Arabs, UN Must Move to Swiftly Protect the Status of Palestinian Refugees
Ramzy Baroud | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-15
'Heinous racism,' is how the Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor described a recent decision by Lebanese authorities to bar Palestinian refugee expats from returning to Lebanon. Lebanon's restrictions on its ever-diminishing population of Palestinian refugees is nothing new. However, this event is particularly alarming as it may be linked to a long-term official policy regarding…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/15/arabs-un-must-move-to-swiftly-protect-the-status-of-palestinian-refugees/

"The Wuhan of the Americas": U.S. Deports COVID-19-Positive Immigrants to Haiti & Guatemala
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-05-15
The United States continues to deport thousands during the coronavirus pandemic, causing a dangerous spread of COVID-19 to Central America and the Caribbean. We speak with Haitian American novelist Edwidge Danticat, who says "U.S. deportations to Haiti during coronavirus pandemic are 'unconscionable,'" and go to Guatemala City for an update from reporter José Alejandro García Escobar.
www.democracynow.org/2020/5/15/us_deportations_haiti_guatemala_coronavirus

Venezuela Shows World Under No Less Threat of War After Donald Trump's First Term
ahtribune.com | 2020-05-15
When Donald Trump ran for president in the 2016 election, his criticisms of regime change presented a real opportunity for anti-war voices and organizations to demand an end to U.S. regime change wars abroad. That did not happen. In fact, the Trump administration has become even more bellicose amid the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide. Anti-war forces in the U.S. made the mistake of believing Donald Trump would truly make a difference in the bipartisan war agenda. Venezuela is facing th…
ahtribune.com/world/americas/venezuela/4153-no-less-threat-of-war.html

Remembering Palestine on Nakba Day: Use the Hashtag COVID1948
ahtribune.com | 2020-05-15
Palestinians worldwide have an annual day of remembrance called Nakba Day. Nakba comes from the Arabic al-Nakbah and means "disaster" or "catastrophe." It takes place on May 15th, the day after the Gregorian calendar date for Israeli independence in 1948. It is an opportunity for a people who live largely in exile to recall what was stolen from them by the nascent Israeli state in 1947 through 1949. An estimated 700,000 Palestinians, half of the country's Arab Christian and Muslim population, were driven from their homes through a deliberate…
ahtribune.com/world/north-africa-south-west-asia/palestine/4155-nakba-covid1948.html

US Deports COVID-Positive Immigrants to Haiti and Guatemala, Spreading Virus
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-05-15
The United States continues to deport thousands during the coronavirus pandemic, causing a dangerous spread of COVID-19 to Central America and the Caribbean. We speak with Haitian American novelist Edwidge Danticat, who says "U.S. deportations to Haiti during coronavirus pandemic are 'unconscionable,'" and go to Guatemala City for an update from reporter José Alejandro García Escobar. | TRANSCRIPT: | This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form. | AMY GOODMAN: We turn now…
truthout.org/video/us-deports-covid-positive-immigrants-to-haiti-and-guatemala-spreading-virus/

Can We Simultaneously Oppose Bayer/Monsanto's Biotechnology and Support Cuba's Interferon Alpha 2B?
Don Fitz | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-15
Genetically engineered crops are a form of food imperialism. This technology allows mega-corporations like Bayer/Monsanto to patent seeds, lure farmers into buying them with visions of high yields, and then destroy the ability of small farmers to survive. Genetic engineering produces an artificial combination of plant traits which often results in foods with less nutritional…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/15/can-we-simultaneously-oppose-bayer-monsantos-biotechnology-and-support-cubas-interferon-alpha-2b/

For Cuba and Venezuela, US Silence May Not Be Golden
W. T. Whitney | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-15
The U. S. President and his Secretary of State frequently expound about the supposed failings of enemies abroad. Recently they've blasted China's response to the pandemic, Venezuela's dictatorship, Cuba's "slave doctors" overseas, and even Iranian border guards beating up on Afghan migrants. But they've been mostly silent about two recent disruptions of the imperialist status…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/15/for-cuba-and-venezuela-us-silence-may-not-be-golden/

How Economic Misery Helped Fuel the Syrian War
Louis Proyect | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-15
Ever since the civil war began in Syria in early 2011, the left has largely ignored the social and economic circumstances that led to a conflict costing over a half-million deaths and the migration–internal and external–of half the population. The tendency was to see Syria as a piece on a global chessboard with…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/15/how-economic-misery-helped-fuel-the-syrian-war/

Define 'distribute'! Trump mobilizing MILITARY to deliver Covid-19 vaccine 'assuming we get it,' sparks conspiracy frenzy
rt.com | 2020-05-15
US President Donald Trump said the military is gearing up to distribute a coronavirus vaccine when one is ready, unleashing a torrent of takes from conspiracy-minded netizens, many sounding alarms over mandatory inoculations. | American GIs are already being mobilized to parcel out a future vaccine to "most of the population," Trump told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo in an interview on Thursday, giving a highly optimistic end-of-the-year time frame even as many experts suggest a remedy won't be ready for mass distribution for another 12 to 18 months. | "We're mobilizing our military on the basis that we do hav…
rt.com/usa/488691-trump-military-distribute-vaccine/

Socialism and Collective Responses: Attacking Venezuela in a Pandemic
Macdonald Stainsby | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-15
That feeling of international solidarity. This pandemic has brought terror in daily life to many, including this home where a 79 year old with COPD resides. Global calls of "we are all in this together" have served to blunt the bleakness in the face of unprecedented threats to our collective health. However, the initial rush…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/15/socialism-and-collective-responses-attacking-venezuela-in-a-pandemic/

