2022-02-15: News Headlines

teleSUR (2022-02-15). Russian Parliament Passes Bill Recognizing Donbass Republics. telesurenglish.net On Tuesday, Russia's Lower House (Duma) gave the green light to a bill recognizing the republics of Luhansk and Donetsk in east Ukraine's breakaway region of Donbass. | RELATED: | At a plenary session, the lawmakers supported the document requesting Russian President Vladimir Putin to recognize "the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR)" and "the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR)" as independent and sovereign states. | According t…

Editor (2022-02-15). Voting Rights Remain the Critical Barrier to Racial Equality. scheerpost.com Photo by By Dan Siegel / Original to ScheerPost | Over 150 years after the end of the Civil War, restricting voting rights continues to be the right's most hard-fought strategy for maintaining white supremacy in the United States, and the Supreme Court remains the most reliable partner in those efforts. Just last week the Court's majority abandoned de…

teleSUR (2022-02-15). US Robbery of Afghan Assets Tantamount to Silent Massacre. telesurenglish.net U.S. President Joe Biden's decision to divert billions of dollars in frozen Afghan assets to the families of 9/11 victims is rubbing salt into the wounds of millions of suffering Afghan people. | RELATED: | Couching the theft as "aid" in a self-righteous statement, the White House claimed the haul is "to be used to benefit the Afghan people," and that the U.S. is "committed to supporting the Afghan people" and conti…

WSWS (2022-02-15). US moves embassy from Ukraine's capital Kiev to the Western city Lviv. wsws.org The move was denounced by Ukraine's President Zelensky, who has rejected US claims of an immediately impending attack by Russia on Ukraine.

WSWS (2022-02-15). US moves embassy from Ukraine's capital Kiev to the western city of Lviv. wsws.org The move was denounced by Ukraine's President Zelensky, who has rejected US claims of an immediately impending attack by Russia on Ukraine.

teleSUR (2022-02-15). Shuttle Diplomacy Continues to De-Escalate Ukraine Crisis. telesurenglish.net As tensions on the Ukrainian situation keep mounting, multiple countries have been engaged in shuttle diplomacy, trying to de-escalate the crisis. | RELATED: | German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived in Kiev on Monday for a working visit. After their talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the two parties discussed the peace process in and around Ukraine and the legal guarantees that would help to protect Ukraine. I…

Montreal Counter-Info (2022-02-15). Report on Mobilization Against the Convoy in Montreal. itsgoingdown.org Report on antifascist mobilization against the far-Right convoy in so-called Montreal. Originally published to Montreal Counter-Info. Screenshot: @LRsocialiste We were more than 150 on Saturday morning gathered to oppose the far right, which is currently riding the wave of anger at health measures to advance its political agenda. Among the demonstrators we were confronted with, if…

Cheryl Benard, Medea Benjamin, Masuda Sultan (2022-02-15). Biden's $7 billion Afghan heist. dissidentvoice.org With his Executive Order redefining Afghanistan's Fiscal Reserve as a slush fund to be disbursed on his whim and with the stroke of his pen, President Biden has taken what may well be the final step in an experiment gone amok. The U.S. first attempted to make Afghanistan into a Western democracy, instead installed a …

Dean Shelton (2022-02-15). Valente Acosta-Bustillos' family in Albuquerque calls for cops that killed him to be jailed. liberationnews.org "It still hurts," says Rafael Melendez, who organized a rally to demand justice for and honor his father, Valente Acosta-Bustillos, who was killed by Albuquerque police nearly two years ago.

_____ (2022-02-15). Israel is an Apartheid State, says Amnesty International. journal-neo.org The human rights organization, Amnesty International, published a report detailing the "true extent of Israel's apartheid regime" and strongly called for an arms embargo on Israel and for Israel "to recognize the right of Palestinian refugees and their descendants to return to homes where they or their families once lived." In this landmark report, the …

Roger D. Harris (2022-02-15). The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Calls for Escalating US Aggression against Russia. dissidentvoice.org The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists emerged after World War II as a voice for peace by some of the scientists who developed the then ultimate weapon of mass destruction. Now, its mission has drifted into being an echo chamber for the US imperial project urging President Biden to take even more destabilizing actions against …

Roger D. Harris (2022-02-15). With Its Doomsday Clock at 100 Seconds to Midnight, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Calls for Escalating US Aggression against Russia. mintpressnews.com The Bulletin emerged after World War II as a voice for peace, but has since drifted into being an echo chamber for the US imperial project.

