Daily Archives: June 18, 2020

2020-06-18: News Headlines

_____ (2020-06-18). Here's What 'Nonlethal' Weapons Can Do To The Body. popularresistance.org Civil unrest in the wake of George Floyd's death has spread around the world, and in some places, protesters are being met with tear gas, rubber bullets, stun guns, and other tactics intended to control crowds without taking lives. | Known as nonlethal or less-lethal weapons, many of these tactics were originally pitched as a way to make warfare more humane by incapacitating a person or encouraging them to flee. Law enforcement agencies later adopted these weapons from the military as an alternative to using firearms. | Yet people who study nonlethal weapons wonder if reclassification is in order, as research con…

Zero Hedge (2020-06-18). USAF Paints Fighter Jet Russian Color Scheme to Prepare for Dogfights. globalresearch.ca A General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon at Hill Air Force Base, located in northern Utah, recently had an exterior makeover paint scheme that mimics the Russian Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter, reported The 576th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron painted …

Conn Hallinan (2020-06-18). Trump threatens to re-start nuclear weapons tests, undoing 50 years of agreements. peoplesworld.org If the Trump administration follows through on its threat to restart nuclear tests, it will complete the unraveling of more than 50 years of arms control agreements, taking the world back to the days when school children practiced "duck and cover" and people built backyard bomb shelters. It will certainly be the death knell for the Comprehensive …

Lucas Leiroz de Almeida (2020-06-18). Why Japan Cancelled Installation of American Missiles in Its Territory. US Military Presence Threatens Japan's Security. globalresearch.ca Since 1945, when the United States bombed the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with nuclear weapons, Japan has entered an era of total submission to Washington, demilitarizing and abdicating its own real sovereignty. Tokyo came under the umbrella of American …

South Front (2020-06-17). Video: Russian Surface-to-Air Missile Systems in Syria Shoot Down Militants' Drones. globalresearch.ca Tor short-range surface-to-air missile systems have downed more than 45 unmanned aerial vehicles launched by Syrian militants, according to the chief of the Russian Air Defense Forces Lieutenant General Alexander Leonov. | "Since the start of combat duty, the calculations …

Lawrence Wittner (2020-06-17). Let Them Eat Weapons: Trump's Bizarre Arms Race. dissidentvoice.org In late May of this year, President Donald Trump's special envoy for arms control bragged before a Washington think tank that the U.S. government was prepared to outspend Russia and China to win a new nuclear arms race. "The president has made clear that we have a tried and true practice here," he remarked. "We know how to win …

RT (2020-06-16). No defunding: Trump's police executive order to ban chokeholds, urge safer policing. rt.com US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order urging police departments across the country to "adopt the highest professional standards," including increased use-of-force training and a partial ban on chokeholds. | Trump announced the order at the White House on Tuesday, after meeting with several Black Lives Matter families. It would ban chokeholds — except for when the police officer's life is at risk — and prioritize federal funding to departments that meet high standards on use of force and de-escalation training. | Police would also be encouraged to use new nonlethal weapons, and sh…

Mike Stone (2020-06-16). Trump to Undermine Treaty That Keeps Russia From Selling Missiles to Iran to Sell Drones to Saudi Arabia. anti-empire.com Editor's note: Trump wants to keep the missile part which is so crucial for the US to limit proliferation of missiles, but not the drone part where at the moment the US has a technology lead and there's a little money to be made for a sector that is already highly privileged in the American system. Russia has upheld the agreement, for example the range of the BrahMos anti-ship missile that Moscow developed for India was limited to 300 kilometers. |
| The Trump administration plans to reinterpret a Cold War-era arms agreement between 34 nations with the goal of allowing U.S. defense contractors to sell more A…

Thomas Gaulkin (2020-06-16). Curious Coincidence: The Birth of Donald Trump and the Struggle to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. globalresearch.ca The 45th president of the United States made his first international appearance on June 14, 1946. According to Donald Trump's Five minutes …

Staff (2020-06-16). Barbara Lee Unveils Plan to Cut Up to $350 Billion From Pentagon. truthout.org Demanding that Congress "prioritize our safety and our future, not more war," Rep. Barbara Lee on Monday "Redundant nuclear weapons, off-books…

yenisafak (2020-06-15). Israel owns 90 nuclear warheads: Report. yenisafak.com Israel is believed to possess between 80 and 90 nuclear warheads, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said on Monday. | In a report, SIPRI said Israel continues to pursue a policy of ambiguity regarding its nuclear program. | It said that the number of nuclear warheads in Israel rose to 90, up from 80 warheads in 2019. | "The nine nuclear-armed states—the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea)—together possessed an estimated 13,400 nuclear weapons at the start of 2020," the S…

Alan Macleod (2020-06-15). Trump Rips up Decades-Old WMD Treaty in Order to Sell Drones to Saudi Arabia. mintpressnews.com The Missile Technology Control Regime is the latest in a list of longstanding international agreements that the Trump administration has withdrawn from, often to the benefit of Saudi Arabia and US arms dealers.