China: Racism Against Africans ‘Isolated Incidents’ and ‘Misunderstandings’ (VIDEO)

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The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its media organs lashed out Monday against African leaders for complaining about rampant racial discrimination against Africans living in Chinese cities, dismissing their complaints as a few “isolated incidents” and “misunderstandings.”

African ambassadors wrote a letter to the Chinese Foreign Ministry over the weekend to complain about “stigmatization and discrimination” against Africans living in China, especially in the city of Guangzhou.

“The Group of African Ambassadors in Beijing immediately demands the cessation of forceful testing, quarantine and other inhuman treatments meted out to Africans,” the letter said.

Several of the signatory countries summoned their Chinese ambassadors to confront them with documented complaints of discrimination from Africans living in China. These complaints included “being evicted from their apartments by their landlords, being tested for coronavirus several times without being given results, and being shunned and discriminated against in public,” as Al Jazeera summarized them on Sunday.

Other stories of discrimination included Africans denied service at Chinese restaurants and hotels, and even some students who said they were forced to live on the streets. One video clip circulating online purportedly depicts a written notice instructing Guangzhou restaurants not to admit African customers.

(Read more from “China: Racism Against Africans ‘Isolated Incidents’ and ‘Misunderstandings’” HERE)

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Volcanic Region Gets Hot After Being ‘Inactive for Many Centuries’

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A region of Iceland is erupting for the first time in 800 years, raising concern of disruptions in air travel for centuries to come.

The Guardian of London reported that since Jan. 21, the Reykjanes peninsula southwest of Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, has experienced more than 8,000 earthquakes. About 10 centimeters of land has risen due to magma intrusions underground, the paper said.

“It seems that after being relatively inactive for many centuries, this region is waking up,” Lancaster University volcanologist Dave McGarvie told the Guardian.

The area is fed by five volcanic systems, the Guardian said, “which seem to come to life in a coordinated way roughly every 1,000 years.” . . .

Meanwhile, Indonesia’s Krakatoa volcano erupted over the weekend, sending ash almost 10 miles into the sky. (Read more from “Volcanic Region Gets Hot After Being ‘Inactive for Many Centuries'” HERE)

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‘An Easter of Solitude’: Amid Coronavirus, World’s Christians Mark an Easter Like No Other

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By Associated Press. Christians around the world celebrated Easter Sunday isolated in their homes by the coronavirus while pastors preached the faith’s joyous news of Christ’s resurrection to empty pews. One Florida church drew a large turnout for a drive-in service in a parking lot. . .

Worldwide, families who normally would attend church in their Easter best and later gather for festive meals instead were hunkered down at home. Police checkpoints in Europe and outside closed churches elsewhere left the faithful with few worship options other than watching services online or on TV.

At the Happy Gospel Church in Bradenton, Florida, about 100 cars carrying 250 people gathered in the parking lot to hear Pastor Bill Bailey’s Easter sermon. Some sat in lawn chairs or on tailgates, but families stayed at least 6 feet apart; those in their cars occasionally honked to convey agreement with Bailey’s remarks. (Read more from “Amid Coronavirus, World’s Christians Mark an Easter Like No Other” HERE)

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Christians Mark Solemn Easter as Worldwide Cases Approach 2 Million

By CBS News. Christians throughout the world marked a solemn Easter amid the coronavirus pandemic. The number of cases worldwide topped 1.8 million on Sunday and the global death toll rose above 110,000, according to Johns Hopkins University. U.S. deaths passed 22,000. . .

Bells tolled in Spain for the almost 17,000 killed by coronavirus, a death toll behind only the U.S. and Italy. In Britain, the Archbishop of Canterbury led the Easter service online from his kitchen. In New York, the epicenter of the U.S. crisis, Cardinal Timothy Dolan led Mass before an empty St. Patrick’s Cathedral. (Read more from “Christians Mark Solemn Easter as Worldwide Cases Approach 2 Million” HERE)

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‘An Easter of Solitude’: Christians Across the World Mark Easter Sunday Amid the Coronavirus

By USA Today. His voice echoing through the nearly empty St. Peter’s Basilica, a somber Pope Francis celebrated one of the strangest Easter celebrations in Vatican history Sunday amid Italy’s national lockdown for the coronavirus pandemic. . .

