Daily Archives: September 16, 2020

2020-09-16: News Headlines

Alan MacLeod (2020-09-16). "A Disgrace": Amnesty International Blocked From Monitoring Trial of Julian Assange. thealtworld.com Amnesty International's Europe Director described the hearings against Assange as an "assault on the right to freedom of expression" that would have a "chilling effect on media freedom." | MPN— The high profile extradition hearing of publisher and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange continued in Central London today. But it did so without oversight from international human rights groups. Julia Hall, an expert on criminal justice and human rights for Amnesty International,

Andre Vltchek (2020-09-16). Guo Wengui: So Anti-Chinese that even U.S. Establishment cannot stomach him. dissidentvoice.org In some very rare cases, it is better to read British conservative, right-wing press, like The Economist or the Telegraph, instead of the mainstream liberal sheets like The Independent or The Guardian. That is if one wants to come somehow closer to the truth. The Economist is extremely biased; it is pre-historically conservative, anti-Russian, anti-Chinese, …

_____ (2020-09-16). Democrats Ignore U.S. Military's Refutation of 'Russian Bounties' Story. strategic-culture.org Caitlin JOHNSTONE | NBC News Two months after top Pentagon officials vowed to get to the bottom of whether the Russian government bribed the Taliban to kill American service members, the commander of troops in the region says a detailed review of all available intelligence has not been able to corroborate the existence of such a program. | "It just has not been proved to a level of certainty that satisfies me," Gen. Frank McKenzie, comm…

yenisafak (2020-09-16). Top Russian, Saudi diplomats discuss Yemeni conflict. yenisafak.com Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday discussed the conflict in Yemen with his Saudi counterpart over the phone.Lavrov agreed with Faisal bin Farhan on the need to support UN efforts for a cease-fire in the war-torn country, as well as to implement urgent humanitarian measures and launch a settlement process between the sides, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in an online statement."Sergey Lavrov stressed that progress towards the establishment of long-awaited peace and stability in Yemen is possible only by taking into account the interests and concerns of all the leading political forces, religi…

yenisafak (2020-09-16). UN sends six aid trucks to Idlib, Syria. yenisafak.com The UN on Wednesday dispatched six trucks with humanitarian aid to northwestern Syria, where millions of people remain in need of assistance due to internal conflict.The trucks crossed over into Syria's Idlib province from the Cilvegozu border gate in 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 de-escal…

Eds. (2020-09-16). 1978: Ernest Mandel — We must dream. Anticipation and hope as categories of historical materialism. mronline.org This text was the contribution of Ernest Mandel to a 1978 commemorative colloquium for the Marxist philosopher Ernst Bloch (1885—1977) and was first published in 1980.

WSWS (2020-09-16). Nurse alleges forced sterilizations, medical malpractice at Georgia immigrant detention center. wsws.org The chilling report provides further evidence of the sadistic abuse meted out by the Trump administration in its fascistic war on immigrants.

yenisafak (2020-09-16). Greece struggles to bring migrants into temporary camp after fire. yenisafak.com Greek authorities were still struggling on Wednesday to move thousands of migrants sleeping rough into a temporary camp, a week after the overcrowded Moria migrant camp burned down, while fears grew over a coronavirus outbreak on the island of Lesbos.More than 12,000 people, mostly refugees from Afghanistan, Africa and Syria, were left without shelter, proper sanitation or access to food and water by the fire that tore through Moria, Greece's biggest camp for migrants reaching its islands by sea.No one was killed or hurt in the fire, which broke out after quarantine measures were imposed following the discovery o…

Michael Berkowitz (2020-09-16). 'Five Days, Five Nights': Flight to freedom from fascist Portugal. peoplesworld.org àÅlvaro Cunhal had a little secret. It was a good thing that he did. Living under the fascist Salazar dictatorship of mid-20th-century Portugal for the first half of his life, Cunhal needed secrecy. After all, for decades he was a leader and ultimately the Secretary General of the Portuguese Communist Party, which waged a life-and-death …

Global Research News (2020-09-16). Selected Articles: Why Lockdowns Are the Wrong Policy. Sweden's COVID-19 Strategy. globalresearch.ca By As a result, over the course of the past 30 years, the need to keep the schools "safe" from drugs and …

Paul Antonopoulos (2020-09-16). Slovakia: Population Distrust US, Opposition to "Western" Intervention. globalresearch.ca GLOBSEC is probably one of the most well-known and influential political think-tanks in not only Slovakia, but also Central Europe. It aims to support a pro-Atlantic direction for Slovakia. Despite being founded in only 2005, it organizes annual events that …

