Daily Archives: January 10, 2021

2021-01-10: News Headlines

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-10). Communist youth mobilize across Italy demanding safety in schools. peoplesdispatch.org On Thursday, January 7, Communist Youth Front (FGC) organized demonstrations in several cities across Italy demanding safer classrooms. Schools across Italy were supposed to be reopened on that day but the government postponed the reopening to Monday. The FGC organized protests in the cities of Rome, Milan, Naples, Turin, Florence, Perugia, Catania, Padova, Salerno, Taranto, Cosenza, Gorizia and Ascoli. The protesters said that since the beginning of the pandemic, nothing substantial has been done to ensure safety in schools and respect for students' rights during online lessons. | FGC also gave a call for a nati…

The Canary (2021-01-10). Letter: The demonisation of Assange paves the way for more rape and murder by the State. thecanary.co We are relieved the court ruled not to extradite Julian Assange to the US. His immediate release from Belmarsh, classified as torture by the UN Special Rapporteur, especially under coronavirus, must follow. The refusal of bail must be reversed immediately. | As an anti-rape organisation, we resent the original use of alleged sex offences to facilitate Assange's extradition to the US via Sweden. Knowing the evidence, that case was never viable, but it initiated and fuelled a witch-hunt against Assange and diverted from the real target: his Wikileaks reporting. | Assange and Chelsea Manning exposed rape, torture, a…

Alex MacDonald (2021-01-10). Turkish government calls on Turks to dump WhatsApp, switch to local apps. middleeasteye.net Turkish government calls on Turks to dump WhatsApp, switch to local apps | New terms of service led to privacy concerns while Turkey has blasted a UK-EU exemption from data-sharing changes | Sun, 01/10/2021 – 15: 50 | Logos of social networking websites displayed on a mobile phone's screen in Istanbul (AFP) | The Turkish government has called on its citizens to stop using WhatsApp and instead us…

Muhammed Shabeer (2021-01-10). 'Let the rich pay for the COVID-19 crisis'. peoplesdispatch.org Niklas Bà∂ck, chairman of the Communist Youth of Austria, talks about the impact of COVID-19 on the people, especially the youth, the resistance to the far-right and the growth of the left…

Peadar O'Cearnaigh (2021-01-10). As Brexit reality hits home, it's starting to expose the DUP in Northern Ireland. thecanary.co When the UK left the EU on 1 January 2021, both parties

Labor Video Project (2021-01-10). Insurrection, The Coup & The Working Class With Professor Francis Boyle. indybay.org WorkWeek interviews Professor Frances Boyle about the insurrection and coup and what should be done about it.

_____ (2021-01-10). CCTV — The most-surveilled commuter boroughs in London. truepublica.org.uk Research by UK network data cabling infrastructure company ACCL has found that London is the most surveilled city in Europe with around 630,000 CCTV cameras watching 9.6 million inhabitants in the UK capital. That's 68 cameras per 1,000 Londoners. People living in Paris, Madrid and Athens are surveilled far less with between 3 and 11 …

sputniknews (2021-01-09). Watch Heavy Snowfall Bury Madrid as Storm Filomena Hits Spain. sputniknews.com The snowfall, said to be the heaviest in decades, caused the cancellation of flights and left hundreds of roads closed on January 9.

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-09). Justice for victim of police killing in Ireland. peoplesdispatch.org In this episode of Around the World in 8 Minutes, we look at the campaign launched by the Sudanese Professionals Association to dissolve the notorious government-backed militia, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). We also look at the protests against the killing of George Nkencho by Irish police, as well as the killing of 9 indigenous leaders of the Tumandok community in the Philippines.

RT (2021-01-09). WHO has received 13 Covid vaccine proposals for emergency use, expects to get full data on Russia's Sputnik V by end of this month. rt.com The World Health Organization (WHO) is currently assessing several vaccines to be promoted for emergency use across the world, including those made in Russia and China, one of its most senior officials revealed on Friday | The WHO has received 13 "valid proposals" for the possible emergency listing of Covid-19 vaccines since October, the assistant director-general for access to medicines and health products, Mariangela Simao, said at a press briefing. | "We have received, for example, the information from Sinopharm, we have finalized that in phase three trial and it is being authorized in some countries. We ar…

RT (2021-01-09). Isaak Khalatnikov dies aged 101: Legendary Russian physicist & WW2 veteran helped create first Soviet nuclear bomb in 1940s. rt.com Russian physicist Isaak Khalatnikov, the oldest member of the country's Academy of Sciences (RAS), has died at the age of 101. The scientist was the last living participant of the team that built the first Soviet nuclear bomb. | The scientist died early on Saturday in the Moscow Region, RAS told Russian media outlets. Born in 1919, more than a century ago, Khalatnikov was one of the leading Soviet — and, after the collapse of the Union, Russian scientists in the field of theoretical physics. | He was also the first head of the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics, a prestigious research agency within…

