suicides Prove Economic Decline

Chris Hedges, author and host of RT America’s “On Contact” joins Rick Sanchez to discuss the skyrocketing problem of suicide and self-destructive behavior and why we should only expect it to get worse.

I'm Not Afraid Of Anyone, Particularly President Trump: Elizabeth Warren | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., shares here thoughts on being a capitalist, why she isn't afraid of the president in a race, breaking up 'big tech' and why she believes in markets with rules and a 'cop on the beat'.

The West Should Cut Ties With Saudi Arabia

With friends like these, who needs enemies? Saudi Arabia is out of control. After the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, most likely on direct orders from the Saudi Crown Prince and de facto ruler Mohammed Bin Salman, it’s time for the West to sever ties with this regime of criminal despots. The House of Saud assassinates journalists and imprisons dissidents. Its military indiscriminately bombs civilians in the cruel war against Yemen, which has led to a massive humanitarian catastrophe with an estimated 85,000 children dying of starvation. And that’s not to mention the Saudi regime’s oppression of women and religious minorities, or its troubling support for Islamist fundamentalism around the world. Saudi Arabia has long been accused of backing terrorist organisations and funding the extremist schools that provide them with recruits and influence. Saudi Arabia is a menace, and the West should end its alliance with this pernicious regime.

That’s the high-minded reasoning of the Saudi-bashers. But no matter how much we abhor the behaviour of the Saudi government, shouldn’t we consider our own interests before ending a hugely beneficial decades-old partnership? After all, as more pragmatically-minded people point out, Saudi Arabia is a crucial bulwark against the dangerous influence of Iran, which threatens the region with its expansionist ambitions. Saudi Arabia also provides the West with vital intelligence in the fight against groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIS. And while we may not like the conservative form of Islam practised in the Kingdom, is that any of our business? If it is, shouldn’t we support its reform-minded Crown Prince? After all, he has lifted the ban on Saudi women driving, allowed cinemas to reopen for the first time in 35 years, and has promised to introduce a more moderate form of Islam to the Kingdom. Shouldn’t the West give him a chance?

The BBC’s star international correspondent Lyse Doucet chaired a line-up of Middle East experts. Who’s right and who’s wrong? Hear the arguments and decide for yourself.

Tucker Carlson's Racism Revealed

Auch Mays neuer Brexit-Deal wird abgeschmettert

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: Nächste große Pleite für Theresa May: Auch das nachgebesserte Austrittsabkommen mit der EU wird vom britischen Parlament mit großer Mehrheit abgelehnt. Wie geht es nun weiter?

Bei der Abstimmung über das Brexit-Abkommen mit der Europäischen Union am Dienstagabend im britischen Parlament hat Premierministerin Theresa Mayabermals eine Niederlage erlitten. Auch den mit Brüssel nachgebesserten Deal unterstützt die große Mehrheit der Abgeordneten nicht. Insgesamt stimmten 391 Parlamentarier gegen das Abkommen – und nur 242 dafür. Es ist bereits die zweite schwere Niederlage für den Deal, den May im vergangenen Jahr mit der EU vereinbart hatte. » | Quelle: sreu./dpa | Dienstag, 12. März 2019

Brexit : le Parlement britannique rejette à nouveau l'accord de May

LE FIGARO: Les députés britanniques ont rejeté mardi soir l’accord de Brexit négocié entre Londres et Bruxelles, par 391 voix contre 242, plongeant le Royaume-Uni dans l’incertitude à 17 jour de la date prévue du divorce. Le texte avait déjà été massivement rejeté en janvier. Après le vote de ce mardi, la première ministre Theresa May a répété que cet accord était «le seul et meilleur accord possible». En revanche, pour le chef de l'opposition travailliste, Jeremy Corbyn, cet accord "est mort". » | Par Le Figaro avec AFP | Mardi 12 Mars 2019

MPs Ignore May's Pleas and Defeat Her Brexit Deal by 149 Votes

THE GUARDIAN: Despite late concessions in Strasbourg, PM’s plan voted down for second time

Theresa May has suffered a second humiliating defeat on her Brexit deal, as MPs rejected the last-minute reassurances she won from the EU27 on Monday, and voted it down by a majority of 149.

With just 17 days to go until the UK is due to leave the EU, MPs ignored the prime minister’s pleas to “get the deal done”, after the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) said it could not support the agreement.

