(2020-07-25). Thailand Sees Largest Anti-Government Protests Since 2014 Military Coup. zcomm.org The youth-led protests appear to have taken a page from Hong Kong's highly decentralized pro-democracy movement last year…
(2020-07-25). US demands even greater support from Australia in confrontation with China. wsws.org Despite the intensifying COVID-19 danger in the US, Australia's foreign and defence ministers will personally attend the annual AUSMIN talks in Washington next week.
(2020-07-25). [Editorial] COVID-19 and China: lessons and the way forward. thelancet.com China has largely controlled COVID-19. A country of 1 ∑4 billion people and a size similar to Europe or the USA now reports only clusters of cases rather than widespread community transmission. China has been widely criticised for its role and responsibilities during the pandemic because of censorship, transparency, and human rights concerns. But the rest of the world can still learn from China's successes in bringing its outbreak under control.
(2020-07-25). US secretary of state sets out case for conflict with China. wsws.org By ruling out a return to the policy of "containment," Pompeo's speech marks a strategy aimed at regime change in Beijing.
(2020-07-25). COVID-19 means development setbacks for Mongolia: a UN Resident Coordinator's blog. news.un.org Mongolia has recorded very few cases of COVID-19, less than 300 as on date, despite its more than 4,000 kilometre porous border with China. However, the country faces a major economic impact from the pandemic, says Tapan Mishra, the UN Resident Coordinator in Mongolia.
(2020-07-25). Mainland China reports 34 new coronavirus cases, including 20 in Xinjiang. yenisafak.com Of the new infections, 20 were in the far western region of Xinjiang, according to a statement by the National Health Commission. Nine were in the northeastern province of Liaoning, while the remaining five were imported cases.China reported 74 new asymptomatic cases, up from 43 a day earlier.As of Friday, mainland China had 83,784 confirmed coronavirus cases, the health authority said. The COVID-19 death toll remained at 4,634.
(2020-07-25). 103-year-old Pakistani man survives COVID-19. yenisafak.com A 103-year-old man has recovered from COVID-19 at a makeshift medical center in Pakistan.Aziz Abdul Alim, a resident of a village in the mountainous northern district of Chitral, was released last week from an emergency response centre after testing positive in early July."We were worried for him given his age, but he wasn't worried at all," Alim's son Sohail Ahmed told Reuters on the phone from his village, close to Pakistan's border with China and Afghanistan.Ahmed quoted his father as saying that he had been through a lot in life and the coronavirus did not scare him. He did however, not like being in isolatio…
(2020-07-25). Tight security outside US Chengdu consulate after China orders closure. yenisafak.com Security was tight outside the U.S. consulate in the Chinese city of Chengdu on Saturday as staff inside prepared to leave, a day after China ordered it to close in response to a U.S. order for China to shut its consulate in Houston.The tit-for-tat consulate closures have brought a sharp deterioration in relations between the world's two largest economies.A consulate emblem inside the compound was removed as staff could be seen pushing trolleys and several consulate vehicles came and went.Police, including many plain clothes officers, gathered outside and closed off the street to traffic.Neither the consulate in…
(2020-07-25). The Heat: China-US tensions. america.cgtn.com 
US-China relations face another setback after Beijing tells Washington to close its consulate in Chengdu in a tit-for-tat move.
(2020-07-25). Japan, Qatar cover reopening of Hagia Sophia as mosque. yenisafak.com Japanese media allocated wide coverage for reopening of the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque for worship after an 86-year hiatus, while Qatari media called it a historic day.Japan's Asahi Shimbun covered the first Friday prayers after reconversion of Hagia Sophia to mosque from museum, and said worshippers filled all streets two hours before the prayer time.Featuring a photograph of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reciting the Muslim holy book Quran, it said Christian patterns covered with curtains inside the building will be opened after the prayers, and the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque will be free of charge for a…
(2020-07-25). Trump orders federal police to more cities. mronline.org 
The Trump administration is stepping up its unconstitutional moves toward dictatorial rule, tear gassing antipolice violence protesters in Portland, Oregon and announcing the deployment of federal police to three more cities—Detroit, Cleveland and Milwaukee—in addition to Chicago and Albuquerque, New Mexico.
(2020-07-25). Trump's federal repression election ploy spurs greater resistance. liberationnews.org 
Far from being intimidated, Portland residents were outraged when unannounced paramilitary units started grabbing protesters off the street.
