2021-07-23: News Headlines

John Perry (2021-07-23). Why U.S. Policy Toward Nicaragua Isn't Working. counterpunch.org After the U.S.-Russian summit in June, there was no apparent irony in President Biden's response to a question about electoral interference. "Let's get this straight," he said. "How would it be if the United States were viewed by the rest of the world as interfering with the elections directly of other countries, and everybody knew

Jean Wyllys — Julie Wark (2021-07-23). Brazil, Amazon, World: Part Two. counterpunch.org A pandemic that won't go away, floods in Western Europe, permafrost thawing with deadly methane burps, wildfires in Canada, starving manatees in Florida, murderous heatwaves, water and food shortages, 90% of primates severely endangered, and the latest report that the Amazon rain forest is now emitting more carbon dioxide than it absorbs (so that rather

Staff (2021-07-23). West working to create 'belt of instability' around Russia by turning 'brother against brother,' says Moscow's top diplomat Lavrov. rt.com A wedge is being driven between Russia and its neighbors, with the West demanding that countries across Eastern Europe and Asia turn on Moscow in order to gain acceptance, Moscow's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has claimed. | Speaking at a webinar on international relations on Friday, the veteran diplomat accused the US and its allies in Europe of "trying to form a belt of instability around us." This he said, is "forcing our closest neighbors, our brotherly peoples, to make a choice — either you are with the West, or you are with the Russian Federation." | According to him, hostile foreign powers want "

WSWS (2021-07-23). The struggle against the flood catastrophe in Germany requires a socialist programme. wsws.org The high number of deaths is the direct product of the criminal inaction by federal and state governments. Although they were warned ahead of time, they did nothing to alert the population and save lives.

WSWS (2021-07-23). Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa. wsws.org Continuing pay strike by 60,000 Iranian contract oil workers as economy buckles under US sanctions; resident doctors on indefinite strike over lack of pay in Ekiti state, Nigeria; metalworkers' strikes and protests in Italy against layoffs and closures…

Gaither Stewart (2021-07-23). The Italian Cinema and the Left: On Rediscovering Roberto Rossellini-Filmmaker. counterpunch.org Rome. The story of Roberto Rossellini is a very Italian story, not an European story, encompassing Italy in change from the Fascist period until 2009. It is a very Italian story because Italy, separated from the rest of Europe by the Alps, is, and perhaps always has been, something apart, still today considered by North

V'cenza Cirefice (2021-07-23). Campaigning against "Ecological Destruction": Women Keeping Ireland's Gold In The Ground. globalresearch.ca . The island …

Rick Rozoff (2021-07-23). Is U.S-NATO Collaborating With Islamic State IS-Daesh In Afghanistan? Russia's Foreign Ministry. globalresearch.ca

WSWS (2021-07-23). Ukrainian interior minister with close ties to the far right resigns. wsws.org While Arsen Avakov may no longer be a member of the Ukrainian government, the outsized influence of the far right shows no signs of weakening in Ukraine.

Anonymous669 (2021-07-23). Russian Reconciliation Center Claims Syrian Air Defense Intercepted All Missiles In Recent Israeli Attack. southfront.org Illustrative image. | The Syrian Arab Air Defense Forces (SyAADF) intercepted and shot down all missiles launched by Israeli warplanes during the July 22 attack on Homs, deputy head of the Russian Center for Reconciliation in Syria, Rear Admiral Alexander Vadim Kulit, announced on July 23. | "Two Israeli F-16 fighter jets launched four guided missiles from Lebanese airspace at positions in the governorate of Homs between 1: 11 and 1: 19 am on July 22." Kulit said, adding that "all four missiles were destroyed by Buk-M2E syste…

newsnetwork.mayoclinic (2021-07-23). Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast: On the verge of predicted surge with COVID-19 delta variant. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org The delta variant is being blamed for hot spots in the U.S. where cases of COVID-19 are on the rise. These hot spots account for most cases in the U.S. They are also the geographical areas that tend to have the lowest vaccination rates. "It's no surprise that the two go together," says Dr. Gregory Poland, an infectious diseases expert and head of Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group. "This (delta variant) is the bad actor that…

newsnetwork.mayoclinic (2021-07-23). Respiratory illnesses on the rise with symptoms similar to COVID-19. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org A respiratory infection prevalent mostly in the winter has been increasing in parts of the U.S."Particularly in the South part of the U.S., we have seen an increase in what's called RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus. It's a virus that causes a cold much like influenza causes a cold, though it can be severe in very young children and elderly adults," says Dr. Gregory Poland, an infectious diseases physician and researcher at Mayo Clinic. Watch: …

