2020-02-05: News Headlines

RT (2020-02-05). 'Deal of the Century' will die before Trump does, Iran's Khamenei tweets, dubbing the arrangement an 'American plot'. rt.com US President Donald Trump's much-touted peace plan for Israel and Palestine will not outlive him, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said, after the deal was widely rejected throughout the Muslim world. | "The American plot of the 'Deal of the Century' will die before Trump dies," Khamenei wrote on his official Twitter account on Wednesday. | The American plot of the 'Deal of the Century' will die before Trump dies.— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) Khamenei vowed that Iran will continue "standing…

RT (2020-02-05). US Space Force conducts first ICBM launch after Moscow warned of threat of renewed arms race (PHOTOS). rt.com The newly-created US Space Force has test-fired a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time as Russia blasted it for "lowering the bar" on using nuclear weapons. | The unarmed land-based missile was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California shortly after midnight on Wednesday. It was the first such development test since the facility became part of the US Space Force, which was established as an independent military branch in late December. The US previously test-fired a missile of this type in October. | The Minuteman missiles are the key component of the US' land-…

teleSUR (2020-02-05). Iran's Supreme Leader Says Trump's Peace Plan Will 'Die Soon'. telesurenglish.net Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump's peace plan for Middle East will "die soon." | RELATED: | Using his official Twitter account, the Iranian Supreme Leader tweeted on Tuesday, "Trump's 'Deal of the Century' will die earlier than Trump himself." | Trump recently unveiled his plan promising to keep Jerusalem as Israel's undivided capital, and proposes an indepen…

Celso Amorim (2020-02-05). Iran Diplomacy and Brazil's Sharp Turn to the Right. zcomm.org Interview on the enormous effort Brazil put into securing a nuclear deal with Iran, how it was ignored, and how current president Bolsonaro is following an extreme right agenda…

Tony Cartalucci (2020-02-05). US Policy Vs. Iran: Apex Desperation. globalresearch.ca In Washington's losing battle to maintain hegemony in the Middle East at the expense of the actual people and nations that exist there — it has resorted to high-level assassinations, unilateral strikes against targets within sovereign nations against the expressed …

Zero Hedge (2020-02-05). Trump Ups Nuclear Ante with 'Mini-Nukes' Deployed on Subs to "Deter Russia" globalresearch.ca The United States has added a 'low yield' nuclear weapon to its submarine arsenal in a controversial first in decades, after the Trump administration called for its deployment as part of the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review in order to "deter …

teleSUR, age (2020-02-05). US Deploys Dangerous Nuclear Weapon for First Time Ever. telesurenglish.net The United States announced on Tuesday the deployment, for the first time, of a low-powered nuclear weapon on board a submarine, with the intention of dissuading Russia from using similar weapons. | In this context, marked by the alarm of a large-scale conflict between the U.S.

Michael Steinberg (2020-02-05). Europe Leads Way in Nuclear Shutdowns. indybay.org Germany, Sweden and Switzerland are leading the way in creating a nuclear free future.

Michael Slager (2020-02-05). Trump is Moving us Closer to Nuclear Midnight. zcomm.org Source: Informed Comment In 1983, Stanislav Petrov, a lieutenant colonel in the Soviet Air Defense Forces, saw something shocking on his computer. The United States had launched a nuclear missile, and it was heading toward Moscow. Petrov said that he "just sat there for a few seconds, staring at … the screen with the word

WSWS (2020-02-05). Take up the fight for international socialism! Join the IYSSE! wsws.org One month into 2020, the crisis of capitalism threatens youth with the danger of nuclear war, authoritarianism, climate catastrophe and worsening inequality. International socialism is the answer.

