WSWS (2021-04-09). Asia emerges as a new epicenter of the global COVID-19 pandemic. wsws.org The coronavirus knows no borders and needs no passport, and in the fight to stop it, workers in all countries face the same essential political problems.

Reynard Loki (2021-04-09). 'Sacrifice Zones': How People of Color Are Targets of Environmental Racism. counterpunch.org The Black Lives Matter movement and the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted how systemic racism disproportionately places danger and harm on low-income and minority populations. One harsh reality of this systemic racism is the existence of "sacrifice zones," which are communities located near pollution hot spots that have been permanently impaired by intensive and concentrated industrial

WSWS (2021-04-09). As pandemic surges, New York City mayor makes it harder to close schools with COVID-19 outbreaks. wsws.org Even though the latest surge of the pandemic has been driven primarily by the spread of more infectious and lethal variants in schools, the drive to reopen schools and keep them open continues apace.

Pavan Kulkarni (2021-04-09). Court hearing of Communist Party of Kenya members postponed to Monday. peoplesdispatch.org The court hearing of 12 members of the Communist Party of Kenya who were detained on Wednesday has been postponed. The police action against them came as the party was organizing a movement against the skewed COVID-19 strategy of the government…

Alan MacLeod (2021-04-09). The Coming Antibiotic-Resistance Pandemic that Could Make COVID Look Like the Flu. globalresearch.ca Big pharmaceutical companies have not come out of COVID-19 looking like …

Socorro Diaz (2021-04-09). Protect Care Workers…You'll Probably Need Us One Day. counterpunch.org I'm a domestic worker. You can just imagine how badly COVID-19 has impacted my income. Clients, especially elderly people, were suddenly uncomfortable with letting outside people into their homes for fear of contracting the virus. A lot of my work dried up. I feed my children only by the grace of God — and the

Tim Wheeler (2021-04-09). Native Americans help residents of a Washington State county get COVID vaccinations. peoplesworld.org SEQUIM, WA.—Clallam County residents by the thousands have driven through the checkpoints at Carrie Blake Park here to receive their COVID-19 vaccinations thanks to the skill and dedication of the Jamestown S'Klallam tribe. Clallam County has the highest vaccination rate in Washington State and public health authorities give credit to the tribe for organizing the …

Brett Wilkins, staff writer (2021-04-09). Greta Thunberg Says She'll Skip UN Climate Conference Over Covid-19 Vaccine Inequity. commondreams.org "Of course I would love to attend the Glasgow #COP26," she tweeted Friday. "But not unless everyone can take part on the same terms." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/chill-donald-thunberg_0_0.jpg …

Alan MacLeod (2021-04-09). The Coming Antibiotic-Resistance Pandemic that Could Make COVID Look Like the Flu. orinocotribune.com By Alan Macleod — Apr 6, 2021 | While the Global South overprescribes antibiotics, in the West farm animals are pumped full of them, farmers even giving them to healthy animals so they can be packed tighter in ever-increasing herd sizes. | GENEVA — Big pharmaceutical companies have not come out of COVID-19 looking like model global citizens. Pfizer has been

orinocotribune (2021-04-09). Venezuela to Start Production of Cuba's Abdala COVID-19 Vaccine. orinocotribune.com The Vice President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, confirmed that the South American nation is fine-tuning details, and will soon start production of a COVID-19 vaccine. This was reported by the top official during a tour of the Espromed Bio plant, located in the city of Guarenas, Miranda state. | In her statements, she recalled that an agreement was recently signed for the production of insulin in that particular plant, with a Russian manufacturer. Now, preparations are directed towards the manufacture of the drug to fight the coronavirus, to move Venezuela forward towards mass immunization. | "We have been accom…

Alex MacDonald (2021-04-09). Quilliam: British 'counter-extremist' group closes citing lack of funds. middleeasteye.net Quilliam: British 'counter-extremist' group closes citing lack of funds | Co-founder Maajid Nawaz says on Twitter that the Covid-19 pandemic hit the 'non-profit' organisation hard | Fri, 04/09/2021 – 16: 04 | Maajid Nawaz, Quilliam's co-founder, at an event in New York (AFP) | British "counter-extremist" organisation Quilliam has announced that it is closing down, citing financial hardship. | In…

webdev (2021-04-09). How Cuba Beat the Pandemic: From Developing New Vaccines to Sending Doctors Overseas to Help Others. democracynow.org Since last year, approximately 440 Cubans have died from COVID-19, giving Cuba one of the lowest death rates per capita in the world. Cuba is also developing five COVID-19 vaccines, including two which have entered stage 3 trials. Cuba has heavily invested in its medical and pharmaceutical system for decades, in part because of the six-decade U.S. embargo that has made it harder for Cuba to import equipment and raw materials from other countries. That investment, coupled with the country's free, universal healthcare system, has helped Cuba keep the virus under control and quickly develop vaccines against it, says…

webdev (2021-04-09). Amnesty Int'l: COVID-19 Exacerbates Inequality in Americas as U.S. Policy Drives Refugees to Border. democracynow.org A new Amnesty International report lays out how the pandemic has significantly exacerbated inequality across the Americas over the past year. Over 1.3 million people have died in the region from COVID-19, making the Americas the hardest-hit area in the world. Women, refugees, migrants, underprotected health workers, Indigenous peoples, Black people and other groups historically excluded and neglected by governments have borne the brunt of the pandemic, according to the report, which also points out the rise in gender violence and lethal crackdown on human rights defenders. "It's not a surprise that the Americas h…

ecns.cn (2021-04-09). China contributes to global anti-pandemic drive by bridging 'vaccine divide'. ecns.cn "Vaccine equity is the biggest moral test before the global community," United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said. At a time when COVID-19 is ravaging the Middle East countries, China has withstood the test.

orinocotribune (2021-04-09). Venezuelan Senior Citizens Begin to Receive COVID-19 Vaccinations (Sputnik V). orinocotribune.com In the early hours of the morning of this Thursday, Venezuelans older than 60 years of age, selected through the Patria System, began to arrive for the start of the COVID-19 mass vaccination campaign, carried out at Ana Francisca Pérez de León II and Domingo Luciani hospitals, both located in the Sucre municipality of Miranda state (Caracas). | Dr. Zayra Medina, director of Pérez de León II hospital, was in charge of welcoming the patients who would receive the first dose of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, shown to be 92% effective in studies, without presenting major side effects. | In strict compliance with all…

ecns.cn (2021-04-09). U.S. lags in tracking coronavirus variants: media. ecns.cn The United States lags behind many other countries in employing the essential tool of gene sequencing for keeping abreast of COVID-19 variants, thus increasing the risk of a variant possibly spreading undetected, reported USA TODAY on Wednesday.

ecns.cn (2021-04-09). India registers fresh high of 126,789 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, tally at 12,928,574. ecns.cn As many as 126,789 new COVID-19 cases were registered in the past 24 hours in India, according to the official data released by the federal health ministry on Thursday.

ecns.cn (2021-04-09). Canada's Ontario announces one-month lockdown as COVID-19 continues rampaging. ecns.cn Ontario province declared its third state of emergency Wednesday afternoon since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

ecns.cn (2021-04-09). Global experts see COVID-19 lockdown in Wuhan last year as 'timely, wise step'. ecns.cn After a 76-day lockdown against COVID-19, China's central megacity of Wuhan was finally reconnected with the rest of the world on April 8, 2020. One year on, China has made enormous efforts to contain the pandemic and contributed to the global battle against the virus.

ecns.cn (2021-04-09). COVID-19 origin-tracing politicized by other countries including U.S.: FM spokesperson. ecns.cn The COVID-19 origin-tracing was indeed tainted by politics, not by China, but by certain countries including the United States, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday.

WSWS (2021-04-09). Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa. wsws.org UK bus drivers 24-hour strike at London United while French drivers at same company walk out over pay and privatisation; strikes in Belgium by childcare workers over Covid safety, prison officers and social workers over workload; resident doctors across Nigeria strike since April 8 over salary arrears…

Johanna Fernández (2021-04-09). The Only Treatment is Freedom: Mumia Abu-Jamal and COVID. counterpunch.org History is not merely something to be read. And it does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways, and history is literally in the present in all

Anthony Hall (2021-04-09). The Covid Vaccine Is an Integral Part of "The Great Reset" globalresearch.ca It seems increasingly likely that the COVID jabs are part of …

Global Research News (2021-04-09). Selected Articles: The Covid Vaccine Is an Integral Part of "The Great Reset" globalresearch.ca By It seems increasingly likely that the COVID jabs are part of a much larger set of interlocking projects sometimes described as "the …

Cesar Chelala (2021-04-09). Yemen is a Public Health Catastrophe. counterpunch.org The war in Yemen -the Arab world's poorest country- has reached new heights of sickness and death by the spreading of the coronavirus pandemic in a vulnerable and fragile population. The death toll from the coronavirus pandemic could be greater than the combined toll of war, disease and hunger over the last five years, according

Kenn Orphan (2021-04-09). How the Pandemic Laid Bare the Cruelties of Capitalism. counterpunch.org One thing this pandemic has demonstrated in stark terms is class struggle. Those people deemed essential, though often applauded in public, have been treated as expendable. In truth, they were always treated this way. But this last year has made this struggle visible for anyone paying attention. The medical staff, grocery clerks, janitors, sanitation workers,

Juan Cole (2021-04-09). More CO2 in our Atmosphere now than any time since 3.6 mn Years Ago, when Oceans were 90 feet higher (that's our fate). juancole.com Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) — In a scientific shocker, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has found that despite the slowdown in carbon dioxide emissions in 2020 because of the pandemic, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere rose to a global average of 412.5 parts per million (ppm) from 410 in 2019. At the …

Ana Soley (2021-04-09). Colectivo Coffee workers fight for a union. liberationnews.org Colectivo Coffee workers had been struggling to unionize 21 cafes, production and bakery locations in Milwaukee, Chicago and Madison, Wisconsin, since before the pandemic began.

teleSUR (2021-04-09). Prince Philip of Edinburgh Died in London. telesurenglish.net Prince Philip of Edinburgh, husband of Queen Elizabeth II of England for 72 years, died in London at the age of 99. | RELATED: | This happened on Friday morning at King Edward VII hospital to which he was transferred on Tuesday night from Windsor Castle where he had been confined since the start of the pandemic. | Philip of Edinburgh was the father of four children, grandfather of eight grandchildren, and great-gr…

Jim Hightower (2021-04-09). The End of Trickle-Down Economics. counterpunch.org The past year proves that a lot of conventional economic wisdom is neither true nor wise. For example: 1) "We don't have the money." The power elites tell us it would be nice to do the big-ticket reforms America needs, but the money just isn't there. Then a pandemic slammed into America, and suddenly trillions

WSWS (2021-04-09). As US Department of Labor reports 896,000 combined unemployment claims last week, states move to impose new restrictions. wsws.org As millions of people continue to look for steady, safe work amid the latest deadly surge in the pandemic, states are moving forward with reimposing unemployment restrictions and processing evictions.

oliviaalperstein (2021-04-09). Pouring Money into the Pentagon Can't Prevent Another Pandemic. ips-dc.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | April 9, 2021 | Press Contact: Olivia Alperstein, (202) 704-9011 | "Pouring Money into the Pentagon Can't Prevent Another Pandemic, | Stop Climate Change, or Build a Fair Economy": | National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies | Responds to Biden's Skinny Budget: | Washington, D.C. — On April 9, President Joe Biden unveiled the FY 2022 "skinny budget." While not a full breakdown, the "skinny budget" offers a critical glimpse at topline spending and speaks volumes about the administration's priorities. | The National Priorities Project at the Institute…

Dean Baker (2021-04-09). A Vaccine Summit: Taking the Pandemic Seriously. cepr.net You might think that, after a year in which have seen millions of deaths and tens of millions of infections, and trillions of dollars in economic losses, our leaders would take the pandemic seriously. But apparently, that is too much to ask. To my view, taking the pandemic seriously means doing everything we can to …

Eurasia Review (2021-04-09). Treating Sleep Apnea May Reduce Dementia Risk. eurasiareview.com A new study finds older adults who received positive airway pressure therapy prescribed for obstructive sleep apnea may be less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease and other kinds of dementia. | Researchers from Michigan Medicine's Sleep Disorders Centers analyzed Medicare claims of more than 50,000 Medicare beneficiaries ages 65 and older who had been diagnosed with OSA. In this nationally representative study, they examined if those people who used positive airway pressure therapy were less likely to receive a new diagnosis of dementia or mild cognitive impairment over the next 3 years, compared to people…

Patricia Gorky (2021-04-09). New law puts Arkansas state government at forefront of bigoted anti-trans offensive. liberationnews.org Arkansas politicians overrode a gubernatorial veto this week to criminalize gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth. This marks the first anti-trans healthcare bill to become state law as part of a national offensive by the bigoted right wing. Trans youth already in the middle of receiving treatment will cruelly be deprived of necessary healthcare. The bill …

Patricia Gorky (2021-04-09). New law puts Arkansas state government at forefront of bigoted anti-trans offensive. liberationnews.org Arkansas politicians overrode a gubernatorial veto this week to criminalize gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth.

Dan Bacher (2021-04-09). Over 1600 gallons of oil spilled in Inglewood Oil Field; oil and gas scorecard released. indybay.org "Yesterday's oil spill is a deadly reminder that the environmental racism that's shaped and harmed Black, Indigenous, and people of color continues to put our health at risk," said Martha Dina Arguello, STAND-LA Coalition and Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles.

Jeffrey Kaye (2021-04-09). New Revelations on Germ Warfare: It's Time for a Reckoning with Our History from the Korean War. counterpunch.org The New York Times, which for years has maintained that U.S. airmen's statements about use of biological weapons during the Korean War were "false confessions" obtained by Chinese and North Korean torture, never acknowledged the following submission sent to its opinion section in November 2020. I am publishing the article instead at CounterPunch, which is

Emily Denny (2021-04-09). New Montana bills 'declare war on wolves, bears, other carnivores' say wildlife supporters. peoplesworld.org A flurry of bills has recently been introduced to Montana's state legislature that reduces restrictions on the killing of grizzly bears and wolves — two predators which have historically struggled to survive in the state. One such bill is SB 98, put forward by Republican Sen. Bruce Gillespie, which would expand the state law allowance for …

Ebrahim Deen (2021-04-09). Egyptian Foreign policy under Sisi: diminishing independence in the service of dictatorship. juancole.com Johannesburg (Special to Informed Comment) — Egyptian foreign policy under the tutelage of Egyptian president Abdul Fattah El-Sisi has seen the country lose much of its independence in an attempt to secure gulf aid and in the service of combating the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. In addition, the country's myriad domestic challenges has seen its influence …

ecns.cn (2021-04-09). New York State hikes taxes on rich, businesses to raise more funds. ecns.cn New York State would collect billions of additional tax dollars from rich people and corporations each year in order to secure funds for expensive spending amid the pandemic, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

ecns.cn (2021-04-09). China issues guideline on easing market access in Hainan free trade port. ecns.cn China on Thursday issued a guideline to support easing market access in the Hainan free trade port in its latest effort to build the resort island into a globally influential, high-level free trade port.

Pascual Serrano (2021-04-09). La "cepa estadounidense" del COVID-19. globalizacion.ca Por regla general, la trascendencia internacional de la política de un gobierno se limita a los países colindantes o los de su región, solo en algunos temas sus decisiones tienen una proyección global con asuntos como el calentamiento global o…

imperial.ac.uk (2021-04-09). Imperial remembers the Duke of Edinburgh. imperial.ac.uk Buckingham Palace has announced the death of the Duke of Edinburgh aged 99. The Duke was made an honorary Doctor of Science by Imperial in 2007.

A Guest Author (2021-04-09). Web head: U.S. Army unleashes 'Defender-Europe 21'. workers.org By Manlio Dinucci, Published in Il Manifesto March 30. Translation: John Catalinotto. Not everything in Europe is paralyzed by the anti-COVID lockdown: In fact, the mammoth annual exercise of the U.S. Army, Defender-Europe, which until June mobilized on European territory, and beyond this, tens of thousands of soldiers with thousands . . . |

A Guest Author (2021-04-09). U.S. Army unleashes 'Defender-Europe 21'. workers.org By Manlio Dinucci Published in Il Manifesto March 30. Translation: John Catalinotto. Not everything in Europe is paralyzed by the anti-COVID lockdown: In fact, the mammoth annual exercise of the U.S. Army, Defender-Europe, which until June mobilized on European territory, and beyond this, tens of thousands of soldiers with thousands . . . |

Peter Koenig (2021-04-09). Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination and the SPARS 2025-2028 Simulation? A Plan to Launch a New Pandemic? globalresearch.ca Compulsory Vaccination in Europe | Today the European Court of Human Rights …

WSWS (2021-04-08). The true toll of the coronavirus pandemic. wsws.org The official death count in the COVID-19 pandemic is just a small reflection of the massive social and health disaster caused by the disease.

WSWS (2021-04-08). Spanish premier Sanchez pledges to end social distancing as COVID-19 rises. wsws.org Spain's Socialist Party-Podemos government has pledged to end social distancing measures in order to fully reopen Spain's economy, even as COVID-19 cases rise.

WSWS (2021-04-08). Australia-New Zealand "travel bubble" to begin this month. wsws.org The decision to open the trans-Tasman borders, despite the renewed surge of COVID-19 globally, follows intensifying pressure from the multi-million dollar tourism industry and other businesses.

WSWS (2021-04-08). The true toll of the coronavirus pandemic. wsws.org The official death count in the COVID-19 pandemic is just a small reflection of the massive social and health disaster caused by the disease.

WSWS (2021-04-08). Spanish premier Sanchez pledges to end social distancing as COVID-19 rises. wsws.org Spain's Socialist Party-Podemos government has pledged to end social distancing measures in order to fully reopen Spain's economy, even as COVID-19 cases rise.

WSWS (2021-04-08). Australia-New Zealand "travel bubble" to begin this month. wsws.org The decision to open the trans-Tasman borders, despite the renewed surge of COVID-19 globally, follows intensifying pressure from the multi-million dollar tourism industry and other businesses.

WSWS (2021-04-08). MIS-C cases on the rise in children with at least 3,000 reported and 36 dead. wsws.org A new and comprehensive report from the Journal of the American Medical Association demonstrates that the vast majority of MIS-C cases resulted from asymptomatic COVID-19 infections weeks before symptoms appeared.

Eds. (2021-04-08). Assimilation and empire. mronline.org During the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an exponential increase in violence against Asian Americans: in New York alone, it's been reported that violence rose by 1900%, fueled by anti-Asian sentiment. | April 8, 2021 | Newswire…

Gregg Gonsalves (2021-04-08). We're at the Beginning of the End of Covid-19. Now What? thenation.com We're at the Beginning of the End of Covid-19. Now What?

Anand Naidoo (2021-04-08). The Heat: Vaccine inequality and Brazil battles COVID-19. america.cgtn.com Vaccinations are ramping up in the U.S., but President Joe Biden warns the country is still in a war against COVID-19. Meanwhile, in Brazil, hospitals and morgues are being stretched to the limit, and the prognosis for other low-income countries is similarly grim, as vaccine distribution continues to be a major challenge.

