Greece and Serbia have locked down their migrant facilities in an attempt to mitigate the spread of the Wuhan Coronavirus. Meanwhile, the Bosnian security minister has ordered all illegal migrants detained in closed facilities. Also, two members of Congress, one Republican and one Democrat, have tested positive for the coronavirus.
In other news… There is no news other than the coronavirus.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to AA, AF, Insubria, Reader from Chicago, SS, 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.
Stock Market News Live: Stock Futures Gain After ECB Announces Stimulus Plan
Dow futures (YM=F) gained Wednesday evening after the European Central Bank announced a massive stimulus plan — a 750 billion euro ($818 billion) bond repurchase program.
Futures were initially down after the regular session Wednesday in which stocks took a drubbing as traders resorted to more panic selling amid the ongoing pandemic. The Dow dropped 1,338 points, or 6.3%, to settle below the psychologically important level of 20,000 for its lowest close since February 2017. The losses brought the Dow’s total declines since its Feb. 12 closing high to 32.7% — firmly in bear market territory.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
2 Members of Congress, Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart and Ben McAdams, Test Positive for COVID-19
WASHINGTON — Two members of Congress have tested positive for coronavirus.
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., announced Wednesday that he tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the first known member of Congress to contract the rapidly spreading virus.
Shortly after, Rep. Ben McAdams, D-Utah, announced that he has also tested positive.
Diaz-Balart, who represents parts of Miami and South Florida, said in a statement that he decided to self-quarantine in Washington Friday night after voting with hundreds of his House colleagues on the House floor for a coronavirus relief package.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Bernie Sanders Has Halted All Facebook Ads, A Sign That He May be on Verge of Suspending Campaign
Bernie Sanders has deactivated all of his Facebook ads as of Wednesday morning, indicating that he may be on the verge of suspending his 2020 campaign.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
COVID-19 Data Study: Ammunition Sales Continue to Soar in Response to Coronavirus Panic
Updated March 17, 2020
As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) spreads across the United States, its impact can be seen in every community. Businesses and schools are closed, the market is volatile, and store shelves are empty as the American public scrambles to prepare for the worldwide pandemic and social distancing prescribed by the WHO and CDC. While people stockpile toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and pantry essentials, they’re also purchasing ammunition at an unprecedented rate. Here at Ammo.com, we’ve seen a significant growth in sales that directly correlates with the rise of COVID-19 and its spread across the country. As we mentioned in a press release on March 6, 2020, we first noticed a 54% sales increase on February 23, as the search term “coronavirus” started to gain traction, according to Google Trends. On March 10, 2020 — the day confirmed cases in the US reached over 1,000, increasing ten-fold in a week — we noticed an unprecedented 276% sales surge that continued through the end of last week and the weekend, as the virus was declared a pandemic, travel bans were implemented, and the stock market experienced its biggest crash since 1987.
| — Hat tip: AA | [Return to headlines] |
Detention Center Will No Longer Arrest & Hold Certain Suspects Due to Coronavirus
A leaked memo from a detention center in the United States advises prison staff that it will no longer be arresting and holding certain suspects as a result of the coronavirus.
The memo was leaked on social media platform Telegram and is marked “not for public release.” The name of the detention center has been redacted.
The memo states that “until further notice” the detention center will “only accept arrest and physically hold for” felonies, domestic violence charges and DWI.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Disproportional Number’ of Millennials Are Seriously Ill From Coronavirus
HOUSTON — From the beginning, experts have said most young people will have only mild symptoms if they get the coronavirus. Others won’t even know they have it.
The information was based on statistics from China, where the virus originated, and more than 80,000 people have been diagnosed.
But more recent statistics from European countries show some millennials and Gen X patients are getting very sick.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hillary Clinton and much of the mainstream media continue to amplify Chinese Communist Party propaganda by accusing President Trump of ‘racism’ for blaming Beijing for the coronavirus.
Trump was once again scolded by a reporter during his White House press conference today for referring to COVID-19 as the ‘Chinese Virus’, despite this being a completely accurate description given that the virus originated in Wuhan, China.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New York Halting Collection of Student Loans, Medical Debt
New York will halt collections of student and medical loan debts for the next month, hoping to provide relief for families impacted by the financial fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York Attorney General Letitia James made the announcement on Wednesday. New York has the highest infection rate of any state in the country, with nearly 2,400 logged by Wednesday afternoon.
