Facebook Negotiating Multibillion-Dollar US Fine As UK Labels "Digital Gangsters"

Facebook and its executives were labeled "digital gangsters" and should immediately be subject to statutory regulation, according to an 18-month investigation ordered by the UK parliament.

The UK assessment comes as word that the Silicon Valley tech giant is negotiating a multibillion-dollar settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission, the largest handed out to a tech company in agency history.

The UK report from the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee, found that Facebook purposefully obstructed its inquiry, according to The Guardian, while the social media giant failed to tackle Russian attempts to manipulate elections.

"Democracy is at risk from the malicious and relentless targeting of citizens with disinformation and personalised ‘dark adverts’ from unidentifiable sources, delivered through the major social media platforms we use every day," warned Damian Collins, chairman of the committee.

Per The Guardian, the report:

Accuses Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s co-founder and chief executive, of contempt for parliament in refusing three separate demands for him to give evidence, instead sending junior employees unable to answer the committee’s questions.

Warns British electoral law is unfit for purpose and vulnerable to interference by hostile foreign actors, including agents of the Russian government attempting to discredit democracy.

Calls on the British government to establish an independent investigation into “foreign influence, disinformation, funding, voter manipulation and the sharing of data” in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, the 2016 EU referendum and the 2017 general election.

"We need new independent regulation with a tough powers and sanctions regime to curb the worst excesses of surveillance capitalism and the forces trying to use technology to subvert our democracy," said Labour party deputy leader Tom Watson, adding that "Labour agrees with the committee’s ultimate conclusion – the era of self-regulation for tech companies must end immediately."

**

In short - people are too stupid to know when they're reading fake news, which probably comes from Russia, and the UK government must now step in to control the flow of information, citizen.

The Parliamentary report was launched in 2017 in order to analyze fake news over social media, and was "turbocharged in March the following year, with the Cambridge Analytica data harvesting scandal," writes The Guardian.

The committee argues that, had Facebook abided by the terms of an agreement struck with US regulators in 2011 to limit developers’ access to user data, the scandal would not have occurred. “The Cambridge Analytica scandal was facilitated by Facebook’s policies,” it concludes.

The 108-page report makes excoriating reading for the social media giant, which is accused of continuing to prioritise shareholders’ profits over users’ privacy rights. -The Guardian

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-02-18/facebook-pay-multibillion-dollar-us-fine-uk-labels-digital-gangsters

Hey UK! It's not just Venezuela, what happened to Australia's gold?

Geopolitical and trade tensions along with US sanctions have shaken trust in the US dollar over recent years. As a result, a number of global central banks have been boosting their national reserves of gold bullion.

In 2018, world central banks added 651.5 tons to official gold reserves, as a greater pool of regulators turned to the precious metal as a diversifier, according to data released by the World Gold Council. Some countries, like Russia and Turkey increased their gold reserves while dumping US dollar holdings at the same time. India, China, Kazakhstan, Iraq, Poland and Hungary were among the other big purchasers of the yellow metal.

Net sales of gold from central banks reportedly remained insignificant, totaling less than 15 tons with Australia, Germany, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Ukraine accounting for almost the entire figure.

While some countries opt to hold their bullion reserves domestically, others still trust their precious reserves to the central banks of other nations. Vaults in Paris, New York and London have become popular gold storages for many developing countries.

The Bank of England has kept a reported 80 tons of Australian gold for years. However, the UK regulator has not allowed Australia to carry out a proper audit of its bullion holdings. In an attempt to find out what happened to Australia's gold RT talked to Ronan Manly, a precious metals analyst with BullionStar in Singapore.

https://www.rt.com/business/451736-australian-gold-reserves-ronan-manly/

Tennis legend and LGBT activist Martina Navratilova says allowing trans female athletes to compete as women is 'insane and cheating'

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova was criticized last year after calling for standards to be set as an increasing number of transgender biologically-male athletes are competing in women's sports.

After promising to research the topic further, she penned an op-ed on Sunday reaffirming her views and calling it "insane and cheating" to allow a man to switch genders in order to "win everything in sight."

What are the details?

In December, Navratilova tweeted, "You can't just proclaim yourself female and be able to compete against women. There must be some standards, and having a penis and competing as a woman would not fit that standard."

