RT (2020-01-01). US sending 750 troops to Middle East after Baghdad embassy siege — Pentagon. rt.com Some 750 paratroopers from the US Army\'s 82nd Airborne Division are already on their way to Kuwait, and more may soon follow, after the US embassy in Baghdad was stormed and nearly taken by angry Iraqi militiamen. | The 82nd\'s alert brigade has been ordered to deploy on Tuesday evening, Fox News reported citing multiple Pentagon officials, shortly before Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirmed it. | \"The United States will protect our people and interests anywhere they are found around the world,\" Esper said, announcing the deployment. …and facilities, such as we witnessed in Baghdad today. The United State…

Lee Hall (2019-12-31). A Message From the New Year\'s Day AKC Dog Show. counterpunch.org More than five thousand dogs from 21 countries are appearing in the American Kennel Club New Year\'s Day 2020 dog show. Discovery Channel\'s Animal Planet touts it as the largest in the country. But it\'s just another trivial show on Animal Planet. Unrelated to the big environmental or economic issues of our time. Not worth More

Vijay Prashad (2019-12-31). India\'s Democracy is Facing an Existential Threat. counterpunch.org Peaceful protests have been taking place across India. Every public event seems to be transformed into a demonstration against not only these laws, but the government itself. In Kolkata — from where I write these words — the annual Rainbow Pride Walk combined Gay Pride with opposition to these laws. Signs at the march read, \'No CAA\' and \'No to Fascism.\' The Indian flag — not often seen at these events — was everywhere, a symbol of the fight over how \'India\' should be understood. More

Joseph Essertier (2019-12-31). To Distinguish Fact From Fiction in Korea, First Follow the Money. counterpunch.org The \"masters\" of the Empire of Japan, who invaded and dominated Korea for half a century, followed the \"vile maxim\" that is typical of the \"masters of mankind,\" i.e., \"all for ourselves, and nothing for other people\" (Adam Smith). And while a \"budding elite\" of talented Koreans in fields such as \"commerce, industry, publishing, academia, More

Ellen Brown (2019-12-31). The Key to the Environmental Crisis is Beneath Our Feet. counterpunch.org The Green New Deal resolution that was introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives in February hit a wall in the Senate, where it was called unrealistic and unaffordable. In a Washington Post article titled \"The Green New Deal Sets Us Up for Failure. We Need a Better Approach,\" former Colorado governor and Democratic presidential candidate John More

Laura Carlsen (2019-12-31). As Honduras Collapses, Its People are Forced to Flee. counterpunch.org Honduras is collapsing. The thousands of migrants who flee every day are direct testimony to a political, economic and social crisis that the world ignores and the U. S. government seems bent on perpetuating. Instead of examining the crisis behind the exodus, the Trump administration has set an intercontinental human trapline that captures thousands of the world\'s poorest and most persecuted men, women and children, and then converts their suffering into campaign fodder. More

Staff (2019-12-31). Militiamen Breach U.S. Embassy in Baghdad; Trump Blames Iran. truthdig.com BAGHDAD — Dozens of Iraqi Shiite militiamen and their supporters broke into the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Tuesday, smashing a main door and setting fire to a reception area, angered over deadly U.S. airstrikes targeting the Iran-backed militia. U.S. guards fired tear gas and palls of smoke rose over the grounds. | An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw flames rising from inside the compound and at least three U.S. soldiers on the roof of the main embassy building. There was a fire at the reception area near the compound\'s parking lot but it was unclear what had caused it. A man on a loudspe…

Staff (2019-12-31). Fossil Fuel Industry Shifts from Climate Denial to \"Youthwashing\" therealnews.com For decades, the fossil fuel industry funded climate change denial campaigns aimed toward young people to sow seeds of doubt on climate science. As the climate crisis has worsened, it has made a subtle shift to what critics call \"youthwashing.\".

