RT (2020-03-23). \'We want to hold the Olympics, but we're not so stupid to expect people to come amid pandemic' — Japan\'s Olympic chief. rt.com Japan does not intend to simply ignore the Covid-19 pandemic and hold the Olympic Games as other nations refuse to send delegations, but canceling them altogether is not on the table for now, the nation\'s Olympic chief said. | \"I\'m not so foolish as to insist that the Olympics go ahead as initially planned,\" Yoshiro Mori told journalists on Monday, as cited by Reuters. He acknowledged there was a lot of concern in the Olympic movement over holding the Games amid a global health crisis. | Shortly before that, Canada and Australia said they won\'t be sending their teams to the Games due to coronavirus concerns.

RT (2020-03-23). Hong Kong to ban all tourist arrivals, may suspend alcohol sales. rt.com Hong Kong is banning all tourist arrivals to the global financial center amid a spike in imported cases of the coronavirus. The move comes as Hong Kong joins cities worldwide in the battle to contain the spread of the disease. | The government also said it was studying whether to suspend the sale of alcohol in licensed bars and restaurants in the city. It has 318 confirmed cases of coronavirus and four deaths, Reuters reported. | Hong Kong last week toughened curbs on travelers, ordering 14 days of quarantine for arrivals and advising against all non-essential travel. University entrance exams will be postpone…

RT (2020-03-23). Qatar announces $150mn in aid to Gaza to support UN programs, efforts in fight against Covid-19. rt.com Qatar has announced $150 million in aid to the Gaza Strip over a period of six months. The decision was taken to support United Nations humanitarian programs in the Palestinian territory as well as efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak there, the state-run Qatari Committee to Rebuild Gaza tweeted on Monday. | The densely populated Gaza Strip reported its first cases on Sunday, Reuters said. | Authorities announced stay-at-home orders in the occupied West Bank as Palestinian health officials are trying to limit contagion.

RT (2020-03-23). 2nd Egyptian military official dies of coronavirus — report. rt.com A senior Egyptian military official died from coronavirus on Monday, state newspaper Al-Ahram said. The previous day, state media announced the death of another senior military official. | Major General Shafie Abdel Halim Dawoud \"died while fighting the coronavirus,\" state television said, without giving any details. The country\'s official media said on Sunday that Major General Khaled Shaltout had died of the same cause. | Egypt has so far registered 327 cases of the respiratory disease caused by the virus, including 14 fatalities, Reuters cited officials from the Health Ministry as saying on Sunday.

RT (2020-03-23). US must lift sanctions if they truly want to help Iran fight against coronavirus pandemic — Rouhani. rt.com Washington\'s offers to help Tehran against the deadly Covid-19 disease are disingenuous, because it is the US sanctions that undermine people\'s access to medical care, Iran\'s President Hassan Rouhani has said. | \"When the Americans say they are ready to help Iran against the coronavirus, it is one of the greatest lies in history,\" Rouhani said on Monday, urging Washington to \"stop getting in the way of Iranian people doing business.\" | If they want to help Iran, all they need to do is to lift sanctions. | Rouhani blamed the sweeping US sanctions for exacerbating unemployment and \"creating problems with the sup…

RT (2020-03-23). Spain's coronavirus death toll spikes by 462 fatalities overnight, 4,500+ new cases. rt.com The Spanish Health Ministry has confirmed that an additional 462 people died overnight bringing the country\'s total loss of life during the coronavirus crisis to 2,182. | Spain was among the first European countries to initiate a nationwide lockdown protocol as infection rates soared. The total number of coronavirus cases in the country rose from 28,572 to 33,089 on Monday, despite the best efforts of authorities to impose strict social distancing. | Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned Saturday that \"the worst is yet to come,\" as the nation\'s beleaguered health system struggles to turn the tide of infe…

AFSCME en Español (2020-03-23). Las proveedoras de cuidado infantil no reciben el apoyo necesario. peoplesworld.org En el jardín infantil Little Blossoms Child Care en Chula Vista, California, los niños y sus cuidadoras hablan sobre gérmenes todos los días. Esto siempre ha sido una prioridad para la dueña y gerente Miren Algorri, pero desde que empezó la pandemia del coronavirus ha abordado el tema con un mayor enfoque. Como proveedora de …

RT (2020-03-23). US in lockdown: The biggest threat to the oil industry ever? rt.com The impact of border closures, travel restrictions, restaurant closures and more is already wreaking havoc on the US oil industry, and it is likely to get much worse. | The SARS CoV2 virus that is behind the COVID-19 pandemic has finally ravaged the United States, and cities and states are reacting to its brutality by shutting stuff down. As the United States continues to increase measures to isolate the sick and slow the spread, the oil industry is bracing for harder times ahead. Just how bad could it get, and what would a full quarantine mean for US oil? | The effects of US border closures, travel restrictio…

