French president Emmanuel Macron has threatened to hold up ratification of an EU trade deal with Mercosur unless Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro does more to fight fires in the Amazon Rainforest.
Canada, Finland, Ireland and the Netherlands have backed Macron up. Germany is less sure. Donald Trump is expected to side with Bolsonaro at the G7 summit this weekend.
Here are the arguments for and against the threat. Read more
The Congressional Budget Office has run the numbers on America’s fiscal outlook and it’s not pretty. Read more
Good news: Democratic presidential candidates are coming to their senses on health care.
Senators Cory Booker, Kirstin Gillibrand and Kamala Harris have all backed away from abolishing private health insurance in favor of Medicare-for-all.
Even Senator Elizabeth Warren has given herself wiggle room, saying “there are a lot of different pathways” to achieving universal coverage.
The exception is Bernie Sanders, the author of Medicare-for-all and a self-declared democratic socialist. Read more
Italy’s most popular politician appears to have made a huge mistake.
Matteo Salvini, the country’s hardline interior minister, brought down his far-right League’s government with the anti-establishment Five Star Movement on Tuesday, hoping to trigger early elections that polls suggest his party would win.
But none of the other parties are willing to play ball. Read more
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First, Bernie Sanders suggested the Democratic Party teamed up on him in 2016 to deny him the presidential nomination. (Of a party of which he is not even a member.)
Now he is suggesting The Washington Post is giving him unfavorable coverage because he has been critical of its owner, Jeff Bezos.
America already has one party that regularly calls the legitimacy of institutions like the academy, the FBI and NATO into doubt. It doesn’t need Democrats to do the same. Read more
So much for the claim that Brexit was about restoring the sovereignty of British institutions.
According to a ComRes poll published in The Telegraph on Monday, more Britons would support Prime Minister Boris Johnson using any means necessary to take Britain out of the European Union than would oppose him — even if it meant suspending Parliament.
Of those with an opinion on the question, 54 percent of respondents said they agreed Johnson should do whatever it takes and prevent lawmakers from blocking Brexit. 46 percent disagreed.
If undecideds are included, the figures are 44 percent “agree” and 37 percent “disagree”. Read more