Daily Archives: 2021-01-05

2021-01-05: News Headlines

Charles Glass (2021-01-05). Ruling Assange Can't Be Extradited Is an Indictment of US Prisons. thenation.com Ruling Assange Can't Be Extradited Is an Indictment of US Prisons…

_____ (2021-01-05). Assange Wins. The Cost: Press Freedom Is Crushed. popularresistance.org The unexpected decision by Judge Vanessa Baraitser to deny a US demand to extradite Julian Assange, foiling efforts to send him to a US super-max jail for the rest of his life, is a welcome legal victory, but one swamped by larger lessons that should disturb us deeply. | Those who campaigned so vigorously to keep Assange's case in the spotlight, even as the US and UK corporate media worked so strenuously to keep it in darkness, are the heroes of the day. They made the price too steep for Baraitser or the British establishment to agree to lock Assange away indefinitely in the US for exposing its war crimes and its…

Staff (2021-01-05). "This Is Voter Suppression": 198,000 Georgia Residents Were Illegally Purged from Voter Rolls. democracynow.org As voters in Georgia cast their ballots in two key runoff races that will determine control of the U.S. Senate, voting rights activists fear many eligible voters will be turned away at the polls. Georgia has been called "ground zero" for Republican voter suppression efforts in the U.S., and in September the ACLU of Georgia revealed 198,000 voters had been wrongly purged from the voting rolls. We air a report into voting in Georgia by investigative journalist Greg Palast, narrated by the actress Debra Messing, and speak with voting rights activist LaTosha Brown, co-founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund. "I think…

Nadda Osman (2021-01-05). Qatar blockade: Saudi deal raises questions about prisoners, flight paths and bots. middleeasteye.net Qatar blockade: Saudi deal raises questions about prisoners, flight paths and bots | As Saudi Arabia declares the lifting of the three-year land and air blockade on its Gulf neighbour, many issues remain to be resolved | Tue, 01/05/2021 – 14: 05 | Many people have raised questions on what the end of the Saudi blockade will mean for prisoners, flight paths and the Saudi bot network (Screengrab/social medi…

Paige Fernandez (2021-01-05). Black Life Deserves More Than Meaningless Commissions. aclu.org This weekend the Trump administration released

Mehr News Agency (2021-01-05). US moves 60 ISIL forces to base on Syrian-Jordanian border. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jan. 05 (MNA) — The US occupation forces moved scores of ISIL terrorists from several prisons in Hasaka governorate to their illegal base in al-Tanf on the Syrian-Jordanian border.

Staff (2021-01-05). Proud Boys Leader Arrested for Burning BLM Banner at Black Church. truthout.org As thousands are expected to descend on Washington, D.C., to join far right protests over the election results Wednesday, the leader of the Proud Boys hate group, Enrique Tarrio, was arrested on property destruction charges for burning a Black Lives Matter banner off a historically Black church during similar protests last month. Many churches have requested extra protection, and the Metropolitan AME Church is suing the Proud Boys. "Sadly, our nation has a very dark and sordid history of targeting historic…

Rafael Figueroa (2021-01-05). Family of Slain Memphis Woman Files Suit Against Law Enforcement Agencies. laprensalatina.com MEMPHIS, TN (WREG) — A year after her death, a family has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Memphis Police Department and the Shelby County Sheriff's Office. The family of Sabrina Nguyen alleges the agencies didn't do enough to protect her from her ex-boyfriend, and they believe she would still be here today had …

_____ (2021-01-05). Minnesota Is Changing The Way It Teaches Social Studies. popularresistance.org Minnesota's K-12 social studies standards are undergoing extensive revisions in search of a more inclusive approach that teaches about people previously left out of the discussion. | A diverse committee's first draft, now open for public comment, gives greater consideration to the Dakota and Anishinaabe tribes and covers for the first time the civil rights struggles of LGBTQ people. | The draft standards, according to Doug Paulson, the state education department's academic standards director, are "more inclusive" and "culturally affirming." | Still, some committee members think the first draft doesn't go far enou…

Michael J. Moore (2021-01-05). What an Ex-Cop Learned in Prison About Police Culture. zcomm.org "If your anger is getting out of control, your work life is perfect, but marriage is a mess, or you think of harming yourself, deal with it now, so you don't end up as the next cop making headlines."

