Daily Archives: September 21, 2020

2020-09-21: News Headlines

Staff (2020-09-21). Legendary whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg testifies at Assange extradition hearing. therealnews.com Kevin Gosztola, managing editor of Shadowproof, watched the trial and reports on Ellsberg's testimony.

Craig Murray (2020-09-21). Your Man in the Public Gallery: Assange Hearing Day 13. globalresearch.ca Friday gave us the most emotionally charged moments yet at the Assange hearing, showed that strange and sharp twists in the story are still arriving at the Old Bailey, and brought into sharp focus some questions about the handling and …

_____ (2020-09-21). Greenwashing The US military, Julian Assange, RIP Kevin Zeese. popularresistance.org The weather is getting more extreme by the year and conversations about climate change are growing along with it. So when Michael Moore made the movie 'Planet of the Humans', criticizing the corporate co-optation of the green movement, he came under attack from well-connected activists. Lee Camp reports on how Bill McKibben, one of the targets of Moore's movie, has adopted a role of helping some of the worst industries and institutions out there to greenwash their images. In an op-ed from a year ago, McKibben used his platform to rehabilitate the image of the US military.

Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-21). Assange on Trial: Torture Testimonies, Offers of Pardon and Truth Telling. counterpunch.org The extradition trial of Julian Assange at the Old Bailey has moved into a higher gear. Testimonies spanned the importance of classified information in war journalism, the teasing offer of a pardon for Assange by US President Donald Trump, torture inflicted by the US Central Intelligence Agency, the chilling effect of indictments under the Extradition Act and the legacy of the Collateral Murder video.

_____ (2020-09-21). Call For Assange's Immediate Release. popularresistance.org As Julian Assange fights U.S. extradition at the Old Bailey in London, over one hundred eminent political figures, including 13 past and present heads of state, numerous ministers, members of parliament and diplomats, have today denounced the illegality of the proceedings and appealed for Assange's immediate release. | The politicians from 27 different countries and from across the political spectrum have joined 189 independent international lawyers, judges, legal academics and lawyers' associations by endorsing their open letter to the UK Government…

Lawyers for Assange (2020-09-21). They Call for Assange's Immediate Release: Lula, Rousseff, Morales, Zapatero, Corbyn, Correa, Paul, Galloway, Gravel, Varoufakis… globalresearch.ca Check As Julian Assange fights U.S. extradition at the Old Bailey in London, over one hundred eminent political figures, including 13 past and present heads of state, numerous ministers, members of parliament …

WSWS (2020-09-21). Corporate publications hostile to exposure of CIA spying on Assange and their own reporters. wsws.org Corporate publications rebuffed requests that they publish information on the spying, even when it targeted their own journalists.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-09-21). The trial of Julian Assange: Week 2. peoplesdispatch.org The second week of the trial portion of the extradition hearings of Julian Assange concluded on Friday. Witnesses highlighted the political nature of the US charges and the contributions of Assange and WikiLeaks…

Lawyers for Assange (2020-09-21). Open Letter to the UK Prime Minister, Mr Boris Johnson, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Robert Buckland QC, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Dominic Raab and UK Home Secretary Priti Patel. globalresearch.ca Dear Prime Minister, | Dear Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, | Dear Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, | Dear Home Secretary, | We write to you as legal practitioners and legal academics to express our collective concerns about the violations …

Joe Glenton (2020-09-21). Defence minister launches propaganda blitz ahead of Commons war crime debate. thecanary.co The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has launched a propaganda blitz ahead of a Commons debate on a controversial war crimes bill. Critics say the bill could decriminalise torture, damage human rights, and help authoritarian regimes. | Due to be The Tories have been trying to loosen the laws which govern war throughout their time in power, fram…

_____ (2020-09-20). September 18: Julian Assange Hearing Report. popularresistance.org New Zealand investigative journalist Nicky Hager took to stand to testify about using WikiLeaks documents in his work. Hager published Other People's Wars, New Zealand in Afghanistan, Iraq and the war on terror, and said that WikiLeaks-released military and diplomatic files "greatly increased my understanding of the conduct of the war. It would have been impossible to write the book without these confidential and leaked sources." | In his written testimony, Hager explained, | "It is in general impossible to research and write about war to a useful standard without access to sources that the authorities concerned…

Dr. Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-20). Assange's Ninth Day at the Old Bailey: Torture Testimonies, Offers of Pardon and Truth Telling. globalresearch.ca The extradition trial of Julian Assange at the Old Bailey moved into a higher gear today. Testimonies spanned the importance of classified information in war journalism, the teasing offer of a pardon for Assange by US President Donald Trump, …

_____ (2020-09-20). Day 12: Julian Assange Hearing. popularresistance.org Yet another shocking example of abuse of court procedure unfolded on Wednesday. James Lewis QC for the prosecution had been permitted gratuitously to read to two previous witnesses with zero connection to this claim, an extract from a book by Luke Harding and David Leigh in which Harding claims that at a dinner at El Moro Restaurant Julian Assange had stated he did not care if US informants were killed, because they were traitors who deserved what was coming to them. | This morning giving evidence was John Goetz, now Chief Investigations Editor of NDR (German public TV), then of Der Spiegel.

