RT (2020-02-20). \'Asking for trouble?\' VIDEO shows American APC pushing Russian army jeep off road in Syria. rt.com Footage from Syria purports to show a US armored personnel carrier pushing a Russian military jeep off the road; relations between Moscow and Washington remain tense. | A video, posted on social media on Wednesday, shows what appears to be a Russian military convoy moving alongside an American one. At one point, a Russian Tigr heavy jeep tries to overtake an Oshkosh M-ATV armored vehicle with a US flag on its roof. The M-ATV responds by maneuvering to the right, pushing the Tigr further away from the road. | Narrowly evading collision and nearly hitting a pedestrian in the process, both vehicles stop, and o…

RT (2020-02-20). Turkey\'s guarantees in Libya depend on durable ceasefire — FM Cavusoglu. rt.com Turkey\'s guarantees in Libya are dependent on a truce between warring sides being upheld, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday. He added that Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar \"was violating\" the ceasefire, Reuters reports. | Cavusoglu told state broadcaster TRT Haber that the \"international system\" had failed to stop clashes in Libya and that there was no determination. He said a political process in Libya could not move forward while Haftar\'s attacks continue. | Ankara backs Libya\'s internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) and has signed a military cooperation agreem…

RT (2020-02-20). 'The world might need us to step up': London offers to host 2020 Olympics if coronavirus forces IOC to move Games from Tokyo. rt.com The city of London is ready and willing to step in and play host to this summer\'s Olympic Games, according to one of the major candidates for the city\'s mayor. | Shaun Bailey, the governing Conservative Party\'s candidate for the job of Mayor of London, has boldly stated that the English capital would be ready to step up and step in if the ongoing coronavirus outbreak proves serious enough to force the Games to be moved from Tokyo. | The flu-like virus has taken the lives of more than 2,000 people in China and infected more than 74,000 across the world, according to Reuters, and the outbreak has already forced…

RT (2020-02-20). 2 passengers from coronavirus-hit cruise ship in Japan die as countries rush to evacuate citizens. rt.com An elderly couple aboard the \'Diamond Princess\' cruise ship in Japan, where over 620 cases of coronavirus were confirmed, has succumbed to the illness. The fatalities come as Tokyo allows hundreds of passengers to return home. | Both passengers were in their 80s, according to public broadcaster NHK, and are the first on board the ship to die of the virus, which has spread to more than 75,000 people and killed over 2,100 worldwide since last December. So far, the majority of fatalities have involved elderly patients with pre-existing conditions. | The ship was initially quarantined on February 3 with around 3,7…

RT (2020-02-20). Coronavirus pandemic could wipe $1.1 TRILLION off global economy — Oxford Economics. rt.com China\'s GDP growth is expected to fall from six percent last year to 5.4 percent in 2020 due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus, said the latest report by Oxford Economics. | It has modeled two scenarios on the coronavirus outbreak morphing into pandemic. Under the first scenario, if it spreads more widely in Asia, world GDP would fall by $400 billion this year, or 0.5 percent. The second scenario foresees the global GDP dropping $1.1 trillion or 1.3 percent, if the virus outbreak becomes a pandemic and a disruption to manufacturing in Asia spreads worldwide. Such a decline would be the same as losing the ent…

Staff (2020-02-20). Warren and Sanders Eviscerate Bloomberg on Debate Stage. truthdig.com The two senators liken the billionaire businessman to Trump and question his ability to turn out voters at the Las Vegas Democratic debate.

The Canary (2020-02-20). Mike Bloomberg attacked on all fronts during Democratic debate. thecanary.co New York billionaire Mike Bloomberg was savaged by his Democratic rivals on his first debate on the presidential campaign trail.Bloomberg, the former New York mayor who was once a Republican, was forced to defend his record and past comments related to race, gender and his personal wealth in a rocky debate stage debut in Las Vegas.Bernie Sanders lashed out at Bloomberg\'s policing policies as New York City mayor that he said targeted \"African-American and Latinos in an outrageous way\".Elizabeth Warren made repeated attacks on Bloomberg. She raised issues such as his vast wealth, his offensive remarks about policin…

The Canary (2020-02-20). Far-right terror probe after nine killed in shootings in Germany. thecanary.co A German man has shot and killed nine people at several locations in a Frankfurt suburb in attacks that appear to have been motivated by far-right beliefs, officials said.The gunman first attacked a hookah bar in central Hanau at about 10pm on 19 February, killing several people, before heading about 1.5 miles west and opening fire again, claiming more victims.Hookah lounges are places where people gather to smoke flavoured tobacco from Middle Eastern water pipes.Witnesses and surveillance videos of the suspect\'s getaway car led authorities to his home, near the scene of the second attack, where he was found dead…

RT (2020-02-20). Algerian president honors \'smile revolution\' protest on 1st anniversary. rt.com Algeria\'s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has declared February 22 a special holiday to honor the peaceful \"smile revolution\" protest movement that ousted the country\'s longtime leader last year. | Tebboune made the announcement Wednesday, ahead of what are expected to be big protests this week to mark the Hirak movement\'s first anniversary. Earlier this week, the communications minister called for February 22 to be declared \"a national holiday of the blessed Hirak,\" the Arabic name for the uprising. | Many Algerians say the authorities are ignoring their calls for deeper political change. Tebboune is seen as a…

RT (2020-02-20). \'Journalism is not a crime\': Australian MP says charges against Assange must be dropped after visiting him in UK prison. rt.com Continued persecution of the WikiLeaks co-founder is a \"crazy situation,\" Australian lawmaker George Christiansen told RT, adding that Julian Assange did not commit any crime aside from running afoul of US elites. | Christiansen, a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland, questioned the integrity of the legal process against Assange, who is now facing the possibility of extradition to the US over \"unlawfully obtaining and disclosing classified documents related to the national defense.\" | The journalist was hauled out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London after his asylum was revoked in April 2019, an…

