Monthly Archives: December 2021

2021-12-25: News Headlines

New Atlas (2021-12-25). New US Embargo on Cambodia Over Friendship with China. newatlas.report December 25, 2021 (Brian Berletic — NEO) — The United States continues a process of targeting and isolating nations around the globe increasingly choosing to do business with Beijing rather than Washington. The most recent of these is the Southeast Asia nation of Cambodia. For years Cambodia has incrementally pivoted from once serving US foreign …

_____ (2021-12-25). Growing Russia-India Cooperation Strengthens Global Stability. journal-neo.org With its sanctions intrigues and the desire to demonstrate a servile adherence only to the United States, Europe is increasingly becoming a global strategic periphery. Asia, on the contrary, is moving forward in terms of the global significance of the events taking place there. Against this background, the strategies of Russia and India complement each …

_____ (2021-12-25). I Want To Get Our Rights From The Americans Who Harmed Us. popularresistance.org On 12 July 2007, two US AH-64 Apache helicopters fired 30-millimetre cannon rounds at a group of Iraqi civilians in New Baghdad. These US Army gunners murdered at least a dozen people, including Reuters photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen and his driver Saeed Chmagh. Reuters immediately asked for the US to conduct a probe into the killing. Instead, they were fed the official story by the US government that soldiers of Bravo Company, 2-16 infantry had been attacked by small arms fire as part of their Operation Ilaaj in the al-Amin al-Thaniyah neighbourhood. The soldiers called in air strikes, which came in and cleared…

Editor2 (2021-12-25). How Washington Led the Purge of Christians from its 'New Middle East'- Part 2. orinocotribune.com By Tim Anderson — Dec 21, 2021 | Christians in Syria were attacked and purged in the west of the country by US and NATO-backed sectarian Islamists and in the east by the death cult ISIS. | Purging the Christians of Syria | The US role in the purge of Syrian Christians was apparent from the first months of 2011, but warnings came earlier. In 2005, CNN's Christine Amanpour, closely linked to senior Washington officials,

Jay Janson (2021-12-24). No USA Christmas Love for Afghans, Venezuelans, Cubans, Syrians, Iranians, and North Koreans. dissidentvoice.org This Christmas season, as always, CIA controlled mainstream media is filled with unctuous images of the hungry homeless in America being charitably served food by private citizens and institutions. It has long become an American tradition of kindness during the season celebrating the birth of all loving Jesus along with gift giving Santa Claus, and …

Amjed Jaaved (2021-12-24). Santa Claus rueful at imminent Christmas in India. moderndiplomacy.eu Ahead of Christmas, Indian police raided a shishu bhavan (infant house or orphanage) in Kolcatta (West Bengal) and another at Vdodra (Gujarat), Indian prime minister's home state. The Kolkatta orphanage was established by Mother Teresa herself, and was being run by the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata since February11, 2014. The raiding police claimed that …

_____ (2021-12-24). A Mass-Murdering Regime Dares to Lecture the World on Human Rights. strategic-culture.org Washington is a criminal regime as its illegal wars and deliberate mass murder demonstrate beyond any doubt. | An important report published this week reveals in extensive detail the shocking scale of war crimes committed by the United States in the Middle East. Thousands of civilian deaths, including children, are documented as a result of aerial bombardments conducted by the U.S. military. | It is crucial to remark that the published survey — while voluminous involving thousands of pages and documents — represents only a fraction of the full scale of mass murder. The research focuses on Syria and I…

Dost Muhammad Barrech (2021-12-24). Afghanistan: OIC emerging dilemma. moderndiplomacy.eu December 19, 2021, is going to be a monumental day for Afghanistan in its perilous situation. Pakistan on that particular day will host a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) foreign ministers on Afghanistan aimed at addressing exacerbating and egregious humanitarian crisis in war-torn Afghanistan. Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Pakistan's foreign minister says, "In …

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-24). After repeated appeals, UNSC approves resolution for humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. peoplesdispatch.org 22.8 million people in Afghanistan are facing potentially life-threatening food insecurity this winter. The World Food Programme has warned that 8.7 million people are nearing famine-like conditions.

K.J. Noh (2021-12-24). South Korean Dictator Dies, Western Media Resurrects a Myth. towardfreedom.org South Korea's history offers a stark and ominous lesson, one that the mainstream media would prefer you ignore: A battle is brewing, with very high stakes. Under pressure, the United States has taken brutal actions to maintain control and hegemony, writes K.J. Noh.

_____ (2021-12-24). Antony Blinken Visited the South-East Asian Region Yet Again. journal-neo.org Another tour, started on December 9 by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, may have been unprecedented since he took office, both in terms of the number of countries visited and the breadth of topics that were supposed to be discussed with foreign colleagues. The plan was for the trip to include three phases: a stop …

WSWS (2021-12-24). Workers Struggles: Asia and Australia. wsws.org India: Delhi school teachers suspend online classes over unpaid salaries; Sri Lankan public sector doctors take national walkout; Australia: Rail workers and bus drivers continue industrial action in NSW.

Newsroom (2021-12-24). Youth, Women Among Most Vulnerable to Job Loss in Southeast Asia During COVID-19. moderndiplomacy.eu Southeast Asia's youth and women bore the brunt of job losses during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, according to an Asian Development Bank (ADB) report released today. The report, A Crisis Like No Other—COVID-19 and Labor Markets in Southeast Asia, finds that people ages 15 to 24, who represent less than 15% of the workforce …

David Moore (2021-12-24). Senators Against Generic COVID Vaccines Have Received Twice as Much Pharma Cash. truthout.org This article was produced by In October 2020, India and South Africa issued a landmark proposal at the World Trade Organization that parts of its Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agr…

WSWS (2021-12-24). Foxconn forced to close key Indian facility after worker protest over mass food poisoning. wsws.org Hundreds of workers had to be treated for vomiting, diarrhoea and dizziness after eating their evening meal in a company-provided canteen.

WSWS (2021-12-24). First Omicron cases detected in Indonesia. wsws.org Faced with the dangerous new variant, the Indonesian government, in line with governments around the world, has implemented no serious health measures to stop its spread.

Dr.Nadia Helmy (2021-12-24). The repercussions of the American presence in the Middle East on China and Russia. moderndiplomacy.eu There are many potential repercussions of the US presence in the Middle East, with direct impacts on both China and Russia. Here, the most important priorities of the new US administration in the Middle East are represented in (negotiating over the Iranian nuclear program), which threatens Israel's security and destabilizes the region, according to American …

Vijay Prashad (2021-12-24). I want to get our rights from the Americans who harmed us: The fifty-first newsletter (2021). mronline.org The persecution of Julian Assange is a fundamental assault on journalism, press freedom, and freedom of expression.

_____ (2021-12-24). Western Expansionism Turns Russia-China to a Strategic Partnership. journal-neo.org In its latest meeting, the G7 countries — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, the USA and the High Representative of the European Union — "condemned Russian military build-up" on the Ukrainian border. While the statement does show the growing anti-Russia rhetoric in the West, the meeting drastically failed to contextualise how the West itself …

WSWS (2021-12-24). To oppose government austerity, Sri Lankan workers need to build action committees and fight for socialist policies. wsws.org The critical lesson of this year's strikes and protests is that determination and militancy is not enough. The working class cannot defend its rights without independently mobilising on a socialist program.

Kit Klarenberg (2021-12-24). Leaked files expose Syria psyops veteran astroturfing BreadTube star to counter Covid restriction critics. thegrayzone.com By covertly recruiting popular YouTube influencer Abigail Thorn to counter growing opposition to UK gov't Covid restrictions, psy-ops pros are bringing home the tactics they honed in the Syrian dirty war. Leaked documents have revealed a state-sponsored influence operation designed to undermine critics of the British government's coronavirus policies by astroturfing a prominent founder of the BreadTube clique of "anti-fascist" YouTube influencers. The project aims to conduct psychological profiling on British citizens dissenting against policies such as mandatory vaccination and …

Derek Royden (2021-12-24). Talon Anvil, Task Force 9 and the terrible cost of the air offensive in Syria. nationofchange.org Subsidizing militarism in search of monsters overseas seems more and more like the American way. With the new focus on near peer competitors like Russia and China, the dangers are only growing.

