Robert Fisk (2019-11-18). Michael Lynk\'s UN Report on Israeli Settlements Speaks the Truth, But the World Refuses to Listen. counterpunch.org He\'s a very tall man with bright eyes and a broad smile, and he holds out a great paw when he greets you. But Michael Lynk is no gentle giant. He may teach human rights law at the Western University in London, Ontario, but as the UN\'s special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied More

RT (2019-11-18). Russia offers Ukraine deal to extend gas transit contract for 1 year. rt.com Russian energy major Gazprom wants to extend the existing agreement, which expires next year, or sign a new deal for one year on gas transit through Ukraine with the country\'s national oil and gas firm Naftogaz. | After considering the forecast for European consumers\' gas demand for 2020, Gazprom sent its official proposal to Naftogaz, the Russian company told media on Monday. | However, Gazprom stressed that legal issues must be settled with Ukraine before extending or signing a deal. One of the necessary conditions of the agreement is mutual withdrawal of all claims filed with the international arbitrage, as…

RT (2019-11-18). Betrayed by stripes? Czech PM caught wearing \'Russian\' tie during celebration of anti-Soviet uprising. rt.com The Czech prime minister had to change his tie during last Sunday\'s celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. The one he picked up in the morning turned out to be too \"Russian\" for such an occasion. | Andrej Babis started public appearances during the festivities marking Czech Republic\'s bloodless anti-Communist uprising wearing a diagonal stripped tie. The stripes were white, blue and red, just like the Czech national flag. But the order was all wrong. | While the flag itself, which the nation inherited from Czechoslovakia, has two horizontal bands and a triangle, the flag of the wartime P…

Alan Macleod (2019-11-18). Another Failed US-Backed Coup Attempt in Venezuela Goes Unnoticed. mintpressnews.com Despite heavy backing from US officials, the coup attempt fell completely flat as Venezuela\'s armed forces failed to defect to Juan Guaidó\'s side and few opposition protesters trickled into the streets.

RT (2019-11-18). Trump 'likes the idea' of testifying in impeachment 'hoax' to get Congress 'focused'. rt.com US President Donald Trump may testify in impeachment hearings after all, he tweeted, calling House Speaker Nancy Pelosi\'s bluff after she broached the idea – though he also deemed the proceedings a \"no due process hoax.\" | The president has warmed to the idea of testifying in the \"phony impeachment Witch Hunt,\" he tweeted on Monday, explaining that \"even though I did nothing wrong, and don\'t like giving credibility to this No Due Process Hoax, I like the idea & will, in order to get Congress focused again, strongly consider it!\" | Crediting his change of mind to \"Crazy, Do Nothing Speaker of the House, Nervous…

RT (2019-11-18). Are we the baddies? NBC chief foreign correspondent tweets amazement to find US foreign policy not always great. rt.com Hearing that the Americans \"have become the bad guys\" on the world stage was a \"gut punch\" to NBC News reporter Richard Engel, but Twitter quickly set the astonished journalist straight with some history and facts. | Engel, NBC\'s chief foreign correspondent, was informed of this shocking news via various \"sources\" who complained to him about the Trump administration\'s recent betrayal of the Kurds in northern Syria and the alleged \"misogynistic\" firing of the US ambassador to Ukraine. | Such politically motivated actions \"m…

John Wojcik (2019-11-18). Pelosi calls Trump\'s bluff, invites him to testify. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—A mind-blowing week in the 54-day-old impeachment inquiry ended Sunday with President Donald Trump\'s bluff being called by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when she invited him to testify under oath before Congress. The president said that even though he has \"done nothing wrong\" he was considering the offer so he could \"get Congress back on …

Staff (2019-11-18). Local Beauty Shops Talk Politics and Impeachment. therealnews.com Black women respond to the impeachment inquiry and to Trump.

Murtaza Hussain (2019-11-18). While U.S.-Led Forces Dropped Bombs, Iran Waged Its Own Covert Campaign Against the Islamic State. theintercept.com In the summer of 2014, with a campaign of shocking violence, the Islamic State established itself as the most fearsome terrorist organization in the Middle East. | In early June, the extremist group stunned the world by taking control of the Iraqi city of Mosul, home to more than 1.2 million people. Days later, ISIS fighters broadcast scenes from a gruesome massacre of more than 1,500 Iraqi army cadets at a former U.S. military base near Tikrit. By the end of the month, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had declared himself head of a new proto-state, the \"caliphate,\" as his fighters continued their genocidal rampa…

