en.mehrnews (2020-05-03). Police confiscates 257 kg illicit drugs in Iran's Damavand. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, May 03 (MNA) — The police chief of Damavand announced on Saturday that Anti-narcotics police forces have seized a consignment of illegal drugs following a series of intelligence operations.

Staff (2020-05-02). Undocumented New Yorkers Are Essential and Underprotected in COVID's Epicenter. truthout.org They've gotten to know New York City in a way many have not, through the low-wage work of cleaning its skyscrapers, serving its restaurants and crisscrossing its streets on bicycles, through long subway rides very early in the morning and very late at night. The saying goes: You're not a true New Yorker unless you've lived here for a decade. They've done their time and felt a deep sense of belonging in this city of immigrants. | They are losing loved ones but do not qualify for city funding…

a guest author (2020-05-02). Louisiana prisons are 'death concentration camps'. workers.org By: Quess Moore/transcribed by Mirinda Crissman This slightly edited talk is by Quess Moore speaking at the April 9 Workers World Party webinar. Moore organizes with New Orleans Workers Group and Take 'Em Down NOLA, a group which has been working to take down symbols of white supremacy and slavery. . . . |

Prof Michel Chossudovsky (2020-05-02). Remember the "Fake" 2009 H1N1 Swine Flu Pandemic: Manipulating the Data to Justify a Worldwide Public Health Emergency. globalresearch.ca A Worldwide public health emergency is unfolding, 4.9 billion doses of H1N1 swine flu vaccine are envisaged by the WHO.

Prof Michel Chossudovsky (2020-05-02). Déjà Vu: The WHO's Handling of 2009 H1N1 Pandemic: "Deeply Marred by Secrecy and Conflict of Interest" globalresearch.ca The same Big Pharma actors, the Gates Foundation, Anthony Fauci et al were behind the H1N1 swine flu scam. | Members of the Expert committee of the WHO (including Director General Margaret Chan) were bribed in 2009. | The same committee …

Norman Solomon (2020-05-02). Joe Biden Needs an Intervention: An Open Letter to DNC Chair Tom Perez. indybay.org "It takes two wings to fly."

Sarah Ditum (2020-05-02). [Perspectives] Death of a courtier. thelancet.com A plague sweeps the nation, the head of state's health is threatened, and the business of government is rendered fragile and unsteady. It has been over a decade since Hilary Mantel began her Thomas Cromwell trilogy with Wolf Hall in 2009, and 8 years since 2012's Bring Up the Bodies, but what felt like an arduous wait now seems like nothing but impeccable timing. Cromwell even ends the novel under his own version of lockdown as a prisoner in the Tower of London. The world has been uncannily prepared for The Mirror & the Light.

Peter J Blankestijn, Sabine C Meijvis (2020-05-02). [Comment] Renal denervation: time to refine the focus of research. thelancet.com In The Lancet, Michael Bà∂hm and colleagues report the results of their international, prospective, randomised controlled trial on the effects of renal denervation in unmedicated patients.1 They report that, in a cohort of 331 patients with hypertension assigned to either a renal denervation procedure (n=166; mean age 52 years [SD 11], 36% women) or sham procedure (n=165; 53 years [10], 32% women), treatment differences were ‚àí3 ∑9 mm Hg (Bayesian 95% credible interval ‚àí6 ∑2 to ‚àí1 ∑6) for 24 h systolic blood pressure and ‚&agr…

Michael Marmot (2020-05-02). [Perspectives] Society and the slow burn of inequality. thelancet.com On June 14, 2017, Grenfell Tower, a high-rise housing block in the Royal London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, UK, went up in flames. 72 people died, among the poorest and most marginalised in society. A dramatic conflagration such as this could teach us two kinds of lessons, if we were but open to receiving them. This event exposed underlying problems in society and it showed us that we have to do things differently. In the case of Grenfell, the underlying societal problem was deep-seated and enduring social inequalities and resultant health inequalities.

