(2022-02-12). Department of Homeland Security leaks security bulletin warning of far-right "trucker" protest culminating in occupation of Washington D.C. wsws.org Promoted by Fox and far-right politicians, the goal of the nascent trucker convoy is to rally fascists and militia members to abolish the few remaining COVID mitigation measures and occupy Washington D.C. sometime in March.
(2022-02-12). Falkland Islands of Contention between China and Britain. journal-neo.org 
Despite the active efforts of the White House, by various dirty machinations and the failed attempt at a "diplomatic boycott," to belittle the significance of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, these Games themselves, as well as the contacts held against their background by the Chinese authorities with the leaders of a number of foreign states, …
(2022-02-12). 'Freedom Convoy': A Dangerous Movement for the Working Class, but Useful for the Ruling Class. orinocotribune.com By Communist Party of Canada — Feb 4, 2022 | The Communist Party of Canada views the "Freedom Convoy" as a public expression of the increasingly organized and assertive far right. The clear links between the organizers of the convoy and far-right networks indicate that this is not a spontaneous working-class demonstration. On the contrary, it is part of a global phenomenon: the rise and mainstreaming of the far right, which is demonstrated by the strong support (ideologically and financially) from the US far right and circles close to Donald Trump and the Jan. 6thinsurrection. The convoy is filled with Nazi…
(2022-02-12). Decades-long environmental catastrophe in Imperial Beach, California. liberationnews.org 
Millions of gallons of raw sewage water, up to 35 million gallons daily, are being discharged into the ocean spanning from the Tijuana River to Coronado's coastline.
(2022-02-12). Fossil Fuel Companies and Their Mouthpieces Offer Net-Zero Logic on Climate Change. independentmediainstitute.org Everywhere around us there is evidence of climate change, from the increase in winter storms such as New England's late January blizzard, to California's recent record-breaking winter heat wave. Meanwhile, the world's biggest oil and gas companies such as ExxonMobil, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, and BP, whose products directly fuel global warming, have done little …
(2022-02-12). Seventy-Seven Years Ago, U.S. and Russia Signed Historic Agreement at Yalta. covertactionmagazine.com With tensions between the U.S. and Russia at historic levels and threat of a hot war breaking out in Ukraine, …
(2022-02-12). A Memorial for Dr. Luc Montagnier and the Coming Revolutions in Optical Biophysics. dissidentvoice.org 
On February 8, 2022, Nobel Prize winning virologist Dr Luc Montagnier passed away. Since the earliest moments of COVID-19's appearance, Montagnier was slandered and ridiculed for his challenges to the underlying assumptions of the disease's causes and remedies despite the constant slings and arrows of the deep state which sought to shut the door on …
(2022-02-12). Solidarity is the road to liberation. peoplesdispatch.org This is a lightly edited version of a speech given to an international meeting held on 1 February under the banner: Free Mumia Abu-Jamal and All Anti-Imperialist Freedom Fighters! Speakers included Abu-Jamal (via a recorded statement), Angela Davis and a number of trade unionists. | Around the world, imperialism — with its dehumanization and brute violence — has allowed for a small minority to permanently accumulate wealth at the expense of the masses of our people. In recent years, women and men have been killed — from Afghanistan and Iraq to South Africa and the prison archipelago of the US.
(2022-02-12). The Left has culture, but the World still belongs to the banks: The Sixth Newsletter (2022). mronline.org 
Dear friends, Greetings from the desk of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. '[T]here is great intellectual poverty on the part of the right wing', Héctor Béjar says in our latest dossier, A Map of Latin America's Present: An Interview with Héctor Béjar (February 2022). 'There is a lack of right-wing intellectuals everywhere'. Béjar speaks …
(2022-02-12). [World Report] Gilead and ViiV Healthcare reach settlement over HIV drug. thelancet.com Gilead Sciences to pay US$1 ∑25 billion, and royalties, settlement to ViiV Healthcare over patent infringement of the HIV drug, dolutegravir. Nayanah Siva reports.
(2022-02-12). [World Report] Escalating threats to health workers in Myanmar. thelancet.com Health workers are still under threat in Myanmar, 1 year on from a military seizure of power. Megan Tatum reports.
