(2019-06-20). Trump's America and Egypt's Dictatorship Deserve Each Other. truthdig.com He was the first duly elected president in the Arab world and the first in Egyptian history. Now Mohammed Morsi is dead, collapsing on June 17 in his glass cage during his show trial in Cairo—a victim, it seems, of criminal negligence during a brutal six-year stint in prison. His death only highlights the distinct malevolence of a military junta that (illegally) overthrew Morsi in a coup. He languished in an Egyptian prison system that's incarcerated thousands of others—critics of the regime, mostly—in a co…
(2019-06-20). Italy: Captain in court for saving people in distress at sea. wsws.org Pia Klemp, who has rescued about 5,000 people in distress in a total of six missions, faces up to 20 years imprisonment and heavy fines.
(2019-06-20). Professor Stuart Rees to speak at SEP rally to defend Julian Assange. wsws.org "The rally must increase public awareness of the outrageous injustice if Julian is extradited to the US to face a possible 170 years in prison."
(2019-06-20). They Are Concentration Camps — and They Are Also Prisons. truthout.org The words "Holocaust" and "concentration camp" were trending on Twitter on Tuesday. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had referred to the prison camps that migrant children are being kept in as "concentration camps," and a virtual war erupted. The feigned outrage of conservatives was loud. Some argued that the Holocaust was a singular event, to which no parallel should be claimed. Meanwhile, many historians and people personally connected to the Holocaust insisted that the comparison was valid. | As a Native writer and a Jewish writer, respective…
(2019-06-20). Morsi's Legacy: Unlikely Democrat, Reluctant Martyr. dissidentvoice.org 
Morsi surrounded by his minders Mohamed Morsi (1951—2019) was the fifth President of Egypt (30 June 2012 to 3 July 2013), deposed by General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in a coup d'état July 3, 2013. In his last words, Morsi accused the government of "assassinating" him through years of poor prison conditions. Morsi is survived by …
(2019-06-20). Floridians Are Suing a Cop Fired for Planting Drugs in Their Vehicles. truthout.org In October 2017, Derek Benefield was driving in the Florida Panhandle's Jackson County when he was pulled over for allegedly swerving into the opposite lane. Once at the car, sheriff's deputy Zachary Wester claimed to smell marijuana and conducted a search of the vehicle, which, he reported, turned up methamphetamine and marijuana. Despite insisting the drugs weren't his, Benefield, who was already on probation, was arrested, charged $1,100 in fines and court fees, and sentenced to one year in county jail. | Benefield was seven months into his sentence when, in September 2018, the state attorney's office dropp…
(2019-06-20). Shady contractors jailed in Bay area and on Long Island. peoplesworld.org 
Minnesota isn't the only state that's cracking down on construction wage theft. New York is, too, and the feds did in Northern California. The two cases from opposite ends of the country illustrate the prevalence of cut-rate contractors who routinely exploit their workers, especially immigrant workers, shorting them of pay and overtime, all to line …
(2019-06-20). The US Must Repair Historic and Current Racism. dissidentvoice.org 
On this Juneteenth, we must confront the impacts of racism dating back to the founding of the United States with the slave trade of Black people brought from Africa, Jim Crow segregation, and policies that continue to this day that cause wealth inequality, disinvestment in Black communities, police violence, mass incarceration, and white nationalist violence. …
(2019-06-20). Punk band files lawsuit against surveillance by German intelligence agency. wsws.org The injunction seeks to ensure that the 2018 intelligence agency report, which lists the band in the category "left-wing extremist music scene," should no longer be published.
(2019-06-20). 87yo woman tasered by Georgia police, excessive force lawsuit pending (VIDEO). rt.com 
Harrowing footage has been released showing the arrest of an 87-year-old Syrian woman who was tasered by Georgia police, despite their dispatcher being made aware that she could not speak English.
