(2020-06-19). European Court of Human Rights Upholds Right to Boycott Israel. ahtribune.com 
"Criminal conviction of activists involved in the BDS campaign boycotting products imported from Israel had no relevant and sufficient grounds and violated their freedom of expression" | That is the heading on the 11 June 2020 press statement from the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), announcing that it had overturned the conviction by a French court of eleven individuals for engaging in BDS activity. | The Court ruled that their conviction violated Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights — the right to freedom of expression — which states: | "Everyone has the right to freedom o…
(2020-06-19). San Antonio activists seek justice, demand reopening of police killings. liberationnews.org 
Like in other places around the country, thousands are in the streets in San Antonio demanding justice for victims of national significance like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, but also for local victims of police terror.
(2020-06-19). Struggle Theater: Don't let theatrics shroud the reality of systemic oppression. mronline.org 
America's power brokers are hoping murals, kente cloth, and a series of half-baked legislative reforms will appease activists into giving up the fight for real change.
(2020-06-19). PANDERMONIUM: Snapchat yanks cringeworthy Juneteenth filter that asked users to 'smile to break chains'. rt.com 
Snapchat has removed a Juneteenth-themed that encouraged users to "smile" to break the chains of slavery, something that was quickly flagged by social media users as an offensive attempt to pander to Black Lives Matter activists. | If users chose to use the filter, they could photograph themselves in front of an African flag with the words "Juneteenth" and "Freedom Day" captioned. The user was then told to smile as chains appear and then suddenly break, a clear nod to the day being a celebration of the end of slavery in the US. | The filter was disabled after numerous complaints and removed from the service in…
(2020-06-19). Russian Deputies Introduce Bill to Un-Ban the Excellent Telegram Messaging App. anti-empire.com 
Russian Duma deputies from the minority fraction Fair Russia have conceded defeat to reality and have introduced a bill to un-ban the popular messaging service Telegram that belongs to Russian tech whizz-kid Pavel Durov. | Three deputies — Fedot Tumusov, Dmitry Ionin and Alexander Terentyev — have submitted a draft bill to the Duma to terminate the attempts to outlaw Telegram. | The company and the Kremlin clashed after the widely used service refused a request by the Federal Security Service (FSB) to hand over digital keys so the security forces could eavesdrop on conversations on the service. | Tele…
(2020-06-19). US Navy Lacks 'Clear Theory of Victory' Needed to Build New Fleet. anti-empire.com 
The Navy and the Department of Defense haven't finished their homework needed to inform how the Navy builds its future fleet, a panel of naval experts told a House panel on Thursday. | The debate in Congress and in the Pentagon on naval power has been pegged on the last assessment of the number of hulls the Navy needs to meet the future requirements — 355. However, the underlying mission of what a newly structured fleet would do is unclear, said the panel addressing the House Armed Service subcommittee on seapower and projection forces. | The Navy never released an unclassified maritime strategy in conjunct…
(2020-06-19). US Wants to Surround China With Missiles, but Its Asian Clients Don't Want to Host Them. anti-empire.com 
The governor of a Japanese territory where the Pentagon is thinking about basing missiles capable of threatening China has a message for the United States: Not on my island. | "I firmly oppose the idea," said Gov. Denny Tamaki, the governor of Okinawa, in an email to The Times. | Officials in other Asian countries are also signaling they don't want them. | But Pentagon planners aren't backing down after the Trump administration withdrew last year from a 33-year-old arms control treaty that barred U.S. land-based intermediate-range missiles in Asia. | Senior officials now say that putting hundreds of American miss…
(2020-06-19). Economic Ministry Forecasts Russia Won't Climb Back to Pre-Lockdown Levels Until Late 2022. anti-empire.com 
Russia's Ministry of Economy has released a fresh forecast for 2019-2022. The ministry said there will be no V-shaped recovery: after a 5% plunge in 2020, real GDP will only recover starting in mid-2022. The Ministry of Economy predicts GDP growth of 2.8% in 2021 and 3% in 2022. | The Urals price stays below the base budget price of $42, at which point the Russian budget breaks even. Urals will average $31.1 per barrel this year, rising to $35.4 in 2021 and only in 2022 will it return to the breakeven price of $42.2 when Russia Inc. goes back into profit. | That means the Ministry of Finance will rely on the Nati…
