(2020-08-06). Iran sends aid to Lebanon over explosion at Beirut port. yenisafak.com The devastating tragedy in Beirut on Tuesday has drawn tremendous outpouring of shock and grief around the world with many countries, including Iran, coming forward with offers of help.Iran, one of Lebanon's key allies in the region, dispatched the second shipment of humanitarian aid to Beirut on Thursday, following the first shipment late on Wednesday.The consignment of humanitarian aid includes mainly food and medical supplies, said Mohammad Baqer Mohammadi, the deputy head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS).Iran has also set up a field hospital in Beirut and sent a 37-member medical team comprising gen…
(2020-08-06). EU to mobilize over ‚Ǩ33 million to support Lebanon. yenisafak.com The European Union is mobilizing over ‚Ǩ33 million for Lebanon after Tuesday's deadly explosion at Beirut's port, the head of the EU Commission told Lebanon's premier over the phone on Thursday.According to a readout of the phone call issued by the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen told Hassan Diab the bloc will provide further support depending on the ongoing humanitarian needs assessment.The EU's long-term support to help with the city's reconstruction also discussed during the phone call.The 27-member bloc Wednesday announced that it activated its "Civil Protection Mechanism" and send…
(2020-08-06). The American Narrative of Hiroshima is a Statue that Must be Toppled. counterpunch.org 
In August 1945, the United States attacked two cities in Japan with nuclear weapons in the last days of World War Two. The US used weapons of mass destruction against a primarily civilian population, instantly killing over 100,000 human beings, with tens of thousands of wounded and irradiated people who would die in the subsequent
(2020-08-06). Seeking peace on the Korean Peninsula. mronline.org 
Although the date drew little notice in the U.S. media, July 27, 2020 marked the 67th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice Agreement, an agreement that ended the fighting but not the war between the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea).
(2020-08-06). Suffrage: The Myth of Sisterphus. counterpunch.org 
"The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her." — The Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments, 1848 Woman is the nigger of the world Yes, she is If you don't believe me, take
(2020-08-06). Israel demolishes multiple Palestinian-owned buildings in occupied territories. peoplesdispatch.org A spate of illegal demolitions were carried out by the Israeli army on August 5, Wednesday, in the occupied territories of West Bank and East Jerusalem. Since Tuesday, Israeli authorities have destroyed three Palestinian homes, a barbershop and various unspecified structures on a large tract of land near an illegal Israeli settlement, as well as a number of animal shelters. | Khaled Abu Tayeh, a member of the Committee for the Defense of Silwan Land in occupied East Jerusalem, said that Israeli police and Jerusalem municipality staff escorted bulldozers into the Ein al-Lowza area of Silwan to carry out demolition…
(2020-08-06). End the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement. dissidentvoice.org On Sunday a demonstration is planned in Montréal against the Canada Israel Free Trade Agreement (CIFTA). Under the banner "Against Israel's annexation of the Jordan Valley. No to the Canada Israel Free Trade Agreement!", the march is seeking to politicize CIFTA amidst Israel's plan to formally annex parts of the West Bank. The march follows …
(2020-08-06). Coronavirus claims another 174 lives in Iran. yenisafak.com A total of 2,634 people tested positive for COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, raising the tally to 320,117, according to ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari.She said more than 277,000 patients have recovered so far, while 4,156 are still hospitalized in critical condition. "Over 2.6 million tests have been conducted in Iran to date," Lari added.The surge in daily fatalities has increased the fears of a collapse of Iran's already overwhelmed health care system.Since appearing in China last December, the virus has spread to at least 188 countries and regions, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins U…
