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Saudi Blogger Imprisoned for Supporting Free Speech
by Stephen Lendman
Saudi Arabia is one of the world's most repressive police states. Its barbarism is widely acknowledged. Fundamental rights guaranteed under international law are ruthlessly denied.
VV is a Saudi blogger. He was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, 1,000 lashes (50 at a time), and a one million riyals fine (around $250,000) for championing free speech on his site.
It was titled Saudi Free Liberals Forum until shut down after his 2012 arrest. Riyadh's kangaroo/rubber-stamp High Court upheld his sentence for insulting Wahhabi-style Islam - a fanatical Sunni sect. Initially he was charged with apostasy - a capital offense in the Kingdom. In 2013, the accusation was dropped.
In January, he got his first 50 lashes after Friday prayers outside Jeddah's Al-Juffali mosque.
Khader Adnan: Hunger Striking for Justice
by Stephen Lendman
Adnan is one of thousands of Palestinian political prisoners languishing in Israel's gulag.
He's held along with hundreds of others uncharged in administrative detention - a lawless practice Israel uses to imprison Palestinians for their activism, not any crimes they committed.
He was detained earlier uncharged after his lawless December 2011 arrest. He became a global cause celebre after refusing food for 66 days.
On April 17, 2012, Palestinian Prisoners Day, he was released - but not freed from Israeli persecution.
In August 2014, he was rearrested uncharged - again lawlessly administratively detained. In January, his detention was extended for another six months.
Following his initial arrest, he had three Israeli Military Court hearings. The first reviewed his arrest. The next two concerned so-called (nonexistent) secret evidence from two supposed witnesses - both unnamed.
G-7 Summit: Russia Bashing Featured
by Stephen Lendman
G-7 British, Canadian, French, German, Italian, Japanese and US leaders meeting Sunday and Monday in Germany intend assuring dirty business as usual continues.
Expect Russia bashing to be featured - including extending lawless sanctions and irresponsibly blaming Putin for US orchestrated/Kiev aggression in Donbass.
Russia is the continent's leading peacemaker - fundamentally against war, other forms of violence and instability. At the same time, prioritizing mutual cooperation with all nations - especially on issues mattering most.
G-7 countries are belligerents, irresponsibly bashing Russia for their own self-interest. Even Japan upgraded its military alliance with Washington - partnering against China.
Propaganda Accompanies Kiev's Buildup for Escalated Aggression
by Stephen Lendman
Poroshenko vowed earlier to regain Donbass and Crimea by "any means" necessary.
Kiev launched naked aggression on Donbass last April. It breached three ceasefire agreements straightaway - the latest Minsk II in February.
Fighting never stopped. Junta forces attack Donbass multiple times daily - 43 shellings in the last 24 hours, according to Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Defense Ministry spokesman Eduard Basurin.
"The enemy used heavy armaments once again," he said. Areas targeted include Oktyabrskiy near Donetsk's airport, Gorlovka, Yasinovataya, Dokuchayevsk, Spartak, Zhabichevo, Grigorovka and Zaitsrvo.
Not according to Kiev's propaganda machine. On the one hand, it calls naked aggression an ATO (anti-terrorist operation).
Secret Trade in Services Agreement (TISA)
by Stephen Lendman
Most people never heard of it. They're not told how they're systematically deceived, lied to and swindled. There's nothing fair about US free trade agreements.
In June 2014, WikiLeaks released a secret TISA Financial Services Annex text covering 50 countries and over two-thirds of world trade in services.
It aims for deregulating global financial services markets more than already. It allows unrestricted exchange of personal and financial data.
At the time, Global Trade Watch director Lori Wallach said:
"If the text that was leaked today went into force, it would roll back the improvements made after the global financial crisis to safeguard consumers and financial stability and cement us into the extreme deregulatory model of the 1990s that led to the crisis in the first place and the billions in losses to consumers and governments."
