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The propaganda multiplier - how global news agencies and Western media report on geopolitics

This study by Swiss Propaganda Research was first published in 2016, it is presented by off-guardian.org in English for the first time. Translated by Terje Maloy. It is one of the most important aspects of our media system – and yet hardly known to the public: most of the international news coverage in Western media is provided by only three global news agencies based in New York, London and Paris. The key role played by these agencies means that Western media often report on the same topics, even using the same wording. In addition, governments, military and intelligence services use these global news agencies as multipliers to spread their messages around the world. A study of the Syria war coverage by nine leading European newspapers clearly illustrates these issues: 78% of all articles were based in whole or in part on agency reports, yet 0% on investigative research . Moreover, 82% of all opinion pieces and interviews were in favor of the US and NATO intervention ,

Chelsea Manning proves that she is a real hero

globinfo freexchange Outside of an Alexandria, Virginia courtroom, Chelsea Manning explained to reporters why she would refuse to testify before a second grand jury investigating Wikileaks' Julian Assange, and as a result, face jail time once again. On May 9, Manning was released from jail because the term of the last grand jury she refused to testify before expired. She was immediately subpoenaed once again—for May 16. Her following words clearly depict that Chelsea Manning is a person with strong and solid principles and a real hero:           I will not cooperate with this or any other grand jury, so it doesn’t matter what it is, or what the case is. I’m just not going to comply or cooperate. Facing jail again, potentially today, doesn’t change my stance. The prosecutors are deliberately placing me in an impossible position: go to jail and face the prospect of being held in contempt again, or, in the alternative, foregoing my principles, the strong positions that I

Bernie Sanders launches petition urging lawmakers to block military action against Iran without Congressional approval

As heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran continue to provoke warnings of potential war, Sen. Bernie Sanders released a petition Thursday calling on federal lawmakers to " pass legislation that would prohibit military action against Iran without congressional approval. " " A war in Iran would make the Iraq war look like a walk in the park. It will be an unmitigated disaster, " Sanders tweeted Thursday evening from his presidential campaign account. A war in Iran would make the Iraq war look like a walk in the park. It will be an unmitigated disaster. Tell Congress to pass legislation that would prohibit Trump from taking military action against Iran without Congressional approval: https://t.co/zzwVU8sech — Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) May 16, 2019 The petition followed the senator's impassioned online address Tuesday night, during which he declared, " The United States Congress must do everything it can to prevent the

Big tobacco secretly bankrolling anti-NHS think tank whose bosses donate thousands to Tory leadership contenders

A secretive think tank which called for the NHS to be scrapped while its heads pour millions into the Conservative Party – and its MPs’ – coffers is being funded by big tobacco, an investigation has found. British American Tobacco is one of the groups funding the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a free market think tank which is notoriously close-lipped about its donors. The IEA has been an outspoken critic of public health measures for tackling smoking, obesity and harmful drinking, and past funders include organisations affiliated with gambling, alcohol, sugar and soft drinks industries. Health experts said the findings, in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), raise the prospect of a future Conservative leader aligning with big business at the expense of the public’s health. The IEA has dubbed the NHS one of the most “ inefficient and overrated health systems in the world ” and a 2016 report argued for a private health insurance model in the UK with top-up payments.

Chemical weapons assessment contradicting official Syria narrative is authentic

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has begun responding to queries by the press about a leaked document which contradicts official OPCW findings on an alleged chemical weapons attack last year in Douma, Syria. The prepared statement they’ve been using in response to these queries confirms the authenticity of the document. To recap, a few days ago the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media (WGSPM) published a document signed by a man named Ian Henderson, whose name is seen listed in expert leadership positions on OPCW documents from as far back as 1998 and as recently as 2018. It’s unknown who leaked the document and what other media organizations they may have tried to send it to. The report picks apart the extremely shaky physics and narratives of the official OPCW analysis on the gas cylinders allegedly dropped from Syrian government aircraft in the Douma attack, and concludes that “ The dimensions, characteristics and appearance of the cy

77 civilians killed or wounded in Sana’a as Saudi airstrikes target Yemeni capital