(2022-02-12). [Comment] New NICE guideline on chronic fatigue syndrome: more ideology than science? thelancet.com The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the UK published a new chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) guideline in October, 2021.1 The previous NICE 2007 guideline recommended cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and graded exercise therapy (GET) for people with mild or moderate CFS/ME based on evidence from randomised trials.2 Since then, more randomised trials and systematic reviews have provided additional evidence supporting these recommendations.3—8 No new or more effective interventions have been identified.
(2022-02-12). The collapse of the "mitigation" strategy exposes the class issues in the fight against the pandemic. wsws.org The significance of the dismantling of mitigation measures throughout the world is that it expresses, in the form of pandemic policy, the lining up of class forces.
(2022-02-12). Modi blames losses from COVID-19 lockdown on Indian opposition parties. wsws.org By attacking lockdowns, Modi is trying to justify the policy of mass infection that his government is pursuing.
(2022-02-12). Australian PM's defeat on religious discrimination bill deepens political crisis. wsws.org With only a handful of parliamentary sitting days left before an election, the Coalition was desperate to push the bill through in order to meet a pledge to religious fundamentalist organisations.
(2022-02-12). Unite tries to corral opposition to Labour's strike breaking against Coventry bin workers. wsws.org Labour has put into effect an openly prepared strike breaking operation which no Tory run council has attempted to mount.
(2022-02-12). Australian defence minister accuses Labor Party of "appeasing" China. wsws.org The attempt to whip up a wartime atmosphere flows from the government's deep crisis and Australia's frontline role in the US-led preparations for conflict with China.
(2022-02-12). [Comment] Another piece in the COVID-19 treatment puzzle. thelancet.com A new study1 from the RECOVERY Collaborative Group adds another piece to the puzzle of severe COVID-19 therapy. The RECOVERY trials have been pivotal in providing evidence on the efficacy of compounds within current treatment guidelines for COVID-19, such as dexamethasone, tocilizumab, and the casirivimab and imdevimab combination.1—3 In previous randomised trials, these monoclonal antibodies4 were effective in preventing infection and clinical progression when given in the early phase of infection.
(2022-02-12). CIA has been secretly collecting information on US citizens for decades. wsws.org Under the authority of an executive order signed by President Reagan in 1981, the CIA has been gathering, storing and analyzing data on US citizens for decades without any oversight.
(2022-02-12). UAW, Detroit Democrats facilitate brutal exploitation of temp workers as pandemic decimates Stellantis workforce. wsws.org Detroit, once the center of the automotive industry, has become a focal point of predatory hiring by automakers, abetted by the UAW and Democratic Mayor Mike Duggan.
(2022-02-12). US exploits Quad meeting in Australia to condemn Russia. wsws.org The failure of the US, Japan, Australia and India to concur over the Ukraine crisis did not stop the four powers from targeting China, despite the Indian external affairs minister's claim that the grouping was not directed "against" anyone.
(2022-02-12). Bryan Wizemann's You Mean Everything to Me: Confusing love with ownership. wsws.org Certain things ring true: the impoverished social and cultural surroundings, the straitened circumstances of a generation at loose ends, the physical and psychic coldness that New York's streets can present to the destitute or near-destitute.
(2022-02-12). [Correspondence] The Global Drug Policy Index: its rationale and the role of civil society. thelancet.com One of our goals in creating the inaugural Global Drug Policy Index (GDPI) was to encourage debate about how to best measure and compare states' drug policies, and we therefore welcome well informed critical commentary. Although such commentary did feature in the World Report1 (for example, Harry Sumnall offered lucid and insightful criticism), we felt that this was not true across the piece.
(2022-02-12). [Perspectives] Deirdre Cooper Owens: bringing context to systemic medical racism. thelancet.com In the 1790s, Franàßois Marie Prevost, a young French surgeon fresh from his medical training in Paris moved to Port-de-Paix, Haiti. "Of course at that time Haiti was France's most economically valuable colony", says historian Deirdre Cooper Owens. "So there he began some experimental work on enslaved Haitian women, trying to perfect the caesarean section." Prevost's sojourn coincided with the leadership of Toussaint Louverture, who had been born a slave, the fight for Haitian independence, and the abolition of slavery.
(2022-02-12). Unions push through sellout agreement to call off strike of Portland, Oregon municipal workers. wsws.org After 1,100 city workers rejected a nearly identical offer in January and were prepared to strike on February 10, the District Council of Trade Unions (DCTU) managed to achieve a narrow "yes" vote among the membership on Wednesday.
