News

China and Iran have worked together for years on many projects. The Wall Street Journal reports that a draft agreement between the two nations is currently in the works in the Iranian parliament (July 12, 2020). If approved, the agreement “would pave the way for Chinese investments in Iranian free-trade zones and for joint projects in other countries, such as Syria and Iraq.

The recent attempt to set up a separatist country within Seattle in Washington State has failed, but was it a total loss? Yes, it’s true that four people were shot, including two young black men who died, and there were reports of rape. Vigilante justice was meted out for anyone caught stealing a cell phone, even if it was later found to have been misplaced. It is also true that graffiti marred businesses, but that is okay, because those businesses were shut down and boarded up during the takeover.

An alarming study recently appeared in the highly respected journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Examining viruses found in pigs from 2011 to 2018, Chinese scientists identified a strain of the H1N1 flu virus that has “all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus” (Reuters, June 29, 2020).

Many are aware of the devastating locust swarms in East Africa, the Middle East, and India. Now, news agencies report that a large locust swarm is taking hold in northern Argentina. The swarm covers an area of 15 square kilometers (almost 6 square miles). Farmers are worried the locusts will destroy their crops.

Ursula von der Leyen is the current EU Commission President, and on July 1, Angela Merkel took over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Council. Both women are German, and they will occupy Europe’s two most powerful posts. In the words of Spiegel International, “the European Union is set to be run by two German women with a long history.