The CIA now believes the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic most likely originated from a laboratory.

Langley joins the FBI and Energy Department in agreeing that a lab leak is the most likely source of the pandemic.

China urged the US to “stop politicising and instrumentalising the issue of origin-tracing”. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Newly-confirmed CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Fox News the decision to release a Biden-era analysis favoring the COVID-19 lab leak theory is a step toward transparency.

The evaluation, declassified and released by new CIA director John Ratcliffe, was conducted during the Biden administration.

The intelligence agency says it has a “low confidence” in its new finding, but this is further than it has ever gone in pinpointing the origin of a virus that killed millions worldwide.

The CIA announced on Saturday that it now considers a lab leak a more likely origin for the COVID-19 pandemic than a natural transmission, although the agency maintains "low confidence" in this assessment.

The CIA now believes the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic most likely originated from a laboratory, according to an assessment that points the finger at China even while acknowledging that the spy agency has “low confidence” in its own conclusion.

The agency said that it has “low confidence” in its judgment and that it would continue evaluating new intelligence reporting.

New director Ratcliffe releases a judgment Biden had kept secret.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has shifted its official stance on the origin of Covid-19 pandemic. CIA on January 25 said that the virus was "more likely" leaked from a Chinese lab than transmitted by animals.