Video: Several People Injured in Explosion Near Hotel in Chinese City of Zhuhai - CCTV

According to reports by China Central Television, an explosion occured near the hotel in the Chinese city of Zhuhai on Friday morning.

Several people have been injured after the explosion near Zhuhai's hotel, according to CCTV.

The reasons behind the blast are unclear.

According to CCTV, at about 9 am Beijing time (1:00 GMT), the local fire department responded to a report of an explosion near a hotel in the Doumen district of Zhuhai city. 11 fire trucks reportedly drove to the scene.

Report noted that the rescuers pulled out many victims from under the rubble, but the search and rescue operation is still underway.

Videos allegedly filmed on the scene were shared on social media. According to the users, the hotel that suffered the explosion is Zhuhai Baitengtou Tenghu Hotel.

No futher details were immediately available.

https://sputniknews.com/asia/202009111080424968-several-people-injured-in-explosion-near-hotel-in-chinese-city-of-zhuhai—cctv/

'The Very Definition of Tyranny': Court Upholds LA County's Ban on John MacArthur's Church Services

On Thursday, Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff ruled against Grace Community Church and its pastor, John MacArthur, issuing a preliminary injunction allowing Los Angeles County to ban indoor church services. MacArthur’s lawyers, Trump attorney Jenna Ellis and Thomas More Society lawyer Charles LiMandri, announced their intention to appeal at the earliest opportunity.

“Although this is a temporary setback, we will continue to fight for Pastor MacArthur and Grace Community Church’s constitutionally protected right to hold church,” Ellis said in a statement. “Church is essential, and no government agent has the runaway, unlimited power to force churches to close indefinitely. The County’s argument was basically ‘because we can,’ which is the very definition of tyranny.”

“Without limiting government’s power in favor of freedom and protected rights, we have no liberty. We will fight for religious freedom, as our founders did when they wrote the First Amendment,” Ellis added.

While Ellis noted that the judge went “out of his way to repeatedly state that he is not ruling on the merits,” LiMandri excoriated the court for failing to address the church’s serious legal concerns.

“We are disappointed in the ruling on the preliminary injunction as the court did not apply the strict scrutiny analysis to the government order that we believe is required by the California Constitution and legal precedent,” he said. “The court also did not properly consider the medical and scientific evidence that the current number of people with serious COVID-19 symptoms no longer justifies a shuttering of the churches.”

“Nor do we believe that the court gave adequate consideration to the fact that churches have been treated as second-class citizens compared to the tens of thousands of protestors,” LiMandri added. “More than ever, California’s churches are essential. Therefore, we plan to appeal this ruling to ultimately vindicate our clients’ constitutionally protected right to free exercise of religion.”

Pastor MacArthur called the ruling “inexplicable.”

“The judge said the ‘scale tipped in favor of the county.’ 1/100th of 1% of Californians with a virus apparently wins over the U.S. Constitution and religious freedom for all? That is not what our founders said,” the pastor said. “Nor is that what God says, who gave us our rights that our government—including the judicial branch—is supposed to protect. The scale should always tip in favor of liberty, especially for churches.”

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/tyler-o-neil/2020/09/10/the-very-definition-of-tyranny-court-upholds-la-countys-ban-on-john-macarthurs-church-services-n917692

NY Times Hack Spouts Off After She Is Removed From Trump Michigan Rally — Then The Truth Comes Out

New York Times hack Kathy Gray attended the Trump Michigan rally on Thursday night so she could take swipes at the president and his supporters.

Kathy Gray was tweeting out in the crowd “Not many masks.”

Kathy tweeted this out when Air Force One landed.

Then an hour later she tweeted out that she was kicked out of the rally.

Kathy added: “First for me: Trump campaign tracked me down from pics i tweeted and escorted me out.”

Kathy Gray’s tweets were retweeted over 16,000 times.

Then the truth came out.

Kathy did not put in for press credentials.

She slipped into the press pool which, of course, is not allowed.

So she was escorted out of the rally when she would not follow directions.

Another fraud.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/09/ny-times-hack-goes-off-removed-trump-michigan-rally-truth-comes/

'Incomplete Data' and 'Unlikely Patterns' in Russian Coronavirus Vaccine Study

The medical journal The Lancet published the first data from Russia’s clinical trials of their Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine and 27 scientists are questioning the results.

In an open letter published along with the study, the scientists questioned the “incomplete data” and “unlikely” patterns that showed up in the Russian data.

How “unlikely”?

CNBC:

They said the results showed that groups of participants had reported identical antibody levels at different points in the study. There are 27 signatories of the letter so far — predominantly scientists based in Europe but also including several in the U.S. and Asia.

