RT (2020-04-02). Thousands of quarantined sailors from USS Theodore Roosevelt to be temporarily housed in Guam hotels. rt.com Sailors from a coronavirus-infected US aircraft carrier are to occupy hundreds of hotel rooms in Guam as the US Navy expedites blanket testing of the crew. Earlier, the captain of the ship wrote a scolding memo on the evacuation. | USS Theodore Roosevelt had to cut short its mission in the South China Sea and dock in Guam last week due to an outbreak of the novel coronavirus on board. The ship herself is unsuitable for proper quarantine measures, while Naval Base Guam doesn\'t have the capacity to house enough crew members in quarantine. So Navy leaders are in talks with Guam hoteliers and preparing to occupy v…

RT (2020-04-02). \'Iran has FRIENDS, not proxies\' — Zarif blasts Trump following \'sneak attack\' claims. rt.com Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif hit back at the US after President Trump accused Iran of planning a \"sneak attack\" on US troops and assets in Iraq. | Zarif took to Twitter to warn his followers not to \"be [misled] by usual warmongers, AGAIN,\" then tagging US president Donald Trump. \"Iran has FRIENDS. No one can have MILLIONS of \'proxies\',\" he continued. | Don\'t be mislead by usual warmongers, AGAIN, Iran has FRIENDS: No one can have MILLIONS of\"proxies\" | Unlike the US—which surreptitiously lies, cheat…

RT (2020-04-02). UN postpones global climate summit in Glasgow until 2021. rt.com This year\'s United Nations global climate summit will be postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, host country Britain has said. The UK government said the meeting, due to take place in November in Glasgow, Scotland, will now be held next year at a date still to be determined. | The government said in a statement on Wednesday that \"in light of the ongoing, worldwide effects of Covid-19, holding an ambitious, inclusive COP26 in November 2020 is no longer possible.\" The meeting is formally known as the 26th Conference of the Parties. | The decision was made by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change,…

RT (2020-04-02). Saudi Arabia won\'t undermine Russia-US energy deal & risk facing oil price war on two fronts — market analyst to RT. rt.com If Moscow and Washington strike a deal to boost the sinking oil markets, Saudi Arabia had better stay out of their way, according to analysts who spoke to RT. | The US and Russia agreed to engage in energy talks earlier this week, as both the global coronavirus crisis and the oil row between Russia and Saudi Arabia sent crude prices into a tailspin. International benchmark Brent and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crashed to 18-year lows on Monday, but they have slightly recovered since then with the news of a possible deal. | The prices could plunge lower if no agreement is reached, analysts have told RT. Ac…

RT (2020-04-02). Oil price war: Is it game over for Trump? rt.com As the US government tries to convince Russia and Saudi Arabia to put an end to the oil price war, it might just be too little, too late for the Trump Administration. | Saudi Arabia has already hired additional supertankers and a wave of additional supply is about to set sail, according to Saudi Aramco has also apparently f…

RT (2020-04-02). Sad Covid-19 record for Russia: 771 new cases registered across the country. rt.com The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases has grown by 771 in Russia on Thursday, marking the biggest single-day increase in patients since the start of the outbreak. | Over the past 24 hours, 771 more people have tested positive for Covid-19 in Russia, bringing the total number of cases reported nationwide to 3,548, the country\'s disease response officials say. | Six more patients have died, bringing the total death toll from Covid-19 to 30. | The majority of the new cases — 595 — have been reported in Moscow, while 43 were recorded in the region around the capital, and 22 in Russia\'s second-largest ci…

RT (2020-04-02). Ireland\'s restrictions may go beyond April 12, deputy PM says. rt.com The highly restrictive measures Ireland put in place last week to slow the spread of coronavirus may well be extended beyond the initial deadline of April 12, Deputy Prime Minister Simon Coveney said on Thursday. | Ireland\'s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar significantly ramped up previous restrictions last Friday when he ordered citizens to stay home and only leave to shop for groceries, for brief individual physical exercise or make absolutely essential family visits, Reuters said. Coveney says \"people do need to realize that these restrictions may go on for some time.\" | \"We\'ve set an initial period but I think…

