2020-04-20: News Headlines

Ben Norton (2020-04-20). Human Rights Watch cabildea por sanciones letales contra Nicaragua y Venezuela, mientras arrecia la crisis de Covid-19. thegrayzone.com Human Rights Watch está orgullosamente asumiendo el crédito por sanciones devastadoras contra Nicaragua, mientras busca escalar la guerra económica en…

Staff (2020-04-20). Headlines for April 20, 2020. democracynow.org U.S. Fatalities Top 40,000; Nursing Homes Hit Hard as Death Tolls Soar | , Trump and Governors at Odds over Coronavirus Testing as Uneven Reopening of States Commences, Right-Wing Groups Organize Anti-Lockdown Protests Around the Country | , New Deal on Relief for Small Businesses Could Be Imminent But May Lack Key Democratic Provisions, Immigrant Prisoners at Otay Mesa Launch Hunger Strike, Denounce Inhumane Treatment | , Michael Cohen to Be Released from Federal Detention as Prisoners Nationwide Face Mounting Coronavirus Risk, Italy Records Lowest Daily Death Toll in a Week; Spain & France Also Show Signs of Pr…

RT (2020-04-20). Anti-quarantine protesters inspired by Covid-19-denying former opera singer hurl stones, clash with police in Vladikavkaz. rt.com A group of protesters neglected social distancing and surrounded the local government's office in Vladikavkaz in Russia's south. They demanded the coronavirus quarantine to be lifted and scuffled with the police. | Videos from the Svoboda (Freedom) Square in the capital of Russia's Republic of North Ossetia showed the demonstrators trying to break police cordons and tossing stones at officers in full riot gear. | The unsanctioned rally began at noon on Monday with a group of people gathering outside the administration, with only a few wearing face masks and staying very close to each other. They were quite…

en.mehrnews (2020-04-20). How Iran could curb COVID-19 despite sanctions, restrictions? en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Apr. 20 (MNA) — Since the first case of coronavirus was identified in Iran, the country has taken extensive measures to curb the spread of the disease, so that daily death toll has been declining over the past few days, unlike some other countries around the world which are still grappling with high casualties and infection.

Elijah J. Magnier (2020-04-20). Will America Launch a War on Iraq? globalresearch.ca The US administration views Iraq as an arena for confrontation with Iran, with the aim of subjugating the country to its hegemony and dominance. The US imposes harsh sanctions on Iran and is trying to close the Iraqi market to …

RT (2020-04-19). Anti-Netanyahu demonstrators in Israel stage unique protest, keeping social distance (PHOTOS, VIDEOS). rt.com Israeli demonstrators turned out in droves to protest the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. Mindful of the need for social distancing, they stood two meters apart from each other in a visually spectacular gathering. | Tel Aviv's Rabin Square is often a staging ground for rallies. Tens of thousands flocked to the plaza to protest police restrictions on music festivals last year, while the year before saw gay rights activists turn up to shout down a controversial surrogacy law. | | Protesters assemble in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square, April 19, 2020 © AFP / Jack Guez | Sunday, however, saw a gathering unlike an…

Fars News (2020-04-19). Iranian Health Ministry Document Shows Coronavirus Test Kits Blocked by US Sanctions. iranian.com Iranian Health Ministry Spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour released a document which proves that the US sanctions against the country have blocked imports of coronavirus kits from South Korea. Jahanpour wrote on his twitter page on Saturday evening that a SWIFT request by Iran for the purchase of coronavirus diagnosis kits from South Korea has been rejected …

Arms Control Association (2020-04-19). Risks and Realities of Extending the UN Arms Embargo on Iran. iranian.com More than a decade ago, the United States and its partners secured UN Security Council support for a series of resolutions imposing increasingly tough sanctions on Iran as part of an effort to pressure Tehran into multilateral talks to curb its nuclear program and block its pathways to nuclear weapons. The United States along with …

Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration (2020-04-18). Caribbean Organizations Unite Against US Attacks, Support Caricom. telesurenglish.net Caribbean Anti-imperialist and Peace Organisations in a Zoom Meeting on the 16th April 2020, supported Caribbean Community (Caricom) called for the Caribbean to remain a zone of peace. | RELATED: | They expressed their opposition to the American military and naval build up off the Venezuelan coast, and the U.S. sanctions against Cuba and Venezuela. | The Caribbean Organizations Further objected to the seizing of medi…

