This is an archived newsroll page on A Socialist In Canada, consisting of headlines and weblinks, with occasional news summary and brief analysis, for the indicated month(s) and year. See the current, ‘World news’ website page here. To find past stories on this and other news pages on this website, use the ‘find’ (word search) function on your web browser. Headlines in red denote items published on the main news page of A Socialist In Canada, mostly authored by Roger Annis.
World news headlines on A Socialist In Canada, October 2020
England to enter one-month lockdown as PM does about face and virus cases pass one million mark, Associated Press, Oct 31, 2020 …Under the new restrictions, bars and restaurants can only offer take-out, non-essential shops must close and people will only be able to leave home for a short list of reasons including exercise. Activities ranging from haircuts to foreign holidays must once again be put on hold. Unlike during the U.K.’s first three-month lockdown earlier this year, schools, universities, construction sites and manufacturing businesses will stay open…
[Britain has become the ninth country to surpass one million total Covid-19 cases. Of those, four are members of the NATO military alliance–U.S., France, Spain and Britain. Britain’s per-capita case rate is one-half that of the U.S., at 15,000 per million population, while its death rate is nearly equal to the U.S. at 685 per million. ].
Related:
* COVID-19 situation update for the EU/EEA and the UK, as of 1 November 2020, by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and from Worldometer: New Covid-19 cases in selected European countries, on Saturday, October 31: France 35,641, Italy 31,758 (record), Spain 25,595 (record), Britain 21,915, Poland 21,897 (record), Belgium 20,056, Russia 18,140 (record), Germany 14,070, Czech Republic 11,429, Netherlands 9,804, Switzerland 9,207, Ukraine 8,752 (record)
* Germany to impose one-month partial lockdown, Deutsche Welle, Oct 28, 2020
* French gov’t decrees new, one-month lockdown as virus deaths mount, AP News, Oct 28, 2020 Deaths from Covid-19 are averaging 250 per day, the highest numbers since mid-May. Daily new case numbers have been rising steeply since early September, fluctuating above and below 40,000, often setting new record-highs.
* Russia deploys army medics as daily COVID-19 death toll hits record high, Reuters, Oct 28, 2020 read also: Russia reinstates mask mandate, restricts nightlife to stop virus spread, Moscow Times, Oct 27, 2020 and: Russia’s second wave [sic] of Covid-19 is catching the regions off guard, Moscow Times, Oct 27, 2020 [The Moscow Times is a pro-Western newspaper published weekly in Moscow in English. Russia has suffered record Covid-19 numbers on Oct 28–17,717 new cases and 366 deaths.].
* Schools stay open in Europe’s new lockdowns, a reversal from last spring, New York Times, Oct 29, 2020 Europe’s latest wave of restrictions to stop the spread of coronavirus have largely avoided closing schools. We take a look at why and how they are being kept open.
Background: Europe is locking down again, virtually guaranteeing a new recession. It didn’t have to be this way, by Eric Reguly, European bureau chief, Globe and Mail, Oct 19, 2020 read the article here in pdf format: Europe is locking down again …The biggest mistake was not devoting more resources to building robust testing-and-tracing systems throughout Europe. Andrea Crisanti, the University of Padua microbiologist who was among the first scientists to discover that about 40 per cent of COVID-19 cases are asymptomatic, has been urging Italian and European governments for months to get in the game on testing and tracing, largely to no avail. The exception was Germany, where the case load is still relatively low (though rising); it has done a credible job in setting up a vast and co-ordinated network of public and private labs…
U.S. records 99,000 COVID-19 cases, setting new world mark for a single-day increase, TEGNA television network, Oct 31, 2020 [According to Worldometer, the number of new Covid-19 cases in the U.S. on October 30 is 101,461. The New York Times reports that 16 U.S. states reported single-day records for new cases on October 30: Iowa, Kentucky, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Montana, Illinois, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Oregon, Kansas, Ohio, Colorado and Maine. Three states hit record deaths on the same date: Tennessee, Montana and New Mexico.]
Trump didn’t build his border wall with steel, he built it out of paper, analysis in Washington Post, Oct 30, 2020 …Without ever signing a single immigration law or completing his famous wall, Trump has cut the flow of foreigners into the U.S. by executive fiat. This fiscal year, the United States is on track to admit half the number of legal immigrants it did in 2016, bringing levels of legal immigration down to what they were in 1987…
Related: How Trump learned to embrace the executive order, which he once called an ‘easy way out’, Washington Post, Oct 30, 2020
Armenia-Azerbaijan fighting nears critical town of Shushi, situated on heights overlooking the capital Stepanakert of Nagorno-Karabakh, by Joshua Kucera, Eurasia.net, Oct 30, 2020
Related: Russia to ‘assist’ Armenia if conflict with Azerbaijan spreads beyond Nagorno-Karabakh, Deutsche Welle, Aug 31, 2020
Previously reported:
Small outpost is Russia’s first visible aid to Armenia, Eurasia.net, Oct 28, 2020 The Russian base is small, but would act as a tripwire deterring Azerbaijan from expanding its offensive into Armenian territory.
Previously reported:
* Russia knocking Turkish drones from Armenian skies, Asia Times, Oct 26, 2020 Moscow has unleashed its ‘Belladonna’ drone killer system in Armenia to counter Azerbaijan’s use of Turkish-made Bayraktar armed drones
* Turkish arms sales to Azerbaijan surged before Nagorno-Karabakh fighting, Reuters, Oct 15, 2020 Turkey’s military exports to its ally Azerbaijan have risen six-fold this year, with sales of drones and other military equipment rising to $77 million last month alone before fighting broke out over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, according to exports data…
Tens of thousands hold new protest in Warsaw against the country’s ban on abortion services, Associated Press, Oct 30, 2020 Days of protests in Poland have been triggered by a ruling by Poland’s constitutional court on October 22 that abortion in cases of severe fetal deformities was unconstitutional. The ruling further restricts what was already one of Europe’s more restrictive abortion laws.
Previously reported: National strike in Poland as protests expand against draconian court decision outlawing abortion, Associated Press, Oct 28, 2020 People across Poland stayed off their jobs and huge crowds poured onto the streets for a seventh straight day of protests on October 28, enraged over a top court ruling that bans abortions in cases of fetal abnormalities. Tens of thousands of people gathered in protests across the country, opposing not only the abortion ruling but also other restrictions on their freedoms under the right-wing governing party… [Poland is key member of the NATO military alliance, serving as a willing military platform for the threats by Western governments against the Russian government and people.]
