Daily Archives: March 3, 2021

2021-03-03: News Headlines

Melvin Goodman (2021-03-03). Biden's Quandry: Proxy Wars and Endless Wars. counterpunch.org From the end of the Second World War until the administration of Ronald Reagan, there were very few American battlefield deaths in the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, and Southwest Asia. Since the administration of George H.W. Bush, however, most American battlefield deaths have taken place in those regions. The turning point took place in 1979 with the Iranian revolution and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Sang Ki Kim (2021-03-03). The Fallacy of North Korean Collapse. asia-pacificresearch.com

M. K. Bhadrakumar (2021-03-03). Biden Set to Inflict Wounds on Eurasia. globalresearch.ca Mikhail Gorbachev in a special

Melvin Goodman (2021-03-03). Biden's Quandary: Proxy Wars and Endless Wars. counterpunch.org From the end of the Second World War until the administration of Ronald Reagan, there were very few American battlefield deaths in the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, and Southwest Asia. Since the administration of George H.W. Bush, however, most American battlefield deaths have taken place in those regions. The turning point took place in 1979 with the Iranian revolution and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Staff (2021-03-03). Asian American Communities Organize Against Rise in Hate Crimes, Say More Policing Is Not the Answer. democracynow.org Anti-Asian hate crimes have spiked across the U.S. over the past year, fueled in part by Donald Trump's racist rhetoric about the coronavirus. One recent study found a 150% increase in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans in 2020, even though overall hate crimes fell last year. Ron Kim, member of the New York State Assembly representing the 40th District in Queens, New York, says anti-Asian sentiment tends to flare up during times of crisis. "There's a long history of Asian Americans in this country feeling targeted and scapegoated whenever we experience economic downturns," says Kim. We also speak with Kim Tran…

Paul Cochrane (2021-03-03). 'Digital Suez': How the internet flows through Egypt – and why Google could change the Middle East. middleeasteye.net 'Digital Suez': How the internet flows through Egypt – and why Google could change the Middle East | Most web traffic between Europe and Asia passes through fibre optic cables crossing Egypt. Could a proposed new route through Israel and Saudi Arabia break the 'Red Sea bottleneck'? | Wed, 03/03/2021 – 14: 55 | Most internet traffic between Europe, the Middle East and Asia passes through Egypt (MEE/…

Ferrán Pérez Mena (2021-03-03). Notas sobre la "americanización" de los estudios sobre China. globalizacion.ca Durante la última década, los estudios sobre China y Asia Oriental han experimentado un gran apogeo en Europa y Estados Unidos. El auge económico del gran gigante asiático y la globalización de su cultura en los medios de comunicación y…

Eds. (2021-03-03). Debt relief with Chinese characteristics. mronline.org As China is poised to become the world's largest creditor, concerns about debt sustainability have grown. Yet considerable confusion exists over what is likely to happen when a government runs into trouble repaying its Chinese loans.

Clare Daly (2021-03-03). The EU's Participation in the New Cold War against Russia. globalresearch.ca The European Union faces multiple challenges as it progress into 2021. …

Eds. (2021-03-03). The class character of the expansion of COVID-19: The case of Peru's Capital City Lima. mronline.org At the end of December 2019, the world was notified about the existence of a new coronavirus in the city of Wuhan in China. This virus, SARS-COV-2 (COVID-19), rapidly spread and was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 March 2020.

Mandy Smithberger (2021-03-03). The Pentagon, First, Last, and Always. zcomm.org Focusing on the Wrong Threats, including a New Cold War with China, Is the Last Thing We Can Afford Now…

_____ (2021-03-03). Canadian Hypocrisy Shines Embarrassingly With New Accusations of China's Muslim Genocide. strategic-culture.org China has managed to both find a sustainable cure for terrorism without destroying a single nation, while providing a foundation for extending the Belt and Road into the Middle East and beyond, Matthew Ehret writes. | This week, the Canadian parliament, became the second nation of the Five Eyes (after the USA) to pass a motion condemning

