Comfortable chastising and cajoling in his fluent English, Sergei Lavrov has brought scowls and smiles to the faces of officials from four U.S. administrations during more than two decades as a senior statesman from Russia.
So it was no surprise that when the Russian foreign minister paid a visit to President Trump last Wednesday, there were broad grins all around the Oval Office — just in time for Moscow’s official photographer to memorialize a chummy image of a tête-à-tête that Trump might now wish he could forget.
Lavrov — almost certainly aware of Trump’s proud indifference to the conventions of his office, especially when trying to impress visitors — listened as Trump bragged about the intelligence he receives and shared highly classified information from a U.S. partner with Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, who also attended, according to current and former U.S. officials.
VICE: Trump is mad at everyone, even Jared
Another day, another report indicating White House officials are paralyzed by anger, exhaustion, and confusion.
The New York Times reported Tuesday that the president and his aides have been scrambling to course-correct following Trump’s disastrous reveal on Twitter that he did in fact give Russian officials sensitive information last week, just hours after national security adviser Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster said he didn’t. Officials are reportedly tired by Trump’s unpredictability, since they frequently spend hours crafting official responses to the latest crisis only to have Trump blow up their narratives in interviews or on Twitter, as he did last week after firing FBI Director James Comey. Trump’s mood has also suffered, as he’s reportedly debating dismissing several key members of his team but hasn’t decided who to fire yet. Even his son-in-law Jared Kushner may not be safe — Trump reportedly denounced him and many other advisers as “incompetent.”
The Times report is also just one of several describing the White House as mired in infighting. Trump was apparently upset earlier this week that Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinstated mandatory-minimum sentencing when criminal justice reform is part of Kushner’s policy portfolio.
Reuters: Following advice, potential FBI chiefs steer clear of job under Trump by Julia Edwards Ainsley
The Trump administration's search for a new FBI director hit roadblocks on Tuesday when two high-profile potential candidates, a moderate judge and a conservative senator, signaled they did not want the job.
Advisers to Judge Merrick Garland and U.S. Senator John Cornyn of Texas told Reuters they discouraged them from leading the Federal Bureau of Investigation, cautioning that they would be leaving important, secure jobs for one fraught with politics and controversy.
The advisers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the new FBI director would have little job security and heightened scrutiny by political observers following President Donald Trump's abrupt firing of James Comey on May 9.
Garland and Cornyn distancing themselves from the selection process just three days before Trump has said he may make a decision, points to the difficulties the White House has in filling the FBI post amid turmoil in the administration.
Trump's firing of Comey, the man in charge of an investigation into possible collusion between 2016 election campaign associates and the Russian government, outraged many lawmakers, including some Republicans.
Bloomberg: New York Manafort Investigations Have an Advantage: No Federal Meddling by Erik Larson and Greg Farrell
New York authorities have jumped into the fray investigating the activities of Paul Manafort, a onetime campaign manager for President Donald Trump. To some it may seem like piling on, but the state’s efforts bear an important distinction from any parallel federal probes: Neither Trump nor the Justice Department nor the FBI has any control over them.
As Wall Street learned when then-New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer took it on more than a decade ago, a state prosecutor can rattle an entire industry even without federal cooperation.
“We’ve seen this movie before,” Spitzer said. “When the feds fail to enforce the law, creative state prosecutors can fill the void. It is a critical and necessary protection against lawlessness.”
As Democrats fumed over Trump’s firing of the head of the FBI, news surfaced that New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. had begun preliminary investigations of Manafort’s real estate transactions. Representatives for Schneiderman and Vance declined to comment. Jason Maloni, a spokesman for Manafort, declined to comment, as did the White House.
AFP: Trump, Erdogan vow friendship despite anger at US arming Kurds
Presidents Donald Trump and Recep Tayyip Erdogan stood side by side at the White House on Tuesday and promised to strengthen strained ties despite the Turkish leader's stern warning about Washington's arming of a Kurdish militia.
Fresh from securing his grip on Turkey with a referendum to enhance his powers, Erdogan came to the Oval Office with complaints about US support for Kurdish fighters and what Ankara says is Washington's harboring of the mastermind of a failed coup.
