TDB Top 5 International Stories: Monday 29th May 2017

0
0

5: Theater Shuts Down Men’s Tantrum Over Women-Only ‘Wonder Woman’ Screening

After a theater in Austin, Texas, decided to host a women’s-only screening of “Wonder Woman,” sad men demanded one of their own. Now, the Alamo Drafthouse is responding to its trolls.

There is a new movie coming out about Wonder Woman, a cartoon character who was created in the early 20th Century. This film is part of the super popular DC Extended Universe franchise, though it is the first to feature a female hero outside of an ensemble cast—and not just any female hero, but one who many people feel represents women’s liberation and empowerment.

One theater chain, the Alamo Drafthouse, even decided to honor the feminist nature of Wonder Woman by planning a women-only screening at their Austin location. Even the projectionist will be a woman, according to a press release from the company.

Vice News

4:  LEAKED DOCUMENTS REVEAL COUNTERTERRORISM TACTICS USED AT STANDING ROCK TO “DEFEAT PIPELINE INSURGENCIES”

A SHADOWY INTERNATIONAL mercenary and security firm known as TigerSwan targeted the movement opposed to the Dakota Access Pipeline with military-style counterterrorism measures, collaborating closely with police in at least five states, according to internal documents obtained by The Intercept. The documents provide the first detailed picture of how TigerSwan, which originated as a U.S. military and State Department contractor helping to execute the global war on terror, worked at the behest of its client Energy Transfer Partners, the company building the Dakota Access Pipeline, to respond to the indigenous-led movement that sought to stop the project.

Internal TigerSwan communications describe the movement as “an ideologically driven insurgency with a strong religious component” and compare the anti-pipeline water protectors to jihadist fighters. One report, dated February 27, 2017, states that since the movement “generally followed the jihadist insurgency model while active, we can expect the individuals who fought for and supported it to follow a post-insurgency model after its collapse.” Drawing comparisons with post-Soviet Afghanistan, the report warns, “While we can expect to see the continued spread of the anti-DAPL diaspora … aggressive intelligence preparation of the battlefield and active coordination between intelligence and security elements are now a proven method of defeating pipeline insurgencies.”

More than 100 internal documents leaked to The Intercept by a TigerSwan contractor, as well as a set of over 1,000 documents obtained via public records requests, reveal that TigerSwan spearheaded a multifaceted private security operation characterized by sweeping and invasive surveillance of protesters.

The Intercept

3:  Merkel says EU cannot completely rely on US and Britain any more

Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, has warned that the EU could no longer completely depend on Britain and the US and “must take its fate into its own hands”.

Faced with a western alliance divided by Brexit and Donald Trump’s presidency, Merkel told an election rally in Munich on Sunday: “The times in which we could completely depend on others are on the way out. I’ve experienced that in the last few days. We Europeans truly have to take our fate into our own hands.”

While Germany and Europe would strive to remain on good terms with the US and Britain, “we have to fight for our own destiny”, Merkel went on. Special emphasis was needed on warm relations between Berlin and the new French president, Emmanuel Macron, she said.

The Guardian 

2:  Economist Joseph Stiglitz: Trump’s Budget Takes a Sledgehammer to What Remains of the American Dream

The Trump administration unveiled its $4.1 trillion budget Tuesday. The plan includes massive cuts to social programs, while calling for historic increases in military spending. The budget proposes slashing $800 billion from Medicaid, nearly $200 billion from nutritional assistance programs, such as food stamps and Meals on Wheels, and more than $72 billion from disability benefits. The plan would also completely eliminate some student loan programs. It would ban undocumented immigrants from receiving support through some programs for families with children, including the child care tax credit. The budget also calls for an historic 10 percent increase in military spending and another $2.6 billion to further militarize the U.S.-Mexico border, including $1.6 billion to build Trump’s border wall. For more, we speak with Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz.
Democracy Now

1:  Manchester sees rise in hate crimes after attack

The number of hate crime incidents reported to police in Manchester has almost doubled since the suicide bomb attack at the Manchester Arena on May 22 that killed 22 people and injured dozens of others.

A total of 56 hates crimes were recorded by the Manchester Police on May 24; a significant rise from the 28 reported two days previously. Police say 28 is a fairly typical number.

“It is important that we continue to stand together here in Greater Manchester,” Ian Hopkins, Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, said.

“Particularly against some of the hateful views that we’ve seen from a very small minority of the community that have no place here.”

Aljazeera