2019-12-24: Social Media Postees

Please be social by posting these 'POSTEES' on social media!

India's Discriminatory New Citizenship Law
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-24
India's 2019 Citizenship Act expedites the process for persecuted minorities of Pakistani, Afghan and Bangladesh nationality who resided in India since 2014. | It applies only for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Jains, and Parsis, Muslims excluded. | According to the UN Human …
globalresearch.ca/india-discriminatory-n…

In the United Kingdom: Do Subjects Deserve Their Rulers?
Andre Vltchek | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-24
I constantly receive such letters; letters which repeat, again and again, year after year, basically the same thing: "If only we would have an opportunity to vote out our damn system!" | Such letters, emails and messages keep coming to me …
globalresearch.ca/uk-do-subjects-deserve…

Assange Gives Evidence in Spanish Court-Room Case. Security Contractor Accused of Spying on Assange
Thomas Scripps | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-24
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was brought from Belmarsh Prison yesterday to appear in person at Westminster Magistrates Court and provide video-link witness testimony in the Spanish prosecution of David Morales, the founder of security firm UC Global. Morales, a …
globalresearch.ca/assange-gives-evidence…

Sanders and Omar Call on OSHA to Release Amazon's Injury Records
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-24
This story was originally published by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit news organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Learn more at revealnews.org and subscribe to the Reveal podcast, produced with PRX, at revealnews.org/podcast. | Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota are calling on the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration to provide…
truthout.org/articles/sanders-and-omar-c…

US-EU Interventionism in Latin America and the Klaus Barbie Affair
Stephen Sefton | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-24
In a comprehensive way, Bolivia's coup leaders reincarnate the most sinister ghosts of Latin America and the Caribbean's imperialist torturers and mass murderers. The religious fanaticism of coup figureheads like Camacho and Añez, abject servants of their US owners, invokes …
globalresearch.ca/us-eu-klaus-barbie/569…

After the Argentina Debacle, the IMF Endorses Weakening Capital Controls in Ecuador
Lara Merling | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-24
Over the past year, a rebranded International Monetary Fund (IMF) returned to Latin America with promises of loan agreements that would be different than the dreaded "structural adjustment programs" of the past. Behind statements about inclusive growth and protecting the most vulnerable, are policies similarto the structural adjustments of the Washington Consensus era. While the…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/24/after-the-ar…

House Committee Raises Prospect of More Impeachment Articles
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-12-24
WASHINGTON — The House Judiciary Committee held open the possibility Monday of recommending additional articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump as it pressed anew for the testimony of former White House counsel Don McGahn. | The committee wants a federal appeals court to order McGahn to testify as it examines potential obstruction of justice by the president during special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. The committee says McGahn's testimony could also be useful for any Senate impeachment trial. | A judge last month directed McGahn to comply with the House Judiciary Committee su…
truthdig.com/articles/house-committee-ra…

Video: Israel Strikes Damascus as Syrian Army Crushes ISIS-Al Qaeda Terrorists in Idlib
South Front | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-24
Early on December 23, the Syrian Air Defense intercepted several missiles launched by Israeli warplanes from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and the Lebanese area of Mount Hermon. | SANA claimed that the Israeli missiles reportedly fell in the area of Aqraba …
globalresearch.ca/video-israel-strikes-d…

US, Britain, France Oppose Humanitarian Aid for Syrians. Western Aid Channelled to Jihadists
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-24
Syria is Washington's war, launched by the Obama regime in March 2011, escalated by Trump. | There's nothing remotely "civil" about waging war on a nonbelligerent state threatening no one — using ISIS and likeminded jihadists as imperial foot soldiers, supported …
globalresearch.ca/us-led-west-against-hu…

Despised Private Prison Companies Rebrand as Prison Real Estate Companies
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-24
Many people believe that the United States government is constantly battling corporations, with the government enforcing regulations and corporations skirting them. While this is true in isolated cases, the reality is much more complex. The prison-industrial complex, for example, encompasses a state-run apparatus that is symbiotically intertwined with various private entities. | A growing public relations crisis threatens all entities in this complex. Widespread grassroots movements calling for…
truthout.org/articles/despised-private-p…

Journalist Peter Hartcher and the anti-China campaign in Australia
wsws.org | 2019-12-24
Hartcher's essay in the Quarterly Essay is textbook propaganda for war. It seeks to cultivate nationalist fear and even paranoia about the intended enemy–China.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/24/hart…

In Medical Billing, Fraudulent Charges Weirdly Pass as Legal
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-24
Much of what we accept as legal in medical billing would be regarded as fraud in any other sector. | I have been circling around this conclusion for the past five years, as I've listened to patients' stories while covering health care as a journalist and author. Now, after a summer of firsthand experience — my husband was in a bike crash in July — it's time to call out this fact head-on. Many of the Democratic candidates are talking about practical fixes for our high-priced health care system, and…
truthout.org/articles/in-medical-billing…

How the Pro-War "Left" Fell for the Kurds in Syria
Max Parry | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-24
The October decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to withdraw American troops from northeastern Syria did not only precipitate the Turkish offensive, codenamed 'Operation Peace Spring', into Kurdish-held territory which followed. It also sparked an outcry of hysteria from much | …
globalresearch.ca/how-pro-war-left-fell-…

Bloomberg News Fined over $7 Million for Fake News Report
Zachary Stieber | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-24
This is not the first time that fake financial news has led to the tumble of stock values. | There is evidence that the 2008 plunge of the US automobile industry was in part the result of manipulation sustained by fake …
globalresearch.ca/bloomberg-news-fined-7…

