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Bombshell: Google Funded Wuhan Lab Collaborator’s Research For Over A Decade

Tech titan Google has reportedly funded EcoHealth Alliance founder and Wuhan lab collaborator Peter Daszak’s research for over a decade.
The National Pulse <a href="https://thenationalpulse.com/exclusive/google-funded-wuhan-linked-ecohealth-research/">reported</a> Friday that Google funded numerous scientific studies on a variety of viruses conducted by Daszak spanning 2010-2018.
“The decade-plus relationship is evident in a 2010 study on bat <a href="https://www.ecohealthalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/ID-of-a-novel-GB-like-flavivirus-from-bats-in-Bangladesh_Epstein-et-al-PLoS-Pathogens_Jul-2010.pdf">flaviviruses</a>, which lists Daszak and EcoHealth Alliance Vice President Jonathan Epstein as authors, that thanks Google.org for funding,” Natalie Winters wrote.
“A 2014 study on henipavirus spillover, which was authored by Daszak, similarly declares it was partly ‘<a href="https://www.ecohealthalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Evidence-for-henipavirus-spillover-into-human-populations-in-Africa.pdf">supported by Google.org</a>.'”
<figure class="wp-block-image"><img alt="" src="https://thenationalpulse.com/wp-content/uploads/Screen-Shot-2021-06-19-at-10.40.37-AM.png" /></figure>
Notably, one Google-backed study Daszak conducted in 2018 called <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0194647">“Serologic and Behavioral Risk Survey of Workers with Wildlife Contact in China”</a>, puts forward the theory that SARS-like coronaviruses could originate in a wet market near the city of Wuhan.
From the introduction:
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote" readability="18">
Handling, transporting, and butchering of hunted or farmed wildlife poses a risk of pathogen spillover into humans. In southern China provinces, including Guangdong, a significant percentage of the population obtains fresh meat for consumption from wet markets, community markets that specialize in selling and butchering live animals, including animals that are rare and endangered. Research has demonstrated that human-animal interfaces, such as within these wet markets, provide an ideal environment for infectious disease emergence, transmission, and amplification.
</blockquote>
Read the study:
What business does a Silicon Valley tech company have funding virological research, specifically research with indirect connections to the Wuhan Institute of Virology through Daszak?
Remember that Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance group <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/05/25/fauci-admits-nih-funding-of-wuhan-lab-denies-gain-of-function/">sent taxpayer money</a> earmarked by the National Institute of Health to the Wuhan lab for gain of function research.
Additionally, Daszak was almost single-handedly responsible for <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/06/04/who-is-peter-daszak-exec-who-sent-taxpayer-money-to-wuhan-lab/">shaping the COVID-19 narrative by pressuring The Lancet</a>, a British medical journal, to issue a statement that the coronavirus came from a wet market in Wuhan.
Finally, Daszak was the only American member of the World Health Organization’s investigative tour of Wuhan, who <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/news/lesley-stahl-grills-member-of-who-team-on-chinas-denial-of-wuhan-lab-theory-youre-just-taking-their-word-for-it/">finally admitted</a> on “60 Minutes” in March that the global body simply took it on China’s word that COVID-19 originated from a wet market.
“There’s a limit to what you can do and we went right up to that limit. We asked them tough questions. They weren’t vetted in advance. And the answers they gave, we found to be believable — correct and convincing,” he said.
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The top project manager who organized gain of function studies in Wuhan China and then ran a coverup over the leak, brags about his work pre pandemic. This is <a href="https://freeworldnews.tv/watch?id=609af3cbb493572075b0c04a">damning video for the globalists</a>.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/bombshell-google-funded-wuhan-lab-collaborators-research-for-over-a-decade">https://www.infowars.com/posts/bombshell-google-funded-wuhan-lab-collaborators-research-for-over-a-decade</a>

news Bombshell: Google Funded Wuhan Lab Collaborator’s Research For Over A Decade

Tech titan Google has reportedly funded EcoHealth Alliance founder and Wuhan lab collaborator Peter Daszak’s research for over a decade. Th...

