If strolling down the Hollywood Walk of Fame is on your bucket list, it might be time to think again.

Because the popular hotspot running through the heart of Los Angeles has actually been ranked as the world’s worst tourist attraction.

Luggage storage network Stasher analyzed a whole host of factors to reveal which sights to steer clear of on your next vacation.

It included Google reviews, quality of local accommodation, distance from the nearest international airport, tourist safety and TikTok popularity to give each attraction an overall score out of ten.

And it turns out that the famous boulevard is far from alone in being underwhelming – as dozens of other attractions have also left visitors disappointed. 

The Tate Modern in the UK, the Palace of Versailles in France and Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany were all among the worst-rated list. 

Take a look below to explore the 15 hotspots which were the least satisfactory.

15. Forbidden City, China (5.41 out of 10)

Forbidden City is a sprawling imperial palace complex situated in the heart of Beijing.

It was commissioned in 1406 by an emperor of the Ming dynasty and so named because access to the area was barred to most of the subjects of the realm.

But despite its long history – it seems that it leaves much to the imagination.

Among the Google reviews people wrote that tourists had ‘expected more’ after being left ‘extremely disappointed with how boring the inside of the place was.’ 

And another simply branded it as ‘repetitive and expensive.’ 

14. Magic Kingdom Park, USA (5.41 out of 10)

The Magic Kingdom Park in Orlando, Florida, is one of the most visited amusement parks in the world – with more than 17 million people attending in 2022.

The theme park consists of classic attractions, enchanting fireworks, musical parades and a whole host of Disney characters. 

But it seems that many visitors to ‘the land where fantasy reigns’ were actually left in disbelief.

The recurring issues were around price and cost with one Google review summarizing most of the complaints in one, writing: ‘Terrible, overcrowded, there is not even space where to sit to eat. 

‘It is not possible to ride anything because of the lanes. Just a terrible day.’

13. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA (5.39 out of 10)

The world-renowned Great Smoky Mountains National Park straddles the border between North Carolina and Tennessee.

Its official website states that it is America’s most visited national park thanks to the ‘diversity of plant and animal life, the beauty of its ancient mountains, and the quality of its remnants of Southern Appalachian mountain culture.’

But not everyone agrees.

A recent visitor passionately argued: ‘Don’t waste your time…  I’m a huge supporter if our parks but this is the WORST national or state park we’ve ever visited.’

Another branded it ‘an absolute travesty’ and added: ‘You cannot find a more poorly operated national park in the US.’

12. PortAventura World, Spain (5.37 out of 10)

PortAventura World, which consists of ‘six worlds in a single destination,’ claims to have been the first theme park in Spain.

It currently boasts more than 40 rides and five kilometers of rollercoaster track. 

Yet, one user wrote: ‘We came here to have fun and a relaxed time but it is not fun at all.’ 

Elaborating further as to why, she slammed the staff as ‘impolite and unfriendly’ and claimed it ‘smelt like a sewer’ before criticizing the queuing system and adding that it was ‘strewn with litter.’

Another simply labeled it an ‘endless disappointment.’ 

11. Pier 39, USA (5.27 out of 10)

Located in San Francisco, the iconic Pier 39 is a 45-acre waterfront complex lined with restaurants, shops and independent attractions.

It also offers stunning views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Bay Bridge and Alcatraz.

But it seems that is still not enough for some.

Pier 39 has been branded as ‘a big disappointment’ with one Google reviewer elaborating further: ‘It has become so dirty and smelly over the years.’

Others also criticized the place as a whole, writing: ‘San Francisco is no more a safe place to live or visit or tour.’ 

10. Everland, South Korea (5.17 out of 10)

Korea’s largest theme park, Everland, welcomed its first visitors in 1976 and continues to draw in the crowds.

It is split into five individually-themed zones – namely Global Fair, American Adventure, Magic Land, European Adventure and Zootopia. 

Yet, it seems that it is still not enough to meet everyone’s needs.

Visitors took to review forums in their droves to argue that it was ‘too old’ and ‘disappointing’ with ‘too many people.’

Someone else stated that despite the big build-up, ‘generally, the attractions are lousy.’  

9. Great Wall of China, China (5.05 out of 10)

The Great Wall of China is one of the largest building-construction projects ever undertaken – with the total length of all sections ever built adding up to about 21,196 kilometers.

It actually consists of numerous walls that were built over some two millennia across northern China and southern Mongolia.

And, despite the feat, some visitors were less than impressed.

One tourist wrote: ‘There were throngs of people pushing and shoving to buy tickets and the huge queues to get on the wall itself.’

Issuing a warning to others, another added: ‘Expect to spend a few hours in the heat among thousands while standing.’ 

8. Fushimi Inari Taisha, Japan (5.04 out of 10)

The Fushimi Inari Shrine, which has ancient origins, is the most important of several thousands of shrines dedicated to Inari – the Shinto god of rice.

Most foreign tourists primarily visit to explore the surrounding mountain trails – but the building itself is also incredibly attractive. 

But not everyone could see the beauty as one user claimed that it was a ‘joke,’ adding: ‘Not a serious place by a mile.’

Another added: ‘We didn’t spend long here as it was like sardines and crammed with tourists.’  

And a third, referencing the approach via stairs, said it was ‘a miserable slog to nothing’ and ‘poorly designed.’

7. Ocean Park, Hong Kong (4.96 out of 10)

Ocean Park has been billed as a ‘must-see destination for nature lovers and inquisitive minds’ as well as being a go-to for thrill-seekers.

The site, which is praised for its immense and diverse attractions, opened in 1977 and has been delighting almost all visitors ever since. 

But there are some that have been left wanting more. 

One family who visited earlier this year wrote a review to brand it: ‘The biggest disappointment during our Hong Kong trip.’ 

And another summed it up by simply saying it was ‘absolute sh*t.’ 

6. Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong (4.89 out of 10)

The city façade Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, often considered to be the birthplace of the city itself, has become one of the most recognizable skylines in the world.