The Dream is Over: How Boris Johnson Won the UK Election
T.J. Coles | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-24
After the shock and the grief comes reflection. After reflection comes renewed determination. But under Britain's sham of a democracy, the public won't get the chance to remove the vile creature put into No. 10 by 14 million or so voters for at least five years; and even then, a government has the legal right to seek a general election prior to the five-year period if it is doing well in the public opinion polls, effectively giving itself long-term reign.
counterpunch.org/2019/12/24/the-dream-is…

Peace on Earth
Elliot Sperber | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-24
Peace on Earth The laundry soap'll hardly pour When it's as cold as this it's thick And white as wax when — well It had to be a green cat Candle the last of the red ones Ears were smashed And peace on earth my friend won't come Until we stop worshipping Work and war,…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/24/peace-on-ear…

The Christmas Truce of 1914: Proof that Peace is Possible
Thomas Knapp | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-24
As 1914 drew to a close, Europe had been at war for months. On the Western Front, opposing armies faced each other across a stalemated front line running from the North Sea to the Swiss border. On December 24, 100,000 soldiers from both sides of that line decided to create some peace on Earth. They…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/24/the-christma…

Trump Administration and Moscow Shoot Down Bipartisan DASKA "Sanctions Bill from Hell"
Sarah Abed | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-24
In August of 2018, Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) first introduced what Graham referred to as a "sanctions bill from hell" targeting Russia and President Vladimir Putin and making it harder for the United States to leave …
globalresearch.ca/trump-administration-m…

Video: Battle for Idlib: Syrian Army Aims for M5 Highway
South Front | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-24
The Syrian Army and its allies delivered a devastating blow to Al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and its Turkish-backed allies in southern Idlib. | Since the start of the operation on December 19, the army, led by the Tiger Forces and their …
globalresearch.ca/video-battle-idlib-syr…

ICC to Investigate Israeli War Crimes?
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-24
Israel isn't a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Clearly its ruling authorities will reject whatever conclusions it draws, if any, short of exoneration. | Since established by the Rome Statute in 2002, the court never held the US, other …
globalresearch.ca/icc-investigate-israel…

Holiday Season Warmaking Revisited, New US Space Force Created
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-24
Endless US wars rage in multiple theaters throughout the year, including during the holiday season. | Throughout…
globalresearch.ca/holiday-season-warmaki…

The US Approves Bill That May Legislate Hybrid Warfare on Venezuela
Nino Pagliccia | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-24
On December 16 both houses in the US approved the appropriation bill to be signed by President Trump. Aside from the mind-boggling amount of $1.4 trillion that was approved in total our interest was in looking at the details concerning Venezuela. A press release issued by the organization Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) is…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/24/the-us-appro…

The Amazon at a Tipping Point
Robert Hunziker | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-24
The Amazon rainforest is a crucial life-support ecosystem. Without its wondrous strength and power to generate hydrologic systems across the sky (as far north as Iowa), absorb and store carbon (CO2), and its miraculous life-giving endless supply of oxygen, civilization would cease to exist beyond scattered tribes, here and there.
counterpunch.org/2019/12/24/the-amazon-a…

Tax Amazon: Strike While the Iron is Hot
Kshama Sawant | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-24
The history of American capitalism is full of corporate bullying, threats and even violence against working people when we stand up for our rights. | Yet in spite of Amazon's all-out, attempted hostile corporate takeover of Seattle City Hall this year, working people just beat the richest man in the world by running perhaps the strongest grassroots campaign ever in our city. When we fight, we can win.
counterpunch.org/2019/12/24/tax-amazon-s…

An End to the World as We Know It?
Philip Giraldi | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-24
At the end of the nineteenth century, Lord Palmerston stated what he thought was obvious, that "England has no eternal friends, England has no perpetual enemies, England has only eternal and perpetual interests." Palmerston was saying that national interests should …
globalresearch.ca/end-world-as-we-know-i…

Far-right Spanish general demands ouster of Socialist Party government
wsws.org | 2019-12-24
According to El País, this call from the former chief of staff of the Spanish army is circulating widely in the officer corps among WhatsApp groups.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/24/spai…

Christmas Celebrates the Birth of a Refugee Who Was Killed by the State
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-24
I will never forget the moment she came up to me. Tears were rolling down her face. We had just had our worship services in the street that day, in front of our local gun shop because we wanted to connect the suffering of Jesus on the cross to the suffering of our neighborhood on the North side of Philadelphia, which carries a bulk of the trauma of poverty and violence in our city. It was just before Easter. We had just read the Gospel passage describing Jesus's violent death, leaving his mother a…
truthout.org/articles/christmas-celebrat…

Thirty-Two Jurisdictions Will Raise Wages to or Above $15 in 2020
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-24
The federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 an hour for more than a decade due to continued inaction by Congress, but a record 72 jurisdictions across the U.S. are raising their minimum wage floors in 2020 in response to grassroots pre…
truthout.org/articles/thirty-two-jurisdi…

Fast Fashion May Be Cheap, But It Comes at a Cost
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-24
Would you believe that something as standard as buying a t-shirt can directly impact someone halfway around the world? That the chemicals used to color your clothes are likely polluting waterways? That with every clothing purchase you make, you are essentially voting for or against the future of the planet? | These might not be the first things that come to mind when you decide where to buy your new pants and sweaters and shoes, but the links between "fast fashion," human rights issues, and the environment are well esta…
truthout.org/articles/fast-fashion-may-b…