RT (2020-02-20). WATCH harrowing footage of 2007 Baghdad killings projected onto UK parliament wall in protest against Assange's extradition. rt.com Campaigners have projected the footage of an American airstrike on Iraqi civilians, originally exposed by WikiLeaks, onto the parliament building in London, to protest against the proposed extradition to the US of Julian Assange. | Clips from the infamous 2007 footage were projected onto Westminster Palace, where both houses of parliament are located. The same video was projected on the wall of the Belmarsh maximum security prison in London, where the WikiLeaks co-founder is awaiting his US extradition trial. The images on the buildings\' walls included photos of the activist along with slogans like \'Don\'t extr…

RT (2020-02-20). Iraqi PM-designate Allawi says new govt ready to work, calls for confidence vote on Monday. rt.com Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi has called for parliament to hold a confidence vote on his government early next week. Nominated as a consensus candidate among divided political parties, Allawi emphasized that his cabinet was not drawn from the political elite, a key demand of the protest movement sweeping Baghdad and the south since October 1. | In a speech broadcast on state TV on Wednesday, Allawi said he was proposing \"an independent government without any party candidates for the first time in decades.\" | Iraqi officials have quietly expressed skepticism that such a government would…

RT (2020-02-20). Making money by 'preventing apocalypse': Russian police raids cult that 'made millions' selling 'divine protection'. rt.com St. Petersburg police searched the apartment-turned-\"temple\" and stables of \"Order of the Path,\" a family-run cult that claimed to be fighting against \"black mages\" in the gov\'t and sold \"divine protection\" for $300,000 a pop. | Earlier this week, St. Petersburg police SWAT teams raided the mysterious \"Order of the Path,\" a cult run by psychologist-turned-\"magister\" Gayva Tihomirova, and arrested the leader, 78.ru reports. The raids targeted the main \"temple\" of the organization, which was converted from a two-bedroom apartment, their offices, and the stables outside the city where, the shady Order held their…

RT (2020-02-20). WATCH heart-clenching video from INSIDE CRASHING PLANE in Russia. rt.com Passengers of a small plane who were filming their takeoff from an airfield in Magadan were horrified when they realized their aircraft wouldn\'t make it. It crashed instead but, luckily, no lives were lost in the incident. | The video, purportedly shot from inside an Antonov An-2 plane, which crashed on Thursday in northern Russia, shows the aircraft trying to climb just after takeoff. Its speed seems slow and, at one moment, it virtually stops in the air, loses all lift and starts falling as a horrified groan is heard from passengers. | The plane was about 10 meters in the air when the incident happened. A…

RT (2020-02-20). Brazil\'s oil production jumps 20% to new record in January. rt.com Brazil\'s oil production jumped by 20.4 percent on the year to set a new production record of 3.168 million barrels per day (bpd) in January, thanks to the prolific pre-salt basin, oil regulator ANP said on Wednesday. | Last month, Brazil\'s total oil and natural gas production also set a new production record, exceeding 4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) for the first time ever, the regulator said, noting that combined oil and gas production stood at 4.041 million boe/d. | Oil production in January 2020 rose by 2 percent compared to December 2019 and by 20.43 percent compared to January 2019, A…

Rebecca Gordon (2020-02-20). Impunity Guaranteed for Torturers (and Presidents). counterpunch.org On February 5th, the Senate voted to acquit President Donald J. Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. In other words, Trump\'s pre-election boast that he \"could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody\" and not \"lose any voters\" proved something more than high-flown hyperbole. (To be fair, he did

WSWS (2020-02-20). Australia: Students and workers demand release of Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning. wsws.org \"Trillions are spent on war, which creates refugees, kills children and workers, but the people who make these wars happen are roaming free whilst Assange is being murdered by the state.\"

Stephen Lendman (2020-02-20). Slow Motion Murder of Julian Assange by US/UK Regimes. globalresearch.ca Assange\'s crucifixion is all about waging war on dissent, truth-telling on major issues, and journalism the way it\'s supposed to be. | It\'s about creeping totalitarian rule in the US, UK, and West — equity, justice, and respect for the rule …

Dr. Binoy Kampmark (2020-02-20). Pardoning Julian Assange: Donald Trump, WikiLeaks and the DNC. globalresearch.ca The central pillar to Democratic paranoia and vengefulness regarding the loss of Hillary Clinton in 2016 was the link between Russian hacking, the servers of the Democratic National Committee and the release of emails via WikiLeaks. Over time, that account …

WSWS (2020-02-20). Labor Party leads Australian attack on British government over Huawei. wsws.org The line-up behind the US confrontation with China sheds further light on the persecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Nozomi Hayase (2020-02-20). Assange\'s Extradition Case: Critical Moment for the Anti-War Movement. zcomm.org The US government\'s extradition and prosecution of Julian Assange is a critical moment for press freedom, but also for the anti-war movement…

WSWS (2020-02-20). Eminent Monsters: A Manual for Modern Torture, directed by Stephen Bennett. wsws.org \"We have a system that punished the whistle blowers like Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange, not the perpetrators of torture\"—Professor Nils Melzer…

WSWS (2020-02-20). Growing support for Julian Assange on eve of extradition hearings. wsws.org The fight for Assange\'s freedom requires the mobilisation of the working class, not moral appeals to capitalist politicians.

Binoy Kampmark (2020-02-20). \"Leave Our Bloke Alone\": A Little Mission for Julian Assange. dissidentvoice.org I think that now it is time that the government I am a part of needs to be standing up and saying to both the UK and the US: \'enough is enough, leave our bloke alone and let him come home.\' — George Christensen, Australian conservative MP, Sydney Morning Herald, February 19, 2020 An odd …

stclair (2020-02-20). Pardoning Julian Assange: Trump, WikiLeaks and the DNC. counterpunch.org The central pillar to Democratic paranoia and vengefulness regarding the loss of Hillary Clinton in 2016 was the link between Russian hacking, the servers of the Democratic National Committee and the release of emails via WikiLeaks. Over time, that account has become a matter of hagiography, an article of faith, with grave conclusions: WikiLeaks and

WSWS (2020-02-20). Lawyers file new motion demanding release of Chelsea Manning. wsws.org Lawyers for Manning, the courageous whistleblower who has been in prison for eleven months for refusing to testify before a secret grand jury in the case of Julian Assange, have filed a new motion in federal court demanding her release.

