Pan Am 103 Lockerbie bombing: Fresh appeal launched to clear Megrahi
wsws.org | 2020-03-18
From the outset, it was apparent there was some level of foreknowledge or complicity on behalf of the US and British intelligence services in the 1988 bombing that killed 259 crew and passengers along with 11 residents of Lockerbie, Scotland.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/18/lock-m18.html
Facebook hit by software bug which marked coronavirus posts as spam
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-03-18
Facebook has confirmed a bug in its spam filter removed posts incorrectly from the social network, including legitimate news articles about coronavirus. | Multiple users reported receiving alerts from Facebook saying their posts
Israeli government uses emergency powers to authorize cellphone tracking of coronavirus patients
wsws.org | 2020-03-18
Netanyahu's holdover cabinet voted unanimously to authorize the Israeli intelligence service to use cellphone location data to track the movements of coronavirus patients and anyone who comes into contact with them.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/18/isra-m18.html
Exposing a Biden Staffer's Connections to Troubled Israeli Spyware Firm
Jefferson Morley | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-18
After Sunday night's Democratic presidential debate, Anita Dunn, senior adviser to Joe Biden's campaign, defended the vice president's performance in a briefing with reporters. Last year, Dunn, who served as communications director in Barack Obama's White House, did a similar duty for NSO, the spyware firm founded by former Israeli intelligence officers. The NSO Group…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/18/exposing-a-biden-staffers-connections-to-troubled-israeli-spyware-firm/
The Supreme Court is Set to Strike a Major Blow Against Social and Environmental Protections
Lee Price | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-18
In recent years, the Supreme Court has issued ruling after ruling awarding more power to large corporations. Most notably, the 2010 Citizens United ruling opened the floodgates to an unprecedented deluge of corporate cash in our elections. Now, however, the court's right-wing majority appears prepared to offer an even bigger boon: A virtual blanket ban…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/18/the-supreme-court-is-set-to-strike-a-major-blow-against-social-and-environmental-protections/
Turkey deals heavy blow to YPG/PKK during winter
yenisafak.com | 2020-03-18
Turkish security forces "neutralized" a total of 191 YPG/PKK terrorists both in Turkey and abroad during the winter season, according to data compiled by Anadolu Agency.Turkish authorities often use the word "neutralized" in their statements to imply that the terrorists in question either surrendered or were killed or captured.The counter-terrorism operations were jointly carried out by the country's National Intelligence Organization (MIT), Turkish Armed Forces, gendarmerie and police forces in eastern and southeastern Turkey and abroad, targeting YPG/PKK terrorists.From Dec.1 to Feb. 29, a total of 16 security…
yenisafak.com/en/news/turkey-deals-heavy-blow-to-ypg-pkk-during-winter-3514286
U.S. Intel Agencies played unsettling role in classified and "9/11-like" Coronavirus response plan
Whitney Webb | mronline.org | 2020-03-17
As the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis comes to dominate headlines, little media attention has been given to the federal government's decision to classify top-level meetings on domestic coronavirus response and lean heavily "behind the scenes" on U.S. intelligence and the Pentagon in planning for an allegedly imminent explosion of cases. | Source…
mronline.org/2020/03/17/u-s-intel-agencies-played-unsettling-role-in-classified-and-9-11-like-coronavirus-response-plan/
DOJ drops charges against 'Russian trolls' after they dared demand evidence in US court
rt.com | 2020-03-17
The US is dropping the much-hyped indictment for 'election meddling' against a company supposedly behind the so-called Russian troll farm, closing the opening chapter of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russiagate investigation. | Further pursuing the case against Concord Management & Consulting LLC "promotes neither the interests of justice nor the nation's security," the Department of Justice wrote to the federal judge overseeing the case on Monday in a motion to dr…
rt.com/usa/483279-concord-russiagate-charges-dropped/
When "Fake News" Was Banned: An America Trump Might Have Loved
Adam Hochschild | commondreams.org | 2020-03-17
Though few remember it today, exactly 100 years ago, this country's media was laboring under the kind of official censorship that would undoubtedly thrill both Donald Trump and Mike Pompeo. (Photo: Tuan Mark/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/trump_pompeo_0.png …
commondreams.org/views/2020/03/17/when-fake-news-was-banned-america-trump-might-have-loved?cd-origin=rss
Brazil: Bolsonaro to Be Denounced for Risking the Population
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-17
The Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) lawmaker Marcelo Freixo will denounce Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro before the World Health Organization (WHO) for putting the population at risk by promoting the concentration of people in a political act against of the National Congress and the Federal Supreme Court held in Brasilia on March 15. | RELATED: | Bolsonaro Claims His Second COVID-19 Test Was Negative | At an event called by those who long for the return to a military regime, Bolso…
telesurenglish.net/news/Brazil-Bolsonaro-to-Be-Denounced-for-Risking-the-Population-20200317-0004.html
Chelsea Manning supporters raise a Quarter Million dollars in two days
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-03-16
In the likely event that you need some news to give you a bit of faith in humanity today, you should know that supporters of whistleblower Chelsea Manning have raised over a quarter million dollars to pay the cruel, draconian fine that was heaped upon her for her principled stand against testifying at corrupt secret […] | Source…
mronline.org/2020/03/16/chelsea-manning-supporters-raise-a-quarter-million-dollars-in-two-days/
Judge Orders Release of Whistleblower Chelsea Manning Following Suicide Attempt
Kevin Gosztola | mintpressnews.com | 2020-03-13
Manning was confined for 365 days or one year after being held in civil contempt because she refused to testify before a grand jury empaneled to investigate WikiLeaks.
mintpressnews.com/judge-release-whistleblower-chelsea-manning-suicide-attempt/265716/
Exclusive: New OPCW whistleblower slams 'abhorrent mistreatment' of Douma investigators
Aaron Maté | thegrayzone.com | 2020-03-12
A fourth OPCW whistleblower has emerged to defend the two veteran inspectors who challenged a cover-up of the chemical weapons…
thegrayzone.com/2020/03/12/opcw-whistleblower-mistreatment-douma-investigators/
Blackwater Founder Erik Prince Recruited Spies to Infiltrate Progressive Groups with Project Veritas
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-09
Erik Prince, the founder of the mercenary firm Blackwater and brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, helped recruit former spies to infiltrate and gather intelligence about Democratic campaigns and labor organizations, including the American Federation of Teachers, according to an explosive report by The New York Times. The story exposes previously unreported details about the ties between Prince and Project Veritas, a right-wing group that often sets up sting operations targeting the media and journalists by recording covert videos. According to documents and interviews, one former spy recruited by Erik Pri…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/9/blackwater_erik_prince_trump_admin
TRAP Laws are the Threat to Abortion Rights You Don't Know About
Ashoka Mukpo | aclu.org | 2020-03-03
This week, the Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in a case | that will have wide-reaching consequences for reproductive freedom and abortion | rights in America. It's the first time the Court has weighed those rights since | gaining a new conservative majority with the appointments of Justices Neil | Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. And the stakes are high. | The case that the court will | hear, June Medical Services LLC v. Russo, | is being argued by the Center for Reproductive Rights (CCR), and it involves a | law in Louisiana known as a "TRAP"
Extradition of Assange Would Set a Dangerous Precedent
Marjorie Cohn | zcomm.org | 2020-03-02
The Trump administration is seeking extradition of WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, to the United States for trial on charges carrying 175 years in prison…
zcomm.org/zmagazine/extradition-of-assange-would-set-a-dangerous-precedent/
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.