US intelligence agencies divided on origins of coronavirus
WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence agencies remain divided on the origins of the coronavirus but believe China’s leaders did not know about the virus before the start of the global pandemic, according to results released Friday of a review ordered by President Joe Biden.
According to an unclassified summary, four members of the U.S. intelligence community say with low confidence that the virus was initially transmitted from an animal to a human. A fifth intelligence agency believes with moderate confidence that the first human infection was linked to a lab. Analysts do not believe the virus was developed as a bioweapon and most agencies believe the virus was not genetically engineered.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement Friday that China “continues to hinder the global investigation, resist sharing information and blame other countries, including the United States.” Reaching a conclusion about what caused the virus likely requires China’s cooperation, the office said.
The cause of the coronavirus remains an urgent public health and security concern worldwide. In the U.S., many conservatives have accused Chinese scientists of developing COVID-19 in a lab and allowing it to leak. State Department officials under former President Donald Trump published a fact sheet noting research into coronaviruses conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, located in the Chinese city where the first major known outbreak occurred.
The scientific consensus remains that the virus most likely migrated from animals in what’s known as a zoonotic transmission. So-called “spillover events” occur in nature, and there are at least two coronaviruses that evolved in bats and caused human epidemics, SARS1 and MERS.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Friday did not identify which agencies supported either hypothesis. But it noted some of the same hurdles facing the World Health Organization and scientists worldwide: a lack of clinical samples and data from the earliest cases of COVID-19.
In conducting the review, intelligence agencies consulted with allied nations and experts outside of government. An epidemiologist was brought into the National Intelligence Council, a group of senior experts that consults the head of the intelligence community.
Beijing tightens reins on algorithms:
Chinese regulators will exercise greater control over the algorithms used by Chinese technology firms to personalize and recommend content, the latest move in a regulation spree across the internet sector.
China’s internet watchdog, the Cyberspace Administration of China, on Friday released a draft proposal of “algorithm recommendation management regulations” aimed at managing how technology companies use algorithms when providing services to consumers.
The move expands the crackdown on the internet sector in China, as regulators seek to strengthen data privacy and consumer rights and curtail anti-competitive practices in order to curb the outsized influence of technology companies.
Under the draft regulations, companies must
disclose the basic principles, purpose and operation mechanism of its algorithm recommendation services, and must include convenient options for users to turn off the recommendation service.
Algorithms should also not be used in ways that may cause addictive behaviors in users, or induce them to spend excessively. It was not immediately clear how that would be enforced.
The draft algorithm management regulations could affect companies like ByteDance, which owns short video platforms Douyin and TikTok, as well as e-commerce firm Alibaba.
Pulitzer citation for Afghan journalists:
The Pulitzer Prize Board issued a special citation Friday for Afghan journalists, some of whom worked alongside Western news organizations, and announced a grant of $100,000 to provide emergency relief for the journalists
and their families.
The grant is to be administered by the Committee to Protect Journalists, a nonprofit group that provides resources to journalists around the world facing threats, violence and censorship. Reporters in Afghanistan are deeply concerned about a crackdown by the Taliban regime as it takes control of the country in the wake of the U.S. military withdrawal.
“It’s critical in a moment of stark threat to support those Afghans whose bravery, skill and commitment to the ideals of a free press have helped create so much important journalism in recent decades,” the co-chairs of the Pulitzer board said.
The citation includes Afghan correspondents, interpreters, drivers, hosts and other journalistic staff who have “chronicled decades of life and war.” The $100,000 grant is intended to protect the safety of the recipients and, in some
cases, to help fund their efforts to resettle in other countries.
Woman who hid kids behind false wall found guilty:
A Colorado woman charged with hiding 26 children behind a false wall at her day care center was found guilty of child abuse and other charges Thursday.
Carla Faith was convicted of 26 counts of misdemeanor child abuse, a felony count of attempting to influence a public servant and a misdemeanor count of running a child care facility without a license, The Gazette reported. One of her employees also was convicted of 26 counts of child abuse.
Police went to Mountain Play Place in November 2019 after getting reports that it was caring for more children than allowed. Although Faith repeatedly told an officer that no children were there, the officer could hear children’s music and a child’s cry from the
basement, according to an arrest affidavit. Another officer discovered a small seam separating a false wall from the actual wall, the document said.
Many of the children had soiled diapers and were sweaty and thirsty, the arrest affidavit said.
Endangered tigers killed in Indonesia:
Three critically endangered Sumatran tigers, including two cubs, were found dead in a conservation area on Indonesia’s Sumatra island after being caught in traps apparently set by a poacher, authorities said Friday.
The mother and a female cub were found dead Tuesday in the Leuser Ecosystem Area, a forested region for tiger conservation in Aceh province, said Agus Arianto, head of the conservation agency. The body of a male cub was found on Thursday about 15 feet away, he said.
An examination determined they died from infected wounds, he said.