Indo-Pak Nuclear Confrontation: First Use Policy & the Race towards Armageddon
N.D. Jayaprakash | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-24
Click here to read Part Two. Head in the Sand Approach Information on the colossal destructive effects of use of nuclear weapons, based on the horrendous experiences of the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, has been in the public domain for well over six decades. Yet, unmindful of the existing knowledge about the…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/24/indo-pak-nuc…

Philippines Approves GM Golden Rice. The Destabilization of Agriculture
GMWatch | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-24
The broader issue which is casually ignored by the Philippines government is that "golden" genetically modified rice (GMO) is to replace the rice varieties which have been cultivated for centuries in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. | The bio-safety evaluation is …
globalresearch.ca/philippines-approves-p…

MI5 Given the Go-ahead to Allow Informants to Commit Crimes
Ceren Sagir | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-24
Human rights campaigners today vowed to appeal against a "knife-edge" divided tribunal ruling which allowed MI5 to continue authorising informants to commit serious criminal offences. | Privacy International, Reprieve, the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) and the Pat Finucane …
globalresearch.ca/mi5-given-go-ahead-all…

Philippines Approves GM Golden Rice. The Destabilization of Agriculture
GMWatch | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-24
The broader issue which is casually ignored by both the Philippines government and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is that "golden" genetically modified rice (GMO) is slated to replace rice varieties which have been cultivated for centuries in the …
globalresearch.ca/philippines-approves-p…

Unlearned Lessons from World War I: The Christmas Truce of 1914
Dr. Gary G. Kohls | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-24
When Christian frontline soldiers on both sides of No Man's Land saw the obvious futility of war and just stopped the killing, thus disobeying orders from the out-of-touch Christian Generals and Christian Bishops to whom they had pledged obedience. | ***…
globalresearch.ca/tragically-unlearned-l…

Disconnected at Christmas… Bah Humbug!
Philip A Farruggio | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-24
John and Yoko Lennon's 1971 'Happy Christmas …' song begins with "So this is Christmas and what have you done?….". Well, this holiday season, replete with the usual suspects of mass consumer spending, massive traffic jams and accidents, mass pleas …
globalresearch.ca/disconnected-christmas…

Film: Christmas Truce of World War I. Joyeux Noà´l (2005)
Global Research News | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-24
Joyeux Noà´l is a 2005 epic war drama film based on the Christmas truce of December 1914, depicted through the eyes of French, Scottish, and German soldiers. It was written and directed by Christian Carion, and screened at the 2005 …
globalresearch.ca/film-christmas-truce-o…

A Bell Cuts Through the Noise
Joseph G. Ramsey | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-24
Dressed in full-on 18th-century-style tricorn hats and bonnets, Freedom Trail tour guides can look out of place amid Boston's skyscrapers and bumper-to-bumper traffic. They keep the city's Revolutionary past alive, but in 21st-century conditions. The costumes and official stops on the Freedom Trail–from Old North Church to Faneuil Hall–have basically stayed the same since the…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/24/a-bell-cuts-…

Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the Right to Dump Sewage on Your Lawn
Dean Baker | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-24
In debates over protecting the environment, and especially global warming, it is standard practice to refer to the pro-protection side as being in favor of government regulation and the anti-protection side as being pro-free market. This is nonsense and it is nonsense in a way that strongly benefits the enemies of environmental protection. There is…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/24/greenhouse-g…

Greetings from the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) on the CPP's 51th Anniversary
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-12-24
Dear Comrades: | We convey our warmest revolutionary greetings on the occasion of the 51st anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of the Philippines. Your achievements are many and we stand with you in your struggle to liberate the Philippines from the yoke of U.S. imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism. We are sure you will win many more victories in the coming period. | The Communist Party of the Philippines is in the leadership of a great people's war that is inspiration to working and oppressed people everywhere. The people's democratic revolution, with socialist orientation, will t…
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/12/24/greetin…

Anti-war leader blasts Klobuchar for backing U.S. embassy move to Jerusalem
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-12-24
Minneapolis, MN — Amy Klobuchar, a 'centrist' who is trying to become the Democratic Party standard-bearer in the upcoming elections for president, states that she will not reverse Trump's decision to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. There has long been a consensus among most Republican and Democratic politicians to support the Zionist occupation of Palestine. | Meredith Aby-Keirstead, a leader of the Twin Cities Anti-War Committee responded, "It doesn't surprise any of us in the anti-war movement that Klobuchar doesn't want to reverse Trump's decision to move the U.S. embassy fr…
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/12/24/anti-wa…

Inside Brazil's War on Small Farmers
Michael Fox | zcomm.org | 2019-12-24
Not long ago, Brazil's government walked a thin, complicated line between protecting the right to private property and the right to agrarian reform. Today, that line has been obliterated…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/inside-brazils-war…

Germany: Former secret service boss agitates against refugees and plays down right-wing terrorism
wsws.org | 2019-12-24
One year after his removal as head of Germany's domestic secret service, Hans-Georg Maassen (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) has become one of the spokesmen for the extreme right.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/24/mass…

Brexit, Macron and Russia: Will 2020 be as Difficult for EU as 2019 Was?
Paul Antonopoulos | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-24
2019 has been a difficult year for the European Union (EU) and it appears 2020 will be no different with many challenges and issues remaining unresolved after a turbulent year. The most obvious issue is the lingering Brexit saga that …
globalresearch.ca/brexit-macron-russia-w…

