(2021-07-30). Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa. wsws.org Strikes by oil workers in Iran joined by Haft Tappeh Sugarcane workers, nurses, water and sewage workers; warning pay strikes in Germany's retail and mail order sector as 280,000 workers demand pay rise; strikes over COVID safety by driver and vehicle registration staff in Wales expands to month-long stoppage; further rail strikes at ScotRail over pay as gateline staff join conductors, ticket examiners and cleaners…
(2021-07-30). Iceland's Chief Epidemiologist Suggests COVID-19 Restrictions Could Last for Up to 15 Years. globalresearch.ca
(2021-07-30). Caucasus war: Russia urges "both sides" to exercise restraint. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Never mind that Russia is obliged to support Armenia under Article 4 of the Collective Security Treaty Organization charter. Russia urges Baku, Yerevan to exercise restraint Moscow calls on Baku and Yerevan to refrain from actions that could further escalate the situation on the border, a deputy spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Alexander Bikantov, …
(2021-07-30). NATO deployed warplanes to intercept aircraft flying from one part of Russia to another. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com If turnabout is fair play, here's an illustration of what's involved: in 1985 a headline would have appeared in a publication of the Warsaw Pact which read Warsaw Pact scrambled Polish, Bulgarian warplanes to intercept American plane flying from Alaska to Washington State. Somehow one suspects an event of that nature might have garnered some …
(2021-07-30). Croatia: join NATO, send troops to three war zones and host U.S. military. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com USS Mount Whitney Arrives in Croatia The U.S. Sixth Fleet flag ship, USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) and staff arrived in Split, Croatia, for a port visit on July 30, 2021, before kicking off Large Scale Exercise (LSE) 2021. **** "Over the past ten years, U.S. military assistance to Croatia reached approximately four and a …
(2021-07-30). On far-right Vox party's appeal, Spanish court rules lockdowns unconstitutional. wsws.org This ruling is the judicially-sanctioned equivalent of the "herd immunity" policy of letting the coronavirus spread, espoused by the ruling class across Europe.
(2021-07-30). Belarus: Biden is obsessed with Russia to the point of derangement. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com From today's Belarusian Telegraph Agency. Political support for the "fugitives" [Belarusian dissidents?> has produced nothing and is limited to their unending road tours along the lines of "Biden will help us". Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the statement as he met with government officials on 30 July to discuss urgent issues of the public and …
(2021-07-30). Destabilization could cause chain reaction: NATO criticized for offensive build-up along Belarus' borders. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com NATO criticized for offensive build-up along Belarus' borders "Our country, being a link between the West and the East, got into the epicenter of civilizational confrontation. We are not laying it thick. We are just stating the fact: NATO has been methodically building its offensive military infrastructure along our borders," Aleksandr Lukashenko said. According to …
(2021-07-30). PDVSA Acquires 100% of Joint Venture with TotalEnergies and Equinor (PetroCedeño). orinocotribune.com The Venezuelan Petroleum Corporation (CVP), a subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela, SA (PDVSA), assumed a 100% stake in the Petrocedeño company following a highly successful negotiation process with the companies TotalEnergies (France) and Equinor (Norway), which gives PDVSA full control of the Venezuelan company. | Venezuela's state-owned oil company described the agreement in terms of increased sovereignty, resulting from "an important and harmonious negotiation" that grants the OPEC country full control of "one of the most powerful companies in Latin America," and also allows PDVSA to fully control the reactiv…
(2021-07-30). Open Letter to Chancellor Merkel: Germany's Mega-Floods are a Wake-Up Call that We need Radical Climate Action, Now. juancole.com Prof. Dr. Eicke R. Weber 10625 Berlin An Bundeskanzlerin Dr. Angela Merkel Bundeskanzleramt Willi-Brandt-Straàüe 1 10557 Berlin July 25, 2021 Dear Chancellor Dr. Merkel, We are again in deep concern. We were very grateful that our first letter of March 2011, after the terrible Fukushima catastrophe (see attachment), may have helped to reach your quick …
(2021-07-30). Fatal explosion at Chempark Leverkusen in Germany. wsws.org The explosion at the Currenta site has likely claimed seven lives, with 31 being seriously injured.
