2020-06-12: News Headlines

David Rosen (2020-06-12). Two Pandemics: COVID-19 and the 1918 Influenza. counterpunch.org The current Covid-19 epidemic has drawn comparisons to the 1918 influenza epidemic, often referred to as the Spanish flu or H1N1 virus. The influenza flu was devastating with an estimated 500 million people — one-third of the world's population — infected and 50 million died; in the U.S., about 675,000 deaths occurred and in New

Ben Norton (2020-06-12). Wikipedia Formally Censors The Grayzone as Regime-change Advocates Monopolize Editing. globalresearch.ca On Wikipedia, a small group of regime-change advocates and right-wing Venezuelan opposition supporters have blacklisted independent media outlets like The Grayzone on explicitly political grounds, violating the encyclopedia's guidelines. | This is part 1 in a series of investigative reports on …

Alan Macleod (2020-06-12). Project Venezuela: Right-Wing Activists Push Wikipedia to Blacklist MintPress, other Alternative Media. mintpressnews.com Still unable to convince a sufficient number of their countryfolk to support them, the Venezuelan opposition has turned their efforts towards convincing an international audience — primarily Americans — to support their cause. Part of that is spending inordinate amounts of time online, arguing in English on social media, creating Now, a…

Bill Hackwell (2020-06-12). Distortions and Attempts to Undermine the Cuban Medical Brigades Will Not Succeed. dissidentvoice.org Cuban medical brigade returning from Italy (Photo: Ismael Fransisco Gonzalez) Every evening for the past two and a half months the people of Cuba have come out on their streets and porches to applaud and cheer for the 3,000 members of the Henry Reeve medical brigades who are fighting the Covid-19 pandemic on the front …

Joseph Thomas (2020-06-12). Thailand: Key ASEAN Nation Emerges from COVID-19. globalresearch.ca The Kingdom of Thailand plays a central role in the Southeast Asian ASEAN economic bloc. It has a population of nearly 70 million, the second largest economy in the region and hosts a key leg of China's One Belt, One …

Telesur (2020-06-12). US Troops in Colombia "Associate with Illegal Groups", Killing Farmers, Seek to "Spark a War with Venezuela" globalresearch.ca Colombian senators on Wednesday said that U.S. troops that arrived in the South American country in early June are allowed to associate with illegal groups and seek an eventual international confrontation. | The Democratic Congressman Ivan Cepeda revealed that the current …

A Guest Author (2020-06-11). Venezuelan Embassy Protectors hail legal victory. workers.org By Embassy Protectors, Popular Resistance The following is a slightly edited statement made by the Venezuelan Embassy Protectors on June 3. Washington, D.C. — The federal charge of "interfering with certain protective functions" levied against four members of the Embassy Protection Collective was formally dropped today in a hearing before . . . |

Andrew Gibbs, Abigail Hatcher (2020-06-11). [Commentary] Covert family planning as a symbol of agency for young, married women. thelancet.com Family planning has long been seen as both a marker and a potential driver of women's autonomy and overall population health. Family planning is strongly linked to child and women's health outcomes, and tends to be better for nearly every household measure [1,2].

Tanya Wadhwa (2020-06-11). Assassination of Indigenous leader Domingo Choc sparks outrage. peoplesdispatch.org In the early hours of June 6, Indigenous leader Domingo Choc Che was burned alive by a group of neighbors, in the Chimay community, in the municipality of San Luis, in the El Petén department of Guatemala. The people who perpetrated this horrendous crime accused Domingo of being a "witch". | His murder has prompted indignation across the country. The Indigenous population has fiercely rejected the persecution of those who practice Mayan spiritualism. Conservative Christian religious groups, evoking a nefarious practice of colonial rule, encourage and carry out this persecution in labeling Indigenous spirituality…

_____ (2020-06-11). Johnson's approval rating plummets as Britain hits worst C-19 death per million in the world. truepublica.org.uk By TruePublica: As of June 9th, a YouGov tracker has seen the approval rating of the governments' handling of the Covid crisis plummet. About half (49%) of the population disapprove to the question — "Do you approve or disapprove of the Government's record to date?" As a result, half of the country (50% exactly) now …

Ricardo Vaz (2020-06-11). US Sanctions Drive Oil Tankers Away from Venezuela. venezuelanalysis.com Washington seeks to choke off Venezuela's main source of income.

