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NATO will pay for its weakness, Kiev says
Ukraine’s casualties will be on the US-led bloc’s hands due to its refusal to create a no-fly zone, the country’s president has said
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky lashed out at the NATO alliance on Friday, berating the block for its refusal to establish a no-fly zone over the country amid the ongoing Russian offensive that hit Ukraine last week.
“NATO knowingly approved the decision not to close the skies over Ukraine. We believe that the NATO countries themselves have created a narrative that the alleged closing of the sky over Ukraine will provoke direct Russian aggression against NATO,” Zelensky said in a videotaped address, telling the US-led bloc that “people will die because of you” in the country.
He also berated a general lack of aid from the alliance, stating that it only managed to authorize a small fuel delivery for the country. While Ukraine has been recognized as a special “partner” of the alliance, NATO has repeatedly warned Kiev that it would not go into a war with Russia over Ukraine.
“All that the alliance could do today was to allocate some 50 tons of diesel fuel for Ukraine through its procurement system,” Zelensky said, issuing a new thinly-veiled nuclear threat.
“Probably, it’s for us so that we can burn the Budapest Memorandum. To make it burn better. But for us it has already burned down in the fire of the Russian troops,” he added, referring to the 1994 document, under which Kiev surrendered its nuclear arsenal inherited from the Soviet Union.
A similar statement was made by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, who said the ongoing conflict had exposed NATO’s “weakness.”
“Before the war, Ukrainian people believed that NATO was strong, while the EU was weak and indecisive. And after the war began, the people saw that the opposite was true,” Kuleba told the 1+1 TV channel.
This is a weakness which the alliance will, unfortunately, pay for in the future. And now Ukrainians will suffer thanks to it.
The top Ukrainian diplomat also claimed that the EU “gave us a candidate status and prospects of membership, while NATO could not decide on anything.” In reality, however, Ukraine has not been given a EU candidate status, as a country needs to meet various requirements before attaining it, with the EU Parliament only passing a non-binding resolution welcoming Kiev’s membership bid.
Source; RT.com
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky lashed out at the NATO alliance on Friday, berating the block for its refusal to establish a no-fly zone over the country amid the ongoing Russian offensive that hit Ukraine last week.
“NATO knowingly approved the decision not to close the skies over Ukraine. We believe that the NATO countries themselves have created a narrative that the alleged closing of the sky over Ukraine will provoke direct Russian aggression against NATO,” Zelensky said in a videotaped address, telling the US-led bloc that “people will die because of you” in the country.
He also berated a general lack of aid from the alliance, stating that it only managed to authorize a small fuel delivery for the country. While Ukraine has been recognized as a special “partner” of the alliance, NATO has repeatedly warned Kiev that it would not go into a war with Russia over Ukraine.
“All that the alliance could do today was to allocate some 50 tons of diesel fuel for Ukraine through its procurement system,” Zelensky said, issuing a new thinly-veiled nuclear threat.
“Probably, it’s for us so that we can burn the Budapest Memorandum. To make it burn better. But for us it has already burned down in the fire of the Russian troops,” he added, referring to the 1994 document, under which Kiev surrendered its nuclear arsenal inherited from the Soviet Union.
A similar statement was made by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, who said the ongoing conflict had exposed NATO’s “weakness.”
“Before the war, Ukrainian people believed that NATO was strong, while the EU was weak and indecisive. And after the war began, the people saw that the opposite was true,” Kuleba told the 1+1 TV channel.
This is a weakness which the alliance will, unfortunately, pay for in the future. And now Ukrainians will suffer thanks to it.
The top Ukrainian diplomat also claimed that the EU “gave us a candidate status and prospects of membership, while NATO could not decide on anything.” In reality, however, Ukraine has not been given a EU candidate status, as a country needs to meet various requirements before attaining it, with the EU Parliament only passing a non-binding resolution welcoming Kiev’s membership bid.
Source; RT.com
Hungarian PM says countries can’t count on NATO to protect them
Viktor Orban gave an interview on relations with the EU and sanctions against Russia
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday morning that he felt he couldn’t count on the Western bloc when it comes to real action concerning the country’s security.
“NATO will protect us when we are ready to defend ourselves. Anyone who thinks NATO will protect us is wrong,” he said in an interview for Kossuth state radio.
Orban praised the fact that Hungary had managed to reorganize its army since 2010 and was strong enough to protect itself and its allies. Still, he believes the country should stay away from war, as it was not “Hungary’s job to sort out world politics.” The president added that the safety of Hungarian citizens was his top priority in this conflict.
Orban also warned that Western sanctions against Russia pose an “immediate danger” to the economy, noting that they have already had an impact in Hungary, where energy prices escalated rapidly, prompting further inflation.
“Sanctions have a price as it is a double-edged weapon, and we will pay this price in the short term,” he said in the interview, adding that it was “only the beginning of the crisis.”
Orban also commented on Ukrainian refugees arriving in Hungary. While about 70% to 80% of the 140,000 displaced citizens are going to other countries, he said Hungary wants to offer jobs to those who stay, and the prime minister has already initiated talks with employers. He added that the country is ready to accommodate refugees for three months, but warned that they will then have to integrate themselves into Hungarian society. He also stressed the importance of healthcare, as the coronavirus pandemic remains an issue.
According to the UN, more than one million people have fled Ukraine since Moscow began its offensive last Thursday, heading to Poland, Russia, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia and other countries in order to find safety.
In the wake of Russia’s invasion, the European Union and other countries have placed a number of severe sanctions on Moscow, including barring several of the country’s banks from the global payment system, SWIFT, and closing airspace to Russian aircraft. Prominent international brands such as Apple, IKEA, H&M and Airbnb have also suspended their operations in Russia over the Ukrainian conflict.
Source; RT.com
“NATO will protect us when we are ready to defend ourselves. Anyone who thinks NATO will protect us is wrong,” he said in an interview for Kossuth state radio.
Orban praised the fact that Hungary had managed to reorganize its army since 2010 and was strong enough to protect itself and its allies. Still, he believes the country should stay away from war, as it was not “Hungary’s job to sort out world politics.” The president added that the safety of Hungarian citizens was his top priority in this conflict.
Orban also warned that Western sanctions against Russia pose an “immediate danger” to the economy, noting that they have already had an impact in Hungary, where energy prices escalated rapidly, prompting further inflation.
“Sanctions have a price as it is a double-edged weapon, and we will pay this price in the short term,” he said in the interview, adding that it was “only the beginning of the crisis.”
Orban also commented on Ukrainian refugees arriving in Hungary. While about 70% to 80% of the 140,000 displaced citizens are going to other countries, he said Hungary wants to offer jobs to those who stay, and the prime minister has already initiated talks with employers. He added that the country is ready to accommodate refugees for three months, but warned that they will then have to integrate themselves into Hungarian society. He also stressed the importance of healthcare, as the coronavirus pandemic remains an issue.
According to the UN, more than one million people have fled Ukraine since Moscow began its offensive last Thursday, heading to Poland, Russia, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia and other countries in order to find safety.
In the wake of Russia’s invasion, the European Union and other countries have placed a number of severe sanctions on Moscow, including barring several of the country’s banks from the global payment system, SWIFT, and closing airspace to Russian aircraft. Prominent international brands such as Apple, IKEA, H&M and Airbnb have also suspended their operations in Russia over the Ukrainian conflict.
Source; RT.com
China makes Taiwan warning
Beijing seeks peaceful reunification of the island, but rejects separatism and foreign meddling
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has warned against separatist inclinations and foreign meddling in Taiwan, which Beijing considers to be under its sovereignty. China wants to develop peaceful ties and ultimately reunify with the island, the official told an annual parliamentary session on Saturday.
“All of us, Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, should come together to advance the great and glorious cause of China’s rejuvenation,” the premier said.
The head of the Chinese cabinet made the remarks as he was delivering his working report to members of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC), which they are to approve. The NPC and a separate advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), launched their two-week annual sessions on Friday.
The annual sessions are usually used by the ruling Communist Party to outline economic and military plans for China. This year’s gatherings are remarkable since later in the year President Xi Jinping is expected to continue his leadership of the country for an unprecedented third term.
Taiwan has been administering itself since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s, during which defeated nationalist forces retreated to the island. Taipei claims to be representing the will of the Chinese people, but most of the world recognizes Beijing in that role under the so-called “One China policy.”
Tensions over Taiwan have been ramping up over the past few years amid new arms sales by Washington and visits of semi-official American delegations, which Beijing sees as undermining its claims to the island. China has ramped up military activities around Taiwan, stating that it was acting to balance similar moves by the US.
Lately, there was speculation in Western media that Beijing may attempt to take over the island by force amid the security crisis in Europe caused by Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Beijing refused to condemn Moscow for its offensive and accused the US and NATO of paving the way for hostilities by ignoring Russian national security concerns. Moscow said its attack was necessary to curb threats emanating from Ukraine due to NATO’s creeping expansion into Ukraine.
Other parts of Li’s remarks, which covered Beijing’s relationship with Hong Kong, were notably devoid of condemnations of foreign meddling, which have been common in speeches by Chinese officials since the mass anti-government protests and rioting that gripped the autonomous city in 2019. He instead focused on the potential of economic growth for Hong Kong, Macao and other Chinese cities in the Greater Bay Area.
Source; RT.com
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has warned against separatist inclinations and foreign meddling in Taiwan, which Beijing considers to be under its sovereignty. China wants to develop peaceful ties and ultimately reunify with the island, the official told an annual parliamentary session on Saturday.
“All of us, Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, should come together to advance the great and glorious cause of China’s rejuvenation,” the premier said.
The head of the Chinese cabinet made the remarks as he was delivering his working report to members of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC), which they are to approve. The NPC and a separate advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), launched their two-week annual sessions on Friday.
The annual sessions are usually used by the ruling Communist Party to outline economic and military plans for China. This year’s gatherings are remarkable since later in the year President Xi Jinping is expected to continue his leadership of the country for an unprecedented third term.
Taiwan has been administering itself since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s, during which defeated nationalist forces retreated to the island. Taipei claims to be representing the will of the Chinese people, but most of the world recognizes Beijing in that role under the so-called “One China policy.”
Tensions over Taiwan have been ramping up over the past few years amid new arms sales by Washington and visits of semi-official American delegations, which Beijing sees as undermining its claims to the island. China has ramped up military activities around Taiwan, stating that it was acting to balance similar moves by the US.
Lately, there was speculation in Western media that Beijing may attempt to take over the island by force amid the security crisis in Europe caused by Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Beijing refused to condemn Moscow for its offensive and accused the US and NATO of paving the way for hostilities by ignoring Russian national security concerns. Moscow said its attack was necessary to curb threats emanating from Ukraine due to NATO’s creeping expansion into Ukraine.
