2021-01-16: News Headlines

The Canary (2021-01-16). UK to face short-term delay in delivery of the Pfizer vaccine. thecanary.co The UK is set to face short-term delays in delivery of the Pfizer coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine as the pharmaceutical company upgrades its production capacity.Delays: Pfizer is upscaling production at its plant in Puurs, Belgium. This is in an to produce more doses than originally planned for 2021 — temporarily reducing deliveries to all European countries. Shipments of the vaccine, produced in partnership with Germany's BioNTech, to the UK are set to be affected during January. But the overall number of doses due to be delivered between January and March will remain the same, according to the US fir…

WSWS (2021-01-16). Network Meeting of the Action Committees for Safe Education: Pupils, workers and students discuss perspectives for a European-wide general strike. wsws.org In introducing the meeting, Gregor Link of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality referred to the now almost 400,000 confirmed COVID deaths in the European Union.

Global Research News (2021-01-16). Selected Articles: Martin Luther King Day 2021. globalresearch.ca By January 15 is the day on which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born, in Atlanta, Georgia, …

Prabhat Patnaik (2021-01-16). Engels on the Peasant War in Germany. mronline.org At a time when peasant masses in the country are engaged in a valiant struggle for the repeal of the Central government's three infamous laws, and have laid peaceful siege to Delhi, braving rains and bitter cold, it is worth recalling Friedrich Engels' study of the peasant war in Germany in 1525, that also celebrated …

teleSUR (2021-01-16). After User Feedback, WhatsApp Delays Changing Service Standards. telesurenglish.net "We are postponing the date when people will be asked to review and accept the new terms," Facebook's Whatsapp said in a blog post. | The company cancelled the February 8 deadline for users to accept the new rules, which include sharing their information with Facebook servers. | RELATED: | The change will be thoroughly reviewed and was delayed until May 15. The new terms were rejected by users outside of Europe who do not accept that a d…

news.un (2021-01-15). COVID-19 committee stresses need for equitable vaccine access, more data sharing. news.un.org As COVID-19 cases spike in parts of Europe, Africa and the Americas, and new variants of the virus emerge in some countries, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday called for greater global collaboration in ending the pandemic.

RT (2021-01-15). EC president von der Leyen dares European nations to call her bluff with announcement of (mandatory?) vaccine certificates. rt.com Europeans must carry certificates proving they've been vaccinated against Covid-19 to travel, EC president Ursula von der Leyen told Portuguese media – likely shocking Europeans who'd never heard of such a rule. | Von der Leyen sprung the idea of a "mutually recognized vaccination certificate" as a "medical requirement" for travel on Thursday in the course of praising a similar plan outlined to her in a letter from Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis. | "It is a medical requirement to have a certificate proving that you have been vaccinated," von der Leyen told Portuguese reporters. | While Mitsotakis' plan was not m…

RT (2021-01-15). 'Unacceptable': 6 EU countries urge bloc to address Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine delays, as Canada also flags supply issues. rt.com Six EU governments have written to the bloc's executive to call for action as deliveries of Covid-19 vaccines made by Pfizer/BioNTech are being delayed, while supply issues have also been reported in Canada. | The health ministers of Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia called on the EU Commission to ensure the "stability and transparency of timely deliveries" of the Pfizer jab in a letter on Friday. | "This situation is unacceptable. Not only does it impact the planned vaccination schedules, it also decreases the credibility of the vaccination process," the letter reads, according to Reute…

Staff (2021-01-15). Neo-fascists found their voice in Trump. Where will the left's voice come from? therealnews.com With COVID-19 still raging and Biden's inauguration around the corner, Warnock and Ossoff win big in Georgia, Trumpist insurgents storm the U.S. Capitol, and Democrats and Republicans seethe with internal strife. What's next?

M.K. Bhadrakumar (2021-01-15). Germany draws another line in the sand for the U.S. mronline.org Maas underscored that Berlin "does not need to talk about European sovereignty if that is understood as us (Germany) doing everything in future the way Washington wants."

