(2020-01-21). Jan. 25 — Global Day of Protest — No war on Iran! workers.org When President Trump ordered the assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in early January, tens of thousands of people protested in over 80 cities across 38 U.S. states. While Trump has since stepped back from pushing all-out war in Iraq and Iran, he has issued executive orders increasing deadly sanctions . . . |

Ronak Chhabra (2020-01-21). In Photos: Civil disobedience is everywhere! peoplesdispatch.org With the far-right Indian government is showing no signs of backing down on divisive Citizenship Amendment Act, the voices of resistance have only grown louder and the list of such protest venues is going on increasing…

RT (2020-01-21). BRICS open to new member states joining the club, says Russia\'s deputy FM. rt.com The BRICS group of emerging economies, which is comprised of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, is open to welcoming new member countries, according to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. | Russia is focused on activities on the BRICS+ platform, which \"makes it possible for interested countries to find ways to cooperate with the group\'s members,\" said Ryabkov, adding: \"This is why it is possible to talk about the expansion of BRICS as a goal for the future.\" | According to Ryabkov, the Russian Sherpa in the five-nation trade bloc, \"BRICS\' existence is important in terms of creating new…

RT (2020-01-21). Iran\'s civil aviation authority confirms 2 missiles fired at Ukraine airliner. rt.com The civil aviation authority in Iran has confirmed two missiles were fired at a Ukrainian airliner that was brought down earlier this month. Investigators discovered that \"two Tor-M1 missiles… were fired at the aircraft,\" the authority said in a preliminary report posted on its website late on Monday. | An investigation is ongoing to assess the bearing their impact had on the accident. The statement confirms a report in The New York Times which included video footage appearing to show two projectiles being fired at the airliner. | The Kiev-bound Ukraine International Airlines plane was shot down in error sho…

RT (2020-01-21). S. Korea to send vessel, 300 troops to Strait of Hormuz after US pressure. rt.com South Korea will send a naval destroyer and 300 troops to the Strait of Hormuz, the Defense Ministry in Seoul said on Tuesday. The move follows pressure from the US amid tensions between Washington and Tehran, AFP said. | Iran has been blamed for a series of attacks on shipping vessels in the strait, a strategic point for the world\'s oil trade, where the US has deployed a naval mission. Seoul has had diplomatic relations with Tehran since the early 1960s, and until last year Iran was one of the resource-poor South\'s key oil suppliers. | The Defense Ministry said that Seoul had decided to \"temporarily expand\" t…

Martin Hart-Landsberg (2020-01-21). When it comes to pay, U.S. business leaders are world champs. mronline.org U.S. CEOs not only draw the highest salaries (including bonuses and equity awards, etc.), but they are king of the hill when it comes to lording it over their employees, as illustrated by the high ratio of CEO to worker earnings. |

The Canary (2020-01-21). Young people making climate change \'hot topic\', Greta Thunberg tells Davos elite. thecanary.co Greta Thunberg was among four young climate activists to challenge the elites gathered at the World Economic Forum for not doing enough to deal with the climate emergency and warned them that time was running out.At a panel in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, the four said they hoped their generation had found its voice and can work with those in power to bring about the necessary change to limit climate change.Yet Thunberg said not enough has been done. | \"We need to start listening to the science, and treat this crisis with the importance it deserves,\" said the 17-year-old, just as US president Donald Trump was a…

RT (2020-01-21). Worst lie since fake claim sparked Iraq war? OPCW report behind Syria bombings was altered, whistleblower tells UNSC. rt.com A former inspector with the OPCW has accused the chemical weapons watchdog of issuing a sanitized report on the alleged 2018 attack in Douma, Syria, arguing it ignored serious reservations of its own fact-finding team. | The OPCW\'s final report on the Douma incident, released last March, omitted key findings of its own inspection team which would have cast serious doubt on whether a chemical attack took place at all, a now former OPCW specialist, Ian Henderson, told members of the United Nations Security Council in a recorded video address — after his visa application to attend the meeting in person was r…

Dianne Mathiowetz (2020-01-21). Poniendo la verdad tras las rejas. workers.org øSabía que uno de los derechos más protegidos en este país es el derecho del gobierno a mentirle a la gente? Esa es la esencia de la persecución que se está llevando a cabo en este momento contra Chelsea Manning y Julian Assange. Manning era una analista de inteligencia del . . . |

RT (2020-01-21). 2 killed, 1 critically injured in chaotic stabbing, robbery & arson spree in Barcelona (VIDEOS). rt.com Police in Barcelona have connected the dots between a series of apparently random attacks across the city, tying one suspect to two murders, a stabbing and an attempt at arson in the span of a single afternoon. | It all started around 3pm local time, when Barcelona\'s fire brigade responded to calls about an apartment blaze near the city\'s Ciutadella Park. Inside the flat they stumbled upon far more than a fire, finding not only evidence of arson, but the body of a man with \"signs of violence,\" and apparently strangled. Police were called to investigate, strongly suspecting foul play. | A video later emerged on…

Staff (2020-01-21). Climate Activists Sound Alarm on Mediterranean Natural Gas Pipelines. therealnews.com Activists say the environmental risks of natural gas drilling are being ignored in the rush to challenge Russia\'s control of the European energy market.

