2021-02-11: News Headlines

David Rosen (2021-02-11). Covid-19: a Nation at War? counterpunch.org The full impact the Covid pandemic is revealed in a recent AMA study that notes "in counties where the population was substantially non-white with a median income defined as $60,240, the COVID-19 death rate was more than nine times higher when compared to counties that are substantially white with the same median income." It adds, "the COVID-19 infection and death rates were nearly three times higher in substantially non-white counties with higher median incomes when compared to substantially white, higher income counties …."

Prabir Purkayastha (2021-02-11). IMF Rethinking Its Callousness to the Global South. zcomm.org The world seems to have turned topsy-turvy when the undisputed voices of global capital start talking about the virtues of "cooperation" among nations and "universal distribution of vaccines" to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic…

F. William Engdahl (2021-02-11). Coronavirus Scandal Breaking in Merkel's Germany. False Positives and the Drosten PCR Test. globalresearch.ca First posted by Global Research on December 11, 2020 | The widely-praised German model of the Angela Merkel regime to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic is now engulfed in a series of potentially devastating scandals going to the very heart of …

Marc Norton (2021-02-11). SF Giants Owner Rakes in $815 Million During the pandemic. counterpunch.org The assets of Charles Johnson, the controversial chief owner of the San Francisco Giants, increased by $815 million during the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, his net worth was a mere $4.2 billion dollars. By January 2021 he commanded a fortune of $5.015 billion, an increase just short of 20%. Workers at Oracle Park, where

Workers World Party (2021-02-11). PDF of February 11 issue. workers.org Download the 12-page PDF. Haiti: Struggle intensifies Black History Month: Salute to Rosa Parks, Harry Haywood, Ben Fletche ALSO: Nurses, autoworkers, teachers on the move! Reparations for racist pandemic!; Capitalist accumulation and agriculture; GameStop bubble; COVID: comparing economic systems. Editorial: Dangling the carrot. GLOBAL: Sanctions Kill. Yemen: Bait and switch. . . . |

Lawrence Davidson (2021-02-11). Biden Adopts a Trump Approach to Iran. counterpunch.org All right! Let's hear it for Joe Biden! Our new president is leading us in the direction of domestic sanity, and there are even hints of progressive potential in his evolving agenda. Under his leadership, we might soon master the Covid-19 plague and dig ourselves out of our near-depression economic straits. This is terrific! Some

Gregg Gonsalves (2021-02-11). Evolution Doesn't Give a Damn About Us, or the USA. thenation.com Evolution Doesn't Give a Damn About Us, or the USA…

Vijay Prashad (2021-02-11). The Three Apartheids of Our Times (Money, Medicine, Food). zcomm.org The elite is not capable of solving the ordinary problems created by the normal crisis of capitalism; they are certainly not capable of solving the extraordinary problems posed by the pandemic. That's where movements come in…

Francis King Carey School of Law (2021-02-11). Tuesday 2/23: Now or Never: Eradicating Systemic Racism in the Government's Pandemic Response. indybay.org Online event…

Alan MacLeod (2021-02-11). Head of Strategic Command: U.S. must prepare for "very real possibility" of nuclear war with China. mronline.org In an era when international cooperation in the face of pandemics and climate change is essential, the world appears to be racing towards a new Cold War, and unfortunately, few except the military top brass are talking about it.

Lee Camp (2021-02-11). Wall Street Admits Curing Diseases Is Bad for Business. zcomm.org This is a system built on the exploitation of others for gain. There was no time when that was not true. And that's why we need a revolution of the mind…