José Luis Granados Ceja (2021-04-08). Venezuela Rolls Out Economic Support as COVID-19 Infections Spread. zcomm.org The measures include a ban on evictions, a special "stay at home" benefit for two million private-sector workers, and a one-time benefit for 15 million people…

Staff (2021-04-08). Headlines for April 8, 2021. democracynow.org Global Coronavirus Cases Surge, With Record Daily Infections in India, Turkey and Iran, Brazil's President Rejects Nationwide Lockdown Despite Record COVID-19 Death Toll, Countries Cut Back on AstraZeneca Vaccinations After Reports of Rare Blood Clots, U.S. COVID-19 Cases and Hospitalizations Rise, Driven by Young People, Gaza Strip Locks Down Amid COVID Surge and Vaccine Shortage as Cases Plummet in Israel, U.S. Restores Financial Aid to U.N. Relief Agency for Palestine, Biden Names Gun Control Advocate to Lead Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Sen. Joe Manchin Doubles Down on Opposition to We…

webdev (2021-04-08). Headlines for April 8, 2021. democracynow.org Global Coronavirus Cases Surge, With Record Daily Infections in India, Turkey and Iran, Brazil's President Rejects Nationwide Lockdown Despite Record COVID-19 Death Toll, Countries Cut Back on AstraZeneca Vaccinations After Reports of Rare Blood Clots, U.S. COVID-19 Cases and Hospitalizations Rise, Driven by Young People, Gaza Strip Locks Down Amid COVID Surge and Vaccine Shortage as Cases Plummet in Israel, U.S. Restores Financial Aid to U.N. Relief Agency for Palestine, Biden Names Gun Control Advocate to Lead Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Sen. Joe Manchin Doubles Down on Opposition to We…

webdev (2021-04-08). "Vaccine Passports": ACLU Warns of Privacy Nightmare That Could Create "Two-Tiered Society" democracynow.org As people try to find a safe way to gather and travel during the pandemic, there is growing interest in documenting who has been vaccinated or tested negative for COVID-19. The World Health Organization has warned so-called vaccine passports may not be an effective way to reopen, and healthcare professionals argue vaccine certificates may further exacerbate vaccine inequality. New York is already testing a digital vaccine passport app made by IBM called the Excelsior Pass, while countries including the U.K. and Israel have issued their own versions of electronic vaccine certificates. The U.S. government has ruled…

Staff (2021-04-08). "Vaccine Passports": ACLU Warns of Privacy Nightmare That Could Create "Two-Tiered Society" democracynow.org As people try to find a safe way to gather and travel during the pandemic, there is growing interest in documenting who has been vaccinated or tested negative for COVID-19. The World Health Organization has warned so-called vaccine passports may not be an effective way to reopen, and healthcare professionals argue vaccine certificates may further exacerbate vaccine inequality. New York is already testing a digital vaccine passport app made by IBM called the Excelsior Pass, while countries including the U.K. and Israel have issued their own versions of electronic vaccine certificates. The U.S. government has ruled…

imperial.ac.uk (2021-04-08). COVID-19 roadmap for reopening could lead to a third wave in England. imperial.ac.uk The current roadmap out of lockdown for England could lead to an extra 15,700 deaths by next summer, according to Imperial's latest modelling.

MEE, agencies (2021-04-08). Covid-19: Turkey reports highest daily case rate since pandemic began. middleeasteye.net Covid-19: Turkey reports highest daily case rate since pandemic began | Turkey recorded nearly 55,000 new coronavirus cases and reported 276 deaths in a 24-hour period | Thu, 04/08/2021 – 18: 12 | Schools and restaurants reopened in early March after a drop in infection rates, but new lockdown measures have been announced (AFP) | Turkey recorded 54,740 new coronavirus cases in the 24 hours…

orinocotribune (2021-04-08). Vice President Delcy Rodríguez Explains Measures to Curb Economic Effects of the Pandemic. orinocotribune.com Faced with a worsening severity of the COVID-19 pandemic in Venezuela and the world, which has troubled international markets and the Venezuelan economy—also affected by the blockade and the coercive measures imposed by the United States and Europe—the Venezuelan Executive has designed new policies with which to protect economic stability and maintain social services. | In this sense, the Executive Vice President of the Republic, Delcy Rodríguez, detailed this Wednesday, April 7, the set of economic and financial support measures for workers, families, micro and small businesses, which President Nicol…

Binoy Kampmark (2021-04-08). Fatuous Defence: Australia's Guided Missile Plans. dissidentvoice.org Even in times of pandemic crises, some things never change. While Australia gurgles and bumbles slowly with its COVID-19 vaccine rollout, there are other priorities at stake. Threat inflators are receiving much interest in defence, and the media is feeding on it with a drunken enthusiasm. We live in a dangerous environment, and think-tankers, parliamentarians …

ecns.cn (2021-04-08). U.S. lags in tracking coronavirus variants: media. ecns.cn The United States lags behind many other countries in employing the essential tool of gene sequencing for keeping abreast of COVID-19 variants, thus increasing the risk of a variant possibly spreading undetected, reported USA TODAY on Wednesday.

Joel S. Hirschhorn (2021-04-08). COVID Scandal: Feds Ignored 2016 Law Requiring Use of Real World Evidence. globalresearch.ca Here is the scandal. In 2016 under the Obama administration, Congress …

Zachary Conti (2021-04-08). 260 Faith, Labor and Development Groups Press IMF, G20 and White House on COVID Response. indybay.org Ahead of Spring IMF and World Bank Meetings, World's Largest Unions, Human Rights Groups, Environmental and Religious Institutions Call for Aid, Debt Relief, Access to Emergency Reserves and Climate Protections…

Philippe Marlière (2021-04-08). As Covid cases in France surge, Macron's superman image is fading fast. zcomm.org The French president has imposed a national lockdown, but he still won't own up to his mistakes and broken promises…

MEE staff (2021-04-08). Israel 'flagrantly violated' obligations to vaccinate Palestinians, Amnesty says. middleeasteye.net Israel 'flagrantly violated' obligations to vaccinate Palestinians, Amnesty says | Rights group says failure to vaccinate Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza is a sign of 'institutionalised discrimination' | Thu, 04/08/2021 – 16: 52 | For Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank and Israeli-blockaded Gaza, the vaccination rollout has lagged far behind (AFP) | Amnesty International has accused…

WSWS (2021-04-08). Michigan signals the emergence of a B.1.1.7 pandemic in the United States. wsws.org The CDC has stated that the B.1.1.7 variant, also known as the UK variant, is driving the current surge in coronavirus in the United States. It has become the dominant variant in hard-hit states in the Northeast and Midwest.

Mark Gruenberg (2021-04-08). AFT, NEA protest new anti-virus school reopening guidelines. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—The nation's two big teachers unions are protesting Biden administration guidance which says students returning to reopened schools can sit only three feet from each other, not six, but only after schools take other measures to combat potential community spread of the coronavirus. One protest came in a formal letter from Teachers (AFT) President Randi …

WSWS (2021-04-08). Ontario's health system increasingly overwhelmed by pandemic's third wave. wsws.org Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced a totally ineffectual stay-at-home order yesterday in response to growing warnings from doctors that the pandemic's third wave has brought the province's hospitals to the brink of collapse.

Taroa Zuniga Silva (2021-04-08). Migrant women are holding society together during this pandemic. peoplesdispatch.org Throughout the past year, as the epidemic has ravaged the world, domestic workers, the bulk of whom are migrant women, have shouldered extremely heavy burdens. At the same time, their working conditions have taken a turn for the worse…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-04-08). After 23-day hunger strike, undocumented workers in New York win USD 2.1 billion in assistance. peoplesdispatch.org The protests, organized by the Fund Excluded Workers campaign, sought to deliver benefits to undocumented workers who had lost their jobs due to the pandemic. The victory has been hailed but activist groups say more needs to be done…

MP-IDSA (2021-04-08). India-EU Partnership: Can The Unfulfilled Potential Be Realized? — Analysis. eurasiareview.com By Ashok Sajjanhar* | The 16th India-European Union (EU) Summit meeting will take place in Porto, Portugal on May 8, 2021. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will get an opportunity to interact with leaders of all 27 EU Member States and also confer with Charles Michel, President of the European Council, as well as Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. | Both India and the EU have been keen to maintain the momentum in their bilateral interactions, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic. The two sides, for instance, met in a virtual format in July 2020. India-EU interactions have taken pla…

_____ (2021-04-08). The Capitol Raid And Pandemic Can Help Us Empathize With Venezuelans. popularresistance.org The January 6th raid on the Capitol and the pandemic that has upended the lives of every American seemingly have nothing to do with Venezuela. But the effects they had on U.S. political and economic stability offer a glimpse into what Venezuelans have been going through for the past several years of failed coups and sanctions. | Remember how January 6th felt? The shock, confusion and fear. The constant refreshing of Twitter feeds or eyes glued to cable news, watching a bunch of extremists attempt to overthrow the government. The not knowing what was going to happen next and whether it would impact our daily lives…

Peter Koenig (2021-04-08). SPARS Pandemic 2025-2028: A Repeat Rehearsal of Event 201? globalresearch.ca "At the end, what the 4th Industrial Revolution will lead …

Pip Hinman (2021-04-08). Labor's policy conference fails to put Morrison under pressure. greenleft.org.au Alex Bainbridge argues that the Labor party's stage-managed policy conference demonstrated that Anthony Albanese plans to continue its "small target" strategy, offering working people very little in a pandemic recession and climate emergency.

Sharon Zhang (2021-04-08). Amazon Illegally Fired Activist Employees, Labor Board Finds. zcomm.org The National Labor Relations Board has found that Amazon illegally fired two employees who spoke out about the company's climate impact and labor practices during the pandemic.

WSWS (2021-04-08). Autoworkers speak out against 84-hour workweek for skilled trades at Sterling Heights Assembly Plant: "It seems like torture" wsws.org Inside the plant, anger is simmering among both skilled trades and production workers, who have been subjected to months of forced overtime even as the virus spreads out of control.

pyeverino (2021-04-08). Anti-Racist Movements in Brazil: Activist Series. dsausa.org RSVP Here Around the world, Black-led movements are raising the stakes in our collective struggles. This discussion series with leading Black and Indigenous militants from across Brazil spotlights their experiences in organizing against state violence, workplace exploitation, and structural racism everywhere from education to healthcare. Today's movements facing neo-fascism, militarization, and an unprecedented public health…

Ashley Curtin (2021-04-08). New study finds correlation between specific pesticides and central nervous system tumors in children. nationofchange.org "Policy interventions to reduce pesticide exposure in individuals residing near agricultural fields should be considered to protect the health of children."

Dan Bacher (2021-04-08). Over 1600 gallons of oil spilled in Inglewood Oil Field; oil and gas scorecard released. indybay.org "Yesterday's oil spill is a deadly reminder that the environmental racism that's shaped and harmed Black, Indigenous, and people of color continues to put our health at risk," said Martha Dina Arguello, STAND-LA Coalition and Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles.

MISES (2021-04-08). Monetary Policy In America Is A Mess: Things Are Even Worse In Europe — OpEd. eurasiareview.com By Brendan Brown* | High inflation takes off where political forces are too strong to permit the implementation of harsh remedial measures with respect to taxation and monetary policy such as to prevent an implosion of the national currency. In the contemporary global financial marketplace, there has been fluctuating concern about the US heading toward this point, albeit at a highly uncertain date, as evidenced by waves of attack last spring, summer, and autumn on the US dollar. In reality, though, the long-run inflation threat level is higher in Europe than the US. | Any substantial European remedial action s…

Amy Forliti, Steve Karnowski, Tammy Webber (2021-04-08). Expert testifies Floyd expired due to lack of oxygen. peoplesworld.org MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — George Floyd died of a lack of oxygen from being pinned facedown on the pavement with his hands cuffed behind him, a medical expert testified Thursday at former Officer Derek Chauvin's murder trial. Floyd's breathing while he was being held down by Chauvin and other officers was too shallow to take in …

Editor2 (2021-04-08). Court Upholds $10 Million Judgment Against Bolivian Leaders for 2003 Massacre. orinocotribune.com April 6, 2021, Miami — Yesterday, a federal judge rejected an attempt by Bolivia's former president, Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, and former defense minister, José Carlos Sánchez Berzaín, to vacate a $10 million damages award against them for the massacre of unarmed Indigenous people in 2003. A jury found the former officials liable under the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA) in April 2018, after a month-long trial that included six days of jury deliberations. The trial marked the first time in U.S. history that a former head of state sat before his accusers in a U.S. human rights trial. In an unusual move…

Editor2 (2021-04-08). Cuba: First Stage of Phase III Trial with Soberana 02 Concludes. orinocotribune.com The study's principal researcher, Dr. María Eugenia Toledo, stated that so far the results of the process are "encouraging in terms of the safety of the product and the immune response." | The first stage of phase III clinical trial of the Cuban Soberana 02

imperial.ac.uk (2021-04-08). International experts inform transparent use of algorithms at policy hackathon. imperial.ac.uk Greater algorithmic transparency in the public sector was the focus of a policy hackathon organised by The Forum and the think tank Reform.

ecns.cn (2021-04-08). COVID-19 origin-tracing politicized by other countries including U.S.: FM spokesperson. ecns.cn The COVID-19 origin-tracing was indeed tainted by politics, not by China, but by certain countries including the United States, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday.

ecns.cn (2021-04-08). Canada's Ontario announces one-month lockdown as COVID-19 continues rampaging. ecns.cn Ontario province declared its third state of emergency Wednesday afternoon since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

ecns.cn (2021-04-08). Global experts see COVID-19 lockdown in Wuhan last year as 'timely, wise step'. ecns.cn After a 76-day lockdown against COVID-19, China's central megacity of Wuhan was finally reconnected with the rest of the world on April 8, 2020. One year on, China has made enormous efforts to contain the pandemic and contributed to the global battle against the virus.

ecns.cn (2021-04-08). Xi urges Germany, EU to cooperate with China to bring more certainty, stability to world. ecns.cn Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday urged Germany and the European Union (EU) to make joint efforts with China to protect and promote the healthy and stable development of their cooperation, so as to bring more certainty and stability to the volatile world.

ecns.cn (2021-04-08). China issues guideline on easing market access in Hainan free trade port. ecns.cn China on Thursday issued a guideline to support easing market access in the Hainan free trade port in its latest effort to build the resort island into a globally influential, high-level free trade port.

Prof Michel Chossudovsky (2021-04-07). The WHO Confirms that the Covid-19 PCR Test is Flawed: Estimates of "Positive Cases" are Meaningless. The Lockdown Has No Scientific Basis. globalresearch.ca One year later the WHO retracts. They don't say "We Made a Mistake". It's carefully formulated. While they do not officially deny the validity of their misleading January 2020 guidelines, they recommend RT-PCR "Re-testing" (which everybody knows is an impossibility).

Eurasia Review (2021-04-07). One In Ten Have Long-Term Effects 8 Months Following Mild COVID-19. eurasiareview.com Eight months after mild COVID-19, one in ten people still has at least one moderate to severe symptom that is perceived as having a negative impact on their work, social or home life. The most common long-term symptoms are a loss of smell and taste and fatigue. This is according to a study published in the journal JAMA, conducted by researchers at Danderyd Hospital and Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. | Since spring 2020, researchers at Danderyd Hospital and Karolinska Institutet have conducted the so-called COMMUNITY study, with the main purpose of examining immunity after COVID-19. In the first phase of the…

Brasil de Fato (2021-04-07). Brazil breaks record with 4,195 deaths from COVID-19 in 24 hours. peoplesdispatch.org As Brazil breaks records with numbers of deaths and confirmed cases, a study done by PoderData reveals that significant sectors of Brazilian society believe that Bolsonaro is responsible for the health crisis…

Bill Sardi (2021-04-07). Dr. Ryan Cole Blows the Whole COVID-19 Propaganda Away. globalresearch.ca Dr. Ryan Cole is the CEO and Medical Director of Cole …

teleSUR (2021-04-07). 'Bolsonaro Is a Global Treat' Lula Says On the World Health Day. telesurenglish.net On World Health Day, the National Council of Health Secretaries (CONASS) informed that Brazil registered 4,195 deaths from COVID-19, the highest number of deaths in one day so far. | RELATED: | Despite the critical situation the Brazilian health system is going through, President Jair Bolsonaro ruled out the implementation of a national lockdown and the enforcement of epidemiological measures. | "The Brazilian army will not…

Prof Michel Chossudovsky (2021-04-07). The WHO Confirms that the Covid-19 PCR Test is Flawed: Estimates of "Positive Cases" are Meaningless. The Lockdown Has No Scientific Basis. globalresearch.ca One year later the WHO retracts. They don't say "We Made a Mistake". It's carefully formulated. While they do not officially deny the validity of their misleading January 2020 guidelines, they recommend RT-PCR "Re-testing" (which everybody knows is an impossibility).

Eurasia Review (2021-04-07). One In Ten Have Long-Term Effects 8 Months Following Mild COVID-19. eurasiareview.com Eight months after mild COVID-19, one in ten people still has at least one moderate to severe symptom that is perceived as having a negative impact on their work, social or home life. The most common long-term symptoms are a loss of smell and taste and fatigue. This is according to a study published in the journal JAMA, conducted by researchers at Danderyd Hospital and Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. | Since spring 2020, researchers at Danderyd Hospital and Karolinska Institutet have conducted the so-called COMMUNITY study, with the main purpose of examining immunity after COVID-19. In the first phase of the…

Brasil de Fato (2021-04-07). Brazil breaks record with 4,195 deaths from COVID-19 in 24 hours. peoplesdispatch.org As Brazil breaks records with numbers of deaths and confirmed cases, a study done by PoderData reveals that significant sectors of Brazilian society believe that Bolsonaro is responsible for the health crisis…

Bill Sardi (2021-04-07). Dr. Ryan Cole Blows the Whole COVID-19 Propaganda Away. globalresearch.ca Dr. Ryan Cole is the CEO and Medical Director of Cole …

Helen Hamilton (2021-04-07). A post-COVID-19 recovery will not be possible if water, sanitation & hygiene are not high on the agenda. nationofchange.org The global economy and a concerted effort, coordination and imagination is needed to enable not only a worldwide recovery, but also to ensure that the world's poorest people are not left behind.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram (2021-04-07). IMF, World Bank must support developing countries' recovery. mronline.org The COVID-19 pandemic continues to take an unprecedented human and economic toll, wiping away years of modest and uneven progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). | April 7, 2021 | Newswire…

Philippe Marlière (2021-04-07). With COVID Cases Soaring in France, Macron can No Longer be in Denial. counterpunch.org France is in a "race against time" against Covid-19, Emmanuel Macron declared in a television broadcast this week. In an attempt to curb France's soaring Covid case numbers, Macron has imposed a national lockdown, extending to the entire country measures that were already in place in 19 départements. Although Macron insisted that France had not lost control, he admitted that "we cannot be in denial either".

orinocotribune (2021-04-07). President Maduro Announced New Economic Measures to Counter COVID-19's Second Wave. orinocotribune.com Tuesday, April 6, President Nicolás Maduro announced new economic measures for the protection of the Venezuelan people in the midst of the fight against COVID-19. From Miraflores Palace, he reported that about 15.1 million cardholders, through the Patria System, will in the coming days receive a special support bonus from the Chavista government to face the pandemic, similar to US stimulus checks. | In this regard, the Head of State also announced the extension, until September, of the prohibition on the collection of credit guarantees, the prohibition on reclassifying credit risk, and the express prohibition of…

Editor2 (2021-04-07). Lenin Moreno Deepens Ecuador's Political Crisis Ahead of Presidential Elections. orinocotribune.com By Alejandra Garcia — Apr 4, 2021 | Ecuador will go to polls on Sunday, April 11, amid new restrictive measures imposed by outgoing President Lenin Moreno to contain the pandemic. Although the country has been mired in a health crisis for months due to the government's mishandling of COVID-19, the ultra-right-wing leader has decreed a 30-day state of emergency in the country's eight main provinces one week before elections. | "Ecuador's democracy is once again in danger," warned leftist Union for Hope Alliance (UNES) candidate Andrés Arauz, who is the favorite to win the second round of presidential election…

Barbara Curson (2021-04-07). South Africa: Use of Ivermectin for COVID-19 Made an Order of Court. globalresearch.ca Tuesday (April 6) saw the Pretoria High Court hand down the …

José Luis Granados Ceja (2021-04-07). Venezuela Rolls Out Economic Support to Keep Workers Home as COVID-19 Infections Spread. venezuelanalysis.com The measures include a ban on evictions, a special "stay at home" benefit for two million private-sector workers, and a one-time benefit for 15 million people.

