(2020-05-30). [World Report] COVID-19 strains remote regions of Peru. thelancet.com The health system in Iquitos is stretched and the true number of COVID-19 cases and deaths is unclear. Barbara Fraser reports from Lima.
(2020-05-30). [Comment] Justice and health: The Lancet—Health Equity and Policy Lab Commission. thelancet.com Justice forms the foundation for what we owe each other and what fairness among human beings and institutions involves. Globally, there are large inequalities in health outcomes and opportunities for health. Not only is the global burden of disease distributed unevenly but capabilities to prevent and treat disease are also asymmetrical; those in greatest need often have the least access to human, physical, and financial resources for health. Global health justice provides an account of what justice across our planet embodies, offers solutions to global health problems, and identifies who has responsibilities and…
(2020-05-30). [Clinical Picture] Drusen in dense deposit disease: not just age-related macular degeneration. thelancet.com A 40-year-old woman was referred to our clinic by her optometrist because she had lesions on her retina suggestive of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). She was otherwise well: with no systemic or visual symptoms.
(2020-05-30). [Correspondence] The health-related determinants of politics. thelancet.com I was pleased to read Richard Horton's Comment about populist politics.1 However, the problem of political populism and solution that he charts out seem somewhat non-sequitur.
(2020-05-30). [Correspondence] Time for global health diplomacy. thelancet.com 2019 was The Lancet's Year for Nutrition. Highlights included reports from the EAT-Lancet Commission1 and The Global Syndemic Commission,2 both emphasising that global trade systems must be transformed to ensure healthy and sustainable diets. But what developments can be expected following these reports? We might get an indication by considering what has happened since The Lancet's 2009 Trade and Health Series. This Series criticised the trade agreements of the World Trade Organization (WTO) for being detrimental to global health, among other things, by facilitating unhealthy diets.
(2020-05-30). [Editorial] COVID-19 in Africa: no room for complacency. thelancet.com Despite over 100‚Äà000 confirmed cases and infections in every country, the passage of COVID-19 through the African continent remains somewhat enigmatic. High numbers of deaths were expected in the region due to fragile health systems, lack of access to preventive measures, barriers to testing, and potentially vulnerable populations. But, according to WHO, Africa is the least affected region globally, with 1 ∑5% of the world's reported COVID-19 cases and 0 ∑1% of the world's deaths. Although comparisons are inaccurate, mortality rates have been lower compared with outbreaks of similar si…
(2020-05-30). [Perspectives] A call for food system change. thelancet.com In shutting down entire societies, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fundamental inequities and inadequacies of market-driven economies that prioritise profits over human welfare. Inequities show up in businesses that furlough employees while paying high salaries and bonuses to executives. They are also revealed by the dependence of food systems on poorly paid workers and cheap global supply chains. The COVID-19 crisis demonstrates how current food systems fail to protect populations from hunger and diet-influenced non-communicable diseases and why the poor, disenfranchised, discriminated against, and chronic…
(2020-05-30). [Correspondence] Cost-effectiveness of transitional US plans for universal health care. thelancet.com The USA stands alone as the only high-income country not to provide health care as a human right, leaving almost 80 million of its citizens without adequate insurance.1—3 In a 2020 study, we found that securing quality health care for the entire country would save 68‚Äà000 lives and 1 ∑73 million life-years annually.4…
(2020-05-30). [Comment] Offline: After COVID-19—is an "alternate society" possible? thelancet.com How do we make sense of this pandemic? The first interpretations are now appearing. Slavoj ≈Ωi≈æek is a prolific philosopher and cultural theorist. He is the first to produce a volume of reflections—Pandemic! COVID-19 Shakes the World (Polity, 2020). ≈Ωi≈æek doubts the epidemic will make us wiser: he insists that "we should resist the temptation to treat the ongoing epidemic as something that has a deeper meaning". Despite these cautions, we still have an important question to answer: "What is wrong with our system that we were caught unprepared by the catastr…
(2020-05-30). [World Report] Fears of "highly catastrophic" COVID-19 spread in Yemen. thelancet.com Yemen's health system has been devastated by years of conflict and COVID-19 deaths are reported to be surging in Aden. Sharmila Devi reports.