“There are several data patterns which appear repeatedly for the reported experiments,” the open letter said. “On the ground of simple probabilistic evaluations the fact of observing so many data points preserved among different experiments is highly unlikely.”

The KGB could have faked it much more realistically.

Explaining his and his fellow signatories’ concerns, Bucci told CNBC on Thursday, that “as a group of scientists, we think that the data published are far from complete.”

“At this point, I need an explanation and we need clarification, the list of signatories need and ask for clarification … The point here (is that there’s) missing data, and strange data patterns. We cannot reach a conclusion on this vaccine without having full access to the data.“

All very collegial and friendly. No one is going to come out and call the Russian scientists liars — at least, to their faces. But that’s what the dissenters are saying.

Just for the sake of argument, let’s say that the reason there’s incomplete data is because of the haste with which the Russian scientists were trying to get the vaccine accepted and give this gift to the world. Of course it’s going to be a little sloppy, right?

On saying it was unusual to not be presented with the full data from clinical trials, Bucci made the comparison with the publication of early-stage clinical trial results of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine. In this case, he said, the authors of the study provided 128 pages of supplementary material for peers to review. “If you compare the two (studies) … you can see that there’s something missing in the Russian study.”

“Something missing” is the truth. Russian President Vladimir Putin swears the vaccine is safe, and we have no reason not to believe him. Russians are not dropping dead in the middle of the street from getting a bad vaccine.

But clearly, the Russian scientists are fudging the statistics — “cooking the books.” And that’s not helping anyone.

Still, the dissenting scientists are willing to give the Russians the benefit of the doubt. Enrico Bucci of Temple University is willing to give some of the sloppiness a pass. “All over the world, there is an undue pressure on scientists, and on clinicians, to hand over what they’re doing before they’re ready.”

This is true. But how do you explain this?

Giving another example of unexplained results, Bucci said part of the study appeared to show different immune cells producing identical responses in a group of individuals. “There are two different kinds of immune cells, CD4 and CD8, and nine out of nine are exactly or very similar values for CD4 and CD8 cells. These are completely unrelated cells, how can it be that you have nine people that have exactly the same number of CD4 and CD8?”

The dissenting scientists are playing politics with the results. They don’t dare out and out accuse the Russians of falsifying the data. If they did that, Putin’s feelings would be hurt and he would refuse to share any more results from the clinical trials. He would accuse the West of plotting against him and prevent any more cooperation with the rest of the world.

So they are keeping their mouths shut about the Russians lying in hopes that the real results would be forthcoming. Or, at least, they would get enough data from Russia to draw their own conclusions.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2020/09/10/incomplete-data-and-unlikely-patterns-in-russian-coronavirus-vaccine-study-n916788

Rio Tinto boss Jean-Sebastien Jacques quits over Juukan Gorge blast

Rio Tinto's chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques will resign "by mutual agreement" following the destruction of Aboriginal heritage sites by the company this year.

Key points:

Jean-Sebastien Jacques is leaving Rio Tinto early next year after more than four years as CEO

Two other senior executives, the heads of iron ore and corporate affairs, are also leaving

The departures are in response to Rio Tinto's destruction of ancient Aboriginal cultural heritage sites in May this year

The company's head of iron ore Chris Salisbury and head of corporate relations Simone Niven have also stepped down.

Mr Salisbury and Ms Niven will leave the company by the end of the year, following handover periods with their replacements.

Mr Jacques will stay at the company until March 31, 2021, or until his successor is appointed, which Rio Tinto said is to "ensure business continuity".

Rio has been under intense pressure to sack the three executives following the miner's decision to destroy ancient Aboriginal heritage sites in the Juukan Gorge in May.

"What happened at Juukan was wrong and we are determined to ensure that the destruction of a heritage site of such exceptional archaeological and cultural significance never occurs again at a Rio Tinto operation," Rio chairman Simon Thompson said in a statement.

Australia's human history is being wiped away

The destruction of ancient Indigenous sites like the Juukan caves is not new for Western Australia.

Read more

"We are also determined to regain the trust of the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people and other Traditional Owners."

Chairman says investors played a key role in staffing decision

Mr Thompson acknowledged that shareholder concerns played a significant role in the eventual decision to part ways with the three executives who were seen as directly accountable for the Juukan Gorge blasting.

"We have listened to our stakeholders' concerns that a lack of individual accountability undermines the group's ability to rebuild that trust and to move forward to implement the changes identified in the board review."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-11/rio-tinto-boss-jean-sebastien-jacques-quits-over-juukan-blast/12653950