(2022-02-19). Hedges: Democrats, the More Effective Evil. orinocotribune.com By Chris Hedges — Feb 14, 2022 | The US is a de facto one-party state where the ideology of national security is sacrosanct, unsustainable debt props up the empire and the primary business is war. | When all else fails, when you are clueless about how to halt a 7.5% inflation rate, when your Build Back Better bill is gutted, when you renege on your promise to raise the minimum wage or forgive student debt, when you can't halt the Republican suppression of voting rights, when you have no idea how to handle the pandemic which has claimed 900,000 lives — 16% of the world's total deaths although we are les…
(2022-02-19). Canada to arm Ukraine with lethal weapons as part of US-led war drive against Russia. wsws.org Even though recent shelling in eastern Ukraine was instigated by Ukrainian forces, Canada's foreign ministry asserted without any evidence that "Russian military activity" was "escalating" the situation in Donbas.
(2022-02-19). Biden threats over Ukraine roil markets. wsws.org There have been warnings of a "perfect storm" that could hit, resulting from a combination of rising geo-political conflicts and increased interest rates.
(2022-02-19). Macron announces withdrawal of French troops from Mali. wsws.org This withdrawal, driven by mounting popular opposition to French imperialism, comes amid the closely related NATO operations to provoke a war with Russia over Ukraine.
(2022-02-19). Germany increases military spending for war against Russia. wsws.org Germany is playing an increasingly provocative‚ÄÜrole in NATO's aggression against Russia which poses ever more clearly the threat of a third world war.
(2022-02-19). The dispute over the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. wsws.org As in the wars of the 20th century, control over strategic raw materials plays a significant role in the current confrontation with Russia.
(2022-02-19). "American soldiers in Denmark is a 'logical extension' of NATO cooperation," Says Denmark's Prime Minister. covertactionmagazine.com Part II of a CAM Exclusive on Historic U.S.-Danish Military-Intelligence Cooperation (See Part 1 here) We were awakened to the …
(2022-02-19). Over 1000 people already support #Palestine2022 campaign in France. samidoun.net 
In just a few weeks after its launch, the #Palestine2022 campaign, highlighting Palestine in the French presidential elections, has already received the support of more than 1000 people for its demands and its objectives. The campaign aims to denounce the collaboration of French governments with Israeli apartheid and introduce the subject of the Palestinian cause …
(2022-02-19). Virginia's Republican Governor signs law banning school mask mandates with bipartisan support. wsws.org Governor Glenn Youngkin has banned mask mandates even at the local level throughout the state.
(2022-02-19). Another meeting of Quad Foreign Ministers. journal-neo.org 
On February 11, Melbourne hosted the fourth meeting of foreign ministers of the countries participating in the Quad, which consists of the United States, Japan, India and Australia. Since the creation of this alliance in 2019, Washington (together with Tokyo and Canberra) attempted, firstly, to expand the scope of activity beyond the framework of an …
(2022-02-19). Indigenous Zapotecs Denounce Dispossession in Jalapa del Marqués, Oaxaca. itsgoingdown.org Communique from the Indigenous Zapotec community assembly of Jalapa del Marqués, Oaxaca, denouncing ongoing attempts of dispossession being carried out by local power holders aligned with the state. To the Zapatista Army of National Liberation To the National Indigenous Congress-Indigenous Governing Council To the Isthmus People To the Indigenous Peoples, Organizations, and Collectives of the…
(2022-02-19). Tapping Fortress Australia: Priti Patel's Border Force Review. dissidentvoice.org When in opposition, Alexander Downer, destined to become Australia's longest serving foreign minister in the conservative government of John Howard, was easy to savage. The Australian Labor Prime Minister Paul Keating was particularly keen to skewer an establishment individual prone to donning fishnet stockings and affecting a plummy disposition. Never, he suggested, had there been …