(2021-07-30). Greece had better guard its own air space. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Hellenic Air Force — Key Player in the Western Balkans for NATO Air Policing Controlled by NATO's Combined Air Operations Centre at Torrejón, Spain, the Hellenic Air Force's 1st Air Control Centre, RAP Production Centre and Sensor Fusion Post and the 2nd Control and Reporting Centre, Greece flies NATO Air Policing sorties out of all …
(2021-07-30). U.S. deploys F-16s to Poland to "increase lethality" antibellum679354512.wordpress.com The U.S. F-16s will join Turkish F-16s at the air base at Malbork in Poland as part of a NATO operation, which recently intercepted Russian aircraft flying from Russia's Kaliningrad oblast to the main body of Russia. F-16s arrive in Poland for Aviation Detachment Rotation U.S. Airmen and F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft assigned to the …
(2021-07-30). Is the US Heading for the Exit? counterpunch.org It was all so long ago, in a world seemingly without challengers. Do you even remember when we Americans lived on a planet with a recumbent Russia, a barely rising China, and no obvious foes except what later came to be known as an "axis of evil," three countries then incapable of endangering this one?
(2021-07-30). Russian diplomat realizes NATO's anti-Russian war games on Russia's border may have anti-Russian bias. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Yeah, it sort of came to me like a revelation, an epiphany…. The Putinite Praetorian Guard is a bit slow in discerning — say twenty years late — that all NATO exercises, troops, armored vehicles, interceptor missiles, battle groups, cyber warfare centers, missile radar sites, warships, advanced combat aircraft, AWACS aircraft and so forth deployed …
(2021-07-30). Somalia: Turkey's Other War. libya360.wordpress.com Rick Rozoff Turkey opened Camp TURKSOM, military base and academy, in Mogadishu, Somalia in 2017 with the Chief of the Turkish General Staff, General Hulusi Akar, present. It can accommodate 200 Turkish military personnel and is slated to graduate over 10,000 Somali soldiers. Lying as it does immediately across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen,…
(2021-07-30). Turkey's other war: Somalia. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Turkey's other war: Somalia Turkey opened Camp TURKSOM, military base and academy, in Mogadishu, Somalia in 2017 with the Chief of the Turkish General Staff, General Hulusi Akar, present. It can accommodate 200 Turkish military personnel and is slated to graduate over 10,000 Somali soldiers. Lying as it does immediately across the Gulf of Aden …
(2021-07-30). Ukraine installs new top commander for war in Donbass. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com The battle of Avdiivka occurred in Donetsk in the Donbass region in 2017. It was part of an offensive by the Kiev regime waged under the name of Anti-Terrorist Operation. (Ukraine like Turkey calls killing its own citizens anti-terrorism.) The Ukrinform report from which the following is excerpted highlights the fact that the nation's new …
(2021-07-30). US Sanctions: Weapons of Economic Warfare. orinocotribune.com By Donald Monaco — Jul 27, 2021 | On July 22, 2021, the Biden regime inflicted punitive economic sanctions on Cuban government officials extending Trump era sanctions that targeted the tourism and energy industries and stopped remittances being sent to the beleaguered island. | Shortages of food, medicine and electricity caused by the U.S. embargo have provoked street protests encouraged on social media in what is ironically called the "Bay of Tweets." The U.S. State Department, National Endowment for Democracy, U.S. Agency for International Development and U.S. Agency for Global Media have provided grants t…
(2021-07-30). Russian Warplanes Continue To Hummer Militant Positions In Greater Idlib (Videos, Photos). southfront.org 
FILE PHOTO: Sukhoi Su-24 attack aircraft before departing for its permanent base in Russia from Khmeimim Air Base in Syria. © Vadim Grishankin / Sputnik | On July 30, warplanes of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) carried out seven airstrikes on the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib, where several terrorists groups are present. | The Russian airstrikes targeted the outskirts of the towns of Mashoon, Kansafra, Mareian and al-Fatterah in southern Idlib. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR)…
