
Biden signs legislation to declassify information about Covid origins

US president Joe Biden has signed the COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023 into law. The Act requires the Director of National Intelligence to declassify information relating to the origin of Covid-19. The […]
MH370: nine years on, next of kin urge the Malaysian government to accept a new search proposal

This article has been updated. It’s been nine years since Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared with 239 people on board. The next of kin have again highlighted the global implications of the […]
SARS-CoV-2: lab-leak hypothesis gains traction

This article has been updated with news of the US House of Representatives passing a Senate-approved bill that will require the Director of National Intelligence to declassify information relating to the origin […]
Human Rights Watch urges governments to meet their global responsibilities ‘not just when it suits their interests’

The 2023 Human Rights Watch World Report, launched today (Thursday), examines the state of human rights in 102 countries and territories in 2022. Human Rights Watch (HRW) urges governments to meet their […]
King names Anwar Ibrahim as Malaysia’s 10th prime minister

Malaysia’s king, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, announced today (Thursday) that Anwar Ibrahim would be the country’s 10th prime minister. The swearing-in ceremony took place at 5 p.m. at the national palace […]
Malaysians watch and wait as post-election negotiations continue

Malaysians are still waiting to see who will be appointed as the country’s new prime minister. Negotiations between party representatives are continuing and tomorrow (Thursday) the king, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, […]
Investigators challenge claims that Covid-19 began in the Huanan seafood market

This article has been updated with details of two new preprints, one of which states that an endonuclease fingerprint indicates a synthetic origin of SARS-CoV-2, and information about a new report in which Republicans […]
Global Witness report: more than 1,700 environmental defenders murdered in 10 years

More than 1,700 land and environmental defenders have been killed over the past ten years, according to a new report, ‘Decade of Defiance’, published by the London-based non-governmental organisation Global Witness. Two […]
SARS-CoV-2: new report calls for further investigation of the lab-origin hypothesis

The Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO) has submitted its first preliminary report to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and has called for further investigation of the hypothesis […]
Jaipur Literature Festival goes hybrid with a multitude of online and on-ground sessions

Conversations from JLF 2022 The 15th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival was a hybrid event, with an online programme running from March 5 to 14 and an on-ground event for five […]
MH370: eight years on from the plane’s disappearance, Ocean Infinity commits to new search

This article was updated on April 24 and on June 20, with additional updates on June 22 and September 16. It’s been eight years since Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared with 239 […]
SARS-CoV-2: US congressmen call for Fauci to be questioned about lab-origin hypothesis

This article has been updated. Latest update 7/2/2022. There has been a new call for the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Anthony Fauci, to be […]
Scientists call for Peter Daszak to be removed as president of the EcoHealth Alliance

This article has been updated. Latest update: 2/12/2021 An international group of ten scientists and health experts has called on the board of the US-based EcoHealth Alliance (EHA) to remove Peter Daszak […]
DRASTIC investigating team releases leaked documents about gain-of-function coronavirus research

This article has been updated. Latest updates: 30/10/2021 (new document obtained from the National Institutes of Health) and 3/11/2021. A team of scientists and other independent researchers has released leaked documents that […]
Global Witness report: more than 200 environmental defenders murdered in 2020

At least 227 land and environmental defenders were murdered in 2020, according to a new report, ‘Last Line of Defence’, produced by the London-based non-governmental organisation Global Witness. This is the highest […]
US intelligence community says SARS-CoV-2 was not developed as a biological weapon

This report has been updated with information about the members of the WHO’s new Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO) and a link to the full declassified assessment […]
Climate change is ‘widespread, rapid, and intensifying’, says new report.

Climate change is widespread, rapid, and intensifying, according to a major new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean […]
Nóra Quoirin: judge in Malaysia overturns coroner’s verdict

This article is an expanded version of my piece in The Irish Times. UPDATE: Nóra Quoirin’s parents have reached a settlement in the legal actions they brought against Facebook and retired Irish […]
Researchers predict a massive decline in the ranges of Africa’s great apes in the next 30 years

An international team of researchers are predicting a massive decline in the ranges of Africa’s great apes by 2050 because of the impacts of climate change, land-use changes, and human population growth. […]
Covid-19: pressure mounts for a full, independent investigation into the origin of SARS-CoV-2

This article has been updated. Latest update: 13/8/2021. Pressure is mounting for a full, independent investigation into the origin of SARS-CoV-2. That pressure is coming from scientists around the world and individual […]