Daily Archives: January 2, 2021

2021-01-02: News Headlines

The Grayzone (2021-01-02). Top 12 The Grayzone stories of 2020: From Julian Assange persecution to Bolivia coup defeat, corporate war on free speech to OPCW cover-up. thegrayzone.com 2020 was a chaotic year for the planet. While the Covid-19 pandemic dominated global politics, The Grayzone continued shining a light on the machinations of empire, from the persecution of imprisoned journalist Julian Assange to the defeat of a US-backed coup regime in Bolivia, from the growing corporate war on free speech to the OPCW's scandalous Syria cover-up. Throughout the year, The Grayzone's website had more than 5.24 million views and 2.48 million unique visitors. Our small, independently funded team …

Editor (2021-01-02). Julian Assange's Imprisonment Exposes U.S. Myths About Freedom. scheerpost.com Assemblea Nacional Catalana / CC BY-NC 2.0] By Glenn Greenwald / SubStack Persecution is not typically doled out to those who recite mainstream pieties, or refrain from posing meaningful threats to those who wield institutional power, or obediently stay within the lines of permissible speech and activism imposed by the ruling class. Those who render themselves acquiescent and harmless that way… |

Nozomi Hayase (2021-01-02). Prosecution of Assange Is an Attack on Our Own Humanity. commondreams.org "The verdict will not only determine the life of Assange, but also the future of journalism." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/getty-assange_protestors_1.jpg

_____ (2021-01-02). The Julian Assange Pardon Drive. popularresistance.org The odds are stacked against Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks publisher who faces the grimmest of prospects come January 4. On that day, the unsympathetic judicial head of District Judge Vanessa Baraitser will reveal her decision on the Old Bailey proceedings that took place between September and October this year. Despite Assange's team being able to marshal an impressive, even astonishing array of sources and witnesses demolishing the prosecution's case for extradition to the United States, power can be blindly vengeful. | Such blindness is much in evidence in a co-authored contribution to The Daily Signal from th…

Eric van de Beek (2021-01-02). US govt-sponsored website Bellingcat disrupts MH17 trial in Netherlands. thegrayzone.com Bellingcat has attacked defense attorneys and smeared witnesses in the trial over the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. Is it being used by Western intelligence services to steer the case in a particular direction? (This report was originally published at Eric van de Beek's personal website.) For six years the British website Bellingcat has promoted Ukraine's narrative that Russia shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17). With the start of the MH17 trial in March 2020, the self-proclaimed "collective …

Binoy Kampmark (2021-01-01). The Julian Assange Pardon Drive. counterpunch.org The odds are stacked against Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks publisher who faces the grimmest of prospects come January 4. On that day, the unsympathetic judicial head of District Judge Vanessa Baraitser will reveal her decision on the Old Bailey proceedings that took place between September and October this year. Despite Assange's team being able to

_____ (2021-01-01). What We Learned In Julian Assange's Extradition Hearing. popularresistance.org The prosecution of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange would be a landmark test of the First Amendment right to publish if he were brought to trial in the United States, as press freedom groups, constitutional lawyers, and newsrooms across the board have sounded the alarm about the ways in which the U.S. indictment intends to silence investigative journalism around the world. | But Assange would first have to be extradited from the United Kingdom, where he has been imprisoned in HMP Belmarsh for over a year and a half. At Assange's extradition hearing in London, comprising one week of oral arguments in February an…

Editor (2021-01-01). Best of 'Scheer Intelligence' 2020: Chomsky, Abdullah, Prins, and More. scheerpost.com Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Black Lives Matter protests, and the 2020 general election, Robert Scheer and the "Scheer Intelligence" team made sure to bring you progressive perspectives from a wide range of distinguished voices including Noam Chomsky, Melina Abdullah, Nomi Prins, Oliver Stone, and many more, to grapple with a crisis-ridden year and offer hopeful …

sputniknews (2021-01-01). From Largest Communal Dispute to an End to Colonial Baggage: Top 10 India Events in 2020. sputniknews.com From a pandemic-induced migration crisis to a Supreme Court judgement in favour of Ram Mandir, 2020 has been an eventful year for India. Here is a recap of 10 major developments in the nation that have made the boldest headlines.

