2020-02-14: News Headlines

Russell Mokhiber (2020-02-14). NPR and the Escalating Attack on Single-Payer Health Care. counterpunch.org National Public Radio's Mara Liasson this weekend entered a new term into the corporate liberal establishment's attack on single payer healthcare. Mandatory Medicare for All. As in — do you want Bernie Sanders' Mandatory Medicare for All — or Mayor Pete Buttigieg's Voluntary Medicare for Those Who Want It? It was the first time that

Special to People's World (2020-02-14). Sanders says his health plan would protect culinary workers in Nevada. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday issued a statement saying his Medicare for All plan would protect the benefits workers with good union-negotiated health plans currently have. He issued the statement after Culinary Workers Union Local 226 announced it would not endorse in the 2020 Nevada Democratic caucus: "I very much appreciate the struggle …

RT (2020-02-14). The show goes on: Olympics organizers told there is 'no case' for moving or canceling 2020 Tokyo Games. rt.com The organizers of the Olympic Games in Tokyo have been told by medical experts that there is no case for the Summer Olympics to be canceled or moved due to the coronavirus outbreak. | The World Health Organization (WHO) informed the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that there is no need to consider moving the Games or canceling them outright as a result of the outbreak. | The event kicks off on July 24, with Japanese organizers saying that testing and containment measures will be ramped up after the country's first confirmed coronavirus-related death. | Head of the IOC's coordination commission John Coate…

RT (2020-02-14). In chase of the perfect weight: How anorexia & bulimia ruin sporting careers. rt.com Intensive training sessions, risk of injury, weight control and pressure related to achieving high results are the dark side of sport which can lead to serious physical and psychological health issues, including eating disorders. | Athletes performing in sports which don't require extreme physical strength and muscle growth are usually prone to developing eating disorders, like anorexia and bulimia which cause serious damage not only to their careers, but their health as well. | Beautiful and elegant sports like figure skating and rhythmic gymnastics demand high coordination and balance from athletes forcing t…

Staff (2020-02-14). Virus Cases Rise as Experts Question China's Numbers. truthdig.com BEIJING — Infections and deaths from the new virus in China ballooned for a second straight day Friday, on paper at least, as officials near the epicenter of the outbreak struggled to keep up with a backlog of patients' lab work. | The acceleration in cases was not necessarily an indicator of a surge in the illness known as COVID-19 because the hardest-hit province of Hubei and its capital of Wuhan changed the way it counted cases. But public health experts wrestled with what exactly could be deduced from the numbers given the shift in approach. | "If you change the way you count cases, that obviously confo…

RT (2020-02-14). US 'ready to help' N. Korea combat virus — State Department. rt.com The United States expressed deep concern about North Korea's vulnerability to the outbreak of a new virus and said it was ready to support efforts by aid organizations to contain the spread of the illness in the country. | Pyongyang has moved to strengthen quarantines and other preventive measures after the illness outbreak in China, North Korea's neighbor and closest ally. | "We strongly support and encourage the work of US and international aid and health organizations to counter and contain the spread of coronavirus" in North Korea, State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said. "The United States is rea…

Conn Hallinan (2020-02-14). Irish unification back on agenda after election, but it won't be simple. peoplesworld.org The victory by Ireland's left-wing Sinn Fein Party in the Republic's recent election has not only overturned some 90 years of domination by the island's two center-right parties, it suddenly puts the issue of Irish reunification on the agenda. While the campaign was fought over bread and butter issues like housing, the collapsing health care …

RT (2020-02-14). Airlines' losses set to skyrocket due to Covid-19 travel ban — UN aviation agency. rt.com Extended flight cancellations to China amid the coronavirus outbreak could cut global carriers' revenues up to $5 billion in the first quarter, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) estimates. | At least 70 airlines have canceled all international flights in and out of China and 50 others have reduced their operations in the country as the epidemic continues to spread, the agency said in a recent report. Thus, instead of a planned increase in passenger capacity, the companies saw a huge drop in passenger flows, losing from 16.4 to 19.6 million passengers compared to their earlier…

Kristina Kristen (2020-02-14). Japan Leads the Way in Child Health: No Compulsory Vaccines. Banned Measles Mumps Rubella (MMR) Vaccine. globalresearch.ca Important article first published by Children's Health Defense, posted on Global Research on April 28, 2019 | In the United States, many legislators and public health officials are busy trying to make vaccines de facto compulsory—either by removing parental/personal choice …

