Understanding Vladimir Putin, the Man Who Fooled the World

THE GUARDIAN: The Russian president has always shown us exactly who he is. So why did it take the invasion of Ukraine for us to believe him?

All illustrations: Tim McDonagh/The Guardian
Vladimir Putin was annoyed – or maybe just bored. The Russian leader had been patiently fielding questions from a small group of international journalists in the restaurant of a modest hotel in Davos. Then one of the queries seemed to irritate him. He stared back at the questioner, an American, and said slowly, through an interpreter: “I’ll answer that question in a minute. But first let me ask you about the extraordinary ring you have on your finger.”

All heads in the room swivelled. “Why is the stone so large?” Putin continued. A few of the audience began to giggle and the journalist looked uncomfortable. Putin took on a tone of mock sympathy and continued: “You surely don’t mind me asking, because you wouldn’t be wearing something like that unless you were trying to draw attention to yourself?” There was more laughter. By now, the original question had been forgotten. It was a masterclass in distraction and bullying.

The year was 2009, and Putin had already been in power for almost a decade. But this was my first encounter with him in the flesh, during his visit to the World Economic Forum. Putin’s ability to radiate menace, without raising his voice, was striking. But so was the laughter of his audience. Despite the violence of his Russian government – as demonstrated in Chechnya and Georgia – western opinion-formers were still inclined to treat him as a pantomime villain.

I was reminded of this just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In a televised meeting at the Kremlin with his closest advisers, Putin toyed with Sergei Naryshkin, the head of his foreign intelligence service – making the feared securocrat look like a stuttering fool. The pleasure he took in humiliating somebody in front of an audience was once again on display. But this time, nobody was laughing. Putin was about to plunge Europe into its biggest land war since 1945. Russian troops launched a full-scale invasion on 24 February. Within a month, more than 10 million Ukrainians had fled their homes, thousands of troops and civilians had been killed and the coastal city of Mariupol had been destroyed. » | Gideon Rachman | Saturday, April 9, 2022

La Russie poutinienne, malade d’une psychose impériale explosive

Le président russe, Vladimir Poutine (ici, en 2019, lors de la commémoration de la victoire de 1945), considère la fin de l’URSS comme la «plus grande catastrophe géopolitique du XXe siècle». Alexei Druzhinin/AP
Correspondante
LE FIGARO : GRAND RÉCIT - Des courants marginalisés après la chute de l’URSS sont sortis des caves et constituent le cadre psychologique et intellectuel du régime.

On a l’impression d’être dans un asile de fous, mais la scène se passe à la télévision russe, lors de l’émission vespérale de la première chaîne de télévision ORT, où tous les soirs, officie le présentateur vedette Vladimir Soloviev, propagandiste télévisuel en chef du pouvoir poutinien vêtu d’une longue vareuse de style néobolchevique, et entouré d’une série de «stratèges» chargés de dérouler la pensée du Kremlin. Le matraquage idéologique poutinien dure depuis deux décennies, mais depuis 2014, et surtout depuis le 24 février 2022, c’est devenu un spectacle surréaliste et fascisant, où les intervenants hurlent des invectives contre l’Ukraine et son «maître» américain, tout en affirmant que la Russie est victime d’un vaste complot occidental et assaillie de toutes parts. » | Par Laure Mandeville | vendredi 8 avril 2022

Réservé aux abonnés

Emmanuel Macron Is Playing a Dangerous Game

Ludovic Marin/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
OPINION : GUEST ESSAY
THE NEW YORK TIMES: n 2017, Emmanuel Macron was “a meteor born under a lucky star.” A former banker without experience in elective office, he benefited during his first presidential campaign from President François Hollande choosing not to seek re-election, while the conservative candidate and front-runner, François Fillon, faced an embezzlement charge.

In 2022, the planets appeared to align once more, this time on account of international circumstances rather than national dynamics. As president of the European Union since January, Mr. Macron has enhanced his status as a legitimate interlocutor with Vladimir Putin, even if his attempts to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine have been unsuccessful. All opinion polls have shown Mr. Macron leading in Sunday’s first round of the presidential election, but his lead has been swiftly declining.

In his first campaign, Mr. Macron claimed to be “neither left nor right ,” a slogan that had seduced many who are weary of the old political divisions. Once elected, however, he quickly revealed what that meant in practice. Cutting taxes for the wealthy, shrinking the welfare state and hollowing out democracy, Mr. Macron drifted rightward, to the point of shocking some members of La République En Marche!, his party.

Far from changing course, Mr. Macron appears to be doubling down. In recent months, his appeal to the right-wing electorate has become ever more explicit, orienting his platform around two of the right’s traditional themes — control of immigration and stiffening of secularism. It may deliver him another victory. But Mr. Macron is playing a dangerous game. By absorbing his opponents’ views into his own platform, he risks bringing about a political landscape hazardously skewed to the right. » | Didier Fassin | Saturday, April 9, 2022

Didier Fassin, anthropologist and physician, is James D. Wolfensohn professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, and director of studies at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris.

Boris Becker Guilty of Four Charges under Insolvency Act

GETTY IMAGES
BBC: Ex-tennis star Boris Becker has been found guilty of four charges under the Insolvency Act relating to his 2017 bankruptcy.

