Israeli Election, Democratic Primaries, the Coronavirus & more -- The Week in News and Opinion March 1 - 8

A supporter wearing a Netanyahu mask on election night in Israel

This week's list of articles, news items, visuals and opinion pieces that I see as a must if you are looking for a roundup that should be of interest to The Left Chapter readers.

This list covers the week of  March 1 - 8.

The round-up of international left news is presented in sections related to topic/region listed alphabetically except for the Featured Article post at the start.

Featured Article:

Police union says cops can’t do their job without beating up Black people

The police have shown us who they are, if we ever had any doubts. They are not interested in healing from racial profiling, in working with the Black community, or in changing police culture. And they made sure to leak this email so that the public knows it. If our officials continue to refuse to hold the police accountable while giving them more and more resources to be used in their “job” of unchecked violence against us, then they are also letting us know who they are.


This email lays it all bare. It is past time to do something about it.

Brazil:

- Brazil: Left-Wing Parties Unite Against Bolsonaro's Gov't

- Brazil: Protest in Sao Paulo Against Pension Reform

Canada:

- How the Trudeau government is failing the world's most vulnerable despite its 'feminist' aid policy

- Women, children turned away from shelters in Canada almost 19,000 times a month

- No compensation for parents of First Nations children that died in care, Justice lawyer tells tribunal

- Doug Ford gives reconciliation the shaft

- ‘Bait and Switch’: Doug Ford’s New Numbers On Special Education Staff Funding Are Not Adding Up

- Ontario backs down on increasing class sizes, e-learning in teacher negotiations

- Haligonians protest police brutality on Halifax Regional Police's doorstep

- Sask. RCMP member under investigation after post joking about machine-gunning protesters

- RCMP denied using facial recognition technology - then said it had been using it for months

- Alberta government to close, privatize campgrounds

- Challenging Alberta’s Austerity

- Buffalo Declaration a 'clear display of ignorance,' says Alberta treaty nation

- Foodora couriers are now dependent contractors—that's a problem for Big Tech

Chile:

- 'Our role is central': more than 1m Chilean women to march in huge protest

- Chile: Total Arrests Rise to 283 After Day of Protests

Climate Emergency:

- The Earth System and the capitalist system are incompatible

- Tropical forests losing their ability to absorb carbon, study finds

- 'Devastating': Great Barrier Reef in Danger of Catastrophic Bleaching as Temperatures in Australia Remain High

- FOSSIL CORALS SUGGEST A MASS EXTINCTION IS ON THE WAY: 'IT'S LIKE A SLOW-MOTION CAR CRASH'

Colombia:


Scenes from Colombia where student protesters clashed with the riot police.

Students took to the streets to resist neoliberal education policies and violent police repression of protests by Ivan Duque's right-wing government.



Coronavirus:

- Coronavirus Alarm Blends Yellow Peril and Red Scare

- Exclusive: The Strongest Evidence Yet That America Is Botching Coronavirus Testing

- The Official Coronavirus Numbers Are Wrong, and Everyone Knows It

- America is about to get a godawful lesson in why health care should never be a for-profit business

Democratic Primary:

- 'What More Do You Need to Know?' Health Insurance Stocks Drive Wall Street Rebound on Biden Super Tuesday Wins

- The Case Against Joe Biden: Former VP’s Long Career Shows a Recurring Theme of “Appeasing the Right”

- Elizabeth Warren ends Democratic presidential campaign

- Mike Bloomberg quits 2020 race after spending more than $500m

- Super Tuesday fury as ‘thousands of voters’ in black and Latino neighbourhoods forced to queue for hours in Texas

- #WithTheseHands is Sanders' Super Tuesday, inspiring shot across the bow of American politics

- There Have Been 21 Debate Questions About Paying For Social Programs, Zero About Paying For War

Europe:

