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Trump administration will place 'new bar' on asylum for immigrants crossing southern border


RT
Mon, 15 Jul 2019 14:17 UTC
Border wall
© REUTERS/Mike Blake
The Trump administration announced new restrictions on asylum applications from immigrants traveling to the US through Mexico, the latest move in an immigration crackdown.

According to a new rule added to the Federal Register, asylum seekers who pass through another "safe" country en route to the United States will be ineligible for asylum at the US border. The rule is expected to come into effect on Thursday.

Though there are some exceptions, the rule looks likely to end the procession of Central American migrants journeying through Mexico to the US to claim asylum. 2018 saw several thousands-strong 'caravans' of Central American migrants stream towards the US' southern border, with US authorities processing nearly 100,000 asylum claims at the frontier, and arresting a total of 521,000 illegal immigrants.

Comment: See also: ICE releases report of illegal immigrants who allegedly committed crimes after local cops ignored detention requests

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Mr. Potato

O'Rourke says he and his wife are descended from slave owners

CHRIS MILLS RODRIGO
The Hill
Sun, 14 Jul 2019 21:00 UTC
BetoO'Rourke
© Washington Post
Beto O'Rourke
White House hopeful Beto O'Rourke (D) on Sunday revealed that he and his wife, Amy, are descended from slave owners.

The former House lawmaker from Texas wrote in a Medium post that he was recently given documents showing that his paternal great-great-great grandfather listed two women, Rose and Eliza, as his possessions.

"That those enslaved Americans owned by my ancestors were denied their freedom, denied the ability to amass wealth, denied full civil rights in America after slavery also had long term repercussions for them and their descendants," O'Rourke wrote.

"I benefit from a system that my ancestors built to favor themselves at the expense of others," he added in the post, a defense of reparations.

"We all need to know our own story as it relates to the national story, much as I am learning mine. It is only then, I believe, that we can take the necessary steps to repair the damage done and stop visiting this injustice on the generations that follow ours."

O'Rourke said the benefits he has gotten from slavery and the "ensuing forms of institutionalized racism" give him a responsibility to change the country.
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Arrow Up

Erdogan: S-400 deal with Russia among 'most important agreements' in modern Turkish history


Sputnik
Sun, 14 Jul 2019 19:44 UTC
s-400
© Screenshot / Russian Defence Ministry
The first batch of S-400 missile system components arrived in Turkey on Friday, with at least five plane-loads of equipment making its way into the country by Sunday morning, and two more expected later in the day.

The S-400 deal with Russia is one of the most significant contracts in modern Turkish history, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced.

"The most important agreement in our history right now is the S-400 agreement," Erdogan said, speaking to reporters at the presidential palace in Istanbul on Sunday, Turkish outlet Haberler has reported.

Comment: With it's invaluable ability to deter infamous aggressors, like the US and Israel, many other nations would agree: Why 13 countries prefer purchase of S-400 despite threat of US sanctions

See also: 'No delays': Putin, Erdogan reaffirm S-400 deal, talk trade & bilateral ties at G20 sidelines - UPDATE: No US sanctions, Turkey can buy F-35s

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Eye 1

Epstein arrest casts spotlight on Clinton-connected socialite Ghislaine Maxwell

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Mon, 15 Jul 2019 09:44 UTC
Ghislaine Maxwell Jeffrey Epstein
© PatrickMcMullan.com / Gregory P. Mango
Following the arrest of pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein last Saturday, many outlets have turned their attention to his longtime confiante, socialite heiress Ghislaine Maxwell - who has been accused by three women of procuring and training young girls to perform massage and sexual acts on the 66-year-old registered sex offender and his associates.

Maxwell, 57, comes from money. Her father was publisher Robert Maxwell - who himself faced accusations of being a Mossad double (and possibly triple) agent and a "bad character" who was "almost certainly financed by Russia," according to the British Foreign Office. Robert Maxwell died in 1991 when he fell from his yacht, the Lady Ghislaine - however the circumstances surrounding his demise have been rife with speculation (including that it was a Mossad assassination - a theory which attorney and longtime Epstein associate Alan Dershowitz slammed in a 2003 op-ed).