(2020-05-30). [Correspondence] Towards more balanced representation in Lancet Commissions. thelancet.com Enthusiastically, Richard Horton1 reports on the foundation of the Italian Institute of Planetary Health at a time when youth strikes, an emerging pandemic of a new coronavirus, and burning forests remind us of our planet being in jeopardy. We agree that something must change so that the undoubtable advances in science and medicine that were made since the time of Lucretius translate into a better life for all humans, no matter who they are, where they were born, and where they live and work.1 Yet, the lamented crisis of trust in science and medicine cannot be overcome by concepts of global health or planetary he…
(2020-05-29). As Establishment Condemns China for Hong Kong Repression, Trump Tweets About "Shooting Looters" mintpressnews.com Democrats and Republicans are united in condemning Beijing for its overreach, but perhaps its time to look closer to home to find examples of state repression.
(2020-05-29). Political Ambiguity or a Doomsday Weapon: Why Abbas Abandoned Oslo. counterpunch.org 
This time, we are told, it is different and that President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, is absolutely serious about his decision to absolve his leadership from all previous agreements signed with Israel and the United States. But this time is not different, and Abbas is not serious. "The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and
(2020-05-29). Howie Hawkins and the Green Party: Capitalist politics in the guise of "ecosocialism" wsws.org Following Bernie Sanders's endorsement of Biden, the Green Party and its presumptive presidential nominee Hawkins are presenting themselves as the continuation of Sanders's "political revolution."
(2020-05-29). Trump Is No Longer Interested in Trade Deal with China? globalresearch.ca U.S. President Donald Trump is losing interest in the trade deal he made with China, according to his economic adviser, and the reason could be that as we progress further into the election season, fixing relations with China is less …
(2020-05-29). Trump the "Peace Candidate": Contemplating War During Pandemic against Two Global Competitors. Nuclear Weapons "Tests" against China and Russia. globalresearch.ca Let us consider why the Donald Trump White House is currently considering
(2020-05-29). Coverage of School Reopening Needs to Include School Workers. commondreams.org School closures have created some of the most trying ordeals for families in this pandemic. (Photo: carl_hfser/flickr) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/education_poverty_0.jpg …
(2020-05-29). Exclusive images from inside British court expose Assange's un-democratic treatment, physical deterioration. thegrayzone.com Photographs surreptitiously taken inside a British courtroom and provided to The Grayzone show a visibly disoriented Julian Assange confined to…
(2020-05-29). Minneapolis police leader defending George Floyd's killers tied to 'white power'-linked biker gang. thegrayzone.com From The Grayzone vault: The record of a pro-Trump Minneapolis police leader defending the killers of George Floyd reveals a…
(2020-05-29). Pandemic Crisis and Recession Can Spark a Fight for Real Change in the US. counterpunch.org American workers have a huge opportunity as a result of this coronavirus pandemic — an opportunity to massively expand union membership in the workplace, and a chance, after decades of being ignored by Congress, to finally win a desperately needed increase in the federal minimum wage from its current $7.25 per hour to at least
(2020-05-29). Emily Maitlis is No Media Hero: She Simply Forgot What She and the BBC Are There To Do. dissidentvoice.org 
The wrong conclusions are being drawn about Emily Maitlis's comments on Dominic Cummings on the BBC flagship Newsnight show this week. Her remarks are not evidence of her courage, or that journalists are being gagged, or that the BBC is suddenly capitulating to the government. | The problem is caused by our desire to focus on whether Maitlis was right or wrong about Cummings, Boris Johnson's chief adviser, breaking the lockdown rules. But it is actually a distraction to fixate on the issue of whether Maitlis should or should not have been allowed to express the widely shared view — supported by a police…
(2020-05-29). Against police violence and capitalism, to rebel is justified. workers.org 
Workers World salutes all the brave protesters in Minneapolis, currently ground zero against police terror. We also salute those activists in Los Angeles, Memphis and other cities who are organizing protests and braving the pandemic to be in the streets or in car caravans to show solidarity with the demand: . . . |
(2020-05-29). Car caravan: Free Our Youth! workers.org 
Philadelphia As states across the U.S. took steps to stop the spread of COVID-19 — closing schools and workplaces, canceling events and shifting to supporting children in their homes and communities — one group of young people is being left behind: the nearly 50,000 youth locked up across the country. . . . |
(2020-05-29). CUNY and the struggle against COVID-19 cuts. workers.org 