(2019-06-20). New York Passes Historic Farmworker Fair Labor Law. blackstarnews.com 
New law ends 80 Years of Exclusion and Discrimination in State Labor Law… | The National Employment Law Project applauds New York State for passing the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act, which redresses longstanding discrimination against the workers who plant, harvest, and produce our most basic sustenance. By closing a racially motivated loophole in New York's labor laws, farmworkers will at last be paid overtime wages, have safe housing, and be protected when forming a union. | "While the farming workforce may have shifted from Black workers to Latinx workers, the Jim Crow practice of denying them basic…
(2019-06-20). San Fancisco City Workers Hold Juneteenth Protest at City Hall. indybay.org Photos: Leon Kunstenaar | Say Discrimination is Pervasive in Supposedly Progressive City…
(2019-06-20). The White Man's Biden. truthout.org The Democrats have a problem. Some unreconstructed ghosts from the party's gruesome racist past are rattling their chains, thanks to yet another very public blunder by former Senator and Vice President Joe Biden, the seeming frontrunner in the 2020 presidential race. | Biden, who apparently hasn't met a vicious conservative he doesn't like and respect, stepped on a whole series of rakes over the last several days, and his standing as the establishment pick for the nomination is setting the party up for another calamity at the polls. | Biden attended a big-dollar fundr…
(2019-06-20). Actor Danny Glover tells US politicians it's time to pay up for the damage caused by slavery. thecanary.co The debate over reparations for descendants of slaves has reached Congress with an impassioned plea from actor Danny Glover to address compensation for America's blighted heritage of racism. | Glover, who told a House Judiciary panel that his great-grandfather was enslaved, called a national reparations policy "a moral, democratic and economic imperative". | It was Congress's first hearing in a decade on the topic and comes amid a growing discussion in the Democratic Party on reparations and sets up a potential standoff with Republicans. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, for example, opposes the idea. | Glo…
(2019-06-20). Juneteenth 2019: The US Must Repair Historic and Current Racism. globalresearch.ca On this Juneteenth, we must confront the impacts of racism dating back to the founding of the United States with the slave trade of Black people brought from Africa, Jim Crow segregation, and policies that continue to this day that …
(2019-06-20). On Juneteenth, SF City Workers Demand Firing Of HR Director Micki Callahan. indybay.org On Juneteenth day June 19, 2019 in San Francisco African American workers and others protested and spoke out against the systemic racism against African American workers. They also called for the immediate resignation of Human Resources Director Micki Callahan who has helped the racists and also promoted managers who engaged in racism and corruption…
(2019-06-20). Israeli Holocaust museum schools AOC on concentration camps after comparison to migrant facilities. rt.com 
The Israeli Holocaust memorial center Yad Vashem lit up US Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez online for comparing US migrant detention centers to fascistic concentration camps, even offering to help educate her. |
(2019-06-20). Ilhan Omar re-tweets video of CNN contributor claiming US could be on the road to 'death camps'. rt.com 
Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar appears to be supporting fellow representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, after AOC sparked uproar for comparing detention centers at the US border to Nazi concentration camps.
(2019-06-20). Supreme Court Undermines Religious Neutrality In Permitting Giant Governmental Cross. aclu.org The decision ignores our constitutional commitment to official religious neutrality. | Today, the Supreme Court announced that a governmental display of a 40-foot-tall Latin cross as a war memorial for all veterans does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The decision ignores our constitutional commitment to official religious neutrality and is a slap in the face to non-Christian veterans.
(2019-06-20). Ocasio-Cortez Is Right—We Are Running Concentration Camps. truthdig.com 
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been under fire for an Instagram message she sent out in which she characterized the holding facilities for refugees and other undocumented entrants into the US run by ICE and by private companies (for which it is a $2 billion a year industry) as "concentration camps." | Human rights groups are speaking of a systematic violation of basic human rights of these immigrants. Note that it is perfectly legal for people to seek refugee status in the United States, and that the court system determ…
(2019-06-19). NGO Demands European Leaders Allow Refugees to Disembark. telesurenglish.net German non-governmental organization Sea-Watch rescued 43 migrants off the coast of Libya and now is requesting European leaders immediate authorization to disembark the refugees who have been waiting for a port for seven days. | RELATED: | German Boat Captain Faces 20 Yrs in Prison for Saving Refugees | "Many of the rescued need medical care and suffer from dehydration due to seasickness. The disembarkation of a part of the group had a strong psychological effect on the peopl…
(2019-06-19). Headlines for June 19, 2019. democracynow.org Shanahan Withdraws from Defense Sec. Consideration over Domestic Violence Past, U.N. Finds "Credible Evidence" of MBS's Responsibility in Khashoggi Murder, U.S. Excludes Saudi Arabia from List of Countries Using Child Soldiers, DOJ Intervenes to Keep Paul Manafort Out of Rikers, Trump Taps Anti-Muslim Katharine Gorka for CBP Press Sec., Acting Head of USCIS Tells Agency Staff to Crack Down on "Frivolous" Asylum Claims, AOC Calls Immigration Prisons "Concentration Camps", AOC Calls Out Amazon's Poor Labor Practices, Gunmen Kill At Least 40 People in Mali Amid Mounting Ethnic Conflict, Trump Launches 2020 President…
