Vijay Prashad (2020-05-13). The U.S. Military is hell-bent on trying to overpower China. mronline.org The absence of a strong world peace movement with the capacity to prevent this buildup by the United States is of considerable concern for the planet. The need for such a movement could not be greater.

teleSUR (2020-05-13). Russia Ready to Assist the US in the Taliban Peace Agreement. telesurenglish.net Russia's RELATED: | "We salute the agreement, although we warn of the importance of involving neighbors more actively so that thei…

South Front (2020-05-13). A Close Look at Efforts of Pro-NATO Propaganda Units Behind the Scenes of South Front Censorship. globalresearch.ca Pro-NATO propaganda units have broadcasted a new episode of their censorship excuse series. | On May 5th, the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), published a new piece designed to label SouthFront as official Russian propaganda. (

Stephen Lendman (2020-05-13). The Longterm Social Impacts from Economic Collapse and COVID-19 Outbreaks. globalresearch.ca Economic collapse that's harming most ordinary people in the US, West, and elsewhere — that's likely to be long-lasting — is far more serious than numbers of COVID-19 infections and their aftermath. | Hundreds of thousands of small and medium-sized businesses …

Andrew Korybko (2020-05-13). Soros Thinks That Germany Is A Greater Threat To His Plans Than COVID, Trump, Or China. thealtworld.com Billionaire philanthropist and infamous Color Revolution financier George Soros recently elaborated on his views of International Relations in the midst of World War C during an interview with the UK's "Independent", unexpectedly concluding that Germany's recent court ruling against the European Central Bank's purchase of national bonds poses an "existential threat" to the bloc and therefore also to his "precious" vision of an "open society", even more so than the alleged ones posed by COVID, Trump, or China that he previously fearmongered about. | International Relations are in the midst of multitudinous paradig…

The Canary (2020-05-13). Pharmacist Boots looking to recruit hundreds of unpaid Covid-19 testers. thecanary.co High street pharmacist Boots is advertising to recruit an army of hundreds of unpaid volunteers to test people for coronavirus.An advert on the company's website said it is looking for 1,000 current staff and volunteers to work at least 32 hours a week as Covid-19 swab testers across the UK.The advert has sparked criticism with unions saying it took the "notion of volunteering way too far".It emerged as coronavirus testing dropped below the government's key 100,000 a day target, despite hitting it again on Sunday.Business Secretary Alok Sharma told the daily Downing Street press briefing on Tuesday that 85,293 te…

RT (2020-05-13). Row erupts between BoJo and Labour, as Covid-19 guidance saying care homes 'unlikely' to become infected re-emerges. rt.com Downing Street and the Labour Party have become embroiled in a spat over official UK government guidance issued in February over the risk Covid-19 poses to care homes, with each side accusing the other of misleading the public. | During PMQs in the House of Commons on Wednesday, Labour leader Keir Starmer quoted from the Public Health England (PHE)

Peoples Dispatch (2020-05-13). Violent evictions in Bogotá, Colombia amid the coronavirus pandemic. peoplesdispatch.org Many question the motivation of the city government to evict the community amid the pandemic as they have been occupying the land for the last 20 years…

The Canary (2020-05-13). We are vulnerable and scared, say tragic railway worker's colleagues. thecanary.co Colleagues of railway worker Belly Mujinga have described feeling "scared" and "vulnerable" after the Victoria station staff member died with coronavirus a fortnight after being spat at while on duty.It came as the government was urged to extend its coronavirus compensation scheme, offering £60,000 to families of NHS frontline staff and social care workers who die from the disease during the pandemic, to the transport sector.A police investigation is under way, launched more than a month after Mujinga and a colleague were attacked by a man claiming to be infected with Covid-19 on the concourse at the London…

PAI (2020-05-13). Beep! Beep! Union car caravan to demand Vegas casinos open safely. peoplesworld.org LAS VEGAS (PAI)—Beep! Beep! That will be the sound of dozens of horns honking from union members' cars to be driven down the Las Vegas Strip at 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 14, demanding the city's hotels and casinos reopen safely as they start up again from coronavirus-caused shutdowns. So far, the hotels and casinos …

