US blocks UN vote on pandemic resolution over China's 'false narratives'

France and Tunisia forced back to drawing board after Washington signals disapproval

The United States on Friday prevented a vote in the UN Security Council on a resolution on the coronavirus pandemic. AFP

The US on Friday “broke silence” on the Covid-19 resolution at the UN Security Council, criticising China for “trying to advance false narratives” and forcing France and Tunisia to seek an alternative solution.

A Department of State spokesperson said the US had worked with Council members constructively for more than six weeks to attempt to reach an agreement on supporting the Secretary-General's call for a global ceasefire during the coronavirus crisis.

The US blamed China for the failure to secure an agreement on the resolution. “Unfortunately, the PRC has been determined to use this resolution to advance false narratives about its response to the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan,” the spokesperson told The National.

On Friday, tensions between the US and China appeared to be at the forefront of reasons why members could not agree on a resolution.

“The PRC has repeatedly blocked compromises that would have allowed the Council to move forward,” the spokesman said.

Asked what should be changed, the spokesperson said that the Council should either proceed with a resolution limited to support for a ceasefire or a broadened resolution that fully addresses the need for renewed member state commitment to transparency and accountability in the context of Covid-19. “Transparency and reliable data are essential to helping the world combat this ongoing pandemic, and the next one.”

The 15 member body has been grappling with the wording of its response to the pandemic.

The text, which has been under negotiation since March, called for a worldwide cessation of hostilities in conflict zones so governments can tackle outbreaks of the novel coronavirus.

After the US signalled its disapproval earlier on Friday, a UN-based diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The National that France and Tunisia would have to go back to the drawing board to resolve the dispute over the resolution.

“Once this happens, the resolution will be under silence again until the next vote.”

Washington had previously called for the virus to be named “Wuhan Virus” in any statements or documents.

Another issue hampering efforts to pass a resolution on coronavirus was the request of some member states to include lifting sanctions on Sudan and Zimbabwe.

Earlier Friday, before news of the US decision broke, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Covid-19 was resulting in “a tsunami of hate and xenophobia, scapegoating and scaremongering”.


Updated: May 9, 2020 04:07 AM

We are all creatures of God': Sheikh Mahmoud El Tohamy on Sufi music’s message of tolerance

The Egyptian chanter will perform as part of Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation virtual concert series

Sheikh Mahmoud El Tohamy is a master practitioner of Sufi chants. Courtesy Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation

You don't have to pay to be a student of the acclaimed Sufi singer Sheikh Mahmoud El Tohamy.

The only thing you need is some talent and a hefty amount of patience.

It is always the latter where people slip up, El Tohamy tells The National from his home in Cairo, Egypt.

“A lot of the time, there is an expectation to come and learn how to sing these religious songs and then be ready to perform when they graduate,” he says. “That’s not the way I do things; 70 per cent of the actual course [I teach] is dedicated to spiritual exercises. I want them to understand the spiritual states they are singing about.”

It is for this reason that his Madrassat Al Nashad, which translates to chanting school, has been at the forefront of building a new generation of singers who perform devotional songs, also known as nasheeds.

On Saturday, May 9, we are going to see the master at work himself, as El Tohamy, 41, will deliver an online concert for Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation’s Ramadan series.

It promises to be a stirring affair, with the performer singing key devotional tracks taken from Islamic history, such as Al Burdah, written by 13th-century Egyptian poet Imam Al-Busiri, as well as some of his own compositions.
The show follows his sold-out concert in Abu Dhabi in February, which took place at New York University – Abu Dhabi Arts Centre.

El Tohamy says the goal with the virtual concert is more than to simply entertain.

“I have been fortunate to travel and perform in many places to showcase the culture and tolerance of Sufi music,” he says. “And with us being in Ramadan, I am even more keen to show the spiritual beauty of the form. This is something that I am aware of, especially during this blessed period.”

The 'commercialisation' of nasheed music

The balance between faith and art has always been prevalent throughout El Tohamy’s career. His father is renowned nasheed singer Sheikh Yassin El Tohamy, and he received his theological training from Egypt's prestigious Islamic seminary, Al Azhar University.

He credits that experience for providing him with spiritual framework in which to view and build his performance career. It is a journey he hopes will remain immune from the growing fame and celebrity culture surrounding the nasheed industry.

“While I am not worried at all about the state of the music itself, what concerns me is the commercialisation surrounding it,” he says. “I have been seeing a lot of people entering the field and thinking more about the ends than the means. By that I mean they are focusing more on the fame and prestige than the goals of the music.”


