(2021-12-04). Airstrikes Kill Over 90 Houthis in Yemen's Maarib. news.antiwar.com The Saudi-led coalition reported Friday that airstrikes launched in 13 operations have The statement claims eight pieces of military equipment were destroyed in the attacks. They are vague on that point, but this usually refers to random destroyed vehicles that they've decided has some military use. | The Houthis have surrounded Maarib City, though there has as of yet been no siege. Despi…
(2021-12-04). Bitcoin drops nearly $10,000 in an hour. rt.com 
The world's crypto pioneer, bitcoin, saw a sharp decline of nearly $10,000 in roughly an hour to as low as $42,000 before bouncing back to $45,000, extending the latest downtrend amid the emergence of the Omicron Covid-19 strain. | The price of bitcoin has dropped around $15,000 over the past 24 hours. It was trading at nearly $47,580 as of 08: 16 GMT, down 16.14% day over day, having dropped by 31.6% from the year's high of $69,000, which it reached on November 10. | Read more | | Meanwhile, ether, the sec…
(2021-12-04). Video: Workers must oppose Australian ruling elite's homicidal response to Omicron variant. wsws.org SEP Assistant National Secretary Max Boddy warns: "There is no viable way to stop the pandemic and save lives, other than a strategy of global elimination."
(2021-12-04). Omicron outbreak in Sydney school as Australian governments reject safety measures. wsws.org Omicron already may be circulating widely in the working-class suburbs of western Sydney, given the known community transmission.
(2021-12-04). Belarus ready for end of confrontation with West — top diplomat. tass.com We have made concrete proposals," he said…
(2021-12-04). [World Report] Calls for international solutions to EU—Belarus border crisis. thelancet.com Humanitarian organisations warn that thousands of migrants are stuck, with many unable to access medical care, food, and water. Sharmila Devi reports.
(2021-12-04). Presidential victory in Honduras represents another loss for U.S. imperialism. fightbacknews.org Tucson, AZ – In the early hours of June 28, 2009, Honduran soldiers snatched President Manuel "Mel" Zelaya from his home and removed him from power in a coup d'état with tacit support from the U.S. What followed was a brutal dictatorship that murdered, disappeared and oppressed Hondurans. In close collaboration with criminal cartels, the Honduran power elite implemented neoliberal policies, while violence and drugs plagued the country. It should come as no surprise that waves of Hondurans poured out into caravans headed north to seek asylum in the U.S. only to be met by the cruel denial of President Trump and U.S…
(2021-12-04). Even Israel's Labor Party President signals that the Occupation of Palestinians in Permanent. juancole.com By Ashraf Al-Ajrami | — ( Middle East Monitor) — Israeli President Isaac Herzog chose to celebrate the Jewish Hanukkah holiday — the "Festival of Lights" — at the Ibrahimi Mosque in occupied Hebron, accompanied by a group of settler leaders. "The historical affinity of the Jewish people to Hebron, to the Cave of the …
(2021-12-04). Stephen Sondheim (1930-2021), giant of American musical theater. wsws.org An inventive lyricist, a collaborator and mentor to many, he created 19 full-length musicals.
(2021-12-04). Backed by AFRICOM, Corporations Plunder DR Congo for "Climate-Friendly" Materials and Blame China. orinocotribune.com 
By T.J. Coles — Nov 30, 2021 | Cobalt, a key metallic element used in lithium batteries and other "green" technology, is sourced from slave labor in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As the West points the finger at China, the US Africa Command is indirectly policing mining operations that profit US corporations. | Ever since Belgium's King Leopold II (1835-1909) established the Congo Free State in 1885, international powers have exploited the region's vast resources. Leading a regime that went on to kill an
(2021-12-04). Australian government in "chaos" as pandemic intensifies political disarray. wsws.org The Liberal-National government is in tatters, yet there is low popular support for the Labor Party and rising distrust in the entire parliamentary establishment.
