Scientists released a pair of extensive studies on Saturday that point to a market in Wuhan, China, as the origin of the coronavirus pandemic. Analyzing data from a variety of sources, they concluded that the coronavirus was very likely present in live mammals sold in the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in late 2019 and suggested that the virus twice spilled over into people working or shopping there. They said they found no support for an alternate theory that the coronavirus escaped from a laboratory in Wuhan. Members of the Wuhan…
Day: February 26, 2022
Labor warns China it should not ‘take comfort’ from Russian invasion of Ukraine
Labor’s shadow foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine should not embolden China’s regional ambitions as she called for the “strongest possible sanctions” against Moscow by the Australian government. While declining to comment specifically on whether events in Europe increased the likelihood of China moving on Taiwan, Wong said no country should see Russia’s invasion as “any justification” for challenging the status quo in the region. “It is the case that what is occurring is relevant to our region, is relevant to the whole world, where…
Coronavirus came from Wuhan market and not Chinese lab, twin studies say
International scientists on Saturday released two major studies which one participant said made it “extraordinarily clear” a market in Wuhan, China, was the source of the coronavirus which caused the Covid-19 pandemic – and not a Chinese government laboratory, a theory championed in the US by rightwing campaigners, columnists and politicians. The question of where Covid-19 came from and how it spread has proved divisive. According to Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, after two years the global death toll stands at more than 5.9m, the caseload at 433.7m. The same…
Vladimir Putin’s Clash of Civilizations
Still, even the most successful scenario for his invasion of Ukraine — easy victory, no real insurgency, a pliant government installed — seems likely to undercut some of the interests he’s supposedly fighting to defend. NATO will still nearly encircle western Russia, more countries may join the alliance, European military spending will rise, more troops and material will end up in Eastern Europe. There will be a push for European energy independence, some attempt at long-term delinking from Russian pipelines and production. A reforged Russian empire will be poorer than…
Russia and China Cemented Economic Ties Before Ukraine Invasion
“If they don’t comply with the U.S., they’re in trouble with the U.S., but if they don’t comply with China, they could also face penalties in China,” he said. Of course, collecting fines from companies that are unwilling to pay and monitoring whether businesses comply with the rules could be difficult, Mr. Chorzempa added. “It’s already proving difficult to monitor the things that are already controlled, and if you expand that list, that’s going to be a real challenge to verify what’s going to Russia,” he said. Russia’s Attack on…