It is for this reason that El Tohamy has built a rigorous spiritual syllabus into his music school. You can’t be an effective devotional singer, he states, without excellent character.

“One of the key lessons I give the students is to make them not just memorise the words of a particular nasheed or poem,” he says. “But I want them to live it and feel it. I want them to spend a long time thinking about what these words mean and embody the noble qualities it talks about. That way when they perform, they do it with knowledge and passion.”

When it comes to his own career and spiritual path, El Tohamy says the nasheeds and poems he recites have not only been a source of nourishment, but have also played a key role in building bridges with other cultures.


“It has certainly opened my mind,” he says. “The performances I do are really all about promoting tolerance of each other. The more I travel and see the world, I realise that we are all the same. I don’t treat people based on where they come or who they are. We are all creatures of God and we share a common humanity. It is always from this point that I begin.”

Sheikh Mahmoud El Tohamy performs on Saturday, May 9 at 9.30pm on the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation Facebook page

https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/music/we-are-all-creatures-of-god-sheikh-mahmoud-el-tohamy-on-sufi-music-s-message-of-tolerance-1.1016436

Updated: May 8, 2020 

SEE http://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2006/02/my-favorite-muslim.html

AND HERE IS ONE I FOUND ONLINE
IT'S NICE WHEN YOU CAN HAVE A SING ALONG 

HE HAS HIS OWN YOU TUBE STATION

HE AND HIS STUDENTS AS CHORUS ROCK THE KABBA AT THE KASBAH 

Panic in Tehran as Iran quake kills at least one

About a dozen people injured in rush to leave buildings during 4.6-magnitude tremor

The epicentre of the earthquake in Iran on May 8, 2020 was near Mount Damavand, north-east of Tehran. Reuters

An earthquake near Iran's tallest mountain killed at least one person and jolted the capital Tehran early on Friday, forcing panicked residents to flee buildings.

The shallow 4.6-magnitude quake hit at 12.48am local time near the city of Damavand, about 55 kilometres east of Tehran, the US Geological Survey said.

The quake prompted scores of residents of the capital to leave buildings for the safety of streets and parks.

Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said on Twitter that the tremor claimed the life of one person and injured seven.

Mr Jahanpour called on people to "keep calm" and follow safety guidelines.


Iran's semi-official Fars news agency said two people died "because of trauma and heart attack", while 13 were injured as they rushed to leave buildings.

The agency said the quake was preceded by a 2.9 tremor more than an hour earlier and was felt in the northern provinces of Mazandarn, Qazvin, Zanjan and Alborz.

The Geophysics Institute of Tehran University registered at least eight aftershocks, it said.

The USGS said on its website that the quake struck at a depth of 10km.

Its epicentre was south of Mt Damavand, a volcanic mountain which at 5,671 metres is Iran's tallest peak.

Iran sits on top of major tectonic plates and experiences frequent seismic activity.

A 5.7 magnitude earthquake that rattled the western village of Habash-e Olya on February 23 killed at least nine people over the border in Turkey.

In November 2017, a 7.3-magnitude quake in Iran's western province of Kermanshah killed 620 people.

In 2003, a 6.6-magnitude quake in south-eastern Iran destroyed the ancient mud-brick city of Bam and killed at least 31,000 people.

Iran's deadliest was a 7.4-magnitude quake in 1990 that killed 40,000 people in northern Iran, injured 300,000 and left half a million homeless.

In December and January, two earthquakes struck near Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant.

Neighbouring countries have raised concerns about the reliability of the country's sole nuclear power facility, which produces 1,000 megawatts of power, and the risk of radioactive leaks in case of a major earthquake.


Updated: May 8, 2020


Casualties reported after 5.1 earthquake hits Iran

Two people died in capital Tehran while 22 others are injured, according to state media.


Two people have died and 22 others were injured as they fled their homes in a panic following a magnitude 5.1 earthquake that hit northern Iran early on Friday (20:18 GMT on Thursday), according to state media.

Among the dead were a 21-year-old woman in Tehran who suffered heart failure, and a 60-year-old man in the city of Damavand, east of the capital, killed by a head injury, officials said.

More:

Deadly magnitude 5.9 earthquake hits northwestern Iran

Several dead in Turkey after earthquake hits Iran border area

6.3-magnitude earthquake hits western Iran

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the epicentre of the earthquake was at Damavand, just northeast of the capital, at the depth of 10km (6.2 miles).

One resident in the Iranian capital told Al Jazeera that the shaking of the ground felt "very strong".


#Tehran #Earthquake photos of people waiting in the street in the early hours by IRNA. May 8 (Thr time) #زلزله_تهران #زلزله#Iran pic.twitter.com/mVS15DCLzC— Living in Tehran (@LivinginTehran) May 7, 2020

Images posted on social media showed people huddled in the streets of Tehran in the middle of the night, as they tried to escape from the quake.

People are coming out into the streets after a 5.1 richter earthquake just hit near Tehran. Aftershocks are possible. An official in #Iran’s National Crisis Org has told people to maintain social distancing as they get out of their homes. pic.twitter.com/5E0oYc9MfJ— Sina Toossi (@SinaToossi) May 7, 2020

There were several mild aftershocks, but no serious damage from the quake that struck after midnight on the border of the provinces of Tehran and Mazandaran, authorities said.

Boulders were also seen blocking the roadway leading to the mountainous Damavand area.

Many people in Tehran have left their homes out of fear of possible aftershocks.

Officials urged people who spent the night outdoors to observe social distancing to limit spread of the coronavirus that has killed nearly 6,500 and infected more than 103,000 in Iran.

They assured the public there was no shortage of petrol as people rushed to gas stations to fill up after the quake.

Iran is one of the most seismically active countries in the world, where earthquakes occur often and are destructive.


SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

COVID-19 destroys US livelihoods

More than 30 million people have filed for unemployment relief in the United States since March

by John Hendren  5/8/2020

Coronavirus is not only taking a toll on health, but also livelihoods.

More than 30 million people have filed for unemployment relief in the United States since March.

Behind every one of those grim unemployment statistics is a story of personal loss.

Al Jazeera's John Hendren spoke with a woman from Chicago who was working two jobs to make ends meet until the pandemic struck.

Kashmir clashes continue for third day over killing of top rebel

At least one killed and 50 others injured, some allegedly hit by pellets in eyes, in clashes over Riyaz Naikoo's death.

#FREEKASHMIR  

#KASHMIR IS #INDIA 'S #GAZA

5/8/2020

Indian forces killed a top rebel commander on Wednesday and shut down mobile phone and internet services in the region [Dar Yasin/AP]

MORE ON KASHMIRStarmer changes Corbyn's Kashmir stand as he woos British Indians 2 days agoAP's Kashmir photographers win Pulitzer for lockdown coverage  4 days agoKashmir: 5 security forces and 2 rebels killed in a gun battle  5 days agoQuiet and desolate Ramadan in Kashmir amid back-to-back lockdowns  last week

Anti-India protests and clashes have continued for a third day on Friday in Indian-administered Kashmir following the killing of a top rebel leader by government forces.

The Hizbul Mujahideen group's commander Riyaz Naikoo and three other rebels were killed in a gunfight with Indian troops on Wednesday in southern Kashmir's Pulwama district, leading to massive clashes in several places.

Naikoo, 35, was the chief of operations of Hizbul Mujahideen, the disputed region's largest rebel group, which has spearheaded an armed rebellion against the Indian rule.

More:
Indian troops kill top Kashmir rebel commander Riyaz Naikoo
AP's Kashmir photographers win Pulitzer for lockdown coverage
Starmer changes Corbyn's Kashmir stand as he woos British Indians

The clashes continued on Friday as anti-India protesters threw stones at the government forces, who fired shotgun pellets and tear gas to quell the spiralling protests.

At least one man has been killed and 50 others injured in the three days of clashes, residents and medics said. Most of the injured were treated locally.
Medic: People hit with pellets in eyes

However, at least a dozen people with bullet and pellet injuries were taken to a hospital in Srinagar, the region's main city, for treatment, a doctor said on condition of anonymity because medics have been barred from briefing the news media.

She said most of the injured had been hit by pellet guns in one or both eyes.

Residents said government forces swooped into Naikoo's native village on Thursday and accused them of vandalising a tent that villagers had set up for mourning his death, triggering large protests and clashes.

Authorities did not hand over the bodies of the slain rebels to their families under a new government policy designed to thwart large-scale funerals that have become a rallying point for anti-India protests.

Instead, police buried the bodies in a mountainous graveyard about 100km (62 miles) from the village.

Authorities have shut down mobile phone and internet services since Wednesday, a common Indian tactic in the region when such protests erupt.

They also imposed a near-total information blackout and refused to brief media about the situation.

Hindu-majority India imposed similar measures in 2019 when it revoked the predominantly Muslim region's semi-autonomous status and statehood and imposed direct federal rule.