Staff (2019-12-31). Raging Wildfires Trap 4,000 at Australian Town\'s Waterfront. truthdig.com PERTH, Australia — Wildfires burning across Australia\'s two most populous states Tuesday trapped residents of a seaside town in apocalyptic conditions and killed at least two people while more property along the country\'s east coast fell victim to a devastating fire season. | About 4,000 residents in the southeastern town of Mallacoota in Victoria state fled toward the water Tuesday morning as winds pushed an emergency-level wildfire toward their homes. The smoke-filled sky shrouded the town in darkness before turning an unnerving shade of bright red. | Australia\'s annual wildfire season, which peaks during…

Staff (2019-12-31). Final Goodbye: Recalling Influential People Who Died in 2019. truthdig.com A lauded writer who brought to light stories overshadowed by prejudice. An actress and singer who helped embody the manufactured innocence of the 1950s. A self-made billionaire who rose from a childhood of Depression-era poverty and twice ran for president. | This year saw the deaths of people who shifted culture through prose, pragmatism and persistence. It also witnessed tragedy, in talent struck down in its prime. | In 2019, the political world lost a giant in U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings. He was born the son of a sharecropper, became a lawyer,…

Andre Vltchek (2019-12-31). Police in Hong Kong Brutalized by Rioters While Attacked by the Western Press. dissidentvoice.org It is much more than what you are allowed to see. The Hong Kong police force are heroically fighting both the rioters and a complex and extremely dangerous international network which is aiming at destabilizing the People\'s Republic of China. Uighur, Taiwan, USA, EU — united against socialism and China I never saw such cynicism …

teleSUR (2019-12-31). Syd Mead, Conceptual Artist Behind \'Blade Runner,\' Dies at 86. telesurenglish.net Syd Mead, the influential conceptual artist who created images of the future for films such as \"Blade Runner\" (1982) and \"Aliens\" (1986), died on Monday morning in Pasadena, California, at the age of 86. | RELATED: | \'US Running Concentration Camps at the Border\': Expert | Mead died after three years battling lymphoma cancer, his husband Roger Servick told specialist publication The Hollywood Reporter. | Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1933, the visionary illustrator and conceptual art…

teleSUR (2019-12-31). Top 10 Events That Shaped North America in the 2010s. telesurenglish.net Over the course of the past decade, North America has experienced the rise of several social movements, such as #MeToo and Black Lives Matter, which have helped give voice to the voiceless and empower the oppressed. | While these movements helped bring necessary social change, the 2010s also witnessed the rise of the far-right under U.S. President Donald Trump, which has further divided people across the continent and world. | But as we look back at the 2010s, there are several events that have helped shape the present and the future of the continent. | 1) Whistleblowers (2010-Present) | Julian Assange and…

WSWS (2019-12-31). Australian teachers\' defence of Julian Assange welcomed by WikiLeaks supporters. wsws.org US comedian Jimmy Dore discussed the initiative on the December 19 edition of his \"Jimmy Dore Show Podcast.\"

Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers (2019-12-31). We are the majority; we must turn that into power. nationofchange.org We are building toward being a movement that can make transformational changes over the next decade.

Medea Benjamin (2019-12-31). 10 Good Things About 2019. counterpunch.org Impeachment, Trump, impeachment, Trump. It\'s hard to think of this year without obsessing about the occupant of the White House. But yes, there were lots of other events going on in the world this year. Some of them were tragic, like the coup in Bolivia, but some are hopeful and move us in a positive More

teleSUR (2019-12-31). Latin America: A Decade in Review. telesurenglish.net The period between 2010 and 2019 seems to be \"the bittersweet decade\" for the Latin American peoples. In its first part, the winds of economic development with social justice and equity were fueled by progressive governments that arose all over the continent as a result of the tenacity of workers, farmers, students, human rights defenders, gender activists, and environmental activists. | RELATED: | Venezuela\'s Maduro Gives Message of Peace in Address To Nation | In the middle of…

teleSUR (2019-12-31). Colombia: Over 10,000 Homicides, 230 Activists Killed in 2019. telesurenglish.net A total of 10,468 homicides have been officially recorded in Colombia between January and November 2019 according to the Foundation Peace and Reconciliation, corresponding to a rise of 2.34 percent compared with the previous year. | RELATED: | Colombian Attorney Asks to Stop Murder of Social Leaders | The Foundation\'s Director Ariel Avila highlighted the failure of the conservative government\'s \"tough\" approach against crime in the country in an interview with EFE. | The violence an…

