(2022-02-03). Headlines for February 3, 2022. democracynow.org U.S. to Deploy 3,000 Additional Troops to Eastern Europe Amid Tensions over Ukraine, Witnesses Say U.S. Raid That Killed ISIS Leader in Syria Left Civilians Dead, Pentagon Sends Warship and Planes to UAE; Saudi Arabia and Israel Hold Joint Naval Exercises, Militia Attacks DRC Camp for Displaced People, Killing 60, Pfizer Asks FDA to Approve COVID Vaccine for Young Kids Despite Mixed Clinical Trial Results, Ecuadorian Court Rejects Oil Drilling on Indigenous Lands in Amazon Rainforest, Biden Renominates Former Chevron Lawyer First Tapped by Trump to Become Federal Judge, Senate Forges Ahead with Judicial Confirmat…
(2022-02-03). Heads up: another threat to Medicare! dissidentvoice.org Medicare is a successful and treasured government program that provides health care for seniors, for those with disabilities and for those with end-stage renal disease. The Traditional Medicare (TM) approach provides quality and necessary health care with administrative costs that are far lower than that of private health care insurance such as Medicare Advantage (MA). …
(2022-02-03). Athletes praise Games' closed loop management. ecns.cn Athletes of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics have said the closed-loop management and COVID-19 epidemic control measures have made them feel safe, allowing them to fully focus on preparing for the upcoming competitions.
(2022-02-03). Jan Egeland on Afghanistan Facing Famine, a Massacre in DR Congo & Civilian Casualties in Syria. democracynow.org 
The United Nations warns Afghanistan is "hanging by a thread" as millions in the country suffer from hunger and are at risk of freezing to death during the winter as U.S. sanctions have devastated the economy. We get an update on what is now the world's largest humanitarian crisis from Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council. He also discusses how the NRC has condemned the deadly attack on a camp for displaced people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the organization's humanitarian concerns after the U.S. raid in Syria targeting an ISIS leader that reportedly killed at least 13, inc…
(2022-02-03). Ottawa police mull appealing for military support to end far-right occupation of Canada's capital. wsws.org The Conservatives, right-wing media outlets like the Toronto Sun and National Post, and sections of big business have incited a far-right extra-parliamentary movement to push politics sharply to the right, beginning with the elimination of all remaining anti-COVID-19 public health measures.
(2022-02-03). SunRice grain processing and packing workers strike for two days at six facilities in Australia. wsws.org The company is demanding workers must submit to an attack on conditions and a retrograde pay offer, while continuing to risk their health and lives amid the raging COVID-19 pandemic.
(2022-02-03). Denied City and County Parking Lots, Food Not Bombs is back at the Town Clock. indybay.org Denied City and County Parking Lots, Food Not Bombs, Keith McHenry reports, is now serving regularly at the Town Clock noon to 4 PM Daily. In spite of initial apprehensions, County Health has apparently backed off its "Get a Permit or Perish" strategy–okaying FNB's daily use of the Calvary Episcopal Church kitchen at a cost of a mere $4000/month.
(2022-02-03). End of COVID-19 hospital death reporting is "incomprehensible," says US health official. wsws.org On Wednesday, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officially ended its system for hospitals to report COVID-19 deaths daily to the federal government, amid a worldwide campaign to reduce the reporting of COVID-19 deaths and cases.
(2022-02-03). The Boosted are 97 times less likely to die of Covid, as Republican Party Death Cult Kills Tens of Thousands. juancole.com Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) — The United States has failed Covid. Compared to most other industrialized countries, its per capita rate of infection and death is much higher. Despite having plenty of vaccines, there has been a lag in getting them into people's arms, especially into the arms of the most at-risk group, of those …
(2022-02-03). Leonard Peltier has COVID-19: Action needed to get him care. liberationnews.org 
In the last few days actors Danny Di Vito and Susan Sarandon have tweeted support for Peltier and demanded his release…
(2022-02-03). Peltier has COVID-19: President Joe Biden, Do The Right Thing, Free Leonard! covertactionmagazine.com On January 28th, Brian Schatz, (D-Hawai'i), chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs urged President Biden to commute …
(2022-02-03). Australian Education Union shuts down Victorian work bans as it enforces COVID-hit school reopening. wsws.org As the schools are forced to reopen amid dangerously high levels of COVID-19 infection in the community, the union bureaucracy will do everything within its power to suppress opposition among teachers and school workers.
