Evaggelos Vallianatos (2020-03-20). Nature\'s Revenge: Climate Change and COVID-19. counterpunch.org The corona virus pandemic is no accident. Like past global epidemics, it\'s a warning that nature has had it with the ecocidal proclivities of man. These outrageous actions are changing climate and are warming and threatening planet Earth. Nature (the Earth) is fighting back. Climate change is sowing pandemic diseases. Corona virus in America No

RT (2020-03-20). You can wash your hands \'all day' but Covid-19 still can get you with ONE cough, medical expert tells Larry King. rt.com The belief that furious hand-washing fends off coronavirus doesn\'t seem to have any factual basis, doctor and award-winning journalist Bob Arnot told Larry King, noting that self-isolation is the best strategy to stay healthy. | Appearing on RT America\'s Politicking, Doctor Bob Arnot, former chief medical correspondent for NBC and CBS news, said that the current emphasis on washing hands was perpetuating a myth that has yet to be substantiated by evidence. | You can wash your hands all day long, but you\'re still going to get [coronavirus] if someone next to you coughs… No one has proven it yet that people ar…

RT (2020-03-20). France is only at start of coronavirus crisis, President Macron warns. rt.com France is only at the beginning of the coronavirus crisis and is in a race to curb its progress, President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday. | \"We are at the start of this crisis. We have taken exceptional measures to absorb this first wave, but we\'ve started a race against the virus,\" the president said at the beginning of a crisis meeting at the Interior Ministry. | \"We must react a great deal and reorganize ourselves at every moment. We need to anticipate,\" Reuters quoted him as saying.

W. T. Whitney (2020-03-20). Fighting COVID 19 in Cuba, China and the United States. counterpunch.org Governments, according to Thomas Jefferson, are supposed to guarantee people\'s rights to \"life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.\" COVID 19 has out people\'s lives and health in the spotlight now. What kind of tools do governments have at their disposal to protect lives and health? Cuba has the advantages of forward-looking leadership, well-orchestrated state

RT (2020-03-20). About 130,000 French nationals trying to return home — FM. rt.com France is trying to facilitate the repatriation of 130,000 of its nationals stuck overseas due to the coronavirus outbreak, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has said. | \"The fundamental principle is that for the 130,000, we want to bring them back to the national territory, but we ask them to be calm and patient,\" Le Drian told France Info radio on Friday, adding that it would be up to them to pay for their return tickets. | The minister urged the more than three million French expatriates to stay where they are. | He also warned that the government was ready to toughen up restrictions in France to limit pe…

RT (2020-03-20). EasyJet to ground most of its fleet, as coronavirus slaughters airline industry. rt.com British budget airline EasyJet will ground the majority of its fleet, in response to a wave of travel restrictions across Europe. The airline industry as a whole has been pummeled by the global Covid-19 pandemic. | In a statement on Friday, the company said that the majority of its 300-plus fleet will be grounded from Tuesday onwards. After finishing up its remaining schedule of rescue and repatriation flights, EasyJet said it will operate a minimum schedule of essential flights on some UK routes. | These flights will account for only 10 percent of the airline\'s usual capacity, the statement read. | Also on rt…

RT (2020-03-20). Senator Burr enabled Russiagaters for years; now they\'re accusing him of insider trading & coronavirus lies. rt.com Richard Burr, chair of the US Senate Intelligence Committee, has been accused of deceiving the public about the coronavirus outbreak and seeking to profit from it by dumping stocks that are crashing due to the pandemic. | Burr (R-North Carolina) found himself under attack from two directions on Thursday. Early in the day, National Public Radio ran a story based on \"secret recordings\" from a speech he gave in North Carolina in late February, when he gave oddly specific warnings about Covid-19 to an elite group of donors, while keeping the rest of the American public in the dark. | SCOOP: Secret recording obtain…

RT (2020-03-20). \'The Purge has begun\': Sirens mark beginning of national quarantine in Argentina in most ominous way possible (VIDEOS). rt.com A global pandemic is enough to put most people on edge, but authorities in Argentina decided to make matters worse by marking the start of a nationwide lockdown using an ominous siren taken straight from the Purge movie franchise. | As darkly humorous comments on eyewitness videos show, following a televised countdown, Argentinians were warned that the quarantine had officially begun with the spine-tingling wail of sirens. | si a las 00.00 no suena la alarma de la purga esta cuarentena total ya arranca mal

RT (2020-03-20). Coronavirus transforms routine flight into private jet for unsuspecting passenger (VIDEO). rt.com A man from Argentina traveling from Tel-Aviv to Barcelona was stunned to find out that he\'d hired himself an entire jet for the price of a single ticket. The coronavirus panic saw him ending up the only passenger aboard. | Earlier this week, Ilan, an Orthodox Jew from Argentina, arrived at Ben Gurion Airport with his luggage, only to learn that Israeli El Al Airlines had canceled his flight as part of the country\'s harsh Covid-19 travel restrictions. | But the 21-year-old didn\'t give up that easily as he went searching for other options at the almost empty airport. His persistence was rewarded as he was able t…

RT (2020-03-20). \'You are NOT invincible\': WHO chiefs give desperate warning to world's youth about Covid-19. rt.com Though coronavirus has disproportionately affected the elderly and infirm, the chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has issued a stark warning to younger generations: \"You are not invincible.\" | \"Data from many countries clearly show that people under 50 make up a significant proportion of patients requiring hospitalization,\" the agency\'s director-general said at a press briefing on Friday. | He then urged young people directly to take the threat of Covid-19 seriously: \"This coronavirus could put you in hospital for weeks, or even kill you.\" | Tedros added that even if younge…

W. T. Whitney Jr. (2020-03-20). Fighting COVID-19 in Cuba, China, and the United States. peoplesworld.org Governments, according to Thomas Jefferson, are supposed to guarantee people\'s rights to \"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.\" COVID-19 has put people\'s lives and health in the spotlight now. What kinds of tools do governments have at their disposal to protect lives and health? Cuba has the advantages of forward-looking leadership, well-orchestrated state planning, …

RT (2020-03-20). –°hina reports record number of imported Covid-19 cases from US & Europe as global death toll exceeds 10,000. rt.com China may have managed to contain the coronavirus at home, but it\'s not over the hump yet. There\'s danger of a return of the deadly disease as the number of infected travelers entering the country reaches record levels. | The Chinese authorities have done huge work since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in Wuhan in late December. The blow was hard as 3,248 have died and 80,967 were infected, but for the last two days there was not a single domestically transmitted coronavirus case in the country. | But as the situation improved, many Chinese expatriates, including students, rushed back home to escape the corona…