With her voice cracked and fading, the prime minister had earlier pleaded with the House of Commons: “This is the moment and this is the time – time for us to come together, back this motion and get the deal done. Because only then can we can get on with what we need to do, what we were sent here to do.” » | Heather Stewart, Political editor | Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Holocaust Survivor Brian "Baruch" Bergman

This testimony from Jewish Holocaust Survivor Brian Bergman i is from USC Shoah Foundation's Visual History Archive®, an online portal that allows users to search through and view more than 55,000 video testimonies of survivors and witnesses of genocide.

Tucker Carlson's Sexist Rants Reveal an Ugly Truth

THE GUARDIAN: The Fox News host has shown us just how much misogyny continues to be tolerated – and encouraged – by men

Tucker Carlson, the Fox News commentator with a primetime show and a history of vitriolic racist rants, is in the news again after the media watchdog group Media Matters unearthed recordings of him from the mid-aughts, in which Carlson calls into a radio shock jock program to make a series of luridly sexist assertions and racist asides, palling around with a host who goes by the moniker “Bubba the Love Sponge”.

In the recordings, Carlson says women are “like dogs”, claiming: “They’re extremely primitive, they’re basic, they’re not that hard to understand.” He insists that women find misogynist degradation pleasurable and makes sexual, antagonistic comments about women he does and does not like. » | Moira Donegan | Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Jewish Survivor Testimony: Irma Meyer

A Conversation with Tova Friedman – Holocaust Survivor

Tova Friedman gives a detailed account of her experience during WWII. Including her time in Poland and the Auschwitz Concentration Camp.

Niklas Frank: "Die Deutschen müssten wissen, wohin es führt" | DW Deutsch

Niklas Frank ist der Sohn jenes Mannes, der als Hitlers Generalgouverneur im besetzten Polen verantwortlich war für die NS-Vernichtungslager im Land. Niklas Frank hat seine Vergangenheit schonungslos aufgearbeitet - die Deutschen aber hätten es nicht, sagt er im DW-Interview.

Niklas Frank on the German People

A rare honest appraisal of the German People by a son of one its cruelest Nazi murderers. Niklas Frank is the son of Hans Frank, the German Governor-General of occupied Poland during World War II. He spoke about his father and the German nation on the SBS Insight Program broadcast on 4 August 2015.

Shamima Begum: IS Teen's Baby Death 'Tragedy' – BBC Newsnight

The son of Shamima Begum - who fled London to join the Islamic State group - has died in a Syrian refugee camp. Dal Babu, a former Metropolitan Police chief superintendent and friend of the Begum family joins Katie Razzall in the studio, alongside the Daily Mail's Larisa Brown, who met Shamima and her son in the camp last month. The UK Home Office declined to speak to Newsnight.

Shamima Begum: Baby Son Dies in Syrian Refugee Camp

THE GUARDIAN: Three-week-old infant is the third child the teenager from east London has lost

The newborn son of Shamima Begum has died and been buried in a Syrian refugee camp, three separate sources have confirmed to the Guardian.

The baby boy, named Jarrah, was buried on Friday, three weeks after the east London teenager turned Islamic State devotee gave birth.

The sources include a Kurdish intelligence official who said the infant had been hospitalised in al-Roj camp in north-eastern Syria with breathing difficulties several times in the past week. A friend of Begum said that “the baby turned blue and was cold” before being rushed to a clinic inside the camp. Jarrah is understood to have been buried along with two other children who were burned in a fire on Thursday night. » | Martin Chulov in Beirut and Mohammed Rasool | Friday, March 8, 2019

HARDtalk Niklas Frank Son of Hans Frank, Governor of Nazi Occupied Poland 1939 – 45

HARDtalk is in rural northern Germany to meet Niklas Frank, a journalist and writer but also the son of Hans Frank, the brutal Nazi Governor of Poland from 1939 to 1945. He was convicted of war crimes and executed after the Nuremberg trials for the major role he played in the deaths of millions of Jews and Poles during the Second World War. Niklas Frank tells Stephen Sackur how he's coped with the crimes of his father and why he will not let his fellow Germans forget the worst aspects of the Nazi era.

Nazi Leader's Son: 'Don't Trust Us' Germans – BBC News

Germany could return to authoritarianism if the economic conditions were to seriously worsen in the country, the son of Hans Frank the governor general of Nazi occupied Poland during World War Two, has told BBC Hardtalk. "As long as our economy is great, and as long as we make money everything is very democratic," said Niklas Frank, but "if we have five to 10 years heavy economic problems the swamp is a lake, and is a sea and will swallow again, everything," he added. Niklas Frank said he "despises" his father for the crimes he committed while he was governor-general of Poland from 1939 to 1945, and tours Germany giving speeches about his father and the legacy of the Nazi era. Hans Frank was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg trials and executed in 1946.

