© www.cio.com
Puppet Masters
© independent.co.uk
Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson
Catherine Belton, a former Financial Times correspondent in Moscow, has produced a truly exhausting 3,500-word investigation in search of a crime for Reuters. The subject of the special report is the relationship between UK's likely next prime minister, Boris Johnson, and an exiled executive for long-defunct Russian oil giant Yukos, Alexander Temerko, though it is almost impossible to understand what the actual point of the piece is, beyond its insinuation that "MPs are increasingly wary of possible Russian influence over British politics."
Russian diminutives as evidence of conspiracy
We learn that "Temerko rose to prominence in the Russia arms industry in the 1990s, in the wild days that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union," though rather than the wheeler-dealer Lord of War picture this paints, the 57-year-old was actually a high-ranking government official, close to the administration of then-President Boris Yeltsin, and helped set up Russia's post-Soviet arms exporter.
Switching over to the private sector, Temerko sat on the board of oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky's energy company, and when the Yukos boss was charged with embezzlement, he stayed in Russia for two years, before fleeing in 2005, fraud charges hanging over him. Having convinced UK authorities that the accusations were politically motivated, Temerko was granted British citizenship in 2011, and has spent the past decade involved in Western energy businesses.
© Twitter/Southcom
Footage of the Russian-made Su-30 aircraft approaching a US EP-3 reconnaissance plane was released by the Southern Command on Sunday. The US military said the incident took place over the Caribbean Sea on July 19, but did not indicate how close the EP-3 was to the Venezuelan border, stating that the planes were in international airspace.
© REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his wife Olena.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his wife Olena.
Zelensky is a professional comedian who entered politics last year to successfully defeat his predecessor, Petro Poroshenko, in April in a crushing landslide victory with over 70 percent of the vote.
His ability to enact his policies, however, has been undermined by a lack of representation in the parliament, where allies of Poroshenko have held a ruling majority and defeated Zelensky's numerous attempts to sack senior officials loyal to the previous president. His response was to call a snap election in his inauguration speech in May.
Sunday's vote proved a reasonable success for the new head of state. His party, called 'Servant of the People' after a TV show in which he played a fictional Ukrainian president, scored almost 44 percent of the vote, according to the national exit poll.
Yet without a majority of seats, his faction will need an ally to form a ruling coalition.
The now deleted post appeared on the Illinois Republican County Chairman's Association Facebook page on Friday evening. The image is a doctored poster from the 2013 film 'Gangster Squad', with the faces of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) photoshopped onto the protagonists.
"Jihad Squad," the poster reads, with the tagline: "Political Jihad is their game. If you don't agree with their socialist ideology, you're racist."
Comment: Political leaders, such as those in The Squad as well as others are indeed using more and more extreme ideologies to radicalize Americans into hating one another. In this respect, the meme is actually pretty accurate.
His remarks reflect unresolved tensions between Britain and the US over Donald Trump's plans for a US-led military convoy to protect international shipping operating off the Iranian coast.
Speaking on Fox News, Pompeo said: "The responsibility in the first instance falls to the United Kingdom to take care of their ships. The US has a responsibility to do its part."
British ministers discussed the issue at a Cobra emergency meeting that largely focused on how to respond to the Iranian capture on Friday of the British-flagged Stena Impero. The ship, crewed largely by Indian nationals, is being held in the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. All crew members are in good health and still onboard, the Iran embassy in India said on Monday.
© Sky News
The MP for Dover and Deal is alleged to have committed the first offence in 2007 against one complainant and two further offences against a second complaint in 2016, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
He will appear at Westminster magistrates court on 6 September.
Elphicke, 49, was suspended from the Conservative party in November 2017 after allegations made against him were referred to the police.
Speaking Saturday at a town hall in Queens, she said the US has a "lifelong commitment" to migrant children who have been separated under the policy, which the administration said it discontinued after coming under heavy criticism.
