2020-05-29: News Headlines

The Lancet (2020-05-30). [Editorial] COVID-19 in Africa: no room for complacency. thelancet.com Despite over 100‚Äà000 confirmed cases and infections in every country, the passage of COVID-19 through the African continent remains somewhat enigmatic. High numbers of deaths were expected in the region due to fragile health systems, lack of access to preventive measures, barriers to testing, and potentially vulnerable populations. But, according to WHO, Africa is the least affected region globally, with 1 ∑5% of the world's reported COVID-19 cases and 0 ∑1% of the world's deaths. Although comparisons are inaccurate, mortality rates have been lower compared with outbreaks of similar si…

Richard Horton (2020-05-30). [Comment] Offline: After COVID-19—is an "alternate society" possible? thelancet.com How do we make sense of this pandemic? The first interpretations are now appearing. Slavoj ≈Ωi≈æek is a prolific philosopher and cultural theorist. He is the first to produce a volume of reflections—Pandemic! COVID-19 Shakes the World (Polity, 2020). ≈Ωi≈æek doubts the epidemic will make us wiser: he insists that "we should resist the temptation to treat the ongoing epidemic as something that has a deeper meaning". Despite these cautions, we still have an important question to answer: "What is wrong with our system that we were caught unprepared by the catastr…

Barbara Fraser (2020-05-30). [World Report] COVID-19 strains remote regions of Peru. thelancet.com The health system in Iquitos is stretched and the true number of COVID-19 cases and deaths is unclear. Barbara Fraser reports from Lima.

Sharmila Devi (2020-05-30). [World Report] Fears of "highly catastrophic" COVID-19 spread in Yemen. thelancet.com Yemen's health system has been devastated by years of conflict and COVID-19 deaths are reported to be surging in Aden. Sharmila Devi reports.

Marion Nestle (2020-05-30). [Perspectives] A call for food system change. thelancet.com In shutting down entire societies, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fundamental inequities and inadequacies of market-driven economies that prioritise profits over human welfare. Inequities show up in businesses that furlough employees while paying high salaries and bonuses to executives. They are also revealed by the dependence of food systems on poorly paid workers and cheap global supply chains. The COVID-19 crisis demonstrates how current food systems fail to protect populations from hunger and diet-influenced non-communicable diseases and why the poor, disenfranchised, discriminated against, and chronic…

Manuel W Hetzel, Bassirou Bonfoh (2020-05-30). [Correspondence] Towards more balanced representation in Lancet Commissions. thelancet.com Enthusiastically, Richard Horton1 reports on the foundation of the Italian Institute of Planetary Health at a time when youth strikes, an emerging pandemic of a new coronavirus, and burning forests remind us of our planet being in jeopardy. We agree that something must change so that the undoubtable advances in science and medicine that were made since the time of Lucretius translate into a better life for all humans, no matter who they are, where they were born, and where they live and work.1 Yet, the lamented crisis of trust in science and medicine cannot be overcome by concepts of global health or planetary he…

Jennifer Prah Ruger, Richard Horton (2020-05-30). [Comment] Justice and health: The Lancet—Health Equity and Policy Lab Commission. thelancet.com Justice forms the foundation for what we owe each other and what fairness among human beings and institutions involves. Globally, there are large inequalities in health outcomes and opportunities for health. Not only is the global burden of disease distributed unevenly but capabilities to prevent and treat disease are also asymmetrical; those in greatest need often have the least access to human, physical, and financial resources for health. Global health justice provides an account of what justice across our planet embodies, offers solutions to global health problems, and identifies who has responsibilities and…

Parth Patel (2020-05-30). [Correspondence] The health-related determinants of politics. thelancet.com I was pleased to read Richard Horton's Comment about populist politics.1 However, the problem of political populism and solution that he charts out seem somewhat non-sequitur.

Anja M S Ariansen, Siri Gloppen, Lise Rakner, Kjell Arne Johansson, àòystein A Haaland (2020-05-30). [Correspondence] Time for global health diplomacy. thelancet.com 2019 was The Lancet's Year for Nutrition. Highlights included reports from the EAT-Lancet Commission1 and The Global Syndemic Commission,2 both emphasising that global trade systems must be transformed to ensure healthy and sustainable diets. But what developments can be expected following these reports? We might get an indication by considering what has happened since The Lancet's 2009 Trade and Health Series. This Series criticised the trade agreements of the World Trade Organization (WTO) for being detrimental to global health, among other things, by facilitating unhealthy diets.

Alison P Galvani, Meagan C Fitzpatrick (2020-05-30). [Correspondence] Cost-effectiveness of transitional US plans for universal health care. thelancet.com The USA stands alone as the only high-income country not to provide health care as a human right, leaving almost 80 million of its citizens without adequate insurance.1—3 In a 2020 study, we found that securing quality health care for the entire country would save 68‚Äà000 lives and 1 ∑73 million life-years annually.4…

Daniella Lent-Schochet, Glenn Yiu (2020-05-30). [Clinical Picture] Drusen in dense deposit disease: not just age-related macular degeneration. thelancet.com A 40-year-old woman was referred to our clinic by her optometrist because she had lesions on her retina suggestive of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). She was otherwise well: with no systemic or visual symptoms.

Paul Antonopoulos (2020-05-29). Trump Is No Longer Interested in Trade Deal with China? globalresearch.ca U.S. President Donald Trump is losing interest in the trade deal he made with China, according to his economic adviser, and the reason could be that as we progress further into the election season, fixing relations with China is less …

Max Blumenthal (2020-05-29). Exclusive images from inside British court expose Assange's un-democratic treatment, physical deterioration. thegrayzone.com Photographs surreptitiously taken inside a British courtroom and provided to The Grayzone show a visibly disoriented Julian Assange confined to…

Alan Macleod (2020-05-29). As Establishment Condemns China for Hong Kong Repression, Trump Tweets About "Shooting Looters" mintpressnews.com Democrats and Republicans are united in condemning Beijing for its overreach, but perhaps its time to look closer to home to find examples of state repression.

Stephen Lendman (2020-05-29). The Great US 2020 Wealth Transfer Heist. Deep Inequalities in US Society. globalresearch.ca In less than three-and-a-half years in office, Trump oversaw the Great GOP 2017 tax cut heist. | It handed corporate America and high-net-worth individuals a multi-billion dollar bonanza of enhanced wealth — followed this year by what I call 9/11 2.0, …

Stephen Lendman (2020-05-29). How Far Will the Trump Regime and Congress Push China? globalresearch.ca The US is waging undeclared war on China by other means. | Trump and congressional hardliners escalated things beyond where their predecessors went. | What's going on is all about aiming to undermine China's growing political, economic, financial, industrial, technological, and military …

Joshua Frank (2020-05-29). In Search of a Lost Socialism. counterpunch.org In May of 1914 — 107 years ago this month — a small, yet vibrant socialist colony on the edge of Los Angeles County took root that is worth revisiting. In the Age of Covid-19, and with the continued violent assault on black and brown people across the US, one must visualize a more peaceful,

Dave Lindorff (2020-05-29). Pandemic Crisis and Recession Can Spark a Fight for Real Change in the US. counterpunch.org American workers have a huge opportunity as a result of this coronavirus pandemic — an opportunity to massively expand union membership in the workplace, and a chance, after decades of being ignored by Congress, to finally win a desperately needed increase in the federal minimum wage from its current $7.25 per hour to at least

Ramzy Baroud (2020-05-29). Political Ambiguity or a Doomsday Weapon: Why Abbas Abandoned Oslo. counterpunch.org This time, we are told, it is different and that President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, is absolutely serious about his decision to absolve his leadership from all previous agreements signed with Israel and the United States. But this time is not different, and Abbas is not serious. "The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and

Philip Giraldi (2020-05-29). Trump the "Peace Candidate": Contemplating War During Pandemic against Two Global Competitors. Nuclear Weapons "Tests" against China and Russia. globalresearch.ca Let us consider why the Donald Trump White House is currently considering

WSWS (2020-05-29). Howie Hawkins and the Green Party: Capitalist politics in the guise of "ecosocialism" wsws.org Following Bernie Sanders's endorsement of Biden, the Green Party and its presumptive presidential nominee Hawkins are presenting themselves as the continuation of Sanders's "political revolution."

Sarah Lazare (2020-05-29). Minneapolis police leader defending George Floyd's killers tied to 'white power'-linked biker gang. thegrayzone.com From The Grayzone vault: The record of a pro-Trump Minneapolis police leader defending the killers of George Floyd reveals a…

Prof Michel Chossudovsky (2020-05-29). Michel Chossudovsky: Biographical Summary. globalresearch.ca There are a number of deliberate "errors" and omissions in Michel Chossudovsky's wikipedia entry. Defamatory statements. | The same applies to the wikipedia entry for Global Research which has been merged with Chossudovsky's entry. | Below is a biographical summary focussing …

South Front (2020-05-29). Video: Turkish Army Suffers Casualties in Southern Idlib. globalresearch.ca One Turkish soldier died and another was injured in an IED attack in Syria's southern Idlib, the Turkish Defense Ministry reported late on May 27. The incident happened while units of the Turkish Army and the Turkish-backed militant group Sham …

Andrew Levine (2020-05-29). Trump Is Unbeatable in the Race to the Bottom and So Is the GOP. counterpunch.org In the race to the bottom, Donald Trump is unbeatable. Therefore, so now too is the Republican Party; being under his thumb, it is with him, every step of the way. This is why Joe Biden will have a hard time losing in November, no matter how good he and other corporate Democrats are at

David Ruccio (2020-05-29). Corporate university—pandemic edition. mronline.org Will colleges and universities reopen in the fall? That's the question on the minds of many these day—administrators, faculty, staff, students, and their families, not to mention the communities in which they live.

Ron Jacobs (2020-05-29). The Odyssey of Elias Demetracopoulos. counterpunch.org In twenty-first-century mainstream media, a real journalist is difficult to find. Instead, one finds multiple purveyors of corporate and government propaganda, entertainers who sensationalize the most meaningless tidbits about the lives of public figures, faux investigations of misdoings that focus on the symptoms and not the causes, and outright liars. Elected and non-elected officials use

Pam Martens, Russ Martens (2020-05-29). A Growing Wave of Bankruptcies Threatens U.S. Recovery. counterpunch.org The bankruptcy epidemic in the U.S. started last year, long before any COVID-19 pandemic had touched down. U.S. retailers ranked among the greatest casualties of 2019 with a total of 17 bankruptcies. Big names among the retail bankruptcies in 2019 included Gymboree on January 16; Charlotte Russe on February 3; Things Remembered on February 6;

Staff (2020-05-29). Baltimore Mayoral Candidate Wants to Limit Mayoral Power. therealnews.com Baltimore's upcoming primary election will be notable and not just because residents will primarily vote by mail due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The mayoral election on June 2 comes after a massive corruption scandal led to a federal indictment against the previously-elected mayor in 2019. As a result of that corruption scandal, there is a heated debate over whether the city should reform its "Strong Mayor" system of governance that gives more power to Baltimore's City executive than any other major city, offers few checks on their power and many argue, enabled the 2019 scandal. | One leading mayoral candidate, Cit…

Staff (2020-05-29). Essential Remittances To Africa Devastated By Coronavirus Pandemic. therealnews.com Families dependent on remittances from seasonal workers are facing a crisis, even in countries without widespread COVID-19 cases.

Joe Piette (2020-05-29). Car caravan: Free Our Youth! workers.org Philadelphia As states across the U.S. took steps to stop the spread of COVID-19 — closing schools and workplaces, canceling events and shifting to supporting children in their homes and communities — one group of young people is being left behind: the nearly 50,000 youth locked up across the country. . . . |

Jim McMahan (2020-05-29). Packinghouse workers strike vs. bosses & COVID-19. workers.org Seattle May 24 — Strikes broke out May 7 in several apple packinghouses and continue in Washington state's Yakima Valley. Latinx workers are striking more than a half-dozen big, rich packinghouses. Fruit packers in Washington state are in their third week on strike. At least 400 workers have stayed out . . . |

Special to Workers World (2020-05-29). CUNY and the struggle against COVID-19 cuts. workers.org Special to Workers World The City University of New York is the largest urban public university system in the United States. It has 275,000 students, spread over 11 senior colleges funded by New York state; seven community colleges, funded by New York City; and seven postgraduate institutions. Its students are . . . |

Miko Peled (2020-05-29). "Deadly Exchange": America's Racist Policing Has Roots in Israel. mintpressnews.com During training sessions in Israel, American police delegations meet with Israeli military, police, and intelligence agencies and taught what Israel calls counterterrorism, but is in fact no more than "refining methods of racial profiling."

Raul Diego (2020-05-29). Police Deny Any Connection to Mysterious Minneapolis "Umbrella Man" Saboteur. mintpressnews.com Regardless of the truth behind who started the fires and the looting, the rage felt by the people of Minneapolis and elsewhere is the result of a deep and profound problem in this country that cannot go on.

Charles Pierson (2020-05-29). Who are the "Wrong Hands" in Yemen? counterpunch.org Politics makes strange bedfellows. Some of them want to kill us. Take Abu Abbas (as Henny Youngman used to say: "Please."). Abu Abbas (a nom de guerre for one Adil Abduh Fari al-Dabhani) is the founder and leader of the Abu Abbas brigade, a militia fighting on the government side in Yemen. Abbas and his

Tim Wise (2020-05-29). Protest, Uprisings, and Race War. counterpunch.org The moralizing has begun. Those who have rarely been the target of organized police gangsterism are once again lecturing those who have about how best to respond to it. Be peaceful, they implore, as protesters rise up in Minneapolis and across the country in response to the killing of George Floyd. This, coming from the

Monica Moorehead (2020-05-29). Against police violence and capitalism, to rebel is justified. workers.org Workers World salutes all the brave protesters in Minneapolis, currently ground zero against police terror. We also salute those activists in Los Angeles, Memphis and other cities who are organizing protests and braving the pandemic to be in the streets or in car caravans to show solidarity with the demand: . . . |

T.J. Coles (2020-05-29). What's NATO Up to These Days? Provoking Russia, Draining Healthcare Budgets and Protecting Its Own from COVID. counterpunch.org In November 2019, as experts warned that a novel coronavirus was likely to develop in the near-future, NATO boasted that its European Allies, including the UK, as well as Canada, were boosting their military budgets by an average of 4.6 percent, or an additional $130bn since 2016. The implication is that this increase in military spending is at the expense of healthcare, which is being privatized worldwide.

Pratyush Chandra (2020-05-29). Bethune's socialized medicine and the public health crisis today. mronline.org We are at war! The heads of states throughout the globe are posing as chieftains in this quixotic war against an enemy who no one understands.

Prabir Purkayastha (2020-05-29). U.S. declares a vaccine war on the World. mronline.org Donald Trump launched a new vaccine war in May, but not against the virus. It was against the world.

Staff (2020-05-29). New Details Of Deadly No-Knock Warrant Shows Just How Reckless Police Can Be. therealnews.com PAR uncovers new information on the dangers of serving no-knock warrants and analyzes the raid that killed 26-year-old EMT Breonna Taylor. Cop watcher Kenneth Dunham alleges continued intimidation from local Oregon police.

Staff (2020-05-29). New Details Of Deadly No-Knock Warrant Show Just How Reckless Police Can Be. therealnews.com PAR uncovers new information on the dangers of serving no-knock warrants and analyzes the raid that killed 26-year-old EMT Breonna Taylor. Cop watcher Kenneth Dunham alleges continued intimidation from local Oregon police.

James O'Neill (2020-05-29). Western Reaction to China Shows the Bad Old Days Haven't Passed. dissidentvoice.org One of the most tiresome clichés uttered by the western nations, including Australia, is their alleged commitment to the "rules based international order". By this they generally mean a set of rules of supposed international authority, to which all developed nations are expected to adhere. Those who allegedly failed to do so are labelled as …

David Schultz (2020-05-29). Trump isn't the Pope and This Ain't the Middle Ages. counterpunch.org President Trump orders governors to open up the churches. Churches defy governors and seek to open. Someone needs to remind both the president and religious institutions that the Middle Ages are over and Modernity won. President Trump and many religious institutions are pushing arguments reminiscent of those found in the Medieval Christian Europe where secular

Paul Buhle (2020-05-29). Why Does W.E.B. Du Bois Matter Today? counterpunch.org In their new book, W.E.B. Du Bois: A Life in American History,Charisse Burden-Stelly and Gerald Horne pose the question that every scholar of African American history, a central part of all US history, must sooner or later approach. W.E.B. Du Bois is without question one of the largest, perhaps the very largest, figure in African-American history.

Benjamin Dangl (2020-05-29). Bibles at the Barricades: How the Right Seized Power in Bolivia. counterpunch.org Returning to La Paz, Bolivia after last November's coup was like returning to the scene of a crime. Since Bolivian President Evo Morales was removed from power, right-wing interim President Jeanine àÅñez has led the country with an iron fist. State repression immediately following the coup left dozens dead and the government has been throwing

Mike Bader (2020-05-29). The Only Way to Save Grizzlies: Connect Their Habitats. counterpunch.org Linkages, biological corridors, demographic connectivity or intervening areas. These are the lands outside and between the Grizzly Bear Recovery Areas in the Northern Rockies. Over the past 20 years grizzly bears have begun to recolonize this historic habitat, increasing the possibilities of linking genetically isolated populations and reestablishing a breeding population in the vast Bitterroot

Jonathan Cook (2020-05-29). Emily Maitlis is No Media Hero: She Simply Forgot What She and the BBC Are There To Do. dissidentvoice.org The wrong conclusions are being drawn about Emily Maitlis's comments on Dominic Cummings on the BBC flagship Newsnight show this week. Her remarks are not evidence of her courage, or that journalists are being gagged, or that the BBC is suddenly capitulating to the government. | The problem is caused by our desire to focus on whether Maitlis was right or wrong about Cummings, Boris Johnson's chief adviser, breaking the lockdown rules. But it is actually a distraction to fixate on the issue of whether Maitlis should or should not have been allowed to express the widely shared view — supported by a police…

Vijay Prashad (2020-05-29). If you do not feel for humanity, you have forgotten to be human. mronline.org The coronavirus continues its contagious march across the planet: almost 350,000 known deaths and over 5.4 million people infected. Meanwhile, in the Bay of Bengal, Cyclone Amphan makes its fierce landing, its immense energy tearing a corridor through Bangladesh and India (Odisha and West Bengal).

Global Research News (2020-05-29). Selected Articles: The Horrific Minneapolis Police Killing of George Floyd. globalresearch.ca Do you value the reporting and in-depth analysis provided by Global Research on a daily basis? | Click to | * * * | |

Kevin Alexander Gray, Jeffrey St. Clair, JoAnn Wypijewski (2020-05-29). There is No Peace: an Incitement to Justice. counterpunch.org Summer 2014: a year since George Zimmerman was acquitted for killing Trayvon Martin. Another summer of violence and justification: US shells incinerating Palestinian children, devastating UN refuges in Gaza, pounding Afghan villages, again. Another trial of another white man who says he was scared, who had to defend himself with a blast of ammunition against

Mat Ward (2020-05-29). 10 radical new albums to banish your coronavirus blues. greenleft.org.au

Staff (2020-05-29). As Pandemic Epicenter Shifts to Latin America, Gov'ts Use COVID-19 as Pretext for Police Repression. democracynow.org As the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic shifts to Latin America, so too has the use of COVID-19 as a pretext for police repression. "We're seeing that COVID-19, like other pandemics before it, magnifies structural discrimination. And sadly, it's often the most marginalized that are the first targets," says Louise Tillotson, co-author of a new Amnesty International report on the abuse. We also go to San Salvador to speak with journalist Jorge Cuéllar.

Staff (2020-05-29). "It Was Murder": Minneapolis Demands Charges in Police Killing of George Floyd, Calls to Defund Cops. democracynow.org As thousands take to the streets of Minneapolis to protest against the police killing of George Floyd for the third night in a row, we go to Minneapolis to speak with City Councilmember Jeremiah Ellison. Police pointed an automatic rifle at his head in 2015 when he was peacefully protesting the police killing of another African American man, Jamar Clark. We also speak with Kandace Montgomery with the Black Visions Collective, which is calling for the abolition of police.