Fight Back (2021-02-11). Frontier workers picket at Super Bowl, demand decent contract. fightbacknews.org Tampa FL – IBEW Local 824 Frontier workers and supporters gathered near Raymond James Stadium before Super Bowl LV to hold an informational picket raising public awareness about Frontier's ongoing attempt to gut workers' retirement benefits and healthcare and its attempts to double the amount that active workers have to pay for health insurance. | The decision to demonstrate outside the Super Bowl was strategic, not just because it was a major national event that happened locally, but because Frontier has corporate partnerships with the Buccaneers and Raymond James Stadium. | In an open letter to member…

news.un (2021-02-11). 'If I can do it, so can you': women scientists on the power of education to reach gender equality. news.un.org Women are extremely under-represented in science, but a UN research centre in The Netherlands is trying to address the gender imbalance, by raising awareness of the leading role that women researchers play in tackling global problems, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

yenisafak (2021-02-11). Nigeria reports 1,131 new COVID-19 cases, 8 deaths. yenisafak.com Nigeria reported 1,131 new COVID-19 infections on Thursday, up from 1,056 confirmed the previous day.The new numbers pushed the overall caseload to 142,578 and 1,702 deaths as eight more patients succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.A record 2,314 infections were registered on Jan. 22.All travelers entering the West African country are required to take a COVID-19 test five days before departure.According to the Health Ministry, an estimated 80% of coronavirus patients are asymptomatic but can spread the disease to other people. It has urged the public…

yenisafak (2021-02-11). Double masks provide double protection against COVID-19. yenisafak.com Wearing a double mask provides twice as much protection against COVID-19 as a single one, according to a new study by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).In the study released Wednesday, two artificial heads with a breathing function were outfitted with one masks or two, and particles the same size as COVID-19 particles were sprayed on them from a distance of about 2 meters (6.5 feet).The researchers found that 40% of the particles sprayed on the artificial head wearing one mask were blocked, while 80% were blocked on the artificial head wearing two.If everyone in the same environment wears a…

Susan Price (2021-02-11). Vaccine apartheid threatens everyone. greenleft.org.au Vaccinations must reach all the peoples of the world, or COVID-19 will continue to spread, and with continued spread there will be continual mutations and the threat of more dangerous variants, including those that resist current vaccines, writes Barry Sheppard.

Online News Editor (2021-02-11). Study blames Trump policies for high US Covid-19 mortality rate. laprensalatina.com New York, Feb 11 (efe-epa).- Former President Donald Trump's administrative healthcare failures caused 461,000 deaths prior to the pandemic in the United States and tens of thousands more over his Covid-19 and air pollution policies, a study published Thursday said. In the study, published in the scientific journal The Lancet 33 researchers said the US …

Online News Editor (2021-02-11). Malaysia posts biggest GDP contraction since 1998. laprensalatina.com Bangkok, Feb 11 (efe-epa).- Malaysia's gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 5.6 percent in 2020, its worst contraction since the 1998 crisis when it had fallen by 7.4 percent, due to the economic downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the country's statistics bureau said Thursday. The construction sector plummeted by 19.4 percent while net exports …

yenisafak (2021-02-11). Qatar to resume trade with Saudi Arabia on Feb. 14. yenisafak.com Qatar's authorities Wednesday said the country will resume commercial traffic with Saudi Arabia on Feb. 14, adhering to the coronavirus protective measures.The Qatari News Agency quoted the customs authority as saying: "The General Authority of Customs has issued a number of regulatory and precautionary controls pertaining to the movement of imported and transiting goods from the Salwa border port in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Abu Samra border port in the State of Qatar."Truck drivers coming from the Salwa port must obtain a certificate attested by the Saudi Health Ministry, proving that they have been te…

yenisafak (2021-02-11). Merkel warns of aggressive coronavirus mutations. yenisafak.com New mutations of coronavirus first seen in the UK, South Africa and Brazil are more aggressive and more dangerous, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned on Thursday.Addressing lawmakers in parliament, Merkel said it was necessary to extend the country's coronavirus lockdown until March 7, as new variants of the virus could lead to a more dangerous third wave of the pandemic."Not all the research has yet been finalized, but we'd be well advised to listen to what so many experts both in Germany and abroad tell us," she told lawmakers, referring to the UK, South Africa and Brazil variants, which were also detected…

