(2020-11-18). As COVID Deaths Soar, El Paso at Breaking Point with Hospitals & Mobile Morgues Filling Up. 18.224.45.15 
Some Republican governors are dropping their resistance to mask mandates, as public health officials in the United States brace for a COVID-19 surge from the Thanksgiving holiday amid already record-high infection rates. However, Republican resistance to other public health safety measures continues as coronavirus cases in Texas reach record highs for a second time during the pandemic. El Paso County, an area along the U.S.-Mexico border where 80% of residents are Latinx, is also facing one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in the U.S. and now has 10 mobile morgues to hold bodies. Some prisoners are being paid just…
(2020-11-18). Demand immediate release of Palestinian women's movement leader Khitam Saafin. fightbacknews.org Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) demands Israel immediately release Khitam Saafin, the president of the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees, who has been jailed without charge or trial. Saafin was taken into custody on November 2 along with six other Palestinian human rights activists. Her imprisonment is another in the long list of crimes by the callous and cruel Zionist occupiers of Palestine. | Khitam Saafin is among those who stand in the forefront of the Palestinian women's movement and is a tireless organizer for social and national liberation. She has spoken at many international venues on th…
(2020-11-18). Pennsylvania Supreme Court shoots down Trump campaign claims of blocking Philadelphia election observers. rt.com 
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has rejected allegations by President Donald Trump's campaign team that election observers in Philadelphia were deprived of "meaningful access" to the polls, overturning a lower court's ruling. | The state's liberal-leaning Supreme Court ruled 5-2 against Trump's lawsuit on Tuesday, rebuffing claims that local election officials barred Republican poll-watchers from standing close enough to the vote-counting process to see what was happening. | "We conclude the [Philadelphia County Board of Elections] did not act contrary to law… during the precanvassing and canvassing proces…
(2020-11-18). The white vote for Trump: Is multinational working class solidarity possible? workers.org 
Why did nearly 73 million people vote for Trump, given his disastrous pandemic response and the economic collapse? The answer, simply put, is racism. In a country built on white supremacy, from slavery and genocide to mass incarceration and imperialist war, it should come as no surprise that a substantial . . . |
(2020-11-18). Colin Kaepernick: 'Free Mumia!'. workers.org 
EDITOR NOTES: During a virtual press conference Nov. 16 on the critical juncture in the fight to free political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal, Colin Kaepernick expressed his support. Kaepernick sacrificed his stellar athletic career in 2016 when he began to take a knee in protest against police terror during the playing . . . |
(2020-11-18). A survivor speaks: 'I had to defend myself'. workers.org 
This is a slightly edited version of a talk given at the webinar "Women and Oppressed Genders: Survival and Resistance" hosted by WWP's Prisoners Solidarity Committee on Sept. 24. Wendy Howard with daughters Bailey (left) and Miranda (right) in front of the office of the Kern County District Attorney. . . . |
(2020-11-18). Tutu, Gandhi, King descendants call for clemency for NYS imprisoned elder activist. mronline.org 
The Open Letter, coordinated by Fellowship of Reconciliation former Chairperson Matt Meyer, is one of many such efforts throughout the U.S. calling for relief for over-age inmates facing fatal consequences in light of multiple health crises, and throughout the world calling for freedom for all political prisoners.
(2020-11-18). Hunger Strikers Caged in the Second Wave Are "Just Trying to Survive the Winter" truthout.org "Our society created the framework for this atrocity just like the trenches of World War I created perfect incubation zones for the 1918 flu," Truthout's Kelly Hayes talks with Eric, an organizer with Oakland Abolition and Solidarity about the escalating COVID-19 outbreak at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility, where some imprisoned people have launched a hunger strike over unsafe, unlivable conditions. | TRANSCRIPT: | Note: This a rush transcript and has been lightly edi…
(2020-11-18). Why A 58-day vigil Is Going On Outside The Governor's House. popularresistance.org Demonstrators gathered outside the Executive Mansion on Sunday to demand that Gov. Roy Cooper use his powers of pardon and clemency to protect people who are incarcerated during the pandemic. | Members of Decarcerate Now NC, a coalition of organizations which say they're working to end to mass incarceration, have been holding daily vigils outside the governor's mansion since Election Day and plan to continue through Jan. 1, when Cooper begins his second term. That's a total of 58 days. | "We stand vigil to bring attention to your Administration's ongoing failure to prioritize and appropriately protect Black lives…
(2020-11-18). Lawsuit filed against Fort Worth and police officer who killed innocent woman. nationofchange.org "Defendant Dean in his prowl around the backyard of her home caused Atatiana fear and uncertainty. Dean shot Atatiana, causing pain and suffering. Dean failed to render medical aid to Atatiana."
