Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/16/2020

The officially acknowledged death toll in China for the Wuhan Coronavirus is now almost 1,800, and the number of cases is over 70,000. Meanwhile, the Chinese central bank is planning to destroy stocks of cash in areas that are hardest-hit by the disease. Also, the first death from the coronavirus has been confirmed in Taiwan.

In other news, according to the latest French police statistics, about 40% of criminals in metropolitan Paris are foreigners.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Insubria, JD, JM, Reader from Chicago, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. I check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

Financial Crisis
» Japan’s Recession Risks Grow as Economy Skids in Fourth Quarter, Virus Clouds Outlook
 
USA
» 6.1 Million Individuals Off Food Stamps Under Donald Trump
» Eco-Warriors Harry and Meghan Fly to Trump’s America With ‘Sustainable’ $1,790 Prada Bags
» Liberal Woman After Attending Trump Rally: “Democrats Have an A**-Kicking Coming to Them in November”
» NYU Professor Founded Anarchist Group That Attacked Subways Last Month
» Prince Andrew Openly Groped Girls on Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘Pedophile Island’: Prosecutor
» Stormy Daniels Says Jury Found Michael Avenatti’s ‘True Character’
» Topless Protester Confronts Bernie Sanders, De Blasio at Nevada Campaign Rally
» Trump Takes Limo on Track at Daytona 500
» Where Did Obama Leftovers in the Deep State DOJ Gang Escape to on Wednesday, May 24, 2017?
» Woman Receives Flowers Every Valentine’s Day From Late Husband
 
Canada
» Breaking: Trudeau Backs Out of Caribbean Trip Last Minute Due to Pipeline Protests
» Petition Against Liberal Gun Ban Closes and Makes Canadian History
 
Europe and the EU
» Climate Activists at French Airport Protest ‘Doused in Pepper Spray’
» Fifty Cars Torched in Umeå, Sweden on Friday Night
» France: Around 40 Per Cent of Criminals in Paris Area Are Foreigners
» French Govt Closed Two Radical Mosques, Put 63 More Under Surveillance
» Germany: Why Merkel’s Legacy is in Danger
» Germany: 12 Members of an Extreme-Right Terror Network Arrested Over Plot to Spark ‘Civil War-Like Situation’
» Greta’s New Climate Protest Buddy — A Serious Criminal and Gangster Rapper
» Hungarian PM Orban Signals Tax Cuts, Tough Times for Economy
» Orban: Hungary’s Last Ten Years Most Successful Decade of Past Century
» Poland: President Launches Re-Election Campaign
» Tax Wedge Cut for Firms That Return to Italy
» The Guardian Warns of ‘Ancient Microbes’ To Emerge From Melting Permafrost
» UK Cabinet Reshuffle Shows Boris Johnson’s Iron Grip
» UK Police Tell Parents to Check if Their Kids Use Linux or Discord Because it Means They Could be Hackers
» UK Pounded With Hurricane-Force Winds and Life-Threatening Floods
» UK: ‘We Will Whack It’ — Boris Govt Takes on BBC With Plan to Scrap TV Licence
» UK: Extinction Rebellion Activists Block Cambridge Roads
» UK: More Than 160 Convicted Terrorists Were Released Early From Prison in the Past 7 Years
» UK: Muhammad Was the Most Popular Baby Name for the 3rd Consecutive Year in 2019
 
Middle East
» Assad’s Forces Make Advances, Further Securing Aleppo Region
 
South Asia
» New Species of Urban Lizard Found in Guwahati
» Singapore Orders Facebook to Mark the States Times a Fake News Site and Demonetize the Outlet
 
Far East
» 44 Americans on the Diamond Princess Cruise Ship Diagnosed With Coronavirus
» Cardinal Zen: Vatican is ‘Giving Everything’ To China’s Communists
» China Coronavirus Cases Pass 70,000 as Who Mission Gets Underway
» Chinese Bank to Destroy Cash in Areas Hit by Coronavirus
» Coronavirus Live Updates: China Reports 105 Additional Deaths, 2,048 New Cases
» Exclusive: Chinese Doctors Say Wuhan Coronavirus Reinfection Even Deadlier
» Taiwan Confirms First Coronavirus Death
 
Latin America
» A Warning to America — Socialist Tyrant Maduro Sends the Military to the Streets With Tanks and Army Vehicles to Intimidate the People Into Silence
 
