A team of Chinese researchers has successfully developed a mutant strain of the coronavirus with an alarming 100% kill rate in mice, specifically designed to target brain cells, the Daily Mail reported.

The findings, detailed in a contentious study, highlight the pathogen’s enhanced lethality and the potential risk it poses for spillover into human populations.

The preprint study, which was published on the bioRxiv website on January 3, detailed the experiment conducted by these researchers using a variant of the “pangolin coronavirus”. This virus was introduced to a group of mice to study the effects.

“SARS-CoV-2-related pangolin coronavirus GX_P2V(short_3UTR) can cause 100% mortality in human ACE2-transgenic mice, potentially attributable to late-stage brain infection. This underscores a spillover risk of GX_P2V into humans and provides a unique model for understanding the pathogenic mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2-related viruses,” according to the study.

Lethal Infection of Human ACE2-Transgenic Mice Caused by SARS-CoV-2-related Pangolin Coronavirus GX_P2V(short_3UTR)

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.03.574008v1

German MEP demands answers over death of US journalist in Ukraine

Bernhard Zimniok has called for an independent probe into the Kiev’s alleged torture and killing of Gonzalo Lira

German MEP Bernhard Zimniok has pressed for an independent investigation into the death of a US journalist who was imprisoned in Ukraine for his critical coverage of President Vladimir Zelensky’s government, saying the case “vividly” shows that Kiev is out of step with European values.

Speaking during Tuesday’s European Parliament debate on a stalled aid package for Ukraine, Zimniok noted that journalist Gonzalo Lira was allegedly tortured and imprisoned by the Kiev authorities and died after being denied necessary medical care. He told EU lawmakers that an investigation should be carried out under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

The German MEP also demanded “an immediate end to any support for this corrupt state.” He made his comments as lawmakers debated an EU proposal to provide €50 billion ($54.6 billion) in additional aid to support Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. The aid plan is scheduled for another European Council vote on February 1 after it was vetoed by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in December.

Zimniok argued that further military aid to Ukraine is ill-advised for numerous reasons. “First, anyone who knows anything can see that Ukraine doesn’t have the slightest chance of winning. In light of this, it would be quite brazen to further overburden our taxpayers.”

Several other EU critics, such as Austrian MEP Harald Vilimsky, spoke out against the aid plan. Vilimsky said Ukraine is a “bottomless barrel” for EU aid, and providing more military support without making any efforts to end the conflict is only fueling “massive corruption” in Kiev and causing more bloodshed.

Lira, a dual US-Chilean citizen who moved to Ukraine in 2010, had been jailed since May 2023 on accusations that he had justified Moscow’s military operation against Kiev. His family reported last week that he had died in prison after suffering from pneumonia and a collapsed lung. His father claimed that he had been “tortured” in Ukrainian custody and that US officials “did nothing” to help him.

The US State Department confirmed Lira’s death on Saturday but declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding his incarceration. Gonzalo Lira Sr. told Tucker Carlson in an interview last month that his son may have sealed his fate when he criticized not only Zelensky’s government, but also US President Joe Biden’s administration. His second arrest came in May, shortly after he blasted Biden and US Vice President Kamala Harris.

“Isn’t it odd that four days later, after condemning Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, Gonzalo was arrested?” Lira’s father asked. “Why was he not detained earlier? When he was let go the previous year, he continued the same criticism against the war. The USA government, with its silence in the face of this scandalous incident, suggests a degree of complicity, or at least tacit approval, of Gonzalo’s arrest.”

https://www.rt.com/news/590769-gonzalo-lira-death-torture-probe/

COVID-19 May Have Come From Chinese Laboratory, Dr. Fauci’s Former Boss Says

Dr. Francis Collins, the NIH director until late 2021, said that the theory that COVID-19 came from a lab in Wuhan “is not a conspiracy theory,” according to the U.S. House of Representatives Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.

The panel has released a summary of Dr. Collins’ transcribed interview since it took place on Jan. 12.

Dr. Collins, 73, who is still President Joe Biden’s science adviser, was director of the NIH from 2009 to 2021. He was the boss of Dr. Anthony Fauci, who helped craft the U.S. pandemic response.

Dr. Fauci, 83, who left the government in 2022, also told members in recent closed-door testimony that the lab leak hypothesis is not a conspiracy theory, according to the subcommittee.

The former officials were brought in as the panel investigates how the government responded to the pandemic.

Dr. Collins and Dr. Fauci “prompted” the drafting of a paper called “Proximal Origins” that was published in early 2020 and claimed to disprove the lab leak theory, according to an email from one of the authors. Neither Dr. Collins nor Dr. Fauci were named in the acknowledgements or listed as a co-author of the paper.