Staff (2021-07-23). Headlines for July 23, 2021. democracynow.org Tokyo Olympics Kick Off Amid COVID Surge, Protests; Italy Unveils New Pass for Vaccinated People, Missouri Hospital Worker Warns COVID Surge Will Get Worse; 20% of L.A.'s Cases Are Vaccinated People | , U.S. Imposes New Cuba Sanctions as 400+ Noted Activists, Political Figures Call for End to Embargo, Rep. Hank Johnson, Prominent Black Voting Rights Advocates Arrested at Pro-Democracy Demonstration, Indian Farmworkers Renew Protests Against Neoliberal Agricultural Reforms, South Africa Updates Death Toll from Unrest to at Least 337 People, 20 Refugees Likely Dead After Mediterranean Shipwreck, U.S. Launches Airst…

Editor2 (2021-07-23). Colombia: Selective Murders, Sexual Torture and Disappearances—the Horrors under the Duque Government. orinocotribune.com By Danilo Albín — Jul 20, 2021 | A report prepared by representatives of social organizations and human rights activists from 13 countries warns about the serious repression unleashed in Colombia, while calling for an urgent halt to the sale of European weapons to the government of right-wing President Iván Duque. | The savage repression against demonstrators on Colombian soil already has international witnesses. After carrying out an on-site verification, 41 representatives of social and human rights organizations from 13 countries have just launched a report in which they warn about the serious violations…

sputniknews (2021-07-23). West Trying to Create Instability Belt Around Russia, Foreign Minister Lavrov Says. sputniknews.com MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The West is trying to form a belt of instability around Russia, using Belarus and Moldova in particular, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.

Ramzy Baroud (2021-07-23). Progress or War: On Islamophobia and Europe's Demographic Shifts. counterpunch.org Europe's identity crisis is not confined to the ceaseless squabbles by Europeans over the EU, Brexit or football. It goes much deeper, reaching sensitive and dangerous territory, including that of culture and religion. Once more, Muslims stand at the heart of the continent's identity debate. Of course, anti-Muslim sentiments are rarely framed to appear anti-Muslim.

Anonymous669 (2021-07-23). Protests In Greater Idlib Around Turkish Military Posts (Videos). southfront.org A Turkish army tank stationed near the Syrian border, in Suruc, Turkey, Sept. 3, 2016. (AP Photo) | On July 22, angry locals gathered around a number of Turkish military posts in the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib to protest against what they called "ceasefire violations" by Syrian government forces. | The protesters, numbered in the hundreds, burned dozens of tires on the gates of Turkish posts and chanted against the ceasefire that was brokered by Russia and Turkey on March 5 of last year. | In the last…

Anonymous007 (2021-07-23). Russia Prepares For Its Main Naval Day Parade (Photos, Maps, Videos). southfront.org Click to see full-size image | On the eve of the Day of the Russian Navy, which is traditionally celebrated on the last Sunday of July [July 25, 2021], a new multimedia section dedicated to the upcoming fifth Main Naval Parade has been opened on the website of the Russian Defence Ministry."The main naval parade will be held in St. Petersburg on the Navy Day on July 25 in the year of the 325th anniversary of the Russian Fleet. Naval parades will also be held in Severomorsk, Baltiysk, Sevastopol, Kaspiysk, Vladivosto…

Dennis Broe (2021-07-22). Cannes and COVID go together like a horse and carriage. peoplesworld.org CANNES, France — Another Cannes Film Festival is in the books and this one, which Variety labeled "Red Carpet Done Right" and The Hollywood Reporter hoped would "kick off a global comeback" for the film industry in a return to a "New Normal," instead was beset with all the contemporary contradictions as the global crisis …

Staff (2021-07-22). Venezuela Condemns Blockade for Obstructing Tokyo Olympics Televised Broadcast. orinocotribune.com This Wednesday, July 21, the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, admonished international banks for blocking Venezuelan assets allotted for the purchase of broadcasting rights to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Venezuela has 44 athletes qualified for the Olympics and millions of Venezuelans are anxious to cheer for them, but now they have encountered this new consequence of the US and European blockade. | "They blocked the funds destined to pay for the broadcasting rights of the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games," President Maduro explained. "The financial persecution prevents the organizing commission from collecting t…

José Manuel Blanco Diaz (2021-07-22). UN Experts Denounce 'Devastating Consequences' of the Blockade on Venezuelan Cancer Patients (Deaths of 14 Children Including 3 Babies). orinocotribune.com Six human rights experts of the United Nations (UN) have raised the issue of the devastating impact of the blockade imposed on Venezuela by the United States and Europe for Venezuelan patients who require cancer treatment. | In this regard, Venezuelan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jorge Arreaza, published in his Twitter account the statement issued by six UN rapporteurs and experts in the field of human rights, regarding unilateral coercive measures and their repercussions on fundamental human rights. | In the statement, the United Nations experts refer to the obstacles that the blockade imposes on the work of th…

