Month: October 2020

Weekend unrest at Australia’s Christmas Island detention center, triggered by the death of an asylum-seeker who reportedly tried to escape, has focused renewed attention on the human rights abuses of detained refugees. Fazel Chegeni, an Iranian Kurdish man in his early 30s, was found dead on Sunday on a cliff bottom after he reportedly attempted…

Campbell Soup’s announcement that it will become the first U.S. company to begin labeling genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in its products garnered accolades on Friday from food and safety groups, who heralded the development as a “significant win” for transparency. “The decision by Campbell’s sends a clear message to Monsanto and the Grocery Manufacturers Association…

President TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE’s reelection campaign on Monday removed an advertisement that potentially violated federal laws prohibiting active members of the military…

A majority of likely voters in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District hold an unfavorable impression of the Republican plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare, according to a new poll by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. While 62 percent hold an unfavorable impression of the legislation, 25 percent have a favorable impression of the plan, the poll said. Thirteen…

Thousands of activists and dozens of peace groups converged this weekend in Georgia to call for the closure of the School of Americas (SOA or WHINSEC), a controversial training facility for Latin American soldiers, and the nearby Stewart Immigrant Detention Center. Hundreds protested outside SOA’s gates in Fort Benning, calling it the “School of Assassins,”…

“Extreme hostility” toward women’s healthcare and abortion access continued in 2015 and went far beyond attempts to defund Planned Parenthod, with state legislatures introducing nearly 400 bills and enacting 47 new laws restricting reproductive rights, according to a new report from the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR). “It seems painfully clear that lawmakers in 2015…

Now that casino magnate and billionaire rightwinger Sheldon Adelson has been outed as the mystery buyer of an influential Nevada newspaper, a watchdog group is demanding that the publication appoint an independent public editor to monitor conflicts of interest and ethical breaches. “Vigorous, independent journalism is vital to the health of democracy,” Todd O’Boyle, director…

A Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)-supported hospital in northern Yemen was bombed Sunday morning, killing at least four people and wounding eleven—marking the third attack in as many months against a facility associated with the medical charity. MSF said in a statement that it “cannot confirm the origin of the attack” on the Shiara…

Though the Nobel Peace Prize has had its reputation badly battered in recent years by charges its moral compass has broken, it remains one the world’s most prominent humanitarian awards. And while the leaders of Europe, the United States, and other nations around the world have been accused of turning a collective blind eye to…

As President Obama introduced Merrick Garland on Wednesday as his choice for the U.S. Supreme Court, Republican lawmakers “doubled down” on their vow to block the election-year nominee. Garland, who currently serves as chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, is widely considered a “moderate” choice, and thus a…