Julia Conley, staff writer (2020-04-17). Thousands Join Virtual Rally to Demand World Without Prisons as Coronavirus Spreads in Detention Centers. commondreams.org "In the midst of a global pandemic, prisons are Petri dishes and all sentences are death sentences." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Alan Macleod (2020-04-17). ICE is Deporting COVID-19 Positive Detainees from Private Immigration Prisons. mintpressnews.com By continuing deportations of quarantined detainees during a pandemic, ICE is greatly increasing the risk of spreading the deadly virus to other countries officials and activists warn.

ACLU (2020-04-17). What it's Like in ICE Detention During a Pandemic. aclu.org As millions of people in the U.S. shelter in their homes, and millions more who aren't able to stay indoors practice social distancing or other measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19, a crisis is brewing in the facilities where immigrants are detained. Cramped conditions and inadequate access to hygiene or medical care have created what one medical expert called a "tinderbox" for the disease in a letter to Congress., , Many of those in detention are asylum seekers, who came to the U.S. to ask for protection after fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries. Many others were long-time U.S. resi…

news.un (2020-04-17). US must improve COVID-19 strategy to keep tens of millions from falling into poverty, urges rights expert. news.un.org The United States must take urgent additional steps to prevent tens of millions of middle-class Americans hit by the COVID-19 pandemic from being "plunged into poverty", according to an independent UN human rights expert.

news.un (2020-04-17). UN human rights office calls for compassion following Rohingya deaths at sea. news.un.org The UN human rights office (OHCHR), is calling for compassion for people desperately seeking shelter, after 30 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar died on a boat in the Bay of Bengal that had spent nearly two months at sea.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-04-17). Zimbabwe court orders government to protect health workers. peoplesdispatch.org The order was issued by the court in response to a petition filed by Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights over the lack of proper equipment to deal with the spread of the virus…

news.un (2020-04-17). COVID-19: Rights experts highlight LGBTI discrimination, antisemitism. news.un.org New guidance from the UN human rights office, issued on Friday, sets out key actions to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) people against discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ben Norton (2020-04-16). Bolivian coup leader freaks out on The Grayzone for 'fascist' label in complaint to OAS 'human rights' arm. thegrayzone.com The director of far-right Bolivian coup leader Camacho's presidential campaign threw a slander-laced tantrum against The Grayzone in a letter…

Elijah J. Magnier (2020-04-16). Will The US Launch Another War Against Iraq? iranian.com The US administration views Iraq as an arena for confrontation with Iran, with the aim of subjugating the country to its hegemony and dominance. The US imposes harsh sanctions on Iran and is trying to close the Iraqi market to prevent Tehran from smuggling its oil through Mesopotamia, and to obstruct the sale of gas …

IRNA (2020-04-16). Zarif lauds China COVID19 aid to Iran. iranian.com Iranian Foreign Minister in a message on Thursday thanked China for providing medical aid to Iran in time of coronavirus outbreak and slammed US sanctions that hindered Iran's fight against pandemic. "I am very happy to talk to my old friend, Wang Yi, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister again," Zarif said in a Twitter …

Staff (2020-04-15). "I Want an Apology": Black Doctor Who Tests Homeless for Coronavirus Handcuffed by Miami Police. democracynow.org We speak with Dr. Armen Henderson, an African-American doctor who was handcuffed and detained outside his home Friday as he was wearing a mask and preparing for a volunteer shift to test homeless people for COVID-19. "I want the officer held accountable. There's no way that you racially profile me and then you arrest me, detain me, during a pandemic, when you have no mask on, where hundreds of police officers throughout Miami-Dade County have tested positive," says Dr. Henderson, who is an internal medicine physician, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Miami and an organizer with Dream Defenders…

news.un (2020-04-15). COVID-19 environmental roll back 'irrational' and irresponsible': rights expert. news.un.org Countries must not use the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to weaken environmental protection and enforcement, a UN independent human rights expert said on Wednesday.

splcenter (2020-04-13). Congressman John Lewis shares message of support for SPLC's work. splcenter.org Congressman John Lewis has been a tireless champion for equal rights and justice for more than six decades.

