News Burst 28 April 2020 – Live Feed

News Burst 28 April 2020

• Campaigns to boycott Chinese goods have already started in more than 40 countries on all continents. These may fizzle out as the world returns to normal; but the damage done to China’s image should not been underestimated. Claims that China may have been manipulating some international bodies, including the World Health Organization (WHO), can’t be substantiated but open a whole new chapter in probing Beijing’s behavior.

• Five persons including a reputed industrialist have been arrested for black-marketing of lentils amid the nationwide lockdown in Nepal. Those arrested have been accused of overpricing and selling a kind of lentil, seeing the lockdown as an opportunity to be involved in such an unethical and illegal activity.

• The UK has removed China from its official coronavirus statistics due to the CCP’s insistence that just 4,636 people have died of the disease despite clear evidence to the contrary. “The people of Wuhan believe the death toll in their city that was the epicentre of the outbreak is 42,000 – not the 3,182 claimed by China.” In March, scientific advisers warned UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson that China’s official numbers could be ‘downplayed by a factor of 15 to 40 times.’

• Australian newspaper reports that “the Five Eyes intelligence agencies of Australia, Canada, NZ, UK and US, are understood to be looking closely at the work of a senior scientist at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Peng Zhou, as they examine whether COVID-19 originated from a wet market or whether the naturally-­occurring virus may have been released from the level four laboratory in Wuhan that was studying deadly coronavirus pathogens from bats.”

• Bodies of two Korean trekkers, that had been missing in an avalanche, were found on the bank of a river in Annapurna Rural Municipality, Nepal on Saturday. Four Korean trekkers and three Nepali guides and porters were trekking along Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) route when a wall of snow hit them, as they went missing near the Hinku Cave Area, on January 17.

• While Pacific nations such as Tonga and the Cook Islands have made headlines around the world for their Covid-19-free status, the absence of foreign tourists presents a significant challenge in the entire region. In Fiji – one of the biggest Pacific Island economies – tourism contributes an estimated 30 percent of GDP. Having been closed to international travellers for a month, thousands have had their livelihoods affected. Now, a report from the World Bank is warning remittance payments to the Pacific – another important source of regional income from overseas workers sending money home – is expected to decline because of the China Virus.

• Two more sources have come forward to corroborate sexual assault claims against Joe Biden by former staffer Tara Reade, who claims that in 1993 Biden forced himself upon her and penetrated her against her will with his fingers. Two people have already come forward to say that Reade told them of the incident shortly after it allegedly occurred; her brother Collin Moulton, and a friend who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of retribution. Now, two more witnesses have come forward to Business Insider; former neighbor Lynda LaCasse – a self-described “very strong Democrat,” and Reade’s former co-worker, Lorraine Sanchez, who worked in the office of a California state senator in the mid-1990s. [HRC at the ready]

• The eruption of the Klyuchevskaya Sopka volcano in Russia’s Kamchatka has produced rivers of lava and massive smoke clouds – but scientists worry that the resulting ash cloud could disrupt air traffic. The latest activity within the steep symmetrical cone of the volcano – the highest in Eurasia – blew ash some 7,000 meters into the air on Monday, the Emergencies Ministry said. Klyuchevskaya Sopka, at 4,649 meters in height, was effectively inactive for three years before it started spewing lava again last October – and the smoldering eruption has continued to some degree ever since.

• Japan waterways are clogged with plastic fragments from all manner of items that endanger local ecosystems, a survey suggests. The Tokyo-based Pirika Association, a group working to solve environmental issues, said it detected microplastics at 98 of 100 locations it surveyed in waters in the Kanto region or farther south. It concluded that nearly all rivers, bays and lakes across Japan are seriously threatened. Pieces of artificial turf, fertilizer ingredients, tarpaulin, rope and other plastic materials were discovered not only in urban areas but also in rural zones, according to the findings.

Sun Activity

Today, there are two sunspots in the sun’s southern hemisphere. Their magnetic polarity reveals something interesting: They come from different solar cycles. Take a look at this magnetic map of the sun’s surface from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. One sunspot (AR2760) belongs to old Solar Cycle 24, while the other (AR2761) belongs to new Solar Cycle 25. We know this because of Hale’s polarity law. AR2760 is +/- while AR2761 is -/+, reversed signs that mark them as belonging to different cycles. Solar Cycle 25 is coming to life.

Strongest EQ in Europe M3.3 Albania/Spain
Strongest EQ in North America M4.0 California
Strongest EQ on the Planet 5.4 Papua New Guinea
Deepest EQ M4.2 243 km Argentina