The #WHO and #China’s #Coronavirus Outbreak

WHO Impressed by Chinese Response to Coronavirus Outbreak

By Padraig McGrath, January 30, 2020

The Chinese government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak might not quite match those Herculean feats of crisis-management, but the news of the past few days is nonetheless somewhat reminiscent of Kosygin’s achievements. In Geneva on January 29th, the World Health Organization team assembled to address the coronavirus outbreak gave a glowing assessment of the Chinese government’s response to the crisis.

 

Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’ Won’t Bring Peace – That Was the Plan

By Jonathan Cook, January 30, 2020

Much of Donald Trump’s long-trailed “deal of the century” came as no surprise. Over the

past 18 months, Israeli officials had leaked many of its details. The so-called “Vision for Peace” unveiled on Tuesday simply confirmed that the US government has publicly adopted the long-running consensus in Israel: that it is entitled to keep permanently the swaths of territory it seized illegally over the past half-century that deny the Palestinians any hope of a state.

 

Trump’s Skewed Vision Gives Israel Everything It Wants

By Michael Jansen, January 30, 2020

Negotiate what? Trump’s “vision” gives Israel everything it wants on the issues meant to be negotiated with the Palestinians: Borders, Israeli colonies, Jerusalem and refugees. Under the 1993 Oslo accord, these issues were supposed to be negotiated by Palestinians and Israelis. Trump has unilaterally cancelled the land-for-peace formula, the 1993 Oslo Accord and the subsequent peace process. Trump is determined to dictate the outcome on these issues and to “legitimise” Israeli “acquisition of territory by force”, which is inadmissible under the UN Charter and international law, and illegal colonisation of occupied Palestinian land.

 

The FBI Has Been Lying About Seth Rich

By Craig Murray, January 30, 2020

A Freedom of Information request to the FBI which did not mention Seth Rich, but asked for all email correspondence between FBI Head of Counterterrorism Peter Strzok, who headed the investigation into the DNC leaks and Wikileaks, and FBI attorney Lisa Page, has revealed two pages of emails which do not merely mention Seth Rich but have “Seth Rich” as their heading. The emails were provided in, to say the least, heavily redacted form.

 

How Not to Fight Antisemitism

By Independent Jewish Voices, January 30, 2020

Antisemitism is a form of racism and as such must be opposed on general anti-racist principles, in solidarity with other anti-racist struggles and in concert with the principles of human rights and equality for all. Unfortunately, both the government of Israel and Zionist groups the world over are using society’s legitimate concern about antisemitism to redefine it to include criticism of Israel and the Zionist ideology behind it. Their goal is to suppress — and even criminalize — criticism of Israel and support for Palestinian rights. Indeed, according to a recent survey, almost half of Canadian Jews believe that accusations of antisemitism are “often used to silence legitimate criticism of Israeli policies.”

 

Is Singapore About to Become a U.S. Military Hub Against China?

By Paul Antonopoulos, January 30, 2020

Singapore, a small but well-armed island nation in Southeast Asia, with 72,000 troops in the army, was approved by the United States in early January 2020 to acquire 12 F-35Bs, along with necessary equipment such as spare engines, parts, electronics, equipment, and simulators, at a contract price of $2.75 billion. The Singaporean Air Force has 316 aircraft, 16 squadrons and 14,800 troops at four Air Force bases, with most of the offensive power being 40 F-15s and 60 F-16s. The Air Force is impressive but not so much compared to other regional and great powers. Singapore’s Defense Minister, Ng Eng Hen, emphasized that the American made war planes is intended to gradually replace the F-16 fighter that is now mostly used by the Singaporean Air Force – and this could be a gamechanger against Chinese interests in the region.

 

Impeachment and the Imperial Presidency

By Donald Monaco, January 30, 2020

In reality, Trump is being impeached because he crossed an unspoken red line in American politics by deliberately sticking his thumb in the eye of the Washington establishment.  He did so by winning an election he was not supposed to win defeating two political dynasties along the way, the Bush’s and the Clinton’s.  He threatened to ‘drain the swamp’ and fight political corruption when he took up residence in the White House.  He promised to end unnecessary and costly wars in the Middle East.  Most egregiously, he pledged to seek peaceful relations with Russia once elected.  Finally, he said some nasty things about Mexicans, Muslims, the media and the ruling class that exposed several fault lines in American society that those in power would prefer remain hidden from view.  In short, Trump polarized the United States in ways that threaten the stability of the political order while simultaneously perpetuating the economic and social inequalities protected by the political establishment he attacked.