(2019-06-19). It's Bad Journalism to Take Cops at Their Word. truthout.org When mainstream news outlets fail to fact-check the police, they fail their readers and they fail our society. | Time and time again, by uncritically presenting claims made by police as truths, mainstream news outlets condone and enable the scourges of police violence, racism and mass incarceration in our communities. | This is true throughout the country, but a closer look at recent newspaper articles in Chicago, where I live and take part in anti-prison organizing, illustrates the dynamics of these journalistic failures. | Misleading Coverage of Bail Reform in Chicago: | Just last week, Superintenden…
(2019-06-19). Prosecution falters in poisoning of Flint water. mronline.org 
Five years after it was confirmed that the water supply of Flint, Michigan, was a danger to human health, charges have been—at least temporarily—dropped against eight former and present officials who had been facing up to 20 years in prison for a host of felonies. These included charges of voluntary manslaughter in the deaths of […] | Source
(2019-06-19). Brazil: Moro Testifies to Senate to Discredit Intercept Exposé. telesurenglish.net Brazil's Justice and Public Security Minister Sergio Moro testified Wednesday in front of the Senate in Brasilia to try to discredit allegations of illegal interference in the case against ex- President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as revealed by The Intercept. | RELATED: | Politics, Lack of Evidence Behind Lula Trial: Intercept Expose | "Obviously…
(2019-06-19). Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband insists Johnson's comments impacted on her. thecanary.co 
The husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has insisted that comments made by Boris Johnson when he was foreign secretary "enabled a propaganda campaign" against her by Iran.Richard Ratcliffe directly contradicted claims by Mr Johnson in the Tory leadership TV debate that his remarks as foreign secretary had no bearing on the fate of the mother-of-one, who is in prison in Iran on spying charges.Apology: Mr Johnson was forced to apologise in 2017 after wrongly stating to a House of Commons committee that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been in Iran to teach journalists.Referring to the remarks, Mr Ratcliffe told BB…
(2019-06-19). Trump blasts free press, political opponents at his campaign kick-off. peoplesworld.org 
ORLANDO, Fla. — Attacking the free press and calling for jailing of his political opponents Trump sounded exactly like the autocratic right-wing extremist he is at his official campaign kickoff here last night. Most of the speech, none of which dealt with the dangerous war moves his administration is making in the Mideast, was aimed …
(2019-06-19). Chicago police have a serious problem with pointing guns at children. nationofchange.org A family in Illinois has filed a lawsuit claiming that Chicago police officers used excessive force against an 8-year-old child during a raid on their home. | Chicago police arrived at the Wilson family home on March 15th with a search warrant and ordered Dominique Wilson and her three children out of the home at riflepoint. They then handcuffed multiple family members, including 8-year-old Royal Wilson. Royal was handcuffed for 35-40 minutes and suffered bruising to his wrists. | The lawsuit claims that not only was excessive force used but that all three children are traumatized at being held at gunpoint and…
(2019-06-19). Trump's Bureau of Land Management Is Being Sued Again Over Climate Impacts. truthout.org An environmental group based in New Mexico is suing the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) over alleged violations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) related to climate change. It's the second lawsuit the agency has faced over its approval of oil and gas leases on public lands in recent years. | WildEarth Guardians has filed a lawsuit against BLM and the Department of Interior, asking a federal court in New Mexico to vacate 210 oil and gas leases…
(2019-06-19). Bureau of Land Management Sued Again Over Climate Impacts of Oil and Gas. truthout.org An environmental group based in New Mexico is suing the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) over alleged violations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) related to climate change. It's the second lawsuit the agency has faced over its approval of oil and gas leases on public lands in recent years. | WildEarth Guardians has filed a lawsuit against BLM and the Department of Interior, asking a federal court in New Mexico to vacate 210 oil and gas leases…
(2019-06-19). Women's World Cup: Championship U.S. team still earn less than men. peoplesworld.org 
The Women's World Cup is now underway. Taking place in France, the tournament features 24 of the best women's national teams throughout the world. It's also a stage for widespread gender discrimination. Prior to the tournament, the distribution of tickets was absolutely botched by the infamously incompetent folks at FIFA. And here in the United …
(2019-06-19). Queens District Attorney Candidate Councilman Rory Lancman: I'll "Directly Confront The Racism" In Criminal Justice System. blackstarnews.com 
Councilman Lancman told the Black Star News he's the best candiate because he will "confront racism" in criminal justice… | On Tuesday, Councilman Rory Lancman told the Black Star News he's the best candidate to be the next Queens District Attorney because "I'm the one most willing to directly confront the racism and discrimination against poor people that permeates the criminal justice system." | Lancman is running against six other candidates in the June 25 primary race. The other six candidates are: Tiffany Cabán, Mina Malik, Jose Nieves, Betty Lugo, Judge Gregory Lasak, and Queens Borough President Mel…
(2019-06-19). 'I will NOT be compared to shooter who murdered my classmates' — pro-gun activist Parkland survivor. rt.com 
Parkland survivor Kyle Kashuv hit back against ex-GOP congressman David Jolly for comparing him to a school shooter over racist comments he made online years ago. Harvard recently revoked Kashuv's admission over the controversy.