yenisafak (2021-02-11). BioNTech, Turkey in talks on opening research center in country. yenisafak.com German-based BioNTech is in talks with Turkey to set up a research center in the country, the Turkish industry and technology minister told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday.Ugur Sahin, the Turkish-German co-founder of BioNTech, "wants to work on cancer research in Turkey, and continues to negotiate with the authorities to build a center," said Mustafa Varank."We discussed with Sahin what can be done in Turkey apart from vaccine development work. He's preparing his plans now and wants to set up a cancer research center here."Sahin and Hasan Mandal, head of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TU…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-02-10). Historic vote on Amazon union kicks off in Alabama. peoplesdispatch.org Over 5,800 ballots have been sent out to the employees of Amazon's Bessemer warehouse near Birmingham, Alabama. Workers will have seven weeks to mail-in their ballots, in consideration of the COVID-19 pandemic…

Staff (2021-02-10). Historians Say "Decades of Medical Racism" Led to Unequal COVID Impact on Black & Latinx People. democracynow.org Historians Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha Blain dedicate their new book, "Four Hundred Souls," to the "Black lives lost to COVID-19." They put the content of their book in the context of the disparate impact of the pandemic on the African American community in the United States. "This has been in the making for decades. Even though this is a new virus, … it connects to a larger history of racial inequality, and we wanted to make sure that was clear," says Blain. Kendi is a cancer survivor and notes Black and Latinx are more at risk from preexisting conditions because of a history of racist policies, but "Americans d…

Betsey Piette (2021-02-10). Philadelphia teachers defy return to classroom order. workers.org Credit: Joe Piette Thousands of Philadelphia public school teachers defied an order from school Superintendent William Hite Jr. to return to their classrooms Feb. 8 for the first time since schools became fully virtual in March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown. Across the city, educators demonstrated outside closed . . . |

WSWS (2021-02-10). Peru in COVID-19 lockdown as new Brazilian variant exposes murderous "herd immunity" policy. wsws.org The new lockdown in Peru follows a horrific resurgence of the pandemic in neighboring Brazil's Amazon capital Manaus, which experts blame squarely on the "herd immunity" policy.

WSWS (2021-02-10). Right-wing US Supreme Court majority again exempts large religious gatherings from COVID-19 safety measures. wsws.org For the second time since the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett, the court has struck down state measures to control the spread of COVID-19 that limit indoor religious services, reversing rulings earlier in the pandemic.

Staff (2021-02-10). Headlines for February 10, 2021. democracynow.org Senate Votes to Proceed with Impeachment as Managers Present Harrowing Video of Jan. 6 Insurrection, Gov't to Send Vaccines to Community Health Centers as U.S. Continues Ramping Up Vaccinations, WHO Team Confirms COVID-19 of Animal Origin; Ghana Shuts Parliament After Outbreak Infects Lawmakers, Protesters in Burma Defy Bans, Escalating Crackdown by Police, Journalists Decry Raid on Progressive Indian News Site NewsClick, U.S. to Pursue Extradition of Julian Assange as Press Freedom Groups Warn of Dangerous Precedent, Fossil Fuel Pollution Causes One in Five Global Deaths, Calls Growing to Shut Down DAPL as Key H…

teleSUR (2021-02-10). Venezuela to Receive 100,000 Doses of Sputnik V Vaccine. telesurenglish.net Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday announced that 100,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine will arrive in his country next week. | RELATED: | Once the first lot arrives in Caracas, the national vaccination campaign will kick off, prioritizing health workers who are on the front line against COVID-19 and the people most vulnerable to the disease. | The next to be vaccinated will be the country's t…