Kanya Bennett (2020-04-13). Federal Wardens Must Immediately Flatten the Curve in our Nation's Prisons. aclu.org With 10 deaths and more than 500 positive COVID-19 cases in the nation's federal prisons, wardens must "

CounterSpin (2020-04-10). Mike Elk on Frontline Worker Rights, Joe Emersberger on Pandemic Sanctions. fair.org Media…

David Cole (2020-04-10). Civil Liberties Never Sleep: The ACLU in the Pandemic. aclu.org The COVID-19 pandemic has closed down many businesses, but the work of preserving civil liberties and civil rights continues, as essential as ever. Reports of courts closing down can be misleading. While public trials that require jurors and in-person testimony have been suspended, most courts and lawyers can do their work remotely. The filing of legal briefs continues, and oral arguments and hearings are being held remotely. The work of securing justice continues., , At the ACLU, our most immediate focus has been on civil liberties and civil rights issues arising from the government's response (or lack thereo…

splcenter (2020-04-10). Get-out-the-vote effort goes digital for COVID-19 pandemic. splcenter.org Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Alexis Carr was able to knock on doors in Montgomery, Alabama, register people to vote, instruct them on voting rights and encourage them to cast their ballots on Election Day.

Dominique Morgan (2020-04-09). I'm Queer and I've Been in Solitary. Ellen Isn't Experiencing What I Did. aclu.org On Monday, I ended a 12-hour day returning emails to incarcerated queer folks, providing direct aid for housing to folks living with HIV & AIDS who have been incarcerated and challenging the state of Nebraska to provide humane conditions for incarcerated individuals and decided to mindlessly scroll on Twitter. , , I found the quote from the show Ellen DeGeneres filmed from her multimillion-dollar, multi-room mansion: "One thing that I've learned from being in quarantine is that people — this is like being in jail, is what it is," she said. "It's mostly because I've be…

splcenter (2020-04-08). Nativist Hate Groups Want to Keep People in ICE Detention Despite COVID-19 Threat. splcenter.org Anti-immigrant think tanks are pushing for the U.S. to detain immigrants and asylum seekers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, even as prisoners stage hunger strikes and other protests in response to what they describe as deteriorating health conditions in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities.

Ben Norton (2020-04-08). Billionaire-backed Human Rights Watch lobbies for lethal US sanctions on leftist governments as Covid crisis rages. thegrayzone.com Regime change-hungry HRW is proudly taking credit for crushing new US sanctions on Nicaragua while pushing to escalate Washington's economic…

Kathy Kelly (2020-04-04). Stop Tightening the Thumb Screws: A Humanitarian Message. zcomm.org One way to help others survive is to insist that the United States lift sanctions against Iran and instead support acts of practical care…

splcenter (2020-04-03). Detained immigrants across Deep South feel like 'sitting ducks' as ICE ignores their safety amid global pandemic. splcenter.org COVID-19 began to infect the nation at rapid speed in March, reaching every corner of the country and taking the lives of more than 6,000 people by April 3. The United Nations has dubbed the coronavirus the "most challenging" crisis the globe has witnessed since World War II.

Katrina Huber (2020-04-02). Fighting for immigrant rights during a pandemic. splcenter.org As people across the country are confined to their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, little attention has been given to a group of people whose health is in danger because they are locked away from the outside world — people in immigrant detention centers.

Joe Emersberger (2020-03-13). No, Venezuela does not have a six child per family policy. zcomm.org I respect UK journalist Andrew Buncombe. As I noted for FAIR last year, he was one of the few corporate journalists who reported on a study linking Trump's financial sanctions on Venezuela to thousands of deaths by the end of 2018. Since 2018, Trump has repeatedly intensified the sanctions and threatened Venezuela with military action,

Tyler Durden (2020-02-08). Iraq and Russia Prepare to Boost Military Ties as US Threatens Sanctions. theantimedia.com Iraq and Russia are preparing for deepening military coordination.