FBI CHIEF SAYS CHINA LAB LEAK LIKELY CAUSED COVID-19 PANDEMIC

FBI director Christopher Wray said his department previously concluded that the Covid-19 virus most likely originated from a “potential lab incident” in Wuhan, China, contradicting scientific claims that it emerged naturally like other previous outbreaks.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation tweeted an excerpt from Wray’s interview with Fox News on Tuesday. His remarks follow reports that an energy department classified assessment determined that the virus was the result of a lab leak, although that conclusion was given a “low confidence” rating. “The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan,” Wray said. The Chinese government “has been doing its best to try to thwart and obfuscate the work here, the work that we’re doing,” he added.

In a report released by the office of the director of National Intelligence in October 2021, the US intelligence community was divided over how the outbreak began. The report said agencies concluded that two causes were plausible: that the virus emerged in animals and spread to humans, or that it sprang from an incident at a lab in Wuhan.

Individual agencies weren’t identified in the report. But Wray’s latest comments suggest the FBI was the one intelligence branch cited in the report that concluded with “moderate confidence” thevirus likely emerged from a lab leak or accident.

NEW HOUSE COMMITTEE ON CHINA DEBUTS, WARNS OF 'EXISTENTIAL STRUGGLE'

Washington: A special House committee dedicated to countering China began its work Tuesday with a prime-time hearing in which the panel's chairman called on lawmakers to act with urgency and framed the competition between the U.S. and China as “an existential struggle over what life will look like in the 21st century.”

While some critics have expressed concern the hearings could escalate U.S.-Chinese tensions, lawmakers sought to demonstrate unity and the panel's top Democrat made clear that he doesn't want a “clash of civilizations” but a durable peace.

China’s opaque response to the COVID-19 pandemic, its aggression toward Taiwan and the recent flight of a possible spy balloon over the U.S. have fueled lawmakers’ desire to do more to counter the Chinese government. The new Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party is expected to be at the center of many of their efforts over the next two years.

The committee's chairman, Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., opened the hearing with a call for action. Addressing the difficulty of finding common ground on China-focused legislation, he said the Chinese government has found friends on Wall Street and in lobbyists on Washington's K Street who are ready to oppose the committee's efforts.

“Time is not on our side. Just because this Congress is divided, we cannot afford to waste the next two years lingering in legislative limbo or pandering for the press,” Gallagher said. “We must act with a sense of urgency.”

Gallagher is looking for the committee to shepherd several bills over the finish line during the next two years and issue a set of recommendations on long-term policies. So far, Gallagher appears to have Democratic buy-in and support. The vote to create the committee was bipartisan, 365-65.

Opponents on the Democratic side largely voiced the concern that the committee could stir an even greater rise in anti-Asian hate crimes. Gallagher said he is committed to ensuring the focus is on the Chinese Communist Party, not on the people of China.

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., the ranking Democrat on the committee, said both Republicans and Democrats have underestimated the Chinese Communist Party. He said its goal is to pursue economic and trade policies that undermine the U.S. economy.

“We do not want a war with the (People's Republic of China), not a cold war, not a hot war,” Krishnamoorthi said. “We don't want a clash of civilizations. But we seek a durable peace and that is why we have to deter aggression.”

The hearing was interrupted by two protesters, one saying, “this committee is about saber rattling, it’s not about peace.” Both were ushered out by police.

100+ IN HOSP AFTER NEW GAS ATTACKS ON IRAN GIRLS’ SCHOOLS

Tehran : More than 100 students were hospitalised in Iran after a new spate of suspected gas attacks on girls’ schools on Wednesday, media outlets in the Islamic republic reported. Hundreds of cases of respiratory distress have been reported in the past three months among schoolgirls across Iran, in what one government official has said could be an attempt to force the closure of girls’ schools.

At least 10 girls’ schools were targeted in the latest suspected attacks on Wednesday, seven of them in the city of Ardabil and three in the capital Tehran, media reported. The incident in Ardabil forced the hospitalisation of 108 students, all of whom were in stable condition, said Tasnim news agency. Citing parents,Fars agency said students at one high school in the capital had been exposed to a toxic spray. It didn’t elaborate. Fars said the security forces had detained three people in the first reported arrests linked to the case. Since the outbreak of thepoisonings in November, almost 1,200 students have required hospitalisation for breathing difficulties, a lawmaker said on Wednesday.

They included nearly 800 in the holy city of Qomand 400 in the city of Borujerd, said Zahra Sheikhi, spokesperson for the Iranian parliament’s health committee. Health ministry tests on the substance found at the schools in Qom detected traces of nitrogen, which is mainly used in fertilisers, the parliament’s website said.

