RT (2020-03-16). Covid-19 vaccine: Difficult, uncertain and far-off, microbiologist says. rt.com A US company which worked on the development of a MERS virus vaccine has begun a clinical trial to test a Covid-19 vaccine — but similarities between the two don't mean the process will be easy, a microbiologist told RT. | The potential new coronavirus vaccine is being developed by Moderna Inc., which is building on previous work on MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) — a disease which originated in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and was also dubbed the 'camel flu' due to the fact that it is believed to have been spread to humans through the animal. | The first tests conducted by Moderna are focused on a…

Medea Benjamin and Ariel Gold (2020-03-12). Saudi's Brave Women Pull Back the Curtain on Crown Prince MBS. dissidentvoice.org This week, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS), Saudi Arabia's 34-year-old de facto ruler, was on a tear. He arrested members of his own royal family and initiated an oil price war with Russia that has sent the price of oil—and the world's stock markets—plummeting. Behind the headlines, however, another critical event will take place …

news.un (2020-03-12). De-escalate now, to steer Yemen off 'precarious path', UN Security Council hears. news.un.org Yemen is at a "critical juncture", the UN Special Envoy for the country told the Security Council on Thursday. Speaking via video-link, Martin Griffiths said that the combatants will either move towards de-escalation or greater violence, which would make "the path to the negotiating table more arduous".

Medea Benjamin (2020-03-11). Saudi Arabia's Brave Women Pull Back the Curtain on Crown Prince MBS. mintpressnews.com The case of Al-Hathloul and the other women's rights activists on trial in Saudi Arabia is a tremendous embarrassment for MBS, who has been putting an enormous effort into convincing his Western allies that he is a reformer and that the Kingdom is becoming more liberal.