'It'd be called an invasion': Trump says he'd use ARMY to raid Venezuela as he doubles down on denial of ordering botched plot
rt.com | 2020-05-08
US President Donald Trump has dismissed claims the foiled plot to kidnap Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had government backing, insisting he'd have done it differently

When silence speaks volumes: US cut off ALL communication channels with Caracas after botched mercenary raid, says Maduro
rt.com | 2020-05-08
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has said that evidence will soon reveal the US leader himself was behind the failed incursion attempt, noting that Washington severed all remaining ties with Caracas thereafter. | In an interview with Uruguayan reporter Jorge Gestoso on Thursday evening, Maduro said the freshly-appointed Ambassador James Story

Venezuela Confronts Intimidation, Myth-making, and Dirty War
W. T. Whitney | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-08
Venezuela's story currently is of vulnerability and precariousness amidst signs of rising U.S. aggression. The imperialist U.S. government wants the socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro removed and insists that Venezuela's massive oil reserves and the entire continent remain within the fold of international capitalism. Crucial to these U.S. designs is junior partner Colombia with…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/08/venezuela-confronts-intimidation-myth-making-and-dirty-war/

On The Latest Failed Attempt To Topple Nicolas Maduro
Steve Ellner | zcomm.org | 2020-05-08
To understand the workings of this latest botched Venezuelan regime-change scheme by a 60-man sea-borne assault group from Colombia, it's necessary to take into account the fragmentation among Venezuelan opposition extremists…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/on-the-latest-failed-attempt-to-topple-nicolas-maduro/

Live and Let Die
Paul Street | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-08
Real Time Reflections from Sheltered Radicals in the Time of the Most Dangerous Criminal in Human History May 3 + Street: Comrades, this article never ends but it's worth a read: "34 days of pandemic: Inside Trump's desperate attempts to reopen America." It is a blow-by-blow account of Trump's total reckless insanity in response to…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/08/live-and-let-die/

This is Not a Conspiracy, It is a Terrifying Opportunity
Brad Evans | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-08
Every catastrophe and crisis are followed by a litany of conspiracy theories. The Covid-19 pandemic has proved no exception. From tales concerning transmission of some lethal agent through 5G infrastructure, to grand theories concerning a mastermind plot to destabilise the world, the fantastical and the absurd have spread almost as quickly as the virus. While the early culprits ranged from the Bill Gates to the Iranians, George Soros to the Eco-fascists, it's becoming more and more common to suggest some orchestrated Chinese plot. The alleged death of Kim Jong-un which had socialists the world over speculating ab…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/08/this-is-not-a-conspiracy-it-is-a-terrifying-opportunity/

For the United Socialist States of the Middle East and Central Asia
wsws.org | 2020-05-08
The pandemic exposes not only the bankruptcy of the Middle Eastern bourgeoisies, but the true face of imperialism.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/05/08/uasp-m08.html

US-China "War of Words", COVID-19, Economic Collapse, Is the US-China Trade Deal in Jeopardy?
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2020-05-08
In December, China agreed to buy an additional $200 billion worth of US goods and services over 2017 levels in the next two years (in 2020 and 2021). | In return, the Trump regime partially rolled back tariffs on Chinese imports …
globalresearch.ca/sino-us-war-words-covid-19-economic-collapse-us-china-trade-deal-jeopardy/5712221

What Future for American High School and University-College Graduates? Grim US "Class of 2020" Job Prospects
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2020-05-08
US class of 2020 high school and higher education graduates face the most dismal job market since the 1930s Great Depression with no near-term end of it in prospect. | According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, "(g)raduating in a …
globalresearch.ca/us-class-2020-job-prospects/5712224

Foreign Correspondent: Biden vs. Trump on Foreign Policy
Reese Erlich | progressive.org | 2020-05-08
The differences are not as great as you might suspect, but there is a clear winner.
progressive.org/dispatches/biden-vs-trump-on-foreign-policy-erlich-200508/

Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic, America's Billionaires Thrive and Prosper
Lawrence Wittner | zcomm.org | 2020-05-08
Although most Americans currently face hard times, with unemployment surging to the levels of the Great Depression and enormous numbers of people sick or dying from the coronavirus pandemic, the nation's super-rich remain a notable exception. Financially, they are doing remarkably well. According to the Institute for Policy Studies, between March 18 and April 28, Read…
zcomm.org/zblogs/amid-the-coronavirus-pandemic-americas-billionaires-thrive-and-prosper/

