This is an archived newsroll page on A Socialist In Canada, consisting of headlines and weblinks, with occasional news summary and brief analysis, for the indicated month(s) and year. See the current, ‘World news’ website page here. To find past stories on this and other news pages on this website, use the ‘find’ (word search) function on your web browser. Headlines in red denote items published on the main news page of A Socialist In Canada, mostly authored by Roger Annis.
World news headlines on A Socialist In Canada, July 2019
Hundreds rally to call for change at Oranga Tamariki [New Zealand Ministry For Children], Radio New Zealand, July 30, 2019
Related: Hands Off Our Tamariki [Maori children], an open letter to the NZ government to halt the taking of tamariki Maori from whanau [extended families], July 2019
Indigenous land rights in New Zealand and the fight over the historic Maori territory of Ihumatao south of Auckland:
* New Zealand prime minister is tested by construction project on land held sacred by Maori, by Charlotte Graham-McLay, New York Times, July 31, 2019 A standoff between the Maori Indigenous people of New Zealand and a construction company that wants to build homes on land considered sacred has drawn thousands of people to support those occupying the site to prevent the project from going ahead.
* The occupation of Ihumatao: Week one, by Leonie Hayden and Don Rowe, staff writers, The Spinoff, July 31, 2019
* Ihumatao is a watershed moment for this generation, it cannot be ignored, by Glenn McConnell, Stuff.co.nz, Aug 1, 2019 View: Eight-minute video report on the fight to defend the historic Maori territory of Ihumatao.
* New Zealand’s trail of tears: The story of the Maori territory of Ihumatao and the Land Wars of 1845 to 1872 in New Zealand, by Vincent O’Malley, guest writer, The Spinoff, July 27, 2019 Also by Vincent O’Malley: The Great War For New Zealand, by Vincent O’Malley, Bridget Williams Books, 2016 ISBN 9781927277577 The New Zealand Wars were a series of conflicts fought between the British Crown and various groups of Maori between 1845 and 1872, They profoundly shaped the course and direction of New Zealand’s history.
* Ihumatao and the Otuataua Stonefields: A very special area, by Geoff Chapple, published in Noted, June 3, 2016
Background:
* The New Zealand wars of colonial conquest, 1845 to 1872 Wikipedia
* Book: The New Zealand Wars, by James Belich, Penguin Press, 1984. And view: The New Zealand Wars, television series broadcast in five episodes in 1998, based on the 1984 book by James Belich; excerpts from each episode are here.
* Invasion of the Waikato, Wikipedia The Invasion of the Waikato was the biggest and most important campaign of the 19th century New Zealand Wars (1845-1872), fought in the North Island of New Zealand between the military forces of the colonial government and a federation of Maori tribes known as the ‘Kingitanga Movement’. The Waikato is a territorial region with a northern boundary somewhat south of the city of Auckland… Related book: The Great War For New Zealand: Waikato 1800- 2000, by Vincent O’Malley, Bridget Williams Books, 2016 ISBN 9781927277577 Book review here; copy of book in pdf here.
The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America, book review by Ben Ehrenreich, in The Guardian, July 31, 2019 Reviewing: The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America, author Greg Grandin, publisher Henry Holt and Co, 384 pp, May 2019 ISBN 9781250179821
How Joe Biden’s privatization plans helped doom Latin America and fuel the migration crisis, special report by Max Blumenthal, The Grayzone, July 28, 2019 (This report also appears in Consortium News, July 31, 2019.) While campaigning for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination this year, former Senator and Vice President Joseph Biden has touted the crucial role he played in designing US mega-development and drug war campaigns that transformed the socio-political landscape of large swaths of Latin America.
Torture and executions in al-Sisi’s Egypt, special report by Reuters, July 31, 2019 Since President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi seized power in July 2014, there has been a threefold rise in the number of death sentences handed down by Egyptian courts and at least 179 people have been executed. Families and lawyers say Islamists and other prisoners are being tortured into confession as military-led authoritarianism re-establishes its hold.
Iran will not be hemmed in by the U.S. and UK, by Vijay Prashad, Asia Times, July 30, 2019 and read: The U.S.-Iran standoff can only end when the US accepts Iran’s right to have a nuclear energy program, by Vijay Prashad, published in Salon.com, July 25, 2019
Previously reported:
* Iran slams proposed European naval mission in Persian Gulf as countries meet in Vienna to discuss the future of the 2015 nuclear energy agreement for Iran, Deutsche Welle, July 28, 2019 and read: report in Press TV on July 28 meeting in Vienna
* Iran says it is ready to take third step in reducing commitments in 2015 nuclear energy agreement if EU fails again to uphold its side, Press TV, July 29, 2019
* Iran defends seizure of British tanker in letter to UN Security Council, Press TV, July 24, 2019
* Iran, Russia to stage joint naval drills in Persian Gulf: Iran Navy chief announces, Press TV, July 29, 2019
A dark history of the world’s smallest island nation, Nauru, by Peter Dauvergne, published in The MIT Reader, July 2019 (This essay is adapted from Peter Dauvergne’s 2018 book Environmentalism of the Rich.) …Desperate for revenue and jobs, with cruel irony Nauru agreed in 2001 to allow Australia to establish a detention center on Nauru to process asylum seekers who’d been trying to reach Australia by boat…
What the film ‘Yesterday’, and everyone else, forgets about the Beatles, by Jay David Bolter, Salon.com, July 29, 2019 Does ‘Yesterday’ squander the opportunity to explore the political aftermath of 1960s rock?
Non-Aligned Movement gathers in Venezuela to resist the dictatorship of dollar, by Anya Parampil, published in The Grayzone, July 28, 2019
Demolitions of Palestinian homes by Israeli army in the Sur Baher district near Jerusalem illustrate a vicious spiral of oppression and impunity, by Jonathan Cook, The National (UAE), July 29, 2019 (also published in Jonathan Cook’s blog)
Related: Progressive Democrats vote against BDS, Palestinian rights, interview with Ali Abunimah (co-founder of the Electronic Intifada), broadcast on ‘Pushback’, on The Grayzone, with host Aaron Maté, July 29, 2019 (11-minute interview)
No ‘Made in Israel’ label for settlement wines: Canada court, by Agence France presse, July 29, 2019 and read: Canadian court orders ‘Product of Israel’ labels off West Bank wines, The Canadian Press, July 29, 2019
The opioid epidemic may have cost U.S. states at least $130 billion in treatment and related expenses, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg, by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, published in The Conversation, July 30, 2019
Boris Johnson’s government cabinet is far to the right of those of the Thatcher years, by Craig Murray, published on his website, July 25, 2019 (also published in Consortium News)
The Political Economy of Thermidor in Syria, book chapter by Max Ajl (Cornell University), January 2019, 39 pages Read it here in pdf format: Max Ajl, The Political Economy of Thermidor in Syria (This is chapter ten of Syria: From National Independence to Proxy War, book edited by Linda Matar (National University of Singapore) and Ali Kadri (London School of Economics and National University of Singapore), published by Palgrave MacMillan, 2019 ISBN 978-3-319-98457-5
As immigrants become more aware of their rights, ICE steps up ruses and surveillance, by Nausicaa Renner, The Intercept, July 25, 2019
Ex-Nazi’s 1955 testimony said the young Dutch communist who was executed for 1933 Reichstag fire was not guilty, he was not there when fire started, Deutsche Welle, July 27, 2019
The Trump administration is bringing back federal executions, by Catherine Kim, Vox.com, July 25, 2019
Related: Trump regime announces it is bringing back the death penalty, for those convicted under federal law. Interview with Ruth Friedman, director of the Federal Capital Habeas Project, broadcast on Democracy Now!, July 26, 2019 [There are 62 prisoners on death row convicted under federal law in the United States. The first victims of the Trump regime decision will be five of those, scheduled to be killed in December. No one has been executed in the U.S. under federal law since 2003.]
