Ivory Coast Near Toppling Leader
Rebels in the Ivory Coast are near to overthrowing the president, reports The Guardian UK, after his top general deserted and rebel forces advanced into his seat of power. Laurent Gbagbo had refused to cede power to the new presidential claimant, Alassane Outtara, and French troops had been deployed to the area. Aid workers have estimated hat casualties from the four-month political crisis run into the thousands.
Six US Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan
Six US soldiers have been killed in heavy fighting in Afghanistan after a large-scale assault near the border with Pakistan. The Washington Post reports that the soldiers clashed with both Afghan and Pakistani insurgents, with one Afghan soldier also killed in the assault. The remote border region of Kunar, where the battle took place, has been one of the most violent areas of Afghanistan since 2005.
Wisconsin GOP Won't Enforce Anti-Union Law Following Injunction
Wisconsin Republicans have backed off from enforcing the state's new anti-union law following the ruling by a local judge that the bill has not yet taken effect. Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi issued a restraining order against the measure last month, blocking its implementation, ruling that GOP lawmakers were most likely in violation of open meeting laws when the legislation was pushed through. Earlier, Republican state officials said they were going to ignore the judge's order and enforce the law's provisions regardless, reported DemocracyNow!.
Report Critical of Executive Pay Practices at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
According to a report by the inspector general of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA-OIG), the heads of the mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac recieved large salaries without proper analysis or procedure. The two heads received a total of $17.1 million in 2009 and 2010. The companies were under government ownership for both those years, reported Reuters. According to the report, the housing regulator Federal Housing Finance Agency didn't consider factors that may have led the heads of bailed-out companies to receive reduced executive compensation.
Microsoft Files Complaint Against Google
In a major escalation of the battle between the two tech titans, Microsoft called for European regulators to go after Google on antitrust grounds. Microsoft accused the search engine of attempting to “entrench its dominance” on the web by moving into multiple markets, including advertising and mobile phones, to stunt competition in the industry, reported Politico. Google, for its part, has said it is under siege from Microsoft's “anti-Google industrial complex.”
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.