(2020-06-19). Floundering NATO Tries to Surface by Confronting China. anti-empire.com 
On June 8 Jens Stoltenberg, the Secretary General of the U.S.-NATO military alliance, gave a speech at NATO's new New on the Stoltenberg list is China, which is a long way from the North…
(2020-06-19). How the Saudis and the Qataris Duked It out in Washington, and Took Over the Imperial City in the Process. anti-empire.com 
It was a bare-knuckle brawl of the first order. It took place in Washington, D.C., and it resulted in a KO. The winners? Lobbyists and the defense industry. The losers? Us. And odds on, you didn't even know that it happened. Few Americans did, which is why it's worth telling the story of how Saudi, Emirati, and Qatari money flooded the nation's capital and, in the process, American policy went down for the count. | The fight began three years ago this month. Sure, the pugilists hadn't really liked each other that much before then, but what happened in 2017 was the foreign-policy equivalent of a sucker punch. On t…
(2020-06-19). Biden VP Front Runner Susan Rice Has a History of Criticizing Israel…While Also Letting Its Government Do Whatever It Wants. anti-empire.com 
The Associated Press
(2020-06-19). Trump Says Should Have Fired Bolton for Botching NK Talks, but Bolton Had Already Sabotaged Talks Under Bush. anti-empire.com 
Trump now He also blames Bolton for setting him back on the North Korea process so much so the consequences are still felt to this day: | twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/12736… | twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/12736… | Trump says he should have fired…
(2020-06-19). After Spending $1 Billion Japan Gives Up on Installing a Costly (and Unproven) US Missile Shield. anti-empire.com 
Japan is backing away from installing two Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defense (BMD) systems in the country over technical concerns, Minster of Defense Taro Kono told reporters on Monday. | "In view of the cost and time [necessary] for the deployment, we will halt the process," Kono told reporters, according to In particular, Kono said there were concer…
(2020-06-19). Australia: Are the "Chooks Coming Home to Roost" for the British Empire, and Their Treatment of Slaves Around the World? asia-pacificresearch.com …
(2020-06-18). Warren, Harris, Rice? Which Horrible Woman Will Be Empire's Helmsman If Democrats Win? anti-empire.com 
Joe Biden's search for a running mate is entering a second round of vetting for a dwindling list of potential vice presidential nominees, with several black women in strong contention. | Democrats with knowledge of the process said Biden's search committee has narrowed the choices to as few as six serious contenders after initial interviews. Among the group still in contention: Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kamala Harris of California, as well as Susan Rice, who served as President Barack Obama's national security adviser. | Those with knowledge declined to name other contenders and said the process…
(2020-06-18). The Empire Declares a "Maximum Pressure" War of Economic Strangulation on Devastated Syria. anti-empire.com 
The United States has imposed a sweeping set of new sanctions against any country, individual or entity that provides support to the Syrian government – a campaign that experts warn may devastate the lives of ordinary Syrians trying to survive and rebuild after nine years of war. | The Caesar Act, passed in Congress
(2020-06-18). America: Too Weak to Rein in Its Own Empire. anti-empire.com 
A grievous blow to international security has just been dealt. President Donald Trump has announced that American troops are to be withdrawn from…Germany. Yes, Germany. Why are American troops in Germany? Because we have to fight them over there so we don't fight them here, you see, and there are few generators of terrorism and chaos in the world today quite like the Berlin club circuit. | The real surprise isn't that we're pulling troops out of Germany; it's that they're still there 75 years after World War II ended. And according to the White House, they aren't even all being withdrawn, just a quarter of them…
(2020-06-18). Military COIN Experts Claim They Can End US Unrest in Just 17 Years. anti-empire.com 
Military experts in counterinsurgency and nation-building claim they can bring nationwide protests against police brutality under control in just 17 years, sources report. | "The unrest in our country is something we can fix, no problem," Bob Egon, CEO of the Center for Perpetual War, said today. "We have a civilian population upset at their government. They're overwhelmingly peaceful, and they have a positive view of the US Military. This is a situation we've dealt with many times before." | "If we send in the troops now, we can have these protesters making IEDs inside a week." | "We had some random guy in the o…
