As Militants Seize Mozambique Gas Hub, a Dash for Safety Turns Deadly. JOHANNESBURG — As gunshots rang out across a port town in northeastern Mozambique on Friday afternoon, nearly 200 people sheltering inside the Amarula Palma hotel confronted a devastating reality: The armed insurgents outside the hotel’s doors had all but taken control of the town and there was no one coming to save them any time soon.
For two days, hundreds of insurgents in the gas-rich region had been laying siege to the coastal town of Palma, firing indiscriminately at civilians, hunting down government officials and setting buildings ablaze as security forces tried in vain to repel them. 'I never imagined this': Washington prepares for an inauguration under siege. The Capitol Attack Shocks the World. Around the world, the shock of Wednesday’s assault on Capitol Hill brought into sharp focus a question that has been smoldering for four years among America’s allies and adversaries.
“And again the doubt,” wrote Emma Riverola in El Periódico de Catalunya, a Barcelona, Spain, daily, in painfully graphic terms. 'Deep down, he's a terrified little boy': Bob Woodward, John Bolton and others on Trump. Bob Woodward: ‘I can’t think of a time I’ve felt more anxiety about the presidency’ Bob Woodward is associate editor of the Washington Post and the author of 20 books on American politics.
In 50 years as a journalist he has covered nine presidents. His reporting on the Watergate break-in and cover-up with his colleague Carl Bernstein helped bring down Richard Nixon and won the Post a Pulitzer prize. His latest book about Donald Trump, Rage, is based on 10 hours of interviews, spread over 19 taped phone calls, often initiated by the president himself, in which Trump proved “only too willing to blow the whistle on himself”, as the Observer’s review noted. There is an atmosphere in Washington of high anxiety. Billion-dollar Lululemon under fire for promoting 'resist capitalism' event. The aspirational athletic-wear maker Lululemon, famous for its expensive leggings sported by young urban professionals, is facing vigorous criticism for promoting a yoga workshop billed as an opportunity to “resist capitalism”.
The Canadian-headquartered international company, valued at $45bn, suggested participants will be able to learn how “gender constructs across the world have informed culture and the ways violent colonialism has erased these histories to enforce consumerism”. Objections to the company’s promotion of the tutorial, due to be hosted by yoga instructor and company brand “ambassador” Rebby Kern later this month on Zoom, center on apparent contradictions between aims of a class teaching people how to “resist capitalism” and Lulelemon’s multibillion-dollar market capitalisation. Shares in Lululemon, which went public in 2007, have more than doubled since March, to $320 a share, giving it a $45bn valuation. “Lululemon IS capitalism. Others followed. Covid-19 has shaken global economy but other white swan threats remain. In February, I warned that any number of foreseeable crises – “white swans” – could trigger a massive global disturbance this year.
I noted: “… the US and Iran have already had a military confrontation that will likely soon escalate; China is in the grip of a viral outbreak that could become a global pandemic; cyberwarfare is ongoing; major holders of US treasuries are pursuing diversification strategies; the Democratic presidential primary is exposing rifts in the opposition to Donald Trump and already casting doubt on vote-counting processes; rivalries between the US and four revisionist powers are escalating; and the real-world costs of climate change and other environmental trends are mounting.”
Since February the Covid-19 outbreak in China did indeed explode into a pandemic, vindicating those of us who warned early on that the coronavirus would have severe consequences for the global economy. Environmental concerns are also mounting. Portland mayor demands Trump remove federal agents from city. Militarized federal agents deployed by Donald Trump to Portland, Oregon, fired tear gas at protesters again late on Friday night, even as the city’s mayor demanded the agents be removed and the state’s attorney general vowed to seek a restraining order against them.
Federal agents, some wearing camouflage and some wearing dark Department of Homeland Security uniforms, used tear gas at least twice to break up crowds, the Oregonian/OregonLive reported. Portland mayor Ted Wheeler earlier demanded the agents be removed, after some detained people far from the federal property they were sent to protect. “Keep your troops in your own buildings, or have them leave our city,” Wheeler told the president at a news conference on Friday. Boris Johnson's blundering was political genius. But now that moment has passed. In the midst of the greatest crisis most of us have known in our lifetimes, we are in more need than ever of effective leadership: to bring us together, to resolve uncertainty and to help guide us out of this pandemic.
So how have our leaders – the prime minister in particular – measured up? By most criteria, not very well. The UK has one of the highest death rates in the world, and as the carnage has increased so Boris Johnson’s standing has decreased. 'Alarm bells': how China's assertiveness led to Australia's defence overhaul. It may well be the biggest shift in Australia’s defence strategy in decades.
The Australian government has ordered the military to focus mainly on Australia’s backyard, to acquire longer-range missiles to build up its own ability to deter threats from countries such as China, and cautioned the United States not to necessarily expect Australian participation in future coalition efforts in places like the Middle East. Dr Andrew Carr, a senior lecturer at the Australian National University’s strategic and defence studies centre, says last week’s update of defence policy is probably the country’s most significant strategic review since the 1970s. YouTube. When Impeachment Meets a Broken Congress. Abigail Spanberger catapults herself out of a chair, yanks on two desk drawers and pinches a stack of white notecards, plopping them onto the table between us.
