Former Syrian official convicted of torture under Assad faces sentencing in US

Source: SFGate

“A former Syrian military official convicted of torturing prisoners during the rule of former President Bashar Assad’s regime is facing a possible decades-long prison sentence in the U.S. A federal judge in Los Angeles is scheduled to sentence Samir Ousman Alsheikh on Thursday. A jury found him guilty in March of one count of conspiracy to commit torture and three counts of torture while in charge of Syria’s infamous Adra Prison from roughly 2005 to 2008.” [editor’s note: Last time I checked, Syria wasn’t a US state or territory, so how would the US courts have jurisdiction in the matter? – TLK] (09/17/26)

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/former-syrian-official-convicted-of-torture-under-22435876.php

Steve Trinward

Who Gets To Say ‘Genocide’ in Britain?

Source: Antiwar.com
by Richard Edain

“The United Kingdom criminalized support for the direct action network, Palestine Action, at a minute after midnight, Saturday July 5, 2025. Hours later, Pink Floyd star Roger Waters shared a video clip to his Facebook page of him writing on a piece of cardboard, the words: ‘I support Palestine Action …’ Waters then declared ‘I am Spartacus,’ – invoking George Monbiot’s take on the ban from a week before. The day after, UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) reported him to British Counter-Terrorism Police for ‘expressing support for the newly proscribed Palestine Action.’ Around the same time the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) threatened to file a private prosecution if the authorities did not take action. But since that day, nothing has happened to Waters. No charge. No case against him. Over a year has gone by now, and still – no charge filed. The Filton Four are appealing their sentences.” (09/17/26)

https://original.antiwar.com/richard_edain/2026/09/16/who-gets-to-say-genocide-in-britain/

Thomas L. Knapp

FL: Mayor says city can’t stop gang activity as businesses report 70% drop in sales

Source: CBS News

“Doral Mayor Christi Fraga is responding to business owners who say increased [ICE gang] activity in the city is frightening customers and workers and taking a significant toll on their businesses. ICE [gang members] were seen Wednesday in different areas of Doral, a city with a large immigrant population. A local social media platform reported that agents [abducted] people at a gas station near Northwest 41st Street and 107th Avenue. Nearby business owners say the presence of [gang members] is having an immediate economic impact. … Fraga told CBS News Miami that she understands the concerns but said local governments have no authority to prevent federal [gang members] from conducting [abduction] operations within their cities.” (09/16/26)

https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/doral-ice-enforcement-business-impact-mayor/

Thomas L. Knapp

OK: Women Sue Over Being Denied Abortions Despite Fatal Fetal Diagnoses

Source: Common Dreams

“When Sheena Hamlin found out she was pregnant with a daughter she named Ellie, she was ‘very excited’, until her doctors discovered at around 21 weeks that the baby ‘might survive birth, but that her lungs were so severely underdeveloped that she would suffocate almost as soon as the umbilical cord was cut’. ‘The alternative would be to terminate the pregnancy,’ explains a lawsuit filed in state court on Wednesday, but that ‘was not an option in Oklahoma’, where a pair of laws force patients whose ‘pregnancy will end in miscarriage, stillbirth, or the death of an infant shortly after birth’ to leave the state if they choose abortion. … she flew to Illinois for care shortly before Thanksgiving in 2024, and spent nearly $4,000 out of pocket. After the ‘devastating’ experience, the couple ‘underwent genetic testing and confirmed that Ellie had Meckel-Gruber syndrome’.” (09/17/26)

https://www.commondreams.org/news/oklahoma-abortion-ban

Steve Trinward