The Reign of Trump

[Grand Moff Yenchin]

At least the tariff war has halted. For 30 days I guess.

According to the net and news Mexico and Canada were basically promising border measures which have already been implemented. It seems Trump has won (his face I guess) I'm looking forward to seeing the long term consequences.

[bilateralrope]

Mexico and Canada agreeing to something they were already going to do in exchange for continuing the status quo sounds like Trump backing down.

[Rogue 9]

It's better than that; they reduced the commitments they'd made under Biden and pitched it to Trump as a concession and the buffoon fell for it. Mexico had already agreed with the Biden administration to deploy 15,000 Federales and national guard to the border to combat drug smuggling, so getting Trump to back down by offering to send 10k was actually a reduction in troop commitment. Similarly, Canada had already agreed to a $2 billion border security package and got Trump to back off by offering $1.5 billion instead.

[bilateralrope]

Senior FBI official forcefully resisted Trump administration firings

Brian Driscoll, the acting FBI director and head of the bureau's Newark field office, pushed back so aggressively that some feared he would be dismissed.

Feb. 2, 2025, 10:07 AM GMT+13
By Ken Dilanian, Tom Winter, Jonathan Dienst and Ryan J. Reilly

Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll on Friday refused a Justice Department order that he assist in the firing of agents involved in Jan. 6 riot cases, pushing back so forcefully that some FBI officials feared he would be dismissed, multiple current and former FBI officials told NBC News.

The Justice Department ultimately did not dismiss Driscoll, the head of the bureau’s Newark field office who is temporarily serving as its acting director.

The Senate is currently considering whether Kash Patel, President Trump's pick for FBI director, should be confirmed. A longtime critic of the bureau's investigations of Trump and Jan. 6th rioters, Patel promised Senators at his confirmation hearing that no FBI officials would be retaliated against.

“All FBI employees will be protected against political retribution,” Patel said under oath on Thursday.

Just over 24 hours later, Driscoll notified the FBI workforce that he had been ordered to remove eight senior FBI executives by Emil Bove, the acting Deputy Attorney General and Trump’s former personal defense lawyer.

Driscoll also said he had been told to turn over the names of every FBI employee involved in investigating Jan. 6 rioters.

Driscoll stated that the eight executives had been forced out but did not say whether he would turn over the broader list of Jan. 6-related FBI investigators — a list that he noted encompasses thousands of FBI employees, including him.

A former member of the FBI’s elite hostage rescue team, Driscoll promised agents that he would follow the law and existing FBI policies.

"As we’ve said since the moment we agreed to take on these roles, we are going to follow the law, follow FBI policy, and do what’s in the best interest of the workforce and the American people — always,” he wrote.

In a message that circulated widely among bureau personnel, an FBI agent summarized what happened as: “Bottom line — DOJ came over and wanted to fire a bunch of J6 agents. Driscoll is an absolute stud. Held his ground and told WH proxy, DOJ, to F--- Off.”

The FBI and the Justice Department declined to comment. A senior FBI official disputed the accounts of the current and former officials saying, “It’s not true.”

A former FBI official who knows Driscoll well said, “He pushed back hard.”

Agents who worked on Jan. 6 cases targeted

It’s not known whether anyone other than the eight senior FBI executives have been separated from the bureau. One official familiar with the matter said that top Trump administration officials have made it clear that they want at least some of the FBI agents who pursued Jan. 6 cases to be fired, just as multiple DOJ prosecutors involved with the Jan. 6 prosecutions were fired.

The official said the Trump administration wants this to happen quickly but has been told by FBI officials that misconduct allegations at the bureau involve a formal review process.

The accounts of Driscoll’s actions shed new light on a chaotic series of events over the last 48 hours that began with the news that the Trump administration was seeking to purge the top ranks of the FBI’s career civil servants.

“Late this afternoon, I received a memo from the acting Deputy Attorney General notifying me that eight senior FBI executives are to be terminated by specific dates, unless these employees have retired beforehand," Driscoll wrote. "I have been personally in touch with each of these impacted employees."