Two months after the paper was published, Dr. Collins wrote to Dr. Fauci about public discussions about the origins of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

“I hoped the Nature Medicine article on the genomic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 would settle this… Wondering if there is something NIH can do to help put down this very destructive conspiracy … Anything more we can do?” Dr. Collins wrote at the time.

Dr. Fauci, meanwhile, promoted “Proximal Origins” from the White House podium before alleging he could not recall the names of the authors.

A number of experts and outlets have backtracked on their earlier position that COVID-19 did not come from a lab, including The Washington Post and the U.N.’s World Health Organization.

Dr. Collins told the subcommittee that Dr. Fauci invited him to attend a Feb. 1, 2020, conference call that featured scientists who went on to write “Proximal Origins,” according to the subcommittee.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/covid-19-may-have-come-chinese-laboratory-dr-faucis-former-boss-says

Images are from an old dig I did

>>20255081

kek

Art Dealer Testifies That Hunter Expressly Asked For Buyer Information

More details are emerging from the recent testimony of Hunter Biden’s art dealer, George Bergès.

We previously discussed how Bergès confirmed that the accounts of buyers flocking to buy Hunter’s art was false and that most of the art was purchased by his Democratic donor patron, Kevin Morris.

Not only did Bergès shatter White House claims of a carefully constructed ethical system to keep Hunter from knowing the identity of purchasers, Bergès testified that Hunter expressly demanded to know the identity.

Various experts objected to the sales as a serious ethical problem of donors using the purchases to assist President Biden and his family.

The media dutifully reported at the time how the White House was grappling with the ethical questions and, according to the Washington Post, “the White House officials have helped craft an agreement.”

It was portrayed as unprecedented and unyielding.

The White House continued to swat down questions by citing an ethical plan created for the sales. Andrew Bates, a spokesperson for the White House, said in a statement that “the President has established the highest ethical standards of any administration in American history, and his family’s commitment to rigorous processes like this is a prime example.”

Then White House spokesperson (and now MSNBC host) Jennifer Psaki stated:

“Well, I can tell you that after careful consideration, a system has been established that allows for Hunter Biden to work in his profession within reasonable safeguards […] But all interactions regarding the selling of art and the setting of prices will be handled by a professional gallerist, adhering to the highest industry standards. And any offer out of the normal course would be rejected out of hand. And the gallerist will not share information about buyers or prospective buyers, including their identities, with Hunter Biden or the administration, which provides quite a level of protection and transparency.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/art-dealer-testifies-hunter-expressly-asked-buyer-information

US Conducts New 'Preemptive Strikes' On Houthi Launch Sites

On Tuesday US forces carried out another round of strikes on Houthi sites in Yemen, but this time the operation is being dubbed a "pre-emptive" attack that came in response to militants preparing missile launches on the ground in real time.

"US forces struck and destroyed four Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles," a Central Command (CENTCOM) statement saud. "These missiles were prepared to launch from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and presented an imminent threat to both merchant and US Navy ships in the region."

Over the course of the prior day, two commercial ships were hit by Houthi missiles, including the Zografia, in an incident we detailed earlier.

US defense officials explained of this third significant wave of American strikes against the Houthis, per Politico:

The Tuesday attacks were on a much smaller scale and “dynamic” in nature, meaning they were not pre-planned and rather taken in self-defense against missiles that presented an imminent threat to international shipping, one of the officials said. All of the officials were granted anonymity to speak about a sensitive operation before an official announcement.

These Houthi launches targeting Red Sea transit are coming daily at this point, and so it's very likely there will be many more counter-attacks to come from the Operation Prosperity Guardian coalition patrolling off Yemen. CENTCOM has has also continued upping its counter-Iran operations in regional waters, also as Tehran is believed to be supplying the Yemeni rebel group with weapons.

Shell plc multinational oil and gas company has been the latest to suspend tanker operations through the Red Sea.

In earlier analysis we explained how the number of commercial vessels that have transited the Red Sea/Suez Canal route has more than halved over the past month amid rising tensions off Yemen, but more than 100 ships, including oil tankers, have crossed the water lane since the US and UK navies advised operators on Friday to steer clear of the route.

A total of 114 commercial vessels — including oil tankers, bulk carriers, and container ships — have continued with their routes and transited into or out of the Red Sea through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, according to vessel-tracking data monitored by Bloomberg.

The Houthis have declared war on Red Sea shipping in connection with Israel's ongoing operation in Gaza. The White House has so far backed away from calling for permanent ceasefire, also as over 100 Israeli hostages remain in Hamas captivity…

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-conducts-new-preemptive-strikes-houthi-launch-sites