France and Italy entered a coronavirus recession during the first quarter of this year, and Spain has experienced a record decline in GDP. Meanwhile, the governor of Florida will allow the reopening of some businesses beginning next Monday. Also, a woman in Ontario was issued a $880 ticket for standing too long in a park with her dog and her baby.
In other news, 50 Chechen migrants stormed an asylum center in France to attack their African rivals.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Fjordman, 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.
30.3M Americans Have Now Filed for Unemployment in Past 6 Weeks — 18.4% of Entire U.S. Workforce
Another 3.84 million Americans filed for unemployment last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday, bringing the six-week total number of U.S. citizens filing for jobless benefits to a stunning 30.3 million.
Today’s report of 3.84 million Americans filing for unemployment in the prior week is on top of the previous five weeks’ reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
April Delivers Worst Auto Sales Month in at Least 30 Years
April was the worst month for auto sales in at least three decades, new data show, a devastating indication of the worsening economic condition brought about by the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting state shutdowns.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Coronavirus: World Economy ‘Unlikely to Recover to Pre-Pandemic Levels Before 2022’
The world’s economy is unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels before 2022 at the earliest, the Dutch banking group ING has warned.
The bank says the scale of the current economic crisis is much worse than that of 2008.
“This is clearly just the start,” ING economist James Smith told Euronews Now. “Don’t forget these lockdowns were only brought in at the end of the first quarter, so the second-quarter numbers are going to be just as bad.
“Such is the scale of the crisis we are seeing at the moment, the recovery’s going to be very slow. At ING we don’t expect the likes of the Eurozone or the US or the UK economies to regain the size of where they were before the virus until say 2022 or later. It’s going to take a lot of time to pick up the pieces.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Coronavirus Downturn: France and Italy in Recession as Spain Sees Record GDP Decline
France and Italy entered a recession in the first three months of this year while Spain’s GDP plunged sharply, new data on COVID-19’s impact on European economies indicates.
The preliminary growth figures for Europe come just a day after US authorities revealed the country’s GDP had contracted for the first time since 2014.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
China expert Professor James Laurenceson predicts cashed-up Chinese investors will continue having an interest in Australian property — despite diplomatic tensions over coronavirus.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Stock Market News Live Updates: Stocks End Lower, But S&P 500 Has Best Month Since 1987
Stocks fell Thursday after the Labor Department’s latest print on new weekly jobless claims showed a greater than expected 3.8 million individuals filed for initial unemployment insurance last week.
However, rallies earlier in the month pushed the S&P 500 to post its best monthly gain since 1987. The blue-chip index was up 12.68% for April. The Dow rose 11% for April, and the Nasdaq jumped 15.45%.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Armed Protesters Flood Michigan Capitol as Whitmer Attempts to Override State Legislature
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing as the legislature considered a measure to extend Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s state of emergency declaration. The House of Representatives voted down an extension of the order, but Whitmer claimed she has broad authority to continue the lockdown regardless. This response only adds to the evidence she is abusing her authority amid the coronavirus crisis.
Protesters waved American flags and open-carried firearms as some changed, “Let us in!” and “This is the people’s house, you cannot lock us out.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Coronageddon 2: FEMA Orders 100,000 More Body Bags
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has ordered 100,000 more ‘human remains pouches’ in preparation for a second wave of coronavirus, expected to hit in the fall, as more than a million cases and 60,000 deaths were confirmed in the US.
The order for the body bags, costing $5.1 million, was made last week, coming only weeks after a previous order for 100,000 body bags in a contract with the DoD.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Elon Musk Calls Shelter-in-Place Orders “Fascist”
During a Tesla earnings call Wednesday, CEO Elon Musk went into a tirade calling the shelter-in-place orders across the United States “fascist” actions that are robbing the American people of their freedom.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Internal FBI documents unsealed on Thursday show that as the FBI moved to close the investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn due to lack of evidence, disgraced former FBI agent Peter Strzok intervened to keep it open and active.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Florida to Reopen Some Businesses on Monday, Governor Announces
Restaurants and stores in Florida will able to open at 25% capacity starting on Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Wednesday.