Culture Wars
» Anita Sarkeesian Slams “Extremely Dangerous” YouTube and Joe Rogan Rabbit-Hole
» Funding for Women’s Group Under Review After Call for Ban on Man-Woman Relationships
» ‘I Have White Advantage, Male Advantage, Straight Advantage’ — Woke Archbishop Brands Own Church ‘Racist’
» Sadiq Khan: ‘All Gender Identities’ Including ‘Non-Binary’ Are Valid
» WSJ: Elites’ Enthusiasm for Transgenderism Endangers Gay, Lesbian Youth
 

Japan’s Recession Risks Grow as Economy Skids in Fourth Quarter, Virus Clouds Outlook

TOKYO (Reuters) — Japan’s economy shrank at the fastest pace in almost six years in the December quarter as last year’s sales tax hike hit consumer and business spending, highlighting a fragile outlook made worse by growing coronavirus risks.

Analysts say the widening fallout from the epidemic, which is damaging output and tourism, could undermine growth in the current quarter and push Japan into recession — defined as two straight quarters of decline.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

6.1 Million Individuals Off Food Stamps Under Donald Trump

Approximately 6.1 million individuals dropped off the food stamp rolls since President Donald Trump’s first full month in office in February 2017, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Eco-Warriors Harry and Meghan Fly to Trump’s America With ‘Sustainable’ $1,790 Prada Bags

Former working royals Harry and Meghan have jetted into the United States, apparently on business, despite reports that they had vowed to remain in their Canadian mansion as long as Donald Trump is President.

The couple, who were stripped of the HRH (His/Her Royal Highness) titles associated with royal princes and princesses after they abandoned their royal duties to pursue money-making ventures — but have retained the Duke and Duchess of Sussex “courtesy” titles granted by the Queen — were pictured landing in Florida in shots obtained by DailyMail.com.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Liberal Woman After Attending Trump Rally: “Democrats Have an A**-Kicking Coming to Them in November”

Karlyn Borysenko is a longtime Democrat. She recently attended a Trump rally and found out is was like nothing she had heard from the media or her liberal friends. Not only were Trump supporters incredibly friendly to her, she was completely shocked by the positive energy and size of the crowd.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

NYU Professor Founded Anarchist Group That Attacked Subways Last Month

A New York University professor is one of the masterminds behind the anarchist group that organized the rampage through the subways last month, destroying turnstiles, stranding thousands of commuters and spray-painting “F—k Cops” on station walls.

Amin Husain, 44, is a co-founder of Decolonize This Place, which urged its radical followers in a social media campaign to “f-ck sh-t up” on Jan. 31 in a violent assault on the city’s transit system that concluded with 13 arrests and $100,000 in damage.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Prince Andrew Openly Groped Girls on Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘Pedophile Island’: Prosecutor

Prince Andrew openly groped girls while staying at late pal Jeffrey Epstein’s so-called “Pedophile Island,” according to the local attorney general.

“An employee told me that he saw Prince Andrew on a balcony out at Little St. James groping girls right out in the open,” Denise George, the top prosecutor for the US Virgin Islands, told Vanity Fair.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Stormy Daniels Says Jury Found Michael Avenatti’s ‘True Character’

Porn star Stormy Daniels said Friday’s guilty verdictinvolving her former lawyer, Michael Avenatti, shows that the Manhattan jury “found his true character.”

“Sadly, it appears what Michael Avenatti did to me was just the tip of an iceberg of deceit,” wrote Daniels, a former client of Avenatti who claims he stole $300,000 from her and forged her signature, on Instagram.

“I am not surprised his dishonesty has been revealed on a grand scale,” she said, after Avenatti was found guilty on all counts for trying to extort up to $25 million from sports-apparel giant Nike.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Topless Protester Confronts Bernie Sanders, De Blasio at Nevada Campaign Rally

A topless protester disrupted Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign rally in Nevada on Sunday — moments after Mayor Bill de Blasio introduced the Democratic presidential candidate to the stage.

De Blasio had just introduced Sanders to the crowd in Carson City as the “next president of the United States,” when Sanders entered the stage with his wife as the song “Power to the People” played.