Stephen Cooper (2019-11-18). Another Death Penalty Horror: Stark Disparities in Media and Activist Attention. counterpunch.org On November 12, intrepid abolitionist Sister Helen Prejean tweeted to her legions of followers: \"What do Sen. Ted Cruz, Gigi Hadid, Kim Kardashian, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and me all have in common? We\'re among a growing local and national movement asking Texas @GovAbbott to stop the scheduled Nov. 20 execution of #RodneyReed[.]\" But for Twitter\'s More

RT (2019-11-18). IAEA says Iran breaches nuclear deal cap on heavy water stock. rt.com Iran has breached another limit of its nuclear deal with major powers by accumulating more than 130 tons of heavy water, a moderator used in a type of reactor Iran is developing, Reuters said, citing a report by the UN nuclear watchdog published on Monday. | \"On 16 November 2019, Iran informed the agency that its stock of heavy water had exceeded 130 metric tons,\" the International Atomic Energy Agency said in its report to member states. | The agency said it verified on November 17 \"that the Heavy Water Production Plant (HWPP) was in operation and that Iran\'s stock of heavy water was 131.5 metric tons.\"

RT (2019-11-18). Iran says \'decisive\' action will be taken if riots continue, warns US against fueling tensions within the country. rt.com Iran\'s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has warned it will quell public disturbances \"decisively\" if the riots that gripped the country following fuel price hikes continue. | Any actions that \"foment insecurity\" or threaten the \"calm and tranquility\" of Iranian society \"will be dealt with decisively,\" the IRGC said in a Monday statement published by the local media. The powerful security force did not further elaborate on what exact measures would be taken. | Yet, according to the Iranian media, up to 150 people were arrested by the Guards in the Alborz province located west of the Iranian capital of…

Jeremy Scahill (2019-11-18). From the Rubble of the U.S. War in Iraq, Iran Built a New Order. theintercept.com The chaos unleashed by the U.S. invasion allowed Iran to gain a level of influence in Iraq that was unfathomable during the reign of Saddam.

James Risen (2019-11-18). Iran\'s Quds Force and the Muslim Brotherhood Considered an Alliance Against Saudi Arabia. theintercept.com An Iranian intelligence document describes a meeting between Iran\'s Quds Force and the Muslim Brotherhood in a Turkish hotel. It didn\'t go well.

Tom Anderson (2019-11-18). An important call for women worldwide to rise up against the Turkish invasion of northeast Syria. thecanary.co WARNING: this story contains content that some readers may find distressing. | Women in northeast Syria are calling for feminists and women\'s organisations worldwide to take action on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November.Turkish-led forces invaded Rojava on…

RT (2019-11-18). Protesters rally outside Japan\'s 1st arms show amid fears of a return to WWII-era militarism (PHOTOS, VIDEOS). rt.com Some 200 protesters gathered outside a convention center near Tokyo to demonstrate against the government-backed DSEI Japan exhibition, the country\'s first-ever arms show. | The Japanese government is hoping to garner interest from weapons manufacturers in a bid to boost its own arsenal to help counter looming regional threats from China and North Korea. | Ê≠ª\"ÅÆÂï܉∫∫\"Åä\"Åì\"Å®\"Çè\"Çä Ê≠¶Âô®Ë¶ãÊú¨&…

RT (2019-11-18). Concessions first, meeting later: N. Korea says will not \'gift\' another summit to Trump. rt.com Pyongyang has made it clear that it will not agree to another high-level meeting between Chairman Kim Jong-un and the US President Donald Trump unless Washington changes its \"hostile\" policies towards the Asian nation. | Talks between North Korea and the US on Pyongyang\'s nuclear program, kicked off by a Trump-Kim summit in Singapore in June 2018, have failed to produce any meaningful results and improve bilateral relations between the two nations, North\'s Foreign Ministry adviser Kim Kye Gwan said. | The negotiating process ended up in a deadlock even though two leaders had a meeting in February, exchanged le…

Zeeshan Aleem (2019-11-18). Bolivia\'s Coup Is Still Happening. thenation.com Everything you wanted to know about Bolivian politics, but were afraid to ask.

