Free Republic

The death toll in Iran from the coronavirus pandemic is likely nearly double the officially reported figures, due to undercounting and because not everyone with breathing problems has been tested for the virus, a parliament report said. Iranian health officials offered no comment on the report, which represents the highest-level charge yet from within the Islamic Republic’s government of its figures being questionable, something long suspected by international experts. Iran on Wednesday put the death toll at 4,777, out of 76,389 confirmed cases of the virus — still making it the Mideast’s worst outbreak by far.

The U.S. presidential election is still seven months away but an MSNBC host is already suggesting that Democrat Joe Biden set up a “shadow government” against the Trump administration amid the coronavirus outbreak. Stephanie Ruhle pitched the idea Wednesday during an interview with Jim Messina, who served as deputy chief of staff of operations under former President Barack Obama. Messina was reacting to news that Obama and Sen. Elizabeth Warren had each endorsed Biden for the presidency in November’s general election.

ALMATY (Reuters) - Kazakhstan’s foreign ministry summoned the Chinese ambassador on Tuesday to protest over an article saying the country was keen to become part of China, the ministry said. In a statement the Kazakh ministry said the article titled “Why Kazakhstan is eager to return to China” and published on privately-owned Chinese website sohu.com “runs counter to the spirit of permanent comprehensive strategic partnership” officially declared between the two countries.

Facing global scrutiny and the potential loss of hundreds of millions in funding from the United States, the embattled leader of the World Health Organization said Wednesday his performance in combatting the coronavirus pandemic will be assessed “in due course.” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Ethiopian politician who has led the United Nations-backed health body as director-general since July 2017, added he intends to “learn” from the outbreak that as of early Thursday had sickened more than 2 million people worldwide and killed more than 130,000. Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Tedros said he would be subjected to a public inquiry...

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., accused President Trump Tuesday night of shifting blame for the extent of the coronavirus pandemic onto China and the World Health Organization instead of accepting responsibility. "The reason that we're in the crisis that we are today is not because of anything that China did, is not because of anything the WHO did. It's because of what this president did," Murphy told CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360". "It's because he didn't take this virus seriously. We weren't going to be able to keep every case out of the United States, but we didn't have to have tens...

China’s foreign ministry said on Thursday the World Health Organization has said there is no evidence that the coronavirus that has infected more than 2 million people globally was made in a lab.

ST. GEORGE — About 100 Utahns gathered on Wednesday evening outside of Washington County city offices to protest Gov. Gary Herbert’s health directives as unconstitutional. A video posted to the Facebook account of Mary Burkett, who is running for Utah’s 2nd Congressional District seat, shows dozens of individuals gathered together holding signs in protest of what they called governmental overreach. “We’ve got a really good group of people coming,” Burkett says in the video. “It’s pretty exciting. We’ve got some more folks coming.” According to James Wilkins, reporter for The Spectrum, hundreds of people attended the event. Burkett told KSL.com...

In 1796, he carried out his now famous experiment on eight-year-old James Phipps. Jenner inserted pus taken from a cowpox pustule and inserted it into an incision on the boy's arm. He was testing his theory, drawn from the folklore of the countryside, that milkmaids who suffered the mild disease of cowpox never contracted smallpox, one of the greatest killers of the period, particularly among children. Jenner subsequently proved that having been inoculated with cowpox Phipps was immune to smallpox. He submitted a paper to the Royal Society in 1797 describing his experiment, but was told that his ideas were...

Maria was terrified when her 23-year-old daughter, Daniela, fled their small Guatemalan village for the United States. The young woman had taken out a 70,000-quetzales, or $9,000, loan to pay coyotes to smuggle her north. She used as collateral the only thing of value her family had: the house that had been in the family for generations. She made it to Los Angeles, where she spent the past year cleaning houses to send money home to Maria and her two children. But now that the novel coronavirus pandemic has locked down the city, and much of the country, she’s out...