That’s when a fully clothed woman jumped up and tried to wrest the microphone out of the Vermont senator’s hand, before grabbing another one from the lectern, and started speaking about the candidate’s support for dairy farmers.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Trump Takes Limo on Track at Daytona 500

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump made a spectacular entry at the Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, where the commander in chief will be the grand marshal for NASCAR’s biggest race of the year.

Air Force One flew in low over the track, spurring roaring cheers from the thousands of fans gathered for the annual Daytona 500.

Trump’s full motorcade, including the presidential limousine, “The Beast,” then entered the track via the speedway, making roughly a quarter lap before pulling aside in an infield staging area.

As grand marshal, Trump will be giving the command for drivers to start their engines.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Where Did Obama Leftovers in the Deep State DOJ Gang Escape to on Wednesday, May 24, 2017?

One week after the corrupt Mueller investigation was put in place, the Deep State leadership in the DOJ mysteriously disappeared for more than half a week. Where did these crooks go, who was there, and what were they doing?

The Mueller investigation was based on a fraud and the FBI and Deep State knew the Trump-Russia collusion was a sham back in January 2017, before President Trump’s Inauguration.

The IG report conclusively found that U.S. intelligence officials had determined by January of 2017—when Buzzfeed published its article—that the Steele dossier was false and that Steele’s own primary sub-source for it said it was nonsense: “corroboration was ‘zero.’“ pic.twitter.com/315qXklDaP —Sean Davis (@seanmdav) December 12, 2019

We therefore also know without a doubt based on evidence in the recent report on the Carter Page FISA warrant application and renewals, that the Mueller investigation was based on a lie the day it was set up and the Deep State individuals who set up the sham had to all know it as well.

The Mueller investigation was set up on May 17, 2017 by the Deep State holdovers from Obama’s (corrupt and criminal) DOJ and FBI. After disgraced former FBI Director James Comey was fired, the Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, created the fraudulent investigation. This horrible and corrupt investigation went on for the better part of two years and resulted in anyone close to the President, including his family, personal friends and lawyers, being subpoenaed and testifying in front of the courts or Congress.

No one in the coup to date has been brought to justice in spite of numerous crimes and an overall seditious effort to overthrow the US government.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Woman Receives Flowers Every Valentine’s Day From Late Husband

A man in Georgetown, Kentucky, guaranteed that his wife would never feel alone on Valentine’s Day.

When Tracey Cox’s husband, Richard, passed away in 2012 after a three-year fight with cancer, she was devastated, according to WFTV.

However, the following year, she received a beautiful bouquet of flowers for Valentine’s Day and her birthday, which are just a day apart.

“It was really emotional,” she told reporters Friday, adding, “It was sad, but also happy at the same time because I just knew he’d always be with me.”

At the time, she thought the flowers from her late husband were just a one-time gift, but every year since then, a bouquet has been delivered to her home with a note from Richard.

“Tracey, even though you can’t see me, I am always here. I love you. Love Rich,” the card from 2018 read.

Their daughter, Bethany, said the annual gifts just go to show what a caring man her dad was.

“This is true love,” she explained.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Breaking: Trudeau Backs Out of Caribbean Trip Last Minute Due to Pipeline Protests

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has cancelled his trip to the Caribbean after receiving backlash online on Sunday after it was reported he was still planning to go on the trip, despite Canadian cargo and passenger trains being shut down for the greater part of two weeks.

The Canadian Press reported Sunday afternoon Trudeau was still intending to go on the trip to the Caribbean, so it appears Trudeau backed out last minute.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Petition Against Liberal Gun Ban Closes and Makes Canadian History

Saturday was the final day for the petition against the Liberal gun ban that received a Canadian historical record of 174,810 signatures from angry Canadians, many of whom are law-abiding gun owners.

The Liberal government wants to ban “military assault rifles” in Canada while there is no legal definition for that type of weapon in our country, according to Public Safety Canada. The petition officially opened on Dec. 17, 2019.

If the ban were to go through, Canadian gun owners would be stripped of guns that have been legally purchased. Many Canadians do not want to allow this to happen and petition E-2341 was created as a result.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Climate Activists at French Airport Protest ‘Doused in Pepper Spray’

Climate campaign group Extinction Rebellion has posted footage on social media reportedly showing French riot police dousing activists at an airport protest with pepper spray.

Video shows an officer spraying several people as they sit with their arms locked blocking a road at the site in the south-eastern region of Chambéry.