Tom Coburg (2020-09-20). Pentagon Papers whistleblower unequivocally defends WikiLeaks publications in court. thecanary.co The second week of hearings at the Old Bailey for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's extradition to the US saw riveting testimony by renowned whistleblower … | By | The second week of hearings at the Old Bailey for

Max Blumenthal (2020-09-19). Mainstream US reporters silent about being spied on by apparent CIA contractor that targeted Assange. thegrayzone.com Despite being spied on and having their privacy invaded by the UC Global firm that targeted Assange, reporters from major US news outlets have said nothing in protest. Meanwhile, new evidence of that firm's CIA links has emerged. A Spanish security firm apparently contracted by US intelligence to carry out a campaign of black operations …

_____ (2020-09-19). Mainstream US Reporters Silent About Being Spied On. popularresistance.org A Spanish security firm apparently contracted by US intelligence to carry out a campaign of black operations against Julian Assange and his associates spied on several US reporters including Ellen Nakashima, the top national security reporter of the Washington Post, and Lowell Bergman, a New York Times and PBS veteran. | To date, Nakashima and her employers at the Washington Post have said nothing about the flagrant assault on their constitutional rights by UC Global, the security company in charge of Ecuadorian embassy in London, which seemingly operated under the watch of the CIA's then-director, Mike Pompeo.

_____ (2020-09-19). Kafka On Acid: The Trial Of Julian Assange. popularresistance.org Julian Assange needs to wake before dawn to get from Belmarsh Prison to the Old Bailey courthouse, where his extradition hearing resumed on 7 September, for four weeks. He gets dressed for court only to be strip-searched before being placed in a ventilated coffin Serco van for a 90-minute trip across London in peak-hour traffic. After waiting handcuffed in the holding cells, he is placed in a glass box at the back of the courtroom. Then he is forced back into the Serco van to be strip-searched back at Belmarsh to face another night alone in his cell.

Pepe Escobar (2020-09-19). Empire's Mask Slips at Julian Assange Trial. dissidentvoice.org The concept of "History in the making" has been pushed to extremes when it comes to the extraordinary public service being performed by historian, former UK diplomat and human rights activist Craig Murray. Murray — literally, and on a global level — is now positioned as our man in the public gallery, as he painstakingly documents …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-09-19). Argentinians commemorate the 44th anniversary of the Night of the Pencils. peoplesdispatch.org The night of September 16, 1976, was one of the bloodiest night of the last civic-military dictatorship in Argentina, when a group of high school students were kidnapped and tortured by the state security forces…

Newsclick (2020-09-19). FB whistleblower confirms how social network benefitted from fake news, bots and misinformation. peoplesdispatch.org Sophie Zhang, former data scientist at Facebook, reveals how she fought to remove bot accounts and sophisticated networks that targeted users in different countries to manipulate elections, and spread misinformation.

Caitlin Johnstone (2020-09-18). Exposing War Crimes Should Always Be Legal. Committing And Hiding Them Should Not. thealtworld.com The Kafkaesque extradition trial of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange continues, with The Assange defense team is pe…

Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-18). Assange on Trial: Diligent Redactions and Avoiding Harm. counterpunch.org Day Seven September 16. Central Criminal Court, London. Proceedings today at the Old Bailey regarding Julian Assange's extradition returned to journalistic practice, redaction of source names and that ongoing obsession with alleged harm arising from WikiLeaks releases. John Goetz of Der Spiegel added his bit for the defence, making an effort to set the record

Craig Murray (2020-09-18). Your Man in the Public Gallery: Assange Hearing Day 12. globalresearch.ca A less dramatic day, but marked by a brazen and persistent display of this US Government's insistence that it has the right to prosecute any journalist and publication, anywhere in the world, for publication of US classified information. This explicitly …

_____ (2020-09-18). News Media Who Ignore The Assange Trial Are Admitting They Don't Care About Journalism. strategic-culture.org Caitlin JOHNSTONE | The Sydney Morning Herald just published an article titled " It's actually a rather shocking smear piece for the SMH, who has been one of the better Australian publications at giving Assange a fair hearing over the years. The article's author Latika Bourke spends an inordinate amount of time waxing on about Assange's naughty "outb…

Dr. Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-18). Assange's Eighth Day at the Old Bailey: Software Redactions, the Iraq Logs and the Extradition Act. globalresearch.ca The extradition trial of Julian Assange at the Old Bailey struck similar notes to the previous day's proceedings: the documentary work and practise of WikiLeaks, the method of redactions, and the legacy of exposing war crimes. In the afternoon, the …

Kevin Gosztola (2020-09-18). Good Ellsberg, Bad Assange: At Extradition Trial, Pentagon Papers Whistleblower Dismantles False Narrative. globalresearch.ca Opponents of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange often hold up Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg as an example of someone who was responsible for a good leak. They insist WikiLeaks is not like the Pentagon Papers because supposedly Assange was reckless …

Daniel Ellsberg (2020-09-18). U.S. Press Freedom Under Attack in WikiLeaks' Julian Assange Extradition Case. zcomm.org "Now the American press is staring right down the barrel at the use of the Espionage Act against American journalists and publishers for doing journalism."