RT (2020-05-13). Travel giant TUI plans to axe 8,000 jobs despite government bailout. rt.com Multinational travel firm TUI Group has announced that it will slash 10 percent of its workforce worldwide in an effort to cut costs amid the coronavirus pandemic. | In its half-year financial results presented on Wednesday, the company said it will have to reduce operational costs to cope with the fallout from the pandemic, "the greatest crisis the tourism industry and TUI has ever faced." | "We are targeting to permanently reduce our overhead cost base by 30 percent across the entire Group. This will have an impact on potentially 8,000 roles globally that will either not be recruited or reduced," CEO Fritz J…

Tim Libretti (2020-05-13). We call frontline workers "heroes," but do we value them like heroes? peoplesworld.org On one level, the coronavirus pandemic holds out the potential to shift America's dominant cultural mentality to finally re-think—indeed come to terms with—how our political, economic, and moral systems value the work on which our lives most depend. Presumably, the pandemic conditions are making clear to us Americans what kinds of work are most essential, …

RT (2020-05-13). Tunisia relaxes curfew after 3 days without new coronavirus cases. rt.com Tunisia has announced a reduction of its nightly curfew hours after three consecutive days without recording any new coronavirus cases, state media reported on Wednesday. | The North African democracy imposed the curfew in March in a bid to slow the spread of the virus, combined with a lockdown that shuttered all but key shops and services. President Kais Saied has cut the curfew hours to 11pm to 5am instead of 8pm to 6am, 10 days after the start of a gradual reopening of the bureaucracy and economy. | The government announced that no new coronavirus cases have been recorded for three days in a row, with 1,032…

RT (2020-05-13). 'They will not silence us': Michigan activists undeterred after Facebook removes anti-lockdown group with 380,000 members. rt.com Facebook has shuttered a popular group for Michiganders who oppose their governor's extreme lockdown measures, fueling debate about free speech during the coronavirus crisis. | 'Michiganders Against Excessive Quarantine' had more than 380,000 members, with media reports describing it as one of the largest anti-lockdown groups in the nation. It's not clear if Facebook has provided an explanation for the group's removal. Visiting the page gives the following message: "Sorry, this content isn't available right now." | Garrett Soldano of Mattawan, Michigan created Michiganders Against Excessive Quarantine in Apri…

RT (2020-05-13). 'Example of infodemic': Moscow slams FT & NYT reports that put Russian Covid-19 death toll 70 percent higher than official data. rt.com Russia's Foreign Ministry will send letters to the Financial Times and New York Times demanding they retract reports which claim the actual death toll from Covid-19 in the country is much higher than the official figures. | The editors-in-chief of those outlets will be handed the letters on Thursday through the Russian embassies in the UK and the US, ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during a briefing. | Moscow will also address the UN, OSCE and UNESCO on the situation, as the reports in the FT and NYT represent "an example of that very 'infodemic' that the UN General Secretary, Antonio Guterres, urged…

Staff (2020-05-13). Screen New Deal: Naomi Klein on How Companies Like Google Plan to Profit in High-Tech COVID Dystopia. democracynow.org In her new report for The Intercept on the "Screen New Deal," Naomi Klein looks at how the coronavirus pandemic is more high-tech than previous disasters — and how the future we're being rushed into could transform our lives into a "living laboratory for a permanent — and highly profitable — no-touch future." She joins us to discuss what she found, and says, "I think we're going to see very incomplete so-called solutions … that massively benefit private tech interests."

Scott Tucker (2020-05-13). Class Struggles and Social Distancing. counterpunch.org On the day after armed protestors stormed the Capitol building in Michigan to demand that the whole economy be re-opened, the news included reports that Michigan has the highest current death rates in the United States from the novel coronavirus. That is a serious problem. Voluntary good will in avoiding risks of infection during a

Ted Rall (2020-05-13). We Need a Centralized Medical System Too. counterpunch.org The coronavirus pandemic has laid bare two fundamental flaws in the American healthcare system. Number one: There's a reason that other rich countries treat healthcare as a taxpayer-financed social program. Employer-based health insurance was stupid pre-COVID-19 because our economy was already steadily transitioning from traditional full-time W-2 jobs to self-employment, freelance and gig work. The virus has

