2021-01-07: News Headlines

Sara Flounders (2021-01-08). Hunger strikes at three New Jersey prisons. workers.org The filthy conditions, indefinite incarceration and escalating COVID infections have touched off desperate hunger strikes at three New Jersey county jails. Each jail operates as a prison-for-profit, renting space at $120 a day for ICE to jail out-of-state migrant detainees. The N.J. counties use the contracts to generate tens of . . . |

Jackie Fox (2021-01-08). How to Make a COVID-19 Vaccine @Home. realprogressives.org This is a script of the video embedded below. | Hello Internet, I'm Jackie Fox and I have a new idea I want to bring you in the final hours of a dark year. This may be a very bright light at the end of the tunnel. It combines video games, community, scientific research, and even vaccines and medical treatments. In some ways it's a follow up to cover new info about vaccines in general I learned since the last series, but the core concept is about this project called Folding@Home. | See, back in 2007, I bought a PlayStation 3, and after a few updates, there was a mysterious app added called "Folding@Home" and I…

Makasi Motema (2021-01-08). Comentario: øEnfrenta EE.UU. una situación revolucionaria? workers.org El deber ineludible de un socialista revolucionario es percibir los cambios que se están produciendo en la sociedad y que agudizan la lucha de clases y actuar sobre esos cambios sin vacilar. Cualquier organización socialista o persona socialista que no lo haga no puede ser considerada una defensora del proletariado . . . |

Minnie Bruce Pratt (2021-01-08). Cuba's revolution continues during the pandemic. workers.org During the first week of January, Cubans celebrated the 61st anniversary of their great Revolution, marking the day when Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Camilo Cienfuegos and the revolutionary forces entered Havana and ousted the U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista. Since the victory in 1959, Cuba has resisted attack after attack by . . . |

Devin Cole (2021-01-08). Long live the Haitian Revolution! workers.org January 1 marked the 217th year of independence for the Republic of Haiti. The Haitian Revolution was led by formerly enslaved Black revolutionary Franàßois-Dominique Toussaint Louverture and later by Jean-Jacques Dessalines. A majority of Louverture's army had been born in Africa. The Haitian Revolution began in 1791 after a Vodou . . . |

James Corbett (2021-01-08). Video: "The Thick Red Line": Law Enforcement, the "Plandemic"and the Unlawful Orders of Politicians. globalresearch.ca Howard Lichtman joins us today to introduce ThickRedLine seeks to upend the narrative that keeps the public afraid of breaking the unlawful orders of the politicians …

WSWS (2021-01-07). Nebraska governor says undocumented meatpacking workers will not receive vaccine. wsws.org Governor Ricketts said during a press conference that undocumented immigrants in the meat processing industry will not receive the COVID-19 vaccine and his spokesman said its distribution will be prioritized by citizenship status.

Danica Jorden (2021-01-07). France Grants Citizenship to Immigrant Essential Workers as Protests Against Racist "Security" Laws Grow. globalresearch.ca The government of France has decided to recognize the contributions of essential workers from other countries working within its borders during the pandemic by offering them French citizenship. On 22 December 2020, the day of the announcement, 74 immigrants were …

Frederick B. Mills, Alina Duarte — Patricio Zamorano (2021-01-07). Mexico Offers Asylum to Assange: a Step Forward for Government Accountability and Press Freedom. counterpunch.org On Monday January 4 a British court denied a U.S. request to extradite world renowned journalist and Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, to face charges in the U.S. under the Espionage Act. Shortly after this breaking news, President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), urged the U.K. to consider the possibility of freeing Assange and

Joe Glenton (2021-01-07). 'Irresponsible and inhumane' Home Office continuing with deportations despite lockdown. thecanary.co The Home Office plans to press forward with the deportation of up to 60 people despite a full national lockdown and a massive spike in coronavirus (Covid-19) cases in the UK. | The Independent newspaper "Irresponsible and inhumane": | New lockdown rules say that people cannot leave their homes or travel abroad except wh…

The Canary (2021-01-07). 'There's only so much you can see' — heartbreaking words from hospital staff on the pandemic frontline. thecanary.co Hospital staff on the coronavirus frontline have described how there is "very little joy" in the job during the second wave, with some in intensive care units resigning and managers concerned over the long-term mental health impact on employees.Tori Cooper, head of nursing in the Emergency Department at St George's Hospital in Tooting, south-west London, said the usually good staff morale had been chipped away during the Covid-19 pandemic.Cooper told the PA news agency: "There is very little joy in our work at the moment."It's hard to find that joy when you come into work — you're scared for your colleagues,…

Workers World Party (2021-01-07). PDF of January 7 issue. workers.org Download the 12-page PDF. Alabama prisons: ON STRIKE! 'Relief' bill offers little; Outrage at year's end; Workers as 'contractors'; Massive hack; Historic postal strike; Editorial: COVID unpreparedness. GLOBAL: Cuban and Haitian revolutions; Brexit crisis; Long live DPRK; Argentina: abortion rights victory. TEAR DOWN THE WALLS: Exonerate Mumia! Letter from Pennsylvania . . . |

Katha Pollitt (2021-01-07). Covid-19 Has Been Hardest on Women. thenation.com Covid-19 Has Been Hardest on Women…

_____ (2021-01-07). A New Book Analyzes The Impact Of COVID-19 On The US And China. popularresistance.org The COVID-19 pandemic has placed China and the United States on the opposite ends of human progress. In the U.S., massive casualties of the pandemic have been coupled with the worst capitalist crash since the Great Depression. The story is much different in China. China began re-opening its economy as early as April of 2020. Deaths due to COVID-19 are virtually non-existent, and economists now predict that China's economy will surpass the U.S. economy in GDP terms two years ahead of schedule. Capitalism on a Ventilator: The Impact of COVID-19 in China and the U.S. is an anthology comprised of more than fifty cont…

RT (2021-01-07). 'Life-saving drugs': Treating critically ill Covid-19 patients with Roche or Sanofi arthritis meds reduces death rate, trial finds. rt.com Survival rates for critically ill Covid patients could be significantly improved and the time they spend in intensive care cut by up to 10 days with the use of existing arthritis drugs, clinical trial results showed on Thursday. | Roche's Actemra (tocilizumab) and Sanofi's Kevzara (sarilumab) — both immunosuppressive drugs — slashed the death rates of the sickest Covid patients by 8.5 percentage points, according to the findings, which are yet to be peer-reviewed. | In response to the apparent breakthrough, the UK government is making the drugs immediately available to doctors, with a spokesperson sa…

imperial.ac.uk (2021-01-07). Arthritis drugs may reduce mortality and time in ICU for sickest COVID patients. imperial.ac.uk Treating critically ill COVID-19 patients with drugs typically used for arthritis may significantly improve survival, a landmark study has found.

news.un (2021-01-07). WHO warns of COVID-19 'tipping point' as cases rise across Europe. news.un.org The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of a "tipping point" in the fight against COVID-19, amid surging cases in Europe and the fresh challenge of a mutating virus.

news.un (2021-01-07). Food for Mozambicans struggling amidst violence and COVID-19, 'will be compromised' without more funding: WFP. news.un.org Despite increased insecurity and limited funding, the UN food relief agency is continuing to supply food for hundreds of thousands of people affected by conflict in northern Mozambique.

Tanya Wadhwa (2021-01-07). Bolivia approves emergency use of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine. peoplesdispatch.org Bolivia hopes to vaccinate up to 20% of its population in the first quarter of this year. The health ministry has endorsed Russia's Sputnik V and China's CoronaVac vaccines against COVID-19…

Mwangi Githahu (2021-01-07). Ivermectin: South Africa Bans 'Miracle' COVID-19 Treatment as "Unsafe" globalresearch.ca The import into South Africa of ivermectin, a drug that has made international headlines recently as a so-called "miracle cure" for Covid-19, has been declared illegal by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra). | Ivermectin, which has been used …

Dr. Meryl Nass (2021-01-07). First Country Bans Ivermectin, a Lifesaver for COVID — Will the US be Next? globalresearch.ca Ivermectin, a cheap generic drug used for hookworm, heartworm and scabies, with a half life causing it to remain in your system for months, is used as a "worming" medicine in children, dogs, horses. Due to its tremendous value as …

John C. A. Manley (2021-01-07). Satire: Alien Invasion Dwarfs COVID-19 Hysteria. globalresearch.ca Note to our readers. This is a satire focussing on the "mysterious monoliths" which according to NASA is "paving the way for a full scale Alien invasion." | *** | A recent CBC article, reported that another one of those mysterious monoliths …

WSWS (2021-01-07). German teachers' union backs in-person learning as COVID-19 deaths soar. wsws.org In enforcing their inhumane pandemic policies, the federal and state governments, consisting of a broad range of political coalitions, can rely on the close cooperation of Germany's trade unions.

Dr. Saeed A. Qureshi (2021-01-07). COVID-19: "Virus Isolation". Does the Virus Exist? globalresearch.ca Editor's Note | This is a controversial issue which has been raised by several prominent scientists. | On January 7, 2020 the Chinese authorities "identify a new type of virus" which was "isolated". The CDC also confirmed that the virus had been …

Eds. (2021-01-07). Incarcerated people and corrections staff should be prioritized in COVID-19 vaccination plans. mronline.org Some states are including correctional facilities in their rollout plans. All states and the BOP should do so-and put incarcerated people near the top of the list.

Mwangi Githahu (2021-01-07). Invermectin: South Africa Bans 'Miracle' COVID-19 Treatment as "Unsafe" globalresearch.ca The import into South Africa of ivermectin, a drug that has made international headlines recently as a so-called "miracle cure" for Covid-19, has been declared illegal by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra). | Ivermectin, which has been used …

Tracy Rosenberg (2021-01-07). COVID-19 Contact Tracing and State Surveillance. globalresearch.ca The US remains wholly incapable of tracing Covid-19 contagion, but if it tried, we might wind up with "the worst of both worlds" — a horror of coercion and confusion that still failed to stop the epidemic. | "Low income communities, …

_____ (2021-01-07). The EU Avoids Treating Guaido As 'President' Of Venezuela. popularresistance.org The European Union avoided referring to the opposition politician Juan Guaido as Venezuela's "acting president" once the mandate of the National Assembly over which he presided expired on Tuesday. | "Venezuela urgently needs a political solution to end the current impasse through an inclusive process of dialogue and negotiation leading to credible, inclusive, and democratic processes," said Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. | He added that the EU will maintain its engagement with all Venezuelan political and social actors, including "Juan Guaido and…

news.un (2021-01-07). Guterres 'shocked' at massacre of civilians in eastern DR Congo. news.un.org The United Nations Secretary-General has expressed shock at the massacre of civilians in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and called on the authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.

W. T. Whitney Jr. (2021-01-07). New book: Indonesia was model for anti-communist massacres, U.S. complicity. peoplesworld.org U.S imperialism was on a roll in the mid-20th century as Cold War problems were emerging. These included U.S.-Soviet conflict, nuclear-war fears, the Korean and Vietnam wars, domestic anti-communism, and Indonesia. Having thrown of Dutch colonial rule, that country led by President Sukarno was in the vanguard of nations striving to steer clear of both …

Tracy Keeling (2021-01-07). Global wildlife trading body under fire over highly questionable Asian elephant exports. thecanary.co 2020 was a bumpy year for the

Ramzy Baroud (2021-01-07). 2021: Palestine's Chance of Fighting Back. dissidentvoice.org 2020 will go down in history as the year that terminated the American-sponsored 'peace process'. While 2021 will not reverse the monumental change in the US attitude and objectives in Palestine, Israel and the Middle East, the new year presents Palestinians with the opportunity to think outside the American box. The previous year began with …

WSWS (2021-01-07). UK government refuses to publish list of airstrikes in Yemen involving civilian casualties. wsws.org While the UK's Ministry of Defence has listed a staggering 516 potential International Humanitarian Law violations by the coalition of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the real number is far higher.

Staff (2021-01-07). Chomsky and Pollin: A Global Green New Deal Is the Only Way to Avert Disaster. truthout.org Global warming is the biggest challenge facing humanity today. Yet, climate change has yet to become our number one priority even though, as the World Meteorological Organization warned back in March 2020, " In this context, a comprehensive Green New Deal is urgently needed…

South Front (2021-01-07). Video: Tense Situation in Northern Syria. Actions of Turkish Military. globalresearch.ca The Turkish Army has been increasing its military presence in Greater Idlib despite the recent withdrawal of observation posts, which had been encircled by the Syrian Army. | Recently, the Turkish military deployed major reinforcements to Mount al-Zawiya. Turkish military convoys …

Noam Chomsky (2021-01-07). Class Struggle or Get it in the Neck, Part 1. zcomm.org Unless working people, the general population, take part in the class struggle, they're going to get it in the neck…

Vijay Prashad (2021-01-07). We Are Living in an Emergency That Requires Urgent Action. dissidentvoice.org The first newsletter of the new year is written in collaboration with our friend, the great linguist and prophetic voice, Noam Chomsky. What follows is a statement by Noam and me. Xiang Wang (China), Extinction, 2020 Three Major Threats to Life on Earth That We Must Address in 2021: A Note from Noam Chomsky and Vijay …

Lawrence Freeman (2021-01-07). China's "Belt and Road Initiative" Is Not Debt-trapping Africa. globalresearch.ca Over the last three years, a new type of groupthink has emerged among many Western media and policy think tanks in their geopolitically motivated efforts to malign China. They've claimed that China is practicing a new type of colonialism, which …

WSWS Repost (2021-01-07). The fascist coup of January 6. indybay.org David North, Chairman of the Socialist Equality Party, makes sense of the the chaos that engulfed Washington D.C. this Wednesday.

Dr. Binoy Kampmark (2021-01-07). Proxy Jailor: Denying Assange Bail. globalresearch.ca History, while not always a telling guide, can be useful. But in moments of flushed confidence, it is not consulted and Cleo is forgotten. A crisp new dawn can negate a glance to the past. Having received the unexpected news …

Binoy Kampmark (2021-01-07). "It's Not as Bad as Iwo Jima, I Suppose": The Julian Assange Extradition Verdict. counterpunch.org The barrister-brewed humour of Edward Fitzgerald QC, one of the solid and stout figures defending a certain Julian Assange of WikiLeaks at the Old Bailey in London, was understandable. Time had worn and wearied the parties, none more so than his client. Fitzgerald had asked for water, but then mused that its absence could hardly

Binoy Kampmark (2021-01-07). Proxy Jailor: Denying Assange Bail. dissidentvoice.org History, while not always a telling guide, can be useful. But in moments of flushed confidence, it is not consulted and Cleo is forgotten. A crisp new dawn can negate a glance to the past. Having received the unexpected news that Julian Assange's extradition to the United States for charges of breaching the Espionage Act …

Matthew Rozsa (2021-01-07). Why vaccines are being wasted in the United States. salon.com The US needs to vaccinate 9 million people a week to end the pandemic by July 1. We're very far from that goal…

Global Research News (2021-01-07). Selected Articles: A Pandemic of Insanity. globalresearch.ca By This is a controversial issue which has been raised by several prominent scientists. On January 7, 2020 the Chinese authorities "identify a new type …

WSWS (2021-01-07). Hundreds of thousands in UK spend Christmas and New Year homeless as pandemic worsens. wsws.org A third lockdown is now underway and the Conservative government has committed no more funding to deal with the homeless crisis and consigned its Everyone In scheme to the scrapheap.

