Trump-Putin Summit: The two leaders are meeting after Trump faults U.S. ‘stupidity’ for poor relations with Russia – The Washington Post

HELSINKI — President Trump cast doubt on the conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, saying after his summit here Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin that the autocrat gave him an “extremely strong and powerful” denial. After Putin said his government played no role in trying to sabotage…

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NATO summit: Trump calls Germany a ‘captive of Russia,’ slams other European allies – The Washington Post

BRUSSELS — President Trump unleashed a blistering attack Wednesday on Germany and other NATO allies, wasting no time to take the offensive before a week of high-stakes diplomacy on both sides of the former Cold War divide. The series of meetings — beginning with NATO and capped by a summit with Russian President Vladi­mir Putin…

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This Italian Town Once Welcomed Migrants. Now, It’s a Symbol for Right-Wing Politics – The New York Times

The explosiveness of the migration issue in Italy is perhaps best seen in Macerata, a medieval town near the Adriatic Coast.CreditDmitry Kostyukov for The New York Times MACERATA, Italy — At the end of his shooting rampage as the police closed in, Luca Traini climbed the steps of a Fascist-era monument, wrapped himself in an…

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Nazi Sympathizers Pushing to Take Over Europe’s Spy Agencies

A slow-simmering scandal in Austria has brought into public view potentially disastrous divisions among Western intelligence agencies. As far-right politicians have joined coalition governments in Austria and Italy and taken ministerial positions in charge of security and law enforcement, concerns have grown among intelligence professionals that they will ignore or even encourage the threat of…

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On the Eve of the NATO Summit, Trump Has Pissed Away the Pax Americana

PARIS—Modern Europe—liberal, democratic Europe—is a creation of the United States. This story was once known to every American, but as the generation responsible for this achievement dies, it seems this knowledge is no longer passed down. The United States built the modern order upon an architecture of specific institutions: the United Nations, the International Monetary…

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UK Regulators May Fine Facebook Over Cambridge Analytica | WIRED

The Information Commissioner’s Office in the UK has announced its intention to fine Facebook more than $600,000 for its “lack of transparency and security issues” related to third party data harvesting. The ICO is also taking steps toward bringing criminal action against SCL Elections, the now-defunct parent company of the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica,…

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Trump pardons Oregon cattle ranchers in case that sparked 41-day occupation of national wildlife refuge – The Washington Post

President Trump on Tuesday pardoned father-and-son cattle ranchers in southeastern Oregon who were sentenced to serve prison time on two separate occasions for the same charges of arson on public lands, a move their supporters hailed as a shift in how the federal government approaches the West. Trump’s decision to set aside the convictions of…

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