U.S. govt-linked PR firm ran fake news networks for right-wing Latin American regimes
Ben Norton | thegrayzone.com | 2020-09-06
A Washington, DC-based PR firm linked to the US government and Democratic Party, CLS Strategies, ran a fake news network on Facebook and Instagram, spreading propaganda for Bolivia's coup regime and the right-wing opposition in Venezuela and Mexico. By Ben Norton major US PR firm located just a few blocks from the White House has …
thegrayzone.com/2020/09/06/cls-strategies-facebook-propaganda-venezuela-bolivia/

Do Face Masks Work? 8 Peer-Reviewed Studies
Rez Karim | globalresearch.ca | 2020-09-06
Strange though as it may seem, we feel nervous writing this report. Nervous that Google, Twitter, Facebook etc. might deem our site 'less trustworthy' or something similar. Nervous because we could very well become victims of internet censorship perpetrated by …
globalresearch.ca/do-face-masks-work-8-peer-reviewed-studies/5723124

Incarcerated People Are Challenging Deadly Pandemic Conditions in Prisons
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-09-06
On April 10, Esther Arias made a video call to her son and asked him to stream the call on Facebook Live. | Arias wanted the larger public to know about how the federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut, was handling COVID. One woman, she said, had tested positive three times — but remained in the housing unit. Four other women had been placed in quarantine, then onto her housing unit, she said. | In March, Attorne…
truthout.org/articles/incarcerated-people-are-challenging-deadly-pandemic-conditions-in-prisons/

Turkey starts 'Mediterranean Storm' military drills in Northern Cyprus
yenisafak.com | 2020-09-06
The armed forces of Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on Sunday started joint military exercises in Northern Cyprus. | Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay announced on Twitter that the five-day exercise, Mediterranean Storm, is a demonstration of their will to stand against those trying to confine Turkey to the Gulf of Antalya while ignoring the Turkish Cypriots. | "The security priorities of our country and the TRNC are indispensable, along with diplomatic solutions in the Eastern Mediterranean," he said.Oktay wished success to the nations' soldiers, the guarantors of peace in the Mediterra…
yenisafak.com/en/world/turkey-starts-mediterranean-storm-military-drills-in-northern-cyprus-3538576

Strong, Determined, Powerful! Turkey says drilling activities in East Med continue
yenisafak.com | 2020-09-06
Turkey's energy exploration ship is continuing its determined mission in the Eastern Mediterranean, said the National Defense Ministry on Sunday."Strong, Determined and Powerful! The frigates and corvettes belonging to our Naval Forces are resolutely continuing their duty of escorting / protecting the ORUC REIS research ship, which continues to work in our jurisdiction areas in the Eastern Mediterranean," the ministry posted on Twitter with a nearly two-minute video of the ships at work."No lawlessness or bullying will be allowed in the region!" the ministry added.The video also showed communication between the s…
yenisafak.com/en/world/strong-determined-powerful-turkey-says-drilling-activities-in-east-med-continue-3538570

US State Department reveals next target in scathing tweet… it's the International Cricket Council?
rt.com | 2020-09-06
The US State Department has gone after all sorts of entities over the years — sovereign nations, democratically elected governments, you name it. But its latest target has come from way out of left field. | The department responsible for US foreign policy announced in a tweet that the International Cricket Council was in its bad books. In a message quoting Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the department blasted the cricket governing body as "a rogue court with lawyers that are, frankly, corrupt and political." | | © Twitter | Hmm… that doesn't quite add up. It turns out the hot-shots over at the…
rt.com/usa/500009-state-department-pompeo-cricket-tweet/

Cuba Claims Media Blockade on Its Successes Fighting COVID-19
telesurenglish.net | 2020-09-05
Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez denounced the little news coverage of Cuba's health achievements in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic are getting in the mainstream media. | RELATED: | Cuba: COVID-19 Vaccine's Clinical Trials Are Underway | This Saturday Foreign Minister Rodriguez took to Twitter to denounce that although Cuba continues to share its medical successes with the world, little information is shared on large media outlets. | "Cuban scientists share their progres…
telesurenglish.net/news/bruno-rodriguez-cuban-agenda-on-mainstream-media-is-biased-20200905-0011.html

