‘World news’ is a newsroll page on A Socialist In Canada, commencing January 2018. It consists of headlines and weblinks, with occasional news summary and brief analysis by A Socialist In Canada [in square brackets]. Months preceding May 2019 are contained under ‘News pages archives’ which you can find in the listing of website categories. Beginning April 2018, article headlines in red denote articles published on the website main page (also listed in their respective subject categories). To find past subjects on this and other news pages on this website, use the ‘find’ (word search) function on your web browser.
World news headlines on A Socialist In Canada, April 2019
World military expenditure grows to $1.8 trillion in 2018, press release by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Apr 29, 2019
Total world military expenditure rose to $1822 billion in 2018, representing an increase of 2.6 per cent from 2017, according to new data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The five biggest spenders in 2018 were the United States, China, Saudi Arabia, India and France, which together accounted for 60 per cent of global military spending. Military spending by the USA increased for the first time since 2010, while spending by China grew for the 24th consecutive year. The comprehensive annual update of the SIPRI Military Expenditure Database is accessible from today at www.sipri.org…
Several countries in Central and Eastern Europe made large increases in their military expenditure in 2018. Spending by Poland rose by 8.9 per cent in 2018 to $11.6 billion, while Ukraine’s spending was up by 21 per cent to $4.8 billion. Spending by Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania also grew (ranging from 18 per cent to 24 per cent) in 2018…
At $61.4 billion, Russian military spending was the sixth highest in the world in 2018. Its spending decreased by 3.5 per cent compared with 2017…
Related: Global military spending at levels not seen since Cold War, Reuters, Apr 29, 2019 …U.S. military spending rose 4.6 per cent last year to reach $649 billion, leaving it still by far the world’s biggest spender. It accounted for 36 per cent of total global military expenditure, nearly equal to the following eight biggest-spending countries combined, SIPRI said… Military expenditure by all 29 NATO members amounted to just over half of global spending…
Passport sparring: Putin ‘welcomes’ idea of giving Ukrainian citizenship to Russians, RT, Apr 29, 2019 [The Russian government says that its decision announced on April 24 to hasten the procedures for Ukrainian citizens applying for Russian citizenship is motivated by humanitarian concerns, specifically in response to the ongoing, low-intensity war by the governing regime in Kyiv against the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. Details of that war are reported daily by the Donetsk News Agency. In addition, recent changes to Ukraine’s language law deepen institutional discrimination against the many Ukrainian citizens whose first language is Russian or whose national identity is multinational, including those who identify as ‘Soviet’ people. Ukraine and its NATO backers continue to defy the ‘Minsk 2’ peace agreement for eastern Ukraine reached in February 2015. The governments of France and Germany pay lip service only to the idea of a peace agreement, while Canada, the U.S. and Britain continue to arm and train the Ukrainian armed forces and their paramilitary legions.]
Previously reported:
* Russian and Ukrainian envoys clash at UN Security Council meeting over Russia passports decree, RT, Apr 25, 2019
* Vladimir Putin comments on situation in Donbass following second-round presidential election in Ukraine on April 21. Excerpt from the press conference held by President Vladimir Putin following a summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Vladisvostok, Russia on April 24, 25, 2019. [The excerpt of the press conference discussing Ukraine is here in pdf format: Vladimir Putin on situation in Donbass, Apr 25, 2019. The transcript of the press conference as a whole is published here on the website of the President of Russia, April 25, 2019.] * Ukraine’s governing regime protests against Russia easing citizenship rules for Donbass residents, TASS Russian new agency, Apr 24, 2019 [According to a report in the anti-Russia Guardiannewspaper, the leadership group of newly elected Ukrainian president Volodomyr Zelensky calls Russia “an aggressor state that is waging war against Ukraine”. Russian president Vladmir Putin has replied to criticisms of Russia’s new passport measures in saying, “We don’t have any desire to create problems for the new Ukrainian leadership.”]
Revisions to Ukraine’s language law, approved on April 25, are unconstitutional, charges Russian foreign ministry, TASS, April 25, 2019 and read: Ukraine’s parliament adopts controversial language bill, by Associated Press, Apr 25, 2019
Fake news takedown: Journalist Aaron Maté shreds Rachel Maddow’s Russiagate conspiracies, RT, Apr 28, 2019
Related: How to avoid accidentally becoming a Russian agent, by Jennifer Grygiel (Syracuse University), published in The Conversation, Apr 26, 2019 American citizens are unwittingly becoming Russian agents. That’s an unavoidable conclusion of Robert Mueller’s report on his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and an important problem that requires a change in thinking about how people interact on social media. Old adages like ‘Don’t talk to strangers’ don’t really apply in a hyper-connected world… [This commentary published on The Conversation is not satire or tongue in cheek–it is intended as serious! What’s more, the commentary has been re-published by Public Radio International!]
Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon becomes first world leader to declare a ‘climate emergency’, Common Dreams, Apr 28, 2019
Related: Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour Party proposes vote in Parliament declaring a climate emergency, ITV News, Apr 27, 2019 MPs will vote on May 1 whether to declare an environmental and climate emergency following mass protests over political inaction in addressing the crisis. Labour will force a Commons vote on the issue, one of the key demands of the Extinction Rebellion (XR) movement, whose activists paralysed parts of London in previous weeks…
Socialist Party is winning party in Spanish election, but 30 per cent result means governing in alliance with others, report by Press TV, Apr 28, 2019 [The 2019 Spanish general election was held on April 28, 2019 to elect the 13th Cortes Generales. All 350 seats in the Chamber of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 266 seats in the Senate. The incumbent Socialist Party won 123 deputies with 29 per cent of the popular vote, leaving it well short of a majority to govern. For the first time since the death of fascist dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, a far-right party, VOX, will have representatives in the Chamber of Deputies with its ten per cent result. Voter turnout was high at 76 percent, up from 66 percent in 2016. See complete results here on Wikipedia.]
Sudan’s protest leaders, army rulers agree on joint council, France 24, Apr 27, 2019
Sudan’s protest leaders and army rulers agreed on April 27 to establish a joint civilian-military ruling council, a major breakthrough in talks between the two sides over demonstrators’ demands for a handover to civilian rule. The agreement on the highly disputed issue came as thousands of protesters remain encamped outside the military headquarters since the army ousted longtime leader Omar al-Bashir on April 11, demanding that the army rulers step down.
