(2020-03-20). Stanford Professor Michael McFaul dunks on Khamenei… by puzzling over why Iran doesn't use Gregorian calendar. rt.com 
Ex-ambassador Michael McFaul has taken to Twitter to express astonishment over the start of the Iranian New Year, leading to speculation that he might not know that there are non-Gregorian calendars out there. | The former US envoy to Russia and current Stanford academic found it fitting to mock Iran's supreme leader for commenting on the start of the Iranian (or Persian) New Year, Nowruz. In his tweet, Ali Khamenei had congratulated his country for becoming more self-reliant in the face of US sanctions, but urged for further production boosts in 1399 to help the Islamic Republic recover from Washington's econ…
(2020-03-20). Farnborough Airshow CANCELED due to 'unprecedented' Covid-19 pandemic. rt.com 
The world famous Farnborough International Airshow in England — which gives a platform to the aerospace and military industries — has been forced to cancel this summer's event due to the coronavirus crisis. | Confirming the scrapping of the event via social media on Friday afternoon, organizers said that they understood the news would come as a blow to the international aerospace industry, but the health and safety of attendees came first. It was scheduled for July 20, but will now be pushed back to 2022. | After very careful consideration, the unprecedented impact of the global Coronavirus pandemi…
(2020-03-20). [Correspondence] Nicotine patches with e-cigarettes for smoking cessation: Twitter discussion from a respirology journal club. thelancet.com On Dec 12, 2019, our Twitter-based University of Toronto Respirology and Sleep Journal Club1 discussed Walker and colleagues' pragmatic, randomised, parallel-arm trial designed to look at the effectiveness of combining nicotine patches with an e-cigarette (with and without nicotine) on 6-month smoking abstinence.2 Our discussions highlighted the challenges of studying populations of smokers in general, given the habitual nature of the exposure, challenges related to follow-up, and a need for reliable and valid objective measures of smoking abstinence (appendix).
(2020-03-20). You Have Heard That It Was Said, But I Tweet to You . . . counterpunch.org Donald Trump began his presidential campaign by declaring, "I know more than the generals." That has been his mantra: claiming that he knows more than anyone else about war, law and order, healthcare and other critical issues facing Americans. Then along came the Coronavirus, presenting a grave health threat to the United States and the
(2020-03-20). [Comment] How will country-based mitigation measures influence the course of the COVID-19 epidemic? thelancet.com Governments will not be able to minimise both deaths from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the economic impact of viral spread. Keeping mortality as low as possible will be the highest priority for individuals; hence governments must put in place measures to ameliorate the inevitable economic downturn. In our view, COVID-19 has developed into a pandemic, with small chains of transmission in many countries and large chains resulting in extensive spread in a few countries, such as Italy, Iran, South Korea, and Japan.
(2020-03-20). [Editorial] Challenges of coronavirus disease 2019. thelancet.com Yet again, the world is experiencing a global viral epidemic of zoonotic origin. As of Feb 12, 45‚Äà204 confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and 1116 deaths had been reported in 25 countries. The majority of cases and, at the time of writing, all but one death have been in China, despite efforts in the country to halt transmission through shutting down transport, quarantining entire cities, and enforcing the use of face masks. International flights have been cancelled and affected cruise ships quarantined.
(2020-03-20). [Comment] The burden of viral respiratory infections in young children in low-resource settings. thelancet.com Acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI), encompassing bacterial and viral pneumonias, acute viral bronchiolitis, and bacterial and viral bronchitis, remain the leading cause of global child mortality.1 The thrust of global prevention and treatment efforts has been directed against bacterial causes of ALRI, and deaths from bacterial pneumonia have decreased substantially since 1990 because of improved access to health care and life-saving antibiotics, as well as increased use of vaccines targeted at bacterial respiratory pathogens.
(2020-03-20). [Comment] Recognising the substantial burden of neglected pandemics cystic and alveolar echinococcosis. thelancet.com Cystic echinococcosis and alveolar echinococcosis belong to the diverse group of mainly parasitic, but also bacterial, viral, and fungal diseases currently listed among the neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) for which WHO advocates control.1 As with most NTDs, cystic and alveolar echinococcosis affect rural and marginalised communities without voice, often distant from health-care settings. However, and in contrast to most NTDs, the prevalence of cystic and alveolar echinococcosis extends beyond tropical and subtropical regions to include worldwide pastoral and rural communities of medium-high income countries, i…
(2020-03-20). [Correspondence] Treating Ebola in eastern DRC. thelancet.com Since the onset of the west Africa Ebola virus outbreak, there has been remarkable progress in efforts to provide patients with improved supportive care and access to experimental treatments. It is reasonable to explore the potential therapeutic value of both pathogen-directed antiviral therapies and host-directed therapies (eg, monoclonal antibody combinations). Given unacceptably high mortality rates among patients with Ebola virus disease, treatments shown to be safe and efficacious in clinical trials would be welcomed by clinicians and affected communities.
(2020-03-20). [Spotlight] Coronavirus epidemic: preparing for extracorporeal organ support in intensive care. thelancet.com Zoonotic viral infections are more frequently crossing species to infect human populations. In 2003, the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus was transmitted to humans from exotic animals in wet markets in China, and in 2015, the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) virus was transmitted from camels in Saudi Arabia. In both cases, and with the 2019 coronavirus outbreak in China, the original host of the virus is likely to be bats.
(2020-03-20). [Correspondence] Nicotine patches with e-cigarettes for smoking cessation: Twitter discussion from a respirology journal club — Authors' reply. thelancet.com The Lancet Respiratory Medicine published a letter by Nermin Diab and colleagues (2020)1 about our three-arm trial investigating the effectiveness and safety of nicotine patches combined with e-cigarettes (with and without nicotine) for smoking cessation.2 We wish to address two points made by the authors of the letter.
(2020-03-20). Argentina under lockdown as coronavirus cases surge. yenisafak.com The country will remain under lockdown until at least March 31, President Alberto Fernandez said in a statement posted on Twitter Thursday night."I have just decreed social, preventive and compulsory isolation for the entire population. An exceptional decision at an exceptional moment," Fernandez said.The president stressed the decision was taken because the pandemic spreads rapidly across the world and it is "the most serious health problem.""After listening to the experts, the political forces, and the governors, I decided to: Restrict circulation. Everyone will stay in their own house. No one has to panic," he…
(2020-03-20). Coronavirus-Induced Measures Cause YouTube to Temporarily Axe High Quality Videos in EU. sputniknews.com As countries have started to tighten quarantine measures amid the spread of the novel coronavirus and citizens have been advised to stay home all over Europe, streaming platforms are facing an Internet overload.
(2020-03-19). Trumka praises workers, slams Trump and profiteers on coronavirus pandemic. peoplesworld.org 
(2020-03-19). What about ending endless wars? Tulsi Gabbard drops out of presidential race and backs …Biden. rt.com 
Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has suspended her presidential campaign and endorsed Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden, citing the establishment favorite's primary victories and the coronavirus as her reasons. | Gabbard made the surprise announcement on Thursday in a video posted to her Twitter account, explaining she was dropping out to focus on dealing with the coronavirus epidemic in Hawaii and potentially serving in her National Guard capacity should she be called to action. | The endorsement of Biden came as a particular surprise, given Gabbard's opposition to "regime change wars," a central plank of he…
(2020-03-19). Protests Against the "Bolsonaro Virus" Spread in Brazil. telesurenglish.net For the second day in a row, ultra-right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro was the subject of protests in several Brazilian cities, local media reported Wednesday. | RELATED: | The protests began in the country on Tuesday, after residents of some communities in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, from windows and balconies, shouted and pot-banging for Bolsonaro's resignation. | After the call went viral on Twitter, the protests rea…
(2020-03-19). Socialist countries response to pandemic shows stark contrast to capitalism. fightbacknews.org Minneapolis, MN – As the number of confirmed cases of the viral illness COVID-19 approaches 200,000 worldwide, we can already see how differently issues of public health and human needs are treated in socialist countries vs. capitalist countries. | COVID-19 was first detected in Wuhan, a major city in the People's Republic of China. Local officials took three to four weeks to recognize its significance. Once the threat was clear, the whole of the country and vast resources were mobilized. Everything was shut down to stop the virus in its tracks. People were quarantined at home as new hospitals were constructed, s…
(2020-03-19). Viral Reactions: The Smugness of Celebrity Self-Isolation. dissidentvoice.org The rush to elevate self-isolation to Olympian heights as a way to combat the spread of COVID-19 has gotten to the celebrities. Sports figures are proudly tweeting and taking pictures from hotel rooms (Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton being a case in point). Comics are doing their shows from home. Thespians are extolling the merits …
(2020-03-18). The Sides of Beef: Humans and Meat Eating. dissidentvoice.org 
For the purposes of preserving any status quo in the present day United States, nothing surpasses a strategy of any question or issue 'cultural.' This has the immediate effect of splitting even slight difference of opinion into hostile camps and deliberately provokes absolutist, visceral responses. Such exchanges, particularly in the sewer of social media or …
(2020-03-18). Big Tech Firms are Using Automation to Censor News About the Coronavirus. mintpressnews.com Social media is awash with people angry that their posts have been removed for no legitimate reason. MintPress was no exception, with a story about Cuba's response to the coronavirus flagged and blocked.
(2020-03-18). Facebook hit by software bug which marked coronavirus posts as spam. thecanary.co Facebook has confirmed a bug in its spam filter removed posts incorrectly from the social network, including legitimate news articles about coronavirus. | Multiple users reported receiving alerts from Facebook saying their posts — often news stories from trusted sources about the spread of Covid-19 — had been marked as spam by the site and taken down. | Facebook's Guy Rosen then confirmed on Twitter that the problem was "a bug in an anti-spam system". | He denied suggestions the fault had been caused by Facebook relying more on artificial intelligence and automation for content moderation after it sen…
(2020-03-18). In one tweet, a bestselling author nails exactly the type of bailout we need right now. thecanary.co 
Rutger Bregman wrote the If there was ever a time to give people a basic income — no strings attached —…
(2020-03-17). Meet 17-Year-Old Avi Schiffmann Who Runs Coronavirus Tracking Website Used by 40+ Million Globally. democracynow.org 
A teenager's website tracking coronavirus has become one of the most vital resources for people seeking accurate and updated numbers on the pandemic. The URL is nCoV2019.live. We speak with 17-year-old Avi Schiffmann, a high school junior from Mercer Island outside Seattle, who started the site in late December, when coronavirus had not yet been detected outside of China. Now the site has been visited by tens of millions, from every country on Earth. It tracks deaths, numbers of cases locally and globally, and provides an interactive map, information on the disease, and a Twitter feed. The resource updates every…
(2020-03-17). CNN reporter praises Trump's coronavirus response, immediately clarifies on Twitter before she loses lib credibility. rt.com 
Veteran CNN reporter Dana Bash furiously backpedaled on Twitter after getting praise from conservatives — and heat from 'the Resistance' — for calling President Donald Trump's coronavirus press conference "remarkable." | "He is being the kind of leader that people need, at least in tone, today and yesterday, in tone that people need, and want, and yearn for in times of crisis and uncertainty," Bash, CNN's chief political correspondent, said on-air Tuesday in response to Trump's coronavirus press conference. | She also called Trump "remarkable," an adjective you don't typically hear used on CNN to d…
(2020-03-16). How Cuba is Leading the World in the Fight Against Coronavirus. mintpressnews.com As Cuba sends doctors around the world to help fight coronavirus, a Cuban antiviral drug, Interferon Alpha 2b, is helping countries like China stem the tide of the outbreak.