Activists protest against press's 'failure to report on the climate & ecological emergency'
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-09-05
More than 100 Extinction Rebellion (XR) protesters used vehicles and bamboo lock-ons to block roads outside the Newsprinters printing works at Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, and Knowsley, near Liverpool on Friday 4 September.By Saturday morning, police said some 30 people had been arrested.Failings: Under a banner reading "Free the truth", XR tweeted that it was using the disruption to expose the newspapers' "failure to report on the climate & ecological emergency, and their consistent manipulation of truth to suit their own agendas". The group said: Coverage in many of the newspapers printed here is polluting…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2020/09/05/activists-protest-against-presss-failure-to-report-on-the-climate-ecological-emergency/

Frenchman with incurable disease to livestream his death
yenisafak.com | 2020-09-05
A Frenchman suffering from a rare and incurable condition is livestreaming his death on social media as he refuses to take food, drink or medicine after President Emmanuel Macron turned down his request for euthanasiaAlain Cocq, 57, who has been suffering from a degenerative disease for 34 years, has said he would livestream his death on Facebook from Saturday morning."So I have finished my last meal … I drink to your health one last time. The road to deliverance begins and, believe me, I am happy," Cocq said in a video posted on Friday night and shot from his medicalised bed at his home in Dijon, eastern Franc…
yenisafak.com/en/world/frenchman-with-incurable-disease-to-livestream-his-death-3538514

Facebook bans AMERICAN accounts for interfering in foreign politics — a DC lobby group helped topple govts in Bolivia & Venezuela
rt.com | 2020-09-05
When Facebook talks about busting foreign influence campaigns, Russia is usually painted as the villain. But the social media giant recently wiped out a host of pages interfering in Latin American politics — from Washington, DC. | CLS Strategies is one of many PR and lobbying groups that call the 'swamp' of Washington, DC their home. According to the company's own website, it "helps clients win where it matters most — in the halls of government, the marketplace, and the court of public opinion." | But behind the website's corpo-speak, CLS Strategies lobbies lawmakers on behalf of foreign politician…
rt.com/usa/499970-facebook-american-pages-interference/

Pandemic Reflexes: Lockdowns and Arrests in Victoria, Australia
Binoy Kampmark | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-09-05
Ugly. Rough. Police in the Australian state of Victoria muscling their way in. The father and children watching. It had all arisen because the pregnant mother in question had engaged in conduct defined as incitement. In a post on her Facebook page, Zoe Buhler had urged Victorians to protest the coronavirus lockdown rules over the …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/09/pandemic-reflexes-lockdowns-and-arrests-in-victoria-australia/

Six complexities of these pandemic times
Vijay Prashad | mronline.org | 2020-09-04
Social media, in March 2020, was awash with rumours. Swans and dolphins could be seen in totally deserted Venetian canals. A group of elephants marched into a village in Yunnan (China), drank corn wine, and went to sleep in a tea garden.
mronline.org/2020/09/04/six-complexities-of-these-pandemic-times/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=six-complexities-of-these-pandemic-times

Coronavirus assistance for university students in Germany–a calculated fraud
wsws.org | 2020-09-04
Since June, angry and indignant posts have been mounting on social media accusing the government of ignorance and inaction, disregarding the needs of roughly a million students in need of assistance.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/09/04/germ-s04.html

What to Expect in Trump's America
Joseph Natoli | counterpunch.org | 2020-09-04
"'The big backlash going on in Portland cannot be unexpected." — President Trump, Tweet President Trump is extending his narrative from Make Me Great Again to Law & Order and protecting suburban women from low renters. Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden wants to focus the narrative on the coronavirus pandemic and the economic downturn, both…
counterpunch.org/2020/09/04/what-to-expect-in-trumps-america/

