Daily Archives: June 17, 2020

2020-06-17: News Headlines

Max Parry (2020-06-17). Beware the hijacking of U.S. Protests into a "Color Revolution" dissidentvoice.org The May 25th killing of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man, at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota shocked the world and set off mass protests against racism and police brutality in dozens of cities from the mid-western United States to the European Union, all in the midst of a global …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-17). Danish communists protest granting government aid to companies operating from tax havens. peoplesdispatch.org Protests across Denmark were organized by the Communist Party between June 9-13 against the government providing financial aid to foreign companies operating from tax havens as part of the COVID-19 relief packages…

Arielle Robinson (2020-06-17). Atlanta's Black community demands: Justice for Rayshard Brooks! workers.org June 13 — Amid existing protests in support of Black people murdered by police and white supremacists in Georgia and elsewhere, Atlanta protesters continue to brave the streets to fight for Rayshard Brooks — murdered by Atlanta police on Friday night, June 12. Demonstrators near I-75/85 in Atlanta to protest . . . |

yenisafak (2020-06-17). UN sends 49 truckloads of aid to Syria's Idlib. yenisafak.com The UN on Wednesday sent 49 trucks carrying humanitarian aid to Idlib, northwestern Syria, where millions of people are in need of assistance due to internal conflict in the country.Truckloads of supplies entered Idlib through the Cilvegozu border crossing of Turkey's southern Hatay province.The aid will be distributed among residents of Idlib and nearby rural areas.Syria has been ravaged by a civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protesters.Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to UN estimates.Idlib falls within a…

_____ (2020-06-17). Will Moscow Save The West Bank From Annexation? popularresistance.org Palestinian efforts against Israel's plans to annex Palestinian territory are being exercised on three levels. Locally, Palestinians have severed all relations, including security coordination, with Israel and the United States. Regionally, Jordan has been spearheading the Arab response to the Israeli plan, including efforts by the only two Arab countries that have a peace plan with Israel: Jordan and Egypt. | On the international level, Palestinian energy has been largely focused on three members of the Middle East Quartet — the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia. The focus is on these three in…

Lawrence Wittner (2020-06-17). Let Them Eat Weapons: Trump's Bizarre Arms Race. dissidentvoice.org In late May of this year, President Donald Trump's special envoy for arms control bragged before a Washington think tank that the U.S. government was prepared to outspend Russia and China to win a new nuclear arms race. "The president has made clear that we have a tried and true practice here," he remarked. "We know how to win …

Paul Antonopoulos (2020-06-17). Can Serbia Trust Washington's Assurances in Upcoming Meeting with Kosovo? globalresearch.ca It came as a shock to everyone when it was announced yesterday that discussions and negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo will take place at the White House in Washington on June 27. This came as a surprise as it was …

South Front (2020-06-17). Video: Russian Surface-to-Air Missile Systems in Syria Shoot Down Militants' Drones. globalresearch.ca Tor short-range surface-to-air missile systems have downed more than 45 unmanned aerial vehicles launched by Syrian militants, according to the chief of the Russian Air Defense Forces Lieutenant General Alexander Leonov. | "Since the start of combat duty, the calculations …

South Front (2020-06-17). Towards a Baghdad-Moscow Axis? Russia's Massive Oil Projects in Iraq. globalresearch.ca In Iraq, a seldom mentioned and noteworthy oil cooperation is carried out between Baghdad and Moscow. Russian companies, namely Rosneft and Lukoil have developed new oil fields in Iraq. | A notable project is Lukoil's West Qurna-2. | West Qurna-2 field

_____ (2020-06-17). How An Internet 'Persona' Helped Birth Russiagate. popularresistance.org Four years ago today, on June 15, 2016, a shadowy Internet persona calling itself "Guccifer 2.0" appeared out of nowhere to claim credit for hacking emails from the Democratic National Committee on behalf of WikiLeaks and implicate Russia by dropping "telltale" but synthetically produced Russian "breadcrumbs" in his metadata. | Thanks largely to the corporate media, the highly damaging story actually found in those DNC emails — namely, that the DNC had stacked the cards against Bernie Sanders in the party's 2016 primary— was successfully obscured. | The media was the message; and the message was that…

_____ (2020-06-17). Johnson's 'high-level' EU meeting. truepublica.org.uk TruePublica Editor: Yes — the main image shows the scale of the governments' latest endeavours to get a deal done with the European Union. Somehow this photo-stunt is supposed to provide renewed confidence to the electorate that all will be well because BJ and Michael Gove are at the forefront of leading the charge. It's …