William M Arkin (2020-02-05). US Deploys New Low-Yield Nuclear Submarine Warhead. globalresearch.ca The US Navy has now deployed the new W76-2 low-yield Trident submarine warhead. The first ballistic missile submarine scheduled to deploy with the new warhead was the USS Tennessee (SSBN-734), which deployed from Kings Bay Submarine Base in Georgia during …

sputniknews (2020-02-05). Pakistan's Imran Khan Finds Support in Malaysia Ahead of Crucial Anti-Terror Funding Group Meet. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): The Paris-based anti-terror funding watchdog FATF placed Pakistan on its "Grey List" in June 2018. Pakistan has been facing the risk of being placed on the money laundering watchdog's blacklist along with Iran and North Korea in the upcoming meeting later this year.

sputniknews (2020-02-05). Iran's President Rouhani Brands Trump's Israeli-Palestinian Deal 'Crime of the Century'. sputniknews.com US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unveiled the so-called 'deal of the century' in late January. The plan was harshly criticised by a number of states and human rights groups which said it was biased towards Israel.

yenisafak (2020-02-05). Airline conflict alert system given new impetus after plane downed by Iran. yenisafak.com The shooting down of a Ukrainian airliner near Tehran has given new urgency to efforts to develop a shared conflict alert system for airlines, the head of the world's biggest airline body said on Wednesday.Iranian air defence units said they mistakenly shot down Ukrainian International Airlines flight PS752, killing all 176 people on board, shortly after it took off from Tehran airport on Jan. 8. At the time, they were on heightened alert because of increased tensions with the United States.The incident has renewed calls for an effective conflict alert system for airlines. Concerns were also heightened in 2014 wh…

yenisafak (2020-02-05). Iran's Rouhani says America is a terrorist and commits terrorist acts. yenisafak.com Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday said America was a terrorist and comitted terrorist acts, in a speech broadcast live on state TV, pointing to economic sanctions.Tensions have spiked between Iran and the United States since top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad on Jan. 3, prompting the Islamic Republic to retaliate with a missile attack against a U.S. base in Iraq days later.

RT (2020-02-04). Top US commander for Middle East on quiet visit to Iraq as Washington works to salvage ties. rt.com Top US commander for the Middle East quietly visited Iraq on Tuesday, as the Trump administration works to salvage relations with Iraqi leaders and shut down Baghdad's push for an American troop withdrawal. | Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie became the most senior US military official to visit since an American drone strike in Baghdad killed a top Iranian general, enraging the Iraqis, AP reported. McKenzie met with Iraq leaders in Baghdad and went to see American troops at al Asad Air base, which was bombed by Iran last month in retaliation for the drone attack. | His visit comes amid heightened anti-American sentim…

Mark Gruenberg (2020-02-04). House tries again to stop Trump march to war on Iran. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—With bipartisan votes — more than a dozen Republicans joined all but a few ruling House Democrats — the House voted twice to again stop GOP President Donald Trump's march to war on Iran. First, lawmakers passed a measure dumping the 2002 Authorization to Use Military Force, which GOP President George W. Bush sought and …

Eds. (2020-02-04). U.S. deploys "usable" nuclear weapon amid continuing war threats against Iran. mronline.org The Pentagon deployed a new, smaller nuclear warhead aboard the ballistic missile submarine USS Tennessee as it sailed into the Atlantic last month in the midst of the spiraling crisis with Iran. The weapon, known as the W76-2 warhead, has an explosive yield of roughly five kilotons, a third of the destructive power of the […] |

RT (2020-02-04). Europe 'will avoid' taking Iran nuclear dispute to UNSC — Borrell. rt.com The European Union will extend indefinitely the time limit to resolve disputes in the Iran 2015 nuclear deal to avoid having to go to the UN Security Council or triggering new sanctions, the EU's top diplomat said. | "We are in agreement not to go directly to a strict time limit which would oblige (us) to go to the Security Council," the EU's Josep Borrell told reporters during a visit to Tehran on Monday. | In remarks broadcast on Tuesday, he said "the willingness is not to start a process that goes to the end of JCPOA, but to keep it alive," referring to the Iran accord by its formal name, the Joint Comprehe…

