Cuba Sends 53 Doctors and Nurses to Fight Covid-19 in Italy
Telesur | globalresearch.ca | 2020-03-23
Cuban health authorities announced on Thursday that the country will send 53 health professionals to Lombardy, Italy, to help contain the new coronavirus pandemic. | The 53 doctors and nurses have experience in caring for these types of diseases. In 2014, …
globalresearch.ca/cuba-sends-53-doctors-…

Mike Pompeo Admits COVID-19 Is a “Live Exercise,” Trump Retorts “I Wish You Would Have Told Us”
Shepard Ambellas | globalresearch.ca | 2020-03-23
United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had a slip of the tongue while addressing the American people from the White House when he stated that COVID-19 is a live military exercise. | “This is not about retribution,” Pompeo explained. “This …
globalresearch.ca/secretary-state-mike-p…

Shutting Down an Entire Economy. Weighing up the Threat From the Virus and the Threat From the Reaction
Rob Slane | globalresearch.ca | 2020-03-23
Would you consider the shutting down of an entire national economy for a disease such as the Black Death, which between 1347-1351 killed an estimated 60% of the population in the areas where it spread, to be a proportionate …
globalresearch.ca/analysis-covid-19-resp…

COVID-19: Trump Companies Fall, Hundreds Lose Jobs
Telesur | globalresearch.ca | 2020-03-23
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy already seems to be affecting the companies and businesses of U.S. President Donald Trump and, along with with it, the employment of hundreds of people. | *** | President Trump’s company

PM Morrison: 80 Percent Australia COV-19 Cases Are Imported, Mostly From the U.S
CGTN | globalresearch.ca | 2020-03-23
Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison claimed around 80 percent of Australian coronavirus cases came from those who caught disease overseas or were in contact with someone who returned from abroad. | “The overwhelming proportion of cases in Australia have been imported,” | …
globalresearch.ca/pm-morrison-80-percent…

Fighting the Cuomo Virus to Free Imprisoned Elders
Susie Day | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-23
It’s spring, yet most of us are stuck inside, groping for a positive attitude while hoping we’re negative for the coronavirus. Here, in the apartment where I shelter with my partner, Laura Whitehorn, there is constant turmoil. Laura, who spent over 14 years in federal prison, helped found Release Aging People in Prison/RAPP. Currently, Laura…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/23/fighting-the…

Higher Education in the Time of COVID-19
Peter Mayo | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-23
Desperate attempts to curtail the spread of the Corona Virus are turning many localities in different parts of the world into phantom cities. Universities and other higher education institutions have not been immune to this process. They are closed institutions, with academics urged, if not compelled, irrespective of their training for this purpose, to place…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/23/higher-educa…

Joe Biden: Survival of the Unfittest
Jennifer Matsui | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-23
Since becoming his party’s frontrunner and presumed nominee, Joe Biden has been hard at work, providing more fodder for future Trump campaign attack ads against himself. No need for ‘deep fakes’ when your opponent willingly offers up his Blooper reels for the benefit of your own re-election campaign. There was something more viral than COVID-19…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/23/joe-biden-su…

Memes and Viruses: Could COVID19 be a Communist Plot?
John Grant | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-23
Something pretty amazing is happening thanks to the COVID19 virus. Doctors, nurses and other health workers are being respected in ways they haven’t been until now. Last week, MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell expressed the current narrative in a way I’ve never encountered before. He was speaking of nurses, but it would apply to other health workers…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/23/memes-and-vi…

The Political Uses of Pandemic
Ben Debney | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-23
Crisis has long had political uses for ruling groups. As I wrote in a piece for CounterPunch in 2015, elites and their intellectual courtiers often manufacture crises themselves, though what sociologist Stanley Cohen called ‘the amplification of deviance’ (or blowing things utterly out of proportion). Where not directly complicit themselves in the process of engineering…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/23/the-politica…

Bail Out the States Not the Banks
Shamus Cooke | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-23
Trump jumped into bailout mode in response to the depth of the economic crisis triggered by the pandemic. A mountain of money has already been promised to the banks, while many other soon-to-be bankrupt corporations will get unimaginable sums with few strings attached, such as the airlines, Boeing, cruise ships, etc., many of whom, like…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/23/bail-out-the…

A Modest Proposal: Instead of Saying Tribal, Let’s Say Christian
Frank Joyce | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-23
David Brooks, competitor with Thomas Freidman for the title of the New York Times sophist-in-chief, dropped this phrase into his painfully superficial column on the coronavirus on Friday, March 20, “All those tribal us-them stories don’t seem quite as germane right now.” There it is again: tribal. “Is the Slide Into Tribal Politics Inevitable?” was…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/23/a-modest-pro…

Creative Empathy in a Pandemic
Robert Koehler | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-23
One thing about a pandemic: It’s inclusive. We cannot survive it, move beyond it, by protecting merely some people. We have to protect everyone. Of all the disruption, paradox and chaos that have been unleashed by the coronavirus, this is the most stunning: It has something to teach us that we could never learn on…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/23/creative-emp…

The Global Media and COVID-19
Emanuel Pastreich | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-23
For all the coverage of heads of state and high-ranking diplomats, the perceptions generated by the media have the greater impact on the course of international relations. The panic over the coronavirus and the profoundly contradictory reports issued to the public by the media without any effort to introduce a scientific analysis have turned a…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/23/the-global-m…

