Category: McCarthyism

Mississippi Man Charged with Insurance Fraud After Allegedly Defacing Cars with Racist, Pro-Trump Graffiti

This looks to be another left-wing hate hoax.

By Shane Trejo – 3/3/2020

A Mississippi man has been arrested on suspected insurance fraud after he reported racist graffiti on two of his cars back in February, in what very well may be another left-wing hate hoax.

Mississippi resident Trumaine Foster said that he woke up to find two of his cars defaced with various racial slurs next to the word “TRUMP” on Feb. 4. Police took him into custody for evidence tampering and insurance fraud after he painted over the vehicles, although they stopped short at explicitly blaming him for defacing his own cars in the first place.

The individuals in the community do not necessarily see Foster as some kind of victim. Shelby and Bradley Littleton, who are neighbors to Foster, claimed that the “hoax just kind of made us look silly” and “to make something up, that just does not make sense.”

Foster is now being held in the the DeSoto County Jail and is set to make a court appearance on Wednesday.

This may be the latest in a series of hate hoaxes that have happened across the country since the election of President Trump.

The most prominent hate hoax has come from Jussie Smollett, the third-rate actor who was caught poorly faking a hate crime in Chicago early last year:

Chicago actor Jussie Smollett was charged by a Cook County special prosecutor with six counts of disorderly conduct related to lying to the police on Tuesday. Dan Webb, a former U.S attorney appointed by Judge Michael Toomin, announced the charges as the result of a grand jury investigation.

Smollett had appeared to escape criminal repercussions for a hoax he orchestrated of January 2019, in which he paid two Nigerian brothers to play the role of Trump supporters and “attack” him in a fake racially charged event. Smollett was originally charged by prosecutors with filing a fake police report, but evaded punishment when a suspect district attorney ordered the charges dropped on the basis of Smollett’s supposed community service.

But he won’t use his ‘get out of jail free’ card after all. Webb was appointed by Judge Toomin six months ago to investigate the circumstances surrounding the suspicious dropping of Smollett’s charges. In a statement, the special prosecutor explained his decision to file new criminal charges against Smollett for his orchestration of the hoax.

“The grand jury’s investigation revealed that Jussie Smollett planned and participated in a staged hate crime attack, and thereafter made numerous false statements to Chicago Police Department officers on multiple occasions, reporting a heinous hate crime that he, in fact, knew had not occurred.”

The hate hoax epidemic is continuing throughout the country, enabled by a Democrat Party and fake news media that is always happy to amplify dubious stories.

 

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PANIC BUYING HITS GERMAN STORES AS CORONAVIRUS CASES DOUBLE

Panic Buying Hits German Stores as Coronavirus Cases Double

Grocery chains report rising demand for canned goods, other long-term provisions

Deutsche Welle – MARCH 2, 2020

Germans are slowly coming to realize that they, just like 50 other nations in the world today, could soon be facing a coronavirus epidemic.

Indeed, the pathogen has become a major topic of discussion in the country – so much so, in fact, that some residents are now stockpiling food out of fear they could be placed under quarantine.

Bulk-buying supplies

On Friday, a spokeswoman for one of the country’s largest supermarket groups, REWE, told DW that while they didn’t register any panic at the start of the week, the situation quickly changed.

“We have noticed rising foodstuff and canned goods purchases across the entire country to which we are adapting accordingly,” said Kristina Schütz from REWE Group, which is headquartered in Cologne and runs the Penny, REWE and Nahkauf grocery chains.

Discount chain Lidl has recorded a similar spike in purchases, with a spokesperson confirming that “we are noticing a rise in sales in certain regions and stores.”

According to the chains, Germans are stockpiling long-lasting and canned food, pasta as well as toilet paper and disinfectants.

CAP

What do authorities recommend?

Four years ago, the Bonn-based Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) published a checklist of long-lasting foods it recommends stockpiling for emergencies.

The BBK, which is staffed by some 300 civil servants, educates the general population on how to prepare for crises. It advises Germans to stockpile food and drink for about ten days.

Specifically, the checklist states that one person needs 14 liters of liquid a week, and recommends stocking mineral water and fruit juice in particular. Even so, the BBK warns against panic buying, advising Germans to stockpile only foods and drinks “that you and your family would consume anyway.”

The BKK also suggests stocking food that keeps for a long time without needing refrigeration, to pay attention to sell-by dates, and mark when items were purchased, in case they don’t have dates printed on them. It also advises Germans to “store newly bought food items at the back of the cupboard so that you consume older items first.”