‘A Lifetime In Debt’: Older Americans Are Facing A Student-Loan Crisis

With the moratorium on student loan payments set to end with the summer, the American media is once again reckoning with the fact that the US has a hidden crisis with older borrowers weighed down by student debt. In many cases, these borrowers have been paying off student loans for decades.
At the very least, it’s a depressing image of what might lie in store for millions of millennials, as individual student debt burdens have only grown more unmanageable as the cost of college accelerated beyond all control.
But with President Biden considering <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/unpaid-student-loans-top-435-billion">forgiving $10K per borrower, and the aggregate sum of delinquent student loan debt</a> surpassing $435 billion (roughly one-third of the $1.7 trillion total), it’s important to remember that repaying debt doesn’t get any easier once borrowers pass their prime employment years. In fact, it gets much more difficult once you start living on a fixed income.
There are now about 8.7 million Americans aged over 50 who are still paying off college loans, and their debt has increased by about half since 2017. Since then, they’ve represented the fastest growing group of borrowers as more older workers have gone back to school to try and change careers.
<figure class="wp-block-image"><img alt="" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/growing.jpg?itok=91GNHuSc" />
<figcaption>Source: <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-17/student-loan-growing-share-of-1-7-trillion-debt-pile-held-by-older-americans?sref=i4qXzk6d">Bloomberg</a></figcaption>
</figure>
For worried borrowers looking for relief, they can perhaps rest easy knowing that there’s strength in numbers. With <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/40m-americans-bracing-end-student-loan-moratorium-politicians-acknowledge-unsustainable">more than 40MM borrowers in the US,</a> student-loan debtors represent a critical voting bloc, which is one of the reasons why investment banks like Goldman see smaller scale debt-relief as the most likely scenario.
<figure class="wp-block-image"><img alt="" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/GS_2.jpeg?itok=4OeMWr7v" /></figure>
But for many, 10K might only make a small dent in what they owe.
It’s also worth considering that some of these borrowers took out loans on behalf of their children. Some took out loans to help their children, and could be well into their 90s before they’re done repaying them. Others went back to school later in life. In both cases, borrowers got saddled with hefty interest rates that caused their balances to balloon over time.
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote" readability="11">
“The interest accrued big-time,” says Alma Topete, 60, who borrowed about $30,000 and owes $70,000 today. “I never expected to have to have a loan at this age.”
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And let’s not forget, student loans were never supposed to be a lifelong burden. While some borrowers did it on behalf of their children, others accrued debt from going back to school or getting an expensive graduate degree later in life. That’s why the upcoming unfreezing of debt payments is a multi-generational problem. With payments due to start again in September, consumers (many of whom are just transitioning back into the labor market) will be squeezed by rising prices and the resumption of a bill that typically costs hundreds of dollars per month.
<figure class="wp-block-image"><img alt="" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/hook.jpg?itok=tRCOxSYB" />
<figcaption>Source: <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-17/student-loan-growing-share-of-1-7-trillion-debt-pile-held-by-older-americans?sref=i4qXzk6d">Bloomberg</a></figcaption>
</figure>
Most student loans are supposed to be repaid on a 10-year clock. But many borrowers, especially those with lower credit, face higher interest rates that make it difficult for them to make much progress on the principle.
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote" readability="30">
But the reality for many borrowers is very different. Frank Sizer Jr., who’s 77, reckons he has nearly two decades of payments still to go. A former prison warden, Sizer borrowed money to help his son study biology at Bridgewater College in Virginia. He retired in 2010 — two years after his son graduated — and currently owes about $52,000.
“God knows what the original amount was,” he says. “It just continued to grow.” He expected to have paid it off before retiring, and it’s only gotten harder to find the $500 a month for loan payments because “you don’t have the income that you did when you were working.”
One reason why parent borrowers like Sizer often find their loan balances swelling is that they have to pay higher interest rates.
Since mid-2006, federally backed loans under the Parent PLUS program have charged an average of 466 basis points above U.S. Treasury bonds, well above the typical rate for student borrowers. And loans to parents come with a hefty one-time origination fee too. The current going rate is 4.23% of the total amount borrowed — about four times what students are typically charged.
It’s not just parental borrowers who suffer from ballooning loan balances late in life.
</blockquote>
Even before the pandemic, the share of loans in serious delinquency has been stubbornly high.
<figure class="wp-block-image"><img alt="" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/breathingroom_0.jpg?itok=CeHPzhaj" /></figure>
And senior borrowers represent one in every 10 seriously delinquent borrower.
<figure class="wp-block-image"><img alt="" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/seniors.jpg?itok=l-XCj1F7" />
<figcaption>Source: <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-17/student-loan-growing-share-of-1-7-trillion-debt-pile-held-by-older-americans?sref=i4qXzk6d">Bloomberg</a> </figcaption>
</figure>
In its piece, Bloomberg cited the Villages, a popular retirement community in Florida, as an example of growing debt among the elderly.
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote" readability="16">
In The Villages, for example, a vast age-restricted community in central Florida, the median loan balance rose to $17,921 at the end of 2019, from $11,110 a decade earlier. Before the pandemic forbearance, one in eight borrowers there was severely delinquent, according to the Philadelphia Fed’s Consumer Credit Explorer.
</blockquote>
When payments fall due again on Oct. 1, more may struggle to pay. It’s not clear if the government will have taken any steps toward debt writedowns by then.
So, now the big question for millions of borrowers is: how much longer until Papa Biden comes charging to the rescue with his oft-promised student-loan debt jubilee?
<hr class="wp-block-separator" />
Harrison sees a two class system devised around <a href="https://freeworldnews.tv/watch?id=60afe9ab7aaba7543fb98890">crippling debt in our future</a>.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/a-lifetime-in-debt-older-americans-are-facing-a-student-loan-crisis">https://www.infowars.com/posts/a-lifetime-in-debt-older-americans-are-facing-a-student-loan-crisis</a>

news ‘A Lifetime In Debt’: Older Americans Are Facing A Student-Loan Crisis

With the moratorium on student loan payments set to end with the summer, the American media is once again reckoning with the fact that the U...

