Chartthaipattana Party on Wednesday asks voters to choose them so they can make measuring and selling of carbon credits a reality in Thailand.
Party leader Varawut Silpa-archa said at a press conference on March 1, 2023 that there’s a need to push for the tokenization of carbon credit and this is not an alternative but a necessity for both Thailand’s future economic growth and the environment.
“We have to realized it no more than five years from now,” said Varawut, who’s also the Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment.
photo by Khaosod
The party leader said an investment for installing flux towers nationwide is needed at will costs around seven to 10 billion baht in order to have around 850 to 1,000 flux towers to track the level of CO2 exchange between forests, farms and the atmosphere. When that’s achieved, farmers nationwide can earn carbon credit, trade it and monetized into income through tokenization process.
Currently Thailand has not a single flux tower but Varawut vows to turn Thailand into a center for carbon credit in Asia Pacific region if elected back anew. The party currently has 12 MPs but eyes for 25 in the upcoming general election so they could meet a quorum to nominate Varawut as a PM candidate.
“When farmers benefit from such scheme, they can earn money from not burning leftover of harvest crops and protect” the environment Varawut said.
photo by Khaosod
He added that city dwellers will also enjoy cleaner air and less PM2.5 microdust particles and cleaner water. “We move Thailand together. We don’t leave anyone behind.”
Kanok Wongtrangan, secretary of the party’s policy and strategy committee, said the policy is important for Thailand.
“It’s an important issue and if we don’t push for it now, it will cause damage but we will benefit if we act,” Varawut said, referring CO2-emission related trade barriers that’s expanding.
photo by Khaosod
Santi Kiranand, member of policy and strategy committee of the party, added if and when the carbon credit system is fully functioning, people like himself who planted 27 trees at his garden could also tokenize carbon credit and earn extra cash through selling the tokens online.
Varawut, whose party called the policy WOW (Wealth, Opportunity and Welfare for all) said a rice farmer could earn 500 baht per year per one plot of rice field if they do not burn organic leftover from the field but organically seek to improve the soil condition after the harvest. “That’s 30 billion baht for farmers nationwide [per annum],” he said.
Firefighters and rescuers operate after a collision in Tempe near Larissa city, Greece, Wednesday, March 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Vaggelis Kousioras)
TEMPE, Greece (AP) — A passenger train carrying hundreds of people, including many university students returning home from holiday, collided at high speed with an oncoming freight train in a fiery wreck in northern Greece, killing at least 36 people and injuring some 85, officials said Wednesday.
Multiple cars derailed and at least three burst into flames after the collision just before midnight Tuesday near the town of Tempe as the passenger train was emerging from a highway underpass.
Smoke rises from trains as firefighters and rescuers operate after a collision near Larissa city, Greece, early Wednesday, March 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Vaggelis Kousioras)
Rescue crews illuminated the scene with floodlights before dawn on Wednesday as they searched frantically through the twisted, smoking wreckage for survivors.
After sunrise, they turned to heavy machinery that had been brought in to start moving large pieces of the trains. What appeared to be the passenger train’s third carriage lay atop the crumpled remains of the first two, where emergency crews were directing their focus.
Officials said many of the passengers on board the Athens to Thessaloniki train had been university students returning home after celebrating Carnival over the long weekend.
“This is a terrible tragedy that is hard to comprehend,” said Deputy Health Minister Mina Gaga. “I feel so sorry for the parents of these kids.”
A crane, firefighters and rescuers operate after a collision in Tempe near Larissa city, Greece, Wednesday, March 1, 2023. A train carrying hundreds of passengers has collided with an oncoming freight train in northern Greece, killing and injuring dozens passengers. (AP Photo/Vaggelis Kousioras)
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was to visit the scene later in the day.
Survivors said several passengers were thrown through the windows of the train cars due to the impact. They said others fought to free themselves after the passenger train buckled, slamming into a field near a gorge, about 380 kilometers (235 miles) north of Athens.
“There were many big pieces of steel,” said Vassilis Polyzos, a local resident who said he was one of the first people on the scene. “The trains were completely destroyed, both passenger and freight trains.”
