Migrants taking part in a caravan heading to Mexico City, rest in Villa Comaltitlan, Mexico October 27, 2021. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril
WNU Editor: The above picture came from this photo-gallery .... Caravan of hundreds of migrants press north across Mexico (Reuters).
An unclassified intelligence report on the origins of COVID-19 was released by the Director of National Intelligence on findings released in August of a 90-day review ordered by President Joe Biden
* The paper issued by the Director of National Intelligence elaborates on findings released in August of a 90-day review ordered by President Joe Biden
* That review said that intelligence agencies were divided on the origins of the virus but that analysts do not believe the virus was developed as a bioweapon
* The so-called 'lab leak theory' has been a source of controversy as former President Donald Trump and his supporters long argued that a leak was possible
* US government now concedes that theory is plausible - but refuses to commit to whether COVID came from Wuhan Institute of Virology
* China has resisted global pressure to cooperate fully with investigations into the pandemic or provide access to genetic sequences of coronaviruses
* Biden launched the review amid growing momentum for the theory - initially broadly dismissed by experts - that the virus leaked from the Wuhan lab
A declassified US intelligence report has concluded COVID wasn't developed as a biological weapon - but conceded that coronavirus may well have emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The paper issued by the Director of National Intelligence on Friday elaborates on findings released in August of a 90-day review ordered by President Joe Biden.
That review said that U.S. intelligence agencies were divided on the origins of the virus, but that analysts do not believe the virus was developed as a bioweapon, and that most agencies believe the virus was not genetically engineered.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: The 17-page report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence is here (link here).
More News On The U.S. Intelligence Community's Report On Covid Bio-weapon Claims
Report: Intelligence community divided on whether COVID originated naturally or from lab leak -- Yahoo News
US intel doesn’t expect to determine origins of COVID-19 -- AP
US intelligence says COVID not developed as biological weapon -- DW
Covid bioweapon claims ‘scientifically invalid’, US intelligence reports -- The Guardian
Origin of Virus May Remain Murky, U.S. Intelligence Agencies Say -- New York Times
COVID-19 origins may never truly be known, U.S. spy agencies say in declassified report -- Reuters
The joint statement was read by Geng Shuang, China’s deputy permanent representative to the UN. Photo: Xinhua
SCMP: China, Russia ask UN to check biological warfare strength of US and allies
China and Russia have jointly called for the US to abide by a United Nations convention on biological weapons, as the powers continue to accuse each other of ramping up their military strength and threatening global safety.
The focus on biological weapons has intensified as Beijing and Washington have traded claims that the coronavirus' origin could be linked to each other's research in that field - accusations that have been largely rejected by scientists and denied by both governments.
The call was made on Thursday at an arms control committee discussion of the UN's Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction (BWC).
Read more ....
WNU Editor: Fallout from the Covid pandemic continues.
From Wikipedia: Panfilov's 28 Men (Russian: 28 панфиловцев, translit. 28 panfilovtsev) is a 2016 WWII film based on a legend about a group of soldiers – Panfilov's Twenty-Eight Guardsmen – heroically halting and destroying German tanks headed for Moscow.[3] It is set in the Eastern Front of World War II and covers the 8th Guards Rifle Division operations during the 1941 Battle of Moscow.[4][5]
On DVD, it is also known as Battle for Moscow or Thunder of War in North American distribution. The film is directed by Kim Druzhinin and Andrey Shalopa, produced by Panfilov's Twenty Eight and Gaijin Entertainment. Initially the film used crowdfunding, later it has been financially supported by Russian and Kazakhstan governments and Gaijin Entertainment game development company. The premiere took place in Volokolamsk in 16 November 2016 and in Russia in 24 November 2016.[6]
Read more ....
WNU Editor: If you do not have the English subtitles, click on YouTube's close caption button.
Another heads-up. The battle scenes are intense.
Mike Pence's appearance at Patrick Henry College is one of many he's been making across the country that have fueled 2024 rumors
* Pence lambasted the Biden administration, Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe and critical race theory in the campaign-style speech
* Meanwhile ex-Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows dropped yet another new hint that the former president may launch another White House bid in 2024
* Relations between Pence and Trump have soured since they left office
* Pence's speech came less than a week before the Virginia governor election
* Pence's address wasn't linked to the race but he echoed the Republican candidate's platform of letting parents have more say in their child's education
* A recent poll finds that a majority of Republican voters still want Trump in 2024
Early indications show the 2024 presidential election cycle could see a dramatic face-off between former President Donald Trump and his ex-deputy Mike Pence.
The former vice president fueled speculation that he's launching a White House bid in 2024 on Thursday when he delivered a speech championing 'educational freedom' at a small conservative college in Loudoun County, Virginia. Trump remains a polarizing but dominant figure in Republican politics.