Emergency Saturday Broadcast! Dr. Steve Pieczenik, Nick Fuentes Expose January 6 False Flag

In this emergency Saturday transmission, Alex Jones is joined by Dr. Steve Pieczenik, America First firebrand Nick Fuentes, radio host Peter Santilli, and constitutional attorney Robert Barnes to break down the latest bombshell revelations pointing to the FBI as the prime mastermind of the Capitol riot on January 6th, 2021.
Revolver News this week published a <a href="https://www.revolver.news/2021/06/federal-foreknowledge-jan-6-unindicted-co-conspirators-raise-disturbing-questions/">bombshell exposé</a> of the FBI’s pivotal role in orchestrating the Capitol riot by infiltrating right-wing militia groups like the Proud Boys and <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/green-beret-calls-on-u-s-patriots-who-were-asked-to-spy-on-oath-keepers-by-fbi-to-speak-out-against-deep-state-setup/">Oath Keepers</a> with informants and provocateurs.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s supplemental <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/tucker-carlson-fbi-operatives-coordinated-the-capitol-riot/">coverage of the FBI false flag</a> on the Capitol has put the media and its Deep State handlers – who’ve lauded the “sea change” of the intelligence community now targeting Trump supporters domestically instead of real terrorist threats – on defense.
Fuentes, <a href="https://freeworldnews.tv/watch?id=60cbbf2863f23e137da4d3c2">who was at the march</a> on the Capitol that day, explained on The Alex Jones Show that a Deep State false flag of the Capitol event provided perfect justification for the Biden administration to come after Trump supporters.
“I remember explicitly warning my followers that this is going to become a target of the Deep State, this will be a target of Stop the Steal by maybe turning it into something other than what it is,” Fuentes said Saturday.
“And what we have now is almost perfect verifiable evidence that you had massive involvement at the highest levels of the groups by the FBI, by the intelligence apparatus, by federal law enforcement. And what this indicates to us that maybe this was not the spontaneous, organic so-called insurrection that the media is making it out to be, but actually something like a trap.”
“And look at the consequences of the January 6 events and obviously the inauguration of Joe Biden, which is DHS surveillance, it is DOJ persecuting and prosecuting its political enemies; it’s surveillance, it’s infiltration, it’s a new war on terrorism against all Trump supporters in America,” he added.
Constitutional lawyer Robert Barnes analyzed the new revelations from Revolver News and described the typical false flag signs that were present at the Capitol riot.
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“From the very beginning of this event, is smacked of some aspects of government complicity and staging it, creating it, instigating it, and creating a narrative afterwards to justify various forms of politicized repression,” Barnes said.
“The three signs of government complicity in an event: an unusual lapse of security, unusual failures to follow up on investigative information and advanced warnings, and unusual aspects of the criminal investigation – including seclusion, secreting, and disappearing evidence – are all now present in the January 6 event,” he explained.
“What you have is an administration that is more focused on criminalizing its internal dissent than on dealing with its external threats and risks,” he added.
Barnes also noted that the hallmarks of the FBI’s involvement in the Capitol riot are analogous to its involvement in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which is traced back to its militia infiltration program code-named <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2012/04/18/patriot-games/">PATCON</a>.
“And they hid that for maybe 15 years that some of us at the time…were pointing out that there was likely government complicity connected to events that took place at Oklahoma City,” Barnes said.
“The government said they had no such program. And then 2007-2008 it comes out that they had in 1990 created PATCON, and they were infiltrating – along with the Southern Poverty Law Center – people connected to the events related to Oklahoma City. So their fingerprints are all over this.”
Intelligence insider Steve Pieczenik also joined the show to lay out how the events America is witnessing are part of a desperate and failing “military coup.”
“The real issue now is we’re in the midst of a military coup,” Pieczenik told Alex Jones. “January 6 was nothing more than another 9/11 false flag.”
“We marked the computers, we marked the ballots, we know exactly who’s corrupt, we know where the corruption’s occurring. And what you’re seeing is the federal government trying to hold on, and they’re not succeeding because the powers are going to the states,” he claimed.
<hr class="wp-block-separator" />
Alex Jones breaks down the war being waged on the American right by their <a href="https://freeworldnews.tv/watch?id=60cd105ec9de0e16ffb54a3b">political opposition in control of the Justice Dept</a>.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/emergency-saturday-broadcast-dr-steve-pieczenik-nick-fuentes-expose-january-6-false-flag">https://www.infowars.com/posts/emergency-saturday-broadcast-dr-steve-pieczenik-nick-fuentes-expose-january-6-false-flag</a>

news Emergency Saturday Broadcast! Dr. Steve Pieczenik, Nick Fuentes Expose January 6 False Flag

In this emergency Saturday transmission, Alex Jones is joined by Dr. Steve Pieczenik, America First firebrand Nick Fuentes, radio host Peter...