Staff (2021-07-22). Samidoun delegation to Lebanon begins: Visit to Shatila camp, meeting with boycott campaign. samidoun.net Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network's delegation to Lebanon, the "Ghassan Kanafani Brigade," officially kicked off its first day of activities on 22 July 2021, meeting with organizations in Shatila refugee camp and visiting with the Campaign to Boycott Supporters of "Israel" in Lebanon. The delegation is comprised of Samidoun activists and members based in Sweden, France, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands. Before entering Shatila camp, the delegation visited Shatila's Martyrs Cemetery to pay their respects to those who dedicated their lives to the Palestinian liberation struggle. Shatila today is ho…

Victor Grossman (2021-07-22). Exultant warrior, Esther Bejarano presente! peoplesworld.org BERLIN—She was all of 96 years, yet Esther Bejarano's death hits hard, leaving a painful gap in Germany's anti-fascist scene. Until the final weeks of her long life she was a fighter, speaking, singing and passing the good word along — especially to young people. Her life almost ended horribly when she was herself young, …

Fra Hughes (2021-07-22). "Syria Has Been Effectively Balkanized Between America, ISIS, the Kurds, and Turkey" globalresearch.ca

Anonymous669 (2021-07-22). PKK Released Footage Of Recent Attack On Turkish Military Post In Iraqi Kurdistan. southfront.org File image. | On July 22, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) released footage of one of its recent attack on the Turkish military in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. | The attack, which took place on July 7th, targeted a Turkish post on the Zendura hill in the area of Metina, that lays along the border with Turkey. | PKK fighters targeted…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-07-22). Pride parades held in Croatian cities of Split and Zagreb. peoplesdispatch.org LGBTQ rights activists and groups in Croatia organized this year's pride parade in two major cities, Zagreb and Split. On Saturday, July 17, the tenth pride parade in Split was held from Bedem Cornaro to Riva. It was attended by Workers Front (RF) leader and member of parliament, Katerina Peovic. In the capital Zagreb, the pride parade was held on July 3. It was attended by the city's mayor, Tomislav Toma≈°eviƒá, and other politicians from the left including the president of the Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP), Pedja Grbin. Two incidents of homophobic attacks were reported during th…

Anonymous103 (2021-07-22). France Using Syria's Kurds To Pressure Damascus And Ankara. southfront.org Illustrative ImageTurkey's interests in French Muslims sees Paris rapidly build its relations with Syria's Kurds. | Written by Paul Antonopoulos, independent geopolitical analyst | A Syrian Kurdish delegation went to Paris on July 19 to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron. France bets on the Kurdish question to have some kind of role in Syria, to pressure Damascus and to curb Turkey's significant influence. | During his meeting, the French President insisted on "the need to continue work in favor of the political stabilization…

Anonymous007 (2021-07-22). Much To See In MAKS-2021's First Days In Russia. southfront.org Click to see full-size image | The MAKS 2021 International Aviation and Space Salon kicked off on July 20th, and during its first days appeared to be a resounding success. | Russian President Vladimir Putin took a look at promising domestic aircraft, in particular with the light multipurpose aircraft LMS-901 Baikal, the helicopter Ka-62, a specialized helicopter for offshore operations Mi-171A3, the upgraded helicopters Ansat-M, Ka-32A11M, unmanned helicopter VRT300. | A keystone event was the unv…

Rick Rozoff (2021-07-22). Belarus: European leaders bringing world closer to World War III. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Belarus: European leaders bringing world closer to World War III Speaking to the Sky News Arabia television station on July 19, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko warned that the escalating campaign against his nation by the European Union (and its military enforcement arm, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) portends a worsening crisis not only in the …

Guest Contributor (2021-07-22). Supreme Court dismisses solitary confinement appeal. ukhumanrightsblog.com R (on the application of AB) v Secretary of State for Justice [2021] UKSC 28 The Supreme Court has unanimously dismissed an appeal which considered whether treatment throughout a 55 day period in solitary confinement of a then 15-year-old appellant in Feltham Young Offenders' Institution constituted a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention …

_____ (2021-07-22). Big Corporations That Decried Georgia Voter Suppression Law Donated to Its Key Backers. commondreams.org Rachel Robinson was not only Jackie's partner, she is also a feminist and civil rights crusader.

