Friday, February 28, 2025
Trump Considering Cutting Off Shipments of Military Aid to Ukraine After Oval Office Blow-Out With Zelensky: Report
The Washington Post reported late Friday afternoon President Donald Trump is considering cutting off shipments of military aid to Ukraine following his blow-out meeting in the Oval Office with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Vice President J.D. Vance.
Zelensky was rude and argued at length with Trump and Vance over U.S. support for Ukraine and Trump’s efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Afterward, Trump ordered Zelensky out of the White House and canceled a planned luncheon and press conference with Zelensky to mark what was to be the signing of a mineral deal to enhance economic ties between the U.S. and Ukraine.
Excerpt from the brief report by the Post:
The Trump administration is considering ending all ongoing shipments of military aid to Ukraine in response to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s remarks in the Oval Office on Friday and his perceived intransigence in the peace process, a senior administration official told The Washington Post.
The decision, if made, would apply to billions of dollars of radars, vehicles, ammunition and missiles awaiting shipment to Ukraine through the presidential drawdown authority, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic.
Post reporter John Hudson posted on X about his report:
The Trump administration is considering ending all ongoing shipments of military aid to Ukraine in response to Zelensky’s remarks in the Oval Office on Friday and his perceived intransigence in the peace process, per senior administration official
The decision, if taken, would apply to billions of dollars of radars, vehicles, ammunition and missiles awaiting shipment to Ukraine through the presidential drawdown authority, said the official.
TGP’s Cristina Laila reported earlier Friday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was cutting off U.S. aid for Ukraine’s power grid (excerpt):
Secretary of State Marco Rubio terminated the US’s support for Ukraine’s power grid.
The State Department ended a USAID initiative that has given hundreds of millions of dollars to the restoration of Ukraine’s power grid.
Ukraine has been struggling with power outages because of Russia’s attacks on its power grid over the last few years.
USAID will also drastically reduce its presence in Ukraine, according to NBC News.
UPDATE: CBS News reporter Jennifer Jacobs confirms, “US military aid to Ukraine could be in jeopardy, sources told @CBSNews. US senators warned Zelenskyy as recently as this morning not to try to litigate with Trump. Teams were already working ahead to get to a more detailed level of agreement for Ukraine after today’s minerals deal, but the damage done in Oval Office was serious, sources told me. Trump officials who talked with the Ukrainian team after Zelenskyy left the Oval that some of his circle were dismayed by his behavior. “He’s got to say I want to make peace. I don’t want to fight a war any longer,” Trump told reporters on South Lawn when asked what @ZelenskyyUa needs to do to save this. “We’re going to get this war done … or let them fight it out.””
UPDATE: Trump demurred when asked by reporters about considering cutting off military aid to Ukraine “It doesn’t matter what I’m considering”, telling reporters he either ends the fighting with a ceasefire or he lets Russia and Ukraine fight it out.
Trump: All of the sudden he’s a big shot because he has the US on his side. Either we end it or let him fight it out and if he fights it out, it’s not going to be pretty because without us, he doesn’t win. You saw what I saw today. That was not a man who wanted to make peace
Secretary of State Marco Rubio Terminates US Support of Ukraine’s Power Grid
Neil Ferguson Makes New Predictions On Bird Flu Public Health Challenges
Yesterday, Dr. Tom Jefferson and Professor Carl Heneghan highlighted two papers. One is a pre-print (not peer-reviewed) paper published on 28 January 2025 and the other is a paper published in 2001:
- A mathematical model of H5N1 influenza transmission in US dairy cattle, MedRXiv, 28 January 2025
- The Foot-and-Mouth Epidemic in Great Britain: Pattern of Spread and Impact of Interventions, Science, 12 April 2001 (The paper is behind a paywall but you can read from page 2 of the paper uploaded onto ResearchGate HERE.)
The authors of the 2025 pre-print paper on bird flu wrote, “Our model suggests that dairy herd outbreaks [of H5N1 avian influenza] will continue to be a significant public health challenge in 2025 and that more urgent, farm-focused, biosecurity interventions and targeted surveillance schemes are sorely needed.”
