(2020-08-27). Who benefits from TikTok's sale? peoplesdispatch.org In this episode of Talking Science and Tech, Prabir Purkayastha discusses the recent revelations on how Facebook's lobbying influenced the current US stance on TikTok. He talks about how US has always been above international law, and this time as well, the country is using the guise of national security to protect its companies and keep competition such as TikTok from becoming too big.
(2020-08-27). We Gawk At Nonsense Political Theater While The Real Enemies Go Unnoticed. popularresistance.org Donald Trump speeches. Celebrity tweets. Corporate news repetition. Chaos. Vapidity. Manufactured dissent. Graphic fighting sports. | This is what fills our field of vision. It consumes our thoughts, overflows our brains with anti-intellectual mud. Yet most of these things are the bug splatter across the windshield. They are not the actual highway, the path forward, actually deserving of our focus. | Looking beyond these distractions, one can see what really matters. The true stuff of life and death and oppression and justice.
(2020-08-27). Democrats Wage #TrumpChaos 'War' Campaign via Billboards in DC Amid RNC Convention. sputniknews.com The Democratic National Committee (DNC) launched the Twitter hashtag #TrumpChaos, fueling both offline and online campaigns against US President Donald Trump, attacking the president for how he uses the coronavirus pandemic and condemning him for attempting to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
(2020-08-27). Twitterstorm as India's Apex Court Disallows Muharram Processions, Saying Muslims Could Be Targeted. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): Shia Muslims observe Muharram by mourning the death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Hussein Ibn Ali, on the 10th day of the first month of the Islamic calendar, falling on 29 August. People gather in streets for processions with decorated "Tazia" – a replica of a coffin – and perform ceremonial chest-beating.
(2020-08-27). Video: Three US Officers Raid Wrong Home, Point Gun at Innocent Woman. sputniknews.com Three Nashville, Tennessee, police officers have been decommissioned after raiding the wrong home on August 18.
(2020-08-27). Obama Is Wrong, Trump Doesn't Use Twitter Enough. strategic-culture.org Not surprisingly Barack Obama has risen from the murky grey realm of former U.S. Presidents to support his old right-hand man Joe Biden by emotionally criticizing Trump. The
(2020-08-27). Home Office accused of 'assault on rule of law' over rhetoric on refugees. thecanary.co The Home Office has been accused of an "assault on the rule of law" over its comments about "activist lawyers" who are representing refugees. | Home secretary Priti Patel's department has faced fierce criticism from legal figures over a video posted to its Twitter account about its efforts to remove refugees from the UK. | The clip, which has been viewed nearly a million times in less than 24 hours, says that current regulations are "allowing activist lawyers to delay and disrupt returns". | The comments have been criticised by various legal figures including immigration lawyers Duncan Lewis, who described them a…
(2020-08-27). US' Pompeo pays surprise visit to Oman. yenisafak.com US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Oman Thursday for an unannounced stopover."Arrived in Oman and will meet with Omani Sultan Haitham bin Tarik Al Said," Pompeo wrote on his Twitter account.Before Oman, Pompeo paid a visit Israel, Sudan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during his Mideast tour."I look forward to discussing efforts to build unity among the Gulf Cooperation Council and build on the momentum to advance regional peace and prosperity," Pompeo added.Although his visit was not announced by the State Department, some media reports revealed that Pompeo is visiting two countries within…
(2020-08-26). Anti-Trump Twitter UNWOKES itself to go after Melania for being an immigrant and a woman following RNC speech. rt.com 
Anti-Republican partisans online appeared to abandon any pro-women and pro-immigrant rhetoric to mock Melania Trump's accent, appearance and even to doubt her visa following the first lady's RNC speech. | In her address at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday, Melania The speech's substance was largely ignored by some Twitter users, who went on to ridicule the first lady for b…
(2020-08-26). FOMO for all: Social media heightens fear of missing out, and people of all ages are affected. rt.com 
