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Category: Politics

Elon Musk is turning Twitter into a haven for Nazis

Elon Musk is turning Twitter into a haven for Nazis

Vice News reports: Twitter has a problem with white supremacist and neo-Nazi content proliferating on the platform—and Elon Musk is making that problem worse. In recent days, the platform’s new CEO has reactivated the accounts of known neo-Nazis; shared a picture of a white supremacist who said he’d like Trump to be more like Hitler; failed to prevent users from posting videos of the Christchurch massacre; tweeted a popular alt-right meme; used a known antisemitic trope; and, inadvertently or not,…

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Inside the Saudi palace coup that brought MBS to power

Inside the Saudi palace coup that brought MBS to power

Anuj Chopra writes: The Saudi prince was detained all night. As daylight broke, he staggered out of the king’s palace in Mecca. His personal bodyguards, who tailed him everywhere, were missing. The prince was led to a waiting car. He was free to leave – but he would soon discover that freedom was not very different from detention. As his car pulled out of the palace gates, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef fired off a series of panicked text messages. “Be…

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With intimidation and surveillance, China tries to snuff out protests

With intimidation and surveillance, China tries to snuff out protests

The New York Times reports: Reacting to China’s boldest and most widespread protests in decades, the security apparatus built by Communist Party leader Xi Jinping is mobilizing on multiple fronts to quash dissent, drawing on its decades-old tool kit of repression and surveillance. In a meeting of the party’s top security leaders, reported in state media on Tuesday, officials were ordered to “resolutely crack down on illegal and criminal acts that disrupt social order.” And by evening, the demonstrations already…

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The yuan’s the new dollar as Russia rides to the redback

The yuan’s the new dollar as Russia rides to the redback

Reuters reports: Chinese entrepreneur Wang Min is delighted about Russia’s embrace of the yuan. His LED lights company can price contracts to Russian customers in yuan rather than dollars or euros, and they can pay him in yuan. It’s “win-win”, he says. Wang’s plans have been transformed by the conflict in Ukraine and the subsequent Western sanctions on Moscow that have shut Russia’s banks and many of its companies out of the dollar and euro payment systems. His contract manufacturing…

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Trump might have to face his worst nightmare — a D.C. jury

Trump might have to face his worst nightmare — a D.C. jury

Mitchell Epner writes: Federal prosecutors on Tuesday, under the direction of newly appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith, argued to the 11th Circuit Court that they should immediately shut down the Special Master process created by Judge Aileen Cannon. Under that process, former President Donald Trump has the opportunity to challenge the search warrant executed at his office and residence long before he is indicted. Virtually no other criminal defendant has ever been given that opportunity. The Oral Argument Shows That…

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The GOP’s great Trump reckoning begins at the state party level

The GOP’s great Trump reckoning begins at the state party level

Politico reports: For years, Lou Barletta counted himself among Donald Trump’s most diehard allies. The former Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial candidate and congressman endorsed him at a time in 2016 when many GOP elected officials saw Trump as radioactive. He served as the co-chair of his first presidential campaign in Pennsylvania. Six years later, Barletta is finally disembarking from the MAGA train. “I’m not supporting him,” he said of Trump’s 2024 campaign in an interview with POLITICO. “I was one of…

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Trump doesn’t want to alienate his white supremacist and antisemitic supporters

Trump doesn’t want to alienate his white supremacist and antisemitic supporters

The Guardian reports: Donald Trump repeatedly refused to disavow the outspoken antisemite and white supremacist Nick Fuentes after they spoke over dinner at his Mar-a-Lago resort, rejecting the advice from advisers over fears he might alienate a section of his base, two people familiar with the situation said. The former US president was urged publicly and privately to denounce Fuentes in the aftermath of the dinner, which included the performer Ye, previously known as Kanye West, who has also recently…

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A peek inside the FBI’s unprecedented January 6 geofence dragnet

A peek inside the FBI’s unprecedented January 6 geofence dragnet

Wired reports: The FBI’s biggest-ever investigation included the biggest-ever haul of phones from controversial geofence warrants, court records show. A filing in the case of one of the January 6 suspects, David Rhine, shows that Google initially identified 5,723 devices as being in or near the US Capitol during the riot. Only around 900 people have so far been charged with offenses relating to the siege. The filing suggests that dozens of phones that were in airplane mode during the…

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Twitter grapples with Chinese spam obscuring news of protests

