(2021-02-03). A Coup in Burma: Did Military Seize Power to Avoid ICC Prosecution for Rohingya Genocide? democracynow.org 
We speak with a Burmese dissident about the military coup underway in Burma as de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been arrested. The coup unfolded hours before lawmakers were to take their seats in the opening of parliament, following a November election in which Aung San Suu Kyi's party won over 80% of the contested seats in the Burmese parliament and the military made unsubstantiated claims of fraud. Hundreds of lawmakers, activists and human rights defenders have also been detained since the coup, and telecommunications have been cut in parts of Burma, which the military calls Myanmar. "The military decided…
(2021-02-03). Jeff Bezos to Quit as CEO, But Amazon's "Predatory Business Model" Will Continue Unless Lawmakers Act. democracynow.org 
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has announced he will step down as CEO and move into a new role as executive chairman later this year, giving up the reins after nearly three decades during which he grew Amazon from an online book retailer into a sprawling business empire and became one of the world's richest people in the process. Andy Jassy, the head of the company's cloud computing division, is set to take over the top job, but Bezos will continue to be the largest Amazon shareholder and remain on the board of directors. The news comes as calls continue to mount for lawmakers to break up Amazon and other tech giants.
(2021-02-03). Huawei Struggles in Smartphone Market as Sanctions Bite, Apple Profits. anti-empire.com 
Chinese telecom giant Huawei saw a substantial drop in both smartphone shipments and market share in China market in 2020, following a tough year of US government's strangle on semiconductors supply, allowing US rival Apple to rise to fill up the void. | Under the US' relentless assault, Huawei saw a drop in market share in China from 38.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019 to 25.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020, the only one of the top five smartphone makers in China whose share declined, an International Data Corp (IDC) report showed on Tuesday. | Industry experts said that Huawei's rare market share…
(2021-02-03). How the Gulf War Sparked China's Military Revolution. anti-empire.com 
Monday marks the 30th anniversary of Operation Desert Storm, when American-led coalition forces invaded With the technology and firepower on show during the conflict — precision bombing, satellite guidance, missile interception, air-to-surface strike to eliminat…
(2021-02-03). Russian Strike Jet Flies Low Past US Destroyer in the Black Sea. anti-empire.com 
A Russian warplane conducted a low pass near the USS Donald Cook on Sunday in the Black Sea, where the Navy has dispatched three ships for exercises. | The Sukhoi Su-24 fighter-bomber screeched past the U.S. destroyer while it was operating in international waters, the U.S. Navy's 6th Fleet said in a statement. | The Navy said it operates in the Black Sea to reassure allies in the region and "ensure security and stability." | USS Donald Cook is operating alongside the destroyer USS Porter and USNS Laramie, which is refueling the warships during operations. | Refueling at sea is fundamental for the Navy, but doing…
(2021-02-03). What Does It Mean for a Virus to Become 'Endemic?'. anti-empire.com 
We already forgot we flattened the curve to allow hospital capacity to increase. The supposed purpose of the lockdowns was not to stop the virus but merely to better ration medical resources. | We already overlooked the common sense espoused by the We already missed the opportunity vaccines offered for us to rehabilitate social interaction and the economy. | And now, if we fail to recognize when Covid becomes 'endemic' and move on, society will be stuck in lockdown until 2023. | Even if you lock down society for two weeks (or two months) [md…
(2021-02-03). Macron: AstraZeneca Vaccine Seems 'Quasi-Ineffective' for Over-65s. anti-empire.com 
French President Emmanual Macron said Friday the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine appeared to be "quasi-ineffective" on people older than 65 — just hours before the EU's drugs regulator "The real problem on AstraZeneca is that it doesn't work the way we were expecting it to," Macron told a group of reporters, including POLITICO, in Paris. "We're waiting for the EMA [European Medicines Agency] results, but today everything points to thinking it is quasi-ineffective on pe…
(2021-02-03). France, Sweden, Poland, Germany, France: Oxford/AstraZeneca Vaccine Not for Elderly. anti-empire.com 
The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine should be prioritized for people younger than 65, according to recommendations by government advisory bodies in France and Sweden on Tuesday, while Poland set its threshold at 60. | "Currently available data for people aged 65 and over are limited by a small sample size and don't allow for a conclusion on the safety and the efficacy of the [AstraZeneca] vaccine for this population," the French national authority for health (HAS) said. "The [AstraZeneca] vaccine is therefore recommended preferentially for health professionals under 65 and people under 65." | The three countries join…
(2021-02-03). After Most US Troops Pull Out of Somalia, Some Reenter for Training. anti-empire.com 
Editor's note: It appears the Pentagon never even fully withdrew as Trump had told them to, but kept some behind with an eye to Biden. |
| The U.S. military on Sunday held its first training engagement in Somalia after the recent drawdown of most American troops stationed there, Africa Command announced Monday. | "Our first engagement back into Somalia so quickly after the repositioning shows we remain committed to our Somali and regional partners and support their fight against violent extremism," U.S.
