2022-02-25: News Headlines

WSWS (2022-02-25). Hundreds reported dead in first day of Russia-Ukraine war. wsws.org Ukraine is in the grips of a full-scale war after Russia launched large-scale bombing raids early Thursday morning local time, in the biggest military operation by Russia since the Afghanistan war.

WSWS (2022-02-25). War danger surge as Ukraine demands Turkey close straits to Russia, Israel bombs Syria. wsws.org The NATO powers' threats against Russia amid the Russian attack on Ukraine threaten to spread war throughout the Middle East and the world.

TASS (2022-02-25). Events around Ukraine are restoration of balance lost with Soviet Union's breakup — Assad. tass.com According to the Syrian president, Moscow has every right to stand against NATO's expansion plans…

Ramzy Baroud (2022-02-25). The Next Step in Palestine's Anti-Apartheid Struggle is the Most Difficult. dissidentvoice.org When Nelson Mandela was freed from his Robben Island prison on February 11, 1991, my family, friends and neighbors followed the event with keen interest as they gathered in the living room of my old home in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp in the Gaza Strip. This emotional event took place years before Mandela uttered his famous quote …

Phyllis Bennis (2022-02-25). It's Settled That Israel Is Committing the Crime of Apartheid—Now What Should We Do About It? juancole.com ( Commondreams.org ) — When Amnesty International released its report "Israel's Apartheid Against Palestinians: Cruel System of Domination and Crime Against Humanity" earlier the month, it was clearly part of a rapidly expanding trend. Palestinian human rights defenders, members of Congress and faith leaders in the United States, academics, and activists of the Palestinian rights …

David P Goldman (2022-02-25). China's SWIFT alternative may undercut US sanctions. asiatimes.com Washington's new sanctions against Russia were no match for President Biden's rhetoric, leaving out the most obvious measure that the United States might take to hurt Moscow, namely exclusion from the SWIFT international payments system. Banks conduct virtually all hard-currency transactions via SWIFT, or the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. But a new Chinese …

sputniknews (2022-02-25). Doctors on Alert After 12 Cases of Rare Paralytic Disease 'Guillain-Barre Syndrome' Emerge in India. sputniknews.com Experts say that Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) is a rare disease that weakens one's immune system and attacks the nervous system which eventually leads to paralysis.

teleSUR, hvh, JDO (2022-02-25). Ascienden a siete los fallecidos por sismo en Indonesia. telesurtv.net El movimiento telúrico, perceptible también en Singapur, obligó a realizar la evacuación temporal en escuelas y edificios.

_____ (2022-02-25). IAEA to Check the Release of Fukushima Water into Ocean. journal-neo.org The run-up to the discharging of chemically treated, but still radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is once again taking center stage in the eyes of many of Japan's neighbors. The Japanese authorities opted to release Fukushima water last April to advance the decommissioning process that has lasted for more than …

ecns.cn (2022-02-25). Beijing Winter Olympics a great success: president of MNOC. ecns.cn The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics have been a "great success" amid the difficult time of the coronavirus pandemic, said Choijgavaa Naranbaatar, president of the Mongolian National Olympic Committee (MNOC).

TASS (2022-02-25). Taiwan authorities announce intention to join anti-Russia sanctions. tass.com "Taiwan will continue to coordinate closely with the United States and other like-minded countries to adopt appropriate measures in order to free Ukraine from the horrors of war, as well as restore, peace and stability to the region and the world," the statement said…

Staff (2022-02-25). Turkey replies to Kiev's request to close Dardanelles for Russian warships. rt.com Ankara has said that international law allows Russian Navy vessels to cross the straits in order to return to their bases | Turkey has said that, under certain conditions, Russian naval vessels would be still allowed to cross the Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits even if the strategic waterway is closed to them during the conflict with Ukraine. | On Thursday, the Ukrainian envoy to Turkey asked Ankara to close the route connecting the Black and Mediterranean Seas for the Russian Navy. The appeal came hours after Moscow launched an attack on Ukraine, which it argued was necessary to protect the people in two br…

