(2021-10-04). Turkey, Azerbaijan hold war games as Iran masses military assets near Azeri border for first time since demise of USSR. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Story and photograph from Panorama.am Turkey, Azerbaijan plan to hold military drills after Iran moved forces Turkey plans to hold joint military exercises with Azerbaijan this week in a region bordering Iran after the government in Baku criticized Tehran for staging army drills near its border, Bloomberg reports. "The Steadfast Brotherhood-2021 drill will take place …
(2021-10-04). Iran on alert over threats posed by Ankara-Baku-Islamabad axis. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Why is Iran angry with the trilateral alliance of Pakistan, Turkey and Azerbaijan?By Aditi Bhaduri The Azerbaijan-Pakistan-Turkey axis, it seems, has not roiled India alone. Iran too seems to be infuriated by the trilateral alliance. Recent tensions between Iran and Azerbaijan point to Tehran's disquiet about the alliance, especially its military angle. A war of …
(2021-10-04). Azerbaijan-Turkey-Pakistan threat to Iran: combined population of 320 million, nuclear weapons, NATO involvement. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Explainer: What's Behind Fresh Tensions On The Iran-Azerbaijan Border? Excerpts from a recent Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty feature. "Turkey has the second-largest NATO army, and Pakistan is a nuclear power in the region. When these two countries join Azerbaijan in military maneuvers, it worries Russia and Iran — and the Islamic republic's military maneuver [reflects] …
(2021-10-04). EU, Poland agree on "firm steps" to confront Belarus. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Polish interior minister, EU commissioner agree 'firm steps' needed against Belarus: officials The Polish interior minister and the European commissioner for home affairs have agreed that firm steps need to be taken in response to a growing migrant crisis on Poland's border with Belarus…. [Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kami≈Ñski] told [the EU's Ylva] Johansson how …
(2021-10-04). Native Americans: the First and Forgotten Slaves. counterpunch.org "Modern perceptions of early modern slavery associate the institution almost solely with Africans and their descendants. Yet slavery was a ubiquitous institution in the early modern world…The story of European colonialism in the Americas and its victimization of Africans and Indians follows a central paradigm in most textbooks. The African "role" encompasses the transportation, exploitation,
(2021-10-04). Tibisay Lucena: 'I Hope European Union Respects 21N Elections, Venezuela is a Sovereign Country'. orinocotribune.com 
Tibisay Lucena, dean of Venezuela's National Experimental University of the Arts (UNEARTES), observes with good spirit the democratic situation in Venezuela in regard to the regional and munjcipal elections scheduled for November 21. | This Sunday, October 3, Venezuelan Minister for Culture (MPPC), Ernesto Villegas, interviewed the dean of UNEARTES, Tibisay Lucena Ramírez, in his Sunday TV show Aquí con Ernesto Villegas. | Lucena congratulated the current president of the CNE, Pedro Calzadilla, for reaching an agreement with Josep Borrell, high representative of the European Union (EU), due to which the European…
(2021-10-04). EU-Morocco Trade Deals That Include Western Sahara Violate International Law: Top EU Court. orinocotribune.com The European Court of Justice had issued similar verdicts in 2016 and 2018, stating that the Western Sahara region cannot be considered as part of Morocco in such trade agreements | The European Union's (EU) highest court on Wednesday, September 29, cancelled two trade deals with Morocco, involving farm and fish products originating from the Moroccan-occupied territory of Western Sahara. The Polisario Front, which is fighting for the independence and self-determination of Western Sahara from Morocco, had brought the case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). It welcomed the court's verdict, calling it an "impor…
(2021-10-04). Facebook Whistleblower Reveals Identity, Details How Platform Prioritizes Profit Over Public Safety. sputniknews.com Frances Haugen, a former product manager hired to combat election interference on Facebook, appeared on CBS' "60 Minutes" on Sunday, outing herself as the whistleblower who supplied the Wall Street Journal with internal Facebook documents that became the framework for a wide-ranging investigative series.
