Report: North Korea to Lock Down Through 2020 Despite ‘Zero’ Coronavirus Cases

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North Korea will extend its coronavirus quarantine measures through the end of 2020, an anonymous North Korean senior official told Radio Free Asia (RFA) on Tuesday.

The move elicits suspicion about North Korea’s continued insistence that it has documented zero cases of Chinese coronavirus in the country, which the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) corroborated by stating in early April that Pyongyang was in regular contact with the agency. North Korea borders China, the origin country of the coronavirus, as well as Russia and South Korea, two of the world’s countries with some of the most severe domestic outbreaks.

North Korea banned foreigners early this year and instituted emergency measures, including canceling major communist holidays that typically generate crowds of thousands. Dictator Kim Jong-un also ordered the construction of a new hospital in the heart of Pyongyang. Yet the regime insists no one in the country has tested positive for the virus.

“On the 23rd, the Central Party ordered the provincial quarantine command to extend the national emergency quarantine posture through the end of the year,” an anonymous regional North Korean official told RFA. “[They] ordered stronger quarantine measures in response to the prolonged outbreak.”

The report is not the first time RFA finds evidence of regime officials admitting to a severe outbreak, but the first time a North Korean official directly tells the new organization that this is the case. Last week, RFA published a story citing anonymous officials in Ryanggang province stating that they were present at a government lecture where officials admitted to a significant spread of Chinese coronavirus in the country. (Read more from “Report: North Korea to Lock Down Through 2020 Despite ‘Zero’ Coronavirus Cases” HERE)

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China Lashes out at U.S. Over COVID-19, Threatens Australia

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By Fox News. China’s foreign ministry on Tuesday accused the United States of “lying through their teeth” and suggested the country mind its own business as the war of words between the world’s two biggest economic powers escalated.

“We advise American politicians to reflect on their own problems and try their best to control the [coronavirus] epidemic as soon as possible instead of continuing to play tricks to deflect blame,” spokesman Geng Shuang said.

The comments came on the heels of President Trump suggesting in a press conference on Monday that the U.S. would be seeking “substantial” compensation for China’s handling of the global pandemic. . .

Australia has also been on the receiving end of Beijing’s spiral. China’s ambassador to Australia warned on Monday that the government’s call for an independent international inquiry into the origins of the pandemic could lead to a Chinese boycott of Australian products.

“Maybe the ordinary people will say, ‘Why should we drink Australian wine? Eat Australian beef?'” Ambassador Chen Jingye threatened, The Australian Financial Review reported. (Read more from “China Lashes out at U.S. Over COVID-19, Threatens Australia” HERE)

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China Threatens Economic Consequences If Australia Launches Investigation of Beijing’s Handling of Coronavirus

By The Hill. Chinese officials are threatening economic consequences if Australia moves ahead with an investigation into Beijing’s early handling of the coronavirus outbreak, Australian Sky News reported on Monday.

Chinese Ambassador to Australia Cheng Jingye said Beijing could encourage Chinese citizens to boycott Australian exports and products if Australia was to initiate the probe, the news outlet reported.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne called the Chinese threats “economic coercion” and repeated calls for an investigation into the early handling of the outbreak, which is thought to have originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan. (Read more from “China Threatens Economic Consequences If Australia Launches Investigation of Beijing’s Handling of Coronavirus” HERE)

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Iran Says They Have 400 U.S. Targets Picked out If U.S. Moves Against Them

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A top Iranian general on Friday revealed the nation’s plan to attack 400 U.S. targets if the U.S. military responded to Iran’s attack on Al-Assad Air Base in January.

“The day, we attacked on Ain al-Asad, we thought the US forces would respond after 20 minutes, so we were ready to attack 400 American targets,” Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh told Iranian state media Mehr News. . .

“[Iran’s] satellite launch vehicle and others launched before it incorporates technologies identical to, and interchangeable with, ballistic missiles, including longer-range systems such as intercontinental ballistic missiles,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Saturday.

“I have to say that the obstacles have been removed from our path and from now on we will move faster,” Haijzadeh said on Friday. Although he did not elaborate on what those “obstacles” consisted of, it could be a reference to the nuclear agreement the U.S. withdrew from in 2018, which Iran has also been turning away from.

Iran also recently bragged about its expanded missile range, and threatened to “destroy” U.S. warships if the U.S. Navy threatens Iranian gunboats. The saber-rattling comes just days after President Trump issued a similar warning in authorizing the U.S. Navy to “shoot down and destroy” any Iranian gunboats threatening U.S. warships. (Read more from “Iran Says They Have 400 U.S. Targets Picked out If U.S. Moves Against Them” HERE)

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U.S. Intel: 45,500 Corpses Incinerated in Wuhan in 2 Weeks

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US intelligence officials believe that the true scale of China’s coronavirus outbreak is at least FIFTY times worse than the communist state is admitting to, and that 60,000 dead bodies per month could have been processed by the funeral homes in Wuhan.

Speaking with Fox News, a Trump administration official said that “PRC numbers as reported today seem to be arithmetically impossible.” . .