RT (2020-05-13). Lockdown's silver lining? NYC marks record-breaking 58 straight days without pedestrian deaths. rt.com New York City's stay at home order has been criticized as unsustainable, but the policy has one apparent benefit: it has helped reduce the number of pedestrian deaths to zero for nearly 60 days in a row. | Like many other cities across the world, the Big Apple chose to close non-essential businesses and prohibit most outdoor activity in a bid to reduce the spread of coronavirus, which has struck New York particularly hard. While there is still debate about the effectiveness and sustainability of such measures, keeping people indoors has resulted in 58 consecutive days since a pedestrian was fatally struck by a…

The Canary (2020-05-13). Hundreds of workers report employers for furlough fraud. thecanary.co Hundreds of workers have reported their employers over claims that they are fraudulently taking furlough money from the government. | HMRC confirmed it has received 795 reports of potential fraud related to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. | It said it will now be "assessing" these cases in line with its usual procedures. | The scheme was introduced from March, with the government pledging to pay 80% of the wages of workers affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, in a bid to protect jobs. | On Tuesday, chancellor Rishi Sunak outlined plans to extend the furlough scheme until the end of October. | One stipulation…

RT (2020-05-13). Czech Republic could open borders with Austria, Slovakia in June — Prague. rt.com The Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria could open their mutual borders as soon as June 8, allowing residents of the three countries to travel between them, PM Andrej Babis said in Prague on Wednesday. | The neighbors are thinking about how to open their borders at the start of the summer tourist season after making similar progress in controlling the coronavirus pandemic, Babis said. | "I think it could somehow work out that on June 8 or 15, our three countries would open together," Babis said in an online interview with the Blesk newspaper website. | The three states are among at least 17 members of the Sch…

Mark Gruenberg (2020-05-13). Democrats' $3 trillion stimulus includes hazard pay, PPE; Republicans say no. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—House Democrats released a new $3 trillion stimulus bill on May 12, designed to cope with the continuing economic collapse that coronavirus-caused closures have caused. There's money for protective personal equipment (PPE), hazardous duty pay for front-line workers, and a number of other pro-worker provisions. The 1,815-page measure is tentatively scheduled for a May 15 …

Janine Jackson (2020-05-13). 'Our Food System Is Very Much Modeled on Plantation Economics' – CounterSpin interview with Ricardo Salvador on the coronavirus food crisis. fair.org Janine Jackson interviewed the Union of Concerned Scientists' Ricardo Salvador about the coronavirus food crisis for the Media…

RT (2020-05-13). Swedish PM says face masks for Covid-19 offer 'false sense of security' to wearers. rt.com The Prime Minister of Sweden Stefan Lofven has advised against wearing face masks to ward off Covid-19, as they may lead people to assume they are safe from the virus when there is still a risk of transmission. | Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Lofven said donning masks could lead the wearer to neglect social distancing guidelines and become complacent about safety precautions. | "There is a risk of a false sense of security, that you feel you can't be infected if you have a face mask," he said. He advised those displaying even very mild symptoms to stay at home, stay socially distant, and to cont…

RT (2020-05-13). UK's Health Ministry says confirmed Covid-19 death toll has risen by 494 to 33,186. rt.com A total of 33,186 people who tested positive for the new coronavirus have died in the United Kingdom, a rise of 494 in a 24-hour period, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday. | Those figures reflect the situation as of 5pm (1600 GMT) on May 12. Including deaths due to suspected cases, Britain's fatality count is over 40,000, according to Reuters. | Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday that increasing rates of infection in other countries which have relaxed some rules to tackle the coronavirus outbreak were a warning to Britain not to move too fast. | "It is very notable that in some other countries…