The surrounding area is bustling with hotels, retail shops and commercial offices in a busy neighborhood that never sleeps. 

But, with the Pearl of the Orient welcoming 55 million visitors to its shores every year, it seems impossible to keep them all happy.

One such disgruntled visitor wrote: ‘Please don’t even bother. There is nothing here.’

Another added that they were ‘not certain why people would come to view this’ before a third candidly said: ‘Went around in circles. Not much to see.’

5. Lotte World, South Korea (4.80 out of 10)

Lotte World is a major recreation complex in Seoul, South Korea, and is home to the world’s largest indoor theme park – as well as a mall and aquarium.

Having open in 1989, it has been a staple for locals and tourists alike for decades – but not everyone is convinced.

One recent reviewer wrote: ‘This has to be one of the worst theme parks I have ever visited. It is overcrowded. There is nowhere near enough rides with capacity for the amount of people they cram into this place.

‘The rides are pretty poor and none of them have less than an hours wait unless you are there at rope drop.’

And someone else simply said: ‘I had never seen so many people in such a tiny park.’ 

4. Busch Gardens in Florida, USA (4.52 out of 10)

Busch Gardens, which first opened in 1959, is a 335-acre theme park located in Tampa Bay, Florida, with the entire attraction landscaped around themes of Africa and Asia.

Despite there being a staggering 12,000 animals, one wrote: ‘Absolutely waste of time do not visit save your money.

‘The place is dirty and full of attitude from the catering staff. Animal enclosures are disgraceful.’

It seemed as though they had more to say, but concluded: ‘Don’t really want to waste anymore of my time reviewing the sh**hole.’

And others agreed, urging tourists to ‘do something else with your vacation.’

3. Taj Mahal, India (3.83 out of 10)

The Taj Mahal is widely considered one of the most beautiful buildings ever erected.

The immense mausoleum of white marble was built in Agra, India, between 1631 and 1648.

It was commissioned by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife whom he dubbed Mumtaz Mahal or ‘Chosen One of the Palace.’

However, even the love story was not sweet enough for some, as one visitor wrote: ‘The Taj is a bit cliché, once you have seen the photos there is nothing really extra to see.’

One particularly unhappy visitor branded it as ‘a lifeless celebration of death’ with the experience only being ‘exacerbated by the hagglers who will haunt you like hyenas every step of the way.’

2. Grand Bazaar, Turkey (3.48 out of 10)

The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey, is one of the world’s oldest covered markets, having been running during the Ottoman Empire as the marketplace of jewelry and precious hand-woven textiles.

And the impressive legacy continues today as it is now home to more than four thousand sellers.

However, it still ranked as second worst tourist hotspot in the world following the analysis – losing several points for tourist safety – and the reviews also gave an added insight.

One states: ‘I have to be completely honest. I was really looking forward to seeing this place and I was really let down. I thought the variation of things was poor and more importantly the attitude of the sellers just annoyed me. I don’t think I’d ever bother going back again.’

And another reads: ‘Full of fake goods. Nothing has price displayed. Sellers aggressive/pestering to the point of being rude.’

1. Hollywood Walk of Fame, USA (3.42 out of 10)

Topping the list of least popular landmarks from around the world was the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

There are more than 2,700 plaques lining the sidewalk on the boulevard to commemorate some of the biggest names in the industry.

Yet, even still, most visitors branded it as ‘average’ on various review sites.

Giving specific details about its perceived flaws, one tourist appeared to sum up the situation with a review that read: ‘This is grim. It’s just a lot of grubby stars on a pavement. 

‘The area is awful, with aggressive street sellers, and others half dressed with trousers around their knees, shouting and swearing at passers by. Famous stars are surrounded by mobile burger stands. Save your time and give this a miss.’

Congress has been warned to be on high alert for Chinese spies after a suspected Beijing espionage plot was uncovered in British parliament.

Earlier this week, a parliamentary researcher with links to MPs with classified information was arrested for ‘spying for China.’ 

The suspect is thought to be linked to numerous Conservative members of Parliament – including Security Minister Tom Tugendhat and Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Alicia Kearns.

According to reports, several of the members with links to the suspected spy are ‘privy to classified or highly sensitive information’, however none have been accused of wrongdoing.

The suspect, who was arrested under the Official Secrets Act, has not been charged, and has said he is ‘completely innocent.’ He has not been named by police. 

The suspected breach sparked a Metropolitan Police investigation and led to MI5 warning more operatives could be working in the highest levels of British democracy. Now the United States has been warned it could be a target.

Rep. Mike Gallagher, who chairs the House Select Committee on the Communist Party, told DailyMail.com that educating members of Congress about the threat of infiltration is critical – especially in light of the recent UK incident.

‘One thing we’re trying to do here on the Select Committee is to educate people -members and staff- about the nature of not only traditional CCP espionage but United Front work,’ he said. 

‘I think United Front work is a poorly understood phenomenon. I don’t think your average member understands what it is. The more we can educate members about this phenomenon, the better they can defend themselves.’

The United Front is the political strategy utilized by the CCP to advance China’s influence and power globally through a variety of methods, including by deploying spies to try to change policies of foreign nations to be more pro-China or gain sensitive information. 

Congress has be infiltrated by Chinese spies attempting to get access to classified information in recent years. 

Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell’s ties to a suspected Chinese spy Christine Fang, known as ‘Fang Fang,’ sparked an Ethics Committee investigation into his conduct.

The committee ended up not taking any disciplinary action against Swalwell, but issued a letter warning lawmakers about the threat of foreign infiltration.

‘Members should be conscious of the possibility that foreign governments may attempt to secure improper influence through gifts and other interactions,’ the letter stated.

Fang Fang left China to go to college in the U.S. in 2011, and then worked on developing relationships with key lawmakers, including Swalwell, in order to get access to sensitive information. 