What is notable about the two papers above is that Professor Lockdown, also known as Neil Ferguson, was one of the authors of both. For those who may need reminding, who is Neil Ferguson?
Professor Neil Ferguson is an epidemiologist whose mathematical modelling of pandemics predicted huge death rates.
In 2001, as foot and mouth disease (FMD) broke out in parts of Britain, Ferguson and his team at Imperial College produced predictive modelling which was later criticised as “not fit for purpose.” At the time, however, it proved highly influential and helped to persuade Tony Blair’s government to carry out a widespread pre-emptive culling which ultimately led to the deaths of more than six million cattle, sheep and pigs. The cost to the economy was later estimated at £10 billion.
Separately, Ferguson predicted that up to 150,000 people could die from bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, “mad cow disease”) and its equivalent in sheep if it made the leap to humans. Per 2020, there have been fewer than 200 deaths from the human form of BSE and none from sheep to human transmission. The result was an EU ban on British beef exports; and the eventual killing and incineration of over 3.7 million cattle.
In 2005, Ferguson claimed that up to 200 million people would be killed by bird flu or H5N1. By early 2006, the WHO had only linked 78 deaths to the virus, out of 147 reported cases.
As Wikispooks notes, “In 2009, Ferguson and his team at Imperial College advised the government that Swine flu (H1N1) would probably kill 65,000 people in the UK. He was also one of 16 experts for the emergency committee of the WHO which recommended the declaration of the swine flu pandemic. At the time he declared consultancy fees from GlaxoSmithKline, Baxter and Roche. In the end, swine flu claimed the lives of 457 people in the UK.”
The swine flu event was a falsified pandemic declared by the World Health Organisation in June 2009. The swine flu fraud was uncovered and exposed by Dr. Wolfgang Wodarg, a German pulmonologist, physician, epidemiologist and public health expert, who at the time of the 2009 swine flu “pandemic” was a Member of the European Parliament. In 2010, Channel 4 aired an expose calling the swine flu “pandemic” one of the greatest medical scandals of the century.
You can read articles about how computer predictions aren’t really meant to be precise, about how the covid model to which the US and UK and other nations are surrendering has been walked back, or hasn’t been walked back. The essence of these articles is nonsense. Why? Because governments are obeying a model. They’re obeying the highest number-projections of deaths … and that is the devastating point.
Neil Ferguson, through his institute at London’s Imperial College, can call the shots on a major percentage of the global population.
He’s Mr. Genius, when it comes to projecting computer models of epidemics.
Fellow experts puff up his reputation.
According to Business Insider (25 April), “Ferguson’s team warned Boris Johnson that the quest for ‘herd immunity’ [letting people live their lives out in the open in the UK] could cost 510,000 lives, prompting an abrupt U-turn [massive national lockdown in the UK] … His simulations have been influential in other countries as well, cited by authorities in the US, Germany and France.”
Not only cited, not only influential, but swallowed whole.
Business Insider continues: “On March 23, the UK scrapped ‘herd immunity’ in favour of a suppression strategy and the country made preparations for weeks of lockdown. Ferguson’s study was responsible.”
There’s more. A lot more.
Same Business Insider article: “Dr. Deborah Birx, coronavirus response coordinator to the Trump administration, told journalists at a 16 March press briefing that the Imperial paper [Ferguson’s computer projection] prompted the CDC’s new advice to work from home and avoid gatherings of 10 or more.”
Ferguson, instigator of LOCKDOWN. Stripping away of basic liberties. Economic devastation.
So, let’s look at Ferguson’s track record, spelled out in the Business Insider piece:
“Ferguson co-founded the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, based at Imperial, in 2008. It is the leading body advising national governments on pathogen outbreaks.”
“It gets tens of millions of dollars in annual funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and works with the UK National Health Service, the US Centres for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), and is tasked with supplying the World Health Organisation with ‘rapid analysis of urgent infectious disease problems’.”
Getting the picture?
Gates’ money goes to Ferguson.
IDF seizes Hamas plans for mass attack in Judea, Samaria and central Israel
Aliva Van Koningsveld, JNS
Defense Minister Israel Katz revealed on Thursday that security forces recently discovered Hamas files proving the terrorist group had plans to carry out a large-scale assault on communities in Judea and Samaria and along the Seam Line security barrier.