RT (2021-01-09). Pope to be vaccinated against Covid next week, labels opposition to jabs 'suicidal denial'. rt.com Pope Francis has branded opposition to Covid-19 vaccines as "suicidal denial" and announced that he will receive a jab against the coronavirus disease next week. | In a forthcoming interview, the 84-year-old leader of the Catholic Church says that "ethically" getting a vaccine against the virus should be a duty for everyone. | "Next week, we will start to do it here (in the Vatican) and I made an appointment, we must do it," Francis told Italy's Canale 5 TV station. | Segments of the interview were released on Saturday with the full comments set to be broadcast on Sunday. "There is a suicidal denial which I ca…

Richard Horton (2021-01-09). [Comment] Offline: The cosmopolitan state. thelancet.com Britain feels broken. Broken by COVID-19. Broken by Brexit. Broken by the lies that have been dripped into British political debates these past 5 years. Those scientists and doctors who voted to remain in the European Union—perhaps based on a belief in the public value of research and clinical networks that have been painstakingly built over half a century between the UK and its European neighbours—were accused of Project Fear. But now that the UK has finally left the EU, with the thinnest of thin deals, one can look back and say that the arguments to leave were themselves based on nothing but fear[md…

oneworld.press (2021-01-09). The Forgotten People Of America. oneworld.press The elites and the deep state are behaving like idiots, but that's not America. That's, like in Europe, not real politics, but the deep state, which has nothing to do with us, the real people. In the US, it has nothing to do with politics, and the same applies for in Europe.

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-09). Braving crackdown, Turkish students resist Erdogan's bid to subjugate universities. peoplesdispatch.org Turkish authorities are cracking down on protests by the student community against president Recep Tayyip Erdogan's bid to control universities placing his loyalists at their helm. The move to appoint Melih Bulu as the rector of Boƒüaziàßi University has been met with widespread protests which have been going on since January 4. On January 8, police detained 30 students in Ankara who had demonstrated in solidarity with the university protests. On January 7, two cadre of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) were arrested in Antalya for raising a banner in solidarity with the students. Earlier, dozen…

WSWS (2021-01-09). Germany leads Europe in daily coronavirus deaths. wsws.org Germany currently has the highest number of daily coronavirus deaths in Europe.

_____ (2021-01-08). Biden Appoints Chief Ukraine Coup-Plotter Victoria Nuland. popularresistance.org Describing it as "one of the darkest days in American history," President-elect Joe Biden denounced Wednesday's spectacular assault on the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. as a coup attempt fomented by Donald Trump. | "I wish we could say we couldn't see it coming, but that isn't true. We could see it coming," the 78-year-old Delawarean said. | The last four years we've had a president who's made his contempt for our democracy, our Constitution, the rule of law, clear in everything he has done. He unleashed an all-out assault on the institutions of our democracy from the outset, and yesterday was but a culmin…

Peter Mertens (2021-01-08). This Pandemic Shows How Elites Have Forgotten Us. zcomm.org Belgium has suffered the world's worst rate of coronavirus deaths…

WSWS (2021-01-08). Vaccine distribution mired in delays across Europe. wsws.org As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread out of control throughout the European continent, the program of vaccination organized by the European Union is already widely recognized to be a debacle.

Editor (2021-01-08). The Climate Crisis Sets Another Grim Record. scheerpost.com NASA Goddard Space Flight Center / CC BY 2.0] By Andrea Germanos / Common Dreams Highlighting global campaigners' demands for urgent and bold climate action, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service announced Friday that despite coronavirus-related lockdowns, 2020 tied with 2016 for being the warmest year on record and closed out the warmest decade on the books. "It is notable that… |

RT (2021-01-08). German region approves creation of fund to bypass US sanctions designed to stop Gazprom's vital Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. rt.com The parliament of the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has voted to establish a fund to circumvent American sanctions preventing the construction of the Nord Stream 2, a gas pipeline that will connect Russia and Germany. | When completed, it will

RT (2021-01-08). United Ireland 'within 25 years' thanks to 'disaster' Brexit, UK's former Home Secretary predicts. rt.com The "disaster" Brexit deal has played into the hands of those wishing for the "destruction" of the UK, former cabinet minister David Blunkett has said, predicting that a united Ireland might emerge within the next 25 years. | The situation created by Brexit that now "effectively continues" the European single market in Northern Ireland bodes "extremely ill" for the future, Blunkett warned during a debate in the UK House of Lords on Friday. | The divorce agreement has created "contradictions" between the relationship Northern Ireland has with the rest of the UK and the EU, and, ultimately, might lead to the re…

