2020-08-13: News Headlines

yenisafak (2020-08-13). Landmine blast kills 5 from single family in Afghanistan. yenisafak.com A landmine blast in Afghanistan's Kandahar province on Thursday killed at least five civilians and injured six others, all members of a single family, officials confirmed.Jamal Nasir, spokesman for the local police command, told Anadolu Agency the incident took place in the province's Panjwai district. He said women and children are among the dead and wounded.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, apparently aimed at the family members of a local police commander.Condemning the attack, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani urged the Taliban to respond positively to calls for peace and to stop pl…

Ricardo Vaz (2020-08-13). Venezuelan Oil Output Remains at Historic Lows as Sanctions Continue to Bite. venezuelanalysis.com US sanctions have caused the Caribbean nation to lose three oil supertankers.

RT (2020-08-12). UN human rights chief condemns use of violence in Belarus against protesters, after '6,000 people detained in 3 days'. rt.com The United Nations human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, on Wednesday condemned the use of violence by the Belarusian authorities to quash peaceful protests. | After President Alexander Lukashenko claimed a landslide victory in Sunday's election, Bachelet said police were reported to have used excessive force, firing rubber bullets, using water cannon, and throwing stun grenades, Reuters reports. | "Reports suggest that [approximately] 6,000 people have been detained in the last three days, including bystanders, as well as minors, suggesting a trend of massive arrests in clear violation of international human…

news.un (2020-08-12). Amid COVID-19, UN commitment to peace 'more urgent than ever'. news.un.org COVID-19 threatens not only hard-won development and peacebuilding gains, but also "risks exacerbating conflicts or fomenting new ones", the UN chief reminded the Security Council on Wednesday, during a briefing on the challenges to achieving sustainable peace, while pandemics ravage communities worldwide.

Lucas Leiroz de Almeida (2020-08-12). Guyana Geopolitics: Washington's New Game Plan Against Venezuela. globalresearch.ca Having gained its political independence a few decades ago, Guyana is a small South American country with little international relevance. Without major economic or geopolitical projections, the country has agriculture and mining as its main activities, not being a fully …

Martha Hubert (2020-08-12). Saturday 8/15: Love, Peace and Justice. indybay.org Highland Avenue Bridge @ Arlington, over the San Jose Ave. exit/entrance to Interstate 280, in the Bernal/Mission/Noe/Glen Park vicinity.

_____ (2020-08-12). Remembering Hiroshima And Nagasaki By Shutting Down A Nuclear Base. popularresistance.org At around 6: 45 AM on Monday, demonstrators arrived at the Main Gate and formed a vigil line along the roadway. At around 7: 05 AM, four "peacekeepers" entered the roadway and stopped traffic, while behind them, six demonstrators set themselves and their banners on the roadway. | Three of the demonstrators carried a banner stating, "Hiroshima Nagasaki Never Again!" Two demonstrators held a blue painted banner stating, "No More Genocide in My Name." One demonstrator carried a banner, "Peace Walk Nuclear-Free World, Black Lives Matter."

_____ (2020-08-11). New Alternative Left Alliance Forms In Venezuela. popularresistance.org Merida – Two major Venezuelan left-wing parties have announced that they will not be backing government candidates in the upcoming December 6 parliamentary elections. | For the first time, the Homeland for All Party (PPT) and Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) are set to lead a broad alternative coalition for the 277 seats up for grabs. Apart from the two parties, the inaugural Popular Revolutionary Alternative(APR) will look to incorporate trade unions, social movements, LGBTIQ groups, communes and campesinos organisations, as well as a range of smaller leftist currents.

_____ (2020-08-11). The AFL-CIO Aided US Interference in Venezuela. popularresistance.org The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) Solidarity Center has a long history of working hand in glove with the U.S. government in undermining democracy and left labor movements throughout the world. | The center emphasizes it has shifted away from these Cold War tactics in recent years. But newly obtained documents show that the Solidarity Center has worked closely with the US to undermine the Venezuelan government in the recent past. Across much of the world, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) acted as an international a…

The Canary (2020-08-11). Police force use of facial recognition technology ruled unlawful. thecanary.co The use of facial recognition technology by police did interfere with privacy and data protection laws, the Court of Appeal has ruled. | Civil rights campaigner Ed Bridges brought a legal challenge against South Wales Police arguing their use of automatic facial recognition (AFR) had caused him "distress". | He had his face scanned while he was Christmas shopping in Cardiff in 2017 and at a peaceful anti-arms protest outside the city's Motorpoint Arena in 2018. | In a ruling on Tuesday, three Court of Appeal judges ruled the force's use of AFR was unlawful, allowing Bridges' appeal on three out of five grounds he…