Anis Chowdhury (2021-07-22). European duplicity undermines anti-pandemic efforts. mronline.org Despite facing the world's worst pandemic of the last century, rich countries in the World Trade Organization (WTO) have blocked efforts to enable more affordable access to the means to fight the pandemic.

Gilbert Doctorow (2021-07-22). Mikhail Bulgakov, "Master and Margarita" and the anti-Russian hysteria in the United States. mronline.org You cannot argue with mass hypnosis. You can keep a diary, write a chronicle that reveals the falseness of the spirit of the age to hopefully enlighten future readers, because, as we hear in another of the main points of Bulgakov's novel Master and Margarita, "manuscripts do not burn." That is what I do….

WSWS (2021-07-22). Mass abstention in Bulgarian elections. wsws.org To prevent the ruling class from once again cobbling together a right-wing, anti-working class government, workers in Bulgaria and throughout Eastern Europe must draw the lessons of the experience since the restoration of capitalism 30 years ago.

Rick Rozoff (2021-07-22). Pentagon deploys "combat-credible" 1st Infantry Division to Poland. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com 1st Infantry Division Forward assumes authority of Atlantic Resolve Mission Command Element Excerpts The Atlantic Resolve Forward Division Headquarters serves as the intermediate headquarters between U.S. Army Europe and Africa and U.S. regionally allocated forces deployed throughout the eight eastern European Atlantic Resolve countries of Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. In …

Rick Rozoff (2021-07-22). NATO provides Turkey training for shooting down more Russian aircraft. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Turkish Fighters Deployed to Poland Make Their First Intercept Excerpts from NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe RAMSTEIN, Germany — Two Turkish F-16s flying from Malbork, Poland under NATO's Air Policing mission made their first intercept of an unknown aircraft on 20 July, 21…. In the morning of 20 July, the Combined Air Operations Centre …

Rick Rozoff (2021-07-22). Excerpt: New Ottoman empire advances in the Caucasus and Central Asia. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Erdogan's new Ottoman empire advances in the Caucasus and Central AsiaVladimir Rozanskij Russia has only obtained a fragile armistice in Nagorno Karabakh, and was forced to cede the role of main protagonist of the Caucasian games on the border between Europe and Asia. The influence of Turkey, which explicitly supported the Azeris in word and …

WSWS (2021-07-22). Continental workers in Bebra and Màºhlhausen, Germany vote for strike. wsws.org Despite the strike vote, the unions and their works council representatives are continuing negotiations and are prepared to agree to the plant closures.

Rick Rozoff (2021-07-22). Russian Foreign Ministry: U.S., NATO collaborating with ISIS in Afghanistan. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Excerpts from TASS Facts point to interaction between US, Islamic State in Afghanistan — Russian diplomat According to Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Russia is aware of unmarked helicopters conducting flights in areas, where IS militants were active. "It would have been impossible to carry out such activities unbeknownst to the US and NATO forces …

Rick Rozoff (2021-07-22). Russian Foreign Ministry: U.S., NATO collaborating with IS/Daesh in Afghanistan. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Excerpts from TASS Facts point to interaction between US, Islamic State in Afghanistan — Russian diplomat According to Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Russia is aware of unmarked helicopters conducting flights in areas, where IS militants were active. "It would have been impossible to carry out such activities unbeknownst to the US and NATO forces …

Rick Rozoff (2021-07-22). Foreign Ministry: Russian-American relations have approached a dangerous confrontational threshold. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Russia-US relations nearing dangerous confrontational brink — Foreign Ministry Excerpts from TASS MOSCOW — Russian-American relations have approached a dangerous confrontational threshold, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that Washington's pressure will be met with unwavering opposition from Moscow. The statement was adopted Wednesday after a meeting of the ministry's board, led …

Fernando (2021-07-22). Independence and Constitution in Spain. zcomm.org There's a serious political problem in the Spanish Kingdom that seems difficult to resolve and leads to a vicious circle. Probably because of the influence of Francoist ideology, having independence as an objective is contrary to the Spanish Constitution, (art.2 insists on "The indissoluble unity of the Nation (…)," for instance), but the legal and

Rick Rozoff (2021-07-22). Turkey to enforce U.S./NATO line on China's Xinjiang, pressure Pakistan to join. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Turkish daily mulls Ankara-Islamabad ties amid developments in Afghanistan Excerpts An opinion piece in Turkey's Yeni Shafak newspaper has analyzed the future of Ankara-Islamabad ties amid NATO's new policies in Turkestan and Afghanistan. Stressing that after the withdrawal of the US troops, Turkey, as a NATO country, has been "assigned" a new role in Afghanistan …

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