RT (2021-01-08). Denmark restricts travel from all countries to 'win time' in battle against Covid-19. rt.com The Danish Foreign Ministry has raised its travel guidance to the maximum level for all countries on Friday, in an effort to limit the spread of more transmissible Covid variants discovered in the UK and South Africa. | Entering Denmark without a recognizable purpose and a negative coronavirus test will not be permitted between January 10 and 17, Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod told journalists. | He also

Eve Ottenberg (2021-01-08). The Pearl Harbor Hack and Other Media Fables. counterpunch.org Journalistic fatuity soared into the stratosphere last month with tales of Chinese bounties on U.S. soldiers (the Russians, I guess, got tired of doing that and delegated to the Chinese), and breathless reports that the U.S. supposedly experienced its third or fourth Pearl Harbor. This one was in cyberspace, when Russia allegedly hacked into some

WSWS (2021-01-08). Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa. wsws.org Employees at British Gas walk out to defend pay and conditions; UK University students rent strike across 31 universities; Kenyan healthcare workers' strike continues despite union sending doctors back…

teleSUR (2021-01-08). The US Suspends Proposed Tariffs on French Products. telesurenglish.net The U.S. Trade Representative's Office (USTR) on Thursday announced that the United States has decided to suspend proposed tariffs on about US$1.3 billion worth of French products amid a dispute over digital service taxes (DSTs). | RELATED: | The additional 25-percent tariffs on certain French products were announced in July 2020 in response to France's DST that impacts major U.S. technology companies and were scheduled to go into e…

WSWS (2021-01-08). European politicians and media downplay coup in the United States. wsws.org The central concern within ruling circles is that the advanced decomposition of American democracy could strengthen opposition to similar developments in Europe.

WSWS (2021-01-08). Student protests continue in Turkey in defiance of police-state measures. wsws.org The mass student protests in Istanbul that started to oppose President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's appointment of a new rector to Boƒüaziàßi University, continued yesterday in defiance of police-state measures to suppress the movement.

Robert Fantina (2021-01-08). The Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) Intrusion in Albania, Threatens Regional Stability in Middle East and Balkans. globalresearch.ca One can only imagine the risk when some citizens of a small country conceal hundreds of thousands of weapons and explosives. The nation becomes a powder keg, awaiting one small mistake to spark a deadly explosion. | This is the situation …

_____ (2021-01-07). UK Judge Justifies CIA Spying On Assange. popularresistance.org The British judge ruling in the US government's extradition case against journalist Julian Assange justified a CIA spying operation targeting both the WikiLeaks publisher and the Ecuadorian government by pointing to debunked accusations published by CNN. Yet in a self-referential loop, the American media outlet's dubious claims about Assange themselves originated with a security firm that was spying on Assange for the CIA — and which is now facing prosecution in Spain for illegal activity. | While the UK judge ultimately decided not to extradite Assange, citing his deteriorating mental health and the likeli…

Staff (2021-01-07). "Americans Are Now Getting a Mild Taste of Their Own Medicine" of Disrupting Democracy Elsewhere. democracynow.org World leaders reacted in horror over the storming of the U.S. Capitol, with the U.N. secretary-general calling on political leaders to demand their followers refrain from violence. Leaders of the U.K., New Zealand, Australia, Canada, India, Japan, France, Germany, NATO and the European Council called for a peaceful transfer of power to Joe Biden. Investigative journalist Allan Nairn looks at what steps Trump may take next, and says despite protestations from President-elect Joe Biden and others that the insurrection was "not who we are," the U.S. has a long track record of disrupting democratic processes elsewher…

RT (2021-01-07). Not believing in God 'as dangerous' as Covid-19 denialism says Head of Russian Church, asking followers to trust the experts. rt.com Coronavirus isn't the only pandemic sweeping through society, the Russian Orthodox Church's top cleric has said. According to Patriarch Kirill, disbelief is public health enemy number one, ahead of purely biological threats. | In a sermon to mark the start of Christmas in Russia on Wednesday, the bishop told worshippers that "there are people who do not believe in anything at all — not in disease or in danger, and neglect medical advice." | "But we believers know that these stupid people exist. There are also many people who do not believe in God… which is very dangerous, even deadly," he added. "Just a…

WSWS (2021-01-07). German teachers' union backs in-person learning as COVID-19 deaths soar. wsws.org In enforcing their inhumane pandemic policies, the federal and state governments, consisting of a broad range of political coalitions, can rely on the close cooperation of Germany's trade unions.

