The Canary (2019-12-19). Nicola Sturgeon warns \'democracy will prevail\' as she demands indyref2. thecanary.co Nicola Sturgeon has insisted \"democracy must and will prevail\" as she confirmed she has now written to Boris Johnson formally requesting the power for Holyrood to hold a second independence referendum.The SNP leader and Scottish first minister said that following last week\'s election victory in which her party took 47 of the 59 Scottish seats at Westminster, the case for another referendum is \"unarguable\".Speaking at Bute House, her official residence in Edinburgh, Sturgeon said: \"The alternative is a future that we have rejected being imposed upon us.Nicola Sturgeon has written to the PM to request the right to…

Edward Yudelovich (2019-12-19). On International Day of Persons with Disabilities, disabled activists, allies demand elevators, not more subway cops. workers.org Dec. 3, inside Macy\'s. The United Nations established the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on Dec. 3, 1992, in a victory for the worldwide struggle of people with disabilities. IDPD has been celebrated around the planet to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, . . . | Continue reading On International Day of Persons with Disabilities, disabled activists, allies demand elevators, not more subway cops at Workers.org

Jayati Ghosh (2019-12-19). The growing threat of water wars. mronline.org In 2015, United Nations member states adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, which include an imperative to \"ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.\" Yet, in the last four years, matters have deteriorated significantly. | Source

Miko Peled (2019-12-19). From the Old City to Tel Rumeida Hill: Israel\'s Takeover of Hebron Forges Ahead. mintpressnews.com It often seems that Israel\'s actions in the West Bank are spurred by little more than a desire to compensate for lost opportunities and settle old scores, and Hebron is no exception writes Miko Peled.

Mark Gruenberg (2019-12-19). Spending bill gives Trump border wall money, but workers make some gains. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON (PAI)— On the eve of impeachment, the House rushed through two \"minibus\" spending bills that give Trump some money for his border wall, though not as much as he had demanded, and score some wins for particular segments of the workforce. Those were the key takeaways as Congress enacted one bill covering national security …

Staff (2019-12-19). Across America Thousands March To Support Trump\'s Impeachment. therealnews.com People turned out in over 600 communities all over the United States calling for President Donald Trump\'s impeachment. David Siever of MoveOn talks about what this means and what happens next.

Gus Hall (2019-12-19). Archives 1974: Communist leader Gus Hall on the Nixon impeachment and resignation. peoplesworld.org Editor\'s Note: President Richard Nixon resigned from office on Aug. 9, 1974, just hours before the House of Representatives was to consider and approve formal articles of impeachment against him for his Watergate conspiracy. The article below was written by Gus Hall, the General Secretary of the Communist Party USA, and appeared in Daily World …

Staff (2019-12-19). McConnell Blasts Trump Impeachment by House, Pledges Senate Action. truthdig.com Majority leader denounces House approval as \"most unfair\" and takes umbrage at Pelosi not saying when two articles will be sent for trial.

Al Neal (2019-12-19). After NFL Players Union win, Jaguars\' Coughlin removed from front office. peoplesworld.org In a single day, two executives were held to account for their failures and actions: The U.S. House of Representatives voted Wednesday night to impeach Donald J. Trump on two articles (abuse of power, obstruction of Congress); and the Jacksonville Jaguars fired Executive Vice President Tom Coughlin almost two days after the NFL Players union …

C.J. Atkins (2019-12-19). Trump impeached—The people\'s verdict will come on Election Day 2020. peoplesworld.org President Donald J. Trump\'s legacy as a corrupt and lawless president is now permanently recorded for all of history. By a near party-line vote, he stands formally indicted of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, making him only the third president in the history of the United States to be impeached. Attention now shifts …

Staff (2019-12-19). President Trump Is Impeached. truthdig.com WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday night, becoming only the third American chief executive to be formally charged under the Constitution\'s ultimate remedy for high crimes and misdemeanors. | The historic vote split along party lines, much the way it has divided the nation, over the charges that the 45th president abused the power of his office by enlisting a foreign government to investigate a political rival ahead of the 2020 election. Then a majority of the House approved a second charge, that he obstructed Congress in its investigation. | The ar…

Sara Flounders (2019-12-19). Behind the U.S. anti-China campaign. workers.org In order to evaluate the claims of massive human rights violations of the Uyghurs, an ethnic and religious minority in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, it is important to know a few facts. Xinjiang Province in the far western region of China is an arid, mountainous and still . . . | Continue reading Behind the U.S. anti-China campaign at Workers.org

Aaron Maté (2019-12-19). Newsweek reporter quits after editors block coverage of OPCW Syria scandal. thegrayzone.com Journalist Tareq Haddad explains his decision to resign from Newsweek over its refusal to cover the OPCW\'s unfolding Syria scandal….

