(2021-05-22). [Perspectives] An ironic guide to colonialism in global health. thelancet.com There is something axiomatic about the idea of an evidence-based approach to global health. Who could argue against such a noble enterprise? The uses of evidence and its applications—extended from individual patients to populations at large—are attractive whether in the boardrooms of Geneva or among humanitarian doctors in South Sudan's refugee camps. This approach rationalises complex and diffuse social processes, subtly reconstituting them as discernible medical problems to be solved through technical intervention.
(2021-05-22). [Correspondence] Refugee access to COVID-19 vaccines in Lebanon. thelancet.com Lebanon is currently experiencing multiple unprecedented crises—political, infrastructural, and economic. The Beirut port explosion, in August, 2020, damaged 36% of health facilities.1 The Lebanese pound has lost 90% of its value, pushing more than half of the population into poverty.1 Complicating its desperate plight, Lebanon hosts the largest refugee population per capita in the world.2 The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this situation, leaving an ill-equipped health-care system overwhelmed.
(2021-05-22). [Perspectives] Yee-Sin Leo: a leader in Singapore's fight against infectious diseases. thelancet.com In January, 2020, Yee-Sin Leo, Executive Director of the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) in Singapore, and her team followed an unexplained pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan, China, very closely for any evidence of human-to-human transmission. Given population movement in the region, they knew that if they saw that evidence it meant "that Singapore will get hit with COVID-19 cases", Leo says. So the National Public Health Laboratory at NCID prepared to detect and diagnose cases, drills were done to smooth workflow, and the COVID-19 Research Workgroup was set up.
(2021-05-21). Assimilate or Die: the Horrific Settler-Colonial Annexation Strategy Israel Shares with the US. orinocotribune.com In his 1961 work The Wretched of the Earth, Frantz Fanon observed that "Two centuries ago, a former European colony decided to catch up with Europe. It succeeded so well that the United States of America became a monster, in which the taints, the sickness and the inhumanity of Europe have grown to appalling dimensions." | With the ongoing expansion of the manufactured country of "Israel" into Palestinian lands, the European colonists are replicating this model of exporting their evils. This is what Israel's current invasion of Gaza is about: destroying a population like how the Europeans destroyed the Natives, wh…
(2021-05-21). IMF Proposes $50 Billion Vaccine Plan to End Pandemic and Boost Economy. indybay.org As worldwide COVID cases peak, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva unveiled a $50 billion proposal to support vaccinations of 60% of the world's population. During a G20 and European Commission summit, Georgieva argued the global vaccine investment would end the pandemic and spur $9 trillion in economic gains by 2025.
(2021-05-21). US Extradition of Alex Saab is Illegal & Unfounded: Lawyers & Legal Experts (International Delegation Proposed). orinocotribune.com May 20 (Special for OrinocoTribune.com)—Venezuelan businessman and diplomatic envoy Alex Saab, held in Cape Verde and facing extradition to the US, is a victim of political persecution and his case is comparable to that of Julian Assange or Chelsea Manning. Saab, who had engaged in brokering deals that would evade the US economic blockade against Venezuela and bring fuel, food, and other needed materials to the South American country, was detained in the African island nation of Cape Verde last June. | Over the course of the past year, Saab's case has made waves on the African continent and in Venezuela, wh…
(2021-05-21). US Extradition of Alex Saab is Illegal & Unfounded: Lawyers & Legal Experts. libya360.wordpress.com Saheli Chowdhury & Steve Lalla Alex Saab: "I'm the object of an unprecedented legal persecution to oust President Nicolás Maduro." Venezuelan businessman and diplomatic envoy Alex Saab, held in Cape Verde and facing extradition to the US, is a victim of political persecution and his case is comparable to that of Julian Assange or Chelsea…
(2021-05-21). CNE Confirms Opening Date of Electoral Registry Ahead of 21N Regional Elections in Venezuela. orinocotribune.com 
