Daily Archives: December 4, 2021

2021-12-04: News Headlines

Jason Ditz (2021-12-04). Airstrikes Kill Over 90 Houthis in Yemen's Maarib. news.antiwar.com The Saudi-led coalition reported Friday that airstrikes launched in 13 operations have The statement claims eight pieces of military equipment were destroyed in the attacks. They are vague on that point, but this usually refers to random destroyed vehicles that they've decided has some military use. | The Houthis have surrounded Maarib City, though there has as of yet been no siege. Despi…

Middle East Monitor (2021-12-04). Even Israel's Labor Party President signals that the Occupation of Palestinians in Permanent. juancole.com By Ashraf Al-Ajrami | — ( Middle East Monitor) — Israeli President Isaac Herzog chose to celebrate the Jewish Hanukkah holiday — the "Festival of Lights" — at the Ibrahimi Mosque in occupied Hebron, accompanied by a group of settler leaders. "The historical affinity of the Jewish people to Hebron, to the Cave of the …

Joris Leverink (2021-12-04). Understanding the student protests in Iraqi Kurdistan. roarmag.org Students protesting in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Photo via On November 21, 2021, hundreds of students from the University of Sulaymaniyah, one of the largest public universities in Iraqi Kurdistan, walked out of their classes in protest to demand better living conditions. The student demonstrations are a response to decades of endemic corruption,

Ana Perdigón (2021-12-04). Venezuela Supports CELAC-China Cooperation — President Maduro Calls CELAC Vanguard of Patria Grande. orinocotribune.com Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Félix Plasencia ratified Venezuela's commitment to strengthening bi-regional cooperation between China and Latin America and the Caribbean, to face current post-pandemic challenges. | During his speech at the Third Meeting of Ministers of the CELAC-China Forum this Friday, December 3, Plasencia highlighted the Asian giant's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a promoter of cooperation of China with Latin America and the Caribbean. | The Venezuelan foreign affairs minister stressed that it is essential to translate into concrete projects the special declaration of the Third Minist…

Staff (2021-12-04). China wants its casino paradise to become tech Mecca. rt.com The Chinese government plans to transform its largest casino den, Macau, into a regional technology hub, the South China Morning Post reported, citing technology industry executives and officials. | This comes as the Venetian Macao Convention and Exhibition Centre this week hosted a big technology-themed trade fair, which is expected to give rise to new industries and revitalize the regional economy. | The event's website portrayed Macau as "the new centre of international technologies" to connect the Asia Pacific tech ecosystem with the rest of the world. | "The Guangdong-Macau in-depth cooperation zone in He…

_____ (2021-12-04). Central Asian and Middle Eastern Countries Step Up Cooperation. journal-neo.org On November 28, the 15th Summit of the Leaders of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Member-States was held in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, with the participation of the heads of state and governments of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan, the countries that are members of the organization. The ECO summit …

WSWS (2021-12-04). Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and New Zealand. wsws.org India: State transport workers' still on strike in Maharashtra; Doctors walk out in Karnataka and Gujarat; Australia: Sydney bus drivers hold three days of strike action; New Zealand port workers vote to strike…

Oakland Asian Cultural Center (2021-12-04). Saturday 1/29: Book Talk: "The Auntie Sewing Squad Guide To Mask Making, Radical Care, Social Justice" indybay.org 388 9th Street #290, Oakland, CA 94607…

WSWS (2021-12-04). Indian courts continue to sanction open-ended imprisonment without trial. wsws.org The 15 surviving victims of the Indian state's Elgar Parishad terrorism frame-up case are being subjected to cruel and life-threatening punishment. They have been imprisoned for years without trial.