RT (2020-01-21). China finds oil in Asia\'s deepest onshore well, nearly 9,000 meters underground. rt.com China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has found crude oil and natural gas in the deepest well drilled in Asia\'s onshore, striking hydrocarbons in a pre-salt layer for the first time in China. | The discovery was made in the Tarim oilfield in China\'s northwestern region of Xinjiang in a well deep 8,882 meters (29,140 feet), which was first drilled in July last year. | Production from the now spudded well in the pre-salt area is expected at 133.46 cubic meters of oil per day, while daily gas production is seen at 48,700 cubic meters, according to a CNPC statement carried by Reuters. | Also on rt.com…

RT (2020-01-21). China court sentences former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei to 13 years in prison for bribery. rt.com Former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei, who was detained on a visit to China in 2018, was sentenced Tuesday to more than 13 years in prison for bribery. The case shook the international police organization. | Meng — a former vice minister of public security — is among a growing group of Communist Party cadres caught in China\'s anti-graft campaign. He vanished during a visit to China from France, where Interpol is based, and was later accused of accepting bribes and expelled from the Communist Party. His wife was granted political asylum in France last year. | Meng was sentenced to 13 years and six months…

RT (2020-01-21). WHO calls for emergency meeting as China confirms 4th death & person-to-person spread of new coronavirus. rt.com The World Health Organization will convene an emergency expert panel to determine whether a new virus sweeping China should be declared a global threat, after Chinese health officials confirmed the lethal pathogen is contagious. | The upcoming WHO meeting, set for Wednesday, was announced on the heels of the fourth confirmed death from the new coronavirus, which first broke out in the Chinese city of Wuhan but has since spread, taking hold in Beijing and Shanghai. There are now 217 known infections, according to the Chinese authorities, with 198 of them in Wuhan and another four cases reported in Japan, South…

RT (2020-01-21). WATCH Monstrous dust storms blocking out the Sun as Australia\'s weather woes continue. rt.com As if sprawling bushfires and violent hailstorms weren\'t enough, to add insult to injury, vast dust storms engulfed large swathes of New South Wales in Australia to close out a weekend of intense weather. | Eyewitness video shows the huge dirt wall bearing down on poor Aussies who could only watch mouth agape (at least until the storm hit) before the entire area was blanketed in dust. Residents in the towns of Narromine, Parkes and Dubbo in New South Wales state could only look on in awe as the ominous cloud grew ever larger before it consumed them all. | Australia\'s Bureau of Meteorology had issued severe…

Morley Musick (2020-01-21). Meet the Boy Scouts of the Border Patrol. thenation.com Meet the Boy Scouts of the Border Patrol…

Sasha Abramsky (2020-01-21). Trump Leads a Government of, by, and for Bullies. thenation.com Trump Leads a Government of, by, and for Bullies…

CODEPINK, ANSWER (2020-01-21). Global Day of Protest: No War with Iran! (Monterey). indybay.org Window on the Bay, 717 Del Monte Ave at Camino El Estero, Monterey, CA 93940…

CODEPINK, ANSWER (2020-01-21). Global Day of Protest: No War on Iran! (Davis). indybay.org Intersection of 5th Street and B Street, Downtown Davis 95616…

CODEPINK, ANSWER (2020-01-21). Global Day of Protest: No War on Iran! (Sacramento). indybay.org Intersection of 9th street & K street, Sacramento, CA 95814…

CODEPINK, ANSWER (2020-01-21). Global Day of Protest: No War on Iran! (Santa Cruz). indybay.org Santa Cruz Town Clock, tri-intersection of Water Street, Front Street, N. Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95060…

CODEPINK, ANSWER (2020-01-21). Global Day of Protest: No War on Iran! (San Mateo). indybay.org Intersection of 3rd Avenue and El Camino Real, San Mateo, CA 94401…

CODEPINK, ANSWER (2020-01-21). Global Day of Protest: No War with Iran! (San Jose). indybay.org San José City Hall, 200 E Santa Clara St, San Jose, CA 95113…

