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Corbyn refrains from conceding to calls for second EU referendum

Heather Stewart, Jessica Elgot
The Guardian
Sun, 20 Jan 2019 19:00 UTC
Corbyn
© The TelegraphLabour leader Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn is likely to refrain from making fresh moves towards backing a second referendum until after the government's Brexit plan B is voted on later this month, as he seeks to balance pressure from rival wings of his party.

Labour strategists believe there is a firm majority both in the shadow cabinet and in parliament against an immediate shift towards full-throated support for a referendum, the Guardian understands.

They are also keen for the focus in the coming days to remain on Theresa May's efforts to rework the Irish backstop, after her Brexit deal was defeated by a historic margin of 230 votes last week.

Labour wants to prioritise pursuing its own version of Brexit - with a customs union, a close relationship to the single market, and stronger protections for workers' rights and environmental standards.

The prime minister is due to table a motion on Monday setting out the next steps in the Brexit process, which is set to be voted on by MPs on 29 January.
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Attention

Italian PM: EU should sanction France for its 'continued colonization' of Africa


RT
Mon, 21 Jan 2019 07:03 UTC
African Migrants
© REUTERS/Jon NazcaMigrants, intercepted off the coast in the Mediterranean Sea, wait to disembark from a rescue boat at the port of Malaga, southern Spain, January 6, 2019.
The Italian deputy prime minister has blamed France for the European migrant crisis, accusing it of impoverishing African nations with "colonialist" policies. He promised to take the issue to the EU and other international bodies.

Luigi Di Maio, leader of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement and Italy's Deputy PM, launched a scathing attack on France, which he argued is to blame for the inherent causes of the ongoing migrant crisis at EU borders.

Di Maio was speaking at a rally on Sunday, when he touched on recent mass migrant drownings in the Mediterranean. It is believed that up to 170 migrants who left Libya and Morocco on ramshackle dinghies may have drowned in the sea last week. Three migrants were saved by the Italian Navy on Friday off the cost of Lampedusa. The survivors said they were a part of a group of 120 people that sailed from Libya on Thursday. Their boat started to sink after they were at sea for about 10 hours. The victims, according to migrant organizations, include a two-month-old child and at least 10 women. Separately, another boat carrying 53 migrants capsized in the western Mediterranean, according to sole survivor of the incident.

The tragedies have reignited the debate on the hardline migration policy championed by Italy's right-wing government.

Comment: More from RT:
Eyebrow-raising remarks from Italy's deputy prime minister, in which he blamed France for the migrant crisis, have reportedly earned the country's ambassador to France a summons to explain the comments.

The remarks have not been well received in France with AFP citing a government source that the ambassador was summoned on Monday to explain the "unacceptable and groundless" comments.

The row is just the latest incident in the public spat between the two governments, who have a notably frosty relationship.


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Biohazard

The case of the contaminated attic: Did Sergei Skripal accidentally poison himself?

John Helmer
Dances with Bears
Thu, 17 Jan 2019 18:11 UTC
dkripal house
The British state broadcaster BBC and other media have disclosed that the Salisbury house (lead image) owned by Sergei Skripal is to be partially demolished and rebuilt over the next four months.

A Wiltshire Council notice to residents in the neighbourhood of the Skripal home is the source of the news reports. The January 4 notice, a media briefing by the Wiltshire Council, and a press release by a spokesman at the Ministry of Defence do not say how much of the house will be reconstructed. "We are working with the site owner, Wiltshire Council and other partners to ensure that the house will be fully repaired and returned to a fit state to live in," the anonymous Defence Ministry official was quoted as saying by the Salisbury Journal.

The British Government, London and Wiltshire police, and media reports have claimed that a fast-acting, lethal nerve agent was administered to the handle of the front-door of the Skripal house eleven months ago, on March 4. The alleged attackers have been identified by Prime Minister Theresa May (lead image, left) as two Russians. No allegation nor evidence has been reported to date that they or their poison penetrated inside the Skripal residence.