Ben Norton (2020-02-20). Bloomberg surrogate was PR guru for Brazil\'s extreme-right leader Bolsonaro. thegrayzone.com Former Michael Bloomberg aide Arick Wierson, who is pushing the billionaire\'s 2020 presidential campaign and attacking Bernie Sanders, helped elect…

The Canary (2020-02-20). Greta Thunberg \'using award money to create sustainability foundation\'. thecanary.co Greta Thunberg is using her prize money from an award often described as an alternative Nobel Prize to establish a sustainability foundation, according to the Swedish organisation behind the prize. | The purpose of the non-profit Greta Thunberg Foundation \"is to promote ecological and social sustainability, as well as mental health\", the Right Livelihood Foundation said. | The teenage climate activist was one of four recipients of the 2019 Right Livelihood Award, which was founded in 1980 to \"honour and support courageous people solving global problems\". | The one million kronor ( £80,000) that came with th…

Ken Stone (2020-02-20). Oppose Trudeau\'s Hosting of the Lima Group in Gatineau. globalresearch.ca On February 20, the Trudeau government will host another meeting of the anti-Venezuelan \"Lima Group\" at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, 100 Laurier St, Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0M8. A protest will commence at its main entrance at 1 pm. | The …

South Front (2020-02-20). Video: Syrians Are in Desperate Race to Outrun Brutal Regime Offensive. globalresearch.ca Syrians are in a desperate race to outrun the offensive of the brutal Assad regime. The ruthless government forces are aggressively destroying helpless mines and car bombs, treacherously restoring roads, schools and residential houses, cruelly launching road patrols, and (oh, …

Stephen Lendman (2020-02-20). Netanyahu in the Dock Set for March 17. What Happens if Convicted of Bribery, Fraud? globalresearch.ca In so-called cases 1000 and 2000, he\'s charged with fraud and breach of trust — as well as bribery and breach of trust in Case 4000. | Evidence against him is damning, Israeli attorney general Mendelblit earlier saying: | Netanyahu \"damaged the …

Staff (2020-02-20). Passengers Leave Ship Docked Off Japan After Quarantine Ends. truthdig.com The two-week action failed to stop the spread of the new virus, with the Diamond Princess the site of the most infections outside of China.

Andrew Korybko (2020-02-20). India 2020: \'Superpower\' or Still \'Super Poor\'? globalresearch.ca The hopes of India\'s over 1.3 billion people were shattered after their country objectively failed to become the \"superpower\" that many of their leading \"influencers\" (read: propagandists) predicted it would be by 2020, with this finally being acknowledged by the …

Staff (2020-02-20). Debate Night Brawl: Bloomberg, Sanders Attacked by Democratic Rivals. truthdig.com Warren stands out in Las Vegas as she goes after billionaire ex-New York mayor on policing policies and demeaning comments toward women.

BLUES (2020-02-20). Russia Is A Progressive Democracy, America Is A Fascist Plutocracy. indybay.org Too bad I have to live in this hell with all the money going for defective military junk, Billionaires running for Dictator, poop and needles are all over the sidewalks, empty store shelves are coming due to covid-19 in the country that makes all our necessities, etc, and so on.

WSWS (2020-02-20). Trump pardons ruling class criminals. wsws.org The criminal in the White House expunged the lawbreaking records of two billionaires and two political hatchetmen for big business.

WSWS (2020-02-20). Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams covers for the billionaire Bloomberg. wsws.org Abrams said Bloomberg\'s spending hundreds of millions of dollars to buy the Democratic nomination is like a candidate \"using their dog\" to get support.

Rachel M. Fazio (2020-02-20). A Trillion Trees in Rep. Westerman\'s Hands Means a Trillion Stumps. counterpunch.org In an effort to springboard off President Trump\'s recent pledge to join the global community in planting a trillion trees to increase the amount of carbon drawn out of the atmosphere and help us to mitigate the worst effects of the climate crisis, Rep. Bruce Westerman, a pro-logging advocate from Arkansas, along with several Republican

Johnathan Hettinger (2020-02-20). Jury Awards $265M in Damages in Dicamba Trial Against Monsanto, BASF. globalresearch.ca After three weeks of arguments, the jury awarded the peach-farmer plaintiff $15 million in damages and $250 million in punitive damages against the chemical companies. | *** | A federal jury determined that German agribusiness giants Bayer and BASF will have to …

Rebecca Gordon (2020-02-20). \"The Right to Do Whatever I Want as President\" globalresearch.ca On February 5th, the Senate voted to acquit President Donald J. Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. In other words, Trump\'s

Abayomi Azikiwe (2020-02-20). Mass Student Movement in the United States Began Six Decades Ago. globalresearch.ca On February 1, 1960, four African American students from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical University sat down at a racially segregated lunch counter in the F.W. Woolworth Department store in downtown Greensboro to demand service. | This act of civil disobedience …

Pepe Escobar (2020-02-20). Munich Conference Reveals East-West Divide. globalresearch.ca Few postmodern political pantomimes have been more revealing than the hundreds of so-called \"international decision-makers,\" mostly Western, waxing lyrical, disgusted or nostalgic over \"Westlessness\" at the Munich Security Conference. | \"Westlessness\" sounds like one of those constipated concepts issued from a …

Jacob Hornberger (2020-02-20). The CIA\'s Role in Operation Condor. counterpunch.org The Washington Post reported that top secret documents confirm the role that the CIA played in Operation Condor, the international state-sponsored assassination, kidnapping, torture, and murder ring run by U.S.-supported military dictatorships in South America in the late 1970s. The documents confirm that the CIA\'s role in the operation was to provide communications equipment to the

WSWS (2020-02-20). US slaps sanctions on Russian oil company trading with Venezuela. wsws.org The unilateral sanctions are aimed at tightening the US blockade of Venezuela\'s crisis-ridden economy.

