2020-01-21: News Headlines

(2020-01-21). Jan. 25 — Global Day of Protest — No war on Iran! workers.org When President Trump ordered the assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in early January, tens of thousands of people protested in over 80 cities across 38 U.S. states. While Trump has since stepped back from pushing all-out war in Iraq and Iran, he has issued executive orders increasing deadly sanctions . . . |

RT (2020-01-21). China court sentences former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei to 13 years in prison for bribery. rt.com Former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei, who was detained on a visit to China in 2018, was sentenced Tuesday to more than 13 years in prison for bribery. The case shook the international police organization. | Meng — a former vice minister of public security — is among a growing group of Communist Party cadres caught in China's anti-graft campaign. He vanished during a visit to China from France, where Interpol is based, and was later accused of accepting bribes and expelled from the Communist Party. His wife was granted political asylum in France last year. | Meng was sentenced to 13 years and six months…

Dianne Mathiowetz (2020-01-21). Poniendo la verdad tras las rejas. workers.org øSabía que uno de los derechos más protegidos en este país es el derecho del gobierno a mentirle a la gente? Esa es la esencia de la persecución que se está llevando a cabo en este momento contra Chelsea Manning y Julian Assange. Manning era una analista de inteligencia del . . . |

WSWS (2020-01-21). Trump backs armed gun-rights rally in Richmond, Virginia. wsws.org For the second time in three days, President Donald Trump tweeted support as thousands of gun-rights activists, many of them carrying semi-automatic weapons, descended on Virginia's capital, Richmond.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-01-21). Martin Luther King Jr. Day. peoplesdispatch.org January 20, 2020, marked the Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the United States. It is an American federal holiday marking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around King's birthday, January 15. He was the most ardent spokesperson and leader of the civil rights movement. King led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, a protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. It began after, after Rosa Parks, an African-American woman, was arrested for refusing to surrender her seat to a white person.

WSWS (2020-01-21). Venezuela's Maduro offers Trump a "win-win" bargain. wsws.org In an interview with the Washington Post, the Venezuelan president "suggested that a bonanza could be waiting for U.S. oil companies" if the White House ends sanctions.

Leon Kunstenaaar (2020-01-21). The 2020 San Francisco Womens' March. indybay.org Photos: Leon Kunstenaar/Pro Bono Photo | Native, immigrant, gay, straight march for their rights…

Zach Haber, Oakland Post (2020-01-21). Advocates and Unhoused Residents Seek Community Help to Build Small Homes on MLK Weekend. indybay.org The Village, a group that fights for unhoused resident rights, is asking for community support on January 18 and 19, 2020, to help with their event Guerrilla Housing: Reclaiming Dr. King's Legacy of Radical Action.

WSWS (2020-01-21). Trump administration ramps up campaign to abolish strong data encryption in aftermath of Pensacola terror shooting. wsws.org The administration, following in the footsteps of the Obama White House, is moving to attack privacy rights protected by the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution.

sputniknews (2020-01-21). Indian Court Refuses to Lift Ban on Loudspeakers at Mosques in Uttar Pradesh. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): India's apex court in an order in 2000 had ruled that the "right to religious freedom is related to civil order, morality and health. No religion teaches that loudspeakers and amplifiers should be used for prayer. Even if it is done, it should not affect the rights of others."

Bob Price (2020-01-21). Rekindling the Movement that Won Abortion Rights. indybay.org New Valencia Hall, 747 Polk St (near Ellis), SF | (near Civic Center BART, Muni Lines 19, 31, 38, 47 49) | Wheelchair accessible…

yenisafak (2020-01-21). Three arrested in Turkey for alleged drone shipment to Syria. yenisafak.com Turkish police arrested three suspects on Tuesday for allegedly sending a shipment of four unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to terrorist groups in Syria, security sources said.The suspects were arrested in Istanbul and the southern Adana province, while another of Syrian nationality was held in the southern Hatay province, said the sources who asked not to be named, due to restrictions on speaking to the media.Acting on a tip-off received earlier this month, Adana police detained another suspect in a cargo office, while allegedly trying to send drones to people with links to terrorist groups in Syria.Prosecutors…

Staff (2020-01-20). SPECIAL: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in His Own Words. democracynow.org Today is the federal holiday that honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was born January 15, 1929. He was assassinated April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 39 years old. While Dr. King is primarily remembered as a civil rights leader, he also championed the cause of the poor and organized the Poor People's Campaign to address issues of economic justice. Dr. King was also a fierce critic of U.S. foreign policy and the Vietnam War. We play his "Beyond Vietnam" speech, which he delivered at New York City's Riverside Church on April 4, 1967, as well as his last speech, "I've Been to…