Talha Burki (2020-05-02). [World Report] Prisons are "in no way equipped" to deal with COVID-19. thelancet.com Prisons are a hotspot for COVID-19. In theory, prisoners have the same right to health as anyone else, but the reality is very different. Talha Burki reports.

The Lancet (2020-05-02). [Editorial] COVID-19: remaking the social contract. thelancet.com "Allegiance, after all, has to work two ways; and one can grow weary of an allegiance which is not reciprocal." The British playwright David Hare quoted this line by the American writer James Baldwin in his recent reflections on the UK Government's response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Baldwin's reminder and warning in the context of civil rights in the mid-20th century USA speak now in the pandemic to communities the world over who are unsure of their governments' allegiances to them.

Richard Horton (2020-05-02). [Comment] Offline: A global health crisis? No, something far worse. thelancet.com Every evening we scour those graphs looking for signs that the epidemic is in retreat. New cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). People in hospital with COVID-19. Critical care beds with COVID-19 patients. Daily COVID-19 deaths in hospital. And then the final and bluntly worded "global death comparison". Those with responsibility for leading us through this emergency have called it "a once in a century global health crisis". This statement is incorrect on two grounds. First, because we cannot know what the rest of the century will bring.

Kurt Nimmo (2020-05-02). German Lawyer Sent to Psychiatric Ward for Organizing Protest Against COVID-19 Lockdown. globalresearch.ca First published on April 16, 2020 | In the Soviet Union, activists were sent to state psychiatric wards. According to the state, any and all opposition to government policy was considered a form of mental illness. |

Bryce Covert (2020-05-02). Amazon Tech Workers Join Warehouse Workers in Protests. zcomm.org Home-office climate activists and warehouse employees across the nation find common cause mobilizing against Amazon's policies…

Nigel Bouvart (2020-05-02). Buffalo, N.Y., banner drop on May Day 2020. workers.org In honor of International Workers Day, Buffalo, N.Y., activists adorned several overpasses with radical demands on behalf of the working class, including calls for rent cancellation and universal healthcare. Credit: Oscar Elliot |

Gordon Duff (2020-05-02). Do we laugh? Backwoods Michigan Sees Powerful COVID Surge/Deaths After Lockdown Protests (updating). thealtworld.com COVID deaths doubled in one day, largely due to protests of lockdown. How many protesters or family members died last week? Without game playing, probably between 50 and 90 as deaths in "protest land" skyrocketed. | This was a single day.: | It is too easy to treat the pandemic as though it were a sport, watching the figures, cheering on the grim reaper, hoping he is killing off those other people. | This is wrong, there, I've said it. | From today's Detroit News: | "Michigan's death toll from the novel coronavirus reached 4,020 on Saturday after the state added 154 deaths to its count. | The state recor…

en.mehrnews (2020-05-02). MKO terrorists provoke Iraqi youth to kill resistance forces: report. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, May 02 (MNA) — Following protests of some Iraqi people against their poor economic conditions, a spokesperson with the Mujaheddin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) terrorists has encouraged the Iraqi youth to carry out terrorist attack against forces of Resistance groups.

MoveOn (2020-05-02). MoveOn Protest: Twitter Rally to Demand #RealReliefNow during COVID-19. indybay.org Protest online via Twitter…

WSWS (2020-05-02). Trump tweets support for armed right-wing protesters in Michigan. wsws.org The right-wing demonstration in the Michigan state Capitol is part of a high-level campaign to force a return to work in the midst of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.

WSWS (2020-05-02). Russia: Two ministers, one deputy test positive for COVID as workers' protests grow. wsws.org Just one day after Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin was hospitalized for COVID-19, the minister for construction, housing and communal services and his deputy also tested positive.

