On little-noticed panel, Fauci and Chinese counterpart envision lengthy COVID restrictions

Pulmonologist and longtime Chinese Communist Party member Nanshan Zhong projects years of COVID mitigation measures, as Fauci warns against "jumping the gun" on reopening society.

Top U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci on a recent public health panel signaled common ground with a renowned Chinese doctor and public health administrator on the matter of ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, with both Fauci and his Chinese counterpart suggesting that those restrictions could continue for many months or even years.

Fauci in early March appeared on the virtual panel, titled "The Future of Health," hosted by the University of Edinburgh. Also present in the meeting was Chinese pulmonologist Zhong Nanshan, who has been at the forefront of China's response to the pandemic and who has been referred to by national spokeswoman Hua Chunying as "China's Fauci."

Zhong has a long career in the Chinese Communist Party hierarchy, having served for years in delegatory positions in both the CCP's National Congress and its National People's Congress. He has also served on numerous state research initiatives and is the founder of the state-funded Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases.

On the panel, Fauci and Zhong both expressed hopes that COVID-19 restrictions worldwide would continue well into the future.

Zhong himself claimed that efforts to develop natural immunity to COVID-19 are inadvisable from a national policy standpoint. "It doesn't work this way," he said. "And it's not realistic, and less scientific, and … inhumane."

Zhong argued that "mass vaccinations" are the "commonsense" approach to engendering herd immunity in the population, but "to do that … will take about two or three years time with global collaboration."

"I have noticed in other countries," the doctor said elsewhere, "that actions [are] not so strict enough. So that will be not enough to stop the spreading of [the virus]."

Fauci himself echoed those concerns, warning against the danger of what he said was "jump[ing] the gun or do[ing] it too quickly" and seeming to imply that countries should keep COVID-19 measures in place even if they appear to have suppressed the virus within their borders.

"It is important to realize," Fauci claimed, "that variants arise, and if you suppress the virus in one country, but it is allowed to spread uninhibited in other areas of the world, sooner or later, the variants, the new lineages, the mutants, will come back and rekindle the outbreak, even in countries that seem to have it under control. So we still have a considerable amount of task in front of us."

https://youtu.be/frQtUFfFQzU

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/coronavirus/little-noticed-panel-fauci-and-chinese-communist-politico-envision

EU-Turkey Migrant Deal: Will Turkey Continue to be a 'Waiting Room' for Refugees?

On 25-26 March, Brussels is due to hold a summit with member states focusing, in particular, on the renewal of the 2016 EU-Turkey migration agreement. The upcoming summit will make it clear whether the EU is ready to fulfill its part of the deal this time, says Dr. Can Ünver, chairman of the UN Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW).

On 18 March, Turkey marked the fifth anniversary of the signing of the 2016 migration agreement with the EU. During this time, the number of undocumented immigrants entering the bloc's territory has reportedly been significantly reduced. However, while the EU pledged to allocate €6 billion in a refugee support package, it has fallen short of fulfilling that promise, providing just €3.6 billion, according to Ankara. According to EU figures, however, the bloc directly handed over €4.1 billion to Turkey, while the remaining €2 billion were allocated through different projects.

Where is the Money?

The EU-Turkey migration agreement was originally about providing Ankara with two tranches of cash, €3 billion each, says Dr. Can Ünver, chairman of the UN Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW). If even one tenth of the total number of all refugees staying in Turkey ended up in Europe, the EU would have to spend at least €40-50 billion, according to him.

"Of course, the EU does not intend to transfer such an amount of money to Turkey," Ünver says. Moreover, the manner in which assistance is provided is also questionable. The EU insists on the transfer of funds through non-governmental organisations, and these are mainly European structures. This is tantamount to transferring money from one pocket to another."

Visa-Free Regime, Turkey's Accession to the EU & Customs Union Agreement

Brussels also did not deliver visa liberalization for Turkish citizens, according to the official. He points out that any acceleration of the process of Turkey's bid to join the EU, updating the customs union agreement and the introduction of a visa-free regime for Turks were also part of the deal. European countries were guided by the desire to persuade Ankara to keep refugees on its own territory, preventing them from moving north to Europe, at any cost, according to Ünver.

"In general, Turkey was viewed by the West as a kind of a 'waiting room' for refugees. Of course, this is not an acceptable approach," he suggests. "Rather than acting together to resolve the problem, the West followed the path of imposing its terms on Turkey."

As of 24 February, 2021, there were 3,656,525 Syrian refugees sheltering in Turkey, and almost half are under the age of 18. In addition to Syrian citizens, Turkey also has a significant number of migrants from other countries - Iraq, Afghanistan, various African states, etc. According to the deputy head of the Turkish Migration Department, Gökçe Ok, an estimated 5.5 million people from 196 countries are currently being hosted by Turkey.

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202103241082429671-eu-turkey-migrant-deal-will-turkey-continue-to-be-a-waiting-room-for-refugees/

DOJ 'unlikely' to represent FBI officials sued by Carter Page for misconduct in Russia case

James Comey and a current FBI analyst have already hired their own private lawyers for civil case after DOJ informs them they are on their own.

The Justice Department has informed current and former FBI officials sued by Russia probe target Carter Page that it is unlikely to represent them in the civil case, signaling they will need to get private lawyers, according to new court filings.

At least two defendants — fired FBI Director James Comey and current FBI intelligence analyst Brian Auten — have already hired private counsel and notified the presiding judge in the case of their representation.

Ordinarily, DOJ represents its employees sued by civilians over their official duties. But court records show the Justice Department has not committed to doing so in this case and told the court as recently as last week it "does not currently represent any of the individual capacity defendants" and needs time to sort through complex issues about whether it should assist in their defense.

"The Department of Justice must determine, among other things, whether the employee defendants reasonably appear to have acted in the scope of employment … whether their representation is in the interest of the United States … and whether legal or factual conflicts exist among the various defendants such that representation of all by the same attorney would be inappropriate," Justice lawyers argued in a motion dated March 15.

File

DOJMarch152021Motion.pdf

Then on Monday, Auten alerted the court in a new motion that DOJ had moved beyond its indecision and that he and other defendants were informed they needed private attorneys going forward.

"On March 15, 2021, Mr. Auten was informed that it was unlikely that DOJ would be able to represent any of the individual Defendants in this matter, including Mr. Auten," the new court filing. "On the same date, Mr. Auten requested that the undersigned attorneys of the law firm Steptoe & Johnson LLP act as counsel of record on his behalf in this matter."

File

AutenFilimng.pdf

Comey, meanwhile, filed a notice late last week that he has retained David N. Kelley, a prominent and respected former federal prosecutor from New York City, to represent him personally in the lawsuit.

https://justthenews.com/accountability/russia-and-ukraine-scandals/wed-doj-unlikely-represent-fbi-officials-sued-carter

Israel, New Zealand each give tentative approval for sale of nasal spray to help stop COVID spread

The spray is a product from Biotech firm SaNOtize.

Israel and New Zealand have each given tentative approval for the sale of a nasal spray which may help in reducing the spread of COVID-19.

Biotech firm SaNOtize announced Monday the countries gave interim approval to sell its Nitric Oxide Nasal Spray or NONS, after clinical trials showed the spray was effective at preventing transmission, reducing symptoms and damage, and shortening the course of COVID-19, according to Reuters.

The inventor of the spray, Dr. Gilly Regev, told the Times of Israel that the spray could save millions of lives for people who are still waiting to get the vaccine.

Regev said that spray was ready for approval a year ago.

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/coronavirus/israel-new-zealand-approve-sale-virus-killing-nasal-spray