2020-06-27: News Headlines

G. Dunkel (2020-06-27). Maritime workers: Essential and mistreated due to COVID. workers.org Over a million workers on 60,000 ships, moving hither and yon through the world's oceans, transport 80 percent of the world's trade. Container ships carrying cell phones, computers and frozen meat; ore, oil and chemical transports — all the necessities of modern life — need crews to move them safely . . . |

A Guest Author (2020-06-27). South African Communist Party supports Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity against Covid-19. workers.org The South African Communist Party (SACP) issued this statement on June 19. The South African Communist Party (SACP) welcomes the progressive thrust of the Joint Statement of the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity Against Covid-19. The statement was released on Thursday, 18 June 2020, following the summit, which was attended . . . |

calvin deutschbein (2020-06-27). Students and workers say: 'Cops off our campus!'. workers.org Abolitionists are renewing their calls to abolish or at least defund campus police departments. This was first raised in Minneapolis, and now the demand is starting in Austin and Dallas, Texas. Campus police departments are rarely less viciously racist than city police and have less predictable behavior, but they are . . . |

Ted Rall (2020-06-27). Resist Evictions and Foreclosures. zcomm.org COVID-19 has created the ideal medium for a summer of continuous protest.

South Front (2020-06-27). Major Mexican Cartels: Drug Wars and Business. globalresearch.ca A

WSWS (2020-06-27). As pandemic rages, Trump administration calls on Supreme Court to strike down Obamacare. wsws.org An overturn of the Affordable Care Act would wipe out health care coverage for as many as 23 million Americans.

Eliza Egret (2020-06-27). Antisemitism smears are being used to silence criticism of Israel. But supporters of Palestine won't shut up. thecanary.co Content warning: This article contains graphic descriptions of violence that some readers may find disturbing. | Take a look at this image of 11-year-old Mahmoud Sawalhi, a Palestinian boy from Gaza. In 2018, an Israeli sniper

Abhijan Choudhury (2020-06-27). Israeli atrocities on the rise. peoplesdispatch.org Two recent reports released by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the United Nations in the occupied Palestinian Territories (OCHA oPT), on June 18 and 24, describe the blatant human rights violations and war crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian population in the three occupied Palestinian territories of West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. | The two reports cover May 2020 and the first fifteen days of June 2020, respectively, and compile data on acts committed by the Israeli government, armed forces and intelligence services to subjugate and oppress Palestinia…

Ali Salam (2020-06-27). Palestinian Civilians, Activists Protest Israeli Annexation in Kifl Hares. imemc.org Palestinians protesting the Israeli occupation and its settlement activities, today clashed with Israeli soldiers in the northern West Bank resulting in several injuries, all minor, Palestinian WAFA News Agency reported. In the northern West Bank village of Hares, east of Salfit, Israeli soldiers denied Palestinians access to village lands to …

WSWS (2020-06-27). Brazilian health care workers strike for PPE and risk bonus. wsws.org On Thursday, health care professionals in the Brazilian state of Piauí started an indefinite strike as their counterparts in Rio de Janeiro launched protests.

Susan Jaffe (2020-06-27). [Perspectives] Aletha Maybank: AMA's Chief Health Equity Officer. thelancet.com The world has changed in the year since the American Medical Association (AMA) named Aletha Maybank as its first Chief Health Equity Officer and founder of the AMA's Center for Health Equity, dedicated to eliminating the barriers to optimal health for all patients. COVID-19 has exposed health inequities that have always existed, Maybank said. But when US Government data omitted the disease's impact on Black, Hispanic, and Native American communities, she advocated for a change. "You can't fix something that you don't measure", she said.

Rachel Clarke (2020-06-27). [Perspectives] Nature and nowness under lockdown. thelancet.com "Death", wrote Saul Bellow in his acclaimed novel Humboldt's Gift, "is the dark backing a mirror needs if we are to see anything". 45 years have elapsed since he wrote these words, but they have surely never carried more weight. As we reel, stunned and awestruck, through the COVID-19 pandemic, the menace of death has inspired a profound attentiveness to—and gratitude for—the simplest moments of life. Amid the soaring death tolls, it has felt at times as though nothing—not least the natural world on our doorstep—will ever be taken for granted again.

_____ (2020-06-27). US Government Expands Assange Indictment To Criminalize Assistance. popularresistance.org The United States government expanded their indictment against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to criminalize the assistance WikiLeaks provided to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden when staff helped him leave Hong Kong. | Sarah Harrison, who was a section editor for WikiLeaks, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, a former spokesperson, and Jacob Appelbaum, a digital activist who represented WikiLeaks at conferences, are targeted as "co-conspirators" in the indictment [PDF], though neither have been charged with offenses. | No charges were added, however, it significantly expands the conspiracy to commit computer intrusion char…

_____ (2020-06-27). DOJ's New WikiLeaks Indictment Has Significant, Convenient Plot Holes. popularresistance.org In its push to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from the U.K., the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday published a superseding indictment aimed at broadening "the scope of the conspiracy surrounding alleged computer intrusions with which Assange was previously charged." The names of certain organizations and individuals are masked, including that of a paid FBI informant who stole money from WikiLeaks and later confessed to having sex with nine underage boys in exchange for money and other valuables. | A decent chunk of the filing relates to Chelsea Manning, her interactions with Assange and other possi…

_____ (2020-06-27). ACLU Files Federal Lawsuit Over Police Use Of Force During Anti-Racism Protests. popularresistance.org Denver – The ACLU of Colorado has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Black Lives Matter 5280 and other protesters against the City and County of Denver over police use of force during the protests against racism and police violence that erupted in the city last month after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. | The complaint alleges the use of force by Denver police, Denver sheriffs and Colorado State Patrol effectively "restricted, frustrated, and deterred" the First Amendment right of protesters in the city. The ACLU said police responded, "repeatedly with an overwhelming and unconstitutional use of forc…

yenisafak (2020-06-27). 'Rohingya issue, not Muslims v/s Buddhist paradigm'. yenisafak.com Maung Zarni, 56, scholar and activist, known for his opposition to the violence in Myanmar and his support to the Rohingya population said the Burmese military was taking advantage of strategic rivalry between China and India and blamed genocide of Rohingya to an institutional hate campaign.Born in a Burmese Buddhist family, Zarni said a campaign of ignorance was manufactured in his country through schools, mass media, and Buddhist organizations against Rohingya, which eventually culminated in the genocide."The Burmese public has been made ignorant of the facts about Islam and Muslims," said Zarni in an exclusive…

sputniknews (2020-06-27). Minneapolis Protesters Remember Breonna Taylor, Highlight Police Brutality Against Black Women. sputniknews.com Thousands of demonstrators have gathered at Powderhorn Park in southern Minneapolis, Minnesota, to honor the life of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman who was murdered in her Louisville, Kentucky, home during a botched raid carried out by Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) officers on March 13.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-27). Iran, Iraq emphasize strengthening security, peace cooperation. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 27 (MNA) — The Islamic Republic of Iran and Iraq stressed the need for bolstering the development, peace and security cooperation between the two nations.

Anand Naidoo (2020-06-27). The Heat: Former U.S. Natl. Security Adviser's controversial memoir. america.cgtn.com As the title claims — John Bolton was in "the room where it happened." The Heat goes inside the pages of the former U.S. National Security Adviser's White House memoir.

The Canary (2020-06-27). US states reverse reopening measures as coronavirus cases hit record high. thecanary.co Texas and Florida have clamped down on bars as the number of confirmed coronavirus (Covid-19) cases per day in the US surged to an all-time high of 40,000.Texas governor Greg Abbott ordered all bars to close, while Florida banned alcohol at all such establishments.Health experts have said a disturbingly large number of cases are being seen among young people who are going out again, often without wearing masks or observing other social-distancing rules. Abbott said: It is clear that the rise in cases is largely driven by certain types of activities, including Texans congregating in bars. | t.co/HjottZHYQO<...

The Canary (2020-06-27). Demonstrators demand justice for 12 year old refugee Shukri Abdi in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests. thecanary.co Demonstrators have gathered in London and other UK cities to demand "justice" for a 12-year-old Somali refugee on the one-year anniversary of her death.A huge crowd descended on the capital on Saturday 27 June in memory of Shukri Yahya Abdi, who drowned in the River Irwell in Bury, Greater Manchester, exactly one year ago. Many in the UK have renewed calls to demand a fair investigation into her death in the wake of recent Black Lives Matter protests.People with fists raised in the air carried a "Justice for Shukri" banner, and some wore T-shirts displaying the child's name.Protesters demanded 'justice for Shukri…

The Canary (2020-06-27). Mother of murder victims says Met police officers 'dehumanised' her daughters by taking selfies at crime scene. thecanary.co The mother of two sisters who were murdered in a London park has criticised the Metropolitan Police after officers allegedly shared "inappropriate" photographs of the crime scene.Nicole Smallman, 27, and Bibaa Henry, 46, are believed to have been stabbed to death by a stranger at Fryent Country Park in north-west London. The incident occurred in the early hours of 6 June.Flowers at an entrance to Fryent Country Park following the murder (Dominic Lipinski/PA)While no one has been charged with their murder, two police officers have been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in a public office. They were arrested afte…

Norman Solomon (2020-06-27). Progressives Must Fight With — and In — the Democratic Party. indybay.org Gov. Newsom Should Give Democracy a Chance…

Codepink, Extiction Rebellion, VFP, more (2020-06-27). Saturday 7/4: 4th of July SF Car Caravan: "Defund Police, Defund Pentagon, Fund Life!" indybay.org Meet up 2pm at SF City Hall, Polk St. between Grove & McAllister; Caravan to Stop 1: Defund Police, Black Lives Matter street painting, Fulton & Webster; Caravan to Stop 2: Defund Pentagon, Nancy Pelosi's House, Broadway @ Divisadero; Caravan to Stop 3: Fund Life!, Bayview Hunters Point.

BAACFJA (2020-06-27). Free Julian Assange Global Birthday Vigil. indybay.org BayAction2FreeAssange.org joins #Candles4Assange for Julian Assange's Global Birthday Vigil | Friday, July 3 ≥·µà, Noon-1PM | British Consulate, 1 Sansome St., San Francisco | *Masks & social distancing please | For those w medical conditions/unable to attend : Please follow @Action4assange livestream noted in details…

BAACFJA (2020-06-27). Friday 7/3: Free Julian Assange Global Birthday Vigil. indybay.org BayAction2FreeAssange.org joins #Candles4Assange for Julian Assange's Global Birthday Vigil | Friday, July 3 ≥·µà, Noon-1PM | British Consulate, 1 Sansome St., San Francisco | *Masks & social distancing please | For those w medical conditions/unable to attend : Please follow @Action4assange livestream noted in details…

R. Robertson (2020-06-27). Tenderloin Rises Up Against UC Hastings Lawsuit. indybay.org Speakers from organizations supporting the unhoused, law students, and community members protested UC Hastings move to clear black and brown residents from tent encampments in the middle of the pandemic. They started in front of the law school's Kane Hall and marched to the police station in the Tenderloin where they faced off with cops armed for battle.

_____ (2020-06-27). Rewriting History & Rehabilitating George W. Bush. strategic-culture.org To hear Barack Obama now making the claim that Bush was committed to the rule of law and human rights is just the latest betrayal of a Democratic Party that has systematically prevented a reckoning for the crimes of the 43rd president, a party that is clearly uninterested in truth or accountability, and is more than willing to rewrite history to advance its political goals.

Minnie Bruce Pratt (2020-06-27). Supreme Court rulings: Mass fightback and solidarity win concessions. workers.org This is a slightly edited version of a talk given on a June 25 Workers World Party webinar on "LGBTQ2S+ and the Black Lives Matter movement." How fortunate we all are to be in the struggle together this particular June Pride Month — a month of historic uprising and outcry . . . |

Susan Jaffe (2020-06-27). [World Report] LGBTQ discrimination in US health care under scrutiny. thelancet.com A US Supreme Court ruling could undermine the Trump administration's plan to roll back some protections against sex discrimination. Susan Jaffe reports.

Massimiliano Gnecchi, Francesco Moretti, Emilio Maria Bassi, Sergio Leonardi, Rossana Totaro, Luciano Perotti, Valentina Zuccaro, Stefano Perlini, Lorenzo Preda, Fausto Baldanti, Raffaele Bruno, Luigi Oltrona Visconti (2020-06-27). [Clinical Picture] Myocarditis in a 16-year-old boy positive for SARS-CoV-2. thelancet.com A 16-year-old boy was admitted to our emergency department, in Lombardy, complaining of intense pain in his chest—radiating to his left arm—which had started 1 h earlier. The day before he had a fever of 38 ∑3 ∞C that decreased after 100 mg of nimesulide. He reported no other symptoms, no medical history, and no contact with anyone with confirmed COVID-19.

Richard Horton (2020-06-27). [Comment] Offline: The second wave. thelancet.com The spectre of a second wave of COVID-19 hangs over us. Some infectious disease specialists believe that SARS-CoV-2 might be losing virulence. Most are less sanguine. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO's Director-General, reported last week that "the pandemic is accelerating"—across the Americas, south Asia, and the Middle East. "The world is in a new and dangerous phase", he said. "The virus is still spreading fast, it is still deadly, and most people are still susceptible." The shadow of the 1918 influenza pandemic darkens our perspective.

Deying HU, Yue KONG, Wengang LI, Qiuying HAN, Xin ZHANG, Li Xia ZHU, Su Wei WAN, Zuofeng LIU, Qu SHEN, Jingqiu YANG, Hong-Gu HE, Jiemin ZHU (2020-06-27). Frontline nurses' burnout, anxiety, depression, and fear statuses and their associated factors during the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China: A large-scale cross-sectional study. thelancet.com The frontline nurses experienced a variety of mental health challenges, especially burnout and fear, which warrant attention and support from policymakers. Future interventions at the national and organisational levels are needed to improve mental health during this pandemic by preventing and managing skin lesions, building self-efficacy and resilience, providing sufficient social support, and ensuring frontline work willingness.

Sharmila Devi (2020-06-27). [World Report] Access to health care under threat in Afghanistan. thelancet.com Attacks on hospitals and high numbers of COVID-19 cases among health workers could hamper access to health care. Sharmila Devi reports.

Juan Fortea, Eduard Vilaplana, Maria Carmona-Iragui, Bessy Benejam, Laura Videla, Isabel Barroeta, Susana Fernández, Miren Altuna, Jordi Pegueroles, Víctor Montal, Silvia Valldeneu, Sandra Giménez, Sofía González-Ortiz, Laia Muñoz, Teresa Estellés, Ignacio Illán-Gala, Olivia Belbin, Valle Camacho, Liam Reese Wilson, Tiina Annus, Ricardo S Osorio, Sebastián Videla, Sylvain Lehmann, Anthony J Holland, Daniel Alcolea, Jordi Clarimón, Shahid H Zaman, Rafael Blesa, Alberto Lleó (2020-06-27). [Articles] Clinical and biomarker changes of Alzheimer's disease in adults with Down syndrome: a cross-sectional study. thelancet.com Alzheimer's disease in individuals with Down syndrome has a long preclinical phase in which biomarkers follow a predictable order of changes over more than two decades. The similarities with sporadic and autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease and the prevalence of Down syndrome make this population a suitable target for Alzheimer's disease preventive treatments.

Candice Luo, Nitika Sanger, Nikhita Singhal, Kaitlin Pattrick, Ieta Shams, Hamnah Shahid, Peter Hoang, Joel Schmidt, Janice Lee, Sean Haber, Megan Puckering, Nicole Buchanan, Patsy Lee, Kim Ng, Sunny Sun, Sasha Kheyson, Douglas Cho-Yan Chung, Stephanie Sanger, Lehana Thabane, Zainab Samaan (2020-06-27). A comparison of electronically-delivered and face to face cognitive behavioural therapies in depressive disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. thelancet.com Although we found eCBT to have moderate evidence of effectiveness in reducing symptoms of depression, high heterogeneity among studies precludes definitive conclusions for all outcomes. With the current reliance and accessibility of technology to increasing number of people worldwide, serious consideration in utilizing technology should be given to maximize accessibility for depression treatments. Our results found eCBT is at least as effective as face to face CBT, thus eCBT should be offered if preferred by patients and therapists.

Richard N Price, Walter R J Taylor, Kamala Thriemer, Nicholas J White, Nicholas P Day (2020-06-27). [Correspondence] Primaquine for Plasmodium vivax malaria treatment — Authors' reply. thelancet.com We agree with Harin Karunajeewa and Robert James that radical cure of Plasmodium vivax malaria needs to be deployed more widely. The question is, how do we achieve this? Shortening the treatment course and thereby improving adherence is an important step in the right direction.1 Primaquine regimens are usually extended over 14 days to reduce the daily dose and thereby improve tolerability and safety. The main adverse event risk is haemolysis in patients with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency.

Elizabeth Head, Beau Ances (2020-06-27). [Comment] Biomarkers in Down syndrome can help us understand Alzheimer's disease. thelancet.com Down syndrome is associated with increased risk of developing early-onset Alzheimer's disease, primarily because of the overexpression of the APP gene on chromosome 21. People with Down syndrome, as a form of genetically determined Alzheimer's disease, represent one of the largest cohorts at risk of early-onset Alzheimer's disease because virtually all adults with Down syndrome will develop Alzheimer's disease by age 40 years.1 However, the age range for the onset of cognitive decline is wide (from <50 years to >70 years).

The Lancet (2020-06-27). [Editorial] Generation coronavirus? thelancet.com The catastrophic elements that have perpetuated the COVID-19 pandemic—global interconnectedness, climate change due to human activity, vast economic inequality, and deep veins of antiscience—have resulted in more than 9 million infections and almost 500‚Äà000 deaths worldwide. Although children might be less susceptible to infection by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and generally have better outcomes than adults, COVID-19 as a phenomenon weighs heavily on their health and wellbeing.

Jonathan D Mizrahi, Rishi Surana, Juan W Valle, Rachna T Shroff (2020-06-27). [Seminar] Pancreatic cancer. thelancet.com Pancreatic cancer is a highly fatal disease with a 5-year survival rate of approximately 10% in the USA, and it is becoming an increasingly common cause of cancer mortality. Risk factors for developing pancreatic cancer include family history, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and tobacco use. Patients typically present with advanced disease due to lack of or vague symptoms when the cancer is still localised. High quality computed tomography with intravenous contrast using a dual phase pancreatic protocol is typically the best method to detect a pancreatic tumour and to determine surgical resectability.

Emeline Han, Shu-Ti Chiou, Martin McKee, Helena Legido-Quigley (2020-06-27). [Commentary] The resilience of Taiwan's health system to address the COVID-19 pandemic. thelancet.com A new book by world-leading economists gives clear advice on how to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic: "Act Fast and Do Whatever It Takes" [1]. Yet, countries that have done so are the exceptions rather than the rule — and one of them is Taiwan. With 446 cases and 7 deaths as 22nd of June 2020 in a population of 23.8 million, Taiwan has remained relatively unscathed so far despite its proximity to the virus epicentre [2]. How was Taiwan able to respond the way it did? Here, we examine Taiwan's response using the World Health Organization (WHO) health system building blocks [3].

Harin Karunajeewa, Robert James (2020-06-27). [Correspondence] Primaquine for Plasmodium vivax malaria treatment. thelancet.com The main reason conventional primaquine regimens last 14 days is because this was the time taken to repatriate US military personnel by ship following active service in the Korean War.1 We therefore congratulate Walter Taylor and colleagues2 for finally upending an absurdly impractical 60-year-old legacy and setting a new standard of care. However, convincing policy makers and practitioners to implement this new standard of care presents challenges relating to how risk is perceived and managed.

Jon Schwarz (2020-06-27). Black Lives Matter Wants to End Police Brutality. zcomm.org History Suggests It Will Go Much Further…

The Alternative World (2020-06-27). Bahrain: A Police State Built on Intimidation and Torture. thealtworld.com Exclusive— Welcome to Bahrain, the cemetery of the living, the home of chambers of death, the kingdom of widespread impunity, police brutality, extrajudicial killings and repression. | Welcome to Bahrain, where the most gruesome arts of torture are heinously and systematically practised by the security services, including the use of electro-shock devices, forced standing techniques, suspension in painful positions (while handcuffed and exposed to extreme cold or hot temperature), medical negligence, beatings, threats of rape or murder and sexual abuse, etc. in order to inflict permanent suffering on the peac…

WSWS (2020-06-27). Detroit Fiat Chrysler workers halt production for second day to demand COVID-19 protection. wsws.org The mounting struggles by workers against the back-to-work drive highlight the immense power of the working class in the fight to halt the deadly pandemic and the corporate-government attack on jobs and living standards.

WSWS (2020-06-27). New York City officials accused of undercounting and mismanagement after dozens of homeless COVID-19 deaths reported. wsws.org A new report gives an insight into the consequences of the city authorities' malign neglect as the virus spread amongst the homeless in the center of global finance.

Sandipan Talukdar (2020-06-27). How does COVID-19 causes the loss of smell? peoplesdispatch.org One of the myriad effects of COVID-19 is the loss of smell among some of the infected people. Rough Research and medical assessments hav…

Adnan Khan (2020-06-27). COVID Is Skyrocketing in CA Prisons. zcomm.org Why Haven't More People Been Released?>

Tanya Wadhwa (2020-06-27). The socio-economic crisis is aggravating the health crisis in Peru. peoplesdispatch.org Peru is the second hardest hit country in Latin America and the seventh most severely affected nation globally by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite early and strict nationwide lockdown measures, the number of coronavirus cases have increased at an alarming rate. After 103 days of mandatory home quarantine and shutdown of economic activities, as of June 26, there are 272,364 confirmed cases of the coronavirus infection and 8,939 deaths due to the disease in the country. The capital Lima is the most affected region with 153,068 cases and 4,029 deaths. | Although Peru was one of the first Latin American countries to im…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-27). Italian metalworkers demonstrate demanding better working conditions. peoplesdispatch.org On June 25, Thursday, major metalworkers unions in Italy gathered at Piazza del Popolo in Rome, demanding an improvement in work conditions post the COVID-19 crisis. The mobilization was called by unions, including the Federation of Italian Metal Mechanics (FIM), Italian Federation of Metal Workers (FIOM) and the Union of Italian Metal Mechanics Workers (UILM). The demonstrating workers alleged that many of the long-pending work-related disputes in the sector have not been resolved by the government. | FIOM general secretary Francesca Re David said, "You cannot think of leaving the COVID emergency while leaving u…

WSWS (2020-06-27). COVID-19 cases rise in Louisiana but governor refuses to reverse economic reopening. wsws.org The state's Democratic governor says restaurants, cafes, bars, shopping malls, gyms and many other businesses can operate at 50 percent occupancy.

Ali Salam (2020-06-27). Dozens of Palestinians Suffocate from Israeli Fired Tear-Gas in Hebron. imemc.org In the southern West Bank city of Hebron, on Friday, Palestinians confronted Israeli soldiers at the point between the Israeli-occupied section of the city and that of the Palestinian-controlled section, Palestinian WAFA News Agency reported. Local sources said that dozens of Palestinians suffered the toxic effects of tear-gas inhalation, after …

Prabhat Patnaik (2020-06-27). The absurdity of hiking oil prices amid lockdown and pandemic. peoplesdispatch.org Taxing oil is the worst among all tax options when income sources have dried up. It will have the most deleterious effect on the level of output and employment…

Sonali Kolhatkar (2020-06-27). Trump Using Pandemic to Wage War on Immigrants and Separate Families. zcomm.org It looks like the president's goal is to make America white…

news.un (2020-06-27). What will power the post-pandemic global economic recovery? news.un.org As governments try to kick-start their economies, the UN is calling for recovery plans to be built around low-carbon technologies, to avoid a return to fossil-fuel based business as usual.

_____ (2020-06-27). Week in Review — June 21st — 27th. truepublica.org.uk By TruePublica Editor: It's been another dreadful week for Britain's PM Boris Johnson and the wider Tory party — as if that was remotely possible — but succeed they did. The week before, pollsters confirmed that Johnson's handling of the pandemic has not impressed anyone and so new Labour leader Keir Starmer's popularity roared ahead …

Kate Shea Baird (2020-06-27). Lessons from the pandemic for the municipalists in Spain. zcomm.org The pandemic has damaged municipalism in Barcelona, but it has strengthened the municipalist hypothesis itself: our strength must be rooted in togetherness…

Ryan Cristián (2020-06-27). "Pandemic II" Is Here & SURPRISE It's YOUR Fault, Mask Hysteria, GM Mosquitoes, BIOMILQ & Bill Gates. thelastamericanvagabond.com Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (6/26/20). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …

Z3K3 (2020-06-27). The Struggle for No Police in the Los Angeles Schools. zcomm.org Source: LA Progressive Photo by mikeledray/Shutterstock.com A great leap forward and victory is in sight On Tuesday, June 23, in Los Angeles, the decade's long struggle for No Police in the Schools had a major breakthrough. Los Angeles School Board member Monica Garcia introduced the most structural and hopeful motion to make "defund the police"

Unitarian Univeralist Association (2020-06-27). Sunday 6/28: 'The Condor & The Eagle' New Film & Discussion on Climate & Indigenous Rights (online). indybay.org Online/virtual…

Pepe Eggers (2020-06-27). End of a Career. Obituary The "Swabian housewife" indybay.org The "Swabian housewife" dominated politics. Now she is buried by her inventors, of all people. | The state is not a business or a housewife but can borrow and become indebted to help present and future generations. | Systemic change, not climate change! Fight ignorance, not immigrants!

yenisafak (2020-06-27). Irish parliament elects Micheál Martin as prime minister. yenisafak.com Micheál Martin was elected as Ireland's new prime minister by parliament on Saturday to head a coalition tasked with tackling the economic repercussions of the coronavirus crisis and moving fast on climate action as demanded by its smallest member, the Greens.Martin's Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, Ireland's two dominant centre-right parties who have swapped power since emerging from opposing sides of Ireland's 1920s civil war, will rule together for the first time in the three-party government.Martin, who has held several senior ministries including health, trade, foreign affairs and education in previous administra…

sputniknews (2020-06-27). Tehran Blast Took Place at Missile Production Facility, News Agency Claims, Citing Satellite Images. sputniknews.com A large explosion woke up the residents of the Iranian capital with a huge dawn-like blaze seen to the east of the city. The blast, officially attributed to an explosion of a leaky gas tank, shattered windows in some buildings, but ultimately resulted in no casualties.

