Daily Archives: November 30, 2020

2020-11-30: News Headlines

Hanna Johnson (2020-11-30). The Questions You Probably THINK You Know the Answer to — But Likely Don't — About ICE Detention. aclu.org What is ICE detention? What is it not?: | Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE — pronounced "ice," like a cube) detention is civil detention. It is not intended to be

WSWS (2020-11-30). ICE detainees in New Jersey stage hunger strike over coronavirus threat. wsws.org Nine immigrants held at Bergen County Jail in Hackensack are demanding release from the rat-infested facility where social distancing is not possible.

Jonathan Cook (2020-11-30). The Planet Cannot Heal Until We Rip the Mask Off the West's War Machine. counterpunch.org Making political sense of the world can be tricky unless one understands the role of the state in capitalist societies. The state is not primarily there to represent voters or uphold democratic rights and values; it is a vehicle for facilitating and legitimating the concentration of wealth and power into fewer and fewer hands.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-11-30). As Thailand continues repression, protesters stand guard against coup. peoplesdispatch.org Five Thai human rights activists presented themselves before the police on Monday. Meanwhile, over the previous days, protesters held "coup prevention" actions and marched to the barracks of a regiment commanded by the king…

MEE and agencies (2020-11-30). Egyptian man returns to Australia after jailing in Egypt over Facebook post. middleeasteye.net Egyptian man returns to Australia after jailing in Egypt over Facebook post | Waled Youssef was accused of belonging to a banned political group and imprisoned in the notorious Tora prison in Cairo

| Mon, 11/30/2020 – 07: 35 | Youssef's return home comes as Egypt continues to imprison rights activists from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights after meeting with European dip…

MEE and agencies (2020-11-30). Egyptian man returns to Australia after 10 month imprisonment in Egypt over Facebook post. middleeasteye.net Egyptian man returns to Australia after 10 month imprisonment in Egypt over Facebook post | Waled Youssef was accused of belonging to a banned political group and imprisoned in the notorious Tora prison in Cairo

| Mon, 11/30/2020 – 07: 35 | Youssef's return home comes as Egypt continues to three rights activists from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights after meeting with E…

John Malkin (2020-11-30). Tamario Smith's Death in SC County Jail – Attorneys Discuss May 10 Death & Lawsuit. indybay.org Interview with Jonathan Gettleman and Elizabeth Caballero, two Santa Cruz attorneys filing a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of Tamario Smith's family.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-11-30). The agony of Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul. peoplesdispatch.org Saudi women's rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul, who has been in jail for over 900 days and faced physical and psychological torture, is now set to be tried in a terrorism court…

news.un (2020-11-30). The pandemic is fuelling slavery and sexual exploitation, UN experts warn. news.un.org The COVID-19 pandemic has played into the hands of slavers and traffickers and requires stronger government measures to prevent exploitation of vulnerable people, more than 50 independent UN human rights experts said in a statement on Monday.

ERA Coalition (2020-11-30). Monday 11/30: Gen Z and the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) Webinar. indybay.org Online via Zoom…

WSWS (2020-11-30). French government orders dissolution of leading Muslim rights group. wsws.org The executive committee of Collectif Contre Islamophobie en France preventively voted to dissolve itself before a government dissolution order came into force.

Brett Wilkins, staff writer (2020-11-30). 'A Kind of Terrorism': Israeli Human Rights Groups Offer Harrowing Look at IDF Night Raids on Palestinian Homes. commondreams.org "You feel your privacy is being invaded," said one Palestinian victim. "The aim is to control and humiliate." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

_____ (2020-11-30). Venezuela Sentences Former Citgo Executives For Corruption. popularresistance.org Merida – Six former oil executives were sentenced for corruption on Thursday by a Venezuelan court. | They were detained in November 2017 in Caracas on charges of embezzlement, money laundering and conspiracy at state oil company PDVSA's US subsidiary, Citgo. | Attorney General Tarek William Saab stated at the time that the accused had signed contracts without government permission which "jeopardized the country's assets." Refinancing plans with Frontier Group Management and Apollo Global Management allegedly had draconian conditions and offered the company itself as collateral.

