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The U.S. dubbed the UAE ‘a force for peace’ and showered its rulers with weapons. Now they’re destabilizing the region

The U.S. dubbed the UAE ‘a force for peace’ and showered its rulers with weapons. Now they’re destabilizing the region

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The New York Times reports: Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, the 29-year-old commander of the almost negligible air force of the United Arab Emirates, had come to Washington shopping for weapons. In 1991, in the months after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, the young prince wanted to buy so much military hardware to protect his own oil-rich monarchy — from Hellfire missiles to Apache helicopters to F-16 jets — that Congress worried he might destabilize the region. But the Pentagon, trying to…

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Pentagon tells White House to stop politicizing military

Pentagon tells White House to stop politicizing military

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The Associated Press reports: The Pentagon has told the White House to stop politicizing the military, amid a furor over a Trump administration order to have the Navy ship named for the late U.S. Sen. John McCain hidden from view during President Donald Trump’s recent visit to Japan. Trump’s top aide scoffed at the idea that anyone working for the White House might be punished. “We think it’s much ado about nothing.” A U.S. defense official said Patrick Shanahan, Trump’s…

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Kids suing the U.S. over climate crisis are getting global support

Kids suing the U.S. over climate crisis are getting global support

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Quartz reports: In 2015, when a group of 21 children and teens first sued the US government over climate change, their claim in Juliana v. US was not totally new—youth in Uganda and the Netherlands had filed somewhat similar environmental suits—but it seemed a little strange. Shouldn’t these kids be playing video games or something, doing pretty much anything but litigating to save the planet? Now, the plaintiffs in Juliana v. US are part of an increasingly vocal global movement…

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Facebook is an enemy of the effort to avert catastrophic climate change, scientists say

Facebook is an enemy of the effort to avert catastrophic climate change, scientists say

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Joe Romm reports: ThinkProgress asked some experts what Facebook’s latest actions mean for the national conversation on climate change. “Facebook is complicit in spreading outright falsehoods and misinforming the public about matters of public concern,” environmental sociologist Robert Brulle wrote in an email. The company’s “refusal to take down this blatant distortion of Speaker Pelosi shows that they are an irresponsible actor, and contributing to the decline of public discourse.” Brulle explained that Facebook’s actions are particularly disastrous since there…

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Rory Stewart, a latter-day Lawrence of Arabia, shakes up Britain’s Tories

Rory Stewart, a latter-day Lawrence of Arabia, shakes up Britain’s Tories

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The New York Times reports: [Rory] Stewart has hijacked the Tory leadership campaign with a surprising argument: Britain must reapply its energy to compromise, between its own angry factions and with Europe, and return to Mrs. May’s withdrawal agreement. This is a frontal challenge to the Tories. The front-runner for the post, Boris Johnson, has vowed to exit the European Union on Oct. 31, even if no agreement is in place. This promise is tailored to a small audience of…

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Boris Johnson, favorite to become the UK’s next prime minister, is woefully unprepared for the job

Boris Johnson, favorite to become the UK’s next prime minister, is woefully unprepared for the job

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BuzzFeed reports: BuzzFeed News conducted interviews with seven senior US, European and British officials and diplomats at the highest level of government to interrogate Johnson’s time in office, and what it tells us about how he might perform as UK prime minister. All had first hand experience of dealing directly with him on the international stage. They spoke on condition of anonymity, in order to be candid when sharing their views and experiences. None of the people BuzzFeed News talked…

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Trump interferes in British politics and insults royal family ahead of state visit

Trump interferes in British politics and insults royal family ahead of state visit

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Bloomberg reports: Donald Trump weighed into Britain’s political turmoil by expressing his admiration for Boris Johnson, the pro-Brexit former Foreign Secretary who’s favored to succeed Theresa May as prime minister. Trump insisted to the Sun newspaper he wasn’t giving a full endorsement to any of the 12 candidates to become leader of Britain’s ruling Conservative party but said Johnson “would be excellent” and would do a “very good job” running the country. The newspaper called Trump’s comments, on the eve…

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No president is above the law

No president is above the law

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Elizabeth Warren writes: When Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report was released on April 18, I sat down and read it. All 448 pages of it. I started reading it that afternoon, and I read all through the night and into the next morning. And when I got to page 448, three things were clear to me. First, a hostile foreign government attacked our 2016 election to help candidate Donald Trump get elected. Second, candidate Donald Trump welcomed that help. Third,…

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Mueller’s punt keeps looking worse

Mueller’s punt keeps looking worse

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Andrew Prokop writes: Robert Mueller’s report makes the stirring claim that “a fundamental principle of our government” is that no person, not even the president, “is above the law.” But the special counsel’s ultimate legacy may well be the exact opposite — because of his controversial decision not to say whether Trump committed criminal obstruction of justice. “We concluded that we would not reach a determination, one way or the other, about whether the president committed a crime,” Mueller said…

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Trump’s tariff threat to Mexico may upend trade deal, undermine the economy

Trump’s tariff threat to Mexico may upend trade deal, undermine the economy

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The Washington Post reports: President Trump’s surprise announcement of an escalating series of new tariffs on all goods imported from Mexico is likely to upend hopes for early congressional action on his proposed North American trade deal and trigger economic upheaval on both sides of the border, according to trade analysts and business executives. Business leaders reacted with dismay to Trump’s statement Thursday that he would impose a new 5 percent tariff on all goods from Mexico beginning June 10…

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