Paul Antonopoulos (2020-09-16). New Initiative to Expose Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) Crimes to the World. globalresearch.ca Veterans from the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) terrorist organization feel confident that because they were once supported and backed by the US and Western Europe in their campaign to violently separate Kosovo from Serbia, they are immune from prosecution and …

Stephen Lendman (2020-09-16). Challenging the Novichok Poisoning of Navalny Hoax by Russia. globalresearch.ca Already strained EU relations with Russia potentially reached a new low over the great novichok poisoning of Alexey Navalny hoax. | On Tuesday, Russia's EU mission challenged the bloc's fake news about what happened to him, saying the following: | "In recent …

Prof. Johan Giesecke (2020-09-16). Video: Why Lockdowns Are the Wrong Policy. Sweden's Covid-19 Strategy. globalresearch.ca That was one of the more extraordinary interviews we have done here at UnHerd. | Professor Johan Giesecke, one of the world's most senior epidemiologists, advisor to the Swedish Government (he hired Anders Tegnell who is currently directing Swedish strategy), …

Dimitris Konstantakopoulos (2020-09-16). The End of the Balkans. President Vučić signs the White House Agreement. A Dark Day in the History of Serbia. globalresearch.ca The day before yesterday, Serbian President Vucic was ridiculed by signing an agreement in the White House without even

Pepe Escobar (2020-09-16). How Xinjiang "Interferes" with the EU-China Deal. globalresearch.ca This article was originally published on A Beijing-Brussels-Berlin special: that was quite the video-summit. | From Beijing, we had President Xi Jinping. From Berlin, Chancellor Angela Merkel. And from Brussels, President of the European Council Charles Michel…

Mehr News Agency (2020-09-16). Russia says US 'fully isolated' on international scene. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Sep. 16 (MNA) — Russia's Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov in a tweet on Wednesday said the US is "practically fully isolated" on the international scene.

sputniknews (2020-09-16). Russia Must Release Former US Marine Trevor Reed, House Minority Leader McCarthy Says. sputniknews.com WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – US Congressmen from the state of Texas, Michael McCaul and Mike Conaway, also demanded that Russia release Reed.

yenisafak (2020-09-16). Turkish president congratulates new Japanese premier. yenisafak.com Turkey's president on Wednesday sent a congratulatory message to Japan's new prime minister.Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent best wishes to Yoshihide Suga, the new leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said Turkey's Communications Directorate. | Suga replaces longtime Premier Shinzo Abe, who stepped down over health issues.Pointing to how Turkish-Japanese diplomatic relations sprang from the aftermath of the tragic Sept. 16, 1890 shipwreck of the Ertugrul frigate, and Japan's rescue efforts and the hospitality it showed the survivors, Erdogan said the date of Suga's election is meaningful and significant for bi…

yenisafak (2020-09-16). Top EU official praises Turkish ship returning to port. yenisafak.com The European Commission head on Wednesday praised a Turkish exploratory ship returning to port, saying it would help lower tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean. | "De-escalation in the Eastern Mediterranean is in our mutual interest," Ursula von der Leyen said in her annual State of the Union speech to the European Parliament in Brussels, calling the return of the Oruc Reis ship "a positive step in this direction."The ship's return was "necessary to create the much-needed space for dialogue," von der Leyen added, voicing solidarity with Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration of Southern Cyprus and pledging…

yenisafak (2020-09-16). France: Education minister upbeat on schools amid virus. yenisafak.com The state of education in France is moving forward, with only a fraction of 1% of France's 60,000 schools presently closed, said the country's education minister on Wednesday. | "The situation we have to face is the best possible given the health crisis," Jean-Michel Blanquer told LCI Radio."We have about 1,200 new cases of COVID-19 among students compared to the previous week," he said, adding, "As I speak to you, there are 81 schools or establishments that are closed, so there are a little over 2,100 classes that are closed. It's still a good start to the school year." | Blanquer said in general classes close i…

yenisafak (2020-09-16). Turkish forces nab senior terrorist in east. yenisafak.com A senior terrorist was arrested Wednesday in eastern Turkey, according to the country's Interior Ministry.Gendarmerie and anti-terror teams in eastern Van and southeastern Sirnak provinces conducted a joint operation to nab Ercan Yacan, codenamed Ferman, who was detected to be carrying out activities as the so-called team commander in northern Iraq's Qandil Goshine region last year, the ministry said on Twitter.Yacan was arrested in Van province, it added.The terrorist was active in youth branch of the organization. He received so-called special forces training in 2014, joined the rural branch of the terror group…