Lee Hall (2020-03-20). Examine Your Own Cultural Practices, Senator Cornyn. counterpunch.org Senator John Cornyn told reporters it\'s \"no coincidence\" COVID-19 originated in China, given \"cultural practices there.\" What cultural practices did the senator list? \"People eat bats and snakes and dogs and things like that. These viruses are transmitted from the animal to the people, and that\'s why China has been the source of a lot

Ian Goodrum (2020-03-20). \"Chinese virus?\" Trump\'s petty name game puts lives at risk. peoplesworld.org What\'s in a name? Quite a lot, it turns out—and President Donald Trump knows it. He\'s invoked a great deal of anger by deliberately calling the novel coronavirus spreading throughout the world a \"Chinese virus\" or \"China virus\" in recent statements. This was preceded by the use of \"Wuhan virus\" or \"Chinese coronavirus\" by several …

RT (2020-03-20). Top Doctor at Moscow's leading disease hospital says current Covid-19 crisis will likely last SIX MONTHS. rt.com Coronavirus panic is already threatening a worldwide economic disaster, as millions are forced to live under lockdown. This has left many people wondering how long we can expect these circumstances to endure. | \"When I call my parents, I say jokingly: \'see you in September,\'\" Denis Protsenko has told RT. He\'s the head doctor of Moscow\'s main disease hospital in Kommunarka. | Protsenko believes that while the pandemic may slow in summer, it\'s more like it will be autumn before the siege will be lifted. If the country has a similar experience to China, then the spread will decline in May or June, he believes, bu…

Staff (2020-03-20). Doctor: As Coronavirus Cases Spike Worldwide, We Need Global Cooperation to Halt Spread. democracynow.org As the worldwide death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has topped 10,000, with over 250,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, we speak with Stanford University\'s global health expert Dr. Michele Barry, an infectious disease doctor. Italy has surpassed China in coronavirus deaths, and cases are rising in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, as the governor of California has ordered all 40 million residents to shelter in place.

Ahmed Abdulkareem (2020-03-20). From Cluster Bombs to Toxic Waste: Saudi Arabia is Creating the Next Fallujah in Yemen. mintpressnews.com From dumping toxic waste into the sea to littering Yemen\'s farms with tons of unexploded cluster bombs, Saudi Arabia is creating a legacy so toxic in Yemen that experts believe it could take a century to undo.

Alan Macleod (2020-03-20). The Kushner Family Could Be Getting Very Rich Thanks to the Coronavirus. mintpressnews.com The Kushner family\'s ties to for-profit healthcare companies underscore the myriad of conflicts of interests that billionaire businessmen have, making them particularly unsuited to holding public office.

RT (2020-03-20). FBI arrests Pakistani doctor trying to JOIN ISIS & carry out \'lone wolf\' attacks in US. rt.com A Pakistani doctor and former employee at a prestigious US medical research center was arrested on terrorism charges after telling FBI informants he sought to join Islamic State, hoping to launch attacks on their behalf. | The 28-year-old doctor, Muhammad Masood, was Masood — who formerly worked as a research coord…

RT (2020-03-20). Stanford Professor Michael McFaul dunks on Khamenei… by puzzling over why Iran doesn't use Gregorian calendar. rt.com Ex-ambassador Michael McFaul has taken to Twitter to express astonishment over the start of the Iranian New Year, leading to speculation that he might not know that there are non-Gregorian calendars out there. | The former US envoy to Russia and current Stanford academic found it fitting to mock Iran\'s supreme leader for commenting on the start of the Iranian (or Persian) New Year, Nowruz. In his tweet, Ali Khamenei had congratulated his country for becoming more self-reliant in the face of US sanctions, but urged for further production boosts in 1399 to help the Islamic Republic recover from Washington\'s econ…

RT (2020-03-20). Two arrested after botched 'Islamist attack' sees car driven into Barcelona airport (PHOTOS). rt.com Police cordoned off a section of Barcelona\'s El Prat airport after an apparent failed Islamist attack, in which two men drove a car through the terminal building\'s doors. | The Mossos d\'Esquadra, Barcelona\'s police force, confirmed that two men attempted to storm the Terminal 1 bulking at the El Prat international airport at approximately 5am local time on Friday. | The men made it as far as the food court of the airport, reportedly shouting Islamist slogans, before they were arrested. | Technicians from Spain\'s bomb squad Tedax were also deployed to investigate the vehicle which was found to not contain any e…

RT (2020-03-20). Pakistan\'s PM Khan calls for lifting of Iran sanctions amid global virus crisis. rt.com Pakistan\'s Prime Minister Imran Khan called on Friday for the lifting of US-led sanctions on neighboring Iran, so Tehran can better deal with its novel coronavirus crisis. The comments came after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani wrote to Khan, asking for help in dealing with the novel coronavirus outbreak that has now killed at least 1,433 people in the Islamic republic, AFP reported. | \"I would stress and insist to the international community to lift the sanctions on Iran,\" Khan told reporters. \"It is very unjust they are dealing with such a large outbreak on one side, and on the other they are facing interna…

Nick Turse (2020-03-20). America\'s Commandos Deployed to 141 Countries and \"Criminal Misconduct\" Followed. counterpunch.org Last October, a group of eight Apache attack and CH-47 Chinook helicopters carrying U.S. commandos roared out of an airfield in Iraq. They raced through Turkish airspace and across the Syrian border, coming in low as they approached a village just north of Idlib Province where Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, his bodyguards, and

RT (2020-03-20). Erdogan orders all events in Turkey postponed until end-April. rt.com Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a decree on Friday postponing all events related to science, culture and the arts, as the country seeks to contain a surge in coronavirus cases. | Turkey\'s Covid-19 death toll has reached four, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Thursday. The number of confirmed cases in the country has surged since the first case was announced last week, reaching 359 on Thursday. The cases have roughly doubled every day since Sunday, Reuters reports. | Erdogan\'s decree, published in the Official Gazette on Friday, said all meetings and activities, indoors or outdoors, related…

Ramzy Baroud (2020-03-20). Death at the Greek Border: Syrian Refugees Should Not Be Used as Political Pawns. counterpunch.org In a surprising move, Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, announced on February 29 that he will be re-opening his country\'s border to Europe, thus allowing tens of thousands of mostly Syrian refugees into Greece and other European countries. Expectedly, over 100,000 people rushed to the Ipsala border point in the Edirne province separating Turkey from

John Wojcik (2020-03-20). Senators use advance coronavirus knowledge to enrich selves; hospitals becoming desperate. peoplesworld.org The American people\'s confidence in the ability of their national leaders to steer the country through the coronavirus pandemic was shattered further today when it was revealed that several top U.S. senators on the intelligence committee used advance knowledge of the coming coronavirus disaster to dump stock they owned and rake in huge profits before …

