Daily Archives: July 19, 2020

2020-07-19: News Headlines

RT (2020-07-18). Oregon attorney general files lawsuit against federal agencies amid reports that officers 'kidnapped' Portland protesters. rt.com Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum is taking the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other agencies to court, after accusing federal officers of detaining Portland demonstrators without probable cause. | Rosenblum announced on Friday night that the Oregon Department of Justice had filed a lawsuit in federal court against the DHS, US Marshals Service, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the Federal Protection Service. The suit claims federal law enforcement agencies have been wrongfully seizing protesters and seeks a temporary restraining order which would prohibit them from using such tactic…

RT (2020-07-18). CBP says Portland protester in viral 'kidnapping' clip was assault & vandalism suspect, denies officers wore no insignia. rt.com The US Customs and Border Protection agency has taken credit for a Portland protester's hot-button arrest this week, saying the man was a criminal suspect, while refuting claims he was 'kidnapped' by agents wearing no insignia. | The CBP sought to address the incident in a statement on Friday, noting that the protester arrested one day prior was suspected of vandalism and attacks on agents amid anti-police brutality demonstrations, which it said were organized by "violent anarchists." | "CBP agents had information indicating the person… was suspected of assaults against federal agents or destruction of feder…

RT (2020-07-18). Russian & Azerbaijani defense ministers talk on the phone amid Baku's tensions with Armenia. rt.com Russia's defense minister Sergey Shoigu and his Azeri counterpart Zakir Hasanov have discussed the situation in the Southern Caucasus during a phone call, Russia's Ministry of Defense has said. | The talks come after almost a week of border clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which have left more than a dozen dead on both sides, according to various estimates. Moscow had earlier offered to become a mediator in peace talks between the two former Soviet republics. | Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have remained tense since the early 1990s, when Nagorno-Karabakh, a large Armenian-populated enclave in…

Dan Friedman (2020-07-18). Federal Agents Invade Portland, Citing Trump's Executive Order Protecting Statues. zcomm.org The Border Patrol says it has authority to "conduct arrests" in Portland…

WSWS (2020-07-18). Armenia-Azerbaijan border clashes threaten broader war in Caucasus. wsws.org The fighting threatens to escalate into a direct clash between the two Caucasian republics' main allies, Russia and Turkey.

_____ (2020-07-18). Oregon Sues Federal Agencies Over Protest Enforcement. popularresistance.org The Oregon Department of Justice is suing several federal agencies for civil rights abuses, and state prosecutors will potentially pursue criminal charges against a federal officer who seriously injured a protester. | The federal lawsuit names the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Marshals Service, the United States Customs and Border Protection and the Federal Protective Service, agencies that have had a role in stepped-up force used against protesters since early July. The state filed the lawsuit late Friday night. | It lists defendants specifically as John Does 1-10 because the "identity of the of…

yenisafak (2020-07-18). US swoops down on Portland protesters after Trump order to protect monuments. yenisafak.com Federal law enforcement officers are cracking down on protesters in Portland, Oregon, under the Trump administration's new executive order to protect U.S. monuments in what the state's Democratic governor has called "political theater."Multiple videos posted online show camouflage-clad officers without clear identification badges using force and unmarked vehicles to transport arrested protesters."It's kidnapping people!" one person said off-camera, as officers marched a protester away.A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spokeswoman said on Friday agents had been deployed to Portland to support a newly laun…

yenisafak (2020-07-18). Azerbaijanis on border stay put despite Armenia attacks. yenisafak.com Despite living with the sights, sounds, and danger of attacks from the Armenian army, Azerbaijanis living in villages along the border with Armenia are not going anywhere.For nearly a week now Armenian forces' attacks on Azerbaijan have aimed at seizing strategic heights along the border and targeted not only soldiers but also civilians.Many houses in the region have become unusable after attacks by artillery and mortar on the border villages of Azerbaijan's Tovuz province, but local civilians have not fled.The Azizovs are one of the families living within earshot of gunfire.They lost their uncle Aziz Azizov, 76,…

yenisafak (2020-07-18). Protest held against Armenia's border attacks in Hungary. yenisafak.com The protest was organized by Azerbaijani associations based in Hungary.Carrying Azerbaijani, Turkish and Hungarian flags, the protesters chanted slogans.Ramiz Emirli, the head of the Azerbaijani-Hungarian Brotherhood Association, told Anadolu Agency that they organized the protests to announce in Europe that Armenia attacked Azerbaijan and martyred its soldiers.Armenian attacks since last Sunday have martyred a dozen Azerbaijani soldiers. However, they have since withdrawn after suffering losses following retaliation from the Azerbaijani military.Azerbaijan has blamed Armenia for the "provocative" actions, with T…

Workers World Party (2020-07-17). øPor qué ganaron los beneficios de DACA? workers.org La Corte Suprema por más de 230 años ha llevado a cabo los objetivos conservadores de sus creadores. Ha protegido la propiedad privada, incluida la "propiedad" de los seres humanos, y ha minimizado el derecho de los pobres a asociarse para la lucha unida. Actualmente, Corte Suprema de los Estados . . . |

ACLU (2020-07-17). Padma Lakshmi on Immigration, Food, and Authorship. aclu.org Recently, we've seen a reckoning in the culinary world around the whitewashing and co-opting of ethnic food. The industry has long been controlled by a limited number of people — many of them white — who have authored and then profited from the foods we eat and the stories we share. But the tide is turning. And our guest for this episode, Padma Lakshmi, is part of that movement., , You've likely seen her tasting and critiquing some of the best chefs in the U.S. on Top Chef, sharing her favorite recipes across social media and advocating for immigrants rights and women's rights. Pa…

Eric A. Gordon (2020-07-17). Eric the Clapper tells us why he claps. peoplesworld.org LOS ANGELES — "Did you clap tonight?" my faraway husband in Mexico asks me almost every evening when we talk. He's stuck there for immigration reasons, and I'm stuck here for coronavirus reasons. We haven't seen each other since early January, except on Facetime. "Oh, yes," I answer, and he always likes to grasp the …

Alan MacLeod (2020-07-17). Portland Mayor Condemns Masked Federal Agents Abducting Protesters. thealtworld.com Human rights groups, activists, and local politicians are decrying what appears to be the Trump administration's latest tactic to crush nationwide protests that erupted in late May over the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police. | MPN— Anonymous masked federal agents in military uniforms jump out of unmarked minivans, abducting seemingly random people on the street in Portland, frightening new viral videos show. Officers from the U.S. Marshals Special Operations Group and Customs and Border Protection's BORTAC have been sent to the city to tamp down of 49 days of continuous demonstrations against raci…

RT (2020-07-17). WATCH: Immigrant workers camp outside Bezos' NYC apartment as part of AOC-sponsored campaign to tax billionaires. rt.com Dozens of immigrant workers have begun a joint 24-hour fast and sleep-out outside billionaire Jeff Bezos' $16 million penthouse in Manhattan, to lobby New York authorities to tax the wealthy to help the pandemic-affected poor. | High-profile Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is among those behind a campaign to push New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to further tax the mega-rich in the state and use the revenue generated to help workers in need of assistance during the pandemic. | Eyewitness footage from the scene shows the workers, joined by city council members, set up camp on Fifth Avenue near the Amazon-o…

_____ (2020-07-17). Why Laos, Vietnam & China Have Beaten the Virus and India, Brazil and the U.S. Have Not. strategic-culture.org Vijay Prashad explores the differences between the pandemic responses of a few countries with socialist governments and others in the capitalist order. | Vijay PRASHAD | Too little has been made of the fact that countries like Laos and Vietnam have been able to manage the coronavirus; there are no confirmed deaths from Covid-19 in either country. Both of these Southeast Asian states border China, where the virus was first detected in late December 2019, and both have thriving trade and tourist relations with China. India is separated from China by the high Himalaya Mountains, while Brazil and the United States ha…

South Front (2020-07-17). Video: Unidentified Warplanes Struck Turkish-led Forces in Syria. Turkish Spy Plane Crashed Near Iraqi Border. globalresearch.ca Early on July 16, unidentified warplanes conducted at least 3 airstrikes on the Turkish-occupied town of al-Bab in the Syrian province of Aleppo. The strikes destroyed a large building in the town center and led to multiple casualties. Pro-Turkish sources …

Derek Royden (2020-07-17). From trans rights to treaty rights, the U.S. Supreme Court breaks progressive? nationofchange.org While American progressives will need a laser focus on the courts in the years ahead, these four decisions will likely reverberate around the world and create new possibilities for justice in many places beyond the country's borders.

Ken Klippenstein (2020-07-17). The Border Patrol Was Responsible for an Arrest in Portland. thenation.com The Border Patrol Was Responsible for an Arrest in Portland…

Manar Waheed (2020-07-17). Students, Colleges, and Universities Win Against the Trump Administration's Latest Anti-Immigrant Attack. aclu.org After a week of chaos, international students were able to relax after the Trump administration agreed to rescind its latest attack on immigrants: an attempt to ban international students whose classes would be entirely online this fall. The administration has normalized chaos, fear, and trauma over the last few years, beginning with airports all over the country during the Muslim ban and tearing children apart from their parents to attempting to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Temporary Protected Status programs. In the last several months, the administration has repeatedly used the p…

Center for Biological Diversity (2020-07-17). Thursday 7/16: Saving Life on Earth: The Wall & Current Ecological Devastation of US-Mexico Borderlands. indybay.org Online…

_____ (2020-07-17). Human Solidarity And A Global Health Commons. popularresistance.org The COVID-19 pandemic reminds us of the most fundamental features of the human condition: the solidarity that exists between humans across borders, between humans and all other living beings, as well as between living beings and their environments. This reminder, which obtuse nationalisms and competitive logics are already rushing to hush up, invites us to rethink what a true global political institution should be — what we will here call the "global commons of humanity." | The lessons from the pandemic also apply to other major problems that confront humanity, starting with global warming and the processio…

sputniknews (2020-07-17). US Border Security Confirms Detaining Portland Protesters After Reports of 'Kidnappings'. sputniknews.com WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents detained protesters in Portland, Oregon, and took them away for questioning at a location deemed safe from violent mobs, the agency said in a press release.

_____ (2020-07-17). Losing the Plot Again… Trump's Anti-EU Rant Has Dangerous Implications for China. strategic-culture.org It was a barnstorming speech even by President Donald Trump's dubious standard when he gave a press conference this week from the White House Rose Garden. | In typical self-promotional style, he lashed out at everyone and everything under the sun, it seemed, from his Democrat presidential rival Joe Biden to China, from coronavirus to illegal immigrants, and much more besides. Here's the It would be charitable to call Trump's electioneering rant "entertaining" so replete was it with vitri…

Staff (2020-07-17). Hospitals Are Suddenly Short of Young Doctors — Because of Trump's Visa Ban. truthout.org As hospitals across the United States brace for a difficult six months — with the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic still raging and concerns about a second wave in the fall — some are acutely short-staffed because of an ill-timed change to immigration policy and its inconsistent implementation. | A

yenisafak (2020-07-17). Erdogan says Hagia Sophia a matter of Turkey's sovereignty. yenisafak.com Converting the Hagia Sophia into a mosque is a matter of sovereignty, Turkey's president told reporters on Friday.Turkey does not see international reactions on the reopening of the Istanbul landmark to Muslim worship as binding, Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed.The first prayers will be held on July 24 for 1,000-1,500 worshipers at the same time, Erdogan added.- Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict"Turkey will never leave Azerbaijan alone," Erdogan said, following recent cross-border artillery fire by Armenia attack."Nakhchivan is under occupation. The Minsk trio has left the issue on the table for 25-30 years," he added.La…

yenisafak (2020-07-17). Turkey retrieves two more migrant bodies, including child, from lake. yenisafak.com Two more bodies, including one of a child, from late last month's boat sinking incident were recovered Friday from a lake in eastern Turkey.Rescue teams continue efforts to recover the remaining bodies from Lake Van, where a boat carrying up to 60 people sank on June 27.The number of retrieved bodies reached 42. Efforts are underway to recover the remaining bodies.A total of five suspects have been remanded in custody over the incident.Since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, the number of irregular migrants arriving in Turkey has declined.However, more than 21,000 migrants have reached Van so far this year,…

Norman Solomon (2020-07-16). 'Not Him… Us': On the Ultimate Meaning of the Bernie Sanders Campaign. commondreams.org Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) addresses supporters during a campaign rally on March 8, 2020 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Sanders covered his policy agendas for immigration, women's rights, healthcare and economic inequality. (Photo by Brittany Greeson/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/bernie_not_him_us.jpg

Julia Conley, staff writer (2020-07-16). Ocasio-Cortez, NY State Progressives Call on Cuomo to Pass Billionaires' Tax to Support Immigrants Left Out of Covid-19 Relief. commondreams.org Progressive lawmakers in New York on Thursday demanded that Gov. Andrew Cuomo impose a tax on the few wealthy New Yorkers who have benefited financially from the coronavirus pandemic in order to support immigrant workers who have been excluded from relief measures. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-1222279641_1_0.jpg

