'We've seen no evidence': Social networks blow up 'US officials' claim of 'Russian coronavirus disinformation campaign'
rt.com | 2020-02-29
Social media titans Twitter and Facebook have poured cold water on the State Department's latest conspiracy theory, insisting they'd seen no sign "Russian operatives" were spreading falsehoods about COVID-19 on their platforms. | Weighing in after a number of senior State Department officials told AFP that thousands of "Russian malign actors" were hawking "disinformation about coronavirus" on social media, two of the largest networks have cast serious doubt on the assertion. | "In general, our investigation hasn't substantiated th…
rt.com/news/481983-twitter-facebook-russia-coronavirus/

Doctors Without Borders: Cheap Coronavirus Diagnostic Kits Needed in War-Torn Areas & Refugee Camps
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-02-28
Across the U.S., officials report a severe shortage of test kits for coronavirus. New York officials say they're preparing their own kits, after kits distributed by the Centers for Disease Control failed validation tests. Meanwhile, new cases of coronavirus continue to spring up worldwide, with Nigeria reporting its first case and one of Iran's vice presidents testing positive. We discuss how MSF USA, or Doctors Without Borders USA, is responding to coronavirus, with the organization's executive director, Avril BenoàÆt.
www.democracynow.org/2020/2/28/avril_benoit_msf_usa_coronavirus

Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
wsws.org | 2020-02-28
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/02/28/work-f28.html

The Unspoken War against Organic Farming in Africa: Tanzanian Farmers Are Facing Heavy Prison Sentences if They Continue Their Traditional Seed Exchange
Ebe Daems | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-28
This article was originally published in 2016. | In order to receive development assistance, Tanzania has to give Western agribusiness full freedom and give enclosed protection for patented seeds. "Eighty percent of the seeds are being shared and sold in an …
globalresearch.ca/tanzanian-farmers-facing-heavy-prison-sentences-they-continue-their-traditional-seed-exchange/5704922

Nigeria Confirms 1st case of New Virus in Sub-Saharan Africa
telesurenglish.net | 2020-02-28
An Italian man who has been confirmed as Nigeria's first coronavirus case after arriving from Milan was in the country for almost two full days, traveling through Lagos and visiting another state before being isolated. | RELATED: | WHO Warns Against Danger of Complacency in Coronavirus Fight | The man works for cement company Lafarge Africa PLC in the southwestern state of Ogun, the company said in a statement. | The Ogun state governor, in a separate media briefing, said…
telesurenglish.net/news/Nigeria-Confirms-1st-case-of-New-Virus-in-Sub-Saharan-Africa-20200228-0012.html

Amy Klobuchar's wrongful convictions, Twitterstorm will demand justice for Myon Burrell
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-02-28
Minneapolis, MN – On Friday, February 28, activists will be making noise on Twitter and other social media platforms to demand freedom for Myon Burrell and urging voters to reject Amy Klobuchar, who is responsible for his wrongful conviction. The Twitterstorm is being initiated by Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar (TCC4J) using the hashtags #FreeMyon and #NoAmyK to spread their message. | Organizers say presidential hopeful Minnesota U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar has used Myon's case – a case full of holes – to claim success as Hennepin County attorney and as an example of her work for the African American c…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/2/27/amy-klobuchar-s-wrongful-convictions-twitterstorm-will-demand-justice-myon-burrell

Amy Klobuchar's wrongful convictions, Twitterstorm will demand justice for Myon Burrell
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-02-28
Minneapolis, MN – On Friday, February 28, activists will be making noise on Twitter and other social media platforms to demand freedom for Myon Burrell and urging voters to reject Amy Klobuchar, who is responsible for his wrongful conviction. The Twitterstorm is being initiated by Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar (TCC4J) using the hashtags #FreeMyon and #NoAmyK to spread their message. | Organizers say presidential hopeful Minnesota U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar has used Myon's case – a case full of holes – to claim success as Hennepin County attorney and as an example of her work for the African American c…
fightbacknews.org/2020/2/27/amy-klobuchar-s-wrongful-convictions-twitterstorm-will-demand-justice-myon-burrell

Providing Security in the Sahel: A 'Traffic Jam' of Military Interventions, and Al Qaeda Terrorists
Signe M. Cold-Ravnkilde | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-28
Despite the presence of multiple military actors in West Africa's Sahel region, a steady growth in jihadi activity seems to thrive in the presence of foreign military operations. With their focus on fighting cross-border terrorism and reconstructing 'failed states', while …
globalresearch.ca/traffic-jam-military-interventions/5704917