Japan PM asks South Korea to take steps to resolve bilateral row
yenisafak.com | 2019-12-24
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Tuesday it is South Korea's responsibility to come up with measures that would resolve bilateral disputes that have taken Tokyo's relationship with Seoul to the lowest in decades.Abe made the comment at a news conference on the sidelines of a trilateral summit with China and South Korea in Chengdu, China.Ties between Japan and South Korea, two of the United States' major Asian allies, have plunged to their lowest in decades after South Korea's top court last year ordered Japanese firms to compensate some wartime forced labourers.Japan says the issue was settled under a 1…
yenisafak.com/en/world/japan-pm-asks-sou…

US allows Pakistan to resume military training after aid freeze
rt.com | 2019-12-24
The US will allow Pakistan to rejoin a military training program suspended two years ago when President Donald Trump froze security aid to the country. Resuming the program, which represents only a part of the halted aid, is one sign of warming relations between Washington and Islamabad, AFP said. | Trump hosted Pakistani PM Imran Khan at the White House in July, and the US has several times welcomed Pakistani help in negotiations with the Afghan Taliban. In January 2018, prior to Khan's election, Trump froze the assistance, saying Pakistan was not doing enough to target bases of the Afghan Taliban and its aff…
rt.com/newsline/476729-us-pakistan-milit…

Guardian corrects article about Julian Assange embassy 'escape plot' to Russia…a year later
rt.com | 2019-12-24
The Guardian has corrected an article describing a "plot" to "smuggle" WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange out of London, more than a year after publication. Russia called the article "disinformation and fake news" from the outset. | Assange is currently languishing in London's Belmarsh Prison, awaiting a hearing on his extradition to the US where he is facing espionage charges. However, in the runup to Christmas 2017 he was still safe inside the city's Ecuadorian embassy. At the time, Assange had become a thorn in the side of Ecuador's new president, Lenin Moreno, and Moreno was reportedly mulling a plan to offe…
rt.com/uk/476767-guardian-correction-ass…

Russia will closely monitor new US missile deployments in Europe & Asia-Pacific — Putin
rt.com | 2019-12-24
Moscow will monitor the potential deployment of American short- and intermediate-range missiles in various parts of the world, Vladimir Putin has told the military. | The US has effectively dismantled the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty this year, Putin said at an annual gathering of the Defense Ministry board, which gives new reasons for Russia to be vigilant. The treaty in question banned land-based ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and missile launchers with ranges of up to 5,500km (3,418 miles). | Therefore, we have to monitor possible deployment of American missiles of this class in…
rt.com/news/476745-russia-us-missiles-mo…

Poland wanted to 'erect magnificent monument' to honor Hitler's plan to send Jews to Africa — Putin cites WWII archives
rt.com | 2019-12-24
Some nations in Europe that colluded with Adolf Hitler and applauded his anti-Semitic crusade, now demolish Soviet war memorials and seek to equate the USSR with Nazi Germany, the Russian president noted, during a formal speech. | Vladimir Putin recalled the vicious developments that preceded the Second World War, in an address to the Defense Ministry board on Tuesday, telling his audience there was one particular fact in the archive files that touched him the most. Back in 1938, Adolf Hitler hosted the Polish Ambassador to Germany Jozef Lipski and shared with him a plan to send European Jews to Africa where t…
rt.com/news/476748-poland-hitler-deporta…

'What's a foreign hand doing here?' Indians outraged over German students' protesting against citizenship bill
rt.com | 2019-12-24
A German exchange student in India was deported from the country after participating in demonstrations against a new citizenship bill, local media reported. Indians have been raising alarm over foreigners joining the protests. | Jakob Lindenthal, a post-graduate student in physics at the Indian Institute of Technology (ITT) in Chennai, was allegedly ordered by immigration officials to leave India after he had joined in on anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) rallies. | Photographs of Lindenthal show him hold placards reading "No democracy without dissent" and "1933-1945: We have been there" — apparently d…
rt.com/news/476712-german-student-citize…

India allocates funds for census amid protests over new citizenship measures
rt.com | 2019-12-24
New Delhi has allocated money to be used for a census and population survey to be conducted next year, which would include data on cultural, economic and migration issues. | The government signed off on 87.54 billion rupees ($1.23 billion) for conducting the census and 39.41 billion rupees ($553 million) for updating the National Population Register (NPR). The census will collect data on population, economic activity, migration, as well as social and cultural information. The NPR focuses solely on creating a database of every legal resident in India, and will include demographic and biometric data. | Creating…
rt.com/news/476741-india-census-npr-ncr-…

Iraqi MPs approve new election law, a key demand of protesters
rt.com | 2019-12-24
Iraq's parliament approved a new electoral law on Tuesday, a key demand of protesters to make elections fairer. However, political deadlock is still holding up the selection of an interim prime minister. | The new law passed by parliament will allow voters to elect individual lawmakers instead of choosing from party lists, and have each member of parliament represent a specific electoral district instead of groups of legislators representing entire provinces, Reuters reports. | Mass protests have gripped Iraq since October 1. Protesters have demanded not just a new electoral law, but also the removal of the en…
rt.com/newsline/476764-iraq-election-law…

More demonstrations in Iraq as authorities seek way out of political impasse
rt.com | 2019-12-24
Iraqi protesters stepped up their demonstrations on Tuesday, making clear their opposition to names touted by the establishment to fill…
rt.com/newsline/476752-demonstrations-ir…