(2020-07-25). Portland protests continue after judge rejects bid to restrict federal agents. thecanary.co 
Thousands of people joined another night of Black Lives Matter protests on the streets of Portland, hours after a US judge denied the state of Oregon's request to restrict federal police in the city.Demonstrators, most wearing masks and many donning helmets, stood near the fountain on Salmon Street Springs. They then marched to the Hatfield Federal Courthouse and the federal agents there.They chanted and clapped along to the sound of thunderous drums, pausing to listen to speakers. Various organised groups took part, including Healthcare Workers Protest, Teachers against Tyrants, Lawyers for Black Lives and the '
(2020-07-25). Trump's Reelection Strategy Involves Terrorizing Us With Secret Stormtroopers. zcomm.org Trump's actions in Portland are terrifying by any standard.
(2020-07-25). Why Trump's Paramilitary Force Is Unconstitutional. 'A Profoundly Un-American Attack On Civil Society'. globalresearch.ca
(2020-07-25). The Portland Police Attack: ACLU Files Lawsuit. Sues Trump and City of Portland. globalresearch.ca PORTLAND, Ore. — Multiple volunteer street medics are suing the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Marshals Service, and the City of Portland for targeting and attacking them at Portland protests against police brutality. The lawsuit was filed in federal court …
(2020-07-25). Illinois Democrats embrace Trump's law enforcement "surge" wsws.org Illinois Democratic lawmakers have made public statements aimed at assuaging public fears that the federal forces will crack down on anti-police violence protesters in Chicago, just as they have in Portland.
(2020-07-25). Protesters Use 'Midnight Yoga' To Cope With Police Violence. popularresistance.org Saturday night marked another session of "Midnight Yoga" on Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington D.C. | The protesters, who have been out in the streets over 50 days after being initially sparked by the failure to arrest the officers who had murdered George Floyd and Breonna Taylor (still), have turned to the peace that yoga provides to manage their pain, both physical and emotional. | Around the same time federal police were turning Portland into a war zone while violently beating and pepper-spraying citizens, D.C. protesters were stretching out their limbs after giving a touching 100 candle-light tribute to l…
(2020-07-25). Homeland Security Claims Shields And Gas Masks Are Weapons. popularresistance.org Far from restoring order, the arrival of federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Border Patrol in Portland, Oregon has only heightened tensions, with agents attacking and arresting protesters nightly. DHS' Acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli took to social media yesterday to share images of items confiscated from demonstrators. | "Here is a shield and a couple of gas masks from a rioter arrested in Portland. Not a sign with a slogan that someone expressing their first amendment rights might carry, but preparations for violence. Peaceful protester? I don't think so," he wrote.
(2020-07-25). Judge Rejects Oregon's Motion For A Restraining Order Against Federal Police. popularresistance.org A federal judge on Friday afternoon denied a request by Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum to issue a temporary restraining order against federal officers making arrests of Portland protesters without probable cause. | In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman said Rosenblum had failed to provide sufficient evidence that such arrests were occurring widely in the streets of Portland or were part of a federal policy. (Disclosure: Rosenblum is married to the co-owner of WW's parent company.) | He ruled that because the state of Oregon couldn't establish a pattern or policy, it lacked the legal standi…
(2020-07-25). Federal Agents Use Tear Gas To Clear Portland Protest. popularresistance.org Thousands of protesters gathered outside the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, into the early hours of Saturday shooting fireworks at the building as plumes of tear gas, dispensed by U.S. agents, lingered above. | The demonstration went on for hours until federal agents entered the crowd around 2: 30 a.m. and marched in a line down the street, clearing remaining protesters with tear gas at close range. They also extinguished a large fire in the street outside the courthouse. | The Federal Protective Service had declared the gathering as "an unlawful assembly" and cited that officers had been injured.
(2020-07-24). The Moment of Truth for BRICS: Challenges, Opportunities and the Way Forward. globalresearch.ca As already known, BRICS is an association of five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. South Africa joined the association in 2010. The BRICS has a significant influence on regional affairs and very active on the …
(2020-07-24). Trump Is Flailing, and the Country Is Paying the Price. thenation.com Trump Is Flailing, and the Country Is Paying the Price…
(2020-07-24). Op-Ed: Trump's closure of China's Houston consulate a desperate, boneheaded move. peoplesworld.org 
Yet again, my hometown finds itself at the center of controversy. Houston just can't catch a break. In a shocking, perplexing move, the Chinese Consulate-General there has been informed by the U.S. State Department it must close in a matter of days, with no warning and no reason given aside from a specious list of …
(2020-07-24). 'U.S. Chernobyl': Why the U.S. failed and China won against COVID-19. workers.org 
By Lee Siu Hin 李小轩 This slightly edited talk was given at the July 16 Workers World Party webinar, "Why We Defend China." The webinar can be viewed at tinyurl.com/yxbbpwwy/. Lee Siu Hin What's going on? In January 2020, several cases of viral pneumonia of unknown origin were detected in . . . |
(2020-07-24). 'Intelligence Loss': Chengdu Consulate Closure Will Frustrate US' Tibet, Xinjiang Espionage – Expert. sputniknews.com On Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry gave the US consulate in Chengdu, Szechuan, 72 hours to shut down in response to a similar notice about China's consulate in Houston, Texas. However, given Chengdu's proximity to Tibet and Xinjiang, two areas of China the US has sought to destabilize, the US suffered the greater loss, an expert told Sputnik.