(2021-07-30). Central Syria: Hundreds Of Russian Airstrikes killed Or Injured 35 ISIS Terrorists During July. southfront.org 
File image. | Russian warplanes carried out more than 800 airstrikes on Syria's central region over the last 30 days, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on July 30. | The airstrikes targeted hideout of ISIS cells in the deserts of Homs, Deir Ezzor as well as in the Hama-Aleppo-Raqqa triangle. The terrorist group has been very active in these areas. | According to the London-based monitoring group, at least 16 terrorists of ISIS were killed and 19 others were wounded as a result…
(2021-07-30). Armed Turkish Combat Drone Spotted Over Greater Idlib. southfront.org 
Photo: Turkish Aerospace Industries | On July 30, a Turkish TAI Anka-B combat drone was spotting flying over the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib. | Syrian activists shared a photo of the combat drone that was apparently conducting an armed reconnaissance mission over Greater Idlib. The region, where Turkey maintains a large force, is held by al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham and Turkish-backed factions. | The Turkish combat drone was armed with two MAM-L laser-guided small-diameter munitions, which we…
(2021-07-30). Armenia Claims Azerbaijan Continues Violations, Calls For Russian Soldiers Along Entire Border. southfront.org 
Click to see full-size image | The Armenian Defense Ministry claimed that Azerbaijan has violated the ceasefire and shelled its positions again."On July 30, between 11: 20 and 11: 30 (10: 20-10: 30 Moscow time), Azerbaijani units opened fire from sniper and other small arms at Armenian positions deployed in the Yeraskh sector (70 kilometers from Yerevan) ", reads the release of the military department. | It also noted that the fire was suppressed by retaliatory actions, there were no casualties. | Acting Prime Minister o…
(2021-07-30). Why Germany Has Won and Italy Has Lost. southfront.org 
Illustrative Image | Written by German Chancellor Merkel — writes Alberto Negri (il manifesto, July 23) — has resisted the pressure of three U.S. administrations — Obama, Trump and Biden — to cancel North Stream 2, the pipeline that flanks the North Stream inaug…
(2021-07-30). Craig Murray Will Surrender Himself For Prison. popularresistance.org In the case against former United Kingdom diplomat-turned whistleblower Craig Murray, the UK supreme court refused to hear Murray's appeal. He will now surrender himself to police for an eight-month prison sentence. The High Court in Edinburgh in Scotland convicted Murray of contempt on March 25 after concluding that he published several blog posts, which they believe led people to identify witnesses in the sexual assault trial against former Scottish Minister Alex Salmond.
(2021-07-30). The Global Right Wing's Bizarre Obsession With Pedophilia. counterpunch.org Hungary's authoritarian leader Viktor Orbán loves a good enemy. He has lashed out against Eurocrats in Brussels. He has cynically demonized immigrants to boost his political standing at home. But now he may have gone too far with his attack on an unlikely (and universally unliked) group of people. Pedophiles. Last month, the Hungarian parliament
(2021-07-30). Hesitant about COVID-19 vaccine development? newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org Some people may be hesitant to be vaccinated for COVID-19 because they think COVID-19 vaccines were developed too quickly. But today's successes are the result of many years of coronavirus research. "To say that these messenger RNA vaccines were only developed in the past year would be erroneous," says Dr. Gregory Poland, an infectious diseases expert and head of Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group. "I know some people are hesitant and they might be fearful over some of the headlines they…
(2021-07-30). Slamming China Won't Save Fossil Capitalism From Itself. counterpunch.org Only the mentally impaired now doubt the reality of climate change. Only the ideologically blind question that human burning of fossil fuels has caused it. In just a few weeks, we had once-in-millennium floods in Germany and Belgium, a once-in-a-millennium heat wave in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. Fires. Melting Arctic ice and permafrost. Mudslides in India. Floods in the New York City subway. Record floods in China, with a year's worth of rain falling in a single day in Zhengzhou.
