2020-09-20: News Headlines

MEE and agencies (2020-09-20). Five injured as Houthi missile strikes Saudi village. middleeasteye.net Five injured as Houthi missile strikes Saudi village | The civilians in border village were taken to hospital suffering from shrapnel wounds, according to Saudi report | Sun, 09/20/2020 – 10: 53 | The Saudi coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 (AFP) | Five civilians were injured when a military projectile launched by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis hit a village in Saudi Arabia's southern Ja…

news.un (2020-09-19). Uncertain future for migrant workers, in a post-pandemic world. news.un.org The COVID-19 pandemic has largely put a freeze on migration. But will the movement of people recover once the current crisis is over? In an interview with UN News, Gary Rynhart, a senior official at the UN labour agency, ILO, explains why a return to "normal" is unlikely, and migrants will probably face a very different job market.

yenisafak (2020-09-19). Madrid residents facing localised lockdown doubt curbs will work. yenisafak.com A partial lockdown aimed at stemming a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases is set to begin in some of Madrid's poorer districts next week, but resident's of one of the worst-hit neighbourhood's said on Saturday they doubted the new measures would work.Vallecas, a southern district with a lower average income and higher immigrant population, has one of the highest infection rates in the Spanish capital – almost six times higher than in Chamberi, a wealthier, northern district."These restrictions are completely useless because we have to travel from one area which has a lot of cases to another which has less and we are go…

Yisrael Frey (2020-09-19). Hasidic Israeli pilgrims trapped at Ukraine-Belarus border amid Covid-19 fears. middleeasteye.net Hasidic Israeli pilgrims trapped at Ukraine-Belarus border amid Covid-19 fears | Thousands of pilgrims enduring grim weather, without shelter, blame Israeli government for abandoning them | Sat, 09/19/2020 – 11: 31 | Hasidic Jews sleep outside on the ground at the Belarus-Ukraine border (supplied) | On the biggest Jewish holiday, proclaiming the start of a new year on the Hebrew calendar, thousands of…

Yisrael Frey (2020-09-19). Hasidic Israeli pilgrims trapped at Ukraine-Belarus border on Covid-19 fears. middleeasteye.net Hasidic Israeli pilgrims trapped at Ukraine-Belarus border on Covid-19 fears | Thousands of pilgrims enduring grim weather, without shelter, blame Israeli government for abandoning them | Sat, 09/19/2020 – 11: 31 | Hasidic Jews sleep outside on the ground at the Belarus-Ukraine border (supplied) | On the biggest Jewish holiday, proclaiming the start of a new year on the Hebrew calendar, thousands of H…

yenisafak (2020-09-19). Taiwan travellers take sightseeing 'flight to nowhere'. yenisafak.com A Taiwanese airline carried around 120 passengers on a "flight to nowhere" on Saturday to view the South Korean resort island of Jeju, before flying straight back home, the latest gimmick to give people a glimpse of normality during the COVID-19 pandemic.Tough border restrictions to keep the coronavirus under control have led to a 97.5% plunge in international travel in the region, according to the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines.Many frequent flyers miss getting on planes and airlines including Taiwan's EVA Airways Corp and Japan's ANA Holdings Inc, desperate for revenue and to keep their pilots' licences c…

yenisafak (2020-09-19). Bangladesh, India agree to curb border killings. yenisafak.com Bangladesh and India on Saturday agreed to launch joint border patrols to curb killings and crimes."Both sides have agreed to extend joint border patrolling, mass awareness programs and necessary socio-economic development activities with a view to downing the incidents of murders, injuries and attacks on unarmed civilians of both countries to zero level," said a joint statement issued after a four-day conference attended by border forces of both countries in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka.A Bangladesh-based rights watchdog in a report earlier in July said that at least 25 Bangladeshi civilians were killed by the Ind…

_____ (2020-09-18). New York: Protest At ICE Headquarters Over Forced Hysterectomies. popularresistance.org A security guard brandished her gun at demonstrators who forced their way into ICE headquarters in New York City to protest claims of 'mass hysterectomies' being performed on immigrant women. | The video of the female guard pointing the weapon at Abolish ICE protestors as they chanted inside the city's Jacob K Javits Federal Building in Manhattan was posted on social media. | The guard reportedly works for private security firm Paragon Systems, which provides protection for the building that also houses Immigration and Customs Enforcement and FBI offices.