Two senior Wiltshire Council officials, Tracy Daszkiewicz, Director of Public Health and Protection, and Alistair Cunningham, coordinator of the recovery programme, were asked to clarify how much of the Skripal house will be replaced. Replying today through spokesman David Perrett, they said "there are no plans to demolish the property at 47 Christie Miller Road. The roof and garage roof are being removed and replaced."
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NPC

'What's it like being a traitor?': BBC's Sweeney's self-love over Sputnik tells its own story

Simon Rite
RT
Mon, 21 Jan 2019 18:09 UTC
John Sweeney
The BBC's John Sweeney took the chance to tweet out an old report he had done about Sputnik this week after news that Facebook had targeted pages linked to the Russian news agency. It's a genuinely illuminating piece.

In his tweet about the report on Sputnik, Sweeney wrote "I was on my diplomatic best behavior. 1st Q: "what's it like being a traitor?" It's lovely to see someone so proud of his work, even the old stuff, but some have suggested that his glee betrays a certain lack of objectivity; that he may well, deep down, regard his job as something quite other than being an objective journalist.

In general, the Twittersphere responded as most people do when they catch someone in a public display of self-love... with disgust.
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Bad Guys

Propaganda of omission: Britain's role in Rohingya genocide absent from UK reports

T.J. Coles
RT
Mon, 21 Jan 2019 18:03 UTC
Rohingya children inside refugee camp
© Global Look Press / Zakir Hossain ChowdhuryRohingya children inside refugee camp
In recent years, tens of thousands of ethnic Rohingya have been killed by the Burmese military. The ethnic cleansing made international headlines. But Britain's role is conspicuously absent from UK mainstream reporting.

The media had, in previous years, reported that the UK trains the Burmese (aka Myanmarese) military, yet the media have not only failed to put two and two together and explore Britain's role in the recent atrocities, but as the atrocities increased, coverage of British involvement disappeared.

The plight of the Rohingya people is a tragic remnant of colonialism. Prior to colonization and the imposition by Western governments of national boundaries on subjugated peoples, the Rohingya lived in what is now Bangladesh and Burma. When both countries achieved independence (Burma from Britain and Bangladesh from Pakistan), the Rohingya found themselves trapped behind two national borders.

Some Burmese Rohingya turned to violence in support of their secessionist aims. The Burmese military engages in periodic crackdowns against rebel groups. Ordinary Rohingya civilians pay the price.
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Eye 1

Facebook & Twitter set to face fines over legal violations in Russia


RT
Mon, 21 Jan 2019 17:57 UTC
facebook
© Reuters / Dado Ruvic
The Russian telecom watchdog has opened legal proceedings against social media giants for defying local data protection laws.

Facebook and Twitter failed to provide "tangible information" in relation to their compliance with national laws that require the companies to keep Russian users' data in the country, a spokesperson for Roscomnadzor told local media.

The tech giants instead handed "formal answers" to the authorities' previous inquiries. The agency also pledged to take legal action against the internet companies.

Watchdog chief Alexander Zharov said earlier that the authorities had asked Facebook and Twitter to provide an account of their compliance with national legislation, which governs the storage of personal data. Failure to respond to the request or providing insufficient information could result in fines of up to 5,000 rubles ($75) and the commencement of administrative cases.
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Chess

California senator Kamala Harris announces she will run for president in 2020

Scott Detrow and Jessica Taylor
NPR
Mon, 21 Jan 2019 17:49 UTC
Sen. Kamala Harris
© Paul Morigi/APSen. Kamala Harris
California Sen. Kamala Harris is running for president in 2020. The first-term Democratic senator made the announcement on ABC's Good Morning America Monday morning.

"I love my country, and this is a moment in time that I feel a sense of responsibility to fight for the best of who we are," Harris said.

The 54-year-old Harris has been seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party even before she won a Senate seat in 2016. She received national attention as San Francisco District Attorney before being elected California Attorney General in 2010.

Her campaign is highlighting that career, citing her experience on issues like sexual assault, housing and college affordability. Some of her proposals include middle class tax cuts, rent relief, immigration and criminal justice overhauls, and Medicare for all.
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Attention

Botched coup: Armed Venezuelan soldiers detained for attempting to stage an uprising against Maduro


RT
Mon, 21 Jan 2019 16:34 UTC
soldiers
© Reuters / Carlos Garcia RawlinsFile Photo
Venezuela's military has detained a group of the National Guard soldiers who stole weapons, and called for an uprising to be staged against President Nicolas Maduro.