Fight Back (2020-06-27). Economic crisis deepens as pandemic surges. fightbacknews.org San José, CA – For the second week in a row, new applications for state unemployment insurance or UI did not drop by much, despite economists' expectations. New claims for the week ending June 20 were 1.48 million, down only 28,000 from last week's initial estimate. New applications for the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, or PUA, fell by 42,000 to 728,000 last week. Together the PUA and state unemployment insurance applications topped 2.2 million, only slightly lower than the 2.27 million total for the week before. | Continuing claims for state unemployment insurance, PUA, the Federal Pandemic Emergency…

_____ (2020-06-27). The Pandemic As Part Of A Much Broader Crisis Of Civilisation. popularresistance.org Covid-19 was first identified in November 2019 in the city of Wuhan. It is an infectious disease caused by a virus which is highly likely to have 'jumped' from a horseshoe bat to a human. This is widely known and yet it is striking how little is said about the actual implications. What are the impacts for us when humans can contract deadly diseases from animals? Is this normal? Or is it an isolated incident? | Sadly, such cases of viruses being transmitted to humans from vertebrates are certainly no exception. 60% of infectious diseases that affect humans originate from vertebrates. These are known as 'zoonotic'

_____ (2020-06-27). People's Strike: An Open Letter To All Forces Fighting For Our Lives. popularresistance.org The "normal" world roiled by this pandemic is deeply unequal, inequitable, exploitative, extractive, and repressive. It is deeply fractured around capitalist colonialism, racial oppression, gender, sexuality, nationality, and religion. It is this real world dystopia that has led to the needless death of more than 115,000 people in the United States of COVID-19, with at least 25,00 new infections daily. The vast majority of the infected and dead are Black, Brown, and Indigenous people. In the midst of the pandemic, it is this dystopian world that right-wing Republicans and neoliberal Democrats are determined to fo…

_____ (2020-06-27). Bipartisan Crimes Against Humanity In The United States. popularresistance.org Hundreds of people are unnecessarily dying every day with African Americans representing a disproportionate number of those deaths. Eighty million people are now without health coverage, millions are unemployed, over the next two months evictions will resume with an expected explosion of homelessness. And what is the response from the state that is tasked with the responsibility to promote and protect the fundamental human rights of its population? | While trillions of dollars were transferred to the corporate sector though the CARES Act meant to support the economy through the crisis, the state continues to igno…

_____ (2020-06-27). Why Is This Ongoing American "Revolution" Bound To Fail? popularresistance.org Observed from outer space, the United States is in a revolutionary turmoil. Fires are burning, thousands of people are confronting police and other security forces. There are barricades, banners, posters, and there is rage. | Rage is well justified. Grievances run deep, through the veins of a confused and socially insecure population, in both cities and the countryside. Minorities feel and actually are oppressed. Indeed they have been disgracefully oppressed, since the birth of the country, over two centuries ago (see my latest report carried by this magazine). | There are some correct words uttered and written…

yenisafak (2020-06-27). Malaysia COVID-19 cases drop to 191. yenisafak.com The number of active novel coronavirus cases dropped to 191 in Malaysia, according to health officials.General Directorate of Malaysian Health Ministry said cases increased to 8,606 with six additional infections while recoveries reached 8,294 with 23 patients leaving hospitals.A total of 121 patients died from the virus and the country did not report any deaths in the last 13 days.Malaysia has reported a single-digit case increase for the last four days and hopes to announce the stop of the spread of the virus in July.As part of COVID-19 measures, it declared a curfew March 18 and the normalization process began…

yenisafak (2020-06-27). Iran reports 125 more fatalities from coronavirus. yenisafak.com Iran on Saturday confirmed 125 more fatalities from the novel coronavirus, bringing the nationwide death toll to 10,364.A further 2,456 people tested positive for COVID-19, raising the overall count to 220,180, Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said.She added that a total of 180,661 people have recovered and been discharged from hospitals so far, adding that 2,928 patients remain in critical condition.Over 1.58 million tests have been conducted in the country to date, Lari noted.Since originating in China last December, the pandemic has claimed over 494,400 lives in 188 countries and regions.More than 9…

yenisafak (2020-06-27). Turkey says close to 170,000 people recovered from COVID-19. yenisafak.com A total of 1,984 people beat COVID-19 over the past day, bringing the overall count to 169,182, Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter, citing the Health Ministry data."The number of recoveries is 612 more than the number of infected people. This number was 96 yesterday," Koca noted.The country's death toll from the virus rose to 5,082, as it reported 17 new fatalities in the past 24 hours.Some 984 patients remain in intensive care, added Koca.Health care professionals conducted 45,213 tests for the disease in the past day, raising the total count to over 3.23 million.According to the test results, the total number of in…

yenisafak (2020-06-27). Ethiopia to begin filling Nile dam in 2 weeks. yenisafak.com Ethiopia will start filling its $5 billion hydroelectric dam on the Nile in two weeks, the government said on Saturday.The announcement came after an online summit of the leaders of Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt convened by the African Union (AU) for negotiations on guidelines for the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).A statement by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's office said the three countries have agreed to continue the dialogue and reach a deal within the next two weeks."Ethiopia is scheduled to begin filling the GERD within the next two weeks, during which the remaining construction work will continue. It is i…

yenisafak (2020-06-27). EU holds off decision on borders, Americans set to be excluded. yenisafak.com European Union countries failed to settle on Friday on a final "safe list" of countries whose residents could travel to the bloc from July, with the United States, Brazil and Russia set to be excluded.Ambassadors from the 27 EU members convened from Friday afternoon to establish criteria for granting quarantine-free access from next Wednesday.A redrawn text of 10-20 countries was put to them, but many said they needed to consult first with their governments, diplomats said. The list did not include the United States, Brazil or Russia, one diplomat said.Discussions were continuing overnight, with the EU countries…

yenisafak (2020-06-27). 'Existing tensions surfacing in new China-India row'. yenisafak.com The recent clashes between China and India are a manifestation of long-standing tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, according to an expert on South Asian geopolitics."The Himalayan border problem between Pakistan, India, and China is not a new issue — it goes back at least 70 years," Umit Alperen, a researcher and professor, said in an online discussion with Cemal Demir, head of the Istanbul-based South Asia Strategic Research Center (GASAM).China and India's military clash can be seen as the surfacing of a tension that has been there for some time, and an escalation accelerated by domestic, r…

yenisafak (2020-06-27). Italy sends army to seal off southern cluster of virus. yenisafak.com The Italian government sent soldiers on Friday to isolate a group of buildings in the southern town of Mondragone, where a new cluster of coronavirus among seasonal workers has sparked clashes with residents.Earlier this week, regional authorities ordered to quarantine the buildings and put about 700 inhabitants — mainly Bulgarians and Roma — under lockdown for 15 days.After executing more than 740 swab tests, 43 of the buildings' residents tested positive for coronavirus, the regional governor said on Friday. He pledged tough security measures to stop the outbreak and keep all residents inside the red zone.As…

yenisafak (2020-06-27). Czech coronavirus cases rise just as holidays start. yenisafak.com The Czech Republic recorded 168 new cases of the coronavirus on Friday, authorities said, the highest daily rise in cases since early April just as the country is starting the two-month summer holiday season.It was also the fourth day of the last 10 showing a daily increase of more than 100. Over the past week, the eastern region of Karvina has been by far the most affected by the rise in cases, according to the Health Ministry website.Friday was the last day of school for most children and students, with their families getting ready for the holidays. Many Czechs will spend their holidays in the country rather th…

yenisafak (2020-06-27). Indonesia reports biggest daily rise in coronavirus infections with 1,385 cases. yenisafak.com Indonesia on Saturday reported its biggest daily increase in coronavirus infections with 1,385 new cases, taking the total to 52,812, health ministry official Achmad Yurianto said.Yurianto also said there had been 37 more coronavirus-related deaths, taking the total number of fatalities to 2,720.Separately, local authorities said that nine people aboard a flight from Indonesia to Cambodia tested positive after reaching Cambodia. Of them, one was Indonesian and eight Cambodians.

yenisafak (2020-06-27). Africa's coronavirus cases near 360,000. yenisafak.com The number of coronavirus cases in Africa has reached 359,408, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said on Saturday.The death toll has risen to 9,283. The number of patients who have recovered hit 173,057.South Africa is the worst affected in terms of cases with a whopping 124,600, while Egypt follows with 62,800.Nigeria in West Africa recorded 23,300 cases, Cameroon in Central Africa 12,600 and Sudan in East Africa 9,300.Egypt leads in terms of deaths losing 2,600 people to the virus, South Africa 2,300, Sudan 572, Nigeria 554 and Cameroon 313.Southern Africa registered 129,700 cases, 2,400 fat…

yenisafak (2020-06-27). Turkish industries operated during pandemic, says Erdogan. yenisafak.com Turkish industries have continued production to a large extent even during the pandemic, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday.Speaking during the launch ceremony of an environmental project via video link, Erdogan said: "Our industries continued production to a large extent, even during the pandemic. I believe in the next phase, we can make up for our production losses during the pandemic."The project aims to stop pollution and improve agriculture in the surrounding areas in the Marmara region, northwestern Turkey.Erdogan said 520 new factories in organized industrial sites were opened in the first fiv…

yenisafak (2020-06-27). Turkish forces discover 2 PKK winter hideouts. yenisafak.com A terrorist in the custody of Turkish security forces revealed the location of 2 PKK terror group's winter hideouts.The terrorist, identified by the initials M.A. with the codename Mervan, was nabbed on June 20 in the southeastern province of Adiyaman.In an operation on June 25-26, nine different places were searched.Along with the two hideouts, a rag of the terror group, a stove, a solar panel, six batteries, 400 meters of copper wire, 75 small batteries, documents belonging to the organization and many life supplies were seized.In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listed as a terr…

yenisafak (2020-06-27). Cricket: Pakistan to arrive in England on Sunday, then quarantine. yenisafak.com Pakistan's team will arrive in England on Sunday before entering a two-week quarantine period ahead of their tour, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Friday.Three test matches and three T20 internationals are scheduled behind closed doors."They will start a 14-day isolation period at Blackfinch New Road, Worcester before transferring to Derbyshire's The Incora County Ground on July 13 to accelerate their preparation ahead of the first Test, which will include two four-day internal warm-up matches," an ECB statement said.The Pakistan Cricket Board said on Tuesday that a total of 10 players, includin…

sputniknews (2020-06-27). Tired of 'Reality TV-Presidency': Pundits Explain Biden's Sudden Popularity in Swing States. sputniknews.com While Trump has already won a presidential election once despite polls suggesting he would be defeated, the discrepancy in numbers between him and his opponent, Joe Biden, is currently far greater than in 2016 between Trump and Clinton, meaning that POTUS might not succeed this time even with the Electoral College.

sputniknews (2020-06-27). Bolton Claims Case Against Huawei's CFO Not Politically Motivated, Ready to Testify to Prove It. sputniknews.com The memoir of Trump's former national security adviser has already made a lot of noise over claims questioning POTUS' ability to govern the nation, but now the book is starting to affect the US case against a top Huawei executive, whose legal defence is intending to use the memoir in her favour.

sputniknews (2020-06-27). Coca-Cola Says It's Pausing Social Media Advertising Amid Push to Deal With Racist Online Content. sputniknews.com Quite a few corporate giants, like Unilever, Levi's, and Hershey's, have gone down the path of partially or fully freezing ad spending, in a bid to push social media platforms like Facebook to revise its policies over hate content.

sputniknews (2020-06-27). Japan Awards First-Ever Ninja Studies Degree. sputniknews.com A Japanese university has awarded the first-ever degree in ninja studies.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-27). COVID-19 cases surpass 220,000 in Iran. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 27 (MNA) — The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infected 2,456 people and claimed the lives of 125 patients in the past day, a senior health official said.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-27). US, Europe back crimes of MEK: Mousavi. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 27 (MNA) — Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi described the United States and Europe as a supporter of the crimes committed by the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), that was responsible for assassination of Ayatollah Beheshti in 1981.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-27). Trump's talks offer with Venezuela, Iran doesn't mean policy shift: Argentinian Prof. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 28 (MNA) — The head of the International Relations Area for the Observatory of International Trade at the National University of Lujan in Argentina believes that US hostile policies toward Iran and Venezuela will continue despite Donald Trump's willingness to talk with Tehran and Caracas.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-27). So-called 'maximum pressure' to hit enemies themselves: Leader. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 27 (MNA) — Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said that enemies' efforts to bring the Iranian nation to its knees is futile.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-27). World Refugee Day: time for rally around Iran on humanitarian purposes. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 28 (MNA) — As I read the new Global Trends report issued last week from UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, I cannot help but feel worried. 1 in 97 people worldwide has been forced to flee their homes. This represents 79.5 million people forcibly displaced in and out of their countries at the end of 2019 — an unprecedented number.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-27). Iran ranks second in plasma therapy: IBTO. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 27 (MNA) — CEO of the Iranian Blood Transfusion Organization said that Iran is ranked as the second country for conducting the Convalescent Plasma Therapy plan, while the US falls one step behind Iran.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-27). Police seize over 1.4 tons of narcotics in Iran's Saravan. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 27 (MNA) — Police forces of Sistan and Baluchestan have confiscated over 1.4 tons of illicit drugs in Saravan County, said the police chief on Saturday.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-27). Indian bank eyes non-oil imports from Iran to sustain rupee-rial trade. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 27 (MNA) — India's UCO Bank is exploring the avenues to keep the rupee payment mechanism with Iran alive, amid the challenges made by the US' unilateral sanctions.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-27). Police seize over 161 kg of illicit drugs in SW Iran. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 28 (MNA) — The anti-narcotics police forces of Iran's southwestern province of Bushehr have seized over 161 kilograms of different illicit drugs.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-27). Iran accounts for 90% of global opium confiscation. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 28 (MNA) — Commander of the Border Guard of the Law Enforcement Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran (NAJA) Second Brigadier General Ahmad Ali Goudarzi said on Sat. that Iran accounts for 90% of global opium confiscation.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-27). Attack on Iraq's resistance HQ, failed plan for dismantling 'Hash al-Sha'abi'. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 28 (MNA) — The recent attack on Iraq's Hashd al-Sha'abi [Popular Mobilization Unit, PMU] Headquarters was aimed at conducting preparatory operations to assess the availability of conditions for dismantling this group.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-27). Hashd al-Sha'abi launches anti-ISIL operation in E Iraq. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 27 (MNA) — Iraqi PMU, better known as Hashd al-Sha'abi announced on Saturday that the forces have launched an anti-ISIL operation in Diyala province.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-27). Leader holds video conf. meeting with Judiciary officials. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 27 (MNA) — On the occasion of the National Judiciary Week Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei held a meeting via videoconference with a number of Judiciary officials on Saturday.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-27). EU rejects US lawmakers' call to designate Hezbollah as terrorist org. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 27 (MNA) — European Union has rejected the call by a group of US senators to designate all of Hezbollah a terrorist organization and ban its activities in the continent.

imperial.ac.uk (2020-06-27). Neil Ferguson on scientific advice, lockdown and countering new outbreaks. imperial.ac.uk The UK may need "targeted" interventions to suppress coronavirus flare-ups as lockdown eases, says the head of Imperial's COVID-19 Response Team.

WSWS Repost (2020-06-27). Racial-communalist politics and the second assassination of Abraham Lincoln. indybay.org To disrupt working-class and youth solidarity, the two capitalist parties and various reactionary elements in the upper-middle class are stooping to new lows to promote racial divisions.

United We Dream & others (2020-06-27). Thursday 7/2: Tackling Anti-Blackness in Immigrant Communities Discussion w/ United We Dream. indybay.org Online…

WorkWeek (2020-06-27). WorkWeek On Police Unions, Police Terror, The AFL-CIO And Labor. indybay.org WorkWeek looks at the role of the police, police terror, labor and the AFL-CIO. The police have been expelled from the MLK Jr. Labor Council in Seattle after a debate and participants discuss the issue. Also WorkWeek looks at termination of Chicago ATU 241 bus driver and Executive Board member Erek Slater.

Oakland Privacy (2020-06-27). First Municipal Ban on Predictive Policing in Santa Cruz. indybay.org On June 23, the Santa Cruz City Council voted 7-0 to ban the municipal use of predictive policing software and facial recognition technology in the central coast city. Santa Cruz becomes the eighth city to ban the use of facial recognition, joining San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley and the MA cities of Cambridge, Somerville, Brookline and Northampton, and the first city to ban predictive software.

TOBY (2020-06-27). Saturday 7/4: July 4th: INDEPENDENCE from WAR! Banner Drops. indybay.org I-80 Pedestrian Bridge, just south of University Ave. | Meet up in parking lot in southwest corner of I-80 & University Ave. at 9: 50am.

_____ (2020-06-27). Now Is the Time to Shed Our Middle Eastern Burdens. strategic-culture.org Washington's decades-long obsessive hostility toward Iran has produced toxic results. It's apparent that the European allies increasingly chafe at that policy and want a change. Until now, the close U.S. ties with Saudi Arabia inhibited any chance of a meaningful policy change, despite European wishes for a more balanced stance toward Iran.

Vijay Prashad (2020-06-26). The Dangerous Incompetence of Narendra Modi and Jair Bolsonaro. zcomm.org Alarming news about the COVID-19 disease comes from Brazil and India, where the infection numbers are high, and the death count grows steadily…

Lyn Neeley (2020-06-26). U.N. Human Rights Council condemns racist violence. workers.org In the wake of international uprisings due to the lynching of George Floyd, the U.N. Human Rights Council held an emergency hearing on June 19. The council unanimously passed a resolution condemning systemic racism and racist police brutality against people of African descent in all countries, but particularly in the . . . |

Danny Shaw (2020-06-26). Colombia's Other Pandemic: Unchecked State Violence in the Time of COVID-19. counterpunch.org The human rights group Indepaz reports that 800 activists have been killed in the past three and a half years in Colombia, since November 24, 2016, the date the government signed "the Peace Accord" with the FARC.[1] Taking advantage of society's fear and distraction, and the demobilization caused by the novel coronavirus, state and paramilitary

CounterSpin (2020-06-26). Jim Naureckas on Covid's Preventable Nightmare, Clare Garvie on Police Facial Recognition. fair.org Media…

Martha Rosenberg (2020-06-26). Will Covid Start a Trade War Over U.S. Meat Exports? counterpunch.org On June 21, the official China website posted that products from Tyson Foods' Springdale, Arkansas plant "that have arrived or are about to arrive in Hong Kong will be temporarily suspended by the customs department." Two days earlier, 455 Tyson Foods workers living in Benton and Washington counties in which Springdale is located were found

Raul Diego (2020-06-26). Mass-Tracking COVI-PASS Immunity Passports Slated to Roll Out in 15 Countries. mintpressnews.com COVI-PASS will determine whether you can go to a restaurant, if you need a medical test, or are due for a talking-to by authorities in a post-COVID world. Consent is voluntary, but enforcement will be compulsory.

Staff (2020-06-26). COVID-19 Is Amplifying Racial Inequities, Educators Say. therealnews.com Baltimore Teachers Union President Diamonté Brown discusses a recent lawsuit over unpaid instructional days, global protests against racism, the movement to defund the police, and calls to remove officers from schools.

Ahmed Abdulkareem (2020-06-26). UN Warns Many Will "Starve to Death" in Yemen as Saudi Fuel Blockade Hinders COVID-19 Battle. mintpressnews.com According to the Yemen Oil Company, at least 15 tankers carrying over 419,789 tons of fuel have been trapped at sea for over a month despite being checked and issued permits by both the Saudi-led Coalition and the UN, plunging Yemen into an unprecedented fuel shortage.

John Bachtell (2020-06-26). As COVID-19 rages, America's meatpacking workers battle for their lives. peoplesworld.org As new COVID-19 infections surge to their highest levels since April, the deadly virus continues to ravage meatpacking plants across the nation. Companies are not implementing CDC guidelines for safe working conditions, so workers, their children, and union are finding ways to resist and demand action. The gruesome work of killing, cleaning, and deboning beef, …

B. Prasant (2020-06-26). COVID-19 death march: India's migrant workers head home, heralding virus surge. peoplesworld.org DELHI—The thin emaciated woman lay on her back by the side of the highway that leads away from Delhi towards Kolkata. Her arms akimbo, her knees folded together and drawn up, her body barely covered in a torn-to-strips cloth that had once been a red saree. Her eyes drew attention because they were wide open—death …

Brasil de Fato (2020-06-26). In South Africa, mining workers have double the infection rate for COVID-19. peoplesdispatch.org The rate of infection of the novel coronavirus among mining workers in South Africa is 330 per 100,000 inhabitants, more than double the average registered for the rest of the country's population — 160 per 100,000. From the 1474 positive cases confirmed within South African mines, 907 are still active, 563 patients recovered and four have died. | The information was released Monday (22nd) by the

Ajamu Baraka (2020-06-26). The Responsibility to Protect? Bipartisan Crimes Against Humanity in the U.S. counterpunch.org Hundreds of people are unnecessarily dying every day with African Americans representing a disproportionate number of those deaths. 80 million people are now without health coverage, millions are unemployed, over the next two months evictions will resume with an expected explosion of homelessness. And what is the response from the state that is tasked with

Julián Inzaugarat (2020-06-26). At 18 years of the assassination of Maxi and Darío, the struggle multiplies! peoplesdispatch.org In 2002, Darío Santillán and Maximiliano Kosteki were assassinated in the entrance to the Avellaneda station following brutal repression by the Buenos Aires province police to a mobilization demanding salary increases, subsidies for unemployed and food for community kitchens.

Julián Inzaugarat (2020-06-26). 18 year after assassination of Maxi and Darío in Argentina, the struggle intensifies! peoplesdispatch.org In 2002, Darío Santillán and Maximiliano Kosteki were assassinated in the entrance to the Avellaneda station following brutal repression by the Buenos Aires province police to a mobilization demanding salary increases, subsidies for unemployed and food for community kitchens.

Staff (2020-06-26). How Is Biden Different From Trump When It Comes To Palestine? therealnews.com Biden pledges to keep the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, boasts of "unstinting support" for Israel, promises to fight the BDS movement and send military aid, and spins it as a way to somehow fight anti-Semitism in the U.S.

Mark Gruenberg (2020-06-26). UFCW: Tyson rivals Smithfield in its disregard for workers. peoplesworld.org LOGANSPORT, Ind.—The now-infamous Smithfield pork production plant in South Dakota apparently has a "rival" of sorts among food processing factories that have become coronavirus pandemic hotspots. Welcome to the Tyson Foods pork processing plant in Logansport, Ind., which had to shut for two weeks, from April 23-May 7, for complete cleaning and other measures after …

Eds. (2020-06-26). Coronavirus is an SOS: Mend our broken relationship with nature, says UN and WHO. mronline.org Pandemics such as coronavirus are the result of humanity's destruction of nature, according to leaders at the United Nations, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) International—and the world has been ignoring this stark reality for decades.

Pam Martens, Russ Martens (2020-06-26). U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman's Ouster: the Untold Story. counterpunch.org A stake in the Park Lane Hotel in Manhattan was purchased with money looted from 1MDB According to the U.S. Justice Department (Photo Source: DOJ) There's something unsettling about the top law enforcement officer in the United States telling a brazen lie to the American people late on a Friday night when most folks have

Nicholas Buccola (2020-06-26). From "How Could He…" to "How Am I…": A Confession. counterpunch.org The writer Robert Penn Warren once described the "national rhythm" on race matters to be one that swayed between "complacency and panic." There is a great deal of truth in this observation — especially among elites — and unless we can break that rhythm we seem doomed to remain trapped in what Ibram X. Kendi

Yoav Litvin (2020-06-26). Truth is Our Weapon and Shield — An Interview with Black Panther Party Veteran Billy X Jennings. counterpunch.org Truth and reconciliation commissions attempt to heal divided nations after the injustice has ceased. They rely on a process of education in which a reckoning with hard truths of systemic oppression lead to national accountability, reparations for victims, healing and potential unity. However, truth and reconciliation commissions, such as the one in South Africa, are

T.J. Coles (2020-06-26). Infiltrating Black Lives Matter: Cops, Feds, and White Supremacists. counterpunch.org Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a major step forward in the ongoing struggle for Civil Rights in the United States and around the world. BLM was founded in 2013, following the acquittal over what organizers describe as 17-year-old Trayvon Martin's murderer, the gated community watchman, George Zimmerman. The organization came to international attention in July

Richard D. Wolff (2020-06-26). How Racism is an Essential Tool for Maintaining the Capitalist Order. counterpunch.org U.S. capitalism survived because it found a solution to the basic problem of its instability, its business cycles. Since capitalism never could end cyclical downturns and their awful effects, its survival required making those effects somehow socially tolerable. Systemic racism survived in…

Eric Mann (2020-06-26). The Struggle for No Police in the Los Angeles Schools: a Great Leap Forward and Victory is in Sight. counterpunch.org On Tuesday, June 23, in Los Angeles, the decade's long struggle for No Police in the Schools had a major breakthrough. Los Angeles School Board member Monica Garcia introduced the most structural and hopeful motion to make "defund the police" a reality. Her motion, expressing gratitude to the national Black uprising, called for cutting the

Henry Giroux (2020-06-26). Lawlessness in Trump's Fascist State: Bill Barr and the Ghost of Fascism. counterpunch.org Barr places the President above the law, defining him as a kind of unitary sovereign. In addition, he appears to relish in his role as a craven defender of Trump, all the while justifying a notion of blind executive authority in the face of Trump's endless lies, racist policies, and lawlessness that echo the dark era of the 1920s and 30s.

Rob Urie (2020-06-26). Racism and the Neoliberal Consensus. counterpunch.org In the midst of protests and the reinvigorated Black Lives Matter movement, race is once again being put forward as the social axis most in need of rectification. From the perspective of 'racial capital,' the ills of capitalism can't be meaningfully addressed until white supremacy has been defeated. From a left perspective grounded in Marx and history, race is a product of capitalism, not its cause. The economic relationships of indentured servitude and slavery both preceded the concept of race. And the iterative view begins with economic relationships to claim that at some point race became a causal factor in it…

Kathryn Shihadah (2020-06-26). The Killing of Ahmad Erekat by Israeli Police Puts Western Media Bias on Full Display. mintpressnews.com At a time when the world is crying out for justice, it behooves Israel to reverse its destructive policies toward Palestinians — and responsible journalism to ignore the bullies and tell the truth.

Monica Johnson (2020-06-26). How Atlanta community organized after police murdered Rayshard Brooks. liberationnews.org By Monica Johnson The following is based upon a talk given by Monica Johnson, a Party for Socialism and Liberation activist in Atlanta, on a PSL national webinar June 18. She addressed community response to the police murder of Rayshard Brooks. This 27-year-old African-American man was shot twice in the back and killed by police …

Workers World Party (2020-06-26). Defund means abolish police! workers.org "Defund the police!" has leaped to the top of the demands that mass demonstrations have been making since the May 25 police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. After that city's 3rd Police Precinct building burned to the ground to the cheers of a majority of the U.S. population, there . . . |

Kameron Hurt (2020-06-26). Terror lynchings will not stop the freedom march. liberationnews.org Lynchings are a method of terror used by white supremacists from the slave ships, to plantations, to the big cities, to the voting booths…

Liberation Staff (2020-06-26). ILWU leader: 'The way to invoke change is to deny labor'. liberationnews.org The following are excerpts from a June 18 talk by Keith Shanklin, the President of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 34. Shanklin was a guest speaker at a June 18 PSL webinar. On June 19, the ILWU held a one-day strike, shutting down all 29 ports on the West Coast for eight hours in …

Workers World Boston bureau (2020-06-26). Black workers resist union-busting Boston gentrifier. workers.org A June 16 action for eight laid-off workers — organized just four days after the announcement they had been fired — drew about 100 people. They were protesting at their place of work, College Bound Dorchester/Boston Uncornered, on a quiet residential street on the Tuesday morning. With these latest layoffs, . . . |

G. Dunkel (2020-06-26). Denying health crisis won't save jobs. workers.org June 21 — For the thirteenth week in a row, the number of initial claims the Bureau of Labor Statistics counts for unemployment insurance was over 1.5 million. Now every state plus the District of Columbia has begun the process of loosening the restrictions it had imposed in order to . . . |

Stuart Munckton (2020-06-26). Hans Baer looks at how car dependence is driving us to extinction. greenleft.org.au Motor Vehicles, the Environment & the Human Condition: Driving to Extinction
| By Hans A Baer
| Lexington Books, 2019
| 258 pages | As the global climate emergency intensifies, this political ecological critique of the motor vehicle is timely and powerful. Melbourne…

Mark Gruenberg (2020-06-26). CDC chief Redfield: 24 million may have coronavirus. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—The head of the federal Centers for Disease Control now estimates that 24 million people in the U.S., ten times the actual numbers recorded, may be ill from the coronavirus. CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield provided that estimate in a June 25 conference call with other reporters, the same day his agency expanded the list …

RT (2020-06-26). Ignoring MSM's Covid-19 warnings made Americans more likely to die, studies say. Unless they went to a BLM protest, says another. rt.com Several US studies have blamed conservative media for high Covid-19 mortality, claiming pundits like Sean Hannity misled their viewers about the virus. But another study says liberals who also ignored official advice saved lives. | Seemingly determined to root out all "wrongthink" regarding the pandemic that has killed over 124,000 Americans so far, the Washington Post looked over a handful of recent academic papers analyzing media coverage of the outbreak and found — surprise! — that listening to Fox News' Sean Hannity shortens American lifespans. | "The end result, according to one of the studies,…

Joe Piette (2020-06-26). Coast-to-coast rallies demand: Keep U.S. Postal Service viable. workers.org Rallies demanding the U.S. Senate approve funding that would "SAVE OUR POSTAL SERVICE" were held on June 23 from coast to coast. The message of the day: Include a $25 billion USPS rescue plan in the next Senate stimulus package. Without funding, it is projected the agency could run out . . . |

RT (2020-06-26). Bill Gates says 'final hurdle' to distributing a Covid-19 vaccine will be convincing people to TAKE IT. rt.com Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates lamented the US is 'not even close' to doing enough to fight the pandemic, before warning that the vaccine he wants to inject into every human on the planet does require their consent first. | Speaking to Anderson Cooper at a CNN town hall on Thursday, Gates insisted the US was "experiencing a rebound" in Covid-19 infections even accounting for the increase in testing. That increase, the software tycoon reminded his interviewers, was accomplished by local governments in spite of – not because of – the White House. | Gates seemed miffed that Washington wasn't following his instr…

RT (2020-06-26). Florida and Texas close bars and scale back reopening, after spike in Covid-19 cases. rt.com The US states of Texas and Florida are shutting down bars and taking other measures to combat major rises in coronavirus infections, following their recent "reopening" after lockdown. | Florida set a one-day record for new cases on Friday, reporting 8,942 fresh infections, according to the state's department of health. The previous record was 5,508, which had been set only two days prior. | The spike in numbers has led to an announcement that, despite the state having previously endorsed the reopening of bars, on-site alcohol consumption will now be banned. Confirmation of the move was made by Halsey Beshears,…

RT (2020-06-26). Microsoft shuts up shop: Tech giant PERMANENTLY closing most of its retail stores. rt.com In the face of Covid, Microsoft has announced a new approach to retail that involves shutting most of its brick-and-mortar stores and converting the remainder into experiential playgrounds. | Whilst the supply of nails for the coffin of physical retail seems limitless, the number of shops remaining on the high street is certainly not. | According to consultants

RT (2020-06-26). Covid-19 was in Spanish sewage as early as MARCH 2019, study claims. rt.com Traces of the novel coronavirus have been discovered in Barcelona sewage water months before the first case of the dreaded disease was reported in China, a new study by a group of Spanish researchers claims. | Scientists with the Enteric Virus Group at the University of Barcelona

RT (2020-06-26). British foreign secretary accused of hypocrisy for praising UN 'values' despite UK treatment of Assange. rt.com Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has provoked anger after lauding the UK's role in the United Nations and its commitment to the "values" of the organization, with many disagreeing and pointing to the treatment of Julian Assange. | Raab posted on social media on Friday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the birth of the UN, when 50 nations, including the UK, came together to sign the Charter. | The foreign minister said: "Since then, we have played a crucial role in the @UN and remain committed to upholding its values." | 75 years ago, the üá¨üáß alongside 49…

RT (2020-06-26). 'Trump wants to kill as many Americans as possible': Rob Reiner leads Hollywood's Trump Derangement Syndrome victims with a tweet. rt.com 'Misery' director and 'All in the Family' star Rob Reiner took his Trump criticism to a new level in a tweet claiming the president wants to kill American citizens before the presidential election in November. | Celebrities blasting Donald Trump is a fairly regular thing, but accusing the man of planning mass murder is something new — and a tactic apparently endorsed by Reiner. | "Trump's 2020 election platform: Kill as many Americans as possible," the 'Princess Bride' director

RT (2020-06-26). Facebook bends the knee, agrees to censor Trump ads after mass advertiser boycott. rt.com Facebook will change its policies to ban "hate speech" in advertisements on the platform, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced, after activists brigaded a number of major corporations to pull their ads from the platform. | "I am committed to making sure Facebook remains a place where people can use their voice to discuss important issues," Zuckerberg said on Friday. "But I also stand against hate or anything that incites violences or suppresses voting, and we're committed to removing that content too, no matter where it comes from." | This will include ads critical of "immigrants, migrants, refugees and asylum seeker…

RT (2020-06-26). Turkey jails 121 people for life over botched 2016 coup attempt. rt.com A Turkish court has handed down life sentences to 121 people found guilty of trying to overthrow the country's president back in 2016. The failed coup has triggered a massive purge, with thousands of Turks being fired or jailed. | The verdicts were announced by the court in Ankara on Friday. It found the defendants guilty of attempting to "violate the constitution" three years ago. | Some 35 individuals were given a life sentence for the crime, while another 86 received "aggravated" imprisonment for life. One of the defendants, a former military colonel, has been given a whopping nine "aggravated" life terms,…

RT (2020-06-26). NYT celebrates 'radical feminist' whose legacy was 'overshadowed' by '1 violent act'… shooting Andy Warhol. rt.com The New York Times has left many scratching their heads over an article about feminist Valerie Solanas' activism being "overshadowed" by the small fact that she attempted to murder film director Andy Warhol. | "She made daring arguments in 'SCUM Manifesto,' her case for a world without men. But her legacy as a writer and thinker was overshadowed by one violent act," Bonnie Wertheim

RT (2020-06-26). Gaming giant Ubisoft investigates claims its employees engaged in sexual harassment, vowing to 'punish inappropriate behavior'. rt.com French video-gaming company Ubisoft has acknowledged sexual misconduct claims raised against some of its employees, promising to investigate the allegations and to be more "inclusive" in the future. | It said it was aware of the allegations, which have circulated on social media, and released a statement about the issues on its website on Friday. While Ubisoft did not reveal whether its internal inquiry yielded any results, it preemptively apologized for the whole scandal. | "We want to start by apologizing to everyone affected by this — we are truly sorry," the company said, adding that it is "dedicated…

_____ (2020-06-26). In Support of President Putin's History of World War II. strategic-culture.org On 19 June President Vladimir Putin published

Staff (2020-06-26). The End of Asylum? Supreme Court Sides with Trump Administration on Fast-Tracking Deportations. democracynow.org The Supreme Court handed the Trump administration a major victory Thursday when it ruled the government can fast-track deportations of asylum seekers without first allowing them to fight for their cases in front of a judge. The ACLU's Lee Gelernt argued the case in court on behalf of Tamil asylum seeker Vijayakumar Thuraissigiam. "It's a very serious decision and will adversely affect many, many asylum seekers," says Gelernt. "We're likely to see more people fail their hearings, and now they don't have a backstop in the federal courts."

