(2019-06-15). WikiLeaks publisher Assange faces US extradition trial next February. wsws.org The UK government has made clear that it will do everything possible to expedite Washington's vindictive attempt to render the courageous journalist to face imprisonment, torture, and execution in the US.
(2019-06-15). Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe begins new hunger strike in Iran jail. thecanary.co 
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe — the British-Iranian mother jailed in Iran on spying charges — has begun a new hunger strike, her husband has said.Richard Ratcliffe said he had received a phone call from his wife to tell him she had informed the Iranian judiciary she had stopped taking food in protest at her "unfair imprisonment".Mr Ratcliffe said he would also not eat for the duration of her protest.He said his wife's decision followed the fifth birthday of their daughter, Gabriella, who has not been allowed to leave Iran following her mother's arrest in 2016 and is living with her grandparents.Richard Ratc…
(2019-06-15). US Court Backs Trump Transgender Ban, Reverses Lower Court. telesurenglish.net President Trump triumphed in his efforts to ban transgender people from the military after the U.S. appeals court Friday ordered U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman to review her ruling. | RELATED: | WHO Stops Categorizing Transgender as 'Mental Disorder' | The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals alleged Seattle's Judge Pechman failed to give the policy sufficient…
(2019-06-14). Transgender Women Challenge State Laws Blocking Name Changes. truthout.org Eisha Love, a 30-year-old trans woman living in Chicago, was incarcerated for nearly four years after she and a friend were attacked at a gas station in 2012 by men hurling transphobic slurs. One assailant was injured as the two women attempted to flee in a car. Love's case has been compared to that of CeCe McDonald and others who have faced harsh crim…
(2019-06-14). Oppose Inequality, Not Cops. counterpunch.org 
Even people doing their best to improve the world make mistakes. This was evident in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, last month during a public clash on the town's Peace and Justice Plaza between defenders of Confederate statuary and anti-racist activists. Before the police arrived to insulate the two groups, mutual yelling had begun to escalate More
(2019-06-14). Bigots in Blue: Philadelphia Police Department is a Home For Hate. counterpunch.org The recent protest outside Philadelphia's Police headquarters — triggered by yet another instance of police racism — had an emphasis distinctively different from similar demonstrations during past decades against recurring police misconduct in the city that preens as the Birthplace of Democracy in America. While protestors demanded disciplinary action against the 328 individual officers responsible More
(2019-06-14). Fighting the far right in Germany. greenleft.org.au 
Sibylle Kaczorek, a member of Germany's main left party Die Linke and an activist with Aufstehengegen Rassismus! (Stand Up Against Racism!) was interviewed in May by Dick Nichols, Green Left Weekly's European correspondent. | *** | Polls are showing that the racist, xenophobic and anti-Islamic Alternative for Germany (Alternative fàºr Deutschland, AfD) could be the leading party in elections later this year in the East German states of Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg. How did things get this bad? | The trigger for their ascendency was the 2015—…
(2019-06-14). The Armed Bureaucracy. commondreams.org The researchers "found officers bashing immigrants and Muslims, promoting racist stereotypes, identifying with right-wing militia groups and, especially, glorifying police brutality." (Photo: Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/gettyimages-160814231.jpg…
(2019-06-14). Bigoted Cops Show True Colors in Online Hate Groups. truthdig.com 
This article was originally posted on Reveal News. | Hundreds of active-duty and retired law enforcement officers from across the United States are members of Confederate, anti-Islam, misogynistic or anti-government militia groups on Facebook, a Reveal investigation has found. | These cops have worked at every level of American law enforcement, from tiny, rural sheriff's departments to the largest agencies in the country, such as the Los Angeles and New York poli…
(2019-06-14). A Life Well-lived: Reforming the Bank of Canada. William Krehm Passes Away at 106. globalresearch.ca In December 2011, William Krehm, Anne Emmett, and COMER (The Committee for Monetary and Economic Reform filed a lawsuit in Federal Court with a view forcing a restoration of the Bank of Canada to its mandated purposes. "In essence, they …
(2019-06-14). Bini, Friend of Assange, Spent Two Months in Jail Without Charge in Ecuador. truthout.org WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange appeared before a magistrates' court in London Friday, saying his life was "effectively at stake" if the U.K. honors an extradition request from the United States, where he faces 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act. Meanwhile, a friend of Assange, Swedish programmer and data privacy activist Ola Bini, is still in prison in Ecuador, after being arrested April 11, the same day Assange was forcibly taken by British authorities from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, and has been jailed ever since without charges. We speak with Vijay Prashad, director of Tricontinental: Institu…
