Daily Archives: April 21, 2020

2020-04-21: Social Media Postees

Please be social by posting these ‘POSTEES’ on social media! (Copy the text of the postee below, then paste it on social media and the story images will also appear.)

UK coronavirus policy could put 7.3 million over-60s at increased risk
imperial.ac.uk | 2020-04-22
The UK’s policy for shielding older adults from COVID-19 overlooks 7.3 million adults aged 60-69, placing them at increased risk and death.
imperial.ac.uk/news/197013/uk-coronavirus-policy-could-73-million

Imperial COVID-19 vaccine team secures £22.5 million support
imperial.ac.uk | 2020-04-22
The UK government will provide £22.5 million to fast-track Imperial’s development of a coronavirus vaccine.
imperial.ac.uk/news/197017/imperial-covid-19-vaccine-team-secures-225

Coronavirus and the crisis of African American human rights
Ajamu Baraka | mronline.org | 2020-04-21
With the overwhelming evidence that the capitalist system is fundamentally antithetical to the realization of human rights, including what should be an elementary right–access to healthcare–the presidency of Donald J. Trump has been a godsend for the capitalist rulers.
mronline.org/2020/04/21/coronavirus-and-…

What If the Lockdown Was All a Big Mistake?
Rep. Ron Paul | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
From California to New Jersey, Americans are protesting in the streets. They are demanding an end to house arrest orders given by government officials over a virus outbreak that even according to the latest US government numbers will claim fewer …
globalresearch.ca/what-lockdown-was-all-…

Employees say Smithfield plant in Wisconsin concealed COVID-19 infections, pressured them to work elbow to elbow without protection
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-04-21
A recent outbreak at Smithfield’s pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is now one of the largest COVID-19 hotspots in the U.S., with 644 confirmed cases tied to the facility. The Smithfield outbreak represents nearly half of all confirmed cases in that state.
mronline.org/2020/04/21/employees-say-sm…

How the National Security State Is Using Coronavirus to Push AI-Driven Mass Surveillance
Whitney Webb | mintpressnews.com | 2020-04-21
Last year a government commission called for the US to adopt an AI-driven mass surveillance system far beyond that used in any other country. Now, many of the “obstacles” cited as preventing its implementation are being removed under the guise of combating coronavirus.
mintpressnews.com/national-security-stat…

Cowardly Congress Chooses to be AWOL: Shouldn’t Our Elected Representatives be on the Job Providing Essential Services?
Ralph Nader | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-21
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic a careening, confused President is fibbing, flailing, breaking laws, and mishandling money. As the domino effect of this crisis mounts, the public is asking: “Where is the Congress?” Our Senators and Representatives have been home since March 20 and won’t be back until May 4th, not on the…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/21/cowardly-con…

Student debt jubilee–pandemic edition
David Ruccio | mronline.org | 2020-04-21
The United States is currently experiencing a dystopian orgy of death and destruction.
mronline.org/2020/04/21/student-debt-jub…

Millions in US Won’t Get Stimulus Aid for Marrying Migrants
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-21
Millions of United States (U.S.) citizens are being excluded from the US$2 trillion coronavirus relief package because they are married to a migrant, local media including the Dallas Morning News and the Los Angeles Times have reported. | RELATED: | Trump to Suspend Immigration to the U.S. Due to COVID-19 | The large group of those who won’t get help is made of citizens who file taxes jointly with a spouse using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), an identification…
telesurenglish.net/news/Millions-in-Us-W…

Trump Tweets Plan to Suspend All Immigration to US
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-21
President Donald Trump declared in a tweet late Monday night that he intends to sign an executive order “temporarily” banning all immigration to the U.S. amid the Covid-19 outbreak, an announcement rights groups condemned as a shameful attempt to scapegoat immigrants that will do nothing to safeguard either Americans’ health or jobs. | “In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT Ameri…
truthout.org/articles/trump-tweets-plan-…

Trump to Suspend Immigration to the U.S. Due to COVID-19
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-21
The U.S. President Donald Trump Monday night announced that he will sign a decree to temporarily suspend the entry of immigrants to his country while his administration faces the health and economic effects triggered by the COVID-19. | RELATED: | Trump Orders Deportation of Migrant Children Due to Coronavirus | “In light of the attack from the invisi…
telesurenglish.net/news/Trump-to-Suspend…

Global Climate Fight Continues Despite Isolation
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-21
Fridays For Future (FFF) members announced demonstrations and other activities next Friday, April 24. The ecological international movement will perform protests through social media to remain active and respect COVID-19 preventive measures. | RELATED: | Trump to Suspend Immigration to the U.S. Due to COVID-19 | FFF representatives explained that international attention is on COVID development and all preventive strategies. However, as movement leaders pointed out, the environmental…
telesurenglish.net/news/global-climate-f…

Anti-Immigrant Movement Has History of Politicizing Disease
Eddie Bejarano | splcenter.org | 2020-04-21
COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus, is the latest disease the nativist movement has politicized to demonize immigrants.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/04/21/anti-…

COVID-19 lockdown leaves Gulf states’ migrant workers penniless in unsanitary conditions
wsws.org | 2020-04-21
Unable to return home because of travel restrictions or their countries’ refusal to accept them, migrants are left to fester in lockdown, confined to overcrowded, unsanitary dormitories without access to either health care or help.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/21/gulf…

Mass COVID-19 infection among migrant workers in Singapore
wsws.org | 2020-04-21
The number of COVID-19 infections is exploding in the Singapore workers’ camps.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/21/sing…

CDC Director Warns Second Wave of COVID-19 “More Devastating”
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-21
Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Robert Redfield warned Tuesday that a second wave of the novel coronavirus would be far more dire because it is likely to coincide with the start of flu season, according to a report of The Washington Post. | RELATED: | US: Nurses Protest Over Lack of Resources | “There’s a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through,” Redfield was quoted as s…
telesurenglish.net/news/CDC-Director-War…

Protests and looting break out in Colombia over failure to distribute aid amid COVID-19 quarantine
wsws.org | 2020-04-21
The right-wing Duque government has called for reopening “productive life without social life” to meet the needs of Colombian and foreign capital.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/21/colo…

US reports 2,700+ coronavirus deaths in 24 hours in its 2nd biggest single-day spike as it prepares to reopen economy
rt.com | 2020-04-22
The United States has reported over 2,700 new Covid-19 fatalities in the space of a single day, AFP reported, citing data by Johns Hopkins University. The daily death toll surged as the country is gradually easing lockdowns. | The more than 2,700 American deaths on Tuesday marked one of the deadliest days yet in the global health crisis, which has claimed the lives of some 44,845 people in the US alone. Still the top hotspot for the coronavirus, the US will soon surpass 825,000 cases, more than several of the next worst-hit nations combined. | The spike in fatal cases in the US comes as 20 states

Trump announces 60-day immigration ban to shield American workers from competition
rt.com | 2020-04-21
US President Donald Trump has ordered a two-month pause in issuing most work visas, so that more than 22 million Americans made unemployed by coronavirus lockdowns will not face as much competition. | The 60-day moratorium will apply only to immigrants seeking permanent residence permits, also known as “green cards,” Trump said on Tuesday at the daily White House press conference about the US coronavirus response. | “By pausing immigration we’ll help put unemployed Americans first in line for jobs as America reopens,” the president said. “It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be r…
rt.com/usa/486512-trump-immigration-ban-…

Thailand announces second automatic 3-month visa extension for foreigners
rt.com | 2020-04-21
The Thai government approved a second automatic visa extension for foreigners for three more months on Tuesday. The move could prevent long queues at immigration centers and stem the spread of the coronavirus. | Foreigners whose visas had expired since March 26 will be permitted to stay until July 30 without having to apply for an extension, said Narumon Pinyosinwat, spokeswoman for Thailand’s cabinet. | A similar extension was granted until April 30. Thailand has since late March banned entry to foreigners, except diplomats and work-permit holders, to combat the Covid-19 outbreak. | Earlier on Tuesday, the So…
rt.com/newsline/486433-thailand-visa-ext…

American dream suspended: Trump says he’s signing order to halt immigration into US ‘in light of attack’ from coronavirus
rt.com | 2020-04-21
US President Donald Trump said he will sign an executive order suspending all immigration into the United States, citing the need to protect American jobs amid the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. | “In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!” Trump said in a tweet on Monday night. | In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to tempo…
rt.com/usa/486391-immigration-trump-susp…

Video: COVID-19: Closing Down the Economy Is Not the Solution
Prof Michel Chossudovsky | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
Millions of people have lost their jobs, and their lifelong savings. In developing countries, poverty and despair prevail. | While the lockdown is presented to public opinion as the sole means to resolving a global public health crisis, its devastating economic …
globalresearch.ca/video-covid-19-closing…

Selected Articles: COVID-19: Closing Down the Economy Is Not the Solution
Global Research News | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
Video: COVID-19: Closing Down the Economy Is Not the Solution | By Prof Michel Chossudovsky, April 21, 2020 | While the lockdown is presented to public opinion as the sole means to resolving a global public health crisis, its devastating economic …
globalresearch.ca/selected-articles-covi…

The Gates Foundation’s Vaccination Activism
Eric Wagner | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
In the corona crisis, billionaire Bill Gates makes a high-profile appearance as a vaccination activist. The essence: a vaccine is the solution, it is only a matter of implementation. According to Gates, the G20 should now “address the logistics of …
globalresearch.ca/gates-foundation-vacci…

Free julian assange Nation wide Webinar event Panel
ORION | indybay.org | 2020-04-21
zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Xh2EsZbrTtOq…

Juan González: “Make No Mistake: This Country Is Edging Closer to Neo-Fascist Authoritarianism”
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-21
We get an update from Democracy Now! co-host Juan González about his mother and wife, who were infected with COVID-19, and discuss how right-wing Trump supporters are brandishing automatic weapons at protests to demand an end to coronavirus shutdowns and are being egged on by the president. “We should make no mistake, that this country is edging closer and closer to neo-fascist authoritarianism,” says González, expressing concern these actions will become normalized in the lead-up to a bitter national election in November.
www.democracynow.org/2020/4/21/juan_gonz…

