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, June 2019
The status and future trajectory of U.S. – China trade negotiations following the June 28-29 G20 meeting in Japan, by Jack Rasmus, published on his webite, June 30, 2019 …Just as European and American imperialists jockeyed and maneuvered in the years leading up to 1914 and the first world war, with their focus on disputes over markets and global natural resource control, in the 21st century the jockeying and maneuvering has similarly begun—albeit this time with a different focus on nextgen technologies, over who controls global money flows, whose currency will continue to dominant, over who calls the shots in global institutions like the IMF, World Bank, WTO, and so on…
Capital’s latest ideological offensives targetting medicare for all, socialism, and modern monetary theory, by Jack Rasmus, published on his website, June 27, 2019
Chris Hedges describes Vladimir Lenin as a tyrant and dictator, ignoring the catastrophic conditions caused by imperialist intervention which scarred the early years of the Russian Revolution. Text of a talk by Chris Hedges at the 2019 Left Forum in New York City, published in his weekly column in Truthdig, July 1, 2019.
Trump backs down on Huawei tech ban, says China has agreed in exchange to buy more U.S. agricultural products, by Margaret Talev, Nick Wadhams and Jennifer Jacobs, Bloomberg News, June 29, 2019
Related:
* Trump to ease Huawei ban as US-China trade negotiations restart, Associated Press, June 29, 2019
* Huawei lifeline shows Trump prefers business deals over Cold War, by Shawn Donnan, Bloomberg News, June 29, 2019 [Donald Trump announced in China on June 29 that his regime is backing away from an all-encompassing banning of Huawei from purchasing communication technology from U.S. manufacturers. News reports such as the one above from Bloomberg News offer musings about what motivates the Trump regime’s actions on trade issues with China. But it’s not complicated or conspiratorial: pragmatism rules. Meanwhile, Canada’s government and its anti-China business, media and academic classes are left looking like chumps, not to speak of hypocrites, having detained Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou on December 1, 2018 on a U.S. extradition demand. The government has claimed all along that the detention had ‘nothing to do’ with U.S. foreign policy. Oops, Trump has exposed that fiction. The detention prompted retaliatory measures by China against Canada which the latter has been powerless to stop or deflect. Canada has pinned all its hopes on the Trump regime ‘doing something’ to convince China to ease up. Will the Chinese government now release the two Canadian political operatives detained in China in December 2018 following Meng Wanzhou’s detention? Will it lift its banning of some Canadian food imports? Or has Canada inflicted too much damage on its relations with China?]
Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Zarif confirms that Iran’s enriched uranium stocks exceed the 300kg limit of the 2015 nuclear agreement, Press TV, July 1, 2019
Pakistan and the politics of polio, by Shah Meer Baloch, The Diplomat (India), June 27, 2019 Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only two countries left with polio cases. All other countries have eradicated the virus.
Iran seeks relief in Asia from U.S. sanctions, by Alireza Noori, Al-Monitor, June 28, 2019
Related:
* Asia oil imports from Iran plunge to five-year low after waivers end, Reuters, June 28, 2019
* Iran looks to Asia for sanctions relief, by Bill Barnes, Petroleum Economist, June 13, 2019
Commanders of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps say risk of military attack by U.S. or others against Iran is low but voice concerns over effects of economic sanctions, by Al-Monitor staff, June 27, 2019
Previously reported:
* At security summit meeting of U.S., Russia and Israel, Russia sides with Iran, by Judah Ari Gross, The Times of Israel, June 25, 2019
* Russian diplomats sweep through Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, by Marianna Belenkaya, Al-Monitor, June 24, 2019
* New sanctions by U.S. against Iran expose U.S. lie about seeking dialog, says President Hassan Rouhani, Press TV, June 25, 2019 and read: Russia speaks out against Trump regime’s sanctions against Iran, Press TV, June 24, 2019
* Head of governing regime in Washington threatens Iran with ‘obliteration’, report in Middle East Eye, June 21, 2019 [The entirety of the world’s corporate as well as alternative media is reporting as fact the staged story that the madman heading the Washington regime stepped in at the last minute on to halt a U.S. military strike against Iran on June 20, citing concern over loss of Iranian lives that would result. The same madman has since made a genocidal threat to “obliterate” Iran. The Democratic Party as well as the U.S. allies in Europe, Australasia and Canada are all-in on the U.S. goal to weaken Iran and bring the Iranian people to their knees. The imperialist ruling classes are quite literally on a course to set the world on fire, confident that they can control the conflagration and its ruinous aftermath.].