It is unknown exactly how Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell met - however they reportedly dated around 1992, shortly after her father's death. After breaking up, they remained good friends. In 1995, Epstein renamed a now-defunct Palm Beach company "Ghislaine Corp," which was dissolved in 1998 per the Wall Street Journal. In 2003, Epstein described Maxwell as his "best friend," who was not on his payroll - yet "seems to organize much of his life."
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Flashlight

Pentagon rushing to secure supply of rare earths after Chinese threats to cut exports


RT
Sun, 14 Jul 2019 10:45 UTC
Bayan Obo
© Reuters
FILE PHOTO: The Bayan Obo mine containing rare earth minerals, China
The Pentagon has been looking into US miners' capabilities to produce rare earth metals, according to Reuters. It comes after Beijing signaled it may restrict exports of the vital materials amid the trade war with Washington.

The US military has asked miners to come up with plans to develop domestic rare earths mines and processing facilities, an exclusive report, which cites a government document, said. At the same time the Pentagon asked the miners to detail their demand for rare earths.

The Pentagon wants a quick response from the manufacturers and gave them just a few weeks, until the end of July. After a review of the responses, the agency reportedly may then offer financial assistance to support the vital industry.

Comment: As noted in Are Rare Earth Metals China's Ultimate Weapon?
The problem is that it takes years to rebuild sophisticated mining and rare earth processing facilities, let alone to recruit the engineers and others essential to it.
Evidently US imperialism's foresight is blinded by wishful thinking.

See also:

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Quenelle

Bastille day parade: Macron booed, EU army, and France militarizing space

Bridie Pearson-jones
Daily Mail
Sun, 14 Jul 2019 20:50 UTC
Bastille
A 'flying soldier' wowed crowds in Paris today when he arrived at France's Bastille Day parade on an 118mph 'Back to the Future'-style hoverboard.

Franky Zapata, 40, brandished an unloaded rifle as a he raced at high speed above world leaders including President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Then he landed comfortably on his so-called Flyboard, which he hopes to sell to the French military.

The leaders saw French inventor and entrepreneur Franky Zapata soar above the Champs-Elysees on a turbine engine-powered flyboard. The former jet-skiing champion, grasping a rifle in a sign of the possible military uses of his device, took to the air in a futuristic showpiece of the annual Bastille Day parade

Comment: More images from the event:





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Heart - Black

'Bibi... i love you': Biden declares that US relationship with Israel must be "ironclad"

Michael Arria
Mondoweiss
Fri, 12 Jul 2019 12:00 UTC
Biden and Netanyahu

Biden and Netanyahu
On July 11, Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden gave a speech outlining his foreign policy objectives in which he stated that the United States must stand with Israel despite the disagreements some Democrats have with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Biden's 40-minute speech was delivered at City University of New York and he spent most it vowing to renew the diplomacy of the Obama era, contrasting the previous approach with Trump's "America First" technique. He vowed to rejoin the Paris climate accords and the Iran nuclear deal. Additionally, he called for an end to the United States' involvement in "forever wars" although he never mentioned that he voted in favor of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq when he was a Senator.

Biden barely mentioned Israel, but his comment on the country was notable:

Comment: Despite what Biden says much of what he professes to do is congruent with Netanyahu's goals in the region:

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Arrow Down

The Ecuadorian reversal: Selling out Julian Assange

Txema Guijarro
Jacobin
Tue, 09 Jul 2019 00:00 UTC
Ricardo Patiño/Julian Assange
© Xavier Granja Cedeño
Ecuadoran foreign minister Ricardo Patiño meets with Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy on June 16, 2013.
By granting asylum to Julian Assange in 2012, Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa made clear his country would no longer bow to US diktats. The decision this spring to allow Assange's arrest shows how far Ecuador's challenge to empire has faded.

An Interview with Txema Guijarro

When Julian Assange was arrested at the Ecuadorian embassy in London in April, the country's former left-wing president Rafael Correa knew who to blame. According to Correa, his successor Lenin Moreno — vice-president during Correa's own presidency — "had sold Assange to the United States." He accused the new president of having "displayed a pathological hatred" of the Wikileaks founder, after his website had revealed details of a corruption scandal involving Moreno's family.