Death Trap Jail: Pepper-Sprayed, Otay Mesa Detainees Demand Release as COVID-19 Spreads Inside
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-21
We look at the mounting number of COVID-19 cases inside immigration jails across the country and one of the largest outbreaks at the Otay Mesa Detention Center near San Diego, run by private prison company CoreCivic. Prisoners were told to sign contracts, written only in English, in exchange for receiving face masks. When some refused to sign, guards pepper-sprayed them. This comes as activists say hundreds imprisoned in detention centers in California are on hunger strike. We get an update from Ruth Mendez, community activist and volunteer with Otay Mesa Detention Resistance.
www.democracynow.org/2020/4/21/otay_mesa…

NYC Immigrant Communities Fight Hunger, Exploitation & Invisibility Through Mutual Aid
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-21
We look at how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting undocumented people here in New York City, where the coronavirus has hit immigrant communities the hardest, even as the numbers of daily deaths statewide has declined in recent days. As reports of widespread poverty and hunger continue in the immigrant communities, people are also organizing and helping each other through mutual aid despite extraordinarily difficult circumstances. We are joined by Juan Carlos Ruiz, Lutheran pastor at Good Shepherd Church in Brooklyn and co-founder of the national New Sanctuary Movement and the New Sanctuary Coalition here in Ne…
www.democracynow.org/2020/4/21/migrants_…

Trump Supporters Are Brandishing Automatic Weapons at Anti-Shutdown Protests
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-21
We get an update from Democracy Now! co-host Juan González about his mother and wife, who were infected with COVID-19, and discuss how right-wing Trump supporters are brandishing automatic weapons at protests to demand an end to coronavirus shutdowns and are being egged on by the president. “We should make no mistake, that this country is edging closer and closer to neo-fascist authoritarianism,” says González, expressing concern these actions will become normalized in the lead-up to a bitter na…
truthout.org/video/trump-supporters-are-…

Trump Temporarily Suspends All Immigration Into The United States
Zero Hedge | iranian.com | 2020-04-21
In a stunning turn of events, late on Monday, President Trump tweeted that “In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!” twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/12524… Trump did not …
iranian.com/2020/04/20/trump-temporarily…

Kentucky Sees Highest Single-Day Increase in COVID-19 Cases Days After Protests
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-21
Protests against stay-in-place measures have occurred in a number of states across the nation, in spite of the fact that some health experts are saying such demonstrations could themselves lead to an increase in the spread of COVID-19. | While it’s not possible to directly link the protests with a spike in infections, at least one state where such events ha…
truthout.org/articles/kentucky-sees-high…

Workers Struggles: The Americas
wsws.org | 2020-04-21
Medical workers from the October 1 hospital in Mexico City set up a blockade to protest the lack of protective equipment and other supplies needed to confront COVID-19.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/21/wrkr…

Trump’s Patriotic Color Revolution Call, against “Unreasonable Quarantine Demands”
Andrew Korybko | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
Trump caught his political opponents flatfooted when he endorsed the patriotic protests against several Democrat Governors’ unreasonable quarantine demands, channeling the nascent Color Revolution spirit nationwide to show the rest of his compatriots that he truly has the people’s support …
globalresearch.ca/trumps-patriotic-color…

US: Nurses Protest Over Lack of Resources
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-21
The U.S. Nurses Union protested Tuesday in front of the White House. The health workers demonstrated in honor of the coworkers they lost due to the pandemic. They also demanded better biosafety resources. | RELATED: | ‘Coronavirus Did Not Come out of a Laboratory’, WHO Holds | According to Bonnie Castillo, Executive Director of the National Nurses Union (NNU), nurses are asking for better Personal Protection Equipment. Nurses will read aloud the names of those who lost their lives bec…
telesurenglish.net/news/us-nurses-protes…

Fake Facebook pages used to push protests at state capitals
John Wojcik | peoplesworld.org | 2020-04-21
A wealthy family of extreme right wingers, armed with plenty of money and social media skills, is behind the hundreds of Facebook groups, including the five largest of those groups, opposing stay-at-home orders designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The Facebook groups, which have hundreds of thousands of members, are being used to …
peoplesworld.org/article/fake-facebook-p…

Peruvian Official Demands Attention of Indigenous Communities
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-21
The Peruvian Ombudsman’s Office in the Uyacali province recommended the government implement regional measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in indigenous communities. | RELATED: | Peru: Unions Protest Against Government’s Economic Measures | Uyacali’s public service head, Hugo Pari, requested attention and health guarantees for native communities, especially the shipibo-konibo group. This petition upsurges after two indigenous tested positive for COVID-19 in Coronel Portillo pro…
telesurenglish.net/news/peru-ombudsmans-…

Demonstrators Demand Santa Cruz Provide Hotel Vouchers for the Homeless
Alex Darocy | indybay.org | 2020-04-21
Community members in Santa Cruz organized a “physical distancing” protest today to demand the City and County of Santa Cruz provide hotel vouchers for the homeless during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The demonstration was organized following California Governor Gavin Newsom’s statements made during a press conference on April 18 that cities and municipalities that are blocking the State’s effort to provide hotels for the homeless will be “judged” by history.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/04/20/1883252…

Protest in Beirut Against Lebanese Gov’t Measures Amid COVID-19 Pandemic – Video
sputniknews.com | 2020-04-21
Lebanon’s parliament is holding a three-day legislative session at a Beirut theatre in order to observe social distancing measures imposed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
sputniknews.com/middleeast/2020042110790…

Hundreds of Amazon Workers Strike Over Unsafe Working Conditions
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-21
More than 350 Amazon warehouse workers went on strike Tuesday across the United States (U.S.), refusing to work to protest unsafe conditions amid the coronavirus epidemic. | RELATED: | Billionaire Jeff Bezos Makes US$24 Billion More Amid Pandemic | The call-in sick was organized by the labor rights groups United for Respect, New York Communities for Change, and Make the Road New York. It is the largest nationwide protest at the company since the start of the coronavirus outbre…
telesurenglish.net/news/Hundreds-of-Amaz…

Car caravan protesters demand release of immigrant detainees in Arizona
Sarah Roberts | peoplesworld.org | 2020-04-21
TUCSON, Ariz.

The Right to Get Our Hair Cut
Tom Tomorrow | thenation.com | 2020-04-21
The Right to Get Our Hair Cut…
thenation.com/article/society/coronaviru…

SARS-CoV-2 Mortality Data Is Distorted. Review of Scientific Research in Germany, U.S., Italy, Spain
South Front | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
SouthFront offers a scientific-based survey providing an in-depth look at the real death toll statistics and the spread of SARS-COV-2. | 1. The research issued by the Bonn University Hospital | The research issued by the Bonn University Hospital and made by …
globalresearch.ca/sars-cov-2-mortality-d…

Coronavirus Relief Bills Bail Out Corporations as Small Businesses & Workers Suffer
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-21
As the White House and Democrats near a deal on a $450 billion coronavirus relief package, members of the Progressive Caucus say it bails out businesses once again and fails to protect working people. “In general, there’s been kind of a disproportionate response that is reflected in the CARES Act. For individuals, for small businesses, it’s very hard to get relief,” says The American Prospect’s executive editor, David Dayen. “But if you’re a big corporation, the Federal Reserve has $4.5 trillion in reserves ready for you.”
www.democracynow.org/2020/4/21/david_day…

Why the OPEC+ Deal is a Many-Splendored Thing
M. K. Bhadrakumar | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-21
A perfect deal is where all protagonists get something out of it. All oil-producing countries stand to gain if the oil price rebounds. In bare bones, the OPEC+ group led by Saudi Arabia and Russia finalized, in a nail-biting photo finish on April 12, an agreement to steeply cut oil production by a combined 9.7…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/21/why-the-opec…

As the US Grapples with Coronavirus, Congress Leaps into Action… On a New Military Draft
David Swanson | mintpressnews.com | 2020-04-21
What is the dumbest thing Congress could do at this moment? How about pushing a bill to force young women to register for a military draft. Meet HR 6415.
mintpressnews.com/as-us-grapples-coronav…

The Gulf Kingdoms Are Finally Waking Up to Hindu Extremists’ Inherent Islamophobia
Andrew Korybko | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
Three back-to-back developments over the past week prove that the Gulf Kingdoms are finally waking up to Hindu extremists’ inherent Islamophobia, the threat of which Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has been warning about for a while now, suggesting that …
globalresearch.ca/gulf-kingdoms-waking-h…

Unprecedented: “Oil Prices Can Go Negative”
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
Last month, analyst Paul Sankey warned that “(o)il prices can go negative” in today’s environment. On March 18, he wrote: | “The physical reality of the market is that oil is pumped out of the ground and has to be consumed …
globalresearch.ca/unprecedented-oil-pric…

Trump Blames China for His Own Failings
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
The US is a nation in longterm decline, a process ongoing for decades, notably post-9/11. | Its focus on militarism, war-making, corporate welfare, and police state harshness comes at the expense of economic and human development. | Other nations are rising, notably …
globalresearch.ca/trump-blames-china-his…

Netanyahu/Gantz Unity Deal… Safeguarding Israel’s “Democracy”. Annexation of West Bank Ongoing
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
A weeks earlier agreement between them collapsed, a new unity deal struck. | Netanyahu prevailed. Gantz’s surrender to his demands split his Blue and White (B &W) party. | It may have ended his chance to become prime minister, his political career …
globalresearch.ca/netanyahu-gantz-unity/…

We Face Another Colossal Failure of Capitalism: Chomsky
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-21
The Spanish news agency EFE Tuesday published an interview with Noam Chomsky who holds that the pandemic shows the failure of neoliberalism, which within the United States is aggravated by President Donald Trump administration. | RELATED: | Democrats Abandoned the Working Class Decades Ago: Chomsky | “The first lesson is that we are facin…
telesurenglish.net/news/We-Face-Another-…

A Government Against the People
Philip Giraldi | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
The 24/7 intensified media coverage of the coronavirus story has meant that other news has either been ignored or relegated to the back pages, never to be seen again. The Middle East has been on a boil but coverage of …
globalresearch.ca/government-against-peo…

As US Shale Oil Plunges, Trump Admin Takes Aim at Venezuela
Whitney Webb | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
President Trump recently praised a deal reached largely by Saudi Arabia and Russia, two of the top oil producers in the world who together dominate the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), saying that the agreed upon production cuts …
globalresearch.ca/us-shale-oil-plunges-t…

The Agribusiness Model Is Failing
F. William Engdahl | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
Over the past decades the organization of the entire world food supply from farm to consumers has been reorganized into a globalized distribution known as agribusiness. With most of the world in lockdown over the fears of spread of the …
globalresearch.ca/agribusiness-model-fai…

