BREAKING: Ex-French President Sarkozy ordered to stand trial on charges of corruption, influence peddling.
https://twitter.com/AP/status/979373723739459584

Israel

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was questioned by the police on Friday as a possible suspect in a third bribery case, the weightiest so far in a string of corruption investigations that are jeopardizing his political future.

Officers questioned Mr. Netanyahu about a case involving Shaul Elovitch, an Israeli telecommunications tycoon accused of using his popular Hebrew news site to provide positive coverage of Mr. Netanyahu and his wife in return for regulatory and financial benefits worth tens of millions of dollars.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/02/world/middleeast/israel-benjamin-netanyahu-corruption.html

South Africa

Former South African President to Appear in Court on Corruption Charges

Former South African President Jacob Zuma is to appear in court on April 6 to face corruption charges.

Police said Zuma was issued a summons Monday, continuing a dramatic fall for the former president who was forced to leave office last month after his party turned against him.

South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority said earlier this month it would seek to prosecute Zuma on 16 charges, including fraud, racketeering, corruption and money laundering.

More: https://www.voanews.com/a/south-africa-former-president-jacob-zuma-corruption-charges-court/4316835.html

Italy

Italy: Berlusconi Indicted on Corruption Charges

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was indicted in Milan on Monday of allegedly paying witnesses to lie in front of judges during his sex-for-hire trial, according to the Associated Press.

Berlusconi, who leads the Forza Italia political party, has previously been on trial over hiring an underage sex worker. Now he is indicted with judicial corruption, along with four young women who allegedly accepted the bribes related to their testimony on Berlusconi’s so-called bunga bunga parties.

https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/7830-italy-berlusconi-indicted-on-corruption-charges?src=ilaw

Here is is. The Cambridge Analytica/Facebook contract. Denied by Facebook. Denied by Cambridge Analytica. Leaked by @chrisinsilico. And published today by @DamianCollins as part of UK parliament's fake news inquiry.

https://twitter.com/carolecadwalla/status/979352470110564352

Christopher Steele's Other Report: A Murder In Washington

The author of the famous Trump dossier provided a secret report to the FBI asserting that RT founder Mikhail Lesin was bludgeoned to death by thugs hired by an oligarch close to Putin. Three other sources independently told the FBI the same basic story, contradicting the government’s finding that Lesin’s death was accidental.

The FBI possesses a secret report asserting that Vladimir Putin’s former media czar was beaten to death by hired thugs in Washington, DC — directly contradicting the US government’s official finding that Mikhail Lesin died by accident.

The report, according to four sources who have read all or parts of it, was written by the former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele, who also wrote the famous dossier alleging that Russia had been “cultivating, supporting and assisting” Donald Trump. The bureau received his report while it was helping the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police Department investigate the Russian media baron’s death, the sources said.

FBI spokesperson Andrew Ames declined to confirm or deny the existence of the report and would not comment for this story. Steele's business partner, Chris Burrows, declined to comment on behalf of Steele and their company, Orbis Business Intelligence.

The new revelations come as concerns about Russia’s meddling in the West have intensified to a pitch not seen since the Cold War. Both the UK and the US have blamed the Kremlin for poisoning former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England this month, using a rare nerve agent that endangered bystanders. (Russia has denied it was behind the poisoning.) In the wake of that attack, the British government has opened a review of all 14 suspicious deaths linked to Russia that a BuzzFeed News investigation exposed last year.

The BuzzFeed News series also revealed new details about Lesin — including that he died on the eve of a scheduled meeting with US Justice Department officials. They had planned to interview Lesin about the inner workings of RT, the Kremlin-funded network that he founded.

More: https://www.buzzfeed.com/jasonleopold/christopher-steele-mikhail-lesin-murder-putin-fbi?utm_term=.dpM3GPBYo#.vy9257zRG

Statement by the Acting Director of FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection Regarding Reported Concerns about Facebook Privacy Practices

Tom Pahl, Acting Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, issued the following statement regarding reported concerns about Facebook’s privacy practices:

“The FTC is firmly and fully committed to using all of its tools to protect the privacy of consumers. Foremost among these tools is enforcement action against companies that fail to honor their privacy promises, including to comply with Privacy Shield, or that engage in unfair acts that cause substantial injury to consumers in violation of the FTC Act. Companies who have settled previous FTC actions must also comply with FTC order provisions imposing privacy and data security requirements. Accordingly, the FTC takes very seriously recent press reports raising substantial concerns about the privacy practices of Facebook. Today, the FTC is confirming that it has an open non-public investigation into these practices.”

The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition, and protect and educate consumers. You can learn more about consumer topics and file a consumer complaint online or by calling 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357). Like the FTC on Facebook (link is external), follow us on Twitter (link is external), read our blogs and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2018/03/statement-acting-director-ftcs-bureau-consumer-protection

Trump Orders Expulsion of 60 Russians Over Poison Attack in Britain

WASHINGTON — President Trump ordered the expulsion of 60 Russians from the United States on Monday, including 12 people identified as Russian intelligence officers who have been stationed at the United Nations in New York, in response to Russia’s alleged poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain.

The expulsion order, announced by administration officials, also closes the Russian consulate in Seattle. The Russians and their families have seven days to leave the United States, according to officials.

The expulsions are the toughest action taken against the Kremlin by President Trump, who has been criticized for not being firm enough with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

In a call with reporters, senior White House officials said that the move was to root out Russians actively engaging in intelligence operations against the country, and to show that the United States would stand with NATO allies. The officials said that the closure of the consulate in Seattle was ordered because of its proximity to a U.S. naval base.

More: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/26/world/europe/trump-russia-diplomats-expulsion.html

Money, data, influence: how the Brexit campaigns link up...




https://twitter.com/carolecadwalla/status/977619959902887936

Your regular reminder: Donald and Ivanka Trump knew their business partner was likely laundering money for Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Their lawyer acknowledges they found out in mid-2015 and didn't cut off ties until Dec. 2016.

https://twitter.com/adamdavidson/status/977200402969096192

Two days ago, we revealed Brittany Kaiser introduced Cambridge Analytica employees to Israeli hackers. Today, she leaks the company's blueprint for the Trump campaign to @PaulLewis & @paulhilder. Interesting play, Brittany.
https://twitter.com/carolecadwalla/status/977175941066653696

Leaked: Cambridge Analytica's blueprint for Trump victory

Exclusive: Former employee explains how presentation showed techniques used to target voters

The blueprint for how Cambridge Analytica claimed to have won the White House for Donald Trump by using Google, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube is revealed for the first time in an internal company document obtained by the Guardian.

The 27-page presentation was produced by the Cambridge Analytica officials who worked most closely on Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

A former employee explained to the Guardian how it details the techniques used by the Trump campaign to micro-target US voters with carefully tailored messages about the Republican nominee across digital channels.

Intensive survey research, data modelling and performance-optimising algorithms were used to target 10,000 different ads to different audiences in the months leading up to the election. The ads were viewed billions of times, according to the presentation.

The document was presented to Cambridge Analytica employees in London, New York and Washington DC weeks after Trump’s victory, providing an insight into how the controversial firm helped pull off one of the most dramatic political upsets in modern history.

More: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/23/leaked-cambridge-analyticas-blueprint-for-trump-victory?CMP=share_btn_tw