2019-07-18: News Headlines

W. T. Whitney (2019-07-18). Cuba and a New Generation of Leaders Respond to U.S. Anti-People War. counterpunch.org For almost 60 years Cuba has successfully defended its socialist revolution against a steady onslaught of U.S. aggressive actions, serious enough at times to warrant extraordinary measures. Cuba, for example, established alliances with the Soviet bloc of nations in the early 1960s, readjusted its economy and politics following the Soviet collapse, and sharpened its intelligence capabilities in response to terrorist attacks continuing into the 1990s. More

Binoy Kampmark (2019-07-18). Spying on Julian Assange: UC Global, CNN and Russian Couriers. dissidentvoice.org History's scope for the absurd and tragic is infinite. Like Sisyphus engaged in permanent labours pushing a boulder up a slope, the effort of making sense of such scope is likewise, absurdly infinite. To see images of an exhausted and world-weary Julian Assange attempting to dodge the all-eye surveillance operation that he would complain about …

Andrew Korybko (2019-07-18). Julian Assange: US Coopts Patriotic Opposition in Ecuador, Former President Correa goes against Wikileaks Founder. globalresearch.ca Former President Rafael Correa's claim that Julian Assange abused his political asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to influence the US' 2016 elections and his publicly proclaimed admiration for Hillary amount to nothing less than the completion of America's …

Earchiel Johnson (2019-07-18). Carpenter v. Murphy: Supreme Court case could restore reservation lands, re-draw Oklahoma. peoplesworld.org The Supreme Court of the United States has decided to have the case of Carpenter v. Murphy re-argued in its next session. This is one of the most important Supreme Court cases on tribal sovereignty in the 21st century. If the the justices uphold the United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit's ruling, it could lead to …

WSWS (2019-07-18). The vindictive campaign against Chelsea Manning, America's political prisoner. wsws.org Daily fines placed on Manning for refusing to testify against Julian Assange doubled on Tuesday, threatening the courageous whistleblower with personal bankruptcy. She has been jailed for more than four months.

Joe Emersberger (2019-07-17). Lawyer beat oil giant in court, but now faces jail and millions in fines. thecanary.co From 1964 to 1990, Texaco (later absorbed by Chevron) dumped 16 billion gallons of toxic waste in Ecuador's Amazon. The CIA played a key role in bringing to power the dictatorship that first allowed Texaco to work in Ecuador. Philip Agee, the great whistleblower of that era, descr…

United Nations (2019-07-17). International Court of Justice orders Pakistan to review death penalty for Indian accused of spying. un.org In a ruling delivered on Wednesday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Pakistan to review a death sentence handed down in the case of a former Indian Navy officer accused by Pakistan of spying, finding that the country's authorities acted in breach of the Vienna Convention, which lays out rules for diplomatic relations between countries.

WSWS (2019-07-17). National strike against Ecuadorian government demands Assange's freedom. wsws.org The protests in defense of Assange and the recent five-day strike in Ecuador demonstrate that the only social basis for his liberation and the defense democratic rights is the international working class.

WSWS (2019-07-17). CNN peddles intelligence agencies' lies against Assange. wsws.org A recent CNN broadcast recycles the discredited claim that WikiLeaks was involved in a Russian conspiracy to deprive Hillary Clinton of the US presidency.

Akela Lacy (2019-07-16). Reformist District Attorney Larry Krasner Argues Pennsylvania Death Penalty Is Unconstitutional. theintercept.com Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who campaigned in 2017 as an unequivocal opponent of the death penalty, asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in a legal filing Monday night to declare the state's death penalty system unconstitutional. | The death penalty as it stands "cannot survive the state Constitution's ban on cruel punishments," Krasner wrote in a brief he submitted to th…

Staff (2019-07-15). Pompeo's 'Inalienable Rights Commission' — A Conservative Christian Assault on Human Rights? therealnews.com The newly-announced State Department "commission on inalienable rights" is a Trojan Horse for the long-planned Conservative Christian attack on human rights.

Caitlin Johnstone (2019-07-14). Main Twitter Account Defending Julian Assange Removed for No Reason. theantimedia.com The operators of the account report that they have been given no reason for its removal by Twitter staff, and no response to their appeals.

Kevin Gosztola (2019-07-12). Then CIA is Invoking Wikileaks to Push for the Expansion of a Cold War Era Secrecy Law. mintpressnews.com Three decades ago, the CIA mobilized to protect itself from radical acts of transparency, and now, with the internet and organizations like WikiLeaks, it hopes to be able to further isolate and criminalize those who challenge it.