Firefighters and rescuers operate after a collision in Tempe near Larissa city, Greece, Wednesday, March 1, 2023. A train carrying hundreds of passengers has collided with an oncoming freight train in northern Greece, killing and injuring dozens passengers. (AP Photo/Vaggelis Kousioras)
He said dazed and disoriented people were escaping out of the train’s rear cars as he arrived.
“People, naturally, were scared — very scared,” he said. “They were looking around, searching; they didn’t know where they were.”
Eight rail employees were among those killed in the crash, including the two drivers of the freight train and the two drivers of the passenger train, according to Greek Railroad Workers Union President Yannis Nitsas.
The trains crashed just before the Vale of Tempe, a gorge that separates the regions of Thessaly and Macedonia. Costas Agorastos, the regional governor of the Thessaly area, told Greece’s Skai Television the two trains collided head on at high speed.
“Carriage one and two no longer exist, and the third has derailed,” he said.
Firefighters operate after a collision in Tempe near Larissa city, Greece early Wednesday, March 1, 2023. A train carrying hundreds of passengers has collided with an oncoming freight train in northern Greece, killing and injuring dozens passengers. (George Kidonas/InTime News via AP)
Rescuers wearing head lamps worked in thick smoke, pulling pieces of mangled metal from the cars to search for trapped people. Others scoured the field with flashlights and checked underneath the wreckage. Several of the dead are believed to have been found in the restaurant car near the front of the passenger train.
Greece’s firefighting service said some 66 people were hospitalized, including six in intensive care.
“The evacuation process is ongoing and is being carried out under very difficult conditions due to the severity of the collision between the two trains,” said fire service spokesperson Vassilis Varthakoyiannis.
The possible cause of the collision was not immediately clear. Two rail officials were being questioned by police but had not been detained.
Passengers who received minor injuries or were unharmed were transported by bus to Thessaloniki, 130 kilometers (80 miles) to the north. Police took their names as they arrived, in an effort to track anyone who may be missing.
A teenage survivor who did not give his name to reporters said that just before the crash he felt a strong braking and saw sparks — then there was a sudden stop.
“Our carriage didn’t derail, but the ones in front did and were smashed,” he said, visibly shaken.
He added that the first car caught fire and that he used a bag to break the window of his car, the fourth, and escape.
Rail operator Hellenic Train said the northbound passenger train to Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city, had about 350 passengers on board.
Agorastos described the collision on state television as “very powerful” and said it was “a terrible night.”
“The front section of the train was smashed. … We’re getting cranes to come in and special lifting equipment clear the debris and lift the rail cars. There’s debris flung all around the crash site.”
Officials said the army had been contacted to assist.
Hellenic Train, which has added high-speed services in recent years, is operated by Italy’s FS Group, which runs rail services in several European countries.
___
Patrick Quinn and David Rising contributed to this story from Bangkok. Gatopoulos reported from Athens.
The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (Pattaya) and the Thai Tourist Police were in discussion to prepare for the incoming Chinese tourists, both as a family and as a tour group.
They noted that the majority of tourists have Pattaya as their main destination.
Thitiphan Petchtrakul, the Deputy Mayor of Pattaya, Pol. Maj. Gen. Apichart Siriboonya, deputy commissioner of the Tourist Police Bureau, Lt. Col. Pitchaya Kiewplung, inspector of the Tourist Police Division, and representatives of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (Pattaya) jointly welcomed officials from the Consulate General of the P.R.C. in Thailand after China allow people to travel in a group and to travel to Thailand as a special case.
According to the survey, people are looking forward to travelling to Pattaya. In addition, from March 1, 2023, the Chinese authority will exempt people from testing COVID-19 using the RT-PCR method, which is costly and takes a lot of time. The authority will allow Chinese people to use the ATK method to enter Thailand. All authorities will now discuss how to prepare to welcome tourists.
Pol. Maj. Gen. Apichart said the Tourism Bureau is pleased that many Chinese tourists want to travel to Thailand, especially Pattaya. The bureau is willing to allow tourists to enter the city without using the RT-PCT method and will cooperate with the ATK method for leaving or entering Thailand from March 1.
He said this would reduce the cost and burden. He hopes more tourists will come to the city as Pattaya is a beautiful place and offers many water activities.
