Exclusive: She's been falsely accused of starting the coronavirus. Her life has been turned upside down
Updated 1045 GMT (1845 HKT) April 27, 2020
Maatje Benassi, a US Army reservist and mother of two, has become the target of conspiracy theorists who falsely place her at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, saying she brought the disease to China.
The false claims are spreading across YouTube every day, so far racking up hundreds of thousands of apparent views, and have been embraced by Chinese Communist Party media. Despite never having tested positive for the coronavirus or experienced symptoms, Benassi and her husband are now subjects of discussion on Chinese social media about the outbreak, including among accounts that are known drivers of large-scale coordinated activities by their followers.
The claims have turned their lives upside down. The couple say their home address has been posted online and that, before they shut down their accounts, their social media inboxes were overrun with messages from believers of the conspiracy.
EU ‘watered down’ report on Chinese disinformation about Covid-19
Foreign policy chief urged to explain claims that report was altered under pressure from Beijing
The European Union’s foreign policy chief is facing questions over allegations that a report about Chinese disinformation over Covid-19 was watered down in response to pressure from Beijing.
In a letter to Josep Borrell, the Dutch MEP Bart Groothuis calls for a “formal and full explanation to the European parliament” about the evolution of an EU report on disinformation, amid emerging evidence it was altered under Chinese pressure.
The row escalated last week after the New York Times reported that EU officials had delayed and then rewritten the report after China tried to block its release. “The Chinese are already threatening with reactions if the report comes out,” Lutz Güllner, head of communications at the EU foreign service, wrote to colleagues last Tuesday, in an email seen by the paper.
Kim Jong-un ‘not working or making decisions’, South Korean official says amid speculation North Korean leader is gravely ill
‘There has not been any report showing he’s making policy decisions as usual since April 11,’ according to Yoon Sang-hyun
A South Korean official has said that Kim Jong-un’s absence from the public eye suggests “he has not been working as normally”, amid mounting speculation that the North Korean leader has fallen ill.
Although the South Korean government has dismissed rumours regarding Mr Kim’s health, insisting on Sunday that he is “alive and well”, questions persist.
Yoon Sang-hyun, chairman of the foreign and unification committee in South Korea’s National Assembly, told a gathering of experts on Monday the leader’s prolonged absence indicated “he has not been working as normally”.
Mexico drug cartels turn charities in coronavirus pandemic
Drug cartels in Mexico have been handing out food to people in need during the coronavirus pandemic. The organized crime networks are vying to maintain and even grow their influence.
Alejandrina Guzman, the daughter of Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, has distributed boxes with groceries to elderly and impoverished people who lack food during the coronavirus pandemic while her father sits behind bars in the United States. Media in Mexico have labeled the donations "Chapo food parcels."
Guzman owns the El Chapo 701 fashion brand, registered in the state of Jalisco, which specializes in narco-themed apparel. Online media platforms have broadcast footage of her filling cardboard boxes bearing the El Chapo 701 logo with toilet paper and rice for distribution to people in need. Her helpers then swarm to deliver the donations.
Saudi-led coalition calls for end to escalation in south Yemen
The Saudi-led military coalition on Monday rejected Yemen separatists' declaration of self-rule over the country's south and demanded "an end to any escalatory actions".
The separatists' move complicates a long and separate conflict, fought by the coalition and the internationally recognised government, against Huthi rebels who control much of the north.
Coronavirus: New Zealand claims no community cases as lockdown eases
New Zealand says it has stopped community transmission of Covid-19, effectively eliminating the virus.
With new cases in single figures for several days - one on Sunday - Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the virus was "currently" eliminated.
But officials have warned against complacency, saying it does not mean a total end to new coronavirus cases.
The news comes hours before New Zealand is set to move out of its toughest level of social restrictions.
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