Monthly Archives: October 2020

2020-10-27: News Headlines

James J. Zogby (2020-10-27). Using Arabs or Muslims as Scapegoats Has a History. globalresearch.ca During the past century, we have witnessed a long and tragic history of domestic policies that have targeted persons of Arab descent. We have been subjected to discriminatory treatment by law enforcement, immigration authorities, and by both Democratic and Republican …

Editor (2020-10-27). Lost children — and the U.S. empire. workers.org The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has had to reveal that it "lost track" of the families of 545 children forcibly separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. The migrant children are still suffering, alone and parentless, in the U.S. An Oct. 21 court filing by the American Civil . . . |

yenisafak (2020-10-27). Two die as migrant boat capsizes off northern France. yenisafak.com A major rescue operation is underway in northern France Tuesday after a boat carrying 20 migrants capsized off the coast of Loon-Plage.According to reporting by daily Voice of the North, two people have died, including a child. Another 15 people have been rescued, with eight of them experiencing hypothermia and two are in cardiac arrest. Three people remain missing.Firefighters and emergency medical services have been deployed to the scene, on both the docks and into the Channel, along with French Navy helicopters.Loon-Plage lies to the west of the town of Dunkirk on the northern coast.

Mehr News Agency (2020-10-26). Removing banking barrier activates Iran-Iraq border capacity. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Oct. 26 (MNA) — First Deputy Speaker of the Iranian Parliament said that removal of banking barrier will activate border capacities between Islamic Republic of Iran and Iraq.

Anish R (2020-10-26). How to make sense of US elections. peoplesdispatch.org Despite its repercussions on global politics, elections in the United States are seldom understood by people outside its borders. Even less understood is how and why the two-party system is so well entrenched. There are two main candidates, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, representing the two major parties, the Republicans and the Democrats, respectively. But what is the system behind this ritual? | With less than two weeks away from the presidential election, here is what you need to know about what goes behind it and what is happening in the upcoming election season. | How is a US president elected? | Unlike most…

Tim Libretti (2020-10-26). Trump's dangerous effort to exclude undocumented people from census. peoplesworld.org Last Friday the Supreme Court indicated that on November 30 it will hear arguments in the Trump administration's appeal regarding its efforts to exclude undocumented immigrants from being counted in the census numbers used to calculate the apportionment of congressional districts. Last September a federal appeals court in Manhattan rejected the Trump administration's bid to …

Staff (2020-10-26). Headlines for October 26, 2020. 18.224.45.15 Pence Remains on Campaign Trail Despite COVID Outbreak in Inner Circle as U.S. Cases Surge, Trump Administration Pressures CDC to Sign Off on Locking Up Migrant Children, Citing Pandemic, Illinois Public Health Official Breaks Down in Tears While Reporting Coronavirus Toll, New Wave of Restrictions in Europe as COVID-19 Cases Explode in Spain, Italy, France, GOP-Ruled Senate Set to Confirm Amy Coney Barrett, Trump's Third SCOTUS Justice, Early Voting Brings Huge Turnout as New York Voters Face Hours-Long Lines, TX Court Reinstates Limit on Drop Box Sites; PA Court Allows Ballots with Mismatched Signatures, Sudane…

RT (2020-10-26). Turkish F-16s in Azerbaijan are not currently involved in fighting but will be used if there is 'foreign aggression,' says Baku. rt.com Azerbaijan will use Turkish F-16 fighter jets to defend itself from "foreign aggression," President Ilham Aliyev said on Monday, insisting that the planes were in the country prior to the recent fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh. | F-16s are supersonic fighter aircraft built in the US by Lockheed Martin. In recent years, the jets have been used extensively, by Ankara, in battles with Kurdish insurgents, as well as in the Syrian Civil War. Famously, in 2015, a Turkish F-16 shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 near the Syrian-Turkish border. | According to Aliyev, the planes are currently sitting idle in Azerbaijan and…

