Irish Senator Standing Up To President Donald Trump

CNNs Fareed Zakaria explains why Putin. not Trump, is the most powerful man in the world

13 Mar 2017 at 10:50 ET

Fareed Zakaria says Russian President Vladimir Putin is the most powerful man in the world, although his nation is weaker than the United States.

The author and foreign policy expert, who hosts a show on CNN, will premiere a new documentary Monday night on the cable TV network that explores Putin’s career and the threat he poses to Western democracies.

“Obviously, the United States, or for that matter China, is more powerful than Russia, but Russia is a major world power with thousands of nuclear weapons and a UN Security Council veto, spans 11 time zones, borders three continents,” Zakaria said.

But what makes Putin more powerful than Donald Trump or Xi Jinping, his counterparts in the U.S. and China, is the weakness of Russia’s rule of law.

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/03/cnns-fareed-zakaria-explains-why-putin-not-trump-is-the-most-powerful-man-in-the-world/

I'll be tuning in tonight.

What lessons can Canada offer the US on the suppression of scientific research?

March 12, 2017 · 3:30 PM EDT

When President Donald Trump came into office in January, staff at several government agencies were told not to send out news releases or to communicate by social media, and most mentions of climate change disappeared from government websites.

Changing the message on issues that could affect policy is standard procedure with a change of administration, but many saw this as censorship of government scientists — akin to moves taken in Canada under former Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Simon Fraser University biologist Wendy Palen, who witnessed the suppression of science under Harper, has some advice for her American colleagues.

“The lessons we learned in Canada are very relevant to the United States right now, and there are a couple of key messages that I would have for scientists in the US,” Palen says. “One is that you need to find ways to document the abuses or cases where there's unethical behavior happening within agencies, or scientists being individually censored or told that they need to change something in a report, or that they can't speak to the media.”

https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-03-12/what-lessons-can-canada-offer-us-suppression-scientific-research

There's also audio accompanying the article.

Hungary's president re-elected for 5-year term

Source: Associated Press

Mar. 13, 2017 10:43 AM EDT

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian lawmakers re-elected President Janos Ader to his largely ceremonial post on Monday, ensuring another five-year term for a supporter of populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government.

Ader, nominated by Orban's governing Fidesz party, defeated Laszlo Majtenyi, a former ombudsman for data protection nominated by the left-wing opposition. Ader won by 131 votes to 39, with 29 abstentions.

A second round was needed because Ader fell two votes short of the 133 votes needed for a two-thirds majority in the first round. Only a simple majority was needed to win in round two.

The 57-year-old Ader is a former parliamentary speaker and member of the European Parliament. He became president in May 2012, after the departure of former Olympic fencing champion Pal Schmitt, who resigned after 20 months in office because of a plagiarism scandal.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/7df2a958b3e14f6093bede23d369959d/lawmakers-electing-hungarys-president-5-year-term