The Canary (2020-09-18). Assange 'offered win-win deal by Trump to avoid extradition. thecanary.co The WikiLeaks founder's extradition hearing was told that Trump associates sought the source of leaks from the Democratic National Committee. | By | WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was offered a "win-win" deal by Donald Trump to avoid extradition by revealing the source of the hacking of Democratic party emails, a court has heard. | Trump approval: | Barrister Jennifer Robinson said she was asked to attend the meeting by her client, Assange, with Republican congressman Dana Rohrabacher and Trump associate Charles Johnson at the Ecuador…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-09-18). CIA torture survivor testifies that cable leaks were crucial to securing redressal. peoplesdispatch.org Today's testimonies reinforced the defense's argument that the revelations made by Wikileaks has been in the interest of the public and often crucial to securing justice for US crimes…

sputniknews (2020-09-18). US Congress Prepares to Approve Second-Largest Taiwan Arms Sale Valued at $7 Billion. sputniknews.com US lawmakers are expected to soon approve a massive, new weapons sale to Taiwan. The deal would provide the autonomous island not just with defensive weapons, but also with offensive capabilities in the form of long-range strike missiles and combat drones.

Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-17). Assange's Seventh Day at the Old Bailey: Diligent Redactions and Avoiding Harm. dissidentvoice.org September 16. Central Criminal Court, London. Proceedings today at the Old Bailey regarding Julian Assange's extradition returned to journalistic practice, redaction of source names and that ongoing obsession with alleged harm arising from WikiLeaks releases. John Goetz of Der Spiegel added his bit for the defence, making an effort to set the record straight on …

Staff (2020-09-17). Daniel Ellsberg Warns U.S. Press Freedom Under Attack in WikiLeaks' Julian Assange Extradition Case. democracynow.org Legendary Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg says Julian Assange's extradition hearing in London could have far-reaching consequences for press freedoms. The WikiLeaks founder faces an ever-evolving array of espionage and hacking charges related to the release of diplomatic cables that revealed war crimes committed by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Assange faces almost certain conviction, if extradited, and 175 years in prison. "The American press has remained in kind of a state of denial for 40 years, really, since my case, that the Espionage Act has wording in it that could be aimed directly at…

_____ (2020-09-17). Good Ellsberg, Bad Assange. popularresistance.org Opponents of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange often hold up Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg as an example of someone who was responsible for a good leak. They insist WikiLeaks is not like the Pentagon Papers because supposedly Assange was reckless with sensitive documents. | On the seventh day of an extradition trial against Assange, Ellsberg dismantled this false narrative and outlined for a British magistrate court why Assange would not receive a fair trial in the United States. | Assange is accused of 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act and one count of conspiracy to commit a computer crime…

Medea Benjamin (2020-09-17). Gorgon Stare: A "persistent eye in the sky" may be coming to a City near you. mronline.org The military and the drone manufacturers, principally General Atomics, are arguing that the technology has advanced far enough that flying 79-ft. wingspan, six-ton drones over populated areas and alongside commercial air traffic is safe.

_____ (2020-09-17). Nurse Alleges Forced Sterilizations, Medical Malpractice At Immigrant Detention Center. popularresistance.org A whistleblower complaint filed on behalf of a nurse who worked at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in southern Georgia until July alleges that a number of immigrant women detained there were subjected to sterilization through hysterectomies without their consent. | In the complaint, filed by the legal advocacy group Project South, the former nurse describes conditions at the center as akin to an "experimental concentration camp." | The complaint also details the refusal of the center's administrators to carry out COVID-19 testing or implement protective measures, putting detainees an…

_____ (2020-09-17). Occupation Of UK Factory Involved In Israeli Drone Manufacture. popularresistance.org Direct action protests against Israel's largest weapons company have escalated in the UK, with an occupation of a factory building engines for drones used by Israel's army entering its third day on Wednesday. | Protests were also held outside Elbit System UK's London headquarters and at its landlord's main offices, as new solidarity group Palestine Action escalated its campaign to shut down the company's operation in the UK. | Elbit Systems UK is part of the high-tech weapons group that supplies more than 80 percent of the Israeli army's military drones, including the Hermes 900 and Hermes 450…