The former world number one was accused of hiding millions of pounds worth of assets to avoid paying his debts.

He was declared bankrupt in June 2017 over an unpaid loan of more than £3m on his estate in Mallorca, Spain.

Becker, 54, was acquitted of a further 20 charges at London's Southwark Crown Court on Friday.

He was cleared of nine counts of failing to hand over trophies and medals from his tennis career, including two Wimbledon men's singles trophies.

The six-time Grand Slam champion told reporters outside court he would not be commenting on the verdict.

He was found guilty of transferring hundreds of thousands of pounds from his business account after his bankruptcy, failing to declare a property in Germany, and concealing €825,000 of debt.

He could face a jail sentence carrying a maximum term of seven years for each count. » | BBC | Friday, April 8, 2022

Macron Calls Polish PM 'A Far-right Anti-Semite' in Row over Putin Talks

The French president is facing a closer than expected election race | REUTERS
BBC: French President Emmanuel Macron has called Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki "a far-right anti-Semite who bans LGBT people", after being criticised for his talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin.

Mr Morawiecki compared Mr Macron's efforts to negotiating with Hitler.

The French president has held regular conversations with Mr Putin since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine.

On Friday, Poland summoned the French ambassador over Mr Macron's comments, made to a French newspaper.

"How many times have you negotiated with Putin and what have you achieved?" Mr Morawiecki said on Monday.

"It's my duty to speak with him, we need it. I won't stop doing it, that's what allows us to take part in the negotiation," he said.

"By talking to him and to [Ukraine's] President Zelensky, we can help in the negotiation. At some point, there will be a ceasefire and peace will have to be built. It cannot be done without a guarantor, France is committed to be one of these guarantors."

It is not clear why Mr Macron accused Mr Morawiecki of anti-Semitism, although the Polish government has faced international criticism for laws making it harder for Jewish people to recover property lost during and after World War Two, as well as one making it an offence to link the Polish nation to Nazi crimes. » | BBC | Friday, April 8, 2022

Voici un article lié à celui-ci.

One of My All-time Favourites: George Michael: One More Try

Views on YouTube: 143,493,990

And this great song, too, of course.

Get Ready for a Scary Fortnight in French Politics: A Le Pen Presidency Really Is Possible

THE GUARDIAN: The race for the Elysée could end up as a horror story for anyone who cares about the wellbeing of France or Europe

A seemingly ‘kinder, gentler’ Marine Le Pen in Perpignan on Friday. Photograph: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images
The French election is straying from the script. It was meant to be a predictable remake. It has turned into a thriller. It could end up as a horror story.

A month ago, Emmanuel Macron seemed certain to be the first French president to win a second term in 20 years. After Russia invaded Ukraine, his poll ratings soared. He built a 12-point lead in a probable second-round match-up with the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, and a 15-point lead over all other candidates in the first round.

But with that first round taking place on Sunday, Macron’s lead has all but evaporated. In the most recent polls, he only has a two- to five-point advantage over Le Pen in round one, and a two- to eight-point lead over her in the two-candidate runoff on 24 April.

Most French political analysts believe Macron will still prevail. Le Pen has magically evaded, so far, any reckoning for her long years as a Vladimir Putin sympathiser. In the second round of French elections, the presidential credentials of candidates are put to a greater stress test than in the multicandidate first round. » | John Lichfield | Friday, April 8, 2022

Breaking: Rishi Sunak's Wife to Pay UK Tax on Overseas Income

BBC: Chancellor Rishi Sunak's wife Akshata Murty has said she will pay UK taxes on her overseas income, following a row over her non-domicile status.

She owns £700m in shares of the Indian IT giant Infosys, founded by her father, from which she received £11.6m in dividend income last year.

As a non-domiciled (non-dom) UK resident she is not required by law to pay UK taxes on her overseas income.

But she told the BBC she did not want to be a "distraction" for her husband. » | Simon Jack, Business editor | Friday, April 8, 2022

Related articles here.

Sunak under pressure over holding US green card while chancellor: By holding cards chancellor and his wife undertook a legal commitment to ‘make the US your permanent home’ »

Democracy Now! US News & World Headlines – April 8, 2022

Globalization Is Over. The Global Culture Wars Have Begun.

OPINION: DAVID BROOKS
THE NEW YORK TIMES: I’m from a fortunate generation. I can remember a time — about a quarter-century ago — when the world seemed to be coming together. The great Cold War contest between communism and capitalism appeared to be over. Democracy was still spreading. Nations were becoming more economically interdependent. The internet seemed ready to foster worldwide communications. It seemed as if there would be a global convergence around a set of universal values — freedom, equality, personal dignity, pluralism, human rights.

We called this process of convergence globalization. It was, first of all, an economic and technological process — about growing trade and investment between nations and the spread of technologies that put, say, Wikipedia instantly at our fingertips. But globalization was also a political, social and moral process.