Other parts of Li’s remarks, which covered Beijing’s relationship with Hong Kong, were notably devoid of condemnations of foreign meddling, which have been common in speeches by Chinese officials since the mass anti-government protests and rioting that gripped the autonomous city in 2019. He instead focused on the potential of economic growth for Hong Kong, Macao and other Chinese cities in the Greater Bay Area.
Source; RT.com
Calls mount for probe into US bio-labs after Russian claim
By Liu Caiyu
Published: Apr 08, 2021 09:13 PM
Calls for probes into the US' mysterious bio-labs in order to better understand coronavirus origins are growing after Russia said it has every reason to believe the US is developing biological weapons in labs mainly near the China-Russia border.
Experts said that investigation of US bio-labs may offer clues to the virus origins; however, the US continues to ignore the international community's questions over its mysterious bio-labs.
Responding to a question about the origin of COVID-19, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said recently that US-controlled biological laboratories appear mainly near Russian and Chinese borders. And there is good reason to believe the US is developing biological weapons in those labs, and that outbreaks of non-typical diseases have been reported around them.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Thursday urged the US to respond to concerns and make comprehensive clarifications on biological militarization activities within and outside the US, and stop blocking the establishment of a verification mechanism under the Biological Weapons Convention.
Li Wei, a research fellow at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times that a thorough investigation of US bio-labs may offer clues to the virus origin.
The US has set up bio-labs in 25 countries and regions across the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and former Soviet Union, with 16 in Ukraine alone. Some of the places where the labs are based have seen large-scale outbreaks of measles and other dangerous infectious diseases, the ministry said, citing media reports.
The Fort Detrick laboratory that handles high-level disease-causing materials, such as Ebola, in Fredrick, Maryland, was shut after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a cease and desist order against the organization in July 2019, media reported.
USA Today reported that since 2003, hundreds of incidents involving accidental contact with deadly pathogens have occurred in US bio-labs at home and abroad.
Zeng Guang, chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Global Times on Thursday that while China opened the Wuhan lab to the scientists with an open and welcoming altitude, the US continues to ignore the international community's questions over its mysterious bio-labs.
The US has always been such an arrogant country that only allows itself to use its power to wield sticks against other countries, but not a single peek to reflect on itself, Zeng said.
Only the US government has the answers to these questions and the key to the truth. However, the world clearly understands the US will not easily allow probes into its bio-labs, as it is driven by its usual double standards on international affairs, and a stubborn mindset of hegemony, said Wang Yiwei, director of the institute of international affairs at Renmin University of China.
After their field trips and in-depth visits in China, members of the mission led by the WHO unanimously agreed that the lab leak theory is extremely unlikely, but WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus mentioned a further investigation was needed as the team's probe into a potential lab leak was not sufficient.
More investigations could be done with laboratories around the world, including US bio-labs, if there is further evidence that the hypothesis needs to be reassessed, experts noted.
Any probe should not be treated as a criminal investigation, but the relevant countries should at least cooperate closely with WHO experts in a scientific, open, transparent and responsible manner, as China has done, they said.
In response to a question about an open letter written by 24 researchers from Europe, US, Australia and Japan on a new probe into COVID-19 origins, Zhao said on Thursday's press conference that some individual countries including the US are politicizing the issue, disrupting the cooperation between China and the WHO, smearing China and openly challenging the independent and scientific research by scientists. This harms global cooperation on virus origins-tracing and global efforts in fighting the epidemic.
The so-called open letter on a new probe into COVID-19 origins is merely aimed at pressuring the WHO and members of its expert team, and the COVID-19 origins-tracing work is indeed being hindered by politics, not from China, but from certain countries including the US, Zhao said.
Source; GlobalTimes.cn
Calls for probes into the US' mysterious bio-labs in order to better understand coronavirus origins are growing after Russia said it has every reason to believe the US is developing biological weapons in labs mainly near the China-Russia border.
Experts said that investigation of US bio-labs may offer clues to the virus origins; however, the US continues to ignore the international community's questions over its mysterious bio-labs.
Responding to a question about the origin of COVID-19, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said recently that US-controlled biological laboratories appear mainly near Russian and Chinese borders. And there is good reason to believe the US is developing biological weapons in those labs, and that outbreaks of non-typical diseases have been reported around them.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Thursday urged the US to respond to concerns and make comprehensive clarifications on biological militarization activities within and outside the US, and stop blocking the establishment of a verification mechanism under the Biological Weapons Convention.
Li Wei, a research fellow at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times that a thorough investigation of US bio-labs may offer clues to the virus origin.
The US has set up bio-labs in 25 countries and regions across the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and former Soviet Union, with 16 in Ukraine alone. Some of the places where the labs are based have seen large-scale outbreaks of measles and other dangerous infectious diseases, the ministry said, citing media reports.
The Fort Detrick laboratory that handles high-level disease-causing materials, such as Ebola, in Fredrick, Maryland, was shut after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a cease and desist order against the organization in July 2019, media reported.
USA Today reported that since 2003, hundreds of incidents involving accidental contact with deadly pathogens have occurred in US bio-labs at home and abroad.
Zeng Guang, chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Global Times on Thursday that while China opened the Wuhan lab to the scientists with an open and welcoming altitude, the US continues to ignore the international community's questions over its mysterious bio-labs.
The US has always been such an arrogant country that only allows itself to use its power to wield sticks against other countries, but not a single peek to reflect on itself, Zeng said.
Only the US government has the answers to these questions and the key to the truth. However, the world clearly understands the US will not easily allow probes into its bio-labs, as it is driven by its usual double standards on international affairs, and a stubborn mindset of hegemony, said Wang Yiwei, director of the institute of international affairs at Renmin University of China.
After their field trips and in-depth visits in China, members of the mission led by the WHO unanimously agreed that the lab leak theory is extremely unlikely, but WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus mentioned a further investigation was needed as the team's probe into a potential lab leak was not sufficient.
More investigations could be done with laboratories around the world, including US bio-labs, if there is further evidence that the hypothesis needs to be reassessed, experts noted.
Any probe should not be treated as a criminal investigation, but the relevant countries should at least cooperate closely with WHO experts in a scientific, open, transparent and responsible manner, as China has done, they said.
In response to a question about an open letter written by 24 researchers from Europe, US, Australia and Japan on a new probe into COVID-19 origins, Zhao said on Thursday's press conference that some individual countries including the US are politicizing the issue, disrupting the cooperation between China and the WHO, smearing China and openly challenging the independent and scientific research by scientists. This harms global cooperation on virus origins-tracing and global efforts in fighting the epidemic.
The so-called open letter on a new probe into COVID-19 origins is merely aimed at pressuring the WHO and members of its expert team, and the COVID-19 origins-tracing work is indeed being hindered by politics, not from China, but from certain countries including the US, Zhao said.
Source; GlobalTimes.cn
Ukrainian opposition urges probe into US biolaboratories in Ukraine
15 APR 2020, 20:09
As an example, Opposition Platform members mentioned the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine - an international organization funded by the US authorities whose employees enjoy diplomatic immunity
KIEV, April 15. /TASS/. Ukraine’s Opposition Platform - For Life party has urged the authorities to probe into the operation of 15 US military biological laboratories. It argues that since their emergence Ukraine has seen outbreaks of dangerous diseases, as follows from a message by the head of the party’s Political Council, Viktor Medvedchuk, and parliament member from the same party Renat Kuzmin, published on the party’s website on Wednesday.
"I, as the chairman of the Political Council of the Opposition Platform - For Life, and a member of parliament from our party, Renat Kuzmin, have addressed Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, Prime Minister Denis Shmygal, Health Minister Maxim Stepanov and chief of the security service SBU Ivan Bakanov with a demand for presenting information concerning the operation of 15 US military biological laboratories in Ukraine. These laboratories carry out unlawful activity that threatens the life and health of Ukrainian citizens. The European mass media openly write about this," Medvedchuk said in the statement.
"We demand that the authorities should make public the instances of illegal ‘cooperation’ between Ukraine and the United States concerning the activity of US biolaboratories in our country. This ‘cooperation’ began back during the presidency of [Viktor] Yushchenko, continued under President [Pyotr} Poroshenko and is going on under the current authorities," the message says.
As an example Medvedchuk and Kuzmin mentioned the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine (STCU) - an international organization funded by the US authorities whose employees enjoy diplomatic immunity. "This center is involved in financing projects for the creation of weapons of mass destruction," Medvedchuk and Kuzmin say.
"The emergence of US biolaboratories in Ukraine and the financing of STCU projects was accompanied by several outbreaks of serious infectious diseases in the country," Medvedchuk and Kuzmin say in their statement. "In view of the growing rates of serious infectious diseases there are solid grounds to say that covert and non-transparent activity of dangerous foreign biological facilities in Ukraine is in reality aimed at testing viruses and bacteria on Ukrainian citizens," the opposition legislators say.
They recall that 2010-2012 probes into the biological laboratories’ observance of safety rules exposed a number of crude violations that might have caused leaks of dangerous infections. In 2013, a decision was made to terminate Ukrainian-US cooperation in the field of biological experiments. "However, with Poroshenko’s rise to power this program was resumed," the oppositional Ukrainian politicians say. "Moreover, the authorities have eliminated the sanitary rules that set certain standards of ensuring biological safety, thus endangering the life and health of millions of Ukrainians."
Medvedchuk and Kuzmin urged the Ukrainian authorities to present exhaustive information about how many US military laboratories funded from abroad operate in the country at the moment, the regulatory basis for their activity and what way the authorities control their operation. "The Ukrainian people have the right to know about secret programs. We demand the termination of experiments that the authorities have long been carrying out on its people at the demand and in the interests of the United States," Medvedchuk and Kuzmin said.
Outbreaks of infectious diseases in Ukraine
In their message Medvedchuk and Kuzmin mentioned the outbreaks of dangerous infectious diseases in Ukraine in recent years, which, in their opinion, might be connected with the activity of US laboratories. In 2009, a virus caused a hotbed of hemorrhagic pneumonia, which claimed 450 lives. In 2011, Ukraine saw an outbreak of cholera, with 33 patients taken to hospital. Three years later another 800 patients were diagnosed with cholera. One year later more than 100 cases of cholera were identified in Nikolayev.
In January 2016, at least 20 military servicemen died of a flu-like virus. Another 200 people were taken to the hospital. Two months later 364 died in Ukraine of the swine fever virus A (H1N1) pdm09, the very same strain that caused the 2009 pandemic, Medvedchuk and Kuzmin say. They recall that an outbreak of hepatitis A occurred in Nikolayev in 2017. Another one followed in the summer of that year in Zaporozhie and Odessa, one more in the autumn in Kharkov.
Source; Tass.com
As an example, Opposition Platform members mentioned the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine - an international organization funded by the US authorities whose employees enjoy diplomatic immunity
KIEV, April 15. /TASS/. Ukraine’s Opposition Platform - For Life party has urged the authorities to probe into the operation of 15 US military biological laboratories. It argues that since their emergence Ukraine has seen outbreaks of dangerous diseases, as follows from a message by the head of the party’s Political Council, Viktor Medvedchuk, and parliament member from the same party Renat Kuzmin, published on the party’s website on Wednesday.