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2021-12-24). Leaked Files Expose Syria Psyops Veteran Recruiting Youtube Influencer to Counter Covid Restriction Critics. libya360.wordpress.com Kit Klarenberg and Max Blumenthal By covertly recruiting popular YouTube influencer Abigail Thorn to counter growing opposition to UK gov't Covid restrictions, psy-ops pros are bringing home the tactics they honed in the Syrian dirty war. Leaked documents have revealed a state-sponsored influence operation designed to undermine critics of the British government's coronavirus policies by…

_____ (2021-12-24). Erdogan is Actively Trying to Score Points in Africa. journal-neo.org Amid growing accusations against the Turkish government and calls for early presidential and parliamentary elections from the local population due to the intensifying domestic crisis in Turkey in recent days, there has been a surge in publications in the West about the impending power transition in Turkey. Thus, American edition Foreign Policy says that even …

Syed Zain Abbas Rizvi (2021-12-24). The Frenzied Economy of Turkey: Erdogan Unfazed by the Ineluctable Financial Collapse. moderndiplomacy.eu Inflation is a ubiquitous word nowadays in almost every discussion worldwide. While the concept is tricky to quantify objectively, the subjective interpretation (at least to a layman) is straightforward: prices rise, goods become expensive, and money loses value. Ever since the pandemic upended routine life, inflation has garnered attention from almost every walk of life. …

2021-12-25 18:50 | 14:50 EST | jz | 27 | 0 | 21 | 4 | 0 

2021-12-24: News Headlines

Dost Muhammad Barrech (2021-12-24). Afghanistan: OIC emerging dilemma. moderndiplomacy.eu December 19, 2021, is going to be a monumental day for Afghanistan in its perilous situation. Pakistan on that particular day will host a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) foreign ministers on Afghanistan aimed at addressing exacerbating and egregious humanitarian crisis in war-torn Afghanistan. Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Pakistan's foreign minister says, "In …

_____ (2021-12-24). Antony Blinken Visited the South-East Asian Region Yet Again. journal-neo.org Another tour, started on December 9 by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, may have been unprecedented since he took office, both in terms of the number of countries visited and the breadth of topics that were supposed to be discussed with foreign colleagues. The plan was for the trip to include three phases: a stop …

WSWS (2021-12-24). Workers Struggles: Asia and Australia. wsws.org India: Delhi school teachers suspend online classes over unpaid salaries; Sri Lankan public sector doctors take national walkout; Australia: Rail workers and bus drivers continue industrial action in NSW.

WSWS (2021-12-24). Foxconn forced to close key Indian facility after worker protest over mass food poisoning. wsws.org Hundreds of workers had to be treated for vomiting, diarrhoea and dizziness after eating their evening meal in a company-provided canteen.

Amjed Jaaved (2021-12-24). Santa Claus rueful at imminent Christmas in India. moderndiplomacy.eu Ahead of Christmas, Indian police raided a shishu bhavan (infant house or orphanage) in Kolcatta (West Bengal) and another at Vdodra (Gujarat), Indian prime minister's home state. The Kolkatta orphanage was established by Mother Teresa herself, and was being run by the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata since February11, 2014. The raiding police claimed that …

WSWS (2021-12-24). First Omicron cases detected in Indonesia. wsws.org Faced with the dangerous new variant, the Indonesian government, in line with governments around the world, has implemented no serious health measures to stop its spread.

Dr.Nadia Helmy (2021-12-24). The repercussions of the American presence in the Middle East on China and Russia. moderndiplomacy.eu There are many potential repercussions of the US presence in the Middle East, with direct impacts on both China and Russia. Here, the most important priorities of the new US administration in the Middle East are represented in (negotiating over the Iranian nuclear program), which threatens Israel's security and destabilizes the region, according to American …

WSWS (2021-12-24). To oppose government austerity, Sri Lankan workers need to build action committees and fight for socialist policies. wsws.org The critical lesson of this year's strikes and protests is that determination and militancy is not enough. The working class cannot defend its rights without independently mobilising on a socialist program.