She reportedly raised money for his 2014 campaign and attended a number of events that the congressman attended.

The FBI, who was investigating Fang Fang, first brought their concerns to the congressman in 2015. At that point, Swalwell said he broke off any contact with the suspected spy.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy kicked Swalwell off of the House Intelligence Committee earlier this year due to his Fang Fang connection.

But Swalwell isn’t the only lawmaker who has fallen for the ploy.

A former aide to Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., who worked as her driver in California for 20 years was found to have ties to the CCP.

Feinstein was chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee at the time. 

She insisted that the spy ‘never had access to classified or sensitive information or legislative matters’ and was let go after the FBI informed her that her office was infiltrated.

Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., put the two Democrats on blast for falling for China’s ‘sophisticated’ spy network.

‘Communist China has a sophisticated and enormous global spy network that has already breached the highest levels of government like in the cases of Senator Feinstein’s aide or the targeting of Congressman Swalwell,’ said Waltz.

Waltz said he met with Canadian member of Parliament Michael Chong who has also been targeted by the Chinese. 

‘We’ll continue to press the intelligence community on their operations to combat these espionage efforts and safeguard members of Congress.’

Waltz sits on the House Armed Services, Foreign Affairs and Intelligence committees. 

Experts say that it is easier for Chinese spies to get access to American secrets through U.S. lawmakers than most think.

Alan Mendoza, executive director of the Henry Jackson Society think tank in the UK, told Dailymail.com that Chinese spy infiltration in Congress ‘could easily happen in the U.S.’ because ‘nobody had really understood it could happen in such a spectacular way here.

‘Who’s to say there aren’t people the U.S. and other Western democracies who have been turned, and who may well be involved in Chinese influence operations or spying for China.’

‘It’s similar to what the Russians used to do, sending proper spies who were not obviously connected to the regime,’ Mendoza continued.

‘It seems unlikely China isn’t going to do that.’

He urged Congress to be ‘more alert’ to the ‘dangers’ of Chinese efforts and treat it on the same level as Russia.

‘It’s difficult to stop someone completely disconnected and able to cover their tracks.’

Mendoza said politicians should look closely at the backgrounds of people they are hiring.

‘If you have spent a considerable amount of time in China that should be a red flag that should mean you dig into someone’s background.

‘An incident like tis reminds us to be vigilant and double down on our processes.

‘We don’t want to be alarmist and have a reds under the beds McCarthyite position (but) sometimes we are not alert to obvious signs.’

China has flown 68 warplanes and deployed 10 navy vessels around Taiwan in a day’s span – just weeks after the US announced its first-ever transfer of military equipment to the island. 

The move is the latest in military demonstrations between China, Taiwan and the US. 

The 68 plane total came a day after Taipei said 35 Chinese warplanes were detected around the self-ruled island, with some then flying to join China’s Shandong aircraft carrier for naval drills in the Western Pacific. 

Communist China claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory and relations have soured since Taiwan’s independence. When Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen came to power in 2016, Beijing ratcheted up military and political pressure on the island. 

The US has been a long backer of Taiwan, including Nancy Pelosi making a visit to the island in 2022. Last month, President Joe Biden‘s administration announced an $80million transfer of military hardware to Taiwan. 

The State Department informed Congress of the $80 million package, which is small compared with recent sales to Taiwan but marks the first assistance to Taipei under the Foreign Military Financing program, which generally involves grants or loans to sovereign countries.

The State Department did not formally announce the aid or give details, but a person familiar with the notice said the assistance would involve support to improve awareness at sea. 

Taiwan’s defense ministry said beginning at around 6 a.m. local time, Chinese warplanes, including J-10 fighters, had flown into the southwestern corner of the island’s air defense identification zone, or ADIZ.

‘This year, the Chinese Communist Party has aggressively expanded its armaments and continued to build various types of fighter jets and drones,’ Taiwanese Major General Huang Wen-Chi said in a statement. 

Some of the Chinese aircraft crossed the Bashi Channel to carry out drills with the Chinese aircraft carrier the Shandong in the Pacific, the ministry added.

Japan’s defense ministry also said Wednesday its navy had detected six ships – including frigates, destroyers, one fast combat support ship and the Shandong – sailing through waters some 400 miles south of Miyakojima island, east of Taiwan. 

Japan sent a destroyer to monitor the Chinese ships and confirmed that jet fighters and helicopters aboard the Shandong conducted landing training, the ministry added. 

China’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Taiwan’s forces monitored the situation, including sending up its own air force planes and activating air defense systems, the ministry added, using the normal phrasing for its response to such Chinese incursions.

A Chinese naval formation led by the Shandong entered the western Pacific for training, Taiwan’s defense ministry said on Monday. 

Separately, more than 20 Chinese warships, including Type 055 destroyers, sailed through the Bashi Channel and Miyako Strait into the Pacific on Wednesday, a senior official familiar with security planning in the region told Reuters. 

The Chinese naval maneuver, along with the training exercises by the carrier group, were an ‘obvious challenge’ to the recent military activities by the United States and its allies in the region, the person said.

‘They want to show that they got the total control of the west of the first island chain,’ the person said, referring to the area which runs from Japan through Taiwan, the Philippines and on to Borneo, enclosing China’s coastal seas.

A US and a Canadian warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, the U.S. Navy said, marking the second such joint mission since June and coinciding with the leaders of both countries attending the G20 summit in India.

The two countries’ navies also conducted a series of exercises in the South China Sea this week, according to the US Navy.

China has been increasing its military operations around Taiwan over the past few years in response to what it calls ‘collusion’ between Taiwan independence forces and the US.

For five decades, the United States has officially recognized only Beijing although Congress, under the Taiwan Relations Act, requires the supply of weapons to the self-governing democracy for its defense. 

The State Department insisted that the first-ever aid under the program did not imply any recognition of Taiwan sovereignty.