How to Wage War, FDR-Style, on the COVID-19 Pandemic
Sam Pizzigati | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-23
The United States, President Donald Trump is now proclaiming, stands at “war.” We are facing, in the novel coronavirus, “an invisible enemy” that could claim the lives of more Americans than every shooting war America has ever fought. But that sort of terrible toll, public health people have been working so hard to remind us,…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/23/how-to-wage-…

Joe Biden: Survival of the Unfittest
Jennifer Matsui | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-23
Since becoming his party’s frontrunner and presumed nominee, Joe Biden has been hard at work, providing more fodder for future Trump campaign attack ads against himself. No need for ‘deep fakes’ when your opponent willingly offers up his Blooper reels for the benefit of your own re-election campaign. There was something more viral than COVID-19 going around last week – recent footage of the former VP losing his marbles on Livestream and then wandering offscreen to retrieve them – or was he sleepwalking into traffic after hearing about his own car crash performance as it happened? Let’s just say his latest attempt…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/23/joe-biden-su…

Solidarity or Disaster
Maria Paez Victor | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-23
The coronavirus has exposed many things

Pandemic: The Invention of a Disease Called Fear
Julian Rose | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-23
The word ‘pandemic’ bears a similarity to the word ‘panic’ and indeed ‘pandemonium’. In fact ‘pandemic’ evokes an almost instant flush of fear in those easily manipulated by mass media, before any details have even touched the surface or context in which the word is being used. Those who plan the major moves on the…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/23/pandemic-the…

Coronavirus: Latest updates from across the world
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-03-23
Covid-19 has infected hundreds of thousands of people across the globe.Here are the latest updates:

EU Supports Iran, Venezuela Bids for IMF COVID-19 Funds
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-23
Foreign Ministers of the European Union (EU) supported Monday Iran and Venezuela’s requests for financial aid to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to fight the coronavirus pandemic. | RELATED: | IMF Rejects Venezuela’s Request for $5B in Virus Aid | “We are going to support this request because these countries are in a very difficult situation mainly due to the U.S. sanctions that prevent them from having income by selling their oil,” EU Foreign Affairs Chief Josep Borrell said at a vi…
telesurenglish.net/news/EU-Supports-Iran…

Covid-19 Death Toll Rises Moderately in Latin America
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-23
Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador experienced an increase in the number of deaths due to the new coronavirus this weekend, raising the total to 65 in Latin America, and more than 4,400 people infected. | RELATED: | COVID-19 Updates: 651 Die in Italy, Death Toll Rises Everywhere | Brazilian health authorities confirmed on Sunday that deaths increased from 18 to 25, while infections jumped from 1,128 to 1,546. | This occurred amid statements by President Jair Bolsonaro, who called th…
telesurenglish.net/news/covid19-death-to…

US States Release ‘Low-Risk’ Inmates Over COVID-19 Spread
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-23
Thousands of ‘low-risk’ inmates in at least 16 U.S. states are being released in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in crowded jails and prisons. | RELATED: | Iran Temporarily Frees 85,000 Inmates As Pandemic Worsens | “Jails can be incubators for disease so we have to take bold and drastic steps,” New Jersey’s Attorney General Gurbir Singh Grewal said, adding this measure is made to protect the health of prisoners and limit COVID-19 effect in prison population. | T…
telesurenglish.net/news/US-States-Releas…

Union plans legal action over lack of pay help for gig economy and self-employed
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-03-23
Legal action is being planned against the government over claims that it has failed to protect the wages and jobs of millions of workers, including those in the gig economy, during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. | The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) said the current £94.25-a-week Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) arrangement discriminates against women, gig economy and minority ethnic workers for whom these payments are not enough to survive or in some cases not available at all. | The union said it will argue that the 80% wage subsidies offered by the government to businesses to keep people…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2020/03/23/union-pl…

If We Run Out of Masks, We’re Going to Run Out of Nurses, Says Emergency Doctor
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-03-23
As the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. rises to more than 35,000, doctors are facing a desperate lack of supplies, and tests continue to lag. We speak with Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and public health professor at George Washington University. She previously served as Baltimore’s health commissioner. She says healthcare workers are “putting their lives on the line every day” as they work in hazardous conditions with inadequate supplies, including N95 respirator masks…
truthout.org/video/if-we-run-out-of-mask…

COVID-19 outbreak in New York prisons threatens lives of thousands
wsws.org | 2020-03-23
Thirty-eight people in the New York prison system test positive for COVID-19 as reports emerge that Harvey Weinstein has also been infected by the virus.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/23/jail…

COVID-19 health disaster and political crisis intensify in Australia
wsws.org | 2020-03-23
Yesterday the soaring rate of infections triggered an open rift in the self-styled “national cabinet” and forced governments into partial economic shutdowns.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/23/auvi…

COVID-19 Updates: UK Announces Lockdown, Africa Follows Suit
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-23
More than 16,300 people in the world have died from COVID-19 while some 100,000 of the 375,500 people who have been infected by the virus across the world have recovered, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. | Here are the latest updates: | RELATED: | EU Supports Iran, Venezuela Bids for IMF COVID-19 Funds | Update 04: 00 pm | State of emergency declared in Senegal and Ivory Coast | Senegal and Ivory Coast have declared a state of emergency to face the new coronavir…
telesurenglish.net/news/COVID-19-Deaths-…