yenisafak (2019-12-19). China replicates Tibet repression in Xinjiang: Expert. yenisafak.com Speaking at a panel at the Washington-based Hudson Institute think-tank Wednesday, Ambassador at large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback said China is waging a losing \"war on faith, truth and international norms.\"Brownback highlighted \"human rights violations and abuses of China\" against Uighurs in mass detention in Xianjiang, a Turkic people in the northwest.Brownback said 1 million Uighurs, since April 2017, in the name of China\'s countering religious extremism and war on terror, have been forced to part ways with their religious traditions in internment camps, which are officially called the Vo…

Robert Fisk (2019-12-19). All Massacres Will Become \"Alleged Massacres\" If We Don\'t Pay Attention. counterpunch.org Not that long ago, I spotted a report in an American newspaper which referred to the \"alleged Sabra and Chatila massacre\". Up to 1,700 civilians, most of them Palestinians, were slaughtered in the two refugee camps in Beirut in just three days in 1982. They were killed by Israel\'s Lebanese Christian Phalangist allies. The Israelis More

Staff (2019-12-19). Democrats Are Shifting on Foreign Policy — But Not Far Enough to End War. truthout.org After months of debate, the crowded Democratic primaries have begun to narrow. Major candidates have largely avoided foreign policy discussions, instead focusing on issues like health care, trade, immigration and gun control, which are seen as more important to the U.S. electorate. Although they have clear differences in vision, it is obvious that both progressives and traditionalists on the ticket see foreign policy as a secondary concern. This is standard for U.S. politics. Often, campaign staff…

The Canary (2019-12-19). Queen\'s Speech takes \'wrecking ball\' to Scotland\'s foundations, SNP claims. thecanary.co The SNP has accused Boris Johnson and the UK Government of \"taking a wrecking ball\" to Scotland with its plans in the Queen\'s Speech. | SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford spoke out after a speech that did not mention Scotland by name — although the queen said the \"integrity and prosperity\" of the United Kingdom was of \"the utmost importance\" to the UK Government. | Blackford argued the Withdrawal Agreement Bill that ministers will bring forward will hurt Scotland\'s economy and cost thousands of jobs north of the border. | He was also critical of plans on immigration and said the UK Government was failing…

commondreams (2019-12-19). Immigrant Rights Advocates in New York File First Federal Lawsuit to Jointly Block Three Interrelated \"Public Charge\" Immigration Rules. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Stephen Lendman (2019-12-19). US Hardliners Want Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning Crucified. globalresearch.ca Mass incarceration in the US is a national disgrace, a crime against humanity, including countless numbers of political prisoners — pesecuted behind bars for their beliefs and activism, for resisting the dirty system, judged guilty by accusation. | Julian Assange and …

WSWS (2019-12-19). Growing demands for Australian government to intervene in defence of Assange. wsws.org Labor and the Coalition have not responded to calls that they defend Assange, in keeping with their nine-year involvement in his persecution.

The Canary (2019-12-19). Julian Assange lawyers will challenge the \'political\' framing of charges against him. thecanary.co WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange\'s legal team will argue he should not be extradited to the US because his alleged offences are being framed as \"political\" in nature, a court heard. | His lawyers believe that a 2007 extradition treaty agreed between the UK and US offers the 48-year-old protection. | Assange appeared via video-link at Westminster Magistrates\' Court on 19 November for a case management hearing to set the timetable leading up to a full extradition hearing in February. | He\'s being…

Activist Post (2019-12-19). US Bombs Afghan Hospital While The Pentagon Now Refuses To Even Comment On The Afghan War. thelastamericanvagabond.com When is the last time that the U.S. government said they would do something, and did it exactly as they stated? So, the recent announcement of the military withdrawing 4,000 troops from Afghanistan should be treated with suspicion. Meanwhile, the headline is that U.S.-led forces \"had\" to bomb a clinic in order to stop a …

yenisafak (2019-12-19). PKK/YPG terrorists kill 5 civilians in Syria. yenisafak.com The terror group PKK/YPG killed five civilians, including three children, with a car bomb attack in Ras al-Ayn, northern Syria near Turkey\'s border, said Turkey\'s Defense Ministry on Thursday.In a statement, the ministry said the terror group targeted civilians in the village of Tell Halaf in the Ras al-Ayn province.Ras al-Ayn is within the area of Turkey\'s Operation Peace Spring, launched on Oct. 9 to eliminate YPG/PKK terrorists from northern Syria east of the Euphrates River to secure Turkey\'s borders, aid in the safe return of Syrian refugees, and ensure Syria\'s territorial integrity.Since then, Turkey reache…

