Could a Vaccine Be on the Horizon to Combat Coronavirus?

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China now has more cases of Wuhan coronavirus than it did of the SARS virus during the 2002-03 outbreak, according to the country’s own numbers, but a vaccine could be on the way soon.

According to the New York Post, China has reported 5,974 cases of the fast-spreading illness, which surpasses the 5,327 cases of SARS the country experienced over a decade ago. The Associated Press, however, notes that Wednesday’s death toll of 132 is well below the SARS outbreak’s Chinese death toll of 348.

But while it appears to be less deadly, CNN notes, the Wuhan virus is spreading much faster than SARS, taking less than two months to hit around 75 percent of the total number of worldwide infections of the 2002-03 outbreak, which took place over a period of nine months.

The news comes on the same day as a World Health Organization official described the rapid spread of the virus as a matter of “grave concern” at a news conference at the organization’s headquarters in Geneva.

“These developments in terms of the evolution of the outbreak and further development of transmission, these are of grave concern and has spurred countries into action,” said Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s health emergencies program. “What we know at this stage, this is still obviously a very active outbreak and information is being updated and changing by the hour.”

(Read more from “Could a Vaccine Be on the Horizon to Combat Coronavirus?” HERE)

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The U.S. Government Is Letting Marine Veteran Austin Tice Languish in a Syrian Prison, According to His Mother

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The mother of Marine veteran Austin Tice told reporters on Monday that a top U.S. official is refusing to give permission for a meeting with the Syrian government to negotiate the release of her son, who went missing near Damascus in 2012. . .

The Syrian government sent Debra Tice a message in March 2014 that they would be willing to meet with a U.S. official to negotiate her son’s release, Connecting Vets reporter Abbie Bennett wrote in her article about the event. . .

“There is no possible way for me to understand why anyone would defy the president’s will and choose to leave our beloved son, who put his life on the line serving this country three tours as a Marine Corps officer, waiting in captivity instead of taking the necessary steps to get this critical discussion underway,” she said. . .

Austin Tice was taken prisoner on Aug. 14, 2012 while he was working in Syria as a freelance reporter. He later appeared in a Sept. 26, 2012 video that was posted to YouTube. He was blindfolded and his captors wore jihadist garb but it was not known if they were disguised allies of the Syrian regime.

Air Force Maj. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, the deputy commander for intelligence and operations for U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria had no information about Austin Tice’s status or U.S. government efforts to secure his release when a reporter asked him about the issue on Jan. 22. (Read more from “The U.S. Government Is Letting Marine Veteran Austin Tice Languish in a Syrian Prison, According to His Mother” HERE)

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BREAKING: Massive 7.7 Earthquake Hits Cuba, Jamaica; Felt in Miami

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The United States Geologic Service just reported that a massive 7.7 earthquake has struck Cuba and Jamaica. The nearly-unprecedented Caribbean quake was relatively shallow, estimated at a depth of a little over 6 miles and was located about 80 miles from both Cuba and Jamaica. The U.S. Tsunami Warning System has not yet reported any risk of tsunami, but eastern Mexico, Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba would all be in the potential path of any resultant waves.

According to AccuWeather, “there has not been a major earthquake associated with the Puerto Rico Trench in over 200 years. The last event was a 8.1 tremor in 1787.”
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Caribbean 7.7 Earthquake Felt in Miami, Buildings Evacuated

By Steve Almasy, Brandon Miller and Alla Eshchenko. People in Miami, 440 miles from the epicenter, felt shaking.

Miguel Charon was on the 13th floor of a building on Brickell Avenue. He told CNN he felt the walls shake for 30 to 40 seconds. His initial thought was that it must have been caused by a machine of some sort. He said building officials issued an evacuation order and people left the building in a smooth and calm manner.

Jose Borrego, who also works in the Brickell area, said he was in a meeting.

“We felt slight movement of the building, then we got told to evacuate the building,” he said. “Once we came outside (we) noticed that there are evacuations every building in the area.”