All local authorities in Pattaya attach great importance to tourists and set up a special unit to take care of them. They are opening a hotline 1155 for tourist police and will work with Pattaya City to take care of water transport and general activities. They will work closely with the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China to provide news and take care of the tourists as hosts.
FILE - The moon rises beyond a sign in the outfield during the fifth inning of a baseball game between the Kansas City Royals and the Chicago White Sox Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022, in Kansas City, Mo. With more lunar missions than ever on the horizon, the European Space Agency wants to give the moon its own time zone. In February 2023, the agency said space organizations around the world are considering how best to keep time on the moon. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — With more lunar missions than ever on the horizon, the European Space Agency wants to give the moon its own time zone.
This week, the agency said space organizations around the world are considering how best to keep time on the moon. The idea came up during a meeting in the Netherlands late last year, with participants agreeing on the urgent need to establish “a common lunar reference time,” said the space agency’s Pietro Giordano, a navigation system engineer.
“A joint international effort is now being launched towards achieving this,” Giordano said in a statement.
For now, a moon mission runs on the time of the country that is operating the spacecraft. European space officials said an internationally accepted lunar time zone would make it easier for everyone, especially as more countries and even private companies aim for the moon and NASA gets set to send astronauts there.
NASA had to grapple with the time question while designing and building the International Space Station, fast approaching the 25th anniversary of the launch of its first piece.
Tourists watch the full moon at the Mingsha Mountain scenic area in Dunhuang, northwest China’s Gansu Province, Sept. 10, 2022. The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on Sept. 10 this year. (Photo by Zhang Xiaoliang/Xinhua)
While the space station doesn’t have its own time zone, it runs on Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC, which is meticulously based on atomic clocks. That helps to split the time difference between NASA and the Canadian Space Agency, and the other partnering space programs in Russia, Japan and Europe.
The international team looking into lunar time is debating whether a single organization should set and maintain time on the moon, according to the European Space Agency.
There are also technical issues to consider. Clocks run faster on the moon than on Earth, gaining about 56 microseconds each day, the space agency said. Further complicating matters, ticking occurs differently on the lunar surface than in lunar orbit.
Perhaps most importantly, lunar time will have to be practical for astronauts there, noted the space agency’s Bernhard Hufenbach. NASA is shooting for its first flight to the moon with astronauts in more than a half-century in 2024, with a lunar landing as early as 2025.
“This will be quite a challenge” with each day lasting as long as 29.5 Earth days, Hufenbach said in a statement. “But having established a working time system for the moon, we can go on to do the same for other planetary destinations.”
Mars Standard Time, anyone?
___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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FILE - This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows a Beriev A-50 early warning aircraft, center, at Machulishchy Air Base near Minsk, Belarus, Tuesday Feb. 28, 2023. Satellite photos taken Tuesday analyzed by The Associated Press appear to show a Beriev A-50 early warning aircraft targeted in a claimed guerrilla attack at a Belarus air base still largely intact. The Associated Press has been unable to independently confirm the claimed attack, which both Belarus and Russia have yet to acknowledge. (Planet Labs PBC via AP, File)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Drones that the Kremlin said were launched by Ukraine flew deep inside Russian territory, including one that got within 100 kilometers (60 miles) of Moscow, signaling breaches in Russian defenses as President Vladimir Putin ordered stepped-up protection at the border.
Officials said the drones caused no injuries and did not inflict any significant damage, but the attacks on Monday night and Tuesday morning raised questions about Russian defense capabilities more than a year after the country’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor.
Ukrainian officials did not immediately take responsibility, but they similarly avoided directly acknowledging responsibility for past strikes and sabotage while emphasizing Ukraine’s right to hit any target in Russia.
Although Putin did not refer to any specific attacks in a speech in the Russian capital, his comments came hours after the drones targeted several areas in southern and western Russia. Authorities closed the airspace over St. Petersburg in response to what some reports said was a drone.
Also Tuesday, several Russian television stations aired a missile attack warning that officials blamed on a hacking attack.
The drone attacks targeted regions inside Russia along the border with Ukraine and deeper into the country, according to local Russian authorities.