* Iran refrained from hitting U.S. plane with 35 personnel aboard that was accompanying downed drone, Republican Guard commander explains, Press TV, June 21, 2019
* Report by UK ‘Counterfire’ group on U.S. drive against the people of Iran lays fault on both sides, making no call to end U.S. sanctions and saying nothing of U.S. abrogation of 2015 nuclear agreement, commentary by Chris Nineham, published in Counterfire, June 22, 2019 [This brief analysis by Counterfire leader Chris Nineham begins by accepting as truth the claim by the New York Times and Donald Trump himself that on June 20, Trump stepped in at the last minute to prevent the U.S. from undertaking a military strike against Iran. A brief, banal analysis by the same writer published by the Australian Green Left Weekly suggests that the U.S. and Iran share responsiblity for the danger of war. It begins: “Neither the United States nor Iran really wants war, we are told, because the reality of such a conflict is too horrific to contemplate. But the Gulf tanker crisis and the U.S. response [emphasis added] shows that we are alarmingly close to open hostilities…”]
U.S. officials join bizarre Iranian cult MEK in rallying for regime change, 12-minute video report by Max Blumenthal, broadcast on the YouTube channel of The Grayzone, June 27, 2019
Russia and China agree to significantly boost trade in ruble and yuan at the expense of the U.S. dollar, RT, June 28, 2019
Dept of Justice probe into Boeing expands to production of 787 Dreamliner manufactured at non-union complex in South Carolina, by Steve Miletech Seattle Times, June 28, 2019
Related:
* Boeing’s 737 Max software was outsourced abroad to $9-an-hour engineers, by Peter Robison, Bloomberg News, June 28, 2019 It remains the mystery at the heart of Boeing Co.’s 737 Max crisis: how a company renowned for meticulous design made seemingly basic software mistakes leading to a pair of deadly crashes. Longtime Boeing engineers say the effort was complicated by a push to outsource work to lower-paid contractors…
* Pilots have flagged computer software problems on many models of Boeing jets in addition to 737 Max, by Anita Sharpe, Bloomberg News, June 27, 2019
* Boeing 787 jet sold to Air Canada developed a fuel leak, had falsified records covering up the problem, CBC News, June 28, 2019
Palestinians in Gaza say Bahrain summit is the ‘New Oslo’, by Ahmad Kabariti, Mondoweiss, June 26, 2019
Related:
* U.S.-led summit in Bahrain on Palestine treacherous event: Yemen’s Houthi movement, Press TV, June 27, 2019
* U.S.-led conference in Bahrain on the futur eof hte Middle East is detached from reality, has no future, says Palestinian PM, Press TV, June 28, 2019
Vladimir Putin: Interview with The Financial Times, news story on RT, June 27, 2019 Full text of interview translated to English, published on the website of the President of Russia, June 27, 2019 On the eve of the G20 summit, Vladimir Putin spoke with The Financial Times Editor Lionel Barber and Moscow Bureau Chief Henry Foy
Much safer to be a protester in Hong Kong than in France, Press TV, June 27, 2019
The Great Black Reparations Debate, by Glen Ford, executive editor, Black Agenda Report, June 26, 2019
Joseph Biden and the shame of the Black misleaders, by Margaret Kimberley, editor and senior columnist, Black Agenda Report, June 26, 2019
Dept of Homeland Security whistleblower who spoke out against Obama-Era immigration jails condemns conditions on border, interview with Dr. Scott Allen, broadcast on Democracy Now!, June 26, 2019 (with transcript)
Related story: Survivor of WWII internment camp speaks out: ‘Japanese Americans know the trauma of child detention’, interview with Satsuki Ina, broadcast on Democracy Now!, June 26, 2019 (with transcript)
Global warming threatens ‘climate apartheid’, says UN special rapporteur on poverty and human rights, Reuters, June 25, 2019 read also a report in Phys.org, June 24, 2019 The world is on course for “climate apartheid”, where the rich buy their way out of the worst effects of global warming while the poor bear the brunt, says a new rights report by Philip Alston, the UN’s special rapporteur on poverty and human rights…
Ekrem Imamoglu of Republican People’s Party wins re-run of Istanbul mayoral election in blow to Erdogan’s AKP party, by Diego Cupolo, Al- Monitor, June 23, 2019 [At 84 per cent, voter turnout on June 23 remained roughly the same as the election of March 31, 2019, declared annulled by Turkey’s electoral board. Ekrem Imamoglu is a leader of the opposition, social-democratic Republican People’s Party (CHP). Istanbul is a city of 15 million, drawing millions of tourists each year. It is Turkey’s commercial and cultural hub and accounted for 31 per cent of Turkey’s GDP in 2017.].