RT (2020-05-13). 'What are those white crosses?': Badges to 'scare off' coronavirus cause dress-code debate in Russian parliament. rt.com With the Russian State Duma in session despite the Covid-19 pandemic, some MPs went beyond the obligatory face masks and rubber gloves, leaving their colleagues and citizens baffled by unusual means to fend off the virus. | "For several sessions in row, I've seen MPs wearing white crosses on their chests," Igor Molyakov of the Fair Russia party said on Wednesday, asking his colleagues to clarify the unusual accessory. State Duma deputies usually wear an official badge, which is shaped as a Russian tricolor. | Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin stepped up to educate his colleague and dispel the "white cross" mystery fo…

RT (2020-05-13). Assange's extradition: September 7 set for resumption of delayed hearing, WikiLeaks says. rt.com "A date of September 7 has been set for the resumption of Julian Assange's delayed extradition hearing," WikiLeaks tweeted on Wednesday. A court location has yet to be determined, it said. | A London court said on May 4 that the US extradition case against WikiLeaks founder Assange would resume in September. It had been postponed from later this month because of the coronavirus outbreak. | Assange is wanted by US authorities to stand trial for conspiring to hack government computers and espionage. The extradition case began in February for a week before being adjourned until May 18 for another three weeks of a…

RT (2020-05-13). 6,000 more children could die EVERY DAY in areas least fit for battling Covid-19 — UN & Johns Hopkins study. rt.com Over a million of under-5s could succumb to preventable causes within the next six months as long as the brewing Covid-19 epidemic keeps weakening countries they dwell in, UNICEF and Johns Hopkins believe. | The gruesome prediction came after Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health looked at how the coronavirus crisis could impact 118 low- or middle-income countries around the globe. | Johns Hopkins researchers, who

RT (2020-05-13). Pennsylvania Health Sec under fire after moving own mum OUT of nursing home while sending sick Covid-19 patients INTO them. rt.com As Pennsylvania's health secretary faces harsh criticism and calls to resign over her policy ordering Covid-19 patients to return to nursing homes after leaving hospital, she has admitted to moving her own mum out of a care home. | Dr Rachel Levine revealed when asked by reporters that her mother was moved out of her personal care home when the pandemic began — though she defended herself by saying that she was simply following the wishes of the 95-year-old woman, who wanted to move. | WATCH: PA Secretary of Heath admits own mother left senior facility while coronavirus swept nursing homes. Gov Wolf nowhe…

Tom Coburg (2020-05-13). Even the mainstream media's now suggesting UK death toll could surpass 50,000. thecanary.co The BBC has published an article suggesting that the number of coronavirus (Covid-19) related deaths in the UK could be "nearly twice as high" as the official figure. This follows similar analysis by the Financial Times (FT). | Both media outlets expose the blatant dishonesty of the daily figures quoted by Boris Johnson's government. | More than 50,000 deaths?: | The government,

RT (2020-05-13). Poland to reopen hairdressers, restaurants on May 18 as 'epidemic contained to some extent'. rt.com Poland will reopen restaurants and hairdressers on May 18 as it begins easing coronavirus-linked restrictions, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Wednesday. | "At least to some extent we have contained the epidemic, therefore we can gradually unfreeze the economy," Morawiecki told reporters. | The statement came a day after Poland saw its largest spike in coronavirus cases in a single day, Reuters reported. | Schools will partially reopen to provide day care for children in the first three years of primary school, the prime minister added.

RT (2020-05-13). Beijing denounces 'immoral' US Senate bill threatening China with sanctions over Covid-19. rt.com Beijing has lashed out at US legislation which seeks to impose sanctions on China if it fails to cooperate with Washington's investigation into the coronavirus pandemic. | The bill would require the president to notify Congress within 60 days that China had "provided a full and complete accounting" to any US-led probe into the coronavirus outbreak. The rule would also apply to investigations carried out by American allies and UN agencies such as the World Health Organization (WHO). | The legislation also demands that China shutter all "wet markets" which can pose a risk to human health. It also calls for the i…

RT (2020-05-13). Lifting lockdowns may cause new Covad-19 spike, but now we know how to respond — WHO envoy to RT. rt.com Countries should be able to swiftly identify and quarantine coronavirus hotspots instead of putting their whole societies on lockdown, but people must accept this 'new reality' for it to work, said WHO's envoy to Russia. | "I do believe that there might be a surge [in Covid-19 cases], but we'll be able to respond to it much quicker, having all the experience that we've got, unfortunately, over the last four months," Dr Melita Vujnovic, who represents the World Health Organization in Russia, told RT when asked about the impact of the gradual lifting of lockdowns — that has begun in many countries — on…

