A Climate Constitution in the Courts and the Streets
Jeremy Brecher | counterpunch.org | 2018-06-08
What's the Constitution got to do with climate? Current legal cases are now addressing that question. They are using the U.S. Constitution to bring climate protection into the courthouse. These cases range from youth demanding their constitutional right to a stable climate to activists who block fossil fuel pipeline construction and justify their action as…
counterpunch.org/2018/06/08/a-climate-constitution-in-the-courts-and-the-streets/

Trump will stay at G7 for women's rights, but not ecology
RT | rt.com | 2018-06-08
The White House says US President Donald Trump will cut his trip to the G7 summit short, skipping a climate change session while staying for one on women empowerment. Trump is increasingly at odds with the other group members. …
www.rt.com/usa/429098-trump-g7-visit-short-climate/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

Republicans Are Finally Ready to Limit Trump's Power — but Only on Trade and Tariffs
Cherise | truthout.org | 2018-06-07
Republicans in the Senate are finally taking a stand against President Donald Trump, introducing legislation to curtail his executive power. | The free trade champions in the Republican Party, upset by newly imposed tariffs on US allies, are leading one of the first serious drives to push back against a president who has used his authority to advance a protectionist agenda. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., revealed a bill on Wednesday that would require congressional approval for any tariffs that are levied in the name of national security, a direct reference to the steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by Trump on Canada, the European Union and Mexico. Tariffs and revenues, Corker argues, are the responsibilities of the Congress and not the executive branch. | Co-sponsored by four other Senate Republicans, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Mike Lee…
truthout.org/articles/republicans-are-finally-ready-to-limit-trumps-power-but-only-on-trade-and-tariffs/

The Trump Administration Just Ramped Up Its Attack on the Media By Seizing a NYT Reporter's Phone and Email Records
Cody Fenwick, AlterNet | alternet.org | 2018-06-07
Trump has spent much of his time in office demeaning the press — now his administration has seized a reporter's private information. | New York Times reporter Ali Watkins had her phone and email records seized as part of a Justice Department investigation into leaks, the paper revealed Thursday night. This aggressive move builds on President Donald Trump's hostile stance toward the press, though President Barack Obama's administration was also extensively criticized for its dogged pursuit of leak investigations and its heavy-handed tactics to get information from journalists. "Freedom of the press is a cornerstone of democracy, and communications between journalists and their sources demand protection," said Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy said of the incident. Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions have both repeatedly emphasized the need to crack down on leaks of classified information. The seizure of Watkins' records appears to be connected to. . .
www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/trump-administration-just-ramped-its-attack-media-seizing-nyt-reporters-phone-and

A Democracy in Exile Fights Against Fascism
Cherise | truthout.org | 2018-06-07

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| While Trumpism attempts to expand its alt-right social base under its authoritarian hierarchy, forces of grassroots resistance are mobilizing around a renewed sense of ethical courage, social solidarity,…
truthout.org/articles/a-democracy-in-exile-fights-against-fascism/

"We Cannot Defy the US": EU Oil Refiners Fold to Trump, Will Stop Buying Iran Crude
Zero Hedge | globalresearch.ca | 2018-06-07
For all of Europe's bluster, and increasingly vocal "resistance" to Trump unique approach to international politics, especially when it comes to Iran when Brussels swore it would defy the US president and continue business as usual with Tehran, it took …
globalresearch.ca/we-cannot-defy-the-us-eu-oil-refiners-fold-to-trump-will-stop-buying-iran-crude/5643408

Trump Requested Saudi Oil Support Before Iran Nuclear Decision — Sources
Middle East Monitor | iranian.com | 2018-06-07
A day before US President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, one of his senior officials phoned Saudi Arabia to ask the world's largest oil exporter to help keep prices stable if the decision disrupted supply. Riyadh, Tehran's arch rival, has long been a close Washington ally, but direct pressure on a member of Organization […] | The post Trump Requested Saudi Oil Support Before Iran Nuclear Decision — Sources appeared first on The Iranian.
iranian.com/2018/06/07/trump-saudi-oil/

Maduro & Workers Push to Stimulate Venezuela's Oil Industry amid Collapsing Production
Paul Dobson | venezuelanalysis.com | 2018-06-07
It is alleged that PDVSA does not possess sufficient stocks to fulfill its June export orders.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/13864

'Catastrophic disaster': Aircraft hack only matter of time, US agencies warn
RT | rt.com | 2018-06-07
It is "only a matter of time" until a commercial aircraft is hacked, the Department of Homeland Security and other US government agencies have warned. Most planes lack cybersecurity protections to prevent such a hack. …
www.rt.com/usa/429016-passenger-plane-hack-warning/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