All that scrolling through social media platforms heightens people's Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and scientists have found that it's not just Tiktok teens and Instagram-loving millennials who are affected. | Because teens experience so much social development in such a short space of time, even the experts were expecting FOMO to be higher among younger groups. However, their research actually found that loneliness and low self-esteem were a much greater indicator than age of people's social anxiety over others having fun without them. | "We expected FOMO to be higher in younger age groups, particularly because…
(2020-08-26). Protester SHOT IN THE HEAD as Kenosha descends into warzone (VIDEOS). rt.com 
A man was shot in the head after gunfire broke out during violent demonstrations in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Several others were wounded in separate incidents, according to media reports. | Graphic videos posted on social media show a shirtless man lying on the ground with a wound on the side of his head. It's unclear what prompted the shooting, with some eyewitnesses claiming that an armed individual was trying to protect a local business from being looted and burned by rioters. | Bystanders were seen wrapping a shirt around the victim's head, and then carrying him to a nearby vehicle. He was then rushed to the ho…
(2020-08-26). Progressive Twitter icon Shaun King threatens to DOX Kenosha cops after openly supporting violent riots. rt.com 
Prominent social activist Shaun King has threatened to indiscriminately publish the names of police officers in Kenosha, Wisconsin if the city refuses to identify the cop who shot a black man, Jacob Blake. | Twitter users expressed disgust and reported King for harassment after the prominent Black Lives Matter advocate said he would begin targeting members of the Kenosha police force, regardless of whether they were involved in Sunday's shooting. | "If you do not name the officer who brutally shot Jacob Blake on Sunday, we will simply begin naming officers from your department who may or may not be him," King…
(2020-08-26). Trump sends National Guard to Wisconsin at Kenosha County Board's request, after clashes there result in deaths. rt.com 
US President Donald Trump has sent National Guard troops to Kenosha after county officials begged for assistance with ongoing riots following Sunday's police shooting. An Illinois teen has been charged with killing two protesters. | The president announced he was deploying "federal law enforcement and the National Guard to Kenosha, [Wisconsin] to restore LAW and ORDER!" via Twitter on Wednesday, explaining he had just gotten off the phone with State Governor Tony Evers. …TODAY, I will be sending federal law enforcement and the National Guard to Kenosha, WI to restore LAW and ORDER!— Donald J. Trump (…
(2020-08-26). Russian expert says severity of Covid-19 may increase with 2nd wave, expects virus to stick around until at least summer 2021. rt.com 
Now for some bad news. If Covid-19 follows historic patterns it will likely come in three waves and normal life won't resume until the summer of next year. That's according to leading Russian virus expert Mikhail Paltsev. | The scientist told the Telegram channel of the Russian anti-coronavirus internet hotline that historically all viral pandemics occur in three waves. The first is rather strong, the second one is even stronger, and the third is less potent due to the formation of herd immunity. | Professor Palstev reiterated that, for example, the Spanish flu occurred in three waves at the beginning of the l…
(2020-08-26). 'Get That Illegal Alien Off Stage': Bette Midler Faces Backlash After Mocking Melania Trump's Accent. sputniknews.com Midler mocked a speech by Melania Trump delivered earlier on Tuesday during the Republican National Convention, lashing out at FLOTUS in a series of tweets calling to get "that illegal alien" off the stage.
(2020-08-26). Debate on Entrance Exam Rages in India Amid Complaints Over Unfair Competition, Virus Restrictions. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): More than a million medical and engineering students in India are spending days in high anxiety and stress after the government decided to go ahead with entrance exams on 13 September. #PostponeJEE_NEETinCOVID has been trending on Twitter and students are calling for the prime minister to intervene.
(2020-08-26). Users Worldwide See Twitter Embed Problems. sputniknews.com On Wednesday, Twitter users attempting to embed a post around the world faced issues, reporting that the social platform would not allow them to perform the action, or the website would not properly display the contents of the embed.