The Canary (2020-02-14). Mumps cases soar to highest number in a decade. thecanary.co There were 5,042 recorded cases of mumps in England in 2019 — four times the number in 2018 and the highest level in a decade. | Many of these cases were as a result of outbreaks in universities and colleges and most were in young adults who did not have the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) jab. | A large number of the 2019 cases were people born in the late 1990s and early 2000s who missed out on the MMR vaccine when they were children. | In 1998, doctor Andrew Wakefield led a study that linked the MMR vaccine to autism. | His work was subsequently discredited and he was struck off, but uptake of the vacci…

Staff (2020-02-14). US Maternal Mortality Rate Is Increasing — and the Data Still Miss Many Deaths. truthout.org Late last month, maternal health experts from around Illinois were videoconferencing in Chicago and Springfield, poring over the files of expectant and new mothers who'd died in the state in 2017. Many of the deaths could have been prevented if only medical and other providers had understood the special risks that women face during this critically vulnerable time. | Then, someone's phone buzzed: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had just released its new, long-awaited U.S. matern…

teleSUR (2020-02-14). China's Health Workers Are Frontline Fighters Against the Virus. telesurenglish.net China's National Health Commission deputy director Zeng Yixin informed that extensive and strenuous working days are putting pressure on health workers who are physically and psychologically stressed. | RELATED: | He called on hospitals' authorities to distribute shifts rationally while proposing to reward the staff with more vacations when the outbreak remits and offer them psychological support.‚Ä&atilde…

Alan Macleod (2020-02-14). Coronavirus: Media and Politicians Take Anti-China Fear Mongering to New Levels. mintpressnews.com Despite praise from the World Health Organization for its handling of the coronavirus, China has been derided by Western media and politicians alike over nearly every aspect of its response.

yenisafak (2020-02-14). Oil heads for 5% weekly gain as coronavirus fears ease. yenisafak.com Crude oil prices were heading for a weekly 5% gain on Friday as worries amid the coronavirus outbreak eased to a certain extent after the World Health Organization (WHO) warned about drawing incorrect conclusions from reported numbers.International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $57.16 per barrel at 1205 GMT on Friday, heading for a 5.5% weekly gain, after it opened Monday at $57.16 a barrel.American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $52.12 a barrel at the same time on Friday. WTI was heading for a 5% weekly increase after starting the week at $49.61 per barrel.Both benchmarks posted their firs…

yenisafak (2020-02-14). 'China testing anti-Ebola drug against coronavirus'. yenisafak.com China is testing anti-Ebola drugs to fight the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19), which has so far claimed over 1,300 lives, Anadolu Agency has learned. David SC Hui, chairman of the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said more than 100 people are being treated with the drug."Clinical trials of remdesivir started in the Chinese city of Wuhan [epicenter of the outbreak] a few days ago, and more than 100 patients have been recruited," Hui told Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview on the phone from Geneva, where he is attending meetings of the World Health Organization (W…

Colin Todhunter (2020-02-14). Menace on the Menu in Post-EU Britain. counterpunch.org Environmentalist Dr Rosemary Mason has just written the report 'Bayer Crop Science rules Britain after Brexit — the public and the press are being poisoned by pesticides'. It has been sent to editors of major media outlets in the UK. In it, she outlines her concerns for pesticide regulation, health and the environment in a

David Trujillo (2020-02-13). LAPD's secretive gang database and the intimidation of working-class communities. peoplesworld.org LOS ANGELES—Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore stated that his department will conduct an internal investigation into the epidemic of gang data falsification by LAPD officers. It is alleged that officers falsified reports (interviewing cards) that arbitrarily labeled people as gang members. Many are people of color. A review found that police officers identified people …

John Washington (2020-02-13). The Epidemic of Hunger Strikes in Immigrant Detention Centers. thenation.com The Epidemic of Hunger Strikes in Immigrant Detention Centers…

news.un (2020-02-13). Outside China, Coronavirus transmission 'iceberg' may not be as big as feared. news.un.org As infections from COVID-19 coronavirus continue to rise, a senior UN health expert on Thursday said that there were some indications that disease transmission outside China might not be the tip of the "iceberg" that had been feared.

Andrea Germanos (2020-02-13). 'Mass murder': New report says air pollution from fossil fuel combustion causing 4.5 million deaths each year. nationofchange.org "Moving our energy generation sector from fossil fuels to renewables is an essential step towards preventing catastrophic climate change and protecting our health."

