Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
wsws.org | 2021-05-15
Striking health workers sacked in India; Sri Lankan public health inspectors walk out; New Zealand nurses vote to strike…
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/05/15/labo-m15.html

Liberating occupied territories: Turkey, Azerbaijan — one nation, two states
Rick Rozoff | antibellum679354512.wordpress.com | 2021-05-15
"One nation, two states!" will hold a video conference on philosophy, AzerTac news announces today. The event will he held on May 17. Excerpts: On the 103rd anniversary of our state independence in Ankara, on the occasion of the Azerbaijani-Turkish relations and the 98th anniversary of the birth of national leader Heydar Aliyev, "One nation, two …
antibellum679354512.wordpress.com/2021/05/15/liberating-occupied-territories-turkey-azerbaijan-one-nation-two-states/

Charity considers legal action against Home Office over Glasgow immigration raid
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2021-05-15
A migrant charity has said it's investigating legal action against the Home Office for "casting aspersions" on two Indian nationals detained in Glasgow as "illegal" immigrants. | Legal action: | Lakhvir Singh and Sumit Sehdev were released from Border Force detention after crowds swarmed around the van in which they were held, preventing it from leaving Kenmure Street in Pollokshields on 13 May. | Demonstrators blocked the vehicle for several hours, with one even lying underneath its axles, before police released the pair on public safety grounds. | Scottish justice secretary Humza Yousaf has blamed the H…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2021/05/15/charity-considers-legal-action-against-home-office-over-glasgow-immigration-raid/

Johnson authorises neutered Covid-19 inquiry as Indian mutation surge takes first lives in Britain
wsws.org | 2021-05-15
The many thousands of relatives seeking justice for the preventable deaths of their loved ones will be denied, as Britain's ruling elite again turns to its favourite means of escaping responsibility for social murder–the "independent" public inquiry.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/05/15/couk-m15.html

Mother and son share rare muscle disorder, treated decades apart by same doctor
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org | 2021-05-15
Twenty-four years ago, Bobbi Heinold, 17, was diagnosed with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, a genetic muscle condition characterized by weakness, especially in the face, shoulder blades and upper arms. Doctors told her it could affect her quality of life. Bobbi and her mom drove from their Indiana home to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, to learn …
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mother-and-son-share-rare-muscle-disorder-treated-decades-apart-by-same-doctor/

India: Resisting Vaccines and Corporate Capture of Farms
Michael Welch | globalresearch.ca | 2021-05-15
"The introduction of that study to India was made on the basis that it was going to be great investment in the health of India and the health of India's women. But in fact, later on, during the investigation around …
globalresearch.ca/india-resisting-vaccines-and-corporate-capture-of-farms/5745299

Death of 18 endangered elephants in India under investigation
Ashley Curtin | nationofchange.org | 2021-05-15
"Poisoning could be behind the death of the elephants."
nationofchange.org/2021/05/15/death-of-18-endangered-elephants-in-india-under-investigation/

The Republics of 'Rumplandia' & the Security of the Unborn
Editor2 | orinocotribune.com | 2021-05-15
By El Cayapo — May 11, 2021 | The global monopolistic process of the large transnationals pursues the goal of a single owner on the planet. This requires the elimination of nation-states and corporate taxation, the appropriation of the wealth administered by the states. We are talking about savings banks, trusts, contributions, health and housing insurance, subsidies, benefits, pensions and other demands, achieved by the working class during their struggles. They also seek to control directly the areas of natural resources, raw materials, energies and very cheap labor. | Let us look at the cases of Iraq, Lib…
orinocotribune.com/the-republics-of-rumplandia-the-security-of-the-unborn/

Saturday 5/22: Seaspiracy Postering
DXE | indybay.org | 2021-05-15
Cha-Ya Vegetarian Japanese Restaurant…
indybay.org/newsitems/2021/05/12/18842471.php

Biden Administration Affirms US Support for Corrupt Jordanian Monarchy Amidst Suppression of Alleged Coup Attempt
Editor2 | orinocotribune.com | 2021-05-15
By Christian Sorensen — May 5, 2021 | Pattern of U.S. Support for Autocracy across the Middle East | In early April, Prince Hamzah bin Hussein, the former crown prince of Jordan, was imprisoned under house arrest. | King Abdullah II, who is Hamzah's half-brother and the absolute ruler of Jordan, ordered Prince Hamzah to cease communications with the outside world. | Prince Hamzah said he would not keep quiet, tweeting, "I'm not going to obey when they say you can't go out, you can't tweet, you can't communicate with people." | The Jordanian deputy prime minister, Ayman Safadi, claimed that the prince was inv…
orinocotribune.com/biden-administration-affirms-us-support-for-corrupt-jordanian-monarchy-amidst-suppression-of-alleged-coup-attempt/

[Perspectives] Facts and values in the history of spina bifida
Bart Lutters, Thomas Schlich | thelancet.com | 2021-05-15
Over the past two decades, maternal–fetal surgery has become a clinical reality for some pregnant women carrying a fetus diagnosed with spina bifida. Since its conception, maternal–fetal surgery has been the focus of ethical deliberation, because expected health benefits for the fetus come at the cost of potential health risks for the pregnant woman. Somewhat less attention has, however, been given to the nature of the medical criteria used to determine patient eligibility for maternal–fetal surgery from a historical perspective.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)01005-9/fulltext?rss=yes