Danica Jorden (2021-01-07). France Grants Citizenship to Immigrant Essential Workers as Protests Against Racist "Security" Laws Grow. globalresearch.ca The government of France has decided to recognize the contributions of essential workers from other countries working within its borders during the pandemic by offering them French citizenship. On 22 December 2020, the day of the announcement, 74 immigrants were …

South Front (2021-01-07). Video: Tense Situation in Northern Syria. Actions of Turkish Military. globalresearch.ca The Turkish Army has been increasing its military presence in Greater Idlib despite the recent withdrawal of observation posts, which had been encircled by the Syrian Army. | Recently, the Turkish military deployed major reinforcements to Mount al-Zawiya. Turkish military convoys …

Tanya Wadhwa (2021-01-07). Bolivia approves emergency use of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine. peoplesdispatch.org Bolivia hopes to vaccinate up to 20% of its population in the first quarter of this year. The health ministry has endorsed Russia's Sputnik V and China's CoronaVac vaccines against COVID-19…

news.un (2021-01-07). WHO warns of COVID-19 'tipping point' as cases rise across Europe. news.un.org The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of a "tipping point" in the fight against COVID-19, amid surging cases in Europe and the fresh challenge of a mutating virus.

WSWS (2021-01-07). New year begins with record COVID-19 deaths in Germany. wsws.org The beginning of the year in Germany was characterised by overcrowded crematoria, hospitals on the brink of collapse and mass death.

_____ (2021-01-07). The EU Avoids Treating Guaido As 'President' Of Venezuela. popularresistance.org The European Union avoided referring to the opposition politician Juan Guaido as Venezuela's "acting president" once the mandate of the National Assembly over which he presided expired on Tuesday. | "Venezuela urgently needs a political solution to end the current impasse through an inclusive process of dialogue and negotiation leading to credible, inclusive, and democratic processes," said Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. | He added that the EU will maintain its engagement with all Venezuelan political and social actors, including "Juan Guaido and…

teleSUR (2021-01-07). Argentina Condemns UK's Military Drills on the Malvinas Islands. telesurenglish.net Argentina's Foreign Affairs Ministry (FAM) Wednesday condemned the latest military drills carried out by the United Kingdom on the Malvinas Islands. | RELATED: | The Argentine authorities described the military activities as an unjustified show of force and a deliberate detachment from the United Nations resolution that calls for a peaceful solution to the Malvinas territorial dispute. | "Our country regrets that at…

teleSUR (2021-01-07). China Urges UK to Forget Colonial Mentality in Hong Kong Issues. telesurenglish.net China on Thursday urged the United Kingdom to abandon its illusion of colonial influence on Hong Kong and to cease interfering in China's internal affairs. | RELATED: | British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on Wednesday said that the arrests of activists in Hong Kong were "a grievous attack on Hong Kong's rights and freedoms" as protected under the Sino-British Joint Declaration. | In response, Foreign Affairs Ministry spok…

Khaled Iskef (2021-01-07). "The Syrian File" and The "Biased" Policies of the Organization for the Chemical Prohibition Organization. globalresearch.ca Russia has commented on the work policies of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons regarding the Syrian file and the pressures that the organization is subjected to by some countries, criticizing the technical secretariat policies in them, saying …

sputniknews (2021-01-07). Tunisian Forces Arrest High-Ranking Al-Qaeda Operative, Interior Ministry States. sputniknews.com CAIRO (Sputnik) – Tunisia's security services have detained a terrorist from among the leaders of the Al-Qaeda* terror group (banned in Russia), the country's interior ministry said on Thursday.

teleSUR (2021-01-07). Bolivia Restricts Flights From Europe Until Mid-February. telesurenglish.net Bolivia's President Luis Arce on Wednesday issued a decree that prohibits the entry of flights from Europe until February 15 as a preventive measure to prevent the spread of the British coronavirus strain in the Andean country. | RELATED: | The new rule changes a decree issued on December 23 that suspended the entry to Bolivia of European flights until January 8, 2021. | The decision was adopted within the framework of the National…

Cynthia Chung (2021-01-07). Russia's Historical Relationship with the United States. President Lincoln and Czar Alexander II. globalresearch.ca "Whenever the government of the United States shall break up, it will probably be in consequence of a false direction having been given to public opinion. This is the weak point of our defences, and the part to which the …

2021-01-10: Social Media Postees

Please be social by posting these 'POSTEES' on social media! (Copy the text of the postee below, then paste it on social media and the story images will also appear.)

