Courage Foundation holds public meeting in New York City in defense of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
wsws.org | 2020-02-18
The extradition hearing for Assange is scheduled to begin in London on February 24.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/02/18/wnyc-f18.html

Support grows for New Zealand rallies to free Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning
wsws.org | 2020-02-18
The Socialist Equality Group (NZ) is holding a rally in Wellington on Sunday February 23 as part of worldwide demonstrations in defence of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and whistleblower Chelsea Manning.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/02/18/asnz-f18.html

End Torture and Medical Neglect of Julian Assange
Dr. C. Stephen Frost | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-18
On Nov 22, 2019, we, a group of more than 60 medical doctors, wrote to the UK Home Secretary to express our serious concerns about the physical and mental health of Julian Assange.1 In our letter,1 we documented a history …
globalresearch.ca/end-torture-medical-neglect-julian-assange/5704006

Julian Assange Must Be Freed, Not Betrayed
John Pilger | zcomm.org | 2020-02-18
When we speak about dictatorships, we call this brainwashing: the conquest of minds. It is a truth we rarely apply to our own societies, regardless of the trail of blood that leads back to us and which never dries…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/julian-assange-must-be-freed-not-betrayed/

'Julian Assange must be freed, not betrayed', says John Pilger
John Pilger | thecanary.co | 2020-02-18
On Saturday, there will be a march from Australia House in London to Parliament Square, the centre of British democracy. People will carry pictures of the Australian publisher and journalist Julian Assange who, on 24 February, faces a court that will decide whether or not he is to be extradited to the United States and a living death. | Some Australian history: | I know Australia House well. As an Australian myself, I used to go there in my early days in London to read the newspapers from home. Opened by King George V over a century ago, its vastness of marble and stone, chandeliers and solemn portraits,…
thecanary.co/opinion/2020/02/18/julian-assange-must-be-freed-not-betrayed-says-john-pilger/

John Pilger: It is time for Julian Assange to be saved, not betrayed
John Pilger | thegrayzone.com | 2020-02-18
The truth is that Australia could have rescued Julian Assange and can still rescue him. Leaders of his homeland who have…
thegrayzone.com/2020/02/17/john-pilger-julian-assange-saved-betrayed/

While demanding Assange, US refuses to extradite CIA agent who killed British teen
Alexander Rubinstein | thegrayzone.com | 2020-02-18
High-ranking CIA agent Anne Sacoolas is charged with killing a teenage British citizen. While the US demands Julian Assange's extradition,…
thegrayzone.com/2020/02/18/assange-us-extradite-cia-killed-british-teen/

Support grows for New Zealand rallies to free Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning
wsws.org | 2020-02-18
The Socialist Equality Group (NZ) is holding a rally in Wellington on Sunday February 23 as part of worldwide demonstrations in defence of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and whistleblower Chelsea Manning.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/02/18/asnz-f18.html

Australian court backs police raids on journalists
wsws.org | 2020-02-18
The ruling highlights the driving forces behind the persecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/02/18/raid-f18.html

The Lancet publishes letter from doctors: "End torture and medical neglect of Julian Assange"
wsws.org | 2020-02-18
The world's pre-eminent medical journal carries a letter from 117 doctors in 18 countries calling for urgent action to save the life of the WikiLeaks publisher.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/02/18/lanc-f18.html

Australian court backs police raids on journalists
wsws.org | 2020-02-18
The ruling highlights the driving forces behind the persecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/02/18/raid-f18.html

'Doctors for Assange' worry he may die in UK prison having 'effectively been tortured to death'
rt.com | 2020-02-18
Over 100 doctors are urging the UK government to stop the "psychological torture" of Julian Assange, and send him to a hospital. It's their fourth such letter since the journalist appeared in court. | WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange may die in a UK prison, having "effectively been tortured to death," claim Doctors for Assange, a group of 117 doctors from 18 countries, in a recent letter published in The Lancet, a leading medical journal. | The letter says that Assange requires urgent med…
rt.com/news/481096-doctors-worry-assange-condition/

While demanding Assange, US refuses to extradite CIA agent who killed British teen
Alexander Rubinstein | thegrayzone.com | 2020-02-18
High-ranking CIA agent Anne Sacoolas is charged with killing a teenaged British citizen. While the US demands Julian Assange's extradition,…
thegrayzone.com/2020/02/18/assange-us-extradite-cia-killed-british-teen/

