Prominent Iranian nuclear scientist killed in ambush attack, bringing threats of revenge

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ISTANBUL — One of Iran’s most prominent and well-guarded nuclear scientists was killed Friday in a daytime ambush on a rural road outside Tehran, an attack Iran’s foreign minister blamed on Israel and that sharply raised regional tensions in the closing weeks of the Trump administration.

The scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was seen as a driving force behind Tehran’s disbanded effort to build a nuclear weapon nearly two decades ago. His role in Iran’s current programs — reactors and uranium enrichment — was less direct and analysts said the killing would likely have a limited impact on Tehran’s nuclear capabilities.

It also underscored one of the many challenges ahead for the Biden administration as it looks to reset U.S. policies toward Iran after President Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign. Continue reading.

‘Deplorable’: Trump condemned as US buys up nearly entire supply of COVID-19 drug

AlterNet logoMost of the world will not be able to make use of a modestly effective Covid-19 treatment for at least the next three months because the Trump administration this week bought up nearly the entire supply of the drug, a move critics said exposes the potentially deadly consequences of the U.S. president’s so-called “America First” approach in the context of a pandemic that has swept the globe.

The Trump administration’s decision to purchase almost all of California-based Gilead Sciences’ projected stock of remdesivir through September was also viewed by observers as a glaring example of the “dysfunctional character” of a patent system that gives pharmaceutical giants decades of monopoly control over a drug that could save lives in the near-term.

“This is what happens when the world relies on a broken system driven by greed and profit during a pandemic,” tweeted U.K.-based advocacy group Global Justice Now, which is urging governments to override Gilead’s patent through compulsory licensing. Continue reading.

Trump’s Food Aid Program Swindles Hard-Hit Northeast States

President Donald Trump’s signature food aid program is sending less relief to New York and New England than other parts of the country, even though the Northeast has the most coronavirus cases. Some states — Maine and Alaska at least — have been left out completely so far.

The regional imbalances are an unintended side effect of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s strategy in hiring private contractors to distribute food, the agency said. It is now looking for ways to reach areas that were passed over.

“USDA is evaluating how we might expand access to the program in areas that are underserved,” the agency said in a statement. Continue reading.

Senate Foreign Relations advances controversial Trump nominee in party-line vote

Panel approves conservative under investigation to lead agency overseeing Voice of America

CORRECTED, May 22 | The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a party-line 12-10 vote Thursday, advanced the nomination of Michael Pack to lead the government’s international broadcasting operations after an exceptionally heated exchange between the panel’s Republicans and Democrats about breaking committee tradition by moving forward with a nominee who is under an active criminal investigation.

President Donald Trump has made confirming Pack, who was first nominated nearly two years ago to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media, a priority. Trump is seen as especially wanting an ally in place to make editorial changes at Voice of America, whose coverage of China’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic he has criticized.

The vote came after the committee agreed to move into a closed session for roughly 20 minutes to discuss Democrats’ concerns with the nominee. Last week, the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia disclosed to ranking member Bob Menendez of New Jersey that it was actively investigating Pack for alleged self-dealing and self-enrichment. Continue reading.

How Betsy DeVos and the charter school movement are exploiting the pandemic to advance their agendas

AlterNet logoCOVID-19 has shuttered public schools across the nation, state governments are threatening to slash education budgets due to the economic collapse caused by the outbreak, and emergency aid provided by the federal government is far short of what is needed, according to a broad coalition of education groups, but the charter school industry may benefit from its unique status to seek public funding from multiple sources and expand these schools into many more communities traumatized by the pandemic and financial fallout.

As school districts reported huge problems with converting classroom learning into online instruction delivered to students’ homes, often due to lack of funding for internet-capable devices and Wi-Fi hotspots, charter school proponents spread the news of how their industry could take advantage of emergency aid.

Charter operators rolled out new marketing campaigns to lure families to enroll in their schools. And in national and local news outlets, advocates for charters, vouchers, and other forms of “school choice” helped forge a new media narrative about how the shuttering of the nation’s schools was an opportunity for parents and their children to leave public schools. Continue reading.

Trump’s ambitious infrastructure vision faces Senate GOP roadblock

The Hill logoPresident Trump faces a clash with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell(R-Ky.) and other Senate Republicans over the president’s desire for a $2 trillion infrastructure spending bill, something he promised during his 2016 campaign.

McConnell has criticized Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for proposing a big infrastructure package, saying she wants “to practice what [former Obama White House chief of staff] Rahm Emanuel famously said after the financial crisis in 2008: ‘Never let a crisis go to waste.’ ”

“In other words, seize upon crisis to try to makes systemic or policy changes you couldn’t otherwise pass,” McConnell told “The Guy Benson Show” on Tuesday. Continue reading.

How ‘conservatism’ could kill us all

AlterNet logoNothing confirms the human need for strong, honest and competent government like a looming pandemic. The possibility that thousands, or even millions, could die from a randomly transmitted virus reminds us of our species’ vulnerability — and why society cannot exist without institutions that can protect us from such staggering existential threats.

Only government can impose quarantines and precautions when necessary. Only government can trace contacts, control transportation and monitor communities. Only government can ensure that drugs, medical devices and care will be adequately distributed — and that sufficient resources will be directed toward production of a vaccine as soon as possible, without regard to profit.

At a moment like this, it suddenly becomes clear that every problem — indeed, the most pressing problems — cannot and will not be solved by “the private sector.” If that seems blazingly obvious, please inform the Republicans who constantly tell us they want to “shrink government down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.” Facing a potential catastrophe, those old jeers from the right sound utterly mindless. Continue reading.

Nation Troubled By Incoherent White House Response To Coronavirus

The Trump administration has offered myriad responses in the face of a growing global virus outbreak that has left thousands dead and at least 80,000 infected worldwide, even as health experts warn the United States may be in danger.

Donald Trump claimed on Wednesday that the country was in “great shape” just one day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned COVID-19, the disease caused by a strain coronavirus that officials say originated in China, could spread across the nation.

“Low Ratings Fake News MSDNC [sic] (Comcast) & @CNN are doing everything possible to make the Caronavirus [sic] look as bad as possible, including panicking markets, if possible. Likewise their incompetent Do Nothing Democrat comrades are all talk, no action. USA in great shape!” he tweeted Wednesday morning. Continue reading.

Trump administration restricts travel from Nigeria and five other countries

The Hill logoThe Trump administration announced Friday it will restrict the ability of immigrants to travel to the United States from six countries, including Nigeria.

The government will curb the ability of citizens of Nigeria, Myanmar, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Sudan and Tanzania to get certain immigration visas, according to officials with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and State Department, but it is not a blanket travel ban.

“Because we have higher confidence that these six countries will be able to make improvements in their system in a reasonable period of time, we did not feel it would be proportionate to impose restrictions on all immigrant and non-immigration visas,” a DHS official said. Continue reading.