(2020-08-26). US: Laura strengthens into major hurricane. yenisafak.com Tropical Storm Laura is strengthening into a major hurricane expected to make landfall in the US states of Texas and Louisiana, both on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, US weather officials said Wednesday.The storm has maximum sustained winds of 115 miles per hour (185 kilometers per hour), according to data from the National Hurricane Center. "Potentially Catastrophic Storm Surge, Extreme Winds, and Flash Flooding Expected Along the Northwest Gulf Coast Tonight," the center warned on Twitter."Laura is expected to bring multiple life-threatening hazards to the Gulf Coast beginning later today," it added."Efforts…
(2020-08-26). Pompeo in UAE says hopeful to build on UAE-Israel accord momentum. yenisafak.com U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a short visit to the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday as part of a Middle East tour following a U.S.-brokered deal on normalising relations between Israel and the UAE announced on Aug. 13."Excited to arrive in the United Arab Emirates and congratulate the Emirati people on the historic Abraham Accords— the most significant step toward peace in the Middle East in over 25 years. Hopeful we will‚ÄØ build on this momentum towards regional peace," Pompeo said on Twitter, referring to the UAE-Israel agreement aimed at normalising relations.Pompeo visited…
(2020-08-26). Clinical features, diagnostics, and outcomes of patients presenting with acute respiratory illness: A retrospective cohort study of patients with and without COVID-19. thelancet.com While we found differences in clinical features of COVID-19 compared to other acute respiratory illnesses, there was significant overlap in presentation and comorbidities. Patients with COVID-19 were more likely to be admitted to the hospital, have longer hospitalizations and develop ARDS, and were unlikely to have co-existent viral infections.
(2020-08-25). 'Is this a parody account?' UN ambassador draws ire after claiming US 'will not abandon' people of Iran. rt.com 
Ambassador Kelly Craft's effort to beautify a US push to trigger the return of UN sanctions on Iran and frame the move in humanitarian terms was met with mockery as observers contrasted her statement with Washington's actions. | "The United States will not abandon the people of Iran or the region," Craft said Tuesday on Twitter, in support of a US request to "snap back" sanctions on Iran. "We will never allow Iran, the world's No. 1 state sponsor of terrorism, to freely buy and sell weapons of war," she said, and accused other UN Security Council members who do not support US efforts of standing "in the compan…
(2020-08-25). Open Letter: "Stand with anarchist publishers banned by Facebook" mronline.org 
Announcing a Solidarity Statement from Anarchist Agency…
(2020-08-25). Breaking: Police shoot man multiple times in the back. therealnews.com 
The shooting of Jacob Blake by Kenosha, WI police has prompted outcry after a video posted to social media raised troubling questions.
(2020-08-25). 'Liberals' excuse to say the n-word'? 'Uncle Tom' trending as disaffected RNC viewers fail at mocking convention's speakers. rt.com 
The first day of the RNC featured a slate of black and female speakers. The party's Twitter critics said these people betrayed their race and gender, calling them "Uncle Tom's" to the dismay of US conservatives. | The Republican National Convention's Monday lineup featured speakers like US Senator Tim Scott, Congressman Vernon Jones and former NFL player Herschel Walker, who are all African Americans and were accused of being "Uncle Tom's". Their critics who use this derogatory term believe that they were betraying the black community by aligning with the Republican party and President Donald Trump. | "Uncle T…
(2020-08-25). Grossi negotiating IAEA's safeguards verification activities. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 25 (MNA) — In a tweet on Tuesday, the IAEA Chief Rafael Grossi said during his ongoing visit to Iran, he is seeking to reach an agreement with the Iranian side on IAEA's safeguards verification activities in the country.
(2020-08-25). How The Pandemic Has Sped Up The Passage To Postcapitalism. popularresistance.org Two days ago, something extraordinary happened. Something that has never happened before in the history of capitalism. In Britain, the news came out that the economy had suffered its greatest slump ever — more than 22% down during the first 7 months of 2020. Remarkably, on the same day, the London Stock Exchange, the FTSE100 index, rose by more than 2%. On the same day, during a time America has ground to a halt and is beginning to look like not just as an economy in deep trouble but also, ominously, as a failed state, Wall Street's SP500 index hit an all-time record. | Unable to contain myself, I tweeted t…
(2020-08-25). Wisconsin Governor Declares State of Emergency Following Kenosha Protests. sputniknews.com A wave of violent protests spanned the US city Kenosha, Wisconsin, following the release of a video that quickly went viral on social media showing white police officers shooting an African American man named Jacob Blake.