The demonstrators were calling for a reduction in flights at the airport.

No flights were disrupted, but the protest led to a build-up of traffic.

A queue of cars about 7km (4 miles) long formed at the entrance to the airport after dozens of protesters arrived at 11:00 local time (10:00 GMT) on Saturday.

Officers of the French gendarmerie were called in to remove the demonstrators, who were refusing requests to leave…

           — Hat tip: JM [Return to headlines]
 

Fifty Cars Torched in Umeå, Sweden on Friday Night

Police in Umeå, Sweden at around 10 o’clock on Friday night were alerted to a fire in a carport row in Mariehem which ended up torching at least 50 vehicles.

“We have about 50 cars that are completely burned out or to some extent damaged”, the head of the rescue services Conny Qwarforth told P4 Västerbotten, Sveriges Radio reports.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

France: Around 40 Per Cent of Criminals in Paris Area Are Foreigners

Police and crime figures obtained by French media suggest that within the Paris region around 40 per cent of suspects involved in crimes are born overseas.

The figures reveal that the number of foreign-born criminals in the Paris region is twice the number for the rest of France, which sits at around 20 per cent.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

French Govt Closed Two Radical Mosques, Put 63 More Under Surveillance

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner has announced that in 2019 the French government closed down two radical mosques and placed another 63 under surveillance.

The two radical mosques closed last year were done so under the powers granted to the Interior Ministry by the SILT anti-terrorism laws that were enacted in October 2017 to replace the prior state of emergency.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Germany: Why Merkel’s Legacy is in Danger

by Levin Opiyo

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s plan to have a successor who would carry on with her legacy has been thrown into a spin following the resignation of Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.

Kramp-Karrenbauer was Supposed To Be Next Up As Germany’s Leader—Now What?

Kramp-Karrenbauer—also known as AKK—was being groomed by Merkel to take over as Chancellor in 2021. In December 2019 Karrenbauer was elected as the leader of Germany’s Christian Democratic Union CDU to replace Merkel at the party’s convention in Hamburg. It was an historic occasion in that it was the first time the CDU was holding an open leadership contest since 1971.

Although the 1,001 delegates knew that the aim was to elect a leader for Germany’s most successful political party to replace Merkel who had been at the helm for 18 years they were also aware that whoever they elected would be a successor to Merkel as Germany’s Chancellor…

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

Germany: 12 Members of an Extreme-Right Terror Network Arrested Over Plot to Spark ‘Civil War-Like Situation’

Police in Germany conducted nationwide raids on Friday which resulted in the arrests of 12 men who allegedly plotted to spark a civil war and overthrow the country’s political order by planning a series of coordinated attacks on politicians, migrants, and Muslims.

Raids were carried out by heavily-armed special units at a total of thirteen locations across six German states: Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Saxony-Anhalt, Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Lower Saxony.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Greta’s New Climate Protest Buddy — A Serious Criminal and Gangster Rapper

Greta Thunberg on Friday organized the climate protest “Fridays for Future” in central Stockholm. To attract participants, the PR team behind the climate alarmist had invited two crime-glorifying rap artists, one of whom has served a prison sentence, Samhällsnytt reports.

Isabelle Axelsson who is a collaborator at the Fridays for Future project defends the invitation of the artists, and says that they want individuals who “reach out to the public”.

“We hire artists that we think will reach people and have something to say. It feels good, things are coming along. We have had ten thousand participants on similar events, but now there are fewer because of the February weather”, Axelsson told Expressen.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Hungarian PM Orban Signals Tax Cuts, Tough Times for Economy

BUDAPEST (Reuters) — Hungary will cut taxes on labor and for small firms, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Sunday as he warned of tough times ahead for a domestic economy hobbled by stagnation in the euro zone.

Hungary’s economy expanded 4.9% last year but on Friday the government cut its forecast for 2020 from 4% to 3.5%, which would be the slowest growth rate in four years.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Orban: Hungary’s Last Ten Years Most Successful Decade of Past Century

“The facts show that the last ten years were the most successful ten years in Hungary’s last 100 years,” Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in his state-of-the-nation address on Sunday.