Arthur Firstenberg (2021-01-07). A Pandemic of Insanity. globalresearch.ca You see them everywhere. Men and women walking down the street, all of them with masks on their faces and cell phones in their hands. People jogging, with masks covering their faces and cell phones in their hands. Mothers wheeling …

Dean Baker (2021-01-07). What to Look for in the December Jobs Report. counterpunch.org The monthly Employment Situation is scheduled for release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, January 8th at 8: 30 AM Eastern Time. Soaring coronavirus infection rates are likely to be the main story in the employment report in December. Fear of the pandemic, coupled with new state and local restrictions, has led to a fall in

Frank Scott (2021-01-07). Defund the Pentagon: Refund the People. dissidentvoice.org When profit determines every outcome of social and economic life, the minority politics of lesser evil wins again, and again, and again. — Anonymous The pandemic has heightened public awareness of the injustice of a political economic system that profits private wealth at massive loss to the public good. All talk of change that simply …

Martha Grevatt (2021-01-07). Racist police killings:Year ends on a note of outrage. workers.org Peoples Conference, Dec. 23, Columbus. Cleveland — Three days before Christmas, Andre Hill visited the home of a family friend on Dec. 22 to drop off some holiday cash. Police, called to the neighborhood for an unrelated situation, shot and killed the 47-year-old Black father and grandfather. Hill, whose family . . . |

Staff (2021-01-07). "Americans Are Now Getting a Mild Taste of Their Own Medicine" of Disrupting Democracy Elsewhere. democracynow.org World leaders reacted in horror over the storming of the U.S. Capitol, with the U.N. secretary-general calling on political leaders to demand their followers refrain from violence. Leaders of the U.K., New Zealand, Australia, Canada, India, Japan, France, Germany, NATO and the European Council called for a peaceful transfer of power to Joe Biden. Investigative journalist Allan Nairn looks at what steps Trump may take next, and says despite protestations from President-elect Joe Biden and others that the insurrection was "not who we are," the U.S. has a long track record of disrupting democratic processes elsewher…

Kevin Gosztola (2021-01-07). British Judge Keeps Assange in Prison, Despite Ruling Against Extradition. globalresearch.ca A British district judge denied bail for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange after a hearing in which the prosecution argued he had helped NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden "flee justice" and would abscond if released from the Belmarsh high-security prison. | "As far …

_____ (2021-01-07). UK Judge Justifies CIA Spying On Assange. popularresistance.org The British judge ruling in the US government's extradition case against journalist Julian Assange justified a CIA spying operation targeting both the WikiLeaks publisher and the Ecuadorian government by pointing to debunked accusations published by CNN. Yet in a self-referential loop, the American media outlet's dubious claims about Assange themselves originated with a security firm that was spying on Assange for the CIA — and which is now facing prosecution in Spain for illegal activity. | While the UK judge ultimately decided not to extradite Assange, citing his deteriorating mental health and the likeli…

WorkWeek (2021-01-07). WorkWeek On Labor & The Threat Of A Coup & Fascism, Racism At CCSF & Julian Assange. indybay.org WorkWeek looks at the threat of a coup and also the role of labor with the David Van Deusen. His Vermont Labor AFL-CIO had called for a general strike to prevent a coup. WorkWeek also looks at the systemic racism in San Francisco and an action at the British Consulate in San Francisco to demand the freedom of journalist Julian Assange.

_____ (2021-01-07). Police Arrest Several People Near Court After Assange's Bail Denied. popularresistance.org London – The police arrested several supporters of Assange who did not have press IDs and refused to disperse as the city is currently under a lockdown and public gatherings prohibited. Among the detained are several women and an elderly man. | Journalists with proper identifications were allowed to continue their work. Earlier in the day, Westminster Magistrates Court refused to release Assange on bail, leaving him incarcerated while a US appeal against the decision not to extradite him to the United States is considered. | Assange was arrested in London in April 2019 and sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for jump…

Jonathan Cook (2021-01-07). The US and UK may not will Assange's death, but everything they are doing makes it more likely. dissidentvoice.org There was a hope in some quarters after Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled on Monday against an application to extradite Julian Assange to the US, where he faced being locked away for the rest of his life, that she might finally be changing tack. Washington has wanted Assange permanently silenced and made an example of — …

Craig Murray (2021-01-07). The Assange Verdict: What Happens Now. globalresearch.ca I fully expect that Julian will be released on bail this week, pending a possible US appeal against the blocking of his extradition. | There was discussion of when and how to make the bail application on Monday, after magistrate Vanessa …

May Ayres (2021-01-07). Assange Denied Bail. Campaigning For Freedom and Justice. globalresearch.ca It didn't take very long to confirm that we are truly in the final stage of a police state. | The euphoria on Monday when Assange's extradition was denied (a wonderful interlude of laughs, smiles and hugs) was short lived. I …

Andrew Korybko (2021-01-07). Qatar and GCC Detente? In the Wake of a Three Year Blockade Imposed by Saudi Arabia. globalresearch.ca The unexpected detente between Qatar and its GCC partners saw the full restoration of political ties between them following the end of the over three-year-long blockade against the peninsular nation, but speculation remain about the future of their reconciliation considering …

Rich Murphy (2021-01-07). The Heat: 2020 year ender. america.cgtn.com 2020 was a year like no other.

MEE and agencies (2021-01-07). UAE to resume trade and travel with Qatar within a week. middleeasteye.net UAE to resume trade and travel with Qatar within a week | Emirati foreign minister said restoring full diplomatic relations would take time as trust issues linger | Thu, 01/07/2021 – 12: 13 | UAE Vice President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum signing a document during the opening session of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in the Saudi city of al-Ula, 5 January 2021 (AFP)…

MEE staff (2021-01-07). Libya urged to investigate fate of hundreds missing in Tarhuna. middleeasteye.net Libya urged to investigate fate of hundreds missing in Tarhuna | Dozens of mass graves were found in Tarhuna last summer after withdrawal of forces aligned with eastern commander Khalifa Haftar | Thu, 01/07/2021 – 19: 12 | Since June, Libyan teams have been searching for graves and exhuming bodies in Tarhuna, southeast of Tripoli (AFP) | Human Rights Watch urged Libya's internationally recognised government to…

RT (2021-01-07). Facebook forces WhatsApp users to share their personal data… or get off the platform. rt.com WhatsApp users must share their personal data with parent company Facebook going forward, the app's new privacy policy has declared — flying in the face of everything that attracted privacy-oriented users to the platform. | Facebook's bait and switch will see WhatsApp sharing private information that goes significantly beyond names and profile pictures with Facebook and other subsidiaries. Phone numbers, address books, status updates, and even detailed data on the type of phone they're using will be fed to the Facebook hive-mind. | And woe betide anyone who does business on WhatsApp — information ab…

George Wuerthner (2021-01-07). Deceptions for Logging the Ochoco National Forest. counterpunch.org The Ochoco National Forest proposes what they call a "dry forest restoration" on approximately 23,015 acres in the Mill Creek Dry Forest Restoration Project area east of Prineville, Oregon. As with almost everything the Forest Service does these days, the Mill Creek "Restoration" is emblematic of the agency's narrow perspective on what constitutes a healthy

Anthony DiMaggio (2021-01-07). The Coup in Washington: Why is Anyone Surprised by Trump's Fascist Politics? counterpunch.org As I write this, pro-Trump protesters have stormed the U.S. Capitol building seeking to impose Trump's attempted coup on America. Trump's hand in stoking the coup is apparent on multiple fronts. He's been disseminating and mainstreaming baseless electoral fraud conspiracies for months — years really. He encouraged these protesters to head over to Capitol Hill. Once the attacks on and invasion of the Capitol began, he refused to condemn them. And then in his first address to the nation, he poured more fuel on the fire by continuing to traffic in electoral fraud conspiracies. To be perfectly clear, this is no…

Dustin Noga (2021-01-07). China attempts to mediate divisions within ruling Nepal Communist Party. peoplesworld.org Political unrest and protests have shaken Nepal as Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) called for the dissolution of the parliament on Dec. 20 and for new elections to take place on April 30 and May 10. Prime Minister Oli cited an inability of the NCP to govern because of a lack of …

Greta Anderson (2021-01-07). An Open Letter to the Oregon Bureau of Land Management on Hammond Ranches, Inc. Proposed Grazing Permit. counterpunch.org Dear Oregon Bureau of Land Management staffers, I am writing today to ask you to please defend the proper administration of public lands. The recent decision to award Hammond Ranches, Inc. a livestock grazing permit and grazing preference to use four allotments in the Burns Field Office appears to have been politically influenced, and we

David Rovics (2021-01-07). An Open Letter to Patriot Prayer and the Proud Boys (cc: Antifa). dissidentvoice.org Have you ever found yourself surrounded by masked rioters being chased by flag-waving patriots and thought, I've seen this movie before? I woke up this morning dreaming that I was speaking at one of your rallies. I thought then, well, if I probably won't be getting an invitation to speak at one of them, what …

Richard C. Gross (2021-01-07). Pro-Trump Insurrectionists Seize Capitol. counterpunch.org Extremist Republican congressional conservatives began debating the electoral votes that secured President-elect Joe Biden's victory as a Donald Trump-incited mob unleashed real "American carnage" by storming the Capitol building to protest his lost election. Hundreds of demonstrators swarmed past a ring of police and pushed into the Capitol, busting through doors and windows, ransacking offices.

Dianne Mathiowetz (2021-01-07). Georgia: Big voter turnout ousts wealthy Republican senators. workers.org Atlanta Jan. 6 — Georgia voters made history on Jan. 5 by voting into the U.S. Senate Rev. Raphael Warnock, the first ever Black senator from Georgia. Warnock is senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, the famed church of Rev. Martin Luther King's family, esteemed for its long . . . |

Steve Martinot (2021-01-07). The Police "Use of Force," and Berkeley's "Use of Farce" counterpunch.org Recently, the police concept of Use of Force (UOF) has become an issue across the country, and ordinances are being passed calling for "minimal" force from police. For some reason, giving a person a heart attack through repeated (and sadistic) use of a taser has come to be seen as "excessive." And so does pepper

Steve Lalla (2021-01-07). Resistance is not Futile. dissidentvoice.org Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has inspired fear within the Empire through both armed struggle and its success in electoral politics. For effectively wielding this double-edged sword, the "Party of God" has been vilified by countless politicians and media outlets. From its birth as an armed resistance to Israeli attacks on Lebanon over 35 years ago, …

Eds. (2021-01-07). The Geo-politics of EU-China Investment deal. mronline.org The recently announced EU-China principally agreed investment deal is a watershed moment, marking a first EU-China investment deal of its kind that would open the doors for the EU to make direct investment in China.

Workers World Party (2021-01-07). Long live the DPRK! Long live socialism! workers.org Workers World Party sent the following message to the Eighth Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea, taking place this month. Monument to the Workers' Party of Korea, Pyongyang January 1, 2021 Comrade Kim Jong Un Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of . . . |

Laurent Ross (2021-01-07). The D.C. terrorist attacks: September 11th and January 6th. peoplesworld.org On Sept. 11, 2001, I was a political appointee of D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, running a $17 million scholarship program. My office was just blocks from the Capitol, and I had a great view of the dome from my 10th story window. A member of my leadership team, Ken Howard, came into my office to …

Eds. (2021-01-07). "Too late to be pessimist! Ecosocialism or collapse" mronline.org From the analysis of the struggle between the great powers for a lesser dependence on fossil fuels (which can shape their rivalries or push towards convergence between them), to the reminder of the need for every subject of oppression to develop its own ecological reflection. Daniel Tanuro gives us illuminating and pedagogical tools to confront …

Joe Hirsch (2021-01-07). Film review: "Signed, Sealed and Delivered: Labor Struggle in the Post Office" workers.org Postal workers wildcat, 1978. "Signed, Sealed and Delivered: Labor Struggle in…

Eds. (2021-01-07). Capitalism and catastrophe. mronline.org The 2020 crisis we've endured isn't an aberration of the system but, as Alex Callinicos argues, an aspect of its permanent crisis.

Dr. Rudolf Hà§nsel (2021-01-07). Die Zukunftsvision freier Bàºrger: Eine libertà§re Gesellschaft mit freien Menschen. globalresearch.ca Freie Bàºrger, die gegen die Tyrannei aufstehen, haben nichts gegen die Machthaber. Sie tun ihnen nichts. Sie kà§mpfen fàºr eine gerechtere Ordnung, fàºr ihr Recht auf das Leben, auf Freiheit, Frieden und Sicherheit. Wenn nichts mehr hilft, so lautet die …

Youngji Jo, Isabella Gomes, Joseph Flack, Nicole Salazar-Austin, Gavin Churchyard, Richard E Chaisson, David W Dowdy (2021-01-07). [Research Paper] Cost-effectiveness of scaling up short course preventive therapy for tuberculosis among children across 12 countries. thelancet.com Based on this modeling analysis of available published data, household contact investigation with provision of short-course preventive therapy for TB has a value-for-money profile that compares favorably with other interventions.

Shaun Danielli, Tom Coffey, Hutan Ashrafian, Ara Darzi (2021-01-07). [Research Paper] Systematic review into city interventions to address obesity. thelancet.com Multi-level and multi-component interventions, at the individual, community and city level, done in concert, are needed to address obesity. A composite of interventions that cities can utilise to address obesity is provided. These interventions will also be beneficial to the environment and make the case that personal health and planetary health are inextricably linked and should be considered as one.

WSWS (2021-01-07). Sri Lankan president orders all state employees to commit to his election manifesto. wsws.org These preparations of Rajapakse are aimed at cementing his autocratic rule and taking on the working class.

Steve Topple (2021-01-07). The DWP is continuing with sanctions despite a national lockdown. thecanary.co The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has just DWP Jobcentres: remaining open: | On Wednesda…

Dan Froomkin (2021-01-07). It took thugs roaming the halls of Congress for media to speak the truth. salon.com Wednesday's dramatic Capitol attack finally captured the media's attention. But this outrage was far from the worst…

Ashlie D. Stevens (2021-01-07). Why Nic Cage was the perfect f**king host for a show about cursing etymology. salon.com "The History of Swear Words" showrunner spoke to Salon to draw back the curtain on this fun and bizarre series…

Gary M. Kramer (2021-01-07). In "Pieces of a Woman," Vanessa Kirby survives the worst in a heartbreaking, measured performance. salon.com Kornél Mundruczó's film addresses the fragmentation of a life after losing a child at birth…

Matthew Rozsa (2021-01-07). Ted Cruz tried to defend Trump's coup. He then praised the white supremacist Compromise of 1877. salon.com Cruz praised the compromise that ended the 1876 election even though it involved imposing white supremacy…

Dave Zirin (2021-01-07). WNBA Players Just Showed Their Political Power. thenation.com WNBA Players Just Showed Their Political Power…

Ken Klippenstein (2021-01-07). A Police Bulletin Instructs Officers to Look for Explosives. thenation.com A Police Bulletin Instructs Officers to Look for Explosives…

Timothy Pratt (2021-01-07). The Black Voters Who Defended Democracy in Georgia. thenation.com The Black Voters Who Defended Democracy in Georgia…

Brendan O'Connor (2021-01-07). A Preview of What's to Come. thenation.com A Preview of What's to Come…

_____ (2021-01-07). We Are Living In An Emergency That Requires Urgent Action. popularresistance.org Large parts of the world — outside of China and a few other countries — face a runaway virus, which has not been stopped because of criminal incompetence by governments. That these governments in wealthy countries cynically set aside the basic scientific protocols released by the World Health Organisation and by scientific organisations reveals their malicious practice. Anything less than focusing attention to managing the virus by testing, contact tracing, and isolation — and if this does not suffice, then imposing a temporary lockdown — is foolhardy. It is equally distressing that these…

_____ (2021-01-07). University Of Michigan Strike Showed The Power Of Student Organizing. popularresistance.org As the winter university semester is set to begin, the coronavirus is surging. The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, like many universities reliant on tuition dollars, tried to reopen in September with a "public health-informed" semester, as the university called it. That meant a mix of in-person and remote classes and dormitories operating at about 70 percent capacity. | Throughout the summer, the graduate workers union at the University of Michigan, the Graduate Employees Organization, or GEO, and Local 3550 of the American Federation of Teachers, had also been preparing for the fall semester by organizing a…

_____ (2021-01-07). How Activists Shut Down Key Pipeline Projects In New York. popularresistance.org If all had gone according to plan, the Constitution pipeline would be carrying fracked gas 124 miles from the shale gas fields of Pennsylvania through streams, wetlands, and backyards across the Southern Tier of New York until west of Albany. There it would join two existing pipelines, one that extends into New England and the other to the Ontario border as part of a vast network that moves fracked gas throughout the northeastern United States and Canada. | For a while, everything unfolded as expected. When the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the project in 2014, the U.S. was in the midst of a frack…

_____ (2021-01-07). Police Reform Advocates Press Minnesota Legislature For More. popularresistance.org Civil rights organizers were back at Minnesota's Capitol as a new legislative session got underway Tuesday, ready to mount another push for changes to police accountability laws less than a week after another fatal police shooting in Minneapolis. | "We know that George Floyd is not an anomaly," said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "George Floyd represents the history of state violence against people of color in this country and particularly against Black people." | Floyd's death last May in the custody of Minneapolis police officers made M…

Alex Bustillos (2021-01-07). One in Six US Restaurants Have Closed Down — Moms-and-Pops Suffer Much Worse than Chains. indybay.org The US restaurant industry is undergoing an earthquake.

Direct Action Everywhere (2021-01-07). Saturday 1/23: This is an Emergency: Divest From Animal Agriculture. indybay.org Berkeley, California…

Refuse Fascism (2021-01-07). Wednesday 1/6: MAGA Insurrectionists Have Violently Breeched Capitol in DC, Caravan Counter-Protest in SF. indybay.org In front of San Francisco City Hall, Polk St. side | Press conference for about 15 to 30 minutes then caravan takes off on a route that may last as long as 2 hours.