(2019-06-14). Ola Bini Was Friends with Julian Assange. He Has Spent Two Months in Jail Without Charge in Ecuador. democracynow.org 
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange appeared before a magistrates' court in London Friday, saying his life was "effectively at stake" if the U.K. honors an extradition request from the United States, where he faces 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act. Meanwhile, a friend of Assange's, Swedish programmer and data privacy activist Ola Bini, is still in prison in Ecuador, after being arrested April 11, the same day Assange was forcibly taken by British authorities from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, and has been jailed ever since without charges. We speak with Vijay Prashad, director of Tricontinental: Institut…
(2019-06-14). Millions of Brazilians Join General Strike and Protests Against President's Austerity Reforms. therealnews.com 
In what has become the largest mobilization against Brazil's right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro, millions of Brazilians joined in the general strike, shutting down schools, banks, and public transportation. They are demanding a halt of the pension reform and the release of imprisoned ex-president Lula da Silva. Mike Fox reports from Brazil…
(2019-06-14). It Can't Happen Here: From Buzz Windrip and Doremus Jessup to Donald Trump and MSNBC. counterpunch.org 
It's my sort, the Responsible Citizens who've felt superior because we've been well-to-do and what we thought was 'educated,' who brought on the…Fascist Dictatorship… * Doremus Jessup, a liberal and social democrat, reflecting ruefully from an American fascist prison in Sinclair Lewis's novel It Can't Happen Here (1935) There's something happening here. What it is More
(2019-06-14). US Supreme Court refuses to hear Guantanamo detainee's habeas corpus appeal. wsws.org The court's refusal to hear the case of a man who has been imprisoned and tortured for nearly two decades without ever being convicted of a crime corresponds to the inexorable lurch by the entire political establishment towards dictatorship and barbarism.
(2019-06-14). "Advocate": Israeli Attorney Lea Tsemel Reflects on Defending Palestinians Who Resist Occupation. democracynow.org 
Attorney Lea Tsemel has defended Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli courts for nearly half a century, insisting on their humanity and their right to a fair trial. Her work has earned her the scorn and reprobation of many Israelis, as well as death threats. A staunch critic of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, Tsemel has long argued that Palestinians who carry out politically motivated violence are freedom fighters, not "terrorists." In 1999, Tsemel won a landmark case in the Israeli Supreme Court, making it illegal for Israeli officials to torture detained Palestinians during interrogations. The docume…
(2019-06-14). Premature baby found in Texas Border Patrol prison. peoplesworld.org 
The teenage girl with pigtail braids was hunched over in a wheelchair and holding a bunched sweatshirt when an immigrant advocate met her at a crowded Border Patrol facility in Texas. She opened the sweatshirt and the advocate gasped. It was a tiny baby, born premature and held in detention instead of where the advocate …
(2019-06-14). German boat captain faces 20 years in prison for saving refugees. greenleft.org.au 
A German boat captain faces a long and costly trial in Italy for charges targeting her humanitarian efforts on behalf of refugees. | Captain Pia Klemp told Basler Zeitung on June 7 that her upcoming trial in Italy for years of efforts with the civilian lifeboat Iuventa that saved at least 1000 lives, will take years and hundreds of thousands of dollars. | Klemp faces up to 20 years in prison, but whether or not she ends up in jail, she would challenge any conviction in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, if necessary. | "The worst has already come to pass," said Klemp. "Sea rescue missions have be…
(2019-06-14). When Will Presidential Candidates Propose Ending the Criminalization of Poverty? truthout.org Multiple Democratic presidential candidates have staked their campaigns on promises to fight for economic justice and protect low-income people from ruin. So it's mysterious and frustrating that none of these candidates have proposed to end our justice system's criminalization of poverty — at least beyond the occasional nod to ending money bail. | These candidates are missing an opportunity. The incomes of people in U.S. prisons and local jails are overwhelmingly low, and one…
(2019-06-14). Prisoners, Grassroots Activists Halt Construction Of Federal Prison On Former Coal Mine. shadowproof.com Federal prisoners and grassroots activists defeated plans by the United States government to embark on the most expensive prison construction project in the country's history. The plans for a federal prison and labor camp in Letcher County, Kentucky, would have cost at least $444 million and resulted in serious and…
(2019-06-14). Behind the Syrian Network for Human Rights: How an opposition front group became Western media's go-to monitor. thegrayzone.com Top media outlets turn to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) for figures on deaths and detentions, never noting…
