LAS PIEDRAS, PUERTO RICO – In this second part of her interview with MintPress News, Professor Déborah Berman-Santana’s focus turns to the cynical manipulation of post-Maria recovery efforts. The effect so far has been to enrich the powerful and delay return to normal life for millions of Puerto Ricans. You can read part one of Berman-Santana’s conversation with MintPress News here, or listen to audio recording of the interview below.
PALESTINE — Five months after Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas issued the Cybercrime Law by Presidential Decree, the Palestinian Centre for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) has launched an online campaign against the legislation, in a bid to raise awareness and mobilize against the injustices enshrined in the law.
MEXICO CITY – A study published Tuesday by the advocacy group Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) has revealed the woeful inadequacy of the Mexican government in pursuing cases of human rights violations committed by soldiers against civilians — in spite of recent reforms that allow such cases to be heard by civilian, rather than military, courts.
In late October, over 80 members of the U.S. House of Representatives signed a letter urging U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to consider domestic terrorism charges for activists who damage pipelines or disrupt their construction. The letter, drafted by Rep.
ATHENS, GREECE and LAS PIEDRAS, PUERTO RICO – Until recently, the similarities were stunning.
DAMASCUS, SYRIA — Israel, long a major player in the coalition of foreign governments seeking regime change in Syria, may now shed its passive role in the conflict for an active one. Last Friday, the spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that Israel is “prepared and ready to assist the residents of the [Druze] village [of Hader] and prevent damage to or the capture of the village Hader out of commitment to the Druze population.”
CHILE – Back in May, MintPress News reported on the announcement of a U.S. military drill in South America titled “Operation: America United,” due to take place later this year. Set to begin on Monday, the drill, now also referred to by the name “AmazonLog,” will be led by the U.S.
GAZA (Analysis) — On Monday, October 30, Israel fired five missiles at a tunnel under construction in Gazan territory east of Khan Younis. Seven Palestinians were killed and nine wounded during the attack. Israel asserts that the tunnel had reached the Israeli side of the perimeter wall it has built around Gaza, but it attacked the tunnel on the Gaza side, thus resulting in the 16 casualties.
So far, this year has not been very kind to Monsanto. First, collusion between Monsanto and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was revealed, whereby the company worked in tandem with the federal agency to discredit independent research conducted by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
Ever since Edward Snowden helped reveal the true extent of the National Security Agency’s (NSA) massive spying program, U.S. politicians have attempted to “fix” the program’s gross violations of the Fourth Amendment with legislation.