“Hamas files have been seized that had a purpose of attacking towns in Judea and Samaria and along the Seam Line,” Katz said in remarks to heads of regional councils, Israel Hayom reported.
“The communities in Judea and Samaria are the protective wall of most of the State of Israel,” the defense minister declared. “When Judea and Samaria are protected, the large cities are protected. We must be on the offensive in Judea and defeat the enemy.”
The Yesha Council umbrella group that represents the approximately 500,000 Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria said in a response: “The Oct. 7, [2023], terror attack must not be repeated—nor in the Seam Line towns, nor in the cities of the Sharon [coastal plain], nor in Judea and Samaria.
“The way to prevent this is a clear defeat of terrorism—not only through targeted operations, but in a comprehensive move that will neutralize the threat to the cities of the Center and Judea and Samaria,” it added.
Tulkarem, a Palestinian terrorist hub in Samaria, east of Netanya, where Israeli forces have been conducting intensive counter-terrorism operations since last month, is located eight miles from the densely populated coastal plain.
Jerusalem stepped up raids after explosives were discovered on five buses in the cities of Bat Yam and Holon, south of Tel Aviv, on Feb. 20, which authorities called “an attempt to perpetrate a series of terrorist attacks with mass casualties.”
One of the bombs bore an Arabic message referencing Tulkarem. No one was injured.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that security forces last month seized a 220-pound explosive device that a Palestinian terrorist cell had planned to use against soldiers deployed to Judea and Samaria
AI Singularity Explained And What It Means
AI singularity refers to a hypothetical future scenario where machines evolve beyond human control, rapidly improving themselves without human intervention.
Musk has frequently warned about AI's potential dangers, underscoring the need for caution.
Elon Musk once again, on Monday, sounded the alarm on artificial intelligence (AI) singularity - a theoretical point at which AI surpasses human intelligence, leading to transformative and unpredictable changes.
Musk has long been vocal about the risks of AI surpassing human capabilities. He recently reiterated his concerns, predicting that superintelligent AI could emerge as early as 2029. "My guess is that we’ll have AI that is smarter than any one human probably around the end of next year (2025)," the Tesla CEO had stated in a live-streamed interview on his social media platform X in 2024.
Futurist Ray Kurzweil has estimated that AI singularity could be achieved by 2045, but Musk believes it could happen much sooner. AI development has accelerated at an unprecedented pace, with machine learning models now capable of self-improvement. However, a fully autonomous AI surpassing human intelligence remains theoretical.
Despite significant advancements, global policymakers are still working on regulatory frameworks to govern AI’s rapid evolution. In 2023, over 33,700 AI researchers and industry experts signed an open letter calling for a temporary halt on AI models that surpass OpenAI’s GPT-4, citing "profound risks to society and humanity."
Optimists believe AI singularity could accelerate scientific breakthroughs, automating complex problem-solving at an unprecedented rate. AI-driven innovations could revolutionise medicine, space exploration, and environmental sustainability. However, critics warn of existential threats, including the possibility of AI devaluing human life. .
Musk has frequently warned about AI's potential dangers, underscoring the need for caution. Speaking at the Abundance 360 Summit in 2024, hosted by Singularity University in Silicon Valley, he remarked, "When you have the advent of superintelligence, it’s very difficult to predict what will happen next—there’s some chance it will end humanity."
He has also drawn comparisons to dystopian science fiction, cautioning about the possibility of an AI-led catastrophe. "It’s actually important for us to worry about a 'Terminator' future in order to avoid a 'Terminator' future," he said, referencing the film franchise in which an AI system wages war on humanity
As AI development accelerates, governments and industry leaders are exploring regulations to prevent unintended consequences. The AI market, currently valued at $100 billion, is projected to grow nearly twenty-fold to $2 trillion by 2030, according to market research firm Next Move Strategy Consulting.
Amir Tsarfati: Barbarism, Counter-Terrorism Operations, And God’s Hand Of Intervention
It has been a very difficult week here in Israel, so I am going to get right to it. By tomorrow, Israel should be receiving the final four of this week’s ten hostages. In return, Hamas will receive 640 terrorists, 151 with blood on their hands. The difference between those whom Israel will welcome home and those Hamas will receive goes beyond the numbers. The primary distinction is that all of the Palestinian terrorists are alive, while four of our hostages are not.