WorkWeek (2021-01-01). WorkWeek Exposes Racist & Corrupt SF City Health Service System Boss Mitch Griggs. indybay.org WorkWeek on Thursday 12/31/20 at 12 noon on San Francisco's KPOO 94.1 FM www.kpoo.com will have guests who expose the systemic racism and corruption at the San Francisco City Health Service System run by Mitch Griggs and also at the Department of Public Health. Joining the show will be the new editor of the SF Bay View Malik Washington who broke the story of the racist terrorism against SF City Health Service worker Malika Alima. Also joining the show will be SFCC Department of Public Health nurse and whistleblower W.D. Flient.

sputniknews (2021-01-01). US Sanctions Cuban Bank for Alleged Ties With Military, Pompeo Says. sputniknews.com WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The United States has added Cuban Banco Financiero International to its list of sanctioned entities, saying it is controlled by the country's military, State Secretary Mike Pompeo said Friday.

teleSUR (2020-12-31). Venezuela: Top Court Supports New Parliament's Inauguration. telesurenglish.net Venezuela's Supreme Court (TSJ) Wednesday ruled to void a legislative reform submitted by opposition lawmakers of the outgoing Parliament, which sought to prevent the inauguration of a new legislative period set to begin on January 5. | RELATED: | The TSJ ruling responds to an appeal requesting a mandate extension of the 2015 Parliament which is currently in contempt and is set to end with the installation in…

_____ (2020-12-31). The Death Of Democracy In Brazil. popularresistance.org The dismantling of Brazil's democracy, which culminated in the jailing of former president Lula Da Silva as he looked certain to be reelected, is the subject of a new English-language investigative podcast. | Cícero Ezequiel Filho lay beneath the sweltering sun of Brazil's capital, Brasilia. He wore khaki shorts, John Lennon glasses and a long white beard, which stretched far below his chin and over a red long-sleeved shirt with the face of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on the front. | When I met him in August 2018, Cícero had been outside Brazil's Supreme Court for two weeks. He refused to eat until…

Online News Editor (2020-12-31). Released Taliban militants behind journalist's killing, Kabul says. laprensalatina.com Kabul, Dec 31 (efe-epa).- Two of the 5,000 Taliban fighters who were released earlier this year after an agreement with the United States — as a precondition for intra-Afghan peace negotiations — were behind the recent assassination of Afghan journalist Rahmatullah Nikzad, Afghanistan's principal intelligence agency claimed on Thursday. The alleged perpetrators of the killing …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-12-31). Egyptian man sentenced for sexual offenses in case that sparked nationwide movement. peoplesdispatch.org Allegations against Ahmed Bassam Zaki were first brought to light by the whistleblower account 'Assault Police' on Instagram and Twitter, and included heinous crimes like child molestation, sexual assault and rape…

WSWS (2020-12-30). Hands off COVID-19 whistleblower Rebekah Jones! wsws.org Sri Lankan health workers denounce the persecution of data scientist Rebekah Jones and hail her determination to protect lives by exposing the real extent of the coronavirus pandemic in the US.

Sheren Khalel (2020-12-30). Pompeo and State Department face legal action over $23bn UAE arms sale. middleeasteye.net Pompeo and State Department face legal action over $23bn UAE arms sale | New York Center for Foreign Policy Affairs claims in lawsuit that massive weapons sale violates US Arms Export Control Act | Wed, 12/30/2020 – 17: 05 | The $23bn arms sale to UAE includes killer drones and American-made F-35 jets (AFP/File photo) | An American NGO has filed a lawsuit against the State Department and its head,…

news.un (2020-12-30). Bias, racism and lies: facing up to the unwanted consequences of AI. news.un.org Powerful digital tools using artificial intelligence (AI) software are helping in the fight against COVID-19, and have the potential to improve the world in many other ways. However, as AI seeps into more areas of daily life, it's becoming clear that its misuse can lead to serious harm, leading the UN to call for strong, international regulation of the technology.

Dr. Binoy Kampmark (2020-12-29). The NDAA, Trump and the Military Industrial Complex. globalresearch.ca For decades, the National Defense Authorization Act has been the lifeblood of the US imperium, guaranteeing a flow of money across the military. A better term for such a bill would use the word offence in it, but lawmakers and …