The Canary (2020-03-20). Covid-19: Social distancing could be needed \'for at least most of a year\'. thecanary.co Social distancing measures will need to be in place for most of a year at least in order to control the spread of Covid-19, scientists advising the government have agreed.The Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling agreed on Monday that, while the severity of measures could alternate during the period, \"stricter\" measures would need to be enforced for at least half of the year in order to keep cases at a level the NHS can cope with.The Government published the papers on Friday — a day after prime minister Boris Johnson said he expects the tide to be turned in the fight against Covid-19 within 12 wee…

RT (2020-03-20). Virtue-signaling celebs preaching to the poor to stay home from their mansions is just as insufferable as COVID19. rt.com A spurious pandemic that caused suffering to many the world over is spreading – that\'s right, the \'woke\' screen celebrities have infected sports stars with their condescending virtue-signaling to the poor from their mansions. | The infectious smugness emanating from Hollywood\'s gaggle of where-do-I-know-that-face-from guardian angels has yet again infected the internet. | Th…

Mark Gruenberg (2020-03-20). Lawmakers to HUD, landlords: Evictions make coronavirus pandemic worse. peoplesworld.org …

Staff (2020-03-20). Solidarity Not Charity: Mutual Aid & How to Organize in the Age of Coronavirus. democracynow.org As lockdowns and layoffs sweep the U.S., mutual aid groups are forming to protect and provide for the vulnerable, including the elderly, incarcerated, undocumented and unhoused. We look at the incredible community networks across the country that are coming together to protect their neighbors during the coronavirus pandemic — and how you can get involved. From Washington state to the Bay Area, Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota and New York City, thousands of mutual aid efforts are aimed at building solidarity, not charity. We speak with two longtime mutual aid organizers and activists in two hot spots of the pan…

RT (2020-03-20). Germany seizes medical supplies headed to Switzerland as Europe scrounges for resources to fight coronavirus — report. rt.com German customs has reportedly seized face masks and other supplies destined for Switzerland, as European states struggle against the coronavirus pandemic with their limited medical equipment. | Authorities seized high-quality respiratory masks and other protective clothing for doctors and the general population during an inspection of a distribution center in Juechen, North Rhine-Westphalia, the Rheinische Post reported. US-based company 3M was reportedly planning on exporting the medical supplies to Switzerland. | Germany imposed export bans on such goods at the start of March, as part of the country\'s anti-c…

Sabri àñncຠ(2020-03-20). Triggering a Global Financial Crisis: COVID-19 as the Last Straw. counterpunch.org Whether a black swan or a scapegoat, Covid-19 is an extraordinary event. Declared by the WHO as a pandemic, Covid-19 has given birth to the concept of the economic \"sudden stop.\" We need extraordinary measures to contain it. Initially referred to as the novel coronavirus 2019, the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) originated late in 2019 in Wuhan,

RT (2020-03-20). Illinois goes on coronavirus lockdown days after holding \'fine & safe\' Democratic primaries. rt.com Having insisted on holding Democratic presidential primaries just days earlier, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has now placed the state on \"shelter-in-place\" regime over the Covid-19 pandemic, following California and New York. | The measure will go into effect on Saturday evening, March 21. All non-essential businesses — not including hospitals, doctors\' offices and grocery stores — are to be closed indefinitely, Pritzker announced after consulting with experts. | To avoid the loss of tens of thousands of lives we must order an immediate shelter-in-place. | Pritzker admitted the state does not have…

RT (2020-03-20). Russia's gold & near-zero debt give it best chance of thriving in post-coronavirus apocalypse — Max Keiser. rt.com The coronavirus pandemic has popped a quadrillion-dollar financial bubble and we can expect a very deep and prolonged period of adjustment, RT\'s veteran business commentator Max Keiser believes. | The financial crisis, which many believe we have just entered, stems from the times of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, with the establishment of \'neoliberal\' policies \"that enriched bankers and destroyed workers by giving bankers free reign to borrow and speculate without oversight or accountability,\" Keiser told RT. Now, governments will have to adjust to a new reality, and having a low debt and massive reserve…

RT (2020-03-20). Farnborough Airshow CANCELED due to \'unprecedented\' Covid-19 pandemic. rt.com The world famous Farnborough International Airshow in England — which gives a platform to the aerospace and military industries — has been forced to cancel this summer\'s event due to the coronavirus crisis. | Confirming the scrapping of the event via social media on Friday afternoon, organizers said that they understood the news would come as a blow to the international aerospace industry, but the health and safety of attendees came first. It was scheduled for July 20, but will now be pushed back to 2022. | After very careful consideration, the unprecedented impact of the global Coronavirus pandemi…

RT (2020-03-20). European stocks surge as governments mount efforts to mitigate economic impact of coronavirus pandemic. rt.com European stock markets opened sharply higher on Friday as more central banks adopted monetary and fiscal measures to deal with the economic downturn as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak. | Stocks in London jumped in early trading with the FTSE 100 index rising over five percent. Germany\'s DAX is gaining over six percent, while French stocks are also up by over six percent. |

RT (2020-03-20). Finland scoffs at WHO's coronavirus testing protocol, suggests organization doesn't understand how pandemics work. rt.com A senior Finnish health official has dismissed a World Health Organization (WHO) advisory to test as many people as possible for coronavirus, arguing that such a measure would be completely illogical when combating a pandemic. | Finland\'s head of health security, Mika Salminen, took aim at the notion that stopping the spread of Covid-19 requires testing on a mass-scale. | \"We don\'t understand the WHO\'s instructions for testing. We can\'t fully remove the disease from the world anymore,\" she said, adding: \"If someone claims that, they don\'t understand pandemics.\" | Citing limited supplies, Finland has narrowed c…

RT (2020-03-20). Tokyo 2020 must be postponed, senior Japanese Olympic Committee member says. rt.com The Tokyo Olympics should be postponed, a senior member of the Japan Olympic Committee said. Kaori Yamaguchi, a JOC executive board member, added her voice to a growing chorus calling for Tokyo 2020 to be delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. | \"It should be postponed under the current situation where athletes can\'t be well prepared,\" Yamaguchi told the Nikkei daily in an interview published on Friday. | Yamaguchi won a bronze medal for judo at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. She is the first JOC board member to openly call for a postponement of the Tokyo Games, AFP reported.

