Where exactly is Trump going with Iran, asked The New York Times. His administration is sending mixed messages. Trump called the nuclear deal that Barack Obama signed in 2015 “one of the worst deals I have ever seen” during his campaign. Everybody expected that he would tear it up after elections. But, last week, secretary of state Rex Tillerson said in a letter that Iran was complying with the agreement to curb its nuclear expansion in return for a lifting of sanctions. But he also said that Iran is a “leading state sponsor of terror,” and later compared Iran with North Korea.
Then Trump said Iran was not fulfilling “the spirit” of the deal. But defence secretary Jim Mattis said that the deal “stills stands” and that Iran “appears to be living up to their part.”
AUDI VISION BEYOND OIL
Why does the oil-rich kingdom of Saudi Arabia want to live a life beyond oil? The crude oil prices crashed and hit the economy bad; climate change activists want to put an end to the hydrocarbon age; and analysts say that demand for oil is going to plateau soon.
All this is bad news for Saudi Arabia, which has been reaping the riches ever since oil was discovered in the Arabian desert in 1938. Now the young crown prince, Mohammad bin Salman, wants to reinvent the economy by 20130 and invest in new businesses.
What has shocked many is the proposed sale of shares in the state owned oil company Saudi Aramco, worth over $ 1 trillion. The company holds “closely guarded secrets” about the true cost of a Saudi barrel and the payments made to the royal family.
THE SONS RISE IN MURDOCH’S EMPIRE
The sacking of Bill O’Reilly from Fox News last week for sexual misconduct may have something to do with a new culture in the group that Rupert Murdoch’s sons have engendered. His son James Murdoch, had “most aggressively moved against O’Reilly,” says The New York Times. In July, Roger Ailes, who founded Fox News with Rupert Murdoch, was also forced to resign amid another sexual harassment incident.
James and his brother Lachlan has transformed the workplace from being a company of “roguish” and “anti-politically correct” culture to one that is warmer, transparent, diverse and digital. Recently, he introduced more paid vacation, more maternity coverage for women and benefits for transgender employees. The memo ended with the word: “Enjoy!”
What’s more, they have even replaced their father’s Republican lobbyist in Washington D.C. with a Democrat.
WIKIPEDIA’S COUNTER TO FAKE NEWS
Wikipedia, the crowdsourced information site that is not always known to be the most reliable, wants to fight the menace of fake news.
Founder Jimmy Wales is launching a new online, free publication called Wikitribune, which will pair paid professional journalists with an army of volunteer community contributors. He called it ‘news by the people for the people.’ Wales found his inspiration from Donald Trump supporter Kellyanne Conway’s phrase ‘alternative facts.’
He said the distributed intelligence of Wikipedia and professional journalism will combat fake news and political rabble-rousing.
He said fake news has had no impact on the Wikipedia community.
“The volunteers are experienced enough to know it’s nonsense, and have an ethos saying: ‘No, we’re here for neutral facts’.”
He wants to launch the new site before the British election in June.
ANTI-SEMITIC HATE ONLINE
Anti-Semitic incidents around the world are at their lowest in over a decade. But it is rising in American college campuses, says a new study by researchers at Tel Aviv University.
Incidents dropped by more than half last year in countries like France and Belgium because of increased surveillance on hate groups and better security measures.
But anti-Semitic sentiment has found newer ways. There is a significant increase of hate online and against less protected targets like cemeteries.
In the American campuses, which the report describes as “a hotbed of anti-Semitism,” there has been a 45 percent increase in anti-Jewish sentiments.
Between August 2015 and July 2016, there were 2.6 million tweets containing anti-Semitic language. More than 19,000 of those tweets were directed at thousands of journalists across the country.
Picture Courtesy: Twitter @realDonalTrump