2020-02-23: News Headlines

sputniknews (2020-02-23). Iran's Supreme Leader Accuses Western Media of Trying to Influence Friday Election. sputniknews.com TEHRAN (Sputnik) – Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday accused Western media of trying to discourage the country's population from casting their votes in the recent legislative election by using the coronavirus outbreak as a pretext.

teleSUR (2020-02-22). Protests Continue in Dominican Republic. telesurenglish.net Citizens of the Dominican Republic, participated Saturday in a national 'cacerolazo' to demand transparent elections after the municipal elections on Feb., 16 were suspended due to problems in electronic voting, four hours after the elections began. | RELATED: | From their homes, people took out their pots so that the municipal elections could be carried out with all the guarantees and called for th…

Staff (2020-02-22). State Supreme Courts See Progress on Diversity but Still Fall Short. truthout.org Tamika Montgomery-Reeves made history last fall when she was confirmed as the first Black justice on the Delaware Supreme Court. It was a small step toward improving diversity on state supreme courts nationwide, but it also highlights a glaring problem. | Her appointment is unusual, yet it shouldn't be — especially in a state where 23 percent of the population is Black. A lack of diversity among judges undermines public faith in the justice system, and it limits the perspectives available to inf…

teleSUR (2020-02-22). Brazil: Carnival Opens Mocking Bolsonaro, 'The Clown President'. telesurenglish.net "Carnival has always been a political act. In the First Republic, the black population used Carnival to assert their autonomy. Today is a great space for political and social criticism. At Carnival, humor and sarcasm work as a weapon of political transgression," Eric Brasil, author of the book "The Court at the Party: Black Experiences in Rio de Janeiro Carnivals," told The Intercept Brazil. | And the politicization of the popular party is precisely what has been evident since the beginning of 2020 Carnival in dozens of cities in Brazil, a country where President Jair Bolsonaro seems to be the main promoter of ha…

teleSUR (2020-02-22). Venezuela's Yulimar Rojas Set Triple Jump World Record: 15.43 m. telesurenglish.net Venezuela's 24-year-old athlete Yulimar Rojas Friday set a new triple jump indoor world record in Madrid, Spain, with a 15.43-meter mark. | RELATED: | This result was expected as she is not a rookie in athletics. She has already been twice the triple jump world champion and is the current Olympic runner-up in this specialty. | In Madrid, Rojas executed the best jump in the history of indoor athletics, reaching 15 meters…

teleSUR (2020-02-22). Washington Still Pondering a Naval Blockade Against Venezuela. telesurenglish.net The digital media Zero Hedge (ZH) Saturday published information holding that that the United States keeps on considering military actions as an option to overthrow RELATED: | More specifically, despite all the previous failed attempts to destabilize…

Alan Macleod (2020-02-21). As Media Amplifies Unrest in Venezuela and Beyond, Millions Are Quietly Revolting in Colombia. mintpressnews.com Despite protests of historic proportions fueled by anger over corruption and a brutal right-wing crackdown, the unrest in Colombia has garnered remarkably little international media attention compared to Venezuela.

Lucas Koerner (2020-02-21). EXCHANGE: Left Media and Venezuela. mronline.org The sociologist never levels the "authoritarian" charge against his own government, despite the United States' murderous lawlessness at home and abroad—mass deportations, illegal wars, serial police killings, etc.—all in the absence of any credible external threat. |

Ron Jacobs (2020-02-21). The Young Lords: Luchadores Para La Gente. counterpunch.org The Young Lords were a somewhat unique political formation. Their primarily Puerto Rican membership focused their organizing on the neighborhoods they lived in. Despite the Marxist foundations of their political philosophy, they were able to gain popular support for their programs among the traditional Catholic Puerto Rican population. As Johanna Fernandez patiently explains in her