COVID-19 Might Cause Mass Starvation in the Global South Unless the World Acts Now
Andrew Korybko | globalresearch.ca | 2020-05-08
Provided that developing nations are assured of debt relief (however it be agreed upon) and the world's leading agricultural exporters can ensure the continuance of their operations (preferably subsidized by the state as emergency aid to the Global South), then …
globalresearch.ca/covid-19-cause-mass-starvation-global-south/5712215

COVID-19 Might Cause Mass Starvation In The Global South Unless The World Acts Now
Andrew Korybko | thealtworld.com | 2020-05-08
Provided that developing nations are assured of debt relief (however it be agreed upon) and the world's leading agricultural exporters can ensure the continuance of their operations (preferably subsidized by the state as emergency aid to the Global South), then it's possible that this looming catastrophe can be averted. If that doesn't happen for some reason, then not only could countless people perish, but the geopolitical stability of this broad swath of the planet could be shattered if domestic and/or international unrest follows as a result. | The developing countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, colle…

COVID-19 Might Cause Mass Starvation In The Global South Unless The World Acts Now

Beijing May Dump US Treasuries in Response to US Hostility, Start Its Own QE: Chinese Media
Zero Hedge | globalresearch.ca | 2020-05-08
In response to recent media speculation that as the blame game over the origins of the coronavirus pandemic escalates the US may cancel some of its $1.1 trillion debt owed to China, the South China Morning Post reported today that …
globalresearch.ca/beijing-may-dump-us-treasuries-start-own-qe-chinese-media/5712196

100 Years of Shame: Annexation of Palestine Began in San Remo
Ralph Nader | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-08
One hundred years ago, representatives from a few powerful countries convened at San Remo, a sleepy town on the Italian Riviera. Together, they sealed the fate of the massive territories confiscated from the Ottoman Empire following its defeat in World War I. It was on April 25, 1920, that the San Remo Conference Resolution was…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/08/100-years-of-shame-annexation-of-palestine-began-in-san-remo/

Democrats: Dump Biden Now
Andrew Levine | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-08
Listen up Democrats: dump Joe Biden; dump him now. I implore you not as one of you, but as someone who considers voting for Republicans unthinkable, and who nearly always does vote for Democrats for want of better alternatives. Ever since Ralph Nader's campaign twenty years ago, I have always voted for the Green candidate…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/08/democrats-dump-biden-now/

Greece's Renewed Relations with Syria Further Isolates Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean
Paul Antonopoulos | globalresearch.ca | 2020-05-08
On Tuesday, the Greek Foreign Ministry finally announced a restoration of relations between Greece and Syria and assigned former ambassador to Syria and Russia, Tasia Athanassiou, as a Special Envoy of Greece's Foreign Ministry for Syria. Greek Foreign Minister …
globalresearch.ca/greece-renewed-relations-syria-isolates-turkey/5712179

The Coronavirus Crisis Has Exposed Germany's Ambition to Take Control of the EU
Paul Antonopoulos | globalresearch.ca | 2020-05-08
It has been repeatedly stated that the management of the coronavirus pandemic will be a barometer of how capable leaders are handling unprecedented crisis. Think how U.S. President Donald Trump has been lambasted all over the globe for letting coronavirus …
globalresearch.ca/coronavirus-exposed-germany-ambition-completely-control-eu/5712259

Silvercorp co-founder speaks with The Grayzone: What did State Department know about failed Venezuela invasion?
Anya Parampil | thegrayzone.com | 2020-05-08
The Grayzone speaks to Drew White

As States Loosen Pandemic Restrictions, Dr. Leana Wen Warns "We Are Not Ready for a Safe Reopening"
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-05-08
As more than 40 states begin to reopen, President Trump is downplaying the need for mass COVID-19 testing, even as he himself is now being tested every day for the virus. We speak with emergency physician Dr. Leana Wen, who says, "Widespread testing is so critical. … Why shouldn't this testing be available to all Americans?"
www.democracynow.org/2020/5/8/dr_leana_wen_covid_19_testing

"A Terrible Price": Mardi Gras Story Lays Bare How COVID-19 Is Devastating Black America
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-05-08
We look at the deadly disparate impact of the pandemic on African Americans as told through an in-depth story for The New York Times Magazine by writer Linda Villarosa in her new piece, "'A Terrible Price': The Deadly Racial Disparities of Covid-19 in America," that tells what happened to the Zulu club, a Black social organization in New Orleans, during and after Mardi Gras. She reports that the experience is usually a joy, but the coronavirus made it a tragedy.
www.democracynow.org/2020/5/8/coronavirus_racial_disparity_zulu_club_new