(2021-07-29). The Taliban go to Tianjin. thealtworld.com China and Russia will be key to solving an ancient geopolitical riddle: how to pacify the 'graveyard of empires' | So this is the way the Regardless, after two decades of death and destruction and untold trillions of dollars, we're faced not with a bang — and not with a whimper, either — but rather with a pic of the Taliban in Tianjin, a nine-man delegation led by top political commissioner Mullah Abdul Ghani…
(2021-07-28). Columnist calls for depoliticizing COVID-19 origin-tracing. ecns.cn A Tanzanian columnist has called for depoliticizing COVID-19, saying politics should not in any way influence scientific inquiry into the origins of the novel coronavirus.
(2021-07-28). Science should prevail in origin-tracing of COVID-19, say Nepali experts. ecns.cn Efforts to probe the origin of COVID-19 could be hamstrung by the politicization of the issue, with a conspiracy theory about lab leaks taking precedence over a scientific conclusion.
(2021-07-29). Any form of U.S. military contact with China's Taiwan opposed. ecns.cn A State Council Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson on Thursday voiced firm opposition to any form of military contact between the United States and China's Taiwan region.
(2021-07-28). Tiktok vows to strengthen data security. ecns.cn As part of efforts to strengthen its global data security, the Chinese video-sharing app TikTok has opened its first regional Fusion Centre in Dublin, Ireland, to detect and respond to critical incidents in real-time.
(2021-07-28). China-U.S. relationship at 'new critical juncture': new Chinese ambassador. ecns.cn China's new Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang on Wednesday said the China-U.S. relationship "has once again come to a new critical juncture, facing not only many difficulties and challenges but also great opportunities and potentials."
(2021-07-28). Comicomment: Is mute Fort Detrick 'innocent'?>. ecns.cn It is not up to the U.S. itself to decide whether the Fort Detrick laboratory is "clean."
(2021-07-29). Mexico president blasts 'inhumane' US sanctions against Cuba. en.mehrnews.com Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has scoffed at the notion that Mexico should honor a US-imposed embargo on Cuba, as his country sends aid to the island in defiance of Washington's suffocating economic bans.
(2021-07-29). Cuban Foreign Minister Rejects Statement by EU's Josep Borrell. telesurenglish.net Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla on Thursday rejected statements by the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, on the July 11 riots, and warned that in speaking about Cuba he "lies and manipulates", while "not daring to mention by name the genocidal U.S. blockade", which also violates European sovereignty.
(2021-07-28). UN envoy: 'Political manipulation' won't defeat pandemic. ecns.cn A Chinese envoy to the United Nations on Wednesday rejected "false information" from the United States on the coronavirus' origin, saying that "political manipulation is unpopular, cannot defeat the pandemic and is doomed to failure".
(2021-07-28). Politicizing COVID-19 fight is perilous, says S. African official. ecns.cn As the rest of the world tries to fight the COVID-19 pandemic with science, some in the United States have chosen to politicize COVID-19, Anwar Adams, a councillor in the City of Cape Town has said.
(2021-07-28). Geo-political rivalry blocks global coronavirus cooperation, says Bangladeshi official. ecns.cn A senior Bangladeshi official has said that labelling COVID-19 as a Chinese virus is "very unfortunate" and that geo-political rivalry is "engulfing" global efforts to fight the pandemic.