When Solidarity Mattered: the Seattle General Strike
Paul Buhle | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-21
Radical Seattle: the General Strike of 1919. By Cal Winslow, New York: Monthly Review Press, 2020. 242pp, $19.00 pbk This is a special book, bearing an almost sacred topic for all those interested in the history of the American labor and the Left. The vibrant, pre-1920 Socialist Party, waxing strong and confident until struck down…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/21/when-solidar…

Latvia Wanted to Bridge EU with Russia but Is Now in Economic Trouble
Paul Antonopoulos | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
The transit industry was one of the most important in Latvia and was established during the Soviet era. In the first years of Latvia’s independence in the 1990’s, it was destroyed. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has significantly lowered Latvia’s …
globalresearch.ca/latvia-wanted-bridge-e…

Palestine Receives Medical Aid from China to Fight COVID-19
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-21
Palestine received Monday from China a batch of emergency medical supplies including medicines, quick medical tests, and ventilators to help tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. | RELATED: | Palestinian Shoemaker Starts West Bank’s Mask Factory Overnight | The Chinese Ambassador to Palestine Guo Wei personally delivered the aid at the health ministry’s storage warehouses in the West Bank city of Ramallah to the Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila, who thanked the Asian nation for…
telesurenglish.net/news/Palestine-Receiv…

In a Pandemic, The Bomb Looks Different
Vicki Elson and Timmon Wallis | zcomm.org | 2020-04-21
If we can work so hard to cooperate globally to slow the pandemic and safeguard our future, then why on earth would we still possess nuclear weapons that can obliterate everything and everyone forever?>…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/in-a-pandemic-the-…

The Carnage of Wolf Trapping in Idaho
Ken Cole | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-21
A new public records request to Idaho Department of Fish and Game reveals that Idaho wolf trappers are capturing nearly as many non-target species as they are capturing wolves. 47% of the species captured between the 2012/2013 to 2018/2019 trapping seasons, including rare fishers, wolverine, eagle, and lynx were non-target species. Of the non-target species captured,…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/21/the-carnage-…

Post Office Party
Elliot Sperber | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-21
Post Office Party We go to…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/21/post-office-…

Notes on Viral Separation
Rip Rense | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-21
It’s lurking. It’s salivating. It’s breathless, waiting in the pandemic quiet. And at first opportunity, it will step out, roaring, spitting fire, devouring free will yet again as it commands you, you, you, and you to consume, consume, consume. All in the name of “returning to normal.” Well, I hate normal. I hate what normal has…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/21/notes-on-vir…

Is There Any Better Time Than Now For a General Strike?
Sonali Kolhatkar | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-21
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into stark relief the inequalities baked into the U.S.’s capitalist system–one that deems nurses and grocery workers “essential,” but leaves them with just as few rights and privileges as they had before the crisis struck. The scenario before us, where society depends more than ever on the bottom rung of…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/21/is-there-any…

A View From a Pandemic: New York During COVID-19
Joseph Grosso | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-21
Living in New York City the past month has become a grim game of simply hoping that rock bottom has at least been hit. The haunting daily tolls continue to fill the local press. The first death from COVID-19 occurred on March 15. By March 31 there were around 1100 deaths. By April 7: 3485.
counterpunch.org/2020/04/21/a-view-from-…

Young American Scholars: Give Them Their $6.25 Billion Already
Greg Moses | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-21
While small business owners and individual workers are well aware that the first round of fiscal stimulus is not enough to keep them going through the COVID-19 pandemic, America’s college students are just now discovering that they are owed $6.25 billion in federal emergency relief funding to help them cover “food, housing, course materials, technology, health care, and child care.”
counterpunch.org/2020/04/21/young-americ…

Post-COVID-19: Yet Another Era to Evolve or Perish
Nilantha Ilangamuwa | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-21
We are in a confusing period. But we have gone through many gloomy periods similar to or different from what we are compelled to face today. Sooner than later, this will eventually lose the media scrutiny. But ground reality will not change in the near future. As a general saying goes,…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/21/post-covid-1…

I Take Hydroxychloroquine, Please Don’t Hoard It
Olivia Alperstein | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-21
The best birthday present I got this year was a refill of my medication. Ordinarily, that wouldn’t be much to celebrate, but the coronavirus has upended the ordinary. I’ve been taking hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, since I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at 22. Thankfully, it’s kept my disease from progressing. It’s not an exaggeration…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/21/i-take-hydro…

Covering Corona: Manufacturing Panic, Generating Junk News and More
Jonah Raskin | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-21
“We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate,”

The Next Pandemic
John Feffer | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-21
Congress is already thinking about how to prevent the next pandemic. See how quickly Cory Booker (D-NJ) has teamed up with Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to write a letter calling for a global ban on “wet markets.” The current pandemic is reputed to have originated in a wet market in the Chinese city of Wuhan. So,…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/21/the-next-pan…

Locked Down with Cancer on Mumbai’s Footpaths
Aakanksha | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-21
“I survived on bananas which I had stocked up in my bag,” Surendra Ram told me on the phone, about how he got through the ‘Janata Curfew’ of March 22. That day, when most of the shops and businesses in Mumbai shut down and those who could stay indoors locked themselves in, Surendra sat on…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/21/locked-down-…

How the Nicaraguan Opposition Distorted the Government’s Response to COVID-19
John Perry | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-21
Masaya, Nicaragua. The right-wing opposition in Nicaragua, having failed in their attempted coup in 2018, still looks at any potential crisis as a new opportunity to attack the Sandinista government. Their latest chance, of course, arrived with the coronavirus pandemic. Even though the virus has barely hit the country yet, the government is under attack.
counterpunch.org/2020/04/21/how-the-nica…

Intimations of Barbarism
Lawrence Davidson | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-21
Most definitions of barbaric behavior would include such descriptors as “savage,” “crude,” “cruel,” and the like. We have actually seen plenty of this sort of behavior on the part of American government leaders, both state and federal, over the life of the country. Thus, I don’t want to suggest that the recent episodes of barbarism…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/21/intimations-…

COVID-19 in New York City claims the lives of at least 27 homeless people
wsws.org | 2020-04-21
Access to hygiene supplies and adequate space to isolate is hard to come by within the city’s shelter system, which is a patchwork of 450 different shelters with varying policies and resources.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/21/home…

US Deaths Could Surpass the 60,000 Projected If States Open Now, Experts Warn
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-21
Sources close to the coronavirus task force are speaking out against proposals to end stay-in-place orders by several governors across the United States, arguing that such moves are likely to result in higher death counts when all is said and done. | Current projections on the virus predict around 60,000 Americans may die from COVID-19 by August. Those numbers…
truthout.org/articles/us-deaths-could-su…

Australia: Workers call out unsafe conditions at Tasmanian hospitals
wsws.org | 2020-04-21
Two more patients have died as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak in the northwest of the state.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/21/tash…

A delivery rider accuses Deliveroo of not taking workers’ health seriously
Tom Anderson | thecanary.co | 2020-04-21
Over the last few weeks of the coronavirus (Covid-19) lockdown some of us have been working from home, or have been unable to do our usual jobs. | But many others have been working as usual, despite the risk of coronavirus infection. NHS workers and carers have been celebrated in the media as heroes. But it’s not just health workers who are still at work: couriers, post-office staff, transport workers, and people involved in the food supply chain are all still working too. | This exclusive Canary interview looks at how so…
thecanary.co/exclusive/2020/04/21/a-deli…

WHO and China: A Case of Geopolitical Misdirection
Hassanal Noor Rashid | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
Who is at fault? | The Covid-19 pandemic has been a real roller-coaster ride as far as geo-politics is concerned. | Through the chaos and the barrage of information and updates on the on-going pandemic, there are still those, especially among the …
globalresearch.ca/who-china-case-geopoli…

Amid COVID-19 Pandemic, Trump EPA Approves Use of Important TB Antibiotic as Pesticide

| globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
As the nation struggles to slow the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump administration has approved an antibiotic considered critical in the ongoing fight against the global tuberculosis pandemic for use as a pesticide on California citrus groves. | This marks the third …
globalresearch.ca/amid-covid-19-pandemic…

COVID-19: The Economic and Social Impact on Ocean Islands
Kester Kenn Klomegah | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
Understandingly, it has become important to analyze the spread of coronavirus and its impact on the economy of small islands especially Cape Verde, Mauritius, Maldives, Seychelles, Vanuatu and the Union of Comoros. These islands, which are favorite tourist posts and …
globalresearch.ca/covid-19-economic-soci…

What can normalcy bring?
Victor Grossman | mronline.org | 2020-04-21
With COVID-19 figures flattening downward, Germany is limping back to some kind of normalcy. Auto and bike shops, book dealers, barbers and most shops less than 800 m2 can now re-open (with customers 5 ft apart). Bigger shops and department stores are squabbling: “Why not us?”
mronline.org/2020/04/20/what-can-normalc…

Youth and the COVID-19 pandemic
wsws.org | 2020-04-21
For the youth, the COVID-19 pandemic will undoubtedly be one of the defining events of their lives, imprinting forever in their minds the realities of life under capitalism, in the world’s richest country.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/21/yout…

MP makes shocking PPE revelation that the government won’t want you to hear
Ed Sykes | thecanary.co | 2020-04-21
On 21 April, Labour MP Bill Esterson made a shocking revelation about personal protective equipment ( PPE). And it seems to represent one more brick in the wall of evidence showing government incompetence and inaction amid the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. | PPE scandal: | Esterson tweeted: | One of my constituents offe…
thecanary.co/trending/2020/04/21/mp-make…

Stay-At-Home organizing: Voters hear candidates at “virtual house parties”
Tim Wheeler | peoplesworld.org | 2020-04-21
SEQUIM, Wash.–Confined to their homes by COVID-19, Olympic Peninsula voters were able to hear–and see–two candidates for the Sixth Congressional District of Washington State. Speaking in two separate ZOOM “virtual house parties,” the electronic gatherings broke new ground–two Democratic candidates for high office who both gave up all face-to-face gatherings, observing the “Stay-At-Home” order imposed …
peoplesworld.org/article/stay-at-home-or…