At that time, it launched a months-long total communication blackout and an unprecedented military crackdown in the strife-torn region.


Release of Kashmiri prisoners urged amid virus outbreak

Indian security officials and some members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party called Naikoo's death a major victory against the rebels.

He was Hizbul Mujahideen's top commander for almost eight years and shot into prominence during a 2016 public uprising following the killing of the group's charismatic leader, Burhan Wani.

After Wani's death, Naikoo helped give new life to the rebellion in Indian-administered Kashmir, with security officials saying he was the most wanted Kashmiri rebel.

India has stepped up its counterinsurgency operations across the region in recent months during the coronavirus lockdown.

The rebels have also continued their attacks on the government forces and alleged informants.

India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the region in its entirety.

Rebels have been fighting Indian control since 1989. About 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown.

Most Kashmiris deeply resent Indian rule and support the rebels' call for the territory to be united, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

Workers in Iowa meat industry fear returning to processing plants

Outbreak at pork plant leads to more than 1,600 cases and 20 deaths as Trump orders meatpackers to restart production.

by William Roberts

Medical workers test a local resident at a drive-through COVID-19 testing site in Waterloo, Iowa, the United States [Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo]

Quia Campbell is a hairstylist and mother of five with family members who got sick with COVID-19 while working at a massive pork slaughterhouse in Waterloo, Iowa.

After her father came home sick from work at the Tyson Fresh Meats plant in early April, Campbell became alarmed.

Management at the plant - in the Midwest region of the United States - was not acting on workers' concerns about spreading the coronavirus in close-quarter conditions at the plant, labour advocates said.

"I was devastated because he has 14 grandkids that he's around. We were panicking like, 'Are our kids going to get sick? What is going on?'" Campbell, 31, said.

Campbell and her friends launched a social media campaign and organised a protest urging the shutdown of the plant. After weeks of rising community pressure, the Tyson plant suspended operations on April 22. More than 1,000 of its nearly 3,000 workers tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and the infection has spread to the wider community and caused 20 deaths, according to local authorities.

Now, in a major test of President Donald Trump's push to reopen the US economy, the Tyson plant in Waterloo is reopening even as COVID-19 case numbers continue to rise locally and nationwide. Workers and their families are fearful.

"A lot of people are on edge," Campbell told Al Jazeera.

Trump used a wartime law on April 28 to direct meatpacking plants nationwide to continue operating during the pandemic to avert food shortages. More than 170 meat and poultry processing plants nationwide have reported COVID-19 outbreaks, according to the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting.

Before the coronavirus forced its shutdown, the Tyson plant in Waterloo slaughtered 19,500 hogs a day, producing 3.9 percent of the US pork supply. Farmers were forced to destroy their animals when the plant stopped running.

US President Donald Trump meeting with Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC [Tom Brenner/Reuters] [Reuters]

On Wednesday, Iowa's Republican Governor Kim Reynolds joined the president at the White House to tout Iowa's progress in reopening meatpacking plants. Employees must get tested for the coronavirus before returning to work and are required to wear face masks and stay six feet apart, she noted.

"We are providing them the confidence of a safe environment, but at the same time we're making sure that food supply chain is moving and that the country is being fed," Reynolds told reporters at the White House.

But local officials see a bigger problem. With the virus spreading in communities, the state is not providing adequate testing and is not fully counting data on new cases, they say. Further, without monitoring and enforcement, reopening of the meatpacking plants is seen as an experiment in social distancing.

"It is irresponsible to downplay what is happening," said Ras Smith, who represents Waterloo in the Iowa state legislature.

"We are seeing outbreaks all over the state," Smith told Al Jazeera.

The Tyson pork processing plant, temporarily closed due to an outbreak of the coronavirus disease in Waterloo, Iowa [Brenna Norman/Reuters] [Reuters]

Major meatpacking plants in the Iowa cities of Columbus Junction, Tama, Estherville, Perry and West Liberty were forced to close last month because of the coronavirus. A pet food plant in Independence also has had cases, according to workers.

"Governor Reynolds is out of touch with the people of Iowa," Smith said.

Straddling a tributary of the Mississippi River flowing through the agricultural heart of the Midwest, Waterloo is a diverse city of 68,000 people. Nearly everyone in town knows someone who works at the local meatpacking plant. Most of the workers are people of colour or immigrants. Many are undocumented.

"I was enraged. I was incensed," said Tony Thompson, the sheriff of Black Hawk County after he visited the Tyson plant in early April.

Seeing conditions at the plant, "I knew they had just blown a hole out of the front-line of defence in our community," Thompson told Al Jazeera.

Thompson was one of 20 local officials who signed a letter to Tyson in mid-April asking the plant to shut down.

Now, most of the 1,600 confirmed cases in the Waterloo area can be traced to the plant, said the sheriff. And while Tyson has done an "impressive" job fitting the plant with dividers to separate employees on the processing line, "that in no way alleviates" the damage already done, he said.

Tyson invited workers to tour the newly outfitted plant on Wednesday and distributed a video illustrating the new social-distancing measures and health-monitoring procedures.



"We have been speaking with a lot of different workers," said Nilvia Reyes Rodriguez, a community organiser with the League of United Latin American Citizens Local 370 in Waterloo.

"With the reopening happening, there are concerns as to whether truly all of the measures can be implemented," Rodriguez told Al Jazeera.

"The way the production is currently run, they just feel that it is going to be hard to implement safety measures," she said.

Working conditions in the US meatpacking industry are difficult and dangerous. The killing floor where animals are executed before being processed is a brutal scene. Processing lines involve rapid, repetitive cutting motions that can lead to injuries. All of it takes place in a cold, refrigerated atmosphere.

The work pays low wages and is more often done by immigrants and minorities. As a result, workers' rights to safe working conditions are not well protected, and their latitude to speak up without being threatened is compromised, labour advocates said.


Coronavirus: US meat processing plants forced to close (2:02)

In Waterloo - where many of the meatpacking workers are Congolese immigrants and Burmese refugees - some feel their lives are being put at risk to keep up the national pork supply.

"A lot of people think that is still a tad bit too soon in light of what we think we know. The cases are still going up. We haven't even flatlined yet," said Abraham Funchess, director of the Waterloo Commission on Human Rights, which has opened an inquiry into what's happening at the Tyson plant.

"They are very reluctant about wanting to go back in because they realise they are risking their lives," Funchess said.

Trump is betting his re-election prospects in November on how the contest between the virus and reopening the economy in places like Iowa works out. In states like Iowa, control of the US Senate is in play.

Republican Joni Ernst, who has been quiet about the meatpacking issues in Iowa, is among several US senators who face difficult re-elections.

Despite the upbeat messages from Trump and Governor Reynolds, local officials said the state of Iowa is not putting in place the testing and monitoring measures needed to stop the pandemic.

Jonathan Grieder is a member of the Waterloo City Council and a high school teacher. He knows former students whose parents have died from COVID-19.

"It is very clear that essential workers - who are often paid very little, who are often from communities at risk, economically, politically and socially - are so essential but we are so willing to exploit them because it is bothersome for the rest of us with privilege to deal with this issue," Grieder told Al Jazeera.

"This has been an abject failure," he said.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

SEE  https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=CARGILL https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=BEEF https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=MEAT+PACKING https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=COVID19 https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=JBS https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=ALBERTA https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=NFU https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=GROCERY

Trump: 'Rogue group' behind plot to overthrow Venezuela president

Venezuelan prosecutor requests extradition of US military veteran and two Venezuelans accused of involvement in plot.

Personal documents are shown by Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro (not pictured) a day after Venezuela's government said it foiled an attempted incursion by 'terrorist mercenaries' from Colombia [File: Miraflores Palace/Handout via Reuters]

MORE ON VENEZUELA
Report: Venezuela opposition plotted Maduro overthrow  yesterday
Venezuela broadcasts video of captured US mercenary  2 days ago
Pompeo: No US gov't involvement in Venezuela overthrow plot  2 days ago
Venezuela 'failed coup plot': What we know so far  2 days ago


President Donald Trump on Friday reiterated that the United States government was not behind a bungled incursion into Venezuela this week, allegedly to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro, saying in a Fox News channel interview that he would not rely on a small group for such an operation.

"I know nothing about it. I think the government has nothing to do with it at all, and I have to find out what happened," Trump said. "If we ever did anything with Venezuela, it wouldn't be that way. It would be slightly different. It would be called an invasion."
More:

Venezuela says eight killed in foiled 'invasion by sea'

US indicts Venezuela's Maduro on 'narco-terrorism' charges

Opposition leader Guaido returns to Venezuela after tour

Trump said the incursion "was not a good attack," carried out by a "rogue group" that included Venezuelans and "people from other countries".

"I saw the pictures on a beach. It wasn't led by General George Washington, obviously," he said, referring to the first US president, often considered a military genius.

A former US soldier captured in Venezuela has said he was contracted by a Florida security firm to seize control of Caracas's airport and bring in a plane to fly Maduro to the US. According to a document published by the Washington Post on Thursday, members of the country's opposition parties negotiated a $213m deal with the company, Silvercorp USA, to invade the country and overthrow Maduro.


Report: Venezuela opposition plotted Maduro overthrow (2:53)

Venezuela's chief prosecutor Tarek Saab said on Friday his office had requested detention and extradition orders of US military veteran Jordan Goudreau and two Venezuelans accused of involvement.

Saab accused Goudreau and the two opposition Venezuelan politicians, Miami-based political strategist Juan Rendon and exiled legislator Sergio Vergara, of being involved in the "design, financing and execution" of the plan to invade and overthrow Maduro.

Goudreau, chief executive of the Florida-based security company Silvercorp USA, has claimed responsibility for the plan, which left eight people dead and more than a dozen in custody, including two US citizens accompanying the dissident Venezuelan security forces.

Rendon has said that while he negotiated an agreement with Silvercorp late last year, he cut ties with Goudreau in November and that Goudreau went forward with the failed operation on his own. Vergara did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

#KAKISTOCRACY

The US was sick long before coronavirus
Trump putting his utterly unqualified son-in-law in charge of US's response to the pandemic should not surprise anyone.

by Belen Fernandez 7 May 2020

President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner attends a coronavirus response meeting in the Oval Office at the White House, on April 30, 2020 [File: Carlos Barria/Reuters]

At the end of March, as coronavirus deaths in the United States began to spiral out of control, President Donald Trump broadcast some important news on Twitter.

Displaying his signature pathological attachment to unnecessary capitalisation, the president boasted that - according to the New York Times - the "Ratings" of his "News Conferences etc" were so off the charts as to rival "Monday Night Football" and the finale of "The Bachelor".

Granted, car accidents also get a lot of views - which does not mean they are good.

As if things were not bad enough, Trump's coronavirus performance quickly became an even more horrifying spectacle with the ascension of Jared Kushner - first son-in-law and preferred presidential adviser - to the position of de facto commander of the US response to the pandemic.

And how are Kushner's own "ratings"? Well, at least he is keeping viewers on their toes.
'Shadow' taskforce

After initially reportedly assuring Trump that coronavirus was no big deal, Kushner was naturally deemed to be the best person to attend to the ensuing disaster - despite his own role in fuelling it and his utter lack of qualifications in any relevant field. (Judging from Kushner's numerous other assignments resolving everything from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the opioid crisis, "qualifications" are perhaps no longer a thing.)

He is now heading up a "shadow" coronavirus taskforce, not to be confused with the official coronavirus taskforce headed by Vice President Mike Pence. Kushner's force involves his own former roommate - current US foreign investment tsar Adam Boehler - as well as a bevy of private-sector executives.

By all lucid accounts, the Kushner group's manoeuvrings have simply bumped an already chaotic government response up to obscene new levels of confusion.

Kushner is furthermore "essentially operating without accountability", as Jordan Libowitz - communications director for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington - pointed out in an April 6 article for NBC News. The shadow taskforce is being run "off the books, with closed-door meetings and private email accounts" - which, Libowitz suggests, could potentially be a good way to "steer emergency government funds into your family's bank account without people finding out".

After all, there is no better time than a global pandemic to make the rich richer.
Kushner will 'get us all killed'

Kushner's latest enterprise has prompted news headlines like: "Lawmakers Want to Know: WTF Is Jared Kushner Doing?" As for his known activities, these include scoffing at New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's claim of a ventilator shortage (New York now has almost 20,000 coronavirus deaths) and throwing a hissy fit over the outrageous presumption by individual US states that they might somehow be entitled to access the national stockpile of medical equipment.

In a super-sketchy sequence of events, a health insurance company linked to Kushner and his brother was tasked with developing a coronavirus website for the US government - before the project was "mysteriously scrapped".

As it so happens, the Kushner family real estate business could also "be a prime beneficiary of a provision in the federal [coronavirus] recovery bill that allows owners of apartment buildings to freeze federal mortgage payments on low- and moderate-income properties", according to a Politico analysis.

In the midst of Kushner's coronavirus machinations, even the New York Times felt compelled to run an op-ed titled "Jared Kushner Is Going to Get Us All Killed" (though the heading was later toned down).

