Daily Archives: March 4, 2021

2021-03-04: News Headlines

Countercurrents (2021-03-04). Anti-Asian Hate Crimes Rose 150% in Major U.S. Cities, Finds Study. globalresearch.ca Hate crimes targeting Asian-Americans rose 150% in U.S.'s largest cities last …

Ron Kim (2021-03-04). Asian American Communities Organize Against Rise in Hate Crimes. zcomm.org More Policing Is Not the Answer…

Prof. Joseph H. Chung (2021-03-04). The Dangers of A "Sino-American Hot War": Joe Biden's China Policy. Can He Stop the Shooting War Against China? globalresearch.ca The forty years of the Cold War have made us endure …

Alan MacLeod (2021-03-04). After years of propaganda, American views of Russia and China hit historic lows. mronline.org Both pro- and anti-war voices have stated that the U.S. is on the cusp of entering a second Cold War, and a new Gallup poll suggests that the groundwork for such a conflict has already been laid.

Online News Editor (2021-03-04). Beijing looks to bolster grip over Hong Kong with election law reform. laprensalatina.com Hong Kong/Beijing, Mar 4 (efe-epa).- China is studying a new law that would overhaul Hong Kong's electoral system and boost the influence of pro-Beijing politicians in the special status territory. Authorities are expected to unveil the proposal during the National People's Congress, which begins in Beijing on Friday. Earlier this week, a Hong Kong deputy …

Online News Editor (2021-03-04). China releases new images of Mars captured by Tianwen-1 probe. laprensalatina.com Beijing, Mar 4 (efe-epa).- The China National Space Administration (CNSA) released Thursday new images of Mars captured by its Tianwen-1 probe, which entered the orbit of the red planet last month and plans to land a rover in May. The three photographs include two panchromatic views captured by the probe's high-resolution camera and taken from …

RT (2021-03-04). House CANCELS March 4 session after Capitol Police cites 'possible plot' by militia. rt.com The US House of Representatives won't be in session on Thursday, after Capitol Police, the FBI, and Homeland Security said extremists were discussing possible threats to Congress. The Senate is not changing its schedule, however. | House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) moved to Wednesday evening the vote on a police reform bill that was scheduled for Thursday. Multiple media outlets reported that the March 4 session of the lower chamber was canceled altogether. | Earlier in the day, US Capitol Police announced it would bolster its security profile due to "intelligence that shows a possible plot to breach t…

RT (2021-03-04). WATCH: White House abruptly cuts live feed after Biden says 'happy to take questions' at virtual event. rt.com US President Joe Biden said he would be "happy" to field live questions at the tail-end of a virtual event, but was swiftly cut off when the White House inexplicably dropped the video feed, leaving some viewers bewildered. | "I'd be happy to take questions if that's what I'm supposed to do, Nance. Whatever you want me to do," Biden said to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as the Democratic "Virtual Issues Conference" wrapped up on Wednesday night. But after a brief pause, the feed was brusquely taken offline. | The White House abruptly cuts the live video feed of a virtual event after President Biden said he was "ha…

Liberation Staff-Seattle (2021-03-04). In Renton, WA, unions, community come out to support 'Bamazon' union drive. liberationnews.org Despite the scattered showers and mid-30 ∞s weather close to 300 people showed up to voice their support.

Staff (2021-03-04). COVID Deaths Soar in Brazil as Bolsonaro Blasts Lockdowns. Experts Warn It Will "Get Worse." democracynow.org Brazil's COVID-19 death toll has now topped nearly 260,000, the world's second worst after the United States, as hospitals are overwhelmed with new cases. International concern is also growing about the P1 variant of the virus, which overwhelmed the Amazonian city of Manaus and caused its hospitals to run out of oxygen. Less than 4% of Brazil's population has been vaccinated. Marcia Castro, demography professor at Harvard University, says the crisis in Brazil is due to "a combination of inaction and also wrongdoing" by officials, including President Jair Bolsonaro, who has opposed lockdowns, masks and other publi…

Eds. (2021-03-04). Cornel West: Palestine is a "taboo issue among certain circles in high places" mronline.org Activist and scholar says he is being denied tenure at Harvard University because of his views on Israeli occupation.

