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Jimmy Lai’s Life, in Photos and Video
He attributed his rags-to-riches ascent to the freedoms of Hong Kong, and has paid a hefty price for defending them. More
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Beware Trump’s two-pronged strategy undermining democracy | David Cole
The president announces non-existent emergencies to invoke extraordinary powers – and neutralizes the oppositionThis month, we learned that, in the course of bombing a boat of suspected drug smugglers, the US military intentionally killed two survivors clinging to the wreckage after its initial air assault. In addition, Donald Trump said it was seditious for Democratic members of Congress to inform members of the military that they can, and indeed, must, resist patently illegal orders, and the FBI and Pentagon are reportedly investigating the members’ speech. Those related developments – the murder of civilians and an attack on free speech – exemplify two of Trump’s principal tactics in his second term. The first involves the assertion of extraordinary emergency powers in the absence of any actual emergency. The second seeks to suppress dissent by punishing those who dare to raise their voices. Both moves have been replicated time and time again since January 2025. How courts and the public respond will determine the future of constitutional democracy in the United States.Nothing is more essential to a liberal democracy than the rule of law – that is, the notion that a democratic government is guided by laws, not discretionary whims; that the laws respect basic liberties for all; and that independent courts have the authority to hold political officials accountable when they violate those laws. These principles, forged in the United Kingdom, adopted and revised by the United States, are the bedrock of constitutional democracy. But they depend on courts being willing and able to check government abuse, and citizens exercising their rights to speak out in defense of the fundamental values when those values are under attack.David Cole is the Honorable George J Mitchell professor in law and public policy at Georgetown University and former national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union. This essay is adapted from his international rule of law lecture sponsored by the Bar Council. Continue reading… More
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Steve Bannon, Tucker Carlson and … Liz Truss? Inside the former PM’s audition for Maga
Her delivery might be stilted – but Truss’ new YouTube show has grand ambitions: a ‘Trump revolution’ in Britain with the help of an influential US conservative ecosystemLiz Truss, Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister, began the first edition of her YouTube show with a vow to unmask “the evil-doers” attempting to bring down Britain, the US and Europe. She would, she explained, reveal how an “international network of leftists work to subvert democracy and the will of the people”.Despite her bleak monologue, Truss pointed to hope from across the Atlantic. “We’re going to look at the Trump revolution and see how this can be achieved in Britain,” she said. “We’ll be talking to the leading lights of the Maga movement.” Continue reading… More
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Murdochs blessed Fox News plan to air 2020 election fraud claims, Smartmatic alleges
In key hearing in defamation case, Fox counters that network simply covered allegations by Trump associatesRupert and Lachlan Murdoch authorized a plan for Fox News to embrace Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud in 2020 in an attempt to win back viewers angry with the network, a lawyer for the voting technology company Smartmatic argued on Tuesday.“The conservative viewers, their bread and butter, abandoned them,” J Erik Connolly told the New York state supreme court judge David B Cohen. “So what do they do? They return back to what they know best: they return back to disinformation, pro-Trump propaganda and xenophobia. The election story and the election fraud claims was the perfect vehicle for them to get back on to their core messaging.” Continue reading… More
Digital Self-Reliance in Nepal: How Grassroots Media is Empowering a New Generation
Across South Asia, independent digital journalism is quietly reshaping how citizens engage with the truth. In Nepal, where mainstream outlets often face political pressure, rural isolation and limited funding, small digital initiatives have begun to fill crucial information gaps. Reports by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Press Institute (IPI)… Continue reading Digital Self-Reliance in Nepal: How Grassroots Media is Empowering a New Generation
The post Digital Self-Reliance in Nepal: How Grassroots Media is Empowering a New Generation appeared first on Fair Observer. More- in Elections
Fox Corp chief told Sean Hannity that Trump could not go on air in 2020 if he attacked network
Even before the 2020 election, tensions were high between Fox News executives and Trump, new documents showWhat happened at Fox News after the 2020 election? Documents reveal new detailsNew revelations about the tense relationship between Fox News and Donald Trump in the fall of 2020 have emerged in a trove of thousands of court documents released on Sunday as part of a massive defamation lawsuit filed against the network by voting technology company Smartmatic.One exchange showed that Lachlan Murdoch, the chief executive of Fox News parent company Fox Corp, told star anchor Sean Hannity in a 1 October 2020 text chain that Trump could not appear on Fox again if he attacked the network. Continue reading… More
