____ (2022-05-31). Officials, media spread complacency as US enters third summer of COVID infections and death. wsws.org At the Memorial Day weekend, traditionally the start of summer festivals and other mass social activities in the United States, coronavirus infections are at six times the level of a year ago.

____ (2022-05-31). New Zealand PM in the US promotes internet censorship, downplays pandemic. wsws.org In public statements ahead of her meeting with President Biden, Prime Minister Ardern called for greater censorship of social media, and promoted the lie that the COVID-19 pandemic is over.

____ (2022-05-31). Parents and teachers defend Seattle principal fired for exposing district's abandonment of contact tracing. wsws.org Parents and teachers from across Oregon and Washington voiced their support for principal Catherine Brown, who has been fired for alerting the community to changes made to the COVID-19 Guidelines in January, at the height of the Omicron surge.

____ (2022-05-31). Trader Joe's cut retirement benefits during pandemic. wsws.org The standard 10 percent contribution was slashed to 5 percent for most workers, taking thousands of dollars from employees.

____ (2022-05-30). Biden hails Modi, the butcher of Gujarat, for India's COVID policy of mass death. wsws.org Biden declared the COVID policy of India, which has the highest death toll in the world, a "success," while praising the "democratic" policy of a fascistic prime minister complicit in the mass murder of Muslims.

Elaine Bernard (2022-05-30). How Unions Can Emerge from the Pandemic More Effective. zcomm.org Learning from the Covid Disruption…

____ (2022-05-30). Contract talks break down for 70,000 Ontario hospital workers. wsws.org Hospital workers are engaged in a bitter fight for adequate staffing levels, wage increases that match current rates of inflation and workplace pandemic protection, including proper access to personal protective equipment.

Sandipan Talukdar (2022-05-30). Genome of Pompeii volcano victim sequenced for the first time. peoplesdispatch.org The sequencing shows the diversity of the people living in Pompeii during the Roman Empire and the diseases they suffered. The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports on May 26…

____ (2022-05-30). Shanghai emerges out of lockdown after beating back Omicron. wsws.org Shanghai officials announced that they are formally lifting their lockdown after two months of massive efforts have essentially eliminated the disease from the metropolis.

TeleSUR, SH (2022-05-28). Corea del Norte reporta menos 100 mil casos de coronavirus. telesurtv.net Desde finales de abril, Corea del Norte contabiliza 3.36 millones de contagios de la Covid-19.

Chloe Wilson (2022-05-28). [Perspectives] Impossible times. thelancet.com During the COVID-19 pandemic health-care workers have often found themselves in the media spotlight. The pandemic has been framed as a war, and health-care workers have been labelled as soldiers on the front line. But using a wartime narrative to depict the pandemic is dangerous "None of you think you are soldiers, dodging spinning bullets shaped like pretty viral crowns", asserts Roopa Farooki in her book Everything is True: A Junior Doctor's Story of Life, Death and Grief in a Time of Pandemic.

Michelle Ann B Eala, Ethan Angelo S Maslog, Janine Patricia G Robredo, Raymond Joshua L San Pedro, Paolo Victor N Medina, Edelina P De la Paz, Gideon Lasco (2022-05-28). [Correspondence] Violence against health-care workers in the Philippines. thelancet.com Filipino health-care workers have not been immune to the growing violence and impunity in the country since President Duterte took office in 2016. Since 2017, at least ten doctors have been violently killed in various regions of the Philippines. Six were killed in 2017 alone.1 In 2020, Mary Rose Sancelan, a city health officer in Negros Oriental, and the only doctor serving in the province's COVID-19 pandemic response, was shot dead with her husband. She was previously red-tagged by a local anti-communist vigilante group.

Ann Danaiya Usher (2022-05-28). [World Report] Calls for independent evaluation of ACT-A welcomed. thelancet.com Experts working with the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator welcome the conclusions of a key report on pandemic preparedness. Ann Danaiya Usher reports.