RT (2020-04-02). Covid-19 deaths in Belgium top 1,000 as worldwide cases approach one million. rt.com Belgium\'s death toll from the Covid-19 virus has topped 1,000, officials have confirmed, with 183 new deaths in the last 24 hours. | As of April 2, Belgium, which has a population of 11.4 million, has recorded more than 15,300 cases of the coronavirus infection. | Health officials in the country said earlier this week that a 12-year-old girl infected with Covid-19 had died of the illness, noting that such a young fatality is a \"very rare occurrence.\" | Belgium is one of many countries in Europe on an almost total lockdown to battle the coronavirus crisis. Belgians are only allowed to leave their homes to buy e…

RT (2020-04-02). Serbian govt to revoke coronavirus information control decree. rt.com Serbia\'s government will revoke a decree giving it control over information on the coronavirus outbreak. The decision follows protests and the detention of a journalist for reporting that a major hospital lacked protective gear and properly trained staff, Reuters reports. | Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said the decree, which came into force on Saturday, would be revoked on Thursday \"so not a shadow could be cast on our work.\" | The emergency measure, which said information about the coronavirus outbreak could only come from Brnabic or those authorized by her, had drawn criticism from the Organization for Securit…

RT (2020-04-02). Pentagon seeks 100,000 body bags as Covid-19 fatalities top 5,000 in US after deadliest day to date. rt.com The Pentagon is looking to hand out 100,000 body bags as hospitals and morgues are overrun with coronavirus fatalities, with the US breaking its daily death toll record yet again, surpassing 5,000 in total. | The Defense Department will first distribute military-style \"Human Remains Pouches\" from a stockpile of 50,000 units to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and will later seek to purchase more, Pentagon officials told several media outlets on Wednesday. | The request from FEMA comes as the US sees its Covid-19 outbreak accelerate across all 50 states, counting nearly 1,000 new deaths on Wednes…

RT (2020-04-02). Gold rush amid coronavirus & economic uncertainty leads to shortage in small bars & coins. rt.com As Covid-19 disrupts the global economy, people are snapping up small gold bars and coins, confirming once again the yellow metal\'s safe haven reputation during times of uncertainty. | The price of gold hit a seven-year high of more than $1,700 per troy ounce on March 9, as a result of the deepening economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak. | \"People want to buy, not to sell, gold,\" Mark O\'Byrne, the founder of GoldCore, a dealer based in Dublin, told Bloomberg. \"We have a buyers\' waiting list and we emailed our clients seeing who wished to sell their gold. At this time there are roughly only one or two sel…

RT (2020-04-02). Emmy-winning musician & co-founder of Fountains of Wayne, Adam Schlesinger, dies of coronavirus at 52. rt.com Award-winning songwriter and musician Adam Schlesinger has passed away after contracting Covid-19 and spending several days on a ventilator, according to his attorney. He was 52 years old. | The musician died in a New York Hospital on Wednesday, his lawyer Josh Grier told the Associated Press. Winning three Emmy awards and one Grammy, Schlesinger was perhaps best known for his work with the New York City-based band Fountains of Wayne and its Grammy-nominated single \'Stacy\'s Mom\'. | He also wrote music for a number of films and television shows, including the 1997 comedy \'That Thing You Do\' — directed b…

RT (2020-04-02). More than 500,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in Europe: AFP tally. rt.com There are now more than 500,000 confirmed cases of the Covid-19 virus across Europe, according to the latest tally by the AFP news agency. | The new count comes as the death toll from the virus has topped 10,000 in Spain, with confirmed cases there surging to over 110,000. French health officials confirmed 509 deaths from the virus yesterday, taking the country\'s death toll to more than 4,000. | The UK also saw its biggest daily rise in coronavirus deaths this week, with 563 new fatalities reported on Wednesday. Confirmed cases of the infection have been soaring in the UK, with almost 30,000 testing positive f…

RT (2020-04-02). German tabloid Bild in hot water for giving airtime to Covid-19 testing firm currently under investigation. rt.com German tabloid Bild has come under fire after airing an interview with an ex-Playboy model who founded a controversial online startup selling pricey coronavirus home test kits. The company appeared to raise many red flags. | \"Now, you can get coronavirus tests delivered right [to your] home,\" a smiling presenter happily tells Germans in a

