In response to the surging violence in Iraq, President Obama is considering drone strikes andpartnering militarily with Iran, Secretary of State John Kerry told news anchor Katie Couric during an exclusive interview on Monday. Kerry said Obama was giving “a very thorough vetting of every option that is available,” including drone strikes, Yahoo News reports,…
Read moreFrance Joins US War By Bombing Iraq
France launched its first airstrikes on the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on Friday, making it the latest country to join in direct military attacks in the ever-expanding U.S.-led war on Iraq. “This morning, at 9:40 am, our Rafale aircraft carried out a first attack against a logistics center of the terrorist organization…
Read moreRights Groups Call for Halt to 'Worst Since Jim Crow' Voting Law
Click:Agriculture diagnostic tool Hundreds of people were turned away outside of a packed courtroom in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on Monday where inside voting rights activists demanded a halt to what they said was the most restrictive voter suppression legislation since the Jim Crow era, local news reports. The plea, brought forth by the North Carolina…
Read moreDigital Rights Groups Warn TPP Will Force 'Policing' of Internet Users
Over 65 tech companies, open Internet advocates and other organizations released two open letters to negotiators of the secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on Wednesday, expressing their concern that the trade deal’s approval will force websites to censor content and block Internet users. Spearheaded by the United States, the TPP––dubbed a “free trade” deal––includes twelve of…
Read moreBlockade at First Tar Sands Site in US Challenges 'Brazen Disregard for Climate Crisis'
Twenty-one protesters were arrested Monday at a blockade set up to thwart construction work on the first tar sands mine in the United States—a project the activists say will cause irreparable damage to water, land and the climate. According to a statement from Utah Tar Sands Resistance, roughly 80 climate justice activists took part in…
Read moreEU Court: Poland Enabled CIA Torture
In what has been described as a watershed moment, a European court ruled Thursday that Poland enabled rendition and torture carried out by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. The ruling by the European Court of Human Rights marks the first court judgement on the CIA’s so-called “black sites,” secret offshore prisons where detainees are tortured….
Read moreRights Groups Sue US Government over Deportation of Children
A coalition of immigration and human rights groups on Friday sued U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and other high-level government officials in federal court in an attempt to address the ongoing crisis of child refugees who are being sped through the U.S. government’s deportation process after being taken into custody near the nation’s southern border….
Read moreCorporate Victory Will 'Screw' Local Farmers as Amendment Passes in Missouri
Agribusiness giants scored a victory in Missouri on Tuesday when voters narrowly approved a corporate-backed state constitutional amendment that critics say will threaten animal rights, remove checks and balances around food safety, and make it more difficult to regulate industrial farming practices. The ballot question, which was supported by big-ag players like Monsanto and Cargill,…
Read moreAs Iraq's Al-Maliki Steps Down, Will Replacement Be Any Better?
Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki announced Thursday he is relinquishing his power and backing party rival Haider al-Abadi, ending his increasingly improbable bid to cling to his premiership amid widespread opposition from within Iraq and mounting pressure from the United States, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq’s parliament, and his own Shiite political alliance to step…
Read moreThe Double Identity of an "Anti-Semitic" Commenter
Like many other news websites, Common Dreams has been plagued by inflammatory anti-Semitic comments following its stories. But on Common Dreams these posts have been so frequent and intense they have driven away donors from a nonprofit dependent on reader generosity. A Common Dreams investigation has discovered that more than a thousand of these damaging…
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