Toshifumi Hibi (2022-05-28). [Comment] Risankizumab for Crohn's disease. thelancet.com In The Lancet, two new studies report randomised controlled trials of risankizumab for Crohn's disease.1,2 In the first, Geert D'Haens and colleagues share the findings of the ADVANCE and MOTIVATE phase 3 trials comparing the efficacy and safety of risankizumab with placebo in the induction period.1 The intention-to-treat population included 850 patients (390 [46%] women, 460 [54%] men; median age 37 ∑5 years [IQR 13 ∑3]) for ADVANCE and 569 patients (276 [49%] women, 293 [51%] men; median age 39 ∑6 years [13 ∑3]) for MOTIVATE in hospital academic medical centres, clinical research units, and priv…

Marc Ferrante, Remo Panaccione, Filip Baert, Peter Bossuyt, Jean-Frederic Colombel, Silvio Danese, Marla Dubinsky, Brian G Feagan, Tadakazu Hisamatsu, Allen Lim, James O Lindsay, Edward V Loftus, Julián Panés, Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet, Zhihua Ran, David T Rubin, William J Sandborn, Stefan Schreiber, Ezequiel Neimark, Alexandra Song, Kristina Kligys, Yinuo Pang, Valerie Pivorunas, Sofie Berg, W Rachel Duan, Bidan Huang, Jasmina Kalabic, Xiaomei Liao, Anne Robinson, Kori Wallace, Geert D'Haens (2022-05-28). [Articles] Risankizumab as maintenance therapy for moderately to severely active Crohn's disease: results from the multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, withdrawal phase 3 FORTIFY maintenance trial. thelancet.com Subcutaneous risankizumab is a safe and efficacious treatment for maintenance of remission in patients with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease and offers a new therapeutic option for a broad range of patients by meeting endpoints that might change the future course of disease.

Shawn Yuan (2022-05-28). [World Report] Sandstorms hit Iraq, sending thousands to hospital. thelancet.com Doctors raise concern over whether they will have the resources to treat the thousands of patients with respiratory problems. Shawn Yuan reports from Baghdad.

Sophie Cousins (2022-05-28). [World Report] Pushing for polio eradication. thelancet.com As polio cases resurge in many parts of the world, an updated strategy to eradicate the disease begins. Sophie Cousins reports.

The Lancet (2022-05-28). [Editorial] A hunger for action. thelancet.com The basic nutritional needs of children are at grave risk. Worldwide, more than 13 ∑6 million children under 5 years have severe acute malnutrition, a serious wasting condition associated with poverty and prolonged insufficient access to food. Severe acute malnutrition weakens children's immunity, resulting in repeated rounds of diarrhoea and other infections, such as measles and malaria, and accounts for a fifth of deaths in this age group. In an alert released on May 17, UNICEF warned that over 10 million of these children do not have access to ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), considered the most effec…

Geert D'Haens, Remo Panaccione, Filip Baert, Peter Bossuyt, Jean-Frederic Colombel, Silvio Danese, Marla Dubinsky, Brian G Feagan, Tadakazu Hisamatsu, Allen Lim, James O Lindsay, Edward V Loftus, Julian Panés, Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet, Zhihua Ran, David T Rubin, William J Sandborn, Stefan Schreiber, Ezequiel Neimark, Alexandra Song, Kristina Kligys, Yinuo Pang, Valerie Pivorunas, Sofie Berg, W Rachel Duan, Bidan Huang, Jasmina Kalabic, Xiaomei Liao, Anne Robinson, Kori Wallace, Marc Ferrante (2022-05-28). [Articles] Risankizumab as induction therapy for Crohn's disease: results from the phase 3 ADVANCE and MOTIVATE induction trials. thelancet.com Risankizumab was effective and well tolerated as induction therapy in patients with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease.