“We agreed on a joint council between the civilian and the military,” one of the leaders of the protest campaign, Ahmed al-Rabia, who was involved in the talks, told AFP. “We are now in consultation about what percentage of the council should be represented by civilians and how much by the military.” …
Previously reported:
* Sudan’s unfinished revolution: The dictator is gone, but the fight continues, by Reem Abbas, published in The Nation, Apr 26, 2019
* Sudanese marchers converge on army HQ in Khartoum to confront junta rulers, Press TV, Apr 25, 2019
French president Macron offers tax cut to French workers to quell anger over social inequalities, flawed democracy, report by Associated Press, Apr 25, 2019 President Emmanuel Macron announced on April 25 tax cuts for middle-class workers and plans for a more representative parliament as part of a promised response to the weekly yellow vest protests that damaged his presidency. In a nationally televised speech followed up by a news conference, the French leader also said France and Europe must do more to fight illegal migration… Macron has repeatedly refused to meet one of the protesters’ main demands: reintroducing a wealth tax for France’s richest people…
Related: Yellow vest protests hit Strasbourg in sign of trouble for EU, Press TV, Apr 28, 2019
Progressive capitalism according to Joseph Stiglitz: An oxymoron, by Michael Roberts, published on his website, Apr 27, 2019 …Stiglitz’s views are either pure naivety or clever sophistry –or maybe both. Does he really think that there was a period when capitalism benefited both workers and corporations; rich and poor?… It is a myth that in the 1950s and 1960s, everybody gained from ‘progressive’ capitalism in the West. And what gains that were made in public services–a welfare state, relatively full employment and rising incomes–were mainly the result of struggle and pressure by the labour movement. .. Furthermore, Stiglitz never explains why this supposed regulated, democratic progressive capitalism came to an end in the 1970s…
Related: Boom and then bust? What’s behind the U.S. stock market rise, by Michael Roberts, Apr 25, 2019 …Central bank policies along with the prospect of the U.S.-China trade deal (still not realised) have given new encouragement to financial institutions to invest in stock markets. But the biggest driver of the U.S. stock market has been the major companies using cheap finance to buy back their own shares to drive up the price and increase the ‘market value’ of the companies…
German far-right is training for civil war and collapse of the state, reports ‘Die Welt’ daily, RT, Apr 28, 2019 German ultra-nationalists believe a civil war and an eventual demise of the state will come about, and are preparing for it by training to use firearms and explosives, a local security service has warned. Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the BfV, sounded the alarm over the rise of the underground far-right, according to Die Welt… [Canada’s Globe and Mail daily published a similar report on April 27 to that in Die Welt, expressing concern over the efforts of extreme-right forces in Canada to gain prominence, including joining the country’s armed forces to gain training and recruits. Hypocrisy reigns supreme because both newspapers, along with their respective national governments, have been fervent supporters of the anti-Russia drive in Ukraine being spearheaded by far-right politicians and paramilitary forces.]
Spaniards cast ballots in April 28 general election marked by far-right resurgence, Press TV, Apr 28, 2019
Related: The criminal trail in Madrid against advocates of Catalonia independence, by James McAuley and Pamela Rolfe, The Washington Post, Apr 25, 2019 [This otherwise informative news report is peppered with the terms ‘seperatist’ and ‘secession’ to describe the pro-independence movement in Catalonia. The same perjorative terms are used to describe the pro-autonomy movement in Donbass, formerly part of Ukraine, although in that case, the popular aspiration began in February 2014 as a desire for autonomy, not independence (following the right-wing coup that overthrew the Ukrainian president and Parliament). Funny how the violent war waged by British colonists for a United States of America in 1776 is never, ever referred to as ‘seperatism’ or ‘secession’…]
The Mueller report indicts the Trump-Russia conspiracy theory, by Aaron Maté, The Nation, Apr 26, 2019 The real Russiagate scandal is the damage it has done to our democratic system and media
How the Obama White House engaged Ukraine to give Russia collusion narrative an early boost, by John Solomon, The Hill, Apr 25, 2019 (John Solomon is an award-winning investigative journalist. He serves as an investigative columnist and executive vice-president for video at The Hill.) … ‘Previously, Politico reported that the Ukraine Embassy in Washington assisted Clinton’s 2016 campaign through a DNC contractor… Now we have more concrete evidence that the larger Ukrainian government also was being pressed by the Obama administration to help build the Russia collusion narrative. And that onion is only beginning to be peeled…’
Joint statement by Iran, Russia and Turkey following the Astana-format meeting on Syria held in Nur-Sultan, Kazahkstan on April 25, 26, 2019, statement published in Relief Web, Apr 26, 2019
Related:
* Meeting of Syria peace process in Kazhakstan capital of Nur Sultan (formerly Astana), by Amberin Zaman, Al-Monitor, Apr 24, 2019
* Russia says there is no plan for military offensive against paramilitaries occupying Syrian province of Idlib, Syria, Press TV, Apr 27, 2019 and read related report in Reuters, Apr 27, 2019
* Turkey concerned about prospect of Russian-led operation to bring Idlib region under Syria gov’t control, report by Semih Idiz, Al-Monitor, Apr 25, 2019
Amid fears of federal attack on Roe vs Wade, Kansas supreme court guarantees right to abortion in the conservative state, by Julia Conley, Common Dreams, Apr 26, 2019
Related: Abortion would automatically be illegal in these states if Roe v. Wade is overturned, by Kate Smith, CBS News, Apr 22, 2019
Previously reported:
* South Korea’s Constitutional Court rules that country’s abortion ban is illegal, gives gov’t until Dec 31, 2020 to legislate change, by Ko Han-sol, Choi Woo-ri and Kim Min-je, The Hankyoreh, Apr 12, 2019 and read: South Korean court orders easing of decades-old abortion ban, by Hyung-jin Kim, Associated Press, Apr 11, 2019 The court’s nine-justice panel said that the parliament must revise legislation to ease the current regulations by the end of 2020. It said the current abortion law was incompatible with the constitution and would be repealed if parliament fails to come up with new legislation by then…
* Governor of Ohio signs ban on abortion, Associated Press, Apr 11, 2019
U.S. sanctions have cost 40,000 Venezuelan lives, by Ricardo Vaz, Venezuela Analysis, Apr 25, 2019 The Washington DC-based Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) published a report on April 25 on the effects of U.S. sanctions against Venezuela. The 27-page paper was authored by economists Mark Weisbrot and Jeffrey Sachs, who determined that sanctions have “inflicted very serious harm to human life” in Venezuela… (and: Economists warn Trump’s sanctions targeting Venezuela are ‘a death sentence for tens of thousands of people’, by Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams, Apr 26, 2019
