2020-10-27: News Headlines

Staff (2020-10-27). Alicia Garza on Being Targeted in Armed White Supremacist Plot as Trump Stokes Fires of Racism. democracynow.org This election season, Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza says President Trump is "stoking fires he has no intention of controlling" and inciting far-right extremists. She was recently approached by the FBI after agents found her name on a list in the home of a white supremacist in Idaho who was arrested on weapons charges. "Racial terror has always been used as a form of control, particularly during periods of people fighting for social change," she says.

Ray Acheson (2020-10-27). Nuclear Weapons Have Always Been Immoral. Now They're Illegal. thenation.com Nuclear Weapons Have Always Been Immoral. Now They're Illegal.

_____ (2020-10-27). Britain's Nuclear Weapons: Money for Nothing. strategic-culture.org On 19 October the BBC It must be made clear that there was no possibility this officer or any other single person could in some way commit the submarine to despa…

Joanna Frew (2020-10-27). New Report: Crowded Sky, Contested Sea: Drones over the South and East China Seas. globalresearch.ca Amid naval patrols, live military drills, island building, trade wars and diplomatic breakdown, drones are making an increasing impact on the security situation in the South China Sea and the relationship between China and the US. Smaller nations in the …

Marilyn Bechtel (2020-10-27). Treaty banning all nuclear weapons will become international law. peoplesworld.org A historic moment in the decades-long struggle for total nuclear disarmament was reached Oct. 24, United Nations Day, as Honduras became the 50th country to ratify the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which was adopted by 122 members, or nearly two-thirds of the UN General Assembly's then-192 members, in July …

Scientists for Global Responsibility (2020-10-27). Scientists Welcome Key Milestone for Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty. globalresearch.ca Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR) welcomes the 50th ratification of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons — reached late yesterday — which means the treaty will now enter in force on 22 January 2021. | The treaty bans …

Staff (2020-10-27). Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Was Targeted in Armed White Supremacist Plot. truthout.org This election season, Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza says President Trump is "stoking fires he has no intention of controlling" and inciting far-right extremists. She was recently approached by the FBI after agents found her name on a list in the home of a white supremacist in Idaho who was arrested on weapons charges. "Racial terror has always been used as a form of control, particularly during periods of people fighting for social change," she says. | TRANSCRIPT: | This is a…

Staff (2020-10-27). Nuclear Weapons Will Soon Be Banned Under International Law. truthout.org Nuclear weapons will soon be illegal under international law. Seventy-five years to the day after the founding of the United Nations, the UN The milestone was achieved after years of global efforts spearheaded by the

Dennis Riches (2020-10-27). Unenforceable Nuclear Ban Treaty to Become International Law. globalresearch.ca On October 24, 2020, the United Nations announced that 50 countries had ratified the treaty to ban nuclear weapons. Passing this threshold means that the treaty will become international law within ninety days. The next day, the people who worked …

Ed Lehman (2020-10-26). Pan-Canadian Day of Action Opposes Plan to Buy Fighter Jets, Drones. globalresearch.ca On October 2 Canadian peace activists held their second pan-Canadian Day of Action against the purchase of 88 new fighter jets. At some locations activists also underscored their objections to the purchase of 12 armed drones at a projected cost …

John Laforge (2020-10-26). White House Gangster Wants to Avoid Nuclear-Armed Stigma. counterpunch.org The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is about to win its 50th state ratification, the golden number needed for the treaty to enter into force. The list of 47 current signatories can be seen at ICANw.org, website of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize-winning coalition that helped

