(2020-06-13). Growing revolt by Black journalists. workers.org 
In an historic week that has witnessed demonstrations, too numerous to count, against police brutality in the aftermath of the brutal murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police on May 25, another anti-racist movement is growing. As reports surface of police intentionally targeting journalists across the U.S, especially Black and . . . |
(2020-06-13). A view of the USA from Portugal: 'Not a riot — rebellion! workers.org 
The author is a Portuguese left communist and editor of jornalmudardevida.net. This article was translated by WW Managing Editor John Catalinotto. Hundreds of demonstrators in Brazil gathered outside the office of Rio de Janeiro's governor on May 31, protesting the deaths of Black and favela youth at the hands of . . . |
(2020-06-13). Antiracist protests for George Floyd circle the globe. workers.org 
The massive popular and antiracist reaction to the cop murder of George Floyd in the epicenter of world imperialism has inspired an equally massive reaction worldwide. Hundreds of thousands have marched, not only in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter protests in the United States, but also against local manifestations . . . |
(2020-06-13). Massive protests against gender-based violence in Nigeria force government to take measures. peoplesdispatch.org 
The cabinet has called on all state governments to implement Violence against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPPA), 2015, a key demand of protesters. The parliament's upper house also pushed legislation for protection of victims from stigma.
(2020-06-13). "Indian racism towards Black people is almost worse than white peoples' racism" An Interview with Arundhati Roy. mronline.org 
We ourselves live in a pretty sick society that seems incapable of feelings of sisterhood, brotherhood, solidarity.
(2020-06-13). Stop exploiting J-1 cultural workers. workers.org 
By Aleris Villegas and Lyn Neeley Each year about 300,000 cultural exchange workers — students, scholars and professors sponsored by U.S. employers — enter the country as J-1 workers. The J-1 Visa program promises job training for students, a way to share their culture, improve their English and explore life . . . |
(2020-06-13). The govt, the Klan, cops and prisons. workers.org 
The following talk was given by Ted Kelly of Philadelphia during a May 16 webinar sponsored by the Prisoner Solidarity Committee of Workers World Party. I'll begin by quoting two different passages. The first is from Workers World Party founder Sam Marcy's book, "The Klan and the Government: Foes or . . . |
(2020-06-13). øLas tropas USA contra lxs manifestantes estadounidenses? workers.org 
Traducción: redroja.net 5 de junio — Hace cuatro días, la Casa Blanca pidió al ejército estadounidense que se desplegara por las ciudades norteamericanas para "dominar" las calles. A lo largo de los tres días siguientes, dos antiguos integrantes de la Junta de Jefes del Estado Mayor conjunto de los ejércitos . . . |
(2020-06-13). International Criminal Court vs US exceptionalism. peoplesdispatch.org Newsclick's Prabir Purkayastha analyses the decision by the Donald Trump administration to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court. The ICC is conducting a probe into war crimes by the US in Afghanistan.
(2020-06-13). [Editorial] Medicine and medical science: Black lives must matter more. thelancet.com Emblematic of the profound sense of outrage at the killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless other Black men and women at the hands of law enforcement, hundreds of thousands of protestors took to the streets in the USA and across the globe. They set aside the risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2, judging that what they were marching for was more immediately urgent. Marches have been held to draw attention to the continued murder by police of Black people and to the persistent, pervasive racism that exists across societies.
(2020-06-13). Minnesota Workers United labor contingent joins justice for George Floyd protest. fightbacknews.org Minneapolis, MN – On Thursday, June 11, 3200 protesters gathered at the Hennepin County Government Center demanding justice for George Floyd and real change. Protests had been going on daily, sometimes several per day, for 18 days since the police murder of George Floyd. | While a battle rages over the role of police 'unions,' members of at least seven unions organized and turned out to the protest as part of a labor contingent organized by Minnesota Workers United. The labor contingent also sent several speakers up to the stage to speak and demand justice for George Floyd and to make it clear that police have n…
(2020-06-13). [World Report] COVID-19 vaccines for all? thelancet.com If an effective COVID-19 vaccine is developed, how will it get to everyone in need? Ann Danaiya Usher reports on the initiatives being planned to ensure equitable access, and their shortcomings.
