(2020-12-17). The revolutionaries, when they rise, care for nothing but love. peoplesdispatch.org 
A decade has now slipped by since a man named Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in the Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid on 17 December 2010. Bouazizi, a street vendor, took this extreme step after policemen harassed him for trying to survive. Not long after, thousands of people in this small Tunisian town gathered in the street to express their anger. Their outburst spread to the capital city, Tunis, where trade unions, social organisations, political parties, and civic groups marched into the avenues to overthrow the government of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Demonstrations in Tunisia inspired similar outbreaks aroun…
(2020-12-17). Warning to all tyrants: The Arab Spring lives on. middleeasteye.net 
Warning to all tyrants: The Arab Spring lives on | Thu, 12/17/2020 – 19: 57 | While some believe the uprisings of 2010-11 were a failure – the ferocity of the counter-revolution suggests otherwise | A decade ago, a young Tunisian,
(2020-12-17). Video 'made by Boko Haram' Islamist fighters claims to show kidnapped Nigerian schoolboys pleading for release. rt.com 
A video reportedly made by Boko Haram fighters has been released. It purports to show some of the 300 Nigerian schoolboys kidnapped by the Islamist militant group last week in the northwest of the country. | The six-minute video, published on Thursday by Nigerian news site HumAngle, apparently shows some of the children pleading with the government to free them by paying the ransoms demanded by the terrorists. | In the footage, a visibly upset child says he is among the hundreds of students taken by the Boko Haram group led by Abubakar Shekau, who oversaw the 2014 kidnapping of at least 200 schoolgirls in the…
(2020-12-17). UN releases emergency funding for civilians in Ethiopia's Tigray, as Africa's battle against COVID-19 intensifies. news.un.org The UN has released $36.6 million for civilians caught up in the conflict that has roiled Ethiopia's Tigray region since early last month, in order to secure water, sanitation and lifesaving medical supplies.
(2020-12-17). Saturday 12/19: Meetup: How you Can Denormalize Speciesism. indybay.org Online Zoom…
(2020-12-16). Behind Morocco's recognition of Israel. workers.org 
A February demonstration was held in Rabat, Morocco's capital, in support of Palestine. It was a deal, pure — but not so simple. The U.S. recognized the Western Sahara — the last remaining colony in Africa according to the United Nations — as part of Morocco, while Morocco upgraded its . . . |
(2020-12-16). Tunisia and Algeria try to cool tensions over Western Sahara. middleeasteye.net 
Tunisia and Algeria try to cool tensions over Western Sahara | Tunisia's former foreign minister provoked anger after blaming Algiers for pushing Morocco to normalise with Israel | Wed, 12/16/2020 – 15: 07 | Tunisia's foreign minister Othman Jerandi has reiterated "Tunisia's pride in brotherly relations with Algeria" (Photo/Screengrab) | Tunisian and Algerian officials are attempting to pu…
(2020-12-16). Five-thousand-year-old Great Pyramid relic found in cigar box at university in Scotland. middleeasteye.net 
Five-thousand-year-old Great Pyramid relic found in cigar box at university in Scotland | One of only three objects ever recovered from inside Egypt's Great Pyramid, wooden artefact may shed new light on ancient structure, says University of Aberdeen | Wed, 12/16/2020 – 17: 16 | Ancient cedar wood, now fragmented into pieces, is one of only three relics ever recovered from inside Great Pyramid (Uni…
(2020-12-16). Arab Spring: Ten years on, has Tunisia's uprising delivered on its promises? middleeasteye.net 
Arab Spring: Ten years on, has Tunisia's uprising delivered on its promises? | Tunisians had high hopes when they toppled the Ben Ali regime, but some say the corruption now is worse than before the revolution | Wed, 12/16/2020 – 18: 19 | A picture of Mohamed Bouazizi, a street vendor who set himself alight 10 years ago on 17 December 2010, is…
(2020-12-16). Bodies of four children wash up on Libyan coast: Red Crescent. middleeasteye.net 