'Let the rich pay for the COVID-19 crisis'
Muhammed Shabeer | peoplesdispatch.org | 2021-01-10
Niklas Bà∂ck, chairman of the Communist Youth of Austria, talks about the impact of COVID-19 on the people, especially the youth, the resistance to the far-right and the growth of the left…
peoplesdispatch.org/2021/01/10/let-the-rich-pay-for-the-covid-19-crisis/

Letter: The demonisation of Assange paves the way for more rape and murder by the State
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2021-01-10
We are relieved the court ruled not to extradite Julian Assange to the US. His immediate release from Belmarsh, classified as torture by the UN Special Rapporteur, especially under coronavirus, must follow. The refusal of bail must be reversed immediately. | As an anti-rape organisation, we resent the original use of alleged sex offences to facilitate Assange's extradition to the US via Sweden. Knowing the evidence, that case was never viable, but it initiated and fuelled a witch-hunt against Assange and diverted from the real target: his Wikileaks reporting. | Assange and Chelsea Manning exposed rape, torture, a…
thecanary.co/letters/2021/01/10/letter-the-demonisation-of-assange-paves-the-way-for-more-rape-and-murder-by-the-state/

Communist youth mobilize across Italy demanding safety in schools
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2021-01-10
On Thursday, January 7, Communist Youth Front (FGC) organized demonstrations in several cities across Italy demanding safer classrooms. Schools across Italy were supposed to be reopened on that day but the government postponed the reopening to Monday. The FGC organized protests in the cities of Rome, Milan, Naples, Turin, Florence, Perugia, Catania, Padova, Salerno, Taranto, Cosenza, Gorizia and Ascoli. The protesters said that since the beginning of the pandemic, nothing substantial has been done to ensure safety in schools and respect for students' rights during online lessons. | FGC also gave a call for a nati…
peoplesdispatch.org/2021/01/10/communist-youth-mobilize-across-italy-demanding-safety-in-schools/

As Brexit reality hits home, it's starting to expose the DUP in Northern Ireland
Peadar O'Cearnaigh | thecanary.co | 2021-01-10
When the UK left the EU on 1 January 2021, both parties entered a new trade relationship. This new relationship came about after a protracted and difficult negotiation process that's been ongoing since 2017. Neg…
thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2021/01/10/as-brexit-reality-hits-home-its-starting-to-expose-the-dup-in-northern-ireland/

Turkish government calls on Turks to dump WhatsApp, switch to local apps
Alex MacDonald | middleeasteye.net | 2021-01-10
Turkish government calls on Turks to dump WhatsApp, switch to local apps | New terms of service led to privacy concerns while Turkey has blasted a UK-EU exemption from data-sharing changes | Alex MacDonald | Sun, 01/10/2021 – 15: 50 | Logos of social networking websites displayed on a mobile phone's screen in Istanbul (AFP) | The Turkish government has called on its citizens to stop using WhatsApp and instead us…
www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkish-government-calls-turks-dump-whatsapp-and-switch-local-apps

Insurrection, The Coup & The Working Class With Professor Francis Boyle
Labor Video Project | indybay.org | 2021-01-10
WorkWeek interviews Professor Frances Boyle about the insurrection and coup and what should be done about it.
indybay.org/newsitems/2021/01/08/18839280.php

CCTV — The most-surveilled commuter boroughs in London
graham | truepublica.org.uk | 2021-01-10
Research by UK network data cabling infrastructure company ACCL has found that London is the most surveilled city in Europe with around 630,000 CCTV cameras watching 9.6 million inhabitants in the UK capital. That's 68 cameras per 1,000 Londoners. People living in Paris, Madrid and Athens are surveilled far less with between 3 and 11 …
truepublica.org.uk/united-kingdom/cctv-the-most-surveilled-commuter-boroughs-in-london/

Watch Heavy Snowfall Bury Madrid as Storm Filomena Hits Spain
sputniknews.com | 2021-01-09
The snowfall, said to be the heaviest in decades, caused the cancellation of flights and left hundreds of roads closed on January 9.
sputniknews.com/europe/202101091081716951-watch-heavy-snowfall-bury-madrid-as-storm-filomena-hits-spain/

[Comment] Offline: The cosmopolitan state
Richard Horton | thelancet.com | 2021-01-09
Britain feels broken. Broken by COVID-19. Broken by Brexit. Broken by the lies that have been dripped into British political debates these past 5 years. Those scientists and doctors who voted to remain in the European Union–perhaps based on a belief in the public value of research and clinical networks that have been painstakingly built over half a century between the UK and its European neighbours–were accused of Project Fear. But now that the UK has finally left the EU, with the thinnest of thin deals, one can look back and say that the arguments to leave were themselves based on nothing but fear[md…
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00026-X/fulltext?rss=yes