With the approval of one thousand registry locations for the special day, the National Electoral Council (CNE) confirmed the approval of the opening of the Electoral Registry, between June 1 and July 15 of this year. | In this way, the electoral power will consolidate the data, by updating and registering new voters, in preparation for the regional and local elections scheduled for November 21 in Venezuela. | This was reported by the president of the CNE, Pedro Calzadilla, at the end of the board of directors' meeting. They defined the new steps to follow as part of the electoral schedule drawn up by the CNE auth…
(2021-05-21). Saudi-Led Forces Blew Up Dozens Of Oil Tankers In Yemeni Marib (Videos, Photos). southfront.org 
Saudi troops at their base in Yemen's southern port city of Aden in 2015. IMAGE: Reuters | On May 20, the Houthi-appointed Governor of Ma'rib province in central Yemen, Ali Muhammad Toaiman, condemned a recent attack on a fuel market in al-Arqain area. | The market, which hosted dozens of tankers, was set ablaze a day earlier after clashes between Saudi-backed forces and local tribesmen. In a statement to the pro-Houthis Saba News Agency, Toamian claimed that it was the Saudi-backed forces which targeted the market. | "The a…
(2021-05-21). Brazil: Indigenous Articulation Takes Attacks against Yanomamis to the Supreme Court. libya360.wordpress.com Martha Raquel Sonia Guajajara, one of the leaders who denounced the unpunished attacks against the indigenous population — Mídia Ninja The population suffers with the escalation of wildcat miners' violence in their lands; the attacks continue The Brazilian Indigenous People Articulation (Apib) issued a petition in the Federal Supreme Court (STF) on Wednesday, May 19, asking…
(2021-05-21). How to Save Lives in Jail During the Opioid Crisis. aclu.org Three million Americans currently suffer from Opioid Use Disorder, or an addiction to opioids. Today, adults between the ages of 25 and 44 are more than twice as likely to die from opioid overdose than from COVID-19. When we zoom in on the prison population, the numbers are even more jarring: 85 percent of people in prison or jail have some kind of substance use disorder, compared with 9 percent of the general population. Yet people who are incarcerated are less likely to get access to the care they need to treat their addiction. | Most prisons and jails don't let people take prescription medications like meth…
(2021-05-21). Venezuela's Attorney General 'Works Blindfolded' Due to Silence from International Criminal Court. orinocotribune.com The Attorney General of Venezuela, Tarek William Saab, regretted the absence of communication from the International Criminal Court (ICC) in response to reports sent by the Public Prosecutor's Office, in which the office detailed progress made in legislative matters, and institutional adjustments that Venezuela has implemented following ICC recommendations. | "We emphasize once again that the Venezuelan state works completely blindfolded in its submission of information to the ICC Prosecutor's Office, since it has not received official notification from this body regarding the facts that are under investigation,"
(2021-05-21). West Africa: ECOWAS Court Orders Cape Verde to Release Venezuelan Diplomat Saab. orinocotribune.com Abuja — Eight days after the African Bar Association's (AfBA) warning to Cape Verde Island over the detention of a Venezuelan diplomat, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) court has ruled that the arrest and detention was illegal. | On Monday, the ECOWAS court in Abuja said diplomat Alex Saab should be released and paid $200,000 for unlawful detention. | The AfBA on March 8 had also ordered Cape Verde Island to immediately release Mr. Saab, an accredited Venezuelan special envoy and alternate permanent representative to the African Union. | Mr. Saab was arrested by the Cape Verdean author…
(2021-05-20). United States Gives Former Deputy Guaidó Ultimatum to 'Remove' President Maduro. orinocotribune.com According to the ultra-conservative website PanamPost, Juan Guaidó is working on notice. The news outlet disclosed this Tuesday, May 18, that the US gave the "interim president" an ultimatum until December 1 of this year to "remove" President Maduro. If he is not able to do so within that deadline, his recognition by the US government and his access to the seized Venezuelan assets will be terminated. | This revelation has come out of a meeting between the US Ambassador to Venezuela who resides in Colombia, James Story, and the representatives of the so-called opposition G-4 in the Colombian capital, Bogotá. | The…
(2021-05-20). Cuba Continues to Pursue Goal of 6% Growth in 2021. telesurenglish.net Cuba's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Planning (MEP), Alejandro Gil Fernández, ratified today that Cuba will not give up its goal of growing 6% in 2021, despite the tense situation of the country due to the presence of the pandemic and the tightening of the blockade imposed by the United States.