Read more from this story about the 7.7 earthquake HERE.

Coronavirus Simulation Indicates Disease May Kill 65 Million, Cause Hundreds of Billions of Losses

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By Market Watch. Scientist and scholar Eric Toner, quoted above in an excerpt from a Friday interview with the business-news channel CNBC, explained that China’s efforts to contain the current outbreak of a fast-moving upper-respiratory illness are “unlikely to be effective.” . . .

The number of infections of coronavirus, or CoV, has risen to about 2,000, according to the Wall Street Journal. On top of that, the official death toll has climbed to at least 56, including a doctor treating flu-stricken patients in Wuhan, from 40-plus as of Saturday. The Journal reported that the outbreak was overwhelming Wuhan-area resources and hospitals. . .

Toner, an M.D. and researcher at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, took part in a simulation, undertaken in partnership with the World Economic Forum and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, that posited such a disease could kill 65 million people within 18 months under the right circumstances. . .

Toner said that his coronavirus simulation “was not [focused primarily on] the number of deaths; it was to point out that there could be societal and economic consequences from a severe pandemic, not just health consequences.” The simulation was also geared toward engendering international cooperation, making the case that governments and private companies alone can’t adequately respond to a pandemic. . .

However, the coronavirus was exacting a toll on the U.S. stock market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.58% on Friday lost 170 points, or 0.58%, closing just beneath 28,990 after having slipped as low as 28,843 in afternoon trading. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 SPX, -0.90% fell 30 points, or 0.9%, to 3,295. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.93% declined by 87 points, or 0.93%, to finish the week at 9,315, after touching an intraday record high in early action. (Read more from “Coronavirus Simulation Indicates Disease May Kill 65 Million, Cause Hundreds of Billions of Losses” HERE)

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China Coronavirus ‘Spreads Before Symptoms Show’

By BBC. A new coronavirus that has spread to more than 2,000 people is infectious in its incubation period – before symptoms show – making it harder to contain, Chinese officials say. . .

In humans, the incubation period – during which a person has the disease, but no symptoms yet – ranges from between one and 14 days, officials believe.

Without symptoms, a person may not know they have the infection, but still be able to spread it. . .

But stopping such “symptomless spreaders” will make the job of the Chinese authorities much harder.

There are still crucial questions – how infectious are people during the incubation period, and did any of the patients outside China spread the disease in those countries before becoming sick? (Read more from “China Coronavirus ‘Spreads Before Symptoms Show'” HERE)

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Chinese Consumption of Rats, Wolf Pups May Be to Blame for Potential Global Pandemic; A Terrifying Graph Shows How Fast the Wuhan Coronavirus Has Spread

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By Business Insider. The Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of a deadly coronavirus outbreak, has banned the trade of live animals at food markets after one location was linked to the spread of the disease

Police in the central Chinese city were conducting checks to ensure that the rule was enforced by the city’s roughly 11 million residents, the BBC said Wednesday, citing state media reports.

The move comes after the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan was shuttered on January 1, after it was believed to be the starting point for the outbreak of 2019-nCov, also known as the Wuhan virus.

Before its closure, the market was selling an array of unusual animals for food, including young wolves and civet cats, which experts believe could play a part in the spread of disease. . .

Photos posted to social media also suggest the market was selling live wolf pups and civet cats, both of which are eaten in China.

(Read more from “Chinese Consumption of Rats, Wolf Pups May Be to Blame for Potential Global Pandemic” HERE)

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A Terrifying Graph Shows How Fast the Wuhan Coronavirus Has Spread so Far and How Close It Is to Becoming a Pandemic

By Business Insider. An alarming graph shows how fast the Wuhan coronavirus has spread in the past two weeks alone and highlights how soon it could become a pandemic.

The bar graph was created and posted to Twitter by Cate Cadell, the China correspondent for Reuters, on Wednesday.

It shows that in the past three days the number of infections has risen sharply, as have the number of deaths and the number of countries discovering infected people.

