2020-03-20: News Headlines

RT (2020-03-20). US to close border with Mexico for 'non-essential' travel in effort to stem coronavirus spread. rt.com Starting Saturday, the US-Mexico border will be closed to nonessential travel in order to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, US President Donald Trump announced Friday. | The closure is open-ended and "will last as long as necessary," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added. | Trade is exempt from the restriction, which will focus on curbing tourism and recreational activities. President Trump said that Mexico is also suspending air travel from Europe. The Mexican government, however, has not yet announced a European travel ban. | "As we did with Canada, we're also working with Mexico to implement new…

John Wojcik (2020-03-20). Senators use advance coronavirus knowledge to enrich selves; hospitals becoming desperate. peoplesworld.org The American people's confidence in the ability of their national leaders to steer the country through the coronavirus pandemic was shattered further today when it was revealed that several top U.S. senators on the intelligence committee used advance knowledge of the coming coronavirus disaster to dump stock they owned and rake in huge profits before …

RT (2020-03-20). Senator Burr enabled Russiagaters for years; now they're accusing him of insider trading & coronavirus lies. rt.com Richard Burr, chair of the US Senate Intelligence Committee, has been accused of deceiving the public about the coronavirus outbreak and seeking to profit from it by dumping stocks that are crashing due to the pandemic. | Burr (R-North Carolina) found himself under attack from two directions on Thursday. Early in the day, National Public Radio ran a story based on "secret recordings" from a speech he gave in North Carolina in late February, when he gave oddly specific warnings about Covid-19 to an elite group of donors, while keeping the rest of the American public in the dark. | SCOOP: Secret recording obtain…

Ben Norton (2020-03-20). US government threatens families of Int'l Criminal Court staff if they try Americans for war crimes. thegrayzone.com The International Criminal Court approved an investigation into US war crimes in Afghanistan. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo responded by…

Gareth Porter (2020-03-20). Pompeo and Netanyahu paved a path to war with Iran, and they're pushing Trump again. thegrayzone.com Though it narrowly averted war with Iran this January, the Trump administration is still pushing for all-out military conflict. The…

WSWS (2020-03-20). CIA veterans endorse Biden for president—and so does Tulsi Gabbard. wsws.org The nominally antiwar congresswoman joined more than 80 former spies and intelligence agents in offering her "full support" to Biden.

Staff (2020-03-20). Senator Dumped Up to $1.7 Million of Stock After Reassuring Public About Coronavirus Preparedness. truthdig.com Soon after he offered public assurances that the government was ready to battle the coronavirus, the powerful chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr, sold off a significant percentage of his stocks, unloading between $628,000 and $1.72 million of his holdings on Feb. 13 in 33 separate transactions. As the head of the intelligence …

Staff (2020-03-20). It's Been Open Season on Voting Rights Since SCOTUS Gutted Voting Rights Act. truthout.org Election protection is increasingly seen as a critical issue in the US. Since the gutting of the Voting Rights Act by the Supreme Court, there have been problems with voter purging, voter ID laws, what some call modern-day 'poll taxes', precinct closures, and difficulties with voting machines. Congress has noted serious attempts to hack into voting systems in the US based in partisan politics. Women Rising Radio joins two election protection activists to talk about threats to the U.S. electoral p…

Lee Price (2020-03-20). Supreme Court Could Soon Make Government Regulation. zcomm.org Without the power to regulate health, safety, finance and other critical areas, we'll be living in a much sicker, more dangerous and more economically unstable world…

yenisafak (2020-03-20). Turkey 'neutralizes' senior PKK terrorist in N. Iraq. yenisafak.com Turkey earlier this month neutralized a senior PKK terrorist operating in the Qandil region of northern Iraq, security sources said on Friday. | Halide Tari was neutralized in a joint operation conducted by Turkish intelligence (MIT) and armed forces (TSK) on March 9, the sources said, requesting anonymity because they are not allowed to speak to the media. | PKK terrorists often use northern Iraq as a base to plan cross-border terrorist attacks on Turkey. | Turkish authorities use the word "neutralized" in statements to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured. | In its more than 3…

yenisafak (2020-03-20). US senator who knew about pandemic sold personal stocks. yenisafak.com Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr has sold his personal stocks worth over $2 million late February, right before coronavirus fears crippled U.S. stock markets in a wave of historic lows.According to the report on U.S.-based news outlet NPR, North Carolina Senator Burr, also the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, warned his close circles three weeks ago to prepare for dire economic effects of the coronavirus, according to a secret recording obtained."Sen. Richard Burr sold personal stocks worth between $628,000 and $1.72 million in 33 separate transactions on Feb. 13, before the recent market volatilit…

Ali Salam (2020-03-18). Members of US Congress Call for Action Against Israeli Policy of Forced Displacement. imemc.org A letter signed by 64 members of the US Congress on Tuesday addressed to Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, urged the Trump administration to oppose Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank, and to reject further US funding, Palestine News Network reported. The letter stated, "We are …

teleSUR (2020-03-18). Furious at Probe Into US War Crimes Pompeo Threatens ICC Staff. telesurenglish.net Amnesty International condemned Wednesday United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's comments threatening the International Criminal Court (ICC) 's staff and their family members for investigating alleged war crimes committed by the U.S. in Afghanistan. | RELATED: | "Threats against family members of ICC staff who are seeking justice is a new low, even for this administration," said Amnesty Internationa…

The Canary (2020-03-18). Facebook hit by software bug which marked coronavirus posts as spam. thecanary.co 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 — often news stories from trusted sources about the spread of Covid-19 — had been marked as spam by the site and taken down. | Facebook's Guy Rosen then confirmed on Twitter that the problem was "a bug in an anti-spam system". | He denied suggestions the fault had been caused by Facebook relying more on artificial intelligence and automation for content moderation after it sen…

Aaron Maté (2020-03-12). Exclusive: New OPCW whistleblower slams 'abhorrent mistreatment' of Douma investigators. thegrayzone.com A fourth OPCW whistleblower has emerged to defend the two veteran inspectors who challenged a cover-up of the chemical weapons…

Marjorie Cohn (2020-03-02). Extradition of Assange Would Set a Dangerous Precedent. zcomm.org The Trump administration is seeking extradition of WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, to the United States for trial on charges carrying 175 years in prison…

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

CounterSpin (2020-01-17). Chip Gibbons on FBI vs. 1st Amendment. fair.org Media…