Staff (2020-06-26). In Racial Justice Victory, Johnson & Johnson to Pay $2B to Women in Asbestos-Laced Baby Powder Suit. democracynow.org Johnson & Johnson has been ordered to pay $2.1 billion to a group of women who developed ovarian cancer after using talcum powder contaminated with asbestos. Johnson & Johnson heavily marketed the powder to African American women despite warnings that the products could cause cancer. Six of the plaintiffs in the Johnson & Johnson case died before the trial started. Five more of the women have died since 2018. We get response from M. Isabelle Chaudry, senior policy manager at the National Women's Health Network, who says the company must ban the products globally and do more to address the harm it has caused, part…

Staff (2020-06-26). One Bad Algorithm? Advocates Say Facial Recognition Reveals Systemic Racism in AI Technology. democracynow.org The controversy over police use of facial recognition technology has accelerated after a Black man in Michigan revealed he was wrongfully arrested because of the technology. Detroit police handcuffed Robert Williams in front of his wife and daughters after facial recognition software falsely identified him as a suspect in a robbery. Researchers say facial recognition software is up to 100 times more likely to misidentify people of color than white people. This week, Boston voted to end its use in the city, and Democratic lawmakers introduced a similar measure for federal law enforcement. "This is not an example o…

C.J. Atkins (2020-06-26). Pandemic Pride: LGBTQ struggle continues, learns from Black Lives Matter. peoplesworld.org This weekend marks a half-century since the first Pride march took place on June 28, 1970. That initial event in New York City, called "Christopher Street Liberation Day," recalled the Stonewall Rebellion of a year earlier—the night a band of fed-up queers stood up, fought back, and launched a liberation struggle that transformed the world. …

_____ (2020-06-26). Scheer Intelligence: For Many Young People, Socialism Is As American As Apple Pie. popularresistance.org In the devastating aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, many young Americans who felt betrayed by capitalism were introduced to socialism by Bernie Sanders' presidential campaigns. Meagan Day, a staff writer for the popular left-wing magazine Jacobin and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), serves as an example of how the Vermont senator radicalized a generation with a platform that called for policies like Medicare for All and tuition-free college. Day credits Sanders with her decision to choose socialism when she felt the time came to "pick a side" in American politics and has since been w…

John Wight (2020-06-26). Abraham Lincoln and Karl Marx: 'Death to Slavery'. globalresearch.ca On page 405 of the folio edition of the writings and speeches of Abraham Lincoln there is a letter dated January 19 1863. It is titled "To the Workingmen of Manchester, England" and begins: "I have the honor to acknowledge …

South Front (2020-06-26). Video: Clashes Rage Between Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham and Other Al-Qaeda Groups in Idlib. globalresearch.ca After two days of fighting with militants from the rival militant coalition Fa Ithbatu, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has launched a large-scale attack in order to put an end to the resistance to its dominance in Greater Idlib. | According to pro-militant …

Ramzy Baroud (2020-06-26). PA Political Circus: Why Abbas Must Hand the Keys over to the PLO. counterpunch.org The painful truth is that the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas has already ceased to exist as a political body that holds much sway or relevance, either to the Palestinian people or to Abbas' former benefactors, namely the Israeli and the American governments. So, when the Palestinian Authority Prime Minister, Mohammed Shtayyeh, announced on

Alan Macleod (2020-06-26). Is America a Failed State? Trump's COVID Response Has Many Saying "Yes" mintpressnews.com Evident by its response to COVID-19, its brutal crackdown on racial-justice protesters, and its inability to hold free and fair elections, experts are in agreement: the United States is a nation in decline.

Alan Macleod (2020-06-26). Activists Urge US Dept of Agriculutre to Deny Deadly New Monsanto GMO-Herbicide Combo. mintpressnews.com The US is considering approving the product even as Monsanto juggles multiple multi-million dollar lawsuits from cancer patients over its deadly Roundup herbicide.

Staff (2020-06-26). Supreme Court Sides With Trump Administration on Fast-Tracking Deportations. truthout.org The Supreme Court handed the Trump administration a major victory Thursday when it ruled the government can fast-track deportations of asylum seekers without first allowing them to fight for their cases in front of a judge. The ACLU's Lee Gelernt argued the case in court on behalf of Tamil asylum seeker Vijayakumar Thuraissigiam. "It's a very serious decision and will adversely affect many, many asylum seekers," says Gelernt. "We're likely to see more people fail their hearings, and now they don'

Staff (2020-06-26). 20 Million Could Lose Health Coverage As Trump Aims to End Obamacare. truthout.org The Trump administration filed a late-evening briefing to the United States Supreme Court on Thursday, joining a number of states urging justices to overturn the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the signature health care law passed by the Obama administration. | Repeal of the ACA, which is sometimes called "Obamacare," could cause significant harm to the American people, particularly those who depend on the program to access health insurance through state exchanges. If the law were to end suddenly, it's es…

Staff (2020-06-26). Headlines for June 26, 2020. democracynow.org U.S. Sets Another Daily COVID-19 Record as Infections Surge in 31 States, Supreme Court Ruling Will Deny Asylum Seekers Their Day in Court, Trump Admin Asks SCOTUS to Annul Obamacare Even as Millions Lose Health Coverage, India Nears 500,000 Confirmed Coronavirus Cases as Pandemic Worsens Globally, WHO Declares End to Ebola Outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo, House Democrats Pass Sweeping Police Reform Bill That Trump Promised to Veto, Activists Demanding $1B Cut to NYPD Budget Occupy City Hall for Third Straight Night, NC Police Dept. Fires Officers Caught on Tape Discussing "Slaughtering" Black Reside…

Staff (2020-06-26). Sanders Unveils Amendment to Slash Pentagon Budget by $74 Billion. truthout.org With the Senate preparing to vote on an annual defense policy bill calling for $740.5 billion in military spending for fiscal year 2021, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday

Kathy Kelly (2020-06-26). Battleground States: The Time for Manufacturing Weapons of War Has Passed as a Viable Industry for Our Nation. commondreams.org Promotional image of the Italian frigate the U.S. Navy is adapting for construction at Marinette. (Photo: Fincantieri) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/screen_shot_2020-06-26_at_10.20.38_am.png

Kathy Kelly (2020-06-26). Manufacturing Weapons Isn't an Industry—It's a Death Sentence. progressive.org Trump visited a shipyard in Wisconsin this week to christen a new fleet of high-tech warships.

Stephen Lendman (2020-06-26). New US Anti-China Measure: Towards Rupture and Confrontation with China. globalresearch.ca Both right wings of the US one-party state are pushing things toward rupturing relations with China, risking direct confrontation. | The so-called Hong Kong Autonomy Act (HKAA) is the latest shoe to drop. | Unanimously approved by the Senate on Thursday, it's …

David Smilde (2020-06-26). Joe Biden Should Not Try to Out-Hawk Trump on Venezuela. commondreams.org Thousands gather in Caracas to protest Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. April 2019 (Photo: Helena1 / Shutterstock.com) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/screen_shot_2020-06-26_at_11.10.04_am.png

yenisafak (2020-06-26). Belgian parliament urges sanctions against Israel. yenisafak.com The Belgian federal parliament adopted a resolution on Friday urging the government to prepare a list of countermeasures against Israel in case it annexes the occupied Palestinian territories.The resolution was proposed by the Green party, and passed with 101 votes in favor and 39 abstentions.The text calls the government to "play a leading role at European and multilateral level in order to set up a list of effective countermeasures to respond proportionately to any Israeli annexation of the occupied Palestinian territory."The resolution acknowledges the fact that some states might veto EU sanctions. So it sugge…

Brett Wilkins (2020-06-26). War Crimes: US Destruction of North Korea Must Not be Forgotten. globalresearch.ca For a brief moment in the summer of 1945 there was joy in Korea. | Koreans, who had suffered 35 years of of brutal Japanese colonial occupation prior to Tokyo's defeat in World War II, celebrated what they believed was their …

sputniknews (2020-06-26). Imran Khan on Pakistani-US Relations: 'We Will Not Fight Their War'. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday took credit for holding successful peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban on behalf of the US, stating that the world has acknowledged Islamabad's efforts toward reconciliation in the region.

Paul Antonopoulos (2020-06-26). Eastern Partnership of Post-Soviet States Gives Members False Illusions of Joining the EU. globalresearch.ca The

Andrew Korybko (2020-06-26). Geopolitical Destabilization: India's US-Backed "Decoupling" from China Is a Very Dangerous Development. globalresearch.ca For all intents and purposes, India seems to have unofficially decided to "decouple" itself from its "fellow" BRICS and SCO "partner" China, but this US-backed development is dangerous since the South Asian state might not be able to survive the …

Staff (2020-06-26). We Must Defund Militarization From the Local Police to the Pentagon. truthout.org In the wake of the global protests against the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, activists have begun to reclaim public spaces by destroying statues of conquerors, slave traders, white supremacists and colonizers. In the United States alone,

Caitlin Johnstone (2020-06-26). "Free Speech" In The US Empire Is As Illusory As "Free-Range" Eggs. thealtworld.com Shadowproof's Kevin Gosztola calls "a not-so-subtle effort to criminalize the journalism of an adversarial media organization that the United States has spent the last decade working to destroy," WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange Shadowproof,

Dr. Leon Tressell (2020-06-26). Journalist Julian Assange Charged with New American Indictment. globalresearch.ca On 24 June a US Federal Grad Jury issued a second superseding indictment against Journalist Julian Assange. | The

_____ (2020-06-26). 'Free Speech' in the US Empire Is as Illusory as 'Free-Range' Eggs. strategic-culture.org Caitlin JOHNSTONE | Shadowproof's Kevin Gosztola calls "a not-so-subtle effort to criminalize the journalism of an adversarial media organization that the United States has spent the last decade working to destroy," WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange Shadowproof,

Tom Coburg (2020-06-26). US street-based projects are talking about more than just police reforms. They want outright liberation. thecanary.co On the west coast of America, authorities have threatened to send in police to retake Seattle's Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ). While on the east coast, the Black Lives Matter chair for Greater New York has called for armed "peace officers" to monitor police activity. | Meanwhile, all across the US, legislation is being introduced to

yenisafak (2020-06-26). Mines, mass graves: Haftar's human rights violations. yenisafak.com An Anadolu Agency team in Libya has monitored the evidence of mines, mass graves, and executions left behind by the militias of warlord Khalifa Haftar as they retreated from south of the capital Tripoli as well as the city of Tarhuna, to the southeast. Libya's internationally recognized government has been under attack by Haftar's forces since April 2019, with more than 1,000 killed in the violence.This March, the Libyan government launched Operation Peace Storm to counter attacks on the capital, and recently retook strategic locations, including Al-Watiya airbase and the city of Tarhuna, Haftar's final stronghol…

Peaceful Protest for Black Lives Matter (2020-06-26). Saturday 6/27: Peaceful Protest for Black Lives Matter. indybay.org Santa Cruz Clock Tower | Pacific Ave. and Water St., Santa Cruz…

Ali Salam (2020-06-26). Israeli Forces Shoot Nine Palestinians at Kufur Qaddoum Weekly March. imemc.org Nine Palestinian civilians were shot and injured, on Friday, and dozens suffered from the toxic effects of tear-gas inhalation, when Israeli forces fired rubber-coated steel rounds and tear-gas canisters at protestors in Kufur Qaddoum village, in the northern occupied West Bank. The regional coordinator of the Popular Resistance, Morad Eshteiwi, …

Derek Royden (2020-06-26). 2020: The year anti-fascists became terrorists. nationofchange.org When police in Buffalo pushed an elderly man to the ground during a Black Lives Matter protest, cracking his skull in the process, the president went on Twitter to rhetorically ask whether the injured man was, in fact, part of "Antifa".

_____ (2020-06-26). The US Military Has A Boogaloo Problem. popularresistance.org The U.S. military appears to have a brewing boogaloo problem. Active-duty military are flocking to online networks frequented by the anti-government movement, known for its meme culture and Hawaiian shirt-clad adherents, who are often called Boogaloo Bois. | "Boogaloo" is code for civil war, which is the ultimate goal of the movement, and some of its followers trade in memes glorifying violence against federal agents and crack jokes about the impending "Boog." Recently they've become regular fixtures at anti-lockdown and Black Lives Matter protests in states that allow open-carry of military-style firearms. | An…

_____ (2020-06-26). The 'New' American Mercenary: A Pocket History. popularresistance.org Though the bizarre story has been subsumed by other events, last month's aborted invasion of Venezuela should've hardly shocked anyone. The United States has long used mercenaries to do its bidding. They have provided Washington distance and deniability for unsavory operations. During the Cold War, the U.S. hoped this would limit domestic and international protest. Policymakers also discerned mercenary alternatives to bloody, expensive quagmires like the Vietnam or Iraq Wars. Traditionally, most of these hired guns were foreigners — ex-soldiers of declining European empires. | Much of this parallels the lat…

sputniknews (2020-06-26). Bad Villain: Could Not Being Hated as Clinton Be Key to Biden's Success? sputniknews.com The potential reasons for Biden's lead are numerous — to name but two major factors, Trump has been penalised by American voters for his perceived heavy-handed response to the protests which erupted nationwide in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers in May, and management of coronavirus pandemic.

Labor Video Project (2020-06-26). "No Layoffs" "Stop The Greed" Frontline UCSF Workers Protest Cutbacks In Middle Of Covid. indybay.org UCSF AFSCME 3299 Frontline healthcare workers and other union members from UC rallied and protested against the 3,000 cutbacks by UC management and regents. These cutbacks in the midst of a major pandemic will not only threaten the workers the care of the patients and the public.

Ansel Hoang, Kevin Chorath, Axel Moreira, Mary Evans, Finn Burmeister-Morton, Fiona Burmeister, Rija Naqvi, Matthew Petershack, Alvaro Moreira (2020-06-26). COVID-19 in 7780 pediatric patients: A systematic review. thelancet.com This review provides evidence that children diagnosed with COVID-19 have an overall excellent prognosis. Future longitudinal studies are needed to confirm our findings and better understand which patients are at increased risk for developing severe inflammation and multiorgan failure.

WSWS (2020-06-26). Production stoppage continues Friday at Fiat Chrysler Jefferson North auto plant in Detroit over COVID-19. wsws.org Workers arriving Friday morning have continued a stoppage that began Thursday after reports of three cases of COVID-19 among workers in the factory.

WSWS (2020-06-26). General Motors lays off 680 workers and eliminates third shift at its Spring Hill, Tennessee plant. wsws.org The company has filed a 60-day notice of mass layoffs as sales decline due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

WSWS (2020-06-26). COVID-19 ravages southeastern United States. wsws.org Nine states are facing rising infection and death rates due to the criminal negligence of governments from the Texas state line on the west to the Atlantic Ocean.

WSWS (2020-06-26). Australian unions support Queensland Labor government's public sector wage freeze. wsws.org The pay "deferral" sets a new precedent for exploiting the COVID-19 emergency to intensify the ongoing corporate and government attack on the living and working conditions of workers.

Asad Ismi (2020-06-26). Workers on the Edge in Bangladesh. Covid Lockdown Undermines Garment Industry. globalresearch.ca "COVID-19 will be a catastrophe for Bangladeshi garment workers." | I am speaking with Kalpona Akter, president of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation (BGIWF). It is March 19. Governments around the world have ordered the temporary closure of …

WSWS (2020-06-26). Australian military deployed in Melbourne as COVID-19 infection rate surges. wsws.org The daily rate of new cases in Victoria is at its highest since early April.

news.un (2020-06-26). DR Congo: COVID-19 slows pace of reform, exacerbates fragile security situation. news.un.org The head of the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is asking the Security Council for its continued support as the mission adds the fight against COVID-19 to its to-do list, while also dealing with a fragile security situation in the east of the country.

WSWS (2020-06-26). As COVID-19 cases triple in a month, Latin American elites press ahead with back-to-work campaign. wsws.org The ruling classes in the most unequal region of the world have based their response to the pandemic and the economic crisis it spurred on protecting their wealth and privileges at all costs.

news.un (2020-06-26). Global partners require $31 billion to speed up COVID-19 medicines for all. news.un.org More than $31 billion is needed over the next 12 months to develop medicines that will be effective against COVID-19, and make them available to all people, the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners said on Friday.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-26). COVID-19 in Brazil: The people's response. peoplesdispatch.org The coronavirus pandemic has sent a shockwave through Brazil which as of June 26 stands second in the world with 1 million 228 thousand confirmed cases of coronavirus and 54 thousand deaths. Hospitals are at capacity and the country also has experienced one of the highest rates of death of medical professionals amid the pandemic. However, Brazil's social movements have not stood by idly. They have been organizing around a list of demands with regards to economic support to vulnerable populations, public health policies and above all protection of the people. They have also organized solidarity initiatives across…

news.un (2020-06-26). Syrians 'face unprecedented hunger amid impending COVID crisis'. news.un.org Syrian communities devastated by years of civil war now face an "unprecedented" hunger crisis, just as urgent action is needed to prevent COVID-19 from spreading, UN humanitarians said on Friday.

Suzan DelBene, Earl Blumenauer (2020-06-26). Voting By Mail Is Now a Necessity During COVID-19. commondreams.org Vote by mail is gaining traction across the country. (Photo: Getty) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/screen_shot_2020-06-26_at_2.05.38_pm.png

Somil Trivedi (2020-06-26). Why Prosecutors Keep Letting Police Get Away With Murder. aclu.org This piece was originally published in

Julien Mercille (2020-06-26). Afghanistan, Garden of Empire: America's Multibillion Dollar Opium Harvest. globalresearch.ca By

Ron Knox, Shaoul Sussman (2020-06-26). How Amazon Used the Pandemic to Amass More Monopoly Power. thenation.com How Amazon Used the Pandemic to Amass More Monopoly Power…

David Rosen (2020-06-26). Class & Otherness: A Peculiar Dialectic. counterpunch.org Nothing captures the contradictions of American social life more than then the recent announcement by Jeff Bezos in support for the Black Lives Matter movement. The founder of Amazon, the owner of the Washington Post and the richest person in the world issued a tweet calling for an end to "the inequitable and brutal treatment of

Andrew Levine (2020-06-26). Voter Enthusiasm: Wrong Headed and Overrated. counterpunch.org The conventional wisdom on presidential politics nowadays was described a century ago by William Butler Yeats: "the best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity." "The best," in this case, would be voters gearing up grudgingly to vote for Joe Biden; "the worst" would be supporters of Donald Trump. The conventional

Kurt Nimmo (2020-06-26). CHOP-CHAZ Folds, Throws Support Behind Joe Biden. globalresearch.ca The kids squatting on the CHOP or CHAZ declared "autonomous zone" in Seattle have announced they are folding tents and going home. They also threw support behind Joe Biden, demonstrating they have the political understanding of a fence post….

Jessica Corbett (2020-06-26). Call to Redirect $1 Billion of NYPD Budget to Harmed Communities. zcomm.org City leaders are urged to direct the money to "more relevant city agencies, harm reduction programs, and community-based organizations who are better trained and equipped to actually keep our communities safe."

Amanda Mills (2020-06-26). Bayer to pay $10 billion in cancer lawsuits over Roundup. nationofchange.org "Even as we celebrate and congratulate those who made this day possible, millions of people are being exposed to glyphosate."

WSWS (2020-06-26). Wirecard: The German economy sinks into criminality. wsws.org The company CEO was arrested in connection with the disappearance of 1.9 billion euros ($2 billion).

Peter Bolton (2020-06-26). Iran 'world's worst state sponsor of terrorism', says US. Here's why that's utterly absurd. thecanary.co The US has Furthermore, these three countries…

news.un (2020-06-26). Independent UN rights experts call for decisive measures to protect 'fundamental freedoms' in China. news.un.org The repression of "fundamental freedoms" by the Chinese Government prompted nearly 50 UN independent experts on Friday to express their continuing alarm, urging the country to "abide by its international legal obligations".

W. T. Whitney (2020-06-26). US Must Return Its Political Prisoner Simón Trinidad to Colombia. counterpunch.org Murderous violence and oligarchy were in charge in Colombia during the 20th century. Colombians by the millions were marginalized, impoverished, and/or displaced from small land holdings. Violence and the failings of liberal democracy turned Simón Trinidad into a revolutionary. Few in the United States and Europe know about him. Colombia's allies in both places overlook

Sasha Abramsky (2020-06-26). 'I Got Nicer Everything,' Says Man Who Ruins All He Touches. thenation.com 'I Got Nicer Everything,' Says Man Who Ruins All He Touches…

WSWS (2020-06-26). Nurses and support staff at HCA Healthcare set to strike California hospital over cuts and PPE shortages. wsws.org One thousand nurses and support staff at HCA Healthcare are set to strike over concessions the hospital chain is demanding from frontline health care workers as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread across the US.

WSWS (2020-06-26). Coronavirus spreads across US, surging to highest single-day count of new cases. wsws.org The number of newly confirmed coronavirus cases across the US set a one-day record on Thursday as the pandemic spread and surged in states in the South and West.

Brian Allnutt (2020-06-26). What's Happening to Michigan's Insects? A Farmer's Tale. globalresearch.ca As a young farmer, Bill Westrate would walk outside most nights with a white sheet and black light to lure swarms of insects to the side of his barn in Cass County. "It would scare most people," he said. But …

Telesur (2020-06-26). Iran Sets Conditions to Resume Negotiations with the US. globalresearch.ca Iran's President Hassan Rouhani announced Wednesday that Tehran will negotiate with Washington only within the framework of the nuclear agreement and under the condition that the U.S. side pays compensation to the Middle East country for the damage caused. | "We …

Steven Sahiounie (2020-06-26). MSM "Fake News" Against Syria. Describe Al Qaeda as "Rebels", Elected President as "Dictator" globalresearch.ca The Editorial Board of They call the Assad government of …

Lucas Leiroz de Almeida (2020-06-26). Spanish Government Moves Forward on Hypervigilance Project. Towards a Surveillance Police State. globalresearch.ca Several experts suggest that…

Saeb Erekat (2020-06-26). Stop Treating Israel as a State Above the Law and End Annexation. globalresearch.ca With only a few days left until 1 July, the date included in the Israeli government coalition agreement to further

Dr. Binoy Kampmark (2020-06-26). Indicting Hashim Thaàßi: The Kosovo Specialist Prosecutor's Office Gets Busy. globalresearch.ca When it comes to the touchy, violent matter of Kosovar affairs, history keeps company with the devils of nationalism and vengeance. Serbia remains scornful of the aspirations of the territory, whose legitimacy it does not recognise; Kosovo remains spiteful of …

Edward Peter Stringham (2020-06-26). Again, What Were the Benefits of Locking Down? globalresearch.ca The school closures, stay home orders, shuttering of businesses, banning of elective surgeries, closure of physical entertainment events, blocked flights, and sudden imposition of a central plan — it all happened suddenly from mid-March in the course of only a …

Tom Burghardt (2020-06-26). Fraud, Money Laundering and Narcotics. Impunity of the Banking Giants. globalresearch.ca In an era characterized by economic collapse owing to gross criminality by leading financial actors, policy decisions and the legal environment have been shaped by oligarchs who quite literally have "captured" the state.

IMEMC News (2020-06-26). Soldiers Abduct Two Palestinians Near Jenin. imemc.org Israeli soldiers abducted, on Friday evening, two young Palestinian men at a military roadblock near Jenin, in the northern part of the occupied West Bank. Eyewitnesses said the soldiers stopped and searched many Palestinian cars at Barta'a military roadblock, southwest of Jenin, and interrogated several Palestinians while inspecting their ID …

IMEMC Staff (2020-06-26). Israeli Settlers Assault Palestinian Man, Place Caravans near Nablus. imemc.org Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian resident, on Friday morning, beating him severely in the Douma village, south of the West Bank city of Nablus. Palestinian chief of the file on illegal Israeli settlement activities in the northern West Bank, Ghassan Daghlas, told media outlets that Israeli colonists assaulted Palestinian civilian, …

IMEMC Staff (2020-06-26). Israeli Troops Abduct Three Palestinians in the West Bank. imemc.org Israeli troops abducted, earlier on Friday, three Palestinians from different parts of the occupied West Bank. In the northern West Bank governorate of Nablus, local sources confirmed that Israeli troops invaded Burqa village, north of Nablus city, and broke into several homes. The sources added that soldiers invaded and vandalized …

Ali Salam (2020-06-26). PPS Report: 95% of Palestinian Detainees in Israeli Prisons Subjected to Torture. imemc.org The Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) said in a report, issued Thursday, on the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, which falls on June 26 of each year, that the torture practiced by the Israeli occupation against Palestinian prisoners, is not limited to the violent tactics …

news.un (2020-06-26). In central Mali, community fighting and impunity, 'overwhelming' efforts to protect civilians. news.un.org Feeding an entrenched cycle of violence and reprisal, 580 civilians have been killed in Mali so far this year, as worsening security conditions and widespread impunity undermine efforts to protect people caught in intercommunal fighting, the UN Human Rights chief said on Friday.

Project Censored (2020-06-26). Episode 95 — What We Can Learn From The Kent State Murders with Mickey Huff. projectcensored.org On today's episode, Nicholas Baham II (Dr. Dreadlocks), Janice Domingo, and Nolan Higdon explore the Kent State Murders with Project Censored Director and the President of the Media Freedom Foundation,…

Fight Back (2020-06-26). LA City Attorney Cory Brente defends killer cops. fightbacknews.org Los Angeles, CA – After the murder of George Floyd, the Los Angeles Times published an article that looks at the connection between the Los Angeles Police Department and the Force Science Institute, a police training academy from Minnesota that creates fear among police toward civilians. The article spotlights the relationship between FSI and Cory Brente, the LA city attorney in charge of defending LAPD killer cops. The head of the Police Litigation Unit, Brente enjoys justifying LAPD killings of Chicano and Black victims. | Brente's most recent work was defending two-time killer cop Eden Medina. LAPD cop Medina…

William Manson (2020-06-26). "De-Socialized" Self-Identity and Liberating Self-Awareness. dissidentvoice.org The unexamined life is not worth living. — Socrates From our earliest years, we are over-socialized. An organized regimen of daily activity, we are taught, is the basis for a "productive" life. Such "productivity" — unlike immeasurables such as deepening self-awareness — is later concretely identifiable in such acquisitions as university degrees, "positions," "achievements," and so …

SeattleDSA (2020-06-26). MLK Labor Council Kicks out Police Union — Statement by Seattle DSA. zcomm.org One key next step will be campaigning for our unions, and the labor council, to officially support the demand to cut the Seattle Police budget by 50% and redirect those funds towards social services…

Gordon Duff (2020-06-26). America's War on Her Own Children. thealtworld.com On April 29, 2020, a 16-year-old African American boy was involved in what institutional staff decided was a dangerous confrontation at a 'for profit' child prison run by a politically connected healthcare firm. | The child threw a piece of bread and was crushed to the ground, pleading for air, until his breathing stopped, and he went into cardiac arrest in a full George Floyd moment, one behind locked doors. | About the same time, four African Americans were found hanging in trees, all ruled suicides by police. | There is a tie in here, which we will be developing but first we will look at this Michigan case and…

_____ (2020-06-26). Inside The US's Largest Maximum-Security Prison, COVID-19 Raged. popularresistance.org While the novel coronavirus burned through Angola, as the country's largest maximum-security prison is known, officials insisted they were testing all inmates who showed symptoms, isolating those who got sick and transferring more serious cases to the hospital in Baton Rouge, about 60 miles to the south. | But from inside Angola's walls, inmates painted a very different picture — one of widespread illness, dysfunctional care and sometimes inexplicable neglect. They said at least four of the 12 prisoners who have died in the pandemic, including Williams, had been denied needed medical help for days because t…

Robert Hunziker (2020-06-26). Amazon Rainforest Hit by Killer Droughts. dissidentvoice.org Over the past 20 years, like clockwork, severe droughts have hit the Amazon every five years with regularity 2005, 2010, 2015. Of course, droughts have hit the Amazon rainforest throughout paleoclimate history, but this time it's different. The frequency and severity is off the charts. Recent data is starting to show 2020 as another dire …

Binoy Kampmark (2020-06-26). Bolton's Memoir Bolts from the Stable. dissidentvoice.org President Donald Trump's former National Security Advisor John Bolton would have been confident. His indulgent The Room Where it Happened: A White House Memoir pitted him against the administration in a not infrequent battle over material that is published by former officials recounting their giddy days in high office. On June 17, the US government filed …

Tina Gerhardt (2020-06-26). Will Big Oil Pay a Price for its Lies? progressive.org A new D.C. lawsuit targets the world's four largest oil companies for misleading consumers about climate change.

