(2021-12-17). They Won't Ever Find Us Because Our Love Is Bound to the Rocks. popularresistance.org At the US State Department's Summit for Democracy (9—10 December), US President Joe Biden announced a range of initiatives to 'bolster democracy and defend human rights globally'. These measures are to be funded by $424.4 million from the United States. This money will go towards the same institutions that have — for the past sixty years — intervened to undermine the sovereignty of democratic processes from Iran (1953) and Guatemala (1954) to Honduras (2009) and Bolivia (2019). The US focuses on falsely portraying governments that are unwilling to accept US leadership as corrupt — as was w…
(2021-12-17). Terror, Destabilization, Genocide: India's Imperialist Proxy Role. orinocotribune.com By Rainer Shea — Dec 10, 2021 | As the U.S. empire has continued intensifying its hybrid asymmetrical warfare against China, and has caused the world to divide between the U.S. and Sino blocs, I've been
(2021-12-17). Cyprus: More awareness of Armenian and Cypriot Maronite Arabic languages. moderndiplomacy.eu State authorities in Cyprus continue to support minority language speakers by funding existing cultural institutions and establishing new sports facilities where their languages can be used, according to a new report by the Committee of Experts for the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. (see executive summary in Greek) The Charter had entered into …
(2021-12-17). Red Star Over the Third World w/ Vijay Prashad: Lessons of Soviet History, Part 2. mronline.org 
Russia's October Revolution in 1917 and the rise of Soviet power reverberated across the world, from Latin America to Africa to Asia, and Middle East — that part of the world that lived under the ravages of colonialism and under-development.
(2021-12-17). Indonesia's Economy Grew in 2021 Despite COVID-19, Will Accelerate in 2022. moderndiplomacy.eu The Indonesian economy continued to recover in 2021 despite moderating due to the COVID-19 Delta variant wave mid-year. The economy is estimated to have expanded 3.7 percent this year and is forecast to accelerate to 5.2 percent in 2022, the World Bank said on Thursday. The projection assumes that Indonesia will avoid another severe COVID-19 …
(2021-12-17). Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa. wsws.org Continuing strike wave of French transport workers over pay and conditions joined by waste collection workers and extracurricular school staff; national one-day strike across Italy against government's budget joined by teachers demanding more resources; strike by teachers across 100 Iranian cities over pay and conditions attacked by police; municipal and health workers strike in Free State, South Africa over pay and conditions…
(2021-12-17). Tel Aviv Insists on a Radical Solution to Iran's Nuclear Program. journal-neo.org 
On December 10, at the annual Israeli-American Council (IAC) National Summit in Miami, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz met with senior US functionaries about a radical solution to Iran's nuclear program. He warned his American counterpart Lloyd Austin, and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken that he had ordered the Israel Defense Forces or the …
(2021-12-17). Pat O'Shane to stand in Leichhardt for the Socialist Alliance. greenleft.org.au Pat O'Shane, a Kuku Yalanji woman from Mossman, will run for the Socialist Alliance in the Far North Queensland lower house seat of Leichhardt in the federal election. Jonathan Strauss reports.
(2021-12-17). Volkswagen to cut around 900 temporary jobs in Germany. wsws.org Volkswagen is cutting the positions of around 900 temporary workers in the midst of the current coronavirus wave. VW General Works Council Chairwoman Daniela Cavallo and VW brand board member Ralf Brandstà§tter announced this just four weeks before Christmas in an online workforce meeting.