Jonathan Cook (2020-11-30). The Planet Cannot Heal Until We Rip the Mask Off the West's War Machine. globalresearch.ca Making political sense of the world can be tricky unless one understands the role of the state in capitalist societies. The state is not primarily there to represent voters or uphold democratic rights and values; it is a vehicle for …

Jonathan Cook (2020-11-29). The Planet Cannot Begin to Heal Until We Rip the Mask off the West's War Machine. dissidentvoice.org Making political sense of the world can be tricky unless one understands the role of the state in capitalist societies. The state is not primarily there to represent voters or uphold democratic rights and values; it is a vehicle for facilitating and legitimating the concentration of wealth and power into fewer and fewer hands. In …

_____ (2020-11-29). Why I'm Thankful For 500 Years Of Indigenous Resistance. popularresistance.org Starting in 1452, under the guise of the Papal Bull Romanus Pontifex and later the 1493 Papal Bull Inter Cetera, the Christian Doctrine of Discovery, European Christians began their efforts to expand colonial rule, and the Christian Empire, throughout the world. | These Papal Bulls sanctioned European Christian Nations to "capture, vanquish, and subdue the saracens, pagans, and other enemies of Christ, to put them into perpetual slavery, and to take all their possessions and property" and were authorized "to take possession of any lands discovered that were not under the dominion of any Christian rulers."

_____ (2020-11-29). Guatemalans Continue Anti-Government Protests. popularresistance.org Guatemala City, Guatemala — Guatemalans have returned to protest across the country for the second Saturday in a row, as discontent with President Alejandro Giammattei and his government continues. | More than 2,000 people gathered in Guatemala City's central plaza to demand the resignation of Giammattei and congressional representatives who had approved the country's controversial 2021 budget. | "We are demanding that they respect our rights and that all those corrupt politicians in Congress leave," Maria Fernanda Saldana, a 22-year-old university student…

Mehr News Agency (2020-11-29). MP proposes Iran's withdrawal from NPT. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Nov. 29 (MNA) — Iranian MP Javad Karimi Ghoddousi said Iran has to pull out from the NPT in case Europeans do not put removal of anti-Iranian sanctions on their agenda.

National Welfare Rights Union, NUH, partners (2020-11-29). Thursday 12/10: We Charge Genocide: Systemic Poverty in All Its Forms is Violence! indybay.org Online event…

Binoy Kampmark (2020-11-28). Not Adding Up: Australia, Iran and the Release of Kylie Moore-Gilbert. dissidentvoice.org Australia's ambassadorial offices and political leaders have a consistent record of ignoring their citizens in tight situations. David Hicks, Mamdouh Habib and Julian Assange are but a few names that come to mind in this inglorious record of indifference. In such cases, Australian public figures and officials have tacitly approved the use of abduction, torture …

_____ (2020-11-28). National Day Of Action For Palestine. popularresistance.org The Israeli government continues to press ahead with its gross violations of international law and Palestinian human rights, accelerating the ongoing colonisation of yet more Palestinian land. These include plans to proceed with formal annexation. Despite the rhetoric from some of our political leaders that the US- UAE has taken annexation off the table, Israel has made clear that its plans are merely on temporary hold . Netanyahu has stated clearly, speaking after the UAE deal, that "there is no change to my plan to extend sovereignty, our sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, in full coordination with the United St…

The Canary (2020-11-28). Tear gas fired as police block Warsaw march against abortion ruling. thecanary.co Police have blocked protesters from marching in Poland's capital as demonstrations took place across the country against an attempt to restrict abortion rights and recent police violence.Action: In Warsaw police set up cordons which the protesters sought to evade, pushing them to try to regroup elsewhere in the city centre.At one point, protest participants gathered on a major thoroughfare, causing traffic to back up. As drivers honked, the protesters shouted: We are sorry for the inconvenience, we have a government to overthrow.Police issued warnings that the demonstration was illegal because it had not be…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-11-28). Trade unions and progressive movements across the world unite to #MakeAmazonPay. peoplesdispatch.org During the pandemic, Amazon emerged as the first trillion-dollar corporation ever while its CEO Jeff Bezos became the first person to amass over USD 200 billion. Meanwhile, its workers across the world have complained of denial of rights…