Related:
* Opposition retakes Istanbul mayor’s office to find powers shrinking, by Amberin Zaman, Al Monitor, June 26, 2019
* Istanbul celebrates but Erdogan-watchers hold breath in NATO-member Turkey following stunning defeat of ruling party in city election, report by Amberin Zaman, Al-Monitor, June 24, 2019
* Imprisoned leader of People’s Democratic Party, Selahattin Demirtas, urges voters to support Ekrem Imamoglu in June 23 Istanbul re-run election, by Cagan Koc, Bloomberg News, June 18, 2019
Japanese-American internment survivors protest plan to jail migrant kids at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, a WWII camp, Democracy Now!, June 24, 2019
Related: America’s new concentration camp system, by Andrea Pitzer, New York Review of Books daily blog, June 21, 2019
This celebrated Western-funded nonprofit collaborated with al-Qaeda to wage lawfare against Syria, by Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton, The Grayzone, June 19, 2019 (This is part two of an investigation into government-funded, opposition-linked NGOs that pose as impartial monitors and investigators of the Syrian conflict.) Mainstream media reporting on Syria has drawn heavily on the work of the Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA), a Western government-funded regime change group whose investigators collaborated with al-Qaeda and its extremist allies to drum up prosecutions of Syrian officials
Previously reported: Behind the Syrian Network for Human Rights: How an opposition front group became Western media’s go-to monitor, by Max Blumenthal, The Grayzone, June 14, 2019 (This is part one of an investigation into government-funded, opposition-linked NGOs that pose as impartial monitors and investigators of the Syrian conflict.)
Coup-seeking gang in Venezuela led by Juan Guaidó is exposed for humanitarian aid fraud, by Dan Cohen, The Grayzone, June 22, 2019
Related: Did Venezuelan coup leaders pocket $70 million from Citgo’s stolen U.S. assets?, by Anya Parampil, The Grayzone, June 19, 2019
British government minister Mark Field and the danger of getting sidetracked, by Jonathan Cook, published on his website blog, June 22, 2019
Western left reflection on the death in custody of President Mohamed Morsi, ousted in July 2013 military/fascist coup in Egypt. [A rare, left-wing commentary on the tragic death of Mohamed Morsi in a Cairo courtroom on June 16 has been published by John Rees and the ‘Counterfire’ group which he leads in Britain. The commentary is titled ‘Mohamed Morsi: Murdered by the thug El Sisi’ and was published on June 17. Rees begins, “The death of Mohamed Morsi in a Cairo court room today shows beyond all doubt that the current regime in Egypt is a lawless, mafia gang.” That’s a definite improvement on what he and Counterfire wrote and published at the time of the 2013 coup. Back then, the overthrow of President Morsi was welcomed by Rees and Counterfire. They wrote, “Of all the ways Morsi could fall, this is the best and the worst. The best because it arose out of the huge revolutionary mobilisation of the June 30th demonstrations…” and further: “There can be no doubt the masses were right to mobilise against Morsi [for his overthrow]”… This was the stance of the near-entirety of the Western left, who claimed that the new dictator president Al-Sisi would soon, also be swept from office by the “revolutionary mobilization” taking place in Egypt. Alas, they overlooked a maxim of class struggle politics–an overthrow orchestrated by imperialist countries and their local agents of an elected national leader never leads to a good outcomes. The recent proof of this maxim is long–coups in Haiti in 2004, Mali in 2012, Egypt in 2013, and Ukraine in 2014; and economic sanctions and military intervention in Syria since 2011 and sanctions and threatened intervention against the people of Iran. Left-wing forces that voice the same goals of imperialist intervention inevitably become unwitting tools of the very imperialism they claim to oppose. Such has been the fate of much of the spectrum of groups of Trotskyist origin. They have shown indifference if not open support to the new cold war being waged by imperialism that aims to overthrow the governments of Russia and China and is imposing economic sanctions to that end.].
