Venezuela asks Turkey to serve as a "protecting power…"
unitedEditor | uwidata.com | 2019-05-31
While speaking at a press conference at UN Headquarters, Venezuela's UN representative Samuel Moncada commented on US authorities' demand that embassy employees loyal to Nicolas Maduro vacate the premises so that they can be handed over to employees working on behalf of us-backed self-declared interim president of Venezuela Juan Guaido.According to Moncada, the United States …
uwidata.com/3684-venezuela-asks-turkey-to-serve-as-a-protecting-power/

149 refugees evacuated from Libya to Italy
CGTN Africa | cgtn.com | 2019-05-31
Migrants are seen in a shelter after they were relocated from government-run detention centers, after getting trapped by clashes between rival groups in Tripoli, Libya August 30, 2018. REUTERS/Hani Amara | The UN Higher Commission of Refugees (UNHCR) said on Thursday that 149 refugees were evacuated from Libya to Italy, in cooperation with Libyan and Italian authorities. | "Amid violent clashes and a deteriorating security situation in Tripoli, 149 vulnerable refugees and asylum-seekers were evacuated to safety in Rome," UNHCR said in a statement. | The evacuated refugees are of different African nationalities, i…
africa.cgtn.com/2019/05/31/149-refugees-evacuated-from-libya-to-italy/

Mass Demonstrations Against Saudi Summit and US "Deal" Mark Quds Day in Yemen
Ahmed Abdulkareem | mintpressnews.com | 2019-05-31
Quds Day demonstrations condemned the so-called U.S. Deal of the Century and vowed to support Palestinians facing the prospect of losing their rights under the U.S.-brokered plan.
mintpressnews.com/258916-2/258916/

World Food Programme accesses Yemeni frontline district for first time since conflict began
United Nations | un.org | 2019-05-31
Amid the world's largest humanitarian crisis still unfolding in Yemen, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has gained access to the rebel-held northern district of Nihm, for the first time since the war between Houthis and the Saudi-backed Government coalition escalated in 2015.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/05/1039571

Israeli 'Intelligence' Is Fostering US Bellicosity Toward Iran — But 'Quietly'
Philip Weiss | globalresearch.ca | 2019-05-31
As the U.S. risks a major conflict with Iran, many have pointed out that the U.S. intelligence on alleged Iranian attacks is reminiscent of the faulty intelligence leading up to the Iraq war. And several mainstream sources have said that …
globalresearch.ca/israeli-intelligence-fostering-us-bellicosity-iran-quietly/5679125

Ex Labour MP breaks open the heart of the antisemitism smear campaign on BBC Newsnight
James Wright | thecanary.co | 2019-05-31
Former Labour MP Clare Short got right to the heart of the antisemitism smear campaign against the Jeremy Corbyn-led movement on 28 May. | "Widening of the definition": | Short, who resigned from Tony Blair's front bench over the invasion of Iraq, told Newsnight host Emma Barnett: What's happened is there's bee…
thecanary.co/trending/2019/05/31/ex-labour-mp-breaks-open-the-heart-of-the-antisemitism-smear-campaign-on-bbc-newsnight/

U.S.-led Coalition Admission of 1,300 Civilian Deaths in Iraq and Syria
commondreams.org | 2019-05-31
______________________________…
commondreams.org/newswire/2019/05/31/us-led-coalition-admission-1300-civilian-deaths-iraq-and-syria?cd-origin=rss

NSA targeting system now deployed along Mexican border, leaked docs reveal
rt.com | 2019-05-31
A top-secret NSA targeting system which dramatically increased the civilian death toll in Afghanistan and Iraq has made its way back home, according to leaked documents boasting of its use on the US-Mexico border. | …
rt.com/usa/460737-nsa-surveillance-casualties-deployed-mexico/

WikiLeaks: Assange indictments 'the gravest attack on press freedom'
susan_p | greenleft.org.au | 2019-05-31
In response to the news on May 24 that the United States government is seeking to lay multiple espionage charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, the organisation accused US President Donald Trump's administration of launching "an unprecedented attack on the global free press". | The unsealed Espionage Act charges carry combined sentences of 175 years in prison and relate to disclosures of war crimes and human rights abuses by the US government, including the groundbreaking Collateral Murder video, Iraq War Logs, Afghan War Diaries, Cablegate, and the Guantanamo Bay Detainee Manuals, published in 2010 an…
greenleft.org.au/content/wikileaks-assange-indictments-gravest-attack-press-freedom

