5: The EU is going to war with Italy over its spending plans
The European Union is trying to head off what it fears is another Greek-style financial crisis in the making.
After Italy pledged to push through a big-spending budget promised by its newly elected populist leaders, the EU rejected the plan and has threatened unprecedented sanctions, to keep Italy’s debt in check. The European Commission says the nation’s proposed 2019 spending plans will boost debt and put it at risk of “sleepwalking” into a crisis like Greece’s, for which the EU would ultimately be responsible.
Vice News
4: Macron tells PM to hold talks after worst riots in Paris in years
French President Emmanuel Macron has ordered his prime minister to hold talks with political leaders and demonstrators to end the nationwide protests after rioters turned central Paris into a battle zone.
After a meeting with members of his government on Sunday, the French presidency said in a statement that Macron also asked his interior minister to prepare security forces for future protests.
A French presidential source said Macron would not speak to the nation on Sunday despite calls for him to offer immediate concessions to demonstrators, and said the idea of imposing a state of emergency had not been discussed.
Aljazeera
3: The Ignored Legacy of George H.W. Bush: War Crimes, Racism, and Obstruction of Justice
THE TRIBUTES TO former President George H.W. Bush, who died on Friday aged 94, have been pouring in from all sides of the political spectrum. He was a man “of the highest character,” said his eldest son and fellow former president, George W. Bush. “He loved America and served with character, class, and integrity,” tweeted former U.S. Attorney and #Resistance icon Preet Bharara. According to another former president, Barack Obama, Bush’s life was “a testament to the notion that public service is a noble, joyous calling. And he did tremendous good along the journey.” Apple boss Tim Cook said: “We have lost a great American.”
In the age of Donald Trump, it isn’t difficult for hagiographers of the late Bush Sr. to paint a picture of him as a great patriot and pragmatist; a president who governed with “class” and “integrity.” It is true that the former president refused to vote for Trump in 2016, calling him a “blowhard,” and that he eschewed the white nationalist, “alt-right,” conspiratorial politics that has come to define the modern Republican Party. He helped end the Cold War without, as Obama said, “firing a shot.” He spent his life serving his country — from the military to Congress to the United Nations to the CIA to the White House. And, by all accounts, he was also a beloved grandfather and great-grandfather to his 17 grandkids and eight great-grandkids.
Nevertheless, he was a public, not a private, figure — one of only 44 men to have ever served as president of the United States. We cannot, therefore, allow his actual record in office to be beautified in such a brazen way. “When a political leader dies, it is irresponsible in the extreme to demand that only praise be permitted but not criticisms,” as my colleague Glenn Greenwald has argued, because it leads to “false history and a propagandistic whitewashing of bad acts.” The inconvenient truth is that the presidency of George Herbert Walker Bush had far more in common with the recognizably belligerent, corrupt, and right-wing Republican figures who came after him — his son George W. and the current orange-faced incumbent — than much of the political and media classes might have you believe.
The Intercept
We look at the link between climate change and meat consumption on the heels of a series of damning reports that say if humans don’t act now to halt climate change, the results will be catastrophic. A new study by the World Meteorological Organization shows the past four years have been the hottest on record. On Tuesday, the United Nations reported that carbon emissions reached record highs in 2017 and are on the rise for the first time in four years. Radical reductions are necessary to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, the level that would prevent the worst effects of catastrophic climate change. Livestock for meat and dairy products worldwide is responsible for almost 15 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, making it the second largest source of emissions after the fossil fuels industry. We speak with British author and journalist George Monbiot, who argues that the fate of the planet depends on the way we choose to eat.
Democracy Now
1: Theresa May in battle over Brexit legal advice as charm offensive begins