Abortion rights, Joe Biden, and communion: the controversy, explained

In a break from the Vatican and past policy, the American arm of the Roman Catholic Church this week kicked off a process that could eventually sanction the exclusion of President Joe Biden, the nation’s second Catholic president, from receiving holy communion.
On Thursday, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, which consists of all Catholic bishops in the US and the US Virgin Islands, voted overwhelmingly to <a href="https://www.usccb.org/news/2021/us-bishops-approve-action-items-their-agenda-spring-general-assembly">draft</a> “a formal statement on the meaning of the Eucharist in the life of the Church” that would clarify church policy on the topic — at least in the US. If approved, such a statement could allow individual bishops to prevent Catholic politicians who disagree with church doctrine about abortion from receiving the sacrament of the Eucharist, a sacred rite in Catholicism.
It’s a change that has been pushed by conservative bishops with renewed fervor in recent months, following Biden’s victory over former President Donald Trump, and appears to specifically target Biden, who is vocal about his Catholic faith, and whose personal views on abortion have been subject to question throughout his <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-campaign-abortion-biden-ryan-debate/catholics-ryan-biden-disagree-over-abortion-rights-idINDEE89B04C20121012">time as vice president</a> and while campaigning in 2020 for the Oval Office.
Thursday’s vote also reflects an internal divide among US church leadership over how involved the religious institution should be in political life. If the conference does produce a statement opposing sacraments for pro-choice politicians, it would be a sharp departure from past non-responses to politicians who have gone against church teachings on other issues, such as the death penalty. And it would diverge from the teachings of Pope Francis, head. of the Catholic Church, who has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/20/world/europe/pope-bluntly-faults-churchs-focus-on-gays-and-abortion.html">called for the church</a> to be a “home for all,” rather than overly focusing on a handful of social issues.
Biden, 78, is an observant Catholic who regularly attends Mass — including in Cornwall, England, during the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/u-k-churchgoers-stunned-bidens-join-them-sunday-service-n1270608">recent G7 summit</a> — and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-catholic-bishops/2021/06/18/acf576c0-d04a-11eb-a7f1-52b8870bef7c_story.html">reportedly considered</a> entering the priesthood at multiple points in his life.
<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1624165620_5998_134035" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22669020,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ajCIXdp2HvtvH5mEBU4fjkV7UKE=/0x0:3470x2313/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3470x2313):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22669020/1233424320.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Ya8-CCBTVIwtsVd6_e3l0V_Hnpo=/0x0:3470x2313/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3470x2313):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22669020/1233424320.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/r5V0LF05n5NNNWzWPciIdlsEcJg=/0x0:3470x2313/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3470x2313):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22669020/1233424320.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vEW42b4vD1mMMvvSYez0-LRkf4w=/0x0:3470x2313/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3470x2313):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22669020/1233424320.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/z7Iv4HsowbkTRgZmaEy2pdH-_WY=/0x0:3470x2313/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3470x2313):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22669020/1233424320.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7MuLPXuBzzmmL3SFbj3JEJM0XyI=/0x0:3470x2313/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3470x2313):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22669020/1233424320.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/LSCPZJf8Fe2M3L4Ye4t2KGGMN-Y=/0x0:3470x2313/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3470x2313):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22669020/1233424320.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/X3HG_PoZPq9dupJ9RVwS_qSEBLA=/0x0:3470x2313/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3470x2313):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22669020/1233424320.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/n7fucu7inj7cgrAjvEbUUxdlrps=/0x0:3470x2313/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3470x2313):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22669020/1233424320.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="BRITAIN-G7-SUMMIT" data-upload-width="3470" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/m3xr9Hg29pQRaPALkXwzK4aACbI=/0x0:3470x2313/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3470x2313):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22669020/1233424320.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/G5NLGvJtdNIIEg1xgFJ8qjgZn6k=/0x0:3470x2313/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3470x2313):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22669020/1233424320.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tuX6ozVcjPLmpK46cbdOHSLiUZo=/0x0:3470x2313/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3470x2313):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22669020/1233424320.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zPIAym0y9PMyt3iuWryRAm-yrtE=/0x0:3470x2313/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3470x2313):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22669020/1233424320.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/j2fpNbbIWAnscJ3yEwhogfVfBCI=/0x0:3470x2313/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3470x2313):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22669020/1233424320.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6StDZTqY7sGboiEUar1tnj9Lt7g=/0x0:3470x2313/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3470x2313):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22669020/1233424320.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6_bHQRPMSOZHwqfAuV0x1Ebtyvw=/0x0:3470x2313/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3470x2313):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22669020/1233424320.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/njuHGLi8NLYQ-2TUhl0p4ClOPC4=/0x0:3470x2313/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3470x2313):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22669020/1233424320.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/YeVljJZOws0EgJOB9_HRYWV1NIA=/0x0:3470x2313/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3470x2313):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22669020/1233424320.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Tik4f9DDfOwLQFU1axIlsH2yVFg=/0x0:3470x2313/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3470x2313):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22669020/1233424320.jpg 1920w" /></picture>
<figcaption>President Joe Biden leaves church after attending mass in St Ives, Cornwall during the G7 summit on June 13, 2021.</figcaption>
<cite>BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images</cite></figure>
But his pro-choice stance on abortion stands in stark contrast to that of the Catholic Church, and especially that of conservative Catholic leaders in the US, who place particular focus on the issue.
<a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2021/06/17/us-bishops-conference-eucharist-vote-communion-biden-240890">According to the Jesuit magazine America</a>, Kansas City Archbishop Joseph Naumann, who leads an anti-abortion committee in the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, cited public figures who “love to describe themselves as devout Catholics” while nonetheless supporting abortion rights, as a reason for his vote to draft the statement.
