Turkey has put pressure on Germany to arrest and prosecute a comedian who insulted Turkish President Erdogan on live TV last month. Turkey’s ambassador in Berlin sent a diplomatic note to the Foreign Ministry asking them to launch a criminal investigation into ‘crimes’ commited by comedian Jan Böhmermann who read out a satirical poem allegedly ‘insulting’ President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on a 31st March TV show.
Moments ago, in the first of two closely anticipated and watched votes, a special committee in Brazil's lower house voted 38 to 27 to begin the impeachment process against president Dilma Rousseff.
The committee voted on a report presented last week that concluded Rousseff bypassed Congress in authorizing credits to mask a growing budget deficit. While the report is not binding, the vote to confirm or reject it is the first real barometer on the prospect for impeachment.
Submitted by Ron Paul via The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Proseprity,
On Sunday Ukrainian prime minister Yatsenyuk resigned, just four days after the Dutch voted against Ukraine joining the European Union. Taken together, these two events are clear signals that the US-backed coup in Ukraine has not given that country freedom and democracy. They also suggest a deeper dissatisfaction among Europeans over Washington’s addiction to interventionism.
David Ignatius proposes a bad solution for the Republicans’ presidential nomination problems:
How can the GOP escape this demolition derby? Some have proposed a unity bid by House Speaker Paul Ryan (Wis.), or the redux of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. But these politicians would look like opportunists — stealing the nomination from the two candidates who won most of the primaries and caucuses — and the result might be even more divisive for the GOP.
Up to 10,000 al-Nusra Front terrorists have deployed near the Syrian city of Aleppo ahead of a major offensive, according to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Along with ISIS, al-Nusra is not party to the six-week old ceasefire being monitored by Russia and the US, and remains a legitimate target. Sputnik reports: “According to our intelligence, about 8,000 al-Nusra Front militants have been deployed south-west of Aleppo, while up to 1,500 militants have been deployed north of the city,” Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy said Monday.