The Canary (2020-03-23). Coronavirus: Latest updates from across the world. thecanary.co Covid-19 has infected hundreds of thousands of people across the globe.Here are the latest updates: — IRANIran has reported another 127 coronavirus-related deaths, bringing its toll to 1,812 amid 23,049 confirmed cases.Iran is battling the worst outbreak in the Middle East, and has faced criticism for not imposing stricter quarantine measures early on. It is also suffering under severe American sanctions imposed after President Donald Trump withdrew the US from Tehran\'s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.(PA Graphics)— SWITZERLANDThe World Health Organisation (WHO) said criminals are increasingly posing…

RT (2020-03-23). 'The world is not in such a condition': Japanese PM Abe suggests for first time that Tokyo Olympics could be postponed. rt.com Japan\'s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says that this summer\'s Tokyo Olympics may need to be postponed as numerous countries have expressed reservations about participating in the games due to the coronavirus pandemic. | After both Canada and Australia announced that they will not send athletes to any Olympics Games hosted this summer, along with reports that various individual athletes are expressing concern, Abe told a Japanese parliamentary meeting that the event will likely need to be rescheduled and said that he will hold talks with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach regarding the matt…

RT (2020-03-23). US unemployment rate may skyrocket to 30% amid 'huge shock' to economy. rt.com The United States is expected to see an unprecedented 50 percent drop in gross domestic product in the second quarter due to coronavirus outbreak, says Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard. | According to his projections, the US unemployment rate could hit 30 percent in Q2 as a result of massive shutdowns to combat the virus. | Bullard has called for a powerful fiscal response to replace the $2.5 trillion in lost income to assure a strong eventual US recovery. He said that the Fed should be poised to do more to ensure markets function during a period of high volatility. | \"This is a planne…

RT (2020-03-23). European markets tumble as global health crisis takes toll on economy. rt.com Stock markets around the world are starting the week mostly lower as the spread of the coronavirus continues to drag down the global economy, | The FTSE index is down over four percent at the start of trading in London, while Germany\'s DAX and France\'s CAC have plummeted almost five percent. The pan-European Stoxx 600 dropped 4.5 percent at the opening bell on Monday, with industrials nosediving six percent to lead the losses. | pic.twitter.com/kyzOribwWW— Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) March 23, 2020

RT (2020-03-23). All jury trials in England & Wales on hold over coronavirus fears. rt.com The lord chief justice, Lord Burnett, has announced that no new jury trials will be held in England and Wales, and any ongoing ones will be paused as the coronavirus crisis continues. | In a statement on Monday, Burnett said that arrangements were being made to conduct as many regular hearings remotely as possible using phones, video and other technology though jury trials cannot be conducted remotely. | \"A review of the arrangements in our courts is called for. I have decided that we need to pause jury trials for a short time to enable appropriate precautions to be put in place,\" Burnett said. | Also on rt.co…

RT (2020-03-23). Germany already FLATTENING the curve of Covid-19 infections, says public health chief. rt.com The head of Germany\'s public health institute claims that the rate of new coronavirus infection in the country is showing signs of flattening, highlighting the success of social distancing measures adopted nationwide. | \"We are seeing signs that the exponential growth curve is flattening off slightly,\" said Lothar Wieler, head of the Robert Koch Institute. \"But I will only be able to confirm this trend definitively on Wednesday.\" | Germany was among the first European nations to introduce a raft of emergency response measures including school closures and the severe curtailment of public gatherings. | Wieler s…

Leon Kunstenaar (2020-03-23). Jewish Activists Demand Governor Newsom Release Detainees In Light of Covid-19 Outbreak. indybay.org In a March 21 press release, Never Again Action Bay Area calls on Governor Newsom to take immediate steps to release migrants from unsanitary, overcrowded \"death camp\" detention centers…

IWOC Oakland (2020-03-23). Santa Rita Jail Solidarity During the Coronavirus Pandemic. indybay.org As businesses, schools, and institutions close to reduce the transmission of COVID-19, many people are wondering how to support people in jails, prisons, and immigration detention centers.

WSWS (2020-03-23). Immigrants at New Jersey ICE detention center launch hunger strike over COVID-19 threat. wsws.org Detainees at the Newark, New Jersey jail used by ICE are protesting filthy conditions that increase their risk of infection by the coronavirus and are demanding to be released.