WHO has received 13 Covid vaccine proposals for emergency use, expects to get full data on Russia's Sputnik V by end of this month
rt.com | 2021-01-09
The World Health Organization (WHO) is currently assessing several vaccines to be promoted for emergency use across the world, including those made in Russia and China, one of its most senior officials revealed on Friday | The WHO has received 13 "valid proposals" for the possible emergency listing of Covid-19 vaccines since October, the assistant director-general for access to medicines and health products, Mariangela Simao, said at a press briefing. | "We have received, for example, the information from Sinopharm, we have finalized that in phase three trial and it is being authorized in some countries. We ar…
rt.com/russia/512018-who-sputnik-emergency-listing/

Pope to be vaccinated against Covid next week, labels opposition to jabs 'suicidal denial'
rt.com | 2021-01-09
Pope Francis has branded opposition to Covid-19 vaccines as "suicidal denial" and announced that he will receive a jab against the coronavirus disease next week. | In a forthcoming interview, the 84-year-old leader of the Catholic Church says that "ethically" getting a vaccine against the virus should be a duty for everyone. | "Next week, we will start to do it here (in the Vatican) and I made an appointment, we must do it," Francis told Italy's Canale 5 TV station. | Segments of the interview were released on Saturday with the full comments set to be broadcast on Sunday. "There is a suicidal denial which I ca…
rt.com/news/512030-pope-francis-covid19-vaccine/

Scientists warn that national lockdown needs to be stricter
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2021-01-09
The national lockdown needs to be toughened further to have a similar impact on case numbers as the March shutdown, scientists have said. | A more infectious variant, coupled with the usual winter pressures, requires stricter measures than the ones announced by Boris Johnson for England this month, the experts warned. Similar lockdown measures are in place across Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. | Activity: | Professor Robert West, a participant in the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours (SPI-B), said the current restrictions are "still allowing a lot of activity which is spreading the…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2021/01/09/scientists-warn-that-national-lockdown-needs-to-be-stricter/

Justice for victim of police killing in Ireland
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2021-01-09
In this episode of Around the World in 8 Minutes, we look at the campaign launched by the Sudanese Professionals Association to dissolve the notorious government-backed militia, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). We also look at the protests against the killing of George Nkencho by Irish police, as well as the killing of 9 indigenous leaders of the Tumandok community in the Philippines.
peoplesdispatch.org/2021/01/09/justice-for-victim-of-police-killing-in-ireland/

Insurrection, The Coup & The Working Class With Professor Francis Boyle
Labor Video Project | indybay.org | 2021-01-09
WorkWeek interviews Professor Frances Boyle about the insurrection and coup and what should be done about it.
indybay.org/newsitems/2021/01/08/18839280.php

Isaak Khalatnikov dies aged 101: Legendary Russian physicist & WW2 veteran helped create first Soviet nuclear bomb in 1940s
rt.com | 2021-01-09
Russian physicist Isaak Khalatnikov, the oldest member of the country's Academy of Sciences (RAS), has died at the age of 101. The scientist was the last living participant of the team that built the first Soviet nuclear bomb. | The scientist died early on Saturday in the Moscow Region, RAS told Russian media outlets. Born in 1919, more than a century ago, Khalatnikov was one of the leading Soviet — and, after the collapse of the Union, Russian scientists in the field of theoretical physics. | He was also the first head of the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics, a prestigious research agency within…
rt.com/russia/512031-soviet-nuclear-bomb-physicist-dies/

Braving crackdown, Turkish students resist Erdogan's bid to subjugate universities
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2021-01-09
Turkish authorities are cracking down on protests by the student community against president Recep Tayyip Erdogan's bid to control universities placing his loyalists at their helm. The move to appoint Melih Bulu as the rector of Boƒüaziàßi University has been met with widespread protests which have been going on since January 4. On January 8, police detained 30 students in Ankara who had demonstrated in solidarity with the university protests. On January 7, two cadre of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) were arrested in Antalya for raising a banner in solidarity with the students. Earlier, dozen…
peoplesdispatch.org/2021/01/09/braving-crackdown-turkish-students-resist-erdogans-bid-to-subjugate-universities/