(2022-02-02). Headlines for February 2, 2022. democracynow.org Putin Accuses U.S. of Using Ukraine as "Tool" to Contain Russia, Pacific Nations, Incl. Tonga, Report First COVID Cases; South Africa, EU Nations Ease Restrictions, Guinea-Bissau's President Says He Survived Coup Attempt, Security Forces Killed in Attack, Two Babies Die in Freezing Syrian Camps for Displaced People, Major Coalition of States, Cities and Advocacy Groups Backs Mexican Effort to Sue U.S. Gunmakers, Native American Tribes Reach Tentative Settlement with J&J, Drug Distributors over Opioid Epidemic, ABC Suspends Whoopi Goldberg from "The View" After Saying Holocaust Was "Not About Race", Ex-NFL Coach F…
(2022-02-02). COVID Cases in Youth Prisons Are Cutting Vulnerable Kids Off From Their Parents. truthout.org 
The Omicron variant brought a predictable spike in COVID cases in prisons for children and teens. In response to to these spikes, juvenile facilities have limited educational and recreational activities, and suspended in-person visitation, further isolating incarcerated youth and increasing costs for anxious parents who are desperately trying to look out for their children. | Public outcry over pandemic-exacerbated conditions like these is, in some states, fueling efforts already underway…
(2022-02-02). "Meaningfully milder" Omicron variant continues to kill more than 2,300 Americans each day. wsws.org The devastating death toll comes as new guidelines from the Department of Health and Human Services "retire" its requirement that hospitals report daily COVID-19 death tolls.
(2022-02-02). The Heat: Pfizer seeks U.S. approval of first coronavirus vaccine for children under 5. america.cgtn.com 
Coronavirus vaccines for children under age 5 could soon be available in the United States. Plus — the rise and fall of the Omicron variant.
(2022-02-02). This Pandemic Showed the Benefits of Universal Health Care. otherwords.org There has been a Jekyll and Hyde quality to American health care over the past two years. | One the one hand, the federal government has been actively intervening to help people avoid COVID-19 or recover from it. On the other, it's standing by as Americans struggle with other ailments, exposing the vast fissures of The government's pandemic response has been imperfect but successful in many respects. Are there lessons for how we treat other diseases? | For example, the Biden administration is now taki…
(2022-02-02). US Economic Policy is Bringing Famine to 23 Million Afghans. peaceaction.org People, Not Statistics Without urgent humanitarian support and international cooperation, one million children are predicted to starve this year in Afghanistan. Ever since America's withdrawal of troops from the country, humanitarian partners have been "racing against time to deliver aid and supplies" to half of the country's population that now requires humanitarian assistance to survive. …
(2022-02-02). Annihilating the Virus Enemy in Japan. dissidentvoice.org 
According to Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, 18,515 people had lost their lives to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by 24 January 2022. Of those deaths, four were minors, i.e., 19 years of age or younger. At this point, nobody can say exactly why the Archipelago of Japan has emerged …
(2022-02-02). In A Single Year, $1.78 Trillion Was Taken From The Working Class. popularresistance.org The fate of the Build Back Better Act is currently unknown. The bill would be the largest social spending achievement in decades and provide needed services and support to millions of families‚Äâ—‚Äâwith more than half of the proposed $1.75 trillion in spending going to child care, preschool, affordable housing, higher education and healthcare. | But this proposed spending, over 10 years, is barely noticeable compared with the wages workers have lost over the past 40 years. In terms of productivity, wages should be significantly higher than they are, and the average worker…
(2022-02-02). COVID-19 human challenge study reveals detailed insights into infection. imperial.ac.uk Findings from the UK's world-leading human challenge study provide new insights into mild infections with SARS-CoV-2 in healthy young adults.
(2022-02-02). California single-payer health care plan dead on arrival, as Democrats abandon bill they campaigned on. wsws.org Assemblyman Ash Kalra declined to put the bill before a vote in the 11th hour, stating later that "It became clear we did not have the votes," in the Democratic Party-controlled legislature.