Judith Levine (2020-06-26). Constabulary Notes from Northern Vermont, or Why We Don't Need the Police. counterpunch.org Most newspapers do not publish the entire police log. They pick out the juicy stuff—sex offenders, drug busts, fatal car crashes. Things you might consider legitimate police work—if you had not started to wonder, given recent evidence, whether any police work is legitimate. But setting aside the question of police violence, if we want to

yenisafak (2020-06-26). EU gives $4.4M grant for Turkish firms' tech projects. yenisafak.com The EU Commission is giving backing to a number of Turkish firms' tech-related projects, said the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) on Friday.The commission will grant a total of ‚Ǩ4.4 million ($4.94 million) to Turkish companies with projects in the fields of nanotechnology, advanced materials, biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, and processing technologies, said a TUBITAK statement.Under the industrial leadership and competition component of Horizon 2020, an EU program promoting research and innovation, a total of eight projects at 11 companies (some done in…

_____ (2020-06-26). Workers Are Striking During The COVID18 Pandemic. popularresistance.org The coronavirus pandemic has revealed much about work in the United States: There have been countless examples of workers speaking out against unsafe work conditions and demanding personal protective equipment (PPE) to try and stay healthy and safe on the job. We also have seen that essential workers are often not paid commensurate with the critical nature of their work. Few U.S. workers have access to paid sick time or paid leave of any kind. And, when workers have advocated for health and safety protections or wage increase, they have often been retaliated against, and even fired for doing so. As a result, many…

_____ (2020-06-26). Chicago's Neighborhoods Will Remain "Occupied" Until The City Defunds CPD. popularresistance.org The book Occupied Territory: Policing Black Chicago from Red Summer to Black Power, published last year, details the history of the Chicago Police Department's quasi-military occupation of the city's Black communities from the race riots of 1919 through the present day. Author Simon Balto, an assistant professor of African American history at the University of Iowa, demonstrates that "there is not a time in Chicago's history where the city was home to large percentages of black people, and in which they had a smoothly functioning relationship with the CPD." While most histories of mass incarceration start around…

yenisafak (2020-06-26). US calls on NATO allies to spend more on security. yenisafak.com The US Defense Minister Mark Esper on Friday reiterated the US call on NATO allies to spend 2% of their GDP on security and defense."We'll be discussing everything from Afghanistan to COVID response, to the important issues. Also, it means improving NATO readiness and to continue to urge all of our allies to meet their target goal of 2% of GDP," said Esper in a news conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels."We've moved a good distance here in the last few years, but there's much more we need to do to ensure our collective security," he added.Stoltenberg, for his part, said: "We have man…

yenisafak (2020-06-26). ASEAN leaders discuss post-pandemic recovery measures. yenisafak.com Addressing the video-conference, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc highlighted the COVID-19 pandemic, which is hitting the region hard, as the theme of the summit.He lauded the spirit of solidarity and coordination among member countries in fighting the virus, and called for stronger cooperation to effectively cope with the pandemic."Vietnam will continue to closely work with other ASEAN member states in the battle," said Phuc.He also quoted a recent World Bank report, which projected that the global economy would experience a serious decline with a 5.2% contraction in global GDP."Per-capita income would…

yenisafak (2020-06-26). Syria's hunger crisis worsens, COVID outbreak could intensify. yenisafak.com Syria faces an unprecedented hunger crisis with over 9.3 million people lacking adequate food while the country's coronavirus outbreak, though apparently controlled for now, could still accelerate, U.N. aid agencies said on Friday.The World Food Programme (WFP) told a briefing in Geneva that the number of people short of essential foodstuffs had risen by 1.4 million in the past six months.Food prices had also soared by more than 200% in less than a year due to the freefall in neighbouring Lebanon's economy and COVID-19 lockdown measures in Syria, WFP spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said.After nine years of armed confl…

yenisafak (2020-06-26). South Korea backs remdesivir for COVID-19, urges caution with dexamethasone. yenisafak.com South Korea has added Gilead's anti-viral drug remdesivir to its coronavirus treatment guidelines in its first revision of recommendations since the outbreak began and urged caution in the use of the steroid therapy dexamethasone.South Korea, widely praised around the world for its handling of the pandemic without a full lockdown, has reported 12,602 coronavirus cases as of Thursday midnight, with 282 deaths.Remdesivir is designed to hinder certain viruses, including the new coronavirus, from making copies of themselves and potentially overwhelming the body's immune system. The drug previously failed trials as an…

yenisafak (2020-06-26). Coronavirus continues to spread in Eurasian nations. yenisafak.com Coronavirus cases and fatalities continued to surge across Eurasia countries on Friday.Armenia In Armenia, at least 759 more people were confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus, bringing the total to 23,247. The number of recoveries reached 12,149, and the death toll hit 410.A total of 105,046 tests have been conducted so far in the country, as 10,557 are still receiving treatment.UkraineIn Ukraine, the total number of recoveries reached 18,299, while the death toll rose to 1,086.The country has so far conducted 620,624 tests.The country extended the implementation of quarantine measures until July 31 amid t…

yenisafak (2020-06-26). Japan has more than 100 new coronavirus cases for first time since May 9. yenisafak.com Japan on Friday recorded more than 100 new coronavirus infections for the first time since May 9, hitting its highest daily total since it eased a lockdown that had closed bars, cinemas and other public venues, Kyodo News reported.Japan last week ended a curb on domestic travel, the last of a series of major restrictions imposed during a state of emergency declared in April. There were 54 new infections in Tokyo on Friday, according to public broadcaster NHK.

yenisafak (2020-06-26). Russia to build four new nuclear power units. yenisafak.com Preparations are underway in Russia to build four new power reactors, two in Leningrad and two in Smolensk, the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom announced on Friday.Rosatom Director-General Alexey Likhachev signed the agreement for the new generation VVER-1200 and VVER-TOI reactors, which are based on VVER technology developed by Rosatom, that Lihachev said "meets all current international safety requirements."The reactors are included in the country's scheme of electricity facility placement up to 2035, which was approved by the Russian government.Rosenergoatom, part of Rosatom, will be both the d…

yenisafak (2020-06-26). FETàñ terror group members get life sentences in Turkey. yenisafak.com A Turkish court on Friday gave aggravated life sentences to 86 Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETàñ) members for attempting to overthrow the constitutional order in a defeated 2016 coup.Ankara's Heavy Penal Court no: 23 handed down the sentences in the case, concerning the defendants' illegal actions at the Turkish Gendarmerie Command in the capital Ankara during the coup bid.In addition to the 86 aggravated life sentences, the court also handed out life sentences to 35 others, also for attempting to overthrow the constitutional order.In the same case, former Col. Erkan Oktem, who injured then-Counter-Te…

yenisafak (2020-06-26). Turkey's oil imports down 18.1% in April 2020. yenisafak.com Turkey's total oil imports dropped by 18.1% to 2.93 million tonnes in April this year compared to the same month last year, according to data of Turkey's energy watchdog on Friday.Crude oil imports, the category with the highest oil import volume, decreased by 1.1% during that period down to 2.35 million tonnes, Turkey's Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) said in its monthly oil market report.In April 2020, Turkey imported the highest amount of crude from Iraq at 1.46 million tonnes. Russia and Norway followed with 513,253 tonnes and 273,093 tonnes, respectively.Oil refinery product output decreased by 9.4…

yenisafak (2020-06-26). India grants thousands citizenship rights in Kashmir. yenisafak.com As many as 25,000 people have been granted domicile certificates in Muslim-majority Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir since May 18, which local politicians believe is the beginning of disturbing demographic profile of the region.The certificate, a sort of citizenship right, entitles a person to residency and government jobs in the region, which till last year was reserved only for the local population.Last year on Aug. 5, when India revoked the semi-autonomous status of the region, it also scrapped the local special citizenship law, guaranteed under Article 35 (A) of the Indian Constitution.The law was barrin…

yenisafak (2020-06-26). Turkey sets example to world in fight against drugs. yenisafak.com Analyzing data compiled by the country's Health Ministry, Anadolu Agency found that Turkey uses a variety of methods and programs to combat drug use, including treatment, rehabilitation and social adaptation of former abusers.Political, bureaucratic, civic and scientific actors complement and reinforce each other in the country's nationwide efforts that have been organized on a multi-stakeholder structure that has been praised by the World Health Organization (WHO).WHO has since prepared an English-language publication on Turkey's program so other countries could benefit from its experiences.Turkey's anti-drug po…

sputniknews (2020-06-26). China Reportedly Warns US That Trade Deal Will Be at Risk if Washington Crosses 'Red Lines'. sputniknews.com After reaching a milestone "Phase One" agreement on trade, which was intended to serve as a stepping stone to a comprehensive trade deal between Washington and Beijing, relations between the two started to spiral downwards. The US accused China of starting the COVID-19 pandemic, which has severely damaged American economy.

sputniknews (2020-06-26). Dow Slides 730 Points as US COVID-19 Cases Skyrocket, States Roll Back Reopening. sputniknews.com US stocks plunged into red territory on Friday amid investor concerns over the effects that the recent surge in novel coronavirus cases may have on the strained economic recovery.

sputniknews (2020-06-26). $1.4 Bln in COVID-19 Stimulus Payments Sent to More Than a Million Dead Americans. sputniknews.com The US currently remains the worst-hit nation, with over 2.4 million confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 124,000 fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.

sputniknews (2020-06-26). NASA Says Five Asteroids Will Fly Past the Earth This Weekend. sputniknews.com Three of the celestial guests have been categorized by the space agency as Apollo asteroids, meaning that their orbit crosses that of our planet, which makes their visit potentially dangerous. At the same time, astronomers predict that a collision is highly unlikely.

sputniknews (2020-06-26). New Records Verified for Greatest Distance, Duration of Lightning Flashes – UN Agency. sputniknews.com The United Nations' World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Thursday announced new world records that were set by two so-called megaflashes, "the longest reported distance and the longest reported duration for a single lightning flash," which occurred in Brazil and Argentina, respectively.

sputniknews (2020-06-26). FBI Claims Chinese Diplomats Recruiting US Scientists in Bid to Get Hands on Research and Technology. sputniknews.com The bureau has been investigating Beijing's alleged activities for quite some time and last year filed an affidavit in a federal court. The claims come in line with Washington's rhetoric of accusing China of economic and industrial espionage on unprecedented scales.

sputniknews (2020-06-26). India Accuses China of Amassing Large Number of Arms, Troops Near Line of Actual Control Since May. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): On Wednesday, the Indian army claimed to have agreed to disengage its troops along the Line of Actual Control after several diplomatic and military level talks with China. However, alleged satellite images show that China has moved thousands of troops, artillery units, and armoured vehicles to a new area of northern Ladakh.

sputniknews (2020-06-26). 'I Was Trying to Compress Maintenance Guy's Wound': Witness Details Hotel Stabbing in Glasgow. sputniknews.com The police have indicated that they are continuing their investigation into the incident, however, they added that it is not being treated as a terrorist act. It comes five days after 25-year-old Khairi Saadallah, who came to the United Kingdom from Libya, stabbed to death three people in a park in Reading.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-26). Friday Prayer in Hamedan with health protocols in place. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 26 (MNA) — The first Friday Prayer ceremony in Hamedan was held on June 26 after a four-month hiatus due to the outbreak of coronavirus. All health protocols were in place during the event.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-26). US desperately using economic terrors against Iranians: Foreign Ministry. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 26 (MNA) — In a tweet on Friday, Iranian Foreign Ministry wrote that US is desperately leading a global campaign to use economic terrors against Iranian.

The Canary (2020-06-26). New coronavirus cases hit record high in US. thecanary.co The number of confirmed new coronavirus (Covid-19) cases per day in the US hit an all-time high of 40,000 — eclipsing the mark set during one of the deadliest stretches in late April. | The figure represents a resurgence that has led some governors to back track or at least pause the reopening of their states. | While the increase is believed to reflect, in part, greatly expanded testing, experts say there is ample evidence the virus is making a comeback, including rising deaths and hospitalisations in parts of the country, especially in the South and West. | Arizona, Texas and Florida are among the states…

The Canary (2020-06-26). Concerns raised about possible surge in forced marriages as lockdown eased. thecanary.co Campaigners fear there could be a spike in forced marriages as coronavirus (Covid-19) lockdown restrictions continue to relax in the UK and once quarantine rules are lifted. | Charities say during the pandemic they've seen a surge in calls from people worried their parents are increasingly intent on marrying them off after living in close quarters amid the crisis. | They warn parents could now be planning to take their children abroad for weddings against their will, as soon as laws on self-isolating for 14 days on return to the UK are scrapped. | The warnings came as data gathered by the Forced Marriage Unit (FM…

Staff (2020-06-26). With COVID Spiking in Sun Belt, Trump Leads GOP Governors Toward Electoral Ruin. truthout.org President Trump traveled to Wisconsin on Thursday to tour a naval shipyard, where he

Staff (2020-06-26). Colonized Loyalty: Asian American Anti-Blackness and Complicity. truthout.org "Capitalism requires inequality and racism enshrines it." — In the United States, racism against Asian Americans, whether in a public rally, in the public space or in the classroom, has become routine. | In March 2020 Donald Trump called the coronavirus "Chinese Virus." On June 20, 2020, at an anemically attended rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Trump named the deadly coronavirus "Kung Flu…

Staff (2020-06-26). Florida Reports 9,000 New Coronavirus Cases In Biggest Daily Surge. truthout.org Florida officials announced on Friday the largest single-day increase of new coronavirus cases in the state, eclipsing the previous record set just one day prior by a count of several thousand. | Out of 71,433 tests conducted within a 24-hour period in Florida,

Staff (2020-06-26). States Are Legally Required to Protect the Right to Vote. truthout.org As the 2020 general election approaches, the Trump Administration and Republican-controlled states have ramped-up efforts to keep people of color from exercising their right to vote. Leaders of the Republican Party favor suppressing the votes of minority people, knowing they likely support Democratic candidates. In March 2020, The Guardian

_____ (2020-06-26). Flagging U.S. Credibility at Vienna Arms Control Talks. strategic-culture.org A puerile propaganda stunt pulled by U.S. negotiators in Vienna this week ahead of talks with Russian counterparts was both at insult to China and a reprehensible distraction from credible bilateral business with Moscow on the vital issue of strategic security. | Ahead of talks with Russian delegates, the Americans took a stealthy photo of the venue U.S. envoy Marshall Billingslea then tried to twitter-shame China by decl…

_____ (2020-06-26). The Korean War Atrocities No One Wants to Talk About. strategic-culture.org When politicians or generals appear itching to pull the U.S. into another foreign war, remember that truth is routinely the first casualty. The blood of civilian victims of U.S. wars is the political version of disappearing ink. But the kinfolk and neighbors of those victims could pursue vengeance regardless of whether cover-ups con the American people.

True Publica (2020-06-26). Get Ready for 'Shock and Awe' Brexit Propaganda Campaign. globalresearch.ca The governments' overuse of militaristic, Churchillian and war-time cliches over Brexit and the pandemic is wearing thin and getting tiresome. But as Brexit day approaches, this is the mentality of a government obsessed with public relations. A mass propaganda invasion …

Manlio Dinucci (2020-06-26). NATO at the Helm of Italian Foreign Policy. globalresearch.ca NATO Defense Ministers (Lorenzo Guerini, Pd representing Italy) gathered by videoconference on June17/18, and made a series of "decisions to strengthen the Alliance's deterrence." However, nobody in Italy talks about it, neither the media (including social media) nor …

Global Research News (2020-06-26). Selected Articles: NATO at the Helm of Italian Foreign Policy. globalresearch.ca Dear Readers, | We regularly receive feedback from you telling us how important the articles we publish are to you, especially in today's tumultuous and uncertain times. We thank you, and pledge that we will continue to deliver our daily dose …

JoAnn Wypijewski (2020-06-26). Sex and the Stricken City: In Praise of Proximity. thenation.com Sex and the Stricken City: In Praise of Proximity…

Max Blumenthal (2020-06-25). How a US and Qatari regime change deception produced 'Caesar' sanctions driving Syria towards famine. thegrayzone.com Like the mysterious figure it is named for, the Caesar sanctions bill is the product of an elaborate deception by…

Max Blumenthal (2020-06-25). How a US & Qatari regime change deception produced the 'Caesar' sanctions driving Syria towards famine. thegrayzone.com Like the mysterious figure it is named for, the Caesar sanctions bill is the product of an elaborate deception by…

Joshua Cho (2020-06-25). Debunking Trump and Corporate Media's WHO/China coverup conspiracy theories. mronline.org The Trump administration suspended funding to WHO in April—the UN's primary infectious disease—fighting body—accusing it of "severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus," and of taking China's allegedly deceptive claims about its handling of COVID-19 at "face value." But corporate media had already been boosting these same talking points.

Deirdre Griswold (2020-06-25). Amazing facts about the virus. workers.org Medical staff in Wuhan, China, celebrate after all coronavirus patients were discharged from temporary emergency hospital, March 9. Facts are stubborn things. Take the fact that the People's Republic of China, with four times the population of the U.S., has had far fewer COVID-19 deaths, even though it was the . . . |

Sara Flounders (2020-06-25). Capitalism/The cause of COVID-19 deaths. workers.org China set up a system for checking the people entering residential buildings for COVID-19 symptoms. Here a security guard checks temperatures on Feb. 26 in Beijing. June 23 — Does the COVID-19 virus operate differently in capitalist countries than in socialist countries? Based on a comparison of global numbers of . . . |

Staff (2020-06-25). Boycotting Israel Is Not A Crime, Says European Human Rights Court. therealnews.com The EHRC overturned the French court's convictions of 12 BDS activists for "incitement to discrimination" in a watershed ruling for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.

W. T. Whitney, Jr. (2020-06-25). U.S. must return its political prisoner Simón Trinidad to Colombia. mronline.org Simón Trinidad matters; his time has come. This leader of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) faced bizarre and unfounded criminal charges in a U.S. court. He's being held under the cruelest of conditions in a federal prison in Florence, Colorado. He will die there unless he is released. Simón Trinidad will be …

John Wojcik (2020-06-25). U.S. coronavirus infection rate now highest since pandemic began. peoplesworld.org More than 45,500 new coronavirus infections were reported in the U.S. overnight, not by the federal government but by state health departments—blowing out of the water by some 11,000 the previous one-day record of 34,203 reached on April 25. The soaring infection rate in the U.S. is being driven by out-of-control outbreaks in the nation's …

Martha Burk (2020-06-25). Lack of accessible child care could cripple families and economic recovery. peoplesworld.org Child care in the time of coronavirus is one of the most challenging financial and logistical hurdles facing families. But while it's certainly much more difficult now with many child care facilities closed, it's far from a new problem. Most families—single-parent and two-parent alike—struggled with child care even in normal times, regardless of their incomes. …

Terry Everton (2020-06-25). Listening to What Isn't Being Said. dissidentvoice.org The chasm between what is often uttered on a corporate level and what is actually meant is as cavernous as the stale air which has moved in and taken up permanent residence between the ears of most District Managers. The words you actually hear pursing your employer's chapped lips are little more than the white …

Dave Lindorff (2020-06-25). Interactive Map Shows Police Using Violence Against Peaceful Protesters in 125 Cities and 40 States. counterpunch.org Click here to view the map. It hasn't been a great couple of weeks for the supposed "Land of the Free" these days, though a lot of brave protesters across the country have continued to stand up to a lot of cowardly militarized police and American soldiers who have been using weaponized military helicopters, M-16

Karl Grossman (2020-06-25). Masters of Space: Deep Space Strategy in the Age of Trump. counterpunch.org The United States "must be capable of winning wars that extend into space," asserts a just-released "Defense Space Strategy" report. It is the first space strategy document issued by the U.S. since President Donald Trump, after declaring that the U.S. must achieve "dominance in space," signed a measure this past December authorizing establishment of a Space Force.

Eds. (2020-06-25). Having sucked America dry, tech giants seek new markets beyond reach of U.S. antitrust laws. mronline.org An aggressive push to consolidate companies in the tech sector, coupled with the world's ever-increasing dependence on digital platforms and tools, is quickly leading to a crisis of sovereignty.

A Guest Author (2020-06-25). Role of sanctions in U.S. plan for world domination — a commentary. workers.org By Samuel Thomas Sanctions: This is the well-known method of spreading democracy and prosperity through death, starvation, shortages and economic collapse. Throughout U.S. history, this method of regime change, ostensibly intended to be implemented against countries at war or allied to a country at war with the U.S., they are . . . |

Kathryn Shihadah (2020-06-25). Selective Tolerance: AIPAC and its Pro-Apartheid Ilk Come to Bat for Black Lives Matter. mintpressnews.com Pro-Israel groups in America are sending mixed signals: yes, we want equality for Black Americans; no, we do not want the same for Palestinians.

calvin deutschbein (2020-06-25). U.S to Palestine, stop racist police terror! workers.org Demilitarize!Durham2 Palestine at the annual Historic Thousands on Jones Street., joining over 200 social justice organizations,. Feb/ 8. Durham, N.C. As the uprising rocks the U.S., increasingly the veil over policing — a form of neocolonialism — is wearing thin. In the Triangle area of North Carolina, home of the . . . |

Margaret Kimberley (2020-06-25). Freedom Rider: Democrats move right and towards defeat. mronline.org Besides not being Trump, the Democrats offer nothing, but think they can win with a candidate who has no constituency, charisma or any platform positions that would attract more voters.

Al Neal (2020-06-25). [Spoiler-free] Review: 'Da 5 Bloods' reclaims narrative of Black soldiers in Vietnam. peoplesworld.org War is hell. War never really ends. And if, as a civilian observer, you find it important to experience the realities and complexities of war and racism, then Spike Lee's latest film Da 5 Bloods is required watching. But be warned, it will not be an easy viewing: There will be discomfort, anger, and tears. Following …

Dennis Broe (2020-06-25). Spike Lee's 'Da 5 Bloods': Black Lives Matter meets 'Rambo' [spoilers]. peoplesworld.org Spike Lee's new film for Netflix, Da 5 Bloods, about the aftereffects on African-American soldiers of the Vietnam War, opens spectacularly. A documentary sequence begins with Muhammad Ali detailing why he chooses not to fight: "My conscience won't let me go shoot my brother or some darker people…for big powerful America..for what?..They never lynched me, …

John Ranson (2020-06-25). Court backlog of criminal cases tops half a million but it's not just Covid. thecanary.co Courts face a backlog of more than half a million criminal cases, official estimates show. Some of the rise comes as a result of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. But a critic of the government's approach has said the bulk of the problem has nothing to do with the pandemic. And the critic has cautioned against reducing the use of juries to clear the backlog. | The number of cases waiting to be heard by magistrates increased by 22% between the week ending 8 March and 17 May to around 484,000, according to provisional data published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). | However, outstanding crown court cases rose…

John Bellamy Foster (2020-06-25). ROAR Roundtable: COVID-19 and the climate crisis. mronline.org If "everything affects and is affected by every other thing," we must respond to the dangers to human existence in the 21st century by changing the system, creating a different form of social metabolic reproduction. There is no other way.

Staff (2020-06-25). Repair & Revive: Rev. William Barber on Fighting Racism, Poverty, Climate Change, War & Nationalism. democracynow.org The Poor People's Campaign offered a counterpoint to President Trump's sparsely attended Tulsa campaign rally with a mass digital gathering that unveiled a policy platform to spur "transformative action" on five key issues of systemic racism, systemic poverty, ecological devastation, the war economy and the threat of religious nationalism. "We have to repair and revive," says Rev. Dr. William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign. "That has to be a part of if we're truly going to ever be the democracy we claim to be on paper."

RT (2020-06-25). Iraqi forces raid HQ of Iran-backed militia as US coalition denies any involvement. rt.com Iraqi security forces have raided the headquarters of Kataib Hezbollah, capturing several leaders of the militia at the heart of US-Iranian conflict early this year. The US coalition rushed to distance itself from the operation. | Special forces from the Counter Terrorism Service carried out the raid in the early hours of Friday local time, at a base south of Baghdad, reportedly arresting nearly two dozen militiamen and several commanders. | Their fate remains unclear, however, as government officials insist they are in the custody of security services, while paramilitary sources claim all those detained have…

RT (2020-06-25). Bitcoin bolivars? Venezuela reportedly accepting crypto as payment for passport applications. rt.com Venezuela's passport service is accepting Bitcoin as payment for some applications, according to people using the online system. The move suggests an increased shift to alternative payment systems in the South American state. | A screenshot of a Bitcoin (BTC) payment prompt on Venezuela's Administrative Service for Identification, Migration and Foreigners (SAIME) was posted to

Anand Naidoo (2020-06-25). The Heat: U.S. immigration and DACA ruling. america.cgtn.com U.S. President Trump temporarily suspends new work visas, barring foreigners from seeking employment in the United States.

RT (2020-06-25). Hundreds of National Guard troops activated in Washington DC & Wisconsin to protect monuments. rt.com Some 400 National Guard troops have been activated in the nation's capital to protect historical monuments from vandalism, following a failed attempt by protesters to topple a statue of Andrew Jackson near the White House. | The guardsmen, who would be unarmed if deployed, were placed on standby Wednesday afternoon as heated demonstrations against police brutality and racism rage on around the country, driving calls for the removal of statues and monuments protesters see as celebrating slavery and other historical abuses. | "The District of Columbia National Guard has sent unarmed troops to guard monuments and…

RT (2020-06-25). 165 workers test positive for Covid-19, as major outbreak hits meat factory in England. rt.com A mass outbreak of coronavirus has struck a meat factory in West Yorkshire, England with a total of 165 employees testing positive for Covid-19, the local council confirmed on Thursday. | The first cases of the deadly virus at Kober factory in Cleckheaton — a supplier to Asda, the major UK supermarket — were confirmed by Health Secretary Matt Hancock earlier this week. The food factory had closed on June 18, but reopened once again on Tuesday. | The local Kirklees Council said the 165 positive cases are being chased up by the NHS Test and Trace program and workers are being advised to self-isolate f…

RT (2020-06-25). Texas slams brakes on its reopening process as coronavirus cases soar. rt.com Texas Governor Greg Abbott has announced that the state is halting its reopening process after hospitals were flooded with new Covid-19 cases and health officials raised fears of bed shortages. | "The last thing we want to do as a state is go backwards and close down businesses," Abbott said in a statement. "This temporary pause will help our state corral the spread until we can safely enter the next phase of opening our state for business." | The development comes as Texas, the US state with the second largest population, continues to report record increases in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. | More t…

RT (2020-06-25). Say what, Joe? Biden says over 120 MILLION Americans died of Covid-19. rt.com Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden got his numbers mixed up just a bit, getting the number of Americans who died from the coronavirus off by a factor of 1,000, as he ventured outside for a healthcare event in Pennsylvania. | "People don't have a job, people don't know where to go, they don't know what to do," Biden said on Thursday at a campaign event in Lancaster. | Now we have over 120 million dead from COVID. | Joe Biden is very confused. | He just falsely claimed 120 million Americans (more than one-third of the country) died from the coronavirus. | This is after he previously claimed 150 million Am…

RT (2020-06-25). Covid-19 cases surge in Europe FOR FIRST TIME IN MONTHS as end of lockdowns 'accelerate transmissions' — WHO. rt.com European countries have seen increases in Covid-19 cases since they began relaxing the restrictions that were containing the virus' spread, the World Health Organization has said. | "Last week, Europe saw an increase in weekly cases for the first time in months," Hans Kluge, the WHO's European regional director, said on Thursday. "Thirty countries have seen increases in new cumulative cases over the past two weeks," he added. | The easing of lockdowns and of other obligatory restrictive measures has led to "accelerated transmission" of coronavirus. This, in turn, may push Europe's health systems "to the brink…

RT (2020-06-25). 'Nothing but house n***ers': DC protesters confront black cops, joking about contaminating their masks with Covid-19 (VIDEO). rt.com Angry protesters have been filmed harassing black police officers at a protest in Washington DC, with one man saying they should "put some Covid" in their face masks, while another is heard calling the cops "house n***ers." | The video, shared on social media by Daily Caller reporter Shelby Talcott on Wednesday, shows the heated moment when Black Lives Matter protesters confront two black Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department officers. | "You should be ashamed of yourselves," one person shouts, as another insists that the black cops "ain't nothing but house n***ers" — an insulting historical refere…

RT (2020-06-25). Occupy meets BLM: Protesters camp outside New York's City Hall, demanding $1bn cut from NYPD budget. rt.com Hundreds of protesters have been camped out in front of New York's City Hall for the past two nights, vowing to "occupy" it until Mayor Bill de Blasio agrees to cut $1 billion from the police budget and give it to social services.

RT (2020-06-25). 'Black people don't give a damn about statues': BET founder mocks woke whites toppling monuments to assuage racial guilt. rt.com Painfully woke white people yanking TV shows off the air and tearing down statues aren't helping the racial justice cause, according to the founder of Black Entertainment Television. He says black people "laugh at" these displays. | Removing Confederate statues does nothing for black people, billionaire TV magnate Robert Johnson told Fox News on Wednesday. "It's not going to give a kid whose parents can't afford college, money to go to college. It's not going to close the labor gap…and it's not going to take people off welfare or food stamps." | It's tantamount to rearranging deck chairs on a racial Titanic.

RT (2020-06-25). Democrats seethe as Trump calls them 'more unreasonable' than North Korea, China or Russia. rt.com US President Donald Trump paid the opposition Democrats a backhanded compliment, saying in a speech that they were tougher to deal with and "far more unreasonable" than the governments of North Korea, China or Russia. | The Democrats in the USA are much tougher to deal with than any of these people that we deal with. They're far more unreasonable. And actually, they're a little crazy. | Trump made the comment as part of an anecdote during an address at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Wisconsin on Friday, prompting the DNC war room to accuse him of having "no idea what it means to be president" and daring t…

RT (2020-06-25). US reports RECORD jump in coronavirus cases as states mull tougher restrictions, blaming anything but packed protests. rt.com The US has broken its own record for the number of coronavirus cases recorded in a single day, with more than 38,000 new patients confirmed in the last 24 hours, topping a high set in April, as some states see infections spike.