The Politics of Looting
David Rosen | counterpunch.org | 2020-09-04
On May 29th, in response to growing protests in Minneapolis, MN, following George Floyd's murder, President Trump tweeted, "When the looting starts, the shooting starts." Trump failed to inform his twitter followers that the term had originally been used by Miami police Chief Walter Headley in 1967 during hearing about crime in the city. His…
counterpunch.org/2020/09/04/the-politics-of-looting/

Turkish foreign minister meets KRG head Barzani
yenisafak.com | 2020-09-04
The Turkish foreign minister met with the President of Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in the capital Ankara on Friday.In a Twitter post, Mevlut Cavusoglu said he hosted KRG President Nechirvan Barzani and his delegation.The Turkish minister said the two officials discussed bilateral relations and the joint fight against the PKK terrorist group.President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will also receive Barzani at the presidential complex.Prior to his arrival in Ankara, Barzani met with French President Emmanuel Macron and held a round of meetings with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad, including Prime Minister Mustafa Al-K…
yenisafak.com/en/news/turkish-foreign-minister-meets-krg-head-barzani-3538443

Likes for chunks? Istanbul-based influencer caught using luxury Lamborghini as… watermelon-selling counter (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)
rt.com | 2020-09-04
If your strategy for social media fame isn't yet fruitful, try following the lead of this rising Instagram star, who deems a mid-engine sports car fit to sell watermelons from and has grown his followers base into the bargain. | Always there for his loyal fans, both online and offline, the Iranian influencer dared to get out of his comfort zone and brave selling watermelons on the streets of Beyoglu, a bustling upper-class district of Istanbul. | The choice…
rt.com/news/499872-influencer-lamborghini-watermelons-istanbul/

The Boy Scouts Can Do Better Than Teaming up With Trump's EPA
Derrick Z. Jackson | commondreams.org | 2020-09-04
Logan, Taaffe, BSA District Executive in Washington, D.C, recites the Scout Oath before EPA Administrator Wheeler and National Capital Area Council, BSA Scout Executive Craig Poland sign a Memorandum of Understanding at the Boy Scouts Memorial in Washington, D.C. on August 17, 2020 (Photo: US EPA/YouTube screengrab) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/bsa_epa.jpg …
commondreams.org/views/2020/09/04/boy-scouts-can-do-better-teaming-trumps-epa?cd-origin=rss

Brazil: Federal Court Restitutes Disputed Land to Pataxo People
telesurenglish.net | 2020-09-03
Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) on Thursday put out an order to cease the evictions of Pataxo people, an Indigenous community in Bahia state. | RELATED: | El Salvador Decrees Prevention Alert Due To Tropical Storm Nana | "Minister Gilmar Mendes of the STF has just decided in favor of the community, also suspending the decision of the judge from Eunápolis for not complying with the decision of the STF. Double victory of the Patax people!" tweeted Indigenous rights' activi…
telesurenglish.net/news/brazil-federal-court-restitutes-disputed-land-to-pataxo-people–20200903-0011.html

Facebook Removes Right-Wing Disinformation Network
telesurenglish.net | 2020-09-03
Facebook Tuesday informed it eliminated a U.S.-based disinformation network that was financed by Bolivia's Interim government as the company considered it a threat to democracy. | RELATED: | Bolivia: Lawmaker Accuses Interim Govt. of Encouraging COVID-19 | Besides posting information in favor of Bolivia's coup-born regime, such a network targeted Latin American users and offering them publications in support of political groups opposing Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and…
telesurenglish.net/news/Facebook-Removes-Right-Wing-Disinformation-Network-20200903-0008.html