(2020-06-18). Rebellions against racism continue in Atlanta after police killing of Rayshard Brooks. liberationnews.org 
On June 13, protests assembled across Atlanta in response to the police killing of Rayshard Brooks and in solidarity with all victims of racism and police violence. The night before, community members and local activists had mobilized immediately after learning that another Black man, Brooks, had been killed by the police outside of a Wendy's …
(2020-06-18). Justin Trudeau Continues the Conservatives Pro-Corporate/Empire International Policies. dissidentvoice.org 
The international community's rejection of Canada's bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council isn't a surprise. In the below introduction to my recently published House of Mirrors: Justin Trudeau's Foreign Policy I detail how Liberal foreign policy has largely mimicked that of Stephen Harper who lost a bid for the Security Council …
(2020-06-18). Lloyd's of London and Greene King to pay over slave links. thecanary.co 
Two of Britain's largest companies have vowed to pay money benefiting Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities after their roles in the slave trade were revealed.Insurance giant Lloyd's of London and pub chain Greene King said they will devote large sums to projects assisting BAME communities, after they were named in a database of companies connected to slavery compiled by University College London.Greene King was founded in 1799 by Benjamin Greene, who became one of 47,000 people who benefited from compensation paid to slave owners when slavery was abolished in the British empire in 1833.Greene surre…
(2020-06-18). Yeah, the Russians Have Carrier-Killing Missiles, but Can They Actually Hit the Ships? (Answer: Yes). anti-empire.com 
Anti-ship cruise missiles of operational-tactical purpose (RCC OTN) 3M55, 3M45 and 3M70 missile systems "Onyx", "Granite" and "Volcano" are rightfully considered the pride of the Russian Navy. However, there is an opinion that their outstanding flight range (500—700 km) is not provided by reliable target designation, and therefore is useless in practice. | In other words, it is generally accepted that the means of destruction available to Russia (which the media refer to only as "killer aircraft carriers") are almost meaningless in modern conditions. And all due to the fact that the Navy does not have the t…
(2020-06-18). Walking on Thin Ice: Can America's "Exorbitant Privilege" and King Dollar Survive a 17.9% Budget Deficit? anti-empire.com 
The era of the U.S. dollar's "exorbitant privilege" as the world's primary reserve currency is coming to an end. Then French Finance Minister Valery Giscard d'Estaing coined that phrase in the 1960s largely out of frustration, bemoaning a U.S. that drew freely on the rest of the world to support its over-extended standard of living. For almost 60 years, the world complained but did nothing about it. Those days are over. | Already stressed by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, U.S. living standards are about to be squeezed as never before. At the same time, the world is having serious doubts about the once widel…
(2020-06-18). Kim Jong Un's Well-Timed 'Surprise' Portends Another Nuke Crisis. anti-empire.com 
If there is one thing I have learned about making a career out of studying North Korea it is this: the Kim regime loves to tell those who pay attention to its unique propaganda many times what it is going to do before it does it—sometimes even telegraphing for us in clear language the next crisis it intends to start. | If that holds constant now, then Pyongyang seems once again hellbent on sparking
(2020-06-18). "Movements Work": As Activists Occupy Seattle's Capitol Hill, City Bans Tear Gas, Expels Police Union. democracynow.org 
In Seattle, the fight to demilitarize and defund the police continues as the King County Labor Council voted to expel the Seattle police union Wednesday, following weeks of protest. Seattle police sparked outrage for responding to massive protests against police brutality by using pepper spray, tear gas and flashbangs on demonstrators and reporters. Activists then formed an autonomous zone in response to the police department's abandonment of a precinct building. On Wednesday, President Trump threatened to send troops into Seattle to dismantle the community-run Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, which extends over se…
(2020-06-18). Foreign Correspondent: Police Lessons From Cuba. progressive.org Contrary to the image of brutal and repressive communists, police in Cuba offer an instructive example for activists in the United States.