Workers World Philadelphia bureau (2022-02-15). Groups unite to oppose new U.S. war. workers.org The antiwar rally opposing the U.S./NATO war drive against Russia brought together a broad spectrum of participants, even before the official rally started at Love Park in Center City Philadelphia Feb. 12. Protesters gather at Love Park in Philadelphia, Feb. 12. Credit: Joe Piette As Indigenous performers Kalpulli Kamaxtle Xiuhcóatl . . . |

Manlio Dinucci (2022-02-15). Blackwater is in Donbas with the Azov Battalion. orinocotribune.com By Manlio Dinucci — Feb 1, 2022 | The CIA and MI6 are reorganizing NATO stay-behind networks in Eastern Europe. If after the Second World War they relied on former Nazis to fight the Soviets, they still support neo-Nazi groups against the Russians. There is no obvious reason for this. The Nazis were omnipresent in the 1940s, but they are very few today and only exist thanks to the help of the Anglo-Saxons. | The phone call between President Biden and Ukrainian President Zelensky "did not go well," wrote CNN in its headlines. "Biden warned his Ukrainian counterpart that a Russian attack may be imminent, sayin…

Peoples Dispatch (2022-02-15). German arms sales to Egypt must meet human rights criteria, foreign minister says. peoplesdispatch.org The German decision is in line with the coalition government's position of reducing arms sales to non-European and NATO countries. Egypt is the leading recipient of German weapons…

_____ (2022-02-15). Have We Just Witnessed the America-Israel Endspiel in the Nuclear Talks with Iran? journal-neo.org Following the opening, on February 8, of the eighth round of talks on restarting the Iran nuclear deal (formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA), and with a 20-page draft document on the revival of the "deal of the century" now on the table, there are grounds for hoping that the …

_____ (2022-02-15). Puerto Rico: March Of Indignation Against 'Shakedown Plan' Of More Austerity. popularresistance.org Tens of thousands of teachers and other public workers have taken to the streets of San Juan, Puerto Rico in a March of Indignation to protest a debt restructuring plan given the green light by Judge Taylor Swain of New York. Puerto Ricans call it the "Shakedown Plan" because it will enforce more austerity on a land where disinvestment in education and health care and privatization of the energy system have already caused great hardship. A National Strike has been called for February 18. Clearing the FOG speaks with Monisha Rios, a Puerto Rican social worker and psychologist, about who and what are behind the pro…

Leonardo Flores (2022-02-15). "It Can't Be Illegal to Help a People": The Persecution of Alex Saab. mintpressnews.com Saab is virtually unknown in the United States, where he is currently languishing in a Miami prison, but he has been vital to Venezuela's ability to survive the brutal economic war being waged by the U.S.

Olujimi Alade (2022-02-15). Black History and the ongoing struggle for liberation. workers.org February, as we all know, is Black History month: a time to celebrate Black Americans and their accomplishments. Corporations and the bourgeois establishments will no doubt pay lip service to the African American experience by hawking items with Black historical figures on them, likely as another way to profit off . . . |

Editor2 (2022-02-15). Eight Times the United States Has Used Biological and Chemical Weapons in the Post-World War II Era. orinocotribune.com By The Chronicles of Haiphong — Feb 3, 2022 | U.S. imperialism has claimed innocence and moral superiority on the world stage while deploying the cruelest weapons of war in its quest for dominance | The United States frequently employs human rights as a weapon against so-called "adversaries." Chemical and biological weapons have played a prominent role in cultivating the U.S.'s identity as the foremost humanitarian interventionist power. The 2003 invasion of Iraq was based on accusations made by U.S. intelligence that Saddam Hussein was harboring Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs). In recent years, U.S. offi…

Tom Engelhardt (2022-02-15). Tomgram: William Astore, Is Democracy Going Down? warisacrime.org This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here. Thought about a certain way, most of my adult life has been spent at war. No, I've never been to war myself, although I was swept away by the antiwar movement of the Vietnam era. My country, on …

Noah Leininger, Morgan Artyukhina (2022-02-15). Solidarity needed to fight new wave of LGBTQ attacks that hurt all workers. liberationnews.org By standing against the integration of LGBTQ people, bigots hope to reinforce this demonization and alienation, which hurts all workers, both cisgender and transgender, both straight and gay.