Interest on student loans, as well as collection fees, will also be halted. The policy will last until at least April 15.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Oprah Winfrey Forced to Deny She Was Caught Up in Celebrity Sex Trafficking Arrests
Oprah Winfrey has been forced to deny claims she was caught up in a global sweep of arrests for sex trafficking after she trended number one on Twitter.
Rumors began to swirl on social media that Winfrey’s house in Boca Raton, Florida, had been raided by the authorities.
These were sparked by a Facebook post that claimed the property had been seized and was being “excavated.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pew Poll: 62 Per Cent of Americans Believe Media Has Exaggerated Coronavirus Risk
62 per cent of Americans believe that the media has exaggerated the threat of coronavirus, according to a new Pew Research poll.
The results of the survey found that 63 per cent of Americans believe the CDC and public health officials have got the risk of COID-19 about right, with just 21 per cent believing they have exaggerated the risks.
While 62 per cent think the media has overhyped the threat, 29 per cent believe President Trump hasn’t taken it seriously at all while a further 52 per cent say he has not taken the risk seriously enough.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Senate Passes Coronavirus Bill From House With No Changes, Sends to Trump for Signature
The Senate has passed the House coronavirus relief bill 90-8 on Wednesday, without changing anything.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Video: Trump Defends Calling COVID 19 “The Chinese Virus”
Update:
They’re still at it…
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Antifa Marches in Montreal Despite COVID-19 Warnings to Avoid Large Crowds
Approximately 100 masked Antifa members marched through downtown Montreal on Sunday despite current COVID-19 health recommendations to avoid large crowds and practice social distancing.
The demonstration was a part of an annual protest against police brutality.
According to police spokesperson Manuel Anglade, two people were arrested on the scene for mischief and uttering threats.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Coronavirus: Deaths in Italy Up to 2,503; 26,602 Infected
Total number of cases up to 31,056, almost 3,000 have recovered
(ANSA) — Rome, March 17 — Emergency Commissioner and Civil Protection Chief Angelo Borrelli said Tuesday that 2,503 people have now died with the coronavirus in Italy, 345 more than Monday. That was down slightly on the daily rise of 349 on Monday, which, in turn, was slight lower than Sunday’s figure for fatalities. The number of new cases of COVID-19 grew again, however, after a small deceleration on Monday.
Borrelli said 26,062 people are currently infected with the coronavirus in Italy, 2,989 more than Monday. The rise in new cases of contagions was 2,470 on Monday, compared to 2,853 on Sunday. Borrelli said that 2,941 people in Italy have now recovered from the coronavirus, 192 more than Monday. On Monday the rise in those recovered was 414. The overall number of people infected in Italy, including the dead and those who have recovered, has reached 31,056.
The government has imposed tough lockdown measures in a bid to stop the spread of the virus, although it could take weeks for the results to show in terms of a consistent drop in new cases.
Lombardy, the northern region hit hardest by the pandemic, almost ran out of beds in intensive care for coronavirus patients Monday, the region’s welfare councilor Giulio Gallera said Tuesday.
A hospital in the Lombardy city of Bergamo on Tuesday said it had run out space in intensive care.
The Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital said all its 80 IC beds, reserved for people in serious condition with the coronavirus, were full.
Sick people needing ventilation and oxygen will be treated “by resorting to the Italian intensive-care network”, the hospital said.
Borrelli said the Italian army’s field hospital for the coronavirus will be set up in Bergamo.
He also said 50 patients in intensive care with the coronavirus were moved out of hospitals in Lombardy to other regions on Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy’s healthcare system is in a state of almost total collapse. As of today, 31,506 people in Italy have been infected with the coronavirus; of which 2,503 people have died. The numbers continue to grow. Hospitals are overwhelmed. Doctors have to choose which sick person to save and which sick person not to save.
The country has almost completely shut down. Many businesses are running in slow motion or have stopped. Prisoners are staging uprisings. Millions of people have been ordered to stay home and are allowed out only briefly to buy food. Most shops are shut. All public gatherings are prohibited, even funerals. Big cities look like ghost towns.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France and Italy Consider Nationalisation of Airlines Crippled by Coronavirus
Both the French and Italian governments are considering measures to stem the economic effects of the coronavirus outbreak, including possible nationalisation of major airlines.
French Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire stated this week that President Emmanuel Macron’s government would take all required steps to mitigate the economic effects of the coronavirus outbreak which has locked down the entire country.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hungary Announces Successful Isolation of Coronavirus
Hungary’s chief medical officer Cecilia Müller announced Tuesday that researchers at the national security lab of the National Centre for Public Health (NNK) have successfully isolated the Wuhan coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Müller said in a press conference that the isolation of the pathogen, achieved by a team led by virologist Zoltan Kiss, will allow scientists to begin developing a vaccine against the coronavirus as well as testing various antiviral therapies.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Reported 475 Coronavirus Deaths Wednesday, Highest Single-Day Toll of Any Country
Italy continues to be the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Europe, with the country on Wednesday posting a grim new record of 475 coronavirus deaths in one day.
Italy has the second-highest number of coronavirus deaths of any country in the world, at around 3,000. It is rapidly approaching China’s total of roughly 3,200. Over the past week, China has reported that the outbreak is on the decline there. On the same day as Italy’s record number, China recorded 11 deaths.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy’s New Coronavirus Cases Drop Slightly, Prompting Hope
Italian health officials announced Tuesday evening that a modest drop in new cases of the coronavirus is cause for cautious hope that the countrywide lockdown may be having an effect.
The director of Italy’s Superior Health Council, Dr. Franco Locatelli, said that the drop in the number of new infections and victims would need to be replicated in the next couple days, but as it stands we look at it “with confident attention.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Police Could Detain Britons Who Refuse Coronavirus Test Under Emergency Law
The Emergency Coronavirus Bill is set to be passed in the House of Commons without a vote in the coming days and could result in citizens being detained by police and even placed in isolation facilities for refusing to be tested for COVID-19.
In a document released by the Department of Health and Social Care on Tuesday, the government announced that it would be “strengthening the quarantine powers of police and immigration officers”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pope Francis Urges Families to Rediscover Affection During Coronavirus Crisis
ROME — Pope Francis has urged people not to “waste” the opportunities for growth presented by this period of trial, recommending families to rediscover the affection that binds them together.
“During these difficult days we can find small, concrete gestures expressing closeness and concreteness towards the people closest to us, a caress for our grandparents, a kiss for our children, for the people we love,” the pope said during an interview published Wednesday in La Repubblica. “These are important, decisive gestures. If we live these days like this, they won’t be wasted.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Closes All Schools From Friday to Slow Spread of Coronavirus
The Prime Minister and the Education secretary have announced that all schools in England will be closed from Friday, but the children of ‘key workers’ including doctors and nurses will still be expected to attend.
Education secretary Gavin Williamson told the House of Commons on Wednesday that “after schools shut their gates on Friday afternoon, they will remain closed until further notice.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The British parliament’s weekly questions-and-answers session with the Prime Minister was sparsely attended Wednesday, as parties told members to stay away from the debating chamber unless their presence was essential.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Brexit: Raab Rejects Transition Extension Because of Coronavirus
Foreign secretary Dominic Raab has rejected the suggestion that the UK should delay the Brexit transition period leaving date because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The UK is currently in a transition period where it remains tied to the EU’s rules and has continued access to the Customs Union and Single Market until December 31st, 2020 despite being theoretically free of the bloc. During this time, London and Brussels negotiators will agree on a trade deal; if one is not agreed, the UK will trade with the bloc on World Trade Organization terms at the end of the year.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Pics: Empty Streets of London as Government Considers Enforcing City Shutdown
London, one of the busiest cities in the world, has become reminiscent of a scene from a science fiction movie as streets empty after Prime Minister Boris Johnson urges Britons to stay at home and self-isolate because of the coronavirus pandemic.
During a televised coronavirus update on Wednesday, Prime Minister Johnson would not rule out enforcing a shutdown of London, which is the worst affected region in the country, saying: “We’ve always said that we are going to do the right measures at the right time.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Watch: Dutch Health Minister Collapses at Podium During Parliament Debate on Coronavirus
A debate on coronavirus was adjourned mid-session Wednesday afternoon after the Dutch minister for medical care collapsed while standing at the dispatch box.
