2020-08-07: News Headlines

Prof Michel Chossudovsky (2020-08-07). America had first Contemplated Nuclear War against both China and North Korea in 1950. globalresearch.ca America's use of nuclear weapons on a first strike basis is no longer considered as a weapon of total annihilation. Quite the opposite, the preemptive use of nukes is upheld as a means to ensuring global peace and security. This is the doctrine which prevails today under Trump's "fire and fury"

John Laforge (2020-08-07). USAF Vet Could Face '20 Days for 20 Bombs' for Protest Against US H-Bombs Stationed in Germany. counterpunch.org Hamburg, Germany With this week's commemorations of the US atomic massacres at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there will be countless hours spent on speeches, sermons, hymns, and warnings; tons of ink spilled in op/eds, editorials and articles. All will solemnly promote the need to pursue a world without nuclear weapons. However, many of the same voices

Eds. (2020-08-07). Ask an expert: Congress plans to spend billions on dangerous, unnecessary nuclear weapons. mronline.org This week is the 75th anniversary of the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the only time nuclear bombs have been used in a conflict—and one could only hope the last time. To commemorate the anniversary, I thought it would be appropriate to devote this column to taking a hard look at current U.S. nuclear …

Paul Antonopoulos (2020-08-07). Cyprus Is No Longer a Tax Haven for Russia's Oligarchs. globalresearch.ca Moscow announced the unilateral termination of the transnational agreement with Cyprus on the avoidance of double taxation. Effectively, Cyprus will no longer be a tax haven for Russia's rich. Russia seems to be moving in this direction without compromise so …

South Front (2020-08-07). Video: Russian S-300 Air Defense System Spotted in Libya? globalresearch.ca Russia has deployed an advanced S-300 air defense system to Libya to support the forces of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar against the Turkish military and its proxies, local media reported on August 5. | According to photos surfacing online, the supposed …

sputniknews (2020-08-07). Pompeo Warned Moscow in July Call Against Alleged Bounties on US Soldiers – Report. sputniknews.com Unnamed US officials told the New York Times on Friday that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave a vague warning to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov last month that Russia should refrain from offering bounties to Taliban fighters to kill US soldiers in Afghanistan, as the Times has claimed was happening.

Danny Haiphong (2020-08-07). American left silence on China helps lay foundation for the U.S.' New Cold War. mronline.org When it comes to China, Democracy Now, Jacobin, The Nation and others on the imperial-minded U.S. 'left" are allies of white supremacy.

Michael Welch (2020-08-07). Hiroshima at 75. The Doomsday Clock and the Ongoing Threat of "Atomic Horror" globalresearch.ca These massive mushroom clouds would go on to become a symbol of the fate of humanity encapsulated in the threat of atomic horror. For all my life, I have contemplated the prospects of nuclear incineration and the aftermath that would follow if our leaders get caught up in a tragic misstep.

Newsclick (2020-08-07). 75 years after Hiroshima, where do we stand? peoplesdispatch.org Newsclick's Prabir Purkayastha talks about the state of the nuclear threat 75 years after the first atom bomb was dropped in Hiroshima. He explains how the US has embarked on a series of disastrous policies in this regard and also looks at the history of deployment and testing of US nuclear weapons and its racial undertones.

Jeff Jurgens (2020-08-07). Meet the Candidates — Senator Ed Markey (D-MA). peaceaction.org Wednesday, August 5th 2020, Peace Action kicked off our new series of "Meet the Candidates" webinars with Senator Ed Markey (D-MA). Sen. Markey has provided steadfast leadership on issues of peace and justice and has been among our strongest allies in Congress. A long-time advocate for nuclear arms control and nonproliferation, he has stepped up …

Jim Green (2020-08-07). Book review: Michael Shellenberger's reheated critique of climate 'alarmism'. indybay.org California-based Michael Shellenberger first courted controversy in 2004 with his 'death of environmentalism' critique of the environment movement and has continued to attract controversy by promoting nuclear power, demonising renewable energy ("renewables are worse for the environment than fossil fuels") and demonising the environment movement that he claims to be part of.