Glenn Greenwald explains his resignation from The Intercept, by Matt Taibbi, published in Substack, Oct 29, 2020 (Substack is an online news outlet recently founded by Matt Taibbi.)
Related: Journalist Aaron Maté discusses Glenn Greenwald’s resignation from The Intercept, interview on The Jimmy Dore Show, Oct 31, 2020 (45-minute interview)
State and local leaders in U.S. order new restrictions amid autumn coronavirus surge Washington Post, Oct 28, 2020 …One forecast published on October 28 by modelers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia warned that the virus is spreading at exponential rates across at least half of the states and that only Hawaii will not see a rise in hospitalizations during the next four weeks… “The reality is that states and cities have been left to fend for themselves,” Denver mayor Michael Hancock said in an interview. “If you don’t have a national standard, what you have is a piecemeal approach, and you have absolutely no way of really containing the spread of this virus because people are not going to remain static. They’re going to move.” …
Related:
* Grave missteps seen in U.S. virus response, Associated Press, Oct 29, 2020
* As the coronavirus surges, it is reaching into the last untouched areas of the U.S., Washington Post, Oct 28, 2020
* As pandemic raged and thousands died, U.S. gov’t regulators cleared most nursing homes of infection-control violations, Washington Post, Oct 29, 2020 Despite promises of ‘aggressive enforcement,’ over 40,000 residents died in homes that had received a clean bill of health from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
* Record Covid-19 cases recorded in U.S. for Oct 29. [As the November 3 election closes in and Donald Trump bizarrely claims the U.S. is “rounding the corner” on the pandemic, the country has recorded a new, record-high number of new Covid-19 cases: a blistering 91,530, on Oct 29. There were 1,047 Covid deaths on the same date. Worldometer].
* It may be time to reset expectations on when we’ll get a Covid-19 vaccine, STAT News, Oct 29, 2020 …It is important to note that, to date, none of the vaccines being developed for the U.S. market has been proven to be effective in preventing Covid-19 disease. Early stage clinical trials have shown what appear to be promising signals; multiple vaccines have triggered production of important antibodies in people who have been immunized. But data generated in a few hundred people aren’t enough to determine whether a vaccine will actually fend off illness. That answer comes from large, Phase 3 trials, five of which are now underway in the United States…
Documentary film ‘The Curve’ examines America’s first 90 days dealing with COVID-19, film review by Chris Knight, Oct 30, 2020 The Curve can be streamed for free until the end of Nov. 3 at thecurvedoc.com/watch.
And view: America’s pandemic, three-part film documentary by the Washington Post, issued on Oct 27, 2020 (total of 67 minutes)
India’s coronavirus cases cross eight million, Associated Press, Oct 29, 2020 [In this report, AP claims that “India’s trajectory is moving toward the worst-hit country, the United States, which has over 8.8 million cases.” Not so, The U.S. reported nearly 42,000 more cases than India on October 29 and has been reporting higher daily numbers than India for the past two weeks. The worst is yet to come in the U.S. Total case numbers for the two countries as of October 29 are 9,216,316 and 8,089,593, respectively. Worldometer].
Related: India’s downward trend in new cases continues, Associated Press, Oct 30, 2020 India has reported 48,648 new coronavirus cases, continuing a downward trend in infections even as the country’s caseload has crossed 8 million and is only behind the U.S. The Health Ministry also reported 563 new fatalities in the past 24 hours, raising the overall death toll to 121,090 on October 30…
Historic New Zealand election challenges unions to press the re-elected government for progressive changes to social and environmental policies, by Ian Hoffmann and Justine Sachs, published in Labour Notes, Oct 28, 2020
Related:
* Jacinda Ardern and Labour secure historic landslide win in NZ election, by Justin Giovannetti, political editor, The Spinoff, Oct 17, 2020 …Labour’s biggest problem was its lack of delivery over the past three years. In town halls and debates, Labour’s record in failing to control house prices, reduce child poverty and increase mass transit in Auckland was brought up by opponents but didn’t seem to sway voters…
* Following a landslide election victory, the job for re-elected New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern will only get harder, by Yasmeen Serhan, The Atlantic [conservative U.S. print monthly], Oct 17, 2020 …When Ardern was first elected in 2017, she pledged to reduce child poverty, build more public housing, and tackle income and wealth inequality. Yet there has been “no significant change” in the number of children living in material hardship, according to the government’s latest figures; its target of building 100,000 affordable homes over the next decade was scrapped as “overly ambitious”; and income inequality, which remains endemic in the country, is poised to be entrenched further as a result of the pandemic…
* In election day referendum, New Zealanders vote in favour of assisted dying, against legalization of marijuana, Associated Press, Oct 30, 2020
* The defeat of the cannabis legalisation referendum is a defeat for health and justice and a victory for political spinelessness, by Madeleine holden, The Spinoff, Oct 30, 2020
Judge sides with Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou on some claims but declines to dismiss U.S. extradition case, Reuters, Oct 28, 2020
Previously reported:
* Five-day court hearing opens in Vancouver into the legality of Canada’s arrest and detention of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, Reuters, Oct 26, 2020 …This week’s hearings will focus on abuse of process committed by Canadian and U.S. authorities during her December 2018 arrest at Vancouver International Airport, as alleged by her lawyers… Calling live witnesses in an extradition case is “very, very unusual,” said Leo Adler, a Toronto-based extradition lawyer, particularly if both sides will be able to cross-examine. Adler is not involved with the case…
* Canadian gov’t lawyers and RCMP falsified information before a judge in order to obtain arrest warrant for Meng Wanzhou, court hears, Vancouver Sun, Oct 27, 2020 read also: report by CBC News, Oct 27, 2020
Green Party of Canada took brave stance in July in calling for end to extradition process against Meng Wanzhou, but its statement pushes imperialist narratives about China, by David Rennie and Ken Stone, published in The Canada Files, Oct 29, 2020
Bolivia’s former foreign minister under Evo Morales calls for investigatation of Organization of American States for fraud over 2019 coup, interview with Diego Pary, by Ben Norton and Anya Parampil, published in The Grayzone, Oct 27, 2020 Diego Pary Rodríguez is calling for an investigation into the OAS for election oversight fraud in Bolivia and backing the 2019 coup, rejects the West’s wannabe coup president in Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, and expresses solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Journalists and whistleblower at Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons smeared with false letter, farcical claims by NATO-funded ‘Bellingcat’ website, by Aaron Maté, The Grayzone, Oct 28, 2020 ‘Bellingcat’ claimed to have uncovered a letter disproving OPCW inspectors and journalists who have challenged the censorship and cover-up by OPCW officials of a Syria chemical weapons probe by its own inspectors. But in one of many falsehoods, the ‘letter’ was a draft that was never sent, which only further exposes the cover-up.