Staff (2020-05-29). Twitter Warns Trump Tweet Glorifies Violence as He Signs Executive Order to Weaken Social Media. democracynow.org As President Trump calls Minneapolis protesters "THUGS" and tweets, "when the looting starts, the shooting starts," Twitter flags the tweet with a warning it glorifies violence, just as Trump signs an executive order to punish social media companies for how they monitor content. "Trump has prospered through his use of social media and its attention-hoarding algorithms to basically disinform and misinform people," says Ramesh Srinivasan, professor in the Department of Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.

_____ (2020-05-29). 'Sanctions can't solve problems': EU rules out punishing China over Hong Kong. rt.com While the US has vowed "powerful action" against Beijing over its handling of the unrest in Hong Kong, the EU has made it clear that sanctions are not the way to resolve tensions over the national security legislation. | "I don't think that sanctions are the way to solve problems in China," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said during a press briefing on Friday. All members of the bloc bar one have brushed aside the prospect of sanctions being imposed on Beijing, he said. | Likewise, Brussels won't put its dealings with Beijing on hold, and the 2020 EU-China summit — which has been postponed due to t…

RT (2020-05-29). Hero Moscow taxi driver saves woman from capture & torture after she orders a ride. rt.com A Russian taxi driver is being hailed as a hero for helping to save a woman from captivity. While en route to pick her up, the hostage relayed her story to the driver through a taxi app, he subsequently called the cops.

RT (2020-05-29). 'Don't throw money at black Americans to riot': Candace Owens spars with Soros-funded NGO over alleged hand in Minneapolis unrest. rt.com Conservative firebrand Candace Owens has started a feud with Open Society Foundations, after accusing the George Soros-funded NGO of fueling the ongoing riots in Minneapolis. | Owens speculated that the fires and looting in Minneapolis was being carried out by activists linked to the billionaire, after noting that Police Chief Medaria Arradondo claimed the criminal activity was being instigated by people not native to the city. | "My guess: As he did with Antifa, Democrat George Soros has these thugs on payroll. He is funding the chaos via his Open Society Foundation," the conservative commentator tweeted. | T…

_____ (2020-05-29). Saudi Arabia, UN to host virtual Yemen donors conference next week. rt.com Saudi Arabia confirmed on Friday it will host a virtual donors conference next week for Yemen, together with the United Nations. Yemen's government was ousted from the capital Sanaa by the Houthi movement in 2014, before a Saudi-led military coalition intervened in 2015 to try to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. | A directive from King Salman confirmed Tuesday's donor conference in Riyadh, where the UN aspires to raise $2.4 billion for the world's biggest aid operation, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency. | Millions need aid in Yemen, and the nation risks being overwhelmed by the coronaviru…

RT (2020-05-29). Staff with no masks, bosses likening Covid-19 to flu: US family tell RT of legal vendetta over their father's death at care home. rt.com An elderly Californian died a lonely death after sharing a room with a Covid-19 patient at a care home where staff weren't allowed to wear masks as bosses feared the facility could be shut down, his daughter and lawyer told RT.

RT (2020-05-29). Denmark will conduct random checks for Covid-19 at borders and holiday sites, PM says. rt.com Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has said random checks for the Covid-19 virus will be carried out at the country's borders and holiday destinations as it prepares to reopen to visitors from some European countries. | Frederiksen said Friday that Denmark will open its borders to tourists from Norway, Germany and Iceland on June 15. She said tourists who wish to visit must book in advance a hotel outside of Copenhagen for at least six nights. | "Like everyone else, we are opening Denmark again. We are doing it in a controlled and gradual manner," Frederiksen said. | The country is planning to reopen its…

_____ (2020-05-29). Monkeys attack lab technician, STEAL Covid-19 blood samples in India. rt.com A gang of monkeys assaulted an employee of a medical college in northern India and snatched blood samples of coronavirus-positive patients from him, causing panic among locals. | The brazen attack took place in broad daylight on the campus of the state-run medical college in the town of Meerut in the state of Uttar Pradesh earlier this week. | The laboratory technician was transporting the tests from four patients undergoing treatment for Covid-19. All of a sudden, "monkeys grabbed and fled with the blood samples," Dr. S. K. Garg, a top official at the college, told Reuters. | The authorities said it wasn't cl…

_____ (2020-05-29). Showing two fingers to 'the science'? BoJo gives green light to lockdown lifting despite NO CHANGE in coronavirus threat level. rt.com The UK government has been accused of reneging on its promise to always be led "by the science," after its signaled lockdown measures will be relaxed — even though coronavirus threat levels will not be lowered. | During Downing Street's daily briefing to the media on Friday, it was confirmed that the easing of lockdown and social distancing measures will still go ahead as planned from Monday, even though the threat coronavirus poses to the country has not changed. | PM Boris Johnson had told MPs on Wednesday that he was optimistic the Covid-19 alert system could be lowered from level 4 to level 3, but th…

_____ (2020-05-29). 3 years of 'isolation': Qatar denies rumors it plans to exit Gulf bloc. rt.com Qatar has denied that it plans to quit the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), as Doha prepares to mark three years of isolation led by the regional bloc's heavyweight Saudi Arabia. The gas-rich state cautioned, however, that the effort to isolate Doha economically and politically meant people in the region were "doubting" the GCC. | Rumors of Qatar's imminent departure from the GCC, founded in 1981 and headquartered in Riyadh, have been swirling in Gulf capitals in recent weeks. Qatar's Assistant Foreign Minister Lolwah Al-Khater told AFP that "reports claiming that Qatar is considering leaving the GCC are wholly…

_____ (2020-05-29). Toxic vapor leak discovered at Russia's space booster in French Guiana. rt.com A toxic vapor leak was detected coming from the Russian Fregat upper-stage rocket which is stored at the space center in French Guiana. It was supposed to deliver satellites, but the operation was halted over the coronavirus. | The oxidizer vapor detection system at the booster's storage facility began giving sporadic alarm signals a week ago, the press-service of Russia's space agency Roscosmos said. | A group of experts from the makers of the rocket at NPO Lavochkin and other Russian space industry firms are getting ready to make the journey to French Guiana, which borders Brazil and Suriname. They're expect…

_____ (2020-05-29). Ankara may begin oil exploration in E. Mediterranean under Libya deal in 3-4 months — minister. rt.com Turkey may begin oil exploration in the eastern Mediterranean within three or four months under a deal it signed with Libya, Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said on Friday. The agreement has been condemned by others in the region. | Libya's internationally-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) signed the maritime delimitation deal last year with Ankara. Turkey says it creates an exclusive economic zone from its southern coast to Libya's northeast coast, and protects rights to resources. | Greece, Cyprus and others oppose the accord and call it illegal, an accusation Ankara has rejected. The EU also oppos…

RT (2020-05-29). Minneapolis 'thugs' vs Hong Kong 'protesters': Chinese paper accuses Trump of hypocrisy over riots. rt.com President Donald Trump has threatened to stamp out looting and riots in Minnesota with the military. However, his administration's support for rioters in Hong Kong has drawn criticism from China's most influential newspaper. | The death of an unarmed black man at the hands of two police officers in Minneapolis sparked a wave of rioting in the Minnesota city when a video of the incident was made public this week. Now, after three days of violence, looting and arson, President Trump has threatened to send in the military, warning the "thugs" involved that "when the looting starts, the shooting starts." | Hu Xiji…

_____ (2020-05-29). Twitter at war? Trump's warning to Minnesota 'thugs' flagged for 'glorifying violence'. rt.com Twitter has claimed Donald Trump violated its rules by vowing a tough response to rioting in Minnesota. The social media platform flagged the tweet, saying it "glorified violence." | The US president tweeted that he would take action if order was not restored to Minneapolis. | "We will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts," Trump wrote, noting that the military could get involved. | | © Twitter | Hours later, Twitter attached a notice to…

RT (2020-05-29). 'When the looting starts, the shooting starts': Trump says military is ready to act against Minneapolis 'THUGS'. rt.com US President Donald Trump has vowed decisive action to quell unrest in Minneapolis, sparked by the police killing of an unarmed black man, threatening to get the military involved if the city's mayor won't do the job "right." | The ultimatum came early on Friday morning from the president's Twitter handle, slamming Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey as "very weak" and a "radical left mayor," while warning that the federal government would take over the situation if local authorities don't bring it under control. | "I can't stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis. A total lack of leadersh…

RT (2020-05-29). Minneapolis 'WAR ZONE': Rioters take over POLICE STATION amid clashes, fires & tear gas (VIDEOS). rt.com Demonstrators have broken into a Minneapolis police headquarters, setting fires and destroying everything in sight amid unrest unleashed by the killing of a local black man at the hands of law enforcement. | The Minneapolis Police Department's 3rd precinct headquarters was breached late on Thursday night, with a raucous crowd of protesters seen filing into the building, smashing windows and some attempting to set it ablaze. | Also on rt.com | | Precinct is…

_____ (2020-05-29). Twitter blocks WHITE HOUSE tweet for 'glorifying violence' after it reposts Trump warning from official government account. rt.com Twitter has hidden a warning from US President Donald Trump to the Minnesota governor behind a censorship notice, as well as the tweet from the official White House account reposting the president's message. | The social media platform warned that the president's message to Democratic governor Tim Walz about sending in the National Guard "violated the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence." | | © Twitter | The tweet, posted from the @WhiteHouse account, repeated the content of an earlier tweet Trump had posted from his personal account (which was also covered by the censorship message about "glorifyin…

_____ (2020-05-29). 'White liberal Hillary supporters bigger threat than the KKK': CNN's Van Jones channels Malcolm X with warning. rt.com CNN commentator Van Jones has invoked the wrath of a thousand Karens, warning black people that they have more to fear from "white liberal Hillary Clinton supporters" who pretend to be allies than they do from the KKK. | Declaring that the black community is "fragile" and "tired" after years of lies about "progress" always being around the next corner even as innocent black men are killed in broad daylight, Jones took aim at who he believed was responsible. "It's not the racist white person who's in the Ku Klux Klan that we have to worry about," he said on CNN on Friday. "It's the white liberal Hillary Clinton…

_____ (2020-05-29). FBI seeks more proof of 'criminal excessive force' in George Floyd killing as outraged public demands immediate arrests. rt.com The FBI and local prosecutors say they need more evidence before they can file charges against officers involved in the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Angry residents claim investigators are dragging their feet. | While Minnesota officials said a "robust and meticulous" probe into Floyd's death is underway at a press conference on Thursday, they noted the investigation still needed to show that the officers broke any laws, with Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman warning against any hasty indictments. | "I will not rush to justice, I'm going to do this right," Freeman said, adding that the footage of…

_____ (2020-05-29). WATCH Russian jets chase US nuclear bombers away from country's borders. rt.com Russian jets were scrambled to intercept US B-1B Lancer strategic bombers, which approached the country's airspace over the Black and Baltic Seas, with the high-altitude action captured on video. | The American nuclear-capable warplanes heading in the direction of Russian airspace were first tracked by radar, before the Sukhoi Su-27P and Su-30SM were sent to greet them in the skies above neutral Black Sea waters. | The jets approached the US bombers at a "safe distance," with the move resulting in the B-1Bs reversing their course, the Defense Ministry said as it released the footage. | The Russian planes th…

_____ (2020-05-29). Several people shot as enraged rioters try to FLIP police van in Louisville (VIDEO). rt.com A turbulent rally in Louisville quickly escalated into chaos, with several people injured by gunfire that rang out when protesters began to violently shake a police vehicle. | Shots were fired on Thursday evening just as hundreds of people were expressing outrage over the police killing of Breonna Taylor, a local woman, during a raid at her house in March. | The violent demonstration began shortly after the media published a 911 call from Taylor's boyfriend, who reported the shooting. At the time, he was unaware the woman was shot by uniformed officers. | The shooting could be heard on multiple livestreams of…

RT (2020-05-29). Thanks, but no thanks? Trump rebuffed after offering to mediate India-China border standoff. rt.com Both New Delhi and Beijing have signaled a lack of interest in Donald Trump involving himself in their affairs, after the US president suggested he could help resolve a territorial dispute between the two nations. | China and India have been engaged in a tense border dispute, with reports earlier this month of military build-up and clashes. Trump said earlier this week that he was "ready, willing and able to mediate" between the two countries — but it appears neither Beijing nor New Delhi are particularly enticed by his offer. | "China and India are capable of properly resolving the issues through dialogu…

RT (2020-05-29). EU foreign ministers agree on tougher China policy but are ready for 'honest dialogue'. rt.com Foreign ministers from EU states agreed to toughen their strategy on China on Friday amid concerns about China's new security law for Hong Kong, Reuters said. The ministers had a meeting via video link for the first discussion before two EU-China summits this year. One is expected at the end of June and another in September. | "We need, and are ready, to have an open and honest dialogue with China," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters after the meeting. "There's a lack of progress on negotiations (on market access for European companies in China)," Borrell said. | The bloc will prepare a new E…

_____ (2020-05-29). Russian military, diplomats to negotiate agreement with Syria on more facilities & maritime access. rt.com President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's defense and foreign ministries on Friday to hold talks with Damascus, with a view to Moscow obtaining additional facilities and maritime access in Syria. | A protocol could be signed to the agreement with Syria on deploying Russia's air task force, which stipulates the transfer of additional facilities and water area to the force, according to the president's instruction posted on the government's legal information web portal. | The ministries were instructed to hold negotiations with the Syrian side and, upon reaching an agreement, sign the protocol on Russia's behalf…

_____ (2020-05-29). Austria says shoppers won't need to wear face masks from June 15 as lockdown rules are relaxed. rt.com Austria's shoppers will no longer be required to wear face masks, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Friday, as he outlined the next phase of loosening coronavirus restrictions. "Face masks will no longer be compulsory in shops or in school," Kurz told reporters. The changes will take effect on June 15. | Masks will still be compulsory on public transport, in health facilities including pharmacies, and at service providers where social distancing cannot be ensured, such as hairdressers. | A limit allowing bars and restaurants to seat no more than four adults at a table will be lifted, and a mandatory closing ti…

RT (2020-05-29). Trump, Macron agree G7 meeting should be held in person, White House says. rt.com US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed that the G7 meeting should be held in person, and in the near future, the White House has said. The two leaders discussed the issue in a phone call on Thursday. | In March, Trump canceled the Group of Seven leaders meeting scheduled for June 10 in the United States. The move came as the coronavirus outbreak was spreading around the world and international travel was curtailed. | Last week, Trump said he may seek to revive the idea of a face-to-face meeting, because he said it would send a message that the world is getting back to normal. He…

Stephen Sefton (2020-05-29). The US Violent Failed Coup against Nicaragua. The Falsity of Western Media. globalresearch.ca On May 28th 2018, the organizers of that year's violent failed coup attempt executed a carefully planned, well coordinated attack to destroy the pro-government Sandinista radio station Nueva Radio Ya. During the attack,

Staff (2020-05-29). Headlines for May 29, 2020. democracynow.org Protests Rage After Minneapolis Prosecutor Does Not Bring Charges Against Officers Who Killed George Floyd, Scores Tear-Gassed, Arrested as Protests Against George Floyd's Killing Spread to Other Cities, Twitter Flags Trump Tweet for Glorifying Violence After President Attacks Minnesota Protesters as "THUGS", Trump Executive Order Threatens to Punish Social Media Companies over Fact-Checking, U.S. Economy Sheds Another 2.1 Million Jobs, Leaving 40.7 Million Unemployed Since Start of Pandemic, Pennsylvania Democratic Lawmakers Accuse Republicans of Knowingly Exposing Them to Coronavirus, Protesters Demand ICE Empt…

Gareth Porter (2020-05-29). Gareth Porter — Ep 65. thealtworld.com E-Book PDF (transcripts): Gareth Porter stops by the podcast to discuss his long standing work on the Vietnam war, his thoughts on COVID-19 via the USS Theodore Roosevelt along with his previous work on the 1919 flu epi…

Andrea Germanos, staff writer (2020-05-29). Rep. Katie Porter Accuses UnitedHealth of 'Putting Profits Before Patients and Providers' in Midst of Pandemic. commondreams.org "It's flat out wrong for the world's largest insurance company to pass costs on to families in the middle of a pandemic—I want answers." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/unitedhealth_coronavirus.jpg

Mark Fiore (2020-05-29). Screen Shot 2020-05-28 at 3.31.34 PM.png. progressive.org The Trump Administration is handling the COVID-19 pandemic in the same way the Trump Organization has handled the real estate business—with bluster, overconfidence, and fudged numbers.

Ari Paul (2020-05-29). Coverage of School Reopening Needs to Include School Workers. commondreams.org School closures have created some of the most trying ordeals for families in this pandemic. (Photo: carl_hfser/flickr) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/education_poverty_0.jpg

commondreams (2020-05-29). ACLU Statement On Trump Tweet Directing the National Guard to Murder Protesters in Minneapolis. commondreams.org ______________________________…

WSWS (2020-05-29). Mass anger erupts throughout the US in protests against police murder of George Floyd. wsws.org The police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis has set off a wave of social anger, sparking demonstrations in Kentucky, Colorado, California, Ohio and other states throughout the country.

Global Research News (2020-05-29). Video: How to Start a Riot? Police Provocateurs Dressed up as "Activists" at Peaceful Anti-Globalization Rally. globalresearch.ca Peaceful protesters stop police provocateurs from starting a riot at the Stop the SPP protests in Montebello Quebec in 2007. | "About 1,200 protesters were in the small resort town near Ottawa as Prime Minister Stephen Harper met with U.S. …

Unicorn Riot (2020-05-29). Twin Cities Protest Death of George Floyd: Day #3. unicornriot.ninja Minneapolis, MN — Protesters are continuing to gather outside the Minneapolis Police (MPD) 3rd Precinct building today after extended protests and clashes with police yesterday. The Twin Cities is still engulfed in mass outrage after MPD officer Derek Chauvin was filmed choking a black man…

Julia Conley, staff writer (2020-05-29). After Days of Protest, Police Officer Derek Chauvin Charged With 3rd Degree Murder for Killing George Floyd. commondreams.org Following three days of intense demonstrations in Minneapolis over the killing of George Floyd by a police officer while three other officers stood by, Derek Chauvin was taken into custody by state authorities Friday afternoon. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/200529-derek-chauvin-arrested.jpg

Palo Alto Protest (2020-05-29). Ceremony Marks 100,000 US Deaths from COVID-19. indybay.org Neighbors joined in, everyone observing safe distancing for a brief ceremony in Palo Alto on May 26. Less than 24 hours later, the count was official…100,000 in the US have died of COVID-19.

Robert Norse (2020-05-29). An Updated Letter to SCPD Police Chief Mills in the Wake of the George Floyd Murder. indybay.org In anticipation of possible protests in Santa Cruz regarding police violence and racial injustice, I've written Chief Andy Mills a follow-up letter regarding concerns I expressed 2 1/2 years ago. I begin with an earlier letter I sent him, and his responses to that letter. Attempts to get more detailed information were unsuccessful.

Read Black's Law Dictionary (2020-05-29). Manslaughter & 3rd degree murder charge for Kneeling Cop Chauvin. indybay.org After 48 hours of protest in Minnesota of the vicious murder by suffocation of a black man, George Floyd, on May 25, 2020, by 4 Minneapolis police, one of whom, Derek Chauvin, was caught on a video kneeling on the neck of handcuffed Floyd for 9 minutes, killing him, while his fellow thug cops allowed this murder to occur, only Chauvin was arrested on 5/29/30, and charged with 3rd degree murder and manslaughter! This low level of charge should have every attorney in this country screaming since it is a ringing indictment of the whole rotten legal system in this backward, racist, police state in which we live.

