Section: US & Canada
Senate sanctions bill targets Russia, presidential powers
Senators voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to write stiff sanctions against Russia into law and to give Congress a say should President Trump try to lift them, making a bipartisan strike against the government of President Vladimir Putin. The sanctions were intended to be a punishment for Russia’s meddling in Ukraine as … …read...
Enabling a dangerous president: The Jared Kushner timeline
Jared Kushner (Credit: AP/Evan Vucci) Jared Kushner (J.D./M.B.A., New York University, ’07) has a law degree from one of the finest universities in the country. He understands the threat that Trump’s words and deeds pose to democracy and the rule of law, but he has been in close proximity to Trump scandals that threaten both. He is a...
The Latest: Putin deplores US sanctions on Russia
The Republican-led Senate voted Wednesday to punish Moscow for interfering in the 2016 election by approving a wide-ranging sanctions package that targets key sectors of Russia’s economy and individuals who carried out cyberattacks. Putin, speaking Thursday during a live call-in show televised nationwide, deplored the Senate’s move...
Putin: Russia has climbed out of recession
The Russian economy had plunged into recession under the impact of a drop in global oil prices and Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and support for pro-Russia insurgents in eastern Ukraine. Putin acknowledged that the Russian economy hasn’t yet shed its dependence on exports of raw...
Manafort still doing international work
Paul Manafort is at the center of an FBI investigation into ties between President Donald Trump’s team and the Russians, but that hasn’t stopped him from doing business with international figures and companies, partly by claiming continued access to Trump, according to people familiar with his dealings.Manafort in recent weeks has...
Ukraine Bars Top Russian Boxer From Championship Match Over Crimea Visit
Ukraine has banned top Russian boxer Georgy Kushitashvili from entering the country for the European Boxing Championships because he had visited Crimea, Ukrainian and Russian officials said on June 14. …read more Source: Radio Free Europe / Radio...
The ‘Global Order’ Myth
During the Age of Trump, Year One, a single word has emerged to capture the essence of the prevailing cultural mood: resistance. Words matter, and the prominence of this particular term illuminates the moment in which we find ourselves. All presidents, regardless of party or program, face criticism and opposition. Citizens disinclined to support...
Jazzahead! Report III: The best from the rest of the world
My previous two posts took into account hours and hours of shows that I saw earlier this year at jazzahead! in Bremen, Germany, covering the Finnish and German components of that event’s festival series. But the three-day event in late April, which I attended as a guest of Germany’s Federal Foreign Office and Initiative Musik...
Senate Approves Russia Sanctions, Limiting Trump’s Oversight
In an overwhelming vote of 97-2, the U.S. Senate approved a new round of sanctions on Russia in response to the nation’s likely interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as its involvement in the Syrian civil war. The deal also prevents President Trump from loosening or rolling back restrictions on Russia without...
The one way Oliver Stone actually beat the strongman in “The Putin Interviews”
Oliver Stone and Vladimir Putin in “The Putin Interviews” (Credit: Courtesy Of Showtime/Komandir) Watching Oliver Stone’s “The Putin Interviews” — currently available on Showtime — called to mind a pivotal scene from another recent film that had major geopolitical consequences: the 2014 Seth Rogen and James Franco comedy “The...
