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Prince Phillip
The Houses of Parliament in Britain will dedicate the day to politicians paying tribute to Prince Phillip who died at 99 years old Friday. The Queen has said of their 73 year marriage and Phillips death “it has left a huge void in my life” and of course there are national concerns for the Queen who is 94. The funeral will take place at Windsor Castle this Saturday.
Meantime, there is always a Royal drama it seems and last night it stepped off a British Airways plane at Heathrow. Prince Harry, who along with his wife Meagan rocked the Royal family in a recent Oprah interview with allegations of racism and contemplations of suicide, has come home to pay respects to his grandfather.
Harry is staying in quarantine until the funeral, which will be the first time he is coming face-to-face with the royal family since the interview, given when Prince Phillip was in hospital.
The Royal biographer Gyles Brandreth has said "I know from someone close to him that he thought Meghan and Harry's interview with Oprah Winfrey was 'madness' and 'no good would come of it". Phillip and many in the Royal family took a view Harry was ok to strike off on his own and make his way with Meagan in Los Angeles, but the objections and disappointment came with him airing publicly personal matters on TV and damaging the Royal family.
Meagan is not here as she is pregnant, and no doubt her attendance at the funeral would been troubling to many in Britain, who in polling express overwhelming negative views of Harry’s wife, and many polled doubt the truth of her interview with Oprah.
If there is anything good that could come out of the death of Prince Phillip, it could be some reconciliation between Harry and his brother William, who have barely spoken over the last year.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/14615339/prince-harry-where-stay-philips-funeral/
Iran Nuclear Sabotage
In Natanz underground facility in Iran all is not in order, and the Iranians are asking who was responsible? They say it was sabotage or terrorism at the site where a day earlier Iran's President Hassan Rouhani inaugurated new centrifuges, key to the country's uranium enrichment programme.
What exactly occurred will come out soon, but some kind of power network failure occurred after explosive were detonated, and Iran is blaming the usual suspects, Israel or possibly America.
This as the U.S. is considering rejoining the Iranian nuclear agreement which limits and delays Irans pursuit of a nuclear weapon.
Israel seems to be taking credit for the attack which could set back Irans nuclear program by 9 months.
https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/alleged-israeli-attack-on-iran-nuclear-site-set-back-program-9-months-report-says-1.9703220
Covid Origins
There is little doubt in the minds of many Western Nations that China has failed to come clean on the origins of Covid19, and without understanding how the disease began its deadly spread there is little hope of stopping the next pandemic.
The fact is The lab in Wuhan has carried out experiments in the past to strengthen virus’, a controversial process known as ‘gain of function experiments’ that had been documented by other scientists. Did gain of function lead to the outbreak?
The Trump administration accused China of a cover up, while this weekend the Biden administration said the origins of the outbreak were cloudy and needed further explanation. The strongest statement yet came from Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken who on Sunday criticized the Chinese government for a lack of transparency during the pandemic, particularly during “the early stages of Covid,” and he called for a more thorough investigation of the origins of the coronavirus.
The investigation from the World Health Organization so far has been called a white wash by critics including prominent biological warfare experts. No one is saying the lab engage in a biological war experiment, but the virus may have escaped the Wuhan lab after is was strengthened in mutations and accidentally unleashed on our world.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/04/11/world/covid-vaccine-coronavirus-cases?type=styln-live-updates&label=virus%20updates&index=0#blinken-covid-investigation-china-origins
On Back Story podcast the origins of the Virus and how it likely began its spread long before the Chinese Government said it did. Have a listen and share this link:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1016881/6565870
Britain Reopens
After months of lockdown (It started a few days before Christmas) shops, gyms, hairdressers and last but not least pubs are opening today in Britain. In London which has been a ghost town for 3 and a half months, today streets will come back to life.
The spread of Covid has been slowed here, and the vaccine rollout is far ahead of the rest of Europe which is seeing high rates of hospitalizations.
The dangers of lifting lockdown and re-igniting the pandemic in the U.K. is all to real, and people are being warned to be cautious and continue to wear masks in public areas as new variants are spreading and threaten vaccine rollouts.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56710858
Russia-Ukraine
Russian forces are massed on the border with Ukraine to do what? An invasion seems possible, but Sunday Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said Russia has no intention to invade, but will protect Russian speakers inside Ukraine.
Fighting has escalated in recent weeks, with Russia pretending to be an observer, when by all accounts it has funded, equipped and commanded so called rebels in Ukraines eastern regions.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/04/11/kremlin-says-not-moving-toward-war-with-ukraine-a73549
Busy Monday and lots of news this week. Please subscribe to this news letter!
Have a good day.
Dana