The gust of activity is a bit disorienting. We’ve been talking for all of two minutes, just long enough to state the preface for my forthcoming line of inquiry—whether the U.S. Congress is utterly hopeless, an irresponsible and dysfunctional body of unserious lawmakers with a talent only for self-preservation—but already the 40-year-old Spanberger seems distracted. Now she plunges both hands into her purse, grasping for a writing utensil as I venture a simple, sheepish question for the CIA operative turned freshman congresswoman: Does she realize what she’s gotten herself into?
“So many thoughts running through my mind,” Spanberger says, gazing past me with a wince, tapping her pen on the table. Story Continued Below. Trump’s week of dithering over Iran makes America look weak and foolish. They must be laughing their socks off in Tehran.
The days following last weekend’s attacks on Saudi oil facilities, blamed by the US on Iran, have seen an almost comical display of indecision, confusion and bluster by the leader of the world’s most powerful country. As a result, Iran looks stronger … and Donald Trump looks like a clown. If Iranian leaders intended to call Trump’s bluff, they have succeeded – for now at least. Iraq war whistleblower’s trial ‘was halted due to national security threat’ She was the whistleblower who risked her freedom to try to prevent war. By leaking to the Observer details of a secret American dirty tricks campaign to spy on the UN before the invasion of Iraq, Katharine Gun hoped she could stir the public’s conscience, ratcheting up political pressure to the point that conflict could be avoided.
It was not, and Gun, then a 28-year-old working for GCHQ, the government’s eavesdropping centre in Cheltenham, was later charged with breaking the Official Secrets Act. The case against her, however, was abruptly and mysteriously dropped. Now, before the release of a new film charting one of the most explosive episodes of the run-up to the invasion, the former director of public prosecutions has explained for the first time why he suddenly abandoned the case against Gun. Stamina, intelligence, ego: which personality traits make the best leaders? There is a story that often gets told about modern presidents and prime ministers, and sometimes gets told by them as well.
The politician spends half a lifetime working tirelessly towards the top job, with the goal of making a real difference once he or she gets there. They issue their instructions. Dutiful officials nod along encouragingly. But nothing really changes. How Republicans killed Oregon’s climate crisis bill – by fleeing the state. Oregon politics has been thrown into chaos for more than a week after Republican legislators fled the state and took refuge in neighboring Idaho. As police were ordered to bring them home, rightwing militia groups vowed to defend them, raising the prospect of violent confrontation.
The issue that sparked the disorder in the Pacific Northwest state: climate crisis. The Republican senators were responding to an incremental, market-based, cap-and-trade plan aimed at curbing climate crisis. Das sind die neun grössten Gefahren für die Schweiz. Tripoli hit by airstrikes as Haftar steps up assault on Libyan capital. Several airstrikes, including the first alleged use of armed drones in the conflict, shook Tripoli overnight in an escalation of the United Arab Emirate-backed assault on the Libyan capital led by Khalifa Haftar. The allegations about the use of drones were made by the Government of National Accord (GNA) based in Tripoli, and supported by eyewitnesses.
A Reuters reporter and several Tripoli residents said they saw an aircraft circling for more than 10 minutes over the capital late on Saturday, and that it made a humming sound before opening fire on several areas. Drone strikes make a noticeably different noise from missile strikes. An aircraft was heard again after midnight, circling for more than 10 minutes before a heavy explosion shook the ground. The UAE established a drone facility at al-Khadim airbase south of Tripoli in 2016, and experts say the ageing fighter aircraft available to Haftar cannot fly by night, making it highly likely that drones were involved.
EU rejects Theresa May's bid for short delay to Brexit. How Britain got it so wrong on Brexit. Secret Cabinet Office document reveals chaotic planning for no-deal Brexit. 'You're fired!' America has already terminated Trump. The Guardian view on Brexit and Ireland: the forging of folly. Brexit is about drawing lines on maps and hearts. In that respect it is at odds with the 1998 Good Friday agreement which sought to erase them. Tony Blair: We all want Brexit closure – but May’s deal won’t supply it. The Threat That the US Can't Ignore: Itself. May thinks she’s won. But the reality of Brexit will soon hit her again. Safari 28.01.2019, 10:07. Britons don’t grasp the EU’s essential motivation – a quest for the quiet life. What does the EU want? Trump's Risking Financial Disaster for America. 'A torrent of ghastly revelations': what military service taught me about America.
My first and only war tour took place in Afghanistan in 2010. Rücktrittsschreiben US MoD Jim Mattis. Operation InfeKtion: How Russia Perfected the Art of War. Ryan Heath. Business: Quotes. High score, low pay: why the gig economy loves gamification. We overdo our respect for the EU. Britain can flourish outside it. Two private jets but I'm middle class, says Germany's 'anti-Merkel' How Hyperinflation Destroys Much More Than Just Currencies. Listening to the gambling industry is terrible economics. Capital - Whatever happened to Berlin’s deserted ‘ghost’ airport? Angela Merkel's legacy: has she saved or destroyed Europe? Russland: Dmitry Glukhovsky über "Text" und das System Wladimir Putin.
The fury around Donna Brazile is symptomatic of our times. First, a Financial Crisis. Then a Geopolitical Crisis. 6 Questions From The New York Times' Facebook Bombshell.