WSWS (2020-02-20). East Timor\'s coalition government collapses. wsws.org East Timor\'s political and economic crisis is escalating amid the sharpened regional rivalry between China and the US and its ally Australia.

Americans of Japanese Ancestry Relate Incarceration (2020-02-20). San Jose\'s 40th Annual Day of Remembrance: Recalling Life Under Executive Order 9066. indybay.org Executive Order 9066 led to the World War II-era incarceration of more than 120,000 people of Japanese descent, two-thirds of whom were American citizens. Survivors shared recollections and re-enactors performed morale boosting era swing dance styles in Japantown on February 16th.

Eds. (2020-02-20). Police assault on Wet\'suwet\'en people. mronline.org Attack shows Hypocrisy towards Indigenous Peoples. |

Orion the Elder (2020-02-20). Gracias Chelsea&Julian for publishing Bush\'s War Crimes. indybay.org Fruitvale and MacArthur Oakland 94602…

Todd Smith (2020-02-20). The Persian Gulf Standoff. dissidentvoice.org They say we\'ve been down this road before. The \"last time\" creakily hinged upon a hysterically hyped WMD threat from Iraq that overwhelmingly forced the W. Bush regime and its bipartisan cheerleaders to preemptively invade Iraq in order to eliminate the imminent threat that Saddam Hussein\'s non-existent WMD posed to the \"Freedom-loving\" world. Such was …

Maria Paez Victor (2020-02-20). Canada Trapped By Its Own Folly. counterpunch.org Canada walked into a political and diplomatic trap of its own making when it took it upon itself to create a self-appointed busybody lobby called The Group of Lima. The sole purpose of this group is to harass and discredit the government of Venezuela, alleging that they are thereby \"defending democracy\". They do so by

Staff (2020-02-20). Passengers Leave Ship Docked Off Japan After Quarantine Ends. truthdig.com The two-week action failed to stop the spread of the new virus, with the Diamond Princess the site of the most infections outside of China.

RT (2020-02-20). \'Journalism is not a crime\': Australian MP says charges against Assange must be dropped after visiting him in UK prison. rt.com Continued persecution of the WikiLeaks co-founder is a \"crazy situation,\" Australian lawmaker George Christiansen told RT, adding that Julian Assange did not commit any crime aside from running afoul of US elites. | Christiansen, a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland, questioned the integrity of the legal process against Assange, who is now facing the possibility of extradition to the US over \"unlawfully obtaining and disclosing classified documents related to the national defense.\" | The journalist was hauled out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London after his asylum was revoked in April 2019, an…

RT (2020-02-19). Russian cops bust banned radical Islamist group Tablighi Jamaat's 'training camp,' detain leaders & participants. rt.com Seven members of a hardline Islamic organization were arrested in Moscow on Wednesday, according to the Federal Security Service (FSB). They are charged with disseminating extremist propaganda and trying to recruit new supporters. | Tablighi Jamaat, which means the Outreach Society or the Society for Spreading Faith, is banned in Russia. Its philosophy is based around the idea that Muslims should revert to practicing their faith as it was done in the 7th century, when the Prophet Mohammed himself lived. It particularly focuses on styles of dress, personal behavior, and forms of ritual. | | Religious literatu…

RT (2020-02-19). 2 Iranians die after testing positive for coronavirus. rt.com Two Iranians who were that country\'s first cases of coronavirus have died, health officials in Qom announced on Wednesday. | The deaths were also confirmed by health ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur in a The highly contagious novel coronavirus emerged in China in December 2019, with the death toll there exceeding 2,000 for the first time on…

RT (2020-02-19). \'We can\'t have Turkish laws on French ground\': Macron vows to fight foreign imams preaching \'Islamist separatism\'. rt.com Paris will clamp down on imams from Muslim countries that arrive in France to push worshipers into violating the law, the country\'s President Emmanuel Macron said, warning Turkey it can\'t \"feed separatism\" on French soil. | Macron promised to \"gradually\" end the program allowing Muslim countries to send imams and teachers to France in order to teach languages and culture unsupervised by the state. Speaking at the town of Mulhouse near the German border, he said that the influence of foreign imams leads some to \"separate themselves from the Republic and therefore not respect its laws.\" | The French leader sing…

RT (2020-02-19). \'Throat of fire\' volcano signalling imminent, devastating COLLAPSE. rt.com Scientists are warning that the Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador is showing early signs of impending catastrophic collapse, after satellite data showed substantial internal damage from ongoing magma activity. | Tungurahua, has been persistently active since 1999 so wear and tear was inevitable, especially given that the \'Throat of fire,\' or \'Black giant\' as the Quechua indigenous people named it, has already collapsed twice before thousands of years ago. | | Tungurahua erupting on November 2nd, 1999. © US Geological Survey | \"Using satellite data we have observed very rapid deformation of Tungurahua\'s west…

RT (2020-02-19). \'Unreasonable & unacceptable\': Beijing slams Washington for press freedom hypocrisy after Chinese media branded \'foreign missions\'. rt.com China has denounced Washington for advocating freedom of the press while obstructing media, after it tightened control over Beijing-run outlets operating in the US by equating them to diplomatic missions. | Washington\'s move against Chinese state media are \"unreasonable and unacceptable,\" Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told reporters on Wednesday. | The United States has always advertised freedom of the press, but it interferes with and obstructs the normal operation of Chinese media in the United States. | Geng stated that Beijing reserves \"the right to respond further to this matter.\" | The US Dep…

RT (2020-02-19). Russia's tourism sector could lose $455 million if Chinese coronavirus crisis continues until summer – tour operators. rt.com Health concerns over the new COVID-19 coronavirus have led to strong measures in Russia. The Far Eastern border with China has been closed, and most Chinese visitors face restrictions. Now financial losses are being assessed. | Experts forecast that the country\'s tourism industry may lose almost 3 billion rubles ($47 million), in just the next two months. That\'s according to ATOR, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia. China is typically the largest single source of tourists to Russia: providing 1.5 million visitors in 2019. | While the situation is bad, it could get much worse. If Chinese holidaymakers…