‘Consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act and our longstanding One China policy, which has not changed, the United States makes available to Taiwan defense articles and services necessary to enable it to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability,’ a State Department spokesperson said.

‘The United States has an abiding interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, which is critical to regional and global security and prosperity.’

Taiwan’s defense ministry expressed gratitude. ‘The aid will help in regional peace and stability,’ it said in a short statement.

China’s defense ministry, asked about the aid at a regular briefing, warned that US military aid to Taiwan would harm the island.

‘US military aid and sales to Taiwan only nourish the US military-industrial complex while harming the security and well-being of Taiwan compatriots,’ spokesperson Wu Qian told a briefing.

‘In this regard, the People’s Liberation Army will, as always, take all necessary measures to resolutely counter it,’ he added, referring to the Chinese military by its official name.

Kevin McCarthy greeted Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen in his home state of California in April amid rising threats from China warning the two leaders against bilateral talks.

The House Speaker led a bipartisan group of lawmakers to meet with Tsai and her delegation as they wrap up a highly controversial and closely-watched tour through Central and North America.

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi visited in August of 2022, becoming the first speaker to do so since 1997. 

A sleepy Joe Biden saw his rambling Vietnam press conference brought to a sudden end on Sunday night with a mic cut and jazz music playing him off the stage, like he went too long in an awards speech.  

Biden was mid-flow and answering questions from journalists when he was interrupted and forced to shuffle away and head backstage. 

‘We talked about stability, we talked about the Third World, excuse me, the Southern Hemisphere has access to change. It wasn’t confrontational at all….’ Biden said as he rambled on. 

Suddenly, the booming voice of his press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, could be heard butting in.

‘Thank you everybody. This ends the press conference. Thanks everyone,’ she said as she brought the presser to a close. 

All the while, Biden continued to speak, not realizing his mic had long since been muted. 

In another bizarre twist, sleepy jazz music then began to play over the loudspeaker, with the 80-year-old still seemingly trying to answer questions as he continued to speak into the microphone.

As the president tried to answer a few more questions, the music grew louder prompting Biden to put away his leather-backed folder and shuffle offstage, disappearing behind a black curtain. 

Earlier in the press conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, following the G20 summit in New Delhi, India, Biden risked upsetting his Vietnamese hosts with quotes from the Robin Williams movie Good Morning, Vietnam – which he seemed to think was a song.

The president arrived in the country after two days at the G20 summit in India and admitted he was struggling to tell if it was day or night.

‘Good evening, everyone,’ he told a press conference.

‘It’s already evening, isn’t it? It’s around the world in five days – it’s interesting.

‘One of my coworkers said, ‘Remember the famous song ‘Good Morning Vietnam’?’ Well, good evening, Vietnam’.’

In what was supposed to be a show of stamina – Biden is circumnavigating the globe in five days – he ended the 26-minute event by saying, ‘I’m going to go to bed.’ 

The president had been asked if he was concerned that there was no agreement on fossil fuels that came out of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi.

He regaled reporters with a story he says is from a John Wayne movie and features the ‘Indians’ – not the ones he just met with – who don’t buy it when a Union soldier says ‘everything will be good’ if they go back to the reservation. 

‘And the Indian looks at John Wayne and points to the Union soldier and says, ‘He’s a lying dog-faced pony soldier.’ Well, there’s a lot of lying dog faced pony soldiers out there about global warming. But not anymore,’ Biden said. ‘All of the sudden, they’re all realizing it’s a problem,’ the president said, whispering into the mic.

He’s used ‘lying dog-faced pony soldier,’ once at a 2020 campaign event in New Hampshire and at an event in Connecticut in June, where he also muttered, ‘God save the Queen, man.’ 

The president’s clumsy comments were leapt on by opponents and slammed by critics as further signs that he would struggle to cope with a second term.

‘Biden gets VERY confused during his ‘press conference’ in Vietnam,’ tweeted RNC Research.

‘And Democrats wonder why Biden isn’t polling better,’ added former  Trump senior adviser Jason Miller.

Others cringed at his misplaced attempt at humor warning that his jokey reference to the Vietnam War risked upsetting a key ally in the struggle against China.

‘Oh good, reference the darkly satirical title of a movie about a horrible and bloody war that still looms largely in Vietnam’s psyche,’ tweeted FuriaDiDonna.

‘So he’s making a joke in Vietnam about a catchphrase (not a song) in a (great) movie that’s about the US being at war in their country??’ added Booker9e.

‘The Joe Biden Comedy Hour,’ wrote Robert Phyithree.

‘Stick around, it will only get more ridiculous and sublime.’ 

The 1987 film was one of the biggest hits of the year, telling the story of Airman Adrian Cronauer who arrived in Saigon to work as a DJ for Armed Forces Radio as the war intensified in 1965.

Starting each show with his catch phrase ‘Good morning, Vietnam!’, Cronauer, played by Williams infuriates his superiors with his rock and roll playlist and satirical commentary on their conduct of the war.

It won Williams the funniest actor prize at the American Comedy Awards and its soundtrack, featuring the Beach Boys, James Brown and the Searchers, went platinum.

Sunday’s bizarre moment came at a press conference that started more than an hour late and kicked off by the president acknowledging that his aides told him who he would be calling on.

‘They gave me five people here,’ Biden said, returning to his custom of both calling from, and speaking about, the list apologetically. 

‘I’m just following my orders here,’ he said at another point, as he looked at his list to call another news organization or name, as reporters in the audience yelled and waved their hands frantically to be called on. 

The questions were China-heavy and Biden skipped answering queries when they were piggybacked on another question – so he didn’t address Russia and North Korea going into business together, nor Ukraine’s discontent with the G20 statement on the war, which didn’t name Russia as the aggressor. 

The choice of journalist also appeared to have Biden mostly ignoring a group of U.S. print and TV reporters who were girding to get into domestic concerns like his low poll numbers due to his advanced age and a possible indictment of his son, Hunter, on a gun charge.