- Luxembourg becomes first country in world to provide free public transport

- Ukrainian communists warn Kiev planning a year of glorifying nazis

- VIKTOR ORBAN'S ANTI-ROMA CAMPAIGN IN HUNGARY IS BEING LEGITIMIZED BY TRUMP AND WESTERN LEADERS, ACTIVIST WARNS

Greek-Turkish Refugee Crisis:

- Refugees trapped on Greek-Turkish border attacked from both directions

- EU chief praises Greece as 'shield' of Europe after police attack refugees at border

- Two dead and hundreds more in distress as chaos ensues at Greece-Turkey border

- Refugee boats leaving Turkey for Greece attacked at sea

Guyana:

- No Winner Declared for Guyanese Elections Amid Court Hearing

- Guyana: Electoral Dispute to Continue in Court Amid Discontent

- Guyana: Ruling Party Claims Victory With Contested Data

India:

Delhi riots: Survivors tell their stories


In this ground report, we spoke to families that were displaced due to the mob violence during the anti-Muslim riots in Delhi, India. The families recall their horrifying tales of escaping from their homes as mobs set fire to everything they owned. Nearly 50 people lost their lives and countless people lost their livelihoods during the violence. Neither the Delhi state government or the Indian central government has done much to help these families.




- Inside Delhi: beaten, lynched and burnt alive

- Delhi Violence: India's Communist Party Holds Street March Demanding Top Court-Monitored Probe

International Women's Day / Feminism:

- International Women's Day: events highlighting gender inequality take place around the world

- Why the working-class, socialist history of International Women’s Day matters today

- Photos: Strong Latin American contingents feature at IWD marches across Australia

- 8M: Latin American women prepare for record feminist marches

- Bill Maher Goes Full Sexist, Defends Chris Matthews and Mocks His Sexual Harassment Accuser

- Universal Childcare Would Have Changed My Mom's Life

Israel / Palestine:

- Gazan Girl Fighting Cancer Died After Israel Denied Her Parents' Visit. She Won't Be the Last

- Israel arrests Palestinian man on the day of his release after 18-year sentence

- Israel lobby scores own goal as football charity stands by Ken Loach

- Israel election: Netanyahu begins coalition talks

- Israel Election Results: Netanyahu Reaps the Fruits of a Messianic, Racist and Nationalist Decade

- ‘An Earthquake’: How Israel’s Arabs Achieved Their Historic Election Win

- Celine Dion to perform on ethnically cleansed land

- Anti-Muslim bigots to address AIPAC

Mexico:

- Mexico Vows to End Violence Against Indigenous Women

Poland:

- International Communist and workers' parties rally against rightist persecution in Poland and Europe

- Stop the falsification of history and persecution in Poland!

- Young Communist League protests at Polish embassy over persecution of its comrades

Porn & Prostitution:

- ‘Sex work’: Why we are not buying it

South & Central America:

- Ernesto Cardenal, Nicaraguan Priest, Poet and Revolutionary, Dies at 95

- Remembering the Heroism of Activist Berta Cáceres Four Years After Her Assassination: an Interview With Her Daughter

- Evo Morales: 'We'll Restore the Dignity of the Bolivian People'

- Venezuela: How grassroots solidarity is helping to break the US blockade

United Kingdom:

- Labour leadership: Rebecca Long-Bailey vows to rewrite party’s constitution to enshrine fight against climate emergency

- Sheikh’s daughter called UK police after kidnap, lawyer claims

United States:

- Barricades Go Up In Santa Cruz As UC Wide Wildcat Strike Expands Following Firings

- The 50-year fight by radical evangelicals that could end US abortion rights

- Children as young as eight picked coffee beans on farms supplying Starbucks

- Target raised wages. Then it cut workers' hours and doubled their workload

- Alabama to execute Nathaniel Woods on Thursday despite questions about his culpability in killing of 3 police officers

Wet'suwet'en:

- Solicitor General Mike Farnworth authorized redeploying RCMP resources in response to Coastal GasLink's injunction

- Turns out the BC NDP government authorized the RCMP attack into Wet'suwet'en after all

- Ecosocialists and UBCIC demand Mike Farnworth's resignation for authorizing RCMP's massive show of force

- First Nation deal won’t stop pipeline, Horgan says

- What If We’d Gone Hard for Treaties Instead of Fossil Fuels?