Fed Up Facebook User (2020-05-29). Fed-up Facebook Users Urge Shareholders To "Wake The Zuck Up" : Protesters Projected Messa. indybay.org Don't Let Facebook ZUCK Up our Democracy, a coalition of media advocacy organizations, human rights groups, pro-democracy activists, and fed-up Facebook users projected messages to Facebook shareholders on the evening before the annual Facebook shareholders meeting. The messages were projected onto Facebook's San Francisco offices at 181 Fremont Street.

yenisafak (2020-05-29). US: Ohio 'Can't breathe' protests turn violent. yenisafak.com Hundreds of protestors stormed the State House in the capital Columbus amid clashes with police.Videos circulating on social media showed protestors smashing the building's windows.Local TV station WCMH reported that the officers responded with tear gas.Shortly before the demonstrations turned violent, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said that he understands the protestors' anger but urged them to remain peaceful."I understand why some residents are angry and taking to the streets. I have said many times that racism exists across the country, state, and right here in Columbus. We are committed to addressing racism…

WSWS (2020-05-29). Germany: Defend climate activist group "Ende Gelà§nde" against the secret service. wsws.org An official secret service report classifies the climate change movement "Ende Gelà§nde" ("End of the Road"), which has organized several mass protests against opencast lignite mining, as "left-wing extremist."

Fight Back (2020-05-29). Chicanos in Boyle Heights to participate in the National Day of Action May 30. fightbacknews.org Los Angeles, CA – On Saturday, May 30 at 3 p.m. Centro Community Service Organization (CSO) will be participating in the National Day of Protest to demand the mass release of all prisoners due to COVID-19. The action is called by the National Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression and CSO is an affiliated organization with the Alliance. We are protesting the murders of Ahmaud Aubery in Georgia, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, and George Floyd in Minneapolis because they are outraging, and we must demand justice. This lynch-style, racist terrorism must stop and perpetrators must be punished. | The Boyle Heig…

_____ (2020-05-29). Minneapolis Protests Police Murder Of George Floyd: Day 2. popularresistance.org Protesters are continuing to gather outside the Minneapolis Police (MPD) 3rd Precinct building today after extended protests and clashes with police yesterday. The Twin Cities is still engulfed in mass outrage after MPD officer Derek Chauvin was filmed choking a black man named George Floyd to death in a disturbing video that went viral Monday night. On Wednesday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called on Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman to file criminal charges against Officer Chauvin. Chauvin and three other officers involved in Floyd's were fired on Tuesday. Such a quick firing of officers after a police kil…

_____ (2020-05-29). Bus Drivers Refuse To Help Police, Prison Labor Replaces Meatpackers And More. popularresistance.org With protests erupting all over Minneapolis over the death of George Floyd, cops are attempting to arrest protesters in mass. | However, some bus drivers in Minneapolis are refusing to use their buses to transport protestors to jail. | "As a transit worker and union member, I refuse to transport my class and radical youth," Minneapolis bus driver Adam Burch told Payday. "An injury to one is an injury to all. The police murdered George Floyd and the protest against is completely justified and should continue until their demands are met." | While it would be illegal for Burch's union to call for a wildcat strike, h…

_____ (2020-05-29). Rent Strike: Can't Pay, Won't Pay. popularresistance.org The Covid-19 crisis has triggered an international rent strike. Housing activists hope to build strong networks of solidarity as a financial crisis and mass evictions loom. Across the world, significant amounts of people have stopped paying rent, and in some places mortgage payments, in the wake of Covid-19. Many simply don't have the money and now face homelessness. Rent strikes are taking place in the US, Spain, Canada, France, Britain, South Africa, and elsewhere as activists call for a stop to rent payments and evictions and for everyone to have shelter and space to get through the pandemic. Most of us would…

MBNJSD (2020-05-29). Who Are the Secret Puppet-Masters Behind Trump's War on Iran? dissidentvoice.org On May 6th, President Trump vetoed a war powers bill specifying that he must ask Congress for authorization to use military force against Iran. Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign of deadly sanctions and threats of war against Iran has seen no let-up, even as the U.S., Iran and the whole world desperately need to set aside …

David Sirota (2020-05-29). Democrats fueling corporate counter-revolution against progressives. zcomm.org Democrats in Washington are not just passively failing to mount an opposition to Trump. They are actively helping Republicans…

Manuel Pérez Rocha (2020-05-29). Corporate Lawsuits Could Devastate Poor Countries Grappling With COVID-19. commondreams.org www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/cusco.jpg

WSWS (2020-05-29). American ruling class exploits the pandemic to escalate assault on jobs and wages. wsws.org Major US corporations that have received billions in government bailout money are slashing thousands of jobs while protecting their corporate executives and biggest shareholders.

J.P. Linstroth (2020-05-29). Arundhati Roy on Indian Migrant-Worker Oppression and India's Fateful COVID Crisis. counterpunch.org In India there is never one story but thousands, even millions, and so the detrimental impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) on this country of more than 1.3 billion, especially among the poor, has been profound, causing immense suffering. Nor did it help matters much when Prime Minister Narendra Modi shut India into immediate lockdown without warning

WSWS (2020-05-29). City University of New York to lay off thousands of adjunct faculty amid financial crisis. wsws.org The City University of New York system is beginning to implement sweeping budget cuts triggered by New York state's estimated $13.3 billion loss in tax revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

news.un (2020-05-29). Nine in 10 smokers start before they are 18 years old, warns WHO. news.un.org Tobacco products continue to kill eight million people a year who get hooked via a $9 billion a year marketing strategy. That's the warning from the UN World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday, which has said that even during a global pandemic, the tobacco and nicotine industry has continued to promote products that limit people's ability to fight new coronavirus and recover from the disease.

Samuel Gilbert (2020-05-29). US south-west in grip of historic 'megadrought', research finds. theguardian.com Intensified by climate change, the current 20-year arid period is one of the worst on record, with wide-ranging effectsWhen Ken Pimlott began fighting US wildfires at the age of 17, they seemed to him to be a brutal but manageable natural phenomenon. Related:

WSWS (2020-05-29). Ontario takes over running of nursing homes where military documented systematic negligence. wsws.org Decades of austerity, privatizations and the gutting of workers' wages and conditions have resulted in a massive loss of life from COVID-19 in Canada's long-term care facilities.

newsnetwork.mayoclinic (2020-05-29). Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast: What we know about virus transmission. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the most common mode of transmission for COVID-19 is through close contact from person to person. While it is possible that someone can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose or possibly their eyes, this …

Dan Froomkin (2020-05-29). Reminder to the Press: Trump's Deadly Covid-19 Failures Are Still Happening. commondreams.org When it comes to the virus, Washington is doing basically none of the things we need it to do. (Photo: Pete Marovich/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/trump-tweetin_0.jpg

Mark Rice-Oxley (2020-05-29). The best of a bad situation: this week's Covid-19 silver linings. theguardian.com Not all the news is grim. The Upside report uncovers the latest bright sides and uplifting storiesThere's a mean old phrase out there about the relative skills of the teaching profession: "Those who can, do; those who can't, teach."It needs updating for the coronavirus era. More than two months after our educators were ordered into confinement and told to instruct their charges using little more than unfamiliar software and bags of enthusiasm, we need a new epigram.

WSWS (2020-05-29). Russia's right-wing opposition tries to gain from COVID-19 crisis. wsws.org As President Vladimir Putin's poll numbers fall to historically low levels, right-wing opposition leader Alexei Navalny seeks to present himself as a defender of health care workers and "the people."

Dr. Malcolm Kendrick (2020-05-29). I've Signed Death Certificates During COVID-19. Here's Why You Can't Trust Any of the Statistics on the Number of Victims. globalresearch.ca As an NHS doctor, I've seen people die and be listed as a victim of coronavirus without ever being tested for it. But unless we have accurate data, we won't know which has killed more: the disease or the lockdown?…

Mark Taliano (2020-05-29). Fabricated Shocks and Open Windows. globalresearch.ca Fabricated shocks open the window to Emergency laws and emergency guidelines that would otherwise require more transparency. | The shock surrounding Covid-19 — a virus with Low Infection Fatality rates — precipitated changes to procedures and guidelines concerning the diagnosis of …

Agence France-Presse (2020-05-29). Monkeys steal Covid-19 test samples from health worker in India. theguardian.com Blood samples later recovered undamaged after fears incident could have helped spread virus

David Penner (2020-05-29). We are Being Held Hostage to Unfettered Capitalism: not to Trump, Racism, the Chinese or COVID-19. dissidentvoice.org As the US continues to be ravaged by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the country remains in lockdown, a morbid irony of which is that we appear to have traded COVID-19 deaths for suicides. The catastrophe has laid bare the cruelties of neoliberalism, yet this has not stopped the media from unleashing a barrage of misinformation, blaming …

_____ (2020-05-29). UN News — reports of the pandemic from around the world. truepublica.org.uk Mozambique school children face 'catastrophic' fall-out from COVID-19 School children in Mozambique are facing what a senior United Nations and World Bank official in the southern African country are calling "catastrophic outcomes" from the COVID-19 pandemic. By the UN Resident Coordinator in Mozambique, Myrta Kaulard, and Mark Lundell, World Bank Country Director. READ MORE >>> Yemen aid …

WSWS (2020-05-29). Sri Lankan government responds to rising COVID-19 infections by abandoning expatriate workers. wsws.org The Rajapakse government's ruthless attitude towards the stranded migrant workers is matched by its hostility to ordinary people inside Sri Lankan.

Helena Smith in Athens (2020-05-29). Cyprus offers to cover cost of holidays affected by coronavirus. theguardian.com Free healthcare for Covid-19 patients and hotel expenses for dependents will give island unbeatable edge, it says

Roger Harris (2020-05-29). Blaming the COVID-19 Pandemic on Too Many Humans: a Critique of Overpopulation Ideology. counterpunch.org A world gripped by a deadly virus has precipitated a deluge of punditry claiming to have found the primal cause of the pandemic. In a recent article Anthony Judge, for example, claims to have tapped into "the collective subconscious" to blame what he calls overpopulation. How well does this claim hold up? Mr. Judge is concerned

WSWS (2020-05-29). With support from the teacher unions, Trump demands the unsafe reopening of schools "ASAP" wsws.org As COVID-19 cases continue to climb in 24 states, Trump is recklessly demanding the immediate reopening of schools, while the American Federation of Teachers has pledged its full support.

Antonio Voce, Seán Clarke, Caelainn Barr, Niamh McIntyre and Pamela Duncan (2020-05-29). Coronavirus excess deaths: UK has one of highest levels in Europe. theguardian.com Data since start of Covid-19 crisis shows almost 60,000 additional deaths, a fifth higher than usual

WSWS (2020-05-29). Rise in deaths attributed to pneumonia suggests official US coronavirus death toll is grossly undercounted. wsws.org The actual number of COVID-19 dead in the United States is likely to be at least 150,000, 50 percent more than what has been officially reported.

WSWS (2020-05-29). New York governor exempts nursing home operators from criminal liability after taking millions from the industry. wsws.org Governor Andrew Cuomo took millions in donations from hospital and nursing home executives and then protected them from responsibility for deadly criminal actions regarding COVID-19.

WSWS (2020-05-29). California Governor Gavin Newsom ramps up reopening despite serious public health threats. wsws.org The Democratic governor is accelerating the re-opening of the state, allowing resumption of business for shopping malls, dine-in restaurants, and large gatherings, despite the enormous dangers of COVID-19.

Alison Flood (2020-05-29). 'Gross incompentence at highest levels': ex-Obama adviser blasts Trump's Covid response. theguardian.com Samantha Power also tells online Hay festival that former US administration underestimated how 'ripped off' Americans felt, and discounts possibility of Michelle Obama as vice-presidentThe US has shown "gross incompetence … at the highest levels" in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Samantha Power, who served as US ambassador to the United Nations under Barack Obama.Speaking to

Abdul Rahman (2020-05-29). The politics and economics of COVID-19 relief packages. peoplesdispatch.org Most governments worldwide have announced relief packages to deal with the economic distress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, though big in numbers, these packages have very little to offer to those most affected by the crisis…

Patrick Butler Social policy editor (2020-05-29). Glasgow woman, 94, rescued after not eating for five days in lockdown. theguardian.com Salvation Army tells of case as it reports 'poverty tipping point' in area hit hard by Covid-19

newsnetwork.mayoclinic (2020-05-29). Managing levels of specific protein, mineral early in COVID-19 may prevent severe illness. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org PHOENIX ? Managing levels of calcium in the blood and the protein albumin early on in COVID-19 may prevent patients from progressing to severe illness and death, a study by Mayo Clinic researchers published in the journal Gastroenterology found. The findings are based on the remarkably similar clinical features and autopsy results of patients who died …

Dr. John Lott (2020-05-29). Video: Dr. John Lott: More Money to Hospitals for COVID-19 Deaths. globalresearch.ca Dr. John Lott of the Crime Prevention Research Center has said the recorded coronavirus death toll may be a dramatically overstated. | One America's John Hines sat down with him to learn more. | You have looked at the Numbers. | There is …

Niko Georgiades (2020-05-29). Minneapolis Police Murder Handcuffed Man with Neck-Kneel. globalresearch.ca "I can't breathe" were some of the last words of the latest victim to police terror. | Memorial Day in Minneapolis saw the echoing of the same words as Eric Garner before he was killed by police six years …

WSWS (2020-05-29). Attorney Lee Merritt speaks on conspiracy to cover-up Ahmaud Arbery's murder. wsws.org Merritt spoke to the WSWS Wednesday about developments in the Arbery case and what has been exposed about the efforts of the police and prosecutors to whitewash the killing.

Caitlin Johnstone (2020-05-29). You Sided With The Abuser Like A Fucking Cliché. thealtworld.com You told your son he shouldn't displease his mother when he showed you the bite marks and bruises. | You chugged Nyquil while your husband raped your daughters and pretended to faint whenever they tried to tell you. | You invited the priest for dinner every Thursday and called your son an evil liar when he said what happens during prayer time. | You shrieked "rioting" and "looting" when people expressed their anger about cops murdering them with impunity. | You shrieked "terrorism" and "antisemitism" when Palestinians rose up against genocide and apartheid. | You called child rape in the Church a conspiracy theor…

WSWS (2020-05-29). Local television stations broadcast fake news stories scripted by Amazon. wsws.org Reporters at nearly a dozen local news stations in the US dutifully read from scripts prepared by Amazon while broadcasting public relations videos prepared and edited by the company.

Nyla Ali Khan (2020-05-29). The Sociopolitical and Historical Context That Shaped Kashmiri Women Like My Grandmother in the 1940s. counterpunch.org In what ways are women present in political contexts? Kashmiri women, from different walks of life, have managed against all odds to express their agency during the plethora of political, social, and military transformations in the past nine decades. During the growing sense of nationhood in the 1930s, and during the political awakening in the 1940s

Peoples Dispatch (2020-05-29). 30 migrants in Libya killed after death of human trafficker. peoplesdispatch.org The chaos created by the NATO-led invasion of Libya in 2011 has made the country a breeding ground for human trafficking to Europe, leading to hundreds of deaths each year…

Leonid Savin (2020-05-29). The Volleys of an Information War Against China. globalresearch.ca A strategic information campaign against a particular state usually involves a number of elements and layers. While officials and diplomats gradually increase the aggressiveness of their rhetoric, "independent" media outlets publish a range of articles from life stories to special …

KCIBAKIMKWIPRCID (2020-05-29). 'We are losers in this crisis': research finds lockdowns reinforcing gender inequality. theguardian.com Campaign groups warn women across Europe risk being pushed back into traditional roles

John Feffer (2020-05-29). Is It Time to Boycott the United States? zcomm.org The G7 kicked Russia out over its invasion of Crimea. Does the U.S. assault on international laws, treaties, and democracy itself warrant the same treatment?>

WSWS (2020-05-29). Amid worsening economic downturn, European Union moves to set up bailout fund. wsws.org The move to establish the new fund comes amid warnings that the effects of the pandemic on the European economy are far more serious than had been initially anticipated.

WSWS (2020-05-29). Cop who killed George Floyd in Minneapolis had record of brutality. wsws.org Local station KARE 11 reports 13 complaints since 2003 were closed without discipline. Chauvin was awarded a departmental medal of valor in 2009.

Lily Kuo in Beijing and agencies (2020-05-29). China threatens 'countermeasures' against UK over Hong Kong crisis. theguardian.com Beijing describes US efforts to raise controversial security law with UN as 'pointless', Beijing has responded with defiance to international criticism of its Hong Kong national security law, threatening countermeasures against the UK and the US and describing Washington's efforts to raise the issue at the UN security council as "pointless".One day after Beijing's

Germán Gorraiz López (2020-05-29). Towards a "Soft Coup" in Spain? globalresearch.ca The Spanish State establishment would be made up of the financial-business, political, military, Catholic hierarchy, university and mass media sub-elites of the Spanish State, natural heirs to the legacy of General Franco who would have engulfed all decision-making spheres (according …

James Goodman (2020-05-29). Immigrants in Limbo Speak Out. progressive.org DACA and Temporary Protected Status holders seek road to citizenship.

A Guest Author (2020-05-29). Pandemic and Trump's anti-migrant agenda. workers.org By B.L.S. The following is a slightly edited talk given during the Workers World Party webinar "What Road to Socialism?"on May 16. I'm humbled and thankful to have this opportunity to share some of my firsthand experiences with y'all. As a legal assistant, I work closely with asylum seekers who . . . |

WSWS (2020-05-29). UK: Johnson government forced to retreat over attacks on migrant NHS workers. wsws.org The government had insisted that only doctors, nurses, and paramedics would be made exempt from the NHS surcharge and that only their families qualified for indefinite leave to remain (permanent residence) in the event of their death.

Melvin Goodman (2020-05-29). Goodness Gracious, David Ignatius!! counterpunch.org The Washington Post's senior diplomatic columnist, David Ignatius, has done it again. He has a well-earned reputation as an apologist for the Central Intelligence Agency and a defender of increased defense spending and the newly-created Space Force. Now, Ignatius has added a new plaque to his personal Hall of Fame—Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. In an

Zoe PC (2020-05-29). In Colombia, the pandemic is widening inequality in access to education. peoplesdispatch.org Popular educator, professor and militant Harold García discusses how the pandemic has put stress on the public education system of Colombia and made access to education even less equal…

Philip Farruggio (2020-05-29). Ants at a pandemic picnic. nationofchange.org Now, we see cities throughout Amerika with bars and restaurants open, and millions of us mingling face to face, beer to beer, with no masks.

Richard Adams education editor (2020-05-29). Soas to slash budgets and staff as debt crisis worsens in pandemic. theguardian.com Exclusive: fears of takeover after auditors question whether London-based institution can continue,

WSWS (2020-05-29). Child poverty and hunger set to spike in Puerto Rico. wsws.org Even before the pandemic, the island was reeling from a decade-long economic recession, chronically low labor force participation rates and a public debt crisis that served as a pretext for years of severe austerity policies.

WSWS (2020-05-29). Letter from an American teacher: "In a pandemic, no one is safe unless we are all safe." wsws.org The WSWS Teacher Newsletter has received this letter from a high school AP Biology teacher in the Bay Area, California for publication.

Uki Goñi in Buenos Aires (2020-05-29). As the pandemic cancels flights, Uruguay turns its airport into a drive-in. theguardian.com Entertainment-starved Uruguayans can enjoy a socially distanced movie from their own vehicle with snacks just a WhatsApp awayWith commercial flights cancelled around much of the world because of the coronavirus pandemic, one country has adapted its main airport to a new use: as a drive-in cinema.Instead of planes flying in and out of Uruguay's Carrasco international airport, cars are now arriving nightly for Uruguayans to enjoy a socially distanced movie in the safety of their own vehicle.

