2020-10-22: News Headlines

Melvin Goodman (2020-10-21). Brennan's Nuremberg Defense: One More Whitewash of the CIA's Torture Program. counterpunch.org With his disingenuous memoir, Brennan has now joined forces with former CIA directors and deputy directors such as Tenet, McLaughlin, Goss, and Michael Morell who refuse to recognize the CIA created a sadistic program that went far beyond DoJ guidelines, and then lied about the extent of the torture and the fact that nothing was learned that stopped terrorist activity.

Paul Jay (2020-10-21). Daniel Ellsberg on the Assange extradition and growing fascism. mronline.org The week of hearings has heard evidence that exposes the charges against Assange as trumped-up and even ridiculous.

Susan Price (2020-10-20). Julian Assange and the fight against digital capitalism. greenleft.org.au Julian Assange imagined a future where digital technologies would be used for collective projects of humanisation and anti-imperialist resistance, writes Yanis Iqbal. He is being brutally punished by the United States for disrupting the drive for profits from surveillance and militarism.

Binoy Kampmark (2020-10-20). Britannic Impunity: Torture and the UK Overseas Operations Bill. counterpunch.org It was praised by Michael Clarke, former Director-General of the Royal United Services Institute, as "clear and entire laudable" — at least up to a point. The UK Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill would "give [British] troops serving overseas much-needed extra protection against fraudulent or frivolous claims against them of criminal behaviour." It

WSWS (2020-10-20). Faurecia Gladstone Rank-and-File Safety Committee demands two-week shutdown to stop coronavirus spread. wsws.org In response to the emergence of a new cluster of coronavirus cases at the factory last week, the Faurecia Gladstone Rank-and-File Safety Committee, founded in August to oppose the spread of the contagion, inhumane working conditions and the systematic victimization of whistleblowers, has issued the following statement.

Chris Floyd (2020-10-19). Rule Draconia: Tories and Labor Collude in Enabling Act for State Crimes. counterpunch.org The Tory government (with the collusion of the Labour leadership) is ramming through one of the most draconian and tyrannical laws ever seen in an ostensible democracy, a bill that will give a wide and ever-expanding number of state agencies the power to torture, rape and kill citizens without any legal consequences. This is no rhetorical exaggeration; it is the plain fact — as that notoriously far-left commie rag, the Spectator, points out.

MEE staff (2020-10-19). Widespread abuse revealed in Islamic schools across Sudan. middleeasteye.net Widespread abuse revealed in Islamic schools across Sudan | An investigation by BBC Arabic into Sudan's khalwas has revealed that thousands of boys are routinely tortured by their teachers | Mon, 10/19/2020 – 14: 42 | As many as six or seven children are often chained together as punishment at some religious schools in Sudan (Jess Kelly/BBC News) | Thousands of boys are routinely brutally beaten, shackled and…

MEE staff (2020-10-19). UK parliament to probe reports UAE 'torture' chief could become head of Interpol. middleeasteye.net UK parliament to probe reports UAE 'torture' chief could become head of Interpol | Inquiry will hear that the global police organisation is open to manipulation by 'rogue' member states including Russia, China and the UAE | Mon, 10/19/2020 – 13: 11 | UAE security chief Nasser Ahmed al-Raisi, left, pictured in 2018 (Wikicommons) | British MPs will be told this week that Russia is a "criminal state" which is "ab…

Raul Diego (2020-10-19). With an Eye on Nearby Iran, Israeli Weapons Fuel the Violence in Azerbaijan. mintpressnews.com Hoping to profit, protect an important source of oil, and to antagonize nearby Iran, Israel is selling drones and weapons to Azerbaijan, fueling the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.