Jason Ditz (2022-02-24). Israeli Airstrikes, Missiles Target Syria's Damascus, Kill 3 Soldiers. news.antiwar.com For the second straight day Israel carried out strikes against Syria, following up Tuesday's attack on Quneitra with Syria reported air defenses were active and intercepted most of the missiles. Some damage was reported and Israel hasn't commented on these recent attacks directly, but did drop leaflets overnight warning Syrians against supporting Hezbollah. Israel officially does not co…

Vijay Prashad (2022-02-24). Those Who Violated the Geneva Conventions at Guantánamo Are Free, While the Man who Helped Expose Their Crimes Languishes in Prison. dissidentvoice.org Ahmed Rabbani (Pakistan), Untitled (Grape Arbor), 2016. Rabbani endured 545 days of torture at the hands of the CIA before he was transferred to Guantánamo in 2004. He has been in the prison without charge since then. Twenty years ago, on 11 January 2002, the United States government brought its first 'detainees' abducted during the …

imperial.ac.uk (2022-02-24). Imperial begins South Asia search for women scientists in climate and energy. imperial.ac.uk Imperial is launching new academic fellowships in climate and energy for women scientists from South Asia.

_____ (2022-02-24). Russia Expands Its Influence in Faraway Lands. journal-neo.org Over the last decade, Russia has been successfully strengthening its influence in different parts of the world: first and foremost, in the countries of Asia and Africa. The trade turnover with them has been growing every year, including the countries of South-East Asia, where Indonesia — the most populous state in the region (274 million …

_____ (2022-02-24). WWII Redux: The Endpoint Of US Policy, From Ukraine To Taiwan. popularresistance.org "This is not going to be a war of Ukraine and Russia. This is going to be a European war, a full-fledged war." So spoke Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky just days after berating the U.S. for beating the drums of war. | It is not hard to imagine how Zelensky's words must have fallen on those European ears that were attentive. His warning surely conjured up images of World War II when tens of millions of Europeans and Russians perished. | Zelensky's words echoed those of Philippine's President Rodrigo Duterte on the other side of the world at the Eastern edge of the great Eurasian land mass: "When elephants f…

Staff (2022-02-24). Ukraine crisis sends global markets plummeting. rt.com Stocks across Europe, Asia and the US see sharp selloff as military | conflict intensifies | Stock markets across the world sold off sharply on Thursday after the Russian Armed Forces confirmed the first airstrikes against military targets in Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin ordered the operation in the Donbass region to protect the local population against Ukrainian shelling attacks, days after recognizing the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. | The pan-European Stoxx 600 fell by 2.31% in early trade, with the financial sector leading the losses, sending major bourses sliding into bear territory.

_____ (2022-02-24). Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Calls On Biden To Shut Down DAPL. popularresistance.org Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Chairman Harold Frazier sent a letter on Wednesday to President Joe Biden that requests the end of the Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL). | Citing the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, Frazier tells the president that the United States agreed "that no white person or persons shall be permitted to settle upon or occupy any portion of the same; or without the consent of the Indians first had and obtained, to pass through the same." | "The Dakota Access Pipeline continues to trespass on the territory of the Great Sioux Nation and endanger the lives of our people with the possibility of polluting la…

Jessica Buxbaum (2022-02-24). Death of Elderly Wisconsin Man in Israeli Army Custody Could Trigger Leahy Law and US Sanctions. mintpressnews.com Experts have noted that if US laws were violated in the death of Palestanian-American Omar As'ad, then it may lead to sanctions under the Leahy Law — meaning U.S. military aid, Israel's greatest source of foreign assistance, could be cut off.