Those polls show a broad concern about his age going into a second term, with a survey last week from AP-NORC showing that 77 percent of Americans, including 69 percent of Democrats, believe Biden is too old to run for reelection. 

A Wall Street Journal poll out Monday had similar findings, with 73 percent of voters saying Biden is too old to run again, including two-thirds of Democrats. 

White House aides pointed to this whirlwind trip as evidence that Biden is up to the job. 

He later joked that the schedule was ‘no problem.’ 

‘I can imagine. It is evening, I’d like remind you,’ a BBC reporter quipped to the president. 

At one point, Biden grabbed the hand mic and started walking.

He moved toward the side of the stage where one of the five chosen reporters was standing, but it briefly gave the appearance he was abandoning the press conference. 

Every reporter on the list was a woman, something that wasn’t lost on a journalist from the independent U.S.-backed Voice of America. 

‘Thank you Mr. President. I hope you didn’t think that calling only on women would get you softballs tonight,’ she told him. 

Biden said that wasn’t the case. 

‘Oh I know better than that. If you sent me a softball, I wouldn’t know what to do with it. I’d probably strike out even worse,’ Biden joked.

After Biden answered one of the two questions posed to him by VOA, he told the journalists, ‘I tell you what, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to go to bed.’

A White House official later defended Biden’s performance saying he ‘substantively answered questions’ from several reporters during the press conference.

‘The President substantively answered questions from 7 reporters. This is a distraction, and it would do your readers a good service to dive into his answers on China, relations with Indo-Pacific countries, human rights and climate change instead,’ the official said in a statement.

Rishi Sunak has told his Chinese counterpart of his ‘significant concerns’ about Beijing‘s interference in British democracy amid claims of spying in Parliament.

The Prime Minister confronted Chinese premier Li Qiang during an informal discussion at the G20 summit in India.

It comes after two men were arrested under the Official Secrets Act amid allegations that a parliamentary researcher spied for China.

The researcher reportedly had links to several senior Tory MPs, including security minister Tom Tugendhat and Alicia Kearns, the chair of the House of Commons’ Foreign Affairs Committee.

A No 10 spokesman said: ‘The Prime Minister met Premier Li Qiang and conveyed his significant concerns about Chinese interference in the UK’s parliamentary democracy.’ 

The Briton was arrested along with another man by officers on March 13 on suspicion of spying for Beijing, it was revealed by the Sunday Times.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command, which oversees espionage-related offences, are investigating.

One of the men, in his 30s, was detained in Oxfordshire on March 13, while the other, in his 20s, was arrested in Edinburgh, Scotland Yard said.

Both were held on suspicion of offences under section one of the Official Secrets Act 1911, which punishes offences that are said to be ‘prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state’.

‘Searches were also carried out at both the residential properties, as well as at a third address in east London,’ a statement from the Met Police said.

Both men were held at a south London police station until being bailed until early October.

Mr Tugendhat is said not to have had any contact with the researcher since before he became security minister in September last year.

Ms Kearns declined to comment, adding: ‘While I recognise the public interest, we all have a duty to ensure any work of the authorities is not jeopardised.’

According to the newspaper, the researcher held a parliamentary pass and worked with MPs on international policy, including relations with Beijing, for several years. 

Mr Sunak has been under pressure from Tory MPs to take a tougher stance on China after he stopped short of formally declaring Beijing a ‘threat’.

The PM has instead referred to China as an ‘epoch-defining challenge’ to the West.

Earlier this year, Parliament’s intelligence watchdog warned that Chinese spies are targeting Britain ‘prolifically and aggressively’ with Beijing managing to penetrate ‘every sector of the economy’.

The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) warned the UK is of ‘significant interest to China when it comes to espionage and interference’, placing the country ‘just below China’s top priority targets’.

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk this morning warned that China had to be taken ‘extremely seriously’ but insisted the UK had to ‘engage’ with Beijing.

Risking a slip-up over Mr Sunak’s preferred choice of language when referring to China, Mr Chalk told Sky News: ‘The PM has been very clear when it comes to China, it’s an epoch-defining threat… challenge, forgive me.

‘So of course we’ve got to take it extremely seriously and I know the police and, no doubt, other agencies will take it seriously as well and let’s learn whatever lessons need to be learned.’

He added: ‘You can’t wish China away, China is the world’s second-biggest economy.

‘If we are going to meet the challenge of climate change, we can’t do it without China.

‘They’re responsible for about 27 or 28 per cent of emissions, we’re about one per cent.

‘So we have to engage but we do so with our eyes open.

‘That’s why we take steps such as ensuring Huawei is out of our 5G network, at the same time recognising there’s a sensible engagment to have and that’s the position we’re in.’

Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, an outspoken critic of China who has been sanctioned by Beijing, said there were ‘big questions to be asked about parliamentary security’.

He also warned Britain had been ‘deeply penetrated by the Chinese because of our ambivalent attitude towards them’, as he demanded a ‘change in position’ from the Government towards Beijing.

Sir Iain told Times Radio: ‘It is a significant breach in security. It’s a significant breach in security in parliamentary terms.

‘So there are big questions to be asked about parliamentary security, about the vetting of people who work for different groups that are made up of parliamentarians.’

He added: ‘I think we are deeply penetrated by the Chinese because of our ambivalent attitude towards them. Therefore, people tend to turn a blind eye. 

‘You know, people like me get criticised because we make too much of this and then you see this happening.

‘If you can penetrate parliament like this over such a long period of time…  then how many other institutions with less levels of security are being penetrated on a daily basis?’

Biden leaves for New Delhi as polls raise questions about his 2024 run

By Nikki Schwab, Senior U.S. Political Reporrter In Charleston, South Carolina

Published: 08:13 EDT, 8 September 2023 | Updated: 08:13 EDT, 8 September 2023

Advertisement

President Joe Biden departed Thursday for the G20 Leaders‘ Summit in New Delhi, India after days of speculation over whether the president would catch COVID-19 from his wife and scrap the trip. 