Scientists warn that Americans are expecting too much from a vaccine, by Liz Szabo and JoNel Aleccia, Kaiser Health News, Oct 28, 2020
Related:
* Vaccinating Germany could take until 2022, says the country’s chief virologist, Deutche Welle, Oct 29, 2020
* When it comes to COVID-19 vaccines, how good will be good enough?, by Sharon Kirkey, National Post (conservative daily in Canada), Oct 28, 2020 Despite the cheering on of the groups in the vaccine race, it’s not a sure thing that the vaccines reaching phase III trials are going to deliver us back to normal
* Coronavirus antibodies decline after infection, study finds, raising questions about ‘herd immunity’, CNBC, Oct 26, 2020 Antibodies against the coronavirus fell as people recovered from Covid-19, according to the findings of a major U.K. study, potentially dealing a blow to those pushing for so-called herd immunity…
How Trump regime in U.S. and Bolsonaro-led gov’t in Brazil conspired to break Latin America’s Covid-19 defenses, New York Times, Oct 26, 2020 The two presidents drove out 10,000 Cuban doctors and nurses. They defunded the region’s leading health agency. They wrongly pushed hydroxychloroquine as a cure.
With eyes on China, India and U.S. sign accord to deepen military ties, Washington Post, Oct 27, 2020 …Sales of military equipment by the United States to India have now touched $20 billion. Last year, the two countries conducted joint military exercises involving all three branches of their respective armed forces for the first time…
Related:
* How a key Pentagon official has turned China policy over to arms industry and Taiwan supporters, by Gareth Porter, published in The Grayzone, Oct 27, 2020
* The Chinese province of Xinjiang: Canada smears China while ignoring terrorism in the region, by Jooneed Khan and William Ging Wee Dere, The Canada Files, Oct 28, 2020
Leftists who advocate voting for Joe Biden: Whatever happened to left solidarity?, commentary by Howie Hawkins, presidential candidate of the Green Party US, published in CounterPunch, Oct 26, 2020
Related: Interview with Howie Hawkins, presidential candidate of the Green Party US, broadcast on C-Span, Oct 24, 2020 (one-hour interview)
Celebrations in Chile as referendum shows overwhelming vote in favour of replacing Pinochet-era constitution, Deutsche Welle, Oct 26, 2020
Related:
* In stunning displays of popular will, protests in Bolivia and Chile force public reckoning of ‘Chicago Boys’ economics, by Alan MacLeod, Mint Press News, Oct 27, 2020
* What are Chileans voting for in Sunday’s historic constitutional plebiscite?, by Tanya Wadhwa, People’s Dispatch, Oct 24, 2020
* Protests against greed and inequality are spreading like wildfire through Latin America, by Alan MacLeod, Mint Press News, Oct 21, 2020 With attention fixed on this week’s events in Bolivia, you would be excused for not realizing that much of the rest of the region has for weeks also been ablaze in the flames of protest…
White House signals surrender in pandemic fight as top advisers to ‘coronavirus task force’ coordinator Mike Pence become infected with Covid-19 and business carries on. Report in Washington Post, Oct 24, 2020
Related:
* At least five of Vice President Mike Pence’s aides test positive for coronavirus, CNN, Oct 24, 2020 Mike Pence is coordinator of the White House ‘coronavirus task force’. It’s business as ususal for his election campaign schedule though at least five of his top aides have tested positive for Covid-19.
* U.S. reports second highest day of new Covid-19 cases on Oct 24, one day after breaking the all-time record, CNN, Sunday, Oct 25, 2020 As the fall surge continues, the United States has reported its second-highest day of new COVID-19 cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Saturday saw 83,718 new cases, just 39 cases shy of the all-time record that was reported Friday…
* Full hospitals, talk of rationing care: New wave of coronavirus cases strains resources across the U.S., Washington Post, Oct 24, 2020
* Trump campaign flouted agreement to follow health guidelines at Sep 30 election rally in Duluth, Minnesota, documents show, Washington Post, Oct 24, 2020 …Minnesota public health officials have traced 19 coronavirus cases to a pair of Trump rallies held in the state in September, three of them to the Sep 30 event in Duluth… In the early months of the pandemic, Trump refrained from holding large gatherings. That changed in June, when he held an indoor rally in Tulsa against the advice of local public health officials. With the coronavirus raging, Trump has now resumed daily campaign rallies. As of Sunday, he had held 19 events in the previous 13 days, often defying limits on crowd size and requirements for social distancing — and sometimes mocking those rules
Speech by Vladimir Putin to the annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, followed by question and answer session, transcript published on the website of the President of Russia, Oct 22, 2020 …The subject of environmental protection has long become a fixture on the global agenda. But I would address it more broadly to discuss also an important task of abandoning the practice of unrestrained and unlimited consumption – overconsumption – in favour of judicious and reasonable sufficiency, when you do not live just for today but also think about tomorrow…
2017 UN treaty banning nuclear weapons to enter into force after 50th member country ratifies, Associated Press, Oct 24, 2020 …The 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) was approved by the 193-member U.N. General Assembly on July 7, 2017 by a vote of 122 in favor, the Netherlands opposed, and Singapore abstaining. The five nuclear powers and four other countries known or believed to possess nuclear weapons — India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel — boycotted negotiations and the vote on the treaty…
[Also boycotting the treaty approval process were the key non-nuclear allies and lapdogs of the United States, including Canada, Australia and Japan(!). The voting record is here: Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, Wikipedia. The countries that have signed and ratified the TPNW (not to be confused with the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons) include Bolivia, Cuba, New Zealand, Mexico, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Vietnam. Among European countries, only Austria and Ireland have ratified.].