EARTHDAY (2021-01-07). Thursday 1/14: We Throw It All Away: Food Waste & Loss and Changing to Responsible Practices. indybay.org Online event via Zoom or direct livestream…

Santa Cruz News (2021-01-07). Bookshop Santa Cruz Union Election Starts Tomorrow. indybay.org Bookshop Santa Cruz workers will be voting tomorrow to get their union legally recognized, and are seeking the community's support.

Direct Action Everywhere (2021-01-07). Saturday 1/23: Meetup: Building a Strong Community for a Strong Movement. indybay.org Online Zoom…

RR (2021-01-07). Caravan Counter-Protest in San Francisco Reacts to MAGA Insurrectionists in DC. indybay.org Activists from a coalition of groups are calling for people to wake up to the reality of the unprecedented behavior of a sitting president who has legitimized the lie of a stolen election in the eyes of many millions of his supporters and mobilized white supremacist MAGA mobs to rampage, terrorize, and intimidate anyone who stands in their way.

EARTHDAY (2021-01-07). Thursday 1/7: We Throw It All Away: Food Waste & Loss and Changing to Responsible Practices. indybay.org Online event via Zoom or direct livestream…

Stop the Sweeps (2021-01-07). Wednesday 1/6: Protest to Stop the Sweeps. indybay.org Town Clock, Pacific Ave and Water St, Santa Cruz…

Refuse Fascism (2021-01-07). Thursday 1/7: No Fascist Coup! Trump's coup attempt failed, but the fascist is still in power. indybay.org San Francisco Civic Center…

Direct Action Everywhere (2021-01-07). Sunday 1/10: Community Park Clean Up. indybay.org Lincoln Way & 9th Ave San Francisco, CA 94122…

Zach Conti (2021-01-07). White House Announces Puerto Rico Disaster Rebuilding Aid. indybay.org Washington DC — The White House announced a $3.7 billion disaster grant for Puerto Rico to rebuild reservoirs, dams and wastewater facilities.

Museum of African Diaspora San Francisco (2021-01-07). Monday 1/18: Virtual Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. National Holiday w/ MoAD. indybay.org Online via livestream (FREE & all ages welcome)…

Staff (2021-01-07). On the 20th Anniversary of the War on Terror, Is There Any End in Sight? truthout.org "This is a different kind of war, which we will wage aggressively and methodically to disrupt and destroy terrorist activity," President George W. Bush

Staff (2021-01-07). On the 20th Anniversary of the "War on Terror," Is There Any End in Sight? truthout.org "This is a different kind of war, which we will wage aggressively and methodically to disrupt and destroy terrorist activity," President George W. Bush

imperial.ac.uk (2021-01-07). Vaccine collaboration could overcome cold chain issues for RNA-based vaccines. imperial.ac.uk Imperial vaccine researchers are collaborating with industry partners to develop RNA vaccines stable at temperatures up to 40C.

John Scales Avery (2021-01-07). Human Society And The Biosphere. zcomm.org According to a recent United Nations report, more than a million species of plants and animals are currently threatened with extinction because of human activities…

Rod Driver (2021-01-07). Brutal Human Rights Abuses — Torture, Sanctions and Our Failure to Discuss Economic Rights. zcomm.org People in advanced nations assume that their governments do not torture prisoners, but it is practized by the US, and was used by Britain in its colonies and in Northern Ireland…

Hamilton Nolan (2021-01-07). Google Workers Say the Endless Wait to Unionize Big Tech Is Over. zcomm.org "You have a union when you say you have a union."

Nikos Raptis (2021-01-07). Nazis, 'Commies', etc (Part 1). zcomm.org So, on the basis of my experience on Nazis and on assorted dictators, my guesstimate as to the number of Nazis and crypto-Nazis in any given population is: around 30 %…

Robert Koehler (2021-01-07). Embracing Ecological Realism. zcomm.org We must push our politics beyond the cul-de-sac of so-called political realism…

Pip Hinman (2021-01-07). Australia-US alliance: continuing dependence or strategic independence? greenleft.org.au A People's Inquiry to examine the United States-Australia alliance — its costs and consequences — and to canvas alternatives has been launched, writes Bevan Ramsden.

news.un (2021-01-07). Hong Kong: UN human rights office urges immediate release of arrested activists. news.un.org The UN human rights office (OHCHR) on Thursday voiced deep concerns over the arrests of over 50 individuals under the new National Security Law in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China, and called for their immediate release.

news.un (2021-01-07). Saudi Arabia: UN rights expert welcomes 'positive first step' toward détente in Gulf. news.un.org Saudi Arabia's action in lifting sanctions against Qatar is a "positive first step" towards normalized relations in the Gulf region, a UN independent human rights expert said on Thursday, urging the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt to follow suit.

news.un (2021-01-07). FROM THE FIELD: The genocide survivor helping others avoid starvation. news.un.org During the 1994 Genocide Against The Tutsi In Rwanda, Liberee Kayumba avoided starvation thanks to emergency rations from the World Food Programme (WFP). Today, she is helping to ensure that Burundian refugees in the country have enough to eat.

news.un (2021-01-07). Callamard calls for 'clear, explicit and unambiguous standards' to protect civilian planes during conflicts. news.un.org Urgent measures are needed to protect civilian aircraft flying over conflict zones or other areas where military tensions are high, a UN independent human rights expert said on Thursday.

Antonietta Gatti (2021-01-07). The Side Effects of Vaccines. 2017 Study in the International Journal of Vaccines and Vaccination. globalresearch.ca This article was first published in January 2017 by the International Journal of Vaccines and Vaccination | Abstract | Vaccines are being under investigation for the possible side effects they can cause. In order to supply new information, an electron-microscopy investigation method …

Khaled Iskef (2021-01-07). "The Syrian File" and The "Biased" Policies of the Organization for the Chemical Prohibition Organization. globalresearch.ca Russia has commented on the work policies of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons regarding the Syrian file and the pressures that the organization is subjected to by some countries, criticizing the technical secretariat policies in them, saying …

Dimitris Konstantakopoulos (2021-01-07). Middle East: Again on the Brink. Israel and "Intra-imperialist" Games. globalresearch.ca "To understand the situation, figure out that now, in Washington, the main obstacle to war is a man called Mad Dog." | This answer was given to me three years ago by Ray McGovern, when I asked him about the situation …

Vera Eidelman (2021-01-07). Clearview's Dangerous Misreading of the First Amendment Could Spell the End of Privacy Laws. aclu.org Secretly, and without consent, a company called Clearview AI has captured billions of faceprints from people's online photos, amassing what it claims to be the world's largest face recognition database. Much like our fingerprints and DNA profiles, our faceprints rely on permanent, unique facts about our bodies — like the distance between our eyes and noses or the shape of our cheekbones — to identify us., , Using our faceprints, Clearview offers its customers the ability to secretly target and identify any of us, and then to track us — whether we're going to a protest, a religious service, a…

Marlee Kokotovic (2021-01-07). $740 Billion Pentagon Bill receives all but six Democrat votes in Senate. nationofchange.org "The United States government should be responding to the needs, to the desperation, of families in our country at this time."

Shawgi Tell (2021-01-07). Charter School Accountability Will Remain Weak in 2021. dissidentvoice.org Segregated charter schools have a high failure rate and are notorious for lacking accountability and oversight. Charter schools are also well-known for being non-transparent even though they are ostensibly "public" schools. This has been the case for nearly 30 years when charter schools first came into being. Over the years, endless reports, articles, and books …

Elizabeth Perry (2021-01-07). Debating Maoism in Contemporary China: Reflections on Benjamin I. Schwartz, Chinese Communism and the Rise of Mao. asia-pacificresearch.com

Ashley Curtin (2021-01-07). Gov. Cuomo announces legalization of marijuana with proposed adult-use cannabis program. nationofchange.org It's no longer a question of whether New York will legalize marijuana, its how to go about the legalization. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced he will effectively end marijuana prohibition by pursuing legislature to create a legal cannabis market. Gov. Cuomo's proposal, which is part of the 2021 State of the State, includes an adult-use cannabis …

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-07). Sudan's transitional government signs Abraham Accords normalizing ties with Israel. peoplesdispatch.org According to the deal Sudan will recognize Israel and will "normalize" relations with it. The UAE and Bahrain had signed the deal in September last year…

Professor Piers Robinson (2021-01-07). 9/11 and WTC Building 7: "Good Science" vs "Bad Science" and Propaganda: A Review of "Seven" globalresearch.ca Among the many controversies surrounding the events of 9/11 one of the most prominent has been the question of how, many hours after the collapse of the Twin Towers, the 47-storey WTC7 building

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-07). Riot in Washington DC: This is America! peoplesdispatch.org Eugene Puryear talks about the lack of concern about the impact of fascist mobilization and possibilities of collusion between the rioters and law and order personnel. He also examines the narrative put forward by some sections that the violence does not represent the United States.

WSWS (2021-01-07). Landslide in Papua New Guinea kills 15 gold miners, children. wsws.org For tens of thousands of people, the desperate search for flecks of gold provides the only means of survival.

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-07). Hirak activists on hunger strike against pre-trial detention hospitalized in Algeria. peoplesdispatch.org The three Hirak activists – Mohamed Tadjadit (25), Noureddine Khimoud (25) and Abdelhak Ben Rahmani (38) – began a hunger strike on December 27 last year after they were denied bail and their pre-trial detention was extended by the authorities…

Desmond Tutu (2021-01-07). Joe Biden Should End the US Pretence over Israel's 'Secret' Nuclear Weapons. globalresearch.ca Every recent US administration has performed a perverse ritual as it has come into office. All have agreed to undermine US law by signing

James Corbett (2021-01-07). Video: What No One Is Saying About the Lockdowns. globalresearch.ca If you are advocating for lockdowns, you are complicit in tearing families apart. You are complicit in inflicting untold suffering on millions of people around the world. | You are complicit in casting the poorest and most vulnerable in our societies …

Andrew Emett (2021-01-07). 2 detectives in Breonna Taylor shooting are fired. nationofchange.org "The shots you fired were in three different directions, indicating you did not verify a threat or have target acquisition."

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-07). 11 Shia Hazara coal miners killed by members of ISIS, thousands stage protest. peoplesdispatch.org Despite harsh weather, thousands from Shia Hazara community continued to protest, refusing to bury the dead while demanding justice for the victims who were killed on Saturday…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-07). European Union will no longer recognize Juan Guaidó as president of Venezuela. peoplesdispatch.org The EU announced the position following the swearing-in of Venezuela's new National Assembly which was the body from which Guaidó rendered his claim to interim presidency…

Jackie Fox (2021-01-07). The Nickelodean Problem. realprogressives.org Hello internet, I'm Jackie Fox. In my last While the issues I mentioned are, no doubt quite bad, there is a bigger propaganda issue that's shaped my entire life; and that's the issue of the proliferation of advertising to children which really kicked off before I was born. | In this video,…

Editor (2021-01-07). Will America's 20-Year 'War on Terror' Ever End? scheerpost.com The U.S. Army / CC BY 2.0] By Nick Turse / TomDispatch "This is a different kind of war, which we will wage aggressively and methodically to disrupt and destroy terrorist activity," President George W. Bush announced a little more than two weeks after the 9/11 attacks. "Some victories will be won outside of public view, in tragedies avoided and threats eliminated. Other victories will be clear to… |

WSWS (2021-01-07). The fascist coup of January 6. wsws.org The fascist insurrection in Washington DC is a turning point in the political history of the United States.

Steven Wishnia (2021-01-07). How Unions Helped Georgia Flip the Senate. progressive.org On-the-ground organizing builds people power and victories from the bottom up.

Sabrangindia (2021-01-07). Re-Plug: 28 Protests in 22 days! Kranti ka Naqsha (Mapping the Revolution) Brings the Latest Updates. asia-pacificresearch.com

Tom Engelhardt (2021-01-07). De-Mining America After Trump. counterpunch.org 2021 has indeed begun and god knows what it has in store for us. But unless, somehow, we're surprised beyond imagining, The Donald is indeed going to leave the White House soon and, much as I hate to admit it, in some strange fashion we're going to miss him. Of course, it will be beyond

M. G. Piety (2021-01-07). Smash and Grab Politics. counterpunch.org 6: 00pm, EST January 6. Protestors stormed the capital today. Main-stream media swiftly switched, however, from referring to them as "protestors" to calling them "traitors," "insurrectionists," and "domestic terrorists." Why? Are they violent? Are they threatening violence? Are they calling for the overthrow of the government? Apparently, they broke a window to get inside the capital.

Cynthia Chung (2021-01-07). Russia's Historical Relationship with the United States. President Lincoln and Czar Alexander II. globalresearch.ca "Whenever the government of the United States shall break up, it will probably be in consequence of a false direction having been given to public opinion. This is the weak point of our defences, and the part to which the …

Yohuru Williams (2021-01-07). Raise a Fist of Solidarity! progressive.org The time has come for all social progressives to reclaim the fist of solidarity on every occasion we can.

Abayomi Azikiwe (2021-01-07). Africa in Review 2020: Anti-Imperialist Perspectives Essential in Understanding the Way Forward. globalresearch.ca One of the most serious attacks on the anti-colonial and national liberation legacy in Africa was the attempts by the United States and the Kingdom of Morocco to liquidate the right to self-determination among the Saharawi people in the Northwest …

Pamela Winn (2021-01-07). Pamela Winn Fights the Shackling of Pregnant People. aclu.org Pamela Winn was sent to federal prison when she was six weeks pregnant. In prison, she fell down attempting to step into a van while shackled. She was not given prenatal care and she miscarried a little over three months later, shackled to a prison bed., , Winn, who was released from prison in 2013, is now an activist for the rights of incarcerated women. She helped enact a law to prevent the shackling of pregnant people in Georgia and is leading a mission to end prison birth altogether , But her story is not unique. There are currently thousands of pregnant people in prison. Many are not given proper medical…

WSWS (2021-01-06). Australia: Chinese immigrant meatworkers locked out after protesting alleged assault. wsws.org The meatworkers' union acted as strike-breaker, shutting down the Chinese workers' principled act of solidarity with their victimised colleague.

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-06). Activists ask UK government to ensure safety for migrants crossing English Channel. peoplesdispatch.org According to reports, 8,400 migrants risked their lives crossing the English Channel to reach the UK in 2020, four times the number recorded in 2019…

Stephen Lendman (2021-01-06). Is Forever Mass-Vaxxing the "New Abnormal"? globalresearch.ca You've been diabolically lied to and deceived by a tyranny-supporting troika of Western regimes, Big Pharma, and their media press agents. | Covid is seasonal flu/influenza by another name, worlds apart from how it's portrayed. [That assessment is broadly confirmed by …

Narendra Kumar, Shafeeq K. Shahul Hameed, Giridhara R. Babu, Manjunatha M. Venkataswamy, Prameela Dinesh, Prakash Kumar BG, Daisy A. John, Anita Desai, Vasanthapuram Ravi (2021-01-06). [Research Paper] Descriptive epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Karnataka state, South India: Transmission dynamics of symptomatic vs. asymptomatic infections. thelancet.com Our findings indicate that both asymptomatic and symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 cases transmit the infection, although symptomatic cases were the main driving force within the state during the beginning of the pandemic. Considering the large proportion of asymptomatic cases, their ability to spread infection cannot be overlooked. Notwithstanding the limitations and bias in identifying asymptomatic cases, the findings have major implications for testing policies. Active search, early testing and treatment of symptomatic elderly patients with comorbidities should be prioritized for containing the spread of COVID-19 and red…

Philip Bittihn, Lukas Hupe, Jonas Isensee, Ramin Golestanian (2021-01-06). [Research Paper] Local measures enable COVID-19 containment with fewer restrictions due to cooperative effects. thelancet.com The leakiness, i.e. the proportion of cross-regional contacts, and the regional structure itself were crucial parameters for the performance of the regional strategy. Therefore, regional strategies could offer an adaptive way to contain the epidemic with fewer overall restrictions, if cross-regional infections can be kept below the critical level, which could be achieved without affecting local socioeconomic freedom. Maintaining general hygiene and contact tracing, testing should be intensified to ensure regional measures can be initiated at low infection thresholds, preventing the spread of the disease to other…

The Canary (2021-01-06). Welsh NHS chief warns Covid-19 patient numbers could double from first wave. thecanary.co The number of coronavirus (COVID-19) patients in Welsh hospitals could soon be double that seen during the first wave of the pandemic, the country's NHS chief executive has warned.Dr Andrew Goodall said Wales's health system was under "immense pressure", with critical care units operating at 140% of normal capacity. Two health boards are dedicating almost half their beds to patients with the virus.Almost 2,800 people are in Welsh hospitals with Covid-19-related illness. That's an increase of 4% in just a week, and the highest number on record following a surge in transmissions over the last fortnight.More dif…

WSWS (2021-01-06). COVID-19 deaths surge amid record new cases as Britain enters lockdown. wsws.org At a Downing Street press conference, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was forced to acknowledge that more than 1.1 million people now had the virus in England.