James C. Nelson (2020-01-21). Another Date That Will Live in Infamy: 10 Years After Citizens United. counterpunch.org On January 21, 2010, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down one of its worst and most activist decisions ever. Indeed, in terms of harm caused and likelihood for future harm, the Court\'s decision in Citizen\'s United is, likely, the most pernicious Supreme Court decision ever issued in our nation\'s history. A historical

David Levin (2020-01-21). The Teamster Revolt Against the Hoffa Era. counterpunch.org Willie Ford listened to the conference call in disbelief from the cab of his tractor trailer on I-95 as the Teamster election monitor announced the results of the contract vote covering 250,000 workers at UPS.Ford, a leader of Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), and rank-and-file activists like him, had spent months organizing the UPS

WSWS (2020-01-21). Berlin conference prepares military occupation of Libya. wsws.org The Libya conference, which took place last Sunday in Berlin, was not about peace in the war-torn country, but about the distribution of the loot.

sputniknews (2020-01-21). Break of Dawn After Storm: EXO Chen Announces New Duo After Marriage Controversy. sputniknews.com The news of marriage and fatherhood of the boy band\'s main vocalist created a furore among the fandom and the K-pop world, but peace could soon break out as a new song is set to be released.

R. Robertson (2020-01-21). San Mateo Peace Action — Rally for Women on the SF Peninsula. indybay.org Every Saturday, San Mateo Peace Action sponsors a protest at 3rd Ave and El Camino Real from 3pm… but one Saturday out of the year is extraordinary.

sputniknews (2020-01-21). Gantz Calls for Jordan Valley Annexation, \'Hopes Trump Releases Peace Plan Soon\'. sputniknews.com Previously, Benny Gantz had opposed the publication of Trump\'s peace plan during the campaign, describing it as \'outright intervention\' in the Israeli election.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-01-21). Gawkadal massacre in Kashmir. peoplesdispatch.org On January 21, 1990, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), an Indian paramilitary force opened fire on a group of Kashmiri protesters at Gawkadal bridge in Srinagar, Indian side of Kashmir. Gawkadal massacre is considered to be one of the worst massacres in Kashmiri history\" along with the Bijbehara Massacre in 1993. According to survivors, more than 250 people were killed in the firing. No action was taken against the CRPF personnel responsible for the massacre.

John Feffer (2020-01-21). Trump Makes Space Great Again. counterpunch.org Unlike virtually everything else that Trump has touched, the Space Force boondoggle has generated almost no controversy. Congress approved Trump\'s initiative, which was folded into the annual National Defense Authorization Act, by an overwhelming bipartisan vote at the end of 2019. Not only have very few voices of protest been raised against this extraordinary expansion of U.S. militarism, it has even generated some unexpected praise.

WSWS (2020-01-21). Mass protests escalate in Iraq and Lebanon. wsws.org Both countries saw violent clashes as discredited caretaker governments fail to meet any of the social and political demands made by hundreds of thousands who have taken to the streets.

Patrick Cockburn (2020-01-21). The US and Iran\'s Perpetual Almost-War is Unsustainable. zcomm.org The US maximalist demands on Iran\'s nuclear facilities, ballistic missiles and regional influence effectively mean that it wants regime change or capitulation…

Patrick Cockburn (2020-01-21). The US and Iran\'s Perpetual Almost-War is Unsustainable — and Will End Badly. counterpunch.org Today Iran\'s supreme leader Ali Khamenei gave his first Friday sermon in Tehran for eight years to an audience of thousands, as he tried to calm down the furious public reaction to the Revolutionary Guards mistakenly shooting down a Ukrainian plane carrying 176 passengers, then proceeding to lie about their responsibility for three days. Khameinei

Paul Antonopoulos (2020-01-21). Attempts to Remove Morales\' Memory from Bolivia Will Likely Reinvigorate an Anti-Imperialist Struggle. globalresearch.ca Last Wednesday, the coup government of Bolivia launched a massive military operation claiming to be a pre-emptive strike against the expected violence to occur this Wednesday during Plurinational State Foundation Day celebrations that memorializes the change in the name of …

Robert Fisk (2020-01-21). Iran Will be Changed Forever by Admitting Its Great Mistake, Unlike the West Which Ignores Its Own Misdeeds. counterpunch.org \"In wartime,\" Churchill famously told Stalin, \"truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.\" He said this on 30 November 1943 — by chance his 69th birthday — in an effort to impress upon the Soviet leader the importance of deception in the planning of D-Day. In fact,

Ryan Cristián (2020-01-21). US Gov Was Found Guilty In MLK\'s Assassination, Virginia Update & Israeli Gov \"Proof\" Of Iran Nukes. thelastamericanvagabond.com Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (1/20/19). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …

George Stacey (2020-01-21). Civil war in Iraq? Is Dubai safe? Or World War 3: An analysis of the US-Iran Conflict from every direction. nationofchange.org Iran will never even try to indulge in a one-on-one war with the United States.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-01-21). Iran threatens to leave nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. peoplesdispatch.org The announcement comes after the UK, France and Germany proposed the invocation of the dispute settlement mechanism in the UNSC – a move that Iran alleges is based on US diktats…

sputniknews (2020-01-21). Trump\'s \'Four Embassies\' Claim is Distorted Iran Intelligence — Report. sputniknews.com Donald Trump stated that he ordered the assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani because of an as-yet-unspecified \"imminent\" threat to the US, including four American embassies. The existence of such a threat could give Trump legal justification for the attack and avoid an international and domestic backlash.

sputniknews (2020-01-21). Second Consecutive Day, Indian Security Forces Gun Down Two Terrorists in Kashmir. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): Indian security forces gunned down three suspected terrorists of the proscribed militant organisation Hizbul Mujahideen in Shopian district of the restive Kashmir region in a gun-fight on 20 January. One of them was a police-absconder-turned terrorist.

WSWS (2020-01-21). UK Counter Terrorism Policing document seeks to outlaw political dissent. wsws.org The \"guidance document\" lists prominent left-wing, anti-war and environmental groups alongside far-right, fascist and white supremacist organisations.

WSWS (2020-01-21). Anger mounts in Puerto Rico as workers discover warehouse full of unused aid. wsws.org On Saturday, in Ponce, Puerto Rico residents discovered a warehouse piled high with desperately needed unused emergency supplies…

Laura Flanders (2020-01-21). Iowa is not the Twitterverse. counterpunch.org It was a balmy 70 degrees in New York City last Saturday, and the excited green croci began tipping through the earth. Now, that same ground is icy, and those tips are frozen stiff, and I\'ve been fearing that the same fate might befall hopeful progressive voters in the wake of the Warren/Sanders tiff. The

Sheldon Richman (2020-01-21). Warmonger Cotton Accuses Antiwar Think Tank of Anti-Semitism. counterpunch.org If you wonder what…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-01-21). Evo Morales announces MAS candidates for general elections in May. peoplesdispatch.org Former Bolivian President Evo Morales on January 19 announced the presidential ticket of his party, the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), for the upcoming general elections in the country. Speaking at a press conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where Morales is living as a political refugee, he announced that former Minister of Economy Luis Arce and former Minister of Foreign Affairs David Choquehuanca would run for president and vice president, respectively, in the elections scheduled for May 3. | The decision was taken after two days of intense discussion and contemplation between Morales, the MAS leaders of…

sputniknews (2020-01-21). Our Generation is Kind of Stuck Between Progression, Regression: Bollywood\'s Ashwini Iyer Tiwari. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): Director Ashwini Iyer Tiwari believes in highlighting the Indian women\'s struggle through her projects, from depicting a mother\'s role in motivating her daughter to study in the film \"Neil Battey Sannata\" to presenting the story of a national level Kabaddi player who gave up her dreams, after becoming a mother in \"Panga\".

Joan Walsh (2020-01-21). In 2020, Double Standards Are Still Dogging Elizabeth Warren—and All the Women Candidates. thenation.com In 2020, Double Standards Are Still Dogging Elizabeth Warren—and All the Women Candidates…

Graham Peebles (2020-01-21). Education: Expanding Purpose. counterpunch.org As the world stumbles from one crisis to another it is increasingly apparent that existing systems and institutions are incapable of responding to the challenges of the time and the growing demands of the people. Creative ways of thinking free from ideology are needed, allowing for a revolution of ideas to take place and new

Binoy Kampmark (2020-01-21). Janus-Faced on Climate Change: Microsoft\'s Carbon Vision. counterpunch.org \"This is a bold bet — a moonshot — for Microsoft.\" So claimed Brad Smith, Microsoft President, in a Thursday announcement painting a picture of a company that intends to be carbon negative by 2030. \"And,\" Smith continued, \"it will need to be a moonshot for the world.\" That vision entails the removal of more

RT (2020-01-20). India successfully tests 3,500km range nuclear-capable missile from underwater platform — reports. rt.com India has tested its K-4 submarine-launched ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead off its southeastern coast. The launch reportedly went smoothly, and saw the missile being fired off a submerged platform. | The missile, which is set to equip India\'s first indigenously built nuclear-powered submarine, the INS Arihant, reportedly flew 2,200km after it blasted off from a \"submerged pontoon\" in the Bay of Bengal off the coast of Visakhapatnam on Sunday afternoon. Local media, citing unnamed official sources, said the launch from a platform simulates the situation of a launch from a submarine. | T…

