Daily Archives: December 20, 2020

2020-12-20: News Headlines

Tiago Correia (2020-12-20). Elderly 110 lb. woman shot and killed by jail guard in Spokane, Wa. liberationnews.org "We demand justice for Nancy King, which begins with a thorough and independent investigation and by jailing killer cops."

Aaron Maté (2020-12-20). Ex-UK Ambassador: war on Syria continues with US occupation, sanctions, propaganda. thegrayzone.com Peter Ford, the former UK Ambassador to Syria, on how the US and its allies continue to wage war on Syria via sadistic sanctions, an illegal US military occupation, the OPCW cover-up, and media propaganda that masks the brutality. Syria and its allies prevented regime change, but the US and its allies are continuing to squeeze Syria's population with crippling sanctions on all aspects of civilian life and a US military occupation in Syria's northeast breadbasket. Peter Ford, the former …

Online News Editor (2020-12-20). 'Predator' keeps Malaysian public safe from Covid-19. laprensalatina.com Dressed as movie character Predator, Mohd Nor Hisham Awang Nong has been handing out Covid-19 face masks and stopping to have his photo taken with captivated children and adults around the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur. Hisham, who lost most of the sight in his right eye in 2016 and was forced to retire as …

South Front (2020-12-20). Video: Is Israel Searching for A Pretext to Invade Southern Syria? globalresearch.ca The Russian military and Russian-backed Syrian forces have been increasing their presence on the border with Iraq. | Less than a week ago, the Russian Military Police established a local HQ in al-Bukamal. Recently, the 5th Corps of the Syrian Army, …

Juan Cole (2020-12-20). Everyday War Crimes: Israeli PM Netanyahu Gets Covid Vaccine, Squatters Get Vaccine, But Not Occupied Palestinians. commondreams.org Vaccines will be supplied to the hundreds of thousands of government-backed illegal Israeli squatters on Palestinian land in the West Bank, but not to the indigenous Palestinian population. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/netanyahu_7.jpg

Mehr News Agency (2020-12-20). Iran COVID-19 update: 6,312 new cases, 177 deaths. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Dec. 20 (MNA) — The Iranian Health Ministry has confirmed 6,312 COVID-19 infections and 177 deaths due to respiratory disease in the past 24 hours.

Fight Back (2020-12-20). Solidarity with the Russian Communist Workers Party. fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following solidarity statement from Freedom Road Socialist Organization to the Russian Communist Workers Party. | To: Russian Communist Workers Party | From: Freedom Road Socialist Organization | Dear Comrades, | Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) stands in solidarity with you, and we condemn the cowardly attack that was carried out by the authorities of Tyumen at the November 7 event to mark the 103rd anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution. | We are particularly angered by the police assault on the First Secretary of the Tyumen Regional Committee…

Brian Berletic (2020-12-20). Russia's Hypersonic 'Zircon' Missile Takes Flight. "Can't Be Seen on Radar". Strategic Implications. globalresearch.ca Russian state media reported a successful test flight of its new hypersonic missile, the Zircon. Flying at Mach 8 (8 times the speed of sound or around 10,000 kph), the missile poses a new and credible threat to the air …

Nataliya Zaiser (2020-12-20). It's Time for Africa: Assessing Russia's Relations with the Continent. globalresearch.ca A Moscow-based public policy advisor specializing in Russia, the Eurasian Union and Africa explains some of the aspects of current Russia-Africa relations, problems and challenges, as well as its future perspectives. While over the past two decades, Russia's efforts to …

Akhilesh Pandey (2020-12-20). "This Is the Time to Unite": Trade Unions, Labourers Support the Farmers' Protest. asia-pacificresearch.com

Direct Action Everywhere (2020-12-20). Saturday 1/9: Online Assembly: What Industrialization Means for Dairy Cows in China (and for us). indybay.org Online Zoom…

Campaign for Free Speech (2020-12-20). 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.

_____ (2020-12-20). Proponents Of Forever War In Syria Can't Answer One Question. popularresistance.org Before Robert Gates stepped down as secretary of defense after a five-year tenure, the veteran national security hand offered one more piece of wisdom to impart. Speaking to a roomful of Army cadets at West Point in February 2011, Gates made the pointed but astute observation that the U.S. military needed another Iraq and Afghanistan-like conflict like it needed a hole in the head. "In my opinion," the outgoing SecDef advised that day, "any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should 'have his head examined,' as Gener…

Benjamin Barber (2020-12-20). 'Deep Canvassing' Targets Rural Georgia. zcomm.org "I think the one thing that we've learned is that it's important to connect with people's most immediate conditions"

Sonali Kolhatkar (2020-12-20). Millions of India's Farmers Are in a Fight for Their Economic Lives. zcomm.org India's Hindu fundamentalist government has pushed through a deregulatory agenda for years. Now it has taken on farmers who have nothing left to lose and who are refusing to back down.

WSWS (2020-12-19). Indiana auto parts workers support call for nationwide political general strike. wsws.org The Rank-and-File Safety Committee at the Faurecia Gladstone plant in Columbus, Indiana, has issued a statement endorsing the Socialist Equality Party call for a shutdown of non-essential production to save lives.

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.

RT (2020-12-19). Bugs for the poor, lab steaks for the rich? Vat-grown chicken meat makes debut in first-ever sale at posh Singapore restaurant. rt.com Commercial cultured meat has made its global market debut after climate-conscious teens got served premium-priced nuggets made from vat-grown chicken meat at a luxurious Singapore restaurant. | On Saturday evening, the 1880 restaurant in Robertson Quay, a posh entertainment district in Singapore, began serving a special kind of dish. The diners were served what are basically chicken nuggets, but not a single chick died for them. The meat was cultured from chicken muscle cells in a lab and, according to the supplying company, previews a titanic change in the global food industry. | Current agriculture technolog…

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 . . . |

MEE and agencies (2020-12-19). Palestinians left waiting as Israel rolls out Covid-19 vaccine jab. middleeasteye.net Palestinians left waiting as Israel rolls out Covid-19 vaccine jab | The national vaccination campaign will include Jewish settlers living in the occupied West Bank but exclude millions of Palestinians | Sat, 12/19/2020 – 23: 15 | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu receives a coronavirus vaccine at the Sheba Medical Center (AFP) | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a…

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.

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…

Dean Baker (2020-12-19). Helping the NYT Understand Its Reporting: China's Coverup Was Not the Cause of the Worldwide Spread of the Coronavirus. cepr.net The NYT had a very interesting piece on efforts by China's government to conceal and downplay the threat posed by the coronavirus. The piece reports on a number of Chinese government documents and directives that sought to minimize the threat posed by the pandemic. However the paper seriously misrepresents the meaning of its research, telling …

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…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-12-19). Arrest of peasant leaders sparks outrage in Colombia. peoplesdispatch.org In this episode of Around the World in 8 Minutes, we look at the arrest of peasant leaders in Colombia as well as the on going farmers' protest in India. We also speak to Andrónico Rodríguez, the newly appointed President of the Chamber of Senators about the future of the MAS government in Bolivia.

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.

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?>

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

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.

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.

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 . . . |

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…

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

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…

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…

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…

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.

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

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.

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

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 …

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…

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…

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 …

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). House GOP Leader Pushes for Swalwell to Be Removed From Intel Committee After Alleged Spy Contact. sputniknews.com US Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) has been among the strongest voices accusing Trump administration figures of meeting with alleged Russian spies who were never accused of espionage. Now he finds himself hoist by his own petard, at risk of losing a coveted committee seat over much more serious accusations.

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