Dave DeCamp (2021-12-04). The US Wants South Korea to Help Take on the Chinese Military. news.antiwar.com The US and South Korea are preparing to update their plans for a potential war with North Korea to reflect what Washington says is an advance in Pyongyang's military capabilities. But now that the US is so focused on China, the new war plans Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met with his South Korean counterpart, Suh Wook, in Seoul on Thursday. In a joint statement, the two military leaders noted "the importance of preserving peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait," marking the first time Taiwan was ment…

Angela (2021-12-04). Sunday 12/12: Q&A Discussion of Christians in Palestine — Two Films. indybay.org

Staff (2021-12-04). US strike may have killed Syrian civilians, Pentagon says. rt.com The US military said it would open an investigation into the possibility a recent drone strike caused civilian casualties, with Pentagon officials claiming the attack had been intended to target a "senior al-Qaeda leader." | US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees military operations across the Middle East, announced the upcoming probe on Friday, hours after an MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle bombed an unspecified location in Idlib province in what CENTCOM described as a "precision strike." | "We abhor the loss of innocent life and take all possible measures to prevent them. The possibility of a civil…

Juan Cole (2021-12-04). Urgent UN Action needed on Yemen Atrocities to end "Pandemic of Impunity" juancole.com Human rights Watch — (New York) — The United Nations General Assembly should act swiftly to establish an investigative mechanism to gather and preserve evidence of serious human rights abuses and violations of the laws of war in Yemen, a coalition of more than 60 organizations said. Failure to act would not only be a …

_____ (2021-12-03). Why We Should Oppose The Democracy Summit. popularresistance.org The exclusion of certain countries from the U.S. "democracy summit" is not a side issue. It is the very purpose of the summit. And excluded countries have not been excluded for failing to meet the standards of behavior of those that were invited or the one doing the inviting. Invitees didn't even have to be countries, as even a U.S. backed failed coup leader from Venezuela has been invited. So have representatives of Israel, Iraq, Pakistan, DRC, Zambia, Angola, Malaysia, Kenya, and — critically — pawns in the game: Taiwan and Ukraine. | What game? The weapons sales game. Which is the whole point. Look…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-03). Saudi Arabia extensively lobbied to derail war crimes probe in Yemen, says report. peoplesdispatch.org A report by The Guardian said that an extensive Saudi lobbying effort was one of the reasons behind the defeat of a resolution to extend the term of an independent war crimes investigation into human rights violations in Yemen…

Stavroula Pabst (2021-12-03). Flattening the curve or flattening the global poor? How Covid lockdowns obliterate human rights and crush the most vulnerable. thegrayzone.com Marketed as life-saving public health measures, lockdowns triggered death and economic devastation on a global scale while doing little to slow the spread of Covid-19. Now, they're back with a vengeance. In October 2021, it seemed as though the lockdowns that still paralyzed societies from Australia to New Zealand and Singapore were coming to an end, as these countries threw in the "Zero-COVID" towel following a year and a half of rolling restrictions and closures. But with COVID-19 cases rising …

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-03). Rights organizations call for renewed probe into possible war crimes in Yemen. peoplesdispatch.org The call by rights organizations comes a day after The Guardian revealed that Saudi Arabia had used a mixture of threats and inducements to persuade countries to vote down an extension of the probe into possible war crimes in Yemen…

Staff (2021-12-03). Headlines for December 3, 2021. democracynow.org Biden Administration to Reinstate and Expand Trump-Era "Remain in Mexico" Policy, Amid Record COVID-19 Surge, Germany to Exclude Unvaccinated From Public Life, Biden Says Lockdowns Not Needed to Combat Looming Winter Surge of COVID-19, Omicron Variant Traced to Manhattan Anime Convention Attended by 50,000+, Congress Passes Stopgap Spending Bill After GOP Threatens Shutdown Over Vaccine Mandates, Rep. Peter DeFazio Becomes 19th House Democrat to Retire Ahead of Midterms, Groups Call on U.N. to Relaunch Yemen War Crimes Probe Which Ended Amid Saudi and UAE Pressure , HRW: Burmese Military Planned Attack That Kille…