Turkish parliament may allow deployment of its military in Libya — Erdogan's spokesman
rt.com | 2019-12-24
The situation on the ground may call for MPs to consider the use of Turkey's military in Libya, presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin has said. Ankara has a security cooperation deal with Tripoli, which allows for such a move. | "There might be a need for an authorization in line with the developments over there. The parliament is conducting work on this issue [drafting a bill]," the spokesman told journalists, adding that giving such authorization was the prerogative of the parliament. | Turkish involvement in the war-torn North African country can take the form "of military training, or other areas, such as p…
rt.com/news/476770-turkish-parliament-mi…

Wrong kind of record: 2019 was year of most US mass murders ever — study
rt.com | 2019-12-24
Among the records the US set in 2019 was a sad and disturbing one. It was the year with the most incidents of mass killing since media and scholars started keeping track, according to a new study. | There were 211 victims in 41 mass killings this year, according to the database maintained by the Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University in Boston. By their definition, a mass murder is any incident in which four or more people die, excluding the perpetrator. | It is the largest number of mass killings since the two news organizations and the university started tracking them in 2006, when they reco…
rt.com/usa/476701-mass-killings-record-2…

Abe, Moon meet after worst period of tension between S. Korea & Japan in decades
rt.com | 2019-12-24
South Korea's President Moon Jae-in and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met on the sidelines of a trilateral summit with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in the Chinese city of Chengdu. Tension over stalled denuclearization talks between North Korea and the United States was the main issue on the agenda. | Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing "agreed to continue close communication and cooperation toward denuclearization and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula," Moon said. "We… decided to work together to ensure that denuclearization and peace continue through prompt North Korea-US dialogue," he added. | For Moon and Abe…
rt.com/newsline/476730-korea-japan-china…

Ankara keeps businessman Kavala in jail despite European court release call
rt.com | 2019-12-24
A Turkish court ruled on Tuesday to keep businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala in jail, despite a call by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to release him, as his trial over his alleged involvement in 2013's protests continues. | Kavala has been in custody for more than two years, charged with attempting to overthrow the government by organizing and funding nationwide protests against then-PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan. | Kavala, who faces life in jail if convicted, denies the allegations, Reuters said. Fifteen other defendants are on trial with Kavala, who is currently the only one in jail. | The Euro…
rt.com/newsline/476738-turkey-businessma…

Russian astrophysicists claim there's NO DARK ENERGY in bold new theory
rt.com | 2019-12-24
A pair of Russian astrophysicists have published a cosmological theory which they claim explains the expansion of the universe without the need for the mysterious "Dark Energy" proposed by so many of their peers. | Dark energy has served as a placeholder to explain away gaps in our current understanding of the universe for decades but now Professor Artyom Astashenok and undergraduate Aleksander Tepliakov from the Baltic Federal University think they have cracked the mystery. Their research was published in…
rt.com/russia/476750-no-dark-energy-russ…

Russia's 5th-gen Su-57 fighter jet crashes during factory trials — pilot ejects
rt.com | 2019-12-24
One of Russia's cutting-edge Su-57 fighter jets has crashed during routine factory test flights near the Komsomolsk-on-Amur aircraft plant in the Far East. The pilot ejected safely and was picked up by a Mi-8 rescue helicopter. | The aircraft involved in the incident belonged to the manufacturer and was undergoing a series of flight tests some 110 kilometers off Dzyomgi air base in Russia's Khabarovsk region. | There were no casualties or major damage on the ground, the manufacturer confirmed, in a brief statement. The crashed jet's black boxes were in the process of being recovered. | Also on rt.com | |
rt.com/russia/476709-russia-su-57-fighte…

Russia dominating the US in the battle for European LNG market
rt.com | 2019-12-24
Russia supplies about a fifth of Europe's liquefied natural gas (LNG) needs, which puts it well ahead of the United States, Energy Minister Alexander Novak has said. | The US share of LNG deliveries to Europe is currently around 13 percent. | "We have already notably outpaced the United States in terms of LNG supplies," he said, noting that two-to-three years ago Russia practically did not supply LNG at all. | Also on rt.com | | US sanctions won't stop completion of Russian natural gas pipeline to Europe — Kremlin | "Our deliveries amount to al…
rt.com/business/476751-russia-outpaces-u…

No patient too small: Russian vets perform successful surgery on a COCKROACH (VIDEO)
rt.com | 2019-12-24
Every life is precious for a true doctor and Russian veterinarians have proven this again, after successfully performing surgery on a cockroach. The insect some may find disgusting may, to others, be a favorite pet. | The Archimandrita cockroach originates in the South American jungle, but it has found true love and care in the cold city of Krasnoyarsk in the heart of Siberia. | When a female roach experienced serious health problems, the owner didn't give up on her. The man rushed to the vet clinic, despite it being a lot easier and cheaper to buy a new insect. | The local animal doctors had never dealt with…
rt.com/russia/476756-russia-veterinarian…

Turkish parliament working on bill to allow troop deployment to Libya — spokesman
rt.com | 2019-12-24
Turkey may need to draft a bill to allow for deployment of its troops to Libya and its parliament is working on the issue, presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Tuesday. | Ankara signed a military cooperation agreement with the Tripoli-based government last month. | Turkey backs Libya's internationally recognized government and has said it could deploy troops there were it to receive such a request. Tripoli has been fighting off a months-long offensive by commander Khalifa Haftar's forces in the east. | Turkey will continue to provide the necessary support to Fayez al-Serraj's government, Kalin said. An…
rt.com/newsline/476766-turkey-parliament…