(2021-07-29). Russia rejects Dutch court ruling to hand $5 BILLION of taxpayers' cash to ex-oligarchs over collapse of Yukos oil & gas empire. rt.com 
Officials in Moscow have vowed to vigorously appeal a judicial ruling in an international arbitration court that would bind Russia to hand over billions of dollars to the former shareholders of the collapsed Yukos energy giant. | The office of the country's Prosecutor General said on Thursday that it does not acknowledge the validity of the decision, by the International Arbitration Court in The Hague. Authorities said that Russia would "appeal the decision without fail," questioning both the basis of the judges' jurisdiction and the claims themselves. | Earlier that day, representatives of the shareholders wh…
(2021-07-29). EU issues travel warning after Greece's south Aegean islands report spike in Covid infections. rt.com 
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has warned against travel to Greece's south Aegean islands, updating the area to dark red after a spike in coronavirus cases was reported by officials. | Greece has drawn visitors to the 13 islands, including Mykonos and Santorini, by promoting them as 'Covid-free' destinations but the updated The ECDC's travel map is a f…
(2021-07-29). 'Biggest destroyer of peace': China lashes out after US Navy warship sails through Taiwan Strait for SEVENTH time under Biden. rt.com 
A US Navy guided missile destroyer has crossed the Taiwan Strait in the South China Sea, making it the seventh such trip by an American warship this year, and prompting China to accuse the US of trying provoke its military. | The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Benfold sailed northwards through the strait on Wednesday, the US Navy said in a statement. The maneuver was confirmed by Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense on Thursday, with officials saying the military used joint intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance tools to monitor movements at sea and in the air around Taiwan, accordin…
(2021-07-29). Priest gagged for saying Canada residential-school victims lied about abuse for 'extra money' & joke about SHOOTING church vandals. rt.com 
A Catholic priest has been barred from speaking publicly by a Canadian archdiocese, after accusing residential-school survivors of lying about sexual abuse to get more money, and of speaking about wanting to shoot church vandals. | The inflammatory statements, made over a number of weeks by Father Rhéal Forest at St. Emile Roman Catholic Church in Winnipeg, were even shared on the church's Facebook page, but have since been taken down. | During a mass on July 10, Forest said the survivors lied about being sexually abused in a ploy to receive more money in the settlement process with the federal governme…
(2021-07-29). 'Hopeless And Dissatisfied': Growing Anger At Iranian Officials As Khuzestan Water Protests Spread. juancole.com By Golnaz Esfandiari and Mohammad Zarghami | — ( RFE/RL) — Analysts say economic desperation and growing frustration in Iranian society have led to angry demonstrations around the country that began with people protesting water shortages in the southwestern province of Khuzestan. "If the society wasn't hopeless, it wouldn't take to the streets. It wouldn't …
(2021-07-29). The West Is Pressuring Poland & Russia Due To Their Conservative-Nationalist Values. oneworld.press Historical rivals Poland and Russia have curiously found themselves in the same position vis-a-vis the West after Warsaw recently came under intense Western Hybrid War pressure due to its conservative-nationalist values, which are actually the real driving force behind the similar Western campaign against Moscow too.
(2021-07-29). Russia and China To Hold Joint Military Exercises in August. telesurenglish.net "A total of 10,000 troops will take part in the joint maneuvers," the Russian Defense Ministry said, according to the Interfax news agency. | It added that these are the Xibu (Interaction) 2021 maneuvers, which will be held on Chinese territory and in which uniformed personnel from the Eastern Military District will take part on the Russian side. | RELATED: | The exercises will be held at the Qingtongxia ground troops range of…
(2021-07-29). Six Years on from Malaysia Airlines MH17 Destruction: A Clear Lack of Evidence that Moscow Was Behind It. globalresearch.ca The fighting that erupted in the east of Ukraine can be traced to a US-instituted coup d'état of February 2014 — confirmed by president Obama on CNN when he confided that Washington had "brokered a deal to transition power" in the country, forcing Viktor Yanukovych from office.
(2021-07-29). 'We're proud Jews': Ben & Jerry's co-founders say there's nothing 'anti-Semitic' about ice cream embargo of Israeli settlements. rt.com 
Ben & Jerry's co-founders have pushed back against claims of anti-Semitism following the company's decision to stop offering its ice cream products in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, noting that they themselves are Jews. | Writing in the New York Times, Bennett Cohen and Jerry Greenfield said they were "proud Jews" who view Israel's occupation of the West Bank as a barrier to peace. | "It's possible to support Israel and oppose some of its policies, just as we've opposed policies of the US government. As such, we unequivocally support the decision of the company to end business in the occupied territ…
(2021-07-29). Taking action for Palestine. thecanary.co
| Video transcript | What kind of democracy do we live in when 1 million people go out to oppose a war, and they still go and kill innocent civilians? Enough…