Sam Ordóñez (2019-11-18). Support the resistance to the coup in Bolivia. workers.org Nov. 15 — On Nov. 10, Evo Morales, president of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, resigned, along with the vice president and the majority of his cabinet. This happened after the national police abandoned their defense of the elected government and joined right-wing protests, and the Armed Forces announced on . . . | Continue reading Support the resistance to the coup in Bolivia at Workers.org

RT (2019-11-18). \'Censored because they gave me platform\': Ecuador\'s ex-leader Correa slams sudden move to cut off RT Spanish in his country. rt.com Former leader of Ecuador Rafael Correa believes his country\'s national broadcaster suddenly cut its distribution of RT Spanish simply because the channel gave him a platform to air views critical of Lenin Moreno\'s government. | \"I am very sorry, I feel bad, because I think the National Telecommunications Corporation has cut off RT\'s broadcast because of me,\" Correa, who hosts a weekly political talk show on the channel, said. | In this particular case it looks like RT is being censored simply because they offered me a platform for my program. | Correa\'s comments come days after Ecuador\'s National Telecommunica…

RT (2019-11-18). Outrage erupts over Trump administration\'s \'legalization\' of (still-illegal) Israeli settlements in West Bank. rt.com The US announcement that it will no longer view West Bank Israeli settlements as inconsistent with international law has provoked outrage in all corners of the globe, on humanitarian, legal, and common-sense grounds. | The Trump administration\'s controversial move on Monday reversed decades of US policy, contradicting numerous United Nations resolutions and international human rights conventions. In an effort to downplay the change, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the decision came as a result of a \"legal review\" of the State Department opinion on the settlements from 1978, but reactions exploded both dome…

RT (2019-11-18). 'Man who polluted heavens': Astronomers furious over Musk's Starlink satellites clouding their vision. rt.com SpaceX CEO Elon Musk seeks to make the world happy with his Starlink project providing satellite Internet access. So far, he only managed to make astronomers across the world upset by rendering their telescopes blind. | The billionaire who also positions himself as philanthropist and innovator has recently set himself a goal of bringing high speed internet to the most remote corners of the earth with a network of thousands of small satellites he plans to put on the low-earth orbit. The ambitious plan involves sending a whopping 12,000 devices into space to form a satellite constellation as part of the project…

David Penner (2019-11-18). The Killing Fields of American Health Care. dissidentvoice.org Hell is empty. And all the devils are here. — The Tempest (I.ii.) American health care is being crushed under the iron heel of a cabal of ruthless and merciless robber barons. Indeed, this primitive and backward system continues to be a source of horrendous suffering, as the health insurance companies, hospital executives, and pharmaceutical …

RT (2019-11-18). Military impunity system? Pentagon maintains \'great faith\' in US justice after Trump pardons soldiers accused of war crimes. rt.com American soldiers are well trained to never commit war crimes, the Pentagon insists. When they sometimes do, the military always holds them accountable… and then the US president is free to pardon them to boost morale. | \"I have great faith in the military justice system,\" US Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters, carefully avoiding any direct mention of Trump\'s controversial decision to pardon two soldiers charged for war crimes in Afghanistan, and reinstate the rank of a Navy Seal demoted over similar war crime accusations. | Our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines are trained from day one about th…

RT (2019-11-18). Journalists & politicians from Morales\' party threatened with sedition arrests as Bolivia purges socialist elements. rt.com The interim government of Bolivia has tasked a special prosecutor with rooting out \"subversives\" in former President Evo Morales\' party, and dissident journalists have also been threatened with arrest, local media reports. | A \"special apparatus of the Prosecutor\'s Office\" has been created to root out \"subversion and sedition\" in Morales\' MAS (Movement to Socialism) party, Minister of Government Arturo Murillo announced on Sunday. He warned any leaders who might be harboring disloyalty to the new right-wing government that he already had a list of the names of \"subversives,\" accusing them of stirring up violen…

RT (2019-11-18). \'Meth. We\'re on it\': Oddly-worded South Dakota drug awareness campaign \'breaks bad\' on social media. rt.com South Dakota has rolled out a new anti-drug campaign warning about the dangers of substance abuse and costing taxpayers almost half a million. But its wording, \"Meth. We\'re On It,\" has drawn ridicule online. | Taking a bizarre twist on \"I am Spartacus,\" the ads portray average South Dakotans — a kindly old farmer, a churchgoing grandma, high school football players — sternly telling the camera \"I\'m on meth,\" with a narrator cutting in with the standard anti-drug PSA: \"meth is not someone else\'s problem.\" | While the ads attempt to take a serious tone to address a crisis \"growing at an alarming rat…

Jenny Farrell (2019-11-18). On her 80th birthday: Margaret Atwood points the way toward a new humanity. peoplesworld.org Margaret Atwood, who turns 80 on November 18, 2019, has written several novels that explore dystopian situations or circumstances where people are subjected to control and violence. The most famous of these is The Handmaid\'s Tale (1985). However, what distinguishes Atwood\'s work is that people resist such coercion, not just in individual acts but most …

Alan Macleod (2019-11-18). Media Silent as Bolivia\'s New Right-Wing Gov\'t Massacres Indigenous Protesters. mintpressnews.com Both the corporate media and human rights groups have been silent as journalists and indigenous protesters have been targeted as Bolivia\'s self-declared right-wing government uses violence to secure its tenuous hold on power.

