UN rapporteur Nils Melzer condemns Britain's criminal role in the torture of Julian Assange
wsws.org | 2020-01-10
Melzer demanded the abandonment of the extradition proceedings, Assange's freedom and a criminal investigation into those responsible for his persecution.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/10/assa-j10.html
"Fake Intelligence"? Washington Blames Iran for Ukraine Airliner Crash. Was the Plane Brought down by a Missile?
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-10
Disinformation, Big Lies and fake news repeated enough get most people to believe the official (falsified) narrative. | That's what state-sponsored propaganda is all about — supported by establishment media, operating as press agents for powerful interests, manipulating the public mind, …
globalresearch.ca/blaming-iran-ukraine-airliner-crash/5700207
U.S. Blames Iran for Ukrainian Jetliner Downing, Pledges Probe
Staff | truthdig.com | 2020-01-10
WASHINGTON — The U.S. promised "appropriate action" Friday in response to its assessment that an Iranian missile was responsible for downing a Ukrainian jetliner that crashed outside Tehran, as the Iranian government denied playing a role in the killing of all 176 people on board. | Secretary of State Mike Pompeo became the highest-level U.S. official to directly pin the blame on Iran, after Canadian, Australian and British leaders announced similar intelligence conclusions Thursday. "We do believe it is likely that that plane was shot down by an Iranian missile," he said. | Pompeo said an investigation wou…
truthdig.com/articles/u-s-blames-iran-for-ukrainian-jetliner-downing-pledges-probe/
Iran's civil aviation chief certain Ukraine plane 'not hit by missile'
rt.com | 2020-01-10
Iran's civil aviation boss Ali Abedzadeh said on Friday he was "certain" a Ukrainian airliner which crashed outside Tehran this week was not hit by a missile. | "One thing is for certain, this airplane was not hit by a missile," Abedzadeh told reporters in Tehran after Britain and Canada both said intelligence sources suggested a catastrophic error by Iranian air defense batteries had downed the aircraft, AFP said. | France said on Friday it was ready to join the probe into the crash that killed all 176 people abroad. Ukraine said it could not rule out a missile strike but that had not been confirmed, Reuters…
rt.com/newsline/477894-iran-aviation-ukraine-missile/
Iran Loathes Pompeo's Chabahar Gift
M. K. Bhadrakumar | counterpunch.org | 2020-01-10
Sometimes a crisis is needed to judge the efficacy of a country's regional policies. The U.S.-Iran confrontation is one such moment for India. In retrospect, the India-U.S. meeting of foreign and defense ministers in the 2+2 format in Washington on December 18 stands out as an embarrassment. A fortnight after that event, President Donald Trump…
counterpunch.org/2020/01/10/iran-loathes-pompeos-chabahar-gift/
Iran Puppet Master: Mike Pompeo Talked Trump Into Killing Soleimani — Reports
sputniknews.com | 2020-01-10
Mike Pompeo has reportedly long cherished plans to take the Iranian general off the Middle East battlefield, as he is said to have for quite a while seen late Commander Soleimani as the one behind the spiralling tensions with Tehran.