Related:
* Effective Jan 1, 2021, nuclear weapons will be illegal after 50th country ratifies the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, by Dave Lindorff, published on This Can’t Be Happening!, Oct 26, 2020
* Difference between the 1968 ‘Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons’ and 2017 ‘Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons’, published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), March 2019 …The 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) was negotiated with the purpose of strengthening the largely unimplemented disarmament pillar of the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). While the NPT reflected the need to prioritise non-proliferation over the long-term goal of disarmament, the TPNW represents the view that—half a century after the adoption of the NPT—progress on disarmament is long overdue…
A People’s Guide to Capitalism: An Introduction to Marxist Economics, by Hadas Thier. Book review by Michael Roberts (Marxist economist in Britain), published on his website, Oct 25, 2020
The coronavirus surge in the U.S. that will define the next four years, by Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic (conservative monthly print magazine), Oct 22, 2020 Cases are rising in all but nine states. Unlike the past two waves, this one has no epicenter
Related: U.S. hits highest daily number of coronavirus cases since pandemic began, Washington Post, Oct 23, 2020 The U.S. has set a one-day record of new Covid-19 cases on October 23 with at least 82,600 new cases recorded
How Trump abandoned his pledge to ‘drain the swamp’ in Washington DC, Washington Post, Oct 24, 2020 During his four years in office, Trump has taken few steps to clean up Washington. He has instead presided over a norm-shattering expansion of private interests in government.
No, China didn’t ‘stall’ critical Covid information at start of pandemic, by Joshua Cho, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR.org), Oct 14, 2020
Interview with journalist Aaron Maté: On Russiagate; false accusations against Syria of chemical weapons usage; and the U.S. election, interview broadcast on RT‘s ‘ICMYI’ program, with host Polly Boiko, Oct 23, 2020 (67-minute interview)
Related:
* Magic ‘novichok’ chemical poison in the hands of the UK media and security services, by Craig Murray, published on his website, Oct 23, 2020
* The damage Russiagate has done, by Patrick Lawrence, Consortium News, Oct 19, 2020
* Putin most likely directing election interference to aid Trump, CIA says, New York Times, Oct 22, 2020. [This article is but one recent example of how the ‘Russiagate’ conspiracy infection continues to self-replicate in the pages of the likes of the New York Times and Washington Post. Note the unquestioned reliance of NYT editors on claims made by the notorious CIA. This is a small example of where the ‘Russiagate’ virus leads as it infects its hosts–Western governments and media. What’s more, the virus has mutated into an anti-China variant, also become become firmly entrenched. Altogether, the political pathogen is known as imperialism’s ‘new cold war’.]
A thorough debunking of Covid-19 contrarianism, by Jennifer Handsel, published in Current Affairs, Oct 21, 2020 Data scientist Jennifer Handsel deconstructs the truth and the myths of COVID-19
Related:
* Debunking the false claim that COVID death counts are inflated, by Christie Aschwanden, Scientific American, Oct 20, 2020 President Trump, a congressman and conspiracy fantasists have repeated the myth that the number of deaths in the U.S. from Covid-19 are inaccurate and exaggerated. But three sets of evidence point to more than 218,000 U.S. deaths.
* Post-acute Covid-19 (‘Long Covid’), published by Swiss Policy Research on Aug 25, 2020 and updated on Oct 24, 2020 Approximately ten per cent of people with symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection report persistent or recurring covid symptoms for several weeks or months… (Update: The latest British long covid study, with more than 4000 PCR-confirmed participants, found that most people fully recovered within 12 days, about 15 per cent had symptoms for at least four weeks, about five per cent had symptoms for at least eight weeks, and about two per cent had symptoms for at least 12 weeks.)
* One in 20 people likely to suffer from ‘Long COVID’; who are they?, published by the Long Covid Study (UK), Oct 21, 2020
Russia grants permanent residency to U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden, Associated Press, Oct 22, 2020
Virus surges with a vengeance across the United States, New York Times, Oct 20, 2020 After weeks of warnings that cases were again on the rise, a third surge of coronavirus infection has firmly taken hold in the United States. The nation is averaging 59,000 new cases a day, the most since the beginning of August, and the country is on pace to record the most new daily cases of the entire pandemic in the coming days. But if earlier surges were defined by acute and concentrated outbreaks — in the Northeast this spring, and in the South during the summer — the virus is now simmering at a worrisome level across nearly the entire country…
Related U.S. news:
* America and the virus: ‘A colossal failure of leadership’, by Nicolas Kristoff, editorial writer and columnist, New York Times, Oct 21, 2020 One of the most lethal leadership failures in modern times unfolded in South Africa in the early 2000s as the AIDS epidemic spread there. Then-President Thabo Mbeki scorned science, embraced conspiracy theories, dithered as the disease spread and rejected lifesaving treatments. His denialism cost about 330,000 lives, a Harvard study found. None of us who wrote scathingly about that debacle ever dreamed that something similar might unfold in the United States. But today, health experts regularly cite President Trump as an American Mbeki…
* The worst virus outbreaks in the U.S. are now in rural areas, New York Times, Oct 22, 2020
* Amid pandemic, U.S. has seen 300,000 excess deaths, with highest rates among people of color, STAT health news, Oct 20, 2020 read also: report in Washington Post, Oct 20, 2020
* Distrust, infighting and lethargy inside the White House task force as coronavirus surges, Washington Post, Oct 19, 2020
* Trump attacks ‘Fauci and all these idiots,’ says public is tired of pandemic, public health restrictions as infection rates rise, Washington Post, Oct 19, 2020
Study finds no crime increase in U.S. cities that adopted ‘sanctuary’ policies, despite Trump claims, Washington Post, Oct 21, 2020
Top court in NATO-member Poland further restricts right of women to abortion service. Report in Deutsche Welle, Oct 22, 2020
Covid-19 vaccine update: Which are the frontrunners?, Deutsche Welle, Oct 21, 2020
Related:
* Waiting in the U.S. for a vaccine and the collaborative research alternative, by Dean Baker, published on his blog Beat the Press, Oct 16, 2020 (Dean Baker is the senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, in Washington, DC.)
* China is rapidly expanding use of experimental COVID-19 vaccines, Associated Press, Oct 16, 2020
Experts forcefully push back on ‘Barrington Declaration’ advocating relaxing Covid-19 protections in the name of ‘herd immunity’, Infection Control Today, Oct 20, 2020 The John Snow Memorandum was written by 80 international researchers and published in The Lancet this week. It warns that a herd immunity approach to managing COVID-19 is “a dangerous fallacy unsupported by the scientific evidence.”