Sound advice

This comprehensive emergency checklist hasn’t gone unnoticed abroad. Bulgarian daily 24 Tschassa, for example, praised the advice provided by German authorities, saying that in most cases “consumers just hoard all kinds of products – without a proper idea how long they will come in useful or whether they might need them at all.”

The paper said sticking to the German checklist is a good idea “as it makes no sense to buy excessive amounts of supplies.”

Warning against stoking fear

While many pundits in Germany agree the list is useful, they simultaneously warn against stirring hysteria. So far, Germany has confirmed 129 cases of coronavirus, with 16 having already recovered, and no deaths reported. More than half of the cases are in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the country’s most populous state.

The German Journalists Association (DJV) therefore emphasizes that media outlets should avoid stoking fear.

Accordingly, DJV head Frank Überall stated that “people need clear information as well as advice” to make sense of the situation.

He has called on journalists to heed the German press code which calls on them to “avoid an inappropriately sensationalist tone when reporting on medical issues, as this may give rise to unfounded fears or hopes.”

The press code also states that “stoking fear and hysteria is incompatible with responsible journalism.”

https://banned.video/watch?id=5e5c645c265ff4005b24a7d9

https://infowarsmedia.com/js/player.js

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Media, Democrats Spread Fake News That Trump Called Coronavirus ‘A Hoax’

Steve Watson – 3/2/2020

Bloomberg tweets edited video clips

After last week blaming The President for the coronavirus spread, Democrats and the leftist media are now falsely claiming that Trump said the entire outbreak is not real.

Politico published an article Friday claiming that Trump called the coronavirus a “hoax” at his rally in South Carolina.

The article claimed that Trump “tried to cast the global outbreak of the coronavirus as a liberal conspiracy intended to undermine his first term.”

In reality, Trump referred to “politicizing” of the coronavirus by Democrats as “their new hoax.”

Even Facebook flagged Politico’s piece as false information:

CAP

The President clarified his remarks over the weekend, noting noting that he was “referring to the action that they take to try and pin this on somebody because we’ve done such a good job.”

“The hoax is on them. I’m not talking about what’s happening here. I’m talking what they’re doing. That’s the hoax,” Trump said, according to NBC News.

Mike Bloomberg proved Trump’s exact point by spreading an edited video and claiming that Trump believes the virus isn’t real:

Bloomberg repeated that claim in an interview with CBS, prompting host Scott Pelley to correct him:

“He said that the Democrats making so much of it is a Democratic hoax, not that the virus is a hoax,” Pelley told Bloomberg.

Mini Mike simply ignored Pelley, and argued “This is up to the scientists and the doctors as to whether there is a problem,” adding that Trump’s response to the coronavirus outbreak has been “ignorant and irresponsible.”

Meanwhile, over at CNN, the mental gymnastics went a step further, with Inside Politics host John King saying that “you can read this how you wish” as far as Trump’s ‘hoax’ comments go.

https://www.mrctv.org/videos/cnn-tells-viewers-take-trumps-hoax-comment-how-you-wish

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Flashback: CDC Workers Were “Crying in the Hallways” When Trump Was Elected President

by Kristinn Taylor February 28, 2020

Are concerns expressed by Rush Limbaugh and others that workers in the federal bureaucracy may try to politicize the response to the coronavirus as a weapon against President Trump’s reelection that far fetched? Workers in many federal government departments and agencies have tried since his election to sabotage Trump from within, proudly calling themselves part of the Resistance.

On Tuesday while Trump was wrapping up a state visit to India, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) official, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, gave an alarmist briefing to reporters that ran counter to Trump’s efforts to calm the public and markets. While some, including TGP’s Joe Hoft, have noted Messonnier is the sister of controversial former Trump Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, suggesting that relationship may have been behind the alarmist briefing, Trump himself has said he does not believe the CDC is trying to hurt him.

However, a November 9, 2016 report by NPR station WABE-FM in Atlanta where the CDC is headquartered headlined an article on CDC employees’ reaction to Trump’s victory: “Atlanta CDC Employees Express Anxiety Over Trump’s Win”.

The WABE article details a somber, depressing, tearful, binge eating reaction by CDC staff:

Employees at the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the mood in their office is somber.

