UN report on Syria slams U.S. and allied forces for war crimes

A Journal of People report

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic slammed war crimes committed against civilians in Syria by the U.S. and allied forces, in a new report that describes how nine years of war has left some parts of the nation “near complete destruction.”

The report singles out the U.S.-led coalition for repeated and indiscriminate targeting of non-combatants.

Civilians continue to “bear the brunt of hostilities” at the hands of all parties in the conflict, declares the report, published on Wednesday.

Cubans react with solidarity and determination, supporting government measures to mitigate impact of U.S. hostility

Granma | September 13, 2019

Photo: Estudios Revolución

Beginning his remarks yesterday evening, during another appearance on Cuban television, President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez thanked the Cuban people for their support of government measures, contributions, and solidarity amidst the country’s tense energy situation, which, he said, are much more important that a tanker of diesel.

There are difficulties, he acknowledged, which have been explained, but not alarm. The difficulties are short-term and are not the result of negligence or improvisation.

Aggressive U.S. escalation brings new sanctions on Cuba

Granma | September 13, 2019

Photo: Prensa Latina

In a new effort to tighten the commercial, economic and financial blockade, on September 6, the U.S. Treasury Department modified Assets Control Regulations regarding Cuba, to impose new sanctions on our country.

“Through these regulatory amendments, Treasury is denying Cuba access to hard currency, and we are curbing the Cuban government’s bad behavior while continuing to support the long-suffering people of Cuba,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin cynically stated.

Twitter suspends Granma’s account and those of other Cuban media

 Granma | September 12, 2019

Yesterday, just as Granma began special coverage of the Presidents television appearance, for our 16,000 followers, Twitter suspended Granma’s account and those of other Cuban media.

Trump Finally Fired John Bolton, but Does It Really Matter?

by Susan B. Glasser

The New Yorker | September 11, 2019

Infighting and ideology seem to have doomed John Bolton’s tenure as the national-security adviser in the Trump Administration. Photograph by Mark Peterson / Redux

President Trump started this week as he has so many in his tenure, distracting from one controversy by plunging headlong into another. A well-timed firing, in fact, has become a signature move for the President. Many of his nine hundred and sixty-three days in office have featured surprise oustings by tweet, angry public confrontations, and unexpected personnel developments. Even before this Tuesday, Trump had fired two national-security advisers, two White House chiefs of staff, one Attorney General, and one F.B.I. director, and had one Secretary of Defense quit in apparent protest. Trump has pushed out a Secretary of State, a Secretary of Homeland Security, a Secretary of Labor, a Secretary of Health and Human Services, a Secretary of the Interior, and a Secretary of Veterans Affairs. He is on his seventh communications director. His director of White House operations was forced out just last week, for gossiping about Trump’s children, and she was the third person to hold that job.

Real U.S. debt levels could be 2,000% of GDP, says a Wall Street report: A $400 Trillion Fault?

A Journal of People report

Total potential debt for the U.S. by one all-encompassing measure is running close to 2,000% of gross domestic product, according to an analysis.

The analysis suggests danger.

The new report suggests that the real U.S. debt level may be $400 trillion, or 20 times higher than the country’s GDP.

The calculation includes government, state, local, financial and so-called entitlement debt.

Behind Britain’s Brexit mess: A push to destroy workers’ rights

by John Wojcik

People’s World | September 11, 2019

Pro-Brexit and anti-Brexit protesters shout at each other opposite the Houses of Parliament in London, March 14, 2019. | Matt Dunham / AP

LISBON, Portugal—Britain’s version of Donald Trump, right-wing Prime Minister Boris Johnson, was handed a major defeat Monday when his second try at calling an election to solve the Brexit mess was rebuffed.

Labor and left forces in Britain say his call for a “snap election” is nothing more than an attempt to crush the opposition Labour Party, whose leader Jeremy Corbyn has been pushing for a deal to exit the European Union with measures that will support job creation and labor rights in Britain. Johnson wants a “no-deal” exit from the EU so his ruling Tory Party can be free to undermine further the standard of living of British workers.

Environmental activists in Houston protest the use of fossil fuels

A Journal of People report

Several environmental activists suspended themselves from the Fred Hartman Bridge in Houston Thursday morning to protest the use of fossil fuels and challenge Democratic presidential candidates preparing for the debate to hold the industry accountable.

Greenpeace USA, a non-governmental environmental organization, said in a tweet that 22 activists were demonstrating at the bridge to “confront” President Donald Trump and “the oil industry.”

The Amazon: More than 100,000 Fires This Year, Causing Spike in Air Pollution

A Journal of People report

This satellite image by European Space Agency shows levels of carbon monoxide pollution caused by the fires in the Amazon rainforest, between the second half of July 2019 and the first half of Aug. 2019.

The number of Brazil’s forest fires soars past 100,000, a 45 percent increase from this same time last year, according to Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research.

Statistics from the NISR – whose director was sacked last month after clashing with Bolsonaro – show deforestation has surged in recent months with a Manhattan-sized area lost every day in July.

Stop Jailing 10-Year-Olds: Australian Indigenous Boy Addresses UN Human Rights Body

teleSUR | September 12, 2019

Dujuan Hoosan told the U.N. Human Rights Council that he wants ‘adults to stop putting 10-year-olds in jail’. | Photo: Maya Newell /SBS

Of the nearly 600 children incarcerated in Australia each year, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids are over-represented.

A 12-year-old Indigenous boy from Australia’s Northern Territory addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva Wednesday during the 42nd session, appealing to its members to help bring an end to the jailing of children in Australia.