'Ask the government': Former Celtics star claims NBA season could resume at classified US Air Force site Area 51
rt.com | 2020-04-01
Having held the 2019 Summer League at the University of Nevada, NBA chiefs could find a novel solution to ending the season at a less conventional base in the state

India's Top Court Holds Govt Accountable Over Migrant Crisis
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-01
India's top court on Monday sought a report from the government over the steps taken for tens of thousands of migrant laborers as they try to return home after losing jobs following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's nationwide lockdown to contain the coronavirus outbreak. | RELATED: | Rohingyas in India Abandoned to Fate in Face of Pandemic | The Supreme Court was hearing two petitions through a video-conferencing as the situation turned grim amid reports of more than 20 migrant laborer…
telesurenglish.net/news/Indias-Top-Court-Holds-Govt-Accountable-Over-Migrant-Crisis-20200331-0020.html

Has America Reached Its Endgame in Afghanistan?
M. K. Bhadrakumar | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-31
In an extraordinary statement titled "On the Political Impasse in Afghanistan," Washington has admitted to the failure of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's mission to Kabul on March 23, which was taken up to heal the political rift among Afghan politicians and to urge them to form an inclusive government so as to implement the…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/31/has-america-reached-its-endgame-in-afghanistan/

COVID-19 proves workers, not bosses, are essential
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-03-31
The Marxist argument that it's the labour of workers, and not the supposed intelligence and entrepreneurial spirit of bosses, that keeps society running, has long been ridiculed by defenders of capitalism. In the conditions created by the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the truth of Marx's claim has been brought into sharp relief.
mronline.org/2020/03/31/covid-19-proves-workers-not-bosses-are-essential/

DOJ audit prompted by FBI spying on Americans finds errors in EVERY sample FISA application
rt.com | 2020-03-31
A review of 29 FBI applications to spy on US citizens or residents found mistakes in every single one, and four cases of proper documentation missing entirely, the Justice Department inspector general has revealed. | From a dataset of more than 700 applications under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) submitted by eight FBI field offices, Inspector General Michael Horowitz and his team selected a sample of 29, made between October 2014 and September 2019, pertaining to US citizens or "green card" holders. | They found an average of 20 errors in each one. | Remember when the newly beloved liberal…
rt.com/usa/484633-doj-fisa-application-errors/

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/

Israel's Shin Bet Slaps PLC Member with Administrative Detention
Ali Salam | imemc.org | 2020-03-30
The Shin Bet, Israel's intelligence agency, on Sunday, decided to renew the detention of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member and Hamas leader, Hasan Yousuf, for four months, under administrative detention. Sheikh Hasan Yousuf, 65, was scheduled for release on March 31, 2020, and just two days before his release, …
imemc.org/article/israels-shin-bet-slaps-plc-member-with-administrative-detention/

Barbaric Decisions: Coronavirus, Refusing Bail and Julian Assange
Binoy Kampmark | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-03-28
To expose another human being to serious illness, and to the threat of losing their life, is grotesque and quite unnecessary. This is not justice, it is a barbaric decision.

[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

Calls Grow for Sen. Burr to Resign After He Sold $1.7 Million in Stocks & Downplayed COVID-19 Risks
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-25
Calls are growing for Republican Senator Richard Burr to resign after he reportedly sold up to $1.7 million worth of stocks after receiving privileged briefings about the coronavirus's threat to the global economy. ProPublica reports Burr, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, unloaded his holdings on February 13 in 33 separate transactions. At the time, he had access to classified information about the coronavirus and was receiving daily intelligence briefings. The stock market began plummeting a week after Burr's sales and has since lost about 30% of its value. We speak with Derek Willis of ProPublica…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/25/senator_richard_burr_stocks_coronavirus

Arbitrary & excessive: Marijuana trafficking sentences in Alabama
Kathryn Casteel and Will Tucker | splcenter.org | 2020-03-24
Alabama resident Lee Carroll Brooker garnered national attention in 2016 when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the marijuana trafficking case that put Brooker, in his 70s at the time, in prison for life.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/28/arbitrary-excessive-marijuana-trafficking-sentences-alabama

Senator Dumped Up to $1.7 Million of Stock After Reassuring Public About Coronavirus Preparedness
Staff | truthdig.com | 2020-03-20
Soon after he offered public assurances that the government was ready to battle the coronavirus, the powerful chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr, sold off a significant percentage of his stocks, unloading between $628,000 and $1.72 million of his holdings on Feb. 13 in 33 separate transactions. As the head of the intelligence …
truthdig.com/articles/senator-dumped-up-to-1-7-million-of-stock-after-reassuring-public-about-coronavirus-preparedness/

Extradition of Assange Would Set a Dangerous Precedent
Marjorie Cohn | zcomm.org | 2020-03-02
The Trump administration is seeking extradition of WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, to the United States for trial on charges carrying 175 years in prison…
zcomm.org/zmagazine/extradition-of-assange-would-set-a-dangerous-precedent/