Joel Kotkin (2020-05-02). The War of Two Middle Classes. anti-empire.com Politicians across the Western world like to speak fondly of the "middle class" as if it is one large constituency with common interests and aspirations. But, as Karl Marx observed, the middle class has always been divided by sources of wealth and worldview. Today, it is split into two distinct, and often opposing, middle classes. First there is the yeomanry or the traditional middle class, which consists of small business owners, minor landowners, craftspeople, and artisans, or what we would define historically as the bourgeoisie, or the old French Third Estate, deeply embedded in the private economy. The oth…

Ted Kelly (2020-05-02). PA prisoners tortured for protesting racist policies. workers.org Eric McGill was locked up in Lebanon County Correctional Facility in Lebanon, Pa., on Jan. 19, 2019. For 15 months now he has been held there, not because he has been convicted of a crime, but because he cannot afford the preposterous $1 million bail the judge set. And during . . . |

Philip Giraldi (2020-05-02). "America the Victim": Are "Enemies" Lining Up for Revenge in the Wake of the Coronavirus? globalresearch.ca When in trouble politically, governments have traditionally conjured up a foreign enemy to explain why things are going wrong. Whatever one chooses to believe about the coronavirus, the fact is that it has resulted in considerable political backlash against a …

F. William Engdahl (2020-05-02). Coronavirus, Vaccines and the Gates Foundation. globalresearch.ca First published on March 20, 2020 | Arguably, no one has been more active in promoting and funding research on vaccines aimed at dealing with coronavirus than Bill Gates and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. From sponsoring a simulation of …

Eugene E Ruyle (2020-05-02). Lenin on Democracy and Dictatorship & its relevance for our time. indybay.org Online ZOOM Meeting. | LOG-IN INFORMATION AT OUR WEBSITE | ICSSMARX.ORG | OR EMAIL CUYLERUYLE@MAC.COM…

en.mehrnews (2020-05-02). Shamkhani reacts to German ban against Lebanon's Hezbollah. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, May 02 (MNA) — In reaction to German ban on Lebanon's Hezbollah, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Rear Admiral Shamkhani said that suppliers of chemical weapons to former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein have become defenders of human rights and call Lebanon's Hezbollah as 'terrorist' for fear of its child-killer friend.

RT (2020-05-02). WATCH North Korea's Kim re-emerge in public amid rumors of DEATH. rt.com North Korean state media has released video footage of the country's leader Kim Jong-un opening a new fertilizer plant. The video comes after weeks of rumors of his death, actively spread by Western media. | The video, said to have been shot on Friday, shows North Korea's leader cutting the red ribbon at a new plant in South Phyongan Province. The smiling Kim Jong-un is pictured meeting the workers of the plant and touring the facility alongside other officials, including his sister Kim Yo-jong. | While the plant's workers are seen wearing face masks as a precaution against coronavirus, none of the official…

Lindsey Snell (2020-05-02). "Turkey Lied to Us." Erdogan's Syrian Mercenaries in Libya Are Desperate to Leave. anti-empire.com "I just got back from Libya yesterday," said Zein Ahmad*, a Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) militant in Afrin. "But I had been trying to leave for more than a month." When the Libyan National Army (LNA) neared Tripoli in April 2019, the rival UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli called on Turkey for military support. | Turkish forces began heavily recruiting militants from SNA factions in Syria to fight on their behalf, and began flying hundreds to Libya every week. The exact number of Syrian militants Turkey has sent is unknown, but estimates range from 5,000 to 17,000. Flights c…