Gita Gopinath* (2021-04-07). Managing Divergent Recoveries — Analysis. eurasiareview.com It is one year into the COVID-19 pandemic and the global community still confronts extreme social and economic strain as the human toll rises and millions remain unemployed. Yet, even with high uncertainty about the path of the pandemic, a way out of this health and economic crisis is increasingly visible. | Thanks to the ingenuity of the scientific community hundreds of millions of people are being vaccinated and this is expected to power recoveries in many countries later this year. Economies also continue to adapt to new ways of working despite reduced mobility, leading to a stronger-than-anticipated reboun…

Jose Manuel Blanco Diaz (2021-04-07). Corpses in Black Bags? More Fake News from Venezuelan Anti-Chavista Healthcare Personnel and Students. orinocotribune.com Groups connected to healthcare personnel from Venezuela's extreme right staged another attempt at fake news this Tuesday, April 6, mounting a demonstration with black bags tied up to appear as human corpses at the Hospital Clínico Universitario in Caracas. | Morbidly presenting the supposed corpses, the anti-Chavista healthcare personnel tried to capitalize on the anxiety of Venezuela's population in the midst of a second COVID-19 wave to rally people against the government, but many considered the objective was not accomplished. | The aforementioned healthcare center is one of those that provides specialized car…

Megan Redshaw (2021-04-07). 246 Vaccinated Michigan Residents Diagnosed with COVID, 3 Dead, State Health Dept. Confirms. globalresearch.ca As many as 246 Michigan residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19 were …

CNA (2021-04-07). Spain: Kiko Argàºello Discharged From Hospital To Recover From COVID At Home. eurasiareview.com Kiko Argàºello, 82, who co-founded the Neocatechumenal Way, was discharged from the hospital Tuesday and will continue to recover from COVID-19 at home. | "Kiko has been discharged from hospital and will continue to recover at home. We will inform you in a few days on the state of his health; for the time being we are suspending the daily bulletins. We continue to pray for his complete recovery," said Fr. Mario Pezzi and Ascensión Romero in an April 6 statement from the International Team of the Neocatechumenal Way. | "Along with the good news about Kiko's health, the explosion of joy from the Easter Vigi…

Eurasia Review (2021-04-07). How Can Remote Workers Best Manage Work-Home Conflict? eurasiareview.com What are the secrets to maintaining a productive home office? Run a white-noise machine to mask household clatter, make sure your noisy neighbors know your work schedule, and resist the temptation to check work-related technology after logging off at the end of the workday. These are some of the tips that Timothy D. Golden, a professor in the Lally School of Management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has gleaned through more than two decades of research. | More than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of remote workers are still struggling to find an efficient work-life balance. In an article rece…

Kester Kenn Klomegah (2021-04-07). Conflicts Compounded By COVID-19 Devastating Socio-Economic Development In Sub-Saharan Africa. eurasiareview.com The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the terrible legacy of deliberately divisive and destructive policies that have perpetuated inequality, discrimination, and oppression across Sub-Saharan Africa, Amnesty International said in its annual report published early April 2021. | Across the Sub-Saharan region, the devastating impact of armed conflict in countries such as Ethiopia, Mozambique, Cameroon, and Nigeria, was compounded by the pandemic as a number of states weaponized it to crack down on human rights. The crackdowns included killings of civilians and arrests of opposition politicians and supporters and huma…

Brasil de Fato (2021-04-07). Capitalism is the problem, social movements declare on World Health Day. peoplesdispatch.org On April 7, World Health Day, hundreds of social movements from around the world published an international manifesto in defense of life. Over a year after the outset of the biggest pandemic of this century, the world continues to average about 9,000 deaths due to COVID-19 per day. | To mark the date and make a global appeal, the International Week of Anti-Imperialist Struggle, an initiative of hundreds of organizations and political parties from across the world, is organizing a campaign from April 7th to 11th, demanding that the vaccine against the novel coronavirus be treated as a public asset, among other thi…

Megan Redshaw (2021-04-07). Scientists Challenge Health Officials on Vaccinating People Who Already Had COVID. globalresearch.ca Since the first COVID-19 vaccine received

Peoples Dispatch (2021-04-07). World Health Day: Building a world where life is put before profit. peoplesdispatch.org April 7 is World Health Day. The significance of this day is being felt now more than ever as we stand in the midst of a pandemic. With the number of COVID-19 infections surging again across the world, it is clear that the only defense is herd immunity through mass vaccinations. | But access to vaccines against COVID-19 remains largely unequal.

orinocotribune (2021-04-07). Confirmed: There is a Link Between AstraZeneca Vaccine and Reported Thrombosis Cases — Haiti Rejects the Controversial Vaccine. orinocotribune.com On Tuesday, April 6, in an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero, Marco Cavaleri, head of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) that carries out vaccination plans against COVID-19 in the European Union, confirmed "a link" between the AstraZeneca vaccine and the occurrence of thrombosis recorded among people who received this vaccine, . | "Now we can say it, it is clear that there is a link with the vaccine, which causes that reaction. However, we still do not know why (…) In summary, in the next few hours we are going to say that there is a link, but we still have to understand why it happens." | He…

European Secretariat of the International Peoples' Assembly (2021-04-07). On Global Health Day: From medical apartheid to free vaccines for all. peoplesdispatch.org On this April 7, Gobal Health Day, the International Week of Anti-Imperialist Struggle organizes an international campaign asking to stop the medical apartheid, abolish the patents on the Covid-19-vaccines and, in this way, guarantee free vaccines for all…

Pip Hinman (2021-04-07). The post-COVID-19 economy and the class war. greenleft.org.au As COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out and lock downs and economic crisis measures wind up, the federal government is painting a rosy view of the economic recovery. But, as Neville Spencer argues, this is far from the reality for millions of casual and insecure workers.

Global Research News (2021-04-07). Selected Articles: The Universal Right of Informed Consent to Medical Interventions. globalresearch.ca By As many as 246 Michigan residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19 were later diagnosed with the virus, and three of t…

Kevin E. McVaney, Paul E. Pepe, Lauren M. Maloney, E.Stein Bronsky, Remle P. Crowe, James J. Augustine, Sheaffer O. Gilliam, Glenn H. Asaeda, Marc Eckstein, Amal Mattu, Roberto Fumagalli, Tom P. Aufderheide, Michael T. Osterholm, Writing group on behalf of the Metropolitan EMS Medical Directors Global Alliance (2021-04-07). [Research Paper] The relationship of large city out-of-hospital cardiac arrests and the prevalence of COVID-19. thelancet.com Most metropolitan cities experienced profound escalations of OHCA generally paralleling local prevalence of COVID-19. Most of these patients were pronounced dead without COVID-19 testing.

Daisy Nguyen, Olga R. Rodriguez (2021-04-07). Avanza la vacunación de trabajadores agrícolas en California. peoplesworld.org SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — La batalla por contener la devastación causada por el coronavirus en el centro de California llega a la frontera con México, donde a los trabajadores migrantes que se dirigen al norte para las cosechas de lechuga, brócoli, zanahorias y otros cultivos se les ofrece la vacuna contra el COVID-19 apenas ingresan …

Lillian Osborne (2021-04-07). One Year Ago When Bernie's Campaign Ended, We Lost a Common Love. thenation.com One Year Ago When Bernie's Campaign Ended, We Lost a Common Love…

Zachary Conti (2021-04-07). 260 Faith, Labor and Development Groups Press IMF, G20 and White House on COVID Response. indybay.org Ahead of Spring IMF and World Bank Meetings, World's Largest Unions, Human Rights Groups, Environmental and Religious Institutions Call for Aid, Debt Relief, Access to Emergency Reserves and Climate Protections…

Adam Dick (2021-04-07). Mexico President Says 'Pass' On Coronavirus Vaccine — OpEd. eurasiareview.com Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has distinguished himself among top national political leaders across the world by not freaking out over coronavirus. Instead, López Obrador has gone his own way with Now comes news of López Obrad…

Leonardo Flores (2021-04-07). The Capitol raid and pandemic can help us empathize with Venezuelans. peoplesdispatch.org The people of Venezuela have been living under a stage of siege, and enduring attacks on their sovereignty under successive US administrations. These assaults intensified during the Trump era…

_____ (2021-04-07). Philadelphia May Have Just Revolutionized Evictions. popularresistance.org Philadelphia is on the verge of upending evictions as we know them. | Last Wednesday, the Municipal Court of Philadelphia, which houses landlord-tenant court, released a new order following the extension of the CDC's nationwide eviction moratorium through June. For the next 45 days, landlords are required to apply to PHLRentAssist, the city's rental assistance program, and enroll in the Eviction Diversion Program before filing an eviction for nonpayment. | The order is a game changer. | Before the pandemic, landlords filed 20,000 evictions a year in Philadelphia's landlord-tenant court. That's despite the devasta…

Eleanor Goldfield (2021-04-07). Moth-Eaten Eviction Moratorium Leaves Hundreds of Thousands Without a Roof. mintpressnews.com During the pandemic, landlords have filed for 284,490 evictions — and that's just in five states and 27 cities. But how could this be? After all, a moratorium shouldn't allow for hundreds of thousands of households to fall through the cracks.

Dr. Meryl Nass (2021-04-07). Latest Vaccine Flip-flop Gives the Vaccine Game Away. globalresearch.ca The Astra-Zeneca "cheap and easy to store" "workhorse" vaccine causes blood clots in general, and in particular clots in the venous sinuses of the brain, which have killed or wounded a number of people, especially women under 55. The J and J vaccine was associated with blood clots in its clinical trial data presented to FDA.

Chris Orlet (2021-04-07). Another Win for Health Insurers, a Big Loss for this Patient. counterpunch.org I have suffered from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder for 27 years. In the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale Scale, I score in the "severe OCD" category. For 27 years I have seen one psychiatrist and therapist after another. I have been prescribed every kind of psychiatric medication imaginable, everything from Anafrinil to Zoloft. Nothing has worked. My OCD has cost me jobs and threatened my marriage and contributed to my divorce.

East Asia Forum (2021-04-07). Realistic Ambitions For US Alliance System In Asia — Analysis. eurasiareview.com By Kori Schake* | US allies in Asia have many and often conflicting desires. They want the commercial freedom to benefit from Chinese investment, markets and supply chains without unwelcome Chinese influence. They want protection from military intimidation or attack by China without going to war or interrupting commerce. | They want US domestic politics to stop at the water's edge, even as their own domestic politics require complicated detours. They want Washington to commit to them, but do not want to choose between Washington and Beijing. They want US involvement — but not too much. Often, they are di…

MEE staff (2021-04-07). UAE official not suited to be Interpol chief, says former UK prosecutor. middleeasteye.net UAE official not suited to be Interpol chief, says former UK prosecutor | Major General Ahmed Naser al-Raisi has been linked to human rights abuses, including the torture of two British citizens | Wed, 04/07/2021 – 16: 27 | A coalition of human rights groups warned last year that Raisi's appointment would 'damage' Interpol's reputation (AFP) | The United Arab Emirate's security chief is ill-suited to run Inter…

Alliance for Human Research Protection (2021-04-07). The Significance of the Nuremberg Code: The Universal Right of Informed Consent to Medical Interventions. globalresearch.ca The universal right of Informed Consent to medical interventions has been …

_____ (2021-04-07). Reforming An Uprising, But Not The Police. popularresistance.org As the Derek Chauvin trial continues, Minneapolis residents witness the militarization of their city. Fearful of another uprising, terrified lawmakers have erected barricades and razor wire fences around the Government Center, City Hall, and police stations. The fortification is estimated to cost $645,000. Additionally, law enforcement has been using surveillance planes to look for signs of unrest. After backlash from community members, Minneapolis officials dropped their plan to hire social media influencers to share state-sanctioned messaging about the Chauvin trial. | On March 12, 2021 — as the jury sele…

Editor2 (2021-04-07). Dollar Weight Could Halve if China Enacts New Forex Policies: Economist. orinocotribune.com A leading international economist believes the US dollar would lose nearly a half of its weight as the dominant international currency once China implements a new exchange rate system in which the price of its yuan is determined by fluctuations in inflation and not the value of major currencies like the greenback. | In a commentary published on the website of the Guardian newspaper on Friday, Kenneth Rogoff said China's planned changes in its forex system would deal a major blow to the hegemony of the dollar as the anchor currency of global economy. | Rogoff, a Harvard University professor and former chief econom…

Víctor M. Toledo (2021-04-07). La vacunación, un triunfo de la ciencia y de la especie. globalizacion.ca Estamos formados con nuestros contemporáneos, la generación nacida entre 1930 y 1960, en una kilométrica cola y no lo creo. La pandemia nos ha reunido a la generación de la ruptura, del 68, del rock, de la liberación sexual. | En…

Zachary Conti (2021-04-07). IMF Reports Pandemic Economic Outlook Uncertain. indybay.org Amidst Rising Inequality, Ninety Million Could Fall into Extreme Poverty…

Michael Richardson, reposted by Jamal Journal (2021-04-07). 50 yrs ago: Confessed bomber names Raleigh House as provocateur at Ed Poindexter's trial. indybay.org Reprinted below with permission from the author is the second in a series of articles marking the 50th anniversary of Black Panther political prisoner Ed Poindexter's trial. Ed is currently in very poor health. We will continue to feature Michael Richardson's important series of articles this month. The Jamal Journal's April 1 interview with author Michael Richardson marked the first article in Richardson's critical series. The second article in the series is reprinted here in full.

Eurasia Review (2021-04-07). Cambodia: 'Stop Covid-19' System Raises Privacy Concerns. eurasiareview.com The Cambodian government's "Stop Covid-19" QR Code system raises serious privacy and other human rights concerns, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should use less-rights-intrusive measures to contain and prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus. | On February 20, 2021, Cambodia's Ministry of Post and Telecommunications and Ministry of Health initiated a QR Code system that aims to assist with contact tracing of new Covid-19 cases, which have recently increased. The ministries should publicly explain how the data collected through the QR Code system is used, who has access to the data and for what…

John W. Whitehead (2021-04-07). Financial Tyranny: Footing The Tax Bill For The Government's Fiscal Insanity — OpEd. eurasiareview.com We're not living the American dream. We're living a financial nightmare. | The U.S. government—and that includes the current administration—is spending money it doesn't have on programs it can't afford, and "we the taxpayers" are the ones who will be forced to foot the bill for the government's fiscal insanity. | We've been sold a bill of goods by politicians promising to pay down the national debt, jumpstart the economy, rebuild our infrastructure, secure our borders, ensure our security, and make us all healthy, wealthy and happy. | None of that has come to pass, and yet we've still been loaded d…

Staff (2021-04-07). "This Agreement Protects Jobs": Four Unions at Rutgers University Reach Historic Deal to End Layoffs. democracynow.org After a year of layoffs, cuts and austerity, the faculty and staff of four unions at Rutgers University have voted in support of an unusual and pioneering agreement to protect jobs and guarantee raises after the school declared a fiscal emergency as a result of the pandemic. A key part of the deal is an agreement by the professors to do "work share" and take a slight cut in hours for a few months in order to save the jobs of other lower-paid workers. "The historic nature of this agreement is that it encompasses all four unions," says Christine O'Connell, president of the union representing Rutgers administrators.

MEE staff (2021-04-07). Biden administration restores $235 million in aid to Palestinians. middleeasteye.net Biden administration restores $235 million in aid to Palestinians | US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says US assistance to Palestinians 'serves important US interests and values' | Wed, 04/07/2021 – 19: 49 | UNRWA provides essential basic services to Palestinian refugees, including health care and education (AFP/File photo) | The United States will restore $235 million in humanitarian aid to Palestinians h…

F. William Engdahl (2021-04-07). "The Great Reset" Is Here: Follow the Money. "Insane Lockdown" of the Global Economy, "The Green Agenda" globalresearch.ca The top-down reorganization of the world economy by a technocratic cabal led by the group around the Davos World Economic Forum— the so-called Great Reset or UN Agenda 2030— is no future proposal. It is well into actualization as the world remains in insane lockdown for a virus…

a guest author (2021-04-07). As April 11 Ecuador election nears, Moreno uses pandemic to deepen political crisis. workers.org By Alejandra Garcia Published in English on the site of resumen-english.org April 4. Progressive candidate Andrés Arauz leads Ecuador's first round of presidential elections. Ecuador will go to the polls April 11 amid new restrictive measures imposed by outgoing President Lenin Moreno to contain the pandemic. Although the country has . . . |

imperial.ac.uk (2021-04-07). Imperial performs strongly in Research England's Knowledge Exchange Framework. imperial.ac.uk Imperial scores top marks in four out of seven categories in Research England's new Knowledge Exchange Framework.

imperial.ac.uk (2021-04-07). Cancer drugs could be delivered in molecular cages unlocked by light. imperial.ac.uk Molecular cages created by Imperial researchers could lead to more targeted cancer drug delivery, causing greater efficiency and fewer side effects.

orinocotribune (2021-04-06). Elections in Peru: Strength of the Left Not Reflected by Polls. orinocotribune.com The progressive parties stressed the need to hold a Constituent Assembly that includes all social sectors of the country. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed shortcomings that need to be addressed in the healthcare and education systems. | Six days before the presidential elections in Peru, the picture is not clear. Out of 20 candidates to occupy the House of Pizarro, half have a chance to go to the second round. According to polls, no one exceeds 15% of the intention to vote. | But when walking the streets of Lima, the Peruvian capital, it is perceived that the left-wing parties, represented by Verónika Mendoza, from…

Michael J. Talmo (2021-04-06). COVID-19: Pandemic? Or Cult? globalresearch.ca For the overwhelming majority of people, COVID-19 is a religion. On …

Voelker R. (2021-04-06). Thermal Imaging Systems May Pose Public Health Risks. jamanetwork.com Thermal imaging systems used to measure human body temperature in airports, workplaces, and other venues where COVID-19 may spread aren't accurate if used improperly and shouldn't be considered a tool to diagnose the disease, according to an FDA safety communication.

Zoe PC (2021-04-06). Rising tensions ahead of second round elections in Ecuador. mronline.org The lead up to the second round elections in Ecuador have been marked by misinformation campaigns, a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases and fears of manipulation and fraud. | April 6, 2021 | Newswire…

Fontanarosa PB, Bauchner H, Golub R. (2021-04-06). To JAMA Authors, Reviewers, and Especially Physician Readers—A Profound Thank You. jamanetwork.com The global COVID-19 pandemic continues to permeate virtually every aspect of society and daily life, including government, business, travel, education, and especially the health care system. With more than 120 million cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection worldwide, including nearly 30 million cases in the US, and with more than 2.5 million deaths worldwide, including more than 500‚ÄØ000 deaths in the US, health care systems, hospitals, physicians, other health care professionals, and researchers worldwide have been challenged like never before, not only to care for overwhelming numbers of severely ill…

WSWS (2021-04-06). Workers Struggles: The Americas. wsws.org Private sector doctors protest in Mexico City to demand COVID vaccinations while 200 Marathon oil refinery workers in St. Paul Park, Minnesota continue a two-and-a-half-month strike.

K. Lloyd Billingsley (2021-04-06). The Art Of The New Racism — OpEd. eurasiareview.com "Certain San Francisco artists may receive $1,000 a month under a new city program, the latest in a series of universal basic income initiatives cropping up in cities across California," writes They must be "San Francisco residents under certain income thresholds who faced economic loss during the pandemic." The recipients can be from "every artistic tradition," b…

Dr Martin Kulldorff (2021-04-06). We Cannot Afford to Censor Dissenting Voices During a Pandemic — Prof Martin Kulldorff. globalresearch.ca Now that we are allowed to meet up in groups of …

Appiah D, Nwabuo CC, Ebong IA, et al. (2021-04-06). Trends in Age at Natural Menopause and Reproductive Life Span Among US Women, 1959-2018. jamanetwork.com This national survey study uses the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to describe trends in age at natural menopause, age at menarche, and reproductive life span, and variables associated with shorter and longer spans, among US women between 1959-1962 and 2015-2018.

jamanetwork (2021-04-06). Drugs for Atopic Dermatitis. jamanetwork.com This Medical Letter provides a Table summarizing key information about topical corticosteroids available for atopic dermatitis published as part of a comprehensive review on the topic.

jamanetwork (2021-04-06). The Medical Profession and the Public. jamanetwork.com William J. Mayo, M.D., Rochester, Minn.