Online News Editor (2021-03-03). China set to hail success, raise pressure on Hong Kong in annual Congress. laprensalatina.com By Javier García Beijing, Mar 3 (efe-epa).- China is set to highlight the success of its governance model on the occasion of its annual National People's Congress, which kicks off on Friday and will decide the country's course for the next five years, with the possibility of fresh legislative reforms being launched to increase control …

Philip Giraldi (2021-03-03). Washington's Lopsided Bilateral Relationship with Israel. globalresearch.ca My

Special to People's World (2021-03-03). The devastating, irreparable death of Aruká Juma. peoplesworld.org Manaus, Amazonas — The death of the last survivor of the Juma people, the warrior Amoim Aruká, from complications linked to COVID-19, is an incalculable tragedy. The Juma people suffered innumerable massacres throughout their history. There were 15,000 of them at the turn of the 20th century and by 2002 there were only five Jumas …

Tomdispatch (2021-03-03). The Real Threats to America are the Pandemic and Poverty; why Give Ever More Money to the Pentagon? juancole.com By Mandy Smithberger | — ( Tomdispatch.com) — This country is in a crisis of the first order. More than half a million of us have died thanks to Covid-19. Food insecurity is on the rise, with nearly 24 million Americans going hungry, including 12 million children. Unemployment claims filed since the pandemic began have …

Raul Diego (2021-03-03). The Bits and Bytes of The Great Reset: COVID-19 and the Scaling Up of Data-Capitalism. mintpressnews.com The so-called Great Reset amounts to little more than a campaign to turn humanity into datasets, which the world's most powerful hedge funds and transnational corporations can use to create more profits for themselves and their clients.

Joseph Grosso (2021-03-03). Andrew Cuomo: Legend of a Fall. counterpunch.org Future historians will have a field day examining the daily commentary of the COVID pandemic. Early on there was Madonna sitting nude in a marble bathtub filled with rose petals proclaiming COVID 'the great equalizer.' Trump of course supplied his daily dose of schizophrenic fare so incoherent that even conservative TV hacks were unable to morph it into a convincing picture of brave leadership. Yet nothing tops the spectacle of Ellen Degeneres and Trevor Noah actually declaring themselves to be 'Cuomosexuals', in honor of New York governor Andrew Cuomo, a term that was immediately plastered on various merchandise…

Joseph Grosso (2021-03-03). Andrew Cuomo: Legend of a Fall. counterpunch.org Future historians will have a field day examining the daily commentary of the COVID pandemic. Early on there was Madonna sitting nude in a marble bathtub filled with rose petals proclaiming COVID 'the great equalizer.' Trump of course supplied his daily dose of schizophrenic fare so incoherent that even conservative TV hacks were unable to morph it into a convincing picture of brave leadership. Yet nothing tops the spectacle of Ellen Degeneres and Trevor Noah actually declaring themselves to be 'Cuomosexuals', in honor of New York governor Andrew Cuomo, a term that was immediately plastered on various merchandise…

RT (2021-03-03). Can we kick out immigrants like Denmark does? Critics snicker after AOC lauds McDonald's workers' wages in European nation. rt.com A time-tested talking point about wages of McDonald's workers in Denmark was invoked by AOC in a call for a minimum wage boost in the US. Her opponents asked if Washington should also adopt Copenhagen's harsh immigration policies. | The fact that paying workers a living wage is even up for debate is "embarrassing," progressive lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) tweeted on Tuesday as she called to override the Senate parliamentarian and push forward with the $15/hour minimum wage. The official ruled last Thursday that the proposal cannot be included in President Biden's $1.9 trillion Covid-19 stimulus bill…

RT (2021-03-03). You're not supposed to say that out loud! Covid-19 vaccines & 'return to normal' might hurt Facebook's bottom line, CFO admits. rt.com Facebook's CFO is concerned that as more people get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, they'll be less likely to click on Facebook ads and more likely to seek out travel and non-sedentary pursuits. | CFO David Wehner Speaking at the Morg…