The Forgotten People Of America
oneworld.press | 2021-01-09
The elites and the deep state are behaving like idiots, but that's not America. That's, like in Europe, not real politics, but the deep state, which has nothing to do with us, the real people. In the US, it has nothing to do with politics, and the same applies for in Europe.
oneworld.press/?module=articles&action=view&id=1863

Germany leads Europe in daily coronavirus deaths
wsws.org | 2021-01-09
Germany currently has the highest number of daily coronavirus deaths in Europe.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/01/09/germ-j09.html

The Forgotten People Of America
oneworld.press | 2021-01-09
The elites and the deep state are behaving like idiots, but that's not America. That's, like in Europe, not real politics, but the deep state, which has nothing to do with us, the real people. In the US, it has nothing to do with politics, and the same applies for in Europe.
oneworld.press/?module=articles&action=view&id=1863

Biden Appoints Chief Ukraine Coup-Plotter Victoria Nuland
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2021-01-08
Describing it as "one of the darkest days in American history," President-elect Joe Biden denounced Wednesday's spectacular assault on the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. as a coup attempt fomented by Donald Trump. | "I wish we could say we couldn't see it coming, but that isn't true. We could see it coming," the 78-year-old Delawarean said. | The last four years we've had a president who's made his contempt for our democracy, our Constitution, the rule of law, clear in everything he has done. He unleashed an all-out assault on the institutions of our democracy from the outset, and yesterday was but a culmin…
popularresistance.org/biden-appoints-chief-ukraine-coup-plotter-victoria-nuland/

Denmark restricts travel from all countries to 'win time' in battle against Covid-19
rt.com | 2021-01-08
The Danish Foreign Ministry has raised its travel guidance to the maximum level for all countries on Friday, in an effort to limit the spread of more transmissible Covid variants discovered in the UK and South Africa. | Entering Denmark without a recognizable purpose and a negative coronavirus test will not be permitted between January 10 and 17, Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod told journalists. | He also advised locals against leaving the country, saying: "the message…
rt.com/news/511970-denmark-coronavirus-travel-restrictions/

The Climate Crisis Sets Another Grim Record
Editor | scheerpost.com | 2021-01-08
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center / CC BY 2.0] By Andrea Germanos / Common Dreams Highlighting global campaigners' demands for urgent and bold climate action, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service announced Friday that despite coronavirus-related lockdowns, 2020 tied with 2016 for being the warmest year on record and closed out the warmest decade on the books. "It is notable that… | Source…
scheerpost.com/2021/01/08/the-climate-crisis-sets-another-grim-record/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-climate-crisis-sets-another-grim-record

Vaccine distribution mired in delays across Europe
wsws.org | 2021-01-08
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread out of control throughout the European continent, the program of vaccination organized by the European Union is already widely recognized to be a debacle.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/01/08/vacc-j08.html

This Pandemic Shows How Elites Have Forgotten Us
Peter Mertens | zcomm.org | 2021-01-08
Belgium has suffered the world's worst rate of coronavirus deaths…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/this-pandemic-shows-how-elites-have-forgotten-us/

Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
wsws.org | 2021-01-08
Employees at British Gas walk out to defend pay and conditions; UK University students rent strike across 31 universities; Kenyan healthcare workers' strike continues despite union sending doctors back…
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/01/08/wkrs-j08.html

The US Suspends Proposed Tariffs on French Products
telesurenglish.net | 2021-01-08
The U.S. Trade Representative's Office (USTR) on Thursday announced that the United States has decided to suspend proposed tariffs on about US$1.3 billion worth of French products amid a dispute over digital service taxes (DSTs). | RELATED: | US Crisis Gives Yuan a Chance to Beat the Dollar | The additional 25-percent tariffs on certain French products were announced in July 2020 in response to France's DST that impacts major U.S. technology companies and were scheduled to go into e…
telesurenglish.net/news/The-US-Suspends-Proposed-Tariffs-on-French-Products-20210108-0002.html

German region approves creation of fund to bypass US sanctions designed to stop Gazprom's vital Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline
rt.com | 2021-01-08
The parliament of the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has voted to establish a fund to circumvent American sanctions preventing the construction of the Nord Stream 2, a gas pipeline that will connect Russia and Germany. | When completed, it will run from Russia's Leningrad Region, bypassing the Baltic States and Poland, and arrive on Germany's north-eastern Baltic Sea shore. The project has been constantly opposed by Washington, which somewhat preposterously claims that it is a threat to the e…
rt.com/russia/511960-germany-approve-fund-nordstream2/