A Guest Author (2021-01-06). Advocates demand action as largest women's prison experiences COVID-19 outbreak. workers.org The following press release was issued Jan. 5 by the California Coalition for Women Prisoners CHOWCHILLA, Calif. There is a life-threatening massive outbreak of COVID-19 at the Central California Women's Facility, California's largest women's prison. In the past two weeks, there have been 500 new COVID-19 cases, representing 25% . . . |

Adam Khalil (2021-01-06). Covid-19: Palestinians left in limbo as Israel vaccinates. middleeasteye.net Covid-19: Palestinians left in limbo as Israel vaccinates | As Israelis tout record numbers of jabs, the occupied territories are still scrambling to obtain the coronavirus vaccine | Wed, 01/06/2021 – 12: 48 | A Palestinian youth wearing a face mask rides his bicycle past a mural painting of a nurse injecting a vaccine to a COVID-19 virus in Gaza City, on 31 December 2020 (AFP) | Israel has boasted that…

RT (2021-01-06). Stanford researchers developing single-dose nanoparticle Covid-19 vaccine that doesn't need cold storage. rt.com Researchers have successfully tested a nanoparticle Covid-19 vaccine which, as yet, doesn't appear to have any of the side effects or distribution issues plaguing the current generation of vaccines in use. | The scientists at the lab of Stanford University biochemist Peter S. Kim were already working on vaccines for the likes of Ebola, HIV and pandemic influenza when the coronavirus pandemic hit, and they quickly channeled all of their efforts into fighting the new scourge. | The team has already produced and tested a promising new vaccine which could provide the solution to many of the issues frustrating glob…

RT (2021-01-06). Covid hospitalizations in UK surpass 30,000 for first time in pandemic, amid record surge in infections. rt.com The UK has recorded its highest ever daily increase in new Covid-19 cases, as it also emerged that more people are currently hospitalised with the virus than at any other point in the pandemic, according to new official data. | On Wednesday Britain reported a record 62,322 new infections, as well as a further 1,041 deaths, taking the total number of people to have died within 28 days of a positive test to 77,346. | The stark figures are part of a 42.6 percent increase in cases and 37.2 percent jump in deaths across the last week compared to the previous seven days, government figures show. | The number of Covi…

imperial.ac.uk (2021-01-06). Neil Ferguson: UK's Covid situation is 'bleak' as control measures may not work. imperial.ac.uk Imperial's Professor Neil Ferguson says the UK's Covid situation is 'bleak' as existing control measures may not contain the new variant of the virus.

news.un (2021-01-06). 'An unwanted prison sentence' for seafarers stuck at home and stranded at sea. news.un.org Hundreds of thousands of seafarers have been on board for many months longer than planned, stranded at sea due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. Six months after the problem was first revealed, many of them are still struggling to cope with the ongoing uncertainty.

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-06). COVID-19 vaccines: Differences, costs, and challenges. peoplesdispatch.org The beginning of the new year has brought with it some hope as different countries have started administering vaccinations against COVID-19. This has been the fastest development of a vaccine ever, with a number of research collaborations to make this feat possible. But many challenges also remain.

Fight Back (2021-01-06). Chicago teachers confronting serious health risks refuse to work in-person. fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL – Thousands of rank-and-file educators, clinicians and support staff want the right to continue working remotely because they or a family member are at higher risk of illness and death should they contract COVID-19. Chicago Public Schools' response has been to refuse to allow educators to ask for an accommodation if family members at risk and to deny members with serious personal health risks like brain cancer the right to work remotely. | Half of the pre-K and special education cluster teachers in elementary and high schools scheduled to start teaching from school buildings refused to work in-person…

Helen Buyniski (2021-01-06). Civil War, Medical Discrimination, Spy Satellites and Cyborgs! How 2021 Could Make Us Yearn for 2020. globalresearch.ca People everywhere are eager to bid farewell to 2020, a year in which our lives were turned upside down by power-mad elites who seized the Covid-19 pandemic as a chance to go full police state. But be careful what you …

WSWS (2021-01-06). Los Angeles limits ambulance services as COVID-19 infections skyrocket in California and nationwide. wsws.org The unfolding nightmare in the city of 4 million people is the direct result of the ongoing drive to reopen schools and non-essential businesses.

WSWS (2021-01-06). Germany's federal and state governments keep workplaces open despite surging COVID deaths. wsws.org Government officials are ignoring the recommendations of scientists and risking an intensification of the pandemic.

Eds. (2021-01-06). The war on China. mronline.org The propaganda surrounding COVID-19 and China's response is only the latest escalation in a long term geopolitical strategy by U.S. imperialism to destroy it. Few people on the left or the socialist movement in the imperial core have been paying attention to the historic breakup of the U.S.-China relationship.

WSWS (2021-01-06). Brazilian workers exposed to infections and death as meat-processing industry reaps record profits. wsws.org At least 127 workers have been infected in a COVID-19 outbreak at a plant owned by Seara in Rio Grande do Sul.

Editor (2021-01-06). Why is the world's richest country so unprepared? workers.org The big question one must ask about the COVID-19 epidemic — which as of Jan. 2 has killed more than 1,850,000 people around the globe — is "Why was the United States so unprepared?" This is a highly developed and rich country. It has more than 600 billionaires, according to . . . |

Eds. (2021-01-06). It wasn't 2020, it was the ruling class trying to kill you. mronline.org Reflections on COVID-19, capitalism, empire, and the worst year ever from the Hood Communist editorial staff.

Dr. David Halpin (2021-01-06). COVID-19 and Induced Insanity in the UK, the Global Lab Rat. globalresearch.ca There were several events typical of predictive programming. | The World Economic Forum October 21st 2020 meeting and the Great Reset was one (1). | Here in Britain the orchestration of central, NHS and local responses to a respiratory disease suggested …

Dr. Pascal Sacré (2021-01-06). The COVID-19 RT-PCR Test: How to Mislead All Humanity. Using a "Test" To Lock Down Society. globalresearch.ca The misuse of the RT-PCR technique is used as an intentional strategy by some governments, supported by scientific safety councils and by the dominant media, to justify the violation of a large number of constitutional rights, the destruction of the economy with the bankruptcy of entire active sectors of society,…

WSWS (2021-01-06). Washington state fines Gebbers Farms months after COVID-19 deaths of workers. wsws.org Gebbers Farms persistently and openly violated basic COVID-19 safety precautions even after regular government inspections and three worker deaths in July.

Evans Aggelissopoulos (2021-01-06). Greece: From A Covid Coup To A Covid Junta. globalresearch.ca In the end, only a Grand Coalition of all Covidian parties will become inevitable, either as a consequence of a rebellion or prior to one… | The Greek government is trying to excel in its imposition of totalitarian rules for a …

WSWS (2021-01-06). UAW-FCA cover-up of outbreaks continues at Toledo Jeep complex. wsws.org Production at the Jeep complex went forward full throttle over the holidays while the cover-up of COVID-19 cases and intimidation of workers at the plant continued.

Russell Mokhiber (2021-01-06). Joel Bakan on How Good Corporations Are Bad for Democracy. counterpunch.org Fifteen years ago, University of British Columbia law professor Joel Bakan came out with a book and movie titled — The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power. That book and movie embedded in the American mind the idea of a corporation as a psychopath. Bakan analyzed the corporation the way a psychiatrist would analyze

Akram Al-Waara (2021-01-06). Palestinian activist Issa Amro defiant over 'baseless' conviction by Israeli court. middleeasteye.net Palestinian activist Issa Amro defiant over 'baseless' conviction by Israeli court | An Israeli military court convicted Amro on charges dating back to 2010, which the activist says is an attempt to silence all resistance against the occupation | Wed, 01/06/2021 – 14: 47 | Palestinian activist Issa Amro speaks to journalists after he was released on bail by a Palestinian court, in the West Bank…

MEE staff (2021-01-06). New US foreign affairs chair backs resuming aid to Palestinians. middleeasteye.net New US foreign affairs chair backs resuming aid to Palestinians | Representative Gregory Meeks backs resumption of humanitarian aid to Palestinians, but will not support calls to condition US military aid to Israel | Wed, 01/06/2021 – 17: 11 | Representative Gregory Meeks is first Black American to lead House Foreign Affairs Committee (Reuters/File photo) | The new chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committ…

MEE staff (2021-01-06). New House Foreign Affairs chair backs resuming US aid to Palestinians. middleeasteye.net New House Foreign Affairs chair backs resuming US aid to Palestinians | Representative Gregory Meeks backs resumption of humanitarian aid to Palestinians, but will not support calls to condition US military aid to Israel | Wed, 01/06/2021 – 17: 11 | Representative Gregory Meeks is first Black American to lead House Foreign Affairs Committee (Reuters/File photo) | The new chairman of the House Foreign Affairs C…

news.un (2021-01-06). Deadly car bomb attacks 'tragic reminder' of price civilians pay in Syria. news.un.org The killing of civilians in separate car bomb attacks in northern Syria on Saturday has been condemned by top UN humanitarian officials for the country.

South Front (2021-01-06). Iran Uses Its Grip on Strait of Hormuz to Fight Back US-Imposed Sanctions. globalresearch.ca Iran has found an original way of dealing with sanctions and limitations imposed on it by the so-called "maximum pressure" campaign launched by the Trump administration. | On January 4, the Navy of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps detained a …

Ben Norton (2021-01-06). UK judge justifies CIA spying on Assange citing debunked CNN report based on… CIA spying. thegrayzone.com UK judge Vanessa Baraitser justified CIA spying on Julian Assange by citing a falsehood-filled CNN report. Her judgment highlighted corporate media's enthusiastic role in a state-sponsored assault on press freedom. The British judge ruling in the US government's extradition case against journalist Julian Assange justified a CIA spying operation targeting both the WikiLeaks publisher and the Ecuadorian government by pointing to debunked accusations published by CNN. Yet in a self-referential loop, the American media outlet's dubious claims about Assange themselves …

Noam Chomsky — Vijay Prashad (2021-01-06). Three Major Threats to Life on Earth That We Must Address in 2021. counterpunch.org A scientific paper published in 2018 came with a startling headline: "Most atolls will be uninhabitable by the mid-21st century because of sea-level rise exacerbating wave-driven flooding." The authors found that atolls from the Seychelles to the Marshall Islands are liable to vanish. A 2019 United Nations (UN) report estimated that 1 million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction. Add to this the catastrophic wildfires and the severe bleaching of the coral reefs and it is clear that we no longer need to linger over clichés about one thing or another being a canary in the coal mine of climate cat…

Noam Chomsky (2021-01-06). Chomsky and Prashad: Three major threats to life on Earth that we must address in 2021. mronline.org Large parts of the world—outside of China and a few other countries—face a runaway virus, which has not been stopped because of criminal incompetence by governments.

WSWS (2021-01-06). New Zealand protest demands freedom for Julian Assange. wsws.org The Socialist Equality Group (New Zealand) took part in a rally called by Free Assange NZ in Wellington, ahead of the judicial verdict in London that unexpectedly halted the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the US.

Norman Solomon (2021-01-06). In 2021, the Best Way to Fight Neofascist Republicans is to Fight Neoliberal Democrats. counterpunch.org The threat of fascism will hardly disappear when Donald Trump moves out of the White House in two weeks. On Capitol Hill, the Republicans who've made clear their utter contempt for democracy will retain powerful leverage over the U.S. government. And they're securely entrenched because Trumpism continues to thrive in much of the country. Yet,

Chris Hedges (2021-01-06). The Empire is Not Done with Julian Assange. zcomm.org As is clear from the memoir of one of his attorneys, Michael Ratner, the ends have always justified the means for those demanding his global persecution…

Eds. (2021-01-06). Chris Hedges: The Empire is not done with Julian Assange. mronline.org As is clear from the memoir of one of his attorneys, Michael Ratner, the ends have always justified the means for those demanding his global persecution.

Brett Wilkins, staff writer (2021-01-06). Citing 'Open Sedition,' Rep. Ilhan Omar Vows Trump Impeachment Resolution. commondreams.org "Today, I watched as armed terrorists stormed the United States Capitol," the Minnesota congresswoman wrote. "We should not mince words about what this was: a coup attempt." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/barb.jpg

Binoy Kampmark (2021-01-06). Environmental Capitalism and Climate Change Wars: Australia in 2000. counterpunch.org The Australian was convinced. "Australia could have avoided two decades of climate change wars had the Howard government pushed ahead with its majority view of an emissions trading scheme (ETS), newly released documents reveal." Historian Chris Wallace is not as unequivocal in this assertion, but nonetheless observes in The Conversation that "a working consensus among

Hector Rios-Jara (2021-01-06). Lessons from a decade of student activism in the UK. zcomm.org The pandemic has exposed the disgraceful failures of market reforms in the British higher education sector. But the resistance of students continues…

_____ (2021-01-06). 40% Of Chicago Teachers And Staff Didn't Report To Schools As Ordered. popularresistance.org About 40% of Chicago Public Schools teachers and staff who were expected to report to schools Monday for the first time during the pandemic didn't show up for in-person work, officials said Tuesday, accusing the Chicago Teachers Union of pressuring its members to defy the district's orders. | In all, about half of teachers and three-quarters of school-based support staff in preschool and special education cluster programs returned to classrooms as expected, accounting for 60% of those 4,400 employees scheduled to go back to specific schools, the district announced. Officials didn't immediately provide data on ano…

_____ (2021-01-06). Eldercide In The United States. popularresistance.org Contrary to what many believe, the tens of thousands of deaths of those living in long-term care (LTC) were no inevitable biological catastrophe. Their grieving, angry family members know better: they know the conditions that prematurely deprived their loved ones of the remainder of their lives. By December, just as vaccine distribution started, nearly 110,000 residents and staffers had died. The extra deaths among our elders constitute an appalling percentage of the 1.4 million Americans who were living in nursing homes before the pandemic. These older adults were of all races, genders, ethnicities, religions, a…

WSWS (2021-01-06). Turkish government sets minimum wage at hunger level. wsws.org While big business rakes in billions in profits during the pandemic, the Erdogan government has slashed living standards, with millions left unemployed.

Project Censored (2021-01-06). Aaron Good and Adam Bessie. projectcensored.org In the first half of the program, scholar Aaron Good summarizes a recent article he co-authored with Peter Dale Scott about the September 9, 2001 murder of Afghan militia leader Ahmed Shah Massoud, its connection to the subsequent September 11th attacks, and the ongoing US occupation of Afghanistan. Then English professor and author Adam Bessie examines the implications of the massive change from in-person to remote instruction at community colleges, in response to the coronavirus pandemic. | Notes: | Aaron Good earned his Ph.D. from Temple University and is a history instructor in the Philadelphia area. His arti…

splcenter (2021-01-06). Meet DLive: The Livestreaming Platform Used by Trump's Capitol Insurrectionists. splcenter.org Far-right extremists livestreamed on the fringe, youth-targeted gaming website DLive on Wednesday during an unprecedented breach of the U.S. Capitol building that left at least four people dead and others wounded. One of the extremists livestreamed on DLive from the office of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Hatewatch observed while monitoring the events.

Alan Macleod (2021-01-06). Journalists, Activists Condemn UK Decision to Keep Assange Locked Up without Charge. mintpressnews.com "To us, that is nothing more than a pretext to keep him detained. This seems unnecessarily punitive and adding insult to injury after the 10 years of hell that he has endured" — Rebecca Vincent, Reporters Without Borders…

Vijay Prashad (2021-01-06). You don't want to imagine an ocean without coral reefs—but you might have to. mronline.org The reefs will die. That seems certain. The UNEP report will not circulate. That seems equally certain. The Marshall Islands and Rwanda will file their updates. That has already happened. Meanwhile, the United States and its allies will sit on the sidelines, expanding fracking with a "who cares" attitude.