WSWS (2022-02-15). French COVID-19 deaths reach highest level since the winter of 2021. wsws.org A new rise in daily deaths has not stopped the Macron government from seeking to remove all remaining health measures against COVID-19.

teleSUR (2022-02-15). The US Requests Extradition Of Honduran Ex-President Hernandez. telesurenglish.net On Monday, the U.S. Foreign Affairs Ministry requested the Honduran Supreme Court the extradition of former President Juan Orlando Hernandez (2014-2022), who accepted US$3-million bribes from drug traffickers to finance his political campaign. | RELATED: | The National Police and soldiers surrounded Hernandez's home, and the Supreme Court called an emergency session to be held on Tuesday to appoint a judge who analyzes the request. | H…

Lyn Neeley (2022-02-15). China holds first-ever carbon-neutral Olympics. workers.org This year's Beijing Winter Olympics is the first in history to be carbon-neutral. This includes renewable energy in all game venues, introducing new low-carbon technologies and using transportation fueled by hydrogen, natural gas and electricity. China completed the Zhangbei power grid station in time for the Olympics. That's the world's . . . |

Adriaan Alsema (2022-02-15). Colombia's former armed forces chief accused of drug trafficking. colombiareports.com The former commander of Colombia's armed forces allegedly helped paramilitary organization AGC control the drug trade in the southwest of the country, according to radio station Blu. The radio station…

David Swanson (2022-02-15). Talk World Radio: Jonathan Katz on What You Don't Know About Smedley Butler. warisacrime.org AUDIO: Talk World Radio is recorded as audio and video on Riverside.fm. Here is this week's video and all the videos on Youtube. VIDEO: This week on Talk World Radio we're talking about Smedley Butler with the author of a terrific new biography called Gangsters of Capitalism: Smedley Butler, the Marines, and the Making and …

AD Foster (2022-02-15). The racist war on truth: South Carolinians fight back against "Critical Race Theory" bans. liberationnews.org At least six bills have been proposed in South Carolina which all aim to deny the racist reality of present-day U.S. society by distorting the history that students learn in the state's public schools…

_____ (2022-02-15). A Chronicle of the Pre-election Race in ROK: Yoon Suk-yeol's Dirty Laundry. journal-neo.org After describing the Conservatives' internal party problems, it is time to talk about the scandals accompanying Yoon, because as the election nears, the author gets the impression that the 2022 election is unprecedented in terms of mudslinging by the candidates on each other. On the one hand, Yoon and his family have been spared a …

Anonymous Contributor (2022-02-15). Marcelino Ruíz Gómez Denounces Prison Conditions in CERSS No. 10 in Chiapas. itsgoingdown.org Statement from Indigenous Tzotzil prisoner in struggle Marcelino Ruíz Gómez denouncing the deplorable prison conditions in CERSS No. 10 in Comitán, Chiapas To the Zapatista Army of National Liberation To the Human Rights Defenders To the National and International Sixth To the National Indigenous Congress To the Indigenous Governing Council To the Media To the…

Binoy Kampmark (2022-02-15). Compulsory Voting and Its Antipodean Ills. dissidentvoice.org Time and time again, we are told that making people vote improves representation and representativeness. Herding them on pain of penalty will somehow keep politics honest, and ensure that those in Parliament, or whatever chamber it may be, will be kept accountable. Imagine how awful it is to have a President voted in on a …

Jesús Rodríguez-Espinoza (2022-02-15). Venezuela Condemns Argentina's Plan to Invade Venezuela in 2019 & Cabello Demands Investigation. orinocotribune.com Caracas, February 14, 2022 ( "In an Argentine news piece, information about the invasion plan that was being hatched from that country by Macri came to light," said President Maduro. "This information seems credible to me. Hopefully in Argentina someone dares to raise their voice so tha…

John Kiriakou (2022-02-15). Time for UK Government to Come Clean on Ties to U.S. Torture Program. covertactionmagazine.com UK government shamefully cooperated with U.S. in torture of al-Qaeda suspects We Americans have had a painful and difficult national …

Judy Greenspan (2022-02-15). Oakland, Calif., teachers prepare to strike as school board orders school closures. workers.org Elected teacher representatives of the Representative Council of the Oakland Education Association (OEA) voted Feb. 7 to conduct a strike vote if the Oakland Unified School District Board of Directors approved any of its proposed school closures. In the early hours of Feb. 9, after more than nine hours of . . . |

Peoples Dispatch (2022-02-15). Protest mount against Norwegian government's plan to shut down Ullevà•l Hospital in Oslo. peoplesdispatch.org The Norwegian government has been pushing its plan to shut down the country's largest emergency hospital located in the city, overriding the Oslo City Council's opposition and disregarding appeals from the city's residents…

Ronda Shelton (2022-02-15). Tennessee GOP weakens Black and Brown vote in Davidson County. liberationnews.org The new district maps mean that several majority Black neighborhoods and areas heavily populated with Latino residents will now be split up and added into into rural, majority white areas.