(2021-12-04). Understanding the student protests in Iraqi Kurdistan. roarmag.org Students protesting in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Photo via On November 21, 2021, hundreds of students from the University of Sulaymaniyah, one of the largest public universities in Iraqi Kurdistan, walked out of their classes in protest to demand better living conditions. The student demonstrations are a response to decades of endemic corruption,
(2021-12-04). At Democracy Summit, US Will Urge Countries to Use Sanctions. news.antiwar.com At the upcoming Summit for Democracy hosted by President Biden, the US will urge other countries to start using sanctions against government officials Washington deems to be "corrupt," Citing unnamed Biden administration officials, the report said the US will slap sanctions on foreign-government officials and other people the US accuses of corruption and human rights abuses ahead of the virtual summit that will be held on Thursday and Friday. | "Over the course of the week, Treasury will take a series…
(2021-12-04). 2021: Political Turning Point in Central America and the Caribbean. orinocotribune.com 
By Mision Verdad — Dec 1, 2021 | With the background noise of migration to the United States and the recent victory of Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, Central America and the Caribbean are at a turning point that will play an important role in the years to come in Latin America and the Caribbean. | The region comes from processes of civil wars, historical colonization and systematic impoverishment; however, the facts are woven with this historical thread in which democracy and human rights are used in the interest of the hegemonic narrative to intervene and capture geostrategic resources. Three of the multiple pro…
(2021-12-04). Twitter's new censorship policy backfires. rt.com 
A new policy on personal information has apparently backfired, with the platform claiming it had resulted in a large number of "malicious" and "coordinated" reports against users, some of whom were suspended by "accident." | Twitter spokesman Trenton Kennedy said a new rule barring "the misuse of media" such as photos and videos "to harass or intimidate private individuals" had led it to suspend accounts in error, the Washington Post reported on Friday night. | Read more | | The platform ha…
(2021-12-04). Censorship, the Myth of Free Data and the False Solutions on the Table. zcomm.org Social media has never been a free service for any of us. But it has certainly given a lot of advertisers, wealthy investors, intelligence agents and politicians a free ride…
(2021-12-04). Central Asian and Middle Eastern Countries Step Up Cooperation. journal-neo.org 
On November 28, the 15th Summit of the Leaders of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Member-States was held in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, with the participation of the heads of state and governments of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan, the countries that are members of the organization. The ECO summit …
(2021-12-04). Venezuela Supports CELAC-China Cooperation — President Maduro Calls CELAC Vanguard of Patria Grande. orinocotribune.com 
Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Félix Plasencia ratified Venezuela's commitment to strengthening bi-regional cooperation between China and Latin America and the Caribbean, to face current post-pandemic challenges. | During his speech at the Third Meeting of Ministers of the CELAC-China Forum this Friday, December 3, Plasencia highlighted the Asian giant's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a promoter of cooperation of China with Latin America and the Caribbean. | The Venezuelan foreign affairs minister stressed that it is essential to translate into concrete projects the special declaration of the Third Minist…
(2021-12-04). Washington Cartel: Clíver Alcalá No Longer a Drug Trafficker According to OFAC. orinocotribune.com This Thursday, December 2, the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) withdrew from its list of drug traffickers the name of Clíver Alcalá Cordones, fugitive from Venezuelan justice, despite the fact that he is allegedly detained in the US on charges related to drug trafficking. | Clíver Alcalá was inserted into the OFAC list in 2011, after being accused of abusing his position in the Bolivarian National Armed Force (FANB) to exchange arms for drugs with Colombian paramilitary and drug traficking gangs. | The US government had offered $10 million for the capture of Alcalá, who finally had to turn h…
(2021-12-04). Backing Horses: Australia's Solomon Islands Intervention. dissidentvoice.org The history of humanitarian or policing missions is a history of taking sides, disruptive partiality and the forfeiture of the very object powers claim when intervening in another country. Things become particularly absurd when the individual or government pleading for such help to an outside force is struggling to survive yet making grand statements about …
(2021-12-04). Russian Foreign Ministry Statement on the Planned US 'Summit for Democracy'. orinocotribune.com In connection with the so called summit for democracy to be held on December 9-10 at the initiative of the US administration, we consider it necessary to make the following statement. | The organisers and enthusiasts behind this strange event claim to lead the world in advancing the cause of democracy and human rights. However, the track record and reputation of the United States, Great Britain, and the EU member states in terms of respecting democratic rights and freedoms at home, as well as in the international arena, are, to put it mildly, far from ideal. | The evidence suggests that the United States and its…
(2021-12-04). 'They want us dead': another year of devastating overdoses in Baltimore. mronline.org 
Little legislative movement in Maryland over the past two years has left people who use drugs more vulnerable and even less safe.
