>The Chinese spy balloon that was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean in early February was built -- at least partly -- using American off-the-shelf parts, a U.S. official has confirmed to ABC News.

>A second U.S. official was also able to confirm that the balloon did not appear to have transmitted any of the data it collected on its journey above North America, as was initially reported by the Wall Street Journal.

>The first official could not say whether any of the American gear was sold illicitly to China but said determining whether any of it came from illegal trade was a topic of serious concern among officials since some items -- like chips -- are forbidden to sell to certain markets.

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/835983

>On Friday evening, the Biden administration published a previously classified intelligence report acknowledging that three years of investigations have produced no evidence that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was created in a laboratory by scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in China.

>This admission demolishes years of false claims, uncritically promoted by the entire spectrum of the US media and political establishment, that China deliberately created the virus that has infected the world and killed more than 20 million people.

>The report reveals that three leading US newspapers the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal lied when they claimed that the United States had evidence that researchers at the institute were hospitalized with COVID-19 symptoms before the start of the pandemic, and were thus the proverbial “patient zero.”

>On Friday evening, the Biden administration published a previously classified intelligence report acknowledging that three years of investigations have produced no evidence that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was created in a laboratory by scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in China.

>This admission demolishes years of false claims, uncritically promoted by the entire spectrum of the US media and political establishment, that China deliberately created the virus that has infected the world and killed more than 20 million people.

>The report reveals that three leading US newspapers the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal lied when they claimed that the United States had evidence that researchers at the institute were hospitalized with COVID-19 symptoms before the start of the pandemic, and were thus the proverbial “patient zero.”

https://nitter.net/RichardHanania/status/1672631878770368513

Old gem:

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cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/765172

> Summary so far: > > - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met China's President Xi Jinping as he wraps up a two-day visit to Beijing > - Blinken says he and Xi had "robust conversation" about global affairs, including Russia's "war of aggression against Ukraine" > - He says he has been seeking to "disabuse" China of the notion the US is "seeking to economically contain them" > - Blinken reiterates that the US does not support Taiwan's independence - stating it does not wish to change the status quo > - Alleged human rights violations in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, as well as the issue of North Korea, were also raised > - Blinken says some parts of the talks were "constructive", but adds there is "work to do" in other areas > - Blinken earlier spent hours in meetings with Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi and Foreign Minister Qin Gang > - China-US ties have steadily declined due to trade conflicts, tensions over human rights, and Taiwan - among other issues

Summary so far:

• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met China's President Xi Jinping as he wraps up a two-day visit to Beijing
• Blinken says he and Xi had "robust conversation" about global affairs, including Russia's "war of aggression against Ukraine"
• He says he has been seeking to "disabuse" China of the notion the US is "seeking to economically contain them"
• Blinken reiterates that the US does not support Taiwan's independence - stating it does not wish to change the status quo
• Alleged human rights violations in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, as well as the issue of North Korea, were also raised
• Blinken says some parts of the talks were "constructive", but adds there is "work to do" in other areas
• Blinken earlier spent hours in meetings with Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi and Foreign Minister Qin Gang
• China-US ties have steadily declined due to trade conflicts, tensions over human rights, and Taiwan - among other issues

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/735085

> >Czech President Petr Pavel says Russian citizens living abroad should be put under “strict surveillance” by intelligence services in their host countries. > > >“All Russians living in Western countries should be monitored much more than in the past because they are citizens of a nation that leads an aggressive war,” Pavel said in an interview with Radio Free Europe released Thursday.

>Czech President Petr Pavel says Russian citizens living abroad should be put under “strict surveillance” by intelligence services in their host countries.

>“All Russians living in Western countries should be monitored much more than in the past because they are citizens of a nation that leads an aggressive war,” Pavel said in an interview with Radio Free Europe released Thursday.

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/713082

> >The emptying of the vast reservoir along the Dnipro River in Ukraine as a result of the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam last week has left mudflats littered with skeletons, according to footage posted online, in a reminder of the region’s violent past. > > >In late 1943, the focus was on Nikopol, on the right bank of the river, the site of metal ore mines that Hitler was determined to hold on to. Today, Nikopol is a frontline town held by Ukrainians, looking across the mudflats where the reservoir was and the Dnipro, at the occupied town of Kamianka-Dniprovska and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. > > >Many of the German bodies were left lying in marshes, which were then submerged with the building of the Nova Kakhovka dam in 1956. > > >Recovering the Wehrmacht remains would involve the German War Graves Commission, but that may have to wait until the current war on the Dnipro has ended.

>The emptying of the vast reservoir along the Dnipro River in Ukraine as a result of the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam last week has left mudflats littered with skeletons, according to footage posted online, in a reminder of the region’s violent past.

>In late 1943, the focus was on Nikopol, on the right bank of the river, the site of metal ore mines that Hitler was determined to hold on to. Today, Nikopol is a frontline town held by Ukrainians, looking across the mudflats where the reservoir was and the Dnipro, at the occupied town of Kamianka-Dniprovska and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

>Many of the German bodies were left lying in marshes, which were then submerged with the building of the Nova Kakhovka dam in 1956.

>Recovering the Wehrmacht remains would involve the German War Graves Commission, but that may have to wait until the current war on the Dnipro has ended.

Chen Weihua liked Hakim's tweet about getting him on the podcast on April 18 too:

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