Staff (2021-12-15). Headlines for December 15, 2021. democracynow.org U.S. Tops 800,000 COVID Deaths as Officials Around the World Warn of Omicron's Rapid Spread, House Votes to Hold Mark Meadows in Contempt; D.C. Sues Oath Keepers, Proud Boys over Insurrection, Judge Dismisses Trump Attempt to Shield Tax Docs from House; NY Probe into Trump Org. Continues, Another GOP Rep. Attacks Ilhan Omar as House Passes Anti-Islamophobia Bill, Congress Votes to Increase Debt Ceiling by $2.5 Trillion, Averting Default, UAE Suspends Talks with U.S. on $23 Billion Arms Sale, Presidents Putin and Xi Meet Amid Mounting Tensions with U.S., Belarusian Opposition Leader Sentenced to 18 Years in Prison…

Binoy Kampmark (2021-12-15). Jailing Former Immigration Ministers: Denmark's Inger Stà∏jberg. dissidentvoice.org It's not the sort of thing you encounter regularly. A member of a government cabinet, responsible for arguably one of the country's most important portfolios, found both wanting and culpable for their actions after leaving their post. But this is what former Danish immigration minister Inger Stà∏jberg found when she was convicted for illegally separating …

Editor (2021-12-15). Teachers across Iran take strike action demanding jailed trade unionist is freed. mronline.org Thousands of protesting teachers assembled in front of the Majlis, or Iranian parliament building, in central Tehran today demanding justice and the release from prison of a leading teacher trade unionist.

Staff (2021-12-14). Headlines for December 14, 2021. democracynow.org Eight Killed by Tornado at Kentucky Factory Whose Workers Were Ordered to Remain on Site, Ice Sheet Holding Back Vast Antarctic Glacier Poised to Collapse Within Five Years, U.K. Reports First Death Linked to Fast-Spreading Omicron Coronavirus Variant, New York City to Require Proof of Vaccination for Kids 5 and Up to Enter Public Spaces, Pentagon Won't Punish Anyone over Kabul Drone Strike That Killed 10 Civilians, Sudanese Police Fire Tear Gas at Protesters Demanding End to Military Rule, Report: Colombian Police Killed at Least 11 People Protesting Police Brutality, Danish Ex-Minister Gets Prison for Illegally…

Jamil Dakwar (2021-12-14). Over a Year After His Election, President Biden's Human Rights Commitments Fail to Meet the Moment. aclu.org Throughout his presidential campaign, then-candidate Joe Biden The United States' meager commitments presented before last week's Summit for Democracy are illustrative. Instead of undertaking new initiatives to protect democracy, advance racial justice, and implement U.S. obligations on human rights, the Biden adm…

Morning Star (2021-12-14). Iranian teachers strike, demand money for education and freedom for jailed union leader. peoplesworld.org Thousands of protesting teachers assembled in front of the Majlis, or Iranian parliament building, in central Tehran Tuesday demanding justice and the release from prison of a leading teacher trade unionist. Teachers staged rallies too at the headquarters of education authorities in 25 provinces and 60 cities across Iran. The gatherings in Tehran and Shiraz …

Staff (2021-12-14). Headlines for December 14, 2021. democracynow.org Eight Killed by Tornado at Kentucky Factory Whose Workers Were Ordered to Remain on Site, Ice Sheet Holding Back Vast Antarctic Glacier Poised to Collapse Within Five Years, U.K. Reports First Death Linked to Fast-Spreading Omicron Coronavirus Variant, New York City to Require Proof of Vaccination for Kids 5 and Up to Enter Public Spaces, Pentagon Won't Punish Anyone over Kabul Drone Strike That Killed 10 Civilians, Sudanese Police Fire Tear Gas at Protesters Demanding End to Military Rule, Report: Colombian Police Killed at Least 11 People Protesting Police Brutality, Danish Ex-Minister Gets Prison for Illegally…

Jamil Dakwar (2021-12-14). Over a Year After His Election, President Biden's Human Rights Commitments Fail to Meet the Moment. aclu.org Throughout his presidential campaign, then-candidate Joe Biden The United States' meager commitments presented before last week's Summit for Democracy are illustrative. Instead of undertaking new initiatives to protect democracy, advance racial justice, and implement U.S. obligations on human rights, the Biden adm…

_____ (2021-12-13). Assange's Fiancee Accuses US Of Using UK As 'Executioner' In Plot To Kill Him. popularresistance.org Earlier this year, reports surfaced detailing alleged plots in 2017 to either kidnap or assassinate WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, when he was five years into his political asylum inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London. At the time, Assange's team hoped the revelation would helped their push to not have the publisher extradited to the US. | Stella Moris, the fiancee of Julian Assange, accused the UK on Sunday of playing the "executioner" in a US "plot" to kill the WikiLeaks publisher. | In a Statement to the Daily Mail Online, Moris stressed to the outlet that Assange's "incarceration is having a catastrophic…

Editor2 (2021-12-13). Assange Suffered Stroke in UK Prison — Fiancee. orinocotribune.com WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange has suffered a ministroke due to the extreme stress of fighting extradition to the US from the UK's maximum-security Belmarsh Prison, according to his fiancee Stella Moris. | Assange was diagnosed with a transient ischemic attack following one of his High Court appeal appearances via video link back on October 27, the mother of his two children

_____ (2021-12-13). Journalism, Assange and Reversal in the High Court. strategic-culture.org By Binoy KAMPMARK | British justice is advertised by its proponents as upright, historically different to the savages upon which it sought to civilise, and apparently fair. Such outrages as the unjust convictions of the Guilford Four and Maguire Seven, both having served time in prison for terrorist offences they did not commit, are treated as blemishes. | In recent memory, fewer blemishes can be more profound and disturbing to a legal system than the treatment of Australian citizen and WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange. The British legal system has been so conspicuously outsourced to the wishes of the US Departm…

_____ (2021-12-13). On Contact: Assange Can Be Extradited, Says Court. popularresistance.org On Friday, the British High Court in London overturned an earlier lower court decision blocking the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States. The ruling sends the case back to the Magistrate's Court with instructions to allow the extradition to be approved or denied by British Home Secretary Priti Patel. | The ruling, which included a decision to continue to hold Assange in a high security prison, is a severe blow to the Wikileaks co-founder's efforts to prevent his extradition to the United States to face charges under the Espionage Act. | The extradition is now in the hands of Patel, unless Assange's…

_____ (2021-12-13). Workers At Activision Blizzard Lead Week-Long Work Stoppage. popularresistance.org On Friday, workers at video gaming company Activision Blizzard entered their fifth day of a work stoppage in response to layoffs at one of the company's subsidiaries. The stoppage comes on the heels of revelations of sexual harassment and discrimination at Activision Blizzard and amid fierce resistance to staff unionization efforts. | The work stoppage began on Monday when quality assurance (QA) workers at Raven Software, one of the main developers behind the hit Call of Duty video game series, began being laid off. Employees are demanding that these contractors be reinstated and given full-time contracts. The ex…