2020-09-23: News Headlines

Melvin Goodman (2020-09-23). Arming the Planet: the USA as the World's Leading Weapons Dealer. counterpunch.org For the past several decades, the United States has been the world's leading producer of major weapons systems and the leader in global arms sales. More of these sales have taken place in the globe's most volatile region, the Middle East, than in any other region of the world. The so-called peace deals between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrein, which were brokered by the United States, were business deals designed to expand U.S. arms sales in the Persian Gulf.

RT (2020-09-23). Pentagon slammed for turning $1 billion 'coronavirus fund' into more military-industrial pork — but what did Congress expect? rt.com The Pentagon has defended its decision to repurpose Covid-19 preparedness funds — meant for pandemic response — to prop up weapons contractors as House Democrats slammed its double-dipping. | While the Department of Defense received $1 billion in March's CARES Act stimulus bill specifically to "prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus," it ultimately diverted most of the windfall to defense contractors, the Washington Post revealed on Tuesday. | The pandemic response fund, created under the aegis of the Defense Production Act, was supposed to be used to produce N95 masks, gloves, and other…

Mehr News Agency (2020-09-23). IRGC Drones Trace US Aircraft Carrier Fleet. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Sep. 23 (MNA) — IRGC Navy Commander Rear Admiral Ali Reza Tangsiri announced on Wednesday that the US Nimitz-Class aircraft carrier and its escorts were monitored by home-made drones at the entrance of the Persian Gulf.

WSWS (2020-09-22). Report documents criminality and corruption at heart of global banking system. wsws.org The report documents the role that major banks knowingly play in laundering trillions of dollars in dirty money from terrorist organizations, drug cartels and assorted international financial criminals.

_____ (2020-09-22). VIDEO: U.S. Weighs Into Mediterranean Tensions With Weapons and Hypocrisy. strategic-culture.org US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Russia of fueling tensions in the Mediterranean. So is Moscow behind the latest tension between Greece and Turkey? Watch the video and read more

yenisafak (2020-09-22). Russia says US sanctions on Iran will not affect Moscow-Tehran cooperation. yenisafak.com Russia said on Tuesday new U.S. sanctions against Iran would have no political or practical consequences for Moscow's cooperation with Tehran, the Interfax news agency reported, citing Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.The United States on Monday slapped new sanctions on Iran's defence ministry and others involved in its nuclear and weapons programme to support the U.S. assertion that all U.N. sanctions against Tehran are now restored, a stance which key European allies as well as Russia and China reject.Ryabkov also said that Russia had not given the United States any new deadlines in negotiations over the…

Thomas Newdick (2020-09-21). Did the US Draw up a Plan to Drop 80 Nuclear Weapons on North Korea? globalresearch.ca Current nuclear war plans are among any nuclear-armed military's most closely guarded secrets. Details of one such attack plan recently became available, however, revealing that the United States envisaged using 80 nuclear weapons in case of war with North Korea. …

Ralph Nader (2020-09-21). Why Do Americans Give Away So Much Control to Corporations? counterpunch.org We own our personal information. Yet, we give it totally free to the likes of Facebook, Google, Instagram, and YouTube, etc. so they can make trillions of dollars selling data on what we buy, what we like, what we think, and what we're addicted to in the marketplace. The advertisers then pester us 24/7 and even betray our trust. Imagine Alexa eavesdropping in our homes and businesses. High-tech companies should not be privy to our personal information.

Andrew Freeman (2020-09-20). Putting profit first killed Boeing MAX 737 passengers, says Congressional report. liberationnews.org Boeing management consistently placed the company's profitability and stock price ahead of all other concerns, including passenger safety.

RT (2020-09-20). US envoy says Russia must agree to arms control deal with no NATO scaleback, or else it's 'happy to modernize nukes without START'. rt.com The US has made Russia an offer it hopes she won't refuse: accept a new arms control deal including no limits on NATO weapons in Europe, or deal with a modernized American nuclear arsenal on its doorstep. | Following the US' unilateral withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty last year, the 2011 New START treaty remains the only arms control deal in force between Moscow and Washington. However, it's due to expire in February, and negotiations to replace it remain deadlocked. | Now the US says it wants to extend New START by less than five years, and only by a memorandum of intent, rat…

sputniknews (2020-09-20). Iran Could Have Nuclear Weapons by End of Year Through Cooperation With North Korea, Reports Claim. sputniknews.com On Saturday, the US Department of State announced it was bringing back all previously scrapped UN sanctions against Tehran, including the arms embargo and restrictions concerning the nuclear energy sector.