(2018-07-02). GM Crops in India: Approval by Contamination? counterpunch.org The regulatory system for GMOs (genetically modified organisms) in India is in tatters. So said the Coalition for a GMFree India (CGMFI) in 2017 after media reports about the illegal cultivation of GM soybean in the country. In India, five high-level reports have already advised against the adoption of GM crops: The 'Jairam Ramesh Report', imposing an indefinite moratorium on Bt More
(2018-07-02). Diet, Ignorance and the Environmental Catastrophe. counterpunch.org Climate Change sounds vast and impersonal, but it's really a very personal matter; a global crisis caused by the individual actions humanity has collectively taken. All too often such actions proceed from a position of ignorance selfishness and habit, and are undertaken with little or no understanding of the effects on the natural environment. The More
(2018-07-02). 143 Million Climate Refugees by 2050. therealnews.com 
A World Bank report: Groundswell, warns of the worsening impact of climate change in three regions of the world. It could lead to a tremendous humanitarian crisis says Kanta Kumari Rigaud, the lead author of the study
(2018-07-01). Libya Has Reached Its Turning Point. The Battle for Oil, "US-NATO Go Home" globalresearch.ca The UN Security Council selected, unelected but anointed Libyan government in Tripoli (the GNA) rejects the elected parliament in Tobruk's decision announced by Field Marshall Haftar, to now keep funds of oil sales and not send such funds to …
(2018-07-01). A New Film Examines Sexual Violence as a Feature of the Bakken Oil Boom. theintercept.com "Nuuca" looks at attributes of the boom that go beyond emissions and oil spills: rising rates of sexual violence, trafficking and harassment by oil workers.
(2018-06-30). Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Continues to Disrupt Marine Life. globalresearch.ca Featured image: The Deepwater Horizon oil spill, found to be partially caused by lax safety regulations, killed 11 people and injured 16. (Photo: Florida Sea Grant/Flickr/cc) | Researchers at the University of Southern Mississippi have studied the microbes found on several …
(2018-06-30). GM Crops in India: Approval by Contamination? asia-pacificresearch.com …
(2018-06-30). US Sanctions Against Iran Aimed at Regime Change. globalresearch.ca The Trump administration further spelled out this week the draconian sanctions it intends to enforce on Iran. A senior State Department official told the media the US would take measures against any country that failed to reduce its oil imports …
(2018-06-30). US sanctions against Iran aimed at regime change. wsws.org Companies that fail to stop buying Iranian oil by November 4 face being excluded from the US financial system.
(2018-06-29). Amnesty International calls on Burundi to match rhetoric with effective human rights protection. amnesty.org Amnesty International welcomes Burundi's acceptance of 125 recommendations, but regrets that the government rejected almost as many. While Burundi has agreed to implement a number of recommendations on important points of principle, such as the need for accountability, it has not accepted recommendations on the practical steps needed to ensure that these principles are realized.
(2018-06-29). "I will fight to my last breath" – Esther Kiobel on her 22-year battle to get Shell in court. amnesty.org Esther says Amnesty activists have given her the strength to carry on fighting for justice | A year ago today, Esther Kiobel stood on the steps of the Palace of Justice in The Hague. It had taken over twenty years to get there, but she had just filed a landmark case against the oil giant Shell over what she says is its role in the 1995 execution of her husband Dr. Barinem Kiobel. Dr Kiobel, a former government official, was hanged by the Nigerian military government in connection with widespread protests against oil pollution in the Niger Delta. | "We love him to death," Esther says of her late husband more than two decades after she last saw him in prison. "His spirit is still crying, looking for justice." | In the 1990s, Ogoniland, the oil-rich region of the Niger Delta where the…
(2018-06-28). Justice Anthony Kennedy's Retirement: End of Roe v. Wade? therealnews.com 
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement will represent a major blow to liberal precedents, as Trump will appoint a new justice now who will work to reverse them. Legal abortion, affirmative action, death penalty protections, will probably all be overturned, says Prof. Francis Boyle
(2018-06-28). Trump's "Shithole Countries" Remark Is at the Center of a Lawsuit to Reinstate Protections for Immigrants. theintercept.com 