DeSantis said the order would exclude Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties, adding that those counties would be able to enter phase one of the reopening plan “soon.” The state’s stay-at-home order expires on Thursday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Fox News is Only TV Network That Has Offered Biden Accuser Tara Reade an Interview
Fox News remains the only news network to have offered Joe Biden sexual assault accuser Tara Reade an interview, she said Wednesday, despite her accusation having become widely known more than a month ago.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Joe Biden Fields Committee to Help Pick a Running Mate
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is assigning four close campaign allies to head up the process leading to one of his most important decisions: picking a running mate. Biden, who served as Barack Obama’s vice president, chose one of his former Senate colleagues, two elected politicians of color and a former aide to run a panel that scours the backgrounds of those who could be the first U.S. female vice president.
The panel’s co-chairs are U.S. Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, former U.S. Senator Chris Dodd and aide Cynthia Hogan, his campaign said in a statement on Thursday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
NASA Names Companies to Build Moon Landers for Human Missions
Nasa has chosen the companies that will develop landers to send astronauts to the Moon’s surface in the 2020s.
The White House wants to send the next man and the first woman to the Moon in 2024, to be followed by other missions.
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Alabama-based Dynetics were selected to build landers under the space agency’s Artemis programme.
The 2024 mission will see astronauts walk on the Moon’s surface for the first time since 1972.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Pelosi: “I’m Satisfied” With Biden’s Response to Sexual Assault Allegation
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said on Thursday she is “satisfied” with former Vice President Joe Biden’s response to the sexual assault allegations recently leveled at him, saying that she is supporting his run for president.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tara Reade Willing to Testify Under Oath That Joe Biden Sexually Assaulted Her
Tara Reade said Thursday that she is willing to testify under oath that presumptive 2020 Democratic nominee Joe Biden sexually assaulted her when she worked for the then-senator in the 1990s.
Joe Biden did not return a request for comment asking him if he would do the same.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump: New Documents Suggest “Total Exoneration” For Michael Flynn
President Trump on Thursday gave further indication that he may pardon federally convicted former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, suggesting the general was “totally exonerated” by a document dump indicating he may have been the victim of entrapment by federal investigators.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
U of Delaware Must Release Biden Senate Records Amid #MeToo scandal, FOIA Request Demands
The University of Delaware must release presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s Senate records, according to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request the pro-Trump super PAC Great America PAC filed on Thursday. Great America PAC insisted that former Biden staffer Tara Reade’s sexual assault claims made it even more important for the university to release the papers — which are already public record. Reade claims Biden digitally penetrated her in 1993, claims the presidential campaign denies — but which Biden has not personally addressed.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Video: Trump Vows ‘Action Against China is Coming’
Speaking from the Oval office Wednesday, President Trump reiterated that retaliation against China for its coverup and exacerbation of the coronavirus spread is coming soon.
Speaking about investigations underway by several intelligence agencies, including the NSA, CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency, Trump said information is “coming in and I’m getting pieces already. And we’re not happy about it.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
CBC Targets Independent News Outlet for ‘Racism’ After it Reports Accurately on China
CBC is under fire after publishing a hostile article targeting an independent media outlet founded by members of a highly-persecuted Chinese religious minority for its accurate reporting on China.
The Epoch Times was established in 2000 by Chinese immigrants attempting to shed light on the abuse and censorship of members of the Falun Dafa/Gong religion in mainland China. It has been a mainstay of anti-Chinese state censorship, often publishing whistleblower accounts of human rights abuses taking place within the nation. Throughout the coronavirus epidemic, The Epoch Times has been providing critical information on the extent of the outbreak within the Chinese mainland, often managing to access leaked documents and reveal the virus was far more widespread than Chinese authorities claimed.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Watch: Liberal Minister Posts Bizarre Video of Her Boxing With Punching Bag That Says ‘COVID-19’
Minister of Infrastructure and Communities Catherine McKenna posted a strange video of her socking a punching bag repeatedly in what we can only assume is a boxing workout.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Woman Fined $880 for Standing ‘Too Long’ In Aurora Park With Baby, Dog
A woman from Aurora, Ontario received an $880 ticket for “standing too long in a park.” She was there with her baby and dog and plans on fighting the ticket, according to the Toronto Sun.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Activists in Germany are again attempting to create narratives that the gaming community, particularly online, is rife with bigots and bigoted behaviors, such as racism, and misogyny.
