Daily Archives: October 19, 2020

2020-10-19: News Headlines

Dean Baker (2020-10-19). Waiting for a Vaccine and the Collaborative Research Alternative. counterpunch.org It seems increasingly likely that China will begin providing vaccines to its own people, as well as those in some other countries, by December, and possibly as early as next month. The prospect of a vaccine being available that soon has to look good to people here, now that the Trump administration's pandemic control efforts

Asharq Al-Awsat (2020-10-19). China Fires Health Officials after New COVID-19 Outbreak. globalresearch.ca A hospital president and the director of the health commission in the northern Chinese city of Qingdao have been fired after China's latest coronavirus outbreak, authorities said Thursday. | A brief notice on the Qingdao city government's official microblog Thursday said …

Andrew Korybko (2020-10-19). The Expiration Of The Iranian Arms Embargo Opens Up Exciting Opportunities. thealtworld.com The 13-year-long anti-Iranian arms embargo expired on Sunday, which creates exciting opportunities for the Islamic Republic to strengthen its national defense capabilities and cultivate even deeper relations with its top strategic partners such as China and Russia, possibly even playing them off against one another in a "friendly competition" so as to derive the greatest benefit. | The End Of The Embargo | The US is enraged that the UN let the 13-year-long anti-Iranian arms embargo

RT (2020-10-19). Wikipedia says Hunter Biden scandal 'DEBUNKED', as editing war rages & new page emerges calling it a 'conspiracy'. rt.com Allegations of corruption against ex-Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter have apparently been "debunked" and are merely a "conspiracy theory" according to Wikipedia, where editors are battling over the terms. | Hunter Biden was the subject of an explosive report last week as the New York Post published emails alleging that he involved his father in dodgy business dealings in Ukraine and China. | While the story is still unfolding, the Wikipedia page for Hunter Biden simply

RT (2020-10-19). DNI Ratcliffe says 'NO EVIDENCE' of Russian interference in Hunter Biden scandal, accuses Schiff of 'politicizing intelligence'. rt.com US Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe has refuted claims that alleged emails detailing Hunter Biden's business dealings in Ukraine and China when his father was VP are part of a Russian election interference effort. | "Hunter Biden's laptop is not part of some Russian disinformation campaign," Ratcliffe said during a Monday interview on Fox Business. "The intelligence community doesn't believe that because there is no intelligence that supports that," he added. | pic.twitter.com/49SSjhfQuN— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) MEE staff (2020-10-19). UK parliament to probe reports UAE 'torture' chief could become head of Interpol. middleeasteye.net UK parliament to probe reports UAE 'torture' chief could become head of Interpol | Inquiry will hear that the global police organisation is open to manipulation by 'rogue' member states including Russia, China and the UAE | Mon, 10/19/2020 – 13: 11 | UAE security chief Nasser Ahmed al-Raisi, left, pictured in 2018 (Wikicommons) | British MPs will be told this week that Russia is a "criminal state" which is "ab…

Kester Kenn Klomegah (2020-10-19). Energy Research Platform Takes Central Stage Under Russia's BRICS Chairmanship. globalresearch.ca After the Ufa declaration in 2015, BRICS, an association of five major emerging economies that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has made energy cooperation one of its priorities besides attaining an admirable significant influence on regional affairs …

WSWS (2020-10-19). Communist Party of the Philippines targets Chinese firms blacklisted by Washington. wsws.org The leadership of the CPP explained it would be targeting Chinese firms in interviews with Radio Free Asia, an official organ of US government propaganda directed against China.

Newsclick (2020-10-19). What's behind the conflict in Caucasus, Central Asia? peoplesdispatch.org Newsclick's Prabir Purkayastha analyzes the developments in Kyrgyzstan and Nagorno Karabakh and examines the geo-political issues involved. He looks at the strategy of western powers to destabilize the region and the response of countries like Russia and China.

Nauman Sadiq (2020-10-19). The Biden Campaign and China's Oligarchs. globalresearch.ca In two bombshell reports, Emma-Jo Morris and Gabrielle Fonrouge of the New York Post have leveled damning allegations of Hunter Biden's murky financial dealings with Ukrainian and Chinese oligarchs. As expected, $50,000 remuneration paid by Burisma Holdings of Ukraine …

_____ (2020-10-19). A Milestone For South African Shack Dwellers Movement. popularresistance.org The shack dwellers' movement of South Africa marked 15 years of struggle for land, housing and dignity on October 4. It held a seminar, Sifike kanjani la? (How did we get to where we are?) and, the following day, relaunched the eKhenana branch of the movement. | The celebration of the 15th anniversary of the formation of AbM was held at the eKhenana Occupation in Cato Manor, Durban. This occupation has an office, a farm, a recreation center and a political school, which is called The Frantz Fanon Political School. The first seeds for the farm were received from the MST (Landless Workers Movement) in Brazil.