The maskless commander-in-chief didn’t take questions from the press as he boarded Air Force One through the smaller steps.

His trip begins just 24 hours after the Department of Justice warned they would seek to indict his son Hunter on gun charges by the end of the month, and he faced criticism from 9/11 families for marking Monday’s 22nd anniversary of the attacks in Alaska.

And more poll results released by CNN on Thursday morning show the majority of voters – including Democrats – think he is too old to run, and he is neck-and neck with Donald Trump.

While press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday that there were no ‘contingency plans’ being made if Biden had to skip, the White House didn’t reveal too much of Biden’s schedule either. 

He’s expected to meet with the G20’s host, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after Air Force One lands Friday and then attend G20 sessions Saturday and Sunday before jetting off to Vietnam. 

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan wouldn’t say Tuesday if Biden planned to hold bilateral meetings with two of the most controversial leaders expected to attend –  Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is skipping the meeting of the world’s richest economies amid the Ukraine invasion – sending Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in his stead – while Chinese President Xi Jinping is sitting the summit out amid tensions with host country India. 

Last week, China and India got into a diplomatic tiff over an ‘official map’ released by China that claimed lands along the Himalayas that Indian officials say belong to them. 

Xi is sending Premier Li Qiang in his place, Beijing announced Monday. 

At the briefing Tuesday, Sullivan encouraged the Chinese delegation to still play ball, despite Xi’s summit snub.

‘As far as the question of tensions between India and China affecting the summit: Really, that’s up to China,’ Sullivan said. ‘If China wants to come in and play the role of spoiler, of course, that option is available to them.’ 

Sullivan encouraged the Chinese to come to the summit ‘in a constructive way’ and work with other nations on the issues of ‘climate, on multilateral development bank reform, on debt relief, on technology’ and ‘set aside the geopolitical questions.’ 

One of the top summit agenda items for the U.S. is World Bank reform, scaling up the lender to provide funds for climate and infrastructure projects.

This move is strategic in that it could move some developing economies toward Western nations and away from the Chinese Communist Party’s lending practices, which the White House called ‘coercive and unsustainable’ when asking Congress in late August for $3.3 billion in additional funding. 

At the G7 in May in Hiroshima, Japan, some of the planned topics of discussion were overshadowed by the Ukraine war. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise visit to the summit, meeting with Biden and the other leaders of the top industrialized nations. 

The dynamic will be slightly different at the G20 – in part because Zelensky wasn’t invited by India. 

India has not condemned the Ukraine war as harshly as the United States and its top allies, as Russia is an important trading partner, though Modi did meet with Zelensky on the sidelines of the G7 in Japan. 

Also while Russia was expelled from the then-G8 in March 2014 after the annexation of Crimea, territory previously held by Ukraine, it remains a member of the G20.

Lavrov will be filling in for Putin during this weekend’s Leaders’ Summit, as the Russian leader hasn’t traveled outside the country since the International Criminal Court in March issued a warrant for his arrest over war crimes, including the removal of Ukrainian children to Russia. 

Lavrov has been on a world tour this week, appearing at the ASEAN summit in Jakarta, Indonesia – which was also attended by Vice President Kamala Harris. 

Sullivan predicted there would be a ‘continued focus on how the G20 deals with Russia’s illegal and ongoing war in Ukraine.’ 

‘The reality is that Russia’s illegal war has had devastating social and economic consequences, and the poorest counties on the planet are bearing the brunt of that,’ Sullivan pointed out. 

No major headway is expected from the full G20, with Lavrov on Friday already saying that Russia would block the final declaration from the summit if it didn’t reflect Moscow’s views on Ukraine. 

Meanwhile Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a surprise trip to Kyiv earlier this week.  

With Putin and Xi skipping the G20, no meeting of Biden’s will be more closely watched than if he decides to sit down with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the sidelines of the summit.

Late last month, Axios reported that Biden was considering meeting with MBS, according to four sources in the know. 

Sullivan wouldn’t cement anything when asked about MBS – and Erdoğan – on Tuesday. 

‘I’m not going to speak to how the schedule will shape up over the course of the coming days,’ the national security adviser said. 

Sullivan said there was a ‘certain dynamic element’ to G20 scheduling, meaning that some of the meetings ‘will likely be announced at the last minute.’ 

‘And we will do our darndest to make sure that they are done in a way where the U.S. press has the ability to participate in them,’ he told the reporters in the briefing room. 

On the table, potentially, is a ‘mega-deal’ between Saudi Arabia and the U.S. that could lead to Saudi and Israel normalizing relations. 

It would be a historic breakthrough for Mideast peace. 

Officials told Axios that the administration is trying to finish its diplomatic push before the 2024 presidential election ramps up. 

While those sources pointed to how much of Biden’s time his reelection campaign will eat up, Saudi relations are not popular among swaths of the U.S. 

Besides the country’s poor treatment of women, there was the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. 

And timing of an MBS meeting could also be awkward for Biden – who has decided to skip the traditional 9/11 ceremonies to mark the anniversary of the terror attacks Monday in Alaska on his way home from India and Vietnam. 

For years, 9/11 families have gone after the Saudi government, as 15 of the 19 terrorist hijackers were Saudis. 

China has discovered two new coronaviruses lurking in bats – and state-funded virologists are parading them as proof Covid did not leak from a lab.

Both pathogens harbour the same genetic quirk believed to make the pandemic-causing strain so infectious.

Until SARS-CoV-2 spawned in China towards the end of 2019, no sarbecoviruses (the virus family it belongs to) had even been found to have a ‘furin cleavage site’.

Experts argued this oddity pointed to the pandemic as having a man-made origin, challenging Beijing‘s insistence that it emerged naturally.

However, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention-backed researchers said their discovery ‘deepens our understanding of the diversity of coronaviruses’.