One hundred years after the “death sentence” that was the WWI Trianon Peace Treaty, “we’re alive and Hungary is still here”, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Poland: President Launches Re-Election Campaign

Incumbent President Andrzej Duda on Saturday launched his re-election campaign at a convention in Warsaw. Addressing the meeting, Duda thanked Poles for their support during his first term as president. Poland’s presidential elections are scheduled in May.

“I thank you for your support and your votes, thanks to which I was able to co-participate in Polish affairs in this extraordinary position, the office of the President of the Republic of Poland,” Duda told the convention.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Tax Wedge Cut for Firms That Return to Italy

Move being ‘studied’ — sources

(ANSA) — Rome, February 14 — The government is “studying” tax wedge cuts for firms that return to Italy, ANSA sources said Friday.

They said that in a push for “reshoring”, firms would get tax breaks to return after offshoring.

           — Hat tip: Insubria [Return to headlines]
 

The Guardian Warns of ‘Ancient Microbes’ To Emerge From Melting Permafrost

The Guardian newspaper has published an essay describing a climate change dystopia that could result from inaction regarding global warming.

The article, an edited extract from The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac, describes the world of 2050 where people suffer the dire consequences of a failure to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK Cabinet Reshuffle Shows Boris Johnson’s Iron Grip

by Alasdair Lane

It wasn’t quite a Saint Valentine’s Day massacre, but Boris Johnson’s Cabinet reshuffle proved a brutal affair. The axe fell on Britain’s second most powerful politician, ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid, forced out after refusing to sack his senior staff. That was a condition demanded by Johnson’s top aide Dominic Cummings—an unelected official pursuing what those in power covet above all else: control.

Why Did the Cabinet Shuffle Go Haywire?

The cabinet shuffle, in fact, was supposed to be a rather tame shake-up of the government’s top team. A few departures, nobody too senior, and a raft of new talent handed junior ministerial roles. And then the news broke: Javid, the man in charge of Britain’s economic strategy, had gone.

For an hour he argued with Johnson and Cummings, making his case clear: no self-respecting minister could be expected to fire his entire team. He hoped, perhaps, that the prime minister might’ve buckled, realizing that he was asking too much. But Johnson’s faith in his pugilistic chief-of-staff was unwavering, so Javid had to go…

           — Hat tip: C. Cantoni [Return to headlines]
 

UK Police Tell Parents to Check if Their Kids Use Linux or Discord Because it Means They Could be Hackers

The day when open-source operating systems/apps, especially those based on the mainline Linux kernel, come under a smear campaign that it takes a while for authorities to properly react to — surely must be some kind of a sad milestone moment on the web — the very same web which these days depends on, and runs on that very technology.

But — the message from British law enforcement seems to be — “don’t let your kids use it.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK Pounded With Hurricane-Force Winds and Life-Threatening Floods

(AP) — Storm Dennis roared across Britain on Sunday, lashing towns and cities with high winds and dumping so much rain that authorities urged residents to protect themselves from “life-threatening floods” in Wales and Scotland.

The Met Office, Britain’s national weather service, issued over 250 flood warnings for England, Scotland and Wales.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK: ‘We Will Whack It’ — Boris Govt Takes on BBC With Plan to Scrap TV Licence

Boris Johnson’s administration may be serious about taking on the BBC, with sources revealing plans to scrap the compulsory television licence which funds it.

At present, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) receives the bulk of its money by levying a compulsory £154.50 licence fee on anyone who watches live colour television — whether or not they consume BBC programming — or BBC iPlayer, with non-payment a criminal offence punished by fines which must be paid on pain of imprisonment.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Extinction Rebellion Activists Block Cambridge Roads

Climate activists have begun a week-long street blockade — prompting a police force to use emergency powers to shut off roads.

Members of Extinction Rebellion claim they had sent warnings to Cambridge University, and the city and county councils, to meet a series of demands.

It comes two days after a meeting had to be abandoned when a protester abseiled into the council chamber.

A spokeswoman said the blockade would remain in place until 23 February.

The group says it wants the university to “cut ties” with fossil fuel companies, and is calling for a “citizen’s assembly on climate justice” to be established in Cambridge.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK: More Than 160 Convicted Terrorists Were Released Early From Prison in the Past 7 Years

As British MPs earlier this week argued about newly proposed legislation that would stop terrorists from being released early, an ex-minister revealed that over 160 convicted terrorists have been released early from UK prisons in the last seven years alone.

