Earlier this week, The New Yorker ran an excerpt from “Original Sin.” In that piece, Tapper and Thompson tell the story of George Clooney’s astonishing interaction with Biden at a Hollywood fund-raiser and how it prompted him to write a scathing Op-Ed in the Times calling on his longtime friend to step down.

President’s reduced cognitive powers pushed the country toward Donald Trump.
By David Remnick

Berlin has no plans to send Taurus cruise missiles to Kiev in the near future. This was announced on Thursday, May 15, by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

"I am also discussing this issue with both chairmen of the parliamentary groups of the coalition. It is not on the agenda at the moment," he said on the ZDF TV channel.

According to the politician, this is due to "significant preparation."

Yesterday, James Comey caused quite the stir when he went on Instagram and posted a picture of a shell formation on the beach — obviously one he made — that spelled out “86 47,” which many interpreted as a threat on President Trump’s life.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called on Saturday for pressure to stop Israel's "massacre in Gaza" and said Madrid is planning to introduce a UN resolution requesting a world court ruling on aid access to the Palestinian territory.

“The stubbornness and stupidity of the Kiev regime and its sponsors makes me think that at least in the current stage, for as long as Zelensky remains illegally in power in Ukraine, there will be no real desire to achieve peace,” Argentinian geopolitical affairs analyst Christian Lamesa told Sputnik, commenting on the relaunch of the Istanbul peace process.

A new Cold War is unfolding, with China at its center, driven by escalating U.S. economic restrictions. Beginning under Donald Trump and intensified by Joe Biden, bans on advanced microchips aim to curb China’s tech ascent. In response, China has advanced “cloud capital” through platforms like WeChat, challenging U.S. control over global payments.

This digital finance innovation, paired with China's push for a sovereign digital currency, threatens the dollar's dominance. As U.S. deficits widen, the power struggle over technological and financial systems marks a pivotal shift in global influence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mcb2PQ80va0

Damascus, SANA-President Bashar al-Assad gave an interview to France 2 TV. [2015]

Following is the full text;

Question 1: Good evening, Mr. President, I’d like to start straight forward. For most French, you are in a very large part responsible for the chaos going on in Syria, because of the brutality of the repression during the last four years. According to you, what is your part of responsibility?

Ancient Javanese mythology, often inherited from India and adapted to fit local culture, is rich with striking characters in the wayang kulit shadow puppet theatre. The fat-gut wise clown Semar is charged with maintaining stability.

Duncan Graham

This mirrors Anthony Albanese’s zip-in-and-out visit to Jakarta. The prime minister came with the doctrine, made famous by Paul Keating in 1994, to tell President Prabowo Subianto that “there is no country more important to Australia than Indonesia".  

MOSCOW, May 16 (Sputnik) - Russian troops took control of the village of Volnoye Pole in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.

"Units of the Vostok group of forces continued to advance into the depth of the enemy's defenses and took control of the village of Volnoe Pole in the Donetsk People's Republic," the statement said.

Russia's Tsentr group of forces has eliminated more than 3,040 Ukrainian soldiers over the past day, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.

"The enemy's losses amounted to over 3,040 servicepeople, 26 armored combat vehicles, 66 vehicles and 14 field artillery guns," the ministry said in a statement.

MOSCOW, May 16 (Sputnik) - Russian troops took control of the village of Volnoye Pole in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.

"Units of the Vostok group of forces continued to advance into the depth of the enemy's defenses and took control of the village of Volnoe Pole in the Donetsk People's Republic," the statement said.

Russia's Tsentr group of forces has eliminated more than 3,040 Ukrainian soldiers over the past day, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.

"The enemy's losses amounted to over 3,040 servicepeople, 26 armored combat vehicles, 66 vehicles and 14 field artillery guns," the ministry said in a statement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twqatArjV1M

This video is a fictionalized political drama inspired by real events and the revolutionary spirit of Africa. It imagines what a courageous African leader might say to one of the most powerful religious figures in the world.

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

During the 1988 campaign, George W. Bush came to the Courthouse in Maryville, TN to speak at a rally for his Dad. As we were leaving, I told my friend and later Chief of Staff, Bob Griffitts, “Bob, he is better than his Dad.”

When he ran for President in 2000, then Governor Bush went all over the Country saying we needed a more humble foreign policy, and according to Foreign Policy Magazine, he “famously campaigned against nation building.”

by Rep. John J. Duncan Jr.

At 4am on Wednesday, May 7, a delegation of Chinese embassy officials, roused from their sleep, arrived at the Pakistani foreign ministry headquarters in Islamabad for an upbeat military update, according to Pakistan’s top diplomat.

The public’s indifference to what Israel is doing in the Gaza Strip is not just the result of a lack of care, but the result of the war Israel is waging against the possibility of knowing.

Israel is hiding images of the destruction, of wounded children, of dead women, the scale of the carnage, the hunger, disease, the state of the hospitals and the extent of the  humanitarian disaster in Gaza.

Haaretz Editorial