2020-01-15: News Headlines

RT (2020-01-15). Trump's ex-adviser Flynn moves to withdraw guilty plea in Mueller investigation — court papers. rt.com The former national security advisor to the US president, General Michael Flynn, has asked the court to withdraw his guilty plea, claiming Russiagate prosecutors forced him to lie and make statements they knew were untrue. | In a court filing on Tuesday, lawyers for Flynn argued that the prosecutors "concocted the alleged 'false statements'" the general was accused of making in relation to his company's violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). | "The prosecutors concocted the alleged 'false statements' by their own misrepresentations, deceit, and omissions." | The newly-released court papers st…

RT (2020-01-15). Cooperation between North and South Korea not dependent on US-N. Korea talks — Seoul. rt.com Inter-Korean cooperation doesn't necessarily have to wait for Washington's denuclearization talks with Pyongyang to progress, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said on Tuesday. | She made the statement after meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other diplomats in Palo Alto, California. "Our basic stance is that North Korea-US talks and inter-Korean dialogue complement each other in a virtuous cycle," the minister said. | Kang added that, with US-North Korea talks in stalemate, it is essential to revive "North Korea's engagement momentum" through inter-Korean talks. | The meeting came a…

RT (2020-01-15). Turkey & Russia discussing 'secure zone' in Idlib, Syria — Ankara. rt.com Turkey and Russia are discussing the establishment of a 'secure zone' within Syria's northwestern Idlib region where Syrians displaced by fighting can shelter during the winter, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has said. | "Our Idlib friends who have become refugees don't want to go to a government-controlled area," he added. | Ankara is reinforcing an observation post which has been "surrounded by Syrian forces," Akar told reporters on Wednesday. | His comments came after Turkish and Syrian intelligence chiefs met in Moscow on Monday — their first publicly acknowledged meeting for years — and di…

WSWS (2020-01-15). An Open Letter to fellow Educators: Take a stand with Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning. wsws.org A long-time educator has submitted the following statement to the WSWS.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-01-15). Assange's 12-minute hearing presents a grim picture of judicial indifference. peoplesdispatch.org Assange's legal team has complained of not being given enough time, by both the court and prison authorities, to discuss the evidence in the case with the defendant. A hearing on January 13 was wound up in under 12 minutes…

WSWS (2020-01-15). The prosecution of Julian Assange, the destruction of legality and the rise of the national security state. wsws.org The political and legal attack on Assange represents a qualitative intensification of the destruction of core rights and, indeed, on legality itself as the mode of bourgeois rule.

Rebecca Gordon (2020-01-15). Trump's Idea of a Conspiratorial Deep State Is… Just the Regular Government. thenation.com Trump's Idea of a Conspiratorial Deep State Is… Just the Regular Government…

sputniknews (2020-01-15). Germany Suspects Ex-EU Diplomat, Two Lobbyists of Spying for China – Reports. sputniknews.com MOSCOW (Sputnik) – German Public Prosecutor General Peter Frank is investigating a former EU official from Germany and two employees of a major lobbying firm on suspicion of spying for China, the Spiegel newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing information at its disposal.

yenisafak (2020-01-15). US expects UN sanctions on Iran to 'snap back into place'. yenisafak.com The United States believes international sanctions on Iran will be swiftly reimposed now that France, Britain and Germany have formally triggered a mechanism to help enforce Iran's nuclear agreement, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday."I've had very direct discussions – as well as Secretary Pompeo has – with our counterparts," Mnuchin told CNBC. "I think you saw the E3 did put out the statement and have activated the dispute resolution. And we look forward to working with them quickly and would expect that the U.N. sanctions will snap back into place."

Dianne Mathiowetz (2020-01-15). Putting the truth behind bars. workers.org Did you know that one of the most protected rights in this country is the right of the government to lie to the people? That is the essence of the persecution being carried out right now against Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange. Manning was a U.S. Army intelligence analyst based . . . | Continue reading Putting the truth behind bars at Workers.org

Matt Trinder (2020-01-14). Refuting Pompeo claim, Iraq sticks to demand that U.S. troops get out. peoplesworld.org The Iraqi government announced yesterday that it will not sign an agreement to keep U.S. forces in the country. On Jan. 5, the Iraqi parliament voted unanimously to demand an end to the presence of foreign forces in the country. The vote came two days after Iranian Major General Qasam Soleimani was killed by a …