RT (2020-06-25). MASSIVE EXPLOSION rocks gas storage facility near military & research site outside Tehran (VIDEOS). rt.com A major explosion outside Tehran has triggered speculation of an attack against an army base or a research site, but the Iranian military says it was an incident at a gas storage facility. | The blast did not take place at a military site. Rather, between 11pm and midnight local time, a gas tank exploded in the "public area" nearby, Defense Ministry spokesman Brigadier General Davoud Abdi told the media, adding that the blaze was quickly brought under control and there were no casualties. | Massive explosion east of

RT (2020-06-25). Lightning kills over 100 in one day as thunderstorms rage across northern India. rt.com At least 107 people have been killed in lightning strikes in northern India, as the monsoon season continues to rage and the country's meteorological department issues fresh 'red alerts' of thunderstorms and heavy rain. | Lightning struck numerous districts across the northeastern states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar during heavy storms on Thursday. The majority of the victims were farmers working in the paddy fields when the squall hit, state disaster management officials reported. | Thunderstorms have so far claimed the lives of 83 residents in the Bihar region alone, and over 20 more died in the surrounding ar…

RT (2020-06-25). Fighting words: Trump tweets that police are 'furious' over plan to paint BLACK LIVES MATTER in front of Trump Tower in NYC. rt.com Bringing up a report that New York City wants to paint the words "Black Lives Matter" on Fifth Avenue, right outside his flagship property, US President Donald Trump said the city's police were mad about it. | Tweeting from a trip to Wisconsin on Thursday, Trump said he heard Mayor Bill de Blasio wanted to paint the city yellow with the name of the movement — and noted that some of its slogans are calling for the murder of police. | Told that

RT (2020-06-25). 3 US cops fired after caught discussing 'slaughtering' black people & need for 2nd Civil War to 'wipe 'em off the map'. rt.com Three police officers in North Carolina have lost their jobs after accidentally recording their own highly inflammatory conversations, in which they are heard discussing "slaughtering n****rs" and calling for a new Civil War. | Officers Kevin Piner, James Gilmore, and Jessie Moore were fired from the Wilmington Police Department on Wednesday, following an internal probe that revealed the three had inadvertently captured shocking racist remarks and praise for racial violence on dash cam video. | Soon after protests over the police killing of George Floyd kicked off in Wilmington earlier this month, a WPD office…

RT (2020-06-25). Russia says Poland should be aware of costs if it wants to obtain status of 'frontline state'. rt.com Poland should be aware of the costs of obtaining the status of a 'frontline state', including implications for its own security, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko said on Thursday. He was commenting on the US plans to relocate its forces from Germany to Poland. | "If Warsaw wishes to intentionally position itself in the capacity of a frontline state by accommodating foreign forces on a permanent basis, it is apparently aware of all related costs, including those that concern its own security," Grushko told TASS. | Speaking with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda on Wednesday, President Donald…

RT (2020-06-25). Vive la #Resistance? Pundits Twitter-duel after Lindsey Graham accuses Democrats of channeling French Revolution. rt.com The Twitter mob has predictably begun to argue over the virtues and pitfalls of the French Revolution, after Sen. Lindsey Graham suggested that radicals have co-opted the Democratic Party and are marching the nation towards ruin. | The South Carolina lawmaker triggered a large number of blue checkmarks after accusing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her progressive cohorts of spearheading "the most radical mob" in recent American history. | "It appears the French Revolution has now come to the Democratic Party," the Republican senator tweeted. | But his incendiary warning seemed to galvanize liberal Twitter p…

The Canary (2020-06-25). Walk-in centres to provide coronavirus testing in 'heart of communities'. thecanary.co Walk-in centres for coronavirus (Covid-19) testing are to be set up to make it easier for people without cars to get tested for the virus.Six centres are being trialled in Newcastle, Rochdale, Leeds, Brent, Newham and Slough, with the latter described as a hybrid drive and walk through.The exact location of the centres has not been confirmed by officials but one is understood to be on a basketball court, and there have been reports they will spring up in empty shops and car parks.A source at the Department of Health and Social Care said officials were working on "walk through testing sites in England for people w…

The Canary (2020-06-25). Countries around the world are taking swift action to quash Covid hotspots as England gets set to head to the pub. thecanary.co Governments and businesses are ramping up precautions after the number of coronavirus (Covid-19) cases increased in various parts of the world.Meanwhile, in the UK, where daily confirmed cases

The Canary (2020-06-25). Covid-19 ban on brass and woodwind instruments in churches, MPs told. thecanary.co Brass and woodwind instruments should not be used in churches to help combat the spread of Covid-19, MPs have been told.Conservative MP Andrew Selous, in his role as the Church of England's representative in the Commons, said there will be no cap placed on the number of people attending church services as long as Covid-secure guidelines are met.But he added singing and chanting are not allowed even at a distance, and there are certain instruments which cannot be used.Lichfield Cathedral (PA)Speaking in the Commons, Conservative Michael Fabricant asked when people will be allowed to return to evensong and enjoy th…

The Canary (2020-06-25). Russians begin voting on changes allowing Putin to stay in power until 2036. thecanary.co Polls have opened in Russia for a week-long vote on constitutional changes that would allow president Vladimir Putin to stay in power until 2036.The vote on a range of constitutional amendments, proposed by Putin in January, was initially scheduled for 22 April but was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.It was later rescheduled for 1 July, with polling stations opening a week earlier and staying open for seven days in an effort to avoid crowds on the main voting day.The proposed amendments include a change in the constitution that would allow 67-year-old Putin, who has ruled Russia for over two decades…

Staff (2020-06-25). How U.S. and Brazil Leadership That "Neglects Science" Led to Hemisphere's Worst Coronavirus Crises. democracynow.org As coronavirus infections worldwide approach 10 million, nearly half can be found in the two largest countries in the Americas: the United States and Brazil, which now has the worst infection rate in the world and could surpass the U.S. death toll next month. "What we see in the country is a reflection of the leadership that we have," says Marcia Castro, professor of demography, chair of the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and co-chair of Harvard's Brazil Studies Program, noting far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has downplayed the pandemic's severity an…

Jacob G. Hornberger (2020-06-25). Fear in the John F. Kennedy Assassination. "Some Americans Consider the Possibility that it Was A Regime Change Operation" globalresearch.ca One of the fascinating phenomena in the JFK assassination is the fear of some Americans to consider the possibility that the assassination was actually a regime-change operation carried out by the U.S. national-security establishment rather than simply a murder carried …

South Front (2020-06-25). Video: Infighting Among Idlib Al Qaeda Radicals Resumes with Renewed Energy. globalresearch.ca Late on June 23, the Israeli Air Force conducted airstrikes on alleged Iranian-linked targets near al-Sukhna and Kabajab in central Syria and near Tel Al-Sahn in the countryside of as-Suwayda in southern Syria. A second wave of Israeli strikes early …

Norman Solomon (2020-06-25). Progressives Must Fight With—and In—the Democratic Party. commondreams.org 130 Sanders delegates (including me) from congressional districts across the state—90 percent of all such Sanders delegates—have signed a statement calling for Khanna to be the delegation chair. (Photo: Michael Brochstein/Echoes Wire/Barcroft Media via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/khanna_coronavirus.jpg

Philip Giraldi (2020-06-25). Trump Unloads on Bolton After Bolton Unloads on Trump. thealtworld.com John Bolton's

Stephen Lendman (2020-06-25). UN Security Council Members Slam Illegal Israeli Annexation Scheme. globalresearch.ca Israeli settlements breach international law, an indisputable fact. | The UN Charter bans use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, as well as forcible acquisition of territory not its own. | A joint statement by nearly …

_____ (2020-06-25). Racialized Militarism, Peacebuilding And Defunding The Military. popularresistance.org As the Canadian government prepares to spend $1 billion on Raytheon missiles and related equipment, award a $19 billion contract for new fighter jets in 2022, and increase spending to $32.7 billion a year on the military by 2026, it is both timely and necessary to have a conversation about peacebuilding and the structures of violence. In this regard, the Canadian Peace Initiative has a campaign to establish a federal Department of Peace. And Eriel Tchekwie Deranger has urged NGOs advocating for a Green New Deal to: "center the destructive intertwined roles of capitalism, consumerism, militarism and colonialism as…

IMEMC News (2020-06-25). Soldiers Injure Many Palestinians In Jordan Valley. imemc.org Israeli soldiers attacked, Thursday, dozens of Palestinians in Fasayel village, in the Jordan Valley of the occupied West Bank, causing dozens to suffer the effects of teargas inhalation. The villagers, accompanied by several cabinet members and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) officials, were trying to hold a meeting in the village, …

Staff (2020-06-25). Headlines for June 25, 2020. democracynow.org U.S. Coronavirus Cases Surge to Highest Daily Level Since Pandemic Began, WHO Warns Coronavirus Has Yet to Peak in the Americas, Kellyanne Conway Defends Trump's Use of "Kung Flu," Weeks After Calling the Term "Highly Offensive", Protesters Camp Outside New York City Hall Demanding $1B in Cuts to NYPD Budget, Democrats Halt Senate Police Bill, Saying Reforms Don't Go Far Enough, Colorado Lawmakers Demand Investigation into Police Killing of Elijah McClain, Family Demands Justice for Queens Man Tasered to Death by Police in His Own Home, NYPD Officer David Afanador to Face Strangulation Charges for Using Banned Ch…

news.un (2020-06-25). Coronavirus casts 'huge shadow' over Afghan life as multi-dimensional crisis continues. news.un.org The COVID-19 pandemic is not just a health emergency, but a multi-dimensional crisis for Afghanistan, dealing its people a painful blow just as Kabul and the Taliban prepare for peace talks in Qatar, the top UN official in the country says.

José Argàºello (2020-06-25). Meet the far-right oligarchs working to topple Mexico's progressive President AMLO. thegrayzone.com A Trump-like Mexican oligarch, Gilberto Lozano, is leading a coalition of corporate leaders and far-right fanatics called FRENA to try…

Paul Antonopoulos (2020-06-25). Trump Admitted Relocation of American Soldiers to Poland Is Aimed Against Russia. globalresearch.ca It appears that despite achieving so-called independence from the Soviet Union and joining the EU and NATO in 2004, Lithuania does not have full sovereignty. In yesterday's negotiations with US President Donald Trump, the interests of Vilnius were not …

_____ (2020-06-25). Democratizing Energy To Counter The Climate Catastrophe. popularresistance.org Youth climate activists have been striking to demand immediate climate action from political powers. They conjoined the issues of climate and labor by calling for a global climate strike in September, 2019, in which a historic 7.6 million schoolkids, (grand)parents and workers from 185 countries participated. Over 70 trade unions around the world supported the strike and the number of climate groups that are demanding a just transition for fossil fuel workers are also steadily increasing. | The European landscape of climate activism is becoming densely populated. Numerous communities are defending nature together…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-25). Assange faces second indictment by US on charges of recruiting hacktivists. peoplesdispatch.org Wikileaks founder Julian Assange will face a fresh indictment on charges of having "hired" and "conspired" with hacktivist groups, including Anonymous, LulzSec, and "a famous teenage hacker in Australia"

Kevin Gosztola (2020-06-25). US Government Expands Assange Indictment to Criminalize Assistance Provided to Edward Snowden. globalresearch.ca The United States government expanded their indictment against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to criminalize the assistance WikiLeaks provided to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden when staff helped him leave Hong Kong. | Sarah Harrison, who was a section editor for WikiLeaks, …

WSWS (2020-06-25). US indictment of Assange based on testimony of FBI assets, convicted child molester. wsws.org The indictment paints a picture of US operatives pouring through decade-old tabloid gossip and dredging up the most unsavoury creatures of their own intelligence agencies to fling mud at Assange.

news.un (2020-06-25). Digital tools being used to track people as never before, warns UN rights chief. news.un.org The internet and new digital tools are being manipulated as never before to infringe on people's right to free assembly, the UN's top rights official said on Thursday, in a call for a moratorium on the use of facial recognition technology during peaceful demonstrations.

Sit.Walk.Listen. (2020-06-25). Sunday 6/28: Sit. Walk. Listen. Because Black Lives Matter. indybay.org Henry J. Kaiser Memorial Park (19th st. and Telegraph ave), Oakland, CA | Dear siblings, these times are a great call for change. | As mindfulness practitioners, we can breathe for others who cannot. Let's bring the practice of peaceful compassionate nonviolence to the streets; to listen, to follow, and support black people. | As Thich Nhat Hanh once said: "Nonviolent action, born of the awareness of suffering and nurtured by love, is the most effective way to confront adversity." | Together we can walk in peace, love, compassion and awareness.

San José Peace and Justice Center (2020-06-25). Tuesday 6/23: Community Meeting on Police Response at Protests. indybay.org Zoom online meeting | Register in advance for this meeting: bit.ly/ComMtg0623 (or us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZApd-yvrjIvGtIy2_uCkP4yNI3-5dheaEDs) | After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Jenna Ruddock (2020-06-25). Sit, Bike, Skate, March on Washington. progressive.org A photo essay from the ongoing protests against police brutality in the nation's capital.

Kurt Nimmo (2020-06-25). Black Lives Matter (BLM) and the Neoliberal Color Revolution in America. globalresearch.ca "The protests, riots, violent and non-violent actions sweeping across the United States since May 25, including an assault on the gates of the White House, begin to make sense when we understand the CIA's Color Revolution playbook," writes economic researcher, …

Anish R M (2020-06-25). A month after George Floyd's death, what has changed? peoplesdispatch.org A month has passed by since the brutal killing of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The protests that erupted across the United States and continue to rage on have significantly altered the political landscape of the nation's politics. Much like the protests of 2014-15 sparked by the murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, the protests happening today have brought some of the perennial questions and unfinished business of the Civil Rights Movement. | From talks about police reforms to abolition of the police, from the lingering Confederate legacy to colonial-settler and slave-ow…

Rosamond S. King (2020-06-25). Words, Race, and the Pandemic. progressive.org The president's use of the term "Chinese virus," like his referring to antiracist protestors as "thugs" and "lowlifes," is part of his pattern of promoting racism and white supremacy.

news.un (2020-06-25). FROM THE FIELD: Sudanese women ready to 'break taboos' and run for office. news.un.org Since the 2019 Sudan protests, which ushered in a transitional government, and the promise of more rights, over a thousand women have felt emboldened to enter politics in a bid to enact lasting democratic change.

_____ (2020-06-25). Massive Uprisings Confront White Supremacy. popularresistance.org On May 25, a Minneapolis police officer tortured George Floyd to death in what his brother, Philonise Floyd, called "a modern-day lynching in broad daylight." Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in all 50 states and Washington D.C.; the anti-racist uprisings continue. | Why do a majority of people in this country now support the Movement for Black Lives? Why have calls to defund and abolish the police entered the mainstream discourse? Why are people risking the deadly coronavirus to join the protests? And why are we seeing what may be the broadest popular movement in the history of the United Stat…

sputniknews (2020-06-25). Pre-emptive Strike Against Cancel Culture? Country Group Dixie Chicks Changes Name Amid US Protests. sputniknews.com The protests, which began as a movement in opposition to police brutality and indifference towards the lives of African Americans, later morphed into rampant vandalism, with protesters eventually targeting monuments related to racism or slavery in any form and demanding the removal of statues of even some of the most famous historical figures.

Staff (2020-06-25). Uber Drivers Protest Outside CEO's Home to Demand Labor Protections. truthout.org On Wednesday morning, a caravan of around 50

Amy V. Rapkiewicz, Xingchen Mai, Steven E. Carsons, Stefania Pittaluga, David E. Kleiner, Jeffrey S. Berger, Sarun Thomas, Nicole M. Adler, David M. Charytan, Billel Gasmi, Judith S. Hochman, Harmony R. Reynolds (2020-06-25). Megakaryocytes and platelet-fibrin thrombi characterize multi-organ thrombosis at autopsy in COVID-19: A case series. thelancet.com In this series of seven COVID-19 autopsies, thrombosis was a prominent feature in multiple organs, in some cases despite full anticoagulation and regardless of timing of the disease course, suggesting that thrombosis plays a role very early in the disease process. The finding of megakaryocytes and platelet-rich thrombi in the lungs, heart and kidneys suggests a role in thrombosis.

Behrooz Ghamari Tabrizi (2020-06-25). The Two-Headed Hydra of Racism and Imperialism. counterpunch.org Black Lives Matter (BLM) has raised mass consciousness against the institution of police violence and the brutality it inflicts on Black communities around the country. The movement has placed the question of police brutality at the top of the political and juridical reform agenda. The naked display of the oppressive state apparatus has now forced everyone, from the fascist residents of the White House to the liberal democrats of the House, politicians speak of the need to reform policing—more training, more screening, more record-keepings, judicial vigilance, and other haphazard sutures for the centuries o…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-25). Maritime union intensifies campaign against job cuts in the UK ferry industry. peoplesdispatch.org P&O Ferries in the UK has announced plans to cut 1,100 jobs citing the crisis in the ferry services industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic…

news.un (2020-06-25). COVID-19's far reaching impact on global drug abuse. news.un.org More than 35 million people around the world now suffer from drug addiction, according to the latest annual report on the scourge, from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released on Thursday, which also analyzes the far-reaching impact of the coronavirus pandemic on global drug markets.

WSWS (2020-06-25). New COVID-19 outbreaks in Germany and Berlin's inhumane quarantine conditions. wsws.org Since June 13, 369 households, each containing one to 10 people, have been quarantined as a result of COVID-19 infections in one of Berlin's poorest districts.

news.un (2020-06-25). First Person: Innovation brewing at Hawaii coffee farm. news.un.org Innovation and experimentation are helping a coffee farm in the US state of Hawaii to prosper in a competitive market, an approach which has helped the company to get through the global COVID-19 pandemic.

WSWS (2020-06-25). London bus drivers' lives threatened by union collusion on inadequate COVID-19 measures. wsws.org The Unite union is playing a crucial role for the government and Transport for London in policing the back-to-work drive and concealing the immense dangers facing bus and transport workers.

WSWS (2020-06-25). IMF downgrades forecast for global economy. wsws.org The global economy is predicted to take a $12 trillion hit over 2020 and 2021 with the COVID-19 pandemic having a "catastrophic" effect on the world labour market.

WSWS (2020-06-25). Unite union facilitates cover-up of COVID-19 outbreak in UK meat processing plants. wsws.org Meat processing factories across the world have become a breeding ground for the virus, and working in them is a potential death sentence.

WSWS (2020-06-25). The United States nears a new one-day high of COVID-19 infections. wsws.org The United States neared a new one-day high in new cases of COVID-19, with 38,386 new infections, only a few hundred below the high set back on April 24 with 39,072 cases.

Kester Kenn Klomegah (2020-06-25). Beyond COVID-19 Aid, Ethiopia Hoists Africa's Flag. globalresearch.ca Ethiopia, by all standards, is a reputable country in East Africa. It gains popularly from different angles. In terms of politics, Ethiopia has been touted as a country with an excellent model of democracy in Africa. For his efforts in …

WSWS (2020-06-25). New York Times column: Pandemic shows need to curtail "unnecessary" and "wasteful" doctor's visits. wsws.org Dr. Sandeep Jauhar makes the remarkable argument that patients who have stopped going to the doctor during the COVID-19 outbreak "seem to have done OK," and concludes that Americans have too much access to health care.

Muhammed Shabeer (2020-06-25). "Referendum in Russia exposes the sham of bourgeois democracy" peoplesdispatch.org Roman Kononenko from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation talks about the ongoing referendum in Russia on the constitutional reforms proposed by president Vladimir Putin. He also talks about how the country handled the COVID-19 pandemic…

WSWS (2020-06-25). Detroit nurses' lawsuit exposes horrific conditions at Sinai-Grace Hospital as COVID-19 deaths spiked. wsws.org Four nurses who worked at Sinai-Grace Hospital have filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against Tenet corporation that operates the facility where dozens of people died from COVID-19 due to management's cost-cutting.

WSWS (2020-06-25). COVID-19 cases rapidly surge in Texas. wsws.org Texas confirmed over 5,000 cases for the first time on Tuesday.

_____ (2020-06-25). Pandemic proves opportunity for industry power grab. truepublica.org.uk By Tamasin Cave: The UK government has been "incredibly receptive" to businesses lobbying to shape its response to Covid-19 The decision to allow pubs and restaurants to reopen on July 4, before schools, and to relax social distancing, are the latest concessions to the alcohol industry during the Covid-19 crisis, after the government classified off-licences …

WSWS (2020-06-25). Brazilian government hides scale of COVID-19 pandemic to promote criminal reopening. wsws.org Different studies point to severe underreporting of COVID-19 cases and deaths, as outbreaks at working places spread across Brazil.

news.un (2020-06-25). Yemen: millions of children facing deadly hunger, amidst aid shortages and COVID-19. news.un.org Millions of children in the heart of the world's worst humanitarian disaster could be pushed to the brink of starvation, due to huge shortfalls in humanitarian aid funding amid the coronavirus pandemic, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.

WSWS (2020-06-25). India rapidly emerging as epicenter of COVID-19 pandemic in Asia. wsws.org As a result of the Modi government's abandonment of lockdown measures, the coronavirus is spreading like wildfire in both urban slums and rural areas.

news.un (2020-06-25). UN tallies action so far to fight COVID-19, and roadmap out of the pandemic. news.un.org Amid the upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN has mobilized to save lives, control transmission of the virus and ease the economic fallout, Secretary-General António Guterres told journalists on Thursday, speaking at the virtual launch of his report on the Organization's response to the crisis…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-25). German Left alleges government complicity in COVID-19 outbreak at meat plant. peoplesdispatch.org The unsafe work conditions at a meat processing plant in Gàºtersloh, owned by Tà∂nnies Holding Group, has led to a severe outbreak of COVID-19 amongst its employees…

Ian Cobain (2020-06-25). UK Health Ministry Has No Records on Turkish Protective Equipment (PPE) Fiasco and Won't Say if Files Destroyed. globalresearch.ca Department responsible tells MEE it has no documents about botched import of medical gear, raising concerns of cover-up ahead of inquiry into government's response to Covid-19 | *** | The British government's health ministry says it has no record whatsoever of its …

commondreams (2020-06-25). ACLU Comment on Bill Stopping Face Recognition Surveillance. commondreams.org ______________________________…

WSWS (2020-06-25). Amazon worker's job in limbo after seeking to take time off for injury. wsws.org Seeking to take time off after breaking his wrist in a fall, the worker was denied access to his jobsite and had his identification card deactivated.

Rand Wilson (2020-06-25). Bernie Is Right: Unite to Dump Trump. zcomm.org When there are only two viable electoral choices, the decision to choose a neoliberal over a neofascist does not mean support for the neoliberal cause…

Peter Bolton (2020-06-25). Biden surges to double point lead over Trump. But here's why that's nothing to celebrate. thecanary.co Presumptive Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden now holds a double-digit

Ryan Cecil Jobson (2020-06-25). Brazilian oligarchs sacrifice people for profit. zcomm.org Business leaders are using social media and political influence to spread coronavirus disinformation — and endangering thousands of lives…

Almasdar News (2020-06-25). US Sends Powerful Message to Iran, Venezuela as Warship Sails Near Caracas. globalresearch.ca The U.S. Naval Command in the southern region announced on Wednesday, that a warship belonging to it sailed near the Venezuelan coast, hours after an Iranian tanker was docked in the port of Caracas. | According to the Southern Command's official …

Samantha Ortega (2020-06-25). The U.S. Has always exploited immigrants during pandemics. nationofchange.org As our country continues to grapple with the coronavirus, we must ensure that the health of everyone, including migrants, is prioritized and protected.

WSWS (2020-06-25). The coronavirus crisis, the government's aid package and the attempt to strangle German art. wsws.org On closer inspection, the German government's aid package proves to be a sham and a step towards neutering and strangling a diverse cultural landscape.

WSWS (2020-06-25). Tuesday primaries show rising popular discontent with Democratic Party establishment. wsws.org Voter turnout swelled despite the coronavirus threat, with many voters choosing to vote early or cast mail-in ballots.

Colin Todhunter (2020-06-25). Capitalism and the Throttling of Democracy in India. globalresearch.ca The deregulation of international capital flows (financial liberalisation) has effectively turned the planet into a free-for-all bonanza for the world's richest capitalists. Under…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-25). India's internal emergency: A brutal chapter in authoritarianism. peoplesdispatch.org On the 45th anniversary of the imposition of India's notorious internal emergency, we take a look at what led to that decision and the impact it had on the country's democracy…

Elijah J. Magnier (2020-06-25). The US "Soft War" on Iran and Its Allies Turns Against Washington. globalresearch.ca The US administration under Barack Obama drafted "Caesar's Law" in 2016 to subdue Syria but kept it in the drawer. President Donald Trump and his administration dusted it off and are now implementing "Caesar's Law". In fact, Trump's policy is …

Steve Watson (2020-06-25). Media Executive Warns that Big Tech Is Secretively Seizing "All the Power" over Information. globalresearch.ca Newspaper executive Peter Wright has slammed big tech for secretively developing and changing algorithms for news distribution without giving the industry any indication whatsoever of what they are doing. | Wright of DMG Media, which is the parent company of The …

Philip Weiss (2020-06-25). Congressman Engel Bragged, 'I Sit Down with AIPAC on Every Piece of Legislation' Coming Out of Foreign Affairs Committee. globalresearch.ca Embattled congressman Eliot Engel, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has bragged that he sits down with the rightwing pro-Israel organization AIPAC on "every piece of legislation coming out of the Foreign Affairs Committee." | In a

QUDSN (2020-06-25). UN Secretary General Urges 'Israel' to Cancel the Annexation of the West Bank. globalresearch.ca UN chief Antonio Guterres has called on 'Israel' to cancel plans to annex parts of the West Bank, saying such a decision would be "the most serious violation of international law." | Guterres said the Israeli annexation plans would be destructive. …

Abayomi Azikiwe (2020-06-25). The Struggle against Racism in the United States. globalresearch.ca "We beseech independent African states to help us bring our problem before the United Nations, on the grounds that the United States Government is morally incapable of protecting the lives and the property of 22 million African-Americans. And on the …

Pat Thomas (2020-06-25). Deregulating GMOs via the UK's Agriculture Bill — What Happens Next? globalresearch.ca Recently we alerted our supporters to an amendment to the UK's Agriculture Bill, proposed by Julian Sturdy MP chair of the APPG for Science & Technology in Agriculture. If adopted the amendment would effectively deregulate GMOs. | We have been very …

QUDSN (2020-06-25). UN Secretary General Urges 'Israel' to Cancel Annexation West Bank. globalresearch.ca UN chief Antonio Guterres has called on 'Israel' to cancel plans to annex parts of the West Bank, saying such a decision would be "the most serious violation of international law." | Guterres said the Israeli annexation plans would be destructive. …

Rachel Cheung (2020-06-25). Hong Kong's Cartoonists Aren't Giving Up on Dissent. thenation.com Hong Kong's Cartoonists Aren't Giving Up on Dissent…

Al-Mezan Center For Human Rights (2020-06-25). Israeli Soldier Given Derisory Sentence for the Unlawful Killing of a Palestinian Fisherman. imemc.org Press Release By Al-Mezan Center For Human Rights: On 15 June 2020, an Israeli military court sentenced an Israeli soldier, who shot and killed 23-year-old Palestinian fisherman, Nawwaf al-Attar, off the coast of Beit Lahia in the Gaza Strip, to a derisory 45-day prison sentence to be served through military-related …

IMEMC Staff (2020-06-25). Israeli Troops Cause the Injury of Dozens of Palestinians in East Jerusalem. imemc.org Israeli troops caused on Wednesday night the injury of at least thirty eight Palestinian residents in the occupied East Jerusalem, by means of shooting rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas in the village of Abu Deis, east of the occupied Palestinian city. The local Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said …

IMEMC Staff (2020-06-25). Israeli Troops Abduct Two Palestinians From Two West Bank Cities. imemc.org Israeli troops abducted, early on Thursday morning, two Palestinian residents from two different West Bank cities. Local media outlets reported that Israeli soldiers, backed by armored vehicles, invaded the Nur Shams refugee camp, east of Tulkarem city, in northern West Bank. The sources said that the soldiers broke into and …

IMEMC News (2020-06-25). Israeli Court Sentences A Detainee To Four Life Terms In Prison. imemc.org An Israeli court on Wednesday sentenced a Palestinian detainee to four life terms, in addition to imposing a fine of 16 Million Shekels after convicting him of killing two Israeli soldiers and of wounding 7 settlers (causing a young woman to miscarry) in two separate incidents in the year 2018, …

PCHR (2020-06-25). PCHR: Palestinian Civilian Shot and Killed by IOF at al-Container Checkpoint in Eastern Bethlehem. imemc.org On Tuesday, 23 June 2020, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian civilian after opening fire at his vehicle, which collided into the traffic island in the center of al-container military checkpoint, east of Bethlehem. The military claimed that the victim attempted to carry out a run-over attack, but according to the …

IMEMC Staff (2020-06-25). Israeli Troops Injure Dozens of Palestinians in East Jerusalem. imemc.org Israeli troops caused, on Wednesday night, the injury of at least thirty-eight Palestinians in the occupied East Jerusalem, after the army fired rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas bombs in the town of Abu Dis, east of the occupied Palestinian city. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said that the …

PCHR (2020-06-25). PCHR: Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (18 — 24 Jun 2020). imemc.org Summary Israeli forces continued to commit crimes and multifaceted violations against Palestinian civilians and their properties, including invasions into Palestinian cities that are characterized with excessive use of force, assault, abuse and attacks on civilians. This week, the Israeli military's excessive use of force killed 1 civilian, rendered 22 injuries …

Brett Wilkins (2020-06-25). The Korean War and US 'Total Destruction' Began 70 Years Ago. commondreams.org Bombs dropped by a US Air Force B-26 Invader destroy civilian targets in Wonsan, Korea in 1951. (Photo: USAF Photo/Creative Commons) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/wonsan.jpg

WSWS (2020-06-25). Johnson announces end of UK's lockdown. wsws.org The bulk of the UK economy, barring "close proximity" venues such as nightclubs, soft-play areas, indoor gyms, swimming pools and spas, will reopen July 4. All schools will reopen in September.

Fight Back (2020-06-25). The people will not be ignored, the time is now for CPAC! fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL – When it comes to police reform, the powers that be in Chicago have been negligent in their response to the demands of the people of this city and this nation. People across the country are calling for systemic police reforms now. The resounding voice of the people in the streets is, "We will not accept this anymore!" In Chicago, we're not new to this plaintive cry, unfortunately. We have the longest standing movement for community control of the police in the country, stretching back to the 1969 police murder of Fred Hampton of the Black Panther Party. Yet our city is lagging behind every other majo…

news.un (2020-06-25). US sanctions against international court staff a 'direct attack' on judicial independence. news.un.org The decision by the United States to authorize sanctions targeting staff at the International Criminal Court (ICC) is "a direct attack to the institution's judicial independence", UN human rights experts said on Thursday.

news.un (2020-06-25). Speak out against torture, an 'abhorrent denial of human dignity', urges UN chief. news.un.org Torture is an "egregious abuse of human rights", UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Friday, the International Day in Support of the Victims of Torture.

Asher Luberto (2020-06-25). Jon Stewart's 'Irresistible' Is Easy to Resist. progressive.org New political comedy is too biting to be funny and too satirical to be serious.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-25). United Nations warns Israel against proposed annexation of parts of occupied West Bank. peoplesdispatch.org UN secretary general António Guterres said that if implemented, the annexation plan would constitute a most serious violation of international law and grievously harm the prospect of a two-state solution…

Kim Petersen (2020-06-25). The Oppressed Have the Moral Right to Decide How Best to Resist Their Oppression. dissidentvoice.org Question: Should people from the oppressor group tell the oppressed people how to conduct their resistance? Should Jews tell Palestinians what form their resistance to Israeli oppression should take? During World War II should Germans have directed Jewish, Roma, Slavic resistance in the concentration camps? Nowadays, should whites be telling Blacks how to resist systemic …

Amanda Mills (2020-06-25). Temperatures reach record heights in the Arctic Circle this past weekend. nationofchange.org "The Arctic is believed to be warming twice as fast as the global average."

