——————————————————————————

——————————————————————————

From feast to farce: how the big Hinkley Point C party was put on ice

July 29, 2016

The total lifetime cost of the planned Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant could be as high as £37bn, according to an assessment published by the UK government. The figure was described as shocking by critics of the scheme, who said it showed just how volatile and uncertain the project had become, given that the same energy department’s estimate 12 months earlier had been £14bn. The latest prediction comes amid increasing speculation about the future of the controversial project in Somerset, whose existence has been put in further doubt by post-Brexit financial jitters. Hinkley has been a flagship energy project for the British government and in particular for the chancellor, George Osborne, who lobbied hard and successfully for China to take a stake in the scheme. Officials at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) on Thursday confirmed the £37bn figure, but said it was provisional, set in September 2015, when wholesale power prices were low, and would not affect bill payers.

Continue reading →

Hillary Clinton Emails

——————————————————————————–

——————————————————————————–

WikiLeaks Founder: DNC email leaks are just the beginning

July 27, 2016

After an email leak that saw nearly 20,000 emails from Democratic National Convention officials go public last week, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange warns that this is just the beginning.

Continue reading →

—————————————————————————-

—————————————————————————-

Updated – July 16, 2016 @ 15:22 hrs

Turkey coup: Soldiers say they were ‘not aware they were part of coup attempt’

July 16, 2016

Some of the soldiers who were detained at a military headquarters in Turkey have reportedly told interrogators they were not aware they were part of a coup attempt. They had been told by commanders they were taking part in military manoeuvres, the Turkish Hurriyet newspaper has reported. Some soldiers said they understood they were part of a coup when they saw civilians climb on tanks. NTV television has shown footage of a Turkish colonel and other soldiers being taken into custody at military headquarters.

Continue reading →

—————————————————————————-

—————————————————————————-

Nice attack: Foreign Office ‘standing by’ to help Britons

July 15, 2016

The UK Foreign Office is “standing by” to help Britons in the French city of Nice, after a lorry crashed into a crowd killing at least 84 people. The lorry driver was shot dead, and President Francois Hollande said the incident was of a “terrorist nature”. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said at least one UK national was among those injured in the attack. Downing Street said Prime Minister Theresa May was being kept up to date on “this terrible incident”. A spokesman said Number 10 was “shocked and concerned” by the attack, which happened during Bastille Day celebrations in the capital of the French Riviera. A French flag is being flown above Number 10.

Continue reading →

—————————————————————————-

—————————————————————————-

Tony Blair could face Iraq contempt vote in Commons

July 10, 2016

A group of senior MPs is calling for a vote to decide whether Tony Blair is guilty of contempt of Parliament over his decision to invade Iraq in 2003. Conservative David Davis said he will present the motion on Thursday accusing the former PM of misleading Parliament. Meanwhile, John Prescott, the then deputy prime minister, said he now believed the invasion was “illegal”. Mr Blair has apologised for mistakes he made but has said he stands by his decision and “there were no lies”. In his long-awaited report on the Iraq invasion, Sir John Chilcot said the legal basis for the war was reached in a way that was “far from satisfactory”, but he did not explicitly say it was illegal. But Mr Davis, a former shadow home secretary, told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show: “I’m going to put down a contempt motion, a motion which says that Tony Blair has held the House in contempt.

“It’s a bit like contempt of court. Essentially by deceit.”

Continue reading →

—————————————————————————-

—————————————————————————-

Philando Castile Shooting in Minnesota Leads Governor to Seek U.S. Investigation

July 7, 2016

Minnesota’s governor called on Thursday for a federal investigation into the shooting of a black man by a police officer during a traffic stop near St. Paul, after millions of people watched the bloody, dying man in a grisly video recorded by his girlfriend and streamed live moments after the shooting. The deadly encounter Wednesday night in the city of Falcon Heights was at least the second shooting this week of a black man by police officers, after the killing of a man in Baton Rouge during an attempted arrest, and parts of both encounters were recorded on video. The graphic video from Minnesota showed Philando Castile, 32, who had been shot several times, slumping against the woman who was recording the scene. As she did so, her 4-year-old daughter sat in the back seat and an officer stood just outside the driver’s side window, still aiming his gun at the mortally wounded man at point-blank range. The video is all the more shocking for the calm, clear narration of the woman, Lavish Reynolds, who states that Mr. Castile had done nothing wrong, and the fact that she streamed it live on Facebook. Ms. Reynolds gave her account of what had happened, stating again and again that Mr. Castile had just been reaching for his driver’s license and registration — as the officer had requested — when the officer opened fire.

“Please, officer, don’t tell me that you just did this to him,” she said. “You shot four bullets into him, sir. He was just getting his license and registration, sir.”

Continue reading →

—————————————————————————

—————————————————————————

Baton Rouge Man’s Son Breaks Down as Mom Addresses Deadly Cop Shooting

July 6, 2016

The 15-year-old son of Alton Sterling, a black man who was shot and killed by white police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, wept uncontrollably and cried “Daddy!” this morning as his mother spoke to reporters about the deadly confrontation, which was captured on video.

“He [her son Cameron Sterling] had to watch this, as this was put all over the outlets,” Quinyetta McMillon said. “As a mother, I have now been forced to raise a son who is going to remember what happened to his father.”

Alton Sterling, 37, was killed early Tuesday in a shooting that was captured on cellphone video. In the video, two officers appear to struggle with Sterling and slam him to the ground. One man seems to yell “gun.” Then at least two shots are fired while the officers are close to Sterling. Baton Rouge police said the incident began when uniformed officers responded to a disturbance call from someone who said a black man who was selling CDs threatened him with a gun. Officers approached Sterling in the parking lot of the convenience store, and “an altercation between Sterling and the officers ensued,” police said. He was shot during the altercation and died at the scene, police said. The coroner for East Baton Rouge Parish said Sterling died from multiple gunshot wounds to his chest and back. Officers Blane Salamoni, a four-year veteran, and Howie Lake II, a three-year veteran, were placed on leave in connection with Sterling’s death, according to a Baton Rouge police news release. Both officers work in the Uniform Patrol Division.

Continue reading →

UPDATE – CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL CHILCOT REPORT – http://www.iraqinquiry.org.uk/the-report/

—————————————————————————————————-

—————————————————————————————————-

Chilcot report: Tony Blair’s Iraq War case not justified

July 6, 2016

Tony Blair overstated the threat posed by Saddam Hussein, sent ill-prepared troops into battle and had “wholly inadequate” plans for the aftermath, the UK’s Iraq War inquiry has said. Chairman Sir John Chilcot said the 2003 invasion was not the “last resort” action presented to MPs and the public. There was no “imminent threat” from Saddam – and the intelligence case was “not justified”, he said. Mr Blair has apologised but insisted that lives had not be lost “in vain”. Amid calls for Mr Blair and others to take responsibility, the ex-Labour prime minister said he acknowledged the intelligence had “turned out to be wrong” and the invasion had destabilised Iraq but said he still believed the country was “better off” without Saddam Hussein. While accepting the grief and sorrow of those who had lost loved ones and accepting they could not “forgive or forget him”, he said British service personnel had taken part “in the defining global security struggle of the 21st Century”. The report, which has taken seven years, is on the Iraq Inquiry website.

Continue reading →