Bolivia’s Movement Toward Socialism party wins outright majority in Oct 18 election, a massive repudiation of Western-backed coup in October 2019 that ousted then-president Evo Morales, by William Camacaro, in Caracas, published by the Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA), Oct 19, 2020 [In Bolivia’s national election on October 18, the ‘Movement Toward Socialism’ (MAS) party slate was headed by Luis Arce for president and David Choquehuanca for vice-president. The initial count shows 52.4% of the popular vote for MAS, followed by ex-president Carlos Mesa with 31.5% and 14.1% for Fernando Camacho. The latter led the violent street protests in autumn 2019 that culminated in President Evo Morales resigning and fleeing the country in order to stave off a bloodbath by the right-wing forces. The MAS will have a majority in Bolivia’s senate and legislature, although not the two-thirds majority it enjoyed during the three terms of Morales (first elected in 2006). The MAS won in five of Bolivia’s nine departments.].
Related:
* After socialist victory in Bolivia, Western media still whitewash the 2019 coup that drove Evo Morales from power, by Bryce Greene, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR.org), Oct 23, 2020
* Canada’s support for Bolivian coup regime was part of its century-long imperialist bent in Latin America, by Tyler Shipley, The Canada Files, Oct 23, 2020 Election results from Bolivia reflected an overwhelming victory for the MÁS party, a deeply embarrassing outcome for Canada’s Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland, whose government aggressively supported a coup against MÁS a year ago on the premise that it was an unpopular dictatorship…
The end of U.S. ‘engagement’ with the People’s Republic of China, written and published by the Qiao Collective, Oct 14, 2020
Related:
* Can Australia dump China amid trade tensions?, Deutsche Welle, Oct 19, 2020
* India, Covid-19, the United States, and China, by Research Unit for Political Economy (Mumbai, India), in Monthly Review, Sep 1, 2020
White House rejects Russian call to extend ‘New START’ nuclear arms control treaty, RT, Oct 16, 2020 New START is the last remaining arms control treaty between the U.S. and Russia. A failure to prolong it will leave the world ‘without any instruments to curb an arms race’, the Russian president told the nation’s security council earlier on October 16.
Related: Putin proposes that Russia and U.S. extend New START arms control treaty for one year, Reuters, Oct 15, 2020 Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed today that Russia and the United States extend their New START arms control treaty that expires in February for at least a year without imposing any conditions. The New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) accord, signed in 2010, limits the numbers of strategic nuclear warheads, missiles and bombers that Russia and the United States can deploy…
Danger in the South China Sea, by Ann Wright, Consortium News, Oct 16, 2020 Over the past two years, the United States has dramatically increased the number of U.S. Navy aircraft carriers and destroyers sent into the South China Sea as freedom-of-navigation show-of- force missions to remind the Chinese government that the U.S. considers the Western Pacific and the South China Sea as a part of the oceans of America and its allies…
Previously reported:
* U.S. advances three arms sales packages to Taiwan, Defense News, Oct 12, 2020
* White House advances drone and missile sales to Taiwan, Reuters, Oct 13, 2020
* White House moves forward on three arms sales to Taiwan, Reuters, Oct 12, 2020
* U.S. pushing arms sales surge to Taiwan, provoking China, Reuters, Sept 16, 2020 The United States plans to sell as many as seven major weapons systems, including mines, cruise missiles and drones to Taiwan, four people familiar with the discussions said, as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on China. Pursuing seven sales at once is a rare departure from years of precedent in which U.S. military sales to the island were spaced out and carefully calibrated to minimize tensions with Beijing. But the Trump administration has become more aggressive with China in 2020 and the sales would land as relations between Beijing and Washington are at their lowest point in decades…
U.S. tops 60,000 daily coronavirus infections for first time since early August, Washington Post, Oct 15, 2020
Related:
* U.S. virus cases climb toward a third peak, New York Times, Oct 14, 2020 The number of new coronavirus cases in the United States is surging once again after growth slowed in late summer. While the geography of the pandemic is now shifting to the Midwest and to more rural areas, cases are trending upward in most states, many of which are setting weekly records for new cases…
* Eight million have slipped into poverty since May in the U.S. as federal aid has dried up, report two new studies, New York Times, Oct 14, 2020 …The recent rise in poverty has occurred despite an improving job market, an indication that the economy has been rebounding too slowly to offset the lost benefits. The Democratic-majority House has twice passed multi-trillion dollar packages to provide more help and to stimulate the economy, but members of a divided Republican-majority Senate have proposed smaller plans. President Trump has alternately demanded that Congress “go big” before the elections and canceled negotiations. The original Cares Act [enacted on March 27, Wikipedia] included one-time payments for most households — $1,200 per adult and $500 per child — and a huge expansion of unemployment insurance…
* Emboldened by his Covid-19 recovery, Trump pushes return to normalcy, Washington Post, Oct 14, 2020 President Trump is using his recovery from Covid-19 to reinforce the message that the pandemic is receding and Americans should return to work — resisting entreaties to change his tone and behavior three weeks ahead of the presidential election. Despite the outbreak at the White House that also infected the first lady, their son and nearly a dozen top aides, Trump and his allies continue to downplay the virus, arguing that the country is “turning the corner” and holding campaign events with thousands of supporters even as cases are increasing rapidly, especially in the Midwest. Several advisers hoped Trump’s experience would move him to speak more empathetically about a virus that has killed at least 215,000 Americans and infected nearly eight million. Instead, Trump has seemed further emboldened, flouting public health guidelines to convince voters that life is returning to normal…
Inside the fall of the Centers for Disease Control, special report by Pro-Publica, Oct 15, 2020 How the world’s greatest public health organization was brought to its knees by a virus, a president and the capitulation of its own leaders, causing damage that could last much longer than the coronavirus.
Related:
* The inside story of how Deborah Birx, Trump’s COVID-19 coordinator, undermined the world’s top health agency, Science magazine, Oct. 14, 2020
* Leading scientists urge voters to dump Trump, Scientific American, Oct 16, 2020
* Film review: Documentary about White House bungling of coronavirus response infuriates and informs, Washington Post, Oct 15, 2020 ‘Totally Under Control’ is an incisive, lucid and infuriating critique of the Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, co directed by Alex Gibney, Ophelia Harutyunyan and Suzanne Hillinger. Available on iTunes/Apple TV, Fandango Now, Google Play, YouTube, Vudu and afisilver.afi.com. Available Oct. 20 on Hulu.
