China says G4 swine flu virus not new, does not infect humans easily

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SHANGHAI/BEIJING (REUTERS) – China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on Saturday (July 4) that the so-called “G4” strain of swine flu virus is not new and does not infect or sicken humans and animals easily, rebuffing a study published earlier this week.

That study, by a team of Chinese scientists and published by the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), warned that a new swine flu virus, named G4, has become more infectious to humans and could become a potential “pandemic virus”.

However, China’s agriculture ministry said in a statement that the study has been interpreted by the media “in an exaggerated and non-factual way.”

An analysis by the ministry concluded that sampling of the published study is too small to be representative, while the article lacks adequate evidence to show the G4 virus has become the dominant strain among pigs.

The ministry said it drew its conclusions after holding a seminar on the G4 virus’s impact on the hog industry and public health.

Participants included Chinese veterinarians and anti-virus experts, as well as the leading authors of the PNAS study.

The participants concurred that the G4 virus is not new, the statement said.

Furthermore, such a strain has been monitored continuously by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and related agencies in China since 2011, the statement said, citing a senior WHO official.

In addition, the authors of the published study agreed that the G4 virus does not effectively replicate in the human body and cause disease, according to the statement.

The ministry’s statement was authored by Dr Yang Hanchun, a swine viral disease scientist at China Agricultural University who also serves the role of expert on a ministry anti-epidemic committee.

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India sets ambitious Covid-19 vaccine plan as outbreak surges, South Asia News & Top Stories – The Straits Times – politics before safety?

There’s been no evidence yet that Bharat Biotech’s vaccine is safe for use on humans, not to mention effective.

The envisioned timeline is markedly shorter than other front-runner vaccine efforts from American and Chinese drugmakers, most of which started human clinical trials months ago and are now entering the last of three stages of testing.

 

The Aug 15 deadline for Bharat Biotech’s vaccine may reflect that political pressure: That’s the day India celebrates its Independence from the British, marked by a nationwide address by Mr Modi.

Source: India sets ambitious Covid-19 vaccine plan as outbreak surges, South Asia News & Top Stories – The Straits Times

Democracy books disappear from Hong Kong libraries

sad sad sad sad – cannot stand different thought.

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HONG KONG (AFP) – Books written by prominent Hong Kong democracy activists have started to disappear from the city’s libraries, online records show, days after Beijing imposed a draconian national security law on the finance hub.

Among the authors whose titles are no longer available are Joshua Wong, one of the city’s most prominent young activists, and Tanya Chan, a well-known pro-democracy lawmaker.

Beijing’s new national security law was imposed on Tuesday (June 30) and is the most radical shift in how the semi-autonomous city is run since it was handed back to China by Britain in 1997.

China’s authoritarian leaders say the powers will restore stability after a year of pro-democracy protests, will not stifle freedoms and will only target a “very small minority”.

But it has already sent fear coursing through a city used to speaking openly, with police arresting people for possessing slogans pushing independence or greater autonomy and businesses scrambling to remove protest displays.

Wong said he believed the removal of the books was sparked by the security law.

“White terror continues to spread, the national security law is fundamentally a tool to incriminate speech,” he wrote on Facebook, using a phrase that refers to political persecution.

Searches on the public library website showed at least three titles by Wong, Chan and local scholar Chin Wan were no longer available for lending at any of dozens of outlets across the city.

An AFP reporter was unable to find the titles at a public library in the district of Wong Tai Sin on Saturday afternoon.

The city’s leisure and cultural services department said it would provide a statement later on Saturday (July 4).

The national security law targets acts of subversion, secession, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces.

China says it will have jurisdiction in some cases and empowered its security apparatus to set up shop openly in Hong Kong for the first time, ending the legal firewall between the two.

Rights groups and legal analysts say the broad wording of the law – which was kept secret until it was enacted – outlaws certain political views, even if expressed peacefully.

Any promotion of independence or greater autonomy appears to be banned by the legislation. Another vaguely worded provision bans inciting hatred towards the Chinese or Hong Kong government.

On the authoritarian mainland, similar national security laws are routinely used to crush dissent.

The new security law and the removal of books raises questions of whether academic freedom still exists.

Hong Kong has some of Asia’s best universities and a campus culture where topics that would be taboo on the mainland are still discussed and written about.

But Beijing has made clear it wants education in the city to become more “patriotic”, especially after a year of huge, often violent and largely youth-led pro-democracy protests.

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Weekend Open Thread | Happy July 4th! — 3CHICSPOLITICO

Good Morning, Everyone. 🤗 I hope that you are enjoying this weekend virtually with family and friends. Lift Every Voice And Sing Brought to us by Black opera singers 👏👏👏 Wondrous 🙏🎶🎶

Weekend Open Thread | Happy July 4th! — 3CHICSPOLITICO

Steve Hotze asked Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to order “rioters” be killed | The Texas Tribune (Dumb and dumber – don’t these hateful racists know that everything is recorded and filmed?)

“I want you to give a message to the governor,” Hotze told Abbott’s chief of staff, Luis Saenz, in a voicemail. “I want to make sure that he has National Guard down here and they have the order to shoot to kill if any of these son-of-a-bitch people start rioting like they have in Dallas, start tearing down businesses — shoot to kill the son of a bitches. That’s the only way you restore order. Kill ‘em. Thank you.”

Source: Steve Hotze asked Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to order “rioters” be killed | The Texas Tribune

LAUSD School Board Votes to Redirect 35 Percent of School Police Funds to Services That Support the Needs of Black Students |

The largest independent school police department in the United States will see its funding drop by $25 million (35 percent of the total), thanks to a 4-3 vote from the Los Angeles Unified School Board on Tuesday in response to a massive, weeks-long turnout of community members calling for defunding.

Source: LAUSD School Board Votes to Redirect 35 Percent of School Police Funds to Services That Support the Needs of Black Students |

NY partygoers get subpoenas after stonewalling COVID-19 contact tracers | Ars Technica

In response, Ruppert announced that the county will issue subpoenas to anyone who refuses to cooperate with contact tracing. So far, the county is processing eight subpoenas. In addition, those who do not comply will face civil fines of around $2,000 every day they are out of compliance. Ruppert went on to note that the young people exposed could go on to spread the virus to vulnerable people in the community, including older relatives, people with underlying health conditions, and young children who may be at risk of developing a severe inflammatory disorder. And even though young adults have relatively less risk of severe outcomes than other groups, they too could become seriously ill. “You may wish to be invincible,” Ruppert said. “But you’re not. None of us are against this dreadful disease.”

Source: NY partygoers get subpoenas after stonewalling COVID-19 contact tracers | Ars Technica

Coronavirus updates: Arizona ICU capacity climbs to 91% – ABC News

For the fifth day in a row, Arizona has surpassed its record number of hospitalizations.

Hospitalizations and ICU capacity reached new highs in Arizona, according to the state’s health department.

There were 3,013 current hospitalizations in the state and the ICU capacity hit 91%.

There were also an additional 4,433 new COVID-19 cases, resulting in 91,858 total cases. An additional 31 people died, bringing the total to 1,788.

Source: Coronavirus updates: Arizona ICU capacity climbs to 91% – ABC News

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