RT (2020-01-20). 'Come and take it': Thousands rally in Virginia against new gun-control laws (PHOTOS, VIDEOS). rt.com Thousands of gun-rights supporters and militia members have gathered at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, in an armed show of defiance against a slew of gun laws proposed by Governor Ralph Northam. | Northam — who shot to international infamy last year when a yearbook

Staff (2020-01-20). The MLK Lesson America Needs Most in 2020. truthdig.com Before he died, the civil rights leader joined a campaign to unify working people of all races. Today, nothing could be more powerful.

teleSUR (2020-01-20). Thousands of Armed Gun-Rights Activists Protest in Virginia. telesurenglish.net A large number of armed gun-rights activists descended on Virginia's capitol building on Monday to protest a package of gun-control legislation making its way through the newly Democratic-controlled state legislature. | RELATED: | According to the Reuters News Agency, the Richmond rally was surrounded by heavy security after Virginian Governor Ralph Northam banned carrying weapons onto the capitol grounds. | The r…

IMEMC News & Agencies (2020-01-20). Severe Torture in Israeli Prisons Targets Palestinian Steadfastness: Walid Hanatsheh, Samer Arbeed, Mays Abu Ghosh and More. imemc.org Photo: Walid Hanatsheh after his interrogation. | In the last months of 2019 and early 2020, a growing number of cases of severe physical torture against Palestinian detainees carried out by Israeli Shin Bet interrogators have been documented.

IMEMC News (2020-01-20). Israeli Court Doubles Prison Sentence Of Detained Palestinian Teen. imemc.org The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) has reported, last Thursday, that an Israeli appellate court has accepted an appeal filed by the prosecutor's office demanding to raise the prison sentence of a detained Palestinian teen from the 18 years to life in prison. The PPS stated that the ruling was part …

Martin Luther King Jr. (2020-01-20). Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in His Own Words. zcomm.org While Dr. King is primarily remembered as a civil rights leader, he also championed the cause of the poor and organized the Poor People's Campaign to address issues of economic justice…

Peter Rothberg (2020-01-20). Top 10 Civil Rights Songs. thenation.com Top 10 Civil Rights Songs…

WSWS (2020-01-20). As neo-Nazis head to Richmond, Trump boosts gun-rights rally. wsws.org The president's tweet is a declaration of solidarity with ultra-right forces on the eve of his impeachment trial.

Julia Conley, staff writer (2020-01-20). 'Global Precedent' Set as UN Rules Climate Refugees Cannot Be Sent Back to Life-Threatening Conditions. commondreams.org Human rights advocates on Monday applauded a "ground-breaking" ruling by a United Nations panel, which stated that climate refugees cannot legally be sent back to their home countries after applying for asylum, if they would face life-threatening conditions such as high sea levels, drought, or other effects of the climate crisis. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2020-01-20). Countering Annual Whitewash of His Legacy, Progressives Remember the 'Anti-Capitalist, Anti-Imperialist' Martin Luther King Jr. commondreams.org While the likes of President Donald Trump, right-wing Republicans, and Pentagon officials—in addition to many liberals—marked Martin Luther King Jr. Day with selective quotes and messages, progressives aimed to challenge their whitewashed narrative of the civil rights leader's legacy with detailed reminders of King's scathing critique of not only racism but also capitalism, militarism, and imperialism. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Mark Gruenberg (2020-01-18). AFL-CIO to the nation: Make King's dream America's reality. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—Faced with the renewed and rising right-wing onslaught against women, workers, immigrants and people of color, unionists at the AFL-CIO's annual Martin Luther King Civil and Human Rights Conference spent their two days in D.C. focusing on reclaiming voting rights, battling voter suppression and educating and empowering workers to ensure they can vote this year …

Karin Leukefeld (2020-01-17). Sanctions harm reconstruction in Syria's Homs province. workers.org Published in Junge Welt, Dec. 16. Translation by John Catalinotto. According to Gov. Talal Barasi, about half a million people fled from Homs province, the largest in Syria, during the war. Some 2.3 million people had lived in Homs before the war, Barasi explained in an interview with Junge Welt. . . . |

Staff (2020-01-17). 3 Arrested for Plans to Incite Violence at 'Gun Rights' Rally in Richmond. therealnews.com Three suspected neo-Nazis were arrested, accused of planning to incite violence at the upcoming gun rights rally in Richmond, VA. The state's capitol is in a state of emergency after finding a pattern of communications sounding like the leadup to the 2017 Charlottesville rally that killed Heather Heyer.