Staff (2022-02-15). Argentinian Intelligence Leak: Macri Government and US Planned for Invasion of Venezuela (Military Drills). orinocotribune.com Editorial note: Bellow we translate the full report published by Argentinian journalist Horacio Verbitsky, from the news oultlet Between April and July 2019, the [Argentinian] Army carried out the Puma Military Drill, which contemplated the invasion of Venezuela. The exercise was carr…

Support Eric King (2022-02-15). Mail is Making it Through to Eric King; Trial Set for March 14th. itsgoingdown.org Report on anarchist political prisoner Eric King's mail ban being lifted as he prepares for his upcoming trial in mid-March. Eric's trial starts on March 14, 2022 in Denver, Colorado. Please keep him in your thoughts and send letters to: Eric King #27090-045 FCI Englewood9595 W Quincy AvenueLittleton, CO 80123 Buy him a book t.co/KQXQZpteWj

WSWS (2022-02-15). Workers Struggles: The Americas. wsws.org Workers at an industrial park in the Haitian Capital of Port Au Prince are striking over pay while workers in the Dominican Republic have mobilized against rises in the cost of fuel and other basic necessities.

_____ (2022-02-15). Belgium Once Again Leads the World in Running Away. journal-neo.org Some countries are paradoxical. The Netherlands, for example, is a Calvinist country with a very puritanical ideological and moral basis. However it is also well known for its lax attitudes towards sex and drugs and rock and roll, due to that same Calvinism — respect for individual judgment is taken to such an extreme that …

WSWS (2022-02-15). Sri Lankan action committee to hold a public meeting in defence of Julian Assange. wsws.org The ACDAE meeting aims to mobilise workers and the oppressed in Sri Lanka and India to fight for the release of the imprisoned WikiLeaks founder.

Isaac Nellist (2022-02-15). TJ Hickey is not forgotten. greenleft.org.au Gail Hickey led the march through Redfern to remember the death of her son, TJ Hickey, 18 years ago. Isaac Nellist reports.

Sue Bull (2022-02-15). Sexual violence in the workplace: we need action not words. greenleft.org.au Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins were widely praised for using their

WSWS (2022-02-15). What's at stake in the struggle by US rail and oil workers. wsws.org Over the last several weeks, railroad and oil refinery workers in the United States have come to the forefront of a growing movement in the working class against exhausting and dangerous work schedules and the explosive rise in the cost of living.

WSWS (2022-02-15). Dana Fort Wayne workers speak on death of their coworker. wsws.org John Saraceno passed away under unknown circumstances on January 31 while working at the auto parts maker's Fort Wayne, Indiana, plant.

WSWS (2022-02-15). US secretary of state visits Fiji, escalating confrontation with China. wsws.org Blinken's visit was a significant event, designed to advance the strategic interests of US imperialism across the Pacific amid escalating war tensions.

WSWS (2022-02-15). UK university staff strike in defence of pensions. wsws.org Under the employers' proposal, the average higher education staff member would lose 35 percent of their retirement income.

Walden Bello (2022-02-15). Walden Bello: Why democratic socialism is the answer. greenleft.org.au National elections are due in the Philippines on May 9. The Partido Lakas ng Masa (Party of the Labouring Masses, PLM) and Laban ng Masa (Fight of the Masses) are jointly fielding a slate of candidates. Vice presidential candidate and Laban ng Masa (Fight of the Masses) chairperson Walden Bello spoke at the PLM/LNM election platform launch on February 8.

WSWS (2022-02-15). UK schools inspectorate blames COVID-19 "bubble mentality" for pupil absences. wsws.org That the body responsible for maintaining standards in educational facilities expresses no concern whatsoever with the health and wellbeing of those whose welfare it is supposedly supporting is criminal.

WSWS (2022-02-15). Temporary layoffs extended at US Ford auto plants, expand to other automakers. wsws.org Ford and other automakers have cut production in the US due to shortages, while COVID continues to spread through the plants left open.

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