The frustration of having such a large community that is unwilling to bend to their agendas is becoming too great and they’re back for another attack.
It’s now getting taken a step further with references to fascism. The campaign is strongly titled “No Pixels for Fascists,” and in the words of its representative Pascal Wagner, it is a network of bloggers, journalists, podcasters, YouTubers, developers, and others who are uniting against what is described as “anti-democratic and inhumane” gaming trends.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
AfD Forces Germany to Act Against Hezbollah
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer announced he would outlaw the activities of terror organization Hezbollah today.
Petr Bystron, AfD Spokesman on the Foreign Policy Committee of the German Bundestag, said:
“Almost a year ago, on June 6, 2019, the AfD filed a motion to outlaw Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and abolish the absurd distinction between a “political” and a “military” arm of Hezbollah. Germany has become the world’s most important nexus for Hezbollah’s arms and drug deals, with which they finance terror against Israel. They have approx. 1050 active members in Germany, recruiting and raising money.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark Foils Imminent ‘Islamist Motive’ Terror Gun Plot, Arrest Made
Copenhagen police say they “averted a terrorist attack” Thursday with the arrest of a man with alleged Islamist motives in the morning.
A “coordinated police action” took place in the Danish capital city Thursday, allowing the security services to thwart “a terror attack with a militant Islamic motive”, they said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU Commission Admits Hungary Broke No Rules With Coronavirus Law
The European Commission will not take measures against the Hungarian government over its emergency coronavirus legislation, despite lurid allegations that Hungary had become a “dictatorship” overnight by opponents of Viktor Orban’s government.
Legal experts within the European Commission have conceded that there is no basis for a case against the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban for, as had been claimed by some, violations of the rights of the Hungarian people.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Formula One Has a 50-50 Chance of Going Racing: Agag
Formula E founder Alejandro Agag reckons both his electric series and Formula One have a 50-50 chance of getting races run due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has stalled both championships.
The Spaniard, whose city-based series started last November and completed five races before the virus forced it off the streets, said it was unclear how much was going to be possible as restrictions eased.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Considering ‘Coronavirus Cards’ To Allow Immune Citizens Freedom of Travel
Germany is considering handing out “coronavirus immunity cards” to its citizens that would allow those who have developed antibodies to COVID-19 to have more freedom than the as-yet uninfected.
Health Minister Jens Spahn said that the cards could make life easier “in many places” for Germans who could prove they were immune.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Greece: Elderly Woman Robbed and Raped by Roma Brothers
Police have charged two Roma (gypsy) brothers with raping an elderly woman in Zacharo, on the southwestern coast of Greece.
The suspects lived approximately 500 meters from the woman’s house, in a secluded area. On the night of Easter Sunday, the two brothers broke into her home in search of money and other valuables. While there, they decided to take turns raping the woman as well, according to a report by Pentapostagma.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Leo Varadkar Crisis: Support for European Union in Ireland Slumps to Seven-Year Low
SUPPORT for the European Union in Ireland has slumped to a seven-year low with the country divided over the bloc’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, an opinion poll shows.
The new research found Irish voters are overwhelmingly in support of their country’s EU membership, while opinion was mixed on Brussels’ handling of the outbreak. Some 84 percent of people said they believed Ireland should remain in the EU, according to the opinion poll commission by the pro-Brussels European Movement Ireland group. Support for the bloc was down from 93 percent last year after high levels of solidarity were shown for Ireland during the Brexit negotiations.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Man Arrested Trying to Enter Austrian Parliament With Machete
Police arrested a 33-year-old Austrian man after he tried to gain access to the country’s parliament while armed with a machete, claiming he only wanted to talk.
