(2021-08-05). Headlines for August 5, 2021. democracynow.org WHO Calls for Moratorium on Third Doses Amid Stark Global Vaccine Inequity, Amid Soaring Profits, Moderna and Pfizer to Raise COVID-19 Vaccine Prices , Over Half of China's Provinces Log New COVID Cases; Tokyo Olympics Registers Worst Daily Toll, Illinois Issues Mask Mandate for Schools; Arkansas Governor Regrets Signing Anti-Mask Bill, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Bans Mask Mandates, Blames Immigrants & Biden for Record COVID Surge, Landlords Ask Federal Judge to Block Biden CDC's New Eviction Moratorium, Protesters in Lebanon Demand Justice on First Anniversary of Beirut Port Explosion, Unfolding Climate Crisis Fu…
(2021-08-05). 38 British Watchtowers Span Lebanon's Borders: Who are they Really Watching? orinocotribune.com By Elijah J. Magnier — Aug 2, 2021 | Ostensibly built to monitor ISIS, the UK erected dozens of watchtowers along the Lebanese-Syrian border. But ISIS is long gone, so who are they really watching? | The UK has constructed dozens of sophisticated watchtowers on the Lebanese—Syrian border in recent years. Ostensibly, the initial pretext was that the reason for the construction of these satellite-linked, fortified towers is to monitor the crossing or movement of individuals and vehicles, and therefore deter terrorist Takfiri groups from entering Lebanon from Syria. | Despite these Takfiri groups now disl…
(2021-08-05). "We Don't Want to go Back to the City": India's Migrant Workers, Settling for Less Work and Lesser Pay. counterpunch.org Balaji Hattagale was chopping sugarcane one day. The next day he wasn't. His parents wish they knew more. "The uncertainty is killing us," says his father, Babasaheb Hattagale. On an overcast afternoon in July, a dark cloud hangs over his one-room brick home, almost reflecting the despair in Babasaheb's voice when he says: "We just
(2021-08-05). A laboratory of empire with Lowkey & Aamer Rahman. mronline.org 
In this segment of 'The Watchdog' video podcast, Lowkey is joined by comedian Aamer Rahman to explain how Australia maintains close political ties to the United Kingdom, with British Home Secretary Pritti Patel seeing the country's offshore migrant detention centers, referred to by some as "concentration camps" as a model for the U.K. to follow.
(2021-08-05). "This Is What America Looks Like": Ilhan Omar on Her Refugee Journey from Mogadishu to Minneapolis. democracynow.org 
We speak with Minnesota Congressmember Ilhan Omar about her memoir "This Is What America Looks Like," the Biden administration's recent airstrikes in her birth country of Somalia and why the U.S. must remain a country of refuge for people fleeing war and poverty like she did. Omar adds that the Biden administration must stop enforcing Trump-era immigration rules that allow for expedited deportations of asylum seekers. "These policy choices have consequences. We have a moral imperative in this country to get our immigration policy right and make it a more humane system," she says.
(2021-08-05). Why investigating U.S. EVALI outbreak important in COVID-19 origin-tracing?>. ecns.cn Amid global efforts in tracing the COVID-19 origins, the connection between the coronavirus and an outbreak of e-cigarette or vaping use-associated lung injury (EVALI) cases in the U.S. in August, 2019 has raised many concerns.
(2021-08-05). Comicomment: In origin tracing, U.S. leads a 'blaming chorus'. ecns.cn The COVID-19 origin tracing is a serious scientific issue that must be studied by scientists and medical experts around the world through cooperation. However, some U.S. politicians placed their hope on the intelligence community, trying to answer a science question with political means.
(2021-08-05). French biosecurity expert dismisses Wuhan "lab leak" theory. ecns.cn "The theory that the virus escaped from the Wuhan lab is not credible," a French biosecurity expert who had monitored the construction of the Biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) laboratory of the Wuhan Institute of Virology has said recently in reference to COVID-19.
(2021-08-05). Meng extradition case concluding. ecns.cn Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou was back in British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver on Wednesday for the final stretch of extradition proceedings that could send her to the U.S.