US to investigate reports N. Korea executed senior diplomat after Hanoi summit failure — Pompeo
rt.com | 2019-05-31
Following a slew of reports that North Korea had executed a senior envoy who participated in the Hanoi peace summit with US President Donald Trump, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said he's 'checking it out.' | …
rt.com/usa/460730-north-korea-executions-investigation-pompeo/

Syria Describes As Unacceptable Declaration of Arab Summit on Iran
plenglish.com | 2019-05-31
Damascus, May 31 (Prensa Latina) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Repatriated assured on Friday that Syria described as unacceptable the declaration of an Arab Summit in the Saudi capital on Iranian meddling and set out that the presence of Iran is legal since Damascus requested for it.
www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=42660&SEO=syria-describes-as-unacceptable-declaration-of-arab-summit-on-iran

Iranian Foreign Minister Condemns Statement Issued in Saudi Arabia
plenglish.com | 2019-05-31
Tehran, May 31 (Prensa Latina) Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Yavad Zarif on Friday condemned an anti-Iran statement issued during a special summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council held in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=42650&SEO=iranian-foreign-minister-condemns-statement-issued-in-saudi-arabia

Here's How Trump Bypassed Congress to Sell Weapons to Saudi Arabia
Middle East Eye | theantimedia.com | 2019-05-31
(MEE) — Schoolchildren in the United States are taught from a young age that a separation of powers is the backbone of American democracy. The system also comes with checks-and-balances meant to limit the power that the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government can wield — to prevent overreach. Last week, however, President Donald Trump threw …

Here's How Trump Bypassed Congress to Sell Weapons to Saudi Arabia

Activists protest John Bolton's commencement speech at U.S. Coast Guard Academy
Daniel Carmody | liberationnews.org | 2019-05-31
Bolton has been unabashed in his campaign to launch new wars against Iran, North Korea, and now Venezuela.
liberationnews.org/activists-protest-john-boltons-commencement-speech-at-u-s-coast-guard-academy/

John Bolton's Absurd 'Troika Tyranny'
Corinna Barnard | consortiumnews.com | 2019-05-31
The real tyrants are U.S. allies in the Middle East (not Venezuela, Cuba or Nicaragua), writes Danny Sjursen. By Danny Sjursen TomDispatch.com American foreign policy can be so retro, not to mention absurd. Despite being bogged down in more military… Read more ?…
consortiumnews.com/2019/05/31/john-boltons-absurd-troika-tyranny/

Condemning Trump's "Racist Attacks on Immigrants," Sanders Calls for Bans on Mass Raids and For-Profit Detention Centers
Jake Johnson, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-05-31
"We have to end the dehumanization of undocumented people," the Vermont senator and presidential candidate said during a rally in Nevada | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/bernie_sanders_immigration.jpg…
commondreams.org/news/2019/05/31/condemning-trumps-racist-attacks-immigrants-sanders-calls-bans-mass-raids-and-profit?cd-origin=rss

MintCast Interviews Filmmaker Robbie Martin: The Neoconservative Endgame
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2019-05-31
MintCast co-hosts Alan MacLeod and Whitney Webb recently spoke to Robbie Martin ( @FluorescentGrey), a filmmaker whose recent documentary series A Very Heavy Agenda explores how prominent Bush-era neo-conservatives have continued to dominate the Washington foreign policy debate and have been instrumental in creating and fomenting Russiagate and Cold War 2.0. | Neoconservatives, or Neocons, have been a key force in Washington for decades and seem to maintain their…
mintpressnews.com/neoconservative-push-war-russia-iran-venezuela-robbie-martin/258908/

U.S. Imperialism and the Struggle for Venezuela's Future
Eugene E Ruyle | indybay.org | 2019-05-31
Starry Plough Pub | 3101 Shattuck Ave, at Prince St in Berkeley | Near Ashby BART…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/05/27/18823642.php

Venezuela Moves Toward Delivery of Three Million Homes
plenglish.com | 2019-05-31
Caracas, May 31 (Prensa Latina) Venezuelan government is still delivering homes through the Gran Mision Vivienda Venezuela (GMVV), to reach the goal of three million.
www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=42662&SEO=venezuela-moves-toward-delivery-of-three-million-homes

Venezuelan Government Invites EU Special Advisor to Visit the Country
plenglish.com | 2019-05-31
Caracas, May 31 (Prensa Latina) Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza has officially invited the European Union"s (EU) Special Advisor for Venezuela, Enrique Iglesias, to visit Venezuela in the near future.
www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=42651&SEO=venezuelan-government-invites-eu-special-advisor-to-visit-the-country