US steps up campaign to urge Europe to drop Huawei, says Chinese tech firm threatens British intelligence services
rt.com | 2019-12-24
US National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien has cautioned Britain against allowing Huawei to operate 5G networks in the UK, claiming that the move would endanger the country's intelligence services. | Inviting the Chinese firm to help develop 5G in the UK risks handing Beijing access to the "most intimate" details of British citizens, as well as sensitive intelligence and national secrets, the senior White House official told the Financial Times. | "They are just going to steal wholesale state secrets, whether they are the UK's nuclear secrets or secrets from MI6 or MI5," O'Brien claimed. He said that it was "
rt.com/news/476727-us-huawei-uk-china-sp…

You better watch out… US military tracks Santa and North Korean 'gifts'
rt.com | 2019-12-24
With much of the world awaiting North Korea's promised "Christmas gift" for the US, NORAD is busy tracking both missile tests and Santa's journey around the world. Let's hope the two don't get mixed up, netizens joked. | 'Tis the season to be on the lookout for intercontinental ballistic missiles. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un promised a "Christmas gift" for the United States earlier this month, should Washington not back down from its demand for him to abandon his nuclear program. Resurrecting the nickname "Rocket Man" for Kim, US President Donald Trump has refused to give in and it remains to be seen wheth…
rt.com/usa/476763-norad-santa-north-kore…

'Role play'? Swedish schoolkids made to kneel in gender-segregated MUSLIM prayer & told to listen to Koran in Arabic
rt.com | 2019-12-24
A Swedish school decided to familiarize its fifth-graders with Islamic worshipping by having a teacher recite Koran to them and having them pray facing Mecca, in a bizarre set-up the educators called a "role play." | An offbeat "religion lesson" was taught at the Bjurbäck school situated in the south of Sweden, according to Samhallsnytt outlet. An outraged parent said pupils were told to face the Kaaba and knee on prayer mats, whereas the whole class was divided by gender, with girls forced to the back of the room. | His daughters "did not even want to be there because they could not understand a word of…
rt.com/news/476711-sweden-pupils-muslim-…

'Role play'? Swedish schoolkids made to kneel in gender-segregated MUSLIM prayer & told to listen to Koran in Arabic
rt.com | 2019-12-24
A Swedish school decided to familiarize its fifth-graders with Islamic worshipping by having a teacher recite Koranic verse to them and having them pray facing Mecca, in a bizarre set-up the educators called "role play." | An offbeat "religion lesson" was taught at the Bjurbäck school situated in the south of Sweden, according to Samhallsnytt news outlet. An outraged parent said pupils were told to face the Kaaba and kneel on prayer mats, while the whole class was divided by gender, with girls forced to the back of the room. | His daughters "did not even want to be there because they could not understand…
rt.com/news/476711-sweden-pupils-muslim-…

Travis Kalanick's scandal-filled reign at Uber is over
rt.com | 2019-12-24
The US ride-hailing service Uber announced on Tuesday its co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick is stepping down from the company's board of directors at the end of this month to focus on other projects. | "It seems like the right moment for me to focus on my current business and philanthropic pursuits," Kalanick said in a statement. "I'm proud of all that Uber has achieved, and I will continue to cheer for its future from the sidelines." | Kalanick has been steadily unloading his Uber shares since a lockup ended in November. According to SEC filings, he sold more than $2.5 billion-worth of Uber stock, wit…
rt.com/business/476758-uber-co-founder-k…

'If Ronaldo thinks it's difficult, it must be difficult': Romelu Lukaku reveals Juve ace's Serie A warning
rt.com | 2019-12-24
Inter Milan new boy Romelu Lukaku has revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo advised him prior to his move about just how difficult it is to find the net in the Italian top flight after his big bucks move from Manchester United. | Lukaku has hit the ground running since joining up with Antonio Conte's side, bagging 14 goals in all competitions so far this season – two more than Ronaldo – and this may come as something of a surprise to the Belgian marksman after a warning from the Portuguese great about how hard it can be to be productive in the notoriously defense-heavy league. | "He told me this is the hardest defen…
rt.com/sport/476744-ronaldo-lukaku-serie…

Moroccan | NGO urges Muslim world to support Uighurs against China's 'genocide'
yenisafak.com | 2019-12-24
A non-governmental organisation in Morocco urged the Arab world and Islamic organizations to stand against China's long-standing crackdown on Muslim Uighurs in the far western region of Xinjiang, calling the persecution a "genocide."The Support Committee for the Causes of the Ummah expressed its concerns in a written statement about the religious persecution, ethnic cleansing campaign, human rights violations and abuses targeting Uighur Muslim minorities in East Turkestan, the name that Uighur exiles use for Xinjiang.The NGO also called on human rights organizations to take action against racist and arbitrary det…
yenisafak.com/en/news/moroccanngo-urges-…

German student says he's told to leave India after joining protests
yenisafak.com | 2019-12-24
A German exchange student said on Tuesday that Indian authorities had ordered him to leave the country after he took part in protests against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new citizenship law.Jakob Lindenthal, a 24-year-old pursuing a master's degree in physics, said he took part in two rallies in the southern city of Chennai against the law, which critics say discriminates against India's minority Muslims.A photo circulated on Twitter shows Lindenthal holding a sign that reads: "1933-1945 We have been there," a reference to Nazi Germany.Lindenthal said he was summoned to a meeting with India's immigration autho…
yenisafak.com/en/world/german-student-sa…

