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High-ranking calls to China have gone unanswered amid an escalating trade dispute with Australia that has been fuelled by calls to investigate the origins of the deadly coronavirus pandemic. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham has been seeking to speak with his counterpart since China threatened to impose an 80 per cent import tariff on Australian barley. China will make its final decision on the tariff on Tuesday. If it follows through with the threat, Australian exporters fear it will cripple a once-lucrative market. "We've made a request for me to be able to have discussions with my Chinese counterpart," Senator Birmingham...

May 16, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – A team of Australian scientists has produced new evidence that the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is optimized for penetration into human cells rather than animal cells, undermining the theory that the virus randomly evolved in an animal subject before passing into human beings, and suggesting instead that it was developed in a laboratory. The study, which has not yet been peer reviewed, provides new but not yet conclusive evidence favoring the theory that the novel coronavirus originated not in a food market as has been claimed, but rather in a laboratory, presumably one...

Two Great White sharks have been captured in terrifying footage stalking a group of unsuspecting surfers. Friends, Rob, Adam and Trent were surfing at Tuncurry Beach on NSW's mid north coast this week and were completely unaware of the two beasts lurking beneath them. A man who was using his drone spotted the sharks and alerted the surfers who immediately rushed back to shore. The group managed to escape unharmed and even returned to the same spot for a surf just a day later.

China slapped an import ban on four Australian abattoirs Tuesday in an escalation of Beijing’s warning of a consumer boycott in retaliation for Canberra’s push for an independent coronavirus probe. The beef ban comes just days after China flagged plans to slap an 80 percent tariff on Australian barley, bringing the trade to its knees. Analysts said the move raised concerns of a possible standoff between Australia and its most important trading partner that could spill over into other crucial sectors as the world struggles to navigate the disease-induced economic crisis. The Financial Times reports China is Australia’s largest trade...

Before the police arrived... You could barely call it a protest, just a handful of people, following all the rules, out the front of the NSW Parliament... The woman told police she was not doing anything wrong, despite the government's social distancing regulations implemented during the health crisis. Video footage shared to Facebook showed the woman speaking with police officers near Parliament of New South Wales in Sydney at about 3.50pm on Saturday Australians are allowed to exercise outdoors but must keep a 1.5 distance from others. 'I don't know how you guys are going home in honour tonight and...

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw A global child exploitation sting triggered by a US Department of Homeland Security investigation has rescued four Australian children as young as two months old who were used to produce and ­exchange child rape videos and images through online pedophile networks around the world. In one of the largest joint operations in the country — led by the Australian Federal Police and spread across five states — 16 ­people have been charged with 738 child exploitation and sexual abuse ­offences following a two-year ­investigation into the online ­exchange of child abuse material. The arrests...

A mother has been pulled away from her screaming son as she was arrested for protesting ‘for her rights’ during the coronavirus pandemic. Video footage shared on Twitter showed the woman speaking with police officers near Parliament of New South Wales in Sydney’s CBD about 3:50 pm on Saturday. The woman, who was with her son, wore a yellow sign that read: ‘If you don’t know your rights, you don’t have any. Magna Carta.’ She told police she was not doing anything wrong, despite the government’s social distancing regulations implemented during the health crisis. Video below: https://twitter.com/OzraeliAvi/status/1259081832085090305?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1259081832085090305&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fconservativeus.com%2Fvideo-mother-protesting-covid-19-tyranny-arrested-child-ripped-from-her-arms%2F The tweet is...

A Kimberley man suffered bites to his hand during a desperate battle with a 2.5 metre python that tried to eat one of his kittens last week. Nick Kearns, from Kununurra, in Western Australia's far north, said he did not hesitate when he heard his partner Karyn screaming in the early hours of the morning. The python was in the garden and had coiled itself around Lil — short for "the little one" — and Mr Kearns, although not exactly suitably attired, raced to the rescue. "I jumped up — naked of course — and ran outside," Mr Kearns said....

The president of the European Commission backed calls for an investigation into the origin of the new coronavirus and said China should be involved in the process. Lawmakers in countries like Germany, Sweden and Australia have called for a probe into how the virus started, which has so far infected over 3.2 million people and killed over 230,000. Speaking to CNBC, Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the EU’s executive arm, said she would like to see China work together with her organization, and others, to get to the bottom of exactly how it emerged. “I think this is...

A leaked document from the "Five Eyes" intelligence alliance – made up of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand – shows China purposefully hid and/or destroyed evidence about the Wuhan coronavirus. Specifically, the alliance said the Chinese Communist Party's cover-up can be described as an "assault on international transparency." Australia's The Saturday Telegraph obtained a copy of the 15-page report which concluded China put other countries in grave danger by covering up different aspects of the coronavirus, including the fact that it can be transmitted from human-to-human, doctors magically "disappearing" when trying to talk about...