sputniknews.com/middleeast/202001101077999237-iran-puppet-master-mike-pompeo-talked-trump-into-killing-soleimani–reports/
Iran Loathes Pompeo's Chabahar Gift
M. K. Bhadrakumar | counterpunch.org | 2020-01-10
Sometimes a crisis is needed to judge the efficacy of a country's regional policies. The U.S.-Iran confrontation is one such moment for India. In retrospect, the India-U.S. meeting of foreign and defense ministers in the 2+2 format in Washington on December 18 stands out as an embarrassment. A fortnight after that event, President Donald Trump…
counterpunch.org/2020/01/10/iran-loathes-pompeos-chabahar-gift/
Iraq asks US to prepare troop pullout, send team to Baghdad
rt.com | 2020-01-10
Caretaker Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi has asked the United States to send a delegation to Iraq to begin preparing for a troop pullout, his office said on Friday. | In a phone call late on Thursday with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Abdul-Mahdi "requested that delegates be sent to Iraq to set the mechanisms to implement parliament's decision for the secure withdrawal of [foreign] forces from Iraq," AFP reports. | Some 5,200 US soldiers are stationed at bases across Iraq to support local troops preventing a resurgence of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS). | They make up the bulk of a broader US-led coal…
rt.com/newsline/477919-iraq-us-troop-pullout/
Pulling Back From War: Trump and the Politics of De-Escalation
Anthony DiMaggio | counterpunch.org | 2020-01-10
As "the loudest voice" in the room, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo successfully lobbied for President Trump to authorize the illegal assassination strike against Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. This "victory" proved fleeting, however, considering the risks to this administration's reelection that accompanied all-out war. A full-blown conflict appeared increasingly likely following Iran's missile strikes on American bases in Iraq's Anbar province and in Erbil, so it is understandable for Americans to be surprised by Trump's reversing course, and with the de-escalation he announced in his latest speech to the nati…
counterpunch.org/2020/01/10/pulling-back-from-war-trump-and-the-politics-of-de-escalation/
Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower: Facebook Allows Racist, Sexist Political Ads
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-01-10
A longtime Facebook executive has admitted the company's platform helped Donald Trump win the 2016 election, and it may happen again this year. In an internal memo, Facebook Vice President Andrew Bosworth wrote, "So was Facebook responsible for Donald Trump getting elected? I think the answer is yes." Bosworth, who was a backer of Hillary Clinton in 2016, went on to write that the company should not change its policies in an effort to hurt Trump's re-election chances. In his memo, Bosworth r…
truthout.org/video/cambridge-analytica-whistleblower-facebook-allows-racist-sexist-political-ads/
India's top court orders review of all restrictions in Kashmir
rt.com | 2020-01-10
India's Supreme Court on Friday ordered the government to review all restrictions, including the suspension of internet service, in Indian-controlled Kashmir within a week. | Defense attorney Vrinda Grover said the top court also directed the Indian government to make public all orders imposing a lockdown in Kashmir in August after the constitution's Article 370 granting Kashmir special status was revoked, AP said. | The court reportedly held that the internet shutdown impacted the freedom of press, which is part of freedom of speech and expression. | Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government ended Muslim-majo…
rt.com/newsline/477893-india-supreme-restrictions-kashmir/
Global oil & gas discoveries reach 4-year high in 2019
yenisafak.com | 2020-01-10
Global oil and gas discoveries in 2019 of 12.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) represents the highest volumes since 2015, according to Rystad Energy's data on Thursday.Headquartered in Norway, Rystad Energy is an independent energy research and business intelligence company providing data, tools, analytics and consultancy services to the global energy industry.Ongoing investments of U.S. company ExxonMobil in Guyana with additional four new discoveries boosted last year's numbers, Rystad said in a statement.According to the estimations, the discoveries in Guyana hold cumulative recoverable resources of ar…
yenisafak.com/en/economy/global-oil-gas-discoveries-reach-4-year-high-in-2019-3509340
Ukraine president received data from US on Iran plane crash
yenisafak.com | 2020-01-10
The United States has given Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy important data ahead of a call later on Friday with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about the crash of a Ukrainian airliner in Iran, Ukraine's foreign minister said on Twitter.Zelenskiy and Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko met U.S. representatives to receive the data, which will be processed by experts, Prystaiko said, without elaborating on the nature of the data or what it signified.Zelenskiy said earlier the possibility that a missile downed the airliner, killing all on board, had not been ruled out but it had not been confirmed yet.
yenisafak.com/en/news/ukraine-president-received-data-from-us-on-iran-plane-crash-3509334
Sheep-dogging on Steroids: The New Democratic Party Anti-War Activists
Ajamu Baraka | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-01-09
In the cynical spectacle that is called politics in the United States, the latest insult to the intelligence of the people is the Democrats who are posturing as Anti-war champions in reaction to the Trump Administration's assassination of Qassem Soleimani and the possibility of further attacks on Iran. We are supposed to buy that the …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/01/sheep-dogging-on-steroids-the-new-democratic-party-anti-war-activists/
Trump to De-Escalate: Intelligence Source
Pepe Escobar | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-09
"It is most unlikely Trump will escalate at this point, and this could provide him with the opportunity to leave the Middle East except for the Gulf States. Trump wants to get out," a U.S. intelligence source says. | *** | President …
globalresearch.ca/trump-de-escalate-intel-source/5700072
ROCKETS Fired At US In Iraq, US Contractor Was 'Counterintelligence' & US/Iran Gov Coordination?