Previously reported:
* Egypt’s ex-president Mohammed Morsi, ousted in military-fascist coup in July 2013, collapses and dies in court, observers cite his grim prison conditions, Associated Press, June 18, 2019 [Background to the tragic death of the courageous Mohammed Morsi is the betrayal of the Egyptian people by much of what passes for a Western left at the time of the July 2013 coup that ousted the elected Morsi. This ‘left’ welcomed the coup against Morsi, saying a ‘popular revolution’ would soon do away with the new, military regime. General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is still in power six years later.].
* Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s first, democratic president, obituary by Amelia Smith, Middle East Monitor, June 18, 2019
* Mohammed Morsi is quickly buried after the country’s military rulers refused his family’s request to bury him in his hometown and kept his burial from public view, New York Times, June 18, 2019 Egypt’s military-fascist leader General General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was appointed defense minister in 2012 by the newly elected President Morsi.].
* Egypt’s rulers reject call by UN’s human rights office for investigation into the death of President Mohammed Morsi, Press TV, June 19, 2019 …Rupert Colville, spokesman for the OHCHR, said “Any sudden death in custody must be followed by a prompt, impartial, thorough and transparent investigation carried out by an independent body to clarify the cause of death.”
* Mass protests grow as military drags Egypt back to dictatorship, by Roger Annis, Jan 10, 2014
Chinese President Xi Jinping ends two-day visit to Pyongyang affirming cooperation between China and North Korea, report by Associated Press, June 21, 2019
Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 prosecution: Dutch police anad prosecutors fire their big guns, by John Helmer, published on his website Dances with Bears, June 19, 2019
Related:
* Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad says Russia being made a scapegoat for downing of MH17, Straits Times (Malaysia), June 20, 2019
* The upcoming neo-Nazi concert in Ukraine that no one is talking about, report in Haaretz, June 18, 2019
The Pentagon is battling the clock to fix serious, unreported F-35 problems, by Valerie Insinna, Defense News, June 12, 2019
Related: Host of new faults revealed in Australia’s billion-dollar, F-35 fighter jets, by Rohan Smith, News.com.au, June 14, 2019
Senate in Vermont votes to oppose nuclear weapons delivery systems in the state, by Mark Johnson, Vermont Digger, May 22, 2019
Related:
* Exit F-16s, enter F-35s: Big change at the Vermont Air National Guard, by Jane Lindholm and Matthew F. Smith, Vermont Public Radio, Apr 10, 2019
* F-35 opponents in Vermont shift focus to nuclear weapons risks, by Mike Dougherty, Vermont Digger, Mar 12, 2019 …In a joint statement on March 12, Sen. Patrick Leahy, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Peter Welch [who support the placement of F-35 fighter aircraft with Vermont National Guard] said they would oppose deploying nuclear weapons using fighter jets based in Burlington…
British gov’t freezes new arms licences for Saudi Arabia after court rules them unlawful amid war crime allegations, by Lizzie Dearden, home affairs correspondent, The Independent, June 20, 2019
Related:
* Advocates urge Ottawa to cease sales of military goods to Saudi Arabia amid growing backlash against war in Yemen, by Steven Chase, Globe and Mail, June 20, 2019
* For Saudi military vehicle deal, Canada weighs jobs and human rights, by Jackie Northam, National Public Radio (U.S.), June 18, 2019
The shaving kit and mainstream media’s manufacturing the withchunt of Julian Assange, by Media Lens, June 20, 2019
The coming show trial of Julian Assange, by Chris Hedges, weekly column in Truthdig, June 17, 2019 On Friday morning, June 14, I was in a small courtroom at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London. Julian Assange, held in Belmarsh Prison and dressed in a pale-blue prison shirt, appeared on a video screen directly in front of me…
U.S. government narrative blaming Iran for oil tanker attacks falls apart in hours, by Ben Norton, published in The Grayzone, June 14, 2019
Two million march in Hong Kong against police violence and proposed extradition-to-China law, drawing apology from chief executive Carrie Lam for handling of issue, by Associated Press, June 16, 2019 and listen: Massive Hong Kong protests demand withdrawal of extradition bill, interviews broadcast on Democracy Now!, June 17, 2019 [This story is presented for the information of readers. A Socialist In Canada does not endorse the interview guests’ presentation of Hong Kong as a democratic enclave engaged in an historic struggle against an authoritarian mainland China.]