Special to Workers World The City University of New York is the largest urban public university system in the United States. It has 275,000 students, spread over 11 senior colleges funded by New York state; seven community colleges, funded by New York City; and seven postgraduate institutions. Its students are . . . |
(2020-05-29). Packinghouse workers strike vs. bosses & COVID-19. workers.org 
Seattle May 24 — Strikes broke out May 7 in several apple packinghouses and continue in Washington state's Yakima Valley. Latinx workers are striking more than a half-dozen big, rich packinghouses. Fruit packers in Washington state are in their third week on strike. At least 400 workers have stayed out . . . |
(2020-05-29). Bibles at the Barricades: How the Right Seized Power in Bolivia. counterpunch.org 
Returning to La Paz, Bolivia after last November's coup was like returning to the scene of a crime. Since Bolivian President Evo Morales was removed from power, right-wing interim President Jeanine àÅñez has led the country with an iron fist. State repression immediately following the coup left dozens dead and the government has been throwing
(2020-05-29). Trump Is Unbeatable in the Race to the Bottom and So Is the GOP. counterpunch.org 
In the race to the bottom, Donald Trump is unbeatable. Therefore, so now too is the Republican Party; being under his thumb, it is with him, every step of the way. This is why Joe Biden will have a hard time losing in November, no matter how good he and other corporate Democrats are at
(2020-05-29). Western Reaction to China Shows the Bad Old Days Haven't Passed. dissidentvoice.org 
One of the most tiresome clichés uttered by the western nations, including Australia, is their alleged commitment to the "rules based international order". By this they generally mean a set of rules of supposed international authority, to which all developed nations are expected to adhere. Those who allegedly failed to do so are labelled as …
(2020-05-29). Protest, Uprisings, and Race War. counterpunch.org 
The moralizing has begun. Those who have rarely been the target of organized police gangsterism are once again lecturing those who have about how best to respond to it. Be peaceful, they implore, as protesters rise up in Minneapolis and across the country in response to the killing of George Floyd. This, coming from the
(2020-05-29). In Search of a Lost Socialism. counterpunch.org 
In May of 1914 — 107 years ago this month — a small, yet vibrant socialist colony on the edge of Los Angeles County took root that is worth revisiting. In the Age of Covid-19, and with the continued violent assault on black and brown people across the US, one must visualize a more peaceful,
(2020-05-29). Essential Remittances To Africa Devastated By Coronavirus Pandemic. therealnews.com 
Families dependent on remittances from seasonal workers are facing a crisis, even in countries without widespread COVID-19 cases.
(2020-05-29). A Growing Wave of Bankruptcies Threatens U.S. Recovery. counterpunch.org 
The bankruptcy epidemic in the U.S. started last year, long before any COVID-19 pandemic had touched down. U.S. retailers ranked among the greatest casualties of 2019 with a total of 17 bankruptcies. Big names among the retail bankruptcies in 2019 included Gymboree on January 16; Charlotte Russe on February 3; Things Remembered on February 6;
(2020-05-29). Corporate university—pandemic edition. mronline.org 
Will colleges and universities reopen in the fall? That's the question on the minds of many these day—administrators, faculty, staff, students, and their families, not to mention the communities in which they live.
(2020-05-29). Baltimore Mayoral Candidate Wants to Limit Mayoral Power. therealnews.com 
Baltimore's upcoming primary election will be notable and not just because residents will primarily vote by mail due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The mayoral election on June 2 comes after a massive corruption scandal led to a federal indictment against the previously-elected mayor in 2019. As a result of that corruption scandal, there is a heated debate over whether the city should reform its "Strong Mayor" system of governance that gives more power to Baltimore's City executive than any other major city, offers few checks on their power and many argue, enabled the 2019 scandal. | One leading mayoral candidate, Cit…
(2020-05-29). The Odyssey of Elias Demetracopoulos. counterpunch.org 
In twenty-first-century mainstream media, a real journalist is difficult to find. Instead, one finds multiple purveyors of corporate and government propaganda, entertainers who sensationalize the most meaningless tidbits about the lives of public figures, faux investigations of misdoings that focus on the symptoms and not the causes, and outright liars. Elected and non-elected officials use
(2020-05-29). Police Deny Any Connection to Mysterious Minneapolis "Umbrella Man" Saboteur. mintpressnews.com 
Regardless of the truth behind who started the fires and the looting, the rage felt by the people of Minneapolis and elsewhere is the result of a deep and profound problem in this country that cannot go on.