Correa's decision to grant Assange asylum in 2012 came at the height of Latin America's Pink Tide, as progressive governments across the continent challenged US interference in the region. Assange's arrest six and a half years later comes as the Latin American left is in open retreat, underscoring the rupture between Correa's presidency and that of his party's chosen successor. When Moreno secured electoral victory in 2017, the country seemed to be bucking the wider reactionary trend in the region. But upon taking office the new president quickly turned to the Right — implementing a conservative economic agenda that has seen poverty levels rising anew.

To examine Ecuador's approach to the Assange case and how its position has evolved over the last seven years, Eoghan Gilmartin and Tommy Greene sat down with Txema Guijarro. Currently an MP for Spain's radical-left Podemos party, Guijarro previously worked as an advisor to the Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño. In 2012, Guijarro spent several months in London charged with organizing Assange's asylum, before being sent to Moscow the following year to facilitate Edward Snowden's abortive efforts to reach Latin America. As he tells Jacobin, Moreno's opposition to Assange's asylum pre-dates his presidency and was already evident as early as 2012.

Comment: This interview offers exclusive insight into who arranged the reversal of fate for Assange and the nature of US leverage to accomplish its objectives.

See also:

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Star of David

UN special rapporteur on Palestinian human rights offers blueprint for Israeli accountability

James Reinl
Aljazeera
Wed, 10 Jul 2019 00:00 UTC
Michael Lynk
© United Nations/cjnews.com
UN rapporteur Michael Lynk
A United Nations investigator is drafting a series of steps the international community can take to deter Israel from building more settlements in the occupied West Bank and any efforts to formally annex the Palestinian territory.

Michael Lynk, an independent UN researcher, said the European Union (EU) and some world powers should consider cutting economic, political and cultural ties with Israel in support of the Palestinian quest for statehood. Lynk told Al Jazeera:
"The international community has to look at the available menu of countermeasures that is commonly used to a wide range of countries involving gross human rights violations and has to decide what are the appropriate ones to consider to use with respect to Israel. The international community actually holds a lot of cards with Israel, and it has to say to Israel: 'Your membership or privileges through bilateral or multilateral agreements with respect to your economy, political and cultural relationships are all going to be called into question and reviewed unless you show genuine attempts to unwind and undo the occupation'."
The continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories is a hurdle to a future Palestinian state. Palestinians say peace with Israel can be achieved if they are given control of the occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip as well as occupied East Jerusalem.

Comment: Michael Lynk is excellent in providing historic context, legal expertise and criteria for UN mandates to Israel. He also addresses Israel's abuses and blatant disregard for international law. His talk is the first hour of this video.


See also: UN official slammed for suggesting that Israel be sanctioned for breaking international law

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Arrow Up

Sanctuary city case: 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rules in favor of Trump administration

Tal Axelrod
The Hill
Fri, 12 Jul 2019 04:41 UTC
Trumpgavel
© Outside the Beltway
US President Donald Trump
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday ruled in favor of the Trump administration's efforts to prioritize federal dollars for local policing to towns and cities that complied with certain immigration policies.

The ruling, a split 2-1 decision, said the Department of Justice (DOJ) was within its rights to withhold Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants from sanctuary cities and states over their refusal to work with federal immigration enforcement authorities and instead prioritize agencies that focused on unauthorized immigration and agreed to give Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) access to jail records and immigrants in custody.

The city of Los Angeles first sued the administration after it was denied a $3 million grant on the grounds that it did not receive the money because it did not focus on immigration for its community policing grant application. The decision reversed a district court's ruling.

"The panel rejected Los Angeles's argument that DOJ's practice of giving additional consideration to applicants that choose to further the two specified federal goals violated the Constitution's Spending Clause," wrote Judge Sandra Ikuta, joined by Judge Jay Bybee.

"The panel held that DOJ did not exceed its statutory authority in awarding bonus points to applicants that selected the illegal immigration focus area or that agreed to the Certification," she wrote.

Comment: See also:

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