The New York Times reports that bishops and other leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in Pennsylvania covered up child sexual abuse by hundreds of priests over a period of 70 years, persuading victims not to report the abuse and police officers not to investigate it, according to a report issued by a grand jury on Tuesday.… Be Informed
Updated: AP reports that Omarosa Manigault Newman’s former colleagues said they are shocked that she secretly recorded private conversations with President Donald Trump and his chief of staff.
But surreptitious tapes in Trump’s world are nothing new, with the president himself once suggesting he secretly recorded fired FBI Director James Comey (who responded by saying : “Lordy, I hope there are tapes”).… Be Informed
>> The New York Times reports that Peter Strzok, the F.B.I. senior counterintelligence agent who disparaged President Trump in inflammatory text messages and helped oversee the Hillary Clinton email and Russia investigations, has been fired for violating bureau policies.
This was announced by Mr.… Be Informed
The Guardian reports that the outgoing UN human rights commissioner described Donald Trump’s anti-press rhetoric as “very close to incitement to violence” that would lead to journalists censoring themselves or being attacked.
Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, a Jordanian prince and diplomat, is stepping down this month as UN high commissioner for human rights after deciding not to stand for a second four-year term, in the face of a waning commitment among world powers to fighting abuses.… Be Informed
Good morning,
Today’s morning briefing covers the stories we find on the Maltese Newspapers and some of the main news which took place in the past 24 hours around the world.
… Be Informed
Lawyers who spoke to the The Sunday Times said that the record direct order of €274 million for the 10 year management of a new facility at St Vincent De Paul appears to be in breach of both local and EU public procurement laws.
AP/Reuters: The city of Charlottesville marked the anniversary of last summer’s white supremacist violence that sent ripples through the country with largely peaceful vigils and other events, but police had a brief, tense confrontation with demonstrators angry over the heavy security presence there this weekend.… Be Informed
New York Republican representative Chris Collins announced he was suspending his campaign for re-elections, days after federal prosecutors charged him with insider trading.
New York Times reports that Mr. Collins, who initially vowed to stay on the ballot this fall, said that he decided it was “in the best interests of NY-27, the Republican Party and President Trump’s agenda” to suspend his race.… Be Informed
Chemical giant Monsanto has been ordered to pay $289m (£226m) damages to a groundskeeper Dewayne Johnson, a man who claimed herbicides containing glyphosate had caused his cancer.
The BBC reports says that “in a landmark case, a Californian jury found that Monsanto knew its Roundup and RangerPro weedkillers were dangerous and failed to warn consumers.… Be Informed
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Your morning briefing for today.
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… Be InformedThe Police issued a statement stating that former Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit and Economic Crimes Unit officer Jonathan Ferris was never threatened with arrest. Ferris lawyers published the warrant notice in response.
UPDATE: A statement by the Kremlin announced that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke by phone with Vladimir Putin to discuss “trade and economic cooperation.
The statement will fuel speculation that Erdoğan is moving closer to Russia as relations worsen between Turkey and the United States, even though both countries are NATO members.… Be Informed
North Korea issued a forceful statement Thursday against what it said were elements of the US government which are not adhering to the spirit of the dialogue established by US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Singapore summit hin June.… Be Informed
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Start your day informed with your morning briefing providing you the highlights of what happened in the last 24 hours Malta, Europe and the World, in just under 5 minutes.
… Be Informed
A federal appeals court has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban the pesticide chlorpyrifos, which former Administrator Scott Pruitt refused to do last year.
The decision is a major win for environmentalists and health advocates. The EPA’s own research, as recently as 2016, linked chlorpyrifos to developmental and neurological disorders, especially in children and infants.… Be Informed
Vice President Mike Pence announced the Pentagon’s detailed plan for President Donald Trump’s vision of a Space Force on Thursday, which would establish the first military branch in over 70 years.
Trump first floated the Space Force idea as a part of his national security strategy March 13.… Be Informed
The Press Democrat reports that the largest wildfire ever recorded in California needed just 11 days to blacken an area nearly the size of Los Angeles — and it’s only one of many enormous blazes that could make this the worst fire season in state history.… Be Informed
Vladimir Putin presented President Donald Trump with a series of requests during their private meeting in Helsinki last month, including new talks on controlling nuclear arms and prohibiting weapons in space, according to a Russian document obtained by POLITICO.
A page of proposed topics for negotiation, not previously made public, offers new insights into the substance of the July 16 dialogue that even Trump’s top advisers have said they were not privy to at the time.… Be Informed
A woman who once ran an upscale New York City escort service will appear on Friday before a federal grand jury that is hearing evidence in the wide-ranging inquiry into ties between Russia and President Trump’s 2016 election campaign, according to a person familiar with the matter.… Be Informed
The Financial Times reports that the information factories for the cloud computing age are about to get caught in the crossfire of the US-China trade war.
Two rounds of US tariffs on Chinese imports totalling $50bn, one of which has already come into effect, have targeted some of the key components that keep data centres humming.… Be Informed
President Donald Trump has been urged to stop tweeting about the 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Trump’s top advisers and several Russians, a source familiar with discussions tells CNN.
The President was advised that his tweeting only gives oxygen to the topic, even if those around Trump do not believe there is any truly new development.… Be Informed