In May, Naumann also <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2021/05/25/catholic-bishops-biden-communion-abortion-francis/">told Washington Post religion reporter Michelle Boorstein</a> that such a statement is particularly urgent now because of a “different climate” on abortion rights in the US.
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I spoke to Archbishop Joseph Naumann, leader of the US bishops’ pro-life committee and one of the men pressing for the vote. He noted the bishops took a similar vote in 2004, but said the new effort is urgent because of what he calls a “different climate” on abortion. 2/7
— Michelle Boorstein (@mboorstein) <a href="https://twitter.com/mboorstein/status/1397511926951907328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2021</a></blockquote>
</div>
Other Catholic leaders, such as Bishop Liam Cary, have been <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2021/06/17/us-bishops-conference-eucharist-vote-communion-biden-240890">even more explicit</a> about their focus on Biden: “It seems to me this is an unprecedented situation in the country,” Cary said, according to America Magazine. “We’ve never had a situation like this where the executive is a Catholic president who is opposed to the teaching of the church.”
The results of the vote were released on Friday, and the measure was approved by a wide margin, with 168 US bishops <a href="https://www.usccb.org/news/2021/us-bishops-approve-action-items-their-agenda-spring-general-assembly">voting in favor</a> and just 55 opposing. Six members of the conference abstained from the vote.
However, many steps remain before the church takes any action that could affect Biden’s ability to receive the sacrament, and the result may ultimately be more symbolic than anything. For one, the statement has yet to be drafted, much less approved (that requires a two-thirds majority from the same conference), and the Vatican will likely also have to approve the statement first. (Francis has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/19/world/europe/pope-francis-vatican.html">remained silent</a> about this week’s vote.)
Consequently, there’s no guarantee that the statement will go as far as some conservative bishops hope in emphasizing that pro-choice politicians should be banned from receiving communion, even if one is approved — and as America Magazine writer Michael J. O’Loughlin <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeOLoughlin/status/1405177395339014164?s=20">pointed out on Twitter</a> Friday, the conference doesn’t have the ability to ban Biden from receiving communion outright in any case.
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
But ultimately, the decision on who can receive Communion rests with an individual bishop, not a bishops conference. There will not and cannot be a vote by the bishops conference on whether an individual believer is able to receive Communion. 6/
— Michael J. O'Loughlin (@MikeOLoughlin) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeOLoughlin/status/1405177395339014164?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 16, 2021</a></blockquote>
</div>
According to O’Loughlin:
<blockquote>
Some Catholic conservatives, including some bishops, want to include a section in the proposed future statement about public figures who disagree on church teaching, especially on abortion, and reiterate that their position bars them from Communion. ... But ultimately, the decision on who can receive Communion rests with an individual bishop, not a bishops conference. There will not and cannot be a vote by the bishops conference on whether an individual believer is able to receive Communion.
</blockquote>
Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop for Washington, DC, has <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2020/11/24/cardinal-wilton-gregory-joe-biden-communion-dialogue">said</a> categorically that he will not block Biden from receiving communion.
It’s not unprecedented for an individual bishop to weigh in on whether a political figure should receive communion. In 2008, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna24359892">according to the AP</a>, New York Cardinal Edward Egan condemned former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s decision to receive communion during a papal visit to the city because of Giuliani’s support for abortion rights. However, this week’s vote could lead to a much broader rebuke of Catholics who go against church doctrine on abortion.
Although it is not yet certain what the final statement could end up looking like, nearly 60 Catholic Democrats have pushed back on the conference’s decision. In a “<a href="https://delauro.house.gov/sites/delauro.house.gov/files/documents/Statement%20of%20Principles%206.18.21.pdf">Statement of Principles</a>,” the lawmakers wrote that “the Sacrament of Holy Communion is central to the life of practicing Catholics, and the weaponization of the Eucharist to Democratic lawmakers for their support of a woman’s safe and legal access to abortion is contradictory.”
“We solemnly urge you to not move forward and deny this most holy of all sacraments, the source and the summit of the whole work of the gospel over one issue,” reads the statement, signed by prominent progressive Catholic lawmakers, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and released Friday.
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), who joined the formal statement, also condemned the conference’s decision in harsher language on Twitter. On Friday, he called the bishops’ conference “hypocrites,” and in a <a href="https://twitter.com/tedlieu/status/1406059092951453697">series</a> of <a href="https://twitter.com/tedlieu/status/1406160913678303237">posts</a> has pointed out that other Catholics have not been denied sacraments for going against church teachings on other matters, such as divorce, contraception use, and supporting the death penalty.
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Dear <a href="https://twitter.com/USCCB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USCCB</a>: I’m Catholic and you are hypocrites. You did not tell Bill Barr, a Catholic, not to take communion when he expanded killing human beings with the death penalty. You are being nakedly partisan and you should be ashamed. Another reason you are losing membership. <a href="https://t.co/kpIYRolnHD">https://t.co/kpIYRolnHD</a>
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) <a href="https://twitter.com/tedlieu/status/1405967402894958596?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2021</a></blockquote>
</div>
All told, there are more than 150 Catholic members of Congress, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who did not join Friday’s statement. Catholics <a href="https://www.rollcall.com/2021/01/01/catholics-rise-prominence-religion-congress/">hold 29 percent of seats</a> in Congress — making it the most-represented religious denomination in the body. Of those members, <a href="https://twitter.com/daveweigel/status/1405969670545551365?s=20">according to the Washington Post’s Dave Weigel</a>, 91 are Democrats and 67 are Republicans.
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Obviously Biden should be the focus of these stories, but the Speaker of the House and most Catholic members of Congress would be denied communion if this advances. (91 Catholic Dems in Congress, 67 Republicans.) <a href="https://t.co/ARKn3dA2Py">https://t.co/ARKn3dA2Py</a>
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) <a href="https://twitter.com/daveweigel/status/1405969670545551365?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2021</a></blockquote>
</div>
And while the motion to draft a statement was approved easily by the conference of bishops this week, polling suggests that Friday’s statement by Catholic lawmakers is more in line with the views of American Catholics writ large.
