Free Republic

BEIJING - China’s foreign ministry says the U.S. is “completely wasting the precious time” Beijing had won in attacking the global coronavirus outbreak that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a daily briefing Monday that the U.S. has attempted to “discredit others and look for a scapegoat to shift its responsibilities.” He added that the U.S. should “stop politicizing the epidemic, stop stigmatizing and defaming China and other countries.”

A drug combo already used against HIV. A malaria treatment first tested during World War II. A new antiviral whose promise against Ebola fizzled last year. Could any of these drugs hold the key to saving COVID-19 patients from serious harm or death? On Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced a large global trial, called SOLIDARITY, to find out if any can treat infections with the new coronavirus for the dangerous respiratory disease. It’s an unprecedented effort—an all-out, coordinated push to collect robust scientific data rapidly during a pandemic. The study, which could include many thousands of patients in...

In Italy, China is no longer thought of as the origin of COVID-19, but as a friend in a time of dire need.Medics and paramedics from China salute as the board a Red Cross vehicle upon arrival at the Malpensa airport of Milan, March 18, 2020. Italy has been an alluring geopolitical prize throughout the ages because of its strategic location in the middle of the Mediterranean, its wealth, and the useful skills of its people. Now it’s the turn of today’s rising power, China, to seek to extend its influence there. Last year, Italy signed a Memorandum of Understanding...

Los Angeles (AFP) - James can't afford to quarantine: he lost his job as a waiter in a Los Angeles restaurant and is two weeks away from running out of money for rent and food. But as an undocumented immigrant, the 30-year-old Colombian cannot turn to the social aid programs being offered by the US government to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. James is not his real name. It is the name on his fake social security card that, like many in his precarious position, he uses to get low-paying, hourly jobs. He usually gets by on around $400 a...

Thepandemic could peak in April or May, said one official; another predicted JuneHealth officials confirmed that a patient who died in Durango on Thursday tested positive for Covid-19, making him the second person in Mexico to die of the disease. The man was 74 years old and suffered from hypertension. “Yesterday we mentioned a suspicious death in the state of Durango. The result was confirmed as [Covid-19],” Health Ministry epidemiologist José Luis Alomía told a press conference on Friday. He said that at that moment there were 203 confirmed cases and 606 suspected cases of Covid-19 in the country. Of...

It’s a new version of an old weapon — a creator of botnets that can drive an internet service offline with floods of fake data — that puts to use a previously untapped source of computing power: the ever-growing “internet of things.” That doesn’t mean the Russian FSB security service will soon be peering through Americans’ cell phones and laptops or internet-connected doorbells. Instead, it means that the Russian government has a new tool for creating a DDoS-capable botnet. These botnets harness the computing power of millions of internet-connected things, direct them to spew random data at specific computers, and...

Several months before the coronavirus pandemic began, the Trump administration eliminated a key American public health position in Beijing intended to help detect disease outbreaks in China, Reuters has learned.

Mexico has shut down the operations hub of the country’s most powerful drug families — a remote ranch with a lake full of gators and lions on the prowl. The Monte Rico compound, in the state of Veracruz, was registered to brothers Jacinto and Alberto Rodríguez of the infamous the Los Piñas Cartel. The twosome turned their land into a place where they tortured their rivals, officials said.

An 88-year-old Holocaust survivor suffering from coronavirus reportedly became the first person in Israel to die from the illness. Arie Even, who immigrated to Israel from Hungary in 1949, contracted the virus while staying in an assisted living facility where several of the residents have tested positive for COVID-19, according to Haaretz. “He was a beloved and dear man, lived a full life, was dedicated to his family, and showed strength until his very last moments,” his son said in a statement to the newspaper.

Less than a week after being ordered to close all dining room service and focus solely on takeout, eateries are pulling the plug on that business, too. Takeout and delivery orders in the face of crescendoing coronavirus contamination fears just aren’t pulling in enough dough to keep the lights on. Plus, it’s not safe, restaurateurs say. Cristina Castaneda on Saturday shuttered her last two remaining restaurants, including Mexican restaurant El Mitote and Mediterranean eatery Ella Social, after deciding she couldn’t continue to sell food without endangering her and her staff’s health. “I worked there all day and just couldn’t find...