(2019-06-14). Complaints Intensify Over Migrant Detention Conditions. truthdig.com 
EL PASO, Texas—The Trump administration is facing growing complaints from migrants about severe overcrowding, meager food and other hardships at border holding centers, with some people at an encampment in El Paso being forced to sleep on the bare ground during dust storms. | The Border Network for Human Rights issued a report Friday based on dozens of testimonials of immigrants over the past month and a half, providing a snapshot of cramped conditions and prolonged stays in detention amid a r…
(2019-06-14). "Freedom Gas" Will Be Used to Justify Oppression at Home and Abroad. truthout.org The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) made a recent foray into unintentional self-parody when it began describing natural gas as "molecules of U.S. freedom." While amusement and ridicule are perfectly reasonable reactions to this spectacle, all of us who care about freedom (for people, not molecules) and a livable future need to think about the terrifying potential uses of this language. | The…
(2019-06-14). NAACP Memphis to Inquire into the Killing of Brandon Webber. naacp.org The President of the NAACP Memphis Branch, Deirdre Malone, released the following statement in regards to the death of Brandon Webber: "The NAACP Memphis Branch is making a formal inquiry with law enforcement officials into the murder of Brandon Webber. As we grieve for the loss of another African American young man's life, the injury …
(2019-06-14). Get woke, go broke: Oberlin College hit with $44 MILLION penalty for accusing local bakery of racism. rt.com 
An Ohio jury awarded a local bakery $33 million in punitive damages, on top of $11 million in compensation, because college officials were involved in student protests that accused the store of racism in a shoplifting incident.
(2019-06-13). Chicago Police Tortured Victims With Electric Shocks, Burns and Beatings. truthout.org Flint Taylor, a founding partner of the People's Law Office in Chicago, has spent almost 50 years defending some of the most vulnerable people within the criminal legal system. In his new book, The Torture Machine: Racism and Police Violence in Chicago, Taylor describes the history of systemic violence running rampant within the Chicago Police Department. It's a history he knows all too well from his work with the Fred Hampton assassination case, among many others. This excerpt recounts some of the torture unleashed by police in Chicago during the 1980s, under Police Commander Jon Burge. During this time, Burg…
(2019-06-13). Italy's 'Closed Ports' Policy Leaves Over 1,500 Africans Dead. telesurenglish.net Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and SOS Méditerranée (SOS Med) have denounced that at least 1,151 refugee seekers, including children, have died and more than 10,000 forcibly deported to Libya since the Italian government closed its ports to humanitarian ships arriving to Europe from across the Mediterranean Sea. | RELATED: | German Boat Captain Faces 20 Yrs in Prison for Saving Refugees | "European governments' response to the humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean Sea and Lib…
(2019-06-13). Germany Passes Deportation Legislation. therealnews.com 
Germany's parliament adopted the first part of a new legislation packet to restrict the rights of asylum-seekers and refugees in Germany, denying them the right to work, sending them to prison once room in the deportation centers runs out, and even allowing apartment raids in search of "illegal" immigrants…
(2019-06-13). UK Officially Signs Extradition Order to Send Julian Assange to US. theantimedia.com (ZH) —Early on Thursday UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid revealed that he has signed a US extradition request for Julian Assange, putting the WikiLeaks founder a step closer to facing prosecution for espionage and hacking on American soil, where he's almost assured life in prison or worse after the US Justice Department filed 17 new charges …
(2019-06-13). Mistrial Declared After Jury Refuses to Convict Scott Warren for Aiding Migrants. truthout.org In Tucson, Arizona, a jury has refused to convict humanitarian activist Scott Warren, who faced up to 20 years in prison for providing water, food, clean clothes and beds to two undocumented migrants crossing the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona. Warren's trial ended Tuesday in a mistrial after a deadlocked jury was unable to deliver a verdict. Eight jurors thought Warren was not guilty; four thought he was guilty. A status hearing is scheduled for July 2. Prosecutors have declined to comment on whether they would seek a retrial against Warren. We speak with Ryan Devereaux, a staff reporter at The Intercept…
(2019-06-13). Say Goodbye to the First Amendment. truthdig.com 
"Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech or of the press," reads the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Yet, for the first time ever, a publisher is being prosecuted under the World War I-era Espionage Act. Julian Assange, co-founder of the whistleblower website WikiLeaks, is facing 170 years in prison if he is extradited to the U.S. from the United Kingdom. The case could deal a monumental blow to the free press in the United States. | The U.S. first charged Assange in April with attempting to help a U.S.