RT (2020-02-19). US attempts to hurt China & Huawei \'so badly\' will only hurt itself, Huawei USA chief tells Boom Bust. rt.com US officials said recently they have evidence that the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei has backdoor access to mobile-phone networks around the world. | RT\'s Boom Bust welcomes Andy Purdy, chief security officer of Huawei Technologies USA, to discuss the growing tension in the 5G space and the company\'s role in international trade. | \"We welcome the opportunity to see what the evidence is but we really have to look at this in a broader context of an ongoing geopolitical dynamic between the US and China,\" Purdy says. | The United States has \"major issues with China and right now it wants to hurt China so badly…

RT (2020-02-19). Overseas investors increase holdings of Chinese bonds despite coronavirus uncertainty. rt.com Demonstrating confidence in China, international investors continued to invest in the country\'s economy. Net purchases of Chinese bonds were worth 43 billion yuan ($6.1 billion) after the Spring Festival, market data showed. | According to China Foreign Exchange Trade System, the country\'s bond market has become an important part of global asset allocation. It said, as cited by Xinhua News, that it will continue to improve overseas services and enhance financial infrastructure to facilitate bond trade. | Analysts largely expect growth to rebound after the containment on pent-up demand and production, the forei…

Dave Lindorff (2020-02-19). Truly Remaking Social Security is the Key to Having a Livable Society in the US. counterpunch.org Social Security is back in the news, as both Donald Trump and Michael Bloomberg, two emblematic one-percenter oligarchs, raise the issue of its future as part of their campaign strategy. Trump (a faux wannabe billionaire) has put Americans on notice that while he may have promised during his 2016 campaign \"not to touch\" the New

David Schultz (2020-02-19). Bernie Sanders and the Revenge of the Superdelegates. counterpunch.org Unless Bernie Sanders wins enough delegates to capture the Democratic Party nomination on the first ballot, he is not going to be the nominee. The reason will be that the superdelegates—those same people who were his wrath in 2016—will come back to deny him the nomination. The Democratic Party\'s superdelegates were a reaction to the

Nick Licata (2020-02-19). The Rule of Law Under Trump. counterpunch.org William Galston, a Brookings Institution senior fellow, said that \"we are a government of men and not law.\" It has no force until people enforce it. That is the underlying theme of Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig\'s A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump\'s Testing of America. The test is how far can one person,

Ishmael Reed (2020-02-19). Social Media: The New Grapevine Telegraph. counterpunch.org During the weekend of February 9th, MSNBC regular Tiffany Cross blurted out the conditions under which MSNBC black pundits work. She said, \"If I said a lot of the things that I really think, I would get filtered–we just can\'t say that, we have to filter our own voices.\" This explains why the black women on Joy Reid\'s show can weigh in on the stupid sexist brutish moves of some black athletes and entertainers, but can\'t discuss the effect of Michael Bloomberg\'s Stop and Frisk policy on black and brown women. They can\'t address the rampant sexism at NBC, where, according to journalist Ronan Farrow, wealthy white p…

Howard Lisnoff (2020-02-19). The Wealth That\'s Killing Us Will Save Us: Politics Through the Looking-Glass. counterpunch.org The Bloomberg for President campaign office looks like a complete anachronism in the heart of Harlem in New York City. The office is located on Harlem\'s famous 125th Street near the Metro North commuter railway station. The Bloomberg campaign office, a space that has the depth of a bowling alley, has a few campaign staffers

Linda Pentz Gunter (2020-02-19). Hysteria Isn\'t Killing Nuclear Power. counterpunch.org Time was, that a woman suffering from menopause, pre-menstrual syndrome, a heightened libido or lack thereof, was labeled \"hysterical.\" Her very real medical or psychological troubles were put down to an \"emotional reaction.\" For a while these symptoms were even attributed to a \"wandering womb.\" What? Yes, really. For years, if you were a woman

RT (2020-02-19). Venezuela slams US sanctions on Russia's Rosneft as an attempt at grabbing control of global oil market. rt.com Russian oil giant Rosneft\'s investments and commercial activities in Venezuela are legal, says state energy firm PDVSA, pledging to provide the necessary support for the producer\'s \"operational and commercial continuity.\" | The PDVSA statement follows Washington\'s blacklisting of a Rosneft subsidiary on Tuesday over its trade ties with Venezuela. The US accused the oil brokerage subsidiary of handling over 70 percent of Venezuela\'s exports, in circumvention of US sanctions. It has also given the companies doing business with Rosneft Trading 90 days to disentangle those arrangements. | COMUNICADO OFICIAL&#63743…

RT (2020-02-19). A year in jail & quarter million fine since, lawyers seek freedom for Chelsea Manning refusing to testify against WikiLeaks. rt.com Chelsea Manning\'s attorney has filed a new motion requesting her release from jail, where she has been for nearly a year for continuously refusing to testify before a grand jury against WikiLeaks and Julian Assange. | Manning\'s incarceration has \"exceeded its lawful scope\" by moving from being a coercive tactic to a criminal punishment, her lawyer Moira Meltzer-Cohen said in a Manning was jailed in March of 2019 for refusing to testify before a gran…

Tim Libretti (2020-02-19). To compete in global economy, Trump says workers\' lives have to get worse. peoplesworld.org What if America competed with other nations to have the best universal healthcare system or the best public education system? If we competed to be the leader in creating a green economy to address climate change? If we competed to end poverty and inequality? Donald Trump wants America to compete in the global economy, but …

The Canary (2020-02-19). Priti Patel defends PM after Dave brands him \'real racist\' in Brit Awards rap. thecanary.co Home secretary Priti Patel has criticised rapper Dave for branding Boris Johnson a \"real racist\" during the Brit Awards.The Tory MP said the artist\'s comments shortly before winning album of the year were \"utter nonsense\", and she defended the prime minister as \"not a racist at all\".Dave added verses to the end of his song Black criticising the government for the Windrush scandal and its handling of the Grenfell disaster. | \"The truth is our prime minister\'s a real racist,\" he rapped during the performance at London\'s O2 Arena.Patel was asked about Dave\'s criticism as she defended the government\'s immigration pla…