(2019-06-19). South African MP involved in 'racist incident' in Cape Town. cgtn.com 
Cape Town's popular V & A Waterfront apologized to South African MP Phumzile van Damme for its handling of what van Damme described as an incident of racism. | FILE — REUTERS | Van Damme explained that it all began during a visit on Tuesday to V & A. | She says she was standing in a queue when she had a quarrel with the mother of a family at one of the supermarkets. The mother allegedly told her she would "push [her] aside". | "Then when I went out, she was standing there with her family in a threatening manner. And I went to her and said, 'why are you looking at me in a threatening manner?' Then she said, '
(2019-06-19). The persecution of Caster Semenya. workers.org 
The ongoing persecution of South African runner Caster Semenya by the International Association of Athletics Federations has shone a spotlight on the ways sports, under the patriarchal structures of capitalism and imperialism, are used to police and define, in the most unscientific and racist way, rigid definitions of gender. Caster . . . | Continue reading The persecution of Caster Semenya at Workers.org
(2019-06-19). 'Lies, Distortion, Nonsense': Bernie Sanders Slams Trump Speech. telesurenglish.net United States Senator Bernie Sanders slammed President Donald Trump's 2020 reelection campaign speech in a live-stream response minutes after the president launched his incumbent bid. | RELATED: | Pro-Trump Fox News Poll: Bernie Sanders Leads US President by 9% for 2020 Election | "We have a president who is a racist, who is a sexist, who is…
(2019-06-19). Stacey Abrams to Speak at Clarence Mitchell Luncheon during NAACP's 110th National Convention. naacp.org The Honorable Stacey Abrams will speak on the importance of ending voter suppression during the annual NAACP Convention in Detroit BALTIMORE — The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the nation's foremost civil rights organization, has announced that politician, lawyer and author Stacey Abrams will be speaking at the prestigious Clarence Mitchell …
(2019-06-19). Presidential Candidate Marianne Williamson Refutes McConnell's Claim That Reparations For Slave Descendants Is "Unworkable" blackstarnews.com 
Presidential candidate Marianne Williamson rejects Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's claim that reparations are "unworkable." | June 19th, also known as "Juneteenth," celebrates the end of slavery. On this day in 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, with the news that the Civil War was over. | Today, on the anniversary of "Juneteenth", the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties will hold a hearing on H.R. 40, the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act. The purpose of the hearing is to examine the legacy of…
(2019-06-19). The Tory leadership wannabes think they're a 'boyband'. Yes really. thecanary.co 
On 18 June, Conservative leadership hopefuls met for a live TV debate on BBC. In theory, this was a chance for the UK to gain more insight into what we might expect from the next PM. But it turns out there's more focus on what to call the country's latest boyband. Yes really. | Brexit, racism and sheep farming: | There were some key 'moments' in the debate. Michael Gove, Jeremy Hunt, Sajid Javid, Boris Johnson and Rory Stewart shouted over each other so much that host Emily Maitlis told them to "shh": | pic.twitter.com/Ps0526Jlq5 | — Matthew Champion (@matthewchampion) (2019-06-18). Morsi, Egypt's freely elected and imprisoned president, killed by regime. peoplesworld.org 
After six years of solitary confinement at a secret prison, Egypt's legitimate president, Mohamed Morsi, died yesterday after the latest in a string of judges ignored pleas to deal with his failing health. He has suffered from numerous medical conditions including heart failure and diabetes for years and has had not received necessary medical attention …
(2019-06-18). Julian Assange Indictment "Criminalizes the News Gathering Process," Says Pentagon Papers Lawyer. democracynow.org 
A London judge has ordered WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to appear before a court in February 2020 to face a full extradition hearing. Prosecutors in the U.S. have indicted Assange on 18 counts, including 17 violations of the Espionage Act. This is the first-ever case of a journalist or publisher being indicted under the World War I-era law. Assange said that his life was "effectively at stake" if the U.K. honors a U.S. request for his extradition. Assange is currently serving a 50-week sentence in London's Belmarsh Prison for skipping bail in 2012. We speak with James Goodale, former general counsel of The Ne…
(2019-06-18). Charles E. Ruthenberg: The first leader of the Communist Party USA. peoplesworld.org 