RT (2020-03-20). Bavaria on lockdown: First German state to 'shut down public life almost completely' for 2 weeks in bid to stop Covid-19. rt.com Bavaria will introduce tight restrictions on movement for two weeks in the hope of containing the Covid-19 pandemic that has seized Europe, making it the first German state to introduce a lockdown. | The strict measures include the closure of restaurants and bars, and bans large gatherings. People are urged to not leave their homes unless they are going to work, visiting the doctor, or buying groceries and medicine. Limited outdoor activity is still allowed but only alone or with a family member. | Minister Markus Soeder said on Friday that the lockdown, which begins at midnight, was not an \"easy\" decision to…

Daniel Taylor (2020-03-20). Capitalism is killing us. We have to destroy it. mronline.org COVID-19 has challenged humanity: on what principles do you organise your society? The pandemic could have been defeated by cooperation, planning, transparency, and social solidarity. But instead, it was born into a society based on competition, secrecy, lies, and greed. |

RT (2020-03-20). \'I don\'t think so\': Trump skeptical of national coronavirus lockdown. rt.com US President Donald Trump says he doesn\'t believe a total national lockdown of the US over the coronavirus pandemic will \'ever\' be necessary, after California and New York told everyone to hole up at home. | A national lockdown would not make sense in places like the Midwest, where there have been far fewer cases of Covid-19 so far, and where the bulk of food and industrial production is concentrated. | \"I don\'t think so,\" Trump said during a Friday press conference, when asked about nationwide lockdown. \"I don\'t think we\'ll ever have to do that.\" | President Trump is asked about the possibility of a national…

Jonah Raskin (2020-03-20). Reading Camus\' The Plague in a Time of Pandemic. counterpunch.org \"Each of us has the plague within him, no one, no one on earth is free from it. We must keep endless watch on ourselves lest in a careless moment we breathe in somebody\'s face and fasten the infection on him.\" — Albert Camus, The Plague, 1947 Like millions of other \"shut-ins\" in northern California, where

RT (2020-03-20). Germany\'s leading health official says decision on curfew is \'up to authorities\'. rt.com The health official leading Germany\'s fight against coronavirus urged people on Friday to keep their distance to curb the pandemic. | However, Lothar Wieler, president of the Robert Koch Institute, also said it was up to the authorities to decide whether to impose a curfew to force people to follow official guidelines. | \"We recommend keeping maximal distance. It is up to the authorities to decide on the measures needed to achieve that,\" Wieler told reporters. | He spoke after the number of German cases of Covid-19 rose by 2,958 overnight to 13,957. The number of fatalities rose by 11 to 31, according to Reute…

RT (2020-03-20). Germany to block foreign takeovers, protect domestic companies — top politicians. rt.com Germany will protect domestic firms from foreign takeovers, two leading politicians said on Friday, after company valuations in Europe\'s largest economy have been hammered by the coronavirus pandemic. Ministers have already promised liquidity support to businesses, and introduced measures making it easier to reduce working hours rather than lay off workers. | Germany\'s blue-chip DAX index, which comprises the country\'s 30 largest listed corporations, has plunged by more than a third over the past month. This has increased the risk of foreign companies snapping up rivals at a discount. | \"We will avoid a sell-o…

RT (2020-03-20). Russia testing MULTIPLE prototype Covid-19 vaccines. rt.com Russia\'s research center of virology and biotechnology, known as the Vector Institute, is testing multiple different vaccine prototypes against Covid-19 in a race to find a cure for the virus behind a global pandemic. | This week, it \"began immunogenicity studies in sensitive laboratory animals… of all developed vaccine prototypes,\" The composition, dose, route of administration of the future vaccine will be determi…

RT (2020-03-20). \'Utter contempt for human life\': Iranian FM Zarif slams US for hitting Tehran with new sanctions amid Covid-19 crisis. rt.com Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif accused the US of taking its policy of \"maximum pressure\" on Tehran to a \"new level of inhumanity\" by imposing new sanctions on Iran as it struggles to cope with a huge surge of Covid-19 cases.

RT (2020-03-20). International Atomic Energy Agency exposed to Covid-19 as staff member tests positive. rt.com A case of the novel coronavirus has been identified in a staff member at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, the United Nations has said. | The IAEA implemented measures last week allowing personnel at the Vienna center to work remotely from March 16 in line with guidance from Austrian authorities. | The IAEA said earlier this month it would provide diagnostic kits, equipment and training in nuclear-derived detection techniques to countries in need of assistance as the virus spreads rapidly around the world. | There are currently more than 240,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 worldwide and…

RT (2020-03-20). Coronavirus KO: Russia's Kovalev shares protective suit training video days after Barrera fight canceled (VIDEO). rt.com The outbreak of COVID-19 hasn\'t just left the sporting calendar decimated, it has also made it far more difficult for top level athletes to train – with certain exceptions. | Golden Boy Promotions announced on Tuesday that they were to cancel the April 25 boxing card at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California, which was to feature Sergey Kovalev taking on Sullivan Barrera as more and more regions within the United States crack down on public gatherings in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. | It was to be the Russian former world champion\'s first bout since losing by 11th-round knockout to Canelo…

Marilyn Bechtel (2020-03-20). California governor issues statewide stay-at-home order to fight COVID-19. peoplesworld.org …

Norbert Ross (2020-03-20). Poverty in the Time of Corona: Victims of a Sickness That is Yet to Exist. counterpunch.org In the days on COVID-19, also known as coronavirus, we sometimes forget that the virus is not a \"natural disaster,\" nor does it affect all people equally. While we can all get sick (which is why there is so much attention on COVID-19), the virus is in no way an equal opportunity perpetrator, meaning that

RT (2020-03-20). Nirbhaya gang rape convicts executed at Delhi prison, bringing shocking 7+ year case to a close after countless delays. rt.com The four men convicted for the grisly 2012 gang rape and murder of a young student in India have been executed by hanging, finally bringing the seven-year \'Nirbhaya\' case to an end after a lengthy ordeal of appeals and delays. | The assailants were hanged at New Delhi\'s Tihar Jail 5: 30am local time Friday, following a marathon legal proceeding the night prior which saw last-ditch attempts to appeal their sentence shot down. | \"Now I will get peace,\" Asha Devi, the mother of the victim, — who has come to be known as \'Nirbhaya\', or \'the fearless one\' in Hindi — told PTI after the mens\' final hanging da…

RT (2020-03-20). Two LA Lakers players test positive for Covid-19, will self-quarantine. rt.com Two athletes for the Los Angeles Lakers have contracted the coronavirus, the team said in a statement. Both remain without symptoms, but have been placed into isolation after the positive diagnosis. | \"We learned today that two Lakers players have tested positive,\" the Lakers said in a statement on Thursday evening, adding that \"All players and members of the Lakers staff are being asked to continue to observe self-quarantine and shelter at home guidelines.\" | The team did not name either afflicted player. | t.co/RmqjnRzGLk— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers)

RT (2020-03-19). NATO \'scales down\' exercises, drawdown of US-led force in Afghanistan continues. rt.com NATO is scaling down military exercises in Europe to curb the spread of the coronavirus, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said. However, alliance missions are continuing, including the drawdown of the US-led force in Afghanistan following a peace agreement last month, he added. | \"Some of our exercises have been modified or cancelled… but our forces remain ready,\" Stoltenberg told a video news conference on Thursday. | The US Army has already announced a halt to movement of military personnel from the US to Europe and said it plans to scale down its Defender Europe 20 exercises, billed as NATO\'s b…