He said in the memo that he had also been directed to provide the DOJ by noon on Tuesday a list of all FBI employees involved in Capitol riot cases, and also those involved in a case against a Hamas leader.

No one contacted by NBC News had a sense of the new administration’s interest in the Hamas case, but the focus on Jan. 6 was clear. The Trump administration apparently believes that all of the Jan. 6 cases should not have been brought.

Since it was the largest criminal investigation in U.S. history, thousands of FBI personnel were involved, as Driscoll acknowledged in his memo.

“We understand that this request encompasses thousands of employees across the country who have supported these investigative efforts,” he wrote. “I am one of those employees, as is acting Deputy Director (Rob) Kissane.”

FBI agents encouraged

FBI agents were heartened by Driscoll's memo, a source said, which many saw as an attempt by Driscoll to make the workforce and the public aware of what he was being asked to do.

“He was trying to do right by the workforce,” one person familiar with the thinking of agents told NBC News. “He’s putting it in writing and naming names.”

A separate DOJ memo obtained by NBC News identified the employees who were forced out.

The list included four top FBI managers: Robert Wells, who oversaw the national security branch; Ryan Young, of the intelligence branch; Robert Nordwall, of criminal and cyber response; Jackie Maguire, of science and technology. All of those people were eligible to retire and many of them did so.

The memo also identified two heads of field offices, Jeffrey Veltri in Miami and David Sundberg in Washington, D.C.

Also on the list was Dena Perkins, an acting section chief in the security division who was involved in a controversial disciplinary proceeding against a conservative FBI agent.

The list did not include Spencer Evans, the special agent in charge in Las Vegas, who sent a message to colleagues on Friday that he was being dismissed by FBI headquarters. “I was given no rationale for this decision, which, as you might imagine, has come as a shock.” It’s unclear whether he has now been given a reprieve.

Nor did the list include executive assistant director Arlene Gaylord, a 33-year FBI veteran who was not retirement-eligible and requested that she be allowed to work in another assignment until she did so. An FBI official familiar with the matter said she had been accommodated.

Experts say the firings are illegal

Legal experts said that few, if any, of the firings carried out so far by the Trump administration have been legal under civil service laws because the employees were not afforded due process.

The Trump White House argues, though, that the president has the absolute right to fire anyone he wishes in the executive branch. The Supreme Court has ruled that federal employees have a right to a hearing before they are disciplined or terminated.

Joyce Vance, a former U.S. attorney and NBC News legal contributor, called the firings illegal.

“Career federal employees can be fired for conduct or performance issues, not because they failed to demonstrate political loyalty to the current incumbent of the White House,” said Vance. “Trump ignored controlling law and regulations to do this, and unless the Supreme Court changes their interpretation, any firing of permanent members of the civil service should not stand.”

Even if some of the employees sue and win, they said their public service careers have been irreparably damaged, if not ended.

One of the Jan. 6 prosecutors fired on Friday told NBC News that they “did nothing wrong” and had no regrets about their work. The person, who asked not to named due to fear of retaliation, said it was discouraging to be fired after seeing Trump pardon violent rioters who attacked police officers.

“We’ve all been looking over our shoulders, like, ‘Is this the day that we’re gonna get fired?’ Because we were doing our jobs?” the fired prosecutor told NBC News. “We’ve been forced to dismiss all of the cases that we’ve been working on of all these people that were very violent offenders. It’s been awful.”

Current and former FBI agents say the purge at the bureau has had a shattering effect on the morale, sending a message that agents who work on cases that anger someone in the Trump administration could be targeted.

“Who right now would want to work on a case that would get them crosswise with the administration?” one former FBI official asked. “They will come after you.”

Sure, this only lasts until Driscoll gets replaced. But there are limits on who Trump can put in an acting position, especially if the previous person was fired. The next attempt might have to wait until the Senate confirms a replacement.

