(2020-08-31). US Sanctions Russian Research Institute that Developed COVID-19 Vaccine. globalresearch.ca Russia won the race to develop the first vaccine against the novel coronavirus. The United States has responded by slapping sanctions on a Russian research facility involved in creating it. | The US government has blacklisted several Russian scientific institutes, including …
(2020-08-31). Headlines for August 31, 2020. democracynow.org Protests Continue in Kenosha as Officials Plead With Trump To Cancel Visit, One Dead in Portland as Pro-Trump Rally Clashes With Anti-Racist Protesters, U.S. Covid-19 Cases Top 6 Million, Deaths Top 183,000, Under Pressure From Trump, FDA Admits It Might Approve Vaccine Before Trials End, Gaza Extends Lockdown, India Reports Record Daily Numbers as Global Covid-19 Cases Top 25 Million, Chadwick Boseman, Beloved and Ground-Breaking Actor, Dies at 43 After Battle With Cancer, "Get Your Knee Off Our Necks" Rally Held on 57th Anniverary of March on Washington, Mustapha Adib Set to Become New Prime Minister of Lebanon…
(2020-08-31). Waiting for the Old Bailey: Julian Assange and Britain's Judicial Establishment. counterpunch.org 
On September 7, Julian Assange will be facing another round of gruelling extradition proceedings, in the Old Bailey, part of a process that has become a form of gradual state-sanctioned torture. The US Department of Justice hungers for their man. The UK prison authorities are doing little to protect his health. The end result, should
(2020-08-31). Israeli restrictions, policies hinder Palestinians' fight against pandemic. peoplesdispatch.org Shatha Odeh of the Palestinian Health Work Committees talks about the difficulties faced by the people and health care professionals due to the rules and restrictions imposed by Israeli occupation.
(2020-08-31). Mounting social and health disaster in Louisiana after Hurricane Laura. wsws.org Three days after the most powerful hurricane to hit the state since 1856, the scale of destruction and accompanying social crisis is coming into sharp relief.
(2020-08-31). Trump administration halts closure of California meatpacking plant despite eight COVID-19 deaths. wsws.org The Trump administration postponed the closure of a plant that local health officials had ordered closed after at least 392 workers tested positive for COVID-19 and eight died.
(2020-08-31). Video: Robert F Kennedy Jr. in Berlin: COVID-19 Is Destroying Us All, Making the Powerful Elites More Powerful!! globalresearch.ca By the Children's Health Defense Team | Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. spoke to hundreds of thousands in the streets of Berlin, Germany, August 29, 2020. | With Groàüer Stern Square and the Siegesà§ule Monument as a backdrop, Mr. Kennedy talked about …
(2020-08-31). CDC Now Admits that 94% of COVID Deaths Had "Another Cause of Death" globalresearch.ca What this CDC report suggests is that at the outset of the pandemic it had been instructed to change the methodology with a view to artificially inflating the numbers of "Covid deaths". This is confirmed by the H. Ealy, M. …
(2020-08-31). Kickstarting economies without COVID-19 plan, 'a recipe for disaster': Tedros. news.un.org Eight months into the COVID-19 pandemic, countries want to "get their economies going again", the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday, advising on the measures that governments, communities and individuals should take, to do so safely.
(2020-08-31). Here's How the U.S. Could Release a COVID-19 Vaccine before the Election—and Why that Scares Some. globalresearch.ca When President Donald Trump accepted his party's nomination for another term last night at the Republican National Convention, he pledged that the push by his administration's Operation Warp Speed to deliver a COVID-19 vaccine would succeed "before the end of …
(2020-08-31). Medicare For All Is A Beginning, Not The End Point. popularresistance.org As a coup de grâce to the Bernie Sanders campaign Joe Biden declared that he would veto Medicare-for-All. This could drive a dedicated health care advocate to relentlessly pursue Med-4-All as a final goal. However, it is not the final goal. It should be the first step in a complete transformation of medicine which includes combining community medicine with natural medicine and health-care-for-the-world. | Contrasting Cuban changes in medicine during the last 60 years with the US non-system of medical care gives a clear picture of why changes must be all-encompassing.