Hamas terrorists = 640, Israeli hostages = 10.
Living Hamas terrorists = 640, living Israeli hostages = 6.
There is a plethora of sins that I blame Hamas for. But this discrepancy is not one of them. They are simply taking advantage of the situation that the Israeli government has created for them. You’d be a fool to agree to a 10 for 10 swap if you knew that you could get another 630 thrown into the bargain. This is the world that Israel has created for itself. Wisdom says that you don’t pay for hostages. Why? Just look at the numbers above.
Do I blame Netanyahu’s government for doing what they’ve done? I don’t, because they are playing with the hand they’ve been dealt. These lopsided deals over human lives began before Bibi was in office. Now that they are standard, it is impossible to stop without simply saying, “Sorry, citizens and families of the hostages, we’re going to have to let your sons and husbands be brutally murdered so that we can make a point.” That is a public relations pit that you’ll never climb back out of. But, more than that, it is a moral gutpunch that few consciences could survive.
With this swap, we end Phase 1 of the deal. Hamas is still holding 59 of our people in captivity, 24 of whom we believe are still alive. The terrorists say, “We’d love to give you back the rest of your people. But we want three things in return. First, we want all Israeli troops out of Gaza, never to return. Second, Hamas must stay in power. Third, we want Gaza to be reconstructed.” Israel’s reply is, “First, we aren’t leaving. Second, you aren’t staying. Third, Gaza will be reconstructed, but Donald Trump has a much greater chance of getting it done than you do.”
In other words, we are at a stand-off. The liberal left in Israel is screaming to just pull out. Getting the hostages back is worth any price, they say. Those with common sense counter that doing so will just encourage more hostage taking. The liberal left responds by forcing Netanyahu to come in to testify at a bogus trial while he has a nation in crisis to lead. It’s so aggravating. It reminds me of the screeching of the media in both Israel and the United States. When you have no true facts or logic to back up your position, you yell and attack and make stupid stuff up. That is where Israel is as a nation right now.
Except for yesterday during the procession that took the bodies of Shiri, Kfir, and Ariel Bibas to their final resting place in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Thousands upon thousands of people lined the roads on the long drive to the south. No eye was dry. No chest was unclenched. It was a nation filled with sorrow and pain. Everyone knew how these three innocents were strangled by hand, then mutilated.
Enemies in Judea and Samaria
I am amazed at how quickly the attempted mass casualty event in Israel fell out of the news cycle. I guess since it is Israel, if no one is actually killed then it isn’t real news. Thursday night, terrorists from Tulkarm in Samaria snuck into Israel armed with explosives.
Hundreds would have been instantaneously killed with many more wounded. Thankfully, these terrorists were idiots. The detonators were attached to analog clocks, and three of the Palestinians accidentally set their bombs to PM instead of AM. So those bombs went off when no one was on the buses. The explosions led to an immediate halt of public transportation. Soon after, the full plot was discovered. It must be noted, though, that these lives were not saved due to Israeli policework or information gathered by the intelligence services. It was purely God’s intervention and the terrorists’ stupidity.
Judea and Samaria are becoming more and more dangerous. Just this past week, a 100 kg explosive device was discovered in the area. The bombs planted in the thwarted terror attack were likely smuggled from Iran through Iraq, Jordan, and into the West Bank. Cities like Jenin, Tubas, and Tulkarm are hotbeds of terrorism, and for the first time in probably 20 years IDF tanks are rolling through their streets. One Hamas and PIJ hide after another is being leveled, and prisoners are being rounded up. If the terrorists aren’t careful, parts of the West Bank are going to begin looking like what’s left of Gaza. This is a threat that must be dealt with. Many believe that the mass terror event was supposed to be a diversion that would allow the enemy to pour out of the West Bank and into Israel in another October 7 attack. We cannot let that happen.
More...Coming Soon: The European Digital Identity Wallet
The elite are already running large-scale pilot schemes for the future they want and we don’t. They are not being subtle about this. They are not hiding it.