A recent Morning Consult poll shows that a majority of GOP voters - 67 percent - want him to run for a second term.
Read more ....
Update: Pence delivers campaign-like speech on schools as 2024 speculation mounts (NBC)
WNU Editor: Even if former President Trump decides to not run in 2024, former Vice President Mike Pence will still lose against any reasonable Republican candidate.
A gas station employee refuels a vehicle in Shijiazhuang, North China's Hebei Province
Global Times: Gas stations, truck drivers bear brunt of diesel shortage, price hikes
Gas stations in many parts of China are running out of diesel after supply constraints posed by the booming demand for coal transportation and factories using diesel to generate electricity.
Several gas stations in North China's Hebei Province told the Global Times on Friday that pumps had been empty from days to even a week.
Those who have just acquired supplies face a limited amount of diesel delivery to each customer, in addition to charging them a higher price.
"Each customer can only buy a fixed amount, because there isn't enough at the moment," an employee from a gas station in Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei, told the Global Times on Friday.
Read more ....
Update #1: China petrol price surge exacerbates energy crisis (Financial Times)
Update #2: China's Energy Crisis Spreads As Gas Stations Run Out Of Diesel (Zero Hedge)
WNU Editor: China's energy crisis is very real, and their response is predictable .... China’s plan to build more coal-fired plants deals blow to UK’s Cop26 ambitions (The Guardian).
And as for this weekend's COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, do not expect much (if anything) from China .... The world's largest polluter China reveals a plan to cut emissions that falls 'well short' of UN targets – despite Beijing pumping out a quarter of carbon into atmosphere (Daily Mail).
Strategy Page: On Point: Part One: Consequences of America Losing a War to China
In July The National Interest published an essay entitled "Can America Lose to China?" written by Kishore Mahbubani, a fellow at the National University of Singapore's Asia Research Institute and a former Singapore UN Ambassador.
The essay focuses on the China-U.S. political, economic and social competition. Mahbubani begins with an observation: Americans believe "an open society like America has many natural advantages" over China's autocracy.
By assuming inherent advantage, "Americans cannot even conceive of the possibility of losing out to China." That may well be true, though not quite in the way he frames the problem.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: My must read post for today. Part 2 will be released next week.
Sailors and Federal Firefighters combat a fire onboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) at Naval Base San Diego, July 12, 2020. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Christina Ross/Released)
gCaptain: Fire, Fire, Fire: How Navy Failures Destroyed the Bonhomme Richard
A guy with a flag simulates a flame, and a nozzleman says…I am squirting you with water…and then they say…fire is out.”
This statement by a Navy sailor is found in the recently released Navy report on the USS Bonhomme Richard fire and typifies how many of the firefighting drills were conducted for the crew before the catastrophic fire, lasting five days, destroyed the ship in July 2020.
In addition to poorly run and deficient drills, many of the ship’s crew had not donned Self- Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) in over a year, did not know how to use or activate Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) or halogenated hydrocarbon (Halon) firefighting systems, and were unaware of where to locate and use Emergency Escape Breathing Apparatus (EEBA).
Read more ....
WNU Editor: Another sobering rad on US Navy failures.
Euronews: G20: World's biggest economies to discuss COVID, climate and economic recovery
The leaders of the world's major economies will gather in Italy this weekend as Rome hosts its first G20 summit, with the global health crisis, economic recovery, and climate change at the top of this year's agenda.
Delegates will discuss how to reduce the inequalities brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and the uneven rollout of vaccines.
The summit comes on the eve of the UN's climate change conference, the COP26, which starts on Monday in Glasgow.
Italy hopes world leaders will set a deadline to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.
Read more ....
Update #1: G20 leaders to confront energy prices, other economic woes (AP)
Update #2: G20 Rome Summit: What will be on the agenda? (CNN)
WNU Editor: The focus for this summit will be the economy/energy crisis, Covid, and climate change.
(CNN)US officials are highly skeptical that renewed talks over the Iran nuclear deal will yield the desired results and are actively discussing imposing penalties on Tehran as President Joe Biden prepares to meet with key allies on the margins of the G20 to chart a path forward.
Biden and his counterparts from the United Kingdom, Germany, and France will meet in Rome on Saturday just one day after the US imposed new sanctions on Iran related to its drone program and less than a week after Tehran announced it would return to the talks in Vienna following a months-long hiatus.
The fact the new hardline Iranian government has appointed a negotiating team led by opponents of the deal has only increased the sense of pessimism.
Read more ....
Update: White House Skeptical Iran Ready to Restart Nuclear Talks (Naharnet/AP)
WNU Editor: I am also deeply skeptical. There is no common ground between the two sides .... Iran has agreed to return to nuclear talks — but don’t expect a deal anytime soon, experts say (CNBC).