In the 1990s, British sociologist Anthony Giddens argued that globalization is “a shift in our very life circumstances. It is the way we now live.” It involves “the intensification of worldwide social relations.” Globalization was about the integration of worldviews, products, ideas and culture. » | David Brooks, Opinion Columnist | Friday, April 8, 2022

«Antisémite d'extrême droite»: Varsovie convoque l'ambassadeur de France après les propos de Macron sur le premier ministre polonais

LE FIGARO : Emmanuel Macron a tenu ces propos dans Le Parisien en réaction aux critiques de Mateusz Morawiecki sur ses entretiens téléphoniques avec Vladimir Poutine.

L'ambassadeur de France en Pologne a été convoqué vendredi 8 avril au ministère des Affaires étrangères à la suite des propos d'Emmanuel Macron accusant le chef du gouvernement polonais d'«antisémitisme d'extrême droite», a annoncé Varsovie.

«Suite aux déclarations contenues dans l'interview du président de la République française Emmanuel Macron au Parisien, le ministre (polonais, ndlr) Zbigniew Rau a décidé de convoquer l'ambassadeur de France», a indiqué sur Twitter, le porte-parole du ministère polonais des Affaires étrangères. Dans un entretien au quotidien le Parisien jeudi, le président français a accusé le premier ministre polonais Mateusz Morawiecki d'être «un antisémite d'extrême droite, qui interdit les LGBT», après l'avoir déjà accusé de «s'immiscer dans la campagne politique française», pointant sa proximité avec sa rivale d'extrême droite à la présidentielle Marine Le Pen. » | Par Le Figaro avec AFP | vendredi 8 avril 2022

France's Fearful Campaign | People and Power

Apr 7, 2022 • France's centrist President Emmanuel Macron is seeking a fresh term in office, with the first round of voting set for April 10.

For much of the campaign, with the left in apparent disarray, his main opponents from the populist far right have been steadily gaining ground - reshaping the national conversation around immigration, economic grievances and identity politics.

Then came the crisis in Ukraine, giving Macron an opportunity to show off his international experience and altering the electoral landscape once more.

Now, as polling day approaches, it seems likely that the second runoff round of voting on April 24 will be between Macron and Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Rally party.

So what has this complex, sometimes fearful, election revealed about the changing nature of French politics?

Lithuania's Foreign Minister Discusses the Ongoing Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Apr 8, 2022 • Among several former Soviet Republics and satellite states that are now NATO members is the small Baltic nation of Lithuania. Fiercely independent, its security concerns are compounded not just by its former occupier, Russia, but by the adversaries that border it, including the Russian ally Belarus. Nick Schifrin sat down with Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis to discuss.

Ukraine War: West 'Spooked' by Kremlin and a 'Robust' Response Is Needed

Apr 8, 2022 • Tobias Ellwood MP tells Sky News the West has been "spooked" by Kremlin rhetoric, and a "robust" response is needed to stand up against the Russian government.

The Chair of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee said Ukraine needed greater weapon systems, and "daft" arguments about whether weapons were defensive or offensive needed to stop.

He said Putin seemed very secure in his job and wasn't "scared" of any war crimes or breaching of the Geneva Conventions.

Ukraine Small Taste of What's to Come from Putin: Bill Browder

Apr 5, 2022 • Bill Browder, CEO of Hermitage Capital, Head of Global Magnitsky Justice campaign and author, talks with Financial Post's Larysa Harapyn about his new book 'Freezing Order' and how Ukraine is just a small taste of what's to come from Russia's Vladimir Putin.

French Election: Far-right Le Pen Closes In on Macron ahead of Vote

BBC: The least a president might expect, when juggling a war in Europe with an election at home, is a bounce in the polls.

But Emmanuel Macron has discovered that all the energy he spent dealing with Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine has been of little help in France's unpredictable vote.

"Nothing is impossible," President Macron has warned, as polls suggest his far-right rival is closer than ever before to winning the presidency.

A month ago, Marine Le Pen was trailing President Macron by 10 points and fighting for a place in the second round against him.

Now she's seen as the clear favourite to challenge him for the presidency after Sunday's first round. If she does make it through to the 24 April run-off, opinion polls suggest for the first time that a Le Pen victory is within the margin of error.

For this, the National Rally leader can thank two men once seen as dangerous for her campaign: her far-right rival, Eric Zemmour, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, now an international pariah. » | Lucy Williamson, BBC Paris correspondent | Friday, April 8, 2022

Suivez le dernier jour de campagne ici.

Ukraine War: Russia's Nobel Winning Editor Muratov Doused with Paint

Dmitry Muratov says he was attacked on a train that was due to depart Moscow to the city of Samara | DMITRY MURATOV
BBC: Russia's Nobel Peace Prize winning journalist Dmitry Muratov says he has been attacked with red paint laced with the solvent acetone aboard a train.

"My eyes are burning terribly," said the editor of the Novaya Gazeta liberal newspaper, which has halted its operations after warning from Moscow over its Russia-Ukraine war coverage.

The male attacker shouted, "Muratov, this is for our boys," he said.

Novaya Gazeta is known for being highly critical of the Russian authorities.

