Daily Archives: January 16, 2021

2021-01-16: News Headlines

The Canary (2021-01-16). Public warned over coronavirus cons amid rising vaccine fraud reports. thecanary.co Doctors and police are warning the public not to fall for fraudsters trying to sell fake coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines, affirming that the jab will always be free. | Scams rising: | Reports to Action Fraud have been rising in the last two months, particularly around scam text messages, as con artists seek to gain from the pandemic. City of London Police are investigating one case in which a man knocked on the door of a 92-year-old woman and administered a fake vaccine before charging £160 and claiming it would be reimbursed by the NHS. | Suspicious text messages reported by members of the public u…

news.un (2021-01-16). First Person: Cheese proves key to survival for Syrian refugee family amid pandemic. news.un.org Syrian refugee Fatima Hussein Al Ahmad, a mother of four, lives on a farm with 50 other workers in Sahba, Jordan. COVID-19 travel restrictions meant that didn't work for two months in 2020, and feeding her family became a daily struggle.

news.un (2021-01-16). First Person: Syrian refugee makes cheese to survive the pandemic. news.un.org Syrian refugee Fatima Hussein Al Ahmad, a mother of four, lives on a farm with 50 other workers in Sahba, Jordan. COVID-19 travel restrictions meant that didn't work for two months in 2020, and feeding her family became a daily struggle.

Eugene E Ruyle (2021-01-16). Sunday 1/17: The Farmer's Movement in India. indybay.org Log-info available on our website; | ICSSMARX.ORG LINK: OUR CURRENT SCHEDULE…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-16). Peruvian healthcare workers strike for rights. peoplesdispatch.org In this episode of Around the World in 8 Minutes we take you to Peru, where healthcare workers have embarked on an indefinite strike. We also take you to India, where farmers continue their protest for the withdrawal of the three controversial farm laws and a segment from Brasil de Fato on the future of the COVID-19 vaccine in Brazil.

MEE correspondent (2021-01-16). Yemen: UN condemnation of Houthi terror designation sparks campaign against envoy. middleeasteye.net Yemen: UN condemnation of Houthi terror designation sparks campaign against envoy | UN special envoy to Yemen accused by government supporters of taking sides, while others warn of humanitarian issues at stake | Sat, 01/16/2021 – 16: 24 | Martin Griffiths, centre, the UN special envoy for Yemen, arrives at Sanaa international airport on 11 February 2019 (AFP) | The reaction of Martin Gr…

Global Research News (2021-01-16). Selected Articles: Martin Luther King Day 2021. globalresearch.ca By January 15 is the day on which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born, in Atlanta, Georgia, …

Kaamil Ahmed (2021-01-16). Iraqi protest leaders launch political bloc ahead of elections. middleeasteye.net Iraqi protest leaders launch political bloc ahead of elections | New party to push for demands made by protesters in 'October Revolution' upcoming in parliamentary elections | Sat, 01/16/2021 – 11: 30 | An Iraqi protester holds up a photo of Alaa al-Rikabi, who became a face of Iraq's protest movement (AFP) | A new party aimed at challenging Iraq's political class and representing the country's youth…

_____ (2021-01-16). UN Expert: End US Sanctions On Syria. popularresistance.org An independent United Nations expert is calling on the US to lift its crippling sanctions on Syria. | Under the Caesar Act, US sanctions explicitly target Syria's reconstruction in the aftermath of a catastrophic 10-year war. Alena Douhan, the UN Special Rapporteur on the impact of sanctions, says that the US sanctions are illegal and depriving Syrian civilians of their basic needs. | "People shouldn't die, people shouldn't suffer, and people shouldn't fear whether they can survive after tomorrow, because they have neither medicine or food, because of the sanctions applied," Douhan says.

Sunshine Behavioral Health (2021-01-16). Mental Health Issues Facing the Asian American Community. indybay.org

Dr. Binoy Kampmark (2021-01-15). Encircling China and Praising India: The US Strategic Framework for the Indo-Pacific. asia-pacificresearch.com

MEE staff (2021-01-15). Covid-19: Israeli man arrested for tricking ex into quarantine four times. middleeasteye.net Covid-19: Israeli man arrested for tricking ex into quarantine four times | Police said the suspect, a health ministry employee, sent messages on four separate occasions to his ex-girlfriend telling her she needed to isolate | Fri, 01/15/2021 – 13: 48 | An Israeli woman wearing a protective mask due to the Covid-19 pandemic sits on a park bench by feeding pigeons in Jerusalem on 16 April 2020 (2020) | An Israe…

teleSUR (2021-01-15). 6.2 Earthquake Hits Indonesia Island, at Least 42 Dead. telesurenglish.net At least 42 people died and 600 injured during a 6.2 magnitude earthquake in the Sulawesi island, Indonesia, on Friday. | RELATED: | According to the Disaster Management Agency, the natural disaster displaced over 2000 people, although the authorities carry out the damage assessment as dozens of buildings are partially or destroy. | A 6.2 magnitude earthquake hit West Sulawesi, Indonesia. | In the middle of the pandemic, team…