Peoples Dispatch (2019-12-19). With ceasefire deal, Sudan is one step closer to peace. peoplesdispatch.org On Tuesday, December 17, the transitional government of Sudan agreed to cease hostilities in the States of Blue Nile and South Kordofan, in a deal reached with the Malik Agar-led faction of the armed rebel group, the Sudan People\'s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N). The government also agreed to open corridors for the delivery of humanitarian aid to the populations of the two States. | The development comes as a welcome step towards accomplishing one of the most important tasks set before the transitional government — to put an end to the civil war ongoing in the two States since 2011, which has left over 1…

George Ochenski (2019-12-19). A Scorched Earth Christmas is No Gift. counterpunch.org For millennia, humans have celebrated the end of the year under any number of names, from Saturnalia to Christmas. Those in the northern hemisphere see the long, dark days begin to lengthen and brighten, lifting spirits as the New Year approaches. But this year, the idea of peace on Earth, good will toward all seems More

news.un (2019-12-19). Iran and US both undermining nuclear deal says UN political affairs chief. news.un.org Both Iran and the United States have been putting strain on the groundbreaking 2015 deal to monitor Iran\'s nuclear programme, which remains a \"cornerstone of international peace and security\", said the UN\'s political affairs chief on Thursday.

The Mind Unleashed (2019-12-19). UN Peacekeepers Fathered Hundreds of Babies With Girls in Haiti as Young as 11. theantimedia.com Girls as young as 11 were impregnated by peacekeepers and left \"in misery\" to raise their children alone.

yenisafak (2019-12-19). UN dispatches humanitarian aid to war-weary Syria. yenisafak.com The UN on Thursday dispatched 32 truckloads of humanitarian aid to the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib.The trucks passed through the Cilvegozu border gate in southern Turkey, with aid to be distributed to residents in urban areas of the war-torn province as well as the surrounding countryside.Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests.Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to UN officials.Idlib falls within a de-escalation zone laid out in a de…

IMEMC News (2019-12-19). Soldiers Abduct A Young Man, Injure Dozens, Near Hebron. imemc.org Israeli soldiers abducted, Thursday, a young Palestinian man, and caused dozens of residents to suffer the severe effects of teargas inhalation, in the al-\'Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank. Media sources said the soldiers attacked many Palestinians, protesting the invasion near …

John Atcheson (2019-12-19). Just Because Republicans Are Spewing Nonsense on Impeachment Doesn\'t Mean the \"Big Lie\" Won\'t Work. commondreams.org Protester holding a sign at a \"Nobody Is Above the Law\" rally in Times Square on Tuesday, December 17, 2019. Hundreds of thousands of Americans joined the coalition at more than 500 rallies planned around the country the day before Trump was officially impeached on Wednesday but the U.S. House of Representatives. (Photo: Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/impeach_trump_gop_big_lie.jpg …

Howard Lisnoff (2019-12-19). Militarism Has Become Enormously Popular and Nearly Universally Accepted. counterpunch.org I watch The Real News regularly. Marc Steiner seems to have taken over the role that one of the program\'s founders, Paul Jay, once had before he disappeared from the program at the beginning of last summer. Jay disappeared along with one of the lead reporters at The Real News with no official explanation ever given. Recently the comment More

Ralph Nader (2019-12-19). Boeing\'s Perilous Bungling Requires New Leadership. globalresearch.ca The Boeing executives and marketeers responsible for over-ruling Boeing engineers on the 737 MAX are still in charge of this very troubled aerospace company. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg and the rubber-stamp Board of Directors, with two trophy ambassadors, are still …

Ramzy Baroud (2019-12-19). From a Blessing to a Curse: How UN Resolution 2334 Accelerated Israel\'s West Bank Colonization. mintpressnews.com UN Resolution 2334, although externally supportive of Palestinian rights, turned out to be one of the most costly decisions ever made by the international institution.

Stephen Lendman (2019-12-19). Dem Controlled House Impeaches Trump. globalresearch.ca On Wednesday, House members impeached Trump on two counts as expected, politicized voting almost entirely along party lines — 230 — 197 for alleged abuse of power, 229 — 198 for alleged obstruction of Congress. | No Republicans supported the scam, …

South Front (2019-12-19). Video: Military Intervention in Libya and Turkey\'s Grand Game in the Eastern Mediterranean. globalresearch.ca During the past week, the situation significantly escalated in Libya, with Turkey expanding its military involvement in the conflict. | In late November, Turkey signed with the Government of National Accord (GNA), which controls only a small part of northern Libya, …

yenisafak (2019-12-19). Turkey condemns terrorist attack in Chad. yenisafak.com Turkey Thursday condemned a terrorist attack in Chad which left over dozens of civilians dead.\"We are saddened to receive the news that many people lost their lives and injured in a terrorist attack against a fishing village on the shores of Lake Chad,\" the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.\"We strongly condemn this heinous attack,\" the statement read, also offering Turkey\'s condolences Chad.On Wednesday, at least 14 people were killed and five others injured in Boko Haram\'s armed attack in a fishing village in the western Chad.

