2020-05-13: News Headlines

RT (2020-05-13). Was it worth it? Pompeo dons fashionable flag-themed mask at Israel airport… then takes it off for meetings. rt.com US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo emerged from his plane after touching down for a flying visit to Israel sporting an especially patriotic red, white and blue striped mask — but the novelty didn't last long. | Pompeo disembarked from his plane at Ben Gurion Airport wearing the colorful face gear, which many news outlets described as a "US flag" mask. Upon closer inspection, however, it appears the face-covering could have been a creative mash-up of the US and Israeli flags, given the addition of blue and white stripes and blue stars. | @IsraeliPM RT (2020-05-13). Assange's extradition: September 7 set for resumption of delayed hearing, WikiLeaks says. rt.com "A date of September 7 has been set for the resumption of Julian Assange's delayed extradition hearing," WikiLeaks tweeted on Wednesday. A court location has yet to be determined, it said. | A London court said on May 4 that the US extradition case against WikiLeaks founder Assange would resume in September. It had been postponed from later this month because of the coronavirus outbreak. | Assange is wanted by US authorities to stand trial for conspiring to hack government computers and espionage. The extradition case began in February for a week before being adjourned until May 18 for another three weeks of a…

RT (2020-05-13). Ex-army chief Ashkenazi to become Israel's FM — Blue and White alliance. rt.com Former Israeli Army chief Gabi Ashkenazi, who spent nearly four decades in the military, will be nominated as Israel's next foreign minister, AFP reported Wednesday, citing his Blue and White alliance. Ashkenazi held talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Jerusalem ahead of his "appointment as minister of foreign affairs this coming Thursday," said Blue and White, which is led by the incoming alternate PM Benny Gantz. | A unity government agreed between Gantz and right-wing PM Benjamin Netanyahu is due to be sworn in on Thursday evening, ending more than a year of political deadlock. | Foreign affairs…

RT (2020-05-13). Senate votes down anti-surveillance amendment, as both parties back warrantless spying on Americans' browser history. rt.com The US Senate has voted down an amendment that would limit surveillance of Americans' internet records. Apparently, the true divide in Washington is not between Democrat and Republican, but those for or against the police state. | The US Senate met on Wednesday to debate the reauthorization of some provisions of the USA Freedom Act, an expansive domestic surveillance bill that expired in March. As Majority Leader Mitch McConnell brought the Act to the floor, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced an amendment that would explicitly bar law enforcement from snooping on Americans' internet browsing and search…

RT (2020-05-13). Biden campaign reacts to Flynn unmasking revelations by attacking journalist & denouncing Republicans. rt.com After Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden was named as one of the Obama administration officials who asked for NSA information on General Michael Flynn, his campaign first targeted the messenger, then lashed out at the GOP. | The bombshell list of more than a dozen officials who asked the US spy agency for information about Flynn between the 2016 election of President Donald Trump and his inauguration included President Barack Obama's chief of staff, as well as Biden. It was a troubling disclosure for the candidate who has just denied any knowledge of the Flynn investigation, in a TV interview on Tuesday.

RT (2020-05-13). Flynn 'unmasking' documents show involvement of senior Obama administration officials, including Joe Biden. rt.com A newly published list of US officials who were interested in National Security Agency (NSA) records on Trump adviser Michael Flynn includes President Barack Obama's chief of staff, as well as Vice President Joe Biden. | Biden is listed as requesting the unmasking on January 12, 2017, the same day the Washington Post published a story claiming that Flynn had misreported his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, based on leaked NSA information. | Flynn unmasking documents f… by

Andrey Areshev (2020-05-13). Something About Julian Assange You Should Know. strategic-culture.org It is not just our family who suffers from the infringement of Julian's rights. If our family and Julian's lawyers are not off-limits, then nothing is. The person responsible for allegedly ordering the theft of Gabriel's DNA is Mike Pompeo, who last month threatened the family members of lawyers working at the International Criminal Court.

Azhar Azam (2020-05-13). Trump's Political Hoax Won't Revive US Economy, Retrieve Jobs. globalresearch.ca The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was a hardliner Republican before Trump appointed him the head of American premier civilian intelligence service, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and later on to serve as the top US foreign diplomat. | Although …

Jonathan Cook (2020-05-13). Why is Mike Pompeo risking a One-day Trip to Israel Amid the Pandemic? dissidentvoice.org As part of its battle against Covid-19, Israel has closed it borders to foreigners and imposed a two-week quarantine on anyone entering the country. There are also strict requirements to wear masks in public places. Israel, however, has thrown the rules — and caution — to the wind in approving the arrival on Wednesday of …

en.mehrnews (2020-05-13). White House hosting worst US administration, Pompeo knows nothing about ABC's of politics. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, May 13 (MNA) — In his remarks during Wednesday Cabinet Meeting, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the White House is hosting the worst American administration and the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo does not know ABC's of politics.