Denis Campbell (2020-05-13). Lockdown Will Kill an Additional 18,000 Cancer Patients That Wouldn't Have Died Otherwise, Cancer Doctors Calculate. anti-empire.com Almost 18,000 more people with cancer in England could die after the coronavirus pandemic led hospitals to suspend treatment and deterred patients from seeking NHS care, research has found. |

Staff (2020-05-13). Naomi Klein: Healthcare Industry Sees "Potential Bonanza" of Profits in COVID-19 Crisis. democracynow.org As the top infectious disease expert testifies to the Senate that needless death and suffering could result from reopening too quickly, author and journalist Naomi Klein says a "pandemic shock doctrine" is beginning to emerge. "The fact that a large sector of the economy, the healthcare industry, sees a potential bonanza here … that's a win for them."

RT (2020-05-13). Was it worth it? Pompeo dons fashionable flag-themed mask at Israel airport… then takes it off for meetings. rt.com US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo emerged from his plane after touching down for a flying visit to Israel sporting an especially patriotic red, white and blue striped mask — but the novelty didn't last long. | Pompeo disembarked from his plane at Ben Gurion Airport wearing the colorful face gear, which many news outlets described as a "US flag" mask. Upon closer inspection, however, it appears the face-covering could have been a creative mash-up of the US and Israeli flags, given the addition of blue and white stripes and blue stars. | @IsraeliPM RT (2020-05-13). Ex-army chief Ashkenazi to become Israel's FM — Blue and White alliance. rt.com Former Israeli Army chief Gabi Ashkenazi, who spent nearly four decades in the military, will be nominated as Israel's next foreign minister, AFP reported Wednesday, citing his Blue and White alliance. Ashkenazi held talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Jerusalem ahead of his "appointment as minister of foreign affairs this coming Thursday," said Blue and White, which is led by the incoming alternate PM Benny Gantz. | A unity government agreed between Gantz and right-wing PM Benjamin Netanyahu is due to be sworn in on Thursday evening, ending more than a year of political deadlock. | Foreign affairs…

RT (2020-05-13). US anti-ISIS chief says his goal in Syria is to create a 'quagmire' for Russia, not battle terrorism. rt.com James Jeffrey, the US special envoy for Syria and defeating the Islamic State, has made quite a frank confession of how he sees his job and that of US troops there: to create a new Vietnam or Afghanistan for Moscow. | "Our military presence, while small, is important for overall calculations. So we urge the Congress, the American people, the president to keep these forces on, but again this isn't Afghanistan, this isn't Vietnam, this isn't a quagmire," Jeffrey said on Tuesday, during a video event hosted by the Hudson Institute. | My job is to make it a quagmire for the Russians. | Asked why the American publ…

Suzan Mazur (2020-05-13). Virologist Luis Villarreal: "Leery" of COVID-19 Models, Vaccine Possible Year's End. counterpunch.org Somewhat exasperated by the Covid-19 models publicly showcased over the last two months, I decided to ring up virologist Luis Villarreal for his perspective. Luis Villarreal is founding director of University of California, Irvine's Center for Virus Research and UCI Professor Emeritus, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. Villarreal told me he takes these models "with a

Kenneth Surin (2020-05-13). "Making It Up As They Go Along:" Boris Johnson and COVID-19. counterpunch.org As I write (the weekend of 9-10 May), the UK's death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic has reached 31,855. The UK, unlike the US, has started counting deaths in care homes. This toll is the highest in Europe, and the second in the world after the US. The UK has a fifth of the US's population, so translating the UK figure into US terms would amount to 160,000 US deaths from the virus (the US's death toll as of this weekend is a little more than 80,000).