(2020-06-18). Local Officials: Pledge to Divest from Police and Reinvest in Black Communities. aclu.org In the wake of the killings by police of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many others, we are seeing a massive popular political realignment around the role and scope of policing in the United States, led by Black organizers and Black-led movement groups. More than ever before, this movement is calling for divestment from police departments, and reinvestment into the life-affirming services that help communities thrive., , It's not enough for local governments to make small cuts, to invest in yet another set of flawed training programs, or to paint the streets with slogans. Cities, towns and local leaders mus…
(2020-06-18). Cecil Rhodes' Project for a Renewed Single Anglo-Saxon Empire. Submission of the "Uncivilized World". "We are the Finest Race" globalresearch.ca In 1877, while laying out his agenda for the formation of a secret society to recapture Britain's lost colony of America and the submission of "inferior" races (ie. non anglo-saxon) under the control of a renewed British Empire, Cecil Rhodes,…
(2020-06-18). COVID-19: A Polygraph For These Times. popularresistance.org Like a lie detector, COVID-19 has made obvious at least two phenomena that have been taking place already over the past few years: the decline of the U.S. empire and the failure of capitalism. For a number of years now, the U.S. has been losing this super-power status, its economy has lost range, and the dollar has hit the skids. Its international reserves do not cover even 2% of the exorbitant external debt and it is not sufficient for even 2 months of imports (hence the desperation to re-open the economy in the midst of the pandemic.) for decades, the U.S. has imported more than it has exported, and its commerc…
(2020-06-18). From Dodgy Dossiers to the Sacking of Whitlam: The British Empire Stands Exposed. strategic-culture.org I used to believe as many do, in a story called "the American Empire". Over the last decade of research, that belief has changed a bit. The more I looked at the top down levers of world influence shaping past and pre…
(2020-06-17). Why Cuban doctors should receive the Nobel Peace Prize. zcomm.org Due to Cuba's extraordinary commitment to humanity, to public health and to internationalism, a group of human rights organizations and social movements across the world have launched a campaign to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Cuba's Henry Reeve medical brigade…
(2020-06-17). America: Too Weak To Rein In Its Own Empire? strategic-culture.org The real surprise isn't that we're pulling troops out of Germany; it's that they're still there 75 years after World War II ended. And according to the White House, they aren't even all being withdrawn, just a quarter of them, a reduction of 9,500 that will leave 25,000 American boots on German soil.
(2020-06-17). Battle of Belorussia — June 1944: The Greatest Victory That Still Shapes Our 21st Century World. strategic-culture.org On June 16 this year, U.S. President Donald Trump announced he was removing another 10,000 U.S. troops from Germany reducing American troop levels there to a derisory 24,500. | The move came only a week before the 76th anniversary of the start of the most decisive battle of World War II, the destruction of the heart of the fearsome and monstrous Nazi war machine — Army Group Center — in the Battle of Belorussia. It was an achievement that continues to shape our 21st century world. | The COVID-19 pandemic and George Floyd tragedy have at least shut up the usual childish fairy tales that flood the U.S.
(2020-06-17). Housing activists: 'End evictions and provide rent relief'. greenleft.org.au 
(2020-06-17). North Korea Blows Up Joint Liaison Office Building With South Korea After Announcing End of Interest in US Relations. anti-empire.com 
Andrei Lankov: "Pyongyang has long resented Seoul's failure to live up to its grandiose promises. The North scoffs at mere symbolic exchange, but the South risks angering the U.S. by pursuing anything more substantial." |
| North Korea blew up a liaison office building it operates with South Korea, officials in Seoul said Tuesday, as
(2020-06-17). China Claims Quantum Supremacy With Satellite Test, Sends Secure Message Over 1200 Kilometers. anti-empire.com 
Chalk up another amazing achievement for Chinese scientists. | A Chinese team has successfully established a satellite-based network using quantum entangled photons that can send passwords 1,120 kilometers away. | The distance is about 10 times further than the old, optic fiber-based quantum tech could do, according to a study published in the The experiment shows quantum entanglement, described by Albert Einstein as a "spooky action," still exists at such a distance. | Experts said this represents a major milestone in building a practical global-s…
(2020-06-17). COVID Lockdowns Have Sped Up the Spread of Other Diseases, a Measles Explosion Feared. anti-empire.com 
As poor countries around the world struggle to beat back the coronavirus, they are unintentionally contributing to fresh explosions of illness and death from other diseases — ones that are readily prevented by vaccines. | This spring, after the World Health Organization and