Wait, what? Biden claims he'll 'appoint' first African-American woman to US Senate in fresh gaffe
rt.com | 2020-02-28
Joe Biden has aroused concerns after misspeaking yet again in public, this time in front of an audience in South Carolina, promising voters he would "appoint" the first African-American woman to the US Senate. | From accidentally pitching himself as a Senate candidate to having to admit a bizarre story about being arrested trying to see Nelson Mandela was false, the Democratic presidential hopeful has had his fair…
rt.com/usa/481966-biden-african-american-woman-senate/

Wait, what? Biden claims he'll 'appoint' first African-American woman to US Senate in fresh gaffe
rt.com | 2020-02-28
Joe Biden has aroused concerns after misspeaking yet again in public, this time in front of an audience in South Carolina, promising voters he would "appoint" the first African-American woman to the US Senate. | From accidentally pitching himself as a Senate candidate to having to admit a bizarre story about being arrested trying to see Nelson Mandela was false, the Democratic presidential hopeful has had his fair…
rt.com/usa/481966-biden-african-american-woman-senate/

The Important Word in "Democratic Socialism" is Democratic
Jesse Jackson | counterpunch.org | 2020-02-27
fter the Nevada caucuses, Bernie Sanders is now the front-runner in the Democratic presidential race. In South Carolina, the next primary, former Vice President Joe Biden is the favorite, buoyed by his support among African American voters. But Sanders will come into the state with real momentum, having won the popular vote in each of…
counterpunch.org/2020/02/27/the-important-word-in-democratic-socialism-is-democratic/

Pants on fire! Joe Biden's campaign says he was never 'arrested' trying to visit Nelson Mandela
rt.com | 2020-02-27
Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden claimed he was arrested in the 1970s while trying to visit jailed South African civil rights campaigner Nelson Mandela. After critics called him out, his campaign now denies the claim. | Courting the black vote in South Carolina and Nevada this month, Biden brought up his 1970s visit to South Africa when he was a senator for Delaware. He told a South Carolina crowd that he "had the great honor of being arrested with our UN ambassador on the streets of Soweto trying to get to see [Mandela] on Robben Island." At a black history awards event in Las Vegas last week, he cla…
rt.com/news/481767-biden-not-arrested-mandela/

African Union Plans to Deploy 3,000 Troops to Sahel Region
telesurenglish.net | 2020-02-27
The African Union (AU) announced Thursday at a press conference that it is planning to send 3,000 temporary troops to the restive West African Sahel region, where local forces are struggling to contain a nearly eight-year-old insurgency by Islamist groups. | RELATED: | France to Send 600 Additional Troops to African Sahel Region | "On the decision of the summit to work on deploying a force of 3,000 troops to help the Sahel countries degrade terrorist groups, I think this is…
telesurenglish.net/news/African-Union-Plans-to-Deploy-3000-Troops-to-Sahel-Region-20200227-0022.html

Trump's Expansion of the Muslim Ban May Be Enabling Rohingyan Genocide
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-02-27
Three years ago, Donald Trump instituted a racist, xenophobic Muslim ban prohibiting people in predominately Muslim nations from traveling to the U.S. On February 21, a new expansion went into effect, blocking access to immigrant visas to people from Burma (Myanmar), Nigeria, Eritrea and Kyrgyzstan, and diversity visas to people from Sudan and Tanzania. | This expansion is expec…
truthout.org/articles/trumps-expansion-of-the-muslim-ban-may-be-enabling-rohingyan-genocide/

Another Indian State Demands Caste Census While Centre Refuses to Release 2011 Data
sputniknews.com | 2020-02-27
New Delhi (Sputnik): A caste-based census was conducted in 2011 after 80 years but the government never published it citing anomalies. The census commissioner of India later rejected a resolution requesting a caste-based census by the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
sputniknews.com/india/202002271078417670-another-indian-state-demands-caste-census-while-centre-refuses-to-release-2011-data/

Air Traffic at Tripoli's Mitiga International Airport Suspended Due to Shelling
sputniknews.com | 2020-02-27
CAIRO (Sputnik)

Bernie Sanders Gains Support in South Carolina as Billionaire Tom Steyer Draws Votes from Joe Biden
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-02-26
Tuesday night's Democratic presidential debate comes just four days before South Carolina's first-in-the-South primary

Bernie Sanders Gains Support in South Carolina as Billionaire Tom Steyer Draws Votes from Joe Biden
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-02-26
Tuesday night's Democratic presidential debate comes just four days before South Carolina's first-in-the-South primary