Deepika Bahri (2022-05-28). [Perspectives] Why stories about illness matter. thelancet.com Plagues and contagious epidemics have long inspired writers, Sophocles, Boccaccio, Daniel Defoe, Mary Shelley, Albert Camus, and Orhan Pamuk among them. In the past decades, other diseases have found gifted chroniclers. Oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee's bestselling The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, for instance, won the Pulitzer Prize in 2011. Physicians and medical historians continue to add to the literature on diseases, ranging from anxiety to kidney failure to osteoporosis and more.

Newsnetwork.mayoclinic (2022-05-27). Questions and answers about monkeypox. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org Current concerns The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has indicated a U.S. resident tested positive for monkeypox after returning to the U.S. from Canada. The CDC also is tracking multiple clusters of monkeypox that have been reported in early to mid-May in regions that don't normally report monkeypox, including in Europe and North America. What is monkeypox? Monkeypox is an infection from animals caused by a virus closely related to the smallpox virus. Infection…

Newsnetwork.mayoclinic (2022-05-27). Helping children cope with school shooting: Tips for talking about tragedy. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org As the nation tries to comprehend the shooting at a school in Texas that claimed 21 lives, many are now trying to find ways to have conversations with their children to help them cope. Listening to your child at this time is important, says Dr. Paul Croarkin, a Mayo Clinic child psychiatrist. "Listening provides comfort, stability and safety for children," says Dr. Croarkin. All children have different communication styles. Initially, they may not want to discuss what…

Anonymous103 (2022-05-26). Nightmarish Scenarios Resulting From US And NATO Ukraine-Bound Weapons Reaching Black Markets. southfront.org As Hillary Clinton once admitted, the US and NATO are infamous for leaving weapons and trained terrorists behind without any regard for the possible consequences. | Written by Drago Bosnic, independent geopolitical and military analyst | The United States and the "purely defensive" NATO alliance

Maxyyjones (2022-05-26). Nuland-Pyatt Tape Removed From YouTube After 8 Years. scheerpost.com By Joe Lauria / Consortium News | The smoking gun proving U.S. involvement in the 2014 coup in Kiev has been removed from YouTube after eight years. | The two talk about "midwifing" the unconstitutional change of government and "gluing it together" and of the role then Vice President Joe Biden should play and what meetings to set up with Ukrainian politicians. | The U.S. State Department never denied the authenticity of the video, and even issued an apology to the European Union after Nuland is heard on the tape saying, "Fuck the E.U." Mainstream media at the time focused almost exclusively on that off-color…

Unicorn Riot (2022-05-26). Two Years After George Floyd. unicornriot.ninja

____ (2022-05-25). Sri Lankan SEP holds its Third National Congress. wsws.org SEP congress was held under extraordinary political conditions in Sri Lanka, amid an immense global crisis of capitalism, intensified by the pandemic, the US-NATO proxy war against Russia and the international upsurge of the class struggle.

____ (2022-05-25). Ontario unions hail NDP for putting "working people first"—Who do they think they're kidding? wsws.org The OFL's support for the pro-austerity, pro-war NDP is the political expression of its systematic suppression of the class struggle, imposition of concession-filled contracts and policing of the ruling class' profits-before-lives pandemic policy.

____ (2022-05-25). Persecution continues of UK mum Sarah Paxman for stand against COVID-infested schools. wsws.org Sarah is charged with "failure to ensure regular school attendance" of her son, Stanley. This carries a fine of up to £2, 0 and a possible three-month prison sentence.

____ (2022-05-25). With new COVID-19 outbreak in Latin America, governments let virus rip. wsws.org The policy of letting the virus spread through the region's most populous countries threatens a new devastating wave of deaths in Latin America.

____ (2022-05-25). Australian election: Workers and youth speak out over rising inflation, war dangers and COVID-19. wsws.org "The unity of the working class is a must. There's power in numbers and it's better to be backed up by different people and groups that all want the same thing. That's where we get our real power" — Jorella, a Sydney railway worker.

