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TOPIC: donald trump

Geopolitics

A U.S.-Iran $6 Billion Prisoner Exchange: Ransom Or Realpolitik?

With $6 billion freed up to go in the coffers of the corrupt and repressive regime in Tehran, nobody is happy. But sometimes there is no alternative to the imperfect nature of international diplomacy.

-Analysis-

PARIS — We find ourselves in the kind of scenario John Le Carré would have written about: five prisoners on one side, five on the other, brought to the same place at the same time for an exchange of freedom — simultaneously, $6 billion are transferred to bank accounts. The significant difference is that Cold War prisoner exchanges of Le Carré stories usually took place in Berlin; here, we are in Doha, Qatar, and the prisoners are American and Iranian.

The agreement carried out Monday is making a big splash. Principally because it has been a long time since there have been positive news between Washington and Tehran, and one can legitimately wonder if there will be any repercussions on the impasse regarding the Iranian nuclear issue.

But this exchange is also controversial: it has its critics in the United States who accuse the Biden administration of paying a "ransom" and putting all Americans at risk.

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Putin & Kim: What Happens When Two Pariahs Have Nothing Left To Lose

North Korea lends its full support to Russia's war in Ukraine, and will supply ammunition to Moscow, which in return will help Kim Jong-un with his space ambitions. With the whiff of a Cold War alliance, it shows how two regimes that have become so isolated they multiply the risks for the rest of the world.

-Analysis-

There's a feeling of nostalgia watching the meeting between Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the Vostochny cosmodrome in Russia's Far East.

To hear the third descendant of North Korea's communist dynasty tell the Russian president that they were fighting imperialism together recalls a past that seemed long forgotten.

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It reminds us of how Joseph Stalin backed the founder of Pyongyang's ruling dynasty, Kim Il Sung, the current leader's grandfather, in his quest to take over Korea. Since succeeding his father 11 years ago, Kim Jong-un has looked to follow the model of his grandfather.

There's no doubt that North Korea's talented propaganda team will make good use of this anti-imperialism remake, even if times and men have changed. Seen from Pyongyang, not so much. But beyond the symbols, which have their importance, this meeting may have tangible consequences.

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Report Of Saudi Mass Killing, Crusader Wins In Guatemala, Baghdad’s NSFW Billboard Hack

👋 NuqneH*

Welcome to Monday, where a Human Rights Watch report warns that Saudi border guards have been killing hundreds of refugees at the border with Yemen, anti-corruption crusader Bernardo Arévalo wins in Guatemala and a disgruntled employee hacks an ad board in Baghdad in a very NSFW way. Meanwhile, Charlotte Meyer in French daily Les Echos faces our unjustified phobia to put a positive spin on spiders.

[*Klingon - Star Trek fictional language]

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The Demagogue's Formula: How Trump Creates An Eternal Bond With His Base

If anything, the fourth indictment leveled against former U.S. President Donald Trump will only increase the fervor among his diehard fans.

People around the world — including many Americans — cannot understand why a sizeable portion of the United States population continues to support Donald Trump, despite an ever-increasing list of charges against him, including the latest indictments in Georgia.

Before the newest charges were announced, Trump was running neck and neck against President Joe Biden in a hypothetical rematch. It seems unlikely the Georgia indictments, pertaining to alleged attempts to interfere with the 2020 presidential election results, will erode the former president’s support.

This shocks people because strong backing of a man who lies, cheats and threatens the U.S. Constitution has no precedent in national politics. However, there is a precedent in state politics which almost reached the presidential level, and some comparable situations in other countries.

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eyes on the U.S.
Henry Giroux

Trump, That "Chief Annihilator Of Democracy" — With A Little Help From Neoliberalism

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has just pleaded "not guilty" criminal charges linked to his push to overturn 2020 election results. Indicted for the third time in four months, he is still somehow able to use the situation to fuel his campaign for re-election in 2024. The future election, American-Canadian scholar and cultural critic Henry Giroux writes, is a choice between democracy and the further criminalization of U.S. politics.The Conversation

-Analysis-

Donald Trump has made history again. He is the first president of the United States charged with attempting to overturn a presidential election, violating the rights of citizens to have their votes counted, tampering with a witness and obstructing an official proceeding, among other criminal offences.

He’s also the first president to be indicted. And this is his third indictment in four months — and all of this is playing out amid his campaign for re-election in 2024.

None of the charges brought against Trump are surprising. His legacy as an accused serial liar, self-serving crook, sexual predator and white nationalist — coupled with his assaults on the courts and supporter of authoritarians globally — are well known.

In effect, he has become the chief annihilator of democracy.

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In The News
Emma Albright, Anne-Sophie Goninet, Valeria Berghinz and Laure Gautherin

Trump Heads To Court, Niger v. West Africa, One Whale Of A Whale

👋 Aang!*

Welcome to Thursday, where former U.S. President Donald Trump is set to appear in court on charges of plotting to overturn his 2020 election defeat, Niger’s coup leader remains defiant as ECOWAS leaders meet in Nigeria to discuss the crisis and there’s a new candidate for the heaviest ever animal on Earth. Meanwhile, Persian-language media Kayhan-London reports on how the leak of an Iranian senior official's gay sex tape may be a deliberate, albeit obscure bid to disgrace the Islamic Republic itself.