(2022-02-19). Colombia Wants Only 'Wealthy and Educated' Venezuelan Migrants. orinocotribune.com The Vice President of Colombia, Marta Lucía Ramírez, has complained about the "less wealthy and unskilled" Venezuelans who stay in Colombia as migrants. That group of vulnerable Venezuelans is at the center of the smear campaign and hybrid war against Venezuela, led by the US with its regional allied governments. | The Colombian vice president made the classist comment against migrants who are in a vulnerable economic situation or who do not have a considerably "high" academic level, during the regular session of the Permanent Council of the Organization of States Americans (OAS) this week. | "Colombia has not be…
(2022-02-19). Military Deserter and Partner of 'El Conejo' Admit to Receiving Training in Colombia. orinocotribune.com Two detainees Starlin Páez Mujica, a Venezuelan military deserter, and María Inés Reyes Silva, partner of the criminal Carlos Rodríguez aka El Conejo, have confessed that members of criminal organizations based in Las Tejerías, Aragua (Venezuela), were trained in Colombia. | This Thursday, February 17, two videos with testimonies of Páez and Reyes were released by Jorge Rodríguez, president of the Venezuelan Assembly (AN), Deputy Jorge Rodríguez. The two were recently captured during the Cacique Guaicaipuro II operation carried out by Venezuelan security agencies in Santos Michelena municipality near Las Tejerias…
(2022-02-19). [Editorial] Power and bullying in research. thelancet.com Eric Lander, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and science adviser to US President Joe Biden, resigned on Feb 7, after an internal review found that he had bullied staff members. The investigation was concluded weeks before but only came to light following reporting by Politico. This event is emblematic of research's failure to rein in workplace bullying and of a research culture that remains in thrall to big names and bigger egos.
(2022-02-19). US workers express solidarity with striking nurses in New South Wales, Australia. wsws.org Amelia, a nurse in Kentucky, said, "I am touched by the shared safety and human rights concerns amongst my fellow nurses. Bravo to the nurses who embody compassion in action and are refusing to enable a sick system!"
(2022-02-19). [World Report] UN sanctions hamper humanitarian work. thelancet.com Aid leaders have warned that unintended consequences of UN sanctions are a growing problem for humanitarian actors and have called for more proactive action. John Zarocostas reports from Geneva.
(2022-02-19). [World Report] Biden's science adviser resigns over bullying. thelancet.com Experts say that Eric Lander's resignation should not affect the President's plans to reboot the cancer moonshot project. Susan Jaffe reports.
(2022-02-19). California's "endemic plan" sets the stage for unending COVID-19 infections and deaths. wsws.org The propaganda campaign is driven not by science, but by the demands of the corporations and financial elite. The aim is to fabricate a narrative that COVID-19 is harmless, in order to maximize the production of profits under the guise of a "return to normalcy."
(2022-02-19). Victoria Nuland in Colombia: Is Washington plotting another coup? wsws.org In Bogota, Nuland warned against foreign subversion of upcoming elections, an area in which she has ample on-hand experience.
(2022-02-19). Hundreds gather to mourn Amir Locke, victim of Minneapolis police shooting. wsws.org Locke was shot by a SWAT team officer serving a "no knock" warrant he was not named in.
(2022-02-19). Using emergency powers, Canadian police move to end far-right Ottawa occupation. wsws.org The Emergencies Act gives the government sweeping powers of repression and the order-in-council that invoked them stated that the "public order emergency" applies to the entire country.
(2022-02-19). [Correspondence] Steroid use in non-pneumococcal and non-Haemophilus bacterial meningitis — Authors' reply. thelancet.com We thank Dominic Heining and Aiden Plant for their comments on our Seminar,1 whereby they raised the question on whether adjunctive dexamethasone therapy should be continued for 4 days in patients with community-acquired bacterial meningitis caused by pathogens other than Streptococcus pneumoniae.
(2022-02-19). Ethical Considerations and Experimental Vaccines. dissidentvoice.org 
(2022-02-19). COVID-19 disaster intensifies across the Pacific. wsws.org COVID-19 numbers are escalating as Pacific island governments adopt the "living with the virus" policies put forward by capitalist elites globally.