From mutual aid to dual power in the state of emergency
Woodbine | zcomm.org | 2020-03-23
The COVID-19 public health crisis is rapidly devolving into a vast, multi-faceted crisis of social reproduction with no end in sight. How can we seize this moment to build dual power?>…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/from-mutual-aid-to…

Coronavirus total in US skyrockets as testing expands
wsws.org | 2020-03-23
The United States now leads the world in new cases and is second only to China and Italy in the number of patients infected with COVID-19.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/23/covi…

UK: Sheffield health care students demand placements suspended to limit COVID-19 spread
wsws.org | 2020-03-23
The students’ petition to university bosses highlights the widespread opposition to the disastrous course of the Johnson government, which has already forced a shift in its reckless policy of allowing the spread of COVID-19.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/23/shef…

Retail and service industry workers demand safety measures, store closures and full compensation during coronavirus pandemic
wsws.org | 2020-03-23
Retail and service workers, particularly in grocery stores and coffee shops, are at high risk of contracting COVID-19 as they interact with hundreds of customers on a daily basis.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/23/reta…

South Africa’s ANC government suppressed report showing thousands could die from COVID-19
wsws.org | 2020-03-23
The Ramaphosa government’s response to the pandemic has been exactly what the study warned against–slow and virtually nonexistent.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/23/safr…

‘Count every drop, every drop counts’: UN weather agency calls for better water data on World Meteorological Day
news.un.org | 2020-03-23
Floods, extreme rainfall, droughts and melting glaciers…many of the major signs of climate change involve water. On this year’s World Meteorological Day, the UN weather agency (WMO) is reinforcing the message of World Water Day, by focusing on the links between climate and water, and calling for better water-related data.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/03/1…

The Butcher of Khiam: How Trump Brought Home Notorious War Criminal Amer Fakhoury
Steven Sahiounie | mintpressnews.com | 2020-03-23
Amer Fakhoury was remembered in Lebanon as “The Butcher of Khiam,” and though he is back in the US now, his name and crimes will never be forgotten in the land of his birth.
mintpressnews.com/butcher-khiam-trump-no…

Chinese worker writes on the coronavirus pandemic: “Disaffection is growing among the masses”
wsws.org | 2020-03-23
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/23/chin…

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

Global economic slump accelerating
wsws.org | 2020-03-23
Just as the coronavirus and its health impacts were severely underestimated, so were its effects on the economy.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/23/econ…

We Need Global Cooperation to Halt Spread
Michele Barry | zcomm.org | 2020-03-23
The large Nipah virus epidemic had a lot to do with deforestation and movement of bats closer to other animals, and another novel virus emerged…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/we-need-global-coo…

Florida Receives Emergency Medical Supplies Even as Other States Struggle
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-03-23
On March 11, Florida requested a cache of emergency supplies from the federal government to protect its medical workers against the novel coronavirus. | Other states had only tiny slivers of their requests fulfilled, including some that had asked for them earlier than Florida. Oregon and Oklahoma received only about 10%; New Jersey got less than 6%. | This disparity has not been lost on the states that feel shortchanged in their requests from the Strategic National Stockpile, a trove of supplies…
truthout.org/articles/florida-receives-e…

Catastrophic worldwide medical ventilator shortfall despite years of warning
wsws.org | 2020-03-23
World productive capacity of medical ventilators is far below peak requirements during the coronavirus outbreak.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/23/medv…

John Eliot Gardiner leads all nine Beethoven symphonies at Carnegie Hall, and speaks about their significance
wsws.org | 2020-03-23
An opportunity, just before the coronavirus forced the closing of concert halls, to hear the works of the master played on period instruments.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/23/beet…

Australian state of Victoria shuts down school system, other states remain open
wsws.org | 2020-03-23
The chaotic situation reflects the wider disarray and criminal neglect in the ruling elite’s response to the coronavirus crisis.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/23/scho…

Italy’s health workers denounce ruling elite’s negligence on coronavirus
wsws.org | 2020-03-23
Anger is mounting among Italy’s medical personnel at the inadequate resources invested in fundamental health services and the negligence of state authorities.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/23/ital…

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

Africa threatened by sudden surge in coronavirus cases
wsws.org | 2020-03-23
The entire continent risks becoming infected with coronavirus, which could rapidly swamp its inadequate health systems, leading to a horrific death toll.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/23/afri…

German government prepares for internet censorship and deployment of the armed forces
wsws.org | 2020-03-23
The social democratic state premier of Lower Saxony, Boris Pistorius, has called for a clamp-down against those contradicting official government propaganda about the coronavirus epidemic.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/23/germ…

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

Coronavirus kills more than 2,600 across Europe in one weekend
wsws.org | 2020-03-23
Though large parts of Europe with hundreds of millions of inhabitants are under lockdown, the contagion is still spreading relentlessly across the continent.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/23/euro…

Coronavirus Is a Historic Trigger Event. We Need a Massive Movement in Response
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-03-23
There are times in history when sudden events