Sir John Hayes, who served as the Minister of State for Security until 2016, told lawmakers that 163 convicted terrorists have been released early in the last seven years, The Sun reports.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Muhammad Was the Most Popular Baby Name for the 3rd Consecutive Year in 2019

A list of the most popular newborn baby boy names in the United Kingdom was recently published by a site called Babycenter. The 2019 rankings show that the name Muhammad — including its different spellings — has topped the list for the most popular baby boy names in the UK for the third consecutive year.

The name Noah took second place in the 2019 ranking, while Oliver slipped from its third spot for the first time in nine years, Global Village Space reports.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Assad’s Forces Make Advances, Further Securing Aleppo Region

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian troops have made significant advances against the last rebel held enclaves in the country’s northwest, state media said on Sunday, consolidating the government’s hold over the key Aleppo province.

The Syrian government advance also appeared to put the provincial capital of Aleppo out of the firing range of opposition groups for the first time in years, another sign of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s growing control of the area.

The armed opposition had been driven out of Aleppo city’s eastern quarters in late 2016, which they controlled for years while battling government forces who were in charge in the western part. Rebel groups had continued to harry government forces, however, from outside the city with mortar rounds.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

New Species of Urban Lizard Found in Guwahati

Guwahati, the largest city in the Northeast, has yielded a new species of lizard — the urban bent-toed gecko.

Markedly different

Jayaditya Purkayastha and Madhurima Das, two of the five herpetologists and researchers who made the discovery, had teamed up with four others to be the first to record the brown blotched Bengal tree frog from urban West Bengal last year.

The new species of lizard, zoologically named Cyrtodactylus urbanus, is markedly different in molecular structure, blotch and colour from the Cyrtodactylus guwahatiensis, or the Guwahati bent-toed gecko, that was discovered two years ago.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Singapore Orders Facebook to Mark the States Times a Fake News Site and Demonetize the Outlet

Singapore is at it again, invoking its fake news, aka Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) legislation to pressure Facebook into making sure the platform acts in accordance.

The target is once again the dissident outlet States Times Review.

After the owner of the Facebook page associated with the website failed to comply with an earlier POFMA order, Singapore’s authorities went to Facebook, telling it to tag the page as a “Declared Online Location” (DOL) with “a history of communicating falsehoods.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

44 Americans on the Diamond Princess Cruise Ship Diagnosed With Coronavirus

Another 70 cases of the coronavirus infection have been confirmed aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, currently quarantined in Japan, according to Japanese health officials.

This brings the total number of cases aboard the vessel as of Sunday to 355, the largest confirmed cluster outside mainland China. People with confirmed infections have been taken to hospitals in Japan.

After the ship’s two weeks of quarantine at sea, officials from various countries, including Canada, Italy, Hong Kong and South Korea, are in the process of extracting their citizens from the vessel. The Diamond Princess is reported to have around 3,700 passengers and crew members. About half the passengers are from Japan, according to Reuters.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Cardinal Zen: Vatican is ‘Giving Everything’ To China’s Communists

ROME — Cardinal Joseph Zen said this week that the Vatican seeks compromise with China’s Communist Party (CCP), but they want “complete surrender.”

Zen — the former bishop of Hong Kong — has been a vocal critic of the Vatican’s rapprochement with the CCP, insisting that Pope Francis is “naïve” in dealing with a country he knows little about.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

China Coronavirus Cases Pass 70,000 as Who Mission Gets Underway

The number of deaths from the coronavirus in China’s Hubei rose to more than 1,700 on Monday as international experts began a joint mission with their Chinese counterparts to tackle the epidemic.

Indeed, the total number of cases of so-called COVID-19 in the Asian country has passed the 70,000 mark, according to the latest update from the country’s National Health Commission.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said its specialists had held their first meetings with Chinese health experts as part of efforts to find out how the new virus is spreading.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Chinese Bank to Destroy Cash in Areas Hit by Coronavirus

China’s central bank will reportedly destroy some cash in areas hard-hit by the coronavirus to prevent contagion.

People’s Bank of China has ordered the return of paper currency in circulation at hospitals, animal markets and buses near the country’s hot zones in order to destruct potentially-contaminated bills, the South China Morning Post reported.