teleSUR (2019-12-31). Venezuela\'s Maduro Gives Message of Peace in Address To Nation. telesurenglish.net In a speech to the nation given on national TV on Monday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro gave a message of \"peace, solidarity, and Christian spirit.\" | RELATED: | Putin Sends Congratulations to Maduro and Venezuela on New Year | \"The media has tried to show an image of a country drowned in anarchy but we will come out victorious,\" he added, insisting that \"the Christian spirit and solidarity\" will help overcome any obstacle. | \"We have overcome all the myths surrounding…

Peoples Dispatch (2019-12-31). Darfur peace process suffers a jolt following violent clash. peoplesdispatch.org Peace negotiations between Sudan\'s government and armed groups was halted after a clash in West Darfur that saw the death of eight people and left several others injured. Many have gone missing…

Middle East Eye (2019-12-31). Iraq Protesters Attack US Embassy over Air Strikes. globalresearch.ca Thousands of protesters attacked the US embassy in the Iraqi capital on Tuesday in anger at American air strikes in Iraq and Syria that killed more than two dozen Iran-backed militia fighters at the weekend. | The demonstrators marched through checkpoints …

Organizing Committee of March 11 Anti-Nuclear (2019-12-31). No Nuclear Weapons and Power Plants! All Out March 11, 2020. indybay.org On January 11, 2020 there will be an action in Koriyama near Fukushima to protest the Olympics in Japan and against nuclear power and nuclear weapons.

teleSUR (2019-12-31). Iraq: Protesters Break Into the US Embassy in Baghdad. telesurenglish.net Hundreds of protesters sympathetic to the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) stormed Tuesday at the United States Embassy in Baghdad following deadly U.S. attacks against positions of that armed group on Sunday night. Neither the U.S. ambassador nor officials are inside the building. | RELATED: | Iraq Warns US Of Strained Relations After Overnight Strikes | The protesters managed to penetrate the diplomatic headquarters and burned part of the surrounding wall, as well as some secur…

Staff (2019-12-31). Headlines for December 31, 2019. democracynow.org Protests Rage Outside U.S. Embassy in Iraq After U.S. Airstrikes Kill 24, Hate Crime Charges Filed Against Suspect in Hanukkah Stabbing in NY, Texas Church Shooter Had Long Criminal History, NYT: Top Officials Failed to Convince Trump to Release Withheld Ukraine Aid, Death Toll from Crackdown on Protests in India Rises to 27, Five Kashmiri Political Leaders Released from Detention, Sudanese Court Sentences 29 to Death for Killing Teacher in Anti-Protest Crackdown, Thousands Flee to the Ocean to Escape Australia Wildfires, Former Nissan Head Flees Japan to Lebanon to Escape Trial on Financial Crimes, New York Sett…

teleSUR (2019-12-31). Smoke and Tears: A Decade of War in Middle East, North Africa. telesurenglish.net The 2010s can be described as a decade that began with hope with popular uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa, but that quickly turned to despair as political turmoil, foreign interventions, and war pushed the region into crisis. | RELATED: | 10 Trends and Events that Marked the Decade in Europe | As the decade ends, teleSUR looks back to the ten most important events that have shaped the lives of millions across the region: | 1. The Arab Spring: Tunisia and Egypt: | The 2010s began with what became known as the Arab Spring when a wave of protests rocked several Arab countries. In Decem…

WSWS (2019-12-31). Australia: Legal report documents \"unlawful\" police response to Melbourne climate protest. wsws.org The 45-page report exposes the increasingly repressive measures being employed by police around Australia against political dissent.

Viva Evo (2019-12-31). Bolivia a military coup. Coup leader Fernando Camacho boasting. indybay.org It was a military coup. Coup leader Fernando Camacho boasting about how his father coordinated with military so they wouldn\'t be mobilised against the anti-Evo protests before the coup.