Online outrage ensued. The nine-time Wimbledon champion — who in 1981 became one of the first prominent worldwide athletes to come out as bisexual (and then subsequently as lesbian), and who has long campaigned for LGBT rights — was labeled "transphobic" in a series of responses by transgender cyclist Rachel McKinnon. McKinnon was born male and won an event at the UCI Masters Track World Championship in the women's division last year.

In response, Navratilova deleted her original message, and promised to educate herself on the matter before writing, "Rachel, you might be an expert on all things trans but you are one nasty human being," adding she wouldn't be "bullied" into silence.

But McKinnon persisted in her tirade against the tennis star, telling Navratilova, "You are not 'pro-trans people' if you say that trans women with a penis must not compete in women's sport. That's transphobic. Genitals do not play sports. What part of a penis is related to tennis? How does that 'level' any playing field?"

On Sunday, Navratilova penned an op-ed in The London Times, where she reaffirmed her position that "the rules on trans athletes reward cheats and punish the innocent." Navratilova said that after further researching the issue, her views on the topic were even more strengthened.

"To put the argument at its most basic: a man can decide to be female, take hormones if required by whatever sporting organization is concerned, win everything in sight and perhaps earn a small fortune, and then reverse his decision and go back to making babies if he so desires," Navratilova wrote. "It's insane and it's cheating. I am happy to address a transgender woman in whatever form she prefers, but I would not be happy to compete against her. It would not be fair."

She further argued, "Simply reducing hormone levels — the prescription most sports have adopted — does not solve the problem. A man builds up muscle and bone density, as well as a greater number of oxygen-carrying red blood cells, from childhood."

Anything else?

Navratilova's piece attracted both praise and ridicule, with critics and supporters alike pointing to the fact that Navratilova played and beat trans female tennis player Renee Richards in 1977. Navratilova — a lesbian and avowed feminist — eventually hired Richards as a coach.

Richards was born male and began competing in women's tennis at age 40. Reflecting back on her decision, a 77-year-old Richards told Slate in 2012, "Having lived for the past 30 years, I know if I'd had surgery at the age of 22, and then at 24 went on the tour, no genetic woman in the world would have been able to come close to me. And so I've reconsidered my opinion."

https://www.theblaze.com/news/tennis-legend-navratilova-says-allowing-trans-female-athletes-to-compete-as-women-is-insane-and-cheating

Pakistan gets $20bn investment pledge from Saudi Arabia amid MBS visit

Islamabad has received a hefty investment pledge of $20 billion from Saudi Arabia, which seeks to even further expand its contributions to the economically-embattled country.

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed memorandums of understanding on $20 billion of investments on Sunday, when Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrived in Islamabad.

As broad investments were expected, Pakistan did its best to greet the high-profile guest, plastering the capital city with large welcoming banners and photos of MBS and Pakistani PM Imran Khan. The investments are related to the agriculture and energy sectors, including a $10-billion oil refinery project.

The Saudi investments are not limited to $20 billion, and Pakistan should expect more, MBS hinted while speaking in Islamabad alongside Khan.

“It's big for phase one, and definitely it will grow every month and every year, and it will be beneficial to both countries,” the crown prince said. “We have been a brotherly country, a friendly country to Pakistan. We've walked together in tough and good times, and we [will] continue.”

Bin Salman’s optimism was shared by the Pakistani PM, who lauded their joint efforts in creating “a great future” for the two countries.

“Saudi Arabia has always been a friend in need, which is why we value it so much,” said Khan, while seated next to the prince. “I want to thank you for the way you helped us when we were in a bad situation.”

The situation for Pakistan is not very bright, as the cash-strapped country has had a budget deficit for nearly a decade. Recently, Islamabad has struggled to reach a new bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). If the negotiations succeed, it would become the 13th IMF bailout the country has received since the 1980s. As negotiations with the IMF have been dragging on for months now, Saudi Arabia has already come to the rescue, giving Pakistan a US$6 billion loan to replenish the dwindling foreign exchange reserves.

https://www.rt.com/business/451686-pakistan-saudi-arabia-investment/

Reality сheck: When life gives you lemons… make up bulls*** about Russia?

Coverage of Russia in US media is frequently lazy, misinformed and inaccurate, but sometimes it dives off the deep end into bat s*** crazy absurdity.