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

Australian teachers and school workers speak out on dangerous working conditions amid pandemic
wsws.org | 2020-03-23
One teacher said: “We should not be expected to work in these unsafe conditions and students should not be expected to go to school either.”
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/23/inte…

No corporate bailouts! Direct financial resources to the working people, not the capitalist elite!
wsws.org | 2020-03-23
The ruling class is seeking to exploit this crisis to engineer another multitrillion-dollar redistribution of wealth, on a scale even greater than the 2008 bank bailout.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/23/pers…

UN Chief Warns of Coming Recession for the Planet
Evelyn Leopold | zcomm.org | 2020-03-23
“This is a moment that demands coordinated, decisive, and innovative policy action from the world’s leading economies. We must recognize that the poorest and most vulnerable–especially women–will be the hardest hit”
zcomm.org/znetarticle/un-chief-warns-of-…

US unemployment rate may skyrocket to 30% amid ‘huge shock’ to economy
rt.com | 2020-03-23
The United States is expected to see an unprecedented 50 percent drop in gross domestic product in the second quarter due to coronavirus outbreak, says Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard. | According to his projections, the US unemployment rate could hit 30 percent in Q2 as a result of massive shutdowns to combat the virus. | Bullard has called for a powerful fiscal response to replace the $2.5 trillion in lost income to assure a strong eventual US recovery. He said that the Fed should be poised to do more to ensure markets function during a period of high volatility. | “This is a planne…
rt.com/business/483803-us-jobless-growth…

Qatar announces $150mn in aid to Gaza to support UN programs, efforts in fight against Covid-19
rt.com | 2020-03-23
Qatar has announced $150 million in aid to the Gaza Strip over a period of six months. The decision was taken to support United Nations humanitarian programs in the Palestinian territory as well as efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak there, the state-run Qatari Committee to Rebuild Gaza tweeted on Monday. | The densely populated Gaza Strip reported its first cases on Sunday, Reuters said. | Authorities announced stay-at-home orders in the occupied West Bank as Palestinian health officials are trying to limit contagion.
rt.com/newsline/483805-qatar-gaza-aid-un…

EU ‘will provide’ ‚Ǩ20mn in humanitarian aid to Iran, support Tehran’s IMF request
rt.com | 2020-03-23
The European Union will send €20 million ($21.5 million) in humanitarian aid to Iran, which is subject to US sanctions, to help stop the coronavirus, the EU’s top diplomat said on Monday. Brussels will also support Tehran’s request for IMF financial help, according to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. | “We’ve not been able to provide a lot of humanitarian help but there is some €20 million in the pipeline… that we expect to be delivered over the next weeks,” Borrell said. | “We also agree in supporting the request by Iran and also by Venezuela to the International Monetary Fund to have financ…
rt.com/newsline/483860-eu-humanitarian-a…

Pompeo to meet Taliban in Doha in bid to shore up faltering Afghanistan peace deal
rt.com | 2020-03-23
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is to meet with Taliban officials in Doha, Qatar, in an effort to revive the collapsing peace deal between the two parties, despite failure to reach a separate deal with the Afghan government. | Pompeo is set to sit down with chief Taliban negotiator Mullah Baradar and other officials from the militant group on Monday in order “to press the Taliban to continue to comply with the agreement signed last month,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement. | While the US and Taliban reached an agreement last month to begin drawing down American forces in exchan…
rt.com/usa/483890-pompeo-to-meet-taliban…

US slashes aid to Afghanistan by $1bn ‘IMMEDIATELY’, touts more cuts as Taliban ‘peace deal’ on brink of collapse
rt.com | 2020-03-23
Washington will cut aid to Afghanistan by $1 billion starting immediately, after failing to resolve a fierce dispute between rival Afghan leaders, the State Department said, noting the US military withdrawal would continue. | Lamenting the failure of Afghan leaders to agree on an “inclusive government,” Pompeo said the feud between President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah had “harmed US-Afghan relations,” adding that Washington would review cooperation with the country and make significant cuts to US aid. | “Because this leadership failure poses a direct threat to US national interests, eff…
rt.com/news/483902-pompeo-cut-aid-afghan…

Lombardy workers threaten to strike after government fails to shut down factories due to virus crisis
rt.com | 2020-03-23
Workers at metal and chemical factories in Italy’s north may go on strike this week, in protest against the government’s failure to include them on a shutdown list. Industrialists say they shouldn’t be, that the list is too long. | Three metalworkers’ unions announced they will be going on an eight-hour strike on Wednesday this week. They are protesting a government decree from Sunday that ordered the closure of businesses in Italy until early April, but that also included a long list of essential industries that will remain open. The shutdown is meant to slow the spread of the Covid-19 virus in the country.
rt.com/news/483837-italy-metalworkers-st…

UK govt orders three-week lockdown to tackle Covid-19
rt.com | 2020-03-23
Citing the need to slow the spread of coronavirus, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ordered a three-week nationwide lockdown, demanding the populace to stay at home or face getting arrested. | “From this evening I must give the British people a very simple instruction – you must stay at home,” Johnson said on Monday evening. | If you don’t follow the rules the police will have the powers to enforce | Preventing the spread of the coronavirus between homes is key to ensuring that the National Health Service (NHS) is not overwhelmed by the influx of patients requiring intensive care