David Rosen (2020-05-29). Coronavirus and the Telecom Crisis. counterpunch.org The current Corvis-19 pandemic provides a unique vantage point to assess key social institutions of American life. Sadly, none has failed so gravely as the nation's health care system, especially as underwritten by the private insurance model. The crisis of the U.S. healthcare system raises the deeper, more fundamental, question as to whether health care

Sonali Kolhatkar (2020-05-29). For America's Wealthiest, the Pandemic is a Time to Profit. counterpunch.org The American Enterprise Institute's (AEI) Michael Strain wrote an op-ed in the New York Times recently explaining how "The American Dream Is Alive and Well," and that in his opinion this nation has, "bigger issues than inequality." Strain's piece is part of the paper's new pandemic-era series called "The America We Need" and engages in

Adam Gabbatt, Tom Silverstone, Katie Lamborn and Charlie Phillips (2020-05-29). Why US anti-vaxxers will refuse a coronavirus vaccine — video. theguardian.com In a recent survey, 24% of Americans said they will refuse a coronavirus vaccine. Adam Gabbatt investigates the anti-vaxxer movement in the United States — and how the pandemic is helping to fuel its resurgence

WSWS (2020-05-29). Financial press hails Australian government's union-employer offensive against workers. wsws.org The unions have committed to a sweeping pro-business overhaul of workplace conditions and industrial relations on the pretext of the pandemic.

Terry Burrows (2020-05-29). The Toronto G20 Riot Fraud: Undercover Police engaged in Purposeful Provocation. globalresearch.ca Identical Boots Exposed Undercover Police Provocateurs…

Craig Murray (2020-05-29). Political Crisis in UK: Let's "Move on" From Boris. globalresearch.ca Boris has a new slogan, "Move on", which he deployed repeatedly today in his appearance before the House of Commons Liaison Committee. Remembering short slogans is fairly well the extent of his political skills, and he contrived to look pleased …

Lucas Leiroz de Almeida (2020-05-29). Bolivia's Parliament Summons "Interim President" Jeanine àÅñez to Clarify Corruption Scandal. globalresearch.ca The coup d'état carried out in Bolivia was the starting point for a major wave of social, political and economic setbacks in the country. Bolivia is the poorest country in South America, with very high poverty rates, however, during the …

Lila York (2020-05-29). The Gates / Fauci Vaccine Developed by Moderna. Video Featuring Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Andrew Kaufman. globalresearch.ca This is a four-minute video featuring Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Andrew Kaufman that explains exactly what is in the Gates/Fauci covid19 vaccine currently being developed by Fauci's own vaccine company, Moderna. | Most of the vaccines currently under process …

Kester Kenn Klomegah (2020-05-29). Future Perspectives of Russia-Africa Cooperation. globalresearch.ca While celebrating the Africa Day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reaffirmed Russia's commitment to offer support and participate in the sustainable development processes in Africa. In a videoconference held May 28 with local and foreign media, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman …

Brian Shilhavy (2020-05-29). "Mass Sterilization": Kenyan Doctors Find Anti-fertility Agent in UN Tetanus Vaccine. globalresearch.ca This article is of relevance to the ongoing debate on vaccines. | It was first published in February 2015 | According to

Derrick Broze (2020-05-29). Your "Immunity Passport" Future Begins to Materialize as Airlines Call for Digital ID Tracking Systems. globalresearch.ca The world's largest airline trade group has called for immunity passports, thermal screening, masks, and physical distancing to be a part of the industry's strategy for returning to "normal" operations. | The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which

Kester Kenn Klomegah (2020-05-29). Future Perspectives of Russia-Africa Relations. globalresearch.ca While celebrating the Africa Day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reaffirmed Russia's commitment to offer support and participate in the sustainable development processes in Africa. In a videoconference held May 28 with local and foreign media, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman …

WSWS (2020-05-29). Trump intrudes in China-India border standoff. wsws.org US President Donald Trump intruded into the tense border standoff between China and India Wednesday with a spurious offer to mediate and even "arbitrate" "their now raging border dispute."

N.D. Jayaprakash (2020-05-29). No Lessons Learned From Bhopal: the Toxic Chemical Leak at LG Polymers India. counterpunch.org The port city of Vizag or Vishakhapatnam, situated on the south-east coast of India in the State of Andhra Pradesh, is home to several hazardous industries. In the early morning on 07 May 2020, five million people residing in the Vizag Metropolitan Region were rudely woken up by the alarming news of a poisonous chemical

Louis Proyect (2020-05-29). Does Neo-Feudalism Define Our Current Epoch? counterpunch.org When I learned that we were entering a new period called neo-feudalism, my first reaction was to wonder if that was any worse than what we have now. After all, the serf might have suffered from a lack of freedom but at least had lots of time off as Michael Perelman pointed out in "The

Nicolas Winding Refn (2020-05-29). Nicolas Winding Refn: 'If Pence became president, this is what America might look like'. theguardian.com Booze-fuelled noir, monsters in girls' schools and Christian propaganda are all on the Drive director's lockdown viewing roster

Polly Toynbee (2020-05-29). For test and trace to work, the public needs to trust this government. But how can we? | Polly Toynbee. theguardian.com Boris Johnson has consistently sneered at health and safety, so when he wants to end the lockdown early we should be worried The unlocking begins, as some

Frances Perraudin (2020-05-29). UK lockdown rules: what you are allowed to do from Monday. theguardian.com Varying rules for meeting outside will apply in England, Wales and Scotland

Alexandra Topping (2020-05-29). Coronavirus latest: at a glance. theguardian.com A summary of the biggest developments in the global coronavirus outbreak

_____ (2020-05-29). Test and Trace — Two-thirds refuse to cooperate. truepublica.org.uk By TruePublica: A team of up to 25,000 contact tracers have made their first phone calls within hours — to track down people who will be told to self-isolate under the new test and trace scheme in England. It has already failed. Tracers will text, email or call people who test positive with coronavirus and …

Sasha Abramsky (2020-05-29). Trump's Twitter Tirade Is the Tantrum of a Troll. thenation.com Trump's Twitter Tirade Is the Tantrum of a Troll…

Anonymous (2020-05-29). I'm an NHS consultant. We're exhausted — and a second surge is on its way. theguardian.com We have learned a lot about coronavirus, but UK hospitals face huge challenges ahead

Nomi Prins (2020-05-29). The Great Depression, Coronavirus Style. zcomm.org Crashes, Then and Now…

Hamilton Nolan (2020-05-29). 'Here's a bedsheet, make a parachute!' Republicans say, pushing us out of a plane | Hamilton Nolan. theguardian.com The heart of the Republican governing philosophy causes ludicrously insufficient responses to an existential crisisThe Republican fetish for "work" has always been a sham. The prime beneficiaries of Republican policies are, after all, the investor class, who by definition make their money while not working. As our current economic crisis worsens, Republicans cling to ideas that become increasingly separated from reality, like fundamentalists rejecting modern medicine even as their family member is dying. All of you, go back to work, or die trying! Most of the world has asked people to stop going to work — t…

Kevin Funk (2020-05-29). The Class Politics of Coronavirus Responses in the Americas. commondreams.org Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro (Alan Santos/PR via Wikimedia Commons) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/jair.jpg

Devi Sridhar and Yasmin Rafiei (2020-05-29). The problem with 'shielding' people from coronavirus? It's almost impossible | Devi Sridhar and Yasmin Rafiei. theguardian.com Testing and tracing is the answer to protecting our most vulnerable — not trying in vain to 'cocoon' them away, ,

Libby Brooks (2020-05-29). 'Hero bikes': how free bicycles are transforming the lives of Scotland's key workers. theguardian.com The Bike Station, a Scottish bicycle recycling charity, is offering free bikes to NHS staff and other key workers during the coronanvirus crisis. Photographs by Murdo MacLeod

Vivian Ho in San Francisco (2020-05-29). San Francisco's homeless deaths have tripled. Advocates blame shelter in place. theguardian.com Coronavirus restrictions forced unhoused individuals out of shelters and closed facilities that provided vital servicesSan Francisco has seen a surge in deaths among homeless people this spring, fatalities that officials are not directly attributing to coronavirus but which advocates say is a result of the shelter-in-place order that forced people on to the streets.From 30 March to 24 May, 48 people experiencing homelessness died in San Francisco, more than three times the 14 deaths recorded during this same period last year. Though some of those 48 tested positive "near their time of death", their causes of deat…

Lewis Conway (2020-05-29). Recidivism Will Only Decrease if Successful Reentry is Embraced as an Antidote for Mass Incarceration. aclu.org While there are many policies drafted and bills legislated, really the only components that comprise successful reentry to the community are skills, support, and shelter. Thinking about what I needed when I came home from prison looks much different now than it did 20 odd years ago. Back then, I thought serving my time in prison was my punishment; I didn't know I was facing a life sentence after leaving prison. And for many people reentering society after leaving incarceration, that's what reentry is — a life sentence., , When the corrections officer stopped by my bunk to tell me I was being paroled, my…

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2020-05-29). With COP 26 Pushed to Late 2021 Due to Pandemic, World Leaders Urged Not to Delay Climate Action. commondreams.org Organizers of the United Nations COP 26 climate change conference that has been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic announced Thursday that the summit will now be held during the first two weeks of November 2021 in Glasgow—prompting a new wave of calls for world leaders to pursue a green and just recovery to the ongoing public health crisis. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-12108587471.jpg

Julia Conley, staff writer (2020-05-29). At Least 9 Million US Households With Children Are 'Not At All Confident' They'll Be Able to Afford Food Next Month, Census Survey Finds. commondreams.org A poll released by the U.S. Census Bureau this week revealed that at least nine million American households that include children are unsure whether they'll be able to access enough food in the next four weeks, while millions more are experiencing housing insecurity during the coronavirus pandemic. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-1209343151_1.jpg

sputniknews (2020-05-29). Russia Wants to Unlock 4.5 Billion Year Old Secret by Gathering Soil Samples From Across the Moon. sputniknews.com Russia is one of several space powers with plans to return to the Moon in the coming years, and has expressed a willingness to cooperate with NASA in this area. However, Roscosmos has also warned that the Trump administration's recent 'Artemis Accords' plans to divvy up the Moon are comparable to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Andrey Areshev (2020-05-29). German Official Leaks Report Denouncing Corona as 'A Global False Alarm'. strategic-culture.org Germany's federal government and mainstream media are engaged in damage control after a Some of the report key passages are: | The dangerousness of Covid-19 was overestimated: probably at no point did the danger posed by the new virus go beyond the normal level. | The people who die from Corona are essentially those who would statistically die this year, because they have reached the end of their lives and their weakened bodies can no longe…

Andrey Areshev (2020-05-29). Trump's Anti-China Hysteria Goes Nuclear. strategic-culture.org The Trump administration's scapegoating of China over its own disastrous mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic has relied on baseless conspiracy theory, unscientific claims and hyperbole. This week the president's National Security Advisor went further by comparing the virus outbreak to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. | In a U.S. media

People's Strike Bay Area (2020-05-29). Friday 5/29: Oakland From Covid-19 To Cops: We Can't Breath Caravan. indybay.org There will be a day of action focusing worker protection from Covid-19, the murder of Blacks repression and against gentrification and privatization by billionaires like A's owner John Fisher who also runs the KIPP and Rocketship charter school chains.

Jon Queally, Common Dreams (2020-05-29). US Death Toll Hits 100,000 People, Trump Made Covid-19 Much Worse. indybay.org To assist those wanting a more simple accounting of how President Donald Trump's mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic, Public Citizen released a fresh list of a dozen specific ways the president's decisions and public pronouncements served to speed up the spread of the deadly virus.

Center for Constitutional Rights & others (2020-05-29). Friday 5/29: Justice Beats Virtual Festival and Fundraiser for COVID-19 Crisis Relief. indybay.org Online via livestream: www.justicebeats.com/

Lynda Carson (2020-05-29). A dozen workers test positive for Covid-19 at Cardenas Market in East Oakland. indybay.org Coronavirus Covid-19 Pandemic in Oakland:…

Posted by Lynda Carson (2020-05-29). Gray Panther Alert: Thur May 28, Online Teach-In: COVID Crisis in California Nursing Homes. indybay.org Coronavirus Covid-19 Pandemic Crisis In California Nursing Homes In California: Posted by Lynda Carson, from the Gray Panthers of Berkeley, and Alameda County:…

APTP (2020-05-29). George Floyd's Murder: Hitting the Streets of Oakland and Wanting a World Worth Fighting For. indybay.org An anonymous group has called for a display of "vengeance" Friday night beginning at Oscar Grant Plaza at 8pm in response to the murder of George Floyd.

Albrecht Mueller (2020-05-29). Extremely Growing Inequality Destroys Democracy. indybay.org When one percent have half of the wealth, mistrust and cynicism drown out public spirit and trust between the generations. A fair tax system includes closing tax havens, micro-second trading, stock buybacks and insider trading…

WSWS Repost (2020-05-29). Warren holds fundraiser for Biden, drops "MedicareFor All" indybay.org Elizabeth Warren's populist pretensions were nothing more than a marketing tool, to be discarded as soon as they become inconvenient.

Dolores Huerta Foundation (2020-05-29). Friday 5/29: Dolores Huerta's 90th Birthday Celebration for DHF COVID19 Relief Fund. indybay.org Online via livestream…

Labor Video Project (2020-05-29). Transit Workers & The Fight Against Covid with TWU 250a President Roger Marenco. indybay.org Roger Marenco, president of SF TWU 250a talks about the battle to defend members against Covid and how they were forced to take action on their own initiative to protect their health and safety. He also discussed the workplace bullying by management against members and the failure of Cal-OSHA to even visit the transit operation to check if workers and the public were being protected.

imperial.ac.uk (2020-05-29). Imperial develops coronavirus outbreak simulation tools for 137 countries. imperial.ac.uk Imperial have developed coronavirus outbreak simulation tools for 137 countries to help healthcare services plan their response to the pandemic.

en.mehrnews (2020-05-29). Iran coronavirus update: 2,819 infections, 50 deaths in past 24 hours. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, May 29 (MNA) – The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has infected 2,819 people and claimed 50 lives in Iran in the past 24 hours, a senior health official said.

en.mehrnews (2020-05-29). IRGC Ground Force launches two new "PCR" centers in battling COVID-19: Cmdr. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, May 29 (MNA) – The Deputy Commander of IRGC Ground Force for Coordination Brigadier General Ali Akbar Pourjamshidian on Fri. revealed the launch of two new Polymerase Chain Reaction [PCR] centers in the country in the fight against the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.

en.mehrnews (2020-05-29). Security of Persian Gulf is common interest of regional countries: Brig. Gen. Hatami. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, May 29 (MNA) — Iranian Minister of Defense Brigadier General Amir Hatami said that the security of the Persian Gulf is the common interest of all countries in the region.

en.mehrnews (2020-05-29). Iran's fourth oil tanker "FAXON" takes berth at Venezuelan port. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, May 29 (MNA) — Iranian tanker "FAXON", carrying gasoline, took berth at Venezuelan port on Friday.

en.mehrnews (2020-05-29). No. of Iranian knowledge-based firms to grow by 2021: official. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, May 29 (MNA) – Head of Strategic Technology Development Center of Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology Esmaeil Ghaderifar revealed the growth in the number of knowledge-based companies up to twofold by 2021.

sputniknews (2020-05-29). Hopes of Alien Life Fuelled by Presence of Earth-Sized Planet Around Nearest Star Revealed in Study. sputniknews.com Fresh observations have revisited the rather dim red dwarf star, Proxima b, orbiting roughly in the middle of the habitable zone around the star Proxima Centauri, that was first studied by a group of astronomers using the High Accuracy Radial-velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) at the European Southern Observatory at La Silla, Chile.

sputniknews (2020-05-29). UK Action Fraud Reveals Victims Have Lost Over £4.6 Million in Coronavirus Scams. sputniknews.com Action Fraud has listed seven types of scams it's seen since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. This includes courier fraud, online shopping, computer software fraud, lender loan fraud, pension liberation and investment fraud, mandate fraud and phishing fraud.

yenisafak (2020-05-29). French automaker Renault cuts jobs, costs. yenisafak.com France's biggest automobile manufacturer Groupe Renault announced Friday an aggressive plan to cut costs by more than ‚Ǩ2 billion ($2.23 billion) over three years and slash 15,000 jobs worldwide, 4,600 of those in France.The move for the company is huge as April losses from the coronavirus crisis caused an unprecedented 90% drop in the French car market for new vehicles.In a Friday morning press conference, Groupe Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard and CEO Clotilde Deblos announced plans to rebuild "the sustainable foundations of Renault." The plans had been presented to Renault's board Wedn…

yenisafak (2020-05-29). S.Korea's school opening faces new COVID-19 challenge. yenisafak.com South Korea is witnessing tremendous pressure on its move to open schools after the country witnessed a new spike in deadly coronavirus cases.The government said on Friday quarantine and physical distancing measures will be strictly enforced in schools while it is also mulling limiting the number of students physically attending the classes in capital Seoul, local Yonhap news agency reported.South Korea has allowed the phase-wise opening of schools which remained closed since March this year due to the pandemic. Nearly 3 million students resumed classes early this week.Vice Education Minister Park Baeg-beom annou…

yenisafak (2020-05-29). Turkey resumes mass prayers after pandemic lockdown. yenisafak.com Turkey on Friday partially resumed mass prayers in mosques, including Friday prayers, as the country began easing measures against the novel coronavirus pandemic.After a 74-day-halt due to measures to stem the spread of COVID-19, Friday prayers

_____ (2020-05-29). Minnesota National Guard: Stand Down For Black Lives. popularresistance.org We write you as fellow veterans and service members with full knowledge of what's at stake as many of you are being asked to mobilize against civilians in your own country. As your neighbors fill the streets demanding the justice this country promised them, your command is undoubtedly telling you that you're being activated in service to your community. And yet, it is your community members who fill the streets, while your Commander in Chief tweets about using you to murder people over something as insignificant as property damage. A moral choice lies before you. As veterans who have faced similar tests of consci…

Julia Conley (2020-05-29). With Nation Focused on Pandemic, Trump Interior Dept. to Greenlight Killing of Bear Cubs and Wolf Pups in Their Dens. globalresearch.ca President Donald Trump's National Park Service plans to

WSWS (2020-05-29). UK: Weston General Hospital shuts due to coronavirus outbreak among staff. wsws.org The outbreak reveals the enormous dangers to the health and lives of National Health Service workers.