Last month, it announced it was suspending its print and online operation "until the end of Russia's special military operation" in Ukraine - the official term Russia's media regulator Roskomnadzor says all media outlets in the country must use. Anyone who describes Russia's actions in Ukraine as a "war" faces heavy fines or closures. » | Thursday, April 7, 2022

Angriff auf Friedensnobelpreisträger Muratow: Der Chefredakteur der kremlkritischen Zeitung „Nowaja Gaseta“ wurde in einem Zug attackiert und mit Farbe überschüttet. Der Anschlag scheint im Zusammenhang mit der Berichterstattung über den Ukraine-Krieg zu stehen. »

'Putin Will Be Gone Soon': Exiled Russian Dissident Ilya Ponomarev • FRANCE 24 English

Apr 6, 2022 • Exiled Russian #dissident #IlyaPonomarev gave an interview to FRANCE 24 from Kyiv. The former Russian lawmaker was the only member of the Douma to vote against the annexation of Crimea back in 2014 and now lives in #Ukraine. He predicted that "#Putin will be gone soon", arguing that the Russian president has "definitely lost the war" in Ukraine and that "no dictator who has lost a war can stay in power". Asked about the suspected war crimes in #Bucha that have shocked the world, Ponomarev claimed that the killings were most likely the results of "panic" by retreating Russian forces, rather than being carefully planned.

Fears Genocidal Language in Russian Media May Prompt More War Crimes

THE GUARDIAN: State news agency publishes article decrying ‘Ukrainianism’ as an ‘artificial anti-Russian construct with no civilisational substance’

RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan claimed on TV that Ukrainian people ‘have turned out to be engulfed in the madness of nazism’. Photograph: Dmitry Feoktistov/Tass
Two days after Russia began its war in Ukraine, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency accidentally published an article celebrating the country’s lightning-quick victory over Kyiv, crowing that the “period of the split of the Russian people is coming to an end”.

After a bloody month of war, after the discovery of evidence of war crimes in cities like Bucha and Borodyanka, the language in that same publication has grown even more extreme, containing calls for societal purges and “re-education” that western officials said could provoke further abuses on the ground.

“Ukrainianism is an artificial anti-Russian construct that has no civilisational substance of its own, a subordinate element of an extraneous and alien civilisation,” wrote a RIA Novosti columnist earlier this week. The “re-education” of Ukraine could take a generation, he wrote, adding that “besides the highest ranks, a significant number of common people are also guilty of being passive Nazis and Nazi accomplices”. » | Andrew Roth, Moscow correspondent | Thursday, April 7, 2022

Russia-Ukraine war latest news.

And GOP / Trump propaganda from across the Pond: The G.O.P.’s ‘Putin Wing’ »

Video: Authoritarianism, Putin & the GOP Are a Threat »

Sunak’s Wife Potentially Avoided £20m in UK Tax

THE GUARDIAN – AN EXTRACT: Chancellor accused of ‘breathtaking hypocrisy’ …

Chancellor must ‘lead by example’
…

Akshata Murty, the chancellor’s wife, has potentially avoided up to £20m in UK tax by being non-domiciled, leading to Labour accusations of “breathtaking hypocrisy” against Rishi Sunak. The heiress has collected about 5.4bn Indian rupees (£54.5m) in dividends from Infosys, the India-based IT business founded by her father, over the past seven-and-a-half years, the period for which there is public data. Non-dom status for that whole period could have saved her about £20m in UK taxes.

The furore risks further damaging Sunak’s public image already battered by a mini-budget forecast to lead to the biggest drop in living standards since records began in the 1950s. » | Graham Russell | Guardian morning briefing | Friday, April 8, 2022

Related article here.

Channel Islands, 1940: When the Nazis Invaded England | Hitler's England | Timeline

Apr 7, 2022 • Hitler's England tells the story of the British Channel Islands under German occupation from 1940 to 1945. There was collaboration and resistance, heroism and infamy, repression and violence, denunciation and deportation. But, there was also the everyday life between the conquerors and the conquered. The story that emerges is complex, heart-rending and enthralling. It is the story of ordinary people, many of whom became extraordinary as they lived through the harsh and bitter years of the German Occupation.

Sign up to History Hit and get 50% off using the code 'TIMELINE here.

The Putin Files: Antony Blinken | 2017

Habsburgs Allüren • Was die Öffentlichkeit nicht erfahren sollte

Jan 27, 2022 • Die Habsburger waren eine gediegene, strikten Traditionen verpflichtete Herrscherfamilie. Apart und geschliffen gaben sie die Aushängeschilder der Donaumonarchie. Doch im Schatten des Thrones gab es auch die schwarzen, verrückten und verliebten Schafe der Familie. Gekennzeichnet durch schräge Charaktere, eigenartige Vorlieben oder ungewöhnliche Freizeitbeschäftigungen. Die neue Dokumentation von Christian Papke spürt für „Erbe Österreich“ den habsburgischen Sonderlingen, ihren Lieblingsplätzen und bemerkenswerten Biographien nach.