RT (2020-05-02). US oil storage may have room for 'several hundred million barrels'. rt.com The US is working on ways to expand storage space to add several hundred million more barrels to it, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said at a White House briefing, as quoted by Reuters. | "We're also exploring potentially having the ability to store another several hundred million barrels, so we're looking at lots of different options," Mnuchin said after announcing that the federal government was drafting a plan to prop up troubled local oil producers. | The federal government already leased out 23 million barrels worth of storage space in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to nine energy companies, and oil i…

yenisafak (2020-05-02). UN urges restraint amid Lebanon clashes. yenisafak.com The UN on Friday expressed concern and called for restraint amid protests in Lebanon over the deteriorating economic situation.Demonstrators during the week defied measures to fight the coronavirus pandemic by protesting in several cities against deteriorating living conditions and spiraling food prices.One protester was killed and almost 80 injured in violent clashes, while the Lebanese army said nearly 160 personnel were hurt, 15 of them critically."We are deeply concerned by the renewed violence in Lebanon this week, claiming the life of one protester and leaving dozens of other civilians and law enforcement o…

RT (2020-05-02). Twitter locks out Candace Owens for call to 'stand up' to Michigan governor over Covid lockdown — Trump supporters scream BIAS. rt.com Outspoken Trump supporter Candace Owens was locked out of her Twitter after she slammed the governor of Michigan as a "dictator," calling to defy her Covid-19 lockdown orders. Now Don Jr. is leading a chorus of many, crying bias. | "Candace tweeted that people in Michigan should go back to work. What rule did she break? Not even Twitter can say," tweeted Turning Point USA chief creative officer Benny Johnson on Saturday, along with a screenshot of the Owens tweet and an apparent message from Twitter saying it violates the platform's "rules," but not naming any specific ones. | The tweet from Owens slams Michig…

RT (2020-05-02). France extends health emergency until July 24 as Europe mulls lifting lockdown restrictions. rt.com France's minister of health has announced an extension of the public health state of emergency until July 24. The country was placed under emergency on March 24 due the Covid-19 outbreak. | The move was announced by Olivier Veran on Saturday, following an emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers. | While the state of health emergency was expected to be lifted on May 23, doing so was deemed to be "premature" and carrying risk of the "epidemic resurgence," the draft bill reads as quoted by local media. | The government's decision to extend the emergency is set be submitted to the country's legislature for f…

RT (2020-05-02). 'It's a Swift reference': Alex Jones says 'eat my neighbors' rant was SATIRE to highlight people 'starving' in Covid-19 lockdown. rt.com Infowars founder Alex Jones says his viral "eat my neighbors" rant was taken out of context by the media, insisting it's a reference to satirist Jonathan Swift and a way to bring attention to what he calls "population control." | Through his son Rex's Twitter account, Jones said on Saturday that his viral rant was an homage of sorts to the 1729 essay 'A Modest Proposal' by Swift in which the author recommends the poor use their children as food to sell to the rich to help with their economic burdens. | Not many would likely compare Jones to Swift, Irish writer and cleric, on any normal occassion, but the Infow…

Adriaan Alsema (2020-05-02). Paranoid Colombia: even Duque's former chief of staff target of military spying. colombiareports.com Colombia's military used US resources to spy on American journalists, local NGO's and politicians, and even President Ivan Duque's former chief of staff, according to weekly Semana. Weekly Semana on…

RT (2020-05-02). 'Obstruction attempt': Iran rejects US claim that it's hoarding Venezuela's gold as payment for economic aid. rt.com An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson has said that Washington is using false accusations to ramp up its pressure campaign in Venezuela following US claims that Caracas has sent planes loaded with golden bars to Tehran. | Seyd Abbas Mousavi described allegations that Iran is taking gold from Venezuela as "baseless comments" that are intended to mount more pressure on the South American nation. | Such claims by the US government are "an attempt to obstruct the Venezuelan government's plans for reviving that country's refineries and producing oil products, including gasoline, a shortage of which has been caus…

