(2022-02-03). Russia & China set to make new declaration — Moscow. rt.com 
The announcement comes as Moscow and Beijing increase their cooperation in a number of spheres | Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are set to declare the two countries will work shoulder to shoulder on their most important missions, Moscow has announced, as relations with the US and its allies in Europe come under increased strain. | Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov revealed that the text of a major announcement would be on the agenda for the Russian leader's upcoming visit to China. | "A joint statement on international relat…
(2022-02-03). Russia reveals plans in case of cut-off from US dollar. rt.com 
The Kremlin has urged calm in the face of massive US sanctions | Moscow is prepared for the possibility that harsh US sanctions could restrict its banks' access to dollar transactions, the Kremlin has said, admitting that the potentially unprecedented measures have officials worried. | Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Wednesday that Moscow is well aware of the threat of massive sanctions coming from the American side amid an ongoing row over Ukraine. "Certainly, the Kremlin is concerned, because the sanctions behavior of the US is absolutely unpredictable," he said. | The spokesman wen…
(2022-02-03). Facilitating Civic and Political Energies for the Common Good. dissidentvoice.org Some readers responded to one of my earlier columns urging the national progressive civic groups, with millions of members back home, to overcome the dominance of giant corporatism with a Ten-Year Plan1 budgeted at $1 billion a year (See, "Think Big to Overcome Losing Big to Corporatism," January 7, 2022). Readers wanted to know more about …
(2022-02-03). Can Israel stop the world from saying 'Apartheid'? Concealing the suffering in Palestine. greenleft.org.au The Israeli state is pulling out all stops to deligitmise international organisations that dare use the term "apartheid" to describe its decades-long brutal occupation of Palestine, writes Vijay Prashad.
(2022-02-03). Deepening crisis of American capitalism as national debt hits $30 trillion. wsws.org The endless rise of the national debt, now $7 trillion more than the size of the entire US economy, is the outcome of deeply rooted processes whereby profits are increasingly obtained through stock market and other financial operations.
(2022-02-03). Cuba's Resumen Latinoamericano Website Silenced Due to Blockade. orinocotribune.com By Graciela Ramírez — Jan 29, 2022 | This January 27, while we were preparing different notes on national and international affairs, our website cubaenresumen.org was silenced. We could not upload any information, we thought at first it was due to a technical problem with the website. | After an hour we began to receive messages via WhatsApp from friends and readers of Cuba en Resumen in Argentina, Brazil, Honduras, Venezuela, Spain, the United States and Italy who were asking what was happening, since they could not access not only what was published in the morning, nor anything on our website. | We immedia…
(2022-02-03). Israel's Claims to be a Democracy ring Hollow as Amnesty Finds it an Apartheid State. juancole.com By Nasim Ahmed | — ( Middle East Monitor ) — Amnesty International became the latest human rights group to label Israel an apartheid state. In a damning report titled "Israel's Apartheid against Palestinians" the rights group concludes that the occupation state has imposed a "cruel system of domination" and is committing "crimes against humanity." …
(2022-02-03). Spike Lee to produce Kaepernick series. rt.com 
The filmmaker was tapped by ESPN for its documentary about the 49ers quarterback-turned activist | ESPN Films announced on Tuesday that Spike Lee will take charge of its upcoming documentary series about Colin Kaepernick. Lee will have access to never-before-seen footage from Kaepernick's archive. | The director will record additional interviews with the NFL star to create "a full, first-person account of his journey" from childhood in an adoptive white family to athletic stardom to black rights advocacy. | The 34-year-old was born to a white mother from a black father and was put up for adoption, with the Kae…
(2022-02-03). The Year of the Tiger Starts with a Sino-Russian Bang. strategic-culture.org The Year of the Black Water Tiger will start, for all practical purposes, with a Beijing bang this Friday, as Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, after a live meeting before the initial ceremony of the Winter Olympics, will issue a joint statement on international relations. | That will represent a crucial move in the Eurasia vs. NATOstan chessboard, as the Anglo-American axis is increasingly bogged down in Desperation Row: after all, "Russian aggression" stubbornly refuses to materialize. | After an interminable wait arguably due to the lack of functionaries properly equipped to write an intelligible lett…
(2022-02-03). Biden continues to pressure China. indybay.org Joe Biden approved a further anti-China bill and, by amazing coincidence, did it on the eve of binational summit. That's a great attack on China, it has to be said.