Das liebe Geld. Auch wenn man meinen möchte, dass ein Herrscherhaus über unbegrenzte Mittel verfügen müsste, machte es den Habsburgern zuweilen das Leben schwer. Umso leichter fiel es manchen Mitgliedern des Herrscherhauses, das Geld mit beiden Händen auszugeben. Seine Träume zu realisieren und seinen Neid auf den herrschenden Bruder Franz Josef zu kompensieren, ließ sich Erzherzog Ferdinand Maximilian, der spätere Kaiser von Mexiko, einiges kosten. Dass seine Vorfahren aufgrund zahlreicher Kriege unter chronischen Geldnöten litten, ist bekannt. Dass man aber in der Hofburg trotz nicht unbeträchtlicher Apanagen, Gehälter, Reichtümer so wie Kaiserin Zita um Wohnbeihilfe ansuchte, ist wohl weniger geläufig. Vor allem die Affären und Unsittlichkeiten, die spätestens im 19. Jahrhundert zunahmen oder zumindest öffentlich wahrnehmbarer wurden, belasteten die Reputation des Kaiserhauses immer stärker.

Eines der Sorgenkinder des Kaisers Franz Joseph war Erzherzog Johann Salvator. Der mit Kronprinz Rudolf befreundete Militär, ein „Lausbub“ so Kulturhistoriker Hannes Etztstorfer, beschloss eines Tages ‚aus seiner Familie auszutreten‘. Er wollte seine Geliebte Milli Stubel, eine Tänzerin an der Wiener Hofoper, heiraten und in den Sonnenuntergang segeln. Allerdings misslang das Manöver, und das Familienmitglied des Herrscherhauses ging unter mysteriösen Umständen wohl bei Afrika samt Schiff und Geliebter unter.

Für einen anderen Skandal sorgte Erzherzog Leopold Salvator. Wie viele der habsburgischen Toskanalinie war er der Marine und Skandalen zugetan. Als er sich eines Tages in die Prostituierte Wilhelmine Adamovic verliebte und diese zu ehelichen gedachte, schickte ihn der Kaiser zunächst in eine Anstalt für Nervenkranke. Doch Leopold blieb bei seiner Entscheidung und heiratete. Scheiterte. Ließ sich scheiden. Heiratete eine zweite Halbwelt-Dame. Schlussendlich heiratete er noch ein drittes Mal. Aber schon längst war er kein Mitglied des Herrscherhauses mehr. Er hatte alle Ansprüche und Privilegien verwirkt.

Genauso wie seine Schwester Luise von Österreich-Toskana. Aus der dynastischen Ehe mit dem Kronprinzen von Sachsen floh sie mit dem Sprachlehrer ihrer Kinder. Sagte sich später auch von ihm los. Heiratete einen italienischen Komponisten, was ebenfalls misslang. Und schon längst war auch sie aus dem österreichischen Erzhaus geflogen.

Nur einer hatte ein Happy-End:

Der in Graz stationierte Feldmarschallleutnant Erzherzog Heinrich verliebte sich in die Sängerin Leopoldine Hofmann, die auch beinah Fenster an Fenster mit ihm wohnte. Um sie ehelichen zu können, trickste er in Bozen zwei Kirchenväter aus, heiratete heimlich und begab sich selbst ins Exil. Groß war die Überraschung, als der Kaiser ihn persönlich wieder in die Familie aufnahm. Schließlich hatte auch seine Majestät selbst mit seiner geliebten Sisi, der Kaiserin Elisabeth eine Frau mit extremem Charakter an seiner Seite, mit der nicht immer gut Kirschenessen war, und die unter anderem eine Reisetoilette in Form eines Delfins mit sich führte. Heinrich jedenfalls führte fortan in Bozen eine zurückgezogene und glückliche Ehe mit seiner Poldi und wurde zum Wohltäter der schmucken Südtiroler Stadt.

British Sovereignty over the Falklands Is an Absurd Imperial Hangover That Must End

THE GUARDIAN – OPINION: Forty years after the war in the South Atlantic, common sense demands a negotiated settlement with Argentina

Port Stanley, Falkland Islands. ‘In 2012 it was estimated that British taxpayers paid more than £20,000 per islander for defence alone.’ Photograph: Marcos Brindicci/Reuters
This April is the 40th anniversary of the start of the Falklands war. Less well known is that it is the 41st anniversary of a final attempt by the British government to concede sovereignty over the islands to the enemy in that war, Argentina. Negotiations in New York were in progress, aimed at securing self-government for the islands under a long lease from Argentina. Had they succeeded, it could have avoided war, resolved an archaic imperial dispute, and brought the islanders peace with their neighbours.

This was not to be. The talks ran into opposition both on the islands and on the Tory backbenches in London. At the same time a belligerent military regime under General Galtieri seized power in Buenos Aires and had other ideas. In April 1982, the regime took the islands by force, only to be driven from them by a British taskforce two months later. No peace deal was reached and the Falklands became an embattled fortress in the South Atlantic, with troops, jets and warships on permanent station.

The war cost Britain about £2.8bn (£9.5bn in present value) and the islands’ defence costs upwards of £60m annually. In 2012 it was estimated that British taxpayers paid more than £20,000 per islander for defence alone, and approximately one-third of the population worked for the government. Unlike other former colonies such as Gibraltar, relations with the nearest nation-state are thin. Though living in a technically autonomous British overseas territory, the islanders are wholly dependent on Britain. » | Simon Jenkins | Thursday, April 7, 2022

Breaking: Russia Expelled from UN Human Rights Council

Apr 7, 2022 • Russia has been expelled from the UN Human Rights Council over reports of "gross and systematic violations and abuses of human rights" by invading Russian troops in Ukraine.