The incident took place on Tuesday morning at the Ballhausplatz, just outside the official offices of Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, and saw the man detained after asking a passerby for directions to the nation’s parliament.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
NATO Military Helicopter Lost in Ionian Sea, One Dead and Five Missing
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A military helicopter operating off a Canadian frigate taking part in a NATO operation in the Mediterranean crashed into the sea between Greece and Italy, the Canadian military said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Neighbour of French Terror Attacker Arrested Claiming to Have Same ‘Plans’
The neighbour of a man who attempted to assassinate several police officers in Colombes on Monday has been arrested for claiming he has the same “plans” as the suspected terrorist.
Police arrested the 20-year-old while searching the home of 29-year-old Youssef Tihlah, who rammed his car into two police officers on motorbikes on Monday in an attempt to kill the officers in an apparent terrorist attack.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Presidential Election in Poland in the Shadow of the Coronavirus
A serious dispute over the May presidential election in Poland has gripped the Polish nation ever since the coronavirus crisis took hold. Here are the epidemiological, political, legal, technical and logistical aspects of the issue:
Epidemiological conditions
The current course of the epidemic in Poland is relatively mild. The Polish government took preventative measures early and on a large scale. According to Worldometer data, on 29 April, with 38 million citizens, Poland had 12,415 cases and 606 fatalities. These numbers are an order of magnitude smaller than in most European countries. Medical recommendations for elections on 10 May are positive, provided they are postal elections. Traditional elections without the risk of an escalating epidemic can be organised in about two years.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Raab: UK Must ‘Double Down’ On Getting EU Trade Deal by Brexit Deadline
First Secretary of State Dominic Raab has said that the UK must “double down” on agreeing to a deal with the EU by the end of this year.
Mr Raab made the statement while leading Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday as Boris Johnson was attending to his fiancée Carrie Symonds, who had just given birth, and the couple’s new baby son.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Romania: President Accuses Social Democrats of Plotting With Hungary
The Romanian Parliament’s Chamber of Deputies passed a bill aimed at giving ethnic Hungarians in Transylvania more political autonomy on Tuesday. In response, Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis, accused the majority Social Democratic party of plotting with Hungary.
Transylvania was transferred from Hungary to Romania as part of the Treaty of Trianon that was negotiated at the end of the First World War in 1920, after the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, a large community of ethnic Hungarians remained in Transylvania, and their self-determination has been a constant point of tension between the two communities ever since.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has made a “decidedly uncivilized statement suitable to incite hatred”, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjartó said in a short statement posted on his Facebook page.
He was referring to Iohannis’s video statement released by his office on April 29, in which he accused the ethnic Hungarian minority in Transylvania, the Social Democratic Party there and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban of plotting to give Transylvania to Hungary.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish City Dumps One Ton of Chicken Manure in Park to Prevent Gatherings
For years, students have gathered in the city park in Lund, Sweden on April 30th to have a massive picnic feast; however, this year the city has forbidden students from attending the feast to prevent the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus.
To stop people from gathering at the park, the city council decided to dump one ton of chicken manure on the grassy area of the park, Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Terror Attack Averted in Copenhagen
According to the Copenhagen Police, a terror attack was averted in the Danish capital today.
Jørgen Bergen Skov, the police inspector from Copenhagen Police, revealed that the Danish intelligence agency PET has arrested an individual in an undisclosed area of the city.
The police stated that the person was motivated from a militant Islamic perspective and had attempted to procure weapons and munitions.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
UK Chief Medical Officer: ‘We Are Nowhere Near the End of This Epidemic’
Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for England, has warned that Britain is “nowhere near the end” of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking alongside Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has returned to frontline politics after his own bout with the Wuhan virus left him in intensive care for a spell, the Public Health England (PHE) technocrat issued his warning in an answer to a question from Robert Peston of ITV, who had pointed out that Britain’s death toll was “possibly the worst in Europe”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Boris: ‘We Are Past the Peak of This Disease’, But the End of Lockdown Remains Distant
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has hosted his first coronavirus press conference since returning to work after recovering from the disease, and has warned the British people that while the number of infections is falling, the end of lockdown remains distant.