(2022-02-03). Peltier has COVID-19: President Joe Biden, Do The Right Thing, Free Leonard! covertactionmagazine.com On January 28th, Brian Schatz, (D-Hawai'i), chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs urged President Biden to commute …
(2022-02-03). As oil giants announce massive profits, BP oil refinery worker in Indiana declares: "We're ready to strike" wsws.org Oil workers are angered over being kept in the dark by the United Steelworkers (USW) and are ready to fight the highly profitable oil giants.
(2022-02-03). Amazon worker organizing accelerates with union voting. workers.org 
Worker organizing at Amazon received international coverage when the Associated Press used a photo of this Workers Assembly Against Racism rally for the Amazon Labor Union, on Oct. 25, 2021, to announce upcoming union elections in February 2022. Headlines screamed alarm Jan. 26 in capitalist business media like the Wall . . . |
(2022-02-03). Hackers steal over $320mn in major crypto heist. rt.com 
The fast-growing decentralized finance (DeFi) sector has been increasingly targeted by cyber criminals | One of the most popular bridges linking the Ethereum and Solana blockchains became a victim of a hack attack on Wednesday resulting in a crypto theft worth more than $320 million. | Developers representing Wormhole confirmed the exploit on its Twitter account, saying the network bridge is currently down while the team investigates a potential exploit. The official website says that the portal is temporarily unavailable. | Wormhole is a protocol that lets users move their tokens and NFTs between Solana and E…
(2022-02-03). Argentina: Máximo Kirchner Resigns as President of Frente de Todos Parliamentary Block (+IMF). orinocotribune.com Máximo Kirchner resigned on Monday, January 31, from his responsibility as the head of the Frente De Todos (ruling party) in the Congress of the Argentine Republic. The deputy, who until Monday presided over the block of deputies of the ruling party, made his decision public through a statement in which he expressed his disagreement with President Alberto Fernández's economic policy, embodied in the recent agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). | With this position, the son of former President Néstor Kirchner and current Vice President of Argentina, Cristina Fernández, distanced himself from the pr…
(2022-02-03). Jorge Rodríguez: Deputies Failing to Fulfill their Oath Will be Jailed. orinocotribune.com This Tuesday, February 2, the president of Venezuela's National Assembly (AN) Jorge Rodríguez, warned that deputies who fail to comply with their oath will go to prison. This was said after referring to the case of PSUV parliamentarian, Taina González Rubio, who was arrested in Falcón for her alleged involvement in a drug trafficking network. | "Jail will be the destination for any deputy failing to fulfill their oath, thus becoming a despicable traitor. Everyone who deviates from the right path will be sent to jail," he asserted during his speech at the session this Tuesday, in which the parliamentary immunity o…
(2022-02-03). Amnesty International Defends Report on Israeli Apartheid, Rejecting Criticism from U.S. & Israel. democracynow.org 
Amnesty International has become the third major human rights organization to accuse Israel of committing the crime of apartheid against Palestinians in a new report released on Tuesday. Amnesty finds Israel's system of apartheid dates back to the country's founding in 1948 and has materialized in abuses including massive seizures of Palestinian land and property, unlawful killings, forcible transfer, drastic movement restrictions, and the denial of nationality and citizenship to Palestinians — all of which constitute apartheid under international law. We speak with Amnesty International USA's executive dir…
(2022-02-03). Governor Ron DeSantis refuses to denounce Florida Nazis, attacks Democrats instead. wsws.org The Florida governor's refusal to condemn members of the National Socialist Movement is another example of the transformation of the Republican Party into a fascist movement.
(2022-02-03). Ottawa police mull appealing for military support to end far-right occupation of Canada's capital. wsws.org The Conservatives, right-wing media outlets like the Toronto Sun and National Post, and sections of big business have incited a far-right extra-parliamentary movement to push politics sharply to the right, beginning with the elimination of all remaining anti-COVID-19 public health measures.
(2022-02-03). Reaching Covid-19 "Turning Point of Critical Mass": Is Nuremberg 2 Next? London Metropolitan Police Criminal Investigation. globalresearch.ca Not only is Britain's largest police force actively involved in the probe, the Hammersmith Police alongside the ICC are working together in what's being called the world's largest international crime investigation.