The CIA and the Media
Carl Bernstein | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-18
After leaving The Washington Post in 1977, Carl Bernstein spent six months looking at the relationship of the CIA and the press during the Cold War years. His 25,000-word cover story, published in Rolling Stone on October 20, 1977, is …
globalresearch.ca/cia-media/5703889

Mike Bloomberg: "We Should Hope" the NSA Is "Reading Every Email"
Alex Emmons | zcomm.org | 2020-02-18
Source: The Intercept In October 2014, on a stage in San Francisco in front of a live audience, Katie Couric asked Mike Bloomberg whether he had ever "sexted on Snapchat." The former New York City mayor, speaking alongside Snapchat co-founder Evan Spiegel at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit, joked that he…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/mike-bloomberg-we-should-hope-the-nsa-is-reading-every-email/

Supreme Court Could Gut Reproductive Rights Without A Ruling
Jordan Smith | zcomm.org | 2020-02-18
the latest salvo in the ongoing effort of anti-abortion lawmakers to erode reproductive rights…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/supreme-court-could-gut-reproductive-rights-without-a-ruling/

Harvey Weinstein's Defense Team Is Waging a War Against the #MeToo Movement
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-02-18
A jury of seven men and five women meet today in New York Supreme Court to begin deliberations on whether to find disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein guilty of sexual assault. The case has drawn international attention amid the #MeToo movement. If the jurors find Weinstein guilty, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. Weinstein has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than 100 women but in this case faces five charges based on evidence relating to two main accusers. One woman, who…
truthout.org/video/harvey-weinsteins-defense-team-is-waging-a-war-against-the-metoo-movement/

Journalist: Harvey Weinstein's Defense Team Is Waging a War Against the #MeToo Movement
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-02-18
A jury of seven men and five women meet today in New York Supreme Court to begin deliberations on whether to find disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein guilty of sexual assault. The case has drawn international attention amid the #MeToo movement. If the jurors find Weinstein guilty, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. Weinstein has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than 100 women but in this case faces five charges based on evidence relating to two main accusers. One woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, alleges she was raped by Weinstein in a New York hotel, for which he has been charged wit…
www.democracynow.org/2020/2/18/irin_carmon_harvey_weinstein_trial_nyc

Wikileaks founder Assange's health improving in prison
yenisafak.com | 2020-02-18
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is no longer being held in solitary confinement and his health is improving, his colleague and spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson told reporters on Tuesday.Assange, 48, is in prison in London, fighting an extradition request from the United States, where he faces 18 counts including conspiring to hack government computers and violating an espionage law. He could spend decades in prison if convicted.His supporters had expressed concern about the state of his health after he appeared confused during a court hearing in October, struggling to recall his age and name and saying he was unable…
yenisafak.com/en/world/wikileaks-founder-assanges-health-improving-in-prison-3512269

Protest Julian Assange's extradition
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2020-02-18
civil liberties Kerry SmithIssue 1254 Australia whistleblowerFebruary 18, 2020Australian citizen Julian Assange's extradition hearing is set to start at Belmarsh Prison, London, on February 24. | The United States government wants to extradite the journalist and whis…
greenleft.org.au/content/protest-julian-assanges-extradition

John Pilger: Julian Assange must be freed, not betrayed
Susan Price | greenleft.org.au | 2020-02-18
civil liberties John PilgerIssue 1254 Britain Julian Assange extraditionFebruary 18, 2020On February 22, there will be a march from Australia House in London to Parliament Square, the centre of British democracy. | People will carry pictures of the Australi…
greenleft.org.au/content/john-pilger-julian-assange-must-be-freed-not-betrayed

Extradition of Assange Would Set a Dangerous Precedent
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-02-17
The Trump administration is seeking extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States for trial on charges carrying 175 years in prison. On February 24, a court in the U.K. will hold a hearing to determine whether to grant Trump's request. The treaty between the U.S. and the U.K. prohibits extradition for a "political offense." Assange was indicted for exposing U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. That is a classic political offense. Moreover, Assange's extradition would violate the legal pr…
truthout.org/articles/extradition-of-assange-would-set-a-dangerous-precedent/