Glenn Greenwald explains the political earthquake in Brazil caused by ongoing exposés by The Intercept of judicial corruption and improprieties, by Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept, June 15, 2019 (15 minute video presentation)
Related:
* U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders calls for Brazil’s judiciary to release ex-president Lula in wake of corruption exposure, by Aída Chávez and Akela Lacy, The Intercept, June 11, 2019
* How and why The Intercept is reporting on a vast trove of materials about Brazil’s anti-corruption ‘Operation Car Wash’ and Justice Minister Sergio Moro, by Glenn Greenwald, Leandro Demori and Betsy Reed, The Intercept, June 9, 2019
Peru government tightens border controls to further pressure and threaten Venezuelan people and government, news report by Associated Press, June 14, 2019 [With imperialist intervention by the U.S. and its allies in Europe and Canada on the rise in Latin America, inevitably more policing, border controls and other forms of violence follow…]
Related: Venezuela partially reopens Colombia border, closes Canadian consulates, by Paul Dobson, Venezuela Analysis, June 10, 2019
Hong Kong’s chief executive suspends extradition bill, sets no new time frame, South China Morning Post, June 15, 2019
‘Deja vu’ of 2003 Iraq War lies as U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo blames Iran for attack on two oil tankers without a shred of evidence, by Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, June 13, 2019
Related:
* The gulf of credibility, by Craig Murray, published on his website, June 14, 2019 I really cannot begin to fathom how stupid you would have to be to believe that Iran would attack a Japanese oil tanker at the very moment that the Japanese Prime Minister was sitting down to friendly, US-disapproved talks in Tehran on economic cooperation that can help Iran survive the effects of US economic sanctions…
* US CENTCOM releases grainy video of boat to accuse Iran of attacks, Press TV, June 14, 2019
* Pompeo blames Iran for tanker attacks in Sea of Oman, Press TV, June 13, 2019
* ‘Suspicious doesn’t begin to describe what happened’ says Iranian foreign minister on attacks against two oil tankers in Gulf of Oman, RT, June 13, 2019
UK court rules that Assange extradition hearing to U.S. will begin end-February 2020, by Joe Lauria, Consortium News, June 14, 2019
Related: John Pilger speaks on the global war against Julian Assange, journalism and dissent, interview with John Pilger,broadcast on ‘Flashpoints’ program on KPFA Radio, with hosts Dennis Bernstein and Randy Credico, transcript published in Consortium News, June 14, 2019
Study linking U.S. sanctions to Venezuelan deaths buried by Reuters news agency for more than one month, by Joe Emersberger, Fairness And Accuracy In Reporting, June 14, 2019
Is the Venezuelan economy stabilizing or is the worst still to come?, by Venezuela news agency 15yÚltimo, translated and published in Venezuela Analysis, June 14, 2019
Buried in broad daylight: The ‘free press’ and the leaked OPCW report on ‘chemical attack’ in Douma, Syria in April 2018, by the editors, Media Lens (UK), June 14, 2019
Related: New evidence suggests April 2018 chemical attack in Douma, Syria was staged, interview with MIT Professor Theodore Postol, broadcast on The REal News Network, June 10, 2019 (17-minute interview)
Russia and Turkey broker ceasefire in Syria’s Idlib province, report Russian news agencies, Reuters, June 12, 2019
Related: How Russia is trying to calm Turkey-Syria tensions, by Al-Monitor staff, June 13, 2019
Why did the Robert Mueller ‘Russiagate’ investigation decline to investigate the 2016 murder of DNC staffer Seth Rich?, by Daniel Lazare, Consortium News, June 12, 2019 The idea that the DNC email disclosures were produced by a hack — not a leak —makes less and less sense.