Ryan Cristián | thelastamericanvagabond.com | 2020-01-09
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 (1/8/19). 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 …
thelastamericanvagabond.com/daily-wrap-up/rockets-fired-at-us-in-iraq-us-contractor-was-counterintelligence-us-iran-gov-coordination/
Top US general claims Iran was 'shooting to kill'… by giving early warning to hide personnel & prepare air-defenses?
rt.com | 2020-01-09
Although no one died in the Iranian missile strikes on US bases in Iraq, in part due to advance warning from Tehran, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said he personally believed that Iran intended otherwise. | "I believe, based on what I saw and what I know, that [the strikes] were intended to cause structural damage, destroy vehicles and equipment and aircraft, and to kill personnel," Army General Mark Milley told reporters on Wednesday. | "That's my own personal assessment," he added. "But the analytics is in the hands of professional intelligence analysts. So they're looking at that." | Also on rt.com…
rt.com/usa/477762-general-iran-strikes-intended-kill/
Jerusalem Governor Summoned For Interrogation
IMEMC News & Agencies | imemc.org | 2020-01-08
Israeli occupation police, on Tuesday, raided the home of Jerusalem's governor, Adnan Ghaith, in the occupied Jerusalem town of Silwan, and served his family a summon for Ghaith to appear before Israeli intelligence. Ghaith has been detained at least 13 times since he assumed the office of Jerusalem governor and …
imemc.org/article/jerusalem-governor-summoned-for-investigation/
Shell-shocked pundits come crawling back to Hillary over Trump's Iran belligerence… forgetting she'd have started war sooner
rt.com | 2020-01-08
Social media sang praises of would-be US President Hillary Clinton as actual President Donald Trump seemed headed for all-out war with Iran — even though Clinton had been a much more enthusiastic participant in US wars. | After Iranian missiles struck several US bases Tuesday night, #Resistance twitter wasted no time disavowing the administration they blamed for the hostilities, running into the arms of his arch-rival with the #IVotedforHillaryClinton hashtag. | I'm proud to raise my hand and say that I voted for Intelligence. | I voted for Leadership. | I voted for Experience. | I voted for Maturity.
rt.com/usa/477754-hillary-voters-brag-war-trump/
Is this the end of U.S. interference in West Asia?
Vijay Prashad | mronline.org | 2020-01-07
Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif reacted strongly to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's suggestion that Iraqis were "dancing in the street" to celebrate the assassination. On Twitter, Zarif posted pictures of the funeral procession for Soleimani and wrote, "End of U.S. malign presence in West Asia has begun." | Source…
mronline.org/2020/01/07/is-this-the-end-of-u-s-interference-in-west-asia/
If Americans Die in the Escalating Iran Crisis, Remember That Mike Pompeo Called It 'a Little Noise'
Joan Walsh | thenation.com | 2020-01-07
If Americans Die in the Escalating Iran Crisis, Remember That Mike Pompeo Called It 'a Little Noise'…
thenation.com/article/mike-pompeo-iran-assassination/
Evidence? What evidence? Pompeo shows no proof of 'imminent' Soleimani attacks
rt.com | 2020-01-07
The US says that Iranian General Qassem Soleimani was plotting "imminent and sinister" attacks against its diplomats and military personnel. But when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was pressed for evidence of this, he gave none. | Soleimani, commander of the Iranian military's Quds Force, was assassinated in a drone strike in Baghdad, Iraq, on Friday. Before the strike, President Donald Trump implicated Iran in a fatal rocket attack on an American base in Iraq in December, and in the storming of the American embassy in Baghdad by protesters last week. Afterwards, he said that Soleimani was killed to prevent "i…
rt.com/usa/477663-pomepo-no-evidence-soleimani/
Meet Brittany Kaiser, Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower Releasing Troves of New Files from Data Firm
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-01-07
New details are emerging about how the shadowy data firm Cambridge Analytica worked to manipulate voters across the globe, from the 2016 election in the United States to the Brexit campaign in Britain and elections in over 60 other countries, including Malaysia, Kenya and Brazil. A new trove of internal Cambridge Analytica documents and emails are being posted on Twitter detailing the company's operations, including its work with President Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton. The documents come from Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Brittany Kaiser, who worked at the firm for three-and-a-half yea…
