International
U.S. Ambassador: China must be honest about COVID’s origins
February 28 |
The U.S. ambassador to China says Beijing needs to be more forthcoming about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, a day after reports that the U.S. Department of Energy concluded that the outbreak likely began because of a leak at a Chinese lab.
Nicholas Burns said Monday at a US Chamber of Commerce event via video link that China needs to “be more honest about what happened three years ago in Wuhan with the origin of the COVID-19 crisis.” Wuhan is the Chinese city where the first cases of the new coronavirus were reported in December 2019.
His comments come a day after U.S. media reported that the Department of Energy determined that the pandemic likely stemmed from a lab leak in Wuhan.
The department made its judgment in a classified intelligence report provided to the White House and key members of Congress, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the development, citing people who read the report.
The WSJ said the Energy Department’s intelligence agency was now the second U.S. intelligence agency after the FBI to conclude that a leak at a Chinese lab was the likely cause of the pandemic, although U.S. spy agencies remain divided over the origins of the virus.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby echoed that sentiment.
“There has been no definitive conclusion or consensus in the U.S. government on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Kirby told reporters Monday when asked about the WSJ report.
The Energy Department’s assessment was made with “low confidence,” while the FBI’s conclusion was determined with “moderate confidence,” according to the WSJ. Four other U.S. agencies reportedly determined with “low confidence” that the virus was naturally transmitted through animals, while two other agencies remain undecided.
The reports bring national attention back to the question of what caused the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Energy Department’s conclusion marks a shift from its earlier position that it was undecided about how the virus began. U.S. officials did not disclose what new intelligence prompted the change. The Energy Department’s analysis came from its network of national laboratories, giving it a different perspective than more traditional intelligence assessments.
On Sunday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN that “there are a variety of views in the intelligence community.”
“Some elements of the intelligence community have come to conclusions on one side, some on the other,” he said.
Scientists have also been divided on the issue, with some pointing to the live animal market in Wuhan as the most likely place where the virus emerged, noting that animal-to-human transmission has been the pathway for many previously unknown pathogens. However, other scientists have given credence to the laboratory escape theory, noting that no animal source has been found and that Wuhan is a major site of coronavirus research.
The question of how the virus began has also exacerbated political divisions in the U.S., with Republicans more likely to back the lab leak hypothesis.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton was one of the first high-profile politicians to express the theory that the virus originated in a laboratory, commenting in February 2020, when the prevailing view was that the virus had been transmitted by bats and spread at a food market in Wuhan.
After a growing number of scientists urged serious consideration of both hypotheses, U.S. President Joe Biden ordered an intelligence review of the origins of COVID-19 in May 2021.
An intelligence assessment declassified in October 2021 indicated that both hypotheses were plausible, but that intelligence agencies remained divided over which theory was correct. The report said there was consensus among intelligence agencies that the pandemic was not the result of a Chinese biological weapons program.
China has repeatedly denied that there was a lab leak in Wuhan. It has placed limits on World Health Organization investigations to determine the origin of the virus.
Some of the information in this report came from Reuters.
International
Five Bodies Found in Ecuador as Police Probe Suspected Gang Turf War
Ecuadorian authorities are investigating the deaths of five people whose bodies were found inside a rural home, in what police believe may be linked to a territorial dispute between organized criminal groups.
The victims, aged between 21 and 30, were discovered Tuesday in the town of La Troncal, in the Andean province of Cañar. Police reported that two of the bodies were bound with wire, while a burned-out vehicle was found outside the residence.
Investigators said graffiti on the walls of the house included messages such as “Lobos territory” and “Lobos active,” suggesting a possible connection to the criminal organization known as Los Lobos.
Police believe the killings were likely the result of a conflict over territorial control between rival gangs.
The discovery came on the same day authorities arrested a former mayor in the neighboring province of Azuay. Officials identified him as the alleged main financial backer of Los Lobos, one of Ecuador’s most powerful criminal organizations.
Ecuador has experienced an unprecedented surge in violence in recent years, driven by criminal groups involved in drug trafficking, illegal mining, kidnapping, and extortion.
According to Insight Crime, the country recorded 51 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2025—equivalent to roughly one killing every hour—making it one of the most violent countries in Latin America.
International
Georgia Teen Sentenced to Life Without Parole for Deadly School Shooting
A Georgia teenager who killed four people in a 2024 school shooting was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to the attack.
Colt Gray, now 16, admitted to opening fire at Apalachee High School in Winder, about 70 kilometers (45 miles) northeast of Atlanta. He was 14 years old at the time of the shooting.
The attack claimed the lives of two students and two teachers, while nine other people were injured. Despite being a minor when the shooting occurred, Gray was prosecuted as an adult.
During the sentencing hearing, Judge Nicholas Trimm acknowledged the failures of the teenager’s family but said they did not excuse his actions.
“Your parents failed you. Your family failed you. But that does not absolve you,” the judge said.
Trimm also rejected any suggestion that the shooting was motivated by bullying or personal grievances.
“You were not bullied at Apalachee. This was not driven by hate. You didn’t know anyone at that school. It was simply the desire to commit a notorious act,” he told Gray.
The case also led to the prosecution of the shooter’s father, Colin Gray, who was convicted in March of voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter. The case marked one of the first instances in which a parent was held criminally responsible for a mass shooting carried out by their child.
Prosecutors said Colin Gray had given his son an AR-15-style rifle as a Christmas gift in 2023, despite being aware that the teenager had previously threatened to carry out a school shooting.
Authorities said the same rifle was used in the attack less than a year later. Months before the shooting, FBI investigators had alerted local law enforcement after receiving reports of online messages linked to the Gray family’s internet address that referenced plans for a school massacre.
The case reflects growing legal scrutiny in the United States over the responsibility of parents whose children commit acts of gun violence.
In a similar case, the parents of a Michigan teenager who killed four people at his high school in 2021 were convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2024 and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 10 to 15 years.
According to U.S. health authorities, firearms have been the leading cause of death among children and teenagers in the United States for several years.
International
Portuguese Authorities Seize 2.6 Tons of Cocaine Worth More Than $550 Million in Drug Bust
Italian financial police reported Monday that Portuguese authorities intercepted a speedboat carrying more than 2.6 tons of cocaine, with an estimated street value exceeding $550 million.
Four people — two Spanish nationals, one Albanian citizen, and a man from Gibraltar — were arrested in connection with the operation, according to Italian authorities.
The vessel was intercepted off the coast of Lisbon by Portugal’s maritime police following an investigation led by Italian authorities.
Italian financial police estimated that the seized shipment had a street value of approximately 500 million euros ($570 million), making it one of the largest drug seizures reported in the region in recent years.
Portuguese authorities said the interception took place on Thursday, about 90 kilometers (50 nautical miles) southwest of Cape Espichel, during an operation targeting international drug trafficking routes.
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