United Ireland 'within 25 years' thanks to 'disaster' Brexit, UK's former Home Secretary predicts
rt.com | 2021-01-08
The "disaster" Brexit deal has played into the hands of those wishing for the "destruction" of the UK, former cabinet minister David Blunkett has said, predicting that a united Ireland might emerge within the next 25 years. | The situation created by Brexit that now "effectively continues" the European single market in Northern Ireland bodes "extremely ill" for the future, Blunkett warned during a debate in the UK House of Lords on Friday. | The divorce agreement has created "contradictions" between the relationship Northern Ireland has with the rest of the UK and the EU, and, ultimately, might lead to the re…
rt.com/uk/511942-united-ireland-prediction-brexit/

The Pearl Harbor Hack and Other Media Fables
Eve Ottenberg | counterpunch.org | 2021-01-08
Journalistic fatuity soared into the stratosphere last month with tales of Chinese bounties on U.S. soldiers (the Russians, I guess, got tired of doing that and delegated to the Chinese), and breathless reports that the U.S. supposedly experienced its third or fourth Pearl Harbor. This one was in cyberspace, when Russia allegedly hacked into some…
counterpunch.org/2021/01/08/the-pearl-harbor-hack-and-other-media-fables/

European politicians and media downplay coup in the United States
wsws.org | 2021-01-08
The central concern within ruling circles is that the advanced decomposition of American democracy could strengthen opposition to similar developments in Europe.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/01/08/euro-j08.html

Student protests continue in Turkey in defiance of police-state measures
wsws.org | 2021-01-08
The mass student protests in Istanbul that started to oppose President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's appointment of a new rector to Boƒüaziàßi University, continued yesterday in defiance of police-state measures to suppress the movement.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/01/08/turk-j07.html

The Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) Intrusion in Albania, Threatens Regional Stability in Middle East and Balkans
Robert Fantina | globalresearch.ca | 2021-01-08
One can only imagine the risk when some citizens of a small country conceal hundreds of thousands of weapons and explosives. The nation becomes a powder keg, awaiting one small mistake to spark a deadly explosion. | This is the situation …
globalresearch.ca/the-mujahedin-e-khalq-organization-mko-intrusion-in-albania-threatens-regional-stability-in-middle-east-and-balkans/5733929

UK Judge Justifies CIA Spying On Assange
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2021-01-07
The British judge ruling in the US government's extradition case against journalist Julian Assange justified a CIA spying operation targeting both the WikiLeaks publisher and the Ecuadorian government by pointing to debunked accusations published by CNN. Yet in a self-referential loop, the American media outlet's dubious claims about Assange themselves originated with a security firm that was spying on Assange for the CIA — and which is now facing prosecution in Spain for illegal activity. | While the UK judge ultimately decided not to extradite Assange, citing his deteriorating mental health and the likeli…
popularresistance.org/uk-judge-justifies-cia-spying-on-assange/

China Urges UK to Forget Colonial Mentality in Hong Kong Issues
telesurenglish.net | 2021-01-07
China on Thursday urged the United Kingdom to abandon its illusion of colonial influence on Hong Kong and to cease interfering in China's internal affairs. | RELATED: | China to Take Countermeasures Against New US Sanctions | British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on Wednesday said that the arrests of activists in Hong Kong were "a grievous attack on Hong Kong's rights and freedoms" as protected under the Sino-British Joint Declaration. | In response, Foreign Affairs Ministry spok…
telesurenglish.net/news/China-Urges-UK-to-Forget-Colonial-Mentality-in-Hong-Kong-Issues-20210107-0012.html

Tunisian Forces Arrest High-Ranking Al-Qaeda Operative, Interior Ministry States
sputniknews.com | 2021-01-07
CAIRO (Sputnik) – Tunisia's security services have detained a terrorist from among the leaders of the Al-Qaeda* terror group (banned in Russia), the country's interior ministry said on Thursday.
sputniknews.com/africa/202101071081698965-tunisian-forces-arrest-high-ranking-al-qaeda-operative-interior-ministry-states/

Brutal Human Rights Abuses — Torture, Sanctions and Our Failure to Discuss Economic Rights
Rod Driver | zcomm.org | 2021-01-07
People in advanced nations assume that their governments do not torture prisoners, but it is practized by the US, and was used by Britain in its colonies and in Northern Ireland…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/brutal-human-rights-abuses-torture-sanctions-and-our-failure-to-discuss-economic-rights/

Russia's Historical Relationship with the United States. President Lincoln and Czar Alexander II
Cynthia Chung | globalresearch.ca | 2021-01-07
"Whenever the government of the United States shall break up, it will probably be in consequence of a false direction having been given to public opinion. This is the weak point of our defences, and the part to which the …
globalresearch.ca/why-russia-saved-united-states/5733755