The employees of one of the largest federal agencies in Atlanta said they’re concerned about job safety, funding and new public health policies under Donald Trump’s presidency.

At the General Muir deli across the street from the CDC, a few employees talked to WABE, asking that their names not be used. One microbiologist said her colleagues were crying in the hallways.

“It’s really sad,” she said. “It’s depressing. I’m eating a bagel to try and be happy.”

See the source image

One anti-TRUMP CDC worker spoke of using the CDC to ‘reach out to (the) electorate’

But, she said, they are looking for a silver lining, specifically reaching out to low-income, rural communities.

“My team is trying to identify how to reach out to this electorate that has clearly expressed that they’re hurting,” she said. “We’re thinking, you know, how can we reach out to these people so they don’t feel the need to feel disenfranchised, I guess.”

Trump Q&A about the CDC at Wednesday’s press briefing on the coronavirus:

Q Thank you, sir. A number of your supporters online have embraced these theories reported — these theories that the CDC may be exaggerating the threat of coronavirus to hurt you politically. Rush Limbaugh the other day said this has been advanced to weaponize the virus against you.

THE PRESIDENT: You don’t mean my supporters. You mean my — my people that are not supporters?

Q Right. Your opponents.

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, I agree with that. I do.

Q Have you seen evidence of that?

THE PRESIDENT: I think they are. I think — and I’d like it to stop. I think people know that when Chuck Schumer gets upset — I mean, he did the same thing with a couple of trade deals that are phenomenal deals now — everybody has acknowledged they’re phenomenal deals — before he ever saw the deal. He didn’t even know we were going to make a deal. They said, “What do you think of the deal with China?” “I don’t like it. I don’t like it.”

He talked about tariffs. I left the tariffs on: 25 percent on $250 billion. He said, “He took the tariffs off.” He didn’t even know the deal. And he was out there knocking it because that’s a natural thing to say. But when you’re talking about especially something like this, we have to be on the same team. This is too important. We have to be on the same team.

Q Have you seen evidence that the CDC is trying to hurt you? That there are career officials —

THE PRESIDENT: No, I don’t think the CDC is at all. No, they’ve been — they’ve been working really well together. No, they really are. They’re professional. I think they’re beyond that. They want this to go away. They want to do it with as little disruption, and they don’t want to lose life. I see the way they’re working. This gen- — these people behind me and others that are in the other room, they’re incredible people. No, I don’t see that at all.

Link to the CDC website on the coronavirus.

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MSNBC Does It Again! 🤖

By Mark Dice – 2/27/2020

“Russia is currently trying to help President Trump get reelected.” Allow me to paraphrase. “We have nothing to talk about in our attempts to get rid of President Trump right now, so, “RUSSIA! RUSSIA! RUSSIA!”

 

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SCIENTISTS DISCOVER HIV-LIKE “MUTATION” WHICH MAKES CORONAVIRUS EXTREMELY INFECTIOUS

Scientists Discover HIV-Like "Mutation" Which Makes Coronavirus Extremely Infectious

“This virus may use the packing mechanisms of other viruses such as HIV.”

Zero Hedge – FEBRUARY 27, 2020

While mainstream scientists continue to perform mental gymnastics to insist that the new coronavirus wasn’t man-made, new research from scientists in China and Europe reveal that the disease happens to have an ‘HIV-like mutation’.

This allows it to bind with human cells up to 1,000 times stronger than the Sars virus, according to SCMP.

Recall that at the end of January, a team of Indian scientists wrote in a now-retracted, scandalous paper claiming that the coronavirus may have been genetically engineered to incorporate parts of the HIV genome.

They wrote “This uncanny similarity of novel inserts in the 2019- nCoV spike protein to HIV-1 gp120 and Gag is unlikely to be fortuitous in nature,” meaning – it was unlikely to have occurred naturally.

Scientists Discover HIV-Like “Mutation” Which Makes Coronavirus Extremely Infectious

https://banned.video/watch?id=5e571291e53f4d001c3ce08f

https://infowarsmedia.com/js/player.js

Dr. Francis Boyle joins Mike Adams on The Alex Jones Show to break down the toll has taken for standing up for the truth in the wake of bioweapon development.

Fast forward to new research by a team from Nankai University, which writes that COV-19 has an ‘HIV-like mutation’ that  allows it to quickly enter the human body by binding with a receptor called ACE2 on a cell membrane.