yenisafak (2020-09-16). Turkey repels attack on observation post in Syria. yenisafak.com Turkish security forces fended off an attack in the Idlib de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria, the country's National Defense Ministry said Wednesday.The ministry said in a statement that groups directed by the Bashar al-Assad regime but disguised as civilians approached several of Turkey's observation posts in the region.One of these groups staged an attack near a Turkish observation post and was then dispersed, it added.No damage to the observation post was reported, it said.Idlib falls within a de-escalation zone forged under an agreement between Turkey and Russia.The area has been the subject of multiple…

yenisafak (2020-09-16). TV series 'Ertugrul' fuels Pakistanis' love for Turkey. yenisafak.com On a sunny afternoon, red flags bearing a white star and crescent fluttered in the breeze as they hung from businesses and homes in northern Pakistan, a testament to the region's love for Turkey spurred by a Turkish drama series.Dirilis (Resurrection) Ertugrul is gaining wide popularity across the country after being dubbed in Urdu and broadcast on state television.A YouTube channel launched in mid-April specifically for the series has nearly 8.5 million subscribers, while its viewership had climbed to over 1.3 billion as of Sept. 15.It was after Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Turkey that he ordered…

yenisafak (2020-09-16). Nord Stream 2 should not be linked to Navalny case: Kremlin. yenisafak.com Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany should not be linked to the case of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.German Chancellor Angela Merkel has faced calls to halt the nearly-complete pipeline bringing Russian gas to Germany in response to the poisoning of Navalny in Siberia last month.Moscow says it has yet to see proof he was poisoned with a nerve agent, as Berlin says. Peskov reiterated that Russia was hoping to cooperate with Germany on the case but that its efforts to do so had not met with understanding.

yenisafak (2020-09-16). Germany offered to build LNG terminals to avert US pipeline sanctions. yenisafak.com Berlin offered to spend 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) to build two liquid natural gas terminals in a bid to dissuade the United States from imposing sanctions over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, due to bring gas directly from Russia to Germany, Die Zeit reported on Wednesday.The weekly paper said Finance Minister Olaf Scholz made the proposal in an Aug. 7 letter before Washington imposed sanctions on companies involved in building the Baltic Sea pipeline, effectively freezing its construction.A spokesman for the German finance ministry said he could not comment on individual reports.The United States and many Europ…

yenisafak (2020-09-16). Turkish, Uzbek parliament heads discuss COVID-19 impact. yenisafak.com The Turkish parliament speaker and his Uzbek counterpart on Wednesday discussed the impact of the coronavirus pandemic by phone. | According to a statement by the office of the Turkish speaker, Mustafa Sentop and Nurdinjon Ismailov discussed the aftermath of coronavirus outbreak in the two countries. | Sentop said Turkey attaches importance to cooperation between the two countries on international issues. | He noted the "face to face meetings should immediately" start between the two countries, adding he would be pleased to host Ismailov in Turkey. | Thanking Turkey for extending medical help to his country durin…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-09-16). Massive rally in Belgium demands refinancing of healthcare. peoplesdispatch.org On September 13, Sunday, several thousand health workers marched in the Belgian capital Brussels, demanding massive refinancing of the health sector. The call for the march was given by a number of groups and organizations, including La Sante en Lutte, Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt (CADTM) and the General Labour Federation of Belgium (FGTB/ABVV). Participants in the rally denounced the commodification of healthcare and demanded massive refinancing of health services in the country through investments in infrastructure, increased recruitment, and a rise in the wages of health workers. An online…

Richard Horton (2020-09-16). Video: COVID-19: What Went Wrong? globalresearch.ca Hear from Richard Horton, editor of the Lancet speaking at the Keep Our NHS Public AGM 2020. | Horton asks and tentatively answers five questions: | What is the current situation with the pandemic with focus on the United Kingdom? | What …

teleSUR (2020-09-16). EU Says Poland "LGBTQ-Free Zones" Violates Gay Community Rights. telesurenglish.net European Union Chief executive Ursula Von der Leyen on Wednesday rejected bloc members' discrimination against the LGBTQ community, precisely Poland's "LGBT-free zones" policy, violating queer people's rights. | RELATED: | "LGBTQI-free zones are humanity free zones. And they have no place in our (European) Union," Von der Leyen said in her annual allocution to the European Parliament. | In August, Poland Justice Mi…

Staff (2020-09-15). Headlines for September 15, 2020. democracynow.org Trump Doubles Down on Climate Crisis Denial as West Coast Burns, World's Largest Vaccine Maker Says It Could Take 5 Years for Universal COVID-19 Vaccination, Trump Calls COVID-19 "The Plague" in April Interview with Woodward as He Called for U.S. to Reopen, Nevada City Fines Venue That Hosted Trump Rally Which Violated State's Coronavirus Restrictions, Appeals Court Gives Trump Greenlight to End Immigration Protections for 400,000 TPS Holders, Whistleblowing Nurse Says Georgia Immigration Jail Performing Forced Hysterectomies, Palestinians Form Unified Front as Israel, UAE and Bahrain Sign Deal Normalizing Relati…