It "will take a 9/11-style commission," the liberal darling said. "We need a commission on child separation."
Her mention of 9/11 to criticize a Trump policy drew a quick rebuke from the Republican National Committee.
© Reuters/Tyrone Siu
Police stand guard at Hong Kong's tourism district Tsim Sha Tsui during anti-extradition bill protest, China July 7, 2019.
Police stand guard at Hong Kong's tourism district Tsim Sha Tsui during anti-extradition bill protest, China July 7, 2019.
Police said Saturday a bomb disposal unit was called to a warehouse belonging to the pro-independence group to carry out a controlled detonation of the highly unstable substance tri-acetone tri-peroxide (TATP). A total of two kilograms (4.4 pounds) of TATP was discovered by the police, in addition to 10 incendiary devices, acidic substances, and sharp tools that could be used as weapons, the Hong Kong Free Press reported.
Comment: The conflict over the changing relations between Hong Kong and China has been brewing since 2014 when the US began funding an "Occupy"-style movement in Hong Kong. The West is losing its grip on another colony and is becoming desperate.
- US 'color revolution' and its struggles in Hong Kong
- Eyes wide open: China claims US behind Hong Kong protests
- Our boys in Hong Kong: More Western subversion and 'color revolution'
- Inside Hong Kong's paradoxical 'independence' movement's dependence on Washington
- Hong Kong's "Occupy Central" is corrupt to the core: dirty money, dirtier leaders
- Tens of thousands protest extradition bill in Hong Kong - clashes with police reported
- Massive Hong Kong protests continue - leader apologizes to nation over extradition bill
Tens of thousands of people showed up for a rally in support of police officers in Hong Kong days after a video emerged showing protesters brutally beating a riot cop. Several Chinese flags were spotted in the crowd.
The rally on Saturday evening drew in thousands of locals, including representatives of local minorities, immigrants and celebrities. Some reportedly travelled from the mainland to take part in the massive protest in Tamar Park on Saturday evening.
Turnout estimates vary dramatically between the police and the 70 or so pro-government activists and public personalities who organized the protest. While the organizers said that 316,000 people took to the streets on Saturday, police put the number at 103,000.
The rally ended with a call for unity and against violence. "We don't want violence. We don't want a split. We want rule of law, peace, stability and unity!" the organizers said in a joint statement, the South China Morning Post reported.
The rally was convened shortly after family members of 60 police officers penned an open letter to Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, calling on the government to launch an inquiry into the recent unrest and refrain from using police officers as "human shields" that are "forced to bear the consequences of the government's maladministration."
Hong Kong has been gripped by protests over a now-suspended extradition bill that would have allowed the former British colony to hand over criminal suspects to mainland China. Police have been heavily criticized for their ham-fisted approach to tackling the unrest. Initially peaceful demonstrations over the extradition bill quickly spiraled into violence and saw multiple fierce clashes between police and demonstrators, whom Lam described as "rioters."
Earlier this week, a video went viral showing a group of protesters kicking a policeman down an escalator during Sunday's demonstration in a mall in Hong Kong's Sha Tin district.
© Global Look Press/dpa/Hendrik Schmidt
'Russiagate' has maintained an iron grip on American political discourse for two years now, even after Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report cleared President Donald Trump of conspiring with the Kremlin to steal the 2016 US election. In the media, the public has been treated to nightly conspiracy theories and bizarre connect-the-dots articles claiming to prove collusion; and lawmakers have crafted ever more draconian sanctions bills against Russia and have slotted opposition to Russia into their campaign messages.
Meanwhile, Moscow and Beijing have looked to each other, holding joint military exercises and upping their trade volume to more than $100 billion in 2018. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev recently announced plans to build a new, 2,000km-long highway linking Europe and China, while President Vladimir Putin has been mulling connecting Russia's Northern Sea Route with China's Maritime Silk Road, an ambitious global trade route linking China with ports in Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East.
Comment: See also: