Daily Archives: August 7, 2020

2020-08-07: News Headlines

Alan Macleod (2020-08-07). Don't Let His New Book Fool You, Bush Laid the Groundwork for Today's Immigration Nightmare. mintpressnews.com George W. Bush drastically increased the militarization of the Mexican border, sending 6,000 national guardsmen to patrol it, greatly increasing detention capacity for immigrants and using drones to patrol the area.

news.un (2020-08-07). Countries urged to target smugglers after 27 migrants die at sea. news.un.org Two UN agencies are calling for greater action to dismantle smuggling and trafficking networks following the deaths of 27 migrants off the coast of Mauritania, northwest Africa.

teleSUR (2020-08-07). Migrants Die In The Atlantic Ocean Trying To Reach Spain. telesurenglish.net About 50 migrants Thursday died in the Atlantic Ocean after their barges sank while trying to reach the Canary Islands in Spain. | RELATED: | Spanish outlets revealed that one of the boats broke down off the coast of Mauritania, and at least 40 people died. Also, 10 migrants died after another vessel shipwrecked near to the coast of Western Sahara. The only survivor told AFP that their boat broke down. | "For a l…

T.J. Coles (2020-08-07). Fighting Over Kashmir Could Blow Up the Planet. counterpunch.org Jammu and Kashmir, widely referred to as Kashmir, has had many designations since India and Pakistan were partitioned by Britain and gained their respective independence from the Empire: a Princely State, a State, a Union Territory. The 86,000 mile, Muslim-majority region sits in the Himalayas on the border with China. It is of strategic significance

Conn Hallinan (2020-08-07). What's Driving the Simmering Conflict Between India and China. counterpunch.org Chinese and Indian forces have pulled back from their confrontation in the Himalayas, but the tensions that set off the deadly encounter this past June—the first on the China/India border since 1975—are not going away. Indeed, a combination of local disputes, regional antagonisms and colonial history have brewed up a poisonous elixir that could pose

Staff (2020-08-07). Navajo Nation's Shortage of Clean Water Is Impeding Efforts to Control COVID. truthout.org Growing up in Vanderwagen, an arid, mountainous checker-board region of the Navajo Nation near the Arizona-New Mexico border, Sunny Dooley learned from an early age that safe, clean water was as precious as a rare mineral, and just as hard to find. | Because of naturally occurring uranium and arsenic in the groundwater, the nearest clean well was two miles away. Dooley and her family used to make the trip on foot with steel buckets they would drop down the well before lugging them back, a trai…

yenisafak (2020-08-07). Another PKK terrorist surrenders to Turkish forces. yenisafak.com One more PKK terrorist surrendered to security forces in southeastern Turkey, the National Defense Ministry said on Friday. | The PKK terrorist fleeing from the shelter areas in northern Iraq surrendered to the border post in the Cizre district of Sirnak province, the ministry said on Twitter. | "While the operations of the Turkish Armed Forces against the PKK terrorist group continue without slowing down, escapes from the organization continue," the statement added. | On Monday, the Turkish Interior Ministry announced that a total of 123 terrorists have turned themselves in to Turkish security forces in 2020.

teleSUR (2020-08-06). 'Sea-Watch 4' to Resume Rescue Operations in the Mediterranean. telesurenglish.net The Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and Sea Watch charities will resume humanitarian rescue operations in the central Mediterranean using their new ship, the Sea-Watch 4. | RELATED: | This German-flagged vessel, which is a former oceanographic research vessel, is on Spanish territory preparing to sail from the Burriana Port on August 15. | It will leave for the coasts near Libya, an African country where the civil…

RT (2020-08-06). Biden says Latinos are 'incredibly diverse,' UNLIKE BLACK VOTERS. rt.com Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden took time out from a question asked by a Latina reporter to state that while black voters all think alike (with "notable exceptions"), Latino voters are "incredibly diverse" in opinion. | In the midst of answering a question on whether he would extend protected status for Venezuelan immigrants during a Wednesday town hall, Biden veered off on a self-congratulatory tangent touting his supposed knowledge of the Latino community. | What you all know but most people don't know, unlike the African American community with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an i…

George Wuerthner (2020-08-06). Trouble in Paradise Valley. counterpunch.org Paradise Valley, Montana, is aptly named. The Yellowstone River flows north to Livingston, Montana, framed by the Absaroka Mountains on the east and the Gallatin Range on the West. It's one of the most stunning landscapes in the entire West. Due to its location immediately adjacent to Yellowstone Park and the Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness, Paradise

