"With the coronavirus death toll soaring in the United States and health experts warning that 'no state, no metro area will be spared' by the outbreak, President Trump steered the nation for an extended shutdown, dashing hopes of a quick resumption of normal life," the Washington Post reported Monday. The president had previously floated the idea of lifting pandemic-related restrictions by Easter. What are we to make of this?
Cliver Alcala, a "retired Venezuelan general who was charged by the United States with 'narco-terrorism' along with President Nicolas Maduro and other officials has surrendered in Colombia to US authorities, prosecutors said Saturday," AFP reported Sunday. The outlet noted, citing a Colombian prosecutor, that "there was no arrest warrant when he gave himself up." AFP continued, "As part of the US Justice Department indictment, up to $10 million was offered for the capture of Alcala, who has been living in the northern Colombian city of Barranquilla for the last two years." This sounds a bit fishy to me.
"The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi group in Yemen carried out several airstrikes on Monday on the capital Sanaa," Reuters reported Monday, citing eyewitnesses and media. "A number of sensitive sites including the presidential palace compound, the school and an airbase close to Sanaa airport were hit, and loud explosions were heard across the city, residents said. The coalition said the operation was aimed at destroying 'legitimate military targets including Houthi ballistic batteries which threaten civilian lives.'" So, as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman is under continued pressure related to the October 2018 assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, he’s acting up again in Yemen. What’s going on?
"Once again, Benjamin Netanyahu wins big in Israeli politics," Miko Peled wrote in MintPress News on Friday. "Even as his main opponent, former Israeli army chief Benny Gantz, was given a mandate to form and head a coalition government, Netanyahu, indicted and presumed to be on his way out, managed to pull in Gantz, break up the Blue and White opposition party, stop the coalition from forming, and remain on top." What happens next?
GUESTS:
Danny Haiphong — Activist and journalist in the New York City area. He and Roberto Sirvent are co-authors of the forthcoming book "American Exceptionalism and American Innocence: A People's History of Fake News - From the Revolutionary War to the War on Terror."
Teri Mattson — Code Pink Latin America coordinator and founder and coordinator for the Campaign to End US and Canada Sanctions Against Venezuela.
Nino Pagliccia — Activist and freelance writer based in Vancouver. A retired researcher from the University of British Columbia, Canada, Pagliccia is a Venezuelan-Canadian who follows and writes about international relations with a focus on the Americas, and is also the editor of the book “Cuba Solidarity in Canada – Five Decades of People-to-People Foreign Relations.”
Kathy Kelly — Co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence.
Miko Peled — Israeli-American activist and author of "The General's Son: The Journey of an Israeli in Palestine."
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