Guaidó and the Failed Military Operation Against Venezuela: a Story of Betrayal and Financial Corruption
Patricio Zamorano | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-15
Now that we have had a few days to study the failed, illegal paramilitary incursion by a group of American and Venezuelan mercenaries into Venezuela, some key details have emerged in this incredible story. They reveal the internal dynamics of the fractured, demoralized, and financially corrupt nature of the hardline sectors of the opposition. Much…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/15/guaido-and-the-failed-military-operation-against-venezuela-a-story-of-betrayal-and-financial-corruption/

From Lebanon to Syria, the Arab World is Failing Palestinian Refugees
Ramzy Baroud | mintpressnews.com | 2020-05-13
Heinous racism. That is how the Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor described a recent decision by Lebanese authorities to bar Palestinian refugee expats from returning to Lebanon. | Lebanon's restrictions on its ever-diminishing population of Palestinian refugees is nothing new. However, this event is particularly alarming as it may be linked to a long-term official policy regarding the residency status of Palestinian refugees in this Arab country. | Many were ta…
mintpressnews.com/lebanon-syria-arab-world-failing-palestinian-refugees/267521/

Coronavirus will have bigger impact on world's most disadvantaged and vulnerable
imperial.ac.uk | 2020-05-13
The coronavirus pandemic will have a greater impact on the world's most disadvantaged and vulnerable populations, according to an Imperial report.
imperial.ac.uk/news/197498/coronavirus-will-have-bigger-impact-worlds

Revealed: Secretive British unit planning for 'reconstruction' of Venezuela
John McEvoy | thecanary.co | 2020-05-13
Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act have exposed a secretive Foreign Office unit aimed at the 'reconstruction' of Venezuela. The files also reveal private discussions between Venezuelan opposition figures and UK officials, detailing proposals for the promotion of British business after a planned coup.UK support for coup attempt in Venezuela: Over the past 16 months, the UK government has consistently supported Venezuelan opposition figure Juan…
thecanary.co/exclusive/2020/05/13/revealed-secretive-british-unit-planning-for-reconstruction-of-venezuela/

"Losing the Fabric of the City": COVID-19 Took Chicago Black Lives First & Exposed Structural Racism
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-05-12
We look at the coronavirus pandemic's disproportionate toll on African Americans through the story of Chicago's first 100 recorded deaths. A report by ProPublica found that 70 of the first 100 people to die were African American. Black people account for 30% of Chicago's population and 72% of COVID-19 deaths. We speak with ProPublica reporter Adriana Gallardo, who contributed to the report "COVID-19 Took Black Lives First. It Didn't Have To." She says the story paints a picture of "sophisticated structural racism" in Chicago.
www.democracynow.org/2020/5/12/chicago_70_black_people_dead_first

Trump's Ex-Security Company and Their Botched Plot to Overthrow the President of Venezuela
ahtribune.com | 2020-05-12
Reports coming out of Venezuela and Miami, Florida in the United States are boarding on the hilarious. If you thought you had seen it all with Venezuela's hard right-wing opposition and their allies in the U.S. with their actions to overthrow the socialist government of Nicolas Maduro, well, think again. In recent days, images of two captured North American mercenaries have been flooding the air waves in the South American country of Venezuela where Maduro remains the president, despite harsh U.S. economic sanctions. | Accord…
ahtribune.com/world/americas/venezuela/4143-trump-security-company-silvercorp.html

Guaidó's mercenary hit contract on Venezuela's Maduro mirrors official US bounty, authorizes death squad killings
Alan MacLeod | thegrayzone.com | 2020-05-11
The leaked contract between Juan Guaidó and the Silvercorp USA mercenary firm closely resembles a DEA bounty placed on the…
thegrayzone.com/2020/05/10/guaido-mercenary-contract-venezuelas-maduro-us-bounty-death-squad/

Headlines for May 11, 2020
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-05-11
COVID-19 Cases Mount as States Reopen Economies, NY Investigating Deaths of at Least 3 Children Linked to COVID-19, Bronx Hospital Investigating Nurse Who Shared Video of Medical Staff Speaking Out About Lack of PPE, Cheyenne River Sioux Defies South Dakota Order to Remove Coronavirus Checkpoints, Another COVID-19 Case Confirmed at White House as Barack Obama Blasts Trump's "Chaotic" Response, Hunger-Striking Immigrant Women Released from California Prison, U.S. Continues to Deport Haitian Immigrants, Including Those with COVID-19 Infections, WSJ: Trump Planning to Ban H-1B Visas, Three Prisoners Die at Chino Fac…
www.democracynow.org/2020/5/11/headlines

Was the Latest Coup Plot Against Democratic Venezuela Made in the US?
ahtribune.com | 2020-05-11
UN Charter Article 2(4) states the following: | "All members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations." | Since US grand theft of half of Mexican territory in the mid 19th century, long before the UN Charter's existence, the US time and again waged wars by hot and other means against nations threatening no one, including countless coups

Silvercorp co-founder speaks with The Grayzone: What did State Department know about failed Venezuela invasion?
Anya Parampil | thegrayzone.com | 2020-05-08
The Grayzone speaks to Drew White

Julio López Varona on Puerto Rico's Disaster Capitalism
CounterSpin | fair.org | 2020-03-13
Media…
fair.org/home/julio-lopez-varona-on-puerto-ricos-disaster-capitalism/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=julio-lopez-varona-on-puerto-ricos-disaster-capitalism