(2020-04-10). Femicide does not respect the quarantine. mronline.org 
Days, weeks, months, an indeterminate amount of time as the world seems paralysed by the journey of SARS-CoV-2. The lack of certainty increases the anxiety. This virus, as Arundhati Roy writes, 'seeks proliferation, not profit, and has, therefore, inadvertently, to some extent, reversed the direction of the flow [of capital].
(2020-04-10). Preserving the legacy of the townsite of Negro Bar, Alta California established in 1849. indybay.org Genesis 15: 12-14 speaks of a people enslaved and afflicted for 400 years. For 400 years people of Pan African Ancestry have been enslaved and afflicted throughout the United States of America. Rancho Rio de Los Americans begins to share the legacy along the American River Parkway.
(2020-04-10). Cuban Medical Science in the Service of Humanity. counterpunch.org By 21 March, Cuba had sent healthcare professionals to 37 countries to collaborate in combating the pandemic. Italy received 53 Cuban medics who had previously worked in West Africa during the deadly Ebola outbreak of 2014. Cuba also stepped into the breach in mid-March when a cruise ship with over 600 mostly British passengers and
(2020-04-10). The Racial Politics of 'Return'. thenation.com The Racial Politics of 'Return'
(2020-04-10). Africa: COVID-19 deaths rise to 608, cases near 12,000. yenisafak.com The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Africa has reached 11,943 with at least 608 deaths reported, the World Health Organization's Africa office said on Friday.South Africa is the leading country with the highest number of COVID-19 patients at 1,934 followed by Algeria at 1,666 and Cameron with 730 cases.Algeria has the highest number of deaths standing at 235, followed by Egypt at 103. Other countries which have reported many fatalities from the virus include Morocco (96), Tunisia (24), DR Congo (20), Burkina Faso (19)i and South Africa (18), among others.Since appearing in Wuhan, China, last Decemb…
(2020-04-10). COVID-19 tally rises in Morocco, Lebanon, Palestine. yenisafak.com Morocco, Lebanon, and Palestine confirmed new cases and deaths from the novel coronavirus on Friday.The death toll in Morocco is up to 105 after eight more fatalities over the past 24 hours, while 57 new cases have raised the total to 1,431, according to the country's Health Ministry.The ministry said the number of recoveries has reached 114 after six more patients were discharged from hospitals.Lebanon's Health Ministry confirmed one fatality over the past 24 hours, pushing the death toll to 20.The total cases rose to 609 after 27 more people tested positive for COVID-19.The ministry said 28 of the total patient…
(2020-04-09). Uganda on Alert, Fight Locusts Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic. telesurenglish.net Desert locusts swarm into Uganda from neighboring Kenya, threatening food security and livelihoods, while the country also faces another problem, the new coronavirus, COVID-19. | RELATED: | Farmers in Uganda are bracing for a fresh onslaught of desert locusts after two swarms entered the country from neighboring Kenya last week, threatening to destroy crops and intensify hunger amid the struggle to contain the COVID-19 pande…
(2020-04-09). UN Seeks $130 Million To Prevent Hunger Catastrophe in Zimbabwe. telesurenglish.net The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said Wednesday it needed US$130 million to fund emergency operations in Zimbabwe until August and prevent a catastrophe in the southern African nation, as climate- and recession-induced food shortages deepened. | RELATED: | The WFP added 7.7 million Zimbabweans, half the population, need food aid after a devastating drought and cyclone last year. A lack of predictable…
(2020-04-09). Ghebreyesus: 'Africa Will Not Be Testing Ground for Any Vaccine'. telesurenglish.net Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, World Health Organization leader, condemned the suggestion of testing an anti-COVID vaccine on the African population. These statements, qualified as racism, were made by two doctors who were live on French television. | RELATED: The main argument for the hypothetical vaccine testing is Africa does not have the defense and preventive resources as other regions. Jean-Paul Mira and Camille Loc…
(2020-04-09). Fight against desert locust swarms goes on in East Africa despite coronavirus crisis measures. news.un.org Sustained efforts to contain East Africa's worst invasion of desert locusts in decades are forging ahead, despite limits on the flow of personnel and equipment stemming from the global COVID-19 pandemic, the UN food agency said Friday.
