James McCarthy, head of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), speaking on the eve of the group’s annual meeting in Chicago, warned that Barack Obama has just four years to save the planet. “We have a moment… Read moreObama has four years to save planet: leading scientist
The Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Obama administration to end the indefinite detention of journalists by the US military overseas. At least one reporter, in Iraq, is still incarcerated.
Obama administration surprised a panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals by pressing ahead with a Bush-era argument for preserving state secrets in case concerning the torture of a Guantánamo Bay detainee.
Egyptian blogger Philip Rizk, detained after a rally for Gaza, was released following an international online campaign. But Diaa Eddin Gad, a blogger arrested the same day, remains in detention.
The Palestinian Authority is pressing the International Criminal Court to investigate Israel’s assault on Gaza—but this opens jurisdictional questions as neither Israel nor the PA are members of the court.
Several Israeli military vehicles overran the West Bank village of Jayyous and imposed a curfew on the area. Locals host weekly demonstrations against the building of the separation wall on village land.
Hamas said Israeli voters elected a “troika of terrorism”—an obvious reference to Tzipi Livni, Benjamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman, the three politicians now jockeying to form a coalition government.
Taliban suicide attacks struck government buildings in Kabul, killing at least 20, on the eve of a scheduled visit by Richard Holbrooke, President Obama’s special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Car bombs and other attacks in Iraq targeted Shi’ite pilgrims headed to Karbala for Arabeen celebrations, leaving up to 20 dead and some 60 wounded.
Amnesty International called for the release of Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, detained since June, and her husband Reza Khandan, who was arrested this week. Reza Khandan was charged with spreading propaganda against the system, colluding to commit crimes against national security, and promoting the practice of appearing in public without a veil. Her actual crime was representing women facing prison time for peacefully protesting against the Islamic Republic's compulsory hijab law. Khandan had raised concerns on Facebook about rights violations in Iran, and publicly campaigned for the release of his wife. Amnesty International director for the Middle East and North Africa, Philip Luther said, "These callous actions illustrate the lengths to which Iranian authorities will go to silence human rights lawyers, even targeting their families." (Photo: Center for Human Rights in Iran)
In Episode 17 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg discusses growing repression against the Tatar people of the Crimea, and the abrogation of their autonomous government by the Russian authorities since Moscow's illegal annexation of the peninsula. This is a clear parallel to violation of the territorial rights of the Lakota people in the United States through construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the legal persecution of indigenous leaders who stood against it. The parallel is even clearer in the cases of the Evenks and Telengit, indigenous peoples of Siberia, resisting Russian construction of pipelines through their traditional lands. Yet the US State Department's Radio Free Europe aggressively covers the Tatar struggle, while Kremlin propaganda organ Russia Today (RT) aggressively covered the Dakota Access protests. Indigenous struggles are exploited in the propaganda game played by the rival superpowers. It is imperative that indigenous peoples and their allies overcome the divide-and-rule game and build solidarity across borders and influence spheres. Listen on SoundCloud, and support our podcast via Patreon.