Germany already FLATTENING the curve of Covid-19 infections, says public health chief
rt.com | 2020-03-23
The head of Germany’s public health institute claims that the rate of new coronavirus infection in the country is showing signs of flattening, highlighting the success of social distancing measures adopted nationwide. | “We are seeing signs that the exponential growth curve is flattening off slightly,” said Lothar Wieler, head of the Robert Koch Institute. “But I will only be able to confirm this trend definitively on Wednesday.” | Germany was among the first European nations to introduce a raft of emergency response measures including school closures and the severe curtailment of public gatherings. | Wieler s…
rt.com/news/483816-coronavirus-infection…

Democrats block SECOND attempt to pass coronavirus stimulus in US Senate
rt.com | 2020-03-23
Senate Democrats have blocked for the second time the procedural vote on the stimulus bill, intended to help the US workers and companies shut down over the Covid-19 pandemic. | The motion to invoke cloture

‘We will enforce’: Denver, Colorado facing 40-DAY ‘stay at home’ order in response to coronavirus
rt.com | 2020-03-23
Facing 125 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and with much more testing to do, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock gave residents a harsh warning to stay at home for the next 40 days. | “This isn’t a recommendation anymore. People need to stay at home,” Hancock said on Monday afternoon, announcing a “stay at home” order for Colorado’s capital city. The order will go into effect at the end of business on Tuesday and remain in effect until April 10. | Hancock warned residents that authorities will “enforce” the order “when and where we can.” | While there have been no deaths from the coronavirus in Denver, it is suspected th…
rt.com/usa/483898-denver-stay-at-home-co…

Coronavirus pandemic is ‘ACCELERATING,’ warns WHO chief as global death toll keeps rising rapidly
rt.com | 2020-03-23
The Covid-19 outbreak is far from dying down, head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned, urging nations to act while it still was possible to “change the trajectory” of the pandemic. | The disease spread is “accelerating,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday, citing the expanding figures of the coronavirus cases. | “It took 67 days from the first reported case to reach the first 100,000 cases, 11 days for the second 100,000 cases and just four days for the third 100,000 cases,” he said. | It’s still possible to overcome the negative trend, the official added, urging nations to act.
rt.com/news/483874-who-coronavirus-pande…

US in lockdown: The biggest threat to the oil industry ever?
rt.com | 2020-03-23
The impact of border closures, travel restrictions, restaurant closures and more is already wreaking havoc on the US oil industry, and it is likely to get much worse. | The SARS CoV2 virus that is behind the COVID-19 pandemic has finally ravaged the United States, and cities and states are reacting to its brutality by shutting stuff down. As the United States continues to increase measures to isolate the sick and slow the spread, the oil industry is bracing for harder times ahead. Just how bad could it get, and what would a full quarantine mean for US oil? | The effects of US border closures, travel restrictio…
rt.com/business/483814-us-lockdown-bigge…

#Where’sJoe? Biden pledges to hold Covid-19 ‘briefings’ after disappearing for week amid speculation over whereabouts
rt.com | 2020-03-23
Democratic presidential frontrunner Joe Biden has promised to address the nation about the coronavirus epidemic “soon” as critics wonder where he’s been for the last week

Italy’s Covid-19 death toll FALLS for second consecutive day
rt.com | 2020-03-23
In what it’s hoped will become a positive trend, Italy has reported a drop in Covid-19-related fatalities for a second consecutive day. Yet, the number of cases there has climbed to over 60,000. | The country’s death toll currently stands at 6,078, health officials said late on Monday. The daily number of deaths appears to be dropping

EVERY MINUTE COUNTS! Moscow coronavirus hospital construction workers motivated by Soviet-style billboards
rt.com | 2020-03-23
Lord Kitchener, Uncle Sam… and now Sergei Sobyanin? A series of motivational billboards aimed at workers constructing Moscow’s new coronavirus hospital have gone viral on Russian social media. | The most-shared poster, which depicts the Moscow mayor, reminds construction workers that time is of the essence to defeat coronavirus. Another billboard shows a bulldozer symbolically crushing Covid-19. | Builders! Every minute counts!: | | Builders! Every minute counts! | *This is the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin. | © stroi.mos.ru | The remaining posters depict builders, as well as doctors and re…
rt.com/russia/483831-coronavirus-hospita…

Tokyo urges ‘timely’ G20 action to combat Covid-19 fallout
rt.com | 2020-03-23
Japan has called on G20 finance leaders to take timely policy steps to tackle global economic risks posed by the coronavirus outbreak, Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Monday. | The minister said after a conference call with his G20 counterparts that the nature of the crisis was different to the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, when dollar funding dried up, Reuters reports. However, Aso informed the G20 he was “deeply concerned” about the damage the coronavirus outbreak was inflicting on markets and the global economy. | “The G20 has a very important role to play in preventing the infection from spreading…
rt.com/newsline/483842-japan-g20-coronav…

The ultra-rich drift away from sinful earth on their coronavirus-proof super-yachts
rt.com | 2020-03-23
Social distancing is key to safety amid the Covid-19 pandemic, and what better place than the high seas to stay away from everyone? That is, if you can afford a luxury super-yacht, not one of those infection-teeming cruises. | Private yachts are typically seen as the height of luxury and the ultimate status symbol. But now, thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, they’re the height of safety