White House is considering ‘The Great Barrington Declaration’ herd immunity strategy for coronavirus, Forbes Magazine, Oct 14, 2020 …’Focused protection’ may sound better than ‘herd immunity’, but both appoaches have major stumbling blocks. Here are eight of them …
Related:
* Covid-19 herd immunity, backed by White House, is a ‘dangerous fallacy,’ scientists warn in open letter, NBC News, Oct 14, 2020
* Proposal to hasten herd immunity to the coronavirus grabs White House attention but appalls top scientists, Washington Post, Oct 13, 2020
* UN warns against pursuing herd immunity to stop coronavirus, Associated Press, Oct 12, 2020
Europe thought it had tamed COVID-19, but the continent now faces virus resurgence, New York Times, Oct 14, 2020 and read: report by Associated Press, Oct 14, 2020
Related:
* UK’s COVID-19 strategy unraveling as regions choose own path, Associated Press, Oct 14, 2020
* Closing schools is latest front in virus fight in Europe, Associated Press, Oct 14, 2020
Scientists have a powerful new tool for controlling the coronavirus: Its own genetic code. But the United States, home to the world’s biggest outbreak, has failed to tap the technique’s full potential, Washington Post, Oct 13, 2020
How federal police gunned down Portland anti-racist activist Michael Reinoehl on September 3, New York Times, Oct 13, 2020 …In interviews with 22 people who were near the scene, all but one said they did not hear officers identify themselves or give any commands before opening fire. In their official statements, not yet made public, the officers offered differing accounts of whether they saw Mr. Reinoehl with a weapon…
The long road to Covid-19 immunity, even with vaccines, by Prabir Purkayastha, published in Pressenza international press agency, Oct 5, 2020 (Prabir Purkayastha is the founding editor of Newsclick.in, a digital media platform in India.)
Related:
* China joins COVAX, the global program to aid developing countries to acquire vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, Global Times, Oct 9, 2020 and read: report in The Guardian, Oct 9, 2020 [China will provide $1 billion to the COVAX Facility, which is led by GAVI, The Vaccine Alliance; The World Health Organization; and the CEPI foundation (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations]
* What China’s speedy COVID vaccine deployment means for the pandemic, Nature magazine, Oct 9, 2020
* Why vaccine nationalism is winning, Washington Post, Sep 2, 2020
Europe weighs new restrictions after 700,000 new coronavirus cases in the past week, Associated Press, Oct 12, 2020 Governments across Europe ratcheted up restrictions on October 12 in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The continent has recorded its highest weekly number of new infections since the start of the pandemic…
Related: Lessons not learned: Europe unprepared as 2nd virus wave hits, Associated Press, Oct 10, 2020
[The SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic continues to grow and spread in most parts of the world. Continued negligence by most capitalist governments and many of their public health officials is to blame. But the grim reality is being obscured by the widespread use by these same governments and public health officials of the term ‘second wave’ to explain the pandemic’s continued spread. Corporate media is obliging by using the term more and more.]
Trump returns to campaign trail after bout with Covid-19 amid criticism he is still not taking pandemic seriously, Washington Post, Oct 12, 2020
Related: New research explores authoritarian mind-set of Trump’s core supporters, Washington Post, Oct 12, 2020
Wars and pandemics produce the same sort of lethal government bungling, by Patrick Cockburn, columnist, The Independent, Oct 11, 2020
India cases cross seven million threshhold as experts warn of complacency, Associated Press, Oct 10, 2020
Previously reported: ‘Rural surge’ propels India toward more Covid-19 infections than world leader U.S., New York Times, Oct 8, 2020
Cuba relaxes coronavirus restrictions seven months into pandemic, Associated Press, Oct 13, 2020
Anti-U.S. occupation forces in Iraq announce ceasefire, say it will last if U.S. military withdraws from the country. Report by Associated Press, Oct 11, 2020 [In January 2020, the Iraqi legislature approved a non-binding resolution demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country. The vote followed a U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian General Qassim Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis outside Baghdad’s international airport. For what it’s worth, the Trump regime in Washington announced in September 2020 it would reduce its troops strength in Iraq from 5,200 to 3,000]
Covid-19 death rates are lower worldwide, but no one is sure whether that’s a blip or a trend, Washington Post, Oct 10, 2020
European countries extend their Covid-19 subsidies to workers and companies while U.S. squabbles over renewing its programs, Washington Post, Oct 10, 2020 …The basic model of the European programs, sometimes called short-time work, is that struggling employers can place their workers on either full or partial furloughs, while the government takes over most of the cost of their idled time. The aim is to keep paychecks flowing to anxious citizens, prevent otherwise sound businesses from going under, and avoid the need to hire and train new workers after the crisis recedes…
Differences in the Chavista ranks over how to combat the U.S. economic war against Venezuela, commentary by Stansfield Smith, Roger Harries and Jesus Rodriguez-Espinoza, published in Orinico Tribune, Oct 2, 2020
Related Venezuela news:
* President Maduro hands over house # 3,200,000 in Venezuela’s vast, public housing program, Orinico Tribune, Oct 2, 2020
* National Constituent Assembly passes contentious anti-blockade law, Venezuela Analysis, Oct 1, 2020
* Venezuela announces new fuel scheme as new shipment of gasoline from Iran arrives, Venezuela Analysis, Oct 1, 2020
* Venezuela’s central bank wins appeal court decision as it fights to acquire control of the country’s gold reserve, valued at $1.8 billion, held illegally by Britain, Venezuela Analysis, Oct 5, 2020
Criticising Guardian columnist George Monbiot isn’t ‘demonisation’, it’s a first step on the path to reclaiming our minds, by Jonathan Cook, published on his website blog, Oct 10, 2020
Canadian judge overseeing the U.S. extradition hunt against Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou denies her defense team access to documents related to her detention by Canadian police in December 2018. Report by Reuters, Oct 9, 2020
Azerbaijan and Armenia agree to cease fire in Nagorno-Karabakh, beginning Oct 10, TASS Russian news service, Oct 9, 2020 The ceasefire breakthrough was agreed at talks in Moscow hosted by Russia’s foreign minister
Related:
* Iran’s dilemma in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, by Ali Hashem, Al-Monitor, Oct 9, 2020 Tehran is sending forces to its borders in anticipation of the Armenian-Azeri conflict spilling over
* Erdogan dealt strong hand against Putin in Azerbaijan-Armenia war, by Fehim Tastekin, Al-Monitor, Oct 8, 2020 Turkey is positioning itself as a stakeholder in the prospective settlement process in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, having tipped the balance in favor of its Azeri allies by providing them with military advisers, technical assistance and armed drones…
* Hate speech targeting Armenians in Turkey on the rise, warns Parliamentary deputy of the People’s Democratic Party, Turkish Minute, Oct 8, 2020
Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan cracks down on pro-Kurdish politicians, Deutsche Welle, Oct 8, 2020