RT (2020-01-20). Iranian FM Zarif won\'t attend Davos forum as organizers \'changed agenda\'. rt.com Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will not attend the World Economic Forum\'s annual meeting in Davos this week. The forum\'s organizers have \"abruptly changed its agenda,\" Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi explained on Monday. | The minister \"was scheduled to attend… but they abruptly changed the schedule and it was not the schedule that we agreed upon,\" Mousavi told reporters. \"So he will not attend Davos.\" | Last week, Reuters reported that Zarif was no longer on the list of nearly 3,000 people due at the event. The forum is being held under the banner \'Stakeholders for a Sustainable and…

RT (2020-01-20). Iran will leave pact barring it from getting nukes if complaint over 2015 deal filed with UN — Zarif. rt.com Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned that the country will ditch the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if EU states file a complaint over its nuclear commitments with the UN Security Council. | \"If the Europeans continue their improper behavior or send Iran\'s file to the Security Council, we will withdraw from the NPT,\" Zarif said on Monday, as quoted by IRNA. | Last week, France, Germany and Britain formally lodged a complaint that Tehran is violating the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran\'s nuclear program. The countries now have up to 60 days to resolve the dispute. Ot…

RT (2020-01-20). Richest 1% owns more than TWICE as much wealth as 6.9 billion people — Oxfam. rt.com A super-rich one percent of the world\'s population has accumulated twice as much wealth as the remaining 90 percent, global charity Oxfam said in a newly-released report. | The gap between the obscenely rich and the rest of humanity has reached grotesque proportions, according to the annual report by Oxfam, published on Monday on the eve of the World Economic Forum in Davos. | The new report, \'Time to Care\', which focuses on the largely unpaid care work many wo…

RT (2020-01-20). \'Berlin conference showed Moscow & Ankara have a huge role to play in solving Libya crisis\'. rt.com The Berlin peace summit shows that Russia and Turkey still have an important role to play as they are among the few countries that can really influence the situation in Libya, Yusuf Erim, a Turkish foreign policy expert, said. | The peace conference on Libya convened in Berlin succeeded in bringing together a host of world leaders to try and find a way out of the civil war plaguing the war-ravaged land for years, Erim told RT. However, it also clearly showed that very few nations can really move the Libyan peace process forward, as most lack a strategy and the will to translate words into action. | Also on rt.

RT (2020-01-20). Could renewables overtake coal in China? rt.com As China continues its long and painful move away from coal, solar and wind energy are becoming increasingly competitive. | In September of last year Oilprice reported an incredible milestone for renewable energy when solar and wind power became cheaper than coal in most of the world. Now, a new report released this week by Wood Mackenzie Power and Renewables has heralded another milestone: China will soon be added to that list of countries in which coa…

RT (2020-01-20). \'He\'s picking up his teeth\': NHL player Paul Stastny drips blood after taking puck to mouth in gruesome injury (DISTURBING VIDEO). rt.com Vegas Golden Knights center Paul Stastny was smashed in the face with a puck and picked his teeth off the blood-stained ice at Montreal\'s Bell Center as his team lost to the Canadians. | The 34-year-old was battered by an accidental high stick and a shot from Canadiens forward Joel Armia that left him sprawled on the ice with blood gushing from his mouth. | Stastny had been racing back towards his own goal in a bid to stop Armia, whose attempt came off Stastny\'s shoulder and left his face a gory mess. | Armia tried to comfort his combatant as he left the ice, but the veteran bravely shrugged off the horrific i…

RT (2020-01-20). Putin submits candidacy of Investigative Committee deputy head for post of prosecutor general. rt.com Russian President Vladimir Putin has submitted for consideration by the Federation Council the candidacy of deputy head of the Investigative Committee Igor Krasnov for…

WSWS (2020-01-20). Chicago police to be deputized as federal immigration agents. wsws.org The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency says it will use the Chicago Police Department to enforce federal immigration laws.

Ben Norton (2020-01-20). Brazil\'s far-right government backed terror plot against Venezuela, top newspaper reveals. mronline.org Brazil\'s extreme Bolsonaro government backed an attack on Venezuela in a plot to overthrow its elected president. The shocking terror operation has received no coverage in mainstream U.S. media. | Source

Chris Hedges (2020-01-20). A Circus Then, a Circus Now. truthdig.com Chris Hedges has the week off. Here, in this reposted column from Jan. 7, 2019, are his thoughts about the then-nascent presidential election campaign. | It is January 2019. This signals the start of the 2020 election circus. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is the first big-name Democrat on stage. But we will soon be deluged with candidates, bizarre antics and endless commentary by fatuous TV and radio pundits. The hyperventilating, the constant polling, the updates on who has the largest campaign war chest, the hypothetical matches between this hopeful and that hopeful, the mocking tweets by Donald Trump, will, as we saw…