An address to the floor by right-wing populist and Dutch Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders was interrupted Wednesday when Bruno Bruins, the minister for medical care in the Dutch government who is one of the leaders of the nation’s coronavirus response collapsed at his desk. Bruins was helped to his feet by parliamentary ushers and government colleagues before walking from the chamber, the debate on coronavirus was then suspended until later Wednesday evening.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
World COVID-19 Infections Pass 200,000; Europe’s Borders Jammed
BERLIN (AP) —Desperate travelers choked European border crossings Wednesday after countries implemented strict controls to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus, which has now infected more than 200,000 people worldwide and killed more than 8,000.
In releasing the new figures, Johns Hopkins University also said more than 82,000 people recovered from the virus, which causes only mild or moderate symptoms such as fever and cough for most people, although severe illness is more likely in the elderly and those with existing health problems.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Balkan Countries Fight Coronavirus Amid Lack of Doctors and Medical Supplies
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — The main Serbian hospital treating patients infected with coronavirus looks like an abandoned building, but it isn’t.
With its rundown facade, peeling walls and rooms crammed with metal beds, the downtown Belgrade clinic for infectious diseases has for decades been a symbol of Serbia’s depleted health system that now has to cope with a major virus outbreak.
“If coronavirus doesn’t kill you, that hospital surely will,” said Bane Spasic, a middle-aged man who recently visited the place for a minor infection.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Israeli Nobel Laureate: Coronavirus Spread is Slowing
The coronavirus epidemic is slowing down in China, and will not pose a risk to the majority of people, an Israeli Nobel Prize laureate has said.
Michael Levitt, an American-British-Israeli biophysicist who won the 2013 Nobel prize for chemistry for “the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems,” has become something of a household name in China over the last few months. Although his specialty is not in epidemiology, he accurately forecast the slowing down of the spread of the virus in February, giving hope to those affected by the lockdown.
But far from being a modern-day prophet, he explained in an interview with Calcalist that he simply crunched the numbers.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Iran Backs China, Calls to Investigate U.S. ‘Creation and Spread’ of Coronavirus
Iran has backed China’s calls to investigate yet unfounded claims of the United States being the origin of the new coronavirus as an international blame game worsened over a pandemic that has infected more than 200,000 people across the globe.
Iranian Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani lashed out on Twitter Wednesday against what he called the “typical way” in which some U.S. officials have emphasized China and its central Hubei province city of Wuhan as the likely place where the COVID-19 disease began and have blamed both Beijing and Tehran’s governments for failing to stop its spread. Shamkhani argued this was being done by U.S. officials done in order to “evade responsibility” themselves.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Iran Sees Biggest Single-Day Spike in Coronavirus Deaths, As Toll Surpasses 1,135
A 15 percent spike in the coronavirus death toll in Iran overnight Tuesday marked the country’s single biggest 24-hour rise since officials first acknowledged COVID-19 cases in mid-February.
Officials said Wednesday that another 147 people have died, meaning at least 1,135 people are dead nationwide.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Iran’s Supreme Leader to Pardon 10,000 Prisoners, Including Political Ones
DUBAI (Reuters) — Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will pardon 10,000 prisoners including political ones in honor of the Iranian new year on Friday, state TV reported.
“Those who will be pardoned will not return to jail … almost half of those security-related prisoners will be pardoned as well,” judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili told state TV on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Esmaili said Iran had temporarily freed about 85,000 people from jail, including political prisoners, in response to the coronavirus epidemic.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
2 Months Ago, China Told the World Coronavirus Was Not Contagious
Further underscoring the Chinese government’s role in bungling early intervention in the coronavirus pandemic, a tweet from January reminds the world that China initially claimed the disease was not transmittable between humans.
The World Health Organization had tweeted on January 14 that “preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission” of the deadly disease.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
China Threatens EMP Attack in South China Sea
Chinese state media on Tuesday rather unsubtly decided this would be a good time to chat with a panel of “experts” about the possibility of using an electromagnetic pulse weapon (EMP) against American ships that enter portions of the South China Sea illegally claimed by Beijing.
The timing suggests it was a bit of saber-rattling by a Communist Party nervous about its power and prestige after the Wuhan virus disaster, but some degree of escalation in the South China Sea has long been a concern for the U.S. Navy and ships from across the free world.
