Sonali Kolhatkar (2021-03-01). Black Lives Still Don't Matter in America. counterpunch.org There is a scene in the new film "Judas and the Black Messiah," directed by Shaka King and produced by Ryan Coogler, in which Chairman Fred Hampton of the Illinois Black Panther Party explains to a group of Black students that just because their school was allowing them to change its name to "Malcolm X
Margaret Flowers (2021-03-02). Small Acts Can Become A Power No Government Can Suppress. dissidentvoice.org 
The American Rescue Plan (ARP) was passed in the House this past week and now heads to the Senate, where it will no doubt be changed before it becomes law some time in mid-March. The current unemployment benefits expire on March 14. While we don't know what the final bill will look like, at least …
Editor (2021-03-02). Digamosle a Biden: °Deja de bombardear Siria! workers.org 
La administración de Biden solo tardó 36 días en el cargo para mostrar al mundo, a través de un bombardeo en Siria, que es beligerante, agresivo y empeñado en la guerra. Solo hubo un breve respiro de las viles palabras y acciones de Trump. Ahora tenemos que enfrentar los viles . . . |
Robert Penner (2021-03-02). Struggle for justice forces reopening of two cases of police violence in Milwaukee. liberationnews.org 
The cases of Christopher Davis, killed by Milwaukee Deputy Juan Ortiz, and Jay Anderson, killed by Wauwatosa officer Joseph Mensah, have been re-opened in the Milwaukee area.
E.L. Melrose (2021-03-02). Erie, PA: Residents skeptical towards corporation's "green" promises. liberationnews.org 
The plight of this area has left the door open to the opportunism of "green" industry and it is currently being courted by International Recycling Group (IRG).
Editor (2021-03-02). Raise the minimum wage to $15 — at least! workers.org A $15-per-hour minimum wage cannot be included in the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill proposed by Congressional Democrats. So ruled the Senate parliamentarian, Elizabeth McDonough, on Feb. 25. This unelected official called it "irrelevant to budget legislation." This edict is a brutal blow to millions of struggling workers. Nevertheless, the . . . |
Chuck Collins — Omar Ocampo (2021-03-01). Financial Reserves and the Racial Wealth Gap. counterpunch.org 
Why is it that the wealthiest country on earth has the highest death toll of any nation in the world? And why are Black and Latino people among those experiencing the greatest mortality and hardship during the pandemic? There is excellent research on how the Black-white wealth gap left Black households more vulnerable (see resources
Eds. (2021-03-01). Ecosocialism versus degrowth: a false dilemma. mronline.org 
Ecosocialists and degrowthers need to map the many overlaps of their views to improve the effectiveness of their shared struggle for an ecologically-sound and socially-fair world free from patriarchal, racial and colonial legacy.
Michael Berkowitz (2021-03-01). 'Nomadland': Moving on with America's homeless van dwellers. peoplesworld.org 
Fern stands forlorn, surveying the desert before her. She is a small figure looking out over the beautiful, austere, infinite landscape. The desert is her own world writ large. She navigates that world in "Vanguard," her turtle shell van remodeled to carry her few possessions on her back. She drifts toward temporary jobs as low-skill …
Dave Clennon (2021-03-01). Hollywood's New Blackface. counterpunch.org 
Many more black faces on your movie screen. Same old shuck and jive from finance capital. AND . . . why are so many foreign Blacks impersonating African-Americans? I saw "Selma" six years ago. I could feel earnest sincerity radiating from the screen. It was pretty clear the filmmakers were trying to do justice to
M.K. Bhadrakumar (2021-03-01). U.S. exceptionalism surges again. Will it fly? mronline.org 
In a statement marking the "return" of the United States to the United Nations Human Rights Council on Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken disclosed that the Biden Administration is placing democracy and human rights at the centre of American foreign policy.
Zach Carlson (2021-03-01). SEIU Graduate Workers Union in stalled talks at Illinois State University. peoplesworld.org 
NORMAL, Ill.—In October 2018, Illinois State University's more than 400 graduate workers voted to officially unionize and be represented as SEIU Local 73. The long months of meetings, difficult one-on-one conversations, procedural documents, and learning the process of organizing a workplace paid off for the graduate workers involved. All unionizing efforts are difficult, and the …
Ed Rampell (2021-03-01). 'Hollywood's Architect: The Paul R. Williams Story' at PAFF. peoplesworld.org 
Co-directors Royal Kennedy Rodgers and Kathy McCampbell Vance's Hollywood's Architect: The Paul R. Williams Story is a nonfiction biopic about the African-American talent who rose to become the so-called "Architect of the Stars" when Jim Crow was still the scourge of the land. Born 1894 in L.A., Paul Revere Williams's real-life story of overcoming adversity …
Eds. (2021-03-01). BJP begins to pay political price as farmers struggle completes three months. mronline.org 
IN the week before the historic nationwide farmers' struggle completed three months on February 26, the BJP has begun to pay a heavy political price for its pro-corporate adamancy.
Stephen F. Eisenman (2021-03-01). A Modest Proposal for Establishing a Strategic Toddler Reserve. counterpunch.org 
For the purpose of maintaining adult friendships, protecting household pets, saving monkeys, and benefiting biomedical research — prompted by a recent, reckless article in the NYTimes (With Apologies to Jonathan Swift) How many times have we had the unfortunate experience of visiting the home of a dear friend or colleague, only to discover everything changed.
Oorna Raut — Riya Behl (2021-03-01). Pushing the Tempo at Mumbai's Farmer Sit-In. counterpunch.org 
Navshya Kuvra had just finished playing his dhumsi (drum) for about 40 protestors dancing at south Mumbai's Azad Maidan. Just as he sat down to rest, around 11 at night, three man approached him. "Is it a wedding? What date?" asked Navshya. They conversed, phone numbers were exchanged, and the three moved away. Navshya turned
Arturo Pineda (2021-03-01). New Haven youth target gun violence, inequality at Black history month march. peoplesworld.org 
NEW HAVEN, Conn.—A caravan of 20 cars and a group of 65 people took to the streets of New Haven on Feb. 20 to call for an end to gun violence and police brutality, taxing the rich, and to demand state and federal relief for communities of color impacted by COVID-19. The Annual Black History …
Nadya Williams (2021-03-01). Lawrence Ferlinghetti, a Veteran For Peace. peoplesworld.org 
Many have been the obituaries and tributes to radical poet and civil libertarian Lawrence Ferlinghetti, including this one from City Lights Booksellers and Publishers. Ferlinghetti died on February 22 at 101 in his home in North Beach, the literary heart of San Francisco. Many readers may be unfamiliar with another facet of the writer's life. …
Staff (2021-03-01). 'We've made this kind of war invisible'. therealnews.com 
The reality of war has become so distant and abstract for U.S. civilians that most have no idea how many wars we're actually engaged in. And that, as writer and combat veteran Danny Sjursen argues, is by design.
Rosalind English (2021-03-01). Parent company owes duty of care in transnational cases — Hague Court of Appeal. ukhumanrightsblog.com 
The Hague Court of Appeal has recently handed down a ruling that is of profound importance to environmental lawyers. It is not only the first case at the appellate level in Europe that has resulted in a victory on the merits for the victims, but also the first case to hold that a parent company …
Maxximilian Seijo (2021-03-01). Heterodox Properties with Lua Kamal Yuille. mronline.org 
Money on the Left is joined by Dr. Lua Kamal Yuille to discuss heterodox economics, property law & the politics of vulnerability. Dr. Yuille is professor of law and affiliated professor of Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of Kansas. Her work, which spans property theory, heterodox economics, business law, critical pedagogy, and …
Claudia Drdul (2021-03-01). Family of Navy veteran murdered by Antioch police in George Floyd-style killing seeks justice. liberationnews.org 
Two members of the Antioch, California, Police Department murdered Navy veteran Angelo Quinto (age 30) in his home on Dec. 23, 2020, while he was experiencing a mental health crisis. Quinto's mother and sister, who witnessed the execution of their loved one, initially called the police believing they would help Quinto through his crisis. However, …
Terry Bisson (2021-03-01). The "Murder" of John Hunt Morgan: "You Have Just Killed the Best Man in the Confederacy!" counterpunch.org 
John Hunt Morgan, the "Kentucky Cavalier," readily embraced the role he was born into. Raised in wealthy Lexington, a scion of Bluegrass planter aristocrats, famously expelled from Transylvania College for dueling, he had eagerly enlisted in the 1848 invasion of Mexico, where he had performed with honor and the requisite gallantry. After that that brief, one-sided conflict he had returned to Lexington, traded in slaves, hemp and wool, and unerringly faithful to the ideal of the Southern gentleman, gambled, drank, raced horses, hunted squirrels, charmed the ladies and defended his honor from rivals both real and i…
Olivia Rosane (2021-03-01). Oregon wolf makes historic journey to California, raising conservation hopes. peoplesworld.org 
An Oregon-born wolf named OR-93 has sparked conservation hopes with a historic journey into California. A young male, OR-93 traveled hundreds of miles from an area southeast of Mount Hood, Oregon, to California's central Sierra Nevada mountain range, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced Friday. The agency said he traveled farther south …
Staff (2021-03-01). Black mass incarceration in the so-called Free State. therealnews.com 
Maryland holds itself up as a progressive state when it comes to criminal justice, but a recent report highlights a stark reality: Maryland incarcerates Black people at more than twice the national rate.
Rosalind English (2021-03-01). Law Pod UK: AI and the Law. ukhumanrightsblog.com 
In the latest episode of Law Pod UK Rosalind English talks to Matt Hervey, co-editor with Matthew Lavy of a new practitioner's text book on Artificial Intelligence. Matt is Head of Artificial Intelligence at Gowling WLG., and advises on all aspects of AI and Intellectual Property, particularly in relation to the life sciences, automotive, aviation, …
William Craig Cohen (2021-03-01). The Weekly Round-Up: Unconventional Harm Reduction and Shamima Begum's Final Appeal. ukhumanrightsblog.com 
In the news: The UK has seen an increasingly falling rate in arrests and prosecutions for cannabis possession over recent years, as police forces no longer see the point in enforcement. The Liberal Democrats have campaigned for its legalisation since 2016, and the first medically-prescribed cannabis was permitted in the UK in 2018. However, crucial …
Ramzy Baroud (2021-03-01). Coup Leaders, Aung San Suu Kyi Betrayed Democracy in Burma. counterpunch.org 
What is taking place in Burma right now is a military coup. There can be no other description for such an unwarranted action as the dismissal of the government by military decree and the imposition of Min Aung Hlaing, the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, as an unelected ruler.
The Conversation (2021-03-01). Where does the 10 Million Tons of Plastic we put into the Oceans Annually actually go? juancole.com 
By Bruce Sutherland, Michelle DiBenedetto and Ton van den Bremer | — Of the hundreds of millions of tonnes of plastic waste we produce each year, it's estimated that around ten million tonnes enters the ocean. Roughly half of the plastics produced are less dense than water, and so they float. But scientists estimate that …
Andrea Mazzarino (2021-03-01). Perspectives on the Storming of the Capitol from a Military Spouse. counterpunch.org 
"Are you okay?" asked a friend and military spouse in the voicemail she left me on the afternoon the mob of Trump supporters breached the Capitol so violently. At home with a new baby, her Navy reservist husband stationed in Germany, the thoughts running through her head that day would prove remarkably similar to mine. As she said when we spoke, "It's as if the U.S. has become a war zone."
Gareth Porter (2021-03-01). U.S. State Department accusation of China 'genocide' relied on data abuse and baseless claims by far-right ideologue. mronline.org 
The Trump and Biden administrations have relied on the work of a right-wing religious extremist, Adrian Zenz, for their "genocide" accusation against China. A close review of Zenz's research reveals flagrant data abuse and outright falsehoods.
