tag > Politics
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Chinese foreign ministry spokesman tweets claim US military brought coronavirus to Wuhan
Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian wrote on Twitter: “This is so astonishing that it changed many things I used to believe in.” Photo: AP Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian took to Twitter on Friday to double down on an unproven claim that the US military brought the new coronavirus
to the central city of Wuhan, where the outbreak began.
Zhao urged his more than 287,000 followers in two tweets on Friday morning to widely share an allegation from a Canada-based conspiracy website that the coronavirus originated in the US rather than the Wuhan seafood market that is thought to be its source.
“This is so astonishing that it changed many things I used to believe in,” he wrote on his official account.
The posts which Zhao Lijian referenced in his tweet: Did The Virus Originate in the US? and Further Evidence that the Virus Originated in the US - both by Larry Romanoff / Global Research.
Appeal to UN by former iranian president Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent a letter to the United Nations promoting a conspiracy theory that COVID-19 is a biological weapon created in a laboratory. In the letter, he claimed COVID-19 is “a new weapon for establishing and/or maintaining [the] political and economic upper hand in the global arena.” He went on to say the flulike illness, which has infected tens of thousands, was “produced in laboratories” by the “warfare stock houses of biologic war belonging to world hegemonic powers.”
Coronavirus conspiracy theories: US and Chinese politicians rush in where experts fear to tread (SCMP)
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman who promoted online theories about the origins of Covid-19 is the latest high-profile figure to make unverified claims. Beijing angered by US politicians who have characterised it as a ‘Chinese virus’ and Senator Tom Cotton’s suggestion it came from a lab in Wuhan
Diplomat David Stilwell delivers a ‘stern representation’ of the US government’s position to Cui Tiankai. Meeting in Washington follows Chinese foreign ministry spokesman’s insinuation that the US military brought the coronavirus to China
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Trend Forecaster Li Edelkoort: Coronavirus Offers Planet Chance For Restart
A security guard standing in an empty shopping mall in Beijing during the current coronavirus epidemic (Source: Kevin Frayer / Getty Images) The coronavirus outbreak, now declared a global pandemic, will eventually enable humanity to reset its values for the benefit of the planet, said top trend forecaster Li Edelkoort. In an interview with Dezeen, Edelkoort said that the coronavirus is now causing a “quarantine of consumption” that will usher in a “better system” for the environment and people. Her views are echoed by climate activists, who are saying that much of the response to the coronavirus has been quick, decisive and drastic, proving that world governments can and do have the capacity to bring about the necessary changes to fight the similarly urgent issue of the climate emergency.
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China prepares to unleash artificial intelligence to catch tax cheats (SCMP, 2019)
The AI system is linked to a number of different databases, allowing it to cross-check information. Photo: AFP Researchers involved in project say it will make it almost impossible to avoid detection, while the current fragmented system is easier to get around. Concerns about economic impact may delay its introduction as many private firms rely on informal deals with local tax authorities to limit the amount they pay. The AI engine has been embedded in the heart of the Golden Tax System, the software used by the State Taxation Administration, China’s top tax office.
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Global citizenship is the idea that one's identity transcends geography or political borders and that responsibilities or rights are derived from membership in a broader class: "humanity". This does not mean that such a person denounces or waives their nationality or other, more local identities, but that such identities are given "second place" to their membership in a global community. The idea leads to questions about the state of global society in the age of globalization.
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Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi (1894 – 1972)
Richard Nikolaus Eijiro, Count of Coudenhove-Kalergi was an Austrian-Japanese politician, philosopher and Count of Coudenhove-Kalergi. A pioneer of European integration, he served as the founding president of the Paneuropean Union for 49 years. His parents were Heinrich von Coudenhove-Kalergi, an Austro-Hungarian diplomat and Mitsuko Aoyama, the daughter of an oil merchant, antiques-dealer and major landowner in Tokyo. His first book, Pan-Europa, was published in 1923 and contained a membership form for the Pan-Europa movement, which held its first Congress in 1926 in Vienna. Coudenhove-Kalergi proposed Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" as the music for the European Anthem
Kurt Waldheim (1918 - 2007)
Kurt Josef Waldheim was an Austrian diplomat and politician. Waldheim was the fourth Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981, and President of Austria from 1986 to 1992. While he was running for the latter office in the 1986 election, the revelation of his service in Thessaloniki, Greece and in Yugoslavia, as an intelligence officer in Nazi Germany's Wehrmacht during World War II raised international controversy.
