2021-01-18: News Headlines

Akemi Imai-Chan (2021-01-18). Friday 2/12: Welcome the Year of the Ox with Oakland Asian Cultural Center! indybay.org Virtual Event on YouTube Live…

RT (2021-01-17). 'Absolute nonsense': Iranian FM rejects French claim that Tehran is building up nuclear weapons capacity. rt.com Iran's FM Javad Zarif has blasted France for its continuous support of "Saudi war criminals," dismissing French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian's claims that Tehran is building up nuclear weapons capacity as "absolute nonsense." | The top Iranian diplomat took to Twitter on Sunday, sending an angry message to France's foreign minister. Zarif signaled that Paris is in no position to lecture Tehran on anything, pointing fingers at French arms sales to Saudi Arabia — and getting quite personal with Le Drian as well. | Dear colleague: You kick-started your cabinet career with arms sales to Saudi war criminals.

RT (2021-01-17). Russia's FM spokeswoman urges US & other countries decrying Navalny's detention 'not to interfere' with Russian law. rt.com Instead of rushing to condemn the detention of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny upon his return to Moscow, foreign politicians should focus on domestic issues at hand and respect the Russian law, Maria Zakharova has said. | In a Facebook

RT (2021-01-16). Argentina receives second batch of Russian Sputnik V vaccine against Covid-19 (VIDEO). rt.com A plane carrying 300,000 more doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus has landed in Argentina's capital Buenos Aires to allow the country to complete immunization of its frontline medics. | The refrigerated containers with the vaccine were delivered on Saturday from Moscow by a special flight of the Latin American country's flagship carrier, Aerolineas Argentinas. | "Those new doses represent the second component needed to conclude the vaccination after the first stage," Gines Gonzalez Garcia, Argentina's health minister, wrote on Twitter. | Llegaron al país 300.000 nuevas dosis de vacun…

Anand Naidoo (2021-01-16). The Heat: Social media controversy. america.cgtn.com Blocking U.S. President Trump from social media…. Was it a valid move to prevent violence or was it an assault on free speech?>

Liberation Staff (2021-01-16). AUDIO: The Fascist Assault and the Ruling Class Response. liberationnews.org This interview is an episode of The Socialist Program with Brian Becker, a podcast providing news and views about the world for those who want to change it. You can follow the show on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The profound political crisis gripping the United States continues to deepen and take new twists and turns …

Jon Queally, staff writer (2021-01-16). 'Talk About a Super Spreader': Analysis Finds Online Election Misinformation Fell by 73% After Trump Barred. commondreams.org After Trump's lies disappeared from Twitter and Facebook, the dissemination of falsehoods and the conversations based on them fell dramatically. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/twitter_trump_1.jpg

teleSUR (2021-01-16). After User Feedback, WhatsApp Delays Changing Service Standards. telesurenglish.net "We are postponing the date when people will be asked to review and accept the new terms," Facebook's Whatsapp said in a blog post. | The company cancelled the February 8 deadline for users to accept the new rules, which include sharing their information with Facebook servers. | RELATED: | The change will be thoroughly reviewed and was delayed until May 15. The new terms were rejected by users outside of Europe who do not accept that a d…

teleSUR (2021-01-15). Venezuela Offers Oxygen to Attend COVID-19 in Manaus, Brazil. telesurenglish.net Venezuela's Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza Thursday informed that his country will provide oxygen to Brazil so it can face Manaus city's health emergency. | RELATED: | "On instructions from President Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela will support the brotherly Brazilian people. For our nation, solidarity is a duty," Arreaza tweeted. | On Thursday, Amazon State's governor Wilson Lima thanked the solidarity gesture that will end the…

Sara Flounders (2021-01-15). Trump coup attempt: U.S. war comes home. workers.org A caustic commentary on U.S. policy that circulated on social media worldwide within 24 hours of the Jan. 6 events at the U.S. Capitol was: "Due to travel restrictions this year, the U.S. had to organize the coup at home." A domestic coup on the U.S. government was indeed attempted . . . |

Editor (2021-01-15). Silicon Valley Destroys Parler in a Show of Monopolistic Force. scheerpost.com By Glenn Greenwald / Reposted with author permission from Substack Critics of Silicon Valley censorship for years heard the same refrain: tech platforms like Facebook, Google and Twitter are private corporations and can host or ban whoever they want. If you don't like what they are doing, the solution is not to complain or to regulate them. Instead, go create your own social media platform that… |

_____ (2021-01-15). Against A Domestic Terrorism Law. popularresistance.org On Monday, Opposite Office, an "activistic architecture studio" based in Munich, released design materials for what it called "Capitol Castle," a plan that would encircle the entire U.S. Capitol with 36-feet-thick brick walls. The concept was not serious—or, at least, it was "serious" but not intended to be built. It was, depending on how charitable you feel about "activistic architecture studios," a design meant to spark a debate on democracy and division, or one meant to get written up by the architecture press and shared widely on social media. | But even if these German architects don't sincerely propos…

Jessica Buxbaum (2021-01-15). Social Media Giants Ban Trump, but the Real Censorship is of Palestinians. mintpressnews.com In the wake of the Capitol Hill insurrection, Facebook and Twitter finally took a principled stand against President Donald Trump by suspending his accounts. While Facebook, Twitter, and other social media behemoths have faced criticism over the years for allowing misinformation and dangerous incitement to run rampant on their pla…

Jonathan Cook (2021-01-14). Twitter's ban on Trump will only deepen the U.S. tribal divide. mronline.org Anyone who believes locking President Donald Trump out of his social media accounts will serve as the first step on the path to healing the political divide in the United States is likely to be in for a bitter disappointment.

Jonathan Cook (2021-01-14). Twitter's Ban on Trump will Deepen the US Tribal Divide. counterpunch.org Anyone who believes locking President Donald Trump out of his social media accounts will serve as the first step on the path to healing the political divide in the United States is likely to be in for a bitter disappointment. The flaws in this reasoning need to be peeled away, like the layers of an