Speaking from his official residence at 10 Downing Street Thursday afternoon, Mr Johnson apologised for having been absent from the briefings for so long, and in addressing the latest figures on infections noted the number of patients in intensive care beds was now falling.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Police Hunt Man Dressing as ‘Plague Doctor’ As Lockdown Fines Soar
UK police are on the hunt for a man who goes walking dressed as a 17th-century plague doctor, as official statistics reveal those fined for breaking lockdown measures to be more than 9,000, nearly triple the government’s earlier estimate.
The individual dons the black cloak, black hat, and beak-like mask whilst going for his government-allocated one walk a day and has been seen by locals in the Norwich suburb of Hellesdon in recent weeks.
While police admit that the person has committed no crimes, Norfolk Police has said that they want to “provide words of advice” to the walker, according to The Telegraph.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
United Kingdom Holds Minute’s Silence for Fallen Frontline Workers
A minute’s silence was observed across the UK as a tribute to frontline workers who have died in the country’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who returned to work on Monday, joined the tribute that started at 11 a.m. (local time), the BBC reported. More than 100 NHS and care staff have died with the virus, as have many transport and other key workers.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Albania: Man Wanted in Germany for Alleged ISIS Terror Plot Arrested
TIRANA, Albania — A 24-year-old man wanted in Germany for allegedly belonging to a cell that planned attacks on behalf of the Islamic State group has been arrested in Albania, police said Thursday.
Albanian police said the suspect, a citizen of Tajikistan identified only as K.Z., was arrested on an international warrant issued by a federal court in Karlsruhe, Germany.
Police said in a statement that the man is accused of being part of a terror group that has “founded a terror cell in Germany to make Jihad on behalf of the Islamic State.”
The statement did not say why the suspect was in Albania.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
India: New Species of Horned Frogs Discovered in NE
A team of Irish and Indian biologists from the University College Dublin (Ireland), the Natural History Museum (UK), and University of Delhi (India) have discovered three new species of horned frogs from the remote forested Himalayan regions of Northeast India — two from Nagaland and one from Manipur.
The scientists named two of the new species using words adapted from local tribal languages at their sites of discovery. The Naga Hills Horned Frog (Megophrys awuh), where the word “awuh” means “frog” in the Pochury language, the primary native tribe from the Melluri district of Nagaland state, and the Tamenglong Horned Frog (Megophrys numhbumaeng), where the name is derived from ‘nwmbwmaeng’ meaning “forest spirit” from the Rongmei (Ruangmei) language, the primary native tribe from the Tamenglong district of Manipur state. The third new species, the Dzükou Valley Horned Frog (Megophrys dzukou), was named after the only place that this potentially endangered new species was found that lies on the border of Nagaland and Manipur states.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
An Indonesian YouTuber is copping fierce backlash after filming himself offering Muslims $1,000 each to break their Ramadan fast by eating a slice of pizza
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
250 Chinese Ventilators Could Kill Coronavirus Patients, UK Doctors Warn
British doctors have warned that 250 ventilators bought from China could cause “significant patient harm, including death” if they are used on Chinese coronavirus suffers in hospitals in the United Kingdom.
Senior doctors from a National Health Service (NHS) regional trust in Birmingham said that the build of the Shangrila 510 model ventilators, made by Beijing Aeonmed Co Ltd, was “basic” and that the oxygen supply was “variable and unreliable”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
China on ‘High Alert’ as ‘Troublemaker’ US Patrols South China Sea
The Chinese military called the United States a “troublemaker” in the disputed South China Sea on Thursday, stressing that China was on “high alert” to safeguard its interests in the contested waters.
The two powers, already mired in a dispute over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, have engaged in tense stand-offs over the South China Sea, with two back-to-back operations by the US to challenge China’s expansive claims in the region in the last few days.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
China Exploiting the Coronavirus Pandemic to Expand in Asia
While the rest of the world is preoccupied with tackling the coronavirus pandemic, China is intensifying its efforts to extend its influence in the South China Sea by intimidating its Asian neighbours.
The arrival of China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier, together with five accompanying warships, in the South China Sea earlier this month has resulted in a significant increase in tensions in the Asia-Pacific region as Beijing seeks to take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to flex its muscles.
