#CancelRent: Tenants Demand Rent Relief & Organize Strikes as Unemployment Surges Due to COVID-19
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-01
Today is April 1, and millions across the country don't have the money to pay rent. But despite eviction moratoriums and relief on mortgage payments in hard-hit states like California, Washington and New York, no rent freeze has been ordered. In response, tenants around the country are calling for immediate rent cancellation. Some are planning to "rent strike." Meanwhile, many workers who lost their income due to the pandemic haven't even been able to file for unemployment in New York state, with the unemployment website continually crashing and phone lines jammed. Seven-point-eight million people called the New…
www.democracynow.org/2020/4/1/coronavirus_renters_relief_rent_strike

Coronavirus pandemic threatens to plunge millions in Arab region into poverty and food insecurity
news.un.org | 2020-04-01
COVID-19 will be responsible for pushing a further 8.3 million people in the Arab region into poverty, according to a new policy brief issued on Wednesday by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/04/1060822

As COVID-19 Rages, Trump Refuses to Reopen ACA Enrollment to Help Uninsured
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-01
As millions of people across the United States lose their jobs

Nearly 60% in US Believe System Made Solely to Serve Rich
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-01
Around 57 percent of United States voters believe that their political system only works for insiders with money and power, a new Hill-HarrisX poll revealed Tuesday. | RELATED: | US Unemployment Rate Could Soon Reach 32%: Fed Economists Warn | "This is a very clear concern that the majority of voters have that the economic system and the political system, which of course are intertwined, only work for those who are wealthy or who are well connected," President and CEO of the Roos…
telesurenglish.net/news/Nearly-60-in-US-Believe-System-Made-Solely-to-Serve-Rich-20200401-0018.html

April 1–Rent's due: Struggling to pay when there are no jobs
Jeffrey Collins | peoplesworld.org | 2020-04-01
AP–It's the first of the month, and everybody knows the rent's due. For millions of Americans, Wednesday is the first time the landlord is knocking on the door since the coronavirus outbreak turned the economy upside down. Many of those renters are without jobs–nearly 3.3 million people in the U.S. filed for unemployment the week of March 16, about …
peoplesworld.org/article/april-1-rents-due-struggling-to-pay-when-there-are-no-jobs/

Tenants Organize Strikes, Demand Rent Relief as COVID-19 and Unemployment Surge
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-01
Today is April 1, and millions across the country don't have the money to pay rent. But despite eviction moratoriums and relief on mortgage payments in hard-hit states like California, Washington and New York, no rent freeze has been ordered. In response, tenants around the country are calling for immediate rent cancellation. Some are planning to "rent strike." Meanwhile, many workers who lost their income due to the pandemic haven't even been able to file for unemployment in New York state, w…
truthout.org/video/tenants-organize-strikes-demand-rent-relief-as-covid-19-and-unemployment-surge/

Stranded UK tourists wait for news on charter flights
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-04-01
Hundreds of thousands of UK citizens stranded abroad face an anxious wait for details of rescue flights to be announced. | The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has set aside £75 million to charter flights from destinations where commercial routes have been severed due to the coronavirus pandemic. | Repatriation flights operated from Peru and Tunisia on Tuesday, but details of further flights have not been revealed. | On March 23, the FCO advised all UK residents who were travelling abroad to return home. | We are aware that not everyone who wanted to leave Peru was able to. We understand this is a worr…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2020/04/01/stranded-uk-tourists-wait-for-news-on-charter-flights/

Covid-19 Shows America's Class Divide Is Untenable
Shuja Haider | thenation.com | 2020-04-01
Covid-19 Shows America's Class Divide Is Untenable…
thenation.com/article/society/covid-19-wealth-divide-tests/

With Record-Shattering Unemployment, Sanders, Schumer, and Wyden Ask Trump's Labor Dept: 'Do You Have a Plan?'
Jon Queally, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-04-01
"It is absolutely imperative that the millions of Americans who are eligible for unemployment benefits receive every dollar to which they are entitled as quickly as possible." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/closed_1.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2020/04/01/record-shattering-unemployment-sanders-schumer-and-wyden-ask-trumps-labor-dept-do?cd-origin=rss

As Coronavirus Spreads, Poll Shows Nearly 60% in US Believe Political System Designed Solely to Serve Rich and Powerful
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-04-01
New polling out Wednesday shows that most of the country believes the U.S. political system works only for the wealthy and elite rather than for working people. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/picmonkey_image5_0_0.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2020/04/01/coronavirus-spreads-poll-shows-nearly-60-us-believe-political-system-designed-solely?cd-origin=rss

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed: Communities Enduring Racism & Poverty Will Suffer Most Due to COVID-19
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-31
As the number of coronavirus deaths in the United States tops 3,100, states are demanding ventilators and medical supplies. Michigan is a growing hot spot and struggling to prepare for a surge in cases, but President Trump has repeatedly attacked Michigan's governor, calling her "that woman." We speak with the former director of the Detroit Health Department, Abdul El-Sayed. He's a physician and epidemiologist, and his new book is just out today, "Healing Politics: A Doctor's Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic." His recent piece for The Guardian is headlined "Coronavirus is exploiting an underlying…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/31/abul_el_sayed_epidemic_of_insecurity