_____ (2020-05-29). Doctors Demand Hospital Industry Stop Funding Dark Money Lobby Group. popularresistance.org A progressive organization of 23,000 physicians from across the U.S. demanded Thursday that the American Hospital Association (AHA) divest completely from a dark-money lobbying group that has spent millions combating Medicare for All and instead devote those financial resources to the fight against Covid-19 and to better support for patients and healthcare workers. | Dr. Adam Gaffney, president of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), said in a statement that "the Covid-19 pandemic has stretched hospitals' resources to the limit, and the AHA should not waste precious member hospitals' funds lobbying ag…

_____ (2020-05-29). Scheer Intelligence: The 'Mass Murder Program' Behind America's Rise To Power. popularresistance.org The Cold War—how it was fought and brutally won by the U.S. on global scale—has defined international politics for more than half a century. That is the central argument of journalist Vincent Bevins' new book, "The Jakarta Method: Washington's Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program that Shaped Our World." Through meticulous research and extensive interviews with over a hundred people in more than a dozen countries and several languages, Bevins connects the dots between a U.S.-sponsored terror scheme that killed more than a million civilians in Indonesia in the 1960s, and the slaughter of le…

_____ (2020-05-29). US Military To Fight Drug Trafficking In Colombia Along Venezuela Border. popularresistance.org A US brigade of special anti-drug units will arrive in Colombia in support of an operation announced by Washington in April that actually seeks to deploy military forces in the country's border states with Venezuela. | The US Embassy in Colombia announced in a statement that a Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB) will travel to Colombia under the guise of helping it in its fight against drug trafficking. | The mission will begin in early June, extend over several months, and focus its efforts on the Zonas Futuro, as delimited by the Colombian government. | The Zonas Futuro cover 2.4 percent of Colombian terri…

_____ (2020-05-29). Health Care Crisis: Future Is Up To Us. popularresistance.org A society that is governed in such a way that it fails to protect its people from the catastrophic harm of the COVID 19 pandemic is a society ripe for revolutionary transformation. The pandemic crisis exposes capitalism's inability to solve the problems it has created for humankind and the earth. The future depends on our class' — the working class most impacted by the crisis — capacity to implement the visionary transformation necessary to literally save our lives and the planet. | From the outset, the U.S. response to the virus illuminated the chasm between the needs of the public's health and safet…

_____ (2020-05-29). Black And Minority-Owned Businesses Are Denied Virus Relief Funds. popularresistance.org Many Black and Latino business owners say they are on the verge of losing their businesses because they are currently out of work due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, that may not be the only reason because according to a new survey, these two minority groups have also been side-lined and are barely benefiting from the Paycheck Protection Program and other government aid efforts. | The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is a part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act that is intended to provide some form of financial aid to small business owners who are finding it hard to function a…

_____ (2020-05-29). 40 Million Health Workers Endorse Green Recovery. popularresistance.org More than 40 million doctors and nurses are in, and they are prescribing a green recovery from the economic devastation caused by the new coronavirus. | More than 350 health organizations representing some 40 million medical professionals, as well as more than 4,500 individual health workers from 90 countries, signed a letter to the G20 leaders Tuesday urging them to craft what they are promoting as a #HealthyRecovery by taking measures such as reforming fossil fuel subsidies and fighting pollution and deforestation. | "A truly healthy recovery will not allow pollution to continue to cloud the air we breathe and…

Paul Antonopoulos (2020-05-28). Has Coronavirus Pandemic Really Destroyed Globalization? globalresearch.ca The coronavirus pandemic has not only created contradictory information on the best ways to deal with it, on whether there are cures and vaccinations, or whether there will be a second wave, but they are also contradictory on how the …

Medea Benjamin, Nicolas J.S. Davies (2020-05-28). Who Are the Secret Puppet-Masters Behind Trump's War on Iran? commondreams.org CODEPINK protesters at Congressional hearing on Iran in 2015. (Photo: CODEPINK) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/cp_senate.jpg_1718483346_1.jpg

Tracy Keeling (2020-05-28). While everyone's focused on the Cummings circus, shocking news emerges about the UK death rate. thecanary.co The British public is understandably angry about Dominic Cummings' behaviour during lockdown. It's scandalous that he travelled to a different house and

Stephen Lendman (2020-05-28). Trump Regime Escalates War by Other Means on Iran and China. globalresearch.ca The US under both right wings of its war party represents an unparalleled threat to world peace, stability, democratic values, and the rule of law. | As long as the world community fails to uphold UN Charter principles and other core …

Stephen Lendman (2020-05-28). Trump's Offer to Mediate China/India Border Dispute? globalresearch.ca On Wednesday, Trump tweeted the following: | "We have informed both India and China that the United States is ready, willing and able to mediate or arbitrate their now raging border dispute." | He ignored longstanding US efforts to drive a stake …

Fight Back (2020-05-28). FRSO leader Steff Yorek: '100,000 are dead and capitalism is making the pandemic a human-made disaster'. fightbacknews.org Minneapolis, MN – Political Secretary of Freedom Road Socialist Organization Steff Yorek stated on May 26, "The United States has just reached a grim milestone, 100,000 deaths from COVID-19 with no end in sight, earning this country the dubious distinction of edging into the top ten for deaths per person, with 30.46 deaths per 100,000." | Meanwhile Trump has continued to show an utter disregard for the loss of life. The federal response has been weak, ineffectual, has intentionally undermined state public health plans and continues to steal PPE and testing supplies from states. | Yorek continued, "Trump is fueli…

Fight Back (2020-05-28). General Appeal Regarding the International Health Emergency —Covid 19. fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following appeal that was initiated by the German Communist Party (DKP), Communist Party Of Peoples Of Spain (CPPS), and the Communist Party Of Venezuela (CPV). Freedom Road Socialist Organization is among the signers. | The Communist and Workers' parties that suscribe the present APPEAL declare: | 1. The serious international situation which has come from the unstoppable global capitalist crisis – now expressed as a health emergency that spreads throughout so many countries – requires strong and decisive social and political action that puts the needs of the worki…

teleSUR (2020-05-28). The PLO Keeps Defending Palestine After 56 Years of Its Founding. telesurenglish.net On May 28, Palestinians celebrate 56 years of the founding of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and remember the words of Yasser Arafat who told them that the main challenge for the people is to achieve an independent state. | RELATED: | In 1964, The Palestinian National Council, at its first meeting held in East Jerusalem from May 28 to June 2, created the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the legitimate r…

Rima Najjar (2020-05-28). Countering the Judaization of the Rest of Palestine. globalresearch.ca Netanyahu's impending annexation of the Judaized parts of the West Bank (he says July 1st) is a transformative event for Palestinian politics, and the Palestinian people, who have long been reined in by impositions that accept Zionist myths and outright …

Eds. (2020-05-28). Teaching Marx in a pandemic. mronline.org Barnaby Raine writes to mark the launch of a new class on Marx and his writing, as part of The Brooklyn Institute summer season…

Prof Michel Chossudovsky (2020-05-28). Who is Behind "Fake News"? Mainstream Media Use Fake Videos and Images. globalresearch.ca The mainstream corporate media is desperate. They want to suppress independent and alternative online media, which they categorize as "fake news". Readers on social media are warned not to go onto certain sites. Our analysis confirms that the mainstream media are routinely involved in distorting the facts and turning realities upside down.

Andrew Korybko (2020-05-28). The US' Millennium Challenge Corporation Could Reshape Nepal's Geostrategic Role. globalresearch.ca The geostrategic state of Nepal is in a conundrum over whether to respect the previous government's agreement to accept a $500 million "grant" from the US' "Millennium Challenge Corporation" despite concerns that it could permanently undermine the country's sovereignty, but …

South Front (2020-05-28). Video: Russian Warplanes in Libya. globalresearch.ca The US has finally discovered whom to blame for the ongoing escalation of the conflict in Libya. | On May 26, the US African Command (AFRICOM) claimed that Russia had deployed warplanes to Libya to support the Libyan National Army of …

Eds. (2020-05-28). How many dead Yemenis does it take to equal one Washington Post contributor? mronline.org The War Nerd dissects reporting on Saudi Arabia to show how the corporate media cares more about a dead Washington Post columnist than a quarter of a million Yemenis killed in a Western-backed war.

Eds. (2020-05-28). Huawei ban drags China, U.S. into tech cold war. mronline.org Industries prepare for decoupling as worst scenario, accelerating homegrown technologies as Washington hawks destroy global supply chain.

Mark Gruenberg (2020-05-28). Official pandemic jobless claims pass 40 million. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—More than 40 million people are now jobless thanks to closures resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, after the Labor Department reported 2.173 million more people joined the unemployment rolls in the week ending May 22. And that's just the official (under) count. DOL put the official number of jobless since mid-March at 30.957 million. AFL-CIO …

Dale Ho (2020-05-28). We're Working to Safeguard Our Democracy and Our Health. aclu.org No one should have to choose between their health and their vote, but during the Wisconsin primary, an estimated

Eddie Pells (2020-05-28). National Women's Soccer League resuming June tournament in Utah. peoplesworld.org (AP) Pro soccer returns to the U.S. next month when the National Women's Soccer League starts a 25-game tournament in a pair of stadiums in Utah that will be kept clear of fans to protect players from the coronavirus. Players from the league's nine teams will train and live at two Salt Lake City-area hotels, …

Staff (2020-05-28). "Fight Back!": ACT UP Members & Tony Kushner Remember Trailblazing AIDS Activist Larry Kramer. democracynow.org We discuss the life and legacy of Larry Kramer, the legendary writer and trailblazing activist in the fight against AIDS, who has died at the age of 84. Kramer helped start Gay Men's Health Crisis and ACT UP to demand life-saving drugs, and faced off with Dr. Anthony Fauci before the two became friends. Many credit Kramer for saving thousands of lives. We hear from Kramer in his own words at the 2019 anti-corporate Queer Liberation March and host a roundtable with two former ACT UP members: "Gay USA" host Ann Northrop and Yale epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves. We also speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright To…

RT (2020-05-28). IKEA values vs Polish traditions: Manager faces up to TWO YEARS behind bars after firing employee opposing pro-LGBT event. rt.com An IKEA HR manager has been charged in Poland with violating the religious rights of a Bible-citing employee, who was fired after refusing to endorse a pro-LGBT event. Now, the manager could end up behind bars. | The Warsaw-Praga District Prosecutor's Office has decided to press charges against the manager, whose identity has not been revealed, arguing that this person has infringed upon an employee's rights on the basis of religion. The decision to sack the employee was based on "arbitrary assessment and prejudice" toward a man expressing "Christian" views, it added. Now, this person could face anything betwe…

pip.hinman (2020-05-28). Re-elect Sue Bolton to Moreland Council. greenleft.org.au

Staff (2020-05-28). "No Justification": Minneapolis Demands Murder Charges for Police Officer Who Killed George Floyd. democracynow.org Parts of Minneapolis erupted into flames Wednesday night as residents again took to the streets to protest the death of George Floyd, a Black man killed by white police officer Derek Chauvin on Monday. A viral video shows Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd's neck for a number of minutes as Floyd repeatedly says "I cannot breathe." Three other officers stood by as George Floyd suffocated. They have been identified as Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng. All four officers were fired on Tuesday. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has called on prosecutors to file criminal charges against Derek Chauvin. We speak wit…

The Canary (2020-05-28). UK weeks behind where it ought to be with testing and tracing — NHS Providers. thecanary.co The UK is "weeks behind" where it should to be with coronavirus (Covid-19) testing and tracing, the chief executive of NHS Providers has claimed amid reports of major problems with the service.The NHS Test and Trace system — seen as key to easing lockdown restrictions — has been rolled out across England with the help of 25,000 contact tracers.However, MPs said they were told the programme would not be operational at a local level until the end of next month, while an accompanying app is delayed by several weeks.(PA Graphics)The Department of Health and Social Care also admitted that "some staff initial…

The Canary (2020-05-28). India forced to deal with heatwave and plague of locusts as it battles Covid-19. thecanary.co As if Covid-19 was not enough, India has been grappling with scorching temperatures and the worst locust invasion in decades as authorities prepared for the end of lockdown despite recording thousands of new infections every day.This triple disaster drew biblical comparisons and forced officials to try to balance the competing demands of simultaneous public health crises: protection from eviscerating heat but also social distancing in newly reopened parks and markets.The heat wave threatens to compound challenges of containing the virus, which has started spreading more quickly and broadly since the government be…

The Canary (2020-05-28). 'Test and Trace will fail if workers are pushed into financial hardship'. thecanary.co The Test and Trace system will fail to work effectively if statutory sick pay is not increased, the government has been warned. | Those self-isolating will be eligible for statutory sick pay but there are fears that many workers will not be able to afford to isolate and will be forced to keep working. | NHS Test and Trace — seen as key to easing the coronavirus lockdown restrictions — will be rolled out across England on Thursday, and there are concerns that people could be asked to self-isolate for period of 14 days more than once in the coming weeks. | TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "We…

The Canary (2020-05-28). UK-bound air passenger numbers plummet by 99% during coronavirus. thecanary.co The number of passengers arriving in the UK by air fell "sharply" since the start of the coronavirus pandemic from around 7.1 million in January to 112,300 in April.The figure for last month is 99% lower than the number of air passengers who came into the country in April 2019, according to the Advance Passenger Information (API) data published by the Home Office.A report published on Thursday said the majority (58%) of arrivals since the lockdown was announced on 23 March were British nationals coming back to the UK.The remaining 42% "will include foreign nationals who are UK residents returning to the UK, depen…

RT (2020-05-28). Rush to bury Cummings story? UK govt slammed as Covid-19 contact tracing system won't be 'fully operational' till end of June. rt.com England's contact tracing system — billed last week as "world class" by PM Boris Johnson — will not be "fully operational" until the end of June, the head of the service has reportedly told UK MPs, prompting ridicule from Britons. | On the day the vital system was supposed to be launched, Dido Harding, the chair of NHS track and trace, told a group of UK lawmakers in a conference call on Thursday that local authorities in England and trained contact tracers wouldn't be fully linked to the system until the end of June, according to one of those MPs, Ben Bradshaw. | Bradshaw, the Labour MP for Exeter…

RT (2020-05-28). Trump's retweets declare 'only good Democrat is a dead Democrat' and Covid-19 masks 'slavery'… critics take the bait. rt.com Two retweets from President Donald Trump have outraged critics. One declares "the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat" and the other calls Covid-19 protective masks "social control." | Trump has been using Twitter in recent weeks to do everything from slamming mail-in voting to accusing MSNBC host Joe Scarborough of possible murder. And some of his latest tweets have proven just as incendiary. | One "thank you" tweet from Wednesday evening was in response to a video from the pro-Trump group Cowboys for Trump. The footage includes a speaker saying, "I've come to a place where I've come to the conclusion that…

_____ (2020-05-28). Cuomo desperately doles out celebs to sell new face mask executive order amid nursing home deaths debacle. rt.com With New York Governor Andrew Cuomo facing scrutiny over his treatment of nursing homes during his Covid-19 response, he turned to celebrities Chris Rock and Rosie Perez to help him sell his latest order regarding the pandemic. | 'Grown Ups' star and 'Birds of Prey' actress joined Cuomo at his Thursday press conference where the governor announced a new executive order allowing businesses to deny service to people not wearing masks. | "You don't want to wear a mask? Fine, but you don't have a right to then go into that store if that store owner doesn't want you to," the governor said. | Also on rt.com | | <...

RT (2020-05-28). Minneapolis police investigate 'homicide' amid reports of 'looter shot dead by pawn shop owner'. rt.com A suspected looter has reportedly been shot and killed in Minneapolis after a protest over police brutality escalated into a full-blown riot, with a law enforcement spokesman confirming one homicide amid the unrest. | Though few details have yet emerged about the murder — the first casualty linked to the riots — a number of unconfirmed reports, including from bystanders on the scene, suggest the man was shot while attempting to loot a pawn shop in the city on Wednesday night. | A video clip surfaced on social media purporting to show the man as emergency response workers attempted to revive him. | <...

RT (2020-05-28). Envoy demands VOA ramp up anti-Iran efforts to 'support' Iranians… because what they really need is more US-funded propaganda. rt.com The US government-funded Voice of America's Persian news service must "do a better job" with its anti-Iran news coverage or it risks being shut down, US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook has warned. | In an unintentionally irony-laden oped published by the New York Post on Wednesday, Hook

RT (2020-05-28). Minnesota rolls out National Guard to stop riots & looting, 'ensure safety' of peaceful protests over George Floyd killing. rt.com Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has called in National Guard units after law enforcement failed to "provide safety" in Minneapolis as furious protests over the police killing of George Floyd erupted into vandalism, arson and looting. | Meeting an earlier request from the city's mayor to bring the situation under control, the Guard was activated on Thursday in the wake of intense street confrontations and chaos the night prior, which saw a number of businesses burned down and destroyed and at least one man killed, reportedly a looter. | "Unfortunately, some individuals have engaged in unlawful and dangerous activit…

RT (2020-05-28). Battleground Minnesota: Disturbing VIDEOS show aftermath of violent riots over police killing of black man. rt.com A night of rioting and looting has left multiple buildings torched and businesses ransacked in Minneapolis, after protests over the police killing of an unarmed black man escalated into violence. | Footage from the scene shows the scale of the destruction, with the city's streets starting to resemble a war zone. On Wednesday night, multiple buildings across the city were set on fire, with smoke and fire still billowing from the ruins in the morning. | This is war torn America. We should all be ashamed.

_____ (2020-05-28). NSA urges email providers to update software warning that 'Russian military hackers' already gained 'dream access' to them. rt.com The notorious US spy agency NSA has issued a rare warning to Exim mail server owners, calling on them to update the operating system and claiming that otherwise Russian "military cyber actors" could virtually take control of them. | A request to update one's operating system is usually so routine, pretty much every personal computer user is accustomed to it. That suddenly ceases to be the case when the request comes from none other the National Security Agency (NSA ), which does not issues such warnings all too often. | As if such a demand coming from a spy agency infamous for its world-spanning secret surveil…

Mark Gruenberg (2020-05-28). Unions: $500 billion went to corporations, Postal Service got nothing. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—As the GOP Trump government and its congressional allies have ladled out tons of cash towards private businesses hit in the worst depression in years, they've given the financial back of their hand to the one institution all those firms depend on: The U.S. Postal Service. And postal union leaders don't like it one bit. …

teleSUR (2020-05-28). Far-Right's Fake News Network Under Investigation in Brazil. telesurenglish.net Brazil's Federal Supreme Court (STF) judge Alexandre De Moraes Wednesday issued 29 search warrants against RELATED: | The criminal association investigation is dir…

Kathy Kelly (2020-05-28). Screen Shot 2020-05-28 at 1.58.44 PM.png. progressive.org Why the United States bears responsibility for Yemen's humanitarian crisis.

Staff (2020-05-28). Headlines for May 28, 2020. democracynow.org U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Tops 100,000, Minneapolis Erupts in Flames as Protesters Rage Against Police Killing of George Floyd, China Tightens Grip on Hong Kong with New National Security Law, House of Representatives Holds First-Ever Remote Vote Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, Protesters Surround Sing Sing Prison Demanding Release of Prisoners at Risk of COVID-19, Researchers: 6 Feet of Social Distancing Might Not Be Enough to Stop Coronavirus Spread, Doctors Without Borders Warns of Spike in Coronavirus Cases Among Florida Farmworkers, Brazilian Police Raid Fake News Network Linked to Son of Far-Right President, A…

Andrea Germanos, staff writer (2020-05-28). Warnings of 'Catastrophic Consequences' as Locust Swarms Hit India and Pakistan in Midst of Coronavirus Crisis. commondreams.org For India, the invasion comes alongside "eviscerating heat." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/locusts-covid.jpg

teleSUR (2020-05-28). Floyd's Murder Protests Flare up in Minneapolis Overnight. telesurenglish.net The city of Minneapolis woke up convulsed as protests over the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police officers intensified this Wednesday with clashes and looting. | RELATED: | Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of people took to the streets for the second day in a row in a series of protests that included escraches in the homes of the police officer who choked Floyd with his knee and the county attorney.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-05-28). Hirak protests continue across Algeria in solidarity with political prisoners. peoplesdispatch.org Algeria witnessed a fresh round of anti-government protests on May 25, Monday in solidarity with political prisoners associated with the Hirak movement, who are being held in jails on frivolous and motivated charges. Rallies and demonstrations were conducted in cities across Algeria, coinciding with the Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations. A ban on public demonstrations and other restrictions are in force in the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | One of the main sites of Monday's protest was Kherrata city in Bejaia province, east of Algerian capital Algiers. The city holds particular significance as it is where the Hir…

Fight Back (2020-05-28). Salt Lake to protest police killings on national day of action May 30. fightbacknews.org Salt Lake City, UT — The people of Salt Lake City plan to answer the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR) call for a national day of protest May 30, demanding justice for George Floyd, Bernardo Palacios and all the people murdered by cops in the U.S. | The country has been riven by the murder of Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer put his knee directly on Floyd's neck while he struggled for air and said repeatedly that he couldn't breathe. The murder was caught on film, and as a result, more than 20,000 people took to the streets of Minneapolis May 26 to demand…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-05-28). Police repress protests demanding justice for George Floyd. peoplesdispatch.org Protests broke out in Minneapolis following the brutal murder of 46-year-old George Floyd at the hands of a city police officer. The protests, demanding justice for Floyd and an end to racist police violence, were met with violent repression by the police who fired tear gas, water cannons and attacked protesters with batons. His family and social movements in the US demand that the officers responsible for his murder be brought to justice.

