Today's Liberal News

U.S. & Other Wealthy Nations Block Effort to Waive Vaccine Patent Rights in Blow to Global South

The United States and other wealthy members of the World Trade Organization have blocked a push by dozens of developing countries to waive patent rights in an effort to boost production of COVID-19 vaccines for poor nations. The proposal by South Africa and India was supported by hundreds of civil society organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam and Amnesty International. Without the waiver, vaccine production will remain in the hands of only a few pharmaceutical companies.

Despite Immigration Pledges, Biden Admin Detains Thousands of Unaccompanied Migrant Children

The Biden administration is struggling to address the flow of migrant children crossing the U.S.-Mexico border without their parents, many fleeing extreme violence, poverty and natural disasters in their home countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. News reports show more than 3,500 children were detained at the border in just the first nine days of March, with many being held longer than the legal limit of 72 hours. “We can call it a crisis.

Cleared of Corruption Charges, Will Lula Challenge Bolsonaro in Brazil’s 2022 Presidential Race?

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been cleared to run for office again after a judge annulled all convictions against him. Three years ago, Lula, a former union leader who served as president from 2003 to 2010, had been considered a favorite in the lead-up to the 2018 presidential election until he was jailed and forced out of the race on what many said were trumped-up corruption charges.

The Burglary That Exposed COINTELPRO: Activists Mark 50th Anniversary of Daring FBI Break-in

Fifty years ago, on March 8, 1971, a group of eight activists staged one of the most stunning acts of defiance of the Vietnam War era when they broke into an FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania, and stole every document they found. The activists, calling themselves the Citizens’ Commission to Investigate the FBI, began leaking shocking details about FBI abuses to the media.

Orange County Democrats just won this seat for the first time since 1894

On Tuesday, Democrats in Orange County, California, flipped a seat on the five-member Board of Supervisors that has been in GOP hands for well over a century: Costa Mesa Mayor Katrina Foley defeated former Republican state Sen. John Moorlach 44-31 in a five-candidate special election. There are no runoffs in special elections for this post, so Foley’s showing brings the Republican majority down from 4-1 to 3-2 ahead of redistricting.

Trump Golf Club pool boy must now fund NAACP Scholarship

Remember this guy?

Back in November when #Old45 was still trolling his golf course in my hometown of Sterling, Virginia, and throngs of protesters clashed almost every weekend, I reported on an incident involving Raymond Deskins, a notorious pool float-wearing Trump supporter who coughed on two protesters. A video that caught part of the incident went viral.

Union organizing Amazon workers emphatically disavows social media calls for boycott

Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama, are still voting on whether to join a union, in a mail vote that ends March 29. The company’s ongoing harassment campaign aimed at defeating the organizing effort has many workers looking forward to that date, when the barrage will end—much as Republican negative campaigning is aimed at turning people against politics and good governance.

10 Years Since the Great East Japan Earthquake

Ten years ago, on March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off Japan’s northeastern shore—the most powerful earthquake ever recorded to have hit Japan—generating enormous tsunami waves that spread across miles of shoreline, climbing as high as 130 feet. The powerful inundation of seawater tore apart coastal towns and villages, carrying ships inland as thousands of homes were flattened, then washed tons of debris and vehicles back out to sea.

The Weekly Planet: Biden’s Stimulus Is a Big Deal for Public Transit

Every week, our lead climate reporter brings you the big ideas, expert analysis, and vital guidance that will help you flourish on a changing planet. Sign up to get The Weekly Planet, our guide to living through climate change, in your inbox.Over the weekend, the Senate passed the American Rescue Plan Act, a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package. The House of Representatives is poised to pass it today, and then it will go to President Joe Biden’s desk.

Becoming a Parent During the Pandemic Was the Hardest Thing I’ve Ever Done

Image above: The photographer Rose Marie Cromwell documented her experience giving birth and her growing child during the pandemic, in a series called Eclipse.In early March last year, I was heading home from a work happy hour on the subway when I realized that a woman was staring at my belly. She looked at my waist, where my coat was belted, and then at the floor, and then at my waist again, and then she very tentatively offered me her seat. I was four months pregnant.