(2021-08-05). Thousands of Lebanese stage protests on first anniversary of Beirut blast. peoplesdispatch.org The blast at a warehouse in the Beirut port last year killed more than 218 people, injured over 7,500 others, and rendered thousands homeless at a time when Lebanon was going through a severe economic and political crisis and a COVID-19 outbreak…
(2021-08-05). Thousands demand justice as Lebanon marks 1 year since Beirut Blast & other stories. peoplesdispatch.org We look at protests organized one year since the blasts in Beirut, Lebanon, teachers on a hunger strike in Ecuador & actions in the US…
(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). One Year On From The Port Of Beirut Blast And France Has Failed In Its Goals. southfront.org 
Illustrative ImageLebanon is not any closer to political and economic stability a year after the tragedy. | Written by Paul Antonopoulos, independent geopolitical analyst | Since the port of Beirut was destroyed on August 4, 2020, French authorities have increased the number of trips, initiatives, pressures and appeals to the international community to assist reconstruction and stabilization efforts in Lebanon. A year after the explosion, French President Emmanuel Macron and Secretary-General of the United Nations António Gute…
(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). "They Killed Us from the Inside": U.N. Inquiry Demanded into Officials' Culpability in Beirut Blast. democracynow.org 
One year after the Beirut port explosion, a new Human Rights Watch report implicates senior Lebanese officials in the disaster that killed 218 people, wounded 7,000 others and destroyed vast swaths of the city. The blast on August 4, 2020, was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history. It resulted from the detonation of hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate, which had been sitting in a hangar at the port for years while multiple government officials who knew about the highly explosive chemicals did nothing. "We didn't find any Lebanese official who took any responsibility for securing the port and remov…
(2021-08-05). Alarming Escalation: Israeli Warplanes Attack Targets In Lebanon (Videos). southfront.org 
Israel Air Force airplane F-16 D 'Barak Cobra'prepares for take off. June 28 2010. Photo by Ofer Zidon/Flash90 | Early on August 5, warplanes of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) carried out a series of airstrikes on Lebanon's South Governorate, the heartland of Hezbollah. | The Israeli airstrikes targeted empty farmlands and a road in the area of al-Dimashqiyah as well as the area of al-Shawaker near the coastal city of Tyre. No casualties or material losses were reported as a result of the airstrikes, which were apparently carryi…
(2021-08-05). Greater Idlib: Syrian Army Snipers Hunt Down Militants As Russian Warplanes Resume Strikes (Videos, Photos). southfront.org 
A Russian Su-24 strike aircraft in the sky over the Khmeimim airbase in Syria. Photo: Dmitriy Vinogradov / RIA Novosti | On August 5, the Russian Aerospace Forces resumed its combat operations against militants in the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib. | A series of Russian airstrikes targeted militants' positions around the town of al-Bara in the southern Idlib countryside as well as in the surroundings of the town of Kabani in the northern countryside of Lattakia. | Al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay'at T…
(2021-08-05). Syrian Service Members Ambushed In Eastern Daraa As Talks Between Authorities & Rebels Face Setback. southfront.org 
Illustrative image. | Early on August 5, unidentified gunmen ambushed a car carrying service members of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in the eastern countryside of Daraa, where former rebels have been taking a stand against Syrian authorities. | The gunmen targeted the car with machine guns as it was passing on a road between the town of Izraa and the governorate of al-Suwayda. The area is controlled by the Russian-backed 8th Brigade, a unit of the SAA's 5th Corps that was especially formed in 2018 for former…
(2021-08-05). Civilians in southern Syria 'under siege' — UN human rights chief. news.un.org The top UN rights official once more sounded the alarm on Thursday over the plight of civilians in Syria, as intense fighting and indiscriminate shelling by Government forces and armed opposition groups paralyze neighbourhoods in and around the southern city of Daraa.
(2021-08-05). Does Renewed fighting in Syria's Deraa, Birthplace of the Revolution, Show Russia's Weakness? juancole.com Belgrade (Special to Informed Comment) — Russia is making an effort to prevent wide-scale hostilities in Syria's southern province of Deraa. The Kremlin reportedly aims to increase its influence in the war-torn country, but recent clashes in Deraa al-Balad — a southern district of Deraa city — between the Moscow-backed Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and …
(2021-08-05). What Message do Repeatedly Downed Israeli Missiles in Syria Send to Tel-Aviv and Washington? sputniknews.com Three consequent announcements made on 20, 22, and 25 July by the Russian Ministry of Defence about the successful interception of Israeli missiles in Syrian air space have prompted a heated debate among Mideast and Western observers. Why have the briefings of the Russian Centre for Reconciliation produced so much fuss?
