Man arrested over murder of Indian journalist Gauri Lankesh

Indian police arrested a member of a hard-line Hindu group on Friday for the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh in 2017, officials said.

KT Naveen Kumar was arrested on suspicion of supplying the weapons used to kill Lankesh, according to a senior police officer, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorised to talk to media. More arrests are expected, he said.

Lankesh, the editor and publisher of the Kannada-language newspaper Gauri Lankesh Patrike, was shot dead outside her home in Bengaluru in September.

The murder of Lankesh, a staunch advocate of secularism and critic of right-wing political ideology, sparked protests across India.

Source: Theguardian

Trump-Kim talks: US signals hardline stance as it scrambles to define position

Donald Trump will take a hardline position at his planned summit with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the White House said on Friday, as US officials scrambled to keep pace with the president after his sudden acceptance of Kim’s offer to talk.

In briefings after the surprise announcement – which would be the first ever meeting of leaders of the two countries – US officials made no mention of possible concessions that Trump might offer, other than saying that severe sanctions would stay in place until North Korea took verifiable steps to dismantle its nuclear weapons programme.

At the daily White House briefing, spokeswoman Sarah Sanders even cast doubt on Trump’s acceptance of the offer of a summit, suggesting it was dependent on preconditions.

“Let’s be very clear. The United States has made zero concessions but North Korea has made some promises. This meeting won’t take place without concrete actions that match the promises that have been made by North Korea.”

Source: Theguardian

Bannon to address Front National as French far-right leaders seek unity

The Front National leader, Marine Le Pen, will attempt to pull her divided far-right party together when it meets this weekend for its first conference since she lost to Emmanuel Macron in the final round of the French presidential election.

Hours before the conference opened it was revealed Donald Trump’s former adviser Steve Bannon would be speaking on the first day of the event.

Beset by political and personal rifts, and with her popularity in the post-election doldrums, Le Pen is facing opposition to her plan to rename the party in an attempt to improve its electoral chances.

The move is seen by the traditional wing of the FN, founded by Le Pen’s father in the 1970s, as a betrayal of the party’s heritage. The new name will be voted on after it is unveiled on Sunday.

Source: Theguardian

Russian spy attack: Rudd calls emergency Cobra meeting

Investigators have been summoned for emergency talks on the investigation in Salisbury, where the repercussions of a suspected nerve agent attack continue to grow.

The home secretary, Amber Rudd, will chair a meeting of the government’s Cobra committee at 3pm on Saturday to receive updates on the police inquiry, Downing Street said.

The Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, remain in critical condition in hospital after being exposed to a toxic substance in the Wiltshire city last Sunday.

DS Nick Bailey, who was part of the initial response by authorities, is also in a serious condition.

Source: Theguardian

The President and the Porn Star: A Story’s Slow Rise Above the Din

WASHINGTON — If a porn-tinged hush payment falls in a news din already torqued to maximum volume, does it make a sound?

It seems to be getting there, despite North Korean intervention. And this much is becoming clear: There is no hiding from the tale of the president and the porn star.

“Porn actress,” Mike Murphy, a longtime Republican strategist, amended. “People go straight to ‘porn star.’ I like to see a few awards before you use that moniker.”

Stephanie Clifford has more than a few of those, actually (although an internet search for the particulars is not recommended). She also has leverage. Less clear, at this point, is how much — and how much President Trump will be made to answer for it.

Source: Nytimes

In Decline, Offshore Drillers Find a Champion in the Trump Administration

PORT FOURCHON, La. — A dozen miles off the coast, on a rusty, aging platform, workers in hard hats and overalls spend their days extracting oil and gas from the ocean floor before retreating at night into tiny weather-beaten steel cubes that act as dorms.

The platform, owned by a Houston-based energy company that until recently was bankrupt, has none of the grandeur — or profits — of the deep-sea structures over 100 miles offshore that are operated by international giants like Exxon Mobil and Chevron.

Source: Nytimes