Syrian regime, allies capture 35 residential areas in Idlib
yenisafak.com | 2019-12-24
Syria's Bashar al-Assad regime backed by Russia and Iran has captured 35 residential areas in the past four days in the northwestern Idlib province, which has been designated a de-escalation zone.Since the offensive began on Dec. 20, the regime and its allies have launched a military campaign mainly in the cities of Maarat Al-Numan and Saraqib as well as the surrounding rural areas.Despite being a de-escalation zone, the regime and its allies on Monday night took control of nine more areas, including Jarjnaz, Khirbet Marata, Abu Dafna, al-Hadisa, Kafr Yasin, al-Salihiyah, Dar al-Salam, al-Falul, and Babulin, bri…
yenisafak.com/en/world/syrian-regime-all…

Russian, Turkish diplomats discuss Libyan crisis
yenisafak.com | 2019-12-24
Moscow hosted expert consultations of Russian and Turkish diplomats on Libya on Dec. 23, Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.The talks were held at the level of deputy foreign ministers, Russia's Mikhail Bogdanov and Turkey's Sedat Onal headed the delegations, the ministry said in a statement published on its official website.As a result of "mindful exchange of views," the two countries agreed to continue contacts on Libyan issues, including "possible assistance to the early settlement of the crisis in the country," the ministry said.On Nov. 27, Ankara and Tripoli signed two separate memorandums of understa…
yenisafak.com/en/news/russian-turkish-di…

Turkey not given up on Khashoggi murder case: Experts
yenisafak.com | 2019-12-24
Evaluating Monday verdict of a Saudi court over slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Turkish experts said the decision does not bind Turkey and called for carrying out legal process in Istanbul, where the incident took place.Criminal lawyer Ersan Sen told Anadolu Agency that only Turkey has the judiciary rights on the Khashoggi case in the world.Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post and a U.S. resident, was murdered after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 of last year on a visit to pick up paperwork for his forthcoming marriage."The UN, U.S., or Saudi Arabia, no matter who says what, it doe…
yenisafak.com/en/news/turkey-not-given-u…

Russian airstrikes kill 8 civilians in Syria's Idlib
yenisafak.com | 2019-12-24
Syrian opposition aircraft monitors said Russian warplanes struck the city of Saraqib and towns of Maar Shoreen, Babeela and Jawbas.The attacks on Jawbas left eight people, including five children, dead, sources with the White Helmets civil defense agency said.Over 1,300 civilians have been killed in the Idlib de-escalation zone despite a deal reached by Ankara and Moscow in September 2018.Over a million Syrians have moved near the Turkish border following intense attacks.Since the eruption of the bloody civil war in Syria in 2011, Turkey has taken in over 3.6 million Syrians who fled their country, making Turkey…
yenisafak.com/en/world/russian-airstrike…

YPG/PKK forcibly recruits orphan kids against soldiers
yenisafak.com | 2019-12-24
Terror group YPG/PKK recruits foreign national orphan children held hostage in a camp in northern Syria and trains them to fight against Turkish and Syrian soldiers, according to security sources on Tuesday.A terrorist who surrendered to security forces in Turkey's southeastern Mardin province revealed the YPG/PKK's malice once again, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.Identified by initials H.A., the terrorist said the orphan children held hostage in al-Hol Camp in northern Syria's Hasakah city were being forcibly trained to use weapons.Over 100 children, age…
yenisafak.com/en/news/ypg-pkk-forcibly-r…

YPG/PKK terrorist surrenders to Turkish forces
yenisafak.com | 2019-12-24
A YPG/PKK terrorist surrendered to border security forces in southeastern Turkey, said a security source on Tuesday.Identified only with initials M.K., the terrorist, codenamed Diyar, surrendered in Nusaybin, a border district of Mardin province near Syria, said the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.The security forces' efforts to convince the terrorists to surrender bore fruit, and their investigation revealed that many terrorists have been active within the PKK for years.In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organiz…
yenisafak.com/en/world/ypg-pkk-terrorist…

President Erdogan, UK's Johnson discuss bilateral, regional issues
yenisafak.com | 2019-12-24
The Turkish president and British prime minister in a phone call discussed bilateral ties and regional issues, according to an official statement on Tuesday.Turkey's Directorate of Communications said Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Boris Johnson also discussed recent developments in Libya and Syria.
yenisafak.com/en/news/president-erdogan-…

Israel cancels Jordan Valley meeting amid ICC probe
yenisafak.com | 2019-12-24
An Israeli ministerial team cancelled a scheduled meeting to discuss plans for annexing the Jordan Valley following a decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate alleged Israeli war crimes against Palestinians, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported on Tuesday.The meeting had been scheduled to take place last week, but was called off last minute once ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced intention on Friday to investigate alleged Israeli human rights violations in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.During his election campaign in September, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said h…
yenisafak.com/en/news/israel-cancels-jor…

Nepal nabs 122 Chinese suspects over financial crimes
yenisafak.com | 2019-12-24
Nepal police arrested 122 Chinese nationals suspected of committing financial crimes in the largest-ever arrest of a group of foreigners in the country, an official said on Tuesday.Hundreds of police officers in Kathmandu were deployed Monday in the northern outskirts of the capital to arrest suspects, including eight women, from China, said Bed Bahadur Pandey, a spokesman of Nepal Police's Central Investigation Bureau.The mass arrest came three months after five Chinese people were arrested on suspicion of hacking of ATMs in Kathmandu.Police also seized laptops and mobile phones in coordinated raids in 10 buildi…
yenisafak.com/en/world/nepal-nabs-122-ch…