Democrats blowing on embers with a politicized Mueller, by Joe Lauria, Consortium News, July 25, 2019 Robert Mueller appeared to have difficulty understanding and answering questions during his day-long hearings on Wednesday but snapped to attention to make political points
Related:
* Robert Mueller testimony before Congress on July 24 was another Russiagate dud, 11-minute commentary commentary by Aaron Maté, broadcast on ‘Pushback’, July 24, 2019 (Aaron Maté is the host of ‘Pushback’, the new video broadcast program on The Grayzone website.)
* Corporate media uses Mueller testimony on July 24 to perpetuate Mueller’s and medias big lie of ‘Russian interference’ in 2016 election.
Excerpts from corporate media reporting:
# Article by Lisa Mascaro of Associated Press, widely published in North American dailies: …Mueller’s report found Russia interfered in the 2016 election in ‘sweeping and systematic’ fashion…
# Article by Lisa Mascaro and Mary-Clare Jalonik, Associated Press, July 26, 2019 is titled ‘Senate Intelligence Committee report says all 50 U.S. states were targeted by Russian interference ahead of 2016 elections’. [This is a typical mainstream news report on this story in that not a word is cited from the Senate report by way of evidence of its allegations.]
# Mark Mazetti in New York Times: Robert S. Mueller III warned lawmakers on Wednesday [July 24] that Russia was again trying to sabotage American democracy before next year’s presidential election, defended his investigation’s conclusions about Moscow’s sweeping interference campaign in 2016 and publicly rejected President Trump’s criticism that he had conducted a ‘witch hunt’…
# New York Times editorial, July 27: Testifying before Congress this week about his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 elections, Robert Mueller, the former special counsel, seemed eager — desperate, even — to drive home one message: foreign adversaries are intent on undermining American democracy, and the United States is still vulnerable to them. Even as Mr. Mueller declined to elaborate on most of his findings, he was unequivocal in warning that Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential race, that it aims to do so again…
# New York Times editorial, July 24: Russia attacked our elections in 2016 and is intensifying its efforts today. “It wasn’t a single attempt,” Mr. Mueller said. “They’re doing it as we sit here.”…
# Columnist Dana Milbank in Washington Post: Senator Mitch McConnell is a Russian asset. This doesn’t mean he’s a spy, but neither is it a flip accusation. Russia attacked our country in 2016. It is attacking us today. Its attacks will intensify in 2020. Yet each time we try to raise our defenses to repel the attack, McConnell, the Senate majority leader, blocks us from defending ourselves…
And a sampling from alternative media:
# Article by Julia Conley in Common Dreams July 26 headlined ‘Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell dubbed ‘Moscow Mitch’ for blocking debate on election security bill just as Senate report details 2016 Russian interference’: …Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell earned the nickname ‘Moscow Mitch’ Friday after blocking lawmakers from taking action to prevent foreign interference in U.S. elections just as the legislature he leads concluded that Russians meddled in the 2016 elections in all 50 states…
# Similar to Common Dreams, Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman reports as good coin on July 26 the new Senate Intelligence Committee report on ‘Russian hacking. Her report says: Russian hackers targetted election system in all 50 U.S. states during the 2016 election, a much wider operation than previously reported… [Journalist Aaron Maté has commented on Facebook about Goodman’s reporting: Having worked at Democracy Now! and having been informed and inspired by it, it is sad to see Democracy Now! continue to peddle the fashionable Russia-baiting and fear-mongering without the skepticism that is DN’s noble tradition. Also a sad sign of how Russiagate has moved the left to the right. (end Facebook comment)]
# William Rivers Pitt (publisher) in Truthout.org, July 25, 2019: …Reading [the Robert Mueller report] in combination with the July 24 hearings will reveal that agents and agencies tied to the Russian government deliberately interfered with the 2016 presidential election in order to help Donald Trump win, that the Trump campaign knew this was happening and welcomed it, and that Trump personally obstructed justice on multiple occasions to thwart an investigation into that interference…
These questions for Robert Mueller show why Russiagate was never the answer, by Aaron Maté, The Nation, July 23, 2019 [Robert Mueller, the longtime, former director of the FBI, has been subpoenaed to testify before the House Judiciary Committee and the House Intelligence Committee on July 24, 2019. He says in advance that answers to questions directed at him will not go beyond what his report said. The ‘Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election’ was delivered to the U.S. attorney general on March 23, 2019.] Previously reported: RIP, Russiagate, by Aaron Maté, The Nation, March 26, 2019
The Russians are coming, for Senator Kamala Harris, by Margaret Kimberley, editor and senior columnist, Black Agenda Report, July 24, 2019 The lightweight senator Kamala Harris hopes voters will let her party off the hook for its failures if the word ‘Russia’ is repeated often enough.
Max Blumenthal reports from the largest U.S. military base in Latin America, Palmerola Air Base located in Honduras, 12-minute video report, with print introduction, broadcast on The Grayzone, July 20, 2019
Introducing ‘Pushback’, a new interview program with host Aaron Maté, by the editors, The Grayzone, July 23, 2019
Appearing in the first broadcast of ‘Pushback’ are these stories:
* Mueller mania worsens U.S.-Russia conflict
* U.S. sanctions threaten ‘famine’ in Venezuela, leading Venezuela economist warns
* Aaron Maté’s questions for Robert Mueller as Mueller appears on July 24 before two committees of the House of Representatives.