Anonymous669 (2021-12-03). Saudi-led Coalition Claims Its Recent Airstrikes On Ma'rib Killed More Than 250 Houthis. southfront.org File image. | The Saudi-led coalition claims that its recent airstrikes on the central Yemeni province of Ma'rib killed more than 250 fighters of the Houthis (Ansar Allah). | The Houthis, backed by local tribesmen, launched a large-scale offensive to captured Ma'rib city and nearby oil fields from Saudi-backed forces more than nine months ago. In the last few months, Houthi fighters made significant gains to the west and south of the city. However, they sustained heavy losses. | According to the Saudi-led coalition: | On…

Ann Brown (2021-12-03). Infectious Disease Doctor: Omicron To Dominate And Overwhelm The World In 3-6 Months. moguldom.com As the global medical community scrambles to figure out how to deal with the latest coronavirus variant, omicron, one infectious disease doctor, has declared that omicron will likely "dominate and overwhelm" the world in six months or less. "Frankly, omicron will dominate and overwhelm the whole world in three to six months," Singapore-based doctor Leong …

Mark Gruenberg (2021-12-03). Government will stay open — for now. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—As the coronavirus pandemic's Omicron variant landed in the U.S., right-wing Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, wanted to make sure more people are exposed to the modern-day plague. They failed, as lawmakers—with union backing—also voted to keep the federal government going. The three just didn't say so, but exposure …

Newsclick (2021-12-03). 'Omicron' the new Covid-19 variant: What is it all about? peoplesdispatch.org Immunologist Dr. Satyajit Rath and NewClick's Editor-in-Chief Prabir Purkayastha discuss the new variant, Omicron. They talk about its origin and the possible spread in the world, threats it poses to the people of the world and whether it can this lead to a third wave in India and other waves in other countries of the world. They also discuss the precautions to contain the new variant.

F. William Engdahl (2021-12-03). Who Gains from Ethiopia Tigray War? dissidentvoice.org If you want to know who is likely to be at war, just look at who is given the Nobel Peace Prize by the Norwegian (NATO) Parliament. Obama got it just days into office before he escalated the war in Afghanistan. Henry Kissinger got it in the 1970'S. And two years ago the Prime Minister …

WSWS (2021-12-03). Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa. wsws.org Danish nurses organise wildcat stoppage and mass resignation in protest at pay and working conditions in defiance of government and unions; French transport workers, including bus, tram and train drivers, continue wave of strikes over pay and conditions; South African gold miners at Sibanye-Stillwater poised to join strikes of Clover dairy and Massmart store workers over pay; protests in Lebanon over continuing economic crisis plunging six million into poverty…

teleSUR (2021-12-03). US Sent Wheat Seeds Containing Pests To Syria. telesurenglish.net Syrian agriculture officials have been complaining that the wheat seeds, recently provided by the United States for farmers in the Al-Hasakah province, contain a high degree of nematode (plant-parasitic worm) infection that would harm the soil. | RELATED: | In the laboratory examination that used saline solution, researchers found a number of grains are infected with wheat allele, which is a nematode infection. In the visual examination of the sample, the…

_____ (2021-12-03). Israel's Illegal Occupation of the Golan Heights Remains an Obstacle to Peace. journal-neo.org During the period of the last Labor government in Australia, the general policy of that government, which was in power for six years from 2008 to 2014, was to abstain on votes in the United Nations critical of Israel. When the Liberal government has been in power, as it has continuously since 2014, the vote …

teleSUR (2021-12-03). Cuba Celebrates Health Workers on Day of Latin American Medicine. telesurenglish.net On the day commemorating Latin American Medicine, teleSUR English reproduces in full the speech offered by Cuban Minister of Health Jose Angel Portal Miranda to the health workers of Cuba and the region. | Cuba celebrates Latin American Medicine Day every December 3, to commemorate the birth of Cuban epidemiologist Carlos J. Finlay, an occasion to thank doctors, nurses, scientists, and collaborators for their successful efforts against Covid-19.