(2021-08-05). Craig Murray's Jailing is the Latest Move in a Battle to Snuff out Independent Journalism. orinocotribune.com 
By Jonathan Cook — Jul 30, 2021 | Craig Murray, a former ambassador to Uzbekistan, the father of a newborn child, a man in very poor health and one who has no prior convictions, will have to hand himself over to the Scottish police on Sunday morning. He becomes the first person ever to be imprisoned on the obscure and vaguely defined charge of "jigsaw identification". | Murray is also the first person to be jailed in Britain for contempt of court for their journalism in half a century — a period when such different legal and moral values prevailed that the British establishment had only just ended the…
(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). 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). 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). Moscow, are you listening? Biden names Brzezinski spawn ambassador to Poland. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Brother of Ian Brzezinski, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Europe and NATO Policy in the George W. Bush administration, former member of the Pentagon's Policy Planning Staff, former advisor to the government of Ukraine and current member of the Strategic Advisors Group at the Atlantic Council, and of Mika Brzezinski, loudmouthed harridan at MSNBC. …
(2021-08-05). Canada has trained over 26,000 Ukrainian troops for war in Donbass, Crimea. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Britain has also trained over 20,000 Ukrainian troops under Operation ORBITAL. Ambassador: Ukraine hopes that Canada will continue training our military "We look forward to extending this mission…," Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada Andriy Shevchenko said in an interview with Ukrinform. He added that "more than 26,000 Ukrainian soldiers have already undergone UNIFIER training, gaining …
(2021-08-05). Defending Latin America's Resistance Axis. orinocotribune.com By Stephen Sefton — Aug 2, 2021 | Early in July this year Hezbollah's Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
(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). Lebanon: one year after Beirut explosion, failing state struggles amid poverty and sectarianism. juancole.com 
By John Nagle | — ( The Conversation) — Twelve months on from the disastrous port explosion which killed more than 200 people, injured thousands and left an estimated 300,000 people without homes, Lebanon's dramatic descent into economic and political crisis deepens. So grave has been Lebanon's economic collapse that the World Bank ranks it …
(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). The Lebanese Canary in the Identity Coal Mine. strategic-culture.org By Eric BORDENKIRCHER | One year ago, a massive explosion rocked the port of Beirut, Lebanon. It To the casual observer, the calamity at the port is an egregious case of mismanagement, a lack of enforcement, and prolific corruption. | In reality, the po…
(2021-08-04). One year since the Beirut blast: Lebanon's social, economic, and political crisis deepens. wsws.org In recent years, US imperialism, along with Saudi Arabia and France, has piled on pressure as part of its broader campaign to isolate Iran and Syria, widening its sanctions on Hezbollah and Syria, with whose economy Lebanon is closely connected.
(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). Syrian Army Shot Down US MQ-4C Triton High-Altitude Drone Over Aleppo — Report. southfront.org 
Illustrative image. | The Syrian military had shot down an American MQ-4C Triton high-altitude long endurance surveillance drone over the countryside of the northern governorate of Aleppo, the U-News reported on August 4. | An informed source told the news agency, which is known to be close to Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Syrian state, that the drone was shot down with a missile fired by a Russian-made Buk-M2E air-defense system of the Syrian Arab Air Defense Forces (SyAADF). | "The American plane took off from Martyr Muwaffa…
(2021-08-04). Outrage in Africa Over the Granting of Observer Status to "Israel" at the AU. libya360.wordpress.com Rosa Moro African member states and organizations in solidarity with Palestine denounce the inappropriateness of the measure and call for its revocation. On July 22, the chairman of the African Union Commission, the Chadian Moussa Faki Mahamat, announced that he had received the credentials of Aleli Admasu, "Israel's" ambassador to Ethiopia, Burundi and Chad, which…
(2021-08-04). How a network of UK intel-linked operatives helped sell every alleged Syrian chemical weapons attack. thegrayzone.com While Western media covers up their credibility issues, these pseudo-experts and spooks have helped drive the dirty war on Syria. A tight-knit cast of characters has sought to destabilize the Syrian government by convincing Syrians, Western citizens, foreign states, and international bodies that the CIA-backed Free Syrian Army is a legitimate, "moderate" alternative, while flooding news across the globe with opposition propaganda. Its key actors have also played a central part in high-profile chemical weapon deceptions, participating in the attacks' …