Previously reported:
* Turkey orders 82 arrests targetting pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party oncharges related to 2014 protests against attack on Syrian-Kurdish town of Kobani. Report by Reuters, Sep 25, 2020 and read: report in Al-Monitor by Amberin Zaman, Sep 25, 2020
* Selahattin Demirtas, jailed leader of the People’s Democratic party, is an ever-present threat to Erdogan, Turkish Minute, Sep 26, 2020
Isolated in the White House, Trump struggles to project a sense of normalcy after next presidential debate is changed in favour of virtual event, Washington Post, Oct 8, 2020 …The Commission on Presidential Debates announced on the morning of October 8 that next week’s scheduled town hall meeting with Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden would take place virtually rather than in person… [Trump announced on October 8 he is withdrawing from the town hall debate scheduled for October 15.] Related:
* A Trump-Pence strategy on the coronavirus: Interrupt, distract, change the subject, New York Times, Oct 8, 2020
* What makes Mike Pence’s complicity so chilling, commentary by Timothy Egan, New York Times, Oct 8, 2020 The vice president will be remembered as the great enabler
The pandemic is amplifying the U.S. anti-vaccine movement — and globalizing it, Washington Post, Oct 8, 2020 The U.S. is becoming ‘superspreader’ of anti-vaccine sentiment
U.S. imposes sweeping new sanctions on Iran’s financial industry, Associated Press, Oct 8, 2020
Related:
* Iran president calls on world to condemn new U.S. sanctions, Associated Press, Oct 8, 2020 * New US. sanctions on Iran are ‘terrorist, cruel’ effort to prevent medicine, food purchases amid COVID-19 says Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani, Press TV, Oct 9, 2020
Erratic tweets on economic relief by Trump leave situation unclear, Washington Post, Wednesday, Oct 7, 2020 President Trump called on Congress to approve federal economic relief late Tuesday night mere hours after publicly terminating negotiations with Democrats, posting tweets that appeared to contradict his own declarations from earlier the same day. He continued pushing for more stimulus on Wednesday as aides scrambled to adjust to his ever-changing directives…
Related:
* Trump orders end of Covid-19 economic relief talks until after election, upending prospects for aid, Washington Post, Oct 6, 2020
* The $4 trillion ‘coronavirus’ bailout aided the wealthy, including companies that laid off workers, underfunded health measures and didn’t revive the American economy, Washington Post, Oct 5, 2020
Trump’s return leaves White House in disarray as infections jolt West Wing, New York Times, Oct 6, 2020
Related:
* Trump returns to a White House where Covid-19 is running wild, tells the country ‘don’t be afraid of Covid’. Report by CNN, Oct 5, 2020
* Trump leaves military hospital at a pivotal moment in a recovery, entering ‘uncharted territory’, Washington Post, Oct 5, 2020
* Kellyanne Conway’s daughter Claudia is raising doubts about Donald Trump’s health and proving this presidency is sick, by Vinay Menon, columnist, Toronto Star, Oct 6, 2020
* Facebook removes Trump post falsely saying flu is more lethal than Covid-19, CNN, Oct 6, 2020 and read: Fact check: Trump’s faulty claims on flu and coronavirus, Associated Press, Oct 6, 2020
* Trump evangelical advisers exposed to Covid-19 at Sep 26 White House event flout CDC guidelines, continue preaching in public, Religion News Service, Oct 5, 2020 … The Sept. 26 ceremony at the White House Rose Garden was convened to announce Trump’s new Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. Attendees sat close together, few wore masks and many were seen shaking hands when the event concluded. With Pastor Greg Laurie’s diagnosis, at least nine people attending the event, including Trump, have since tested positive for the novel coronavirus…
Both sides on abortion are certain that Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett would restrict, if not overturn, landmark Roe vs Wade court decision, Washington Post, Oct 8, 2020
Related:
* Why only Amy Coney Barrett gets to have it all, commentary by Katelyn Beaty, in New York Times, Oct 13, 2020 Her strong faith, embrace of motherhood and career accomplishments have made her an icon for the right. So why aren’t more girls from conservative Christian traditions encouraged to be like her?
* Antibody treatment for coronavirus touted by Trump relied on testing with cells derived from fetal tissue, Washington Post, Oct 8, 2020
* Amy Coney Barrett served as ‘handmaid’ in Catholic group ‘People of Praise’, Washington Post, Oct 6, 2020 …A person who was raised in the People of Praise community said she was instructed by elders not to “emasculate” her male peers by getting the better of them in conversation. “I was made aware of the difference from a young age,” the person said. “I was aware that it would have been better if I had been born a boy.” …
German study finds hundreds of far-right extremists in the country’s police forces, Washington Post, Oct 6, 2020 There are more than 370 suspected cases of right-wing extremism in Germany’s police and security agencies, according to a government study released Tuesday. But experts said it papers over the true depth of the problem…
Related: Right-wing terror in Germany: A timeline, Deutsche Welle, Feb 20, 2020 According to Germany’s domestic security agency, some 12,700 far-right extremists are “oriented toward violence.” Here is an overview of the right-wing attacks that have rocked Germany in recent years…
Memorial held near White House on Oct 4 for the more than 200,000 Americans killed by Covid-19, Washington Post, Oct 5, 2020 …Covid Survivors for Change, a network aimed at helping those affected by the virus, declared Sunday, October 4 a national day of remembrance. The group set up the installation of 20,000 chairs, one for every ten Americans who have died of Covid-19, on the grassy Ellipse just south of the White House. The Ellipse is close to the Rose Garden, where President Trump staged a Supreme Court nomination event on September 26 and those in attendance flouted recommendations on wearing masks and social distancing. Trump and at least eight other people who attended have since tested positive for the coronavirus…
Related:
* White House is not contact tracing ‘super-spreader’ event in Rose Garden on Sep 26, New York Times, Oct 4, 2020 Despite almost daily disclosures of new coronavirus infections among President Trump’s close associates, the White House is making little effort to investigate the scope and source of its outbreak
* Positive Covid-19 tests of senators raise doubts about fast-track confirmation of Trump’s Supreme Court choice Amy Coney Barrett, Washington Post, Oct 4, 2020
* Trump campaign’s attempt at a reset slams into roadblocks, Washington Post, Oct 4, 2020
Charts of Covid-19 cases in Europe: (in The Globe and Mail, Oct 6,2020)
The Assange extradition case is an unprecedented attack on press freedom. So why is Western media largely ignoring it?, by Patrick Cockburn, The Independent, Aug 5, 2020 The silence of journalists in Britain and the US over the extradition proceedings against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is making them complicit in the criminalisation of newsgathering by the American government…
Related:
* Video of comments by Craig Murray on the final day of the extradition hearings in London against Julian Assange, three-minute video on YouTube, Oct 1, 2020 (British writer and former diplomat of the UK government Craig Murray has reported in detail each day on his website on the extradition trial of Julian Assange in London.)