But both leaders also tried gamely to put a brave face on their differences and to renew a key alliance between NATO's leading power and its biggest Muslim member, partners in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.
"It is absolutely unacceptable to take the YPG-PYD into consideration as partners in the region, and it's going against a global agreement we reached," Erdogan said, referring to the Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) in Syria.
"In the same way, we should never allow those groups who want to change the ethnic or religious structures in the region to use terrorism as a pretext," he added, suggesting that the Kurds are using the anti-IS fight as cover for separatist nationalism.
Mic: China is preparing to mass collect DNA samples from Muslims by Sarah A. Harvard
Nearly one month after Chinese administration officials announced a ban on Muslim names in the Xinjiang province, human rights observers and experts are saying China is preparing the framework of mass collecting DNA samples of the densely Muslim populated region.
Xinjiang is home to the largest Muslim and Uyghur population in China.
Chinese authorities have collected DNA samples from the Muslim population in Xinjiang before, but not on a mass scale. In June 2016, Chinese officials announced that Xinjiang residents are required to submit DNA samples, in addition to their biodata and voice records in order to obtain passports or even travel outside of the country.
According to the Associated Press, Xinjiang police confirmed it is in the process of buying approximately $8.7 million worth of equipment to collect and analyze DNA samples. The Human Rights Watch said there is evidence the Chinese government made $3 million in additional purchases in relation to DNA testing, the Associated Press reported.
...making The Occupant green with envy…
Guardian: Amsterdam mayor opens brothel run by prostitutes: 'It's a whole new model' by Renate van der Zee
In a bid to improve working conditions in the city’s sex industry, a brothel run by prostitutes themselves will be opened today by the mayor of Amsterdam.
An initiative of the city council, the new brothel occupies 14 “windows” across four buildings on the so-called Wallen, Amsterdam’s red light district. About 40 sex workers will be able to operate out of the premises, which are being run by a foundation called My Red Light, in which prostitutes take an active part.
“Everything in this project, from the statutes to the decoration of the rooms, is thought out by sex workers,” said one of the prostitutes involved, who asked to remain anonymous. “It is my hope that My Red Light will offer pleasant workspaces, where sex workers can be who they are and feel welcome.”
Prostitution has been legal in the Netherlands since 2000. Owners of sex businesses must obtain a licence and adhere to municipal rules, while prostitution is a legal profession and its practitioners are expected to pay taxes.
The Dutch hoped that by legalising prostitution they would create a “clean” sex industry, where independent sex workers could earn money unhindered by pimps.
Boston Globe: Former inmate looking for ‘decent money’ for unusual note from Aaron Hernandez by Mark Shanahan
What would you pay for a note written by Aaron Hernandez?
Cory Hayden would like to know because he worked really hard to get one while doing time with the former football star at the Bristol County House of Corrections.
Hayden, who’s from New Bedford, was in on a gun charge related to a drive-by shooting — “no one got hurt,” he says — when Hernandez showed up at the jail in Dartmouth. It was 2013 and the Patriots tight end had just been arrested for the murder of his friend Odin Lloyd.
Hernandez was like a celebrity to the other inmates. So a few days after he arrived, Hayden stole his jail ID. Why?
“Because I wanted to sell it,” he says. “But I got caught and got sent to the hole.”
BBC: Roseanne sitcom to be revived in 2018 on ABC
The US sitcom Roseanne is set for a revival, ABC network bosses have confirmed after competing with Netflix to restart the show two decades after it ended.
Most of its original cast will return for next year's eight-episode revival.
It becomes one of a slate of TV series being revived, including Will & Grace, Twin Peaks, The X Files, 24, Prison Break and The Gilmore Girls.
Roseanne aired for nine seasons in the late 1980s and through the 1990s.
Original cast members Roseanne Barr (Roseanne), John Goodman (Dan), Sara Gilbert (Darlene), Laurie Metcalf (Jackie), Michael Fishman (D.J.) and Lecy Goranson (Becky) have all been confirmed.
But Johnny Galecki, who played David, is busy with his role as Dr Leonard Hofstadter in the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory.
Don’t forget that Mr. Meteor Blades is hosting an open thread for night owls tonight.
Everyone have a great evening!