"I, as the chairman of the Political Council of the Opposition Platform - For Life, and a member of parliament from our party, Renat Kuzmin, have addressed Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, Prime Minister Denis Shmygal, Health Minister Maxim Stepanov and chief of the security service SBU Ivan Bakanov with a demand for presenting information concerning the operation of 15 US military biological laboratories in Ukraine. These laboratories carry out unlawful activity that threatens the life and health of Ukrainian citizens. The European mass media openly write about this," Medvedchuk said in the statement.
"We demand that the authorities should make public the instances of illegal ‘cooperation’ between Ukraine and the United States concerning the activity of US biolaboratories in our country. This ‘cooperation’ began back during the presidency of [Viktor] Yushchenko, continued under President [Pyotr} Poroshenko and is going on under the current authorities," the message says.
As an example Medvedchuk and Kuzmin mentioned the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine (STCU) - an international organization funded by the US authorities whose employees enjoy diplomatic immunity. "This center is involved in financing projects for the creation of weapons of mass destruction," Medvedchuk and Kuzmin say.
"The emergence of US biolaboratories in Ukraine and the financing of STCU projects was accompanied by several outbreaks of serious infectious diseases in the country," Medvedchuk and Kuzmin say in their statement. "In view of the growing rates of serious infectious diseases there are solid grounds to say that covert and non-transparent activity of dangerous foreign biological facilities in Ukraine is in reality aimed at testing viruses and bacteria on Ukrainian citizens," the opposition legislators say.
They recall that 2010-2012 probes into the biological laboratories’ observance of safety rules exposed a number of crude violations that might have caused leaks of dangerous infections. In 2013, a decision was made to terminate Ukrainian-US cooperation in the field of biological experiments. "However, with Poroshenko’s rise to power this program was resumed," the oppositional Ukrainian politicians say. "Moreover, the authorities have eliminated the sanitary rules that set certain standards of ensuring biological safety, thus endangering the life and health of millions of Ukrainians."
Medvedchuk and Kuzmin urged the Ukrainian authorities to present exhaustive information about how many US military laboratories funded from abroad operate in the country at the moment, the regulatory basis for their activity and what way the authorities control their operation. "The Ukrainian people have the right to know about secret programs. We demand the termination of experiments that the authorities have long been carrying out on its people at the demand and in the interests of the United States," Medvedchuk and Kuzmin said.
Outbreaks of infectious diseases in Ukraine
In their message Medvedchuk and Kuzmin mentioned the outbreaks of dangerous infectious diseases in Ukraine in recent years, which, in their opinion, might be connected with the activity of US laboratories. In 2009, a virus caused a hotbed of hemorrhagic pneumonia, which claimed 450 lives. In 2011, Ukraine saw an outbreak of cholera, with 33 patients taken to hospital. Three years later another 800 patients were diagnosed with cholera. One year later more than 100 cases of cholera were identified in Nikolayev.
In January 2016, at least 20 military servicemen died of a flu-like virus. Another 200 people were taken to the hospital. Two months later 364 died in Ukraine of the swine fever virus A (H1N1) pdm09, the very same strain that caused the 2009 pandemic, Medvedchuk and Kuzmin say. They recall that an outbreak of hepatitis A occurred in Nikolayev in 2017. Another one followed in the summer of that year in Zaporozhie and Odessa, one more in the autumn in Kharkov.
Source; Tass.com
Are US-run biological labs in Ukraine one of the reasons behind Russia invasion? Read how Russian govt had raised ‘bioweapons’ alarm
24 February, 2022 : OpIndia Staff
As per the details made available by the US government, the US Department of Defense's Biological Threat Reduction Program has been working with partner countries to "to counter the threat of outbreaks (deliberate, accidental, or natural) of the world's most dangerous infectious diseases."
As Russia has started attacking military installations in Ukraine, there are speculations that the United State’s Biolabs that have been established in Ukraine in the name of research and defence are also among the targets. The US has several such labs in Ukraine under its “Biological Threat Reduction Program”.
Social media has been abuzz with discussions on how the Russian government, in addition to objecting to NATO’s expansion in the region, has been highlighting their concerns, accusing the USA of running bioweapon labs near their border. A Twitter handle named @WarClandenstine (the account has unfortunately been suspended) claimed that it may be a possibility that Russia is targeting the Biolabs. Nothing has been confirmed yet.
There is a lot of discussion on social media regarding the alleged bioweapons labs run and funded by the US government on Ukrainian soil.
As per the details made available by the US government, the US Department of Defense’s Biological Threat Reduction Program has been working with partner countries to “to counter the threat of outbreaks (deliberate, accidental, or natural) of the world’s most dangerous infectious diseases.”
In 2019, BTRP established two laboratories for the Consumer Protection Service of Ukraine with Biosafety Level 2 in Kyiv and Odesa. Both regions are under Russia’s attack. The US not only provides support for laboratory establishment but has also been funding research projects in Ukraine where the Ukrainian and American scientists work together.
Russia has accused the US of developing bio-weapons at its borders, at Ukraine and Georgia
On several occasions, Russia has accused the US and Ukraine of developing bio-weapons close to its borders. In 2021, while talking about the inability of the World Health Organisation to establish the origin of the Covid-19 virus, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev told Kommersant reporter that Russia believed the US was developing bio-weapons near its borders.
He said, “you pay attention to the fact that in the world, more and more new biological laboratories under the control of the United States are growing by leaps and bounds. Moreover, by a strange coincidence – mainly at the Russian and Chinese borders.” He added that the US claims they work with local scientists to develop ways to fight dangerous pathogens but what happens inside those walls was unknown.
He added, “We are told that peaceful sanitation stations operate near our borders, but for some reason, they are more reminiscent of Fort Detrick in Maryland, where Americans have been working in the field of military biology for decades. By the way, we should pay attention to the fact that outbreaks of diseases that are not typical for these regions are recorded in the surrounding areas.”
When asked if he meant Americans were developing biological weapons at those Biolabs, he said, “We have good reason to believe that this is the case.” He further said, “Not a day goes by at the headquarters of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague that the Americans and their allies do not come forward with another chapter of the anti-Russian chemical dossier.”
Speaking about the allegations against Russia over the development of chemical weapons, he said there were no evidence and only conjectures. The Russian government has made similar allegations multiple times.
It has been now been established by now that scientists from the USA, with NIH funding, had been running gain of function research into a number of SARS-like viruses in the Wuhan laboratory in China, which is widely believed to be the origin of Covid-19 infection. In September 2021, it was revealed in a book that the US had funded research on deadly viruses in Wuhan under the supervision of Anthony Fauci.
US scientist Peter Daszak, who had received an NIH grant, through his organisation EcoHealth Alliance had been engaged in ‘gain of function’ research for years in the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. Daszak has himself admitted on numerous occasions that they are running breakthrough research into coronaviruses.
Earlier this year, an investigation by Project Veritas had revealed that coronavirus research deemed ‘too dangerous’ by DARPA, was approved by Anthony Fauci’s NIAID and was conducted by Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance at Wuhan.
In October 2021, it was revealed via leaked emails that Anthony Fauci’s NIAID funded institute trained researchers at Wuhan lab housed fatal aerosol-borne viruses.
Russia invades Ukraine
On 24 February, after weeks of speculations, Russia finally invaded Ukraine, triggering a massive outrage all over the world. It is notable here that NATO, USA and Russia have been at loggerheads for years over NATO’s alleged plans to expand eastward, threatening Russia’s security. As Russian troops gathered on Ukraine’s borders over the last few weeks, NATO and USA have dropped billions of dollars worth of weapons in Ukraine, proclaiming support for Ukraine’s sovereignty.
Addressing the people, Putin had announced that it is launching a military operation directed towards the ‘demilitarization’ and ‘denazification’ of Ukraine. The alleged biological weapons program is one of the many concerns Russia had raised regarding Ukraine.
NATO countries including the USA have promised to impose severe sanctions on Russia as a retaliatory measure against the invasion.
Source; OpIndia.com
As per the details made available by the US government, the US Department of Defense's Biological Threat Reduction Program has been working with partner countries to "to counter the threat of outbreaks (deliberate, accidental, or natural) of the world's most dangerous infectious diseases."
Social media has been abuzz with discussions on how the Russian government, in addition to objecting to NATO’s expansion in the region, has been highlighting their concerns, accusing the USA of running bioweapon labs near their border. A Twitter handle named @WarClandenstine (the account has unfortunately been suspended) claimed that it may be a possibility that Russia is targeting the Biolabs. Nothing has been confirmed yet.
1) HOLY SHIT! I think I may be onto something about #Ukraine.
Zelensky said the Russians are firing at “military installations”. How broad is that term?
I am seeing speculation that could include US installed biolabs.
At first I was like no way.
Then I started digging. pic.twitter.com/tm72HFAXNK
— Clandestine (@WarClandestine) February 24, 2022
There is a lot of discussion on social media regarding the alleged bioweapons labs run and funded by the US government on Ukrainian soil.
In Ukraine, the program’s aim is to consolidate and secure pathogens and toxins of security concerns and provide support to the nation in detecting and reporting outbreaks caused by dangerous pathogens before they “pose any stability or security risks.”
In 2019, BTRP established two laboratories for the Consumer Protection Service of Ukraine with Biosafety Level 2 in Kyiv and Odesa. Both regions are under Russia’s attack. The US not only provides support for laboratory establishment but has also been funding research projects in Ukraine where the Ukrainian and American scientists work together.
Russia has accused the US of developing bio-weapons at its borders, at Ukraine and Georgia
On several occasions, Russia has accused the US and Ukraine of developing bio-weapons close to its borders. In 2021, while talking about the inability of the World Health Organisation to establish the origin of the Covid-19 virus, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev told Kommersant reporter that Russia believed the US was developing bio-weapons near its borders.
He added, “We are told that peaceful sanitation stations operate near our borders, but for some reason, they are more reminiscent of Fort Detrick in Maryland, where Americans have been working in the field of military biology for decades. By the way, we should pay attention to the fact that outbreaks of diseases that are not typical for these regions are recorded in the surrounding areas.”
When asked if he meant Americans were developing biological weapons at those Biolabs, he said, “We have good reason to believe that this is the case.” He further said, “Not a day goes by at the headquarters of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague that the Americans and their allies do not come forward with another chapter of the anti-Russian chemical dossier.”
Speaking about the allegations against Russia over the development of chemical weapons, he said there were no evidence and only conjectures. The Russian government has made similar allegations multiple times.