_____ (2020-10-19). Dangers of Military Confrontation Between the United States and China Around Taiwan and in the South China Sea. strategic-culture.org Over the past two years, the United States has dramatically increased the number of U.S. Navy aircraft carriers and destroyers sent into the South China Sea as a freedom of navigation show of force missions to remind the Chinese government that the U.S. considers the Western Pacific and the South China Sea as a part of the oceans of America and its allies.

_____ (2020-10-19). The Two Undersides to Geo-Politics. strategic-culture.org At the explicit level, today's geo-political struggle is about the U.S. maintaining its primacy of power — with financial power being a subset to this political power. Carl Schmitt, whose thoughts had such influence on Leo Strauss and U.S. thinking generally, advocated that those who have power should 'use it, or lose it'. The prime object of politics therefore being to preserve one's 'social existence'. | But at the underside, Tech de-coupling from China is one implicit aspect to such a strategy (camouflaged beneath the catch-phrase of recovering 'stolen' U.S. jobs and intellectual property): The prize tha…

Mehr News Agency (2020-10-19). Lifting Iran arms embargo, result of JCPOA efficiency: China. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Oct. 19 (MNA) — Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson said that lifting Iran's arms embargo is the result of efficiency of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

F. William Engdahl (2020-10-18). Towards a US-China War? The Creation of a Global Totalitarian System, A "One World Government"? globalresearch.ca The dominant dynamic defining world geopolitics is the appearance of a genuine irregular conflict between the 2 most formidable powers on the planet: China & the US. Only this time the aim is a universal totalitarian system. David Rockefeller called it a "one world government."

sputniknews (2020-10-17). Tehran Declares Arms Embargo Lifted, Iran Free to Procure, Export Arms as Sees Fit. sputniknews.com In 2015, Iran signed the JCPOA with China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and the European Union, requiring Iran to scale back its nuclear program and severely downgrade its uranium reserves in exchange for sanctions relief, including lifting the arms embargo five years after the deal's adoption.

Louis Proyect (2020-10-16). Can an Eco-Socialist Revolution Save China? counterpunch.org On August 19, 2019, I unfurled my degrowth banner in a CounterPunch article titled "Ecological Limits and the Working Class" and followed it up with a review of leading degrowth theorist Giorgos Kallis's "Limits: Why Malthus Was Wrong and Why Environmentalists Should Care" just six months later. Having read dozens of articles on degrowth over

RT (2020-10-16). ABC ignores elephant in the room, asks Biden ZERO QUESTIONS about censored NY Post scoops on his son's overseas business dealings. rt.com ABC held a 90-minute town hall with Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden without asking a single question about this week's New York Post stories on alleged scandals involving his son's business dealings in Ukraine and China. | Host George Stephanopoulos steered clear of…

Joshua Cho (2020-10-16). No, China didn't 'stall' critical Covid information at outbreak's start. mronline.org Now that some time has passed since the beginning of the outbreak, it's worth revisiting the less-conspiratorial corporate media narrative that the Chinese government maliciously or incompetently delayed the release of critical information early on, thereby causing many unnecessary deaths.

Dave DeCamp (2020-10-16). Esper: Pentagon School to Focus Half of Its Curriculum on China. globalresearch.ca Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said on Thursday that

sputniknews (2020-10-16). Ten Percent Worldwide: Apple iPhone Manufacturer FoxConn Targets Electric Cars Market. sputniknews.com Taiwan-based iPhone maker Foxconn has launched a platform aimed at equipping automobile companies with services, planning to become the Android of electric vehicles. Foxconn hopes to get its new open-source platform into 10 percent of all electric cars in the world by 2025 or 2027.

RT (2020-10-15). Hunter Biden pursued deals worth tens of million in China, struck bargains for 'his family,' NEW email leaks allege. rt.com Freshly leaked emails suggest that Joe Biden's son, Hunter, stood to make tens of millions of dollars working for a Chinese energy firm, and allegedly called a deal with the firm's chairman "interesting to me and my family." | The emails — supposedly recovered from a laptop in a Delaware computer repair shop — were published by the New York Post on Thursday, one day after the paper published

Paul Antonopoulos (2020-10-15). Cambodia Has Become China's Unofficial Representative in ASEAN. asia-pacificresearch.com

sputniknews (2020-10-15). Chinese Ambassador Urges Canada Not to Grant Asylum to Hong Kong Protesters. sputniknews.com TORONTO (Sputnik) – China's Ambassador to Canada Cong Peiwu urged Ottawa during a video conference not to grant asylum to Hong Kong protesters.

yenisafak (2020-10-15). China says inflation down in September. yenisafak.com Limping back to economic recovery, China's inflation went down in September, latest data by the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Thursday. The consumer price index (CPI) rose to 1.7% year-on-year last month, narrowing by 0.7 point from August's rise.The country witnessed food prices rise to 7.9% year-on-year in September, down 3.3 points compared to August.The overall drop in some food and crude oil prices brought the inflation down.Senior NBS statistician Dong Lijuan said the market conditions were "generally orderly".China saw vegetable prices rose 17.2% in September while egg, chicken, and…