(2023-06-01). Iran To Join Shanghai Cooperation Organization In July. telesurenglish.net Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said Thursday that his country's accession to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will be completed in early July. | RELATED: | "We will become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in July, when the next summit of the association will be held," Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said. | The next summit will be held on July 4 under the chairmanship of Indi…
(2023-06-01). Water Wars: Drought, Disputes, and Deadly Skirmishes Between Iran and the Taliban. libya360.wordpress.com F.M. Shakil Recent border clashes have escalated tensions to a critical point between the Islamic Republic and the Taliban over Iran's unfulfilled water rights. Do the Taliban have a deeper motive, and what are their demands? Long spells of drought in Afghanistan and southeastern Iran have reignited a decades-old dispute between the two countries over the…
(2023-05-31). 5 Oil Producing Nations Ask to Join BRICS Alliance. infobrics.org Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Algeria, Egypt, Bahrain, and Iran have formally asked to join the BRICS group of nations…
(2023-05-31). CEPR Sanctions Watch May 2023. cepr.net In this edition of Sanctions Watch, covering May 2023: Local civil society leaders call for the release of central bank assets to Afghanistan; Members of Congress urge Biden to address migration by easing sanctions on Cuba and Venezuela; Five years since Trump's withdrawal from nuclear deal, scholars say "maximum pressure" on Iran has failed; US …
(2023-05-31). Report: US Official Discussed Oman Possibly Mediating Talks With Iran. news.antiwar.com Brett McGurk, the top Middle East official on the National Security Council, recently made an unannounced trip to Oman to discuss potential diplomatic outreach with Iran over its nuclear program, Axios reported Tuesday. Tensions have been soaring between the US and Iran since indirect negotiations to revive the nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, broke …
(2023-06-01). Biden administration continues Trump's anti-Cuba policies, but solidarity movement is pushing back. peoplesworld.org 
On Tuesday, May 23rd, the State Department reported that Cuba—along with Iran, Syria, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and Venezuela—are not "not cooperating fully" in the United States supposed fight against terrorism. The Biden administration officially designates Cuba as a "State Sponsor of Terrorism" (SSOT), as well as Iran, Syria, and the DPRK. Literally 0% of Americans view Cuba as a serious …
(2023-06-01). Military Situation In Iraq On June 1, 2023 (Map Update). southfront.org 
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan invited Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani to his swearing-in ceremony during a phone call; | The Iraqi Federal Supreme Court ruled against the self-extension of the Kurdistan Region's parliament by another year, calling it unconstitutional; | The Kurdistan Region's parliamentary elections will be held according to the current electioral law, according to Harem Kamal Agha, head of the PUK in Baghdad; | Iranian Interior Minist…
(2023-05-31). Azerbaijani, Israeli presidents tout heightened military ties against Iran. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com AzertagMay 31, 2023 Presidents of Azerbaijan and Israel made press statements Excerpts Statement by President Ilham Aliyev During the official visit, we had more opportunities to address important issues on our bilateral agenda. Opening of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Israel this year, of course, will elevate relations on a high level and at the same …
(2023-06-01). Hundreds gather in Atlanta in support of arrested Atlanta Solidarity Fund activists. fightbacknews.org Atlanta, GA – On May 31, roughly 150 people gathered outside the DeKalb County Jail for a noise demonstration in support of three activists arrested that morning by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Atlanta Police Department. The three Georgian activists – Marlon Kautz, Savannah Patterson and Adele Maclean, who are associated with the Atlanta Solidarity Fund (ASF), were arrested for money laundering and charity fraud, according to a statement made by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) on Twitter. | ASF has been instrumental in raising bail, providing jail support and providing access to represent…
(2023-06-01). "Turning His Back on Student Debtors": Biden's Debt Deal Ends Freeze on Loan Payments for Millions. democracynow.org 
Advocates for student debt relief are raising the alarm over a controversial part of the bipartisan deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling that would end the freeze on student loan repayments by the end of August. The moratorium has been in place since 2020. Meanwhile, the fate of the Biden administration's plan to forgive up to $20,000 in student debt for borrowers is going to be decided by the Supreme Court, where it is likely to face skepticism from the conservative majority. "This is President Biden turning his back on student debtors," says Braxton Brewington, press secretary of the Debt Colle…
(2023-06-01). Artificial Intelligence "Godfathers" Call for Regulation as Rights Groups Warn AI Encodes Oppression. democracynow.org 
We host a roundtable discussion with three experts in artificial intelligence on growing concerns over the technology's potential dangers. Yoshua Bengio, known as one of the three "godfathers of AI," is a professor at the University of Montreal and founder and scientific director at Mila–Quebec AI Institute. Bengio is also a signatory of the Future of Life Institute open letter calling for a pause on large AI experiments. He is joined on Democracy Now! by Tawana Petty, the director of policy and advocacy at the Algorithmic Justice League, an organization dedicated to raising awareness abou…
(2023-06-01). Biden-McCarthy Deal: Neoliberal Fiscal Policy Continues. popularresistance.org Over the weekend, US House of Representatives speaker McCarthy and president Biden announced a tentative agreement on raising the debt ceiling. The deal—almost certain to pass Congress later this week—represents a typical Neoliberal fiscal policy deal. | Ever since neoliberal capitalism policies were introduced under president Carter in the late 1970s, and subsequently expanded dramatically under Reagan, Neoliberal fiscal policy has been characterized by accelerating Pentagon and war spending; simultaneous cutting of business-investor taxes; acceptance of consequent escalating budget deficits—an…