John Wojcik (2021-03-01). GOP: We'll destroy the country in order to return to power. peoplesworld.org 
With the economy on the brink of collapse for so many, Republicans are totally united against a rescue plan that is the last hope to save millions of Americans from total ruin. The stand they are taking can have far worse consequences than the last time, in 2009, that they opposed a national stimulus plan …
Tomdispatch (2021-03-01). The Unpatriots: What the Storming of the Capitol looks Like to a Military Spouse. juancole.com 
By Andrea Mazzarino | — ( Tomdispatch.com) — "Are you okay?" asked a friend and military spouse in the voicemail she left me on the afternoon the mob of Trump supporters breached the Capitol so violently. At home with a new baby, her Navy reservist husband stationed in Germany, the thoughts running through her head …
Ramzy Baroud (2021-03-01). Military coup leaders, Aung San Suu Kyi both betrayed democracy in Burma. peoplesworld.org 
What is taking place in Burma right now is a military coup. There can be no other description for such an unwarranted action as the dismissal of the government by military decree and the imposition of Min Aung Hlaing, the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, as an unelected ruler. However, despite the endless talk about democratization, …
PAI (2021-03-01). Biden declares support for Alabama Amazon workers' union drive. peoplesworld.org 
WASHINGTON—Democratic President Joe Biden has officially backed the union organizing drive at the big Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Ala. In a two-minute-20-second video he posted on Twitter Feb. 28, and an accompanying shorter tweet, Biden declared the choice by the 5,800 workers there is "vitally important" to both them and the country. "Today and over …
Binoy Kampmark (2021-03-01). Culpability and Recalibration: MBS and the Killing of Jamal Khashoggi. counterpunch.org 
It was a brutal way to go, and it had the paw prints of the highest authorities. On October 2, 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi Arabian insider turned outsider, was murdered by a squad of 15 men from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He was dismembered and quite literally cancelled in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Betsey Piette (2021-03-02). Protest demands freedom for Mumia, suffering COVID symptoms. workers.org 
Political prisoner and Black journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal began experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, including difficulty breathing, Feb 26. Hearing this news, his family and supporters called a protest. Less than 24 hours later, about 70 people turned up outside the office of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner to call for Abu-Jamal's immediate . . . |
Devin Cole (2021-03-02). Nadezhda Krupskaya: Bolshevik revolutionary and educator. workers.org 
Feb. 14 is the birth date of Nadezhda Krupskaya — Bolshevik revolutionary, educator and library advocate. Although born to a formerly aristocratic family, her family had descended into poverty, which led her to study Marxism. She joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1903. Nadezhda Krupskaya In 1905, Krupskaya . . . |
Ragip Soylu (2021-03-01). Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict: Israeli defence system shot down Russian missile Yerevan fired at Baku. middleeasteye.net 
Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict: Israeli defence system shot down Russian missile Yerevan fired at Baku | Russia urged Yerevan to fire rocket at Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict's final days as Moscow pushed for a ceasefire | Mon, 03/01/2021 – 12: 30 | Russian officials give a presentation of the Iskander M missile at the 4th international military technical forum in August 2018 in Kubinka. (AFP) | Ar…
MEE staff (2021-03-01). US probes Israeli spyware firm NSO following WhatsApp lawsuit: Report. middleeasteye.net 
US probes Israeli spyware firm NSO following WhatsApp lawsuit: Report | Justice Department reached out to WhatsApp over hacking of 1,400 of its users through NSO Group's spyware Pegasus, Guardian reports | Mon, 03/01/2021 – 16: 16 | NSO says it should benefit from "sovereign immunity" because it sells its software to unidentified sovereign government clients (AFP) | The US Department of Justice has renewed its…
MEE, agencies (2021-03-01). Khashoggi murder: Fiancee demands punishment for Saudi prince 'without delay'. middleeasteye.net 
Khashoggi murder: Fiancee demands punishment for Saudi prince 'without delay' | A CIA report has accused Mohammed bin Salman of approving Khashoggi's murder, but Washington stopped short of sanctioning him | Mon, 03/01/2021 – 08: 36 | Hatice Cengiz says 'there is no longer any political legitimacy' for Mohammed bin Salman after US intelligence report concluded he authorised the murder of J…
Ali Harb (2021-03-01). 'Case closed': Saudi diplomat calls for moving on from Khashoggi murder. middleeasteye.net 
'Case closed': Saudi diplomat calls for moving on from Khashoggi murder | UN's Agnes Callamard rejects assertion by Saudi envoy, saying case will not be closed until masterminds are 'held accountable' | Mon, 03/01/2021 – 22: 07 | US intelligence report found that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi (Reuters/File photo) | Saudi Arabia's envoy to the United Nations has cri…
Julian Pecquet (2021-03-01). Release of Khashoggi report sparks new push to punish Saudi crown prince. middleeasteye.net 
Release of Khashoggi report sparks new push to punish Saudi crown prince | Advocacy groups start campaigning for sanctions against Mohammed bin Salman and deep reforms inside the kingdom | Mon, 03/01/2021 – 21: 31 | A demonstrator dressed as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with blood on his hands protests outside Saudi embassy in Washington DC on 10 October 2018 (AFP/File photo) | Any hopes Sau…
MEE staff (2021-03-01). Top US Senate Republicans warn Biden against reviving Iran deal. middleeasteye.net 
Top US Senate Republicans warn Biden against reviving Iran deal | Leading Republicans on national security-related committees urge White House to engage Congress, Israel and Gulf partners on Iran | Mon, 03/01/2021 – 17: 12 | The letter was signed by key Senate Republicans, including (L-R) Jim Risch, Marco Rubio and Jim Inhofe (AFP/File photos) | Top US Senate Republicans have warned President Joe Biden against…
RT (2021-03-02). Former CIA director John Brennan 'embarrassed to be a WHITE MALE'… and critics agree they're embarrassed he's a white male. rt.com 
John Brennan, the former CIA director and perjurer who's now an MSNBC contributor, apparently found a point on which he and his conservative critics can agree: Both sides are ashamed that he's a white male. | Responding to an MSNBC discussion Monday about Republican claims regarding the January 6 Capitol riot, Brennan said, "I'm increasingly embarrassed to be a white male these days, in light of what I see of my other white males saying." | John Brennan should be ashamed to be John Brennan
RT (2021-03-02). Attempt at civil discourse on 'Wokeism' ends in Clubhouse room 'coup,' Jewish prof shut down as 'SPICY WHITE' & demands for CASH. rt.com 
Evolutionary biologist Bret Weinstein had to relive his Evergreen College moment whe he was attacked from all sides in a Clubhouse room hijacked by hostile "anti-racist" mob aghast at the idea of white people discussing "wokeism." | The room, dubbed "Is Clubhouse Obsessed with 'Wokeism'?" was created by independent journalist Michael Tracey, who said he thought the Clubhouse chats "almost inevitably evolve into a discussion of 'woke-ism'… but there's seldom anyone in the room who identifies enough with the ideology to give a defense of it." | His attempt to create a safe space for a civil discourse and let b…
RT (2021-03-02). 'We have to DO STUFF NOW': Biden adviser says White House to start redressing systemic racism, not just wait for reparations study. rt.com 
President Joe Biden will push ahead on making amends for America's "systemic racism," creating more opportunities for black people right away rather than waiting for a reparations study, a White House adviser said. | "We don't want to wait on a study," Cedric Richmond, director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, said in an 'Axios on HBO' | White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed on February 17 that Biden s…
RT (2021-03-02). Twitch reverts back to 'women' after tweet celebrating 'Womxn's History Month' savaged online. rt.com 
Streaming platform Twitch has returned to the conventional spelling for "women" after its social media post hailing "Womxn's History Month" — avoiding any "gender-binary language" — backfired and angered critics on all sides. | Though the company took to Twitter on Monday to inform users that "March is Womxn's History Month," using an alternative styling of "women" in a bid to include non-binary gender identities, it made an abrupt about-face just a few hours later, announcing that it would revert back to the standard spelling. | "While we originally wanted to use a word that acknowledges the short…
RT (2021-03-02). US won't share Covid-19 vaccines with Mexico as Americans must be inoculated first — White House. rt.com 
The Biden administration has rejected the idea of sharing Covid-19 vaccines with the hard-hit neighbor Mexico, White House press-secretary Jen Psaki said, adding that it can only be discussed after all Americans get their shots. | "The administration's focus is on ensuring that every American is vaccinated. And once we accomplish that objective we're happy to discuss further steps," Psaki said when asked about possible vaccine sharing during a briefing on Monday. | The comments came hours before the virtual meeting between US President Joe Biden and his Mexican counterpart, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. | Also…
RT (2021-03-02). Johnson & Johnson's newly-approved Covid vaccine met with pushback as Catholic diocese condemns it for 'ties to abortion cells'. rt.com 
As Johnson & Johnson rolls out its freshly approved Covid-19 vaccine in the US, it faces a religious controversy as the Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans has labeled it "morally compromised" over links to abortion cells. | Catholics are advised not to receive the vaccine because Johnson & Johnson used cell lines derived from decades-old abortions in both testing and production of the new product, the Archdiocese Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have utiliz…
Rayhan Uddin (2021-03-01). 'He'll be like Khashoggi': Wife fears for Saudi-Australian detained in Morocco. middleeasteye.net 
'He'll be like Khashoggi': Wife fears for Saudi-Australian detained in Morocco | Australian consular officials intervene, as fears grow that dual citizen arrested last month may be extradited to Riyadh | Mon, 03/01/2021 – 13: 02 | Osama al-Hasani was arrested on 8 February hours after arriving in Morocco to visit his newborn child (Screengrab/Twitter) | A Saudi-Australian citizen detained in Morocco l…
Joe Gill (2021-03-01). Oman crackdown over criticism of plans to develop Dhofar camel-grazing area. middleeasteye.net 
Oman crackdown over criticism of plans to develop Dhofar camel-grazing area | Poet Salem Ali al-Maashani the latest to be arrested as discontent over governor's decision to remove camel herders grows online | Mon, 03/01/2021 – 13: 07 | A camel walks on a road in Salalah, in Oman's Dhofar governorate, January 2018 (MEE/Joe Gill) | Authorities in Oman have intensified a crackdown on critics of plans to remove camel…
MEE staff (2021-03-01). Israel demolishes Palestinian family's home in Jerusalem for fourth time. middleeasteye.net 
Israel demolishes Palestinian family's home in Jerusalem for fourth time | Hatem Hussein Abu Rayaleh's house bulldozed on grounds of lacking building permits, as Israelis step up demolitions in occupied territories | Mon, 03/01/2021 – 16: 17 | Palestinian Hatem Hussein Abu Rayaleh points at his house which was demolished again by Israeli forces in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Issawiya, 1 March 2021 (AFP…
Rayhan Uddin (2021-03-01). 'Disastrous decision': UK slashes aid to Yemen while approving arms sales to Saudi Arabia. middleeasteye.net 
'Disastrous decision': UK slashes aid to Yemen while approving arms sales to Saudi Arabia | Politicians and non-governmental organisations condemn major humanitarian cut as military exports to Riyadh continue | Mon, 03/01/2021 – 17: 50 | A Yemeni civilian receives food aid in a displacement camp in northern district of Abs (AFP/File photo) | The UK will halve its foreign aid to Yemen in 2021, in a mov…
Joe Gill (2021-03-01). Oman: Crackdown in Dhofar over criticism of plans to develop camel-grazing areas. middleeasteye.net Oman: Crackdown in Dhofar over criticism of plans to develop camel-grazing areas | Poet Salem Ali al-Maashani the latest to be arrested as discontent over governor's decision to remove herders grows online | Mon, 03/01/2021 – 13: 07 | A camel walks on a road in Salalah, in Oman's Dhofar governorate, January 2018 (MEE/Joe Gill) | Authorities in Oman have intensified a crackdown on critics of plans to remove camel…
MEE staff (2021-03-01). Khashoggi murder: Three Saudi names disappear from revised US intelligence report. middleeasteye.net 
Khashoggi murder: Three Saudi names disappear from revised US intelligence report | US says it removed names 'erroneously' included in the initial report, which identified individuals complicit in the killing of the journalist | Mon, 03/01/2021 – 11: 17 | A man lights a candle by posters of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a gathering outside the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 20…
Nadda Osman (2021-03-01). Israel annexation: European lawmakers denounce 'de facto' takeover of the West Bank. middleeasteye.net 
Israel annexation: European lawmakers denounce 'de facto' takeover of the West Bank | Over 400 parliamentarians have called on EU nations and the Biden administration to work together to halt annexation | Mon, 03/01/2021 – 13: 04 | Israeli workers dismantle tents during a demolition operation of a Palestinian Bedouin encampment in the area of Humsa, in the Occupied West Bank on 22 February (AFP) | Hundre…
Nadda Osman (2021-03-01). Beirut explosion: Diamond-encrusted ring 'inspired' by disaster draws ire. middleeasteye.net 
Beirut explosion: Diamond-encrusted ring 'inspired' by disaster draws ire | Jeweller's design, which costs more than $7,000, has been denounced as distasteful | Mon, 03/01/2021 – 15: 53 | The ring represents the resilience of Beirut, but has not been well received online (Screengrab/Social media/Forbes) | A champagne diamond-encrusted ring, which has been designed to represent the resilience of Beirut fo…
David Hearst (2021-03-01). Avi Shlaim slams UK government over 'shameful legacy' of support for Israel. middleeasteye.net 
Avi Shlaim slams UK government over 'shameful legacy' of support for Israel | Oxford historian says efforts to push IHRA antisemitism definition on universities are part of a long history of support for Zionism | Mon, 03/01/2021 – 11: 59 | Shlaim has called for British universities to resist the threat to their autonomy posed by government's efforts to push them to adopt the IHRA definition (AFP) | An…
Marina Wheeler QC (2021-03-01). Supreme Court: Shamima Begum may be barred from UK. ukhumanrightsblog.com 
Special Immigration Appeals Commission and Secretary of State for the Home Department v R (Begum) [2021] UKSC 7 Since 2019 when Shamima Begum was found in a camp in north Syria, her hopes of returning to the UK have ebbed and flowed (see here and here). Stripped of her British citizenship, she brought three sets …
MEE correspondent (2021-03-01). 'Unjust': Egypt's property registration plans face popular backlash. middleeasteye.net 
'Unjust': Egypt's property registration plans face popular backlash | Millions of homeowners in Egypt could be forced to pay three percent of their property's market value or lose access to water and electricity | Mon, 03/01/2021 – 10: 36 | Up to 95 percent of properties in Egypt are unregistered, according to the minister of justice (Reuters/file photo) | "Angels don't enter homes unre…
_____ (2021-03-01). Icelanders: Can This Peaceful, Politically Engaged People So Continue? strategic-culture.org 
More people in Iceland than in most countries are politically conscious and motivated to take on corruption in politics and business in Iceland than in most countries, Ron Ridenour writes. | We all can learn from the Icelandic people, from their sense of assuming responsibility, for their political consciousness, their tenacity, from their culture that fosters more authors per capita than any country in the world, where there is no army, and folk live in tight-knit fellowship. | I am concerned, however, that if the current trend with the fast life continues, especially in the ever-growing Capital Region where 60%…
Staff (2021-03-01). Rep. Ro Khanna: Democrats Should Ignore the Senate Parliamentarian and Pass $15 Minimum Wage Hike. democracynow.org 
The House of Representatives has voted to pass President Biden's $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package that includes an increase to the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour, which could now be stripped out in the final bill after the unelected Senate parliamentarian found it does not comply with budget rules. Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona have also said they'll oppose the measure. Congressmember Ro Khanna of California says the parliamentarian "misruled" in this case and that Democrats should pass the wage hike anyway. "I don't know any part of this count…