(2021-10-04). South Ossetia demands Saakashvili be extradited for war crimes. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Saakashvili in South Ossetia is being awaited for a fair trial and the decision will be appropriate, — Foreign Minister South Ossetia has the right to demand the extradition of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili — at the place of committing previous crimes, said the Republic's Foreign Minister Dmitry Medoev. "I mean the crimes of …
(2021-10-04). Broad support in Germany for October 1st school strike to protect children from COVID-19. wsws.org Lisa Diaz's call to parents in the UK not to send their children to school on October 1, and to strike against the murderous herd immunity policy, met with widespread support in Germany and around the world.
(2021-10-04). "Blah, Blah, Blah": Youth Climate Activists Slam Political Inaction at U.N. Summit Ahead of COP26. democracynow.org 
Thousands of youth climate activists marched through the streets of Milan last week demanding world leaders meet their pledges to the Paris Climate Agreement and keep global temperatures from rising by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. The protest came at the end of a three-day youth climate conference, ahead of the United Nations' COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. Activists at the Youth4Climate conference slammed political inaction on the climate crisis and world leaders' vague pledges to reduce carbon emissions. "Historically, Africa is responsible for only 3% of global emissions," said Ugandan activist Vanessa Nak…
(2021-10-04). Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast: Breaking down COVID-19 vaccine booster approvals. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org The path to approvals for a booster dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine has seemed complicated. "This is a confusing set of recommendations," says Dr. Gregory Poland, an infectious diseases expert and head of Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group. "So let's look at the four groups approved for only the Pfizer booster, thus far. If you got a primary series of the Pfizer vaccine, you're 65 and older, and it's been six months or more, you…
(2021-10-04). US Reconnaissance Aircraft Patrolling Syrian Coast, While Unidentified Drone Targeted Hmeimim Airbase. southfront.org 
Click to see full-size image | On October 4, an unidentified aerial target was intercepted near Hmeimim Air Base by Russian air defense systems. | According to the reports by the local Jableh News agency, at least one target, likely a drone, was shot down over the town of Jableh in the Syrian province of Latakia. The air defense system actuation at the Russian Khmeimim airbase was reported. Illustrative Image | The attack attempt took place at the moment when a USAF RC-135U was circling around 50km from the Russian base. | The RC-135U is specifically configured to gather electronic and signals intelligence, with…
(2021-10-04). Russia Test-Launched Zircon Hypersonic Missile From A Nuclear Submarine. southfront.org 
Click to see full-size image | The Russian Navy tested the Zircon hypersonic missile from a nuclear submarine for the first time, the Russian Defense Ministry said. | At a conditional sea target in the Barents Sea, they fired from the Severodvinsk nuclear submarine."The flight of the missile <...> corresponded to the specified parameters <...>. Test firing <...> was recognized as successful," the release said. | The Zircon is the world's first hypersonic cruise missile capable of carrying out prolonged aerodynamic fl…
(2021-10-04). Military Situation In Syria On October 4, 2021 (Map Update). southfront.org 
Click to see full-size image | On October 3, Russia reported that Idlib militants violated the ceasefire regime in Greater Idlib 17 times: 6 — in Idlib province, 5 — in Latakia province, 3 — in Hama province, 3 — in Aleppo province | On October 4, SAA artillery shelled positions of Turkish-backed forces in Kabani area | On October 3, SAA artillery shelled positions of Turkish-backed forces in Barah area | On October 3, Syrian President Bashar Assad made a phone call with King A…
(2021-10-04). President Maduro Insists that Spain Should Apologize for Colonial Era Massacres: 'Aznar is Racist' (+ AMLO). orinocotribune.com Caracas, October 3, 2021 (
(2021-10-03). US Sanctions Blamed as Venezuela Denounces Frozen Order for Medicines. orinocotribune.com 
One of Portugal's largest banks is holding up a $12.7 million order to fund shipment of medical supplies and vaccines to Venezuela due to US sanctions on the South American country. | A $12.7 million order of critical medicines and medical supplies, placed by Venezuela's development bank with the Pan American Health Organization, has been held up for more than two months as a result of unilateral coercive measures imposed on Venezuela by the US government. The request, frozen by the Portuguese bank Novo Banco, covers more than 30 million syringes, 6 million vaccines against measles, mumps, and rubella, 5.5 millio…
(2021-10-03). Forbes Reveals Why the US Government Is Trying to Extradite Venezuelan Diplomat Alex Saab. dissidentvoice.org Alex Saab is "the key that unlocks the Venezuelan monetary mystery—that is, how a country facing sanctions from the US, the UK and the European Union—is still able to export things like gold and oil…and really the only man who can actually explain how the country [Venezuela] survives today," according to Forbes. The US would …
(2021-10-03). Borrell says JCPOA must be implemented, sanctions lifted. en.mehrnews.com The European Union's top diplomat said that everyone must go back to full implementation of the JCPOA, which means a return of the US into the agreement with the lifting of sanctions.