Robin Valenzuela (2020-08-06). Dreamers' Children: Up to 200,000 American Kids Could be Left Parentless. commondreams.org Immigration rights activists take part in a rally in front of the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC on November 12, 2019. (Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/gettyimages-11818855831_0.jpg

news.un (2020-08-06). Cross-border links between terrorists, organized crime, underscore need for coherent global response. news.un.org The nexus between terrorism and organized crime took centre stage in the Security Council on Thursday, with experts raising fresh concerns over opportunistic alliances emerging among belligerents who share a hostility towards national authorities, and seek to exploit vulnerabilities created by the COVID-19 crisis.

Andrew Korybko (2020-08-05). 5 August 2019: The Kashmir Conflict and the Aksai Chin Border Clash, A Dark Day for India-China Relations. globalresearch.ca Most observers at the time regarded India's de-facto annexation of Jammu & Kashmir on 5 August 2019 as being a defining moment for either India's internal affairs or Indian-Pakistani relations, but in reality it was a defining one for Indo-Sino …

Alan MacLeod (2020-08-05). Media's 'cancel culture' debate obscures direct threats to first amendment. mronline.org A short and rather vaguely worded open letter published in Harper's Magazine(7/7/20) earlier this month caused an unlikely media storm that continues to rumble on.

WSWS (2020-08-05). Fascist networks in German police and military issue new death threats. wsws.org A growing number of threatening e-mails and faxes, almost all signed NSU 2.0, have been sent to left-wing artists, immigrants, politicians, journalists and lawyers.

sputniknews (2020-08-05). Explosion Rocks Beirut; Trump Defies SCOTUS, GOP Stimulus Failure. sputniknews.com Lebanon's capital of Beirut is reeling from an explosion on Tuesday that killed more than 135 people, injured thousands more and left the economy crippled. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump continues to push against a Supreme Court ruling on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, making life harder on immigrants.

Gordon Duff (2020-08-05). Israel Hits Beirut with Nuclear Missile, Trump and Lebanese Govt. Confirm (continually updating). thealtworld.com Trump confirms this was a bombing, not an accident and is immediately scourged by pro-Israel press…starting with the Daily Beast | #Breaking #Syria President Assad orders all borders and ports in the country open to #Lebanon, orders caravans of ambulances to head to #Beirut and ferry injured to hospitals in #Damascus, and launches an air bridge of medical and food supplies between the two cities | Israeli Delilah missile carrying 6 kiloton (6000 tons of TNT equivalent) nuclear missile (unretouched photo via VT Damascus) Ti…

RT (2020-08-05). Cyprus ready to help EU 'fill E. Mediterranean power vacuum' amid alleged US disengagement. rt.com The European Union must do more to fill a power void in the eastern Mediterranean brought on by a perceived US disengagement from the region, Cyprus' foreign minister said on Wednesday. The island nation is ready to host an EU task force to achieve that goal, AP quoted Nikos Christodoulides as saying. | The EU has so far failed to use its ample "soft power" to position itself as the leading player in a region fraught with problems such as terrorism and illegal immigration, the minister said. | The bloc should pursue a more muscular policy, with a larger military footprint in the region, the diplomat noted, lau…

The Canary (2020-08-05). Government criticised for quarantine 'failures' and treatment of children as coronavirus cases rise. thecanary.co The government has been criticised for treating children "as an afterthought" during the coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis and not acting quickly enough to close the UK border in the early days of the pandemic.A failure to quarantine travellers arriving in the UK in the early days of the pandemic "accelerated" the spread of Covid-19, a new report by the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee suggests.Meanwhile, children's commissioner Anne Longfield said the re-opening of schools "should be prioritised" as lockdown measures are eased, saying schools must be the first to reopen and the last to close during any local lo…

commondreams (2020-08-05). Adam Schiff Sought to Allow for Domestic Surveillance by Selling Out Dreamers During PATRIOT Act Reauthorization. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Eoin Higgins, staff writer (2020-08-05). 'Dangerously Bad': Coalition Accuses Adam Schiff of Throwing Dreamers Under the Bus to Ensure Trump Retains Unaccountable Spying Powers. commondreams.org "Schiff has been trying to sneak ratification of such surveillance through Congress." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/schiffty.jpg