Staff (2021-03-01). U.S. Says Saudi Crown Prince MBS Approved Assassination of Khashoggi, But He Avoids Any Sanctions. democracynow.org 
The Biden administration has released a declassified report that finds Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, responsible for the assassination of Saudi dissident and Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. But the U.S. does not plan to sanction the crown prince, though the administration has announced travel restrictions to dozens of other Saudi officials. The decision is being criticized by human rights groups and friends of the late Khashoggi. "It's important to not point fingers but also to sanction MBS … and to treat him as the pariah he is, like Biden promised during…
Staff (2021-03-01). Biden "Illegally" Bombs Iranian-Backed Militias in Syria, Jeopardizing Nuclear Talks with Tehran. democracynow.org 
The Biden administration is facing intense criticism from U.S. progressives after carrying out airstrikes on eastern Syria said to be targeting Iranian-backed militia groups. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports at least 22 people died. The Pentagon called the assault a response to recent rocket attacks on U.S. forces in northern Iraq. Those attacks came more than a year after Iraq's parliament voted to expel U.S. troops — an order ignored by both the Trump and Biden administrations. "Very quickly the Biden administration is falling into the same old patterns of before, of responding…
Staff (2021-03-01). Burmese Scholar: Military Junta Using Terror Against "Entire Population" to Keep Power After Coup. democracynow.org 
In Burma, mass protests continue after at least 18 people were killed in anti-coup protests, marking the deadliest day since the February 1 military coup which deposed and detained de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Police fired live ammunition into crowds as Burmese forces steadily escalated their crackdown. One local group says 1,000 people were arrested, including journalists and medical professionals. "The coup group and the entire security sector … have essentially terrorized the entire population," says Maung Zarni, a Burmese scholar, dissident and human rights activist. "I have seen absolutely nothing lik…
Global Research News (2021-03-01). Selected Articles: Joe Biden and the Pentagon's "Ides of March 2021": Best Month to Go to War? globalresearch.ca 
By According to the research data analyzed and published by Comprar Acciones, imports from China to the EA increased …
Staff (2021-03-01). CPAC Showed That Trump's Personality Cult Is Still Alive — and Still a Threat. truthout.org 
In the classic 1950 movie Sunset Boulevard, Gloria Swanson plays the has-been Hollywood diva, Norma Desmond, desperate for adoration, utterly infatuated with the spotlight. One of its most famous lines — " "You see," the has-been actress utters w…
Staff (2021-03-01). Illinois Must End Youth Incarceration, Not "Transform" It. truthout.org 
Even amid a deadly pandemic, in the U.S., there are
Staff (2021-03-01). Biden Jeopardizes Nuclear Talks With Iran by Bombing Militias in Syria. truthout.org 
Image Credit: 2021 Maxar Technologies (photo left) | The Biden administration is facing intense criticism from U.S. progressives after carrying out airstrikes on eastern Syria said to be targeting Iranian-backed militia groups. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports at least 22 people died. The Pentagon called the assault a response to recent rocket attacks on U.S. forces in northern Iraq. Those attacks came more than a year after Iraq's parliament voted to expel U.S. troops [mda…
Staff (2021-03-01). After Mass Closures, Post-Pandemic Child Care Options Will Be Scarce. truthout.org 
Driving to work before dawn last winter, Valerie Norris heard an NPR report about a terrible disease spreading in China — a pandemic, people were starting to call it. It sounded sad but very far from Rocky River, Ohio, where she'd led the Rockport Early Childhood Center for 34 years. | A few weeks later, she knew better. | It was still dark on the chilly morning of March 13 when Norris pulled into the big parking lot at the Rockport United Methodist Church, where her school was based. She always…
Staff (2021-03-01). Elizabeth Warren Unveils 2 Percent Wealth Tax on "Ultra-Millionaires" truthout.org 
On Monday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) unveiled legislation proposing a wealth tax that she championed during her presidential campaign. | The bill, called the
RT (2021-03-01). Two Ukrainian diplomats ARRESTED at border in Poland-bound minibus allegedly packed with cigarettes and gold (PHOTOS). rt.com 
A pair of Ukrainian diplomats have been recalled after being arrested for trying to smuggle 16kg of gold, thousands of packets of cigarettes and tens of thousands of dollars into neighboring Poland, officials said. | A driver for Ukraine's embassy in Warsaw and an attache for consular affairs were detained by Ukrainian border guards on Sunday after being stopped in an official minibus at a checkpoint on their way to Poland. | Two other officials were also allegedly involved in the attempted smuggling, including the attache's father, who works at the embassy, Ukraine's state investigative bureau said in a state…
RT (2021-03-01). Scientists discover THOUSANDS of previously unknown virus species in the human gut. rt.com 
A new database project has identified and classified some 140,000 viral species found in the human gut, more than 50 percent of which were previously unknown to science. | The Among the truly staggering amount of data were tens of thousands of newly discovered viruses and 142,809 viral species that call the human gu…
RT (2021-03-01). Ex-French president Sarkozy sentenced to year in prison for corruption, plus 2 years suspended. rt.com 
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been found guilty of corruption on charges of trying to bribe a magistrate. The judge sentenced Sarkozy to three years in prison, with two years suspended. | Judge Christine Mee, who presided over the case, stated that the 66-year-old former political leader had "used his status as former French president" in a "particularly serious" act of wrongdoing, as she handed down the sentence. | Sarkozy was put on trial over accusations of trying to bribe Gilbert Azibert, a French magistrate, by offering him a well-paid job in Monaco in return for information about a criminal…
RT (2021-03-01). Bitcoin soars after Citi says it could become 'currency of choice' for global trade. rt.com 
The world's largest cryptocurrency, bitcoin, bounced back above $48,000 on Monday, following a report by Citi which suggested that the digital asset could one day become the preferred currency for international trade. | Bitcoin was up almost nine percent as of 2: 22pm GMT, at $48,193. | According to Citi, bitcoin's recent performance has been inspired by involvement of institutional investors in recent years, in contrast to its heavy retail investor focus for most of the past decade. With the recent embrace of the likes of Tesla and Mastercard, bitcoin could be at the start of a "massive transformation" into th…
RT (2021-03-01). Chinese investment in Australia plunges to RECORD LOW amid escalating trade row. rt.com 
New data from the Australian National University (ANU) showed Chinese investment in Australia dropped by more than 61 percent in 2020, to just over a billion Australian dollars (US$780 million) — the lowest in the past six years. | According to figures from the Chinese Investment in Australia Database (CHIIA), the drop followed a 47 percent fall in 2019, when Chinese investment totaled US$1.57 billion. It was also well short of the peak of US$12.7 billion recorded in 2016. | "It reflects the effects of Covid, but also more scrutiny of foreign investment by the Australian government, particularly that fro…
RT (2021-03-01). Russia triples gas supplies to China via Power of Siberia pipeline. rt.com 
Russia's energy major Gazprom said on Monday that it had pumped more gas to China in February via the Power of Siberia pipeline than it had initially planned, more than tripling supplies compared to the same month last year. | "The export of gas to China through the Power of Siberia gas pipeline continues to grow. Supplies regularly exceed our daily contractual obligations. The actual monthly volume of supplies in February is 3.2 times more than in February 2020," Gazprom said in a statement. | The 3,000km (1,864 mile) cross-border pipeline started official deliveries of Russian natural gas to China in 2019. T…
RT (2021-03-01). Quarantine hotel in Toronto accused of running out of FOOD & WATER as guests let loose on staff (VIDEOS). rt.com 
Quarantined travelers formed an angry mob in the lobby of a Toronto hotel after it allegedly ran out of food and bottled water, leaving guests waiting hours to be fed during their mandatory stay. | Canada's system of mandatory quarantine hotels for those entering the country from abroad are now in question, after a series of endless, chaotic setbacks including food shortages and even alleged sexual assaults. | Some of those experiencing the quarantines, which are mandatory for all incoming travelers for a minimum of three days and at a cost of up to Can$2,000, have documented the problems on social media. | Al…
RT (2021-03-01). Beijing accused of using Covid pandemic to control journalists — foreign media group report. rt.com 
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China (FCCC) has accused Beijing of using Covid-19 as "yet another way to control journalists," curbing visas and surveilling reporters. China says it's protecting its citizens from the virus. | The FCCC, which is the professional association of Beijing-based journalists reporting on China, has argued that 2020 had seen a "rapid decline in media freedom," implemented under the cover of measures that were used to combat the spread of coronavirus. | In its annual report released on Monday the press group claimed these restrictions were placed on journalists to prevent them fro…
RT (2021-03-01). Champion trainer Gordon Elliott 'apologizes profoundly' after Grand National winner admits controversial dead horse photo is real. rt.com 
Industry-leading racehorse trainer Gordon Elliott has issued a "profound apology" after a photograph showing him straddling a dead horse drew outraged accusations of animal cruelty after it began circulating on social media. | Elliott, who trained the world-famous Tiger Roll to two successive Grand National wins in 2018 and 2019, came under fire after the image, which shows him taking a phone call while sitting atop the deceased animal, went viral on social media over the course of the weekend. | The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) announced that they were opening an investigation into the matter, to…
RT (2021-03-01). Tiger Woods praises 'really touching' red-and-black tribute from stars after golf icon was badly injured in high-speed car wreck. rt.com 
Tiger Woods has thanked golfers who donned his famous red and black attire on the final day of a tournament, saying it was "hard to explain" his emotions as he recovers from multiple leg injuries suffered in a car crash last week.
RT (2021-03-01). Police 'arrest former Barcelona president Bartomeu and two club bosses' as staff see football giants' offices raided by officers. rt.com 
Josep Maria Bartomeu has been arrested alongside two senior Barcelona officials in the latest development in a police investigation less than a week before the club's presidential elections end, a Spanish news source has said. | Catalonian cops have raided the offices of the Spanish football giants and reportedly swooped on ex-president Bartomeu, who resigned at the end of October along with the club's entire board of directors. | Local force the Mossos d'Esquadra are said to have taken action — moving in just six days before the long-awaited presidential elections to permanently replace Bartomeu end …
RT (2021-03-01). Novak Djokovic closes in on eclipsing Serena Williams run as Serbian tennis ace admits 'relief' at equaling mammoth Federer record. rt.com 
Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic has matched a remarkable feat achieved only by rival Roger Federer in the men's game — and he is targeting Serena Williams and several women's records after topping the ATP rankings for 310 weeks. | Just a week after winning his 18th Grand Slam by beating Russian Daniil Medvedev to retain his Australian Open crown, the sporting legend will break Federer's record for the longest time as men's number one next Monday and wants to scale new heights. | After becoming the sole holder of the record in the men's game, Djokovic will be just eight weeks shy of catching up with women…
RT (2021-03-01). Russian 'striptease' skating star Elizaveta Tuktamysheva says she wants to 'get satisfaction' from 2021 World Championships. rt.com 
Figure skating ace Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, who recently earned the right to represent Russia at the showpiece, has said her main goal at the upcoming 2021 World Figure Skating Championships is to "enjoy it and get satisfaction." | The 24-year-old beat reigning European gold medalist Alena Kostornaia at the Russian Cup final in Moscow, earning the sole remaining spot on the national squad, which will travel to Sweden later this month. | Known as The Empress by her fans, Tuktamysheva finished third, behind legendary coach Eteri Tutberidze's trio, led by 14-year-old Kamila Valieva. | However, as none of the podiu…
RT (2021-03-01). Man United's Shaw facing BAN after backtracking on claim that ref rejected penalty in Chelsea draw because he feared public uproar. rt.com 
Luke Shaw could be banned by the Premier League after he accused the referee who shunned Man United's penalty claim against Chelsea of malpractice — but Harry Maguire has admitted his fellow defender misheard the conversation. | United were unlucky not to be awarded a spot kick in the first half of Sunday's stalemate against Thomas Tuchel's re-energized Chelsea team after the ball appeared to strike Callum Hudson-Odoi's hand as be battled for possession with Mason Greenwood. | Following a brief delay in which both the VAR and referee Stuart Attwell considered and ultimately denied the penalty claim, full…
RT (2021-03-01). Paige Spiranac sermonises about being 'more real on social media' as golf stunner backs Max Homa over Tiger Woods tribute backlash. rt.com 
Golf stunner Paige Spiranac has hit out at fans who criticized Max Homa for not taking part in the "red-and-black" tribute to Tiger Woods following his severe injuries in a high speed car accident outside of Los Angeles last week. | Several top golfers, including Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Tommy Fleetwood, donned red and black gear in tribute to Woods' trademark colors at Sunday's final round of the WGC Championships event in Florida, with Woods himself later tweeting that he was "touched" at the wide-ranging gesture from several members of the field. | However, there are many sides to social media — and…
RT (2021-03-01). Punch drunk: UFC star Paulo Costa mocked by fans over claim he 'drank too much wine' the night before Israel Adesanya title fight. rt.com 
Paulo Costa had a novel excuse for his unusually tepid performance in his world title bout against Israel Adesanya, earning derision for admitting that he was "hungover" from a full bottle of wine he had drunk hours beforehand. | Brazil's Costa surrendered his unbeaten professional record when he was beaten by middleweight champion Adesanya in Abu Dhabi last September, but more more disappointing than the result was the performance of the usually ferocious slugger. | Rather than hunting down his opponent as he had done in his previous 13 fights, Costa stayed at range and presented an easy target to the laser-s…
RT (2021-03-01). Nationalists stage torch-lit march, demand 'return' of Nagorno-Karabakh amid Armenian political crisis. rt.com 
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Yerevan to demand the resignation of embattled Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan and the reinstatement of control over disputed Nagorno-Karabakh in a torch-lit march. | The nationalists hit the streets of the Armenian capital on Sunday, marching with lit torches and Armenian flags to folk tunes that blared from a car. As the music paused, protesters chanted "Free and independent Armenian" and "Retake Nagorno-Karabakh" among other slogans. The protesters have also repeatedly called for Pashinyan's resignation. | The fiery procession, led by the supporters of the Sasna Tsr…
RT (2021-03-01). 'He'll be gone in the spring': Belarusian opposition figurehead Tikhanovskaya says Lukashenko will be removed from office in 2021. rt.com 
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will leave his post this year, maybe even before spring ends. That's according to former presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who says peaceful protest will soon reap rewards. | Speaking to the German weekend newspaper Bild am Sonntag, Tikhanovskaya revealed her belief that both external and internal pressure on the long-time leader will lead to his replacement. | "We hope for a strong alliance with the new US administration and the EU. Pressure will increase day by day, and at some point, it will become too much for Lukashenko, and he will leave," she said.