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-04). Judge turns down plea to extradite Julian Assange to US; bail hearing on Wednesday. peoplesdispatch.org Judge Vanessa Baraitser refused the plea to extradite WikiLeaks founder to the US on the grounds that there was a high chance of his committing suicide due to the brutal prison conditions there. She accepted most of the other contentions of the prosecution…

_____ (2021-01-04). Assange: Judge Denies United States' Extradition Request. popularresistance.org Citing harsh federal prison conditions in the United States, a British district court judge rejected the United States government's extradition request against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. | Judge Vanessa Baraitser accepted that Assange was diagnosed with a "recurrent depressive disorder." Although he functions at a high level, she accepted he was diagnosed with autism as well. | She accepted that he would likely be imprisoned at a supermax prison in the U.S. under special administrative measures (SAMs) and would find a way to commit suicide. | "I am satisfied that, in these harsh conditions, Mr. Assange's m…

Staff (2021-01-04). Decision Is Good News for Assange But Sets Grave Precedent for Other Journalists. truthout.org In a stunning decision, a British judge has blocked the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States, saying he would not be safe in a U.S. prison due to his deteriorated mental state. In 2019, Assange was indicted in the United States on 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act related to the publication of classified documents exposing U.S. war crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. The United States has already announced plans to appeal the ruling. Press freedo…

_____ (2021-01-04). Stella Moris: If British Court Sends Julian Assange To The United States. popularresistance.org London – A month ago, I would wake up in the middle of the night seized by a recurring nightmare: my little boys, Max, 22 months, and Gabriel, who is three, had been orphaned. I was still here but their father was not. | Their father is Julian Assange, the publisher of WikiLeaks. Today, that terrible nightmare is all too close to becoming a reality. | Julian has been on remand in Belmarsh prison in South-East London for almost two years. | He is fighting a political extradition to the United States, where he risks being buried in the deepest, darkest corner of the US prison system for the rest of his life. Julian…

teleSUR (2021-01-04). UK Judge Rules Against Extradition of Assange To US. telesurenglish.net British Judge Vanessa Baraitser on Monday ruled that Julian Assange should not be extradited to the United States to face charges of espionage and hacking government computers, as reported by The Guardian. | RELATED: | In making her decision, the British judge argued that the U.S. prison system has terrible and repressive characteristics, which puts Assange at risk of suicide. | "The rejection by the U.K. court of the US Govt's request…

_____ (2021-01-04). Protesters Gather In DC In Solidarity With Assange. popularresistance.org Press freedom activists and independent journalists endured the cold and rain outside the British Embassy in Washington D.C. on Sunday Jan. 3. With less than 24 hours until a potential blow to the future of press freedom, the crowd of free speech advocates was there to make as much noise as possible. | On Monday, Jan. 4, U.K. judge Vanessa Baraitser will announce if the U.K. government will extradite Australian journalist and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States. Assange faces up to 175 years in prison for charges under the Espionage Act. Leading press freedom and human rights groups have acknowl…

Areeb Ullah (2021-01-04). Julian Assange should not be extradited to US, UK court rules. middleeasteye.net Julian Assange should not be extradited to US, UK court rules | Judge rules that Wikileaks founder was suicide risk if convicted in the US, where he faces up to 175 years in prison on espionage charges | Mon, 01/04/2021 – 08: 56 | Witnesses told the UK court that Assange could commit suicide if imprisoned in the United States (AFP) | A UK court has ruled that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange should not b…

_____ (2021-01-04). Father Takes Assange's Fight To New York. popularresistance.org The father of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has turned his focus from the UK to the US where he hopes a change of president could advantage his son. | Assange is being held at London's Belmarsh Prison, pending a court decision on a warrant for his extradition to the US to face charges. | A judgment is due to be handed down at Woolwich Crown Court on Monday, but Assange's father John Shipton won't be there. | Mr Shipton says there's too much uncertainty about his ability to travel amid a series of border closures in the UK due to a mutant strand of coronavirus. | "It's all up in the air like it is for everybody…

Jonathan Cook (2021-01-04). Assange Wins. The Cost: The Crushing of Press Freedom. counterpunch.org The unexpected decision by Judge Vanessa Baraitser to deny a US demand to extradite Julian Assange, foiling efforts to send him to a US super-max jail for the rest of his life, is a welcome legal victory, but one swamped by larger lessons that should disturb us deeply.