Fight Back (2020-01-20). Embassy Protectors speak out in Fort Lauderdale. fightbacknews.org Fort Lauderdale, FL — Over 60 people from South Florida\'s tri-county area gathered at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation Church of Fort Lauderdale to hear a panel and question-and-answer session featuring anti-war activists Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers. Zeese and Flowers are two of the four Embassy Protector activists who spent 37 days protecting international law and peace within the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, D.C. They are currently facing bogus federal charges brought by the Trump administration that, if convicted, would mean up to one year in prison and $100,000 fines each. | Also on th…

Staff (2020-01-20). Virginia Braces for Arrival of Pro-Gun Militias Amid State of Emergency. truthout.org Virginia-based gun control activist Catherine Koebel is intimately familiar with the reign of terror that the state\'s pro-gun forces attempt to maintain through threats and intimidation, despite the fact that a strong majority of Virginia residents support gun reforms. | Koebel, who grew up in Blacksburg, Virginia, and has been involved in gun control organizing in the state since the Virginia Tech shooting left 33 people dead in 2007, said she has faced vicious harassment and death threats for he…

Mark Harris (2020-01-20). Better Living Through Glyphosate? Spray Now, Ask Questions Later. counterpunch.org There\'s a lot of talk in the Trump era about the \"war on science.\" But this war, such as it is, extends far beyond uninformed Republican attacks on climate change science or Donald Trump\'s mocking insults of Greta Thunberg, the teen climate activist nearly 60 years the old bully\'s junior. This war involves not only More

R. Robertson (2020-01-20). San Mateo Peace Action — Rally for Women on the SF Peninsula. indybay.org Every Saturday, San Mateo Peace Action sponsors a protest at 3rd Ave and El Camino Real from 3pm… but one Saturday out of the year is extraordinary.

San Jose Peace & Justice Center (2020-01-20). Secular Traditions in Indian Music and Poetry. indybay.org San Jose Peace and Justice Center | 48 South 7th Street | San Jose, CA 95112 | Bus routes: 22, 522, 23, 523, 55, 64, 66, 68, 72, 73, 168, 181, 500, Hwy 17 Express, MST 55, LRT…

sputniknews (2020-01-20). Iran & US Relationships; Scottish Independence; and Protests in France. sputniknews.com Join George Galloway on the new home for the Mother of All Talk Shows – this week we discuss latest on Iran and US relationships; Scottish independence, and protests in France.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-01-20). Protesters in Lebanon marched towards parliament, faced police repression. peoplesdispatch.org Political forces in the country have failed to respond to the protesters\' demands for an overhaul of the political system in any credible way, even after three months of popular protests in the country…

Paul Street (2020-01-20). Trump Showed Us Who He Was Before He Became President. counterpunch.org The long record of this presidency\'s transgressions now includes the open dog-wagging assassination — on brazenly false pretexts — of a foreign military commander atop a state (Iran) with which the United States is not at war and without the permission of a government (Iraq) on whose soil the monumental war crime took place. In response to mild Democratic Party criticism of the timing and grounds for the assassination of Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Trump has re-tweeted a right-wing lunatic\'s tweet depicting Democratic Congressional leaders Charles Schumer (Senate Minority Leader) and Nancy Pelosi (Hou…

Stephen Lendman (2020-01-20). Trump\'s Legal Team Responds to Dems Impeachment Scam. globalresearch.ca There\'s overwhelming just cause to impeach and remove Trump from office for legitimate high crimes. | The same is true for most of his predecessors, along with most current and former congressional members. | The Constitution\'s Article II, Section 4 states \"(t)he …

sputniknews (2020-01-20). Trump Wants to Deliver State of the Union Address \'With Impeachment Trial Behind Him\', Graham Says. sputniknews.com On Saturday, Donald Trump\'s legal team released a statement attempting to reject his impeachment by the House and characterising the charges against the US President as a \"dangerous attack\" on Americans and their right to vote.

WSWS (2020-01-20). As neo-Nazis head to Richmond, Trump boosts gun-rights rally. wsws.org The president\'s tweet is a declaration of solidarity with ultra-right forces on the eve of his impeachment trial.