RT (2021-03-01). Myanmar's ousted leader Suu Kyi is seen for first time in weeks & now faces new charges, as anti-coup protests rage on. rt.com 
A Myanmar court has slapped the country's ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi with additional charges, as mass-protests against the military coup that toppled her refuse to die down, even after a deadly weekend. | The ousted politician appeared before the court via videolink on Monday, and was seen in public for the first time since the February 1 coup. | Suu Kyi was slapped with two additional charges, one stemming from the colonial-era penal code over alleged publication of information that may "cause fear or alarm" or disrupt "public tranquility." The other one was brought under a telecommunications law…
RT (2021-03-01). Deep 'psychological pain': Japan urges China to stop subjecting its citizens to Covid-19 ANAL SWABS. rt.com 
Tokyo has requested Beijing stop subjecting Japanese nationals in China to anal swab testing for Covid-19, urging it use alternative methods instead. The procedure is said to inflict "great psychological pain" on test subjects. | The coronavirus testing issue was brought up by Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato during a press conference on Monday. | Some Japanese reported to our embassy in China that they received anal swab tests, which caused a great psychological pain. | Japan has already requested Beijing halt the controversial testing, sticking to other methods instead. So far, China has not re…
RT (2021-03-01). Russia slams Twitter for breaking regulations as US tech giant ignores demands to delete thousands of posts with illegal material. rt.com 
By not deleting banned material, Twitter has 'maliciously violated' Russian law. That's according to media regulator Roskomnadzor, which has revealed that the tech giant has refused to remove 2,862 posts with illegal content. | On Monday, the watchdog revealed that it had sent the California-based company a combined total of 28,000 deletion demands, with around 10 percent being refused. These include 2,336 posts on suicide, as well as 352 containing pornographic images of minors. | According to Russian law, violating the rules governing the restriction of access to illegal content could see the firm hit with a…
RT (2021-03-01). Latvia for the Latvians! Baltic nation's President says it will be true ethnic homeland by 2030, despite fact 1 in 4 are Russians. rt.com 
In less than a decade, Latvia could take its place among the top tier of European nations, its president has claimed, arguing that its language and culture will become dominant despite much of the country speaking Russian at home. | Egils Levits made the remarks in a discussion on parliamentary democracy on Friday, insisting that, by 2030, "we could become one of the most modern European countries." This, he claimed, is not because the nation would accept every innovation, but because it would accept only the most important ones, and can discern what really matters. | However, he added, Latvia will "also becom…
RT (2021-03-01). Saint Petersburg cop arrested after allegedly leaking information about flight on which opposition figure Alexey Navalny fell ill. rt.com 
A Russian policeman has been arrested, suspected of leaking information from the country's centralized database of travel records, which is available only to law enforcement. He is accused of transferring data to a third party. | That's according to Moscow daily Kommersant, which reported that the unnamed St. Petersburg police officer could have handed over information to the team of Alexey Navalny, the Russian opposition figure who was allegedly poisoned and fell ill on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow in August. The newspaper claims that, in September, the individual concerned checked the database for informati…
RT (2021-03-01). Russia's wealthiest official, local Sakhalin politician Dmitry Pashov, arrested over links to 'Crab King' murder & smuggling cases. rt.com 
Dmitry Pashov, named by Forbes as Russia's richest official, has been arrested over the case involving Oleg Khan, the man dubbed by the media as the 'Crab King' who is accused of smuggling shellfish and killing an entrepreneur. | In September 2020, Pashov topped Forbes' ranking of the highest-earning civil servants and deputies, with a supposed yearly income of 6.2 billion rubles ($83 million). The businessman is the owner of Moneron, a large crabbing company, and became a member of the Sakhalin Regional Duma in 2017. | Pashov was arrested on January 27 at his island home in Russia's Far East, near Japan. He i…
RT (2021-03-01). Prague deploys troops on Czech streets to enforce severe new Covid rules amid record infection rate, spike in hospitalizations. rt.com 
Some 30,000 police and soldiers have been deployed across the Czech Republic and at 500 security checkpoints set up in a bid to enforce toughened coronavirus rules, as the country battles the world's worst infection rate. | The new measures, introduced on Monday, ban Czechs from leaving their district except for essential reasons, like caring for vulnerable people or working. | Officers are allowed to conduct random spot checks and people are required to produce personal documentation on request, with fines of up to 20,000 Czech koruna ($920) for rule-breakers. | Higher-grade face masks are also now mandatory…
RT (2021-03-01). Mars striking back? Extremely bright meteor ignites wild banter on social media (VIDEOS). rt.com 
Befuddled Brits from Scotland in the North to Somerset in South were astonished by a phenomenally bright flash in the night sky which lasted some seven seconds and ended with a loud boom, according to some reports. | The fireball was so bright it triggered doorbells across the UK shortly before 10pm local time from Manchester to Cardiff, Bath, and Milton Keynes and everywhere in between, with the UK Meteor Network receiving over 120 reports of sightings. | Social media was flooded with videos purporting to show the celestial fireworks display. | Nice meteor hit the earth's atmosphere at 21: 54 slightly obscured…
RT (2021-03-01). Family with young child rescued, warned after camping on CLIFF EDGE known for landslides (PHOTO). rt.com 
Police and coastguard officers responded to a call after a couple were spotted camping on a cliff edge with their young child, in contravention of lockdown rules and, arguably, common sense. | Rescue teams from Staithes and Whitby coastguard agencies, along with responding police officers, happened upon the couple's tent on Cleveland Way in North Yorkshire on Saturday. | www.facebook.com/staithes.coastguard/pos… | The police were called as the family had breached Covid restrictions, though it is unclear whether or not they received a fine. Overnight stays away from a person's primary…
RT (2021-03-01). Syria & Russia accuse US of funneling supplies on pretext of 'humanitarian aid' to militants in war-ravaged Middle Eastern nation. rt.com 
Washington is pressuring the United Nations to deliver international assistance to an overpopulated desert refugee camp but secretly planning to use the cargo to resupply armed militias it supports, Moscow and Damascus claim. | In a joint statement issued on Monday, the coordination headquarters of Russia and Syria insisted that their military coalition is "making significant efforts to restore peaceful life in the country and provide comprehensive assistance to Syrian citizens in voluntary and safe return to their homeland." | However, they add, the US is actively working to fuel fighting in the bloody civil…
RT (2021-03-01). NHS Providers calls for urgent review into 'insufficient' critical care capacity. rt.com 
NHS Providers has called for a review into "insufficient" critical care capacity in England, citing three regions as being of key concern, at a time when the NHS found itself overwhelmed by Covid-19 cases earlier this year. | The organisation, which includes NHS hospital, mental health, community and ambulance services, called on the government to conduct an investigation into failings in the current system after an analysis showed the UK has the lowest number of critical care beds per head in Europe. | The analysis by NHS Providers uncovered that, per 100,000 people, the UK only has 7.3 critical care beds, co…
RT (2021-03-01). Class dismissed: England's poorer students 'five grades behind' richer ones — report. rt.com 
A report from the UK's Education Policy Institute (EPI) has found that a "disadvantage gap" has emerged between English pupils aged 16-19, with poorer students finding themselves up to five grades behind their wealthier peers. | The EPI has declared that the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and others is "one of the greatest challenges facing England's education system," warning that "the gap grows larger in each phase of education." | On average, the study found that, by the time students reached the age of 16-19, they were the equivalent of three grades behind more affluent peers, with some in par…
RT (2021-03-01). Finland declares STATE OF EMERGENCY over Covid-19 cases surge. rt.com 
Helsinki has declared a state of emergency on Monday in a bid to stem the rapid spread of coronavirus. The measure would allow it to impose a lockdown and potentially "restrict the fundamental rights of citizens." | The state of emergency is effective "immediately" and will stay in force for an indefinite period of time "until it is repealed," the government said in a
RT (2021-03-01). New Zealand PM urges public to 'call out' family & friends who break Covid-19 rules, who let down 'team of five million'. rt.com 
New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has urged obedient members of the public to call out violators of coronavirus rules, as it emerged people have been concealing Covid-19 contacts. | Speaking on Monday about recent Covid-19 cases that are linked to breaches of anti-coronavirus restrictions, Ardern aimed mighty jabs at rule breakers. | Even with the full understanding of human fallibility, it is not appropriate, and it is not okay for members of a team of five million to let the rest of us down. | Ruling out punishments for the violators handed out directly by the government, and citing the separation…
RT (2021-03-01). Virus reduces fitness of former Covid-19 patients aged 45 to level of 80-year-olds, Israeli researchers discover. rt.com 
One of Israel's top medical centers has published a worrying study about the long-term effects of the coronavirus, revealing that 45-year-old former patients performed during physical tests as if they were aged 80. | Some 30 people aged 45, on average, took part in the survey carried out by the Beilinson Medical Center in Petah Tikva, the Times of Israel Three months after they had been officially cleared of the disease, the former Covid-19…
RT (2021-03-01). Plane forced to land in Sudan after CAT ATTACKS pilot mid-air, 'hijacking' cockpit. rt.com 
A passenger plane was forced to return to the airport in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum after an angry cat, which somehow got into the cockpit, attacked the pilots shortly after takeoff, local media reports. | This Wednesday's flight of the Sudanese Tarco airline bound for Qatar's capital, Doha, was proceeding in a totally routine manner — that is, until a most unlikely passenger caused an emergency mid-air. | Having departed from the Khartoum International Airport, the plane was in the air for roughly half an hour when an unregistered passenger was spotted inside the pilot's cabin. The passenger in que…
RT (2021-03-01). US touts patrol boats unwanted by its own Navy in $125 million package of 'lethal aid' to Ukraine. rt.com 
Washington is so eager to help Ukraine counter what it calls "Russian aggression," it is sending Kiev patrol boats the US Navy wants to phase out, and holding another $150 million back pending "defense reforms." | The Pentagon
RT (2021-03-01). Covid-19 virus didn't originate naturally but is actually a BIOWEAPON, most Russians believe, according to explosive new poll. rt.com 
The world has been savaged by a killer virus that escaped a top-secret lab or was unleashed by shadowy forces. It might sound like the plot of a Hollywood film, but a new poll has found it's also how most Russians see Covid-19.
RT (2021-03-01). 'Being Muslim raises fundamental problems with living a Danish life': Political party wants would-be citizens' religion on record. rt.com 
The Danish People's Party has renewed calls for the religion of would-be citizens to be recorded on a publicly visible register, while also proposing a ban on granting citizenship to applicants married to foreign nationals. | The right-wing populist Danish People's Party (DPP) is proposing that, as part of an ongoing overhaul of immigration and naturalization rules in the country, in future, would-be citizens should declare their faith, or lack thereof, in order to be considered for Danish citizenship. | "For many people being Muslim raises some fundamental problems with living a Danish life. Whether that is v…
RT (2021-03-01). Plane forced to land in Sudan after CAT ATTACKS pilot in mid-air, 'hijacking' cockpit. rt.com A passenger plane was forced to return to an airport in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum after an angry cat, which somehow got into the cockpit, attacked the pilots shortly after takeoff, local media report. | Wednesday's flight of the Sudanese Tarco airline bound for Qatar's capital, Doha, was proceeding in a totally routine manner — that is, until a most unlikely passenger caused an emergency in mid-air. | Having departed from Khartoum International Airport, the plane was in the air for roughly half-an-hour when an unregistered passenger was spotted inside the pilot's cabin. The passenger in question wa…
RT (2021-03-01). Macron says France's Covid curfew in place for another '4 to 6 weeks' as contagious UK variant accounts for more half of all cases. rt.com 
French President Emmanuel Macron has called on the nation to "hold out" for at least another month before the country can think about easing Covid-induced restrictions and the current 6pm curfew. | Speaking with a group of industrial trade trainees on Monday, Macron dismissed, with a smile, the request of a young man to relax France's 6pm curfew. The president told the students that the nation's curfew would need to remain in place for another four to six weeks, amid indicators the epidemic is on the rise again in France. | Further measures may be brought in across the 20 departments in France which have alrea…
RT (2021-03-01). Canberra should reflect on reasons for poor relations with China, says Beijing, as Chinese investment in Australia falls by 60%. rt.com 
Beijing has urged Canberra to take a look at the reasons behind worsening relations between the two nations and called on Australia to abide by the free-market conditions and trade rules it has always advertised. | On Monday, foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, cited a study by the Institute of East Asian Economics of the Australian National University, showing that China's direct investment in Australia fell by 61 percent last year to US$783 million, a six-year low. | Wang said the data was cause for Australia to reflect on the reasons behind the deteriorating economic and politics relations. | "Austr…
RT (2021-03-01). Duterte threatens to end military cooperation with US if he gets 'hard info' on nukes stored in Philippines. rt.com 
President Rodrigo Duterte has vowed that he will "immediately" demand that US troops leave the Philippines if Washington ever attempts to place its nuclear weapons in the Southeast Asian country. | While there appear to have been no recent statements from American officials about plans to place nukes in the Philippines, Duterte was on Sunday asked about the possibility during a press conference. | "We do not want it… but I am warning you that if I get hold of hard information that nuclear armaments are brought by you here, I will immediately ask you to go out and I will terminate the Visiting Forces Agreemen…
RT (2021-03-01). Spain begins to ease Covid lockdown, but says border with Portugal will be sealed for at least 2 more weeks. rt.com 
The Spanish border with Portugal will remain largely closed until at least March 16, Madrid confirmed on Monday, even as it began to ease some regional restrictions implemented to slow the spread of Covid-19. | The restrictions have been in place along the 1,200km-long border since January 29, with only Spanish residents or Schengen-area travelers who are en route to their homes allowed to cross. | The Spanish government has begun to ease regional Covid lockdown regulations that imposed overnight curfews and restrictions on restaurants, bars, and shops, as well as limiting the number of people who could meet u…
RT (2021-03-01). German soldier, relatives arrested over 'hoarding' weapons & ammo, and making 'extremist statements'. rt.com 
In the latest suspected insurgency case, a German Army soldier and two of his relatives were arrested in a special police forces operation. Police say the suspects have been "hoarding" weapons and making "extremist" statements. | On Monday, police in the German western state of Hesse said they arrested two men, including a 21-year-old Bundeswehr soldier, as part of a series of raids over the weekend. While searching their apartments, the Special Forces officers discovered "extensive evidence" of their illegal activities and seized "military-grade weapons, various ammunition and explosives." | Also on rt.com…
RT (2021-03-01). Myanmar military reportedly fire on anti-coup protesters a day after 18 killed on 'bloody Sunday'. rt.com 
Demonstrators in Myanmar were shot at by law enforcement on Monday, local media reported, less than a day after 18 protesters were killed on what was the country's bloodiest day yet since the military seized power on February 1. | In the southern city Yangon — Myanmar's largest — police and the military fired live rounds at protesters and used tear gas on Monday, according to Burmese-language broadcaster RFA. Security officials also reportedly deployed sound bombs, a crowd control device that emits high frequency sound waves, which can cause deafness. | Amid the violence, which reportedly took place…
RT (2021-03-01). Japanese PM apologizes after spokesperson quits over expensive dinner scandal that breached ethics law. rt.com 
Japanese leader Yoshihide Suga has apologized after his spokeswoman, Makiko Yamada, resigned for "breaching the ethics law" by attending expensive dinners hosted by the prime minister's TV executive son, Seigo Suga. | Yamada formally quit her position as the cabinet public relations secretary in the wake of the scandal around her attendance at the expensive dinners after being admitted to hospital due to ill health, according to a statement from the government. | Japanese officials are barred from accepting gifts, including dinners and entertainment from companies under the National Civil Service Ethics Law, m…
RT (2021-03-01). Discovery of Brazilian variant in UK won't derail plans to ease Covid lockdown in England, PM Johnson says. rt.com 
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that the discovery of the highly contagious 'P1' Brazilian variant of Covid-19 will not derail his government's plans to ease lockdown restrictions in England in the coming weeks. | The PM said there is currently no reason to change plans to start reopening England after three months of a third national lockdown. Schools and colleges are set to return to in-person learning from March 8, with restrictions on shops and businesses, pubs and gatherings being eased over the next three months — infection rates permitting. | Earlier on Monday, Prof Graham Medley, who head…
RT (2021-03-01). 'I'd rather be called a b**ch': Twitch unites commenters in disgust with tweet celebrating 'Womxn's History Month'. rt.com 
