The Saudi connection: Was Enquirer blackmail of Jeff Bezos meant to protect Crown Prince Mohammed?

In Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' extraordinary letter revealing the National Enquirer’s apparent attempt to blackmail him, one detail has led to intense speculation: Bezos linked the effort to the tabloid paper's ties to the Saudi Arabian government.

Bezos wrote in a Medium post that American Media, the parent company of the Enquirer, threatened to publish nude photos and details of his affair with former news anchor Lauren Sanchez unless he made a statement saying he had “no knowledge” that the Enquirer's coverage of his affair was “politically motivated or influenced by political forces.”

This Is the Green New Deal’s Biggest Problem

There might be no better monument to the limits of American environmentalism in the climate change era than a parking garage in Berkeley, California. It’s got “rooftop solar, electric-vehicle charging stations and dedicated spots for car-share vehicles, rainwater capture and water treatment features”—not to mention 720 parking spots. It cost nearly $40 million to build. At night, it positively glows. And it’s a block from the downtown Berkeley BART station.

Right-wing parties win regional Italian election

ROME — A coalition of right-wing Italian parties won a regional election in Abruzzo, which pit the country’s ruling parties against one another, results on Monday showed.

The right-wing alliance, which includes the League, the Brothers of Italy and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia won 48 percent, toppling a center-left coalition that took second place with 31.3 percent.

Cities Across US Are Stripping Homeless People of Their Autonomy

One of the world’s richest cities is waging war on disabled and homeless people.

In February 2018, an unsigned flyer was posted in San Francisco’s Mission District, warning the homeless: “If you are still here after dark tonight, the hunters will become the hunted. We will pound you, burn you, beat you, and fuck you up if you are within a 100 yards of this park starting after sun down tonight.”

Labour NEC Agrees To MPs' Demands For Figures And Action On Anti-Semitism Abuse Cases

Labour’s leadership has agreed to be more transparent about anti-Semitism within the party, HuffPost UK can reveal.

An emergency meeting of the ruling National Executive Committee’s (NEC) officers group decided it would share data on the number of cases of abuse.

In Venezuela, White Supremacy Is a Key Driver of the Coup

On January 23, right after a phone call from Donald Trump, Juan Guaidó, former speaker of Venezuela’s National Assembly, declared himself president. No voting. When you have official recognition from The Donald, who needs elections?

Say what?

I can explain what’s going on in Venezuela in photos.

Questions over lifestyle of Putin's aide and his wife's $10m property empire

The wife of Vladimir Putin’s press spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has accumulated a property empire worth well over $10m (£7.7m) and is designing a riverside palace on an exclusive Moscow estate, the Guardian can reveal.

The project is being overseen by a Russian tycoon who has previously done business with Donald Trump, documents show.

The disclosures are likely to raise fresh questions about Peskov’s wealth and how he and his wife, Tatiana Navka, seem able to afford a super-affluent lifestyle.

What brought Venezuela’s economy to ruin?

“Dire” is a word no country – and no people – want associated with their economy. And yet it feels inadequate when describing the economic crisis in Venezuela.

A lack of macroeconomic transparency on the part of the government of President Nicolas Maduro has made it difficult to accurately gauge the extent of the country’s woes. 

According to the IMF, Venezuela’s economy is thought to have contracted by more than one-third between 2013 and 2017. Last year, it is estimated to have shrunk 18 percent. Compounding the pain is hyperinflation, which the IMF says could top 10 million percent by the second half of 2019.

Blackwater founder's Hong Kong firm signs Xinjiang training camp deal

A Hong Kong-listed security firm founded by Erik Prince has signed a preliminary deal with authorities in China to build a training centre in Xinjiang, where Uighur Muslims have experienced a huge security crackdown.

Frontier Services Group, which specialises in providing security and logistics for businesses operating in risky regions, said it had signed a deal to run a training base in the city of Kashgar, according to a statement posted on its Chinese website.

The firm was founded by Erik Prince, a former US Navy Seal and the brother of the US education secretary, Betsy DeVos.

Prince was also the founder of the US military contractor Blackwater, whose mercenaries had a prominent and controversial role during Washington’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – including the 2007 killing of 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians by Blackwater employees.

What Russia stands to lose in Venezuela

As Washington intensifies its push to drive Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro from power, Russia’s
Vladimir Putin has vowed to support his South American “strategic partner” and warned of the “catastrophic” consequences if the United States were to send military assistance to opposition leader Juan Guaido.

When the US called a special United Nations Security Council session on Saturday, focused on the crisis in Venezuela, Russia used the session to warn against foreign intervention in the Latin American nation and accused the US of attempting a “coup”.