Don Fitz (2020-06-10). How Che Guevara Taught Cuba to Confront COVID-19. counterpunch.org Beginning in December 1951, Ernesto "Che" Guevara took a nine-month break from medical school to travel by motorcycle through Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela. One of his goals was gaining practical experience with leprosy. On the night of his twenty-fourth birthday, Che was at La Colonia de San Pablo in Peru swimming across the

Kenneth Surin (2020-06-10). The COVID-19 Lockdown In Rural Virginia. counterpunch.org What if you live in a small college town in a rural county in the mountainous area of Virginia, the county with a population of 100,000 and the town 30,000 (along with 30,000 students during the academic year), where 91 people have so far tested positive for the virus with 1 fatality?

teleSUR (2020-06-10). Dominican Republic: Police Put Down Anti-Racism Protest. telesurenglish.net Dominican Republic's Santo Domingo conservative organizations and police Tuesday confronted anti-racism activists who claimed justice for George Floyd in a demonstration. | RELATED: | "Those nationalists came and threw themselves at us and the police, instead of taking the attitude of protecting us, what they did was to stop us," said Reconocido (recognized) non-governmental organization leader Ana Maria Belique. | Reconocido…

teleSUR (2020-06-10). Peru Tops 200,000 COVID-19 Cases. telesurenglish.net The number of COVID-19 cases in Peru surpassed 200,000 on Tuesday, less than a month after the coronavirus caseload topped 100,000 in the country. | RELATED: | Peru: Cuban Medical Brigade Sent to Help Fight COVID-19 | A total of 1,227,691 tests for the virus have been carried out so far, with 203,736 positive cases, the health ministry said in its latest report. | The South American country has registered 5,738 deaths from the disease, representing the third-highest death toll in Latin America and the Caribbean after Brazil and Mexico. | "Out of all the people who tested positive, to date 92,929 of them have…

teleSUR (2020-06-10). 100 Cuban Doctors to Remain in Kenya Until the End of the Year. telesurenglish.net Kenya's Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe Wednesday confirmed that his country has renewed an agreement for a brigade of Cuban doctors to continue collaborating in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. | RELATED: | "We have renewed the agreement for six months, but we are planning to do it for more years. We are waiting for the COVID-19 pandemic cases to be reduced so we can travel to Cuba to have a conversation with the go…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-10). Timothy Harris takes oath as Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis for second term. peoplesdispatch.org The incumbent government of Team Unity coalition won the general elections held in the country on June 5 with an overwhelming majority…

Myles Hoenig (2020-06-09). Israel's Left and Black Lives Matters. counterpunch.org A message to Israel's 'left'. The Jewish people are the Chosen Ones, but only in your heads. Your history of oppression by mostly Christian forces throughout history has been well documented. You have suffered incredible harm to your population. Your enemies have succeeded at times in decimating your people's numbers in their domain, but your

Andrea Germanos, staff writer (2020-06-09). Save the Insects, Save the Farmers, Save Ourselves: New Global Report Calls for End of Industrial Agriculture. commondreams.org "The evidence is clear: pesticide use is wiping out insect populations and ecosystems around the world, and threatening food production." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/praying-mantis.jpg

The Iranian (2020-06-10). Founder of Iran Studies Center, Tel Aviv University: Israel is pistachios for Iran. iranian.com "I have news for you. Israel is half of the city of Tehran, in terms of population. You don't go through such a revolution for a tiny small country which is peanuts, or maybe in this case you say pistachios for the Iranians. We are nothing. You don't create a revolution because of the state …

Staff (2020-06-12). Angela Davis Slams Trump Rally in Tulsa, Massacre Site, on Juneteenth Celebration of End of Slavery. democracynow.org President Trump will resume holding indoor campaign events starting with a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on June 19, a day known as Juneteenth, that celebrates African Americans' liberation from slavery. The rally also falls on the 99th anniversary of the Tulsa race riots, one of the worst acts of racial violence in U.S. history, in which white residents killed hundreds of their African American neighbors. Legendary scholar Angela Davis says it's important to recognize that Trump "represents a sector of a population in this country that wants to return to the past … with all of its white supremacy, with all of its…

ahtribune (2020-06-09). SouthFront Is Censored under Cover of Pandemic. ahtribune.com Introducing SouthFront | Where do you find daily news, videos, analysis and maps about the conflict in Syria? Detailed reports about the conflicts in Libya, Yemen and Venezuela? News about the rise of ISIS in Mozambique? Original analysis of events in the US and Russia? SouthFront is unique and influential, reaching a global audience of hundreds of thousands. They have opinion articles but their reports and videos are informational and factual. Their website says, | "SouthFront focuses on issues of international relations, armed conflicts and cri…