Eric Walberg (2021-12-03). Afghan Emirate's Challenge to the World. dissidentvoice.org What happened to news about Afghanistan? After their spectacular sweep of the entire country and overnight victory, there is no news now. And Taliban websites remain closed. Just human interest stuff about traitors/ cowards/ whatevers fleeing to the US or wherever. A convening of Afghan women parliamentarians, holding a mock Afghan parliament in exile (a …

teleSUR (2021-12-03). Taliban Supreme Leader Issues Decree On Women's Rights. telesurenglish.net On Friday, the Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada issued a special decree regarding women's rights and directed relevant authorities to take actions to safeguard these rights. | RELATED: | "The Islamic Emirate's leadership directs all relevant institutions, Ulema-e Karam (scholars), and tribal elders to take serious action to enforce women's rights," Afghan caretaker government spokesman Zabihullah Mu…

_____ (2021-12-03). Battle Over Jordan Cove Energy Project Is Over After Developers Pull Plug. popularresistance.org The bitter and protracted battle over the Jordan Cove Energy Project has finally come to a close. The Calgary-based Pembina company formally asked federal energy regulators Wednesday to withdraw authorizations for the proposed pipeline and liquified natural gas export terminal in southwest Oregon. Pembina's plan called for a 229-mile-long natural gas pipeline that would have run from Malin, Oregon, on the California border, over the Coast Range to Coos Bay. The gas would then have been super-cooled into a liquified form (LNG), loaded onto ships and exported to Asia.

Carson Minow (2021-12-03). Some AAPI voters in New York feel abandoned by Democratic Party. america.cgtn.com Democrat Eric Adams is due to take up his role as the new Mayor of New York City in January. Yet a breakdown of voting at the polls shows there was a swell of support for his Republican opponent, Curtis Sliwa, among the city's Asian …

_____ (2021-12-03). Cooperation between Russia and Vietnam Strengthens Steadily. journal-neo.org Vietnam is one of Russia's key partners in the Asia-Pacific region. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) and Russia continue to develop cooperation, which has traditionally been friendly, based on years of close cooperation in a wide range of areas (diplomatic relations were established on 30 January 1950). The bilateral legal framework consists of over eighty …

Anonymous669 (2021-12-03). ISIS Claims Its Cells Carried Out 74 Assassinations In Middle East, South Asia, Central & East Africa. southfront.org ISIS cells in the Middle East, South Asia, Central and East Africa carried out 74 successful assassinations in the first…

_____ (2021-12-03). Two Fake Stories about the DPRK in November 2021. journal-neo.org Anti-Pyongyang propaganda periodically delights the world with horror stories in the DPRK, which circulate well in the media and which now must be clarified. It happened twice in the second half of November. On November 16, Radio Free Asia, a private non-profit news service funded by the US government, told the world the heartbreaking story …

_____ (2021-12-03). It's Time To Free Leonard Peltier, America's Longest Serving Political Prisoner. popularresistance.org Too few have heard of Leonard Peltier, an American Indian Movement activist who has been imprisoned for 44 years based on accusations that were never proven and a trial that was appallingly mishandled. Based on his mere presence in South Dakota's 1975 Pine Ridge Reservation shoot-out, where one Native American activist and two FBI agents were killed, Peltier has spent the better part of his life behind bars. As the website FreeLeonard.org points out, this gross miscarriage of justice has been condemned by everyone from by Amnesty International and the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights to Archbish…

_____ (2021-12-03). It's Time To Free Leonard Peltier, Longest Serving Political Prisoner. popularresistance.org Too few have heard of Leonard Peltier, an American Indian Movement activist who has been imprisoned for 44 years based on accusations that were never proven and a trial that was appallingly mishandled. Based on his mere presence in South Dakota's 1975 Pine Ridge Reservation shoot-out, where one Native American activist and two FBI agents were killed, Peltier has spent the better part of his life behind bars. As the website FreeLeonard.org points out, this gross miscarriage of justice has been condemned by everyone from by Amnesty International and the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights to Archbish…

Editor (2021-12-03). Kevin Sharp: It's Time to Free Leonard Peltier, America's Longest Serving Political Prisoner. scheerpost.com Leonard Peltier. [Gary Stevens] | Click to subscribe on: Too few have heard of Leonard Peltier, an American Indian Movement activist who has been imprisoned for 44 years based on accusations that were never proven and a trial that was appallingly mishandled. Based on his mere presence in South Dakota's 1975 Pine Ridge Reservation shoot-out, where one Native Ameri…