(2020-08-31). The Day After Election Day. popularresistance.org For the second election in a row two of the least favored politicians in American history represent the range of choices speaks to the vacuity of the 'process.' In the throes of electoral passion, the insistence has been that personality and tenor are substance, hence the promise 'to restore dignity to the presidency' is put forward as a ready substitute for adequate healthcare, meaningful employment at a living wage, environmental repair, and real political participation. | The American posture that elections create the political system has it perfectly backward. What better way to counterfeit the consent of the…
(2020-08-31). Ta'zieh ceremony on night of Sham-e-Ghariban in Gorgan. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 31 (MNA) — Ta'zieh ceremony for the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (PBUH) was held on the night of Sham-e-Ghariban in Gorgan with health protocols in place.
(2020-08-31). Iran registers 1,642 COVID-19 cases in 24 hours. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 31 (MNA) — The Iranian Health Ministry has confirmed 1,642 COVID-19 infections and 109 deaths due to the disease in the past 24 hours.
(2020-08-31). Schools Are Preparing for a Mental Health Crisis Amid COVID. truthout.org The calls started at 6 a.m., and Patrick McCauley was ready, having retreated to the privacy of his garage where he sat waiting for Angelenos to share how they're coping with the stresses of the coronavirus pandemic. | For the last 14 years, McCauley has worked as a mental health counselor and consultant in the Los Angeles Unified School District. In April, he began staffing a new hotline the district created to reach students, parents and teachers in need of mental health supports and other services as the v…
(2020-08-31). GOP Incumbents' Opposition to the Affordable Care Act Could Be Their Undoing. truthout.org
(2020-08-31). EU offers 400 mln euros in guarantees to WHO-led COVID-19 vaccine initiative. yenisafak.com The European Commission said on Monday it would contribute 400 million euros ($476 million) in guarantees to an initiative led by the World Health Organisation to buy COVID-19 vaccines.Countries wishing to be part of the WHO initiative, dubbed COVAX, had to submit expressions of interest by Monday.($1 = 0.8396 euros)…
(2020-08-31). At least 100 doctors die of coronavirus in Indonesia. yenisafak.com At least 100 Indonesian doctors have died of the novel coronavirus since the pandemic started in March, a doctors association said on Monday."There have been 100 doctors who died while handling COVID-19. Likewise, the number of other health workers who have died also climbed," Daeng Faqih, chairman of Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI), said in a statement.Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Halik Malik, the association spokesman, said the number of doctors who have died increased significantly over the last two months.As of Aug. 4, the doctors association recorded deaths of 74 doctors, and the number climbed by 26 ove…
(2020-08-31). Public Health Experts Sound Alarm Over FDA Willingness to Roll Out Covid-19 Vaccine Before Finishing Phase 3 Trials. commondreams.org "Circumventing clinical trials would place huge numbers of people at risk," warned one leading virologist. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-08-30). The Social Fabric of the U.S. Is Fraying Severely, if Not Unravelling. zcomm.org Why, in the world's richest country, is every metric of mental health pathology rapidly worsening?>
(2020-08-30). 'Wisdom' of Guatemala's indigenous people needed for sustainable development: A UN Resident Coordinator blog. news.un.org The wisdom and knowledge of indigenous people in Guatemala is central to the realization of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs, targets agreed by countries around the world to end poverty, maintain peace and preserve the health of the planet. In this blog, the UN Resident Coordinator in Guatemala Rebeca Arias Flores explains how sustainable development is not new, but simply a new name that draws on ancient wisdom that is renewed with each generation of indigenous people.
