Russia-China entente deepens in the shadow of the pandemic
M.K. Bhadrakumar | mronline.org | 2020-05-04
The Russian-Chinese entente emerged as one of the most significant templates of international politics in the recent period since the hugely consequential developments in Ukraine in 2014 that led to western sanctions against Moscow, which in turn galvanised the latter's 'pivot to Asia'.
mronline.org/2020/05/04/russia-china-entente-deepens-in-the-shadow-of-the-pandemic/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=russia-china-entente-deepens-in-the-shadow-of-the-pandemic
May Day Protests at SF City Hall. Anti Shutdowners Also Demonstrate
Leon Kunstenaar | indybay.org | 2020-05-04
Labor and human rights groups demand rent and mortgage strike. Others want country "reopened".
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/05/01/18832751.php
Trump, Pence, G W Bush, Hannity and Sen. Rick Scott's best sheriff fried under DOJ investi
scott huminski | indybay.org | 2020-05-04
The Justice Department and Florida Department of Health are investigating Sheriff Carmine Marceno for civil rights abuses, human rights abuses, ADA violations and felony abuse of a disabled adult.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/05/01/18832772.php
US' anti-human rights actions posed challenges to Iran's fight against coronavirus
en.mehrnews.com | 2020-05-04
TEHRAN, May 04 (MNA)
When fear reigns
Anna Jikhareva and Anne Jung | indybay.org | 2020-05-04
What was thought to be temporary has remained until today. Temporary rules became law. Snowden warns of a similar process in the context of a real crisis.Surveillance is accepted on an unprecedented scale.The virus is dangerous.But the destruction of our rights is fatal because it is permanent. Snowden believers.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/05/04/18832818.php
Mashpee Wampanoag tribe's trust status threatened by Department of Interior
Dylan Gamez Citron and Kimberly Barzola | liberationnews.org | 2020-05-04
"This is a violation of our rights…"
liberationnews.org/mashpee-wampanoag-tribes-trust-status-threatened-by-department-of-interior/
Iran to overcome sanctions and become more powerful: Emile Lahoud
en.mehrnews.com | 2020-05-04
TEHRAN, May 04 (MNA)
Cuomo wants to fine people not wearing Covid-19 masks because they could 'literally kill someone'
rt.com | 2020-05-04
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has called people who don't wear masks to help stop the spread of the coronavirus "cruel and irresponsible," adding that he supports authorities fining them over it. | Wearing masks in public has been mandatory in New York since mid-April, but enforcement of the measure falls to local governments
Iran promises 'appropriate and decisive' response as US calls for arms embargo to be prolonged
rt.com | 2020-05-04
Tehran's Foreign Ministry spokesman accused Washington of acting "illegally" in their efforts to influence the UN Security Council, adding Iran would not be "seeking to exit the 2015 nuclear deal" the US pulled out of in 2018. | Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said Iran's response would be "proportionate" after the US said last week it was "hopeful" the UN Security Council would extend the arms embargo on Iran before it expires in October. | The Trump administration has taken a harder line against the Islamic Republic after withdrawing from the deal, which relaxed economic sanctions in exchange for Te…
rt.com/news/487709-iran-response-usa-embargo-prolong/
Pompeo Demands Countries Block Airspace to Iran's Sanctions-Busting Air Bridge to Venezuela
Tyler Durden | anti-empire.com | 2020-05-03
The US is going on the offensive once again against Venezuela, this time attempting to break up growing Iranian cooperation and assistance to Caracas. The two so-called 'rogue states' recently targeted for US-imposed regime change are helping each other fight coronavirus as well as Washington-led sanctions. Specifically Tehran has ramped up cargo deliveries related getting Venezuela's derelict oil refineries fully operational. | Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in new statements has called on international allies to block airspace specifically for Iran's Mahan Air, currently under US sanctions, and which has in…
anti-empire.com/pompeo-demands-countries-block-airspace-to-irans-sanctions-busting-air-bridge-to-venezuela/
Greek refugee camps 'beyond breaking point' as UK government continues its racist policies
Eliza Egret | thecanary.co | 2020-05-03
Human rights campaigners on the Greek island of Samos have told The Canary that the situation for refugees is "beyond breaking point". Since the early 2000s, people have been seeking refuge on the Aegean islands, fleeing the West's neo-colonial policies in the Middle East. Around 7,000 people are currently stuck in Samos' Vathy camp, which has capacity for under 700 people. | Europe Must A…
thecanary.co/global/world-analysis/2020/05/03/greek-refugee-camps-beyond-breaking-point-as-uk-government-continues-its-racist-policies/
May Day Protests at SF City Hall. Anti Shutdowners Also Demonstrate
Leon Kunstenaar | indybay.org | 2020-05-03
Labor and human rights groups demand rent and mortgage strike. Others want country "reopened".
