(2020-10-05). From Paul Wolfowitz (2005-2007) to David Malpass (2019-…): the U.S. President's men control the World Bank. mronline.org 
In 2020, the World Bank (WB) and the IMF are 76 years old. These two international financial institutions (IFI), founded in 1944, are dominated by the USA and a few major allied powers who work to generalize policies that run counter the interests of the world's populations.
(2020-10-05). Ominous Economic Signs: Long-Term Employment and People Leaving the Work Force. counterpunch.org 
The September employment report showed a sharp slowing in the rate of job growth, with the economy adding 661,000 jobs, less than half of its August rate. The unemployment rate fell by 0.5 percentage points to 7.9 percent, but most of this was due to people leaving the labor force. The employment to population ratio
(2020-10-05). Harness 'transformative potential' of urbanization for people and planet, UN urges, marking World Habitat Day. news.un.org Commemorating World Habitat Day, on Monday, top UN officials called for urgent action to provide low-income families and vulnerable populations with affordable housing with security of tenure and easy access to water, sanitation, transport and other basic services.
(2020-10-04). Kuwait's new emir meets with Saudi, Iranian representatives. middleeasteye.net 
Kuwait's new emir meets with Saudi, Iranian representatives | The two rivals were among a number of states to send dignitaries to offer condolences after the death of Sheikh Sabah | Sun, 10/04/2020 – 15: 19 | Kuwait's new emir, Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad Al-Sabah (first right) receiving condolences from Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif (left) in Kuwait City. Picture released by the…
(2020-10-04). 'Iran, Kuwait to witness ever-increasing ties'. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Oct. 04 (MNA) — In a message to the new Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani expressed hoped that the bilateral ties between the two sides will experience an ever-increasing trend.
(2020-10-03). US deploys missile destroyer off coast of Venezuela. wsws.org The military provocation has come amid a wave of new sanctions against both Venezuela and Iran, which is supplying the South American country with vital fuel supplies.
(2020-10-03). Do Canadian Sanctions Against Venezuela Violate Canadian Law? A Question of Democracy. globalresearch.ca "Sanctions must be treated as a form of warfare. . . . Let us regard the imposition of sanctions with the same gravity as we would regard the act of going to war." — Mehran Nakhjavani[1] | There is widespread …
(2020-10-03). UN report on Venezuela omits the greatest violation of human rights: US aggression. peoplesdispatch.org The victim's of Venezuela's right-wing mobs have been completely left out of the UNHRC's report on Venezuela, Leonardo Flores looks at the politicized nature of this report and the intentional omissions…
(2020-10-03). UN Report On Venezuela Omits The Greatest Violation Of Human Rights. popularresistance.org On September 23, María Eugenia Russián, president of Fundalatin, Venezuela's oldest human rights organization, testified to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and decried an attempt by a UNHRC fact-finding mission to erase people who were "lynched, burned alive, decapitated and murdered by extremist sectors of the Venezuelan opposition." This fact-finding mission had published a report a week earlier that generated sensationalist headlines of "crimes against humanity" and painted a bleak picture of the situation in Venezuela.
(2020-10-02). Using Human Rights To Promote War. popularresistance.org Red Lines host Anya Parampil debunks a new report issued by the UN Human Right's Council which accuses Venezuela's government of "crimes against humanity". She points out major flaws in the report's methodology and exposes one of its authors as a defender of Chilean fascists. She explains that the US and its allies are weaponizing human right in order to drum up support for a war on Venezuela.
(2020-10-02). Arab-American voters could make the difference in stopping Trump in Michigan. peoplesworld.org 
One of the distinctive features of Michigan is that one of the largest minority populations in the state is Arab-Americans, estimated to be between 153,000 and half a million, depending on the source. They come from a variety of national and religious backgrounds. Yemenis are one of the largest Arab ethnic groups here, but there …
(2020-10-02). Cuba: The World Federation of Trade Unions Rejects US Blockade. telesurenglish.net World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) coordinator Ernesto Freyre Friday assured that supporting Cuba's fight against the U.S. blockade is one of his organization's priorities. | RELATED: | The union leader stressed that there is a whole movement around this issue as there is no international activity related to the island where this criminal policy implemented over 60 years ago is not denounced. | Regarding Cuba's work during i…
(2020-10-02). Dragging Lebanon toward normalisation. thealtworld.com Lebanese politicians browbeaten into agreeing a deal with Israel ahead of US elections | After the Beirut Port explosion destroyed half the Lebanese capital, killed and injured thousands of people and made 300,000 homeless; and after a contrived banking crisis caused the collapse of the Lebanon's currency and drove more than 60% of the population below the poverty line; Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri announced on Thursday that, as a result of US mediation, a 'framework agreement' had been reached with Israel to demarcate the maritime boundary. | Direct talks on delineation are to be conducted by Lebanese army chi…
(2020-10-02). UN Venezuela Report Omits US Human Rights Violations. mintpressnews.com On September 23, María Eugenia Russián, president of Fundalatin, Venezuela's oldest human rights organization, testified to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and decried an
(2020-10-02). Economy Adds an Abysmal 661,000 Jobs as Further Layoffs Loom. truthout.org The September employment report showed a sharp slowing in the rate of job growth, with the economy adding 661,000 jobs, less than half of its August rate. The unemployment rate fell by 0.5 percentage points to 7.9 percent, but most of this was due to people leaving the labor force. The employment to population ratio (EPOP) only rose by 0.1 percentage point. At 56.6 percent, it is still 4.4 percentage points below its year-ago level. | With jobs remaining in short supply, many people may permanentl…
(2020-10-02). Venezuela Succeeds in Normalizing Fuel Supplies. telesurenglish.net Venezuela's government on Thursday said it has succeeded in "normalizing" the supply of fuel throughout the South American country, following weeks of severe shortages and disrupted distribution. | RELATED: | Starting Monday, the country's 1,568 gasoline service stations will be reactivated after production at two of the country's main refineries was restored, Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami said. | "We are making a…
(2020-10-02). Venezuela Is 1st LATAM Country to Receive Russia's Vaccine. telesurenglish.net Venezuela's Vice President Delcy Rodriguez Friday announced that the country received the first batch of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 and that the nation is ready to begin phase 3 of its clinical trials. | RELATED: | "Our country just became the first nation in the Western Hemisphere to join the studies for the first COVID-19 vaccine registered in the world," Rodriguez recalled. | The first batch…
(2020-10-01). Using human rights to promote war: debunking UN's new Venezuela report. thegrayzone.com Red Lines host Anya Parampil debunks a new report issued by the UN Human Right's Council which accuses Venezuela's government of "crimes against humanity". Transcript below. By Anya Parampil A new report by a special mission of the United Nations Human Rights Council was released in September and is making headlines after it accused Venezuela's government of crimes against humanity. Because it is getting so much attention, several people have reached out to me asking for clarification regarding the information …
(2020-10-01). Venezuela Announces New Fuel Scheme as Iranian Gasoline Arrives. venezuelanalysis.com The Maduro government also presented a new "anti-blockade" law.