(2020-08-06). 'India not releasing jailed critics despite virus risk'. yenisafak.com India is among several countries where human rights defenders and activists imprisoned for criticizing the government have been kept in jail despite the risk of COVID-19, Amnesty International said in a report released on Thursday.The new briefing, Daring to Stand up for Human Rights in a Pandemic, states that India is one of the countries that has "left prisoners of conscience to languish in appalling conditions despite widely publicized prisoner release programs."According to the report, 131 people who speak up for human rights have been harassed, prosecuted, killed, or imprisoned on COVID-19-related pretexts i…
(2020-08-06). Two Palestinians contract coronavirus in Israeli prisons. yenisafak.com Two more Palestinian detainees have been infected with coronavirus in Israeli prisons in Ramallah, occupied West Bank. In a statement Thursday, the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS), a non-governmental organization, said: "The administration of the Israeli prison of Ofer — western Ramallah — announced that Naim Abu Turki, 38, has been infected with coronavirus."Abu Turki, arrested at his home in Hebron, has been under detention for the last four days. The PPS warned of further spread of coronavirus among the Palestinian prisoners. | Earlier in the day, the Palestinian Authority Prisoners' Affairs Com…
(2020-08-06). Capacity to confront blast impact 'limited': Lebanon. yenisafak.com Lebanon's financial capacity to deal with the impact of the port warehouse explosion is "very limited," the country's economy minister said Thursday. | Raoul Nehme told a TV channel that damages of the devastating explosion, which killed at least 137 people and injured about 5,000 others in the capital Beirut on Tuesday, are estimated to be in billions of dollars. | "The capacity of the state is very limited, and so is that of the central bank and the banks," he said. "Grain silos [structures for storing bulk materials] have been completely destroyed, and we need time to evaluate the damages." | The Port of Beiru…
(2020-08-06). French president urges to prioritize aid to Lebanon. yenisafak.com French President Emmanuel Macron stressed on Thursday to prioritize aids for blast-hit Lebanon without any condition.Following his arrival in Beirut, Lebanon's capital, Macron met with his Lebanese counterpart Michel Aoun and the two leaders visited the site of massive explosion at the Port of Beirut.Macron said: "Lebanon is not alone … and we are fully aware that Lebanon's crisis is massive."He also vowed to secure and coordinate international aid to Lebanon, including medical supplies and medicine.The massive blast that rocked the Port of Beirut on Tuesday has left so far at least 135 dead and around 5,000 in…
(2020-08-06). It's advantage Rajapaksa brothers as counting begins in Sri Lanka parliamentary polls. peoplesdispatch.org President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's older brother, 74-year-old Mahinda Rajapaksa is predicted to lead his party, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), to victory in the elections. The results will be announced late on Thursday…
(2020-08-06). A Lethal Traffic Stop in Georgia. thenation.com A Lethal Traffic Stop in Georgia…
(2020-08-05). Backed by Millions from Pro-Israel Interests, Antone Melton-Meaux Takes Aim at Ilhan Omar. mintpressnews.com 
A little-known union-busting attorney from Minnesota is raking in millions in campaign donations, mostly from out of state, in his attempt to unseat anti-war Rep. Ilhan Omar.
(2020-08-05). 5 August 2019: The Kashmir Conflict and the Aksai Chin Border Clash, A Dark Day for India-China Relations. globalresearch.ca Most observers at the time regarded India's de-facto annexation of Jammu & Kashmir on 5 August 2019 as being a defining moment for either India's internal affairs or Indian-Pakistani relations, but in reality it was a defining one for Indo-Sino …
(2020-08-05). Headlines for August 5, 2020. democracynow.org Massive Explosion Tears Through Beirut, Leaving Hundreds Missing and Thousands Injured, Lebanon's PM Says 2,700 Tons of Ammonium Nitrate Sparked "National Catastrophe" in Beirut, Mississippi Becomes Biggest U.S. Coronavirus Hot Spot as Governor Mandates Masks, Georgia Prisoners Livestream Video From Prison Uprising Amid Coronavirus Outbreak, Chicago Schools Cancel September Classes as Union Threatens Strike Over Coronavirus Safety, U.N. Warns Coronavirus School Closures Have Impacted Over One Billion Students, Brazil COVID-19 Deaths Approach 100,000 as Infections Surge in India, Black Lives Matter & Ferguson Acti…
(2020-08-05). Beirut Blast a Deadly Blow to Lebanon's Already Shattered Economy. mintpressnews.com 
With Lebanon already suffering from a food crisis, currency collapse, and economic sanctions, the devastating explosion at Beirut's biggest port may be a death knell for the country's economy.