(2020-04-09). Congressional Black Caucus tackles outsized coronavirus impact on African Americans. peoplesworld.org 
CHICAGO—One of every seven Illinoisans is an African-American. One of every three Chicagoans is an African-American. And 72% of the deaths in the Windy City from the coronavirus pandemic are of African-Americans. It's horrifying contrasts like that, duplicated—though not to such an extreme—in cities from New York to Milwaukee to Detroit to D.C., that have …
(2020-04-08). "A Systematic Issue of Disparity": Black People in Louisiana Account for 70% of COVID-19 Deaths. democracynow.org 
Louisiana faces one of the worst outbreaks of the coronavirus in the United States. New data shows black people account for 70% of all the state's coronavirus deaths, though they comprise just 32% of the state's population. Louisiana also has the highest incarceration rate in the country, and more than 65% of the people in its jails and prisons are black. At least 28 people are infected, and 22 corrections staff have tested positive. State corrections officials are sending infected prisoners to the Louisiana State Penitentiary — known as Angola, the largest maximum-security prison in the United States [mdas…
(2020-04-08). Albert Woodfox: COVID-19 Offers Public a "Small Window" into What Prisoners Face in Solitary Confinement. democracynow.org 
As millions shelter in place around the world, we speak with Albert Woodfox, who served the longest time in solitary confinement of any prisoner in the United States. Known as one of the Angola Three, along with Robert King and Herman Wallace, Woodfox was held in isolation for nearly 44 years at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, known as Angola. He was convicted of killing a guard in jail, but always maintained his innocence. He says he was targeted for co-founding the first Black Panther chapter in Angola. He was released in 2016 and is now 73 years old. His memoir is "Solitary: Unbroken by Four Decades in Solit…
(2020-04-08). Headlines for April 8, 2020. democracynow.org U.S. Daily Death Toll Nears 2,000 as Hundreds of COVID-19 Deaths Go Uncounted, Trump Threatens to Withhold U.S. Funding for World Health Organization, New WH Press Secretary Said Recently, "We Will Not See Diseases Like the Coronavirus Come Here", Trump Fires Inspector General Tasked with Overseeing $2 Trillion Stimulus, China Lifts Lockdown in Wuhan, Where Coronavirus Pandemic Began, EU Coronavirus Stimulus Talks Fail as Deaths Surge in Spain and France, Libyan Rebels Attack Hospital for COVID-19 Patients; Chadian Ex-Dictator Released from Prison, International Labour Organization: Pandemic Could Wipe Out 195 Mi…
(2020-04-08). Over 10,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa; Zimbabwe and South Sudan among most vulnerable. news.un.org The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday that the number of COVID-19 cases in Africa has now risen to more than 10,000, claiming more than 500 lives.
(2020-04-07). Course of coronavirus pandemic across Libya, depends on silencing the guns. news.un.org Fighting must stop immediately in Libya if it is to have any chance of staving off the COVID-19 outbreak, the top United Nations official in the North African country said on Tuesday as he condemned an attack on a major Tripoli hospital.
(2020-04-07). Mali: UN mission fulfills mandate, aids battle against coronavirus. news.un.org As the COVID-19 pandemic plagues the world, the head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali told the Security Council on Tuesday that the mission continues to fulfill its mandate while doing whatever it can to prevent the coronavirus outbreak from overrunning the country.
(2020-04-07). Deaths of Inequality: AOC on Black and Latinx Communities at Epicenter of Epicenter of the Pandemic. democracynow.org 
As COVID-19 deaths spike in African-American and immigrant communities, almost a third of New York City's infections are in Queens, one of the most diverse places in the world, and many in the hardest-hit neighborhoods are undocumented and working-class. We speak with Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents the neighborhoods at the epicenter of the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, about how the Trump administration's response to the pandemic is causing "deaths of incompetence," "deaths of science denial" and "deaths of inequality."