- Groups linked to oil companies funded Facebook ads denouncing the rail blockades

- Mohawks face online threats, hate as protest continues

- The blockades no one talks about devastate Indigenous economies

Zambia:

- Capitalism to blame for chaos in Zambia, says Musumali

Wet’suwet’en, Iran, Bernie Sanders & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos January 12 - 19

This week's list of articles, news items, opinion pieces and videos that I see as a must if you are looking for a roundup that should be of interest to The Left Chapter readers.

This list covers the week of  January 12 - 19.


The round-up links, videos and photos are presented in sections related to topic/region listed alphabetically except for links and videos related to situation in Wet’suwet’en which are at the start along with the Featured Article post.

Featured Article:

- Paul Krugman in Imperial Fantasy Land

"You’ve heard this song before, and I’ll spare you the purple prose. Before Trump, America stood for a rules-based international order. And while we accidentally bumbled our way into killing millions of Vietnamese and Koreans, conquered Haiti and Puerto Rico, toppled (at one point or another) most of the governments in South America, occupied the Philippines, waged genocidal wars against Native Americans and fought for decades in the heart of the Islamic world, we are, and have always been, the good guys. At least until a febrile real estate conman with a short attention span and nasty temper fumbled his way into the White House and stopped mouthing the comforting pieties that we all expect from a president."

Wet’suwet’en:

- Horgan says ‘rule of law applies,’ Coastal GasLink will proceed despite protests

"Fuck the RCMP
John Horgan is committing genocide against indigenous people.
#reconciliation? #UNDRIP? 🇨🇦?
Colonialists speak from two faces,

...and they both lie."

- The Colonizer Always Comes Out

- Horgan’s Pipeline Push Betrays His Reconciliation Promise

- Horgan, Trudeau and Singh show once more "progressive" rhetoric about reconciliation is a sham

- BC Civil Liberties enters Coastal GasLink fray

- Canada's long history of criminalizing Indigenous resistance

- ‘Show some respect’: Horgan criticized for LNG plant visit that skips Indigenous leaders

- Grand Chief Stewart Phillip & Peter McCartney: Canada must stop violating Indigenous human rights for megaprojects

- Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs seek UN's help after Premier John Horgan says Coastal GasLink pipeline will be built

- ‘Rule of law’ isn’t only B.C., Canadian law: Bellegarde

- Horgan Won’t Meet Wet’suwet’en on Northern Tour

- ‘A colossal waste’: BC Hydro report hints at cost overruns at Site C dam

- COPS AND CORPORATIONS OUT OF WET’SUWET’EN TRADITIONAL TERRITORY

Africa:

- African Centre: 2,500+ detained in Sudan oppression campaign a year ago

- Libya: Before and After Muammar Gaddafi

- Socialist Party of Zambia presidential candidate Dr. Fred M’membe calls for a clear and radical socialist program

- WE’RE ON A TIME BOMB…M’membe worries about housing, water, sanitation as population grows

Bolivia:

- The Coup in Bolivia: Lessons for our Movement

- Bolivia's Movement to Socialism Party Forms Presidential Plan

- Bolivia's Anti-Imperialist Army School Renamed After Che's Assassins

- Bolivia: 400 Doctors Trained in Cuba and Venezuela to be Fired

- 'No Time Extension to Coup-Born Regime' Bolivian Workers Warn

- Bolivia: Senate Approves Constitutional Guarantee Law

Brazil:

- Brazil's Peoples: Bolsonaro Means Genocide, Ethnocide, Ecocide

- Brazil’s far-right government backed terror plot against Venezuela, top newspaper reveals

- Brazil's culture minister fired after echoing Goebbels

Canada:

- Quebec Green Party leader to join federal leadership race as an 'eco-socialist' candidate

- Federal Infrastructure Bank Says It Sees ‘Potential’ to Privatize Local Water Systems Across Canada

- 'I did not kill her': Justice officials withheld report signalling no homicide while Alberta man sat in prison

- B.C. appoints special prosecutor to probe Crown conduct in decade-old child murder case

- Halifax woman says she was racially profiled by Wal-Mart employees who wrongfully accused her of theft, then beaten by police

- Protesters rally at Walmart in support of Santina Rao

- Doug Ford Wants Education in Ontario To Be More Like Education in ‘Alabama’. Here’s Why That’s a Bad Idea.