Staff (2020-10-26). "They Wanted to Take My Womb Out": Survivor of Medical Abuse in ICE Jail Deported After Speaking Out. democracynow.org An independent medical review team has submitted a report to Congress on a lack of informed consent and "disturbing pattern" of questionable gynecological surgical procedures at the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia, after an account from a nurse whistleblower in September prompted congressional and federal investigations. At least 19 women, most of whom are Black and Latina, have come forward to allege they were pressured into "unnecessary" gynecological treatment and surgeries — including procedures that left them sterile — while they were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. We s…

Areeb Ullah (2020-10-26). Lebanon court rejects new migrant worker contract to replace criticised kafala system. middleeasteye.net Lebanon court rejects new migrant worker contract to replace criticised kafala system | Officials said the new standard contract for domestic workers would be the first step needed to abolish the kafala system | Mon, 10/26/2020 – 10: 36 | Ethiopian workers let go because of Lebanon's economic crisis wait outside Ethiopia's embassy in Beirut (AFP) | A court in Lebanon has suspended the implementation of a…

yenisafak (2020-10-26). Baku frees 17 more villages from Armenia's occupation. yenisafak.com Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev on Monday announced the names of villages liberated from Armenia's occupation a day earlier.The Azerbaijani army liberated the Birinji Alibayli, Ikinji Alibayli, Raband and Yenikand villages of Zangilan district, the Govshudlu, Sofulu, Dagh Mashanli, Kurdlar, Hovuslu, Chalabilar villages of Jabrayil district and the Padar, Afandilar, Yusifbayli, Chaytumas, Khanlig, Sariyatag, Mollaburhan villages of Gubadli district and the city of Gubadli, state news agency Azertac quoted the president as saying.In an earlier tweet, Aliyev said Baku had taken control of seven border villages w…

commondreams (2020-10-26). Senate Votes Today on Trump's Anti-Worker, Anti-Immigrant, Anti-Consumer Nominee. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Mehr News Agency (2020-10-25). IRGC protecting NW borders against Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Oct. 25 (MNA) — The IRGC Ground Force has dispatched forces, tanks, and equipment to the northwestern country to protect joint borders with Azerbaijan and Armenia against the ongoing military conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Mehr News Agency (2020-10-25). VIDEO: IRGC dispatches forces to NW border regions. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Oct. 25 (MNA) — The IRGC Ground Force dispatched forces to the northwest of Iran on Sunday to protect joint borders with Azerbaijan and Armenia against the ongoing military conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Mehr News Agency (2020-10-25). Army Ground Force's military exercise. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Oct. 25 (MNA) — The Iranian army's air defense' annual drills were successfully held on Saturday night in the northwestern border regions of the country.

WSWS (2020-10-24). Spain's "left populist" Podemos separates migrant children from their parents. wsws.org A dozen children in the Canary Islands had been separated from their mothers or relatives for months, while DNA testing was carried out to verify they were related.

_____ (2020-10-24). Our Fight For Quitobaquito. popularresistance.org Border wall construction is destroying the Sonoran Desert's most sacred spring. | Growing up as a Tohono O'odham woman on my ancestral homelands taught me one thing above all: Take care of the land and the land will take care of you. | When the federal government ramped up border-wall construction in Arizona, I knew I had to fight for my homelands, which are split in half by the U.S-Mexico border. I knew that meant activating my community, facing construction workers and opposing the U.S. Border Patrol and its long history of brutalizing O'odham tribal members.