RT (2020-11-28). Navalny uses meeting between EU officials & pro-West Russian opposition to call for sanctions on Kremlin-linked 'oligarchs'. rt.com Alexey Navalny has called on the EU to impose sanctions on Russian "oligarchs," rich businessmen he says are connected to the Kremlin. The opposition figure wants them to be prevented from keeping assets inside the 27-member bloc. | Navalny explicitly named Uzbek-Russian tycoon Alisher Usmanov and Israeli-Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. Both men laid the foundations for their immense wealth during the Boris Yeltsin-era, when Western governments were encouraging privatization in Russia, and the country's integration into the global capitalist system. Finnish-Russian magnate Boris Rotenberg, who came to pr…

Mehr News Agency (2020-11-28). Martyr Fakhrizadeh expose false supporters of human rights. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Nov. 28 (MNA) — IRGC Quds Force Commander said that Martyr Fakhrizadeh exposed the false supporters of human rights, democracy, and freedom.

Mehr News Agency (2020-11-28). Intl. reactions to assassination of Iranian top scientist. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Nov. 28 (MNA) — The assassination of Iranian scientist Fakhrizadeh provoked many reactions in the region and the world but in the meantime, the silence of many human rights defenders in not condemning this assassination is debatable.

Anthony Costello, Sarah L Dalglish, Anshu Banerjee, Jeremy Shiffman, Helen Clark, WHO—UNICEF—Lancet Commission (2020-11-28). [Correspondence] Harmful marketing to children — Authors' reply. thelancet.com We thank Darren Powell for his insightful feedback. Members of the WHO—UNICEF—Lancet Commission1 agree with Powell that marketing of any products to children might encourage potentially harmful consumption for the child, the planet, and children's futures, and that more work in both academic and political spheres is needed to highlight the risks.1 Our Commission's analysis of children's wellbeing and rights extends to the dangers of the commercialisation of childhood.

sputniknews (2020-11-28). Number of Detentions at Anti-Lockdown Protest in London Rises to 155, Police Say. sputniknews.com LONDON (Sputnik) – More than 150 people were detained in London during a protest against coronavirus restrictions, the Metropolitan Police Service said in a Saturday statement.

Dr. Pascal Sacré (2020-11-28). The COVID-19 RT-PCR Test: How to Mislead All Humanity. Using a "Test" To Lock Down Society. globalresearch.ca The misuse of the RT-PCR technique is used as an intentional strategy by some governments, supported by scientific safety councils and by the dominant media, to justify the violation of a large number of constitutional rights, the destruction of the economy with the bankruptcy of entire active sectors of society,…

Rod Driver (2020-11-27). The War Crimes of Bush and Blair — Afghanistan and Iraq. globalresearch.ca "The invasion of Iraq was a bandit act, an act of blatant state terrorism, demonstrating absolute contempt for the concept of international law…We have brought torture, cluster bombs, depleted uranium, innumerable acts of random murder, misery, degradation and death to …

John Pilger (2020-11-27). Britain's Class War on Children. counterpunch.org When I first reported on child poverty in Britain, I was struck by the faces of children I spoke to, especially the eyes. They were different: watchful, fearful. In Hackney, in 1975, I filmed Irene Brunsden's family. Irene told me she gave her two-year-old a plate of cornflakes. "She doesn't tell me she's hungry, she

Jeffrey St. Clair (2020-11-27). Roaming Charges: Dumb All Over, Again. counterpunch.org So we have the same "originalists" who used to argue that the "Constitution isn't a suicide pact" to justify torture, rendition and extrajudicial killings have now ruled that the Constitution is a murder-suicide pact when it comes to religious services during a killer pandemic.