WSWS (2021-01-15). Fascist coup in Washington accelerates Spanish army's coup plotting. wsws.org Spain's conservative Popular Party, the main parliamentary opposition to the Socialist Party (PSOE)-Podemos government, is debating whether to endorse the campaign waged by army officers and the fascist Vox party for a coup d'état.

Medea Benjamin, Nicolas J. S. Davies, Marcy Winograd (2021-01-15). Will the Senate Confirm Coup Plotter Nuland? counterpunch.org Who is Victoria Nuland? Most Americans have never heard of her because the U.S. corporate media's foreign policy coverage is a wasteland. Most Americans have no idea that President-elect Biden's pick for Deputy Secretary of State for Political Affairs is stuck in the quicksand of 1950s U.S.-Russia Cold War politics and dreams of continued NATO

WSWS (2021-01-15). Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa. wsws.org Around 55,000 Swedish care workers to begin industrial action today over pay, conditions and increased workload during pandemic; British gas workers plan further strikes to defend pay and conditions as Telecom workers in strike ballot.

WSWS (2021-01-15). How Germany's Left Party promotes herd immunity. wsws.org As was the case with the federal government in Berlin and every other state government in the pandemic, profits took precedence over human lives for the Left Party's only state premier, Bodo Ramelow in Thuringia.

Ragip Soylu (2021-01-15). 'Dear Tayyip': Erdogan and Macron exchanged letters to repair ties. middleeasteye.net 'Dear Tayyip': Erdogan and Macron exchanged letters to repair ties | Turkish president made the first move, with the two leaders seeking to meet in person soon | Fri, 01/15/2021 – 14: 01 | France's President Emmanuel Macron (L) meets Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka on 28 June 2019. (AFP) | The presidents of Turkey and France have…

Alex MacDonald (2021-01-15). Iraq: Bird flu blamed for deaths of tens of thousands of chickens. middleeasteye.net Iraq: Bird flu blamed for deaths of tens of thousands of chickens | Local authorities said a buffer zone was being imposed on the infected region | Fri, 01/15/2021 – 16: 04 | Iraqi vets check chickens that entered Iraq from Turkey at a market in the southern port city of Basra (AFP) | An outbreak of bird flu was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of chickens in central Iraq, officia…

Laura Flanders (2021-01-15). We Should Learn From Georgia to Show Us the Way Forward. commondreams.org Over slow generations, they built a broad enough "we" and an effective bottom up force that formed not just a victorious voting block this year, but a caring community dedicated explicitly to dismantling white supremacy. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/abrams.jpg

Anoa Changa (2021-01-15). Georgia Organizers Won Because They Didn't Treat Elections as a Be-All, End-All. zcomm.org "We are undoing a history of voter suppression and injustice in Black and Brown communities. The changes we are seeing now didn't happen overnight, and we are not solving our challenges with just one vote."

teleSUR (2021-01-15). Paraguay Approves Emergency Use of Russian Vaccine. telesurenglish.net The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) announced on Friday that Paraguay's Ministry of Health authorized the Sputnik V vaccine's emergency use. | RELATED: | "Registration of Sputnik V vaccine in Paraguay proves the increasing interest of Latin American countries in a safe and effective Russian vaccine against coronavirus," said the CEO of Russia's sovereign wealth fund Kirill Dmitriev. | El anuncio de esta mañana del Fondo S…

teleSUR (2021-01-15). Argentina Awaits Its Second Batch of Sputnik V Vaccines. telesurenglish.net Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez Thursday sent a second plane to Russia to transport the second batch of Sputnik V vaccines which will be used in a nationwide vaccination campaign. | RELATED: | The flight AR-1060 departed from Ezeiza International airport at 21.14 local time in a direct route to Moscow where it will load 300,000 doses of the vaccine. | The plane is expected to land on Argentine soil on Saturday morni…

sputniknews (2021-01-15). New Delhi Approves $6.5 Billion Deal to Buy 83 'Game Changer' Tejas Fighter Jets. sputniknews.com Even as it moves to buy locally-designed fighter jets, the Indian military has also bought dozens of French-made Rafale and Russian-made Su-30MKI fighters, as it retires a generation of older jets.