Kevin Martin (2020-10-26). Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty Enters Into Force. peaceaction.org Peace Action Statement on the Entry Into Force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Kevin Martin, President of Peace Action and Peace Action Education Fund, issued the following statement: "A distinct honor in my work is representing Peace Action at peace and disarmament conferences at the United Nations. I was there in …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-10-26). Slovenian left party Levica protests government's refusal to hold referendum on military purchases. peoplesdispatch.org The Slovenian government refused a demand by Levica to hold a referendum on a proposal to procure weapons worth USD 925.28 million. Levica plans to challenge the decision in the constitutional court…

yenisafak (2020-10-26). 'Armenia breaks cease-fire just minutes after start'. yenisafak.com Azerbaijan agreed on a fresh humanitarian cease-fire to exchange prisoners and bodies, but Armenia broke the truce only minutes after it was supposed to take effect, the Azerbaijani leader said Monday.President Ilham Aliyev stressed that those who want an Armenia-Azerbaijan humanitarian cease-fire are sending weapons to Armenia."I have the list. Why would anyone who wants a cease-fire would send weapons?" he asked.Referring to those supporting Armenia, Aliyev said: "If you want to save the Armenian state, tell them to leave our lands. They will go out with a word of yours."Azerbaijan on Monday said the Armenian f…

Robert Dodge (2020-10-26). Nuclear Weapons Banned—Illegal at Last. commondreams.org The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons delivers a clear message from nations across the globe that nuclear weapons threaten the survival of all of humanity and must be eliminated before they eliminate us. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/nuclear_3.jpg

Brian Cloughley (2020-10-26). Trump's Nuclear Weapons are Standing Up And Standing By. counterpunch.org The President of the United States has the power to fire off thousands of nuclear weapons and destroy the world. As succinctly explained by William Perry and Tom Collina in the New York Times, "Mr. Trump has the absolute authority to start a nuclear war. Within minutes, the president could unleash the equivalent of more than 10,000 Hiroshima bombs. He does not need a second opinion. The defense secretary has no say. Congress has no role."

_____ (2020-10-26). Chomsky: OPCW Cover-Up of Syria Probe Is 'Shocking'. strategic-culture.org Noam Chomsky says that the OPCW's cover-up, under US pressure, of a Syria chemical weapons probe raises "very severe suspicions." | Aaron MATÉ | In his first public comments on the OPCW's Syria cover-up scandal, Noam Chomsky criticizes the chemical watchdog for suppressing, under US pressure, evidence that undermined the pretext for the US-led bombing of Syria in April 2018. The censorship recently extended to the UN Security Council, where the US, UK, and France blocked former OPCW Director General José Bustani from testifying in support of the inspectors whose findings were kept from the public. | "What happene…

RT (2020-10-26). Turkish F-16s in Azerbaijan are not currently involved in fighting but will be used if there is 'foreign aggression,' says Baku. rt.com Azerbaijan will use Turkish F-16 fighter jets to defend itself from "foreign aggression," President Ilham Aliyev said on Monday, insisting that the planes were in the country prior to the recent fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh. | F-16s are supersonic fighter aircraft built in the US by Lockheed Martin. In recent years, the jets have been used extensively, by Ankara, in battles with Kurdish insurgents, as well as in the Syrian Civil War. Famously, in 2015, a Turkish F-16 shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 near the Syrian-Turkish border. | According to Aliyev, the planes are currently sitting idle in Azerbaijan and…

Stephen Lendman (2020-10-26). Azeris Using Banned Cluster Munitions in Nagorno-Karabakh. globalresearch.ca According to reports on the ground, Azeris are using Israeli-supplied cluster munitions in Nagorno-Karabakh. | More on this below. | *** | The 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) bans production use, transfer, and stockpiling of these terror weapons that scatter submunition bomblets …

RT (2020-10-26). Washington approves sale of 400 ANTI-SHIP missiles worth $2.37bn to Taiwan after Beijing vows sanctions for US arms dealers. rt.com The US State Department has given the nod for the sale of 100 Harpoon anti-ship missile systems to Taiwan, the latest in a series of massive weapons transfers to the island as Beijing warns it will retaliate with sanctions. | The $2.37 billion deal,

