2020-06-17: News Headlines

Middle East Eye (2020-06-17). Israel Increases Secretive Nuclear Stockpile to 90 Warheads: Report. globalresearch.ca Israel may have increased its nuclear stockpile from 80 warheads in 2019 to 90 in 2020, according to a new report by a leading global arms watchdog. | The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) said in its

Medea Benjamin (2020-06-17). Why Cuban doctors should receive the Nobel Peace Prize. zcomm.org Due to Cuba's extraordinary commitment to humanity, to public health and to internationalism, a group of human rights organizations and social movements across the world have launched a campaign to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Cuba's Henry Reeve medical brigade…

ahtribune (2020-06-17). After the West Bank When (How Soon) Will the East Follow? ahtribune.com Whatever percentage of the West Bank Israel begins to annex in July, it will eventually annex the rest. Will it then turn to the east bank of the Jordan river? | Since the 19th century, the Zionist project was based on the seizure of all Palestine, including territory east of the Jordan. The map of 'Israel' presented to the Paris peace conference in 1919 extended northwards into what is now Lebanon and included the city of Sidon; in the northeast, all the Golan Heights and Syria almost as far as Damascus; in the southeast the entire Jordan River valley, with the territory it desired extending almost to the tow…

_____ (2020-06-17). Will Moscow Save The West Bank From Annexation? popularresistance.org Palestinian efforts against Israel's plans to annex Palestinian territory are being exercised on three levels. Locally, Palestinians have severed all relations, including security coordination, with Israel and the United States. Regionally, Jordan has been spearheading the Arab response to the Israeli plan, including efforts by the only two Arab countries that have a peace plan with Israel: Jordan and Egypt. | On the international level, Palestinian energy has been largely focused on three members of the Middle East Quartet — the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia. The focus is on these three in…

R. Robertson (2020-06-17). "Equality Is the Soul of Liberty" Peaceful Protest in Palo Alto Pt. II. indybay.org At a rally in Palo Alto's King Plaza on June 6, protesters called out loudly for defunding the Palo Alto Police Department. After the rally of thousands, they marched a 4.6 mile route through the city.

Zero Hedge (2020-06-17). IRGC Gears Up For 'Routine' Fuel Shipments To Venezuela, Defying Trump. iranian.com Here we go again — Iran is prepping a round two of major sanctions-busting gas delivery to fuel-starved Venezuela, which is of course rich on heavy crude oil but currently lacks the capacity to refine it based on its derelict and badly in need of repair facilities. Amid continued White House threats of military intervention to uphold a sanctions …

Lu Aya (2020-06-16). Buffalo Police Assault 75-Year-Old Longtime Peace Activist. zcomm.org Now Trump is attacking him too…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-16). Why Cuban doctors should receive the Nobel Peace Prize? peoplesdispatch.org Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cuba has taken an active role in extending international solidarity to nations hard-hit by the virus. So far, they have sent medical brigades to 27 countries to assist in the fight against coronavirus. Due to Cuba's extraordinary commitment to humanity, to public health and to internationalism, a group of human rights organizations and social movements across the world have launched a campaign to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Cuba's Henry Reeve medical brigade. | On the

RT (2020-06-16). Good vibes by day, wild west by night: CHAZ is an anarchist camp with a split personality (VIDEO). rt.com The Left says it's a peaceful community of activists and rebels. The Right says it's an anarchic dystopia ruled by a warlord. The truth is that the experience in Seattle's Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone differs from day to night. | For more than a week now, a collection of Antifa types, anarchists, 'Black Lives Matter' activists and leftists of all stripes have occupied a six-block area around an abandoned police precinct in downtown Seattle. The 'Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone,' or CHAZ, is a district without police, in which the ideas of the radical Left can bloom, and in which the occupiers hope to demonstrate…

Vijay Prashad (2020-06-16). Who deserves the Nobel Peace Prize in a time of pandemic? mronline.org A few weeks ago, I was talking to Noam Chomsky about the state of the world. At one point, Noam smiled and said that he is not aware of any German doctors in Italy, even though both countries are in the European Union; instead, Cuban and Chinese doctors went to Italy to help the Italians …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-16). Why should Cuban doctors receive the Nobel Peace Prize? peoplesdispatch.org Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cuba has taken an active role in extending international solidarity to nations hard-hit by the virus. So far, they have sent medical brigades to 27 countries to assist in the fight against coronavirus. Due to Cuba's extraordinary commitment to humanity, to public health and to internationalism, a group of human rights organizations and social movements across the world have launched a campaign to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Cuba's Henry Reeve medical brigade. | On the