At the time of his death in 1927, he was lauded as "one of the most indicted and imprisoned workers" in the history of the American labor movement. Yet today, few know the name Charles Emil Ruthenberg. When he passed away suddenly at the age of 44, he cheated a Michigan prison of its next …
(2019-06-18). Black Boys Aren't "Wolf Packs" and Abusive Prosecutors Aren't "Lone Wolves" aclu.org Ava Duvernay's "When They See Us" brings to light the racism that turned five innocent boys into the so-called "Central Park Five." | Ava Duvernay's new miniseries, When They See Us, retells the harrowing story of the five Black and Latinx boys wrongfully imprisoned for the rape and near murder of a young woman in New York's Central Park in 1989. In this telling, she tackles racist practices that echo to the past, but are very much present in the current era of mass incarceration. | The story is as complex as it is damning. Duvernay chronicles how police, prosecutors, judges, jailers, and the media worked in conc…
(2019-06-18). Julian Assange Indictment "Criminalizes the News Gathering Process" truthout.org A London judge has ordered WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to appear before a court in February 2020 to face a full extradition hearing. Prosecutors in the U.S. have indicted Assange on 18 counts, including 17 violations of the Espionage Act. This is the first-ever case of a journalist or publisher being indicted under the World War I-era law. Assange said that his life was "effectively at stake" if the U.K. honors a U.S. request for his extradition. Assange is currently serving a 50-week sentence in London's Belmarsh Prison for skipping bail in 2012. We speak with James Goodale, former general counsel of The…
(2019-06-18). Shrewsbury 24 flying picket Terry Renshaw: "Only the power of the working class, not the official courts, is going to provide any perspective for freeing Julian Assange." wsws.org The former building worker explains, "To defend class war prisoners like Julian Assange, the perspective has got to be to raise the awareness and mobilise the masses."
(2019-06-18). Carnegie Medal Awarded for the First Time to a Black Woman. telesurenglish.net Dominican-American slam poet Elizabeth Acevedo is the first black woman to be awarded the Carnegie medal which is the United Kingdom's oldest and most prestigious children's book award, recognizing writing and illustration in books for children and young people. | RELATED: | US: Understaffed Prison Mailrooms Cause Ban on Book Donations | Acevedo is the daughter of Dominican immigrant parents and the piece that won her the award is her debut book "The Poet X," which is the story…
(2019-06-18). Charles E. Ruthenberg: The first leader of the Communist Party USA. peoplesworld.org At the time of his death in 1927, he was lauded as "one of the most indicted and imprisoned workers" in the history of the American labor movement. Yet today, few know the name Charles Emil Ruthenberg. When he passed away suddenly at the age of 44, he cheated a Michigan prison of its next …
(2019-06-18). Egypt's former president Morsi buried in Cairo. cgtn.com 
Egypt's former president Mohammed Morsi was buried early Tuesday morning under heavy security a day after his dramatic collapse and death inside a Cairo courtroom. | Deposed President Mohamed Mursi greets his lawyers and people from behind bars at a court wearing the red uniform of a prisoner sentenced to death, during his court appearance with Muslim Brotherhood members on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt, June 21, 2015. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh /File Photo | Abdul-Moneim Abdel-Maqsoud a member of Morsi's defense team said he was buried at a cemetery in the Cairo's eastern district of Nasr City. | This was despit…
(2019-06-18). WikiLeaks' Vault7 CIA leaker tried to start 'information war' against govt — prosecutors. rt.com 
The ex-CIA leaker who gave WikiLeaks the 'Vault7' documents smuggled phones into a Manhattan jail with the intention of waging an "information war" against the US government and "finally revers[ing] US jingoism" from behind bars.
(2019-06-18). Six Years After Coup, Egypt's First Democratically Elected President Dies. truthout.org Former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, 67, died Monday after collapsing while in a glass cage inside a Cairo courtroom. The Muslim Brotherhood leader was elected in 2012 in Egypt's first, and still only, democratic election. He was overthrown a year later in a military coup led by Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Morsi's death comes as el-Sisi continues to jail tens of thousands of people in what the Associated Press has described as the heaviest crackdown on dissent in Egypt's modern history. In his final comments, Morsi insisted he was still Egypt's legitimate president. Morsi spent the la…