(2020-08-30). At least three migrants die as boat catches fire off Italy. yenisafak.com At least three migrants died when a fire broke out on a boat carrying them close to the southern coast of Italy on Sunday, police and health officials said.Another five migrants were injured and taken to hospital, health authorities in the Italian port city of Crotone said.Two police officers were hurt as they tried to help the migrants, the Crotone police force said, without going into further details.
(2020-08-30). SF School bus drivers: 'Don't throw us under the bus!'. workers.org 
For 50 years, the San Francisco school bus drivers union has led the fight for safe — and unionized — transportation of children to and from school. Now the school district and its bus contractor First Student are threatening to lay off 260 drivers and strip them of their healthcare . . . |
(2020-08-30). COVID-19: How and why India is losing the battle. peoplesdispatch.org 
It has become customary to say that given its huge population, India is doing much better than say, the US or Europe. This is how officialdom is trying to explain away the shockingly high numbers of total confirmed cases (over 340,000 on August 29) and total deaths (nearly 63,000) — both of which put India at the third position globally, behind the US and Brazil. | However, the comparison is not really valid. India needs to be compared not with the US and Europe but to regions of the world where the population's age, economic standards and healthcare access is similar. Such a comparison reveals that, in fac…
(2020-08-30). Farm workers' lives on the line as California burns. liberationnews.org 
Even as fires in California cause unhealthy air quality all over the state, farmworkers are still working hard.
(2020-08-30). U.S. economy stuck in worst recession since the Great Depression. fightbacknews.org San José, CA – On Thursday, August 27, the latest report on unemployment insurance shows that the U.S. economy remains stuck in the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. While new claims for regular state unemployment insurance benefits did drop to a little, over 1 million for the week ending August 22, the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance or PUA for gig workers and self-employed rose the same week. Together the two stayed the same as the week before, and slightly higher than two weeks ago. One million new applications for state unemployment insurance is five times the rate at beginning…
(2020-08-30). Working Hours: A four-day week. indybay.org Reducing working hours is a socio-economic investment that often brings better long-term health and more time sovereignty. A three-day or four-day workweek is the only way to ensure meaningful work to the rising generation. State or public employment is necessary to supplement private employment. Part-time workers should work more while 38-hour workers should work less.
(2020-08-30). Clean Air and Fire Safety Concerns at Calpella Wood Pellet Plant. indybay.org Activists are demanding transparency from the Air Quality Management District and an investigation by the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors and Public Health Department regarding the health and environmental hazards attributable to pollution from the Calpella Wood Pellet Plant.
(2020-08-30). US Sanctions Russian Institute That Developed COVID-19 Vaccine. popularresistance.org Russia won the race to develop the first vaccine against the novel coronavirus. The United States has responded by slapping sanctions on a Russian research facility involved in creating it. | The US government has blacklisted several Russian scientific institutes, including the Russian Defense Ministry's 48th Central Research Institute, which has worked with other non-military medical centers to develop and test the world's first Covid-19 vaccine. | In the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic and a historic economic crisis, Washington has escalated its global campaign of economic warfare, imposing sanctions o…
(2020-08-30). Health Insurance And The COVID-19 shock. popularresistance.org The inefficiencies and problems caused by the U.S. system of tying access to health insurance to specific jobs are well known. The downsides of employer-based health insurance access have been made spectacularly visible by the COVID-19 shock—a shock that has cost millions of Americans their jobs and their access to health care in the midst of a public health catastrophe. | Delinking access to health insurance from specific jobs should be a top policy priority for the long term. The most ambitious and transformational way to sever this link is to make the federal government the payer of first resort for all…
(2020-08-30). The Black Panther Party's Multiracial Anti-Fascism. popularresistance.org In the late 60s and 70s, the Black Panther Party (BPP) embodied the vanguard of the revolution and anti-fascist, anti-racist action in the United States. The BPP formed an inclusionary, class-based manifesto, promoted armed self-defense and created an array of community survival programs and services, which included a sophisticated educational platform, free health clinics, breakfast for schoolchildren, teach-ins and more. Further, the BPP utilized art and music, via its newspaper and band, to spread its revolutionary agenda.
