(2020-08-23). 'Palestine is Still the Issue': UN Vote Exposes, Isolates Canada. zcomm.org Recent events at the United Nations have exposed the true nature of Canada's global position, particularly in the matter of its blind and unconditional support for Israel…
(2020-08-23). Nuclear Complacency and the Dangerous Drift Toward a New Cold War with China. zcomm.org For relations among states having nuclear weaponry, stability is achieved by relying on various forms of deterrence combined with the implementation of the nuclear apartheid regime…
(2020-08-23). US Threatens Fresh Sanctions Against Iran, JCPOA Members. peoplesdispatch.org The US withdrew from the JCPOA or the Iran nuclear deal in 2018. However, it is now trying to get sanctions imposed on Iran claiming violations of a deal it is not even part of…
(2020-08-23). If Trump Had Followed Vietnam's Lead on COVID, US Would Have Fewer Than 100 Dead. zcomm.org 35 percent of the entire U.S. labor force filed unemployment claims between March and August.
(2020-08-23). Tehran not allow others to manage IAEA-Iran relationship. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 23 (MNA) — Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Kazem Gharibabadi said that Tehran will not allow other countries to manage the IAEA-Iran relationship.
(2020-08-23). Iran registers 2,113 COVID-19 cases in 24 hours. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 23 (MNA) — The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has infected 2,113 people and claimed 141 lives in Iran in the past 24 hours, a senior health official said.
(2020-08-23). Promoting economic resilience axis of all gov't efforts. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 23 (MNA) — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that promoting economic resilience and implementing resistive economy policies have been the axis of all activities and efforts of the government.
(2020-08-23). S. Korea offers medical equipment for clearing debt to Iran. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 23 (MNA) — Hossein Tanhayi, head of the Iran-South Korea chamber of commerce said on Sunday that South Korea has made an offer to clear part of its $7.5-billion debt to Iran via selling medical equipment to the country.
(2020-08-23). Iran is Russia's strategic partner: Russian Defense Min. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 23 (MNA) — The Russian Defense Min. Sergey Shoygu referred to the join strategical, regional and international goals and interests between Tehran and Moscow, underlining the developing mutual defense cooperation between the two sides.
(2020-08-23). Indonesia reports 2,037 new coronavirus cases. yenisafak.com Indonesia reported 2,037 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, bringing its total tally to 153,535, data from the country's COVID-19 taskforce showed.The Southeast Asian country also added 86 new deaths on Sunday, taking the total number to 6,680, the highest COVID-19 death toll in Southeast Asia.
(2020-08-23). Kuwait to rebuild Lebanon's only large grain silo after blast. yenisafak.com Kuwait said it will rebuild Lebanon's only large grain silo that was destroyed by the massive Beirut port explosion, raising fears of food shortages in a country already in financial meltdown.The destruction of the 120,000-tonne capacity structure at the port, the main entry point for food imports, meant buyers must rely on smaller private storage facilities for their wheat purchases with no government reserves to fall back on.Kuwait's ambassador to Lebanon, Abdulaal al-Qenaie, said in comments to local radio VdL at the weekend that the silo was first built in 1969 with a Kuwaiti development loan.The Gulf monarch…
(2020-08-23). Lebanon's challenge: Prioritize reforms or keep peace. yenisafak.com More than two weeks after devastating explosion here, the situation in the Lebanese capital remains critical, with a pervasive culture of negligence, corruption and complacency by rulers becoming more visible.The destruction of the Port of Beirut on Aug. 4 left more than 170 dead, greater than 6,000 injured and 300,000, or 5% of residents homeless.Once considered the Paris of the Middle East, Beirut now looks like a scene from a horror movie, with collapsed buildings, unsurpassable roads and broken glasses scattered everywhere.The damage caused is estimated at more than $7 billion, equivalent to 14% of the countr…
(2020-08-23). Russia plans COVID-19 vaccine output at 6 mln doses a month. yenisafak.com Russia expects to produce between 1.5 million and 2 million doses per month of its potential COVID-19 vaccine by the year end, gradually ramping up production to 6 million doses a month, the RIA news agency cited industry minister Denis Manturov as saying on Sunday.Large-scale testing of the vaccine, developed by Moscow's Gamaleya institute, is due to start in Russia next week.