RT (2020-03-19). Kabul orders Afghan forces to switch to \'active defense\' as Taliban attacks continue. rt.com The government in Kabul said on Thursday it has ordered Afghanistan\'s forces to switch to an \"active defense posture\" as the Taliban continued to attack even after the militants signed a deal with the US. \"The Taliban continued high level of violence despite the peace agreement,\" acting Defense Minister Asadullah Kalid said in a video statement. | \"An active defense posture will reduce the restrictions on Afghan National Defense and Security Forces and it will allow them to carry out operations against the Taliban plotting attacks against ANDSF,\" he said. Afghan government forces had previously been able to fi…

Staff (2020-03-19). Trump Continues Calling the Coronavirus \"Chinese\" Despite Reports of Anti-Asian Hate Crimes. democracynow.org \"I would like to begin by announcing some important developments in our war against the Chinese virus. I will be invoking the Defense Production Act just in case we need it.\" That was the opening line of President Trump\'s news conference Wednesday afternoon. Later in the news conference, Trump was questioned by ABC News reporter Cecilia Vega on continuously referring to the coronavirus as the \"Chinese virus.\" A member of the administration also reportedly referred to the coronavirus as the \"kung-flu.\" Meanwhile, racist incidents and threats of hate crimes against Asian Americans have emerged across the United Sta…

Staff (2020-03-19). \"Coronavirus Capitalism\": Naomi Klein\'s Case for Transformative Change Amid Coronavirus Pandemic. democracynow.org Author, activist and journalist Naomi Klein says the coronavirus crisis, like earlier ones, could be a catalyst to shower aid on the wealthiest interests in society, including those most responsible for our current vulnerabilities, while offering next to nothing to most workers and small businesses. In 2007, Klein wrote \"The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.\" Now she argues President Trump\'s plan is a pandemic shock doctrine. In a new video for The Intercept, where she is a senior correspondent, Klein argues it\'s vital for people to fight for the kind of transformative change that can not only curb…

Staff (2020-03-19). Joseph Stiglitz: Trump\'s \"Trickle-Down\" Economic Plans Are Not Enough to Meet Coronavirus Challenge. democracynow.org The coronavirus relief package signed by President Trump Wednesday provides unemployment benefits and free coronavirus testing to millions of Americans suddenly out of a job, but guarantees paid sick leave to less than 20% of American workers. Earlier this month, Trump signed into law an $8 billion coronavirus response package and has laid out the first details of a third, $1 trillion economic package and invoked the Korean War-era Defense Production Act to allow the government to direct industrial production. For more on those bailouts and who benefits, we speak with Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize-winning economis…

RT (2020-03-19). Coronavirus sends British forces home from Iraq. rt.com Britain has pulled some of its forces home from a training mission in Iraq, due to a slowdown in operations as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The illness has forced the British military to reassess its priorities. | An unspecified number of the 400 or so British troops will be pulled from Iraq and sent home to \"support loved ones facing the challenges of the virus,\" the Ministry of Defence announced on Thursday. Some \"key military personnel\" will be left behind, the MoD added. | The troops were deployed to Iraq in 2014 to train Kurdish forces battling Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) militants, but Defenc…

Adam Hochschild (2020-03-19). When \"Fake News\" Was Banned: an America Trump Would Have Loved. counterpunch.org Every month, it seems, brings a new act in the Trump administration\'s war on the media. In January, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo exploded at National Public Radio reporter Mary Louise Kelly when he didn\'t like questions she asked — and then banned a colleague of hers from the plane on which he was leaving

RT (2020-03-19). Iran oil: US slaps sanctions on 5 UAE-based companies. rt.com Washington on Thursday imposed sanctions on five United Arab Emirates-based companies, accusing them of having collectively purchased in 2019 hundreds of thousands of metric tons of petroleum products from Iran. | The US Treasury Department said the blacklisted companies — Petro Grand, Alphabet International DMCC, Swissol Trade, Alam Althrwa General Trading and Alwaneo — purchased the petroleum products in 2019 from the National Iranian Oil Company for delivery to the UAE. | The announcement followed the blacklisting of Chinese and South African companies earlier this week over Iran oil trade. | The…

RT (2020-03-19). \'Inhumane & reckless\': Twitter silences Venezuela\'s anti-coronavirus chief as IMF denies emergency loan. rt.com Amid crushing US sanctions and IMF rejection already making Venezuela\'s struggle with Covid-19 difficult, Twitter now seems to have hobbled the country\'s vice-president and head of coronavirus response, Delcy Rodriguez. | Both the personal and the official Twitter account belonging to Rodriguez were \"temporarily restricted\" on Thursday over \"unusual activity,\" with old tweets still visible to those who choose to view them, but no new tweets available after Wednesday. | Foreign Minister Jorge

RT (2020-03-19). Global corporate losses from coronavirus to top $12 TRILLION — investor Ray Dalio. rt.com The economic damage from the Covid-19 outbreak will be unprecedented, according to the head of one of the world\'s largest hedge funds Ray Dalio, who says global corporate losses from the epidemic will amount to $12 trillion. | \"What\'s happening has not happened in our lifetime before … What we have is a crisis,\" Dalio told CNBC. \"There will also be individuals who have very big losses… There\'s a need for the government to spend more money, a lot more money… A lot of people are going to be broke.\" Talking about US corporations he said they will lose as much as $4 trillion. | The founder of Bridgewater Ass…

RT (2020-03-19). DIY disaster: CDC tells nurses to \'use bandanas and scarves\' as face mask shortage hits US. rt.com The US Centers for Disease Control has advised nurses and frontline healthcare workers to use bandanas and scarves as makeshift masks when caring for Covid-19 patients \"as a last resort\" should hospitals reach \"crisis capacity.\" | The updated

RT (2020-03-19). New Delhi to impose 1-week ban on commercial flight landings in India as it cracks down on coronavirus. rt.com India\'s government has announced a temporary halt to all commercial flight arrivals, as part of a series of measures being put in place to contain the spread of coronavirus in the country. | The Press Information Bureau issued a bulletin on Thursday outlining a series of new policies aimed at combating Covid-19. Passenger aircraft will be barred from landing in India for one week, starting on March 22, the press release said. Discounted railway travel and civil aviation will be suspended except for students, patients and people with disabilities. | Additionally, citizens above the age of 65, and children below…