It is believed that US intelligence has in its possession satellite images showing funeral homes in Wuhan overwhelmed by dead bodies. Officials believe that incinerators have been in constant use for 24 hours a day since the outbreak began.

The intelligence sources have noted that in a two week period between March 23 and April 4, over 500 urns were delivered to Wuhan families every day, which equates roughly to one urn per minute.

US intelligence therefore calculates a conservative estimate of 45,500 corpses having been incinerated during this time. (Read more from “U.S. Intel: 45,500 Corpses Incinerated in Wuhan in 2 Weeks” HERE)

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South Korea Detects ‘Unusual Increase’ in North Korean Air, Artillery Operations

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South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo said on Friday that North Korea is stepping up readiness activities for its air and artillery units, for no apparent reason.

The activity could indicate Pyongyang is preparing another illegal missile test, or it could be related to the disappearance of dictator Kim Jong-un, believed by some outside observers to be dead or incapacitated.

Speaking at a ceremony for commissioned medical and veterinary officers on Friday, Jeong said North Korea “has been heightening military tensions through an unusual increase in the inspection activities for its combat readiness posture, mostly of its artillery, and in its air force planes’ flight operations.” . . .

This pattern of behavior began too long ago to be interpreted as a sudden tightening of North Korea’s defense posture in response to Kim Jong-un becoming incapacitated, although it is possible the military was generally growing nervous about the corpulent young dictator’s health or about the oncoming coronavirus pandemic. North Korea officially denies having any domestic coronavirus infections to this day, but outsiders give little credit to those denials.

Several South Korean government ministers have stated they do not believe Kim Jong-un is dead or critically ill. One of the few readily available clues to his location is the location of his luxury train, his primary means of travel both within North Korea and internationally. (Read more from “South Korea Detects ‘Unusual Increase’ in North Korean Air, Artillery Operations” HERE)

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China Tried to Patent Potential Coronavirus Drug Remsvidir the DAY AFTER After Beijing Confirmed Virus Was Transmissable Between Humans

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China filed a patent for a drug seen as one of the best potential weapons against coronavirus the day after it confirmed human transmission of the disease.

The revelation that it moved so fast fuels concerns about a cover-up of the pandemic when it erupted in Wuhan last year, and suggests that China’s understanding of the virus was far advanced from the impression given by its public stance.

Last night, Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, joined the growing global clamour for a full, independent inquiry into China’s role. . .

China Tried to Patent Potential Coronavirus Drug Remsvidir the Day After Beijing Confirmed Virus Was Transmissable Between Humans

The contagious nature of the virus was confirmed by President Xi Jinping on January 20. Leaked documents have shown that even after officials knew they faced an epidemic, they delayed warning the public for six days. (Read more from “China Tried to Patent Potential Coronavirus Drug Remsvidir the DAY AFTER After Beijing Confirmed Virus Was Transmissable Between Humans” HERE)

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Saudi Arabia Abolishes Flogging

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Saudi Arabia has abolished flogging as a punishment, the state human rights commission said Saturday, hailing a “major step forward” in the reform programme launched by the king and his powerful son.

Court-ordered floggings in Saudi Arabia — sometimes extending to hundreds of lashes — have long drawn condemnation from human rights groups.

But they say the headline legal reforms overseen by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have brought no let-up in the conservative Islamic kingdom’s crushing of dissent, including through the use of the death penalty.

The state human rights commission said that the latest reform, which was reported by Saudi media including the pro-government Okaz newspaper, would ensure that no more convicts were sentenced to flogging.

“This decision guarantees that convicts who would previously have been sentenced to the lash will from now on receive fines or prison terms instead,” its chairman, Awad al-Awad, said. (Read more from “Saudi Arabia Abolishes Flogging” HERE)

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Italy’s Daily Coronavirus Recoveries Surpass New Cases for the First Time Since the Outbreak Began

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New cases of the novel coronavirus in Italy fell below the number of newly recovered patients for the first time since the outbreak began. Italy’s civil protection agency reported 3,033 recoveries on Thursday, nearly 400 more than the number of new patients.

Active cases (those currently being treated in hospital or recovering at home) also dropped over four successive days since April 20, when the measure fell for the first time. Hospitalized patients and those in intensive care have both been decreasing since early April, according to Italian authorities.

New cases also saw a significant decline on Thursday, dropping to 2,646, which was 724 less than Wednesday which recorded 3,370 new cases. The country also reported that more than a million people have been tested for the virus and 18 percent of them have tested positive. . .

“From May 4, the manufacturing, auto, fashion and design sectors—along with many others including construction—will reopen, but only if they guarantee social distancing and protection measures,” Italian Deputy Minister of Health Pierpaolo Sileri told Bloomberg. Sileri also tested positive for the virus last month but has since recovered. (Read more from “Italy’s Daily Coronavirus Recoveries Surpass New Cases for the First Time Since the Outbreak Began” HERE)

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China Could Soon Sink U.S. in South China Sea; U.S., Chinese Warships Enter South China Sea as Tensions Rise Over Oil Dispute

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By Asia Time. . .The USS America, a new amphibious assault ship, is now patrolling in the South China Sea with another US cruiser, a US destroyer and an Australian destroyer.