COVID-19 Will Lead to Biggest Economic Contraction in Latam’s History: ECLAC
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-21
The COVID-19 pandemic will herald the worst economic contraction in the history of Latin American and the Caribbean, with a projected -5.3 percent drop in activity this year, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) warned Tuesday. | RELATED: | COVID-19 Will Increase Poverty & Unemployment in LatAm: ECLAC | “The effects of COVID-19 will cause the biggest recession that the region has suffered since 1914 and 1930. A sharp increase in unemployment is…
telesurenglish.net/news/COVID-19-Will-Le…

Brazil: Bolsonaro Refuses to Comment on COVID-19 Death Toll
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-21
“I am not a gravedigger,” Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro told the press on Monday when asked about the number of deaths caused by COVID-19 in the South American country. | RELATED: | Brazil’s Bolsonaro Wants Borders Reopened, Says Worth Risk | The controversial response was given at the entrance of the Alvorada Palace, the official residence of the Presidency, according to local media. | The press question came after the Brazilian Health Ministry corrected an error in the death…
telesurenglish.net/news/Brazil-bolsonaro…

‘Coronavirus Did Not Come out of a Laboratory’, WHO Holds
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-21
The World Health Organization (WHO) Tuesday denied that the coronavirus was created in a laboratory and clarified that the pathogen originated in animals. | RELATED: | WHO Asks Govts to Review COVID-19 Statistics ASAP | “All the evidence we have suggests that the virus was of animal origin and did not undergo genetic manipulation,” the WHO spokeswoman F…
telesurenglish.net/news/Coronavirus-Did-…

Unemployment explosion reveals class conflict
John Catalinotto | workers.org | 2020-04-21
April 19

Pepper-Sprayed, Otay Mesa Detainees Demand Release as COVID-19 Spreads Inside
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-21
Image Credit: AFSC

U.S. Citizens Demand Trump to Halt Sanctions Against Venezuela
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-21
U.S. human rights defenders and citizens Monday organized a car rally in Northampton, Massachusetts to demand that President Donald Trump stop his attacks and sanctions against Venezuela, Cuba, and other peoples of the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. | RELATED: | Caribbean Organizations Unite Against US Attacks, Support Caricom | “End the U.S. sanct…
telesurenglish.net/news/U.S.-Citizens-De…

Video: Respiratory Doctor Exposes the Fake Virus Pandemic
Makia Freeman | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
This brave and intelligent respiratory doctor has blown the whistle on the fake pandemic that is COVID-19. He joins the ranks of a growing number of doctors on the frontlines who are reporting that this so-called pandemic simply doesn’t add …
globalresearch.ca/respiratory-doctor-exp…

Quebec nurses expose shortages that enabled COVID-19 to ravage long-term care facilities
wsws.org | 2020-04-21
Nurses spoke out against the horrific conditions they and other health workers face in fighting the pandemic in long-term care facilities and insisted these are the product of decades of austerity.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/21/quin…

Fake ‘nurses’ propaganda tweets distract from further government coronavirus shambles
Tom Coburg | thecanary.co | 2020-04-21
Over 100 fake twitter accounts of ‘nurses’, offering support to the Cabinet’s coronavirus (Covid-19) strategy, have apparently appeared, then suddenly disappeared. There has been speculation on Twitter as to their origin.This distraction comes at a time when details of government cock-ups regarding the outbreak appear almost daily.Fake accounts: A claim has emerged that someone, either an employee with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), or via a contracted “marketing agency”, created 128 fake NHS twitter accounts. It’s alleged that postings on those accounts came from one person and “4 assign…
thecanary.co/trending/2020/04/21/fake-nu…

Global COVID-19 infections, deaths rise amid drive to revive corporate profit-making
wsws.org | 2020-04-21
With COVID-19 cases in US nearing 800,000, Georgia, Tennessee and Vermont joined the list of states and cities announcing the reopening of public venues and businesses.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/21/coro…

Bolsonaro Closes Brazil’s Embassy and Consulates in Venezuela
Telesur | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
Amid a health crisis that has made Brazil the country with the largest number of COVID-19 cases in Latin America, President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration closed its embassy and consulates in Venezuela on Friday. | At least 38 people boarded in …
globalresearch.ca/bolsonaro-closes-brazi…

Freedom of Speech: The Next Casualty of COVID-19?
Brett Jordan | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
The question of free speech in our current COVID climate is something that begs revisiting, particularly since there have been enough recent incidents on the global stage that have appeared to diminish the potency of that freedom. | I believe most …
globalresearch.ca/freedom-speech-next-ca…

COVID-19: UN Calls for Equitable Access to Vaccines
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-21
A resolution adopted on Monday by the United Nations General Assembly seeks to ensure equal access to vaccines, medicines and medical equipment in the fight against COVID-19. | RELATED: | 8 Nations Address Letter to UN Chief Urging Sanctions Be Lifted | The Government of Mexico submitted resolution 74/247 with the aim of ensuring that the essential inputs in the battle against the new coronavirus are distributed in a fair and equitable manner. | The 193 member countries of t…
telesurenglish.net/news/covid19-un-calls…

COVID-19: The Transformation of Emmanuel Macron April 18, 2020
Joe Lauria | zcomm.org | 2020-04-21
The French president said he sees the crisis as “an existential event for humanity that will change the nature of globalization and the structure of international capitalism”
zcomm.org/znetarticle/covid-19-the-trans…

Chile: Social Leaders Demand Real Emergency Aid For COVID-19
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-21
Political party leaders, mayors, deputies and other social representatives sent an open letter to Chile’s President Sebastian Piñera, demanding real help for the people in the face of the economic and health crisis caused by COVID-19. | RELATED: | Chile: Teachers Reject Resuming School Year Over COVID-19 | With more than 170 signatures, the letter requests a Basic Emergency Income, which guarantees economic sustainability for the millions of families affected by the crisis.
telesurenglish.net/news/chile-social-lea…

Trump Wants to Shield Companies Against COVID-19 Lawsuits From Sick Workers
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-21
President Donald Trump said during a press briefing Monday evening that his administration is aiming to shield corporations from legal responsibility for workers who contract the novel coronavirus on the job, a move that the Chamber of Commerce and right-wing advocacy groups are aggressively lobbying for as the White House pushes to reopen the U.S. economy against the warnings of publ…
truthout.org/articles/trump-wants-to-shi…

Colombia: Duque Announces Isolation Extension Until May
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-21
Colombian President Ivan Duque announced Monday a quarantine extension until May 11. The president stated that there are other preventive measures facing the ongoing COVID-19 health emergency. | RELATED: | Colombia: Not Even the Pandemic Halts Killing of Social Leaders | “We have decided to extend the mandatory preventive isolation initially until May 11, giving room to other sectors that can participate with responsibility,” said Duque in a communication. The president previo…
telesurenglish.net/news/colombia-duke-an…

Intimations of Barbarism
Lawrence Davidson | zcomm.org | 2020-04-21
No one should have been overly shocked at the display of barbaric callousness offered up by the Republican legislators in Wisconsin in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/intimations-of-bar…

Expert: No Evidence Indicates Warmer Weather Reduces COVID-19
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-21
The arrival of spring in the Northern Hemisphere has raised hope that warmer weather might slow or even stop the COVID-19 epidemic. However, a leading expert told Xinhua on Tuesday that it might be premature to count on higher temperatures to control COVID-19. | RELATED: Amid the Pandemic: Over 50% of Students Do Not Have a Computer | “Currently there is no solid data around the world supporting the conclusion that a warmer climate can alleviate COVID-19,” said Yifang Zhu, associa…
telesurenglish.net/news/Expert-No-Eviden…

Over 100 health and care workers have died from COVID-19 in the UK
wsws.org | 2020-04-21
The gruesome total is more than double the number of deaths recorded by the Conservative government, which only includes fatalities of those directly employed by the National Health Service.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/21/nurs…

A Swiss Doctor on Covid-19
Swiss Propaganda Research | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
A Swiss medical doctor provided the following information on the current situation in order to enable our readers to make a realistic risk assessment. (Below you will find regular, but not daily, updates on medical and political developments.) | ***…
globalresearch.ca/swiss-doctor-covid-19/…

The COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of economic nationalism
wsws.org | 2020-04-21
The pandemic has made clear that the tiny minority of corporate and financial oligarchs, and the profit system over which they preside, stand as an obstacle to the rational organisation and scientific planning of the economy and society necessary to deal with the threat to human life.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/21/pers…

U.S. Could Stop Buying Oil From Saudi Arabia
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-21
The current oil prices will allow the country to fill its national oil reserves, U.S. President Donald Trump admitted Monday that he is considering halt on buying oil from Saudi Arabia. | RELATED: | U.S. Citizens Demand Trump to Halt Sanctions Against Venezuela | Within hours of the news that oil prices had fallen to negative values, Trump told a press conference that “we’re going to think about that option.” | The current oil prices will allow the country to fill its national…
telesurenglish.net/news/us-could-stop-bu…

Desertions in the Desert: US Mercenaries at Syrian Base Are Leaving
Steven Sahiounie | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
The last Syrian ‘rebel’ unit on the US payroll is dissolving by desertions. A former senior officer in the US-backed mercenary unit Maghaweir al-Thowra (MAT) deserted his unit in Syria on April 14. Samir Ghannam al-Khidr deserted the Eastern Syrian …
globalresearch.ca/us-mercenaries-syrian-…

A Decade on the Left
Leo Panitch | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
The 2010s were the end of ‘the end of history.’ Beginning in the shadow of the largest financial crash since the Great Depression, it was a decade in which the injustice of austerity tore away at the social fabric and …
globalresearch.ca/decade-left/5710300

When Your Bank Goes Bust…Run! Or
Brett Redmayne-Titley | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
” It is easier to rob by setting up a bank than by holding up a bank clerk.”