Related: Economic Sanctions as Collective Punishment: The Case of Venezuela, 27-page report by Mark Weisbrot and Jeffrey Sachs, published by the Center for Economic Policy Research, April 25, 2019
In case brought by school speech pathologist, Texas federal court becomes the third to strike down pro-Israel oath as unconstitutional, by Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept, Apr 26, 2019 A federal court in Texas issued a ruling on Thursday afternoon preliminarily enjoining enforcement of Texas’ law banning contractors from boycotting Israel. The court ruled that the law plainly violates the free speech guarantee of the First Amendment. Following similar decisions by federal courts in Kansas and Arizona, the ruling becomes the third judicial finding – out of three who have evaluated the constitutionality of such laws – to conclude that they are unconstitutional attacks on the free speech rights of Americans…
Previously reported:
* Federal court in Texas strikes down the state’s law requiring government contractors to sign pledge against boycott/divestment/sanctions of Israel, Common Dreams, Apr 26, 2019and read: For the third time, a federal judge blocks an Israel boycott ban on First Amendment grounds, Washington Post, Apr 26, 2019
* As the Israel lobby in the U.S. weakens, its UK counterpart grows more fearsome, feature essay by Jonathan Cook, published in Mondoweiss, Apr 22, 2019
* As France’s envoy to U.S. calls Israel an ‘apartheid state’, Trump’s Palestine deal looks all but doomed, RT, Apr 22, 2019
Bernie Sanders: ‘Democratic socialist is just a synonym for New Deal liberal’, by Eric Levitz, New York Magazine, Tuesday, Apr 23, 2019 …It’s hardly news, of course, that the Vermont senator has an idiosyncratic conception of ‘democratic socialism’ — one that does not involve the abolition of profit or worker ownership of the means of production. But on CNN Monday night, Sanders not only disavowed his decades-old calls for the nationalization of major industries but suggested that democratic socialism is effectively a synonym for (the left-wing of) New Deal liberalism…
Worldwide, over 20 million children missed out on measles vaccine annually since 2010, leading to current outbreaks, reports UNICEF, press release by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Apr 25, 2019
An estimated 169 million children missed out on the first dose of the measles vaccine between 2010 and 2017, or 21.1 million children per year on average, UNICEF said today. Widening pockets of unvaccinated children have created a pathway to the measles outbreaks hitting several countries around the world today. “The ground for the global measles outbreaks we are witnessing today was laid years ago,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director. “The measles virus will always find unvaccinated children. If we are serious about averting the spread of this dangerous but preventable disease, we need to vaccinate every child, in rich and poor countries alike.”
In the first three months of 2019, more than 110,000 measles cases were reported worldwide – up nearly 300 per cent from the same period last year. An estimated 110,000 people, most of them children, died from measles in 2017, a 22 per cent increase from the year before…
Related: Less than four months into 2019, the number of reported cases of measles in the U.S. has surpassed any previous annual total this century, by Jorge L Ortiz, USA Today, Apr 24, 2019 Another rash of measles cases, mostly concentrated in New York City, have raised this year’s figure to 695, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. The previous highest total since 2000, when measles was declared eliminated in the country, had been 667 in 2014. At no other point in this century had the amount climbed above 400. Health officials warn that the longer the outbreaks continue, the greater the chance that measles will again become entrenched in the U.S. …
Saudi Arabia executed 37 people: Here is who they were, Press TV, Apr 26, 2019 News reports: Saudi regime killings of 37 by beheadings highlight barbarian nature of regime, Press TV, Apr 25, 2019 and: Saudi Arabia executes 37 on ‘terror charges’ as crackdown widens, Press TV, Apr 23, 2019
Dissecting ROAR Magazine’s article ‘Can the Bolivarian revolution survive the Venezuelan crisis?’, by Stansfield Smith, published in Orinico Tribune, Apr 22, 2019 (Stansfield Smith is a writer and leading activist in Chicago ALBA Solidarity. The original article in ROAR magazine is here.)
Related: Arresting members of the protection collective in the Venezuela Embassy in Washington would be unlawful, by Kevin Zeese, Venezuela Analysis, Apr 24, 2019
Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un conclude two-day meeting in Vladisvostok, Russia, report on RT, Apr 25, 2019 Vladimir Putin said North Korea will give up nuclear weapons, but fears for its security if it does so, and added he was prepared to share the results of his landmark meeting with Kim Jong-un with Donald Trump…
Related:
* North Korea warns of ‘corresponding response’ as Washington and Seoul stage joint war game, RT, Apr 25, 2019
* Press conference by Vladimir Putin following two-day summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, published on the website of the President of Russia, April 25, 2019
Who is behind the Sri Lanka bombings?, by Phil Miller, Morning Star (UK), Apr 22, 2019 Although the government has already blamed Islamist extremists for the wave of deadly bombings, something does not add up
How Sri Lanka’s Christians became a target, by Emma Green, The Atlantic (U.S. monthly magazine), Apr 23, 2019
…The small island nation was consumed by a vicious civil war from 1983 to 2009, which was largely motivated by ethnic, rather than specifically religious, tensions. Since 2009, however, leaders of the dominant Sinhalese Buddhist population have frequently targeted religious minorities, including Christians and especially Muslims. In fact, Christians and Muslims in Sri Lanka have developed a degree of solidarity as persecuted minorities, Chad Bauman, a religion professor at Butler University who studies Christian movements in the region, told me.
…The group that is currently being blamed for the attack, the National Thowheeth Jama’ath, was previously only known for desecrating Buddhist statues. Sri Lankan investigators have not shared much tangible evidence about the motivations behind the attack, and it will be complicated to interpret any allegations they make given the government’s historical involvement in religious repression…
Related:
* The recent history of attacks against religious and ethnic minorities in Sri Lanka by government forces and Buddhist extremists, interview with Bhavani Fonseka, broadcast on Democracy Now!, Apr 22, 2019 (Bhavani Fonseka is senior researcher with the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Sri Lanka.)