(2020-08-05). Journalist Rami Khouri: Beirut Explosion Follows Years of Lebanese Gov't Incompetence & Corruption. democracynow.org 
The explosion in the port of Beirut, which killed at least 100 people and injured about 4,000 others, is the latest blow to Lebanon, which already faces an economic, political and public health crisis amid the coronavirus pandemic. The blast is believed to have been triggered by 2,700 tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate inexplicably left unattended in a warehouse for six years. Journalist Rami Khouri says it's further proof of "the cumulative incompetence, corruption, lassitude, amateurism and uncaring attitude by successive Lebanese governments" that have failed the country. "It's the ruling political elit…
(2020-08-05). "Despair and Destruction": Doctor in Beirut Describes Harrowing Scenes After Massive Port Explosion. democracynow.org 
As Beirut reels from a massive explosion that killed at least 100 people and injured thousands, we get an on-the-ground update from pediatrician and writer Dr. Seema Jilani, who treated her own daughter for injuries after the blast. "It was extremely packed because we're just coming out of a four-day lockdown," says Jilani. "Everybody was out." Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab called the explosion a "national catastrophe."
(2020-08-05). Apartheid or One State: Has Jordan Broken a Political Taboo? dissidentvoice.org What will it take for the idea of a two-state solution, which was hardly practical to begin with, to be completely abandoned? Every realistic assessment of the situation on the ground indicates, with palpable clarity, that there can never be a viable Palestinian state in parts of the West Bank and Gaza. Politically, the idea …
(2020-08-05). Trump Has A Path To Victory. It's Voter Suppression. therealnews.com 
The real threat facing the 2020 election isn't Russian interference or voter fraud, it's the GOP's massive voter suppression effort, argues journalist Greg Palast.
(2020-08-05). Iran's shipment of humanitarian aid to Lebanon. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 05 (MNA) — Iranian Red Crescent Society sent 95 tons of food and medicine to Beirut from Mehrabad Airport on Wednesday evening.
(2020-08-05). Iran to send 2000 humanitarian packs to Beirut. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 05 (MNA) — "2,000 packages weighing 9 tons of food, as well as medicine and medical supplies, will be sent to Lebanon by IRCS", Iranian Red Crescent Society spokesman announced.
(2020-08-05). John Pilger: Another Hiroshima is Coming — Unless We Stop It Now. strategic-culture.org Hiroshima and Nagasaki were acts of premeditated mass murder unleashing a weapon of intrinsic criminality. It was justified by lies that form the bedrock of 21st century U.S. war propaganda, casting a new enemy, and target — China. | John PILGER | When I first went to Hiroshima in 1967, the shadow on the steps was still there. It was an almost perfect impression of a human being at ease: legs splayed, back bent, one hand by her side as she sat waiting for a bank to open. | At a quarter past eight on the morning of August 6, 1945, she and her silhouette were burned into the granite. | I stared at the shadow…
(2020-08-05). Turkey 'neutralized' more than 100 terrorists in July. yenisafak.com Turkish security forces "neutralized" more than 100 terrorists in July, a government official said on Wednesday.Speaking at a monthly news briefing, Turkish Interior Ministry spokesman Ismail Catakli said the country "neutralized" 105 terrorists, including 80 PKK/KCK, 23 Daesh/ISIS, two leftist terror group members.Catakli added that five of them were on the gray category of the Interior Ministry's wanted terrorists list with up to a bounty of 500,000 Turkish liras ($71,246) on each head.The wanted list is divided into five color-coded categories, with red as the most wanted, followed by blue, green, orange and g…
(2020-08-05). U.S. Cold War China Policy Will Isolate the U.S, Not China. counterpunch.org Tensions between the United States and China are rising as the U.S. election nears, with tit-for-tat consulate closures, new U.S. sanctions and no less than three U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups prowling the seas around China. But it is the United States that has initiated each new escalation in U.S.-China relations. China's responses have been
(2020-08-05). Explosion Rocks Beirut; Trump Defies SCOTUS, GOP Stimulus Failure. sputniknews.com Lebanon's capital of Beirut is reeling from an explosion on Tuesday that killed more than 135 people, injured thousands more and left the economy crippled. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump continues to push against a Supreme Court ruling on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, making life harder on immigrants.