Patrick T. Hiller (2020-01-20). Instead of Real-Time Commentary, Eight Common-Sense Reason for Not Going to War with Iran. counterpunch.org In the wake of the assassination of Iranian military leader Major General Qasem Soleimani and nine other people by a U.S. drone strike in Iraq, tensions between the United States and Iran are at their height. The immediate threat of war is real. Real-time news and expert commentary across the nationwide spectrum of media outlets More

Eric Mann (2020-01-20). Martin Luther King and the Black Revolutionary Tradition. counterpunch.org Every year, until The Revolution comes again, the counter-revolution manipulates the historic birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, that so many people fought for, as their symbol of Black \"integration\" into imperialism and \"non-violent\" acquiescence to, at best, Barack Obama\'s cynical negation of his dream. As Donald Trump has just assassinated Iranian General Quassem Soleimani—with More

sputniknews (2020-01-20). France Says Eight Nations Back European-Led Naval Mission in Strait of Hormuz. sputniknews.com Multiple European states began mulling a \'maritime security mission\' in the Persian Gulf last summer amid simmering tensions between the UK and Iran, but the initiative seemed to have been put on hold after London announced that it would be joining a US-led maritime coalition instead.

sputniknews (2020-01-20). US, UK \'Normalised\' Targeted Drone Killings in Blow to Human Rights, Study Shows. sputniknews.com The study was conducted before the assassination of Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Commander Qasem Soleimani who died in a US drone strike on the Baghdad International Airport on 3 January, ordered by President Donald Trump.

Jeff Mackler (2020-01-20). Worldwide Furor Sparked by U.S. Assassination of Iran\'s General Suleimani. counterpunch.org The Trump administration\'s January 3 drone missile assassination of Iran\'s Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani just outside Iraq\'s Baghdad airport brought the world to the brink of yet another catastrophic U.S. war. That the Iranian government would retaliate in a matter of days, if not hours, was unquestioned. But Iran\'s response stunned the world in its More

sputniknews (2020-01-20). India Launches Tax Raid on Luxury Hotel Chain Owner Jyotsna Suri and Her Close Aide. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): In the current FY 2019 — 2020 , the government is likely to face a huge direct tax revenue gap. The last budget tabled by Finance Minister Sitharaman established a direct tax revenue collection target of $188 billion. In the first six months (April —September), the direct tax revenue collection could reach $77.46 billion.

sputniknews (2020-01-20). Indian Technophiles, Gear Up: Over 1 Mln Jobs Opportunities To Open Up in Data Science This Year. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): Out of India\'s 1.37 billion population, over 630 million people are on the internet and more than 5 million work in the technology sector. According to data from Chinese tech company TCL, India has the highest \'new technology acceptance\' rate in the world.

sputniknews (2020-01-20). It Was Haftar Who Refused to Sign Agreement on Ceasefire in Berlin – Diplomatic Source. sputniknews.com MOSCOW (Sputnik) – A conference on Libyan settlement was held on Sunday in Berlin, with representatives of Russia, the United States, Turkey, Egypt, the European Union, the United Nations and other countries invited to attend.

sputniknews (2020-01-20). Cyprus Dubs Turkey \'Pirate State\' as Mediterranean Gas Drilling Dispute Simmers. sputniknews.com Turkey resumed gas exploration drilling in the Mediterranean Sea off Cyprus\'s coast last week amid overlapping claims between Nicosia and the Turkish-backed de facto state of Northern Cyprus regarding the extent of their maritime economic zones.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-01-20). Assassination of Amílcar Cabral, one of Africa\'s foremost anti-colonial leaders. peoplesdispatch.org He was a prolific Marxian theorist who not only led the war of independence that toppled Portuguese rule in Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde but influenced the fight for decolonization across the continent.

Pepe Escobar (2020-01-20). The Roots of American Demonization of Shi\'a Islam. globalresearch.ca The US targeted assassination, via drone strike, of Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, apart from a torrent of crucial geopolitical ramifications, once again propels to center stage a quite inconvenient truth: the congenital incapacity of so-called US elites to even attempt …

WSWS (2020-01-20). US official delivers Trump\'s threatening message to Sri Lankan president. wsws.org Sri Lanka is a key focus of intensifying rivalry between US and India, on one hand, and China and Russia, on the other.

The Canary (2020-01-20). Malaysia refuses to become the plastic \'rubbish dump of the world\'. thecanary.co Malaysia has sent back 150 containers of plastic waste to more than a dozen countries as Kuala Lumpur said it will not become the world\'s rubbish bin. | The country has seen an increase in the number of shipments containing waste since China prohibited imports of refuse in 2018. | Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin said the 150 containers have been sent back since the third quarter of last year and a further 110 are expected to be returned by mid-2020. | \"If people want to see us as the rubbish dump of the world, you dream on,\" Yeo told reporters during an inspection at a port in northern Penang state. | Yeo said t…

sputniknews (2020-01-20). China\'s President Xi Pledges to Curb Coronavirus Outbreak as Total 217 Cases Confirmed. sputniknews.com The new strain of coronavirus was first reported in China\'s city of Wuhan in early January. According to media reports, those infected displayed symptoms typical of pneumonia and other acute respiratory diseases.