East Jerusalem Organization Raided, Director Summoned
IMEMC News & Agencies | imemc.org | 2020-02-17
Members of the Israeli security service, today, raided Volunteer for Hope, an organization located in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina, under the pretext of holding "prohibited activities," and gave its director, Silvia Abu Laban, a summons to appear before Israeli intelligence for interrogation. Local sources told WAFA …
imemc.org/article/east-jerusalem-organization-raided-director-summoned/

Munich Security Conference 2020: Wang Yi vs. Mike Pompeo
Andrew Korybko | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-17
The Chinese Foreign Minister and American Secretary of State shared contrasting visions of International Relations during their keynotes speeches at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend. | Mike Pompeo preached that " the West is winning", and by the | …
globalresearch.ca/munich-security-conference-2020-wang-yi-mike-pompeo/5703925

Munich Conference: EU needs to Have More "Appetite for Power"
telesurenglish.net | 2020-02-17
The Munich Security Conference closed on Sunday with a call for the European Union to work more closely together and to have more power of decision and action in international conflict management, in a context marked by differences between the EU and the United States. | RELATED: | 'The West Is Winning' Pompeo Says at the Munich Conference | In this polarised world, Europe must "learn to speak the language of power," said the EU's High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrel…
telesurenglish.net/news/munich-conference-eu-needs-to-have-more-appetite-for-power-20200217-0005.html

DOJ Investigating Former CIA Director's Role in Russiagate
Jason Ditz | theantimedia.com | 2020-02-17
The Justice Department is investigating the role of John Brennan in the assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.

DOJ Investigating Former CIA Director’s Role in Russiagate

UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Demolishes Fake Claims Targeting Julian Assange
Media Lens | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-02-14
On the face of it, the task seems almost hopeless. As Tolstoy wrote: 'The power of the government is maintained by public opinion, and with this power the government, by means of its organs

NYC Taxpayers Spending Millions on Cyber Center with Controversial Ties to Israeli Intelligence
Whitney Webb | mintpressnews.com | 2020-02-14
New York City taxpayers are on the hook for a multi-million dollar cyber center in the heart of Manhattan with deep ties to Israel's high-tech intelligence apparatus.
mintpressnews.com/cybernyc-taxpayers-millions-cyber-center-israel-ties-intelligence/264984/

NYC Taxpayers Spending Millions on Cyber Center with Controversial Ties to Israeli Intelligence
Whitney Webb | mintpressnews.com | 2020-02-14
New York City taxpayers are on the hook for a multi-million dollar cyber center in the heart of Manhattan with deep ties to Israel's high-tech intelligence apparatus.
mintpressnews.com/cybernyc-taxpayers-millions-cyber-center-israel-ties-intelligence/264984/

Deadline Looming, Strongest Surveillance Reform Bill Yet Emerges
Neema Singh Guliani | aclu.org | 2020-02-12
Congress has just five weeks to decide the fate of key foreign | intelligence surveillance powers

Exclusive: New leaks shatter OPCW's attacks on Douma whistleblowers
Aaron Maté | thegrayzone.com | 2020-02-11
Facing accusations that it issued a doctored report alleging a chemical attack in Syria, the OPCW has released an inquiry…
thegrayzone.com/2020/02/11/new-leaks-shatter-opcws-attacks-douma-whistleblowers/

Media darling Pete Buttigieg was in unit that worked with the CIA in Afghanistan
Alexander Rubinstein | thegrayzone.com | 2020-02-08
While Buttigieg's campaign denies allegations he was a CIA asset, military records reveal Mayor Pete was in a unit that…
thegrayzone.com/2020/02/07/pete-buttigieg-cia-afghanistan/

The Government is Using its Foreign Intelligence Spying Powers for Routine Domestic Investigations
Ashley Gorski | aclu.org | 2020-02-05
More than forty years ago, Congress | gave the executive branch a set of exceptional surveillance powers to pursue | foreign spies on U.S. soil. Now, the government is increasingly relying on those | powers to advance ordinary domestic criminal investigations. | In United States v. | Osseily, a fraud prosecution in California, the government appears to have used | this surveillance