Other locations in the country will have their bills locked up for at least 14 days as the money comes back to local banks, while less impacted areas are required to place cash in a week of quarantine, according to Bloomberg News.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Coronavirus Live Updates: China Reports 105 Additional Deaths, 2,048 New Cases

This is a live blog. Please check back for updates.

All times below are in Beijing time.

10:35 am: More support to boost businesses hit by outbreak

China’s central bank cut rates on its medium-term loans on Monday, in a bid to support businesses which are reeling from the disruption to activity.

That followed several moves in the past few weeks to support businesses. On Friday, China said it will tolerate more bad loans, and also said it has supplied more than $76.9 billion in credit.

10:00 am: More food companies offer ‘contactless’ delivery in China

McDonald’s, Starbucks and other fast food companies in China are increasing their “contactless” delivery and pickup services as the outbreak continues, according to a Reuters report.

Customers can opt to order online, and their orders will be placed in a location for pickup — without human contact, according to the report.

8:50 am: China reports 105 additional deaths

China’s National Health Commission reported there were 105 additional deaths and 2,048 new confirmed cases as of Feb. 16.

That brings the country’s overall total to 70,548 confirmed cases, and 1,770 deaths, according to authorities.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Exclusive: Chinese Doctors Say Wuhan Coronavirus Reinfection Even Deadlier

Instead of creating immunity the virus can reportedly reinfect an individual and hasten fatal heart attack

It’s possible to get infected by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) a second time, according to doctors on the frontline in China’s city of Wuhan, leading to death from heart failure in some cases.

The claim is made by doctors working in the Hubei Province capital that is at the center of the epidemic, which has to date infected 64,201 people and killed 1,487. One of the doctors reached out to a relative living in the United Kingdom, who then informed Taiwan News.

Both the relative and doctors asked to remain anonymous, out of consideration they might face retribution from the Chinese authorities.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Taiwan Confirms First Coronavirus Death

Taiwan on Sunday confirmed its first coronavirus death — marking the fifth fatality outside of mainland China.

The man, a 61-year-old taxi driver, was living with diabetes and hepatitis B when he died of the virus, according to Health Minister Chen Shih-Chung.

There’s an investigation underway to determine how the man, who had not recently traveled outside of Taiwan, contracted the illness, Chen said.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

A Warning to America — Socialist Tyrant Maduro Sends the Military to the Streets With Tanks and Army Vehicles to Intimidate the People Into Silence

Intimidation causes fear in people. It makes them pliable and makes them obedient.

On Saturday Caracas woke up to tanks, military vehicles and regime officials on the streets of Caracas. Socialist Tyrant Maduro ordered the military exercises in his latest attempt to intimidate his citizens.

The President interim Juan Guaidó made this statement in response to these intimidation tactics, “The rights of the people are not negotiated. They are demanded and defended.”

So far more than 180 people were killed bythe DGCIM, the military counterintelligence agency in Venezuela. Guaidó’s uncle is being held captive by these people.

In addition, the EU spokesperson Morgan Ortagus comdemned the arbitrary detention of Juan José Marquez (Guaido’s uncle) in a desperate act by the regime. The absurd charges against Marquez are typical of Maduro and his corrupt socialist associates. Marquez is one of hundreds of political prisoners in Venezuela.

[Comment: Democrats’ eyes shine with anticpation of doing the same thing in the USA.]

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

Anita Sarkeesian Slams “Extremely Dangerous” YouTube and Joe Rogan Rabbit-Hole

In 2014, Anita Sarkeesian became one of the figures at the center of the massive Gamergate controversy after challenging the gaming industry through her lens as a “feminist media critic.”

A polarizing figure, her activism — or “media criticism,” if you like — has earned her a star status among some, and strong disapproval from others.

Duke University’s Keenan Institute for Ethics is publishing a series of interviews now, including one with Sarkeesian.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Funding for Women’s Group Under Review After Call for Ban on Man-Woman Relationships

MONTREAL — The Quebec government says it will re-evaluate the $120,000 annual public funding it gives to the province’s biggest women’s federation after its president suggested that heterosexual relationships should be banned.

Gabrielle Bouchard, president of the Federation des femmes du Quebec, made the controversial comment Tuesday on Twitter, before issuing an apology on Facebook and during televised media interviews later in the day.

Bouchard says her original tweet was in reaction to news that a man out on parole after being convicted of killing his female partner had been arrested in the slaying last week of a 22-year-old woman in Quebec City.