[*Aleut, Alaska]

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In The News
Thore Barfuss

Indicted, Again! Another Opportunity For Trump To Play The Martyr Card

The third indictment against Donald Trump raises the legal dispute between the United States and its former president to a new level. While Trump cries foul play, drawing shameful comparisons with Nazi persecution 1930s Germany, the consequences of the trial can't be predicted.

-Analysis-

Fifteen months. That's how much time is left for Jack Smith, special investigator of the U.S. Department of Justice, if he wants to conclude the "swift trial" against Donald Trump before the next U.S. election. On Nov. 5, 2024, Trump wants to become the U.S. President again, assuming he emerges victorious.

With the latest indictment against him, it is clear that the road to that date will pose unprecedented challenges to U.S. democracy and its institutions.

Trump has been charged with four counts in a U.S. federal court in Washington: conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruction of an official proceeding (Joe Biden's election), and general conspiracy against the law, among others.

The indictment, which will be heard for the first time this Thursday, brings a new level of complexity to the legal dispute between the U.S. and its former president. The indictments admitted so far have been far less spectacular: one of them is also being negotiated at the federal level, but deals exclusively with Trump's handling of classified documents. A criminal case at the New York state level is primarily directed against the "Trump Organization" company. In addition, Trump faces another indictment at the state level for alleged election fraud in Georgia. The 77-year-old repeatedly claimed his innocence in all cases.

In addition to the complex legal level, there is also the political level, which is becoming increasingly important. Trump and his campaign team are using the legal disputes to circulate conspiracy stories of the so-called Deep State against him. A spokesman for the team responded to the latest indictment by comparing the U.S. judiciary to Hitler's Germany. The lawless manner in which the ex-president and his supporters are being prosecuted is "reminiscent of 1930s Nazi Germany, the former Soviet Union and other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes," the statement said.

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In The News
Yannick Champion-Osselin and Chloé Touchard

Trump Indicted Part III, Evacuating Niger, Sturgeon Supermoon

👋 Kaixo!*

Welcome to Wednesday, where former U.S. president Donald Trump is facing federal charges over attempts to overturn the 2020 election, European countries have started evacuating their citizens from Niger, and NASA picks up an unexpected heartbeat from Voyager 2. Meanwhile, Zoriana Variena and Katarzyna Pawłowska in Warsaw-based daily Gazeta Wyborcza look at what drives Ukrainian women, who found refuge in Poland, to cross back into their home country to get medical care.

[*Basque]

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Future
Véronique Le Billon

Mocked No More, Space Force Raises U.S. Stakes For The Final Frontier

Created by Donald Trump four years ago, the new U.S. military branch embodies the strategic importance of space defense. Faced with competition from China and Russia, Washington is renewing its commitment (and drastically increasing the amount of money it devotes) to space — marking quite the reversal of fortune for Space Force, which not so long ago was the target of pastiche and mockery.

WASHINGTON — In a small, uniform-crowded room of the U.S. House of Representatives, Chance Saltzman takes his first budget test. Freshly appointed head of Space Force, he has the tenacity of a beginner: Saltzman is asking Congress to write him a check for more than $30 billion for the fiscal year starting on Oct. 1. This represents a 15% increase in just one year for this sixth branch of the U.S. armed forces that came into being barely four years ago.

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"Space is now undeniably a disputed battlefield. China and Russia define it as such, and are investing in it to undermine the American advantage. Both can put American assets at risk with cyberattacks or missiles," explains the general to members of the Defense Subcommittee in charge of allocating budget funds. Between Moscow's interference and Kyiv's use of Starlink's commercial satellites, "Russia's invasion of Ukraine showed us that space is going to be crucial in modern warfare," he explains to the congressmen.

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In The News
Yannick Champion-Osselin and Chloé Touchard

U.S. Soldier Crosses DMZ, Taj Mahal Flooding, Latvian Sand Castles

👋 Bonghjornu !*

Welcome to Wednesday, where tensions run high after a U.S. soldier reportedly crossed the DMZ into North Korea, countrywide protests reignite in Israel amid judicial reform, and Latvian sand castle artists are having a whale of a good time. Meanwhile, Yuri Fedorov in Russian independent news outlet Important Stories looks at why Washington may be pushing a “Korea solution” to the war in Ukraine.

[*Corsican]

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In The News
Yannick Champion-Osselin, Emma Albright, Anne-Sophie Goninet, and Katarzyna Skiba

Russia Hits Lviv, Greta Charged, Dutch Schools v. Phones

👋 ሰላም ሃለው*

Welcome to Thursday, where four are killed as Russia strikes a residential building in Lviv, western Ukraine, Greta Thunberg is charged for resisting police at a protest last month, and Meta’s brand-new “Twitter killer” already has millions of sign-ups. Meanwhile, Catarina Pires in news website Mensagem takes us to Vilnius to see how the Lithuanian capital has been turned into an open-air classroom.

[*Selam halewi - Tigrinya, Eritrea and Ethiopia]

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This Happened

This Happened — June 30: Trump Visits North Korea

Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States, visited North Korea on this day in 2019. Trump and Kim Jong-un met at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), specifically at the Joint Security Area (JSA) in the village of Panmunjom. This location is a historic site where previous meetings between North and South Korea had taken place.

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