Twitter grapples with Chinese spam obscuring news of protests

The Washington Post reports: Twitter’s radically reduced anti-propaganda team grappled on Sunday with a flood of nuisance content in China that researchers said was aimed at reducing the flow of news about stunning widespread protests against coronavirus restrictions. Numerous Chinese-language accounts, some dormant for months or years, came to life early Sunday and started spamming the service with links to escort services and other adult offerings alongside city names. The result: For hours, anyone searching for posts from those cities…

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Depressed, powerless, angry: Why frustration at China’s zero-Covid is spilling over

Depressed, powerless, angry: Why frustration at China’s zero-Covid is spilling over

The Observer reports: Victoria Li* has experienced several lockdowns since Covid emerged in China almost three years ago. Being a prisoner in her own home in Beijing made her feel depressed, powerless and angry. “Being stuck at home with my door sealed, I felt unmotivated to do anything,” she said. “I didn’t want to work, I didn’t want to study. Sometimes, I crept into my bed and cried,” said the lawyer, who is in her 20s. Even when she was…

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Chinese protests spread over government’s Covid restrictions

Chinese protests spread over government’s Covid restrictions

The Wall Street Journal reports: Protests are erupting in major cities in China over President Xi Jinping‘s zero-tolerance approach to Covid-19, an unusual show of defiance in the country as the economic and social costs from snap lockdowns and other strict restrictions escalate. Demonstrations occurred throughout the weekend in both Beijing and Shanghai. According to eyewitness accounts, there were also protests in the eastern city of Nanjing and in Wuhan, the original epicenter of the pandemic. Video footage and photos…

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Even amid murderous Russian raids, western apathy is Kyiv’s deadliest foe

Even amid murderous Russian raids, western apathy is Kyiv’s deadliest foe

Simon Tisdall writes: A two-day-old baby is killed in an attack on a maternity ward in southern Ukraine. Officials say at least 437 children have died since Russia’s invasion began. More than 800 have been injured. How many kids are permanently traumatised is anybody’s guess. Every day, Vladimir Putin gets away with murder. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station is shelled again, despite repeated UN warnings of Europe-wide catastrophe. In liberated Kherson, more grisly evidence of war crimes is uncovered. Wherever the Russians go, it’s the same…

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Key U.S. lawmakers vow continuing Ukraine support

Key U.S. lawmakers vow continuing Ukraine support

VOA reports: Newly empowered U.S. Republican lawmakers set to take leadership roles in the House of Representatives in January promised Sunday that Congress would continue to support Ukraine militarily in its nine-month fight against Russia but said there would be more scrutiny of the aid before it is shipped to Kyiv’s forces. Congressmen Michael McCaul of Texas and Mike Turner of Ohio, likely key officials overseeing new Ukraine aid packages, told ABC’s “This Week” show there would be continued bipartisan…

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After more than 600 mass shootings this year, let’s be honest about guns

After more than 600 mass shootings this year, let’s be honest about guns

In an editorial, the Washington Post says: The mass shootings that plague this nation are a uniquely American jumble of contradictions. Each new one horrifies, and yet fits into a depressingly familiar pattern. Communities count the dead — nearly 50 so far in November — and tally the gruesome details. The country vows to honor the lives cut short. And then it all fades from the headlines and people move on, leaving behind thoughts and prayers but no concrete policies…

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Western sanctions catch up with Russia’s wartime economy

Western sanctions catch up with Russia’s wartime economy

The Washington Post reports: When Russian President Vladimir Putin launched last month a new council for coordinating supplies for the Russian army, he seemed to recognize the scale of the economic problems facing the country, and his sense of urgency was palpable. “We have to be faster in deciding questions connected to supplying the special military operation and countering restrictions on the economy which, without any exaggeration, are truly unprecedented,” he said. For months, Putin claimed that the “economic blitzkrieg”…

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Artillery is breaking in Ukraine. It’s becoming a problem for the Pentagon

Artillery is breaking in Ukraine. It’s becoming a problem for the Pentagon

The New York Times reports: Ukrainian troops fire thousands of explosive shells at Russian targets every day, using high-tech cannons supplied by the United States and its allies. But those weapons are burning out after months of overuse, or being damaged or destroyed in combat, and dozens have been taken off the battlefield for repairs, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials. A third of the roughly 350 Western-made howitzers donated to Kyiv are out of action at any given time,…

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