Alan Macleod

Alan MacLeod is Senior Staff Writer for MintPress News. He completed his PhD in 2017 and has since authored two acclaimed books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent, as well as a number of academic articles. He has also contributed to FAIR.org, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, and Common Dreams. Follow Alan on Twitter for more of his work and commentary: @AlanRMacLeod.

UN Warns COVID-19 Fears Leading to “Alarming” Decline in Immunizations and Hospital Visits

The WHO and UNICEF have expressed concern over what they describe as an “alarming decline” of children’s immunization programs, hospital visits for serious issues, including heart attacks and even a reversal in the fight against AIDS.

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
COVID-19 Immunizations Feature photo

United Nations agencies are warning that the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to trigger famine and outbreaks of other diseases that could prove far more deadly than the coronavirus itself. Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF) expressed grave concern over

Read Full Article

Trump Fires Latest Salvo in US-China Sanctions War

Trump’s new law, the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, places mandatory sanctions on officials or organizations (including businesses) that the White House views as helping Beijing clamp down on political freedoms.

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
China Sanctions Feature photo

In a speech at the White House Rose Garden yesterday, Donald Trump announced new sanctions on China due to their “interference” in their own Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong. The president said that he was placing “massive tariffs” on Beijing and that Hong Kong would now be treated the same as mainland China, with “no special privileges,

Read Full Article

Exporting Toxic Chemical Waste to Poor Countries Must End, Says UN

Last year, at least 30 rich countries exported locally-banned toxic substances to poorer ones, allowing corporations to write off their costly waste and transferring the costs to some of the poorest people on earth.

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
Toxic waste Feature photo

The practice of dumping banned, toxic chemical waste on poorer societies by big corporations in rich countries must end, say experts at the United Nations Human Rights Council. “In nearly every case there is no legitimate public interest justification,” said Baskut Tuncak, a Turkish-American UN special rapporteur on the environment and the disposal

Read Full Article

Trump Tells Florida Crowd “Something Will Happen in Venezuela” Soon

“Something will happen with Venezuela. That’s all I can tell you,” Trump said, before not-so-cryptically  adding that Washington would be “very much involved.”

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
Donald Trump Venezuela Feature photo

On a trip to COVID-19 riddled Florida this weekend, President Donald Trump not-so-cryptically revealed that he had something big planned for Venezuela during a meeting with leaders of the U.S. military’s Southern Command. “Something will happen with Venezuela. That’s all I can tell you,” he said, before adding that Washington would be “very much

Read Full Article

Latin America’s Neoliberal Leaders Are Making the Coronavirus Pandemic Far Worse

Much of Latin America is in meltdown with coronavirus cases soaring, bodies piling up, and anger mounting as a new wave of neoliberal leaders who openly reject individualism amid collective public health crisis pour fuel on the fire.

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
Latin America Feature photo

While other continents have largely dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic, much of Latin America is in meltdown, as cases soar, bodies pile up, and anger mounts. Its new wave of neoliberal leaders, mistrustful of collective action in any situation and extolling the virtues of individualism in a collective public health crisis, are making the problem far

Read Full Article

As White Jesus Debate Rages, Islam Undergoes its Own Racial Reckoning

The worldwide push for racial justice has sparked discussion within some Muslim communities on the overly white illustrations of key figures in the Islamic tradition, particularly the twelve imams so revered in Shiaism.

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
White Jesus Feature photo

While the vigorous and often bitter debate around depictions of “White Jesus” continues to rage, a similar, but quieter discussion is taking place within Islamic communities on the subject of overly white illustrations of key figures in the Muslim tradition, particularly the twelve imams so revered in Shiaism, an subsect of Islam that comprises

Read Full Article

Private Prison Simulation Game Goes Viral on Apple App Store

With over two million people locked up across a sprawling network of private and public prisons, the US has by far the highest incarceration rate in the world, significantly worse than brutal dictatorships in Africa, Latin America or Central Asia.

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
Private Prison Tycoon Feature photo

A new game called “Prison Empire Tycoon” is going viral. Released in late May, it has risen to become the current number one strategy game in Apple’s App Store and has been among the top 20 most popular games overall since its launch, with at least  3 million downloads to date. In line with many other popular business simulation games like the

Read Full Article