The plan is a single government-issued app that holds your medical records, employment records, travel records, education records, vaccination records, tax records, financial records as well as (potentially) copies of your signature, fingerprints, facial scans, voice samples and DNA.
All stored handily on your phone…and shared with the governments of nineteen countries (plus Ukraine) and over 140 other public and private partners. Everyone from Deutsche Bank to the Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Progress to Samsung Europe.
You will use this app to make payments, apply for loans, pay your taxes, pick up your prescriptions, cross international borders, start businesses, book doctor’s appointments, apply for jobs and even sign digital contracts online.
Businesses and government agencies would access this data from the back-end to conduct “automated background checks”.
The German Federation of Consumer Organizations (Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband, VZBZ) has raised concerns that such an app would “pose privacy and data risks”, to which the only response is “duh, that’s what it’s for!”.
Just one of the pilot schemes “building prototypes and testing use-cases” for the European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet, there are three others at least.
This is the latest development in a roll-out dating back to the birth of Covid and beyond, with the EUID wallet being touted since 2021.
It was freshly brought to my attention a couple of days ago, when I stumbled on this article – Why Would You Need An “EU Wallet”? – by Anton Chashchin.
Chashchin is apparently chair of the fintech investment group N7, and his article is fairly good example of the kind of thing you can expect to see more widely in bigger mainstream outlets as we get closer to EUID’s full-scale implementation. It talks up the costs of fraud and how digital ID schemes will make everything so much safer and more efficient, but bemoans the “lack of harmonization” across borders and systems.
It’s standard stuff.
Interestingly, he also flags up that national-level digital ID schemes received a massive boost from the Covid “pandemic” [emphasis added]:
It’s 5 Minutes To Midnight For Germany’s Economy, Bundesbank Chief Warns
It’s five minutes to midnight for Germany’s status as a global economic force, the head of its central bank has warned after overseeing the Bundesbank’s first annual loss in 45 years.
Germany’s economy has been rocked from all sides in the last couple of years, challenging the fundamental viability of its economic model.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine three years ago continues to place pressure on energy prices while fresh competition from China, in addition to falling demand in its key export markets, including China, has added pressure on manufacturers.
Fresh tariff threats from the Donald Trump administration have created the latest risk for Germany’s export-heavy economy.
German GDP contracted by 0.2% last year, adding to a 0.3% decline in 2023. Several economists expect a third straight year of contraction this year, with state-owned bank KfW forecasting a 0.2% decline this year.
Amid that gloomy backdrop, the Bundesbank added to Germany’s woes by announcing it had swung to a sizeable €19.2 billion ($20.1 billion) accumulated loss last year, its first since 1979.
The bulk of the fall came from a €13.1 billion negative balance to net interest income, a result of lower interest rates on its bond balance compared to rising market rates. While reassuring the public that the Bundesbank’s balance sheet was in a healthy state, Nagel couldn’t say the same about Germany’s economy.
Nagel said there were clear structural problems in Germany’s economy, adding policymakers needed to address its new vulnerability as an export-oriented country and do better to prepare for the green transition and demographic change.
Yesterday, February 26, the Bundesbank in Germany, their Central Bank, announced they had lost about $20 Billion from Interest payouts they had to make while not receiving money back from Bonds they'd invested in. Today, the European Central Bank announced they have "communications glitches" in their $1.9 TRILLION per day system.
Germany’s central bank plunged to a record €19.2bn (£15.9bn) loss last year in the latest setback for Europe’s largest economy.
A bond-buying spree prompted the Bundesbank to report its largest net loss in history, with officials warning that financial strain would remain throughout 2025.
Sabine Mauderer, the Bundesbank’s first deputy governor, said: “Overall, we expect to report losses and carry them forward for some time.”
Here we are, two days later, and all of a sudden, the European Central Bank can't "settle" continent-wide:
The European Central Bank reported a "communications glitch" on Thursday in its securities settlement system, which handles $1.9 trillion a day in transactions, leaving traders and bank risk managers scrambling to figure out the potential impact.
The ECB said the outage had affected communication channels across its pan-European TARGET 2 Securities, or T2S, platform, but did not offer more specifics. Trading sources said communications had been disrupted and the status of trades since the outage was reported remained unclear.