_____ (2020-06-17). Real world leaders show up the populists in Covid crisis. truepublica.org.uk Jacinda Ahern, the prime minister of New Zealand, who was not well-known on the global stage — has now announced that her nation is now virus-free and all Covid-19 restrictions are being lifted. Germany's leader Angela Merkel used her scientific background to enable her to logically explain Germany's pragmatic strategy for dealing with Covid. Germany's …

Adriaan Alsema (2020-06-17). US deports Medellin Cartel founder Carlos Lehder to Germany. colombiareports.com US authorities deported Carlos Lehder, one of the co-founders of the Medellin Cartel, to Germany where he arrived on Tuesday. The 70-year-old Lehder, who has both a Colombian and a…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-17). Environment groups sue planning authority in Malta. peoplesdispatch.org The lawsuit was filed over the Maltese Planning Authority's failure to withdraw a controversial development brief prepared for the redevelopment of the site of the former Jerma Palace Hotel in Marsascala…

Kester Kenn Klomegah (2020-06-17). Controversy over History of World War II. Russia Marks 75 Years, Military Parade. globalresearch.ca The world celebrates the year 2020 to mark the 75th anniversary of the Victory over Nazism during the World War II. For the first time in history, Russia postponed its military parade traditionally held on Moscow's Red Square on May …

_____ (2020-06-17). German Party Calls For Sanctions On Israel. popularresistance.org Germany's left-wing party Die Linke is calling for sanctions on Israel if it proceeds with its planned annexation of large parts of the occupied West Bank. | In Germany there is a strictly enforced — but intellectually lazy and morally repugnant — elite consensus that unconditional support for Israel and inaction in the face of its crimes against Palestinians are necessary to atone for the murder of millions of European Jews in German government death camps. | Few prominent German politicians have the courage or moral clarity to understand that genuine and principled atonement would mean applying the…

yenisafak (2020-06-17). EU hopes to provide COVID-19 vaccines in a year. yenisafak.com The EU plans to provide COVID-19 vaccines to its member states within 12-18 months, according to its new strategy announced on Wednesday.The European Commission will sign agreements with vaccine producers on behalf of EU member states to help the development and production of vaccines against the virus.The deal will contribute to the cost of research and development in exchange for delivering a certain number of cures in an agreed period of time.The EU hopes to start the vaccination program within 12-18 months from now, if not earlier."This is a moment for science and solidarity. Nothing is certain, but I am conf…

yenisafak (2020-06-17). 'Turkey can benefit most from supply chain shift'. yenisafak.com Turkey stands to benefit the most from a shift of supply chains away from China, according to the regional head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).Addressing a virtual meeting held by the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEIK) on Wednesday, Suma Chakrabarti stated that the coronavirus pandemic forced companies to put considerable emphasis on the resilience and diversification of their supply chains."They will have to do so to survive, to recover, to flourish," he added.Stating that the EBRD regions have the potential to significantly scale up their exports, Chakrabarti said:…

yenisafak (2020-06-17). Italian FM's Turkey trip postponed. yenisafak.com A planned Wednesday visit to Turkey by Italy's top diplomat has been postponed to Friday, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry.Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio's visit to Turkey, "previously scheduled for today (17 June 2020) is postponed to Friday 19 June," the ministry said in a statement Wednesday.At Friday's meeting, Di Maio and Turkey's Mevlut Cavusoglu are set to discuss Turkish-Italian relations, Turkey's EU accession process, and the fight against COVID-19.The talks are also expected to cover current regional and international issues.Di Maio will be one of the first foreign ministers to visit T…

yenisafak (2020-06-17). Turkish ministers visit Libya, Tripoli government says. yenisafak.com Turkish government officials including the foreign and finance ministers arrived in Tripoli on Wednesday to meet Libya's internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), the GNA said in a Facebook post.Turkish support has been critical to the GNA in staving off a 14-month assault on Tripoli by the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA), which is backed by the United Arab Emirates, Russia and Egypt.