RT (2020-02-04). Twitter cites 'Iran & Israel state actors' after suspending researcher who exposed new user-data flaw. rt.com Twitter, in a post so reassuring it's alarming, says it stopped possible state-backed actors in Iran and Israel from exploiting its features. But the only clear 'actor' may be a lone researcher who reported the bug six weeks ago. | "Iran, Israel and Malaysia suspected of exploiting Twitter phone number security flaw," read a headline on Sky News. "Twitter: Israel, Iran may have accessed users' phone numbers," warned the Jerusalem Post. | So what did those bad privacy-violating ayatollahs in Tehran and intrepid privacy-defying IDF hackers do this time? They exploited Twitter's "contact upload" feature to match…

RT (2020-02-04). Twitter cites 'Iran & Israel state actors' after suspending researcher who exposed new user-data flaw. rt.com Twitter, in a post so reassuring it's alarming, says it stopped possible state-backed actors in Iran and Israel from exploiting its features. But the only clear 'actor' may be a lone researcher who reported the bug six weeks ago. | "Iran, Israel and Malaysia suspected of exploiting Twitter phone number security flaw," read a headline on Sky News. "Twitter: Israel, Iran may have accessed users' phone numbers," warned the Jerusalem Post. | So what did those bad privacy-violating ayatollahs in Tehran and intrepid privacy-defying IDF hackers do this time? They exploited Twitter's "contact upload" feature to match…

The Canary (2020-02-04). US deploys new weapon in its nuclear arsenal. thecanary.co The US military has deployed a new addition to its nuclear arsenal, a long-range missile armed with a nuclear warhead of reduced destructive power.The so-called low-yield missile joins other, more powerful weapons aboard stealthy submarines prowling the oceans.The debut deployment aboard long-range submarines, known as boomers, is a landmark in US nuclear weapons policy.It is the first major addition to the strategic nuclear arsenal in recent decades and is a departure from the Obama administration's policy of lessening dependence on nuclear weapons in pursuit of a nuclear-free world.In confirming the missile dep…

Rep. Ron Paul (2020-02-04). America's Long War: Is the Draft Coming Back? globalresearch.ca During recent increased US-Iran confrontation, so many people viewed the Selective Service website to find out about the draft that the website crashed. People were right to be concerned about a return of the draft. | With the ongoing military conflicts …

Staff (2020-02-04). Headlines for February 4, 2020. democracynow.org Delay in Iowa Democratic Primary Results Causes Confusion, Mixed Messages, Final Arguments Made in Impeachment Trial of President Trump Ahead of SOTU, Hong Kong Medical Workers Demand Border Closure as Coronavirus Claims Life of Hong Kong Man, Leaked Audio Shows Iran Knew It Downed Ukraine Jet Despite Early Denials, Syrian and Turkish Forces Escalate Attacks as Turkey Suffers First Losses from Direct Combat, Massachusetts Prisoners Allege Violent Retaliatory Abuse by Guards, Trial Begins For Ex-CIA Software Engineer Accused of "Vault 7" Leak, Weinstein Rape Accuser Breaks Down During Harsh Questioning, Shooting a…

teleSUR (2020-02-04). Iran Approves Death Sentence for 'CIA Spy'. telesurenglish.net Iran's Judiciary spokesman Gholam Hossein Esmaili said Tuesday that the country's Supreme Court has approved the death sentence of an Iranian who was spying for the United States, semi-official Fars news agency reported. | RELATED: | "Amir Rahimpour, who was the CIA spy and received huge money to give part of the information of Iran's nuclear program to the intelligence service of America, had already been sentenced to…

teleSUR (2020-02-04). Iran Keeps Ukraine's Plane Crash Investigation International. telesurenglish.net Iran's civil aviation authority said this Tuesday that it would keep working with other countries investigating the RELATED: | The announcement comes after Iran's authorities admitte…

WSWS (2020-02-04). More than half of the world's millennials fear a nuclear attack will happen in the next decade. wsws.org A recent International Committee of the Red Cross study, which surveyed 16,000 millennials in 16 different countries, found overwhelming hostility to war and militarism among youth.

WSWS (2020-02-04). Dozens killed in growing border clashes between Turkey and Syria. wsws.org This fighting threatens to escalate into a direct confrontation between Turkey, a NATO member state, and the Syrian regime's nuclear-armed ally, Russia.