So far in April, there were claims that a Chinese coast guard vessel deliberately rammed and sank a Vietnamese fishing boat operating close to the disputed Paracel Islands. All the fishermen survived and were transferred to two other Vietnamese fishing vessels operating nearby.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Shi Zhengli, a lead researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, said the pathogen in the report was different from the strain of coronavirus that has triggered the pandemic.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Democracies Need to Back Taiwan’s Bid to Join the World Health Organization
Recently, 127 European parliamentarians backed a bid by Taiwan (The Republic of China) to join the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO). All democratic governments — in fact, every government: 184 have been ravaged by Covid-19 and its economic ravages — need to make Taiwan’s WHO membership a reality.
The WHO was founded in 1948 with a mandate to ensure that all peoples of the world attain the highest possible level of health. Ironically, the WHO excludes Taiwan and its more than 23.8 million people from its care. WHO shares little of its biomedical and health research information with Taiwan, which is not invitedeven to its emergency meetings.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
How China Appoints 4.5 Million “Administrators” To Snoop on and Report Neighbors Who Don’t Conform
While a better part of the world inflicted by the pandemic is not on good terms with the surveillance and censorship measures being introduced, China is in a different league altogether. The Chinese Communist Party-lead superpower has appointed “grid administrators” with the ultimate power to inspect homes and lifestyles of anyone any time of the day and enforce strict social distancing and quarantine measures.
4.5 million of those grid administrators have been hired by the Chinese government to carry out the task of policing people on whether they are following the state’s orders to battle the pandemic.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Impossible to Hold Olympics Unless Pandemic Contained: Abe
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday that the Tokyo Olympics could not take place next year unless the coronavirus pandemic is contained, as the city’s governor requested an extension of Japan’s state of emergency.
The International Olympic Committee and the Japanese government last month postponed the Games until July 2021 because of the coronavirus crisis.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence confirmed on-record for the first time Thursday that the U.S. intelligence community is investigating whether the coronavirus outbreak, which has wreaked havoc across the globe, started as the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan, China.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Intel Boss Confirms U.S. Is Investigating Whether Coronavirus Came From Chinese Lab
U.S. intelligence operatives are actively investigating whether the coronavirus escaped from a virology lab in Wuhan, China, the office of the director of national intelligence confirmed on Thursday.
The office of acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell said in a statement that the U.S. intelligence community “concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not man-made or genetically modified.” The DNI still is not precluding that the outbreak may have originated in a lab from natural specimens.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Kim Jong-Un’s Sister Could Succeed as N.Korean Leader, Says Think Tank
Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has been seen exerting increasing clout in Pyongyang as of late, raising the possibility of her succeeding her brother amid speculation that he may be seriously unwell, a Sotuh Korean legislative think tank has said.
In an analysis report of the latest meeting of the North’s Supreme People’s Assembly held earlier this month, South Korea’s National Assembly Research Services on Wednesday projected that the 32-year-old Kim Yo-jong’s reappointment to the Workers’ Party politburo “will strengthen the governing foundation of the Paekdu bloodline (in North Korea)”, reports Yonhap News Agency.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Communist Chinese Knew That Their Bio-Labs Were a Ticking Time Bomb
The communist Chinese government was painfully aware that bio-labs including the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where it is thought the coronavirus could have originated, were in desperate need of safety upgrades to prevent accidental leaks.
An article in Asian Review notes that Chinese President Xi Jinping has been discussing the need for “biosafety” improvements for the past year.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Dr Fauci Backed Wuhan Lab Doing ‘Crazy’ Coronavirus Research
Newsweek has highlighted that the Chinese Scientists who were said to have been doing ‘crazy’ things with coronavirus in the Wuhan Institute of Virology, were funded by the White House senior health advisor Dr Anthony Fauci just last year.
The report notes that in 2019 Fauci, as head of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), backed the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding commitment of $3.7 million for a further six years of research on bat coronaviruses in the Chinese lab.
The report also noted that the research outline included manipulating viruses in the lab in order to gauge the potential for infection in humans.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Video From 2018 Shows Chinese Scientists Working on Coronavirus in Wuhan Lab
Video footage aired by Chinese state media has revealed Chinese scientists at the Wuhan Institute of virology studying ‘a novel coronavirus’ that they discovered within bats in 2018, less than two years before the outbreak.