Staff (2020-05-28). Civil Rights Attorney: Minneapolis Police Have a Long Pattern of Racist Violence. truthout.org Image Credit: Sigal Photos | Parts of Minneapolis erupted into flames Wednesday night as residents again took to the streets to protest the death of George Floyd, a Black man killed by white police officer Derek Chauvin on Monday. A viral video shows Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd's neck for a number of minutes as Floyd repeatedly says "I cannot breathe." Three other officers stood by as George Floyd suffocated. They have been identified as Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng. All…

teleSUR (2020-05-28). Norway: Municipality Forced to Receive NATO Nuclear Submarines. telesurenglish.net The port of Tromso, located in a Norwegian municipality above the Arctic Circle, will receive nuclear submarines from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) even though local politicians have opposed the decision. | RELATED: | "The government and parliament do not dare say 'no' to the U.S.," Norway's Greenpeace leader Frode Pleym said. | After private investors bought the Olavsvern naval base in Tromso, NATO pushed for a…

Andrey Areshev (2020-05-28). Trump the Peace Candidate? This President Abhors International Treaties. strategic-culture.org Let us consider why the Donald Trump White House is currently considering

Ali Salam (2020-05-28). Israeli Forces Dismantle Four Palestinian-owned Produce Stalls, Stop Construction of Structures. imemc.org Aref Daraghmeh, a local activist, told Palestinian WAFA News Agency that Israeli forces dismantled four stalls set up by residents to be used to sell vegetables and fruits, in Bardala and Ein al-Bayda villages, Northern Jordan Valley. It was noted that troops also confiscated large amounts of the produce, reducing …

teleSUR (2020-05-28). Argentina Revitalizes Pro-Abortion Movement on Social Media. telesurenglish.net Social activists in Argentina celebrated on Thursday rough virtual events the 15th anniversary of their campaign to legalize abortion, in order to inject new energy into the movement. | RELATED: | "Let it be law," "Legal abortion," it's the Hashtags who have flooded the social networks this Thursday. | "I'm proud to be part of this movement. For many of us, this is the fight of our lives," legalization campaign member M…

_____ (2020-05-28). Did Conservative HQ demand Emily Maitlis be publicly reprimanded? truepublica.org.uk TruePublica Editor: Most of the mainstream media are reporting that Emily Maitlis was replaced as host of Wednesday night's episode of Newsnight by another member of the programme's team after BBC bosses reprimanded her over a monologue in which she attacked the government's handling of Dominic Cummings' lockdown trip to Durham. News bosses at the corporation …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-05-28). Ecuadorians resist government's attempt to push through neoliberal reforms. peoplesdispatch.org Trade unions and movements allege that Moreno is taking advantage of the crisis generated by COVID-19 pandemic to advance with the regressive economic reforms ordered by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

teleSUR (2020-05-28). Ecuador: Native Communities Vulnerable to COVID Outbreaks. telesurenglish.net Ecuador's Ombudsman Office demanded on May 27 government health assistance and COVID testing kits for the Siekopai-Secoya native community. | RELATED: | "The Ombudsman's Office calls on the national Government and, through it, the Ministry of Public Health, the national and cantonal EOC of the municipalities of Shushu ndi and Cuyabeno, to provide immediate and appropriate preventive medical care and treatment for th…

news.un (2020-05-28). Yemen: Humanitarians seeking $2.41 billion to keep aid flowing amid COVID-19 pandemic. news.un.org UN agencies and their global partners are seeking $2.41 billion to fight COVID-19 spread in Yemen while continuing to support millions affected by the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Paul Craig Roberts (2020-05-28). Caution Is the Safest Policy. thealtworld.com Many commentators are interpretating the reopenings as signaling the end of the pandemic. Many of these commentators are those who deny the reality or seriousness of Covid-19, or deny the need for, or effectiveness of, the closedowns and social distancing and the need for, or usefulness of, masks. | The pandemic and the official responses have aroused suspicions that it is all a plot to further advance the police state that has been advancing on us since 9/11. Others stress that it is a manufactured opportunity for Bill Gates' mass vaccination program and multi-billion dollar profits for Big Pharma. Whether or no…

Nathan Freed Wessler (2020-05-28). We're Taking Clearview AI to Court to End its Privacy-Destroying Face Surveillance Activities. aclu.org For several years, a little-known start-up based in New York has been amassing a database of billions of our faceprints — unique biometric identifiers akin to a fingerprint or DNA profile — drawn from personal photos on our social media accounts and elsewhere online. The company has captured these faceprints in secret, without our knowledge, much less our consent, using everything from casual selfies to photos of birthday parties, college graduations, weddings, and so much more., , Unbeknownst to the public, this company has offered up this massive faceprint database to private companies, police,…

Amanda Mills (2020-05-28). Climate change to heat up oceans at seven times their current rate. nationofchange.org Rapid and inconsistent deep water heating will have a huge impact on ocean wildlife.

Paul Craig Roberts (2020-05-28). The Campaign Against HCQ—Part II. thealtworld.com A few years ago the British medical journal, The Lancet, published a paper touting the safety of HCQ. But this was before HCQ with zinc was found effective if used earlier enough against Covid-19. Covid-19 turned HCQ's effectiveness into a big problem for Big Pharma's big profits. | The solution was another study by medical professionals some of whom have ties to Big Pharma and none of whom, apparently, are involved in the treatment of Covid patients. The study lumps together people in different stages of the disease and undergoing different treatments. It touts its large sample, but many of the patients in the s…

teleSUR (2020-05-28). Piñera's Failure: Chile Reaches Almost 87,000 COVID-19 Cases. telesurenglish.net During the last 24 hours, Chile registered 4,654 new COVID-19 cases and thus reached 86,943 infections, a figure that exceeds China where the pandemic started. | RELATED: | Health Minister Jaime Mañalich acknowledged that 890 deaths have occurred so far and 3,707 health workers are infected, a figure which has been released one day after the ‚Äã‚Äã‚Äã‚&Aum…

teleSUR (2020-05-28). Unprotected Migrants Roam Through Southeastern Mexico. telesurenglish.net Hundreds of Central American migrants are going through situations of poverty and high risk of contracting COVID-19 while wandering the streets of Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico. | RELATED: | In this municipality, humanitarian shelters decided to avoid overcrowding and suspended the admission of new guests from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala | This decision left migrants stranded in Tapachula homeless as they hope to…

Telesur (2020-05-28). Venezuela: Gold Kept at Bank of England Needed to Fight COVID. globalresearch.ca Venezuela's Central Bank (BCV) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) agreed to use part of the gold deposited in the Bank of England to acquire food and medicine to face the Covid-19 pandemic, BCV President Calixto Ortega declared on Wednesday….

news.un (2020-05-28). Security Council: Paralysis and 'political infighting' must end, to boost COVID-19 fight: EU foreign affairs chief. news.un.org The global coronavirus pandemic is testing the multilateral system like never before and the Security Council must stop the "infighting", and step up to the challenge, the European Union's foreign policy chief told the 15-member body on Thursday.

teleSUR (2020-05-28). Guatemalan Congress to Dismiss Health Minister Amidst Pandemic. telesurenglish.net Guatemala's Ombudsman Jordan Rodas requested on May 27 Guatemalan Health Minister Hugo Monroy Castillo's dismissal due to corruption and inefficiency accusations amidst the COVID-19 crisis. | RELATED: | "So far the Ministry shows a low execution of its budget being evident that there is no capacity to provide resources and inputs to the health personnel who are in the front line and that places them in serious risk of contagion," Guate…

Dr. Pascal Sacré (2020-05-28). The Tests: The Achilles Heel of the COVID-19 House of Cards. globalresearch.ca "The tool is not the problem, it's what we do with it." | — Tests which are not reliable! | — False negatives (real patients not detected). | — False positives (patients who are not positive) | — Tests that detect fragments of the …

Frances Madeson (2020-05-28). Federal Prison 'Should Not Be a Death Sentence'. progressive.org Advocates press for the release of Native inmates due to COVID-19.

news.un (2020-05-28). COVID-19: Act now or risk 'unimaginable devastation' globally, warns UN chief. news.un.org Unless countries across the world act together now, the COVID-19 pandemic will cause "unimaginable devastation and suffering around the world", UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Thursday at a virtual high-level meeting on financing for development.

Matt Sedlar (2020-05-28). We Can't Trust the IMF and World Bank to Lead the COVID-19 Recovery. cepr.net Jacobin See article on original site The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank played a central role in shaping our current model of globalization, imposing policies that held countries back from climbing up the income ladder, weakened health systems, and subordinated development outcomes to the whims of private capital. As the vulnerabilities of this …

Rosemary Frei (2020-05-28). Were Conditions for High Death Rates at Care Homes Created on Purpose? globalresearch.ca During the COVID-19 pandemic, people in care homes have been dying in droves. | Why is this happening? Is it simply because older adults are very vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 and therefore it's not unexpected that many would succumb? | Or do care …

Prabir Purkayastha (2020-05-28). Trump declares COVID-19 vaccine war, but can he hold the world hostage? peoplesworld.org

news.un (2020-05-28). Latin America and Caribbean: Millions more could miss meals due to COVID-19 pandemic. news.un.org Some 14 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean could experience severe food insecurity this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to projections released on Thursday by the World Food Programme (WFP).

Steve Brodner (2020-05-28). Depicting Those Lost to Covid-19. thenation.com Depicting Those Lost to Covid-19…

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts (2020-05-28). The Campaign Against Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) Sustained by Corrupt Medical Professionals with Ties to Big Pharma. globalresearch.ca A few years ago the British medical journal, The Lancet, published a paper touting the safety of HCQ. But this was before HCQ with zinc was found effective if used earlier enough against Covid-19. Covid-19 turned HCQ's effectiveness into a …

teleSUR (2020-05-28). Haiti: HR Groups Warn of Prisoner Vulnerability to COVID. telesurenglish.net Haiti's social justice organizations warned on May 27 about the health situation due to the COVID-19 outbreak in penitentiary centers. | RELATED: | "In practically all of the prisons, there are dozens of prisoners suffering from a fever, but we can't say for certain it's COVID-19," Haiti's National Human Rights Institution's Director, Renan Hédouville, stated. | According to the human rights advocators, "the figure is…

Swiss Propaganda Research (2020-05-28). Studies on COVID-19 Lethality. globalresearch.ca . | The following tables provide links to important medical/health studies which are indicated in the Right column. | 1) Covid-19 infection fatality rates (IFR) based on antibody studies: …

Brasil de Fato (2020-05-28). Americas are the new epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. peoplesdispatch.org With nearly 2.45 million confirmed cases, the Americas reached the current largest number of COVID-19 cases worldwide, with almost 500,000 cases more than Europe, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). | Two of the region's countries occupy the first and second places in the number of infected people. The United States lead the ranking of COVID-19 cases, with over 1 million 700 thousand cases while Brazil comes in second place, with 391.222 thousand cases. | The world has surpassed, last Wednesday May 21, the mark of 5 million COVID-19 cases, according to the US Johns Hopkins University's real time das…

Fight Back (2020-05-28). Uprising underway in Minneapolis. fightbacknews.org Minneapolis, MN — A major urban uprising has entered its third day, as tens of thousands have taken to the streets demanding to demand justice for George Floyd, an African American man murdered by Minneapolis police on May 25. | Last night more than 1000's gathered on Lake Street at the Third Precinct police station. Police fried marking rounds, flash bang grenades, and tear gas from the roof of the fortified building. A number of buildings near the station were burned. "Shopping for free," is underway this afternoon at large retailers like Target and Cub foods. | Also, this afternoon, demonstrators went t…

teleSUR (2020-05-28). Fourth Iranian Tanker Arrives In Venezuela's Territory. telesurenglish.net The Faxon became the fourth Iranian-flagged tanker to reach Venezuela's Exclusive Economic Zone, as it entered this country jurisdictional waters, on Thursday. | RELATED: | This vessel is the fourth out of five to arrive after Forest, Fortune and Petunia entered in the past days to bring gasoline and related products as part of the bilateral energy deals signed by both countries. | Video: El buque iraní Faxon ingresó en el mar terr…

Ricardo Vaz (2020-05-28). Venezuela Cuts Back Oil Production, Mulls Gasoline Price Hike. venezuelanalysis.com Four Iranian tankers carrying fuel and additives have arrived in recent days.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-05-28). US announces end of sanction waivers under nuclear deal to Iran. peoplesdispatch.org US secretary of state Mike Pompeo announced the end of exemptions provided under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal to some foreign companies to work on certain Iranian nuclear sites. The waiver was renewed every 60 days despite the unilateral US withdrawal from the deal in 2018…

teleSUR (2020-05-28). Brazil: Bolsonaro's Approval Ratings Take Another Hit. telesurenglish.net President Jair Bolsonaro's disapproval ratings grew by five points to 43 percent, the highest since the beginning of his government, according to a survey conducted by the Brazilian institute Datafolha on Thursday. | RELATED: | The survey involved 2,069 people from all regions of the country, aged 16 and over. According to Datafolha, 49 percent of the 16-24-year-olds surveyed disapproves his administration, w…

Israel Shahak (2020-05-28). "Greater Israel": The Zionist Plan for the Middle East. globalresearch.ca When viewed in the current context, the war on Iraq, the 2006 war on Lebanon, the 2011 war on Libya, the ongoing wars on Syria and Iraq, the war on Yemen, must be understood in relation to the Zionist Plan for the Middle East…

Michael Jansen (2020-05-28). Netanyahu's Trial Closely Resembles Trump's Impeachment. globalresearch.ca Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought in vain to escape his mandatory appearance in court Sunday in his trial for fraud, bribery and breach of trust. At the insistence of the bench, he turned up surrounded by loyalists from his …

teleSUR (2020-05-28). Morocco: Health Minister Uses Chloroquine Despite WHO Warnings. telesurenglish.net Morocco Health Minister Khalid AàØt Taleb confirmed on May 27 his nation continues using chloroquine in COVID treatments despite WHO warnings on its undesirable side effects. | RELATED: | "We found out after the adoption of this treatment on March 23, that patients healed faster than those admitted to hospital before them," Taleb stated to local news media. | In early May, the Moroccan health leader praised chlor…

Dean Baker (2020-05-28). Washington Post Tells Readers About Trump's "Existential" Threat to China. cepr.net Thankfully, it is not a nuclear war. Apparently the Washington Post thinks plans considered by Trump to delist Chinese companies from U.S. stock exchanges and to make it more difficult for the country to trade in dollars will pose an "existential" threat to the country. While these plans, which put into practice, will almost certainly …

James A. Lucas (2020-05-28). US Has Killed More Than 20 Million People in 37 "Victim Nations" Since World War II. globalresearch.ca First published in November 2015 | GR Editor's Note | Let us put this in historical perspective: the commemoration of the War to End All Wars acknowledges that 15 million lives were lost in the course of World War I (1914-18). | The …

Dr. Keith Scott—Mumby (2020-05-28). Doctor Bill Gates Is Now "President of Planet Earth" globalresearch.ca A couple of days ago, I heard from Fort Russ News, that the US Surgeon General (equivalent of the British Chief Medical Officer) Jerome Adams is to officially dump the Bill Gates-CDC-Fauci nonsense predictions and start moving forward with… wait …

Tim Shorrock, Injeong Kim (2020-05-28). 2 Days in May That Shattered Korean Democracy. thenation.com 2 Days in May That Shattered Korean Democracy…

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-05-28). Israeli Troops Abduct Eight Palestinians Across the West Bank. imemc.org Israeli troops reportedly abducted, late on Wednesday night and early on Thursday at dawn, eight Palestinians, across the occupied West Bank. The Ramallah-based Palestinian Prisoners' Society said in a statement that Israeli troops invaded both Ya'bad and Qabatia villages of Jenin district and abducted Nour Bashar Abu Bakr, a former …

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-05-28). Israeli Troops Block Maintenance of Al-Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron. imemc.org Israeli troops blocked, earlier on Thursday morning, maintenance works at the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque, an ancient United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)-recognized part of Palestinian heritage. Palestinian chief for the Holy Shrine and Muslim scholar, Hefdi Abusnaina, told media outlets that Israeli troops blocked, by force, some construction and …

Ali Salam (2020-05-28). Israel Escalates Demolition of Palestinian Homes in the West Bank. imemc.org A Palestinian Siam family, on Wednesday, began to tear down parts their own home in occupied East Jerusalem. The family told Palestinian WAFA News Agency that the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem delivered a demolition order to their Silwan home. The pretext used by the so-called Israeli authorities, for the …

PCHR (2020-05-28). PCHR: Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (21 — 27 May 2020). imemc.org Summary of Israeli Violations of Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (21 — 27 May 2020) Israeli occupation forces (IOF) continued to commit crimes against Palestinian civilians and their properties, including raids into Palestinian cities that are characterized with excessive use of force, assault, abuse and attacks on civilians. …

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-05-28). Israeli Court Rules Against Demolition of Dozens of Palestinian Family Homes. imemc.org More than 35 Palestinian households in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, have reportedly been successful to extract an Israeli court's ruling that allows them to stay in their their homes, following Israeli military attempts to demolish them. Head of the local Palestinian committee for resisting the Israeli Apartheid Wall …

teleSUR (2020-05-28). US Military Brigade to Fight Drug Trafficking in Colombia. telesurenglish.net A U.S. brigade of special anti-drug units will arrive in Colombia in support of an operation announced by Washington in April that actually seeks to deploy military forces in the country's border states with Venezuela. | RELATED: | The U.S. Embassy in Colombia announced in a statement that a Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB) will travel to Colombia under the guise of helping it in its fight against drug traff…

Gregg Gonsalves (2020-05-28). Solidarity Is Our Silver Linings Pandemic Playbook. thenation.com Solidarity Is Our Silver Linings Pandemic Playbook…

Pavan Kulkarni (2020-05-28). South African Union calls for resignation of CEO of Comair. peoplesdispatch.org The airline withheld workers' salaries for May and the union has argued that the company is using the pandemic as "a cover for the restructuring which is taking place"

Karen Conner (2020-05-28). The Impact of the Pandemic on Young People's Employment and Economic Security. cepr.net Young people's employment rate has been trending down over the past several decades. Factors include increasing school attendance, declining federal support for summer jobs, and the Great Recession. In Spring 2001, about 42 percent of 16 to 19-year-olds and 71 percent of 20 to 24-year-olds were employed. By Spring 2011, in the wake of the …

commondreams (2020-05-28). Pandemic Devastates Youth Employment, Relief Policies Offer Little Help. commondreams.org ______________________________…

teleSUR (2020-05-28). US: Trump Challenges Social Media With An Executive Order. telesurenglish.net U.S. President Donald Trump signed on Thursday an executive order that confronts the way Facebook, Google, and Twitter manage their online content policy. | RELATED: | This decision comes days after this social media stamped a fact-checking notification on a couple of Trump tweets, where he complained about the fact that a November presidential election's mail-in ballot would result in a "fraudulent election." Due to this, he cla…

teleSUR (2020-05-28). US: Bid To Discard Lawsuit On Cuban Properties Granted In Court. telesurenglish.net South Florida District Judge Robert N. Scola dismissed on Thursday a lawsuit against Booking, Hotels, Expedia, and Orbitz supported by Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, activated by Trump administration in May 2019. | RELATED: | Scola definitively dismissed the lawsuit filed by Mario Del Valle, Enrique Falla, and Angelo Pou after accepting requests from hotel and travel booking companies. The plaintiffs accused the compa…

teleSUR (2020-05-28). China Approves Hong Kong Security Law Despite Trump's Threats. telesurenglish.net Despite U.S. threats and international criticism, China's National People's Congress approved Thursday a proposed new national security law for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. | RELATED: | The legislation, which aims to prevent, deter and punish acts in Hong Kong that threaten the country's security, was approved by 2,878 votes to 1, with 6 abstentions. | The proposal seeks to sanction secessionist and…

Prof. Sam Ben-Meir (2020-05-28). The Unfolding Catastrophe. What Can Hegel Teach Us Today? globalresearch.ca G. W. F. Hegel was born in 1770 in Stuttgart, Germany. In light of this anniversary I reassess what Hegel's philosophy of nature can contribute to our contemporary understanding — what it …

Josh Ruebner (2020-05-28). Congress Is Poised to Pass Far-reaching Israeli Wish List. globalresearch.ca With the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's passage of the

Prof. Yakov M. Rabkin (2020-05-28). The Spectre of a "China-centric World" globalresearch.ca A spectre is haunting the United States—the spectre of a "China-centric world". By voicing this concern President Trump pledges to "Keep America Great". Some of the European allies echo this concern. Others remain conspicuously silent. But what exactly is this …

Abayomi Azikiwe (2020-05-28). Outrage Mounts Over Racist Police and Vigilante Killings against African Americans. globalresearch.ca African Americans continue to be systematically profiled and executed by law-enforcement agencies and bigoted whites creating a volatile situation across the United States | *** | Four Minneapolis police officers have been terminated from their jobs in the aftermath of the videotaped …

Irina Slav (2020-05-28). Will U.S. Shale Survive if Oil Price Hits $40? globalresearch.ca Within a month, the U.S. oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate recorded two first-of-a-kind events. First, it fell below zero on April 20. Then, it soared up so high it is about to book its best month ever, CNBC's Pippa Stevens …

Catherine Austin Fitts (2020-05-28). The Injection Fraud — It's Not a Vaccine. globalresearch.ca I am not a scientist. I am not a doctor. I am not a biotech engineer. I am not an attorney. However, I read, listen, appreciate and try to understand those who are. | I was an investment banker until politics …

Todd Smith (2020-05-28). Jingo Unchained: Big Trouble with China Rising? dissidentvoice.org In the haze of the morning, China sits on Eternity And the opium farmers sell dreams to obscure fraternities On the horizon the curtains are closing. — Brian Eno, "China my China," from the album Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy, 1974 It's a crazy and dangerous World out there, by Jingo! By now we've all …

Ella Fassler (2020-05-28). When Losing Your Job Means Losing Your Psychiatric Medication. thenation.com When Losing Your Job Means Losing Your Psychiatric Medication…

Dave Zirin (2020-05-28). Edge of Sports: A Dangerous Game. progressive.org It should be the status of the virus, and not the wishes of humans, that sets the dates for reopening the sports world. But the people in charge do not seem to be listening.

