(2021-08-05). China Calls US Sanctions Against Cuba 'Harassment'. orinocotribune.com China labeled the US sanctions on the Cuban police and its officials a demonstration of harassment and double standards on the part of the United States government. China also urged countries around the world to help Cuba in the same way as many countries, including China, have done in recent days, with donations of food, medicines, medical equipment, and fuel. | Through a statement released on Wednesday, August 4, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its firm condemnation of the imposition of arbitrary and unilateral measures by the US administration and the interference in the internal affairs of a…
(2021-08-05). Cuba is not alone: love and solidarity prevail. workers.org 
Cuba solidarity activists in Belfast, Ireland. Credit: Cuba Solidarity Campaign Dublin The following lightly edited article first appeared in Resumen English July 29, 2021, one day before U.S. President Joe Biden took measures adding additional sanctions on Cubans, while openly assisting Cuban dissidents living in Miami. Many of the countries . . . |
(2021-08-05). "They Killed Us from the Inside": U.N. Inquiry Demanded into Officials' Culpability in Beirut Blast. democracynow.org 
One year after the Beirut port explosion, a new Human Rights Watch report implicates senior Lebanese officials in the disaster that killed 218 people, wounded 7,000 others and destroyed vast swaths of the city. The blast on August 4, 2020, was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history. It resulted from the detonation of hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate, which had been sitting in a hangar at the port for years while multiple government officials who knew about the highly explosive chemicals did nothing. "We didn't find any Lebanese official who took any responsibility for securing the port and remov…
(2021-08-05). Hunger strike update: Struggle continues against administrative detention. samidoun.net 
As of 5 August 2021, 15 Palestinians continued their hunger strikes in Israeli occupation, 14 of them protesting their administrative detention — imprisonment without charge or trial — and one, Mohammed Nuwarra, protesting his ongoing solitary confinement. On 5 August, two detainees joined the hunger strike: Akram al-Fasfous, joining his brother, Kayed al-Fasfous, who has been on hunger strike for 22 days. Sign the grassroots international petition: change.org/NoChargeNoTrialNoJail Their other brother, Mahmoud al-Fasfous, also jailed without charge or trial, suspended his hunger strike earlier on Thur…
(2021-08-05). Civilians in southern Syria 'under siege' — UN human rights chief. news.un.org The top UN rights official once more sounded the alarm on Thursday over the plight of civilians in Syria, as intense fighting and indiscriminate shelling by Government forces and armed opposition groups paralyze neighbourhoods in and around the southern city of Daraa.
(2021-08-05). Homes — Not "Sanctioned Encampments" — Are the Solution to Homelessness. zcomm.org Authorities' hesitant half-measures skirt the fundamental, self-evident truth: that what unhoused people need are homes…
(2021-08-05). Xinjiang residents refute accusations of human rights violations. ecns.cn Residents of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have hit back at accusations of human rights violations, saying some Western countries' claims of "genocide" or "forced labor" are fabricated.
(2021-08-05). Colombia: When the fascists get offended. zcomm.org Tales of death threats, assaults, harassment, and physical and psychological torture that happened to a group of activists in the city of Cali, Colombia…
(2021-08-05). Why investigating U.S. EVALI outbreak important in COVID-19 origin-tracing?>. ecns.cn Amid global efforts in tracing the COVID-19 origins, the connection between the coronavirus and an outbreak of e-cigarette or vaping use-associated lung injury (EVALI) cases in the U.S. in August, 2019 has raised many concerns.
(2021-08-05). Comicomment: In origin tracing, U.S. leads a 'blaming chorus'. ecns.cn The COVID-19 origin tracing is a serious scientific issue that must be studied by scientists and medical experts around the world through cooperation. However, some U.S. politicians placed their hope on the intelligence community, trying to answer a science question with political means.
(2021-08-05). French biosecurity expert dismisses Wuhan "lab leak" theory. ecns.cn "The theory that the virus escaped from the Wuhan lab is not credible," a French biosecurity expert who had monitored the construction of the Biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) laboratory of the Wuhan Institute of Virology has said recently in reference to COVID-19.
(2021-08-05). Meng extradition case concluding. ecns.cn Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou was back in British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver on Wednesday for the final stretch of extradition proceedings that could send her to the U.S.
(2021-08-05). U.S. closure of Fort Detrick lab not coincidental: expert. ecns.cn The sudden shutdown of the Fort Detrick lab in the United States and the pneumonia outbreak that followed are far from coincidental and should be studied in the scope of the ongoing investigation into the pandemic's origins, a Russian political observer has said.
(2021-08-05). IMF Approves $650 Billion in Emergency Currency to Combat Pandemic. indybay.org Washington DC — The IMF Board of Governors convened a special virtual session for final approval of $650 billion in emergency reserve currency or Special Drawing Rights.
(2021-08-05). A laboratory of empire with Lowkey & Aamer Rahman. mronline.org 
In this segment of 'The Watchdog' video podcast, Lowkey is joined by comedian Aamer Rahman to explain how Australia maintains close political ties to the United Kingdom, with British Home Secretary Pritti Patel seeing the country's offshore migrant detention centers, referred to by some as "concentration camps" as a model for the U.K. to follow.
