(2021-10-16). Afghanistan: Russia Draws Redlines for U.S. Moscow Will Not Accept U.S. Military Presence in Central Asia. globalresearch.ca
(2021-10-16). Regional authorities around Paris, France, demand police intervene to break Transdev bus drivers strike. wsws.org Pécresse's call for the police to crush the pickets is a frontal attack on the right to strike.
(2021-10-16). Widespread global participation in second school strike against COVID threat to children. wsws.org The strike received massive support globally, with the central hashtag for the event, #SchoolStrike2021, tweeted nearly 7,500 times and videos submitted from Britain, the US, Canada, Brazil, Germany, France, Poland, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand.
(2021-10-16). Spain's PSOE-Podemos government approves anti-worker 2022 budget. wsws.org The draft budget consists of half-measures and empty promises, which primarily benefit wealthy layers while leaving millions of workers in a desperate situation.
(2021-10-16). President Maduro Sends Letter to King of Spain Demanding Respect for Victims of Colonial Occupation. orinocotribune.com On Thursday, October 14, the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, sent a letter to the King of Spain, Felipe de Borbón, demanding respect for the memory of the ancestors of the American peoples, who, 529 years ago, were subjugated under the occupation of the Spanish empire, and suffered centuries of violence, genocide and destruction. Through his Twitter account, the Venezuelan president shared the letter in which he expressed his condemnation of the fact that Spain "intends to minimize and falsify the events that occurred during the so-called Conquest of America in the 15th century." | In this regard, the Ven…
(2021-10-16). UK-European Union conflict over Northern Ireland Protocol amid spiralling national tensions. wsws.org Preparations are already being made in Europe for a trade war should Britain reject the EU's proposals and trigger Article 16.
(2021-10-16). Polish Constitutional Court ruling deepens EU crisis. wsws.org The Polish Constitutional Court ruled that the European Court of Justice has no right to make decisions about the Polish judiciary.
(2021-10-16). [Perspectives] How imperialism, slavery, and war shaped epidemiology. thelancet.com In recent decades, historians have become increasingly attuned to the ways in which empire and imperialism transformed modern conceptions of disease, medicine, and the body. Such scholarship argues that European medical theories were not simply disseminated in imperial territories and that science and medicine should not only be seen as scientific and cultural projects that consolidated imperialism. Instead, the thrust has been to understand how the development of modern ideas of hygiene, sanitation, public health, and disease were themselves produced out of an encounter with empire and subjugated populations.
(2021-10-16). Ireland has robbed poor working people of tens of trillions of dollars. zcomm.org Interview on the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the morality of Ireland's tax regime and whether the human race can avoid the twin catastrophes of global warming and nuclear war…
(2021-10-16). Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast: Continuing progress in battle against COVID-19. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org "October is going to be a very exciting month in the U.S., regarding COVID-19 vaccines," says Dr. Gregory Poland, head of Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group. "On Oct. 14 the Federal Drug Administration is going to look at COVID-19 boosters for Moderna. On Oct. 15, (the FDA will review) boosters for Johnson & Johnsons' COVID-19 vaccine. And on Oct. 29, the FDA will look at extending emergency use for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children down to…
(2021-10-16). Damned if you do: Russia has nothing to gain by cutting off ties with Ukraine. But, sadly, talking to Kiev doesn't help either. rt.com 
There's no point talking to Ukraine, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev says, arguing Russia should wait for a friendlier government in Kiev. The only problem is there's almost no chance of that happening any time soon. | 'Nedogovorosposobnyi' is a Russian word with no English equivalent, describing somebody or something that is incapable of reaching agreements. There can be many reasons why a person or an organization is like this but, whatever the cause, talking to them is a waste of time. It's never going to get anywhere. | Ukraine's political leaders are nedogovorosposobnye, says Medvedev, who was pr…
(2021-10-16). Russia's Kamchatka Region will choose environment over profit — governor. rt.com 
The Kamchatka Region in Russia's Far East will reject potentially profitable projects if they are deemed to pose a danger to the environment, its Governor Vladimir Solodov announced this week. | "We turned down the project to build a hydroelectric power station on the Zhupanova River, abandoned plans to build a fish-breeding channel for Lake Kronotskoye and a number of other projects. We consider it important to explicitly discard them if the environmental harm from [the projects] is greater than the profits," Solodov said at a plenary session of the conference on Sustainable Development and ESG Transformation…