RT (2020-05-02). Over 240,000 Covid-19-linked deaths globally — AFP tally. rt.com The global coronavirus death toll is approaching the 250,000 mark, an AFP tally indicates. The disease that has threatened to bring the global economy to a standstill has infected more than 3.3 million people worldwide. | The deaths of over 240,000 people have now been tied to the novel coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China, the agency said on Saturday. More than 141,000 have died in Europe and some 65,000 in the United States. | #BREAKING More than 240,000 coronavirus deaths worldwide: AFP tally pic.twitter.com/Cej5aj3Wp8— AFP news agency (@AFP) RT (2020-05-02). Florida sheriff refuses to stop Americans from witnessing historic manned space launch as NASA urges everyone to watch it online. rt.com A sheriff in Florida has invited residents to come out and watch a manned space launch set for late May, dismissing pleas from both NASA and SpaceX urging spectators to stay home to prevent the spread of Covid-19. | Sheriff Wayne Ivey of Brevard County — where the launch site is located — insisted that anyone who wanted to witness the event at the Kennedy Space Center should do so without worry, despite advice from NASA to watch remotely. | "We are not going to keep the great Americans that want to come watch that from coming here," Ivey said on Friday, calling on people to "come here just like you h…

RT (2020-05-02). Number of confirmed –°ovid-19 infections in Europe exceeds 1.5 million — AFP tally. rt.com The novel coronavirus continues to spread in Europe, passing a milestone of 1.5 million confirmed cases on Saturday, according to AFP. Meanwhile, some European nations began rolling out plans to ease quarantine rules. | Spain, Italy, the UK, France and Germany remain the leaders in Europe as regards the rate of the virus's spread, with more than 150,000 confirmed cases in each country, according to Johns Hopkins University. | Europe is trailing behind the US, which currently has over 1.1 million Covid-19 cases. | As the case numbers continue to grow, some European nations have been announcing plans to graduall…

(2020-05-02). Cuba: 'We don't deny anyone our assistance'. workers.org The Cuban Foreign Ministry issued the following letter April 16 calling on the international community to come together to combat the COVID-19 outbreak. The impact of COVID-19 can already be measured and will be assessed in the future by the striking numbers of people infected, the unacceptable numbers of deaths, . . . |

RT (2020-05-02). Should we get closer? Media report UK govt mulls scrapping two-meter social distancing rule amid infection-spread debate. rt.com The UK government will hold discussions about whether it's necessary to stay two meters (six feet) apart from other people during the Covid-19 pandemic, a new report says. The WHO and EU guidelines on this issue are less strict. | Citing government sources, the Daily Telegraph reports that ministers have asked the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) to ascertain whether the two-meter social distance rule is effective in slowing down the spread of Covid-19. Last week, SAGE called the measure "appropriate," but officials now want to assess all options once more in the wake of the government's plans…

RT (2020-05-02). Russia sees surge in new Covid-19 cases with almost 10,000 cases recorded in one day. rt.com Russian health officials on Saturday reported 9,623 new cases of coronavirus in a single day, significantly more than the 7,933 rise during the previous 24 hours. The nation's Covid-19 caseload now stands at 124,054. | The surge may reflect a recent increase in testing in Moscow, which is the part of Russia worst affected by the epidemic. A total of 5,358 new cases were reported in the Russian capital on Saturday, compared to 3,561 on Friday. | Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said on Saturday that the city has "radically improved" its screening protocols during the past week, putting Moscow among the world leaders in th…

RT (2020-05-02). 'We don't care about coronavirus': Thousands attend mass prayer in Afghanistan during Ramadan, defying quarantine (VIDEO). rt.com Thousands of defiant Muslims have held public prayers during Ramadan in Afghanistan, ignoring Covid-19 safety measures. Their radical leader previously said that dying from the virus would be a form of martyrdom. | A large crowd of followers of hardline Salafist preacher Mujib Rahman Ansari had gathered for an open-air group prayer near the Gazer Gah Sharif pilgrimage site in Herat, Afghanistan's third-largest city. The worshippers sat in tight rows, close to each other, ignoring social distancing norms and not wearing masks or other protective gear. | "We don't care about the coronavirus. We believe God creat…