CLPFSRS (2020-08-07). Sunday 8/9: The Bomb: Understanding its History and the Hope for a Nuclear-Free Future. indybay.org Online…

United Religions Initative (2020-08-07). Thursday 8/6: Hiroshima Nagasaki Accord for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons Livestream. indybay.org Online via livestream & restream…

_____ (2020-08-07). The Policy Of Maximum Pressure Against Iran Has Failed. popularresistance.org Depending on what policy the United States adopts after the elections, Sahimi expects "the response to come at a later time and in a manner and at locations where neither Israel nor the US would expect." | Biden has pledged, if elected, to reverse course on Iran. Izadi believes a Biden Administration would change the Trump policy of maximum pressure. "Whether doing it through rejoining the nuclear agreement or coming up with some other policies, we have to wait and see," he says. | Parsi, who is familiar with the views of Biden's Iran advisors, says the new administration would likely call for "compliance for com…

_____ (2020-08-07). Hiroshima, Nagasaki 75 Years On, Washington Still Playing Terror Card. strategic-culture.org Seventy-five years ago this week the world crossed an infernal threshold, with the dropping of two atomic bombs on Japan by the United States. Humankind had gained the technological capability for inflicting mass, instantaneous annihilation. | The destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki along with over 200,000 lives — 90 per cent of whom were civilians — was not a military act to end the Second World War, as the official American narrative would have us believe. It was a political act to begin the Cold War, deliberately carried out by American leaders to assert U.S. hegemony against the Soviet Union and…

yenisafak (2020-08-07). Putin and Lukashenko discuss Belarus' detention of 33 Russians: Kremlin. yenisafak.com Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin expressed confidence on Friday that tensions over the detention of 33 Russian citizens in Minsk can be resolved, the Kremlin said.The arrests further strained relations between the two traditional allies, already soured this year by a dispute over oil, in the run-up to a presidential election in Belarus on Sunday, seen as Lukashenko's toughest political challenge in years.The two leaders spoke by telephone, the Kremlin added.

yenisafak (2020-08-07). Russia offers to supply Philippines with COVID-19 vaccine. yenisafak.com Russia is willing to supply a coronavirus vaccine to the Philippines, or team up with a local firm to mass produce it, its ambassador to Manila said on Friday, as infections in the Southeast Asian nation surge.Russia is expecting regulatory approval for its first potential COVID-19 vaccine this month, with doses to be administered to frontline health workers first.But the frenetic race globally to develop a COVID-19 vaccine is raising some concern that speed could compromise safety and that some countries could be putting national prestige before solid science."We are ready to supply vaccines to the Philippines,"

Global Research News (2020-08-07). Selected Articles: 75 Years after the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima. The Danger of Nuclear War. globalresearch.ca If you look to Global Research as a resource for information and understanding, to stay current on world events, or to experience honesty and transparency in your news coverage, please consider making a

Nadezhda Azhgikhina (2020-08-07). Russia Needs a New Gorbachev. thenation.com Russia Needs a New Gorbachev…

Ben Becker (2020-08-06). Why the U.S. dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. liberationnews.org The following article first appeared in the August 2005 issue of Socialism and Liberation magazine . The 75th anniversaries of the U.S. nuclear bombings of Japan are Aug. 6 and 9 of this year. August 6 and 9 of this year mark the 60th anniversaries of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Staff (2020-08-06). "The Beginning of Our End": On 75th Anniversary, Hiroshima Survivor Warns Against Nuclear Weapons. democracynow.org On the 75th anniversary of when the United States dropped the world's first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, killing some 140,000 people, we speak with Hideko Tamura Snider, who was 10 years old when she survived the attack. "The shaking was so huge," she recalls. "I remember the sensation, the color and the smell like yesterday." Tamura Snider describes her harrowing journey through a shattered city, suffering radiation sickness following the attack, and her message to President Trump.

Staff (2020-08-06). Revealed: How U.S. Gov't & Hollywood Secretly Worked Together to Justify Atomic Bombings of Japan. democracynow.org On the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, when the United States became the only country ever to use nuclear weapons in warfare, we look at how the U.S. government sought to manipulate the narrative about what it had done — especially by controlling how it was portrayed by Hollywood. Journalist Greg Mitchell's new book, "The Beginning or the End: How Hollywood — and America — Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb," documents how the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki triggered a race between Hollywood movie studios to tell a sanitized version of the story in a major motion picture.

