(2021-12-03). Why We Should Oppose The Democracy Summit. popularresistance.org The exclusion of certain countries from the U.S. "democracy summit" is not a side issue. It is the very purpose of the summit. And excluded countries have not been excluded for failing to meet the standards of behavior of those that were invited or the one doing the inviting. Invitees didn't even have to be countries, as even a U.S. backed failed coup leader from Venezuela has been invited. So have representatives of Israel, Iraq, Pakistan, DRC, Zambia, Angola, Malaysia, Kenya, and — critically — pawns in the game: Taiwan and Ukraine.
(2021-12-03). Headlines for December 3, 2021. democracynow.org Biden Administration to Reinstate and Expand Trump-Era "Remain in Mexico" Policy, Amid Record COVID-19 Surge, Germany to Exclude Unvaccinated From Public Life, Biden Says Lockdowns Not Needed to Combat Looming Winter Surge of COVID-19, Omicron Variant Traced to Manhattan Anime Convention Attended by 50,000+, Congress Passes Stopgap Spending Bill After GOP Threatens Shutdown Over Vaccine Mandates, Rep. Peter DeFazio Becomes 19th House Democrat to Retire Ahead of Midterms, Groups Call on U.N. to Relaunch Yemen War Crimes Probe Which Ended Amid Saudi and UAE Pressure , HRW: Burmese Military Planned Attack That Kille…
(2021-12-03). ECDC warns Omicron variant to become dominant in Europe in a "few months" wsws.org European governments are refusing critical social distancing measures and relying exclusively on vaccinations, which the Omicron variant may largely evade.
(2021-12-03). Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa. wsws.org Danish nurses organise wildcat stoppage and mass resignation in protest at pay and working conditions in defiance of government and unions; French transport workers, including bus, tram and train drivers, continue wave of strikes over pay and conditions; South African gold miners at Sibanye-Stillwater poised to join strikes of Clover dairy and Massmart store workers over pay; protests in Lebanon over continuing economic crisis plunging six million into poverty…
(2021-12-03). JCPOA Joint Commission meeting to be held today. en.mehrnews.com An informed source said that the meeting of JCPOA Joint Commission will be held in Austrian capital Vienna on Friday afternoon.
(2021-12-03). Biathlon requires marksmanship and strength. america.cgtn.com 
One of the lesser-known sports at the winter Olympics is a competition called a biathlon. It consists of a cross-country race combined with marksmanship and requires both physical and mental strength to win. Europeans dominate the sport but interest is growing in the U.S. and …
(2021-12-03). Cooperation between Russia and Vietnam Strengthens Steadily. journal-neo.org 
Vietnam is one of Russia's key partners in the Asia-Pacific region. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) and Russia continue to develop cooperation, which has traditionally been friendly, based on years of close cooperation in a wide range of areas (diplomatic relations were established on 30 January 1950). The bilateral legal framework consists of over eighty …
(2021-12-03). Russian-Indian Relations amid the "Radical Transformation of the World Order" journal-neo.org 
The visit of the Russian President Vladimir Putin to India scheduled for December 6, is poised to become a significant event which will undoubtedly have a serious impact not only on the development of the bilateral relations, but also on the ongoing "radical transformation of the world order." Such an assessment of the upcoming trip …
(2021-12-03). US and NATO ramp up anti-Russia war drive. wsws.org US and NATO representatives are pressing ahead with hysterical anti-Russian rhetoric and threats of war.
(2021-12-02). Countries Increase Restrictions Against Omicron COVID Variant. telesurenglish.net Countries are once again closing borders and imposing restrictions on certain regions due to the threat of spread. | Omicron was in the Netherlands before South Africa identified its first cases, say Dutch officials, yet the variant was used to justify EU and U.S. travel bans against countries in southern Africa, which the WHO condemned as penalizing countries who reported it.
(2021-12-02). Headlines for December 2, 2021. democracynow.org Supreme Court's Conservatives Signal Support for Mississippi Anti-Abortion Law , U.S. Detects Omicron Coronavirus Variant in California, U.N. Chief Blasts "Travel Apartheid" as Nations Deny Entry to Africans Over Omicron Variant, Russia Expels Some US Ambassadors as Blinken Warns Russia Against Invading Ukraine, Burmese Military Helicopters Attack Villagers in Region Where Resistance to Coup Remains Strong, Women's Tennis Association Suspends Tournaments in China Over Peng Shuai Case, 15-Year-Old Suspect in Michigan High School Shooting to be Tried as an Adult, Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams to Run for Governor i…
(2021-12-02). The "First World" can Fuck Off Playing Victim: Colonial Roots of the Modern Refugee Crises. itsgoingdown.org The mistreatment of refugees at the Belarusian and Polish borders has recently caught the world's eye. There isn't much analysis from reporters beyond how shameful it is to use some of the world's most desperate people as chess pieces to resolve political disputes. These refugee crises that "first world" countries cry about when refugees appear…
(2021-12-02). US, EU, UK and Canada Place New Round of Sanctions on Belarus. telesurenglish.net The United States, United Kingdom, European Union and Canada placed further sanctions on Belarus, accusing the government of President Alexander Lukashenko of human rights violations based on allegedly "orchestrating" irregular migration at the EU's border. | The U.S. and its allies have imposed more sanctions on Belarus, its industries and top officials.