(2020-06-13). [Comment] Offline: COVID-19—what we can expect to come. thelancet.com The verdicts are now coming in. In Mark Honigsbaum's updated edition of The Pandemic Century, he has included a new chapter on COVID-19. As a historian of epidemics, he offers his judgments about how countries have responded to what he calls "China's Chernobyl moment". His critique is sharp. For decades, we have known that the world is intrinsically and increasingly vulnerable to pandemics—and yet, "we failed to heed the warnings about Covid-19 and act when our actions could have prevented the outbreak from spinning out of control".
(2020-06-13). [Obituary] Jacob Plange-Rhule. thelancet.com Physician, academic, and researcher who served as the Rector of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons. Born on July 27, 1957, in Winneba, Ghana, he died from complications of COVID-19 in Accra, Ghana, on April 10, 2020, aged 62 years.
(2020-06-13). [Correspondence] Increasing tobacco sales under the anti-smoking policy in China. thelancet.com China joined the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2005, but tobacco control in China is still worrying.1 In the past decade, the Chinese Government has strengthened the publicity of anti-smoking campains in the media and increased the management of anti-smoking through policies. Nevertheless, paradoxically, tobacco sales have been rising.
(2020-06-13). [Correspondence] NICE guideline for rectal cancer: already out of date. thelancet.com As members of a colorectal multidisciplinary team, some of whom have contributed to previous National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance1 and European Society of Medical Oncology guidelines in rectal cancer,2 we disagree with the current recommendations in the update to NICE guidance that was published in 2020: "offer preoperative radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy to people with rectal cancer that is cT1-T2, cN1-N2, M0, or cT3-T4, any cN, M0."3…
(2020-06-13). [Perspectives] Accountability for medical participation in torture. thelancet.com After revelations of the participation of US health professionals in torture of detainees in military or CIA custody in the wake of 9/11, citizens filed complaints to disciplinary and licensing boards in seven states against psychologists who had been publicly identified as having been part of the torture apparatus. All of the complaints were eventually dismissed, only one with an explanation. In light of the disciplinary bodies' resistance to investigate participation in torture, much less impose sanctions, colleagues and I, then representing Physicians for Human Rights, helped a New York legislator, Richard Got…
(2020-06-13). [Correspondence] Acute liver failure — Authors' reply. thelancet.com We appreciate the additional insights provided by Sandro Vento and Francesca Cainelli regarding the incidence and diagnosis of acute liver failure in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Beyond the differences in known causal factors (viruses, drugs) between high-income countries and LMICs, the predominance of the indeterminate group in these regions is of concern to all. In our study,1 only 5% of patients remained indeterminate after thorough serological testing and review of history and available liver histology.
(2020-06-13). [Viewpoint] Clinical endpoint adjudication. thelancet.com In pivotal clinical effectiveness trials, the primary endpoint needs to be precisely defined and quantified because any misclassification could introduce noise and possible bias, potentially leading to incorrect trial conclusions. This misclassification is commonly addressed by having an independent clinical endpoint adjudication committee where all relevant clinical information is provided and a panel of clinical experts categorises the primary endpoint, blind to treatment allocation. This strategy has been established as a basic cornerstone of modern robust trial methodology.
(2020-06-13). Parallels between Minneapolis and Jerusalem are More than Skin Deep. dissidentvoice.org It is hard to ignore the striking parallels between the recent scenes of police brutality in cities across the United States and decades of violence from Israel's security forces against Palestinians. A video that went viral late last month of a Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, killing a black man, George Floyd, by pressing a …
(2020-06-13). Who should get COVID-19 testing? newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org Dr. Bobbi Pritt, a clinical microbiologist at Mayo Clinic, acknowledges that there seems to be a lot of confusion with the general public when it comes to COVID-19 testing. Terms like viral, molecular, serology and antibodies, and convalescent plasma have sprung up in everyday language when talking about COVID-19
(2020-06-13). Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast: Medical education during the COVID-19 pandemic. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org Across the world, one of the biggest changes forced by the COVID-19 pandemic is in the field of education. Programs from kindergarten through postsecondary have rapidly moved to a distance learning model. Online and remote instruction has its own unique challenges, and has required students and educators to be creative to stay connected. On the …
(2020-06-13). FROM THE FIELD: COVID-19 restrictions leave migrant workers stranded. news.un.org In countries across the world, tens of thousands of migrant workers are finding themselves stranded through travel restrictions, in the hope of curbing the spread of COVID-19.