Crnich CJ, Malani P. (2021-04-06). Opportunities to Improve Antimicrobial Use in US Nursing Homes. jamanetwork.com Inappropriate use of antibiotic therapy is a major driver of adverse effects related to medications and antibiotic resistance in nursing homes. Despite formal calls for the enhancement of prescribing practices, along with improvements in structure and process, antibiotic stewardship in nursing homes remains suboptimal. Measuring antibiotic use in nursing homes and comparing observed patterns with relevant benchmarks is a core component of antibiotic stewardship. However, to date, nationally representative data to which nursing homes can benchmark have been lacking.

jamanetwork (2021-04-06). Update of Image Credit and Word Choice. jamanetwork.com In the A Piece of My Mind article titled "The Cost of Technology," published in the May 5, 2020, issue of JAMA, the credit line for the image was inadvertently omitted and the word "pre-eclampsia" in the second paragraph should have been "sclerosing cholangitis." This article was corrected online.

Arnold DG, Beck T, Stewart O. (2021-04-06). Whistleblowing and Misconduct at Large Pharmaceutical Firms—Reply. jamanetwork.com In Reply Data indicate that whistleblower incentives are an important way to reduce the incidence of illegal activities by large pharmaceutical firms. Incentivized whistleblowing in the US includes the False Claims Act's qui tam provision as well as a variety of other forms of whistleblowing. In response to our recent article, Dr Hashimoto and colleagues asked about the extent of whistleblowing activity in relation to financial penalties against large pharmaceutical firms in the US. We have now conducted dual-rater content analysis of all press releases for state and federal settlements between January 2003 and D…

Hashimoto T, Ozaki A, Tanimoto T. (2021-04-06). Whistleblowing and Misconduct at Large Pharmaceutical Firms. jamanetwork.com To the Editor In their recent Research Letter, Dr Arnold and colleagues presented profiles of illegal activities and penalties paid by pharmaceutical firms in the US from 2003 to 2016.

Desai AN. (2021-04-06). Patient Information: Giardiasis. jamanetwork.com This JAMA Patient Page summarizes risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of giardiasis, an intestinal parasite infection that can cause gastrointestinal symptoms including nausea, stomach cramps, and prolonged diarrhea.

McDermott MM, Spring B, Tian L, et al. (2021-04-06). Low- vs High-Intensity Walking Exercise and Walk Distance in Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease. jamanetwork.com This randomized trial compares the effects of comfortable low-intensity home-based walking exercise vs high-intensity exercise sufficient to elicit ischemic symptoms vs nonexercise control on 6-minute walk distance among patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD).

jamanetwork (2021-04-06). Two Incomplete Author Names. jamanetwork.com In the Original Investigation entitled "Association of Rare CYP39A1 Variants With Exfoliation Syndrome Involving the Anterior Chamber of the Eye," published in the February 23, 2021, issue of JAMA, there were 2 incomplete author names listed for the Genetics of Exfoliation Syndrome Partnership. At the end of the article, under "Authors for the Genetics of Exfoliation Syndrome Partnership," the name "Andrés F. V. Cueto, MD, PhD" should have been "Andrés Fernández-Vega Cueto, MD, PhD" and "Luis F. V. Cueto, MD, PhD" should have been "Luis Fernández-Vega Cueto, MD, PhD." The 2 names also should be revised under "Aff…

Thompson ND, Stone ND, Brown CJ, et al. (2021-04-06). Antimicrobial Use in a Cohort of US Nursing Homes, 2017. jamanetwork.com This cross-sectional survey assessed the risks of antimicrobial use among 15‚ÄØ276 nursing home residents across 161 facilities.

Voelker R. (2021-04-06). 3D-Printed Implant Is Approved to Replace Ankle Joint Bone. jamanetwork.com The FDA has approved a 3-dimensional (3D)—printed implant designed to treat people with avascular necrosis (AVN) of the ankle joint.

Peter Koenig (2021-04-06). Human Rights for Children: Saving Children from COVID Measures Abuses. globalresearch.ca Background | The Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights …

RT (2021-04-06). UK pauses AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine study on children as drug regulator investigates blood clot risk among adults. rt.com A trial of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine on children has been suspended while the UK's drug regulator investigates a potential link to rare blood clots in the brain reported among some adults who have received the jab. | The vaccine, which was developed in partnership with Oxford University, is awaiting approval from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for use among children. It was greenlit by British regulators for use in adults at the end of 2020. | "Whilst there are no safety concerns in the paediatric clinical trial, we await additional information from the MHRA on its…

P. K. Balachandran (2021-04-06). Sri Lankan Regime Comes Under Multiple Pressures — Analysis. eurasiareview.com A variety of issues, domestic and external, economic and political, are crying for attention : | The regime of the Rajapaksa brothers, comprising President Gotabaya, Prime Minister Mahinda and ruling party organizer Basil, is facing multiple problems, domestic and external, economic and political. | Divisions have arisen in the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and also with alliance partners. There is difficulty in kick-starting the economy derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, mainly due to flaws in the decision making and implementing apparatuses. The external debt repayment issue is looming in…

Achal Prabhala (2021-04-06). World's Poorest Nations Face Setback over Patent Rights. zcomm.org We look at the urgent push to ensure equal access to COVID-19 vaccines for all nations, rich and poor, and growing calls for Big Pharma to waive their patent rights, as COVID-19 cases soar…

Umar A Farooq (2021-04-06). Biden administration asks US court to throw out case against ex-Egyptian PM. middleeasteye.net Biden administration asks US court to throw out case against ex-Egyptian PM | Justice Department says lawsuit against Hazem el-Beblawi, over his alleged involvement in torture, should be dismissed due to his diplomatic status | Tue, 04/06/2021 – 15: 48 | Mohamed Soltan filed a lawsuit against Hazem el-Beblawi (pictured) last June, accusing him of direct responsibility for his treatment, which inclu…

Leonardo Flores (2021-04-06). The Capitol Raid and Pandemic Can Help US Empathize With Venezuelans. commondreams.org For Venezuelans, there is no one "January 6." There are at least half a dozen. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/vene_2.jpeg …

Laura Packard (2021-04-06). It's Time to Junk "Junk Insurance" commondreams.org We should be working to strengthen the protections of the Affordable Care Act and expand health care to all, not punch holes in the foundation. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/healthcare_5.jpg …

Editor2 (2021-04-06). Some Standard Cynical CIA-Style Cuba COVID Reporting at The Washington Post. orinocotribune.com By Paul Street — Apr 2, 2021 | Never underestimate the cynicism of American corporate media. As the Scotland-based historian Helen Yaffe recently observed on Counterpunch, the socialist state of Cuba currently has five COVID-19 vaccines in clinical trials "and is set to be among the first nations to vaccinate its entire population." Further: "Cuba has gone on the offensive against COVID-19, mobilizing the prevention-focused, community based public healthcare system to carry out daily house visits to actively detect and treat cases and channeling the medical science sector to adapt and produce new treatments…

teleSUR (2021-04-06). AstraZeneca Vaccine and Blood Clots Link Is 'Clear', EMA Says. telesurenglish.net Marco Cavaleri, the head of the Office Biological Health Threats and Vaccine Strategy at the European Medicines Agency (EMA), confirmed that there is a "clear" link between vaccination with AstraZeneca and cases of thrombosis. The cause of this reaction, however, remains unknown. | RELATED: | "We can now say that it is clear that there is a connection with the vaccine… We are trying to get an accurate picture of…

Binoy Kampmark (2021-04-06). Priti Patel and the Death of Asylum in the UK. counterpunch.org Nothing makes better sense to the political classes than small time demagoguery when matters turn sour. True, the United Kingdom might well be speeding ahead with vaccination numbers, and getting ever big-headed about it, but there is still good reason to distract the voters. Coronavirus continues to vex; the economy continues to suffer. In February,

RT (2021-04-06). UK govt loses bid to delay court case brought by hospitality sector over prolonged Covid closure of pubs & restaurants. rt.com A judge has sided with Britain's hospitality sector as the government failed in its effort to delay a High Court challenge to its Covid-19 restrictions, which forbid pubs and restaurants from fully reopening for another 6 weeks. | Mrs Justice Eady ruled on Tuesday that the case needed to be "expedited" in order for the challenge to the government's lockdown exit plan to be heard in time. In February, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out the government's four-step "roadmap" to ease health restrictions, which allows non-essential retailers to reopen on April 12, but obliges indoor hospitality to wait until at…

Pip Hinman (2021-04-06). Tent city highlights homelessness as 'new pandemic'. greenleft.org.au Homelessness is an emerging humanitarian crisis those who work in the sector told Steve O'Brien.

Staff (2021-04-06). Pandemic Profiteers: Hospitals Sued Patients over Medical Debt While Getting Billions in Relief Aid. democracynow.org We look at pandemic profiteering in the medical system as a new report by Kaiser Health News reveals some of the nation's richest hospitals recorded hundreds of millions of dollars in surplus over the past year after accepting federal healthcare bailout grants. This comes as hospitals in New York have sued thousands of patients during the pandemic, and Northwell — which is run by a close ally of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo — has faced intense criticism for practices like billing patients at its Lenox Hill Hospital over $3,000 for COVID tests — more than 30 times the typical cost. "There's a l…

Staff (2021-04-06). New York's "Excluded Workers" Demand First U.S. Fund to Secure Pandemic Aid for Undocumented People. democracynow.org More than a year into the pandemic and the economic crisis it generated, many workers continue to be excluded from receiving any government relief. These excluded workers include undocumented people — many of them in essential services — and people recently released from prison. Hundreds of essential workers across New York are leading marches and hunger strikes to demand lawmakers support a $3.5 billion fund that would be the first of its kind in the United States to provide pandemic relief funding to those excluded from the current system. Governor Andrew Cuomo is now in final negotiations with legi…

Zachary Conti (2021-04-06). IMF Reports Pandemic Economic Outlook Uncertain. indybay.org Amidst Rising Inequality, Ninety Million Could Fall into Extreme Poverty…

Michael Richardson, reposted by Jamal Journal (2021-04-06). 50 yrs ago: Confessed bomber names Raleigh House as provocateur at Ed Poindexter's trial. indybay.org Reprinted below with permission from the author is the second in a series of articles marking the 50th anniversary of Black Panther political prisoner Ed Poindexter's trial. Ed is currently in very poor health. We will continue to feature Michael Richardson's important series of articles this month. The Jamal Journal's April 1 interview with author Michael Richardson marked the first article in Richardson's critical series. The second article in the series is reprinted here in full.

Martha Pskowski (2021-04-06). Saving Lives and Going Hungry: NYC Ambulance Workers Demand Higher Pay. thenation.com Saving Lives and Going Hungry: NYC Ambulance Workers Demand Higher Pay…

_____ (2021-04-05). Thousands Take To The Streets Saying 'Kill The Bill'. popularresistance.org Thousands took part in a weekend of action against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. The size and passion of the demos shows that people are willing to fight to stop this bill, which the Conservative government tried to sneak through under the cover of the coronavirus (Covid-19) health crisis. | 50 demonstrations were called across the UK. | The proposed Police Bill is arguably the biggest attack on our freedoms since the Public Order Acts of the '80s and '90s. The controversial bill passed its second reading in parliament during March. The bill will give the police unprecedented draconian powers to…

Zoe PC (2021-04-05). Rising tensions ahead of second round elections in Ecuador. peoplesdispatch.org The lead up to the second round elections in Ecuador have been marked by misinformation campaigns, a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases and fears of manipulation and fraud…

Staff (2021-04-05). After COVID-19, does higher education have a future? therealnews.com Higher education was already suffering from decades of corporatization and public disinvestment, then COVID-19 hit. We talk to professor and local union president Aaron Major about what the pandemic will mean for the future of higher ed and its workers.

Peoples Dispatch (2021-04-05). Bahrainis continue protests demanding release of prisoners amid COVID-19 pandemic. peoplesdispatch.org Protests took place for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday demanding the release of prisoners from overcrowded jails. Protesters also condemned the blackout of news regarding the number of COVID-19 cases in the facilities…

WSWS (2021-04-05). Australian richest billionaires double their wealth during COVID-19 crisis. wsws.org The Australian's rich list boasts: "The biggest names in Australian business thrived during the pandemic."

Peoples Dispatch (2021-04-05). Duterte's lockdowns falters even as Philippines add over 100,000 new COVID cases in 10 days. peoplesdispatch.org The series of heavily policed and extended lockdowns in place since March 2020, has failed to contain the spread of COVID-19 and given way to more human rights violations…

WSWS (2021-04-05). COVID-19 cases surge in the Philippines. wsws.org So far, Metro Manila, the national capital region (NCR) and four surrounding provinces have borne the brunt of the surge with 70 percent of active cases or 109,496.

Christopher Blackwell (2021-04-05). In Prison, COVID-19 Precautions are a Form of Punishment. progressive.org I'm incarcerated at a prison in Washington State, and the guards here use safety protocols as an excuse to crack down on us.

Dan Steinbock (2021-04-05). COVID-19 Origins, Science And Media, Facts And Fantasies — OpEd. .com Recently, the joint WHO-China team released its report. Despite a year of politicized infodemic, much of the international media coverage shunned the scientific conclusions. | After months of work, the joint WHO-China team assessed the likelihood of four different possible pathways for the introduction of the virus (underlines added). Here are their conclusions: | An intermediate host is the likely to very likely pathway; Direct zoonotic spillover (from animal to human) is a possible-to-likely pathway; Introduction through cold/ food chain products is a possible pathway; Introduction through a laboratory incid…

Ben Chacko (2021-04-05). Venezuela calls for debt restructuring in response to Covid pandemic. peoplesworld.org Venezuela is calling for a comprehensive restructuring of international debt in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Addressing the UN heads of state meeting on international debt, President Nicolas Maduro said that more than 130 million people had been plunged into poverty during the pandemic. A "profound revision of debt conditions" was needed to prevent …

WSWS (2021-04-05). Epidemiologist warns that the fourth COVID-19 surge is under way in United States. wsws.org Dr. Michael Osterholm provided sobering remarks regarding the state of the pandemic and the present surge of more dangerous variants.

WSWS (2021-04-05). COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania rise as schools and businesses reopen. wsws.org COVID-19 infections in Pennsylvania are rising again as studies estimate that one-third of infections are now more contagious variants of the virus. Despite these warning signs, the state government has moved to reopen schools and ease restrictions on businesses.

Lindsay Stark, Luissa Vahedi (2021-04-05). Lessons from the past: Protecting women and girls from violence during COVID-19. nationofchange.org Little attention has been paid to women and girls in humanitarian settings, those whose safety has already been reduced due to conflict, natural disaster or displacement.

MaàØthé Chini (2021-04-02). Belgium Must Lift 'All COVID-19 Measures' within 30 Days, Brussels Court Rules. globalresearch.ca The Belgian State has been ordered to lift "all coronavirus measures" …

WSWS (2021-04-02). United Auto Workers executives received massive payout in 2020 as COVID-19 ravaged auto plants. wsws.org The latest US Department of Labor report for 2020 filed by the UAW shows that it increased both its income and assets even as its membership declined amid the coronavirus pandemic.

WSWS (2021-04-02). New studies show COVID-19 leads to significant organ damage and the death of many survivors. wsws.org The UK study builds on previous research on outcomes for patients taken into hospital with COVID-19 but based on tens of thousands of cases is able to draw conclusions about the extent of dysfunction in organs of those affected.

Jeremy Loffredo (2021-04-02). Tanzania's Late President Magufuli: 'Science Denier' or Threat to Empire? globalresearch.ca While his COVID-19 policies have dominated media coverage regarding his disappearance …

Doctors for COVID Ethics (2021-04-02). Rebuttal Letter to European Medicines Agency (EMA) from Doctors for COVID Ethics. globalresearch.ca Emer Cooke, Executive Director, European Medicines …

WSWS (2021-04-02). Record surge in coronavirus cases at Stellantis' Sterling Stamping Plant. wsws.org New cases at the plant surged in March to the highest levels on record, surpassing the previous monthly high from last November.

Matthew Stevenson (2021-04-02). Letters From Minsk: Echoes of Munich Over Wroclaw, Poland. counterpunch.org This is the fourth in a series about train and bicycle rides from Switzerland to Belarus, in those carefree days before pandemic lockdowns. My Wroclaw train dropped me at the main station just outside the downtown in the middle of the afternoon, when chilly winds off the central European plains were whipping around the cobblestoned

Dr. Mike Yeadon (2021-04-02). The PCR False Positive Pseudo-Epidemic. Dr. Mike Yeadon. globalresearch.ca How a novel virus met a partly-immune population | In Spring 2020 …

Eve Ottenberg (2021-04-02). A Feminist Revolt. counterpunch.org With right-wing hysteria about the feminization of the military landing on our laptops recently, now is a good time to focus on issues dear to the hearts of actual feminists, namely, housing, health and education. These concerns were embraced, very strikingly, by feminists in apartheid South Africa. Toward the end of apartheid, many Black people

Sonja Scherndl, Adam Parsons (2021-04-02). Let's end the insanity of colossal military spending during a global health emergency. dissidentvoice.org Imagine what could be achieved if just a portion of the money spent on military expenditures were pooled into a global fund, and redirected towards ending hunger and massively investing in public health systems. ***** If nations had a referendum, asking the public if they want their taxes to go to military weapons that are …

Zachary Conti (2021-04-02). Treasury Notifies Congress of $650 Billion Emergency Reserves to Fight Global COVID Crisis. indybay.org Washington DC —Treasury notified Congress of its support for $650 billion in IMF global reserves, also known as Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), to assist developing countries struggling with the coronavirus crisis. US law requires a ninety-day advance alert to Congress before the US votes for SDRs with the IMF board.

Labor Video Project (2021-04-02). Mumia Abu-Jamal On Pacifica With Noelle Hanrahan. indybay.org Pacifica's Covid, Race & Democracy interviews journalist Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio about how she helped bring Mumia Abu-Jamal to the airwaves of Pacifica.

www.academia.edu (2021-04-02). Two letters to the editor on the pandemic lockdown. indybay.org Our collective thinking has often been manipulated and corrupted (eg Vietnam, Iraq, Nicaragua, Iran). According to GlobalResearch.ca, the WHO made a late admission on Jan 20, 2021 that "the lockdown has no scientific basis" and test results are misleading. "Release the vaccines and put an end to the lockdown," urges Jens Berger, editor of nachdenkseiten.de.

Jamal Journal interviews Michael Richardson (2021-04-02). 50 Years of Injustice: Free Black Panther Political Prisoner Ed Poindexter Now! indybay.org In our interview conducted earlier this week, author Michael Richardson discusses the role of the FBI's infamous COINTELPRO in the frameup of the Omaha Two and provides an important update on Ed Poindexter's urgent health situation. Richardson also explains how you can help Ed Poindexter, an elder in poor health who is a 50-year victim of an obvious and well documented COINTELPRO frameup. We highly recommend reading Michael Richardson's book to learn more about this extreme injustice that needs to end immediately. Free Ed Poindexter now!