Staff (2020-01-17). The Cruelty of US Justice System Exposed in a Single Video. therealnews.com A 19-year-old girl was punished with 9 months in a men's jail for spitting at an officer during a mental health crisis. Video reveals the extreme treatment she received and her exclusive interview reveals how law enforcement officers are badly equipped to treat the mentally ill.

Staff (2020-01-17). Headlines for January 17, 2020. democracynow.org Senate Impeachment Trial Opens as Accountability Office Says Trump Broke Law by Withholding Aid, Pentagon Contradicts Trump and Says 11 U.S. Troops Injured in Iranian Strikes, Senate Votes to Approve USMCA, Report: Six Banks Reaped $18 Billion Last Year from Trump Tax Cuts, Guatemalan Protesters Demand Outgoing President Be Arrested for Corruption, Deported Immigrant Rights Leader Jean Montrevil Sues U.S. Government, FBI Arrests 3 Suspected Neo-Nazis Ahead of Pro-Gun Rally in Richmond, Virginia, Florida Supreme Court Upholds Law Limiting Voting Rights for People with Felony Convictions, Harvard Law Students Prote…

Abdullah Hasan (2020-01-17). 2019 Proved We Can Stop Face Recognition Surveillance. aclu.org This piece originally appeared on In 2019, we proved face recognition surveillance isn't | inevitable. Now, it's time for Congress to rein in the technology once and for | all. | Last year, communities banded together to prove that they | can — and will — defend their privacy rights. As part of ACLU-led campaigns, three | California cities — Francisco,…

splcenter (2020-01-16). Conspiracy Theories, Threats of Violence Loom Over Coming Gun Rally in Richmond. splcenter.org Gun-rights activists and antigovernment extremists are planning a protest in Richmond, Virginia, on Monday fueled by antigovernment conspiracy theories and accompanied by online calls for violence.

news.un (2020-01-16). Syrian conflict has 'erased' children's dreams: new UN report. news.un.org Nearly nine years of conflict in Syria have robbed boys and girls of their childhood and subjected them to "unabated violations of their rights", including being killed, maimed, displaced, forced to fight or subjected to torture, rape and sexual slavery.

Michele Goodwin (2020-01-16). Arkansas Legislators' Attack on Abortion is Unconstitutional. aclu.org The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled time and again that | reproductive privacy is "central to personal dignity and autonomy, [which] are | central to the liberty protected by" the Constitution. The Court has made | eminently clear that under the Constitution, the right of a pregnant person to | terminate a pregnancy prior to viability is a right so essential to our freedom | that our government cannot ban or impose an undue burden on its exercise. But | despite the long-standing clarity of this principle, reproductive health and rights | continue to come under blistering, unrelenting attack. | Nowhere is this cl…

Jason Ditz (2020-01-16). Iraqi Prime Minister Backs Off Expelling US Troops. theantimedia.com (ANTIWAR.COM) — After repeated threats from President Trump to sanction Iraq, to seize its primary bank account, and cut all military aid, Iraqi PM Adel Abdul-Mahdi has backed away from calls to expel US troops from Iraq. Iraq's parliament voted 170-0 earlier this month on the ouster, though US officials have said they don't intend to …

Staff (2020-01-15). Headlines for January 15, 2020. democracynow.org House to Vote to Send Impeachment Articles to Senate, WaPo: Threatening Text Messages Show Yovanovitch Was Under Surveillance, War Powers Resolution Limiting Trump on Iran Could Pass Senate | , Six Democratic Candidates Took Stage in Des Moines, Iowa, 5,000 Puerto Ricans Still Homeless After 6.4 Magnitude Earthquake, HRW Blasts China for Human Rights Violations Against Uyghurs & Protesters | , 15 Women Murdered in Honduras in First 2 Weeks of This Year, American Citizen Moustafa Kassem Dies in Egyptian Prison After Hunger Strike, Seattle Bans Foreign-Influenced Companies from Political Spending, "Jeopardy!" Apolo…

Tyler Durden (2020-01-15). Iran's Rouhani Demands US, EU Troops Leave the Middle East or Face "Danger" theantimedia.com (ZH) — A day after European signatories to the Iran nuclear deal took took the drastic step of triggering the agreement's dispute resolution mechanism regulating conformity to the deal by formally notifying the EU Iran is in breach, seen as the harshest measure taken thus far given it means EU sanctions are possible, President Hassan Rouhani has responded with …