www.democracynow.org/2020/1/7/the_great_hack_cambridge_analytica
Meet Brittany Kaiser, Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower Releasing Troves of New Files from Data Firm
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-01-07
New details are emerging about how the shadowy data firm Cambridge Analytica worked to manipulate voters across the globe, from the 2016 election in the United States to the Brexit campaign in Britain and elections in over 60 other countries, including Malaysia, Kenya and Brazil. A new trove of internal Cambridge Analytica documents and emails are being posted on Twitter detailing the company's operations, including its work with President Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton. The documents come from Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Brittany Kaiser, who worked at the firm for three-and-a-half yea…
www.democracynow.org/2020/1/7/the_great_hack_cambridge_analytica
Israel's Fingerprint Are All Over the Assassination of Qasem Soleimani
Ramzy Baroud | mintpressnews.com | 2020-01-06
The fingerprints of Israeli intelligence, the Mossad, are unmistakably present in the assassination. It is plausible that the attack at Soleimani's convoy was a joint CIA-Mossad operation.
mintpressnews.com/israel-mossad-fingerprints-assassination-qasem-soleimani/263923/
"Right-Wing Populists Will Sweep the Elections": U.S. Killing of Soleimani Helps Hard-Liners in Iran
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-01-03
We host a roundtable discussion on the U.S. assassination of Iranian commander Major General Qassem Soleimani, who has long been one of the most powerful figures in Iran. He was the leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force — Iran's powerful foreign military force, similar to a combination of the CIA and U.S. Special Forces. Iran called Soleimani's assassination an act of "international terrorism." "It was probably the best, the fastest, the quickest way to have a unifying rallying cry for the Iranian political establishment," notes Iranian journalist Negar Mortazavi. We are also joined by…
www.democracynow.org/2020/1/3/right_wing_populists_will_sweep_the
"Right-Wing Populists Will Sweep the Elections": U.S. Killing of Soleimani Helps Hard-Liners in Iran
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-01-03
We host a roundtable discussion on the U.S. assassination of Iranian commander Major General Qassem Soleimani, who has long been one of the most powerful figures in Iran. He was the leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force — Iran's powerful foreign military force, similar to a combination of the CIA and U.S. Special Forces. Iran called Soleimani's assassination an act of "international terrorism." "It was probably the best, the fastest, the quickest way to have a unifying rallying cry for the Iranian political establishment," notes Iranian journalist Negar Mortazavi. We are also joined by…
www.democracynow.org/2020/1/3/right_wing_populists_will_sweep_the
Supreme Court allows Kentucky anti-abortion law to stand
Lillian House | liberationnews.org | 2019-12-26
The Kentucky law was among a set of anti-abortion laws that have reached the Supreme Court this term.
liberationnews.org/supreme-court-allows-kentucky-anti-abortion-law-to-stand/
Four Lawyers. Four Projects. One Non-Stop Year
Leila Rafei | aclu.org | 2019-12-20
It isn't news that the Trump administration has kept ACLU attorneys working at breakneck speed for the past three years. In 2019 alone, we saw historic moments and victories–from defeating the citizenship question on the 2020 census and bringing the first trans civil rights case to the Supreme Court, to blocking a wave of abortion bans and many of the administration's attempts to dismantle the asylum system. To name a few. | Here are some of our attorneys' takes on 2019 and the year ahead–what's changed for the better and for the worse, and how the outcome of the 2020 presidential election will a…
aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/four-lawyers-four-projects-one-non-stop-year
US Threatens To Attack Iran Over Rockets Fired In Iraq & Assange Blocked From Seeing Key Evidence
Ryan Cristián | thelastamericanvagabond.com | 2019-12-15
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 (12/14/19). 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 …
thelastamericanvagabond.com/daily-wrap-up/us-threatens-to-attack-iran-over-rockets-fired-in-iraq-assange-blocked-from-seeing-key-evidence/