The Russian pipe laying vessel Academic Cherskiy has reached Danish waters on a journey that began on the other side of the world earlier this year. Russia sent the vessel in a bid to complete the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to bring natural gas directly from Russia into Germany and onto other European countries. Its a move that's been opposed by the United States, which wants to sell liquefied natural gas made in the USA to Europe. To make the point the US imposed sanctions on any companies helping to build the pipeline with President Trump signing the legislation..... Canadian...

PERTH, Australia (AP) -- Police shot dead a man who stabbed and slashed several people at an Australian shopping mall on Friday, an official said. Officials have not revealed how many people were injured in the northwest coastal town of South Hedland or detailed their conditions. No motive for the attacks has been revealed. "A person has engaged in multiple stabbings or slashings of people," Western Australia state Premier Mark McGowan told reporters.

China's foreign ministry on Tuesday accused the United States of "lying through their teeth" and suggested the country mind its own business as the war of words between the world's two biggest economic powers escalated. "We advise American politicians to reflect on their own problems and try their best to control the [coronavirus] epidemic as soon as possible instead of continuing to play tricks to deflect blame," spokesman Geng Shuang said. The comments came on the heels of President Trump suggesting in a press conference on Monday that the U.S. would be seeking "substantial" compensation for China's handling of the...

My Kingdom Economics are derived through "Thanksgiving"for it was in this manner the waters parted for Moses and the snakebites were of no consequence(I will lift my eyes to the hills) for as The Son Of God is lifted up doors open and miracles begin ! My endowment to Him( Jesus) is you( My children of Light ) and so it is as your love for Us is poured out ," Truly " it is returned flowing down upon your heads pressed down shaken together and flowing over into My very Will. So enter My Courts with Thanksgiving "YES" but...

Oil prices moving downwards today with a barrel of West Texas Intermediate at 12.58 a barrel.... Two motorcyle officers rammed by a car driving in the wrong direction in a Paris suburb today.... The Syrian government says that three civilians were killed and four wounded in an early morning Israeli airstrike on the Damascus area..... The US military denying a Syrian Arab News Agency Report that two American soldiers are missing...... Fighting reported in Syria between members of the HTS Al Qaeda forces and Turkish soldiers in the Greater Idlib region.... The United States military killed and injured civilians in...

SYDNEY—Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne has cautioned China against attempts at “economic coercion” as Australia pushes for an investigation into the CCP virus pandemic. Australia last week called for all members of the World Health Organization (WHO) to support an independent review into the origins and spread of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, and is lobbying world leaders. Payne said in a statement on April 27 that Australia had made a “principled call” for an independent review of the COVID-19 outbreak which started in the Chinese city of Wuhan. “We reject any suggestion...

A simple visit to an obscure factory by Chinese President Xi on Monday is all it took to raise the specter that China could be contemplating cutting off supply of critical materials to the U.S. and potentially crippling large swathes of its industries. Also, fueled by political innuendo in Xi’s recent call for a new “Long March” in reference to a key founding tenet of the Chinese Communist Party, speculators are growing increasingly wary of Chinese export restrictions to the U.S., including rare earth minerals. As the world’s largest producer, the Middle Kingdom has a vice-like grip on rare earths...

Human trials for a tuberculosis vaccine thought to boost immune systems in the fight against coronavirus are underway in Australia but despite the promising outlook, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned against using the vaccine outside of clinical settings. WHO has released a statement reminding countries around the world that the Bacille Calmette-Guérin vaccine (BCG) used to fight tuberculosis infection is not recommended for preventing coronavirus. It acknowledged that while experimental trials had been conducted and two related to fighting coronavirus were underway, their relevance to the pandemic was still unknown. "Two clinical trials addressing this question are underway,...

An overhwelming vote in the House today to approve the spending of 484 billion dollars related to the coronavirus with most of it going into what's called a "paycheck protection program" for small businesses.... Five no votes on the legislation four of them Republicans Andy Biggs of Arizona, Ken Buck of Colorado, Jody Hice of Georgia and Thomas Massie of Kentucky. Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also voting no. Republican Justin Amash of Michigan voting present... The French Interior minister prefers to call the violence in Paris suburbs in recent days "sporadic tensions" not "riots"..... More developments from Idaho where mother Sara...

An Australian frigate has joined three U.S. warships in the South China Sea near an area where a Chinese vessel is suspected to be exploring for oil, near waters also claimed by Vietnam and Malaysia, officials said on April 22. The warships arrived this week close to where the Chinese government survey ship Haiyang Dizhi 8 has been operating, which is in turn near where a vessel operated by Malaysia’s Petronas state oil company is conducting exploratory drilling, regional security sources have said. The United States has accused China of pushing its presence in the South China Sea while other...