Staff (2020-08-06). Trump's cold war with China is heating up. therealnews.com The world's largest economic powers are in a battle for dominance complicated by the pandemic and Trump's escalation.

Robert Jacobs — Ran Zwigenberg (2020-08-06). The American Narrative of Hiroshima is a Statue that Must be Toppled. counterpunch.org In August 1945, the United States attacked two cities in Japan with nuclear weapons in the last days of World War Two. The US used weapons of mass destruction against a primarily civilian population, instantly killing over 100,000 human beings, with tens of thousands of wounded and irradiated people who would die in the subsequent

Howie Hawkins, Madelyn Hoffman (2020-08-06). Reverse the New Nuclear Arms Race. counterpunch.org August 6 is the 75th anniversary of the only time any nation in the world dropped an atomic bomb on people. On August 6, 1945, President Harry Truman ordered Fat Man dropped on Hiroshima. 210,000 people were killed instantly. Three days later, Little Boy was dropped on Nagasaki, killing 70,000 more people instantly. Now would

RT (2020-08-06). 'He won't hold onto power until 2036': Lukashenko '100% guarantees' that Putin won't be Russia's leader for life. rt.com The leader of Russia's number one ally has told Ukrainian TV that he doesn't believe Vladimir Putin will remain in the Kremlin for another 16 years, a prospect made possible by recent constitutional changes. | Putin "will never be president until 2036, I guarantee you one hundred percent," Belarus' Aleksandr Lukashenko told Kiev-based journalist Dmitry Gordon. "[Putin] will not hold onto power with his half-dead hands, he will find a way for a person, or people, to come to power who will continue the development of Russia along its current path." | The Russian president is currently 67, a decade younger than A…

RT (2020-08-06). 'The Moscow consensus': as West's centuries-long hegemony comes to an end, Russia & other emerging markets have ideas of their own. rt.com Russians and Americans often seem like they are talking over each other. Both sides have their own view of the world, and increasingly, are able to agree on very little. | The Western view is that Russia is our enemy. It is trying to destabilize the international order and undermine democracy so that its president, Vladimir Putin, can re-establish the USSR for the benefit of his corrupt cronies. Against him stand those of the civilized world, who believe in the values of democratic individual freedoms, justice and the rule of law. | Is that a fairly accurate picture of how many governments and commenters see R…

RT (2020-08-06). Russians & Iranians SPAMMED with State Dept's promises of riches after US offers $10mn for HACKERS 'interfering with election'. rt.com Russian and Iranian citizens are receiving text messages hyping a $10 million bounty the US State Department has offered for information on anyone interfering in US elections on behalf of foreign governments. Desperate much? | Reports of unsolicited messages talking up the cyber-bounties began pouring out of Russian cities on Thursday as residents who received them deluged their local news outlets with screenshots of the bizarre spam. A number of Iranians also received the odd messages Thursday night. | | The message reads: The US State Department is offering $10mln for information on the interference into t…

RT (2020-08-06). Sergey Furgal for President? LDPR leader refuses to rule out choosing ousted Khabarovsk governor as 2024 presidential nominee. rt.com The former Governor of Khabarovsk, Sergey Furgal, won't be excluded from the opposition LDPR party,even if found guilty, and could stand for Russian President if acquitted of murder, according to its leader, Vladimir Zhirinovsky. | Furgal, who was elected to his post in September 2018, was arrested on July 9 on suspicion of ordering three murders —two successful and one failed— in the mid-2000s. Following his detention, he was flown to Moscow, where he is currently awaiting trial. | "We won't rule it out. He's still ours. We will keep him in the ranks of the LDPR, we will support him, we will give hi…