Other highly contagious viruses, including HIV and Ebola, target an enzyme called furin, which works as a protein activator in the human body. Many proteins are inactive or dormant when they are produced and have to be “cut” at specific points to activate their various functions.

When looking at the genome sequence of the new coronavirus, Professor Ruan Jishou and his team at Nankai University in Tianjin found a section of mutated genes that did not exist in Sars, but were similar to those found in HIV and Ebola. –SCMP

“This finding suggests that 2019-nCoV [the new coronavirus] may be significantly different from the Sars coronavirus in the infection pathway,” reads the paper published this month on Chinaxiv.org – a platform used by the Chinese Academy of Sciences which releases research papers prior to peer-review.

“This virus may use the packing mechanisms of other viruses such as HIV,” they added.

For those confused, what the latest scientific paper claims is that whereas the Coronavirus may indeed contain a specific HIV-like feature that makes it extremely infectious, that was the result of a rather bizarre “mutation.” However, since the scientists did not make the scandalous claim that Chinese scientists had created an airborne version of HIV, but instead blamed a mutation, they will likely not be forced to retract it, even if it the odds of such a “random” mutation taking place naturally are extremely small.

As a reminder, the running narrative is that the new coronavirus lie dormant in bats somewhere between 20 and 70 years, then ‘crossed over’ to humans through and unknown species – possibly a Pangolin – before it emerged at a Wuhan, China meat market roughly 900 feet from a level-4 bioweapons lab.

And what were they researching at said lab? Among other things – why Ebola and HIV can lie dormant in bats without causing diseases.

According to the new study, the ‘mutation’ can generate a structure known as a cleavage site in the new coronavirus’ spike protein, SCMP reports. “Compared to the Sars’ way of entry, this binding method is “100 to 1,000 times” as efficient, according to the study.”

The virus uses the outreaching spike protein to hook on to the host cell, but normally this protein is inactive. The cleavage site structure’s job is to cheat the human furin protein, so it will cut and activate the spike protein and cause a “direct fusion” of the viral and cellular membranes. –SCMP

(a recent paper published by Dr. Zhou Peng of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, meanwhile, is “Immunogenicity of the spike glycoprotein  of Bat SARS-like coronavirus.“)

According to the report, a follow-up study from a Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhn confirmed Nankai University’s findings.

The mutation could not be found in Sars, Mers or Bat-CoVRaTG13, a bat coronavirus that was considered the original source of the new coronavirus with 96 per cent similarity in genes, it said.

This could be “the reason why SARS-CoV-2 is more infectious than other coronaviruses”, Li wrote in a paper released on Chinarxiv on Sunday.

Meanwhile, a study by French scientist Etienne Decroly at Aix-Marseille University, which was published in the scientific journal Antiviral Research on February 10, also found a “furin-like cleavage site” that is absent in similar coronaviruses.

Chinese scientists speculate that drugs targeting the fuirn enzyme could potentially hinder the virus’ replication inside the human body. Drugs up for consideration include “a series of HIV-1 therapeutic drugs such as Indinavir, Tenofovir Alafenamide, Tenofovir Disoproxil and Dolutegravir and hepatitis C therapeutic drugs including Boceprevir and Telaprevir,” according to Li’s study.

The conclusion is in line with several reports from doctors who self-administered HIV drugs after testing positive for coronavirus, however there have been no clinical tests to confirm the theory.

All perfectly “natural.”

 

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Japan, China Close Schools Nationwide As CDC Warns Of Possible “Community Outbreak” In Sonoma County: Live Virus Updates

Summary:

  • WHO says outbreak in Iran likely worse than official numbers suggest; outbreak could go in “any direction”

  • Iran confirms 22 deaths, vice president for women and family affairs infected

  • Lagarde: Not yet time for ECB to intervene to fight economic backlash of outbreak

  • HHS says risk to public remains “low”

  • Starbucks says it has reopened 85% of Chinese restaurants

  • Azar: Sonoma case might be ‘community transmission’

  • Salvini meets with Italian president amid national unity government speculation

  • South Korean new cases surpass China’s new cases as SK confirms 505 new cases

  • China, Japan close school nationwide

  • CDC fears ‘community outbreak’ in Sonoma County after discovering first US case of “unknown origin”

  • Saudi Arabia suspends pilgrimages to Holy Sites

  • Hawaiian Airlines suspends service to South Korea

  • Brazil’s neighbors take steps to keep virus out

* * *

Update (1150ET): A rare glimpse of bullish economic news out of China: Starbucks says it has reopened 85% of its stores in China, its “second home market,” according to a company statement to CNBC.