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.

Incestuous Relationship Between Fox News And Trump Has Been Exposed

The New Yorker has published an amazing article by Jane Mayer that lays out the disgusting and potentially illegal relationship between Donald Trump and Fox News. The article is filled with amazing revelations showing just how much influence Fox has over the White House, and Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins lays out some of the most damning pieces from the report.

Donald Tusk Claims Anti-European Forces Meddled in Brexit Vote

THE GUARDIAN: European council president echoes Emmanuel Macron’s warning of malign influences

Donald Tusk has claimed external powers meddled in the Brexit vote as he called for EU member states to do more to protect the upcoming European elections.

Speaking at a press conference in Brussels with the Armenian prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, the European council president said he agreed with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who used an editorial in the Guardian and other newspapers to call on European countries to be alert to malign influences.

“There are external anti-European forces, which are seeking – openly or secretly – to influence the democratic choices of Europeans, as was the case with Brexit and a number of election campaigns across Europe. And it may again be the case with the European elections in May,” said Tusk, a former prime minister of Poland and vociferous critic of Vladimir Putin.

Tusk’s intervention echoed fears Russia sought to foment anti-EU sentiment during the 2016 EU referendum campaign in the UK. » | Daniel Boffey in Brussels | Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Lawrence's Last Word: Bulls**t | The Last Word | MSNBC

Why Trump deliberately said bulls**t to his audience at CPAC.

Dear Europe, Brexit Is a Lesson for All of Us: It’s Time for Renewal

THE GUARDIAN: We can’t let nationalists exploit public anger. I want an ambitious project that lets the people really take back control

Citizens of Europe, if I am taking the liberty of addressing you directly, it is not only in the name of the history and values that unite us, but because time is of the essence. A few weeks from now the European elections will be decisive for the future of our continent.

Never since the second world war has Europe been so essential. Yet never has Europe been in such danger. Brexit stands as the symbol of that. It symbolises the crisis of a Europe that has failed to respond to its peoples’ need for protection from the major shocks of the modern world. It also symbolises the European trap. The trap lies not in being part of the European Union; the trap is in the lie and the irresponsibility that can destroy it. Who told the British people the truth about their post-Brexit future? Who spoke to them about losing access to the EU market? Who mentioned the risks to peace in Ireland of restoring the border? Retreating into nationalism offers nothing; it is rejection without an alternative. And this is the trap that threatens the whole of Europe: the anger mongers, backed by fake news, promise anything and everything. » | Emmanuel Macron | Monday, March 4, 2019

Sanders on Venezuela - Does His Critique of US Policy Go Far Enough?

At the CNN town hall, Sanders opposed U.S. intervention in Venezuela, refused to call Maduro a dictator, or recognize Guaidó, but he didn’t call for an end to sanctions - with Jacqueline Luqman, Eugene Puryear, Norman Solomon and host Paul Jay

Guaidó Returns to Venezuela as US Issues Warning to Maduro

THE GUARDIAN: Washington says Maduro faces ‘strong and significant response’ if Guaidó is detained or threatened after tour of South America

Washington has warned Nicolás Maduro he faces a “strong and significant response” if his rival, Juan Guaidó, is detained or threatened as he tries to reenter Venezuela on Monday before a day of fresh protests.

Guaidó sneaked out of Venezuela on the eve of a failed bid to force humanitarian aid into the economically ravaged country on 23 February and subsequently set off on a five-nation tour of South America.

The 35-year-old visited Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Paraguay despite a travel ban introduced after his decision to challenge Maduro by declaring himself Venezuela’s rightful interim president.

Most western governments now recognise Guaidó as Venezuela’s legitimate interim president but, beyond widespread popular support, he enjoys little concrete power in Venezuela. » | Tom Phillips, Latin America correspondent | Monday, March 4, 2019

Killing Jamal Khashoggi: How a Brutal Saudi Hit Job Unfolded | NYT - Visual Investigations

An autopsy expert. A lookalike. A black van. Our video investigation follows the movements of the 15-man Saudi hit team that killed and dismembered the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Trump and Netanyahu Scandals a Very Dangerous Moment - Wilkerson & Jay

Desperate men do desperate things; two leaders facing corruption charges may more aggressively push their Iran regime change agenda - Larry Wilkerson joins Paul Jay