Streaming platform Twitch is so woke that it managed to enrage women, conservatives and the transgender, all in a bid to celebrate "Womxn's History Month." | March is Women's History Month, and Twitch wants its users to celebrate. It's putting female streamers on its front page, showcasing female musicians, and dishing out thousand-dollar grants to deserving female students and entrepreneurs. Oh, and it's also spelling "Women's History Month" as…
RT (2021-03-01). Ex-US president Trump uses major speech return to warn Biden that 'crazy' transgender athlete rules will 'destroy women's sports'. rt.com 
Ex-US president Donald Trump has won widespread support after reports claimed he had "attacked" the transgender community and "mocked" athletes in his first major speech since leaving office, voicing his fears for women's sports. | Reacting to the move by his replacement in the White House, Joe Biden, to sign a new gender discrimination act as one of his first jobs in office and a sign of his departure from his predecessor's policies, Trump said that women's records were being "smashed with ease" by competitors whose biological gender was male. | Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Sund…
RT (2021-03-01). Fauci brushes off critique after South Dakota Governor Noem says Biden's Covid czar 'IS WRONG A LOT' to standing ovation at CPAC. rt.com 
White House adviser Anthony Fauci and his media allies have joined forces in rebuking Kristi Noem after the lockdown-skeptic South Dakota governor had the temerity to criticize the Covid czar's forecast she said hadn't come true. | Noem on Saturday took on Fauci's lockdown advice while making her case at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) for conservative values and respecting individual liberties. | "He told me that on my worst day, I'd have 10,000 patients in the hospital," Noem said. "On our worst day, we had a little over 600. Now, I don't know if you agree with me, but Dr. Fauci is wrong…
RT (2021-03-01). US inspector finds AT LEAST $2.4 billion 'wasted' on buildings in Afghanistan in 'clear pattern' of misuse and destruction. rt.com 
Billions of US taxpayer dollars have been wasted on building infrastructure in Afghanistan that isn't actually needed or can't be used or maintained properly, says a new report from a special inspector, unlikely to change things. | The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) identified "about $2.4 billion in assets that were unused or abandoned, had not been used for their intended purposes, had deteriorated, or were destroyed" out of nearly $7.8 billion the US has spent on capital assets in the country. | Only $1.2 billion worth of assets were being used as intended, and only $343.2 m…
RT (2021-03-01). NY attorney general gets green light to investigate sexual harassment claims against sinking Cuomo. rt.com 
New York State Attorney General Letitia James has been given the authorization to move forward on an independent investigation into two former staffers' sexual harassment claims against Governor Andrew Cuomo. | James has received the letter from the governor's office that she needed to open an independent investigation into Cuomo's alleged sexual harassment, her office revealed on Monday. Cuomo will not receive weekly updates on the probe; however, the investigation's findings will be made public at its conclusion. | Cuomo's office had previously called on James to "select a qualified private lawyer to do an i…
RT (2021-03-01). School shooting reported on FIRST DAY back in the classroom in Arkansas. rt.com 
Students were back in the classroom for less than a day in one Arkansas high school before a shooting broke out. One student was reported injured and the underage suspect has been taken into custody. | The state of Arkansas last week ordered schools to reopen, as the threat of Covid-19 subsides. Watson Chapel Junior High in the town of Pine Bluff opened its doors to in-person learning on Monday, but any sense of normality was soon shattered when a shooting erupted. | | One student was injured, and police took the suspect into custody. The Watson Chapel School District described the shooting a…
RT (2021-03-01). Cuomo accused of 'gaslighting' after he rejects sexual harassment allegations as 'jokes' & 'being playful'. rt.com 
New York Governor Cuomo's attempt to apologize after two former aides accused him of sexual harassment backfired online, after he suggested his "good-natured" teasing about personal life was "minsinterpreted" as flirtation. | A day after emphatically denying any improper conduct towards his second accuser, former aide Charlotte Bennet, Cuomo appeared to make a U-turn on Sunday, admitting that some of his "jokes" might have come across the wrong way. | In a lengthy statement, the embattled governor said that he "now understands" that some of his interactions with the staffers "may have been insensitive or too p…
RT (2021-03-01). Progressives make last push for $15 minimum wage as relief bill heads to Senate. rt.com 
Progressive Democrats have made a desperate call asking the Biden administration to overturn a Senate rule keeping a minimum-wage raise out of the upcoming Covid-19 relief bill. But Biden is unlikely to listen. | Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough
RT (2021-03-01). White House refuses to release 'virtual visit' logs, claims they are like phone records, as watchdogs urge transparency from Biden. rt.com 
The Biden administration has refused to release details of "virtual" White House visitor logs despite fresh calls for transparency from watchdogs and repeated promises of accountability. | Biden's virtual visits "will not be subject to release," an unnamed White House official told
RT (2021-03-01). US slaps Saudi officials with entry bans over 'dissidents abuse', still hails 'sustaining partnership' with Riyadh. rt.com 
Washington has announced a set of measures against dozens of Saudi officials following a report on murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but said that maintaining good relations with Riyadh is "important to US interests." | A total of 76 Saudi officials involved in what was described as "acts of repression" against various dissidents, including the 2018 killing of Khashoggi, have been banned from entering the US, State Department Spokesman Ned Price said on Monday as he announced the new strategy to "recalibrate" relations between Washington and Riyadh. | The measures also involved adding another former senior…
RT (2021-03-01). CYBERWAR is imminent & will affect ordinary Americans, claims CEO of company that 'discovered' SolarWinds hack. rt.com 
Cybersecurity firm FireEye has warned Americans that they'll be targeted by the next big cyberattack, whether they know it or not. Disrupted supply chains and the chaos of cellular and internet networks crashing will follow. | "The next conflict where the gloves come off in cyber, the American citizen will be dragged into it, whether they want to be or not. Period," FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia told Axios on HBO on Sunday. | "People don't even know all the things they depend on. All of a sudden the supply chain starts getting disrupted because computers don't work," he continued, threatening viewers with his descr…
RT (2021-03-01). 'Pretty-much everything on Gab': Leaks publisher offers private data of 'alt-tech Twitter' users to researchers of 'neo-Nazis'. rt.com 
The Gab accounts of Donald Trump and Gab's own CEO are among those "compromised" by a hack of the microblogging service popular among US conservatives and right-wingers. The data is being offered to researchers and journalists. | A 70-gigabyte trove of data dubbed "Gableaks" includes public posts on the platform, but also "private posts, user profiles, hashed passwords for users, DMs, and plaintext passwords for groups,"
RT (2021-03-01). Trump calls for breaking up Big Tech, says failure to restore freedom of speech would doom Republican Party. rt.com 
Former president Donald Trump has called for giant technology companies to be broken up and for their Section 230 liability protections to be removed. He argued that the Big Tech mutes conservative voices like his own. | "The time has come to break up Big Tech monopolies and restore fair competition," Trump said on Sunday at the CPAC in Orlando. "Republicans, conservatives must open our platforms and repeal section 230 liability protections," he added. | While in the past the public had a chance to hear both sides of the argument before making an informed decision, Big Tech censorship disproportionately target…
RT (2021-03-01). 'Mass craziness': Daily Beast uses Al-Qaeda torture survivor to compare Capitol rioters to ISLAMIST TERRORISTS. rt.com 
Mainstream media took its demonization of Donald Trump supporters to a new level, with the Daily Beast using an Al-Qaeda torture survivor to compare the US Capitol rioters to his brutal captors, and the former president to ISIS. | "Most of these MAGA guys, they believe they are on a spiritual quest to make America great," the Daily Beast quoted journalist They have…
RT (2021-03-01). Vanity Fair says Saturday Night Live sucked, and DONALD TRUMP is to blame. rt.com 
While Saturday Night Live's ratings fell during the Trump years, it wasn't the writers' fault for churning out 'Orange Man Bad' sketches, Vanity Fair claims. No, it was Donald Trump's fault for being so "noxious." | By the time Donald Trump left office, Saturday Night Live's reliance on the divisive president as a source of material had worn thin. 2019's season opened to the show's lowest ratings in five years, parodies of Robert Mueller, Rudy Giuliani and Jeff Sessions fell flat, and former cast member Gary Kroeger admitted last year that Alec Baldwin's Trump impersonation had been "done to death." | Also on…
RT (2021-03-01). 'Don't come NOW': DHS chief laments US border isn't ready to handle influx of illegal migrants in 'orderly, safe & humane' fashion. rt.com 
The Biden administration is warning migrants to delay flooding the US border as the government works "around the clock" to repair an immigration system shattered by former President Donald Trump's "cruelty." | "We are flooding the space with that critical message," US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on Monday in a White House press briefing. "I cannot overstate its criticality to the wellbeing of those individuals who are thinking of coming," explaining that Washington is working with NGOs and the governments of Mexico and Central America to get its message out to migran…
Staff (2021-03-01). 'Zionist' is not hate speech, activists say. therealnews.com 
A Saturday Night Live joke about Israel's vaccine apartheid sparked outrage from some ardent supporters of the Israeli government, but the controversy speaks to larger threats to free speech in the digital age, especially when it comes to criticisms of Zionism. At this very moment, tech giant Facebook is considering whether or not to respond to calls to ban the term "Zionist" as anti-Semitic hate speech. | TRNN's Jaisal Noor speaks with Jewish Voice For Peace's Rabbi Alissa Wise about the "Facebook, We Need to Talk" campaign and the long history of tech companies censoring the voices of Palestinians who are…
RT (2021-03-01). 'I don't want the vaccine': Jamaican running champ Yohan Blake insists he 'would rather miss the Olympics' than take Covid-19 jab. rt.com 
Sprint star Yohan Blake has said he is staying "strong in his mind" over taking a Covid-19 vaccine and would rather miss the rescheduled 2021 Olympic Games than receive a jab — even if it's made obligatory for Games participation. | The former men's 100m world champion has revealed that his strident stance on not getting a Covid-19 jab hasn't changed, stressing that even the threat of not being allowed to compete in Tokyo wouldn't dissuade him from rejecting one. | The four-time Olympic medalist said he had his "own reasons" for abstaining from the Covid-19 vaccination program and wouldn't be drawn into…
Staff (2021-03-01). Vaccine Process Discriminates Against Non-English Speakers, People Without Cars. truthout.org 
It's a fact that simply being eligible for a vaccine in America doesn't mean that you can instantly get one. Yet the ability to get to the front of the line isn't the same for everyone. ProPublica has found that, whether intentionally or not, some vaccine programs have been designed with inherent barriers that disadvantage many people who are most at risk of dying from the disease, exacerbating inequities in access to health care. | In many regions of the U.S., it's much more difficult to s…
Staff (2021-03-01). Biden's Trade Rep Nominee Backs Policies That Hinder Global Vaccine Distribution. truthout.org 
Katherine Tai, President Joe Biden's nominee to serve as the next top U.S. trade negotiator, acknowledged during
RT (2021-03-01). EU-wide Covid-19 vaccine passport proposals to be brought forward by Brussels, says von der Leyen. rt.com 
The European Commission president has said Brussels will launch a proposal for the introduction of digital vaccine passports for use across the bloc in March, after the German chancellor said it should be ready by the summer. | "As for the question of what the digital green passport could look like, we will submit a legislative proposal in March," Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told German conservative lawmakers on Monday. | Von der Leyen's remarks came after German Chancellor Angela Merkel claimed that the vaccine passport would be ready in time for the summer, with a number of southern European st…
RT (2021-03-01). Indian PM Modi receives domestic coronavirus vaccine as country expands inoculation program to seniors. rt.com 
Indian PM Narendra Modi has received his first shot of the country's domestically produced Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin, kicking off the second stage of the nation's massive inoculation drive, which is now focused on the elderly. | India entered its next stage of the mass-vaccination campaign on Monday, expanding the drive to include people aged over 60 and those over 45 who have chronic illnesses. The 70-year-old prime minister became the first person to get the jab at Delhi's AIIMS hospital. | "Remarkable how our doctors and scientists have worked in quick time to strengthen the global fight against Covid-19,"
MEE, agencies (2021-03-01). Iran says not behind blast on Israeli-owned ship. middleeasteye.net 
Iran says not behind blast on Israeli-owned ship | Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu has accused Tehran of attacking the ship in the Gulf of Oman last week | Mon, 03/01/2021 – 08: 01 | This picture taken on February 28, 2021 shows a view of the Israeli-owned Bahamian-flagged MV Helios Ray cargo ship docked in Dubai's Mina Rashid (Port Rashid) cruise terminal (AFP) | Iran strongly rejects I…
MEE, agencies (2021-03-01). Iran says it is not behind blast on Israeli-owned ship. middleeasteye.net Iran says it is not behind blast on Israeli-owned ship | Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu has accused Tehran of attacking the ship in the Gulf of Oman last week | Mon, 03/01/2021 – 08: 01 | The Israeli-owned Bahamian-flagged MV Helios Ray cargo ship docked in Dubai's Mina Rashid cruise terminal on 28 February (AFP) | Iran strongly rejects Israel's claim that Tehran was behind a blast aboa…
RT (2021-03-01). Tehran rejects Netanyahu's accusations over explosion of vessel in Gulf of Oman and is 'closely monitoring' Israeli actions. rt.com 
Tehran has dismissed claims made by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu that Iran was behind an attack on an Israeli merchant ship in the Gulf of Oman last Thursday, adding that security in the region is just as important for Iran. | "The Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman are Iran's immediate security areas," Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters on Monday, adding that Tehran would not allow these priorities to be undermined by Israeli accusations. | Khatibzadeh lambasted Israel for its "incorrect" claims that Iran was behind last Thursday's attack on the vessel. | Not only do we strongly reject…
RT (2021-03-01). Just ONE dose of Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine slashes Covid hospitalisations for over-80s by 80%, English study says. rt.com 
A single dose of the Pzifer or AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid-19 cuts the hospitalisation rate of those aged 80 years and older by 80 percent, Public Health England (PHE) officials said on Monday, citing a pre-print study. | The So far, more than 20 million people across the…
RT (2021-03-01). Amman condemns Israeli authorities after orthodox Jews break into Al-Aqsa Mosque during Jewish festival. rt.com 
The Jordanian foreign ministry has blasted Israeli authorities after police failed to stop a group of orthodox Jews bursting into the Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam's holiest sites, in Jerusalem on Sunday. | Daifallah Al-Fayez, a spokesman from the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Expatriates, claimed the failure to prevent the breach represents a "stark violation" of a historic and legal status quo. | On Sunday, dozens of people, reportedly comprising Jewish settlers, broke into the holy site while celebrating the Jewish festival of Purim. Some of the intruders were seen dressed in colorful costumes, dri…
RT (2021-03-01). 'This is Nazi Germany!': Airline faces calls for boycott after Jewish family booted from flight over mask-less BABY. rt.com 
A Hasidic Jewish family was allegedly kicked off a flight because their 18-month-old child was not wearing a face mask. The airline is now facing accusations of anti-Semitism. | In a series of videos that were posted to Twitter on Sunday, the family could be seen making its way off the Frontier Airlines flight as other passengers shouted, "This is Nazi Germany!" and "This is gonna go all over the news!" | Disturbing incident the last hour on a
RT (2021-03-01). UK authorities' plea for mystery person infected with 'Brazilian' Covid-19 strain to come forward. rt.com 
Health officials in England are looking for an unidentified person who was infected with a mutated 'Brazilian variant' of SARS-CoV-19 and slipped under the radar. They are one of six known cases in the UK. | The P1 strain was first detected in people coming to Japan from the Brazilian city of Manus and resembles the so-called South African variant, which is more infectious than 'regular' variants of the virus. Samples collected from six individuals were sequenced as part of the UK's national research of Covid-19 mutations. Public Health England (PHE) could not determine who provided one of them, the organisati…
Leah Watson (2021-03-01). To Combat Inequitable Vaccine Access, Look to the Numbers. aclu.org Since the onset of the pandemic, COVID-19 has disproportionately devastated Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and Asian communities and now, these same communities are being left in the dust in the nationwide race to vaccinate. The racial disparities in hospitalization and death rates among these groups are mirrored in early vaccination rate data. Black people are two to three times less likely than white people to be vaccinated. While statistics like these are disheartening, we can and must do better. States should push back against these disparities by prioritizing outreach and access to the vaccine in geographic area…
Hadas Thier (2021-03-01). The Global South Faces a 'Vaccine Apartheid'. zcomm.org Just 10 nations have administered 75% of the vaccines worldwide. Countries like South Africa are being left behind…
Andrew Emett (2021-03-01). Senators question DHS and ICE on abuse allegations against migrants. nationofchange.org "The allegations of violence and brutality against vulnerable refugees seeking safety here in the United States are unlawful and disturbing."