____ (2022-05-25). Gray report allows UK Prime Minister Johnson to brush off partygate scandal. wsws.org Hostile to any mobilising of the working class that would bring Johnson and his entire government to account for the crime of overseeing almost 200,000 deaths from COVID, Starmer insisted for months that Johnson's removal be organised by "decent, honourable" Tory MPs in a palace coup.

Matt Sedlar (2022-05-24). Spotlight on Working-Class Asian American and Pacific Islander Women in the Workforce. cepr.net Every May the US commemorates and recognizes the role of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in modern society. But this year, the pandemic-fueled surge in anti-Asian violence creates a critical moment to rethink issues like occupational segregation and employment discrimination. | Asians and Pacific Islanders are one of the fastest-growing ethnic and racial groups in the United States. Yet, the role that low-income, less-educated AAPI women play in the US workforce receives relatively little attention. This article puts a spotlight on this vulnerable group and their workplace status as the economy recov…

Kamal Iranidoost (2022-05-24). WHO head praises Iran success in fighting Covid-19. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, May 24 (MNA) — The Director-General of the World Health Organization Dr. Tedros Adhanom has held a meeting with the Iranian health minister in Geneva during which he hailed Iran for the successful containing of the Covid-19 pandemic.

____ (2022-05-23). New Zealand Labour government's budget imposes new burdens on working class. wsws.org While providing nothing to address soaring social inequality, and dismantling COVID protections, the Ardern government is diverting billions of dollars to integrate New Zealand into US war plans against Russia and China.

Juan Cole (2022-05-23). Saudi Arabia Snubs US, Rejects Russia Boycott, as Rumors Fly Biden may meet with the Crown Prince. juancole.com Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) Even as the possibility of a visit to Riyadh by President Joe Biden after his upcoming trip to Israel is being rumored, Saudi Arabia is signalling that it cannot be brought on board with the NATO effort to sanction Russia. Last week the Saudi Minister of Energy, Abdul Aziz bin …

____ (2022-05-23). Death of UK teacher Donna Coleman blamed on "community transmission" despite Burnley College breaching COVID rules. wsws.org Throughout the pandemic, the Health and Safety Executive has enforced not public health procedures, but the government's anti-scientific herd immunity strategy. Even where it has been forced to acknowledge grave breaches of public health measures, it concludes with a cover up.

____ (2022-05-23). The failed COVID-19 pandemic policies: An interview with Arijit Chakravarty of Fractal Therapeutics. wsws.org The CEO of a scientific modeling company speaks to the WSWS about the firm's COVID-19 research.

____ (2022-05-23). Flint, Michigan schoolchildren and educators: poisoned by lead, devastated by COVID. wsws.org The children of Flint, Michigan—the birthplace of General Motors which once boasted the highest per capita income in the US–have been doubly victimized by lead poisoning and Covid. An educator recounts her experiences to the WSWS.

____ (2022-05-23). Notes from Ethiopia: The TPLF Destruction of Afar (Part 4). transcend.org 18 May 2022 – The U.S. backs TPLF war, then when IDPs overwhelm public health capacity, USAID sends help. Measles threatens to sweep IDP camps full of undernourished children. Contradictions of empire.

Binoy Kampmark (2022-05-22). The Great Teal Tsunami: Arise Australia's Independents. dissidentvoice.org Rarely in Australian history has a governing party suffered such loss in the face of an opponent unable to claim complete victory. It said much about the disillusionment, and plain disgust, from that nebulous centre of the country's politics. That centre roared on May 21, consuming sitting government members and inflicting a bloody reckoning. That …

____ (2022-05-22). Canadian educators support Ontario construction workers' strike for wage increases and improved workplace safety. wsws.org While teachers' working conditions may appear quite different from those of building workers, the reality is we face the same problems. These include staggering inflation, no protection from the ongoing and worsening COVID-19 pandemic and increasing health and safety concerns.