The video was broadcast by communist mouthpiece CCTV in April 2018, but has since reemerged on the web following the global coronavirus spread.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Will Seek Realistic, Practical Ways for Inter-Korean Ties’
South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Monday that his government will move ahead with “realistic and practical” cooperation with North Korea despite international constraints, adding that the coronavirus crisis may provide the neighbours with a new opportunity for partnership. He was apparently referring to UN-led sanctions on Pyongyang as he spoke on the occasion of the second anniversary of his historic Panmunjom summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who has not been in the public eye for weeks leading to speculations about his health, reports Yonhap News Agency.
Little progress so far in following up on the Panmunjom Declaration was not due to the lack of the two Koreas’ commitment to actions but because of a failure to overcome the existing international restrictions, Moon said during a weekly meeting with his senior presidential aides. “But we can’t just wait for the conditions to improve,” Moon stressed. “We must continue to do even small things that we can do amid realistic constraints.”
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Teachers have begged parents to keep kids at home, despite government health experts saying there is a ‘low risk’ of COVID-19 being transmitted in schools.
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An icy blast will bring torrential rain, hail, damaging winds and even snow across Australia.
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Mining magnate Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest is reportedly considering buying Virgin Australia, a week after the airline was placed into voluntary administration.
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A WA principal has been stood down after she went against her state’s Department of Education and advised students to stay at home amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
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‘Publisher’ Google Ordered to Pay $40k in Damages for Defaming Melbourne Lawyer After Court Ruling
Google has been ordered to pay $40,000 in damages to a Melbourne lawyer after a Supreme Court of Victoria ruling found the internet giant was a publisher, and had defamed the man.
George Defteros has successfully sued Google over web searches that brought up his name in relation to associations with Victoria’s gangland figures.
In today’s ruling, Justice Melinda Richards has determined that Google was a publisher, despite denials by the company.
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Riot police and the bomb squad stormed a home on Wangee Road in Lakemba, in south west Sydney, on Thursday afternoon.
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Luke Masters, 32, and Wayne Clothier, 33, were awarded the four-figure payout on Thursday after attempting to enter the Mr B’s Hotel on Pitt Street in Sydney’s CBD in September 2017.
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Fulani Militants Believed to be Behind Kidnapping of Newlywed Nigerian Couple
Islamic Fulani herdsmen are thought to be behind the recent kidnapping of a newlywed couple in the Nigerian state of Niger.
What were thought to be several herdsmen broke up a wedding in the town of Tegina Kabata, taking the guests and the bride and groom at gunpoint. Their whereabouts are currently unknown.
The kidnapping continues a series of violent attacks perpetrated by the herdsmen in that country, including one earlier this month in which they burned down a church and killed two people.
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Bosnia: Pakistan is Blocking Efforts to Deport Illegal Migrants
Bosnia and Herzegovina announced that it will begin deporting all migrants apart from Syrian refugees earlier this month. Pakistan is resisting the effort, however.
The small, impoverished Balkan nation is currently hosting approximately 10,000 migrants in its reception centres, most of whom are awaiting the opportunity to cross the Croatian border and enter the European Union. Last week Bosnia’s Security Minister, Fahrudin Radoncic, ordered a list of illegal migrants for deportation to be drawn up, claiming that his country has become “a parking lot for migrants for Europe,” as previously reported by Voice of Europe.
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Eurostat: Roughly 300,000 Migrants Granted Asylum in EU in 2019
Figures from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, have revealed that roughly 300,000 migrants were granted asylum in the European Union in 2019, a figure that’s down six percent from the previous year.
In its report that was published earlier this week, Eurostat noted that the 27 member states of the European Union granted the asylum requests of 295,800 migrants.
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France: 50 Chechens Storm Migrant Reception Center and Attack ‘African Rivals’
Four people were left with injuries on Friday night after a group of 50 Chechens armed with sticks, bats, and iron bars stormed the migrant reception center in Barberey-Saint-Sulpice, France.
The old Fast Hotel, now a facility which houses migrants and asylum seekers, became a “war scene” after 50 Chechens rushed in to confront and “kill” African rivals living at facility, according to testimony given by a security guard and former soldier who works at the establishment.
