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Australia's newswire axed after 85 years, blames Google, Facebook & free digital media


International Business Times
Tue, 03 Mar 2020 02:17 UTC
Australian Associated Press headquarters
© AFP / DAVID HANCOCK
Staff at Australian Associated Press' headquarters were told a drop-off in subscribers in the face of free online content meant the company was "no longer viable"
Australia's only national newswire will be shuttered after 85 years of operation, with around 180 staff told Tuesday their jobs will end in June.

Staff gathered on the newsroom floor at Australian Associated Press' headquarters in Sydney were told a drop-off in subscribers in the face of free online content meant the company was "no longer viable."

"This decision's been made with very heavy hearts. It's been made on an economic and financial basis," chief executive Bruce Davidson said following the announcement.
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Info

Saudi Arabia suspends Mecca pilgrimage for citizens, residents due to coronavirus concerns


Sputnik
Wed, 04 Mar 2020 13:32 UTC
mecca
© REUTERS / WALEED ALI
The Saudi news agency SPA reported on 28 February that the country's Tourism Ministry had temporarily suspended visas for seven countries, including China, Italy, and South Korea, where spikes in cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) were registered.

Riyadh has temporarily suspended Umrah to the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina for Saudi citizens due to coronavirus concerns, according to the state news agency SPA citing an official source in the Saudi interior ministry.

The decision will be assessed regularly and reversed when the situation changes, SPA reported.

Comment: See also:

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Attention

This ain't no foolin' around

James Howard Kunstler
Clusterfuck Nation
Mon, 02 Mar 2020 10:48 UTC
empty shelves
The shadow of Corona virus creeps ever-darker across the scene like a cosmic messenger from Karma Central telling mankind to stop and assess. We're about to find out what we've wrought with the wonders and marvels of globalism. Is there anything you can think of over at the Wal Mart or the Walgreens that isn't made in China? I mean, everything from a dustpan to a lint brush? I can't say for sure, because I'm not over in China, but the place is apparently not open for business these days. One must surmise that a lot of activities in the USA may not be open for business much longer, either.

The action in my local supermarket yesterday had an undercurrent of stealth desperation; no overt panic buying, no fighting in the aisles, but an edge of suspense. Personally, I cleaned out an entire product-line of cat food, loaded up on cooking oil, rice, dry beans, and evaporated milk — and I wasn't the only one checking out with the sixteen-roll bindle of toilet paper. Obviously, many products were still there on the shelves to get (minus that cat food). Is the time perhaps at hand when a lot of stuff won't be? Just sayin'.

The message is getting out — though not from US authorities yet — that everybody may soon be spending a lot of time home alone. That's exactly what has happened in China and a region of northern Italy. France banned events with more than 5,000 people (why that number, exactly?). Japan has canceled school for the time being — duration unknown for now. So a USA lockdown is not merely hypothetical. These, then, are two fundamental conditions the world faces for a while: nobody moves and nothing gets produced.

Comment: See also:

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Pills

How the Senate paved the way for coronavirus profiteering, and how Congress could undo it

Ryan Grim, Aída Chávez
The Intercept
Mon, 02 Mar 2020 18:30 UTC
pharma money
© Soohee Cho/The Intercept; Getty Images
Before a vaccine to combat the coronavirus pandemic is within view, the Trump administration has already walked back its initial refusal to promise that any remedy would be affordable to the general public. "We can't control that price because we need the private sector to invest," Alex Azar, Health and Human Services secretary and a former drug industry executive, told Congress.

After extraordinary blowback, the administration insisted that in the end, any treatment would indeed be affordable. President Donald Trump on Monday morning tweeted that he would be meeting with "the major pharmaceutical companies today at the White House about progress on a vaccine and cure. Progress being made!" The federal government, though, under the Clinton administration, traded away one of the key tools it could use to make good on the promise of affordability.

Gilead Sciences, a drugmaker known for price gouging, has been working with Chinese health authorities to see if the experimental drug remdesivir can treat coronavirus symptoms. World Health Organization officials say it's the "only one drug right now that we think may have real efficacy." But remdesivir, which was previously tested to treat Ebola virus, was developed through research conducted at the University of Alabama at Birmingham with funding from the federal government.