…’In the recent past, we’ve seen several incidents of ethno-religious violence where religious minorities have come under attack, and places of religious worship, from mosques to churches, have come under attack. This is not the first time a church has been attacked, but this is the largest attack… In March 2018 , there were different areas outside of Colombo where the Muslim community, which is a religious minority, came under attack by extremist Sinhala Buddhist forces. There were arrests that happened with those incidents, but to date we have not seen anyone being prosecuted for the violence…’
Background: The 2018 anti-Muslim riots in Sri Lanka, Wikipedia
At international security conference in Moscow, Syria demands the withdrawal of Western and NATO troops from its territory, TASS, April 24, 2019
Afghan and U.S.-led allied forces killed more civilians than Taliban in first three months of 2019, reports United Nations, Associated Press, Apr 24, 2019
How pro-government media failed Erdogan in Turkey’s April 2019 municipal elections, by Pinar Tremblay, Al-Monitor, Apr 23, 2019
Previously reported:
* How the Kurdish factor had a boomerang effect in Erdogan’s municipal elections defeat, by Kadri Gursel, Al-Monitor, Apr 11, 2019 The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) of Turkey — which has a predominantly Kurdish base and has suffered heavy government oppression since 2015 — played a decisive role in the government’s loss of the big cities, including the crucial Istanbul, in the March 31 local elections. As part of its political strategy in the country’s west, the HDP sat out the mayoral races in big cities such as Istanbul, Izmir, Adana and the capital city of Ankara. Paradoxically, the HDP absence from the ballots became the party’s way of proving its political presence and weight…
* Will Erdogan court Kurds after his party’s election loss?, by Fehim Tastekin, Al-Monitor, Apr 10, 2019
U.S. says no more sanctions waivers for importing Iranian oil, Associated Press, Apr 22, 2019
Related: U.S. backtracks on threat to penalize doing business with IRGC, Press TV, Apr 22, 2019
The election in Ukraine: Interview with U of Ottawa researcher Ivan Katchanovski, with Expresso daily newspaper in Portugal, Apr 21, 2019. Read the interview text here in pdf format: Katchanovski on Ukraine election
Related news and analysis:
* Demagogue Volodymyr Zelensky easily defeats the West’s chosen man Poroshenko in second-round presidential election in Ukraine, report on RT, Apr 21, 2019
* Why frustrated Ukrainians may elect a comedian as president, by Fred Weir, Christian Science Monitor, April 19, 2019
The buried Maidan Massacre of February 2014 and its misrepresentation by the West, by Ivan Katchanovski, special to Consortium News, April 22, 2019 The new Ukrainian president is faced with reopening an inquiry into evidence of an organized mass killing in Kyiv that Poroshenko stonewalled
Five years ago, the Maidan massacre in Kyiv, Ukraine of Feb. 18-20, 2014 was a watershed event, not only for the politics and history of Ukraine but also for world politics generally. This mass killing in downtown Kyiv set the stage for the violent overthrow of the pro-Russian government in Ukraine and a new Cold War between Washington and Moscow. Therefore, it is remarkable that five years after this massacre shook the world, no one has been sentenced for any of the Maidan killings. This was the best documented case of mass killing in history, broadcast live on TV and the internet, in the presence of thousands of eyewitnesses. It was filmed by hundreds of journalists from major media in the West, Ukraine, Russia and many other countries as well as by numerous social media users. Yet to this day, no one has been brought to justice for this major and consequential crime…
Soft-pedalling the role of the extreme right in Ukraine, April 22, 2019. [Two recent commentaries by Western news outlets on the ascendance of extreme-right political and paramilitary forces in Ukraine will be welcomed by some as breaking through longstanding Western media silence on the subject. But the commentaries fail each in their own ways. In an article dated April 15, Fred Weir of the Christian Science Monitor overlooks entirely how the extreme-right is deeply embedded in the Ukrainian Parliament and in the country’s police and armed forces. Meanwhile, Katharine Quinn-Judge of the pro-Western International Crisis Group only hints at the institutional placement of the extreme-right in Ukraine in an April 19 commentary. She says that the views of the extreme right are “shared by powerful mainstream politicians”, but many of these politicians are precisely the leaders and cadre of the extreme-right, including the speaker of the Parliament. The article reveals its pro-Western bias in a laughable reference to “the Russian invasion” of Ukraine which does not even provide a date or explanation of when such an “invasion” took place. Overall, there is not a word of explanation in the two commentaries of how the Ukrainian government has banned political parties and media outlets and has renounced Ukraine’s multinational heritage in favour of an ultra-nationalist and racist ideology which celebrates the collaboration by some Ukrainians with the German Nazis during World War Two. Nor is there any mention how the extreme-right rules the streets by violently shutting down any and all expressions of political and social discontent (cf the ‘Sniper Massacres’ of February 20, 2014 and the ‘Odessa Massacre’ of May 2, 2014). ]
Easter Sunday bombings blast the peace in Sri Lanka, killing more than 200 at churches and hotels, by Ephrat Livni and Annalisa Merelli, Quartz.com, Apr 21, 2019
…The Sri Lankan constitution gives special privileges to Buddhism, which is practiced by 70 per cent of the country, and does not protect freedom of religion for other faiths. Muslims (13 per cent) and Christians (seven per cent) have been subject to frequent attacks by Buddhist extremists, particularly the group Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), also known as Buddhist Power Force. In 2018, the country declared a state of emergency after a Buddhist mob burned and attacked Muslim-owned shops and homes, as well as mosques. Recent reports found a steep increase in attacks against Christians, with nearly 70 attacks in 2018.