RT (2020-02-19). Last ones to leave: 130+ Indian crew members to remain quarantined for TWO MORE WEEKS on coronavirus-hit cruise ship. rt.com After the last passenger leaves the coronavirus-struck vessel, more than 100 Indian crew members, tending the quarantined guests, will be stuck on the Diamond Princess for another two weeks. | The Indian crew will not only be the last to disembark from the disease-hit luxury liner Diamond Princess, but will be quarantined for additional two weeks after all the passengers leave, the Times of India reported on Wednesday. | Passengers, who have tested negative for the virus began stepping ashore in the Port of Yokohama, Japan, earlier that day, after spending 14 days confined to the vessel. Indian personnel has b…

RT (2020-02-19). Iran confirms first 2 cases of new coronavirus — official. rt.com Tehran confirmed on Wednesday its first two cases of the new coronavirus shortly after reports that preliminary tests on two patients had come back positive. | \"As we had promised to announce any confirmed cases, a few minutes ago the health minister confirmed the two cases of the new coronavirus in the city of Qom,\" Ali Rabiei, the government spokesman, tweeted. | The Health Ministry said earlier that the patients had been put in isolation. Rabiei did not give the nationality of the two people infected, but some reports suggested that they were Iranian nationals. | The death toll from the new coronavirus in m…

RT (2020-02-19). Erdogan slams EU plan to enforce Libya arms embargo. rt.com Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday criticized the European Union\'s decision to launch a maritime effort focused on enforcing the UN arms embargo around Libya, accusing the European states that have agreed to the operation of \"interfering in the region.\" | Erdogan also hailed a decision by Libya\'s UN-supported government to withdraw from talks with rivals following an attack Tuesday on the sea port of the Libyan capital, Tripoli. The US called for the talks to be resumed \"quickly.\" | EU foreign ministers agreed earlier this week to end \'Operation Sophia\', the bloc\'s naval mission in the Mediter…

RT (2020-02-19). Russian Defense Minister Shoigu discusses Libya with east forces\' commander Haftar. rt.com Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu met with the commander of the Libyan National Army Khalifa Haftar on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Libya. | They discussed matters and \"stressed the importance of talks held on January 13 in Moscow for establishing ceasefire and launching the process of normalizing the situation in the country,\" the Russian Defense Ministry said. | Shoigu and Haftar confirmed the need to fulfill the decisions made at the Berlin conference on Libya. | They also noted that there is no alternative to settling the domestic Libyan crisis by political means and confirmed commitment to L…

RT (2020-02-19). Arctic kiss: Two Russian nuclear icebreakers rendezvous in spectacular night-time DRONE FOOTAGE. rt.com Two Russian nuclear icebreakers have met up somewhere on the endless white plains of the Arctic Ocean, providing for a sight both spectacular and romantic. | The video, posted by Russia\'s nuclear agency Rosatom, showed its Taymyr and Vaygach icebreakers almost touching with their bows, before settling in to \"cuddle\" side by side. | With the after-dark \"coupling\" filmed from the air and edited to a smooth soundtrack, some internet users found the scene \"erotic.\" | There were other interesting comparisons as well, with one commentator saying that the two massive ships positioned so close to each other resemb…

RT (2020-02-19). Houthi rebels block half of UN\'s aid delivery programs for Yemen — officials. rt.com Yemen\'s Houthi rebels have blocked half of the United Nations\' aid delivery programs in the war-torn country, AP reported Wednesday, citing aid officials and internal documents. The rebels are trying to force the agency to give them greater control over the massive humanitarian campaign, along with a cut of billions of dollars in foreign assistance, according to the report. | The rebel group has made granting access to areas under their control contingent on a flurry of conditions that aid agencies reject. | For months, the Houthis demanded a 2 percent cut from the entire aid budget be given to them, a conditi…

RT (2020-02-19). \'Impeached president says what?\' Bloomberg hits back at Trump \'Mini Mike the pathetic debater\' jibe. rt.com US President Donald Trump has lashed out at billionaire Democratic candidate Mike Bloomberg (again), this time calling him a \"pathetic debater\" with no respect for American farmers. Bloomberg hit back with some snark of his own. | Tweeting on Wednesday, Trump asked whether the \"corrupt\" Bloomberg News channel would admit that its owner \"Mini Mike\" was a pathetic debater. The tweet came ahead of the upcoming Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas — the first in which Bloomberg will take part. Trump previously bestowed the nickname \'Mini Mike\' on the former New York mayor in reference to his short stat…

Robert W. McChesney (2020-02-19). If Bloomberg wants to buy an election, he should run as a Republican against Trump—not sabotage Democrats. mronline.org The mega-billionaire should be running against Trump in the Republican primaries, not as a Democrat. If he actually cared about this country more than stroking his massive ego that is exactly what he would be doing. |

Staff (2020-02-19). Bloomberg Gains in Democratic Primaries, But Has History of Hostility to Unions Key to Voter Turnout. democracynow.org We continue our conversation with Marcie Wells, activist and waitress who is a member of the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 in Nevada, and Hamilton Nolan, labor reporter with In These Times. Nolan says 2020 had been \"the most promising election year for organized labor in a long time,\" with Democratic candidates releasing platforms with strong labor protections. But Michael Bloomberg\'s entry into the race threatens to upend the Democratic Party\'s pro-worker shift. The billionaire former mayor of New York has a long track record of hostility toward organized labor, particularly teachers\' unions, whom he has comp…