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Germany: Elderly Man Beaten by Migrant Has Died
A 76-year-old German man, Detlef J., has passed away from his injuries after having been severely beaten by a Somali migrant screaming “Allahu akbar” last year.
Detlef was never able to leave the hospital during the 11 months since then, and eventually fell into a coma as a result of the unprovoked attack. He died alone, since hospital precautions taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus made it impossible for his family members to visit him in his final days.
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Migrant Tells Danish Man: “You Danes Are Animals, You Will be Exterminated” (Video)
Rasmus Paludan, a Danish anti-Islam politician who requires police protection everywhere he goes, recently held a demonstration with members of his party Stram Kurs (Hard Line) at a school in Århus — Denmark’s second largest city.
During the demonstration, party members recorded video of the kind of reception they received from the locals. One video that’s been uploaded to Rasmus Paludan’s YouTube channel shows a bearded, aggressive migrant yelling at a young Danish man. Although it’s difficult to make out all the words, Kim Møller, an author at the political blog Uriasposten, has transcribed what can be heard on the video.
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UN Urges Govts to Release Illegal Migrants, ‘Provide Access to Healthcare, Housing’
The United Nations (UN) is urging countries around the world to release illegal migrants from detention in response to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, and highlighted steps towards giving them “access to healthcare, housing, and other services”.
Already under scrutiny over the supine posture of its health agency, the World Health Organization (WHO), towards the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the UN may now be in for another wave of criticism as it uses the pandemic to push for open borders — highlighting states “responsibilities” under the contentious Global Compact for Migrationas it does so.
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U.K. Mother Who Identifies as Man Loses Appeal to be Designated “Father” On Baby’s Birth Certificate
A British mother who identifies as a transgender male and who petitioned to legally be listed as her baby’s father on the birth certificate, has lost her appeal with the government.
The Family Division of Britain’s High Court of Justice ruled that there is a “material difference between a person’s gender and their status as a parent,” and that an individual who give birth to a baby is legally obligated to appear as that baby’s mother on the birth registry.
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Do you know this tale?
Once the Chechens began to jihad and cut people’s heads in their country of residence. When people tried to curb them, they began to portray themselves as victims, and the liberals took pity on them. They took them to their warm, prosperous countries and warmed them on their chests.
And once, the Chechens thrust their knives into the liberals. “For what?” moaned the liberals. – because we saved you and gave you food and shelter.
And the Chechens answered: “Listen, bitches. You knew that we were Chechens.”
France: 50 Chechens storm migrant reception center and attack ‘African rivals’
https://voiceofeurope.com/2020/04/france-50-chechens-storm-migrant-reception-center-and-attack-african-rivals/
I am disappointed in the competence of the Chechen thugs that attacked the african invader horde in their invader lair in France. Fifty Chechen attackers and not a single invader killed? Maybe France’s Chechens are poorer quality than Chechnya’s Chechens?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Nzvw4k3pCQ
“The Cossack Lullaby”(Russian: Казачья колыбельная песня) is a cradle song that Russian writer Mikhail Lermontov wrote in 1838 during his exile in Caucasus.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cossack_Lullaby
It is a shame that Stalin didn’t manage to kill them all while he was starving Ukrainians to death and slaughtering millions of innocents.
The famine was everywhere, not only in Ukraine. In the Volga it was even worse. But the Ukrainians managed to make political capital on this.
The press writes that in a number of countries governments subsidize payments for housing and communal payments or cancel them for the population.
In Russia, the authorities are not going to do such indulgences for the population. But still made some concessions
April 5 news:
The government decided to cancel penalties for non-payment of housing and communal services
The corresponding document, which has not yet been published (!), Was signed by the head of government, sources say. It provides for the suspension of interest until January 1 of next year.
https://www.rbc.ru/society/05/04/2020/5e89f5aa9a7947fb8747824с
May 1 news:
Authorities may return penalties for non-payment of housing and communal services
The previous procedure for levying fines may be introduced from June 1
https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4335502
Is there still a more cannibal country in the world in relation to its population?