Global Research News (2021-03-03). Selected Articles: C.Y.A. and "Fraudulent Marketing": The Pfizer Covid-19 Vaccine is an "Unapproved Product" globalresearch.ca By Pfizer Inc…

Staff (2021-03-03). Latinx Farmworkers Risk Their Lives During Pandemic. Many Now Struggle to Access Vaccines. democracynow.org There are about 2.5 million farmworkers around the U.S., many of them undocumented immigrants working under dangerous and exploitive circumstances without sick leave or healthcare. Despite their status as essential workers, however, many farmworkers are facing an uphill battle to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Estella Cisneros, legal director of the Agricultural Worker Program for California Rural Legal Assistance, says an uneven rollout in California as well as technical barriers have left many farmworkers unvaccinated. "There's been a lot of inequities that we've seen," she says. We also speak with Mary Jo Du…

Staff (2021-03-03). Latinx Farmworkers Risk Their Lives During Pandemic. Many Now Struggle to Access Vaccines. democracynow.org There are about 2.5 million farmworkers around the U.S., many of them undocumented immigrants working under dangerous and exploitive circumstances without sick leave or healthcare. Despite their status as essential workers, however, many farmworkers are facing an uphill battle to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Estella Cisneros, legal director of the Agriculture Worker Program for California Rural Legal Assistance, says an uneven rollout in California as well as technical barriers have left many farmworkers unvaccinated. "There's been a lot of inequities that we've seen," she says. We also speak with Mary Jo Dud…

Staff (2021-03-03). Cuomo Must Go: Calls Grow to Remove NY Governor over COVID Nursing Home Cover-up & Sexual Harassment. democracynow.org New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is facing mounting calls from fellow Democrats and progressive organizations to resign or be impeached over sexual harassment allegations and his cover-up of thousands of COVID-19 deaths in New York nursing homes. New York Attorney General Letitia James has launched an investigation after three women — two former aides and a woman who met Cuomo at a friend's wedding reception — accused Cuomo of sexual harassment. "Credible accusations of sexual harassment made by these courageous women coming forward show a clear pattern of Cuomo's abuse of power," says New York Assembly…

Staff (2021-03-03). Headlines for March 3, 2021. democracynow.org Biden Vows Vaccine Supply Will Be Enough to Vaccinate All U.S. Adults by End of May, Texas Lifts All COVID Restrictions; Sanders to Force Vote on $15 Minimum Wage, WH Pulls Tanden OMB Bid, Senate Confirms Raimondo for Commerce Dept., Rouse as Top Economic Adviser, Seth Harris, Who Wrote Blueprint for California's Prop 22, Tapped for Top Labor Role, FBI Director Says Domestic Terrorism Has Been "Metastasizing" as Capitol Increases Security, 3 Women Media Workers Shot Dead in Afghanistan, Protests in Lebanon After Currency Plummets to Record Low, Family of Hunger-Striking Western Sahara Political Prisoner Refused V…

Kareem Chehayeb (2021-03-03). Covid-19 in Lebanon: Health workers yet to receive vaccines as MPs jump the queue. middleeasteye.net Covid-19 in Lebanon: Health workers yet to receive vaccines as MPs jump the queue | After Lebanese lawmakers were controversially inoculated, half of the country's overwhelmed medical workers anxiously await their turn | Wed, 03/03/2021 – 10: 58 | A medic prepares a dose of the Covid-19 Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at Lebanon's American University Medical Centre in the capital Beirut, on 14 Februa…

Online News Editor (2021-03-03). Turkey's sex workers struggle to survive as Covid rules hit industry. laprensalatina.com Istanbul, Mar 3 (efe-epa).- The closure of brothels and nightly curfews to stem the spread of Covid-19 in Turkey has left the country's sex workers in dire straits. Prostitution is legal in Turkey but sex workers lack the same access to labor rights enjoyed by other professions. "The coronavirus has left many sex workers in …