RT (2019-11-18). Jesus would not get a UK visa under proposed immigration system, says Archbishop of Canterbury. rt.com If a point-based immigration system touted by PM Boris Johnson is introduced, the likes of Jesus would be turned down at the UK border, said Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, taking a thinly-veiled jab at the idea. | \"Our founder Jesus Christ was of course not white, middle class and British – he certainly wouldn\'t have got a visa – unless we\'re particularly short of carpenters,\" said the highest ranking bishop in the country speaking at the CBI business conference in London on Monday. His tongue-in-cheek criticism of the proposed immigration system elicited laughter and a round of applause from the audie…

Alison Cagle (2019-11-18). Tribes stop major Arizona copper mine from ravaging ancestral land. peoplesworld.org Rising above the Arizona desert, the Santa Rita Mountains cradle 10,000 years of Indigenous history. The Tohono O\'odham Nation, Pascua Yaqui Tribe, and Hopi Tribe, among numerous other tribes, have worshiped, foraged, hunted and laid their ancestors to rest in the mountains for generations. Mining corporation Hudbay Minerals proposed to dig a mile-wide open-pit copper mine …

DSA San Francisco (2019-11-18). Dreamforce Rally – No Salesforce Tech for Concentration Camps. indybay.org Howard St between 3rd & 4th St – Just outside Dreamforce Entrance…

Ryan Gopar (2019-11-18). Immigrants Feel Broaden Risk During Fires. indybay.org This is an opinion piece on the anxiety endured by the immigrant population. While referencing events in northern California, the climate of fear is throughout all of the United States. This piece is meant to raise awareness of and for immigrants, in relation to the Public Charge Rules.

Chris Hedges (2019-11-18). How to Save the Planet and Ourselves. commondreams.org A banner is hung across a roadway while people participate in direct action with Extinction Rebellion on April 17, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/climate-emergency-nyc-955px.jpg …

John Malkin (2019-11-18). Syrian War Refugee Mother & Daughter in Canada Want to Bring Family to Ottawa. indybay.org Interview with Syrian war refugee Walaa Ibrahim, who emigrated to Ottawa, Canada with her young daughter in November, 2018. Activists are now raising funds to bring Walaa\'s parents and brother to Canada. Includes interviews with activists who helped bring Walaa and Kadar to Canada.

Robert Koehler (2019-11-18). Celebrating Peace: A Work in Progress. counterpunch.org Veterans For Peace, an organization that speaks truth to war like nobody else, is attempting to reclaim Armistice Day, the Nov. 11 holiday that was flipped on its head 65 years ago when it was renamed Veterans Day — and became a celebration not of the end of war but of its perpetuity. The name More

Janine Jackson (2019-11-18). Missed Opportunity to Recall a Day to \'Perpetuate Peace\'. commondreams.org A close-up of the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Jonathan Cutrer/flickr/cc) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/media-fail-veterans-day.jpg …

Staff (2019-11-18). U.S. Angers Palestinians With Reversal on Israeli Settlements. truthdig.com WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Monday softened the U.S. position on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, reversing four decades of American policy and further undermining the effort to gain Palestinian statehood. | Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the U.S. is repudiating the 1978 State Department legal opinion that held that civilian settlements in the occupied territories are \"inconsistent with international law.\" Israeli leaders welcomed the decision while Palestinians and other nations warned that it undercut any chance of a broader peace deal. | Pompeo told reporters at…

Maj. Danny Sjursen (2019-11-18). Ending Endless War From the Right. truthdig.com They sure didn\'t look the part. These weren\'t a bunch of stereotypical hippie peaceniks. As I surveyed the room in the beautiful DC brownstone which hosted the BringOurTroopsHome.us opening night reception, I saw well-built, well-dressed men and women, many still sporting military-style haircuts (though often with a well-groomed beard). Instead of tie-dye shirts, I spied some flag-lapel pins, a few Trump 2020 ball caps, and even a big old cowboy hat. Yet all these relatively young combat veterans were gathered in the nation\'s capital last week with a common cause: endi…

teleSUR (2019-11-18). US Says Israel Settlements Not Illegal Under International Law. telesurenglish.net The United States abandoned Monday its 40-year-long position announcing Israel\'s settlements in the occupied West Bank are not \"inconsistent with international law.\" In doing so the North-American country effectively endorsed Israel\'s right to build settlements, further hindering an already stuck peace process. | RELATED: | Trump \'Frustrated\' With Netanyahu Amid Israel\'s Political Impasse | \"The establishment of Israeli civilian settlements is not, per se, inconsistent with in…