They are operating near where a Chinese research vessel backed by Chinese Coast Guard ships is in a standoff with Malaysian ships. The Malaysians object to the Chinese being inside their Exclusive Economic Zone, which China claims as its own, along with most of the South China Sea.

Rear Admiral Fred Kacher, commander of the America Expeditionary Strike Group, stated: “To bring this much combat capability together here in the South China Sea truly signals to our allies and partners in the region that we are deeply committed to a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

One wonders how much backup they have? Perhaps a submarine or two nearby. But air support? The USS America has some F35s and helicopters, but it is no aircraft carrier. . .

The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) simply has far more ships in the South China Sea and close by. Estimates for the region range from five to ten Chinese warships for each US Navy ship. And the oft-presumed superior American capability does not even things up. (Read more from “China Could Soon Sink U.S. in South China Sea” HERE)

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U.S., Chinese warships enter South China Sea as tensions rise over oil dispute

By New York Post. A months-long standoff between Chinese and Malaysian vessels in disputed waters in the South China Sea over oil exploration has drawn US, Chinese and Australian warships, according to reports.

The high-stakes drama began in December when Malaysia’s state oil company Petronas contracted a ship to explore waters in the country’s extended continental shelf that are also claimed by China and Vietnam, according to Bloomberg News.

Those two countries dispatched ships to shadow the Malaysian vessel.

On April 16, the Chinese surveyor Haiyang Dizhi 8 entered the fray while accompanied by a coast guard ship sent by Beijing, prompting the US and Australia to deploy warships to the area, Reuters reported. (Read more from “U.S., Chinese warships enter South China Sea as tensions rise over oil dispute” HERE)

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How China Could Have Made COVID-19 While Hiding Its Origin

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The coronavirus, COVID-19, which originated in China and is responsible for the global pandemic, has a unique structural feature that none of its closest viral relatives yet identified have, a furin polybasic cleavage site.

Cleavage sites similar to that found in COVID-19 are present in some naturally-occurring coronaviruses, but in completely separate evolutionary pathways from COVID-19.

It has also been demonstrated that such coronavirus cleavage sites can be modified by genetic engineering to alter viral pathogenicity, sometimes increasing it.

For example, in a 2011 study, using site-directed mutagenesis, a non-infective influenza virus was transformed into a pathogenic one by the replacement of two native amino acids in its cleavage site with two new basic amino acids.

Scientists in China have used site-directed mutagenesis to alter the cleavage site of an infectious bronchitis virus by introducing basic amino acids, thereby increasing its pathogenicity and resulting in a “gain of function” such that the new virus was capable of infecting the brain producing “severe encephalitis.”

An alternative method for introducing a polybasic cleavage site and producing a pathogenic virus from a naturally-occurring non-pathogenic one is by a technique called “reassortment” or mixing two or more viruses in a host animal or cell culture system from which a new virus emerges through a natural recombination process.

The scientific “conventional wisdom” claims that COVID-19 is a naturally-occurring bat beta-coronavirus that “jumped” from animals to humans presumably in the Wuhan Seafood Market, an assertion with which the Chinese Communist Party and the World Health Organisation wholeheartedly agree.

There is also general, if unproven, agreement within the scientific community that the closest relative to COVID-19, and perhaps the strain from which it evolved, is another bat beta-coronavirus named RaTG13.

But RaTG13 does not have COVID-19’s furin polybasic cleavage site nor do any of the other close relatives that have been so far identified.

One of the main reasons we do not yet know the origin of COVID-19 is because China has not opened its research files and databases for inspection, sources containing information about the vast number of coronaviruses they have isolated and the experiments conducted on them.

One example is RaBtCoV/4991 (GenBank KP876546), which is one of the many bat coronaviruses isolated from an abandoned mineshaft in Yunnan Province, often mentioned as a potential starting point for a human disease outbreak.

Although isolated in 2013, RaBtCoV/4991 has never been fully sequenced or practically studied at all, even though, according to one source, the RaBtCoV/4991 short sequence is a 100 per cent match for RaTG13 and SNU01, the viral isolate from the first COVID-19 patient in South Korea.

Applying the bioengineering techniques of recombination, site-directed mutagenesis and reassortment, CoVid-19 could have been created through the introduction of a furin polybasic cleavage site onto an appropriate coronavirus “backbone” from the catalogue of isolated strains in Chinese laboratories.

China also has animal models to test the ability of such new viruses to infect humans.

It is only the lack of candour by the Chinese government that prevents the world from knowing the true origin of COVID-19. (For more from the author of “How China Could Have Made COVID-19 While Hiding Its Origin” please click HERE)

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Lawrence Sellin, Ph.D. is a retired U.S. Army Reserve colonel, who previously worked at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and conducted basic and clinical research in the pharmaceutical industry. His email address is [email protected].

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