Staff (2020-06-16). Militia Member Opens Fire on Protester Demanding Removal of Conquistador Statue. truthout.org A demonstrator at a peaceful protest in Albuquerque demanding the removal of a statue of a controversial Spanish conquistador was shot by a right-wing militia group member on Monday night. | The militia group, whose members

Ricardo Vaz and Lucas Koerner (2020-06-16). Venezuelan Attorney General Orders Arrest of Tupamaro Party Leader, Indicts FAES for Extra-Judicial Killings. venezuelanalysis.com Jose Pinto called the death a "false positive" orchestrated by the party's enemies.

teleSUR (2020-06-15). UN to Hold Hearing Over 'Systemic' US Racism, Police Brutality. telesurenglish.net The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) agreed Monday to hold an emergency debate Wednesday on "systemic racism, police brutality and violence against peaceful protests" in the United States and elsewhere. | RELATED: | UNHRC's decision followed a request last week by Burkina Faso on behalf of 54 African countries in response to the killing on May 25, of George Floyd, a black U.S. citizen, under the knee of…

WSWS (2020-06-15). Germany's Social Democrats, Greens and Left Party organise police violence against peaceful demonstrators. wsws.org The police attacks are part of an effort to criminalise anti-capitalist tendencies.

teleSUR (2020-06-15). Colombia: 200 FARC Ex-Combatants Killed Since Peace Agreements. telesurenglish.net The Alternative Revolutionary Force of the Commons (FARC) party denounced Monday that the ex-combatant Mario Tellez Restrepo was murdered in North Santander, Colombia, marking 200 killed ex-fighters since the peace agreements were signed on Sept. 26, 2016. | RELATED: | Restrepo, a father of three, was working on the field when he was shot down by people who have not been identified yet. This killing marks the 26th alone in 2020 so fa…

Paul Craig Roberts (2020-06-15). The Joys of Diversity and Multicullturalism Have Come Home to Roost. thealtworld.com Hi Dumbshit American. Have you had enough of diversity and multiculturalism? If not, vote a Democrat president, and the second wave of peaceful protests will loot and burn down your homes and neighborhoods. Be sure you understand that diversity means no more white statues and white history, because they are racist. Multiculturalism means no more white civilization, which is racist. You may have to give up your language as well, because English is racist. | I have been telling you for years that you are living The Camp of the Saints. Having failed to become aware, you have no idea what is happening. When it finall…

yenisafak (2020-06-15). Israel owns 90 nuclear warheads: Report. yenisafak.com Israel is believed to possess between 80 and 90 nuclear warheads, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said on Monday. | In a report, SIPRI said Israel continues to pursue a policy of ambiguity regarding its nuclear program. | It said that the number of nuclear warheads in Israel rose to 90, up from 80 warheads in 2019. | "The nine nuclear-armed states—the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea)—together possessed an estimated 13,400 nuclear weapons at the start of 2020," the S…

_____ (2020-06-15). Unfinished Revolution: Where Do The George Floyd Protests Go From Here? popularresistance.org Will we release some steam for a few days, be satisfied with the prosecution and (if we're lucky) conviction of a few cops, accept a few reforms of a police system that will never be accountable to anyone else but their maker — the ruling class? Will we settle for mere survival, be content not to be killed, so that we can live under the peace of everyday violence and robbery forced upon our communities, our health, and our lives? | Will we hang onto illusions that equate equal opportunity with being as exploited as a vanishing group of white, middle-class workers are or as a few black and brown faces rising…

Andrew Korybko (2020-06-15). Pragmatic Advice For Peaceful Protests. thealtworld.com It's imperative that all protests, whether about anti-racism or any other issue, remain peaceful and within the realm of the relevant laws of whichever country they're occurring in otherwise people could get hurt or worse. | The anti-racism protests that have erupted all throughout the West since the death of George Floyd in police custody at the end of last month have unfortunately transformed into a

Staff (2020-06-15). "He Wanted to Hurt Me": New York Protester Hospitalized After NY Officer Shoved Her to the Ground. democracynow.org In a rare development, a New York police officer has been charged with assault, criminal mischief, harassment and menacing, after a viral video showed him violently shoving a peaceful protester to the ground as he shouted an expletive and a misogynistic slur. We speak with Dounya Zayer about the attack she faced during a protest against police brutality in Brooklyn on May 29 and how she suffered a seizure and was hospitalized with a concussion. We're also joined by one of her attorneys, Tahanie Aboushi.