According to a <a href="https://www.pewforum.org/2021/03/30/most-democrats-and-republicans-know-biden-is-catholic-but-they-differ-sharply-about-how-religious-he-is/">recent survey</a> by the Pew Research Center, a sizable majority of US Catholics — about 67 percent — believe that Biden should still be allowed to receive communion regardless of his views on abortion, while just 29 percent say he should be denied.
The question breaks along sharply partisan lines, with 87 percent of Catholic Democrats supporting Biden’s ability to receive communion and a smaller majority of Catholic Republicans opposing.
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I see a lot of conservatives gloating about this but I think telling observant Catholic liberals and Democrats they’re not wanted or welcome in the Church is not going to work out the way they seem to think it will. <a href="https://t.co/lcZtivvraq">https://t.co/lcZtivvraq</a>
— Adam Serwer (@AdamSerwer) <a href="https://twitter.com/AdamSerwer/status/1405967980928897029?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2021</a></blockquote>
</div>
Additionally, an outright majority of all US Catholics support the right to an abortion, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/10/20/8-key-findings-about-catholics-and-abortion/">according to a 2019 Pew survey</a>. About 56 percent say it should be legal in all or most cases, while 42 percent say it should be illegal in all or most cases.
For his part, Biden seems unworried by the conference’s move.
“That’s a private matter, and I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Biden <a href="https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1405966299159740419?s=20">said</a> on Friday when asked by a reporter about potentially being denied communion.
Though this week’s vote by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops is only an agreement to move forward with a draft — a long way from anything final or substantive — it’s still noteworthy for what it says about the church’s willingness to involve itself in partisan politics.
Were conservative bishops to succeed in blocking pro-choice politicians from receiving the Eucharist, the impact would break down along largely partisan lines and could put pressure on devout Catholics who are also pro-choice.
In debating the resolution to draft a statement this week, bishops also expressed <a href="https://twitter.com/sarahmccammon/status/1405637547439558661?s=20">concern</a> that backers of the proposal had their eyes on the 2022 midterms and the 2024 presidential election and warned against “get[ting] embroiled in the political situation.”
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
"I can't help but wonder if the years 2022 and 2024 might be part of the rush and I think we need to be careful not to get embroiled in the political situation." ~Bishop Coerver of Lubbock, TX, worrying that bishops are rushing discussions about denying communion. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/USCCB21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#USCCB21</a>
— Sarah McCammon (@sarahmccammon) <a href="https://twitter.com/sarahmccammon/status/1405637547439558661?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2021</a></blockquote>
</div>
And Bishop <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2021/05/05/joe-biden-communion-eucharistic-exclusion-abortion-us-bishops-240596">Robert McElroy</a> of San Diego warned that taking steps to prevent politicians from receiving the Eucharist could damage the sanctity of the rite.
“Once we legitimate public policy-based Eucharistic exclusion as a regular part of our teaching office — and that is the road to which we are headed — we will invite all of the political animosities that so tragically divide our nation into the very heart of the Eucharistic celebration,” McElroy said, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/18/us/targeting-biden-catholic-bishops-advance-controversial-communion-plan.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage">according to the New York Times</a>. “That sacrament which seeks to make us one will become for millions of Catholics a sign of division.”
Thursday’s vote by the bishops’ conference is also notable for at least one other reason: It marks a split from the Vatican, which has previously warned American bishops against taking such a step — and it reflects a peculiarly American focus on abortion rights above other matters of church doctrine. It also diverges from statements from Pope Francis, the organization’s head, who has advised against overemphasizing social issues at the expense of other matters of morality and justice.
“It is not necessary to talk about these [social] issues all the time,” Francis said in a 2013 interview with America, referring to same-sex marriage, abortion, and contraception.
In May, Cardinal Luis Ladaria, who heads the Catholic Church’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith — an international body, seated in Rome — specifically <a href="https://www.catholicnews.com/cardinal-ladaria-cautions-us-bishops-on-politicians-and-communion/">cautioned</a> Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez, the current president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, against attempting to implement national policy without widespread support.
Without universal agreement by US bishops, Ladaria said, the proposed statement on the Eucharist could “become a source of discord rather than unity” within the church.
According to Catholic News Service, which obtained the letter, Ladaria also argued to Gomez that “it would be ‘misleading’ to present abortion and euthanasia as ‘the only grave matters of Catholic moral and social teaching that demand the fullest level of accountability on the part of Catholics.”
Indeed, Gomez did just that in a <a href="https://www.usccb.org/news/2021/usccb-presidents-statement-inauguration-joseph-r-biden-jr-46th-president-united-states">statement</a> marking Biden’s January inauguration. “For the nation’s bishops, the continued injustice of abortion remains the ‘preeminent priority,’” he wrote at the time, though he also stressed that “preeminent does not mean ‘only.’”
As other writers have noted, that emphasis by American Catholicism isn’t new. “Especially since the 1990s, the American Catholic Church has become increasingly identified with the religious right, emphasizing the perils of abortion and gay rights,” writes <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/02/joe-biden-catholic-social-teaching-centrism.html">UCLA Prof. Jeffrey Guhin in an article for Slate</a>.
However, the church also takes stances that could be seen as liberal on other issues, such as social justice and environmentalism. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/18/us/targeting-biden-catholic-bishops-advance-controversial-communion-plan.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage">As the New York Times pointed out</a> on Friday, Biden’s Catholicism, which stems more from such liberal Christian doctrine and is “focused less on sexual politics and more on racial inequality, climate change and poverty,” aligns closely with that of Francis in many ways, despite their differing stances on abortion.
In that sense, the strong conservative bent of the American bishops’ organization diverges from the spirit of the Vatican since Francis ascended in 2013. Previously, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/14/world/europe/biden-vatican-communion-abortion.html">according to the Times’s Jason Horowitz</a>, Pope Francis “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/10/world/europe/pope-francis-schism.html">has explicitly identified the United States as the source of opposition to his pontificate</a>,” and described it as “an honor” to be attacked by conservative American bishops. On Saturday, Francis did not comment on the week’s vote — because, as Horowitz writes in a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/19/world/europe/pope-francis-vatican.html">separate article</a>, “The divergence of the conservative American church from Francis’ agenda is now so apparent as to become unremarkable.”
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/6/19/22541270/biden-abortion-communion-catholic-bishops">https://www.vox.com/2021/6/19/22541270/biden-abortion-communion-catholic-bishops</a>

