2020-10-31: News Headlines

_____ (2020-10-31). Draft Debacle: Bellingcat Smears OPCW Whistleblower, Journalists With False Letter, Farcical Claims. strategic-culture.org Bellingcat claimed to have uncovered a letter that disproves OPCW inspectors and journalists who challenged the censorship of a Syria chemical weapons probe. But in one of many falsehoods, Bellingcat's "letter" was in fact only a draft that was never sent — and only further exposes the cover-up. | Aaron MATÉ | Bellingcat, the NATO member state-funded website that has participated in a propaganda effort to accuse Syria of a chemical weapons attack in April 2018 and justify the US-led bombing that followed, has published a new falsehood-ridden attack on an OPCW whistleblower whose suppressed findings exposed…

Dr. Binoy Kampmark (2020-10-30). Begging Outrage: British Journalists for Assange. globalresearch.ca Even that title strikes an odd note. It should not. The Fourth Estate, historically reputed as the chamber of journalists and publishers keeping an eye on elected officials, received a blast of oxygen with the arrival of WikiLeaks. This was …

Joe Piette (2020-10-30). Support Pennsylvania prisoners on hunger strike for human rights. workers.org Incarcerated people in many U.S. states have been held in small prison cells for up to 23 hours a day since March 2020, ostensibly because of the threat of COVID-19. Imprisoned workers have filed many grievances over the increasingly unbearable conditions, which are nothing less than torture with no end . . . |

Virginia Rodino (2020-10-30). Why I'm Voting Green in 2020. globalresearch.ca Author's note: Kevin and I worked on this article together right before his untimely passing on September 6. I met Kevin during Ralph Nader's 2004 presidential campaign. Throughout the years since, I appreciated seeing his anti-imperialist and eco-socialist arguments strengthen …

MEE staff (2020-10-29). US warns of possible Houthi missile strikes on Saudi capital. middleeasteye.net US warns of possible Houthi missile strikes on Saudi capital | Saudi coalition spokesman said bomb-laden Houthi drones were launched toward the capital 'deliberately and systematically to target civilians' | Thu, 10/29/2020 – 15: 25 | Brian Hook, then-US special representative on Iran, on 21 June 2019 checks what Saudi officials said were Iran-made Houthi missiles and drones intercepted over Saudi territory (A…

Ian Cobain (2020-10-28). UK bill shielding soldiers from prosecution slammed by parliamentary committee. middleeasteye.net UK bill shielding soldiers from prosecution slammed by parliamentary committee | Law to stop prosecutions over torture, murder and war crimes would damage Britain's reputation, human rights body warns | Wed, 10/28/2020 – 17: 15 | UK Houses of Parliament. There are fears that the Conservative government's large majority could allow it to press ahead with controversial new law (Reuters) | A proposed new law t…

_____ (2020-10-28). Whistleblower Sues EPA Over Retaliation. popularresistance.org An Environmental Protection Agency whistleblower, whose disclosures ultimately led to former EPA administrator Scott Pruitt's resignation, filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging his free speech and due process rights were violated. | The lawsuit [PDF] says Kevin Chmielewski was a political appointee and worked as Pruitt's deputy chief of staff for operations. He faced a retaliatory investigation from the EPA's Office of the Inspector General that "falsely accused" him of "not having a security clearance and covering up a past arrest."