Protests against Trump administration plans to detain migrant children at former Japanese internment camp in Oklahoma, by Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, June 12, 2019
Cruise missile attack by Yemen forces strikes control tower of airport in southern Saudi Arabia, Press TV, June 12, 2019
Russian police drop criminal charges against journalist Ivan Golunov, Associated Press, June 11, 2019
Background:
* ‘Mistakes and violations’ in high-profile case against journalist Ivan Golunov, says head of Russian Senate, RT, June 11, 2019
* Daily newspapers in Russia protest charges against journalist Ivan Golunov, RT, June 10, 2019
Almost 100 killed in Mali massacre as ethnic violence escalates, report in Al Jazeera, June 10, 2019 [Entirely missing from Western media reports on this latest massacre in Mali is the fact that the country is crawling with thousands of NATO-country soldiers and police, especially from France. Thousands of soldiers from neighbouring African countries are also present as part of the ‘MINUSMA’ foreign intervention force under the aegis of the UN Security Council. Foreign intervention aims to block democratic reforms that would grant political autonomy to the numerous Saharan peoples that populate northern Mali, notably the Tuareg people. What role do the foreign soldiers play in stoking ethnic tensions in Mali? Western media does not ask, leave alone try to answer, such questions.]
Brazil fails to replace Cuban doctors driven out by right-wing president Bolsonaro, harming the health care of 28 million people, report by Shasta Darlington and Letícia Casado, in the anti-Cuba New York Times, June 11, 2019 …About half of the Mais Médicos doctors were from Cuba. They were deployed to 34 remote indigenous villages and the poorer quarters of more than 4,000 towns and cities, places that established Brazilian physicians largely shun. “The willingness of Cuban doctors to work in difficult conditions became a cornerstone of the public health system.” …
Facial recognition data collected by U.S. customs agency hacked, by Jon Queally, Common Dreams, June 10, 2019
The West’s ‘law of journalism’over North Korea strikes again as envoy rises from the dead, by Alan MacLeod, Fairness And Accuracy In Reporting, June 10, 2019 [Canada’s state broadcaster the CBC is reporting in its national radio news on June 11 that the North Korean government has recently executed two of its citizens, one for stealing a cow, the other for watching television from South Korea. Yes, this was a national news report on CBC, not a comedy program. It is difficult to tell the difference in the era of the New Cold War.]
Canada’s governing Liberals have a disturbing imperial streak, by Vijay Prashad, produced by Globetrotter (Independent Media Institute) and first published in Portside, June 4, 2019
Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor acknowledges concerns of protesters but vows to carry on with bill allowing extradition to China, South China Morning Post, June 10, 2019 and see: Hundreds of thousands protest in Hong Kong against proposed bill allowing extradition of convicted criminals to China, report in Deutsche Welle, June 9, 2019
U.S. media’s Russiagate obsession smears Black activists, interview with Ajamu Baraka, broadcast on The Real News Network, June 9, 2019 [This interview as well as other recent interviews on the Real News Network indicate that the news outlet is gradually moving away from the anti-Russia prejudices of editor-in-chief Paul Jay that have marked the outlet’s reporting since the Ukraine coup of February 2014.]
Trump-imposed Mexico pact amounts to ‘hostage-taking’, says ex-WTO head Pascal Lamy, Press TV, June 8, 2019
Related:
* Trump’s tariff deal will be ‘disaster’ for thousands of immigrants deported to Mexico, rights groups say, by Julia Conley, Common Dreams, June 9, 2019
* Mexico agreed to take border actions months before Trump announced tariff deal, by Michael Shear and Maggie Haberman, New York Times, June 8, 2019
Trump says U.S. won’t impose trade tariffs on Mexico after Mexican gov’t agrees to obstruct movement of Central American refugees, report by Associated Press, June 8, 2019 [The Trump regime in Washington has threatened for weeks to impose punitive tariffs on trade crossing the Mexican border into the U.S. The threats are a mix of the regime’s typical bluster and sowing of confusion and chaos, and seek to compel the Mexican government to restrict and obstruct the movement of migrants from Central America seeking refuge in the U.S. The large-scale movement of Central American migrants and refugees to the U.S. is a consequence of decades of U.S. military intervention into Central America. These interventions were backed by the U.S.’ imperialist allies in Canada and Europe. The new iteration of this longstanding intervention is the drive to overthrow the Venezuelan and Nicaraguan governments and to increase economic sanctions against Cuba.]
