(2021-08-21). NATO chieftain thanks Azerbaijan for troops in Afghanistan. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com NATO Secretary General thanks Azerbaijan for ensuring the security of Kabul airport "…I…thank the armed forces of NATO allies, in particular Turkey, the United States and Great Britain, as well as our partner Azerbaijan, for their vital role in ensuring the security of the airport," Stoltenberg said at a press conference after the extraordinary meeting …
(2021-08-21). Poland: NATO not done with Afghanistan. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Perhaps the Afghan nationals can be recruited into a unit for war in the Donbass and Belarus. Poland to evacuate 300 Afghan citizens who cooperated with NATO — PM Poland will be responsible for an evacuation operation that will ensure safe transport for 300 Afghan citizens who have cooperated with NATO in recent years, Poland's …
(2021-08-21). Soft Power Just Shifted Massively From West To East. southfront.org 
U.S. soldiers at Kabul airport. Illustrative image | Written by Don Hank | If you look back to the US's first involvement before the start of the Afghan war in 2001, a case can be made that Biden's decision to pull US troops out of the country was planned as part of the ongoing US attempt to weaken Russia. After all, the Democrats have been accusing Putin of meddling in the 2016 election and they seem to have fallen for their own proofless narrative. | Bringing down (Soviet) Russia was the goal when the CI…
(2021-08-21). New Wave Of Russian Airstrikes Hit Greater Idlib (Photos, Video). southfront.org 
A Russian Su-24 takes off on a combat mission at Hemeimeem airbase, Syria, on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2015. IMAGE: AP PHOTO/VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV | On August 21, a new wave of Russian airstrikes hit the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib, where many terrorist groups are present. | The airstrikes destroyed a compound located near the town of Hmeimat in al-Ghab Plains in the northwestern countryside of Hama. The region is an infamous stronghold of al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the de-facto ruler of Greater…
(2021-08-21). Syria's Air Defenses Intercepted 22 Missiles During Recent Israeli Attack: Russian MoD. southfront.org 
Illustrative image. | The Syrian Arab Air Defense Forces (SyAADF) shot down 22 missiles fired by Israel during the recent "The Syrian air defense on duty destroyed 22 missiles from the Russian-made Buk-M2E and Pantsir-S systems," Kulit said. | The Israeli strikes, which were launched from Lebano…
(2021-08-21). NATO partners Azerbaijan, South Korea to jointly exploit conquered Nagorno-Karabakh. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com President Ilham Aliyev receives delegation led by Speaker of National Assembly of Republic of Korea President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has today received a delegation led by Chairman of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea Park Byung-sook. **** Of course, I [Supreme, Exalted, Sublime, Victorious, Invincible Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev] am confident that the …
(2021-08-21). Data Contradicts Ukrainian Claims that Russia Is Cheating Europe Out of Paid for Gas. globalresearch.ca
(2021-08-21). Scientific health policies contain delta variant outbreak in China. wsws.org US and European media that oppose scientific social-distancing policies at home have responded with calls for Beijing to abandon attempts to limit the spread of COVID-19.
(2021-08-21). Missiles in Romania: "NATO Alliance conducting the highest of high-end warfare every day!" antibellum679354512.wordpress.com AEGIS Ashore Romania Celebrates Five Years of BMD Contribution to NATO AAMDS Romania is under the operational control of U.S. Navy's Sixth Fleet via Commander, Task Force (CTF) 64 based in Naples, Italy, and is a critical part of the European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA) which calls for ballistic missile defense (BMD) capable Aegis ships …
(2021-08-21). [Editorial] Health in a world of extreme heat. thelancet.com The heatwaves and wildfires that swept across southern Europe and the USA this summer have been traumatic and deadly. 600 excess deaths were reported in the Pacific Northwest in the USA alone. According to the Sixth Assessment Report of Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which synthesises the latest scientific evidence on climate change, global temperature is expected to reach or exceed 1 ∑5 ∞C of warming, averaged over the next 20 years. The report predicts that these record-breaking temperatures will be more frequent, intense, and last longer because of human-induced cli…
(2021-08-21). [Correspondence] Revisiting the evidence for physical distancing, face masks, and eye protection. thelancet.com Derek Chu and colleagues reported that face mask wearing in hospitals and health-care settings reduces risk of respiratory infection.1 Surprisingly, this recommendation was extended to the general population. Summary estimates were calculated using results of three severe acute respiratory syndrome studies, of which only two yielded statistically significant results. The first study was done in households, a situation that is similar to a health-care setting.2 The second was a case-control study in the general population where infected and uninfected individuals were asked via telephone interviews whether they ha…
(2021-08-21). Poland: Russia lying about NATO and U.S. military presence. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Russian spokeswoman 'promoting lies' about Poland, NATO, West: Polish official Stanis≈Çaw ≈ªaryn was speaking after the Russian spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, a day earlier expressed Moscow's concern that the United States "plans for increasing its military presence in Poland," Poland's PAP news agency reported. In an interview with PAP, ≈ªaryn was quoted as saying on Friday …
(2021-08-21). Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast: It's like a Code Red hospital alert. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org An overwhelming surge of COVID-19 cases is underway in the U.S. The delta variant continues to spread, the lambda variant is showing up, and some people are refusing to be vaccinated for COVID-19 or wear face masks. "My message today is a hospital term and that's Code Red," says Dr. Gregory Poland, an infectious diseases expert and head of Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group. "It is Code Red in the U.S. and for the globe regarding…
(2021-08-21). Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast: Breaking down the booster terminology for COVID-19 vaccines. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org COVID-19 vaccine boosters are being recommended eight months after a person's second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. "A vaccine booster dose is generally an additional dose above and beyond the primary series needed to achieve protective immunity," says Dr. Gregory Poland, an infectious diseases expert and head of Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group. "So the dose that was approved this past week would be better classified as an 'additional dose' for those who are moderately to severely immunocompromised." Dr….