(2019-06-13). Brazil's Congress Summons Moro to Hearing on Intercept Leaks. telesurenglish.net The Lower House summoned Justice Minister Sergio Moro to a hearing on June 26 to testify about the content of documents leaked by The Intercept in which he and Attorney General Deltan Dallagnol appear to have coordinated a joint action to prevent former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from running in the 2018 presidential elections.
(2019-06-13). Minneapolis police officer sentenced to over 12 years in prison for murder of Justine Damond. wsws.org A month-long trial in April resulted in Noor being found guilty of third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.
(2019-06-13). Wyden Bill to Strip Tax Breaks From Private Prison Industry Profiting From Child Detentions. commondreams.org "Companies that profit off of putting children in cages shouldn't get tax breaks." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/wyden_1.jpg…
(2019-06-13). No More Deaths: Mistrial Declared After Jury Refuses to Convict Scott Warren for Aiding Migrants. democracynow.org 
In Tucson, Arizona, a jury has refused to convict humanitarian activist Scott Warren, who faced up to 20 years in prison for providing water, food, clean clothes and beds to two undocumented migrants crossing the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona. Warren's trial ended Tuesday in a mistrial after a deadlocked jury was unable to deliver a verdict. Eight jurors thought Warren was not guilty; four thought he was guilty. A status hearing is scheduled for July 2. Prosecutors have declined to comment on whether they would seek a retrial against Warren. We speak with Ryan Devereaux, a staff reporter at The Intercept who…
(2019-06-13). Minneapolis police office sentenced to over 12 years in prison for murder of Justine Damond. wsws.org A month-long trial in April resulted in Noor being found guilty of third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.
(2019-06-13). Brazil's Congress Summons Moro to Hearing on Intercept Leaks. telesurenglish.net Brazil's Lower House summoned Justice Minister Sergio Moro to a hearing on June 26 to testify about the revelations emerging from documents leaked by The Intercept in which he and Attorney General Deltan Dallagnol appear to have jointly coordinated to prevent former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from running in the 2018 presidential e…
(2019-06-13). No More Deaths: Mistrial Declared After Jury Refuses to Convict Scott Warren for Aiding Migrants. democracynow.org In Tucson, Arizona, a jury has refused to convict humanitarian activist Scott Warren, who faced up to 20 years in prison for providing water, food, clean clothes and beds to two undocumented migrants crossing the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona. Warren's trial ended Tuesday in a mistrial after a deadlocked jury was unable to deliver a verdict. Eight jurors thought Warren was not guilty; four thought he was guilty. A status hearing is scheduled for July 2. Prosecutors have declined to comment on whether they would seek a retrial against Warren. We speak with Ryan Devereaux, a staff reporter at The Intercept who…
(2019-06-13). Say Goodbye to the First Amendment. truthdig.com "Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech or of the press," reads the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Yet, for the first time ever, a publisher is being prosecuted under the World War I-era Espionage Act. Julian Assange, co-founder of the whistleblower website WikiLeaks, is facing 170 years in prison if he is extradited to the U.S. from the United Kingdom. The case could deal a monumental blow to the free press in the United States. | The U.S. first charged Assange in April with attempting to help a U.S. Army whistleblower break into a military computer system, for which Assange wo…
(2019-06-13). Israeli Intel Agents Key Part of Anti-BDS Activities: Documents. telesurenglish.net Israeli government documents disclosed Wednesday have revealed that the national intelligence agency of Israel, Mossad, has collaborated over the past years with Israeli government through its Strategic Affairs Ministry, to sabotage the international pro-Palestinian Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement on a global scale. | RELATED: | Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, AOC Sign Bill to Stop US Aid to Israel over Children Detention | The Strategic Affairs M…
(2019-06-13). China Invites UN To Visit 'Education Centers' in Xinjiang. telesurenglish.net The Chinese envoy to the United Nations has formally welcomed U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet to visit China, including Xinjiang, where Beijing has been accused of putting more than one million ethnic Uyghurs in mass detention centers. | RELATED: | Floods Kill 16, Affect Millions in China, With More Rain To Come | According to the Chinese envoy, the U.N. human rights chief is more than welcome to visit their "education training centers", which Beijing claims is helpin…