Comment: See also:

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War Whore

Revolving door: Arms manufacturers hire former military to push through sales in Ottawa

Yves Engler
Dissident Voice
Mon, 02 Mar 2020 00:00 UTC
F-35 ad Ottawa
More politically dependent than almost all other industries, arms manufacturers play for keeps in the nation's capital. They target ads and events sponsorships at decision makers while hiring insiders and military stars to lobby on their behalf.

Activist Tamara Lorincz recently posted a photo of an F-35 ad in a bus shelter in front of Parliament Hill. US weapons giant Lockheed Martin is pushing hard to win a $19 billion contract to supply the Canadian air force with a fleet of new fighter jets.

To gain a share of the public funds on offer arms companies target ads at political and military leaders, promoting their products in washrooms and bus shelters where Department of National Defence (DND) and Canadian Forces (CF) officials congregate. Rideau Institute founder Steven Staples pointed out that "you can't walk around in Ottawa without tripping over some arms dealer on Spark Street."

Arms sellers also sponsor talks and exhibits attended by Ottawa insiders. They promote their brand at the Canadian War Museum, Gatineau-Ottawa airshow, Ottawa Chamber of Commerce, Conference of Defense Associations, etc.

Beyond promoting their wares in the nation's capital, companies advertise aggressively in publications read by Ottawa insiders such as iPolitics, Ottawa Business Journal and Hill Times. "Today's Morning Brief is brought to you by Canada's Combat Ship Team," noted a regular iPolitics ad. "Lockheed Martin Canada is leading a team of BAE Systems, CAE, L3 Technologies, MDA and Ultra Electronics to deliver the Royal Canadian Navy's future fleet of surface combatants." Their ads also foot much of the bill for journals read by military officials such as the Canadian Defence Review, Canadian Naval Review and Esprit de Corps.

Comment: We can find the same dynamic at work for Big Pharma, Big Agriculture, the world of finance, and a whole other slew of industries where individuals work for the government - learn all the ins and outs - and then go on to exploit this knowledge for self gain - much to the detriment of average people who get this product or that policy shoved down their collective throats. And are effectively forced to foot the bill.

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Magnify

IOC confirms Rodchenkov didn't personally sign documents used as evidence in doping case against Russians, lawyer says


RT
Wed, 04 Mar 2020 22:06 UTC
Grigory Rodchenkov
© Getty Images / Tristan Fewings
Grigory Rodchenkov
The lawyer for a trio of Russian biathletes says that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has confirmed documents used in a doping case against his clients were not personally signed by disgraced doctor Grigory Rodchenkov.

On Monday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which is conducting hearings on the case involving three Russian biathletes - Olga Zaitseva, Yana Romanova and Olga Vilukhina - considered a claim by lawyer Alexey Panich, who said that the documents presented by the IOC contained fake signatures of former Moscow Anti-Doping laboratory chief Rodchenkov.

The Olympic governing body, which was given a day to provide an explanation regarding the alleged forged signatures, confirmed that Rodchenkov had not personally signed the papers, which were used as key evidence against the Russian athletes accused of doping, according to the lawyer.
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Health

Coronavirus global death rate at 3.4 percent, Olympics delay a possibility

David Aaro
Fox News
Wed, 04 Mar 2020 08:28 UTC
Olympics coronavirus Japan
© AP
World health officials confirmed on Tuesday the fatality rate for the new coronavirus is at 3.4 percent globally, as Japan's Olympics minister said there's a possibility the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo could be delayed.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, announced the mortality increase during a media briefing, which differed from the previously estimated rate of around 2 percent globally. In comparison, the death rate for the seasonal flu is "far fewer than 1 percent," he said.

"While many people globally have built up immunity to seasonal flu strains, COVID-19 is a new virus to which no one has immunity; that means more people are susceptible to infection, and some will suffer severe disease," Tedros said. "Globally, about 3.4 percent of reported COVID-19 cases have died; by comparison, seasonal flu generally kills far fewer than 1 percent of those infected."