Staff (2021-01-06). "Miscarriage of Justice": No Charges Against White Kenosha Officer Who Shot & Paralyzed Jacob Blake. democracynow.org In Kenosha, Wisconsin, District Attorney Michael Graveley has announced that no charges will be filed against the white police officer who fired seven shots at Jacob Blake, paralyzing the 29-year-old Black man in August. Officer Rusten Sheskey fired the shots at point-blank range into Blake's back as he leaned into his car, with his three children, aged 3, 5 and 8, inside the vehicle. Prosecutors maintain the shooting was in self-defense because Blake had a small knife in the car. Video of Blake's shooting sparked an uprising in Kenosha in August against systemic racism and police brutality. Blake's family denoun…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-06). Julian Assange's bail plea denied. peoplesdispatch.org A British judge denied Julian Assange's plea for bail on Wednesday, January 6. Judge Vanessa Baraitser rejected the bail request filed by Assange's legal team on the grounds that he still has "incentive" to abscond. Assange will continue to remain in the high security prison in Belmarsh pending the appeal filed by the United States on his extradition. The same judge on Monday had The judge, on Wednesday, stated that…

Pip Hinman (2021-01-06). Assange decision welcome but sullied by legal chicanery. greenleft.org.au The ruling that Julian Assange cannot be extradited to the United States is welcome, but it comes after the charade in which British authorities held an unconvicted person in a top security prison and made his defence as difficult as possible, argues Stuart Rees.

news.un (2021-01-06). UN human rights expert 'cautiously' welcomes UK court's refusal to extradite Julian Assange. news.un.org An independent UN human rights expert has welcomed a British court's refusal to extradite Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to the United States on the basis that he would be exposed to oppressive conditions of imprisonment.

The Canary (2021-01-06). WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange must be released after 'inhumane' bail refusal. thecanary.co WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's hopes for freedom have been dashed after a judge refused him bail despite a decision to block his extradition to the United States. | District judge Vanessa Baraitser rejected an application for Assange's release with strict conditionals over concern he would abscond. | It follows a decision that he should not be extradited to the US on mental health grounds due to the risk of suicide. | Assange will have to remain in custody as the US government is appealing against Monday's extradition ruling. | Announcing her bail decision at Westminster Magistrates' Court, Baraitser said: "A…

_____ (2021-01-06). Julian Assange Is Denied Bail By London Court. popularresistance.org "I am satisfied there are substantial grounds for believing that if Mr Assange is released today he would fail to surrender to court to face the appeal proceedings," Judge Vanessa Baraitser said. | "As far as Mr Assange is concerned this case has not yet been won… the outcome of this appeal is not yet known." | She was referring to the fact that Assange after failing in his battle against extradition to Sweden, breached bail and took refuge in the Embassy of Ecuador in London in June 2012. He was granted asylum by Ecuador on the grounds of political persecution, with the presumption that if he was extradited to…

WSWS (2021-01-06). Medical doctors respond to Assange extradition ruling: "He must be released without delay" wsws.org "We demand that all legal proceedings be dropped and that he be released from prison, and only then will his psychological torture finally end."

Anand Naidoo (2021-01-06). The Heat: What Brexit deal means for the United Kingdom. america.cgtn.com After 48 years together, the United Kingdom and the European Union are officially apart. So how's it going so far?

G. Dunkel (2021-01-06). Brexit: Britain leaves the EU, and workers bear the burden. workers.org Brexit — the rupture between Britain and the European Union — was completed at midnight, Dec. 31. In a 2016 referendum, in a xenophobic, racist vote fueled by dreams of a withered and long-passed imperial glory, British voters narrowly supported a proposal to leave the European Union. Only 51.9% of . . . |

Jasmine Norden (2021-01-06). People are outraged at Keir Starmer's lockdown response. thecanary.co Members of the public have expressed their frustration with Keir Starmer's failure to advocate for increased safety net measures in the new lockdown. | On the evening of 4 January, the Labour leader appeared on BBC News and was

MEE and agencies (2021-01-06). Sudan signs agreement normalising ties with Israel. middleeasteye.net Sudan signs agreement normalising ties with Israel | The Abraham Accords were signed as US treasury secretary inked a deal with Khartoum to access $1bn in financing from the World Bank | Wed, 01/06/2021 – 15: 36 | US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok during a visit to Khartoum (Supplied) | Sudan signed the Abraham Accords with the United States o…

Mohammad Ayesh (2021-01-06). Arabic press review: Regional media reacts to end of Qatar blockade. middleeasteye.net Arabic press review: Regional media reacts to end of Qatar blockade | How has Middle East media interpreted Tuesday's deal ending Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE's embargo on Doha? | Wed, 01/06/2021 – 12: 01 | GCC secretary general Abdullatif al-Zayani and Bahraini diplomat Hamad Al-Amer, right, at a press conference in 2013 (AFP) | Bahraini diplomat attacks Gulf reconciliation:…

RT (2021-01-06). Moscow's new women metro drivers inspire commemorative Barbie dolls after rule change lets them take to capital's rails. rt.com Women are once again behind the wheel on Moscow's iconic underground trains, after a decades-old ban was reversed in the Russian capital. Now, the new drivers have a mascot — in the shape of a subway-operating Barbie figurine. | Metro chiefs said in a statement,

RT (2021-01-06). Syrian air defenses respond to 'Israeli aggression' around Damascus (VIDEOS). rt.com Syria's air defenses were activated to repel an Israeli rocket attack near a town south of Damascus, Syrian state media reported, sharing footage of the assault in progress. | The strikes came early on Thursday morning in the area around the Syrian capital, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency, reportedly targeting military sites near the town of al-Kisweh, located some 18 miles (30km) south of Damascus. | "At exactly 11: 10pm, the Israeli enemy carried out an air aggression through bursts of missiles from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan on some targets in the southern region," a military source…

Rick Baum (2021-01-06). Wealth Inequality Virus Spikes During the Last Days of 2020. counterpunch.org As of December 23, the combined wealth of the ten wealthiest was needed to reach the "magic" sum of one trillion dollars. As of December 31, the combined wealth of the nine wealthiest is now more than a trillion. This change was helped by Warren Buffet's loss for the year shrinking during the last eight days of the year from $4.62 billion to $1.62 billion, and Musk's wealth increasing another $15 billion.

The Tricontinental (2021-01-06). Dossier no. 36: Twilight: The erosion of U.S. control and the multipolar future. mronline.org If there was one revolution that marked the beginning of the end of the colonial epoch and that inaugurated a new worker-led civilisation, it was the Haitian Revolution of 1804. Enslaved Africans defeated the four major European powers of the day, won their freedom, and declared an independent republic.

Alexis Moncada (2021-01-06). Women's movement wins legal abortion in Argentina. liberationnews.org This progressive legislation makes Argentina the largest country to legalize abortion in Latin America, sending ripples throughout the continent.

Eds. (2021-01-06). 21-year-old college student elected Mayor of Kerala Capital. mronline.org Ms Rajendran had won from the Mudavanmughal ward of the city corporation, bagging 2,872 votes, 549 more than the rival Congress candidate.

Devin C (2021-01-06). EMERGENCY TWITTER/PHONE CALL ALERT! Alabama prison hunger striker beaten. workers.org On the morning of Jan. 4, a prisoner participating in the #Alabama11 hunger strike was beaten and bloodied by a guard, Officer Landrum, at the instructions of Sgt. Williams, for his participation in the hunger strike. The prisoner's name is Ronnie Miller, #244648. He is out of the infirmary, but . . . |

Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (2021-01-06). 'We Structure the Market to Create Inequality'. fair.org Janine Jackson interviewed CEPR's Dean Baker about trickle-down economics for the Janine Jackson: A recent rash of headlines

Alison Colette Bodine (2021-01-06). Venezuela Elections: A key victory for anti-Imperialist Movement in Latin America. mronline.org The people of Venezuela have dealt another decisive blow against U.S. domination in Latin America. The successful continuity of two decades of Venezuelan Bolivarian revolutionary process has turned Venezuela into the backbone of the Latin American anti-imperialist and revolutionary movement.

Paul Wilcox and Joyce Chediac (2021-01-06). NYC politician's 'Working Group' backs privatizing Fulton Houses over tenant objections. liberationnews.org Tenant organizers at the Fulton New York City Housing Authority complex have been fighting privatization plans for 18 months.

Juan Cole (2021-01-06). Raphael Warnock ran for the Senate from Ebenezer Baptist Church. zcomm.org What that means to American History…

Manuela Solé (2021-01-06). Venezuela: New National Assembly Takes Office as Guaido Loses EU Recognition. venezuelanalysis.com Washington doubled down on its support for the opposition leader.

Philip.R Harvey, Nigel.J Trudgill (2021-01-06). The association between physician staff numbers and mortality in English hospitals. thelancet.com Acute hospital providers with fewer beds per medical staff of all grades are associated with lower than expected mortality.

Zhilin Zeng, Juan Zhan, Liyuan Chen, Huilong Chen, Sheng Cheng (2021-01-06). [Research Paper] Global, regional, and national dengue burden from 1990 to 2017: A systematic analysis based on the global burden of disease study 2017. thelancet.com Dengue is a major public health challenge worldwide. While there is remarkable international variation in its incidence, the dengue burden is increasing globally. The results of this study could be useful for policy makers to implement cost-effective interventions and reduce the dengue burden, particularly in countries with high incidence or increasing burden.

Charlotte Hamel, Sjors Coppus, Joyce van den Berg, Esther Hink, Jacoba van Seeters, Paul van Kesteren, Ashley Merién, Bas Torrenga, Rafli van de Laar, Josien Terwisscha van Scheltinga, Ingrid Gaugler-Senden, Peppino Graziosi, Minouche van Rumste, Ewka Nelissen, Frank Vandenbussche, Marcus Snijders (2021-01-06). [Research Paper] Mifepristone followed by misoprostol compared with placebo followed by misoprostol as medical treatment for early pregnancy loss (the Triple M trial): A double-blind placebo-controlled randomised trial. thelancet.com Pre-treatment with mifepristone prior to misoprostol was more effective than misoprostol alone in managing EPL.

Steve Topple (2021-01-06). A whole CLP executive committee has quit over the ongoing Labour purge. thecanary.co The growing CLP: 'current Labour purge': | reporting on the growing number of people the party machinery is suspending. In the south west, it has

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2021-01-06). Progressives Back Rep. Cori Bush's Resolution to Expel Lawmakers Who Incited Violent Siege of Capitol. commondreams.org "This is the standard for Democratic members of Congress right now." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-12296856511.jpg

Julia Conley, staff writer (2021-01-06). Human Rights Watch Urges Biden to End Trump's 'Devastating' Remain In Mexico Policy. commondreams.org The global organization Human Rights Watch urged President-elect Joe Biden to "quickly and decisively" end a two-year-old policy under which tens of thousands of asylum seekers have been forced to stay in squalid and often dangerous makeshift shelters in Mexico. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-1193073687_1.jpg

John W. Whitehead (2021-01-06). What to Expect in 2021: Madness, Mayhem, Manipulation and More Tyranny. dissidentvoice.org Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which. ‚Äï George Orwell, …

Amanda Marcotte (2021-01-06). Don't dismiss Trump's "Stop the Steal" tantrum: The GOP is trolling our democracy to death. salon.com Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley know their objections to Biden's win will fail, but that doesn't make their stunt harmless…

Igor Derysh (2021-01-06). Trump tells Capitol rioters "we love you," stokes election lies after Biden condemns "insurrection" salon.com Twitter quickly locked Trump's video praising rioters "due to a risk of violence"

Roger Sollenberger (2021-01-06). Donald Trump Jr. claps back at GOP after losing Senate — then vainly tries to control Capitol chaos. salon.com But a senior campaign official says the president's "addiction to every conspiracy theory" made victory impossible…

Roger Sollenberger (2021-01-06). Kelly Loeffler's husband simply won't say what came of the SEC's insider trading investigation. salon.com Soon-to-be-ex-senator says DOJ and Senate cleared her, but her husband won't say what became of SEC trading probe…

Igor Derysh (2021-01-06). Rudy Giuliani called for "trial by combat" and then chaos descended on Capitol Hill. salon.com The president's lawyer wants to have a "trial by combat" to determine if baseless fraud claims are true…

Roger Sollenberger (2021-01-06). U.S. Capitol in lockdown after Trump unleashes violent mob on Congress. salon.com At least one person shot as pro-Trump protesters invade Capitol, reach House and Senate chambers and offices…

sputniknews (2021-01-06). Nigel Farage's Brexit Party Officially Renamed to 'Reform UK' by Electoral Commission. sputniknews.com The Brexit Party formed in 2018 in order to promote Brexit and pressure the Conservative government into fulfilling its promise to deliver the 2016 referendum result. After the UK formally left the European Union, party leader Nigel Farage has re-oriented his priorities to opposing coronavirus lockdown measures and reforming UK politics.

Samuel Zipp (2021-01-06). The Ethical Commitment to Be a Punk. thenation.com The Ethical Commitment to Be a Punk…

Victoria Law (2021-01-06). How the System Kept Failing the Only Woman on Federal Death Row. thenation.com How the System Kept Failing the Only Woman on Federal Death Row…

_____ (2021-01-06). Iowa Farm Bankruptcies Continue To Rise, Despite Aid. popularresistance.org There were 27 farm bankruptcies in Iowa in 2019 — more than double the 13 bankruptcies in 2018, the American Farm Bureau Federation reported. This was despite the $1.58 billion the federal government paid Iowa farmers in Market Facilitation Program payments to ease losses because of the trade dispute with China. | Later this month, we'll know how many Iowa farms went bankrupt in 2020, but Iowa State University economics professor and crop markets specialist Chad Hart said to expect another increase. | "The government has provided a lot of short-term funding to help farmers get through the year," Hart said,…

_____ (2021-01-06). Vons, Pavilions To Fire 'Essential Workers'. popularresistance.org When Dylan's grocery delivery arrived a few days before New Years, it came with some bad news. The delivery driver who brought his groceries from Vons mentioned that drivers across the state are getting fired by Vons, Pavilions, and other California stores owned by Albertsons Companies in late February. Stores will instead turn to a third-party delivery service using independent contractors. | "I was disturbed and disappointed that Vons would eliminate these jobs. I felt like they were the only remaining company that treated delivery drivers ethically but no longer," said Dylan. | After publication, an Albertsons…

_____ (2021-01-06). Free Grocery Store Opens In District With High Number Of Poor Students. popularresistance.org This month, the principal of Linda Tutt High School in the small town of Sanger, Texas, said he was approached by an eighth grader eager to share that he had bought a three-in-one men's shampoo, conditioner and body wash. | "The first thing he did was he said: 'Hey. Look in my hair,'" the principal, Anthony Love, recalled in an interview Tuesday. | "And so I looked at it, and it looked clean," Love said. "But he was excited about it because it was the first time he's ever had his own shampoo." | The student, who lives with his mother and sister, said he had avoided using their shampoo because of the smell, Love s…

The Frontline, United We Dream, M4BL, WPF (2021-01-06). Wednesday 1/6: Cancel Rent: On The Frontline of Evictions & The Economy Town Hall. indybay.org Online/virtual town hall…

Stop the Sweeps (2021-01-06). Tuesday 1/5: Stop the Sweeps in Watsonville. indybay.org Linear Park | 100 E Front St., Watsonville…

Renée Rhodes (2021-01-06). Saturday 2/13: Root Division Presents: Diasporic Futurism Part II: The Future Futures. indybay.org Virtual Reception and Viewing: rootdivisiontalk.wpcomstaging.com/ | In-person viewings by appointment only: | 1131 Mission St. San Francisco, CA 94103…

Brett Wilkins (2021-01-06). Google Workers Form Union. indybay.org Google workers have formed a union to promote solidarity, democracy, and social and economic justice. Reprinted here from Common Dreams under Creative Commons License. Photo by Ruth Robertson.

