I wonder what Uncle Russell would have said about the new social media like Facebook Live and Twitter, which don’t lie down so much as stand up and scream: “Give us your lies and self-deception! We’re here for you!” Whatever you want to believe now, there’s some bogus chart or viral video popping up somewhere to validate it.

Which leads me to the latest innovation in campaign propaganda: Trump Tower TV, which launched this week on Facebook.

Think of it as an unreality show, airing inside an actual reality show, which is airing under the guise of an actual presidential campaign. It’s like one of those Russian nesting dolls, which in Donald Trump’s case may be an especially apt metaphor.

Trump’s feed, streaming live from the “war room” in Trump Tower, is remarkable in that it self-consciously mimics everything about your conventional cable show. There’s lively banter between the hosts, a parade of genial guests who appear to have just dropped in, a platinum blond bomb-throwing commentator with no particular qualifications in anything. There’s breaking coverage of Trump’s evening rally, perfectly timed to make air.

It shows you, basically, how easy it is for any moron with a laptop and a dream to perfectly imitate the cheerful vacuousness of most TV news.

The 400 parts per million benchmark was broken globally for the first time in recorded history in 2015.

But according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), 2016 will likely be the first full year to exceed the mark.

The high levels can be partly attributed to a strong El Niño event.

Gas spike

While human emissions of CO2 remained fairly static between 2014 and 2015, the onset of a strong El Niño weather phenomenon caused a spike in levels of the gas in the atmosphere.

That's because the drought conditions in tropical regions produced by El Niño meant that vegetation was less able to absorb CO2. There were also extra emissions from fires, sparked by the drier conditions.

The government delegation brought the bundle of hundreds proposed changes and amendments gathered after two and a half weeks of talks with sectors of civilian society and political rivals that oppose the deal as it stands.

Before heading to Havana, the government had informally divided the proposals in three groups: “viable,” “difficult but possible” and “unfeasible.”

“We should not abandon the commitment to recover the countryside, clean up politics, contribute to overcoming the problem of drugs, repair victims and impose justice,” the government’s chief negotiator, Humberto de la Calle, told press on Saturday.

President Juan Manuel Santos on Saturday urged the negotiators to “put the foot on the accelerator.”

“He’s basically declaring defeat before the battle has even started,” Clinton said at a campaign event in New Hampshire. “He’s proving to the world what it means to have an unqualified commander in chief.”

In a tweet on Sunday, Trump, the Republican nominee for the Nov. 8 election, said the “attack on Mosul is turning out to be a total disaster. We gave them months of notice. U.S. is looking so dumb.”

Iraqi and Kurdish forces, backed by the United States, have mounted a huge assault on the area surrounding the city, the last stronghold of Islamic State forces in Iraq. They have retaken about 80 Islamic State-held villages and towns since the offensive was launched on Oct. 16, but have yet to move on the city itself.

The measure is unlikely to get traction as the government and the Supreme Court have systematically undermined the legislature on grounds it is illegitimate until it removes three lawmakers accused of vote-buying. But it marked a further escalation of political tensions in the crisis-hit OPEC nation.

"It is a political and legal trial against President Nicolas Maduro to see what responsibility he has in the constitutional rupture that has broken democracy, human rights, and the future of the country," said opposition majority leader Julio Borges during a special congressional meeting.

The session was briefly interrupted when around 100 apparently pro-government protesters stormed in, brandishing Socialist Party signs and shouting "The Assembly will fall!" before officials herded them out.

But this week, the square has been muted in remembrance and hope.

In an act of protest against a civil conflict that has raged for more than 50 years, the plaza was covered in a massive white shroud bearing the names of the war’s many victims.

The public statement of mourning by artist Doris Salcedo was temporarily installed as the country grapples with the rejection of a peace deal with leftist Farc rebels that would have ended the war.

Under the direction of Salcedo – best known for her 2007 installation of a deep crack in the floor of Tate Modern in London – 2,350 pieces of white cloth symbolizing death shrouds were embossed in ash with the name of a victim of the conflict, and then stitched together by volunteers, eventually covering the entire square.

Throughout the day, pairs of volunteers carried each shroud and placed it on the ground, as if laying a victim to rest.

“The ashes are symbolic. Because ash is either taken by the wind or it serves as a base for resurgence,” says María Belén Sáez de Ibarra, a curator for Salcedo, who is known for her installations that evoke mourning, loss, absence and remembrance.

“These names symbolize all those who have suffered from the war in Colombia,” said Sáez.

The Portuguese Ballon d'Or collector looks set to win his fourth world player award early next year , and even though he's not quite been at his best this season he's still one of the finest players to ever play the game.

And when he talks, people tend to listen.

In an interview with Coach magazine, Ronaldo opened up on everything from his relationship with rival Lionel Messi to how he "needs" his enemies to spur him on.

But he saved his most Ronaldo-ish answer for the question "who was the biggest influence on your career?"

Lining up the question like he would a free-kick, Ronaldo would have thought about it for a good few nanoseconds before coming out with:

"I am." Perfect, isn't it? It's exactly what you'd want him to say.

And then, when pressed to name somebody - anybody - who wasn't him, Ronaldo responded with:

My biggest inspiration has always been myself; nobody puts bigger demands on me than me.

"I said I admired Figo and Rui Costa, but I never wanted to emulate anybody – I have just always focused on being the best me I can."

Don't ever change, Cristiano.