[Western media is relaying the Sri Lanka government’s claim (and here) that a “little known” Islamist group is “likely” responsible for the murderous bombings against Catholic churches in Sri Lanka (population 23 million) on April 21, 2019. The government claim was issued a mere 24 hours after the attack. Western governments backed the murderous, 25-year war by the Sri Lanka gov’t against the country’s Tamil population seeking political autonomy in the country’s Tamil-majority north. That political struggle became a brutal internal war as Tamil ‘Tiger’ forces turned to armed struggle. The war ended in 2009 in a tragic, destructive ending welcomed by imperialist interests and governments. Meanwhile, Western financial agencies have placed the country deeply in their debt, and Western governments (Britain) have marketed military sales to the national government and and its allied, Buddhist paramilitary extremists. Buddhism is the dominant religion of the country and is recognized as such in the country’s constitution.]Background:
* Constitutional crisis in Sri Lanka triggers concern for minorities, fears of ‘bloodbath’, by Andreas Johansson, The Conversation, Oct 30, 2018
* Violent Buddhist extremists are targeting Muslims in Sri Lanka, by Andreas Johansson, The Conversation, April 26, 2018 Nationalism is being filtered through social media, exacerbating long-held tensions and culminating in riots earlier this year
SOVNARKOM (Council of People’s Commissars): The early government in Russia led by Lenin, interview with Lara Douds (Durham University), broadcast on the weekly podcast on Sean’s Russia Blog, Apr 13, 2019 (one hour interview, with transcript) Laura Douds is the author of Inside Lenin’s Government: Power, Ideology and Practice in the Early Soviet State, published by Bloomsbury Press, Feb 2019
Why I’m voting Brexit in the European elections, by George Galloway, columnist, RT, Apr 22, 2019
The pharmaceutical giants at the heart of the opioid crisis in the U.S., by Danny Hakim, William K. Rashbaum and Roni Caryn Rabin, New York Times, Apr 21, 2019
There are the Sacklers, the family that controls Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin. There are the doctors who ran pill mills, and the rogue pharmacists who churned out opioid orders by the thousands. But the daunting financial muscle that has driven the spread of prescription opioids in the United States comes from the distributors — companies that act as middlemen, trucking medications of all kinds from vast warehouses to hospitals, clinics and drugstores.
The industry’s giants, Cardinal Health, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen, are all among the 15 largest American companies by revenue. Together, they distribute more than 90 percent of the nation’s drug and medical supplies. New civil suits from the attorneys general in New York, Vermont and Washington State accuse distributors of brazenly devising systems to evade regulators…
Related: A blizzard of prescriptions: The opioid drug epidemic in the U.S., essay and book review by Emily Witt, published in London Review of Book, print issue of Apr 4, 2019 (Vol 41, #7)
Reviewing:
* Dopesick, by Beth Macy, Head of Zeus, 376 pp, March, 2019, ISBN 978 1 78854 942 4
* American Overdose: The Opioid Tragedy in Three Acts, by Chris McGreal, Faber, 316 pp, Nov 2018, ISBN 978 1 78335 168 8
* Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic, by Sam Quinones, Bloomsbury, 400 pp, June 2016, ISBN 978 1 62040 252 8
The arrest of Julian Assange, part two: ‘A definite creep, a probable rapist’, report by Media Lens (UK), Apr 18, 2019 Part one: The arrest of Julian Assange, part one: ‘So now he’s our property’, report by Media Lens (UK), Apr 16, 2019
The burning of the Notre Dame Cathedral and lateral thinking, by Craig Murray, published on his website, Apr 15, 2019
France is a country which has spent hundreds of billions of euros on nuclear weapons of mass destruction and hundreds of billions of euros on other military capabilities. France possesses the technological capability to utterly flatten a city the size of Paris in minutes. Yet it does not possess the technological capability to prevent one of its greatest buildings from being destroyed by fire.
If the many trillions spent all around the world on the research, development and production of instruments of destruction had been devoted to peaceful purposes instead, what new technologies might we have now? It is not a huge step in lateral thinking to imagine that in such a world, more might have been available to save Notre Dame – and Grenfell – than too-short ladders along with hoses squirting water…
Related: Notre-Dame’s safety planners underestimated the risk, with devastating results, by Katrin Bennhold and James Glanz, New York Times, Apr 19, 2019
White supremacists have weaponized an imaginary Viking past, it’s time to reclaim the real history, by Dorothy Kim, Time Magazine, April 15, 2019
Hospitalized children and dead ducks? The CIA’s ‘Skripal poisoning’ narrative as presented to Donald Trump was completely quackers, by Neil Clark, columnist, RT, Apr 19, 2019
Related: The official ‘Skripal poisoning’ story is a dead duck, by Craig Murray, published on his website, Apr 17, 2019
Claims of shoddy production draw scrutiny to a second Boeing jet, the 787 ‘Dreamliner’, by Natalie Kitroeff and David Gelles, New York Times, Apr 20, 2019Workers at a 787 Dreamliner plant in South Carolina have complained of defective manufacturing, debris left on planes and pressure to not report violations
Yellow Vest protesters are back in action despite ‘unifying’ cathedral fire disaster and they are angry, RT, Apr 20, 2019, and read: Yellow Vests demonstrate in Paris as Notre Dame donations highlight wealth inequality, by Julia Conley, Common Dreams, Apr 20, 2019
Related: For yellow vest protesters, anger follows grief over Notre Dame Cathedral fire, by Samuel Petrequin, The Associated Press, Apr 18, 2019For many yellow vest protesters, the stinging sadness that came with the devastating fire at Notre Dame Cathedral has quickly given way to boiling anger… They feel unheard after French President Emmanuel Macron addressed the nation to speak about the fire instead of laying out his response to the social crisis that has fueled their protests since last November. They felt even more outraged when, in just a few hours, billionaires pledged hundreds of millions of dollars (euros) to help restore the damaged cathedral while their demands remain unsatisfied in their longstanding fight with the French government. “You’re there, looking at all these millions accumulating, after spending five months in the streets fighting social and fiscal injustice. It’s breaking my heart,” Ingrid Levavasseur, a founding leader of the movement, told The Associated Press ahead of another round of planned protests across France this weekend…
Decrying ‘toxic alliance’ of Macron and polluters, climate campaigners stage one of France’s largest ever act of civil disobedience, by Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams, Apr 19, 2019
Mueller report takes ‘Russian meddling’ for granted, offers no actual evidence, RT, Apr 18, 2019 Special counsel Robert Mueller’s ‘Russiagate’ report has cleared Donald Trump of ‘collusion’ charges but maintains that Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Yet concrete evidence of that collusion is nowhere to be seen…
Related:
* Aaron Maté explains the Mueller report, interview with Aaron Maté on Sky News (Australia), Apr 18, 2019 (six minute interview)
* Robert Mueller did not merely reject the Trump-Russia conspiracy theories, he obliterated them, by Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept, Apr 18, 2019 [Buried in this report by Glenn Greenwald supposedly dismissing Russiagate theory is this assertion by him: “None of this is to say that the Mueller Report exonerates Trump of wrongdoing. Mueller makes clear, for instance, that the Trump campaign not only knew that Russia was interested in helping it win the election but was happy to have that help.”(End citation.) The opinion that the Russian government favored the election of Donald Trump in 2016 and acted to make that happen is contained in the final report by Robert Mueller and this opinion is being echoed by the likes of Glenn Greenwald, even as he accepts that the claims of direct Trump-Russia collusion are factually bogus.]