Staff (2020-01-14). "Morir Soñando": Martín Espada Reads Poem About Luis Garden Acosta, Young Lord & Community Activist. democracynow.org Last week marked the first anniversary of the passing of Luis Garden Acosta, the founder and longtime president of the nationally known El Puente youth and community leadership program in Brooklyn. Long regarded as one of New York City's foremost human rights and Latino community activists, Garden Acosta died last January at the age of 72. A former seminarian who had been active in the Catholic antiwar movement, Garden Acosta joined the Young Lords Party in 1970 and later founded that group's Massachusetts chapter while he was still a student at Harvard Medical School. He went on to pioneer successful nonviolent…

Eunice Cho (2020-01-14). The Trump Administration Weakens Standards for ICE Detention Facilities. aclu.org Last month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officially released a new version of its ICE describes its…

Lucas Koerner (2020-01-14). US Sanctions Venezuela's New Parliament Leader, Senior Opposition Lawmakers. venezuelanalysis.com The legislature's new opposition leadership "categorically" rejected the sanctions.

news.un (2020-01-14). Colombia: 'Staggering number' of human rights defenders killed in 2019. news.un.org The UN human rights office, OHCHR, is "deeply troubled by the staggering number of human rights defenders killed in Colombia" last year, its spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Paul Dobson (2020-01-13). Venezuela Blames Sanctions After UN Voting Right Suspended. venezuelanalysis.com Venezuela, which has one of the highest UN contribution rates in the region, has not paid its dues since 2018.

Aaron Maté (2020-01-12). Ex-US intel officer: Pompeo 'lying through his teeth' on Iran. thegrayzone.com The Trump administration is imposing new sanctions on Iran and defying Iraq's call for a US troop withdrawal. This comes…

Vania Leveille (2020-01-10). Pregnant Workers Are Still Fighting for the Right to Work. aclu.org In 2015, | Michelle Durham, an ACLU client, was faced with an impossible choice: | continue working and risk the health of her pregnancy or give up her paycheck. | She was working | as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) for Rural/Metro Corporation, a company | in Alabama that provides emergency medical care to people living in areas that | lack basic medical services. Shortly after joining Rural/Metro Corporation in | Alabama, Michelle learned she was pregnant with her first child and was advised | by her health professional not to lift more than 50 pounds. She was confident | the company would grant her a…

pip.hinman (2020-01-10). Venezuela: Guaido installs parallel parliament, US threatens more sanctions. greenleft.org.au The…

Ricardo Vaz (2020-01-08). Venezuela: Guaido Installs Parallel Parliament After Washington Threatens More Sanctions. venezuelanalysis.com The Trump administration is reportedly mulling sanctions against opposition deputies who voted against Guaido.

Ryan Cristián (2020-01-06). More Rockets Fired At US Embassy, US Iranians Detained & Trump Says Twitter Is "Notifying Congress" thelastamericanvagabond.com Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (1/5/19). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …

splcenter (2020-01-06). SPLC Statement on the Detainment of Iranians and Iranian Americans. splcenter.org The following statement is by Southern Poverty Law Center Interim President and CEO Karen Baynes-Dunning following reports that Iranians and Iranian Americans are being detained and questioned at U.S. ports of entry:…

Chris Garaffa (2020-01-05). Students learn in the streets: struggle wins release of Connecticut teen from ICE custody. liberationnews.org The struggle for Mario's freedom is not over, and neither is the fight for immigrant rights overall.

Lucas Koerner (2019-12-04). TIAR Countries Blacklist Top Venezuelan Officials as US Slaps New Sanctions. venezuelanalysis.com US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Venezuela of "hijacking" mass anti-neoliberal protests in "our own backyard."

Marjorie Cohn (2019-12-02). Civil Rights Are on the Chopping Block in New Supreme Court Term. zcomm.org Hello, A very small proportion of ZNet content is available only to Sustainers. You can become a sustainer for a small repeating donation – monthly or yearly via the links for Sustaining, or Donating, available on the top page of ZNet.

Ramzy Baroud (2019-12-02). The War on Truth: How Israel's Social Media Trolls Conquered Facebook. zcomm.org Israel may have found a way to circumvent the influence of Facebook on the discussions pertaining to Palestinian rights and the Israeli occupation…