Sri Lankan estate workers protest against higher workloads and wage cuts
wsws.org | 2021-05-15
The rising number of strikes and protests by plantation workers underline the urgency of workers establishing action committees, independent of unions, to defend their democratic and social rights.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/05/15/sril-m15.html

[World Report] COVID-19 in Turkey: a nation on edge
Kaya Genàß | thelancet.com | 2021-05-15
Turkey has the fifth most COVID-19 cases in the world and has now entered a nationwide lockdown. How did it get here? Kaya Genàß reports from Istanbul.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)01098-9/fulltext?rss=yes

Land Exchange For Alaska Native Veterans
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2021-05-15
Juneau, AL – Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday proposed letting Alaska Native Vietnam War veterans exchange promised federal land allotments that many say are not available in their cultural regions for state lands. | Details would need to be worked out through the legislative process, with lawmakers eyeing adjournment in about two weeks. Several legislators attended Wednesday's announcement, along with Alaska Native veterans. | Dunleavy said he sees this as an opportunity to "right a wrong" the federal government should have addressed long ago. | "We're going to help them get land as close as possible to wh…
popularresistance.org/land-exchange-for-alaska-native-veterans/

Azerbaijan reinforces troops in "liberated territories"
Rick Rozoff | antibellum679354512.wordpress.com | 2021-05-14
Trend News AgencyMay 14, 2021 20 military units of modular and container types put into operation in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan ==== "I asked President Putin today to help Armenia, including to provide military assistance…." — Armenia's acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan Acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has not discussed Moscow's possible assistance amid a …
antibellum679354512.wordpress.com/2021/05/14/azerbaijan-reinforces-troops-in-liberated-territories/

Mother and son share rare muscle disorder, treated decades apart by same doctor
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org | 2021-05-14
Twenty-four years ago, Bobbi Heinold, 17, was diagnosed with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, a genetic muscle condition characterized by weakness, especially in the face, shoulder blades and upper arms. Doctors told her it could affect her quality of life. Bobbi and her mom drove from their Indiana home to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, to learn …
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mother-and-son-share-rare-muscle-disorder-treated-decades-apart-by-same-doctor/

Why One State in India Is Showing Promising Signs of Democracy
Vijay Prashad | zcomm.org | 2021-05-14
Hunger can't be eradicated by devotion. Only social action can eradicate hunger and hopelessness…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/why-one-state-in-india-is-showing-promising-signs-of-democracy/

The utterly horrifying and depressingly preventable COVID crises in India and Brazil
Staff | therealnews.com | 2021-05-14
Young people in India are scrambling to find oxygen supplies for dying neighbors and relatives while poor and Black communities in Brazil suffer the worst of a COVID surge. It didn't have to be this way.
therealnews.com/the-utterly-horrifying-and-depressingly-preventable-covid-crises-in-india-and-brazil

Why one State in India is showing promising signs of democracy as the world goes more authoritarian
Vijay Prashad | peoplesdispatch.org | 2021-05-14
In Kerala, the re-elected Left government has prioritized making life better for all, even during crises–contrasting sharply with Narendra Modi's right-wing central government's devastating mismanagement of the coronavirus pandemic…
peoplesdispatch.org/2021/05/14/why-one-state-in-india-is-showing-promising-signs-of-democracy-as-the-world-goes-more-authoritarian/

U.S. Customs to Indian travellers: Don't carry cow dung in your luggage
Eds. | mronline.org | 2021-05-14
In India, doctors recently had to issue a warning against the practice of using cow dung in the belief it will ward off COVID-19, saying there is no scientific evidence for its effectiveness and that it risks spreading other diseases. | May 14, 2021…
mronline.org/2021/05/14/u-s-customs-to-indian-travellers-dont-carry-cow-dung-in-your-luggage/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=u-s-customs-to-indian-travellers-dont-carry-cow-dung-in-your-luggage

'Where Are the Moderate Hindus?'
Sunita Viswanath | thenation.com | 2021-05-14
'Where Are the Moderate Hindus?'…
thenation.com/article/world/covid-india-hindu-modi/

Why One State in India Is Showing Promising Signs of Democracy as the World Goes More Authoritarian
Vijay Prashad — Subin Dennis | counterpunch.org | 2021-05-14
Just before the state elections in Kerala, in southern India, a television channel ran a program called "The Great Political Kitchen." The anchor went to kitchens across the state to talk to homemakers about their views on politics. In one kitchen, the anchor asked a woman about a dispute surrounding a temple in southern Kerala…
counterpunch.org/2021/05/14/why-one-state-in-india-is-showing-promising-signs-of-democracy-as-the-world-goes-more-authoritarian/