Democracy Now! (2021-03-01). Vaccine Apartheid: If One Person Is Unprotected, We Are All Unprotected. indybay.org "I've personally received more doses of a Covid-19 vaccine than 130 countries," Dr. Craig Spencer writes, about the two vaccine shots he recently got as an emergency room doctor. In 2014, he contracted ebola while combating that epidemic in Guinea, Africa. Dr. Spencer knows the value of public health protocols, personal protective equipment, or PPE, and vaccinations.
WSWS (2021-03-01). Release jailed Sri Lankan estate workers! Defend all workers from company-police conspiracies! wsws.org The SEP and the IYSSE calls on plantation workers and the entire Sri Lankan working class to demand the immediate release of the eight arrested Alton estate workers.
Alex Demyanenko (2021-03-01). "Judas and the Black Messiah" is a window into FBI's surveillance apparatus. salon.com Shaka King's riveting film looks at the charismatic Black Panther leader Fred Hampton and the man who betrayed him…
Liberation Staff (2021-02-28). The real Boston revolutionaries: three stories of Black resistance. liberationnews.org 
The usual "revolutionary" history taught about Boston centers colonizers, who waged war for a "democracy" that only served white land-owning men. History books often stop there.
The Conversation (2021-02-28). How Miracle Workers made 60% of S. Australia's Electricity Green in only 20 Years. juancole.com 
By Michael McGreevy and Fran Baum | — Less than two decades ago, South Australia generated all its electricity from fossil fuels. Last year, renewables provided a whopping 60% of the state's electricity supply. The remarkable progress came as national climate policy was gripped by paralysis — so how did it happen? Our research set …
Niko Sims (2021-02-28). Housing crisis: Pittsburgh politicians' patchwork solutions fall short. liberationnews.org 
In spite of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moratorium "pausing" evictions, Pennsylvania landlords are abusing loopholes to kick people out of their homes.
John McDevitt (2021-02-28). Andre Cailloux and the Siege of Port Hudson. liberationnews.org 
Not widely known, and certainly not celebrated enough, Andre Cailloux was the first Black military hero functioning as an officer in the Union Army.
Jake Lindahl (2021-02-28). Amazon union struggle takes hold in Southern state with radical labor history. liberationnews.org 
It should be no surprise that a place like Bessemer, Alabama is exactly where Amazon's first union in the United States is likely to form–given its radical labor history.
T.J. Coles (2021-02-28). How the CIA Helped to Crush Turkey's Post-War Left. counterpunch.org 
After the Second World War (1939-45), the U.S. became the dominant global power and fought its rival, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) for international supremacy. Many countries became proxy battlegrounds between U.S. and Soviet influence. In addition to beating the Reds, U.S. war planners used secret militias, many of them allied with fascists
Shir Hever (2021-02-28). Israeli private arms export is too terrible even for Tel Aviv. middleeasteye.net 
Israeli private arms export is too terrible even for Tel Aviv | Israel cracks down on sales of suicide drones to China to avoid heavy diplomatic cost in relationship with US | Sun, 02/28/2021 – 11: 17 | An Israeli UCAV IAI Harop drone displayed at Bourget airport during the International Paris Air Show on 21 June 2011 (AFP) | At least 20 Israeli arms dealers have been arrested by Israel's secret police over…
MEE, agencies (2021-02-28). Syria intercepts Israeli missiles over Damascus: State media. middleeasteye.net 
Syria intercepts Israeli missiles over Damascus: State media | A war monitor said the strikes hit an area where Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Lebanese Hezbollah are present | Sun, 02/28/2021 – 22: 11 | Israel is thought to have carried out hundreds of air and missile strikes on Syria since civil war broke out in 2011 (AFP/File photo) | Syrian air defences intercepted Israeli missiles ov…
MEE, agencies (2021-02-28). Iran refuses direct nuclear talks with US amid rising tensions. middleeasteye.net 
Iran refuses direct nuclear talks with US amid rising tensions | Tehran has demanded Washington take the first step to revive the nuclear deal by scrapping sanctions
| Sun, 02/28/2021 – 21: 37 | Iran has suspended commitments to the 2015 deal in response to the US failure to lift its sanction (AFP) | Iran on Sunday dismissed Europe's offer for an informal meeting involving the United S…
MEE, agencies (2021-02-28). Nuclear deal on brink of collapse as Iran rules out meeting with US. middleeasteye.net Nuclear deal on brink of collapse as Iran rules out meeting with US | Tehran has demanded Washington take the first step to revive the nuclear deal by scrapping sanctions
| Sun, 02/28/2021 – 21: 37 | Iran has suspended commitments to the 2015 deal in response to the US failure to lift its sanction (AFP) | Iran on Sunday dismissed Europe's offer for an informal meeting involving the Uni…
MEE, agencies (2021-02-28). Turkey and Iran summon envoys, escalating Iraq row. middleeasteye.net 
Turkey and Iran summon envoys, escalating Iraq row | Moves follow Iran's representative to Baghdad criticising Ankara's involvement in Iraq after Kurdish attack on Turkish forces there | Sun, 02/28/2021 – 13: 59 | The coffin and image of Turkish Lt Ertug Guler are carried during the funeral of three Turkish military personnel killed in action in northern Iraq's Gara region, on 12 February…
MEE, agencies (2021-02-28). Biden faces growing pressure to lift Trump's sanctions on ICC prosecutors. middleeasteye.net 
Biden faces growing pressure to lift Trump's sanctions on ICC prosecutors | International Criminal Court officials sanctioned starting probes on alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, Palestine | Sun, 02/28/2021 – 13: 46 | An Israeli soldier stands on a Merkava main battle tank stationed near the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel on 30 March 2019 (AFP) | US President Joe Biden face…
MEE, agencies (2021-02-28). Israel blames Iran for explosion on Israeli-owned ship after 'initial assessment'. middleeasteye.net 
Israel blames Iran for explosion on Israeli-owned ship after 'initial assessment' | The MV Helios Ray has arrived at a port in Dubai, where an Israeli delegation is to investigate the event | Sun, 02/28/2021 – 09: 37 | Tensions have risen in the Gulf of Oman after Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and other major powers (AFP) | Israel has blamed Iran as being behind an…
MEE, agencies (2021-02-28). Yemen: Five civilians killed, including a child, in Hodeidah. middleeasteye.net 
Yemen: Five civilians killed, including a child, in Hodeidah | Warring parties accuse each other of the attack, with the Houthis threatening new attacks on Saudi Arabia | Sun, 02/28/2021 – 11: 01 | Yemen's civil war has cost the lives of thousands and displaced millions, which the UN says has led to the world's worst humanitarian crisis (AFP) | Five civilians, including a child, were kille…
MEE, agencies (2021-02-28). Khashoggi murder: Qatar joins other Gulf states in showing support for Saudi Arabia. middleeasteye.net 
Khashoggi murder: Qatar joins other Gulf states in showing support for Saudi Arabia | Doha, Bahrain, UAE have stood by Riyadh after CIA report blames Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for journalist's killing | Sun, 02/28/2021 – 16: 44 | Qatar's ruler Sheikh Tamim Al Thani (L) has confirmed his support for Saudi Arabia in the aftermath of the CIA's damning report naming Crown Prince Mohamme…
_____ (2021-02-28). Is the American Dream Still Alive? strategic-culture.org 
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Staff (2021-02-28). Biden Won't Allow Cancellation of Standardized Testing Amid COVID-19. Trump Did. truthout.org 
Danny* was an active 10 year old — in class we always gave her free reign to pace the back of the classroom, play with silly putty at her desk, and take a break when she needed to. The happiest I ever saw her was when we took students to a local farm; she was at home milking cows and learning about science outside. Even though she was a city kid, she always found ways to climb trees and find and take care of wounded animals. She was a really smart kid, quick to understand hard concepts an…
Staff (2021-02-28). Health Care for Trans Youth Is Under Attack in UK — and It's Impacting the US. truthout.org 
Fourteen years ago, Susan Evans
Staff (2021-02-28). Child of Black Activists Bombed by Police: "My Activism Is My Religion" truthout.org 
Last summer, as protests against police-perpetrated killings of Black people emerged across the world, Philadelphians watched as officers from the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) corralled protesters against an embankment along the side of the highway, trapping them between a wall and an onslaught of attacking police officers. Philadelphians watched as those officers continued to violently attack the panicked crush of bodies. Police officers sprayed tear gas and fired "less-than-lethal" rubber b…
RT (2021-02-28). US activists condemn Boris Johnson's voter ID plan, accuse him of copying Trump. rt.com 
As Boris Johnson prepares to introduce voter ID laws in the UK, US activist groups such as the ACLU have spoken out against the proposal, comparing its proponents to Donald Trump and warning it would "suppress the vote." | Johnson is expected to introduce a bill this spring mandating photo ID at polling stations across the UK — a Conservative Party campaign promise during the 2019 General Election. While Northern Ireland, like the Irish Republic, already requires voters to prove their identity, the rest of the UK has thus far only asked them to confirm their name and address. | The proposal is opposed by…
RT (2021-02-28). 'If it's real, it's disgusting': Grand National-winning trainer under fire for 'social media picture of him sitting on dead horse'. rt.com 
Grand National-winning trainer Gordon Elliott is under investigation by horseracing authorities after a picture emerged online which appears to show him posing on top of a deceased horse, though some say the picture is a fraud. | Elliott, who oversaw Grand National wins for the world-famous Tiger Roll in 2018 and 2019, says that his is co-operating with the investigation launched by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) after the potentially damaging picture began circulating online. | However, some have suggested that the photograph – which shows Elliott flashing a two-fingered 'peace sign' to the cam…
RT (2021-02-28). WATCH: Wild scenes in Dagestan as junior judo event descends into mass brawl. rt.com 
A junior judo event in Dagestan erupted into a mass melee as competitors and dozens of fans traded blows. | The tournament at the Ali Aliyev Sport Complex in Kaspiysk witnessed ugly scenes as the brawl was captured on camera and quickly shared across social media on Saturday. | Footage of the carnage starts with one of the competitors seen leaning over the barriers, throwing punches. | By that point a broader punch-up is already underway as dozens of spectators trade blows. | –î–µ—Å—è—Ç–∫–∏ –∑—Ä–&prod…
RT (2021-02-28). 'Stomach-turning': Norwegian ski star airlifted to hospital after horrific crash leaves her screaming in agony (VIDEO). rt.com 
Skiing fans have admitted to having their "stomachs turned" after an horrific accident involving Kajsa Vickhoff Lie in the super-G in Val di Fassa which left the Norwegian screaming in obvious pain with a suspected broken leg. | The 22-year-old lost control as she descended the Italian slopes Sunday after hitting an edge at high speed which caused her to plummet backwards and collide with the safety net. | Replays of the incident appeared to show Vickhoff Lie's left leg twist at an awkward angle and when she finally came to rest, her anguished cries of pain could be clearly heard on the television broadcast.
RT (2021-02-28). 'If I'd scored more, maybe he'd still be here': Misfiring Timo Werner laments lack of goals may have cost Lampard Chelsea job. rt.com 
Timo Werner has been anything but a rousing success since joining Chelsea from RB Leipzig last summer and the German forward admits his lack of goals may have played a part in Roman Abramovich's decision to sack Frank Lampard. | Werner was hailed as the new focal point of Chelsea's forward line when he signed a big-money deal to spearhead the Blues' attack as part of Abramovich's major investment into the club's playing staff over the summer months. | So far though, the 35-times capped international has flattered to deceive up front, finding the net just five times in 24 Premier League appearances ahead of Sun…
RT (2021-02-28). At least 18 killed on bloodiest day of Myanmar protests as UN demands military stop using force. rt.com 
Myanmar security forces have again employed live fire against those protesting the military coup in the Southeast Asian country, killing at least 18 protesters and injuring dozens, the UN human rights office said. | Sunday became the bloodiest day of protests that have been ongoing since early February, when the army arrested the democratically elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, over claims of election fraud. | "Police and military forces have confronted peaceful demonstrations, using lethal force and less-than-lethal force that — according to credible information… — has left at least 18 people dead…
RT (2021-02-28). Widow of NBA icon Kobe Bryant rages at Hollywood actress Evan Rachel Wood over 'rapist' comment. rt.com 
Vanessa Bryant, the widow of late NBA icon Kobe Bryant, has hit out at actress Evan Rachel Wood over a tweet she posted in the aftermath of the basketball star's death in which Wood labeled Bryant "a rapist." | "What has happened is tragic. I am heartbroken for Kobe's family," Wood had tweeted last year in the wake of the helicopter crash in California which killed Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven others. | "He was a sports hero. He was also a rapist. And all of these truths can exist simultaneously." | Despite the tweet being in existence for more than a year, it has only just been seen by V…
RT (2021-02-28). 'He's BACK!' Spurs fans delirious as Bale stars for Mourinho's men in rout against Burnley. rt.com 
Gareth Bale finally gave Tottenham fans a taste of why they brought him back on loan from Real Madrid as the Welshman inspired Jose Mourinho's team to victory against Burnley. | Bale showed shades of his very best as he assisted one goal and scored two himself in a 4-0 Premier League win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium which keeps Spurs in the hunt for a top-four place. | Making a rare start in the Premier League, Bale rewarded Mourinho's show of faith after just two minutes when he poked home a cross from Son Heung-min. | | Bale poked home Spurs first against Burnley. © Reuters | The on-loan star then…
RT (2021-02-28). Syrian air defenses repel 'Israeli aggression' over Damascus, intercept most of the missiles — state media. rt.com 
Syrian air defenses have shot down most of the missiles in a strike targeting the area outside Damascus from the territory of the occupied Golan Heights, the country's state media reported, blaming Israel for the attack. | The missiles were launched towards the Syrian capital at around 10.16pm local time, Syria's SANA news agency reported, citing a military source. Few of the projectiles are believed to have reached the ground. The source said that the country's missile defenses took down "most of the enemy missiles." | The agency has published several videos showing interceptions in the night skies over Damas…
RT (2021-02-28). Bad timing: Iran rejects EU & US offer to hold direct talks on reviving 2015 nuclear deal. rt.com 
Iran won't take part in an informal meeting with the EU and US on ways to restore the nuclear deal, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said, citing recent US actions. It said sanctions must first be lifted before any talks can begin.
