(2020-04-04). Russian national wealth fund covers half of expenses for coronavirus medical aid sent to New York. rt.com 
The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has announced it is investing in production of testing systems, medicine, and medical equipment necessary to battle the spread of Covid-19. | Russia has recently delivered personal protective and medical equipment supplies to New York, which has become the worst coronavirus-affected US city. The Russian plane carrying the vital cargo arrived in the US on April 1. | Also on rt.com | | "RDIF paid half of the cost of medical supplies for clinics, hospital…
(2020-04-04). Unemployment surges in Europe amid COVID-19 pandemic. wsws.org The catastrophe now unfolding in Europe is rooted not in the biological properties of the coronavirus, but in the political bankruptcy of European capitalism.
(2020-04-04). Coronavirus crisis: Hunger and malnutrition spread in Germany. wsws.org Research indicates some 13 million people in Germany are living in poverty or confront hunger, malnutrition and social misery due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
(2020-04-04). Canadian government's bailout increases banks' control over economy and state. wsws.org Canada's Liberal government is funnelling hundreds of billions of dollars to the banks and major corporations to guarantee the wealth of the capitalist elite.
(2020-04-04). No Fennel in the Sausage, No $600 for the Jobless. zcomm.org In plagues past and pandemic present, the wealthy exude the same contempt for those without wealth…
(2020-04-04). Livestream: Democracy and COVID-19: What Happens Next? indybay.org Online via livestream…
(2020-04-04). 'We Will Not Sit Back and Let Transit Workers Be Treated Like Cannon Fodder'. thenation.com 'We Will Not Sit Back and Let Transit Workers Be Treated Like Cannon Fodder'
(2020-04-03). AOC slammed for blaming coronavirus deaths on inequality… after championing shutdown that accelerated it. rt.com 
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has demanded minority-focused "reparations" for coronavirus, insisting "inequality is a comorbidity" exacerbating the deaths — after calling for shutdowns that impoverished millions. | The New York Democrat called for coronavirus relief to be "drafted with a lens of reparations," insisting that deaths from the virus were "disproportionately spiking in Black [and] Brown communities" in a tweet on Friday. | Blaming "the chronic toll of redlining, environmental racism, wealth gap," she smoothly conflated economic inequality — a problem in white and nonwhite commun…
(2020-04-03). US Economy Lost 701,000 Jobs in March, Figures Will Rise. telesurenglish.net The U.S. economy lost 701,000 jobs in March, and the unemployment rate rose to 4.4 percent amid the new coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced Friday. | RELATED: | This is the most significant job loss since March 2009, when the financial crisis sank the world's economies. | In February, the unemployment rate was 3.5 percent, the lowest level in almost 50 years. | The m…
(2020-04-03). Covid-19 Attacks the Down-and-Out in Ultra-Unequal South Africa. counterpunch.org It's hard to imagine a more worrying place to watch Covid-19 hit a society than Johannesburg, South Africa. This is, after all, the world's most unequal major city, serving as economic headquarters for the most unequal country. In spite of a poverty rate (at $2.80/day) of more than 60 percent and a national unemployment rate of 40
(2020-04-03). Coronavirus Hits March Employment Numbers Hard — 701,000 Jobs Lost. truthout.org Most sectors took a big hit in employment, most concerning is a loss of 42,500 jobs in health care. | The impact of the coronavirus shutdowns showed up very clearly in the March data as the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a loss of 701,000 jobs, a decline almost as high as the peaks hit in the housing crash. The unemployment rate jumped 0.9 percentage points to 4.4 percent, while the employment-to-population ratio (EPOP) fell by 1.1 percentage points to 60.0 percent. | The size of the impact on the Ma…
(2020-04-03). Unemployment Insurance claims double in one week. fightbacknews.org San José, CA – New claims for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits doubled from record numbers just a week earlier. On Thursday, April 2, the Department of Labor reported that more than 6.6 million people applied for state unemployment insurance benefits for the week ending March 28. This means that almost 10 MILLION people lost their jobs and applied for UI benefits in just the last two weeks of March. This economic crisis has caused more job losses in two weeks than the entire 2007 to 2009 recession, where 8 million jobs were lost. | Like the week before, Wall Street rallied, with the broad S&P 500 Index up 2.2…
(2020-04-03). The United States to Lose 7 Percent of Its Domestic Product. telesurenglish.net The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) forecasts that the United States might experience a 12 percent unemployment rate and a 7 percent loss of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by the end of this year's second quarter. | RELATED: | "GDP is expected to decline by more than 7 percent during the second quarter. If that happened, the decline in the annualized growth rate… would exceed 28 percent. Those declines could…
(2020-04-03). Slumlord Capitalism v. Global Pandemic. counterpunch.org The poet Langston Hughes once wrote, "I wish the rent was heaven sent." With 10 million Americans filing for unemployment benefits in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Hughes' words resonate now more than ever. As we hurtle toward a public health and economic catastrophe, we must reckon with the sobering fact that our federal government is helmed by landlords, real estate developers, and financiers whose fortunes have been made — and whose worldview has been shaped — by years of predatory and extractive business practices. These practices prefigured the federal response to the pandemic and overde…