(2020-08-25). Vital Aspects Will be Revealed in Bollywood Actor Sushant's Psychological Autopsy, Experts Say. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): A psychological autopsy basically means a post-mortem of the mind, involving a detailed analysis of every aspect of a person's life that includes his interactions with family and friends, behavioural patterns, mood swings, social media posts, etc.
(2020-08-25). 'Loch Ness Monster of Swamp': Donald Trump Jr Attacks Biden at RNC as Twitter Wonders If He's 'High'. sputniknews.com Slamming Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden appears to be the main point in the ongoing Republican National Convention, where the incumbent President Donald Trump was re-nominated as GOP presidential candidate for the 2020 November election.
(2020-08-25). Pakistani charity builds school in southeastern Turkey. yenisafak.com A Pakistani charity has helped establish a school for Syrian children in southeastern Turkey.The primary school, which opened on Monday in the Gaziantep province near the Syrian border, has been funded by Pakistan's Baitussalam Welfare Trust with the support of Kuwait's Said association, said Ali Sahin, the chairman of Turkey-Pakistan Inter-parliamentary Friendship Group."Thanks for my Pakistani brothers for being in Gaziantep," he tweeted.The project is part of the "100 philanthropists in the 100th year" campaign which marks the centenary of Gaziantep's liberation.Gaziantep Governor Davut Gul said nearly 500,000…
(2020-08-25). Pompeo flies to Sudan on 1st direct flight from Israel. yenisafak.com US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo flew from Israel to Sudan on Tuesday, in the first direct flight between Tel Aviv and Khartoum. | "Happy to announce that we are on the FIRST official NONSTOP flight from Israel to Sudan!" Pompeo said on Twitter. | According to The New York Times, the direct flight between Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport and Khartoum came as "Pompeo's plane obtained special permission". | In a statement, US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said Pompeo will discuss with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdulla Hamdok and Chairman of the Transitional Military Council Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan "continu…
(2020-08-25). Turkey reports 1,500-plus coronavirus cases in a day. yenisafak.com Turkey on Tuesday confirmed 1,502 new cases of the novel coronavirus, while the number of tests conducted exceeded 6.5 million.On Twitter, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said 887 patients recovered from COVID-19 over the past day, pushing the total count of recoveries to 238,795.Meanwhile, the death toll in the country reached 6,163, as 24 more people lost their lives.Health care professionals run 98,231 more tests to diagnose the disease over the last 24 hours, pushing the tally beyond 6.5 million.Since it originated in China last December, the coronavirus has claimed around 814,500 lives in 188 countries and re…
(2020-08-25). Response To Trump Tweet: If Voting By Mail Is Good Enough For Trump, It's Good Enough For Every American. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2020-08-24). Atlantic writer Jemele Hill fails at history discourse as her 'US-Nazis' comparison incites online uproar. rt.com 
Twitter posts from the Atlantic writer Jemele Hill caught fire from the online community after she unfavorably compared the United States to Nazi Germany without citing any specifics. | Hill prefixed her controversial Sunday tweet by saying that she has been reflecting on a racial history book called 'Caste' by Isabel Wilkerson. The pundit said that via this text she reached the conclusion that people who are "of the opinion that the United States wasn't nearly as bad as Nazi Germany" are "wrong." | Been reading Isabel Wilkerson's new book, "Caste," and if you were of the opinion that the United States wasn't…
(2020-08-24). NASA researcher arrested by FBI for conspiracy & wire fraud over links to China. rt.com 
A Texas A&M University professor and NASA researcher has been charged with conspiracy and accused of collaborating with several Chinese entities, while his grant explicitly prohibited him from doing so. | Zhengdong Cheng, a professor in the College of Engineering at Texas A&M who also worked on projects for NASA, was arrested by the FBI over the weekend, the Department of Justice said Monday. | #HouNews #Breaking pic.twitter.com/PbdwaJ2SjI— FBI Houston (@FBIHouston) (2020-08-24). What media moguls don't want you to know: Youtube and Google attack Cuba and Venezuela. mronline.org 
On Aug. 20, just ahead of programming about the start of clinical trials for Cuba's COVID-19 vaccine, Soberana-01, YouTube management disabled Mesa Redonda's channel. Mesa Redonda (Roundtable) airs Monday through Friday evenings on Cuban national television.