But FBI agents don't get to choose which cases they work on. Trump's purge would have included agents who slow walked investigating him. They know how far Trump is going to go once he gets his person in place. Their attempts to resist could get interesting.

Also, in unrelated news: Declassified CIA Guide to Sabotaging Fascism Is Suddenly Viral

[bilateralrope]

I'm personally in favor of adding a 'tax' to anything sold to the united states. Effectively jacking up the price the US is paying.

Canada and Mexico were aiming to hurt red states with their tariffs. That seems more effective at hurting Trump's support than a broad response.

At least the tariff war has halted. For 30 days I guess.

According to the net and news Mexico and Canada were basically promising border measures which have already been implemented. It seems Trump has won (his face I guess) I'm looking forward to seeing the long term consequences.

Only for Canada and Mexico

China counters with tariffs on US products. It will also investigate Google

By EMILY WANG FUJIYAMA and HUIZHONG WU
Updated 8:34 PM NZDT, February 4, 2025

BEIJING (AP) — China countered President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Chinese products with tariffs of its own on multiple U.S. imports Tuesday as well as announcing an antitrust investigation into Google and other trade measures.

China said it would implement a 15% tariff on coal and liquefied natural gas products as well as a 10% tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery and large-engine cars imported from the U.S. The tariffs would take effect next Monday.

“The US’s unilateral tariff increase seriously violates the rules of the World Trade Organization,” the statement from a Ministry of Finance office said. “It is not only unhelpful in solving its own problems, but also damages normal economic and trade cooperation between China and the US.”

China is the world’s largest importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), with its top suppliers being Australia, Qatar and Malaysia. The U.S., which is the biggest exporter of LNG globally, does not significantly export LNG to China.

In 2023, the U.S. exported 173,247 million cubic feet of LNG to China, representing about 2.3% of total natural gas export volumes, according to data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

In addition, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation said Tuesday it is investigating Google on suspicion of violating antitrust laws. The announcement did not mention the tariffs but came just minutes after Trump’s 10% tariffs on China were to take effect.

It is unclear how the probe will affect Google’s operations. Google has a limited presence in China, and its search engine is blocked in the country like most other Western platforms. Google exited the Chinese market in 2010 after refusing to comply with censorship requests from the Chinese government and following a series of cyberattacks on the company.

Google did not immediately comment.

Analysts said that China’s retaliatory measures would cause adverse effects on not just the U.S. economy but also impact the rest of the world.

“They have a much more developed export control regime. We depend on them for a lot of critical minerals: gallium, germanium, graphite, a host of others. So … they could put some significant harm on our economy,” said Philip Luck, a former State Department official and director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Monday at a forum.

The response from China appears calculated and measured, said Stephen Dover, chief market strategist and head of the Franklin Templeton Institute.

“A risk is that this is the beginning of a tit-for-tat trade war, which could result in lower GDP growth everywhere, higher U.S. inflation, a stronger dollar and upside pressure on U.S. interest rates,” Dover said.

U.S. tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico also were to go into effect Tuesday, though Trump agreed to a 30-day pause on his threats against Mexico and Canada as they acted to appease his concerns about border security and drug trafficking. Trump planned to talk with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the next few days.

In addition to the tariffs, China announced export controls on several elements critical to the production of modern high-tech products. They include tungsten, tellurium, bismuth, molybdenum and indium, many of which are designated as critical minerals by the U.S. Geological Survey, meaning they are essential to U.S. economic or national security that have supply chains vulnerable to disruption.

The export controls are in addition to ones China placed in December on key elements such as gallium used in manufacturing.

The Commerce Ministry also placed two American companies on an unreliable entities list: PVH Group, which owns Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, and Illumina, which is a biotechnology company with offices in China. The listing bars them from engaging in China-related import or export activities and from making new investments in the country.

Beijing began investigating PVH Group in September last year over “improper Xinjiang-related behavior” after the company allegedly boycotted the use of Xinjiang cotton.

Good luck to whoever tries to convince Trump that molybdenum is critical for the US.

[LadyTevar]

Ontario wasn't fooling around. I don't know how much it'd have hurt Musk, but it'd have been a really nice punch in the wallet.

Ontario Postpones Threat to Rip Up Starlink Contract After Tariffs On Hold

OTTAWA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - The Canadian province of Ontario on Monday said it was pausing a number of planned retaliatory measures against the United States, including the cancellation of a C$100 million ($68.12 million) contract with Elon Musk's Starlink.
Premier Doug Ford made the announcement after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was postponing by 30 days a series of tariffs against imports from Canada.
Earlier in the day, Ford had also said Ontario would ban U.S. companies from provincial contracts and order the province's liquor board to remove all American products from its shelves starting on Tuesday.
"We have some good news today. We have temporarily averted tariffs that would have severely damaged our economy, giving time for more negotiation and time for cooler heads to prevail," Ford said in a post on X.
"With the U.S. pausing tariffs, Ontario will also pause our retaliatory measures."
Ontario is the most populous of the 10 provinces and Canada's industrial heartland.
Under the terms of the deal, which Ontario signed last November, Starlink was to provide high-speed internet access to 15,000 eligible homes and businesses in more remote communities. Musk, a close Trump ally, is heading the U.S. President's drive to shrink the federal government.

[bilateralrope]

That article has a comment from Musk:

Musk had shrugged off Ford's threat, saying "Oh well" in a post on X.

The biggest surprise of this Trump administration is that Musk doesn't seem to be even trying to protect his wealth from Trump's decisions.

[Elfdart]

It's better than that; they reduced the commitments they'd made under Biden and pitched it to Trump as a concession and the buffoon fell for it. Mexico had already agreed with the Biden administration to deploy 15,000 Federales and national guard to the border to combat drug smuggling, so getting Trump to back down by offering to send 10k was actually a reduction in troop commitment. Similarly, Canada had already agreed to a $2 billion border security package and got Trump to back off by offering $1.5 billion instead.

The main difference is that Sheinbaum is hugely popular in Mexico, and there isn't the kind of angry backlash down there against Magastan that there is in Canada (not yet anyway) where Trudeau is a lame duck and about as well-liked as the American beer and liquor being pulled off the shelves in the Great White North. It helps that she didn't crawl to Trump's swamp palace to be humiliated by Il Douchebag like Trudeau did. If he wasn't such a fail son fumbledick of a politician (leading a standing ovation for a known Nazi war criminal -really?), he could parley the backlash against Cheeto Mussolini into another term and possibly a revival of his reputation.

Any reasonably adept pol realized long ago that the way to deal with Trump is to flatter him and humor his dementia and stupidity while picking his pocket.

[Zwinmar]

<snip>
Good luck to whoever tries to convince Trump that molybdenum is critical for the US.

Have to call it by its old nickname, "Molly be damned" and he might, maybe, possibly get it...if the dementia sludge parts just right.

[Zaune]

The biggest surprise of this Trump administration is that Musk doesn't seem to be even trying to protect his wealth from Trump's decisions.

He probably figures he can make it back quickly enough when he's made Gauleiter of Canada or something.

[Juubi Karakuchi]

It's better than that; they reduced the commitments they'd made under Biden and pitched it to Trump as a concession and the buffoon fell for it. Mexico had already agreed with the Biden administration to deploy 15,000 Federales and national guard to the border to combat drug smuggling, so getting Trump to back down by offering to send 10k was actually a reduction in troop commitment. Similarly, Canada had already agreed to a $2 billion border security package and got Trump to back off by offering $1.5 billion instead.

The main difference is that Sheinbaum is hugely popular in Mexico, and there isn't the kind of angry backlash down there against Magastan that there is in Canada (not yet anyway) where Trudeau is a lame duck and about as well-liked as the American beer and liquor being pulled off the shelves in the Great White North. It helps that she didn't crawl to Trump's swamp palace to be humiliated by Il Douchebag like Trudeau did. If he wasn't such a fail son fumbledick of a politician (leading a standing ovation for a known Nazi war criminal -really?), he could parley the backlash against Cheeto Mussolini into another term and possibly a revival of his reputation.

Any reasonably adept pol realized long ago that the way to deal with Trump is to flatter him and humor his dementia and stupidity while picking his pocket.

Remind me never to take the British press seriously again. They're pretty much treating these events as a big Trump win.

[Solauren]

Knowing the British press, they probably didn't know about the original pledges.

Come to think of it, I doubt Trump or his people did either.

[Elfdart]

Remind me never to take the British press seriously again. They're pretty much treating these events as a big Trump win.

British media are a fucking vile bunch of bootlickers, but they tend to be better informed than their American counterparts. They know full well that Trump got fleeced (like the guy who blows his whole paycheck on scratch-off lottery tickets and declares himself the winner because he won $8 on one of them), but they're such shameless toadies that every time he farts, they swear it's the London Symphony Orchestra.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

'This land is ours': Palestinians condemn Trump's proposal to 'take over' Gaza

Palestinians have assured Donald Trump that they "will not leave" Gaza after the US president suggested he will "take over" the territory and "permanently" rehome its residents elsewhere.

Trump’s remarks, made during a meeting with Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday night, have been condemned by charities and politicians worldwide, who describe them as ethnic cleansing.

Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has contradicted Donald Trump’s suggestions that the residents of the Gaza Strip could be permanently relocated elsewhere.

Speaking at a press conference, Levitt said: "The president has made it clear that they need to be temporarily relocated out of Gaza. It’s a demolition site.”

Ibrahim Abu Rizk, who was displaced from Gaza to Egypt by Israel, said on Wednesday: "We will not leave our homeland. This land is ours, and they are the ones who should leave. We reject Trump’s decisions and those of his aides and supporters who push for displacement.

"Why should we be forced into displacement? We remain here, even if it means living on the rubble of our homes - better that than living in humiliation elsewhere.

"For a year and a half, we have been slaughtered, bombed, and destroyed—only to then leave just like that? We will not leave this land. They are the ones who must leave, not us."

Subscribe free to our weekly newsletter for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning.

Trump’s proposals could directly pose a risk to the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal, as Palestinians return to their homes in Gaza and Hamas releases Israeli hostages.

Directly challenging Trump, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Palestinians "must be allowed to return home" and rebuild as part of a path towards a two-state solution.

Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, he said: “(Palestinians) They must be allowed home. They must be allowed to rebuild, and we should be with them in that rebuild on the way to a two-state solution."

What did Trump propose?

Trump said: "The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too. We'll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site, and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs."

"We'll make sure that it's done world-class. It'll be wonderful for the people - Palestinians, Palestinians mostly, we're talking about."

Afterwards the 78-year-old told reporters outside the Oval Office: "You can’t live in Gaza right now. I think we need another location.

“I think it should be a location that’s going to make people happy. You look over the decades, it’s all death in Gaza. This has been happening for years. It’s all death.

"If we can get a beautiful area to resettle people, permanently, in nice homes where they can be happy and not be shot and not be killed and not be knifed to death like what’s happening in Gaza."

He called on Jordan, Egypt, and other Arab countries to temporarily take in Palestinians from Gaza while reconstruction takes place following the war between Hamas and Israel.

Reaction around the world

United Nations

The UN’s Human Rights Office (UNHR) has warned that any forcible transfer or deportation of people from occupied territories would violate international law.

“It is crucial that we move towards the next phase of the ceasefire, to release all hostages and arbitrarily detained prisoners, end the war and reconstruct Gaza, with full respect for international humanitarian law and international human rights law,” the UNHR said.

USA

Republicans largely refused to comment on Trump's comments, while others were sceptical.

Democrats were more, labelling his proposal as “crazy” and “dangerous".

Palestinian-American member of Congress, Democrat Rashida Tlaib, accused Trump of "openly calling for ethnic cleansing".

While ethnic cleansing is not officially defined in international law, the UN describes it as "rendering an area ethnically homogeneous by using force or intimidation to remove persons of given groups from the area".

Israel

Netanyahu smiled while Trump made his comments on Tuesday, saying his proposals proved his “willingness to puncture conventional thinking” and to think “outside the box".

Trump's plans are expected to gain support from far-right Israeli politicians, who have strongly opposed the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and given Netanyahu some trouble.

Itamar Ben Gvir, the former national security minister who resigned last month in protest of the ceasefire, called Trump’s plan "the solution" and vowed to return to government if it were implemented.

Egypt

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mostafa on Wednesday that Palestinians should not leave Gaza while it is being rebuilt.

“Regarding the humanitarian situation in Gaza, the meeting stressed the importance of moving forward with early recovery projects and programs, removing rubble and delivering humanitarian aid at an accelerated pace, without the Palestinians leaving the Gaza Strip," Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia, an important intermediary for the US, quickly responded saying its long-held call for an independent Palestinian state was a "firm, steadfast and unwavering position."


Donald Trump suggests plan to 'clean out' all of the Gaza Strip

Netanyahu says Israel retains 'right to return to fighting if needed' in Gaza
Jordan

Jordan's King Abdullah II rejected any plans that include displacing Palestinians from Gaza or the occupied West Bank

"He stressed the need to stop (Jewish) settlement activities and reject any attempts to annex lands and displace Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank,” a statement published by Jordan’s state news agency read.

Hamas

Hamas, which carried out its October 7 attack on Israel, said Trump's proposal was a "recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region".

"Instead of holding the Zionist occupation accountable for the crime of genocide and displacement, it is being rewarded, not punished," the militant group said in a statement.

France

France has repeated its opposition to any forced displacement of Palestinians, with a spokesperson for the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs warning that such actions would be a "serious violation of international law" and an attack on the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians.

I wasn't sure which thread this goes in so I posted in both.

[Ralin]

From Kung-Flu to this

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science ... 9-pandemic

China’s social media reels at Musk’s ‘bioweapon theory’ for Covid-19 pandemic
Chinese internet users react to claim that USAID-funded research led to creation of the virus, contradicting scientific consensus

Reading Time:
2 minutes
Tech billionaire Elon Musk’s claim on social media that the US Agency for International Development funded research into bioweapons has gone viral in China. Photo: AFP
Ling Xinin Ohio
Published: 3:59pm, 6 Feb 2025
Social media users in China are spreading Elon Musk’s claim that Covid-19 was caused by a bioweapon created with US funding – an allegation the tech billionaire made on Sunday as part of an attack on the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
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Musk, a prominent ally of President Donald Trump – who tasked him with identifying government waste – earlier called for USAID to be shut down. His latest comment did not name China and appeared to be primarily directed at the agency and Democrats.
Musk’s post on X, the social media platform that he owns, included a post from another user who was promoting the view that the virus that causes Covid-19 may have arisen during research carried out at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.



So far, there is no scientific evidence that the virus was man-made and most of the world’s scientific community – as well as the World Health Organization – subscribe to the theory that it emerged naturally in the environment.
“Did you know that USAID, using YOUR tax dollars, funded bioweapon research, including Covid-19, that killed millions of people?” wrote Musk, without providing any evidence to support his bioweapon claim.

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While many comments on Chinese social media platform Weibo hailed Musk’s post as a revelation – “Covid-19 is a bioweapon. Musk has finally brought this to light,” said one – others questioned “why bring Wuhan and China into this again?” and asked “what is he implying”.

Beijing has not made an immediate response to Musk’s remarks and researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology declined to comment when contacted by the South China Morning Post.

A Beijing-based editor of an international journal said that if Covid-19 were artificially created, “its destructive power would certainly be immense, and calling it a bioweapon would not be an exaggeration”.

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“However, no scientific study to date has provided conclusive evidence that it was engineered in a lab,” said the editor, who was trained as a biologist and spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.



The origin of the virus is one of the most hotly contested science issues of our time. The global scientific community largely favours the natural origin theory – that it emerged through animal-to-human transmission, without the involvement of scientists or labs.

Last month, the CIA said it was now leaning towards a lab leak theory rather than the natural origin hypothesis, and pointed to China while admitting that it had “low confidence” in its latest assessment.

China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning dismissed the CIA’s accusation, telling a press briefing on January 27 that the origin tracing of Covid-19 “is a scientific issue that should be approached with a scientific spirit and left to scientists to determine”.

“The conclusion that ‘a lab leak is extremely unlikely’ was reached by the joint China-WHO expert team based on on-site inspections of labs and in-depth exchanges with researchers in Wuhan,” she said.

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“This finding has been widely recognised by the international community and the scientific community.”

Mao urged the US government to “stop politicising and weaponising” the origin-tracing issue and “refrain from shifting blame” on to other countries.

She called on the US to cooperate with the WHO, share data on its early cases, and clarify concerns regarding its own laboratories to “provide a responsible explanation to the world”.

[bilateralrope]

I wonder if Musk is trying to distract Tesla shareholders from some recent news:

Teslas turn toxic as sales crash in Europe and the UK


It’s Official: the Cybertruck is More Explosive than the Ford Pinto

[LadyTevar]

From Kung-Flu to this

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science ... 9-pandemic

I was wondering when they'd restart the accusations of COVID being a "Made" Virus that escaped containment. That was conspiracy theory was rife during the Pandemic so not surprised someone's trotted it out again when Trump needs ammo against China.

[LadyTevar]

And Trump digs deeper.

PANAMA CANAL DENIES US VESSELS GO THROUGH FREE

Panama has denied making changes to allow US government vessels to transit the Panama Canal for free, following White House claims it had agreed to such a move.

The State Department said in a statement on X that its government vessels "can now transit the Panama Canal without charge fees, saving the US government millions of dollars a year".

Responding to the comments, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) said it was "empowered to set tolls and other fees for transiting the canal," adding that it had "not made any adjustments to them".

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly voiced his desire to retake control of the waterway, which is key to global trade.

What kind of fucking wishful thinking is Trump doing here? "Oh, I'm gonna declare it's free for us and they'll not charge us because I said so!"

[Ralin]

I was wondering when they'd restart the accusations of COVID being a "Made" Virus that escaped containment. That was conspiracy theory was rife during the Pandemic so not surprised someone's trotted it out again when Trump needs ammo against China.

Did you read the article? He's claiming that the US government created it.

What kind of fucking wishful thinking is Trump doing here? "Oh, I'm gonna declare it's free for us and they'll not charge us because I said so!"

Confidence that his followers will not check whether or not it is true.

[bilateralrope]

What kind of fucking wishful thinking is Trump doing here? "Oh, I'm gonna declare it's free for us and they'll not charge us because I said so!"

I think he has trouble understanding that most people don't automatically do what he tells them.

[Solauren]

What kind of fucking wishful thinking is Trump doing here? "Oh, I'm gonna declare it's free for us and they'll not charge us because I said so!"

I think he has trouble understanding that most people don't automatically do what he tells them.

Or, he's trying to set up reasons to make an excuse to take it by force.

"They said it would be free, and now they took that back, so now we are taking back the Canal!"

The kind of stunt an emotionally stunted 4 year old might do.

[Batman]

While Trump is dumb enough to think he can do that, I Think it more likely he's trying to distract from the goings-on in the US.

[Luke Starkiller]

I assumed that it was more along the lines of "it's free because we are just not going to pay them any more."

[The Infidel]

I assumed that it was more along the lines of "it's free because we are just not going to pay them any more."

Well, if a few American ships don't pay and slip away, they will have to pay upfront. If they don't, they can't pass. Who knows, maybe that's what the deranged cheerio want, so he can have an excuse to go to war against Panama?

[bilateralrope]

How difficult would it be for Panama to ensure that the US can't take the canal intact ?