Category Archives: Viva!

Syria: Hundreds of ‘IS’ supporters freed in Turkish incursion

Clashes between Turkey and Kurdish fighters allowed some 950 terrorist sympathizers to flee a guarded camp in Syria. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for an immediate halt to the fighting.

Trump and Erdoğan risk a resurgent Isis thanks to their recklessness in Syria | Hassan Hassan

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The terrifying consequences of the president’s sudden decision to withdraw US troops could include a reheating of the civil war

Future historians might remember Turkey’s incursion into northern Syria, launched last week, as the second time that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan provided Islamic State with a lifeline, intentionally or not. The first was when Turkey opened its borders to foreign jihadists entering Syria, which ultimately enabled Isis to build a caliphate the size of Britain in 2014.

Both the time and manner of the intervention risk unravelling the situation in Syria beyond the buffer zone that Turkey intends to establish in the north-east. It will take the pressure off extremist forces and disturb a delicate equilibrium and the relative quiet that have existed in the country for about two years.

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At least 750 Isis affiliates escape camp after Turkish shelling

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Kurdish-led administration in north Syria says riot broke out in camp holding women and children

At least 750 people with suspected links to Islamic State have reportedly fled a displacement camp in north-east Syria, local officials have said, raising fears that the Turkish offensive against Kurdish forces in the area could lead Isis to regain strength amid the chaos.

The 249 women and 700 children of the “caliphate” held in a secure annex at the Ain Issa camp began to panic and riot and scared away the guards after Turkish shelling struck close to the area on Sunday, said Abdulkader Mwahed, the joint president for humanitarian affairs in the Kurdish-held part of Syria, in a statement.

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Fire Drill Fridays

Source: Fire Drill Fridays

OUR DEMANDS

Our demands center and uplift those of youth climate strikers across the country, who on September 20,2019 sounded the alarm on the climate emergency and answered Greta Thunberg’s call to action.

1

A GREEN NEW DEAL

  • Transform our economy to 100% clean, renewable energy by 2030 and phase out all fossil fuel extraction through a just and equitable transition, creating millions of good jobs;

  • A halt to all leasing and permitting for fossil fuel extraction, processing and infrastructure projects immediately.

2

RESPECT OF INDIGENOUS LAND AND SOVEREIGNTY

  • Honor the treaties of protecting Indigenous lands, waters, and sovereignty by the immediate halt of all construction, leasing and permitting for resource extraction, processing and infrastructure projects affecting or on Indigenous lands;

  • Recognize the Rights of Nature into law to protect our sacred ecosystems and align human law with natural law to ban resource extraction in defense of our environment and people.

3

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

  • A transition that invests in prosperity for communities on the frontlines of poverty and pollution;

  • Welcoming those displaced by the cumulative effects of the climate crisis, economic inequality, violence, and lack of opportunity.

4

PROTECTION AND RESTORATION OF BIODIVERSITY

  • Protection and restoration of at least 30% of the world’s lands and oceans including a halt to all deforestation by 2030.

5

IMPLEMENTATION OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

  • Investment in farmers and regenerative agriculture and an end to subsidies for industrial agriculture.

The Launch of Fire Drill Fridays – Jane Fonda

Speaking today at the launch of Fire Drill Fridays. 17-year-old Jerome Foster 11, who has been striking for Climate every Friday in front of the White House. Left to right: Medea Benjamin of Code Pink, me, Naomi Klein and Annie Leonard, head of Greenpeace USA With me granddaughter, Vasser Turner Seydell Vasser, being arrested…her first time Me being arrested…not my first time It was a grand launch. The weather was perfect. All the speakers were wonderful, the press coverage was awesome. White plastic “handcuffs” were put on each of us, we were taken to the nearby police station for a few hours. The plastic handcuffs hurt more than the metal ones and I discovered that it’s not easy for an 82-year-old to get in and out of a police paddy wagon without the use of her hands. All the police women and men were super polite and nice. There were about 16 of us all together, divided into 2 cells with the doors left open. We used the time, a few hours, to organize and plan. Then we each paid $50 (Fire Drill Friday provided the funds for those who didn’t have) and were released. We then walked to a nearby coffeehouse and debriefed. This has all come together very fast. I only moved to D.C. 2 w

Source: The Launch of Fire Drill Fridays – Jane Fonda