RT (2020-05-02). Russia sees Covid-19 surge with almost 10,000 cases recorded in one day, as Moscow ramps up testing. rt.com Russian health officials on Saturday reported 9,623 new cases of coronavirus in a single day, significantly more than the 7,933 rise during the previous 24 hours. The nation's Covid-19 caseload now stands at 124,054. | The surge may reflect a recent increase in testing in Moscow, which is the part of Russia worst affected by the epidemic. A total of 5,358 new cases were reported in the Russian capital on Saturday, compared to 3,561 on Friday. | Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said on Saturday that the city has "radically improved" its screening protocols during the past week, putting Moscow among the world leaders in th…

RT (2020-05-02). Best-case scenario: German economy may need at least EIGHT YEARS to recover from Covid-19 recession, report says. rt.com The German economy continues to contract, losing ‚Ǩ15 billion ($16.6 billion) a week due to the recession caused by Covid-19, a new report has said. It warned that it will take at least eight years for the country to recover. | Germany is expected to lose between five and 10 percent of its GDP by the end of 2020, the German branch of the US-based consulting firm McKinsey & Company wrote in its recent report. | The economy contracted by 25 percent in April compared to the previous year, which amounts to losing roughly €15 billion ($16.6 billion) per week. | The analysts at McKinsey warned…

RT (2020-05-02). Trump corrects Capitol Hill MD who says Covid-19 testing 'NOT available' for all senators — but critics are still not impressed. rt.com US President Donald Trump touted the "tremendous coronavirus testing capacity" in the White House ahead of senators returning to work, but it's not enough for his critics, who are asking, "What about the rest of the country?" | "There is tremendous coronavirus testing capacity in Washington for the senators returning to Capital [sic] Hill on Monday," the president tweeted on Saturday. Predictably, Trump's misspelling of 'Capitol' was not missed by critics, including Rep. Justin Amash (L-Michigan), who announced his intention this week to run against the president in November on the Libertarian Party ticket.

RT (2020-05-02). 'Not today': UK says it's wrong timing to be scrutinizing China for Covid-19 origins. rt.com UK Housing Minister Robert Jenrick told reporters there will be a time when Britain will need to "consider" the roles of other countries in the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic but, he warned, that time is "not now." | Asked by a reporter about the possibility of investigating China's role in the start of the pandemic —the virus is believed to have begun in the city of Wuhan— and even of seeking reparations from its government, Jenrick answered: "There will come a time when we will want to analyze the origins of the virus in detail and consider the actions of other countries, but that's not now." | W…

Joyce Chediac (2020-05-02). OSHA abandons essential workers. liberationnews.org Months into the COVID-19 pandemic, OSHA has ignored the pleas of scores of trade unions to protect workers.

RT (2020-05-02). US deploys 4 B-1 bombers & 200 airmen to Guam for 'deterrence' amid weeklong 'show of force' over South China Sea (PHOTOS). rt.com Four B-1B heavy bombers and hundreds of servicemen were sent to Guam to carry out "deterrence missions" with eyes on Beijing, following days of provocative maneuvers near contested territory in the South China Sea. | The warplanes and personnel arrived at Andersen Air Force Base on Guam on Friday, US Strategic Command announced in a

Stephen S. Roach (2020-05-02). We've Seen the End of the US-China Relationship. The Rift Is Now Total. anti-empire.com It didn't have to end this way, but the die is now cast. After 48 years of painstaking progress, a major rupture of the US-China relationship is at hand. This is a tragic outcome for both sides — and for the world. From an unnecessary trade war to an increasingly desperate coronavirus war, two angry countries are trapped in a blame game with no easy way out. | A nationalistic American public is fed up with China. According to a

Preston Wood and Michael Prysner (2020-05-02). In memoriam: Dr. Roh Kil-nam, beloved fighter for reunification of Korea. liberationnews.org "Ken Roh embodied the spirit of eternal optimism in the long road of struggle of the Korean people for freedom and reunification."