US-funded gain of function research to ‘enhance’ viruses at Wuhan laboratory in China
It has been now been established by now that scientists from the USA, with NIH funding, had been running gain of function research into a number of SARS-like viruses in the Wuhan laboratory in China, which is widely believed to be the origin of Covid-19 infection. In September 2021, it was revealed in a book that the US had funded research on deadly viruses in Wuhan under the supervision of Anthony Fauci.
US scientist Peter Daszak, who had received an NIH grant, through his organisation EcoHealth Alliance had been engaged in ‘gain of function’ research for years in the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. Daszak has himself admitted on numerous occasions that they are running breakthrough research into coronaviruses.
Earlier this year, an investigation by Project Veritas had revealed that coronavirus research deemed ‘too dangerous’ by DARPA, was approved by Anthony Fauci’s NIAID and was conducted by Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance at Wuhan.
In October 2021, it was revealed via leaked emails that Anthony Fauci’s NIAID funded institute trained researchers at Wuhan lab housed fatal aerosol-borne viruses.
Russia invades Ukraine
On 24 February, after weeks of speculations, Russia finally invaded Ukraine, triggering a massive outrage all over the world. It is notable here that NATO, USA and Russia have been at loggerheads for years over NATO’s alleged plans to expand eastward, threatening Russia’s security. As Russian troops gathered on Ukraine’s borders over the last few weeks, NATO and USA have dropped billions of dollars worth of weapons in Ukraine, proclaiming support for Ukraine’s sovereignty.
Addressing the people, Putin had announced that it is launching a military operation directed towards the ‘demilitarization’ and ‘denazification’ of Ukraine. The alleged biological weapons program is one of the many concerns Russia had raised regarding Ukraine.
NATO countries including the USA have promised to impose severe sanctions on Russia as a retaliatory measure against the invasion.
Source; OpIndia.com
Kende u het Azov bataljon al?
Fausto Biloslavo/TRANSTERRA Media Aug 6, 2014
Almost 80 years ago, ideological true believers from all over the world flocked to Spain to fight in a civil war, serving in the famed International Brigades on the Republican side. These days, echoes of Spain can be found in Ukraine, where foreign ideologues now can be found battling separatists backed by Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
So far, the scale of foreigners going to Ukraine to fight is far smaller than was the case during the Spanish Civil War. For example, of the roughly 250 volunteers in the Azov Battalion, an irregular unit fighting for the Ukrainian government, 12 are foreign and 24 reinforcements from abroad are expected to arrive soon.
“We are not mercenaries, we are volunteers who receive no pay at all and fight for a righteous cause,” said Gaston Besson, a former French paratrooper who helps oversee the battalion’s foreign cohort. “We are anti-communist, but the spirit is the same as that of the International Brigades that fought [against Fascism] in Spain in the thirties.”
In June, Besson posted an appeal for foreign volunteers to join the Azov Battalion on his Facebook page. “You will find nothing but trouble, war, adventure, and perhaps death or serious injury, but you will definitely have great memories and make life-long friends,” he wrote.
“Every day I receive dozens of requests to join us by e-mail, especially from countries like Finland, Norway and Sweden,” added Besson, who has lots of combat experience from conflicts all over the world. “I reject 75 percent of them. We do not want trigger-happy fanatics, drug addicts, or alcoholics. The volunteers must pay for their own ticket and then begin training in Kyiv before being sent to the front lines.”
The battalion, which was formed in April, had its baptism of fire on June 13, when the unit participated in an operation to retake the pro-Russian controlled city of Mariupol, situated on the north coast of the Sea of Azov, in southeastern Ukraine.
Many of the Azov Battalion members describe themselves as ultra-right Ukrainian nationalists. They proudly wear symbols and use slogans associated with neo-Nazis, such as black t-shirts with the Celtic cross. Football ultras have also joined the ranks of the battalion, which was founded by the National Social Assembly, a confederation of ultra-nationalist organizations, as well as Ukrainian groups that oppose alignment with the European Union and NATO. This far-right ideology is what continues to draw like-minded activists from Sweden, Italy, France, Italy, Canada and even Russia.
For an Italian citizen in the Azov Battalion, 53-year-old Francesco F., the fight in Ukraine has given him a sense of purpose. “On the Maidan barricades I was like ET, finding ‘home’ on the side of Ukrainian nationalists”, said Francesco, who during the 1970s and 80s was affiliated with the National Vanguard ultra-right movement in Italy. “After the annexation of the Crimea and the explosion of the Eastern part of the country, I could not abandon them [Ukrainians] to face the Russian threat alone. That’s why I chose to enlist and fight.”
At their camp at Berdyansk, a city on the Azov Sea roughly 80 miles southwest of Donetsk, members of the battalion lined up one day recently, all wearing balaclavas to cover their faces for fear of repercussions should they be identified. At the order of their commander, they ran to a battered van that was to take them to a firing range.
On their way to shooting practice and maneuvers, fighters paid homage to their Italian comrade Francesco F. by singing a hymn honoring Mussolini. Francesco, whom everybody calls “Don,” or “uncle,” fights under the nom de guerre Stan.
Francesco was sitting next to Severin, a 20 year-old Swedish volunteer who has a tattoo on his bodybuilder-like biceps with the inscription “son of Odin.” A pounding nationalist rock song called “Death to the Enemy” played from a mobile phone, and battalion members took turns insulting Russian President Vladimir Putin's manhood.
At the firing range, a Swedish instructor offered training on urban warfare. The man, who did not want to be identified, was dressed in black, shaved, lean, and muscular. “I came to train you in the most difficult tactics, urban warfare.” He harangued the battalion with the attitude of an officer. “I will show you how to break into a building, take it and, if you are lucky, get out of it alive.”
Mikael Skillt is perhaps the most well-known foreign fighter of the battalion. This Swedish sniper, with seven years' experience in the Swedish Army and the Swedish National Guard, was a member of the neo-Nazi Svenskarnas party in Sweden. He is one of the few fighters who agreed to speak without covering his face; he supposedly has a 5,000 euro (80,000 gryvna) bounty put on his head by pro-Russian elements. This amount in Ukraine is worth over the average yearly wage.
“They can come get me if they want. I fight against the idiots who believe in what Putin says,” he declared. “At Mariupol, a sniper tried to shoot me from a window. After locating him, I waited until he was a little uncovered and then pulled the trigger. He just had no hope,” Skillt said.
Dressed in his camouflage combat fatigues, Skillt explained what drove him to enlist in the Azov Battalion, “I saw on TV snipers killing civilians and nationalists on Maidan Square, so I decided to join in.” He confessed that he gets a rush out of combat, “There is something special when your heart is beating like mad and you see all these bullets flying around and bouncing on the ground near you.”
Muran, a young Russian who also fights with the Azov Battalion, said he came to Ukraine because he wanted to help bring down Putin’s government. He does not know if he will be able to go back to Russia, as he is now considered a traitor. “I would rather blow myself up with a grenade than be captured alive,” said the masked 24 year old from the Ural Mountains.
Bron; Eurasia.net
Het Azovbataljon (Oekraïens: Батальйон Азов) is een in mei 2014 opgerichte Oekraïense rechtsextremistische nationalistische militie, die onderdeel uitmaakt van de Oekrainse Nationale Garde en valt onder het Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken. Het bataljon is gevestigd in Marioepol aan de kust van de Zee van Azov.
De eerste commandant van het bataljon was Andriy Biletsky (Oekraïens: Андрій Білецький), het hoofd van de extreemrechtse bewegingen Sociaal-Nationale Assemblee en Patriotten van Oekraïne. Omdat hij in 2014 verkozen werd in de Verchovna Rada nam hij zijn ontslag omdat Oekraïense parlementariërs niet in het leger mochten dienst nemen. Zijn opvolger is Denys Prokopenko.
Het vroegere embleem van het bataljon bevatte een wolfsangel op een zwarte zon met daaronder golven en het wapen van Oekraïne. Het huidige embleem bevat nog steeds een wolfsangel. Bovenaan het embleem staat AZOV in cyrillisch schrift.
Het bataljon is tijdens de Russisch-Oekraïense oorlog actief in de strijd tegen de separatisten en het Russische leger.
Source; Wikipedia.org
Almost 80 years ago, ideological true believers from all over the world flocked to Spain to fight in a civil war, serving in the famed International Brigades on the Republican side. These days, echoes of Spain can be found in Ukraine, where foreign ideologues now can be found battling separatists backed by Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
So far, the scale of foreigners going to Ukraine to fight is far smaller than was the case during the Spanish Civil War. For example, of the roughly 250 volunteers in the Azov Battalion, an irregular unit fighting for the Ukrainian government, 12 are foreign and 24 reinforcements from abroad are expected to arrive soon.
“We are not mercenaries, we are volunteers who receive no pay at all and fight for a righteous cause,” said Gaston Besson, a former French paratrooper who helps oversee the battalion’s foreign cohort. “We are anti-communist, but the spirit is the same as that of the International Brigades that fought [against Fascism] in Spain in the thirties.”
In June, Besson posted an appeal for foreign volunteers to join the Azov Battalion on his Facebook page. “You will find nothing but trouble, war, adventure, and perhaps death or serious injury, but you will definitely have great memories and make life-long friends,” he wrote.
“Every day I receive dozens of requests to join us by e-mail, especially from countries like Finland, Norway and Sweden,” added Besson, who has lots of combat experience from conflicts all over the world. “I reject 75 percent of them. We do not want trigger-happy fanatics, drug addicts, or alcoholics. The volunteers must pay for their own ticket and then begin training in Kyiv before being sent to the front lines.”
The battalion, which was formed in April, had its baptism of fire on June 13, when the unit participated in an operation to retake the pro-Russian controlled city of Mariupol, situated on the north coast of the Sea of Azov, in southeastern Ukraine.
Many of the Azov Battalion members describe themselves as ultra-right Ukrainian nationalists. They proudly wear symbols and use slogans associated with neo-Nazis, such as black t-shirts with the Celtic cross. Football ultras have also joined the ranks of the battalion, which was founded by the National Social Assembly, a confederation of ultra-nationalist organizations, as well as Ukrainian groups that oppose alignment with the European Union and NATO. This far-right ideology is what continues to draw like-minded activists from Sweden, Italy, France, Italy, Canada and even Russia.
For an Italian citizen in the Azov Battalion, 53-year-old Francesco F., the fight in Ukraine has given him a sense of purpose. “On the Maidan barricades I was like ET, finding ‘home’ on the side of Ukrainian nationalists”, said Francesco, who during the 1970s and 80s was affiliated with the National Vanguard ultra-right movement in Italy. “After the annexation of the Crimea and the explosion of the Eastern part of the country, I could not abandon them [Ukrainians] to face the Russian threat alone. That’s why I chose to enlist and fight.”
At their camp at Berdyansk, a city on the Azov Sea roughly 80 miles southwest of Donetsk, members of the battalion lined up one day recently, all wearing balaclavas to cover their faces for fear of repercussions should they be identified. At the order of their commander, they ran to a battered van that was to take them to a firing range.