A drone fell near the village of Gubastovo, less than 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Moscow, Andrei Vorobyov, governor of the region surrounding the Russian capital, said in an online statement.
The drone did not cause any damage, Vorobyov said, but it likely targeted “a civilian infrastructure object.”
Pictures of the drone showed it was a small Ukrainian-made model with a reported range of up to 800 kilometers (nearly 500 miles) but no capacity to carry a large load of explosives.
Russian forces early Tuesday shot down another Ukrainian drone over the Bryansk region, local Gov. Aleksandr Bogomaz said in a Telegram post.
Three drones also targeted Russia’s Belgorod region on Monday night, with one flying through an apartment window in the capital, local authorities reported. Regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said the drones caused minor damage to buildings and cars.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukraine used drones to attack facilities in the Krasnodar region and neighboring Adygea. It said the drones were brought down by electronic warfare assets, adding that one of them crashed into a field and another diverted from its flight path and missed a facility it was supposed to attack.
Russia’s state RIA Novosti news agency reported a fire at the oil facility, and some other Russian reports said that two drones exploded nearby.
While Ukrainian drone strikes on the Russian border regions of Bryansk and Belgorod have become a regular occurrence, other strikes reflected a more ambitious effort.
Some Russian commentators described the drone attacks as an attempt by Ukraine to showcase its capability to strike deep behind the lines, foment tensions in Russia and rally the Ukrainian public. Some Russian war bloggers described the raids as a possible rehearsal for a bigger, more ambitious attack.
Andrei Medvedev a commentator with Russian state television who serves as a deputy speaker of Moscow’s city legislature and runs a popular blog about the war, warned that the drone strikes could be a precursor to wider attacks within Russia that could accompany Ukraine’s attempt to launch a counteroffensive.
“The strikes of exploding drones on targets behind our lines will be part of that offensive,” Medvedev said, adding that Ukraine could try to extend the range of its drones.
Russia hawks urged strong retaliation. Igor Korotchenko, a retired Russian army colonel turned military commentator, called for a punishing strike on the Ukrainian presidential office in Kyiv.
Another retired military officer, Viktor Alksnis, noted that the drone attacks marked the expansion of the conflict and criticized Putin for failing to deliver a strong response.
Also on Tuesday, authorities reported that airspace around St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, was temporarily closed, halting all departures and arrivals at the main airport, Pulkovo. Officials did not give a reason for the move, but some Russian reports claimed that it was triggered by an unidentified drone.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it was conducting air defense drills in western Russia.
Last year, Russian authorities repeatedly reported shooting down Ukrainian drones over annexed Crimea. In December, the Russian military said Ukraine used drones to hit two bases for long-range bombers deep inside Russian territory.
Speaking at Russia’s main security agency, the FSB, Putin urged the service to tighten security on the Ukraine border.
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While the attacks apparently did not inflict any significant damage, their number and scope posed a new challenge to Russia as the war dragged into a second year. One assault came as close as 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Moscow.
Some observers said the strikes could be a rehearsal for a broader Ukrainian attack on facilities deep inside Russia.
Here is a look at drone attacks on Russia, their results and implications.
HAS UKRAINE LAUNCHED DRONE ATTACKS BEFORE?
Russian authorities have long accused Ukraine of launching regular drone attacks on power plants, oil refineries and other targets in western regions of Russia near the border.
Russian authorities also have reported repeated Ukrainian drone attacks on Crimea, most of which targeted the port of Sevastopol that hosts the main Russian naval base on the Black Sea peninsula that Moscow illegally annexed in 2014.
FILE – In this handout photo released by Sevastopol mayor Mikhail Razvozhaev telegram channel on Sunday, July 31, 2022, Governor of Sevastopol Mikhail Vladimirovich Razvozhayev, center, stands at the scene of explosion at the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, Crimea.
In December, the Russian military reported several Ukrainian drone attacks on long-range bomber bases deep inside Russia. The Russian Defense Ministry said the drones were shot down, but it acknowledged that their debris damaged some aircraft and killed several servicemen.
After each of those strikes, Ukrainian officials stopped short of openly claiming responsibility but emphasized the country’s right to strike any target in response to the Russian aggression.