(Read more from “A Terrifying Graph Shows How Fast the Wuhan Coronavirus Has Spread so Far and How Close It Is to Becoming a Pandemic” HERE)

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Bolivia Religious Debate: The Bible vs Andean Earth Deity

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Hoisting a large leather Bible above her head, Bolivia’s new interim president delivered an emphatic message hours after Evo Morales fled under pressure, the end of a nearly 14-year presidency that celebrated the country’s indigenous religious beliefs like never before.

“The Bible has returned to the palace,” bellowed Jeanine Añez as she walked amid a horde of allies and news media cameras into the presidential palace where Morales had jettisoned the Bible from official government ceremonies and replaced it with acts honoring the Andean earth deity called the Pachamama. The conservative evangelical senator, from a region where people often scoff at Pachamama beliefs, thrust the Bible above her head and flashed a beaming smile.

While Bolivians are deeply divided on Morales’ legacy, his replacement,a lawyer and opposition leaderwho wants to make the Bible front and center in public life, is reigniting deep-rooted class and racial divisions at a time of great uncertainty in the Andean nation, where 6 in 10 identify as descendants of native peoples. (Read more from “Bolivia Religious Debate: The Bible vs Andean Earth Deity” HERE)

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U.S. Air Force Plane Crashes in Afghanistan; Pentagon Denies Enemy Fire but Taliban Claims They Shot It Down

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A U.S. Air Force E-11 plane crashed in Afghanistan on Monday, and at least two pilots were discovered dead, according to reports. The Taliban claimed to have shot down the plane, but the Pentagon has deni

U.S. Forces-Afghanistan spokesman Col. Sonny Leggett confirmed the crash in a statement to American Military News on Monday afternoon. “A U.S. Bombardier E-11A crashed today in Ghazni province, Afghanistan. While the cause of crash is under investigation, there are no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire. We will provide additional information as it becomes available. Taliban claims that additional aircraft have crashed are false,” Leggett said.

Four-star Air Force Gen. David Goldfein also confirmed the crash while at a Center for a New American Security event. “It appears we have lost an aircraft. We don’t know the status of the crew,” he said, according to Military.com.

Goldfein confirmed that the plane was an E-11, but could not say whether or not the crash was the result of enemy fire. He added that the incident is under investigation.

Afghanistan government spokesperson Arif Noori confirmed the plane was flying between Kandahar province and Kabul when it went down in the Taliban-controlled Ghazni province south of Kabul, CBS News reported. (Read more from “U.S. Air Force Plane Crashes in Afghanistan; Pentagon Denies Enemy Fire but Taliban Claims They Shot It Down” HERE)

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Missile Attack Hits U.S. Embassy in Baghdad

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By Breitbart. A barrage of rocket fire targeted Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone on Sunday, hitting part of the U.S. embassy complex in that country. Saudi Arabia’s al-Arabiya news agency noted that the American compound “has been regularly hit by rockets in recent months.”

Both the American and Iraqi governments have confirmed a rocket attack on the complex but offered little information regarding the attack. No country or non-state actor has taken responsibility for this round of attacks.

No reports of any deaths have surfaced and estimates as to the wounded range from one to three people. Early reports do not specify the extent of the physical damage to the compound.

CNN and the Agence France-Presse (AFP) both reported that the facility hit by the rocket fire was a dining area or cafe, both citing unnamed sources. AFP’s source claimed that five Katyusha rockets fell in the Green Zone – a highly secure neighborhood in the Iraqi capital that houses most foreign embassies and other important government buildings – and appeared to target the U.S. embassy, and as many as three may have landed. Iraq’s al-Sumaria News reported that one rocket hit the embassy compound.

Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, who resigned months ago but has not organized elections and appears to show no signs of leaving, issued a statement confirming and condemning the attack, and specifically confirming anonymous reports that rockets hit the U.S. embassy compound. He did not offer any suggestions regarding who could have organized the attack, nor did he suggest Iraq had arrested anyone in response to the rockets. (Read more from “Missile Attack Hits U.S. Embassy in Baghdad” HERE)

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Rockets ‘Hit U.S. Embassy’ in Iraq Capital Amid Anti-Gov’t Protests

By Al Jazeera. The US embassy in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone came under attack from rocket fire on Sunday evening.

