This week's show features stories from Sputnik Radio, Radio Havana Cuba, Radio Deutsche-Welle, and NHK Japan.

http://www.outfarpress.com/swr200508.mp3

       From RUSSIA- On his program called Going Underground Afshin Rattansi spoke with Vandana Shiva. She criticizes world leaders for working so closely with unelected billionaire businessmen on dealing with the pandemic, vaccines, and corporate bailouts. She argues that the current democracy is a facade for a dictatorship of big money, and that the IMF and World Bank pushed through patents on seeds which is destroying agriculture. She defends her presence in the anti-environmentalist film funded by Michael Moore, Planet Of The Humans.

       From CUBA-  US backed soldiers and mercenaries have been caught twice trying to enter Venezuela allegedly with plans to assassinate President Maduro. 27 members of the US Congress have asked the US government to allow the shipment of humanitarian goods to Cuba during the Covid pandemic. Cuba wants to know the truth behind an assault rifle attack on its embassy in Washington.

       From GERMANY- Several short news reports related to the Covid pandemic including airline bailouts, Spain extends its state of pandemic alert, and Britain has surged to the lead in European deaths from the corona virus. The EU had a $7 billion pledge day for international money to develop a vaccine,  and the US and Russia did not attend. Trump said he expects the US to have a vaccine by the end of this year.

       From JAPAN- Japan has extended its state of emergency to May 31, with the government asking the public to voluntarily refrain from going out. A report on the US president's plan to get Americans back to work. US Secretary of State Pompeo continues to criticize China, blaming it for the pandemic. The health of N Korean leader Kim Jun Un has appeared in public, raising doubts about US media claims that he had heart surgery.