(2019-06-13). US Gov't Plans to Detain Migrant Children at WW2 Japanese Internment Camp. theantimedia.com (CD) — Lending even greater significance to the parallels commentators and historians have drawn between U.S. migrant detention centers and concentration camps of the past, the Trump administration is reportedly planning to hold more than a thousand immigrant children at an Oklahoma army base that was used as an internment camp for Japanese Americans during World War II. …
(2019-06-13). REPRESSION FAILS TO QUELL OPPOSITION TO CAMEROON REGIME. blackstarnews.com 
June 10, 2019 (GIN) — Facing a growing pro-democracy movement, Cameroon is resorting to an old formula — namely unleashing government power in the form of threats, arrests and excessive force. | This week, hundreds of supporters of Maurice Kamto, leader of the opposition Cameroon Resistance Movement, filled the streets, demanding his release from detention but were detained themselves by security forces. | According to his lawyer, Kamto could be charged with: insurrection, hostility against the homeland, criminal association, threats to public order, rebellion, group rebellion, and inciting insurrecti…
(2019-06-13). Syrian Families Released from the Infamous Rukban Concentration Camp. globalresearch.ca Dozens of Syrian families have been released from the US-controlled Rukban Concentration Camp in Al-Tanf, southeast of Syria. | The released families arrived at the Jaligam crossing in Homs eastern countryside after spending years in forced displacement and detention by the …
(2019-06-13). Justice for Layleen Polanco: Community Demands Answers After Trans Black Latinx Woman Died at Rikers. democracynow.org 
Outrage is mounting over the death of Layleen Polanco, a transgender Afro-Latinx woman who was found dead in a cell at Rikers Island on Friday. Polanco was arrested on misdemeanor charges and jailed on Rikers in April when she was unable to post $500 bail. Nearly two months later, she was dead. Her family, friends and transgender rights activists are now demanding answers for the conditions that led to the 27-year-old's death. The city says the cause of death has not yet been determined. Polanco was held in a unit for transgender women while jailed at Rikers, but a week before her death she was transferred to so-…
(2019-06-13). Justice for Layleen Polanco: Community Demands Answers After Trans Black Latinx Woman Died at Rikers. democracynow.org Outrage is mounting over the death of Layleen Polanco, a transgender Afro-Latinx woman who was found dead in a cell at Rikers Island on Friday. Polanco was arrested on misdemeanor charges and jailed on Rikers in April when she was unable to post $500 bail. Nearly two months later, she was dead. Her family, friends and transgender rights activists are now demanding answers for the conditions that led to the 27-year-old's death. The city says the cause of death has not yet been determined. Polanco was held in a unit for transgender women while jailed at Rikers, but a week before her death she was transferred to so-…
(2019-06-13). US to Jail 1,400 Immigrant Children at WWII Japanese Internment Site. globalresearch.ca The Pentagon announced yesterday that the Trump administration will detain 1,400 immigrant children at the site of a World War II-era Japanese internment camp, Fort Sill Army Base in Lawton, Oklahoma. | The decision, announced Tuesday as Trump denounced immigrants and …
(2019-06-13). Community Demands Answers After Trans Black Latinx Woman Died at Rikers. truthout.org Outrage is mounting over the death of Layleen Polanco, a transgender Afro-Latinx woman who was found dead in a cell at Rikers Island on Friday. Polanco was arrested on misdemeanor charges and jailed on Rikers in April when she was unable to post $500 bail. Nearly two months later, she was dead. Her family, friends and transgender rights activists are now demanding answers for the conditions that led to the 27-year-old's death. The city says the cause of death has not yet been determined. Polanco was held in a unit for transgender women while jailed at Rikers, but a week before her death she was transferred to…
(2019-06-13). Overcrowding, rotten food & nooses: DHS watchdog confirms horrific conditions at immigrant jails. nationofchange.org Now Homeland Security's own inspector general has revealed how detained immigrants are subjected to rotten food, severe overcrowding, inadequate medical care, and broken and overflowing toilets.
(2019-06-13). "Pose" Star Indya Moore Demands Justice for Killed Trans Women: "We Are All Worthy of Safety" democracynow.org 
Transgender actor and model Indya Moore addressed a crowd of protesters gathered in New York City's Foley Square Monday to demand justice for Layleen Polanco, a transgender Afro-Latinx woman who was found dead in a cell at Rikers Island on Friday. Polanco was arrested on misdemeanor charges and jailed on Rikers in April when she was unable to post $500 bail. Nearly two months later, she was dead. "We are worthy of legal aid, liberty, justice, resources. And we are worthy of life. We are worthy of love," Moore told the crowd. "If the sight of us using our bodies, our voices and our defiance to protest this oppress…