- Angry Parent Featured in Toronto Sun Article Criticizing Teachers Has Ties to Doug Ford’s Education Minister

- Doug Ford’s Education Minister Can’t Explain How His Own Education Reforms Benefit Kids During Trainwreck Interview

- Secret Document Exposes Doug Ford’s Plan To Replace Human Teachers With Cheap Computers

- 'I'm appalled': Lawyers alarmed as Ottawa gives more powers to U.S. border officers at Canadian airports

- 'My Parkdale is gone': how gentrification reached the one place that seemed immune

- Sask. child poverty numbers second-highest in Canada: report

- RACISM A REALITY IN CANADA

China:

- My Trip to China Exposed the Shameful Lies Peddled by the American Empire

- Xi urges all parties to work toward socialist goals

- The Green New Deal and China’s Green Revolution

Climate Emergency:

- 'Our Planet Is Seriously Burning and the Adults Keep Letting Us Down': Ninth Circuit Throws Out Youth Climate Case

- 'You Have Not Seen Anything Yet,' Thunberg Warns Ahead of Davos

- Scientists: Ocean Warming at the Rate of Five A-Bombs per Second

- Ocean temperatures hit record high as rate of heating accelerates

- No one will be untouched by a warming planet, scientists say

- UN draft plan sets 2030 target to avert Earth's sixth mass extinction

- Australia Fire Smoke Will Complete a Full Circuit of Earth, NASA Says

- Australia fires are harbinger of planet’s future, say scientists

- 'It's heart-wrenching': 80% of Blue Mountains and 50% of Gondwana rainforests burn in bushfires

Europe:

- “Sweden Does Not Constitute an Example of ‘Welfarism’ or the Success of Social Democracy”

- Neo-Nazis on course to win second place in Slovakia election next month

- Danish trade unions demand hike in minimum wages

- Spain’s First Communist Minister Since 1939 Was Just Sworn In Today

- Greece’s Communist Party’s (KKE) Koutsoumbas: We are in the Midst of Serious Developments

- Turkey's Peoples’ Democratic Party vows to block government's sickening child rape bill

- People Before Profit offer ‘radical alternative’ to Fianna Fail and Fine Gael

France:

- PROTESTS CONTINUE IN FRANCE AGAINST PENSION REFORM

- Macron Evacuated From Parisian Theater Due to Protests

- Pension reform rout, top-priority for French communists

- The yellow vests and the erosion of trade union strength

Germany:

- The bombs of the last war and preparations for the next rattle Germany

- German government to continue military operations in the Middle East

- German crackdown on Palestine defenders prompts UN warning

Ideas:

- Capitalism deserves zero credit for making the world a better place

- A Communist Designed Your Kitchen

- How Soviet books brought literacy and socialist culture to the Third World

Iran:

- Barr and Pompeo shift justification for Iran strike from 'imminent' threat to deterrence

- Pompeo says killing of Suleimani is part of 'bigger strategy' to deter US foes

- Trump: Doesn't Really Matter If Soleimani Posed Imminent Threat

- On Iran, Canada toes the imperial line

- PayPal accused of attacks on free speech after blocking donations to independent media over Iran

- Facebook admits censoring posts supporting slain Iranian General Qassem Soleimani

- Facebook’s Soleimani Ban Flies in Face of First Amendment

- Communist and workers' parties issue joint statement on criminal attack of US in Middle East

- Khamenei regime has no authority to rule Iran, says Tudeh Party

Israel / Palestine:

- Matteo Salvini Vows to Recognize Jerusalem as Israeli Capital

- Palestinians Benefit From China-Funded Desalination Plants

- Activists make unprecedented attempt to cut Gaza fence in protest of 13-year Israeli siege

- Israeli warplanes pummel Gaza

- Released Palestinian political prisoner details alleged torture by Israeli forces

- Abby Martin Blocked From Speaking at Georgia Southern for Refusing to Sign Pro-Israel Loyalty Oath

- Why is Jagmeet Singh ignoring progressive voices on Palestine?