In 1994, former Mossad officer Victor Ostrovsky claimed in his book The Other Side of Deception that Mossad doctored Waldheim's file while he was serving as Secretary-General to implicate him in Nazi crimes. These allegedly false documents were subsequently "discovered" by Benjamin Netanyahu in the UN file and triggered the "Waldheim Affair".
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The Rite of Memphis-Misraïm in Italy (wikipedia)
The Rites of Misraïm and Memphis were united into a single order under Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1881. On 26 and 27 October 2019 in Naples (Italy), Brothers Initiated to the Most High Degrees of Egyptian Freemasonry from Italian Shrines of different but equal Regular Constitution met Ritually, for the first time in Italy in a Council, to "bring together what is spread "; verify the possibility of merging Rituals and Operating Instructions among the various Egyptian "currents" on Italian soil while recovering the Operative Ritual of the Arcana Arcanorum coming from an Ancient Private Archive containing historical documentation (ancient rituals and ritual jewels) by Giustiniano Lebano. At the end of the two days, after a joint verification of the Ritual contents of the Lebano Archive, Six Sublime Principles Patriarchs Great Conservators for Life (95th), they signed the historic Bolla di Fondazione and installed the Santuario Egizio d'Italia of the Ancient Rite and Primitive of Memphis-Misraïm Arcana Arcanorum Scala di Napoli (1777), Royal Custodian of the Venerated Ark of Tradition throughout the Italian territory; the whole Ceremony took place on a Sacred Altar where Egyptian Masonic Objects and Symbols were used by the Past Master Giustiniano Lebano.
Dec. 19, 2019: Italian Police Arrest Over 300 in Raids on Organized Crime (nytimes)
Officials said they had dismantled a major crime family within the ’Ndrangheta, the group based in the southern region of Calabria that is Italy’s most powerful mafia syndicate.
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Bit Tyrants: The Political Economy of Silicon Valley Paperback - Book by Rob Larson (2020)
In this highly unauthorized account of the Big Five's origins, Rob Larson sets the record straight, and in the process shreds every focus-grouped bromide about corporate benevolence he could get his hands on. Those readers unwilling to smile and nod as every day we become more dependent on our phones and apps to do our chores, our jobs, and our socializing can take heart as Larson provides us with maps to all the shallow graves, skeleton filled closets, and invective laced emails Big Tech left behind on its ascent to power. His withering analysis will help readers crack the code of the economic dynamics that allowed these companies to become near-monopolies very early on, and, with a little bit of luck, his calls for digital socialism might just inspire a viral movement for online revolution.
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Is The U.S. Shale Boom Over? Four Major Threats To The Fracking Revolution (investors.com)
The U.S. is awash in cheap shale oil and gas. After decades of declining U.S. oil output, the fracking revolution unlocked vast oil and gas deposits and made America the world's No. 1 oil producer. Yet just as Americans have begun to take cheap energy for granted, the U.S. shale boom's next act looks uncertain. Political, financial, technological and geological pressures are closing in.
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The Mysterious Mr. Zedzed - Text about Basil Zaharoff (1849 - 1936) (Alchetron)
Sir Basil Zaharoff, GCB, GBE, born Vasileios Zacharias (Greek: Βασίλειος Zαχαρίας Ζαχάρωφ), was a Greek arms dealer and industrialist. One of the richest men in the world during his lifetime, Zaharoff was described as a "merchant of death" and "mystery man of Europe". His success was forged through his cunning, often aggressive and sharp, business tactics. These included the sale of arms to opposing sides in conflicts, sometimes delivering fake or faulty machinery and skilfully using the press to attack business rivals. Zaharoff maintained close contacts with many powerful political leaders
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Recent Germany-China News
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Critical infrastructure is a term used by governments to describe assets that are essential for the functioning of a society and economy – the infrastructure.
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Moderna’s Coronavirus Vaccine Trial Set to Begin This Month (Bloomberg)
Moderna's Stock Price Human studies of Moderna Inc.’s experimental coronavirus vaccine are set to begin this month, positioning it to be first among a host of shots that companies are developing to fight the contagion. The Moderna product is moving very rapidly and will enter human trials “within a couple of weeks,” said Richard Hatchett, CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, a group overseeing development of shots against deadly infections. The estimated start of a trial of Moderna’s vaccine is March 19, according to a U.S. government website.