Beethoven Eroica & Schubert Unfinished | Daniel Barenboim & the Staatskapelle Berlin

Mar 24, 2022 • Beethoven’s Eroica as a symbol against the war in Ukraine: Daniel Barenboim, the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Staatsopernchor perform Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 (“Eroica”), Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 (“Unfinished Symphony”) and Mykhailo Verbytsky’s Ukrainian national anthem at the Concert for Peace. The proceeds of the concert will go to humanitarian aid projects for Ukrainians affected by the war

The Concert for Peace took place on March 6, 2022 at the Berlin Staatsoper Unter den Linden. It was supported by Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank (ECB) and Joachim Nagel, President of the German Bundesbank. Proceeds from the Concert for Peace will go to the United Nations Ukraine Humanitarian Fund (UHF). Also present were German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht and German Finance Minister Christian Lindner.

Including :

Mykhailo Verbytsky (1815 - 1870)
Ukrainian National Anthem - composed on the poem “Ukraine has not yet perished” by Pavlo Chubynsky

Russia's Largest Search Engine Hides Info on Ukraine War, Says Former Head of News

Apr 7, 2022 • Former Head of News for Russia's largest search engine Yandex, Lev Gershenzon, is accusing the company of 'hiding' information about the war in Ukraine, and Gershenzon joins Morning Joe to discuss.

Londongrad: How the UK Became a Laundromat for Russian Oligarchs’ Dirty Money

Apr 6, 2022 • For years, the UK has welcomed oligarchs with few questions asked about their fortunes. Billions of dollars poured in. Now, British intelligence is warning that Russian money is propping up Putin’s regime -- and that some of it is helping fund the war in Ukraine.

Analyst Says Putin Has a Dark Reason for Keeping His Daughters a Secret

Apr 7, 2022 • CNN's Brian Todd speaks to Russian analysts after Western countries placed sanctions on Putin's daughters Mariya Putina and Katerina Tikhonova.

Democracy Now! US News & World Headlines – April 7, 2022

The Man at the Center of the French Election Isn’t Even on the Ballot

Mario Fourmy/Redux
OPINION: GUEST ESSAY
THE NEW YORK TIMES: PARIS — Like the rest of Europe, France is gripped by the war in Ukraine. Days from the first round of the presidential election here, the incumbent, Emmanuel Macron, hopes to prevail with what was, for much of the last two months, a muted campaign in which he posed as a steady hand in a time of global instability.

But for all the talk of a united West, the truth is that a noxious blend of oligarchy, nostalgia and bellicose nationalism is ever more ubiquitous on this side of the new Iron Curtain. In France, it is led by a buoyant and confident new right, represented in this election by Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally; Valérie Pécresse of the ostensibly moderate Republicans; and Éric Zemmour, the pugilistic proto-fascist commentator turned candidate.

Yet their electoral showing this month may be but a sideshow in a broader attempt to remake French politics. Behind them all, to one degree or another, is someone not even on the ballot: the media mogul Vincent Bolloré. The scion of an old industrial family, Mr. Bolloré wields a fearsome agenda-setting power; his outlets, known for adopting the flair, tics and style of Fox News, play an outsize role in directing the national debate. The three candidates from the right — and much of the political class, in fact — recycle, in varying shades, messages that run on a loop on his networks. » | Harrison Stetler * | Thursday, April 7, 2022

* Mr. Stetler is a journalist who writes about French politics.

Rishi Sunak Faces Questions over Wife Akshata Murty's Non-dom Tax Status

Rishi Sunak said it was wrong for people to criticise his wife Akshata Murty | POOL
BBC: Chancellor Rishi Sunak is facing calls to "come clean" on his family's financial affairs after it emerged his wife benefits from a tax-saving scheme.

Millionaire Akshata Murty has non-dom status, meaning she does not have to pay UK tax on income earned abroad.

Her spokeswoman said Ms Murty pays all legally required tax in the UK.

But Labour said it was not right that the chancellor and his family were "sheltering" from UK taxes.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Mr Sunak had "very serious questions to answer" and called for "complete transparency".

"If it now transpires that his wife has used schemes to reduce her tax, while he's been increasing taxes on working people, that's breathtaking hypocrisy," he said. He said it "just goes to show just how out of touch this chancellor is" at a time when taxes were increasing for millions of workers. » | Thursday, April 7, 2022

This is utter hypocrisy! For the wife of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the man who sets the tax rates, to have a wife who avoids paying Her Majesty’s taxes is appalling in the extreme. Apart from anything else, the optics of this are terrible. Sunak should, and hopefully will, pay the price of these shenanigans. This couple clearly want the penny and the bun! © Mark

Related article here.

Akshata Murty’s non-dom status is totally legal – and perfectly toxic for Rishi Sunak: In failing to take the initiative over the tricky issue of his family’s wealth, the chancellor has dented his own brand »

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Hören Sie hier das Interview. Interview, Video / Hans Rauscher, Gerald Zagler, Vedran Pilipović | 7. April 2022

Rishi Sunak’s Wife Claims Non-domicile Status

THE GUARDIAN: Tax status allows Akshata Murthy to avoid tax on foreign earnings

Akshata Murthy earns an estimated £11.5m a year in dividends from her stake in Indian company Infosys. Photograph: Samir Hussein/WireImage
Rishi Sunak’s multi-millionaire wife claims non-domicile status, it has emerged, which allows her to save millions of pounds in tax on dividends collected from her family’s IT business empire.