Muir Oral, Facial, & Dental Implant Surgery (2021-04-02). Wednesday 4/28: Virtual Academic Advantage – Medical Career Fair for Students. indybay.org Online/Virtual…

British Society for Haematology (2021-04-02). Syndrome of Thrombosis and Thrombocytopenia Occurring after Coronavirus Vaccination. globalresearch.ca An expert team of our peers have recently been involved in …

Staff (2021-04-02). Headlines for April 2, 2021. democracynow.org Ex-Supervisor Says Derek Chauvin's Fatal Restraint of George Floyd Violated Use-of-Force Policies , Texas Senate Passes Republican-Led Voter Suppression Bill, Texas Rangers Baseball Stadium to Open at Full Capacity Despite Surging Coronavirus Cases, U.N. Warns Burma Headed for Civil War as Military Junta Continues Brutal Crackdown, At Least 51 Dead, Dozens More Injured in Taiwan Train Crash , Arizona ICE Jail Violated Prisoners' Rights and Failed to Prevent COVID-19 Outbreak, Biden Holds First Cabinet Meeting as Debate over Infrastructure Plan Continues, Unemployment Claims Rise as Pandemic Recovery Remains Uneve…

Staff (2021-04-02). Brazil Diplomat Celso Amorim on Bolsonaro, Lula & Why Biden's Foreign Policy Is So "Disappointing" democracynow.org As the number of COVID-19 cases surges in Brazil, the country is also facing a major crisis on the political front. The heads of Brazil's Army, Navy and Air Force all quit in an unprecedented move, a day after far-right President Jair Bolsonaro ousted his defense minister as part of a broader Cabinet shake-up. The developments have alarmed many in Brazil who believe Bolsonaro, who is a former Army captain, will install ultra-loyalists to the military posts to consolidate his power ahead of next year's election, when he is expected to be challenged by former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro is trying…

CGTN (2021-04-02). MOFA: BBC is Not Trusted even in the UK. dissidentvoice.org According to material openly available, BBC World Service is immune from any form of regulation and can produce all the disinformation it likes with legal impunity in the UK. It has caused the spread of the fake news virus not only in the UK but all over the world. BBC should try to do more …

Chris Walker (2021-04-02). EU, WHO and Dozens of World Leaders Endorse Plan for Future Pandemic Treaty. zcomm.org Leaders from dozens of countries around the world have signed onto a joint statement calling for the creation of an international treaty that would address pandemics that will come about in the future…

Paul Street (2021-04-02). Some Standard Cynical CIA-Style Cuba Covid Reporting at The Washington Post. counterpunch.org Never underestimate the cynicism of American corporate media. As the Scotland-based historian Helen Yaffe recently observed on Counterpunch, the socialist state of Cuba currently has five COVID-19 vaccines in clinical trials "and is set to be among the first nations to vaccinate its entire population." Further: "Cuba has gone on the offensive against Covid-19, mobilizing

Peter Koenig (2021-04-02). Human Rights for Children: Beyond a Crime, Worldwide: The Immoral, Destructive Impacts of the Covid Measures on Our Children. globalresearch.ca Dear Mr. Nils Melzer, | My name is Peter Koenig, former economist …

Associated Press (2021-04-02). WHO: Europe's vaccination plan is 'unacceptably slow'. peoplesworld.org LONDON (AP) — European nations' immunization campaigns against COVID-19 are "unacceptably slow" and risk prolonging the pandemic, a senior World Health Organization official said Thursday. Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO's regional director for Europe, said vaccines "present our best way out of this pandemic," but noted that to date, only 10% of Europe's population has received …

Peoples Dispatch (2021-04-02). Iraq faces second wave of COVID-19 infections amid slow vaccination rates. peoplesdispatch.org The country started vaccination only in March when it received over 50,000 doses of Chinese Sinopharm vaccine. It received 336,000 doses of Oxford AstraZeneca under COVAX initiative on March 25 after much delay…

Holly Ellyatt (2021-04-02). Mutations Could Render Current COVID Vaccines Ineffective in a Year or Less, Epidemiologists Warn. globalresearch.ca We bring to the attention of our readers an important article by …

Vijay Prashad (2021-04-02). The Vaccine Must Be a Common Good for Humanity. dissidentvoice.org Vladimir Griuntal' and G. Iablonovskii (USSR), Chto eto takoe? ('What is This?') 1932. Nearly three million people have reportedly been killed by the novel coronavirus (SAR-CoV-2) and upwards of 128 million people have been infected by the virus, many with long-lasting health repercussions. Thus far, roughly 1.5% of the world's population of 7.7 billion have …

Lance Johnson (2021-04-02). Keele University Cancels All Aluminum Research after Scientist Links Aluminum in Vaccines to Human Health Problems. globalresearch.ca The UK's prestigious

teleSUR (2021-04-01). France Imposes Partial Lockdown To Halt COVID-19 Resurgence. telesurenglish.net To slow down the coronavirus spread, schools in France will be closed for three weeks and restriction on people's movement will be extended to the whole territory, President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday evening. | RELATED: | Starting from Monday, students, except the children of medics, will move to remote learning for one week before going on a two-week holiday. Thereafter, the country's nurseries and primary schools will…

orinocotribune (2021-04-01). Piñera's Elections-Postponement Maneuver Passes in Lower House of Parliament 'Due to Coronavirus'. orinocotribune.com This Wednesday, March 31, the Chamber of Deputies of the Chilean Congress approved the constitutional reform presented by President Sebastián Piñera to postpone until May 15 and 16 the elections scheduled for April 10 and 11 in the South American country," due to the Covid-19 pandemic." | In those elections the new governors, mayors and councilors of the country will be elected, as well as the members of the Constitutional Assembly, who will be in responsible for drafting the new Constitution of the country, reported RT. | In case a second round is necessary in the elections of governors, the approved initiative…

teleSUR (2021-04-01). Canadian Solidarity Network Sends 2 Million Syringes to Cuba. telesurenglish.net This initiative is part of the Network's campaign on January 8 to raise funds in Canada to send a donation of much-needed medical supplies to Cuba. | RELATED: | In announcing this new action in solidarity with the Cuban people, the Network recognized the relevant achievements made by Cuba in the area of health and its contributions to other nations, even at a time when Cuba is facing a double pandemic: COVID-19 an…

WSWS (2021-04-01). Macron rejects calls for strict lockdown as COVID-19 surges in France. wsws.org In a prime-time speech, President Emmanuel Macron rejected medical authorities' urgent pleas for a strict lockdown to keep hospitals from being totally swamped.

Rebekah Entralgo (2021-04-01). A Strong Economy Needs Strong Care Workers. counterpunch.org The pandemic has dramatically exposed the vital role that care workers play in our society. As child care centers and schools closed and nursing homes became COVID-19 hotspots, families have strained to juggle work and other responsibilities while taking care of loved ones. But the labor of caregiving — as essential as it is —

teleSUR (2021-04-01). COVID-19 Surge Forces Chile To Close Its Borders in April. telesurenglish.net Chile's Health Minister Enrique Paris announced new COVID-19 restrictions due to the resurgence of the pandemic. | RELATED: | On Thursday, he reported 7,830 new COVID-19 cases, the highest number of new infections since the outbreak of the pandemic. Measures to curb the spread of the virus include a border closure during April. Permits to enter and depart will only be issued for humanitarian emergencies. | The curfew will now…

WSWS (2021-04-01). COVID-19 pandemic triggers social, economic devastation among Canada's cultural workers. wsws.org A survey of the performing arts found that 83 percent of workers reported that their income had been "severely reduced" by the pandemic, with 32 percent saying they were "extremely stressed, to the point of losing sleep."

Eduardo Ibarra Aguirre (2021-04-01). México — De antígenos, vacaciones y pronósticos. globalizacion.ca Seis semanas de baja en las tendencias en todos los renglones que se miden desde hace un año en relación al SARS-CoV-2, virus que genera la enfermedad covid-19, pero dentro de la llamada segunda ola aunque algunos países se encuentran…

teleSUR (2021-04-01). OPEC Agrees To Cautiously Increase Crude Oil Production. telesurenglish.net The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed on Thursday to restore the production of over 2 million barrels per day from May to July, as part of a strategy to recover the industry amid the COVID-199 pandemic. | RELATED: | The OPEC had reduced the number of barrels per day last year, attempting to control prices. On Thursday, the fifth ministerial meeting of the OPEC – NON-OPEC group took place virtually as the organization has urged members t…

Mark Gruenberg (2021-04-01). Part II, PW special: Agency probe reveals OSHA hamstrung vs. virus. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—It may be no great surprise, especially to unions in the front lines of defending workers against the ravages of the coronavirus, but a comprehensive report by the Labor Department's own Inspector General reveals the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was hamstrung in the fight against the plague. And while Carolyn Hantz, the Deputy Inspector …

Marilyn Bechtel (2021-04-01). Justice bills progressing in California legislature. peoplesworld.org Coursing their way through the California legislature's committee process are a number of measures aimed at improving the state's handling of justice issues — some introduced in the current session and others reintroduced after they were trapped in last year's COVID-related end-of-session logjam. Among new measures is Senate Bill 271, the Sheriff Democracy and Diversity …

Megan Redshaw (2021-04-01). 'Breaking Through' — States Report Growing Number of COVID Cases Among Fully Vaccinated. globalresearch.ca The Washington State Department of Health (DOH)

WSWS (2021-04-01). German chancellor Angela Merkel: Economic interests take precedence over lives. wsws.org Chancellor Angela Merkel's appearance on the "Anne Will" television talk show confirmed that the only solution to the Corona crisis is the mobilisation of broad layers of the working class.

Mark Gruenberg (2021-04-01). Big changes needed to bring kicked-out women back to work. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—Big changes, in financing, social programs, and male-centered attitudes towards work and its worth, are needed to bring the millions of working women whom coronavirus-caused closures kicked out of their jobs back into the labor force. Three panelists drew that conclusion at a March 31 seminar hosted by the National Press Foundation, a D.C.-based think …

teleSUR (2021-04-01). Peru Saw Last Presidential Debate Ahead of April 11 Elections. telesurenglish.net Peru's National Elections Jury (JNE) Wednesday concluded the last presidential debate, an event in which six candidates presented their promises to tackle the pandemic and corruption. | RELATED: | The debate was attended by Rafael Lopez(Popular Renovation), Yonhy Lescano (Popular Action), Julio Guzman (Purple Party), Daniel Salaverry (We Are Peru), Rafael Santos (Safe Homeland), and Ciro Galvez (United National Rebi…

Reynard Loki (2021-04-01). Live animal markets should be closed to prevent the next pandemic. nationofchange.org Wet markets are perfect breeding grounds for pathogens that can jump from animals to humans.

Ashley Curtin (2021-04-01). LA lays out detailed paths to achieve 100 percent clean energy by 2045. nationofchange.org LA100 helped LA set ambitious goals to transform it's electricity supply and electrify the buildings and transportation sectors to "combat climate change while capturing health and economic benefits."

Guido Risso (2021-04-01). Vacunas: øUn bien de la Humanidad o un negocio de los grandes laboratorios? globalizacion.ca Pandemia, millones de vidas arrasadas, familias destruidas y la vacuna es un negocio de los grandes laboratorios. El constitucionalismo moderno, los derechos humanos y las democracias crujen ante esta situación. Es moralmente inadmisible que, en medio de una crisis sanitaria…

Johanna Fernandez, reposted by Jamal Journal (2021-04-01). Prof. Johanna Fernandez's account of Mumia Abu-Jamal's Health Emergency (from Verso Blog). indybay.org This article was originally published at the Verso Books blog on March 28, and is being reprinted here in full, no edits, with the permission of author Johanna Fernandez, from the Campaign to Bring Mumia Home. For the latest updates on Mumia's health, please visit the Jamal Journal: www.JamalJournal.com.

RT (2021-04-01). Delays in deliveries of Indian-made AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine could be 'catastrophic', African Union's health boss warns. rt.com India's decision to postpone major exports of locally made AstraZeneca jab could have a "catastrophic" impact on Africa, a top health official has warned, expressing hope the delays won't turn into a permanent ban. | Speaking during a press conference in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa on Thursday, the chief of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, John Nkengasong, raised concerns over the delays. | Insufficient deliveries of AstraZeneca's jab, produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII), are expected to disrupt the African Union's (AU) vaccination plans, the official said. While the AU has…

Global Research News (2021-04-01). Selected Articles: "Defender-Europe": US Army Arrives. globalresearch.ca By Not everything in Europe is paralyzed by the anti-Covid lockdown: in fact, the mammoth annual exercise of the US Army, Defender-Europe, which until June mobilized on European territory, …

RT (2021-04-01). Pfizer says new trial data shows Covid vaccine 'highly effective' against South African strain. rt.com Pfizer and BioNTech stated on Thursday that their jointly developed Covid-19 vaccine is highly effective in combating the South African variant of the virus, according to the company's latest phase-three trial data. | Pfizer released a statement declaring that new data from South Africa indicated "vaccine efficacy of 100%" despite the prevalence of the fast-spreading B.1.351 variant. | The findings from the phase-three trial come as countries worry about the effectiveness of existing vaccines against new, more transmissible variants of coronavirus, with concerns about how to fully control the disease as it con…

teleSUR (2021-04-01). Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Is 100% Effective in Kids Aged 12-15. telesurenglish.net The companies Pfizer and BioNTech announced their COVID-19 vaccine has demonstrated 100 percent efficacy and robust antibody responses in a Phase 3 trial in adolescents 12 to 15 years of age. | RELATED: | The trial enrolled 2,260 adolescents 12 to 15 years of age in the United States. In the trial, 18 cases of COVID-19 were observed in the placebo group versus none in the vaccinated group. | The vaccine, BNT162b2, elicited SARS-…

teleSUR (2021-04-01). France Imposes Partial Lockdown To Halt COVID-19 Resurgence. telesurenglish.net To slow down the coronavirus spread, schools in France will be closed for three weeks and restriction on people's movement will be extended to the whole territory, President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday evening. | RELATED: | Starting from Monday, students, except the children of medics, will move to remote learning for one week before going on a two-week holiday. Thereafter, the country's nurseries and primary schools will…

orinocotribune (2021-04-01). Piñera's Elections-Postponement Maneuver Passes in Lower House of Parliament 'Due to Coronavirus'. orinocotribune.com This Wednesday, March 31, the Chamber of Deputies of the Chilean Congress approved the constitutional reform presented by President Sebastián Piñera to postpone until May 15 and 16 the elections scheduled for April 10 and 11 in the South American country," due to the Covid-19 pandemic." | In those elections the new governors, mayors and councilors of the country will be elected, as well as the members of the Constitutional Assembly, who will be in responsible for drafting the new Constitution of the country, reported RT. | In case a second round is necessary in the elections of governors, the approved initiative…

teleSUR (2021-04-01). Canadian Solidarity Network Sends 2 Million Syringes to Cuba. telesurenglish.net This initiative is part of the Network's campaign on January 8 to raise funds in Canada to send a donation of much-needed medical supplies to Cuba. | RELATED: | In announcing this new action in solidarity with the Cuban people, the Network recognized the relevant achievements made by Cuba in the area of health and its contributions to other nations, even at a time when Cuba is facing a double pandemic: COVID-19 an…

WSWS (2021-04-01). Macron rejects calls for strict lockdown as COVID-19 surges in France. wsws.org In a prime-time speech, President Emmanuel Macron rejected medical authorities' urgent pleas for a strict lockdown to keep hospitals from being totally swamped.

Rebekah Entralgo (2021-04-01). A Strong Economy Needs Strong Care Workers. counterpunch.org The pandemic has dramatically exposed the vital role that care workers play in our society. As child care centers and schools closed and nursing homes became COVID-19 hotspots, families have strained to juggle work and other responsibilities while taking care of loved ones. But the labor of caregiving — as essential as it is —

teleSUR (2021-04-01). COVID-19 Surge Forces Chile To Close Its Borders in April. telesurenglish.net Chile's Health Minister Enrique Paris announced new COVID-19 restrictions due to the resurgence of the pandemic. | RELATED: | On Thursday, he reported 7,830 new COVID-19 cases, the highest number of new infections since the outbreak of the pandemic. Measures to curb the spread of the virus include a border closure during April. Permits to enter and depart will only be issued for humanitarian emergencies. | The curfew will now…

WSWS (2021-04-01). COVID-19 pandemic triggers social, economic devastation among Canada's cultural workers. wsws.org A survey of the performing arts found that 83 percent of workers reported that their income had been "severely reduced" by the pandemic, with 32 percent saying they were "extremely stressed, to the point of losing sleep."

Eduardo Ibarra Aguirre (2021-04-01). México — De antígenos, vacaciones y pronósticos. globalizacion.ca Seis semanas de baja en las tendencias en todos los renglones que se miden desde hace un año en relación al SARS-CoV-2, virus que genera la enfermedad covid-19, pero dentro de la llamada segunda ola aunque algunos países se encuentran…

teleSUR (2021-04-01). OPEC Agrees To Cautiously Increase Crude Oil Production. telesurenglish.net The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed on Thursday to restore the production of over 2 million barrels per day from May to July, as part of a strategy to recover the industry amid the COVID-199 pandemic. | RELATED: | The OPEC had reduced the number of barrels per day last year, attempting to control prices. On Thursday, the fifth ministerial meeting of the OPEC – NON-OPEC group took place virtually as the organization has urged members t…

Mark Gruenberg (2021-04-01). Part II, PW special: Agency probe reveals OSHA hamstrung vs. virus. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—It may be no great surprise, especially to unions in the front lines of defending workers against the ravages of the coronavirus, but a comprehensive report by the Labor Department's own Inspector General reveals the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was hamstrung in the fight against the plague. And while Carolyn Hantz, the Deputy Inspector …

Marilyn Bechtel (2021-04-01). Justice bills progressing in California legislature. peoplesworld.org Coursing their way through the California legislature's committee process are a number of measures aimed at improving the state's handling of justice issues — some introduced in the current session and others reintroduced after they were trapped in last year's COVID-related end-of-session logjam. Among new measures is Senate Bill 271, the Sheriff Democracy and Diversity …

Megan Redshaw (2021-04-01). 'Breaking Through' — States Report Growing Number of COVID Cases Among Fully Vaccinated. globalresearch.ca The Washington State Department of Health (DOH)

WSWS (2021-04-01). German chancellor Angela Merkel: Economic interests take precedence over lives. wsws.org Chancellor Angela Merkel's appearance on the "Anne Will" television talk show confirmed that the only solution to the Corona crisis is the mobilisation of broad layers of the working class.

Mark Gruenberg (2021-04-01). Big changes needed to bring kicked-out women back to work. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—Big changes, in financing, social programs, and male-centered attitudes towards work and its worth, are needed to bring the millions of working women whom coronavirus-caused closures kicked out of their jobs back into the labor force. Three panelists drew that conclusion at a March 31 seminar hosted by the National Press Foundation, a D.C.-based think …

teleSUR (2021-04-01). Peru Saw Last Presidential Debate Ahead of April 11 Elections. telesurenglish.net Peru's National Elections Jury (JNE) Wednesday concluded the last presidential debate, an event in which six candidates presented their promises to tackle the pandemic and corruption. | RELATED: | The debate was attended by Rafael Lopez(Popular Renovation), Yonhy Lescano (Popular Action), Julio Guzman (Purple Party), Daniel Salaverry (We Are Peru), Rafael Santos (Safe Homeland), and Ciro Galvez (United National Rebi…

Reynard Loki (2021-04-01). Live animal markets should be closed to prevent the next pandemic. nationofchange.org Wet markets are perfect breeding grounds for pathogens that can jump from animals to humans.

Ashley Curtin (2021-04-01). LA lays out detailed paths to achieve 100 percent clean energy by 2045. nationofchange.org LA100 helped LA set ambitious goals to transform it's electricity supply and electrify the buildings and transportation sectors to "combat climate change while capturing health and economic benefits."