To put it bluntly, an EMP strike on U.S. warships would involve detonating a small nuclear warhead above them, but China’s state-run Global Times threw in some speculation about “low-energy laser devices” to keep their saber from rattling too loudly:
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
China’s War on Religion Ensnares American-Based Pastor John Cao
In addition to trying to pin the blame for the coronavirus pandemic on the United States, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) under Party Chairman Xi Jinping is executing an anti-Christian campaign, the intensity of which has not been seen since Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution in the mid-1960s.
Persecution against Christians was reignited in earnest after the 19th CCP Congress in 2017. The state’s drive against Christian symbols, churches, and clerics seems to have become justified under the CCP’s “Sinicization of China’s Religions” initiative. The CCP appears determined to secularize religious thought, suborning it to serve state interests. Its anti-Christian project seems designed primarily to sever all international links that religious people have, whether those ties are Christian or Muslim.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
China: Japanese Coronavirus Medicine ‘Effective’
Medical authorities in China have said a drug used in Japan to treat new strains of influenza appeared to be effective in coronavirus patients, the Guardian writes. Zhang Xinmin, an official at China’s science and technology ministry, said favipiravir had produced encouraging outcomes in clinical trials in Wuhan and Shenzhen involving 340 patients. “It has a high degree of safety and is clearly effective in treatment,” Zhang told reporters.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Coronavirus Shock: Faster Intervention Could Have Reduced Chinese Infection Rates by 95%
CHINA could have reduced its coronavirus infection rates by as much as 95 percent, if authorities had introduced their containment measures three weeks earlier, a new scientific study has revealed.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Coronavirus Cases:
219,138
view by country
Deaths:
8,965
Recovered:
85,742
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
People With Type A Blood Are More Likely to Catch Coronavirus Than Those With Type O, Study Claims
In the general population Type O blood (34%) is more common than A (32%). However, among COVID-19 patients, people with Type O accounted for just 25%, whereas Type A made up 41%, study said.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
YouTube Says it Will Stop Classifying Coronavirus as a “Sensitive Event” In the Coming Weeks
One of the first changes YouTube made in response to the coronavirus outbreak was to automatically demonetize creators that mentioned coronavirus.
After creators slammed the policy because they felt it was unfair that they weren’t allowed to earn revenue when talking about one of the world’s biggest news stories, YouTube updated its policies around coronavirus monetization and said that it would pick and choose the creators that are allowed to monetize.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Australia’s coronavirus cases have soared to 561 as Scott Morrison announced strict new measures to combat the pandemic.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
A young mother-of-two broke down in tears at a pharmacy in Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Tuesday after discovering that coronavirus hoarders had bought all of the Children’s Panadol Baby Drops.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Pictures have emerged showing three-tonne pallet loads of baby formula sitting on the tarmac at Sydney airport ready to be flown to Hong Kong.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Jane Housley, a 61-year-old woman with multiple sclerosis, got up at 5.30am so she could shop at her Woolworths in western Sydney. Aggressive shoppers pushed aside the elderly on walkers.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
A centuries-old play has been quoted as a scorned Sydney doctor was sentenced for abusing her former lover, his new girlfriend and his girlfriend’s mother.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
The stampede at the Coles in Baldivis, Perth, on Wednesday left a 13-year-old girl injured and crying on the ground.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
When the government websites and data analytics of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic are failing to keep up with the latest information, websites run by private citizens are filling the gap.
Australia, for instance, has fallen prey to the outbreak with the official stats of the country saying that 454 cases have been identified so far. However, individual outlets paint a different picture altogether.
Some Australian citizens, thanks to the internet, are posting more real-time data they have gathered — because of which, it is now being speculated that Australia has more than 454 cases of coronavirus.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Heidi Strbak was sentenced to nine years’ jail in 2017 after she pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of her son Tyrell Cobb on the Gold Coast.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Jeremy De Haan was fishing in the Cape Pallarenda near Townsville in far north Queensland last week when he caught a monster Queensland Grouper.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
The volunteers announced that they would be delivering free food to self-isolated people in Melbourne’s south-east for the next two weeks.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Africa Wary of European Tourists Spreading Virus
Italy’s far-right leader Matteo Salvini last month demanded “armour-plated” borders, over fears African boat migrants would spread Covid-19 into his country.