The Canary (2020-04-02). Some Covid-19 patients could have treatment withdrawn to save others. thecanary.co Coronavirus patients could have their treatment withdrawn and offered to others who are more likely to survive, new guidance for doctors has warned.The British Medical Association\'s (BMA) latest ethics advice said health professionals could be forced to make \"grave decisions\" should hospitals become overwhelmed with patients.The document warns that decisions around rationing scarce resources, such as ventilators, could determine whether large numbers of patients will receive life-saving treatment or not.It comes as the UK experienced its biggest day-on-day rise in deaths so far, with the government now facing inc…

RT (2020-04-02). Spain reports 110,238 coronavirus cases, almost reaches Italy's numbers. rt.com A total of 950 Covid-19 patients have died in Spain in the last 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll from the coronavirus to over 10,000 people. | With 10,003 deaths from Covid-19 as of Thursday, Spain has become the second European nation, after Italy, where the disease has killed more than 10,000 patients. | The number of confirmed cases across the country has grown by 8,102, bringing the total to 110,238. Nearly 27,000 people have recovered since the start of the outbreak. | Spain, where the disease has been raging since February, remains Europe\'s second hardest-hit country, with the daily death rat…

RT (2020-04-02). Hungary emergency measures \'went too far\' — EU\'s von der Leyen. rt.com European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has expressed concern that coronavirus restriction measures taken by Hungary go \"too far\" and insisted they should be time-limited and subject to scrutiny. | On Monday, Hungary\'s parliament granted Prime Minister Viktor Orban an open-ended right to rule by decree. It also introduced jail sentences for anyone hindering measures to curb the spread of the virus or spreading false information about the pandemic, Reuters said. | \"I am concerned that certain measures go too far and I am particularly concerned about the situation in Hungary,\" von der Leyen told repor…

RT (2020-04-02). Greece quarantines first migrant camp after 20 asylum seekers test positive for coronavirus. rt.com Athens has quarantined a migrant camp after 20 asylum seekers tested positive for coronavirus, the first such facility in Greece to be hit since the outbreak of the disease. Any movement in or out of the Ritsona camp, which is 75km (45 miles) northeast of Athens and hosts hundreds of people, will be restricted for 14 days. | Tests on 63 people were conducted after a 19-year-old female migrant who gave birth in an Athens hospital was found to be infected. This was the first recorded case among thousands of asylum seekers living in overcrowded camps across Greece. | None of the confirmed cases showed any symptom…

Rebecca Gordon (2020-04-02). The Future May Be Female, But the Pandemic is Patriarchal. counterpunch.org Before I found myself \"sheltering in place,\" this article was to be about women\'s actions around the world to mark March 8th, International Women\'s Day. From Pakistan to Chile, women in their millions filled the streets, demanding that we be able to control our bodies and our lives. Women came out in Iraq and Kyrgyzstan,

RT (2020-04-02). Los Angeles man tries to RAM train into \'suspicious\' US Navy hospital ship \'to wake people up\'. rt.com An engineer in Los Angeles was charged after attempting to ram a train at full speed into a Navy hospital ship sent to assist with the Covid-19 pandemic, in a bizarre effort to \"wake up\" Americans to a vague government conspiracy.

RT (2020-04-02). \'Criminal blockade\': Cuba outraged as delivery of Covid-19 aid from Alibaba chief aborted \'at the last minute\' due to US sanctions. rt.com Cuba has slammed the US\' \"criminal blockade\" of the country after the embargo stood in the way of the delivery of Covid-19 test kits and ventilators donated by Chinese e-commerce tycoon Jack Ma. | \"The criminal blockade of the imperial government violates the human rights of the Cuban people,\" President Miguel Diaz-Canel tweeted on Wednesday. |

RT (2020-04-02). Netanyahu, just out of isolation, goes back in after health minister tests positive for Covid-19. rt.com On Wednesday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ended his self-isolation period, but now he has to go back into quarantine after another senior official tested positive for Covid-19. | Netanyahu is one of several top government officials who will be quarantined following the positive test of Health Minister Yaakov Litzman. Others include Yossi Cohen, the head of the Israeli spy agency Mossad, National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, and several leadership-level figures in the Health Ministry who all recently came into contact with Litzman. | The 71-year-old health minister and his wife Chava…

RT (2020-04-02). EU\'s top court says eastern states broke law by refusing to host refugees. rt.com The European Union\'s top court has ruled that Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic had broken the law by refusing to host refugees to help ease the burden on Greece and Italy after a surge in migrant arrivals from 2015. | \"By refusing to comply with the temporary mechanism for the relocation of applicants for international protection, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic have failed to fulfill their obligations under EU law,\" the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the EU said on Thursday. | The decision underscores Europe\'s divisions over migration. However, the three ex-communist nations face no immedia…

Eoin Higgins (2020-04-02). Threat of ICE Detention Centers Turning Into Death Camps, Groups Rallying to Free Families. indybay.org ICE is making the pandemic more dangerous for everyone.