- Israel Breaches Law, Transfers 34 Palestinian Minors From Prisons

Korea:

- For the dismissed workers of the 2009 Ssangyong motors strike, the struggle continues

Middle East:

- Over 330 People Wounded in Lebanon After Clashes in Beirut

- Saudi Arabia executed record number of people in 2019, human rights group says

- Sadr Calls for a "Million-Man March" Against US Troops in Iraq

- Refuting Pompeo claim, Iraq sticks to demand that U.S. troops get out

- Syrian-Kurdish politician was executed by Turkey-backed forces, new evidence suggest

South and Central America;

- 15 community leaders assassinated in Colombia in 2020

- Chile: President faces lowest approval rate amid protests

- Guatemalan organizations denounce political persecution of Indigenous leader Daniel Pascual

Sports:

- John Carlos Responds to the New Olympics Ban on Political Protest

United Kingdom:

- 5,000 people died before being repaid over benefits error

- Left wing? You may be on police extremism list

- Momentum confirms it's backing Long Bailey for the Labour leadership

- Boris Johnson's pick to help lead Grenfell inquiry linked to cladding firm

- BBC chiefs deny propaganda role as papers reveal links to intelligence services

- British Jewish Board of Deputies launches 10 Plagues against Palestine solidarity

- Socialist Jews challenge Labour leadership candidates for supporting BoD's 10-point pledges

United States:

- Hijacking the Struggles of Others, Elizabeth Warren Style

- 'CNN Is Truly a Terrible Influence on This Country': Democratic Debate Moderators Pilloried for Centrist Talking Points and Anti-Sanders Bias

- AT THE IOWA DEBATE, BERNIE SANDERS’S MOST VOCIFEROUS OPPONENT WAS CNN

- CNN’s Sanders Hit Piece Doesn’t Pass the Smell Test

- The Silicon Valley Economy Is Here. And It’s a Nightmare.

- Virginia Declares State of Emergency After Armed Militias Threaten to Storm the Capitol

- This Conspiracy Theory Is Firing Up Pro-Gun Activists Right Before Their Huge Rally

- The FBI Has Begun Arresting Members of a Notorious Nazi Terror Cell

- FBI arrests reveal shocking details in case against former Canadian reservist Patrik Mathews

- Why Manhattan’s Skyscrapers Are Empty

- Police Said They Wouldn’t Be “Confrontational.” Then They Came in Riot Gear to Arrest Homeless Moms.

- Sprawling Homeless Camps — Modern 'Hoovervilles' — Vex California

- “Capitalism Won’t Save Black People”

- Missouri bill proposes 'parental library review boards' that could land librarians in jail

- Kshama Sawant’s inauguration a battle cry to ‘Tax Amazon’

- The Members of Congress Who Profit From War

- US listed climate activist group as ‘extremists’ alongside mass killers

Venezuela:

- In Venezuela, reactionary Guaidó humiliated by assembly defeat

- Venezuela, China Have Signed More Than 500 Bilateral Agreements

- ‘Latin America in Constant Siege from US’: Venezuela’s FM

- “The Dream of my Fifth Olympics Fades Away”: Canada Denies Visa to Venezuelan Fencer (Sanctions)

- Venezuela explains to France that Juan Guaido presides over nothing

- Juan Guaido Wants to Silence teleSUR by Taking Over TV Signal

- Cuban President Condemns Guaido's Threats Against teleSUR