Staff (2020-02-19). Yale Study Says Medicare for All Would Save U.S. $450 Billion, Prevent Nearly 70,000 Deaths a Year. democracynow.org As the Democratic presidential hopefuls prepare to take to the debate stage tonight, we turn to a central issue of the campaign: Medicare for All. In a new study, Yale scholars have found that Medicare for All will save Americans more than $450 billion and prevent 68,000 deaths every year. The study in The Lancet — one of the oldest and most prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals — found that Medicare for All, supported by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, will save money and is more cost-effective than \"Medicare for All Who Want It, \"a model supported by Pete Buttigieg. Sanders referenced the…

RT (2020-02-19). Third time\'s the charm? Soros AGAIN accuses Facebook of helping Trump re-election, demands Zuckerberg & Sandberg exit. rt.com Billionaire speculator George Soros has once again called for the de-platforming of Facebook leadership, accusing them of collusion with US President Donald Trump, after CEO Mark Zuckerberg begged for more government regulation. | \"It goes without saying that I support government regulation of social media platforms,\" Soros said in a letter to Financial Times published Tuesday, but added that Zuckerberg does not need government regulation to stop accepting all political advertising until after the November 2020 US election. | Facebook is unlikely to do so, the Paris-based oligarch wrote, accusing Zuckerberg of…

Andre Vltchek (2020-02-19). Could the Latest Outburst of Ankara\'s Temper lead to Escalation in Syria? dissidentvoice.org So far Turkey, militarily the second mightiest NATO country, has been able to get away with virtually anything it has chosen to brew in the Middle East. The reason why is simple: to confront Turkey\'s bullying and expansionism militarily would be like confronting the United States or Israel; thousands of innocent people would die as …

RT (2020-02-19). \'Worst case scenario\': Kremlin slams Turkey's threat of military operation against Syrian government in Idlib. rt.com Turkey sending troops to Syria to fight against the government would be the \'worst case scenario\', Kremlin spokesman said after Ankara threatened that such an operation was imminent. | Turkey\'s President Erdogan said on Wednesday Ankara was prepared to launch a military incursion into Idlib to force the Syrian army out. Russia\'s reaction to such a development would depend on what goals the Turkish troops decide to pursue, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. | \"If it will be an operation against terrorist forces in Idlib, that would certainly be within the spirit\" of Russia\'s agreements with Turkey, he said.

RT (2020-02-19). WATCH Aleppo intl airport receive FIRST flight ending years-long shutdown after Syrian troops clear recovering city of militants. rt.com A Syrian Air flight has landed at Aleppo International Airport for the first time in years, marking a milestone in the recovery of the city, which has been returning to normal life from the abyss of its civil war. | The commercial flight, carrying Syrian officials and journalists, landed in Aleppo on Wednesday, some 40 minutes after taking off from the capital, Damascus. The arrival of the Airbus A320 has become a symbolic message, marking the resumption of flights between Syria\'s two biggest cities. | Footage taken on the spot showed a crowd of people that came to the airport to welcome the first flight. Some…

RT (2020-02-19). Turkish military op in Idlib only 'matter of time\', Erdogan warns Damascus. rt.com A new Turkish military incursion into Syria\'s Idlib governorate has been planned and may start at any moment, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned, ramping up a tense standoff with Damascus. | \"As with all [previous] operations, we say \'we could suddenly come one night.\' In other words, an Idlib operation is a matter of time,\" Erdogan said, referring to incursions into Syria conducted in 2016, 2018 and last year. | Ankara will not \"leave Idlib to the Assad regime and its backers,\" Erdogan vowed, referring to the Syrian government and, apparently, to Russia and Iran. Speaking to lawmakers on Wednesday, he…

RT (2020-02-19). Albania\'s president calls on citizens \'to topple govt for violation of constitution\'. rt.com Albania\'s President Ilir Meta on Wednesday called on the people to topple the left-wing government, which he accused of violating the constitution and of alleged links to organized crime, AP reported. | Meta said at a news conference that he hopes people will come to the capital Tirana on March 2, when he plans to sign the first decree against what he says is a \'coup d\'etat\' being carried out by the government through the justice system. | The Balkan nation of nearly 3 million has been enacting reforms in hopes of getting a green light to launch membership talks with the EU. The president said that justice sys…

RT (2020-02-19). Clicks-hungry media warns Ireland of \'Russian ghost ship with CANNIBAL RATS,\' but Twitter\'s not amused. rt.com An Irish news outlet has posted an alarming tweet warning that a cannibal rat-laden Russian \'ghost ship\' is \"heading for Ireland.\" Rather than spark concern, the clickbait tweet has merely generated eye-rolls from Twitter users. | Wednesday\'s tweet from the Irish Times shared a link to a feature about a couple of ghost ships currently at large somewhere on the high seas that could — maybe, possibly, in the right conditions — wind up washing ashore along Ireland\'s coast. And the vessel of most concern is apparently \"an abandoned former Soviet cruise liner [called] Lyubov Orlova\" which is apparently ma…

Ed Rampell (2020-02-19). The things we do for love: Styx and Stones in new opera \'Eurydice\'. peoplesworld.org LOS ANGELES—LA Opera\'s world premiere of composer Matthew Aucoin and librettist Sarah Ruhl\'s sublime Eurydice is an optically and aurally stunning reinterpretation of the ancient Greek myth about Orpheus (baritone Joshua Hopkins) and the title character (Danielle de Niese, but substituted on Feb. 14 by Erica Petrocelli). Like Romeo and Juliet, there have been many …

RT (2020-02-19). Saudi Arabia\'s oil exports dropped 11% in 2019. rt.com Saudi Arabia\'s oil exports dropped by 10.75 percent year on year in 2019, according to data from the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI), as carried by local news outlet Mubasher. | The total Saudi oil exports, including crude oil and petroleum products, averaged 8.339 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2019, down from an average 9.344 million bpd in total oil exports in 2018, according to JODI data quoted by Mubasher. | According to the data released by the JODI database, which collects self-reported figures from 114 countries, Saudi Arabia\'s crude oil exports in December remained unchanged month on mont…