South Front (2021-01-15). Video: Israel and US Efforts in Large-scale Strikes on Iranian Infrastructure in Syria. globalresearch.ca The first two weeks of 2021 have, so far, been marked by an incredible increase in Israeli activity in the skies over Syria. | The most intense strike took place on January 13 morning hitting multiple Syrian and Iranian-affiliated targets in …

Staff (2021-01-15). Neo-fascists found their voice in Trump. Where will the left's voice come from? therealnews.com With COVID-19 still raging and Biden's inauguration around the corner, Warnock and Ossoff win big in Georgia, Trumpist insurgents storm the U.S. Capitol, and Democrats and Republicans seethe with internal strife. What's next?

Miko Peled (2021-01-15). Court Rules Palestinian Filmmaker Must Pay Damages To Israeli Soldier Who Took Part in Massacre. mintpressnews.com "Jenin, Jenin" documents a deadly Israeli assault on a Palestinian refugee camp that left hundreds of civilians dead and over fifteen hundred wounded, and its release has caused an uproar in Israeli society.

Medea Benjamin, Nicolas J. S. Davies, Marcy Winograd (2021-01-15). Will the Senate Confirm Coup Plotter Nuland? counterpunch.org Who is Victoria Nuland? Most Americans have never heard of her because the U.S. corporate media's foreign policy coverage is a wasteland. Most Americans have no idea that President-elect Biden's pick for Deputy Secretary of State for Political Affairs is stuck in the quicksand of 1950s U.S.-Russia Cold War politics and dreams of continued NATO

news.un (2021-01-15). Deadly earthquake hits Indonesia: Dozens killed, hundreds injured. news.un.org At least 35 people have been killed and hundreds of others injured after a 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck the West Sulawesi Province of Indonesia on Friday morning, according to the UN humanitarian coordination office (OCHA).

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-15). Citing famine, UN urges reversal of terrorist designation for Yemen's Houthis; US refuses. peoplesdispatch.org Mark Lowcock of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned that recent labeling of Houthis as a terrorist organization by the US would likely trigger a "famine on a scale we have not seen in 40 years…

Charles Pierson (2021-01-15). A Yemeni Famine Made in Washington and Riyadh. counterpunch.org Ending months of speculation, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on January 10 that the Trump Administration would designate Yemen's Houthi rebels (Ansar Allah) as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization" (FTO). Branding the Houthis as terrorists will make it vastly more difficult for humanitarian groups to deliver desperately needed food, fuel, and medicine to 24 million

Ragip Soylu (2021-01-15). 'Dear Tayyip': Erdogan and Macron exchanged letters to repair ties. middleeasteye.net 'Dear Tayyip': Erdogan and Macron exchanged letters to repair ties | Turkish president made the first move, with the two leaders seeking to meet in person soon | Fri, 01/15/2021 – 14: 01 | France's President Emmanuel Macron (L) meets Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka on 28 June 2019. (AFP) | The presidents of Turkey and France have…

Alex MacDonald (2021-01-15). Iraq: Bird flu blamed for deaths of tens of thousands of chickens. middleeasteye.net Iraq: Bird flu blamed for deaths of tens of thousands of chickens | Local authorities said a buffer zone was being imposed on the infected region | Fri, 01/15/2021 – 16: 04 | Iraqi vets check chickens that entered Iraq from Turkey at a market in the southern port city of Basra (AFP) | An outbreak of bird flu was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of chickens in central Iraq, officia…

The Conversation (2021-01-15). The Confederate battle flag, which rioters flew inside the US Capitol, has long been a symbol of white insurrection. juancole.com By Jordan Brasher | — Confederate soldiers never reached the Capitol during the Civil War. But the Confederate battle flag was flown by rioters in the U.S. Capitol building for the first time ever on Jan. 6. The flag's prominence in the Capitol riot comes as no surprise to those who, like me, know its …

Michael T. Klare (2021-01-15). With Trump Gone, Can the U.S. and China Cooperate on a Failing Planet? juancole.com ( Tomdispatch.com) — For just a moment, let me try to look on the bright side of the storming of the Capitol last week by a mob incited and dispatched by President Trump. When George W. Bush, the president who launched the Global War on Terror and then invaded Saddam Hussein's Iraq, referred to what …

B. Prasant (2021-01-15). India's farmers dig in for long haul against Modi's neoliberalism. peoplesworld.org DELHI—As I move away from the massive kisan (farmers and peasants) assemblage at the Singhu border between the province of Haryana and Delhi, a heavy drizzle starts to add to my misery in the bone-chilling cold of late Indian winter. I plan to drive along several narrow link roads to gain access to the otherwise …

Alan Macleod (2021-01-15). China Tech Ban Mirrors 1980s Attempts To Destroy Japanese Competition. mintpressnews.com In the 1980s, the US imposed a 100% tariff on virtually all Japanese electronics and forced Tokyo to sign a one-sided trade deal that reserved much of its domestic semiconductor sector for American companies.