RT (2021-02-28). Quarantine hotel 'inmates' are told to stop smoking and buy nicotine patches after party in car park. rt.com As many as 15 guests have been placed under additional lockdown while undergoing their mandatory stay at a quarantine hotel in the UK, after they were caught smoking and drinking together this week. | The British government has yet to reveal how many coronavirus cases have been found through its controversial quarantine hotel scheme but this latest tale of woe from weary, homeward-bound travellers is unlikely to improve public perception. | Residents, some of whom didn't bother wearing masks, were spotted drinking, sharing cigarettes and hugging in the designated smoking area of what they have dubbed 'HMP Radi…
RT (2021-02-28). After backlash over 'outside review' of sexual-harassment claims, Cuomo asks AG & chief judge to pick counsel to investigate. rt.com 
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, seeking to allay concerns that an investigation of sexual-harassment claims against him would be politically influenced, has called for state officials to choose a lawyer to handle the case. | The governor's office wants the review of allegations by two former staffers to be
RT (2021-02-28). Multitasking 101: California doctor appears at court hearing via Zoom DURING surgery. rt.com 
A plastic surgeon in California attended a virtual court hearing in relation to a traffic violation from an operating theater while a patient was on the table. The court was not exactly pleased with his multitasking, however. | The usually mundane traffic violation hearing at Sacramento Superior Court was spiced up this week when the defendant, Dr. Scott Green attended via Zoom from his surgery room, baffling other participants. The bizarre in-court surgery, which was livestreamed online, was first
RT (2021-02-28). 'I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me:' 2nd former aide to NY Gov. Cuomo accuses him of sexual harassment. rt.com 
Another ex-aide has accused New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, already facing allegations of sexual harassment, of improper advances. Charlotte Bennett, 25, said he asked about her sex life and whether she ever dated an 'older man.' | Bennett joined Cuomo's administration in early 2019 and was promoted from her entry-level position to that of a senior briefer and executive assistant to the governor within several months. She told the New York Times that she was constantly grilled about her sex life by her former boss. | The former aide said that she reported Cuomo's alleged sexual overtures to his chief of staff,…
RT (2021-02-28). GOP NY representative calls on 'criminal sexual predator' Cuomo to resign after 2nd former staffer alleges sexual harassment. rt.com 
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) doubled down on her call for embattled New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to step down "immediately" after another of his former staffers, the second one since December, accused him of sexual harassment. | "Governor Cuomo is a criminal sexual predator and he must immediately resign," Stefanik said in a statement issued shortly after the New York Times published a detailed account of allegations by former aide Charlotte Bennett on Saturday, accusing the governor of unwanted sexual advances. | Stefanik noted that she "was one of the first and one of the only elected officials to call on th…
RT (2021-02-28). GOP NY Rep. calls on 'criminal sexual predator' Cuomo to resign after 2nd former staffer alleges sexual harassment. rt.com Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) doubled down on her call for embattled New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to step down "immediately" after another of his former staffers, the second one since December, accused him of sexual harassment. | "Governor Cuomo is a criminal sexual predator and he must immediately resign," Stefanik said in a statement issued shortly after the New York Times published a detailed account of Cuomo's former aide Charlotte Bennett, accusing the governor of unwanted sexual advances, on Saturday. | Stefanik noted that she "was one of the first and one of the only elected officials to call on the Gove…
RT (2021-02-28). 'United and strong like never before': Trump won't break with Republican party at CPAC speech, will back GOP. rt.com 
In an upcoming speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, former president Donald Trump will reportedly not announce a break from the Republican Party, and will walk "right up to the line" of announcing a 2024 run. | Trump has kept a relatively low profile since leaving the White House last month, and his public statements have been few and far between, likely owing to his deplatforming from every major social media outlet. As such, his headline appearance on Sunday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) has been hotly anticipated. | According to an excerpt from the speech obtained…
RT (2021-02-28). Epstein jokes touched a nerve? After Trump, Golden Globes host Tina Fey says 'don't expect much politics' in this year's ceremony. rt.com 
With Donald Trump out of office and after Ricky Gervais' take-no-prisoners performance last year, the Golden Globes won't get political this year, host Tina Fey said. "I wonder why?" commenters replied. | Tina Fey and Amy Poelher were announced last January as this year's hosts, after comedian Ricky Gervais used his hosting gig to roast the elitism of the virtue-signalling celebrities in attendance. | Also on rt.com | | Gervais' Jeffrey Epst…
RT (2021-02-28). WATCH: Portland protest turns chaotic with businesses trashed, fist fights on the street and bike cops slamming into 'press'. rt.com At least two arrests were made after a mostly peaceful protest in Portland turned violent. Banks and other businesses were trashed as beleaguered residents pleaded with protesters to "go home!" and leave them in peace. | A group of dozens of people were reportedly demonstrating against immigration policy under the Biden administration in the Pearl District in downtown Portland, but quickly began vandalizing the area. | Businesses had their windows smashed, vehicles were vandalised and graffiti was sprayed over a number of walls in the area, as video uploaded to social media purports to show. | A security vehic…
Sophia Purdy-Moore (2021-02-28). Police forces are still unable to explain why they're so racist. thecanary.co 
According to a The report highlights that: Over 35 years on from the introduction of stop and search legislation, no…
Aaliyah Harris (2021-02-28). Politicians and religious groups are fuelling homophobic attacks on Ghana's LGBTQI+ community. thecanary.co 
On 24 February, National Security raided the offices of Sharing the incident in a At this moment, we no longer have access to o…
Tom Coburg (2021-02-28). Unsurprisingly, leaked files confirm the Foreign Office coordinates multi-agency propaganda programmes. thecanary.co 
A tranche of leaked files shows that the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) is coordinating multi-agency propaganda programmes. These files show that the programmes mainly target the authoritarian regimes in Russia and Syria. This is not unexpected. More significantly, perhaps, documents also show that these programmes are not confined to just foreign targets. | Leaked files: | The leaked files, were released to The Canary by 'Anonymous': | OP. HMG Trojan Horse. Part 4:
RT (2021-02-28). California gov. Newsom accused of breaking own lockdown rules for 2nd time amid growing cries for him to be recalled. rt.com 
Embattled California Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom has been accused of once again breaching his own coronavirus restrictions after he was allegedly caught dining indoors. | Newsom himself posted a video with comedian George Lopez to his TikTok aimed at promoting how citizens can check their coronavirus vaccine eligibility. The video was taken inside the Los Amigos restaurant in Fresno, which is under the state's strictest lockdown restrictions, complete with a ban on indoor dining. | California Governor
Staff (2021-02-28). Under Israeli Apartheid, There Are Two Different Pandemics. truthout.org 
There is growing concern regarding the inequitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccine, nationally and internationally. As the rollout continues, some U.S. states are allocating more vaccines to health centers, local health providers and tribal programs, focusing on vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations, and paying attention to outreach to communities of color. | There is also serious discussion of a global approach, lifting patents for vaccines that were largely developed using governmental funding. The pandem…
MEE, agencies (2021-02-28). Covid-19: Israel to administer vaccines to Palestinian workers. middleeasteye.net 
Covid-19: Israel to administer vaccines to Palestinian workers | Vaccination campaign could include around 130,000 Palestinians working inside Israel | Sun, 02/28/2021 – 15: 18 | Palestinian workers line up for a security check at the entrance to Israel's Mishor Adumim industrial zone near the Maale Adumim settlement in the occupied West Bank on 1 July 2020 (AFP) | Israel will vaccinate Pa…
RT (2021-02-28). 'It's not about geopolitics, but human health': Czech PM signals country could use Russian Sputnik V vaccine without EU approval. rt.com 
Local approval of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine would be enough for the Czech Republic to begin using it, PM Andrej Babis has said, signaling that the country would not wait for a green light from EU health regulators. | Speaking to CNN Prima News on Saturday, Babis confirmed that Prague will not wait for the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to approve Sputnik V and that an approval from the country's State Institute for Drug Control (SUKL) would be enough to begin the vaccine's rollout. | "We cannot wait for EMA, when Russia has not applied [for approval]," Babis stated. "SUKL must examine the documentati…
RT (2021-02-28). 'Without parallel in democratic world': Watchdog slams Israel's 'extreme' entry ban imposed to stem Covid-19. rt.com 
Israel is the only democracy in the world to prohibit its citizens from returning home during the pandemic, the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) said, urging authorities to relax an entry ban that, it says, violates human rights. | All entry points into Israel by land, sea and air remain shut tight since January 25 as part of the Benjamin Netanyahu government's measures to prevent the new coronavirus variants from getting into the country. No one may come or go, except the few who have received a special permission from the Exceptions Committee. | The harsh restrictions that resulted in thousands of Israelis b…
Juan Cole (2021-02-28). The Clearest Example of Israeli Apartheid Yet — Juan Cole Interviewed by Robert Scheer. juancole.com Via ScheerPost — which is always essential reading, I was interviewed by the legendary journalist Robert Scheer. In a storied career, he covered the Vietnam War and southeast Asia, edited Ramparts, interviewed Jimmy Carter for Playboy and the president confessed to him that he sometimes had lust in his heart. Scheer has interviewed or met …
ICC prosecutor opens investigation into alleged war crimes by Israel and Hamas | Fatou Bensouda formally begins her investigation after the International Criminal Court ruled it had jurisdiction in the Palestinian territories | Wed, 03/03/2021 – 14: 26 | Bensouda said the decision to begin an ICC investigation comes after a five-year preliminary inquiry (Reuters) | The International Criminal Court's pros…
A people's movement against an anti-people corporation has intensified, backing the union drive at Amazon's Bessemer, Ala., warehouse. The courageous Southern union warriors are finally starting to get the support they need and deserve. People's Organization for Progress rally to support Amazon workers outside Whole Foods, Newark, N.J., Feb. 27. . . . |
Supporters of Indigenous presidential candidate Yaku Perez demand the recount of electoral records due to alleged electoral fraud.
In a historic development, 5,800 workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, are right now voting on whether to be represented by the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union.
Manaus, Amazonas — The death of the last survivor of the Juma people, the warrior Amoim Aruká, from complications linked to COVID-19, is an incalculable tragedy. The Juma people suffered innumerable massacres throughout their history. There were 15,000 of them at the turn of the 20th century and by 2002 there were only five Jumas …
Bessemer, Ala., is now the site of a historic labor struggle between the majority-Black Amazon warehouse workers there and the $1.7 trillion international capitalist monopoly corporation. About 80% of the warehouse workers are African American, and almost half are women. Rally for Amazon workers, Bessemer, Ala., Feb. 6. In March . . . |
The World Federation of Trade Unions issued the following statement on March 3. USA: WFTU in solidarity with Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama The World Federation of Trade Unions, which is the militant voice of 105 million workers from 132 countries around the globe, extends its internationalist solidarity with Amazon . . . |
WASHINGTON——On the morning of March 1 at the Embassy of Haiti, local D.C. organizers with Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) held a solidarity rally with the people of Haiti who are rising up against a U.S.-backed dictator. Jovenel MoàØse's term of office ended Feb. 7, but he has so far refused to relinquish power. MoàØse, …
A debate over the military industrial complex is raging in West Virginia. The debate was kicked off in the West Virginia legislature again this year by Patrick McGeehan, a Republican member of the House of Delegates from the northern panhandle. McGeehan has introduced House Bill 2138 — the Defend the Guard Act. It's a short
The so-called Great Reset amounts to little more than a campaign to turn humanity into datasets, which the world's most powerful hedge funds and transnational corporations can use to create more profits for themselves and their clients.
Facilities used to cage children that were closed under Trump's administration are being reopened under Biden's administration.
On April 15, 2019, watching television footage of Notre Dame Cathedral burning, I wept like millions of other French people and others around the world. The flames which invaded the screen brought back memories of my first visit to the cathedral as a child, reading the novel by Victor Hugo (Notre Dame de Paris, 1831), …
Not too many years ago, it would have been unthinkable that at a congressional hearing on right-wing terror the FBI would be defending left and progressive demonstrators, saying that it was not them but rather white supremacists that were the real threat to security in the U.S. At the obvious displeasure of Republican senators Tuesday, …
Houston Una tormenta invernal sin precedentes azotó a Texas el 15 de febrero y trajo temperaturas bajo cero. Una semana después, grandes sectores de la población siguen sin electricidad, calefacción y/o agua. El horizonte de Houston brilla, mientras millones sufren sin calefacción ni agua en medio de cortes de energía . . . |
Amidst denunciations and accusations the campaign for the April 11 runoff begins.
President Joe Biden nominated former Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack to head the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a job he held for the entire Obama administration from 2009 to 2017. Vilsack testified before the Senate on Feb. 2 — Groundhog Day — and was confirmed a few weeks later. Vilsack's . . . |
The respective motivations, and their specific underlying conditions, are of course different in the UK and France, but both culminate in plans for universities to curb the expression of leftist points of view. In the UK this gives a potential pulpit to "maverick" speakers on the right, such as Steve Bannon, who (facetiously?) approved the delivery of pipe bombs to critics of Trump, and who lost his book deal for having a favourable view of underage sex.
Buffalo, N.Y., City Hall, Feb. 28 Buffalo, N.Y. — Activists demonstrated here Feb. 28 in solidarity with the family of Daniel Prude and the people of Rochester, N.Y, where police killed Prude while answering a mental health crisis call in March 2020. The police response was to put a "spit . . . |
By Mandy Smithberger | — ( Tomdispatch.com) — This country is in a crisis of the first order. More than half a million of us have died thanks to Covid-19. Food insecurity is on the rise, with nearly 24 million Americans going hungry, including 12 million children. Unemployment claims filed since the pandemic began have …
At the end of December 2019, the world was notified about the existence of a new coronavirus in the city of Wuhan in China. This virus, SARS-COV-2 (COVID-19), rapidly spread and was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 March 2020.
By Philip Donkersley | — When you think of bees, a hive humming with activity probably comes to mind. But most of the world's 20,000 bee species don't call a hive home. These wild species lead solitary lives instead, and around 70% of them build nests underground where they raise their offspring on the nectar …
As China is poised to become the world's largest creditor, concerns about debt sustainability have grown. Yet considerable confusion exists over what is likely to happen when a government runs into trouble repaying its Chinese loans.