Akshata Murthy, who receives about £11.5m in annual dividends from her stake in the Indian IT services company Infosys, declares non-dom status, a scheme that allows people to avoid tax on foreign earnings.

Murthy, the daughter of Infosys’s billionaire founder, owns a 0.93% stake in the tech firm worth approximately £690m. The company’s most recent accounts suggest that Murthy’s stake would have yielded her £11.6m in dividend payments in the last tax year.

Under UK tax laws, Murthy’s status as a non-dom would mean she would not have had to pay tax on the dividend payment from overseas companies. Infosys is headquartered in Bengaluru, India, and listed on the Indian and New York stock exchange. By contrast, UK resident taxpayers pay a 38.1% tax on dividend payouts. » | Rupert Neate | Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Putin 'Won’t Stop at Ukraine,’ US Must 'Be Ready to Stop' Him: Durbin

Apr 6, 2022 • Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) joins "MTP Daily" to discuss the additional sanctions the US placed on Russia. Durbin says the US must "be ready to stop" Russian President Putin because he "won't stop at Ukraine."

US UN Ambassador Wants to Suspend Russia From the UN Human Rights Council | Amanpour and Company

Apr 6, 2022 • President Zelensky addressed the U.N. Security Council yesterday, detailing Russian atrocities against his people. The US is now moving to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council. Christiane speaks with the U.S. Ambassador to the UN about this move and other, broader efforts to isolate Russia. Originally aired on April 6, 2022.

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Les pays baltes cherchent à se sevrer du gaz russe

LE MONDE : Alors que la Lituanie a annoncé qu’elle ne consommerait désormais plus de gaz naturel provenant de Russie, ses voisins estonien et letton, ainsi que la Finlande se démènent pour y parvenir le plus rapidement possible.

C’est une proclamation d’indépendance un peu particulière à laquelle s’est livrée la Lituanie, ces derniers jours : celle d’un pays qui, il y a moins de dix ans encore, était totalement dépendant du gaz naturel russe, et qui vient de décider, en quelques semaines, de fermer définitivement le robinet. « Plus une molécule de gaz russe n’entrera dans le système gazier lituanien », a ainsi annoncé le ministre de l’énergie, Dainius Kreivys, samedi 2 avril, sur Twitter, tandis que la première ministre, Ingrida Simonyte, confirmait le lendemain que son pays ne « consommerait plus 1 mètre cube de gaz russe toxique ». » | Par Anne-Françoise Hivert (Malmö (Suède), correspondante régionale) | mercredi 6 avril 2022

Article réservé aux abonnés

January 6 Panel Receives Trump Lawyer Emails about Plan to Block Biden Victory

THE GUARDIAN: House panel receives 101 emails belonging John Eastman, concerning plans to obstruct certification of 2020 election result

John Eastman and Rudy Giuliani in Washington DC on 6 January 2021. Photograph: Jim Bourg/Reuters
The House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol has received a cache of emails belonging to Donald Trump’s lawyer, John Eastman, federal court documents filed on Tuesday show.

The 101 emails were released to the committee after Judge David Carter ruled In federal court in California last week that Eastman, a hard-right supporter of the former US president, had not made a sufficient claim to attorney-client privilege.

The cache of documents, sent between 4 and 7 January 2021, contains extensive communications between Eastman and others about plans to obstruct the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election. » | Oliver Laughland | Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Clearly, Trump is a Putin wannabee. There's one simple solution. To use Trump's own words: Lock him up! – © Mark

German Police Raid Neo-Nazi Cells across Country

THE GUARDIAN: Four arrested after more than 1,000 officers swoop on homes of 50 suspects

Supporters of the Third Way, a far-right political party, gather for a rally earlier this month.Photograph: Jens Schlueter/Getty Images
German authorities have swooped on alleged neo-Nazi militant cells and arrested four suspects as the country pursues a forceful crackdown on far-right extremists.

In what Der Spiegel magazine called “the biggest blow against the militant neo-Nazi scene in the recent past”, the federal prosecutor’s office said more than 1,000 officers had raided the homes of 50 suspects in 11 states.

“The four men arrested are accused of membership of a rightwing extremist criminal organisation,” it said in a statement, adding that some had also received other charges, including grievous bodily harm.

Spiegel reported that one of the suspects was a non-commissioned officer in the German armed forces.

The suspects targeted on Wednesday were believed to belong to the far-right martial arts group Knockout 51, the banned Combat 18, named after the order in the alphabet of Adolf Hitler’s initials, the US-based Atomwaffen Division or the online propaganda group Sonderkommando 1418.