Victor Grossman (2021-03-04). Germany's Linke (the Left Party) comes out of its convention united. peoplesworld.org BERLIN — Things worked out quite differently than many in the media here said they would at the congress of the LINKE, the country's left-wing party. The pandemic had forced postponements from June 2020 to October 2020 and from last October to last weekend, with most of the 580 delegates at home in front of …

Online News Editor (2021-03-04). Nepal economy goes negative first time in 4 decades. laprensalatina.com Kathmandu, Mar 4 (EFE).- Nepal's economy has registered negative growth for the first time in nearly 40 years mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a government survey released on Thursday. The pandemic and the subsequent lockdown have severely impacted Nepal's service industry, especially tourism, while small and medium enterprises suffered a deadly blow, …

yenisafak (2021-03-04). Turkey's growth in agriculture posts 3-year high. yenisafak.com Agriculture in Turkey registered 4.8% year-on-year growth in 2020 — the highest in the last three years, the country's agriculture and forestry minister said Thursday.The average growth rate of the agricultural sector was 2.8% over the last two decades, Bekir Pakdemirli said in a video he posted on Twitter.Stressing that the sector continued to develop and grow despite the coronavirus pandemic and drought, Pakdemirli said the country's agricultural output had reached 333.3 billion Turkish liras ($47.4 billion), which was up 20% from a year ago."We continue our leadership in agricultural output in Europe," he sai…

news.un (2021-03-04). 20 die after human traffickers force migrants into sea en route to Yemen. news.un.org At least 20 people have drowned after smugglers threw dozens of migrants overboard as they sailed from Djibouti to Yemen, UN migration agency IOM said on Thursday.

yenisafak (2021-03-04). Irregular migrants say Bulgaria pushed them to Turkey. yenisafak.com Fifteen irregular migrants claimed Thursday that they were sent back to Turkey after being battered by Bulgarian border units, according to a security source.Gendarmerie teams in the northwestern Kirklareli province learned that there were irregular migrants in two villages of the Kofcaz district near the Bulgaria border, said a source on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.Teams reached the areas where they held irregular Afghan and Pakistani migrants, it added.In their statements, the migrants said they were caught and battered by Bulgarian police and left to the Turkish side aft…

Juan Cole (2021-03-04). Why the Biden Administration is Dead Wrong to oppose Int'l Criminal Court War Crimes inquiry in Occupied Palestine: A Betrayal of the Rule of Law. juancole.com Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) — The International Criminal Court (ICC) has decided to look into war crimes committed in the Israeli-Occupied Territories of Palestine. Outgoing chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said that the decision to go forward was reached after a paintstaking 5-year review. The investigation will begin in 2014, suggesting that the court will consider …

Staff (2021-03-04). Marc Lamont Hill & Mitchell Plitnick on ICC Probe & the "Palestine Exception" in Progressive Politics. democracynow.org Israel and the United States blasted the International Criminal Court's decision to open a probe into Israeli war crimes in the Palestinian territories, as well as crimes committed by Palestinian militant groups. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted that the Biden administration "firmly opposes" an investigation. Mitchell Plitnick and Marc Lamont Hill, co-authors of "Except for Palestine," say it's an illustration of the "Palestine exception" that makes even supposedly progressive people unwilling to criticize Israel's human rights abuses and its ongoing occupation of Palestinian territories. "We are at…

yenisafak (2021-03-04). UN sends more humanitarian aid to Syria via Turkey. yenisafak.com The UN on Thursday dispatched 44 more trucks with humanitarian aid to northwestern Syria, a region where millions of people remain in need of assistance due to conflict.The trucks passed through the Cilvegozu border gate in Turkey's southern Hatay province to enter Syria's Idlib province, where the aid will be distributed.A civil war has ravaged Syria since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protesters.According to UN estimates, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced.Idlib falls within a de-escalation zone forged under an agreement between…

news.un (2021-03-04). ICC Prosecutor opens probe into alleged crimes in occupied Palestine. news.un.org The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said on Wednesday that her Office has started an investigation into crimes allegedly committed in Occupied Palestinian Territory.