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2020-06-25). DC Sues Fossil Fuel Giants for Decades of Spending Millions to 'Mislead Consumers and Discredit Climate Science in Pursuit of Profits'. commondreams.org District of Columbia Attorney General Karl A. Racine on Thursday sued fossil fuel giants BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Royal Dutch Shell for "systematically and intentionally" misleading D.C. consumers about the role their products play in causing the climate crisis—following in the footsteps of other communities and states across the country, including Minnesota on Wednesday. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-9811581711.jpg

_____ (2020-06-25). Rebuilding After Recession: A Plan For Jobs. popularresistance.org Government investment in green technology and infrastructure is needed to create thousands of jobs and prevent a recession. | Working with unions and employers, the government has put in place the Job Retention Scheme and self-employed income support schemes, protecting the jobs and incomes of millions of workers during the coronavirus crisis. | But more is needed, and fast. Without further bold action from the government, we risk huge losses of jobs and livelihoods and possibly the deepest recession since the 1930s. The OECD estimates that unemployment could hit 11 per cent this year. But this is not inevitable,…

Tom Gallagher (2020-06-25). Killing Them Softly With Sanctions. commondreams.org Economic sanctions in Iraq killed an estimated 350,000 Iraqis. (Photo: Adrian Dennis/EPA) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/iraq_sanctions_0.jpeg

_____ (2020-06-25). In Seattle, a Yugoslavia Déjà Vu. strategic-culture.org Sensible people with a modicum of historical perspective are raising the question that until recently they dared only whisper: Quo vadis United States of America? | We can delegate to specialists debate over the ultimate nature and causes of the current unrest in the United States. The focus here is not on that but on one of the more ominous characteristics of the crisis, whatever its origins might be judged to be. In the Capitol Hill neighbourhood of Seattle two weeks ago, for the first time since the Civil War in the 1860s, something purporting to be a competing government was established on U.S. territory. So…

_____ (2020-06-25). Latin Americans Fighting Mining Companies During COVID19. popularresistance.org Over the years, the mining industry has taken advantage of dictatorship, disasters, and a variety of distractions to expand operations in Latin America. In the time of Covid-19, with entire populations under lockdown and economies falling apart, mining companies have also hopped on the pandemic profiteering bandwagon. | In Latin America, the areas of interest to mining companies whether they are exploring or digging for gold, silver, copper, iron ore, and other minerals can extend to vast areas of entire countries. Their activities also affect important ecosystems. These include high-altitude wetlands and glacier…

_____ (2020-06-25). What's The Alternative To Police In Schools? popularresistance.org Thousands of Chicagoans have rallied in the past couple weeks behind the demand that Chicago Public Schools end its relationship with the police department. | But a small group of advocates have been working on this issue for years, and they've won significant progress in recent months. We don't know the impact of those changes yet — though we do know that alternatives to police in schools need much greater support. | A new Chicago Police Department policy implemented last August removed so-called school resource officers from involvement in day-to-day disciplinary matters. It requires screening of potentia…

_____ (2020-06-25). CHOP And The Juneteenth Longshore Strike. popularresistance.org On June 19, the International Longshore and Warehouse Workers Union (ILWU), a militant union of 42,000 members, shut down 29 ports along the West Coast of the United States and Canada, as workers withheld their labor for 8 hours. The strike was organized to demonstrate the labor movement's solidarity with black lives after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, and held on the Juneteenth anniversary of the emancipation of the last chattel slaves in the US in 1865. | As part of the action, a mass demonstration marched through Oakland's port and downtown, with several thousand in attendance.

_____ (2020-06-25). A Better Health Care System? popularresistance.org Suzanne Gordon, a longtime health care reporter and author of Wounds of War: How the VA Delivers Health, Healing, and Hope to the Nation's Veterans, says the VA "outperforms the private sector with one hand tied behind its back." | The VA delivers health care to around nine million veterans each year at more than 1,200 sites across the country. In Wounds of War, Gordon described the VA as resembling "the health care systems of almost all other industrialized nations: a full-service health care system that both pays for and delivers all types of care to those it serves." | The VA's health care providers are salari…

_____ (2020-06-25). Covid-19: NHS plans for second wave bigger than first. truepublica.org.uk The Health Service Journal reports that health services in at least one of the NHS's seven regions are preparing to cope with a second peak of coronavirus demand more than twice the size as the first. By Alison Moore — HSJ: The NHS in the South East of England insisted this scenario was for …

yenisafak (2020-06-25). China's Huawei to build 1 bln pound research facility in England. yenisafak.com The facility will employee around 400 people and focus on the production of optical devices for use in fibre-optic communication systems, the company said in a statement."The UK is home to a vibrant and open market, as well as some of the best talent the world has to offer," said Huawei Vice President Victor Zhang.British officials are currently reviewing how best to securely deploy Huawei equipment in the country's 5G networks, after granting the Chinese firm a limited role in January.($1 = 0.8045 pounds)…

yenisafak (2020-06-25). WHO says 10th Ebola outbreak in DR Congo is over. yenisafak.com A World Health Organization official announced Thursday the end of the 10th Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as no new cases were reported for more than 50 days.During a media briefing on COVID-19 and Ebola in Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, commended the "leadership of the DRC president, and the sacrifice and perseverance of 16,000 front line responders and communities … who have brought about the end of this 10th Ebola outbreak in the country!"Moeti also thanked the people, health workers, including WHO experts, who either got ill, were injured or lo…

yenisafak (2020-06-25). UK COVID-19 death toll from confirmed cases rises by 149 to 43,230. yenisafak.com Britain's official death toll from confirmed cases of COVID-19 rose by 149 to 43,230, the Department of Health said on Thursday.Including deaths from suspected cases of the disease, Britain's toll is over 54,000.

yenisafak (2020-06-25). Iran's coronavirus death toll tops 10,000. yenisafak.com Iran on Thursday confirmed 143 additional fatalities from the novel coronavirus over the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 10,130.A further 2,595 people tested positive for COVID-19, raising the overall count to 215,096, Health Ministry spokesman Sima Sadat Lari said.He said a total of 175,103 people have recovered and been discharged from hospitals so far, adding that 2,899 remain at hospitals in critical condition.Over 1.53 million tests have been conducted in the country to date, Lari said.After emerging in China last December, the virus has spread to at least 188 countries and regions.The p…

yenisafak (2020-06-25). Global drug use soars 30% in 10 years: UN. yenisafak.com Around 269 million people used drugs worldwide in 2018, 30% more than in 2009, while over 35 million people suffer from drug use disorders, a UN report said on Thursday.The report released by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna also analyses the impact of COVID-19 on the drugs markets.While the pandemic effects are not yet fully known, the report said that border and other restrictions linked to the pandemic have already caused shortages of drugs on the street, leading to increased prices and reduced purity.The report noted that rising unemployment and reduced opportunities caused by the pandemic a…

yenisafak (2020-06-25). Germany, France shore up political, financial aid to beleaguered WHO. yenisafak.com France and Germany expressed political and financial backing for the World Health Organization (WHO) in its fight against the coronavirus on Thursday, with Berlin saying it would contribute a record half billion euros in funding this year.WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking at a news conference in Geneva, said the agency, criticised by the United States for being slow off the mark in tackling the pandemic, was getting the financial and political support it needed.U.S. President Donald Trump said last month that the United States was cutting ties with the "China-centric" WHO, but he has still not formal…

yenisafak (2020-06-25). Bayer to pay up to $10.9 bln to settle bulk of Roundup weedkiller cancer lawsuits. yenisafak.com The German drugs and pesticides maker has come to terms with about 75% of the 125,000 filed and unfiled claims overall, it said in a statement on Wednesday of the deal to end legal disputes it inherited with its $63 billion takeover of Monsanto in 2018.The settled cases over Roundup and other glyphosate-based weedkillers account for about 95% of those currently set for trial, it added."The Roundup settlement is the right action at the right time for Bayer to bring a long period of uncertainty to an end," Bayer Chief Executive Werner Baumann said. "Unfortunately, we have to pay an awful lot of money for a product…

yenisafak (2020-06-25). India says China amassed troops along border in violation of agreements. yenisafak.com China has deployed large numbers of troops and weapons along a disputed Himalayan border in violation of bilateral agreements, India's foreign ministry said on Thursday, accusing Beijing of escalating tensions and triggering a deadly clash last week."At the heart of the matter is that since early May the Chinese side had been amassing a large contingent of troops and armaments along the LAC," ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said in a briefing in New Delhi, referring to the Line of Actual Control, the de facto border."This is not in accordance with the provisions of our various bilateral agreements," he said,…

yenisafak (2020-06-25). Public vote on constitutional changes in Russia begins. yenisafak.com Russians Thursday have started to vote on the constitutional changes that will allow the incumbent president to serve two more terms in office.The vote will last from June 25 to July 1 to avoid mass gatherings at the polls, associated with risks of the coronavirus spreading, the country's Central Election Commission (CEC) explained in a statement.The polling stations are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time (0500-1700GMT). The precinct election commissions issued recommendations for the residents of each house in their districts, indicating the best time for casting ballot to better organize the voter turnout.Ho…

yenisafak (2020-06-25). Indian capital readies vast quarantine centre as coronavirus cases mount. yenisafak.com Authorities in New Delhi worked to convert a spiritual centre into a huge quarantine facility on Thursday as novel coronavirus cases in the Indian capital overtook the financial hub Mumbai for the first time.Delhi now has 70,390 coronavirus cases, with more than 40,000 detected in the last two weeks.That is more than Mumbai's 69,528, though the city, long considered one of India's biggest coronavirus hot spots, has seen a higher rate of deaths.Nationally, a record 16,922 new cases were recorded in the past 24 hours, federal data released on Thursday showed, taking total cases in the country to nearly half a milli…

yenisafak (2020-06-25). ECB to provide euro liquidity to non-euro area C.banks. yenisafak.com The European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday announced it will offer euro loans against collateral to central banks outside the euro area to backstop funding markets amid the coronavirus pandemic."Eurosystem repo facility for central banks (EUREP) introduced as precautionary backstop to address pandemic-related euro liquidity needs outside euro area," the bank said in a statement.New facility will be available until June 2021 and allow a broad set of central banks to borrow euro against euro-denominated debt issued by euro area central governments and supranational institutions."EUREP addresses possible euro liqui…

yenisafak (2020-06-25). At least 250 Indians stranded in Pakistan return home. yenisafak.com At least 250 Indian nationals stranded in Pakistan due to coronavirus restrictions were repatriated on Thursday.A total of 748 Indian nationals will return home over three days until June 27, Pakistan's Interior Ministry said in a statement.It said 250 more Indians will cross over from the Wagah-Attari land border near the northeastern city of Lahore on Friday, and the remaining 248 will go back on Saturday.The Indian citizens, some of them Kashmiri students studying in Pakistan, were stranded in different cities, including Lahore and the capital Islamabad, due to coronavirus-related lockdown.From March to May, P…

yenisafak (2020-06-25). The 674 steps: Eiffel Tower reopens, minus lifts, after virus break. yenisafak.com The Eiffel Tower on Thursday welcomed its first visitors for three months – but with elevators still off-limits, they faced a long climb to sample its breathtaking views.Shut down in mid-March due to the coronavirus outbreak – its longest period out of action since World War Two – Paris's most famous landmark re-opened under strict hygiene and safety controls.All wearing face masks as directed on a hot and sunny day, tourists queued up for security checks at the entrance, where hand gel dispensers have been installed, before setting off up the 674 steps to the tower's second floor."It's great because I never was…

yenisafak (2020-06-25). Top Turkish diplomat attends SE Europe group meeting. yenisafak.com Turkey's foreign minister on Thursday took part in a meeting of a group of southeastern European countries, including the Balkans.Mevlut Cavusoglu met his counterparts from South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) member states via video conference.Cavusoglu said on Twitter that they discussed regional cooperation and opportunities within SEECP during the coronavirus normalization process."Turkey is taking over 2020-21 Chairmanship of SEECP, the broadest regional organization in the Balkans. @TurkishCiOSEECP," he added.Next week, on July 1, Turkey is set to take over the SEECP chairmanship for one year.In…

yenisafak (2020-06-25). Magnitude-5.4 earthquake hits eastern Turkey. yenisafak.com A magnitude-5.4 earthquake jolted Turkey's eastern province of Van on Thursday, according to the country's disaster agency.The Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) said the quake struck off the Ozalp district at 1.03 p.m. local time (1003 GMT). It originated at a depth of 6.9 kilometers.Van Governor Mehmet Emin Bilmez said some houses were damaged due to the tremors, and damage assessment studies are ongoing.No casualties have been reported so far.Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Twitter that further updates on the situation will be given to the public by Van Governorate and AFAD.Iran and T…

yenisafak (2020-06-25). Pakistan 'disappointed' with US terrorism report. yenisafak.com Pakistan on Thursday said it was disappointed by a recent terrorism report by the US, saying it gave a selective and self-contradictory account of the country's efforts to counter terrorism and terrorist financing.In a Foreign Ministry statement, Islamabad said the US State Department's 2019 Country Report on Terrorism ignored its "crucial role" in degrading Al Qaeda in the region and "diminishing the threat that the terrorist group once posed to the world.""Similarly, the Report acknowledges the sharp decrease in the incidence of terrorist attacks in Pakistan. However, it neglects to explain that this was only p…

yenisafak (2020-06-25). Turkey says Libya's GNA demands Haftar withdraw from Sirte, Jufra. yenisafak.com Libya's internationally recognised government demands that Khalifa Haftar's forces withdraw from the coastal city of Sirte and Jufra region as pre-conditions for ceasefire talks, Turkey said on Thursday.With Turkish military support, the Government of National Accord (GNA) has reversed a 14-month offensive on Tripoli by Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA), which is backed by Egypt, Russia and the United Arab Emirates.Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told broadcaster CNN Turk that the United States, which Turkey has urged to take a more active role in Libya, was reluctant to play a "decisive role" in t…

yenisafak (2020-06-25). EU covering up Greek human rights violations, says Turkish spox. yenisafak.com Turkey on Thursday slammed remarks by Greek and EU officials critical of Ankara's handling of the migrant issue along its borders, calling them an attempt to whitewash Athens' human rights violations.The remarks this Wednesday by Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell at the Turkish-Greek border show Greece's effort to cover up its crimes against asylum seekers under the EU umbrella, said Hami Aksoy, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman."The fact that the EU Commission is a partner to this is exemplary," Aksoy said.Aksoy cited the words of Dunja Mijatovic, the Council of Euro…

yenisafak (2020-06-25). Daesh/ISIS suspect going on trial in Paris. yenisafak.com A man accused of being a so-called "emir" of the terror group Daesh/ISIS is due for his day in court in Paris on Thursday, facing trial for his alleged offenses in Syria.Tyler Vilus, a.k.a., Abou Hafs, is accused of leading a terrorist group and committing murders in an organized gang in Syria in 2013-2015, among other offenses.Vilus was arrested on July 2, 2015, nearly five years ago to the day, while boarding a plane to Prague at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, and was later extradited to face trial.Turkey has long championed the repatriation of European nationals found to belong to terrorist groups.Vilus' phone,…

sputniknews (2020-06-25). Dubious 'Coronavirus Resistant' Products Flood Indian Market as Cases Continue to Spiral. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): With the number of COVID-19 cases in India crossing 400,000, the 'fear of being next' is causing panic among people. Therefore, the Indian government has been proactive in preventing people from getting lured by false ad campaigns marketing products as COVID-19 remedies or those that claim to protect against the virus.

sputniknews (2020-06-25). US Breaks Record for Largest Single-Day Increase in COVID-19 Cases. sputniknews.com The US on Wednesday saw its highest number of new COVID-19 cases in a single day, 36,880, since the outbreak began, according to a national tally maintained by the New York Times.

sputniknews (2020-06-25). Could the End of Flynn's Legal Battle Become the Beginning of Joe Biden's Election Troubles? sputniknews.com On Wednesday, the US federal court of appeals ordered District Judge Emmet Sullivan to dismiss the case against former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, as earlier requested by the DOJ. Foreign relations experts have discussed the Flynn case in the light of newly released documents unearthed by the general's defence team.

sputniknews (2020-06-25). Bolton's Book Has 'Misleading and Manipulative Presentations' of Erdogan-Trump Talks, Ankara Says. sputniknews.com In his memoir published on 23 June, John Bolton claimed that US President Donald Trump was manipulated and easily influenced by the leaders of China, Russia, Turkey, and North Korea.

sputniknews (2020-06-25). India Urges Russia to Deliver Igla-S Missile System ASAP Amid Border Tensions, Media Claims. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): Media outlets earlier reported that Indian authorities have decided to "pressure" Russia into expediting the delivery of its S-400 air defence missile system to New Delhi amid the latter's ongoing border face-off with China.

sputniknews (2020-06-25). India, China Swear Upon Past Agreements, New Confidence-Building Measures to Break Stand-off. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): India and China have been in a border stand-off along the 4,057km long Line of Actual Control since the last week of April. The tensions between the neighbours escalated last week when 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a violent face-off between the Indian Army and PLA.

sputniknews (2020-06-25). Nepal Rubbishes Reports of China Grabbing Its Land in Himalayan Region. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): Three opposition parliamentarians in Nepal had earlier put forth a motion in the House of Representatives asking to restore territory encroached upon by China through dialogue. There were also media reports quoting a "Nepali government department doc" that China had occupied 36 hectares in 4 of the nation's northern districts.

sputniknews (2020-06-25). Nepal Opposition MPs Move Resolution in Parliament to Reclaim Land Allegedly Encroached on by China. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): China has allegedly encroached on 36 hectares of land in four northern districts of Nepal by diverting the flow of rivers that act as a natural boundary. The Survey Division of Nepal's Agriculture Department reported the encroachment back in November 2019, but the K.P. Sharma Oli government put a lid on its claims.

sputniknews (2020-06-25). Videos: Large Explosion, Flashes of Light Reported in Iran's Tehran. sputniknews.com A large explosion occurred east of Tehran, Iran, late Thursday night, but it remains unclear what caused the event.

sputniknews (2020-06-25). India, Pakistan Engage in Mortar Shelling, Firefight at Border. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): India and Pakistan, at odds over Jammu and Kashmir since independence, have been accusing each other of constant ceasefire violations across the Line of Control (LoC). While India claimed that Pakistan has violated the ceasefire over 2,000 times in 2020, Islamabad accused New Delhi of breaking the pact over 957 times.

sputniknews (2020-06-25). Two Terrorists Killed, 5 Members of Pakistan-Based Terror Group Lashkar-e-Taiba Arrested in Kashmir. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): Indian security forces have been engaged in major counter-terror operations in the Kashmir Valley since April of this year. Security forces have eliminated more than 110 terrorists so far, with intelligence services claiming that infiltration attempts from the Pakistani border may witness a sharp increase this summer.

sputniknews (2020-06-25). Calls to List Antifa as Terrorist Organisation in Sweden in the Wake of Black Lives Matter Riots. sputniknews.com US President Donald Trump has argued the violent Black Lives Matter rallies that blossomed across the country following the death of African American George Floyd in police custody and which include looting and pillaging, are being led by Antifa, and pledged to designate it as a terrorist organisation, making it illegal on American soil.

sputniknews (2020-06-25). Norway Paves Way for Big Expansion of Arctic Oil Exploration Amid 'Challenging' Developments. sputniknews.com Norway is western Europe's biggest oil producer and has built the world's biggest sovereign wealth fund worth over $1 trillion on the back of its oil wealth. In the words of Norwegian Energy Minister Tina Bru new discoveries are needed to uphold employment and value creation.

sputniknews (2020-06-25). Jupiter's Europa Could Provide 'Best Chances' of Mapping Alien Life in Solar System, Scientists Say. sputniknews.com While it's a riddle about whether or not life is harboured in the depths of cosmic bodies other than Earth, researchers are looking forward to NASA's Europa mission. It is already destined to go down in history given multiple promising theories about life-sustaining liquids on Jupiter's legendary moon.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-25). Iran COVID-19 update: 2,595 new cases, 134 fatalities in past 24h. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 24 (MNA) — The Iranian Health Ministry announced 2,595 new cases of infection with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the past 24 hours, putting the total number of cases in the country at 215,096.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-25). VIDEO: Locust attack on pistachio gardens on Kerman. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 25 (MNA) — Locust swarms have attacked pistachio gardens in Rafsanjan, Kerman Province, southern Iran. As desert locust infestations in East Africa and South-West Asia have intensified in recent months, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has provided an additional $200,000 to further strengthen Iran's technical capacity to control Desert Locust.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-25). Iranian sky's guards poised to deter any threats: Ari Force cmdr. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 25 (MNA) — The Commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh vowed the Iranian nation on Thursday that the Air Force capable of and ready to respond any kind of threats.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-25). UNSC calls for implementation of JCPOA: Iran's amb. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 26 (MNA) —Iran's ambassador to the UN said that the UNSC members states unanimously called for full implementation of the JCPOA.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-25). UAE claims it is looking for good ties with Iran. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 25 (MNA) — In his latest remarks on Thursday, UAE's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash has claimed that his country seeks good relations with Iran.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-25). Iran expresses concern about violation of CTBT by US, France. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 25 (MNA) — Addressing the 54th session of the CTBTO Preparatory Commission in Vienna on Thursday, Iran's permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, Kazem Gharibabadi reiterated Iran's support for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons and expressed worry about violation of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) by the US and France.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-25). Iran's information about Judge Mansouri's case limited to reports of Romanian media: spox. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 25 (MNA) — A spokesman of Iran's Judiciary Gholamhossein Esmaeili condemned Romania's lack of cooperation with Iran on the death case of Iranian Judge Mansouri, who lost his life in Romania, saying that the Islamic Republic has no more information about the case than what Romanian media have reported and a short quotation from Bucharest's Prosecutor.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-25). IAIO delivers 3 Kosar jets to Army. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 25 (MNA) — In a ceremony on Thursday morning, Iran Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO) delivered three Kosar jets to the Iranian Army.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-25). Arab Parl. ratifies unified strategy against Iran, Turkey. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 25 (MNA) — In its latest meeting on Wednesday, the Arab Parliament approved a unified hostile strategy against Iran and Turkey and put forward various accusations against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-25). Countries' independence not US' plaything: Vaezi. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 26 (MNA) — In a tweet on Thursday, Iranian President's Chief of Staff Mahmoud Vaezi noted that countries' independence is not the US' plaything.

imperial.ac.uk (2020-06-25). AI call centre supports isolated households during COVID-19 pandemic. imperial.ac.uk An AI call centre developed by an Imperial graduate is helping to identify households needing extra support during lockdown.

Staff (2020-06-25). Leadership That Neglects Science Led to Worst COVID Crises in US and Brazil. truthout.org As coronavirus infections worldwide approach 10 million, nearly half can be found in the two largest countries in the Americas: the United States and Brazil, which now has the worst infection rate in the world and could surpass the U.S. death toll next month. "What we see in the country is a reflection of the leadership that we have," says Marcia Castro, professor of demography, chair of the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and co-chair o…

Staff (2020-06-25). "The Cops Are With the Fascists": How Police Terror and Trumpism Converge. truthout.org Kelly Hayes talks with grassroots strategist Ejeris Dixon about fascism, police violence and how we can fight back. | Note: This is a rush transcript and has been lightly edited for clarity. Copy may not be in its final form. | TRANSCRIPT : | Kelly Hayes: Welcome to "Movement Memos," a Truthout podcast about things you should know, if you want to change the world. I'm your host Kelly Hayes. In our last episode, Ejeris Dixon and I talked about what a left display book for solidarity might look…

Staff (2020-06-25). Wendy's Chairman and Top Owner Is Trump Donor, Fundraiser and Friend. truthout.org Earlier this month, the hashtag #WendysIsOverParty went viral on Twitter after

Staff (2020-06-25). Oakland School Board Unanimously Votes to Disband Its Own Police Force. truthout.org The Oakland Unified School District unanimously voted on Wednesday evening to disband its own police department. | The measure passed by the school board will "As an educator, I know that students and staff must be safe physically and emotionally. In r…

Herb Mintz (2020-06-25). Thursday 7/2: LaborFest 2020: South Africa & COVID & Class struggle. indybay.org This is a internet Zoom based event. You can be anywhere to participant. Please visit the LaborFest 2020 website URL to register and to receive a Zoom invitation to the event.

Herb Mintz (2020-06-25). Friday 7/3: LaborFest 2020: Film: "Sir, No Sir" — The GI Movement to End the Vietnam War. indybay.org This is a internet Zoom based event. You can be anywhere to participate. Please visit the LaborFest 2020 website URL to register and to receive a Zoom invitation to the event.

_____ (2020-06-25). Human Nature: An Oppressive Construct. strategic-culture.org Rod DREHER | A reader sends in a link to this nine-minute New Yorker documentary about a woke young couple raising their child to be gender-neutral. I had to stop watching it out of pity for this kid. These loons are going to screw him or her up terribly, and he or she will hate them: | Blank-slate utopians, man. So very many of our problems today come from a refusal to accept givenness as a natural condition. | So many on the left today have forgotten human nature. In his sizzling monologue last night, Tucker Carlson featured a can't-make-this-stuff-up moment. I've cued the monologue clip to that moment:…

Eoin Higgins, staff writer (2020-06-25). Why a Socialized System Like Medicare for All Beats For-Profit Healthcare in One Chart of Covid-19 Infection Rates. commondreams.org "All countries successfully combatting this virus have robust public health systems, which provide for coordination of effort." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/cdc.jpeg

Julia Conley, staff writer (2020-06-25). After Attacking Medicare for All as 'Unrealistic' During Primary, Biden Says Healthcare a 'Right for All' Amid Pandemic. commondreams.org Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden left some progressives perplexed Thursday when he spoke at length about healthcare during a campaign stop in Lancaster, Pennsylvania—making a number of points that would suggest he supports Medicare for All. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-1222903471_1.jpg

Eds. (2020-06-24). 'Act with necessary force': Greta Thunberg says BLM protests & 'corona crisis' give blueprint for climate change fight. mronline.org The Black Lives Matter protests across the world show the 'necessary force' people need to use when fighting global warming, teen activist turned climate change icon Greta Thunberg believes.

Kenneth Surin (2020-06-24). The UK and Boris Johnson on the Skids. counterpunch.org As I write (the weekend of 20-21 June), the UK's death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic has reached 43,632, and the total number of cases over 300,000. The total number of excess deaths (the number of deaths for a period of a particular year typically calculated against the average for that time of year for the preceding 5 years) is 64,500 (according to the UK's Office for National Statistics).

Evaggelos Vallianatos (2020-06-24). Frankenstein Chimeras: COVID, Wuhan Labs and Biosafety. counterpunch.org In 2015, the Wuhan Institute of Virology started experimenting how to make a natural virus more pathogenic and easier to transmit. In the military jargon of hiding reality, experts call this weaponization of viruses "gain of function." University of North Carolina scientists trained Chinese scientists how to manipulate viruses, while leaving no traces of their genetic engineering methods, which create microscopic pathogenic monsters known as Chimeras.

Celeste Dale (2020-06-24). Anti-China racism aims to distract Australians as U.S. economic control grows. peoplesworld.org SYDNEY—The ramping up of anti-China sentiment in Australia has contributed to layoffs for many Australians working in international education, an industry which has already been seriously impacted by travel restrictions pertaining to COVID-19. While the reasons made by institutions such as universities continue to center purely around COVID-19, China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism has …

Raul Diego (2020-06-24). The High-Tech Profiling of Native Americans Under COVID-19 Could Be Headed Your Way. mintpressnews.com As a racial profiling scandal unfolds in a New Mexico hospital targeting Native American mothers, the same principles of racial discrimination dominate the emerging technological surveillance landscape.

Victoria Burton-Harris (2020-06-24). Wrongfully Arrested Because Face Recognition Can't Tell Black People Apart. aclu.org Early this year, Detroit police arrested Robert Williams — a Black man living in a Detroit suburb — on his front lawn in front of his wife and two little daughters (ages 2 and 5). Robert was hauled off and locked up for nearly 30 hours. His crime? Face recognition software owned by Michigan State Police told the cops that Robert Williams was the watch thief they were on the hunt for., , There was just one problem: Face recognition technology can't tell Black people apart. That includes Robert Williams, whose only thing in common with the suspect caught by the watch shop's surveillance feed is that…

Medea Benjamin and Ariel Gold (2020-06-24). Will Biden Remain Tone Deaf to Palestinian Rights? dissidentvoice.org Joe Biden wants you to believe that he is opposed to Israel's likely annexation of parts of the West Bank that Netanyahu plans to carry out in July. "I do not support annexation," he said during a call with American Jewish donors on June 16. But only a month ago, Biden senior foreign policy advisor …

Sam Pizzigati (2020-06-24). For a Racism-Free 22nd Century, We Need a Billionaire-Free 21st. counterpunch.org The novel coronavirus just keeps coming — and so do the billions for America's top billionaires. The nation's five richest — Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffett, and Larry Ellison — have added a combined $101.7 billion to their net worth since the virus hit hard nationally in March. These five exceedingly affluent

Leonardo Flores (2020-06-24). Bolton weaves a tall tale in his Venezuela chapter. peoplesdispatch.org Per Bolton, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro remains in power only because the Trump administration lacked the determination to keep the pressure on. He argues that sanctions were neither strict nor swiftly applied. Yet during Bolton's tenure, the Trump administration blocked Venezuela's ability to trade gold, froze the assets of state oil company PDVSA (including US based subsidiary Citgo Petroleum), sanctioned Venezuela's Central Bank, and imposed an economic embargo. All of this occurred between November 2018 and August 2019, during Bolton's tenure as Trump's National Security Advisor. | Four major sanction…

W. T. Whitney Jr. (2020-06-24). U.S. must return political prisoner Simón Trinidad to Colombia. peoplesworld.org Murderous violence and oligarchy were at the center of Colombian political life during the 20th century. Colombians by the millions were marginalized, impoverished, and/or displaced from small land holdings. Violence and the failings of liberal democracy turned Simón Trinidad into a revolutionary. Few in the United States and Europe know about him. Colombia's allies in …

Jeffrey Sterling (2020-06-24). Whistleblowing, the Pandemic and a 'Law and Order' System of Injustice. counterpunch.org It is hard to find many positives as the death toll from the novel coronavirus continues to climb, but as we have seen before with situations of crisis, truth does find a way to make itself known. In the sense of whistleblowing, we saw it with the crisis involving the president, which demonstrated the worth and power of whistleblowers to bring accountability to power (though of course, the end result had more to do with denial than truth). Now we see the revealing nature of whistleblowing once again as so many have been coming forward to reveal how we have had no preparedness nor plan with regard to combatting th…

CP Editor (2020-06-24). Geographies of Racial Capitalism with Ruth Wilson Gilmore. counterpunch.org

Ellen Brown (2020-06-24). Meet BlackRock, the New Great Vampire Squid. counterpunch.org To most people, if they are familiar with it at all, BlackRock is an asset manager that helps pension funds and retirees manage their savings through "passive" investments that track the stock market. But working behind the scenes, it is much more than that. BlackRock has been called "the most powerful institution in the financial

Stephanie Hedgecoke (2020-06-24). Black and Indigenous solidarity deepens. workers.org As pent-up anger against white supremacy boils over in the uprising after the murder of George Floyd, Black and Indigenous solidarity in California is taking down statues of Junípero Serra-—the hated boss of the California mission system which enslaved and murdered thousands of Native people during Spanish colonization. In San . . . |

Mark Gruenberg (2020-06-24). Trump touts fake wall; EU mulls real 'wall' to bar Americans. peoplesworld.org On Tuesday in Arizona Trump had his picture taken at the phony prop he calls his "beautiful wall," one of the props along the border with Mexico that he runs to every time he wants to stir up fear of immigrants. While he was doing that the European Union was drafting plans to establish a …

Dennis Broe (2020-06-24). Serial TV and the global drug pandemic. peoplesworld.org Three new series deal variously with the drug pandemic, that byproduct of the despair that follows in the neoliberal wake. As opportunities shrink because of a global upward redistribution of wealth away from both the working and middle classes and the socially responsible agencies of the state, more people turn to the powerful opioid fentanyl—it's …

Betsey Piette (2020-06-24). Juneteenth/ Racist cops, statues under siege. workers.org On Juneteenth — June 19, 1865 — also known as Freedom Day, enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, were told they were finally freed. Abraham Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation on Sept. 22, 1862, declaring that all enslaved people in the Confederate states would be forever free, took over . . . |

Kathy Durkin (2020-06-24). Honoring Che: Revolutionary hero, internationalist. workers.org Che Guevara and Fidel Castro. "If you tremble with indignation at every injustice, then you are a comrade of mine." Those are the words of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, anti-imperialist, guerrilla fighter and a leader of the Cuban revolution. This working-class hero is revered by revolutionaries and oppressed peoples worldwide. Che . . . |

Media Lens (2020-06-24). "Six Months To Avert Climate Crisis": Climate Breakdown And The Corporate Media. dissidentvoice.org In his classic science fiction novel, Foundation, Isaac Asimov posited a future in which 'psychohistorians' could predict outcomes based on past history and the large-scale behaviour of human populations by combining psychology and the mathematics of probability. Using 'psychohistory', the protagonist Hari Seldon discovers that the 12,000-year-old Galactic Empire will collapse in 500 years. He …

Staff (2020-06-24). Popularity of Bail Funds Continue Protests' Momentum. therealnews.com ATLANTA—On June 1, police officers had 20-year-old William Lefforge, and about 50 other protesters, boxed in on the sidewalk near Atlanta City Hall. The officers warned the protesters they had three minutes to leave, but according to Lefforge, the group could not get by the police. The police arrested them and transported Lefforge and his group to the Atlanta Detention Center. Lefforge estimated his arrest happened around 4 p.m., well before the 9 p.m. curfew that Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has since lifted. | Lefforge called his mother, Jen, who in turn reached out to the Atlanta Solidarity Fund. Thanks to…

pip.hinman (2020-06-24). Kangaroo Point refugees have endured seven years of slow torture. greenleft.org.au

Mark Gruenberg (2020-06-24). Postal Workers caravan delivers 2 million 'Save USPS' petitions to Washington. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—Snaking its way from the Washington Navy Yard to the U.S. Senate, a caravan of cars driven by Postal Workers delivered petitions with two million names on them, demanding lawmakers enact the Heroes Act, including its $25 billion to save the U.S. Postal Service from financial devastation the coronavirus has caused to its revenues and …

Anand Naidoo (2020-06-24). The Heat: China-EU relations. america.cgtn.com Chinese and European Union officials meet to boost economic ties amid a global health crisis.