From the end of the Second World War until the administration of Ronald Reagan, there were very few American battlefield deaths in the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, and Southwest Asia. Since the administration of George H.W. Bush, however, most American battlefield deaths have taken place in those regions. The turning point took place in 1979 with the Iranian revolution and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Eight years after passage of the 2013 JOBS Act that let private equity firms market directly to individuals to solicit their investments, retail investors — largely high net worth individuals — finally account for a significant share of assets under management (AUM) at some of the largest PE firms. Apollo claims to be "among the …
On March 5, 2021, we celebrate the 150th anniversary of Rosa Luxemburg's birth. No one who wishes to get a sense of Rosa Luxemburg as a person, both political and private, will regret watching Margarethe von Trotta's meticulously researched 1986 film of the same name. It is available with English subtitles. The film begins on …
By Jack Gillum and Justin Elliott | — ( ProPublica ) — As Turkey launched a military offensive against Kurdish minorities in neighboring Syria in early 2018, Facebook's top executives faced a political dilemma. Turkey was demanding the social media giant block Facebook posts from the People's Protection Units, a mostly Kurdish militia group the …
Erika Guadalupe Nuñez speaking, March 1. "Philadelphia has declared itself a 'sanctuary city,' but how can it be a sanctuary city without its schools being sanctuaries for all students?" asked Erika Guadalupe Nuñez of Juntos at a well-attended March 1 press conference outside the School District of Philadelphia headquarters. . . . |
For a period of time after this article was originally published (February 18, 2021) it was scrubbed from Google's search index. When the author, Lambert Strether, realized the piece had been "censored," it was published a second time on March 1, 2021 with an analysis of the purging. Subsequently, the article magically reappeared in the search …
Incarcerated workers in Louisiana's notorious Angola Prison began a hunger strike early Feb. 17. The reason: Prison officials refused to release them back into the prison population after they served their sentence in solitary for a rule infraction. Angola State Prison was the 18,000-acre Angola Plantation before the Civil War, . . . |
The wrenching appeals by some on the political left to vote for Biden must sting for some of those who actually did cast their vote for him, or at least against Trump in November 2020. This is the game that plays itself out again and again and again, ad nauseam, in US politics, the politics
It's a damn good thing that the demented pandemo-fascist oligarch Donald Trump no longer sits in the White House and that his Republifascist Party no longer holds the majority in the U.S. Senate. But make no mistake: Americans continue to live under an unelected dictatorship of money and empire. Just because that class dictatorship isn't quite ready for Door #1, open fascist rule, don't look for Door #2, neo-New Deal reformist social democracy, anytime soon. No, we are still getting slammed in the face with Door #3, a neoliberal corporate-imperial authoritarianism that cancels #2 while setting us up for a harsher…
Future historians will have a field day examining the daily commentary of the COVID pandemic. Early on there was Madonna sitting nude in a marble bathtub filled with rose petals proclaiming COVID 'the great equalizer.' Trump of course supplied his daily dose of schizophrenic fare so incoherent that even conservative TV hacks were unable to morph it into a convincing picture of brave leadership. Yet nothing tops the spectacle of Ellen Degeneres and Trevor Noah actually declaring themselves to be 'Cuomosexuals', in honor of New York governor Andrew Cuomo, a term that was immediately plastered on various merchandise…
Future historians will have a field day examining the daily commentary of the COVID pandemic. Early on there was Madonna sitting nude in a marble bathtub filled with rose petals proclaiming COVID 'the great equalizer.' Trump of course supplied his daily dose of schizophrenic fare so incoherent that even conservative TV hacks were unable to morph it into a convincing picture of brave leadership. Yet nothing tops the spectacle of Ellen Degeneres and Trevor Noah actually declaring themselves to be 'Cuomosexuals', in honor of New York governor Andrew Cuomo, a term that was immediately plastered on various merchandise…
A decade after mass anti-government protests shook the Middle East, we ask what's the legacy of the Arab Spring?>
BBC News couldn't let Budget day go by without an insidious Who is Rishi Sunak?: | On Wedn…
Image description | This cartoon is titled "UK media coverage of Scottish politics". It shows a bar graph, and the first bar is tiny, coloured green, and labelled "Usual". The second bar is massive, coloured like a Scottish flag, and labelled "When a distraction from Westminster is needed". | By
China has managed to both find a sustainable cure for terrorism without destroying a single nation, while providing a foundation for extending the Belt and Road into the Middle East and beyond, Matthew Ehret writes. | This week, the Canadian parliament, became the second nation of the Five Eyes (after the USA) to pass a motion condemning
The idea that there needs to be a ministry to make certain ethnic groups feel a greater sense of equality is of course a red flag. | Hearing the idea of a "Ministry of Social Cohesion" was quite exciting for someone who writes about politics, geopolitics and ideology on a regular basis. On the surface this sounds like a systemic answer to the paradox of our time — that our omnipresent Liberalism only acknowledges the individual and yet humans have always lived in groups from the darkness of prehistory. This sort of ministry sounds like it could be a part of a new rising Chinese Communism or the dreams of a s…
There are about 2.5 million farmworkers around the U.S., many of them undocumented immigrants working under dangerous and exploitive circumstances without sick leave or healthcare. Despite their status as essential workers, however, many farmworkers are facing an uphill battle to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Estella Cisneros, legal director of the Agriculture Worker Program for California Rural Legal Assistance, says an uneven rollout in California as well as technical barriers have left many farmworkers unvaccinated. "There's been a lot of inequities that we've seen," she says. We also speak with Mary Jo Dud…
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is facing mounting calls from fellow Democrats and progressive organizations to resign or be impeached over sexual harassment allegations and his cover-up of thousands of COVID-19 deaths in New York nursing homes. New York Attorney General Letitia James has launched an investigation after three women — two former aides and a woman who met Cuomo at a friend's wedding reception — accused Cuomo of sexual harassment. "Credible accusations of sexual harassment made by these courageous women coming forward show a clear pattern of Cuomo's abuse of power," says New York Assembly…
Anti-Asian hate crimes have spiked across the U.S. over the past year, fueled in part by Donald Trump's racist rhetoric about the coronavirus. One recent study found a 150% increase in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans in 2020, even though overall hate crimes fell last year. Ron Kim, member of the New York State Assembly representing the 40th District in Queens, New York, says anti-Asian sentiment tends to flare up during times of crisis. "There's a long history of Asian Americans in this country feeling targeted and scapegoated whenever we experience economic downturns," says Kim. We also speak with Kim Tran…
Khashoggi murder: Twitter suspends thousands of pro-Saudi accounts following report release | Huge uptick in spam activity as US publicly accuses Mohammed bin Salman of being behind journalist's assassination | Wed, 03/03/2021 – 16: 28 | Thousands of accounts have been investigated by Twitter for suspicious and spam activity (AFP) | Twitter has announced the removal and investigation of thousands of acco…
WASHINGTON (PAI)—Democratic President Joe Biden's decision to take no action, including no sanctions, against Saudi Arabia's de facto supreme ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, for ordering the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi is angering The News Guild. A Bin Salman-sent hit squad murdered and dismembered Khashoggi, a contributing writer for The Washington Post, when …
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"I saw a lot of settlers be proud of attacking Palestinians, be open about annexation and apartheid — all of this behavior came out during the Trump administration." — Issa Amro, Founder Youths Against Settlements…
On February 4, representatives from the Palestinian Movement, Hamas, visited Moscow to inform the Russian government of the latest development on the unity talks between the Islamic Movement and its Palestinian counterparts, especially Fatah. This was not the first time that Hamas's officials traveled to Moscow on similar missions. In fact, Moscow continues to represent an …
Covid-19 in Lebanon: Health workers yet to receive vaccines as MPs jump the queue | After Lebanese lawmakers were controversially inoculated, half of the country's overwhelmed medical workers anxiously await their turn | Wed, 03/03/2021 – 10: 58 | A medic prepares a dose of the Covid-19 Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at Lebanon's American University Medical Centre in the capital Beirut, on 14 Februa…
By Pfizer Inc…
This week Senator Elizabeth Warren introduced her updated wealth tax proposal, the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act. The legislation was introduced in the House by Representatives Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Brendan Boyle (D-PA). According to an analysis by the Institute for Policy Studies/Inequality.org (IPS) and the Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF), America's billionaires alone would have paid
Ken Loach, thankfully no smear campaign against him can succeed. Not only because Ken's work and life are proof of the accusation's absurdity, but also because of the courageous Israelis who take awful risks by defending the right of Jews and non-Jews alike to criticise Israel.
While the Republican Party is making headlines for opposing President Biden's American Rescue Plan aimed at saving millions of Americans from total ruin, it's still got plenty of energy to block another piece of progressive legislation coming out of Washington. On Feb. 25, a divided House narrowly passed the Equality Act, an historic bill that …
By Rubén G. Abelenda This slightly edited article was published in Resumen-english.org. Photo: Ismael Francisco Feb. 27 — It was José Martí who said "Honor for those who deserve honor" — but he could never have imagined that the highest distinction awarded to journalists in Cuba would bear his name . . . |
A time-tested talking point about wages of McDonald's workers in Denmark was invoked by AOC in a call for a minimum wage boost in the US. Her opponents asked if Washington should also adopt Copenhagen's harsh immigration policies. | The fact that paying workers a living wage is even up for debate is "embarrassing," progressive lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) tweeted on Tuesday as she called to override the Senate parliamentarian and push forward with the $15/hour minimum wage. The official ruled last Thursday that the proposal cannot be included in President Biden's $1.9 trillion Covid-19 stimulus bill…
The design firm behind a stage setup at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) has emphatically dismissed conspiracy theories that their work was intended to resemble Nazi insignia. | Design Foundry, a firm based in Maryland, has come forward to say they "had no idea" their stage layout for the conservative conference held last week in Orlando, Florida resembled the Othala Rune, a symbol found on Nazi uniforms. | The resemblance was highlighted by numerous critics on social media following the event, with even host Hyatt Hotels releasing a statement calling the supposed connection "abhorrent" a…
Facebook's CFO is concerned that as more people get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, they'll be less likely to click on Facebook ads and more likely to seek out travel and non-sedentary pursuits. | CFO David Wehner Speaking at the Morg…
On 16 February 2021, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) granted further interim measures against Russia in relation to political opposition figure Alexei Navalny, requiring that Navalny be immediately released from prison due to the risk to his life and health. Background This is not the first time that the Court has granted Navalny's …
Iraq: Christians await Pope Francis's visit | Iraq's drastically diminished Christian communities are full of hope for the pope's trip, while senior church officials remain more circumspect | Wed, 03/03/2021 – 10: 03 | Posters adorn the front of the Mar Yusef church in Baghdad, where Pope Francis will lead a mass on 6 March 2021 (MEE/Tom Westcott) | In the Christian-majority, northern Iraqi town of Qa…
Former US envoy says Israel is now 'wedge issue' in American politics | In interview with Jerusalem Post, David Friedman says 'uniform support for Israel is being challenged' in the United States | Wed, 03/03/2021 – 16: 16 | Friedman dismissed the prospect of Israeli-Palestinian talks under Biden (AFP/File photo) | Former US ambassador to Israel David Friedman has said that Israel has "become a wedge issue" in…
US calls on Saudi Arabia to forgo 'developing' country status at WTO | Washington says Riyadh is 'wealthy and influential player' that should not get special treatment by World Trade Organisation | Wed, 03/03/2021 – 19: 02 | Saudi Arabia is a member of the G20, a forum of the world's largest economies (AFP/File photo) | The United States is calling on Saudi Arabia to give up its "developin…
Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict: How Baku destroyed Russian S-300s with Israeli suicide drones | The Azerbaijani military used decoy aircraft to lure out the air-defence systems deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh | Wed, 03/03/2021 – 14: 21 | An S-300 missile system at the rehearsals of Victory Day parade in Moscow in 2009 (Creative Common/Vitaly V Kuzmin)
Palestinian Authority's push to regulate NGOs raises fear of power grab | New decree restricting activities of nonprofit organisations condemned by campaigners | Wed, 03/03/2021 – 17: 07 | Palestinian lawyers demonstrate in front of the legislative council to reject controversial amendments undertaken by the Palestinian Authority, in Ramallah, West Bank, on 9 February 2021(AFP) | Palestinian civil…
Arabic press review: Egypt tries to boost human rights credentials for Biden | Meanwhile, Jordan has reportedly received $1bn from the European Union to fight the pandemic, and Iraq's PM vows to crack down on militias | Wed, 03/03/2021 – 15: 03 | Watchtowers at the notorious Tora prison on the southern outskirts of the Egyptian capital Cairo on 11 February 2020 (AFP) | Egypt concerned by US…
Macron admits France tortured and murdered Algerian freedom fighter | Ali Boumendjel's death in 1957 was disguised as suicide, French president tells nationalist's grandchildren | Wed, 03/03/2021 – 12: 58 | Malika Boumendjel, the late widow of Algerian lawyer Ali Boumendjel, during an interview in May 2001 (AFP) | French President Emmanuel Macron has admitted that France's army "tortured and murdered"
Financial Times investigating complaint over Macron's claims about French Muslims | UK newspaper examining accuracy of French president's published letter, in which he said young girls were wearing the veil and being separated from boys | Wed, 03/03/2021 – 16: 49 | French President Emmanuel Macron has described Islam as a 'religion in crisis' (AFP) | The Financial Times is investigating a complaint that…
'Digital Suez': How the internet flows through Egypt – and why Google could change the Middle East | Most web traffic between Europe and Asia passes through fibre optic cables crossing Egypt. Could a proposed new route through Israel and Saudi Arabia break the 'Red Sea bottleneck'? | Wed, 03/03/2021 – 14: 55 | Most internet traffic between Europe, the Middle East and Asia passes through Egypt (MEE/…
Philippines to allow domestic workers to be employed in UAE after ending suspension | Move comes after two countries agreed deal guaranteeing additional protections for Filipino domestic staff | Wed, 03/03/2021 – 11: 52 | The Philippines Department of Labour and Employment said the new agreement was similar to one now being used in Kuwait (AFP) | The Philippines will lift a suspension on its maids workin…
Iraq: Civilian contractor dies in rocket attack on base hosting US troops | The attack on the Ain al-Asad base comes two days before Pope Francis's historic visit to the country | Wed, 03/03/2021 – 08: 15 | The Ain al-Asad base hosts Iraqi forces as well as troops from the US-led coalition helping Iraq fight remnants of Islamic State (File pic/AFP) | A civilian contractor with the US-led c…
Iran says US must be held accountable for 'crimes in Yemen' | Foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh rejects Washington's claim that Iran is fanning 'the flames of conflict' in Yemen | Wed, 03/03/2021 – 22: 00 | Saeed Khatibzadeh, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, lashed out at Washington for selling weapons to Saudi-led coalition (AFP) | Iran's foreign ministry hit back at American accusations that Teh…
Syria: Majority in opposition areas impacted by attacks on medical facilities | New report documents devastating impact of a decade of assaults on health care in the country's northwest | Wed, 03/03/2021 – 16: 10 | An aerial view of a hospital reportedly hit by an air strike in the Syrian village of Shinan, 30 kilometres south of Idlib (AFP/File photo) | A majority of Syrians living in the country's e…
In a historic ruling, the Delaware River Basin Commission voted Feb. 25 to permanently ban fracking (hydraulic fracturing) for natural gas in the Delaware River Watershed. This ruling formally affirms a drilling moratorium the DRBC imposed in 2010. Protesters call for ban on fracking at Delaware River Basin Commission hearing . . . |
President Joe Biden made history in the nation's fight against the coronavirus Tuesday by announcing that the United States will have enough vaccine supply to vaccinate all American adults for coronavirus by the end of May, two months earlier than the end-of-July date he had previously rolled out. Biden credited the stepped-up timetable to his …
Director/co-writer and Oscar nominee Angus Gibson's Back of the Moon is another example of why I love PAFF—the Pan African Virtual Film + Arts Festival. If not for this festival film buffs like moi probably would never have heard of, let alone had the opportunity to see, this highly entertaining South African movie. Moon is …