Online News Editor (2021-03-03). India's homegrown Covid-19 vaccine shows 81 percent interim efficacy. laprensalatina.com New Delhi, Mar 3 (efe-epa).- India's homegrown Covid-19 vaccine, branded Covaxin, has shown an interim efficacy of nearly 81 percent in its late-stage clinical trials, its developer Bharat Biotech said on Wednesday. The company said the first interim analysis was based on 43 cases of Covid-19 recorded in the trial of 25,800 participants between 18-98 …

Online News Editor (2021-03-03). Spain king's sisters stir controversy by getting vaccine on Abu Dhabi trip. laprensalatina.com Madrid, Mar 3 (efe-epa).- The Spanish royal family has found itself at the heart of another scandal after it was revealed that the sisters of King Felipe VI were vaccinated against Covid-19 during a trip to the United Arab Emirates, where they went to visit their father, the self-exiled former monarch Juan Carlos I. Reports …

teleSUR (2021-03-03). Guatemala Receives 100,000 COVID-19 Vaccines Donated by India. telesurenglish.net Guatemala on Tuesday received 100,000 COVID-19 vaccines donated by India that will allow authorities to continue the vaccination campaign in the country. | RELATED: | The donation of Covishield vaccines manufactured by AstraZeneca laboratory arrived at 23h00 local time on a plane from Mumbai, India. | The immunizer, which requires the injection of two doses between eight and twelve weeks apart, joins the 2,500 Moderna…

teleSUR (2021-03-03). Cuba Offers Soberana 02 and Abdala to Lebanon to Fight COVID-19. telesurenglish.net On Wednesday, Cuba expressed its willingness to assist Lebanon to combat COVID-19, offering its most advanced vaccines, Soberana 02 and Abdala, which will start their final-phase clinical trials sometime this month. | RELATED: | Cuban Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Pellicer made the offer during a meeting with Major General Mahmoud Al Asmar. The latter heads the working group to tackle the pandemic in this Mediterranean country…

teleSUR (2021-03-03). Brazil: Senate Pass Bill to Allow Companies to Buy Vaccines. telesurenglish.net Brazil's Senate Tuesday passed a bill that allows the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines by private companies and subnational governments before the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) registers the immunizers. | RELATED: | Buying drugs without Anvisa's approval will allow the country to purchase India's Covaxin vaccine and the Russian Sputnik V. The rule, however, establishes that the immunizers can be adminis…

Stephen Lendman (2021-03-03). Biden Administration Escalates "War on Russia by Other Means". On the Target for "Regime Change" globalresearch.ca The US is implacably hostile toward nations free from its control. …

Mohammad Ayesh (2021-03-03). Arabic press review: Egypt tries to boost human rights credentials for Biden. middleeasteye.net Arabic press review: Egypt tries to boost human rights credentials for Biden | Meanwhile, Jordan has reportedly received $1bn from the European Union to fight the pandemic, and Iraq's PM vows to crack down on militias | Wed, 03/03/2021 – 15: 03 | Watchtowers at the notorious Tora prison on the southern outskirts of the Egyptian capital Cairo on 11 February 2020 (AFP) | Egypt concerned by US…

teleSUR Desk (2021-03-03). Ecuador: Indigenous organizations announce national strike. mronline.org Supporters of Indigenous presidential candidate Yaku Perez demand the recount of electoral records due to alleged electoral fraud.

Online News Editor (2021-03-03). Bangladesh court grants bail to detained cartoonist amid protests. laprensalatina.com Dhaka, Mar 3 (efe-epa).- The Supreme Court of Bangladesh on Wednesday granted bail to a cartoonist nearly 10 months after his pre-trial detention amid continuing protests over his release and a contentious law under which he was arrested. Ahmed Kabir Kishore was arrested on May 6, 2020, along with writer Mushtaq Ahmed, and was charged …

Jamal Rich (2021-03-03). Solidarity rallies call for end to U.S.-backed dictatorship in Haiti. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON——On the morning of March 1 at the Embassy of Haiti, local D.C. organizers with Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) held a solidarity rally with the people of Haiti who are rising up against a U.S.-backed dictator. Jovenel MoàØse's term of office ended Feb. 7, but he has so far refused to relinquish power. MoàØse, …