(2020-08-23). Saudi-led coalition intercepts rebel drone from Yemen. yenisafak.com The Saudi-led coalition said on Sunday it had intercepted an explosives-laden drone fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels towards Saudi Arabia.Coalition spokesman Col. Turki al-Maliki said the drone was shot down over Yemen, without giving any further details, according to the Saudi SPA news agency.On Saturday, the coalition said it had destroyed a bomb-laden drone ballistic missile fired by Houthi rebels towards the kingdom.Meanwhile, the Houthi group accused the Saudi-led coalition of dropping cluster bombs over the Bajil district in the western al-Hudaydah province.The news was carried by the Houthi-run Al-Masira tel…
(2020-08-23). Erdogan offers condolences to families of Turkey after deadly floods. yenisafak.com The Turkish president offered condolences to families of those who lost their lives in floods in the country's northeast.Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued directives to mobilize all means to heal the wounds of affected people and to take necessary steps to prevent such incidents from happening again, the Turkish Communications Directorate said in a statement.Erdogan also received information about the latest developments in the region and the status of search and rescue operation from Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu and Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli, who arrived at the scene.The death toll from fl…
(2020-08-22). Crushing US sanctions devastate Syria's people and post-war reconstruction. thegrayzone.com Leading Syria scholar Joshua Landis on how crippling US sanctions are devastating Syria's people and hindering post-war reconstruction. In a new article for Foreign Affairs, scholar Joshua Landis and former Obama administration official Steve Simon write that US sanctions on Syria "further immiserates the Syrian people, blocks reconstruction efforts, and strangles the economy that sustains …
(2020-08-22). New York lawmakers denounce DSA as antisemitic after group challenges junkets to Israel. mronline.org 
At the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) convention in 2017, the group endorsed the BDS movement by an overwhelming majority. That resolution asserted that "socialists have a responsibility to side with the oppressed and are committed to their unconditional liberation."
(2020-08-22). Israel Cuts Fuel, Gaza Goes Dark. popularresistance.org The Gaza Strip's only power plant shut down on Tuesday after Israel stopped the transfer of fuel to the territory. | The halting of fuel transfers is among a series of collective punishment measures Israel has imposed on Gaza. | Israel has claimed the measures are a response to incendiary balloons released from Gaza. The launching of such balloons by some Palestinians is, in reality, a symbolic effort to draw attention to the deteriorating situation in Gaza, long subject to an Israeli siege. | Although incendiary balloons caused several fires in Israel, "no injuries or damage have been reported," according to The…
(2020-08-22). Greece denying pushbacks despite evidence: Rights group. yenisafak.com In a recent interview with CNN, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis denied the accusations, saying: "They are an insult to the Greek Coast Guard that has saved tens of thousands of migrants and refugees."However, evidence and reports describing the abuses are too many to be ignored, Eva Cosse, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a report.Cosse, after interviewing victims and witnesses, said that Greek authorities have been seen forcibly pushing back migrants and asylum seekers from Rhodes, Samos, and Symi islands in small inflatable boats.A victim from Syria, who used the pseudonym of Marwan, describ…
(2020-08-22). US Smears Those Questioning Latest Claims vs. China. thealtworld.com 
The Coda Story — a media front funded and created by and for the US government, its "Atlanticist" partners, and the corporate interests driving the vast majority of Western foreign policy — recently ran a smear against alternative media figures questioning the US-led "Uyghur-Xinjiang" narrative. | The smear is part of a wider campaign aimed at anyone questioning Washington's Uyghur-Xinjiang narrative and the US' attempt to use it to undermine China. | These smears follow a very specific playbook. Step one — deny there is a terrorism problem in Xinjiang, China. Step two — cite reports based ent…
(2020-08-22). Global campaign frees Mahmoud Nawajaa. workers.org 
Mahmoud Nawajaa is free! An international campaign pressured Israel to release the general coordinator of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement from detention. Armed Israeli forces charged into Nawajaa's home near Ramallah in occupied Palestine on July 30 and brutally seized him. He was illegally held without charges until . . . |
(2020-08-22). Board of Britain's biggest Muslim charity resigns over posts calling Hamas 'great men' and Israel 'Zionist enemy'. rt.com 
The entire board of the biggest Muslim charity in Britain is set to resign following anti-Semitic social media posts by its director, who was already a replacement for a trustee who had also resigned over controversial comments. | Almoutaz Tayara, the board director of the charity Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) based in Birmingham, had posted on his Facebook page in 2014 and 2015 a cartoon that depicted former US president Barack Obama wearing the Star of David with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Assad of Syria on his lap, saying, "Death to America!" | Other posts called leaders of the Palestinian milit…
(2020-08-22). Belarus is being used as 'trampoline' to attack Russia, Lukashenko tells RT, amid post-election crisis. rt.com 
Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko says he and Vladimir Putin "agree" that the forces allegedly directing the ongoing political crisis in Belarus are aiming to attack Russia next. | "In Russia, I often see the media saying: 'Oh, in Belarus, in Belarus…' But it's happening right here, on the western border [of Russia]," Lukashenko told RT in the city of Grodno, where he spoke at a supporters' rally on Saturday. | "We're being pressured, hounded. Myself and Putin have agreed that they're hounding us here to jump on Russia later. It's a trampoline, and we must destroy it. It's an opinion we share with Pr…
(2020-08-22). Lukashenko calls Belarus protests 'Color Revolution,' accuses foreign countries of meddling. rt.com President Alexander Lukashenko has likened recent events in Belarus to color revolutions, saying protesters are trying to follow a similar, foreign-backed template to overthrow the government. | "Everything is clear. As we expected, everything is following the plan of color revolutions by whipping up domestic political tensions in the country," Lukashenko said. | The embattled leader, who has headed Belarus for 26 years, also accused foreign countries of interfering with its internal affairs and of seeking "regime change." | 'Color Revolution' is a term used to describe anti-government movements throughout the…
(2020-08-22). Belarusian opposition leader Tikhanovskaya to meet with senior US State Department official — says Lukashenko will 'have to leave'. rt.com 
Exiled Belarusian presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has revealed she will meet with US diplomat Stephen Biegun to discuss this month's disputed election, controversially awarded to incumbent Alexander Lukashenko. | She has also said Lukashenko "will have to leave" office. Tikhanovskaya's meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun will take place in Lithuania on Monday and focus on the current crisis in Belarus, prompted by the controversial presidential election, her team told Reuters on Saturday, during an online interview she was giving to the news agency. | "During the campaign, I…
(2020-08-22). Selfie boomstick: Kalashnikov unveils new SMART shotgun & 5.56 NATO rifle AK-19 (VIDEO). rt.com 
Ahead of the 'Army-2020' expo, Russian arms maker Kalashnikov unveiled a futuristic-looking shotgun, capable of connecting to smartphones and apparently even taking pictures. This is on top of their new 5.56 NATO-chambered rifle. | The new smooth-bore gun, the –ú– -155 Ultima, was unveiled by the concern ahead of the major arms forum, which will kick off on Sunday at Patriot Expo military theme park outside Moscow. | The weapon, based on the trusty semi-automatic MP-155 shotgun, features a display on its stock and, apparently, an under-barrel digital camera — at least the gun's options…
(2020-08-22). Half of Russians don't want to take world's first Covid-19 vaccine — only 42% willing to try Sputnik V. rt.com 
A majority of Russians don't want to be vaccinated against coronavirus, according to a brand-new survey, which showed only 42 percent of the country wants to be immunized with the homegrown 'Sputnik V' formula, unveiled last week. | On August 11, Russia's president Vladimir Putin announced that the country had registered the world's first Covid-19 vaccine. Developed by Moscow's Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, the vaccine will be available to the general public from January 2021, but is to be offered to teachers and medical workers first. The process of creating the vaccine has bee…
(2020-08-22). Catapulting Russian-Meddling Propaganda. strategic-culture.org 
The New York Times is leading the full-court press to improve on what it regards as Special Counsel Robert Mueller's weak-kneed effort to blame the Russians for giving us Donald Trump. | Ray MCGOVERN | The fresh orgy of anti-Russian invective in the lickspittle media (LSM) has the feel of fin de siècle. The last four reality-impaired years do seem as though they add up to a century. And no definitive fin is in sight, as long as most people don't know what's going on. | The LSM should be confronted: "At long last have you left no sense of decency?" But who would hear the question — much less any answer? The…
(2020-08-22). Palestine, Azerbaijan hail Turkey's natural gas find. yenisafak.com Palestine and Azerbaijan congratulated Turkey on Saturday for the discovery of major natural gas reserves in the Black Sea.Palestine's President Mahmoud Abbas congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call, Turkey's Communications Directorate said in a statement.He hailed Turkey's success as Palestine's success, while Erdogan reiterated Ankara's support for the Palestinian cause.The two leaders also discussed bilateral ties and regional developments, the statement said.Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov phoned his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu to congratulate him on the sig…
(2020-08-22). Former Green Beret arrested for selling classified info to Russia. nationofchange.org "According to the allegations, Mr. Debbins knowingly provided information to self-proclaimed members of Russia's Intelligence Service, the GRU."
(2020-08-22). Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific. wsws.org The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
(2020-08-22). Justice Department accuses Yale of discriminating against Asian American and white students. wsws.org The lawsuit is a cynical provocation by an administration that seeks to stir the pot of racial antagonisms.
(2020-08-22). The Biden campaign and the attempt to "rescue" American hegemony. wsws.org The factions of the state backing the Biden campaign have set out to "reclaim America's place in the world" by "getting tough" with Russia and China.
