2020-02-20: News Headlines

RT (2020-02-20). Making money by 'preventing apocalypse': Russian police raids cult that 'made millions' selling 'divine protection'. rt.com St. Petersburg police searched the apartment-turned-"temple" and stables of "Order of the Path," a family-run cult that claimed to be fighting against "black mages" in the gov't and sold "divine protection" for $300,000 a pop. | Earlier this week, St. Petersburg police SWAT teams raided the mysterious "Order of the Path," a cult run by psychologist-turned-"magister" Gayva Tihomirova, and arrested the leader, 78.ru reports. The raids targeted the main "temple" of the organization, which was converted from a two-bedroom apartment, their offices, and the stables outside the city where, the shady Order held their…

RT (2020-02-20). German police raid Hanau shooting suspect's home, discover him 'dead with another body nearby'. rt.com The suspect behind a shooting rampage that killed nine people in Germany has been found dead in his home, along with the body of his 72-year-old mother, according to Hesse Interior Minister Peter Beuth. | The alleged gunman, a 43-year-old German man, was found dead alongside his mother, both with gunshot wounds early on Thursday following a pair of shooting sprees at two hookah lounges in the city of Hanau the prior evening, which also left five people seriously injured. | "Initial results suggest a xenophobic motive," Interior Minister Peter Beuth told the German parliament following a moment of silence in co…

Sasha Abramsky (2020-02-20). Trump Is Unleashing Militarized Goon Squads Against Immigrants in Sanctuary Cities. zcomm.org By the time you read this column, elite US Border Patrol Tactical (BORTAC) units might be battering down the doors of immigrant families in sanctuary cities in California, New York, Illinois, and elsewhere around the country…

Fight Back (2020-02-20). Immigrant rights activists rally at MN capitol for driver's licenses for all. fightbacknews.org St. Paul, MN – More than 40 immigrant rights activists from all over the state of Minnesota rallied at the capitol here, February 11, the opening day of the legislative session. People traveled from as far as Zimmerman and Rochester to participate in the action. The rally and lobbying action were organized by Minnesota Immigrant Movement (MIM) and Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC). Activists asked the Minnesota legislature to support driver's licenses for all and to make Minnesota a sanctuary state. | Dressed in red, MIM and MIRAC members rallied in the rotunda of the capitol, calling on represe…

Thomas Knapp (2020-02-20). Freedom for $5.30…and This Time Mexico Really is Paying for It. counterpunch.org Back in 2016, presidential candidate Donald Trump promised that Mexico would pay for his proposed border wall. Turns out Mexico wasn't interested, so Trump eventually resorted to declaring fake emergencies and illegally misappropriating money from the military budget. He's spending tens of millions of taxpayer dollars per mile on a barrier that, Samuel Lovett of

femmelectric & 906 World Cultural Center (2020-02-20). Beyond Borders: An International Women's Day Benefit for RAICES. indybay.org 906 World Cultural Center, 906 Broadway, San Francisco, California 94133…

Tomasz Konicz (2020-02-20). Bernie Sanders in Las Vegas: Being free, being high and eminent domain. indybay.org The proclamation of a national climate emergency, the ban on oil and gas exports, the import of cheap medicines from Canada, the nationwide legalization of marijuana or the immediate halt to all construction work on Trump's border wall are to be implemented by means of the so-called "Executive Order."

sputniknews (2020-02-20). 'Duck Troops' at Chinese Border to Face Plague-of-Egypt-Like Locust Invasion Bewilders Netizens. sputniknews.com The worst locust outbreaks in decades has already hit several East African countries as well as Pakistan, which declared a national emergency and considered making an exception to a trade embargo with India to import pesticides. While India is buying drones to curb the coming swarms, locusts' natural enemies are preparing for the battle in China.

sputniknews (2020-02-20). India Not to Revoke Special Status of Northeastern States Bordering China – Home Minister. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): Article 371 of the Indian Constitution grants special status to states such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, Nagaland, Assam, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, and Goa.

pip.hinman (2020-02-20). The climate crisis and the need for peace. greenleft.org.au

The Canary (2020-02-19). Priti Patel defends PM after Dave brands him 'real racist' in Brit Awards rap. thecanary.co Home secretary Priti Patel has criticised rapper Dave for branding Boris Johnson a "real racist" during the Brit Awards.The Tory MP said the artist's comments shortly before winning album of the year were "utter nonsense", and she defended the prime minister as "not a racist at all".Dave added verses to the end of his song Black criticising the government for the Windrush scandal and its handling of the Grenfell disaster. | "The truth is our prime minister's a real racist," he rapped during the performance at London's O2 Arena.Patel was asked about Dave's criticism as she defended the government's immigration pla…

teleSUR (2020-02-19). Federal Judge Finds US in Contempt for Deporting Minors. telesurenglish.net United States Federal Judge Nathanael Cousins has found Wednesday the U.S. government in contempt after authorities deported five young migrants, seeking to remain in the country under a program for abused and neglected migrant children. | RELATED: | Cousins issued the civil order last week after finding the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services violated a 2018 preliminary inju…