Gabriel Kuhn (2020-05-13). Who Are You Kidding? The Democratic Party and the Joe Biden Fiasco. counterpunch.org The accusations against the projected Democratic Party presidential nominee, Joe Biden, trouble and confuse U.S. liberals. As a result, they say surprising and, at times, outrageous things. I suppose this is the consequence of deeming Joe Biden to the most likely candidate to oust Donald Trump from office, something so important that you're ready to sacrifice both reason and compassion.

Jack Rasmus (2020-05-13). Low-Balling the Unemployed in the Era of the 2020 Great Recession. counterpunch.org This past Friday, May 8, the US Labor Dept. released its latest jobless figures. The official report was 20 million more unemployed and an unemployment rate of 14.7%. Both mainstream and progressive media reported the numbers: 20 million more jobless and 14.7%. But those numbers, as horrendous as they are, represent a gross under-estimation of

Sanket Jain (2020-05-13). In Lockdown, India is No Country for Old Men. counterpunch.org At this time, Shamshuddin Mulla would have been in the fields — repairing engines and pumps. He did step out on March 26, the second day of the lockdown when a despairing farmer from Sulkud village [in Kolhapur district's Kagal taluka] came to his house on a bike. "He took me to his farm, where

RT (2020-05-13). Oops! FBI accidentally reveals name of Saudi diplomat who helped 9/11 hijackers after years of 'national security' stonewalling. rt.com The FBI has accidentally revealed the name of a Saudi official believed to have aided two Al-Qaeda hijackers involved in the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon, after going to absurd lengths to keep it secret for years. | The name was unintentionally left unredacted in a court filing unsealed last week in the ongoing lawsuit by 9/11 victims' families against the Saudi government, which they accuse of complicity in the terrorist attacks. The 'error' was reported by Yahoo News on Tuesday — at which point the Justice Department withdrew the filing, refusing to comment on how the mistake had been made. | Also on rt.

RT (2020-05-13). New clues on formation of life found in traces of fluid inside space rock 4.5 BILLION years old. rt.com A team of researchers are peering into what the solar system may have looked like in its earliest stages, unlocking answers about the formation of amino acids — and ultimately life as we know it — by analyzing ancient space rocks.

RT (2020-05-13). Pity they don't work against Covid-19: US drives RECORD global spending on atomic weapons, report shows. rt.com The world's nuclear powers are increasingly pouring money into their atomic arsenals, a new report shows, with Washington leading the way. The US has also exited a major arms control treaty and deployed a new tactical weapon. | Nine nuclear-armed nations spent an estimated $72.9 billion on their 13,000-plus atomic weapons in 2019, according to

Joshua Hanks (2020-05-13). China reacts with zero tolerance for racist incidents. workers.org Reports surfaced in April of cases of discrimination against African workers in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong as pictures appeared on the internet of a sign refusing service to Africans at a McDonald's restaurant and allegations that Africans were being evicted from hotels. Ambassador Liu Yuxi, head of Mission . . . |

Judy Greenspan (2020-05-13). At San Quentin: 'No state execution by COVID-19!'. workers.org May 9 — It was no coincidence or geographical convenience that prisoners' rights advocates organized a car caravan today to San Quentin State Prison in Marin County, Calif. San Quentin, a mere 11 miles from San Francisco, is the state prison where death row prisoners are incarcerated. It is also . . . |

Dianne Mathiowetz (2020-05-13). A 21st century lynching: Justice for Ahmaud Arbery! workers.org May 11— In the early afternoon of Feb. 23, shots rang out on the tree-lined streets of Satilla Shores, a predominantly white neighborhood bordering the port city of Brunswick on Georgia's Atlantic coast, some 40 miles north of Jacksonville, Fla. Afterward, a 25-year-old Black man, Ahmaud Arbery, lay dead on . . . |

RT (2020-05-13). Flynn 'unmasking' documents show involvement of senior Obama administration officials, including Joe Biden. rt.com A newly published list of US officials who were interested in National Security Agency (NSA) records on Trump adviser Michael Flynn includes President Barack Obama's chief of staff, as well as Vice President Joe Biden. | Biden is listed as requesting the unmasking on January 12, 2017, the same day the Washington Post published a story claiming that Flynn had misreported his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, based on leaked NSA information. | Flynn unmasking documents f… by