(2020-05-29). "Deadly Exchange": America's Racist Policing Has Roots in Israel. mintpressnews.com 
During training sessions in Israel, American police delegations meet with Israeli military, police, and intelligence agencies and taught what Israel calls counterterrorism, but is in fact no more than "refining methods of racial profiling."
(2020-05-29). What's NATO Up to These Days? Provoking Russia, Draining Healthcare Budgets and Protecting Its Own from COVID. counterpunch.org 
In November 2019, as experts warned that a novel coronavirus was likely to develop in the near-future, NATO boasted that its European Allies, including the UK, as well as Canada, were boosting their military budgets by an average of 4.6 percent, or an additional $130bn since 2016. The implication is that this increase in military spending is at the expense of healthcare, which is being privatized worldwide.
(2020-05-29). If you do not feel for humanity, you have forgotten to be human. mronline.org 
The coronavirus continues its contagious march across the planet: almost 350,000 known deaths and over 5.4 million people infected. Meanwhile, in the Bay of Bengal, Cyclone Amphan makes its fierce landing, its immense energy tearing a corridor through Bangladesh and India (Odisha and West Bengal).
(2020-05-29). Who are the "Wrong Hands" in Yemen? counterpunch.org 
Politics makes strange bedfellows. Some of them want to kill us. Take Abu Abbas (as Henny Youngman used to say: "Please."). Abu Abbas (a nom de guerre for one Adil Abduh Fari al-Dabhani) is the founder and leader of the Abu Abbas brigade, a militia fighting on the government side in Yemen. Abbas and his
(2020-05-29). U.S. declares a vaccine war on the World. mronline.org 
Donald Trump launched a new vaccine war in May, but not against the virus. It was against the world.
(2020-05-29). New Details Of Deadly No-Knock Warrant Show Just How Reckless Police Can Be. therealnews.com 
PAR uncovers new information on the dangers of serving no-knock warrants and analyzes the raid that killed 26-year-old EMT Breonna Taylor. Cop watcher Kenneth Dunham alleges continued intimidation from local Oregon police.
(2020-05-29). New Details Of Deadly No-Knock Warrant Shows Just How Reckless Police Can Be. therealnews.com PAR uncovers new information on the dangers of serving no-knock warrants and analyzes the raid that killed 26-year-old EMT Breonna Taylor. Cop watcher Kenneth Dunham alleges continued intimidation from local Oregon police.
(2020-05-29). Bethune's socialized medicine and the public health crisis today. mronline.org 
We are at war! The heads of states throughout the globe are posing as chieftains in this quixotic war against an enemy who no one understands.
(2020-05-29). The Only Way to Save Grizzlies: Connect Their Habitats. counterpunch.org 
Linkages, biological corridors, demographic connectivity or intervening areas. These are the lands outside and between the Grizzly Bear Recovery Areas in the Northern Rockies. Over the past 20 years grizzly bears have begun to recolonize this historic habitat, increasing the possibilities of linking genetically isolated populations and reestablishing a breeding population in the vast Bitterroot
(2020-05-29). Why Does W.E.B. Du Bois Matter Today? counterpunch.org 
In their new book, W.E.B. Du Bois: A Life in American History,Charisse Burden-Stelly and Gerald Horne pose the question that every scholar of African American history, a central part of all US history, must sooner or later approach. W.E.B. Du Bois is without question one of the largest, perhaps the very largest, figure in African-American history.
(2020-05-29). Trump isn't the Pope and This Ain't the Middle Ages. counterpunch.org 
President Trump orders governors to open up the churches. Churches defy governors and seek to open. Someone needs to remind both the president and religious institutions that the Middle Ages are over and Modernity won. President Trump and many religious institutions are pushing arguments reminiscent of those found in the Medieval Christian Europe where secular
(2020-05-29). Selected Articles: The Horrific Minneapolis Police Killing of George Floyd. globalresearch.ca 
Do you value the reporting and in-depth analysis provided by Global Research on a daily basis? | Click to | * * * | |
(2020-05-29). There is No Peace: an Incitement to Justice. counterpunch.org 
Summer 2014: a year since George Zimmerman was acquitted for killing Trayvon Martin. Another summer of violence and justification: US shells incinerating Palestinian children, devastating UN refuges in Gaza, pounding Afghan villages, again. Another trial of another white man who says he was scared, who had to defend himself with a blast of ammunition against
(2020-05-29). 10 radical new albums to banish your coronavirus blues. greenleft.org.au 