yenisafak (2020-06-17). Turkish police arrest 34 over suspected links to FETàñ. yenisafak.com At least 34 suspects were arrested Wednesday for their alleged links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey.Local police in the central Nigde province carried out simultaneous operations in 10 provinces in coordination with the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, according to a security source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.The operation against the terror group's infiltration into the judiciary covered the provinces of Nigde, Elazig, Aksaray, Afyonkarahisar, Adana, Kahramanmaras, Zonguldak, Tokat, Kayseri, as well as…

yenisafak (2020-06-17). Turkish first lady marks desertification, drought day. yenisafak.com Turkey's first lady on Wednesday marked the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought that is celebrated annually on June 17 across the world."Land is life, love, homeland, our future. Our children do not deserve a world with depleted resources, rather blue sky, fertile lands and verdant forests," Emine Erdogan said on Twitter.This fact should be remembered again on the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, she stressed.Desertification is the degradation of land in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas. It is caused primarily by human activities and climatic variations, according to the UN.Obse…

yenisafak (2020-06-17). 'Turkish social aid program reached over 6M households'. yenisafak.com The Turkish state helped millions of families through social assistance programs and offered financial support worth billions of dollars during the COVID-19 outbreak, a top government official said on Wednesday.The government launched the Social Protection Shield program to cater to citizens' needs during the pandemic, Zehra Zumrut Selcuk, Turkey's family, labor and social services minister, told Anadolu Agency's Editor's Desk.She said the program includes services such as short-time work allowance, unemployment benefits, cash support, and social assistance.According to the minister, the government has so far ex…

yenisafak (2020-06-17). Turkish | cat nurses abandoned newborn bunny. yenisafak.com An 18-year-old Turkish youth did not expect to witness an amazing spectacle of motherhood when he brought home a newborn rabbit that had been abandoned in a cornfield in Turkey's southern of province Osmaniye.The Karaoƒülu family cat, Sarƒ±kƒ±z (roughly translating into "Yellow Girl"), which had recently given birth herself, welcomed the uncommon guest wholeheartedly and decided to breast-feed the little bunny along with her litter."The rabbit, which we named Pamuk, was hungry and exhausted when i came across it. I first fed it to the best of my abilities. Then I suddenly saw our…

Andrey Areshev (2020-06-17). America: Too Weak To Rein In Its Own Empire? strategic-culture.org The real surprise isn't that we're pulling troops out of Germany; it's that they're still there 75 years after World War II ended. And according to the White House, they aren't even all being withdrawn, just a quarter of them, a reduction of 9,500 that will leave 25,000 American boots on German soil.

Andrey Areshev (2020-06-17). Battle of Belorussia — June 1944: The Greatest Victory That Still Shapes Our 21st Century World. strategic-culture.org On June 16 this year, U.S. President Donald Trump announced he was removing another 10,000 U.S. troops from Germany reducing American troop levels there to a derisory 24,500. | The move came only a week before the 76th anniversary of the start of the most decisive battle of World War II, the destruction of the heart of the fearsome and monstrous Nazi war machine — Army Group Center — in the Battle of Belorussia. It was an achievement that continues to shape our 21st century world. | The COVID-19 pandemic and George Floyd tragedy have at least shut up the usual childish fairy tales that flood the U.S.

G. Dunkel (2020-06-16). Massive mobilization in France charges racist police murder. workers.org Ever since Adama Traoré, a person from the West African country of Mali living in a northern suburb of Paris, died in 2016 while being questioned by three members of the French national police, the coalition The Truth About Adama Traoré has been campaigning to expose this as a significant . . . |

F. Elizabeth Dahab (2020-06-16). Systemic Racism and the Killing of Rayshard Brooks. counterpunch.org The killing of 27 year old Rayshard Brooks on Friday, June 12th, in Atlanta, Georgia, occurred less than three weeks after the murder of George Floyd. Both were killed by a white police officer. It seems that 18 days of protests over the May 25 murder of Floyd did not deter from this new heinous

Vijay Prashad (2020-06-16). Who deserves the Nobel Peace Prize in a time of pandemic? mronline.org A few weeks ago, I was talking to Noam Chomsky about the state of the world. At one point, Noam smiled and said that he is not aware of any German doctors in Italy, even though both countries are in the European Union; instead, Cuban and Chinese doctors went to Italy to help the Italians …

Vijay Prashad (2020-06-16). Who Deserves a Nobel Prize During a Pandemic? counterpunch.org A few weeks ago, I was talking to Noam Chomsky about the state of the world. At one point, Noam smiled and said that he is not aware of any German doctors in Italy, even though both countries are in the European Union; instead, Cuban and Chinese doctors went to Italy to help the Italians