Julian Borger (2020-02-04). New "Low-Yield" Nuclear Warhead a Dangerous Step. zcomm.org Critics of the warhead say it accelerates a drift towards thinking of nuclear weapons as a means to fight and win wars, rather than as a deterrent of last resort…

Karl Grossman (2020-02-04). Corruption at former BOMARC and Nike Hercules bases. nationofchange.org Humanity continues to face two simultaneous dangers—nuclear war and climate change…

Joyce Nelson (2020-02-04). Saugeen Ojibway Nation Has Saved Lake Huron From a Nuclear Waste Dump. counterpunch.org A major victory for Canada's First Nations has just been won in Ontario. On January 31, the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) overwhelmingly voted down the proposed deep geological repository (DGR) for storage of low- and intermediate-level radioactive nuclear waste next to Lake Huron. The DGR had long been proposed by Ontario Power Generation (OPG), but

Staff (2020-02-03). ACLU: Trump Is Expanding His Racist Travel Ban, This Time Targeting Africans. democracynow.org The Trump administration has expanded its contested travel ban to six additional countries — most of which are African nations. Under the new restrictions, nationals of Nigeria, Eritrea, Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan will no longer be able to obtain visas to live and work in the U.S., while Sudan and Tanzania will no longer be able to participate in the diversity visa lottery program. The ban, commonly referred to as the "Muslim ban," already affects citizens from Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Venezuela and North Korea. The expansion is expected to affect more than 350 million people. Democrats say they will…

Ajamu Baraka (2020-02-03). The U.S. War on Iran and Venezuela: Interview with Ajamu Baraka. globalresearch.ca The

Stephen Lendman (2020-02-03). Nuclear Treaty Busting Trump Regime. Doomsday Clock Closer than Ever to Midnight. globalresearch.ca Largely in response to reckless Trump regime treaty busting, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved its Doomsday Clock closer than ever to midnight. | It now stands at 100 seconds from potential catastrophe to humanity. | In June 2017, the Trump …

Staff (2020-02-03). Trump Is Expanding His Racist Travel Ban, This Time Targeting Africans. truthout.org The Trump administration has expanded its contested travel ban to six additional countries — most of which are African nations. Under the new restrictions, nationals of Nigeria, Eritrea, Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan will no longer be able to obtain visas to live and work in the U.S., while Sudan and Tanzania will no longer be able to participate in the diversity visa lottery program. The ban, commonly referred to as the "Muslim ban," already affects citizens from Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia,…

teleSUR (2020-02-03). Iran to Launch new Satellite Despite US Missile Accusations. telesurenglish.net "We are not afraid of failure and we will not lose hope. With your prayers and trust in God, the Zafar satellite by the end of this week … will be heading toward an orbit of 530 km from Earth," Iranian Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi tweeted.

Joyce Nelson (2020-02-03). Victory for Canada's First Nations: Saugeen Ojibway Nation Has Saved Lake Huron from a Nuclear Waste Dump. globalresearch.ca A major victory for Canada's First Nations has just been won in Ontario. On January 31, the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) overwhelmingly voted down the proposed deep geological repository (DGR) for storage of low- and intermediate-level radioactive nuclear waste next …

Norman Solomon (2020-02-02). War with Iran Is at Stake—and Democrats' High Jumps Over Low Standards Aren't Helping. zcomm.org The huge crisis with Iran is more dangerous because so many Democrats have been talking out of both sides of their mouths…

Aaron Maté (2020-02-01). Israel has played a key role in US aggression towards Iran. thegrayzone.com Before the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, Israel played a key and overlooked role in the Trump administration's aggression campaign against…

Agha Hussain (2020-01-31). Wealthy Gulf States Plan to Spend Big to Coax Syria Away from Iran. mintpressnews.com In the first of a three-part series, Agha Hussein investigates efforts by wealthy Gulf Arab countries to ply post-war Syria away from Iran by investing heavily in its reconstruction.