The ‘Guccifer 2.0’ gaps in Robert Mueller’s full report, by Daniel Lazare, special to Consortium News, Apr 18, 2019 As official Washington pores over the Gospel According to Saint Robert, an all-important fact about the Mueller report has gotten lost in the shuffle. Just as the Christian gospels were filled with holes, the latest version is too – particularly with regard to WikiLeaks and Julian Assange…
Ecuadorian diplomat says Assange never disrespected London embassy staff, Press TV, Apr 20, 2019
Previously reported:
* How corruption, voter fraud and a neoliberal turn led Ecuador’s president to give up Assange, by Denis Rogatyuk, published in The Grayzone, Apr 14, 2019
* World Bank approves a US$350 million loan to Ecuador on April 4, press release by World Bank, April 4, 2019
* IMF Executive Board approves US$4.2 billion extended fund facility for Ecuador, press release by IMF Executive Board, Mar 11, 2019
* Sex, lies and Julian Assange, video report (46 minutes) broadcast on ABC(Australia), July 23, 2012 Reporter Andrew Fowler goes to Sweden for a revealing look at the allegations of sexual crimes hanging over Julian Assange’s head. [The events surrounding the accusations of sexual assault against Julian Assange in Sweden in 2010 are examined beginning at the 20-minute mark.]
Collapse of peace talks with Taliban leaves U.S. reeling, Press TV, Apr 19, 2019The U.S. special envoy for peace in Afghanistan is “disappointed” over the collapse of a peace talks even before they started between the Taliban and Afghan politicians in Qatar
ACLU demands investigation into pro-Trump ‘fascist militia’ detaining migrants at gunpoint in New Mexico, by Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, Apr 18, 2019 ‘The Trump administration’s vile racism has emboldened white nationalists and fascists to flagrantly violate the law’
U.S. Attorney General Barr says Robert Mueller investigation found no evidence of collusion between Trump campaign and Russian govt in 2016 election, but like Mueller, Barr stokes ‘Russia hacking’ tropes, report on RT, Apr 18, 2019
Related: Russiagate is dead! Long live Russiagate!, by Gerald Sussman, published in CounterPunch, Apr 18, 2019 (Gerald Sussman is a professor of International studies at Portland State University.)
Behind the outrage stoked against Rep Ilhan Omar: The suppressed history of 9/11, by Max Blumenthal, special to Consortium News, Apr 18, 2019
Previously reported: Congressional Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) says more death threats coming since Trump’s message on Twitter misrepresenting her views of Israel, 9/11 attacks, by Associated Press, in NBC News, Apr 14, 2019 (and see report on Common Dreams, Apr 15, 2019)
Venezuela and the setbacks of the Latin American left, interview with Steve Ellner, published in Canadian Dimension, Apr 16, 2019
Related: Who are Venezuela’s colectivos (community organizations)? by Federico Fuentes, Green Left Weekly, Apr 12, 2019
Among the gilets jaunes, essay by Jeremy Harding, published in London Review of Books, Vol. 41 # 6, Mar 12, 2019
Related: Inequality fuels rage of ‘yellow vests’ in equality-obsessed France, by Peter S. Goodman, New York Times, Apr 15, 2019
Previously reported:
* Yellow Vest movement struggles to reinvent democracy as French president Macron cranks up propaganda and repression, by Richard Greeman, CounterPunch, Apr 12, 2019
* Emmanuel Macron’s response to his ‘great national debate’ shows he’s learned nothing, by Pauline Bock, The New Statesman, Apr 8,2019
U.S. to ask Syrian Kurds to allow Turkish forces through the door, by Amberin Zaman, Al-Monitor, Apr 15, 2019 The United States is pressing its Kurdish allies in Syria to ease their resistance to allowing Turkish forces to deploy on their side of the Turkish-Syrian border, well-informed sources told Al-Monitor. The Turkish forces would be a part of the proposed safe zone in northeastern Syria. U.S. officials are pushing for “a limited number” of Turkish forces to be allowed to deploy on the Syrian side of the border, along a stretch of territory running from the east of the Euphrates River to the Iraqi border, according to a senior official from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces…
Trump regime tightens embargo against Cuba and Venezuela, including to allow lawsuits over U.S. properties seized following 1959 revolution, report by NPR, Apr 18, 2019 and read: report by CNN, Apr 17, 2019
Related: Canada, EU push back after U.S. clears the way for lawsuits over U.S. property seized following Cuba’s 1959 revolution, by Associated Press, Apr 17, 2019
[U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on April 17 that he won’t renew a bar on litigation against Cuba that has been in place for two decades, meaning that lawsuits can be filed starting on May 2, when the current suspension expires. The U.S.’s allies in Canada and Europe support the U.S. sanctions against Cuba and the U.S. regime change drive against Venezuela. But they don’t want that to subordinate the investment decisions of their companies to U.S. foreign policy. See the joint statement of the Canadian government and European Union here.Trump-appointed attorney general Willam Barr moves to empower ICE to detain aylum seekers indefinitely, by Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, Apr 17, 2019 and read: Attorney General Barr just handed ICE more power to keep asylum seekers in detention, by Dara Linddara, VOX.com, Apr 17, 2019
…If Barr’s ruling is allowed to go into effect, which it is set to do in 90 days, the only way for an asylum seeker to be released from detention during the weeks or months it takes for her case to be heard by a judge would be for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to allow her to be released on parole. The ACLU has vowed to sue to block the ruling.
