In The News

Trump, Bolton and Pressure on Ukraine: NY Times

Maggie Haberman and Michael S. Schmidt January 31, 2020
US Senators have finished questioning house managers and the defense team in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump. Democrats called for witnesses, especially John Bolton after other witnesses described him as angry about attempts to investigate a political rival of Trump. Bolton, a far-right Republican, wrote a book to be published in March and describes Trump asking for help with his campaign...

Liberation of Auschwitz 75 Years Later: ABC

Esther Castillejo, Almin Karamehmedovic and Enjoli Francis January 29, 2020
Germany opened the Auschwitz concentration camp in April 1940, first as a detention center for Polish political prisoners and then as a forced labor and death camp for prisoners deemed hostile to Germany or racially inferior, by far mostly people of Jewish descent. About 1.3 million people died at the Auschwitz-Birkenau complex, the largest of Nazi camps, with gas chambers used for systematic...

Will Bolton Testify in Impeachment Trial?

January 27, 2020
Case managers for the House of Representatives and the US president’s legal team present evidence on whether or not Donald Trump abused power and obstructed a congressional investigation into blocking military aid for Ukraine in exchange for an announcement into an investigation of a political rival. Trump blocked his staff from testifying, but multiple witnesses report such an exchange was his...

UN Urges Probe of Alleged Saudi Hacking: NPR

Avie Schneider and Shannon Bond January 22, 2020
The United Nations has urged a probe after an investigation pointed to a 2018 WhatsApp message, sent by an account of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince to the CEO of Amazon that when opened allowed exposed contents of the phone. The target, Jeff Bezos, commissioned the investigation and report, reviewed by UN human rights experts. “The forensic analysis assessed that the intrusion likely was...

Unknowns of Trump Impeachment: Bloomberg

Jonathan Bernstein January 17, 2020
So much of politics depends on appearances and voter perceptions rather than evidence. Proceedings resume January 21, and surprises emerged beforehand. Ukraine accused Russia of hacking into Burisma, a firm targeted by Trump associates for wooing the son of a former US vice president for board service. Lev Parnas, accused of campaign irregularities, turned over emails, photographs and other...

The Fall of the God of Cars: BBC

Theo Leggett and Rupert Wingfield-Hayes January 15, 2020
Japan arrested Carlos Ghosn, chairman of Nissan and citizen of Brazil, France and Lebanon, at the Tokyo airport in November 2018, initially charging him for under-reporting deferred compensation and eventually other financial crimes. Ghosn, also CEO of Renault, was known as a cost cutter, credited with saving Nissan from bankruptcy: “The two companies were linked under a strategic alliance first...

Legality of Preemptive Assassination: FP

Harold Hongju Koh January 14, 2020
US analysts debate the legality of the US military using a drone to hit a convoy carrying Qasem Soleimani and other officials in Iraq. Most indications suggest the strike was illegal, explains Harold Hongju Koh for Foreign Policy. “U.S. officials had no business putting this illegal option on President Donald Trump’s desk, even as an ‘extreme option’ they expected the president would reject,”...