U.S. defiantly sends warship through Taiwan Strait after China calls the U.S. a regional security threat, RT, July 25, 2019 and read: U.S. warship sails through strategic Taiwan Strait, Reuters, July 24, 2019
New Zealand government proposals to regulate the ownership of guns, analysis by Gordon Campbell, published on his website Werewolf, July 24, 2019
Days after more Israeli war crimes, 209 House Democrats join Republicans to pass ‘McCarthyite’ resolution condemning pro-Palestinian boycotts of Israel, by Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, July 23, 2019 …The 16 Democrats who voted against the resolution were: Reps. Tlaib, Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Earl Blumenauer (Ore.), André Carson (Ind.), Debbie Dingell (Mich.), Jesús García (Ill.), Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.), Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), Barbara Lee (Calif.), Betty McCollum (Minn.), Gwen Moore (Wis.), Chellie Pingree (Maine), Mark Pocan (Wis.), Bobby Rush (Ill.), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (N.J.)…
Related:
* House passes bill to criminalize boycott actions against Israel, exposing divide among Democrats, by Cristina Marcos, The Hill, July 23, 2019 [Only 16 Democratic Party representatives voted against the measure. They include Representatives Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York). Senator Bernie Sanders voted on January 28, 2019 against a similar bill in the U.S. Senate to criminalize boycotts against Israel over its crimes against the Palestinian people. Here is the text of his one-sentence statement. Sanders vigorously opposes the boycott/divestment/sanctions movement directed at achieving justice for the Palestinian people. He opposes a democratic Israel-Palestine (‘one state solution’).]
* The difficult passage from a two-state solution to decolonization in Palestine/Israel, by Jeff Halper, Mondoweiss, July 17, 2019
Western media is losing its enthusiasm for the failing coup in Venezuela, by Lucas Koerner and Ricardo Vaz, published by Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting, July 23, 2019
Boris Johnson, denounced as a ‘liar, racist and Donald Trump’s poodle’, is selected by the Tory party to become UK prime minister, by Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, July 23, 2019
Related:
* Who is Boris Johnson, the next prime minister of Britain?, by Paolo Totaro, Deutsche Welle, July 23, 2019
* Meet Boris Johnson, the latest wanker in charge of Britain, by Libby Watson, Splinter News, July 23, 2019
Head of Ukrainian group glorifying Nazi collaborators set to enter parliament, by the Times of Israel and Agence France presse, July 23, 2019 A senior Ukrainian official widely reviled by Jewish groups for his rehabilitation of Nazi collaborators is set to enter parliament, marking a potentially significant shift in the former Soviet republic’s approach to Holocaust memory. Historian Volodymyr Viatrovych, the director of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, ran as part of Petro Poroshenko’s European Solidarity party… and read this Facebook comment by Ivan Katchanovski, July 23, 2019: Actually, the election result suggests that Viatrovych will fail to enter parliament because Poroshenko’s party received 8.1 per cent of the votes and 23 seats for its party list (after 95 per cent of the votes counted). Viatrovych is 25th on the list (report).
Previously reported: Hastily formed ‘party’ of Ukrainian president Zelinsky wins majority of seats in Rada (Parliament) election, RT, July 21, 2019 [Four other electoral machines passed the five per cent threshhold for seats in the Rada–Petro Poroshenko, Yulia Tymoshenko, Yuri Boyko (vice prime minister from Dec 2012 to Feb 2014) and rock musician Svyatoslav Vakarchukf (full results on Wikipedia). None of the far-right parties (Radical, Svoboda) reached the five per cent threshhold, but they are well placed within the state, police and military institutions of Ukraine, while their footsoldiers rule the streets. The election was moved forward from October 2019 after newly inaugurated President Zelensky dissolved parliament during his inauguration on May 21, 2019. Left-wing parties were banned from participation in the election by ‘Maidan’ Ukraine’s anti-communist laws and right-wing vigilantism.]
Ukraine’s discriminatory language law comes into force, comments by Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, from the ministry’s ‘Weekly Briefing’ of July 17, 2019 (item #7 at the weblink) July 16, 2019 will be remembered as a sad day in the contemporary history of Ukraine. The discriminatory law ‘On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language’ has come into force in Ukraine. Despite its fancy title, it in fact legalises forced Ukrainisation of the multi-ethnic Ukrainian society, where the majority use Russian in everyday life…
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova speaks on the hypocrisy of the UK-Canada ‘Global Conference for Media Freedom’ that took place in London on July 10, 11, 2019. From the ‘Weekly Briefing’ by Maria Zakharova, July 17, 2019 (item #14 at the weblink) …We have already commented on the event that took place in London on July 10-11, both at the briefing and in answers to media questions. Let me remind you that the organisers of an international event on freedom of the press denied accreditation to a number of media outlets, including Russia Today and Sputnik, because of “their active role in spreading disinformation”. We gave the London authorities time to either take back what they said or to provide evidence to support these claims. Neither has been done… It is so incredibly cynical to convene an entire conference and discuss freedom of speech in the country where Julian Assange was held hostage and subjected to moral and psychological experiments for so many years, where he was detained, arrested and basically caged up for many years. This entire conference amid Assange’s arrest in London resembles a cat symposium on mouse protection…
Kabul wants explanation after Trump says he could ‘wipe out’ Afghanistan and ‘kill ten million’ of its people, Press TV, July 23, 2019 and read: Afghans call ‘madness’ Trump’s statement he could destroy Afghanistan, by David Zucchino, New York Times, July 23, 2019
Following Britain’s act of piracy in seizing an Iranian oil tanker bound for Syria off Gibraltar on July 4, Britain and Europe announce a new provocation in the form of a naval buildup against Iran in the Persian Gulf. Report by AP News, July 22, 2019 [In a supremely ironic statement accompanying its scripted measure, the British gov’t accused Iran of “piracy” for detaining an empty oil tanker on July 20 that Iran says endangered fishing vessels and was spewing oil while transiting the Straight of Hormuz.] Background: The UK’s dubious role in the new tanker war with Iran, by Prabir Purkayastha, founding editor, Newsclick (India), July 14, 2019
Iran dismantles CIA-organized spy network, reports the country’s intelligence ministry, Press TV, July 22, 2019
Climbdown forced on Canadian gov’t and anti-China propagandists as Huawei partners with two companies to expand high speed internet service in northern Canada. [Huawei corporation is partnering with two, existing wireless communication providers across northern Canada–Iristel and Ice Wireless–to provide expanded 4G service to remote communities. News reports in Canada on the development are saturated with ‘red scare’, anti-China propaganda–for example, in this Canadian Press report featuring the views of ‘China expert’ and UBC academic Michael Byers, and in this report by the state-run CBC News.] Related: Huawei brings fast and reliable telecommunication service to rural areas of Canada that Canadian competitors and gov’t serve badly, report by Laura Kane, Canadian Press, June 2, 2019
Trump regime expands ‘expedited removal’ powers that target migrants in U.S., by Julia Conley, Common Dreams, July 23, 2019
Related:
* If left unchecked, Trump will obliterate the right to asylum, by Marjorie Cohen, published in Truthout.org, July 21, 2019
* Mother Jones magazine is failing its namesake. She championed the rights of children and migrants, by Naomi LaChance, Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting, July 23, 2019
* More than 2,000 migrants were targeted in Donald Trump’s much ballyhooed ICE raids announced on July 15; 35 were arrested, report by Miriam Jordan, New York Times, July 23, 2019 and read: background report by CNN, July 15, 2019
Two counties in Ohio are the face of a massive, consolidated lawsuit against U.S. drug companies that flooded the country with millions of opioid pills, news summary by the Kaiser Family Foundation, July 22, 2019
Merger mania in the U.S. military-industrial complex, by William D. Hartung, Consortium News, July 21, 2019 [This article also appears in Salon.com. It was originally published in Tom Dispatch, on July 16, 2019. Each published article in Tom Dispatch begins with a lengthy introduction and distinct headline by publisher Tom Engelhardt.]