(2021-10-15). America's Instinctive Fascism Creeps On. counterpunch.org Recently Norman Ornstein told Salon's Chauncy de Vega that the United States is mired in a crisis of democracy that shows parallels with Germany's descent into Nazism during the 1930s. Ornstein is right to worry about the nation's ongoing lethal rightward drift beyond "normal" bourgeois democracy. That is how the United States' political life is
(2021-10-15). Casus belli: Grand, exalted, invincible Azeri emir accuses Iran, Armenia of drug trafficking in former "occupied territories" antibellum679354512.wordpress.com President Ilham Aliyev: Armenia, in collusion with Iran, used the former occupied territories of Azerbaijan to carry out drug trafficking to Europe For about 30 years, Armenia, in collusion with Iran, has used the former occupied territories of Azerbaijan to carry out drug trafficking to Europe. …President Ilham Aliyev said this during a speech at …
(2021-10-15). 30-year-old Azerbaijan has made 100 years of progress during 18-year reign of Genghis Aliyev. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan has undergone a century of development in 18 years 18 years have passed since the election of Ilham Aliyev, a prominent statesman and the new Leader of the new century [why not millennium? or Millennium?>, as President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. On October 15, 2003, Ilham …
(2021-10-15). French Finance Minister Issues Declaration of Independence — From the U.S. counterpunch.org "Clear Differences Remain Between France and the U.S, French Minister Says," is the headline to a remarkable piece appearing in the New York Times today. The Minister, Bruno Le Maire, is brutally frank on the nature of the differences as the quotations below Illustrate. (Emphases in the quotations are mines.) In fact, they amount to
(2021-10-15). Neo-Ottoman expansionism: when will Turkey annex Northern Syria? antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Excerpts from a lengthy, detailed article in the current issue of the Middle East Quarterly. (The creation of Daniel Pipes, who decidedly has his own ax to grind.) Turkish Imperialism: When Will Turkey Annex Northern Syria? During the past five years, Turkish forces launched four military operations that led to the establishment of four border …
(2021-10-15). Turkey Is Preparing To Take Military Action Against US-Backed Kurdish Forces In Syria — Report. southfront.org 
Turkish Army tanks manoeuvre during a military exercise near the Turkish-Iraqi border in Silopi, Turkey, September 25, 2017 © Umit Bektas / Reuters | Turkey is preparing to take military action against US-backed Kurdish forces in Syria if talks on the issue with the US and Russia fail,
(2021-10-15). Macedonian Ramble: the Ghost Train to Tirana. counterpunch.org This is the second part in a series about a journey across what used to be called Macedonia, which is now divided among Albania, North Macedonia, Greece, and Turkey. When not reading my fireside books, I was plotting my train journey for the next day by consulting an old Cook's Continental Timetable (if the trains
(2021-10-15). Polish parliament approves EU/NATO-backed "permanent barrier"on border with Belarus; chargé d'affaires summoned. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com On the second story, please to recall that Poland, under NATO obligations, was one of the main troop contributing countries for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. ==== Polish MPs back plan to build wall on Belarus border The government this week adopted a bill to construct a "permanent barrier" along Poland's eastern border with …
(2021-10-15). One man's itinerary: NATO's expanding trans-Atlantic military network. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Military Intelligence Committee Chair Visit General Philippe Lavigne, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, met with Major General Ivica Kinder, the current NATO Military Intelligence Committee Chair, October 13th 2021. Major General Kinder has already visited NATO's Allied Command Operations in Mons, Belgium; the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance Force in Sigonella Airbase, Italy; as well as …
(2021-10-15). The Italian government confronts a new test: fascism in the streets. mronline.org 
Here is the "eternal fascism" that Umberto Eco warned us against, when he explicated the symptoms of the virus that made Italy the incubator, and then the European model, of an anti-parliamentary regime, violent, anti-freedom, anti-Semitic and warmongering.
(2021-10-15). Russia's Arctic Strategy Aimed At Guaranteeing Development. southfront.org 
Illustrative ImageMoscow wants to strengthen Arctic diplomacy, while the West insists on military plans. | Written by Lucas Leiroz, research fellow in international law at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. | Historically, the Arctic has been a Russian-influenced zone. As one of the greatest military powers in the world, Russia tends to expand its projection to geographically close regions, consolidating a broad regional space, in which the North Pole is included. The US, Canada and the European Union for a long time ignored the strategic potential of the Arctic, seeking power projection in other zones, su…
(2021-10-15). How capitalism shackles the fight against climate change. mronline.org 
Journalists from the U.S. and Europe have warned that the summer of 2021 should be a wakeup call on climate catastrophe. Rightfully so.