In some cases, Ukrainian authorities took responsibility for the attacks deep behind the front line. That’s what happened when Ukraine’s top military officer took credit for ordering the August strikes on air bases in Crimea weeks after they occurred.
FILE – Smoke rises over the site of explosion at an ammunition storage of the Russian army near the village of Mayskoye, Crimea, Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022.(AP Photo, File)
WHAT AREAS DID THE LATEST DRONE ATTACKS TARGET?
Late Monday, four small drones targeted the city of Belgorod, including one that reportedly flew into an apartment window.
Another drone was downed early Tuesday over the neighboring Bryansk region in western Russia, according to local officials.
On Tuesday, a drone also hit an oil refinery in the southern port of Tuapse in Russia’s Krasnodar region, damaging some equipment but missing oil reservoirs. Some Russian reports identified the aerial vehicle as an Israeli-made Aerostar drone.
Another drone, reportedly a massive Soviet-built jet-powered Tu-141 Strizh, fell into a field in the neighboring region of Adygea, damaging a farm building.
Finally, a drone crashed on the edge of a forest close to a gas compressor station near the village of Gubastovo, less than 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Moscow. While it inflicted no damage, the drone appeared to target a major natural gas pumping facility and marked the closest strike yet to the Russian capital.
Russian reports identified the drone that fell near Gubastovo as a UJ-22, a small Ukrainian-made reconnaissance drone that also can carry about 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of explosives and has a range of autonomous flight of up to 800 kilometers (about 500 miles).
Ukrainian officials have not claimed responsibility for any of the attacks.
FILE – A Ukrainian soldier launches FlyEye WB Electronics SA, a Polish reconnaissance drone, which is in service with the Ukrainian army, in Kyiv region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)
On Tuesday, Russian authorities also briefly closed the airspace over St. Petersburg, the country’s second-largest city. Some reports alleged that an unidentified drone was spotted in the area, while the Defense Ministry said the skies around the city were closed as part of air defense drills.
On Sunday, Belarusian opposition activists claimed a military air base outside Belarusia’s capital that hosts Russian warplanes came under attack by Belarusian guerrillas supporting Ukraine. They said the assault left a Russian A-50 early warning and control aircraft seriously damaged, although Tuesday’s satellite images showed no visible signs of damage to the aircraft. Some activists claimed the attack involved drones, while Belarusian and Russian officials made no comment.
Russia used the territory of its ally Belarus to invade Ukraine a year ago and maintained a contingent of troops, warplanes and other weapons on Belarusian territory.
WHAT DID RUSSIAN OFFICIALS SAY?
The Russian Defense Ministry said its anti-drone jamming systems helped fend off Tuesday’s attack in Tuapse, causing the drone to veer off its course and miss its intended target, and made another Ukrainian drone crash into a field in Adygea.
Andrei Vorobyov, the governor of the Moscow region who reported the drone attack near Moscow, said it apparently targeted civilian infrastructure but inflicted no damage.
In Belgorod, local officials reported minor damage from drone strikes and said that residents of an apartment hit by drone were evacuated.
Without directly referring to the latest drone attacks, Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that authorities tighten protection of the border with Ukraine to prevent any incursions or attacks.
WHAT ARE THE POTENTIAL IMPLICATIONS?
Tuesday’s attacks again signaled Russia’s vulnerabilities and apparent breaches in the country’s air defenses.
Some Russian commentators described the drone strikes as part of Ukrainian efforts to fuel tensions in Russia and rally the Ukrainian public amid a grinding battle for control of the country’s eastern industrial heartland known as the Donbas, where Russian forces are besieging the Ukrainian stronghold of Bakhmut.
But some Russian war bloggers warned that Tuesday’s strikes could be part of Ukrainian efforts to probe Russia’s defenses and detect its vulnerabilities ahead of a more massive drone attack that could be launched to support Ukraine’s future counteroffensive.
In an apparent reflection of official concerns about the increasing threat of Ukrainian drone attacks, the Russian military recently has deployed air defense systems in several locations around Moscow, including the rooftop of the main Defense Ministry building facing the Gorky Park.