Staff (2020-02-19). Organizers Work to Guide Deportees Toward Resources in Their Home Countries. truthout.org What happens to people after they are deported from the United States? And if they no longer have family in their countries of origin, how do they make their way in an unfamiliar place? | In 2014, Christina Zaldivar found herself pondering these questions with some fellow activists after she had accompanied one of them to an immigration check-in in Centennial, Colorado. That friend had been living without legal status in the U.S. for more than 30 years and had no family left in Mexico. | "We s…

teleSUR (2020-02-19). More Than 50 Migrants Missing off Canary Islands. telesurenglish.net Spain's maritime rescue service (Salvamento Maritimo) said Wednesday it was searching for 53 people in two boats missed for at least two days between the port of Dakhla on the Western Sahara coast and the Spanish Canary Islands. | RELATED: | Authorities had begun Monday searching for five missing boats after several alerts. Following rescue operations by both Morocco and Spain, Salvamento Maritimo announced the searc…

Creede Newton (2020-02-19). The Unbreakable Bond of Ireland and Palestine. globalresearch.ca

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| In December, a wave of support for the recognition of a Palestinian state swept over Europe, culminating in the European Parliament's (EP) vote on a motion that expressed support for an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders and |

Staff (2020-02-19). U.N.: Thousands Fleeing Syrian Offensive, Kids Dying in the Cold. truthdig.com UNITED NATIONS — Hundreds of thousands of people fleeing a Russian-backed Syrian offensive are being squeezed into ever smaller areas near Turkey's border "under horrendous conditions" in freezing temperatures that are killing babies and young children, the U.N. humanitarian chief said Wednesday. | Mark Lowcock told the U.N. Security Council that "the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe" in northwest Idlib province, which is the last major rebel stronghold, has "overwhelmed" efforts to provide aid. | He said nearly 900,000 people have been displaced since Dec. 1 when the government offensive began, more than…

Janine Jackson (2020-02-19). 'Corporate Media Are Not Observers of the Electoral Process; They Are Participants' – CounterSpin interview with Jim Naureckas on Democratic primaries. fair.org Janine Jackson interviewed FAIR's Jim Naureckas about the Democratic primaries for the February 14, 2020, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. Janine Jackson: From debates that encouraged sparring over substance, to evidence-free declarations about electability or momentum, to the insistence—bordering on gaslighting—of the fringiness of ideas that in fact enjoy broad …

Tracy Keeling (2020-02-19). Now we know what's in the new immigration policy, that 'levelling up' slogan makes total sense. thecanary.co Britain's post-Brexit immigration policy is now clear. Home secretary Priti Patel grinned her way through a The UK plans to

Julia Conley, staff writer (2020-02-19). Scottish Government Decries "Devastating" Effect Post-Brexit Border Policy Will Have on Economy. commondreams.org Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon condemned the United Kingdom's new post-Brexit border policy after it was released Wednesday, saying new rules barring people designated as "unskilled" and those who don't speak English would devastate a number of Scotland's industries and worsen the country's depopulation crisis. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-11804231032.jpg

Kate Oh (2020-02-18). ICE's Destruction of Records Must Be Stopped. aclu.org Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is | notorious for committing rampant unconstitutional and inhumane abuses in its | detention system — something advocates, communities, and years. Public oversight of ICE detention is about to become even harder, | further eroding accountability and endangering the health and safety of more than | 50,000 people in ICE custody every day. That's because the National Archives | and R…

NationAction (2020-02-18). Take Action Now: Fight Trump's Anti-Immigrant Agenda. thenation.com Take Action Now: Fight Trump's Anti-Immigrant Agenda…

news.un (2020-02-18). Pakistan-India crossing is a 'Corridor of Hope', UN chief says, wraps up visit with call for interfaith dialogue. news.un.org UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday said he had been moved by the show of religious unity he had witnessed in Pakistan after paying visits to a mosque, a gurdwara and Kartarpur Corridor, the visa-free crossing which allows Sikhs to travel between nearby holy sites on each side of the India-Pakistan border.

news.un (2020-02-17). Protecting migratory species in a rapidly changing world. news.un.org Many animals — including birds, fish and mammals — migrate along set routes in search of food or breeding grounds. How best to protect them in a rapidly changing world is the focus of a major UN wildlife meeting which opened in Gandhinagar, India, on Monday.

Brian Tashman (2020-02-13). Bill Barr Wants Sheriffs to Join His Attacks on State and Local Governments. aclu.org Attorney General Bill Barr, For | Barr's Department of Justice, that escalation includes new lawsuits against | states and municipalities with immigrant-protective policies.

Meagan Burrows (2020-02-11). The Trump Administration Wants Health Insurance Companies to Drop Abortion Coverage from Your Insurance Plan. aclu.org From denying | access to abortion | for unaccompanied immigrant minors, to gutting | the Title X | family planning program, to trying to roll | back the Affordable Care Act's requirement that employers and universities cover | contr…

splcenter (2020-02-11). Desperate asylum seekers 'starving for justice' in immigrant prison hunger strikes across Louisiana. splcenter.org Guards shackled Sai Mahad to a chair, placed a mask over his mouth and snaked a long tube through one of his nostrils.

Hatewatch Staff (2020-01-31). Workers Organization Shares Staff, Cash With Anti-Immigrant Groups. splcenter.org U.S. Tech Workers, a project of the anti-immigrant group Progressives for Immigration Reform (PFIR), has ties to an anti-immigrant hate network and unprecedented access to the Trump administration.

splcenter (2020-01-29). Trump's 'Remain in Mexico' policy marks one year, leaving tens of thousands of migrants stranded in Mexican border towns. splcenter.org