The ruling won’t address the heart of the current border crisis. Families make up a majority of people crossing into the US without papers (for the first time ever, as far as anyone can tell), and ICE can’t keep immigrant families in detention for more than a few weeks under the terms of the Flores settlement, which governs the care of children in immigration custody. Barr’s ruling doesn’t change that. For single adults seeking asylum, however, ICE’s only consideration about holding them indefinitely if the ruling goes into effect will be whether it has the space to do so…
Trump vetoes Congress’s directive to end U.S. involvement in bloody Saudi-led war in Yemen, by Tara Golshan, VOX.com Apr 17, 2019 In early April, Congress reasserted its constitutional power over declaring wars by adopting the ‘War Powers Resolution’. Trump called it an attempt to “weaken my constitutional authorities”.
‘What I saw in Venezuela revealed a horrifying gap between Western media reporting and reality, by John McEvoy, The Canary (UK), Apr 16, 2019
The attic of Notre-Dame Cathedral was know as ‘the forest’, and it burned like one, by Aurelien Breeden, Elian Peltier, Liz Alderman and Richard Pérez-Peña, New York Times, Apr 16, 2019 …Much remains to be learned. But already it is emerging that Notre-Dame, irreplaceable as it is to France’s heritage, lacked the fundamental fire-prevention safeguards that are required in more modern structures and have been grafted onto other ancient cathedrals elsewhere in Europe…
Related:
* Fire safety neglected at Notre-Dame Cathedral, making the iconic building a disaster waiting to happen. Essay and visual images by writers at New York Times, Apr 17, 2019
* The lessons of the fire that consumed Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, by Crawford Kilian, columnist, TheTyee.ca, Apr 15, 2019
History trembles as Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange sit in jail, by Craig Murray, published on his website, Apr 12, 2019 …If a Russian opposition politician were dragged out by armed police, and within three hours had been convicted on a political charge by a patently biased judge with no jury, with a lengthy jail sentence to follow, can you imagine the Western media reaction to that kind of kangaroo court? Yet that is exactly what just happened in London. District Judge Michael Snow is a disgrace to the bench who deserves to be infamous well beyond his death…
Related:
* Wikileaks editor Kristinn Hrafnsson : ‘We will fight extradition of Julian Assange to the U.S.’, by Andy Fontaine, published in The Reykjavik Grapevine, Apr 11, 2019
Denied entry to U.S., Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions co-founder Omar Barghouti condemns ‘McCarthyite repression’ in U.S. and Israel, interview with Palestinian advocate Omar Bargouti, broadcast on Democracy Now!, Apr 15, 2019 (16-minute broadcast)
Related:
* Anti-BDS laws are ‘McCarthyism 2.0 with loyalty to Israel’s far right regime as litmus test’ Omar Barghouti tells New York audience by Skype after U.S. travel ban against him, by Philip Weiss, Mondoweiss, Apr 13, 2019
* The commitment of President Mahmoud Abbas to the status quo and international legitimacy has failed Palestinians, by Ramona Wadi, Middle East Monitor, Apr 13, 2019
U.S. Marines on Okinawa told to keep low profile after sailor implicated in killing of female resident, by The Associated Press, Apr 15, 2019 …The people of Okinawa (pop. 1.4 million) have long resented the heavy presence of U.S. troops, citing the resulting crime, aircraft noise and accidents and destruction of nature… Although Okinawa accounts for less than one per cent of Japan’s land space, it hosts about half of the 54,000 American troops stationed in Japan and is home to 64 per cent of the land used by the U.S. bases in the country under a bilateral security treaty…
Related: U.S. military base threatens biodiversity in Okinawa, by Jon Letman, Truthout.org, Apr 15, 2019
Egypt’s parliament votes to extend dictator president’s rule, Middle East Monitor, Apr 16, 2019 Egypt’s parliament voted on April 17 in favour of amendments to the country’s constitution that could keep President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in power until 2030. The 596-member parliament, which is dominated by Sisi supporters, voted 531 to 22 in favour of the amendments. The changes would extend Sisi’s current term to six years from four and then allow him to run again for another six-year period. The amendments would also bolster the role of the military in political life and increase the president’s power over the judiciary… The changes still need to be approved in a referendum before they can come into effect. A date for the referendum has not yet been confirmed…
Related: Egypt’s opposition and the constitutional amendments, commentary by Khalil-Al-Anani, in Middle East Monitor, Mar 12, 2019
Echoes of the Western left’s hailing of the 2013 right-wing military coup in Egypt. [The internet journal The Bullet, published in Toronto by a group called ‘Socialist Project’, has re-published an analysis of recent events in Sudan written by a leftist writer in Turkey. The analysis harkens back to the military coup in Egypt on July 4, 2013 which overthrew the elected president Mohammed Morsi and ushered in military/fascist rule. Mass protests in Sudan have displaced president Omar Hassan al-Bashir, in power for the past three decades. In Algeria, protests have deposed president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who ruled for two decades. The Turkish writer and The Bullet editors look back on the military coup in Egypt and stand by their support to the violent overthrow of Morsi. They repeat a naive belief that a ‘people’s revolution’ in Sudan similar to the anti-Morsi, mass protests in Egypt in 2013 will ‘somehow’ lead to progress. In Sudan and in Algeria, the capitalist classes and their states are seeking to recover their feet and survive the new, complex political situations. The item which has appeared in The Bullet eschews analysis of the complexities and instead blindly proclaims ‘revolution’ to those who will listen. A case of Egypt 2013 redux.]
Leaked documents show Saudis are ‘overwhelmingly dependent’ on Western weapons to wage war on Yemen, by Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams, Apr 15, 2019
Measles cases up 300 per cent worldwide in the first quarter of 2019, reports World Health Organization, by Leslie Young, Global News, Apr 15, 2019Reported cases rose by nearly 300 per cent in the first three months of 2019, compared to the same period last year, the WHO said. So far, it has reports of 112,163 measles cases this year, though the organization notes that these numbers are not yet finalized as some countries are still reporting data. In the first three months of 2018, there were only 28,124 cases…
Related:
* Madagascar’s largest ever measles outbreak has killed more than 1,200 people, by Laetitia Bezain, Associated Press, Apr 14, 2019
* U.S. sees surge in confirmed cases of measles in early April, reports Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Press TV, Apr 15, 2019 …As of April 11, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recorded 555 cases of the disease since the beginning of 2019, up from 465 cases confirmed by April 4. The cases were found in 20 states spanning the country…
Why was the Arab voter turnout so low in Israel’s elections?, by Daoud Kuttab, Al-Monitor, Apr 12, 2019
…Palestinian citizens of Israel, who constitute 20.9% of the overall 8.8 million citizens of Israel, will have 8% of Knesset representation (10 out of 120). But this imbalance changes drastically when you compare overall Jewish and Palestinian populations between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. Reuters reported in March 2018 that parity between the two ethnic groups was reached, leaving the long-term choices of the leaders of both communities very clear.