(2020-07-24). European Shares Shrivel Amid US-China Consulate War. sputniknews.com China's Foreign Ministry ordered Washington to close down the US Consulate in the city of Chengdu, with the tit-for-tat move coming days after US officials moved to shutter the Chinese Consulate in Houston, Texas amid allegations that its employees were engaged in systemic espionage and theft of US intellectual property.
(2020-07-24). The Heat: China's historic mission to Mars. america.cgtn.com 
China launches a historic mission to explore the red planet. We will set our sights on the journey to Mars.
(2020-07-24). Kremlin rubbishes American suggestion that Moscow & Washington form anti-China alliance. rt.com 
President Vladimir Putin's spokesman has rejected an idea put forward by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that countries should team up against China. Moscow and Bejing have spent years building closer ties. | Speaking on Friday, Dmitry Peskov On July 23, Pompeo call…
(2020-07-24). 'Trump's not the first racist president': Charlamagne tha God tells Joe Biden to 'shut the f*** up forever'. rt.com 
Joe Biden was attempting to whitewash Donald Trump's predecessors when he called him the "first" racist president, black radio host Charlamagne tha God said, urging the Democratic candidate to "shut the f*** up forever." | Asked earlier this week about Trump's use of the term "China virus" to describe Covid-19, Biden responded: "We've had racists, and they've existed. They've tried to get elected president. He's the first one that has." | The statement earned the presidential hopeful the "Donkey of the Day" title on Thursday's episode of the Breakfast Club radio show and inspired a fiery rant from its host, wh…
(2020-07-24). US officials force entry into shuttered Chinese consulate in Houston soon after evicted staff left. rt.com 
American officials have broken into a former Chinese diplomatic facility in Texas, forcing their way in less than an hour after its staff vacated the building, which Washington ordered to close earlier this week. | Federal officials, some believed to be with the State Department, gained entry to the facility just before 5pm local time on Friday, using power tools to pry open a back door after failing to breach three different entrances, the Houston Chronicle reported. | CHINESE CONSULATE HOUSTON CLOSURE: U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security along with other law enforcement officials now standing guard…
(2020-07-24). Pompeo on Ungainly Cold War Mission to Europe. strategic-culture.org 
American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had a flying visit to Europe this week during which he wielded hostile jibes against China and Russia using anachronistic Cold War rhetoric. | It is obvious Washington is trying to divide the world into "us and them" with such polarizing policy. But this ungainly American policy is bound to fail because it does not match the realities of today's world. | Pompeo was in London on Monday and Tuesday, then Copenhagen on Wednesday from where he flew back to California to deliver a "major policy speech" on Thursday. The week's itinerary was dominated by Pompeo urging the "free…
(2020-07-24). Should China be Part of Arms Control Talks? strategic-culture.org 
In June 2020, Washington and Moscow resumed talks on renewing the New START Treaty limiting long-range nuclear weapons. If the treaty, due to expire in February 2021, is not prolonged or replaced, there are fears of a new global arms race breaking out. | (Click on the image to enlarge)…
(2020-07-24). Some are in super-yachts and others are clinging to drifting debris. mronline.org 
COVID-19 has exposed the lie that free markets can deliver healthcare for all, the fiction that unpaid care work isn't work, the delusion that we live in a post-racist world. We are all floating on the same sea, but some are in super-yachts and others clinging to drifting debris.
(2020-07-24). Homeland Security Justifies Invasion of Portland by Claiming Shields and Gas Masks are Weapons. mintpressnews.com DHS' Acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli claimed that defensive tools like Shields and Gas Masks were evidence that protesters were making "preparations for violence."
(2020-07-24). Marjorie Cohn on Portland Secret Police. fair.org 
Media…
(2020-07-24). Leaked FBI Documents Reveal Secret Program To Criminalize Social Media. therealnews.com 
Simply posting about your presence at a police brutality protest can be used to incriminate you and lead to your arrest. We speak to Portland residents on the ground about the influx of unmarked federal agents.