(2021-12-04). Fight, Resist, Stand Up, and Organize! anchor.fm In this episode I go into a bit of a discussion intended to show how the class struggle takes many different forms and how active resistance to the capitalist Bourgeoisie system looks different, takes different forms, organizes itself in different ways at different points in times during the struggle. This is how a revolutionary mass movement is built, through struggle, through learning and growing, through expanding into new realms of society and organizing more people than have ever been organized for such a thing before. And we must do it on the basis of revolution, not asking for reforms as an end, but a mean…
(2021-12-04). Defenders of abortion rights rally as Supreme Court hears arguments. liberationnews.org 
Around the U.S., advocates for reproductive justice rallied in cities large and small in support of the fundamental right to abortion care…
(2021-12-04). Burned-out Forests Are Not Re-Growing. dissidentvoice.org Trees are not re-growing in burned-out forests. This strange occurrence is becoming more frequent as global warming turns verdant flora into flammable tinder, causing more and bigger wild forests fires. This article will examine the science behind failure of trees to regrow in burned-out forests. Additionally, and as a collateral issue, this puts one more …
(2021-12-04). China wants its casino paradise to become tech Mecca. rt.com 
The Chinese government plans to transform its largest casino den, Macau, into a regional technology hub, the South China Morning Post reported, citing technology industry executives and officials. | This comes as the Venetian Macao Convention and Exhibition Centre this week hosted a big technology-themed trade fair, which is expected to give rise to new industries and revitalize the regional economy. | The event's website portrayed Macau as "the new centre of international technologies" to connect the Asia Pacific tech ecosystem with the rest of the world. | "The Guangdong-Macau in-depth cooperation zone in He…
(2021-12-04). US strike may have killed Syrian civilians, Pentagon says. rt.com 
The US military said it would open an investigation into the possibility a recent drone strike caused civilian casualties, with Pentagon officials claiming the attack had been intended to target a "senior al-Qaeda leader." | US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees military operations across the Middle East, announced the upcoming probe on Friday, hours after an MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle bombed an unspecified location in Idlib province in what CENTCOM described as a "precision strike." | "We abhor the loss of innocent life and take all possible measures to prevent them. The possibility of a civil…
(2021-12-04). Comisión de la Verdad repudia desaparición de dos líderes en Colombia. telesurtv.net Los líderes comunitarios fueron vistos por última vez el pasado 28 de noviembre.
(2021-12-04). "We should all do this together. We could close Kaiser down!" Operating engineers speak out on two-month strike at Kaiser Permanente. wsws.org There is enormous support for engineers from nurses and other health care workers, but the strike has been systematically isolated by the health care unions.
(2021-12-04). China exigirá PCR negativa al público para los Juegos de Invierno. telesurtv.net Desde enero próximo se implementará el mecanismo de burbuja para delegaciones, prensa y personal de apoyo.
(2021-12-04). UK: Striking workers at B&Q distribution centre in Worksop determined to fight pay restraint. wsws.org The Unite union, with over 1 million members, has not organised any form of solidarity action—even at the other major B&Q hubs in Swindon and Doncaster in England and Cambuslang in Scotland—in defence of their co-workers in Worksop.
(2021-12-04). Australia's under-funded healthcare system confronts major nursing shortages. wsws.org After decades of attacks against working conditions, accelerated by the pandemic, 20,000 nurses have resigned this year.
(2021-12-04). Watsonville Community Hospital nurses to hold press conference to demand hospital remain open. indybay.org Nurses who work at Watsonville Community Hospital will hold a press conference on Friday, Dec. 3, to demand that the hospital remain open, announced California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) today. The event is being held in response to a recent letter from the hospital to employees citing plans to sell the facility as part of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization process.
(2021-12-04). Global vaccine inequality: "A policy decision by the rich countries" wsws.org African Union officials estimate the COVAX global vaccine distribution scheme will deliver just 470 million doses to African countries by the end of December, less than a quarter of the 2 billion needed to deliver two shots to its entire adult population.
(2021-12-04). Biden administration resumes Trump's "Remain in Mexico" immigration policy. wsws.org The White House announced a deal with Mexico to reinstate a former Trump-era policy whereby asylum seekers will be forced to stay in that country until their US immigration court date.