The Canary (2020-08-06). Artwork explores Hiroshima and Nagasaki in context of climate change and racism. thecanary.co Two London-based artists explore the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in new perspectives, including in the context of climate change and racism, with their digital artwork.I Saw The World End, by Es Devlin and Machiko Weston, reflects on the impact of the events from the points of view of the British artist and Japanese designer.The 10-minute video includes script from letters written by Albert Einstein and J Robert Oppenheimer during the Second World War, as well as first-hand testimonies from the survivors of the bombings.The United States detonated two nuclear weapons over the Japanese cities on 6 and 9 Aug…

The Canary (2020-08-06). Twitter introduces new labels for government and state-linked media accounts. thecanary.co Twitter is to begin adding labels to the accounts of government officials and state-affiliated media groups to provide more context on who the account represents.The new feature will initially focus on senior political officials who are the voice of their state abroad and accounts belonging to state-backed media, its editors and senior staff.The social media platform said that for political figures, the labels would currently only be applied to accounts from the countries that make up the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — China, France, Russia, the UK and the US.Personal accounts of heads o…

Morning Star (2020-08-06). Hiroshima survivors hammer Japanese government for not signing anti-nuke treaty. peoplesworld.org Survivors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima 75 years ago confronted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe today over his refusal to support nuclear disarmament. On the anniversary of the U.S. atom bombing, which killed an estimated 140,000 people, survivors gathered before the Hiroshima Peace Memorial—the bombed-out ruin of Hiroshima's prefectural industrial promotion hall—for a minute's …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-08-06). Today marks 75 years since the world's first nuclear bombing. peoplesdispatch.org After three quarters of a century of the nuclear bombings, the Japanese people continue to resist creeping militarism and right-ward tilt. The government of Shinzo Abe has been pushing for expanding military power…

WSWS (2020-08-06). 75 years since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. wsws.org The anniversary's significance has never been greater. Behind the backs of the people of the United States and the world, US imperialism is steadily building up a massive nuclear arsenal and pursuing a doctrine of aggressive nuclear war.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-08-06). 75 years after Hiroshima, the clock is ticking. peoplesdispatch.org This year marks the 75th anniversary of the dropping of the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. To this day, we are under the threat of nuclear war.

Brett Wilkins (2020-08-06). Nuclear War or Invasion: The False Dichotomy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. globalresearch.ca Like other dark chapters in U.S. history, the official narrative of the decision to unleash the most destructive weapon humanity has ever known upon an utterly defeated people is deeply flawed. | *** | Seventy-five years ago, the United States waged the …

Colin Todhunter (2020-08-06). 75 Years Since Hiroshima: Nuclear Sword of Damocles Hangs Over Humanity. dissidentvoice.org "Some fell to the ground and their stomachs already expanded full, burst and organs fell out. Others had skin falling off them and others still were carrying limbs. And one in particular was carrying their eyeballs in their hand." The above is an account by a Hiroshima survivor talking about the fate of her schoolmates. …

teleSUR (2020-08-06). UN to Urge Denuclearization on Anniversary of Hiroshima Bombing. telesurenglish.net In a video message delivered at an annual ceremony in Hiroshima, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the risk of nuclear weapons being used was growing and urged all nations to renew their commitment to achieving a world free of them. | RELATED: | "Division, distrust and a lack of dialogue threaten to return the world to unrestrained strategic nuclear competition," Guterres said for Thursday's 75th…

Mehr News Agency (2020-08-06). US, Israeli nukes threaten region: Zarif. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 06 (MNA) — Stating that the US was the first and only user of nuclear weapons, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that today, the US and Israeli nukes threaten our region.

_____ (2020-08-06). Nuclear War Can Be Stopped Before It Begins. popularresistance.org Nuclear weapons have been posing a threat to humanity for 75 years — ever since the U.S. bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. | These days, our focus is understandably on the COVID-19 virus and the threat it poses to human life. But as we commemorate the anniversary of these bombings, it is important to acknowledge that unlike the coronavirus, nuclear weapons can only be remediated with prevention. Millions of people could be killed if a single nuclear bomb were detonated over a large city, and the added threats of radiation and retaliation could endanger all life on Earth.