RT (2020-03-19). European stocks mostly down despite promise of huge stimulus by central bank. rt.com Markets in Europe opened higher on Thursday, but have since retreated. This is despite the ‚Ǩ750 billion ($821 billion) bond-buying program by the European Central Bank to help the region\'s economy through the Covid-19 crisis. | Stock markets in London and Frankfurt opened over one percent higher, before retreating into negative territory. French stocks were up over three percent in early trade, before giving up most of the gains. | On Wednesday, the regulator announced the new \'Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program\' which will use the funds to purchase securities in order to help support the E…

RT (2020-03-19). Amazon squeezing workers amid Covid-19 crisis is \'unacceptable\' — French finance minister. rt.com French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Amazon\'s refusal to pay wages of staff who walk out over coronavirus fears is \"unacceptable\" as the country is considering nationalization of bigger companies at risk. | \"These pressures are unacceptable, we\'ll let Amazon know,\" Le Maire said after several hundred workers protested the company\'s policy on Wednesday. The e-commerce giant refused to pay workers who walked out or stayed at home in self-isolation over coronavirus fears. | www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=282184766102941&set=pcb.282185442769540&type=3&theater | Le Maire said Thursday that he would…

RT (2020-03-19). Russian woman to FACE COURT for allegedly spreading coronavirus FAKE NEWS. rt.com With most of Europe and Asia presently under some form of emergency measures to fight the spread of Covid-19, now is probably not the best time to scare people even more. | A woman in Russia\'s Far East is set to appear before a court on charges of spreading false information about coronavirus in her remote region. The Amur Oblast where she resides has yet to report a case of the disease, despite bordering China, the original epicenter. | Also on rt.com | | On the o…

The Canary (2020-03-19). Transport services are being slashed on a number of routes in England. thecanary.co Public transport operators have started slashing services due to coronavirus (Covid-19).Train, coach and bus frequencies are being cut amid a collapse in demand and government advice on avoiding non-essential travel.Northern Trains said there will be cancellations on a dozen routes on 19 March \"as a result of Covid-19\".The affected routes include Liverpool-Manchester Airport, Leeds/Sheffield—Nottingham and Newcastle-Carlisle. | ⚠️Please be reminded that there will be a reduced serivce on several routes today, Thursday 19 March. All routes should be updated on our website and journey planners.

RT (2020-03-19). Man claiming to be infected with Covid-19 ARRESTED after deliberately coughing at shop staff in England. rt.com A 57-year-old man claiming to be infected with coronavirus has been arrested for assault after deliberately coughing on staff in a shop in England. Eyewitnesses claim the man laughed through the whole ordeal. | Staff suspected the man might be shoplifting and when they confronted him, he reportedly began deliberately coughing at them. The alleged assault took place on High Street in Dudley, near Birmingham, on Wednesday afternoon. | According to eyewitnesses, the man laughed throughout the incident — in between coughs. | \"It\'s understood he coughed on staff who suspected he was shoplifting, and claimed…

RT (2020-03-19). Going down? 2nd coronavirus case confirmed aboard US Navy warship despite \'aggressive mitigation strategy\'. rt.com The USS Boxer is now the first ship in the US Navy with more than one sailor infected with Covid-19. A new case was confirmed on Wednesday. | The first positive test for the disease was recorded among the amphibious assault ship\'s crew on Friday. | The second infected seaman wasn\'t in contact with the first one, the Navy said, adding that \"the Sailors work in two different departments.\" | The two sailors are currently isolated at their homes in accordance with protocol. People who came into contact with them have also been quarantined. | The commanders of the ship, which is now stationed in San Diego, Califor…

RT (2020-03-19). Vague emergency legislation gives UK police & \'public health officers\' powers to DETAIN suspected Covid-19 sufferers. rt.com The British government is giving police, public health and immigration officers authority to detain those suspected of having coronavirus under a new emergency bill, but it\'s not clear exactly how the new powers will be exercised. | The proposed powers were outlined in a 329-page emergency bill on Thursday and come as the UK implements more draconian measures to curb the spread of Covid-19. | In explanatory

RT (2020-03-19). \'Infinitely frightening\': Juventus ace Rugani's girlfriend reveals pregnancy after couple infected with coronavirus. rt.com Juventus defender Daniele Rugani\'s girlfriend Michela Persico has revealed fears over her pregnancy after the couple were both infected with Covid-19. | Persico announced she is four months pregnant and expressed hope that the dangerous infection wouldn\'t affect their unborn baby. | Italy international Rugani was the first Serie A player to test positive for the coronavirus, pl…

RT (2020-03-19). One Iranian dies of coronavirus every 10 minutes, 50 get infected every hour — health ministry. rt.com Iranian authorities have provided shocking statistics showing the massive scale of the local Covid-19 outbreak. The country remains the worst-affected in the Middle East, with 1,284 coronavirus deaths already. | \"Based on our information, every 10 minutes one person dies from the coronavirus and some 50 people become infected with the virus every hour in Iran,\" Kianush Jahanpur, the health ministry spokesman, The death toll from the disease in Iran has reached 1,284 people, with 149 deaths comi…

RT (2020-03-19). Small gains for stocks after drastic plunge, but Bank of America declares recession. rt.com US stocks closed with moderate gains after a rollercoaster week. However, the Covid-19 coronavirus has continued to hammer investor confidence, and Bank of America smells a recession. | The Dow Jones gained 0.96 percent on Thursday, closing at just over 20,000 points. The NASDAQ Composite closed up 2.3 percent, while the S&P 500 finished up 0.47 percent. | These gains, however, could partly be driven by speculation. According to regulatory filings, billionaire investors like Warren Buffet and Carlos Slim have all spent hundreds of millions of dollars snapping up cheap stocks lately, a move that could have insp…

RT (2020-03-19). Praying to prevent coronavirus! Moscow monastery introduces nightly processions to fight Covid-19. rt.com While ordinary folk have been told to wash their hands, self-isolate, and keep social distance to fight infection, members of a Moscow religious order have opted for their own solution — nightly processions on the streets. | As first reported by news service Interfax, monks from Moscow\'s Vysoko-Petrovsky Monastery have opted to circle their abode to battle coronavirus. The first procession, which occurred yesterday after the evening service, will become a nightly ritual, presumably until the virus is defeated. The abbot of the monastery, Hegumen Peter Eremeev, explained the logic on his Instagram page.