Patrick Cockburn (2019-12-31). How Nationalism is Transforming the Politics of the British Isles. counterpunch.org National identities and the relationship between England, Scotland and Ireland are changing more radically than at any time over the last century. It is worth looking at the British archipelago as a whole on this issue because of the closely-meshed political relationship of its constituent nations. More

Ralph Nader (2019-12-31). \"Then, I have an Article II, where I have the right to do whatever I want as President.\" — \"King\" Donald Trump. counterpunch.org Against Donald J. Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wanted narrow impeachment charges, despite key House Committee Chairs\' arguments for broadening the impeachment charges. These veteran lawmakers, led by House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler, urged Speaker Pelosi to include the ten obstructions of justice documented in the Mueller Report. These House Committee Chairs also wanted More

South Front (2019-12-31). Video: Syrian Army Prepares for Operation in Aleppo, Turkish Proxies Move to Libya. globalresearch.ca The Syrian Army is preparing for a ground operation against radical militants in western Aleppo, sources close to the Damascus government claim. According to reports, the Syrian military was preparing for this operation during the past two months. | The operation …

South Front (2019-12-31). Video: Turkish Military Shelled Syrian Army Positions. globalresearch.ca The Turkish Army has shelled Syrian Army positions near the town of Bir Issa in northern Raqqa. Local Kurdish sources claimed that several Syrian soldiers were injured and three vehicles were destroyed in the incident that took place on December …

Stephen Lendman (2019-12-31). What May Follow US Terror-Bombing Strikes on Iraqi Sites? globalresearch.ca What\'s most likely is more of the same, how the US operates under both right wings of its war party — at war on humanity at home and abroad, its killing machine making everyone unsafe everywhere. | Continued US aggression in …

Stephen Lendman (2019-12-31). US Middle East Forever Wars. globalresearch.ca Iraqis suffered from direct and indirect US aggression since Jimmy Carter\'s orchestrated Iran/Iraq war in the 1980s. | Eight years of bloody fighting produced stalemate. Then came GHW Bush\'s 1991 Gulf War on Iraq, followed by years of genocidal sanctions, Bush …

Stephen Lendman (2019-12-31). The Great GOP Tax Cut Heist Two Years Later. globalresearch.ca The scam was and remains all about more greatly enriching corporate America and high-net worth households. | It\'s also part of bipartisan policy to destroy social justice, essential programs eroded to fund tax cuts for the rich and pay for endless …

teleSUR (2019-12-31). Brazil Fines Facebook US$1.6m in Cambridge Analytica Case. telesurenglish.net Brazil\'s Ministry of Justice and Public Security has sentenced Facebook with a US$1.6 million fine for sharing data belonging to 443,000 Brazilian users in relation to the Cambridge Analytica case. | RELATED: | Facebook\'s Black Employees Denounce Company\'s Racism in a Letter | According to the government, there is evidence of an \"abusive\" practice wh…

Prof. Tim Anderson (2019-12-31). Syria, Washington and the Kurds. \"The Rojava Dream is Dead\" globalresearch.ca With the defeat of ISIS and Nusra, the exposure of the \'White Helmets\' and the various Chemical Weapons stunts, and with the collapse of \'Rojava\', Washington is fast running out of options in Syria. Syria is winning, but the big …

Miri Wood (2019-12-31). US Uses False Flag Op to Legitimize Bombing Iraq, Syria. globalresearch.ca In warfare, the False Flag is a ruse, used to legitimize the abandonment of military rules of engagement. Its name derives from ancient cheaters in nautical warfare. The Nazi Reichstag fire and the US Gulf of Tonkin are two infamous …

WSWS (2019-12-31). Washington escalates Mideast war threat with strikes on Iraq, Syria. wsws.org Sunday\'s airstrikes are part of an increasingly reckless US imperialist intervention in the region directed against Iran.

teleSUR (2019-12-31). Russia: Iran Deal on Brink of Collapse Because of Washington. telesurenglish.net The international nuclear deal signed with Iran in 2015 is on the brink of collapse because of Washington\'s decision to withdraw, Russia\'s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday following a meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif. | RELATED: | Trump Warns Syria, Russia, Iran Over Idlib Campaign | \"This extremely important international diplomatic achievement, the Joint Plan of Action (JCPOA) for the Iranian nuclear program, is about to collapse,\" Lavrov told the pr…