A group of parents at a private school in Bangkok’s On Nuch district have complained to the secretary of the Private Education Commission office (OPEC), Montol Parksuwan, after their children’s school announced the closure of an establishment just 14 days in advance.
The sudden closure did not give parents enough time to find a new school for their children. They also have to budget about 10 – 30 thousand baht for additional student uniforms, learning materials, before and summer school, etc.
Suppasait Kanakul, president of the Association for the Coordination and Promotion of Private Education (APPE), said the situation underscores the continued loss that a private school has suffered since the pandemic began.
Even if the situation is improving and some schools are starting to recover, many private schools in Bangkok are still suffering from high costs and many outstanding debts from parents. He added that these factors could jeopardise the business.
Suppasait said that from the survey, it appears that many parents have outstanding school fees with schools. The total figure is 2-3 billion baht (56-85 million U.S.dollars). All schools have made efforts to resolve the problems.
Some schools allow parents to pay half the school fees, while other schools have decided not to charge school fees. The problems have implications for education as teachers may not be paid an adequate salary. Some schools have to borrow money to keep running.
Although OPEC has allowed schools to borrow up to 3 million baht from the organization’s fund, some schools have not met the loan criteria.
“The government has never helped a private school. We had asked for a school’s lunch to be 100 per cent subsidised by the government, but it was never approved. In contrast, a foreign student studying in a public school gets a fully funded budget for lunch. I want to ask what the government has done for a private school in the last 4 years. I want to see a new government trying to understand what role a private school plays in the national education system and how it can support us.” Suppasait said
The Thai Embassy in England broadcast live online the cremation ceremony for Duangpetch “Dom” Promthep, from Leicester, to his family in Mae Sai district, Chiang Rai, northern Thailand, so they could also attend.
Dom, the former captain of the Wild Boars football team, who survived a treacherous cave rescue in 2018, dies suddenly in England on February 14, 2023, two days after being found in his dormitory at a football academy in Leicester. He was 17 years old.
Zico Foundation
Thailand’s Zico Foundation which had funded Dom to be educated in England posted the photos from the ceremony at Great Glen Crematorium. The cremation was chaired by Zico Foundation Kiatisuk Senamuang, former coach of Thai national football team.
Zico foundation
Thai Ambassador Thani Thongphakdi and members of the Brooke House College’s football academy also attended the ceremony. While in Chiang Rai, Dom’s family prayed and poured a water dedication at the same time of England.
Thai Ambassador Thani Thongphakdi, Kiatisuk “Zico” Senamuang and a member of the Brooke House College’s football academy / Zico Foundation
Thanapon Promthep, Dom’s mother, said the family will wait for the ashes of Dom to be brought to perform ritual at Wat Phra That Doi Wao, Mae Sai District later.
She also thank you everyone for helping, including Dom’s friends who had been rescued from Tham Luang Cave. They, known as the “13 Wild Boars,” have always loved and cared for each other dearly.
Dom’s family in Chiang Rai / photo by Khaosod
According to Daily mail, an investigation into the death of Dom is continuing – as a provisional cause of death is identified. Coroner Professor Catherine Mason said a provisional cause of death had been identified, but did not disclose any further details during the short hearing.
A review hearing has been scheduled to take place on July 6 later this year, she added.
FILE - SARS-CoV-2 virus particles, which cause COVID-19.(Hannah A. Bullock, Azaibi Tamin/CDC via AP, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A crucial question has eluded governments and health agencies around the world since the COVID-19 pandemic began: Did the virus originate in animals or leak from a Chinese lab?
Now, the U.S. Department of Energy has assessed with “low confidence” in that it began with a lab leak, according to a person familiar with the report who wasn’t authorized to discuss it. The report has not been made public.
But others in the U.S. intelligence community disagree.
“There is not a consensus right now in the U.S. government about exactly how COVID started,” John Kirby, the spokesman for the National Security Council, said Monday. “There is just not an intelligence community consensus.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre listens as National Security Council spokesman John Kirby speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Monday, Feb. 27, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The DOE’s conclusion was first reported over the weekend in the Wall Street Journal, which said the classified report was based on new intelligence and noted in an update to a 2021 document. The DOE oversees a national network of labs.