“This is an Easter of solitude lived amid the sorrow and hardship the pandemic is causing, whether from physical suffering or economic difficulties,” Francis said in Italian.

Millions of Christians globally celebrated Easter, marking the resurrection of Jesus following his crucifixion. In the U.S., many churches were holding similar remote services intended to help slow the infection’s spread. Congregants posted photos on social media showing them attending drive-in services from their cars, and a pastor at a Boston church delivered his message to photos of his parishioners taped to the pews. . .

Both President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence planned to attend Easter services remotely. Trump said he’d be watching an online service led by Pastor Robert Jeffress of the 4,000-member First Baptist Church in Dallas and a Fox News contributor. (Read more from “‘An Easter of Solitude’: Christians Across the World Mark Easter Sunday Amid the Coronavirus” HERE)

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REPORT: China HID Findings of a Coronavirus Expert; China Bans Consumption of Bats but Still Wants to Export Them to Other Countries

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By Mirror UK. China is accused of hiding the findings of a coronavirus expert – known as “Bat Woman” – after she quickly identified the genetic make-up of the new strain that has infected millions.

Wuhan-based virologist Shi Zhengli is one of the world’s top researchers on coronaviruses and has discovered dozens of deadly SARS-like viruses in bat caves.

She studied samples taken from some of the first people to become infected with the new and then-mysterious respiratory illness in China in December and found it was similar to SARS.

It was identified as a novel coronavirus and within three days she completed its gene sequencing, finding that it was 96 per cent identical to a virus found in horseshoe bats in Yunnan.

But she was “muzzled” and her team was ordered not to reveal any information about the new disease, which was already spreading rapidly as China kept the world in the dark. (Read more from “REPORT: China Hid Findings of a Coronavirus Expert” HERE)

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China Bans Consumption of Bats and Snakes but Now Wants to Export Them to Other Countries

By Wall Street Journal. Chinese authorities have temporarily banned the wild animal trade over coronavirus pandemic fears, but they are now offering tax incentives to export their edible exotic animals overseas.

China’s National People’s Congress said in a statement when banning the trade, “The prominent problem of recklessly eating wild animals and its potential risk to public health have aroused wide public concern.” But a new report by the Wall Street Journal says they are now hoping to cash in on the multi-billion dollar animal product industry by offering tax breaks on exports.

The Journal reports that last month, China’s Finance Ministry started offering value-added tax rebates on 1,500 Chinese products, including a 9 percent rebate on “edible snakes and turtles, primate meat, beaver and civet musk, and rhino horns.” (Read more from “China Bans Consumption of Bats and Snakes but Now Wants to Export Them to Other Countries” HERE)

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China Could Face Lawsuits Totaling Trillions Over Handling of Coronavirus

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China could face trillions of dollars in international lawsuits for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which first emerged in Wuhan as early as November, according to a London-based think-tank.

Nations who are part of the G7 and other governments could sue the ruling Chinese Communist Party for damages to their economies and national infrastructure after the country breached the International Health Regulations, a legally binding international treaty to which China is a signatory, the Henry Jackson Society said in a report published this week.

“These breaches allowed the outbreak to rapidly spread outside Wuhan, its place of origin,” the report said, citing the failure to disclose evidence of human to-human transmission for as long as three weeks after first becoming aware of it.

Beijing also provided the World Health Organization (WHO) with “erroneous information” about the number of infections in early January, while failing to ban the trade in “dangerous viral host species for human consumption,” it said. . .

“Potential damages liable against China at the time of writing could run to … U.S.$4 trillion from just the G7 nations,” the report said, citing 10 potential legal avenues for action against China. (Read more from “China Could Face Lawsuits Totaling Trillions Over Handling of Coronavirus” HERE)

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The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Is on Fire and Radiation Levels Are Spiking

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Part of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone where the infamous power plant explosion occurred in 1986 is on fire, and radiation in the area is spiking.

The fire covers about 50 acres (20 hectares) near the abandoned village of Vladimirovka in Ukraine’s Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, according to CNN. In a Facebook post, Yegor Firsov, head of Ukraine’s ecological inspection service, showed a Geiger counter near the fire reading 2.3 microsievert per hour, a measurement of ambient radiation. The normal reading in the area is 0.14 μSv/h, which is significantly higher than typical radiation levels in other places. . .