Peoples Dispatch (2019-12-31). US conducts airstrikes on Kataib Hezbollah targets in Syria and Iraq. peoplesdispatch.org Over 30 militia fighters were killed and 55 others injured in the US strikes which were a response to a rocket attack in which one US civilian contractor was killed…

Prof. Ociel Alí López (2019-12-31). Crisis and Critique: Venezuela, a Paradox of Stability? globalresearch.ca For Venezuelans, the start of 2019 was perhaps the tensest moment in the past seventeen years. Unlike the political violence of 2017 and the electoral abstention drama of 2018, we faced a real scenario of foreign military intervention in Venezuela. …

teleSUR (2019-12-31). Australia: Wildfires Paint the Sky Red, Create Lightning Storms. telesurenglish.net The 2020 New Year\'s Eve celebrations were overshadowed by deadly wildfires along Australia\'s eastern seaboard, where thousands of people sought refuge from the bushfires on beaches. | RELATED: | US, Australia, and More Snub Calls for Climate Action at COP25 | \"The Australia bushfires are so big that they are generating \'pyrocumulonimbus\' clouds, which create their own thunderstorms that can start more fires,\" reported the Insider, based on data provided by the Bureau of Meteorolo…

Dean Baker (2019-12-31). William Greider and Secular Stagnation. counterpunch.org My friend, Bill Greider, died on Christmas day. Greider, who was 83, was an old-time journalist who believed that the job meant exposing the corruption of the rich and powerful, rather than becoming their friends in order to get inside stories. This meant that he was never very popular with elite types, as perhaps best More

Joshua Frank (2019-12-31). My Favorite Albums of 2019. counterpunch.org Another year with more unlistenable, corporate crap. Fortunately, there\'s still plenty of good music out there. Here are the albums that were on heavy rotation in my home this year. Purple Mountains, Purple Mountains, Drag City, 2019 David Berman\'s Purple Mountains is my favorite album of the year. Shortly after its release, Berman, who long More

Binoy Kampmark (2019-12-31). Scapegoats for Jamal Khashoggi. counterpunch.org The hit squad that went about its deadly business with varying degrees of competence in Istanbul last year is set to be thinned. Five members of the group tasked with strangling and carving up the Saudi journalist and out-of-favour Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate on October 2, 2018 are now facing the generous justice More

No Nukes Action (2019-12-31). Stop The 2020 Olympics In Japan, End Nuclear Power & Nuclear Weapons. indybay.org San Francisco Japanese Consulate | 275 Battery St/near California | San Francisco…

Bel√©n Fern√°ndez (2019-12-31). How the US Made the So-Called \'Safe Third Countries\' Unsafe. commondreams.org While the US arms industry is presumably feeling pretty secure right about now, it is safe to say many people in \"safe third countries\" are not. (Photo: Edgard Garrido/Reuters) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/clashes-honduras.jpg …

IMEMC News & Agencies (2019-12-31). REPORT: Over 13 Million Palestinians Worldwide by 2020. imemc.org Dr. Ola Awad, Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) President presents a brief on the status of Palestinian people at The end of 2019 as follows: More than 13 Million Palestinians in the world by the End of 2019 An increase in population of Palestinians in the world The projected …

IMEMC & Agencies (2019-12-31). VIDEO: Israeli Forces Arrest Palestinian Youth Beaten by Settlers. imemc.org Wadi Hilweh Information Center (Silwanic) reported that, the Israeli occupation forces arrested a Palestinian youth, on Monday evening, from Batn Al Hawa neighborhood in Silwan, after settlers beat him. Witnesses said that settlers\' guards attacked the young Palestinian men who were in the neighborhood. Verbal quarrels and physical fights took …

Zoà´ Carpenter (2019-12-31). This Was the Decade of Feminist Uprisings in Latin America. thenation.com This Was the Decade of Feminist Uprisings in Latin America…