Staff (2020-11-27). Four Days in Occupied Western Sahara — A Rare Look Inside Africa's Last Colony as Ceasefire Ends. democracynow.org In this special rebroadcast of a Democracy Now! exclusive documentary, we break the media blockade and go to occupied Western Sahara in the northwest of Africa to document the decades-long Sahrawi struggle for freedom and Morocco's violent crackdown. Morocco has occupied the territory since 1975 in defiance of the United Nations and the international community. Thousands have been tortured, imprisoned, killed and disappeared while resisting the Moroccan occupation. A 1,700-mile wall divides Sahrawis who remain under occupation from those who fled into exile. Earlier this month, a three-decade ceasefire in Western…

Orinoco Tribune (2020-11-27). Venezuela Presents Proposal for an International Association Against US Sanctions to Stop Crimes Against Humanity (UN Security Council). globalresearch.ca The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela's ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Samuel Moncada, intervened this Wednesday in the session of the Security Council to denounce the economic aggression of the United States against twenty-nine countries of the world, through …

Ella Hopkins (2020-11-27). Why the G20's Failure on Debt Cancellation Is Bad News for Women. commondreams.org World leaders have put wealthy creditor interests before debt justice, further jeopardising women's rights. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-11-27). Palestinian administrative detainee Maher al-Akhras free at last. peoplesdispatch.org Palestinian administrative detainee Maher al-Akhras was finally released from Israeli custody on November 26, Thursday. Al-Akhras had earlier been on a 104-day hunger strike to protest his illegal administrative detention by Israel and to demand his release. He agreed to end his hunger strike after successfully securing an agreement for his release at the end of his current term of administration detention, which would have otherwise most likely been renewed for another term. | Since reaching the agreement, al-Akhras has been treated at the Israeli Kaplan hospital. He was transferred there from prison due to a dr…

teleSUR (2020-11-27). Bolivia: Court Lifts Photojournalist Facundo Molares' Arrest. telesurenglish.net In Bolivia, Montero City's Criminal ruled the cessation of preventive detention measures against Facundo Molares, an Argentine photojournalist who is being investigated for crimes committed during…

teleSUR (2020-11-27). Argentine Police Clashes With Fans During Maradona's Farewell. telesurenglish.net Buenos Aires Police Thursday unleashed violent repression against thousands of people that were waiting for hours to bid farewell to Argentine soccer idol Diego Maradona at the Pink House. | RELATED: | His funeral honors, which began orderly and peacefully, ended "among rubber bullets and tear gas, knocked down fences, people wounded, and dozens of detainees," journalist Javier Alvarez reported. | The confrontations began at 13h00 local time when the Ci…

Armen Tigranakert (2020-11-27). European Sanctions Against Turkey Are More Likely than Ever. globalresearch.ca Another scandal erupted in relations between Turkey and the EU — on November 22, the Turkish merchant vessel, Roseline A, was detained and fully inspected by personnel of German frigate Hamburg in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, 160 nautical miles north …

teleSUR (2020-11-27). Venezuela Resumes Sending Oil to China Despite U.S. Sanctions. telesurenglish.net British news agency Reuters informed as such this Friday, citing tracking data of Refinitiv Eikon's ships and the state owned company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). | The news comes after illegal U.S. sanctions, which since 2019 prevented the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and the PetroChina refinery from loading crude oil and fuels in Venezuelan ports. | RELATED: | According to the source, the first tank…

teleSUR (2020-11-27). Chile: Police Quell New Protests Demanding Piñera Step Down. telesurenglish.net On Friday, Chilean police used force against thousands of demonstrators who were trying to approach the Palacio de la Moneda, the seat of the national government, to demand the resignation of President Sebastián Piñera as well as the freedom of those detained during the social unrest that rocked the South American country in October 2019. | RELATED: | The police forces attacked the crowd using water cannons and tear g…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-11-27). Iran offers full commitment to JCPOA if Biden decides to re-join the nuclear deal and lift all sanctions. peoplesdispatch.org The Trump administration unilaterally withdrew from the deal in May 2018 and imposed various sanctions against Iran without any international approval…

Alex MacDonald (2020-11-26). Egyptian rights activist Hafez Abu Seada dies after contracting Covid-19. middleeasteye.net Egyptian rights activist Hafez Abu Seada dies after contracting Covid-19 | Co-founder of Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights was diagnosed with coronavirus in mid-November | Thu, 11/26/2020 – 16: 35 | Hafez Abu Seada and wife Nehad Abo El Komsan (Facebook) | Hafez Abu Seada, a leading Egyptian human-rights activist, has died after contracting Covid-19, his wife said on Thursday. | Seada, co-f…