2020-06-16: News Headlines

Vijay Prashad (2020-06-16). Who deserves the Nobel Peace Prize in a time of pandemic? mronline.org A few weeks ago, I was talking to Noam Chomsky about the state of the world. At one point, Noam smiled and said that he is not aware of any German doctors in Italy, even though both countries are in the European Union; instead, Cuban and Chinese doctors went to Italy to help the Italians …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-16). Why Cuban doctors should receive the Nobel Peace Prize? peoplesdispatch.org Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cuba has taken an active role in extending international solidarity to nations hard-hit by the virus. So far, they have sent medical brigades to 27 countries to assist in the fight against coronavirus. Due to Cuba's extraordinary commitment to humanity, to public health and to internationalism, a group of human rights organizations and social movements across the world have launched a campaign to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Cuba's Henry Reeve medical brigade. | On the

_____ (2020-06-16). Food Sovereignty Activists See The Pandemic Crisis As Pivotal For Change. popularresistance.org Disaster brings change, however. Many grassroots organizations and movements are trying to seize the moment to propose alternatives, and in some cases, to begin implementing them. Some are breathing new life into proposals made before the COVID-19 crisis began. It has been a chance for this alternative system to prove its value. "Conventional farmers lost their crop because they lost their market when restaurants closed and the distribution chains broke down," Garcia explains. "Puerto Rico still gets most of its food from outside, so the supply problems meant the supermarkets didn't have food on the shelves. Pric…

Medea Benjamin (2020-06-16). Trump Hammers Cuba While Cuba Cures the Sick. mintpressnews.com Not content to sabotage Cuba's domestic health sector, the Trump administration has been attacking Cuba's international medical assistance, from the teams fighting coronavirus to those caring for underserved communities in 164 countries.

Vijay Prashad (2020-06-16). Who Deserves a Nobel Prize During a Pandemic? counterpunch.org A few weeks ago, I was talking to Noam Chomsky about the state of the world. At one point, Noam smiled and said that he is not aware of any German doctors in Italy, even though both countries are in the European Union; instead, Cuban and Chinese doctors went to Italy to help the Italians

yenisafak (2020-06-16). Pakistan felicitates D-8 states on 23rd anniversary. yenisafak.com Pakistan's prime minister on Tuesday extended felicitations to member states of D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation on its 23rd anniversary.In his message, Imran Khan said the organization has made significant contribution in promoting solidarity, and strengthening cooperation among the brotherly countries since its inception in Istanbul in 1997."I would like to extend warmest felicitations, on behalf of the government and people of Pakistan and my own behalf, the people of D-8 Members States," Khan said.D-8, representing over one billion population with a combined GDP of $4 trillion, has tremendous potenti…

yenisafak (2020-06-16). '22% of world population at risk of severe COVID-19'. yenisafak.com According to the study published by The Lancet medical journal, an estimate of 1.7 billion people or 22% of the global population "have at least one underlying condition that puts them at increased risk of severe COVID-19 if infected.""Estimates of the number of individuals at increased risk were most sensitive to the prevalence of chronic kidney disease, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and chronic respiratory disease," it added.The researchers said the study focused on underlying health conditions for considering the number of individuals that might need to be shielded or vaccinated as the global pandemic unfo…

_____ (2020-06-15). President Maduro: United States Is Living An Anti-Racist Spring. popularresistance.org President Maduro said that the US is experiencing an anti-racist spring, in reference to the massive protests for the murder of George Floyd. | "People on the street are saying who Donald Trump is every day," said the Venezuelan president during his participation on Monday in the TV show "Between Values," in which he also asserted that the American people "live an anti-racist spring". | On the other hand, he stressed that historical figures such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King are more present today than ever among Americans who fight for their rights. "They are the martyrs for a future hope, for a new societ…

RT (2020-06-15). Don't ask, don't tell? NYC mayor directs contact tracers not to question people about attending BLM protests. rt.com The army of contact tracers hired by New York City to conduct the 'test and trace' campaign to weed out coronavirus infection vectors will reportedly not be allowed to ask people if they attended Black Lives Matter protests. | Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on May 8 that NYC would be hiring hundreds of Covid-19 contact tracers to help bring the coronavirus, which wreaked havoc on the densely-populated city's population, to heel. The city has witnessed 210,000 cases resulting in at least 17,193 deaths from the infection. | However, before May came to an end, George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police, sparki…

Lotus McDougal, Jay G. Silverman, Abhishek Singh, Anita Raj (2020-06-15). Exploring the relationship between spousal violence during pregnancy and subsequent postpartum spacing contraception among first-time mothers in India. thelancet.com : Women who experience spousal abuse during pregnancy have different postpartum contraceptive use patterns. The unique needs of this population should be incorporated into antenatal and postpartum contraceptive counseling. Efforts to increase spacing contraception use in India must consider experiences of gender-based violence and coercion.

Ben Norton (2020-06-15). Wikipedia formally censors The Grayzone as regime-change advocates monopolize editing. mronline.org 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.