CHINA AND BELARUS EXPRESS 'EXTREME INTEREST' IN UKRAINE PEACE

The leaders of China and Belarus have expressed their "extreme interest" in a peaceful resolution in Ukraine.

Chinese President and Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia's Vladimir Putin, issued the statement after talks in Beijing.

Mr Lukashenko said his country "fully supports" a Beijing plan for ending the war in Ukraine.

China announced a plan for peace talks last week, calling for the respect of national sovereignty.

The visit comes days after China sent its top diplomat Wang Yi to meet Mr Putin.

Mr Lukashenko and Mr Xi's meeting also coincided with a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Central Asian nations to discuss the Ukraine war.

On Wednesday, China and Belarus "expressed deep concern" about the conflict and "extreme interest in the soonest possible establishment of peace in Ukraine", the Belarus state-run news agency Belta reported.

Mr Lukashenko has aided the Russian leader in his war in Ukraine, and observers have seen his trip to Beijing as another sign of China closing ranks with Russia and its allies.

The Belarus leader praised China's peace plan.

Mr Lukashenko said he "fully supports the initiative on international security you have put forward", according to remarks released by his aides.

Political decisions "should be aimed at first and foremost preventing a slide into a global confrontation that will see no winners", he told Mr Xi.

China's peace plan was met with general distrust in the West.

PAK SC: POLLS FOR PUNJAB, KP ASSEMBLIES MUST BE HELD WITHIN 90 DAYS

Islamabad : Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that elections for the provincial assemblies in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) must be held within 90 days of their dissolution. The five-member bench, led by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, gave a split 3-2 decision.

Both Punjab and KP have been under caretaker governments since the provincial assemblies were dissolved last month after PTI chief and former PM ImranKhan asked his party’s CMs in the two provinces to do so, in an attempt to pave the way for snap elections.

“Parliamentary democracy is asalient feature of the constitution. There can be no parliamentary democracy without parliament or the provincial assemblies,” the verdict said, adding: “And there can be neither parliament nor provincial assemblies without the holding of general elections as envisaged, required and mandated by and under the constitution and in accordance therewith”. Pakistan routinely holds the provincial and national elections together.

The general polls are due by October this year but the dissolution of Punjab and KP assemblies on January 14 and 18, respectively, have paved the way for snap polls.

The top court, in its ruling, held that in situations where a governor dissolved a provincial assembly, the constitutional responsibility of appointing a date for the election was to be discharged by the governor. “In situations where the assembly is not dissolved by the order of the governor, theconstitutional responsibility of appointing a date for the general election that must follow is to be discharged by the president. ”

The court stated that since elections after the dissolution of a provincial assembly were to be held within a stipulated period of time, the president or the governor “must discharge the constitutional responsibility of appointing a date for the said election swiftly and without any delay and within the shortest time possible”.

UKRAINE 2ND ON LIST, WITH RUSSIA CUTTING ITS ACCESS TO NET 22 TIMES

Authorities disrupted internet access at least 49 times in J&K due to political instability and violence, including a string of 16 back-to-back orders for threeday-long curfew style shutdowns in January and February 2022,” the report noted. Since the time New York-based AccessNow started documenting shutdowns in 2016, India has accounted for approximately 58% of all shutdowns documented in its shutdown tracker database. “The responsibility of Indian states for the majority of shutdowns globally is impossible to ignore and a deep problem on its own,” the report said.

In 2022, authorities across 35 countries shut down the internet — the highest number ever recorded in a single year, as per Access Now.

After India, Ukraine was second on the list, with the Russian military cutting access to the internet at least 22 times after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 of last year. Ukraine was followed on the list by Iran where authorities imposed 18 internet shutdowns in 2022 in response to demonstrations against the government. Ethiopia dragged on the over two-year-long shutdown in Tigray, and the junta disconnected people in Myanmar at least seven times. The top reasons for internet shutdowns, as recorded by Access Now, included high-profile events such as public demonstrations, conflicts/protests, school exams, and elections.

India tops world in Net shutdowns for 5th yr: Report

Chennai : India imposed the highest number of internet shutdowns globally in 2022, a new report by digital rights advocacy firm Access Now shows, reports Sindhu Hariharan. Out of the 187 internet shutdowns recorded globally by Access Now in the year, 84 took place in India, including 49 in Kashmir. India also topped the list as the country with the most internet shutdowns by the state for the fifth successive year.