Vietnam: Withdraw Problematic Cyber Security Law
Human Rights Watch | hrw.org | 2018-06-07
Deputies attend the opening ceremony of the National Assembly's autumn session in Hanoi, Vietnam October 23, 2017. | © 2017 Reuters | (New York) — Vietnam should revise its overly broad and vague draft cyber security law to bring it into compliance with international legal standards before it goes before the legislature, Human Rights Watch said today. Vietnam's National Assembly is scheduled to vote on the draft of this highly criticized law on June 12, 2018. | The government and the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam have a long record of punishing political and social dissent under the rationale of protecting national security. The draft law, in turn, gives the authorities wide discretion to determine when expression must be censored as "illegal." Vietnam's national laws lack meaningful protections for privacy and the provisions in…
www.hrw.org/news/2018/06/07/vietnam-withdraw-problematic-cyber-security-law

Trump's Actual 'Plan' for the G-7 Summit Is to Just Go Around Confronting World Leaders
Hunter, Daily Kos | alternet.org | 2018-06-06
The president is ready to embarrass the nation yet again. | The word "plan" here, is, I suspect, badly overstating things: President Trump plans to confront other world leaders at a summit in Quebec on Friday over what he believes is a global economic system tilted against the United States, several people briefed on the plan said, escalating tensions with U. S. allies who have expressed outrage at his pivot toward protectionism. The news here is that Trump's staffers expect the Quebec meeting to go badly–in fact, they seem to expect it's going to be an outright fiasco. They are therefore setting the stage for a claim that Trump meant to do that, by way of some nebulous "plan" that consists primarily or exclusively of Trump treating all the other assembled leaders like shit and everyone else in the White House nodding their. . .
www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/trumps-actual-plan-g-7-summit-just-go-around-confronting-world-leaders

Progressive Candidates Had a Very Good Night Tuesday
David Dayen | theintercept.com | 2018-06-06
TUSTIN, Calif. — As the returns began to come in Tuesday night in California, Katie Porter ventured into the war room at her campaign headquarters, where the walls were covered with mailers and precinct maps. On one side was a giant number: 22,000. | "We felt that if we could get 22,000 votes, we would be safe," said Porter, a University of California, Irvine, law professor and consumer protection attorney. | It's good sometimes to shoot high. With all precincts reporting, Porter, a Sen. Elizabeth Warren protégé invested with the hopes of the progressive movement, ended with 19,453 votes. It was enough, putting her roughly 2,600 ahead of her main Democratic challenger David Min. With late vote-by-mail and provisional ballots, she's likely to approach the target and move on to the general election in California's 45th Congressional District, facing Republican incumbent Rep. Mimi…
theintercept.com/2018/06/06/california-primary-election-results-2018/

EU: Data Protection Rules Advance Privacy
Human Rights Watch | hrw.org | 2018-06-06
(Brussels, June 6, 2018) — The new European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will enhance privacy and should spur other countries to improve protection of people's personal information, Human Rights Watch said in a question and answer document released today. The document summarizes key portions of the EU law and discusses what comes next. | "In the digital age, so much of what we do generates data that can reveal intimate details of our lives, thoughts, and beliefs," said Cynthia Wong, senior internet researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The GDPR is hardly perfect, but it strengthens protections for privacy in the EU and shows that strong safeguards for data are both possible and good for human rights." | As of May 25, 2018, the new rules are legally binding across the EU's 28 Member States. The law, agreed…
www.hrw.org/news/2018/06/06/eu-data-protection-rules-advance-privacy

DR Congo: Respect Rights in Ebola Response
Human Rights Watch | hrw.org | 2018-06-06
Congolese Health Ministry officials carry the first batch of experimental Ebola vaccines in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 16, 2018. | © 2018 Kenny Katombe/Reuters | (Kinshasa) — The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo should ensure human rights protections in controlling the recent Ebola outbreak, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing a question-and-answer document about the response to the virus. Since 1976, more than 800 people have died in Congo during eight previous Ebola outbreaks. | The government and international partners should take effective steps to contain the Ebola virus, protect people at high risk of infection, and ensure treatment for those affected. | "Protecting human rights is key to responding to the Ebola outbreak," said Diederik Lohman, health and human rights director at Human Rights Watch. "Limits…
www.hrw.org/news/2018/06/06/dr-congo-respect-rights-ebola-response