Trump Death Clock: Times Square Billboard Tallies Lives Lost to COVID-19 Inaction
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-05-08
A 56-foot billboard called the Trump Death Clock was unveiled in Times Square in New York City. The tally of lives lost to government inaction was created by filmmaker Eugene Jarecki, who says, "On behalf of all of those who needlessly lost their lives to this failed leadership in a pandemic, we need a symbol, a symbol that cries out not only for accountability, but also for more responsible and responsive stewardship, going forward." As of the Friday morning broadcast, the death toll count was nearly 47,000 and growing.
www.democracynow.org/2020/5/8/times_square_trump_death_clock_covid

"A Lynch Mob": After Months of Inaction, 2 White Men Are Charged with Murder of Ahmaud Arbery in GA
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-05-08
The two white men caught on camera shooting and killing Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed 25-year-old African American man, were arrested and charged Thursday with murder. The arrests came two days after video of the attack in February was shared with the public, sparking widespread outrage. Today would have been Arbery's 26th birthday. We speak with civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who represents the Arbery family and formerly represented Trayvon Martin.
www.democracynow.org/2020/5/8/ahmaud_arbery_murder_benjamin_crump

Justice is Indivisible: Placing Palestine Back at the Center of American Muslim Activism
Ramzy Baroud | mintpressnews.com | 2020-05-08
In many mosques across the US, Palestine, Kashmir, Afghanistan, and other places of great and perpetual injustice are hardly mentioned. Perhaps, argues Ramzy Baroud, over fear that doing so would place them at the radar of the FBI or local enforcement agencies.
mintpressnews.com/placing-palestine-center-of-muslim-american-activism/267317/

Right of Palestine should be taken from usurper regime of Israel in force: official
en.mehrnews.com | 2020-05-08
TEHRAN, May 08 (MNA)

Palestine President Abbas Threatens to Tear-up Agreements with Israel, US if West Bank Is Annexed
The New Arab | globalresearch.ca | 2020-05-08
The Palestinian Authority has threatened to cut all agreements signed with Israel and the US, if the annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank goes ahead. | During a meeting in Ramallah with the Fatah Central Committee, Mahmoud…
globalresearch.ca/palestine-president-abbas-threatens-tear-up-agreements-israel-us-west-bank-annexed/5712232

Palestinians And Israelis Remember Casualties Together
Staff | therealnews.com | 2020-05-08
The alternative memorial service organized by peace organizations in Israel/Palestine challenges the racist official memorial services of the State of Israel in which only Israeli casualties are remembered.
therealnews.com/stories/palestinians-israelis-remember-casualties-memorial-service

Roaming Charges: Ain't Living Long Like This
Jeffrey St. Clair | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-08
+ The detestable rationalizations liberals make for sticking with Biden despite Tara Reade's convincing story can't come as any surprise. It's the same ritual contortions they've made about the Iraq war, fracking, abortion, the drug war, Anita Hill, social security, segregation, climate change, health care, deportations, a living wage, student debt, the Patriot Act, pipelines, the Libyan coup, climate change. To be a Democrat is to live in a constant state of denial, self-contradiction and moral hypocrisy.
counterpunch.org/2020/05/08/roaming-charges-aint-living-long-like-this/

Maduro Accuses US Chargé d'Affaires Story of Being Behind Boat Incursion From Colombia
sputniknews.com | 2020-05-08
MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Friday that the US Chargé d' Affaires, for the Venezuela Affairs Unit, James Story, played a part in Sunday's boat incursion from Colombia.
sputniknews.com/latam/202005081079243245-maduro-accuses-story-of-being-behind-boat-incursion-from-colombia/

Never Cease to Fail? Private Military Company Behind Botched Venezuela Raid Suspected of Plagiarism
sputniknews.com | 2020-05-08
Company head Jordan Goudreau has acknowledged his involvement in an attempt to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro after two of his men were captured, with one of them making a confession aired on Venezuelan TV.
sputniknews.com/us/202005081079243317-never-cease-to-fail-private-military-company-behind-botched-venezuela-raid-suspected-of-plagiarism/

Guaido Accused of Hiring Mercenaries Behind Foiled Coup Attempt in Venezuela
Steve Sweeney | globalresearch.ca | 2020-05-08
Washington-backed Venezuelan opposition politician Juan Guaido has been accused of hiring mercenaries responsible for two foiled terror attacks, as more details of the plot begin to emerge. | Venezuelan communications minister Jorge Rodriguez confirmed that the former president of the National …
globalresearch.ca/guaido-accused-hiring-mercenaries-foiled-coup-attempt-venezuela/5712228

US Wants Release of Two Special Forces Veterans Who Led Failed Coup Invasion of Venezuela
Dave Lindorff | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-08
Imperial overreach was on full display this week as the US government demanded that a pair of US citizens

