German Lawyer Sent to Psychiatric Ward for Organizing Protest Against COVID-19 Lockdown
Kurt Nimmo | globalresearch.ca | 2020-05-02
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. | Stephanie Buck writes about the …
globalresearch.ca/german-lawyer-sent-psych-ward-organizing-protest-against-covid-19-lockdown/5709685

Russia: Two ministers, one deputy test positive for COVID as workers' protests grow
wsws.org | 2020-05-02
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.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/05/02/russ-m02.html

The deeper roots of Chinese demonization
Pepe Escobar | thealtworld.com | 2020-05-02
Fasten your seat belts: the US hybrid war against China is bound to go on frenetic overdrive, as economic reports are already identifying Covid-19 as the tipping point when the Asian

Russia sees surge in new Covid-19 cases with almost 10,000 cases recorded in one day
rt.com | 2020-05-02
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.com/russia/487611-russia-records-almost-10000-daily/

Russia sees Covid-19 surge with almost 10,000 cases recorded in one day, as Moscow ramps up testing
rt.com | 2020-05-02
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.com/russia/487611-russia-records-almost-10000-daily/

Bosnian Croats Ask the Russian Military for Anti-Virus Help, Bosnian Muslims Block It
Marko Marjanović | anti-empire.com | 2020-05-02
The political leader of the Bosnian Croats, Dragan Čović

Russian diplomat calls on US to talk about its commitments under resolution 2231
en.mehrnews.com | 2020-05-02
TEHRAN, May 02 (MNA)

Russia to boost coal production & sales, will be world's top exporter within decade
rt.com | 2020-05-02
The world's largest coal-producing country, Russia, plans to increase its output and exports over the next 15 years. Russia's share of the global coal export market is projected to expand to 25 percent from the current 11 percent. | According to a draft document on state strategy issued by Russia's Ministry of Energy, production will grow to 448-530 million tons annually until 2024 and up to 485-668 million tons annually until 2035. | Domestic coal consumption will increase by over 12 percent; it currently stands at around 196 million t…
rt.com/business/487200-russia-coal-production-exports-boost/

China Registers Only One New COVID-19 Case in the Whole Country
telesurenglish.net | 2020-05-02
China's National Health Commission (NHC) Friday reported one new COVID-19 case in the entire country corresponding to a traveler from abroad, which is the lowest growth rate recorded in the Asian country since the pandemic began. | RELATED: | Russia Refutes Western Attempts To Blame China For COVID-19 | The NHC also reported two suspected cases, both related to someone from abroad. In the last 24 hours, 43 patients were discharged and 650 of their close contacts were no longer obs…
telesurenglish.net/news/China-Registers-Only-One-New-COVID-19-Case-in-the-Whole-Country-20200502-0002.html

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…
thealtworld.com/scott_ritter/to-impose-further-sanctions-on-iran-the-us-rewrites-history-and-engages-in-semantic-gymnastics

Farewell to the god of plague
Vijay Prashad | mronline.org | 2020-05-01
The Communists were determined to eradicate disease. In the 1930s, Mao joined the Chinese Communist Party's Public Health Commission; in 1934, when he was in the Jiangxi Soviet, Mao placed public health at the top of the list for party work.
mronline.org/2020/05/01/farewell-to-the-god-of-plague/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=farewell-to-the-god-of-plague

Podcast: Netanyahu's Fake Documents Pushed the US Towards War
Kyle Anzalone | anti-empire.com | 2020-05-01
On FPF #486, I discuss how Israel apparently used fake documents to push Trump towards war with Iran in April 2018. | Gareth Porter has a great article out that explains how it is clear the documents were forgeries. | Netanyahu released the documents in April of 2018 before Trump withdrew from the Iran Nuclear Deal and imposed a 'maximum pressure' sanctions campaign against Iran. | The economic war – and other provocative actions by Trump – has moved the US un…
anti-empire.com/netanyahus-fake-documents-pushed-the-us-towards-war/

Video: Prospects of Turkish-Russian Military Conflict in Syria
South Front | globalresearch.ca | 2020-05-01
The region of Greater Idlib remains the main source of tensions in Syria. | The March 5th ceasefire deal reached by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow allowed an end to be made to the …
globalresearch.ca/video-prospects-turkish-russian-military-conflict-syria/5711491

Cold War of Trump/Navarro v. China: More Dangerous than COVID-19
Andre Vltchek | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-05-01
It is getting ugly, extremely ugly. It is increasingly looking like a war

ANOTHER Russian minister diagnosed with Covid-19, after PM ends up in hospital
rt.com | 2020-05-01
Russia's Minister of Construction and Housing, as well as his deputy, have been hospitalized with coronavirus. This comes a day after PM Mikhail Mishustin informed the president he was being admitted to hospital due to Covid-19. | The ministry's press service broke the news on Vladimir Yakushev's test late on Friday. While he and his deputy, Dmitry Volkov, have been hospitalized, another of Yakushev's deputies, Nikita Stasishin, has stepped up as acting minister. | "I'll be treated at one of the city's clinics, in the care of medics. I'll be keeping in close touch," the minister said. | Yakushev is the second…
rt.com/russia/487591-russian-construction-minister-coronavirus/

Arab dictatorships and the virus
Abdel Bari Atwan | thealtworld.com | 2020-05-01
Repressive regimes have been relatively successful at containing the pandemic. Their real problems begin once it's over. | There is no disputing that the majority of Arab states are governed by dictatorial regimes, varying only in degree. But its must be admitted, as even some Western observers concede, that these dictatorships have proven effective at confronting the coronavirus outbreak and containing its spread. They have done so by imposing drastic measures such as states of emergency and curfews in addition to closing down shops, businesses and places of worship. As a result, infection rates in most countrie…
thealtworld.com/abdel_bari_atwan/arab-dictatorships-and-the-virus