Jonathan Cook (2021-01-04). Assange Wins. The Cost: The Crushing of Press Freedom, The Labelling of Dissent as Mental Illness. globalresearch.ca The unexpected decision by Judge Vanessa Baraitser to deny a US demand to extradite Julian Assange, foiling efforts to send him to a US super-max jail for the rest of his life, is a welcome legal victory, but one swamped …

Jonathan Cook (2021-01-04). Assange wins. The cost: Press freedom is crushed, and dissent labelled mental illness. dissidentvoice.org The unexpected decision by Judge Vanessa Baraitser to deny a US demand to extradite Julian Assange, foiling efforts to send him to a US super-max jail for the rest of his life, is a welcome legal victory, but one swamped by larger lessons that should disturb us deeply. Those who campaigned so vigorously to keep …

Wyatt Skinner (2021-01-04). Texas prisons: Scene of negligence toward COVID-19. liberationnews.org In Texas prisons, the class nature of COVID-19 spread is being exposed as infection rates surge.

G. Dunkel (2021-01-04). Black Lives Matter y la ley de seguridad global de Francia. workers.org A veces es difícil darse cuenta del impacto mundial del movimiento Black Lives Matter. La indiferencia del idioma, la cultura y los medios de comunicación pueden entorpecer. Algunos países simplemente no tienen el tipo de eventos (protestas, marchas, mítines) por una variedad de razones, donde aparecería la influencia de BLM. . . . |

Devin C (2021-01-04). EMERGENCY TWITTER/PHONE CALL ALERT! Alabama prison hunger striker beaten. workers.org On the morning of Jan. 4, a prisoner participating in the #Alabama11 hunger strike was beaten and bloodied by a guard, Officer Landrum, at the instructions of Sgt. Williams, for his participation in the hunger strike. The prisoner's name is Ronnie Miller, #244648. He is out of the infirmary, but . . . |

Wyatt Skinner (2021-01-04). Texas prisons negligent in COVID-19 spread. liberationnews.org In Texas prisons, the class nature of COVID-19 spread is being exposed as infection rates surge.

Betsey Piette (2021-01-04). Exonerate Mumia Abu-Jamal! workers.org Donald Outlaw became the 17th exoneree in three years in Philadelphia, when his 2000 murder conviction was overturned Dec. 28. A teenager when arrested, Outlaw served over 15 years in prison until his release in 2019. In Philadelphia, the call to free Mumia Abu-Jamal and all political prisoners is loud . . . |

Brian Dolinar (2021-01-04). COVID-19: Coming to a Jail Near You. progressive.org Illinois jails have become hotspots for the coronavirus, and county officials haven't done much to stop the spread.

Fight Back (2021-01-04). Political prisoner Facundo Molares wins freedom! fightbacknews.org Political prisoner Facundo Molares, an Argentinian photojournalist who was incarcerated by the Bolivian Añez regime, is now safely home in his native Argentina. | Molares was arrested during a violent incident between armed forces backing the coup d'etat and protests for democracy in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia on November 19, 2019, two days after the unelected Añez government took over. Molares was documenting the confrontation for the magazine Centenario, but during this incident he had a health crisis and was rushed to the hospital. | The Añez coup regime arrested Facundo in his hospital bed. It is widely…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-04). Algerian court acquits three former Bouteflika regime officials, including his brother. peoplesdispatch.org In a setback to the popular Hirak resistance movement in Algeria, a court acquitted three officials of the erstwhile regime of ex-president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, including his brother Said Bouteflika, multiple news outlets reported on January 2, Saturday. Bouteflika's regime was toppled by a popular revolution in 2019. Apart from the ex-president's brother, two powerful former spy chiefs, Mohamed Mediene and Bachir Tartag, were acquitted by the military appeals court on Saturday after a retrial cleared them of conspiracy charges. | The three had been sentenced to 15 years in prison in September 2019 after being c…

WSWS (2021-01-04). Opening of schools in Germany based on deliberate lies and deception. wsws.org The criminality with which the campaign to open schools has been conducted was recently demonstrated by the deliberate suppression of a study from Hamburg showing massive outbreaks were taking place within schools in Germany.