Andrew Korybko (2019-11-18). Bolivia Faces Ethnic Cleansing, Racism and South African-Style Apartheid? globalresearch.ca Post-coup Bolivia is at risk of Croatian-style ethnic cleansing and South African-like apartheid unless the protesters succeed in putting substantial international pressure on the new \"authorities\" and ensuring that genuinely free and fair elections are held as soon as possible …

Tatiana Cozzarelli (2019-11-18). Fight Bolivia\'s Coup, The Resistance: Indigenous Workers Build Self Defense Committees. globalresearch.ca After weeks of increasing right-wing protests, the Bolivian military demanded on Sunday that President Evo Morales resign. The protests had reached a fever pitch, with the police joining the side of the right-wing in the streets demanding the president\'s ouster….

Paul Antonopoulos (2019-11-18). Bolivia\'s U.S.-backed Coup Government Has Given the Military a License to Kill Protestors. globalresearch.ca The de facto and unelected president of Bolivia, Jeanine àÅñez, signed a decree that exempts all military personnel from being criminally responsible, even in the cases of murder, in the midst of demonstrations against the coup d\'etat that ousted …

CGTN (2019-11-18). Arrow-wielding Rioters Barricade in Hong Kong Polytechnic University. dissidentvoice.org All eyes are on Hong Kong as police and rioters remain locked in a standoff. Anti-government protesters have barricaded a university campus, attacking police forces who have closed in on them, with various weapons including bow and arrow.

Dave Lindorff (2019-11-18). Student protesters are walking a tightrope in Hong Kong. nationofchange.org The whole world is watching Hong Kong.

Staff (2019-11-18). Campus Under Siege as Hong Kong Police Battle Protesters. truthdig.com HONG KONG — As night fell on Hong Kong, police tightened their siege of a university campus where hundreds of protesters were trapped in the latest dramatic episode in months of protests against growing Chinese control over the semi-autonomous city. | The Asian financial center\'s workweek began Monday with multiple protests that disrupted traffic, while schools remained closed because of safety concerns stemming from the demonstrations, which began in June but have become increasingly violent in recent weeks. | The pitched battle for control of the campus of Hong Kong Polytechnic University has been the cen…

WSWS (2019-11-18). Chinese soldiers appear on Hong Kong streets for first time since protests began. wsws.org The use of PLA troops to clear roadblocks in Hong Kong is a thinly veiled threat that the Chinese military could be used to violently suppress the protest movement.

Paul Dobson (2019-11-18). Venezuelans Protest Bolivia Coup After Diplomatic Break. venezuelanalysis.com The de facto government in La Paz has broken relations with Caracas and recognised Guaido.

Juan Cole (2019-11-18). Iran: Economic Blockade and Crowd Protests Were Also How the US Made the 1953 Coup. commondreams.org The situation in Iran eerily resembles that in summer, 1953. (Photo: Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/imperialism.jpg …

James Risen (2019-11-18). Leaked Iranian Intelligence Reports Expose Tehran\'s Vast Web of Influence in Iraq. theintercept.com In mid-October, with unrest swirling in Baghdad, a familiar visitor slipped quietly into the Iraqi capital. The city had been under siege for weeks, as protesters marched in the streets, demanding an end to corruption and calling for the ouster of the prime minister, Adil Abdul-Mahdi. In particular, they denounced the outsize influence of their neighbor Iran in Iraqi politics, burning Iranian flags and attacking an Iranian consulate. | The visitor was there to restore order, but his presence highlighted the protesters\' biggest grievance: He was Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, head of Iran\'s powerful Quds Force, and h…

Dan Bacher (2019-11-18). Hundreds pack hearing to protest Trump administration proposal to dredge San Francisco Bay. indybay.org \"Deepening the Bay to accommodate bigger vessels carrying dirty tar sands crude oil puts communities along the water and near the refineries at risk,\" said Isabella Zizi, Climate Campaigner at Stand.earth and member of Protect the Bay.