* * *

Update (1120ET): After cheering reports of German fiscal stimulus yesterday, the ECB’s Christine Lagarde said the outbreak isn’t yet at the stage to justify ECB intervention as investors in the US, and President Trump, look to Powell for a rate cut at the next meeting.

Of course, Lagarde is probably only saying this because she knows there’s nothing she can do to salve the European economy from a ‘supply-side’ shock, which is why she’s picking up where Mario Draghi left off and calling on EU governments to spend more to keep the Continental economy from sliding off a cliff.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that the CDC is allowing states to “modify” old test kits to use them on any suspected coronavirus patients.

Hopefully, these tests aren’t sacrificing accuracy for availability.

U.S. health officials will let state and local health labs modify a test for the coronavirus that has been plagued by weeks of delays because of inconclusive results, said the head of the trade group for public-health testing labs.

Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration held a conference call Wednesday in which they gave permission for state and local labs to drop a troublesome step in the tests that stopped them from being used, said Scott Becker, CEO of the Association of Public Health Laboratories. Becker’s group represents state and local testing labs.

The change should speed testing and allow state and local labs to start using hundreds of test kits that were sent out earlier this month, rather than having to wait for an improved, new version of the test to be sent by federal health authorities.

“In the next week we are going to have much more testing,” Becker said in a phone interview. “It is going to increase capacity across the country.”

Source: Bloomberg

Over on Capitol Hill, Nancy Pelosi said she spoke to Trump’s “Coronavirus Czar” Mike Pence about the emergency spending bill.

* * *

Update (1100ET): Azar admits that the case in a Sonoma County hospital might signal the start of “community transmission” as the CDC warned.

  • AZAR: CASE IN CALIF. COULD BE POTENTIAL FIRST COMMUNITY SPREAD

* * *

Update (1030ET): With US stocks deep in the red one again, HHS Secretary Alex Azar said at least 40 public health labs in the US should now be able to test for the coronavirus using “modified existing CDC kits”.

  • IMMEDIATE U.S. CORONAVIRUS RISK REMAINS LOW, AZAR SAYS

  • HHS SECRETARY AZAR SAYS AT LEAST 40 PUBLIC HEALTH LABS IN U.S. SHOULD NOW BE ABLE TO TEST FOR CORONAVIRUS USING MODIFIED EXISTING CDC KITS

in the US, investors are worried about the first case of unknown origin, which the CDC confirmed last night. This comes as critics slam Azar for refusing to guarantee that the coronavirus vaccine would be “affordable to all”.

The IMF said Thursday that it’s likely to downgrade its global growth outlook in the next world economic outlook, which is due in the spring.

Switzerland has become the latest country to cancel games and events over the outbreak, with the Engadin Ski Marathon, said to be the tiny Alpine country’s largest annual sporting event.

Over on Wall Street, US stocks are on track for their worst week since the financial crisis.

Pakistan, meanwhile, has become the latest country to suspend all flights to Iran.

* * *

Update (0920ET): WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Thursday during the organization’s daily press briefing that “we are at a decisive point” in the epidemic, while others warned it could go “in any direction.”

CAP

Iran has confirmed 22 deaths and more than 140 cases, including a vice president who was the third senior official to catch the virus. But many fear the full extent of the outbreak is much broader. During the press conference, another WHO official singled out Iran, claiming the virus had crept into the country “undetected”, before adding that the WHO fears the outbreak inside the country is even worse than the government claims.

“The outbreak can go in any direction based on how we handle it,” Dr. Tedros said during the group’s daily briefing in Geneva.

Iran “has a very high clinical capacity”, said Dr. Mike Ryan, the executive director of the WHO’s health emergency program. The 10% death rate probably has more to do with the fact that many cases have gone undiagnosed, he said. The country has gone so far as to cancel Friday prayers in Tehran, after the Saudis told pilgrims they wouldn’t be allowed in to the Muslim Holy Sites.

Following European stocks dive into correction territory, in the US, the Dow is on the cusp of falling into correction territory intraday for the first time since December 2018 (remember when?).

As traders digest the implications of the new case in Sonoma County that could be evidence of the first case of “community transmission” in the country, as well as President Trump’s rambling press conference on Wednesday, the focus has shifted back to Europe, where in Italy, cases climbed above 500.