RT (2021-02-10). South Africa to give up to 500,000 health workers Johnson & Johnson Covid jab amid AstraZeneca efficacy concerns. rt.com Between 350,000 and 500,000 health workers in South Africa are to be given the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine, a top government medical adviser said, amid concerns over the AstraZeneca jab's efficacy against the local strain. | The government is hoping to take delivery of around 80,000 doses every seven to 14 days as part of its role in a global J&J "implementation study," the president of the South African Medical Research Council, Glenda Gray, told Reuters. | Gray is the co-lead investigator of the South Africa part of the study, which will further scrutinize the J&J jab in a similar way to Phase IIIB st…

Rosalind English (2021-02-10). Vaccination and public/private coercion. ukhumanrightsblog.com In an earlier post I discussed the problem of "vaccine hesitancy" and written evidence to Parliament to Parliament outlining ways in which a vaccination against Covid-19 without consent could be put on a par with capacity under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and with Section 3 of the Mental Health Act 1983. Since the announcement …

Natalie Shure (2021-02-10). Screen Shot 2021-02-10 at 1.13.47 PM.png. progressive.org Addressing the deep inequalities exposed by COVID-19 will probably prove more elusive than treating the disease.

WSWS (2021-02-10). Mass layoffs in Germany as companies restructure in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. wsws.org Not a day goes by without a corporation or business announcing job cuts and the closure of plants and branches .

WSWS (2021-02-10). World Health Organization confirms natural origins of coronavirus. wsws.org There is no evidence of to back up the lie peddled by ruling circles in the US and Europe, and reported largely uncritically in the media, that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was made and released by Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Mark Gruenberg (2021-02-10). House panel probes meatpackers' refusal to protect workers from virus. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON —The special House committee investigating the federal government's response, or lack of it, to the coronavirus plague has opened an investigation of big meatpackers' refusal to protect their workers against the contagion. In Feb. 1 letters to the nation's three big meatpacking firms and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Rep. James Clyburn, …

Jane-Anna Spiekermann (2021-02-10). Corona and psychology: Fear works against democratic coexistence. indybay.org The current "simultaneous consolidation and weakening of the state" (Nicos Poulantzas) are two sides of the same coin: the rise of the punitive state goes hand in hand with growing social insecurity and disenfranchisement, rather than an increase in rule-breaking and crime. The state authority & police strengthen themselves in pandemic…

WSWS (2021-02-10). Educators fight to save lives in Chicago, Sà£o Paulo and worldwide. wsws.org Educators are now at the forefront of the global working class movement to contain the pandemic and save lives.

Editor (2021-02-10). Dangling the carrot. workers.org Maybe some thought that President Joe Biden was serious about doubling the minimum wage to $15 an hour and doing it during the pandemic when workers were most in need. That was never his plan. One of 300 Fight for $15 demonstrations in the U.S. on May 1, 2019. . . . |

Kamal Iranidoost (2021-02-10). 22 Bahman rallies in provinces (2). en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Feb. 10 (MNA) — Along with their fellow Iranians, people in Tabriz, Birjand, and in Yazd held drive-in rallies amid the pandemic on Wednesday to commemorate the 42nd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution victory on February 11, 1979.

WSWS (2021-02-10). Los Angeles Hospital slated for closure amid pandemic. wsws.org The impending closure of the Olympia Medical Center Hospital in Los Angeles County in the midst of a pandemic shows the irrationality of health care run for profit.

Sharon Zhang (2021-02-10). Fossil Fuel Pollution Caused Nearly 1 in 5 Premature Deaths in 2018. zcomm.org "There's a vaccine for the 8.7 million deaths caused each year by air pollution from fossil fuels. That vaccine is called solar panels and wind turbines"

Liberation Staff-Seattle (2021-02-10). Washington state restaurants need more relief, not premature reopening plans. liberationnews.org While restaurants are being allowed to open for indoor dining at 25% capacity, restaurant workers are not included as essential workers in the state's vaccine schedule.