Bodies of four children wash up on Libyan coast: Red Crescent | Blankets, including those for a baby, lay on shore's rocks near where bodies were found | Wed, 12/16/2020 – 21: 32 | A member of Libyan Red Crescent checks blankets in which bodies of drowned migrant children were wrapped on shore on 16 December (AFP) | The Libyan Red Crescent said the bodies of four children aged between five…
(2020-12-16). Covid-19: Scholars say having vaccine is religious duty for Egyptians. middleeasteye.net 
Covid-19: Scholars say having vaccine is religious duty for Egyptians | Arrival of first shipment of vaccine from China has raised religious, political and public debate in the country | Wed, 12/16/2020 – 12: 41 | Worshippers attend Friday prayers inside Cairo's historic al-Azhar mosque (AFP) | Egypt's religious establishment has stepped into the heated debate over Covid-19 vaccines, ur…
(2020-12-16). Massive Fracked-Gas Export Terminal Coming to Southern New Jersey. dissidentvoice.org On December 9 a regional planning body, the Delaware River Basin Commission, gave a green light to a mammoth fracked-gas export terminal in Gibbstown, New Jersey. It would export fracked-gas from the Marcellus Shale gas fields to Angola, among other countries. The Governors of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey voted yay. Governor Andrew Cuomo of …
(2020-12-16). FAO Warns of a Second Desert Locust Plague in Africa. telesurenglish.net The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned on Wednesday that "a new generation" of desert locust swarms is jeopardizing the food security of millions of people in the Horn of Africa and Yemen. | RELATED: | The FAO explains that "favorable weather conditions and widespread seasonal rains have caused extensive breeding in eastern Ethiopia and Somalia" while Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Yemen are preparing for a re-inva…
(2020-12-15). The Most Lethal Virus is Not COVID. It is War. counterpunch.org 
In the midst of the greatest health emergency in modern times, with more than 4 million surgical procedures delayed by the National Health Service, Boris Johnson has announced a record increase of £16.5 billion in so-called defence spending — a figure that would restore the under-resourced NHS many times over.
(2020-12-15). Lessons To Be Learned From Washington's Lethal War Against The World. popularresistance.org The latest book from Indian Marxist Vijay Prashad is a passionate critique of the "US-led liberal international order," in which Washington has fired — and still fires — its bullets at the peoples of the Global South and the socialist world. | In Guatemala, Congo, Vietnam, Korea, Indonesia, Haiti, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Yemen, Sudan, Grenada, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Angola and so many other countries, Washington's bullets have been deployed in the pursuance of regime change, the protection of US hegemony and opposition to the emergence of truly sovereign post-colonial nations, all in fl…
(2020-12-15). Moroccan authorities use force to prevent pro-Palestine rally. peoplesdispatch.org The protesters were trying to take out a march opposing Morocco's deal to normalize its ties with Israel. In exchange for the deal, the US has agreed to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over the occupied Western Sahara…
(2020-12-15). Western Sahara Is the "Reward" to Morocco for Recognizing Israel. globalresearch.ca President Donald Trump announced on December 10 that Morocco had joined UAE, Bahrain, and Sudan in recognizing Israel, with plans to reopen its liaison office in Tel Aviv, and joint overflight rights for airlines. The US, Israel, and Morocco triangle …
(2020-12-15). Boko Haram in charge of kidnapping Nigerian students. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Dec. 15 (MNA) — Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the abduction of over three hundreds of schoolboys in the northwestern state of Katsina.
(2020-12-15). Boko Haram Claims Responsibility for Kidnapping of Over 300 Boys in Nigeria. sputniknews.com Boko Haram is a jihadist, terrorist organization based in northeastern Nigeria. The group, founded in 2002 by Mohammed Yusuf, is also active in Chad, Niger and northern Cameroon and is responsible for killing tens of thousands of people and displacing more than 2 million from their homes, according to the Associated Press.