2020-06-23: News Headlines

yenisafak (2020-06-23). French StopCovid app led to 1.8 million activations as of June 22. yenisafak.com France's state-supported "StopCovid" contact-tracing app has been downloaded by 1.9 million people, roughly 2% of the population, leading to 1.8 million activations as of June 22, digital affairs minister Cedric O said on Tuesday.The "StopCovid" smartphone app, which was launched on June 2, warns users if they have come into contact with anyone infected with the coronavirus to help to contain the epidemic as France emerges from lockdown.

RT (2020-06-22). Trump walks back Maduro olive branch after Biden challenges his commitment to Venezuelan regime change. rt.com US President Donald Trump has reaffirmed support for his administration's regime change policy in Venezuela, reversing course on negotiation after Democratic rival Joe Biden attacked his "admiration" for "dictator" Nicolas Maduro. | Trump would "only meet with Maduro to discuss one thing: a peaceful exit from power!" the president tweeted on Monday, walking back comments he made in an Axios interview, where he hinted he would "maybe think about" meeting with the Venezuelan leader. | "Unlike the radical left, I will ALWAYS stand against socialism and with the people of Venezuela," Trump added, proclaiming his o…

Tuhin Biswas, James G. Scott, Kerim Munir, Andre M.N. Renzaho, Lal B. Rawal, Janeen Baxter, Abdullah A. Mamun (2020-06-22). Global variation in the prevalence of suicidal ideation, anxiety and their correlates among adolescents: A population based study of 82 countries. thelancet.com Suicidal ideation and anxiety are common among adolescents although their prevalence has predominantly been studied in high income countries. This study estimated the population prevalence of suicidal ideation and anxiety and their correlates with peer support, parent-adolescent relationship, peer victimization, conflict, isolation and loneliness across a range of low-income, lower-middle-income, upper-middle-income countries and high-income countries (LMICHICs).

Eds. (2020-06-22). Rubio, Cruz bill would deem Cuba's medical missions "human trafficking operation" mronline.org In an act of pure hypocrisy and obsessive cruelty, GOP Senators Marco Rubio, Rick Scott and Ted Cruz joined together to penalize developing nations who seek to take advantage of Cuba's hands-on humanitarian work.

Paul Dobson (2020-06-22). Guaido Lauds Takeover of Venezuela's Bolivia Embassy. venezuelanalysis.com Venezuela's self-declared "interim president" Juan Guaido is said to share a "beam of light" relationship with Bolivia's de facto president.

Lucas Koerner (2020-06-22). Biden Bashes Trump's Willingness to Meet with Venezuela's Maduro. venezuelanalysis.com The White House insisted that Trump "has not lost confidence" in opposition leader Guaido.

Paul Antonopoulos (2020-06-22). Trump Slams Guaidó While Expressing Openness in Speaking with Maduro. globalresearch.ca In what potentially could be a radical change in Washington's policy towards Venezuela, U.S. president Donald Trump confessed that he has had doubts about his decision to recognize opposition leader Juan Guaidó as president of the South American country. Trump …

sputniknews (2020-06-22). US Air Force Dispatches Surveillance Planes to Island Off Venezuela's Coast. sputniknews.com The US Air Force has dispatched two surveillance aircraft to a base just off the Venezuelan coast for what it calls "counter-narcotics operations." The move comes as Washington looks to enhance its "maximum pressure" against the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Alan Macleod (2020-06-22). Study: COVID-19 Exacerbating America's Massive Wealth Inequality and Racial Divide. mintpressnews.com Black Americans are dying at almost three times the rate whites are, with Latinos and Native Americans also dying at elevated levels to the rest of the population.

Raul Diego (2020-06-22). US Senate Initiates Legislation Which Would Categorize Cuba's Medical Missions as "Human Trafficking Operations" globalresearch.ca In what has already become a parody of a shrinking empire's habit of clutching at the vestiges of its Cold-War era mistakes, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and fellow war-hungry reactionaries in the United States Senate, Rick Scott (R-FL) …

IMEMC Staff (2020-06-22). Israeli Troops Abduct 18 Palestinians in Pre-Dawn Invasions. imemc.org Israeli troops abducted, on Monday, several Palestinian residents, across the West Bank and the internationally-recognized occupied Jerusalem, in continuation of widespread Israeli military crackdown on the Palestinian population. In occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli troops invaded the al-'Isawiya neighborhood, local sources reported. This is a neighborhood in East Jerusalem that has …

sputniknews (2020-06-22). Herbal Pill to Cure Covid-19 Patients in 5-14 Days, Indian Ayurvedic Firm Claims. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): Based in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, Patanjali Ayurved is known for promoting the ancient Ayurvedic system of medicine in the country and in different parts of the world. The drug has been developed as the country with a population of 1.3 billion people is witnessing a spike in COVID-19 cases.