(2020-08-22). China & the US: 21st Century's "Great Game" zcomm.org The U.S. has dominated the Pacific Ocean—sometimes called an "American lake"—since the end of World War II. Suddenly Americans have a competitor, although it is a rivalry that routinely gets overblown.
(2020-08-22). The verdict on Rafik Hariri's assassination. peoplesdispatch.org The UN-backed International Special Tribunal for Lebanon said it found no evidence of Hezbollah or Syria's involvement in the 2005 assassination of Rafik Hariri. However, this verdict may not mark the end of the issue…
(2020-08-22). Special prosecutor appointed in the case of Hannah Fizer, unarmed Missouri woman slain by police. wsws.org Fizer's family has been stonewalled at every turn by investigators and police for more than two months.
(2020-08-22). First Person: Pakistan health worker commits to polio fight, despite COVID fears. news.un.org Despite suffering the after-effects of the COVID-19 virus, Husna Gul, a staff member with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Pakistan, is committed to ensuring that as many children as possible are vaccinated against the devastating consequences of polio, which can cause muscle-wasting, paralysis and death.
(2020-08-22). Seven protest leaders in Thailand arrested by police. wsws.org This week's state crackdown on the student leadership of mass protests that have swept across the country reveals the Thai ruling elite's fear of a broader movement.
(2020-08-22). Iran-Russia military coop. 'positive, progressive': Hatami. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 22 (MNA) — Iranian Minister of Defense Brigadier General Amir Hatami said that military cooperation between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation is 'positive and progressive'.
(2020-08-22). Iranian envoy warns on weakening UN position. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 22 (MNA) — The Iranian Ambassador to France warned about undermining and weakening the international status of the United Nation in international bodies.
(2020-08-22). Iran COVID-19 update: 126 deaths, 2,028 cases in 24 hours. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 22 (MNA) — The Iranian Health Ministry announced 2,028 new cases of infection with the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, putting the total number of cases in the country at 356,792.
(2020-08-22). Muharram mourning in Semnan. en.mehrnews.com SEMNAN, Aug. 22 (MNA) — Observing health protocols and social distancing due to coronavirus, people of the central Iranian city of Semnan attended the mourning ceremonies for Imam Hussein (PBUH) on the second night of Muharram.
(2020-08-22). IAEA chief to visit Tehran on Monday. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 22 (MNA) — Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi announced that he will visit Tehran on Monday to hold talks with Iranian officials.
(2020-08-22). Armed Forces ready to nip any threat in bud. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 22 (MNA) — Commander of the Iranian Army Ground Force Brigadier General Kiomars Heidari highlighted the readiness of the Iranian Armed Forces to counter any threat.
(2020-08-22). Trump facing sharp drop in popularity: Vaezi. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 22 (MNA) — Iranian President's Chief of Staff Mahmoud Vaezi said that Trump is facing a sharp drop in popularity and approval in the last months of his administration.
(2020-08-22). US troops to withdraw from Camp Taji on Sunday: report. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 23 (MNA) — Iraqi sources announced that US troops will evacuate Camp Taji in northern Baghdad on Sunday.
(2020-08-22). Islamic Revolution lovers' presence in Syria defeated US. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 22 (MNA) — Deputy Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said that the defeat of the US and its allies in Syria is due to the presence of the lovers of the Islamic Revolution.
(2020-08-22). Reckoning With Labor Law's Racist Roots. popularresistance.org The maintenance of the racist Southern plantation system was the driving force behind the "compromise" struck by President Roosevelt and the Southern Democrats to exclude agricultural laborers from labor protections. In congressional debates this was clearly articulated. Representative Wilcox of Florida extolled, "You cannot put the Negro and the white man on the same basis and get away with it…" and Representative Cox of Georgia agreed, saying that it would be "dangerous beyond conception" to eliminate racial and social distinctions. Bargaining away racial equality, President Roosevelt and his coalition exclud…
(2020-08-22). Photo: China's Final Type 055 Destroyer Spotted Preparing for Possible Launch. sputniknews.com New reports from Chinese social media platforms Weibo and WeChat reveal that Beijing's eighth and final Type 055 destroyer may be ready for launch soon, as the stealth guided-missile destroyer was spotted receiving a new paint job at a Dalian shipyard.
(2020-08-22). COVID Dampens Ganesha Festivities: Idol Sculptors Left in Lurch Over Celebration Curbs in India. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): Drenched in a glorious past and cloaked with traditions and culture, festivals showcase the spirit of the Indian way of life. As celebrations and reminders of India's secularity, its 1.35 billion people get together in at least 36 annual festivals, most of which begin after Ganesha Chaturthi.