(2020-07-24). Uprising: Mass Protests Rock the Nation. counterpunch.org 
In an act of political desperation, President Donald Trump ordered a contingent of federal law-enforcement officers to impose order in Portland, OR. Under the direction of Attorney General Bill Barr, agents from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Bureau of Prisons were deployed to protect
(2020-07-24). From Portland to the World. mronline.org 
Since the end of May, demonstrators opposing police violence and white supremacy have thronged the streets of Portland, Oregon, clashing with law enforcement officers. Last week, aspiring autocrat Donald Trump escalated the situation by announcing that he would be sending federal agents around the country to assert his authority through acts of violence against protesters.
(2020-07-24). Portland's movement is fighting back! Defend Portland, Ore.! Defend People's Resistance! No Police State! workers.org 
Workers World Party Statement Despite the brutal attempt of the White House to crush the heroic Black Lives Matter movement by sending camouflaged federal agents — secret police — to Portland, Ore., Chicago and other U.S. cities, the movement and all who support it have been fighting back. The initial . . . |
(2020-07-24). Black protester ATTACKED while trying to stop mob taking down Portland courthouse fence (VIDEO). rt.com 
Protesters returned to the Justice Center in Portland for another night of orchestrated chaos on Thursday. Eyewitness footage from the scene captured the moment apparent Antifa members attacked a black protester calling for calm. | After repeated criticism of heavy-handed tactics, reportedly no police or federal agents were posted on the streets at the beginning of Thursday evening, instead remaining inside the courthouse and issuing repeated orders that protesters not target the exterior fence. | Despite this, several agitators in the crowd threw trash over and set it on fire at the fence, which quickly desce…
(2020-07-24). Oregon judge bans feds from arresting or using force against 'journalists & legal observers' at Portland protests. rt.com 
A judge has issued a temporary restraining order on federal agents deployed in Portland, ruling that they may not arrest, disperse or otherwise use force against reporters and legal observers covering ongoing protests there. | US District Court Judge Michael Simon
(2020-07-24). WATCH Portland protesters battling federal police to sound of Star Wars' Imperial March. rt.com 
Chaotic scenes outside Portland's federal courthouse were given a snarky soundtrack by a demonstrator who showed up to the fracas armed with a stereo. The city has seen nightly clashes between police and protesters. | Footage taken by New York Times correspondent Mike Baker shows activists and federal agents fighting over control of a fence guarding the building in downtown Portland, which has been under siege by demonstrators for nearly two months. | Protesters used projectiles and laser pointers against federal law enforcement tasked with protecting the courthouse, who in turn deployed tear gas to keep the m…
(2020-07-24). The COIN doctrine comes to Portland? nationofchange.org The president has also promised to deploy similar militarized police to other cities, claiming that those run by Democrats are somehow in the thrall of the 'radical left', despite the latter being among the most strident critics of the former.
(2020-07-24). Trump Uses Border Patrol to Implement Police State. progressive.org The same agents arresting protesters in Portland routinely terrorize immigrant communities.
(2020-07-24). 2020 Vision Will Show You What is True, if You Can Keep Your Sanity. counterpunch.org We've all been making jokes about how terrible 2020 has played out, but I think even those of us with a bit of an imagination for the absurd and ominous missed the mark as far as this ultimate level of governmental degeneracy we've been able to achieve. Dads backing up moms in Portland with leaf
(2020-07-24). Border Patrol Violently Assaults Civil Rights And Liberties. popularresistance.org In the past week, unidentified federal officers in camouflage fatigues, labeled only "police," abducted people off the streets of Portland in unmarked vehicles and threatened the "Wall of Moms" standing up for our Constitution. The administration later confirmed the unidentified officers were Border Patrol agents. | This blatant demonstration of unconstitutional authoritarianism is demonstrating to the entire country the cruel capabilities of the U.S. Border Patrol. For communities that have historically borne the brunt of Border Patrol's abuses — and still do — seeing these agents pose as a "secret f…
(2020-07-24). 18 Arrested for Vandalising Courthouse, Attacking Police in Portland. sputniknews.com WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The authorities have arrested 18 participants in nightly and often violent anti-police protests in Portland, Oregon, on charges ranging from assaulting federal officers to participating in attacks on a federal courthouse, the US Justice Department said in a press release.
(2020-07-24). Three Federal Agents Could Be 'Permanently Blinded' By Laser Attacks From Portland Protestors. sputniknews.com Demonstrations outside the courthouse in Portland have grown increasingly violent as the Trump administration sends in federal officers to crack down on the continuous nightly protests in the city.
(2020-07-24). Polling Shows Trump's Secret Police in Portland—and GOP Lawmaker Complicity—Could Have 2020 Consequences. commondreams.org MoveOn says voters are "fed up" with GOP senators from the battleground states of Arizona, Maine, and North Carolina "carrying water for him as he trundles toward authoritarianism." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-10518352781.jpg …