With apparently fabricated nuclear documents, Netanyahu pushed the US towards war with Iran
Gareth Porter | thegrayzone.com | 2020-04-30
An investigation of supposed Iranian nuclear documents presented in a dramatically staged Netanyahu press conference indicates they were an Israeli…
thegrayzone.com/2020/04/29/fabricated-nuclear-documents-netanyahu-war-iran/

Russian PM Mikhail Mishustin Tests Positive for COVID-19
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-30
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said he has tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Kremlin on Thursday. | RELATED: | Russia Refutes Western Attempts To Blame China For COVID-19 | "I just learned that I have tested positive for the coronavirus," Mishustin told Russian President Vladimir Putin during a video conference, the Kremlin said in a statement. | The prime minister said he has to self-isolate and follow the doctors' orders. "The government will continue to o…
telesurenglish.net/news/Russian-PM-Mikhail-Mishustin-Tests-Positive-for-COVID-19-20200430-0014.html

European classical music in the U.S. and its foreign policy impact
Eric A. Gordon | peoplesworld.org | 2020-04-30
Scholar Jonathan Rosenberg's new book Dangerous Melodies: Classical Music in America from the Great War through the Cold War has a misleading title. He focuses on controversies during three major episodes in global history–the Great War (World War I), World War II, and the Cold War of the 1940s-1960s (he only sketchily carries the story …
peoplesworld.org/article/european-classical-music-in-the-u-s-and-its-foreign-policy-impact/

US elites use Russiagate playbook to blame China and promote hostility
Aaron Maté | thegrayzone.com | 2020-04-25
The US establishment is demonizing China over the COVID-19 crisis with a familiar Russiagate playbook of specious claims, fear-mongering, and…
thegrayzone.com/2020/04/25/us-elites-use-russiagate-playbook-to-blame-china-and-promote-hostility/

A Myriad of Ways to Wage Peace During These Times
Jon Rainwater | peaceaction.org | 2020-04-23
As we shelter in our homes to protect ourselves from this global pandemic, we wanted to share some of the many ways you can remain active and impactful in the work for a more peaceful world. Peace Action has long been a leader in organizing international conferences, marches, and rallies around the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty …
peaceaction.org/2020/04/23/wage-peace-during-pandemic/

China's reality on the ground: fact vs Cold War fiction
Anya Parampil | thegrayzone.com | 2020-04-22
Red Lines host Anya Parampil speaks with Beijing-based journalist Daniel Alan Bey about his experience living in China during the…
thegrayzone.com/2020/04/22/chinas-reality-on-the-ground-fact-vs-cold-war-fiction/

US Air Force 'Interested in Accelerating' Hypersonic Cruise Missile Programme
sputniknews.com | 2020-05-02
In March, Michael White, the Assistant Director for Hypersonics in the Office of the US Under Secretary of Defence for Research and Engineering, signaled the Pentagon's readiness to catch up with Russia and China in hypersonic arms development.
sputniknews.com/military/202005021079169723-us-air-force-interested-in-accelerating-hypersonic-cruise-missile-programme/

Rapid Increase in COVID-19 Cases in Moscow Linked to Growing Testing Rate
sputniknews.com | 2020-05-02
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Moscow's COVID-19 response centre on Saturday explained the rapid increase in new cases of infection by the growing number of reference centers verifying positive coronavirus results in the Russian capital.
sputniknews.com/russia/202005021079171530-rapid-increase-in-covid-19-cases-in-moscow-linked-to-growing-testing-rate/

Nord Stream 2 Pipe-Laying Ship Reportedly Approaching Russia's Kaliningrad
sputniknews.com | 2020-05-02
The pipe-laying vessel, which recently changed course several times, has been operated by "Gazprom Fleet" since 2016. It was earlier touted by Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak as the ship capable of helping wrap up the Nord Stream 2 project.
sputniknews.com/russia/202005021079172164-nord-stream-2-pipe-laying-ship-reportedly-approaching-russias-kaliningrad/

Russia Calls on US and Iran to Exercise 'Maximum Restraint' Amid Escalating Tensions
Sputnik News | iranian.com | 2020-04-29
Tensions between the US and Iran in the Persian Gulf grew after American troops conducted drills in the region, despite complaining that Iranian boats had "harassed" their vessels. The Russian Foreign Ministry has called on the US and Iran to exercise "maximum restraint' in the Persian Gulf region and not fall for provocations. "Moscow has …
iranian.com/2020/04/29/russia-calls-on-us-and-iran-to-exercise-maximum-restraint-amid-escalating-tensions/

With apparently fabricated nuclear documents, Netanyahu pushed the US towards war with Iran
Gareth Porter | iranian.com | 2020-04-30
An investigation of supposed Iranian nuclear documents presented in a dramatically staged Netanyahu press conference indicates they were an Israeli fabrication designed to trigger US military conflict with Iran. President Donald Trump scrapped the nuclear deal with Iran and continued to risk war with Iran based on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claim to have …
iranian.com/2020/04/30/netanyahu-pushed-the-us-towards-war-with-iran/

BRICS Members Ask for Removal of US Sanctions on Iran
Fars News | iranian.com | 2020-04-30
Members of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) stressed the need for Washington to lift sanctions that have impeded the targeted countries' efforts to fight against the coronavirus epidemic, including Iran. "Such restrictive measures violate international law, interfere with the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and cause significant damage to the …
iranian.com/2020/04/30/brics-members-ask-for-removal-of-us-sanctions-on-iran/