Usanews

Parliament came up with the bill in reaction to the U.S. Magnitsky Act, which bans Russian officials accused of human rights violations from traveling to the U.S. The Russian measure is called the Dima Yakovlev Law, after a Russian boy who died in Virginia after his adoptive father forgot him in a parked car for nine hours. … [Read more...] about Putin Signs Law Banning U.S. Adoptions of Russian Orphans

Whereas the assassination of Soviet functionary Sergei Kirov in 1934—itself almost certainly ordered by Stalin as a pretext for initiating the purges—was falsely established as the root of all criminality, the killing of Magnitsky actually seems to be the real thing. All that is dirty or illicit in Russia keeps touching upon this tragedy in some way. For instance, the reason that these tax frauds were thought to have originated in the Kremlin itself was that the krysha, or “roof,” Magnitsky identified for the allegedly crooked tax agents was the then-head of the entire Federal Tax Office, Anatoly Serdyukov. He later became Russia’s Defense Minister, but was sacked by Putin last year in what many gullible pundits believed spelt the first genuine crackdown on state corruption under the old-new president. Serdyukov and his alleged were accused by the state of having siphoned off $100 million from Oboronservis, a Defense Ministry-owned real estate company. … [Read more...] about Moscow’s Long, Corrupt Money Trail

Factcheck.org, a project at the University of Southern California’s public policy center, has two people dedicated to Facebook content and is planning on hiring an editor to oversee that work, director Eugene Kiely said. It currently fact-checks about 20 pieces of content a month and plans to increase that number to deal with an expected rise in misinformation tied to the 2020 Census and presidential election. … [Read more...] about Critics fear Facebook fact-checkers losing misinformation fight

The past year has proven to be among the most difficult for Putin, and for the social and political legitimacy of the system that he built over his last two decades in power. The spectacle of protests in Moscow, along with the harsh crackdown, went viral at home and abroad. The opposition also schemed an innovative strategy to embarrass United Russia by steering the opposition vote to the second ranked challenger no matter the party. … [Read more...] about Vladimir Putin will not be president for life but he is sure to have power

Forty-four percent of Americans approve of the job that President TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump rails against impeachment in speech to Texas farmers Trump administration planning to crack down on 'birth tourism': report George Conway on Trump adding Dershowitz, Starr to legal team: 'Hard to see how either could help' MORE is doing as commander in chief days before his Senate impeachment trial is set to begin, according to a new Gallup poll. … [Read more...] about Trump job approval steady ahead of impeachment trial: Gallup