(2021-10-03). NATO celebrates German reunification. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com From a feature posted by NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe. Not much commentary is required except to note that only six years after German reunification Germany participated as part of NATO in the bloc's war in Bosnia (with 14 Tornado warplanes), then in NATO's war against Yugoslavia in 1999 (also with Tornadoes, Germany's first …
(2021-10-03). Disputes With Algeria Threaten French Operation In Africa's Sahel. southfront.org 
Illustrative Image | Another crisis has hit bilateral relations between Paris and its former colony, Algeria. This time, the Algerian authorities seem to have found an effective way to put pressure on their French counterparts. | On October 2, Algeria recalled its ambassador to France, rejecting "any interference in its internal affairs." | The decision to recall the ambassador was justified by "irresponsible" statements attributed to French President Emmanuel Macron."Faced with these irresponsible statements, the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, decided to immediately summon Algeria's ambassador…
(2021-10-03). North Korea Warns UN Security Council of 'Consequences' if It Relies on US 'Brigandish Approach'. sputniknews.com Earlier this week, France, the UK, and the US raised concerns about North Korea's latest missile test launches and pledged to address the issue at the UN Security Council.
(2021-10-03). The 50 Greatest Singles: an Exercise in the Absurd. counterpunch.org 
James Brown performing live in Hamburg, Germany, February 1973. Photo: A couple of weeks ago, Rolling Stone, desperate for clickbait to lure in new readers, published a list of what its writers considered the
(2021-10-03). This week in history: October 4-10. wsws.org 25 years ago: Cut in sick pay sparks strikes in GermanyHundreds of thousands of German workers took part in strikes and protests the first week of October 1996, following the attempt by some of Germany's largest corporations to rip up existing contracts and impose a new law allowing for a 20 percent cut in sick pay.
(2021-10-03). Russian Airstrikes Hit Greater Idlib As Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham Prepares For Chemical Weapons Provocation. southfront.org 
A Russian Su-24 strike aircraft in the sky over the Khmeimim airbase in Syria. Photo: Dmitriy Vinogradov / RIA Novosti | On October 3, a new wave of Russian airstrikes hit the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib where al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is in control. | According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Russian airstrikes targeted the outskirts of the town of Kinda in the western countryside of Idlib as well as the al-Akrad Mount in the northern Latt…
(2021-10-03). Leaked Documents Revealed British Meddling In Russia's Affairs. southfront.org 
Illustrative Image | The recently The leaked documents represented a report of the British Embassy in Russia in the 2018-2019 fiscal year. | The reports unveil the main fields of the British Embassy activity; the Russian NGOs, which received a financial support from the Fund, including those recognized as foreign agents this year; the amounts of funds allocated by the British and the names of their receivers. | Accordi…
(2021-10-03). Afghanistan: Where's the Cash? strategic-culture.org By Eric MARGOLIS | Afghanistan's US-run government was the world's largest producer and exporter of opium, morphine, and the end-product, heroin. | As it did after first seizing power in the mid-1990's, Taliban, the Islamic anti-drug and anti-communist movement, is shutting down the Afghan drug trade. Billions worth of heroin, opium and morphine that had been flowing into Central Asia, Russia, Iran, Turkey, Pakistan and Southeast Asia will be sharply reduced. Afghanistan's drug-based economy is now in dire jeopardy. | But you would not know this if you follow the biased western press, notably the big US TV networ…