Fight Back (2020-08-11). Philippines: Condemnation of the murder of Randall Echanis. fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement by Jose Maria Sison, National Democratic Front of the Philippines Chief Political Consultant. | In the strongest terms, I condemn the murder of Randall (Randy) Echanis and his neighbor who were unarmed. Randall was a peaceful social activist. He was a mild-mannered man of 71 years. He had a consistent modest personality with a high level of education and intellect. He had long dedicated himself to his social advocacy and had made tremendous sacrifices for many decades. | He was outstanding as an advocate of genuine land reform, rural development and n…

commondreams (2020-08-11). Joe Biden Chooses Kamala Harris as Running Mate – Greenpeace Response. commondreams.org ______________________________…

_____ (2020-08-10). The 'Wall of Vets' Continues Long Legacy Of Veteran Activism. popularresistance.org Military veterans have long been resisting war, promoting positive peace, and defending human and civil rights against state violence and other forms of oppression. They have made significant contributions to the antiwar and peace and justice movements over many decades. | Their participation in the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement is no different. Veterans have been highly visible in supporting the racial justice demands of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. The disturbing truth, which a great number of veterans recognize, is that white supremacy, systemic racism and police brutality at…

Kevin Zeese (2020-08-10). Era of US Domination of Latin America Coming to an End: Nicaragua, Venezuela, Bolivia. globalresearch.ca Despite its failings at home, the United States intervenes in countries across multiple continents seeking to control their governments and resources. | This week, we look at the US' latest efforts in Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Bolivia to undermine their independence and …

Marilyn Bechtel (2020-08-10). Virtual march on Livermore Lab caps Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing anniversaries. peoplesworld.org LIVERMORE, Calif.—As the world observed the 75th anniversaries of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug. 6 and 9, 1945, a virtual rally focusing on the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory here kicked off two days of nationally broadcast virtual programming put together by over 160 peace and disarmament organizations under the auspices …

Paul Dobson (2020-08-10). Venezuela Parliamentary Elections: PCV & PPT Build 'Alternative' Left Alliance. venezuelanalysis.com The Popular Revolutionary Alternative (APR) looks to include grassroots movements but not the ruling PSUV.

Vijay Prashad — Érika Ortega Sanoja (2020-08-10). How the U.S. Failed at Its Foreign Policy Toward Venezuela. counterpunch.org On August 4, 2020, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on Venezuela. Appearing before the committee was U.S. State Department Special Representative Elliott Abrams. Abrams, who has had a long—and controversial—career in the formation of U.S. foreign policy, was assaulted by almost all the members of the Senate committee. The senators, almost

Michael D. Knox (2020-08-10). After Nagasaki, the U.S. Did Not Choose Peace. counterpunch.org On August 9, 2015, the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki, I attended a ceremony at Ashley Pond, Los Alamos, New Mexico. This is the place, geographically, where the first atom bombs were constructed. As I prepared my remarks, I realized a personal connection that had never registered before. On this date in 1945, our

Daniel Larison (2020-08-10). The Jakarta Method: How the U.S. Used Mass Murder to Beat Communism. globalresearch.ca The so-called Long Peace after 1945 was covered in the blood of innocent people. Americans generally prefer to remember the Cold War as a mostly peaceful triumph punctuated by a handful of debacles, but for many of the people living …

Stephen Sefton (2020-08-10). Nicaragua — Singing in the Rain. The USAID Project to Destroy the Sandinista Movement. globalresearch.ca Only the most perverse kind of ideology-derived inertia explains the stupidity, incompetence and criminality of current US foreign policy towards Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Stupid for being based on the insane messianic 19th Century Monroe Doctrine vision of Manifest Destiny, …

Register Peace & Freedom or Green (2020-08-10). Social Security & Medicare Cut to Be Permanent if Nazi Trump Reelected. indybay.org Nazi Trump signed an illegal order on 8/8/20 to cut the payroll tax for Social Security and Medicare and promised on national TV to make it permanent if he is re-elected. This is a long-standing Republican Party program, outlined in their platform as they want to privatize both programs.