Daily Archives: December 19, 2020

2020-12-19: News Headlines

Bernard D'Mello (2020-12-19). On some peremptory 'critiques' of India's Maoist movement. mronline.org Revolutions are very costly in terms of human lives and suffering, and so "we" are shocked that "you" radicals even consider them as options. And so "we" have to express "our" rejection and condemnation.

Tom Conway (2020-12-19). How Georgia voters are transforming America's future. nationofchange.org They want to help the new administration put America on the path to health and shared prosperity.

MEE staff (2020-12-19). Yemen's STC separatists join unity government against Houthis. middleeasteye.net Yemen's STC separatists join unity government against Houthis | Saudi Arabia has welcomed the deal to end infighting in the anti-Houthi coalition | Sat, 12/19/2020 – 09: 19 | The Yemeni government and separatist forces have struck power-sharing deal to focus on fight against Houthis (AFP) | Southern Yemeni separatists have agreed to join a new cabinet with the internationally recognised government, as part of…

Mehr News Agency (2020-12-19). Covid-19 in Iranian nurses' eyes. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Dec. 19 (MNA) — These pictures depict the coronavirus pandemic in the eyes of Iranian nurses, who have been coping with the lethal disease in the past months.

A Guest Author (2020-12-19). How long will Peru last? History weighs on today's events. workers.org By Sergio Rodriguez Gelfenstein The writer was the director of international relations in Venezuela's presidential office and the country's ambassador to Nicaragua. Currently, he is a guest professor at Shanghai University in China. This article was posted at sergioro07.blogspot.com on Nov. 13. Translation: Michael Otto. Mariategui's magazine, Amauta. Credit: Juan . . . |

Online News Editor (2020-12-19). The pandemic, complicating already vulnerable lives. laprensalatina.com By Noemí Jabois Beirut, Dec 19 (efe-epa).- The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated some of the most acute humanitarian crises on the planet, from the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, food shortages in the central Sahel and southern Africa to terror activity in the Chad Basin. It is not the virus itself wreaking havoc in these …

Holly Sheppard (2020-12-19). The Heat: China's economic goals. america.cgtn.com Senior Chinese policymakers meet to map out the nation's economic blueprint for 2021.

Hanh Nguyen (2020-12-19). Challenging patriarchal practices makes "House of Ho" more than just a Vietnamese Kardashians clone. salon.com Judy Ho spoke to Salon about abiding by her immigrant parents' expectations until a reality show let her break free…

WSWS (2020-12-19). Indiana steelworker Troy Allen, 45, dies while working at US Steel's Gary Works mill. wsws.org Both the United Steelworkers and US Steel are working to cover up the cause of death of 45-year-old steelworker Troy Allen, who passed away while working at US Steel's Gary Works mill on December 12.

Campaign for Free Speech (2020-12-19). UK 'Campaign for Free Speech' 12/12 – How & Why Free Speech Is Coming Under Attack. indybay.org An international panel in London was held to discuss the attack on free speech and how the Zionists are seeking to codify laws and rules that criticism of Israel is anti-semitism.

Direct Action Everywhere (2020-12-19). Saturday 1/9: Online Assembly: What Industrialization Means for Dairy Cows in China (and for us). indybay.org Online Zoom…

Jigang Wang, Chengchao Xu, Yin Kwan Wong, Nan Ma, Fu Long Liao, Tingliang Jiang, Youyou Tu (2020-12-19). [Correspondence] Triple artemisinin-based combination therapies for malaria: proceed with caution. thelancet.com Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) serve as the front-line treatment against malaria. Substantial evidence indicates that treatment failure of the 3-day ACT course in the Greater Mekong subregion (southeast Asia) is strongly linked to partner drug failure rather than artemisinin itself.1 Thus, ACTs remain fully efficacious with the appropriate partner drug.2 The fact that artemisinin is still highly efficacious is the underlying logic behind triple artemisinin-based combination therapies (TACTs).

Jan Philipp Bewersdorf, Alexa Siddon, Autumn DiAdamo, Amer M Zeidan (2020-12-19). [Clinical Picture] A complex karyotype and a genetic mutation in acute myeloid leukaemia. thelancet.com A 60-year old woman presented to the emergency department with a 2-day history of a painful, swollen left knee and a fever. She had a medical history of osteoarthritis, hypertension, and hyperlipidaemia.

Collective 20 (2020-12-19). The Iraq War Logs, The War on Whistleblowers, and Lessons Learned From a Decade of WikiLeaks Revelations. zcomm.org What did we learn from the Iraq War Logs?>

Ahmed Abdulkareem (2020-12-18). Mass Starvation Looms as Yemen's Currency Nears Historic Freefall. mintpressnews.com TAIZ, YEMEN- — Both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates seem to be doing everything in their power to prevent an end to the suffering in Yemen. Even those living in areas under the total control of the wealthy Gulf monarchies are facing levels of devastation that harken back to the total destruction of European cities during World War II. | With no functioning government to provide residents with even basic assistance and facing a collapsed economy amid a famine that could soon beset all of Yemen according to the United Nations, the collapse of Yemen's rial, particularly in Saudi-coalition-controlled a…

South Front (2020-12-18). Video: Israel Will Take Care of Gulf Monarchies. US Alliance against Iran. globalresearch.ca Finally, democracy is coming to the Persian Gulf. | Israel announced plans to deploy a joint missile defense system in the Persian Gulf as a part of a joint effort with US- and Israeli-allied monarchies to deter Iran. | The idea was …

Kollibri terre Sonnenblume (2020-12-18). Capitalism on a Ventilator. counterpunch.org Asian countries have been far more successful than the US in responding to the COVID pandemic, but you'd never know that from the US media. Even most alternative media has been largely US- & Euro-centric. While our domestic issues here are important, we have been missing out on important lessons from other places. A partial

RT (2020-12-18). WHO sending Covid-hunting team to Wuhan, China in January to probe origins of pandemic. rt.com Investigators from the World Health Organization (WHO) will head to China in January in a bid to unearth the origins of the coronavirus, officials said on Friday, more than a year after the first infections were reported there. | The United Nations health agency will send an international team of up to 15 scientists to Wuhan, the Chinese city where the coronavirus is first thought to have spread from a wet market. | The WHO's health emergencies chief, Dr Michael Ryan, said the researchers would travel to China in the first week of January, visiting Wuhan, which he said was the "purpose of the mission," as well…

Brett Wilkins, staff writer (2020-12-18). Investigative Reporting Details Massacres, Reign of Terror by US-Backed Death Squads in Afghanistan. commondreams.org The Americans, said the head of one provincial government, "step on all the rules of war, human rights, all the things they said they'd bring to Afghanistan," and are "conducting themselves as terrorists." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/nds.jpg

Workers World Party (2020-12-18). PDF of December 17 issue. workers.org Download the 12-page PDF. 'Red House on Mississippi Ave.' Portland activists block eviction Fight for Mumia's freedom; NYC cops & landlords, hand in hand; Boston solidarity with workers, farmers in India; Buffalo anti-racists face down fascists; Michigan: Confronting white supremacy; Justice for Casey Goodson! Attack on anti-ICE marchers; Indigenous land . . . |

Jessica Buxbaum (2020-12-18). Under Guise of Green Energy, Israel Entrenches Itself in Syria's Golan Heights. mintpressnews.com If Israeli energy firm Energix is successful, a sprawling complex of wind turbines will soon cover up to a quarter of the agricultural land still under the control of Syria's indigenous Golan residents.

Ricardo Vaz (2020-12-18). Venezuela: Oil Production Stagnant as Iran Deepens Cooperation. venezuelanalysis.com A fleet of Iranian fuel tankers is reportedly en route to the Caribbean nation.

Alan Macleod (2020-12-18). US Votes Against UN Resolution Condemning Nazis, Labels It "Russian Disinformation" mintpressnews.com This is far from the first time the US has voted against similar resolutions; it has done so every year since 2014, dismissing them as Russian attempts to delegitimize the Ukrainian government.

_____ (2020-12-18). How The Intifada Changed The Political Discourse Around Palestine. popularresistance.org December 8 came and went as if it was an ordinary day. For Palestinian political groups, it was another anniversary to be commemorated, however hastily. It was on this day, thirty-three years ago, that the First Palestinian Intifada (uprising) broke out, and there was nothing ordinary about this historic event. | Today, the uprising is merely viewed from a historic point of view, another opportunity to reflect and, perhaps, learn from a seemingly distant past. Whatever political context to the Intifada, it has evaporated over time. | The simple explanation of the Intifada goes as follows: Ordinary Palestinians at…

Shatha Hammad (2020-12-18). Israeli settlement hits Palestinian dreams and memories of Jerusalem airport. middleeasteye.net Israeli settlement hits Palestinian dreams and memories of Jerusalem airport | Construction near Palestinian village of Qalandiya has residents reminiscing about when they could still access Jerusalem International Airport | Fri, 12/18/2020 – 11: 32 | Raafat Awadallah, the head of the Qalandiya village council, points to lands that have been confiscated by Israel due to settlement construction and…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-12-18). Killing of 15-year-old by Israel is a "grave violation of international law", says UN human rights office. peoplesdispatch.org On December 4, Israeli occupation forces killed a 15-year-old Palestinian boy, Ali Abu Alia, during a protest in the occupied West Bank against the building of an illegal Israeli settlement…

John Clamp (2020-12-18). The Long, Long Road Home: the Afghan Refugee Crisis Enters Its Fifth Decade. counterpunch.org Fog. War. Afghanistan's refugees are, to repurpose the notorious phrase, a known unknown. The fog of war has filled the country's beautiful, fertile valleys for 40 years and counting. No census has been taken in Afghanistan since 1971 and no one really knows how many people reside in the country. Somewhere north of 35,000,000, people

Louis Yako (2020-12-18). Seagulls Without a Sea: Days at Internally Displaced Persons Camps in Iraq. counterpunch.org As we were leaving the camp, I wondered whether refugee camps are a sign of compassion towards displaced people, or are they signs of how far humans have gone in causing harm to each other? This question is as complicated and slippery as the lives of those forced to live in these hard and unforgiving spaces.

Chris Mullin (2020-12-18). Labour antisemitism: Why it has become impossible to criticise Israel. middleeasteye.net Labour antisemitism: Why it has become impossible to criticise Israel | Fri, 12/18/2020 – 21: 07 | Like Jeremy Corbyn, any British politician who condemns Israel's treatment of Palestinians risks being sucked into the vast, toxic sludge surrounding the issue of antisemitism | The day after Labour leader Keir Starmer

Areeb Ullah (2020-12-18). Pakistan returns $1bn to Saudi Arabia and turns to China for loan assistance. middleeasteye.net Pakistan returns $1bn to Saudi Arabia and turns to China for loan assistance | Cash-strapped Islamabad forced to return part of soft loan amid tensions with Riyadh | Fri, 12/18/2020 – 12: 04 | Pakistan had already made a billion-dollar payment in July and set to make a third payment next month (AFP) | Cash-strapped Pakistan has returned $1bn to Saudi Arabia as the second instalment of a $3bn soft loan, a…

Ali Harb (2020-12-18). Boycotting Israeli settlements is antisemitic, says US envoy. middleeasteye.net Boycotting Israeli settlements is antisemitic, says US envoy | Elan Carr, who was tasked by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to identify groups that support BDS, says hatred for Israel is 'hatred for the Jewish people' | Fri, 12/18/2020 – 22: 51 | US special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism says it is 'flatly wrong' to deny that Israel has right to West Bank (AFP/File photo) | Boycotting Israel's illegal We…

Kareem Chehayeb (2020-12-18). Macron's Covid-hit visit was never going to be the tonic Lebanon needs. middleeasteye.net Macron's Covid-hit visit was never going to be the tonic Lebanon needs | The president has had to cancel his trip to Beirut, but in truth his 'French initiative' grew sick long before he did | Fri, 12/18/2020 – 15: 55 | French President Emmanuel Macron (R) speaks with Arnaud Tranchant, commander of the Tonnerre helicopter carrier, off the port of Beirut (AFP) | For anyone believing the format…

Jeremy Kuzmarov (2020-12-18). This Book Turns Everything You Thought You Knew About North Korea Upside Down. asia-pacificresearch.com

teleSUR (2020-12-18). Thai Protesters Face Charges of Royal Insult. telesurenglish.net The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Friday expressed its concern about the use in the "Lèse Majesté Provision" of Thailand's criminal code against pro-democracy protesters. | RELATED: | "We are deeply troubled by the move by Thai authorities to charge at least 35 protesters," the OHCHR spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said, explaining that the offense carries sentences of between three and 15 years i…

Colin Todhunter (2020-12-18). Health and Wealth in India — Farmers' Lives Matter. globalresearch.ca To appreciate what is happening to agriculture and farmers in India, we must first understand how the development paradigm has been subverted. Development used to be about breaking with colonial exploitation and radically redefining power structures. Today, neoliberal dogma masquerades …

Lizet Ocampo (2020-12-18). Learning the Lessons of the Latino Vote. counterpunch.org Among the many lessons learned in this year's election, one standout is that Latino voter turnout showed the power of extensive, culturally competent voter education and outreach. And in Georgia, we will soon discover whether progressive candidates have learned these lessons well enough to prevail again. Two critical U.S. Senate runoffs present an opportunity for

Pavan Kulkarni (2020-12-18). Nurses strike at India's top government hospital restrained by High Court. peoplesdispatch.org The nurses' union at India's iconic institution, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, insists that arrears have been pending from as far back as 2006, while the hospital administration and government now say this claim is based on a misinterpretation…

Yanis Iqbal (2020-12-18). China's Rise in the Context of Global Capitalism. dissidentvoice.org The world-system is slowly changing. For the first time in capitalism's history, the global economy's centre of gravity is shifting away from the west — a process which is a result of Uneven and Combined Development (UCD). On the one hand, dominant states utilize imperialism to preserve existing uneven configurations of capitalist development which favour …

Thomas Klikauer — Nadine Campbell (2020-12-18). The "New" Corporation. counterpunch.org The corporation may well mean corpus or a body of people, yet these are not ordinary people just as corporations are not ordinary organisations. Historically, the archetype of an evil corporation remains the East India Company tasked to exploit British colonies and most the people who lived there. Such an old corporation was very much

The Canary (2020-12-18). Syrian refugee, 10, dreams of becoming a doctor after beginning new life in UK. thecanary.co A Syrian child refugee has said she hopes to become a doctor to "make people feel happy" after being given the chance of a new life in the UK. | A long journey: | Lilian, 10, came to live in Kent in 2018, having left her home country six years earlier amid a horrific civil war that still rages today. She was joined by parents Mahmoud and Khawla and siblings Laian, eight, Laith, five, and Wasef, four. | After a disrupted childhood in which the family spent six years in Jordan, Lilian told the PA news agency she feels settled in her new home and has high hopes for the future. She said: I am happy I'm sharing…

sputniknews (2020-12-18). Video: Eurofighter Typhoons Take Part in Qatar National Day Flyby. sputniknews.com On Friday morning, authorities in Doha conducted a military parade in celebration of the Qatar National Day. Multiple branches of the Qatari Armed Forces marched through the Corniche waterfront of the capital.

news.un (2020-12-18). Thailand: UN rights office deeply troubled by treason charges for protestors. news.un.org Thailand's decision to charge protestors with treason is deeply troubling, the UN Human Rights Office, OHCHR, said on Friday following the arrest of at least 35 activists, including a teenager, in recent weeks.

Ramzy Baroud (2020-12-17). When the People Rose: How the Intifada Changed the Political Discourse around Palestine. counterpunch.org December 8 came and went as if it was an ordinary day. For Palestinian political groups, it was another anniversary to be commemorated, however hastily. It was on this day, thirty-three years ago, that the First Palestinian Intifada (uprising) broke out, and there was nothing ordinary about this historic event. Today, the uprising is merely

Dean Baker (2020-12-17). China, Christmas, and the Coronavirus. cepr.net As we hunker down this holiday season, waiting for our vaccines, or at least until the diffusion of the vaccines has slowed the spread of the pandemic, it's worth thinking for a moment about an opportunity lost. Specifically, we lost an opportunity to have worldwide cooperation in the development of vaccines, bringing in not only …

Moazzam Begg (2020-12-17). Failure to Prosecute UK War Crimes in Iraq Exposes ICC's Own Failings. commondreams.org The court could have set a powerful precedent in holding Britain to account. Instead, it has become a laughing stock and few will be able to take it seriously again. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/brit.jpg

Peter Koenig (2020-12-17). China's Economy of Peace. dissidentvoice.org In the context of China's webinar on 14 December 2020, on the topic of "China's New Development Paradigm and High-Quality Belt and Road Cooperation", organized by the China Center for Contemporary World Studies, International Department of CPC Central Committee and the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China, my presentation was on China's …

Mustafa Abu Sneineh (2020-12-17). Israel's Benny Gantz gives interview to Saudi newspaper. middleeasteye.net Israel's Benny Gantz gives interview to Saudi newspaper | The minister of defence told Asharq al-Awsat that Jerusalem should remain fully under Israeli control and pushed for annexation of parts of the West Bank | Thu, 12/17/2020 – 15: 14 | Benny Gantz speaks to the media near Kibbutz Ravid in the northern part of Israel, on 27 October 2020 (AFP) | Israeli Defence Minister Benny G…

Mohammad Ayesh (2020-12-17). Arabic press review: Egypt, UAE say improvement in Saudi-Qatari relations 'not welcome'. middleeasteye.net Arabic press review: Egypt, UAE say improvement in Saudi-Qatari relations 'not welcome' | Meanwhile, British diplomat says UK 'very concerned about continuing tensions in the Gulf', and number of people held in Algerian prisons without legal basis now 'exceeds 20,000', says human rights group | Thu, 12/17/2020 – 16: 20 | Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed (L) and Egyptian President Abdel…

Umar A Farooq (2020-12-17). OIC widely criticised for failing to condemn China's persecution of Uighurs. middleeasteye.net OIC widely criticised for failing to condemn China's persecution of Uighurs | Rights and advocacy groups call on Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to demand accountability and transparency from Beijing | Thu, 12/17/2020 – 19: 55 | Despite protests from Uighurs outside China, many Muslim-majority countries have remained silent on China's rights violations (AFP/File photo) | A coalition of 150 orga…

Yossi Melman (2020-12-17). Meet the man Netanyahu has picked to lead Israel's Mossad. middleeasteye.net Meet the man Netanyahu has picked to lead Israel's Mossad | The man for now only identified as 'D' is heralded by the spy agency's establishment, and is likely to be more cautious than his predecessor | Thu, 12/17/2020 – 11: 36 | Image from a job advertisement put out by Mossad that appeared in Israeli newspapers in 2000 (AFP) | Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to appoint a man for now only known as "D"