commondreams (2021-01-06). Violence Will Not Alter Outcome of This Democratic Election. commondreams.org ______________________________…

commondreams (2021-01-06). EPA Report: Gas Mileage Down, Pollution Up. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Mark Hertsgaard, Andrew McCormick (2021-01-06). With Climate Action Finally on the Table, Journalists Must Redouble Their Commitment to the Climate Story. commondreams.org A new year's resolution: climate journalism to match the crisis. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/americans.jpg

commondreams (2021-01-06). Stand Up America Calls for Congress to Immediately Impeach and Remove Trump. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Common Dreams staff (2021-01-06). In Pictures: Pro-Trump Mob Storms US Capitol Building. commondreams.org "They're in the chamber. One is up on the dais yelling 'Trump won that election!' This is insane." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/capitol_hill_chaos_1.jpg

commondreams (2021-01-06). Governor Cuomo Announces Marijuana Legalization Effort in 2021. commondreams.org ______________________________…

commondreams (2021-01-06). With Georgia Senators Joining the Fight, Democrats Must Enact Bold Policy That Invests in Communities and Main Street. commondreams.org ______________________________…

commondreams (2021-01-06). Patriotic Millionaires On Georgia Senate Results: Congress Must Prioritize Relief, Reform, and Revival. commondreams.org ______________________________…

commondreams (2021-01-06). Biden's A.G. Pick Must Hold Polluters Accountable: Center for Climate Integrity Statement. commondreams.org ______________________________…

commondreams (2021-01-06). Remove Trump from Office. commondreams.org ______________________________…

commondreams (2021-01-06). Muslim Advocates: Violence at U.S. Capitol Result of 'Shocking Double Standard'. commondreams.org ______________________________…

commondreams (2021-01-06). Nurses Denounce Insurrection at U.S. Capitol "Those Responsible Should be Held Accountable" commondreams.org ______________________________…

commondreams (2021-01-06). White House Announces Puerto Rico Disaster Rebuilding Aid. commondreams.org ______________________________…

commondreams (2021-01-06). President and CEO of the NAACP Releases Statement on Disruption of Peaceful Transition of Power and Calls for Impeachment of President Trump. commondreams.org ______________________________…

commondreams (2021-01-06). Bend the Arc on Georgia Runoff Wins: "We Refused to Give in to Fear and Division" commondreams.org ______________________________…

commondreams (2021-01-06). 350.Org on White Supremacist Terrorism in the U.S. Capitol. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Staff (2021-01-06). No Charges Filed Against White Officer Who Shot and Paralyzed Jacob Blake. truthout.org In Kenosha, Wisconsin, District Attorney Michael Graveley has announced that no charges will be filed against the white police officer who fired seven shots at Jacob Blake, paralyzing the 29-year-old Black man in August. Officer Rusten Sheskey fired the shots at point-blank range into Blake's back as he leaned into his car, with his three children, aged 3, 5 and 8, inside the vehicle. Prosecutors maintain the shooting was in self-defense because Blake had a small knife in the car. Video of Blake's…

Saskia Hostetler Lippy (2021-01-06). Security Culture and a New Day in Portland. zcomm.org For there to be true peace we need an end to secrecy, to toxic security culture, to violence. Come out of the shadows and let's speak face to face, as humans do…

Latosha Brown (2021-01-06). "This Is Voter Suppression" zcomm.org 198,000 Georgia Residents Were Illegally Purged from Voter Rolls…

Nick Corbishley (2021-01-06). Wall Street Mega-Landlord Blackstone Prepares to Reap the Spoils of Another Crisis. zcomm.org Blackstone was a big winner of the last crisis. Now, it hopes to repeat the feat, albeit using a somewhat different playbook…

Badri Raina (2021-01-06). The Onus Is Now on the SC to Protect Constitutional Rights to Privacy and Free Choice. zcomm.org While the apex court on January 6 will take up pleas for anti-conversion laws, two views of citizen's rights will be in direct contention — one propagated by the right-wing and the other enshrined in the constitution…

news.un (2021-01-06). Security Council has critical role in addressing fragility and conflict: UN chief. news.un.org UN Secretary-General António Guterres has underlined the critical role of the Security Council in addressing links between fragility and conflict, two of the greatest obstacles to achieving sustainable development across the world.

news.un (2021-01-06). UN chief welcomes declaration on resolving the 'Gulf rift'. news.un.org The United Nations Secretary-General has welcomed the al Ula declaration on "solidarity and stability", announced at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit on Tuesday, aimed at strengthening peace and prosperity in the region.

news.un (2021-01-06). FROM THE FIELD: Port explosion which 'burnt hearts' of Beirut residents. news.un.org Five months on from the devastating port explosion that killed over 200 people, and injured thousands more, the UN has invited Beirut residents to share their hopes and fears for the future of the city, and for Lebanon, which remains in crisis.

Sacha Stone (2021-01-06). Video: Focus on Fauci. "This is Not A Vaccine" globalresearch.ca Clarion Call Outlining the Crimes Against Humanity with host Sacha Stone | and guests Dr Judy Mikovits, David Martin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr and Rocco Galati. … | TRANSCRIPT | The bombshell revelation: | " Let's make sure we are clear… This is not …

sputniknews (2021-01-06). Sacha Baron Cohen Reveals the 'Aim' of Borat 2 Was to Encourage Anti-Trump Vote. sputniknews.com The second installment of the infamous Borat movies, which documents and satirises culture and politics in the United States, become the subject of criticism by leading members of the Trump administration after the president's lawyer was caught seemingly with his hands down his pants following a fake interview.

Fight Back (2021-01-06). 14 million Americans' stimulus checks are delayed through TurboTax and H&R Block. fightbacknews.org Tallahassee, FL – If you are like me, you have probably checked your bank account dozens of times throughout the day waiting for the recent round of $600 stimulus checks. | If you are like me, then you have searched online through Google for "stimulus check," "delay" or anything else that can explain the holdup of much needed financial relief. | This second round of stimulus checks is a complete insult to the millions of workers who pay way too much in taxes and yet are constantly disregarded and disrespected by the ruling class. | Just last week, in a stunning position, Donald Trump urged Congress to give Amer…

Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez (2021-01-06). 'Miscarriage of justice': No charges against white Kenosha officer who shot & paralyzed Jacob Blake. nationofchange.org "In this situation, again, we see a miscarriage of justice."

Azza Rojbi (2021-01-06). Yemen, a Quagmire for Saudi Coalition and Imperialists. globalresearch.ca "I was still awake. I was sitting in a chair because I was afraid of the planes flying overhead and making a very loud noise. Then they dropped a bomb near us and afterwards they hit our neighbourhood with three …

WSWS (2021-01-06). Macron government advisor meets with neofascist Marion Marechal Le Pen. wsws.org The French daily Le Monde revealed that Bruno Roger-Petit, an advisor to President Emmanuel Macron, met for lunch with Marion Maréchal on October 14.

WSWS (2021-01-06). New York Metropolitan Opera replaces orchestra members with non-Met performers. wsws.org Musicians of the Metropolitan Opera Theatre Orchestra, who have not been paid since March, were replaced by outsourced non-Met musicians at the opera's New Year's Eve gala.

Michael T. Hertz (2021-01-06). Dear Heather Cox Richardson. nationofchange.org "In America, the twenty years since 2000 have seen the end game of the Reagan Revolution, begun in 1980."

Isiah Holmes (2021-01-06). Jacob Blake's Pursuit of Justice Will Not End with the DA's Decision. progressive.org Kenosha officer Rusten Sheskey is not facing any charges for shooting Blake seven times in the back—but the demands for justice are far from over.

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-06). Democrats set to secure historic win in Georgia's senate run-offs. peoplesdispatch.org While Democratic candidates leading by a significant margins over the Republican incumbents, the two seats will tilt the balance of power in the US Senate towards the Democrats…

Pavan Kulkarni (2021-01-06). Trade union coalition in Sudan launches campaign to dissolve government-backed militia. peoplesdispatch.org The Sudanese Professionals Association launched the campaign following the torture and killing of a young activist, Bahaeldin Nouri, who was abducted by the intelligence wing of the government-backed Rapid Support Forces on December 21…

Andrew Emett (2021-01-06). Former police officer charged with falsifying arrest report. nationofchange.org "The La Mesa Police Department holds each and every member of the Department to the highest standards of integrity in order to protect and serve our community and keep its trust."

Tom Engelhardt (2021-01-06). Saying goodbye to the con-man-in-chief. nationofchange.org It's going to be quite a task in a world that needs so much else just to demine the American system after he leaves the White House.

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-06). Chavismo back in Venezuela's National Assembly, Guaidó further weakened. peoplesdispatch.org The 277 members of Venezuela's National Assembly were sworn in yesterday January 5. The body has vowed to take swift measures to address the deepening economic crisis in the country, fight back against the economic and financial blockade imposed on the country and work towards reconciliation. The swearing in of the legislators also officially put an end to Juan Guaidó's mandate as deputy, which prompted the European Union to withdraw their recognition of Guaidó as interim president.

WSWS (2021-01-06). Quebec nurses need independent organizations of rank-and-file workers' power, not another pro-capitalist trade union. wsws.org Outraged by their union's latest sellout agreement, some nurses have voiced support for building a new, more "militant" union.

teleSUR (2021-01-06). Ecuador: Court Lifts Ex-President Bucaram's House Arrest. telesurenglish.net Guayas' Court on Tuesday lifted the house arrest imposed on ex-President Abdala Bucaram (1996-1997) who is accused of patrimonial object trafficking, illegal possession of weapons, among other criminal charges. | RELATED: | A habeas corpus petition was filed by Bucaram who was subject to an investigation in August 2020 due to his alleged involvement in the irregular sale of medical supplies and illegal possession of pat…

Udi Ofer (2021-01-06). 50 Years Into the War on Drugs, Biden-Harris can Fix the Harm It Created. aclu.org An earlier version of this blog appeared in

Robert Freeman (2021-01-06). The Republican party and victimhood as ideology. nationofchange.org They are victims of themselves for having backed decades of Republican economic policies explicitly designed to shift vast amounts of national income and wealth to those who were already the most-wealthy.

WSWS (2021-01-06). Once Upon a River: A Native American girl wanders the waterways. wsws.org The movie follows a Native American teenager through various trials and tribulations. Set in western Michigan in the 1970s, Once Upon a River recounts the adolescent's supposed emotional education.

Fight Back (2021-01-06). Wisconsin FRSO condemns the DA's no-charges verdict in the attempted murder of Jacob Blake. fightbacknews.org On January 5, Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley announced that there would be no charges against police officer Rusten Sheskey, who attempted to execute Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, by shooting him seven times in the back at point blank range on August 23, 2020. Blake was shot while his children watched in horror from the back seat of his vehicle. The other two officers who assisted Sheskey in his crime will also face no charges. | While this ruling is a gross miscarriage of justice, it was not unexpected. Since the beginning of the new year, stories have been circulating out of Kenosha a…

Staff (2021-01-05). "This Is Voter Suppression": 198,000 Georgia Residents Were Illegally Purged from Voter Rolls. democracynow.org As voters in Georgia cast their ballots in two key runoff races that will determine control of the U.S. Senate, voting rights activists fear many eligible voters will be turned away at the polls. Georgia has been called "ground zero" for Republican voter suppression efforts in the U.S., and in September the ACLU of Georgia revealed 198,000 voters had been wrongly purged from the voting rolls. We air a report into voting in Georgia by investigative journalist Greg Palast, narrated by the actress Debra Messing, and speak with voting rights activist LaTosha Brown, co-founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund. "I think…

Stephen Lendman (2021-01-05). Draconian NY Police State Assembly Bill: Indefinite Detainment of "Disease Carriers" globalresearch.ca Draconian NY State Assembly Bill A416 calls for indefinitely detainment of residents considered to be "disease carriers (sic)." | It's aimed at seasonal flu/influenza, diabolically disguised as covid. | It's all-about wanting to eliminate fundamental freedoms on the phony pretext of …

_____ (2021-01-05). A Critique Of The Rank-And-File Strategy. popularresistance.org Kim Moody first gave a systematic statement of the "rank-file strategy" in a working paper for the socialist organization Solidarity in 2000. Since then he has kept on refining it, such as in 2017's On New Terrain and in more recent essays. The DSA adopted a version of it as its official position on labor organizing, and Jacobin constantly discusses it. Labor Notes, influential among union militants, is built around some of its basic ideas. And it has been a regular point of debate for leftists. Most recently, Kate Doyle Griffiths wrote an important set of articles in Spectre about its strengths and limitations.

Peter J Hotez (2021-01-05). [Commentary] Vaccinating cassandra. thelancet.com Receiving the first of two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was a more emotional experience than I anticipated. I'm a vaccinologist co-leading a team of scientists developing a potential recombinant protein COVID-19 vaccine for global health [1]. Vaccine production, manufacture, and distribution is led by Biological E (BioE) in India where it is being widely tested, with the aspirational goal that it might fill an urgently needed gap in low-cost COVID-19 vaccines for low- and middle-income countries [2].

teleSUR (2021-01-05). Brazil Detects Its First Two Cases of the UK Coronavirus Strain. telesurenglish.net Brazil's health authorities Monday confirmed in Sao Paulo the first two cases of patients infected by the new British COVID-19 strain. | RELATED: | The state-owned Adolfo Lutz Institute's Strategic Laboratory confirmed the cases after performing the genetic sequencing of samples sent by Sao Paulo's DASA private laboratory. | A 25-year-old woman is one patient affected by the new strain. She was infected after having contact wi…

The Canary (2021-01-05). Foodbanks at risk of closure due to new coronavirus strain. thecanary.co Independent foodbanks are at risk of closure due to the rapidly spreading coronavirus variant and are calling on the government to provide cash to hungry families to "protect public health". | The Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN) has written to the prime minister calling on him to give struggling families money to reduce food bank reliance over the new year lockdown. | The letter says that distribution of emergency parcels "cannot address worsening poverty" and with the number of infections rising "could well contribute to the spread of Covid-19". | Meanwhile, the need to self-isolate could mean services reduc…

Staff (2021-01-05). "Medical Apartheid": Israeli Vaccine Drive Excludes Millions of Palestinians in Occupied Territories. democracynow.org Israel has administered COVID-19 vaccines faster than any country in the world, with more than 14% of Israelis receiving vaccines so far. Despite the fast rollout, human rights groups are expressing alarm over Israel's decision not to vaccinate Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, where about 1,500 people have died during the pandemic. Israel has defended its actions citing the Oslo Peace Accords, which put Palestinian authorities in charge of healthcare in the West Bank and Gaza. Palestinian officials are facing a number of hurdles in launching their own vaccine campaign, including a shortage of mone…

WSWS (2021-01-05). COVID-19 spreads at Allison Transmission auto parts plant in Indiana. wsws.org New cases of COVID-19 have been accelerating in recent weeks at the Indianapolis, Indiana plant, according to data shared by workers.

Patrick Cockburn (2021-01-05). The UK is Out of the EU, But the Balance of Power in Europe has Tipped Permanently Against It. counterpunch.org The view from the top of the Western Heights, the great fortified hill overlooking Dover, has the advantage of taking in many of the key features shaping life in Britain in the age of Brexit and Covid-19. The most important of these is the proximity of the French coast, glittering on the horizon 22 miles away, a fact of geography that will continue to determine what happens in Britain more than any trade deal or withdrawal agreement with the EU.

Nadda Osman (2021-01-05). Covid-19: Egypt health minister under fire for attending wedding amid pandemic. middleeasteye.net Covid-19: Egypt health minister under fire for attending wedding amid pandemic | Social media users have contrasted the minister violating lockdown measures with the dire state of Egypt's overwhelmed hospitals | Tue, 01/05/2021 – 11: 47 | The large wedding was compared to scenes of hospitals and medical staff facing shortages in Egypt (Screengrab/Twitter) | Egypt's Health Minister Hala Zayed has come und…

_____ (2021-01-05). Polarization, Then A Crash: Michael Hudson On The Rentier Economy. popularresistance.org I'm delighted to have Michael Hudson join us today. He'll be discussing how under a neoliberal shift from industrial to finance capitalism, today's most pressing economic conflict is not simply between labor and employers. It's a conflict in which rentier interests have the upper hand over labor, industry and government together. This is the political economy in which the COVID-19 economic shock is playing out with dire consequences. Michael Hudson is a research professor of economics at the University of Missouri – Kansas City and a research associate at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College. Michael Huds…

RT (2021-01-05). Investigation launched as 2 people die in Norway nursing home days after receiving Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine. rt.com The Norwegian Medicines Agency has announced that two nursing home residents passed away days after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, and that an investigation has been launched into the deaths. | "We have to assess whether the vaccine is the cause of death, or if it is a coincidence that it happened soon after vaccination," Medical Director Steiner Madsen said in a He also noted that, because people of advanced age are receiving the vacci…

RT (2021-01-05). 'Sooner than expected & DIFFERENT vaccine': Dutch PM explains Netherlands caught off guard by Pfizer jab approval amid criticism. rt.com Dutch premier Mark Rutte has admitted his government wasn't ready to work with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine "so soon" and was preparing for an entirely "different" jab as he comes under fire over a delayed vaccination campaign. | Two weeks after the start of the EU-wide vaccination campaign, not a single person has received the jab in the Netherlands, the last EU state to launch its immunization effort. The first Dutch national is expected to receive a vaccine on Wednesday. | Some 288,000 vaccine doses have been delivered to the Dutch central storage site as of Tuesday. Unlike neighboring Germany, the Netherlan…

RT (2021-01-05). Calls for PROBE as Germany's apparent failure to pre-order enough vaccines sparks rift within Merkel's govt coalition. rt.com The bumpy start of Germany's vaccination campaign against Covid has sowed discord within Angela Merkel's coalition, as her party partners demand answers from her health minister and call for a special investigative commission. | Germany's mass vaccination against Covid-19 began just days ago but is already marred by Berlin's and the EU's failures, according to its critics. Of all issues with the Pfizer jab's distribution, the apparent lack of doses at hand has raised the most questions. | On Monday, the German Health Minister Jens Spahn was confronted with a four-page questionnaire on the vaccination campaign…