(2021-02-03). Activists Push to Ban Fracking. zcomm.org "We do not know what our future holds right now. But we do know that any further fossil fuel extraction will only further perpetuate this"
(2021-02-03). The decline and fall of the American Empire. nationofchange.org Will our leaders squander America's only hope for a successful transformation from a decadent and declining empire to a dynamic and prosperous post-imperial future?>
(2021-02-02). Bill Gates Has a New $1bn Yacht That Shows He Is Morally Superior to You Because It's Hydrogen-Powered. anti-empire.com 
Editor's note: A $1bn yacht might be the ultimate symbol of excess, conspicuous consumption, and waste. But make it "hydrogen-powered" and suddenly it's a symbol of virtue, or so the bottom-feeding press would have you believe (see an exhibit below if you can stomach it). | And at all that Gates did not even earn his fortune (that he is now using to help keep you in lockdown), but is a tax parasite owing all his ill-begotten wealth to a state-granted monopoly patent. These were rightfully abolished centuries ago, but for some reason when it comes to the bogus concept of "intellectual property" a "patent" can stil…
(2021-02-02). China's New Aircraft Carrier Killer Is World's Largest Air-Launched Missile. anti-empire.com 
Navies are racing to develop hypersonic missiles which may change the pace of naval warfare. Russia will deploy the Zircon hypersonic missile aboard warships and submarines. The US Navy has started down the path of the common hypersonic glide body (c-HGB) for its destroyers. Meanwhile China's latest hypersonic weapon is something completely different; it is air launched. | The massive new missile, labelled CH-AS-X-13, is probably the largest air-launched missile in the world. | The missile was first reported by Ankit Panda, the Stanton Senior Fellow at the Nuclear Policy Program, Carnegie Endowment for Internatio…
(2021-02-02). Facility for 'Quarantine Objectors' in Germany Ready for Inmates. anti-empire.com 
Machine translated from German | Today is the official start, but so far the rooms have not been used. Until Friday afternoon it was not foreseeable that the districts would already make use of the accommodation, said a spokeswoman for the district assembly. In the building on the grounds of the Moltsfelde juvenile detention center in Neumàºnster, there is space for up to six quarantine objectors. The cells are each twelve square meters in size and the facility is closed from the outside. The operator is the Segeberg district and makes them available to the other districts and independent cities. | Housi…
(2021-02-02). China's New Digital Currency — A Preemptive Move Against Domestic Big Tech, US Sanctions, and Cryptos. anti-empire.com 
The take is by a Hungarian engineer who used to work in China for their smartphone maker Oppo. I assume he knows his stuff: | Source:
(2021-02-02). Regime Journalists Mobilize to Ban Competition. And Your Free Speech. anti-empire.com 
"Like many of the other proponents of controlled speech mentioned here, Bazelon's writing has a detectable winking quality to it: Don't worry, dear reader, YOU'RE not the one who's going to be censored. THEY are. In fact, the censorship, so-called, won't even be that bad. You'll hardly notice it." | "One thing that people might not immediately recognize when they hear scary-sounding words like "censorship" is that the act of controlling other people's speech can be gratifying, a psychic net-positive for those who dream of a purified information space."The new enemy is no longer "disinformation" but "misinformatio…
(2021-02-02). Scientists Predict Humans Will Simply Be Giant Rolling Balls of Masks by 2024. anti-empire.com 
Experts are now predicting that humans will make a giant evolutionary leap forward in the next few years, moving from walking around on two legs to rolling around in a giant ball of masks, thanks to ever-evolving mask guidelines. | "At the current rate of mask growth, humans will evolve to just be rolling around in a giant ball of them within three years," said evolutionary biologist Bob Carson III. "As the mask arms race accelerates, we're already seeing humans wearing three, four, five, six, even seven masks. Projecting that rate out, assuming logarithmic growth — let's see, carry the one… yep. We're all…
(2021-02-02). Germany Rejects French Call to Scrap Russia Gas Pipeline Over Navalny. anti-empire.com 
France on Monday urged Germany to scrap a major gas pipeline project with Russia in protest over the detention in Moscow of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, but the plea fell on deaf ears in Berlin. | "We have always said we have the greatest doubts on this project in this context," European Affairs minister Clement Beaune told France Inter radio. | Asked specifically if France wanted Berlin to drop the project, Beaune said: "Indeed, we have already said this." | Nord Stream 2 is a 10 billion euro ($11 billion) pipeline that will run beneath the Baltic Sea and is set to double Russian natural-gas shipments to Ge…
(2021-02-02). Biden urged to publicly support rights of citizens to boycott Israel. middleeasteye.net 