(2021-08-21). Ukraine shuts down leading independent news site Strana as part of new crackdown on journalists, judges & opposition politicians. rt.com 
One of Ukraine's most prominent news outlets has been taken offline after the country's National Security and Defense Council marked it out as a threat, thus adding the title to the growing list of banned opposition media groups. |
(2021-08-21). Russia's talks with Taliban are latest proof Moscow's foreign policy is non-ideological. The West could learn a lesson from that. rt.com 
Both Russia and China are pursuing a strategy of engaging with the Taliban. While some politicians and commentators insist this is a global threat, the reality is that constructive talks are now more likely to bring stability. | Winston Churchill famously defined Russia as "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma." Its unique history and geography have obviously produced a distinctive political culture, but Western efforts to mystify Russia also have the effect of drawing a dividing line between the rational and predictable 'us' versus the irrational and unpredictable 'other' — Moscow. | As a res…
(2021-08-21). NATO's No. 2 joins initiative to drive Russia, Black Sea Fleet from Crimea. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com NATO Dpty Secretary General Mircea Joana to visit Crimean platform, 30th anniversary of Ukraine's Independence NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Joana is coming to Ukraine to participate in the Crimean Platform and celebrate the 30th anniversary of Ukraine's Independence. The corresponding announcement was distributed on Saturday in Brussels by the NATO headquarters. **** "On August …
(2021-08-21). Crimea: can humanitarian bombing be far behind? antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Evidently the term indigenous is employed to differentiate all other ethnic groups from Russian speakers. They are then implicitly invaders according to the calculus. Note the glaring geographical disparities between eastern and western Ukraine. That discrepancy will be used to prove that ethnic Russians are "genocidal Islamophobic racists." The bombs and cruise missiles come next. …
(2021-08-21). Finishing what ISIS started? Turkey attacks Yezidis in Iraq. zcomm.org As Turkey bombs the Yezidis in Sinjar, it is our duty to mobilize in solidarity against Turkish aggression and in support of the Yezidi pursuit of local autonomy…
(2021-08-21). Military Situation In Donetsk People's Republic On August 21, 2021 (Map Update). southfront.org 
Click to see full-size image | 1. UAF in Pivdenne shelled the Gagarin mine in Gorlovka with grenade launchers | 2. UAF in Krasnogorovka shelled Staromikhailovka with grenade launchers | 3. UAF in Shyrokino shelled Leninskoe with grenade launchers | 4. DPR forces in Staromikhailovka shelled UAF positions in Krasnogorovka with ATGM | 5. DPR forces in Gorlovka shelled UAF positions in Pivdenne with grenade launchers | 6. DPR forces in Gorlovka shelled UAF positions in Niu-York with grenade laun…
(2021-08-21). Ukraine continues to build NATO proxy army. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com NSDC approves draft strategic defense bulletin — Taran At a meeting chaired by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) has approved the draft Strategic Defense Bulletin of Ukraine, according to Minister of Defense Andriy Taran. **** According to Taran, the Ministry of Defense developed the Strategic Defense Bulletin based …
(2021-08-20). Despite Departure from Afghanistan, America still Has an Archipelago of 750 Military Bases around the World. juancole.com 
By Patterson Deppen | — ( Tomdispatch.com ) — It was the spring of 2003 during the American-led invasion of Iraq. I was in second grade, living on a U.S. military base in Germany, attending one of the Pentagon's many schools for families of servicemen stationed abroad. One Friday morning, my class was on the …
(2021-08-20). G7 Seeks Cooperation on Evacuation Amid Chaos in Kabul. telesurenglish.net The Group of Seven (G7) on Thursday sought to secure close cooperation in personnel evacuation and the resettlement of refugees as chaos continues at the Kabul airport amid the hasty withdrawal of the U.S.-led military troops in Afghanistan and the Taliban's swift takeover of the Asian country. | RELATED: | The foreign affairs ministers of G7, including Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States,…
(2021-08-20). Study finds evidence of novel coronavirus circulating in Italy in late summer 2019. ecns.cn A new study has revealed evidence that the novel coronavirus may have been circulating undetected in northern Italy as early as late August or early September 2019, months before the first infections were officially reported.