(2022-02-02). America's Two Pandemics: And How They Mixed and Matched. juancole.com 
( Tomdispatch.com ) — Imagine that you were experiencing all of this (and by this, I mean our lives right now) as if it were a novel, à la Daniel Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year. The famed author of Robinson Crusoe — Defoe claimed it had been written by the fictional Crusoe himself …
(2022-02-02). Selected Articles: JCCF Lawsuit Against Canadian Government's Vaccine Mandate: Main Applicant Is A. Brian Peckford. globalresearch.ca Dear Readers, | As everyone faces difficult times, the company which deals with the fulfillment of book sales on behalf of Global Research is no longer able to provide its services. We are unfortunately suspending the sale of print books until …
(2022-02-02). Why Wouldn't Biden Grant Clemency to Leonard Peltier? dissidentvoice.org 
Last Friday, it became known that the 77-year-old native American political prisoner Leonard Peltier was sick with COVID-19. Peltier has been in prison for over 46 years, which makes him the oldest political prisoner in the United States. This fact has brought attention to his case, but the truth is that his freedom has been …
(2022-02-02). A Wall Street Veteran Speaks Out: Bubbles and the Planet. dissidentvoice.org Some time ago Jeremy Grantham (83), a renowned value investor who runs the $65 billion asset fund GMO, called the stock market a "super bubble."1 Nowadays, a lot of the air has come out of hot stocks of the covid era, losing 30%-40%-50%, or more, in only a couple of months; e.g., Netflix falling from …
(2022-02-02). Special Privileges: Charlotte Bellis, Fortress New Zealand and the Taliban. dissidentvoice.org Not wishing to be left out from the brutal closed border system that has characterised COVID-19 policy in Australia, New Zealand has also been every bit as extreme in limiting the return of its nationals. Pandemic policy, if not logic, has taken issue with the nature of citizenship, which, truth be told, is simply not …
(2022-02-02). Minneapolis/St. Paul teachers prepare to strike. liberationnews.org 
Teachers and support staff in Minneapolis and St. Paul could be headed for a strike if their respective school boards continue to stall on key issues such as pay and benefits, smaller class sizes and COVID-19 safety.
(2022-02-02). COVID-19 death of a student reported in Sri Lanka. wsws.org This tragic death demonstrates the criminality of the reopening of Sri Lankan schools amid the continuing spread of COVID-19.
(2022-02-02). SEP (Australia) electoral members support Global Workers' Inquest. wsws.org "The lack of COVID testing is because of the criminality of the government. They are murderers."
(2022-02-02). COVID outbreaks hit more than 380 schools in Victoria, Australia in two days. wsws.org Victoria's education minister presented the widespread outbreaks, which have occurred in a day or two, not as a calamity, but as though all is going to plan.
(2022-02-02). US Has the Highest COVID Death Rate Among Wealthy Countries. truthout.org 
A new data analysis out Tuesday demonstrates that Covid-19 is now killing people at a significantly higher rate in the United States than in other rich countries, a grim reality that analysts have attributed to the nation's lagging vaccination campaign and — more broadly — its fragmented for-profit Citing figures from Johns Hopkins University, the World Bank, and the U.S. government,…
(2022-02-02). Wildcat strikes against high prices spread across Turkey amid pandemic. wsws.org As Erdogan's government has lifted all remaining measures against the COVID-19 pandemic and openly adopted a "herd immunity" policy, a wildcat strike wave against skyrocketing living costs is growing across the country.
(2022-02-02). IMF says to Nepal Rastra Bank: "COVID-19 related support measures in the financial sector should however be gradually unwound, and the remaining ones should be targeted and time bound. mronline.org 
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has expressed dissatisfaction over the role played by Nepal Rastra Bank to ensure stability of Nepal's banking sector.
(2022-02-02). Teachers Union Warns Pandemic Burnout Destroying Schools. scheerpost.com 
By Andrea Germanos / Common Dreams New polling out Tuesday reveals pervasive burnout among the nation's educators as pandemic-related staffing shortages and other difficulties drive a potential exodus from the teaching profession. Released by the National Education Association, the nation's largest union of any profession, the member survey shows, according to NEA president Becky Pringle, that "after persevering …
(2022-02-02). Neil Young and other artists leave Spotify in opposition to COVID-19 misinformation spread by podcaster Joe Rogan. wsws.org Neil Young and several other popular music artists have removed their works from Spotify in response to the dissemination of false information about the COVID-19 pandemic by Joe Rogan, a podcaster who has a $100 million contract with the platform.
(2022-02-02). An open letter to all Brazilian workers: The pandemic must be ended and lives saved in 2022! wsws.org The year 2022 is already marked by a new COVID-19 surge. Workers in Brazil and around the world must decide to act collectively and finally put an end to the COVID-19 pandemic.
(2022-02-02). Teachers union in Contra Costa, California prevents strike over COVID-19 safety measures. wsws.org Last Saturday, United Teachers of Richmond announced a tentative agreement to avert a strike of Bay Area teachers.