(2021-05-20). Maduro's Administration Awards Housing to Family of Child Survivor of Accident Repatriated from Argentina. orinocotribune.com The Venezuelan government awarded a new home to the family of the baby boy Oliver Toro, who survived a fatal traffic accident in Argentina, in which his parents died. | Venezuelan Deputy Minister for Latin America, Rander Peña, informed that President Nicolás Maduro granted Oliver Toro's family a home so that the baby "grows up in a home full of love and happiness." | "After the tragedy suffered by the boy Oliver Toro in #Argentina where his parents and grandmother died, President Maduro reunited him with his family in Venezuela and gave a decent house where he can grow up in a home full of love and happiness. Go…
(2021-05-20). Inflation in Venezuela at 24.6% in April, 10% Below April 2020 (Venezuelan Central Bank). orinocotribune.com 
Caracas, May 20 (Special for OrinocoTribune.com)—This Wednesday, May 19, the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) released the consumer price index (CPI) for April 2021, a statistic through which inflation levels in the country can be measured. | According to Venezuela's monetary authority, the index suffered a variation of 24.6%, which brings the total to 183.8% for the first four months of 2021, with 46.6% in January, 33.8% in February, 16.1% in March and 24.6% in April. | A comparison between April 2020 and April 2021 shows a small decrease in the inflation figures. In April 2020 an inflation rate of 27.5% wa…
(2021-05-20). Venezuela: Government Reviews Indigenous Development Projects. telesurenglish.net This meeting was headed by the Minister for Indigenous Peoples, Yamilet Mirabal and the Director of Cooperation with United Nations Agencies of the Office of the Deputy Minister for Multilateral Issues of the Ministry of People's Power for Foreign Affairs, Sergio Barasarte. | RELATED: | The meeting on indigenous affairs was similarly attended by the Deputy Minister of Social and Institutional Planning of the Ministry of Peo…
(2021-05-20). Solidarity Saves Lives: The World is Mobilizing to Send Syringes to Cuba. orinocotribune.com By Alejandra García — May 16, 2021 | In March, social organizations, political leaders, and solidarity movements launched a fundraising campaign to send syringes to Cuba. The world wants to support the vaccination process of this small nation, which has done so much to fight COVID-19 even beyond its borders. | The campaign has gained momentum and size as the days have gone by. The initiative began in Europe, thanks to the Cuba Linda and France-Cuba Associations, and today it is spreading throughout the Americas. "Blockade Kills, Solidarity Saves Lives" is the slogan of the cause that is attracting everyone's…
(2021-05-20). As India's daily COVID-19 deaths reach new high, Modi opposes free vaccinations. wsws.org In keeping with its systematic prioritization of profits over lives, the Modi government is refusing to provide free vaccinations to India's impoverished population, although this would cost a mere 0.32 percent of GDP.
(2021-05-20). FARC Leader Jesús Santrich Reportedly Killed Inside Venezuela. venezuelanalysis.com The death of the left-wing rebel commander and former peace negotiator was confirmed in a statement by the FARC Segunda Marquetalia.
(2021-05-20). Cuba Expects To Receive 2.2 Mln Tourists in 2021. telesurenglish.net Cuba expects to receive nearly 2.2 million tourists by the end of the year, the country's Minister of Economy and Planning Alejandro Gil said Thursday. | RELATED: | "The tourism industry is fundamental for the island's economic recovery," he told a press conference on the performance of the Cuban economy in 2021. | Gil said that during the first months of the year the number of tourists arrival on the island was not as planned due to the…
(2021-05-20). China Chat: How did China save the crested ibis from extinction?>. telesurenglish.net 40 years ago a Chinese scientist found the world's 7 remaining wild crested ibises in Shaanxi. Now the bird's population numbers in the thousands. How is this possible? We talked to the 85-year-old scientist & other guardians of this endangered species to find out…
(2021-05-20). This Is Not A Crisis—This Is A Rebellion. popularresistance.org A mambo and hougan—the traditional voudou priestess and priest—lead ancestral ceremonies before rallies take the streets and block the central arteries of Port-au-Prince, Cap HaàØtien, and other Haitian cities and towns. After one of their members was kidnapped, leaders of the Protestant Church directed its congregation to halt all activities at noon on Wednesday and bat tenèb. Bat tenèb, literally "beat the darkness," is a call for all sectors of Haitian society to beat pots, pans, street lights and anything else as a general alert of an emergency. A Catholic church in Petionville held a mass…