"The Chinese government was the first to know of this risk to the world, and that puts a special obligation to make sure that data, the data, gets to our scientists, our professionals. This is not about retribution, this matter is going forward; we're in a live exercise here..."

The “Donald Trump/Mike Pence Prayer Vigil” and “Pray for our American Heroes" Prayer Thread have Combined to Form the AMERICA PRAYER VIGIL Prayer Thread! Join with Fellow FREEPERS to Pray for our PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP/VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE and AMERICA: Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, and the Media. 'And this is the Confidence that we have in Him, that, if we Ask Anything According to His Will, He Heareth us.' 1 John 5:14 Religion Forum Threads Labeled [Prayer] are Closed to Debate of Any Kind. Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore Come Boldly unto the Throne of Grace, That we...

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced new measures Sunday to help fight the spread of the coronavirus in L.A., as well as speed up testing for high-risk residents. While many Californians have been adhering to stay at home orders and social distancing guidelines, like keeping six feet distance from other people, far too many are not, the mayor said. "This weekend we saw too many images of too many people crowding beaches or canyons beyond their capacity. Too many people, too close together, too often," Garcetti said. "The longer we do that, the more people will get sick, and the...

A double masted sailboat has grounded off Waikiki on March 22. The Coast Guard and other agencies worked on the best way to remove the 35-foot vessel. There are no reports of pollution, but they say there are diesel, oil, and marine batteries on board. According to the Coast Guard, the “Steady Beat” ran aground on Saturday afternoon, March 21, about 50 yards offshore of the Waikiki Reef Hotel after its anchor failed. The two people on board were not injured.

“One hundred years after the lethal 1918 flu we are still vulnerable,” warned Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), at a Smithsonian seminar on the 1918 pandemic. “Without a universal vaccine, a single virus would result in a world catastrophe.” Could a 1918 scenario could repeat itself? “It’s clear that we have a much greater capacity to respond, and we would expect to respond more effectively to a 1918-like virus, but we could have [a strain] more transmissible and more severe,” Daniel Sosin, the CDC’s deputy director for preparedness said at a recent...

Neighbors cheered and sirens wailed in the distance as the couple exchanged vows in front of a parked vehicle and sealed their union with a kissNew York couple Reilly Jennings and Amanda Wheeler had a feeling that the coronavirus pandemic was going to derail their wedding plans. So with the help of a friend, they improvised. The two tied the knot on a sidewalk of a residential street in the city. Their pal, Matt Wilson, performed their short wedding ceremony from his fourth-floor apartment window. Neighbors cheered and sirens wailed in the distance as the couple exchanged vows in front...

With only 20% of normal lung capacity, Sien Lagae was extremely wary of viruses before anyone in Belgium heard of the coronavirus — and has long relied on caregivers to help her get dressed, clean her house and provide home health care services. Then one of her caregivers mentioned she had just paid 10 euros ($10.67) for a mask to protect herself and others from the virus. Lagae’s hobbies happen to include sewing — and inspiration struck. “I suddenly had the idea to make some face masks for my physiotherapist so that she could protect herself and her patients better,”...

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived Monday in Kabul on an urgent visit to try to move forward a U.S. peace deal signed last month with the Taliban, a trip that comes despite the coronavirus pandemic, at a time when world leaders and statesmen are curtailing official travel. Since the signing of the deal, the peace process has stalled amid political turmoil in Afghanistan, with the country’s leaders squabbling over who was elected president. President Ashraf Ghani and his main rival in last September’s presidential polls, Abdullah Abdullah, have both declared themselves the country’s president in dueling inauguration ceremonies...

A new website has been designed to help with the toilet paper crisis amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The site, called “HowMuchToiletPaper.com,” reports its average user has 500% more toilet paper than they need during quarantine. The website is simple to use. First, go to the website, then users can enter how many rolls of toilet paper they have and how many times they visit the bathroom.