Reading the autocue has never looked so hard: Joe Biden emerges from 6 DAYS in hiding with stumbling video stream
rt.com | 2020-03-23
Joe Biden has reemerged from an almost week-long disappearance to post a video on Twitter addressing the Trump administration’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis, but his return has been greeted with mockery and concern. | Biden sounded tired and slow as he spoke while standing in front of what appeared to be a green screen with a set of bookshelves digitally imposed behind him. | He criticized US President Donald Trump and Senate leader Mitch McConnell for “trying to put a corporate bailout ahead of millions of families” and urged “aggressive measures” to help small US businesses, workers and communities suffer…
rt.com/usa/483879-biden-video-coronaviru…

US Defense Sec admits military readiness could be affected by Covid-19, insists Pentagon can still conduct ‘national missions’
rt.com | 2020-03-23
In a Pentagon briefing on Monday, US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper revealed that coronavirus could impact the readiness of the country’s military if the spread of the devastating illness is not slowed. | “If this pandemic continues at the scale and scope of what some are predicting, over time you could start seeing an impact on [military] readiness,” said Esper, though he added he does not foresee the military being affected enough for it to be incapable of conducting “national missions.” | Part of the US military’s responsibilities during the pandemic will be setting up field hospitals in cities like New Yo…
rt.com/usa/483884-mark-esper-military-re…

Russian coronavirus vaccine passes first phase of development – expected to be ready in ’11 months’
rt.com | 2020-03-23
As Covid-19 rapidly spreads, the world is united in hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel. On Monday, some potentially good news came from Moscow where hopes are high that progress has been made on a vaccine. | The head of the Russian Federal Biological Medical Agency (FMBA), Veronika Skvortsova, announced that the remedy should be available before the end of next winter. The FMBA has two teams

Tunisia president orders army into streets to enforce measures against Covid-19
rt.com | 2020-03-23
Tunisia’s President Kais Saied on Monday ordered the army to deploy in the streets in order to force people to respect a lockdown, according to the office of the presidency. The lockdown was imposed to halt the spread of coronavirus in the country. | Tunisia has 89 confirmed cases of the virus, Reuters reported. The government imposed a curfew last week and a general lockdown from Sunday that keeps people in their homes except to buy necessities. | Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh said on Saturday that Tunisia was allocating 2.5 billion dinars ($850 million) to combat the economic and social effects of the corona…
rt.com/newsline/483856-tunisia-army-stre…

Here are the six countries that will be most affected by coronavirus-induced economic chaos
rt.com | 2020-03-23
Time to buckle up: economists believe the looming Covid-19 crash will throw millions out of work and bankrupt thousands of businesses across the globe in a downturn that might even surpass the Great Depression of the 1930s. | Economics is the study of choices, and never more so than now. It’s now clear that, with the coronavirus pandemic causing widespread chaos that economists believe will cause a prolonged economic depression, the choices that each person makes have the power to affect their country’s and the world’s economy over the coming weeks and months. With the caveat that much depends on those individ…
rt.com/news/483835-coronavirus-global-re…

WATCH Russian Army deliver medical aid at airbase near Rome as Moscow rallies to help coronavirus-ravaged Italy
rt.com | 2020-03-23
Russian personnel swiftly airlifted trucks full of medical equipment to Italy, the nation with the highest death toll from the Covid-19 pandemic. | A video by Russia’s Defense Ministry shows containers with equipment being offloaded onto Kamaz military semi-trucks after an Il-76 transport plane landed in Italy’s Pratica di Mare airbase, 30km (18.6 miles) from Rome. Personnel in white hazmat suits helped to prepare the cargo hatch before the vehicles could roll onto the tarmac. | Russian aircraft carrying Covid-19 aid have been arriving to Italy since Sunday evening. Moscow is helping Rome by providing medic…
rt.com/news/483800-russian-aid-italy-cov…

Boeing suspends production at Washington state hub, citing Covid-19 outbreak
rt.com | 2020-03-23
The main Boeing production facility in Everett, Washington will be closing for at least two weeks, to protect employees amid the coronavirus epidemic. Space and military programs will not be affected, the company said. | Boeing will suspend operations at the Puget Sound facility for 14 days, starting on March 25, President and CEO Dave Calhoun announced on Monday. | “This necessary step protects our employees and the communities where they work and live,” he said in a statement. “During this time, we will be conducting additional deep cleaning activities at impacted sites and establishing rigorous criteria for…
rt.com/business/483878-boeing-shutdown-p…

‘Covidiot’: New catch-all term created for people who ignore pandemic health warnings, hoard toilet paper
rt.com | 2020-03-23
As the Covid-19 crisis continues around the globe, more and more evidence of human selfishness appears every day on social media. So much so that users have coined the new term “covidiot” to describe the… ahem, ‘viral’ phenomenon. | Social media users have enshrined the new word on Urban Dictionary, with a variety of definitions all covering one unifying, central theme