Two days later sub-Saharan Africa announced its first case — shortly after a 44-year old Italian landed at Lagos airport in Nigeria. Algeria did the same when another Italian was found to have also contracted the virus.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Marine Scientists Discover Two New Species of Shark
(CN) — An international team of marine scientists has discovered not just one but two new species of the rarely seen six-gilled sawshark in the West Indian Ocean.
The newly discovered sharks go by the scientific names Pliotrema kajae and Pliotrema annae, but are more affectionately known as Kaja’s and Anna’s six-gill sawsharks. They were discovered during a research project aimed at investigating small-scale fisheries operating off the coasts of Madagascar and Zanzibar.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Billionaire Bill Ackman: “America Will End as We Know it” Unless Trump Shuts Down Borders
Billionaire Bill Ackman has warned President Trump that unless he totally shuts down the borders, sends people home for 30 days and has the government cover their wages, “America will end as we know it.”
Following up from a tweet in which he called on Trump to “shut down the country for the next 30 days and close the borders,” Ackman told CNBC “hell is coming” and the entire system of capitalism would collapse unless drastic measures were taken now.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Security Minister Calls for Illegal Immigrants to be Removed From Streets
As the coronavirus continues to spread rapidly across Europe, Bosnian’s Security Minister has called for illegal economic migrants to be removed from streets so that their uncontrolled movement can be prevented.
Fahrudin Radoncic, Bosnia’s Minister of Security, has called on the police commissioners from the country’s various municipalities to order their police officers to remove illegal economic migrants from the streets, and relocate them to former military facilities or newly created, enclosed migrant camps, Sarajevo Times reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Island Migrant Camps Put on Lockdown Over Coronavirus
Migrant reception centres on several Greek islands have been put under a two-week lockdown this week in order to mitigate the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus.
The lockdown will apply to all visitors and volunteers as well as the staff of organisations and NGOs working with migrants. Services at the reception centres, such as schools and other facilities, will also be shut down.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Greek Police Use Tear Gas to Repel Fighting-Aged Male Invaders at Turkish Border
THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Clashes broke out overnight on Greece’s border with Turkey early Wednesday, after about 500 migrants attempted to break down a border fence and enter Greece.
Greek police said they used tear gas to repel the push to break down the fence south of the Kastanies border crossing. They said Turkish authorities also fired tear gas at the Greek border. The clashes began at 2 a.m. and lasted for roughly two hours.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Greek-Turkish Border Returns to Normal — But for How Long?
The number of migrants attempting to cross illegally from Turkey into Greece returned to normal levels on Monday and Tuesday following the efforts of the Greek security forces, aided by officers sent from other European countries, to halt them. But it’s unclear how long this respite will last.
“The last few days, the situation at the borders was very stable,” a spokesman for Greece’s Foreign Ministry told EUobserver in a report on the situation. “We had very few attempts from migrants to enter.” Similar statements were made by representatives of both the EU and the UN.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Immigrants Violently Defy Coronavirus Quarantines in Germany, Hungary
Immigrants who have come to Europe in recent years seem to have grown accustomed to being able to travel wherever they wish, whenever they wish without having to respect the authorities. And now, they’re balking at being told that they have to remain under quarantine due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic.
In a migrant center in Suhl, Germany on Monday, approximately 30 migrants blocked the entrance to the dining area to protest against being kept under coronavirus quarantine, taking a child hostage in the process, according to a report by the German news site Junge Freiheit. The center is currently home to approximately 500 migrants.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Leaked Greek Diplomatic Letter Warns of Major Provocation by Turkey
A leaked diplomatic letter from the Greek government to several of its embassies has claimed that the Turkish government is looking to use the coronavirus outbreak as cover for a major provocation on the border.
The letter was sent by the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs to embassies in the United States, Germany, France, and the UK. It stated that intelligence officials had determined there was a high likelihood of a Turkish provocation along the border.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Migrants: Greece to Offer 2,000-Euro Repatriation Incentive
For 5,000 people, but only if arrived prior to January 1
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MARCH 13 — Greece Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis and EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson agreed on the creation of an incentive for voluntary repatriation of migrants currently in Greece, during a meeting in Athens on Thursday.
Greek media said the measure foresees an incentive of 2,000 euros valid for one month for 5,000 migrants who agree to voluntarily repatriate, and will be available only to those who were already in Greece as of January 1, in particular in overcrowded structures on the Aegean Islands.
Mitarakis and Johansson said the repatriations will take place with the support of the UN Migration Agency (IOM) and European border agency Frontex.
“It’s an opportunity to reduce the pressure on the Greek islands,” Johansson said.
Mitarakis said these repatriations will be in addition to the operation to transfer 10,000 migrants from the islands to the Greek mainland, which should conclude by the end of March.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Migrants housed at a refugee camp in Germany began rioting, displayed the ISIS flag and subsequently tried to escape after they were put under a coronavirus quarantine.
After a migrant tested positive for coronavirus at the facility in Suhl, Thuringia, a quarantine was ordered for the other 533 residents and the camp was sealed off.
“But the measure, which in times of Corona seems not at all unusual, apparently drove the asylum seekers to a fury,” reports Compact Online. “Some of them started rioting and prevented inmates from entering the dining hall in order to force a hunger strike. They are said to have tried to leave the facility through the sewers to get to the nearby town.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Migrants Locked Down in Greece and Serbia as Coronavirus Prevention Measure
Migrants and asylum-seekers being held at detention centers in Greece and Serbia are being placed under lockdown as a coronavirus prevention measure.
Greece has declared that no visitors, including representatives of organizations, will be allowed into their migrant centers on the Greek islands for at least two weeks, according to a report at the Ekathimerini news site.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump to Remove Migrants Who Cross U.S.-Mexico Border Illegally, Due to Coronavirus
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday his administration will use a health-focused statute to swiftly remove migrants or asylum seekers who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally as part of efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
During a White House news conference, Trump confirmed he would invoke a statute allowing the surgeon general, the United States’ top public health official, to block people or goods from certain countries or places to prevent the spread of communicable diseases.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Accused of ‘Fanning Flames’ of Europe Coronavirus Crisis by Pushing Migrants to Border
Turkey has been accused of “Fanning the flames of Europe’s coronavirus crisis” by crowding migrants onto its frontier with Greece.
Seth J Frantzman, a U.S.-born academic and Middle East affairs analyst with The Jerusalem Post, said that the Turkish government had “sought to distract from its losses in [the Syrian province of] Idlib by creating a migrant crisis on the Greek border”, abetted by Turkish media pushing “populist messages of Turkish troops aiming rifles at Greece and Turkish drones flying over the border”.
Dr Frantzman warned that Turkey’s “denial of health care” to migrants — an accusation he sources to Human Rights Watch — had taken on “added dimensions amid the coronavirus pandemic”, particularly given a previous admission by Turkish officials that preventing the virus’s spread through migrant encampments was “Mission: Impossible”.
Turkey, Frantzman said, was “shoehorning refugees into Europe at a time when Europe is suffering a pandemic” and encouraging them to “gather in crowds” to try and storm the border at a time when people the world over are being urged to practise social distancing — while taking drastic measures to protect its own borders.
| — Hat tip: AF | [Return to headlines] |
Bill to Keep Biological Males Out of Female Sports Passes Idaho Senate
The Idaho Senate passed a bill on Monday to prohibit biological males who identify as female from competing in girls’ and women’s sports, with an amendment that must now be approved by the Idaho House of Representatives.
Known as the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, the bill passed the Senate 24-11. Idaho’s House of Representatives passed the original bill in February.
Critics of the bill say it discriminates against transgender athletes. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Barbara Ehardt, says it is only meant to protect women and girls.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Jessica Yaniv Pleads Guilty to Weapons Charge
Jessica Yaniv appeared in a BC Courthouse today on charges of prohibited weapons possession. The charges came after Yaniv, a notorious vexatious litigant and alleged child sexual predator, discharged a taser on Blaire White’s YouTube channel during a livestream.
[Comment: Article dated March 17, 2020.]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pro-Life Illinois Democrat Loses House Seat
Pro-life Democratic Rep. Dan Lipinksi lost his seat in the House of Representativesafter losing the primary election. The eight-term congressman failed to survive another challenge from Marie Newman, who he won against by just two points in 2018.
Newman was backed by Bernie Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and several progressive groups, according to the Washington Examiner.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Wikipedia Proposes Renaming Its Spanish Flu Article to “1918 Influenza Pandemic”
As the coronavirus continues to spread, many have referred to it as “the Chinese virus” and “Wuhan flu” because of its origins in Wuhan, China.
Despite several viruses, such as Ebola and the Zika virus, being named after where they originate, state-controlled Chinese media outlets, international agencies, public figures, and reporters have attempted to frame the names Chinese virus and Wuhan flu as racist.
And amid these calls to control how the coronavirus is described, Wikipedia is now proposing renaming its article on the Spanish flu to “1918 influenza pandemic.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
By testing a whole village for the corona virus, Italian authorities have now been able to calculate mortality without the uncertainty factor.
And the result is uplifting: only one percent of the sick died.
In Vo Euganeo outside Venice, Italian authorities chose to test all of the city’s 3,341 inhabitants for the corona virus. And the result is startling: half of those infected with the virus showed no symptoms, and the total death toll is estimated at about one percent – that is, just under a third of WHO’s official estimate.
However, one percent is still ten times more than for seasonal flu and since immunity does not exist before the corona virus, it spreads faster than the flu and affects many more.
Most authorities and experts in the field today agree that a majority of the earth’s population is likely to be infected by the new corona virus.
If 60 percent of earth’s population is infected and mortality is one percent, it means that about 50 million people will die.
However, the decisive factor for the death toll to not be higher is that the infected have access to care – which in turn presupposes that we succeed in slowing down the rate of virus spread.
Thank you for your good and illuminating summary!
When I get a chance, I will use the above numbers, roughly simulate the situation in Germany, and guesstimate the possible, excess deaths from Frau Merkel and associates acting as they have.
https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/fguheu/why_have_so_few_people_died_of_covid19_in_germany/
There’s no guarantee that the young virus will not mutate. The Chinese have announced there’s one aggressive mutation of the virus.
Beside quarantine and slow down process, I demand all those who contributed to the development of the virus and their enablers to be hanged for crimes against humanity. They should not get away with this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKTbhC0s5xg
” two members of Congress, one Republican and one Democrat, have tested positive for the coronavirus.”
Even this cursed corona virus is justice-blind: for him Rep = dem what a travesty of justice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7NH9gkTAvA
“The Idaho Senate passed a bill on Monday to prohibit biological males who identify as female from competing in girls’ and women’s sports, with an amendment that must now be approved by the Idaho House of Representatives.”
Mhm, this is a good bill.
Actual transsexuals would naturally refrain from such public events as competitions during transitioning and everybody else wanting to take advantage should be banned.
Only 50 million worldwide? American Woman erased over 60,000,000 of their own babies with a cold steel heart that competes with Dr. Mengele? Corona is nothing compared to our crazed feminists! What’s the antidote for them?
The female and muzlim “races” deserve each other. Surely it can be arranged.
It’s FEMINISTS who have genocided innocent babies.
I can’t guess who will gain billions with this story.
Compare deaths of tuberculosis, influenza or HIV.
An international fake.
Brace yourself for the…toilet paper riots. Stock up on ammo as TP is the new currency of the glorious Tower of Babel 2.0!
Globalist pimps be all smart and [ordure] because they are bestest and brightestest!
The golden utopia they will build. Yes we can.
Trust your mechanic. No one outside of the subdivision sector past 1900hrs.
The comfort you demanded is now mandatory…shut up be happy.
Hat tip-Jello B.
https://twitter.com/BasedPoland/status/1240449101029945345
migrant chaos in Italy
https://twitter.com/BasedPoland/status/1240565822109745152
migrant chaos continues
https://twitter.com/BasedPoland/status/1240650072217575425
https://summit.news/2020/03/19/videos-show-looting-fights-at-supermarkets-in-london-paris/
https://summit.news/2020/03/19/video-migrants-in-paris-refusing-to-comply-with-quarantine-order/
https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1240731516222791681
https://twitter.com/BasedPoland/status/1240767301739319298
“Also…What is it with Arabs and cooking oil? They always have insane quantities of it at home…”
Normally I’d assume its for falafel. Also, gotta love all that Nutella he stocked, we all know how ornery migrants get without it.
Perhaps they use it to have sex with their goats.