(2020-04-03). March's Huge Job Losses Are Just the Tip of the Iceberg of What's to Come. commondreams.org Today's data, combined with yesterday's unprecedented unemployment insurance claims, show that Congress must act quickly to mitigate as much of the economic harm from the coronavirus as possible. (Photo: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/donalddd.jpg …
(2020-04-03). We're Going to Need a Bigger Bailout. thenation.com We're Going to Need a Bigger Bailout…
(2020-04-03). 'These Devices Making the Super-Wealthy Super-Wealthier Will Have to Come Apart' – CounterSpin interview with David Cay Johnston on the 2008 bailout. fair.org 
The Media…
(2020-04-02). Red states 'slower to respond' to Covid-19 as they listened to Trump, Axios founder claims…except blue states have been worst hit. rt.com 
Axios co-founder Jim VanderHei politicized the coronavirus crisis by claiming red states have been "slower" responding because they've been "listening to President Trump," but he ignores why blue states have been hit harder. | Speaking to MSNBC's Morning Joe and name-dropping Georgia and Florida as states that waited longer than others to implement stay-at-home orders, VanderHei said "information inequality" is to blame for states not acting as one in the fight against the spread of the coronavirus. | "It's because they were listening to President Trump up until the last five or six days. They were watching Fo…
(2020-04-02). As U.S. Reels from COVID-19, Trump Backs Gilead's Exclusive Patent on Treatment & Suspends EPA Rules. democracynow.org 
As the United States leads the world in coronavirus cases, the nation's healthcare system is already stretched to capacity and protective gear in short supply. President Trump and his health advisors say more than 100,000 Americans could die from the coronavirus in the next two weeks. Meanwhile, millions of people have lost their jobs, and a record 6.6 million unemployment claims were filed this week, on top of last week's 3.3 million claims. For more on the economic impacts of the coronavirus, and how Trump has responded to the pandemic by rewarding pharmaceutical corporations like Gilead Sciences and indefinite…
(2020-04-02). "Social Distancing Is a Privilege": Pandemic Highlights India's Class Divide as 1.3 Billion Lock Down. democracynow.org 
In India, 1.3 billion people have been locked down for more than a week to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The country reports nearly 2,000 cases and at least 50 deaths. Millions living in poverty and migrant workers were stranded far from home when the lockdown was announced, and some have reportedly died making the perilous journey home. More than 80% of India's workforce is informal, with most living off daily wages often less than $2 or $3 a day — wages they cannot earn under the present curfew — and more than 4 million Indians are homeless. We speak with Indian journalist Rana Ayyub, a contri…
(2020-04-02). US Jobless Claims Surge Rises to 10 Million Due to COVID-19. telesurenglish.net The number of U.S. citizens who filed for unemployment benefits has risen to 10 million in the last two weeks, the U.S. Labor Department said in a statement Thursday. | RELATED: | The released figures are much higher than forecasts cited by various media, as economists expected the number of claims to stand at around four million. | "In the week ending March 28, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted init…
(2020-04-02). 'People Should Not Be Forced to Put Their Lives on the Line to Vote'. thenation.com 'People Should Not Be Forced to Put Their Lives on the Line to Vote'
(2020-04-01). #CancelRent: Tenants Demand Rent Relief & Organize Strikes as Unemployment Surges Due to COVID-19. democracynow.org 
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…
(2020-04-01). Headlines for April 1, 2020. democracynow.org No Longer Downplaying Virus, Trump Says Up to 240,000 Will Die in U.S. from COVID-19, FEMA Sends 85 Refrigerated Trucks to NYC as Makeshift Morgues as COVID-19 Deaths Grow, As Confirmed U.S. Cases Top 188,000, Unhoused People Forced to Sleep in Las Vegas Parking Lot, Chicago COVID-19 Nurse Quits over Critical Lack of Personal Protective Equipment, Fed Economists: U.S. Unemployment Could Reach Record 32% in June, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Demands Release of All Jailed Immigrants Amid Pandemic, Captain Calls for Evacuation of Infected U.S. Aircraft Carrier: "Sailors Do Not Need to Die", Governor Won't Allow Sic…
(2020-04-01). Coronavirus pandemic threatens to plunge millions in Arab region into poverty and food insecurity. news.un.org 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).
(2020-03-31). Dr. Abdul El-Sayed: Communities Enduring Racism & Poverty Will Suffer Most Due to COVID-19. democracynow.org 
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…
(2020-03-30). We Need a Public Health New Deal: Neoliberal Austerity & Private Healthcare Worsened U.S. Pandemic. democracynow.org 
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…
(2020-03-30). The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery played key role in launching SPLC's legal battle against Ku Klux Klan. splcenter.org 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.
(2020-03-27). U.S. Is #1 in Pandemic: Rep. Omar Blasts Trump for "Wrong Kind of American Exceptionalism" democracynow.org 
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…