(2021-08-05). Social movements mobilize in defense of voting rights in the US. peoplesdispatch.org Faith leaders and low-wage workers took to the streets of the US capital on August 2, in defense of voting rights and for a minimum wage of $15 per hour. The protest organized by the Poor People's Campaign comes at a time of increased attacks by conservatives on the voting rights of marginalized communities and a deep economic crisis in the country first and foremost affecting working class people.
(2021-08-05). Shifting blame reflects selfishness of U.S. ecns.cn Recently, the U.S. has led several countries and media outlets in hyping up the claim that the novel coronavirus was the result of a "lab leak".
(2021-08-05). Iran lodges protest to IMO over rising rhetoric. en.mehrnews.com Iranian Ambassador to the UK Mohsen Baharvand has penned a letter to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to protest the rhetoric recently raised against Tehran after suspicious incidents with tankers in Persian Gulf.
(2021-08-05). Embassy urges caution against false flag operations in region. en.mehrnews.com Iran's Embassy in London reviewed the recent days' propaganda against Iran, urging vigilance against false flag operations in the Persian Gulf region.
(2021-08-05). Secret deal between U.S. Fort Detrick, Japanese germ warfare unit revealed. ecns.cn The United States pardoned members of a notorious Japanese germ warfare unit after World War II in exchange for their data on biological weapons, research by a Chinese historian has revealed.
(2021-08-05). 'That Was Litigated': Psaki Grilled on Sexual Harassment Claims Against Biden Amid Andrew Cuomo Row. sputniknews.com A months-long investigation into allegations against Gov. Andrew Cuomo – sanctioned by New York State Attorney General Letitia James – concluded that he harassed multiple women, including younger colleagues. The New York governor is adamant that he's innocent and has refused to step down despite calls from fellow Democrats to do so.
(2021-08-05). Biden Administration Approves First Arms Sale to Taiwan. sputniknews.com Late last year, the Chinese Foreign Ministry imposed sanctions on several US defense contractors, including Lockheed Martin, after learning then-US President Donald Trump's administration approved an arms sale to Taiwan valued at $1.8 billion.
(2021-08-04). Israeli warplanes pound southern Lebanon, as IDF vows to 'continue & intensify' retaliation to rocket fire (VIDEO). rt.com 
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launched a series of airstrikes on Lebanese territory, calling them retaliation for cross-border rocket attacks after earlier firing scores of artillery rounds in response. | The IDF Video footage has circulated online purporting to show the IDF strikes in progress. | BREAKING…
(2021-08-04). One year since the Beirut blast: Lebanon's social, economic, and political crisis deepens. wsws.org In recent years, US imperialism, along with Saudi Arabia and France, has piled on pressure as part of its broader campaign to isolate Iran and Syria, widening its sanctions on Hezbollah and Syria, with whose economy Lebanon is closely connected.
(2021-08-04). Fired for a Facebook post, doctor seeks justice. electronicintifada.net The online targeting of Palestinian-American pediatrician intended to chill speech for Palestinian rights.
(2021-08-04). How Human Rights Watch favors Israel. electronicintifada.net There's no equating Palestinian rocket fire and massacres by warplanes.
(2021-08-04). 'Truly Disturbing': Facebook Blasted for Blocking NYU Researchers Examining Ad Model and Misinformation. commondreams.org "This letter, signed by four House committee chairs, should send a clear message to President Biden: He has the political support to swiftly close the detention center at Guant√°namo."
(2021-08-04). Hundreds Arrested at Capitol While Protesting for Voting Rights, Minimum Wage. zcomm.org Monday's action on the Hill constituted one of the largest mass-arrest nonviolent protests at the Capitol in recent memory…
(2021-08-04). Sanctions and Weaponized Food: The Construction of a Food Crisis in Venezuela Part I. libya360.wordpress.com Clara Sánchez The United States seeks a "humanitarian intervention" at all costs in Venezuela (Photo: Fernando Vergara / AP Photo) In 1985, the legendary band Queen participated in the Live Aid concert, an event held simultaneously in London, at Wembley Stadium, and Philadelphia, at John F. Kennedy Stadium, to raise funds for humanitarian aid to…
(2021-08-04). How Civil Rights Leader Bob Moses used math literacy to push for racial equality. nationofchange.org The Algebra Project is a nonprofit dedicated to helping students from historically marginalized communities develop math literacy.
(2021-08-04). Robert Moses: An Equal Rights Militant in a Land of Unfulfilled Promises. counterpunch.org Robert Parris Moses died last week. He was a champion of civil rights through voter registration in the American South in the 1960s and later through his Algebra Project. He was also my teacher. A brief summary of his life and achievements is a reminder of how the United States has changed in the past
(2021-08-04). Protests in Turkey against brutal murder of 21-year-old woman. peoplesdispatch.org On Monday, August 2, women rights groups in Turkey organized demonstrations across the country to protest the brutal murder of 21-year-old Azra Gàºlendam Haytaoglu, a student of journalism at Akdeniz University. A protest gathering in Antalya was joined by the Guzeloba Women's Solidarity Committee and Communist Women, among other groups. The Turkish Communist Party (TKP) and the Communist Youth of Turkey (TKG) also protested the murder of the university student and raised concern over the rise in femicides in the country. | Haytaoglu went missing last week and her body was later found in a forest. A real est…
(2021-08-04). After Decades-Long Grassroots Push, Key Senate Panel Votes to Repeal Iraq War Authorization. commondreams.org It's not enough to honor millions of refugees with an Olympic team of their own—they need rights, not just the opportunity to win medals.