Sharing their findings in a scientific journal, they argued it ‘strongly’ indicates SARS-CoV-2’s furin cleavage site ‘naturally originated’.

They wrote the discovery: ‘Provides clues about the natural origin of the furin cleavage site of SARS-CoV-2.’

But independent experts said the study cannot draw such a conclusion as the viruses discovered aren’t actually that closely related to Covid.   

Neither of the two viruses, known as CD35 and CD36, have yet been proven capable of infecting humans.

This prospect requires ‘further investigation’, according to the researchers, who were funded indirectly by President Xi Jinping’s communist regime through China’s national research and development programme.

Dr Richard Ebright, a biologist at Rutgers University and lab leak proponent, said the paper’s conclusions do nothing to dismiss the possibility that Covid leaked from a research facility. 

‘The viruses reported in the paper are not SARS-CoV-2-related coronaviruses,’ he told MailOnline. 

‘They are not even sarbecoviruses (the subgenus of viruses comprising SARS-CoV-1-related and SARS-Cov-2-related viruses). 

‘The authors of the paper classify them as hibecoviruses, placing clade hibecovirus adjacent to, but distinct from, clade sarbecovirus.’

He, therefore, said that the paper cannot draw any conclusion about Covid’s unique furin cleavage site. 

‘SARS-CoV-2 is the only one of hundreds of known sarbecoviruses that has an furin cleavage site,’ he said.

‘This was true before the paper and remains true after the paper.

‘No informed person would suggest that the paper, somehow, suffices dismiss the idea that Covid emerged from a lab.’

Professor Francois Balloux, an infectious disease expert based at University College London echoed these same doubts. 

‘It’s a hibecovirus, totally unrelated to SARS-CoV-1/2,’ he told MailOnline. 

‘It carries a furin cleavage site but many coronaviruses (outside sarbecoviruses) do.

‘This paper tells us nothing about the origin of Covid. It just adds one more coronavirus species to the hundreds described to date.’

The study itself describe CD35 and CD36 as being a 54 per cent genetic match for Covid. 

This means it’s not actually that related to Covid itself.

For comparison, a virus called RaTG13 collected from bats in China in 2013 is a 96 per cent match and has no furin cleavage site. 

Scientists in the study analysed results from 112 bats captured in ‘abandoned caves’ in Baoting County, Hainan Province in Southern China in March and April in 2021. 

Of the bats collected samples from 7 (6.3 per cent) tested positive for coronaviruses.

CD35 and CD36 were found in samples taken from great roundleaf bats, which are also known as the great Himalayan leaf-nosed bat.

The authors noted: ‘Bat CoV CD35 is so far the closest relatives of SARS-CoV-2 with a polybasic furin-like site, strongly suggesting that the cleavage site is of natural origin, which provides clues to the evolutionary origin of the furin cleavage site of SARS-CoV-2.’

They added that as great roundleaf bats have a wide geographic distribution, being found in southern China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Malaysia, this means CD35 could be circulating widely. 

Five of the paper’s ten authors were affiliated with the Chinese CDC – Beijing’s equivalent of the UK Health Security Agency or US organisation of the same name.

The discovery itself was published in Virologica Sinica, the publishing arm of the Chinese Society for Microbiology (CSM).

This society is linked to the state-affiliated China Association of Science and Technology with its website adding that it ‘accepts administrative supervision’ from the Chinese Government’s ‘Ministry of Civil Affairs’. 

Virologica Sinica is also edited by Dr Shi Zhengli, an influential scientist described as China’s ‘bat woman’ who works inside the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) – considered to be the source of the Covid pandemic in some corners.

Its editorial board also features over a dozen other academics linked to the WIV.

And the study can count a British zoologist whose organisation funded research at the WIV, and central to the debate about Covid’s origins, among its fans.

Peter Daszak, the president of EcoHealth Alliance, which directed millions of US Government cash to fund experiments at the Chinese lab Tweeted about the study:  ‘Happy Saturday! Here’s a newly discovered bat β-CoV with a furin cleavage site from bats in Hainan Province China.

He also quoted the study’s conclusion ‘..this study deepens our understanding of the diversity of CoVs & provides clues about the natural origin of the FCS of SARS-CoV-2.’

Dr Daszak has been passionate defender of the WIV over the course of the pandemic and has repeatedly shot down any suggestion experiments at the lab could have led to the emergence of Covid. 

The expert in zoonosis, the spread of viruses from animals to humans, hails from the mining town Dukinfield, on the outskirts of Manchester, and has been one of the central, and controversial, figures at the centre of the debate on Covid’s origin.  

He has been accused of orchestrating a behind-the-scenes ‘bullying’ campaign to ensure blame for Covid was directed away from WIV. 

This involved allegedly persuading 26 other scientists to sign off on a letter he wrote to the scientific journal The Lancet claiming the virus could only have been natural in origin and to suggest otherwise creates ‘fear, rumours, and prejudice’.

The letter was so influential that it cowed most experts into refusing even to consider that the virus could have been man-made.

It also later emerged that Dr Daszak told his fellow signatories in an email that the letter would not be sent under the EcoHealth logo to not make it identifiable as coming from any ‘one organisation’ or ‘person’. 

These emails show that he even considered not signing the letter himself, although in the end he did.

He was also accused of not declaring EcoHealth’s, and therefore his own, ties with WIV during investigations into the pandemic. 

In January 2021, Dr Daszak joined the World Health Organization (WHO) team sent to Wuhan to investigate the origins of the virus. 

The group’s report, published in March 2021, concluded it was ‘extremely unlikely’ that the virus originated in a laboratory.

But he came under fire after it emerged that he had a working relationship with Dr Shi Zhengli, a virologist at the WIV nicknamed ‘Bat Woman’, and one of the very scientists whose work he was tasked with investigating.

EcoHealth Alliance has provided at least $600,000 to WIV where research was carried out. 

Dr Daszak has previously defended his connections to WIV during investigations into Covid’s origins, arguing the probe should involve those who know the most about coronaviruses in China.  