Freedom for Assange is inseparable from the fight against war and for socialism
wsws.org | 2020-05-08
All those political tendencies and individuals who refused to defend Assange–and who joined in the slander campaign against him–have blood on their hands.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/05/08/thom-m08.html

British coastguards rescue more than 120 migrants on 7 boats in Channel
rt.com | 2020-05-08
British coastguards rescued more than 120 migrants trying to cross the English Channel on seven small boats, French maritime authorities said on Friday. | The rescue took place in the night from Thursday to Friday, according to a spokesman for the Maritime Prefecture for the Channel and North Sea. | Border officials and coastguards in Britain and France have intercepted numerous attempted crossings in recent months as migrants have repeatedly tried to travel from destinations in Asia and Africa to Britain. | "It's little wonder people living in France's refugee camps are desperate to make this dangerous crossi…
rt.com/newsline/488175-british-coastguards-migrants-channel/

Crowded Prisons Are About to Create a Coronavirus Crisis in Rural America
Tana Ganeva | zcomm.org | 2020-05-08
For the past several decades, rural America's economic lifeline has been the construction and operation of prisons and immigrant detention centers, both public and for-profit…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/crowded-prisons-are-about-to-create-a-coronavirus-crisis-in-rural-america/

The Pandemic's Impact on Immigration Detention Centers
Andrea Arroyo | thenation.com | 2020-05-08
The Pandemic's Impact on Immigration Detention Centers…
thenation.com/article/society/pandemic-impact-on-immigration-detention-centers/

Karnataka State government concedes unions' demands, allows migrants to return home
Pavan Kulkarni | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-05-08
The State government had earlier decided to seek a halt to special train services for migrant workers from other States to return home amid the COVID-19 crisis. This was after a meeting with real estate developers who reportedly said they want to retain the laborers for construction work…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/05/08/karnataka-state-government-concedes-unions-demands-allows-migrants-to-return-home/

China should TRIPLE nuclear arsenal to deter 'warmongering' US, editor of state-run Global Times argues
rt.com | 2020-05-08
China should drastically increase its stockpile of nuclear warheads to dissuade the United States from pursuing its strategic ambitions abroad, the editor of the Global Times has urged. | In a piece published by his own paper, Hu Xijin said China is a "peace-loving nation" that has pledged to never be the first to use nuclear weapons. He argued, however, that Beijing must aim to expand the number of its nuclear warheads to 1,000 to create a powerful deterrent to "shape the attitudes of US elites toward China." The Asian power currently has around 300 nuclear weapons. | He said that bolstering China's nuclear c…
rt.com/news/488157-china-nuclear-warheads-increase-us/

#WorkerRightsNow: Day of Action for Essential Worker Bill of Rights
MoveOn, Greenpeace, others | indybay.org | 2020-05-08
Online and/or phone call actions…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/05/06/18832854.php

Why Trump and Anti-Lockdown Protesters' Calls to Return to Normal Are Acts of White Supremacy
Sonali Kolhatkar | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-08
When the coronavirus pandemic was first declared, Americans dutifully stayed at home to prevent outbreaks like the ones playing out in China and Italy. Although a majority of Americans continue to support quarantine orders intended to quell the spread of the virus, a growing number of anti-lockdown protests across the nation are sending a clear…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/08/why-trump-and-anti-lockdown-protesters-calls-to-return-to-normal-are-acts-of-white-supremacy/

Vietnam protests Beijing's 'unilateral fishing ban' in S. China Sea
rt.com | 2020-05-08
Hanoi protested on Friday against what it described as Beijing's unilateral fishing ban in the disputed South China Sea from May 1 to August 16. The statement comes weeks after Vietnamese boat had reportedly been rammed by a Chinese maritime surveillance vessel, Reuters said. | China and Vietnam have for years been embroiled in a dispute over the potentially energy-rich stretch of water, called the East Sea by Hanoi. | "Vietnam demands that China not further complicate the situation in the South China Sea," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said in a statement. | China's Foreign Ministry said on Apr…
rt.com/newsline/488120-vietnam-china-sea-protest/

Long Live the Spirit of Kent and Jackson State!
Otis Grotewohl | workers.org | 2020-05-08
May 4 and May 15, 2020, mark the 50th anniversaries of the murders of students at Kent State and Jackson State in the United States. Many people are familiar with the National Guard shooting of students and protesters at Ohio's Kent State University in 1970, which left four dead and . . . | Continue reading Long Live the Spirit of Kent and Jackson State! at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/05/48357/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=long-live-the-spirit-of-kent-and-jackson-state