(2020-06-13). Wikipedia Formally Censors The Grayzone. popularresistance.org Internet encyclopedia giant Wikipedia is censoring independent news websites by adding them to an official blacklist of taboo "deprecated" media outlets. | The Grayzone is among the news websites targeted by the censorship campaign. Others include leftist and anti-imperialist outlets like MintPress News and the Latin American news broadcaster Telesur, along with several prominent right-wing political sites, including the Daily Caller. | The campaign to blacklist The Grayzone was initiated by Wikipedia editors who identify as Venezuelans and openly support the country's right-wing, US-backed opposition. These user…
(2020-06-13). Seattle: The Demands Of Collective Black Voices At The CHAZ. popularresistance.org In credit to the people who freed Capitol Hill, this list of demands is neither brief nor simplistic. This is no simple request to end police brutality. We demand that the City Council and the Mayor, whoever that may be, implement these policy changes for the cultural and historic advancement of the City of Seattle, and to ease the struggles of its people. This document is to represent the black voices who spoke in victory at the top of 12th & Pine after 9 days of peaceful protest while under constant nightly attack from the Seattle Police Department. These are words from that night, June 8th, 2020. | For ea…
(2020-06-13). [Correspondence] Major burns: debt recovery or ethics? thelancet.com As one of the UK's largest tertiary burns centres, St Andrew's Burns Service has an ethical obligation to raise awareness about issues that compromise the care of patients. In 2017, new regulations placed a legal requirement on Health Authorities to establish patients' eligibility for free National Health Service treatment.1 An increasing number of patients ineligible for free care have been admitted to the St Andrew's Burns Service and subsequently presented with large invoices as soon as they recover.
(2020-06-13). Right-wing and anti-racism protesters scuffle in Britain. yenisafak.com Anti-racism protesters rallied again around Britain on Saturday, with scuffles breaking out in London as counter-demonstrators also came out to protect monuments targeted for their links to colonial history.Statues of historical figures including Winston Churchill – Britain's World War Two leader whom protesters call a xenophobe – were boarded up to try and minimize trouble.In Trafalgar Square, police separated two groups of about 100 people each, one chanting "Black Lives Matter", the other racial slurs. Some groups jostled, tossed bottles and cans, and set off fireworks, as riot police with dogs and horses line…
(2020-06-13). Right-wing violence escalates and white man urinates next to police memorial. thecanary.co 
A man urinated next to a memorial dedicated to the police officer killed in the Westminster terror attack amid violent clashes between far-right protesters and police in central London.Several hundred demonstrators, mostly white men, attended the protest organised by far-right groups, including Britain First, which claimed they wanted to protect statues such as Winston Churchill from vandalism. Meanwhile, anti-racist Black Lives Matter (BLM) demonstrations were peaceful.But fights erupted in areas near the Houses of Parliament and Trafalgar Square, as demonstrators repeatedly assailed officers with foul-mouthed c…
(2020-06-13). The Scourge of Islamophobia in Canada. ahtribune.com 
Muslims in Canada deserve to feel what non-Muslims feel when they hear of a vicious crime or a foiled plot committed by someone who looks like them: abhorred by the crime but knowing the crime reflects the perpetrator alone. Any other thought process should never occur. | — Graeme Truelove, Un-Canadian: Islamophobia in the True North (Nightwood Editions, 2020): location 35% | The police murder of George Floyd set off the powder keg filled by centuries of oppression of Black peoples in the United States. The United States has been beset by countrywide protests, some marred by violence of protestors and po…
(2020-06-13). Pentagon Starts Bailing Out Defense Firms. anti-empire.com 
The Pentagon has begun to bail out U.S. companies that have seen large parts of their business dry up amid the coronavirus pandemic, in a bid to make sure they can still build weapons. | On Wednesday, officials announced that five mid-tier defense companies had received a total of $135 million to "help sustain defense-critical workforce capabilities in body armor, aircraft manufacturing, and shipbuilding," according to a Defense Department
(2020-06-13). How Thailand Contained COVID-19. zcomm.org In politically turbulent Thailand, a public health system with popular support — not decrees from above — made all the difference…
(2020-06-13). Mayo Clinic launches neutralizing antibody test to advance COVID-19 therapies. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org ROCHESTER, Minn.