(2022-02-02). VIDEO: Ukraine Crisis Webinar: Peace Activists and Experts Gather. davidswanson.org Here's the video: Speakers include: Katrina vanden Heuvel, editorial director of The Nation magazine, columnist for the Washington Post. Ann Wright, retired U.S. Army colonel, retired diplomat, author, activist. Vladimir Kozin, member of Russian Academy of Military Sciences, speaking from Moscow. Norman Solomon, co-founder and national director of RootsAction.org, author, activist. Moderator: David Swanson, campaign …
(2022-02-02). At Russia-Ukraine border NO U.S.-NATO WAR! workers.org 
An ad-hoc coalition of anti-imperialist organizations located in the United States has published the following call for protests in the following week of U.S. and NATO's aggressive actions directed at Russia, building up to demonstrations and a webinar on Feb. 5: We must act now to stop the war with . . . |
(2022-02-02). Russia & US commit to further talks on security guarantees. rt.com 
Continued engagement from both sides will allow room for serious discussion, but situation appears to be a stalemate | Washington is willing to continue diplomatic discussions with Russia over mutual security concerns, the US State Department revealed on Tuesday, following a phone call between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. | The discussion comes as tensions between Russia and the West continue to remain high, with Moscow accused of placing over 100,000 troops on the border with Ukraine. The buildup has triggered a response from multiple NATO members, with many se…
(2022-02-02). The Petro-War of Chrystia Freeland: Canada's military support for Ukraine. mronline.org 
According to the Globe and Mail, the Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland, is in charge of the campaign of military support for the Ukraine.
(2022-02-02). Ukraine and U.S. war propaganda. mronline.org 
The corporate media always carry water for the state, and they are never more dangerous than when the nation is on a war footing. Right now the United States government is sending weapons to Ukraine.
(2022-02-02). 30 NATO members, 37 partners from around the world forge new global strategic doctrine. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com The 67 nations involved include ones on all six populated continents. Why the world stubbornly persists in ignoring the evolution of an ever-expanding international military alliance is beyond my ability to comprehend. ==== NATO engages with partners to help shape the next Strategic Concept 37 participating partners: Algeria, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bosnia and …
(2022-02-02). Leaked US & NATO replies to Russia: Here's what you need to know. rt.com 
It seems the West has rejected Moscow's core demands, but proposed steps to ease tensions | In December, Russia requested that the US and NATO produce definitive written responses to its proposals on assurances addressing security concerns. The letters were sent to Moscow last week. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters at the time that the correspondence should stay confidential. However, the two letters were allegedly Wh…
(2022-02-02). US-Qatar Rise In Cooperation May Be Related To Washington's Energy Strategy. southfront.org 
Click to see full-size imageThe American government is trying to promote Qatar's gas production in order to ensure US allies energy security, preventing them from any cooperation with Russia. | Written by Lucas Leiroz, research fellow in international law at the Rural Federal University of Rio de Janeiro; geopolitical consultant. | US-Qatar relations seem to be getting better and better. During a conversation at the White House with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, US President Joe Biden promis…
(2022-02-02). Russia Opens Doors for Iran's Eurasian integration. strategic-culture.org Raisi and Putin's January meeting may have seemed anticlimactic, but Russia is now opening doors for Iran's Eurasian integration | By Yeghia TASHJIAN | On 20 January, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi traveled to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow, with the express purpose of advancing bilateral ties between both countries at the highest level. | Among the talking points of the two leaders were their shared regional and international issues, the Vienna negotiations for Iran's nuclear program, and regional cooperation in Eurasia. | Contrary to expectations and to the positive statements made befor…
(2022-02-02). International Viewpoint supports war propaganda against Russia. wsws.org Under the misleading title "Time for International Anti-War Solidarity," unnamed "Ukrainian socialists" called on the "international left" to "condemn the imperialist policies of the Russian government."