MEE, agencies (2021-03-04). Palestinian election: Israel 'intimidating Hamas supporters' to stop them running. middleeasteye.net Palestinian election: Israel 'intimidating Hamas supporters' to stop them running | Soldiers reportedly deliver Shin Bet message to Palestinian doorsteps, while others asked to report at stations for interrogation | Thu, 03/04/2021 – 16: 16 | An Israeli soldier gestures in front of a Palestinian man following a protest (AFP/file photo) | Israel's internal intelligence agency Shin Bet is in…

Shatha Hammad (2021-03-04). Covid-19: Palestinian Authority criticised for VIP vaccine distribution. middleeasteye.net Covid-19: Palestinian Authority criticised for VIP vaccine distribution | A significant proportion of the first batch of vaccines have gone to PA government figures and their allies
| Thu, 03/04/2021 – 14: 45 | An UNRWA employee prepares a shot of the Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine for medical staff at UNRWA's al-Sheikh Redwan clinic in Gaza City, on 25 February 2021 (AFP) | Political and security…

Alan Macleod (2021-03-04). Aurora Police Killed Without Consequence, Now Their Protestors Face 48 Years for "Kidnapping" Cops. mintpressnews.com The cops and the district attorneys want people to see what we are going through — the conditions of our arrests, our experiences in jail, and our legal battle — and to think that this is what you risk when you stand up against them. – Lillian House, Aurora Activist and Defendant…

Bruce Neuburger (2021-03-04). U.S. Agricultural System's Deadly Apartheid. counterpunch.org The NY Times of March 1, 2021 cited some chilling facts about agricultural workers and Covid 19: "In some areas, up to 40 percent of the workers tested for the virus had positive results. The Rev. Francisco Gómez at Our Lady of Soledad church in Coachella said his parish had been averaging 10 burials a

Brian Shilhavy (2021-03-04). Death Rates Skyrocket in Israel Following Pfizer Experimental COVID "Vaccines" globalresearch.ca We have previously reported how Israel rapidly vaccinated the highest percentage …

Staff (2021-03-04). Headlines for March 4, 2021. democracynow.org House Passes Landmark Voting Rights and Police Reform Bills , House Cancels Thursday Session as Capitol Police Warn of Plot to Attack Congress, D.C. National Guard Chief Says Pentagon Took 3+ Hours to Approve Reinforcements During Capitol Riot, Biden Agrees to Limit Eligibility for Stimulus Checks, At Least 38 Killed in Burma in Deadliest Day of Anti-Coup Protests, White House Does Not Rule Out More Military Strikes After Rocket Attack in Iraq, Pope Francis Moves Ahead with Iraq Trip Despite Coronavirus Concerns, Brazil COVID Deaths Spike; More COVAX Vaccines Delivered to African Nations, Biden Condemns Texas, Mi…

Staff (2021-03-04). Vaccine Apartheid: Marc Lamont Hill, Mitchell Plitnick on Israel's "Indifference to Palestinian Health" democracynow.org Israel has had the fastest vaccination rollout in the entire world, with 40% of Israelis already fully vaccinated against COVID-19, but Palestinians in the Occupied Territories have received almost no doses — a situation critics call "vaccine apartheid." By one count, just 34,000 vaccine doses have been administered to Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, which has a population of over 4.5 million. "What we're seeing right now is a gross injustice," says Marc Lamont Hill, author and professor of media studies and urban education at Temple University. We also speak with Mitchell Plitnick, political anal…

Staff (2021-03-04). Mumia Abu-Jamal Tests Positive for COVID, Prompting Urgent Call to Release Elder Political Prisoners. democracynow.org Renowned political prisoner and journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal's lawyers confirmed Wednesday he has tested positive for COVID-19 and also has congestive heart disease. Abu-Jamal also suffers from the preexisting conditions of liver disease, which advocates say is directly related to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections' failure to treat his hepatitis C in a timely fashion. Mumia's doctor, Dr. Ricardo Alvarez, says the only appropriate treatment is freedom. Marc Lamont Hill, who co-authored a book with Abu-Jamal titled "The Classroom and the Cell: Conversations on Black Life in America," says this is an opportun…