RT (2020-06-24). EU 'irrelevant' during pandemic & failed in its Covid-19 response, citizen survey reveals. rt.com New polling reveals a deep disappointment among EU citizens with the bloc's response to the coronavirus pandemic and their governments' handling of it, though a majority say they want EU nations to work more closely in future. | The European Council on Foreign Relations think tank

RT (2020-06-24). 'Either stupid or a liar': Piers Morgan blasts UK business minister Sharma over 240,000 coronavirus tests claim. rt.com TV presenter Piers Morgan has accused UK Business Minister Alok Sharma of telling "a bare-faced lie" after claiming 240,000 people were tested for Covid-19 on Monday. The government is currently not providing "people tested" data. | Morgan, who co-hosts ITV's 'Good Morning Britain' show, hit out at Sharma on Wednesday, after the secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy made the "240,000" claim on the BBC's 'Breakfast' program earlier that morning. | That is a bare-faced lie, which I would say to his face, if we weren't still subject to the 57th day of a government boycott. | Morgan has b…

RT (2020-06-24). Deadly Pakistan plane crash caused by pilots chatting about Covid-19, inquiry report says. rt.com Covid-19 has claimed many lives, but the deadly illness now appears to be responsible for a plane crash that killed 97, according to Pakistan's aviation minister, who said the pilots were too busy talking about the virus to focus. | A Pakistan International Airlines flight crashed in Karachi on May 22, when it landed short of the runway on its second attempt, killing all but two on board, and causing damage to dozens of homes. It appears the pilots were so engrossed in chatting about Covid-19 that they disregarded "several warnings and alerts" about speed, ground proximity and the landing gear not being down,…

RT (2020-06-24). Detroit cops made first known wrongful arrest based on faulty facial recognition software, ACLU complaint claims. rt.com A case involving a black man who was wrongfully detained due to an incorrect facial recognition match could be the first of its kind, the ACLU has said. The civil liberties group has filed a complaint with Detroit police. | The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan filed a formal letter of protest on Wednesday over the arrest and treatment of Robert Williams, who was cuffed on his front lawn by Detroit officers after being suspected of stealing watches from a boutique. The arrest, which was made in January, came about after Williams was flagged by a facial recognition system used by the Detroit Police Dep…

RT (2020-06-24). Anti-racism protesters in Wisconsin tear down statue of… anti-slavery hero (VIDEOS). rt.com With vandals targeting 'problematic' statues across the US, a crowd in Madison, Wisconsin vented their fury on an unlikely target: A memorial to Hans Christian Heg, an immigrant who died fighting against the Confederacy. | Born in Norway in 1829, Heg arrived in the US 11 years later. He later joined the Republican Party and became known as an anti-slavery activist, as well as the leader of an anti-slave catcher militia. Fighting for the Union during the civil war, Heg was fatally wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga, and had a statue erected in his honor in 1924. | That same statue was lashed with chains and t…

RT (2020-06-24). It's Israel's CHOICE whether to annex West Bank, Pompeo proclaims. rt.com US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has declared the choice of whether Israel should annex the occupied West Bank is "for Israelis to make." Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory remain illegal under international law. | Pompeo gave the go-ahead to Israel's annexation effort during a press conference on Wednesday, effectively telling Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu that Washington would not stand in his way. | Decisions about Israelis extending sovereignty to those places are decisions for the Israelis to make. | Tel Aviv has vowed to annex a sizable chunk of the West Bank by July 1 — 30 percent, b…

RT (2020-06-24). Republican police reform bill fails in Senate due to Democrat opposition. rt.com A police reform bill proposed by Senator Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) failed on a procedural vote due to opposition from Democrats, who said it does not go far enough. | Wednesday's vote on the cloture motion was 55 in favor and 45 against, with 60 votes needed to move the bill forward. | Scott, who is African-American, pleaded with his colleagues to not think of this as a Republican or Democrat issue, but something that would start addressing the issues that have plagued the country for decades. | Democrats countered that Scott's proposal didn't ban chokeholds or no-knock warrants and failed to hold police ac…

RT (2020-06-24). EU's Barnier accuses UK of 'backtracking' on commitments, but says Brexit trade deal 'still possible'. rt.com A post-Brexit trade deal between the EU and UK is possible, but only if London stops "backtracking" on its commitments and shows a "willingness" to work towards an agreement, Brussels' top negotiator Michel Barnier has said. | Speaking at a video conference on Wednesday, Barnier urged the UK to send "clear signals" demonstrating that it's ready to work towards an agreement with the European Union before the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31. | "Our problem is not related to timing, but to substance, in particular, that the UK keeps backtracking on its commitments in the political declaration,"

RT (2020-06-24). GRAPHIC VIDEO shows man walking around Harlem with knife stuck in his HEAD after violent altercation. rt.com Harrowing video shows a 36-year-old man walking around with a large kitchen knife protruding from his head after he was stabbed in Harlem, New York City, while attempting to help the victim of a mugging. | The incident reportedly took place in Harlem on Tuesday after a 34-year-old woman had her cheek slashed during a dispute with another, unidentified male. That violent altercation prompted the stabbing victim to intervene, only for his action to be rewarded with a knife-shaped crown. Video purportedly taken at the scene shows the grim, bloody aftermath of the attack. | Warning: The following video contains gr…

RT (2020-06-24). Kosovo 'president' cancels US trip after war crimes indictment but Trump-sponsored talks still on. rt.com Talks sponsored by US President Donald Trump between Serbia and its breakaway province of Kosovo will still take place but without Kosovo leader Hashim Thaci, who was indicted for war crimes by an international court in The Hague. | Thaci has notified the White House that he was not coming, Ambassador Richard Grenell, Trump's special envoy for Kosovo-Serbia talks, confirmed on Wednesday. | "I respect his decision not to attend the discussions until the legal issues of those allegations are settled," Grenell added. | The President of Kosovo has just informed us that he has canceled his trip to Washington, D.C.

The Canary (2020-06-24). Nicola Sturgeon adamant there'll be no 'reckless race' with England on easing lockdown. thecanary.co Scotland's first minister has insisted she will not be drawn into a "reckless race" with other parts of the UK on lifting coronavirus (Covid-19) restrictions.Nicola Sturgeon acknowledged Scotland's pace in coming out of lockdown is "slightly slower than England's" but said she hopes it is "more likely to be sustainable than if we went faster".She was criticised by the Scottish Conservatives for maintaining the two-metre social distancing rule, which is being relaxed in England from 4 Jully.(PA Graphics)While Sturgeon announced a series of dates when restrictions in Scotland will be eased — if progress in tac…

The Canary (2020-06-24). Health leaders say UK must start preparing for second Covid-19 wave. thecanary.co Health leaders are calling for an urgent review to ensure Britain is properly prepared for the "real risk" of a second wave of coronavirus.Ministers have been warned that urgent action is needed to prevent further loss of life and to protect the economy amid growing fears of a renewed outbreak over the winter.The appeal is backed by the presidents of the Royal Colleges of Physicians, Surgeons, GPs and Nursing — as well as the chair of the British Medical Association.It comes after Tuesday's announcement by Boris Johnson of the biggest easing to date of the coronavirus lockdown in England.Boris Johnson announ…

The Canary (2020-06-24). As the UK heads into a heatwave Siberia is going off the charts. thecanary.co Scientists have expressed concerns about the implications for the rest of the world after a heatwave in Russia's Siberia region.On Saturday, the thermometer hit a likely record of 38C — or 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit — in the Siberian town of Verkhoyansk in Russia's Sakha Republic.The World Meteorological Organisation said it is looking to verify the temperature reading, which would be a record for the region north of the Arctic Circle.The increasing temperatures in Siberia have been linked to wildfires that grow bigger and more severe every year, as well as the thawing of the permafrost.Scientists are ala…

_____ (2020-06-24). Twitter Censors Trump for 'Threat of Harm', Has No Problem With Threats to Bomb Foreigners. strategic-culture.org Power is the ability to control what happens. Absolute power is the ability to control what people think about what happens. Our world does not widely understand this, and it is ruled by people who do. We're going to have to change this if we're to begin moving collectively toward health and harmony.

Staff (2020-06-24). Outbreak at San Quentin: COVID Is Skyrocketing in CA Prisons. Why Haven't More People Been Released? democracynow.org As coronavirus rapidly spreads through California's overcrowded prisons, 400 people have tested positive for the virus at San Quentin State Prison. Advocates and incarcerated people warn conditions behind bars make it nearly impossible to stop the virus once it enters. We speak with Adnan Khan, executive director of Re: Store Justice, an organization that advocates for policy and alternative responses to violence and life sentences. He links inhumane prison conditions to the mass uprising in the streets against systemic racism and state violence. "There are literally millions of people in prison based on the 'cred…

Staff (2020-06-24). Palestinian Scholar Noura Erakat: Israeli Forces Killed My Cousin on His Sister's Wedding Day. democracynow.org Israeli soldiers on Tuesday killed 27-year-old Ahmed Erekat at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank as he was on his way to pick up his sister, who was set to be married that night. Ahmed Erekat is the nephew of senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and cousin of Palestinian American legal scholar Noura Erakat, who says Israeli claims that Ahmed was attempting a car-ramming attack on soldiers are completely unfounded. "What we understand is that Ahmed lost control of his car or was confused while he was in his car. That was all it took to have a kne…

Staff (2020-06-24). The Next AOC? Progressive Insurgent Jamaal Bowman Takes Big Lead Over Rep. Eliot Engel in NY Primary. democracynow.org In what could be one of the biggest progressive upsets of the year, Jamaal Bowman, an African American former middle school principal, appears headed to victory over 16-term Democratic Congressmember Eliot Engel in Tuesday's New York primary election. The race has not been called, but Bowman has a large lead over Engel, the powerful chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee known for his support of Israel. Bowman supports a Green New Deal, Medicare for All and defunding the police. We air his remarks from a campaign party late Tuesday.

Martha Grevatt (2020-06-24). Coast to coast, marchers declare: 'Black trans lives matter!'. workers.org "Say his name! Tony McDade!" These words rang out on June 20 as hundreds of Clevelanders, members of the LGBTQ2S+ community and allies, marched to the theme, "All Black Lives Matter." They took to the streets to raise the name of Tony McDade, a Black trans man killed by police . . . |

South Front (2020-06-24). Video: "Militants" Launch Massive Drone Attack on Russian Airbase in Syria. globalresearch.ca Late on June 22, Russian air defense units repelled a massive drone attack on Russia's Hmeimim air base in Syria. According to local sources, Russian Pantsir and Tor systems launched almost two dozen missiles at unmanned aerial vehicles launched by …

Ramzy Baroud (2020-06-24). The PLO's Half-Hearted Attempt to Counter Israeli Annexation of Palestine. mintpressnews.com As soon as Washington's plan was announced in January, followed by Israel's insistence that annexation of Palestinian territories was imminent, the PLO spun into a strange political mode, far more unpredictable and bizarre than ever before.

Alan Macleod (2020-06-24). A US Navy Destroyer Just Entered Venezuelan Waters. Is Trump Trying to Start a War? mintpressnews.com The USS Nitze is conducting what the US military is calling a "freedom of navigation operation… contesting an excessive maritime claim by Venezuela."

Alan Macleod (2020-06-24). Experts See Ulterior Motives Behind US Decision to Finally Deport Haitian Death Squad Leader. mintpressnews.com Emmanuel "Toto" Constant was immediately arrested after touching down in Port-au-Prince, 26 years after he fled to the US following the Raboteau massacre.

Andrea Germanos, staff writer (2020-06-24). In Minnesota, Ellison Announces Climate Lawsuit Against Exxon, Koch, and API. commondreams.org "There are no more worthy targets of a climate fraud lawsuit than Exxon, Koch Industries, and API: the unholy trinity of climate denial." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/minnesota-sues-koch-exxon-api.jpg

Andrea Germanos, staff writer (2020-06-24). 'Vindication': Bayer Reaches $10 Billion Settlement Over Roundup Cancer Lawsuits. commondreams.org The deal includes $1.25 billion to cover potential future settlements. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/monsanto_bayer-settlement.jpg

Zero Hedge (2020-06-24). Bayer Pays $10 Billion to Settle Thousands of Monsanto Glyphosate Lawsuits. globalresearch.ca After decades of widespread use as company scientists played down research showing a definitive link between the product and growing rates of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, Monsanto parent company Bayer has agreed to pay up to $10 billion to settle claims that …

yenisafak (2020-06-24). US sanctions five Iranian ship captains for bringing oil to Venezuela. yenisafak.com Speaking to reporters, Pompeo also said the United States continues to support Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido. Washington, which seeks the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and most other Western governments have recognized Guaido as the legitimate leader of the OPEC nation.

Stephen Lendman (2020-06-24). Troubling India-China Border Skirmishes. Dangerous Game. Was Washington Involved in Spearheading Conflict? globalresearch.ca A longstanding line of control dispute along the border separating China and India flared up weeks earlier. | Both countries claim sovereignty over the disputed territory. Until April, forces of both countries hadn't used live fire for decades. | According to Indian …

Stephen Lendman (2020-06-24). "Greater Israel" in the Making: Netanyahu Regime's Illegal Annexation Scheme Nears Implementation. globalresearch.ca Trump's unlawful Deal of the Century scheme green-lighted Israeli annexation of illegally established settlements on stolen Palestinian land and the Jordan Valley. | Netanyahu earlier vowed to press ahead with annexation. | Reportedly on or around July 1, he'll initially announce the …

_____ (2020-06-24). Reclaiming Work: Can Cooperatives Overthrow The Gig Economy? popularresistance.org The pandemic has brought into focus the stark conditions and precarity faced by workers in the gig-economy. When the dust settles, can these workers who were at the frontlines of this crisis build a fairer future? The workers featured in Reclaiming Work believe so. This short documentary by Cassie Quarless and Usayd Younis of black & brown film features cycle courier cooperatives who offer a socialist alternative to the digital giants of Deliveroo and Uber. In fact, La Pájara, one of the cycle cooperatives showcased in the documentary, was formed following protest movements against Deliveroo in Madrid. Coope…

Charles Pierson (2020-06-24). Trump Sanctions the International Criminal Court. counterpunch.org On June 11, President Donald Trump issued an executive order declaring a national emergency. Is the emergency the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed 450,000 people worldwide, including 110,000 in the US? Is it racist cops killing Black Americans? Is it the nation's sky-high unemployment and the threat of a second Great Depression? No, no, and no. It's the International Criminal Court's investigation into war crimes in Afghanistan.

Julia Conley, staff writer (2020-06-24). ICC Condemns 'Unlawful' US Attempt to Block Court's War Crimes Investigation Via Threats and Coercion. commondreams.org The head of the International Criminal Court expressed shock late Tuesday at the Trump administration's threats to the institution, made in response to the court's decision to open a probe into war crimes in Afghanistan, and accused the U.S. of unlawful conduct. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-1186005805_1.jpg

Staff (2020-06-24). Headlines for June 24, 2020. democracynow.org Dr. Anthony Fauci Warns of "Disturbing Surge" of U.S. COVID-19 Cases, Trump on Claim He Tried to Slow Coronavirus Testing: "I Don't Kid", Latin America Tops 100,000 Coronavirus Deaths as Brazilian President Ordered to Wear Mask in Public, Kentucky Slashes Polling Places by 95%, Causing Election Day Chaos, Progressive Challenger Jamaal Bowman Poised to Upset 16-Term Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel, 3,000 Pack Indoor Trump Rally in Arizona as COVID-19 Cases Surge to Record High, Student-Led March in Oakland Calls for End to Police in Schools, Louisville Police Department Fires Officer Who Shot Breonna Taylor, Two New Y…

Lucas Koerner and Ricardo Vaz (2020-06-24). US Sanctions Iranian Ship Captains as Russia Hosts Venezuelan FM. venezuelanalysis.com Russian FM Sergei Lavrov reiterated his opposition to US aggression in Venezuela.

Andrew Korybko (2020-06-24). Chinagate Is The Craziest Conspiracy Theory Yet. thealtworld.com It is totally unbelievable to imagine that Trump purportedly solicited China's support for his re-election campaign via international economic means and even endorsed the country's anti-terrorist policies in Xinjiang. Nothing could be further from the truth. | Former National Security Advisor John Bolton's book contains many passages that are receiving a lot of attention from the mainstream media, but one stands out among the rest. The disgraced official, who was fired by Trump last September, claims that the President sought China's help for his re-election campaign. According to Bolton, Trump asked President Xi…

Andrew Korybko (2020-06-24). Chinagate Is the Craziest Conspiracy Theory Yet. Alleged Pro-Trump Election Meddling. globalresearch.ca It is totally unbelievable to imagine that Trump purportedly solicited China's support for his re-election campaign via international economic means and even endorsed the country's anti-terrorist policies in Xinjiang. Nothing could be further from the truth. | Former National Security Advisor …

_____ (2020-06-24). The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed why we urgently need to re-imagine democracy. truepublica.org.uk By Dr Clodagh Harris and Ian Hughes: The Covid-19 pandemic has spawned a rash of articles speculating about how our world will change in the aftermath of the virus. Indian author and political activist Arundhati Roy has described the pandemic as a portal, an opportunity for humanity collectively to break with the past, leaving our 'dead …

splcenter (2020-06-24). Fight to Vote: COVID-19 threatens activist's opportunity to vote. splcenter.org

Pavan Kulkarni (2020-06-24). As peace in Sudan remains elusive, protesters mobilize to "correct the revolution" peoplesdispatch.org The repeated delays in peace talks to end the civil war in Sudan have also delayed the formation of the legislative council. This has effectively stalled any progress in meeting the demands of the Sudanese Revolution which overthrew Omar al-Bashir…

yenisafak (2020-06-24). Int'l law will determine future of Libya, says Turkey. yenisafak.com The vice president of Turkey on Wednesday underlined that international law would determine Libya's future."Putschists should know that it will be on the legitimate basis of international law that will determine the future of peace in Libya," Fuat Oktay said, adding that with Tripoli's "decisive stance" and Turkey's support, all "games and traps have been thwarted."Oktay said Turkey would back "its Libyan brothers until peace, tranquility and justice are established in the country."He emphasized that those who until now "could not propose any approach towards resolution" to the conflict between the war-torn count…

_____ (2020-06-24). Mapping Police Violence Across The USA. popularresistance.org Police forces across the United States have committed widespread and egregious human rights violations in response to largely peaceful assemblies protesting systemic racism and police violence, including the killing of Black people. | Amnesty International has documented 125 separate incidents of police violence against protesters in 40 states and the District of Columbia between 26 May and 5 June 2020. These acts of excessive force were committed by members of state and local police departments, as well as by National Guard troops and security force personnel from several federal agencies. Among the abuses docum…

sputniknews (2020-06-24). Why Black Lives Matter Global Network's Fundraising Bonanza Rings the Scam Alarm. sputniknews.com Though the Black Lives Matter Global Network positions itself as a charity, its funding and spending are not transparent, while its activities appear partisan and less than peaceful, say Wall Street analyst Charles Ortel and Robert Bishop, retired corporate CPA, suspecting the entity may be involved in potential fraud and money laundering schemes.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-24). US unilateralism poses serious threat to international peace, security: Ghalibaf. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 24 (MNA) — Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf called the unilateral behavior of the US a serious threat to international peace and security and stressed the need for regional and international cooperation to counter the irrational actions of the White House.

Daniel Warner (2020-06-24). Mobilize, Organize, Legislate, and… counterpunch.org Millions marched across the United States in protest and celebration of Juneteenth on June 19. There have been localized million people marches, specifically in 1982 in New York for a nuclear freeze; in Washington D.C. in 1995 the Million Man March to "convey to the world a vastly different picture of the Black male;" the

_____ (2020-06-24). What Elinor Ostrom's Work Tells Us About Defunding The Police. popularresistance.org In the past weeks, I've watched the news about the explosion of protests against police brutality and racism in the United States and around the world, and the resulting conversations on police defunding, reform or abolition. As I scrolled through social media and obsessively scanned and rescanned the headlines, a small thought tugged at me. | It was the story of how one of my heroes, Elinor Ostrom, who won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2009, had arrived at the research that made her famous. Ostrom has become celebrated as the person who introduced the world to "the commons" — that is, ho…

sputniknews (2020-06-24). Republican Police Reform Bill Fails to Pass US Senate Vote. sputniknews.com The GOP initiative was announced last week by President Donald Trump in response to the protests over the death of George Floyd that have been ongoing for weeks and demands to "defund the police". Trump refused to cut the funds, suggesting instead an array of measures aimed at preventing new cases of police brutality.

Global Research News (2020-06-24). Selected Articles: Behind the Veil of the Protest Movement. globalresearch.ca We hope that by publishing diverse view points, submitted by journalists and experts dotted all over the world, the website can serve as a reminder that no matter what narrative we are presented with, things are rarely as cut and …

Zhou Zhu, Shabei Xu, Hui Wang, Zheng Liu, Jianhong Wu, Guo Li, Jinfeng Miao, Chenyan Zhang, Yuan Yang, Wenzhe Sun, Suiqiang Zhu, Yebin Fan, Yuxi Chen, Junbo Hu, Jihong Liu, Wei Wang (2020-06-24). [Research Paper] COVID-19 in Wuhan: Sociodemographic characteristics and hospital support measures associated with the immediate psychological impact on healthcare workers. thelancet.com Women and those who have more than 10 years of working, concomitant chronic diseases, history of mental disorders, and family members or relatives confirmed or suspected are susceptible to stress, depression and anxiety among HWs during the pandemic. In addition, since HWs often have a greater stigma against mental problems than the general public, it is worthwhile to address the needs of the HWs during this pandemic and to provide appropriate psychological supports for those people at high risk of mental problems.

Richard Armitage, Laura B Nellums (2020-06-24). [Letter] Whistleblowing and patient safety during COVID-19. thelancet.com It has been rightly noted that health workers globally must be able to speak out during COVID-19, allowing them to draw public attention to inadequate PPE supplies and unsafe working conditions, while being protected from censorship, attack, government intimidation, harassment, and arrest [1]. But such systemic failure to provide health workers with the resources they need represents only one of numerous situations in which clinicians may consider raising the alarm. Health service whistleblowing procedures that are secure and robust are of paramount importance to patient safety, and must be strengthened and prote…

Steve Topple (2020-06-24). Here are the private companies with £million contracts for the failed NHSX tracing app. thecanary.co A storm has erupted over the failed government track and trace app for coronavirus (Covid-19). Because it's emerged that it wasted millions of pounds on the unsuccessful tech. So, people are wondering where this money has gone. But we already know part of that answer. | Corona chaos: | The Guardian

_____ (2020-06-24). Ten reasons to be concerned about 5G — and it has nothing to do with C-19. truepublica.org.uk By Annelie Fitzgerald and Tom Imber: 5G has nothing to do with the coronavirus Covid-19 but as you'll see there is a strong case for supporting legal action against it. 5G and existing wireless technologies use artificial radio-frequency radiation (RFR) that has adverse effects on health. 5G has not been safety tested. 5G is …

Paul Craig Roberts (2020-06-24). Covid Is Making a Comeback. thealtworld.com It was only last week that we heard endless BS about Covid being a hoax, and that masks, social distancing, and close downs were pointless. This week we learn that Covid is surging in more than half of the country. | I have no doubt that the virus will be used in behalf of self-serving agendas. Nevertheless, I also wonder about the external cost imposed on others by the propaganda that the virus is a hoax…

news.un (2020-06-24). COVID-19: Recovery will be slower following 'crisis like no other', IMF predicts. news.un.org Economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is projected to be more gradual than previously forecast, according to a report published on Wednesday by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Joseph D'Souza (2020-06-24). COVID-19 and the Dire Living Conditions of India's Bottom Half Billion. globalresearch.ca If you have ever walked by Mumbai's southern seacoast, you may have noticed a strange-looking tower rising above the apartment complexes. Measuring 27-stories high and featuring three helipads, an 80-seat theater and an 168-car garage, among other amenities, the skyrise …

WSWS (2020-06-24). The COVID-19 pandemic and the global plight of refugees and migrant workers. wsws.org As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to tear through the global population, the disease is having an especially devastating impact on the tens of millions of displaced people throughout the world.

Hazel Healy (2020-06-24). First Ebola, then COVID-19. The Plight of West Africa. globalresearch.ca Four years ago, New Internationalist travelled to West Africa to hear the stories of communities in recovery from the deadly Ebola epidemic. Hazel Healy gets back in touch. | *** | In early April, Sierra Leone confirmed its first case of coronavirus, …

WSWS (2020-06-24). France backs Egypt's threat to intervene against Turkey in Libyan war. wsws.org Even as COVID-19 threatens millions in Africa, the NATO powers risk escalating their nine-year carve-up of Libya into a major regional or even global conflict.

Ryan Cristián (2020-06-24). We Are Witnessing A Nightmarish Technocratic Reengineering Of Our Lives Under The Guise Of COVID-19. thelastamericanvagabond.com Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (6/24/20). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …

WSWS (2020-06-24). More than 1,500 COVID-19 infections at pork processing plant in Germany. wsws.org The Tà∂nnies Group, Germany's largest meat processing firm, has a long record of putting profits before the health and safety of its workforce.

Brett Jordan (2020-06-24). Public Library Closures: Covid and the Act of Sanitizing Human Cultures. globalresearch.ca "The very existence of libraries affords the best evidence that we may yet have hope for the future of man"— T.S. Eliot | One of the earliest casualties of the COVID-19 lockdown was the public library. It seemed evident, even in …

news.un (2020-06-24). 170 signatories endorse UN ceasefire appeal during COVID crisis. news.un.org UN Member States, Observers and others, sent a strong political message this week, with the announcement that 170 signatories have now endorsed the UN's call to silence the guns, and stand united against the global threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Clare Garvie (2020-06-24). The Untold Number of People Implicated in Crimes They Didn't Commit Because of Face Recognition. aclu.org In January, Michigan resident Robert Williams was arrested for shoplifting from a watch store in downtown Detroit a year ago—a

commondreams (2020-06-24). As Senate Confirms 200th Trump Judge, Demand justice Calls for Expansion of Circuit and District Courts Under Biden. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Margaret Kimberley (2020-06-24). Democrats Are Moving to the Right Again and Towards Another Defeat. mintpressnews.com "We can disagree in the margins but the truth of the matter is it's all within our wheelhouse and nobody has to be punished. No one's standard of living will change, nothing would fundamentally change." – Joe Biden…

WSWS (2020-06-24). Boris Johnson reinforces imperialist agenda of Britain's overseas aid. wsws.org The Department for International Development, which disperses Britain's £15.2 billion aid budget, is to be subsumed under the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

WSWS (2020-06-24). Canada's New Democrats prop up pro-austerity, pro-war Liberals. wsws.org Underscoring its support for the government's $650 billion corporate bailout, the NDP again voted to keep the Liberals in office.

WSWS (2020-06-24). Pandemic intensifies unemployment and poverty among Turkish workers. wsws.org Millions of workers are losing their jobs, left unable to meet basic needs as billions go to cheap loans in the interests of the ruling class in Turkey.