US National Security Adviser warns UK about allowing Huawei in 5G
yenisafak.com | 2019-12-24
U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien has warned UK about allowing China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd into its 5G telecommunications networks, saying such a move would pose a risk to UK's secret intelligence services, the Financial Times reported."They are just going to steal wholesale state secrets, whether they are the UK's nuclear secrets or secrets from MI6 or MI5," O'Brien told the FT in an interview on.ft.com/2Zm8PZ7 published on Tuesday."It is somewhat shocking to us that folks in the UK would look at Huawei as some sort of a commercial…
yenisafak.com/en/technology/us-national-…

Tweets About Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi "Dying Like a Dog" are no Joking Matter
Alexandra Isfahani-Hammond | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-24
The media has been overflowing with wisecracks about the absurdity of Trump's praise for the Belgian Malinois, Conan, one of several dogs used to hunt Isis founder and leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on October 26. On the one hand, Trump tweeted that the "wonderful," "beautiful" and "talented" dog did a "GREAT JOB" and posted a…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/24/tweets-about…

Saudi Arabia sentences hit men to death, shields organizers of Jamal Khashoggi murder
wsws.org | 2019-12-24
The announcement by Saudi Arabia of death sentences for five members of the death squad that brutally assassinated the journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey in 2018 is part of a cover-up to protect the role of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/24/khas…

Climate Strike: SF Bay Area Youth Strike in Oakland
Youth V Apocalypse, PlantingJustice, Mycelium | indybay.org | 2019-12-24
Plaza outside Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Oakland, CA 94612…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/20/1882904…

Everything You Wanted to Know about Climate Change, but Were Afraid to Ask
Citizens' Climate Lobby San Mateo | indybay.org | 2019-12-24
Half Moon Bay Library, 620 Correas Street, Half Moon Bay, CA 94019…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/20/1882904…

2020 Citizens' Climate Lobby Northern California Regional Conference
Citizens' Climate Lobby | indybay.org | 2019-12-24
Oakland Technical High School, 4351 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94611…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/20/1882904…

2020 Citizens' Climate Lobby Northern CA Regional Conference, Day 2
Citizens' Climate Lobby | indybay.org | 2019-12-24
Oakland Technical High School, 4351 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94611…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/20/1882904…

Buffy Sainte Marie Truthtelling Indigenous Genocide
Brenda Norrell | indybay.org | 2019-12-24
Buffy Sainte Marie described the genocide, slavery, murder and rape of Indigenous Peoples, that the kings and queens, military, churches and banks are responsible for, speaking with AIM West's Tony Gonzales, during the 50th Anniversary of the Occupation of Alcatraz.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/20/1882904…

In SF, Music Punctuates Enthusiastic Chanting at Rally and March on Eve of Historic Impeachment Vote
Text: RR Photos: Terry Scussel, Pro Bono Photo | indybay.org | 2019-12-24
In San Francisco, lyrics were rewritten to rock classics calling for impeachment and a crowd of thousands chanted for "Trump Pence Out Now!"
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/22/1882906…

In Mountain View, Seasonal and Humorous Signs at Eve of Impeachment Demo on Four Corners
Text: RR Photos: Jack Owicki, Pro Bono Photo | indybay.org | 2019-12-24
Demonstrators leaned in toward passing traffic to show off their creative signs on Impeachment Eve at a major intersection in the heart of Silicon Valley.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/23/1882909…

Blood Memory Rising, Book Review of Standing with Standing Rock
Brenda Norrell | indybay.org | 2019-12-24
'Standing with Standing Rock,' is an encyclopedia of resistance, which chronicles the Water Protector movement from the first run to Washington, and on to the camps, and the surveillance by TigerSwan, to the ultimate international divestment campaign. In its 29 chapters are poetry, essays and discussions of Indigenous rights and Treaties.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/20/1882904…

Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf orders mass arrest of Housing Justice protesters
Dave Id | indybay.org | 2019-12-24
An inspirational day of solidarity with unhoused Oaklanders turned into a traumatic night after mayor Libby Schaaf directed a small army of police and DPW workers to smash a housing rights protest held on the doorstep of City Hall. For daring to challenge the Oakland's never ending war against the homeless — the city's encampment demolitions and evictions, the towing of residential vehicles, and a lack of earnestness and urgency in addressing the housing crisis — twenty-two people were arrested and sent to Santa Rita jail, some for over two days.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/23/1882911…

President Trump Authorizes Somalia Debt Relief
Kate Zeller | indybay.org | 2019-12-24
President Trump signed a year-end spending bill which authorizes the first phase of debt relief for Somalia.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/21/1882905…

Michael L. Cantor mocks the artwork of the Yacht Sequoia Cruise Certificates
Lynda Carson | indybay.org | 2019-12-24
In a shocking email further below, Michael L. Cantor, director of FE Partners LLC, the owner of the former Presidential Yacht Sequoia, mocks the artwork of the Yacht Sequoia Cruise Certificates with condescension and derision towards the much coveted historical Yacht Sequoia Cruise Certificates!
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/22/1882906…

Impeachment: The Road to Nowhere Leads to . . . Nowhere
Richard Becker | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-23
Capping months of mind-numbingly repetitive "debates," the Democrats in the House of Representatives voted on Dec. 17 to impeach President Donald Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The votes on each charge were nearly identical …
globalresearch.ca/impeachment-road-nowhe…

Last Process: 100 Postees: 2019-12-25 05:23 GMT (00:23 EST)

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