In NATO and EU-member France, violence and chemical weapons unleashed by police against residents with increasing frequency, report by Nabila Ramdani, The Independent, July 20, 2019 …Astonishing as it may sound, French police are allowed to use substances designed to burn eyes, mouths and lungs against ordinary civilians, but international treaties prohibit soldiers from doing so against declared enemies. The International Committee of the Red Cross first made battlefield chemical and biological weapons illegal after French forces launched 22mm grenades full of lachrymator ethyl bromoacetate at the Germans during the World War One but failed to extend this prohibition to domestic forces… When I first reported on the increasingly scandalous use of gas by Paris police in December, Aurélie Bonal, the chief spokesperson at the French embassy in London, took to Twitter to deny teargas was a chemical weapon. Despite all the scientific and legal evidence to the contrary, she said it was unethical to describe it as such…
Globe and Mail daily promotes Western-funded, secretive NGO ‘investigators’ targetting Syrian government. Feature report by Mark MacKinnon, ‘senior foreign correspondent’, in Globe and Mail, July 21, 2019
A new red scare against China is reshaping Washington, by Ana Swanson, New York Times, July 20, 2019 …Anti-China sentiment has spread quickly, with Republicans and Democrats, labor union leaders, Fox News hosts and others warning that China’s efforts to build up its military and advanced industries threaten America’s global leadership, and that the United States should respond aggressively…
Related: Chinese money in the U.S. dries up as trade war drags on, by Alan Rappaport, New York Times, July 21, 2019
‘Close the camps!’: Protesters march against Trump’s plan to imprison migrant kids at military camp in Oklahoma where Japanese-Americans and Indigenous people before that were incarcerated, by Andrea Germanos, Common Dreams, July 20, 2019 Fort Sill was the site of one of the nation’s Japanese American internment camps during World War II, decades after it was the site of imprisoned Native communities
The U.S.’ F-35 fighter jet hit with new delay, Press TV, July 21, 2019 and read: report in Asia Times, July 20, 2019
Half of working Russians earn less than $550 per month, The Moscow Times, July 19, 2019
The ‘selectorate’ picking Britain’s next prime minister, by Yasmeen Serhan, The Atlantic, July 6, 2019 [Less than half of one per cent of the British population is choosing the next prime minister of the country. The Conservative Party contest for a new leader following the resignation of Theresa May wraps up on July 23 when final ballot results are announced. The winner becomes Britain’s next PM.]
Japan summons South Korean ambassador as popular demands continue in Korea for compensation over 1910-1945 Japanese occupation, Deutsche Welle, July 19, 2019
Related:
* South Korea President Moon Jae-in and leaders of five political parties urge Japan to immediately withdraw economic retaliation measures, The Hankyoreh, July 19,2019
* Japan-South Korea trade spat escalates as Korean citizens pressure for compensation for Japan’s war and occupation crimes, Deutsche Welle, July 17, 2019
Iran detains UK oil tanker after it collided with Iranian fishing boat and ignored distress call, Press TV, July 20, 2019 …The Stena Impero is registered in the UK and owned and operated by Swedish transport company Stena Bulk. Its crew consists of 18 Indians while the rest are from Russia, Latvia, and the Philippines. The company said the tanker was “in full compliance with all navigation and international regulations” during its voyage. It did not receive any reports of injuries among the crew during the seizure…
Related:
* British-registered oil tanker was a threat to the environment and failed to follow maritime shipping rules, Iran’s naval defenses claim, Press TV, July 20, 2019
* Iran’s seizure of UK tanker aimed at upholding int’l. maritime rules: Foreign Minister Zarif, Press TV, July 20, 2019
Interview on ‘CBS This Morning’ with Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley, broadcast on July 17, 2019
Related: The Donald Trump and Nancy Pelosi lovefest, by Margaret Kimberley, editor and senior columnist, Black Agenda Report, July 17, 2019
Vladimir Putin interview with Oliver Stone, interview conducted on June 19, 2019, published on the website of the President of Russia, July 19, 2019
Cuban workers welcome salary rises that are part of new economic measures, by Helen Yaffe (University of Glasgow), published in CounterPunch, July 18, 2019
Cuba’s Council of State pardons 2,604 convicted prisoners, Prensa Latina (Cuba), July 19, 2019
Related: Cuba pardons largest number of prisoners since 2015, by Agence France-Presse, July 19, 2019 …According to the most recent official figures, published in 2012, Cuba has 57,337 prisoners, against a population of 11 million.
[According to World Prison Brief, Cuba has the sixth highest prisoner incarceration rate, well below that of the United States, the world’s leading country for locking people up.]
The Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), The Ukrainian Partisan Army (UPA) and the Nazi Genocide in Ukraine, book chapter (26 pages) by Ivan Katchanovski (University of Ottawa), July 2019 (contained in Collaboration in Eastern Europe during World War II and the Holocaust, New Academic Press, July 2019)
Calling Trump claim ‘delusional,’ Iran says U.S. may have shot down its own drone by mistake, by Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, July 19, 2019
Related: The UK’s dubious role in new tanker war with Iran, by Prabir Purkayastha, Asia Times, July 18, 2019
One year after Nicaragua’s attempted coup, the media’s regime-change deceptions are still unraveling, by John Perry, The Grayzone, July 15, 2019 Corporate media outlets in the West blamed Nicaragua’s government for a deadly arson attack during the 2018 coup attempt, but new information raises serious doubts about the official story, highlighting the campaign of regime-change misinformation.