(2021-12-02). Spain's Zapatero Urges Resumption of Mexico Talks. orinocotribune.com Former head of the Spanish government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, urged a resumption of the meetings between the government of Venezuela and the opposition, in the dialogue known as the Mexico Talks, which were suspended after the kidnapping of diplomat Alex Saab by the United States. | During his participation in the assembly of the Puebla Group, the former Spanish prime minister said that "it is the only way" to advance in solving the problems that the country faces. | "My opinion is that the dialogue that has been taking place in Mexico between the opposition and the government of Venezuela is a fundamental…
(2021-12-02). Belgium is on the Right Track, But Europe has Failed Palestine. dissidentvoice.org 
The Belgian government's decision on November 25 to label products made in illegal Israeli Jewish settlements is welcome, although it will ultimately prove ineffectual. Belgium has historically shown solidarity with Palestine if compared to other European countries, for example, Britain, Germany and France. From the cancellation of trade missions to Israel, to the effusive support …
(2021-12-02). As France Honors Black Artist Josephine Baker, Far-Right Pundit Éric Zemmour Launches Presidential Bid. democracynow.org 
On the same day France celebrated the induction of American-born singer and civil rights activist Josephine Baker into the Pantheon, far-right xenophobic writer and pundit Éric Zemmour announced he will run for president of France in the upcoming April 2022 election. Many have pointed out the contradiction in these opposing events, even in President Emmanuel Macron's speech that painted Baker as a model of colorblind unity, when in reality she was outspoken about racial justice. "Celebrating Josephine Baker who was an immigrant … while making things difficult for immigrants of today to access to France is a con…
(2021-12-02). Africa: United States after the Spoils of the Continent. libya360.wordpress.com Luis Beatón Smoke rises from a U.S. military base in Lamu County, Kenya, on Jan. 5, 2020. Photo: Xin Huashefa/Xinhua via Getty The United States has 29 known military installations in 15 countries on the continent, while France, a former colonial power, has bases in 10 countries. No other country outside the continent has so…
(2021-12-02). Some European Prisons Are Based On Dignity Instead Of Dehumanization. popularresistance.org On a cold morning in February 2013, I led a group of American policymakers and criminal justice practitioners — judges, public defenders, legislators, corrections officials, law professors — on a visit to a juvenile prison in eastern Germany. We met with a group of young men, largely between the ages 18 and 21, who were serving between two to five years at the facility; most had been convicted of a violent offense. | Although these young men certainly looked like teenagers or very young adults — dressed in jeans, cargo pants, colorful T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baseball caps — they would c…
(2021-12-02). Australia: Sydney light rail suspended for 18 months after serious cracks discovered. wsws.org A major design flaw with the Urbos 3 trams has also forced the suspension of services in Britain and Europe.
(2021-12-02). NATO States It Will Not Take Military Action To Defend Ukraine. telesurenglish.net NATO has declared that it will not take any military defense action in the event of a conflict against Ukraine, as Ukraine is not member of NATO. | RELATED: | Ukraine was the focus of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Foreign Ministers Council after the West gave clear signals that it would not defend Ukraine with weapons. | Stockholm hosted this Thursday's OSCE meeting where Russian F…
(2021-12-02). Chancellor-designate Olaf Scholz and Germany's federal states reject necessary pandemic restrictions. wsws.org All the parties in the new coalition government to be headed by Scholz are aggressively pursuing the "profits before lives" policies that have already resulted in more than 100,000 deaths in Germany alone and are creating an ever-expanding catastrophe.
(2021-12-02). Sinn Fein from Revolutionary Party to Constitutional Nationalists. orinocotribune.com By Fra Hughes — Nov 28, 2021 | Sinn Fein went from being a revolutionary party supporting a legitimate armed struggle against Britain's illegal imperialist military occupation of Ireland and aiming to build a socialist republic, to becoming a business-oriented party, focused on acquiring more seats in the parliament. | Where did it all go wrong? | Once the vanguard of Irish republicanism and claiming to be fighting for a free sovereign socialist 32 county Irish republic SF is now a parody of its previous incarnation. | From a revolutionary party supporting a legitimate armed struggle against Britain's illega…
(2021-12-02). Is the World On the Brink of DEFCON 1? journal-neo.org 
The looming apocalypse is shaping up nicely as Russia and China expand strategic cooperation to offset the NATO war planes apparently in the works. The propaganda war having already begun with fear mongering over false claims Russia intends invasion, now the "accident scenario" takes shape in the skies over Russia's frontiers. We've addressed the so-called …
(2021-12-02). Five Trump-Russia 'Collusion' Corrections We Need From the Media Now — Just for Starters. strategic-culture.org 
Five years after the Hillary Clinton campaign-funded collection of Trump-Russia conspiracy theories known as the Steele dossier was published by BuzzFeed, news outlets that amplified its false allegations have suffered major losses of credibility. The recent indictment of the dossier's main source, Igor Danchenko, for allegedly lying to the FBI, has catalyzed a new reckoning.
(2021-12-02). Russia, China poised to forge a greater alliance. asiatimes.com 
The Communist Party of China newspaper Global Times has disclosed, citing a high-level "source," that Beijing had no intention of inviting US and other Western politicians to the 2022 Winter Olympics on February 4-20. This followed US President Joe Biden's innuendo that he was considering a diplomatic boycott of the Games. The White House apparently sensed …
(2021-12-02). Russian FM and US Secretary of State to Meet in Stockholm. telesurenglish.net The U.S. and Russian diplomacy heads, Antony Blinken and Sergei Lavrov, will hold a meeting tomorrow in Stockholm, Sweden, in the midst of the escalation of tensions between the two powers, the press reported today. | RELATED: | According to a State Department official quoted by CNN, Blinken will also hold talks with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, on the sidelines of the meeting of the Ministerial C…
(2021-12-02). Where there are Tailings, No Grass Grows: Serbians Protest against Rio Tinto. dissidentvoice.org Another fault line has opened in the mining wars. In Serbia, resistance is gathering steam against various deals made between Belgrade and companies that risk environmental degradation and lingering spoliation. In this regard, the globe's second largest metals and mining corporation, features prominently. Rio Tinto, bruised in reputation but determined in business, finds itself in …