_____ (2021-12-24). Erdogan is Actively Trying to Score Points in Africa. journal-neo.org Amid growing accusations against the Turkish government and calls for early presidential and parliamentary elections from the local population due to the intensifying domestic crisis in Turkey in recent days, there has been a surge in publications in the West about the impending power transition in Turkey. Thus, American edition Foreign Policy says that even …

WSWS (2021-12-23). "Civilian Casualty Files" documents the barbarism of US imperialism in Iraq and Syria. wsws.org The Civilian Casualty Files are evidence of extensive war crimes. They reveal that the US military, under the Obama and Trump administrations, deliberately killed civilians, including children.

Joe Glenton (2021-12-23). The military: the year in review — war crimes, withdrawals and secrecy. thecanary.co 2021 was a year of decline and reorganisation for the British military. It was also a year when historical war crimes allegations resurfaced, secrecy was expanded and a major defeat became undeniable. We decided to look back over some of the key themes in military affairs which emerged over the year. | This article is another in The Year In Review series. You'll be able to catch up on the many of the other review articles Cut and run: | The Afghanistan occupation finally ground to an end as the Taliban took Kabul in Aug…

Anand Naidoo (2021-12-23). The Heat: Afghanistan Crisis. america.cgtn.com As winter settles in, millions of Afghans are desperate for food and medical supplies.

_____ (2021-12-23). The Hypersonic Fall of US Prestige. journal-neo.org Even against the backdrop of recent events, the US stubbornly refuses to acknowledge that "American credibility" in the world is falling apart. It is not just a question of political credibility or the collapse of 20 years of American military intervention in Afghanistan. This fall did not begin with Biden or Trump, but with the …

Staff (2021-12-23). Headlines for December 23, 2021. democracynow.org South Africa Says Omicron Coronavirus Surge Has Peaked, WHO Warns Blanket Booster Programs Divert Vaccine Supply, Prolonging Pandemic, FDA Approves COVID-19 Pill; Most Monoclonal Antibody Treatments Fail Against Omicron, New York Coronavirus Cases Surge to Record High; Supreme Court to Weigh Vaccine Mandates, Proud Boys Member Pleads Guilty to Capitol Riot Conspiracy, Will Cooperate with FBI, FBI Undercover Teams Infiltrated Portland Racial Justice Protests, U.S. Relaxes Limits on Aid as Afghanistan Faces Dire Humanitarian Crisis, U.N. Calls for Probe into Reports That Sudanese Security Forces Raped Anti-Coup Pro…

Hendrik Sybrandy (2021-12-23). Afghans in Denver: "New life, new opportunities, peaceful environment" america.cgtn.com It's been a little more than 4 months since Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, prompting a flood of refugees to, among other places, the U.S. Those new arrivals continue to stream into American towns and cities. Helping them set up new lives has not been …

WSWS (2021-12-23). Alarm bells ring across South Asia as Omicron variant spreads unchecked. wsws.org Highlighting capitalist governments' failure to eliminate COVID-19, South Asia, home to a fourth of humanity, is on the brink of a horrific new surge of the virus.

Newsroom (2021-12-23). New ADB Facility to Help Southeast Asia Revive Tourism. moderndiplomacy.eu The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has set up a $1.7 million technical assistance facility to accelerate Southeast Asia's tourism recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, boost inclusive, sustainable development in the sector, and help local tourism entrepreneurs, especially women and youth, adopt digital platforms to grow their businesses. The Southeast Asia Sustainable Tourism Facility …

_____ (2021-12-23). New US Embargo on Cambodia Over Friendship with China. journal-neo.org The United States continues a process of targeting and isolating nations around the globe increasingly choosing to do business with Beijing rather than Washington. The most recent of these is the Southeast Asia nation of Cambodia. For years Cambodia has incrementally pivoted from once serving US foreign policy objectives in the region, to striking a …

WSWS (2021-12-23). Indian army deployed to break Jammu and Kashmir power workers' strike. wsws.org Workers in India and around the world must take serious warning from the Indian government's rapid deployment of military and para-military forces to suppress an anti-privatization strike by 20,000 power workers in Jammu and Kashmir.

Prof. Pankaj Jha (2021-12-23). Vietnamese President Phuc two-day visit to Cambodia. moderndiplomacy.eu Following the meeting of party general secretaries earlier in November 2021, Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc completed his two-day state-level visit(21-22) to Cambodia. Cambodia is going to be the chairman of ASEAN and therefore there is concerns with regard to the likely agenda in the forthcoming ASEAN meetings in the year 2022. President Phuc met …

teleSUR (2021-12-23). Venezuela To Vaccinate 90% Of Its Population To Face Omicron. telesurenglish.net On Wednesday, Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro announced that the first seven COVID-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant were detected in citizens who traveled abroad and recently returned to the states of Miranda, Lara and Caracas. | RELATED: | "It was inevitable that Omicron would arrive in Venezuela. Therefore, we reiterate the call to reinforce biosecurity measures and vaccination. We continue working to care fo…

Dr. James M. Dorsey (2021-12-23). Are Arab militias losing their usefulness for Iran? moderndiplomacy.eu Iranian support for Arab militias has long threatened Iran's detractors, unable to develop an effective counterstrategy. Now, the tide may be turning. A string of events suggests that the usefulness of at least some of the militias in Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, and Palestine is waning as their popularity diminishes and relations with Iran encounter headwinds. The …

_____ (2021-12-23). The Vienna Talks are at a Difficult Stage. journal-neo.org As the complex Vienna talks and desperate disputes among their participants proceed, unconcealed threats against Iran are heard from Tel Aviv several times a day. The growing hysteria and multiplication of Israeli military threats against Tehran suggest that the Israeli regime has forgotten that Iran is a powerful state with a modern, well-equipped army and …

Ahmed Al-Sammak (2021-12-23). A painful year for Gaza's patients. electronicintifada.net Israel has blocked entry of spare parts for medical equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Editor (2021-12-23). Israeli army rule allowing shooting of stone-throwers will be applied to Palestinians, not Jews. mronline.org The Israeli military has changed its rules of engagement to allow its forces to fire on Palestinians who have thrown stones or firebombs even when they no longer pose any danger. The new rule is a sop to Israeli settlers, the IDF's clientele.

Chris Walker (2021-12-23). January 6 Committee Requests That Jim Jordan Speak With Them. truthout.org The House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack has requested that Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) appear before them to answer questions regarding his communications with former President Donald Trump. |

_____ (2021-12-23). American Civil War: Of Roman Plagues, Handmaid's Tales & the Real Geopolitics of Fiction. strategic-culture.org Biden's foreign policy and his attitude to the EU seems to be a clone of Trump's. Which oddly and incredibly, lends more to the Handmaid scenario than it does Black Mirror. | How can we explain how Australia, Britain, Austria, Italy, and more have gone the path of arbitrary and capricious detention and exclusion from society? The Austrian government mobilized perhaps 500 people into the streets in support of lockdown and apartheid measures, colluding with media to inflate that number by a massive factor of sixty. | The reactions to this certainly represent an extreme polarization of society. Yet in politics, ther…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-23). Fatal accidents reveal unsafe conditions in Pakistan's coal mines. peoplesdispatch.org As deadly accidents continue in various coal mines in Pakistan, senior representatives of IndustriALL Global have asked the Pakistani ambassador at Geneva to take immediate steps to ensure that Pakistan ratifies and implements ILO Convention 176 on Safety and Health in Mines…

WSWS (2021-12-23). COVID-19 infections in South Korea hit record high following implemenation of "with COVID" policy. wsws.org South Korean President Moon Jae-in's government enacted new social distancing measures on Saturday that will do nothing to halt the spread of the virus.

Newsroom (2021-12-23). Tajikistan's Energy Sector to Benefit from World Bank Support. moderndiplomacy.eu The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors approved today additional grant financing of $65 million in support of the Second Phase of the Nurek Hydropower Rehabilitation Project, which will contribute towards more reliable electricity supply and expansion of renewable energy exports in Tajikistan. "The World Bank is committed to supporting Tajikistan's energy sector, given the …

KWORINOCO (2021-12-23). Venezuela Maintains 7 International Air Routes. orinocotribune.com Despite the fact that the state of emergency declared in Venezuela due to the COVID-19 pandemic has yet to be lifted, the president of the National Institute of Civil Aeronautics (INAC), Juan Teixeira Díaz, announced that seven international air routes will continue to service the country. | He clarified that commercial flights to Mexico, Turkey, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Russia, Bolivia, and Cuba will remain availa…

2021-12-24 20:05 | 16:05 EST | jz | 33 | 0 | 22 | 9 | 0