Gareth Porter (2020-09-15). Dark Web Voter Database Report Casts New Doubts on Russian Election Hack Narrative. globalresearch.ca A new report showing that US state-level voter databases were publicly available calls into question the narrative that Russian intelligence "targeted" US state election-related websites in 2016. | *** | A September 1

Caitlin Johnstone (2020-09-15). Democrats Ignore US Military's Refutation Of 'Russian Bounties' Story. thealtworld.com The US military has been unable to find any evidence that the Russian government paid bounties on US troops to Taliban-linked fighters in Afghanistan, confirming what was already obvious to anyone who hasn't had their brain stem hijacked by mass media-induced Russophobia. | NBC News Two months after top Pentagon officials vowed to get to the bottom of whether the Russian government bribed the Taliban to kill American service…

RT (2020-09-15). 'Humanitarian crisis' unfolds on Ukraine-Belarus border as Jewish pilgrims left stranded after Kiev tightens Covid-19 restrictions. rt.com Hundreds of Hasidim pilgrims, seeking to visit a venerated rabbi's grave in Ukraine's Uman to mark Jewish New Year, have reportedly become stuck between Belarus and Ukraine after Kiev tightened border controls over coronavirus. | Between 1,000 and 2,500 pilgrims are stranded at several border crossing points, according to media reports. Roughly a half of them crossed the Belarus frontier yet were unable to enter Ukraine, where they were met by a strong militarized border guard force. | –ù–∞ –≥—Ä–∞–Ω–∏—Ü–µ &nd…

Juan Cole (2020-09-15). Arctic Heat Wave: Block of Ice Twice as Big as Manhattan Breaks off Greenland's Largest Ice Shelf, Goes Into Ocean. commondreams.org A Copernicus Sentinel-2 image captured on July 24, 2020 shows a segment of the largest ice shelf in the Arctic break up. (Photo: European Space Agency) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/ice_shelf.jpg

Lucas Leiroz de Almeida (2020-09-15). Italy May Recover Historic Ties with Libya. globalresearch.ca Libya is a country of particular economic and political importance for Italy. The geographical proximity ≠and the historical ties between both nations make the African country a strategically important state for Rome. But the violent instability that has been hitting …

Mark Taliano (2020-09-15). Video: Irish Doctor Speaks Out About Covid-19 Lies. globalresearch.ca The Irish doctor featured in the video below has 35 years' experience as a practicing General Practitioner in Derry, Ireland. | She first knew the pandemic was "fake" when the WHO first declared pandemic with an announcement of 4,291 deaths globally. …

G. Dunkel (2020-09-15). Fire exposes desperate plight of refugees. workers.org The Sept. 8 fire that burned the largest asylum camp in Europe, the Moria Reception and Identification Camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, shows how the 13,000 people there are disregarded and disrespected. Migrant families flee burning asylum camp on island of Lesbos, Greece, Sept. 8. The camp was . . . |

teleSUR (2020-09-15). Malta Denies Port To Dock 278 Migrants Aboard the Open Arms. telesurenglish.net The Spanish NGO Open Arms denounced that Malta denied its ship a port to disembark and assistance for urgent evacuations of people with complicated health conditions. | RELATED: | "Of the 278 people on board, all of them need to disembark and immediate assistance, some for the violence suffered, others for rape, for burns. In addition, we have 50 unaccompanied minors. All of them also need psychological assistance for the…

Patrick Cockburn (2020-09-15). America's War on Terror is the True Cause of Europe's Refugee Crisis. counterpunch.org Desperate refugees crammed into cockle-shell boats landing on the shingle beaches of the south Kent coast are easily portrayed as invaders. Anti-immigrant demonstrators were exploiting such fears last weekend as they blockaded the main highway into Dover Port in order "to protect Britain's borders". Meanwhile, the home secretary, Priti Patel, blames the French for not doing enough to stop the flow of refugees across the Channel.

