2020-08-24: News Headlines

Staff (2020-08-24). Steve Bannon, Former Trump Adviser, Allegedly Stole Funds for Private Border Wall Plagued by Erosion. democracynow.org President Trump's former campaign CEO and White House adviser, Steve Bannon, is his sixth close associate to face criminal charges by the Department of Justice. Bannon and three others are accused of defrauding donors to We Build the Wall, a private effort to build a wall along the Mexican border, and redirecting funds to fund their own lavish lifestyles. We follow the money and look at how an investigation last month showed a private wall project the funds were used for is already eroding and could be in danger of falling into the river. We speak with Perla Trevizo and Lexi Churchill, two reporters at the ProPub…

Sonali Kolhatkar (2020-08-24). President Trump, Child-Trafficker-in-Chief. counterpunch.org President Donald Trump thinks of himself as a champion against human trafficking. He addressed a White House Summit on the issue in January claiming there was a "humanitarian crisis" at the border fomented by criminal organizations and that "traffickers victimize countless women and children." He signed an executive order and diverted $400 million in funding

Ashoka Mukpo (2020-08-24). What's it Like to be in Immigration Lockup During a Pandemic? aclu.org In the 1980s, fewer than 2,000 people were locked up in an immigration detention facility on an average day in America. , , Since then,

United We Dream (2020-08-24). Wednesday 8/26: Fighting to Include Immigrants in COVID Relief and Defeating White Supremacy webinar. indybay.org Online…

Eds. (2020-08-24). Bolivia mass mobilizations against U.S.-backed coup continue. mronline.org A 12-day national Bolivian blockade led by massive social movements, students, elders, unions and farmworkers ended on Aug. 13. It had paralyzed the entire country, resulting in food/fuel shortages and in the complete instability of the Andean nation itself.

WSWS (2020-08-24). At least 13 Peruvian youth killed in police raid on Lima disco. wsws.org The tragedy is the direct outcome of the government's police-state enforcement of coronavirus restrictions, even as it grants a free rein to mining and other business interests.

Staff (2020-08-24). Border Town Links Fight Against Trump's Wall to the Black Lives Matter Movement. truthout.org Under a sweltering August sun, just blocks from the U.S.-Mexico border, four local activists busily stage-direct the movements of about 100 residents of Laredo, Texas, who are lined up, fists raised, along the street in front of the city's George P. Kazen federal courthouse. | The four are standing on a 30-foot high scissor lift, making sure the crowd below is placed just perfectly along the giant street mural they have planned for weeks and just finished painting that Sunday morning, August 16.

Ken Klippenstein (2020-08-24). The Border Patrol Considered Accepting a Donation From We Build the Wall. thenation.com The Border Patrol Considered Accepting a Donation From We Build the Wall…

RT (2020-08-23). 13 die in stampede at Peru nightclub after police take action to enforce Covid-19 party ban. rt.com A police crackdown at a nightclub in Lima turned horribly wrong after partygoers rushed to escape and got trapped in a deadly stampede. The tragedy has claimed 13 lives and left six others injured. | The police raid at the Thomas Restobar nightclub in Peru's capital Lima was launched to enforce a freshly reimposed ban on weekend night entertainment, which was meant to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the country. Law enforcement were alerted by residents of Los Olivos district in northern Lima that a party was planned at the club in defiance of the lockdown, with some 120 people in attendance, the Interior Minis…

Mehr News Agency (2020-08-23). Police bust 1.5 tons of opium in Mirjaveh. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 23 (MNA) — The police forces of the Sistan and Baluchestan province have confiscated 1,458 kilograms of opium in the southeastern borders.

_____ (2020-08-23). New FOIA Docs Expose Conditions In Private Immigration Prison. popularresistance.org New documents shed light on what activists are calling "a dark pattern of abuse" at a privately-run, for-profit prison in Virginia used by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Obtained by the civil rights group the Advancement Project under the Freedom of Information Act, the documents describe a long pattern of abuse, neglect and mismanagement of detainees at Immigration Centers of America (ICA) Farmville — a facility where almost everyone has coronavirus. | In 2015, for instance, one detainee was pepper sprayed in the face while in full restraints.