US Slammed for Failure to Address Poverty and Health
Human Rights Watch | hrw.org | 2018-06-05
People walk around the neighboring streets around the Fred Jordan Mission, in Los Angeles, California, U.S. May 12, 2018. | © 2018 Reuters | Philip Alston, the United Nations' special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, did not mince words when he issued his recent report on poverty in the United States. | Recent policies under the Trump administration "seem designed to remove basic protections from the poorest, punish the poor and make even basic health care a privilege to be earned rather than a right of citizenship." | Alston's damning assessment is a stark reminder of the consequences of the US government's failure to recognize the right to health under international law. Articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the right was then codified by the International Covenant for…
www.hrw.org/news/2018/06/05/us-slammed-failure-address-poverty-and-health

A day of reaction at the US Supreme Court
wsws.org | wsws.org | 2018-06-05
In two separate decisions, the US Supreme Court set back rights for immigrants, the right to abortion, and protections for gay and lesbian couples.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/06/05/pers-j05.html

"A Source of Positivity All the Time": Remembering Palestinian Medic Razan al-Najjar, Killed by IDF
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-06-04
Witnesses say Israeli soldiers shot dead 21-year-old Palestinian medic Razan al-Najjar as she ran toward the border fence to provide medical aid to a wounded protester. Since nonviolent protests began at the end of March, Israeli soldiers have killed at least 119 people, including 14 children. More than 13,000 have been wounded. "It was clear to everybody that she was a paramedic, that that was murder. I mean, that was a crime committed before cameras," said Dr. Medhat Abbas, director of Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical facility in the Gaza Strip. We also speak with Najjar's cousin, Dalia al-Najjar, who says the response of the international community to the Gaza crisis has been "really disappointing," and notes the U.S. vetoed a draft U.N. resolution urging the protection of Palestinians on Friday, the same day Najjar was killed. "It's a shameful side that the United States decided to take."
www.democracynow.org/2018/6/4/a_source_of_positivity_all_the

Mick Mulvaney Is Required by Law to Meet With His Consumer Advisory Board. But He's Refusing, Board Members Say
David Dayen | theintercept.com | 2018-06-04
The leadership of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is required by law to hold in-person meetings with its consumer advisory board, yet according to more than a dozen of its members, they are refusing to do so. | "It appears the bureau does not want to engage with us," said Ann Baddour of the consumer organization Texas Appleseed and chair of the current Consumer Advisory Board, or CAB, who joined a conference call Monday with other board members who have decided to speak publicly. "Staying silent would violate our ethical responsibility to the bureau and the American people." | The CFPB, under Acting Director Mick Mulvaney, has canceled two in-person meetings with the CAB, as well as numerous conference calls. Contact has been limited to one phone call in March that was supposed to last one hour but ended after 20 minutes. The…
theintercept.com/2018/06/04/mick-mulvaney-cfpb-consumer-advisory-board/

Indigenous Activist: Trudeau's Purchase of Kinder Morgan Pipeline Is "Huge Step Backward" for Canada
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-05-31
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that the Canadian government will purchase Kinder Morgan's highly contested Trans Mountain pipeline, vowing to commit taxpayer money to expanding the pipeline despite widespread indigenous-led protests and a slew of lawsuits. If built, the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion will triple the amount of oil flowing from Alberta's tar sands to the coast of British Columbia. The Canadian government purchased the pipeline for 4.5 billion Canadian dollars–around 3.5 billion American dollars. The decision has sparked widespread condemnation from First Nations and environmental activists, who say that expanding the pipeline will increase pollution in Alberta's tar sands region, endanger indigenous communities and increase greenhouse gas emissions. We go to Edmonton, Canada, where we speak with Eriel Deranger, executive director of Indigenous Climate Action. She is a member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.
www.democracynow.org/2018/5/31/indigenous_rights_activist_purchase_of_kinder