Finance Versus the People in the Era of the Pandemic
Prof Prabhat Patnaik | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
The current pandemic has brought to the fore, and with exceptional clarity, the fundamental contradiction underlying contemporary globalisation, namely, the contradiction between the interests of finance and thoseof the people. Indeed this contradiction, which characterizes the era of globalisation as …
globalresearch.ca/finance-people-era-pan…

Coronavirus Lockdown and What You Are Not Being Told
Iain Davis | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
In Part 1 we looked at the reasons why questioning the coronavirus lockdown, despite the ever present allegation, does not demonstrate a callous disregard for human life. We are going to expand on why it doesn’t in this article. | I …
globalresearch.ca/coronavirus-lockdown-w…

China’s Message to Donald: What Do You Want from Us?
Lin Liangduo | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
Translated from Chinese for Global Research. | Enough is enough. Enough hypocrisy for this one world. | What do you want from us, anyway? What Do You Really Want from Us? | When we were the sick man of Asia, we were called …
globalresearch.ca/chinas-message-to-dona…

The Economic War with Russia and China. The Economic and Geopolitical Impacts of the COV-19 Lockdown
Dr. T. P. Wilkinson | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
The major reason for Cuba’s travel restrictions- ≠‚Äê- ≠‚Äê always used as grounds for slandering the Cuban state- ≠‚Äê is the extreme difficulty Cuba has maintaining foreign exchange reserves essential for international trade- ≠‚Äê- ≠‚Äê esp. since the end of trade- ≠‚Äêin- ≠‚Äêkind with the COMECON. Every …
globalresearch.ca/the-economic-war-with-…

75 Years Ago: Red Army Encircles Berlin. Analysis of Germany’s Failed 1942 Offensive
Shane Quinn | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
Three-quarters of a century ago, on 21 April 1945 the Soviet Army had encircled Berlin and was unleashing its final attack upon Nazi Germany. | With the Germans having killed more than 10 million Soviet troops since their June 1941 invasion, …
globalresearch.ca/75-years-ago-red-army-…

Iran Defies American Naval Power
Lucas Leiroz de Almeida | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
Iran is already beginning to challenge American naval power. The country recently reported on the development of an advanced mapping and communication network for submarines. The network consists of a complex wireless communication system called “Waza” and integrates an entire …
globalresearch.ca/iran-defies-american-n…

Coronavirus Capitalism: Entrenching Dispossession and Dependency
Colin Todhunter | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
There is surprisingly a certain degree of optimism around at the moment, despite virtually entire populations and economies on lockdown. Although things are really bad for millions right now due to the effects of lockdown, economist Mariana Mazzucato believes that…
globalresearch.ca/coronavirus-capitalism…

Class and corona culture: The more things change
Dennis Broe | peoplesworld.org | 2020-04-21
PARIS–In many ways, the rearrangement of life in the wake of the global impact of the coronavirus has created a brave new world. And in other ways, the arrangement has reinforced the cowardly old one. Class differences in a time of global quarantine have in some ways rigidified. There is a small minority of a …
peoplesworld.org/article/class-and-coron…

Coronavirus: a return to normal is not good enough
Martin Hart-Landsberg | mronline.org | 2020-04-21
We shouldn’t be satisfied with a return to normalcy. We need a “new normal.”
mronline.org/2020/04/21/coronavirus-a-re…

New Zealand government moves to end lockdown
wsws.org | 2020-04-21
There is opposition among teachers, in particular, to the decision to lift restrictions on businesses and reopen schools while there is still community transmission of coronavirus.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/21/newz…

How the Obama administration ignored the pandemic threat
wsws.org | 2020-04-21
The inadequate response of the Obama-Biden administration to previous viral outbreaks demonstrates the responsibility of both big-business parties for the horrific toll being wrought by the coronavirus pandemic.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/21/obam…

MLB Players union: No cut in pay if parks are empty
Ronald Blum | peoplesworld.org | 2020-04-21
NEW YORK (AP)

Who’s Responsible for America’s Coronavirus Fiasco?
John Feffer | zcomm.org | 2020-04-21
Trump is singularly focused on the elections and saving his own political skin

Global ‘call to arms’ to hunt down tax evaders as C19 craters gov’t revenues
graham | truepublica.org.uk | 2020-04-21
As emergency coronavirus medical and social programs lay bare economic and social deficiencies around the world, experts are calling for a more forceful tax response to the crisis. They said the dramatic spike in jobless claims combined with the vast additional burden on health systems should be a tax call-to-arms for governments internationally. The pandemic has highlighted global reliance …
truepublica.org.uk/global/global-call-to-arms-to-hunt-down-tax-evaders-as-c19-craters-govt-revenues/

India, Narendra Modi, and the Coronavirus
Arundhati Roy | zcomm.org | 2020-04-21
Is the far-right government of Narendra Modi exploiting the crisis to target Muslims and the media?>…
zcomm.org/zvideo/india-narendra-modi-and…

AFGE: Feds fail to protect 290,000 workers from coronavirus
Mark Gruenberg | peoplesworld.org | 2020-04-21
WASHINGTON–The top federal workers union, the Government Employees (AFGE), formally charged the Veterans Affairs Department and the Bureau of Prisons, with endangering the health and safety of 290,000 workers by exposing them, without protection, to patients

Charges of coronavirus ‘cover-up’ in China distract from Trump administration’s failed response
Ian Goodrum | peoplesworld.org | 2020-04-21
“There are three kinds of lies: Lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Mark Twain is often credited for this well-worn adage about the power of numbers to deceive. He didn’t come up with it, but it sure sounds like something he’d say. Some in the United States have studied this expression well, given their latest attacks …
peoplesworld.org/article/charges-of-coro…

Media Fail to Identify Xenophobia as Biden Says Trump ‘Rolled Over for Chinese’
Julie Hollar | fair.org | 2020-04-21
Election Focus 2020: Rather than respond by focusing blame for the crisis squarely where it belongs–on Trump’s incompetent, reckless and self-centered management–and working to beat back the dangerously rising anti-Asian sentiment in this country, Biden and some of his supporting super PACs are choosing to adopt rather than challenge the anti-China premise of the attacks.
fair.org/home/media-fail-to-identify-xen…

In the Face of COVID, Let’s Reorganize Society Around the Needs of the Poor
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-21
My mom contracted polio when she was 14. She survived and learned to walk again, but my life was deeply affected by that virus. Today, as our larger society attempts to self-distance and self-isolate, my family has texted about the polio quarantine my mom was put under: how my grandma fearfully checked my aunt’s temperature every night because she shared a bedroom with my mom; how they had to put a sign on the front door of the house that read “quarantine” so that no one would visit. | Growing u…
truthout.org/articles/in-the-face-of-cov…

How The Indian State Of Kerala Is Flattening It’s Covid Curve
Yadul Krishna | zcomm.org | 2020-04-21
iI’s not just the administrative skills alone that have made Kerala effectively tackle the virus, but the presence of a strong public health care system and a stronger intervention of government mechanisms, handled by a pro-people government…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/how-the-indian-sta…

A prescription for health care justice
Workers World staff | workers.org | 2020-04-21
After much discussion, the health care workers caucus

Fighting for health, for us and the planet
Editor | workers.org | 2020-04-21
Workers World celebrates the historic 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Launched by a mass outpouring of demonstrators in 1970, this day continues to mobilize scientific and coordinated efforts to defend the health of our planet and of us who live here. Earth Day is still urgently needed as a call . . . | Continue reading Fighting for health, for us and the planet at Workers.org
workers.org/2020/04/47846/?utm_source=rs…

Summer Heat Will Worsen the Pandemic for Poor Communities
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-21
This story is published as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. | Over 100 members of Congress have signed a letter urging leaders in both major parties to institute a utility shutoff moratorium as a safety measure during the pandemic. The letter, which came days after 800 environmental and energy justice groups called on Congress to act on energy justice, emphasized the outs…
truthout.org/articles/summer-heat-will-w…

The pandemic is a fire drill for our planet’s future
Adam Frank | zcomm.org | 2020-04-21
Climate change will mean one emergency after another, year after year, as heat waves, floods, fire and storms blow cascades of failures through our systems…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/the-pandemic-is-a-…

1918 flu pandemic killed 12 million Indians
Maura Chhun | zcomm.org | 2020-04-21
British overlords’ indifference strengthened the anti-colonial movement…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/1918-flu-pandemic-…

Amid the Pandemic: Over 50% of Students Do Not Have a Computer
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-21
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) published an investigation holding that 826 million of 1,580 million students do not have a computer worldwide and 706 million do not have Internet access in their homes. | RELATED: | Africa: COVID Positive Cases Exceed 16,500 | The UNESCO-IT…
telesurenglish.net/news/Amid-the-Pandemi…

Australian government joins Washington’s anti-China campaign over pandemic
wsws.org | 2020-04-21
The Australian government, backed by the Labor opposition, is positioning itself as the Trump administration’s attack dog, repeating its unsubstantiated claims against China and the World Health Organisation.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/21/aust…

Lenin’s legacy at 150: Working class leadership in the fight for democracy
Joe Sims | peoplesworld.org | 2020-04-21
Lenin walks around the world. . . The sun sets like a scar, Between the darkness and the dawn, There rises a red star. –Langston Hughes The world is a better place because of V. I. Lenin. An outstanding 20th-century working-class leader and revolutionary, he helped change history. The revolution in St. Petersburg, which …
peoplesworld.org/article/lenins-legacy-a…

The Mental Health Crisis Created By Ongoing UK Welfare Reforms
graham | truepublica.org.uk | 2020-04-21
By Mo Stewart

Trump administration escalates war against public education through Wall Street bailout
wsws.org | 2020-04-21
Betsy DeVos and the Trump administration are utilizing the crisis to push through their right-wing agenda of block grants, defunding public education and promoting charter, religious and private schools.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/21/devo…

Australian journalist still faces prosecution despite illegal police raid
wsws.org | 2020-04-21
The High Court ruled the raid’s search warrant “invalid” but allowed the federal police to keep the seized material for use to lay criminal charges.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/21/raid…

America is about to witness the biggest labor movement it’s seen in decades
Steve LeVine | peoplesworld.org | 2020-04-21
In September 1945, a little-remembered frenzy erupted in the United States. Japan had surrendered, ending World War II, but American meat packers, steelworkers, telephone installers, telegraph operators, and auto assemblers had something different from partying in mind. In rolling actions, they went on strike. After years of patriotic silence on the home front, these workers, …
peoplesworld.org/article/america-is-abou…

Why Bernie Sander’s Campaign Mattered….And Faltered
Ron Daniels | zcomm.org | 2020-04-21
For all of his brilliance and accomplishments, Bernie’s flawed approach on race may render him incapable of being more than the titular head of the movement he birthed…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/why-bernie-sanders…

US farm relief program hands billions to agribusiness while millions lack food
wsws.org | 2020-04-21
The farm relief program will protect the profits of the ruling class, while farmers are dumping produce because the distribution chain has been disrupted.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/21/farm…