When President Donald Trump referred to Haiti, El Salvador, and an assortment of African nations as " shithole countries" during a closed-door meeting with congressional leaders and Cabinet members in January, he may have unwittingly planted the seed for the unraveling of a critical part of his deportation agenda. | Last Friday, in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, the first hearing was held for a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's revocation of Temporary Protected Status for over 200,000 foreign nationals from four countries who currently live in the United States. The lawsuit alleges that Trump's rhetoric demonstrates that his administration's cancellation of TPS was motivated by bigotry, rather than policy concerns. | "The Trump administration's decision to end TPS for people from these countries was motivated by its racism against non-white, non-Europeans immigrants," said Ahilan Arulanantham, legal director at the American…
(2018-06-28). Sudan: Down-sized UN mission for an over-sized human rights crisis. amnesty.org The African Union — United Nations hybrid mission in Darfur (UNAMID) has been in operation since 31 July 2007. Its mandate includes protection of civilians; mediation between the government of Sudan and armed movements and support for mediation of inter-communal conflict including measures to address root causes of the conflict in Darfur. UNAMID's mandate is now due for renewal on 30 June 2018…
(2018-06-28). Elon Musk & the farting unicorn: Cartoon dispute drags Tesla boss into 'compensation' row. rt.com 
Elon Musk has become embroiled in an intellectual property row after telling an artist it would be "kinda lame" if he sought compensation over allegations Tesla reproduced his work without permission.
(2018-06-27). Do you think climate change is an existential threat? therealnews.com 
As part of our summer fundraiser special series, Paul Jay answers viewer questions during a live Q&A
(2018-06-27). US Pushing Allies To Halt Iran Oil Imports, No Exceptions. iranian.com The United States is pushing countries to halt imports of Iranian oil from November, a senior State Department official said on Tuesday, and it will not grant any waivers to sanctions, a hardline position the Trump administration says is meant to cut off funding to Iran. US President Donald Trump in May said his administration […]
(2018-06-27). Trump Has Appointed Some Major Corporate Cronies, but This FTC Stooge Might Beat Them All. theintercept.com Andrew Smith, the newly installed head of the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission, represented an array of miscreant companies.
(2018-06-27). Russia: Supreme Court Plenum resolution is glimmer of hope for the right to protest. amnesty.org Responding to the resolution by the Plenum of the Russian Supreme Court to provide guidance to lower courts hearing cases related to public assemblies, published today, Amnesty International's Russia Researcher Anastasia Kovalevskaya said: | "This long-awaited resolution will hopefully provide some much-needed protections to peaceful protesters in Russia — especially the provisions aimed at reducing their arrests and administrative detentions. Over the past year and a half we have documented numerous cases where people were denied their basic right to gather peacefully." | "However, this resolution will mean nothing unless it is effectively implemented. And it's only a half-measure, as comprehensive and meticulous work is needed to bring Russian legislation on public gatherings into compliance with international human rights law and standards." | "We reiterate our call on the Russian authorities to drop all restrictive policies on public gatherings and to stop treating…
(2018-06-26). For WaPo, Subsidizing Bus Fare Is a Lot Like Giving the Rich $5 Trillion. fair.org 
Mexican presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador "bears more than a passing political resemblance to President Trump," according to the Washington Post editorial page ( 6/17/18). | According to the Washington Post ( 6/17/18), Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the frontrunner in Mexico's July 1 election, "bears more than a passing political resemblance" to US President Donald Trump. | Indeed, they are practically the same person: In the late 1970s, AMLO—as López Obrador is sometimes called— was "taking on Mexico's state-run oil company, Pemex, setting up protest camps outside its offices to force it to pay compensation to indigenous communities and campesinos whose lands it had polluted." | Around the same time, in 1975, Donald Trump was busy settling a lawsuit with the US Justice Department that accused the company he owned with his father of refusing to rent or…
