(2020-08-01). [Correspondence] Cardiovascular risk in hypertension: open questions about HOPE 4. thelancet.com With great interest we read the encouraging results of the HOPE 4 trial by Jon-David Schwalm and colleagues.1 However, we agree with Tanzeen H Jafar and colleagues2 that the generalisability of the findings is limited because the non-physician health workers were privately paid by the study, and drugs were provided for free. Our work in Kenya shows that non-physician health workers are often overburdened, and that drugs are frequently out of stock in public facilities and pricey in private health facilities, leading to high out-of-pocket expenditure.
(2020-08-01). [Comment] Screening for Barrett's oesophagus: is now the time? thelancet.com Screening for cancer is an important aspect of medical practice in this new millennium. It is well accepted that to decrease mortality due to oesophageal carcinoma, it is necessary to identify the malignancy at earlier, curable stages. In The Lancet, Rebecca Fitzgerald and colleagues1 report the results of a prospective, multicentre, pragmatic, randomised controlled trial, done at 109 sociodemographically diverse general practice clinics in England, which investigated whether offering the Cytosponge-trefoil factor 3 (TFF3) procedure to patients on medication for gastro-oesophageal reflux would increase the detect…
(2020-07-31). US federal troops staying in Portland for now, Wolf says. yenisafak.com Acting U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told Fox News on Friday that federal troops would remain in Portland until he was assured that the Oregon governor's plan to handle daily protests was working, and said sending in the National Guard was still an option if the state did not handle the situation.He said all the Department of Homeland Security "law enforcement officers that have been there over the past 60 days will remain there in Portland until we are assured that the plan that has been put in place by the governor and Oregon State Police will be effective night after night."Wolf said President Don…
(2020-07-31). The turn to less: Conora and the cnsumption dilemma. indybay.org The Corona crisis could be the beginning of a better normality. Corona could make a turning point in history. The global North has benefited from unequal trade relations. Global employment has lost its role as the center of life. We must get out of the old path dependencies. An enormous gain in quality of life for many has occurred.
(2020-07-30). Chomsky on Israel's Hindering of Palestinian Pandemic Response & Threat to Annex Occupied West Bank. democracynow.org 
Noam Chomsky says Israel's planned annexation of the occupied West Bank "basically formalizes" what has already been official policy over the last half-century, from both left-wing and right-wing parties in Israel. He compares Israel's treatment of Palestinians to anti-immigrant policies in the United States, and says the main goal of annexation is to take over as much territory while excluding its Palestinian inhabitants. "Israel does not want to bring Palestinian populations into the greater Israel they're constructing."
(2020-07-30). Video: Turkey Shifts Focus to Southern Libya Amid Stalemate Near Sirte. globalresearch.ca Turkey is looking for opportunities to shift the current balance of power in Libya after its proxies failed to break the Libyan National Army defenses and capture the port city of Sirte in northern Libya in an off-the-cuff advance. | Turkish…
(2020-07-30). Ravages of acute hunger will likely hit six in 10 in Zimbabwe: WFP. news.un.org The World Food Programme (WFP) is urgently seeking more international support to prevent millions of Zimbabweans plunging deeper into hunger. The COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated an already severe hunger crisis in Zimbabwe, UN humanitarians warned on Thursday.
(2020-07-30). Russian, Turkish diplomats to discuss Libya in Moscow. yenisafak.com Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, Alexey Zaytsev, deputy spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that the delegations from the two countries will discuss "different aspects of the Libyan crisis," including disposition of the warring sides at the moment of the cease-fire declaration.Zaytsev recalled that the previous rounds of consultations on Libya were held in Turkey — In Istanbul in June and in Ankara in July.Asked about violations of arms embargo on Libya by Russia, he said "allegations are groundless" and that countries accusing Russia "directly involved in arms supplies to the Libyan warring…
(2020-07-29). Libya-born diplomat Richard Moore to head MI6 intel service. rt.com 
Britain's overseas spy agency — better known as MI6 — has installed diplomat Richard Moore as its new chief, the UK Foreign Office announced on Wednesday. | Libya-born Moore succeeds Sir Alex Younger, who will relinquish duties as head of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) in the autumn. The 57-year-old will also be known as 'C' — a role made famous in the James Bond movies. | Moore's current role is Director General for Political Affairs in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), a position he has held since April 2018. He has previously worked in other director roles in the SIS and has…
(2020-07-29). New Reports Suggest Libyan Warlord Khalifa Haftar is Working with Mossad. mintpressnews.com Reports of Israeli support for the Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar are nothing new, but as the apartheid state gains ground among Arab nations, the need to hide Mossad's role in the destabilizing of oil-rich Libya may be disappearing.
(2020-07-29). Forced labour, prostitution and child marriages: rescuing victims of trafficking in Malawi. news.un.org Human trafficking is a problem in Malawi, with teenage boys forced to work as farm labourers, and young women to sexual exploitation in nightclubs or bars. The UN is supporting the Malawian governments to end the practice and protect vulnerable people.