Stephen Lendman (2021-01-15). Trump Hardliners Poisoning US-China Relations. Pompeo "Spreads Political Viruses" globalresearch.ca In its waning days in power, Trump regime hardliners are going all-out to more greatly deteriorate US relations with China than already — Pompeo leading the assault. | Mindful of what's going on with more coming, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao …

Fight Back (2021-01-15). SEIU Local 73: Statement of support for Human Rights Day 7 in the Philippines. fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73. | | On International Human Rights Day, December 10, the Philippine National Police raided the homes and jailed Dennise Velasco of Defend Jobs Philippines; Romina Astudillo, Deputy Secretary-General of Kilusang Mayo Uno-Metro Manila; Mark Ryan Cruz, Regional Executive Committee of KMU-Metro Manila; Jaymie Gregorio Jr. of KMU-Metro Manila; Joel Demate of Solidarity of Labor Rights and Welfare (SOLAR); Rodrigo Esparago of Sandigang Manggagawa sa Quezon City (SMQC), and journalist Lady Ann…

WSWS (2021-01-15). Indian external affairs minister visits Sri Lanka to counteract growing Chinese influence. wsws.org Concerned that the Rajapakse regime is turning to Beijing for financial assistance, Jaishankar's trip appears to be a thinly-veiled warning to Colombo.

Belén Fernández (2021-01-15). Here We Go Again, But Now the Target Is Iran. commondreams.org Two decades after invading Iraq for alleged links to al-Qaeda, the US now says Iran is the armed group's 'new home.' | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/pompeo_7_0.jpg

Laura Flanders (2021-01-15). We Should Learn From Georgia to Show Us the Way Forward. commondreams.org Over slow generations, they built a broad enough "we" and an effective bottom up force that formed not just a victorious voting block this year, but a caring community dedicated explicitly to dismantling white supremacy. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/abrams.jpg

news.un (2021-01-15). UN steps up support for thousands left homeless after fire at Rohingya refugee camp. news.un.org UN agencies have stepped up efforts to help thousands of Rohingya refugees left without shelter after a devastating fire tore through a crowded refugee camp in south-eastern Bangladesh on Thursday.

Anoa Changa (2021-01-15). Georgia Organizers Won Because They Didn't Treat Elections as a Be-All, End-All. zcomm.org "We are undoing a history of voter suppression and injustice in Black and Brown communities. The changes we are seeing now didn't happen overnight, and we are not solving our challenges with just one vote."

sputniknews (2021-01-15). New Delhi Approves $6.5 Billion Deal to Buy 83 'Game Changer' Tejas Fighter Jets. sputniknews.com Even as it moves to buy locally-designed fighter jets, the Indian military has also bought dozens of French-made Rafale and Russian-made Su-30MKI fighters, as it retires a generation of older jets.

teleSUR (2021-01-15). Paraguay Approves Emergency Use of Russian Vaccine. telesurenglish.net The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) announced on Friday that Paraguay's Ministry of Health authorized the Sputnik V vaccine's emergency use. | RELATED: | "Registration of Sputnik V vaccine in Paraguay proves the increasing interest of Latin American countries in a safe and effective Russian vaccine against coronavirus," said the CEO of Russia's sovereign wealth fund Kirill Dmitriev. | El anuncio de esta mañana del Fondo S…

teleSUR (2021-01-15). Argentina Awaits Its Second Batch of Sputnik V Vaccines. telesurenglish.net Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez Thursday sent a second plane to Russia to transport the second batch of Sputnik V vaccines which will be used in a nationwide vaccination campaign. | RELATED: | The flight AR-1060 departed from Ezeiza International airport at 21.14 local time in a direct route to Moscow where it will load 300,000 doses of the vaccine. | The plane is expected to land on Argentine soil on Saturday morni…

Pip Hinman (2021-01-15). Racism in sport and why the media misses the point. greenleft.org.au When Indian cricketers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj reported racist abuse during the recent Sydney test match, Australia's ugly racism hit the headlines again. Sue Bull argues that the big media has an interest in muddying the connection between capitalism and racism.