Joan Walsh (2021-01-04). The Georgia Senate Runoff Races Are Too Wild to Call. thenation.com The Georgia Senate Runoff Races Are Too Wild to Call…

Brett Wilkins, staff writer (2021-01-04). Proud Boys Sued by Historic Black Church After Leader Admits to Burning Black Lives Matter Sign During DC Rally. commondreams.org Washington, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine said the December 12 "hate crime" was meant to "terrorize Black people." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-12909295181_0.jpg

commondreams (2021-01-04). NAACP President and CEO, Derrick Johnson, Released the Following Statement After President Trump Pressured Georgia Secretary of State to Recalculate Votes in His Favor. commondreams.org ______________________________…

commondreams (2021-01-04). Lawsuit Filed to Hold Proud Boys Accountable for Racist Attack on Historic Black Church in D.C. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-03). Italian organizations condemn imprisonment of No TAV activist Fabiola De Costanzo. peoplesdispatch.org On December 30, an Italian court convicted three No TAV activists, including Fabiola De Costanzo, for their role in an agitation in 2012. The No TAV movement is opposed to the construction of the Turin-Lyon high speed Railway project…

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… |

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 …

Marc Norton (2021-01-02). Prisons and Jails are COVID-19 Super-Spreaders. dissidentvoice.org San Quentin Inmates in federal prisons, state prisons and local jails should be in the first cohort of people to be offered COVID-19 vaccinations. One in five prisoners in the U.S. has been reported to have had COVID-19. That's 20% of people behind bars. And that is likely a "vast undercount," according to Homer Venters, …

MEE and agencies (2021-01-02). Algeria clears Bouteflika's brother of conspiracy. middleeasteye.net Algeria clears Bouteflika's brother of conspiracy | While Said Bouteflika remains in detention pending corruption charges, military court frees former spy chief | Sat, 01/02/2021 – 14: 09 | In 19 May 2012 file photo, Said Bouteflika attends the Algiers funeral of the late singer Warda Al-Jazairia (AFP) | An Algerian court cleared former president Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika's once powerful broth…

Michael Knipper, Kayvan Bozorgmehr, Johanna Offe, Miriam Orcutt (2021-01-02). [Correspondence] Germany's new global health strategy: leaving migrants behind. thelancet.com After 3 years of consultation involving various ministries, academia, youth, civil society, private sector organisations, and an international advisory board, the German Federal Government issued its new global health strategy on Oct 7, 2020.1 In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, growing nationalism, and declining support for WHO by some of its member states, Germany emphasises multilateralism and a global health in all policies approach. This statement is strong and timely, underpinned by unequivocal commitments to health as a human right and universal health coverage free of all forms of discrimination.

_____ (2021-01-02). Alabama Prisons Are On Strike. popularresistance.org Occupied Muscogee Creek / Cherokee / Yuchi / Choctaw / Shawnee / Chickasaw land – As of Jan. 1, 2021, incarcerated workers in Alabama's odious prison system are on strike! Led by the Free Alabama Movement, incarcerated workers throughout the state of Alabama have put down their work tools and refused to go to work from now until Jan. 31. | The inhumane conditions of Alabama Department of Corrections, their negligence around COVID-19, and their implementation of video visitation equipment in prisons that ADOC claims is "due to COVID," but is really a front for eliminating in-person visitation, has contributed furt…

_____ (2021-01-02). Family Faces Eviction By Agency Meant To Help Them. popularresistance.org Philadelphia, PA – Imagine being a parent, hustling "gig economy" jobs, without a home during the COVID-19 pandemic. For Jasmine and Ariel, this has been the reality since May. They are a couple in their 30s, both with children from previous relationships, and navigating the minefields of poverty and pandemic. They had an apartment, but when Jasmine missed a check-in with her probation officer, she was sent to prison, leaving Ariel with no way to pay the rent and without a home. | According to a recent study conducted by geographers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, there are 10 abandoned properties for eve…