According to the FT, Matteo Salvini, the leader of the League, the head of the parliamentary opposition, has met with President Sergio Mattarella as speculation mounts about the prospects for a national unity government to deal with the crisis, following several political missteps by PM Conte.

* * *

Update (0735ET): After yesterday’s rally fizzled, Germany is giving the ‘fiscal stimulus’ tape bomb one more go.

  • GERMAN GOVERNMENT CONSIDERING POSSIBLE STIMULUS PROGRAMME IN CASE CORONAVIRUS EPIDEMIC HITS GERMAN ECONOMY HARD – HANDELSBLATT

Yesterday, a German lawmaker poured cold water on reports that Germany might ditch its constitutional ‘debt break’ to boost spending in response to the economy-killing outbreak.

* * *

Update (0715ET): with the country’s third election in a year just days away, Israel is taking serious pains to avoid acknowledging the coronavirus cases that have been confirmed in the country by blaming them on Italy and South Korea (each case involved a traveler who had recently returned from one of those two countries).

The country said Thursday it would bar non-Israelis who had recently visited Italy after confirming that a man who had recently visited the country had tested positive for the virus, according to Reuters.

* * *

US equity futures are pointing to yet another lower open on Thursday morning after WaPo interrupted President Trump’s press conference last night to reports the first COVID-19 case “of unknown origin,” which the CDC later confirmed was in Sonoma County, and could be the epicenter of America’s first “community outbreak.” Shortly after, South Korea reported its largest number of new coronavirus cases in a single day, as the number of new cases reported outside China once again surpassed the number inside China. Brazil confirmed the first case in South America yesterday, bringing the virus to every continent except Antarctica.

A few hours later, and South Korea has reported another 171 cases, bringing the total cases confirmed on Thursday to 505 – surpassing China’s daily total (433) for the first time, as Bloomberg pointed out. So far, South Korea has confirmed 1,766 cases, along with 13 deaths, in the 38 days since the first case was reported on Jan. 20. The US and South Korea have cancelled planned military exercises after a US soldier caught the virus in Korea.

CAP

Over in Hawaii, Hawaiian Air has suspended service to South Korea starting March 2 through April 30, while Delta reduces flights as the outbreak in South Korea intensifies (Hawaii has already had one COVID-19 scare involving a Japanese tourist; we suspect the state wants to avoid a similar episode involving South Korea). Congresswoman and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard requesting a suspension of flights from South Korea and Japan as the outbreak in the US worsens.

Fearing the sudden breakout in the Middle East might spread inside its borders, Saudi Arabia has halted pilgrimages to Islam’s holy sites – known as the Hajj – that are a mandatory practice for Muslims, an unprecedented decision that is likely to spark controversy across the Muslim world. Across the Persian Gulf, Iran has now confirmed 26 deaths 245 cases. But given the virus’s rapid spread throughout the Islamic Republic, many suspect that the real number of cases is far higher (earlier in the week, a local lawmaker said 50 people had died in the city of Qom alone).

Iran Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said the large number of new cases is due to more labs handling virus tests. He warned that the public should expect more cases in the future.

Yesterday, Greece was one of eight countries – Brazil, Pakistan, North Macedonia, of course Greece, Georgia, Algeria, Norway and Romania – to confirm their first cases. On Thursday, Greece confirmed two more cases, one of them in its capital city of Athens. The initial case was found in Thessaloniki, Greece’s second city.

At last count, coronavirus has infected more than 80,000 people around the world and caused more than 2,700 deaths since the outbreak began in Wuhan back in December.

Following Brazil’s confirmation overnight, its Latin American neighbors are taking steps to stop the virus from spreading across their borders. According to the AP, Peru is keeping a team of specialists working 24/7 at Jorge Chávez International Airport. Argentina has asked citizens to report any flu-like symptom. Puerto Rico has established a task force to prepare for an outbreak in Puerto Rico. And Chile has announced a health emergency and purchased millions of masks and protective outfits for health workers.

But perhaps the biggest story overnight came out of Japan, where the government swore yesterday that the Tokyo Games would take place as scheduled this summer, after an IOC member speculated that if the virus wasn’t cleared up by late May, Japan might be forced to cancel the Olympics.

PM Shinzo Abe asked all schools in Japan to remain closed until the spring holidays begin late next month to try and contain the virus. Abe’s decision follows a rash of new cases reported in the north of Japan, including the first cases in Hokkaido, with no discernible path of origin, Nikkei reports.