Spain’s Socialist Party offers coalition gov’t to left-wing Podemos but says that can’t include Pablo Iglesias as a cabinet minister, citing his support for Catalonia referendum, The Local, July 18, 2019 and read: report in The Guardian, July 18, 2019
‘Send her back’, crowd chants against Congress Representative Ilhan Omar during Trump rally in North Carolina, by Brian Murphy and Paul A. Specht, Raleigh News and Observer, July 17, 2019
Related:
* Send her back’: A dark reminder of who we are, by the editorial board, Charlotte Observer (North Carolina), July 18, 2019
* Outpouring of support for Representative Ilhan Omar counters racist ‘send her back’ chant by Trump crowd in North Carolina, by Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, July 18, 2019
Democrats divided as impeachment vote fails in House of Representatives on July 17, NBC News, July 17, 2019
Related: House votes on July 16 to condemn Trump ‘racist comments’, with only four Republicans voting in favour, NBC News, July 16, 2019
Russia, UN take another stab at forming Syria’s constitutional committee, by Marianna Belenkaya, Al-Monitor, July 16, 2019
Related:
* Will Erdogan risk an operation against Kurdish autonomous region in eastern Syria?, by Semih Idiz, Al-Monitor, July 18, 2019
* U.S. boots Turkey from F-35 production and pilot training after Turkey’s purchase of Russian defense missiles, by Jack Detsch, Al-Monitor, July 17, 2019
* U.S.maneuvres between competing Kurdish parties in eastern Syria, by Shivan Ibrahim, Al-Monitor, July 17, 2019
Maxime Rodinson and the Palestinian question, by As’ad AbuKhalil, special to Consortium News, July 18, 2019
Former Canadian PM Stephen Harper and other Western conservatives speak at pro-regime change conference of Iranian group ‘MEK’ at its compound in Albania, by Jolson Lim, iPolitics, July 17, 2019
Former Ecuador president Rafael Correa blasts CNN for claim that Julian Assange made embassy into ‘command post for meddling’, RT, July 17, 2019 …When Assange was arrested by British police and dragged out of the Ecuadorian embassy in April 2019, former Ecuador president Rafael Correa slammed his successor Lenin Moreno as the “greatest traitor in Ecuadorian and Latin American history” for having “allowed” it to happen, adding that Assange’s arrest was “a crime that humanity will never forget.”
Revealed: The five European and NATO-member countries secretly permitting U.S. nuclear weapons on air bases–Belgium, Germany, Italy, Holland and Turkey, RT, July 17, 2019 and read: report in The Washington Post, July 17, 2019
As U.S. modernizes its nuclear arsenal, costs and risks soar, by Jon Letman, Truthout.org, July 16, 2019
Over 1,000 Jewish activists and allies shut down entrances to ICE headquarters in Washington DC demanding closure of Trump concentration camps, by Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, July 17, 2019
Related: ‘Never again’ is now, say hundreds marching through the streets of San Francisco, by Gabe Stutman, The Jewish News of Northern California, July 5, 2019
‘Leave the U.S.’, Trump tells liberal congresswomen of color, Associated Press, July 14, 2019 and read: report in RT, July 15, 2019
Related: Trump fans the flames of a racial war, by Peter Baker, news analysis in New York Times, July 15, 2019
‘Hypersonic missiles’ are not starting an arms race: Washington is doing that, by Joshua Cho, published in Fairness And Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR.org), July 14, 2019 …Following the usual alarmist formula used to sell to the public military upgrades , the New York Times article then makes the predictable pivot to uncritically transmitting false claims about the need to “act quickly” lest the U.S. “fall behind” the Russian and Chinese menaces…
Will Ukraine’s virulent nationalism poison the country’s new president Volodymr Zelensky?, commentary by Nicolai Petro, published in The National Interest (conservative magazine), July 14, 2019 [The writer misleadingly reports that former president Petro Poroshenko “was forced eventually to abandon any attempt to implement the Minsk II Accords [February 2015] which he himself had once touted.” The Minsk 2 accords were ‘forced’ on Ukraine by virtue of its military defeat in 2014-15 at the hands of pro-autonomy forces in Donbass, the former Ukrainian territories of Donetsk and Lugansk. With encouragement from NATO and the West, the coup regime in Kyiv headed by Poroshenko never showed the slightest serious intent to implement the accords, even though the regime signed them and Germany and France agreed to act, along with Russia, as guarantors. Ukraine will hold a legislative election on July 21, following the two-round election for president which took place in April/May of this year.]
Related: Donetsk Republic calls Zelensky’s talk of big-power talks over the future of Donbass an attempt to quit Minsk-2 process, by Donetsk News Agency, July 9, 2019
Previously reported: NATO and Chrystia Freeland have lost Ukrainian hearts and minds, new poll of Ukrainians funded by Dutch government shows, by John Helmer, published on his website Dances with Bears, July 10, 2019 …So far, no Canadian, British or American newspaper or think-tank has reported on the shift in Ukrainian voter sentiment, although the country will hold its Verkhovna Rada (parliament) election on July 21. Nor have the Russian media noticed… The poll reports overwhelming rejection of the war policy of the U.S., Canada and the European Union, including the Dutch. Altogether, 69 per cent of the Ukrainians polled want peace; almost half of them with whatever concessions will be necessary…
Extinction Rebellion shuts down traffic in five UK cities in beginnning of summer campaign condemning global warming threat, by Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, July 15, 2019
Sweeping raids announced by ICE to detain migrants residing in U.S. are so far few and low key, Reuters, July 14, 2019
Related: Protests across the U.S. on July 13 against Trump’s directive to ICE to detain and deport 2,500 migrants who are labelled as ‘illegal’, report by Vox News, July 13, 2019
U.S. forced to mull sanctions against Turkey after arrival of S-400 missiles purchased from Russia, by Jack Detsch and Amberin Zaman, Al-Monitor, July 12, 2019
Previously reported:
* Turkey receives first delivery of its purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile system, defying the U.S. and NATO, New York Times, July 12, 2019 and read: report by Reuters, July 11, 2019 [The U.S. and NATO are concerned that installation of the missile system by Russian engineers will give Russia knowledge of the West’s most advanced military technology. It also puts question marks over the future of NATO’s Incirlik air base in Turkey.]
* Turkish-US talks on northern Syria stall as S-400 crisis peaks, by Amberin Zaman, Al-Monitor, July 10, 2019 …Jim Jeffrey, the Donald Trump administration’s top policy official on Syria, acknowledged the lack of progress [on Syria-U.S. talks over future relations with the Kurds] without characterizing it as such in a brief but candid interview with the German Marshall Fund that was published this week. Jeffrey made several things clear, none of which will please Turkey. For one, he stated, albeit elliptically, that US forces in northeastern Syria are staying indefinitely. Touching on Trump’s shock announcement in December that he had ordered the withdrawal of all troops from Syria, Jeffrey said, “It’s been reversed in the sense that, while the president is continuing with the withdrawal, his plan is to keep for an indeterminate time, a residual force in the northeast.”