Online News Editor (2021-03-04). EU medicines agency begins 'rolling review' of Russia's Sputnik V Covid shot. laprensalatina.com Amsterdam, Mar 4 (efe-epa).- The European Medicines Agency on Thursday said it had started a rolling review of Russia's Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine. The fast-tracked process of reviewing clinical trial data could lead to the vaccine's approval for use in the European Union, although the EMA's human medicines committee did not specify when it would …

Online News Editor (2021-03-04). Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina receives Covid vaccine. laprensalatina.com Dhaka, Mar 4 (efe-epa).-Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday became the latest world leader to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, her office informed. Hasina's deputy press secretary Hasan Jahid Tusher confirmed that the prime minister had received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine nearly a month after the country started its mass vaccination campaign against …

Online News Editor (2021-03-04). Pakistan suspends cricket tournament after players test Covid-19 positive. laprensalatina.com Islamabad, Mar 4 (efe-epa).- Pakistan on Thursday suspended a high-profile cricket tournament that began less than two weeks ago after seven players tested Covid-19 positive, the country's cricket board said. "The Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to postpone the HBL Pakistan Super League 2021 with immediate effect," the board said in a statement but did …

Dr. Binoy Kampmark (2021-03-04). Biden, Afghanistan and Forever Wars. globalresearch.ca The papers are full of suggestions on what US President Joe …

Binoy Kampmark (2021-03-04). Biden, Afghanistan and Forever Wars. dissidentvoice.org The papers are full of suggestions on what US President Joe Biden should do about his country's seemingly perennial involvement in Afghanistan. None are particularly useful, in that they ignore the central premise that a nation state long mauled, molested and savaged should finally be left alone. Nonsense, say the media and political cognoscenti. The …

Binoy Kampmark (2021-03-04). Breaching Digital Rights: India's Platform and Media Ethics Code. zcomm.org While the conduct of digital platforms is monstrous in terms of their operating rationale, not least their tendency to monetize privacy and commodify predictive behaviour, government scapegoating is a shallow distraction…

teleSUR Desk (2021-03-04). Ecuador's leftist candidate ratified as first round winner. mronline.org Authorities officially confirmed that Andres Arauz and the banker Guillermo Lasso will compete for the presidency in the second round to be held on April 11.

Beau Peters (2021-03-04). Creating a Safe Space at Work for Discussing Social Justice Topics. dissidentvoice.org Image Source: Pexels There's a lot going on in the world at the moment, which means there's a lot we need to talk about. It seems as though every day there is another incident that raises issues related to the socio-economic imbalances in our society, systemic racism, or the political decisions that shape our lives. …

teleSUR Desk (2021-03-04). Parliament rejects Moreno's privatization of Central Bank. mronline.org Parliament's Legislative Administration Council (CAL) reported that the project had 14 unconstitutional aspects. The bill presented 84 reforms to the Organic Monetary and Financial Code that would allow a $400 million loan from the International Monetary Fund.

Jay August (2021-03-04). NYS politicians push bill to 'kill' rent cancellation movement, organizers fight back. liberationnews.org On Feb. 28, tenant organizers in New York City demonstrated outside the home of New York State Senator Brian Kavanaugh in Manhattan to protest his sponsorship of a bill which bails out landlords, not tenants.

Geoff Beckman (2021-03-04). Biden, Team D and the Dimming Prospects of Getting Anything Meaningful Through the Senate. counterpunch.org It's kinda touching that Team D imagines it will get anything through the Senate with: 1. A nominal 50-50 split, 2. Joe Manchin and Kysten Sinema enjoying the power that having a line-item veto provides, 3. Que Mala Harris's reluctance to do anything she thinks might jeopardize her chances at the presidency, 4. Crazy Uncle

Brian Tokar (2021-03-04). 25 Years of GMOs, and Some New Insights from Argentina. counterpunch.org n the winter of 1996, Monsanto and a few other companies first began to sell genetically engineered seeds to commercial growers, and also mounted a massive public relations effort to convince people of their supposed benefits. They hyped their new GMOs as the answer to world hunger, a way to help troubled farmers stay on the land, and as a technology that would bring higher quality, more nutritious food to all. Skeptics in many countries responded swiftly: Greenpeace blockaded shipments and planted symbols in farmers' fields, while decentralized networks of activists organized Global Days of Action. Saboteurs in…