(2020-08-05). Why is the US Funding Protesters to Attack Thailand's Military and Monarchy? thealtworld.com 
And why is the Western media pretending the US isn't funding them? | The Southeast Asian nation of Thailand has in recent years "tilted" too far toward China for Washington's liking. | Now, the familiar signs of US-backed covert regime change are evident in Thailand's streets. Protests are openly targeting Thailand's current government as well as its military and constitutional monarchy. Protests are similar to US-backed unrest seen recently in Hong Kong and are becoming more frequent despite their poor attendance and an overall protest-weary public. | Despite the superficial and deliberately ambiguous stated goa…
(2020-08-05). Do Hundreds of UN Resolutions Prove the United Nations has an Anti-Israel Bias? mintpressnews.com 
Palestine has been a prominent UN topic since 1949 and has been the subject of at least seven hundred resolutions, but does that mean the UN has it out for Israel as many of its supporters claim?
(2020-08-05). Israel Hits Beirut with Nuclear Missile, Trump and Lebanese Govt. Confirm (continually updating). thealtworld.com 
Trump confirms this was a bombing, not an accident and is immediately scourged by pro-Israel press…starting with the Daily Beast | #Breaking #Syria President Assad orders all borders and ports in the country open to #Lebanon, orders caravans of ambulances to head to #Beirut and ferry injured to hospitals in #Damascus, and launches an air bridge of medical and food supplies between the two cities | Israeli Delilah missile carrying 6 kiloton (6000 tons of TNT equivalent) nuclear missile (unretouched photo via VT Damascus) Ti…
(2020-08-05). ATOMIC BOMBINGS AT 75: The Decision to Drop the Bomb on Japan and the Genesis of the Cold War. thealtworld.com 
The head of the Manhattan Project said, "The purpose of the whole project was to subdue the …
(2020-08-05). Sen. Sherrod Brown Talks With Ohio Mother Facing Water Shutoff. therealnews.com 
The woman says she and other working people face trauma every day, with little help from the federal government.
(2020-08-05). Workers World Party salutes Fidel Agcaoili. workers.org 
Fidel Agcaoili Workers World Party sends its deepest condolences and firm solidarity to the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, the Communist Party of the Philippines and the world proletarian movement on the death of an extraordinary Filipino revolutionary, Fidel Agcaoili, on July 23. Fidel's deep, lifelong dedication to organizing . . . |
(2020-08-05). The Heat: China-U.S. relations take another hit. america.cgtn.com 
China and U.S. relations take another hit after President Trump threatens to shut down TikTok. | What is driving Washington's attacks on Beijing?
(2020-08-05). Cyprus ready to help EU 'fill E. Mediterranean power vacuum' amid alleged US disengagement. rt.com 
The European Union must do more to fill a power void in the eastern Mediterranean brought on by a perceived US disengagement from the region, Cyprus' foreign minister said on Wednesday. The island nation is ready to host an EU task force to achieve that goal, AP quoted Nikos Christodoulides as saying. | The EU has so far failed to use its ample "soft power" to position itself as the leading player in a region fraught with problems such as terrorism and illegal immigration, the minister said. | The bloc should pursue a more muscular policy, with a larger military footprint in the region, the diplomat noted, lau…
(2020-08-05). Israeli military sets up coronavirus task force 'to cut chain of infection'. rt.com 
The Israeli military said on Wednesday it was establishing a coronavirus task force aimed at cutting the chain of infection in the country. The new force will begin operating next week and will connect all the different bodies under one umbrella. | The unit, headed by a brigadier general, will operate a sampling center, a quarantine center, recovery hotels, an evaluation complex, and an epidemiological investigations center, AP reports. | The Defense Ministry has long advocated utilizing the military's vast infrastructure and resources to combat the spread of the virus but has been rebuffed until now because o…
(2020-08-05). Lebanon ARRESTS ALL port officials as images are thought to reveal the poorly stored ammonium nitrate which blew up Beirut. rt.com 