Cameroon Admits Army Role in Massacre of 13 Civilians
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-21
Cameroon’s presidency admitted Tuesday that its army did kill 13 civilians including 10 children in an anglophone region in the west of the country back in February. | RELATED: | Cameroon Opposition Leader Accused of Inciting Rebellion | According to the United Nations, the massacre on the night of Feb. 13 left 23 civilians dead including 15 children in the village of Ntumbo. Nine of the children were aged under five and that two of the victims were pregnant women. | The government…
telesurenglish.net/news/Cameroon-Admits-…

Cameroon Admits Army Role in Massacre of 13 Civilians
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-21
Cameroon’s presidency admitted Tuesday that its army did kill 13 civilians including 10 children in an anglophone region in the west of the country back in February. | RELATED: | Cameroon Opposition Leader Accused of Inciting Rebellion | According to the United Nations, the massacre on the night of Feb. 13 left 23 civilians dead including 15 children in the village of Ntumbo. Nine of the children were aged under five and that two of the victims were pregnant women. | The government h…
telesurenglish.net/news/Cameroon-Admits-…

UK government accused of lying to public over ‘delayed’ Turkey PPE shipment, as Covid-19 criticism escalates
rt.com | 2020-04-21
London only made a request to Turkey over the shipment of 84 tonnes of vital protective wear to be used in the fight against the coronavirus on Sunday

WHO worker dies as vehicle carrying Covid-19 samples is attacked in Myanmar
rt.com | 2020-04-21
A World Health Organization driver was killed in an attack on a “marked UN vehicle” transporting some “surveillance samples” through Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine province, where fighting resumed several days ago. | Myanmar, where the tally of Covid-19 cases now stands at 119, saw “a security incident” in the Minbya township of the country’s westernmost Rakhine state, a local United Nations office confirmed on Tuesday. | It said the vehicle, bearing UN credentials, has been transporting “Covid-19 sur…
rt.com/news/486415-who-driver-killed-mya…

Labour MP takes swipe at Rees-Mogg by claiming ‘top half only’ Zoom dress code won’t apply to ‘horizontal’ Tory lawmaker (VIDEO)
rt.com | 2020-04-21
Jacob Rees-Mogg endured a ribbing, as the shadow leader of the House of Commons joked that the “top half only dress code” for members of parliament joining debates by video wouldn’t apply to the literally laid-back Conservative. | British MPs returned from the Easter recess on Tuesday to a partially virtual parliament, which has been modified to accommodate the social distancing measures implemented by the government in response to the Covid-19 outbreak. | Rees-Mogg, the leader of the House of Commons, became the butt of a joke from the opposition’s Valerie Vaz, as parliamentarians embarked on debating a motio…
rt.com/uk/486478-rees-mogg-zoom-dress-co…

‘I know I’ll be fired’: WWE ’employee’ claims he’s being FORCED to work during Covid-19 pandemic
rt.com | 2020-04-21
WWE has come in for more criticism for its handling of talent during the Covid-19 outbreak after an alleged employee claimed he was being forced to work on filming shows. | A statement by a man claiming to be a WWE employee and going by the pseudonym ‘John’ was aired during an Orange County Board of County Commissioners meeting in Florida. | ‘John’ claimed he is being forced to work TV tapings during the coronavirus pandemic and could be fired should he raise his concerns to company bosses. | “My employer World Wrestling Entertainment, aka WWE, is forcing me to work TV tapings for weekly shows despite stay-at-…
rt.com/sport/486494-wwe-employee-forced-…

Austria to reopen restaurants, churches & some schools from May 15
rt.com | 2020-04-21
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Tuesday that Austria would further loosen its Covid-19 lockdown on May 15 by allowing restaurants and cafes to reopen and religious services to resume. The Alpine republic acted early in its outbreak to close restaurants, bars, theaters, non-essential shops and other potential gathering places more than a month ago. | “We are going faster here than other countries towards something like a new normality,” Kurz told reporters, adding that “gastronomy businesses,” a term that often includes bars, will be allowed to reopen from May 15 and stay open until 11pm. Religious services c…
rt.com/newsline/486442-austria-reopen-ch…

Police warn well-meaning Britons to be wary of ‘despicable criminals’ using Covid-19 to con them out of their hard-earned cash
rt.com | 2020-04-21
Action Fraud, the UK’s task force for combating cyber crime, has urged caution online as a wave of generosity washes over the UK, and one study identifies EIGHTY THOUSAND “malicious” new domain names. | The fraud agency, part of the City of London Police, told RT this week that “despicable criminals” were trying to exploit the crisis, saying that they were taking advantage of the public’s generosity by “setting up fake charity pages or sending scam emails asking for donations.” | A spokesperson offered advice to stop well-meaning citize…
rt.com/uk/486377-cyber-crime-police-covi…

Moscow opens new coronavirus hospital built in just a month, as Russia braces for Covid-19 PEAK
rt.com | 2020-04-21
Moscow’s brand-new infectious diseases hospital has admitted its first patients, despite construction having begun in mid-March. It comes as Russia recorded over 5,600 Covid-19 cases in a day, with the peak still approaching. | The 800-bed facility’s completion is a much-needed antidote to the country’s ever-worsening coronavirus crisis. As of Tuesday afternoon, Russia has 52,763 confirmed cases of Covid-19, and more than half of infections are in Moscow and the Moscow Region. With 5,642 cases nationwide confirmed in the last 24 hours, the opening of the hospital could not have been more timely

Antibody tests suggest Covid-19 may have spread much more than predicted, with possibly HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS infected worldwide
rt.com | 2020-04-21
The WHO says new studies indicate that up to 230 million people may have had coronavirus and survived

At least 11 percent of Swedes may have contracted Covid-19, antibody study suggests
rt.com | 2020-04-21
More than one in 10 people in Sweden may have been infected with the novel coronavirus since the outbreak began, the country’s leading medical university has said, citing preliminary results of a new Covid-19 antibody study. | Tests conducted on 200 blood donors by Sweden’s Karolinska Institute together with Karolinska University Hospital showed that at least 11 out of 100 of the participants have antibodies to Covid-19. If their results are truly indicative of the viral spread in society, they suggest that for the nation with a roughly 10 million-strong population, more than a million people may have been inf…
rt.com/news/486471-sweden-contracted-cor…

Death of US retail was a long time coming and coronavirus was just final nail in coffin, ex-Fed insider tells Boom Bust
rt.com | 2020-04-21
The coronavirus lockdown has caused most US department stores to shut, threatening their survival. But even without the impact of virus, many retailers would still eventually have collapsed, a former Fed insider believes. | No one knows how long the closures will last, given the still-rising number of deaths from Covid-19 in the US, and retailers have been dealt a painful blow by the crisis. Neiman Marcus, a chain of luxury department stores, is reportedly set to file for bankruptcy protection later this week, having missed recent debt repayments. | “Coronavirus has acted like an accelerant you would throw…
rt.com/business/486445-us-retailers-bank…

Latest stats suggest UK government underreported Covid-19 deaths by over 40 percent
rt.com | 2020-04-21
Eye-watering fresh figures released by the UK’s Office for National Statistics reveal that the true extent of the Covid-19 death toll in England is likely 41 percent higher than the figures released by the UK government indicated. | In its latest report on Tuesday morning, the ONS revealed that it recorded 13,121 deaths up to April 10, whereas the official government figures for those who died in hospital only reached 9,288, roughly 41 percent lower. | The discrepancy in the figures is caused by the fact that the UK only includes people who have tested positive for the virus and die in hospital in its daily fa…
rt.com/uk/486416-coronavirus-half-london…

Global hunger ‘could double to 265mn,’ UN’s World Food Program warns
rt.com | 2020-04-21
The number of people facing acute food insecurity could nearly double this year to 265 million due to the economic fallout of Covid-19, the United Nations’ World Food Program (WFP) warned on Tuesday. | The impact of lost tourism revenues, falling remittances and travel restrictions linked to the coronavirus pandemic are expected to leave some 130 million people acutely hungry this year, adding to around 135 million already in that category, Reuters said, citing the statement. | “Covid-19 is potentially catastrophic for millions who are already hanging by a thread,” Arif Husain, chief economist and director of…
rt.com/newsline/486402-un-wfp-global-dou…

Covid-19 mutations underestimated, Chinese scientists warn, as DEADLIEST strains grip Europe and US
rt.com | 2020-04-21
Chinese scientists have found that Europe and America’s East Coast have been infected by some of the most aggressive Covid-19 strains, as they discovered dozens of virus mutations. These destroy a host’s cells faster than others. | The ability of the novel coronavirus to mutate has been previously vastly underestimated, a team from China’s Zhejiang University, led by Professor Li Lanjuan, says in a new study. The group found as many as 33 virus mutations in just 11 coronavirus patients they examined in the city of Hangzhou. | The researchers say that 60 percent of the strains they discovered turned out to be e…
rt.com/news/486425-covid-19-mutations-de…

‘We’re on the right track’: Chancellor Kurz reassures citizens as Austria to reopen schools, churches & restaurants in mid-May
rt.com | 2020-04-21
Vienna has announced its plans to allow school classes and church services as well as to let restaurants reopen their doors for clients starting from May 15, as the nation returns to life following its Covid-19 outbreak. | “We are on the right track,” Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told a press conference on Tuesday as he announced new steps in loosening the lockdown imposed over the epidemic. He said that there were “no reasons” not to continue with the “opening up” plans under the slogan “as much freedom as possible, as much restriction as necessary.” However, some restrictions will remain mandatory for the comin…
rt.com/news/486467-austria-schools-churc…

Pakistan PM Khan to be tested for Covid-19, after contact with virus carrier while receiving charity check
rt.com | 2020-04-21
They say no good deed goes unpunished and that may prove to be wistfully true for Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, who came into contact with a Covid-19 case while receiving a check from a charity to help fight coronavirus. | Khan could be the latest political leader to contract the illness, after it was confirmed that Faisal Edhi, the head of Pakistan’s biggest charitable organisation, has tested positive for the disease. | The prime minister met Edhi last week, ironically to receive a check to help fund Pakistan’s fight against the coronavirus. Neither man was shown wearing a face mask in the photograp…
rt.com/news/486484-pakistan-prime-minist…

Coronavirus inspires DYSTOPIAN new AI social-distancing enforcement tool (VIDEO)
rt.com | 2020-04-21
An AI start-up company has developed a video surveillance system that can tell if we’re abiding by social distancing rules. It’s the latest example of the pandemic inspiring what some might view as sinister technology. | As Covid-19 went on its inexorable gallop across the globe, it spread with it the fear that governments and corporations would use it as an excuse to encroach on the freedoms of citizens with new dystopian-sounding monitoring methods. | Californian software developer Landing AI has created a video tool that can be used to ascertain whether people are following social distancing rules. | “Landi…
rt.com/news/486488-social-distancing-ai-…