David Rosen (2021-03-04). Electricity vs. Broadband: Does History Repeat Itself? counterpunch.org Americans take household electric for granted, but this was not always the case. Millions of U.S. households have access to electricity to power water heating, lighting, refrigeration, TV, telephone and other products. And yet, according to one estimate, about 15,000 families — 60,000 people — are not connected to the electric grid; many are located on Native American reservations. (In addition, about 18,000 families don't have running water in their house.) |

The Conversation (2021-03-04). Pope's upcoming visit brings attention to the dwindling population of Christians in Iraq. juancole.com By Ramazan Kƒ±lƒ±nàß | — Pope Francis will arrive in Iraq on Friday in a first-ever papal visit to the country that is expected to raise awareness about the challenges facing Iraqi Christians — a majority of whom are Catholic. In the past two decades, the Christian population in Iraq has fallen by over 80%. …

Rosalind English (2021-03-04). Doctors acted unlawfully in deciding on eligibility for drug — Court of Appeal. ukhumanrightsblog.com Basma (suing by her mother and litigation friend Sara Basma) v Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust & Anr [2021] EWCA Civ 278 Sophie Basma ("Sophie") is 10. She suffers from Type 3 Spinal Muscular Atrophy ("SMA"). SMA is a rare, genetic, neuromuscular disease which progressively leads to sufferers being unable to walk or sit …

George Wuerthner (2021-03-04). Fire Suppression Hyperbole. counterpunch.org In almost all media reports about the recent fire seasons, one of the chief explanations given for the larger blazes is "fire suppression" and "fuel build-up." We hear that 100 years of fire suppression has contributed to the "unnatural" accumulation of fuels and is one of the primary reasons for large fires. The solution, we

Wayne Nealis (2021-03-04). Trial of Chauvin, George Floyd's murderer, pivotal to reforming racist policing. peoplesworld.org MINNEAPOLIS—The consensus among activists speaking at a recent press conference in Minneapolis is that it will take massive street protests to convict Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. Frank Chapman, a spokesperson for the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, which was founded in 1973, pointed to the national significance of the …

Liberation Staff (2021-03-04). Texas winter storm crisis the fault of state leaders, big oil, protesters say. liberationnews.org Natural gas and fossil fuel executives, as well as officials in ERCOT and PUCT, should face criminal charges for their role in the deaths, injuries, and damages suffered during this crisis.

IndustriALL (2021-03-04). Myanmar military coup leaders target trade unions for destruction. peoplesworld.org For weeks, hundreds of thousands of people have been participating in peaceful mass demonstrations across Myanmar in the wake of a coup led by the Army. As the peaceful civil disobedience movement continues to protest against the military takeover, authorities are resorting to violence and cracking down civilians—including trade unions and their leaders. Police have issued …

Phil Mattera (2021-03-04). The Decades-Long Struggle Over Big Corporations and Poverty Wages. counterpunch.org The Senate Parliamentarian has dealt a strong blow to the Fight for $15 movement by ruling that a federal minimum wage increase cannot be included in the stimulus bill. Senator Bernie Sanders is pushing back with an amendment to take tax deductions away from large, profitable corporations that do not pay at least $15 an

Don Fitz (2021-03-04). From the Murder of Berta Cáceres to Dam Disaster in Uttarakhand. mronline.org March 2, 2021 was the five year anniversary of the murder of Berta Cáceres, who opposed the Agua Zarca dam in Honduras. That date was less than one month after the deaths of dozens of people from Tehri Dam disaster in Uttarakhand, India. The two stories together tell us far more about consequences of the …

Rosalind English (2021-03-04). Doctors acted unlawfully in deciding on eligibility for drug — Court of Appeal. ukhumanrightsblog.com Basma (suing by her mother and litigation friend Sara Basma) v Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust & Anr [2021] EWCA Civ 278 Sophie Basma ("Sophie") is 10. She suffers from Type 3 Spinal Muscular Atrophy ("SMA"). SMA is a rare, genetic, neuromuscular disease which progressively leads to sufferers being unable to walk or sit …