(2021-12-16). Headlines for December 16, 2021. democracynow.org Unprecedented December Storms Hit Central U.S. as Biden Tours Kentucky Tornado Damage, U.K. and South Africa Set Coronavirus Records as Omicron Spreads Rapidly, Senate Approves Record $778 Billion Pentagon Budget, Build Back Better Act Stalls in Senate Again as Joe Manchin Rejects Expanded Child Tax Credit, Civil Rights Leaders Demand Senate Democrats Pass Federal Voting Rights Legislation, Democrats Call on Biden to Extend Student Loan Pause, Grant Debt Forgiveness, Syrian Conflict Has Stripped Civilians of Access to Healthcare, Created Humanitarian Disaster, Protesters Demand Mexico Decriminalize Immigration to…
(2021-12-16). Stand up for Assange, stand up for press freedom. peoplesdispatch.org On December 10, Human Rights Day, a British court delivered a verdict that clears the way for the extradition of journalist and publisher Julian Assange to the United States. If the extradition goes through, Assange will face criminal prosecution in the US, including under the infamous Espionage Act, and if convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in jail. | Julian Assange and his organization WikiLeaks published vital information received from whistleblowers such as Chelsea Manning that chronicled US war crimes and atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan. These include 'Collateral Murder,' the horrifying video…
(2021-12-16). More Than 100 Firms Across the World Can Make the mRNA Vaccine If Tech Is Shared. truthout.org 
Image Credit: Facebook: Global Justice Now | As the coronavirus variant Omicron spreads across the world at an unprecedented rate, a group of vaccine experts has just released a list of over 100 companies in Africa, Asia and Latin America with the potential to produce mRNA vaccine. They say it is the one of the most viable solutions to fight vaccine inequity around the world and combat the spread of coronavirus variants, including Omicron. We speak to Achal Prabhala, one of the vaccine exper…
(2021-12-16). Home care workers protest 24-hour work day in NYC. peoplesdispatch.org Workers employed with the United Jewish Council (UJC) home care agency rallied to end the 24-hour work day and demand their stolen wages on the morning of December 16. While home care workers in New York are being forced to work 24-hour shifts for poverty wages, 11 hours worth of that pay is stolen by their employers. A coalition of worker's rights organizations including the Ain't I A Woman Campaign and the National Mobilization Against Sweatshops (NMASS) have been organizing alongside home care workers for years against these unjust labor practices. | "I am traumatized from working 24-hour shifts," said Epifani…
(2021-12-16). Neocons Bent On Starting Another Disaster In Ukraine. popularresistance.org If anything, Washington's neoconservatives have an unerring instinct for survival. Having brought about multiple disasters in the two decades since the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, from the Iraq war to the twin debacles in Libya and Syria, the neocons seem to have perfected the art of failing up. | Harvard University's Stephen Walt once quipped that "Being a Neocon Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry." And in this regard, the story of the Kagan family is instructive. | Robert Kagan, a contributing columnist for The Washington Post, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and author of pseudo-his…
(2021-12-16). Ukraine, Turkey, Azerbaijan form pan-Turkic bloc against Russia in Crimea. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Zelensky invites President of Azerbaijan to host Kyiv-Ankara-Baku summit in Feb During his working visit to Brussels, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky met with President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, during which they discussed issues of enhancing bilateral cooperation between the countries… It is noted that Zelensky thanked Aliyev for supporting the sovereignty …
(2021-12-16). Max Boot: U.S. should use Ukrainian Insurgent Army, Afghan Mujahideen models against Russia. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com This is in response to an article from Max Boot, who is Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow in National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and regular contributor to The Washington Post; in fact from that newspaper's edition of December 15 entitled To deter a Russian attack, Ukraine needs to prepare for guerrilla …
(2021-12-16). Russia closer to NATO's eastern flank than ever: Lithuanian president. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com In 1989 NATO's "eastern flank" was a narrow strip of Norway and the Berlin Wall. In 1991 it was a reunified Germany's borders with Poland and then Czechoslovakia. Now it's Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Albania, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and, with Enhanced Opportunities Partners, Finland, Sweden, Ukraine …
(2021-12-16). Afghanistan's Labyrinth of Opportunity. journal-neo.org 