Sanders Gains Support in South Carolina as Steyer Siphons Votes From Biden
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-02-26
Tuesday night's Democratic presidential debate comes just four days before South Carolina's first-in-the-South primary

'Africa has both the energy and the determination' to make sustainable development happen, says UN deputy chief
news.un.org | 2020-02-26
The United Nations and the African Union (AU) should do more to ensure all Africans see their futures in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)and the goals of Africa's Agenda 2063, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said on Tuesday in Zimbabwe.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/02/1058161

The Call of the Wild (2020): A Cinematic Fairy Tale for the Age of Environmental Disaster
Jonah Raskin | counterpunch.org | 2020-02-26
The problem with Jack London has always been that while he was a compelling storyteller with a vivid imagination, he was also a racist, or at least a writer who embraced racial ideas about the superiority of Anglo Saxons and the inferiority of African Americans, Asians and Latinos. Most of the racism that's embedded in The…
counterpunch.org/2020/02/26/the-call-of-the-wild-2020-a-cinematic-fairy-tale-for-the-age-of-environmental-disaster/

South Carolina Donors Give the Most to Biden, But His Lead Is Narrowing
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-02-26
Former Vice President Joe Biden is placing his bets on a state that is his stronghold, South Carolina, after placing a distant second in the Nevada caucuses and trailing in the New Hampshire and Iowa contests. | Biden is receiving the largest amount of campaign cash from South Carolina donors compared with his Democratic presidential opponents. Almost 60 percent of Democratic voters in the state are African…
truthout.org/articles/south-carolina-donors-give-the-the-most-to-biden-but-his-lead-is-narrowing/

US House Floor Passes Bill Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act
telesurenglish.net | 2020-02-26
U.S House of Representatives passed Wednesday 410-4 called the Emmett Till Anti-lynching Act, named after a 14-year-old African American boy who was kidnapped, beaten and lynched in 1955 after he was accused of whistling at a white woman. | RELATED: | US Top Court Dismisses Lawsuit Over Shooting of Mexican Teen | At the beginning of the session, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke ahead of the vote in support of the measure, expressing that today Congress had "an opportunity to ackno…
telesurenglish.net/news/us-house-floor-passes-bill-emmett-till-anti-lynching-act–20200226-0022.html

Bernie Sanders gains support in South Carolina as billionaire Tom Steyer draws votes from Joe Biden
Amy Goodman | nationofchange.org | 2020-02-26
Billionaire Tom Steyer has poured money into outreach to African-American voters, who make up more than half of South Carolina's Democratic electorate.
nationofchange.org/2020/02/26/bernie-sanders-gains-support-in-south-carolina-as-billionaire-tom-steyer-draws-votes-from-joe-biden/

Rising Number of Democrats Say Sanders Most Likely to Beat Trump as Senator Surpasses Biden in Black Voter Support
Jessica Corbett, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-02-26
Support for Sen. Bernie Sanders among Democrats and African-American voters is growing, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos national polling results, which were released before Tuesday night's Democratic presidential primary debate in South Carolina. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/bernie_sanders_3_1.png …
commondreams.org/news/2020/02/26/rising-number-democrats-say-sanders-most-likely-beat-trump-senator-surpasses-biden?cd-origin=rss

'A Scourge of Biblical Proportions': UN Leaders Sound Alarm on East Africa Locust Crisis in Call for Global Response
Jessica Corbett, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-02-26
Top United Nations relief officials warned Tuesday that millions more in funding is needed to combat East Africa's worst outbreak of desert locusts in decades, arguing that "acting now to avert a food crisis is a more humane, effective, and cost efficient approach than responding to the aftermath of disaster." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-11953156221.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2020/02/26/scourge-biblical-proportions-un-leaders-sound-alarm-east-africa-locust-crisis-call?cd-origin=rss

Trudeau Enables Corporate Canada to Exploit Ethiopia's Minerals
Yves Engler | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-02-25
The Federal government wants Canadian corporations to profit from Ethiopia's minerals. During his recent trip to the Horn of Africa country Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced negotiations on a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA). As I detailed in this article, bilateral investment treaties with African countries are overwhelmingly designed to solidify the position of Canadian mining interests. Alongside the …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/02/trudeau-enables-corporate-canada-to-exploit-ethiopias-minerals/

More funding needed to combat locust swarms 'unprecedented in modern times'
news.un.org | 2020-02-25
Along with climate shocks, conflict and acute food insecurity, the East Africa region now faces a hunger threat from desert locusts, top UN relief officials warned on Tuesday, saying action now, will avert a major food crisis later.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/02/1058041