Mehr News Agency (2020-10-24). Any change in border geopolitics, 'Iran's red line': Cmdr. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Oct. 24 (MNA) — The commander of IRGC Ground Force said that any change in border geopolitics of the country is Iran's red line, referring to the recent dispute erupted between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Staff (2020-10-24). The Squad Calls for UN Inquiry Into Alleged Human Rights Abuses at Trump's DHS. truthout.org The four first-term progressive congresswomen collectively called the Squad led a letter Friday calling for independent international investigation of "recent, ongoing, and credible allegations of egregious human rights abuses by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), its components, and its private contractors." | "From the unwanted and unnecessary hysterectomies of migrant women, to the forced separation of children from their families, to the indefinite detention of immi…

Staff (2020-10-23). Trump Smears Victims of Mass Family Separations as "Bad People" truthout.org Pressed during Thursday night's final 2020 presidential debate to account for his administration's record of separating immigrant families at the U.S.-Mexico border, President Donald Trump repeatedly attempted to evade responsibility by lying about the origins of the inhumane practice, smearing those harmed by it, and attempting to shift blame onto Democratic opponent Joe Biden. | In response to a question about the more than 500 parents who have yet to be found after they were separated from their children…

_____ (2020-10-23). U.S. Spends More Than $80 Billion a Year Incarcerating 2.3 Million People. strategic-culture.org Laura FLANDERS | The U.S. today spends more than $80 billion a year incarcerating 2.3 million people in state and federal prisons, local jails, youth facilities and deportation centers. That's $80 billion that comes out of public coffers and goes into public confinement. | With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, many were shocked to see woman, children and migrants — including many pre-trial and pre-hearing — who had never been convicted of anything crammed into overcrowded lock-ups that might as well have been petri dishes for community spread of the disease. | By the middle of October, close to 150…

teleSUR (2020-10-23). Sea-Watch Takes Action Against Blockade of Its Rescue Ship. telesurenglish.net The German NGO Sea-Watch on Friday filed an appeal at the Palermo Administrative Court against the blockade of the Sea-Watch 4, a humanitarian vessel which has been detained in port since September. | On August 15, this humanitarian rescue ship, which is owned by Sea-Watch and Doctors Without Borders (MSF), set sail from Spain to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean. | Eleven days after carrying out its f…

2020-10-26: News Headlines

Staff (2020-10-26). "They Wanted to Take My Womb Out": Survivor of Medical Abuse in ICE Jail Deported After Speaking Out. democracynow.org An independent medical review team has submitted a report to Congress on a lack of informed consent and "disturbing pattern" of questionable gynecological surgical procedures at the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia, after an account from a nurse whistleblower in September prompted congressional and federal investigations. At least 19 women, most of whom are Black and Latina, have come forward to allege they were pressured into "unnecessary" gynecological treatment and surgeries — including procedures that left them sterile — while they were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. We s…

commondreams (2020-10-26). Senate Votes Today on Trump's Anti-Worker, Anti-Immigrant, Anti-Consumer Nominee. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Areeb Ullah (2020-10-26). Lebanon court rejects new migrant worker contract to replace criticised kafala system. middleeasteye.net Lebanon court rejects new migrant worker contract to replace criticised kafala system | Officials said the new standard contract for domestic workers would be the first step needed to abolish the kafala system | Mon, 10/26/2020 – 10: 36 | Ethiopian workers let go because of Lebanon's economic crisis wait outside Ethiopia's embassy in Beirut (AFP) | A court in Lebanon has suspended the implementation of a…

Mehr News Agency (2020-10-26). Removing banking barrier activates Iran-Iraq border capacity. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Oct. 26 (MNA) — First Deputy Speaker of the Iranian Parliament said that removal of banking barrier will activate border capacities between Islamic Republic of Iran and Iraq.

Mehr News Agency (2020-10-25). Army Ground Force's military exercise. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Oct. 25 (MNA) — The Iranian army's air defense' annual drills were successfully held on Saturday night in the northwestern border regions of the country.

Mehr News Agency (2020-10-25). IRGC protecting NW borders against Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Oct. 25 (MNA) — The IRGC Ground Force has dispatched forces, tanks, and equipment to the northwestern country to protect joint borders with Azerbaijan and Armenia against the ongoing military conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Mehr News Agency (2020-10-25). VIDEO: IRGC dispatches forces to NW border regions. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Oct. 25 (MNA) — The IRGC Ground Force dispatched forces to the northwest of Iran on Sunday to protect joint borders with Azerbaijan and Armenia against the ongoing military conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.