(2022-02-19). [Comment] Offline: A lie at the heart of public health. thelancet.com The John Snow Society describes their illustrious namesake as "the pioneer of epidemiological method". His identification of the source of cholera in Soho, London, and the removal of the handle of a water pump in Broad Street in 1854 is celebrated annually with the Pumphandle Lecture. The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine named a lecture theatre after Snow. Indeed, the epidemiology community has deified Snow as a founding father of public health. But, as Jim Downs argues in his searching reappraisal of the origins of epidemiology, Maladies of Empire, western epidemiologists have invented a comforting…
(2022-02-19). UK government spent billions on substandard PPE, as private sector made a killing. wsws.org The first priority of the Tories was to seize on the PPE shortage to enrich their cronies. Of every £13 spent on PPE, £10 was wasted.
(2022-02-19). Crisis-wracked Australian government ramps up war drumbeating. wsws.org This fortnight's dysfunctional parliamentary session saw Prime Minister Scott Morrison virtually accuse Labor Party leaders of being treasonous agents of China.
(2022-02-19). Organize a counteroffensive against Hi Viz and the anti-strike injunction! Join the BNSF Workers Rank-and-File Committee! wsws.org "Our committee will strive to organize and unite workers across every terminal in the BNSF system, from Alabama to California, so that workers ourselves can develop a common strategy and plan joint actions."
(2022-02-19). Turkish ship-breaking workers stop working amid a wildcat strike wave. wsws.org The non-union workers have elected their own representatives and stated that they will continue striking until their demands are met.
(2022-02-19). [Clinical Picture] Hearing but not understanding: word deafness from a brainstem lesion. thelancet.com A 57-year-old native English-speaking man attended our department with a 5-week history of progressively becoming unable to understand words—despite hearing them. Much to his distress, he also reported hearing a constant noise which he said sounded "like trucks".
(2022-02-19). [Correspondence] Steroid use in non-pneumococcal and non-Haemophilus bacterial meningitis. thelancet.com We thank Diederik van de Beek and colleagues1 for their Seminar on the management of bacterial meningitis, but would like to question their statement that "dexamethasone should be continued for 4 days in all patients, except in those with L[isteria] monocytogenes". Although the authors outlined the evidence for improved outcomes in patients with pneumococcal meningitis and poor outcomes in patients with neurolisteriosis, insufficient evidence was presented to support dexamethasone use in other forms of meningitis, such as meningococcal.
(2022-02-19). Minneapolis, St. Paul teachers vote to authorize strike. wsws.org Teachers in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, have voted to authorize a strike, part of growing opposition among teachers and workers in the US to inequality and deadly pandemic conditions.
(2022-02-19). [Perspectives] Samuel K Roberts: illuminating history, racial bias, and public health. thelancet.com In 2009, Samuel Kelton Roberts, Jr's first book, Infectious Fear: Politics, Disease, and the Health Effects of Segregation, was published. "The book itself is about how racialism is baked into the kernel of modern public health practice here in the USA. Some of the most foundational moments in public health sit adjacent to or are ones that play a role in our history of race and racialisation. Even the way we collected data in the 19th and early 20th century was not just racially biased, but often racialised in their methods.
(2022-02-19). Deadly BA.2 subvariant of Omicron spreading in more than 74 countries. wsws.org As the BA.2 subvariant of Omicron accounts for a growing proportion of new cases globally, recent evidence points to its increased infectivity, higher virulence and greater immune-evading capacity.
(2022-02-19). UK teacher Kathleen Munro speaks of "devastating" effects of Long COVID. wsws.org In her testimony to the Global Workers Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic, Kathleen bears witness to the devastating effects of Long COVID on her own health and livelihood, and that of her 13-year-old niece, Ellie, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 on her first day at school last September.