teleSUR (2021-02-10). Cuba to Produce First 150,000 Doses of Soberana 02 Vaccine. telesurenglish.net Cuba's Finlay Vaccine Institute (IFV) President Vicente Verez on Tuesday announced that his country started producing the first batch of 150,000 doses of the Soberana 02 vaccine. | RELATED: | "Because of the vaccine's encouraging results, we started producing it on a large scale to launch its third phase of clinical trials in March," Verez said. | Over 700 people have already been vaccinated with Sovereign 02 during the…

Raul Diego (2021-02-10). The Questionable Characters Behind the Kushner-Linked Insurance Giant Oscar Health. mintpressnews.com Oscar Health, a tech-based telehealth insurance mishmash co-founded by Joshua Kushner is about to go public with a massive IPO underwritten by the gods of Wall Street and backed by Silicon Valley titans.

Eds. (2021-02-10). Wall Street admits curing diseases is bad for business. mronline.org Goldman Sachs is openly saying in financial reports that curing people of terrible diseases is not good for business.

Sheila Velazquez (2021-02-10). The Desiccated Hearts and Souls of Working-class Americans. dissidentvoice.org Desiccate: deaden, devitalize, lobotomize, castrate — Merriam-Webster In the United States the average man and woman has been dismissed, devalued and manipulated by both parties and the financial system. They have been prevented access to healthcare, decent-paying jobs, affordable education and food security. And their hopes and dreams have been crushed by the absence of …

_____ (2021-02-10). COVID-19 And Democrats' Indifference Killed My Husband In Jail. popularresistance.org In February 2020, my husband, Nickolas Lee, was incarcerated in Cook County Jail in Chicago. The judge didn't offer him bail. So even though he was presumed innocent, he had to await his trial in jail. When the coronavirus seeped into the facility, he was sleeping in a dormitory with 50 other men, including those with active COVID-19 symptoms. Nick and the other men had no ability to social distance. Although the sheriff's office claimed to be "clearly leaders in the Country on dealing with the pandemic [sic]," Nick was denied even basic sanitary products, like sanitizer or a mask. He had to use his shirt to cove…

yenisafak (2021-02-10). UK Muslims ask UN to halt Sri Lanka's forced cremations. yenisafak.com The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) submitted a complaint to the UN on Tuesday over the forced cremations of Muslims in Sri Lanka who died of COVID-19.The MCB in partnership with UK-based law firm Bindmans submitted the complaint to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on behalf of their families. "No other state has carried out such unjust and discriminatory measures. We very much hope that the Sri Lankan government will change its policy in line with the World Health Organization's advice," Zara Mohammed, secretary general of the MCB, said in a statement, describing the government's policy as "unprecedented."Tay…

news.un (2021-02-10). 'Women and girls belong in science' declares UN chief. news.un.org Closed labs and increased care responsibilities are just a two of the challenges women in scientific fields are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN chief said in his message for the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, on Thursday.

yenisafak (2021-02-10). BioNTech begins COVID vaccine production at new plant. yenisafak.com BioNTech announced Wednesday that it has started vaccine production at its new manufacturing site in the German city of Marburg."We started the manufacturing process at the Marburg facility with the execution of the first step: the production of mRNA, which is the active pharmaceutical ingredient of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine," the German pharma company said in a statement.Once fully operational, the new production site will become one of the largest mRNA manufacturing plants in Europe with an annual production capacity of up to 750 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine.BioNTech, which together with the Ame…

yenisafak (2021-02-10). 'Turkey supports unity, prosperity, security of Gulf'. yenisafak.com Turkey's foreign minister reiterated on Wednesday that Ankara supports the unity, prosperity and security of the Gulf region."[…]We are ready to work closely with Oman and all other Gulf countries on issues regarding our region," Mevlut Cavusoglu told a joint news conference with his Omani counterpart, Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood al-Busaidi, in Muscat.Saying that the two countries will further improve political, economic and commercial relations despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Cavusoglu hailed Oman's neutral and independent foreign policy. "Oman is a voice of reason and wisdom in the region.""Turkey is the…