‘Facts matter!’ Pompeo lectures Iranian govt over ‘conspiracy theories’ as US sanctions deprive nation of medicine
rt.com | 2020-03-23
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has slammed Iran for blaming Washington for coronavirus and accused Tehran of putting “the rest of the world at risk,” even as US sanctions keep sorely-needed medical supplies out of its reach. | Pompeo assailed Iranian Ayatollah Khamenei’s “fabrications that the US is responsible for the #WuhanVirus” in a series of tweets on Monday, claiming the Supreme Leader’s “conspiracy theories” and alleged disregard for the warnings of experts put the health of Iranians, Americans, and others in jeopardy. | . @khamenei_ir…
rt.com/news/483864-pompeo-slams-iran-cor…

US, UAE troops ‘seize model city’ during major exercise amid Iran & virus tensions
rt.com | 2020-03-23
US Marines and Emirati troops held a major military exercise on Monday that saw forces seize a sprawling model Middle East city, AP reported. The drill was conducted some 200km (125 miles) southwest of Abu Dhabi amid tensions with Iran and despite the new coronavirus pandemic. | Troops raced over the dunes of the Al-Hamra Military Base to take the model city, complete with multi-story buildings, an airport control tower, an oil refinery and a central mosque. | Controlled explosions rang out as Emirati troops rappelled from hovering helicopters and Marines searched narrow streets on the Persian Gulf for “enemy”
rt.com/newsline/483830-us-uae-military-e…

‘The world is not in such a condition’: Japanese PM Abe suggests for first time that Tokyo Olympics could be postponed
rt.com | 2020-03-23
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says that this summer’s Tokyo Olympics may need to be postponed as numerous countries have expressed reservations about participating in the games due to the coronavirus pandemic. | After both Canada and Australia announced that they will not send athletes to any Olympics Games hosted this summer, along with reports that various individual athletes are expressing concern, Abe told a Japanese parliamentary meeting that the event will likely need to be rescheduled and said that he will hold talks with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach regarding the matt…
rt.com/sport/483818-tokyo-olympics-abe-c…

Germany repatriates some 120,000 of estimated 200,000 tourists stranded overseas
rt.com | 2020-03-23
The German government has repatriated some 120,000 of an estimated 200,000 tourists stranded overseas by coronavirus restrictions in recent days, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Monday. | Attention is now increasingly turning to travelers in more remote countries, like Chile, Mexico, New Zealand and Gambia, from where repatriation presented a greater logistical challenge, he said. | Berlin was working with travel companies to bring their customers home but was also chartering its own flights where necessary, Reuters quoted the minister as saying. Arranging flights has become more difficult as countries clo…
rt.com/newsline/483859-germany-repatriat…

IMF warns coronavirus recession could be worse than 2009
rt.com | 2020-03-23
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has issued a grim warning for the global economy, saying that a worldwide recession caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic could be even worse than the one from 11 years ago. | “The outlook for global growth: for 2020 it is negative

Who is it? Speculations are rife as WH press corps journo tests positive for coronavirus
rt.com | 2020-03-23
A member of the White House Correspondents’ Association has tested positive for coronavirus, the group has revealed, triggering feverish speculation as to who the unlucky journalist might be

European markets tumble as global health crisis takes toll on economy
rt.com | 2020-03-23
Stock markets around the world are starting the week mostly lower as the spread of the coronavirus continues to drag down the global economy, | The FTSE index is down over four percent at the start of trading in London, while Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC have plummeted almost five percent. The pan-European Stoxx 600 dropped 4.5 percent at the opening bell on Monday, with industrials nosediving six percent to lead the losses. | pic.twitter.com/kyzOribwWW– Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) March 23, 2020
rt.com/business/483804-european-markets-…

Spain’s coronavirus death toll spikes by 462 fatalities overnight, 4,500+ new cases
rt.com | 2020-03-23
The Spanish Health Ministry has confirmed that an additional 462 people died overnight bringing the country’s total loss of life during the coronavirus crisis to 2,182. | Spain was among the first European countries to initiate a nationwide lockdown protocol as infection rates soared. The total number of coronavirus cases in the country rose from 28,572 to 33,089 on Monday, despite the best efforts of authorities to impose strict social distancing. | Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned Saturday that “the worst is yet to come,” as the nation’s beleaguered health system struggles to turn the tide of infe…
rt.com/news/483824-spain-coronavirus-dea…

Hungary ‘assessing option of national lockdown,’ PM Orban tells parliament
rt.com | 2020-03-23
Prime Minister Viktor Orban told Hungary’s lawmakers on Monday that his government is weighing up the option of a national lockdown to combat coronavirus. Orban’s cabinet has sought to raise emergency powers it says are needed to tackle the outbreak. | “We are considering this option, and what option specifically would make the most sense,” Reuters quoted the PM as saying. “Different countries have adopted different approaches: a curfew does not mean that nobody can leave their house, that is not needed and would not be possible,” he said. | The country has so far reported 167 confirmed cases of coronavirus an…
rt.com/newsline/483854-hungary-option-na…

Next 10-15 days ‘decisive’ in Vietnam’s virus fight, PM says
rt.com | 2020-03-23
The next 10-15 days will be decisive in Vietnam’s fight against the coronavirus, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said on Monday. In mid-February, the Southeast Asian country said all 16 reported coronavirus cases in the country had recovered from the disease. | Weeks later, that number increased sharply following an influx of imported cases from Europe and the United States. There are now 122 cases, according to the Health Ministry, and no reported deaths, Reuters reports. | Phuc called for limits on large gatherings, to contain the spread of the virus. Anyone violating quarantine measures or failing to submit…
rt.com/newsline/483848-vietnam-virus-fig…