Minnesotans say "No coup! No war! Hands off Venezuela!"
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-05-31
Minneapolis, MN – 30 people held signs reading "Hands off Venezuela" and a big banner saying "No coup – no sanctions – no war – hands off Venezuela" on a bridge from Loring Park to the Walker Sculpture Garden over Interstate 94 in Minneapolis during rush hour, May 30. Ten lanes of traffic filled with rush hour traffic traveled underneath. The protesters heard hundreds of honks of agreement that the U.S. shouldn't intervene in Venezuela. | Afterwards protesters gathered to hear from Tracy Molm, a member of the MN Anti-War Committee, to hear an update from Venezuela, "Today we were seen by thousands of people in Mi…
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/5/31/minnesotans-say-no-coup-no-war-hands-venezuela

Canada Supports Most Hardline, Anti-Democratic Elements of Venezuela's Oppposition
Yves Engler | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-05-31
Not only has Canada financed and otherwise supported opposition parties in Venezuela, Ottawa has allied itself with some of its most anti-democratic, hardline elements. While the Liberal government has openly backed Voluntad Popular's bid to seize power since January, Ottawa has supported the electorally marginal party for years. Juan Guaidó's VP (Popular Will in English) …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/05/canada-supports-most-hardline-anti-democratic-elements-of-venezuelas-oppposition/

Venezuela Is on the Peace Path in Dialogue, Maduro Says
plenglish.com | 2019-05-31
Caracas, May 31 (Prensa Latina) Today, dialogue represents the only way for stability in Venezuela within the Constitution, President Nicolas Maduro said.
www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=42633&SEO=venezuela-is-on-the-peace-path-in-dialogue-maduro-says

US Hints at Sanctions Against Venezuela CLAP Food Programme. Bolivarian Militia to Protect CLAP
Paul Dobson | globalresearch.ca | 2019-05-31
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has announced the incorporation of the National Bolivarian Militia into the subsidised CLAP (Local Supply and Production Committees) food programme. | The move comes as rumours circulate of upcoming US-led sanctions against the leaders of the programme, …
globalresearch.ca/us-hints-sanctions-against-venezuela-clap-food-programme-maduro-incorporates-militia/5679136

Canada's Trudeau Government Supportive of Venezuela Anti-democratic Hardline Elements
Yves Engler | globalresearch.ca | 2019-05-31
Not only has Canada financed and otherwise supported opposition parties in Venezuela, Ottawa has allied with some of its most anti-democratic, hardline elements. While the Liberal government has openly backed Voluntad Popular's bid to seize power since January, Ottawa has …
globalresearch.ca/ottawa-anti-democratic-hardline-venezuelas-opposition/5679142

Venezuela Seizes More Than 8,000 Kilograms of Drugs in 2019
plenglish.com | 2019-05-31
Caracas, May 31 (Prensa Latina) The president of the National Antidrug Office (ONA), Juan Grillo, said on Friday that in the first semester of 2019, Venezuelan authorities seized 8,985 kilograms of different narcotics.
www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=42646&SEO=venezuela-seizes-more-than-8000-kilograms-of-drugs-in-2019

US activists vow to protect Venezuelan embassy
susan_p | greenleft.org.au | 2019-05-31
At 9.30am on May 16, police officers illegally entered the Venezuelan embassy in the Georgetown neighbourhood of Washington DC and arrested four activists lawfully living in the building since April 10, as guests of the legitimate Venezuelan government of Nicolás Maduro. | The four activists arrested were Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese (with the group Popular Resistance), Adrienne Pine (an academic) and David Paul (a CODEPINK member). They are part of a group called the Embassy Protection Collective. | According to the Embassy Protection Collective's attorney Mara Verheyden Hilliard, the activists were charged…
greenleft.org.au/content/us-activists-vow-protect-venezuelan-embassy

Opposition Demand for Maduro's Resignation a Non-Starter, Says Norwegian Official
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-05-31
An unnamed Norwegian official with inside knowledge of the talks between the Venezuelan opposition and government in Oslo said the opposition "needs to be more realistic." We discuss the talks with Norwegian Venezuela specialist Eirik Vold…
therealnews.com/stories/opposition-demand-for-maduros-resignation-a-non-starter-says-norwegian-official

May Plot? Did U.S. Concerns Over Huawei Hasten Theresa May's Departure?
T.J. Coles | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-31
Britain's PM Theresa May spent the last two years fighting off numerous Brexit-related coup attempts from within her Conservative (Tory) party. But the sudden announcement of her departure came just two weeks after US officials cautioned May not to award contracts to China's Huawei. Was this May's Gough Whitlam moment? GOUGH WHITLAM AND THE FIVE…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/31/may-plot-did-u-s-concerns-over-huawei-hasten-theresa-mays-departure/