_____ (2020-08-23). Sanctuary Camp Residents Pressured To Move. popularresistance.org Minneapolis, MN — Houseless Twin Cities residents have recently endured arrests, the trashing of their belongings, and violent actions at the hands of Park Police, whose participation in these sweeps has been documented by local photographers. | Several hundred people living in dozens of camps across the Twin Cities wonder every day whether their only means of shelter against the elements will be destroyed by police officers. | Last week Friday, the remaining sanctuary encampment at Minneapolis' Powderhorn Park was cleared by armed police.

yenisafak (2020-08-22). Greece denying pushbacks despite evidence: Rights group. yenisafak.com In a recent interview with CNN, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis denied the accusations, saying: "They are an insult to the Greek Coast Guard that has saved tens of thousands of migrants and refugees."However, evidence and reports describing the abuses are too many to be ignored, Eva Cosse, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a report.Cosse, after interviewing victims and witnesses, said that Greek authorities have been seen forcibly pushing back migrants and asylum seekers from Rhodes, Samos, and Symi islands in small inflatable boats.A victim from Syria, who used the pseudonym of Marwan, describ…

RT (2020-08-22). Belarus is being used as 'trampoline' to attack Russia, Lukashenko tells RT, amid post-election crisis. rt.com Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko says he and Vladimir Putin "agree" that the forces allegedly directing the ongoing political crisis in Belarus are aiming to attack Russia next. | "In Russia, I often see the media saying: 'Oh, in Belarus, in Belarus…' But it's happening right here, on the western border [of Russia]," Lukashenko told RT in the city of Grodno, where he spoke at a supporters' rally on Saturday. | "We're being pressured, hounded. Myself and Putin have agreed that they're hounding us here to jump on Russia later. It's a trampoline, and we must destroy it. It's an opinion we share with Pr…

Unicorn Riot (2020-08-22). Sanctuary Camp Residents Pressured to Move, No Housing Solution In Sight. unicornriot.ninja Minneapolis, MN — Houseless Twin Cities residents have recently endured arrests, the trashing of their belongings, and violent actions at the hands of Park Police, whose participation in these sweeps has been documented by local photographers. | Several hundred people living in dozens of camps across…

sputniknews (2020-08-22). Border Wall Funds: Steve Bannon Rips His Arrest as 'Political Hit Job' to 'Intimidate' Trump Voters. sputniknews.com Donald Trump's former strategist, Steve Bannon, was arrested Thursday in connection with his role in a fundraiser for a private Mexico border wall venture, which he embarked on soon after his sudden resignation from the White House in August 2017.

_____ (2020-08-22). China and the U.S.: The 21st Century's 'Great Game'. strategic-culture.org Conn M. HALLINAN | From 1830 to 1895, the British and Russian empires schemed and plotted over control of Central and South Asia. At the heart of the "Great Game" was England's certainty that the Russians had designs on India. So wars were fought, borders drawn, and generations of young met death in desolate passes and lonely outposts. | In the end, it was all illusion. Russia never planned to challenge British rule in India and the bloody wars settled nothing, although the arbitrary borders and ethnic tensions stoked by colonialism's strategy of divide and conquer live on today. Thus China, India, Pakistan, Afgh…

Staff (2020-08-21). Headlines for August 21, 2020. democracynow.org Joe Biden Accepts Presidential Nomination, Pledging End to "Season of Darkness", CDC Director: Up to 60 Million U.S. Residents Were Infected with Coronavirus, White House Declares Teachers "Essential Workers" as Unions Threaten Strikes over Coronavirus, Stock Markets Surge Even as 1.1 Million U.S. Workers File New Unemployment Claims, Protesters Call on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to #MakeBillionairesPay, Postmaster General to Face Congressional Grilling over "Sabotage" of Postal Service, Massive California Wildfires Leave 5 Dead, 700,000 Acres Burned, Steve Bannon Arrested, Charged with Pocketing Private Border W…

Mark Gruenberg (2020-08-21). Latino leaders: Trump's hatred goes beyond DACA and throwing kids in cages. peoplesworld.org It's not just DACA. And it's not just having ICE agents yanking little kids away from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border and throwing them into cages. No, leaders of top Hispanic-American organizations say, GOP President Donald Trump's hate of anyone with a Hispanic name, the undocumented, migrants, and asylum seekers extends far beyond those …

WSWS (2020-08-21). Federal judge orders second investigation into Virginia immigrant detention center hit by mass outbreak of COVID-19. wsws.org The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found prison staff were refusing to use safety equipment or provide inmates with protection from COVID-19.