(2022-02-12). [Correspondence] The vaccinated propor-tion of people with COVID-19 needs context. thelancet.com We read the Correspondence by Gàºnter Kampf1 with surprise, as it appears to argue that the base-rate fallacy2 is, in fact, not a fallacy. In the context of COVID-19 vaccines, the base-rate fallacy is often described as the illusion that vaccines are ineffective because, in highly vaccinated populations, the majority of COVID-19 cases occur among vaccinated people. For example, if a population is 99% vaccinated against a hypothetical virus and 51% of infected individuals have been vaccinated, the base-rate fallacy (falsely) implies that the vaccine is ineffective at preventing infection.
(2022-02-12). Blasphemy: How Many Circles of Hell are there for the Elite? dissidentvoice.org 
War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. ‚Äï Smedley Butler, War is a Racket: The …
(2022-02-12). Mars-Wrigley announces closure of its West Side Chicago factory. wsws.org Mars-Wrigley announced the planned closure of its historic Westside Chicago factory with 280 workers to lose their jobs.
(2022-02-12). Celebrate International Women's Day, Resist Attacks on Reproductive Freedom. fightbacknews.org Across the world, March 8th honors the contributions of women to the people's struggle. This year, Freedom Road Socialist Organization will hold events to celebrate International Women's Day (IWD). | | IWD was founded to honor the sacrifices of heroes named and unnamed. Some capitalists have tried to sanitize and co-opt International Women's Day. The origins of this day are clearly anti-capitalist. Our celebrations will carry forward that spirit. | | Long History, Global Reach | | International Women's Day originates in the struggle of working women in New York City. In 1908 there was a determined battle…
(2022-02-12). [Perspectives] Bridging the chasm between AI and clinical implementation. thelancet.com Many advances in artificial intelligence (AI) for health care using deep neural networks have been commercialised. But few AI tools have been implemented in health systems. Why has this chasm occurred? Transparency, suitability, and adaptability are key reasons. The deployment of any new technology is usually managed centrally in hospitals and health systems. For the information technology (IT) teams, there is the concern that input data are drawn from outside the health setting and the algorithm performance, source code, and input data are unavailable to review.
(2022-02-12). [Editorial] Health and health care in Ukraine: in transition and at risk. thelancet.com The crisis in Ukraine continues to intensify. Russian troops are massing near the Ukrainian border and the US military is reinforcing its NATO allies in Europe. Meanwhile, diplomatic talks are loaded with accusations but little resolution, and Ukrainian forces are already fighting Russia-backed separatists in the east. With the world's attention on the geopolitical situation in the region, there is a danger that the ordinary lives and health of Ukrainians are forgotten.
(2022-02-12). [Correspondence] Stigma, vaccination, and moral accountability. thelancet.com Gàºnter Kampf1 argues that use of the term pandemic of the unvaccinated by officials in Germany is both overly simplistic and dangerous. The danger he says arises from "engender[ing] negative experiences by stigmatising parts of the population…I call on high-level officials and scientists to stop the inappropriate stigmatisation of unvaccinated people, who include our patients, colleagues, and other fellow citizens".1 I leave it to epidemiologists to comment on whether the description that Kampf condemns is simplistic.
(2022-02-12). Minneapolis, St Paul teachers will march for schools students deserve. fightbacknews.org Minneapolis, MN – Teachers and education assistants in both Minneapolis and Saint Paul will hold a joint march on February 12 to call for the safe and stable schools that their students deserve. The Minneapolis educators are members of the Minneapolis Teachers Union, and the Saint Paul educators are members of Saint Paul Federation of Educators. Both groups have been in bargaining over their next contract. | The march will start at the Wabun Picnic Area at Minnehaha Falls Park at 11 a.m. on Saturday, February 12, and they are calling for educators as well as parents and community supporters to come out to show t…
(2022-02-12). [Perspectives] Keith Wailoo: framing health challenges through a historical lens. thelancet.com While growing up in New York City, NY, USA, in the 1970s, Keith Wailoo could not avoid noticing giant billboard advertisements promoting menthol cigarettes. "I was surrounded by an aggressive promotion of menthol tobacco aimed at Black Americans in urban areas", says Wailoo, the Henry Putnam University Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University, NJ, USA. The saga of menthol tobacco is documented in Wailoo's book Pushing Cool: Big Tobacco, Racial Marketing, and the Untold Story of the Menthol Cigarette.