According to the ECB's website, any issues with the T2S system in the past couple of years have typically been resolved relatively quickly. Thursday's outage was reported at 0730 GMT and was still continuing by 1350 GMT.
The T2S platform is used to reconcile and settle trades in cash and securities across the Eurosystem, which includes the ECB and central banks of the countries that use the euro.
Here's the "rub:" As reported above, Settlement (payment) on trades in the European Central Bank take two working days, which might mean disruption may not show up continent-wide until early next week.
So here we are, on a Thursday with a "glitch" in the European settlement (payment) system. Friday is one working day . . . . then there's a weekend . . . and Monday will be the second working day . . . . if the banks open.
Is today's "glitch" an actual "communications glitch", or do the banks not have the money?
Putin Warns Of Attempts To Sabotage Talks With US
RT
Some Western elites are “not happy” about the potential rapprochement between Moscow and Washington and will seek to “compromise” the recently resumed dialogue between the two powers, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.
Under US President Donald Trump’s administration, Russia and the US have started to gradually restore contacts that were virtually non-existent for approximately three years under his predecessor, Joe Biden.
Earlier this month, high-ranking Russian and American delegations met in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Following the talks, both nations agreed to work toward ending the Ukraine conflict and improving diplomatic and economic relations.
Speaking at the meeting of the board of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officials on Thursday, Putin said that the contacts with the Trump administration “inspire hope.” The two sides are willing to work on restoring bilateral relations, as well as resolving the “systemic” issues in the global security architecture that led to the Ukraine conflict and other crises. Yet, some forces are forcing to prevent that from happening, the president warned.
“We realize that not everyone is happy to see Russia-US contacts resume. A portion of Western elites are still committed to maintaining instability in the world, and these forces will try to disrupt or to compromise the newly resumed dialogue,” he said. “We need to keep this in mind and leverage every possibility offered by diplomacy and special services to thwart such attempts,” he told the gathered FSB officials.
Putin has indicated Moscow’s readiness to resolve the Ukraine conflict through peaceful means. He emphasized Russia’s aim of establishing an international system that ensures a balanced and mutual consideration of interests, creating a long-term, indivisible European and global security framework. This system would prevent the security of certain countries from being guaranteed at the expense of others, including Russia.
Since the Riyadh talks, Washington has said it was open to economic cooperation with Russia. On Thursday, diplomats from two nations held closed-door talks in Istanbul focused on restoring the work of their diplomatic missions. According to a Bloomberg report this week, Moscow and Washington have also been discussing cooperation in the Arctic.
Putin speaks of ‘hope’ from US contacts
RT
The renewed contacts between Moscow and the administration of US President Donald Trump have sparked “hope” that relations between the two countries could move in a positive direction, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.
Speaking at a meeting of the board of Russia’s Federal Security Service on Thursday, Putin said that “the first contacts with the new American administration inspire certain hopes.” The American side has demonstrated a “reciprocal determination to work on restoring interstate relations, on gradually resolving the colossal volume of accumulated systemic and strategic problems in the world architecture.” He noted that these issues, which had accumulated in recent years, ultimately provoked the Ukraine conflict and other regional crises.
At the same time, the president noted that the current US leadership appears to be showing a certain “pragmatism” and a “realistic view on things” by rejecting many stereotypes and “messianic ideological cliches of their predecessors,” which had contributed to the collapse of relations.
Pestilence: Wuhan Bat Lab Linked To Covid Pandemic Carrying Out 'Ominous' New Virus Experiments
Chinese scientists working at the lab some suspect may have started the Covid pandemic are planning new 'ominous' experiments, experts have warned.
Earlier this month researchers from the now famous Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) said they had found a new virus with striking similarities to Covid in bats.
Called HKU5-CoV-2 it already shows similar potential to infect human cells and is closely related to a known coronavirus that kills up to a third of people it infects.
Now independent experts say they are concerned that the WIV plans to conduct experiments on the new virus similar to those that may have sparked the Covid pandemic.
The first known Covid cases emerged just a few miles from the lab which was known to be collecting and experimenting with coronaviruses.