(2020-07-29). South African government to release funds following BidAir workers' protest. peoplesdispatch.org Following a picket outside the labor department, the commissioner of Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) has committed to release funds for the payment of workers' wages for the month of May by July 30…
(2020-07-29). South Africa's restaurant sector reels under impact of COVID-19 restrictions. peoplesdispatch.org It is estimated that about 70% jobs in the restaurant industry are already lost due to the COVID-19-induced lockdown. Restaurant and alcohol industry workers staged two countrywide protests last week…
(2020-07-29). Violent attacks on shack dwellers continue in South Africa. peoplesdispatch.org Two shack dwellers have been hospitalized after the South African police, along with a notorious private security agency, attacked yet another informal settlement organized by Abahlali baseMjondolo.
(2020-07-29). Gambia VP tests positive for coronavirus, president self-isolating. yenisafak.com Gambia's Vice President Isatou Touray has tested positive for COVID-19, leading President Adama Barrow to enter self-isolation for the next two weeks, the presidency said on Wednesday.The presidency's statement did not provide any further details about Touray's condition. Touray, who is 65, was named vice president last year.Gambia, mainland Africa's smallest country, has recorded 326 cases of COVID-19, including nine deaths, the lowest totals in West Africa.
(2020-07-29). Ethiopia, Rwanda, DRC leaders on eminent Africans list. yenisafak.com Ethiopia's prime minister and the presidents of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have been named among the 100 Most Reputable Africans.Abiy Ahmed, Paul Kagame, and Felix Tshisekedi were joined by Kenyan minister Amina Mohamed on the list released by Reputation Poll International, a reputation management consultancy firm.The list features 47 women and 53 men from diverse sectors, including leadership, entertainment, advocacy, education, and business.They were selected on the criteria of integrity, visibility, and impact, according to a statement.Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organization's director for…
(2020-07-28). Mayors want US agents blocked from Portland and other cities. thecanary.co 
The mayors of Portland, Oregon, and five other major US cities have appealed to Congress to make it illegal for the federal government to deploy militarised agents to cities that do not want them."This administration's egregious use of federal force on cities over the objections of local authorities should never happen," the mayors of Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Kansas City, Albuquerque, New Mexico and Washington wrote to leaders of the US House and Senate.Portland mayor Ted Wheeler and city commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty called for a meeting with acting homeland security secretary Chad Wolf to discuss a ceasefire…
(2020-07-28). Egypt's el-Sisi approves troop deployment to Libya against Turkish-backed forces. wsws.org The eastern Mediterranean, including North Africa, has become the focus of ever widening conflicts, with all the imperialist and regional powers pursuing their own rapacious demands for control over the region's wealth and resources.
(2020-07-28). Ethiopia's volatile path to democracy. nationofchange.org Political parties aligned along ethnic lines intensifies existing divisions; political groups need to evolve that are free from any specific ethnic association.
(2020-07-28). AFRICOM Yet to Compensate Somali Families, Despite Casualty Admissions. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2020-07-28). Living and Working in the Time of the Pandemic in Pakistan. zcomm.org People in Pakistan desperately hope and long for a return to normality, but as the writer Arundhati Roy already noted: nothing could be worse than a return to the normality because that normality was unjust to its core.
(2020-07-28). Employees of South African airport services firm protest demanding payment of salaries. peoplesdispatch.org Workers of BidAir Services Ltd picketed outside the Department of Employment and Labor in Pretoria on Tuesday. They demanded that the government clear the dues owed to them under the Temporary Employee Relief Scheme…
(2020-07-28). UN-African Union mission condemns recent spate of deadly attacks in Darfur. news.un.org The joint UN-African Union Mission in Darfur, UNAMID, is calling for the Sudanese Government to arrest those responsible for the recent spike in violent attacks against peaceful protestors, civilians and displaced persons in various locations across the province.
(2020-07-28). Killing Democracy In The United States. popularresistance.org I fear that it either can't or won't end because, as Martin Luther King, Jr., pointed out in 1967 during the Vietnam War, the United States remains the world's greatest purveyor of violence — and nothing in this century, the one he didn't live to see, has faintly proved him wrong. Considered another way, Washington should be classified as the planet's most committed arsonist, regularly setting or fanning the flames of fires globally from Libya to Iraq, Somalia to Afghanistan, Syria to — dare I say it — in some quite imaginable future Iran, even as our leaders invariably boast of having the world's greatest fir…
(2020-07-28). Turkey renovates health center in Cameroon. yenisafak.com Turkey has renovated a health facility in Cameroon, which had become non-operational due to a lack of finances, an official statement said on Tuesday.The state-run Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) said the center, which opened in 2003, is up and running again after the repairing of medical equipment.The health center in Foumban province of the Central African country is now expected to serve 8,000 people annually. TIKA also drilled a well to supply clean water to the center, and others in the region.The care center's opening ceremony was attended by Ayse Sarac, Turkey's ambassador to Cameroon, M…
(2020-07-27). Palestinian Fishing Boats Attacked by Israeli Navy Ships off Coast of Gaza. imemc.org Israeli navy ships, on Sunday morning, opened fire towards Palestinian fishing boats sailing off the northern coast of the Gaza Strip, Alray Agency reported. Several Israeli naval gunships, off the coast of al-Sudania and al-Waha districts, opened gunfire towards Palestinian fishermen's boats. The fishermen were sailing within the Israeli dictated …
(2020-07-27). Massive DDoS Attacks Against Indymedia in Germany (de.indymedia.org). indybay.org In the last six months more and more funds were raised to silence us (de.indymedia.org). They, the aggressors (the far-right and their party friends, up to federal authorities and government representatives), apparently see it as a possibility to use malicious technical means to silence one of the voices of the counter-public view.