(2022-02-12). US accelerates troop deployments as Biden threatens "world war" with Russia. wsws.org Washington and its NATO allies are concocting a strategy to provoke a war with Russia over Ukraine under conditions where they can also try to blame Russia for it.
(2022-02-12). Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and New Zealand. wsws.org India: Andhra Pradesh government-sector workers strike; Tamil Nadu railway workers oppose extended hours; Thailand: Truck drivers protest high fuel costs; New South Wales Nurses vote to walk out; INPEX LNG workers to strike in Northern Territory…
(2022-02-12). Under pressure from the White House and big business, Trudeau vows to do "whatever it takes" to end far-right Canada-US border blockades. wsws.org With the far-right Convoy having served as a bludgeon to ram through the ending of all anti-COVID-19 restrictions, powerful sections of Canadian and US big business now want quick action to shut it down.
(2022-02-12). [Comment] Offline: Complacency threatens progress against COVID-19. thelancet.com Hans Kluge, WHO's Regional Director for Europe, has been reported as saying that European nations could soon be entering a "long period of tranquillity" as the pandemic abates. Pointing out that mortality from COVID-19 seemed to be plateauing, he suggested the continent was approaching a "plausible endgame" and an "enduring peace". As WHO's chief spokesperson for the 53 countries that make up his regional responsibility, Kluge was no doubt seeking to strike an optimistic and encouraging note. But it is disappointing that he took such a narrow geographical perspective about a global pandemic.
(2022-02-12). Unite secures sell-out pay deal to end strikes at First Bus Manchester. wsws.org Speaking to the WSWS as they voted, workers said the pay increase was around 6 percent according to their calculations. This is a real-terms pay cut—with Unite citing the Retail Price Index measure of inflation which stands at 7.5 percent and rising.
(2022-02-12). [Comment] Accelerating Indigenous health and wellbeing: the Lancet Commission on Arctic and Northern Health. thelancet.com Arctic Indigenous communities and adjacent Indigenous peoples considered Northern or Circumpolar in distribution recognised the threat posed by COVID-19 to their communities. Despite inhabiting many of the world's most resourced countries, the health of Arctic Indigenous peoples lags behind their non-Indigenous counterparts across many indicators,1,2 and many communities remember the devastating consequences of the 1918—19 influenza pandemic on their communities.3 Swift action by Arctic Indigenous leaders limited COVID-19 cases in many communities, protecting their vulnerable groups from the worst outcomes…
(2022-02-12). [World Report] Burkina Faso crisis hits health care. thelancet.com A coup on Jan 24, 2022, further risks health and health-care provision. Munyaradzi Makoni reports.
(2022-02-12). Sri Lankan nurses defy court ban and remain on indefinite strike with other health workers. wsws.org The court ban on industrial action by health workers indicates that the Rajapakse government is moving into direct confrontation with the entire working class.
(2022-02-12). New Zealand joins diplomatic offensive against Russia amid escalating war build-up. wsws.org The Labour-led government, the foreign policy establishment and a layer of pseudo-lefts have lined up with the escalating imperialist operation against Russia.
(2022-02-12). °La solución a la desigualdad global es el socialismo! workers.org 
En todo el mundo, miles de millones de personas están sufriendo pérdidas increíbles como consecuencia de la incapacidad y la negativa del capitalismo a abordar seriamente la pandemia del COVID-19. Millones han perdido la vida o a sus seres queridos. Las familias se han quedado sin casa. Los trabajadores se . . . |
(2022-02-12). [Articles] Casirivimab and imdevimab in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial. thelancet.com In patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, the monoclonal antibody combination of casirivimab and imdevimab reduced 28-day mortality in patients who were seronegative (and therefore had not mounted their own humoral immune response) at baseline but not in those who were seropositive at baseline.
(2022-02-12). [Perspectives] More than truth or lies: staging Dr Semmelweis. thelancet.com Adapting the life of one of medicine's most radical pioneers would be a challenge for any theatre company, but director Tom Morris, writers Stephen Brown with Mark Rylance, and the cast of Dr Semmelweis balance historicity and creative interpretation. Although the play takes a biographical approach to Ignaz Semmelweis's story, it also highlights the difficulties of communicating new discoveries and implementing clinical reform.