RT (2020-03-19). DIY disaster: CDC tells nurses to use \'use bandanas and scarves\' as face mask shortage hits US. rt.com The US Centers for Disease Control has advised nurses and frontline healthcare workers to use bandanas and scarves as makeshift masks when caring for Covid-19 patients \"as a last resort\" should hospitals reach \"crisis capacity.\" | The updated

RT (2020-03-19). US stocks in for another wild ride on Wall Street as coronavirus rages on. rt.com US markets are swinging wildly on Thursday after plunging 30 percent from their peak. The failure by Western countries to contain the Covid-19 outbreak is bringing global business to a halt and causing panic among investors. | The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened down over three percent before recovering earlier losses. The S&P 500 is also in positive territory after losing three percent at the start of trading. The Nasdaq Composite tech index started one and a half percent lower, but is now up. | Despite opening higher earlier in the day, markets in Europe are also slipping. The British FTSE and German DAX…

RT (2020-03-19). \'America\'s two-party oligarchy can\'t relate to those in need\': Lee Camp says US coronavirus failure goes beyond just Trump. rt.com As the US teeters on the edge of abyss amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the crisis has revealed systemic flaws brought by years of two-party plutocracy that go beyond a single president, says Lee Camp, host of RT\'s Redacted Tonight. | While President Donald Trump bears a good portion of the blame for the sluggish US response to Covid-19, he is only one piece of a larger puzzle. America\'s structural defects long predate Trump\'s time in office, the comedian argued. | \"The fact that so many millions of Americans don\'t have paid sick leave, or hardly make minimum wage and therefore can\'t afford an emergency — that…

RT (2020-03-19). Worldwide coronavirus deaths surpass 9,000 — AFP. rt.com The global death toll from Covid-19 has reached at least 9,000, according to an AFP tally. The benchmark comes a day after fatalities in Europe surpassed those in Asia. | Multiple sources have estimated that the number of worldwide infections reached around 220,000 by Thursday. | China, the reported epicenter of the outbreak, reported no new local infections for the first time since the pandemic began more than two months ago. The hopeful news contrasts sharply with the growing health crisis in Europe. Italy, the hardest-hit nation outside China, reported a record 475 deaths yesterday from the illness. | As Ch…

Charles Pierson (2020-03-19). Under Capitalism, Every Plague Has a Silver Lining. counterpunch.org However grave the calamity, someone will see it as a way to make a buck. COVID-19, which the World Health Organization declared as a global pandemic on March 11, is no exception. Forget about human misery. The private sector and the Trump Administration see the coronavirus as an opportunity. Because under capitalism, every plague has

RT (2020-03-19). Stay near home & no cycling: France tightens Covid-19 lockdown restrictions to \'max 2km from home\'. rt.com France has dramatically tightened restrictions on movement amid its coronavirus lockdown, warning citizens that they should limit their travel to within one kilometer of their homes — and a maximum of two kilometers. | The country went into a 15-day lockdown over the Covid-19 outbreak at noon on Tuesday, and a list of acceptable reasons for travel was published by the government. Those reasons include shopping for basic necessities, seeking medical treatment, helping a neighbor or relative, and walking the dog. Getting exercise was also seen as a legitimate reason — provided that it was done alone.

The Canary (2020-03-19). Coronavirus: Scientists warn young people not to be complacent as deaths rise. thecanary.co The government\'s top scientific advisers have warned young people not to be complacent over Covid-19 as they urged the public to keep up social distancing measures to protect themselves.England\'s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said the vast majority of people in all age groups would recover but it was a mistake for young people who are healthy to think they would all just \"breeze through\" the pandemic.He spoke before latest figures revealed that a further 29 people who tested positive had died in England, taking the UK total to 137, and the Bank of England slashed interest rates to a new historic lo…

RT (2020-03-19). First coronavirus patient dies in Russia: Elderly woman with underlying medical conditions. rt.com A 79-year-old woman, with numerous underlying health conditions, who was diagnosed with Covid-19 has died in an infectious disease hospital in Moscow, the agency for monitoring the situation with the disease reports. | The cause of death was pneumonia against the background of other very severe health problems, including type 2 diabetes, arterial hypertension, coronary heart disease, and arteriosclerosis among other things. | According to Moscow daily Moskovsky Komsomolets her name was Valentina Zubareva, a professor who lectured at the Gubkin Oil and Gas University in the Russian capital. She was still delive…

RT (2020-03-19). \'Soul-destroying\': UK foodbank broken into and \'ransacked\' as Covid-19 outbreak provokes panic over supplies. rt.com A foodbank in West Yorkshire, England has been broken into and £500-worth of items such as food, sanitary products and basic supplies stolen, as the febrile atmosphere in the UK cranks up amid the coronavirus pandemic. | Local Labour MP Yvette Cooper took to social media on Thursday afternoon to express her dismay at the brazen criminality committed against Knottingley Foodbank, tweeting: \"Truly appalled anyone could do this right now.\" | | Truly ap…

RT (2020-03-19). Saudi Arabia limits worship at Mecca & Medina mosques, risking tighter crowds amid coronavirus pandemic. rt.com Muslims unable to enter the holy mosques of Mecca and Medina will no longer be allowed to pray in the overflow areas outside their walls, the Saudi government decided ahead of Friday prayers in a bid to contain Covid-19 spread. | The Mecca and Medina mosques are the only two worship sites still open for prayers in Saudi Arabia. The move to restrict worship there as well comes as the desert kingdom attempts to slow the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus. | Congregational and Friday prayers have been suspended at every single other mosque in Saudi Arabia, an unprecedented move for the devout country. | Also on r…

RT (2020-03-19). Italy\'s coronavirus toll OVERTAKES China, total cases in Europe pass 100,000. rt.com Health officials in Italy have confirmed a further 427 deaths from Covid-19, pushing the country\'s overall death toll to 3,405. The figure overtakes the number of total deaths in China from the outbreak. | According to a tally compiled by the AFP, the overall number of cases across Europe has now risen over 100,000. | The latest deaths in Italy are a slight decrease on the previous 24-hour period, in which a record 475 people died in one day from the rapidly-spreading virus. | The outbreak was first recorded in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, and has since spread around the world at an alarming rate, i…

RT (2020-03-19). For the 1st time since outbreak, China reports NO NEW LOCAL COVID-19 CASES. rt.com Mainland China has had no new local coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours — the first time since the outbreak began in December. Beijing is still struggling to contain imported cases of the disease. | Notably, the purported epicenter of the epidemic — Wuhan, in Hubei province — recorded no new locally-transmitted infections. The same was true across China, according to reports, citing the Chinese government. | Health authorities reported 34 new cases on Thursday, but said that all involved people who had come to China from abroad. Twenty-one of the imported infections were in Beijing, m…

Daniel Raventós, Julie Wark (2020-03-19). Covid-19 and the Need, Right Now, For a Universal Basic Income. counterpunch.org Apart from the medical threat revealing a brutal class divide in healthcare, the coronavirus pandemic is creating social and economic havoc among non-rich populations. If ever the need for a universal basic income was evident, it is now. But governments, trying to save the neoliberal system, and making the most of the disaster to lay the foundations for a new round of disaster capitalism, won\'t see it. To give a couple of examples of this catastrophe profiteering, laissez-faire entrepreneur par excellence, Sir Richard Branson, wants a £7.5 billion government bailout for his airline, and Trump has proposed a…