(2020-04-06). Headlines for April 6, 2020. democracynow.org Coronavirus Cases Surge in U.S., Surgeon General Warns of "Pearl Harbor Moment" | , Gov. Cuomo Slashes Medicaid as New York Struggles to Get Handle on COVID-19 Cases | , Black Communities Hit Disproportionately Hard by Coronavirus , Coronavirus Cases Appear to Level Off in Parts of Europe, But Death Tolls Remain High | , Boris Johnson Hospitalized for Acute Coronavirus Symptoms | , Japan's Shinzo Abe to Declare Emergency; Filipino Police Kills Man Who Flouted Coronavirus Rules, Low-Paid Garment Workers in Bangladesh Face Mass Unemployment , Former Prime Ministers of Somalia and Libya Die from COVID-19, Complaint…
(2020-04-03). Protect Immigrant Communities: Fear Mounts of Deadly COVID-19 Outbreak in U.S. Border Camps, ICE Jails. democracynow.org 
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus has joined thousands of medical professionals and immigration rights groups to demand that Immigration and Customs Enforcement release all prisoners from immigration jails as the coronavirus continues to spread. Meanwhile, immigration advocates are working to prepare crowded encampments of asylum seekers across the U.S.-Mexico border for a potentially catastrophic outbreak of COVID-19. Since the implementation of the Trump administration's "Remain in Mexico" policy, tens of thousands of asylum seekers from regions like Central America and Africa have been stranded in Mexican bord…
(2020-03-26). [Correspondence] COVID-19 gives the lie to global health expertise. thelancet.com As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak began spreading in Europe and the USA, a chart started circulating online showing ratings from the 2019 Global Health Security Index, an assessment of 195 countries' capacity to face infectious disease outbreaks, compiled by the US-based Nuclear Threat Initiative and the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health's Center for Health Security. The USA was ranked first, and the UK second; South Korea was ranked ninth, and China 51st; most African countries were at the bottom of the ranking.
(2020-03-18). [Research Paper] A phase 1b randomized study of the safety and immunological responses to vaccination with H4:IC31, H56:IC31, and BCG revaccination in Mycobacterium tuberculosis-uninfected adolescents in Cape Town, South Africa. thelancet.com BCG revaccination administered as a single dose ID and both H4: IC31 and H56: IC31 administered as 2 doses IM had acceptable safety profiles in healthy, QFT-negative, previously BCG-vaccinated adolescents. Characterization of the assays and the immunogenicity of these vaccines may help to identify valuable markers of protection for upcoming immune correlates analyses of C-040-404 and future TB vaccine efficacy trials.
(2020-03-11). [Correspondence] Adoption of COVID-19 triage strategies for low-income settings. thelancet.com Despite major advances in epidemic preparedness, Africa remains uniquely susceptible to novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). According to the Infectious Disease Vulnerability Index,1 22 of the 25 countries most susceptible to an infectious disease outbreak are in Africa. The high prevalence of HIV, tuberculosis, and other pathogens might potentiate the severity of COVID-19 and contribute to diagnostic uncertainty. Health-care systems and human resources are already spread thin. And although the young age of the population (with more than half aged younger than 20 years) might prove protective, it also means…
(2020-03-05). [Comment] Time to address disparities in the standard of care for Kaposi sarcoma. thelancet.com Despite clinical trial evidence and guideline recommendations to use pegylated liposomal doxorubicin or paclitaxel for AIDS-associated Kaposi sarcoma, most patients in sub-Saharan Africa continue to receive bleomycin and vincristine.1—3 Before antiretroviral therapy (ART), clinical trials for AIDS-associated Kaposi sarcoma in resource-abundant settings had shown a superior response for pegylated liposomal doxorubicin compared with bleomycin and vincristine.4 A trial in 2010 showed similar progression-free survival for pegylated liposomal doxorubicin plus ART and for paclitaxel plus ART for advanced AIDS-ass…
(2020-01-07). [Comment] Relaunching human bornavirus research from encephalitis cases with unclear cause. thelancet.com Borna disease virus 1 (BoDV-1), the first bornavirus to be discovered, was identified as a causative agent of Borna disease, a fatal encephalitis occurring in horses and sheep. BoDV-1 is highly neurotropic and can cause both fatal immune-mediated encephalitis and behavioural disturbances in a broad range of infected animals.1 These observations prompted researchers to investigate the presence of BoDV-1 in patients with psychiatric disorders on the basis of the hypothesis that BoDV-1 might also cause behavioural abnormalities in humans.