First Person: Humankind's 'modern mentality to tame' the environment: A volcanologist's view
news.un.org | 2020-03-31
The 17 goals agreed by the global community to reduce poverty and create a sustainable planet are the responsibility of all people, wherever they are in the world, according to the United Nations. The Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs represent a boundary-pushing blueprint for the future of the Earth and it's anticipated they will be realized by 2030. UN News joined the International Labour Organization on a visit to Hawaii where many people are already living or studying aspects of the goals in their everyday work.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/03/1060342

Change Is In The Air
Michael K. Smith | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-03-31
Quite literally. In a single week air pollution cleared up, housing was found for the homeless, evictions were banned, the stock market ceased being the gauge of social well being, water shut-offs ended, jails were emptied, debt peonage was suspended, universal basic income was proposed by "free market" die-hards, people started caring about the elderly …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/03/change-is-in-the-air/

US Unemployment Rate Could Soon Reach 32%: Fed Economists Warn
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-31
United States economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis warned Tuesday that if the current rate of U.S. job losses continues the country's unemployment rate could reach 32.1 percent, the highest in nearly a century. | RELATED: | More US Unemployment Claims Last Week Than Ever in History: EPI | The projections are even worse than St. Louis Fed Pres…
telesurenglish.net/news/US-Unemployment-Rate-Could-Soon-Reach-32-Fed-Economists-Warn-20200331-0021.html

On the Need for Dissent and Debate in These Urgent Times
John Nichols | thenation.com | 2020-03-31
On the Need for Dissent and Debate in These Urgent Times…
thenation.com/article/politics/dissent-debate-massie-aoc/

We Need a Public Health New Deal: Neoliberal Austerity & Private Healthcare Worsened U.S. Pandemic
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-30
It's been described as the public health failure of the century. As the United States leads the world in coronavirus infections, a record number of Americans file for unemployment. Gasping for air, gasping for care; what does global health justice look like? We speak with two Yale professors who say decades of neoliberal austerity make it harder to fight the pandemic. They propose a New Deal for public health. Gregg Gonsalves is assistant professor in epidemiology of microbial diseases at Yale School of Public Health; Amy Kapczynski is professor of law at Yale Law School and co-founder of the Law and Political Ec…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/30/coronavirus_public_health

The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery played key role in launching SPLC's legal battle against Ku Klux Klan
splcenter.org | 2020-03-30
The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, who died on Friday at 98 years old, was a longtime friend of the Southern Poverty Law Center and played a leading role in the SPLC's first lawsuit against the Ku Klux Klan in 1980.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/30/rev-dr-joseph-e-lowery-played-key-role-launching-splcs-legal-battle-against-ku-klux-klan

U.S. Imperialism Pulls Desperate Move in Venezuela
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-03-29
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC). | For years, the criminal government of the United States has attempted to remove the democratically elected president of Venezuela and discredit the peoples' movement in that country that has been so successful in lifting millions of Venezuelans out of extreme poverty. Under the corrupt Trump administration alone, the United States has conducted multiple illegal attacks against President Nicolas Maduro and the people of Venezuela, including: failed assassination attempts by drone, poorly orchestrated mi…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/3/29/us-imperialism-pulls-desperate-move-venezuela

First Person: Hawaii's 'silver tsunami': the challenge of caring for kupuna elders
news.un.org | 2020-03-29
The 17 goals agreed by the global community to reduce poverty and create a sustainable planet are the responsibility of all people, wherever they are in the world, according to the United Nations. The Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs represent a boundary-pushing blueprint for the future of the Earth and it's anticipated they will be realized by 2030. UN News joined the International Labour Organization on a visit to Hawaii where many people are already living aspects of the goals in their everyday work.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/03/1060242

[Obituary] Aron Goldhirsch
Andrew Green | thelancet.com | 2020-03-28
Medical oncologist specialising in breast cancer. Born on April 25, 1946, in Landsberg am Lech, Germany, he died on Feb 26, 2020, in Lugano, Switzerland, aged 73 years.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30642-5/fulltext?rss=yes

U.S. Is #1 in Pandemic: Rep. Omar Blasts Trump for "Wrong Kind of American Exceptionalism"
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-27
As much of the United States is under lockdown, the House votes today on a $2 trillion emergency relief package to address the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. It will generate payments to most Americans and includes protections for workers, but it is also a massive bailout for a number of industries and corporations, and the vote comes as a record 3.28 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits. We speak with Congressmember Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, the first Somali American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and one of the first Muslim women in Congress, about the bill, Trump's response t…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/27/rep_ilhan_omar_coronavirus_relief_bill

Bernie Sanders Fights for Laid-off Worker Protections in $2 Trillion Stimulus with Corporate Bailout
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-26
The Senate unanimously approved a historic $2.2 trillion emergency relief package late Wednesday night to battle the unprecedented economic shock of the coronavirus pandemic. ‚Ä®‚Ä®The House will consider the bill Friday before it goes to President Trump's desk to be signed into law. ‚Ä®‚Ä®The bill would massively expand unemployment benefits, providing laid-off workers up to 100% of their salary and health insurance benefits for four months. Vermont senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders successfully fought to strengthen the bill's assistance…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/26/coronavirus_relief_bill_bernie_sanders