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/05/01/18832751.php
This Weekend We Mark "Press Freedom Day". But Whose Freedom?
Steve Sweeney | globalresearch.ca | 2020-05-03
Global human rights organisations and press freedom groups will today hold events across the world to mark International Press Freedom day, held annually on May 3. | It was established by the United Nations in 1993 on the second anniversary of …
globalresearch.ca/press-freedom-day-whose-freedom/5711569
Trump, Pence, G W Bush, Hannity and Sen. Rick Scott's best sheriff fried under DOJ investi
scott huminski | indybay.org | 2020-05-03
The Justice Department and Florida Department of Health are investigating Sheriff Carmine Marceno for civil rights abuses, human rights abuses, ADA violations and felony abuse of a disabled adult.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/05/01/18832772.php
Challenging the Narrative: Media Propaganda Launches Conspiracy Theories Against Covid-19 Skeptics
Timothy Alexander Guzman | globalresearch.ca | 2020-05-03
Following the September 11th attacks in New York City, it instantaneously changed everything, from expanding US wars abroad against Afghanistan and Iraq, the dismantling of whatever civil rights you had left to the increased use of drones for surveillance and …
globalresearch.ca/media-propaganda-launches-conspiracy-theories-against-covid-19-skeptics/5711597
Female Genital Mutilation Finally Banned in Sudan
telesurenglish.net | 2020-05-03
In a significant victory for women and girls' rights in Sudan, the country's transitional government banned on April 22 and reported by The Guardian on Friday, the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM), making it punishable by three years in jail and a fine. | RELATED: | Sudanese Prime Minister Survives Assassination Attempt | Women's rights groups praised the move saying it would help to end FGM but warned about the difficulty of changing mentalities as the practice is deeply…
telesurenglish.net/news/Female-Genital-Mutilation-Finally-Banned-in-Sudan-20200503-0015.html
Mashpee Wampanoag tribe's trust status threatened by Department of Interior
Dylan Gamez Citron and Kimberly Barzola | liberationnews.org | 2020-05-03
"This is a violation of our rights…"
liberationnews.org/mashpee-wampanoag-tribes-trust-status-threatened-by-department-of-interior/
Sacramento: May Day Car Caravan for Immigrant & Worker Rights
Graton Day Labor Center and others | indybay.org | 2020-05-03
Car Caravan: Southside Park, Sacramento…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/04/30/18832711.php
Venezuela thwarts invasion attempt by mercenaries
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-05-03
The National Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB) and the National Bolivarian Police repelled an attempted invasion by a group of mercenaries early on May 3, Sunday. The group of mercenaries attempted to enter Venezuela on the coast of the La Guaira State. They arrived in speed boats from Colombia, according to the GPS system of the boats. | In the confrontation, eight mercenaries were killed and two were detained, one of whom has confessed to being an agent of the Drug Enforcement Agency of the United States. Venezuelan security forces also seized large amounts of weaponry, including assault rifles and ammunition, as…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/05/03/venezuela-thwarts-invasion-attempt-by-mercenaries/
[Editorial] COVID-19: remaking the social contract
The Lancet | thelancet.com | 2020-05-02
"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.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30983-1/fulltext?rss=yes
PA prisoners tortured for protesting racist policies
Ted Kelly | workers.org | 2020-05-02
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 . . . | Continue reading PA prisoners tortured for protesting racist policies at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/05/48116/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pa-prisoners-tortured-for-protesting-racist-policies
To impose further sanctions on Iran, the US rewrites history and engages in semantic gymnastics
Scott Ritter | thealtworld.com | 2020-05-02
On May 8, 2018, President Trump withdrew from the Iran Nuclear deal. In an effort to enact crippling "snap-back" sanctions, his administration is now pretending it did no such thing. | "All our words", the American-Lebanese poet-philosopher Kahlil Gibran observed, "are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind." If words are judged by their intellectual weight and adherence to integrity, the statements issued by the Trump administration in relation to its standing as a "participating nation" in the context of the agreement (known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA,) is more famine than…
To impose further sanctions on Iran, the US rewrites history and engages in semantic gymnastics
A County Jail Battles COVID-19 and the Opioid Crisis–At the Same Time
Marcia Brown | progressive.org | 2020-05-01
The pandemic and an increase in immigration detainees create a double whammy for the rural Ohio jail.