Firsov blamed humans for the periodic fires in the zone.

“The problem of setting fires to grass by careless citizens in spring and autumn has long been a very acute problem for us,” he wrote. “Every year we see the same picture — fields, reeds, forests burn in all regions.” (Read more from “The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Is on Fire and Radiation Levels Are Spiking” HERE)

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Billions of Locusts Invade in New, Larger Wave as Second Swarm Threatens Africa

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A new wave of locusts is threatening Africa with devastation and starvation, even as the COVID-19 pandemic undermines efforts to fight the locust plague.

Parts of the continent already experienced the biggest locust outbreak in 70 years, just weeks before the coronavirus hit. Now a second wave is on its way, with some locust swarms 20 times the size of the first.

Billions of young desert locusts are coming, threatening plants and crops. This second invasion includes more developed locusts known as “young adults,” which are especially voracious eaters.

Some Africans view the locust swarms as more destructive than the coronavirus. And there are predictions that the locust plague might cause the coronavirus to spread even further as people band together, trying to fight off the swarms of locusts from eating all their food.

“Everyone is talking about” the locusts, said Yoweri Aboket, a farmer in Uganda. “Once they land in your garden they do total destruction. Some people will even tell you that the locusts are more destructive than the coronavirus. There are even some who don’t believe that the virus will reach here.” (Read more from “Billions of Locusts Invade in New, Larger Wave as Second Swarm Threatens Africa” HERE)

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China Holds Navy Drills in Pacific as U.S. Aircraft Carriers Hit by Coronavirus; China Claims Zero Infections in Its Military

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By Newsweek. The Chinese navy recently launched a series of naval drills to shore up its coastal capabilities in the Pacific, a region where China’s goals frequently clash with those of the United States.

The move comes as U.S. aircraft carriers suffered from outbreaks of the novel coronavirus disease that has already infected hundreds of sailors.

The People’s Liberation Army deployed Type 22 missile boats to the East Sea for four days of live-fire exercises late last month involving warfighting scenarios that an unnamed military expert told the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s Global Times newspaper on Thursday were designed to boost the vessels’ coast combat skills. Maneuvers also reportedly involved countermine, damage control and rescue operations.

The Type 22 fleet, dubbed “HOUBEI-class wave-piercing catamaran missile patrol boats” by the Pentagon, is designed to use stealth and speed to overcome much larger targets such as aircraft carriers, the premier symbol of U.S. power projection across the globe. In the Pacific, the U.S. has deployed aircraft carriers and advanced naval assets to challenge China’s vast territorial claims. (Read more from “China Holds Navy Drills in Pacific as U.S. Aircraft Carriers Hit by Coronavirus” HERE)

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China Claims Zero Infections in Its Military

By VOA News. While militaries around the world are seeing their soldiers fall victim to the coronavirus, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the world’s largest standing army, claims it remains virus-free.

“China Confirms No Cases of Coronavirus Infection in Military,” said a headline in an official military publication on March 3. There has been no public update on military infections since.

In addition to its 2 million-strong active-duty military troops, the country also has an 800,000-strong armed police force. During the height of the crisis, tens of thousands of soldiers, medics and support personnel were deployed into some of the most infected areas of China, including Wuhan, to fight on the front lines. (Read more from “China Claims Zero Infections in Its Military” HERE)

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Hospital Stops Hydroxychloroquine Treatment Over Major Cardiac Risk; NIH Begins Trial to Test Hydroxychloroquine for Treating COVID-19

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By Newsweek. A hospital in France has had to stop an experimental treatment using hydroxychloroquine on at least one coronavirus patient after it became a “major risk” to their cardiac health.

The University Hospital Center of Nice (CHU de Nice) is one of many hospitals trialing hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 patients. It announced it had been selected for the trial on March 22. A statement from the hospital said it was testing four experimental treatments, one of which included hydroxychloroquine. It hoped to establish its effectiveness and side effects of this and the other treatments being tested.

In an interview with the French daily newspaper Nice-Matin, Professor Émile Ferrari, the head of the cardiology department at the Pasteur hospital in Nice, said the side effects had already been identified, with some patients having to stop treatment because of the risk posed.

