Dear Common Dreams Readers:
$50k
News for 2015-08-19
 |
As Controversy of New Force-Feeding Law Lingers, Israel Suspends Detention of Palestinian Hunger Striker Israel's Supreme Court on Wednesday suspended the administrative detention of Palestinian hunger striker Mohammad Allan. Allan slipped into a coma last week after 60 days on hunger strike, and doctors say he has suffered brain damage. He awoke from the coma on Tuesday, and pledged to resume the... Read more |
 |
Access Denied: Military Stymied Mexican Human Rights Investigation Just two weeks before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is expected to release its final report on the case of 43 missing students in Mexico, a group of independent experts appointed by that commission are lamenting the government's lack of cooperation and claiming that key evidence has... Read more |
 |
Meet the Nation's First School District to Serve 100% Organic Meals When schools in California's Sausalito Marin City District return to session this August, they will be the first in the nation to serve their students 100 percent organic meals, sustainably sourced and free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). More than 500 students at Bayside MLK Jr. Academy... Read more |
 |
Notorious Insecticides Found in Half of Sampled Streams in US A class of insecticides linked to the decline of bees has more found in more than half of the streams in the United States where samples were taken, new research has found. Researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) say it is the first national-scale study of the presence of neonicotinoids... Read more |
 |
'Beyond Bleak': Why Nobody in the World Wants to Know the Horror That Is Yemen In a situation that can only be described as 'beyond bleak,' the combined threats of war, food shortages, and an acute water crisis in Yemen have come together to put the Middle East's poorest nation on the brink of one of the world's most ignored humanitarian disasters. Amnesty International said... Read more |
 |
Conflict Mineral Ruling 'Sets Dangerous Precedent' on Corporate Personhood In a ruling that rests on what one rights group described as "a warped interpretation of the First Amendment," a three-judge panel has said that corporations have a constitutional right to conceal information about whether minerals in their supply chains may have funded conflict. The U.S. Court of... Read more |
 |
With Sights Set on Voting Rights, Moral Mondays Coming to US Congress The Moral Monday protests that galvanized disenfranchised voters across North Carolina—and elsewhere—may soon become a regular fixture in the halls of Congress. On August 1, the NAACP launched a " Journey for Justice " from Selma, Alabama, expected to conclude on September 16 with a rally in the... Read more |
 |
New Fracking Licenses in UK Sound 'Starting Gun' of Fight for Climate Future The UK government on Tuesday handed out dozens of new drilling licenses to energy companies looking to launch fracking operations in the country's rural areas, just days after officials imbued ministers with new powers to fast-track fossil fuel exploration against residents' wishes. The Oil and Gas... Read more |
 |
In Rare Turn, New Mexico Police to Stand Trial for Murder of Unarmed Homeless Man Marking an "unusual" development in the nationwide debate over police accountability, two New Mexico police officers have been ordered to stand trial for the shooting death of an unarmed homeless man, James Boyd. Pro Tem Judge Neil Candelaria ruled on Tuesday that there was probable cause for... Read more |
 |
With Voters 'Feeling the Bern,' Support for Sanders Gains Momentum Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders seems to be inspiring more and more voters to "feel the Bern." Though Hillary Clinton is still the leading Democratic candidate, support for Sanders is on the rise, a new CNN/ORC poll (pdf) shows. Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters, Clinton leads... Read more |
 |
Greece for Sale: First Wave of Privatization Begins with Airport Buyout Germany's approval of Greece's third bailout of €86 billion on Wednesday marked what critics of austerity warn is a new phase in the ongoing economic crisis: the privatization of the country's most valuable assets. Under the terms of this latest agreement, Greece's Syriza government—backtracking on... Read more |
 |
To Contain Carbon Bomb, US Must End Fossil Fuel Leasing on Public Lands If the U.S. government wants any chance of meeting its stated global climate pledges, it should start by curbing emissions from publicly owned property and end new fossil fuel leasing on federal lands and offshore areas, according to a groundbreaking report released Wednesday. Under the Obama... Read more |
 |
Majority of Americans Back Federal Funding for Planned Parenthood: Poll A majority of Americans support federal funding for Planned Parenthood, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Wednesday—a sign that the tables may soon turn for the embattled health care provider and its outspoken conservative opponents. Overall, 54 percent of respondents said they supported... Read more |
 |
Iran Deal a ‘Net-Plus’ for Nuclear Non-Proliferation Worldwide As the U.S. Congress prepares to vote next month on the landmark Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was agreed on July 14 between the world’s leading powers and Iran, and has been approved by the U.N. Security Council, eminent nuclear non-proliferation experts are mobilising... Read more |
 |
Humanitarian Response in Afghanistan Falters in the Face of Intensifying Conflict As the number of civilians impacted by the intensifying conflict in Afghanistan rises along with the fighting, humanitarian agencies are struggling to meet the needs of the wounded, hungry and displaced. The first half of 2015 has seen “record high levels” of civilian casualties, the United Nations... Read more |
 |
New Docs Reveal Undercover Officers Routinely Spied on Black Lives Matter in NYC Law enforcement agencies in New York City routinely used undercover officers to monitor, track, and provide real-time surveillance of Black Lives Matter activists and supporters, according to new reporting by The Intercept . On the heels of previous revelations that the Department of Homeland... Read more |