White House officials on Monday declined to confirm press reports about the assessment.
In 2021, officials released an intelligence report summary that said four members of the U.S. intelligence community believed with low confidence that the virus was first transmitted from an animal to a human, and a fifth believed with moderate confidence that the first human infection was linked to a lab.
While some scientists are open to the lab-leak theory, others continue to believe the virus came from animals, mutated, and jumped into people — as has happened in the past with viruses. Experts say the true origin of the pandemic may not be known for many years — if ever.
CALLS FOR MORE INVESTIGATION
The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment on the report. All 18 offices of the U.S. intelligence community had access to the information the DOE used in reaching its assessment.
Alina Chan, a molecular biologist at the Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, said she isn’t sure what new intelligence the agencies had, but “it’s reasonable to infer” it relates to activities at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. She said a 2018 research proposal co-authored by scientists there and their U.S. collaborators “essentially described a blueprint for COVID-like viruses.”
“Less than two years later, such a virus was causing an outbreak in the city,” she said.
The Wuhan institute had been studying coronaviruses for years, in part because of widespread concerns — tracing back to SARS — that coronaviruses could be the source of the next pandemic.
Security personnel gather near the entrance to the Wuhan Institute of Virology during a visit by the World Health Organization team, Feb. 3, 2021, in Wuhan in China’s Hubei province.(NG HAN GUAN/AP)
No intelligence agency has said they believe the coronavirus that caused COVID-19 was released intentionally. The unclassified 2021 summary was clear on this point, saying: “We judge the virus was not developed as a biological weapon.”
“Lab accidents happen at a surprising frequency. A lot of people don’t really hear about lab accidents because they’re not talked about publicly,” said Chan, who co-authored a book about the search for COVID-19 origins. Such accidents “underscore a need to make work with highly dangerous pathogens more transparent and more accountable.”
Last year, the World Health Organization recommended a deeper probe into a possible lab accident. Chan said she hopes the latest report sparks more investigation in the United States.
China has called the suggestion that COVID-19 came from a Chinese laboratory “ baseless.”
SUPPORT FOR ANIMAL THEORY
Many scientists believe the animal-to-human theory of the coronavirus remains much more plausible. They theorize it emerged in the wild and jumped from bats to humans, either directly or through another animal.
In a 2021 research paper in the journal Cell, scientists said the COVID-19 virus is the ninth documented coronavirus to infect humans — and all the previous ones originated in animals.
Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan / Xinhua
Two studies, published last year by the journal Science, bolstered the animal origin theory. That research found that the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan was likely the early epicenter. Scientists concluded that the virus likely spilled from animals into people two separate times.
“The scientific literature contains essentially nothing but original research articles that support a natural origin of this virus pandemic,” said Michael Worobey, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona who has extensively studied COVID-19’s origins.
He said the fact that others in the intelligence community looked at the same information as the DOE and “it apparently didn’t move the needle speaks volumes.” He said he takes such intelligence assessments with a grain of salt because he doesn’t think the people making them “have the scientific expertise … to really understand the most important evidence that they need to understand.”
The U.S. should be more transparent and release the new intelligence that apparently swayed the DOE, Worobey said.
REACTION TO THE REPORT
The DOE conclusion comes to light as House Republicans have been using their new majority power to investigate all aspects of the pandemic, including the origin, as well as what they contend were officials’ efforts to conceal the fact that it leaked from a lab in Wuhan. Earlier this month, Republicans sent letters to Dr. Anthony Fauci, National Intelligence Director Avril Haines, Health Secretary Xavier Beccera and others as part of their investigative efforts.
The now retired Fauci, who served as the country’s top infectious disease expert under both Republican and Democratic presidents, has called the GOP criticism nonsense.
Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has asked the Biden administration to provide Congress with “a full and thorough” briefing on the report and the evidence behind it.
Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, emphasized that President Joe Biden believes it’s important to know what happened “so we can better prevent future pandemics” but that such research “must be done in a safe and secure manner and as transparent as possible to the rest of the world.”