yenisafak (2019-12-19). Turkey rejects ex-Israeli envoy\'s remarks on Hamas ties. yenisafak.com Turkish Foreign Ministry on Thursday rebuffed allegations saying its territory was used for act against Israel or any other country.The statement came after Dore Gold, a former Israeli ambassador to the UN, accused Turkey of permitting senior Hamas figures to \"order attacks against Israel from Istanbul.\"\"The majority of the international community considers Hamas not as a terrorist organization but as a political reality which has won the elections in Gaza in 2006,\" the ministry said on Twitter.It went on saying that the UN General Assembly (UNGA) had rejected calling Palestine\'s Hamas as a terrorist organization…

Adeyinka Makinde (2019-12-19). Victimhood and the Nigerian Civil War. globalresearch.ca The concatenation of violence in Nigeria from 1966 to 1970, a train of events which involved communal fighting, army mutinies and a civil war, is correctly viewed as a period during which the ethnic Igbos of the country\'s south east …

Jon Queally (2019-12-19). Charged with abuse of power and obstruction of congress, Trump impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives. nationofchange.org \"Every single Republican in the House of Representatives became an accomplice to Trump\'s subversion of our democracy. By failing to impeach Donald Trump, GOP lawmakers showed their blind loyalty to their party and to a corrupt president—and history will remember them for the cowards they are.\"

Swiss Propaganda Research (2019-12-19). Propaganda in the War on Yugoslavia. globalresearch.ca The war on Yugoslavia in the 1990s was a classic imperial war to reorder South Eastern Europe. To achieve its goals, the US even deployed the \"jihadist\" mercenaries with which it had previously fought the USSR in Afghanistan and which …

Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi (2019-12-19). Expanding California Trade with the African Continental Free Trade Area. indybay.org Technology and innovative cultural exchange toward expanding California Pan African Trade builds upon coherent understanding of the African Continental Free Trade Area. The first day of Kwanzaa the sun, earth and moon are aligned in a good way, Habari Gani.

yenisafak (2019-12-19). Gender parity out of reach for 100 years: Report. yenisafak.com The world must wait almost 100 years to see gender parity, according to the new World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report.The report, released on Tuesday, found that none of us will see gender parity in our lifetimes, and few of our children will either.Gender parity has been considered an integral part of economic development in countries around the world.The report evaluates 153 countries on their progress towards gender parity in four dimensions: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.\"It will take 95 years to close the gender ga…

WSWS (2019-12-19). A plague on both political parties. wsws.org Despite the ferocity of conflict over impeachment, the Democrats and Republicans represent the twin imperatives of American imperialism: the drive toward war and fascistic authoritarianism.

The Canary (2019-12-19). Terrified refugee child found wandering alone on M6 central reservation at night. thecanary.co A young child refugee has been rescued by police after being found wandering along the central reservation of the M6 motorway near Birmingham. | The Central Motorway Police Group (CMPG) said the boy had become separated from his parents, adding in a statement: \"It\'s impossible to imagine how scared someone would be, not knowing where they are, not knowing where their parents are, unable to speak the language.\" | Officers were alerted at around 10pm on 18 December after a driver spotted the boy, who is thought to be from Iraq, walking along the central reservation towards junction 7, the Great Barr interchange.

Jonathan Cook (2019-12-19). How Britain Dresses Up Crimes in Israel as \'Charitable Acts\'. globalresearch.ca When is a war crime not a war crime? When, according to British officials, that war crime has been given a makeover as a \"charitable act\". | The British state is being asked to account for its financial and moral support …

Marlee Kokotovic (2019-12-19). Senate approves $738 billion for war budget. nationofchange.org This defense bill is the most expensive in U.S. history and gives President Trump everything he would ever want.

Staff (2019-12-19). How War Targets the Young. truthout.org One day in October 2001, shortly after the U.S. invaded Afghanistan, I stood at the front of a private high school classroom. As a new social studies teacher, I had been tasked with describing violence against women in that country. I showed the students an article from the front page of the New York Times featuring Afghan women casting off their burqas as they bathed in a stream near Kabul. | The implication of the piece was that the U.S. would liberate — had already, in fact, begun to liberate — such women. I soon realized, thou…

Danny Sjursen (2019-12-19). Remembering America\'s First (and Longest) Forgotten War on Tribal Islamists. counterpunch.org More than a century after the U.S. Army disengaged from Moroland, Islamist and other regional insurgencies continue to plague the southern Philippines. Indeed,…