He also chaired a group of scientists probing Covid’s origins for the medical journal The Lancet but stepped down when his link with Chinese virus research was revealed.

The lab leak theory, once dismissed as an outright conspiracy, has gained increasing traction in the years since the virus first caused a global pandemic. 

Insiders at the heart of Beijing’s response to the pandemic have also admitted that the nation quietly investigated the possibility of the virus emerging from one of its labs.

Such investigations occurred despite President Xi Jinping’s communist administration repeatedly denying the hypothesis, labelling it a smear campaign by ‘anti-China’ forces and insisting the virus emerged naturally instead. 

Back in 2020 the overwhelming opinion, shared by the world’s leading experts, was that Covid crossed naturally from animals infected with a bat coronavirus to humans.

But consensus over how the pandemic began three years ago has slowly started to shift.

Even some US intelligence officials have backed it, with FBI director Christopher Wray stating in February that the virus ‘most likely’ originated from a lab incident in Wuhan.

However, most experts maintain that Covid most likely emerged naturally, being transmitted from animals to humans – what is known as zoonosis.

Such theories have largely pointed to Wuhan’s Huanan seafood wholesale market, where numerous species of live animals were kept and sold, as the potential site where such an infection could have taken place. 

And in February 2021, an investigation into Covid’s origin by the World Health Organization said it was ‘extremely unlikely’ the virus leaked from a lab. 

But plans for a second phase of the investigation, involving audits of laboratories in the Wuhan area, were rejected by the Chinese government.

No concrete proof to support either argument has ever been found, leaving experts fearing the truth behind Covid’s origins will never be uncovered. 

Beyond being just establishing a historical fact, experts also want to find how Covid emerged to help stop other similar pathogens becoming pandemics in the future. 

Did vaccine scientist ‘thrown to his death’ have proof of Wuhan lab leak? Chinese military expert who filed patent for Covid vaccine barely a month into country’s first lockdown died in mysterious circumstances aged just 54

•  Zhou Yusen filed a patent for a Covid-19 vaccine on February 24, 2020
• This was barely a month after Wuhan locked down due to the outbreak 
• It is said that ‘Zhou fell from the roof of the Institute’, but this is not confirmed

By Glen Owen

Published: 12:11 EDT, 17 June 2023 | Updated: 20:58 EDT, 17 June 2023

Rep. Mike Gallagher says China may be the only issue lawmakers can agree on currently as Congress remains gridlocked on a way out of defaulting on $31trillion in debt. 

Gallagher, chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, shepherded through policy recommendations to combat the greatest threat to the U.S., which is Chinese aggression – on physical, technological and intellectual levels.

On Wednesday, his bipartisan select committee passed two reports on a voice vote – one dealing with how to bolster Taiwan‘s security in the direct face of a growing Chinese threat, and another on the CCP’s ongoing genocide of Uighur Muslims.

Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., was the only lawmaker to vote ‘no’ on the committee. 

‘Amid broader congressional gridlock, the select committee was able to pass two reports with two sets of recommendations that are bipartisan but very strong,’ Gallagher said during a press call.

He referenced the ongoing talks between the Biden administration and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who are still far from striking a deal to stave off default. 

Negotiations continued at the White House on Wednesday, but the two sides are hung up on a top line number on spending cuts.

McCarthy told reporters ‘I don’t think there will be a default’ and both sides made some ‘progress’ today. 

Gallagher said the ’10 for Taiwan’ plan is not a ‘comprehensive list of everything we need to do,’ but it outlines the major areas that the 118th Congress can accomplish. 

The recommendations were put together following a ‘war games’ scenario the committee conducted in April that concluded the U.S. stockpile of precision-guided missiles would be wiped out within two weeks if China invades Taiwan. 

As a result, the 10-point proposal was created in order to ‘meaningfully enhance’ deterrence across the Taiwan Strait, including by establishing a weapons stockpile to protect the island.

Also as part of the 10 recommendations, the U.S. would expand communications channels with the Taiwanese military and disperse U.S. troops in the Indo-Pacific region. 

The plan was constructed in a way where the recommendations are ‘teed up’ for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), he added.

‘So I’m cautiously optimistic we’ll be able to get a lot of it into the NDAA,’ Gallagher said, noting that several members of the select committee also sit on the Armed Services Committee.

On the genocide set of recommendations, Gallagher called them ‘achievable’ this Congress. 

The committee voted to sanction CCP officials responsible for genocide and ensure American companies are not complicit by exploiting loopholes.

The chairman told reporters that it’s important that the U.S. or American companies don’t ‘inadvertently fund’ genocide. 

It will also ‘change the behavior’ of large players in the private sector who ‘too often turn a blind eye’ to the atrocity, he added. 

Both passed recommendations are a blueprint for legislative action, Gallagher said. He does not intend them to ‘sit up on a shelf somewhere and collect dust.’

‘I am here to get stuff done.’

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers led by Gallagher traveled to London last week to meet with top UK leaders to find ways for both nations to work together in order to effectively counter China’s growing aggression on multiple fronts.

A select committee aide said the lawmakers and the leaders in the UK recognize that the trip was designed to figure out the best ways to work together to counter China’s aggression since they are ‘all in the same boat.’ 

‘The CCP aggression is global,’ a committee aide told DailyMail.com. ‘It extends to all facets including economic, military and cyber coercion.’ 

During the meetings abroad, AUKUS – a trilateral security pact between Australia, the UK and the U.S. – came up in nearly every discussion.

The lawmakers debated over how to get AUKUS implementation right, and that means International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) reform, according to a source familiar with the meetings.

Additionally, the leaders were hopeful that AUKUS can be a springboard for increased military and technological cooperation.

The source added that one key idea that emerged from the weekend was that the U.S.-UK ‘special relationship’ – now expanded with the AUKUS platform – could be a new model type of ‘flexible diplomacy.’