(2020-08-24). Alt-right Richard Spencer is 'on team Joe' now: Sabotage or strange bedfellows, people wonder. rt.com 
Notorious right personality Richard Spencer has declared he will be voting for the "more competent" Democrat ticket in November, getting a rebuke from team Biden and mass disbelief in response. Yet he has a record of voting blue. | Spencer, a popular speaker with hard-right ideology, was a vocal supporter of Donald Trump in 2016, but this time around his sympathies may be on the other side. He said on Twitter that he plans to vote for the Democrats in November, because "the liberals are clearly more competent people". | I plan to vote for Biden and a straight democratic ticket. It's not based on "accelerationi…
(2020-08-24). Outrage in US following police shooting of a Black man in Wisconsin. peoplesdispatch.org The man, identified as Jacob Blake, was seen in a viral video being shot by a police officer seven times in the presence of his wife and children…
(2020-08-24). China Defends TikTok's Lawsuit to Protect Its Interests. telesurenglish.net In response to questions concerning the lawsuits that TikTok and some WeChat users have filed against the U.S. government executive order banning TikTok in the United States, Lijian defended their decision, assuring that "China will also continue to take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises." | RELATED: | Trump Signs Order to Ban TikTok Operations in the United States | He went on to say that some U.S. politicians are tr…
(2020-08-24). Police Continue To Repress Protesters In Portland. popularresistance.org For 90 days now, protesters have taken to the streets of the U.S. city of Portland following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May. | As per social media videos, protesters were met with heavy police repression including the use of tear gas canisters. | The protest left several police officers injured, at least 9 people arrested while one person received medical attention after receiving a gun wound. Of those people that were arrested, three were charged with assault on a police officer. Portland Police confirmed that since May, over 500 protesters have been arrested. | U.S. Police repression continue…
(2020-08-24). Memes Hit Twitter Amid Speculations That Rahul Gandhi Will Take Over as Congress Party Chief Again. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): Soon after the 2019 general election results, India's Congress party chief Rahul Gandhi resigned from…
(2020-08-24). Watch Indian Soldiers Dance, Beat Drums in the Himalayas to Welcome Lord Ganesha. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): The annual "Ganesh Chaturthi" festival is usually celebrated in a spectacular fashion across India. During the 11-day birthday celebrations of the revered elephant-headed Hindu god Lord Ganesha, hundreds of thousands worship Him, singing His praises to the sound of drumbeats and stage processions to celebrate the occasion.
(2020-08-24). Protests erupt after racially-charged police shooting in US state. thecanary.co Officers deployed tear gas in an effort to disperse hundreds of people who took to the streets following a police shooting in a US town. | The governor of Wisconsin pointed out that the victim was Black and was not the first to be "shot or injured or mercilessly killed" by individuals in law enforcement. | A video posted on social media appeared to show officers shoot at a Black man's back seven times as he leaned into a vehicle. | A person was taken to hospital in a serious condition following a shooting by officers at about 5pm on 23 August as officers were responding to a "domestic incident", the Kenosha Polic…
(2020-08-24). China supports TikTok's legal battle against US. yenisafak.com China Monday put its weight behind social media app TikTok's move to mount a legal case against the US government. | Addressing a news conference in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said: "US politicians' attempts to kill Chinese firms such as TikTok, WeChat, and Huawei by forcibly putting ideological labels on them under the guise of national security show they are full of lies and slander; their nature is to bully the market through deception." | Zhao, however, said the Chinese government supports the companies' "decisions to take up legal weapons in order to safeguard their legitimate ri…
(2020-08-24). Turkish, Azerbaijani parliament heads talk over phone. yenisafak.com Turkey's Parliament Speaker Mustafa Sentop Monday held a phone talk with his Azerbaijani counterpart Sahibe Gafarova.According to the Turkish Parliament Speaker's Office, Gafarova congratulated Sentop on Turkey's recently announced discovery of major natural gas reserves in the Black Sea."I conveyed, on my own behalf and on behalf of all members of Milli Majlis [Azerbaijan's parliament], the sincere congratulations to Mr. Sentop and all Turkish people on the discovery of a large gas field in Black Sea," Gafarova said on Twitter.Last Friday Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Turkey has found som…