David W. Mathisen (2021-01-15). Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Born this Day: Prophet Who Saw the "Far Deeper Malady" globalresearch.ca January 15 is the day on which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born, in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1929. | He would go on to become one of the most powerful voices of all time against racism, oppression, violence, imperialism, and …

WSWS (2021-01-15). Germany records highest daily coronavirus death toll as fatalities double in just one month. wsws.org While the federal and state governments claim that a tougher lockdown came into force on January 11, all of industry, offices, most schools, childcare facilities and public transport are operating as usual.

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-15). Protests continue in Ireland following murder of George Nkencho by police. peoplesdispatch.org Over the past two weeks, protests have been held in Dublin following the shooting of George Nkencho, a 27-year-old Black man, by the police on the outskirts of the city…

Dr. Gary G. Kohls (2021-01-15). Martin Luther King's Warning of America's Spiritual Death. globalresearch.ca On January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King, Jr. is born in Atlanta, Georgia | Martin Luther King Jr.'s Riverside Church speech was titled "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence." It was delivered exactly one year before his April 4, …

RT (2021-01-14). Far-Eastern Russian island Sakhalin to introduce mask exemption for those inoculated against Covid-19, regional head reveals. rt.com People inoculated against Covid-19 in the Far East's Sakhalin Region will be given a badge to show they are exempt from wearing a face mask. That's according to Valery Limarenko, acting governor of the island, located near Japan. | Sakhalin, one of Russia's wealthiest places per capita, is home to a substantial oil and gas industry. On Thursday, Limarenko revealed that the island will soon receive 9,000 doses of Russia's domestically produced Sputnik V vaccine and will get over 10,000 every month after that. | "Everyone who gets vaccinated will receive a special badge," he said. "[The badge] will give the wear…

RT (2021-01-14). UK bans all arrivals from Portugal and South America after discovery of Brazil Covid-19 variant. rt.com The UK will ban all travel from South America and Portugal from 4am GMT on Friday after the discovery of a new Covid-19 variant in Brazil, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said on Thursday. | UK-bound travellers from Argentina, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela who do not live in the UK will be banned from entering the country. | "This measure does not apply to British and Irish Nationals and third country nationals with residence rights — but passengers returning from these destinations must self-isolate for 10 da…

RT (2021-01-14). 12hr Covid curfews announced for all of France for at least 15 days, PM says pressure on hospitals is 'high'. rt.com The entirety of France will be placed under a 6pm-6am curfew for at least 15 days from Saturday in a bid to ease the pressure of Covid-19 on the country's health system, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced on Thursday. | The 12-hour curfews are currently already in place for 25 of mainland France's 95 administrative areas — known as departements — but they will now be extended to the rest of the country, which is currently under an 8pm curfew. | "While the resumption of the epidemic was concentrated at the end of December in certain departments, viral circulation now concerns the entire country," th…

MEE and agencies (2021-01-14). Covid-19: Turkey announces more than 250,000 health workers vaccinated so far. middleeasteye.net Covid-19: Turkey announces more than 250,000 health workers vaccinated so far | President Recep Tayyip Erdogan receives first dose of the Sinovac jab as Turkey begins vaccinating health workers | Thu, 01/14/2021 – 16: 58 | Turkish President Erdogan receives a shot of Sinovac's CoronaVac coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine in Ankara (Reuters) | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan anno…