(2021-08-04). Massacre In Northeastern Syria: Father, Three Children Killed In Turkish Shelling (Photos). southfront.org 
Image: aa.com.tr | Late on August 3, a civilian man and three of his children were killed as a result of Turkish shelling on the northern countryside of Raqqa in northeastern Syria. | 54-year old Zidan Khalad al-Issa and his children, Ziad, Muna and Huda, were killed when Turkish shells hit their house which is located in the village of al-Safawiyah to the east of the town of Ain Issa. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) control the area. | A nurse in the Martyr Omar Alloush Hospital in A…
(2021-08-04). Military Situation In Iraq On August 4, 2021 (Map Update). southfront.org 
Click to see full-size image | On August 1, a logistical convoy of the US military was targeted by an IED attack in the Diwaniyah area | On August 1, two logistical convoys of the US military were targeted by an IED attack in the Hillah area | On August 3, more than 30 trucks belonging to the US coalition entered Syria throughthe illegal Al-Waleed crossing | On August 3, unknown gunmen in military uniform kidnapped a Kurdish civilian in Debs area in Kirkuk province | On August 4, Iraqi security for…
(2021-08-04). Daraa's Former Rebels Blow Up Abandoned Syrian Army Posts As Talks Go On (Videos). southfront.org 
Illustrative image. | Tensions continue in Daraa, despite ongoing talks between Syrian authorities and local leaders to resolve the governorate's crisis. | On August 3, pro-opposition sources in Daraa al-Balad, the southern part of Daraa city, said that local leaders had accepted some of the authorities' demands. | The local leaders informed the authorities that they will allow the deployment of units from the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the military intelligence in the area, but only with local fighters from the Russian-backed…
(2021-08-04). The Heat: Syria's war — what's next? america.cgtn.com 
Fighting continues in Syria with no end in sight.
(2021-08-04). SDF Position In Deir Ezzor Attacked By Suspected ISIS Cell. southfront.org 
Click to see full-size image | Injuries were reported among the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as a result of an attack on one of its headquarters in the Deir Ezzor countryside. | A number of SDF members were injured in an attack by unknown gunmen on one of their military headquarters in the town of Abu Hamam in the eastern Deir Ezzour countryside. | Unidentified militants in three pickup trucks opened heavy fire on the SDF position located near the water station in the town. | Following…
(2021-08-04). Work still remains on Syria chemical weapons destruction, Security Council hears. news.un.org Identifying perpetrators of chemical weapon attacks, and holding them accountable, must remain a priority, a senior UN official said on Wednesday during the latest Security Council meeting on Syria.
(2021-08-04). Military Situation In Syria On August 4, 2021 (Map Update). southfront.org 
Click to see full-size image | On August 3, Russia reported that Idlib militants violated the ceasefire regime in Greater Idlib 37 times: 19 — in Idlib province, 11 — in Latakia province, 4 — in Hama province, 3 — in Aleppo province | On August 3, SAA artillery shelled positions of former rebels in Daraa al-Balad | On August 3, artillery of Turkish-backed forces shelled SDF positions near Ain Issa | On August 4, one person killed and at least three were wounded in an explosion o…
(2021-08-04). Turkish attack in Syria kills four, including three children. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Turkish attack in northern Syria kills four, including three children — TV The Turkish Armed Forces carried out an attack on the As-Safavieh settlement located east of the Ayn Issa town in Syria's Raqqa province, Syria's Alikhbaria TV channel reported on Wednesday, citing local sources. According to the news outlet, the attack killed three underage …
(2021-08-04). Work still remains on destruction of Syria chemical weapons. news.un.org Identifying perpetrators of chemical weapon attacks, and holding them accountable, must remain a priority, a senior UN official said on Wednesday during the latest Security Council meeting on Syria.
(2021-08-04). UK Decision to Blame Iran for Ship Attack Premature Reaction. orinocotribune.com The Iranian Ambassador to the UK Mohsen Baharvand, in an interview with Financial Times, criticized the UK's recent accusations against the Islamic Republic over a strike on the ship Mercer Street, stressing that escalation "doesn't help anybody." | London's decision to blame the Islamic republic for last week's assault on Mercer Street was a "very premature reaction," Baharvand highlighted. | Baharvand was summoned to the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on Monday. In reaction to the summoning Iran's ambassador, Iran's foreign ministry summoned the British Chargé d'Affaires to lodge an offici…
(2021-08-04). Video: Daraa's Rebels Refuse Settlement and Clashes Continue with Support from Greater Idlib. globalresearch.ca