* Guardian columnist George Monbiot offers feeble excuses for not speaking out loudly in defence of Julian Assange, by Jonathan Cook, published on his website blog, Oct 6, 2020
Weeks away from the presidential election, the Republican Party and Trump regime face a reckoning over their conduct and handling of the coronavirus emergency. Report by Associated Press, Oct 2, 2020 …The pandemic even spread to a subject the GOP hoped to be its safe harbor in the campaign’s closing weeks — the looming confirmation of Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett. Videos of an unmasked Lee mingling with other conservative luminaries at a White House ceremony for Barrett ran relentlessly on cable news, turning the party’s push to reshape the court into a story about the spread of a deadly virus. The infections of Lee and Tillis, both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, call into question whether Republicans can meet their aggressive timeline of confirming Barrett before Election Day…
Related:
* Reality bursts the Trumpworld bubble, by Maureen Dowd, columnist, New York Times, Oct 3, 2020
* Amazon reports that more than 19,000 of its employees in the U.S. have contracted Covid-19, CNBC, Oct 1, 2020 [The number amounts to 1.4 per cent of the company’s workforce but does not include its network of third-party delivery drivers, which handle a portion of last-mile deliveries. In June, the company ended a $2 per hour pandemic pay raise that began in March.]
The Covid-19 recession is the most unequal in modern U.S. history, Washington Post, Sep 30, 2020 Job losses from the pandemic overwhelmingly affected low-wage, minority workers most. Seven months into the recovery, Black women, Black men and mothers of school-age children are taking the longest time to regain their employment
The first U.S. presidential debate of 2020: Worse is yet to come, by Jack Rasmus, published on his website, Sep 30, 2020 (Jack Rasmus is professor of political economy at St. Mary’s College of California)
Related:
* The politics that led to the ‘worst debate in U.S. history’, commentary by Glenn Ford, executive editor, Black Agenda Report, Sep 30, 2020
* New political science research debunks certain myths about white working-class support for Trump, by Kathryn Royster, published in Arts and Science Newsletter, Vanderbilt University, July 29, 2020 … Starting with survey data from the 2016 election and then working farther back, the researchers conducted their own analyses to determine the truth of some key assumptions. One was simply wrong: only about 30 per cent, not a majority, of Trump’s supporters were white working-class. A related assertion, however, was true: of white working-class voters, a majority (about 60 per cent) did indeed support Trump…
Biden stiff-arms the left of the Democratic Party — which holds its fire, Washington Post, Sep 30, 2020 Joe Biden stiff-armed the Green New Deal liberal climate plan at the first presidential debate and offered a pointed reminder of his opposition to Medicare-for-all. He boasted of defeating Sen. Bernie Sanders “by a whole hell of a lot” and sidestepped calls from the left to expand the Supreme Court. The day after, Biden said he hadn’t recently spoken to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), the leader of his party’s young generation of ascendant liberals… Ocasio-Cortez sent a tweet on the evening of the degate saying, “Our differences are exactly why I joined Biden’s climate unity task force — so we could set aside our differences and & figure out an aggressive climate plan to address the planetary crisis”…
How President Trump’s false claim of voter fraud is being used to disenfranchise Americans, New York Times Magazine, Oct 1, 2020 …This story did not originate with Trump. It has its roots in Reconstruction-era efforts to suppress the votes of newly freed slaves and came roaring back to life after the passage of the Voting Rights Act [in 1965]. But it is reaching an apex now, as a president who lost the popular vote in 2016 and is currently trailing in the polls harnesses the reality-warping powers of social media and the resources of at least four federal agencies to undermine faith in an election he could very well lose…
Letter from London: The surreal U.S. case against Julian Assange, by Alexander Mercouris, published in Consortium News, Sep 28, 2020
Related:
* Final day of Julian Assange hearing was October 1; Jan 4, 2021 set as date when judge will deliver a decision, by Joe Lauria, Consortium News, Oct 1, 2020
* British writer and former diplomat of the UK government Craig Murray is reporting each day on his website on the extradition trial of Julian Assange in London. Murrays’s latest report is ‘Day 21’ of the trial, published on October 1, here. That was the final day of the hearing; the judge will render her verdict on extradition on Jan 4, 2021.
Russia’s foreign policy enters new China-aligned phase, Asia Times, Oct 1, 2020 The following is the fourth installment of an extended report on one of the most important geopolitical developments of the 21st century: the increasingly comprehensive alliance between China and Russia and its implications for Eurasian and regional powers across the planet.
Previously reported:
* Joint statement by the foreign ministers of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China, following their meeting in Moscow on September 11, 2020, translation into English published on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sep 11, 2020
* Addresses to the annual meeting (virtual) of the UN General Assembly on Sep 21, 2020, by President Vladimir Putin (here) and President Xi Jinping (here)
Will a return to Keynes end the pandemic slump, as the latest UNCTAD report argues?, by Michael Roberts, published on Michael Roberts: Blogging from a Marxist economist, Sep 28, 2020 …The economists at UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) reckon the cause of the global slowdown before the pandemic and the lost decade since the ending of the Great Recession in 2009 is primarily due a ‘lack of global demand’… In a capitalist, profit-making economy, it is profits and profitability that drive investment and when profitability drops, investment in the means of production and in labour will contract, leading to unemployment and loss of consumer incomes and demand. But we are told that Keynesian policies of managing capitalism “fell out of fashion” because of a change of ideology to a “neoliberal mindset”. This is the explanation also recently made by Thomas Piketty is his new tome, Capital and Ideology… But this idealist explanation ignores the main objective economic condition for capitalism in the 1970s: the well-documented profitability crisis…
To view the ‘World news’ headlines for the month of September 2020 on ‘A Socialist In Canada’, go to the news archive page for that month, here.