MEE and agencies (2021-01-14). Covid-19: Turkey says more than 250,000 health workers vaccinated so far. middleeasteye.net Covid-19: Turkey says more than 250,000 health workers vaccinated so far | President Recep Tayyip Erdogan receives first dose of Sinovac as Turkey begins vaccinating health workers | Thu, 01/14/2021 – 16: 58 | Turkish President Erdogan receives shot of Sinovac's CoronaVac coronavirus vaccine in Ankara (Reuters) | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced more than 250,000 health wor…

teleSUR (2021-01-14). Nicaragua To Allocate Over $115 Million for COVID-19 Vaccines. telesurenglish.net Nicaragua's Vice President Rosario Murillo on Wednesday announced her government's effort to secure COVID-19 vaccines to immunize 55 percent of the country's population. | RELATED: | Highligithg the approval of a high budget to ensure vaccines' conservation, Murillo pointed out that over 7 million doses would be applied at a cost of almost US$90 million. | "We propose the purchase of the Russian Federation's Sputnik V vaccine, the Modern vacc…

WSWS (2021-01-14). Irish health system on brink of collapse as COVID-19 figures surge. wsws.org Ireland's health services are being rapidly overwhelmed by escalating rates of coronavirus infection.

teleSUR (2021-01-14). Sweden's COVID-19 Death Toll Tops 10,000. telesurenglish.net Sweden's COVID-19 death toll surpassed 10,000 on Thursday, with authorities warning that the fatalities would continue to rise. | Swedish Public Health Agency on Thursday registered another 351 deaths caused by COVID-19, taking the national death toll to 10,185. Meanwhile, 6,580 new confirmed cases brought the cumulative infections to 518,783. | "Unfortunately, we expect that the increase will continue as we have an extensive spread of infection in the country," Karin Tegmark Wisell, head of the department of microbiology at the Public Health Agency, said at a press conference. | Wisell revealed that southern…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-14). Progressive sections in Netherlands demand rise in minimum wage. peoplesdispatch.org The demand for setting the hourly minimum wage to EUR 14 Euros (USD 17.04) has been highlighted by the Socialist Party (SP), the Federation of Dutch Trade Unions (FNV) and trade union activist forum Voor 14, among others…

Alex MacDonald (2021-01-14). Arms campaigners call on UK companies to stop supplying Turkish drone parts. middleeasteye.net Arms campaigners call on UK companies to stop supplying Turkish drone parts | British firms urged not to supply parts to Turkish drone giant Baykar Makina over involvement in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict | Thu, 01/14/2021 – 16: 53 | Bayraktar TB2 drone flying at Gecitkale military airbase near Famagusta in self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) (AFP) | Rights groups have called…

Scott Newman (2021-01-14). Financialization, Fascism and the Jan 6th Riots — with Paul Jay. theanalysis.news Paul Jay is the guest on The Barricade, a news outlet set up by a group of left-oriented activists from around Eastern Europe — Bulgaria, Poland, Slovakia, and Serbia. Paul was asked to provide background on the events in D.C. on Jan 6th.

WSWS (2021-01-14). Over 600,000 dead from coronavirus in Europe. wsws.org Scientists are warning that the pandemic is entering into an even more catastrophic stage than anything that has preceded it.

RT (2021-01-14). Twitter RESTORES account of Sputnik-V, Russia's coronavirus vaccine, restricted over suspicious log-in. rt.com Sputnik-V, the Russian-developed coronavirus vaccine, was back on Twitter after getting locked out of its official account on Thursday. When the official explanation finally came, it cited a suspicious log-in attempt from the US. | The account, @sputnikvaccine, showed up as "temporarily restricted" for a brief period on Thursday afternoon, due to "some unusual activity." | Users could click on a warning to see…

Dustin Noga (2021-01-14). China-EU investment deal bypasses U.S., denting Washington plan to isolate Beijing. peoplesworld.org On Dec. 30, 2020, the European Union and China concluded a new landmark investment deal called the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI). The pact marks a historic level of investment, cooperation, and intermingling of the 27-member bloc's economy with China's. The CAI will replace 26 separate investment agreements previously signed between China and individual member …