The choices are sharing the land or sharing the power. The low turnout and the drop in Arab representation in the Israeli Knesset, along with the rise of serious talk about annexing parts of the West Bank, will create an even further shift in the aspirations of Palestinians on both sides of the green line, separating Israel from the occupied territories, away from the two-state solution and toward the one-state solution with equal rights for all citizens.
Previously reported:
* Israel’s election result shows ‘the two-state solution’ is dead in the water, by Neil Clark, columnist, RT, Apr 10, 2019
* Netanyahu reigns supreme, and all opposition has been crushed, by Jonathan Cook, first published in Middle East Eye (conservative publication), Apr 10, 2019 Israel has shifted fundamentally to the right and Netanyahu is now firmly in the driving seat
* The end of liberal Zionism, by Yossi Gurvitz, Mondoweiss, Apr 10, 2019
Book review: A global analysis of Marx’s law of profitability, book review by Dominic Alexander, published in CounterFire (UK), Apr 11, 2019 Reviewing: World in Crisis: A Global Analysis of Marx’s Law of Profitability, by Guglielmo Carchedi and Michael Roberts, editors; Haymarket Books, Oct 2018, 462 pp
Bloody jewel in crown of British Empire: How India was mistreated during colonial rule, unsigned historical essay on RT, Apr 13, 2019
Int’l Criminal Court decides against Afghanistan war crimes investigation due to U.S. opposition and interference, by Middle East Eye, Apr 12, 2019
Previously reported:
* U.S. revokes entry visa of Int’l Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda as the ICC considers an Afghanistan war crimes investigation, Reuters, April 4, 2019 …ICC judges are still reviewing materials and have not yet handed down a decision on opening a formal investigation in Afghanistan. The ICC is a court of last resort with 122 member states. It acts only when countries within its jurisdiction are found to be unable or unwilling to seriously investigate war crimes, genocide or other serious atrocities. [The ICC was founded in 2002. States that did not sign on to the court upon its founding include the U.S., Israel, Russia and China. Wikipedia.] * Trump admin revokes ICC prosecutor’s visa over probe of potential U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan, by Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams, April 5, 2019
Western values: Embassies are for chopping up journalists, not protecting them, by Bryan MacDonald, columnist, RT, Apr 12, 2019 …The relentless U.S. focus on Assange and the determination to hunt him down are part of a growing disrespect for journalism in a country which once prided itself on ‘values’. These days, you have the president labelling the press ‘enemies of the people’ and elements of the same media rejoicing at the arrest of a fellow journalist…
UK media and MPs unveil latest Assange deception, by Jonathan Cook, published on his website blog, Apr 13, 2019 …The [corporate media] reaction has been either quiet acceptance of the U.S. extradition request as a simple law enforcement measure or gentle mockery of Assange – that the scruffy outlaw dragged from the embassy was looking even scruffier after seven years of extreme house arrest and “arbitrary detention”. What a laugh! …
Julian Assange’s ‘conspiracy’ to expose war crimes has already been punished, by Joe Emersberger, published in Fairness And Accuracy In Reporting, Apr 13, 2019 [Corporate media in the West is gloating over the seizure and detention of Julian Assange from the Ecuador embassy in London by British police on April 11. Their reporting is filled with accusations that Assange is not a journalist and Wikileaks is not a journalist outlet. Thus do they justify their abandonment of the principle of freedom of the press. Meanwhile, some 70 British parliamentarians, most of them Labour Party MPs and peers, have signed an open letter calling on the British government to allow his extradition to Sweden on charges of sexual assault that were dropped by Swedish prosecutors in 2017.]
Related: As Ecuador harbored Assange, it was subjected to threats and leaks, by Nicholas Casey and Jo Becker, New York Times, Apr 12, 2019
At April 11 hearing in London, judge taunts Julian Assange, finds him guilty of skipping bail in 2012 and gives the U.S. until June 12 to prepare extradition demand, report by Reuters, Apr 11, 2019
Related: Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn says British gov’t should oppose U.S. extradition demand against Julian Assange, Press TV, Apr 12, 2019
The U.S. government’s indictment of Julian Assange poses grave threats to press freedoms, by Glenn Greenwald and Micah Lee, The Intercept, Apr 11, 2019 …Today’s arrest of Assange is clearly the culmination of two years of efforts by the U.S. Government to coerce Ecuador – under its new and submissive President, Lenin Moreno – to withdraw the asylum protection which that country extended to Assange in 2012. Rescinding Assange’s asylum would enable the U.K. to arrest Assange on minor bail-jumping charges pending in London and, far more significantly, to rely on an extradition request from the U.S. Government to send him to a country to which he has no connection (the U.S.) to stand trial relating to leaked documents…
Related:
* Seven years of media and gov’t lies about Julian Assange won’t stop now, by Jonathan Cook, published on his website, Apr 11, 2019
* Much of U.S. media plays along with claim that U.S. indictment seizure of Julian Assange is not a threat to press freedom, but critics warn it’s an ‘obvious’ ploy with deeper dangers, by Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, Apr 11, 2019
…Despite these ominous warnings from press freedom advocates, many reporters and cable news pundits continued to loudly parrot the Trump Justice Department’s line, claiming the indictment is not a threat to journalism. “The indictment makes it clear that this has nothing to do with the publishing of materials,” tweeted NBC News journalist Tom Winter.
Glenn Greenwald, co-founder of The Intercept, was quick to push back. “I’m not surprised to see NBC journalists uniting behind Trump DOJ to justify the criminalization of WikiLeaks—NBC is fully aligned with the CIA/NSA long obsessed with destroying [WikiLeaks]—but this tweet is false: the indictment also charges Assange with encouraging his source,” Greenwald tweeted…
2016 legal statement by Julian Assange regarding the allegations against him of sexual assault by two women in Sweden, published by Justice4Assange.com, Dec 7, 2016 (the 19-page pdf of Julian Assange’s legal deposition on Nov 14, 15, 2016 is here)