Judge sets extradition-to-U.S. trial for Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou for January 2020, Reuters, June 6, 2019
Related:
* Cost of building ‘5G’ telecommunication network in Europe will be US$62 more if Huawei is banned from participating, Reuters, June 7, 2019
* Huawei brings fast and reliable telecommunication service to rural areas of Canada that Canadian competitors and gov’t serve badly, by Laura Kane, Canadian Press, June 2, 2019
Vladimir Putin warns of grave consequences in U.S. drive to exist 2010 ‘New START’ nuclear arms treaty, report by Al Jazeera, June 7, 2019 and see: New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), signed between the U.S. and Russia in 2010, Wikipedia
Western media and top U.S. journalists spread fake news claiming North Korean official was ‘purged’ – then he shows up on television, by Ben Norton, contributor, The Grayzone, June 3, 2019
Following U.S. lead on Julian Assange, Australian police go on assault spree against free press, by Alexander Rubinstein, Mint Press News, June 5, 2019 …Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison was grilled on the raid while visiting London. He said it “never troubles me that our laws are being upheld,” adding that the matters pertain to the AFP [Australian Federal Police] “and not the government”…
Related:
* Police raids against newspapers and journalists in Australia as the war against journalism escalates, by Caitlin Johnstone (Australian journalist), published on her website, June 5, 2019
* The Afghan files, special report by Dan Oakes and Sam Clark, Australia Broadcasting Corporation News (ABC.net.au), July 10, 2017 [This is one story in a seven-part series based on leaked documents exposing Australian special forces troops’ role in the Afghanistan war. Go to the weblink above for all the stories.] Hundreds of pages of secret defence force documents leaked to the ABC give an unprecedented insight into the clandestine operations of Australia’s elite special forces in Afghanistan, including incidents of troops killing unarmed men and children. The ABC can reveal that some of the cases detailed in the documents are being investigated as possible unlawful killings…
* The U.S. spy hub in the heart of Australia, by Ryan Gallagher, The Intercept, Aug 19, 2017 … For more than 100 years, Australia has been a close U.S. ally; the country has supported the American military in every major war since the early 1900s. This relationship was formalized in 1951, when Australia and the U.S. signed the ANZUS Treaty, a mutual defense agreement. Australia is also a member of the Five Eyes surveillance alliance, alongside the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand. The country’s electronic eavesdropping agency, the Australian Signals Directorate, maintains extremely close ties with its American counterparts at the NSA…
Aged 85, retired Soviet General Nikolai Tarakanov portrayed in HBO’s ‘Chernobyl’ says the television series accurately portrays the fear and terror surrounding the disaster, RT, June 6, 2019
Related: What the horror of the Netflix television series ‘Chernobyl’ reveals about the deceit of the Trump era, by Peter Maas, The Intercept, June 4, 2019
Decades after false convictions of ‘Central Park Five’, Netflix docudrama ‘When They See Us’ highlights media failure, by Xavier Best, Fairness And Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR.org), June 7, 2019
Related:
* The story of the trial and false convictions of the Central Park Five in 1990, Wikipedia
* Feature interview with Ava DuVernay, director of Netflix broadcast ‘When They See Us’ telling story of ‘Central Park Five’, the five boys framed by New York police and courts in 1989, interview broadcast on Democracy Now!, June 7, 2019
* Prosecutor of ‘Central Park Five’ takes fire over Ava DuVernay’s Netflix series ‘When They See Us’, by Lloyd Grove, The Daily Beast, June 4, 2019
* Writers’ group won’t honour Linda Farstein, prosecutor of 1989-90 trials of ‘Central Park Five’, Associated Press, Nov 29, 2018
What is Russia’s strategy in Idlib province of Syria?, by Maxim A. Suchkov, Al-Monitor, June 5, 2019
Previously reported:
* Turkey squashed by Idlib pressure, by Amberin Zaman, Al-Monitor, June 3, 2019
* Why Turkey is closing down Syrian refugee camps, by Metin Gurcan, Al-Monitor, June 4, 2019
* Russia says to achieve ceasefire in Syria’s Idlib province, the onus is on Turkey to rein in the paramilitaries it supports, report in Press TV, May 31, 2019
Trump regime tightens Cuba embargo by banning recreational travel, including cruise ships, and threatening educational travel, Associated Press, June 4, 2019
Presidents Xi and Putin vow to push China-Russia ties to new highs at meeting in Moscow, Press TV, June 5, 2019
Related:
* Russia to double global food exports, ready to replace U.S. agricultural products in China, RT, June 7, 2019