As of Thursday, 175 cases have been confirmed across 19 of Japan’s prefectures, including Hokkaido, Tokyo, Aichi, and Chiba. Earlier on Thursday, Hokkaido instituted a weeklong closure of all 1,600 public elementary and junior high schools. Abe made the announcement during a meeting of the government’s headquarters.

Schools must now decide whether to abide by the PM’s non-binding ask, though it’s expected that nearly all schools will comply.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, President Xi’s ‘point-man’ in charge of the coronavirus response, said that China will extend its school closures for another month because of the virus, according to CCTV.

Earlier this week, we noted that WHO’s team of researchers claimed they found no evidence that the virus had ‘mutated’ during their study of 100+ strains isolated from patients. Well, another group of scientists have done some research that appears to conflict with this.

In Australia, which confirmed a handful of cases during the early days of the outbreak, but has since gone quiet, PM Scott Morrison said Thursday in what some might describe as a ‘fearmongering’ speech that “there is every indication that the world will soon enter a pandemic phase of the coronavirus.”

“As a result, we have initiated the implementation of the coronavirus emergency response plan. While the WHO is yet to declare the nature of the coronavirus and its move toward a pandemic phase, we believe that the risk of a global pandemic is very much upon us and as a result, as a government, we need to take steps to prepare.”

WHO’s Dr. Tedros, who yesterday asked officials not to use the word ‘pandemic’, must have been thrilled to hear Morrison’s screed.

Morrison said Australians can still go “to the football match, or the concert” because Australia has “stayed ahead” of the virus. But now it’s time to move onto the next phase, which includes “preparation for the possibility of a much more significant event.”

Over in France, French President Emmanuel Macron said “we have a crisis before us. An epidemic is on its way” during a visit to a Paris hospital where coronavirus patients are being treated. His statement followed reports that 2 have died in France, an elderly Christian tourist and a 60-year-old French national. The Frenchman died earlier this week in Paris at the hospital Macron visited Thursday. The total number of cases in France reached 18 on Wednesday, roughly the same number as neighboring Germany.

Spain detected two more cases on Thursday, bringing the total this week to 14. Neither was connected to Italy, health authorities said. Switzerland confirmed 3 more cases, bringing its total to 4, though Swiss authorities said they’re testing 66 others. In Italy, the number of confirmed cases climbed to 528. Of those, 278 are self-isolating at home, 159 recovered with symptoms in hospital and 37 are in intensive care.

As the AP reminds us, Germany’s health minister said Wednesday that the country was “at the beginning of an epidemic” as authorities in the west tested dozens of people. New cases on Thursday brought Germany’s total to 21.

Two new cases confirmed in the UK on Thursday raised the total to 15. A primary school in Buxton was forced to close for “a deep clean” after a parent of one of the students tested positive for the virus.

The EU Commission doubled-down on its anti-border-closure position, saying no EU country wants to close internal borders. Meanwhile, the FT reports that EU officials are weighing the risks of clusters of Italian-style outbreaks surface across the continent.

What will it take for the EU to acknowledge that border closures might be necessary?

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BREAKING: Trump Campaign Files Libel Lawsuit Against New York Times for Russia Conspiracies

Fake news has consequences.

By 

2/26/2020

The Donald J. Trump For President campaign filed a new defamation lawsuit against the New York Times in the New York Supreme Court on Wednesday, seeking to the hold the legacy media publication accountable for its false claims of a conspiracy between Trump and the government of Russia to assist in Trump’s 2016 election as President.

The development could represent the first step towards holding fake news accountable for wide-ranging conspiracies alleging Russian interference in American politics on behalf of Trump, a recurring theme in the New York Times’ editorial and news coverage since the President’s election.

The Trump campaign is pointing to an op-ed in 2019 as an incident in which the Times “knowingly published false and defamatory statements,” most notably claiming that President Trump was willfully working with the Russia to ensure his election. The Times claimed Russia was boosting Trump’s political prospects with the hopes of a pro-Russian foreign policy to come during the Trump administration.

Jenna Ellis, senior legal counsel to the campaign, released a statement on the matter upon the lawsuit’s filing.

CAP

Pervasive claims of Russian interference in American politics were largely shut down by the conclusion of Robert Mueller’s much-hyped probe into the matter, the Special Counsel having failed to find evidence of any plot between the President and Russia to benefit his election.