progressive.org/dispatches/county-jail-battles-covid19-and-opioid-crisis-brown-200501/
Tamil detainee speaks out from Christmas Island
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2020-05-04
Refugees & migrants Chris SleeIssue 1264 Australia Chrismas islandMay 4, 2020Priya, a Tamil refugee detained on Christmas Island, was the featured speaker at a Zoom "digital rally" organised by the Tamil Refugee Council on May 2. | Until 26 months ago, Priya live…
greenleft.org.au/content/tamil-detainee-speaks-out-christmas-island
Iran Bashing, a US Media Specialty
Stephen Lendman | iranian.com | 2020-05-03
Operating as imperial mouthpieces, US establishment media are hostile toward all sovereign independent nations on its target list for regime change. They're countries unwilling to sacrifice their sovereign rights to US interests. Iran tops the list of Middle East nations Washington wants transformed into a vassal state
Iran Under Siege from Humanitarian Imperialism amid Pandemic
Daniel Haiphong | iranian.com | 2020-05-03
Iran is once again under siege from humanitarian imperialism. The United Nations (UN) has released multiple reports in recent weeks criticizing the Iranian government for supposed human rights violations in relation to the treatment of prisoners and its lockdown procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nazanin Boniadi, a board of director at the Center for Human …
iranian.com/2020/05/03/iran-under-siege-humanitarian-imperialism-amid-pandemic/
Citing 'Vein of Toxicity' and Firing of Whistleblowers, Amazon VP Resigns in Disgust
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-05-04
Now-former Amazon engineer Tim Bray won praise from labor rights advocates on Monday after resigning from his high-ranking position over the company's treatment of whistleblowers during the Covid-19 pandemic, publishing a "scathing" letter on his personal blog. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/news/2020/05/04/citing-vein-toxicity-and-firing-whistleblowers-amazon-vp-resigns-disgust?cd-origin=rss
Syrian tycoon Makhlouf says security forces are arresting his employees
yenisafak.com | 2020-05-03
Sanctions-hit Syrian tycoon Rami Makhlouf on Sunday said that security forces are arresting employees at his diversified companies in what he said were "mounting pressures" on him days after Syrian authorities asked him to repay hefty taxes."Today pressures began in an unacceptable ways and the security forces, in an inhumane way, are arresting our employees," Makhlouf said in a video.Makhlouf, a maternal cousin of President Bashar al-Assad and widely considered part of the president's inner circle, has a business empire that ranges from telecoms and real estate to construction and oil trading. He had played a bi…
yenisafak.com/en/news/syrian-tycoon-makhlouf-says-security-forces-are-arresting-his-employees-3518517
Russian-German Board Chair Calls for Reconsidering Sanctions Against Russia Amid COVID-19
sputniknews.com | 2020-05-04
BERLIN (Sputnik) – The COVID-19 pandemic could be the basis for considering the issue of lifting European sanctions against Russia, Matthias Platzeck, the board chairman of the German-Russian Forum and a former minister-president of Germany's Brandenburg, said on Monday during a video conference in Berlin.
sputniknews.com/world/202005041079194331-russian-german-board-chair-calls-for-reconsidering-sanctions-against-russia-amid-covid-19/
Ex-German Chancellor Urges Lifting 'Senseless' Anti-Russian Sanctions Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
sputniknews.com | 2020-05-03
Crimea rejoined Russia in March 2014 as a result of a referendum which saw over 96 per cent of the peninsula's residents backing the option. However, the move was opposed by Ukraine and a majority of Western countries, including EU members, with several rounds of sanctions slapped on Moscow.
sputniknews.com/world/202005031079180885-ex-german-chancellor-urges-lifting-senseless-anti-russian-sanctions-amid-covid-19-pandemic/
'Rights and dignity' of older people must be respected during COVID-19 and beyond
news.un.org | 2020-05-01
The COVID-19 fatality rate for people over 80-years-old, is five times the global average, the UN Secretary-General said on Friday, launching a new policy initiative to address this and many other challenges faced by the elderly, during and after the biggest public health crisis to hit the world in a century.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/05/1063052