Common Dreams staff (2020-01-20). Because \'I Can Feel Bernie Beating Trump,\' Pramila Jayapal Endorses Sanders for President. commondreams.org The co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus \"has led the fight against Trump's racism, sexism and xenophobia,\" Sanders said responding to the news. \"Together, we will defeat Trump and build a working class movement and transform this country so it works for all.\" | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/jayapal_1_0_0.jpg …

Mohamed Elmaazi (2020-01-20). Prevent programme must be abolished in order to tackle politically motivated violence, say experts. thecanary.co Britain\'s controversial surveillance/counter-extremism Prevent programme has come under fire once more, this time from over 100 academics, researchers, and campaigners calling on the government to radically overhaul its approach to tackling politically motivated violence. | The Network for Police Monitoring (Netpol), sociology professor David Miller, rapper Lowkey, and criminology expert…

Youth Vs Apocalypse (2020-01-20). ReclaimMLK: Youth Climate Strike & Resiliency Village. indybay.org Oscar Grant/ Frank Ogawa Plaza | Oakland, CA 94612…

Jill Richardson (2020-01-20). Why Do We Have School Lunch Debt at All? counterpunch.org A Google search for \"paying school lunch debt\" reveals a long list of recent news stories about good Samaritans paying off the school lunch debt of children whose families cannot afford it. A Fredonia, New York man paid off $2,000 in school lunch debt in his area, helping 140 families. A Rigby, Idaho tattoo shop More

Charles Andrews (2020-01-20). A Note on Carlos Ghosn and Global Capitalism. counterpunch.org The boss of world car maker Nissan — arrested and under intense surveillance around his luxury mansion, and charged with gorging himself with about $140 million of unauthorized pay — makes a daring escape from under the nose of Japanese authorities and across half the world. It will take months for details of how Carlos More

Ipek S. Burnett (2020-01-20). MLK and the Ghost of an Untrue Dream. counterpunch.org King\'s dream of economic justice and equality required America\'s power structures to change. It required America to take a critical look at the unbridled capitalist system that gave way to perpetual injustice. It required a radical and deep reconstruction of both politics and society, where the tangled roots of racism, poverty, militarism, and materialism would be exposed and eliminated. More

William deBuys (2020-01-20). The Humanitarian and Environmental Disaster of Trump\'s Border Wall. counterpunch.org A new Wild West has taken root not far from Tombstone, Arizona, known to many for its faux-historical reenactments of the old West. We\'re talking about a long, skinny territory — a geographic gerrymander — that stretches east across New Mexico and down the Texan Rio Grande to the Gulf of Mexico. It also runs More

Thomas Knapp (2020-01-20). A Loophole for the Lawless: \"Qualified Immunity\" Must Go. counterpunch.org On August 11, 2014, officers from the Caldwell, Idaho Police Department asked for Shaniz West\'s permission to enter and search her home. They were looking for her ex-boyfriend. West authorized the search and handed over her keys. Instead of entering and searching the home, though, the police brought in a SWAT team, surrounding the building. More

Katie Fite (2020-01-20). Owyhee Initiative Wilderness and Public Lands Deal Critique: Ten Years After. counterpunch.org The Owyhee Initiative (OI) wilderness and public lands legislation passed Congress in 2009 as the Owyhee Public Lands Management Act. Hoopla on the bill\'s ten-year anniversary generated a spate of articles extolling collaboration and idolizing individual cattlemen. OI collaboration talking points are being parroted by supporters of a new round of Quid Pro Quo wilderness More

WSWS (2020-01-20). Climate change \"spin\" as Davos gathering confronts mounting environmental and economic crisis. wsws.org The picture presented by the WEF\'s own analysis is of a socio-economic system heading for catastrophe on every front, for which the ruling elites have no answer.

WSWS (2020-01-20). Bushfire scientist warns that Australia\'s disaster is \"a wake-up call\" wsws.org \"If nothing is done to address climate change this wildfire season will be a preview into our future.\"

WSWS (2020-01-20). Lack of action on climate change leads to warmest decade ever recorded. wsws.org For all the proclamations by corporations and governments that they accept the need to reduce fossil fuel use, carbon emissions rose to the highest ever level in 2019.

sputniknews (2020-01-20). Erdogan Says Did Not Send Troops to Libya Yet, Only Military Advisers. sputniknews.com ANKARA (Sputnik) – On 5 January, Erdogan said Turkish troops were gradually departing to Libya to support the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), with which Ankara had signed a security memorandum in December.

sputniknews (2020-01-20). Putin\'s Weekly Schedule Includes No Meeting With Libya\'s Haftar – Kremlin. sputniknews.com MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russian President Vladimir Putin does not have a meeting with Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), scheduled for this week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.