(2022-02-19). South Korean logistics workers strike against brutal conditions. wsws.org Package delivery workers are struggling not only against the companies, but are confronted with the complicity of the trade unions in enforcing the demands of big business.
(2022-02-19). British government appoints Australian immigration "offshoring" pioneer Alexander Downer to oversee its "pushback" policy. wsws.org Downer negotiated Australia's barbaric "Pacific Solution", detaining refugees on Nauru and Manus Island. He will carry out a review of the UK's Border Force.
(2022-02-19). Strikes, protests engulf Haitian capital as workers demand higher wages, better conditions. wsws.org The strikes are an indication of growing working class opposition to the regime headed by Prime Minister Henry and backed by US corporations.
(2022-02-19). [World Report] Medical aid returns to Tigray. thelancet.com Shipments of medical supplies have been delivered to Tigray—the first in months—but WHO says it will not be enough to restock the severely depleted health system. Sharmila Devi reports.
(2022-02-19). [World Report] Research Focus: the Arc Institute. thelancet.com A new research institute promises to free scientists from the pressures of grant applications. Talha Burki reports.
(2022-02-19). [Perspectives] A public health manifesto. thelancet.com The way that societies divide and manage our resources and treat our planet is not working. This failure is the starting point of a number of books that have been published during the COVID-19 pandemic, including GO BIG: 20 Bold Solutions to Fix Our World by Ed Miliband. This book, partly based on Miliband and Geoff Lloyd's podcast Reasons to Be Cheerful, identifies what is wrong with our political and multilateral systems and sets out solutions to fix our world. "In saying we need to 'go big' I am advocating not just the consideration of ideas that promise significant change but for politics to rediscover its se…
(2022-02-18). Shelling in Donbass brings Europe to brink of war. wsws.org Heavy artillery shelling reported in East Ukraine's Donbass region is the most significant military escalation of the conflict between the US-funded Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatists since at least last spring.
(2022-02-18). Lavrov: Russia 'Alarmed' by Escalation of Shelling, Use of Arms Banned by Minsk Accords in Donbass. sputniknews.com The region was thrust into a civil war in the spring of 2014, in the aftermath of a US and EU-backed coup in Kiev.
(2022-02-18). Lugansk Suburbs Shelled in Ukrainian Military Attacks Overnight, Self-Proclaimed Republic Says. sputniknews.com Ukrainian security forces fired again at the territory of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic, opening fire in the suburbs of Lugansk, the LPR mission to the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination of the Ceasefire Regime (JCCC) said.
(2022-02-18). Breakaway Ukrainian region orders evacuation. rt.com 
(2022-02-18). Ukraine's security council chief sees no threat of Russian attack. tass.com Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council Secretary Alexey Danilov said Kiev is registering "provocations by Russia in Donbass"
(2022-02-18). Lavrov labels Western 'Russia invasion' claims 'propaganda, fakes and fiction'. rt.com 
"If they enjoy it, let them," the foreign minister told RT regarding claims from officials and media | Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has lashed out at Western officials who have been peddling the purported threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Apparently, they do it for the sheer pleasure of accusing Moscow, he told RT in an exclusive interview on Friday. | "I am certain that even casual observers of foreign policy have long confirmed to themselves that all of it is propaganda, fake news, fiction," Lavrov said of the accusations. | He suggested that Western officials making such claims simply like…
(2022-02-18). UN received Russian documents about crimes in Donbass. tass.com The Russian Investigative Committee earlier said it had launched a criminal case into the discovery of mass graves of Donbass civilians killed in shelling…
(2022-02-18). Putin to take part in nuclear war drills. rt.com 
The strategic weapons exercises are scheduled to take place on Saturday | Russian President Vladimir Putin will take direct command of scheduled ballistic missile training on Saturday, which will see the country's military test its nuclear capabilities, Moscow has confirmed. | Officials released a statement on Friday, writing, "on February 19, under the supervision of the supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, a planned exercise of the forces of strategic deterrence will take place, during which ballistic and cruise missiles will be launched." | The statement goes…