(2022-02-02). Central Asia becomes a Platform for Cooperation between Russia, India and China. journal-neo.org 
Central Asia (CA), due to its geostrategic location at the junction of Europe and Asia, its proximity to the leading international actors such as Russia and China, its wealth of natural resources and its yet-to-be fully exploited trade and economic opportunities, has recently attracted increasing interest from international actors. In order to create a stable …
(2022-02-02). Ski starlet who swapped USA for China puts gold medals before politics. rt.com 
The teenage sensation switched allegiances to China in 2019 | At a Winter Olympics where Instagram is giving fans the chance to gain the inside track from athletes, Chinese-American sensation Eileen Gu's first post from the Beijing Games was telling. | Mildly sending up her usual glossy, high-fashion posts on a platform where the 18-year-old already has more than 245,000 followers, Gu haphazardly opened a box of "Olympic gear", goofishly modeling clothing provided by organizers before leaving it strewn across her sparse-looking room. | Gu might have been on a catwalk rather than dorm-style accommodation this w…
(2022-02-02). US 'rules-based order' is a myth and China knows it. asiatimes.com 
A new bill in the United States will only add extra weight in Beijing to fears that the "rules-based" international order American politicians like to talk about is really about keeping the world's most populous country down. The America Competes Act of 2022, passed by the US House of Representatives last week, comes in at …
(2022-02-02). Sabbagh: Western Coercive Measures Escalate Suffering of Millions of Syrians. orinocotribune.com Syria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations stressed that the US and EU illegitimate unilateral coercive measures escalated the suffering of millions of Syrians. | Ambassador Bassam Sabbagh made his remarks in a session of the Security Council on Friday on the humanitarian situation in Syria. | "The economic terrorism and the collective punishment policies represented by the illegitimate unilateral coercive measures imposed by the US and the EU have escalated the suffering of millions of Syrians who bear big burden to obtain their basic needs, in flagrant violation of all international legal standards…
(2022-02-02). What's at stake with SCOTUS nomination — an editorial. workers.org 
On the eve of Black History Month — February — President Joe Biden announced his intentions of nominating an African American woman to replace the soon-to-be-retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. Sitting on the court now are six men and three women. All justices have life tenure, until either . . . |
(2022-02-02). Presidential Debates May Be a Thing of the Past. otherwords.org Are debates for America's highest office now a thing of the past? | The Republican National Committee now plans to make future GOP candidates for president "sign a pledge not to participate in any debates sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates," or CPD, The CPD has run general election presidential debates since wresting control of them from the League of Women Voters in the late 1980s. Although it's often characterized as a "nonpartisan" group, "bipartisan" would be mo…
(2022-02-02). Banned Books Should Be Required Reading. otherwords.org In January, a Tennessee county school board voted unanimously to Decisions like these shortchange kids in every community. | Authors like Spiegelman didn't just write (or illustrate) their books for a Jewish audience. They wrote for a wider audience of people who don't know how horrific the Holocaust was, w…
(2022-02-02). In OtherWords: February 2, 2022. otherwords.org This Black History Month, many teachers are bracing for a chill wind as states and school districts across the country pass bans on so-called "critical race theory." Many wonder if they'll be penalized simply for teaching history or inviting reflection on it. | This week in OtherWords, Tracey L. Rogers explains why those bans make Black History Month so important this year — not only for Black Americans, but for white Americans too. We need to reckon with our country's history honestly, she argues, so we can make it work better for all us. | Of course, that's not the only ban classrooms are grappling with.
(2022-02-02). This Pandemic Showed the Benefits of Universal Health Care. otherwords.org There has been a Jekyll and Hyde quality to American health care over the past two years. | One the one hand, the federal government has been actively intervening to help people avoid COVID-19 or recover from it. On the other, it's standing by as Americans struggle with other ailments, exposing the vast fissures of The government's pandemic response has been imperfect but successful in many respects. Are there lessons for how we treat other diseases? | For example, the Biden administration is now taki…
(2022-02-02). This Black History Month, Don't Ban Our History — Teach It. scheerpost.com 
By Tracey L. Rogers / When President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month in 1976, he It's true — Black Americans have excelled "in every area of endeavor," from arts and culture to sports and entertainment to everyday living and thriving in this countr…
(2022-02-02). Spanish translations of pamphlets / manifestos published by Daraja Press. mronline.org 
We are delighted to announce the online Spanish translations of pamphlets/ manifestos published by Daraja Press and Monthly Review Essays. These pamphlets are parts of the series, Moving Beyond Capitalism — Now! and Thinking Freedom.