Dr. Gary G. Kohls (2021-01-15). Martin Luther King's Warning of America's Spiritual Death. globalresearch.ca On January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King, Jr. is born in Atlanta, Georgia | Martin Luther King Jr.'s Riverside Church speech was titled "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence." It was delivered exactly one year before his April 4, …

David W. Mathisen (2021-01-15). Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Born this Day: Prophet Who Saw the "Far Deeper Malady" globalresearch.ca January 15 is the day on which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born, in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1929. | He would go on to become one of the most powerful voices of all time against racism, oppression, violence, imperialism, and …

Steve Lalla (2021-01-15). Resistance is not Futile: A Brief History of Lebanon's Hezbollah. counterpunch.org Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has inspired fear within the Empire through both armed struggle and its success in electoral politics. For effectively wielding this double-edged sword, the "Party of God" has been vilified by countless politicians and media outlets. From its birth as an armed resistance to Israeli attacks on Lebanon over 35 years ago,

Fight Back (2021-01-15). Minnesota: Line 3 resistance continues. fightbacknews.org Palisade, MN – A contingent of anti-war organizations including Woman Against Military Madness (WAMM) and the Climate Justice Committee (CJC) visited the Line 3 encampment on the edge of the Mississippi River in Palisade, on January 10. | The encampment is an 80-acre land trust from Akiing Purchases (Akiing translates to "the land to which we belong to") that runs parallel to an Enbridge Line 3 drill pad construction. The tar sands oil pipeline is currently proposed to cross under the Mississippi River. | The mood around camp was calm. An action of 300-plus water protesters took place the day before, where a to…

Ramzy Baroud (2021-01-14). Covid-19 under Apartheid: How Israel Manipulates Suffering of Palestinians. counterpunch.org Israel's decision to exclude Palestinians from its COVID-19 vaccination campaign may have surprised many. Even by Israel's poor humanitarian standards, denying Palestinians access to life-saving medication seems extremely callous. Amnesty International, among many organizations, condemned the Israeli government's decision to bar Palestinians from receiving the vaccine. The rights group described the Israeli action as evidence

F. William Engdahl (2021-01-14). Can China Lead a World Economic Recovery? globalresearch.ca At the beginning of December China's Xi Jinping officially declared that China had eliminated poverty entirely, part of his priority program. Western financial pundits have praised the remarkable economic recovery of China following the severe lockdowns a year go to …

Juan Cole (2021-01-14). The GOP stood with Trump and against the Legitimacy of Biden: that's how Iraq Split up in 2014. juancole.com Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) — On Wednesday, 197 Republican congressmen refused to impeach him for encouraging thousands of hard Right thugs, some armed, to march on the Capitol and "fight like hell or you won't have a country." These same 197 congressmen were themselves menaced by the invading mobs, who chanted that they wanted to …

news.un (2021-01-14). Israel: Ensure equal COVID-19 vaccine access to Palestinians — UN Independent experts. news.un.org Israel's "impressive" vaccination programme against the COVID-19 pandemic must include Palestinians under occupation, UN independent human rights experts stressed on Wednesday.

teleSUR (2021-01-14). Nicaragua To Allocate Over $115 Million for COVID-19 Vaccines. telesurenglish.net Nicaragua's Vice President Rosario Murillo on Wednesday announced her government's effort to secure COVID-19 vaccines to immunize 55 percent of the country's population. | RELATED: | Highligithg the approval of a high budget to ensure vaccines' conservation, Murillo pointed out that over 7 million doses would be applied at a cost of almost US$90 million. | "We propose the purchase of the Russian Federation's Sputnik V vaccine, the Modern vacc…

news.un (2021-01-14). Health experts arrive in Wuhan to investigate COVID-19 origins. news.un.org Members of an international team studying the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19 arrived in Wuhan, China, on Thursday, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) announced during an expert meeting on the disease.

sputniknews (2021-01-14). Associated Press Casts Doubt on Beijing's Cooperation as WHO's COVID-19 Origins Probe Begins. sputniknews.com After months without a significant number of COVID-19 cases, several dozen new cases in just a few days have sent millions in China back into lockdown, threatening to cancel Spring Festival celebrations for a second year in a row.

Akram Al-Waara (2021-01-14). Covid-19: Palestinians still awaiting vaccines as Israel dismisses calls to provide jabs. middleeasteye.net Covid-19: Palestinians still awaiting vaccines as Israel dismisses calls to provide jabs | Palestinian Authority also criticised for failure to secure vaccines and lack of planning on how to administer them | Thu, 01/14/2021 – 11: 11 | PA officials have made statements on who will be given priority when it comes to the vaccine, but have yet to put forward a comprehensive strategy for rolling it…

MEE and agencies (2021-01-14). Covid-19: Israel to vaccinate Palestinian prisoners from next week. middleeasteye.net Covid-19: Israel to vaccinate Palestinian prisoners from next week | Israel's health minister made the announcement after President Reuven Rivlin criticised plans to exclude prisoners from vaccination programme | Thu, 01/14/2021 – 16: 02 | Israel has been criticised for shirking its responsibilities as an occupying power by failing to deliver vaccines to millions of Palestinians living in…