Cesar Chelala (2020-06-15). The Day President Kennedy (Almost) Broke the Embargo on Cuba. counterpunch.org President Kennedy is just one of many famous historical figures who loved to smoke cigars. Sigmund Freud was a big addict, smoking up to 20 cigars a day, which probably caused the mouth cancer that led to his death. In a conversation with Carl Gustav Jung, where they were probably discussing the allegoric meaning of

The Sentencing Project (2020-06-15). Private Prisons in the United States. globalresearch.ca Private prisons in the United States incarcerated 121,718 people in 2017, representing 8.2% of the total state and federal prison population. Since 2000, the number of people housed in private prisons has increased 39%. | However, the private prison population reached …

teleSUR (2020-06-15). Bank of England Infringes Human Rights: Venezuelan Central Bank. telesurenglish.net The Bank of England (BoE) is "putting lives at risk" by denying access to gold reserves, Legal representatives of the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) denounced Monday. | RELATED: | BoE refuses to release around US$1.13 billion of gold reserves which the South American nation could use to fight the health emergency derived from the COVID-19 outbreak. Venezuela is seeking to get a court order for the urgent release of abo…

Paul Dobson (2020-06-15). Venezuela Slams Interpol Arrest of CLAP Contractor in Cape Verde. venezuelanalysis.com Colombo-Venezuelan Alex Saab was detained on a Washington-issued arrest warrant en route to Iran, where he reportedly looked to negotiate food and medicine import contracts.

Khubaka, Michael Harris (2020-06-15). 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.

Peter Koenig (2020-06-14). Bill Gates and the Depopulation Agenda. Robert F. Kennedy Junior Calls for an Investigation. globalresearch.ca Robert F Kennedy Jr, an avid Defender of Children's Rights and anti-vaccination activist, has launched a petition sent to the White House, calling for "Investigations into the 'Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation' for Medical Malpractice & Crimes Against Humanity"

Lucas Koerner (2020-06-14). Venezuela's Supreme Court Names New National Electoral Council. venezuelanalysis.com The Guaido-led opposition vowed to boycott legislative elections due to be held later this year.

teleSUR (2020-06-14). Venezuela Denounces Arbitrary Arrest of Alex Saab by Interpol. telesurenglish.net The Venezuelan government described the arrest of businessman Alex Saab by Interpol on Saturday as an arbitrary detention that seeks to infringe on the rights of citizens in the Bolivarian Republic. | RELATED: | Saab was traveling through the island-nation of Cape Verge on Saturday when Interpol arbitrarily arrested him and prevented him from returning home. | According to a statement from the Venezuelan Foreign Min…

_____ (2020-06-14). Human Rights Expert Hopes COVID-19, Climate Change And Racial Injustice Are A 'Wake-Up Call'. popularresistance.org The optimistic way is to see Covid-19 as a trial run for what's on the way with climate change in the sense that it really is a crisis that has affected vast numbers of people that has shown up the importance of being prepared and the importance of listening to the warning signals, and the potential for totally disproportionate impact on different groups of the population—whether by gender, class, race and so on. Covid-19 could provide some sort of wake-up call to those of us who are pretending that climate change is going to be manageable and we don't really need to do anything until it actually starts to…

yenisafak (2020-06-14). World Blood Donor Day observed during pandemic. yenisafak.com World Blood Donor Day this year once again will be held on June 14, but in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic.It was established in 2004 to raise awareness of the need for safe blood, and to thank donors for their life-saving gift.The event provides a valuable opportunity to donors to celebrate and commemorate the birthday of Karl Landsteiner, a biologist and doctor who won the Nobel Prize for discovering the ABO blood group system.About 118.4 million blood donations are collected worldwide every year. Forty percent are collected in high-income countries — home to 16% of the world's population.About 13,300…

Manlio Dinucci (2020-06-14). USA Plan: Militarized Control of Population. The "National Covid-19 Testing Action Plan" globalresearch.ca The Rockefeller Foundation has presented the "National Covid-19 Testing Action Plan", indicating the "pragmatic steps to reopen our workplaces and our communities". However, it is not simply a matter of health measures. The Plan prefigures a real hierarchical and militarized social model.

_____ (2020-06-13). Wikipedia Formally Censors The Grayzone. popularresistance.org Internet encyclopedia giant Wikipedia is censoring independent news websites by adding them to an official blacklist of taboo "deprecated" media outlets. | The Grayzone is among the news websites targeted by the censorship campaign. Others include leftist and anti-imperialist outlets like MintPress News and the Latin American news broadcaster Telesur, along with several prominent right-wing political sites, including the Daily Caller. | The campaign to blacklist The Grayzone was initiated by Wikipedia editors who identify as Venezuelans and openly support the country's right-wing, US-backed opposition. These user…

teleSUR (2020-06-13). Guyana: Granger Asks CARICOM to Stay out of Internal Affairs. telesurenglish.net Guyana's Interim President David Granger Friday attacked Caribbean Community (CARICOM) representatives by asking them to stay out of his country's internal political affairs until the electoral process is over. | RELATED: | Granger's attack came two days after St. Vincent & the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves stated that CARICOM would not allow the theft of these elections. | "We will not stand idly by or…

Staff (2020-06-13). The US Has Much to Gain From Increasing Scientific Cooperation With Cuba. truthout.org For most of the past 60 years, the United States and Cuba have had very limited diplomatic ties. President Barack Obama started the process of Scientific c…

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 …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-12). Reopening in Sà£o Paulo is sending "population to the slaughterhouse," warns COVID-19 specialist. peoplesdispatch.org The city of Sà£o Paulo is in the orange phase, the second most critical of a five-level scale created by the state government to define the pandemic situation in each municipality, alongside the rules for loosening social isolation measures. | In this phase, the restricted opening of real estate trade, retail, shopping malls, dealerships and offices is allowed. | "We are sending the population to the slaughterhouse. The city of Sà£o Paulo opening [retail] today, with a rising death rate, shows a unique cynicism both from the governor of the state of Sà£o Paulo and now from the mayor of the city…

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 …

John McEvoy (2020-06-12). 'The United Kingdom lies': Venezuelan government lambasts UK response to 'reconstruction' plans. thecanary.co Venezuelan foreign minister Jorge Arreaza has accused the UK government of lying in its response to an

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.