(2022-02-02). Puerto Rican organizations rally against crypto colonizers. workers.org 
This article was based on a leaflet issued by the New York City organizing coalition of Puerto Rican and anti-imperialist groups sponsoring the Jan. 28 rally. New York City, Jan. 28 A coalition of Puerto Rican and global anti-imperialist groups rallied Jan. 28 at the New York City Housing Authority. . . . |
(2022-02-02). 'Remarkable' image of our galaxy's center revealed. rt.com 
A supermassive black hole lurking in the center of the Milky Way is the brightest spot | A new MeerKAT telescope image of the galactic center reveals the "complex heart" of the Milky Way, with astronomers saying they now have "the best insight yet into the population of mysterious 'radio filaments' found nowhere else." | Released by the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory, the "remarkable" image is based on a mosaic of 20 separate observations, which took a total of 200 hours of MeerKAT telescope time to acquire. | | A rare, almost-perfect spherical supernova remnant that has been discovered at the edg…
(2022-02-02). IMF says to Nepal Rastra Bank: "COVID-19 related support measures in the financial sector should however be gradually unwound, and the remaining ones should be targeted and time bound. mronline.org 
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has expressed dissatisfaction over the role played by Nepal Rastra Bank to ensure stability of Nepal's banking sector.
(2022-02-02). Heating costs double in Europe's biggest economy. rt.com 
Germany's household energy costs saw the greatest rise in 2021 | The cost of heating and electricity in Germany increased by 107% and 41% respectively over the past year, Der Spiegel reported, citing a spokesperson of the Check24 portal, which compares prices for goods and services in the country. | According to data, the average household in Germany had to pay €1,193 for gas and fuel oil in January 2021, with the cost rising to almost €2,472 last month. The main reason for that was the sharp rise in energy prices, the newspaper said, adding that high wholesale gas prices have affected end-user price…
(2022-02-02). Historicizing Inflation and Price Controls with Andrew Elrod. mronline.org 
Andrew Elrod joins Money on the Left to discuss the political economy of inflation and price controls, past and present. Elrod holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Santa Barbara and is presently Research Specialist at United Teachers Los Angeles, a 36,000-member labor union. In our conversation, Elrod overturns one of the …
(2022-02-02). Teachers Union Warns Pandemic Burnout Destroying Schools. scheerpost.com 
By Andrea Germanos / Common Dreams New polling out Tuesday reveals pervasive burnout among the nation's educators as pandemic-related staffing shortages and other difficulties drive a potential exodus from the teaching profession. Released by the National Education Association, the nation's largest union of any profession, the member survey shows, according to NEA president Becky Pringle, that "after persevering …
(2022-02-02). Greenwald: The Pressure Campaign on Spotify to Remove Joe Rogan Reveals the Religion of Liberals: Censorship. scheerpost.com 
Joe Rogan interviews Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Aug. 6, 2019, roughly six months before he endorsed the Vermont independent for president. | By Glenn Greenwald / American liberals are obsessed with finding ways to silence and censor their adversaries. Every week, if not every day, they have new targets they want de-platformed, banned, silenced, and otherwise prevented from speaking or being heard (by "liberals," I mean the term of self-description used by th…
(2022-02-02). Non-capitalist mixed economies: what makes a socialist? mronline.org 
In this paper I attempt to provide a short overview of the subject. Words like democracy, freedom, anarchist, Marxist, communist are used in so many different meanings that they become meaningless. One such word is "socialist." — László Tàºt≈ë…
(2022-02-02). Feb. 3 Webinar: Camila Saab, Wife Of Diplomat/US Political Prisoner. popularresistance.org Alex Saab is a Venezuelan diplomat the US government has illegally seized and imprisoned for what the US considers "violation" of the illegal US economic warfare on Venezuela. He was in fact assisting Venezuela in legally working around the US blockade on his country by finding the means to import food, medicine, and materials for the Venezuelan oil industry. The US is seeking to coerce Alex Saab into disclosing the methods Venezuela uses to circumvent the US-Canadian-European sanctions with the goal of further tightening the economic blockade and suffering on the Venezuelan people. These sanctions are illegal ac…