Kenneth Surin (2021-03-03). Policing Universities by Neoliberal Governments in the UK And France. counterpunch.org The respective motivations, and their specific underlying conditions, are of course different in the UK and France, but both culminate in plans for universities to curb the expression of leftist points of view. In the UK this gives a potential pulpit to "maverick" speakers on the right, such as Steve Bannon, who (facetiously?) approved the delivery of pipe bombs to critics of Trump, and who lost his book deal for having a favourable view of underage sex.

Sandra Plantier (2021-03-03). What the trees of Notre Dame have to tell us. peoplesworld.org On April 15, 2019, watching television footage of Notre Dame Cathedral burning, I wept like millions of other French people and others around the world. The flames which invaded the screen brought back memories of my first visit to the cathedral as a child, reading the novel by Victor Hugo (Notre Dame de Paris, 1831), …

Joe Piette (2021-03-03). Community demands Sanctuary Schools in Philadelphia, a 'sanctuary city'. workers.org Erika Guadalupe Nuñez speaking, March 1. "Philadelphia has declared itself a 'sanctuary city,' but how can it be a sanctuary city without its schools being sanctuaries for all students?" asked Erika Guadalupe Nuñez of Juntos at a well-attended March 1 press conference outside the School District of Philadelphia headquarters. . . . |

Eds. (2021-03-03). Ecuador: from horror to electoral debate. mronline.org Amidst denunciations and accusations the campaign for the April 11 runoff begins.

Lambert Strether (2021-03-03). CDC school reopening guidance suppresses aerosols based on thin evidence and driven by budgetary concerns. mronline.org For a period of time after this article was originally published (February 18, 2021) it was scrubbed from Google's search index. When the author, Lambert Strether, realized the piece had been "censored," it was published a second time on March 1, 2021 with an analysis of the purging. Subsequently, the article magically reappeared in the search …

Ted Kelly (2021-03-03). Biden pick for Secretary of Agriculture no friend of farmworkers or small farmers. workers.org President Joe Biden nominated former Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack to head the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a job he held for the entire Obama administration from 2009 to 2017. Vilsack testified before the Senate on Feb. 2 — Groundhog Day — and was confirmed a few weeks later. Vilsack's . . . |

Karen Conner (2021-03-03). Workers Should be Wary Now that Private Equity Is Going Retail. cepr.net Eight years after passage of the 2013 JOBS Act that let private equity firms market directly to individuals to solicit their investments, retail investors — largely high net worth individuals — finally account for a significant share of assets under management (AUM) at some of the largest PE firms. Apollo claims to be "among the …

Joyce Chediac (2021-03-03). 7 lies Amazon tells about the union. liberationnews.org In a historic development, 5,800 workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, are right now voting on whether to be represented by the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union.

Ed Rampell (2021-03-03). 'Back of the Moon': A Noirish apartheid-era South African film. peoplesworld.org Director/co-writer and Oscar nominee Angus Gibson's Back of the Moon is another example of why I love PAFF—the Pan African Virtual Film + Arts Festival. If not for this festival film buffs like moi probably would never have heard of, let alone had the opportunity to see, this highly entertaining South African movie. Moon is …

Howard Lisnoff (2021-03-03). What We Got in Biden. counterpunch.org The wrenching appeals by some on the political left to vote for Biden must sting for some of those who actually did cast their vote for him, or at least against Trump in November 2020. This is the game that plays itself out again and again and again, ad nauseam, in US politics, the politics

Liberation Staff-Yakima (2021-03-03). Richland, Wash., protesters demand 'no kids in cages'. liberationnews.org Facilities used to cage children that were closed under Trump's administration are being reopened under Biden's administration.

South Front (2021-03-03). Video: Armenia Lost the War against Azerbaijan. Calls for Resignation of PM Pashinyan. globalresearch.ca Three months after losing the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenian Prime Minister …