Headlines for May 31, 2018
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-05-31
Pompeo Meets North Korea's Ex-Spy Chief in NYC, In Victory for Big Banks, Federal Reserve Votes to Loosen Volcker Rule, Report: U.S. Killed 50 Taliban Leaders in Helmand Province, Russian Journalist Admits Faking His Own Death, Trump Makes No Comment on Roseanne's Racist Tweets But Criticizes ABC for Not Apologizing to Him, Cable News Largely Ignores Deaths of 4,645 in Puerto Rico to Focus on Roseanne, Civil Rights Groups Urge DHS to Release Secret "Race Paper" Memo, Theology Student Studying Daniel Berrigan's Life Arrested for Protesting White Supremacist in Charlottesville, EPA Taps Chemical Industry Lawyer to Oversee Superfund Sites, Illinois Ratifies Equal Rights Amendment, Harvey Weinstein Indicted on Rape Charges in New York, 13-Year-Old Student Questions White House Inaction on School Shootings, Republican Congresswoman Says Pornography Is a "Root Cause" of School Shootings, Standing Rock Water Protector Sentenced to Three Years in Prison, U.N.: Mexican Security Forces Likely Involved in Recent Disappearances, Mexican Journalist Héctor González Killed in Tamaulipas, Report: U.S.-Backed Salvadoran Police Forces Involved in Extrajudicial Killings, Brazilian Oil Workers Stage Strike to Protest Plans to Privatize Petrobras, Florida Jury Awards Four Cents to Family of African-American Man Shot by Sheriff's Deputy…
www.democracynow.org/2018/5/31/headlines

Headlines for May 30, 2018
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-05-30
Study: Hurricane Maria Deaths 70 Times Higher Than Official Count, Israel Launches Airstrikes in Gaza, Blocks Flotilla Seeking to Break Blockade, Poor People's Campaign: Hundreds Arrested Across U.S. in Nonviolent Protests, NYT: Trump Ordered Sessions to Un-Recuse Himself from Russia Investigation, GOP House Oversight Chair Says FBI "Acted Properly" Using Trump Campaign Informant, Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens to Resign Amid Sexual Misconduct & Corruption Scandal, ABC Cancels "Roseanne" Amid Outcry over Roseanne Barr's Racist Tweets, Arkansas Left with One Clinic for Medication Abortions as Supreme Court OKs Anti-Choice Law, French Police Evict 1,000 Migrants as Macron Welcomes Malian "Spiderman" Rescuer to Élysée Palace, Hungary: Offering Food, Water, Legal Advice to Migrants to Become Criminal Offense, Russian Journalist Arkady Babchenko Admits Faking His Own Death | , Justice Dept. Approves $66B Takeover of Monsanto by German Pharma Giant Bayer, Canada to Buy, Expand Trans Mountain Tar Sands Oil Pipeline, New Mexico: Trans Woman Seeking Asylum in U.S. Dies in ICE Custody…
www.democracynow.org/2018/5/30/headlines

Headlines for May 29, 2018
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-05-29
In Historic Referendum, Ireland Votes to Repeal Abortion Ban, Top North Korean General Heads to U.S. as Officials Try to Salvage June 12 Summit, Israeli Military Jets Bomb Gaza After Mortar Rounds Fired Toward Israel, Family of Claudia González, Guatemalan Woman Killed by Border Agent, Demands Justice, Ellicott City, Maryland, Hit by Second "Once-in-a-Thousand-Year" Flood in 2 Years, Colombia: Presidential Election Heads to Runoff as Peace Deal Hangs in Balance, Mexican Journalist Alicia Díaz González Killed, Brazil: Nationwide Truckers' Strike Shuts Down Businesses, Transportation, Schools, Pakistan Passes Historic Protections for Transgender People & Residents of Tribal Areas, European Commission Seeks to Ban Plastic Plates, Cutlery and Straws, Starbucks Closing 8,000 Stores Today for Anti-Racial Bias Training, "I'm Never Plugging That Device In Again": Alexa Records & Sends Private Conversation by Accident, NYC Taxi Drivers Mourn Apparent Suicide of Driver Yu Mein Chow…
www.democracynow.org/2018/5/29/headlines

Venezuela Slams New US Sanctions as Washington Hints at Oil Embargo
Cira Pascual Marquina | venezuelanalysis.com | 2018-05-22
The latest measures fly in the face of international concern about the living conditions of Venezuelans.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/13833

ConocoPhillips Moves to Seize Venezuelan Oil Assets as PDVSA Maneuvers to Safeguard Tankers
Paul Dobson | venezuelanalysis.com | 2018-05-09
In response to the threat, PDVSA has allegedly ordered its fleet of tankers stationed in the Caribbean to return to Venezuelan waters.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/13803

Venezuela: Zulia Governor Blames Illegal Crypto Mining for Continuing Regional Power Shortages
Paul Dobson | venezuelanalysis.com | 2018-05-07
Sabotage, lack of maintenance, and climate change have also been offered to explain the crippling blackouts.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/13796

Venezuela Offers Petro-Based Oil Discount, Denounces "Kidnapping" of Funds
Paul Dobson | venezuelanalysis.com | 2018-05-03
Maduro has accused Euroclear of withholding USD$1.2bn as part of international financial sanctions against Caracas.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/13791