Jon Skolnik (2021-01-14). QAnon congresswoman vows to impeach Joe Biden one day after his inauguration. salon.com Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene lashes out after ten House Republicans vote to impeach Trump…

teleSUR (2021-01-14). The UK Strain Has Been Detected in 25 European Countries. telesurenglish.net The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge on Thursday confirmed that the British strain of the new coronavirus has been detected in 25 European countries including Russia. | RELATED: | Although the possible consequences of this new strain are generating concern, he recalled that the new coronavirus "changes over time" just like any other virus. Therefore, European countries must…

Shane Quinn (2021-01-14). The History of US and British Support to Mussolini's Fascism. globalresearch.ca A figure like Benito Mussolini could only have taken power in a nation plagued by severe illness. Italy, a resource poor state, had been virtually bankrupted by expenditure in World War One, with the Liberal-led Italian governments dispensing with more …

commondreams (2021-01-14). Environmental and Farmers Organizations in Italy Stop Government Attempt to Give Green Light to GMOs and NBTs. commondreams.org ______________________________…

teleSUR (2021-01-14). Bolivian Govt Reaches a Deal With Striking Transit Workers. telesurenglish.net Bolivia's finance Minister Marcelo Montenegro Thursday announced that an agreement on debt payments was reached with transport sector representatives to secure the continuity of public transportation services. | RELATED: | Besides establishing a six-month grace period without paymen…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-14). Hundreds take to the streets in Belgium demanding justice for Ibrahima Barrie. peoplesdispatch.org 23-year-old Ibrahima Barrie, a Black man, died following a heart attack he suffered while in police custody in Brussels. According to reports, more than five people were injured in the protests and close to 120 people were arrested…

teleSUR (2021-01-14). US Places Sanctions on China, Cuba, Iran, Russia and Venezuela. telesurenglish.net "We cannot allow the foreign military and intelligence organizations of our adversaries in China, Cuba, Russia, Venezuela, and Iran (…) to benefit from U.S. technology," U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement Thursday. | RELATED: | According to the note, these new controls linked to U.S. technologies prevent those countries' military intelligence industries from "benefiting." | A week before…

WSWS (2021-01-13). Before it begins, COVID-19 vaccination in Turkey already a fiasco. wsws.org The Turkish government's murderous ruling class "herd immunity" policy continues with a chaotic and incompetent roll-out of the vaccine.

WSWS (2021-01-13). Berlin, Germany transport worker dies of COVID-19. wsws.org The Berlin Transport Company's pandemic policy, which endangers the lives and health of workers, is supported by the Berlin Senate consisting of the SPD, the Greens and the Left Party.

Fight Back (2021-01-13). Marx, the Civil War and the U.S. today. fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL – Karl Marx observed over a 150 years ago that "the biggest thing happening in the world today are on the one hand the movement of the slaves in America started by the death of John Brown and on the other the movement of the serfs in Russia." | According to Marx, the defining event leading up to the Civil War was not the Slaveholders' Rebellion announced by the cannon fire on Fort Sumter but the raid on Harpers Ferry led by John Brown and Shields Green – a Black and white band of abolitionists. In other words, the movement of the slaves inspired by Harpers Ferry, and the election of a president – Linc…

RT (2021-01-13). 'High protein content': Insects set to crawl their way onto Europeans' plates as EU regulator rules MEALWORMS are SAFE to eat. rt.com Europeans are a step closer to finding all sorts of creepy crawlies on the menu as the EU Food Safety Agency (EFSA) has officially deemed the first such species — a yellow mealworm, to be specific — safe to eat. | The development means that people buying pasta, burgers and even biscuits in a store somewhere in Europe might soon find out that their food is made of mealworms, thoroughly dried and ground into powder, while those of a more adventurous nature may be able to buy a baggie of whole dried insects as a snack. | Such possibilities are about to open up following the decision by the European fo…