Thanks in large part to the indigenous-led mass mobilization at Standing Rock, there has been a major shift in public awareness and celebrity support for environmental activism. In turn, the government has gone to new lengths to suppress and criminalize this brand of activism. With President Trump’s approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, the FBI, along with local law enforcement agencies, could ramp up its attacks and surveillance of environmentalists in the near future. So far, the government methods have been downright chilling… By Jenna Bitar, ACLU.

Three were fired, and two others left in limbo, in a purge that targeted employees involved in coverage of Newsweek Media Group’s financial and legal troubles. By Maggie Astor.

Scottish shell firms played a core role in a billion-dollar bribery ‘mega scandal’ threatening to topple or disgrace up to a dozen world leaders. By David Leask.

A former SS scientist may have been set to destroy the Bolivian coca crop with his secret bioweapon - until he got whacked. By Mat Youkee.

Oliver Stone

Guns, Drugs and Money. By Jeffrey St. Clair, Alexander Cockburn.

Blaine Harden's book about Donald Nichols, 'King of Spies,' is a rip-roaring exposé of US black ops during the 1940s and 50s. It is not for the faint of heart. By Andrew Salmon.

“They drank the Kool-Aid and thought they were saving freedom." By Robert Scheer.

An expert on Russia discovered that bureaucrats and spies secretly gathered to watch Soviet movies. By Brian Bethune.

Sir John Key said he'd killed a 'mass surveillance' programme - yet it kept on going. By David Fisher.

Tom Cotton, Trump’s reported choice for CIA, mocked the idea that Russia backed Trump—and backed waterboarding. That could make for a tense reception at Langley. By Spencer Ackerman.

You won’t find a star of remembrance for him on the wall of fallen “heroes” at CIA HQ in Langley, but one of the Agency’s first casualties in its covert war against Mao’s China was a man named Jack Killam. By Jeffrey St. Clair, Alexander Cockburn.

A hot scandal broke out in Poland a few days ago unveiling the mechanisms the so-called “democratic opposition” applies in the countries that push their own agenda and do not listen to their Western “friends." By Alexander Shtorm.

President Trump and his son-in-law bet that the young Saudi crown prince could execute a plan to reshape the Mideast, but the scheme quickly unraveled revealing a dangerous amateur hour, writes ex-British diplomat Alastair Crooke.

Documents released by the National Archives say that Jack Ruby asked an FBI informant if he would “watch the fireworks” with him on the day of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. By Josh Magness.

Here's a selection of conspiracies that turned out to be every bit as insane as advertised, and show that perhaps paranoia is not always such a bad thing after all. By Brent Swancer.

Celebrated criminal barrister who defended Christine Keeler, George Blake and Howard Marks, and played a key role in the Lady Chatterley trial. By Geoffrey Robertson.

Saudi Arabia appears ready to sacrifice the country in its reckless bid to confront Iran. By Thanassis Cambanis.

When Saad Hariri’s jet touched down at Riyadh on the evening of 3 November, the first thing he saw was a group of Saudi policemen surrounding the plane. When they came aboard, they confiscated his mobile phone and those of his bodyguards. Thus was Lebanon’s prime minister silenced. By Robert Fisk.

Princes, ministers and a billionaire are 'imprisoned' in the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton while the Saudi Arabian Army is said to be in an uproar. By Pepe Escobar.