Prodded by Right Wingers, Santa Cruz Businesses Operate Outside of Health Restrictions
Santa Cruz News | indybay.org | 2020-05-08
The "Committee to Reopen Santa Cruz," a group founded recently by right wing extremists who believe the COVID-19 Pandemic is a hoax, is prodding local businesses to open early. The group has announced that the Om Gallery on Pacific Avenue is opening to two shoppers at a time from 1-5pm on Friday, May 8, by appointment. The Committee to Reopen Santa Cruz also plans to do "guerrilla yoga" at a studio that will secretly open its doors for the group. "Some studios are opening the back door for the cool kids club. No Snitches," a flyer for a May 8 "Freedom Friday" protest states. On May 6, the Santa Cruz County Health…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/05/07/18832876.php

HIGH-FREQUENCY failure of combination antiretroviral therapy in paediatric HIV infection is associated with unmet maternal needs causing maternal NON-ADHERENCE
Jane R. Millar, Nomonde Bengu, Rowena Fillis, Ken Sprenger, Vuyokazi Ntlantsana, Vinicius A. Vieira, Nisreen Khambati, Moherndran Archary, Maximilian Muenchhoff, Andreas Groll, Nicholas Grayson, John Adamson, Katya Govender, Krista Dong, Photini Kiepiela, Bruce D. Walker, David Bonsall, Thomas Connor, Matthew J. Bull, Nelisiwe Nxele, Julia Roider, Nasreen Ismail, Emily Adland, Maria C. Puertas, Javier Martinez-Picado, Philippa C. Matthews, Thumbi Ndung'u, Philip Goulder, the Ucwaningo Lwabantwana Consortium | thelancet.com | 2020-05-08
The success of early infant testing and cART initiation strategies is severely limited by subsequent cART non-adherence in HIV-infected children. Although there are practical challenges to administering paediatric cART formulations, these are overcome by mothers who themselves are cART-adherent. These findings point to the ongoing obligation to address the unmet needs of the mothers. Eliminating the particular barriers preventing adequate treatment for these vulnerable women and infants need to be prioritised in order to achieve durable suppression of viraemia on cART, let alone HIV cure/remission, in HIV-infecte…
thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(20)30088-2/fulltext?rss=yes

Protecting Our Democracy w/ Stacey Abrams & Ari Berman of 'Mother Jones'
Mother Jones | indybay.org | 2020-05-08
Online…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/05/06/18832851.php

New outbreaks of COVID-19 reported at workplaces across the US
wsws.org | 2020-05-08
As states continue to push to reopen their economies and force workers back on the job, new hot-spots are emerging in factories and stores from Iowa to Massachusetts.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/05/08/covd-m08.html

Venezuela: A Failed US Invasion in the Midst of a Pandemic
Dr. Chandra Muzaffar | globalresearch.ca | 2020-05-08
In the midst of a massive global pandemic that has killed tens of thousands of people and wrecked economies all over the world leaving millions jobless, some terrorists and mercenaries allegedly backed by certain governments had on 3rd May …
globalresearch.ca/invasion-midst-pandemic/5712192

The Plot to Blame China for COVID-19
T.J. Coles | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-08
The Trump lot–Steve Bannon, Peter Navarro, Mike Pompeo–and their media cheerleaders are as fanatically anti-China as the Biden crew is anti-Russia. Just like George W. Bush's WMD lies in the early-2000s, there is a developing timeline of Trumpian efforts to bend intelligence on COVID to the administration's anti-China policy. TARGET: CHINA In the 1980s, the…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/08/the-plot-to-blame-china-for-covid-19/

Mayo Clinic expert discusses potential neurological effects of COVID-19
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org | 2020-05-08
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can take a severe toll on the respiratory system. However, recent research suggests that the virus may also infect the nervous system. A study of patients with COVID-19 out of Wuhan, China found that possible neurological signs and symptoms caused by COVID-19 can include loss of taste and smell, …
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-expert-discusses-potential-neurological-effects-of-covid-19/

COVID May 8, 2020 An Intel Drop, White House Hiding a 500,000 Death Figure
Gordon Duff | thealtworld.com | 2020-05-08
We begin with the deal breaker of all time. COVID is supposed to be a bat virus, a natural bat virus, unmodified, supposedly from China, right? | Name one animal that can't get COVID? | smiling COVID bat, Lugar Center 2018 | The folks in the White House mostly went to business school. They had statistics classes and they all know numbers. You can't steal without being able to count or at least without being able to hire someone who counts, as in Trump's case. | The numbers we are given are fake, not a little fake but great big fa…

COVID May 8, 2020 An Intel Drop, White House Hiding a 500,000 Death Figure