Daily Archives: December 18, 2020

Growing Calls for US to Retaliate for Massive Cyber Hack

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U.S. lawmakers briefed on the massive cybersecurity breach that has impacted government agencies and the private sector are calling for the country to act, warning that so far, all evidence is pointing to Russia as the culprit. The admonitions, from both Republicans and Democrats, follow warnings from U.S. cybersecurity officials that the scope of the hack is potentially much bigger than originally thought, encompassing multiple software platforms going back at least as far as March of this year. FILE – Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., asks a question during a Senate Foreign Relations …

Switzerland Imposes COVID-19 Restrictions as Infections Surge

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The Swiss government Friday ordered all bars, restaurants, cultural venues and sports facilities to close next week because of a surging number of coronavirus cases.At a news conference, Health Minister Alain Berset said the new restrictions, which take effect Tuesday, are necessary because the situation in health facilities ”is not tenable in the long term.”The government will also restrict the number of people who can be inside stores, which must close after 7 p.m. and on Sundays and public holidays.While the closures include restaurants and bars at ski resorts, the …

China Turns Up Heat on Country’s Tech Giants

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In recent weeks, Chinese regulators have cracked down on some of the country’s biggest and most powerful technology companies, illustrating the immense market power of these companies, which has drawn concern from the government. On Monday, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), China’s top market regulator, fined three of the country’s largest technology companies, including e-commerce giant Alibaba Group and social-media juggernaut Tencent, for failing to disclose acquisitions of smaller competitors. Last month, China Securities Regulatory Commission halted the record initial public offering of Ant Group, one of China’s dominant digital …

Thai Firm Joins with AstraZeneca to Make COVID-19 Vaccine for Southeast Asia

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Thailand says a local laboratory’s pact with Britain’s AstraZeneca will make the Southeast Asian country the regional hub for supplies of what’s likely to be one of the leading vaccines against COVID-19 as governments scramble to lock in supplies.Bangkok-based Siam Bioscience signed a letter of intent with AstraZeneca late last month to make 200 million doses of the British pharmaceutical firm’s COVID-19 vaccine, AZD1222, said Nakorn Premsri, director of Thailand’s National Vaccine Institute.Thailand’s Public Health Ministry and the local conglomerate SCG, with its packaging and chemicals divisions, also joined the …

Pence Gets COVID-19 Vaccine on Live TV

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U.S. Vice President Mike Pence was administered the coronavirus vaccine on live television Friday. His vaccination comes as surveys reveal some Americans are reluctant to receive the vaccine because of safety and efficacy concerns.The coronavirus surge in California’s Los Angeles County is so dire that the county’s public health department posted on Twitter: “Every hour, on average, 2 people are dying of COVID-19 in LA County.”The U.S. television network CBS reported there are so few hospital beds available in intensive care units in Los Angeles that some coronavirus victims are waiting …

IOM Chief: Migrants Must Be Included in COVID-19 Vaccination Campaigns

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The head of the U.N. Migration Agency said the coronavirus pandemic has affected people worldwide, including migrants — many of whom have gotten ill, lost jobs or been stranded in destination countries.  “As usual in all crises, migrants are the first ones to lose jobs,” International Organization for Migration (IOM) Director General Antonio Vitorino told VOA ahead of International Migrants Day on Friday. “The World Bank forecasts, for instance, a drop in remittances to the countries of origin of around 20% this year, which will have a terrible impact in …

Alibaba Facial Recognition Tech Specifically Picks Out Uighur Minority, Report Shows

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Technology giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has facial recognition technology that can specifically pick out members of China’s Uighur minority, surveillance industry researcher IPVM said in a report. Alibaba itself said it was dismayed a unit developed software that can tag ethnicity in videos, and that the feature was never intended to be deployed to customers. The report comes as human rights groups accuse China of forcing more than 1 million Muslim Uighurs into labor camps in the region of Xinjiang and call out firms suspected of complicity. FILE – Residents line up …