5: Is Trump’s Rise a Result of America Declaring War on Institutions That Make Democracy Possible?
In his new book, scholar Henry Giroux examines “America at War with Itself.” From poisoned water in Flint and other cities to the police deaths of African Americans to hatemongering on the presidential campaign trail, Henry Giroux critiques what he believes is a slide toward authoritarianism and other failings that led to the current political climate and rise of Donald Trump. Giroux is the McMaster University professor for Scholarship in the Public Interest.
Democracy Now
4: Iraq PM declares offensive to retake Mosul from ISIL
Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has announced the start of a major offensive to retake Mosul from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.
Mosul is Iraq’s second largest city and the last urban centre still under ISIL control in Iraq after a series of government offensives to reverse the group’s lightning-quick seizure of territory in 2014.
According to UN estimates, up to one million people could be displaced from Mosul during the operation, exacerbating the humanitarian situation in the country.
Aljazeera
3: Trump calls for pre-debate drug tests, says Clinton enhanced her performance
If Hillary Clinton seemed energetic at the start of the last presidential debate, that’s probably because she’s taking performance-enhancing drugs, according to her Republican opponent Donald Trump, who called for drug tests before Wednesday’s presidential debate in Las Vegas.
“I think she’s actually getting pumped, you want to know the truth? She’s getting pumped up,” Trump said, speaking at a campaign event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on Saturday.
Vice News
2: Freed From Gag Order, Google Reveals It Received Secret FBI Subpoena
GOOGLE REVEALED WEDNESDAY it had been released from an FBI gag order that came with a secret demand for its customers’ personal information.
The FBI secret subpoena, known as a national security letter, does not require a court approval. Investigators simply need to clear a low internal bar demonstrating that the information is “relevant to an authorized investigation to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities.”
The national security letter issued to Google was mentioned without fanfare in Google’s latest bi-annual transparency report, which includes information on government requests for data the company received from around the world in the first half of 2016.
Google received the secret subpoena in first half of 2015, according to the report.
An accompanying blog post titled “Building on Surveillance Reform,” also identified new countries that made requests — Algeria, Belarus, and Saudi Arabia among them — and reveals that Google saw an increase in requests made under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
The Intercept
1: Trump warns of ‘rigged’ election as Giuliani makes racially charged claims
Donald Trump’s campaign allies joined his baseless accusation of a “rigged election” on Sunday, with Rudy Giuliani speaking in racially charged terms amidst growing fears of a violent backlash from supporters of the Republican presidential nominee.
Trump himself furthered the charge, tweeting: “The election is absolutely being rigged by the dishonest and distorted media pushing Crooked Hillary – but also at many polling places – SAD.”
A request for clarification from the Trump campaign about which polling places he meant was not immediately returned.
The Guardian