James Carden (2020-06-24). John Bolton Is a Terrorist in Pinstripes. thenation.com John Bolton Is a Terrorist in Pinstripes…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-24). Jessy Dayane: "Bolsonaro has never tried to hide his authoritarian project" peoplesdispatch.org The coup d'état in 2016 which overthrew Dilma Rouseff of the Workers' Party of Brazil, marked a new period in Brazil characterized by the attack on democracy. The illegal maneuvering to eliminate popular leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from the 2018 elections and effectively solidify the election of far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro was another step in this process. | Under the leadership of Bolsonaro, Brazilian state institutions and programs have been systematically dismantled, funding for public education and health has been cut, and tensions within Brazilian society have been heightened. | In this context, the…

Stansfield Smith (2020-06-24). The Wasp Network Highlights Our Lack of Freedom to Tell the Truth on the Cuban Five Case. dissidentvoice.org The film Wasp Network, based on the book The Last Soldiers of the Cold War, The Story of the Cuban Five by Fernando Morais, is a co-production between France, Spain, Belgium and Brazil. It was shown in Cuba last December, soon after it came out. You can now watch it on Netflix. It is not a …

Paul Craig Roberts (2020-06-24). The Anti-American Universities Are a Much Greater Threat to Us than Putin and China. thealtworld.com This is an introduction to a letter written by a black American professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He says that the University no longer serves scholarship and has become a servant to the Democratic Party and Black Lives Matter. He says that the university is akin to a suppressive regime that crushes real diversity and exiles free debate. At the end of his letter, he damns the University of California regents and the Berkely history department for eulogizing George Floyd, a depraved, drug-ridden thug "who hurt women. A man who hurt black women. With the full collaboration of the UCB history depa…

Tony Cartalucci (2020-06-24). China vs India: Who Benefits? US Meddling. globalresearch.ca A recent border dispute between China and India have resulted in multiple casualties including deaths. It is the first time in decades that this scale of violence has been seen between the two nations. Western headlines have immediately tried to …

Ashley Curtin (2020-06-24). Scientists confirm reusable containers safe to use during coronavirus pandemic. nationofchange.org "Based on the best available science and guidance from public health professionals, it is clear that reusable systems can be used safely by employing basic hygiene.">

news.un (2020-06-24). Coronavirus: 10 million infections milestone looms — WHO's Tedros. news.un.org The world is on track to reach 10 million coronavirus cases within the next week, the World Health Organization (WHO) chief executive said on Wednesday, a "sober reminder" that as research continues into therapeutics and vaccines, utmost efforts are needed now to suppress transmission and save lives.

WSWS (2020-06-24). Australia: Coronavirus infections spike in Melbourne's working class suburbs. wsws.org Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton declared that the state was at a "tipping point."

Jewelle Gomez (2020-06-24). A Lesbian Archive Sends Its Love Letter: Find History, Find Yourself. thenation.com A Lesbian Archive Sends Its Love Letter: Find History, Find Yourself…

Sen. Scott Jensen (2020-06-24). US Hospitals Getting Paid More to Label Cause of Death as 'Coronavirus'. globalresearch.ca First published on April 15, 2020 | Senator Scott Jensen represents Minnesota. He's also a doctor. He appeared on Fox News with Laura Ingraham where he revealed a very disturbing piece of information. | Dr. Scott Jensen says the American Medical Association …

John R. Hall (2020-06-24). Battlefield Report from the Belly of the Beast. dissidentvoice.org For a half century, I've been of the opinion that there is just one social issue of real importance. Until we put an end to state warfare, or mass-murder for corporate profit, all other causes are meaningless. Recently I've come to the conclusion that the age of bombing for dollars has nearly come to an …

Gin Armstrong (2020-06-24). Corporate Backers of the Blue. zcomm.org How Corporations Bankroll U.S. Police Foundations…

commondreams (2020-06-24). REPORT: Corporations Are Suing Cities Across the USA. commondreams.org ______________________________…

WSWS (2020-06-24). Johnson used pandemic to step up privatisation of UK public sector. wsws.org The corporate raid underscores the cynicism of government ministers clapping frontline workers and hailing NHS workers as "heroes."

Dean Baker (2020-06-24). How Do Big Payments to CEOs Who Took Their Companies Into Bankruptcy Maximize Shareholder Value? cepr.net Bankruptcy typically means that shareholders are largely or totally wiped out. This should raise the question of why CEOs of companies that went bankrupt are getting large bonuses from these companies, as this NYT article points out. These payments are consistent with a story where corporate boards primarily owe their allegiance to top management, not …

WSWS (2020-06-24). Ten years since the US-backed coup against Australian Labor PM. wsws.org Literally overnight, a handful of factional warlords, including US "protected sources," engineered Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's ouster, entirely behind the backs of the population.

Rachel Monroe (2020-06-24). Between Mystery and Social Democracy: A Journey Through Scandinavian Crime Novels. thenation.com Between Mystery and Social Democracy: A Journey Through Scandinavian Crime Novels…

Center For Biological Diversity (2020-06-24). Filing Challenges Trump Administration Approval of Alaska LNG Project. globalresearch.ca Environmental groups and an Alaskan Native village council filed a formal The appeal says the …

Environmental Investigation Agency (2020-06-24). Leading Scientists Conclude Elephant Poaching in Africa Has Not Decreased in Past Decade. globalresearch.ca A new The paper, published yesterday (24 June), presents rigorously peer-reviewed analysis showing that while elephant poaching has declined in East Africa, it has not diminished in …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-24). Major earthquake hits Mexico, at least six dead. peoplesdispatch.org A powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.5 struck southern Mexico on the morning of June 23 at 10.29. At least six people died due to collapse of buildings and other accidents in the State of Oaxaca, which was the epicenter of the earthquake. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a tsunami warning for the Pacific coasts of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, after the earthquake. | Thousands of people remained outside their homes for hours after the quake due to the aftershocks. Over 147 aftershocks were reported by noon, most of them small with magnitude between 3 and 5, which…

IMEMC Staff (2020-06-24). UN's Security Council Discusses Israeli Annexation Plan for Parts of West Bank. imemc.org United Nations' Security Council (UNSC) will be convening, on Wednesday, in New York City, for a discussion on the planned Israeli annexation of large parts of the West Bank, expected by early next month. Deputy-spokesperson for the United Nations' (UN) Secretary General, Farhan Haq, said in a press briefing that UN …

Ali Salam (2020-06-24). Israeli Forces Demolish Palestinian-owned Home in Silwan. imemc.org The Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem demolished a Palestinian-owned home, on Tuesday, in Silwan neighborhood in Jerusalem, under the pretext of the lack of an Israeli permit. The Wadi Hilweh Information Center (Silwanic) reported that municipality crews, backed by Israeli special forces as well as police, stormed Silwan, surrounded the …

IMEMC Staff (2020-06-24). Israeli Military Uproots Dozens of Palestinian-owned Olive Trees in Jordan Valley. imemc.org Israeli military bulldozers uprooted, early on Wednesday, dozens of long-standing olive trees in the northern Jordan Valley area of Al-Aghwar, in the occupied West Bank, as part of its illegal annexation plan of the entire area. Mo'taz Bsharat, a Palestinian Authority (PA) official monitoring Israel's illegal colonialist activities in the …

IMEMC News (2020-06-24). Israeli Soldiers Demolish A Home In Beit Hanina. imemc.org Israeli soldiers demolished, Wednesday, a Palestinian home in the al-Fool neighborhood in Beit Hanina, north of occupied East Jerusalem, only two months after the family of nine built it. The demolition came just hours before a court session was supposed to be held to discuss an appeal filed by the …

IMEMC Staff (2020-06-24). Israeli Troops Abduct Several Palestinians in the West Bank. imemc.org Israeli troops abducted early on Wednesday several Palestinian residents in different parts of the West Bank. In the West city of Qalqilia, the troops abducted six residents including Wael Abuqamar, 44, Yousef Alra'y, 39, Belal Meskawi, 39, Ibrahim Shbaita, 40, as well as two brothers, Husseun Ibtaly, 23 and Bara', …

Ali Salam (2020-06-24). Settlers Attack Several Palestinians in the West Bank. imemc.org Palestinian civilians were injured, on Tuesday, when a group of illegal Israeli settlers assaulted them in Ras Karkar village, in the central West Bank district of Ramallah, the Palestinian Information Center reported. Local sources stated that several colonists assaulted Palestinian farmers working on their land. The assaulted family members Rateb …

IMEMC Staff (2020-06-24). Israeli Troops Demolish a Palestinian Home in Betunia, Near Ramallah. imemc.org Israeli troops demolished, early on Wednesday morning, a Palestinian-owned home in the central West Bank town of Betunia, west of Ramallah. Local sources said that a large Israeli military force, including a bulldozer, invaded Betunia town, in the early hours of Wednesday morning. They added that the soldiers forced out …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-24). Immigration groups slam US decision to suspend immigration visas. peoplesdispatch.org The Trump administration on Monday decided to suspend a variety of immigration visas until the end of the year. The National Immigration Forum has decried the order as an attempt to divide communities.

WSWS (2020-06-24). Trump signs reactionary proclamation expanding immigration restrictions. wsws.org The order extends and expands anti-immigrant restrictions on workers coming to the US for jobs in multiple industries.

Marco Carnelos (2020-06-24). A Tipping Point in Libya's Long-Standing Conflict. thealtworld.com Africa's most oil-rich nation has turned into a battleground for half a dozen foreign states. In the west, is the UN-backed Government of National Accord and NATO. In the east, is warlord Khalifa Haftar. Russia, Egypt, Turkey, the UAE and France are all involved. But why is Washington staying out of it? And what is Moscow's endgame in the war-torn country? | Guests: | Jonathan M Winer | Former US Special Envoy for Libya | Anas El Gomati | Director of the Sadeq Institute | Samuel Ramani | Russian Foreign Policy Researcher at Oxford University | Marco Carnelos | Libya Adviser to former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi…

Osman Kavala (2020-06-24). Osman Kavala and the Snails: watch, enjoy, share. zcomm.org The world's first lockdown opera, ten minutes of delight against oppression…

Daniel Costa (2020-06-24). Trump's Ban on Temporary Work Visas Is an Attempt to Scapegoat Immigrants During an Economic Collapse. commondreams.org The new proclamation looks to be mostly symbolic and is likely a political tactic to blame immigrants for high unemployment, despite that fact that they had nothing to do with causing it. (Photo: David McNew/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/weareallimmigrants.jpg

WSWS (2020-06-24). Antigone from Canada recounts the struggle of an immigrant youth to defend her brother against state violence. wsws.org Unlike insipid mainstream Canadian cinema, Antigone deals honestly with critical issues such as the oppression of immigrants, police violence, a mounting youth revolt and, to some extent, social inequality.

Fight Back (2020-06-24). Cowardly Tampa police chief runs, hides, from community discussion on police. fightbacknews.org Tampa, FL – On Tuesday June 23, the Tampa community gathered in the hundreds at the Tampa Convention Center for the monthly Tampa Citizens Review Board meeting. This was the first Citizens Review Board meeting since the outbreak of the justice for George Floyd uprising at the end of May. At the convention center, the city used pandemic social distancing guidelines to prevent many from getting into the building. While 50 people were allowed in the chamber where the meeting was proceeding, 30 were allowed to sit in a lobby outside and watch on a tv screen. Many dozens more were left to congregate at the entrance to…

Bill Ballas (2020-06-24). Trump's Lack of Empathy is Pathological. progressive.org Trump's prevarications and actions throughout the pandemic are tragic and immoral, and negatively affect the other crises nesting inside him.

WSWS (2020-06-24). Fascist US Army soldier faces terrorism-related charges. wsws.org Ethan Melzer, 22, is facing life in prison for passing on information regarding the deployment of his unit to an occult neo-Nazi organization, Order of the Nine Angels.

Jamal Abdi, Ryan Costello (2020-06-24). Biden Can Reverse Trump's Failures on Iran. commondreams.org By January 2021, the U.S. is likely to have been in material breach of the JCPOA for 32 months and will have very little credibility or leverage to insist on changes to the agreement or a grand bargain addressing all of the international community's concerns about Iran. (Photo: Ron Adar / Shutterstock.com) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/screen_shot_2020-06-24_at_12.36.13_pm.png

WSWS (2020-06-24). Siberian Arctic records temperature above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. wsws.org Thawing permafrost in the Arctic is one of several "tipping points" that can trigger even greater climate-related catastrophes.

commondreams (2020-06-24). MN350, 350.org Applaud Minnesota Lawsuit Holding Big Oil Accountable for History of Lying About Climate Damage. commondreams.org ______________________________…

commondreams (2020-06-24). Minnesota A.G. Ellison Sues Exxon, Koch Industries for Lying About Climate Change. commondreams.org ______________________________…

UNCTAD (2020-06-24). Rechargeable Electric Car Batteries. Strategic Raw Materials. globalresearch.ca The demand for raw materials used to manufacture rechargeable batteries will grow rapidly as the importance of oil as a source of energy recedes, as highlighted recently by the collapse of prices due to oversupply and weak demand resulting from …

yenisafak (2020-06-24). Turkish army seizes large PKK ammunition in N.Iraq. yenisafak.com The Turkish army seized a large amount of ammunition as part of a fresh anti-terror operation in northern Iraq, said the Turkish National Defense Ministry on Wednesday.The ministry said in a written statement that search and sweep activities by commandos as part of the Operation Claw-Tiger seized an RPG-7 rocket launcher, two AK-47s, a 40-milimeter grenade thrower, 18 hand grenades, as well as ammunition for four anti-tank launchers, two anti-personnel rocket launchers, and 25 grenade throwers along with many others.It also added that various documents and life-sustaining materials were also found and destroyed.T…

yenisafak (2020-06-24). Turkey remands Iraqi national over links to Daesh/ISIS. yenisafak.com A Turkish court on Wednesday remanded an Iraqi national into custody over links to the Daesh/ISIS terror group, according to a security source.The suspect was arrested from a cell house in the western Denizli province where he was hiding after participating in terrorist activities in Syria, said the source on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.The operation was launched as part of the investigation against Daesh by the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in Denizli, the source added.Many digital materials were also seized from the address raided.Turkey was one of the first countries…

sputniknews (2020-06-24). Trump Invokes Defense Production Act to Produce Hypersonic Missile Parts, Space Launch Systems. sputniknews.com US President Donald Trump has invoked a wartime executive power giving him the authority to mobilize US industry, saying that without presidential direction, US industry "cannot reasonably be expected" to provide the materials necessary for hypersonic weapons development "adequately and in a timely manner."

_____ (2020-06-24). Privatization And The Pandemic. popularresistance.org Unlike other epidemics or pandemics — such as tuberculosis, SARS, MERS or HIV/AIDS — COVID-19 has hit hardest at the world's wealthiest countries. As of early June 2020, the 37 industrialized countries of the OECD accounted for 59% of all cases and 78% of deaths, even though they constitute less than 18% of the total population affected. | Looking at the pandemic's effects in another way — using cases and deaths per million population — paints an even starker picture. OECD countries have a prevalence ratio of 2,890 cases per million and a mortality rate of 225 per million, compared with 86…

_____ (2020-06-24). NYPD Enforcement Of Low-Level Offenses Accounts For Huge Department Expenditures, Racial Disparities. popularresistance.org New York City criminalizes drugs and low-level broken windows offenses at a startling rate, with enforcement in these areas accounting for a vast proportion of the NYPD's policing activities and the city's budget, according to a new brief from Drug Policy Alliance. DPA released the brief in support of the Communities United for Police Reform coalition call for Mayor de Blasio and the NYC Council to cut the FY21 NYPD expense budget by $1 billion and redirect savings to core needs in Black, Latinx and other NYC communities of color that have long been the target of the drug war and racist policing. | The brief, "NY…

yenisafak (2020-06-24). 'Pandemic threatens future of 600M kids in South Asia'. yenisafak.com The coronavirus pandemic is profoundly impacting the future of 600 million children in South Asia, UNICEF warned in a report.The UN agency called on governments to take immediate action to protect millions of children and families in the region."The COVID-19 pandemic is unraveling decades of health, education and other advances for children across South Asia, and governments must take urgent action to prevent millions of families from slipping back into poverty," said the report.It said immunization, nutrition, and other vital health services have been severely disrupted, potentially threatening the lives of up t…

yenisafak (2020-06-24). Global economy to contract by 4.9% in 2020: IMF. yenisafak.com The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday once again slashed its economic forecasts, estimating a contraction of 4.9% in global GDP, lower than 3% it predicted previously."The COVID-19 pandemic has had a more negative impact on activity in the first half of 2020 than anticipated," the IMF's World Economic Output report said.In 2020, while the global economy is expected to narrow by 4.9%, it will rebound by 5.4% in 2021, according to the report."For the first time, all regions are projected to experience negative growth in 2020," the report highlighted.The report said advanced economies will contract by 8%…

yenisafak (2020-06-24). Paris nears pre-pandemic air pollution levels. yenisafak.com Air pollution in Paris has more than doubled since the end of lockdown on May 11, and hit the highest level among European cities, said a new study put out on Wednesday.The Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), an independent research organization based in Helsinki, Finland, found that the level of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in the atmosphere has nearly doubled since confinement was lifted. | Although the level of air pollution — which dropped by 60% during lockdown — is not presently at pre-COVID-19 level, it has risen in the capital by 120%. | COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, origina…

yenisafak (2020-06-24). Italy says 28 migrants test positive to COVID-19 on quarantine ship. yenisafak.com Dozens of migrants rescued in the Mediterranean have tested positive for the new coronavirus while held in a quarantine ship off the southern Italian coast, Sicily's regional leader Nello Musumeci said on Wednesday.In April Italy banned migrant rescue ships from docking in its ports until July 31 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It now transfers all those saved at sea onto large ferries which must wait off its coast.After saving more than 200 people stranded at sea last week, the Sea-Watch 3 charity boat arrived on Sunday in the Sicilian town of Porto Empedocle.The mainly African passengers were immediately moved to…

yenisafak (2020-06-24). COVID-19 death toll rises in Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain. yenisafak.com The death toll from the novel coronavirus rose Wednesday in Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain, according to health authorities in the three countries.In a statement, the Kuwaiti Health Ministry said four people had died from COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide death toll to 338.A further 742 cases were detected, bringing the total infections in the country to 41,775, the ministry said, adding that the number of recoveries rose to 32,809 after 505 people had recovered.In Oman, the Health Ministry confirmed two additional fatalities, pushing the death toll to 142. As many as 1,142 more cases were register…

yenisafak (2020-06-24). COVID-19 recovery rate at 40% in Bangladesh. yenisafak.com Bangladesh on Wednesday registered 3,462 new cases positive for coronavirus, taking the total count to 122,660 since the first case was detected in early March.Out of total infections, more than 49,500 patients have so far recovered with some 2,000 fresh recoveries in the past 24 hours.The recovery rate now stands at 40.49%, according to the Health Ministry.Meanwhile, the country witnessed the deaths of 37 people from COVID-19, virus-caused disease, rising the tally to 1,582, Nasima Sultana, a director general at the Health Ministry, told a regular online news conference.The South Asian country with a population…

yenisafak (2020-06-24). Top Turkish, Spanish diplomats talk COVID-19, tourism. yenisafak.com Mevlut Cavusoglu and Arancha Gonzalez Laya discussed the latest developments on the outbreak in both countries, effort to bring back tourism, and Turkish-EU relations, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.As tourism worldwide ground to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic, Turkey's new case numbers are falling, and the country is looking to bring back tourists by restarting flights and issuing certificates for businesses that have taken necessary steps against the outbreak.Spain is also seeking to reassure tourists as its numbers fall and its borders reopen.

yenisafak (2020-06-24). Pakistan receives $1B in loans to fight pandemic. yenisafak.com Pakistan on Wednesday received $1 billion loans to prop up its struggling economy that has taken a hit from global coronavirus restrictions, the central bank announced.The Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the World Bank each have lent $500 million to cash-strapped Pakistan."SBP [State Bank of Pakistan] has received USD 1 bn [$1 billion] today with USD 500 mn [$500 million] each from ADB and WB," the SBP said in a Twitter post, without providing more details. | The ADB had signed an agreement for a $500 million loan with Pakistan on June 19 following the World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank each si…

yenisafak (2020-06-24). Turkey popular tourist destination for Serbia. yenisafak.com As many as 1,000 Serbian tourists have already started their holidays in Turkey this summer, the country's travel agency association said Wednesday.The information from the National Association of Travel Agencies of Serbia (YUTA) came after Turkish Airlines resumed its flights to the country only a few days ago after a three-month suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic.Turkey's flagship air carrier company resumed its flights between Belgrade and Istanbul on Monday."Tourists who traveled to Turkey have no problems," said the director of YUTA, Aleksandar Senicic.The rise in Serbian tourists arriving in Turkey…

yenisafak (2020-06-24). Russia displays military might to mark WW II victory. yenisafak.com Some 14,000 troops from 13 countries as well as vintage and the latest state-of-art military hardware marched along the Red Square in Moscow on Wednesday to mark the 75th anniversary of its victory in World War II.The parade, which highlighted Russia's fighting capabilities were also held in 28 other cities under the shadow of coronavirus pandemic. The parade was also marked by a colorful fly-past by fighter aircrafts.Russia showed its military might by displaying the latest stealth fighter jet Su-57 with hypersonic Kinzhal complexes, Ka-52 helicopters, and Armata tanks.Originally, the parade was scheduled to tak…

yenisafak (2020-06-24). German reporter plays tourist in Antalya, lauds Turkey's coronavirus precautions. yenisafak.com An enthusiastic correspondent from the Germany-based Bild newspaper hopped on a flight from Berlin to Turkey's popular holiday getaway of Antalya, probing the country's safety measures for those seeking a change of atmosphere during the global coronavirus pandemic. Michael Quandt penned his travel experience as a tourist in Turkey in an article titled "Even the lifeguard wears a mask," mapping out the country's precautions against the virus. He underlined that it is mandatory for all travelers who board a plane to wear masks and the violation of this rule costs between 70 and 700 euros.Passengers' body temperatur…

yenisafak (2020-06-24). British PM Johnson dismisses criticism on local lockdowns, coronavirus app. yenisafak.com British Prime Minister Boris Johnson dismissed criticism on Wednesday of his government's plans to implement local lockdowns if there are flare ups of the novel coronavirus and of an app to trace the spread of the virus.At prime minister's questions, the opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer suggested both systems were not yet ready before England eases its coronavirus lockdown from July 4.In response, Johnson said: "We have a very effective cluster-busting operation which is designed to ensure that we keep those outbreaks under control.""I am not going to pretend … that this thing is beaten or that the virus…

yenisafak (2020-06-24). Norway plans big expansion of Arctic oil exploration. yenisafak.com Norway is planning a major expansion of oil exploration in the Arctic, despite commitments to tackling global warming and opposition from environmental groups.Minister of petroleum and energy Tina Bru said on Wednesday the expansion was needed to protect jobs and generate wealth.The government will auction up to 136 new oil exploration blocks in a major licensing round, with 125 of those in the Arctic Barents Sea, a relatively unspoiled corner of the planet."We need new discoveries to uphold employment and value creation," Bru said in a statement.Norway is western Europe's biggest oil producer and has built the w…

sputniknews (2020-06-24). First COVID-19 Case Registered at Chernobyl Nuclear Plant. sputniknews.com In mid-March, Ukraine introduced a nationwide quarantine for a month and subsequently extended it several times. The Ukrainian government decided to relax coronavirus-related restrictions starting 11 May.

sputniknews (2020-06-24). India's Rajasthan to Sue Yoga Guru Ramdev Over 'Illegal Human Trial' of Anti-COVID-19 Drug. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): On Tuesday, Indian Yoga guru Baba Ramdev's company Patanjali Yogpeeth officially launched an ayurvedic medicine that claims to cure COVID-19 patients. According to Ramdev, the medicine "Coronil and Swasari" isn't an immunity booster but a cure for coronavirus patients.

sputniknews (2020-06-24). Hajj 2020: It Was an Uneasy Decision to Limit Number of Pilgrims Due to COVID, Saudi Officials Say. sputniknews.com Having dragged the world into a global recession, the COVID-19 outbreak has impacted people's spiritual lives as well: almost two million Muslim pilgrims won't be able to make a journey to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Saudi Arabian officials have explained that it was an uneasy decision.

sputniknews (2020-06-24). Pakistan Accuses India of Diverting Attention from China Stand-off While Downsizing Diplomatic Ties. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): On Tuesday, India summoned a Pakistani envoy and asked to reduce the staff of Pakistan's High Commission by 50% in light of alleged espionage acts and dealing with terrorist organisations. It also said that Pakistan has "engaged in a sustained campaign to intimidate the officials of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad".

sputniknews (2020-06-24). Despite Border Tensions Between India and China, Russia to Ensure RIC Remains Viable, Experts Say. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): The foreign ministers of Russia, India, and China on Tuesday participated in a special videoconference session called by Moscow to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War and the creation of the United Nations.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-24). Iran-China to improve 25-year-coop. document: Zarif. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 24 (MNA) — In a tweet in Chinses, Iranian FM Zarif informed that in his talks via a video conference with his Chinese counterpart on Wednesday, they have conferred on the development of a 25-year cooperation document as well as some other issues.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-24). Iran determined to develop all-out ties with Bulgaria: Rouhani. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 24 (MNA) — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the Islamic Republic of Iran is determined to develop all-out cooperation and collaboration with Bulgaria.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-24). Army chief lauds defensive synergy with IRGC. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 24 (MNA) —Iranian Army Commander Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi hailed the constructive cooperation between the Army and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in building a great defensive mechanism against the threats.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-24). Iran carries out 90% of its trade via sea: PMO deputy. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 25 (MNA) — Deputy Chief Executive of Ports and Maritime Organization [PMO] for Maritime Affairs said that 90 percent of Iran's trade and business is done via sea.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-24). UN Security Council to start talks on Iran arms embargo: report. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 24 (MNA) — The United Nations Security Council is due to hold the first round of talks under US pressure on Iran arms embargo on Wednesday.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-24). Rouhani calls for expansion of border security cooperation with Pakistan. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 25 (MNA) — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani expressed hope that Iran and Pakistan would expand cooperation in ensuring the security of common border areas.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-24). US has made UNSC 'ineffective' against crimes of Zionist regime. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 25 (MNA) — Iran's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Majid Takht-Ravanchi said that the United States has made the United Nations Security Council [UNSC] 'inefficient' against the atrocities and crimes committed by Israel.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-24). Israeli regime facing 'collapse from within': Parliament Speaker. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 24 (MNA) — Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that the Israeli regime is declining while pointing to the need for continuing resistance against the occupation.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-24). Fighting against terrorism requires global action: FM spox. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 24 (MNA) — Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi on Wed. said that fighting against terrorism requires global action and that all countries must be committed to it.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-24). Iraqi army eliminates ISIL elements in northern Iraq. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 24 (MNA) — The Iraqi army has killed 12 ISIL elements in an operation in the north part of the country.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-24). IRGC ground force vows firm response to terrorists activities. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 25 (MNA) — The commander of IRGC Ground Force, Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour asserted that dealing firmly with any terrorist groups is IRGC ground forces permanent agenda.

John W. Whitehead (2020-06-24). This Way Lies Madness: The Summer of Hate Meets the Age of Intolerance. globalresearch.ca "Violence creates many more social problems than it solves…. If they succumb to the temptation of using violence in their struggle, unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness, and our chief legacy to …

imperial.ac.uk (2020-06-24). Bumper crop of researchers win Royal Society of Chemistry awards. imperial.ac.uk Nine academics from Imperial have been recognized with prizes in the annual Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) awards.

The Canary (2020-06-24). Scientists propose lifting lockdown for whole city to trial mass testing. thecanary.co Scientists have proposed lifting lockdown completely for a "medium-sized city" to see if coronavirus can be controlled through weekly testing of residents. | A paper published in the Royal Society Open Science journal argues that a demonstration study is needed to see if such regular testing, strict household quarantine, contact tracing and mobile phone apps could end the coronavirus (Covid-19) epidemic. | Researchers suggest large-scale testing of city residents could be done through examining saliva samples — a technique called RT-LAMP testing, which they said is cheaper and more viable than nasal or thro…

The Canary (2020-06-24). Boris Johnson slammed for PMQs 'dodgy answers'. thecanary.co Boris Johnson was accused of either dodging questions or giving "dodgy answers" as he came under fire over the government's coronavirus (Covid-19) contact tracing app. | Labour leader Keir Starmer clashed with Johnson at Prime Minister's Questions over England's readiness to ease lockdown restrictions. | Instead of answering a question about a working track and trace app, Johnson responded by urging Starmer to press Labour councils to encourage children to return to school. | Some £11.8 million was spent by the Government on developing its own NHSX app before it was ditched. It is now examining software cre…

Staff (2020-06-24). Trump's Ratings in Free Fall as COVID Infections Rise by 25 Percent in One Week. truthout.org As the nation struggles to rein in new cases of coronavirus, most Americans by a wide margin disapprove of the way President Donald Trump has tried to manage the crisis, according to a new The poll finds that nearly three-in-five Americans, 58 percent, disapprove of how Trump has handled the pandemic and believe he has done a poor job of trying to address and c…

Staff (2020-06-24). Arizona Mega-Church Hosting Trump Falsely Claims Air Filter Kills 99.9% of COVID. truthout.org Disease experts rejected claims by an Arizona mega-church set to host President Donald Trump on Tuesday that its new air filtration system is capable of killing 99.9% of the new coronavirus. | Brendon Zastrow, the chief financial officer at Dream City Church, and Pastor Luke Barnett posted a video touting the CleanAir EXP filter ahead of Trump's visit. | "When you come into our auditorium, 99.9% of COVID is gone — if it was there in the first place," Zastrow said in the video obtaine…

Staff (2020-06-24). Jamaal Bowman Is on Track to Score AOC-Type Win Over 16-Term Congressman Engel. truthout.org Jamaal Bowman, a former educator and school principal from the Bronx in New York, appears to have defeated 16-term Rep. Eliot Engel Tuesday night in the Democratic primary for that seat in Congress. | Although votes were still being counted due to the large volume of absentee ballots, many news agencies

Stefan Bollinger (2020-06-24). Disease, Power and Capitalism. indybay.org Have you tried DeepL.com, academia.edu, grin.com or grammarly.com? Send me your comments and/or discoveries – as we await the reopening of the libraries and the Biden landslide! Will the great comedian Stephan Colbert be the dark horse candidate at the last moment? Marc…

_____ (2020-06-24). Washington Sailing on Collision Course With China. strategic-culture.org As of this month, the United States is deploying three of its aircraft carriers simultaneously to patrol the Pacific in what is designed to be a clear threat to China. Each carrier strike group comprises destroyers, aircraft and submarines. The U.S. has 11 aircraft carriers in total. | Rear Admiral Stephen Koehler, director of operations at Indo-Pacific Command, is

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2020-06-24). ACLU Demands Lawmakers Act After Michigan Man Wrongfully Arrested 'Because Face Recognition Can't Tell Black People Apart'. commondreams.org The ACLU on Wednesday urged policymakers to end law enforcement use of facial recognition technology and filed an administrative complaint with Detroit police on behalf of Robert Williams, a Black man who was wrongfully arrested in January after software owned by Michigan State Police misidentified him as a shoplifting suspect. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/williams_family.jpg