Biden urged to publicly support rights of citizens to boycott Israel | Human Rights Watch calls on Biden administration to renounce Trump-era policy that labelled BDS movement as antisemitic | Tue, 02/02/2021 – 16: 47 | The BDS movement was founded in 2005 and modelled after a similar campaign credited with ending apartheid in South Africa (AFP/File photo) | A leading human rights group has called on US Presid…
(2021-02-02). On Inauguration Day, Police Nationwide Went After Left-Wing Protesters. truthout.org 
The storming of the U.S. Capitol by armed far right activists shifted the political climate for much of the U.S., despite the fact that anti-fascist activists and researchers had been warning for years that this type of response was imminent. While the tone and behavior of the far right had escalated since the election — a result of Donald Trump's failure to win a second term and his explosive conspiracy theories — the events on January 6 showed that the risks were not just street-level…
(2021-02-02). The government brags its 2020 badger-murdering spree was effective. But activists vow to stop the cull. thecanary.co The government has released its latest figures from the UK's annual badger cull, stating that the state-sanctioned murder spree was "effective" in 2020. The cull, which takes place between September and November, was already The Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA)
(2021-02-02). Biden Appoints Warmongers. popularresistance.org The corporate media has focused on Biden's promise to overturn many of former-President Trump's policies. But Biden pledged throughout his campaign to make "no substantial change" — and his foreign policy appointments show he meant that. Despite the media talk of justice, new policy and diversity, behind the scenes the same old U.S. militarist policies are being reinforced through Biden's cabinet choices and their direct ties to industry-funded think tanks and military contractors. | Biden's cabinet nominations follow the failed imperialist policies of the Trump, Obama, Bush Jr., Clinton and Bush Sr. admini…
(2021-02-02). Tampa activists rally against police brutality and Gov. DeSantis' anti-protest bill. fightbacknews.org Tampa, FL – On January 30, the Tampa Bay Community Action Committee (TBCAC), alongside other local organizations and around two dozen people gathered near city hall to demand that state legislators reject HB1, the repressive bill being proposed by Governor Ron DeSantis. | William Blake, a member of TBCAC, said, "This bill is a huge attack on those fighting for police accountability in Florida. It would legalize running over a protester, something we've seen many times in Tampa, as well as giving felonies to those exercising basic constitutional rights." The bill, which was proposed during the uprisings of the sum…
(2021-02-01). Boris Johnson and the Deaths of the Hundred Thousand. counterpunch.org Not exactly Thermopylae. Not even close. The hundred thousand who have now been taken by COVID-19 in Britain were not determined warriors holding up the forces of a mighty empire to save their land. They were the innocent victims of infection, mismanagement and miscalculation. Central to the policy which led to such losses was a
(2021-02-01). Guaido Prevents the Use of Frozen Funds for Vaccines. anti-empire.com 
Jan 21 (teleSUR) — The former lawmaker rejected a proposal of the legitimate government to allocate gold blocked in the United Kingdom to anti-COVID-19 vaccines. | Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza denounced Wednesday that former opposition deputy Juan Guaidó rejected a proposal by the legitimate government of the South American nation to allocate 120 million dollars, illegally withheld in the United Kingdom, to the purchase of anti-Covid-19 vaccines. | In a message disseminated through the social network Twitter, Arreaza detailed that this maneuver constitutes "another proof of the cruelty of Guaid…
(2021-02-01). Revolution Isn't Microsurgery, It's A Long Road Trip. thealtworld.com Every day it seems like there's more sectarian fighting within the online left than the day before. | Maybe it's because lockdowns and social distancing have largely cut us off from in-person interactions. Maybe it's because generations of government psyops geared at stopping socialism and activist groups have left us all paranoid and hostile. Maybe it's because of increased infiltration and propaganda as a dying empire approaches crunch time. Maybe we just tend to be a bit more neurotic than other ideological groups. Maybe it's a mixture. | It feels like a state of paralysis. Someone will suggest some possible w…
(2021-02-01). Hedges: Papering Over the Rot. scheerpost.com By Chris Hedges / Original to ScheerPost The death spiral of the American Empire will not be halted with civility. It will not be halted with the 42 executive orders signed by Joe Biden, however welcome many are, especially since they can, with a new chief executive, be immediately revoked. It will not be halted by removing Donald Trump, and the crackpot conspiracy theorists… |
(2021-02-01). Biden-Kerry International Climate Politricks. counterpunch.org 
Is U.S. President Joe Biden's January 27 Executive Order to address 'climate crisis' as good as many activists claim, enough to reverse earlier scepticism? To be sure, it's great that the word crisis is consistently deployed, not just 'climate change.' Applause is due Biden's commands to halt fossil fuel subsidies and new oil and gas