WSWS (2020-04-02). As COVID-19 pandemic exposes failure of capitalism, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shifts to the right. wsws.org Ocasio-Cortez is increasingly lining up behind the Democratic Party establishment at the very point that the coronavirus catastrophe is demonstrating the failure of the capitalist system and discrediting all of its political parties and representatives.

Ajit Singh (2020-04-02). US pushes conspiracy theory on China\'s coronavirus death toll to deflect from Trump administration failures. thegrayzone.com A widely disseminated and highly dubious story asserting China concealed tens of thousands of deaths originated from a US government…

Belinda J. Gabbe, William Veitch, Kate Curtis, Kate Martin, David Gomez, Ian Civil, Chris Moran, Warwick J. Teague, Andrew J.A. Holland, Fiona Lecky, Mark Fitzgerald, Avery Nathens, Anthony Joseph (2020-04-02). [Research Paper] Survey of major trauma centre preparedness for mass casualty incidents in Australia, Canada, England and New Zealand. thelancet.com The disaster preparedness of MTCs was high for communication, safety and security but there was clear need for improvement in other areas including surge capacity, human resources and post-disaster recovery.

Protest News (2020-04-02). Innovative COVID-19 Safe Protest in San Francisco. indybay.org Boisterous Car Rally Honks for Justice for ICE Detainees…

Ramzy Baroud (2020-04-02). Tunisia Leads the Way: New Report Exposes Israel\'s False Democracy. dissidentvoice.org Tunisia is the Middle East\'s greatest success story, according to the findings of the V-Dem Annual Democracy Report 2019. One of the world\'s most regarded annual reports on democracy and good governance, the V-Dem Report is produced by the V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) Institute at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. While Tunisians can be …

teleSUR (2020-04-02). China Scientists Seek Possible COVID-19 Antibodies Treatment. telesurenglish.net A team of Chinese scientists has isolated several antibodies that it says are \"extremely effective\" at blocking the ability of the new coronavirus to enter cells, which eventually could help treat or prevent COVID-19. | RELATED: | Zhang Linqi at Tsinghua University in Beijing said a drug made with antibodies like the ones his team has found could be used more effectively than the current approaches, including what he cal…

Liu Jian (2020-04-02). How COVID-19 Changed Our Lives: a Report From Beijing. counterpunch.org On January 18, after attending a meeting in Hangzhou, I planned to return to my home in Beijing. At that time, the Spring Festival in China was approaching. Although I had started buying tickets one week in advance, I still did not get a high-speed train ticket from Hangzhou to Beijing so I had to

WSWS (2020-04-02). Amid growing anger over criminal response to COVID-19 crisis, Washington threatens war. wsws.org Trump issued threats against Iran and Venezuela yesterday, both weaponizing the pandemic and desperately seeking to divert mounting social tensions in the US itself.

WSWS (2020-04-02). Indonesian government declares \"national emergency\" after downplaying coronavirus threat. wsws.org A University of Indonesia report has warned that 240,000 people may die in the pandemic this month without a substantial government intervention.

WSWS (2020-04-02). Modi government represses desperate migrant workers amid calamitous coronavirus lockdown. wsws.org People across India and around the world have been shocked and outraged by the pictures of poor migrant workers caught up in the Indian government\'s ill-conceived and socially reckless 21-day nationwide coronavirus lockdown.