Fake news has consequences. The New York Times could follow in the footsteps of CNN in facing an expensive settlement with someone it’s defamed, the latter recently being forced to settle with Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann for its slanted editorial coverage of the high school student.

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Journalists Attacked by Violent Bernie Bros in Austin, Texas

One security guard sent to hospital after having his head gashed.

Journalists and security guards were attacked by violent Bernie Bros in Austin, Texas yesterday, with one having to visit hospital to receive stitches after having his head gashed.

One of the security guards revealed what happened to him and his colleagues when Owen Shroyer began bullhorning during the event.

“As soon as Bernie went on stage and Owen tried to give some counter-points with the bullhorn, we were immediately rushed by a number of very aggressive individuals,” said the security guard.

https://infowarsmedia.com/js/player.js

https://banned.video/watch?id=5e5328b901ef5f0024694af2

Shroyer and his security were situated well outside the perimeter and where police officers had said they were allowed to be. They did not attempt to insert themselves into where the Bernie supporters were located.

“There were people on the perimeter that were Bernie supporters and as soon as Owen started with his counter-message they rushed us,” the security guard added, noting that a man wearing a black bandana used a large steel flashlight as a threatening weapon while another tried to physically grab Shroyer’s bullhorn.

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During this confrontation, a security guard was left bloodied and had to be taken to the hospital to receive stitches. Police were nowhere to be seen during the scuffle.

“I promise you, these people were not peaceful, they were literally preparing themselves, masking up, getting metal objects into their hands, into their pockets, they were looking for a confrontation,” said the security guard.

Other clips from the confrontation showed Bernie supporters acting out in bizarre ways, including one older man who pulled strange faces into the camera while Shroyer was bullhorning.

 

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PROJECT VERITAS: ABC NEWS’ DAVID WRIGHT IDENTIFIES AS ‘A SOCIALIST’

Project Veritas: ABC News’ David Wright Identifies as ‘a Socialist’

Says he not only sees himself as a Democrat-socialist, but a full-blown socialist

Joshua Caplan | Breitbart – FEBRUARY 26, 2020

Senior ABC News correspondent David Wright accused his own network of denying President Donald Trump “credit” for his administration’s accomplishments and revealed that he’s a “socialist,” according to an undercover video captured by Project Veritas.

“I feel terrible about it,” Wright says of ABC’s coverage of the presidential election. “I feel that the truth suffers, the voters are poorly informed and people have the opportunity to tune into whatever they want to hear.”

“It’s like there’s no upside in, or our bosses, don’t see an upside in doing the job we’re supposed to do; which is to speak truth to power and hold people accountable,” he adds.

In another part of the video, Wright claims that the media doesn’t hold President Donald Trump to account, and then admits that reporters don’t give the president “credit” where it’s due. “I think, some of that at least in the place that I work and places like it, is that with Trump, we’re interested in three things: we’re interested in the outrage of the day, the investigation, and of the palace intrigue of who’s backstabbing who,” he says.

Later in the footage, Wright is asked about his political ideology, to which he says that he not only sees himself as a Democrat-socialist, but a full-blown socialist. “I think there should be national health insurance,” Wright argues. “I’m totally fine with reining in corporations, I think there are too many billionaires, and I think that there’s a wealth gap. That’s a problem.”

The video concluded with Wright saying that the establishment media is more interested in covering the election as a “horse race” than a contest about issues important to voters. “I don’t think we’re terribly interested in voters,” he concedes.

“In addition to the candidate of the week, we need the story to move on,” Wright explains. “We’re happy to have Buttigieg be the story last week and we’re happy to have Klobuchar as a new subject this week, and then when we’re tired of her we’ll be delighted if Elizabeth Warren kicks ass in Nevada because then we have something new to talk about.”

“We’re all guilty of the same thing,” Wright continues.” I think that all of the big news organizations… ABC, CBS, NBC.”

“We recognize that we’re dinosaurs and we’re in danger of dying,” he adds.

The Washinton Post reported that ABC News has suspended correspondent Wright “for unguarded remarks he made in a video by operatives of Project Veritas.”
In a statement to Project Veritas, ABC News said of the decision: “Any action that damages our reputation for fairness and impartiality or gives the appearance of compromising it harms ABC News and the individuals involved. David Wright has been suspended, and to avoid any possible appearance of bias, he will be reassigned away from political coverage when he returns.”
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