Andrew Korybko (2020-08-04). Armenia's Risky Tovuz Strategy Dramatically Backfired. thealtworld.com The latest clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan occurred along their shared border in Tovuz, north of Nagorno-Karabakh. Both sides blame one another but a compelling argument can be made that Armenia was the aggressor. Azerbaijan has no dispute with Armenia over this territory and has nothing to gain by destabilizing this strategy region through which important international energy pipelines and the BTK railway pass. The Mingachevir Dam is also located nearby, and if Armenia attacked it during another war, then the consequences would be disastrous for the millions of Azerbaijanis downstream. | It's actually…

Staff (2020-08-04). Headlines for August 4, 2020. democracynow.org Concerns Mount over Politicization of COVID-19 Vaccine, as Trump Lashes Out at "Pathetic" Dr. Birx, WHO Warns There May Never Be a Coronavirus "Silver Bullet", Trump Threatens to Sue Nevada After It Expands Voter Access, Leaked Video Shows George Floyd Pleaded for His Life, Cooperated with Police, Before He Was Killed, Video Shows LAPD Shot Peaceful Protester in the Head as He Held His Arms in the Air, Prosecutor Clears Arkansas Officers Who Pushed Black Man into the Ground for 6.5 Minutes Before He Died, Census Bureau Cuts Short Collection Efforts by One Month, Mexican Man Dies After Falling from Border Wall, Me…

Staff (2020-08-04). "Release Them All": Calls Grow to Stop Jailing Immigrants as Transfers & Deportations Spread COVID. democracynow.org The U.S. government continues to hold tens of thousands of asylum seekers and immigrants in detention centers and jails, ignoring the advice of medical experts as the coronavirus continues to spread. ICE has also continued to transfer and deport people — including those who are infected — making it a global superspreader. We speak with Luis Angel Reyes Savalza, an immigration attorney and co-director of Pangea Legal Services in San Francisco, who himself is undocumented and recently got arrested at a protest outside the mansion of California Governor Gavin Newsom demanding the release of people in sta…

Andrea Flores (2020-08-04). Undocumented Youth Won on DACA, but Trump's a Sore Loser. So What's Next? aclu.org After a rebuke from the Supreme Court, President Trump is again trying to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program — a program that protects over 700,000 people from deportation and allows them to work and attend school in the United States, their home. The White House is replacing the full DACA program with a skeleton program that will accept no new applicants and renew protection for only one year, instead of two. , , I served in the Obama administration at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the government agency responsible for creating and launching DACA. It was the resul…

WSWS (2020-08-04). Migrant farmworkers in Spain protest amid COVID-19 surge. wsws.org Low-paid agricultural workers are seen as an entirely dispensable workforce, forced to work back-breaking days in appalling conditions.

Regina Garcia Cano, Michael Casey (2020-08-04). Tsunami of evictions underway as moratoriums end. peoplesworld.org BALTIMORE (AP) — Kelyn Yanez used to clean homes during the day and wait tables at night in the Houston area before the coronavirus. But the mother of three lost both jobs in March because of the pandemic and now is facing eviction. The Honduran immigrant got help from a local church to pay part …

AFP (2020-08-04). Refugees freed from Greek camp 'hell' left homeless. indybay.org When Amir Hussein was finally allowed to leave the horrific migrant camp of Moria on the Greek island of Lesbos, it was supposed to be the end of a year-long odyssey.

teleSUR (2020-08-04). Isaias Arrives in North Carolina With Winds of 140 KPH. telesurenglish.net The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) Monday reported that Isaias made landfall in North Carolina as a category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 140 kilometers per hour. | RELATED: | As stated in a newsletter released by the meteorological office, the hurricane touched down in the Ocean Isle Beach area, near the South Carolina border. | The eye of the storm is located 65 kilometers south-southwest of Wilmington, North Carolina, moving northeas…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-08-04). Israeli warplanes bomb targets in Syria. peoplesdispatch.org Israeli air force fighter jets, attack helicopters and other attack aircraft conducted airstrikes in southern Syria late on August 3, Monday. Israel claimed that the airstrikes were in retaliation to an attempted attack on Sunday along the northern Israel-Syria border in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. | The Syrian government is yet to confirm the specific locations targeted by the Israeli bombings. The official Syrian SANA news agency stated that the airstrikes caused significant material damage to Syrian government property, adding that no Syrians, civilian or military, were injured. | Syrian state media la…

commondreams (2020-08-04). Sweeping Proposal Would Protect Kids, Farmworkers — and Everyone — From Toxic Pesticides. commondreams.org ______________________________…