(2020-06-13). Video: Covid Nurse Exposes New York Hospital. People Have Been Lied To. It's Destroying Life. The Numbers are a Lie. globalresearch.ca Registered nurse, Erin Olszewski, spent a month at the epicenter of the epicenter, Elmhurst Hospital in NY. | After witnessing the same malpractice matching testimonies of other outspoken nurses in the U.S., she decided to wear a hidden camera to …
(2020-06-13). UK businesses dramatically scaled back or shelved investment plans. truepublica.org.uk Businesses have dramatically scaled back investment plans for the rest of the year in response to the uncertainty surrounding the future of the UK economy, according to a leading business survey. The Institute of Directors (IoD) said its confidence tracker revealed the Covid-19 crisis had driven down investment intentions among its members for the next 12 months by 11 …
(2020-06-13). Will there be another stock market crash in 2020? truepublica.org.uk The coronavirus restrictions have led to an unprecedented drop in economic activity. Because the UK's economy relies heavily on the services sector, it has suffered more than many European countries. However, the contraction is certainly global. Furthermore, the second Covid-19 wave has started too. For example, the US is seeing a rise in coronavirus hospitalisations, in …
(2020-06-13). Long Read: The slow exodus of Palestinian Christians. truepublica.org.uk By Jonathan Cook (25-minute read): Israel has exploited the steady decline in the numbers of Palestinian Christians to advance its claim that they are being hounded from the region by Muslim extremists. But the real blame lies with Israel and the foreign Churches. It was inevitable that when the coronavirus pandemic reached the occupied …
(2020-06-13). Coronavirus exposes Britain's bogus self-employment problem. truepublica.org.uk Millions of Britain's self-employed workers can now apply for financial aid to help them through the coronavirus crisis. The government has announced support of 80% of their average monthly earnings up to a cap of £7,500. It comes as a relief for many — there are 5.2 million registered self-employed people in the UK. But a …
(2020-06-13). Johnson ponders introducing a law to prevent foreign takeovers of UK firms. truepublica.org.uk Business groups have warned that introducing a law to prevent foreign takeovers that threaten national security could have a "chilling" effect on investment in the UK. The government is said to be considering new rules that would mean directors could be jailed or companies could be fined hundreds of thousands of pounds for failing to …
(2020-06-13). The Right To Refuse Unsafe Work Is More Important Than Ever. popularresistance.org The COVID-19 pandemic is taking a heavy toll on workers. Reports of job hazards grow increasingly dire as several governors and President Trump push past CDC guidelines to "reopen" the economy while forecasts predict soaring infections and deaths. | Some states at the direction of the Labor Department threaten termination of unemployment benefits for workers fearing return to dangerous jobs. A disturbing June 5 New York Times' report reveals how far those machinations have gone. The result: workers fired without pay or benefits or trapped in a deadly vice between poverty and disease. | In short, the news is terri…
(2020-06-13). Group Behind Confederate Monuments Also Built A Memorial To The Klan. popularresistance.org It was a Saturday. The mailman never comes to my door, but there was his knock. A couple days earlier I had ordered a book on Amazon that I had seen before only in a library. "Sorry to bother you," he said, "but I had to have you sign for this one." The return address on the padded manila envelope was a post office box in Charlotte, North Carolina. No name. | I cut the shipping tape and carefully pulled out the contents, wrapped inside a grocery bag. The worn 1941 first edition of Mrs. S.L. Smith's "North Carolina's Confederate Monuments and Memorials" — one of the only compilations by the United Daughters…
(2020-06-13). International Lawyers Oppose Philippines Anti-Terrorism Bill. popularresistance.org Over 100 international lawyers and lawyers' associations issued an open letter to President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, and members of the Congress of the Philippines. The urgent open letter was issued to express high levels of concern about the proposed Anti-Terrorism Bill in the Philippines, which has been harshly criticized for its violations of human rights norms. | As the letter notes, "The international community is alarmed by the apparent abuses of power and civil unrest that the law will bring about. It will suppress and criminalize free speech and dissent, labe…
(2020-06-13). New Study: US Empire Is Falling But Will Not Fall Quietly. popularresistance.org Where will the next war occur? Who will fight in it? Why will it occur? How will it be fought? This brief summarizes a series of reports that sought to answer these questions—looking out from now until 2030. The reports took the approach of examining these questions through the lenses of several trends—geopolitical, economic, environmental, legal, informational, and military—that will shape the contours of conflict. | Military history is littered with mistaken predictions about the future of warfare that have left forecasters militarily unprepared—sometimes disastrously so—for the co…
(2020-06-13). Popular blood pressure medicines do not put patients at greater COVID-19 risk: study. yenisafak.com New research offers reassuring evidence to hundreds of millions of people with high blood pressure that popular anti-hypertension drugs do not put them at greater risk from COVID-19 as some experts had feared.Two blood pressure-lowering drug classes, called ACE inhibitors and ARBs, came under scrutiny after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in April that 72% of hospitalized COVID-19 patients 65 or older had hypertension.ACE inhibitors and ARBs are thought to trigger activity along the same biological pathways used by the COVID-19 novel coronavirus to attack the lungs.Researchers at Oxfo…
(2020-06-13). Pakistan: 2nd ex-premier tests positive for coronavirus. yenisafak.com Pakistan's former Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has tested positive for COVID-19, his son confirmed on Saturday.Gilani, the country's second ex-premier after Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to test positive in less than a week, joins a long and growing list of Pakistani politicians and parliamentarians infected by the coronavirus.His son, Ali Kasim Gilani, told reporters that his father had to appear before anti-corruption authorities a few days ago, despite the ongoing surge in COVID-19 cases in the country.He said the former premier was now in self-isolation."Thank you [Prime Minister] Imran Khan's govt and Natio…
(2020-06-13). COVID-19: Afghan Health Ministry reaches limit of tests. yenisafak.com Speaking at a gathering in the capital Kabul, Ahmad Jawad Osmani said from now on, any people with symptoms of COVID-19 would ultimately be considered as a positive case of the novel coronavirus infection."At present, we have laboratories in 11 provinces of Afghanistan and we plan to increase the number of services in all 34 provinces, but it takes time which is out of the control of the ministry," he said.Latest figures issued by the Health Ministry revealed that 556 cases proved positive after 1,045 samples were collected in the past 24 hours. The latest figures brought the tally of cases to 24,101 with 4,201 p…
(2020-06-13). Virus cases in Africa top 225,000. yenisafak.com As Africa grapples with the fast-spreading coronavirus, the number of cases spiked to 224,105, according to a Saturday update by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.The virus took 100 days to infect 100,000 people in Africa since the first case was detected in mid-February, but then just 23 days to double to 200,000, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), in a pace that is accelerating.The update has it that 6,040 patients have died across 54 African countries.The number of people who have recovered from COVID-19 in the continent has reached 102,846, according to the update.Southern A…
(2020-06-13). COVID-19: New cases reported in China, South Korea. yenisafak.com China confirmed 11 new novel coronavirus cases while South Korea reported 48, authorities said on Saturday.China's National Health Commission said in a statement that five of the cases were locally transmitted, all based in the capital Beijing, while the six others were from travelers overseas.The commission reported no deaths due to the virus in the last 24 hours.A total of 83,075 cases have been reported in the country so far, according to the statement.The epidemic has claimed the lives of 4,634 people while 78,367 others have recovered from the virus.Meanwhile, South Korea reported 48 more cases of the virus…
(2020-06-13). COVID-19 death toll rises in Oman, Bahrain, Libya. yenisafak.com Health authorities in Oman, Bahrain and Libya confirmed new fatalities due to the novel coronavirus on Saturday, while Morocco reported fresh infections. | The Omani Health Ministry said three patients had died from COVID-19, while 1,006 new cases were reported over the past 24 hours. | The country's confirmed cases now stand at 22,077, including 99 deaths, and 7,530 recoveries. | In Bahrain, the Health Ministry said the country's death toll rose to 37 after two people had died from the disease, while a further 444 new cases were registered, taking the figure to 17,713. | Libya's National Center for Disease Contr…
(2020-06-13). Italy's PM says virus crisis should be opportunity to reform country. yenisafak.com Italy cannot afford to return to normality after the coronavirus emergency but should turn the crisis into an opportunity to reform the country, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Saturday."This is the time to work on a clear project to come out of the crisis," Conte said in the opening speech of a nine-day policy consultation in Rome."We must take advantage (of the situation) to turn the crisis into an opportunity, and remove all the obstacles that have slowed (Italy) down," he added.Conte said his coalition government was preparing a plan of reforms to simplify bureaucracy, push digital investments and green…
(2020-06-13). Iran to re-impose virus restrictions if rules violated. yenisafak.com Iran has seen a spike in the number of coronavirus cases since the authorities relaxed a lockdown in mid-April. | "If we do not want to see the spike of the disease in the country [Iran] again, we must observe health instructions and avoid unnecessary travel," Rouhani said in a televised speech. | The Iranian president said his government has relaxed the restrictions on condition of abiding by the health rules to combat the virus. | He warned that if the people are in danger, the authorities will have to re-impose the restrictions again. | Iran's Health Ministry confirmed 71 fatalities and 2,410 cases due to t…