Daily Archives: February 4, 2021

2021-02-04: News Headlines

Susan Price (2021-02-04). We can't give up on a world free from nuclear weapons. greenleft.org.au The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons became international law on January 22 for the 122 states who signed the agreement in July 2017, writes Vijay Prashad.

Yves Engler (2021-02-04). Ottawa should apologize for role in Agent Orange use in Vietnam. dissidentvoice.org A French legal battle offers an opportunity to revisit Canada's role in chemical weapons use and whether Ottawa owes something to its Vietnamese victims. On the weekend activists gathered in Paris to support a court case launched by a woman exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam. The group Collectif Vietnam Dioxine is supporting French-Vietnamese woman, …

news.un (2021-02-04). End impunity for use of chemical weapons in Syria, UN disarmament chief urges Security Council. news.un.org The United Nations top disarmament official, on Wednesday, stressed the urgent need to not only identify those who have used chemical weapons in Syria, but also hold them accountable for their deeds.

Peoples Dispatch (2021-02-03). Iran reiterates its commitment to JCPOA, proposes US return to the deal. peoplesdispatch.org Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif, in an interview with CNN, said that talks about nuclear weapons in the western media is baseless speculation aimed at directing public opinion against the country…

(2021-02-03). The Threat of Nuclear Weapons with Noam Chomsky. theanalysis.news As the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons enters into force on January 22, join the world-renowned intellectual for "The Threat of Nuclear Weapons: Why Canada Should Sign the UN Nuclear Ban Treaty" Presented by the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute.

yenisafak (2021-02-03). Brent oil up boosted by Saudi's output cut from Feb. yenisafak.com Brent oil price hit its highest level in 12 months after pandemic-driven concerns over a supply glut were eased with massive output cuts of major oil producers.International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $57.84 per barrel at 0720 GMT for a 0.07% rise after closing Tuesday at $57.80 a barrel. This is the highest level since Feb. 24 last year when it traded at $57.80.American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at $55.09 per barrel at the same time for a 0.60% increase after it ended the previous session at $54.76 a barrel.The voluntary cuts of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of OPEC's de facto le…

Ralph Nader (2021-02-03). The Struggle Inside Senator Mitch McConnell's Brain. commondreams.org Allowing the Trumpian half of his brain to overpower his judgment and vote to acquit Dangerous Donald would spell disaster for the Republican Party (assuming the Democratic Party doesn't go to sleep as it did after Obama's win in 2008). | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/mcconnell_biden_0.jpg

sputniknews (2021-02-03). Russia Urges New UNSC Members to Objectively View Syrian Chemical Dossier, Envoy to UN Says. sputniknews.com UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) – Russia called on the five new UN Security Council member states to objectively treat the Syrian chemical dossier and note the country's readiness to cooperate with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said.

commondreams (2021-02-03). U.S. and Russia Extension of Nuclear Weapons Treaty Makes Everyone Safer; What About the Exploding Nuclear Weapons Budget? commondreams.org ______________________________…

_____ (2021-02-02). Happy Days Ahead for the Pentagon as Beacons Are Lit for the Military-Industrial Complex. strategic-culture.org President Biden's beacon has been deflected to the rugged trails of aggression, Brian Cloughley writes. | The Washington Post put it gleefully by

_____ (2021-02-02). Why We Can't Give Up On A World Free From Nuclear Weapons. popularresistance.org Nine countries of the 193 member states of the United Nations possess nuclear weapons. Two of them—the United States of America and Russia—have more than 90% of all the 13,410 warheads. Four countries—the US, Russia, the UK and France—have at least 1,800 warheads on high alert, which means that they can be fired at very short notice. | To compare the warheads currently deployed with the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima is enough to make the heart stop: the yield from the "Little Boy" used on Hiroshima is estimated at 15 kilotons, whereas the yield from one W88 warhead that is deployed on a T…

_____ (2021-02-02). US-Russia Nuclear Treaty Only First Step In Ensuring 'Future Existence' Of Humanity. popularresistance.org The total number of nuclear weapons both Russia and the US could possess was limited by New START, signed between the two countries in 2010. The treaty would have expired on 5 February 2021, had the Biden administration not agreed to extend it for another five years. | Peter Kuznick is a professor of history at American University, where he founded the Nuclear Studies Institute. He has authored and co-authored numerous books, including The Untold History of the United States, Rethinking the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Japanese and American Perspectives and Nuclear Power and Hiroshima: The Truth Beh…

_____ (2021-02-02). As The Doomsday Clock Nears Midnight, We Can Abolish Nuclear Weapons. popularresistance.org On January 22, the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons went into effect. This treaty, which is supported by more than two-thirds of the countries in the world but none of the nuclear states, is groundbreaking in many ways and is a significant step toward nuclear disarmament at a time when the threat of nuclear war is the highest it has ever been. I speak with Seth Shelden of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons about the treaty, how it came about, what it will do and what people in the United States can do to press our government to ratify it.

yenisafak (2021-02-02). Iran less than 2 years away from nuke weapons: Israel. yenisafak.com Israel's Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz warned on Tuesday that Iran needs a year or two to acquire a "nuclear weapon".Speaking to the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, Steinitz claimed that Iran needs "around half a year" to produce enough uranium for a nuclear weapon."As for nuclear weaponry, the range is around one or two years", he said.Steinitz also credited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former US President Donald Trump for weakening Iran's goal of acquiring nuclear weapons."The withdrawal [of Trump] from the nuclear deal has weakened Iran," he said.Senior Israeli officials, including…

Yanis Iqbal (2021-02-02). Building a Nuclear Weapon-Free World. dissidentvoice.org On January 22, 2021, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) became international law for the 122 states who signed the agreement in July 2017. Article 1a of TPNW states: "Each State Party undertakes never under any circumstances to… Develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive …

Nick Licata (2021-02-02). Biden's Most Urgent Challenge: More Countries Wanting Nukes. counterpunch.org Former President Donald Trump had placed the United States on the runway to take off on another nuclear arms race. Trump threw out two treaties that held Russia and the U.S. in check. It also deterred other nations from developing nuclear weapons over the last thirty years. President Joseph Biden cut the throttle by agreeing to

_____ (2021-02-01). Black Alliance For Peace Demands Biden Administration Abolish 1033 Program. popularresistance.org The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) calls U.S. President Joe Biden's executive order to alter the Department of Defense's 1033 program because of his supposed commitment to racial justice an affront. The gratuitous militarization of police forces across the United States through this program has helped to turn these agencies into brutal weapons of repression. Therefore, nothing short of complete abolition of this program is acceptable. | BAP has demanded abolition of the 1033 program since BAP's 2017 founding. It now asks the public to sign a petition demanding the Biden administration and Democrats commit to abol…