'We need to see all the evidence': UK backs Biden over call for China to release Covid data
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson backed US President Joe Biden’s call for China to make available raw data relating the outbreak of Covid-19.
World Health Organization investigators who recently visited China concluded that it was extremely unlikely that the coronavirus leaked from a lab in the city of Wuhan. However, the White House has expressed its deep concerns about the probe, saying the findings must be free from intervention by the Chinese government.
The WHO appeared to back away from an outright rejection of the lab-leak theory on Friday. All avenues of research remain open, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a briefing. In an interview with Face the Nation/CBS News broadcast on Sunday, Johnson said it’s vital to get to bottom of how the pandemic originated.
“Was it in a - in a wet market? Did it come from the bats? Were the bats associated with the - the pangolins? All these questions are now matters of speculation,” he said. “We need to see the data. We need to see all the evidence. So I thoroughly support what President Biden has said about that.”
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Trump tried to grab steering wheel to go to US Capitol on January 6: Witness
An enraged President Donald Trump tried to grab the steering wheel of his limousine when his security detail refused to drive him to the Capitol on Jan, 6, 2021, former senior White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified. Hutchinson was delivering on Tuesday a steady stream of blockbuster testimony to the House committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol on the day the 2020 election results were certified.
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Airbnb permanently bans parties at all rental locations. Here's why
Airbnb is making permanent its ban on parties at homes listed on the site for short-term rentals. The San Francisco company believes the ban has worked, saying Tuesday that reports of parties at listed properties have dropped 44% from a year ago. More than 6,600 guests were suspended last year for related violations, Airbnb said. At that time, the company prohibited advertising parties at Airbnb locations on social media.
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US holding talks with India on Russian energy price caps: Sullivan
The United States has begun discussions with India on the modalities and implications of a price cap on Russian energy imports, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday. At their summit meeting in Germany this week, G7 leaders floated the idea of imposing price caps on Russian energy imports and instructed their concerned ministers to work out the details.
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Scottish first minister Sturgeon calls for fresh independence vote on Oct 2023
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Tuesday that the question to be asked will be the same as that in Scotland's 2014 independence vote: “Should Scotland be an independent country?” Sturgeon, who leads the Scottish National Party and the devolved government in Scotland, has said it's time to revisit the matter because of changes brought about by Brexit. Sturgeon maintains that her party's success in local elections last year gives her a mandate for a fresh referendum.
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Covid: China halves quarantine time for international travellers
China on Tuesday slashed the length of its mandatory quarantine for inbound international travellers by half - reducing it to a week from 14 days - in the biggest change to its Covid-19 containment policy yet, signalling a gradual reopening of its borders. The country reported one locally transmitted and 21 asymptomatic Covid cases for Monday.