Stephen Lendman (2020-06-16). Convicted US Spy, Sentenced in Moscow on Charges of Espionage. globalresearch.ca On Monday, a Moscow court sentenced US spy Paul Whelan to 16 years imprisonment. | Charged with espionage, he was caught red-handed in December 2018 and arrested after accepting a flash drive with sensitive information from an undercover Russian Federal Security …

South Front (2020-06-16). Video: Al-Qaeda Factions Create New Coalition in Idlib. globalresearch.ca Early on June 14, the Russian Aerospace Forces reportedly carried out airstrikes on positions of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham near the villages of al-Bara and Deir Sunbul in southern Idlib. Since the signing of the new de-escalation agreement with Turkey on …

RT (2020-06-16). Show him 'kindness'? Moscow theater slammed after defending famed actor who killed man in drunken crash. rt.com One week after his deadly drunken Moscow car smash, which left an innocent man dead, the theater associated with actor Mikhail Efremov has issued a statement asking for kindness, rather than "extremes of condemnation." | Read more | | In a statement posted on the official website of Moscow's Sovremennik Theater on Tuesday, the institute explained that its week-long silence was caused by shock and time spent attempting to compreh…

RT (2020-06-16). WATCH Iran's Zarif remove face mask with relief during Moscow talks with Lavrov, after taking it on & off repeatedly (VIDEO). rt.com Social distancing's no hurdle for talks between trusted allies, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov appeared to show as he arrived to meet Iran's Javad Zarif without a face mask. Zarif was more careful, but soon opted to remove his, too. | Zarif is one of the first high-ranking foreign visitors to land in Moscow and engage in face-to-face talks with Lavrov in the wake of the coronavirus lockdown. In recent months, the Russian foreign minister has held meetings only via video call. | When the two officials appeared before the journalists, Zarif was sporting a mask, which he merely removed for a brief photoshoot. Lavrov…

Mike Stone (2020-06-16). Trump to Undermine Treaty That Keeps Russia From Selling Missiles to Iran to Sell Drones to Saudi Arabia. anti-empire.com Editor's note: Trump wants to keep the missile part which is so crucial for the US to limit proliferation of missiles, but not the drone part where at the moment the US has a technology lead and there's a little money to be made for a sector that is already highly privileged in the American system. Russia has upheld the agreement, for example the range of the BrahMos anti-ship missile that Moscow developed for India was limited to 300 kilometers. |
| The Trump administration plans to reinterpret a Cold War-era arms agreement between 34 nations with the goal of allowing U.S. defense contractors to sell more A…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-16). Establishment parties defy people's mandate in Ireland, agree on coalition government. peoplesdispatch.org Rival establishment parties Fianna Fail and Finn Gael have agreed to form the new government in the Republic of Ireland with the support of the Green party which is led by Eamon Ryan…

James J. Zogby (2020-06-16). Israel's Illegal Annexation of Palestine. globalresearch.ca With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promising to annex portions of the West Bank, liberal critics here in the US and across Europe are in a tizzy. They have been quick to point fingers blaming this crisis on Netanyahu and …

John Steppling (2020-06-16). The Big Plantation, The "Digital Billionaires", the Militarization of Law Enforcement, the Surveillance State. globalresearch.ca European Left-wing political scientists find difficult to understand that the colonial contradiction is at the heart of our present, they think it's a conceptual error, something anachronistic, that the joyful postmodernity — the one that delivers their Macs to them …

WSWS (2020-06-16). Germany: Schools and child daycare centres open despite the high risk of infection. wsws.org The same politicians who pump hundreds of billions of euros of so-called "Corona aid" into the vaults of the big banks and leading companies see no need to equip schools with the measures needed to combat the coronavirus.

WSWS (2020-06-16). Coronavirus pandemic in Poland: Silesian miners sacrificed for profit. wsws.org Nearly every day, almost half of the new infections in Poland can be found in Silesia.

Joshua Tartakovsky (2020-06-16). The Last Days of a Free Serbia? globalresearch.ca Although it may not seem this way, Serbia is in fact in a far more fragile condition than visitors may imagine. | Elections to the parliament will be held in several days, but the outlook of the country is not expected …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-16). Spanish Nissan workers resist company's plans to shut down Barcelona plants. peoplesdispatch.org Nissan workers in Spain have been regularly staging demonstrations since May 4 against the company's plans to close its plants in Barcelona. These closures will affect around 3,000 direct jobs and 25,000 indirect jobs dependent on Nissan's operations. This is part of Nissan's global plan of reducing its workforce by around 20,000 people — 15% of the total.