(2020-06-17). Vaccine Developers Have a Problem: the Virus Is Going Away Too Quickly on Its Own. anti-empire.com 
Related:
| The top teams rushing to develop coronavirus vaccines are alerting governments, health officials and shareholders that they may have a big problem: The outbreaks in their countries may be getting too small to quickly determine whether vaccines work. | A leader of the Oxford University group, one of the furthest ahead with human trials, admits the reality is paradoxical, even "bizarre," but said the declining numbers…
(2020-06-17). After the Lockdowns, a Global Hunger Crisis (And the Mother of All Migrant Crises). anti-empire.com 
The [irrational response to the] coronavirus pandemic and its punitive economic effects are about to set off the next global hunger crisis. | In the last four years, conflicts, climate change and economic instability raised the number of people suffering acute hunger — when the absence of food endangers people's livelihoods and, in some cases, their lives — from 80 million to 135 million people. The pandemic could drive 130 million more people into that state by December. More than a quarter of a billion people are likely to be acutely hungry in 2020. | Rising Hunger: | The [irrational respons…
(2020-06-17). 2020 Voters' Calendar—The General Election Starts in August. commondreams.org Activists are winning no-excuse mail voting and COVID-19-excuse mail voting in many states. (Photo by JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-06-17). America: An Empire Eating Itself. globalresearch.ca The United States finds itself in a less-than-unique position of an empire in terminal decline. With nations around the globe standing up economically, militarily, and politically — closing off once lucrative avenues of exploitation — the US finds itself turning …
(2020-06-17). FBI Misled Congress: Black Activists Still Under Investigation. popularresistance.org As Black activists around the country lead protests for racial justice, following the police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black people, MediaJustice and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) today reveal that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is still surveilling Black activists using a dated designation they testified to Congress was no longer in use. Of one million pages of documents, responsive to a FOIA request filed by MediaJustice and the ACLU, up to one-third of the pages are on open investigations of Black people as "domestic terrorist" threats for potential "Black identit…
(2020-06-16). Time to Act on Dr. King's Call to Tackle Evils of Racism, Economic Exploitation, and War. commondreams.org "As we begin to tell the truth and seek ways to repair the damage of racism," writes Slater, "it is well to remember Martin Luther King's 1967 speech, where he broke with a sympathetic society, similarly to the way global activists today are being asked by the establishment to 'tamp it down' and not ask to 'defund the police' as unnecessarily provocative." (Photo: Pixaby/WikiImages/CC0) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-06-16). Good vibes by day, wild west by night: CHAZ is an anarchist camp with a split personality (VIDEO). rt.com 
The Left says it's a peaceful community of activists and rebels. The Right says it's an anarchic dystopia ruled by a warlord. The truth is that the experience in Seattle's Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone differs from day to night. | For more than a week now, a collection of Antifa types, anarchists, 'Black Lives Matter' activists and leftists of all stripes have occupied a six-block area around an abandoned police precinct in downtown Seattle. The 'Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone,' or CHAZ, is a district without police, in which the ideas of the radical Left can bloom, and in which the occupiers hope to demonstrate…
(2020-06-16). WATCH Orthodox Jewish activists use BOLT CUTTERS to reopen New York park closed under Covid-19 lockdown. rt.com 
Growing restless under New York City's ongoing coronavirus lockdown, a group of Orthodox Jews have taken matters into their own hands, using a pair of bolt cutters to forcefully reopen a park shuttered as part of the restrictions. | Led by activist Heshy Tischler and a number of state assemblymen, the group was seen in videos shared to social media on Monday breaking the lock off a gate barring the entrance to a park in Williamsburg, allowing a crowd gathered outside to enter, to cheers of "Heshy!" | Based Orthodox Jews reject de Blasio's hypocritical orders to close the park (for social distancing) and cut th…
(2020-06-16). Seattle bans police use of tear gas, pepper spray & chokeholds as anarchist crowd reigns over portion of city. rt.com 
Seattle City Council has voted to make it illegal for police to deploy tear gas, pepper spray and chokeholds on peaceful demonstrators, as part of the city is being overrun by activists declaring it an "autonomous zone." | All nine members of the council voted to strip the city police of the authority to use a number of controversial crowd control means on Monday. | In a series of separate votes, the council banned the city from "owning, purchasing, renting, storing or using Crowd Control Weapons (CCWs)," which are defined as "kinetic impact projectiles, chemical irritants, acoustic weapons, water cannons" and…