Skip to content Skip to footer

Sections

Trending

Latest

More

© 2024 Truthout
News
|

News in Brief: Troops Continue to Fire on Protesters in Yemen as Internet Blackout Begins in Syria, and More …

Troops Continue to Fire on Protesters in Yemen as Internet Blackout Begins in Syria

By

Troops Continue to Fire on Protesters in Yemen as Internet Blackout Begins in Syria

Four months into mass protests and political deadlock, Yemeni government troops have continued to fire on protesters and young protesters in the south of the country have taken up arms against the government for the first time, reported The New York Times. Yemen, the poorest Arab country, has also had its domestic oil supplies and electricity networks cut off by tribes that oppose the continuing rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Meanwhile, Twitter reports of an Internet blackout in Syria Friday have continued to raise alarm about the crackdown on protesters by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, reported Global Voices.

New GOP Map Targets Ron Paul

A new GOP map proposed Thursday in Texas would see the demographics of Ron Paul's Texas district shifted; Democratic operatives believe this is a change intended to target the Tea Party godfather and 2012 Republican presidential hopeful. His new district would pick up 300,000 additional voters, with a drop in Caucasian voters and an increase in African-American and Hispanic constituents. Jeff Crosby, a Democratic operative, said this increase in voters is likely to keep Paul from coming back to the Texas legislature after his presidential run, reported the Texas Tribune.

Click here to get Truthout stories like this one sent straight to your inbox, 365 days a year.

HIV Infections Dropped 25 Percent

Infections of the HIV virus have dropped 10 percent in the last decade, according to the United Nations AIDS agency, but the gains have been unevenly distributed. Advances in treatment have resulted in fewer deaths from full-blown AIDS, but the gains have fallen sharply along economic lines – those who can afford the treatment in rich countries often don't die from AIDS. Worldwide, Sub-Saharan Africa and South/Southeast Asia saw a decline in infections, while rates in North Africa and Eastern Europe increased. Meanwhile, both sex workers and gay men continue to be infected, with a rise of 6 percent in infections for both groups; HIV among sex workers is at 50 percent, and 36 among gay men, reported The Associated Press.

Greece Pushed to Rapidly Sell State Assets

A year after Greece has averted disaster with a $146 billion lifeline from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, it has not raised a single cent from its plan to sell off public property and state companies. If Greece doesn't start raising money soon, its financers are threatening to pull back a $15 billion loan installment, reported the Global Post. This could lead to the state freezing its payment of pensions and salaries, and has led to a panic in Athens to sell off assets from stakes in phone companies to government-owned luxury resorts and shipping ports.

Gmail Hackers Targeted White House

China-based hackers who broke into Google Inc.'s Gmail accounts were targeting people who worked at the White House, reports The Wall Street Journal, in the hope that the senior administration officials were using their personal accounts for government business. The “phishing” attack didn't find any official information, the Obama administration said, and they will not raise the matter officially with the Chinese government until more information is known.
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn

Dear Truthout Community,

If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.

We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.

Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.

There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.

After the election, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?

It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.

We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.

We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.

Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.

We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.

With love, rage, and solidarity,

Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy