Coronavirus: Yuval Noah Harari, Philosopher and Historian, on the Legacy of Covid-19 – BBC HARDtalk

The coronavirus pandemic has presented humanity with an almighty shock. Our evermore interconnected and technologically advanced societies are now in lockdown and we are fearful for our health and economic futures thanks to an invisible virus. HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to the Israeli historian and best-selling author Yuval Noah Harari. What 21st century lesson can we draw from the spread of Covid-19?

The Queen Addresses the Nation on the 75th Anniversary of VE Day | LBC

How V-E Day Echoed Around the World

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE: After years of combat stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Middle East, rumors began to spread in spring 1945 that the German army was close to surrender. So hotly anticipated, this long-hoped-for event had been given a name before it became a reality: V-E Day, for Victory in Europe.

The term first appeared in The New York Times on Sept. 10, 1944, just over three months after the Allies took the beaches at Normandy and began their march inland. Nine days later, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered government agencies to begin making plans for the demobilization of the roughly three million civilians supporting the war effort. “The transition from war to peace should be carried forward rapidly,” Roosevelt said. “This is the time to do the planning, although the war — even in Europe — is not over.”

Over the next six months, the Allied forces squeezed the German army along two fronts back to its prewar borders, and by spring, the end of the war felt close at hand. On May 7, 1945, the news of Germany’s surrender spread quickly around the world. » | Friday, May 8, 2020

Britain Was Led by Churchill Then — It’s Led by a Churchill Tribute Act Now

THE GUARDIAN: With coronavirus lockdown subduing VE Day, contrasts with 75 years ago were many and varied

Somehow the quiet made it louder. By rights, marking the 75thanniversary of VE Day in the midst of a pandemic that has confined us to our homes – forcing us to keep our distance from one another, denying us the right to gather in crowds – should have muffled this commemoration. A celebration in private would surely feel like no celebration at all. Katherine Jenkins singing to an empty Albert Hall, streets with no street parties and the pubs all shut: how could that add up to anything other than a damp squib?

And yet Friday’s marking of the end of the second world war struck a deeper chord than it might, had it been just another sunny bank holiday. Yes, the usual rituals had to be suspended. There could be no wreath-laying at local memorials: instead, Prince Charles and Camilla laid two small wreaths on their own, in a crowd-less corner of Balmoral, watched by a lone piper. There could be no veterans’ parades, no reunions for those who had served, no grateful handshakes from the politicians: 102-year-old former staff sergeant Ernie Horsfall had to make do with a Zoom call from Boris Johnson. And there were limited opportunities for silliness: the Winston Churchill impersonators were all dressed up with nowhere to go, forced to perform their cigar-and-V-sign shtick online. » | Jonathan Freedland | Friday, May 8, 2020

USA: Trump Is an Abject Failure

Trump is a know-nothing president who is completely out of his depth

US economy: Failure! Thirty million plus have registered as unemployed in four or so weeks. The true number is much higher than this.

Coronavirus pandemic: Trump has totally and utterly failed to come to grips with the problem.

Trump’s main concern is Wall Street. What he should be concerning himself with is saving the lives of Americans.

What a nightmare Trump has inflicted upon America and the world. Get rid of President Trump at the very earliest convenience, for the sake of America, for the sake of Americans, and for the sake of the rest of the world. – Mark

Don Lemon to Trump: What Is It about Obama That Gets Under Your Skin?

CNN's Don Lemon slammed President Donald Trump's response to a unifying message from former president George W. Bush amidst the coronavirus pandemic and questioned Trump's frequent attacks on former president Barack Obama.

Analyst: Trump's White House Departure Will Be Ugly If He Loses (2019)

Retired Army Lt. Col. Ralph Peters talks to CNN's Anderson Cooper about the future of the United States if President Donald Trump loses in 2020.

Donald Trump's Four-step Plan to Reopen the US Economy – and Why It Will Be Lethal

THE GUARDIAN: The president and his allies are hiding the facts and pretending ‘freedom’ conquers all. As a result, more Americans will die

Donald Trump is getting nervous. Internal polls show him losing in November unless the economy comes roaring back.

But much of the economy remains closed because of the pandemic. The number of infections and deaths continue to climb.

So what is Trump’s re-election strategy? Reopen the economy anyway, despite the risks. » | Robert Reich | Sunday, May 3, 2020

Under Trump, America Has Gone a Bit Late Weimar. We Know How That Ended

THE GUARDIAN: Life and death are on the line and the president and his minions appear reluctant to grasp the reality

Welcome to the US in the age of coronavirus. Faces and fists pounded the windows of Ohio’s capitol like a zombie apocalypse. In Michigan, an armed crowd stormed the state house. Then, history repeated itself.

Taking a page from his Charlottesville playbook, Donald Trump called the protesters “good people” and urged Gretchen Whitmer, the Democratic governor of Michigan, to “make a deal” over the shutdown. The president tweeted that Whitmer should “give a little, and put out the fire”. In other words, negotiate over the barrel of a gun. After all, his base was “angry”.

One state over, in Illinois, an anti-shutdown protester waived a poster aimed at the state’s Jewish governor, JB Pritzker: “Arbeit macht frei, JB.” The words that hung over the gates of Auschwitz.

A Trump administration insider conveyed that it was all a “bit” reminiscent of the “late” Weimar Republic. We know how that ended. » | Lloyd Green | Monday, May 4, 2020

“It’s Very Scary”: COVID Surges in Meat Plants as Activists Demand Worker Safety & Meatless Mondays

At least 20 workers at meat processing plants have died from COVID-19, and around 5,000 have tested positive, but President Trump invoked an executive order to bar local governments from closing meat plants. We hear from meat plant workers and organizers about conditions during the pandemic and speak with Sindy Benavides, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, which is supporting the workers with a virtual town hall on food worker safety with presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and calling for Meatless May Mondays.

Joe Reacts to Trump Tweet | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Joe Scarboroough reacts to a new tweet from the president. Aired on 5/4/2020.

WaPo Reports on Trump's 'Desperate' Attempts to Reopen the U.S. | Morning Joe | MSNBC

In new reporting, the Washington Post details the president's 'desperate' attempts to reopen the country as the coronavirus pandemic raged. The panel discusses. Aired on 5/4/2020.

George W. Bush's Powerful Message of Hope During the Coronavirus Pandemic

Former President George W. Bush on Saturday tweeted a video encouraging Americans to be their best selves during the coronavirus pandemic.

"We serve our neighbor by separating from them," Bush said in the video. "We cannot allow physical separation to become emotional isolation. This requires us to not only be compassionate but creative in our outreach."

He added, "Let us remember empathy and simple kindness are essential, powerful tools of national recovery. Even at an appropriate social distance, we can find the way to be present in the lives of others. ... In the final analysis, we are not partisan combatants. We're human beings, equally vulnerable and equally wonderful in the sight of God."

Italy's Coronavirus Journey: 'People Don't Sing from Balconies Anymore'

Coronavirus continues to spread globally but Italy was the first country in Europe to experience the devastating effects of the disease. The first to go under full lockdown, Sally Lockwood's special report explores the effects on the country right from the beginning of the most unprecedented crisis the world has ever seen.

Trudeau Announces Canada Is Banning Assault-style Weapons

THE GUARDIAN: Move comes after murder of 22 people in worst mass shooting in Canada’s history

Canada has banned assault-style weapons following the murder of 22 people in the worst mass shooting in the country’s history, Justin Trudeauannounced on Friday.

“These weapons were designed for one purpose and one purpose only: to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time. There is no use and no place for such weapons in Canada,” said the prime minister. “Effective immediately, it is no longer permitted to buy, sell, transport, import or use military-grade assault weapons in this country.”

After the Nova Scotia shooting last week, Trudeau said his government intended “strengthen gun control” to fulfil a campaign promise to restrict certain weapons – a plan that had initially been derailed by the coronavirus pandemic. » | Leyland Cecco in Toronto | Friday, May 1, 2020

South Korea: Kim Jong Un Is 'Alive and Well'

THE JERUSALEM POST: "Kim Jong Un is alive and well. He has been staying in the Wonsan area since April 13," South Korea's top foreign policy adviser said.

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un is "alive and well," the South Korean government has said, according to CNN. "Our government position is firm," Moon Chung-in, the top foreign policy adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, told CNN. "Kim Jong Un is alive and well. He has been staying in the Wonsan area since April 13. No suspicious movements have so far been detected." » | Donna Rachel Edmunds | Monday, April 27, 2020

Whitney Houston – I Will Always Love You

Doctor Says 'a Lot of Transmission Left to Come' | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Dr. Michael Osterholm, the Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, reacts to the president's remarks on coronavirus and says that 60 to 70 percent of the U.S. population is infected. Aired on 04/23/2020.

Trump Attack on Biden Highlights President's Own Past Dealings with China

THE GUARDIAN: Trump Organisation’s far-flung real estate business has involved dealings with Chinese state-owned firms on several occasions

Donald Trump has a share in a New York property development that borrowed tens of millions of dollars from China, it was reported on Friday.

The debt derived from a 30% share the US president owns in a billion-dollar building on the Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan, which was refinanced in 2012 with $211m of the funding coming from the state-owned Bank of China, Politico reported on Friday. » | Julian Borger in Washington | Saturday, April 25, 2020

Brazilian Government In Turmoil after Justice Minister Resigns

THE GUARDIAN: President Jair Bolsonaro denies he sought to influence federal police inquiries

Brazil’s government has been plunged into turmoil after the resignation of one of Jair Bolsonaro’s most powerful ministers sparked protests, calls for the president’s impeachment and an investigation into claims he had improperly interfered in the country’s federal police.

In a rambling televised address late on Friday, Brazil’s embattled president denied claims from his outgoing justice minister Sérgio Moro that he had sought to appoint a new federal police chief in order to gain access to secret intelligence reports – for reasons that remain murky.

“Sorry Mr Minister, you won’t make a liar of me,” Bolsonaro declared, flanked by an almost entirely male group of backers, including his politician son Eduardo. » | Dom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro | Friday, April 24, 2020