Norman Solomon (2020-03-23). Power in a Time of Coronavirus. zcomm.org To fight like hell for the living

Norman Solomon (2020-03-23). What the Coronavirus Emergency Has to Do with Biden vs. Sanders. indybay.org Tepid adjustments vs. truly transformational agendas…

news.un (2020-03-23). Reaching \'beyond the possible\' in Hawaii to meet sustainability goals. news.un.org The people and government of the US state of Hawaii will reach \"beyond the possible\" to make the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) a reality; The SDGs are a set of targets agreed by countries around the world to reduce poverty, protect the planet and ensure peace and prosperity for all, by 2030. Hawaii introduced its own initiative, Sustainable Hawaii, in 2016 in support of the SDGs.

Mike Garrity (2020-03-23). When is a Logging Road \"Not a Road\"? counterpunch.org war is peace freedom is slavery ignorance is strength How does the Forest Service justify bulldozing new roads where they are not supposed to be? Only by saying, \"this feature is not a road.\" These are the official slogans of the Party as inscribed at the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell\'s dystopian novel 1984. The

Graham Peebles (2020-03-23). Death of the \"Usual\": Economic Evolution and the Emergence of the New. dissidentvoice.org Humanity is faced with a series of self-made, interrelated crises, from the environmental catastrophe to poverty, inequality, the absence of peace and an unprecedented level of displaced persons, among other pressing issues. All have been brought about by the negative behaviour of mankind, by the pervasive modes of living, the corrosive values and ideologies that …

Gareth Porter (2020-03-23). Pompeo and Netanyahu Paved a Path to War with Iran, and They\'re Pushing Trump Again. globalresearch.ca Though it narrowly averted war with Iran this January, the Trump administration is still pushing for all-out military conflict. The architects of the drive to war, Mike Pompeo and Benjamin Netanyahu, have relied on a series of cynical provocations to …

Paul Street (2020-03-23). The Pathogenic Profits System: Beyond Begging, Praying, and Capital. counterpunch.org We live in an age of Orwellian untruth where falsehood is the norm. One key falsehood worth unmasking is the claim that the current COVID-19 stock market decline, soon to usher in a full-on recession, is a \"black swan\" — an unpredictable (and supposedly unpredicted) \"surprise\" event with great and negative consequences outside the normal operations of capitalism. Nonsense. The new coronavirus is not really a surprise to those who know anything about the history of disease. Epidemics, like financial crises, have been a recurrent occurrence in the record of human civilization. Hundreds of epidemics have kille…

WSWS (2020-03-23). \"Four Corners\" program exposes Australian war crimes in Afghanistan. wsws.org The actions revealed in the program, including the execution of unarmed civilians, have doubtless been known by successive governments, Labor and Coalition alike.

Stephen Lendman (2020-03-23). Is Martial Law Coming to the US? globalresearch.ca Crises are opportunities for ruling authorities to institute policies not easily introduced during normal times. | Post-9/11 and at other extraordinary times, the public is willfully deceived to believe that by sacrificing personal freedoms, greater security is possible — not realizing …

Nino Pagliccia (2020-03-23). The IMF Abandons Venezuelans to the Threat of the COVID-19 Pandemic. counterpunch.org No government that had to bow to the power of a financial institution like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) knows the harsh consequences to which it will have to submit. That includes the Venezuelan government. And yet last March 15 president Nicolas Maduro filed a formal request to the IMF for a financing facility of

Ricardo Vaz (2020-03-23). IMF Rejects Venezuela COVID-19 Emergency Fund Appeal. globalresearch.ca The International Monetary Fund has rejected a Venezuelan appeal for an emergency US $5 billion loan to face the Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza revealed on Tuesday afternoon that President Nicolas Maduro had sent a letter to IMF …

Ralph Nader (2020-03-23). For America\'s Urgent Health and Safety, Trump Needs to Resign! counterpunch.org Leaning on sober-minded experts in infectious diseases at his daily news conferences, Trump is frantically trying to look good. But the old delusionary Trump keeps resurfacing. On Monday, he rated his coronavirus performance at a perfect ten. On Tuesday, he lied to the public about his knowing it was a pandemic \"long before it was

Richard Becker (2020-03-23). U.S. and Iraq: The Hidden History. globalresearch.ca \"You have given Iraq the opportunity to stand on its own,\" President Barack Obama told hundreds of cheering U.S. troops in Baghdad on April 7, 2009, his first visit to the country after being elected. He added that now, \"Iraqis …

James Fortin — Jeff Mackler (2020-03-23). COVID-19 Threatens the Lives of Billions: Statement of Socialist Action National Committee. counterpunch.org As the devastating novel coronavirus (COVID-19) literally threatens the lives of billions of the earth\'s people, two truths about the contagion remain unchallenged: All nations are ill prepared for the arrival of the virus and once it lands, despite herculean efforts in some cases, little can be done to stop its spread. The World Health

WSWS (2020-03-23). United Parcel Service forcing employees to work without protection amid COVID-19 pandemic. wsws.org \"There has been no serious talk about this disease\" at UPS, a warehouse worker in Baltimore, Maryland, told the World Socialist Web Site.