N.D. Jayaprakash (2019-12-19). Indo-Pak Nuclear Confrontation: First Use Policy and the Race Towards Armageddon. counterpunch.org PART ONE There are several indications that India\'s ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological mentor the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) are obsessed with the perverse urge to wipe out Pakistan with nuclear weapons by unleashing a first or a second strike. Through similar means, their counterparts on the Pakistani side are More

IMEMC & Agencies (2019-12-19). Updated: Israeli Missile Kills A Palestinain In Gaza. imemc.org An Israeli warplane fired, on Tuesday at night, a missile at a Palestinian youth in the southern Gaza Strip, killing him, before the soldiers took his body away. Armored Israeli military bulldozers advanced towards the perimeter fence, east of Khan Younis, before the soldiers snatched his corpse and took it …

Vijay Prashad (2019-12-18). India\'s Government is going to war against its own people. mronline.org On December 13, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights released a powerful statement that criticized India\'s new citizenship law. This \"fundamentally discriminatory\" Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2019 would expedite citizenship for persecuted religious minorities from India\'s neighboring countries. But in the list of those minorities, it names only Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, […] | Source

William Hartung (2019-12-18). The Stubborn Persistence of the Military-Industrial State. counterpunch.org I\'ve been writing critiques of the Pentagon, the national security state, and America\'s never-ending military overreach since at least 1979 — in other words, virtually my entire working life. In those decades, there were moments when positive changes did occur. They ranged from ending the apartheid regime in South Africa in 1994 and halting U.S. More

Deirdre Griswold (2019-12-18). Capitalist growth and social change — a WW commentary. workers.org Growth. Atlanta climate crisis protest, Sept. 27. Every day, the price of stocks on Wall Street go up and down depending on the growth of the economy. Growth of mineral extraction, growth of agriculture, growth of manufacturing and especially growth of sales and growth of capital. When growth slows down, . . . | Continue reading Capitalist growth and social change — a WW commentary at Workers.org

Max Blumenthal (2019-12-18). The insider: How national security mandarins groomed Pete Buttigieg and managed his future. thegrayzone.com Pledging to \"end endless wars,\" Pete Buttigieg claims he has \"never been part of the Washington establishment.\" But years before…

WSWS (2019-12-18). Brisbane forum calls for broad support for Assange and Manning. wsws.org The resolution adopted by the forum focussed on the need to take the defence of the WikiLeaks founder out to the working class globally.

Norman Solomon (2019-12-18). Progressives Need a United Front for Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. indybay.org Clear differences and a nonaggression pact…

yenisafak (2019-12-18). China postpones UN Security Council discussion on Kashmir. yenisafak.com China has postponed a discussion by the U.N. Security Council planned for Tuesday about the situation in the disputed Indian territory of Jammu and Kashmir because the U.N. peacekeeping mission there was not ready to provide a brief, diplomats said.The Himalayan region has long been a flashpoint in ties between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan, with both claiming Kashmir in full but ruling it in part. U.N. peacekeepers have been deployed since 1949 to observe a ceasefire between India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir.China\'s U.N. mission had on Monday requested the closed door briefing, after Pakistan\'

Ralph Nader (2019-12-18). Boeing\'s Perilous Bungling Requires New Leadership. counterpunch.org The Boeing executives and marketeers responsible for over-ruling Boeing engineers on the 737 MAX are still in charge of this very troubled aerospace company. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg and the rubber-stamp Board of Directors, with two trophy ambassadors, are still running Boeing — thirteen months after the deadly 737 MAX crash in Indonesia and nine More

Robert Fisk (2019-12-18). How Skewed Polling and Media Bias are Warping American Attitudes About the Green New Deal. counterpunch.org What are opinion polls and what exactly do their outcomes signify? Their results are predicated on two things: 1) The level of information the respondents have been exposed to. 2) The framing of the questions on the poll. What is missing, when the media report the results of these polls, is their own failure to More

Rep. Ron Paul (2019-12-18). Afghanistan War — The Crime of the Century. globalresearch.ca \"We were devoid of a fundamental understanding of Afghanistan. We didn\'t know what we were doing.\" So said Gen. Douglas Lute, who oversaw the US war on Afghanistan under Presidents Bush and Obama. Eighteen years into the longest war …

yenisafak (2019-12-18). Indian Kashmir sees more than $2.4 billion losses since lockdown. yenisafak.com A lockdown in Indian-administered Kashmir has cost its economy more than $2.4 billion since the government stripped it of its special status, officials of the Himalayan region\'s main trade organisation said on Wednesday.\"In the last 120 days we have witnessed how each and every sector has bled … we fear this crisis will further intensify in 2020,\" Sheikh Ashiq Ahmed, president of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), told Reuters.The government in August revoked the constitutional autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir, India\'s only Muslim-majority state, splitting it into two federal territories in a bid…