Lynda Carson (2020-04-02). Trump\'s IRS makes it difficult for seniors to receive coronavirus $1,200 stimulus checks. indybay.org Surprise, surprise, yesterday the IRS sent out a shocking release that states, \"The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service today announced that distribution of economic impact payments will begin in the next three weeks and will be distributed automatically, with no action required for most people. However, some seniors and others who typically do not file returns will need to submit a simple tax return to receive the stimulus payment.\"

Stephen Corry (2020-04-02). It\'s Time to Clean Ecofascism Out of Environmentalism. counterpunch.org The coronavirus pandemic is lethal, but could there be a silver lining beyond the pain? Social media is awash with how the newly cleaned environment is hosting wildlife not seen for years. Dolphins are swimming in Venetian canals: except they aren\'t, they\'re really near Sardinia as usual. Swans? Yes, but they\'ve always been there. The

Brenda Norrell (2020-04-02). Navajo Nation cases of coronavirus increase to 214 with seven deaths. indybay.org The Navajo Nation has 214 cases of coronavirus, 40 new cases in the past 24 hours, and seven deaths. The Navajo President said they are in urgent need of more test kits. Doctors on the Navajo Nation said they need more critical care nurses, ventilators and masks.

Rafia Zakaria (2020-04-02). Domestic Violence and Coronavirus: Hell Behind Closed Doors. thenation.com Domestic Violence and Coronavirus: Hell Behind Closed Doors…

WSWS (2020-04-02). Stock market sell-off resumes. wsws.org The renewed market downturn followed statements by President Trump that US deaths from the coronavirus could be 240,000 while hinting that the toll could be even higher.

WSWS (2020-04-02). Nightingale field hospital completed in London to cope with mass coronavirus deaths. wsws.org While clearly the new hospital is a much-needed facility, given the criminal starving of resources in Britain\'s health care system, for many who are taken there it will be little more than a waiting room for the dying.

P. Sainath (2020-04-02). What We Should Do About COVID-19. counterpunch.org With his first speech on the coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi got us to scare evil spirits away by having people bang the hell out of their pots and pans. With his second, he scared the hell out of all of us. With not a word on how the public, particularly the poor, are to

WSWS (2020-04-02). Alberta\'s right-wing UCP government exploits coronavirus pandemic to lay off at least 20,000 education workers. wsws.org Jason Kenney\'s United Conservative Party government slashed all non-teacher salary funding to Alberta school boards Saturday, which will force the layoff of at least 20,000 teaching assistants, cleaners, and other support staff.

WSWS (2020-04-02). US Conference of Mayors survey shows severe lack of equipment to combat coronavirus pandemic. wsws.org As the US death toll nears 5,000, a report to the federal government from mayors of 213 cities showing a desperate shortage of lifesaving equipment has fallen on deaf ears.

Binoy Kampmark (2020-04-02). The Swedish Alternative: Coronavirus as a Grand Gamble. counterpunch.org As draconian lockdowns, punitive regimes and surveillance become the norm of the coronavirus world, Sweden has treaded more softly in the field. This is certainly in contrast to its Scandinavian cousins, Denmark and Norway. The rudiments of a life uninterrupted generally remain in place. Cafes, restaurants and shops, for the most part, remain open and

Women\'s March (2020-04-02). Webinar: Disability Justice in the Time of Coronavirus (Women\'s March). indybay.org Online via zoom…

WSWS (2020-04-02). US Navy aircraft carrier commander seeks evacuation of entire crew to stem outbreak of coronavirus. wsws.org The crisis on the USS Theodore Roosevelt is only the most acute indication of the serious impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the operations of the American military machine.

John Feffer (2020-04-02). We Need a Coronavirus Truce. zcomm.org International cooperation needs to take priority right now, and countries must stop their wars against one another and against their own populations…

WSWS (2020-04-02). Coronavirus freezes Democratic presidential campaign as states postpone primaries. wsws.org Fourteen states have either delayed presidential primaries or extended deadlines for voting by mail.

WSWS (2020-04-02). Hospital closures continue in Germany despite COVID-19 pandemic. wsws.org Although every hospital bed in Germany is needed because of the coronavirus pandemic, many hospitals are facing closure, especially in more rural areas.

Rev. William Alberts (2020-04-02). The Coronavirus Rained on Trump\'s Easter Charade. counterpunch.org In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, President Trump was hell-bent on loosening social restraints so that churches could be \"packed\" on Easter (April 12). Never mind that health care experts warned that such a premature move would worsen the spread of the virus, overwhelm hospitals with patients, lead to countless deaths and result in