On their way to shooting practice and maneuvers, fighters paid homage to their Italian comrade Francesco F. by singing a hymn honoring Mussolini. Francesco, whom everybody calls “Don,” or “uncle,” fights under the nom de guerre Stan.
Francesco was sitting next to Severin, a 20 year-old Swedish volunteer who has a tattoo on his bodybuilder-like biceps with the inscription “son of Odin.” A pounding nationalist rock song called “Death to the Enemy” played from a mobile phone, and battalion members took turns insulting Russian President Vladimir Putin's manhood.
At the firing range, a Swedish instructor offered training on urban warfare. The man, who did not want to be identified, was dressed in black, shaved, lean, and muscular. “I came to train you in the most difficult tactics, urban warfare.” He harangued the battalion with the attitude of an officer. “I will show you how to break into a building, take it and, if you are lucky, get out of it alive.”
Mikael Skillt is perhaps the most well-known foreign fighter of the battalion. This Swedish sniper, with seven years' experience in the Swedish Army and the Swedish National Guard, was a member of the neo-Nazi Svenskarnas party in Sweden. He is one of the few fighters who agreed to speak without covering his face; he supposedly has a 5,000 euro (80,000 gryvna) bounty put on his head by pro-Russian elements. This amount in Ukraine is worth over the average yearly wage.
“They can come get me if they want. I fight against the idiots who believe in what Putin says,” he declared. “At Mariupol, a sniper tried to shoot me from a window. After locating him, I waited until he was a little uncovered and then pulled the trigger. He just had no hope,” Skillt said.
Dressed in his camouflage combat fatigues, Skillt explained what drove him to enlist in the Azov Battalion, “I saw on TV snipers killing civilians and nationalists on Maidan Square, so I decided to join in.” He confessed that he gets a rush out of combat, “There is something special when your heart is beating like mad and you see all these bullets flying around and bouncing on the ground near you.”
Muran, a young Russian who also fights with the Azov Battalion, said he came to Ukraine because he wanted to help bring down Putin’s government. He does not know if he will be able to go back to Russia, as he is now considered a traitor. “I would rather blow myself up with a grenade than be captured alive,” said the masked 24 year old from the Ural Mountains.
Bron; Eurasia.net
Het Azovbataljon (Oekraïens: Батальйон Азов) is een in mei 2014 opgerichte Oekraïense rechtsextremistische nationalistische militie, die onderdeel uitmaakt van de Oekrainse Nationale Garde en valt onder het Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken. Het bataljon is gevestigd in Marioepol aan de kust van de Zee van Azov.
De eerste commandant van het bataljon was Andriy Biletsky (Oekraïens: Андрій Білецький), het hoofd van de extreemrechtse bewegingen Sociaal-Nationale Assemblee en Patriotten van Oekraïne. Omdat hij in 2014 verkozen werd in de Verchovna Rada nam hij zijn ontslag omdat Oekraïense parlementariërs niet in het leger mochten dienst nemen. Zijn opvolger is Denys Prokopenko.
Het vroegere embleem van het bataljon bevatte een wolfsangel op een zwarte zon met daaronder golven en het wapen van Oekraïne. Het huidige embleem bevat nog steeds een wolfsangel. Bovenaan het embleem staat AZOV in cyrillisch schrift.
Het bataljon is tijdens de Russisch-Oekraïense oorlog actief in de strijd tegen de separatisten en het Russische leger.
Source; Wikipedia.org
Sunday, February 27, 2022
Saturday, February 5, 2022
Could certain COVID-19 vaccines leave people more vulnerable to the AIDS virus?
Cold-causing adenovirus used in four experimental COVID-19 vaccines increased risk of HIV infection when used in AIDS vaccine trials
19 OCT 2020 BY JON COHEN
Science's COVID-19 reporting is supported by the Pulitzer Center and the Heising-Simons Foundation.
Certain COVID-19 vaccine candidates could increase susceptibility to HIV, warns a group of researchers who in 2007 learned that an experimental HIV vaccine had raised in some people the risk for infection with the AIDS virus. These concerns have percolated in the background of the race for a vaccine to stem the coronavirus pandemic, but now the researchers have gone public with a "cautionary tale," in part because trials of those candidates may soon begin in locales that have pronounced HIV epidemics, such as South Africa.
Some approved and experimental vaccines have as a backbone a variety of adenoviruses, which can cause the common cold but are often harmless. The ill-fated HIV vaccine trial used an engineered strain known as adenovirus 5 (Ad5) to shuttle into the body the gene for the surface protein of the AIDS virus. In four candidate COVID-19 vaccines now in clinical trials in several countries, including the United States, Ad5 similarly serves as the "vector" to carry in the surface protein gene of SARS-CoV-2, the viral cause of the pandemic; two of these have advanced to large-scale, phase III efficacy studies in Russia and Pakistan.
In today's issue of The Lancet, four veteran researchers raise a warning flag about those COVID-19 vaccine candidates by recounting their experience running a placebo-controlled AIDS vaccine trial dubbed STEP. An interim analysis of STEP found that uncircumcised men who had been naturally infected with Ad5 before receiving the vaccine became especially vulnerable to the AIDS virus. The vaccine, made by Merck, had been the leading hope for what was then a 20-year search for a shot that could thwart HIV. But after the STEP results appeared, the field went into a tailspin. "It took a decade to recover," says one of the co-authors of the Lancet correspondence, Lawrence Corey of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Corey, who now co-leads the COVID-19 prevention network in the United States that is testing vaccines at the behest of the National Institutes of Health, says he and his co-authors went public because Ad5-based COVID-19 vaccines may soon be tested in populations with high HIV prevalence and thus a greater risk of accidental infection during a clinical trial. "If I were in a sub-Saharan African country and making a decision as to what I would want for my country for a general population use of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, I don't see why I would pick an Ad5 vector [vaccine] when there are many other alternative choices," Corey says.
The backfire in STEP—which evaluated the efficacy of the Merck vaccine in people at high risk of HIV infection in the Americas and Australia—also appeared in a second study, dubbed Phambili, of the same vaccine. It was taking place simultaneously in South Africa and was stopped early because of the STEP data.
Precisely how Merck's Ad5 vaccine increased the risk of HIV transmission in STEP and Phambili remains murky. The Lancet editorial spells out several possibilities, including dampening of HIV immunity, enhancing replication of the AIDS virus, or setting up more target cells for it.
In addition to the Ad5 COVID-19 vaccine candidates, several other leading vaccines, including ones made by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca/the University of Oxford, use different adenoviruses as vectors. There's no evidence that any of those adenoviruses increases the risks of an HIV infection.
Of the Ad5-based COVID-19 vaccine candidates, from China-based CanSino Biologics, has developed the furthest. In a Lancet report in May, researchers from the company recognized the "controversial" possibility of their vector increasing the risk of HIV infection and said they would watch for it in the candidate's trials. CanSino's COVID-19 vaccine is being tested in efficacy trials in Russia and Pakistan that together hope to enroll more than 40,000 people, and the company is discussing starting studies in Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico.
China has already approved a CanSino vaccine against Ebola that uses the Ad5 vector. Yu Xuefeng, CanSino's CEO, tells Science the risk of increased HIV susceptibility may be limited to Ad5 vaccines that produce an AIDS virus protein. "There's no clear answer yet," Yu says. "We certainly haven't seen anything with the Ebola vaccine." The company's Ebola vaccine was tested in a population in Sierra Leone that, he notes, had a relatively high HIV prevalence, making it more likely to have detected the problem if it existed.
Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute has a COVID-19 vaccine candidate that uses a combination of Ad5 and Ad26 vectors; it's now in an efficacy trial in that country.
Last week, ImmunityBio received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin human trials of its COVID-19 vaccine, which uses Ad5 as a vector. The first trial will take place in Newport Beach, California, but Patrick Soon-Shiong, the company's CEO, says he also hopes to test it in South Africa, where he grew up and went to medical school.
He calls the STEP study results "very, very fuzzy" and stresses that ImmunityBio's Ad5 has four deleted genes that reduce the immune responses it triggers. "It's 90% muted," he says.
ImmunityBio is discussing the risks with scientists and regulators in South Africa of a trial there to test its modified Ad5 COVID-19 vaccine. The informed consent process for that proposed study would tell participants about potential risks given the previous STEP and Phambili results.
Soon-Shiong emphasizes that his company's experimental COVID-19 vaccine, unlike every other candidate that uses an adenovirus vector, presents two different SARS-CoV-2 genes and might therefore offer more protection from infection or disease. Why only test this in wealthy enclaves of Southern California, he asks? "Why not South Africa? Why not for the underserved people of the world?"
Pediatrician Glenda Gray, who heads the South African Medical Research Council and was the protocol chair of Phambili, has taken part in several discussions with the ImmunoBio team. "When [Soon-Shiong] contacted South Africa, we were obviously quite concerned," Gray says. "All of us who were in Phambili and quite traumatized by what happened asked whether there was an appetite to do something in South Africa."
But after several months of deliberations, the South Africans concluded that regulators should consider a small trial of the vaccine there in people at low risk of HIV infection, Gray says. "We decided not to throw the baby out with the bath water just yet," she adds. "If it does go ahead in South Africa, there has to be huge consultation with communities, and we have to make doubly sure that the participants understand what happened in the past."
Gray says South Africa appreciates ImmunoBio's offer to allow the country to manufacture the product. "We're in the middle of a COVID-19 epidemic in South Africa, and we don't know if we'll ever get access to the current suite of vaccines" produced elsewhere, she says.
The decision to move forward, she insists, has to be left to South African scientists, regulators, and ethics committees. "It's incredibly patronizing for people to determine what science is good or bad for other countries," she says. "Everyone knows about Phambili and STEP, and the scientists understand that there's an important need to be cautious."
Gray, who has co-authored papers about HIV vaccines with Corey and the other three authors of the Lancet correspondence, says there are no easy answers. "What if this vaccine is the most effective vaccine?" she asks. "If this works out to be an important vaccine, we'll have some experience with it."
Source; Science.org
19 OCT 2020 BY JON COHEN
 |
| CanSino Biologics's experimental COVID-19 vaccine is one of at least four using an adenovirus that some worry could increase HIV susceptibility.CHINA DAILY CDIC/REUTERS |
Certain COVID-19 vaccine candidates could increase susceptibility to HIV, warns a group of researchers who in 2007 learned that an experimental HIV vaccine had raised in some people the risk for infection with the AIDS virus. These concerns have percolated in the background of the race for a vaccine to stem the coronavirus pandemic, but now the researchers have gone public with a "cautionary tale," in part because trials of those candidates may soon begin in locales that have pronounced HIV epidemics, such as South Africa.
Some approved and experimental vaccines have as a backbone a variety of adenoviruses, which can cause the common cold but are often harmless. The ill-fated HIV vaccine trial used an engineered strain known as adenovirus 5 (Ad5) to shuttle into the body the gene for the surface protein of the AIDS virus. In four candidate COVID-19 vaccines now in clinical trials in several countries, including the United States, Ad5 similarly serves as the "vector" to carry in the surface protein gene of SARS-CoV-2, the viral cause of the pandemic; two of these have advanced to large-scale, phase III efficacy studies in Russia and Pakistan.
In today's issue of The Lancet, four veteran researchers raise a warning flag about those COVID-19 vaccine candidates by recounting their experience running a placebo-controlled AIDS vaccine trial dubbed STEP. An interim analysis of STEP found that uncircumcised men who had been naturally infected with Ad5 before receiving the vaccine became especially vulnerable to the AIDS virus. The vaccine, made by Merck, had been the leading hope for what was then a 20-year search for a shot that could thwart HIV. But after the STEP results appeared, the field went into a tailspin. "It took a decade to recover," says one of the co-authors of the Lancet correspondence, Lawrence Corey of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Corey, who now co-leads the COVID-19 prevention network in the United States that is testing vaccines at the behest of the National Institutes of Health, says he and his co-authors went public because Ad5-based COVID-19 vaccines may soon be tested in populations with high HIV prevalence and thus a greater risk of accidental infection during a clinical trial. "If I were in a sub-Saharan African country and making a decision as to what I would want for my country for a general population use of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, I don't see why I would pick an Ad5 vector [vaccine] when there are many other alternative choices," Corey says.
The backfire in STEP—which evaluated the efficacy of the Merck vaccine in people at high risk of HIV infection in the Americas and Australia—also appeared in a second study, dubbed Phambili, of the same vaccine. It was taking place simultaneously in South Africa and was stopped early because of the STEP data.
Precisely how Merck's Ad5 vaccine increased the risk of HIV transmission in STEP and Phambili remains murky. The Lancet editorial spells out several possibilities, including dampening of HIV immunity, enhancing replication of the AIDS virus, or setting up more target cells for it.
In addition to the Ad5 COVID-19 vaccine candidates, several other leading vaccines, including ones made by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca/the University of Oxford, use different adenoviruses as vectors. There's no evidence that any of those adenoviruses increases the risks of an HIV infection.
Of the Ad5-based COVID-19 vaccine candidates, from China-based CanSino Biologics, has developed the furthest. In a Lancet report in May, researchers from the company recognized the "controversial" possibility of their vector increasing the risk of HIV infection and said they would watch for it in the candidate's trials. CanSino's COVID-19 vaccine is being tested in efficacy trials in Russia and Pakistan that together hope to enroll more than 40,000 people, and the company is discussing starting studies in Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico.
China has already approved a CanSino vaccine against Ebola that uses the Ad5 vector. Yu Xuefeng, CanSino's CEO, tells Science the risk of increased HIV susceptibility may be limited to Ad5 vaccines that produce an AIDS virus protein. "There's no clear answer yet," Yu says. "We certainly haven't seen anything with the Ebola vaccine." The company's Ebola vaccine was tested in a population in Sierra Leone that, he notes, had a relatively high HIV prevalence, making it more likely to have detected the problem if it existed.
Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute has a COVID-19 vaccine candidate that uses a combination of Ad5 and Ad26 vectors; it's now in an efficacy trial in that country.
Last week, ImmunityBio received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin human trials of its COVID-19 vaccine, which uses Ad5 as a vector. The first trial will take place in Newport Beach, California, but Patrick Soon-Shiong, the company's CEO, says he also hopes to test it in South Africa, where he grew up and went to medical school.
He calls the STEP study results "very, very fuzzy" and stresses that ImmunityBio's Ad5 has four deleted genes that reduce the immune responses it triggers. "It's 90% muted," he says.
ImmunityBio is discussing the risks with scientists and regulators in South Africa of a trial there to test its modified Ad5 COVID-19 vaccine. The informed consent process for that proposed study would tell participants about potential risks given the previous STEP and Phambili results.
Soon-Shiong emphasizes that his company's experimental COVID-19 vaccine, unlike every other candidate that uses an adenovirus vector, presents two different SARS-CoV-2 genes and might therefore offer more protection from infection or disease. Why only test this in wealthy enclaves of Southern California, he asks? "Why not South Africa? Why not for the underserved people of the world?"
Pediatrician Glenda Gray, who heads the South African Medical Research Council and was the protocol chair of Phambili, has taken part in several discussions with the ImmunoBio team. "When [Soon-Shiong] contacted South Africa, we were obviously quite concerned," Gray says. "All of us who were in Phambili and quite traumatized by what happened asked whether there was an appetite to do something in South Africa."
But after several months of deliberations, the South Africans concluded that regulators should consider a small trial of the vaccine there in people at low risk of HIV infection, Gray says. "We decided not to throw the baby out with the bath water just yet," she adds. "If it does go ahead in South Africa, there has to be huge consultation with communities, and we have to make doubly sure that the participants understand what happened in the past."
Gray says South Africa appreciates ImmunoBio's offer to allow the country to manufacture the product. "We're in the middle of a COVID-19 epidemic in South Africa, and we don't know if we'll ever get access to the current suite of vaccines" produced elsewhere, she says.
The decision to move forward, she insists, has to be left to South African scientists, regulators, and ethics committees. "It's incredibly patronizing for people to determine what science is good or bad for other countries," she says. "Everyone knows about Phambili and STEP, and the scientists understand that there's an important need to be cautious."
Gray, who has co-authored papers about HIV vaccines with Corey and the other three authors of the Lancet correspondence, says there are no easy answers. "What if this vaccine is the most effective vaccine?" she asks. "If this works out to be an important vaccine, we'll have some experience with it."
Source; Science.org
De overbodige griepprik
20 nov 2010
4 miljoen mensen in krijgen in Nederland jaarlijks een griepprik. De griepprik is gratis voor ouderen en mensen met een chronische ziekte, maar kost de overheid jaarlijks 55 miljoen euro. Volgens het RIVM, dat verantwoordelijk is voor de vaccinatiecampagne, beschermt de prik tegen de ernstige gevolgen van influenza. Maar klopt dat eigenlijk wel? Hoe effectief is het vaccin? Griepdeskundigen uiten daarover in ZEMBLA hun twijfels.
4 miljoen mensen in krijgen in Nederland jaarlijks een griepprik. De griepprik is gratis voor ouderen en mensen met een chronische ziekte, maar kost de overheid jaarlijks 55 miljoen euro. Volgens het RIVM, dat verantwoordelijk is voor de vaccinatiecampagne, beschermt de prik tegen de ernstige gevolgen van influenza. Maar klopt dat eigenlijk wel? Hoe effectief is het vaccin? Griepdeskundigen uiten daarover in ZEMBLA hun twijfels.
Friday, February 4, 2022
Ukraine tensions: US trying to draw Russia into war, Putin says
By Sarah Rainsford
3/2/'22
 |
| Reuters |
Russia's President Vladimir Putin has accused the US of trying to draw his country into a war in Ukraine.
He said America's goal was to use a confrontation as a pretext to impose more sanctions on Russia.Mr Putin also said the US was ignoring Russia's concerns about the expansion of Nato, the Western military alliance which Ukraine is seeking to join.
The US and its allies accuse Russia of planning to invade Ukraine, something Russia has repeatedly denied.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted that the US was "committed to preventing a conflict that is in no one's interest". Meanwhile, Spanish newspaper El Pais has released what it says are confidential documents the US and Nato sent to Russia last week - including offers of talks on cutting back on nuclear weaponry and trust-building measures in exchange for reducing tensions over Ukraine.
A Nato official told the BBC the alliance never comments on alleged leaks. President Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was aware of the report, but that they did not publish it and did not want to comment on it, according to AFP news agency.
In recent weeks Russia has moved about 100,000 troops - equipped with everything from tanks and artillery to ammunition and air power - to Ukraine's border.
It comes eight years after the country annexed Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula and backed a bloody rebellion in the eastern Donbas region. Moscow in turn accuses the Ukrainian government of failing to implement an international deal to restore peace to the east, where at least 14,000 people have been killed and Russian-backed rebels control swathes of territory.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky however warned on Tuesday that a Russian invasion would "not be a war between Ukraine and Russia - this would be a war in Europe, a full-scale one".
Russia-Ukraine tensions: The basics
Speaking after talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Moscow, Mr Putin said: "It seems to me that the United States is not so much concerned about the security of Ukraine... but its main task is to contain Russia's development. In this sense Ukraine itself is just a tool to reach this goal."
Rivalry between Russia and the US, which still possess the world's biggest nuclear arsenals, dates back to the Cold War (1947-89). Ukraine was then a crucial part of the communist Soviet Union, second only to Russia.
Mr Putin said the US had ignored Moscow's concerns in its response to Russian demands for legally binding security guarantees, including a block on the Nato alliance's further expansion to the east. He suggested that if Ukraine were granted its wish to join Nato, it could drag the other members into a war with Russia.
"Imagine that Ukraine is a Nato member and a military operation [to regain Crimea] begins," the Russian leader said. "What - are we going to fight with Nato? Has anyone thought about this? It seems like they haven't."
The US meanwhile insists it is fully committed to dialogue. Speaking after a call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday, Mr Blinken said he had emphasised US willingness to continue discussing "mutual security concerns".
Earlier this week, the US said it had received a written response from Russia to a US proposal aimed at de-escalating the crisis in Ukraine. But hours later Russia's deputy foreign minister said that was not true and a source told Ria news agency it was still preparing a response.
According to the documents published by El Pais, the US proposal suggested "reciprocal commitments by both the United States and Russia to refrain from deploying offensive ground-launched missile systems and permanent forces with a combat mission in the territory of Ukraine".
It included a pledge to hold talks about reducing nuclear weaponry and missile launchers, on condition that Russia reduces its threat to Ukraine. The US also suggested a "transparency mechanism" to address Russia's concerns about US missiles in Europe. The US proposed a way for Russia to confirm there are no cruise missiles at Nato bases in Romania and Bulgaria, in exchange for the US doing the same at two Russian bases of its choice.
The documents said the US would discuss all issues that affect European security with its allies.
For months, Ukraine's Western allies have been pointing to Russian troops massing on the border. Ukrainians who would be in the direct line of any such incursion are far less convinced it will happen. But all the war talk is unsettling. "Last week I was pretty disturbed; I even went to my psychologist for help," Dmytro Dubas admits.
In 2014, he joined the flood of volunteer soldiers pouring east when heavy fighting against Russian-backed forces erupted.
Dmytro had returned to civilian life, storing the reminders of his time in the trenches in an old ammunition box painted and re-fashioned as a coffee table in his living room. Now he's calmed his nerves by preparing for the worst possible scenario: filling his car with fuel, buying emergency food supplies and signing-up with the territorial defence force to brush-up his skills.
Source; BBC.com
Poetin: 'Het Westen lokt opzettelijk een oorlog met Rusland uit'
De Russische president Vladimir Poetin heeft stevig uitgehaald naar westerse landen. Die zijn er volgens hem op uit om 'een oorlog uit te lokken'. ook zouden zij de veiligheidszorgen van Rusland over Oekraïne negeren.
Het is de eerste reactie in bijna zes weken tijd die Poetin geeft over de kwestie rond Oekraïne, waar een gewapend conflict dreigt.
De Russische president eist garanties dat Oekraïne nooit lid zal worden van de NAVO, het militaire bondgenootschap waarvan ook Nederland onderdeel is. Hij zegt te vrezen dat de NAVO in Europa verder naar het oosten uitbreidt, en zo direct tegen de grens van Rusland aan komt.
Oorlog met NAVO?
Poetin schetste ook een situatie waarin niet Rusland - zoals internationaal wordt gevreesd - maar Oekraïne een aanval zou inzetten. "Stel je voor dat Oekraïne een NAVO-lid is en een militaire operatie begint. Moeten we dan oorlog voeren met de NAVO? Heeft iemand daar ooit over nagedacht? Blijkbaar niet", zei Poetin op een persconferentie bij het Kremlin in Moskou, waar de Hongaarse premier Viktor Orbán te gast was.
Het Westen ziet Rusland als grote agressor en weigert zulke garanties te geven. Oekraïne is volgens hen een soeverein land dat zelf bepaalt van welke bondgenootschappen het lid wil worden. Door te dreigen met economische sancties proberen de westerse landen Rusland af te schrikken.
'Indammen van Rusland'
Maar volgens Poetin zijn de Verenigde Staten niet bezig met de veiligheid van Oekraïne, maar met het indammen van Rusland. "In die zin is Oekraïne zelf slechts een instrument om dit doel te bereiken", aldus de Russische leider.
Ondertussen staan nog altijd naar schatting ruim honderdduizend Russische militairen langs de grens met Oekraïne. Ook bouwt Rusland een troepenmacht op in buurland Belarus. De vrees is dat Rusland overgaat tot het inlijven van delen van Oekraïne, zoals eerder gebeurde in 2014 met het schiereiland de Krim.
Oekraïne drukbezocht
Premier Rutte en buitenlandminister Hoekstra brengen vandaag een bezoek aan Oekraïne. De Britse premier Boris Johnson, die zwaar onder vuur ligt in eigen land, was gisteren te gast bij de Oekraïense president Volodymyr Zelensky. "Het is van vitaal belang dat Rusland een stap terug doet en een pad van diplomatie kiest", zei Johnson. "En ik geloof dat dat nog steeds kan."
Door: Chris Koenis
Bron; RTLnieuws.nl
Thursday, February 3, 2022
Louis Bontes wil Kamerdebat over verdwijning Manuel Schadwald
KN Redactie 11 juli 2015
Deze twaalfjarige Berlijnse jongen verdween in juli 1993. Het is - op internet - een vermaarde casus, waar AD-reporter Koen Voskuil, die eerder de affaire Demmink openbrak, nu opnieuw beweging in brengt.
Jongensprostitutiecircuit
Na Manuels verdwijning zouden er in Nederland observaties gedaan zijn door de politie dat hij beland was in handen van jongenspooier Lothar Glandorf in Rotterdam. De politie besloot echter niet in te grijpen. Vervolgens zou Schadwald overgebracht zijn naar het jongensprostitutiecircuit in Amsterdam.
Sekstrip
Het Algemeen Dagblad onthult vandaag in samenwerking met Welt am Sonntag dat meerdere getuigen Manuel op homo-ontmoetingsplaatsen in ons land gezien hebben. Hij zou op gruwelijke wijze om het leven zijn gekomen tijdens een sekstrip op een zeilboot op het IJsselmeer, toebehorend aan de handelaar in kinderporno Gerrit Ulrich. Op de boot zouden zich "invloedrijke personen" bevonden hebben. De politie zou wel degelijk concrete tips over de zaak gekregen hebben, maar dit naar buiten toe hebben ontkend. Hetzelfde geldt voor de AIVD: ook die zou informatie ontvangen hebben, maar dit eveneens hebben ontkend.
Bron; KatholiekNieuwsblad.nl
Regering erkent juridisch bindende afspraken met World Economic Forum (WEF)
Datum: 2022/01/10
Geo-politiek
Ido Dijkstra
De bewijzen dat belangrijke Nederlandse bewindslieden nauw verbonden zijn met het World Economic Forum (WEF) stapelen zich op. Forum voor Democratie kreeg na herhaaldelijke verzoeken zwart-op-wit dat er subsidie is verstrekt en juridische bindende overeenkomsten zijn gesloten met de supranationale , niet-democratische netwerkorganisatie die de wereld ingrijpend wil veranderen. FVD-Kamerlid Pepijn van Houwelingen eist transparantie van de Nederlandse regering: “Het Nederlandse volk verdient antwoord op onze vragen.”
Na flink rappelleren – normaal duurt een verzoek beantwoorden van Kamervragen maximaal drie weken, nu gingen er 90 dagen overheen – kreeg Forum voor Democratie vlak voor kerst eindelijk verschillende brieven boven tafel die door het World Economic Forum (WEF) waren verstuurd aan leden van de regering. Bijvoorbeeld een uitnodiging aan minister Sigrid Kaag (D66) voor een bijeenkomst in Davos in januari 2021. “Om te bespreken wat voor beleid we gaan uitzetten in het post-Covid-19-tijdperk onder het thema The Great Reset.” Ook demissionair minister Wobke Hoekstra (CDA) kreeg zo’n brief. “Uw bijdrage aan The Great Reset zal bijzonder cruciaal zijn,” is één van de zinsnedes. Maar de meest sensationele onthulling kwam uit een brief van Carola Schouten in antwoord op kamervragen van FvD-Kamerlid Gideon van Meijeren: “Nederlandse bewindspersonen nemen regelmatig op uitnodiging deel aan door het WEF georganiseerde bijeenkomsten,”schrijft zij. “Daarnaast is sprake van samenwerkingsverbanden met het WEF die zijn vastgelegd in overeenkomsten op de volgende terreinen: - Sustainable Investment Policy - Tropical Forest Alliance - Food Systems Initiative - Food Innovation Hubs De in deze overeenkomsten vastgelegde verplichtingen zijn juridisch bindend.” Vooral die laatste bekentenis roept vragen op.
Dat doet ‘The Great Reset’ al langer. Het WEF had het alomvattende hervormingsplan in maart 2020 al online staan, toen we nog maar bitter weinig wisten over Covid-19. Volgens FVD is die ‘Great Reset’ de ware reden achter (het aanhouden van) de coronacrisis. “Het doel ervan is ons huidige systeem om te wentelen naar een wereldwijd systeem waarin het klimaat centraal staat,” zegt FVD-Kamerlid Pepijn van Houwelingen. “Ik noem het klimaatglobalisme. De coronacrisis is de aanleiding voor de reset, die weer is gekoppeld aan de Sustainabilty Development Goals (SDG’s). Dat zijn mooi klinkende doelen, maar verder holle frasen om tot verandering te komen. Wat wij in de praktijk zien is dat ze de contouren van een totalitair systeem aan het implementeren zijn. De vrijheden die dat in de weg staan, ontnemen ze ons door wetsveranderingen met Covid-19 als excuus. Als de ontwikkelingen zich zo doorzetten, blijven er weinig burgerrechten over en is het niet ondenkbaar dat ze het bezit van mensen willen onteigenen. Een van de visies van het WEF voor 2030 is: ‘You’ll own nothing and be happy’.”
FVD heeft op de tenen getrapt van de regeringspartijen door hen te confronteren met de grote invloed van het WEF op het Nederlands beleid. Ruud Mikkers, woordvoerder van Wobke Hoekstra, doet de interpretatie van FVD af als “complottheorieën van wappies die instituties en de wetenschap niet willen geloven”. Mikkers: “FvD maakt er een janboel van. The Great Reset is voor ons een metafoor om te kijken wat we gaan doen met de samenleving als we van Covid-19 af zijn. Het WEF is een netwerkorganisatie, geen bestuursorgaan. Er is geen groots plan voor een QR-samenleving of vaccinatieverplichting. Dat is nog altijd een keuze, toch? Natuurlijk is er wel drang, anders komen we nooit uit deze crisis.”
Van Houwelingen weet dat het door hem geschetste scenario confronterend is. Het klinkt als een slecht plan uit een Bond-film. De baas van het WEF, Klaus Schwab, heeft ook wel wat weg van de schurk Blofeld uit Thunderball (1961). Desondanks manoeuvreren de machtspartijen zich steeds vaker in het verdachtenhoekje door de vragen niet te beantwoorden maar te ridiculiseren, of zelfs aantoonbaar te liegen. Van Houwelingen: “Wij proberen feiten boven tafel te krijgen. Nederlandse bewindslieden werken achter de schermen mee aan ‘The Great Reset’. Het WEF is aantoonbaar verweven met ons staatsapparaat. Er is nauw contact met bewindslieden en ambtenaren. Uit de WEF-papers die nu op de website van FvD staan blijkt verder dat Nederland in maart 2021 een verzoek kreeg om 651 duizend euro subsidie over te maken naar Zwitserland voor het oprichten van een Global Coordination Secretariat (GCS). Dit is snel geaccordeerd door het Ministerie van Economische Zaken. WEF stelt ook voorwaarden voor welke personen invulling moeten geven aan dit secretariaat. Allemaal met Nederlands belastinggeld. Dat is de omgekeerde wereld. Dit zijn geen complottheorieën meer, het zijn complotfeiten. Ik vermoed dat het de top van de ijsberg is.”
Het is niet de eerste keer dat FvD het schimmige karakter van de relatie tussen WEF en het kabinet blootlegt. In juli 2021 vroeg Gideon van Meijeren aan Mark Rutte wat hij vond van het boek ‘The Great Reset’ van Klaus Schwab. “Ik ken het boek niet. Maar ik zou de heer Van Meijeren willen adviseren om niet al te veel in die conspiracy theorieën te geloven,” antwoordde Rutte. Uit een brief van de minister-president aan Schwab bleek echter dat hij het boek wel degelijk had gelezen en het ‘een hoopvolle analyse voor een betere toekomst’ vond. De FVD-fractie is vastberaden de luis in de pels van de Nederlandse politiek te blijven. Van Houwelingen: “Ik heb best vertrouwen in het ambtenarenapparaat. Zij moeten zich aan procedures houden en ik denk dat er velen ter goeder trouw zijn. Daarom komt er wel informatie naar buiten. Velen hebben alleen geen idee waar ze aan meewerken. In de reguliere media wordt er niet over gesproken en dus is het geen realiteit voor de gemiddelde Nederlander. Wij blijven strijden om het bloot te leggen. Wij vinden dat het Nederlandse volk antwoord verdient op vragen als: hoe zijn de verhoudingen met de WEF-club? Wat willen ze nu echt? En waar komen de orders vandaan?”
Invloedrijkste netwerkorganisatie ter wereld
Het World Economic Forum (WEF), opgericht in 1971 door de toen 33-jarige Klaus Schwab, is volgens onder meer de Duitse economisch expert en journalist Ernst Wolff de invloedrijkste netwerkorganisatie ter wereld. Het Young Leaders programma van het WEF, dat door Schwab persoonlijk wordt begeleid, is onder meer doorlopen door Bill Gates, Angela Merkel, Tony Blair, Nicolas Sarkozy, José-Manuel Barroso, Justin Trudeau, Lucinda Arden (premier van Nieuw-Zeeland), Sebastian Kunz (Oostenrijk) en Emmanuel Macron (Frankrijk), zo onthulde Wolff. Let wel: deze leiders volgden het programma van de WEF voorafgaand aan hun latere politieke carrière. Onder hen bevonden zich ook vier cursisten die het in Duitsland hebben gebracht tot minister van volksgezondheid. Ook leden van de vorstenhuizen van Denemarken, Noorwegen, Nederland en Zweden maken deel uit van de organisatie. Koningin Máxima is in 2020 toegetreden tot de bestuurscommissie van WEF’s Digital Currency Governance Consortium, een stuurgroep die zich richt op afschaffing van al het contante geld. Het WEF heeft 400 mensen in dienst. Het jaarbudget bedraagt 200 miljoen Zwitserse frank, betaald door 1.000 grote concerns. In de raad van toezicht van het WEF heeft Christine Lagarde (chef Eurobank) zitting, alsmede koningin Rania van Jordanië en Larry Fink van Blackrock (de grootste vermogensbeheerder ter wereld). (Bron: gezondverstand.eu/2021/09/15/de-leiderskweekschool-van-klaus-schwab/)
Bron; DeAndereKrant.nl
Vincent Leenders, JOVD en pedofilie (en aanverwante smerige zaken)..
Lekkende oud OvJ - Oud-JOVD-voorzitter Mark Rutte en JOVD'er/ex-justitie-pedo Vincent Leenders bestelden in 1994 het boek van hun vriendje Eddy Habben Jansen. Eddy schreef een boek over de JOVD, later faalde hij als Prodemos-directeur bij de aanpak van het misbruik-schandaal.
OUD-HOOFDOFFICIER VIJF MAANDEN IN DE CEL VOOR ONTUCHT MET MINDERJARIGE
Geplaatst op: 31 mei 2021
Laatst aangepast op: 31 mei 2021
De rechtbank Den Haag heeft voormalig plaatsvervangend hoofdofficier Vincent Leenders vijf maanden onvoorwaardelijke celstraf opgelegd voor het plegen van ontucht met een minderjarige. Het Openbaar Ministerie had elf maanden geëist.
Verdachte Leenders en het slachtoffer leerden elkaar kennen via de app Bullchat, waar het al snel ging over seks. Het slachtoffer deed zich voor als 18 jaar. De verdachte was de op dat moment 43-jarige Vincent Leenders, (toenmalig) plaatsvervangend hoofdofficier van justitie bij het Functioneel Parket in Amsterdam. Hij zei niet te weten dat de jongen in werkelijkheid pas 16 was, maar heeft dat ook niet gecontroleerd. “Kinderprostitutie bestaat bij de gratie van klanten die hun hoofd in het zand steken”, aldus de officier van justitie in de rechtszaal op 10 mei.
Achter de voordeur
Verdachte en het slachtoffer spraken in de tweede helft van 2016 vele malen af, waarbij het zeker in vijf gevallen tot seksuele handelingen is gekomen. Die contacten waren vluchtig. Verdachte pleegde ontuchtige handelingen bij de jongen. Dat gebeurde bij de jongen thuis, achter de voordeur, nog in het halletje, en na een paar minuten verdween verdachte al weer. Voor zijn diensten kreeg de jongen meestal tussen de 35 en 70 euro en soms ook een pakje sigaretten. Voor het OM is het duidelijk dat het slachtoffer zich tot de seksuele ontmoetingen liet verleiden door de toezegging van geld.
Geen strafvermindering
De verdachte is na zijn aanhouding ontslagen door het Openbaar Ministerie. Ook is zijn zaak uitgebreid in de media geweest, waarbij hij met naam, toenaam en beeltenis is besproken. Dat zou volgens het OM echter geen reden tot strafvermindering moeten zijn. “Wij realiseren ons dat de maatschappelijke val die verdachte heeft doorgemaakt uiterst pijnlijk moet zijn geweest”, zei de officier van justitie. “Het ontslag is echter het enig logische gevolg van de gepleegde strafbare feiten. En dat hij zichzelf door zijn (voormalige) functie in de kijker van de media zou spelen, kan ook geen verrassing zijn geweest.” Wel houdt de officier rekening met het feit dat verdachte een schaderegeling met het slachtoffer heeft getroffen, dat hij zelf in therapie is gegaan en dat de zaak al enkele jaren loopt.
Ernst van het feit
Het slachtoffer heeft zich destijds met meer volwassen mannen ingelaten, zaken die eerder dienden voor de rechtbank Amsterdam. Drie van die zaken waren min of meer vergelijkbaar en daarin legde de rechtbank straffen op van één maand cel, zes weken cel en zeven weken cel. Die straffen doen wat het OM betreft geen recht aan de ernst van het feit, daarom is het OM in beroep tegen deze vonnissen. Het OM had negen tot twaalf maanden cel geëist, waarvan drie tot vier maanden voorwaardelijk. Die lijn is door het OM ook in de Haagse zaak tegen de oud-hoofdofficier gevolgd, en kwam uit op elf maanden cel.
‘Beter moeten weten’
De rechtbank Den Haag wilde niet zo ver gaan en veroordeelde hem gisteren tot vijf maanden onvoorwaardelijke celstraf. “Hij had, gelet op zijn functie en het grote leeftijdsverschil, beter moeten weten. Door zijn gedrag heeft hij ook het aanzien van het Openbaar Ministerie beschadigd.”
Bron; mr-online.nl
(Klik op foto's om deze te vergroten)
OUD-HOOFDOFFICIER VIJF MAANDEN IN DE CEL VOOR ONTUCHT MET MINDERJARIGE
Geplaatst op: 31 mei 2021
Laatst aangepast op: 31 mei 2021
De rechtbank Den Haag heeft voormalig plaatsvervangend hoofdofficier Vincent Leenders vijf maanden onvoorwaardelijke celstraf opgelegd voor het plegen van ontucht met een minderjarige. Het Openbaar Ministerie had elf maanden geëist.
Verdachte Leenders en het slachtoffer leerden elkaar kennen via de app Bullchat, waar het al snel ging over seks. Het slachtoffer deed zich voor als 18 jaar. De verdachte was de op dat moment 43-jarige Vincent Leenders, (toenmalig) plaatsvervangend hoofdofficier van justitie bij het Functioneel Parket in Amsterdam. Hij zei niet te weten dat de jongen in werkelijkheid pas 16 was, maar heeft dat ook niet gecontroleerd. “Kinderprostitutie bestaat bij de gratie van klanten die hun hoofd in het zand steken”, aldus de officier van justitie in de rechtszaal op 10 mei.
Achter de voordeur
Verdachte en het slachtoffer spraken in de tweede helft van 2016 vele malen af, waarbij het zeker in vijf gevallen tot seksuele handelingen is gekomen. Die contacten waren vluchtig. Verdachte pleegde ontuchtige handelingen bij de jongen. Dat gebeurde bij de jongen thuis, achter de voordeur, nog in het halletje, en na een paar minuten verdween verdachte al weer. Voor zijn diensten kreeg de jongen meestal tussen de 35 en 70 euro en soms ook een pakje sigaretten. Voor het OM is het duidelijk dat het slachtoffer zich tot de seksuele ontmoetingen liet verleiden door de toezegging van geld.
Geen strafvermindering
De verdachte is na zijn aanhouding ontslagen door het Openbaar Ministerie. Ook is zijn zaak uitgebreid in de media geweest, waarbij hij met naam, toenaam en beeltenis is besproken. Dat zou volgens het OM echter geen reden tot strafvermindering moeten zijn. “Wij realiseren ons dat de maatschappelijke val die verdachte heeft doorgemaakt uiterst pijnlijk moet zijn geweest”, zei de officier van justitie. “Het ontslag is echter het enig logische gevolg van de gepleegde strafbare feiten. En dat hij zichzelf door zijn (voormalige) functie in de kijker van de media zou spelen, kan ook geen verrassing zijn geweest.” Wel houdt de officier rekening met het feit dat verdachte een schaderegeling met het slachtoffer heeft getroffen, dat hij zelf in therapie is gegaan en dat de zaak al enkele jaren loopt.
Ernst van het feit
Het slachtoffer heeft zich destijds met meer volwassen mannen ingelaten, zaken die eerder dienden voor de rechtbank Amsterdam. Drie van die zaken waren min of meer vergelijkbaar en daarin legde de rechtbank straffen op van één maand cel, zes weken cel en zeven weken cel. Die straffen doen wat het OM betreft geen recht aan de ernst van het feit, daarom is het OM in beroep tegen deze vonnissen. Het OM had negen tot twaalf maanden cel geëist, waarvan drie tot vier maanden voorwaardelijk. Die lijn is door het OM ook in de Haagse zaak tegen de oud-hoofdofficier gevolgd, en kwam uit op elf maanden cel.
‘Beter moeten weten’
De rechtbank Den Haag wilde niet zo ver gaan en veroordeelde hem gisteren tot vijf maanden onvoorwaardelijke celstraf. “Hij had, gelet op zijn functie en het grote leeftijdsverschil, beter moeten weten. Door zijn gedrag heeft hij ook het aanzien van het Openbaar Ministerie beschadigd.”
Bron; mr-online.nl
Dr. Robert Malone & Joe Rogan
Dr. Robert Malone was on tje Joe Rogan Experience, but recently YouTube has deleted that video, censorship at it's finest!
Dr. Robert Malone; "How did that happen"? That is why i
posted an 'article' on the experiment called; The Third Wave. It shows how 'easy' people are pulled into a narrative that is not necessarily theirs in order to 'survive'.
posted an 'article' on the experiment called; The Third Wave. It shows how 'easy' people are pulled into a narrative that is not necessarily theirs in order to 'survive'.
Mark Rutte zegt dat Klaus Schwab Tweede Kamer op de voet volgt..
Dhr Rutte zegt dat hij niet twijfelt aan de intenties van Klaus Schwab (WEF), en dat deze Klaus Schwab de Tweede Kamer debatten op de voet volgt;
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