* China and Russia to close ranks in united front against American pressure following Xi Jinping’s meeting with Vladimir Putin, South China Morning Post, June 5, 2019
* Taiwan confirms request to buy several billions of dollars of U.S. tanks and missile systems, Deutsche Welle, June 6, 2019
* Trump threatens to expand tariffs on China by another $300 billion, RT, June 6, 2019 …The simmering trade war between the world’s two biggest economies has already seen an exchange of several rounds of mutual tariff hikes. Almost one year ago, in July 2018, Trump started the row by slapping Beijing with 25-percent tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese technology goods, drawing a similar response from China. Later that year, the White House imposed 10-percent tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports varying from chemicals to consumer goods, in a bid to pressure Beijing into making trade concessions. China struck back, adding $60 billion of American products to its import tariff list…
Two legal wins for imprisoned Julian Assange: Swedish court blocks extradition to Sweden, and U.S. Justice Dept backs away from indictment for ‘Vault 7’ document revelations, by Joe Lauria, Consortium News, June 4, 2019
Related: A Swedish court injects some sense into Julian Assange’s case, by Craig Murray, published on his website, June 5, 2019
Corporate media have second thoughts about exiling Julian Assange from journalism, by John O’Day, Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR.org), June 5, 2019
Don’t be fooled: Media is still selling out Assange, by Jonathan Cook, published on his website blog, May 29, 2019
Also by Jonathan Cook: Abuses show Assange case was never about law, by Jonathan Cook, published on his website blog, May 27, 2019
Reported U.S. covert bombings and other attacks in Afghanistan, by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, latest entry June 4, 2019
The truth about Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port, Chinese ‘debt traps’ and ‘asset seizures’, commentary by Barry Sautman, South China Morning Post, May 6, 2019 When critics of Beijing accuse the government of debt traps and other predatory policies, the example that crops up is almost always that of the Chinese-built Hambantota International Port in Sri Lanka…
Mexico reckons with history as 500th anniversary of the Spanish ‘Conquest’ looms, by Stephanie Nolen, Globe and Mail, June 4, 2019 …Hernan Cortes was a wildly ambitious man who built a complex system of alliances to take control of what today is Mexico. He is getting the prime-time treatment in an eight-part television series ‘Hernan’ breaking new ground in the Mexican entertainment industry…
Chris Hedges echoes Stephen Cohen’s belief in Donald Trump as a ‘détente’ peacemaker. Weekly column by Chris Hedges, published in Truthdig, June 3, 2019. Chris Hedges’ weekly column in Truthdig published on June 3, 2019 is devoted to elaborating the belief by Russia historian Stephen Cohen that Donald Trump wants peace and good relations with Russia. Hedges quotes extensively from his interview with Cohen that was broadcast on Hedges’ weekly ‘On Contact’ program on RT on May 25. He writes: …”Trump comes out of nowhere in 2016 and says, ‘I think we should cooperate with Russia’, ” Cohen said. “This is a statement of détente. It’s what drew my attention to him. It’s then that this talk of Trump being an agent of the Kremlin begins. One has to wonder …was this [allegation] begun somewhere high up in America by people who didn’t want a pro-détente president? …It set in motion these things we call Russiagate.” Despite all the evidence to the contrary during and after the 2016 election, Stephen Cohen sticks to his belief that the Trump regime in Washington wants peace with Russia. This view was widely voiced by corporate media in 2016 and afterward, for malevolent reasons in support of the Democratic Party presidential canadidate. Much alternative media also voiced it, though in its case for reasons of naivete or ugly, anti-Russia prejudice.
Elizabeth Warren’s green imperialism, by Will Meyer, Truthdig, May 31, 2019
Euromaidan activist with neo-Nazi links joins Facebook as public policy manager, RT, June 4, 2019
Turkey’s electoral authority bars elected, left-wing mayors from office, report by Deutsche Welle, June 1, 2019 [Candidates of the left-wing People’s Democratic Party (HDP) were elected in five municipalities in Kurdish-majority southeastern Turkey during countrywide municipal elections on March 31, including in the city of Van. But Turkey’s electoral authority has denied them from serving in office. The HDP is the country’s second-largest opposition party. In 2016, the Turkish government removed 95 of the 102 mayors elected under the HDP banner, accusing them of having connections to the outlawed PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party). Many of them, as well as hundreds of other supporters and officials, remain in prison.]