(2018-06-26). Headlines for June 26, 2018. democracynow.org Mattis: U.S. Preparing to Imprison Immigrant Children on Two Texas Military Bases, Border Patrol to Stop Handing Immigrant Parents Over for Prosecution, In El Paso, Immigrant Parents Demand Return of Their Children, AP: Algeria Has Expelled 13,000 Migrants into Sahara Desert, Newly Released Scott Pruitt Emails Show More Ties to Lobbyist, Fossil Fuel Industry, NOAA Proposed Dropping "Climate" from Mission, Judge Dismisses Cities' Effort to Force Fossil Fuel Companies to Pay for Climate Change, Trump Attacks & Threatens Rep. Maxine Waters, PA: Family Holds Funeral for Antwon Rose, Unarmed Black Teen Killed by Police, Mexico: 2 More Political Candidates Assassinated in Lead-Up to Presidential Election, Brazilian Radio Journalist Jairo Sousa Assassinated in Pará, Argentina: Unions Launch 24-Hour General Strike to Protest Austerity, FDA Approves Cannabis-Based Drug for the First Time…
(2018-06-25). FDA approves America's first marijuana-based medication. rt.com 
In a breakthrough for medical marijuana use, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the US' first drug made from cannabis oil, designed to treat two rare forms of epilepsy. |
(2018-06-22). WaPo Can't Believe White Supremacist Senate Candidate Really Means It. fair.org 
Washington Post ( 6/15/18) takes on Corey Stewart and his "combative style." | A few things about Virginia Republican Senate candidate Corey Stewart: | He described as "one of my personal heroes" Wisconsin congressional candidate and self-described "pro-White Christian" Paul Nehlen, who suggests deporting all Muslims, and whose overt and various hatreds have led Breitbart to break ties with him, along with a Twitter ban. | Stewart joined his endorser Jason Kessler at a rally for Kessler's group, Unity and Security for America, last year. Kessler, of course, was the organizer of the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally, with the Nazi salutes and the "blood and soil" chanting, and the murder of counter-protester Heather Heyer. After the Charlottesville rally, Stewart declared there was "no reason to apologize." | A self-described "proud Southerner" who was born and raised in…
(2018-06-21). Headlines for June 21, 2018. democracynow.org Trump Signs Executive Order to Jail Immigrant Families Together, Without Limit, House to Debate Anti-Immigrant Bills Providing $25B to Militarize Border, Migrant Children Secretly Transported to NYC Foster Care in Dead of Night, Reveal: Migrant Youths Sent to Detention Centers with Abuse Histories, Airlines Refuse to Transport Separated Migrant Children, Portland ICE Office Closes Amid 24/7 Protest over Family Separations, Scathing New Report Gives U.S. "F" Grade over Refugee Treatment, Hungary Approves Law Criminalizing Those Who Help Migrants, U.N. Investigators: Syrian Gov't Committed War Crimes in Eastern Ghouta, EPA Releases Long-Suppressed "Nightmare" Study on Water Contamination, Nearly 100 U.S. Meteorologists to Stage On-Air Climate Change Protest, Climate Change Fuels Floods in Texas, Ivory Coast, India, Bangladesh, Former Archbishop of D.C. Removed over Sexual Abuse Accusations, Disney Raises 21st Century Fox Takeover Bid to $71 Billion, UNC Student Faces Possible Expulsion over Confederate Statue Protest…
(2018-06-19). "Trump Creates Crises & Preys on Fear": Rep. Jayapal on Policy of Separating Kids from Parents. democracynow.org 
Outrage is growing over the Trump administration's separation of children from their parents along the U.S.-Mexico border. On Monday, ProPublica released audio from inside a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility, in which children estimated to be between the ages of 4 and 10 years old are heard crying "Mama" and "Papi" after being separated from their parents. In another part of the audio, a Border Patrol agent is heard joking, in Spanish, "Well, we have an orchestra here. What's missing is a conductor." Video footage released by the U.S. Border Patrol Monday shows migrant children in concrete-floored chain link cages in an old warehouse in McAllen, Texas. A new Quinnipiac poll shows roughly two-thirds of U.S. voters oppose separating children from their parents at the border. About 7 percent of Democratic voters support the Trump policy, while 55 percent of Republicans support…
(2018-06-07). Maduro & Workers Push to Stimulate Venezuela's Oil Industry amid Collapsing Production. venezuelanalysis.com It is alleged that PDVSA does not possess sufficient stocks to fulfill its June export orders.