_____ (2021-12-03). Russian-Indian Relations amid the "Radical Transformation of the World Order" journal-neo.org The visit of the Russian President Vladimir Putin to India scheduled for December 6, is poised to become a significant event which will undoubtedly have a serious impact not only on the development of the bilateral relations, but also on the ongoing "radical transformation of the world order." Such an assessment of the upcoming trip …

Mario Gaona (2021-12-03). Muncie, Indiana, students protest censorship of BLM in school. zcomm.org Students at Muncie Central High School marched from the school to Muncie City Hall Nov. 23 after their school's administration commanded a class to take down student posters that mention the Black Lives Matter social movement…

Morteza Ahmadi Al Hashem (2021-12-03). Dozens killed, wounded in ISIL attack on Iraq's Makhmur city. en.mehrnews.com The Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs of Iraqi Kurdistan Region announced that a number of civilians were killed and injured in the wake of last night's attack by ISIL terrorist groups on "Makhmur" city in Iraq.

Maureen Clare Murphy (2021-12-03). Israel kills and "honors" people with disabilities. electronicintifada.net Tel Aviv whitewashes its maiming of Gaza protesters.

MEE, agencies (2021-12-03). NSO Group: Israeli company spyware 'hacked US State Department phones'. middleeasteye.net NSO Group: Israeli company spyware 'hacked US State Department phones' | Reuters reports the hacks focused on US officials either based in Uganda or working on matters related to the East African country | Fri, 12/03/2021 – 17: 30 | State Department officials with foreign registered phones were targeted with spyware produced by Israeli cyber company (AFP) | The iPhones of at least nine US…

teleSUR (2021-12-03). Historic China-Laos Railway Commences Operations. telesurenglish.net The China-Laos Railway, a landmark project of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, started operation on Friday. | Today the $6 billion China-Laos bullet train, which could raise the country's income 20%, starts to operate. What most people didn't know is that the U.S. made Laos the most bombed nation in human history, killing 10% of its population.

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-03). Pakistani parliament member and Pashtun leader Ali Wazir gets bail but to remain behind bars. peoplesdispatch.org On November 30, Ali Wazir was granted bail by the Supreme Court but remains in jail as a case is pending against him. He was accused of insulting a state institution in a speech in December 2020 and has been incarcerated for close to a year…

Anonymous (2021-12-03). Palestine in Pictures: November 2021. electronicintifada.net A monthly roundup of photographs documenting Palestine, Palestinian life, politics and culture, and international solidarity with Palestine.

_____ (2021-12-03). South Korean Dictator Dies, Western Media Resurrects A Myth. popularresistance.org General Chun Doo Hwan was the corrupt military dictator that ruled Korea from 1979-1988, before handing off the presidency to his co-conspirator General Roh Tae Woo. Chun took power in a coup in 1979, and during his presidency he perpetrated the largest massacre of Korean civilians since the Korean war. He died on November 23rd, in pampered, sybaritic luxury, impenitent and arrogant to the very last breath. | Many western media outlets have written censorious, chest-beating accounts of his despotic governance and the massacres he perpetrated (here, here, here, and here)– something they rarely bothered to do when…

WSWS (2021-12-03). Sri Lankan public sector workers hold nationwide protests to demand higher wages. wsws.org The island-wide actions, held on consecutive days beginning Monday, are another indication of mounting working-class opposition to the Rajapakse government's austerity measures and its escalating anti-democratic attacks.

MEE staff (2021-12-03). Twitter removes pro-Russia accounts attacking Libyan government. middleeasteye.net Twitter removes pro-Russia accounts attacking Libyan government | Network of accounts were also supportive of Russia's geopolitics in Syria and Libya | Fri, 12/03/2021 – 20: 25 | Over the years, Twitter has removed tens of thousands of accounts that the company found were using its platform to further political interests (AFP/File photo) | Twitter has announced that it removed thousands of accounts linked to s…

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