And in December a US select subcommittee concluded that the WIV was the 'most likely' source of the pathogen that sparked the global pandemic.
Dr Alina Chan, a molecular biologist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, is one of those concerned about the new experiments on HKU5-CoV-2.
Commenting on the study announcing its discovery she told The Daily Telegraph: 'The paper ends on an ominous note - describing a set of future experiments similar to what might've led to the Covid-19 pandemic ... they're going to study the viruses' ability to cause disease in humanised mice.'
Humanised mice are specially bred to have human cells or tissues to better simulate how a virus might infect and sicken people.
Dr Chan added that she was also concerned the WIV is not equipped to safely carry out this type of controversial research, especially in a city of over 8million people.
'After what we experienced with Covid-19, I believe there is no biosafety level adequate for such experiments in the city of Wuhan,' she said.
'If such work has to be done, it should be done at a biosafety Level 4, far away from any city centre.'
The paper was written by virologist Shi Zhengli, also known as 'Batwoman' for her work on coronaviruses in the flying mammals.
Tests showed HKU5-CoV-2 infiltrated human cells in the same way as SARS-CoV-2, the technical name for the virus behind Covid.
It was also found to be a close relative of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).
MERS is a contagious respiratory illness spread from animals to humans and from human to human. It causes fever, cough, shortness of breath, diarrhea and vomiting, and can be fatal in severe cases.
Thursday, February 27, 2025
Zelensky the Dictator – Neither the US or Britain Denied Elections During War
Zelensky is a dictator, and his popularity was not above 50%. I question if It is even above 10%, and he knows it. He puts out the BS that it is Russia calling for elections and Trump is Putin’s puppet. Trump has responded that new elections are “not a Russia thing!” He added: “That’s something coming from me and coming from many other countries also.”
ABC News even reported that a source close to the Ukrainian government—who did not wish to be named as they were not authorized to speak publicly—told them that the push is coming from those who “believe that Zelenskyy, personally, is a problem because he is not compliant enough, he’s not simply going to accept anything that they propose or anything that they demand.”
Zelensky has repeatedly warned that elections during wartime would be severely destabilizing. If Ukraine is forced into a rush and insecure election, “We could see absolute political chaos in Kyiv,” the source said.
Only a dictator would say something like that. Every country during World War I and II had elections. Winston Churchill was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty on September 3rd, 1939, the day that the United Kingdom declared war on Nazi Germany. However, Churchill succeeded Neville Chamberlain as prime minister on May 10th, 1940, and held the post until 26 July 1945. Roosevelt won the nomination in 1940 after being in office since 1932. He won again during the war election of 1944. Zelensky cannot point to any legitimate democratic government where war justified martial law to suspend elections indefinitely.
Would-be Trump assassin Thomas Crooks may have had accomplice, data shows
It’s been almost nine months since a seemingly mild-mannered 20-year-old attempted to assassinate then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at a rally in Butler.
And we still have no good reason why.
Sources told The Post the FBI has obstructed efforts to solve the mystery of why Thomas Matthew Crooks, who left no manifesto, did what he did. It’s left local law enforcement as well as Crooks’ former friends, classmates and teachers frustrated.
Those who may know, Crooks’ parents Matthew and Mary, have refused all interviews and remain in their small, three-bedroom home here, sealed off from the world like hermits. Neighbors say they only leave the house at 3 am to buy groceries.
“By the way, why do we know nothing about that guy in Butler?” Elon Musk yelled out to the audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference last week, before warning that FBI Director “Kash (Patel) is going to get to the bottom of it.”
A veteran private investigator from Erie, Penn., who was hired shortly after the fateful July 13 event at Butler Farm to look into Crooks by a private client, told The Post he believes a “criminal network” was operating with him at the time of the assassination attempt, is still in existence and still wants to kill President Trump.
Doug Hagmann, whose team of six other investigators have been working the case for months and have interviewed more than 100 people, said they also conducted extensive geofencing analysis of cell phones and tablets not belonging to Crooks that were found with him at his home, at the rifle range where he took target practice, at the rally and at Bethel Park High School where he graduated in 2022.