US stocks plunge despite Fed promises to pump unlimited amount of money into economy
rt.com | 2020-03-23
Wall Street’s main indices are down after opening on Monday for the first ever all-electronic trading session, which is aimed at protecting New York Stock Exchange employees from the coronavirus. | Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were down around four percent as of 16: 00 GMT. The Nasdaq Composite, an index comprised of America’s top technology companies, was down over two percent. | Global markets are down despite the promise by the US Federal Reserve to pump in the cash “amounts needed to support smooth market functioning and effective transmission of monetary policy to broader financial…
rt.com/business/483841-us-stocks-plunge-…

All jury trials in England & Wales on hold over coronavirus fears
rt.com | 2020-03-23
The lord chief justice, Lord Burnett, has announced that no new jury trials will be held in England and Wales, and any ongoing ones will be paused as the coronavirus crisis continues. | In a statement on Monday, Burnett said that arrangements were being made to conduct as many regular hearings remotely as possible using phones, video and other technology though jury trials cannot be conducted remotely. | “A review of the arrangements in our courts is called for. I have decided that we need to pause jury trials for a short time to enable appropriate precautions to be put in place,” Burnett said. | Also on rt.co…
rt.com/uk/483808-jury-trials-hiatus-engl…

Hong Kong to ban all tourist arrivals, may suspend alcohol sales
rt.com | 2020-03-23
Hong Kong is banning all tourist arrivals to the global financial center amid a spike in imported cases of the coronavirus. The move comes as Hong Kong joins cities worldwide in the battle to contain the spread of the disease. | The government also said it was studying whether to suspend the sale of alcohol in licensed bars and restaurants in the city. It has 318 confirmed cases of coronavirus and four deaths, Reuters reported. | Hong Kong last week toughened curbs on travelers, ordering 14 days of quarantine for arrivals and advising against all non-essential travel. University entrance exams will be postpone…
rt.com/newsline/483806-hong-kong-ban-tou…

‘Postponement has been decided’: IOC member Dick Pound says Tokyo 2020 Olympics WILL be postponed
rt.com | 2020-03-23
One of the most senior names in the International Olympic Committee has stated that a decision has already been made to postpone the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games due to the coronavirus pandemic. | Longstanding IOC member Dick Pound told USA Today Sports that the decision has been made and an announcement will be forthcoming, with future plans and contingencies set to be discussed and announced moving forward. | Speaking on Monday, Pound said: “On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided. | “The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on…
rt.com/sport/483886-tokyo-2020-olympics-…

Justice Dept reassures Americans only judges can suspend their constitutional rights during coronavirus epidemic
rt.com | 2020-03-23
The US Department of Justice has reassured Americans freaked out by a request to Congress for powers of indefinite detention without trial by explaining that only judges

Goes to show the level of hubris and profound BS of Western produced statistics
The Iranian | iranian.com | 2020-03-23
iranian.com/2020/03/22/goes-to-show-the-…

The Charlatan and the Villager
Manouchehr Hosseinzadeh | iranian.com | 2020-03-23
The despicable Mr. Charlatan is known to all of us, he is the deceiving, conniving, scandalous, and cruel bully whose greed is limitless and his shame none. He is the man of all trades but skilled in nothing, claims to knowledge that he doesn’t have, and witnesses to events that hasn’t happened. He doesn’t care …
iranian.com/2020/03/23/the-charlatan-and…

Selected Articles: Repercussions of Coronavirus COVID-19
Global Research News | globalresearch.ca | 2020-03-23
In Times of Crisis, How to Prevent an Economic Meltdown and Avoid Privatizing Profits and Socializing Losses | By Prof Rodrigue Tremblay, March 23, 2020 | The crisis and public measures to fight it (drastic travel restrictions…
globalresearch.ca/selected-articles-repe…

Jewish Activists Demand Governor Newsom Release Detainees In Light of Covid-19 Outbreak
Leon Kunstenaar | indybay.org | 2020-03-23
In a March 21 press release, Never Again Action Bay Area calls on Governor Newsom to take immediate steps to release migrants from unsanitary, overcrowded “death camp” detention centers…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/03/21/1883171…

Santa Rita Jail Solidarity During the Coronavirus Pandemic
IWOC Oakland | indybay.org | 2020-03-23
As businesses, schools, and institutions close to reduce the transmission of COVID-19, many people are wondering how to support people in jails, prisons, and immigration detention centers.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/03/19/1883166…

What the Coronavirus Emergency Has to Do with Biden vs. Sanders
Norman Solomon | indybay.org | 2020-03-23
Tepid adjustments vs. truly transformational agendas…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/03/19/1883166…

ACLU Demands the Release from Prisons and Jails of Communities Vulnerable to COVID-19
ACLU-NC | indybay.org | 2020-03-23
ACLU Also Calls for Release of People Currently in Pretrial Detention Because of Cash Bail to Prevent a Public Health Crisis…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/03/19/1883166…