After a colossal port explosion rocked the capital city of Beirut, the Lebanese government has decided to put all officials who oversaw storage and security there since 2014 under house arrest, until investigations are complete. | The country's Information Minister Manal Abdelsamad said the military will oversee their confinement, until all those responsible among the suspects are found. The port officials will be put under arrest "as soon as possible," according to Abdelsamad, and the whole procedure is expected to be finished "within the next five days." It is unclear as yet how many people are going to be a…
(2020-08-05). Polling suggests 'regime change' in Russia would lead to far-right or Communist Kremlin, pro-Western liberals have no support. rt.com 
One of the great mysteries in US/UK analysis of Russia is the apparently almost universally accepted belief that the implosion of Putin's system would somehow gift Moscow 'back' to the West, resetting the clock to the 1990s. | The general consensus seems to be that Russians are secretly bursting with desire for 'freedom,' counting down the days until they can re-embrace Uncle Sam. Never mind the fact that even Boris Yeltsin's pro-American administration became increasingly disillusioned with Washington during his second term in the Kremlin. And, most famously, Yevgeny Primakov, then prime minister, turned his…
(2020-08-05). Former acting AG Yates says she signed bogus FISA requests to spy on Trump campaign because it's not her job to do fact-checking. rt.com 
Former acting attorney general Sally Yates continued clinging to the possibility that President Donald Trump colluded with Russia to get elected in 2016, testifying in the Senate that she couldn't opine on whether he's guilty. | Asked on Wednesday by Louisiana Republican John Kennedy whether Trump violated the law by somehow colluding with Russia, Yates said the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller found
(2020-08-05). After a lifetime of discrimination older women slip into poverty. greenleft.org.au 
(2020-08-05). Bangkok Political Unrest. Is the US Funding Protesters to Attack Thailand's Military and Monarchy? globalresearch.ca The Southeast Asian nation of Thailand has in recent years "tilted" too far toward China for Washington's liking. | Now, the familiar signs of US-backed covert regime change are evident in Thailand's streets. Protests are openly targeting Thailand's current government as …
(2020-08-05). US War on Chinese Enterprises. globalresearch.ca US war on China's rising prominence on the world stage is a bipartisan affair. | It won't likely miss a beat if Biden succeeds Trump in January. | US hostility toward China by Republicans and Dems differs only or largely in style …
(2020-08-05). Devastating Beirut Explosion: An Accident or Something More Sinister? globalresearch.ca On Tuesday, a massive explosion rocked Beirut, Lebanon's port area. | Scores were killed, thousands wounded, dozens of people missing, along with widespread destruction and damage. | According to Lebanese authorities, around 2,700 tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate were stored in …
(2020-08-05). "People of Kashmir are living in shock" peoplesdispatch.org In 2019, India's ruling BJP finally enacted what what its fascistic ideological parent, the RSS, had wanted 66 years beforehand – the abrogation of special status of Jammu and Kashmir. Communist leader M.Y. Tarigami talks about the past year…
(2020-08-05). US imposes new sanctions on China over alleged Uyghur abuses. wsws.org US propaganda now includes allegations of Uyghur "genocide," based on sensational accounts of forced birth control and the sterilization of Uyghur women in Xinjiang province.
(2020-08-05). Independent rights experts call on India to remedy 'alarming' situation in Jammu and Kashmir. news.un.org UN-appointed independent human rights experts have called for urgent action in India's Jammu and Kashmir, amid concerns of ongoing abuses against civilians there.
(2020-08-05). In Kashmir, India's policies echo Israeli atrocities. peoplesdispatch.org A year after the abrogation of Kashmir's special status and the imposition of a harsh lockdown, the parallels between India's policies and that of Israel are all the more stark…
(2020-08-05). What has changed since Kashmir's special status was revoked? peoplesdispatch.org It has been one year since the far-right Indian government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party revoked the special status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The last one year has been described by the people of Kashmir as one of utter distress and helplessness.
(2020-08-05). Kashmir, India and Human Rights. globalresearch.ca It is one year since the Indian government revoked article 370 of their constitution, thus rendering Kashmir an oppressed colony of India. This is not to imply that Kashmiris enjoyed any semblance of independence prior to August 5 of 2019, …