Ben Norton (2020-06-15). Wikipedia formally censors The Grayzone as regime-change advocates monopolize editing. mronline.org On Wikipedia, a small group of regime-change advocates and right-wing Venezuelan opposition supporters have blacklisted independent media outlets like The Grayzone on explicitly political grounds, violating the encyclopedia's guidelines.

_____ (2020-06-15). President Maduro: United States Is Living An Anti-Racist Spring. popularresistance.org President Maduro said that the US is experiencing an anti-racist spring, in reference to the massive protests for the murder of George Floyd. | "People on the street are saying who Donald Trump is every day," said the Venezuelan president during his participation on Monday in the TV show "Between Values," in which he also asserted that the American people "live an anti-racist spring". | On the other hand, he stressed that historical figures such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King are more present today than ever among Americans who fight for their rights. "They are the martyrs for a future hope, for a new societ…

teleSUR (2020-06-15). Bank of England Infringes Human Rights: Venezuelan Central Bank. telesurenglish.net The Bank of England (BoE) is "putting lives at risk" by denying access to gold reserves, Legal representatives of the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) denounced Monday. | RELATED: | BoE refuses to release around US$1.13 billion of gold reserves which the South American nation could use to fight the health emergency derived from the COVID-19 outbreak. Venezuela is seeking to get a court order for the urgent release of abo…

Paul Dobson (2020-06-15). Venezuela Slams Interpol Arrest of CLAP Contractor in Cape Verde. venezuelanalysis.com Colombo-Venezuelan Alex Saab was detained on a Washington-issued arrest warrant en route to Iran, where he reportedly looked to negotiate food and medicine import contracts.

Stephen Lendman (2020-06-14). Donald Trump Peacenik? "The American Warrior, Noble and Righteous" globalresearch.ca From day one in office to now, Trump breached virtually all his positive pledges to the American people. | No "transferring power from Washington, DC, and giving it back to you, the people" occurred. | No governance serving all Americans equitably, "starting …

RT (2020-06-14). 'Media? I don't give a sh*t!': Reporter shoved as police chase protesters in Portland (VIDEO). rt.com Police used smoke bombs, flash bangs and brute force to disperse George Floyd protesters in Portland who grew aggressive as night fell. One local reporter got shoved in the process despite shouting he was part of the media. | It was a heated night in Portland as riot police were deployed to prevent protesters from allegedly establishing an 'autonomous zone' — similar to CHAZ in Seattle. | After a peaceful rally earlier in the day, another group of around 1,000 people attempted to dismantle the security fence erected around the Multnomah County Justice Center. | The police said they charged at the proteste…

Lucas Koerner (2020-06-14). Venezuela's Supreme Court Names New National Electoral Council. venezuelanalysis.com The Guaido-led opposition vowed to boycott legislative elections due to be held later this year.

teleSUR (2020-06-14). Venezuela Denounces Arbitrary Arrest of Alex Saab by Interpol. telesurenglish.net The Venezuelan government described the arrest of businessman Alex Saab by Interpol on Saturday as an arbitrary detention that seeks to infringe on the rights of citizens in the Bolivarian Republic. | RELATED: | Saab was traveling through the island-nation of Cape Verge on Saturday when Interpol arbitrarily arrested him and prevented him from returning home. | According to a statement from the Venezuelan Foreign Min…

_____ (2020-06-13). Seattle: The Demands Of Collective Black Voices At The CHAZ. popularresistance.org In credit to the people who freed Capitol Hill, this list of demands is neither brief nor simplistic. This is no simple request to end police brutality. We demand that the City Council and the Mayor, whoever that may be, implement these policy changes for the cultural and historic advancement of the City of Seattle, and to ease the struggles of its people. This document is to represent the black voices who spoke in victory at the top of 12th & Pine after 9 days of peaceful protest while under constant nightly attack from the Seattle Police Department. These are words from that night, June 8th, 2020. | For ea…

RT (2020-06-13). Seattle cops banned from using tear gas & stun grenades amid 'anarchist takeover' endorsed by mayor. rt.com Seattle Police have been ordered to stop using pepper spray, tear gas and flash-bang grenades following a lawsuit, further tying their hands as the so-called 'Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone' sprouted around their abandoned precinct. | Handed down by US District Judge Richard Jones on Friday, the order concludes that "on some occasions [Seattle police] used less-lethal weapons disproportionately and without provocation," having a "chilling" effect on free speech amid ongoing demonstrations over police brutality. | "What brings the parties to this Court today are peaceful protesters desiring to engage in their rig…