But while this concern is certainly valid, we should not forget that the US has been in the business of killing people for a long time - and that the prioritisation of profit over human life far predates the existence of Kushner, as transparently repugnant a figure as he may be.
All sorts of death sentences

Beyond the matter of the US's predilection for waging wars that have slaughtered unthinkable numbers of people across the globe, it is worth recalling that the US military is also one of the primary polluters on the planet - and as such has made significant contributions to climate change, which was what was getting us all killed before the coronavirus interlude.

Meanwhile, the fact that the US throws gargantuan sums of money at its military killing machine rather than at, you know, domestic healthcare programmes or other more helpful endeavours is itself effectively a death sentence for many Americans.

It is also how we end up with US nurses wearing rubbish bags to protect themselves from coronavirus - and the news that uninsured Americans could be slammed with $75,000 in medical fees if hospitalised for the disease.

Of course, poverty - another defining feature of the landscape in one of the world's "richest" countries - has long been proved to be deadly. And sure enough, coronavirus has hit low-income communities the hardest. "Above all," a Bloomberg editorial notes, "it disproportionately kills black people."

Over at the Wall Street Journal, a short dispatch on "coronavirus capitalism" and its "darker side" laments that, in March, a two-pack of Purell hand sanitiser was listed on Amazon for $99.95. The author concludes that, while epidemics may come and go, "human nature, unfortunately, stays the same" - a rather sweepingly inaccurate assessment given that the history of the world shows plenty of good examples of non-capitalist human populations.

But in the US, capitalism is not just dark; it is a veritable plague.
Underlying conditions

Although Trump and his co-star Kushner are certainly committed as can be to the darkest sides of capitalism - eg, a willingness to throw countless Americans onto the coronavirus pyre to save the economy - it turns out they are not even that good at managing the system to effect their nefarious ends.

In a recent email to me, evolutionary biologist Rob Wallace, author of Big Farms Make Big Flu, remarked that, while bourgeois political economy dictates that the state "act as capital's handmaiden", Trump & Co are dropping the ball: "A family who has had every underwear picked up by ill-paid staff can't even envision what's involved in servicing the logistics and infrastructure capital needs to accumulate from one side of the world to the other."

American power, he wrote, is "on the hook for cleaning up pandemics" that capital helps to create, thereby keeping the world on the same catastrophic developmental path. But as it currently stands, we are down to Jared Kushner, who, "reading a couple articles, is cleaning up the COVID fix with what is tantamount to mass murder."

Ultimately, though, Kushner's pathologies could be diagnosed as symptomatic of the US's underlying conditions. Long before coronavirus, the country was critically ill.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Belen Fernandez is a contributing editor at Jacobin Magazine.

In Pictures: 'Full-flower supermoon' amid coronavirus lockdowns

May's full moon occurred over a world beginning to re-emerge after weeks of lockdowns.


This picture shows the closest supermoon to the Earth behind the cross on a church in downtown Moscow. KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP


The last "supermoon" of 2020 rose in the night sky on Thursday over a world beginning to re-emerge after weeks of coronavirus-related lockdowns.

The supermoon phenomenon occurs when the moon is within 10 percent of its closest distance to the Earth at the full moon.

May's full moon - at the height of the Northern Hemisphere spring - is also called a "flower moon" - hence Thursday's "full-flower supermoon".

The year's two previous supermoons occurred in March and April.

Clouds over much of Europe and Asia obscured views of the moon, which appears slightly larger than usual - and the streets remained relatively quiet, with many countries still imposing coronavirus-related restrictions.

But from Hong Kong to Jerusalem to Caracas, some locals donned masks and ventured out to take photos of the celestial spectacle.



The full moon rises above the Camlica Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey UMIT BEKTAS/REUTERS

The full moon, also known as the supermoon or Flower Moon, rises above the Statue of Liberty. BRENDAN MCDERMID/REUTERS

The Flower Supermoon rises over Curitiba, Brazil. The supermoon is visible as the full moon coincides with the satellite in its closest approach to Earth, which makes it appear brighter and larger than other full moons. DANIEL CASTELLANO/AFP

Silhouettes of media members and people document the full moon over Primrose Hill, London, Britain HANNAH MCKAY/REUTERS

The full moon is seen next to Tower Bridge, London, Britain SIMON DAWSON/REUTERS

The full moon rises over a mosque minaret on the 14th day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Amman, Jordan MUHAMMAD HAMED/REUTERS

A bird flies past the full moon as it is seen behind the Lomonosov Moscow State University in Moscow, Russia SHAMIL ZHUMATOV/REUTERS

A supermoon rises over Mow Cop Castle near Stoke-on-Trent, central England 

OLI SCARFF/AFP

Outrage as UK officer seen tasering Black father in front of son
Incident, which is being shared online, prompts accusations police officer in Manchester used disproportionate force.