WSWS (2019-12-18). North Korean-US tensions rise as end-of-year deadline approaches. wsws.org In the absence of any US sanctions\' relief or meaningful talks, North Korea has threatened to resume its nuclear- and missile-testing program.

yenisafak (2019-12-18). At least 12,000 people flee Idlib amid regime, Russian attacks. yenisafak.com Fleeing attacks by the al-Assad regime and its allies, at least 12,000 civilians have been forced to abandon what is supposed to be a cease-fire zone in northwestern Syria and headed for the Turkish border. | Mohamed al-Hallaj, director of the Response Coordinators Team, told Anadolu Agency that the regime, Russia, and Iranian-backed foreign terror groups have struck civilian settlements in the past 24 hours.The southern Marratinnuman district, located east of Idlib city, faced the highest migration rates, and fleeing families are in dire need of items such as shelter, blankets, beds and tents, he added.A total o…

yenisafak (2019-12-18). Istanbul Photo Awards 2019 exhibition opens at UN. yenisafak.com Anadolu Agency on Tuesday launched an exhibition at United Nations headquarters in New York featuring the works of award-winning photojournalists who competed in the international Istanbul Photo Awards 2019.The event, hosted by high-level Anadolu Agency executives, opened with the attendance of Turkey\'s UN Ambassador Feridun Sinirlioglu.Addressing the opening ceremony, Sinirlioglu said: \"We are very pleased to see the growing interest that Anadolu Agency\'s annual photo awards have enjoyed over the years.\"Some 15,000 people from over 100 countries applied for this year\'s competition, he called, and congratulated t…

Nyla Ali Khan (2019-12-18). India is Gradually Leaning Toward a Dangerous Unitarianism. counterpunch.org One of the unfortunate calamities of India\'s historical past is that today religio-cultural tensions continue to sharpen divisions along communal lines in the country. The Citizenship Amendment Bill and National Register of Citizens of India have increased the impetuousness and insanity that the rhetoric of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), More

Binoy Kampmark (2019-12-18). A Mined History: The Bougainville Referendum. counterpunch.org It would be an understatement to claim that Bougainville, that blighted piece of autonomous territory in Papua New Guinea, had been through a lot. Companies have preyed upon its environment with extractive hunger. Wars and civil strife have beset its infrastructure and economy. Some 900 kilometres from the PNG mainland, it has been what might More

WSWS (2019-12-18). US Army XVIII Airborne Corp posts sympathetic portrayal of Nazi war criminal on Facebook. wsws.org The publication of a glowing portrayal of Nazi war criminal Joachim Peiper by the Army\'s XVIII Airborne Corp\'s Facebook page exposes a constituency within the military for fascism.

Danny Sjursen (2019-12-18). America\'s First \'Endless War\' Was Fought in the Philippines. thenation.com America\'s First \'Endless War\' Was Fought in the Philippines…

Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi (2019-12-18). Expanding California Trade with the African Continental Free Trade Area. indybay.org Technology and innovative cultural exchange toward expanding California Pan African Trade builds upon coherent understanding of the African Continental Free Trade Area. The first day of Kwanzaa the sun, earth and moon are aligned in a good way, Habari Gani.

Telesur (2019-12-18). De-Facto Bolivian President to Issue Arrest Warrant for Morales. globalresearch.ca The self-proclaimed president of Bolivia, Jeanine àÅñez, said on Saturday that an arrest warrant could be issued for the democratically elected President, Evo Morales, in the coming days. | \"If he has to come to Bolivia, he knows that …

Ryan Cristián (2019-12-18). Mexico Finds \"World\'s Largest Lithium Deposit\" Just Before US Focus & $1.4 Trillion War-Aimed NDAA. 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 (12/17/19). 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 …

yenisafak (2019-12-18). A Minute With: the \'Star Wars\' actors behind C-3PO and Chewbacca. yenisafak.com \"Star Wars\" actor Anthony Daniels has portrayed the fretful droid C-3PO in ten movies over 42 years. His next appearance hits global theaters on Thursday in \"The Rise of Skywalker.\"Fellow star Joonas Suotamo stepped into the furry Chewbacca costume in 2015 for \"The Force Awakens\" and plays the towering Wookiee on the big screen for the fourth time in the new film.Daniels and Suotamo spoke with reporters about their characters, their costumes and trying to wow former co-star Harrison Ford. The following are edited excerpts.Q: When this whole thing started, when you read the first script for \"Star Wars,\"

yenisafak (2019-12-18). Turkey\'s Operation Kƒ±ran neutralizes 139 PKK terrorists. yenisafak.com total of 139 terrorists have been neutralized and over 300 caves, shelters, and warehouses destroyed in the last four months during Operation Kiran, according to Turkey\'s Interior Ministry.On Aug. 17, Turkey launched Operation Kiran in the country\'s southeast against YPG/PKK terrorists in the Van, Hakkari and Sirnak provinces, followed by the launch of Operation Kiran-2 on Aug. 27 in the Mardin, Sirnak and Batman provinces. Six more iterations of the operation followed, including Operation Kiran-8 which is underway in rural areas of the eastern Bitlis and Siirt provinces.With Turkey ramping up its fight against…

Erin Schwartz (2019-12-18). Every Generation Gets Its Own \'Little Women\'. thenation.com Every Generation Gets Its Own \'Little Women\'

WSWS (2019-12-18). GM Oshawa auto assembly ends production, eliminating 5,000 jobs. wsws.org The Unifor union suppressed all opposition to the closure of the factory while stoking animosity toward Mexican autoworkers.

Karl Grossman (2019-12-18). The Very Bad Space Force Deal. counterpunch.org Unless grassroots action somehow stops it, it looks likely that the Trump scheme for a Space Force, a sixth branch of United States armed forces, will happen. The U.S. House of Representatives last week passed the $738 billion military policy bill that gives Trump his sought-for Space Force as he moves for what he terms More

teleSUR, jg, JF (2019-12-18). US Senate: Republicans Pass Bill Creating Trump\'s \'Space Force\'. telesurenglish.net The U.S. Senate Tuesday approved to pass a US$738 billion defense policy bill that creates President Donald Trump\'s \"Space Force\" and gives federal employees 12 weeks of paid paternity leave. | RELATED: | US Congress Rejects $175m Funding for Middle East \'Deal of the Century\' | The Republican-controlled Senate voted 86-8 in favor of th…

yenisafak (2019-12-18). Turkey\'s education spending goes up in 2018. yenisafak.com Turkey\'s education expenditures increased nearly 22% year-on-year in 2018, the country\'s statistical authority announced on Wednesday.The country spent 214.6 billion Turkish liras ($44.5 billion) last year, up from 176.5 billion Turkish liras ($48.3 billion) in 2017, the Turkish Statistical Institute said.The figure rose most for pre-primary education by 27.3% and upper secondary education with 24.3% during the same period.The share of education spending on Turkey\'s GDP stood at 5.8% in 2018, compared to 5.7% a year earlier.Public sources financed 72.9% of the education expenditure in Turkey last year. The larges…

yenisafak (2019-12-18). McDonald\'s shuts all Peru restaurants to mourn dead workers. yenisafak.com McDonald\'s has shut all its restaurants in Peru for two days of mourning after two of its employees died, the burger chain said on Twitter.The two teenaged employees were electrocuted while cleaning the kitchen of a McDonalds in Pueblo Libre, a district in the capital Lima, Peruvian daily La Republica reported.\"In response to the terrible loss of our two colleagues Carlos Gabriel Edgardo Campos Zapata and Alexandra Antonella Porras Inga, we wish to announce that we have declared two days of mourning from this morning, during which all our restaurants nationwide will remain closed,\" McDonald\'s Peru said on Twitter…

Orion Thornton (2019-12-18). Revving the Solar Engine to Support Local Jobs, Clean Energy. counterpunch.org Of all the federal government programs struggling out there, there\'s one that\'s actually working — the federal investment tax credit (ITC) for renewable energy systems. The ITC is a federal incentive for homeowners, businesses, farmers and ranchers that is reducing the cost of going solar and helping increase the amount of clean energy installed around the More

John W. Whitehead (2019-12-18). Sin Taxes & Other Orwellian Methods of Compliance That Feed the Government\'s Greed. counterpunch.org \"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron\'s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own More

Dan Corjescu (2019-12-18). A Totalitarian Republic? . counterpunch.org Faction: A number of citizens, whether amounting to a minority or majority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community —James Madison The executive of the modern state is but More

Quincy Saul (2019-12-18). The Threat to Life as We Know It: The View from Sri Lanka. counterpunch.org Ranil Senanayake is the originator of the science and art of Analog Forestry, and founder of the Belipola Arboretum and the International Analog Forestry Network. He is respected as the foremost systems ecologist in Sri Lanka, and has lectured and worked throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In addition to scientific papers, he also writes More

Jim Kavanagh (2019-12-18). Impeachment: What Lies Beneath? counterpunch.org The Democrats have now revealed the hand they\'re going to play for impeachment. I have been vehemently arguing against playing this game and pointing out how futile it is, but, seeing the two cards actually laid out on the table, even I am gobsmacked at what a loser of a hand they\'ve got. More

Thomas Knapp (2019-12-18). A Modest Proposal for Improving Senate Impeachment Trials. counterpunch.org US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) makes no bones about his position on the likely upcoming impeachment trial of US president Donald Trump. \"I am trying to give a pretty clear signal I have made up my mind,\" he tells CNN International\'s Becky Anderson. \"I\'m not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here.\" Well, More

yenisafak (2019-12-18). Merkel opposes US sanctions against Nord Stream 2. yenisafak.com The U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed legislation to slap sanctions on companies building the massive underwater pipeline to bring Russian natural gas to Germany, but it was uncertain whether the measures would slow completion of the project.