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2020-02-13). As WHO Forum Ends, Updated Figures From China Reveal New Virus Has Infected Over 60,000 Worldwide. commondreams.org As the world's leading health experts wrapped up a two-day forum about the coronavirus at the World Health Organization's Geneva headquarters Wednesday, new figures out of China over the past 24 hours revealed that the respiratory illness has now infected more than 60,000 people globally. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Scott Nass (2020-02-13). Transgender and Intersex Kids Must Have a Voice in Health Care Decisions. thenation.com Transgender and Intersex Kids Must Have a Voice in Health Care Decisions…

RT (2020-02-12). 'Dirty streets and human waste?' Twitter not buying survey claiming San Francisco is 'healthiest' US city. rt.com A new report names San Francisco, California the healthiest city in the United States, but the public seems skeptical, considering the endless coverage of the city's homeless crisis and unsanitary streets. | Though WalletHub is typically used to check credit scores, it turned its attention recently to grading cities in the United States based on how 'healthy' they are. According to their experts and number crunching, San Francisco This has come a…

news.un (2020-02-12). DR Congo Ebola outbreak still an international public health concern. news.un.org The Ebola virus disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains an international public health concern, experts meeting in Geneva concluded on Wednesday.

news.un (2020-02-12). UN health agency developing COVID-19 virus treatment master plan. news.un.org The World Health Organization (WHO) is developing a master plan for coordinating clinical trials that could lead to potential therapies for patients infected with the COVID-19 virus, the agency's chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced on Wednesday.

RT (2020-02-11). 'Too perfect': Iowa Dem Party sign falls off podium as chair struggles to explain caucus flop, Twitter sees a metaphor. rt.com An Iowa Democratic Party sign fell to the floor as the party chairman tried to account for a disastrous caucus plagued by tech failures and bad math, creating what many netizens dubbed a perfect allegory for the botched primary. | As state party chair Troy Price fielded questions on Monday about "rounding errors" found in Iowa's Democratic primary results — which placed 2020 hopeful Pete Buttigieg ahead of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders by a margin of 0.1 percent — a party banner gave way mid-sentence, interrupting the chair as it awkwardly crashed on the ground. | Now we take you live to the Iowa De…

news.un (2020-02-11). Meeting of top scientists underway to slow coronavirus spread. news.un.org Deaths from the coronavirus epidemic have surpassed 1,000, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed on Tuesday, as hundreds of health experts began meeting at its headquarters in Geneva to help halt the spread of the disease, now officially known as COVID-19.

news.un (2020-02-11). $683 million appeal to deliver reproductive health services, where they're most needed. news.un.org With more than half of all maternal deaths occurring in countries affected by humanitarian crises and fragility, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) is calling for greater international support to provide life-saving reproductive health and protection services in these locations.

Meagan Burrows (2020-02-11). The Trump Administration Wants Health Insurance Companies to Drop Abortion Coverage from Your Insurance Plan. aclu.org From denying | access to abortion | for unaccompanied immigrant minors, to gutting | the Title X | family planning program, to trying to roll | back the Affordable Care Act's requirement that employers and universities cover | contr…

Staff (2020-02-10). Headlines for February 10, 2020. democracynow.org Coronavirus Deaths Soar as First U.S. Citizen Succumbs to Disease, Iowa Dem. Party Officially Gives Buttigieg the Lead as Candidates Prepare for New Hampshire Vote, Trump Budget Seeks Boost to Military and Nuclear Spending, Cuts to Social Programs and EPA, Two U.S. Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan, Trump Fires Key Impeachment Figures Following Acquittal, Thai Soldier Kills 29 People in Shooting Rampage, Brazilian Police Kill Hitman Suspected of Involvement in Marielle Franco's Assassination, Temperature Reaches Record-Breaking 65 Degrees in Antarctica, Extinction Rebellion Activists Demand New York Divest from Foss…

news.un (2020-02-10). Coronavirus containment is the key, as infections tick up: Tedros. news.un.org Governments should continue to treat containment of the coronavirus as a priority, the head of the UN health agency, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Monday.

news.un (2020-02-10). Hospitals in Yemen attacked, disrupting healthcare for thousands of vulnerable civilians. news.un.org Attacks on health facilities in Yemen's Marib province, East of the capital Sana'a, have left some 15,000 people — many of them displaced from other parts of the country — with severely limited options for medical care, the UN said on Monday.