Russia rejects talks with Japan on return of Kuril islands, citing the ongoing threat of the U.S.military presence in Japan and the close military alliance of the two countries, Press TV, July 15, 2019
UN investigator: Israel “moving rapidly” towards West Bank annexation, by James Reinl, Mondoweiss, July 12, 2019
With its hatchet job on Labour antisemitism, the BBC’s ‘Panorama’ program has become pro-Tory media, by Jonathan Cook, Middle East Eye, July 11, 2019 and also published on the website of Jonathan Cook
Related: Unite, UK’s second largest union, joins int’l boycott of Hewlett-Packard, report by Palestinian BDS National Committee, published on the BDS website (Boycott, divestment, Sanctions), July 13, 2019
Benny Morris reveals more about the Israeli conspiracy to cover-up the Nakba, by Jonathan Ofir, Mondoweiss, July 12, 2019
Jeffrey Epstein was a sex offender. The rich and powerful welcomed him anyway, investigative report in New York Times, July 13, 2019
Related:
* How investigative reporting and survivor testimony toppled billionaire serial abuser Jeffrey Epstein, interview with Casey Frank, senior editor for investigations at the Miami Herald, broadcast on Democracy Now!, July 9, 2019 (26-minute interview, with transcript)
* Jeffrey Epstein is the ultimate symbol of plutocratic rot, by Michelle Goldberg, columnist, New York Times, July 8, 2019 …Epstein also hung out with Bill Clinton, who rode on his jet several times. Ghislaine Maxwell, a close companion of Epstein who has been accused of working as his procurer, attended Chelsea Clinton’s wedding in 2010, long after Epstein’s exposure. Following his arrest on July 6, Christine Pelosi, daughter of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, tweeted, “It is quite likely that some of our faves are implicated but we must follow the facts and let the chips fall where they may.” …
* Jeffrey Epstein was a ‘terrific guy’, Donald Trump once said. Now he’s ‘not a fan’, report in New York Times, July 10, 2019 …Mr. Epstein, who was charged on July 8 in Manhattan with sex trafficking, is better known as a longtime friend of former President Bill Clinton’s than as a close associate of Mr. Trump’s…
* Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein: How are they connected?, New York Times, July 9, 2019
Bernie Sanders vs the endless austerity regime, by Glen Ford, executive editor, Black Agenda Report, July 11, 2019
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps denies British claim that it tried to capture a BP-owned oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on July 11, by Al-Monitor staff, July 11, 2019
Related:
* U.S. House of Representatives votes to stop Trump from launching ‘unauthorized attack’ against Iran, by Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, July 12, 2019
* Following its July 4 act of piracy off Gibraltar in seizing oil tanker carrying Iranian crude oil to Syria, British gov’t and military are now staging provocations alleging ‘Iranian threats’ to BP oil tankers. News report by Reuters, July 11, 2019
* UK to send a second warship to the Gulf amid crisis with Iran, Reuters, July 12, 2019
* ‘This is a dangerous game’: Iran tells U.S. and UK to leave Persian Gulf Region immediately as tensions soar, by Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, July 12, 2019
* Detained crew of Iranian supertanker released on bail, ship remains impounded, Press TV, July 13, 2019
116 Iranian rights defenders warn of ‘devastating’ consequences of U.S.-Iran military conflict, statement issued on June 26, 2019 [Any merits concerning political rights in Iran of this open letter are negated by the letter’s presentation of the threats against the government and people of Iran by the U.S., its Western allies and Middle East proxies. These are presented as being a case of “rising tensions between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran”. The open letter speaks of “the impact of any military action in Iran”, “military confrontation in Iran” and “outbreak of war”–language that assigns equal responsibility to Iran. The reality that it is the U.S. and its allies that are fomenting a crisis by threatening Iran and its people. This also, not coincidentally, deflects attention from the U.S. walkout last year from the 2015 international agreement (Wikipedia) accepting Iran’s right to develop a nuclear energy program.]
A federal judge in Washington, DC has just shut down half of Robert Mueller’s ‘Russian-interference’ case, by Daniel Lazare, Consortium News, July 11, 2019 Judge backs legal case of Concord Management and Consulting, owned by a wealthy Russian whose also owns the ‘Internet Research Agency’ that is falsely accused of ‘interference’ in 2016 U.S. election.
‘What made you ‘skeptical of the Russia hacking narrative?’, interview with journalist Aaron Mate, broadcast on July 10, 2019 on the YouTube channel of The Progressive’s Soapbox, with host Jamarl Thomas (40-minute interview. The home page of YouTube channel of The Progressive’s Soapbox is here.)
Related: Time for Russiagate to end, by Margaret Kimberley, editor and senior columnist, Black Agenda Report, July 10, 2019</a.
Putin tells U.S. filmmaker Oliver Stone about 2013 understanding with then-President Barak Obama on Ukraine, TASS Russian news service, July 9, 2019
‘Revealing Ukraine’: New documentary film by Oliver Stone. [The film was first broadcast on July 6, 2019 at the prestigious Taormina Film Festival in Italy. It will premiere on Russia’s ‘Rossiya-1’ TV channel on July 19. Viewers in the West can view the film at… no, wait, this film will be censored by Western television and film outlets, suffering the same fate as previous cinematic efforts to cast light on the NATO/Western-backed coup in Ukraine in February 2014. The Prosecutor General of Ukraine has stated that he will launch criminal prosecutions for state treason and financing of terrorism against anyone broadcasting the fil. The award-winning U.S. documentary ‘Revealing Ukraine’ is scheduled for broadcast this weekend on Ukraine’s ‘112’ television channel. A rare news report in English on the occasion of the film’s release is published in the anti-Russia Moscow Times on July 9.]
Related: ‘Russians and Ukrainians are one people’, Putin tells filmmaker Oliver Stone in Stone’s new documentary film ‘Revealing Ukraine’, RT, July 9, 2019
Cuban compassion: Training doctors for the Pacific island nation of Kiribati that is running out of time, by Robert Huish and Sharon McLennan, The Conversation, July 11, 2019 [Cuba’s commitment to training health care professionals in Kiribati is a compelling example of how we can take care of each other as the global warming crisis intensifies. New Zealand and Australia, by contrast, offer a future of temporary work permits and re-settlement to Pacific Islanders whose islands are slated to disappear due to rising ocean levels.]