“We don’t think he acted alone,” Hagmann told The Post. “This took a lot of coordination. In my view, Crooks was handled by more than one individual and he was used for this [assassination attempt]. And I wouldn’t preclude the possibility that there were people at the rally itself helping him.”
Hagmann said one of the electronic devices geolocated with Crooks at several different places at the time of the shooting is still pinging today — at Bethel Park High School.
Crooks, perched on a rooftop 130 yards away, opened fire onto the main stage in Butler minutes after Trump, 78, mounted it to warm up the crowd.
He fired eight shots, striking the former president in the right ear; killing rallygoer Corey Comperatore, 50, and seriously wounding two others, David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 54.
The autopsy report indicates Crooks was pronounced dead at 6:25 p.m. on July 13 from a gunshot wound to the head by a counter-sniper.
Hagmann said he was personally escorted to the Butler County line and told to leave twice during the course of his team’s investigation. The people who did so were either federal agents or some type of private security.
PM Meloni Blasts Macron: He Wants to Put EU Troops in Ukraine
During a Zoom call, Italian leader Georgia Meloni lashed out at French president Emmanuel Macron. Macron devised a plan to deploy European troops to Ukraine as part of a post-war deal.
They argued during an emergency video call between the European Union leaders on Wednesday to discuss the French president’s recent talks with Donald Trump.
Prime Minister Meloni interrupted, accusing the French leader of speaking on her behalf without a mandate. She does not want European troops in Ukraine.
Clearly, if anything happened to one of these members, the US would have to defend it, and it would be at war. It seems like more of a job for the UN. Donald Trump’s plan to put companies in with security is more focused on company security than strategic and might be less alarming for the Russians.
The Russians are opposed to peacekeepers.
Macron and Sir Keir Starmer, the incompetent UK leader, have been involved in talking about a European force in Ukraine and they would do the heavy lifting. That’s fine if they all drop out of NATO. The war would start up in no time.
Germany, Italy, Poland, and Spain are opposed to putting troops in Ukraine as part of a post-war deal. Brussels is annoyed with Italy because they haven’t done enough for Ukraine allegedly.
Macron and Starmer bashed Trump for not having a proper post-war plan. We can’t say, but theirs is worse. They don’t like Trump‘s plan being about business. Some of us think it’s brilliant. Zelensky will head to Washington tomorrow, Friday, to sign a framework agreement.
Zelensky is still balking at the idea of not having security guarantees. We really can’t give him what he wants. The war did start in part because Ukraine under Zelensky wanted to join NATO. The media will tell you otherwise, but that’s obviously a glaring reason, and we’d have the same reason if Russia came to our hemisphere and parked their troops in Cuba.
Iranian Nuke Sites On "High Alert" For Stealth Jet Attacks
TYLER DURDEN
Iran has placed its missile defense systems on high alert, anticipating potential Israeli and US airstrikes on nuclear sites, The Telegraphreported. The report follows a Bloomberg report citing the International Atomic Energy Agency, which found that Iran's uranium stockpile has surged in recent months.
The Telegraph cited two high-level government sources that say Tehran has been expanding missile defense coverage around nuclear and missile sites for fear of potential joint military strikes by stealth fighter jets by Israel and the US.
"They [Iranian authorities] are just waiting for the attack and are anticipating it every night and everything has been on high alert – even in sites that no one knows about," one source told The Telegraph.
"Work to fortify nuclear sites has been ongoing for years but it has intensified over the past year, particularly since Israel launched the first attack," he added.
"Recent developments, including Donald Trump's comments and reports about potential plans from his administration to strike Iran, have further intensified activities."
Earlier, Bloomberg obtained a copy of a new IAEA report stating that Iran's uranium stockpile is nearing weapons-grade levels, with a 50% increase in enriched uranium over the past three months.
"The significantly increased production and accumulation of high enriched uranium by Iran, the only non-nuclear weapon state to produce such material, is of serious concern," IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi wrote in the report, adding that Iran's increased production of uranium enriched to 60% levels of purity after being censured by the IAEA in November.
Trump has unleashed the "maximum pressure" strategy on Tehran to drive its oil exports to zero and crash the Persian Gulf nation's economy. This could be the early beginnings of regime change.
Our latest reporting on Trump's maximum-pressure strategy:
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