(2021-08-20). Headlines for August 20, 2021. democracynow.org Pentagon Boosts U.S. Troop Levels in Kabul as Chaotic Evacuations Follow Taliban Takeover, Taliban Says It Executed Former Islamic State Leader Abu Omar Khorasani, Afghan Youth Soccer Player Zaki Anwari Died in Fall from U.S. Plane Evacuating Kabul Airport, Afghan Immigrants in Greece Demand Sanctuary for Refugees Fleeing Afghanistan, WHO Slams Rich Nations for Offering Booster Shots While Just 2% of Africa's Population Is Vaccinated, Texas Supreme Court to Allow Schools to Defy Gov. Abbott's Ban on Mask Mandates, Major Hospital in Port-au-Prince Closes After Gangs Kidnap Doctors, Hampering Earthquake Relief, Rep…
(2021-08-20). If Only Afghans Were Jews. warisacrime.org 
The U.S. and other governments are not making the priority of rescuing endangered people from Afghanistan that a consumer of Hollywood movies might imagine being made were the endangered people Jews in Nazi Germany. Sadly, the reality in the 1940s was no different from today. Major investments went into wars, and Western officials wanted no …
(2021-08-20). In Video: Al-Quds Brigade Fighters Uncover, Destroy ISIS Hideouts In Central Syria. southfront.org 
File image. | On August 20, the al-Quds Brigade, a Palestinian faction that has been supporting the Damascus government since its formation in 2013, shared a video documenting one of its recent combing operations in central Syria. | The video shows al-Quds Brigade fighters uncovering and destroying several hideouts of ISIS cells in an unspecified part of the central region. Several vehicles of the terrorist group were also destroyed. | The al-Quds Brigade, which is reportedly backed by Russia, has been operating ag…
(2021-08-20). Intense Russian Airstrikes Hit Greater Idlib As Syrian Army Places Troops On High Alert (Videos, Photos). southfront.org 
2712070 10/04/2015 Russian servicemen attach a Kh-25 high-precision missile to a Su-24 aircraft at the Khmeimim airbase in Syria. Dmitriy Vinogradov/RIA Novosti | On August 19, warplanes of the Russian Aerospace Forces carried out intense airstrikes on the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib, where several terrorist groups are active. | The airstrikes targeted the outskirts of the town of Ein Shib in the western Idlib countryside as well as the outskirts of town of Qurqnia in the northern countrysi…
(2021-08-20). Danish nurses' strike crosses two months. peoplesdispatch.org The nurses' strike in Denmark demanding pay rise and an end to wage gaps entered its 62nd day on August 19, making it the longest such action by nurses in the country…
(2021-08-20). Latin American Socialists Unite With Axis Of Resistance Against Imperialism. popularresistance.org Revolutionary socialist movements in Latin America are developing closer relations with anti-imperialist resistance forces in West Asia, building a united front against Western aggression and exploitation. | This budding alliance is an extremely important development in the struggle against an authoritarian international political and economic system that is essentially a global dictatorship, ruled by the United States and its junior imperialist partners in the European Union, NATO, apartheid "Israel," and the Gulf monarchies. | As this Washington-led, trans-Atlantic hegemonic order was constructed over the past…
(2021-08-20). The US Military Is Driving Collapse Across The Planet. popularresistance.org Summer 2021 has been an alarming season for climate news. Massive fires have raged from California to Europe; countries in the Global South have been hit by deadly droughts and historic winters; and on August 9, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report confirming what many people already knew: the climate crisis is already here. For the past three years, leading climate scientists have argued that the global average temperature rise needs to remain below 1.5 degrees Celsius in order to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis. The recent IPCC report suggests that humanity is pas…
(2021-08-20). U.S. Air Force leads Norwegian NATO ally in Arctic warfare exercise. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com U.S. Air Forces Europe — Air Forces Africa integrates with Norwegian allies for Arctic CJADC2 exercise Airmen from U.S. Air Forces in Europe — Air Forces Africa and NATO were hosted today by Norwegian allies for a Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control integration exercise. The event trained U.S. and ally forces to integrate, operate, …
(2021-08-20). Germany Is a "Priority Partner," Putin Says. telesurenglish.net Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Germany is one of the "priority partners in politics and the economy," as he met with Chancellor Angela Merkel. | RELATED: | "I would like to note that despite the coronavirus pandemic, which remains a major hindrance to restoring our business contacts in full, mutual trade has begun to expand," Putin said. | ÔøΩÔøΩÔøΩ&Oc…
(2021-08-20). "Life Instead of Profits": Initial election meeting of the SEP in Germany. wsws.org Last Sunday the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (SGP), the German section of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), broadcast its initial election rally in advance of the German federal elections on September 26.