Germany’s centre-left-led government under chancellor Olaf Scholz took office in December pledging a decisive fight against far-right militants after criticism that the previous administration had been lax on neo-Nazi violence. » | AFP in Berlin | Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Bundesweite Großrazzia: Verfassungsschutz sieht wichtigen Schlag gegen Rechtsextremisten: Mit Razzien in elf Bundesländern sind Ermittler gegen mutmaßliche militante Neonazi-Netzwerke vorgegangen. Verfassungsschutzpräsident Haldenwang spricht von einem »großen Erfolg der Sicherheitsbehörden«. »

Gay Farmers in Bern, Switzerland | 2011

Frédéric Chopin: Les Sylphides - 2. Nocturne in A♭ Major, Op. 32, No. 2 | Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra | Herbert von Karajan

Jul 31, 2018 • Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group

Producer: Elsa Schiller
Producer, Recording Producer: Hans Weber
Studio Personnel, Balance Engineer: Günter Hermanns
Studio Personnel, Editor: Rolf Peter Schroeder
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Arranger, Work Arranger: Roy Douglas

„Würden Sie mit Hitler verhandeln?“

In Sachen Ukraine nicht auf einer Wellenlänge: Frankreichs Präsident Emmanuel Macron und Polens Ministerpräsident Mateusz Morawiecki (Aufnahme vom 17. Februar in Brüssel) | Bild: AP
WARSCHAUS VORWURF AN MACRON
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Frankreichs Präsident Emmanuel Macron will den Dialog mit Wladimir Putin fortführen. Der polnische Regierungschef Mateusz Morawiecki greift ihn deshalb scharf an – schont aber Marine Le Pen trotz ihrer Verbindungen nach Moskau.

Mit Zurückweisung hat der französische Präsident Emmanuel Macron am Mittwoch auf Vorhaltungen des polnischen Ministerpräsidenten Mateusz Morawiecki reagiert. Wie der Elysée-Palast mitteilte, seien die Vorwürfe „inakzeptabel“. Morawiecki hatte Macron kritisiert, weil er den Dialog mit dem russischen Staatschef Wladimir Putin aufrechterhält. „Präsident Macron, wie oft haben Sie mit Putin verhandelt? Was haben Sie erreicht?“, sagte Morawiecki. „Würden Sie mit Hitler, mit Stalin, mit Pol Pot verhandeln?“, fragte der polnische Regierungschef am Dienstag in einer Rede in Krakau. » | Von Michaela Wiegel, Politische Korrespondentin mit Sitz in Paris. | Mittwoch, 6. April 2022

Ukraine : Macron dénonce les critiques «scandaleuses» du premier ministre polonais : Invité du 20 heures de TF1 mercredi soir, le président-candidat a vivement répondu à Mateusz Morawiecki, qui, selon lui, «s'immisce dans la campagne politique française». Et «assume totalement» de parler à Vladimir Poutine. »

French Cooking Academy: Stephane Shows Us How to Cook Perfect Madeleines at Home

May 25, 2018 • In order to get perfect-looking madeleines, you first need to use a recipe that works. Also, you need a metal madeleine baking tray. My madeleine recipe is for the plain madeleines, but once you master this recipe you can start adding extra flavourings like lemon or orange zest, chocolate nuggets, jam, or nuts. You can also vary the size: small madeleines, large madeleines and so much more. So just use your imagination and start inventing new ways on making delicious madeleines at home.

Did you know that madeleines are one the most famous little French cakes there are and have been mass-produced since the end of the 19th century. They became really popular during the Second World War.


Get the recipe here.

US Imposes Sanctions on Putin's Daughters and Russian Banks

Apr 6, 2022 • The US is taking additional actions to increase economic pressure on Russia and President Vladimir Putin following horrific images from the Ukrainian city of Bucha, announcing new sanctions on Russian financial institutions, as well as some people, including Putin’s adult daughters and the wife and daughter of his foreign minister.

I wrote this essay on March 1. I still stand by what I stated in the short essay. Dithering is wrong; and expecting Ukrainians to do all our fighting for us is simply wrong, immoral, and becoming increasingly untenable! – Mark | Read the short essay here.

Putin’s Daughters Targeted in US Sanctions against Russia

THE GUARDIAN: Joe Biden links new measures directly to accounts of atrocities committed by Russian forces in Bucha

Putin’s daughter Katerina Tikhonova, an academic at Moscow State University and acrobatic rock’n’roll dancer. Photograph: Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters
The US has announced a new round of sanctions targeting Russia’s top public and private banks and two daughters of Vladimir Putin, following mounting global accusations of Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

The sanctions targeted Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova, two adult daughters of Putin’s with his former wife Lyudmila Shkrebneva.

Also hit with new sanctions were the wife and daughter of the Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and members of Russia’s security council, including the former president and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev and the current prime minister Mikhail Mishustin.

“These individuals have enriched themselves at the expense of the Russian people. Some of them are responsible for providing the support necessary to underpin Putin’s war on Ukraine,” the White House said.

“We believe that many of Putin’s assets are hidden with family members, and that’s why we’re targeting them,” a senior US official told reporters, referring to the two daughters.

The White House also declared “full blocking” sanctions on Russia’s largest public and private financial institutions, Sberbank and Alfa Bank, and said all new US investment in Russia was now prohibited.

New sanctions would be announced on Thursday on key Russian state enterprises, it said, aiming to hamper their ability to trade and move money through the global financial system. » | Jennifer Rankin in Brussels and agencies | Wesnesday, April 6, 2022