Eoin Higgins, staff writer (2020-05-28). Former Federal Reserve Governor Rebukes Central Bank for Using Covid-19 Lending Power to Bail Out 'Dying' Fossil Fuel Industry. commondreams.org "If polluters want to deny the existence of the ongoing bailout, Congress should swiftly repeal these blatant corporate tax giveaways and make fossil fuels ineligible for stimulus lending programs." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/drilling.cali__1.jpg

Jon Queally, staff writer (2020-05-28). In Latest Legal Blow to Trump and Dirty Energy, Federal Appeals Court Upholds Block on Keystone XL Permit. commondreams.org "Contrary to what the Trump administration has argued, the law is clear. We won't sacrifice imperiled species so giant corporations can profit from the dirty fossil fuels that pollute our waters and climate." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/stopkeystonexl_0.png

Julia Conley, staff writer (2020-05-28). As More Parents Head Back to Work Amid Pandemic, Advocates Demand $100 Billion Federal Boost for Child Care. commondreams.org As state governments direct offices, stores, and other businesses to reopen in the coming weeks, millions of American parents are expecting to return to work—and to potentially be left with few options for child care. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-1207620959_1.jpg

Jon Queally, staff writer (2020-05-28). Ethics Complaint Filed to Force Trump's Covid-19 Vaccine Czar—a Former Pharma Exec—to Submit to Ethics Rules. commondreams.org "Trump has put a pharmaceutical executive in charge of handing out the government contracts for coronavirus vaccine development. How could this possibly go wrong?" | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/slaoui_trump_ethics_coronavirus.jpg

Eoin Higgins, staff writer (2020-05-28). 'Cowardly' and 'Shameful': Critics Say Trump Refusal to Release Mid-Year Economic Forecast an Obvious Election Year Ploy. commondreams.org "It gets them off the hook for having to say what the economic outlook looks like." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/omb_0.jpg

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2020-05-28). Pelosi Accused of 'Trying to Do an End-Run Around Her Own Party' by Sending Spy Powers Bill to Conference. commondreams.org After the U.S. House voted Thursday to request a conference with the Senate for legislation to reauthorize controversial government surveillance powers, civil liberties advocates called out Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic Party leaders, warning that the move could further weaken a measure that already lacks crucial privacy protections. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-1206754522_1_2.jpg

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2020-05-28). ACLU Sues Tech Firm to Halt 'Unlawful, Privacy-Destroying' Facial Recognition Activities. commondreams.org The ACLU and law firm Edelson PC on Thursday filed a lawsuit in Illinois state court to end the "unlawful, privacy-destroying surveillance activities" of Clearview AI, a U.S.-based facial recognition technology startup that has contracted with hundreds of law enforcement agencies across the country. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-1080200068_0.png

_____ (2020-05-28). The collapse of anti-immigrant sentiment in Britain. truepublica.org.uk In June 2016, Lord Ashcroft's poll discovered that one third (33%) of leave voters said the main reason was that leaving the EU "offered the best chance for the UK to regain control over immigration and its own borders. For all of the many other reasons that voters decided to vote Brexit, immigration, you could …

_____ (2020-05-28). Into the heart of the NHS — an American backed spy programme at the centre of Brexit. truepublica.org.uk By RobWoodward: Palantir is a special ops company. It is considered at best as a controversial and highly opaque company that has long sought to sell governments an unmatched power to sift and exploit information of any kind for any purpose. Its billionaire owner Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal, through Palantir has worked for …

Prof. Tony Heron (2020-05-28). COVID-19 Is a Reminder of How Deeply the UK's Food Security Is Dependent on the EU. globalresearch.ca Prior to and since the June 2016 referendum, the politics of Brexit has been accompanied by two recurrent (and seemingly contradictory) narratives: first, the narrative of Brexit as 'taking back control' for those voters 'left behind' by the twin forces …

Andrey Areshev (2020-05-28). Trump's War on Arms Control and Disarmament. strategic-culture.org Melvin GOODMAN | A successor to the Trump administration will have to rebuild the credibility of the Department of Justice and the effectiveness of such regulatory agencies as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Consumer Finance Protection Agency. It will have to rebuild the intelligence community, which has been heavily politicized, and the Department of State, which has been hallowed out. Now, you can add the field of arms control and disarmament to the list of reclamation projects because of the hostile and counterproductive acts of the Trump administration. | Every U.S. president since Dwight David Ei…

Andrey Areshev (2020-05-28). U.S. Empire: Biden and Kerry Gave Orders to Ukraine's President. strategic-culture.org On May 19th, an implicit international political warning was issued, but it wasn't issued between countries; it was issued between allied versus opposed factions within each of two countries: U.S. and Ukraine. In the United States, it's a Republican Party warning to the Democratic Party: a warning by Trump, against Biden and against Obama. It's saying: "We've got the goods on you, and we're not releasing it yet. But here's a sample. So, let's deal." | It's a warning that comes from the current President of Ukraine, Volodmyr Zelenskiy, and that places into an exceptionally bad light his immediate predecessor, Petr…

Staff (2020-05-28). Trump's Reelection Strategies Are Killing a Massive Number of People. truthout.org Let us assume, for the sake of discussion, that there will be a presidential election in 159 days as scheduled. This assumption, given the extent of the COVID pandemic combined with comprehensive Republican resistance to the very notion of voting, requires a leap of faith that would challenge even the Bear with me, though, because there is at least one person in the U.S. who believes there will be an election in November, and…

Staff (2020-05-28). We Must Respond to the COVID Crash Like We Did to the Great Depression — Boldly. truthout.org Many economists believe that a recession is already underway. So do millions of Americans struggling with bills and job losses. While the ghosts of the 2008 financial crisis that sent

Staff (2020-05-28). GOP Lawmaker Hid Positive COVID Results From Democrat Colleagues for Over a Week. truthout.org Democratic lawmakers in Pennsylvania's House of Representatives are upset with their Republican colleagues after a member of the GOP caucus revealed he had tested positive for coronavirus but had Rep. Andrew Lewis (R-Pennsylvania) released a statement on Wednesday acknowledging his diagnosis. For a period of two week…

Staff (2020-05-28). Trump Retweets Speech That Says "the Only Good Democrat Is a Dead Democrat" truthout.org President Donald Trump early Thursday boosted a comment from the founder of the group Cowboys for Trump that "the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat." | In his midnight tweet, the president responded to a video clip of Otero County, New Mexico Commissioner and Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin making the remark, tweeting from his phone: "Thank you Cowboys. See you in New Mexico!" | t.co/aCRJeskUA8 | — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) imperial.ac.uk (2020-05-28). 50 billion years of evolutionary history threatened by human activity. imperial.ac.uk Unique animals with long evolutionary histories are under increased threat of extinction around the world, according to a new study.

imperial.ac.uk (2020-05-28). Lab-free COVID-19 test trialled in London hospitals. imperial.ac.uk DnaNudge's MHRA-approved rapid COVID-19 test is now rolling out in urgent patient care settings across London hospitals.

Fight Back (2020-05-28). Statement on the lynching of George Floyd. fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from Frank Chapman, Executive Director National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. | Yet another murder of an unarmed Black person in the month of May. Finan Berhe, in Springfield, MD, Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, GA, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, KY and now George Floyd in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN and all this in the worst pandemic in a century. What an outrage, what an American made tragedy that the lynching of Black people continues unabated, that racist terror continues to stalk the land like a beast of prey. With the brutal, callous…

Alan Macleod (2020-05-27). "Germ-Ridden Masses" — How America's Wealthy Elite Describe the Rest of Us. mintpressnews.com Many of the world's super wealthy are trying to wait out the COVID-19 pandemic on their luxury yachts. But how to get to them without interacting with the public and catching the virus themselves? Such are the difficult quandaries only billionaires have to deal with. Fortunately, financial news outlet Bloomberg has solved the big question of the current era. A new company, it excitedly

Alan Macleod (2020-05-27). As Chief Prosecutor, Klobuchar Declined to Bring Charges Against Cop that Killed George Floyd. mintpressnews.com While serving as Minnesota's chief prosecutor between 1999 and 2007, Klobuchar declined to bring charges against more than two dozen officers who had killed citizens while on duty — including against the cop that killed George Floyd.

Joe Emersberger (2020-05-27). In 2007, acclaimed US physician Paul Farmer pushed for Cuban Medical Brigades to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. zcomm.org Today Code Pink is making a push for that. It would be a lock in a civilized world. Click below to here to read Farmer's letter. In it, he glowingly sums up his decades of working closely with Cuban doctors in Haiti.

Nash Landesman (2020-05-27). Across Colombia, red flags of despair fly as harsh Covid lockdown is extended for a third time. thegrayzone.com Colombia's infection rate is relatively low, but its ruthlessly enforced lockdown is causing hunger and nationwide anger. In the working…

Monica Moorehead (2020-05-27). Want justice for George Floyd? Jail & convict killer cops! — a WW commentary. workers.org Protesters at the Minneapolis police department before being assaulted by cops, May 26. May 27 — It was déjà vu, all over again. Another Black man captured on videotape, first, being tortured and, then, being choked to death by a white police officer. It was almost six years ago when, . . . |

Staff (2020-05-27). NYU Response To Grad Student Sickout Puts Fall Semester In Question. therealnews.com On May 6-8, NYU's graduate students held a three-day sickout to try and force the administration to commit to additional financial support for students in the wake of the novel coronavirus. | The students of NYU are echoing the demands of students at other universities: summer funding, a one-year extension of current funding packages, committing to not have a hiring freeze, and support for undocumented students. But NYU's refusal to engage with the graduate students is especially galling given the university's endowment is, by its own accounting, $4.3 billion. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (C…

Steve Sweeney (2020-05-27). Venezuela brands U.S.-backed Citgo sale 'an act of modern piracy'. mronline.org Venezuelan Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez last year branded the move an "organised crime that violates international law.

Devin Cole (2020-05-27). As COVID-19 deaths surge, evictions and raids resume — WW commentary. workers.org Federal, state, county and city governments are quick to raid and displace a group of people who are unhoused but have established a home encampment together. No assistance is given to those people to maintain their collective living situation. Instead, orders are issued to "clean up" the neighborhood or park . . . |

Editor (2020-05-27). In dire economic crisis, lessons from the most oppressed. workers.org The U.S. is in a historic, crushing economic crisis, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on May 21 the official unemployment rate was 14.7 percent, that same day Fortune magazine — a voice of the capitalist class — said the U.S. real unemployment rate . . . |

John Whitehead (2020-05-27). From 9/11 to COVID-19: The United State[s] of Emergency. mintpressnews.com CHARLOTTESVILLE ( Pity them because they have spent their entire lives in a state of emergency. | They were born in the wake of the 9/11 attacks; raised without any expectation of privacy in a technologically-driven, mass surveillance state; educated in schools that teach conformity and compliance; saddled with a debt-ridden economy on the brink…

Jamal Rich (2020-05-27). Another police killing during COVID-19: Seeking justice for Finan Berhe. peoplesworld.org SILVER SPRING, Md.—On May 7, 2020, a 30-year old Black man was killed by police in the White Oak suburb of Silver Spring, Md., outside his home. His name was Finan Berhe, a member of the local Eritrean community. Berhe was only armed with a knife and likely under distress, but his life was tragically …

Arielle Robinson (2020-05-27). Georgia 'reopens' with questionable data. workers.org Georgia health care workers at Athens Piedmont Medical Center wave to a 'thank-you' caravan circling the hospital on April 4. Atlanta Even as Georgia reopens certain businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, the state's Department of Public Health continues to make errors in tracking the number of COVID-19 cases. One error . . . |

Chauncey K. Robinson (2020-05-27). 'I can't breathe!': Minneapolis erupts in protest after George Floyd murder. peoplesworld.org Civil unrest and outrage have overtaken the city of Minneapolis as a community seeks retribution for the death of yet another Black person at the hands of police. Video footage went viral earlier this week showing four white officers using excessive force and an unauthorized restraint maneuver to arrest 46-year-old George Floyd. George lost his …

Shawgi Tell (2020-05-27). Will 130 Trillion Digital Dollars Save America? dissidentvoice.org Simply "printing" more money and adding more debt to the existing enormous debt load in the U.S. is not a solution. It is particularly irresponsible when it is done with no connection to social production and the working class. Non-fictitious value comes only from the labor-time of workers involved in the process of producing goods …

Eds. (2020-05-27). "Trump is Making War on American People" mronline.org Newsclick brings you 'Signs of Our Times,' series of discussions between Vijay Prashad and Aijaz Ahmad…

Steve Topple (2020-05-27). It's official: coronavirus has shown that men and women still don't have equality. thecanary.co New research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has

Morgan Artyukhina (2020-05-27). Far right Hungarian government launches new assault on trans rights. liberationnews.org Hungary's racist, homophobic, transphobic right-wing government has continued its efforts to divide the Hungarian working class by depriving trans and intersex people of their right to legally change their gender.

Staff (2020-05-27). "Horrifying Neglect": COVID-19 Deaths in ICE Custody Spark New Calls for Mass Release of Prisoners. democracynow.org Calls are growing for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release people from detention during the pandemic, as two people have died from COVID-19 while in custody. We speak with The Intercept's Ryan Devereaux, who reported on how Carlos Ernesto Escobar Mejia, held at the Otay Mesa Detention Center, suffered horrifying neglect before he passed away. We are also joined by Erika Andiola with RAICES Action. "None of those folks — especially people who migrated seeking asylum — they did not do anything to deserve a life sentence in a detention center," Andiola notes.

Staff (2020-05-27). COVID Racial Data Tracker: Ibram X. Kendi on How Better Data Reveals the True Toll of the Pandemic. democracynow.org Ibram X. Kendi says early media coverage of COVID-19 as "the great equalizer" missed the racial impact of the disease. But it soon became clear "that it was Latino Americans and African Americans and Native Americans in particular who were disproportionately being infected and dying." The award-winning author and founding director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University joins us to discuss why he started the COVID Racial Data Tracker.

Staff (2020-05-27). From George Floyd to Chris Cooper: Ibram X. Kendi on "Racist Terror" Facing Black People in America. democracynow.org "I can't breathe" — that's what George Floyd, an unarmed African American man, repeatedly told a white Minneapolis police officer who pinned him to the ground Monday with a knee to his neck. Video of the police attack went viral. Now four officers have been fired. This comes as another video went viral of a white woman calling the cops on a Black man in New York City's Central Park and falsely accusing him of "threatening her life" after he asked her to leash her dog. We discuss these developments and more with Ibram X. Kendi, founding director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American Univer…

The Canary (2020-05-27). Twitter adds fact-check warnings to Donald Trump tweets. thecanary.co Twitter has flagged tweets from US president Donald Trump with a fact-check warning.The social media site added a warning phrase to two of Trump's tweets in which he called postal voting "fraudulent" and predicted that "mail boxes will be robbed".Under the tweets, there is now a link reading "Get the facts about mail-in ballots" that guides users to a Twitter Moments page with fact checks and news stories about Trump's unsubstantiated claims.The Canary (2020-05-27). Johnson faces questions over Cummings' actions as poll ratings plummet. thecanary.co Boris Johnson will be questioned by senior MPs as he faces a growing Tory revolt and plummeting poll ratings over the Dominic Cummings row.The prime minister's senior adviser drove from London to Durham to isolate with his family during the lockdown and says he subsequently took a trip to Barnard Castle to see if he was fit enough to drive before returning to the capital.Johnson, who will be questioned by the Liaison Committee on Wednesday, has stood by his embattled aide.But one minister has quit in protest and dozens of Tory MPs have publicly called for Cummings to leave his post.A YouGov survey for the Times s…

Anand Naidoo (2020-05-27). The Heat: COVID-19: US and South Africa. america.cgtn.com The World Health Organization warns about a second wave of the coronavirus, voicing concerns about countries reopening too quickly.

Staff (2020-05-27). Headlines for May 27, 2020. democracynow.org Four Minneapolis Cops Fired After Shocking Video Shows Killing of George Floyd, Federal Food Program Fails to Reach Millions Even as Child Hunger Surges in U.S., NY Governor Cuomo Shielded Nursing Homes from Liability After Big Campaign Donation, GOP Governors Vie for Republican National Convention as NC Won't Commit to Packed Arena, Yemen's Health System Has "Collapsed" Amid Explosion of Coronavirus Cases, India Resumes Domestic Air Travel Even as COVID-19 Cases Surge, China Completing Plans to Test 11 Million Wuhan Residents for Coronavirus, South Korea Reports 40 New Coronavirus Infections, Highest Level in 7…

Sarah Lahm (2020-05-27). Thousands Protest George Floyd's Murder in Minneapolis. progressive.org Ending in clashes between armed cops and angry community members, the protest showed the immensity of residents' distrust of police.

news.un (2020-05-27). On Peacekeepers Day, UN to spotlight vital role of women peace operations. news.un.org In observance of the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, on Friday, Secretary-General António Guterres will lay a wreath to pay tribute to all the UN blue helmets who have lost their lives since 1948.