"This is a text that big banks and financial speculators may love but that could do real damage to the rest of us."
Is Washington Planning Barbarossa II?
by Stephen Lendman
On June 22, 1941, Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa against Soviet Russia - perhaps the largest ever invasion force by one country against another involving up to four million combat and support troops.
His lunatic desire to conquer his ideological rival, acquire lebensraum, its resources and enslave its people failed. So did Napoleon 130 years earlier.
Does Washington plan repeating their mistakes? Don't put anything past lunatics running things - bipartisan hawks waging endless wars on humanity. Anti-Russian hostility and saber rattling should scare everyone. Reckless US-dominated NATO military exercises on Russia's doorstep are hugely provocative.
Poroshenko Hypes Nonexistent Russian Invasion Threat
by Stephen Lendman
Fear-mongering is longstanding rogue state policy to scare people to believe nonexistent threats are real.
It's willful deception to get them go along with policies they're likely reject otherwise.
Ukrainian forces attack Donbass militia fighters and civilians daily. Violence surged lately.
Victims are blamed for Kiev high crimes. Addressing parliament on Thursday, Poroshenko ludicrously said Ukraine's military must defend against a possible "full-scale (Russian) invasion."
He lied claiming 9,000 Russian troop already operate in Ukraine. A "colossal threat" of resumed full-scale war looms, he blustered - only if junta forces initiate it, he didn't explain.
Instead he said "(t)he military must be ready as much for a renewal of an offensive by the enemy in the Donbass as they are for a full-scale invasion along the whole length of the border with Russia. We must be truly ready for this."
Israel Bombs Gaza
by Stephen Lendman
Israel's war on Gaza continues. Any excuse is used to attack 1.8 million Palestinians lawlessly besieged in the world's largest open-air prison.
When none exist, they're invented - or attacks occur after multiple IDF provocations bring a justifiable response.
Vicious persecution of Gazans has been ongoing since Palestinians elected Hamas overwhelmingly as their legitimate government in January 2006. In mid-2007, Israel imposed lawless siege - entirely for political reasons, not security. It remains in force despite pledges to ease it.
Overnight Saturday, a Gaza-based Salafist group claimed responsibility for firing a rocket at Ashkelon in southern Israel.
US Joint Chiefs Chairman General Martin Dempsey Irresponsibly Bashes Putin
by Stephen Lendman
is one of many Western government and military officials unjustifiably criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin. He's a leader deserving praise for championing peace and opposing imperial wars.
The Wall Street Journal recently interviewed Dempsey about so-called "strategic challenge(s)" posed by Russia. On June 6, it published excerpts from his remarks.
He affirms the same anti-Russian sentiment most others in Washington assert, knowing full well Putin’s only geopolitical difference from Western leaders is his forthright opposition to endless wars for imperial dominance.
When Dempsey advises US or foreign officials, he "talk(s) in terms of…what could threaten our interests," he said.
He called threats a "combination of capability and intent" - the "doctrinal definition," he explained.
He lied claiming Putin "demonstrated some behaviors outside the international order that clearly indicate (he's) willing to push beyond what most of the nations with whom we deal consider to be international norms."
He ignored Washington's longstanding imperial agenda - waging endless wars against one nation after another threatening no one, for sure not America.
Second Anniversary of Edward Snowden's NSA Spying Revelations
by Stephen Lendman
A June 6, 2013 London Guardian article first revealed lawless NSA spying. It was just the beginning of much more to come.
Information supplied by Edward Snowden showed the NSA spies secretly and unconstitutionally on its citizens and residents - besides overstepping its authority abroad.
He connected important dots for millions. He explained spying in America is pervasive. Constitutional rights no longer matter.
Anything goes remains official policy. The NSA, FBI, CIA, DEA and Homeland Security systematically operate by their own rules.
Snowden said "I really want the focus to be on (the documents he revealed) which I hope will trigger among citizens around the globe what kind of world we want to live in."
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