Comment: See also:

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Handcuffs

Iran to temporarily free 54,000 prisoners as coronavirus spreads

Ramin Mostaghim, Mohammed Tawfeeq and Angela Dewan
CNN
Wed, 04 Mar 2020 23:44 UTC
iran coronavirus
Iran will temporarily release 54,000 people from prisons and deploy hundreds of thousands of health workers as officials announced a slew of measures to contain the world's deadliest coronavirus outbreak outside China.

Pressure has been mounting on Iranian officials to take action against the virus as the death toll and number of cases rapidly shoots up. Iran has reported 92 deaths, as 586 new infections were reported overnight, bringing the total up to 2,922, state media reported.

The country has also come under pressure as Middle Eastern nations, including Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, have reported cases with links to the Iranian city of Qom, where several holy sites are regularly visited by large crowds.

Comment: See also:

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Stop

European Defence Agency cancels all meetings as two EU officials test positive for Coronavirus in Brussels


RT
Wed, 04 Mar 2020 18:41 UTC
eu flags
© Global Look Press
In a development that will surely send shivers through the European Union's corridors of power, two officials working at the bloc's administrative headquarters in Brussels have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

"We have confirmation of the case," spokesperson Dana Spinant said after the first case was revealed on Wednesday. Spinant added that reports about a male official working at the European Defence Agency contracting the virus were true, and that he had recently returned from a trip to Italy.

The second case was confirmed just a few hours later on Wednesday with health officials revealing that the patient works in a security unit of the European Council and is believed to have been in contact with a previous case in Belgium.

The European Defence Agency (EDA) has reportedly canceled all meetings to be held at its premises until March 13 as a precaution. The agency has also called off external meetings until mid-March.

The supposedly senior EDA official who contacted the coronavirus reportedly met with a group of approximately 30 officials from other EU institutions last week.

Comment: Meanwhile in Italy, the government is considering closing all schools, universities and other educational institutions for the next couple weeks (as some Asian countries have already done). The decision has reportedly already been made to do so, but it hasn't been officially announced:
"None of us can be sure about the future evolution of the disease. This is an important week to understand what will happen," Angelo Borrelli, head of the Civil Protection Agency, told a news conference Tuesday.

Riccardo Molinari, a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies confirmed that additional emergency funding will be issued in the coming days.

"On the economic issue, there will be a third decree, we will discuss on that. We are obviously ready to collaborate on healthcare containment. The economic measures implemented so far are emergency, now another measure is needed," Molinari said.
And in Russia, authorities have banned export of masks and other vital equipment to other nations (something Taiwan already had in place as policy, to ensure enough supplies for the local population).

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Gear

Coronavirus begins its advance in the USA and Europe

Seraphim Hanisch
The Duran
Tue, 03 Mar 2020 00:00 UTC
Coronavirus outbreak map
The virus' shift to the West may help give experts more trustworthy information on its virulence and activity

When the novel coronavirus first made its appearance in Wuhan, China, it was newsworthy, but it seemed difficult to trust the information coming out of China, due to its communist governmental structure. To some extent, this suspicion appears to have been justified, as one of the main doctors who warned his own government about the danger of this virus just died from it. Now the virus appears to be making rapid advances in free nations, most notably Italy, South Korea and Japan, and in Iran, sadly taking the life of one of Ayatollah Khameini's top advisers on Monday morning, March 2nd. It also is making headway in the United States, having claimed six lives there over the past weekend and into this week (updated March 3rd, 2020).


Comment: Keeping the following in mind: Deaths in China exceed 1,000, but number of new COVID-19 virus cases continues to fall


There are still gaping holes in our body of reliable information about this virus, its activity and effects on people. This is exacerbating a real period of turmoil in the world's markets, with the Dow Jones marking a drop of more than ten percent in one week last week, travel being sharply curtailed from many of the infected regions to relatively clear ones, and so on.

We hope to periodically chronicle this story until it come to its resolution point.

Any real news on the origin of the virus?

As yet, there is no direct news conceringing where coronavirus originated, or how. The present narrative still is that story of the virus arising from some sort of transmission from the sale of bats and pangolins in a Wuhan market.
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