The Canary (2020-02-21). Windrush draft 'branding Home Office institutionally racist was watered down'. thecanary.co A warning not to water down a review into the Windrush scandal has been issued after it was reported that a portion branding the Home Office "institutionally racist" was stripped out. | The delayed independent review was commissioned after people with a right to live in the UK were wrongfully detained or deported to the Caribbean. | The Times reported sources saying the phrase "institutionally racist" was included in an earlier draft of the Windrush review led by Inspector of Constabulary Wendy Williams, but had subsequently been removed. | Labour MP David Lammy, a vocal campaigner over the scandal caused by the…

teleSUR (2020-02-21). Uruguay: Lacalle's Investiture Ceremony Alined With US Biases. telesurenglish.net Uruguay's President-elect Luis Lacalle decided not to invite the diplomatic representatives of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua to his investiture ceremony on March 1rst. | RELATED: | "We have taken the decision not to invite the governments of Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua to my inaugural ceremony. It's my decision," Lacalle said. | He alleged that those countries violate the Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS), which…

teleSUR (2020-02-21). Venezuelan Parliament Reinstates Committee to Choose New CNE. telesurenglish.net The deputies of the Bloque de la Patria and of the Venezuelan opposition in the National Assembly announced that the period of nominations for the Preliminary Commission that will choose the members of the new National Electoral Council (CNE) will soon be over. | RELATED: | The preliminary committee was installed last December, but the elections of the new directive of the National Assembly on January 5th and the refu…

Alan Macleod (2020-02-21). Venezuelan Embassy in Washington Reopens Under Watch of Anti-Maduro Thugs. mintpressnews.com The new embassy is a microcosm of Juan Guaidó's attempted premiership; backed by the U.S. but existing only in theory, with the Maduro government still holding office.

Ed Rampell (2020-02-20). Pan African Film & Arts Festival returns to L.A. peoplesworld.org LOS ANGELES—One of the top ways to celebrate Black History Month—and the moviegoing experience in general—is to attend the Los Angeles-based 28th Annual Pan African Film & Arts Festival. PAFF focuses on Black-themed films, ranging from studio pictures to indie productions, with works from Hollywood, the USA, Mother Africa, the Caribbean, Melanesia (the Black South …

news.un (2020-02-20). Haitian leaders urged to end political impasse. news.un.org Leaders in Haiti must step up and end the political impasse between President Jovenel MoàØse and a surging opposition movement that has paralyzed the island nation since July 2018, the top UN official there said on Thursday in a briefing to the UN Security Council in New York.

Susan Price (2020-02-20). Venezuela files ICC lawsuit over US sanctions. greenleft.org.au

Staff (2020-02-19). Latinx Group Mijente Backs Bernie Sanders in First-Ever Presidential Endorsement. democracynow.org In its first-ever presidential endorsement, the Latinx and Chicanx organization Mijente endorsed Bernie Sanders on Tuesday ahead of the Nevada caucuses. The group tweeted its decision, saying, "We know that in 2020, Trump's potential re-election is a life-or-death threat for us, for our people, and for our planet. This moment demands a historic mobilization. That's why Mijente is uniting with the movement to elect @BernieSanders." A video accompanied the announcement. After the contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, where the electorate is overwhelmingly white, Nevada is the first election with a diverse population.

Leonardo Flores (2020-02-15). Mistrial in Trump admin's biased case against Venezuelan embassy protectors is win for sovereignty. thegrayzone.com The Trump administration's case against Venezuelan embassy protectors was severely biased, but ended up with a hung jury. The mistrial…

Venezuela Analysis (2020-02-06). Embassy Protection Collective: "We Are Not the Ones Who Violated the Law" theantimedia.com In this exclusive interview, VA talks to the activists who defended the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington DC ahead of their trial.

Joe Emersberger (2019-12-20). Notes on a private TV newscast in Bolivia. The contrast with Venezuela is clear as day. zcomm.org In August, I took detailed notes a news broadcast on one of Venezuela's largest TV networks. I summarized these notes in an interview I did with the Real News Network making the point that Venezuela's private media (which reaches 60-90% of households) is remarkably free — most especially when you consider the US is openly

Joe Emersberger (2019-12-16). Francisco Rodriguez answers some questions I asked about Venezuela. zcomm.org Venezuelan economist Francisco Rodriguez, formerly of Torino Economics, answered a few questions of mine about his country. He was the economic adviser to Henri Falcon, the second place finisher in the May 2018 presidential election. His updated estimate for 2019 is that Venezuela's real GDP will contract by 25% . That's horrific, but less severe