Staff (2022-02-24). Salutes of freedom to Hisham Abu Hawash and Miqdad Qawasmeh. samidoun.net Salutes of freedom and welcome to Hisham Abu Hawash and Miqdad Qawasmeh, both released from Israeli occupation prisons today. Hisham Abu Hawash's 141-day hunger strike to win his freedom from administrative detention without charge or trial captivated the world. Miqdad Qawasmeh, a Palestinian university student, stood up for his fellow imprisoned students with his 114-day …

Ali Abunimah (2022-02-24). France is outlawing two Palestine solidarity groups. electronicintifada.net The move comes as President Macron was set to address major Israel lobby group.

Staff (2022-02-24). French interior minister announces intention to dissolve Collectif Palestine Vaincra. samidoun.net Gérald Darmanin, French Minister of the Interior, has just announced his intention to dissolve the Collectif Palestine Vaincra and another pro-Palestinian organization at the request of French president Emmanuel Macron. This scandalous decision is the result of a relentless and slanderous campaign led by the Israeli extreme right and its agents in France against the …

Peoples Dispatch (2022-02-24). Africa's biggest street art festival drops Israeli sponsorship following artists protest. peoplesdispatch.org Organizers of the annual International Public Arts Festival being held in South Africa have dropped Israeli sponsorship for the event following sustained pressure from the South African BDS chapter.

WSWS (2022-02-24). US warns Nepal of serious consequences if aid program not ratified. wsws.org US threats are part of its ongoing efforts to lock the strategically-located Nepal into Washington's war preparations against China.

WSWS (2022-02-24). Beijing condemns Washington's "irresponsible and immoral" behaviour in the Ukraine crisis. wsws.org Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the US was "raising tensions, creating panic, and even playing up the schedule of war."

Staff (2022-02-24). China comments on Russian operation in Ukraine. rt.com The Chinese Foreign Ministry says Moscow does not need Beijing's backing | The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that Moscow does not have or need the backing of Beijing for its military attack on Ukraine. | "As for the US suggestion that Russia has China's backing to act, I believe Russia will be very unhappy to hear such a statement," ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told the media during a regular press briefing. | Hua said that Russia is both an independent power and a permanent member of the UN Security Council. She claimed that Moscow's action is based entirely on its own judgement and national…

Staff (2022-02-24). Outrageous new French state assault on Palestine and free expression: Interior Minister claims he will dissolve Collectif Palestine Vaincra. samidoun.net In the latest assault on Palestinian rights and freedom of expression, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin tweeted that he is asking for the dissolution of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra ("Palestine Will Win"), the French Palestine solidarity organization and a member of the Samidoun Network, "at the request" of French president Emmanuel Macron. This blatant assault …

_____ (2022-02-24). Olympic Hanbok Scandal, or Two Types of Nationalism. journal-neo.org In his previous material about the tricky relations between China and South Korea this author already mentioned how a demonstration of the traditional Korean clothes was viewed in South Korea. However, this is worth telling in greater detail as this story illustrates the conceptual difference between the two countries' national policies. So, South Koreans took offence …

Tom Engelhardt (2022-02-24). Tomgram: Alfred W. McCoy, A Planet on the Brink. warisacrime.org This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here. We're in a time of growing belligerence of a kind unknown since the Cold War. It's already taken us to the edge of conflict with nuclear-armed great powers, whether in Ukraine or Taiwan and the South China Sea. …

Staff (2022-02-24). Ukraine asks Turkey to ban Russian ships from Black Sea routes. rt.com Kiev tells Ankara to close two straits that Moscow relies on | Ukraine has asked Turkey to cut off Russian access to the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits after Moscow launched an attack on multiple Ukrainian cities in the early hours of Thursday morning. | Kiev's demand to suspend Russian ships' access through the straits was conveyed by Ukraine's Ambassador to Turkey, Vasyl Bodnar, who also lobbied for the closure of Turkey's airspace to Russian planes, news agency Reuters reported. | The move comes in response to Russian air and ground attacks launched on Ukrainian military installations, airports, and citi…

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