Early on Monday morning, videos surfaced on social media showing a group of some two dozen men dressed in military uniforms and carrying assault rifles on the streets of the Venezuelan capital Caracas.

One of the men, who identified himself as a sergeant major of the Venezuelan National Guard, said the soldiers had risen up against Maduro to "defend the constitution." The man also called on Venezuelans to support the rebels and take to the streets to fight for their rights.
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Light Sabers

No grounds to meddle in Russian gas pipeline project to Europe, despite US pressure - German Minister


RT
Mon, 21 Jan 2019 11:09 UTC
Audacia Nord Stream 2
© Global Look Press / Stefan SauerFILE PHOTO: The pipeline laying vessel "Audacia" is laying pipes for the Nord Stream 2
The German government has no legal basis to interfere in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline construction, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier said as he hit back at critics of the Russian-led gas project.

In an interview published Sunday, Altmaier stressed that Nord Stream 2 meets all legal criteria, including permissions to build the pipeline from various agencies of many countries.

"Moreover, serious progress has been made in the construction works, with kilometers of pipes laid in the sea. The federal government will not interfere into such process as it has no legal grounds for that," the minister told the local Handelsblatt newspaper.

The implementation of Nord Stream 2, a joint venture of Russian gas giant Gazprom in close partnership with European energy majors, has long come under harsh criticism from the US. Washington claims the pipeline will make Europe too dependent on Russian gas and even hinted that it may sanction companies contributing to the project.

Comment: How much of a threat something is to US attempts at world domination can often be judged by how far they're willing to cross the diplomatic line, exposing their weaknesses and corrupt nature in the process. With Nord Stream 2, Germany is witnessing US arrogance in high definition:

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Star of David

Salon gets it mostly right: Anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism

Matthew Rozsa
Salon
Mon, 21 Jan 2019 17:15 UTC
rubio tlaib
How do we separate anti-Zionism from anti-Semitism? That question has existed far longer than the modern state of Israel itself and no ready answer is apparent. The most recent incarnation of this dilemma occurred recently when Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat and the first Palestinian-American woman ever elected to Congress, criticized a Senate bill (currently blocked) that would permit state and local governments to ban contracts with entities who support a boycott of Israel.

"They forgot what country they represent," Tlaib wrote on Twitter. "This is the U.S. where boycotting is a right & part of our historical fight for freedom & equality. Maybe a refresher on our U.S. Constitution is in order, then get back to opening up our government instead of taking our rights away."


Comment: She's right.


It's worth noting that Tlaib wrote this tweet in response to a message posted by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent whose presidential campaign in 2016 was the closest any Jewish candidate has ever come to winning the Oval Office. Sanders also opposes the bill penalizing supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (better known as BDS), and Tlaib was expressing solidarity with his position. The same could not be said of one of the bill's chief supporters, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who responded to Tlaib by accusing her of anti-Jewish bigotry.

"This 'dual loyalty' canard is a typical anti-Semitic line," Rubio tweeted. "#BDS isn't about freedom & equality, it's about destroying #Israel. And if boycotting #Israel is constitutionally protected, then boycotting companies that boycott #Israel is also constitutionally protected."


Comment: Rubio is an idiot. PSA Sitch is smarter:



Comment: Neil Godfrey over at Vridar.org summed it up well:
Yes, to wish for a democratic state of Israel with equal rights for all ethnicities and religions is surely a noble dream. I side with those who think it is now too late for a two-state solution and the best option for human rights and dignity for all is for Israel and the West Bank and Gaza to form a single state. (Oh, and those still stuck in refugee camps be allowed to return.) That does in effect mean the "end of Israel as a Jewish state" in the same sense that we speak of the end of South Africa as a white/Boer state. I think what is holding the parties back from going that far is racism, both anti-Jewish and anti-Arab racism. But I do see evidence of non-racists on both sides, the Jewish and the Arab. (But that sounds cruel .. "both sides" .. as if they are both equally to blame: they are not equally to blame, not by a long stretch). Now if only those persons could take the lead....

But I dream.


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