Ernest Owens (2020-03-23). Inside a Murder Trial in Krasner-Era Philadelphia. thenation.com Inside a Murder Trial in Krasner-Era Philadelphia…

WSWS (2020-03-23). Russian cases of coronavirus surge as economic crisis hits. wsws.org The Russian oligarchy is promoting nationalism and xenophobia and pushing for greater surveillance and dictatorial measures, as social tensions are set to escalate over the socioeconomic impact of the pandemic.

WSWS (2020-03-23). Coronavirus total in US skyrockets as testing expands. wsws.org The United States now leads the world in new cases and is second only to China and Italy in the number of patients infected with COVID-19.

Xinhua (2020-03-23). Spotlight: U.S. Politicians\' Use of the Term \"Chinese Virus\" Widely Condemned. globalresearch.ca The recent re-labeling of the novel coronavirus with xenophobic undertones by some U.S. politicians to stigmatize China has drawn widespread criticism. | As the international community works together to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, a few American politicians are shifting blame to …

John Buell (2020-03-23). Why Americans Should Stop Talking About \'China Flu\' and Learn From China. commondreams.org A medical staffmember walks out of an aisle in a hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (Photo: Feature China/Barcroft Media/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/coronavirus_0.jpg …

news.un (2020-03-23). \'Count every drop, every drop counts\': UN weather agency calls for better water data on World Meteorological Day. news.un.org Floods, extreme rainfall, droughts and melting glaciers…many of the major signs of climate change involve water. On this year\'s World Meteorological Day, the UN weather agency (WMO) is reinforcing the message of World Water Day, by focusing on the links between climate and water, and calling for better water-related data.

Christopher Black (2020-03-23). Coronavirus and The Age of Anxiety Redux. globalresearch.ca In 1948 the poet, W.H. Auden, published a long poem he titled, The Age of Anxiety, in which four characters express their anxiety about their place in a world that has been destroyed by two world wars and was threatened …

Manuel Bertoldi (2020-03-23). The Cost of This Pandemic Must Not Bankrupt the People. zcomm.org It is easier to imagine socialism in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, than it is to continue to live under the heartless regime of capitalism…

WSWS (2020-03-23). Italy\'s health workers denounce ruling elite\'s negligence on coronavirus. wsws.org Anger is mounting among Italy\'s medical personnel at the inadequate resources invested in fundamental health services and the negligence of state authorities.

WSWS (2020-03-23). Coronavirus kills more than 2,600 across Europe in one weekend. wsws.org Though large parts of Europe with hundreds of millions of inhabitants are under lockdown, the contagion is still spreading relentlessly across the continent.

repost (2020-03-23). Italy\'s Misleading Figures on the C-Virus. indybay.org In addition to false positives from the C-virus testing kits, we have these figures from Italy\'s Italian Institute of Health (ISS):…

WSWS (2020-03-23). Coronavirus crisis in New York: As doctors warn of \"our Chernobyl,\" state government plans Medicaid cuts. wsws.org Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has been calling for the deployment of the military, warned on Sunday that between 40 and 80 percent of the population of New York state (roughly 19.5 million people) would be infected.

WSWS (2020-03-23). Catastrophic worldwide medical ventilator shortfall despite years of warning. wsws.org World productive capacity of medical ventilators is far below peak requirements during the coronavirus outbreak.

WSWS (2020-03-23). Chinese worker writes on the coronavirus pandemic: \"Disaffection is growing among the masses\" wsws.org \"The working class has made huge sacrifices in the fight against the epidemic. The epidemic has increased the pressure on their lives, and made workers want a more resolute voice for labour rights.\"

WeCopwatch (2020-03-23). Ramsey Orta denied basic safety measures in Solitary Confinement as COVID-19 virus spreads. indybay.org Ramsey Orta and other inmates in the New York State Prison system are extremely vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus. If Governor Cuomo does not act now, it will be blood on his hands.

John P.A. Ioannidis (2020-03-23). A Fiasco in the Making? As the Coronavirus Pandemic Takes Hold, We Are Making Decisions Without Reliable Data. globalresearch.ca The current coronavirus disease, Covid-19, has been called a once-in-a-century At a time when everyone needs better information, from disease modelers and governments to people quarantined or just …

WSWS (2020-03-23). Canada registers 500,000 Employment Insurance claims in one week, as Coronavirus triggers jobs massacre. wsws.org Last week\'s EI claims far surpassed the total number of jobs lost in the eight months immediately following the eruption of the 2008 global financial crisis.

Lynda Carson (2020-03-23). California governor issues mandatory statewide order to stay at home. indybay.org Symptoms of coronavirus.