(2021-10-15). An Entangled History: Christianity Faces Off With The Enlightenment. counterpunch.org The churches relationship to the scientific revolution and the Enlightenment is an entangled history. Margaret Jacobs ("The Enlightenment critique of Christianity," in The Cambridge History of Christianity: vol. VII: Enlightenment, Reawakening and Revolution 1660-1815) states provocatively that: "The period after 1660 saw the emergence of the first sustained attack on Christianity from within Europe since […] | To read this article, log in In order to read CP+ articles, your web…
(2021-10-15). Opposition protests anti-EU ruling by Polish constitutional court. peoplesdispatch.org The Polish constitutional tribunal made a controversial ruling overriding several articles of the EU treaty and rulings by the Court of Justice of the European Union on the independence of the judiciary, stating that they are contrary to the country's constitution…
(2021-10-15). Europe's Fuel Crisis May Drive Households Into 'Energy Poverty', UN Agency Chief Says. sputniknews.com MOSCOW (Sputnik), Andrei Savenkov – The ongoing fuel crisis in the European Union will undermine the economies of the bloc's most vulnerable countries and leave many households struggling to pay energy bills, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Olga Algayerova said.
(2021-10-15). Fighting Crisis: Germany To Cut Power Surcharge. southfront.org 
Illustrative image | Reuters reported that Germany was going to reduce a power surcharge in order to lower the high electricity bills in 2022. | According to Reuters' sources, Berlin plans to ease the pressure that consumers face by cutting the power surcharge by 43%, that should increase the investments in renewable energy sector. | Germany has the highest electricity prices in Europe. This is due to a variety of factors, including the subsidy schemes that were used before. Their abandoning should allow to increase the green energy investments. | Meanwhile, the development of renewable energy sources in Europe…
(2021-10-15). The American Way—2021. counterpunch.org The evidence surrounds most of us, no matter where we live—city, suburb or country. Europe, Asia and the Americas. The concept we understood to be the USA is unraveling in a manner many might never have considered. I've always been a bit of a pessimist despite a reasonably cheery disposition. The fact of an economy
(2021-10-15). New Film Exposes English Village Key to Bombing Yemen. libya360.wordpress.com Matt Kennard and Phil Miller Village airport: A cargo plane taxis down Warton's runway, bound for Saudi Arabia (Photo: Phil Miller / Declassified UK) Harry Kane has just scored a late goal, confirming England's win over Germany in this summer's Euros. We are sat under a marquee outside a pub near a main road in…
(2021-10-15). Israeli companies getting increasingly interested in Russian market — Lavrov. tass.com Despite the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, trade between Russia and Israel declined by a modest 3.9% in 2020, while in January-July of this year it grew by 51.8% year-on-year, the minister stressed…
(2021-10-15). Israeli Fighter Jets Used Airliners As Cover While Carrying Out Airstrikes On Syria's Palmyra: Russian MoD. southfront.org 
FILE PHOTO An Israeli F-16 fighter jet © Amir Cohen / Reuters | Syria's air defenses didn't engage the Israeli fighter jets that carried out the The Russian officer said that the airstrikes were carried out by four F-16 fighter je…
(2021-10-15). ISIS Terrorists Killed Eight Syrian Soldiers In Large-Scale Attack On Key Southern Raqqa Town. southfront.org 
Illustrative image. | Early on October 15, ISIS terrorists launched a large-scale operation on positions located around the town of Resafa in the southern countryside of Raqqa. | The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies were able to repel the attack after clashing with the terrorists for a few hours. Warplanes of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) provided the army with close air support. | According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, eight SAA soldiers and Syrian pro-government fighter…
(2021-10-15). What Kind of a Threat is Russia? counterpunch.org In his latest book, The Stupidity of War: American Foreign Policy and the Case for Complacency, American political scientist John Mueller demonstrates that since the end of World War II, American policymakers have developed a kind of addiction to threat inflation by "routinely elevating the problematic to the dire… focused on problems, or monsters, that
(2021-10-15). Combined China-Russia Military Might Is Not Enough To Match U.S.: RAND Corp. southfront.org 
Click to see full-size image | On October 14th, China and Russia kicked off joint naval drills off the Russian Far East, showing that cooperation between the two neighbors is constantly improving. | The exercises Joint Sea 2021 kicked off with a ceremony in Russia's Peter the Great Gulf and will run through October 17th. | Chinese state media said the drills would encompass communications, anti-mine, anti-air and anti-submarine operations, joint maneuvering and firing on seaborn targets. | Whi…
(2021-10-15). Black Sea, Sea of Azov: Britain to boost Ukrainian naval, missile capabilities. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Ukraine to buy British minesweepers, missile weapons — ambassador Ukraine will purchase two British minesweeping ships, missile weapons and modern technology to protect its coast…. "Four areas that will strengthen the capacity of our navy will be implemented [as part of the agreement with the United Kingdom], and this will be made public soon. I …
(2021-10-15). Israel offers internships for Ukrainian military medics. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Ambassador of Ukraine to Israel is working on organizing an internship for Ukrainian military medics at the Emek Medical Center in Israel The exchange of experience between Israeli and Ukrainian doctors, as well as the organization of internships for Ukrainian military medics were discussed during the visit of the Ambassador of Ukraine to Israel Yevhen …