Shortly after the Justice Department confirmed that special counsel Robert Mueller delivered his final report on the Russia probe, Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer said it was now “imperative” that Attorney General William Barr make it available to the public.
“Attorney General Barr shall not give President Trump, his lawyers or his staff any sneak preview of special counsel Mueller’s findings or evidence. And the White House must not be allowed to interfere in decisions about what parts of those findings or evidence should be made public.”
Schumer said the “American people have a right to the truth.”
Viewers like you help make this journalism possible. Support your local PBS Station here: http://www.pbs.org/donate With the Mueller report complete, FRONTLINE’s “The Mueller Investigation,” tells the inside story of how we arrived at this moment. Part one goes inside the president’s confrontations with the Department of Justice and the FBI in the early days of the Russia investigation.FRONTLINE
The Mueller Investigation, Part Two (full film) | FRONTLINE
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Published on Mar 22, 2019
Viewers like you help make this journalism possible. Support your local PBS Station here: http://www.pbs.org/donate
“The Mueller Investigation” offers an inside look into the special counsel investigation that President Donald Trump has continually deemed a “witch hunt.” Part two explores the president’s attempt to undermine authorities as Mueller’s investigation heated up.
China has revoked the licence from Canada’s biggest canola exporter, Richardson International. It’s the latest flare-up in a diplomatic and trade dispute between the two countries.
To read more: http://cbc.ca/1.5043182
Read more at https://on.ft.com/2C92pCx Xi Jinping’s signature foreign policy aims to build China’s soft power through infrastructure development overseas. The FT’s global China editor James Kynge explains the significance of getting Italy’s backing
Some Westerners are concerned that Chinese economic activity in Africa is undermining democratic development in the continent. Jesuit provincial for Eastern Africa, Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, argues that African people are receiving some benefits from Chinese business.
China and African countries have enjoyed a long friendship. Today, China is Africa’s largest trading partner and it does business with its African counterparts in unprecedented ways. But, some in the West have accused China of practicing neo-colonialism. What is China really doing in Africa? Is China enforcing colonialism on the continent? What is at the heart of the relationship between China and Africa? CGTN’s Lindy Mtongana went from Nairobi to Beijing, to find out.
Watch the full Panel discussion at www.etalks.tv: goo.gl/BVSp
New players in Africa like China, Brazil and other developing countries have a growing influence on the continent. These countries provide the African population with new opportunities and alternatives to the Western approach on aid and development.
Vienna’s VIDC and the ÖGFSE invited three panelists to discuss and explain a very controversial topic in the European civil society: development policy and development aid.
The range of topics includes the African perception of 50 years of western engagement on the continent, the European difficulties of agreeing to a common policy towards Africa and the analysis of the difference between intention an reality on the ground from an academic viewpoint.
For many African countries, China is their largest trading partner and an important source of investment, and their cooperation with China has grown leaps and bounds in recent years.
Quietly, and largely out of sight, China has emerged to become a major player in the foreign aid space, challenging institutions and norms long established by the West. Although China’s international development budgets remain a tightly guarded state secret, new data indicates Beijing is spending a lot more money on aid programs than almost anyone had imagined.
AidData, a research lab at William & Mary in Virginia, conducted an analysis of 4,300 Chinese-funded projects in 140 countries from 2000 to 2014. During that time, AidData believes the Chinese spent somewhere around $350 billion on development programs. Unlike the United States, which spent $394 billion during that same period, the Chinese do not spend aid money in traditional development programs (i.e. cash grants to institutions). Instead, the Chinese have focused their efforts on infrastructure development, export credits and loans.
The Chinese approach to international development challenges a half-century of Western dominance where aid to developing countries almost always came with conditions. Whereas U.S. and European countries require aid recipients to undertake political and economic reforms to qualify for assistance, the Chinese have a “no strings attached” policy. Furthermore, the Chinese don’t seem eager to deepen their engagement in the clubby aid world of the IMF, World Bank and other international NGOs, preferring instead to deal bilaterally with governments or to create their own development bodies like the Asian Infrastructure Development Bank.
On a more fundamental level, the Chinese are taking away a deeply-embedded narrative within the Western psyche that the U.S./European development model is superior in both economic and moral terms. Many of the perceptions in the West about aid have been framed as white people ‘saving poor brown people’ in Africa, the Americas and in Asia. Now that there is a legitimate alternative from a non-Western country that happens to be the world’s second largest economy, that morality narrative will no doubt face more scrutiny in the years ahead.
In this edition of the China in Africa Podcast, AidData Executive Director Brad Parks joins Eric & Cobus to discuss his team’s latest findings on Chinese foreign aid and how Beijing’s money is being spent in places like Africa.
Join the discussion? Do you think it’s healthy that there is an alternative to the Western-led aid system or is China’s lack of transparency and preference in dealing with African elites more concerning? Let us know.
Welcome to Transition Studies. To prosper for very much longer on the changing Earth humankind will need to move beyond its current fossil-fueled civilization toward one that is sustained on recycled materials and renewable energy. This is not a trivial shift. It will require a major transition in all aspects of our lives.
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