vox Abortion rights, Joe Biden, and communion: the controversy, explained

In a break from the Vatican and past policy, the American arm of the Roman Catholic Church this week kicked off a process that could eventua...

Five Dead As School Construction Site Partially Collapses In Belgium

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Five Dead As School Construction Site Partially Collapses In Belgium" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-06/97gg4ndo_belgiumschoolcollapseafp650_625x300_20_June_21.jpg" title="Five Dead As School Construction Site Partially Collapses In Belgium" /></div>
Belgium school collapse: Two of the dead were from Portugal and Romania, police said.
</div>
Brussels:
Five building workers were confirmed dead Saturday, a day after a school construction site partially collapsed in the Belgian city of Antwerp.
The last two bodies were pulled out the rubble on Saturday afternoon, Antwerp's fire department said, meaning that all the missing victims were now accounted for.
King Philippe of Belgium visited the scene on Saturday accompanied by Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.
Two of the dead were from Portugal and Romania, police told local media while the nationality of the other dead workers was not clear.
But when three people were still missing, rescue workers had said they were looking for two more Portuguese and one Russian.
Nine other people were injured in the incident on Friday afternoon, with three still in intensive care a day later, but not in critical condition, the fire department tweeted.
As the school was still under construction, no students were present when the accident happened.
The cause of the collapse was not known, but all the victims were sub-contractors for construction firm Democo, Belga news agency reported.
"All the employees are devastated," Frederik Bijnens, Democo's managing director, told Belga.
"Now that the emergency services have done all they can, a thorough investigation will begin to identify the cause of the accident," he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/belgium-five-dead-as-school-construction-site-partially-collapses-2467952">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/belgium-five-dead-as-school-construction-site-partially-collapses-2467952</a>

news world Five Dead As School Construction Site Partially Collapses In Belgium

Belgium school collapse: Two of the dead were from Portugal and Romania, police said. Brussels: Five building workers were confirmed de...