_____ (2020-06-22). U.S. Threats Cannot Deter Cuba's Internationalist Approach. strategic-culture.org As the U.S. continues its defunding of international organisations, the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) is next in line, as U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared his country's funding conditional upon "U.S. values". The mismanagement of funds, particularly at UN institutions, is a well-known occurrence. However, the corruption existing at international institutions reflects the obscure, or non-existent process, of accountability, which capitalism encourages in order to maintain the monopoly over human rights rhetoric. | Under U.S. President Donald Trump, pointing out corruption is becoming a veneer…

Reese Erlich (2020-06-21). Lessons From Cuban Police. commondreams.org A demonstrator addresses the riot police that are blocking the entrance to I-195 during a protest in Miami on June 5, 2020. (Photo: Adam DelGiudice/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/cuba-police.jpg

teleSUR (2020-06-21). Trump Having 2nd Thoughts on Guaido, Would Meet Maduro: Axios. telesurenglish.net United States President Donald Trump would consider meeting his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro after losing faith in Washington-backed Juan Guaido, an exclusive interview from Axios revealed Sunday. | RELATED: | Asked whether he would meet with Maduro, Trump said that he "would maybe think about that. … Maduro would like to meet. And I'm never opposed to meetings — you know, rarely opposed to meeting…

Giselle McIntyre (2020-06-20). Anguillans Demand Extradition of US Citizen in Worker's Murder. telesurenglish.net "Let… me… speak." These were the last-known words of a hotel worker, Kenny Mitchel. They have become the rallying cry of activists in the Caribbean island of Anguilla, who gathered to demand justice in Mitchel's April 2019 killing. | RELATED: | UN Calls for Urgent Debate on Racism and Police Violence | Mitchel died after he was put in a chokehold while on the job at a tourist resort. The U.S. citizen Gavin Scott Hapgood, who is facing manslaughter charges in connection with Mitchel's killing, is currently in the U.S. after being released from the custody of Anguillan authorities on a US$74,000 bond.

Peter Baker, Alan White, Rosemary Morgan (2020-06-20). [Comment] Men's health: COVID-19 pandemic highlights need for overdue policy action. thelancet.com The COVID-19 pandemic is shining a cruel light on the state of men's health globally. In 38 out of 43 countries for which provisional data were available, as of June 10, 2020, more men than women have died from COVID-19 despite a similar number of confirmed cases in each sex.1 In several countries, including the Netherlands, Dominican Republic, and Spain, about twice as many men as women have died from COVID-19.1 International Men's Health Week on June 15—21 is an opportune time to focus attention on this issue and the need for a new and systematic approach to improve the health of men generally.

Nasra Alam, Alison K Wright, Darren M Ashcroft, Andrew G Renehan (2020-06-20). [Correspondence] Cancer and cardiovascular disease. thelancet.com Helen Strongman and colleagues1 concluded that "survivors of most site-specific cancers had increased medium-term to long-term risk for one or more cardiovascular diseases compared with that for the general population." The accompanying Comment2 argued that there should be further research into whether cancer should be included in cardiovascular risk prediction tools and refers to cardiovascular models such as Framingham3 and the Pooled Cohort Equations.4…

Ricardo Vaz (2020-06-20). Venezuelan oil output continues decline as refinery resumes operations. mronline.org Venezuelan crude exports on track for 70 year low as Washington continues to target tankers and shipping companies.