(2021-08-20). The Bases are Loaded: 750 US Military Bases Still Surround the Planet. counterpunch.org It was the spring of 2003 during the American-led invasion of Iraq. I was in second grade, living on a U.S. military base in Germany, attending one of the Pentagon's many schools for families of servicemen stationed abroad. One Friday morning, my class was on the verge of an uproar. Gathered around our homeroom lunch
(2021-08-20). "Lives Before Profits": Initial election meeting of the SEP in Germany. wsws.org Last Sunday the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (SGP), the German section of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), broadcast its initial election rally in advance of the German federal elections on September 26.
(2021-08-20). Ukraine: Will Zelensky Renew Multimillion Dollar Business Ties with Russia after His Presidency? globalresearch.ca
(2021-08-20). Zelensky: Ukraine's NATO membership would back down nuclear Russia. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Zelensky: Being NATO nation would offer Ukraine protection from fresh Russian offensive President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that NATO membership would offer Ukraine protection from a fresh Russian offensive, The Washington Post reports, citing an interview with the head of state. **** According to the President, the ambiguity over Ukraine's NATO admittance is "a …
(2021-08-20). Zelensky To Likely Renew Multimillion Dollar Business Ties With Russia After His Presidency. southfront.org 
Click to see full-size imagePresident Zelensky wants Ukrainians to "do what I say and not as I do". | Written by Paul Antonopoulos, independent geopolitical analyst | Russophobia and Far Right nationalism have defined and dominated Ukrainian politics, especially since the 2014 Coup in Kiev, or more popularly known as the Maidan Revolution. Following the Maidan Revolution and the resulting removal of President Viktor Yanukovych from office, Petro Poroshenko ascended to the presidency. Poroshenko…
(2021-08-20). Donbass In Deadlock As Ukrainian President Makes Indecent Remarks About Russians. southfront.org 
Illustrative Image Written by Uriel Araujo, researcher with a focus on international and ethnic conflicts. | The situation in Donbass seems to have become a deadlock; Ukrainian authorities in Kiev keep hampering peace negotiations and hostilities go on — for example, last week the Ukrainian military moved at least nine airborne infantry fight vehicles to the disengagement line in…
(2021-08-20). Arreaza Questions 'Anti-Diplomatic Circus' of UK's Top Diplomat in Venezuela. orinocotribune.com 
Caracas, August 20, 2021 (OrinocoTribune.com)—Venezuela's outgoing Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jorge Arreaza, questioned the meeting that the United Kingdom's Chargé d'Affaires in Venezuela, Rebecca Buckingham, held with the extremist opposition Juan Guaidó whom the British diplomat labeled "interim constitutional president." | "President? Constitutional? I did not know that Narnia had a Constitution," jokingly replied the Venezuelan top diplomat who asked if this meeting was to justify the theft of Venezuelan gold that is being illegally seized by the Bank of England. "A whole anti-diplomatic circus," Ar…
(2021-08-20). Dissenter Weekly: Whistleblowing In South Africa, Covid App Fiasco In UK (Exclusive For Paid Subscribers). thedissenter.org In this edition of "Dissenter Weekly," host Kevin Gosztola goes through whistleblower stories from the week of August 19, 2021. | We highlight a report from Corruption Watch in South Africa on thousands of whistleblower complaints against municipalities (or local governments) over the past nine years. | The show also covers an article from The Guardian on a whistleblower, who exposed a major problem with an app being used by the United Kingdom to notify residents that they were exposed to COVID-19. | In the conclusion, Kevin goes over a few stories reported at The Dissenter on drone whistleb…