(2021-08-05). China Eradicates Absolute Poverty While Billionaires Go for a Joyride to Space. dissidentvoice.org 
Women who migrated to the Wangjia community participate in local activities at the community centre in Tongren City, Guizhou Province, April 2021. Confounding news comes from the flagship World Economic Outlook report of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The report highlights many of the pressing issues facing our planet: disruptions in the global supply chain, …
(2021-08-05). India And China Making Significant Progress In Easing Tensions On The Border. southfront.org 
Illustrative ImageAn Indian-Chinese rapprochement will weaken U.S. ambitions to contain China. | Written by Paul Antonopoulos, independent geopolitical analyst | India and China are close to reaching an agreement on the disarmament of troops in the Ladakh region. Following the 12th round of China-India border talks, it was agreed that dialogue on de-escalating the de facto Line of Control will continue. Discussions took place on July 30, lasting nine hours, but the final statement from the two sides was published days…
(2021-08-05). Combat Footage: Houthi Snipers Hunt Down 11 Saudi-Backed Fighters On Jizan, Najran Fronts (18+). southfront.org 
Illustrative image, source: the Houthis media wing | On August 4, the Houthis (Ansar Allah) released a video documenting operations which were recently carried out by their sniper units. | Houthi snipers hit five Saudi-backed Yemeni fighters and five Sudanese service members on the border line with the southern Saudi province of Jizan. Along the border line with the Kingdoms' southern province of Najran, the snipers targeted a Saudi-backed Yemeni fighter and destroyed two surveillance cameras, which were installed in f…
(2021-08-05). U.S. closure of Fort Detrick lab not coincidental: expert. ecns.cn The sudden shutdown of the Fort Detrick lab in the United States and the pneumonia outbreak that followed are far from coincidental and should be studied in the scope of the ongoing investigation into the pandemic's origins, a Russian political observer has said.
(2021-08-05). Refugee resettlement numbers yet to recover amid pandemic. news.un.org The number of refugees given shelter in safe host countries plunged last year because of pandemic border restrictions, which continue to hamper the resettlement of vulnerable people.
(2021-08-05). Xinjiang residents refute accusations of human rights violations. ecns.cn Residents of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have hit back at accusations of human rights violations, saying some Western countries' claims of "genocide" or "forced labor" are fabricated.
(2021-08-05). Shifting blame reflects selfishness of U.S. ecns.cn Recently, the U.S. has led several countries and media outlets in hyping up the claim that the novel coronavirus was the result of a "lab leak".
(2021-08-05). Iran lodges protest to IMO over rising rhetoric. en.mehrnews.com Iranian Ambassador to the UK Mohsen Baharvand has penned a letter to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to protest the rhetoric recently raised against Tehran after suspicious incidents with tankers in Persian Gulf.
(2021-08-05). Embassy urges caution against false flag operations in region. en.mehrnews.com Iran's Embassy in London reviewed the recent days' propaganda against Iran, urging vigilance against false flag operations in the Persian Gulf region.
(2021-08-05). Secret deal between U.S. Fort Detrick, Japanese germ warfare unit revealed. ecns.cn The United States pardoned members of a notorious Japanese germ warfare unit after World War II in exchange for their data on biological weapons, research by a Chinese historian has revealed.
(2021-08-04). Israeli warplanes pound southern Lebanon, as IDF vows to 'continue & intensify' retaliation to rocket fire (VIDEO). rt.com 
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launched a series of airstrikes on Lebanese territory, calling them retaliation for cross-border rocket attacks after earlier firing scores of artillery rounds in response. | The IDF Video footage has circulated online purporting to show the IDF strikes in progress. | BREAKING…
(2021-08-04). Israeli Army Escalates Artillery Strikes On Lebanon In Response To Recent Rocket Attack (Videos, Photos). southfront.org 
Israeli soldiers and IDF Artillery at a staging area in Southern Israel, near the border with neighbouring Palestinian Gaza Strip on November 13, 2019. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90 | On August 4 noon, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) escalated their artillery strikes on Lebanon in response to the recent Earlier, three rockets were launched from South Lebanon…
(2021-08-04). Judge Blocks Texas Troopers From Stopping Migrant Transports. latinorebels.com AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal judge Tuesday blocked Texas from allowing state troopers to stop vehicles carrying migrants on the grounds that they may spread COVID-19 as worries and new cases are rising along the U.S.-Mexico border.
(2021-08-04). Democrats Signal Massive Citizenship Program for Undocumented Immigrants. latinorebels.com "We'd like to make it as robust as possible," Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) told Latino Rebels in the Senate tunnels on Tuesday afternoon.
(2021-08-04). EE.UU. amplía período de expulsión de migrantes sin documentos. telesurtv.net La detención de migrantes en la frontera sur ha ido en aumento, hasta alcanzar 80.000 personas en junio pasado.
(2021-08-04). In 114-degree heat farmworkers are still at work. peoplesworld.org 
In a field near Arvin, at the southern end of California's San Joaquin Valley, dozens of workers arrive at 5: 30 in the morning. It's already over 80 degrees, and by midafternoon the temperature will top 114 degrees, according to my iPhone. Is this heat normal? The southern San Joaquin is a desertlike pan between the …