Edward Who? The Snowden Affair Ends with a Whimper
Bill Blunden | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-31
"Do not send to those who tout secure drops, Tor, crypto-comms — these are traceable, diagrammable via basic net transmission tech." –Cryptome It's been more than six years since Edward Snowden went public. After all the breathless headlines, Hollywood movies, book deals, Pulitzer prizes, and glossy primetime biopics. What, pray tell, has come of it?
counterpunch.org/2019/05/31/edward-who-the-snowden-affair-ends-with-a-whimper/

Modi's Escalating War Against India's Forests and Tribal People
Jonathan Mazower | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-31
The result of the biggest election in history, India 2019, is terrible news for tribal peoples in the world's biggest democracy. Politicians with authoritarian nationalist inclinations like India's newly invigorated Narendra Modi are in vogue around the world, and while many minority groups are feeling the impact of this surge to the right, the past…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/31/modis-escalating-war-against-indias-forests-and-tribal-people/

Putting Values Into Action
Missy Comley Beattie | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-31
Earlier in May, two North Carolina Republicans intro'd state legislation that would place obstacles in the path of renewable energy development. Senate Bill 843, sponsored by Senators William Cook and Andrew Brock, leaves anyone with even semi-decent cognitive functioning asking WTF(?). Despite the unquestionable obviousness of the why of that What, you still can shake…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/31/putting-values-into-action/

Society Is In Decay — When the Worst is First and the Best is Last
Ralph Nader | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-31
Plutocrats like to control the range of permissible public dialogue. Plutocrats also like to shape what society values. If you want to see where a country's priorities lie, look at how it allocates its money. While teachers and nurses earn comparatively little for performing critical jobs, corporate bosses including those who pollute our planet and…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/31/society-is-in-decay-when-the-worst-is-first-and-the-best-is-last/

"Get Out of the President's Way!"
Joseph Natoli | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-31
All their life was spent not in laws, statutes, or rules, but according to their own free will and pleasure. They rose out of their beds when they thought good; they did eat, drink, labour, sleep, when they had a mind to it and were disposed for it. None did awake them, none did offer…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/31/get-out-of-the-presidents-way/

Russiagate Trumps Environmental Catastrophe for the Dismal Democrats
Paul Street | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-31
If historians still exist years from now, some of them will be struck by how Donald Trump's Democratic Party critics and their media allies obsessed over the 45th United States President's real and alleged connections to Russia while saying comparatively little about his enactment of a soulless anti-environmental agenda that accelerated humanity's march towards extinction in service to the United States' own homegrown corporate polluters.
counterpunch.org/2019/05/31/russiagate-trumps-environmental-catastrophe-for-the-dismal-democrats/

Global Rebellion to Save Our Planet
Graham Peebles | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-31
"The greatest threat to the Earth is thinking someone else will save it." The responsibility is ours; politicians and governments are complacent, dishonest and buried in the ideology of the past. Despite repeated warnings nothing substantial has been done and time is running out. No one else is going to Save Our Planet; a global…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/31/global-rebellion-to-save-our-planet/

Roaming Charges: Intimations of Imbecility
Jeffrey St. Clair | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-31
+ Every reporter, editor and publisher who used or cited any document published by Wikileaks should file an amicus brief opposing his indictment and extradition, since Assange is being indicted on their behalf. + Out of a total eleven prosecutions under the Espionage Act against government officials accused of providing classified information to the media,…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/31/roaming-charges-intimations-of-imbecility/

Lessons From Yellowstone
George Wuerthner | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-31
As we ponder the future of public lands in Montana, including what areas deserve protection as wilderness, it is worthwhile to look back in history to see how past protective measures were viewed. In 1872, with the establishment of Yellowstone National Park many Montana citizens were outraged. For example, the Helena Gazette opined:…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/31/lessons-from-yellowstone/

Chinese Intellectual Property Theft: The Indictment of Huawei Is an Embarrassment
Moshe Adler | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-31
With its criminal indictment at the beginning of the year the US government has successfully made Huawei…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/31/chinese-intellectual-property-theft-the-indictment-of-huawei-is-an-embarrassment/