Staff (2020-09-15). Whistleblower on Doctor at ICE Facility: "Everybody He Sees Has a Hysterectomy" truthout.org A whistleblower complaint directed toward the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) alleges that detainees at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Georgia were medically neglected, including not being tested for COVID-19, and that an alarmingly large number of hysterectomies were being performed on detainees. | The complaint, filed with the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for DHS, states that the hysterectomies were performed on several immigrants held within the Irwin C…

yenisafak (2020-09-15). Germany plans to take in around 1,500 migrants from Greek islands. yenisafak.com German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Interior Minister Horst Seehofer are planning to take in around 1,500 refugees from the Greek islands, German news agency dpa reported on Tuesday.Dpa cited politicians focussed on domestic policy as saying that these would be families with children.More than 12,000 people, mostly refugees from Afghanistan, Africa and Syria, were left without shelter, proper sanitation or access to food and water after a fire tore through the overcrowded Moria migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos last Wednesday.

Jason Kirkpatrick (2020-09-15). On the Lasting Influences of David Graeber. counterpunch.org Influential academic David Graeber had been invited to Berlin to present his new book Debt: The First 5,000 Years, by current German President Steinmeier who at the time was preparing to run for office of German Chancellor. The year was 2012, massive debt of Greece and many other European nations were threatening a free-fall of

Anand Naidoo (2020-09-15). The Heat: China-EU summit. america.cgtn.com Chinese President Xi Jinping and leaders of the European Union meet for a second round of talks aimed at boosting trade and investment. Is the Asian economic powerhouse pivoting towards Europe?>

RT (2020-09-15). Merkel 'ashamed' of persistent anti-Semitism in Germany, as she attends anniversary of country's largest Jewish group. rt.com On the anniversary of the founding of Germany's main Jewish group, Chancellor Angela Merkel slammed the increasingly "visible and uninhibited" racism and anti-Semitism in the country. | On Tuesday, Merkel attended celebrations for the 70th birthday of the Central Council of Jews. The organization was originally formed in 1950 to represent Jews who survived the Nazi regime but also to help mend the ties between Israel and Germany. | Speaking at the event, Merkel expressed her happiness at seeing the community "flourishing," but also used the platform to condemn the persistent anti-Semitism in Germany. She calle…

RT (2020-09-15). It may be a 'living hell,' but it's a 'Russian planet': Moscow will focus efforts on exploration of Venus, space agency chief says. rt.com Moscow plans to send its own mission to Venus in addition to the planned 'Venera-D' joint mission with the US, according to the head of its space agency Dmitry Rogozin, who believes the second planet from the Sun is "Russian." | Speaking at the HeliRussia-2020 exhibition, a convention focused on the Russian helicopter industry, Rogozin announced that Roscosmos plans to focus its efforts on Venus. | Read more | | "We believe that Venus is a Ru…

RT (2020-09-15). US military reveals it can't corroborate NYT's story on Russian bounties to Taliban – months after vowing to get to bottom of it. rt.com After two months of digging for evidence that Russia's government paid bounties to Taliban forces to kill American forces in Afghanistan, as reported by the New York Times, the US military has found no corroboration. | "It just has not been proved to a level of certainty that satisfies me," General Frank McKenzie, the commander who oversees US troops in Afghanistan, reportedly The investigation alre…

RT (2020-09-15). 'Catastrophic failure': Greece supplies GIGANTIC face masks that cover whole head to schools (PHOTOS, VIDEOS). rt.com Greece's plan to supply schools nationwide with free face masks has failed spectacularly after the delivered ones turned out to be too large for both children and adults due to wrong measurements. | Greek officials admitted the failure on Tuesday, after the first batch of masks was delivered to schools this week. | "The size was too large from the start," contractor Yiannis Stathopoulos, who won the tender for 500,000 masks, told Open TV on Tuesday. The masks intended for children under 10 measured 10 by 18 centimeters, and those for older schoolchildren — whopping 12 by 22 centimeters. | Deputy health mi…

RT (2020-09-15). Does he want to end his political ambitions? Top Eurocrat Borrell calls for Navalny's name to be attached to EU 'Magnitsky List'. rt.com The EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, has proposed naming a new sanctions regime directed against Russia after Alexey Navalny. Such a move would surely destroy the anti-corruption campaigner's oft-stated political aspirations. | In fact, it's hard to imagine the opposition figure would approve of the idea, as it would allow his critics in Russia to paint him as a tool of the West. While English-speaking and communicative with foreign journalists, Navalny, a Russian nationalist at heart, has always rejected any notions that he's helping the US and EU further their objectives in the country — for instance,…

Stephen Lendman (2020-09-15). Putin Affirms Support for Lukashenko, Consolidates Russia-Belarus Cooperation against Foreign Intervention. globalresearch.ca On Monday, Vladimir Putin met with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Sochi, Russia. | Both leaders are united against the diabolical made-in-the-USA attempt to transform Belarus into another US vassal state. | On the President of Russia website, Putin said the following: …