Joe Biden takes mask wearing very seriously!! Now who’s going to tell him it’s supposed to cover his mouth and nose? https://t.co/mwzOAr6gmI pic.twitter.com/bMEVSXYIfB— Abigail Marone (@abigailmarone) April 15, 2020

Ann Coulter Retweeted WAIT! New York (New York!) is now trying to get rid of its ventilator stockpile. Not that Michigan needs them either. Truckloads of them are going to travel the country like a night circus... https://t.co/8DNfH6C4vx— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) April 15, 2020 In our hour of need, other states stepped up to help us. We promised we would do the same. We will be sending 100 ventilators to Michigan and 50 ventilators to Maryland.— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) April 15, 2020

<p>FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Baseball Hall of Famer Roy Halladay had high levels of amphetamines in his system and was doing extreme acrobatics when he lost control of his small plane and nosedived into the Gulf of Mexico in 2017, killing him, a National Transportation Safety Board report issued Wednesday said.</p>

There is an increasing belief that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) originated in a lab in Wuhan, China -- not as a bioweapon -- but as part of Beijing's effort to identify and treat viruses to enhance its own international prestige, according to sources. Multiple sources tell Fox News that it is believed standards in Wuhan were disregarded before the virus leaked, and then Beijing began its coverup. Patient Zero is believed to have worked in some capacity in the laboratory and it is believed that the virus was transmitted from bat to human. COVID-19 is considered to be a newly...

Appearing as a guest on Sunday's AM Joy to discuss white evangelical Christians who steadfastly support President Donald Trump, former CNN contributor and religion expert Reza Aslan likened pro-Trump white evangelical Christians to a "doomsday cult" after recalling that there have been a limited number of pastors who have tried to illegally hold services with parishioners in defiance of the pandemic. At 11:28 a.m. Eastern, after playing a clip of the Reverend Robert Jeffress explaining why he was supporting Trump from 2016, citing his stand against abortion, host Joy Reid posed: JOY REID: Abortion is the key to support for...

A person was reportedly shot in Neptune Beach, Florida, on April 14, after allegedly breaking into a home. The home’s doorbell camera captured audio of the suspected break-in, and police are searching for suspects. In the video, a hooded man can be seen repeatedly rushing the front door, eventually getting through, followed by two others. Gunshots can be heard and the three suspects run from the home. The Neptune Beach Police tweeted on their official Twitter account that they have been searching for suspects and urged the public to provide any information to the police tip-line. The person shot was...

The last time the Supreme Court ruled on an issue related to congress not formally adjourning session they left open the door to support Executive Branch invocation of Article II, Section 3, during an “unusual circumstance” or “national catastrophe.” Today President Trump warned congress he may invoke Article II, sec 3, due to the COVID-19 crisis and his need for administration positions that have been delayed by democrats in the Senate for more than two years. The coronavirus pandemic would seem to qualify as an “unusual circumstance” where recess appointments would be needed, valid and justified. However, senate democrats would...

April 16 2020 Thursday in the Octave of Easter Reading 1 Acts 3:11-26 As the crippled man who had been cured clung to Peter and John, all the people hurried in amazement toward them in the portico called “Solomon’s Portico.” When Peter saw this, he addressed the people, “You children of Israel, why are you amazed at this, and why do you look so intently at us as if we had made him walk by our own power or piety? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has...

San Francisco, CA – When the Center for Medical Progress released its shocking series of videos in the summer of 2015, showing undercover footage of Planned Parenthood abortionists and executives discussing their lucrative trade in body parts harvested from aborted babies, it caused a tsunami of bad publicity for the nation’s largest supplier of abortions. The sale of tissues and organs of aborted babies for profit is illegal under 42 U.S. Codes 274e and 289g-2. It was not long before a San Francisco, California, Federal Court Judge placed a gag order sealed up much of the evidence gathered during the...

The city of San Francisco will now allow pro-life activists to remain present outside of abortion facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic, helping women to choose life and access resources to assist them through their pregnancies and beyond. On April 2, 2020, officers from the San Francisco Police Department issued a criminal citation to 86-year-old Ron Konopaski for standing outside of the Valencia Planned Parenthood business while the city continued to be under a “stay-at-home” order due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Konopaski and fellow pro-lifers, including Pro-Life San Francisco founder and president Terrisa Bukovinac, were following social distancing rules while maintaining...

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has directed businesses in the state to provide their employees with masks and has suggested that those who do not wear masks while shopping be denied service during the coronavirus pandemic. Wolf’s remarks and the order came during a news conference on Wednesday. In addition to businesses being required to provide face masks for employees, the order also states that businesses must stagger work schedules in an attempt to prevent large gatherings. According to Wolf, the order, which will begin on Sunday at 8:00 p.m., will also apply to customers and will “require all customers to...