(2021-02-01). Military in Myanmar stages a coup, detains Aung San Suu Kyi and other political activists. peoplesdispatch.org 
The military declared that state power has been handed to the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, general Min Aung Hlaing, and a state of emergency has been imposed for one year…
(2021-02-01). Miriam Adelson Now Leads Sheldon's Pro-Israel Empire. anti-empire.com 
Casino magnate He is survived by his Israeli widow One of the He…
(2021-02-01). Much of Western Australia Is Thrown Into Mass House Arrest After a Single PCR Test Shows Up Positive. anti-empire.com 
South Australia and
(2021-02-01). Protest groups join forces to occupy Israeli arms company building. thecanary.co Demonstrators have blocked the entrance of a factory where they claim deadly arms are made. | Protesters from Palestine Action and Extinction Rebellion, armed with banners and red paint, said their early-morning raid on the Israeli-owned Elbit Ferranti factory in Oldham, Greater Manchester, is because they "will not accept an economy based on devastation, occupation and war". A press release from the two groups stated that: Activists from Palestine Action and Extinction Rebellion are occupying an Israeli-owned arms factory in Oldham, forcing the site to halt its production of deadly weapons. Several have blocked t…
(2021-02-01). 12 arrested in SWAT operation after activists armed with KNIVES & AXES briefly occupy hotel in Olympia, WA (VIDEOS). rt.com 
A dozen people were arrested after armed protesters attempted to forcibly take over the Red Lion Hotel in Olympia, Washington. A SWAT team cleared out the hotel and escorted guests and employees out of the building. | Demonstrators armed with hatchets, batons, and knives stormed the Red Lion Hotel in downtown Olympia on Sunday, reportedly assaulting an employee who tried to lock the establishment's doors. The rest of the staff barricaded themselves in the hotel's basement,
(2021-02-01). WATCH Thai police clash with opponents of military coup outside Myanmar's embassy in Bangkok. rt.com 
Thai police have broken up a protest rally staged by the opponents of a military coup in neighboring Myanmar. The activists gathered outside the country's embassy in Bangkok. | Some 200 Myanmarese expats and local Thai activists gathered for a spontaneous protest outside Myanmar's embassy, the Bangkok Post reported, citing police. They held flags of Myanmar's National League for Democracy (NLD), whose leader Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested by the military on Monday, as well as photos of Suu Kyi. | Students were seen distributing leaflets denouncing the coup. The Myanmarese constitute the largest migrant group in…
(2021-02-01). A US HR institute calls for lifting Iran sanctions. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Feb. 01 (MNA) — A US-based Human Rights Institute named "CODEPINK" called on the new US administration to lift sanctions imposed by US against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
(2021-02-01). French hijab wearers must navigate politics to keep identity. yenisafak.com Few issues trigger reactions in French politics as much as Muslim women donning the veil and headscarf, or hijab, who once again find themselves at the center of controversy as far-right leader Marine Le Pen last week proposed a nationwide ban of the garment on the streets and in public places.A day before world hijab day is marked on Feb. 1, activists from feminist group Nemesis, dressed in flowing black burqas, staged a protest in front of the Trocadero, overlooking the Eiffel tower. They held a large banner that read, "France in 50 years" in a visual assertion that this is the future of the country if "creepin…
(2021-02-01). 'An Ominous Moment': Human Rights Groups Sound Alarm as Military Coup Unfolds in Myanmar. commondreams.org "The concurrent arrests of prominent political activists and human rights defenders sends a chilling message that the military authorities will not tolerate any dissent amid today's unfolding events." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2021-02-01). City-State or Empire? The United Arab Emirates Seeks dominance in the Horn of Africa. juancole.com By Usman Butt | — ( Middle East Monitor) — Since the 2011 Arab Spring the United Arab Emirates has been taking an active role in a number of hotspots from Egypt, Libya to Yemen. The Gulf nation has spent $26 billion annually on its defence budget since 2016 and this is expected to increase …
(2021-02-01). From "Blue Homeland" to Reuniting the Ottoman Empire? globalresearch.ca All Global Research articles can be read in 27 languages by activating the "Translate Website" drop down menu on the top banner of our home page (Desktop version). | *** | "Mavi vatan," or "blue homeland," has become a common phrase in …
(2021-02-01). VVPD Targets Mutual Aid Event, Arrests and Assaults Activists. indybay.org Vacaville Police Department targeted a local mutual aid event, and made a targeted arrest of the same Black woman they have targeted for months. Four arrests were made, leading to several injured. Three short videos are attached that depict these violent arrests.
(2021-01-31). Tacoma activists clean encampments, dump trash at city manager's doorstep. liberationnews.org 
The message: Provide services like trash pickup and housing to our houseless community. Pay for it by firing her and killer cops!