RT (2020-02-19). Russia may grant ex-presidents immunity from prosecution & ban ministers from holding foreign bank accounts. rt.com When Vladimir Putin announced his intention to amend Russia\'s Constitution, it drove the pundits and pontificators into a frenzy of speculation. Since then there\'s been a raft of proposals but two in particular stand out. | According to Pavel Krasheninnikov, co-chair of the working group set up to propose changes to the code, the idea of making former presidents exempt from subsequent criminal charges has been floated; along with a restriction on cabinet members from keeping money in financial institutions abroad. | Reports about Russian officials taking money out of the country have long aroused anger. Back i…

Staff (2020-02-19). Latinx Group Mijente Backs Bernie Sanders in First-Ever Presidential Endorsement. democracynow.org In its first-ever presidential endorsement, the Latinx and Chicanx organization Mijente endorsed Bernie Sanders on Tuesday ahead of the Nevada caucuses. The group tweeted its decision, saying, \"We know that in 2020, Trump\'s potential re-election is a life-or-death threat for us, for our people, and for our planet. This moment demands a historic mobilization. That\'s why Mijente is uniting with the movement to elect @BernieSanders.\" A video accompanied the announcement. After the contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, where the electorate is overwhelmingly white, Nevada is the first election with a diverse population.

Eric A. Gordon (2020-02-19). Nevada: Democratic primary intensifies the debate over class divisions in America. peoplesworld.org In the lead-up to the statewide Democratic primary caucus on Saturday, Feb. 22, Nevada\'s early voters on Feb. 15, the first day, turned out in record numbers—more than 18,500 Democrats, almost twice the turnout on the first day of advance caucusing in 2016. Enthusiasm over this election is mounting, and the eyes of the nation …

Staff (2020-02-19). Nevada Culinary Workers Union Member: I Would Trade My Union Healthcare for Medicare for All. democracynow.org The third presidential contest of the primary season takes place Saturday in Nevada. One of the state\'s most coveted endorsements is from the Culinary Workers Union, which represents some 60,000 workers in the restaurant and hospitality industries in Las Vegas and Reno. Its membership is 54% Latinx. But last week they decided not to endorse any of the candidates. Nevada is a \"right to work\" state, and the Culinary Workers Union has attracted members by offering them healthcare. It has said it supports \"choices\" in healthcare. The mobilization of service employees could be critical to winning the Nevada caucuses.

Staff (2020-02-19). Bernie Sanders\' Campaign to Request Recount of Iowa Caucuses. truthdig.com The plans come after the results of a recanvass by state party officials show the Vermont senator and Pete Buttigieg in an effective tie.

RT (2020-02-19). U-turn: Ex-Democratic candidate Andrew Yang joins CNN as political commentator. rt.com Fresh from abandoning his dreams of presidential glory, entrepreneur and failed presidential hopeful Andrew Yang has lowered his sights to the corridors of CNN\'s newsrooms instead, joining the network as a political commentator. | Yang announced he was ending his long-shot campaign following last week\'s New Hampshire primary in which he finished in eighth place. \"I am not someone who wants to accept donations and support in a race that we will not win,\" he said graciously. | It wasn\'t long, however, before Yang had found another route to political stardom: a cushy commentator job with CNN. | I\'m excited to joi…

RT (2020-02-19). Reddit experiences major outage as 1000s of reports come flooding in from around the world. rt.com Popular online news aggregator Reddit experienced a major outage Wednesday with thousands of users reporting issues around the world. | Almost 10,000 reports have been made on crowdsourcing website monitor DownDetector.com with a roughly 50/50 split of reports indicating outages on the app and website. | The majority of the reports about the social media platform meets meme workshop have come from the Eastern seaboard of the US and Western Europe. | | © Down Detector | Visitors to the site were met with a message reading: \"Our CDN was unable to reach our servers\". Reddit confirmed they are aware of the…

RT (2020-02-19). Oh ire of Scotland: US huntress who invoked online OUTRAGE for posing with dead animals in UK avoids prosecution. rt.com An American trophy hunter who claims she received death threats after posing with her kills in Scotland will reportedly face no criminal charges, despite a torrent of online abuse and outrage. | TV presenter Larysa Switlyk, 34, was reported for firearms offenses and \'wild goat trophy hunting\' on Islay in September 2018 after posting photos of her smiling with a dead goat, a stag and a ram. | | © Instagram/ LarysaUnleashed | While it is legal to hunt feral goats in Scotland, as they are classed as an invasive species, many took issue with the American\'s brazen attitude towards Scottish wildlife and cultu…

RT (2020-02-19). CNN reporter triggered by Fox interviewing InfoWars\' \'Gun Girl\' quickly reminded of own network\'s history with racists & criminals. rt.com In a case of pot calling the kettle black, Oliver Darcy fumed at Fox News describing Kaitlin Bennet as a \"gun rights activist\" after her tumultuous visit to a college campus. Twitter was quick to remind him of CNN\'s own sins.

RT (2020-02-19). Foreign powers working against India as it moves to become global guru — defense minister. rt.com \"Many foreign powers\" are seeking to undermine the Indian government, fearful of the nation\'s rise to global prominence, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh has warned. | \"Many foreign powers are trying to break our country. They do not want a stable government in India, because they can see our future — the country is not only on its way to becoming a global superpower, but also a universal teacher or master,\" the top defense official told a gathering in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state. | Singh was a guest of honor during a three-day event hosted by Ekal Vidyalaya, an NGO dedicated to education an…

RT (2020-02-19). 'Utter nonsense': UK Home Secretary Patel hits back at 'Dave' after British rapper calls BoJo a 'real racist' at music awards show. rt.com UK Home Secretary Priti Patel has lashed out at British rapper, Dave, after the musician used his performance at the BRIT music awards to brand PM Boris Johnson a racist. Patel called the accusation \"utter nonsense.\" | The 21-year-old black rapper from Streatham in South London — who won album of the year at the prestigious awards show in the UK capital on Tuesday night — added a final verse to his performance of song \'Black,\' in which he singled out Johnson. | It is racist whether or not it feels racist. The truth is our prime minister is a real racist. They say, you should be grateful we\'re the lea…