Today is First Contact day - but it has been cancelled because there is no intelligent life on this planet.
Wuhan Virus -
Significant developments on my radar . . . .
China is not out of the woods. China reported 30 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, Reuters is reporting that a county in central China’s Henan province announced on Wednesday it had “virtually banned all outbound movement of people, following several cases of coronavirus infection in the area.” According to a post on its social media account, Jia county - which has a population of about 600,000 - said that no one can travel out of Jia county without proper authorization. Additionally, residents are not allowed to leave their homes for work unless they have clearance to do so.”
France -
A Sudanese national in the French town of Romans-sur-Isere, just south of Lyon, went on a rampage Saturday on a busy street attacking 7 people, killing two and wounding five in a terror attack. He was not on any kind of terror watch list or known to law enforcement.
Iran -
Iran placed Long Range Fajr-5 multiple launch rocket systems on Qeshm Island today. The placement is a threat to oil shipping in the region and specifically the Straits of Hormuz.
Lebanon -
It is being reported by Iranian media reporting that Ali Mohammad Younis, a commander of Hezbollah, has been assassinated in southern Lebanon. Unclear if he was shot or stabbed, but there is still no official statement from Hezbollah.
Wuhan Virus -
Many of the various categories I’m following have now integrated effects from this pandemic, but I’m keeping them separate for clarity. Check numerous FR threads for more specific corona virus threads. We are entering uncharted waters as far as this pandemic goes. . . . . .
US Surgeon General warns that this next week (Holy Week BTW) will be our Pearl Harbor/911 moment. Monitoring. But if rhetoric doesn’t equal results then something has to change.
Africa is facing a near complete collapse due corona virus related shutdowns. 50% of all projected job growth in Africa could be lost.
Japan seems to be losing control of infections, with states of emergencies being declared in Tokyo and six other prefectures.
US manufacturers are complaining to the government that China prohibited the export of medical supplies during the early phases of the pandemic. China was apparently trying to corner the market on those supplies. Now legal action is being planned against China. Well, keep the lawyers busy. Don’t forget, the US had just beat China in a trade war covering other items produced there.
If things weren’t bad enough already, there is a global condom shortage looming . . . .
Iraq/Iran -
Overnight, five missiles were fired at an “American oil company,” according to the Iranian Fars News website. Iraqi news reports something similar. The target was the Zubeir oil field, Basrah, operated by Halliburton. Terrorists utilized a similar ‘shoot and scoot’ tactic used against Taj and the Green zone - small, rocket launchers (truck or trailer mounted) are put into position, rockets lit and the militias immediatedly leave the area before response units arrive. Photographs of these launchers show 8 tubes welded into a launcher set. The launcher is set on the ground, loaded and fired. This attack had a high failure rate for launches, only 5 successfully launched (at least two 8-rocket launchers were recovered). Expect the terrorists to improve on this the next time. This may harbinger a change in tactics - attacking american owned/financed interests rather than poking the bear and attacking US troop directly. This may not work out too well for the Iranian backed militias because these companies employ a significant number of Iraqis with good paying jobs. Loss of such work will stiffen anger towards Iran et al.