Sonja Scherndl (2021-04-01). Let's End the Insanity of Colossal Military Spending During a Global Health Emergency. globalresearch.ca If nations had a referendum, asking the public if they want …

Guido Risso (2021-04-01). Vacunas: øUn bien de la Humanidad o un negocio de los grandes laboratorios? globalizacion.ca Pandemia, millones de vidas arrasadas, familias destruidas y la vacuna es un negocio de los grandes laboratorios. El constitucionalismo moderno, los derechos humanos y las democracias crujen ante esta situación. Es moralmente inadmisible que, en medio de una crisis sanitaria…

Staff (2021-04-01). Brazil in Crisis: COVID Deaths Soar & Hospitals Overflow Amid Unprecedented Political Upheaval. democracynow.org Brazil now accounts for about a quarter of all COVID-19 daily deaths worldwide, more than any other country, and its overall death toll of more than 310,000 is surpassed only by the United States. Far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro faces intense pressure to abandon his opposition to vaccinations, lockdowns and mask-wearing. Dr. Miguel Nicolelis, professor of neurobiology at Duke University and former coordinator of the largest scientific COVID-19 task force in Brazil, says Bolsonaro "has played on the side of the virus" by opposing any efforts to control the outbreak. "Since the beginning, he downplayed…

Staff (2021-04-01). Headlines for April 1, 2021. democracynow.org Witness in Derek Chauvin Murder Trial Breaks Down After Viewing Footage of George Floyd's Killing, Four Killed as Gunman Opens Fire on Office Complex in Orange County, California, Biden Defends Infrastructure Plan as Progressives Push for $10 Trillion to Fight Climate Crisis, Wisconsin Supreme Court Voids Governor's Mask Mandate as COVID-19 Cases Rise Across U.S., Brazil's Cemeteries Hold Nighttime Funerals as COVID-19 Deaths Reach New Highs, Yemen Receives First COVID-19 Vaccine Shipments as Doctors Report Surge in Cases, Global Deforestation Increased by 12% in 2020 with Amazon Most Severely Affected, U.S. Cour…

Eleanor Bader (2021-04-01). Colleges Are Using COVID as a Pretext to Make Draconian Cuts to the Humanities. zcomm.org It seems like the height of capitalist exploitation to make precarious workers more precarious and assuming they'll be willing to do just about anything to keep their jobs…

Sky Palma (2021-04-01). Sarah Palin has "bizarre" symptoms after testing positive for COVID-19. salon.com "My case is perhaps one of those that proves anyone can catch this," Palin says…

D. Watkins (2021-04-01). From "Soul Train" to Don Shirley, new book celebrates the history of Black performance in America. salon.com Author Hanif Abdurraqib appeared on "Salon Talks" to discuss Black artistry, playing Spades & his COVID sneakers…

Jorge Eduardo Navarrete (2021-04-01). Pandemia: Un año en un día. globalizacion.ca Ha transcurrido ya algo más de un año desde que la pandemia ha ocupado el centro de la atención y la preocupación mundiales. Es ya evidente que se ha constituido en el hecho dominante del primer cuarto del siglo y…

RT (2021-04-01). Delays in deliveries of Indian-made AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine could be 'catastrophic', African Union's health boss warns. rt.com India's decision to postpone major exports of locally made AstraZeneca jab could have a "catastrophic" impact on Africa, a top health official has warned, expressing hope the delays won't turn into a permanent ban. | Speaking during a press conference in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa on Thursday, the chief of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, John Nkengasong, raised concerns over the delays. | Insufficient deliveries of AstraZeneca's jab, produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII), are expected to disrupt the African Union's (AU) vaccination plans, the official said. While the AU has…

Global Research News (2021-04-01). Selected Articles: "Defender-Europe": US Army Arrives. globalresearch.ca By Not everything in Europe is paralyzed by the anti-Covid lockdown: in fact, the mammoth annual exercise of the US Army, Defender-Europe, which until June mobilized on European territory, …

Chuck Collins, Omar Ocampo (2021-04-01). Global Billionaire Wealth Increases to $4 Trillion During Pandemic. commondreams.org The cost of vaccinating the world is estimated at $141.2 billion. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/spacex.jpg …

commondreams (2021-04-01). Millionaires Call for Wealth Taxes as Wealth of World's Billionaires Surges $4 trillion in Pandemic Year. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Adam Parsons, Sonja Scherndl (2021-04-01). It's Time to End the Insanity of Colossal Military Spending and Reallocate Funds to Basic Economic and Social Needs. commondreams.org Imagine what could be achieved if just a portion of the money spent on military expenditures were pooled into a global fund, and redirected towards ending hunger and massively investing in public health systems. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/lineforfood_1.jpg …

_____ (2021-04-01). UK's Vaccine Rollout Is A Reminder That We Need Universal Healthcare. popularresistance.org London – Dr. John Lister watched in horror as the United Kingdom's Covid-19 mortality rate climbed above 1 per 1,000, one of the highest death rates in the world since the start of the pandemic. So, when the 71-year-old Briton was informed he would receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in late January, he could hardly contain himself. | "It was a great moment of excitement when I got the notification," Lister tells In These Times. | Lister, a health policy expert and associate professor at Coventry University, was one of 15 million people in the United Kingdom to receive a Covid-19 vaccine before February 15, th…

RT (2021-04-01). WHO criticizes Europe for 'unacceptably slow' rollout of Covid-19 vaccines and 'prolonging the pandemic'. rt.com The World Health Organization (WHO) has labeled Europe's rollout of Covid-19 vaccines as "unacceptably slow," warning delays are "prolonging the pandemic" and described a surge in new infections in the region as "worrying." | The WHO statement from its top leadership in Europe on Thursday came after most countries reported increased coronavirus cases and deaths over the past seven days. Last week, Europe recorded 1.6 million new Covid-19 infections and close to 24,000 deaths. It is the world's second-worst affected region with nearly 1 million deaths and 45 million infections since the pandemic began. | "Vacci…

RT (2021-04-01). Pfizer says new trial data shows Covid vaccine 'highly effective' against South African strain. rt.com Pfizer and BioNTech stated on Thursday that their jointly developed Covid-19 vaccine is highly effective in combating the South African variant of the virus, according to the company's latest phase-three trial data. | Pfizer released a statement declaring that new data from South Africa indicated "vaccine efficacy of 100%" despite the prevalence of the fast-spreading B.1.351 variant. | The findings from the phase-three trial come as countries worry about the effectiveness of existing vaccines against new, more transmissible variants of coronavirus, with concerns about how to fully control the disease as it con…

RT (2021-04-01). Fewer than 1 in 5 Britons with coronavirus symptoms gets tested and only 2 in 5 isolates, study finds. rt.com Only half of Britons know the main symptoms of Covid-19, and most don't get tested or self-isolate, a new study has shown, raising questions about the UK's Test and Trace system and placing emergence from the pandemic at risk. | The large Rese…

RT (2021-04-01). China's CanSinoBIO says its vaccine may be less effective over time, but 'booster shot' improves its efficacy to over 90%. rt.com A single-shot Covid-19 vaccine by CanSino Biologics has shown a decrease in efficacy over time, the manufacturer has said. Getting a "booster shot" six months after the first jab, however, propels its efficacy to over 90%. | The Chinese vaccine manufacturer CanSinoBIO provided an update on its vaccine during an online presentation late on Wednesday. Its chief scientific officer, Zhu Tao, said receiving a second jab of the vaccine six months after being inoculated with the single-shot solution had shown promising results during tests. | "A booster shot six months later led to a seven-times to 10-times increase…

RT (2021-04-01). Facebook disinformation 'biggest challenge' to tackling Covid-19 — Papua New Guinea minister. rt.com Papua New Guinea's health minister, Jelta Wong, criticized Facebook on Thursday, claiming the spread of disinformation on the site poses the "biggest challenge" to tackling rising cases of Covid-19 in the country. | Speaking at an online event on Thursday, Wong declared that "Facebook is our biggest conspiracy theorist platform", and called for the company to "take responsibility for this and stop it." | Specifically, the health minister cited how "dangerous" posts, such as 'anti-vax' conspiracy theories, were hurting the nation's vaccine rollout and discouraging individuals from getting tested for the virus,…

RT (2021-04-01). 'Clock ticking': WHO chief urges 'enlightened world leaders' to step up and donate crucial Covid vaccine doses to poorer nations. rt.com The COVAX program to ensure that Covid-19 vaccines are distributed fairly among poorer nations is facing a serious shortfall, the World Health Organization chief has said, after he urged countries to hand over millions more doses. | "The clock is still ticking on vaccine equity," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news briefing on Thursday, as he revealed the pressure on COVAX to meet its immunization targets. | A "serious challenge" remains for vaccine equity and availability, he said, despite some 35 billion doses having been delivered to more than 78 countries through the WHO-backed COVA…

RT (2021-04-01). Russian diplomats reveal 'acute shortage' of essentials in North Korea caused by Covid-19 restrictions, embassies almost empty. rt.com Diplomats serving in North Korea are enduring a shortage of goods and a lack of medicine, as restrictions to battle the Covid-19 pandemic have caused the already-secretive country to isolate itself even more than before. | Writing on Facebook, the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang revealed that 38 foreign nationals have recently left their diplomatic missions in the country, with representatives from the likes of the UK, Brazil, and Germany also flying home. | "The exodus of foreigners will continue," an embassy statement read. "There are now hardly any foreigners left — fewer than 290 in all. One can understa…

RT (2021-04-01). Pakistan U-turns on resuming trade with India, says New Delhi must restore special status of disputed Kashmir first. rt.com The decision to allow imports of sugar, cotton and wheat from India, seen as a sign of thawing in relations between Islamabad and New Delhi, has been deferred by Pakistan and tied to the status of the disputed Kashmir region. | Just a day earlier, the Pakistani government's economic committee had said that limited imports of cheaper items from India would be approved in a bid to tackle high inflation and shortages of some essential goods amid the harsh economic climate sparked by the Covid-19 pandemic. | Islamabad suspended trade and diplomatic ties with India in 2019 in response to New Delhi's move to revoke…

RT (2021-04-01). Only those with Covid vaccine passport will be able to return to their 'daily lives', South Korean PM says. rt.com Seoul has announced it will issue digital certificates verifying a person's Covid-19 vaccination status, becoming the latest nation to adopt the controversial measure as a means to reopen cross-border travel. | South Korea will roll out a smartphone application this month that will be able to show whether someone has been administered the jab, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said on Thursday. The system will use blockchain technology to guard against potential identity theft. | "The introduction of a vaccine passport or 'Green Pass' will only allow those who have been vaccinated to experience the recovery to the…

RT (2021-04-01). German care association calls for urgent Covid-19 lockdown as country risks running out of ICU beds. rt.com The German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI) has called on the government to urgently implement a two-week Covid-19 lockdown, as the country's health systems risk hitting capacity. | Speaking to the Rheinische Post, the scientific head of the DIVI, Christian Karagiannidis, warned that if the current rate of admission to intensive care units continues, Germany "will reach the regular capacity limit in less than four weeks." | We are not overexaggerating. Our warnings are driven by the figures. | Alongside the DIVI's demand for at least a two-week lockdown, Karagianni…

RT (2021-04-01). Optimistic health minister says France may reach Covid peak in '7 to 10 days,' as PM warns third wave is 'hitting us hard'. rt.com France's health minister has registered his optimism that the country will reach the peak of the epidemic within 10 days and that things will look a lot better in May, but the PM's assessment remains grim. | Speaking on Thursday to France Inter radio, Minister of Health Olivier Véran said he was confident that the measures announced by President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday would have "a strong impact on the epidemic dynamic," adding that there was no reason to think anything to the contrary. | It takes between seven and ten days for measures to be effective… we could have reached the epidemic peak i…

Editor2 (2021-04-01). Palestine Receives 100 Thousand COVID-19 Vaccines from China. orinocotribune.com The Palestinian Authority has received 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine donated by China to accelerate its inoculation drive, which has been lagging due to Israeli inhibitions. | China handed over the batch of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines to Palestine on Monday. | Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila described the shipment as the single largest donation of COVID-19 vaccines her country has received so far, and thanked China for its move "to provide coronavirus vaccines as a global public good and its selfless assistance to Palestine." | Speaking at a joint press conference with China's Ambassador to Palestine…

Doctors for COVID Ethics (2021-04-01). Doctors and Scientists Accuse Medical Regulator of Downplaying COVID-19 Vaccine Dangers. globalresearch.ca A group of scientists and doctors has today issued an open …

teleSUR (2021-04-01). Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Is 100% Effective in Kids Aged 12-15. telesurenglish.net The companies Pfizer and BioNTech announced their COVID-19 vaccine has demonstrated 100 percent efficacy and robust antibody responses in a Phase 3 trial in adolescents 12 to 15 years of age. | RELATED: | The trial enrolled 2,260 adolescents 12 to 15 years of age in the United States. In the trial, 18 cases of COVID-19 were observed in the placebo group versus none in the vaccinated group. | The vaccine, BNT162b2, elicited SARS-…

Andreína Chávez Alava (2021-04-01). Venezuela and Russia Ramp up Economic Ties with 10-Year Plan. venezuelanalysis.com The two nations signed treaties to boost the Venezuelan transportation system, oil industry security and access to COVID-19 vaccines.

Doctors for COVID Ethics (2021-04-01). Urgent Open Letter from Doctors and Scientists to the European Medicines Agency regarding COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Concerns. globalresearch.ca Emer Cooke, Executive Director, European Medicines Agency, Amsterdam, The Netherlands…

teleSUR (2021-04-01). Panama Detects Nine Cases of Brazilian COVID-19 Strains. telesurenglish.net Panama's Gorgas Memorial Institute Director Juan Pascale confirmed nine patients with the SARS-CoV-2 strains originated in Brazil. | RELATED: | The P.1. and P.2. strains have been detected in community transmission cases in San Francisco, Don Bosco, Parque Lefevre, and San Miguelito. | The Health Ministry warned that the P.1. variant is the most contagious and reduces vaccines' effectiveness by 30 percent. | At least two patients with these strain…

Prabir Purkayastha (2021-04-01). Why the U.S. and Its Allies Are Stupid to Turn COVID-19 Vaccination Into a Geopolitical Power Play. counterpunch.org The recent joint statement by the leaders of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, comprising the U.S., India, Japan and Australia, has not foregrounded the military axis of their meeting but stressed more on the vaccine thrust against the COVID-19 pandemic. With several countries confronting the threat of a second or third wave of the virus, vaccines

Vasko Kohlmayer (2021-04-01). The Great Vaccine Scam: Even Establishment Experts and Scientists Admit the Jabs Are Ineffective. globalresearch.ca "New Covid vaccines needed globally within a year, say scientists," reads …

Eds. (2021-03-31). Social reproduction and a just post-COVID world. mronline.org After over a year of suffering, death, and profound transformations of everyday life, International Women's Day 2021 is an opportunity to take stock of the COVID-19 crisis so far and craft visions for a future centred on the value of social reproduction. | March 31, 2021 | Newswire…

C.J. Hopkins (2021-03-31). The "Unvaccinated" Question. dissidentvoice.org So, the New Normals are discussing the Unvaccinated Question. What is to be done with us? No, not those who haven't been "vaccinated" yet. Us. The "Covidiots." The "Covid deniers." The "science deniers." The "reality deniers." Those who refuse to get "vaccinated," ever. There is no place for us in New Normal society. The New …

Sandipan Talukdar (2021-03-31). Disease outbreaks increase with deforestation, new study finds. peoplesdispatch.org The study says that monoculture plantations are also likely to increase infectious disease outbreaks. Changes in land use are a significant factor in the emergence of infectious diseases caused by zoonotic viruses…

Robert J. Burrowes (2021-03-31). Defeating the Global Elite's Coup d'État: The Great Reset. globalresearch.ca Worldwide, international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), governments …

Sarah Anderson (2021-03-31). If the Minimum Wage Had Increased as Much as Wall Street Bonuses Since 1985, It Would Be Worth $44 Today. counterpunch.org While low-wage workers are still waiting for a raise in the minimum wage, Wall Street employees enjoyed a 10 percent bump in their bonuses in the first year of the pandemic, according to new data from the New York State Comptroller. Wall Street pay v. the minimum wage + Since 1985, the average Wall Street

Lorena Barberia (2021-03-31). Lula Returns as Covid Runs Wild in Brazil. zcomm.org Brazil's president Bolsonaro continues to deny the Covid crisis, as Lula's return to politics creates shockwaves from the favelas to Wall St.

F. Douglas Stephenson (2021-03-31). Biden's Bandaid, or Top 8 Reasons why we need Medicare for All. zcomm.org The USA is a country where health insurance for medical and mental health care is a function of socio-economic status…

Tatiana Cozzarelli (2021-03-31). Dispatches from the Amazon Warehouse in Bessemer. zcomm.org The unionization efforts at Bessemer are bigger than just Amazon. In this dispatch from the ground, Uber drivers, healthcare workers, and young Birmingham residents stand in solidarity…

Joà´l Díaz (2021-03-31). In the Depths of the Pandemic, Tracing My Family's Contact. thenation.com In the Depths of the Pandemic, Tracing My Family's Contact…

imperial.ac.uk (2021-03-31). Emerging markets are falling behind in the race for green capital. imperial.ac.uk Developing nations are missing out on a wave of investor interest in climate change and sustainability according to a new report released today.

imperial.ac.uk (2021-03-31). Supporting local female community leaders. imperial.ac.uk Agents of Change participants share their experiences of being part of a network for women who have an active interest in driving social change.

imperial.ac.uk (2021-03-31). Waste carbon from steel production can be recycled into new products. imperial.ac.uk Gases from steel processing can be used to make materials for products like insulation boards and wood coatings, concludes an EU-funded project.

Fight Back (2021-03-31). WFTU Solidarity message to the workers and employees of Amazon in Germany. fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following March 30 statement from the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU). | The World Federation of Trade Unions expressing the voice of more than 105 million workers in 132 countries, stands in solidarity with the workers of Amazon in their four days strike demanding the recognition of collective bargaining agreements, health and safety measures and salary increase. The strikes are taking place in warehouses in Rheinberg, Werne, Koblenz, Leipzig and two sites in Bad Hersfeld. | The international class-oriented trade union movement supports the fair demands of the…

MEE, agencies (2021-03-31). Covid-19: Yemen receives first vaccines through Covax initiative. middleeasteye.net Covid-19: Yemen receives first vaccines through Covax initiative | Hundreds of thousands of doses arrive a week after country's coronavirus committee warned of public health 'emergency' | Wed, 03/31/2021 – 10: 00 | Yemen has officially recorded more than 4,000 virus cases among its 30 million people, including 863 deaths – but experts say the real toll is likely higher (AFP) | War-torn Yem…

Staff (2021-03-31). Aging Former Black Panthers Mumia Abu-Jamal & Sundiata Acoli Got COVID-19 & Could Die in Prison. democracynow.org We get an update on political prisoners Mumia Abu-Jamal and Sundiata Acoli, who contracted COVID-19 but have yet to be released. Acoli is a former member of the Black Panther Party who is now 84 years old and has been in prison in New Jersey for nearly half a century, even though he has been eligible for parole for almost three decades. He was denied parole again in February. His crime involved the killing of a state trooper. Last year, he contracted COVID-19 and was hospitalized, and he reportedly has early-stage dementia. We speak with his longtime advocate, Soffiyah Elijah with Alliance of Families for Justice…

Staff (2021-03-31). New York Ordered to Vaccinate Incarcerated People; Will Gov. Sign Bill Curbing Solitary Confinement? democracynow.org A New York judge has ordered the state to provide COVID-19 vaccines to all incarcerated people, saying that officials "irrationally distinguished between incarcerated people and people living in every other type of adult congregate facility, at great risk to incarcerated people's lives during this pandemic." Soffiyah Elijah, executive director of the Alliance of Families for Justice, says advocates have been pushing the state "since the beginning of the pandemic to prioritize the health and safety of incarcerated people," but those efforts were met with silence. "It's unfortunate that it took court intervention i…

Staff (2021-03-31). Headlines for March 31, 2021. democracynow.org Eyewitnesses Give Chilling Testimony of Police Killing of George Floyd, Brazil in Crisis as COVID Deaths Soar & Military Chiefs Quit in Protest, U.S. COVID Deaths Top 550,000; Florida Undercounted Thousands of Deaths, Bloomberg Employees Got Special Access to Vaccines at NYU Hospitals, China Delivers 100,000 COVID Vaccines to Palestine, White House Unveils $2 Trillion Jobs & Infrastructure Plan, Two Police Deputies Indicted in Texas for Killing Javier Ambler After Traffic Stop, Capitol Police Officers Sue Trump as GOP Welcomes Oath Keepers Founder in Texas, Man Arrested for Viciously Attacking Filipino Woman in N…

Zachary Conti (2021-03-31). IMF Head: Global Recovery Uncertain as People Face Income Drops. indybay.org International Monetary Fund head Kristalina Georgieva warned of an uncertain global recovery as the world struggles with the COVID spurred economic crisis. The IMF Managing Director stated concern that average incomes in developing countries faced drops of 20% and 11% in advanced economies. "This loss of income means millions of people will face destitution, homelessness, and hunger," reported Georgieva during her curtain raiser speech ahead of the Spring IMF and World Bank meetings.