RT (2020-03-19). Chill, Netflix to cut European traffic after EU said it overloads internet during Covid-19 quarantine. rt.com Movie and TV streaming service Netflix says it will cut its bit rates across Europe by a quarter to ease the internet burden as coronavirus quarantines have forced millions of people to stay home all day. | Many more people than usual are now working from home, thanks to virus-limiting restrictions and lockdowns, while the mass closure of schools and colleges also means more pressure on internet providers from younger service users. | Netflix\'s move comes after the EU\'s Internal Markets Commissioner Thierry Breton urged the service to help address the additional strain on internet services. | \"To secure Intern…

RT (2020-03-19). 108 new deaths in France, as coronavirus lockdown tightens. rt.com French authorities reported 108 new deaths from the Covid-19 coronavirus, a 41 percent increase that brings the total dead in France to 372. The spike in fatalities comes as France enters a third day of total lockdown, with only essential movement permitted. | In addition to the swift rise in deaths, reported cases of the deadly virus hit 10,995 on Thursday, up from 9,134 the day before. More than 1,000 of these patients require life support. | Though France has not yet seen the number of cases that have cropped up in Italy, Spain or Germany, authorities there imposed a mandatory 15-day quarantine on Tuesday.

RT (2020-03-19). Elon Musk\'s coronavirus PR stunt goes awry after promising to manufacture ventilators, but only \'if\' there are shortages. rt.com Elon Musk found himself bombarded with internet rage, after promising to pump out ventilators to treat Covid-19 patients — but only if hospitals needed them. People found this to be a rather ignorant thing to say. | The digital fracas began after Musk signaled that he could use Tesla and SpaceX\'s production capabilities to make medical equipment to aid those suffering from the global pandemic. The offer, however, came with a condition: Are there hospitals that currently lack enough ventilators to treat the respiratory illness? | Tesla makes cars with sophisticated hvac systems. SpaceX makes spacecraft wi…

RT (2020-03-19). India locks down Kashmir as it reports 1st case of coronavirus, Sri Lanka postpones election. rt.com India blocked roads in Kashmir on Thursday after the insurgency-torn region reported its first case of coronavirus. The development comes as several other parts of the country imposed restrictions on public gatherings in attempts to prevent the spread of epidemic. | Dozens of people in Kashmir told Reuters they had been prevented from leaving their neighborhoods on Thursday because roads were blocked by police and paramilitary units. | Srinagar\'s senior superintendent of police Haseeb Mughal said that road blockades across the valley had been imposed to prevent the spread of the virus. | Elsewhere in densely-p…

RT (2020-03-19). What about ending endless wars? Tulsi Gabbard drops out of presidential race and backs …Biden. rt.com Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has suspended her presidential campaign and endorsed Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden, citing the establishment favorite\'s primary victories and the coronavirus as her reasons. | Gabbard made the surprise announcement on Thursday in a video posted to her Twitter account, explaining she was dropping out to focus on dealing with the coronavirus epidemic in Hawaii and potentially serving in her National Guard capacity should she be called to action. | The endorsement of Biden came as a particular surprise, given Gabbard\'s opposition to \"regime change wars,\" a central plank of he…

RT (2020-03-19). Tokyo governor says it\'s too early to discuss timing of decision on Olympics. rt.com Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said on Thursday that beating the coronavirus is essential to host a safe and secure Olympics. However, she added that it is still too early to discuss the timing of a decision on whether the Games should go ahead as scheduled, Reuters reports. | The breadth and scale of the spreading coronavirus around the world have forced the cancellation of numerous sporting events, raising concerns about whether the Olympics will be able to open on July 24 as planned. | Koike said that she\'s currently not thinking about canceling the Olympics or holding them without spectators, two options that…

RT (2020-03-19). Israel\'s Supreme Court hears challenge to coronavirus cellphone monitoring. rt.com Civil liberties activists asked Israel\'s Supreme Court on Thursday to suspend cellphone monitoring put in place under emergency regulations to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Surveillance began this week after the government approved special orders that circumvented customary parliamentary oversight and enabled the Shin Bet counter-terrorism agency to tap into cellular location data, Reuters reported. | The Association of Civil Rights in Israel, Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights – and the Joint List of Arab parties petitioned the court to freeze the monitoring. \"The government canno…

RT (2020-03-19). Coronavirus isn\'t stopping trade between Russia & China. rt.com While the coronavirus pandemic is wreaking havoc on global trade, cargo volume between Russia and its biggest trading partner, China, is growing, according to the Russian consul general in Harbin, Vladimir Oschepkov. | \"According to our estimates, the volume of cargo transportation between our countries is gradually increasing,\" the diplomat told RIA Novosti. | More than 300 trucks and up to 35 trains cross the border in both directions every day. Russian carriers mainly transport wood, soy, coal, ore, and fertilizers, which are in demand in China due to the beginning of seasonal field work. | Also on rt.com…

Michael Biesecker, Michelle R. Smith (2020-03-19). Health inequality: The rich and famous get coronavirus tests first. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON (AP)—Celebrities, politicians, and professional athletes faced a backlash this week as many revealed that they had been tested for the coronavirus, even when they didn\'t have a fever or other tell-tale symptoms. That\'s fueling a perception that the wealthy and famous have been able to jump to the head of the line to get …

RT (2020-03-19). Texas court stays second execution in a week \'because of coronavirus\'. rt.com A Texas appeals court has issued a 60-day stay of execution for convicted murderer Tracy Beatty, citing the \"enormous resources\" needed to deal with the coronavirus crisis – its second such decision this week. | The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals pressed pause on Beatty\'s execution on Thursday, explaining in its decision that \"the current health crisis and the enormous resources needed to address that emergency\" necessitated waiting 60 days before setting a new date. Beatty was convicted and sentenced to death 15 years ago for killing his mother and burying her in his backyard, and was due to be executed next…

Al Neal (2020-03-19). Silent streets: Life halts, but not for all workers. peoplesworld.org This is the first installment of a two-part series featuring interviews with the workers in the service, health, and other sectors who are still going to their jobs each day during the coronavirus crisis—the ones keeping our society functioning. ST. LOUIS—The mood is uneasy. The streets are quiet and show their pain through the paint …

RT (2020-03-19). Gone-zalo! Juventus star Gonzalo Higuain 'breaks Italian quarantine' to return home to Argentina. rt.com Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain has reportedly escaped Italy\'s nationwide lockdown to return to his homeland Argentina to visit his seriously ill mother. | The player managed to break the quarantine, obligatory for the entire Juventus squad after two teammates tested positive for coronavirus. | All the players and staff members have been ordered to stay i…