RT (2021-01-05). WHO chief 'disappointed' China still hasn't approved entry of Covid-19 experts investigating pandemic origins. rt.com The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) spoke on Tuesday of his disappointment that China had not yet authorized the entry of an international team of WHO scientists in order to trace the origins of coronavirus in Wuhan. | "Today, we learned that Chinese officials have not yet finalized the necessary permissions for the team's arrival in China. I am very disappointed with this news," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual news briefing. | The WHO chief said two experts had already embarked on traveling to China, adding that he had spoken to senior Chinese officials and "once again m…

RT (2021-01-05). Conspiracy theorist pharmacist who sabotaged Covid-19 vaccines claims they're 'not safe for people' and could 'change their DNA'. rt.com Wisconsin pharmacist Stephen Brandenburg is a self-confessed "conspiracy theorist" who destroyed over 500 doses of coronavirus vaccine as he thought they would change people's DNA, according to both the police and his wife. | Brandenburg was arrested on December 31 for allegedly sabotaging more than 500 doses of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, stored at the Advocate Aurora Health Hospital, believing they were unsafe for humans. | There is no evidence to suggest the vaccine alters human DNA in any way. Many vaccines use altered forms of viruses to train the immune system to fight off the real-life pathogens but d…

RT (2021-01-05). One in 50 people in England has Covid-19, health chief reveals, also warning of further restrictions NEXT winter. rt.com An average of one in 50 people in England has Covid-19, the government said on Tuesday, the country's first day of its new national lockdown in response to the rapidly spreading new virus variant driving record infection rates. | England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty revealed the grim data, as he warned that the new form of the virus discovered in London and the south of England is now "taking off" across the country, saying "one in 50 is really quite a large number indeed." | The figure is equivalent to about one million people. | In London, as many as one in 30 had the virus between December 27 and Ja…

RT (2021-01-05). 'Restrict contact to absolute minimum': Merkel extends German national lockdown until at least end January. rt.com Germans will have to limit contacts to a "minimum," Chancellor Angela Merkel said, as she announced that the national Covid-19 lockdown is being both toughened and extended until the end of January, amid soaring infection numbers. | "We need to restrict contact more strictly… We ask all citizens to restrict contact to the absolute minimum," Merkel told journalists on Tuesday. | Shops, bars, and restaurants in Germany, as well as schools, will remain shut at least until the end of January, Merkel announced, following a video conference with the leaders of the country's 16 federal states. The government is aim…

WSWS (2021-01-05). Brazilian state governments push to reopen schools as COVID-19 deaths approach 200,000. wsws.org Brazil's ruling elite is declaring education an essential service in order to reopen schools, even as the pandemic spirals out of control.

Stowe J, Smith H, Thurland K, et al. (2021-01-05). Stillbirths During the COVID-19 Pandemic in England, April-June 2020. jamanetwork.com This study uses National Health Service data to compare the stillbirth rate overall and regionally during the initial April-June 2020 coronavirus lockdown vs the same period in 2019.

Santa Cruz News (2021-01-05). Police Chief Mills says New Homeless Camping Ordinance will go to City Council this Month. indybay.org In the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has the local homeless population scrambling for places to camp and shelter in place, Santa Cruz Police Chief Andrew Mills is soliciting support from the public for a new camping ordinance that he says will go before the City Council for approval in January. "It will need our support," Mills said. "We Have not had an ordinance to enforce due to a SCOTUS decision and council suspending our ordinance," he added. (Photo: Correspondence between Police Chief Mills and a member of the public concerning the homeless.)…

Staff (2021-01-05). "Last Responders" Are Bracing for a Surge in COVID Deaths Across US. truthout.org Funeral director Kevin Spitzer has been overwhelmed with covid-related deaths in the small city of Aberdeen, South Dakota. | He and his two colleagues at the Spitzer-Miller Funeral Home have been working 12-15 hours a day, seven days a week, to keep up with the demand in the community of 26,000. The funerals are sparsely attended, which would have been unthinkable before the pandemic. | "We had a funeral for a younger man one recent Saturday, and not 20 people came, because most everyone was just afraid…

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts (2021-01-05). Covid Is an Orchestration for Serving an Agenda: The Destruction of Freedom, The Imposition of Digital Money. globalresearch.ca The accumulated evidence is overwhelming that Covid is an orchestration the purpose of which is to eliminate human autonomy and make the concept of freedom a dirty word that will bring you Covid illness and death. | As physical currency is …

news.un (2021-01-05). FROM THE FIELD: Weathering a tourist downturn in Kyrgyzstan. news.un.org The residents of a small traditional village high in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia, which once attracted a steady stream of visitors, are learning how to adapt to the reality of a world where the COVID-19 pandemic has all but frozen out the opportunities provided by tourism.

news.un (2021-01-05). WHO chief begins 2021 with plea for 'less politicking' over health. news.un.org In a race to "save lives, livelihoods and end this pandemic", the head of the UN heath agency said on Tuesday that it was important to remember COVID-19 was just one of a number of major disease outbreaks facing communities across the world.

WSWS (2021-01-05). The COVID-19 vaccination efforts in the US are proving to be a massive debacle. wsws.org Despite the media hype that has accompanied the release of the COVID-19 vaccines, barely three million of the 20 million doses were administered by the end of the year.

Prof Michel Chossudovsky (2021-01-05). The GSK — Pfizer Multibillion Dollar Global Vaccine Monopoly. globalresearch.ca It's Big Pharma, It's Big Money. It's the multibillion dollar global vaccine market. | In August 2019, five months before the onslaught of the Covid-19 crisis, two of the largest Worldwide Pharma conglomerates decided to join hands in a strategic relationship …

teleSUR (2021-01-05). Panama To Receive First Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccines in January. telesurenglish.net Panama's Foreign Affairs Minister Erika Mouynes on Monday informed that the first 40,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech will arrive in the country in the second half of January. | RELATED: | During the first quarter of this year, Pfizer committed to delivering 450,000 doses, which will be applied to elderly people in nursing homes, health personnel, and other vulnerable groups.

sputniknews (2021-01-05). Scottish FM Says Trump Can't Come Play Golf on Inauguration Day Due to COVID-19 Restrictions. sputniknews.com US President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration is slated to take place on January 20, while US media has suggested incumbent President Trump was allegedly planning to play golf abroad on that day.

sputniknews (2021-01-05). Highly Transmissible UK COVID-19 Variant Affecting More People Under 20, Study Finds. sputniknews.com A new variant of COVID-19 known as B.1.1.7 was identified in Britain last month in Kent, a county in South East England. The variant is believed to be more contagious but not deadlier than previous COVID-19 variants and has already been found in at least 33 countries and at least five US states.

teleSUR (2021-01-05). El Salvador: Classes To Resume in February If COVID-19 Allows. telesurenglish.net El Salvador's Education Minister Carla Hanania Monday announced that classes will resume on a semi-presential basis around the first half of February. | RELATED: | She explained that it is mandatory that parents register their children so they can have access to educational platforms, which include broadcast on radio, television, school guides, and Google Classroom. | The registration process will begin on January…

WSWS (2021-01-05). COVID-19 cases rise sharply in China. wsws.org An examination of the chain of infections in three major Chinese cities further underscores the highly contagious nature of the COVID-19 virus.

WSWS (2021-01-05). Beloved El Paso, Texas teacher dies from COVID-19 as Governor presses schools to reopen. wsws.org The reopening of schools across Texas, enforced by Republican Governor Greg Abbott has been a major factor behind the surge of the pandemic in El Paso and throughout the state since August.

Beau Peters (2021-01-05). Social Issues and Homeownership for All. dissidentvoice.org Image source Homeownership is the traditional cornerstone of the American Dream. Yet for millions of people across the nation, who may have poor credit scores and earn less than a living wage, the possibility of homeownership has long been out of reach, even before the COVID pandemic. Today, with COVID serving as yet another barrier …

Jaklevic M. (2021-01-05). Surgeon Fills COVID-19 Testing Gap in Philadelphia's Black Neighborhoods. jamanetwork.com In this Medical News article, Ala Stanford, MD, founder of Philadelphia's Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium, explains how she established COVID-19 testing sites for the city's Black residents.

WSWS (2021-01-05). Hundreds of Arizona teachers stage sickouts to prevent in-person learning as cases skyrocket. wsws.org At least 750 Phoenix-area teachers are expected to participate in sickouts Tuesday in opposition to schools reopening to in-person instruction this week amid record surges in COVID-19 cases throughout Arizona.

Campo R, New E. (2021-01-05). The Art of Losing—3 Poems for the COVID-19 Pandemic. jamanetwork.com This Arts and Medicine essay features 3 poems—Elizabeth Bishop's "One Art," Marilyn Chin's "Hospital in Oregon," and Edward Hirsch's "What the Last Evening Will Be Like"—as sources of wisdom and insight in the turmoil and pain of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Global Research News (2021-01-05). Video: Ontario Death Count includes People who didn't die of COVID-19. globalresearch.ca The following report (excerpts) was published in early October 6, 2020 by the Toronto Sun. The report confronts the legitimacy of the policies which are now being enforced in the province. | Below are excerpts of the Toronto Sun report by …

Philip Giraldi (2021-01-05). A New Year's Wish: Let's Remove Israel from American politics. globalresearch.ca There has been one good thing about the COVID-19 virus — for the first time many among the general public are beginning to ask why a rich country like Israel should be getting billions of dollars from the United States …

Bill Meyer (2021-01-05). The best films of DOC NYC 2020. peoplesworld.org It's been a strange and difficult year for film festivals, let alone for everything else! The excitement of gathering together to celebrate the awe and wonder of cinema along with the directors, actors, and crew—is not happening this year. But there is at least one benefit to the COVID quarantine: You can now attend many …

teleSUR (2021-01-05). Jair Bolsonaro on Brazil Crisis: "I Can't Do Anything" telesurenglish.net Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro acknowledged that the country is bankrupt and that he cannot create solutions for the economic crisis, which was worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. | RELATED: | "Brazil is bankrupt. I can't do anything. I wanted to modify the income tax table, but I couldn't," Bolsonaro said to a group of followers outside of his residency in Alvorada Palace, in the capital Brasilia. | The far-ri…

Fight Back (2021-01-05). Chandler educators win demands: "Organizing for power works!" fightbacknews.org Tucson, AZ – As the state of Arizona reached the highest rate in the world of daily confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people, hundreds of Arizona educators prepared a sick-out to demand two weeks of virtual learning. In the Chandler School District, the educator's union's consistent organizing efforts achieved big wins. | To start, in late December they demanded the school board hold an emergency meeting January 4 to discuss updated COVID numbers and plan for virtual learning options. That was the first win as the board met that night and heard concerns from community and educators. The power of the union and…

teleSUR (2021-01-05). Guaido Steals US$40 Million of Venezuelan Assets, Report Holds. telesurenglish.net Opposition politician Juan Guaido would have stolen US$40 million of Venezuela's foreign assets that were aimed at humanitarian aid, according to a report published by The Washington Post. | RELATED: | The U.S.-backed opposition needed money to implement its plan to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro's government from abroad. | According to The Washington Post, Miami-based Venezuelan businessmen Jorge Reyes and Pedro Anta…

Eds. (2021-01-05). The environment movement we have, and the one we need. mronline.org The ecological crisis—the disasters of earth, water, air and fire that are afflicting the global environment and the human society that depends on it—is a crisis of capitalism's making. Karl Marx famously described capital as coming into the world "dripping from head to foot, from every pore, with blood and dirt".

WSWS (2021-01-05). Sri Lanka prison massacre autopsy confirms victims were shot. wsws.org After the bloodbath, the Rajapakse government is taking further measures to tighten the repressive conditions in prisons.

Defend the Sacred Alaska (2021-01-05). Wednesday 1/6: Arctic is Not For Sale! Day of Solidarity to Protect Arctic Refuge & Indigenous Cultures. indybay.org Virtual action on social media…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-05). Filipino lawmakers and activists demand inquiry into recent killings of Indigenous leaders. peoplesdispatch.org Legislators of the left-wing Makabayan bloc have called for an investigation by the Philippines House of Representatives into the recent mass killings of Tumandok community leaders on December 30…

teleSUR (2021-01-05). Palestine to Organize a Peace Conference at the United Nations. telesurenglish.net We are speeding up contacts and coordination before the UN Security Council's next meeting, due for January 26, confirmed the diplomat, who was quoted by AlQuds daily. | According to Mansour, the objective is to listen to suggestions and examine UN member states' stances on Abbas's proposal to convene this forum. | RELATED: | Palestine's representative at the UN commented that the recent changes in the international arena co…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-05). 2021 begins with more assassinations in Colombia. peoplesdispatch.org The humanitarian tragedy in Colombia continues into 2021. In the first four days of this year, two social leaders, two former combatants of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and a family member of an ex-combatant have been assassinated in the country. | The Common Alternative Revolutionary Forces (FARC) political party

Norman Solomon (2021-01-05). In 2021, to Fight Neofascist Republicans, Fight Neoliberal Democrats. indybay.org Stop the economic wrecking crews…

Kenny Stancil, staff writer (2021-01-05). New Study Reveals Flawed Predictions of Runaway Costs and Usage Under Medicare for All. commondreams.org "Analysts who've confidently projected a tsunami of healthcare use and costs after Medicare for All are ignoring history." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/m4a_3.jpg

Andrea Germanos, staff writer (2021-01-05). Reintroduced 'For the People Act' Praised for Its Potential to Bring Sweeping Democracy Reforms. commondreams.org www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/sarbanes-hr1.jpg

Dr. Binoy Kampmark (2021-01-05). The Julian Assange Extradition Verdict. globalresearch.ca The barrister-brewed

Al Neal (2021-01-05). People's World dispatch from the coronavirus lockdown in the UK. peoplesworld.org Editor's note: People's World's Al Neal is on lockdown now in the UK from where he will be covering life, work, and politics in England's pandemic era. This is the first of his dispatches. EAST SUSSEX, England—The early morning light greets with a burst of frigid sea air and sodden rooftops dotted across East Sussex. …

The Canary (2021-01-05). 'Exhausted' university student in tears over 'lack of support' during pandemic. thecanary.co An "exhausted" university student has gone viral after sharing an emotional post about the lack of support she says students have received during the pandemic.Kiera Murrell, who studies psychology at the University of Bournemouth, shared a photo of herself in tears and wrote: "In case anybody wondered how it looked or felt to be a university student in a pandemic."I am so exhausted and drained. I have spent my afternoon crying into a Terry's chocolate orange because I have received not a single bit of support since university moved online in March, just like everybody else on my course." | A university student in…

WSWS (2021-01-05). Australian government slashes minimal pandemic subsidies for workers and unemployed. wsws.org The cuts form part of a broader austerity offensive being enforced by Labor and Liberal governments at the state and federal levels, the trade unions and the largest corporations.

Mark Gruenberg (2021-01-05). Chicago coronavirus conflict: Parents vs. the school board. peoplesworld.org CHICAGO—The continuing nationwide conflict over reopening schools during the coronavirus pandemic is pitting Chicago's parents, teachers, and students, who don't want to reopen for in-person learning until it's safe to do so, against the school system's big boss, Chancellor Janice Jackson, the Chicago Public Schools board and city Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who appointed both. But …

Karen Conner (2021-01-05). PREVIEW: What to Look for in the December Jobs Report. cepr.net (The monthly Employment Situation is scheduled for release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, January 8th at 8: 30 AM Eastern Time.) Soaring coronavirus infection rates are likely to be the main story in the employment report in December. Fear of the pandemic, coupled with new state and local restrictions, has led to a fall in …

Repost from IGD, Not The Author (2021-01-05). SF: Claim Of Responsibility For Vandalism Of Pelosi Mansion. indybay.org Repost from It's Going Down:…

Nicolas Maduro (2021-01-05). "I intend to reconcile the Venezuelans" zcomm.org Interview on domestic policy, economics, and international policy…

WSWS (2021-01-05). "Every journalist should be concerned about what was said today in court. Because the political arguments provided by the United States were upheld by the British judicial system" wsws.org Assange's closest associates hailed the court's decision as a victory but warned that the fight to secure his freedom was far from over.