In it she said heterosexual relationships were violent, mostly based on religion and possibly should be banned.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

‘I Have White Advantage, Male Advantage, Straight Advantage’ — Woke Archbishop Brands Own Church ‘Racist’

The Church of England’s most prominent cleric, Justin Welby, said he is “ashamed of our history” and of his supposed advantages as a straight white male.

The Archbishop of Canterbury was speaking ahead of a vote by the Church’s General Synod to apologise for racism, and to “lament, on behalf of Christ’s Church, and apologises for, the conscious and unconscious racism experienced by countless black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) Anglicans in 1948 and subsequent years”.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Sadiq Khan: ‘All Gender Identities’ Including ‘Non-Binary’ Are Valid

London mayor Sadiq Khan has declared that biological males and females who identify as the opposite sex are indeed what they claim to be, that people who say they are “non-binary” really are neither male nor female, and, moreover, that “All gender identities are valid”.

“Trans women are women. Trans men are men. Non-binary people are non-binary. All gender identities are valid,” Khan tweeted, apparently in aid of “#LGBTHistoryMonth”.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

WSJ: Elites’ Enthusiasm for Transgenderism Endangers Gay, Lesbian Youth

Elites’ reckless applause for transgenderism is a massive medical threat to vulnerable kids who may otherwise grow up as gay or lesbian, says an op-ed by two university biologists.

           — Hat tip: JD [Return to headlines]
 

6 thoughts on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 2/16/2020

  1. The most popular baby name in the UK is Mohammad? What a coincidence; that also happens to be the most popular rapist name, most popular drug dealer name, and the most popular knife jihadist name as well…

  2. The women’s group in Canada is strangely misinformed. All experts on family/relationship abuse agree that it is exists in homosexual relationships as well. More males abuse than females, but females abuse too. And as lesbians found long ago to their chagrin, female-to-female abuse is not uncommon.

    I expect that this organization knows it, but wanted to be notorious for yet another loony radical statement. For some, no news is bad news.

    • About two years ago a lesbisn couple, who had adopted 6 black children, drove the whole family off a seaside cliff in California USA, killing all.

  3. Greta’s good buddies may have an interest in her outside of the kinder crusade, be careful Greta.
    Comrade Pope is going to open up the treasures in the Vatican basement for the CCP?
    Ancient microbes sounds like man plans while Mother Nature has the last laugh.
    As they say in Londonistan…keep calm and Allahu Ackbar.

  4. Schoolgirls detained a pedophile who molested a girl in a Moscow bus
    They surrounded the man, told the teacher about everything, and she called the police

    An unpleasant incident happened in a crowded bus. In the salon, among them, eight schoolchildren and schoolgirls were accompanied by two teachers (all of them were of the same age, 14-15 years old). They went to a forum dedicated to choosing a future profession.

    Teachers realized that something had happened at the final stop when teenagers got off the bus.

    “I look, they have some abnormal faces, and one eighth grader is very pale with square eyes,” the teacher later told the police.

    It turns out that a 14-year-old lady during a 20-minute trip felt a certain Asian. He was wearing headphones with a phone in his hand (according to schoolgirls, they saw obscene photos on the screen). The schoolgirl was embarrassed to call for help and suffered harassment. Now the girl is in a stable psychological state, although initially she was shocked.

    Having left with the teenagers, the pervert went to another bus stop, in order, apparently, to continue his “exploits” in the opposite direction. So he would have left if not for two brisk girls from this group who decided to detain the villain.

    “They stopped the stranger and asked why he did this,” the teacher explained. – The man said that they were mistaken, denied guilt. There was a feeling that he was not in himself. We called the police outfit, with me there were three girls, including the injured one. And another teacher with five children went to the forum.

    Law enforcers detained a 25-year-old Kyrgyz citizen who worked as a janitor in a fast food restaurant. Pedophile pleaded guilty. A criminal case has been instituted under the article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Depraved Actions”. Schoolgirls spent in OMVD, and then in the UK all day. They do not regret that they missed a chance to gain knowledge – but they detained the criminal.

    https://www.mk.ru/incident/2020/02/17/shkolnicy-zaderzhali-pedofila-kotoryy-pristaval-k-devochke-v-moskovskom-trolleybuse.html

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