The Jakarta Method Never Ended
Randy Shields | dissidentvoice.org | 2021-05-14
Prepare to read Vincent Bevins's The Jakarta Method in one sitting because it's impossible to put down. The book is a summation of the US government assisting the Indonesian military in killing approximately one million civilians from October 1965 through March 1966. While the Vietnam War got most of the headlines, in Indonesia the world's …
dissidentvoice.org/2021/05/the-jakarta-method-never-ended/

From Grenfell to Iraq to Chile: Lowkey on the necro-politics of neoliberalism
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2021-05-14
Vijay Prashad talks to rapper and activist Lowkey about the different aspects of neoliberalism that led to the Grenfell tower fire in London in June 2017 which killed 72 people.
peoplesdispatch.org/2021/05/14/grenfell-iraq-chile-lowkey-necro-politics-of-neoliberalism/

[Research Paper] Early life exposures and the risk of inflammatory bowel disease: Systematic review and meta-analyses
Manasi Agrawal, Joà£o Sabino, Catarina Frias-Gomes, Christen M. Hillenbrand, Celine Soudant, Jordan E. Axelrad, Shailja C. Shah, Francisco Ribeiro-Mourà£o, Thomas Lambin, Inga Peter, Jean-Frederic Colombel, Neeraj Narula, Joana Torres | thelancet.com | 2021-05-14
Early life is an important period of susceptibility for IBD development later in life. Tobacco smoke, infections and antibiotics were associated positively, and breastfeeding was associated negatively with IBD. Our findings offer an opportunity to develop primary prevention strategies.
thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(21)00164-4/fulltext?rss=yes

Elon Musk Abruptly Stops Accepting Bitcoin to Pay for Tesla Cars. Did He Learn that Bitcoin Uses More Electricity Per Year than Sweden or Malaysia?
Pam Martens, Russ Martens | counterpunch.org | 2021-05-14
After just 49 days of wedded bliss, Elon Musk is divorcing Tesla from accepting payment for its cars in Bitcoin. It was just March 24 that Musk first Tweeted that Tesla would start accepting payment for its cars in Bitcoin. What caused the abrupt flip-flop? Elon Musk claims he wants to move the world toward…
counterpunch.org/2021/05/14/elon-musk-abruptly-stops-accepting-bitcoin-to-pay-for-tesla-cars-did-he-learn-that-bitcoin-uses-more-electricity-per-year-than-sweden-or-malaysia/

Republicans Oppose Kristen Clarke for Top Civil Rights Job at DOJ in Latest Attack on Voting Rights
Staff | democracynow.org | 2021-05-14
Republican senators in Washington are attempting to block Kristen Clarke, a prominent voting rights advocate, from a top Justice Department position. The Senate Judiciary Committee has deadlocked on an 11-11 vote on whether to move Clarke's nomination for assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division to the Senate floor for a full vote. If she wins the vote, Clarke, who has served as the head of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and is a longtime champion of voting rights, a defender against hate and violent extremism, would be the first Black woman to hold the posit…
www.democracynow.org/2021/5/14/kristen_clarke_justice_dept_ben_jealous

Philippines: Denounce and reject ATC vilification of revolutionaries as "terrorists"
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2021-05-14
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following May 13 statement from the Communist Party of the Philippines. | The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) denounces and rejects the "designation" by the "Anti-Terrorist Council" (ATC) of 19 supposed "leaders" of the CPP as "terrorists." This is clearly an act in accordance with the diktat of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and Duterte himself. | The ATC claimed that those in the list are leaders of the CPP but cites no evidence to back their claims. The ATC merely recycled a very old list being maintained by military…
www.fightbacknews.org/2021/5/13/philippines-denounce-and-reject-atc-vilification-revolutionaries-terrorists

Philippines: Denounce and reject ATC vilification of revolutionaries as "terrorists"
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2021-05-14
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following May 13 statement from the Communist Party of the Philippines. | The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) denounces and rejects the "designation" by the "Anti-Terrorist Council" (ATC) of 19 supposed "leaders" of the CPP as "terrorists." This is clearly an act in accordance with the diktat of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and Duterte himself. | The ATC claimed that those in the list are leaders of the CPP but cites no evidence to back their claims. The ATC merely recycled a very old list being maintained by military…
fightbacknews.org/2021/5/13/philippines-denounce-and-reject-atc-vilification-revolutionaries-terrorists

24 Pro-Government Fighters Killed Or Injured In ISIS Attacks In Central Syria
Anonymous669 | southfront.org | 2021-05-14
Illustrative image | On May 13, at least 24 fighters of the Palestinian-led al-Quds Brigade were killed or wounded in two separate attacks by ISIS cells in central Syria. | The first attack targeted two posts of the pro-government group on a road leading to the al-Talila military camp to the east of the ancient city of Palmyra in eastern Homs.
southfront.org/24-pro-government-fighters-killed-or-injured-in-isis-attacks-in-central-syria/

Creating a desert and calling it peace: Turkey's water war against Rojava
Susan Price | greenleft.org.au | 2021-05-14
Turkey's system of huge dams is not just about irrigation and generating hydro-electric power, writes Sarah Glynn. It is a source of political power over the whole region.
greenleft.org.au/content/creating-desert-and-calling-it-peace-turkeys-water-war-against-rojava