Murder or salvation? Southern US states to relax Covid-19 lockdowns amid outcry
rt.com | 2020-04-21
Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina are saying they will start reopening some stores and public spaces shuttered by pandemic fears, triggering partisan outrage and accusations of having a racist death wish. | Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee announced on Monday that he will not extend his stay-at-home order past April 30 and may allow some businesses and state parks to open before that. Meanwhile, in South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster ordered access to public beaches and some retailers restored starting Tuesday. | Also on rt.com
rt.com/usa/486392-southern-states-lift-l…

MSM sneer at grave of Covid-19 victim because he criticized Ohio lockdown measures
rt.com | 2020-04-21
A man who tragically died after contracting the coronavirus has posthumously found himself at the center of a mainstream media sneer campaign because he questioned the restrictive lockdown measures in his native Ohio. | Despite thousands of people dying from the illness across the world every day, a range of news outlets have taken it upon themselves to exhaustively report on the case of John W. McDaniel

‘Virus may have peaked’ in Stockholm, but danger isn’t over, Swedish health agency says
rt.com | 2020-04-21
Around one-third of Stockholm’s million people will have had the novel coronavirus by the start of May, according to Sweden’s public health agency. The disease may have already passed its peak in the capital, it said on Tuesday. Stockholm accounts for around half of Sweden’s 15,300 confirmed cases of Covid-19, and a high proportion of its 1,765 deaths, including among very elderly people living in care homes, Reuters said. | The health agency said its modeling suggested the rate of new infections in the city had peaked on April 15, although a decline was not yet evident from its data.
rt.com/newsline/486486-peak-stockholm-sw…

Small businesses relief unlocked as Senate agrees on $250bn PPP Covid-19 expansion held up by Democrats
rt.com | 2020-04-21
The program to help small businesses impacted by coronavirus lockdowns will be replenished a week after running out of cash, after Democrats agreed to unblock it in exchange for $200 extra billion for hospitals and testing. | The Senate voted to approve the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) on Tuesday afternoon, pouring another $250 billion to the $350 billion fund that ran out of money last week due to high demand. The House of Representatives is now expected to convene for a vote on the package sometime this week. | Senate approves $484 billion coronavirus phase 3.5 bill on voice vote, not via unanimous cons…
rt.com/usa/486507-congress-small-busines…

‘No guns in this war, but it’s SCARIER:’ Medics show RT real coronavirus FRONTLINE in Moscow hospitals (PHOTO, VIDEO)
rt.com | 2020-04-21
With the Russian capital gripped by Covid-19, RT has visited Moscow’s top hospitals to look into the struggles of the medics during the pandemic and learn why they now compare their job to being on the front lines of a war. | …
rt.com/russia/486502-moscow-coronavirus-…

‘Taking sh*tposting to a national level’: Singapore scraps Liverpool-hating coronavirus superhero after he ‘offends’ fans
rt.com | 2020-04-21
It was meant to be a creative campaign to raise awareness of social responsibility during the coronavirus crisis, but the Singapore government has been forced into a rethink after offending a group of Liverpool fans. | The government of the Asian city-state announced on Monday that it was “reviewing” its campaign featuring a band of Covid-19-battling superheroes dubbed the Virus Vanguard, after one of the fictional characters upset local Liverpool lovers. | “The Virus Vanguard is undergoing a review. We have received quite a lot of feedback on the characters and we will be reviewing them. We are sorry if we of…
rt.com/sport/486414-singapore-coronaviru…

Trying to beat the queues? Man arrested for breaking into Disneyland during coronavirus lockdown
rt.com | 2020-04-21
With lockdown taking its toll on people the world over, one man sought refuge in the so-called ‘happiest place on Earth’, breaking into Disneyland in California to get away from it all. | While he didn’t have to deal with the usual hordes that normally crowd the amusement park, the intruder soon ran into law enforcement officers as he hung out near a Guardians of the Galaxy drop tower ride, local news outlet ABC7 in Los Angeles reports. | Unfortunately for the opportunistic theme park enthusiast, he was arrested and cited for…
rt.com/usa/486447-man-break-into-disneyl…

Singapore extends partial lockdown until June 1
rt.com | 2020-04-21
Singapore has extended by four weeks until June 1 a partial lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus infections, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Tuesday. The measures, which include the closures of most workplaces and schools, were initially set to run from April 7 until May 4. | The city-state on Tuesday confirmed 1,111 new coronavirus cases, taking the total infections to 9,125, Reuters said. | Most of the cases were migrant workers living in dormitories

Kuwait extends curfew as Qatar plans to gradually lift lockdown
rt.com | 2020-04-21
Kuwait will expand its suspension of work in the public sector, including at government ministries, until May 31 and is extending its nationwide curfew to 16 hours to combat the coronavirus, a government spokesman has said. | The 4pm-to-8am curfew will go into effect at the start of the fast of the holy month of Ramadan, which could fall on Thursday or later this week, depending on the sighting of the new crescent moon, the spokesman explained on Monday. | Elsewhere in the Gulf region, Qatar said it would start on Wednesday to gradually lift the lockdown imposed since March 17 on a large section of the industr…
rt.com/newsline/486349-kuwait-curfew-qat…

Customers wait in line for HOURS at reopened McDonald’s drive-thru in still-locked-down France
rt.com | 2020-04-21
Hungry motorists lined up for hours after news of a French McDonald’s restaurant re-opening spread like wildfire on social media, causing major traffic jams in a Parisian suburb. | Photos and footage of the tailbacks, which began when the fast food outlet in Moissy opened at 11am on Monday, were shared on social media by stunned onlookers. | #Drive du #mcdo #mcdomoissy à Moissy-…
rt.com/news/486477-france-mcdonalds-reop…

Let the blame games begin: Missouri sues China, including WUHAN LAB, over coronavirus outbreak
rt.com | 2020-04-21
The state of Missouri has sued China – plus its Communist Party and a handful of other entities – for “causing a global pandemic that was unnecessary and preventable.” It’s the first state to take the dubious accusation to court. | Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed suit on Tuesday against the entire nation of China, its national, provincial and city governments, and a smattering of government agencies and research institutes, blaming the lot for allowing the coronavirus epidemic to go global. Laying the sum total of suffering that has resulted from the epidemic at China’s feet might sound like an ov…
rt.com/usa/486511-missouri-sues-china-co…

Latest blunder sees IOC forced into embarrassing climbdown after claiming Japan agreed to bear extra Olympics costs
rt.com | 2020-04-21
The International Olympic Committee has retracted its claims that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had agreed to absorb some of the additional costs associated with rescheduling the Olympic Games. | The embarrassing withdrawal of the claims from the IOC website came at the behest of the local organizing committee amid widespread backlash in Japan. Abe’s government is currently drafting a stimulus and economic recovery package to stave off the worst effects of the coronavirus pandemic while also working on rescheduling the Games. | Organizing committee president Yoshiro Mori said the issue of additional costs…
rt.com/news/486446-ioc-japan-olympic-cos…

Denmark to allow gatherings of 500 people from May 10
rt.com | 2020-04-21
Denmark’s Ministry of Health has announced it will allow public gatherings of up to 500 people for the foreseeable future, as the country tentatively eases lockdown measures. | Starting on May 10, authorities will lift the ban on gatherings of more than 10 people which had been in place. The new limit will last until at least September 1 this year, reports state broadcaster TV2. | The Ministry of Health insisted that it would continue to monitor the situation…
rt.com/news/486403-denmark-gatherings-50…

Brent Crude crashes over 20% to below $20 per barrel
rt.com | 2020-04-21
Following this week’s historic crash of US crude benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI), international benchmark Brent has plunged to the lowest level since 2001 on Tuesday, trading below $20 a barrel. | US oil plunged into negative territory for the first time on record on Monday, as economies around the world shut down to contain the coronavirus pandemic, crippling global demand for energy. The buildup of inventory has triggered a sharp selloff of the commodity on the markets, amid uncertainty over storage capacity for excess oil. | After briefly rising above $1 per barrel on Tuesday, the June WTI contract…
rt.com/business/486427-brent-crude-crash…

PM Conte: Italy to start easing its lockdown from May 4
rt.com | 2020-04-21
Italy will announce before the end of this week its plans for a gradual reopening following a lockdown imposed to fight the coronavirus outbreak from May 4, according to Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. | “I wish I could say: let’s reopen everything. Immediately. We start tomorrow morning,” Conte wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday. “But such a decision would be irresponsible. It would make the contagion curve go up in an uncontrolled way and would nullify all the efforts we have made so far.” | The lockdown, closing most Italian businesses and preventing people from leaving their homes for all but essential nee…
rt.com/newsline/486401-conte-italy-easin…

Czechs to test 27,000 people for coronavirus antibodies
rt.com | 2020-04-21
The Czech Republic will test 27,000 people for coronavirus antibodies, to gain information on how many came into contact with the infection. The study, wider in scope than others made in European countries and the US in recent weeks, will start on Wednesday and involve all age groups, officials said on Tuesday. | Four regions were picked, from areas that were little affected by the virus to ones highly affected, said Ladislav Dusek, the director of the republic’s Institute of Health Information and Statistics. | Results, expected in early May, should give the government a clearer view of how many asymptomatic…
rt.com/newsline/486470-czech-test-antibo…

Why did the oil market crash into negative? RT’s Max Keiser gives his take on record-low crude prices & broken banking system
rt.com | 2020-04-21
Oil’s dramatic price plunge into negative territory is just one “severed limb” of a dying “banking beast,” said RT’s Max Keiser, warning that the long-term fallout from the 2008 crash has rendered price signals meaningless. | West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures

De Blasio promises a lavish PARADE for healthcare workers, but history says this could be a bad idea
rt.com | 2020-04-21
New York City’s Mayor Bill de Blasio has promised to treat his healthcare workers to a ticker-tape parade once lockdown is lifted. Commenters have blasted the blundering mayor for “basically guaranteeing a second outbreak.” | De Blasio’s response to the coronavirus outbreak in New York has been marred by one blunder after another. In March, he accused President Trump of “playing catch-up” with the virus; yet, two days earlier, he had told New Yorkers to “go about your lives” as normal. That same week he told a radio host that asymptomatic carriers can’t transmit the disease, refused to cancel the city’s St Pat…
rt.com/usa/486501-new-york-de-blasio-par…

