2020-05-18: News Headlines

Peoples Dispatch (2020-05-18). Egyptian journalist arrested while interviewing jailed activist's mother, released on bail hours later. peoplesdispatch.org Lina Attalah, the editor-in-chief of the Egyptian independent news outlet Mada Masr, was arrested while speaking to Laila Soueif, the mother of political prisoner Alaa Abdel Fattah…

Ben Eder (2020-05-18). World Health Assembly 2020: Is our response to COVID-19 adequate? peoplesdispatch.org Activists of the People's Health Movement talk about the World Health Assembly that begins today, the key issues that will come up for discussion, and the collapse of the global governance system in the realm of public health…

Fight Back (2020-05-17). Boisterous Nakba Day car rally rolls through Minneapolis suburb. fightbacknews.org Columbia Heights, MN – Just outside city limits from Northeast Minneapolis, Central Avenue was awash with Palestine flags during Friday rush hour as Palestinian-Americans and solidarity activists commemorated Al-Nakba. Nakba Day, held each year on May 15, remembers the 1948 ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands of indigenous Palestinians from their national homeland by Zionist settlers. Around 60 cars and dozens of families drove in a long caravan through the heavily Arab-American neighborhood, with chants of "From the river to the sea…" echoing for blocks. The protest was one of many actions that happened…

(2020-05-16). Sekou Odinga: 'The right to struggle by any and all means'. workers.org These slightly edited remarks were given April 24 at the "U.S. Empire vs. Political Prisoners" webinar teach-in sponsored by Mobilization4Mumia and held in honor of the 66th birthday of political prisoner and revolutionary Mumia Abu-Jamal, incarcerated for 39 years by the U.S. state. By Sekou Odinga I'm a representative of . . . |

a guest author (2020-05-16). Rashid Johnson: 'Prison has always served a particular political function'. workers.org Remarks were given April 24 at the "U.S. Empire vs. Political Prisoners" webinar teach-in sponsored by Mobilization4Mumia and held in honor of the 66th birthday of political prisoner and revolutionary Mumia Abu-Jamal, incarcerated for 39 years by the U.S. state. Kevin Rashid Johnson, currently incarcerated in the Pendleton Correctional Facility . . . |

(2020-05-16). Marc Lamont Hill: 'Outside the logic of the prison' on Mumia's birthday. workers.org By Marc Lamont Hill These slightly edited remarks were given April 24 at the "U.S. Empire vs. Political Prisoners" webinar teach-in sponsored by Mobilization4Mumia and held in honor of the 66th birthday of political prisoner and revolutionary Mumia Abu-Jamal, incarcerated for 39 years by the U.S. state. Marc Lamont Hill . . . |

Staff (2020-05-15). Climate Crisis: KXL Ruling, Unity Task Force, California Pollution, and TRNN's New Climate Reporter. therealnews.com Climate activists get a big court win on Keystone XL as the Biden and Sanders camps unite. California has delayed air pollution rules at the behest of industry during COVID-19 as polluting oil tankers line its coast.

Carole Concha Bell (2020-05-15). Anonymous shootings target students as violence against activists increases in Chile. thecanary.co

news.un (2020-05-13). Hong Kong urged to drop prosecutions of leading activists, not to silence peaceful protest. news.un.org Independent UN human rights experts urged Hong Kong authorities on Wednesday to immediately drop the criminal prosecution of 15 pro-democracy activists who participated in peaceful protests across the Special Administrative Region of China last year.

David Quinn-Jacobs (2020-05-11). Saturday, May 16, Second Webinar: Disarm and Divest During Covid-19. kingsbayplowshares7.org Disarm & Divest During COVID19 Last KBP 7 Webinar Before Sentencing SATURDAY, MAY 16 The recording of the webinar can be viewed on Facebook now. Eventually we hope to have an edited version up on the KBP Youtube channel and will post link. In it current form we recommend that you skip the first…

Staff (2020-05-09). Women In Prisons Say They're Being Punished For Speaking Out About COVID-19 Risks. therealnews.com Women say they're being punished for contacting people outside about their living conditions. Activists are planning an action May 23 at Jessup Correctional Facility in response.

Staff (2020-05-07). UK Supreme Court Reverses BDS Ban. therealnews.com The Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the largest British Palestinian solidarity group, successfully petitioned to reverse a 2016 ban preventing local governments divesting from companies involved in the Israeli occupation.

Hatewatch Staff (2020-05-04). Facebook Is Go-To Platform For Organizing Protests Against Social Distancing. splcenter.org As COVID-19 continues to pose a lethal threat worldwide, fringe, right-wing activists are using Facebook to mobilize protests of stay-at-home orders in several states.

Zero Hedge (2020-05-14). "My Job Is To Make Syria A Quagmire For The Russians": CIA Doctrine Made Official Policy. iranian.com Like with the disastrous Iraq quagmire years before the US war machine came to Syria under Obama, Washington's rationale and justification for occupying the Syrian Arab Republic has shifted and changed drastically multiple times over. When ultimately what started as US covert regime change efforts targeting Assad failed (based ostensibly in "protecting civilians"), the official mission then …

RT (2020-05-15). Jailing people who use Covid-19 as bioweapon would be 'discrimination.' So better lock up everyone instead? rt.com Accidentally spreading Covid-19 is wanting grandma dead, say opponents of ending lockdowns. Yet activists now worry that proposed laws to punish those who threaten to spread it deliberately would discriminate against minorities. | A Florida man spat and coughed on a police officer responding to a domestic violence call, and faces up to five years in prison on a federal charge of biological weapons hoax (he was negative for Covid-19). Another man in Texas, who falsely claimed on Facebook that he paid someone to spread the virus at local grocery stores, was charged with the same thing. A Michigan man who wiped h…

#StopTheMoneyPipeline (2020-05-18). #Stop the Money Pipeline: Need Photos of Activists w/ Signs for Chase Fossil Fuels Protest. indybay.org Email your protest photo as a JPEG or PNG to: photos [at] stopthemoneypipeline.com | Send by Sunday, May 17th…

RT (2020-05-18). Iraqi govt considers imposing full lockdown in Baghdad areas amid uptick in coronavirus cases. rt.com Iraq will impose a complete lockdown on some areas of the capital, the new health minister said on Monday, as in coronavirus cases have jumped in recent weeks since curfew hours were relaxed. | The new government under PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi was sworn into power just two weeks ago following a five-month leadership vacuum. Ministers have to respond to the pandemic and a severe economic crisis brought on by falling oil prices. | Areas of Baghdad believed to play a role in spreading the virus will face a full lockdown as of Wednesday for a period of two weeks, Health Minister Hassan al-Tamimi said in a statement.