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AP reporters Farnoush Amiri, Nomaan Merchant and Seung Min Kim contributed. Ungar reported from Louisville, Kentucky
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Sawang Bunmee, ECT secretary and Chanida Klyphun, TikTok Thailand's chief of public policy
Thailand has agreed to work with TikTok to combat fake news, despite the fact that Western countries have banned the popular platform from all government-issued mobile devices.
The Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) has signed a collaboration with the short video platform TikTok to disseminate accurate information about the upcoming 2023 general election. The Election Centre on Tiktok will handle all misinformation on the platform during the election and campaign for each political party.
According to ByteDance advertising materials, there are 40.3 million adult users of TikTok in Thailand.
Sawang Bunmee, ECT secretary, announced a partnership with Tiktok on Feb. 24. The ECT and TikTok will help build an information center and debunk misinformation during the 2023 general election. They will help develop the process for filtering misinformation and disinformation, including slander that violates the Electoral Act, on the TikTok platform.
“This collaboration is a good start to getting everyone involved in the electoral process. Everyone is an important cog on the road to a lasting constitutional monarchy”
Thai election czar Sawaeng Boonmee, left, and TikTok Thailand’s chief of public policy, Chanida Kiyphun, announce a partnership on Feb. 24. (Photo courtesy of Election Commission of Thailand)
Chanida Klyphun, Head of Public Policy – Thailand, ByteDance, said TikTok is a platform that has a solid policy in dealing with misinformation, fake news and hurtful content. TikTok believes that one of the solutions is to present an accurate and credible center to the audience.
“We are pleased to be working with the ECT to launch the Election Center so that our users on the platform and the public can access election information and details accurately and securely.”
Chinada added that TikTok plans to work with organizations and authorities during the election period to share knowledge and assess any potential risks that may arise during the election.
TikTok will also educate all political parties and politicians to use the platform properly and to creatively use the security tools on the platform to verify and control correct content.
According to Associated Press, the White House is giving all federal agencies 30 days to wipe TikTok off all government devices, as the Chinese-owned social media app comes under increasing scrutiny in Washington over security concerns.
FILE – The White House is giving all federal agencies 30 days to wipe TikTok off all government devices, as the Chinese-owned social media app comes under increasing scrutiny in Washington over security concerns. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)
TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter said Monday: “The ban of TikTok on federal devices passed in December without any deliberation, and unfortunately that approach has served as a blueprint for other world governments. These bans are little more than political theater.”
TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company Bytedance, has long maintained that it does not share data with the Chinese government and that its data is not held in China. It also disputes accusations that it collects more user data than other social media companies, and insists that it is run independently by its own management.
But many countries remain cautious about the platform and its ties to China. Here are the countries and regions that have implemented partial or total bans on TikTok:
INDIA
India imposed a ban on TikTok and dozens of other Chinese apps, including the messaging app WeChat, in 2020 over privacy and security concerns. The ban came shortly after a clash between Indian and Chinese troops at a disputed Himalayan border killed 20 Indian soldiers and injured dozens.
The companies were given a chance to respond to questions on privacy and security requirements but the ban was made permanent in January 2021.
TAIWAN
In December 2022, Taiwan imposed a public sector ban on TikTok after the FBI warned that TikTok posed a national security risk. Government devices, including mobile phones, tablets and desktop computers, are not allowed to use Chinese-made software, which include apps like TikTok, its Chinese equivalent Douyin, or Xiaohongshu, a Chinese lifestyle content app.
UNITED STATES
This week, the U.S. said that government agencies have 30 days to delete TikTok from federal devices and systems over data security concerns. The ban applies only to government devices, though some U.S. lawmakers are advocating an outright ban. China lashed out at the U.S. for banning TikTok, describing the ban as an abuse of state power and suppressing firms from other countries. More than half of the 50 U.S. states also have banned the app from government devices.
CANADA
After the U.S. announcement, Canada on Monday announced government-issued devices must not use TikTok, saying that it presents an “unacceptable” risk to privacy and security. Employees will also be blocked from downloading the application in the future.
EUROPEAN UNION
The European Parliament, European Commission and the EU Council, three top EU bodies, have imposed bans on TikTok on staff devices. The European Parliament’s ban, announced Tuesday, takes effect on March 20. It has recommended lawmakers and staff remove the app from their personal devices.