Staff (2020-08-06). On 75th Anniversary, Hiroshima Survivor Warns Against Nuclear Weapons. truthout.org On the 75th anniversary of when the United States dropped the world's first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, killing some 140,000 people, we speak with Hideko Tamura Snider, who was 10 years old when she survived the attack. "The shaking was so huge," she recalls. "I remember the sensation, the color and the smell like yesterday." Tamura Snider describes her harrowing journey through a shattered city, suffering radiation sickness following the attack, and her message to President Trump.

Rev. John Dear (2020-08-06). Life Under the Bomb Means a Life of Resistance. commondreams.org "Our message over the years has been simple and urgent: Nuclear weapons have totally failed us. They don't make us safer; they don't provide jobs; they don't make us more secure—these are age-old lies. Instead they bankrupt us, economically and spiritually." (Photo: Courtesy of Rev. John Dear) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/seek_peace_no_nukes.jpg

Eoin Higgins, staff writer (2020-08-06). 'Self-Centered Nationalism' Could Lead to War and Nuclear Disaster, Hiroshima Mayor Warns on 75th Anniversary of Attacks. commondreams.org www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/hiroshima_1.jpg

Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (2020-08-06). Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS): To Nancy Pelosi — Did Russia Hack the DNC Emails? globalresearch.ca The lack of detail demanded by Pelosi may simply mean the absence of credible evidence of Russian interference as well as the absence of Clapperesque officials to conjure it up. | *** | MEMORANDUM FOR: Speaker Nancy Pelosi | FROM: Veteran Intelligence Professionals …

Staff (2020-08-05). Trump Has A Path To Victory. It's Voter Suppression. therealnews.com The real threat facing the 2020 election isn't Russian interference or voter fraud, it's the GOP's massive voter suppression effort, argues journalist Greg Palast.

Medea Benjamin, Nicolas J. S. Davies (2020-08-05). U.S. Cold War China Policy Will Isolate the U.S, Not China. counterpunch.org Tensions between the United States and China are rising as the U.S. election nears, with tit-for-tat consulate closures, new U.S. sanctions and no less than three U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups prowling the seas around China. But it is the United States that has initiated each new escalation in U.S.-China relations. China's responses have been

Scott Ritter (2020-08-05). ATOMIC BOMBINGS AT 75: The Decision to Drop the Bomb on Japan and the Genesis of the Cold War. thealtworld.com The head of the Manhattan Project said, "The purpose of the whole project was to subdue the …

Gordon Duff (2020-08-05). Israel Hits Beirut with Nuclear Missile, Trump and Lebanese Govt. Confirm (continually updating). thealtworld.com Trump confirms this was a bombing, not an accident and is immediately scourged by pro-Israel press…starting with the Daily Beast | #Breaking #Syria President Assad orders all borders and ports in the country open to #Lebanon, orders caravans of ambulances to head to #Beirut and ferry injured to hospitals in #Damascus, and launches an air bridge of medical and food supplies between the two cities | Israeli Delilah missile carrying 6 kiloton (6000 tons of TNT equivalent) nuclear missile (unretouched photo via VT Damascus) Ti…

RT (2020-08-05). Polling suggests 'regime change' in Russia would lead to far-right or Communist Kremlin, pro-Western liberals have no support. rt.com One of the great mysteries in US/UK analysis of Russia is the apparently almost universally accepted belief that the implosion of Putin's system would somehow gift Moscow 'back' to the West, resetting the clock to the 1990s. | The general consensus seems to be that Russians are secretly bursting with desire for 'freedom,' counting down the days until they can re-embrace Uncle Sam. Never mind the fact that even Boris Yeltsin's pro-American administration became increasingly disillusioned with Washington during his second term in the Kremlin. And, most famously, Yevgeny Primakov, then prime minister, turned his…

RT (2020-08-05). Former acting AG Yates says she signed bogus FISA requests to spy on Trump campaign because it's not her job to do fact-checking. rt.com Former acting attorney general Sally Yates continued clinging to the possibility that President Donald Trump colluded with Russia to get elected in 2016, testifying in the Senate that she couldn't opine on whether he's guilty. | Asked on Wednesday by Louisiana Republican John Kennedy whether Trump violated the law by somehow colluding with Russia, Yates said the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller found