2021-01-01: News Headlines

RT (2021-01-01). It can't get any worse! Russians say 2021 will be a better year in new poll, although one in four anxious about future. rt.com Pandemics, wars and rampaging wildfires. The news from 2020 read more like a script for a Hollywood disaster film. But, now it's over, the majority of Russians think that things can only get better, according to a new poll. | A study of more than 1,600 people in the world's largest country However, one in four of those surveyed said they were looking to the new year with a…

sputniknews (2021-01-01). From Largest Communal Dispute to an End to Colonial Baggage: Top 10 India Events in 2020. sputniknews.com From a pandemic-induced migration crisis to a Supreme Court judgement in favour of Ram Mandir, 2020 has been an eventful year for India. Here is a recap of 10 major developments in the nation that have made the boldest headlines.

Online News Editor (2021-01-01). Migrant workers, the weak link in Southeast Asia's pandemic response. laprensalatina.com Gaspar Ruiz-Canela Bangkok, Jan 1 (efe-epa).- Pyaw Sone brought in the new year confined to a dormitory — fenced off with barbed wire — along with 4,000 other mostly migrant workers, amidst the largest Covid-19 outbreak in Thailand since the start of the pandemic. Migrant workers have been particularly affected by outbreaks in Southeast Asian …

Online News Editor (2021-01-01). Ford, Mahindra cancel joint venture plan citing pandemic. laprensalatina.com Washington, Dec 31 (efe-epa).- Ford Motor and Indian automaker Mahindra on Thursday said they had canceled joint venture plans to co-develop vehicles, citing economic conditions caused in part by the coronavirus pandemic. According to the companies, the decision "was driven by fundamental changes in global economic and business conditions — caused, in part, by the …

Ramzy Baroud (2021-01-01). The US Money Tree: The Untold Story of American Aid to Israel. counterpunch.org On December 21, the United States Congress passed the COVID-19 Relief Package, as part of a larger $2.3 trillion bill meant to cover spending for the rest of the fiscal year. As usual, US representatives allocated a massive sum of money for Israel. While unemployment, thus poverty, in the US is skyrocketing as a result

RT (2021-01-01). Hundreds of Israelis get infected with Covid-19 after receiving Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine — reports. rt.com With the vaccine not providing immediate immunity to the coronavirus, over two hundred Israeli citizens have been diagnosed with the disease days after getting the Pfizer/BioNTech jabs, local media reported. | The number of those who got Covid-19 despite being vaccinated was at around 240 people, according to data from Channel 13 News. | The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which the Israeli health authorities rely on, doesn't contain the coronavirus and can't infect the recipient. But time is needed for the genetic code in the drug to train the immune system to recognize and attack the disease. | The course of the US…

MEE staff (2021-01-01). 'Think of the children': Pope Francis shares worries for Yemen in New Year message. middleeasteye.net 'Think of the children': Pope Francis shares worries for Yemen in New Year message | Catholic pope says six-year conflict, which shows no signs of easing, has 'numerous innocent victims' | Fri, 01/01/2021 – 20: 15 | Pope's blessing was moved indoors to limit spread of Covid-19 (AFP) | Pope Francis delivered an appeal for world peace on Friday and highlighed his worries about Yemen, a country that has been plag…

_____ (2021-01-01). Equity Is More Than Words. popularresistance.org On behalf of Physician Women SOAR, an antiracist physician group, we wish to respond to the Indiana University Health (IU Health) statement regarding the medical treatment provided to the late Dr. Susan Moore, a Black physician who was admitted to IU Health in early December for COVID-19. | Twelve hours after she was discharged from IU Health, Dr. Moore was readmitted to another hospital in respiratory failure, where she was quickly transferred to the ICU. Dr. Moore remained in critical condition for over two more weeks and died on December 20th. While admitted to IU Health, Dr. Moore was treated so poorly that s…

Online News Editor (2021-01-01). US senator from Georgia enters 14-day quarantine before key runoff race. laprensalatina.com Washington, Dec 31 (efe-epa).- Republican Senator from Georgia David Perdue on Thursday began a 14-day quarantine after having contact with someone who had tested positive for Covid-19, a situation that complicates his party's campaign to retain his Senate seat five days before key runoff elections in his state. Perdue is one of two GOP senators …

Online News Editor (2021-01-01). 'We have the right to enjoy ourselves': Wuhan celebrates end of 2020. laprensalatina.com Jesus Centeno Wuhan, China, Jan 1 (efe-epa).- A couple walked along a crowded pedestrian street and could not believe their eyes: Wuhan, the city where Covid-19 began to spread and the one that experienced the first lockdown, was celebrating en masse the arrival of the new year, almost as if nothing had happened. From early …

teleSUR (2021-01-01). 1.8 Mln Doses of Sinovac COVID-19 Vaccine Arrive in Indonesia. telesurenglish.net A total of 1.8 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine made by the Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech on Thursday arrived in Indonesia. | RELATED: | Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said this is the second batch of the Sinovac vaccine delivery for Indonesia, and that the first batch of 1.2 million doses arrived on Dec. 6. | "With this arrival, it means that there are already 3 million doses of Sinovac vaccin…

Alan MacLeod (2021-01-01). Fingers point to U.S.-backed Gov't in Colombia's ninetieth massacre of the Year. mronline.org "The Trump administration waged a full scale campaign to undermine Colombia's peace accords. We must not waste our time hoping the Biden administration might reverse course, we must demand it." — James Jordan, Alliance for Global Justice…

Charlotte Dennett (2021-01-01). The Georgia Fraud Story You Haven't Heard: Sec of State Raffensperger Speaks With a Forked Tongue. counterpunch.org In recent weeks, the news filling American living rooms is that Georgia's Republican Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, bravely stood up to President Trump's claim of voter fraud in the November 2020 elections and continues to do so now that Georgians are heading to the polls next week to decide a crucial runoff election that

RT (2021-01-01). Russia's Asian path may benefit stability in Europe by forcing declining EU to deal with Moscow as it is not as it wants it to be. rt.com After the fall of communism, the NATO powers expected Russia to fall into line and Westernize, but without the prospect of Western integration. But that plan has blown up in their faces. | It has pushed Moscow towards Asia, just as the global balance of power flipped. The historical shift of economic power from the West to the East is a catalyst for a revolutionary change in EU-Russian relations. While Asia continues its rise, economic stagnation and relative decline has seemingly destined Europe to growing irrelevance in the world. | For the first time in its history, Russia does not need to look towards Euro…

RT (2021-01-01). Crimean senator tells Zelensky – return Ukraine to Moscow Time to recall days before it became 'Europe's most backward country'. rt.com As the last few hours of 2020 ticked away, Ukraine's president urged Crimeans to "turn back the clock" and return to rule by Kiev. But one local leader says the troubled country would be better off adopting Russian time instead. | In his address to citizens in the Eastern European country on Thursday, Volodymyr Zelensky bemoaned the fact that those living in the disputed Crimea and Donbass regions would be celebrating the new year an hour earlier than Kiev. | Breaking into Russian, the dominant language of the breakaway former territories, he acknowledged that "Donetsk, Lugansk and Crimea now live in every sen…

RT (2021-01-01). Pentagon sends aircraft carrier USS Nimitz home from Middle East as anniversary of Soleimani killing looms. rt.com The USS Nimitz, the US Navy's only aircraft carrier currently deployed near the Persian Gulf, has been sent home just a day after two B-52 bombers were sent to the area — despite supposed 'chatter' about a coming Iranian attack. | Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller announced the Nimitz would be heading back to its home port of Bremerton, Washington on Thursday, avoiding so much as a mention of Iran in his remarks — even as Washington and Tehran have traded threats and barbs for weeks ahead of the anniversary of Quds Force Major General Qassem Soleimani's killing by US airstrike. | Also on rt.com

MEE staff (2021-01-01). Qatar tells UN Security Council of repeated Bahraini violations of its territory. middleeasteye.net Qatar tells UN Security Council of repeated Bahraini violations of its territory | Move is the second time in less than a week that Doha has informed the UN about such allegations against Manama | Fri, 01/01/2021 – 12: 31 | Alya bint Ahmed Al Thani, the Qatari permanent representative to the UN, called on top UN officials to put an end 'to the tendentious Bahraini violations' (Social media) | Qatar's Foreign M…

Sheren Khalel (2021-01-01). Israeli forces shoot Palestinian in neck as they attempt to confiscate generator. middleeasteye.net Israeli forces shoot Palestinian in neck as they attempt to confiscate generator | Harun Abu Aram, 24, is hospitalised in critical condition after being shot while trying to stop Israeli forces from seizing electric generator | Fri, 01/01/2021 – 19: 26 | Harun Abu Aram is hospitalised and in critical condition (Screenshot) | Israeli forces shot a 24-year-old Palestinian man in the neck on Friday as…

Anand Naidoo (2021-01-01). The Heat: President Xi Jinping's New Year Address. america.cgtn.com China celebrates the New Year. And President Xi Jinping delivers a major address to the nation.

Sam Bahour (2021-01-01). Jews of the World, Disunite…in Israel! counterpunch.org Stop loving Israel to death. If you are Jewish and living outside of Israel, what are you waiting for? Israel awaits you. What's taking you so long? Uncle Bibi wants YOU! As a Palestinian living in Palestine, I anxiously await your arrival. I have spoken directly to thousands of you over decades about Israel and

Richard C. Gross (2021-01-01). The Chaotic Life of Donald Trump. counterpunch.org A woman recently wrote a letter to my city's newspaper lamenting witnessing a driver reaching out his window to give money to a lawful panhandler on a street corner. As the panhandler went for it, the driver snatched it away and drove off. That's a basic Donald Trump move. The difference between him and that

teleSUR (2021-01-01). Russia: Putin Voices Confidence in Overcoming 2020 Challenges. telesurenglish.net Russia's President Vladimir Putin delivered his annual New Year speech on Thursday, during which he expressed the belief that his nation will be able to overcome existing challenges and restore normalcy. | RELATED: | "I am convinced that together we will overcome everything, establish and restore normal life and with renewed vigor continue to solve the tasks facing Russia in the coming third decade of the 21st centu…

Kelley Beaucar Vlahos (2021-01-01). Iraq Today Is a Nightmare That Americans Largely Sleep Through. commondreams.org "It is part of the American way of making war, arriving unwanted in a third world country with promises to liberate, and then leaving as our domestic politics (or just losing) turn that war into an unwanted child." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/gettyimages-903732720.jpg

sputniknews (2021-01-01). IRGC Says Iran Has 'No Worries' About Any Foreign Adversary as US Carrier Group Heads Home. sputniknews.com On Thursday, the Pentagon announced that the carrier strike group led by the USS Nimitz, the sole US aircraft carrier in the Middle East, would be heading home following a deployment of nearly 10 months. The drawdown comes despite rising tensions between the US and Iran, and the recent deployment of US bombers and a missile sub to the region.

sputniknews (2021-01-01). 'Real-Life Indiana Jones' Paved Way for Biblical Discovery at Temple Mount, Media Says. sputniknews.com Commenting on the possible significance of Warren's efforts, Professor Tom Meyer asserted that their discovery helps to prove the potential existence of a Jewish temple on the Temple Mount.

sputniknews (2021-01-01). Iranian Foreign Ministry Says Aden Airport Attack Resulted From Yemen's Foreign Occupation. sputniknews.com TEHRAN (Sputnik) — The deadly terrorist attack on the airport of the southern Yemeni city of Aden is a result of the foreign occupation of the country, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said.

sputniknews (2021-01-01). Airport of New Zealand's Gisborne Reports About Evacuation Over Bomb Threat. sputniknews.com MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The airport of New Zealand's northeastern city of Gisborne said that there was mass evacuation in it on Friday over a bomb threat.

sputniknews (2021-01-01). Three Iraqi Servicemen Killed in Blast in Northern Kirkuk Province – Source. sputniknews.com BAGHDAD (Sputnik) -Three Iraqi servicemen were killed by an explosive device in the northern Iraqi province of Kirkuk, a source in the country's security service told Sputnik on Friday.

sputniknews (2021-01-01). Iran Tells IAEA It Plans to Push Uranium Enrichment Up to 20%, the Level Achieved Before JCPOA. sputniknews.com Under the deal reached between Iran with major powers in 2015, it could only enrich uranium up to 3.67 percent.

Roger Sollenberger (2021-01-01). Kelly Loeffler's extensive ties to the energy sector suggest major conflict of interest. salon.com Loeffler was named to Georgia Power board of directors two months before she had to leave for the Senate…

Alex Henderson (2021-01-01). Yet another audit of Georgia's election fails to find evidence of fraud. salon.com Audit of absentee ballot signatures in Georgia finds no evidence of voter fraud…

Mehr News Agency (2021-01-01). Armenia suspends import of Turkish goods. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jan. 01 (MNA) — Yerevan government suspended the import of Turkish —made goods to Armenia for six months in response to Turkish military support for the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Mehr News Agency (2021-01-01). Gen. Soleimani's School must be clarified for generations. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jan. 01 (MNA) — Iranian Judiciary Chief Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi said that various aspects of Martyr Lt. Gen. Soleimani must be explained to the present and future generations.

Mehr News Agency (2021-01-01). Briefing on Iran's daily developments. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jan. 01 (MNA) — The following are the Islamic Republic of Iran's latest developments in the last 24 hours.

Mehr News Agency (2021-01-01). US recent moves in region 'sign of fear: Badr Org. Chief says. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jan. 01 (MNA) — Head of Iraq's Badr Organization Hadi Al-Amiri said that the recent moves of the United States in the region are a sign of fear.

Mehr News Agency (2021-01-01). Terror of Soleimani, testament to US ruinous role in region. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jan. 01 (MNA) — The Embassy of Islamic Republic of Iran in Norway issued a statement on Thu., stating that assassination of Iran's top commander Martyr Gen. Soleimani is a testament to US destructive role in the region.

Mehr News Agency (2021-01-01). Blood of martyr Gen. Soleimani heralds liberation of Al-Quds. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jan. 01 (MNA) — Grand Mufti of Syria Sheikh Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun said that blood of Martyr Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani heralds liberation of Al-Quds.

Mehr News Agency (2021-01-01). Martyrdom anniversary of martyrs of resistance held in Syria. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jan. 01 (MNA) — The 1st martyrdom anniversary of former IRGC Quds Forces Commander Qassem Soleimani and Second-in-Command of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was held in Syria's Al Bukamal.

Mehr News Agency (2021-01-01). US responsible for consequences of any possible adventurism. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jan. 01 (MNA) — Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that the United States would be held responsible for consequences of any possible adventurism in the region.

Mehr News Agency (2021-01-01). Cowardice in killing foreign leaders, 'US-Israeli trademark'. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jan. 01 (MNA) — Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman said that cowardice in assassinating foreign leaders is a US-Israeli trademark.

Mehr News Agency (2021-01-01). 1st martyrdom anniversary of Gen. Soleimani kicks off. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jan. 01 (MNA) — The first martyrdom anniversary of former Iran's IRGC Quds Force Commander started in Tehran on Fri. in the presence of state and military officials and a great number of families of martyrs at Tehran University.

Mehr News Agency (2021-01-01). Senior Iranian cleric 'Ayatollah Mesbah-Yazdi' passes away. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jan. 01 (MNA) — Senior Iranian cleric 'Ayatollah Mohammad-Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi', Head of Imam Khomeini (RA) Educational and Research Institute and Member of Assembly of Experts passed away at the age of 86 on Friday evening.

Mehr News Agency (2021-01-01). 1st VP felicitates world Christians on New Year. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jan. 01 (MNA) — Iran's First Vice President Es'hagh Jahangiri in a message on Wed. congratulated the world nations on the advent of New Christian Year and the followers of Prophet of Peace Jesus Christ (PBUH) especially Christian compatriots.

Mehr News Agency (2021-01-01). IRGC Quds Force achievements led to security in Iran, region. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jan. 01 (MNA) — Salient achievements of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Crops (IRGC) Quds Force have led to the lasting and sustainable security both in Iran and the region.

Mehr News Agency (2021-01-01). 1st martyrdom anniversary of Gen. Soleimani marked in Tehran. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jan. 01 (MNA) — The 1st anniversary of martyrdom of former IRGC Quds Force Commander Lt. Gen. Soleimani and Second-in-Command of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was held at Tehran University's Campus on Fri.

Mehr News Agency (2021-01-01). Iran fully ready to confront any US move in region: IRGC cmdr. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jan. 01 (MNA) — Chief Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said that Armed Forces of the country is fully prepared to give a crushing response to any US anti-Iran move in the region.

Mehr News Agency (2021-01-01). Iraqi army arrests 10 ISIL's Takfiri elements in Nineveh Gov. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jan. 01 (MNA) — Iraqi army forces identified and arrested 10 Takfiri elements of ISIL terrorist group during an operation in Nineveh Province.

Mehr News Agency (2021-01-01). US maximum pressure policy against Iran 'failed': Ulyanov. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jan. 01 (MNA) — Russia's Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna said that maximum pressure policy exerted by the United States against Iran did not produce any positive result and failed.

Mehr News Agency (2021-01-01). Path of Resistance not to change with US mischief: Ghaani. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jan. 01 (MNA) —Iran's IRGC Quds Force Commander Esmaeil Ghaani said that the path of IRGC Quds Force and Resistance will not change with evils and mischief of the United States.

Mehr News Agency (2021-01-01). Gen. Soleimani spirit of martyrdom a model in proving freedom. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jan. 01 (MNA) — Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) in a message said that Lt. Gen. Soleimani's spirit of martyrdom is a convincing model in providing freedom.