(2020-11-18). The Healthcare Multinational Profiting off Fraudulent Detentions. dissidentvoice.org In July 2020, US healthcare multinational UHS Delaware reached a $122million settlement with the US federal government as the result of an investigation by the FBI into fraudulent detentions of psychiatric patients for profit. Following the resolution of the investigation and civil settlement, UHS must retain an independent monitor selected by the Office of Inspector …
(2020-11-18). Hunger Strike Enters Third Week At California's Largest Prison. popularresistance.org In the southern part of California's Central Valley, about halfway between Bakersfield and Fresno, sits Corcoran, California—a small farming town surrounded on all sides by acres of cotton and tomato fields. | Perched at the town's southern tip are two of the state's largest prisons. Together, their denizens make up about 33% of the population of Corcoran. One of the facilities, the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility (CSATF), is the state's single largest, housing 4,481 prisoners, about 130% of its intended capacity.
(2020-11-18). "Fed Up" The SF POA Contract, Mayor Breed, Unions, The SFLC & Cops with John Crew. indybay.org Retired attorney John Crew who was ACLU Director of Police Practices talks about the effort by the Mayor of San Francisco London Breed with the leadership of the San Francisco Labor Council leadership to push through a City contract with the San Francisco Police Officers Association SF POA. He discusses the history of the SF POA including his arrest by a past president and the secret negotiations Mayor Breed and DHR Carol Eise has done with SF POA that that they are now trying to release…
(2020-11-17). "A Silent Pandemic": Racism, Negligence, and Medical Assault in ICE Detention Centers. cepr.net After a whistleblower revealed that an ICE detention facility in Georgia sterilized immigrant women without consent, members of the House Judiciary Committee and Hispanic Caucus visited the facility and heard directly from the whistleblower and immigrant women who experienced forced sterilizations at the facility. Congress members called for an investigation of the Department of …
(2020-11-17). Saudi activists tell UK MPs of brutal conditions facing political detainees. middleeasteye.net 
Saudi activists tell UK MPs of brutal conditions facing political detainees | Activists told a panel focusing on two detained princes that rape, torture and killing were commonplace in Saudi jails | Tue, 11/17/2020 – 11: 39 | Former Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef (R), pictured with current Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was arrested in March with little known publicly about his detention (AF…
(2020-11-17). Kaepernick joins the call to 'Free Mumia!'. workers.org 
Philadelphia A virtual press conference on the critical juncture in the fight to free political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal was held here Nov. 16. A special highlight was a seven-minute message from Colin Kaepernick, expressing his support. Kaepernick sacrificed his stellar athletic career in 2016 when he began to take a . . . |
(2020-11-17). Iraq hangs 21 men for terrorism at notorious Nasiriyah prison. middleeasteye.net 
Iraq hangs 21 men for terrorism at notorious Nasiriyah prison | The men had been convicted under a 2005 counterterrorism law but there were no details on their specific crimes | Tue, 11/17/2020 – 08: 29 | Iraq ranks fifth among countries that carry out death sentences, according to Amnesty International (Reuters) | Iraq executed 21 men convicted of terrorism on Monday at the notorious Nasi…
(2020-11-17). Union lawsuit wins UK workers right to picket during lockdown. peoplesdispatch.org During the proceedings in a lawsuit filed by Unite union against police and health authorities for threatening workers on strike, the UK government confirmed that workers on lawful industrial action have the right to picket their workplace during the COVID-19 lockdown…
(2020-11-16). Khashoggi's fiancee calls on world leaders to boycott G20 summit. middleeasteye.net 
Khashoggi's fiancee calls on world leaders to boycott G20 summit | Hatice Cengiz says Jamal Khashoggi's murder alerted international community to 'ill-treatment of women and prisoners of conscience' | Mon, 11/16/2020 – 22: 10 | Cengiz said the awareness spread by journalists and reporters about Khashoggi's murder has helped shed light on Riyadh's other abuses (AFP/File photo) | Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of sl…
(2020-11-16). Prisoners load bodies into mobile morgues in El Paso, Texas as COVID-19 infections skyrocket. wsws.org The winter surge in the US is well underway, with fatalities climbing as hospital systems from one region to the next reach capacity.
(2020-11-16). France, Germany and Italy face major challenges in ICU capacity this winter. imperial.ac.uk France, Germany and Italy face major challenges in ICU capacity this winter and will exceed the first peak without further suppression measures.
(2020-11-16). UN human rights experts denounce 'concerted attempt' to erode civic space in Cambodia. news.un.org Voicing concerns over increasing restrictions on civil society in Cambodia, a group of independent UN human rights experts have called for an immediate end to the systematic detention and criminalization of activists.
(2020-11-16). 'An Act of Love, An Act of Justice': Anti-Nuclear Activists Headed to Prison for US Naval Base Protest. commondreams.org "To be clear," said Martha Hennessy, granddaughter of Dorothy Day and one of the sentenced, "these weapons are not private property, they belong to the people of the United States; they belong to me, to you, to us." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/kings-bay-plowshares-955px_0.jpg …