He said electrocardiogram recordings of patients involved with the trial were being constantly monitored. An ECG measures electrical activity in the heart, and represents this on a graph as a QT interval. Ferrari said these recordings are interpreted and, if anomalies are reported, treatment is stopped. (Read more from “Hospital Stops Hydroxychloroquine Treatment Over Major Cardiac Risk” HERE)

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NIH Begins Trial to Test Hydroxychloroquine for Treating COVID-19

By Reuters. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) said on Thursday it was testing anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine for treating COVID-19, days after several U.S. doctors said they were using the drug on infected patients without evidence that it worked.

The use of the decades-old drug, which has been touted by President Donald Trump as a potential weapon against COVID-19, has soared as the United States has quickly become the epicenter of the pandemic.

The study will evaluate the safety and the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine and be conducted by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of NIH. (Read more from “NIH Begins Trial to Test Hydroxychloroquine for Treating COVID-19” HERE)

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China Expert: ‘I Don’t Know Why Anyone Takes China’s Epidemic Numbers Seriously’; Beijing Unnerved by Alleged U.S. Attempts to Undermine Chinese Communist Party Legitimacy

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By Fox News. Steven Mosher, author of “Bully of Asia,” joined “The Ingraham Angle” Tuesday to discuss China’s alleged coronavirus disinformation campaign and the numbers they are providing of cases and deaths.

“I don’t know why anyone takes China’s epidemic numbers seriously. The Chinese authorities have lied from the beginning of this outbreak. They don’t just fudge the numbers. They make them up out of whole cloth,” Mosher said. “You know, in Wuhan they tell us that from the beginning to the end of the epidemic in Wuhan, it’s not over yet by the way, that 2,535 died. Well, I think the number is more like 50,000. And let me tell you how I get that number. I get that number because the crematory ovens were going for 60 days and we estimate they were disposing of about a thousand corpses a day. That’s 60 thousand people.” . . .

Mosher called the push by China to change the narrative a “massive effort.”

“This is a massive effort on the part of China. It’s not just a few Twitter accounts. It’s thousands and thousands,” Mosher said, noting that the media failed to pick up any negative China stories. “And yet every Chinese embassy, every Chinese media outlet, including Hong Kong Phenix Television, which was in the press conference yesterday with President Trump, they’re all touting the Chinese, the great Chinese success in controlling the coronavirus epidemic when they haven’t controlled it at all. And they spread it around the world.” (Read more from “China Expert: ‘I Don’t Know Why Anyone Takes China’s Epidemic Numbers Seriously'” HERE)

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Beijing Unnerved by Alleged U.S. Attempts to Undermine Chinese Communist Party Legitimacy

By Washington Examiner. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent criticisms of China’s early response to the coronavirus pandemic have flustered Chinese officials, according to U.S. officials and analysts, following a series of rebukes that Beijing regarded as an attempt to split the Chinese Communist Party from the majority of Chinese people.

“That’s the CCP acknowledging that they view that issue as a third rail, and the U.S. should accept the propaganda framework that the party is China and China is the party,” Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation Executive Director Marion Smith told the Washington Examiner. “The fact that the regime is so absurdly sensitive about this point reveals their existential dependence on a facade of legitimacy.”

Smith’s assessment came in response to recent Chinese complaints that the State Department is “attempting to drive a wedge between the Communist Party of China and the Chinese people.” That allegation came from a senior Chinese diplomat who began by protesting Pompeo’s crackdown on China’s state-run media operations in the United States but shifted to boasting about Beijing’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and the Party’s membership rolls.

“Faced with the horrific spread of COVID-19, the CPC and the Chinese government put people’s life and health as the first priority and left no patients behind,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters Friday. . .

That’s a sign of “arrogance,” though perhaps not anxiety, according to American observers. “I don’t see it so much as being worried as it is arrogance, but it does indicate that some of those comments have hit close to home,” a senior U.S. official told the Washington Examiner. “It is absolutely critical to the survival of the Chinese Communist Party that they maintain the illusion that they somehow embody and speak for the Chinese people.” (Read more from “Beijing Unnerved by Alleged U.S. Attempts to Undermine Chinese Communist Party Legitimacy” HERE)

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