Moderna Inc. (Wikipedia)
From Investor Presentation and R&D Presentation Moderna, Inc. is a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company that is focused on drug discovery and drug development based on messenger RNA (mRNA). The company creates synthetic mRNA that can be injected into patients to help them create their own therapies. In October 2013, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded Moderna a grant worth up to $24.6 million to research and develop its mRNA drug technology to fight infectious diseases and biological weapons.
Darpa Cranks Up Antibody Research to Stall Coronavirus (Wired)
Antibodies are proteins that the immune system creates to remove viruses and other foreign objects from the body. Vaccines work by stimulating the body’s own immune system to produce antibodies against an invading virus. Currently, there is no vaccine that can be used against the virus that causes Covid-19, although drug companies like Johnson & Johnson and Cambridge-based Moderna are working on developing them
DARPA Races To Create a "Firebreak" Treatment for the Coronavirus (Spectrum IEEE)
When DARPA launched its Pandemic Preparedness Platform (P3) program two years ago, the pandemic was theoretical. It seemed like a prudent idea to develop a quick response to emerging infectious diseases. Researchers working under the program sought ways to confer instant (but short-term) protection from a dangerous virus or bacteria. Today, as the novel coronavirus causes a skyrocketing number of COVID-19 cases around the world, the researchers are racing to apply their experimental techniques to a true pandemic playing out in real time.
Moderna (MRNA:US) Shareholders
Institutional investors purchased a net $16.2 million shares of MRNA during the quarter ended June 2019. This may signal that the smart money is gaining interest in this company as the 37.48% of shares outstanding that institutional investors hold is actually below the Biotechnology industry average.
Moderna CEO: Stéphane Bancel (videos) @sbancel
Stéphane Bancel has served as Moderna's Chief Executive Officer since October 2011 and as a member of Moderna’s board of directors since March 2011. Before joining the Company, Mr. Bancel served for five years as Chief Executive Officer of the French diagnostics company bioMérieux SA.
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Lenovo, Intel, BGI Genomics team up on viral genome analysis
Technology and life science healthcare experts from Intel and Lenovo will work together to support BGI researchers with big data analytical technologies and computing resources, so as to further advance the capabilities of its sequencing tools, and more effectively analyze the genomic characteristics of the novel coronavirus.
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Putin signs Arctic master plan - The strategic document paves way for a massive industrialization of the country's far north.
Putin in deep snow. Photo: Kremlin.ru
"The document covers the period until year 2035. It was approved by government and the national Security Council in late 2019. The new strategic plan pinpoints the country’s key national priorities in the Arctic. It strengthens national sovereignty and territorial integrity, promotes peace, stability and mutually beneficial partnerships, and highlights high life standards for the regional population."
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Malaysia 1MDB fugitive Jho Low spotted in Wuhan: Police (alt)
A fugitive Malaysian financier wanted over a massive graft scandal has been spotted in the city at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak, police said, although it was unclear if he had left before Chinese authorities imposed a lockdown. Low Taek Jho - known as Jho Low - is accused of playing a major role in plundering billions of dollars from sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
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Righteous, the world should thank China (xinhuanet) (google translate)
"If China retaliates against the United States at this time, in addition to announcing a travel ban on the United States, it will also announce strategic control over medical products and ban exports to the US. Then the United States will be caught in the ocean of new corona viruses. "
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Committing to climate-neutrality by 2050: Commission proposes European Climate Law and consults on the European Climate Pact (EU Comission)
On 4 March 2020 the European Commission has opened the first round of feedback regarding two new legislative proposals aimed at tackling carbon emissions and taxation of certain fuels. The proposals are planned to materialize into European Directives by mid 2021.
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Is Davos More Than a Boondoggle? (2020)
A Study has examined whether attending Davos actually creates value for the companies that send their executives there. Summary: It does not.
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German state bans Office 365 in schools, citing privacy concerns
Schools in the German state of Hesse will no longer be able to use Microsoft’s Office 365 thanks to the EU’s GDPR rules, the state’s data protection commissioner has ruled. The Next Web reports that the issue arose after Microsoft closed its German data center in August last year, creating the potential risk for its users’ data to be accessed by US authorities. Cloud solutions from Google and Apple are also affected.