_____ (2020-09-18). A Cold War Power Play At The Inter-American Development Bank. popularresistance.org Having launched his presidential campaign by labeling migrants from south of the U.S.-Mexico border as "rapists and criminals," Latin America was perhaps one of the last places President Donald Trump expected to rely on as a source of steadfast friends. It thus comes as no surprise that in the new Cold War against China, Trump's tactics in recruiting allies in Latin America have been reminiscent of the many "caudillos" that have plagued the continent in the past. The politicized impeachment of Dilma Roussef, deposing of Evo Morales, and attempted invasion of Venezuela set the backdrop to U.S. efforts to bring Lat…

RT (2020-09-18). 'You couldn't write it': Migrant boat lands on British NUDIST BEACH, locals offer newcomers drinks. rt.com A boat full of migrants were in for a surprise when their dinghy landed at a nudist beach on the coast of Sussex in the south of England. The newcomers were helped ashore by stark naked sunbathers who offered them hot drinks.

MEE and agencies (2020-09-18). Ethiopia set to bring some migrants home as concern over Saudi camps mounts. middleeasteye.net Ethiopia set to bring some migrants home as concern over Saudi camps mounts | Reports say at least 16,000 migrants are being held in one camp within driving distance of the holy city of Mecca | Fri, 09/18/2020 – 09: 55 | Ethiopians are being held in camps, where people are dying of heatstroke, disease and suicide (AFP) | Ethiopia will repatriate nearly 2,000 migrants from Saudi Arabia in t…

Sasha Abramsky (2020-09-18). In Trump's America, It's Cruelty as Policy. thenation.com In Trump's America, It's Cruelty as Policy…

Staff (2020-09-18). San Diego wildfire rages, just misses tribal areas and big cat sanctuary. therealnews.com The San Diego County fire was almost far worse, with a forecasted high wind day not coming to fruition. Now under control, the over 17,000-acre fire burned close to three tribal reservations and a big cat sanctuary.

RT (2020-09-18). Pair of Russian military servicemen arrested after viral video shows them washing their shoes with holy water. rt.com A criminal case has been opened in the western Russian city of Kaliningrad after two servicemen from the Baltic fleet were filmed washing their shoes with holy water, after a clip of them caught in the act went viral. | According to the Kaliningrad garrison's military investigation department, both suspects are natives of Dagestan, a Caucasian republic on the southern border of Russia. One of the accused is a conscript soldier, and the other is a contract employee, Interfax reported. | They were arrested on charges of insulting the feelings of religious believers, at the city's Christ the Savior Cathedral.

Mehr News Agency (2020-09-18). 'Iran, Turkey need to coop. against threats at joint border'. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Sep. 18 (MNA) — Iran's Deputy Interior Minister for Security Affairs Hossein Zolfaghari said that Iran and Turkey need to strengthen cooperation to combat all the threats posed to security and order on the joint Iranian-Turkish border…

Mehr News Agency (2020-09-18). Iran, Pakistan review boosting coop. between border provinces. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Sep. 18 (MNA) — The Consul General of Iran in Pakistan's Quetta held talks with spokesman of the Government of Balochistan on the expasion of cultural, economic and social relations between the border provinces of the two countries.

yenisafak (2020-09-18). Trump official warns about law-breaking UK Brexit bill. yenisafak.com The US administration has waded into the growing controversy surrounding the British government's UK Internal Market bill, warning against creating a "hard border by accident" on the island of Ireland, the Financial Times reported on Friday.US President Donald Trump's special envoy to Northern Ireland Mick Mulvaney told the FT in an interview: "Everyone assures me that no one is interested in seeing a hard border between the republic and Northern Ireland.""We appreciate that, we respect that and we agree with that. The one thing I keep trying to assure is on the front of everybody's mind is avoiding a border by a…

_____ (2020-09-17). Nurse Alleges Forced Sterilizations, Medical Malpractice At Immigrant Detention Center. popularresistance.org A whistleblower complaint filed on behalf of a nurse who worked at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in southern Georgia until July alleges that a number of immigrant women detained there were subjected to sterilization through hysterectomies without their consent. | In the complaint, filed by the legal advocacy group Project South, the former nurse describes conditions at the center as akin to an "experimental concentration camp." | The complaint also details the refusal of the center's administrators to carry out COVID-19 testing or implement protective measures, putting detainees an…