Carla Stea (2020-10-25). US-China Confrontation: The Hijacking of the United Nations Security Council Continues. globalresearch.ca Former OPCW Director-General Bustani Banned From Speaking At UN Security Council | October 5: Western Delegations Oppose Presentation of Evidence that OPCW Report Of Chemical Weapons Attack on Douma, Syria May Have Been Falsified. | October 21: In New York Post Article, …

yenisafak (2020-10-25). Saudi-led coalition intercepts Houthi drone from Yemen. yenisafak.com The Saudi-led coalition on Sunday intercepted an explosive-laden drone fired by Houthi rebels from Yemen toward Saudi Arabia.Coalition spokesman Col. Turki al-Maliki said the rebel drone was fired towards civilian areas in southern Saudi Arabia, according to the official Saudi news agency SPA.There was no comment from the Houthi group on the report.On Saturday, the Houthi group said it had fired three drones towards the Jizan and Abha airports and the Khamis Mushait base.The Houthi group regularly announces rocket and drone attacks on Saudi territories, saying they are a reaction to the Saudi-led coalition's atta…

Jake Johnson, staff writer (2020-10-25). 'Victory for Humanity': Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapons to Take Effect as Honduras Becomes 50th Nation to Ratify. commondreams.org The United States has not ratified the treaty and the Trump administration is actively urging nations to withdraw from it. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/ican_nuclear_weapons.jpg

Newsclick (2020-10-25). Will the US be allowed to colonize space? peoplesdispatch.org The USA has floated the Artemis Accords to explore the Moon for commercial purposes. Newsclick's Prabir Purkayastha sheds light on the USA's weapons proliferation to control ground, sea, air and space…

news.un (2020-10-25). UN treaty banning nuclear weapons set to enter into force in January. news.un.org In what leading campaigners are describing as "a new chapter for nuclear disarmament", the ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will now come into force on 22 January, after Honduras became the 50th Member State to ratify on Saturday.

_____ (2020-10-24). UN Nuclear Ban Treaty One Ratification Shy Of Taking Effect. popularresistance.org Jamaica and Nauru are the latest countries to complete the ratification procedures, the United Nations said. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, adopted in 2017, will enter into force 90 days after it has been ratified by at least 50 countries and regions. | Although the pact will not be able to legally require nuclear power states to get rid of their arsenals, the launch of the world's first treaty banning nuclear weapons is likely to gain global momentum toward reducing stockpiles. | According to an official with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), another country is expe…

_____ (2020-10-23). Guess Who Arms Both Azerbaijan And Armenia. popularresistance.org This war between Azerbaijan and Armenia is, quite typically, a U.S. war even if the U.S. public doesn't think so, even if the news is that the United States is trying to negotiate peace — news that includes zero mention of cutting off the weapons flow or even threatening to cut off the weapons flow. The Washington Post would like to send in the U.S. military — which it thinks is a simple and obvious solution. That claim is dependent on nobody even thinking of the idea of cutting off the weapons. This is not a Trump war or an Obama war.

RT (2020-10-23). Israel will not oppose US-UAE deal on 'specific weapons systems,' says Netanyahu, despite previous worry over F-35 jets. rt.com The Israeli government says it will not oppose the US selling "specific weapons systems" to the United Arab Emirates, in an apparent reference to F-35 fighter jets, despite Tel Aviv opposing such a deal less than a fortnight ago. | Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Benny Gantz This is despite Israeli Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen saying less than two weeks ago that the country would oppose the sale of the fifth-generat…

Ramzy Baroud (2020-10-23). European Hypocrisy: Empty Words for Palestine, Deadly Weapons for Israel. counterpunch.org In theory, Europe and the United States stand on completely opposite sides when it comes to the Israeli occupation of Palestine. While the US government has fully embraced the tragic status quo created by 53 years of Israeli military occupation, the EU continues to advocate a negotiated settlement that is predicated on respect for international