Response to the report on Venezuela by Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, by the The International Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity, July 8, 2019 and read: Venezuela: The Bachelet lie, by Peter Koenig, published in Dissident Voice, July 8, 2019 …Bachelet’s report did not condemn the U.S. sanctions and did not address the criminality of the foreign-guided internal coup attempts. Instead, the report states dubious figures of deaths that have occurred during the last several years of violent upheavals – some 9,000 – leaving unclear who is responsible for the deaths, though the general tenor of the report implies that it is most likely the Maduro Government. That is not true, but that’s precisely what Washington and its European and Latin American vassals want to hear…
Previously reported:
* Venezuelan government slams ‘biased’ report by UN human rights commissioner Michelle Bachelet, by Ricardo Vaz, Venezuela Analysis, July 7, 2019
* ‘Weaponizing human rights’: UN human rights high commissioner Michelle Bachelet’s Venezuela report follows U.S. regime change script, by Anya Parampil, published in The Grayzone, July 6, 2019
NATO and Chrystia Freeland have lost Ukrainian hearts and minds, new poll of Ukrainians funded by Dutch government shows, by John Helmer, published on his website Dances with Bears, July 10, 2019 …So far, no Canadian, British or American newspaper or think-tank has reported on the shift in Ukrainian voter sentiment, although the country will hold its Verkhovna Rada (parliament) election on July 21. Nor have the Russian media noticed… The poll reports overwhelming rejection of the war policy of the U.S., Canada and the European Union, including the Dutch. Altogether, 69 per cent of the Ukrainians polled want peace; almost half of them with whatever concessions will be necessary…
Hypocrisy reigns at int’l conference on ‘press freedom’ hosted by Britain and Canada, report by Associated Press, July 10, 2019
Related:
* British gov’t proudly co-hosts press freedom forum, meanwhile at European court hearing in Strasbourg it defends its right to spy on journalists, RT, July 11, 2019
* From the Faebook page of University of Ottawa researcher Ivan Katchanovski, July 20, 2019: There is a call for Ukrainian president Zelensky to release almost 50 political prisoners, including several journalists and 5 Berkut [former police force] members, who were arrested and are being tried for political reasons for the Maidan massacre in February 2014 in spite of overwhelming evidence that they did not massacre Maidan protesters. As I have written, political repression in Ukraine after the 2014 Maidan coup has reached levels last seen in Soviet Ukraine. It is noteworthy that there is silence and denial by governments and the media in Ukraine and the West concerning political prisoners in Ukraine and support for such Soviet-style political repression. It will be revealing to see if Zelensky will do anything to release political prisoners in Ukraine and stop political repression.
DSA/Jacobin Magazine/Haymarket Books-sponsored ‘Socialism 2019’ conference in Chicago features U.S. gov-funded regime-change activists, by Ben Norton and Max Blumenthal, published on The Grayzone, July 6, 2019
U.S. violates nuclear non-proliferation obligations, undermining its credibility with Iran and North Korea, interview with Phyllis Bennis and Tim Shorrock, broadcast on The Real News Network, July 9, 2019 (22-minute interview, with transcript)
Related: Iranian president Hassan Rouhani mocks U.S. for calling emergency meeting of International Atomic Energy Agency to discuss the 2015 Iran nuclear deal which the Trump regime walked out of in 2018, RT, July 10, 2019
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar brands FOX Television’s Tucker Carlson a ‘racist fool’ in scathing tweet, RT, July 10, 2019
Nicaragua has the lowest murder rate in Central America, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reports in its ‘Global Study On Homicide 2019’, Telesur, July 9, 2019
Jeremy Corbyn comes out in favour of a second referendum on Brexit and says Labour Party would take a ‘remain’ position, by Rob Merrick, deputy political editor, The Independent, July 9, 2019 Corbyn’s letter to Labour Party MP’s leaves open the stance the party will take during a general election
Right wing regains power in July 7 legislative election in Greece, report in Common Dreams, July 7, 2019 (full result of July 7, 2019 Greece legislative election here in Wikipedia)
Related: Greece: Completing the vicious circle, by Michael Roberts, published on his website, July 9, 2019
U.S. State Dept boasted in 2017 that appointment of Chrystia Freeland as Canada’s foreign minister confirmed that Trudeau-led Canadian gov’t has adopted an ‘America first’ foreign policy, by Ben Norton, published in The Grayzone, July 5, 2019
To meet its nuclear energy needs, as Europe misses deadline to counter U.S. pullout from 2015 nuclear agreement, Iran commences uranium enrichment to higher purity than JCPOA limit of 3.67%, Press TV, July 7, 2019
Related news: Iran steps up uranium enrichment over 2015 agreement levels, hopes to save agreement ‘but not at any cost’, RT, July 7, 2019
Hungry, scared and sick: Inside the migrant detention center in Clint, Texas at the epicenter of outrage over the Trump administration’s policies along the Mexico border, feature report by multiple writers, New York Times, July 6, 2019
Mueller report gets the 2016 Trump Tower meeting wrong, promotes Browder hoax underlying 2012 U.S. ‘Magnitsky Act, by Lucy Komisar, special to Consortium News, July 3, 2019 Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya did not have ‘dirt’ on Hillary Clinton. When she met with Trump’s people, her focus was not on the 2016 election campaign. (Lucy Komisar is an investigative reporter who writes about financial corruption. In 2010, she won a Gerald Loeb financial journalism award. She has written extensively about William Browder and tax evasion and publishes The Komisar Scoop.)
Previously reported: Robert Mueller’s own report undercuts its core ‘Russia-meddling’ claims, by Aaron Maté, published in Real Clear Investigations, July 4, 2019
The military-industrial virus: How bloated defense budgets gut the U.S. armed forces, by Andrew Cockburn, published in Harpers Magazine (monthly), issue of June 2019
U.S. State Dept boasted in 2017 that appointment of Chrystia Freeland as Canada’s foreign minister confirmed that Trudeau-led Canadian gov’t has adopted an ‘America first’ foreign policy, by Ben Norton, published in The Grayzone, July 5, 2019
Leaked cables from UK’s ambassador to the U.S. from 2017 to the present blast Trump as ‘inept,’ ‘incompetent’, by Michelle Kosinski, Schams Elwazer and Stephen Collinson, CNN, July 7, 2019
Scandal grows surrounding Jair Bolsonaro’s justice minister Sergio Moro as The Intercept partners with Brazil’s largest magazine for new exposé, by Glenn Greenwald and Victor Pougy, The Intercept, July 5, 2019
Related:
* Glenn Greenwald targeted with investigation by Brazilian government after reporting on corruption, by Eoin Higgins, Common Dreams, July 3, 2019
* Brazil’s anti-corruption drive has been exposed as corrupt itself, and it could bring down President Jair Bolsonaro, by Benjamin Fogel, The Independent, July 2, 2019 Reports revealing that Sergio Moro, the judge in the Lava Jato corruption investigation, now the justice minister, not only interfered with but directed the prosecution case against former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva deals a huge blow to the Brazilian president
Russia condemns UK for seizing Iranian oil supertanker off Gibraltar, Press TV, July 5, 2019
Related news: British military seizes oil tanker carrying Iranian oil to Syria through waters off UK colony of Gibraltar, Bloomberg News, July 4, 2019 and read: report in RT, July 4, 2019
Background: The British dimension of U.S. military threats agaisnt Iran, research paper by Paul Rogers and Richard Reeve, Oxford Research Group, June 20, 2019
[Sanctions against Iran and its oil production are a U.S. creation dating back to Iran’s 1979 revolution which overthrew the tyranny of a U.S.-backed monarch. (Wikipedia) Sanctions against Syria (Wikipedia) are a U.S. creation beginning in 2011 as part of the drive of Western countries to overthrow the Syrian government and subjugate its people. NATO powers such as Britain as well as the European Union act as poodles for Washington in enforcing U.S. sanctions.]