Khubaka, Michael Harris (2020-06-12). U.S. President Trump sparks renewed interest in Juneteenth Celebrations Globally. indybay.org "In 1535, the first enslaved Pan African were recorded in California. Spanish conquistadors brought enslaved Pan Africans for conquest and who were later breed with indigenous population (Afro-Latino) throughout "New Spain" and much, much later evolved into today's Republic of Mexico. Authentic Alta California History remains cloaked in slavery and secrecy that remains off limits for any principled dialogue as the California State Legislature prepares for a 2020 Juneteenth State Budget due next week.

C Dettwiler, U Gasche and N Ramseyer (2020-06-12). Corona epidemic and Yemen. indybay.org Authorities first wanted to calm down and played down the pandemic. Afterward, they had to convince the population to keep unusual physical distance, to wash their hands well at all times, and to refrain from major events. Finally, they wanted the population to accept the week-long lockdown, with business closures, exit, and travel restrictions.

yenisafak (2020-06-12). EU warns COVID-19 health crisis not over yet, urges vigilance. yenisafak.com The public health crisis caused by the COVID-19 epidemic in Europe is not over yet, the European Union's top health official warned on Friday, urging governments to remain vigilant and plough ahead with testing and tracing the population."This is not behind us yet. We need to be vigilant," EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides told EU health ministers in a videoconference, amid fears of a new surge in infections as EU states gradually reopen business and borders and after mass protests in recent days across the continent [ nL8N2DO589].

yenisafak (2020-06-09). Pangolin scales removed from Chinese medicine list. yenisafak.com China removed the pangolin scales from an official 2020 list of traditional medicines as part of efforts to protect the population of the world's most-trafficked mammal in the wild, local media reported on Tuesday.Following Friday's move of upgrading the protection level of the pangolin, China took another step towards the pangolin or its original Malay name "pengguling," which is seen as "positive signal" and believed to eradicate one of the most dangerous threats to pangolins, the Global Times daily reported."The latest version of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia for 2020 does not include pangolins, which means the ma…

_____ (2020-06-11). Black Lives Matter Everywhere: Its Time To Defund The US Military. popularresistance.org While the U.S. war on the black population at home is now exposed for all of America—and the world—to see, the victims of U.S. wars abroad continue to be hidden. Trump has escalated the horrific wars he inherited from Obama, dropping more bombs and missiles in 3 years than either Bush II or Obama did in their first terms. When retired generals speak out against Trump's desire to deploy active-duty troops on America's streets, we should understand that they are defending precisely this double standard. Just as we are exposing the rot in U.S. police forces and calling for defunding the police, so we mus…

_____ (2020-06-10). How Western Media Confines US Imperialism To The Past. popularresistance.org Many of the newspapers that — years after the fact — have found the nerve to condemn past episodes of US imperialism have not yet mustered the same reproach for US intervention in Venezuela. | The present, it seems, has paralyzed their capacity for critical analysis. Despite enormous historical precedent, Western journalists fail to see that what is happening now has happened before — time and time and time again. | In some decades, they may go through the archives and profess their horror at the true nature of US foreign policy in Venezuela. But by that time, it will be far too late. As they sc…

_____ (2020-06-10). Why Covid-19 Racial Disparities Make The Case For Medicare For All. popularresistance.org The racial disparities of COVID-19 have received much attention. Blacks are dying at a higher rate that is typically more than double the rate of whites. But we need to move beyond naming the problem of fighting for solutions. Medicare for All would go a long way to beginning to address racial disparities in health care in general and for COVID-19 in particular. | The obvious and immediate need of black and other working-class populations caught in the teeth of the pandemic is the right to health care treatment without the burden of cost. Even before the pandemic, lower-income, Latino, and younger workers were mo…