_____ (2020-06-16). NATO's Colonization Of Ukraine Under Guise Of Partnership. popularresistance.org The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has designated Ukraine as an "Enhanced Opportunity Partner," making it one of six nations (the others being Georgia, Sweden, Finland, Australia, and Jordan) rewarded for their significant contributions to NATO operations and alliance objectives by having the opportunity for increased dialogue and cooperation with the alliance. | The main objective of this enhanced interaction is for NATO and Ukraine to develop operational capabilities and interoperability through military exercises which will enable Ukrainian military personnel to gain practical hands-on experience in…

_____ (2020-06-16). Act On Dr. King's Call To Tackle Evils Of Racism, Economic Exploitation And War. popularresistance.org Martin Luther King, Jr. King called us to address "Three major evils—the evil of racism, the evil of poverty and the evil of war" to the consternation of the establishment. It is time to tell the truth about the US-Russian relationship and US complicity in driving the nuclear arms race if we are ever to reverse it as well as the race to weaponize space. Perhaps, by addressing the triple evils, we can fulfill King's dream and the mission envisioned for the United Nations, to end the scourge of war! At a minimum, we should be promoting UN Secretary-General António Guterres' call for a global ceasefire while o…

yenisafak (2020-06-16). Macron pledges 200 mln euros to repatriate drug production to France. yenisafak.com President Emmanuel Macron said the French government would launch a new initiative this week to repatriate production of some pharmaceutical products to France, pledging to make 200 million euros available to fund production capacity."Everybody saw that during this crisis some commonly used drugs were no longer produced in France and Europe. So we must no longer just ask questions but draw the conclusions," Macron said at a Sanofi site near Lyon, central France.Macron cited paracetamol as a drug that would be produced again in France.

yenisafak (2020-06-16). Germany has no detailed information about US troop withdrawals: FM. yenisafak.com Germany has not received any detailed information from the United States about troop withdrawals, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Tuesday during a visit to Warsaw. Maas also said U.S soldiers presence on German soil is key for German and U.S. defence. U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to cut the number of U.S. troops stationed in Germany, a senior U.S. official said earlier in June.

yenisafak (2020-06-16). Norwegian Air to resume first foreign route after lockdown. yenisafak.com Norwegian Air will resume flights between Copenhagen and the Danish city of Aalborg from July 1, making it the carrier's first route outside Norway following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, it said in a statement on Tuesday.The budget airline is currently operating just seven aircraft on domestic routes in Norway and has furloughed or terminated the employment of some 7,300 staff, or about 90% of its staff following the novel coronavirus outbreak.

yenisafak (2020-06-16). NATO concerned by Russia's growing presence in E.Med. yenisafak.com Russia's growing presence in the Eastern Mediterranean region is a cause for concern for NATO, the military alliance's chief said on Tuesday."NATO is also concerned about the increased Russian presence in the eastern Mediterranean in general, in Syria, but also, of course, in Libya. And we have to follow and monitor that very closely," Jens Stoltenberg said in response to a question in an online news conference ahead of the NATO defense ministers meeting on June 17-18.He said the situation in Libya was not on the meeting agenda, but could be discussed, adding: "It has a direct impact on the security of especially…

yenisafak (2020-06-16). Lavrov: Russia, Turkey, Iran to hold summit on Syria. yenisafak.com Ankara, Moscow and Tehran agreed to hold a videoconference and then a face-to-face meeting on the Syrian settlement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced on Tuesday.The presidents of the three countries will discuss Syrian issues in a videoconference and then will hold a summit in Tehran, Lavrov said at a news conference following a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif."Today, we confirmed the agreement of the three presidents of the Astana format countries that the summit will be held in Tehran within terms that will be determined considering the situation developing due to the c…

yenisafak (2020-06-16). 'Turkey, India trade grows steadily'. yenisafak.com Trade volume between Turkey and India has posted a steady growth for the last two years, a business council head has said."Surpassing $8 billion trade volume, of which $7 billion are imports and $1.2 billion exports, we achieved our target last year," Tevfik Donmez, head of the Turkey-India Business Council of Turkey's Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK), told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday.The two countries set a bilateral trade volume target of $10 billion for 2020, and $25 billion for 2023, he said."Despite a 20-25% decrease in foreign trade in the first and second quarter of 2020, we believe we will catch up b…