WSWS (2020-10-24). Spain's "left populist" Podemos separates migrant children from their parents. wsws.org A dozen children in the Canary Islands had been separated from their mothers or relatives for months, while DNA testing was carried out to verify they were related.

Mehr News Agency (2020-10-24). Any change in border geopolitics, 'Iran's red line': Cmdr. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Oct. 24 (MNA) — The commander of IRGC Ground Force said that any change in border geopolitics of the country is Iran's red line, referring to the recent dispute erupted between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh region.

_____ (2020-10-24). Our Fight For Quitobaquito. popularresistance.org Border wall construction is destroying the Sonoran Desert's most sacred spring. | Growing up as a Tohono O'odham woman on my ancestral homelands taught me one thing above all: Take care of the land and the land will take care of you. | When the federal government ramped up border-wall construction in Arizona, I knew I had to fight for my homelands, which are split in half by the U.S-Mexico border. I knew that meant activating my community, facing construction workers and opposing the U.S. Border Patrol and its long history of brutalizing O'odham tribal members.

Staff (2020-10-23). "It's Criminal": Biden Slams Trump as Gov't Can't Find Parents of 545 Children Separated at Border. democracynow.org During the second and final presidential debate in Nashville, Tennessee, moderator Kristen Welker asked Trump and Biden about immigration and family separation. Trump deflected questions during the debate, repeatedly stating that the Obama-Biden administration "built the cages" and falsely claiming that kids seeking asylum in the U.S. are "well taken care of." However, the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy "took children away from their families at the border," says Erika Andiola, advocacy chief at RAICES Action, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services. "He's not owning up t…

teleSUR (2020-10-23). Sea-Watch Takes Action Against Blockade of Its Rescue Ship. telesurenglish.net The German NGO Sea-Watch on Friday filed an appeal at the Palermo Administrative Court against the blockade of the Sea-Watch 4, a humanitarian vessel which has been detained in port since September. | On August 15, this humanitarian rescue ship, which is owned by Sea-Watch and Doctors Without Borders (MSF), set sail from Spain to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean. | Eleven days after carrying out its f…

Judy Greenspan (2020-10-23). Film review — "Belly of the Beast": Sterilizations inside the world's largest women's prison. workers.org With the world spotlight currently on the forced sterilizations of migrant women inside the ICE detention center in Georgia, the release of the documentary "Belly of the Beast" is timely. The film, by Erica Cohn, exposes the inhumane and illegal practice of sterilizations inside the Central California Women's Facility, the . . . |

_____ (2020-10-23). U.S. Spends More Than $80 Billion a Year Incarcerating 2.3 Million People. strategic-culture.org Laura FLANDERS | The U.S. today spends more than $80 billion a year incarcerating 2.3 million people in state and federal prisons, local jails, youth facilities and deportation centers. That's $80 billion that comes out of public coffers and goes into public confinement. | With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, many were shocked to see woman, children and migrants — including many pre-trial and pre-hearing — who had never been convicted of anything crammed into overcrowded lock-ups that might as well have been petri dishes for community spread of the disease. | By the middle of October, close to 150…

Mehr News Agency (2020-10-23). 'Iran-Azerbaijan shared border to remain friendship border'. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Oct. 23 (MNA) — Iran's Ambassador to Baku said that the shared border of Iran and Azerbaijan Republic will ever remain the border of friendship, peace and security.

RT (2020-10-22). India completes successful test of its own 3rd-gen anti-tank missile, in bid to end reliance on foreign weapons. rt.com Amid ongoing border tensions with China, India's defense agency has completed the final test of its third-generation anti-tank missile, which is now set to be deployed by its army. | On Thursday, India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) announced that the Nag anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), intended for use in the four-kilometer range, has successfully completed its final trial and is now ready for deployment to the frontline. | Final user trial of 3rd generation Anti Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) NAG was carried out today on 22 Oct 2020 at 0645 hrs from Pokhran range. The missile was integra…