(2020-08-30). UK Treasury Mulls $40 Billion Tax Hike to Plug Gap in Corona-Hit Finances, Report Says. sputniknews.com Earlier on Saturday, British business leaders berated Health Secretary Matt Hancock for "scaremongering" talk about a possible second national lockdown that they said risks causing "untold damage" to businesses trying to recover from the first one.
(2020-08-30). UK's Matt Hancock Ripped for 'Scaremongering' Comments About 'Serious Threat' of Second COVID Wave. sputniknews.com A recent interview with the UK health chief has sparked utter disbelief and anger among business leaders, who suggested that "career politicians" will hardly lead the country successfully through the woes of the corona crisis.
(2020-08-30). Deep Cuts to Florida's Public Health System Made the State Vulnerable to COVID. truthout.org Jacksonville, Florida — On a sweltering July morning, Rose Wilson struggled to breathe as she sat in her bed, the light from her computer illuminating her face and the oxygen tubes in her nose. | Wilson, a retiree who worked as a public health department nurse supervisor in Duval County for 35 years, had just been diagnosed with COVID-19-induced pneumonia. She had a telemedicine appointment with her doctor. | Staring back from her screen was Dr. Rogers Cain, who runs a tidy little fami…
(2020-08-30). Public Health Experts Decry FDA's "Troubling" Approval of Remdesivir for COVID. truthout.org Public health experts on Saturday decried the Food and Drug Administration's The FDA expanded its emergency authorization on remdesivir on Friday evening, allowing its use for all patients who are hospitalized with Covid-19. Previously, the drug had been approved — and shown to benefit [md…
(2020-08-30). COVID-19 vaccine diplomacy: Mexico courts allies across ideological spectrum. yenisafak.com Mexico is pressing ahead with an effort to forge COVID-19 vaccine alliances across a wide ideological spectrum of countries from France to Cuba as a World Health Organization (WHO) vaccine initiative will fall short of its needs.Mexico joined in early June the WHO's global COVAX plan, which aims to deliver at least 2 billion doses of approved vaccines by the end of next year and ensure "equitable access."But Martha Delgado, a Mexican deputy foreign minister whom President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador put in charge of Mexico's international response, told Reuters its share of that program was unlikely to be enough…
(2020-08-30). France in Lebanon: Solidarity or renewed neocolonialism? yenisafak.com Massive explosions that rocked Beirut on Aug. 4 made headlines around the world, with Hiroshima-like visuals that seemed hard to fathom.France, led by President Emmanuel Macron, rushed to the rescue of the ailing nation — with supplies, crisis and health care workers, and strong leadership.But why the immediate moves? Were Macron's actions a result of a shared history or a view on the future?Two enormous blasts erupted in the Port of Beirut after a neglected stockpile of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse was left for more than six years to decay and then ignited by fireworks stored in the same…
(2020-08-29). U.S. Sanctions Russian Research Institute That Developed Covid-19 Vaccine. strategic-culture.org 
The US Commerce Department blacklisted a Russian research institute that helped create the world's first Covid-19 vaccine. | Ben NORTON | Russia won the race to develop the first vaccine against the novel coronavirus. The United States has responded by slapping sanctions on a Russian research facility involved in creating it. | The US government has blacklisted several Russian scientific institutes, including the Russian Defense Ministry's 48th Central Research Institute, which has worked with other non-military medical centers to develop and test the world's first Covid-19 vaccine. | In the midst of the global c…
(2020-08-29). The key to Viet Nam's successful COVID-19 response: A UN Resident Coordinator blog. news.un.org Whilst no country can claim to have beaten COVID-19, some countries have been noticeably more effective in curbing the spread of the disease. Kamal Malhotra, the UN Resident Coordinator in Viet Nam, explains why the country's response to the pandemic has been so successful.