WSWS repost (2021-03-31). Oakland schools set to reopen amid surge in pandemic. indybay.org After a narrow ratification of the Oakland Education Association's sellout agreement to resume in-person instruction, teachers are facing a dangerous end to the school year.

David Paul (2021-03-31). Thursday 4/22: Cuba's Approach to Health Care for All. indybay.org on line webinar…

Johanna Fernandez, reposted by Jamal Journal (2021-03-31). Prof. Johanna Fernandez's account of Mumia Abu-Jamal's Health Emergency (from Verso Blog). indybay.org This article was originally published at the Verso Books blog on March 28, and is being reprinted here in full, no edits, with the permission of author Johanna Fernandez, from the Campaign to Bring Mumia Home. For the latest updates on Mumia's health, please visit the Jamal Journal: www.JamalJournal.com.

Dr. Joseph Mercola (2021-03-31). COVID-19 Vaccines Likened to 'Software Updates' for Your Body. globalresearch.ca I've discussed why COVID-19 vaccines are in fact gene therapies and …

Dean Baker (2021-03-31). Open-Source Versus Patent Monopoly Financing of Drug Development. counterpunch.org It is often said that intellectuals have a hard time dealing with new ideas. Unfortunately, for purposes of public debate, open-source government funding of drug development is a new idea, and people in policy positions seem to be having a very hard time understanding it. So, I will try to write this post in a

Megan Redshaw (2021-03-31). Germany Hits Pause Again on AstraZeneca After 31 Reports of Rare Blood Clots, 9 Deaths. globalresearch.ca German health officials today suspended use of AstraZeneca's COVID vaccine for …

globalresearch (2021-03-31). COVID Vaccine Nonsense. globalresearch.ca The efforts to require every American to be injected with an …

Matt Sedlar (2021-03-30). Developing Countries Need IMF Funds Now, Not Later. cepr.net Initiative for Policy Dialogue See article on original site Globalization isn't working, at least not the way it's structured now, and the pandemic has only exacerbated inequalities between countries. Most advanced economies and some of the larger emerging markets have managed to finance a strong Covid-19 response, put large stimulus measures in place and use …

_____ (2021-03-30). The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly. popularresistance.org This month, the Bureau of Justice Statistics released two reports with updates on city and county jail populations nationwide: Jail Inmates in 2019 and Impact of COVID-19 on the Local Jail Population, January-June 2020. After a year of upheaval due to the pandemic, the first report is already out-of-date and mainly useful as a historical document. The second report, however, answers some important questions about the decisions local officials made when the high stakes of jail incarceration — for individual and public health — were put into stark relief by the pandemic. Their decisions, and the resulti…

WSWS (2021-03-30). The surge of COVID-19 in Florida and the disastrous reality of school reopenings in the US. wsws.org School superintendents for the largest districts in Florida recently described their reopenings last autumn as a "safe" model for the rest of the country, ignoring the fact that the state now leads the US in new cases among young people.

WSWS (2021-03-30). New Zealand's public hospitals face worsening crisis. wsws.org Hospital emergency departments are overflowing, highlighting the Labour government's refusal to properly fund the healthcare system despite the COVID-19 risks.

WSWS (2021-03-30). Tennessee teachers cannot trust Governor Lee with the $4 billion in COVID-19 relief funds! wsws.org The experience of educators in Tennessee and across the US has exposed that not even the most minuscule reform will be achieved without teachers entering into struggle and putting forward their own demands.

teleSUR (2021-03-30). UN Chief Calls for Bold Measures To Tackle Debt Crisis. telesurenglish.net UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for urgent, bold measures to address an emerging debt crisis caused largely by COVID-19. | RELATED: | "We are on the verge of a debt crisis. Today's meeting, convened with our partners, the prime ministers of Canada and Jamaica, is a call for urgent action," he told a high-level event on debt and liquidity. | Six countries have already defaulted. One-third…

Brasil de Fato (2021-03-30). Brazil's deadliest weekend of the pandemic: 5,000 dead and 130,000 new cases. peoplesdispatch.org The uncontrolled advance of COVID-19 in Brazil leaves behind a tragic figure of 5,094 deaths having been reported to the National Council of Health Secretaries, Conass, this weekend alone, a sum of the fatalities that occurred on Saturday March 27 and Sunday March 28. | There were 3,438 deaths on Saturday — the third day that the 3,000 mark was surpassed since the start of the Over the last 2…

WSWS (2021-03-30). Multi-billion-pound UK track and trace system failed to reduce COVID-19 spread. wsws.org In the operation of the NHS Track and Trace system, the greed of capitalist parasites, many in the ruling conservative party, was never clearer.

WSWS (2021-03-30). Dozens subpoenaed under Brazil's "national security" law for calling Bolsonaro "genocidal" wsws.org The Bolsonaro government and the state apparatus are responding to the explosive tensions in Brazil, the world epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic.

WSWS (2021-03-30). Australia: Queensland capital city enters lockdown. wsws.org The delayed and limited response to the new COVID outbreak is due to the Queensland Labor government prioritising corporate interests over workers' safety.

WSWS (2021-03-30). Doctors in Germany warn of imminent overloading of hospitals. wsws.org Given the dramatic increase in coronavirus infections in Germany, medical experts are calling for an immediate halt to the reopening policy and for the imposition of effective measures to contain the pandemic.

teleSUR (2021-03-30). WHO Pushes International Treaty Against Future Pandemics. telesurenglish.net On Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that negotiations would soon begin with the 194 member states to draw up an international treaty to combat pandemics, which could be ready by May. | RELATED: | This was stated by the Director-General of the WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, during a press conference. Tedros expressed his interest in the document, including at least three key points: sharing preve…

Alvaro Rodriguez (2021-03-30). Biden's National Security Guidance document reflects the old imperialist foreign policy. peoplesworld.org There was hope that after the world-wide pandemic, mutual cooperation and sharing would be the new normal among all the countries affected by the pandemic. And we have seen a few hopeful signs in this regard but there are serious concerns now that we may not see real international cooperation become the norm. If we …

WSWS (2021-03-30). Oakland schools set to reopen amid surge in pandemic. wsws.org After a narrow ratification of the Oakland Education Association's sellout agreement to resume in-person instruction, teachers are facing a dangerous end to the school year.

WSWS (2021-03-30). Mexico reports 417,002 excess deaths during the pandemic. wsws.org With an official death toll of 201,623, the acknowledgement of a massive undercount stands as a confession by the ruling class of social murder.

WSWS (2021-03-30). CNN's pandemic "postmortem": The anatomy of a "social murder" wsws.org The interviews with Birx and Fauci are an indictment of a government and political establishment that deliberately allowed hundreds of thousands of people to die in order to protect the interests of the financial oligarchy.

Dave McKee (2021-03-30). Dr. Norman Bethune and the Communists who fought for public healthcare in Canada. peoplesworld.org 1921 marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Canada. In this article, originally published in People's Voice newspaper, PV editor Dave McKee presents the backstory of how universal public health care—essentially Medicare for All—was won in Canada. Canadian media and politicians claim that the country's public health care system is …

F. Douglas Stephenson (2021-03-30). Biden's Bandaid, or Top 8 Reasons why we need Medicare for All. juancole.com Gainesville, Florida (Special to Informed Comment) — Distinguished economist Michael Hudson writes that by "conquering the brains of a country by shaping how people think, you can twist their view into 'unreality economics' and make them think you are there to help them and not to take money out of them, then you've got them …

Fight Back (2021-03-30). Workers at 4 Allina hospitals vote to strike, strike authorization votes underway at 2 others. fightbacknews.org Minneapolis, MN – At all six Allina Hospitals in Minnesota, members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota are voting to authorize a strike after recent contract negotiations broke down around the issue of pay augments for essential workers. Union members are demanding $4 per hour pay augments, while Allina is not offering any pay augments or incentives for essential workers. | So far votes have been held at four of the Allina Hospitals, which include about 2500 of the 4000 SEIU members who work at the Allina Hospitals. The hospitals that have already voted are Abbot Northwestern, Mercy, Phillips Eye Institute, and Owatonn…

Editor (2021-03-30). El costo de la guerra de clases de COVID. workers.org El 22 de febrero, las muertes relacionadas con el COVID-19 en Estados Unidos superaron las 500.000. Desde entonces, otras 55.000 personas han muerto a causa del virus, y las cifras tienden a aumentar. Se han perdido más vidas estadounidenses en esta pandemia que en los combates de la Primera y . . . |

Prabir Purkayastha (2021-03-30). Why the U.S. and Its Allies Are Stupid to Turn COVID-19 Vaccination Into a Geopolitical Power Play. zcomm.org The COVID-19 pandemic demands that all nations cooperate to vaccinate the entire global population—a goal that can't be achieved using the usual rules of which countries win and which ones lose…

Jonathan Cook (2021-03-30). We are living through a time of fear not just of the virus but of each other. mronline.org Welcome to the age of fear. Nothing is more corrosive of the democratic impulse than fear. Left unaddressed, it festers, eating away at our confidence and empathy. | March 30, 2021 | Newswire…

Karen J. Greenberg (2021-03-30). Will We Ever Move on from the War on Terror? counterpunch.org In the first two months of Joe Biden's presidency, you could feel the country holding its breath. Sheltered in place, hidden behind masks, unsure about whether to trust in a safe-from-pandemic future, we are nonetheless beginning to open our eyes collectively. As part of this reemergence, a wider array of issues — those beyond Covid-19

Ashlie D. Stevens (2021-03-30). HBO's "Last Cruise" doc of that fateful quarantined cruise ship is a harrowing metaphor for inequity. salon.com "We felt like only the rich would be taken care of," a crew member said of the Diamond Princess COVID outbreak…

Brett Wilkins (2021-03-30). Large landlords' profits rose during coronavirus pandemic: report. salon.com An analysis reveals that major property owners have largely realized profits, some massive, during the pandemic…

Matt Sedlar (2021-03-30). Developing Countries Need IMF Funds Now, Not Later. cepr.net Initiative for Policy Dialogue See article on original site Globalization isn't working, at least not the way it's structured now, and the pandemic has only exacerbated inequalities between countries. Most advanced economies and some of the larger emerging markets have managed to finance a strong Covid-19 response, put large stimulus measures in place and use …

_____ (2021-03-30). The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly. popularresistance.org This month, the Bureau of Justice Statistics released two reports with updates on city and county jail populations nationwide: Jail Inmates in 2019 and Impact of COVID-19 on the Local Jail Population, January-June 2020. After a year of upheaval due to the pandemic, the first report is already out-of-date and mainly useful as a historical document. The second report, however, answers some important questions about the decisions local officials made when the high stakes of jail incarceration — for individual and public health — were put into stark relief by the pandemic. Their decisions, and the resulti…

WSWS (2021-03-30). The surge of COVID-19 in Florida and the disastrous reality of school reopenings in the US. wsws.org School superintendents for the largest districts in Florida recently described their reopenings last autumn as a "safe" model for the rest of the country, ignoring the fact that the state now leads the US in new cases among young people.

WSWS (2021-03-30). Tennessee teachers cannot trust Governor Lee with the $4 billion in COVID-19 relief funds! wsws.org The experience of educators in Tennessee and across the US has exposed that not even the most minuscule reform will be achieved without teachers entering into struggle and putting forward their own demands.

teleSUR (2021-03-30). UN Chief Calls for Bold Measures To Tackle Debt Crisis. telesurenglish.net UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for urgent, bold measures to address an emerging debt crisis caused largely by COVID-19. | RELATED: | "We are on the verge of a debt crisis. Today's meeting, convened with our partners, the prime ministers of Canada and Jamaica, is a call for urgent action," he told a high-level event on debt and liquidity. | Six countries have already defaulted. One-third…

Brasil de Fato (2021-03-30). Brazil's deadliest weekend of the pandemic: 5,000 dead and 130,000 new cases. peoplesdispatch.org The uncontrolled advance of COVID-19 in Brazil leaves behind a tragic figure of 5,094 deaths having been reported to the National Council of Health Secretaries, Conass, this weekend alone, a sum of the fatalities that occurred on Saturday March 27 and Sunday March 28. | There were 3,438 deaths on Saturday — the third day that the 3,000 mark was surpassed since the start of the Over the last 2…

WSWS (2021-03-30). Multi-billion-pound UK track and trace system failed to reduce COVID-19 spread. wsws.org In the operation of the NHS Track and Trace system, the greed of capitalist parasites, many in the ruling conservative party, was never clearer.

teleSUR (2021-03-30). WHO Pushes International Treaty Against Future Pandemics. telesurenglish.net On Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that negotiations would soon begin with the 194 member states to draw up an international treaty to combat pandemics, which could be ready by May. | RELATED: | This was stated by the Director-General of the WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, during a press conference. Tedros expressed his interest in the document, including at least three key points: sharing preve…

Alvaro Rodriguez (2021-03-30). Biden's National Security Guidance document reflects the old imperialist foreign policy. peoplesworld.org There was hope that after the world-wide pandemic, mutual cooperation and sharing would be the new normal among all the countries affected by the pandemic. And we have seen a few hopeful signs in this regard but there are serious concerns now that we may not see real international cooperation become the norm. If we …

Dave McKee (2021-03-30). Dr. Norman Bethune and the Communists who fought for public healthcare in Canada. peoplesworld.org 1921 marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Canada. In this article, originally published in People's Voice newspaper, PV editor Dave McKee presents the backstory of how universal public health care—essentially Medicare for All—was won in Canada. Canadian media and politicians claim that the country's public health care system is …

F. Douglas Stephenson (2021-03-30). Biden's Bandaid, or Top 8 Reasons why we need Medicare for All. juancole.com Gainesville, Florida (Special to Informed Comment) — Distinguished economist Michael Hudson writes that by "conquering the brains of a country by shaping how people think, you can twist their view into 'unreality economics' and make them think you are there to help them and not to take money out of them, then you've got them …

Fight Back (2021-03-30). Workers at 4 Allina hospitals vote to strike, strike authorization votes underway at 2 others. fightbacknews.org Minneapolis, MN – At all six Allina Hospitals in Minnesota, members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota are voting to authorize a strike after recent contract negotiations broke down around the issue of pay augments for essential workers. Union members are demanding $4 per hour pay augments, while Allina is not offering any pay augments or incentives for essential workers. | So far votes have been held at four of the Allina Hospitals, which include about 2500 of the 4000 SEIU members who work at the Allina Hospitals. The hospitals that have already voted are Abbot Northwestern, Mercy, Phillips Eye Institute, and Owatonn…

Khaled Iskef (2021-03-30). WHO Postpones the Delivery of "AstraZeneca" Vaccine to Syria. globalresearch.ca The World Health Organization (WHO) has postponed the

Zachary Conti (2021-03-30). IMF Head: Global Recovery Uncertain as People Face Income Drops. indybay.org International Monetary Fund head Kristalina Georgieva warned of an uncertain global recovery as the world struggles with the COVID spurred economic crisis. The IMF Managing Director stated concern that average incomes in developing countries faced drops of 20% and 11% in advanced economies. "This loss of income means millions of people will face destitution, homelessness, and hunger," reported Georgieva during her curtain raiser speech ahead of the Spring IMF and World Bank meetings.

Labor Video Project (2021-03-30). Blowing The Whistle At Cal-OSHA! Newsom, Murder On The Job & Cal-OSHA's Destruction. indybay.org Charles Rachlis, a Cal-OSHA inspector blew the whistle on the massive failure of the agency which is supposed to protect the health and safety of workers in California. Governor Newsom ordered a hiring freeze in the middle of the pandemic and the agency has less than 200 inspectors for the 18 million workers of California. Rachlis spoke at a labor community rally on February 15, 2021.

WSWS repost (2021-03-30). Oakland schools set to reopen amid surge in pandemic. indybay.org After a narrow ratification of the Oakland Education Association's sellout agreement to resume in-person instruction, teachers are facing a dangerous end to the school year.

David Paul (2021-03-30). Thursday 4/22: Cuba's Approach to Health Care for All. indybay.org on line webinar…

Staff (2021-03-30). Headlines for March 30, 2021. democracynow.org First Witnesses Testify in Murder Trial of Ex-Cop Derek Chauvin, Who Killed George Floyd, Civil Rights Groups File Second Legal Challenge to Georgia Voter Suppression Bill, WHO Says COVID-19 Pandemic Likely Began in Animal Hosts, Rather Than Laboratory Escape, CDC Director Warns of "Impending Doom" as Coronavirus Cases Rise Across U.S., CDC Extends Federal Eviction Moratorium to June 30, Wealthiest 1% of Americans Account for One-Third of Unpaid Taxes to IRS, Protests Erupt in Mexico Demanding Justice for Salvadoran Refugee Killed by Police, Suez Canal Reopens After Salvage Teams Clear Stuck Container Ship, 60 Ch…

Prabir Purkayastha (2021-03-30). Why the U.S. and Its Allies Are Stupid to Turn COVID-19 Vaccination Into a Geopolitical Power Play. zcomm.org The COVID-19 pandemic demands that all nations cooperate to vaccinate the entire global population—a goal that can't be achieved using the usual rules of which countries win and which ones lose…

Manlio Dinucci (2021-03-30). Arriva l'esercito Usa "Difensore" dell'Europa. globalresearch.ca Non tutto in Europa è paralizzato dai lockdown anti-Covid: si è infatti messa in moto la mastodontica esercitazione annuale dell'Esercito Usa, Defender-Europe, che fino a giugno mobilita sul territorio europeo, e al di là di questo, decine di migliaia di …

Global Research News (2021-03-30). Selected Articles: Can We Trust America's COVID-19 Vaccine Injury Statistics? globalresearch.ca By The following commentary draws attention to a wake-up call by the renowned medical…

Andrea Germanos (2021-03-30). 'Revolutionary moment': Biden White House announces major boost for offshore wind. nationofchange.org "As our country faces the interlocking challenges of a global pandemic, economic downturn, racial injustice, and the climate crisis, we must transition to a brighter future for everyone."

teleSUR (2021-03-30). Venezuela and Russia Set High-Level Cooperation Meetings. telesurenglish.net Venezuela's Vice President Tareck El Aissami on Tuesday inaugurated technical meetings to strengthen bilateral cooperation with Russia as part of high-level intergovernmental talks. | RELATED: | He thanked the Russian assistance in the fight against the pandemic, including the access to Sputnik V and EpiVacCorona COVID-19 vaccines. | Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov welcomed the 76th anniversary of cooperation and political dia…

Dr. Joseph Mercola (2021-03-30). Deadly Blood Clots Caused by COVID-19 Vaccine. globalresearch.ca As of March 16, 2021, 19 European countries plus Thailand1…

Richard Gale (2021-03-30). Can We Trust America's COVID-19 Vaccine Injury Statistics? globalresearch.ca According to the latest figures derived from the European Medicines Agency's …

Peoples Dispatch (2021-03-30). Palestine receives critical batch of 100,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses from China. peoplesdispatch.org China on Monday, March 29, donated 100,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to the occupied Palestinian territories. The Chinese Sinopharm vaccine will primarily be used to vaccinate medical workers, the elderly and the people in the high-risk category. Besides China, the Palestinian Authority (PA), which runs the administration in the occupied West Bank, has also received vaccines from other sources, including 60,000 doses from the United Nations COVAX initiative and 60,000 Russian Sputnik V doses which were delivered to Hamas-run Gaza via the United Arab Emirates. | The PA's health minister Mai al-Kaila said that "these…

WSWS (2021-03-30). India suspends export of COVID-19 vaccines. wsws.org The Modi government's shutoff of vaccine exports will severely impact vaccination programs in lower- and middle-income countries in Africa, Latin America and the rest of Asia, contributing to the further spread of the pandemic and its new more lethal variants.