WSWS (2019-12-18). Trump makes fascistic appeal in impeachment letter. wsws.org While Trump is seeking to exploit the impeachment to rally a right-wing movement, the Democratic Party is fearful of and hostile to mobilizing mass popular opposition to Trump.

Lynda Carson (2019-12-18). Impeachment Day: The Yacht Sequoia and the Trump v. Nixon fiasco. indybay.org The Yacht Sequoia Cruise Certificate that has spent many years hanging on the wall of my apartment is dated around 2 months before former disgraced President Richard Nixon resigned from office. Facing imminent impeachment, Nixon resigned from office on August 9th, 1974, barely a few days after his fateful trip into history aboard the Yacht Sequoia on August 5, 1974, where he learned that a Court had ordered him to release the transcript of an incriminating tape recording that revealed he had indeed approved the cover-up of the notorious Watergate-breakin. I enjoy keeping this little piece of history around to rem…

Peter Maiden (2019-12-18). Large Pro-Impeachment Rally Held in Clovis, CA. indybay.org Around 350 demonstrators turned out for a pro-impeachment rally in Clovis, adjacent to Fresno. It was one of over 600 demonstrations nationwide that were organized by MoveOn.org.

MoveOn (2019-12-18). Impeach & Remove Rally in Livermore (Tri Valley). indybay.org Flagpole Plaza, intersection of First St and S. Livermore Ave., Livermore, CA 94550…

Indivisible Orchard City (2019-12-18). Impeach & Remove Demonstration in Silicon Valley. indybay.org Intersection of Stevens Creek Blvd & Winchester Blvd, at the border of Santa Clara 95050 and San Jose 95128.

MoveOn (2019-12-18). Impeach & Remove Demonstration in Redwood City. indybay.org Sequoia Station (outside the shopping center), intersection of Jefferson Ave and El Camino Real, Redwood City, CA 94063…

Text: RR Photos: Wesley Chang, Pro Bono Photo (2019-12-18). Chicken Trump Balloon Effigy Makes an Appearance on Impeachment Eve. indybay.org December 17 rallies came one day ahead of a vote planned by the U.S. House of Representatives on impeachment. In Palo Alto, CA, hundreds gathered in Lytton Plaza downtown.

MoveOn (2019-12-18). Impeach & Remove Demonstration in Pacifica. indybay.org Intersection of Hwy 1 & Reina Del Mar, Pacifica, CA 94044…

LDGTHH (2019-12-18). Impeachment (and removal): Good for public health. nationofchange.org We need to save American lives now. The best remedy would be to annul an illegitimate election. At the very least, impeach.

MoveOn.org, Indivisible Santa Cruz, others (2019-12-18). Impeach & Remove: Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Monterey. indybay.org Impeach & Remove events in Santa Cruz, Watsonville, and Monterey…

Dr. Binoy Kampmark (2019-12-18). Boris Johnson\'s Britain. globalresearch.ca Britain is looking drenched at the moment; colours blue and yellow seem to be streaking through the country. The Scottish Nationalists have re-asserted control lost to the Conservatives in 2016. In the rest of the country, seats never touched by …

Alan MacLeod (2019-12-18). Getting away with murder: \'clash\' as media euphemism for \'massacre\'. mronline.org After deposing Evo Morales in a U.S.-backed coup November 11, Bolivia\'s military selected Jeanine Añez as president. Añez immediately signed a decree pre-exonerating security forces of all crimes during their \"re-establishment of order,\" understood by all sides as a license to kill. Those same forces have now conducted massacres of Morales supporters near the cities […] | Source

yenisafak (2019-12-18). Erdoğan meets Malaysian king ahead of summit. yenisafak.com Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday met with Malaysian King Sultan Abdullah Riayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah at the presidential complex in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia\'s capital.The two leaders spoke behind closed doors for half an hour.Erdoğan is currently in Malaysia to attend a summit of Muslim leaders to discuss issues facing the Islamic world, including development, administration, identity and culture, justice and freedom, and Islamophobia.

Danny Sjursen (2019-12-18). Remembering America\'s First (and Longest) Forgotten War on Tribal Islamists. zcomm.org It Was \"Progress\" All the Way Then, Too…