Sri Lankan Refugee Family That Hid Snowden in Hong Kong Now Trapped in Limbo
Dave Lindorff | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-31
Hong Kong. The bipartisan vengeance of the US government and it's pervasive intelligence apparatus, on display currently in its rabid hounding of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, appears to know no bounds. But as ugly as the full-court effort to bag Assange, already trapped by US the combined efforts of complicity government in Britain and Sweden…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/31/sri-lankan-refugee-family-that-hid-snowden-in-hong-kong-now-trapped-in-limbo/

Burlington, Vermont, Jared Kushner and the Conspiracy of Capital
Ron Jacobs | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-31
There's a hole in the heart of Burlington, Vermont's downtown. The result of a currently halted project to build a new shopping mall, it is currently a muddy hole that might well end up taking millions of dollars to fill. Many of those millions could well end up coming from the pockets of Burlington residents.
counterpunch.org/2019/05/31/burlington-vermont-jared-kushner-and-the-conspiracy-of-capital/

Congressional Catering to Netanyahu Must End
Melvin Goodman | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-31
Four years ago, the U.S. Congress invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint congressional session as part of his campaign to defeat the Obama administration's efforts to negotiate the Iranian nuclear accord. Netanyahu's address was an unacceptable interference in the U.S. domestic political arena and should have been challenged. President Obama refused…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/31/congressional-catering-to-netanyahu-must-end/

The Bush Leagues: the College Admissions Scam
John O'Kane | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-31
When I hear the phrase "college admission scam" I reach for my copy of George W. Bush's resume. This gem started to circulate not long after his first interviews when he ran for President, straining to recall the names of foreign leaders and stuttering through a series of painful contortions about the issues of the…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/31/the-bush-leagues-the-college-admissions-scam/

What Would Democratic Candidates Do About Syria?
Charles Davis | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-31
Something peculiar happened along the way to stopping a war: in order to prevent U.S. soldiers from marching on Damascus–a real possibility according to people who don't seem to follow such things–some decided that the cause of what they call "peace" required turning a blind eye to several wars that already existed. Neoconservatives, forever on…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/31/what-would-democrat-candidates-do-about-syria/

Values Are Weapons as Cuba Defends Doctors against US intervention
W. T. Whitney | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-31
The George W. Bush administration initiated the Cuban Medical Professional Parole Program (CMPP) in 2006. The idea was to persuade overseas Cuban doctors to abandon their posts and relocate to the United States. Cuba's medical solidarity programs, in place for half a century, would suffer. President Obama ended the CMPP in January, 2017. Now the…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/31/values-are-weapons-as-cuba-defends-doctors-against-us-intervention/

Dealing With Climate Fear
Jill Richardson | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-31
I don't think I'm alone in feeling this way, but here goes: I can't deal with climate change. I can't read about it, I can't watch documentaries on it, and I can't think about it. I feel too powerless, and it hurts too much. The result feels like apathy, but it's not that I don't…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/31/dealing-with-climate-fear/

White Nationalism and the Neoliberal Order
Rob Urie | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-31
Two related tendencies have sown confusion over the crisis of liberalism that continues to unfold across the U.S. and Europe. On the one hand, the forces of the political right are ascendant. Right-wing leaders are being elected as an apparent rebuke of the serial failures of neoliberalism. On the other, the will of the polity is increasingly irrelevant to the formulation and concerns of nominally public policies.In the U.S., the political establishment continues to put forward candidates which its functionaries appear to believe can best perpetuate this illusion of democracy. Befuddlement at the rise of reaction…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/31/white-nationalism-and-the-neoliberal-order/

Chutzpah, Corporate Media Style
Andrew Levine | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-31
American politics is awash in hypocrisy. It always has been, but the problem has become worse in recent years, mainly, but not only, since Donald Trump became president of the United States. The level of hypocrisy surrounding, say, charges of Russian "meddling" in the 2016 election is staggering, but it seldom rises to the level…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/31/chutzpah-corporate-media-style/

Ozone-Depleting CFCs Return
Robert Hunziker | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-31
In August of 1987 the world came together after a panic-attack over ongoing depletion of atmospheric ozone, aka: The Ozone Hole. Subsequently, global agreements to stop ozone depletion became the first ever "universally ratified treaties in UN history." The world banned CFCs. Thereafter, an era of good feelings about ozone restoration swept the world community…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/31/ozone-depleting-cfcs-return/

WWII Lessons for the Climate Emergency
Judith Deutsch | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-31
"The bad news is that if history teaches us one thing, it is that there never has been an energy transition….The history of energy is not one of transitions, but rather of successive additions . . ." Bonneuil and Fressoz, The Shock of the Anthropocene The New Deal and World War II are reminders of…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/31/wwii-lessons-for-the-climate-emergency/