Melanie Amna Abas, Helen Anne Weiss, Victoria Simms, Ruth Verhey, Simbarashe Rusakaniko, Ricardo Araya, Dixon Chibanda (2020-05-27). The effect of co-morbid anxiety on remission from depression for people participating in a randomised controlled trial of the Friendship Bench intervention in Zimbabwe. thelancet.com There is a lack of data from low- and middle-income countries on whether anxiety independently predicts a more chronic course for depression.

teleSUR (2020-05-27). Argentina: Pro-Legal Abortion Demonstration Amidst Covid-19. telesurenglish.net Moved by the search for guaranteed rights to lead independent and full lives, the National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe and Free Abortion activists called for a virtual demonstration demanding the approval of the " Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy Bill" in Argentina, as announced on Wednesday. | RELATED: | The Campaign stated its intention to develop conferences, gatherings, and artistic performances in their s…

Alexia Ramirez (2020-05-27). ICE Records Confirm that Immigration Enforcement Agencies are Using Invasive Cell Phone Surveillance Devices. aclu.org For years, immigration enforcement agencies have been using invasive cell phone surveillance technology known as Stingrays in near-total secrecy. To find out more, the ACLU and New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act, and now we've forced the agencies to turn over documents revealing new details about the agencies' practices. Today, we are publishing

news.un (2020-05-27). UN agencies welcome donor pledges for Venezuelan refugees and migrants. news.un.org The UN refugee and migration agencies have welcomed $2.79 billion pledged by donors at a solidarity conference aimed at supporting Venezuelans who fled the protracted crisis in their country for host communities across the region.

teleSUR (2020-05-27). G20 Nations Continue to Finance the Climate Crisis: Report. telesurenglish.net Since the Paris Agreement was signed in late 2015, "G20 (Group of 20) countries have (…provided) at least US $77 billion a year in finance for oil, gas, and coal projects through their public finance institutions," a RELATED: | The Paris agreement ai…

teleSUR (2020-05-27). Global Oil Consumption to Fall by $17t Due to Pandemic: IEA. telesurenglish.net Consumers' oil expenses will drop by US$1 trillion in 2020 to US$2.5 trillion as a consequence of the pandemic-related quarantine measures taken globally, the International Energy Agency (IEA) wrote Wednesday in its report on energy investment. | RELATED: | After the COVID-19 crisis brought large swathes of the world economy to a standstill in a matter of months, the Agency now expects global investment to plummet by 20 percent, o…

news.un (2020-05-27). COVID-19: A 'new and deadly threat' for civilians caught up in violence. news.un.org Innocent civilians trapped in violence now face "a new and deadly threat" from COVID-19, the UN chief told the Security Council on Wednesday, warning that the pandemic is "amplifying and exploiting the fragilities of our world".

Raul Diego (2020-05-27). COVID-19 is Laying Bare How Big Ag is Taking America's Small Farmers to Slaughter. mintpressnews.com As the door for greater consolidation across industries opens wider, entrenched transnational food interests are feeling the heat from American farmers and ranchers to curb their monopolistic dreams.

Karen Rothmyer (2020-05-27). In Rural America, Opioids Kill Many More Than Covid-19. thenation.com In Rural America, Opioids Kill Many More Than Covid-19…

_____ (2020-05-27). First to close — first to reopen: Denmark's gain from virus response. truepublica.org.uk Denmark was one of the first European countries to close down its public spaces to stem the spread of coronavirus, shutting its borders, schools and restaurants in mid-March. Its swift response seems to have paid off. As Covid-19 cases plummeted, Denmark last month became the first EU nation to reopen primary schools. Its restaurants, hairdressers, …

news.un (2020-05-27). 'Lockdown generation' of young workers will need extra help after COVID-19, urges UN labour chief. news.un.org Further evidence of the unprecedented impact of COVID-19 on the global job market has emerged in a new study by the UN labour agency, which on Wednesday said that more than one in six young people have stopped working since the onset of the pandemic.

Julia Kaye (2020-05-27). The FDA is Making Needless COVID-19 Risks a Condition of Abortion and Miscarriage Care. We're Suing. aclu.org The COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe and upended normal life. In the four months since the first U.S. case was reported, more than 1.5 million people have been infected and 100,000 people have died in the United States. To mitigate risk, public health authorities tell us to get our

news.un (2020-05-27). 'Business as unusual': How COVID-19 could change the future of work. news.un.org Millions of people around the world have been working remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic and now experts are asking whether this "business as unusual" could be the future of work, at least for those people whose job doesn't require them to be tied to a particular location.

news.un (2020-05-27). US states 'manipulating' COVID-19 pandemic to restrict abortion access, rights experts charge. news.un.org Independent UN human rights experts fear that some authorities in the United States are using the COVID-19 pandemic to restrict access to abortion, with at least eight states suspending procedures deemed medically unnecessary.

Matt Sedlar (2020-05-27). The Impact of Upward Redistribution on Social Security Solvency (2020 Update). cepr.net Economic inequality in the US has ballooned since the early 1980s. Wage and salary growth at the top of the earnings distribution has significantly outpaced that at the bottom and middle, resulting in decades of unabated upward redistribution of income. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated this divide. In addition to the immediate problems …

Miko Peled (2020-05-27). Extortion, Entitlement and Mafia-Style Tactics Mark Israel's Current State of Affairs. mintpressnews.com Anyone who is not yet alarmed may not be aware of the underhanded mafia-style tactics, political extortion, and patronizing sense of entitlement currently on display in Israel. The following developments demonstrate how the county operates both internally and in the international arena. | Czech Foreign Minister slammed!: | As Israel prepares to formally annex large tracts of the West Bank, Tomas Petricek, the Czech Republic's Foreign Minister, was quoted as saying that "annexation is forbidden by international law and also raises serious questions about Israel's future as a democracy." By any normal diplo…

Raul Diego (2020-05-27). EU Foreign Policy Chief Calls for Rapprochement with Russia and End of "American-led System" mintpressnews.com A recent address by the EU's top diplomat, Josep Borell, hints at a new pro-Asian political order on the continent as Germany gets ready to lead the 27-nation bloc. But, is it just a ploy to check Chinese hegemony?

Scott Ritter (2020-05-27). George Floyd death: US police view Americans just like military view people in Afghanistan… as enemies in WAR ZONE. thealtworld.com Whether in Afghanistan, or on the streets of American towns and cities, the conflation of US military …

Peter Greene (2020-05-27). Putting Schools Online Won't Save Money. Here's What Will. progressive.org School districts are facing a severe budget crisis, but education via software isn't the solution.

teleSUR (2020-05-27). Trump Silent on George Floyd's Killing, Biden Demands a Probe. telesurenglish.net U.S. President Donald Trump has not said a single word about the killing on Monday of Black citizen George Floyd, who died after pleading that he couldn't breathe while a white police officer held him down with a knee on his neck. | RELATED: | Though almost two days have passed since video footage emerged Tuesday showing Floyd imploring for his life as a policeman knelt on his neck, Trump has yet to make any comment. | Yet, whil…

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-05-27). Israeli Troops Abduct Sixteen Palestinians from West Bank. imemc.org Israeli troops reportedly abducted, on Wednesday morning, several Palestinian residents from the internationally-recognized occupied East Jerusalem and across the rest of the occupied West Bank. In the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem, local sources reported that soldiers abducted Abdelraheem Sabbah, 28 and Ra'ed Ammar, 20, after having stormed their …

Staff (2020-05-27). Israeli Troops Demolish Palestinian Home & Two Buildings near Nablus. imemc.org On Wednesday morning before dawn, Israeli troops invaded several parts of the northern West Bank near Nablus and destroyed a Palestinian home and a tourism center. This follows the destruction earlier on Tuesday of a Palestinian-owned agricultural barn south of Nablus. In the pre-dawn invasion Wednesday, Israeli troops entered the …

Frank Clemente (2020-05-27). Pandemic Relief Makes the Rich Richer. progressive.org In the midst of the greatest medical and economic crisis in modern history, Congress chose to give a tax break almost exclusively to Americans making more than $1 million a year…

teleSUR (2020-05-27). Experts: Cuba is Close To The Post-COVID Stage. telesurenglish.net Cuba is making the necessary adjustments to enter…

teleSUR (2020-05-27). Bolivia: Añez Summoned To Declare On Ventilator's Alleged Scam. telesurenglish.net Bolivia's de facto President Jeanine Anez and Foreign Minister Karen Longaric have been subpoenaed for testimonies regarding corruption crimes during the state procurement of Spanish ventilators, lawmaker Edgar Montano said on Wednesday. | RELATED: | "This investigation will summon Jeanine Anez, Longaric, and other officials involved in this procurement that became a theft from the pockets of all Bolivian people," Montano…

Ken Klippenstein (2020-05-27). Trump's Decision to Freeze WHO Funding Worries the US Military. thenation.com Trump's Decision to Freeze WHO Funding Worries the US Military…

_____ (2020-05-27). Global energy investment set to slump by record $400bn in 2020. truepublica.org.uk Global energy investment is expected to suffer its greatest annual fall on record this year due to the coronavirus crisis. Investment is set to crash by $400bn ( £325bn) — or 20 per cent — in 2020, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). At the start of the year, funding was on track for a …

Dean Baker (2020-05-27). A Gilead-Remdesivir Fix: The Ten Percent Solution. cepr.net The Washington Post had an excellent piece documenting how the government put up most of the money for developing remdesivir, a drug that now offers the hope of being the first effective treatment for the coronavirus. As the piece explains, in spite of the substantial contribution of public funds, Gilead Sciences holds a patent monopoly …

Dave Zirin (2020-05-27). Would a 2020 NBA Champion Ever Be Seen as Legitimate? thenation.com Would a 2020 NBA Champion Ever Be Seen as Legitimate?

Andrey Areshev (2020-05-27). Trump: I Can and Will Start Wars Whenever I Please. strategic-culture.org Michael TENNANT | President Donald Trump's May 6 veto of a Senate resolution that would have required him to seek congressional approval for any further military confrontations with Iran demonstrates that, despite his occasional feints toward scaling back foreign intervention, Trump is as much a warmonger as anyone else in Washington. Worse still, his explanation for his veto indicates that he believes presidents have unlimited authority to launch wars, contrary to clear constitutional language. | "The question of whether United States forces should be engaged in armed conflict against Iran should only be made fo…

Andrey Areshev (2020-05-27). Mail-Order Presidency: Democrats Will Do Anything to Beat Trump in November. strategic-culture.org Just like in 2016 when WikiLeaks revealed that the DNC was feeding Hillary Clinton debate questions, 2020 will be no different with the Democrats employing every dirty trick in the book to oust Donald Trump from office. | Following on the backs of Russiagate, Impeachment, and now mass-media hysteria over Coronavirus, which of course has dealt Trump a major blow with regards to his hopes for reelection in November, is there anyone still not convinced that the Democrat machine is prepared to do absolutely anything to win in November? | Liberals are painfully aware that if Trump wins another four years in office all…

Andrey Areshev (2020-05-27). One Good Thing About the Lockdown. strategic-culture.org Ron PAUL | One of the few good things to come out of the government-mandated shutdown is that many parents have started homeschooling their children. Many of these parents are likely to continue homeschooling after the government schools reopen. | Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did its part to encourage homeschooling when it unveiled "guidelines" for schools to follow when they reopen. Among the CDC's guidelines are that schools put tape on the hallways, directing children which direction to walk and how much distance to keep between themselves and their classmates. The CDC also r…

The Canary (2020-05-27). Lennie's lockdown tunes hit fundraising target after delighting online followers. thecanary.co An eight-year-old boy with cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus has hit his fundraising target after delighting his online followers with scores of piano tunes chosen by those who donate. | Lennie Street, from Morley, West Yorkshire, cannot stand or walk independently but loves music and decided to challenge himself during lockdown to play 100 songs picked by his supporters. | He has had thousands of views on his social media accounts as he tried and mastered everything from Beethoven to Justin Bieber and Stevie Wonder. | Lennie first set himself a fundraising target of £750 for his special school — Paces…

Chokshi DA, Katz MH. (2020-05-26). Emerging Lessons From COVID-19 Response in New York City. jamanetwork.com In a little more than 1 month, US society and its hospitals were transformed by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The once-boisterous streets of New York City became quiet, while the hospital wards reverberated with the swooshes and beeps usually heard in intensive care units (ICUs). COVID-19 echoed that duality. There are so many outside the hospital who were silently infected, while so many fought for their lives in the hospital, struggling just to breathe.

Slomski A. (2020-05-26). No Benefit for Lopinavir—Ritonavir in Severe COVID-19. jamanetwork.com Treatment with the HIV combination drug lopinavir-ritonavir did not accelerate recovery or improve mortality rates among hospitalized patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a trial in the New England Journal of Medicine reported.

Kuehn BM. (2020-05-26). Hybrid Influenza Strain Found in Idaho Teenager. jamanetwork.com A 13-year-old Idaho boy was treated in February 2019 for a hybrid influenza strain that contained genetic components of both seasonal influenza and 2009 influenza A(H1N1), according to a CDC report.

Slomski A. (2020-05-26). Psoriasis Drug Guselkumab Improved Psoriatic Arthritis Symptoms. jamanetwork.com Guselkumab, a biologic drug approved to treat patients with moderate or severe psoriasis, significantly and safely improved psoriatic arthritis, a phase 3 trial in The Lancet concluded. Guselkumab is a human monoclonal antibody that inhibits interleukin-23.

Tom Tomorrow (2020-05-26). Running Out of Stuff to Do? Try Freaking Out. thenation.com Running Out of Stuff to Do? Try Freaking Out…

Project Censored (2020-05-25). Episode 88 — COVID Chronicles: New Orleans. projectcensored.org Along the Line, is a member of the Demcast network, brought to you by the Media Freedom Foundation. On today's episode hosts Nicholas Baham III (Dr. Dreadlocks), Janice Domingo, and Nolan…

Project Censored (2020-05-25). Episode 89 — COVID Chronicles: Worcester. projectcensored.org Along the Line, is a member of the Demcast network, brought to you by the Media Freedom Foundation. On today's episode hosts Nicholas Baham III (Dr. Dreadlocks), Janice Domingo, and Nolan…

Project Censored (2020-05-25). Episode 86 — COVID Chronicles: San Francisco. projectcensored.org Along the Line, is a member of the Demcast network, brought to you by the Media Freedom Foundation. On today's episode hosts Nicholas Baham III (Dr. Dreadlocks), Janice Domingo, and Nolan…

Project Censored (2020-05-25). Episode 90 — COVID Chronicles: Santa Clara. projectcensored.org Along the Line, is a member of the Demcast network, brought to you by the Media Freedom Foundation. On today's episode hosts Nicholas Baham III (Dr. Dreadlocks), Janice Domingo, and Nolan…

Project Censored (2020-05-25). Episode 87 — COVID Chronicles: Miami. projectcensored.org Along the Line, is a member of the Demcast network, brought to you by the Media Freedom Foundation. On today's episode hosts Nicholas Baham III (Dr. Dreadlocks), Janice Domingo, and Nolan…

CounterSpin (2020-05-22). Diane Ravitch on Pandemic School Privatization. fair.org Media…

Paul Kawika Martin (2020-05-12). Action Alert: Call Your Rep to Cut Pentagon Spending. peaceaction.org ‚òéÔ∏èüó£Call your Reps. to ‚úÇ Pentagon spending Over the last few weeks, we've alerted you that the Pentagon is trying to direct funds for COVID-19 relief into its own bloated coffers. In the last three years alone — during a time of relative peace — we have already increased annual Pentagon spending by more than …

Jeff Jurgens (2020-05-07). Once Again Trump Scoffs Congressional War Powers with Republican Help. peaceaction.org Once Again Trump Scoffs Congressional War Powers with Republican Help Washington, D.C. — May 7, 2020 — In response to the veto by President Trump yesterday of a bill (S.J.Res.68) to reclaim congressional war powers in regards to Iran and the anticipated failure today of the Senate override vote, Paul Kawika Martin, Senior Director for …

Jeff Jurgens (2020-05-06). U.S. Reverses Policy On Use of Landmines. peaceaction.org On May 6, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) headed a congressional oversight letter with 107 other members of Congress to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper expressing disappointment to the Trump Administration's reversal of the policy limiting the use of antipersonnel landmines to the defense of South Korea, and seeking answers to …

Jeff Jurgens (2020-04-30). Take Action: Keep COVID Stimulus $$ Away From the Pentagon. peaceaction.org Congress is putting together additional and much needed stimulus packages in response to COVID-19. That's the good news. The bad news is that the Pentagon is trying to weasel billions of dollars out of these stimulus bills! All just to keep the mega-profits rolling for weapons dealers and the military-industrial complex. As people here at …

Jeff Jurgens (2020-04-30). U.S. Organizations React to Global Military Spending Report. peaceaction.org Joint Statement: U.S. organizations react to global military spending report April 27, 2020 Our diverse group of 39 think-tanks, non-profits, faith-based organizations, and advocacy groups based in the United States find the exorbitant amount of money spent on militaries worldwide to be an irresponsible and harmful use of global wealth. The Global Military Expenditures Report …

Jon Rainwater (2020-04-23). A Myriad of Ways to Wage Peace During These Times. peaceaction.org As we shelter in our homes to protect ourselves from this global pandemic, we wanted to share some of the many ways you can remain active and impactful in the work for a more peaceful world. Peace Action has long been a leader in organizing international conferences, marches, and rallies around the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty …

Jeff Jurgens (2020-04-15). Peace During Pandemic — Support the Global Ceasefire. peaceaction.org "The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war." That's is what United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres exclaimed as he delivered an appeal to warring parties around the world to lay down arms in a global ceasefire. The United States, which is currently engaged in war hostilities on nearly every continent of the world, …

Lilly Dragnev (2020-03-20). Peace Action Supports Wyden-Klobuchar Bill to Protect Democracy and Ensure Safe Elections. peaceaction.org Statement of Jon Rainwater, Executive Director, Peace Action, on the introduction of the Natural Disaster and Emergency Ballot Act (NDEBA) by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). This bill would help ensure that elections can take place in a safe and secure way throughout the pandemic and beyond. March 19, 2020 Peace Action …

Lilly Dragnev (2020-03-13). Latest U.S. Military Strikes Are as Reckless as they are Cruel. peaceaction.org Washington, D.C. — March 12, 2020 — In response to reports that the U.S. has carried out five airstrikes on Iranian-backed militia sites in Iraq, Jon Rainwater, Executive Director of Peace Action, released the following statement: "At a time of one of the greatest global challenges of our lifetimes, it is shocking that the Trump …

Paul Kawika Martin (2020-03-11). Congress Sends Bipartisan Bill to Trump Rebuking Iran War. peaceaction.org Washington, D.C. — March 11, 2020 — In response to the House passing the bipartisan bill — S.J.Res.68 — that would thwart President Trump from going to war with Iran and end any current hostilities, Paul Kawika Martin, Senior Director for Policy and Political Affairs at Peace Action, released the following statement: "Both chambers and …

Jason Ditz (2020-02-20). Turkey Kills Over 50 Syrian Troops, Russian Warplanes Intervene to Halt Offensive. theantimedia.com Russia called the situation a "worst case scenario."

Jason Ditz (2020-02-17). DOJ Investigating Former CIA Director's Role in Russiagate. theantimedia.com The Justice Department is investigating the role of John Brennan in the assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.

Strategic Culture (2020-02-08). US Deploys 'Mini-Nukes' in Deplorable Threat to World Peace. theantimedia.com These so-called "mini-nukes" represent—despite the diminutive-sounding name—an increased risk of nuclear war.

Tyler Durden (2020-02-08). Iraq and Russia Prepare to Boost Military Ties as US Threatens Sanctions. theantimedia.com Iraq and Russia are preparing for deepening military coordination.

Middle East Eye (2020-02-07). Russia Says Israel Used Civilian Plane as Human Shield During Syria Strikes. theantimedia.com Russia accused Israel of "making a total mockery of the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians."

Venezuela Analysis (2020-02-06). Embassy Protection Collective: "We Are Not the Ones Who Violated the Law" theantimedia.com In this exclusive interview, VA talks to the activists who defended the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington DC ahead of their trial.

Middle East Eye (2020-02-06). Turkey Gives Assad Deadline to Pull Back or Face Military Action. theantimedia.com Turkey has given the Syrian government until the end of this month to withdraw from recently seized territory in Idlib province.

Jason Ditz (2020-02-05). Trump Says War With Iran Was "Closer Than You Thought" Last Month. theantimedia.com Trump told reporters that the U.S. came "closer than you thought" to war with Iran last month.

Tyler Durden (2020-02-04). Biden Threatens Lawsuit to Halt Release of Real Iowa Caucus Results. theantimedia.com American democracy—ain't it grand?>