Four months after the withdrawal of the US and NATO troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban (movement is banned in the Russian Federation) attempts to shape the country on their image, despite the lack of recognition. Nevertheless, they have complete freedom from their neighbors to do whatever they want. They do not officially interfere but try …
(2021-12-16). Steve Coll on How the U.S. Pursued Withdrawal Over Peace in Afghanistan & Let the Taliban Take Over. democracynow.org 
As Afghanistan spirals into a humanitarian crisis after the abrupt U.S. withdrawal earlier this summer, we look at years of failed U.S. diplomacy that allowed the Taliban to seize power and leave the small nation in a state of disrepair. A New Yorker magazine investigation shows how the U.S. repeatedly undermined the Kabul-based government in a rush to leave the country. "I've been reporting in general and around Afghanistan for a long time. I was still shocked by the degree of cynicism that the United States often brought to this endeavor to seek peace, particularly during the Trump years," says New Yorker staff…
(2021-12-16). The Chaotic Evacuation From Afghanistan Has Distracted From the UK's Deeper Failures During the War. strategic-culture.org By Patrick COCKBURN | They shall not return to us, the strong men coldly slain | In sight of help denied from day to day: | But the men who edged their agonies and chid them in their pain, | Are they too strong and wise to put away? | Shall we only threaten and be angry for an hour? | When the storm is ended shall we find | How softly but how swiftly they have sidled back to power | By the favour and contrivance of their kind? | Their lives cannot repay us — their death could not undo — | The shame that they have laid upon our race. | But the slothfulness that wasted and the arrogance that slew, | Sha…
(2021-12-16). "No Food Available": Afghanistan Faces Catastrophe as Donors Cut Humanitarian Aid to Taliban Gov't. democracynow.org 
Afghanistan under the new Taliban government faces a humanitarian catastrophe this winter as the United States and other donors have cut off financial aid. The United Nations warns nearly 23 million people in Afghanistan — or more than half the population — face potentially life-threatening food shortages, with nearly 9 million already on the brink of famine. In addition, people face lack of proper healthcare, unemployment and housing shortages. "The international aid organizations, for them, it's just another country … where they take pictures and make their careers out of it," says Pashtana Durran…
(2021-12-16). Key Body Demands Complete Ban on Glyphosate in India. dissidentvoice.org In October 2020, Pesticide Action Network India and PAN Asia Pacific released the report 'State of Glyphosate Use in India'. It concluded that the use of the world's most widely used herbicide is rampant. Despite this, it noted that its disturbing effects on the environment and the health of farmworkers and the public are not …
(2021-12-16). Drone attacks on US base in eastern Syria reported. en.mehrnews.com The United States's Al-Tanf military base in eastern Syria has been attacked by two drones, the commander of US CENTCOM in the West Asian region revealed.
(2021-12-16). Regional Mechanisms of Human Rights: The Way Forward: Case of South Asia. moderndiplomacy.eu Long debates have evolved since the 1948 UDHR as to whether human rights should always be perceived as universal, or whether they need to be regarded as contextual on regional and local cultures. If we look at Art. 2 of the UDHR the rights apply "with no distinction given to their race, colour, sex, language, …
(2021-12-16). As Omicron Spreads, 100+ Firms in Africa, Asia & Latin America Can Make mRNA Vaccine If Tech Shared. democracynow.org 
As the coronavirus variant Omicron spreads across the world at an unprecedented rate, a group of vaccine experts has just released a list of over 100 companies in Africa, Asia and Latin America with the potential to produce mRNA vaccine. They say it is the one of the most viable solutions to fight vaccine inequity around the world and combat the spread of coronavirus variants, including Omicron. We speak to Achal Prabhala, one of the vaccine experts who compiled the list. If mRNA technology could be shared with the listed companies, "we could vaccinate the world in as close to six months from now," says Prabhala.
(2021-12-16). G7 threats push Russia-China ever closer together. asiatimes.com 
The initiative by Beijing to propose a virtual meeting between President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which took place on Wednesday, radically transforms the geopolitics of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) relentless eastward expansion and the Western military deployments on Russia's borders. The announcement of the meeting in Beijing came within a …
(2021-12-16). Tokyo considers boycott of Beijing Olympics. wsws.org As Japan fully embraces the war drive being led by the United States against China, Tokyo is increasing pressure on Beijing on a number of fronts. These moves are highly provocative and can only push Northeast Asia further towards the brink of armed conflict.
(2021-12-16). China's Economic Diplomacy: Where do Taiwan and Kosovo fit in? moderndiplomacy.eu The attempt to unite Taiwan with the mainland since 1979 when Deng Xiaoping instituted the principle of "one country, two systems" has been ineffective to date. In fact, China is struggling with so-called "own provinces," such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Tibet, to name just a few. Internal conflicts are usually a cause of imbalance power …
(2021-12-16). 'The Truth of COVID-19 — The India Statement': Citizens and Experts Call for a Halt to COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout in India. globalresearch.ca The mass rollout of COVID-19 vaccines should be halted immediately. These experimental vaccines pose serious dangers. That is the message contained in a statement from concerned citizens soon to be forwarded to India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi. | The statement's signatories …
(2021-12-16). Indiana University grad student workers seek union certification. wsws.org Graduate student workers have not had a university-wide wage increase since 2014 while tuition fees and living expenses have continued to rise.
(2021-12-16). UAE Charts a Path to Regional Leadership. journal-neo.org 
Apart from making a defense deal — which came as a potential snub to the US' dillydallying on the sale of the F-35s to Abu Dhabi — with France to purchase 80 state-of-the-art Rafael jets, the UAE is cosying up to Iran and Turkey as a means to place itself as a key player in …
(2021-12-16). EU shrugs at Israeli execution of injured Palestinian. electronicintifada.net Brussels ignores growing demands to hold Tel Aviv accountable.
(2021-12-16). Details of 1948 Massacres against Palestinians revealed in classified Israeli documents. mronline.org 
Israeli government discussions on the massacres perpetrated by Israeli soldiers in 1948 were declassified for the first time this week in an investigative report published by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz and the Akevot Institute for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Research.
(2021-12-16). Jim Jordan Confirms He Wrote Text to Meadows Promoting Electoral College Scheme. truthout.org 
On Wednesday, the office of Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) confirmed that he was one of the lawmakers who texted Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows regarding a scheme to subvert the January 6 certification of the Electoral College. | The text message was shared by the January 6 commission this week as evidence to justify a House vote
(2021-12-16). The Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty (TPNW): Wishful daydream or historic milestone? moderndiplomacy.eu The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), adopted in 2017, has entered into force on the 22nd of January of this year and the number of ratifying states continues to grow, with Mongolia being the latest to announce its accession. This positive trend is certainly welcomed with enthusiasm by the Civil Society campaigners …
(2021-12-16). The US is at a Loss in Central America. popularresistance.org Above Photo: Twitter — @PDChina / Comandante Daniel Ortega y el presidente del grupo HKND, Sr. Wang Jing en 2014, al obsequiarle el libro de X In November 2008, while ambassador to Nicaragua, death-squad manager nonpareil John Negroponte's long time torture and terror campaign sidekick, Robert Callahan, remarked to a reporter in Managua, "US foreign …
(2021-12-16). Video: U.S.-led NATO battle group in Poland. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Video: enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup Poland Comprised of units from four Allied nations: Croatia, Romania, the UK and US, NATO's enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) Battlegroup Poland is a key asset….in the [NATO] eastern flank. As part of their mission, Battlegroup Poland is continuously executing training exercises to enhance their readiness and ability to operate as …
(2021-12-16). COVID-19 experts from Imperial and Singapore share lessons from pandemic. imperial.ac.uk Scientists from the UK and Singapore have come together to discuss their research during the COVID-19 pandemic at an online symposium.
(2021-12-16). S. Korean president rejects U.S.-led move to not send gov't officials to Beijing Winter Olympics. ecns.cn South Korean President Moon Jae-in has recently said Seoul "is not considering" U.S.-led move not to send government officials or representatives to the Beijing Winter Olympics.
(2021-12-16). How the OPCW's Syria probe censored science. popularresistance.org New reports explore how the suppressed findings that undermined US-led allegations of a chemical weapons attack in Douma, Syria in April 2018. Piers Robinson and Aaron Maté discuss the latest revelations on how the OPCW censored science.