(2020-08-29). A burning chemical plant may be just the tip of Hurricane Laura's damage in this area of oil fields and industry. nationofchange.org While the full health impacts of the fire weren't immediately known, a storm-driven chlorine gas release in a vulnerable community is the type of worst-case scenario that scientists and engineers like myself have warned the petrochemical industry about for decades.
(2020-08-29). The key to Viet Nam's successful COVID-19 response : a UN Resident Coordinator blog. news.un.org Whilst no country can claim to have beaten COVID-19, some countries have been noticeably more effective in curbing the spread of the disease. Kamal Malhotra, the UN Resident Coordinator in Viet Nam, explains why the country's response to the pandemic has been so successful.
(2020-08-29). [Articles] Effect of collaborative care between traditional and faith healers and primary health-care workers on psychosis outcomes in Nigeria and Ghana (COSIMPO): a cluster randomised controlled trial. thelancet.com A collaborative shared care delivered by TFH and conventional health-care providers for people with psychosis was effective and cost-effective. The model of care offers the prospect of scaling up improved care to this vulnerable population in settings with low resources.
(2020-08-29). [Editorial] Research and higher education in the time of COVID-19. thelancet.com The COVID-19 pandemic has propelled the research and higher education sectors to the forefront of public attention. Laboratory capacity has been crucial for diagnostic testing; experts in infectious diseases, epidemiology, public health, mathematical modelling, and economics are central to national policy making and media coverage; clinical research has been vital to improving COVID-19 management; and our collective global future relies heavily on the development of an effective vaccine against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.
(2020-08-29). [World Report] Questions over health response to Mauritius oil spill. thelancet.com The government has denied that symptoms are a direct result of oil exposure and experts have criticised the response. Sima Barmania reports.
(2020-08-29). [Correspondence] Health and medicine cannot solve COVID-19. thelancet.com Richard Horton argues that combination prevention and global health collaboration are required to address the COVID-19 pandemic.1 We agree and suggest this should incorporate further measures. Thinking closely in terms of medical solutions could create false public expectations of a return to normal, and risks closing out non-health interventions that could lead to substantial improvements.
(2020-08-29). [Comment] A leap of faith for more effective mental health care. thelancet.com Traditional and faith healers (TFHs) play an important, but contested, part in the response to mental health problems around the globe. Particularly for severe mental health conditions, such as psychosis, TFHs are often the first contact when help is sought by individuals and families in many countries of sub-Saharan Africa.1 In part, TFHs inhabit this privileged position due to a scarcity of accessible alternatives, but their approach might also be more acceptable to communities because of shared world views about causes of mental ill-health and processes of healing.
(2020-08-29). [Perspectives] Seven more things organisations should be doing to combat racism. thelancet.com The previous The Penumbra column outlined seven steps that organisations can take to address racism. In this month's column, we offer additional actions likely to be helpful in creating an anti-racist climate. With these suggestions, we highlight actions that fill obvious gaps in thinking and practice in our health-care environments.
(2020-08-29). [Comment] Acute coronary syndromes in older patients: does older age matter? thelancet.com Ischaemic heart disease is common in people aged 80 years or older, and is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in this age group worldwide. As this patient group grows, with an increase in life expectancy of up to 10 years or more, the absolute prevalence of cardiovascular disease is expected to increase.1 According to present guidelines, medical optimisation followed by an invasive strategy—including coronary angiography and subsequent revascularisation with percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass graft—is recommended for eligible patients with acute coronary syndromes witho…
(2020-08-29). Muharram mourning ceremony at Fatima Masumeh's holy shrine. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 29 (MNA) — People of Qom, central Iran, convened at the holy shrine of Hazrat Fatima Masumeh on Saturday night to hold mourning ceremonies of Imam Hussein, the third Shia Imam. The ceremony was held while observing all health protocols.
(2020-08-29). US President Trump Says Feels Badly About Resignation of Japanese Prime Minister Abe. sputniknews.com WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US President Donald Trump has expressed regret over Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's decision to leave his post due to deteriorating health condition.