(2020-10-01). Two Iranian-Flagged Tankers Reportedly Arrive in Venezuela as Maduro Vows to Improve Gasoline Output. sputniknews.com In May, five Iranian tankers delivered more than a million barrels of oil to Venezuela, hit by a serious fuel shortage caused by US sanctions.
(2020-10-01). 34 million workers lost jobs in Latin America and Caribbean region due to pandemic: report. peoplesdispatch.org 
The International Labour Organization study based on nine major economies in Latin America and the Caribbean says there was a 21% contraction in working hours in the first three quarters of 2020…
(2020-10-01). The key to Viet Nam's successful COVID-19 response. mronline.org 
There were less than 400 cases of infection across the country during that period, most of them imported, and zero deaths, a remarkable accomplishment considering the country's population of 96 million people and the fact that it shares a 1,450 km land border with China.
(2020-10-01). Take the jab or lose your job: Medical journal calls for a MANDATORY Covid vaccine, says 'noncompliance should incur a penalty'. rt.com 
With half the US population reportedly unwilling to submit to an experimental Covid-19 shot, a new scientific paper has shed light on how state health authorities might enforce compliance with vaccine mandates. | Published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday, the The writers acknowledge that…
(2020-10-01). 'You cannot lock down everybody': Madrid leaders oppose Spanish govt's plan to lock down capital. rt.com 
Conservative-led authorities in the Madrid region on Thursday criticized the Spanish government's plan to confine the capital city in an effort to tackle a surge in Covid-19 cases. | Announcing its plan late on Wednesday, the Health Ministry said the central government was overriding regional authorities to impose a lockdown of the city of over 3 million people in the coming days. Nine surrounding municipalities with populations of at least 100,000 each will also be included in the plan. | "You cannot lock down everybody," regional chief Isabel Diaz Ayuso said, speaking on esRadio. "I'm sure the Madrid plan is…
(2020-10-01). Governor of Russia's remote & frozen far-eastern peninsula of Kamchatka plans to lift local mood with 'Ministry of Happiness'. rt.com 
Pharrell Williams would surely approve: the governor of the vast, but remote and sparsely populated Kamchatka region has proposed setting up a Ministry of Happiness to lift the mood on the wet and windy weather-beaten promontory. | Kamchatka, the size of the United Kingdom, with a population smaller than that of Malta, is snowbound for half the year, and has a climate ranging from subarctic in the south to polar in the north. Now, Governor Vladimir Solodov plans to get locals smiling, against the odds. The move forms part of wider reforms to government agencies on the peninsula. | In a statement on the Kamchat…
(2020-10-01). Cuba Slams US for Discrediting Its Medical Cooperation. telesurenglish.net Cuba's Foreign Affairs Ministry on Wednesday condemned "pressure and blackmail" from the U.S. government against the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). | RELATED: | "The Ministry denounces a spurious and mendacious evaluation that is being prepared by and for the aggressive purposes of the United States in its eagerness to discredit Cuba's international cooperation," the ministry said in a statement. | The F…
(2020-10-01). Ghalibaf condoles passing of Emir of Kuwait. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Oct. 01 (MNA) — Iranian Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf offered his condolence over the death of Emir of Kuwait Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah.
(2020-10-01). Kuwait will remain loyal to Palestinian cause: new Emir. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Oct. 01 (MNA) — New Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah said that the country will remain loyal to the Palestinian cause.
(2020-10-01). Venezuela Calls EU Terms for Sending Election Observers 'Unacceptable'. sputniknews.com MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) – Venezuela considers unacceptable the conditions put forward by the European External Action Service for sending a mission to monitor the country's general election, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
(2020-10-01). India Hits 6 Million COVID Cases as Modi Government Represses Dissent. truthout.org As India becomes just the second country to hit 6 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, we speak to journalist Rana Ayyub in Mumbai, who was recently hospitalized after testing positive for the disease. India's lead pandemic agency says an antibody study suggests more than 60 million people in the country have already been infected with the coronavirus — 10 times the official count but still a small fraction of its population of 1.3 billion. "It doesn't feel like India is even talking about the pande…