‘Reparations are not just about slavery but also centuries of theft and racial terror’: Interview with author Ta-Nehisi Coates, broadcast on Democracy Now!, July 4, 2019 (25 minute interview)
Related: ‘What to the slave is the 4th of July?’: James Earl Jones reads the historic speech in 1852 by anti-slavery crusader Frederick Douglass, story broadcast on Democracy Now!, July 4, 2019 (seven minutes)
Why Washington still hasn’t sanctioned Turkey over purchase of Russian S-400 missile system, by Bryant Harris, Al-Monitor, July 3, 2019
Military escalation in Syrian province of Idlib may force Turkey to review its position, by Fehim Tastekin, Al-Monitor, July 3, 2019
Related:
* Damascus vies with Saudi-Kurd union for tribal support, by Lamar Erkendi, Al-Monitor, July 1, 2019
* Turkey buys grain from Syrian farmers, by Khaled al-Khateb, Al-Monitor, July 1, 2019
* Aleppo beekeepers no longer feel sting of war, by Khaled al-Khateb, Al-Monitor, June 19, 2019
Russia to step up assistance to Venezuelan military, Anadolou News Agency (Turkey), July 5, 2019
Iran stops stamping passports, by Saeed Jalili, Al-Monitor, July 3, 2019
Head of OPEC speaks out against Venezuelan and Iran oil embargos as Venezuela production climbs in June, by Paul Dobson, Venezuela Analysis, July 4, 2019
Related: Washington hits Cuba’s state-owned oil and metals import firm with sanctions over economic links to Venezuela, RT, July 5, 2019
Demonstrators get ready to counter Trump’s July 4th military parade monstrosity on Capitol Hill, by Eoin Higgins, Common Dreams, July 3, 2019 [Excerpt from July 4 interview on Canada’s state-run propaganda service the CBC: CBC host: ‘We know that Donald Trump is favorable to the dictatorial leaders of Russia and North Korea. Is this where his idea of a military parade in Washington came from?’ Interview guest: ‘Actually, Trump got the idea after viewing the annual Bastille Day parade [July 14] in Paris, France [in 2017].’
We need a Labour Party committed to Brexit, by Costas Lapavitsas, published in Jacobin, July 1, 2019 (This is an abridged version of a longer article due to appear in the October 2019 issue of Monthly Review. ) [The gaping hole in this otherwise insightful and compelling essay is how a radicalized working class in Britain needs to challenge the rising war and militarism of the European imperialist powers and their U.S. ally and patron. The NATO military alliance and its New Cold War against Russia and China are the twin relatives of the European Union, but this fact is absent from the author’s analysis.]
CounterPunch and its writer Paul Street cling to view that ‘Russia’ sought to aid Donald Trump in 2016 election. Commentary published in CounterPunch, July 2, 2019 …There’s no doubt that Russia [sic] tried various things (hacking, dumping, social media-campaigning and more) to help Trump win in 2016… [And the evidence for this claim by the writer? The sum total of evidence presented is a weblink to a conspiratorial website called ‘The Moscow Project‘. The commentary finishes with high praise for a March 2017 essay in the anti-Russia New York Review of Books by the Russian-American writer Masha Gessen. Gessen has wisely backed away from joining the Russia conspiracy bandwagon in order not to further discredit her anti-Russia credentials. Her essay cited by Paul Street expressly dismisses the claims that ‘Russia’ favored Trump’s election!]
Brazil struggles through President Jair Bolsonaro’s first six months, Deutsche Welle, July 1, 2019
Related:
* Brazil registers huge spike in Amazon deforestation, Deutsche Welle, July 3, 2019
* The smoking gun of U.S. involvement in the ‘Lava Jato’ judicial operation that led to the impeachment (soft coup) against Brazil’s elected president Dilma Rousseff in August 2016, by Bryan Pitts, Brazil Wire, June 13, 2019
Italian judge releases Carola Rackete, captain of German rescue ship, saying she was fulfilling ‘her duty to protect life’, by Julia Conley, Common Dreams, July 3, 2019
Imperial overreach in Iran, by Suvrat Raju, published by Research Unit for Political Economy (Mumbai, India), June 27, 2019
Related news: Russia vows to help Iran remain equal energy player, Press TV, July 3, 2019
Migrants shown pleading for help as U.S. government agency issues report and photos on conditions in detention center in Texas, Reuters, July 3, 2019
Related:
* As fury grows, tens of thousands rally across U.S. demanding immediate action to ‘#CloseTheCamps’, report by Julia Conley, with photos, Common Dreams, July 2, 2019
* Migrants held in ‘horrifying’ conditions at Texas border facility, report visiting members of Congressional Hispanic Caucus, by Julio-Cesar Chavez, Reuters, July 1, 2019
* More than 140 Holocaust and genocide experts think Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez should be allowed to call migrant detention centers ‘concentration camps’, by Jason Lemon, Newsweek, July 1, 2019
* Inside the secret Border Patrol Facebook group where agents joke about migrant deaths and post sexist memes, by A.C. Thompson July 1, published in Pro-Publica, July 1, 2019
* Investigation of secret Border Patrol Group launched as new, degrading Facebook posts surface, by A.C. Thompson and Dara Lind, Pro-Publica, July 1, 2019
The death of Mohammad Morsi, by As’ad AbuKhalil, Consortium News, July 3, 2019 The one year of Morsi’s presidency in 2012-13 was an interesting period in contemporary Egyptian history. It was by far the freest political era. Political parties and media flourished and the state tolerated more criticisms against the ruler than before or since.
Donald Trump’s visit crossing the border that seperates the two Koreas, discussion on Democracy Now! with Christine Ahn and Suzy Kim, July 1, 2019 (Suzy Kim, associate professor of Korean history at Rutgers University, and Christine Ahn is a founder and executive director of Women Cross DMZ; Suzy Kim, associate professor of Korean history at Rutgers University.)
Related: In new talks, U.S. may settle for a nuclear freeze by North Korea, by Michael Crowley and David Sanger, New York Times, June 30, 2019
Bernie Sanders’ ‘socialism’ is old-fashioned liberalism, by Howie Hawkins, June 30, 2019 (Howie Hawkins is seeking the 2020 presidential nomination of the Green Party.)