Five rockets crashed into a riverbank near the embassy in the Iraqi capital without causing any injuries, the US Joint Operations Command said in a statement, but AFP news agency citing a security source said three of the rockets “directly hit the US embassy”. One slammed into a cafeteria at dinner time, it added. . .

Meanwhile, one protester was killed in Baghdad, police sources told Reuters news agency, and more than 100 demonstrators were hurt in violence in the capital and several other cities after the security forces tried to clear sit-in protest camps.

Medical sources said 75 of those hurt were in the southern city of Nasiriyah, where a witness told Reuters protesters set fire to two security vehicles, and hundreds of other demonstrators controlled key bridges in the city.

The protesters are demanding the removal of what they consider a corrupt ruling elite and an end to foreign interference in Iraqi politics, especially by Iran. (Read more from “Rockets ‘Hit U.S. Embassy’ in Iraq Capital Amid Anti-Gov’t Protests” HERE)

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ISIS Child Soldier Executes Nigerian Christian Student, Declares ‘We Will Not Stop’

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The Nigerian man who was executed by a child militant in a video released by a Boko Haram offshoot group aligned with the Islamic State days ago has been identified as a 22-year-old Christian college student.

Ropvil Daciya Dalep hailed from the Pankshin Local Government Area of the Plateau state and attended the University of Maiduguri in Borno state. His execution video gained media attention this week.

Dalep was a biology major who was returning to school from Christmas break when he was abducted on Jan. 9 allegedly by the Islamic State West Africa Province, according to the United Kingdom-based NGO Christian Solidarity Worldwide. . .

In the video released by the Islamic State-affiliated Amaq News Agency, the child reportedly claims that Dalep’s killing was revenge for the “bloodshed” committed by Christians.

“In particular, this is one among the Christians from Plateau State,” the child is reported to have said in the video. “We are saying to Christians, we have not forgotten what you have done to our parents and ancestors and we are telling all Christians around the world, we have not forgotten and will not stop. We must avenge the bloodshed that has been done like this one…” (Read more from “ISIS Child Soldier Executes Nigerian Christian Student, Declares ‘We Will Not Stop'” HERE)

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California Case of Coronavirus Revealed: Three Now Confirmed in U.S.; “Whistleblower” Nurse Says China Has 90,000 Sick (VIDEO)

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By Breitbart. A fresh diagnosis of the deadly coronavirus has been confirmed in Southern California, bringing to three the number of cases in the U.S. as the fast-moving virus continues its spread and the global death toll spiked to 56.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notified Orange County health officials late Saturday a potential case of coronavirus tested positive.

The patient has been described as a traveler from Wuhan, China — the epicenter of the disease’s outbreak — and is in isolation in a hospital in “good condition,” according to the release.

The first two U.S. cases of the virus were a Washington state man in his 30s and later an Illinois woman in her 60s who had both traveled to Wuhan, currently reported to be in stable condition at area hospitals.

The previously unknown virus has caused global concern because of its similarity to the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) pathogen, which killed hundreds across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003. (Read more from “California Case of Coronavirus Revealed: Three Now Confirmed in U.S.” HERE)

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“Whistleblower” Nurse Says China Has 90,000 Sick

By NY Post. The coronavirus now has a whistleblower — a nurse in Wuhan who insists in a shocking online video that close to 90,000 people in China have the disease, far more than the 1,975 reported by officials.

“I am in the area where the coronavirus started,” her video begins. Wuhan is the epicenter of the outbreak.

“I’m here to tell the truth,” the anonymous nurse says in the video, which shows her wearing a full-head face mask.

“At this moment, Hubei province, including the Wuhan area, even China, 90,000 people have been infected by a coronavirus.”

(Read more from “”Whistleblower” Nurse Says China Has 90,000 Sick” HERE)

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