Helen Yaffe (2021-03-30). Cuba Libre to be COVID-Libre: Five Vaccines and Counting… counterpunch.org By reacting quickly and decisively, by mobilising its public healthcare system and world-leading biotech sector, Cuba has kept contagion and fatalities low. In 2020 Cuba confirmed a total of 12,225 coronavirus cases and 146 deaths in a population of 11.2 million, among the lowest rates in the Western Hemisphere. In November 2020, the airports were opened, leading to a surge with more infections in January 2021 than the whole of the previous year. By 24 March 2021, Cuba had registered fewer than 70,000 cases and 408 deaths. The death rate was 35 per million and the fatality rate was just 0.59% (2.2% worldwide; 2.9…

Dr. Mike Yeadon (2021-03-30). Dr. Mike Yeadon: The Devastating Impacts of the Covid Vaccine. globalresearch.ca America's Frontline Doctors (AFLDS) spoke to former Pfizer Vice President and …

imperial.ac.uk (2021-03-30). Mobility trial to offer staff free bike loan and car club. imperial.ac.uk Imperial is partnering with Enterprise Rent-a-Car and Brompton Bikes on a pilot mobility hub designed to empower greater choice in urban transport.

Karen J. Greenberg (2021-03-30). Will We Ever Move on from the War on Terror? counterpunch.org In the first two months of Joe Biden's presidency, you could feel the country holding its breath. Sheltered in place, hidden behind masks, unsure about whether to trust in a safe-from-pandemic future, we are nonetheless beginning to open our eyes collectively. As part of this reemergence, a wider array of issues — those beyond Covid-19

Jonathan Cook (2021-03-30). We are living through a time of fear not just of the virus but of each other. mronline.org Welcome to the age of fear. Nothing is more corrosive of the democratic impulse than fear. Left unaddressed, it festers, eating away at our confidence and empathy. | March 30, 2021 | Newswire…

Dr. Gary G. Kohls (2021-03-30). Guns and Drugs Don't Mix: Psychiatric Medications and Violent Behavior. globalresearch.ca First published on July 26, 2012, revised on March 29, 2021….

WSWS (2021-03-29). The working class in Germany pays the cost of the pandemic. wsws.org In the coronavirus crisis, wages in Germany have fallen for the first time since 2007. Reduced incomes, harder working conditions, and cramped living circumstances elevate the risk of falling ill due to COVID-19 and of dying.

teleSUR (2021-03-29). WHO COVID-19 Origin Tracing Report Says Lab Leak Is Unlikely. telesurenglish.net World Health Organization (WHO) Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the report of the mission that investigated in China the origin of COVID will be explained in detail on Tuesday. He did, however, advance that a "laboratory leak" is considered "extremely unlikely". | RELATED: | According to news agencies that had access to a draft of the findings, the report advocates that the most likely theory of the…

WSWS (2021-03-29). Ontario parent speaks out after COVID-19 outbreak at her child's school. wsws.org "I don't have any confidence in the government and how they handled this pandemic," Yvonne told the World Socialist Web Site after her son was sent home from his COVID-19-stricken elementary school in Brampton, Ontario.

teleSUR (2021-03-29). COVID-19 Speeds up Change Towards New Public Health in Africa. telesurenglish.net The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Director John Nkengasong said the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent health and socio-economic challenges have accelerated partnerships for innovation in Africa towards building new public health order. | RELATED: | "Whilst COVID-19 has been an undeniable tragedy of unprecedented proportions, it has also accelerated partnerships for innovation," Nkeng…

WSWS (2021-03-29). Beloved Maryland math teacher dies of COVID-19 after school reopened. wsws.org Mary Laurenzano's death is a direct result of the criminal push by the Biden administration and Maryland's Republican Governor Larry Hogan to reopen schools before the pandemic is contained.

teleSUR (2021-03-29). Cuba Could Start COVID-19 Vaccination in Minors. telesurenglish.net Rolando Perez, the director of Science at the Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Industries (BioCubafarma), announced on Monday that his country could soon begin a study for COVID-19 vaccination in the pediatric population between the ages of 5 and 18. | RELATED: | According to the study design, the first stage of vaccination will include minors aged 12 to 18 years. Subsequently, children aged 5 to 11 could be immunized, Pe…

WSWS (2021-03-29). Amid surging COVID-19 cases, New York Mayor de Blasio orders 80,000 city workers back to offices. wsws.org The move sets a benchmark for office workers throughout New York City and across the country to return to work despite a new surge in COVID-19 cases.

WSWS (2021-03-29). COVID-19 cases in Chicago and throughout Illinois increase following reopening of schools and businesses. wsws.org Tragically, the increase in infections in Chicago resulted in the death this week of CPS student Zmaya Bell. Bell, an 18-year-old student at Simeon Career Academy, died of COVID-19-related complications on Wednesday, according to her family.

_____ (2021-03-29). Protests In 60+ Countries Against Genocidal US Blockade On Cuba. popularresistance.org In a worldwide day, the initiative launched a month ago by the Europe for Cuba channel, in coordination with solidarity movements and groups in different parts of the planet, will take place today and tomorrow, Sunday, with car and bicycle caravans, rallies, marches and mountain climbing, among other diverse actions. | "The call is also to flood the social networks in days of denunciation and repudiation of the genocidal blockade imposed on the island, in which we expect a good response, despite the restrictions derived from the COVID-19 pandemic," José Antonio Toledo and Michele Mesagna, coordinators of the plat…

Staff (2021-03-29). A sanitation worker's vision for a better society. therealnews.com Former Philadelphia sanitation worker Terrill Haigler created the Instagram account "_yafavtrashman" to talk directly to residents about their trash pickup during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now he's using it to advocate for a better world.

Marina Villeneuve, Mike Catalini (2021-03-29). New York and New Jersey again epicenters for high COVID infection rate. peoplesworld.org ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A year after becoming a global epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, New York and New Jersey are back atop the list of U.S. states with the highest rates of infection. Even as the vaccination campaign has ramped up, the number of new infections in New Jersey has crept up by 37% …

Molly Kingsley (2021-03-29). Carcinogen Ethylene Oxide Used in Covid PCR and LFT Swab Tests. globalresearch.ca Dear Department for Education, | This request is in relation to the …

Andy Merrifield (2021-03-29). Lefebvre in the Age of COVID. mronline.org COVID has upended urban life as we once knew it. But it intensified already existing pathologies, those contaminating "normal," pre-pandemic life. Our present urban reality is one of the de-encounter, a thinning down rather than thickening up, the dispersion and dilution of city life, its fear and loathing. | March 28, 2021 | Monthly Review Essays…

Global Research News (2021-03-29). The 2020-21 Worldwide Corona Crisis: Global Research Webinar, March 31st, 2021. globalresearch.ca Dear Readers, | We are pleased to announce that the first Global Research Webinar will be held this Wednesday, March 31st, at 4: 00 pm (EDT), 1: 00 pm (PT), 3: 00 pm (CT) | The 2020-21 Worldwide Corona Crisis: | | It will be presented …

Sonali Kolhatkar (2021-03-29). Universal Health Care is a Popular Idea in America, So Why Does Biden Seem Intent on Enriching Private Insurance Companies? counterpunch.org As the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc on people's lives, President Joe Biden has been on a victory tour to promote the American Rescue Plan, a hefty $1.9 trillion spending package that not only sends direct stimulus payments to struggling Americans, but also greatly expands health care options through the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Phyllis Richardson (2021-03-29). The Worst Attack on Voting Rights Since Jim Crow. counterpunch.org Last November, despite a global pandemic, voter intimidation, and an unprecedented disinformation campaign, a record number of Americans cast a ballot in the 2020 election. Expanded voting by mail, no-excuse absentee voting, curbside voting, and early voting made the ballot box more accessible. But now, Republican lawmakers in 43 states are introducing hundreds of restrictive

teleSUR (2021-03-29). Peru To Witness Debates Among 18 Presidential Candidates. telesurenglish.net For three days starting on Monday, Peru's National Jury of Elections will organize face-to-face presidential debates among 18 candidates who will participate in the April 11 elections. | RELATED: | The debates will be focused on such issues as the pandemic, education, security, public integrity, and corruption. | Among the first candidates to take the floor this Monday are the National Victory candidate George Fors…

WSWS (2021-03-29). With hospitals overflowing, Macron defends his "herd immunity" against the virus. wsws.org There is a clear danger of a collapse of the health system, and the government is refusing any policy to contain the virus.

Dr. Vandana Shiva (2021-03-29). Video: Bill Gates and His Empires. Boycott "Fake Food". Dr. Vandana Shiva. globalresearch.ca In this interview, Vandana Shiva, Ph.D., discusses the importance and benefits …

Reynard Loki (2021-03-29). Colorado's 'MeatOut Day' Has Started a Meat War. counterpunch.org Colorado Governor Jared Polis's declaration of March 20 as "MeatOut Day" to promote plant-based diets—which are beneficial to human health, the environment, and the prevention of cruelty to animals—sparked controversy between animal rights activists and the meat industry that went beyond state lines. Polis is not the first major politician to promote this message to

Sonali Kolhatkar (2021-03-29). Universal Health Care is a Popular Idea in America. zcomm.org So Why Does Biden Seem Intent on Enriching Private Insurance Companies?>

Sen. Scott Jensen (2021-03-29). US Hospitals Getting Paid More to Label Cause of Death as 'Coronavirus'. globalresearch.ca First published on April 15, 2020. | Among 2020 Most Popular Articles | Senator Scott Jensen represents Minnesota. He's also a doctor. He appeared on Fox News with Laura Ingraham where he revealed a very disturbing piece of information. | Dr. Scott Jensen …

Solidarity Forever (2021-03-29). Janitors Walk Off the Job in SF for COVID Protections and More. indybay.org After months of contract negotiations broke down, over 700 janitors represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) walked off the job on March 24th. This was the start of three-day strike for improved COVID protections and other working conditions.

VINS (2021-03-29). Pfizer Bullies South American Governments over COVID Vaccine. projectcensored.org As the Coronavirus pandemic continues to strengthen its grip on South America, the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer stands accused of bullying smaller Latin American governments into putting up sovereign assets as…

Pasqualina Curcio (2021-03-29). La doble moral de Estados Unidos. globalizacion.ca Más de 41.500 personas murieron el año 2020 en EE.UU., no precisamente por causa del Covid-19, fallecieron víctimas de disparos. En plena pandemia, se registraron 592 tiroteos masivos en el mencionado país del norte, algo así como 1,6 enfrentamientos armados…

Editorial La Jornada (2021-03-29). Vacunas y pruebas: El riesgo del mercado negro. globalizacion.ca La Administración General de Aduanas informó ayer que confiscó un embarque de 44 mil pruebas de detección de Covid-19 que se pretendía hacer ingresar al país en el Aeropuerto Internacional de la Ciudad de México (AICM) sin que contara con…

Labor Video Project (2021-03-29). Blowing The Whistle At Cal-OSHA! Newsom, Murder On The Job & Cal-OSHA's Destruction. indybay.org Charles Rachlis, a Cal-OSHA inspector blew the whistle on the massive failure of the agency which is supposed to protect the health and safety of workers in California. Governor Newsom ordered a hiring freeze in the middle of the pandemic and the agency has less than 200 inspectors for the 18 million workers of California. Rachlis spoke at a labor community rally on February 15, 2021.

inequality (2021-03-29). Who are the 10 Biggest Pandemic Profiteers? indybay.org The combined wealth of the nation's 657 billionaires increased more than $1.3 trillion, or 44.6 percent, since the pandemic lockdowns began. [See Master Table] Over those same 12 months, more than 29 million Americans contracted the virus and more than 535,000 died from it.

MEE staff (2021-03-29). Covid-19: UN leaders plead 'don't stockpile vaccines' as global rollout stalls. middleeasteye.net Covid-19: UN leaders plead 'don't stockpile vaccines' as global rollout stalls | UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres calls out 'very unfair distribution of vaccines in the world', as Covax initiative struggles to meet distribution benchmarks | Mon, 03/29/2021 – 15: 38 | A medical stockpile at the vaccine warehouse where doses of the vaccine are preserved before their distribution in Irxleben, eastern Germany…

Brett Wilkins, staff writer (2021-03-29). 'Just Look at the Torture Video,' Says George Floyd's Family Lawyer as Chauvin Trial Begins. commondreams.org "America, the whole world is watching. Do we really have equality and justice for all?" | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/chauvin_trial.jpg …

RT (2021-03-29). Brazil's foreign and defense ministers resign amid coronavirus surge and US pressure — reports. rt.com Two key members of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's cabinet have resigned. Defense Minister Fernando Azevedo e Silva gave no reason for departure, while Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo faced backlash from the parliament. | Hours after Araujo's resignation was reported in the media — but not officially confirmed by Alvorada Palace — Azevedo e Silva announced he would be stepping down "knowing the mission was accomplished" and thanking Bolsonaro for the opportunity to serve. | While Azevedo's resignation came as somewhat of a surprise, Araujo's was more or less expected, after leaders of both chamb…

Peter Koenig (2021-03-29). Stop COVID Testing Immediately: PCR and Quick Test Swabs May be Cancer-Causing. globalresearch.ca Not only has covid testing become a US$ 100 billion business, …

teleSUR (2021-03-29). Venezuela Seeks To Swap Oil for COVID-19 Vaccines. telesurenglish.net Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro approved the "Oil for Vaccines" payment scheme as a strategy to advance the national vaccination campaign and face the freezing of Venezuelan assets by the U.S. and other countries. | RELATED: | Venezuelan frozen funds abroad amount to almost US$7 billion, which cannot be used to fight the pandemic due to U.S. arbitrary sanctions. | The Bolivarian nation advocates for these f…

teleSUR (2021-03-29). Brazil: Foreign Affairs Minister Resigns Due To Senate Pressure. telesurenglish.net Brazil's Foreign Affairs Minister Ernesto Araujo resigned on Monday after senators accused him of disastrously directing his country's foreign policy and creating obstacles to access to COVID-19 vaccines. | RELATED: | Pressure against Araujo came even from right-wing parliamentarians. Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco and Foreign Relations Commission President Katia Abreu were among the politicians who called for his resignation.

Pavan Kulkarni (2021-03-29). Lack of political will and IPR rules stand in the way of mass vaccination for COVID-19. peoplesdispatch.org A proposal made by India and South Africa in October last year to waive certain Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) of COVID vaccines has gained massive support across the world. Despite its potential to prevent millions of avoidable deaths, the US and its allies continue to block the proposal at the WTO.

Staff (2021-03-29). Headlines for March 29, 2021. democracynow.org Opening Statements Begin in Trial of Ex-Cop Derek Chauvin for Killing George Floyd, Burmese Forces Kill Over 100 People in Deadliest Day of Post-Coup Crackdown, More States Open Up Vaccine Eligibility as Cases Rise in More Than Half of U.S. States, Mexico Revises COVID Death Toll by 60%, Chile and Brazil Confront Massive Surges, WHO Warns Coronavirus on the Rise in African Countries as Vaccinations Remain Lowest in World, Suicide Bombing Attacks Catholic Church Mass in Indonesia, Dozens Killed in Attacks in Mozambique's Cabo Delgado Province, Iran and China Sign 25-Year, $400 Billion Strategic Deal, 9-Year-Old Gi…

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts (2021-03-29). New York's COVID Vaccine Passport. Show "Your Papers Please" Way of Life. globalresearch.ca New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is establishing a Covid passport that …

Megan Redshaw (2021-03-29). 68-Year-Old Dies After Anaphylactic Reaction to COVID Vaccine as CDC Continues to Ignore Inquiry Into Increasing Number of Deaths. globalresearch.ca Data released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention …

Eivind Nicolai Lauritsen (2021-03-29). Norwegian Health Authorities Will Keep Investigating Possible Side Effects from the AstraZeneca Vaccine. globalresearch.ca Norwegian health authorities still haven't reached a conclusion on the AstraZeneca …

Servaas Storm (2021-03-29). Austerity Makes Covid-19 Deadlier. commondreams.org Mortality and economic data show how constraints to government spending and a skepticism of redistributive policies have made the pandemic far worse. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/austerity_kills.jpg …

imperial.ac.uk (2021-03-29). Global trial reports on use of tocilizumab in COVID-19 pneumonia. imperial.ac.uk The anti-inflammatory treatment tocilizumab does not significantly improve outcomes for patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia, a trial has found.

John C. A. Manley (2021-03-28). Incredible Hulk "Virus Variants" and Other COVID Science Fiction Fantasies. globalresearch.ca In

OtherWords (2021-03-28). The Worst Attack on Voting Rights Since Jim Crow. juancole.com By Phyllis Richardson | — ( Otherwords.org ) — Last November, despite a global pandemic, voter intimidation, and an unprecedented disinformation campaign, a record number of Americans cast a ballot in the 2020 election. Expanded voting by mail, no-excuse absentee voting, curbside voting, and early voting made the ballot box more accessible. But now, Republican …

Fight Back (2021-03-28). Minnesota demands U.S. withdraw from Afghanistan. fightbacknews.org Minneapolis, MN – On March 26, a coalition of Twin Cities area peace and anti-war groups marked 18 years of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq with a protest calling for an end to "endless U.S. wars." The crowed lined up in front of the office of Minnesota U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar. | MN Peace Action Coalition called for the protest and announced, "The effects of U.S. militarism around the world are felt at home with militarization of police and brutalization of communities at home. The wars abroad are felt on the streets at home, as funds for housing, jobs, health care and other human needs go to the Pentagon war…

Luvis Pareja (2021-03-28). Lacalle lo logra: Caída de un 5.9% del PIB y aumento crítico del coronavirus en Uruguay. globalizacion.ca Las autoridades uruguayas estimaron la suspensión de las clases presenciales en todos los niveles de enseñanza hasta Semana Santa, mientras que el cierre de oficinas estatales y la cancelación de espectáculos públicos se extenderá hasta el 12 de abril de…

Solidarity Forever (2021-03-28). Janitors Walk Off the Job in SF for COVID Protections and More. indybay.org After months of contract negotiations broke down, over 700 janitors represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) walked off the job on March 24th. This was the start of three-day strike for improved COVID protections and other working conditions.

Ekkehard Basten, Manfred Lotze (2021-03-28). Corona: When will we ever understand? indybay.org The Corona measures of those currently in power are intended to prevent great calamity. They are used to justify the most severe restrictions on constitutional rights, the likes of which have not been seen since the end of World War II.

teleSUR (2021-03-28). UK PM Urged To Share Coronavirus Vaccines With Poorer Nations. telesurenglish.net There is "high risk that the UK will be hoarding limited supply whilst health workers and the most vulnerable in low- and middle-income countries do not have access," said a letter to the prime minister by those including British government science advisor Jeremy Farrar. | "The UK will be sitting on enough surplus vaccine doses to vaccinate the world's frontline health workers twice over," it said.

Peter Koenig (2021-03-28). The Coronavirus Vaccine: The Real Danger is "Agenda ID2020". Vaccination as a Platform for "Digital Identity" globalresearch.ca What is the infamous ID2020? It's an electronic ID program that uses generalized vaccination as a platform for digital identity. The program harnesses existing birth registration and vaccination operations to provide newborns with a portable and persistent biometrically-linked digital identity.

Peter Koenig (2021-03-28). Implanted "Vaccine Package" ID: Germany's Parliament Has Ratified GAVI's Digital "Agenda ID2020" globalresearch.ca This is a centralized general electronic data collection of every citizen to which every government agency, police — and possibly also the private sector would have access. It covers all that is known about an individual, from your bank account to your shopping habits, health records and entries into your private sphere.

teleSUR (2021-03-28). Globalink | First Batch of Chinese Coronavirus Vaccines Arrives in Uzbekistan. telesurenglish.net The first batch of Chinese coronavirus vaccines arrived in Uzbekistan Saturday. China and Uzbekistan have been providing mutual assistance to overcome the pandemic, said Chinese Ambassador to Uzbekistan.

_____ (2021-03-28). All Health Is Public Health. popularresistance.org For decades, we have been sold a myth of private health. It is a myth that our health is largely a product of individual choices and personal responsibilities. It is a myth that our healthcare is a service which private corporations can provide, and for which we must pay to survive. | But the Covid-19 pandemic has blown up this myth. Our personal health cannot be separated from the health of our neighbors or our planet. Nor can it be separated from the structural factors and policy decisions that have determined our health outcomes long before we are born.

Jeremy Brecher (2021-03-28). The Future of People Power in the Coronavirus Depression. zcomm.org Direct action can play a significant role in shaping the Biden era…