Covid Cases In Moscow Hit Record High For Second Straight Day

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Covid Cases In Moscow Hit Record High For Second Straight Day" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-06/2vg30i2o_russiacovidafp650_625x300_20_June_21.jpg" title="Covid Cases In Moscow Hit Record High For Second Straight Day" /></div>
Officials are now rushing to reintroduce COVID-19 restrictions in Moscow (File).
</div>
Moscow:
Russia's capital Moscow on Saturday reported a pandemic high for new coronavirus cases for the second straight day, while Saint Petersburg introduced fresh restrictions ahead of its Euro 2020 matches.
Brazil's death count from the pandemic meanwhile passed the half-million-mark on Saturday.
Moscow's hospitals were flooded with new patients due to the Delta variant, registering 9,120 new coronavirus infections in 24 hours, according to government figures. That made it a second consecutive high, topping the previous day's total of 9,056 cases.
Those figures have ballooned from just 3,000 daily two weeks ago, with Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin saying the highly infectious Delta variant first identified in India represented nearly 90 per cent of new cases.
Across the country, officials recorded 17,906 cases and 466 deaths over 24 hours -- 76 of them in Moscow -- the worst nationwide figures since March 13.
The new wave of infections came as Russia's second city of Saint Petersburg, the country's worst Covid hotspot after Moscow, is slated to host several Euro 2020 matches -- including a quarter-final on July 2. They are expected to draw thousands of European football fans.
Officials are now rushing to reintroduce pandemic restrictions and roll out new beds dedicated to coronavirus patients.
On Saturday, Saint Petersburg announced it would restrict access to its main Euro 2020 fan zone on Konyushenaya Square to 3,000 people, down from 5,000, having earlier banned food sales in the fan zones.
Measures have been more drastic in Moscow, where Sobyanin on Friday shut down the city's fan zone, banned gatherings of more than 1,000, suspended all mass entertainment events and closed dance halls.
In Brazil, meanwhile, Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga tweeted, "500,000 lives lost due to the pandemic that affects our Brazil and the world."
He did not give the death count from the past 24 hours, but as of Friday, the ministry had recorded 498,499 deaths, with a daily average of more than 2,000 over the last seven days.
Delta Variant
The pandemic is also casting a shadow over the Tokyo Olympics which will start in just over a month.
The Japanese capital's governor said Saturday the city would cancel all public viewing events.
Rather than setting up six planned viewing sites, "we will make greater use of the web to create exciting atmospheres for the Games," Yuriko Koike said.
The faster-spreading Delta variant is a top concern in many countries.
Fears over the rapid spread of the variant prompted the airport in the southern Chinese city Shenzhen to cancel hundreds of flights and tighten entry controls Saturday, after a single restaurant employee tested positive.
Anyone entering the facility must show a negative virus test from the last 48 hours, Shenzhen Airport Group said in a statement on its official WeChat social media account.
In Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni announced new restrictions, including the suspension of inland travel and an extended overnight curfew, as "the hospitals are full".
"The rapid surge in the intensity of the pandemic appears unprecedented, but still manageable" with curbs similar to those employed at the beginning of the outbreak, Museveni added.
Mandatory Jabs
In Russia, Moscow mayor Sobyanin extended closures announced last weekend of food halls in public spaces like malls, as well as overnight shuttering of bars and restaurants.
The city has also ordered mandatory vaccination for residents working in the service industry, saying some 60 per cent would have to be fully inoculated by August 15.
Saint Petersburg has announced it will try to vaccinate 65 per cent of its civil servants by August 15.
Although free jabs have been available to Russians since December, just 19.5 million out of a population of some 146 million have received at least one dose of a vaccine, according to the Gogov website which tallies Covid figures from the regions and the media.
In Moscow, only 1.5 million of the capital's roughly 12 million people have been fully vaccinated.
A recent independent survey found that 60 per cent of Russians do not intend to be vaccinated.
Russia is among the countries hit hardest by the pandemic, with the sixth-highest number of cases in the world, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
It overtook Britain on Thursday as the European country having suffered the most Covid deaths, reaching 128,911 by Saturday. Kremlin critics argue the real figure is far higher due to undercounting by authorities.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/russia-covid-cases-in-moscow-hit-record-high-for-second-straight-day-2467933">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/russia-covid-cases-in-moscow-hit-record-high-for-second-straight-day-2467933</a>

news world Covid Cases In Moscow Hit Record High For Second Straight Day

Officials are now rushing to reintroduce COVID-19 restrictions in Moscow (File). Moscow: Russia's capital Moscow on Saturday report...