_____ (2021-01-05). Assange Wins. The Cost: Press Freedom Is Crushed. popularresistance.org The unexpected decision by Judge Vanessa Baraitser to deny a US demand to extradite Julian Assange, foiling efforts to send him to a US super-max jail for the rest of his life, is a welcome legal victory, but one swamped by larger lessons that should disturb us deeply. | Those who campaigned so vigorously to keep Assange's case in the spotlight, even as the US and UK corporate media worked so strenuously to keep it in darkness, are the heroes of the day. They made the price too steep for Baraitser or the British establishment to agree to lock Assange away indefinitely in the US for exposing its war crimes and its…

Pablo Navarrete (2021-01-05). #TheCanaryLive — Julian Assange extradition hearing decision: what next? thecanary.co On the day a UK court ruled that Julian Assange will

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2021-01-05). Australian Labor Party Urges US to Drop Charges Against Assange. commondreams.org The opposition argues the case must "be brought to an end" as the prime minister says the WikiLeaks founder will be "free to return home" if extradition battle won.

Charles Glass (2021-01-05). Ruling Assange Can't Be Extradited Is an Indictment of US Prisons. thenation.com Ruling Assange Can't Be Extradited Is an Indictment of US Prisons…

Manlio Dinucci (2021-01-05). Dietro il verdetto di Londra su Julian Assange. globalresearch.ca Da un processo ingiusto — quello di Londra a Julian Assange, fondatore di WikiLeaks — è scaturita una sentenza che a prima vista appare giusta: la non-estradizione del giornalista negli Stati uniti, dove lo attende una condanna a 175 anni …

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-05). Julian Assange verdict: Good day for human rights, bad day for journalism. peoplesdispatch.org Renata Avila talks about the verdict in the Julian Assange extradition trial. She says that while it was historic in being the first positive verdict from UK courts in 10 years, the implications for journalism are dangerous due to the statements the judge made…

Amy Goodman (2021-01-05). 'Victory for Julian": UK blocks WikiLeaks founder Assange extradition to US on espionage charges. nationofchange.org While the decision is a "very significant victory" for Assange, the judge has largely sided with the U.S. prosecution.

Gloria La Riva (2021-01-05). Julian Assange wins victory as extradition denied. liberationnews.org The U.S. government has pursued Assange since at least 2012, for his work exposing hundreds of thousands of U.S. military and intelligence documents and video that show outright war crimes, included targeted murders of civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Marlee Kokotovic (2021-01-05). UK judge denies US request to extradite Assange. nationofchange.org "I find that the mental condition of Mr. Assange is such that it would be oppressive to extradite him to the United States of America."

RT (2021-01-05). Journalists Angered by Assange Ruling. dissidentvoice.org A London court has ruled against those seeking Wikileaks founder Julian Assange's extradition to the US. Assange is charged with 17 counts of espionage as well as hacking.

commondreams (2021-01-05). Health Affairs Study Finds Previous Projections of Costs Under Single-Payer/Medicare for All Ignore Evidence That the Finite Supply of Beds, Nurses, and Physicians Will Prevent a Surge in Health Care Use and Costs. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Dave Zirin (2021-01-05). A Women's Boxing Team Grows in Gaza. thenation.com A Women's Boxing Team Grows in Gaza…

Rick Sterling (2021-01-05). Who to believe about Venezuela's election? Firsthand observation or PBS Newshour? dissidentvoice.org In early December I travelled to Venezuela to be an election observer at their national assembly election. I was part of a group of eight persons from Canada and US organized by CodePink. There were about two hundred international observers in total, including the Latin American Council of Electoral Experts. I have previously been an official …

Rick Sterling (2021-01-05). Who to Believe about Venezuela's Election? US Meddling. globalresearch.ca In early December I travelled to Venezuela to be an election observer at their national assembly election. I was part of a group of eight persons from Canada and US organized by CodePink. There were about two hundred international observers …

RT (2021-01-05). Tory minister takes heat after praising £170 champagne… calling the bubbly an 'alternative' vaccine to forget 'rotten' 2020. rt.com UK Housing Minister Christopher Pincher wrote a magazine review lauding Krug champagne… but critics have denounced him as being "out of touch with reality" and say he should focus on his day job instead. | Pincher had written the review of the pricey bubbly in British monthly magazine The Critic, where he runs a column commenting on wines and restaurants. The official suggested that the drink is the best way to usher out "the most risible and rotten year." | He went on to suggest that, even though it's a little cheaper than Dom Perignon, Krug is "ideal for lifting the spirit" and "will brighten your family b…

The Canary (2021-01-05). Sage member says decision to keep nurseries open may be 'political' but is 'not scientific'. thecanary.co The decision to keep nurseries open and close schools and universities may be a political one rather than a scientific one, an expert has suggested. | The comments come as nursery leaders say there is fear and confusion over how safe the settings are, and called on the government for reassurance on the evidence behind the decision to keep nurseries open. | Sage member Professor Calum Semple said that under the current circumstances, every opportunity to remove social mixing and work mixing of human beings is "vitally important". | The virologist told BBC Breakfast: "So if a political decision has been made here t…

Sam Bahour (2021-01-05). An Israeli Settler I Want to Live Beside. counterpunch.org Imagine, God forbid, that you and a friend are being rushed into a hospital emergency room by a life-support ambulance team. One of you is still living; the other died at the scene. The horrific event that brought you both to this point was perpetrated in broad daylight, creating a public and angry outcry. The

MEE staff (2021-01-05). Israel appoints diplomat to UAE ahead of embassy opening. middleeasteye.net Israel appoints diplomat to UAE ahead of embassy opening | Eitan Na'eh will be first Israeli to have full diplomatic status in Gulf state following normalisation of ties last year | Tue, 01/05/2021 – 21: 04 | Israel and UAE signed US-sponsored agreement last year, reportedly in exchange for a freeze of Israel's annexation of Palestinian lands (AFP) | Israel has appointed Eitan Na'eh, its former ambassador to T…

Nadda Osman (2021-01-05). Qatar blockade: Saudi deal raises questions about prisoners, flight paths and bots. middleeasteye.net Qatar blockade: Saudi deal raises questions about prisoners, flight paths and bots | As Saudi Arabia declares the lifting of the three-year land and air blockade on its Gulf neighbour, many issues remain to be resolved | Tue, 01/05/2021 – 14: 05 | Many people have raised questions on what the end of the Saudi blockade will mean for prisoners, flight paths and the Saudi bot network (Screengrab/social medi…

Qassam Muaddi (2021-01-05). Jerusalem's Orthodox church accused of selling off land for 'settlement belt'. middleeasteye.net Jerusalem's Orthodox church accused of selling off land for 'settlement belt' | If sold, the land would connect Bethlehem-area Gilo settlement to Jerusalem, a leading Palestinian Christian grassroots group warns | Tue, 01/05/2021 – 15: 56 | Jerusalem's Patriarch Theophilos III leads Christmas midnight mass for the Greek Orthodox in Bethlehem on 7 January 2018 (AFP/File photo) | The Orthodox patriar…

RT (2021-01-05). Unexploded bombs at military site hinder Australian firefighters tackling enormous 'life-threatening' blaze. rt.com Firefighters in Western Australia are being prevented from reaching at-risk homes due to unexploded bombs buried in the ground, as they tackle a huge blaze that has ripped through more than 9,000 hectares of land since Saturday. | The fire is located near the town of Lancelin, some 160km north of Perth, and is advancing at a pace of about 3.5km an hour towards the mainland settlement of Wedge Island, where a bombing range contains explosives buried underground. | The Department of Fire & Emergency Services (DFES) told local residents on Tuesday to "act immediately to survive" and ordered them to evacuate the a…

RT (2021-01-05). Saudi Arabia and Qatar end years-long row with border reopening, resumption of ties. rt.com Full ties have been restored between Saudi Arabia and Qatar after hugs were exchanged between leaders of the two nations at the annual Gulf Cooperation Council summit on Tuesday, ending their three-year-diplomatic dispute. | Riyadh and its allies, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, have agreed to resume relations with Doha, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud told a news conference. | It follows the announcement by Kuwait — a mediator of the talks — on Monday that the four Arab nations would reopen their land, sea and air borders with Qatar. | The countries had cut Qatar…

RT (2021-01-05). Kiev says Belarusian KGB chief allegedly recorded plotting to blow up Ukraine-based journalist Sheremet, later killed in car bomb. rt.com Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs has acknowledged recordings in which agents of Belarus' KGB security service allegedly planned the assassination of Kiev-based journalist Pavel Sheremet, who died in an explosion in 2016. | In comments to UK state broadcaster BBC on Monday, the ministry's spokesman Artem Shevchenko said that the release of a 24-minute tape, reportedly capturing a plot to kill the reporter, supports Kiev's version of events. | Published by the Brussels-based EUobserver news site, the recording is said to have been taken from a bug placed in 2012 in the Minsk office of Vadim Zaitsev, who wa…

Global Research News (2021-01-05). Selected Articles: Venezuela Elections: A Key Victory for Anti Imperialist Movement in Latin America. globalresearch.ca By On election day, Sunday December 6, we visited many different elections sites. Typically, the election voting takes place at a school, with five or ten …

Mark Gruenberg (2021-01-05). Google workers organize innovative new type of union with CWA. peoplesworld.org Using innovations to attract their colleagues—everyone from software engineers to outside "contractors"—a committed group of Google workers has taken on the task, aided and encouraged by the Communications Workers of America, of organizing the high-tech behemoth. And its size and reach means they're working around the restrictions U.S. labor law puts on organizing drives, Chewy …

Zohreh Kharazmi (2021-01-05). The Legacy of General Qassem Soleimani: A Woman's Perspective. mintpressnews.com Zohreh Kharazmi interviews the wives of Quds Force soldiers killed fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria on what Qassem Soleimani means to them and what his death represents for Iranians.

Jamal Rich (2021-01-05). Renewed calls for community control of the police come to D.C. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON——Community control of the police (CCOP)— a concept once brought to fruition by the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense by the likes of Huey Newton, Bobby Seale, and Fred Hampton in the 1960s as a result of continued police terror in predominantly Black communities—is back. And in the nation's capital, it's a chapter of the …

Ariel Dorfman (2021-01-05). America Can't Hide From This Drastic Reckoning. counterpunch.org What happens to a nation incapable of healing itself? I ask as an American citizen concerned about our damaged democracy but also as someone with roots in Chile, which after many years of dictatorship suffered the harmful consequences of failing to fully complete its democratic transition.

Parth M.N. (2021-01-05). India's Farm Crisis: "Farming is Our Religion, We Love to Feed People'. counterpunch.org "Gharo jao rajj ke, kaam hoga gajj ke [If you leave the house with a stomach full of food, you will ace your mission]." That's Bilawal Singh's simple philosophy of running a langar for protesting farmers at Shahjahanpur. "This government is used to dealing with hungry protestors," he continues, speaking in Punjabi. "Let's see how

Eds. (2021-01-05). More important than gold, water should not be traded on Wall Street. mronline.org Water is essential for life, access to fresh water is a human right, and most importantly, water is sacred. Water is life.

Nicholas Stender (2021-01-05). Chicago mayor orders teachers back to schools under threat of termination. liberationnews.org In this climate of intimidation, political winds might be shifting.

Stephanie Kenefic (2021-01-05). Historic hearings on Hyde Amendment renew optimism for its repeal. liberationnews.org The Hyde Amendment, an infamous and far-reaching restriction on access to abortion, has prevented Medicaid recipients and working-class people from accessing abortion services for the last four decades.

George Wuerthner (2021-01-05). Scientists Critique the BLM's Tri-State Fuel Breaks Proposal. counterpunch.org A week ago, eight prominent scientists sent a letter to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) declaring that the agency's proposed Tri-State Fuel Break (TSFB) is flawed and will endanger sagebrush ecosystems. The Final Environmental Impact Statement ("FEIS") and other project documents are available on the agency's website. To quote the scientists: "If implemented as

Devin C (2021-01-05). Alabama prisons: ON STRIKE! workers.org Occupied Muscogee Creek / Cherokee / Yuchi / Choctaw / Shawnee / Chickasaw land As of Jan. 1, 2021, incarcerated workers in Alabama's odious prison system are on strike! Led by the Free Alabama Movement, incarcerated workers throughout the state of Alabama have put down their work tools and refused . . . |

Seiji Yamada (2021-01-05). The Racism That Undergirds Global Public Health. counterpunch.org With his thin volume (143 pages of text, with 46 pages of notes) Epidemic Illusions: On the Coloniality of Global Public Health, Eugene Richardson takes to task the discipline of epidemiology, and with it, global public health. Utilizing the West Africa Ebola epidemic of 2013-2016 as his canvas, Richardson paints a picture that highlights the racism

teleSUR (2021-01-05). 50 Million Chinese To Get Vaccinated Before the Lunar New Year. telesurenglish.net As part of the campaign to protect people at high risk of infection, China will vaccinate 50 million people before the lunar New Year holidays, which begin on February 12 and involve the largest annual human migration in the world. | RELATED: | On Dec. 15, China approved a winter prevention program that involves the administration of serum to cold chain workers, customs officials, health personnel, transporters, or ma…

Matthew Ehret-Kump (2021-01-05). How an Austrian and British Malthusian Brainwashed a Generation of Americans. globalresearch.ca The creation of false opposites has been a long-standing obstacle to human progress. | From the ancient pleasure-seeking Epicureans who argued against the logic-heavy Stoics of ancient Rome to the war of "salvation through faith vs works" that schismed western Christianity, …

Ashlie D. Stevens (2021-01-05). "Elizabeth is Missing" is a poignant portrait of dementia cloaked as a Masterpiece murder mystery. salon.com The film stars British acting legend Glenda Jackson in her first screen performance since 1992…

Rod Driver (2021-01-05). The Irrelevance of Human Rights in US and British Foreign Policy. zcomm.org Historical human rights abuses are not explained well in most school textbooks or by the mainstream media…

Lily Russell-Jones (2021-01-05). New Year's resolutions: Here's why I'll be joining a Trade Union in 2021. thecanary.co I think it's fair to say that the UK is glad to see the back of 2020. While exercising more, eating healthier, or quitting smoking might seem like more typical resolutions to put on the list for lockdown in 2021, this year I plan to join a Trade Union. | Exit stage right: | In the unlikely event that, like me, you have spent the past week pouring over the 1,200-page trade deal that the UK has agreed with the EU, then you may share my concern that it contains scant protection for workers' rights. | If there's one thing that's clear from the mammoth document, its that the trade and cooperation agreement wil…

WSWS (2021-01-05). UK in third national lockdown as coronavirus surges out of control. wsws.org The lockdown is not as stringent as that imposed last March, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisting that people should go to work if they cannot work at home to keep profits rolling in for the major corporations.

Robert Reich (2021-01-05). Defeating McConnell: The real stakes of the Georgia runoffs. nationofchange.org Mitch McConnell cares about only one thing: Power.

Meerabelle Jesuthasan (2021-01-05). What We Can Learn About Activism Today in the Archives of Queer History. thenation.com What We Can Learn About Activism Today in the Archives of Queer History…

teleSUR (2021-01-05). Bolivia Suspends TSE Member who Reported Electoral Fraud to OAS. telesurenglish.net The Plenary Hall of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) of Bolivia has informed this Monday of the beginning of "a disciplinary process and the temporary suspension" against Rosario Baptista, a member of this entity who in November made observations to the electoral process of October 18 of this year. | RELATED: | According to the information shared by journalist Tuffi Aré, through his social networks, the measure…

Julia Conley, staff writer (2021-01-05). 'You Alone Have the Power to Temper Justice With Mercy': Trump Urged to Stop Execution of Lisa Montgomery. commondreams.org Three attorneys representing Lisa Montgomery, who is set to be executed by the federal government on January 12, released on Tuesday a petition for her clemency after sending the document to President Donald Trump. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/screen_shot_2020-10-22_at_9.13.34_am_0.png

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2021-01-05). 'Justice Was Not Served': No Charges Against Kenosha Cop Who Shot and Paralyzed Jacob Blake. commondreams.org "We feel this decision failed not only Jacob and his family, but the community that protested and demanded justice," said his attorneys. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/jacob_blake_0.png

Julia Conley, staff writer (2021-01-05). In 'Brutal Blow' to Wildlife and Gift to Big Oil, Trump Finalizes Rollback of Migratory Bird Treaty Act. commondreams.org Just over two weeks before President Donald Trump is set to leave the White House, his U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday finalized a rollback of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/5882147624_27c5e7956a_o_1.jpg

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2021-01-05). Conservation Group to Sue Trump Officials and Agency Over Delayed Protections for 11 Species. commondreams.org The Center for Biological Diversity points out that Trump's presidency "is coming to an end with the worst record protecting species of any administration since the Endangered Species Act was passed." | www.flickr.com/photos/67832671@N00/4855344568

Brett Wilkins, staff writer (2021-01-05). Climate Campaigners to Biden: Your Solicitor General 'Should Not Be a Lawyer Who Fought for Big Oil'. commondreams.org "There's no lack for public interest and public service-experienced litigators. We don't need to rotate between Republican Big Law and Democratic Big Law." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/shell-must-fall_0.jpg