This was a real Forbes headline: “Want To Find A Rich Person In Russia? Look For The Lemons.”

Below the line, one Lizzy Saxe wrote “wealthy Russians really like to incorporate lemons into their lifestyle. It communicates to people that they have the means to be able to afford them. They call it the bling of produce.”

Yup, lemons. Which, unlike actual ‘bling,’ literally grow on trees.

You’ll notice the use of the past tense. Because this is what Forbes ran on Sunday before they quietly amended their nonsense in the dead of night “to more accurately reflect social status in Russia.” Nevertheless, there was no apology, nor did the magazine outline its inaccuracies, so we can assume Saxe is none-the-wiser.

When Russians want to show off their wealth, they buy a luxury car, an expensive fur coat or, perhaps, a yacht. One thing they don’t do is walk around with bags of lemons.

Because, you see, lemons are really cheap in Russia. In Sochi, they retail at about 65 rubles a kilo (which is slightly less than a dollar in US money). Further north, in chilly Moscow, they apparently cost about 10% more.

In fact, the only thing remotely related to opulence is that the Russian word for the fruit, лимон (Limon), sounds vaguely similar to миллион (million).

The Forbes piece was based on a conversation with a dude called Harold Edwards, whose company grows fruits in California. Now, maybe Harold was playing a practical joke on Lizzy.

Because he told her lemons don’t grow in Russia, as “it’s too cold to produce them.” Even though southern Russia has a climate similar to the South of France. And vast swathes of the country have very hot summers, akin to what you might encounter in the Balkans.

However, he was coy when Lizzy asked whether “this aspirational citrus boom had anything to do with a fetishized idea of Westernness.”

Now, let’s be clear, lemons have been cultivated in Russia for centuries and can be found in gardens in places like Krasnodar. Meanwhile, folks in Siberia and the Far East even grow them on their balconies.

And it’s nothing to do with a “fetishized idea of Westernness” either: it’s mainly because Russians like lemon tea. And lemon cakes. Indeed, Leo Tolstoy’s favourite dessert was Anke Pie, which is made from “butter, sugar, eggs and the juice of three freshly squeezed lemons.”

Today, a Russian can pick up around 110 kilos of lemons for the price of an annual subscription to Forbes magazine. With standards like these, the fruit is, undoubtedly, better value.

https://www.rt.com/news/451728-us-media-mistakes-russian-lemon-million/

Demonstrators Gather in Washington to Protest Trump's Border Wall Policy (VIDEO)

On 15 February, US President Donald Trump signed a national emergency declaration to free up $8 billion in US federal funds to install 234 miles’ worth of steel barriers along the country’s 1,950-mile border with Mexico.

Demonstrators are gathering in Washington DC to protest US President Donald Trump's decision to declare a national emergency to initiate the building of a wall along the border with Mexico.

The decision has already been challenged by the state of California, and it is expected to file a lawsuit against President Donald Trump's administration over his decision to declare a national emergency to build a wall along the border, according to state Governor Gavin Newsom.

https://sputniknews.com/us/201902181072540685-washington-trump-protest/

LIVE feed in link

As UK Labour Splits Over Anti-Semitism, Jewish Group Warns Corbyn: Take Action on Hate

Britain’s main left-wing political force, the Labour Party, has suffered a split, with members of a splinter group identifying Brexit and rising anti-Semitism in the party as key reasons for rejecting the old-left politics of leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The Labour Party has faced a steady torrent of anti-Semitism scandals in recent years, with critics pointing to a new atmosphere of hate within the party since veteran campaigner Jeremy Corbyn took the leadership in 2015.

Speaking about her decision to leave Labour at a press conference Monday morning, Jewish MP Luciana Berger said she was “embarrassed and ashamed” of the party. She has frequently spoken out about the abuse she has received from fellow Labour members in recent years, challenged Corbyn on his alleged anti-Semitism problem, and even had a bodyguard at last year’s Labour conference.

Following the schism, Dr Moshe Kantor, the President of the European Jewish Congress, spoke out to further highlight Labour’s anti-Semitism problem, calling on Corbyn himself to act to stamp out the hate within his party.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/02/18/as-uk-labour-splits-over-anti-semitism-jewish-group-warns-corbyn-take-action-on-hate/