Melvin Goodman (2020-01-14). Trump's Latest Debacle: an Incompetent and Deceitful National Security Team. counterpunch.org For the past three years, the conventional wisdom has been that the United States and the Trump administration have been fortunate in not having to face a national security crisis. The killing of Qassim Suleimani is Trump's first (self-inflicted) crisis, and his national security team has failed in every aspect. More

RT (2020-01-14). Hear no evil, see no evil, print no evil? MSM warn journalists away from Burisma/Biden info after 'hack' report. rt.com The US political and media elite have warned any journalist who might think of publishing (or even looking at) material potentially hacked from Ukrainian gas firm Burisma that they're essentially handing 2020's election to Russia. | Burisma Holdings – the Ukrainian company where Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden's son Hunter served as a director – has been hacked, cybersecurity firm Area 1 announced on Tuesday. Area 1 has ties to both the NSA and Crowdstrike, the firm behind 2016's still-unproven "Russian hacking" allegations, and has…

Whitney Webb (2020-01-14). How an Israeli Spy-Linked Tech Firm Gained Access to the US Gov't's Most Classified Networks. mintpressnews.com Through its main investors, SoftBank and Lockheed Martin, Cybereason not only has ties to the Trump administration but has its software running on some of the U.S. government's most classified and secretive networks.

Staff (2020-01-14). Trump Has No Idea What 'Deep State' Really Means. truthdig.com This seems like a strange moment to be writing about "the deep state" with the country entering a new phase of open and obvious aboveground chaos and instability. Just as we had gotten used to the fact that the president is, in effect, under congressional indictment, just as we had settled into a more or less stable stalemate over when (and if) the…

WSWS (2020-01-14). Julian Assange attends procedural hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court. wsws.org Since his last hearing on December 19, the WikiLeaks founder has had just two hours total to review evidence relating to the US extradition request with his legal team.

commondreams (2020-01-14). Iowa CCI, FWW Submit Brief to Supreme Court in Clean Water Lawsuit. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Jason Ditz (2020-01-14). Pompeo: Killing Soleimani Part of 'Broader Strategy' Applying to China, Russia. theantimedia.com (ANTIWAR.COM) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo still has not totally abandoned the pretext that the US assassination of Gen. Qassem Soleimani was based on an "imminent threat," but is moving to rebrand the operation as part of a broad new strategy "that also applies to China and Russia." Pompeo set this rather disturbing claim out in …

Ed Sykes (2020-01-13). Rapper MIA supports Julian Assange at court. thecanary.co Rapper and singer MIA has supported Julian Assange as the WikiLeaks founder appeared in court on Monday. She joined dozens of Assange supporters as he attended a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court.Fellow rapper Lowkey has also supported Assange, and recently spoke to The Canary about the importance of whistleblowers and media freedom.Assange, 48, is currently being held in HMP Belmarsh, awaiting the outcome of an extradition request by the US, where he faces 18 charges, including c…

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…

Gareth Porter (2020-01-11). Pompeo's Gulf Of Tonkin Incident. dissidentvoice.org Like the crucial steps toward public acceptance preceding the U.S. invasions of Vietnam and Iraq, the assassination of Qassem Soleimani was aimed at building popular support for war on Iran. Not only the justification, but the assassination itself were part of a broader strategy to grease the skids into war. The Soleimani ploy has apparently …

Ryan Cristián (2020-01-11). Pompeo Admits No "Imminent Threat," Boeing Emails Reveal 737 Issues & 60 Afghans Killed By US Drone. 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 (1/10/19). 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 …

Colin Todhunter (2020-01-11). GM in India: Faking it on the Astroturf. dissidentvoice.org According to a recent report in The Hindu Business Line, India's intelligence agencies are investigating the role of a global investment company and international seed companies in supporting farmers organisation Shetkari Sanghatana (SS) in the distribution of illegally procured genetically modified (GM) herbicide tolerant (HT) cotton seeds. The planting of such seeds is an offence under the …

Ryan Cristián (2020-01-09). ROCKETS Fired At US In Iraq, US Contractor Was 'Counterintelligence' & US/Iran Gov Coordination? 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 (1/8/19). 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 …

Staff (2020-01-07). Meet Brittany Kaiser, Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower Releasing Troves of New Files from Data Firm. democracynow.org 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…

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.