The Canary (2020-09-17). Home Office accused of basing immigration policies on 'anecdote and prejudice'. thecanary.co The Public Accounts Committee said the Home Office has 'no idea' what its £400 million immigration enforcement annual spending achieves. | By | The Home Office has been accused of basing immigration policies on "anecdote, assumption and prejudice" instead of evidence, and having no idea of the effect they have on refugees. The department shows far too little concern over the damage caused by its failures on "both the illegal and legitimate migrant populations", according to a scathing review from the Public Accounts Committee. | "Wrec…

Staff (2020-09-17). Medical abuse allegations at ICE facility add to US history of forced sterilization. therealnews.com The imminent deportation of Pauline Binam, who alleges she was involuntarily sterilized in custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement last year, was halted on Wednesday.

Areeb Ullah (2020-09-17). 'Gut punch': MSF staff wounded by decision to accept Blackrock donation. middleeasteye.net 'Gut punch': MSF staff wounded by decision to accept Blackrock donation | Employees criticise Doctors Without Borders for taking funds from controversial firm that has invested in arms companies | Thu, 09/17/2020 – 15: 09 | MSF staffers said the Blackrock donation was an insult to staff who died in a US air strike in Kunduz (AFP) | When Doctors Without Borders (MSF) accepted a $500,000 donation from Blac…

RT (2020-09-17). 'No force in the world can stop Indian soldiers from patrolling' contested border area amid tensions with China — New Delhi. rt.com Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh has said no one can prevent Indian soldiers from patrolling the border in Ladakh region. China has amassed troops in the area and will see India's counter-deployment, he added. | The spate of skirmishes between Indian and Chinese soldiers over the last few months was primarily over the issue of patrolling the Ladakh border, the minister said. The incidents resulted in the deaths of at least 20 Indian soldiers, though Beijing has yet to confirm Chinese casualties. | Singh denied allegations that Indian forces are not being allowed to patrol in certain parts of the Galwan va…

Julia Conley (2020-09-17). 'Ecological Disaster on Massive Scale': Hundreds of Thousands of Dead Migratory Birds in Southwest Linked to Wildfires, Climate Crisis. globalresearch.ca A combination of factors—all related to the climate crisis—is believed to be behind one of the largest mass bird die-off events in recent memory in the Southwest, according to biologists. | Scientists say thousands of dead migratory birds have been found …

_____ (2020-09-17). Climate Change Will Force A New American Migration. popularresistance.org August besieged California with a heat unseen in generations. A surge in air conditioning broke the state's electrical grid, leaving a population already ravaged by the coronavirus to work remotely by the dim light of their cellphones. By midmonth, the state had recorded possibly the hottest temperature ever measured on earth — 130 degrees in Death Valley — and an otherworldly storm of lightning had cracked open the sky. From Santa Cruz to Lake Tahoe, thousands of bolts of electricity exploded down onto withered grasslands and forests, some of them already hollowed out by climate-driven infestations o…

WSWS (2020-09-17). Slow-moving Hurricane Sally makes landfall along Alabama-Florida border. wsws.org With close to 20 million people in its path, Sally brought coastal flooding, record rainfall, high winds and mass power outages to a large swath of the northern Gulf Coast, stretching from southeast Louisiana to the west central coast of Florida.

yenisafak (2020-09-16). Greece struggles to bring migrants into temporary camp after fire. yenisafak.com Greek authorities were still struggling on Wednesday to move thousands of migrants sleeping rough into a temporary camp, a week after the overcrowded Moria migrant camp burned down, while fears grew over a coronavirus outbreak on the island of Lesbos.More than 12,000 people, mostly refugees from Afghanistan, Africa and Syria, were left without shelter, proper sanitation or access to food and water by the fire that tore through Moria, Greece's biggest camp for migrants reaching its islands by sea.No one was killed or hurt in the fire, which broke out after quarantine measures were imposed following the discovery o…

MEE and agencies (2020-09-16). Saudi Arabia 'holding 16,000 Ethiopian migrants' in single detention centre: Report. middleeasteye.net Saudi Arabia 'holding 16,000 Ethiopian migrants' in single detention centre: Report | Ethiopia's consul general in Jeddah says migrants are being held in all city's jails, with one facility holding 16,000 people | Wed, 09/16/2020 – 18: 46 | Thousands of Ethiopians made dangerous journey through Yemen into Saudi Arabia to seek employment (AFP/File photo) | Dozens of prisons in Saudi Arabia…