“ Where am I? ” muttered 50-year-old Ahmed Sharf al Adeini, as neighbors pulled him from the rubble of his home after it was hit by a Saudi airstrike. Al Adeini lost his wife and children in the attack and later died after succumbing to his injuries at the al Thwarah General Hospital. Al Adeini is among at least 77 civilians — including women and children, as well as two Russian citizens — who were killed or injured in a wave of Saudi-led Coalition airstrikes on various neighborhoods of Yemen’s capital, Sana`a on early Thursday. Dozens of civilians also sustained injuries in the attacks. The son of Abdullah Sabri, the president of the Union of Yemeni Journalists, was also among the dead. The Sabri home was destroyed in the attack. The airstrikes that targeted the home of al Ahmed Sharf al Adeini killed his entire family, including four children. The six bodies of the al Adeini family were retrieved from the rubble — a soon-to-die father, his children and his wife, all buried tog

The situation with the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington D.C. - Press Conference (15 May 2019)

United Nations Venezuelan Ambassador Samuel Moncada reported that US authorities “ tried to forcibly evict ” a group of individuals who were “ peacefully ” occupying the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington DC.  Moncada told reporters in New York that the activist group, Code Pink , was inside the embassy “ with the full authorization of our government in order to prevent the illegal assault of the premises by violent groups, supporters of the coup d’état that took place last April the 30th in Venezuela. ” The Venezuelan Ambassador said his country has not “ been at war with anyone for the past 200 years ” while the United States “ in the past 200 years has only had 16 years without wars. ” He said, “ do we want a war with the United States? Crazy. It makes no sense. But these people I do believe are power-mad and they are driving Latin America as a whole - because this will be a continent-wide problem – to a situation that has never before been seen. ” Tighe Barry, a

How the Republicans and the ultra-conservative right allying with the corporate Dems to get rid of Bernie Sanders and what does that tell us

globinfo freexchange In the following video, Mike Figueredo, of the The Humanist Report , refers to an article published by Politico under the title Republicans pray for Bernie as Democratic nominee . Figueredo and other progressives - like Kyle Kulinski of the Secular Talk - say that the whole thing comes partly out of totally wrong estimations by the Republicans and the corporate Democrats about Bernie Sanders' actual strength and popularity. Yet, Figueredo goes a little bit further. He supports that the Republicans are bluffing. So, they are trying to appear over-confident against a potential victory of Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primaries, acting like they want him to run against Donald Trump. So, the goal is to scare the corporate Democrats and push them to sabotage Bernie Sanders again, like they did in 2016. In other words, they try to push corporate Democrats to do the job for them and get rid of Bernie Sanders. And that's because they know that ag

The United States of Aggression: war with Iran would spell the end of the Republic

by Maj. Danny Sjursen     Who do we think we are? Truly. The latest reports that the Trump administration is considering plans for deploying 120,000 troops to the Middle East – presumably to strike Iran – demonstrates how Washington’s foreign policy has finally gone off the rails.  Crazier still, the impending war with Iran isn’t even the today’s biggest news story – what with all the nonsense, soap opera hullabaloo about the Mueller Report – on mainstream media outlets. What the proposed plan constitutes is nothing less than the most important, and disturbing, global issue of the day. This is how it should be reported by a truly adversarial media: The United States is preparing for an aggressive, illegal, and unwarranted war against another sovereign power thousands of miles from its shores. Again! All true citizens should be beyond appalled and screaming dissent from the rooftops . The proposed plan comes on the heels of Iran’s decision – prompted by U.S. hostility – to with

How GMO seeds and Monsanto/Bayer’s “RoundUp” are driving US policy in Venezuela

With Juan Guaidó’s parallel government attempting to take power with the backing of the U.S., it is telling that the top political donors of those in the U.S. most fervently pushing regime change in Venezuela have close ties to Monsanto and major financial stakes in Bayer. by Whitney Webb Part 4 - Why is a top to Marco Rubio increasing his stake in Bayer while others flee? Yet, it is AEI’s top individual donor noted in the accidental “schedule of contributors” disclosure who is most telling about the private biotech interests guiding the Trump administration’s Venezuela policy. Paul Singer, the controversial billionaire hedge fund manager, has long been a major donor to neoconservative and Zionist causes — helping fund the Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI), the successor to the Project for a New American Century (PNAC); and the neoconservative and islamophobic Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD), in addition to the AEI. Singer is notably one of the top poli