NOT JUST THE USA WHITE SUPREMACY WAS SPREAD BY THE EMPIRE

In the footage, a Greater Manchester Police officer is seen using a taser on Desmond Ziggy Mombeyarara in front of Mombeyarara's young son [Courtesy: Twitter user @essmurph]

London, United Kingdom - A UK policeman who tasered a father in front of his young child is facing accusations of using excessive force unnecessarily after the moment was caught on video and shared widely on social media.

In the video, two policemen can be seen at a petrol station in Manchester, northern England, arguing with the driver, 34-year-old Desmond Ziggy Mombeyarara, outside a police car as his son stands by his legs, distressed and shouting "Daddy!".
More:

UK police accused of abusing power to enforce COVID-19 lockdown

'Many black communities have poor experiences at hands of police'

London protests erupt over death of Rashan Charles

One of the officers releases the taser on Mombeyarara, who is Black.

The taser makes a bang and Mombeyarara falls to the ground.

His son shouts "daddy!" again, cries and stamps his feet in a traumatised manner.

The officer who fired the taser orders Mombeyarara to "put your hands behind your back, now!", but he appears unable to do so.

The other officer then picks the crying child up and takes him away.

Tasers disable people by firing an electric charge into their bodies through needle-tipped darts.

According to the College of Policing, a professional body for policing in the UK, the usual reaction of someone who has been tasered "is loss of some voluntary muscle control accompanied by involuntary muscle contractions".

During the discharge, the subject may "not be able to respond to verbal commands during the discharge" or could "freeze on the spot".


This just happened a few hours ago @gmpolice pic.twitter.com/0sIwn3NrHI— Yaa🇬🇭 (@essmurph) May 7, 2020

In a statement on Friday, Greater Manchester Police said the incident took place on Wednesday before 11pm, local time.

"Police officers observed a vehicle being driven unsafely at high speed on Chester Road, in Stretford," said the statement, adding they stopped Mombeyarara and arrested him.

Mombeyarara was charged with resisting arrest, speeding, not having car insurance, failing to stop when required, refusing a test and being unfit to drive through drink.

He was also charged with "one count of unnecessary travel", which refers to violating current coronavirus lockdown measures in the UK, under which only essential travel is allowed.

He was remanded in custody and appeared before Manchester Magistrates' Court on Friday.

According to Manchester Evening News, Mombeyarara pleaded guilty to several charges, but denied guilt in obstructing or resisting a constable in the execution of duty.

A hearing was adjourned until July 31, Mombeyarara was granted unconditional bail and an interim driving disqualification was imposed.

"We have voluntarily referred this matter to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), to ensure transparency and independence in terms of reviewing the circumstances of the arrest," said Greater Manchester Police.

Superintendent Mark Kenny said: "We are aware of public concern regarding this arrest and I want to reassure the public that this matter is being reviewed and treated seriously. In addition, we have voluntarily referred this matter to the IOPC."

The IOPC is a police watchdog, sponsored by the UK Home Office.

Andy Burnham, Manchester mayor and a politician with the opposition Labour Party, said: "I was concerned about what I saw ... It is not at all clear that the level of force used in this instance, particularly in front of a child, was proportionate or justified and that is why I have asked for an urgent and independent review to be carried out."

He added, however: "From what I have been told, it would appear that the officers were right to apprehend the individual who was putting his child and others at risk by his actions."
'Tasers should be last, not first resort'

Deborah Coles, head of Inquest, a UK charity providing expertise on state-related deaths, wrote on Twitter that she had "serious questions".

Greater Manchester Police "must answer as to why a taser was discharged in a petrol station and with a young child present. Tasers should be a last not first resort. Reinforces concerns about disproportionate use of force against black people".

Aamer Anwar, a Scottish-based lawyer, tweeted: "Force used must be reasonable, legitimate & proportionate - using a taser at a petrol pump, do they not realise the deadly danger of using it near flammable material? Doing it right in front of the man’s toddler? A lot of questions."

Twitter user Michael Morgan said: "This taser incident is yet another example of institutionally racist policing and disproportionate use of force."

Example, a British musician, said: "This is disgraceful. There'll be so many people saying 'why didn’t he cooperate?' But how can two male police officers not deal with this WITHOUT a taser !!?? And the poor kid. Scarred for life. The cycle continues."


SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS