New virus poses ‘an existential threat to life as we know it on this planet’

Art Moore – October 10, 2021

The Biden administration’s apparent unwillingness to conduct a serious official investigation of the origin of SARS-CoV-2 that holds China accountable for its actions and lack of cooperation could result in a pandemic much more lethal that the current one, warns a leading researcher.

Dr. Steven Quay, whose research became part of a State Department probe of the origin of COVID-19 under President Trump, told Fox News’ Martha MacCallum on Friday that “all of the evidence points toward the lab theory.”

“There’s no evidence that supports a natural origin at this point,” he said. “So I think we’re done, at this point, with the investigation.”

But it’s more vital than ever to stop the dangerous “gain-of-function” research – engineering viruses to make them more transmissible and lethal – going on at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, he said.

Raw data from patient specimens posted in the National Institutes of Health’s gene bank showed researchers at the Wuhan lab in December 2019 were manipulating genes from the highly lethal Nipah virus, Quay said.

The Nipah virus, which causes severe inflammation of the brain or encephalitis, has a death rate of about 80%, Quay warned.

“If you didn’t like the pandemic that was just 1% lethal, this thing they were working on in December 2019 has an 80% lethality,” he told MacCallum. “It needs to be stopped.”

Quay told “Fox Business Tonight” on Thursday that virus research at the Wuhan lab poses “an existential threat to life as we know it on this planet.”

https://www.wnd.com

Biden rejoins U.N. council notorious for ‘unending hostility toward Israel’

Sebastian Hughes – October 14, 2021

The Biden administration announced Thursday that the U.S. would officially rejoin the UN Human Rights Council, a reversal of the Trump administration’s decision to leave the body, in part due to its “unending hostility towards Israel.”

“Starting on January 1, 2022, in our new role as member, we can fully participate in the Council’s work of protecting and promoting human rights,” Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement Thursday. “Our goals are clear: stand with human rights defenders and speak out against violations and abuses of human rights.”

The U.S. left the council during the Trump administration, with then-Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley describing the council itself as a “hypocritical and self-serving” organization with a “disproportionate focus and unending hostility toward Israel,” Reuters reported.

Haley said that members of the council such as Russia, China, Cuba and Egypt have a history of human rights abuses, and she criticized countries sharing U.S. interests that “were unwilling to seriously challenge the status quo.”

Then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made similar statements about the decision to leave, accusing the council of “absolving wrongdoers through silence and falsely condemning those that committed no offense,” Reuters reported.

https://www.wnd.com

Methodist Pastor: Killing Babies in Abortions is “Moral” if It’s Done With “Thoughtful Prayer”

Micaiah Bilger  –  Oct 15, 2021

A United Methodist Church leader is promoting the notion that killing an unborn baby in an abortion is okay as long as the mother makes a “thoughtful and prayerful” decision first.

Pastor Robert Vaughn Jr., director of the General Board of Church and Society for the UMC, told Baptist News Global that the denomination takes a “reluctant pro-choice” stance on abortion. And his board is in charge of supporting that position.

“Terminating a pregnancy isn’t just a medical decision; it requires advanced pastoral care so that a person can look at the whole picture,” the Herndon, Virginia pastor said. “The United Methodist principle requires you to think through a decision, to seize the whole complexity of the question. It’s not as simple as some easy slogan.”

Vaughn said he once counseled a young, pro-life woman who became pregnant while she was taking medication that meant “she couldn’t carry the pregnancy to term,” according to the report. Rather than give her child a chance at life, she aborted her unborn child – a decision that Vaughn said was “moral.”

“I remember walking with her as she and her family went through that situation,” he said. “… It was good to be part of a denomination that respected her as an independent moral decision-maker, that gave her the right to choose.”

https://www.lifenews.com

Several asteroids larger than the Great Pyramid of Giza will fly by Earth in coming weeks

ETH – October 14, 2021

Several asteroids bigger than the Great Pyramid of Giza will closely pass by Earth in the upcoming weeks, including one this week. According to data from NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, the asteroid 2021 SM3, which was discovered just last month, will pass by our planet on Friday.

The diameter of the asteroid is up to 525 feet, just bigger than the 482-foot long Great Pyramid of Giza. An object of that size would be enough to “cause local damage to the impact area” if it were to hit Earth.

2021 SM3 is classified as a near-Earth object, which NASA says “are comets and asteroids that have been nudged by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets into orbits that allow them to enter the Earth’s neighborhood.” The bodies are anything that comes within 120 million miles of Earth.

At its closest point, the asteroid will be about 3.6 million miles from Earth. Though that sounds like a safe distance, it’s much closer than our neighbor Venus, which can be 74.8 million miles away depending on each planet’s orbit. 2021 SM3 won’t be the only large asteroid that passes by Earth soon.

Seven asteroids bigger than SM3 will come close to our planet by the end of November. Of all the recently approaching asteroids, 1996 VB3 will be the closest to Earth at 2.1 million miles on Oct. 20. That asteroid has a diameter of up to 754 feet.

https://endtimeheadlines.org

WAR DRUMS: China outraged over reports of U.S. military presence in Taiwan, Threatens to launch air strike to “Eliminate U.S. invaders”

ETH – October 7. 2021

Leaders in China almost immediately expressed outrage Thursday at a new report indicating the U.S. has secretly stationed forces on Taiwan in an attempt to bolster the island nation’s defenses against the increasing likelihood of an attack from the mainland.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that a small unit of special operations forces have been based in Taiwan for at least a year to train local military forces – a move China has previously said would violate contentious agreements between Washington and Beijing that have maintained a fragile security understanding regarding Taiwan for decades.

Asian outlets first reported last year the possible presence of Marines there. “Why just two dozen members? Why secretly? The US should send 240 servicemen publicly, in US military uniform, and make public where they are stationed,” Hu Xijin, the editor in chief of China’s English language Global Times, considered a mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, wrote in a tweet accompanying the Journal’s article. He added of China’s military, “See whether the PLA will launch a targeted airstrike to eliminate those US invaders!” China has previously indicated it would retaliate swiftly and immediately to any indication the U.S. had deployed military forces to Taiwan.

When Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican, claimed without explanation in August that the U.S. had roughly 30,000 forces on Taiwan, state news in Beijing fired back that, if true, the Chinese military would “crush them by force.” What has previously been downplayed as idle threats have taken on new potency in recent days, following China’s steady deployment of aircraft into Taiwan’s air defense zone on an unprecedented scale.

https://endtimeheadlines.org

Warsaw’s step towards Polexit shows that West’s attempt to recreate Soviet Union in form of EU was doomed to failure

RT – October 8, 2021

Paul A. Nuttall is a historian, author and a former politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament between 2009 and 2019 and was a prominent campaigner for Brexit.

The Mexican standoff between Warsaw and Brussels has taken a turn for the worse as Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal ruled that some EU laws are in direct conflict with the Polish Constitution.
This represents a direct challenge to the principle that EU law is supreme in its member states.

The tribunal judgement on Thursday found that the EU institutions often “act beyond the scope of their competences.” Poland’s Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro welcomed the ruling as it “set the constitutional limits of European integration and permissible EU interference in Polish cases.” 

Naturally, this judgement has provoked outrage in Brussels. The European Commission responded in typical robust fashion, stating that “All rulings by the European Court of Justice are binding on all Member States’ authorities, including national courts.”

Moreover, the Commission made it clear that it would “not hesitate to make use of its powers under the treaties to safeguard the uniform application and integrity of union law.” In other words, Poland backs down or punishment is in the post.

And what will these punishments be? Well, as ever with the EU, the punishment will be financial reprisals. It’s a bit like when a naughty child has their pocket money withheld from an irate parent.

https://www.rt.com

Strong earthquake strikes Pakistan shaking multiple cities and leaving over 20 dead

Ricky Scaparo – October 6, 2021

A strong earthquake has reportedly struck Pakistan shaking the cities of Harnai and Shahrag around 3 am local time, causing buildings and homes to collapse on residents.

According to Express-News, Sohail Anwar Hashmi, Deputy Commissioner for Harnai city, told Pakistani newspaper Quetta Voice via telephone: “We have received 20 dead bodies” However, the latest estimates by officials suggest 20 people have died in the earthquake, including children.

According to NDTV, Naseer Nasar, the head of Balochistan’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority, told AFP that between 15 and 20 people had died, but warned that the toll may increase.

The worst-affected area was the remote mountainous city of Harnai, in Balochistan, where a lack of paved roads, electricity, and mobile phone coverage has hampered the rescue effort. The quake caused electricity to fail in the region, with health staff working without lights in a poorly equipped government hospital.

“We were operating without electricity with the help of torches and mobile flashlights,” Zahoor Tarin, a senior official at the government-run Harnai hospital told AFP. “Most of the injured came with fractured limbs. Dozens of people were sent back after first aid while some 40 people who were critically injured have been sent to Quetta in ambulances,” he added.

https://endtimeheadlines.org

Pfizer Asks FDA to Allow COVID Shots for Kids Ages 5 to 11

Newsmax – October 8, 2021

Pfizer asked the U.S. government Thursday to allow use of its COVID-19 vaccine in children ages 5 to 11 — and if regulators agree, shots could begin within a matter of weeks.

Many parents and pediatricians are clamoring for protection for children younger than 12, today’s age cutoff for the vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. Not only can youngsters sometimes get seriously ill, but keeping them in school can be a challenge with the coronavirus still raging in poorly vaccinated communities.

Pfizer announced in a tweet that it had formally filed its application with the Food and Drug Administration.

Now the FDA will have to decide if there’s enough evidence that the shots are safe and will work for younger children like they do for teens and adults. An independent expert panel will publicly debate the evidence on Oct. 26.

One big change: Pfizer says its research shows the younger kids should get a third of the dose now given to everyone else. After their second dose, the 5- to 11-year-olds developed virus-fighting antibody levels just as strong as teens and young adults get from regular-strength shots.

https://www.newsmax.com

Court rules: Jews can pray on Temple Mount

– October 6, 2021

For the first time since Jewish worship returned to the Temple Mount, an Israeli court approved the act and provided it with unprecedented legal standing.

Justice Bilha Yahalom of Jerusalem’s Magistrate Court,  accepted on Wednesday an appeal by Temple Mount activist Rabbi Aryeh Lippo against the police ban on prayer that he witnessed during his visits to the holy site.

“His daily Temple Mount attendance shows that this is a matter of principle and meaning for him,” Judge Yahalom noted in her ruling.

During the hearing, the court viewed a video documenting Jewish people praying on the Temple Mount. The court ruled that silently praying on the holy site is not a violation of police guidelines.

“The prosecutor doesn’t dispute that the appellant, like many others, prays on a daily basis on the Temple Mount, and this activity in and of itself is not a  violation of police instructions,” Judge Yahalom wrote.

Temple Mount organizations ad activists welcomed the ruling as it recognizes and green-lights “the positive process that is going on the Temple Mount.”

Activist Arnon Segal called it a “beautiful victory” while blasting the police for harassing Rabbi Lippo for no reason.

Shai Glick, CEO of the B’Tsalmo rights organization hailed the decision tweeting: “This is the first time we can say the words ‘the Temple Mount is in our hands.’ We are talking about a historic day for the Nation of Israel in its entirety.”

https://www.israel365news.com

Global Corporate Tax Deal Nears as Holdouts Drop Objections

Newsmax – October 8, 2021

A global deal to ensure big companies pay a minimum tax rate of at least 15% and make it harder for them to avoid taxation is set to be finalized on Friday after Ireland, Estonia and Hungary agreed to sign up, leaving a few holdouts isolated.

The agreement aims to end a four-decade-long “race to the bottom” by governments that have sought to attract investment and jobs by taxing multinational companies only lightly and allowing them to shop around for low tax rates.

Negotiations have been going on for four years, moving online during the pandemic, with support for a deal from U.S. President Joe Biden and the costs of COVID-19 giving additional impetus in recent months. Some 140 countries are now involved.

The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which has been leading the talks, is due to announce the outcome of Friday’s discussions around 1600 GMT.

The agreement will set a minimum corporate tax rate of 15% and let governments tax a greater share of foreign multinationals’ profits.

It aims to prevent big groups from booking profits in low-tax countries like Ireland regardless of where their clients are, an issue that has become ever more pressing with the rise of tech giants that easily do business across borders.

https://www.newsmax.com