Christian Noakes (2020-08-21). Reclaiming an Irish anti-imperialist legacy. workers.org While the dominant narrative of the "Irish experience" in the U.S. is often reduced to little more than a fairy tale of hard-working immigrants grateful for a stake in the "land of opportunity," the grim reality for Irish people in the U.S. was, for centuries, characterized by inequality, exclusion and . . . |

Conn Hallinan (2020-08-21). China and the US: the 21st Century's "Great Game" counterpunch.org From 1830 to 1895, the British and Russian empires schemed and plotted over control of Central and South Asia. At the heart of the "Great Game" was England's certainty that the Russians had designs on India. So wars were fought, borders drawn, and generations of young met death in desolate passes and lonely outposts. In

Peoples Dispatch (2020-08-21). Former Trump aide Steve Bannon indicted on charges of embezzlement. peoplesdispatch.org Steve Bannon and three others launched a campaign that raised nearly USD 25 million to build a private border wall but allegedly used a portion of these funds for their personal expenses…

WSWS (2020-08-21). Steve Bannon arrested on fraud charges involving border wall fundraising scheme. wsws.org The former top adviser to President Trump was arrested on Thursday along with three others on fraud charges in connection with a scheme to defraud donors who gave money to a right-wing "We Build the Wall" fundraising campaign.

Paul Larudee (2020-08-21). A Labor and Immigration Policy that Empowers all Workers. dissidentvoice.org Read Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, and Part VIII. Workers are the bedrock of every nation on earth. Even autocratic and fascist societies and those that repress workers depend upon them nevertheless. The nature of work may change with technology, and the dichotomy between worker and …

yenisafak (2020-08-21). Europe's travel recovery stalls in August. yenisafak.com Europe's travel recovery stalled at the start of August after a stronger performance in July, as quarantine rules and warnings over rising infection rates created uncertainty and deterred tourists from booking trips abroad.In July, ticket numbers for cross-border air travel within Europe stood at 28% of 2019's levels, as Europeans began to travel again after months of lockdown.But by the first week of August, volumes had fallen to 18%, according to data provided by travel analysis group ForwardKeys.Britain brought back quarantine rules for arrivals from Spain on July 26, just over two weeks after saying travel th…

Andrea Germanos, staff writer (2020-08-20). Steve Bannon Arrested for Fraud Related to Role in Privatized Border Wall Scheme. commondreams.org The "We Build the Wall" campaign, led by Iraq War veteran Brian Kolfage, raised over $25 million. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/bannon-arrested.jpg

Staff (2020-08-20). Abolitionist Derecka Purnell on Historic Kamala Harris VP Pick & Why Black Progressives Feel Torn. democracynow.org As Kamala Harris makes history as the first woman of color to run on a major party presidential ticket, many Black progressive women remain ambivalent, says Derecka Purnell, a human rights lawyer, abolitionist and columnist for The Guardian newspaper. "It's just unfortunate that you have to protect someone because of their identity … while at the same time if you care about the masses of Black people, the masses of poor people, the masses of immigrants in this country, you know that you have to speak truth and be honest about their record," Purnell says.

Howard Lisnoff (2020-08-20). Celebrity, War, and Presidential Elections. counterpunch.org On May 30, 1979, a letter appeared in 5 major newspapers in the US assailing the human rights record of Vietnam, a nation where the US killed about 3 million people and where about 58,000 of its own soldiers died. In bordering Cambodia, where the US war has spread besides a vicious air war over Laos, millions

yenisafak (2020-08-20). EU rejects UK demand for right to return migrants. yenisafak.com The UK has wanted to extend the Dublin system after the end of the transition period at the end of the year. | The system allows countries to return refugees and migrants to the EU country from where they came, and is the basis of the current EU asylum system. | The Guardian reported that the EU rejected extending the system outside the EU, which the UK would be post-Brexit. | The UK offered the same system vice versa, so that they would have to accept migrants who landed in the EU from the UK, except those who arrive by airplane. | The EU said the plan was "very unbalanced," as southern Europe takes in 10 tim…

RT (2020-08-20). Portland police use tear gas to disperse protesters after mob targets ICE building (PHOTOS, VIDEOS). rt.com Federal officers tussled with protesters in Portland after a crowd vandalized an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in the city. Police declared the assembly a riot and deployed tear gas. | Several hundred demonstrators marched to the ICE building on Wednesday night, where they proceeded to shine lights and lasers at federal officers inside the premises. According to a statement released by the Portland Police Bureau (PPB), the crowd began kicking and banging on the building's doors, and tagged the government office with graffiti. The office's windows were also damaged. | Federal agents exited th…

The Canary (2020-08-20). Ex-White House adviser Steve Bannon arrested over border wall fundraising scheme. thecanary.co Former White House adviser Steve Bannon has been arrested on charges that he and three others ripped off donors to an online fundraising scheme called We Build The Wall.The charges were contained in an indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court.Federal prosecutors alleged that Bannon and three others "orchestrated a scheme to defraud hundreds of thousands of donors" in connection with an online crowdfunding campaign that raised more than $25m (£19m) to build a wall along the southern border of the United States.A spokesperson for Bannon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Steve Bannon l…