Fires, rioting & ambushes: Police say Paris suburbs ‘BACK TO NORMAL’ after month of lockdown (VIDEOS)
rt.com | 2020-04-21
Lockdown measures imposed a period of calm on the Paris suburb of Villeneuve-la-Garenne, but a weekend of riots and arson marked a depressing return to normal for the troubled neighborhood after a new police-involved controversy. | France has been under lockdown since March 17, with all non-essential trips from home banned. As such, crime-ridden neighborhoods like Villeneuve-la-Garenne saw a decrease in criminal activity, with drug dealers, thieves and vandals forced to remain indoors. | A weekend of social unrest changed that. As vehicles were lit on fire and police were attacked with fireworks on Monday nigh…
rt.com/news/486464-paris-suburbs-riots-l…

‘I don’t place credence in CNN’s reporting’: Trump skeptical about reports of Kim Jong-un’s ‘grave illness’, wishes NK leader well
rt.com | 2020-04-21
US President Donald Trump cast doubts on reports that North Korea’s leader had fallen severely ill after a surgery, taking a jab at CNN’s journalistic chops while nonetheless sending well wishes to Kim Jong-un. | “So I just have to say to Kim Jong-un, I wish him good luck,” Trump said at a White House briefing on Tuesday, noting he has a “very good relationship” with the North Korean leader but stressing “I don’t know that the reports are true.” | They came out with very, very serious medical reports, nobody’s confirmed that. It was CNN. When CNN comes out with a report, I don’t place too much credence in it.
rt.com/news/486513-kim-trump-surgery-cnn…

No confirmation needed? CNN fans rumors about Kim Jong-un’s alleged health issues, reports he’s in ‘grave danger’ after ‘surgery’
rt.com | 2020-04-21
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is extremely unwell after undergoing surgery, CNN reported, citing a nameless US government source. Rumors of Kim’s alleged health scare have been dismissed by both Seoul and Beijing, however. | “The US is monitoring intelligence that North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, is in grave danger after a surgery, according to a US official with direct knowledge,” CNN’s Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto reported on Monday evening. | The scoop came as Daily NK, a Seoul-based outlet, reported that Kim had undergone a “cardiovascular surgical procedure” on April 12 and is bel…
rt.com/news/486390-kim-north-korea-surge…

Another ‘worst deal ever’? US withdrawal from crucial Open Skies treaty is done deal, Russian FM believes
rt.com | 2020-04-21
Moscow thinks Washington is on the brink of pulling out from a crucial arms-control treaty it once helped develop. Reports about the move have circulated for weeks, with top US lawmakers warning of its dire ramifications. | The decision to depart from the Treaty on Open Skies “has already been taken in Washington,” Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the media, citing experts “watching how the situation is developing.” | “We believe that these assessments have a significant element of truth,” the chief diplomat offered. | We draw nearly the same conclusions based on our contacts with the Americans an…
rt.com/news/486437-lavrov-us-open-skies/

US crude price turns negative AGAIN after briefly trading above zero
rt.com | 2020-04-21
The price for a barrel of US crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) continued its downward spiral on Tuesday following Monday’s historic crash, which saw prices enter negative territory for the first time ever. | WTI plummeted below zero again after popping up briefly to over $1 per barrel earlier on Tuesday. US crude is trying to recover from Monday’s shocking losses, when prices fell as low as -$37.63 per barrel. | The US benchmark was trading at -$3.43 a barrel as of 9: 30am GMT. | “What the negative price means is that sellers of oil are actually willing to pay buyers to take delivery of their oil,” Peter C. E…
rt.com/business/486405-us-crude-turns-ne…

China doubles rate of crude stockpiling as oil falls below $0
rt.com | 2020-04-21
China doubled the fill rate at its strategic and commercial inventories in Q1 2020, taking advantage of the low oil prices and somewhat supporting the oil market amid crashing demand. | According to estimates from Reuters columnist Clyde Russell based on official Chinese data, between January and March, nearly two million barrels per day (bpd) of oil imports were not processed by refiners. To compare, the estimates…
rt.com/business/486424-china-doubles-sto…

The Useful Idiot’s Guide To Pandemic 2020
Zahir Ebrahim | Project Humanbeingsfirst | indybay.org | 2020-04-21
This latest compendium of essays on medical and climate pretexts for constructing world order: The Useful Idiot’s Guide to Pandemic 2020, is my last. Vaccines for coronavirus Covid-19 plaguing mankind at this moment, when most nations on earth have some level of lockdown with stay at home orders, shall soon become the medical establishment’s next big sales pitch. The fear-mongering coupled to the deadly man-made contagion would have been a most successful marketing exercise in history in global demand creation for vaccines. | Vaccination will not be voluntary either, but mandatory, and sanctioned by law. You make…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/04/21/1883254…

Video: Perspectives on the Pandemic by Dr. John Ioannidis
John P.A. Ioannidis | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-21
In this long-awaited follow-up to his interview in late March, Dr. John Ioannidis discusses the results of three preliminary studies, (including his latest, which shows a drastically reduced infection fatality rate), the worrisome effects of the lockdown, the Swedish approach, …
globalresearch.ca/video-perspectives-pan…

UK Cyber Security Agency Launches Initiatives Against Coronavirus-Related Internet Scams
sputniknews.com | 2020-04-21
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) on Tuesday announced the launch of an information campaign to raise awareness about online scams related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a service for reporting suspicious emails.
sputniknews.com/uk/202004211079040890-uk…

The viral debt trap
Editor | workers.org | 2020-04-21
The International Monetary Fund is giving itself a pat on the back for approving “immediate debt service relief” to 25 of the poorest countries in the world because of the coronavirus pandemic. It made the announcement on April 13. But don’t cheer for the imperialist bankers. What these impoverished countries . . . | Continue reading The viral debt trap at Workers.org
workers.org/2020/04/47843/?utm_source=rs…

Cyber spies warn of cyber criminals as coronavirus scam emails increase
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-04-21
The UK’s cyber security agency has launched a service which allows people to report suspicious emails to them.The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has warned of criminals increasingly looking to use the coronavirus pandemic as a way to scam people.In response, the centre has launched a Cyber Aware campaign while the UK’s top spy has also urged people to be more vigilant online.Jeremy Fleming, director of Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) which oversees the NCSC, wrote in the Daily Mail that the current “crisis is changing the world very fast … the scale of activity among opportunistic cybercrim…
thecanary.co/discovery/news-discovery/20…

The GOP Has Every Reason to Want the US Postal Service to Fail
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-21
Donald Trump is once again attacking the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). | During a recent press briefing, Trump claimed that the agency loses money every time it delivers a package for Amazon and that if it just raised its prices, USPS would be more profitable. | However,…
truthout.org/articles/the-gop-has-every-…

US sanctions made Iran ready to face unprecedented oil prices fall: Jahangiri
en.mehrnews.com | 2020-04-21
TEHRAN, Apr. 21 (MNA)

Apple expands services business to markets in Africa and beyond
yenisafak.com | 2020-04-21
Apple Inc on Tuesday said it would expand its App Store, Apple Music and other services to dozens of new markets in Africa, the Middle East and beyond in the biggest geographical expansion of its services in almost a decade.Apple said it would expand the App Store to 20 countries, eight of them in Africa, and will offer its streaming Apple Music service in 52 additional countries and regions. The expansion is the largest since Apple grew what was then called the iTunes Store to India, Russia and more than 50 other countries in 2012.Apple has focused on growing sales from its services segment, which totaled 17.8%…
yenisafak.com/en/technology/apple-expand…

Mumia Abu-Jamal supporters respond quickly to prison hoax
Betsey Piette | workers.org | 2020-04-21
When a Pennsylvania Department of Corrections spokesperson callously claimed that Mumia Abu-Jamal was being hospitalized with COVID-19 at 5 p.m. on April 15, the news was shared worldwide in minutes. Supporters, who have been misled by DOC statements in the past, immediately flooded the institution with calls demanding confirmation from . . . | Continue reading Mumia Abu-Jamal supporters respond quickly to prison hoax at Workers.org
workers.org/2020/04/47861/?utm_source=rs…

How crooks and thieves ride the coronavirus wave
Jeff Ledger | indybay.org | 2020-04-21
The rise in cyber attacks comes as fraudsters capitalise on COVID-19 fears and the greater security exposure of companies and individuals who are now operating far more through the internet as a result of national stay-at-home orders.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/04/21/1883254…

May Day: Honoring Frontline Workers in the Pandemic
Sharat G. Lin | indybay.org | 2020-04-21
The COVID-19 pandemic makes abundantly clear that some of the lowest-paid workers are, in fact, the most essential frontline workers. Let’s honor them on May Day – International Workers’ Day!
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/04/18/1883247…

Blame the Covid-19 failure on your governments, not on China
Davide Mastracci | indybay.org | 2020-04-21
The anti-Chinese narrative is based on false statements and serves to distract people from the failure of neoliberalism. Build hospitals and make health care universal! Cut military spending in half! Testing, not imprisonment, abuse and neglect!
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/04/20/1883251…

Ramsey Orta has fallen sick after Correctional Officers threaten to give him Covid-19
WeCopwatch | indybay.org | 2020-04-21
Ramsey Orta, the man who filmed the 2014, NYPD chokehold death of Eric Garner, is facing life-threatening persecution at Midstate Correctional Facility where in recent days Covid-19 has broken out.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/04/19/1883249…

UC Berkeley wants tenants to relocate during coronavirus pandemic
Lynda Carson | indybay.org | 2020-04-21
Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/04/20/1883252…

Shakespeare on Trump
Entering 6th Week of Quarantine | indybay.org | 2020-04-21
As we enter the 6th week of quarantine due to Nazi Trump’s inexcusable delay in preparing for a pandemic which was known to be a threat in November 2019 , the benchmark of literature in the English language, Shakespeare’s writings, teach us that Trump is not an aberration.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/04/20/1883251…

Earth Day: Climate Conversation w/ Elizabeth Colbert, Pulitzer Prize Author & Journalist
Seattle Arts & Lectures | indybay.org | 2020-04-21
Online…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/04/18/1883247…

Earth Day: How to Get Ships Off Fossil Fuels (webinar)
Pacific Environment & Climate Works Found. | indybay.org | 2020-04-21
Online via Zoom…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/04/19/1883249…