Andrea Germanos, staff writer (2020-06-20). Voting Rights Advocates Warn of Impending 'Disaster' in Kentucky After Bid to Increase Slashed Number of Polling Sites Fails. commondreams.org Jefferson County has a population of roughly 767,000 and will have just one polling location. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/disaster-kentucky-polling-sites-number.jpg

Kim Petersen (2020-06-20). US Military Presence Everywhere. The Arctic, the Middle East, The South China Sea, The Caribbean… globalresearch.ca Tensions in the skies. RT presented a news story of the United States intercepting a fleet of Russian bombers off the Alaskan coast. Four Russian Tu-95 bombers, accompanied by Su-35 and MiG-31 fighters jets, flew from Siberia toward Alaska where …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-20). Close to 3 million Afghans remain displaced, says UNHCR report. peoplesdispatch.org Of Afghanistan's total population of 38 million, one-fifth are former refugees who have returned in the past two decades. However, in 2019, only 8,400 returned, the lowest in many years…

Ahmed Sule (2020-06-20). BAME cabinet ministers: modern-day courtiers or jesters? thecanary.co In every society, there are categories of people of a different race, colour, nationality, or cultural traditions that differ from the dominant population. In the UK, the term BAME is used to define the non-white population of Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic communities. Immigration, colonialism, and slavery are some of the main drivers for the prevalence of ethnic minorities in the Anglo-American world. | From biblical times to the present, minorities living in countries with a history of oppression are sometimes elevated into political leadership positions. Modern-day Britain is not exempt from this trend. So…

Abdul Rahman (2020-06-20). Imperialist occupation and wars are the driving force behind the displacement of people. peoplesdispatch.org In its annual "Global Trends" report released on June 18, Thursday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) noted that the total number of displaced persons globally rose by a record 9 million in 2019. Though most of them are internally displaced, the number of people forced out of their countries, or international refugees, is also increasing. | The spread of COVID-19 globally has caused renewed concern about the safety and well-being of the world's refugee population, most of whom are living in unsafe conditions. While health infrastructure in refugee camps, particularly in third world countri…

_____ (2020-06-20). US Racism's $13 Trillion Legacy Is Just The Start. popularresistance.org New York – Around the time the United States formally abolished slavery in 1865, African Americans owned 0.5% of the United States' wealth. Today they own under 3%, even though around 13% of the population is defined by the U.S. census as "black or African American." This isn't an accident of history — it's a result of government policies and institutional bias. The interest keeps compounding. | The value of income lost during slavery is staggering. The U.S. practice lasted for nearly 250 years — almost equivalent to the time from the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 until today. Uni…

_____ (2020-06-19). 'Black Lives Matter' Is International. popularresistance.org Corte Madera, California – The police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25th was the spark that ignited the tinder of accrued injustice throughout the US and globally. This injustice has deep antecedents in the US and indeed in much of what is now called the Global South. There is a shared history of colonial conquest of the Indigenous and the abominable institution of the enslavement of African peoples. | What happened has its roots in systemic oppression that has resonated internationally. Just as the police suffocated George Floyd, US unilateral coercive measures against Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua,…

_____ (2020-06-19). Barbaric U.S. Sanctions on Syria Are Futile Extension of Failed Regime-Change War. strategic-culture.org A total blockade of war-torn Syria is the desired effect of sweeping new sanctions imposed this week by the United States. The purpose is to prevent the Arab nation from achieving reconstruction and international normalization after suffering nearly a decade of war. | Washington's objective is to make regime change in Damascus inevitable by making social conditions in the country as unbearable for the population as it possibly can. | With cruel Orwellian irony, the American sanctions implemented this week bear the words "Syria Civilian Protection Act". | The U.S. legislation was passed by both parties in the Cong…

teleSUR (2020-06-19). Caribbean States to Discuss Policies for the COVID-19 Crisis. telesurenglish.net The Association of Caribbean States (ACS) members Friday will discuss virtually how the region's countries can cooperate to recover from the health, economic, and social crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. | RELATED: | The discussion will take place during the 25th Ordinary Meeting of the ACS Ministerial Council which will be held virtually due to the current health emergency. | ACV representatives will als…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-19). More than 1% of world population is forcibly displaced, says UNHCR report. peoplesdispatch.org Busting the myth and propaganda claims about the so-called 'refugee problem' in developed countries, the UNHCR data establishes that around 85% of the total refugees in the world are hosted by developing countries…

_____ (2020-06-19). Lost Manuscript Of Eyewitness Account Of Tulsa Race Massacre. popularresistance.org With President Trump holding a campaign rally in Tulsa, OK on June 20, 2020, we thought it would be good to republish this article on the Tulsa Massacre, often referred to as the Tulsa Race Riot. It was a white rampage in the successful black community of Rosewood, also known as Black Wall Street. No one knows how many people were killed in the massacre but "the vast majority of Tulsa's African American population had been made homeless by the event." The white race riot began around a false charge of a white woman being raped by a back man, and conflicts between white and black people at the courthouse, with whi…