(2021-12-04). [Perspectives] The many worlds of disability. thelancet.com Jan Grue is a phenomenon in the disability world: a 40-year-old with a congenital muscular atrophy, who is an author of fiction for adults and children and is also Professor of Qualitative Research at the University of Oslo, Norway. In this eagerly awaited book, I Live a Life Like Yours: A Memoir, he tells the story of his life and his daily existence. Grue is expert at capturing sights, sounds, and even smells. The stories he relates are likely to represent the reality for many educated people in high-income countries with lived experience of disability who have stumbled, fallen, and wheeled through school, clin…
(2021-12-04). Chile's election: Boric and pseudo-left offer no defense against threat of fascism. wsws.org International and historical experience demonstrates that once in power, the pseudo-left abandons all pretense of reform, bowing to the international financial and corporate elite.
(2021-12-04). Meet the "Godfather of Vaccines" dissidentvoice.org 
"A lawyer with his briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns." (Vito Corleone) Vaccinologists consider the Stanley A. Plotkin Award to be the equivalent of a Nobel Prize in their lucrative field. To qualify for this accolade, the nominee should be "an individual who has made significant contributions to the field of …
(2021-12-04). [Perspectives] Knowing, seeing, and telling in medicine. thelancet.com Today, we are witnessing a new permeability between the arts and the sciences. Scientists are urged to promote transformative creativity in their trainees. Nobelists credit surprise and the imagination for their insights. The health professions have incorporated the humanities, social sciences, and arts into their curricula to teach relational, cultural, and creative dimensions of health care. Whether artists or scientists, investigators strike out from what is known to brave the unknown in acts of creative discovery.
(2021-12-04). At online town hall, Kaiser union officials praise "joint" approach to cost-cutting in tentative agreement. wsws.org At Wednesday's meeting, the first since the deal was announced more than two weeks ago, no rank-and-file workers were allowed to speak or ask questions, a clear indication of the unions' nervousness about opposition to the deal among health care workers.
(2021-12-04). Indian courts continue to sanction open-ended imprisonment without trial. wsws.org The 15 surviving victims of the Indian state's Elgar Parishad terrorism frame-up case are being subjected to cruel and life-threatening punishment. They have been imprisoned for years without trial.
(2021-12-04). [Comment] Offline: Is democracy good for your health? thelancet.com What is the best political system to protect and advance health? In 2019, Thomas Bollyky, who directs the Global Health Program at the US Council on Foreign Relations, and colleagues reported evidence in The Lancet suggesting that democracies are better than autocracies for delivering gains in health. Advantage America, he seemed to be saying. The argument is superficially convincing. Democracies sharpen the accountability of governments to their citizens. Free and fair elections create incentives for political leaders to pay serious attention to the wellbeing of voters.
(2021-12-04). Berlin primary school teacher describes new contract as "simply ridiculous!" wsws.org In this interview, a Berlin teacher describes the mass infection taking place in schools. Her conclusion: "We need a lockdown until at least the New Year."
(2021-12-04). [Correspondence] Enabling physical activity for people living with disabilities — Authors' reply. thelancet.com With interest, we read the Correspondence in response to our recent Series paper,1 all of which raise excellent points regarding the need for greater efforts to advance physical activity participation in children, youth, and adults with disabilities and provide suggestions for doing so.
(2021-12-04). Colorado Store Shooting Suspect Found Incompetent to Stand Trial – Reports. sputniknews.com WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – A US judge ruled that the Colorado man charged with a mass shooting that killed 10 individuals at a King Soopers store was not competent to stand trial, the Denver Post reported.
(2021-12-04). Reflecting on the Dawn of Everything. zcomm.org The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow is a terrific contribution to human knowledge and guide to pursuing more of the same…
(2021-12-04). Feeling hopeless about the climate? Try our 30-day action plan. nationofchange.org Doing something every day will help to change your attitude and create momentum for change.
(2021-12-04). Pdte. mexicano agradece apoyo de China en lucha contra Covid-19. telesurtv.net El agradecimiento fue realizado de forma virtual durante la III Reunión Ministerial del Foro Celac – China.
(2021-12-04). Pdte. boliviano alerta sobre rechazo a los pueblos originarios. telesurtv.net El jefe de Estado boliviano indicó que hay sectores que pretenden mantener un país discriminador y racista.
(2021-12-04). Parents of Michigan high school shooter charged with manslaughter. wsws.org James and Jennifer Crumbley were being sought by a fugitive task force late Friday after they failed to appear to face manslaughter charges for the killing of four students by their son on Tuesday.