Aidan O'Brien (2020-05-13). German Foreign Policy Is a CIA Front. globalresearch.ca On March 30 Germany declared the important Lebanese political group, Hezbollah, to be a "terrorist" organization and banned it from German soil. By doing so it gratuitously increased the tension in the eastern Mediterranean and exposed Berlin's lack of credibility …

RT (2020-05-12). Estonian MPs pass 'Huawei law' for telecom security reviews. rt.com Estonia's parliament approved on Tuesday a new Electronics Communications Act to ensure security reviews for telecom gear needed in the development of future networks. The act, dubbed by lawmakers the 'Huawei law' in reference to the Chinese telecommunications company, leaves detailed implementation to the government and includes intelligence services among the reviewing authorities. | EU and NATO member Estonia shares the US government's security worries over new 5G networks, Reuters said. Washington has accused Huawei of spying on the West, allegations it denies. | The act did not mention any companies by na…

W. T. Whitney Jr. (2020-05-12). U.S. hand in recent assaults on Cuba, Venezuela. peoplesworld.org Secretary of State Pompeo loudly condemns Iranian border guards who abused Afghans crossing into Iran. He castigates China's supposed failings with the COVID-19 pandemic. He and President Trump rail against dictatorship they see in Venezuela. They protest Cuba's "slave doctors" — who actually "defend health care as a human right," according to Cuba's foreign minister. …

Patrick Anderson (2020-05-11). The Execution of Julian Assange. mintpressnews.com I do not respect anyone who has not been to prison." Julian Assange once said to Renata Avila, a Guatemalan human rights activist who serves as legal counsel for WikiLeaks. "What he meant," Avila After a decade of being shuttled from house arrest to confinement in an embassy to Belmarsh Prison to, if the United States government ge…

Andrey Areshev (2020-05-11). New House Documents Sow Further Doubt That Russia Hacked the DNC. strategic-culture.org For two and a half years the House Intelligence Committee knew CrowdStrike didn't have the goods on Russia. Now the public knows too. | Ray McGOVERN | House Intelligence Committee documents released Thursday reveal that the committee was told two and half years ago that the FBI had no concrete evidence that Russia hacked Democratic National Committee computers to filch the DNC emails published by WikiLeaks in July 2016. | The until-now-buried, closed-door testimony came on Dec. 5, 2017 from Shawn Henry, a protege of former FBI Director Robert Mueller (from 2001 to 2012), for whom Henry served as head of the Burea…

Raul Diego (2020-05-11). The US Keeps Trying, and Failing, to Deport a Former CIA Operative Back to Haiti. mintpressnews.com Emmanuel "Toto" Constant was supposed to board an ICE deportation flight along with 100 other Haitian nationals in what is the third such flight the Trump administration has carried out to Haiti in the last several weeks.

Adriaan Alsema (2020-05-11). Colombia's military to surrender illegal spying evidence to prosecution. colombiareports.com Colombia's defense minister said Sunday that the military will provide the prosecution with evidence against 13 of its members who allegedly took part in the illegal spying on journalists, NGO's,…

Staff (2020-05-08). Stir Crazy! Episode #31: Cancel Corporate Media. therealnews.com On today's show: TRNN climate reporter Aman Azhar, The Progressive Army founder Ben Dixon, and TRNN Executive Producer Lisa Snowden-McCray. Hosted by Kim Brown.

Zero Hedge (2020-05-11). Pompeo Likens Iran To Nazis On 2nd Anniversary Of US Nuclear Deal Exit. iranian.com Perhaps attempting to ensure the anti-Iran 'maximum pressure' campaign remains front and center, even in the midst of a pandemic and historic unemployment, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has resorted to the one of the most common — and we might note laziest — labels for America's 'enemies'. In official statements Saturday, and on the same day Russia and …

The Iranian (2020-05-09). Operation Ajax: CIA Oil Coup in Iran. iranian.com Via The Cold War Our series on the history of the Cold War period continues with a documentary on the Iranian Coup of 1953 against the prime minister of Iran Mohammad Mosaddegh and the so-called operation Ajax conducted by the American and British in support of the oil interests and the shah regime. This coup …

sputniknews (2020-05-12). Israeli Soldier Killed by a Rock in West Bank Raid is First IDF Casualty of 2020. sputniknews.com Israeli troops are currently searching the town where the attack happened to identify the culprits. It came a day before the scheduled visit of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is expected to discuss Israeli plans to annex a chunk of the West Bank.

Staff (2020-05-13). Don't Expect to See Trump's Tax Returns Before the Election. truthout.org Donald Trump claims that while he is president, his pre-presidency financial records can't be subpoenaed and he can't even be investigated for criminal conduct. The Supreme Court will decide by the end of June whether Trump is indeed beyond the reach of the law. | On May 12, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments about whether Trump can block subpoenas for his tax and other financial records that predate his presidency. Although prior presidents made their tax returns public, Trump has steadfastly refused to re…

Staff (2020-05-12). Justice Thomas Said Forcing Trump to Release His Taxes Weakens the President. truthout.org The United States Supreme Court heard two different cases on a single matter: who may (or may not) have the legal right to access President Donald Trump's financial and tax records. | The District Attorney from Manhattan, Cyrus Vance Jr., is seeking to obtain…