President Maduro Invites UN, EU Observers to December Elections
telesurenglish.net | 2020-09-03
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said on Twitter that a letter had been sent to UN chief Antonio Guterres and the EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell inviting them to send electoral observers as well as outlining the "broad electoral guarantees agreed for the upcoming parliamentary elections." | RELATED: | Venezuela: President Maduro Pardons 110 Politics Opponents | The move comes a day after Preside…
telesurenglish.net/news/President-Maduro-Invites-UN-EU-Observers-to-December-Elections-20200903-0010.html

Socialist Equality Group in Turkey condemns attack against TİP deputy after threats from interior minister
wsws.org | 2020-09-03
Sosyalist E≈üitlik unequivocally condemns the attack on Barƒ±≈ü Atay, who was physically assaulted by a mob in ƒ∞stanbul after Interior Minister Sàºleyman Soylu threatened him on social media.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/09/03/turk-s03.html

Wisconsin man who says he marched with Rittenhouse in Kenosha was immersed in White Supremacist propaganda
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-09-03
Ryan Balch, a 31-year-old Wisconsin man who joined Kyle Rittenhouse and a contingent of militia conducting armed patrols in Kenosha, used his social media accounts to link to a Nazi propaganda video.
mronline.org/2020/09/03/wisconsin-man-who-says-he-marched-with-rittenhouse-in-kenosha-was-immersed-in-white-supremacist-propaganda/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wisconsin-man-who-says-he-marched-with-rittenhouse-in-kenosha-was-immersed-in-white-supremacist-propaganda

Facebook to block new political ads before US election
yenisafak.com | 2020-09-03
Facebook said Thursday it would not accept new political ads in the week before the US presidential election.The move announced by CEO Mark Zuckerberg aims to "help secure the integrity of the US elections by encouraging voting, connecting people to authoritative information, and reducing the risks of post-election confusion," according to the company.It said it would remove posts that claim people will get COVID-19 if they take part in voting."We'll attach a link to authoritative information about the coronavirus to posts that might use COVID-19 to discourage voting," the company said in a statement. It will als…
yenisafak.com/en/news/facebook-to-block-new-political-ads-before-us-election-3538380

No joke zone: Twitter mob CANCELS Twenty One Pilots' frontman Tyler Joseph for visual pun on 'using platforms' for social issues
rt.com | 2020-09-03
Tyler Joseph, member of the American pop band Twenty One Pilots, had to go through a round of self-flagellation for the crime of ridiculing the use of social media for public good, raising the ire of the online mainstream. | Joseph had employed a little bit of creativity to take a swipe at fans that apparently urged him to spread some socially-important message across various social media platforms. | The 31-year-old musician uploaded a pair of photos of himself wearing extremely high platform trainers. "You guys keep asking me to use my platforms. Feels good to dust these bad boys off," reads the caption to t…
rt.com/usa/499778-tyler-joseph-bashed-twitter-platforms/

Facebook's Business Model Thrives on the Virality of Hate
Prabir Purkayastha | counterpunch.org | 2020-09-03
A recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article, "Facebook's Hate-Speech Rules Collide With Indian Politics," has blown the lid off Facebook's unholy alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the right-wing ruling party in India. In the August 14 article, WSJ reporters Newley Purnell and Jeff Horwitz detail how Ankhi Das, Facebook's high-flying public policy director…
counterpunch.org/2020/09/03/facebooks-business-model-thrives-on-the-virality-of-hate/

NYT columnist goes for a jog, sees no mayhem and declares that New York's alleged surge in crime is a 'nonexistent crisis'
rt.com | 2020-09-02
Paul Krugman, the Nobel prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist, has figured out that the doom and gloom over rampant violence and lawlessness in the largest US city is unfounded hysteria over a "nonexistent crisis." | All he needed to find the truth of the matter and prove the alarmists wrong was to go for a jog in the city Wednesday morning. "Am sorry to report that I saw very few black-clad anarchists," Krugman tweeted after his run. "Also, the city is not yet in flames." | I went for a belated NYC run this morning, and am sorry to report that I saw very few black-clad anarchists. Also, the cit…
rt.com/usa/499744-nyt-krugman-lawlessness-denial/