Whitney Webb (2020-01-31). How government and media are prepping America for a failed 2020 election. mronline.org Russia, China and Iran are already being blamed for using tech to undermine the 2020 election. Yet, the very technologies they are allegedly using were created by a web of companies with deep ties to Israeli intelligence. |

Staff (2020-01-31). Headlines for January 31, 2020. democracynow.org Senate Poised to Acquit President Trump in Impeachment Trial, World Health Organization Declares International Public Health Emergency, U.S. Special Envoy Warns of International Crisis in Idlib, Syria, Britain Formally Withdrawing from European Union Tonight, Pentagon Deploys 1st Low-Yield Nuclear Warhead-Armed Submarine, Trump Admin Poised to Loosen Restrictions on Use of Landmines, Human Rights Groups Condemn Mexico for Crackdown on Central American Migrants, Mexican Butterfly Conservationist Found Dead, Bolivia's Movement for Socialism Candidate Luis Arce Returns to Bolivia, U.S. Pushes EU to End Ban on Chemic…

Jon Rainwater (2020-01-31). House Votes to Rein in Trump's Iran War Powers While Ending Endless Wars. peaceaction.org Washington, D.C. — January 30, 2020 — In response to two high-profile war powers votes on the House floor today, Peace Action released the following statement: "Our nation's endless wars are on autopilot, with Trump fitfully grabbing the steering wheel until his attention wanders somewhere else. Today's votes are a step toward Congress reclaiming its …

Fight Back (2020-01-31). East LA demands: "No war against Iran" fightbacknews.org Los Angeles, CA – On January 25, protesters joined together at the U.S. Marine recruitment center to demand "No war against Iran!" The event was organized by the 50th Chicano Moratorium Organizing Committee and was part of a day of action across the U.S. against war with Iran. | The largest Chicano Moratorium happened on August 29, 1970 in which 30,000 Chicanos marched through East Los Angeles (ELA) to demand an end of the Vietnam War and against the draft. The protest was met with heavy repression from the sheriffs, and hundreds were arrested and three left dead, including Chicano journalist Ruben Salazar. | Pr…

Nicolas J. S. Davies (2020-01-30). The U.S. is recycling its big lie about Iraq to target Iran. mronline.org The U.S.'s campaign against Iran has violated the most critical lessons that U.S. and UN officials claimed to have learned from the debacle in Iraq. |

Anya Parampil (2020-01-30). US government censorship? Social media giants disappear accounts of Iranian and Venezuelan academics, journalists. thegrayzone.com Red Lines host Anya Parampil talks with Professor Mohammad Marandi of the University of Tehran. Professor Marandi's Facebook and Instagram…

Alan Macleod (2020-01-29). US Announces Three New Bases in Iraq After Iraqis Demand Full Withdrawal. mintpressnews.com The three sites chosen for the news bases, Erbin, Sulimania and Halabja are all extremely close to Iran, with Halabja just eight miles from its border.

Tyler Durden (2020-01-29). Pentagon Now Says 50 US Troops Suffered Brain Injuries in Iran's Missile Strike. theantimedia.com Hours after the attack, President Trump had announced that "no Americans were harmed."

Staff (2020-01-27). Headlines for January 27, 2020. democracynow.org Impeachment Trial Resumes as Leaked Bolton Manuscript Bolsters Democrats' Case, Coronavirus Death Toll Reaches 81 in China as Disease Spreads Around the World, Pentagon: 34 U.S. Troops Have Brain Injuries After Iranian Attack on Iraqi Airbase, Deadly Crackdown on Iraqi Protests Continue as 100,000s March Against U.S. Military Presence, Turkey Earthquake Kills 38; At Least 1,600 Hospitalized, Ugandan Activist Vanessa Nakate Slams Racist Media After Being Cropped from Photo with White Activists, Trump Attends Anti-Abortion "March for Life" as Admin Continues Assault on Reproductive Rights, High-Ranking Pharma Exec…

Tyler Durden (2020-01-26). 20,000 US Troops Have Surged Into Middle East Since Last Spring to 'Counter Iran'. theantimedia.com Over the past eight months, the United States has poured more than 20,000 additional troops into the Middle East to counter Iran.