Lucas Koerner and Ricardo Vaz (2019-07-12). Venezuela: 'Progress' Reported in Gov't-Opposition Talks as US Sanctions Counter-Intelligence Agency. venezuelanalysis.com The agenda of the talks has not been disclosed but the topic of elections is reportedly being left for last.

ACLU (2019-07-12). Pompeo's New "Human Rights" Commission is Up To No Good. aclu.org The Trump administration appears to be trying to find new moral footing for the president's discriminatory policies. | This week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo formally announced the creation of a "Commission on Unalienable Rights." Its stated purpose, according to a notice published in the Federal Register in May, is to provide "fresh thinking about human rights discourse where such discourse has departed from our nation's founding principles of natural law and natural rights." | Th…

Janine Jackson (2019-07-12). 'This Is Designed to Shape the Electorate to Retain Political Power' – CounterSpin interview with Steven Rosenfeld on gerrymandering. fair.org Janine Jackson interviewed Steven Rosenfeld on the Supreme Court's gerrymandering decision for the July 5, 2019, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. | Media…

pip.hinman (2019-07-12). Protecting rights requires confronting privilege. greenleft.org.au No sooner had the government won re-election its own actions once again showed politics is, after all, fundamental to how you live. | Shortly after home affairs minister Peter Dutton was re-elected, the Australian Federal Police (AFP), which falls within his ministry, executed search warrants against journalists who have investigated allegations of soldiers unlawfully killing Afghan civilians and government plans to spy on us. | The police claimed their target was the journalist's sources. But the raids were also a public show of force against whistleblowers in general, much like the prosecution of Witness K and…

Mazda Majidi (2019-07-10). Iran breaks out of nuclear accord: Should the world be concerned? liberationnews.org Since early July, President Hassan Rouhani and several other officials have been announcing Iran's intention to start going beyond the restrictions set by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Keegan Hankes, Intelligence Project (2019-07-03). SPLC: Hate groups have long adopted symbols of U.S. history to promote white supremacy. splcenter.org As America prepares to celebrate the Fourth of July this week, the display of some of the nation's earliest regalia has rekindled a debate about racist symbolism.

ACLU (2019-07-03). Thousands of Voices Are Telling the Supreme Court: Don't Roll Back LGBTQ Rights. aclu.org Businesses, women CEOs, civil rights organizations, Republicans tell the Supreme Court to protect LGBTQ employees like Aimee Stephens and Don Zarda. | President Trump has told the Supreme Court it should be legal to fire someone just because they're LGBTQ. The President may be a bully, but he's just one voice. Today, more than 2,000 voices from across the country joined together to tell the Supreme Court: Don't roll back our rights. | The message came in the form of friend-of-the-court briefs—nearly 50 in all—filed in a…

splcenter (2019-07-03). SPLC urges Supreme Court to preserve workplace protections for LGBTQ people. splcenter.org Soon after Y.B. took the night shift as a forklift operator, her boss started harassing her because she is a lesbian.

Keegan Hankes, Intelligence Project (2019-06-28). SPLC: Sentencing of James Alex Fields Jr., who killed Heather Heyer at 'Unite the Right,' will not heal victims or their families. splcenter.org James Alex Fields Jr., who was sentenced to life in prison today for murdering a woman who was protesting a white supremacist rally two years ago, is a remorseless killer and a domestic terrorist.

ACLU (2019-06-28). Georgia Tried to Ban Abortion, So We Sued. aclu.org Abortion bans place people in danger, and Georgia's is no exception. | Alabama. Arkansas. Kentucky. Ohio. And today, Georgia. That's the list of states where the ACLU has had to go to court over the last few months to challenge laws banning abortion. | The Georgia law bans abortion at six weeks of pregnancy and is in clear violation of the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade. In fact, that is the whole point of the law. Georgia politicians, including Governor Brian Kemp, emboldened by President Trump's appointment of two new justices to the Supreme Court, think this is their chance to get the court to take aw…

Paul Dobson (2019-06-26). Abrams Welcomes Venezuela's Former Intelligence Chief to the US, Reaffirms Trump's Commitment to Ousting Maduro. venezuelanalysis.com The press conference came as the Venezuelan military called for respect from those looking to fracture it.

Paul Dobson (2019-06-06). Venezuela: Pompeo Exposes Frustration Over Opposition Divisions as China, Russia Call for Non-Interference. venezuelanalysis.com The US Secretary of State claims efforts to unify the opposition have been "devilishly difficult."