Do Thi Thu Huong (2020-07-16). Vietnam's Success Against COVID-19. globalresearch.ca While other countries are still lifting quarantine or planning to re-open public activities, Vietnam — a small, developing country that has about 1,400 km of land, river and stream and borders with China — has been opened up for more …

Amanda Mills (2020-07-16). 5.4 million have lost their health insurance amid pandemic. nationofchange.org "We have got to work together to make sure that anyone in America who is sick—regardless of their income or immigration status—can seek the medical treatment they need during this national emergency."

commondreams (2020-07-16). Immigrant Rights Groups FOIA for Info on ICE's Chicago Vigilante Training. commondreams.org ______________________________…

WSWS (2020-07-16). Germany: Racist "family tree research" and police state measures in Stuttgart. wsws.org Stuttgart's police chief Franz Lutz said "nationwide searches" would be conducted at registry offices, "to determine the migration background (of individual suspects)."

_____ (2020-07-16). Pausing In The Pandemic Portal. popularresistance.org Think of the clarity that this moment has provided you with who sustains you. Who sustains us. The farmworker. The health worker. The delivery worker. The cleaners. The grocery store workers. | Can you hold on to this clarity as we step through the portal? That what sustains life is not those that choose profit, but those that ensure care. | And can you remember that it is those that sustained us who were forced to keep on working? | Can you remember once we are through this portal that we lived through once a period where almost all inessential travel was stopped. Where people chose to stay home, and often consu…

Eoin Higgins, staff writer (2020-07-16). Trump Move to Bring White Nationalist Sebastian Gorka Back to White House Blasted as 'Sanctioning Discrimination'. commondreams.org "Trump and Gorka are spreading fear and division that leads to violence and harassment targeting Jews, Muslims, immigrants, Asian American Pacific Islanders, and all people of color." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gorks.jpg

yenisafak (2020-07-16). Azerbaijani group slams 'pro-Armenian' US lawmakers. yenisafak.com Calling Representatives Adam Schiff, Brad Sherman, Judy Chu, TJ Cox and Senator Andreas Borgeas "pro-Armenian" on Twitter, the community accused the lawmakers of "supporting invasion and ethnic cleansing of Azerbaijan by Armenia."The community urged "all" friends of Azerbaijan to condemn such remarks.The members of the Congress described the tension between the two countries as "provocation of Azerbaijan," claiming Armenia is suffering the violence.On Sunday, the Armenian army attempted to attack Azerbaijani positions with artillery fire in the northwestern Tovuz border region and withdrew after suffering losses…

Omar Ramahi (2020-07-15). Hagia Sophia and the Catastrophe of Symbolism. counterpunch.org As a Muslim, I find Erdogan's "decree" to change the status of Hagia Sophia (or Ayasofya in Turkish) from a museum to a masjid extremely disturbing. Yes, it is true that Turkey is a sovereign state, so it can do whatever it wants within its borders. But these actions have severe consequences. Hagia Sophia was

Genevieve Lechat (2020-07-15). Trump's xenophobic attack on international students. workers.org July 13 — Unions representing graduate student workers, many international, organized simultaneous July 13 rallies from coast to coast in opposition to a draconian Immigration and Customs Enforcement order threatening their right to remain in the U.S. Ultimately, a million individual international students are endangered by their second-class status as . . . |

Elijah Magnier (2020-07-15). When Hezbollah flags up the China and Iran options, the US trembles. thealtworld.com Hastily and under the watchful eye of Israeli and US drones, Hezbollah is storing hundreds of tons of food stock, supplied by Iran, in dozens of improvised warehouses on the Syrian-Lebanese border. This new and unusual step by Hezbollah reflects Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's recent promise to prevent the starvation threat looming for the Lebanese population. | The US-Israel war against the "Axis of the Resistance" continues but with different tools. It is progressing from waging wars with armies on the ground as the US did in Afghanistan in 2001 and in Iraq in 2003, and as Israel did in Lebanon in <...

yenisafak (2020-07-15). Three more migrant bodies recovered from lake in eastern Turkey. yenisafak.com Turkish teams continue efforts to retrieve bodies from Lake Van, where a boat carrying up to 60 people sank on June 28.So far, a total of 36 bodies have been pulled out of the lake.Recovery operations are underway.A total of five suspects have been remanded in custody over the sinking.Since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, the number of irregular migrants arriving in Turkey has declined.However, more than 21,000 migrants have reached Van so far this year, according to Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu.Of them, 16,000 were denied entry but 4,500 managed to enter illegally, Soylu added.Turkey has been a key tr…