Daily Archives: May 28, 2021


SolarWinds Hackers Targeted 150 Organizations with Phishing, Microsoft Says

The state-backed Russian cyber spies behind the SolarWinds hacking campaign launched a targeted spear-phishing assault on U.S. and foreign government agencies and think tanks this week using an email marketing account of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Microsoft said. The effort targeted about 3,000 email accounts at more than 150 different organizations, at least a quarter of them involved in international development, humanitarian and human rights work, Microsoft Vice President Tom Burt said in a blog post late Thursday. It did not say what portion of the attempts may …


On World Menstrual Health Day, Cameroon NGOs Seek Free Kits to Battle Stigma

World Menstrual Health Day on May 28 is being observed in Cameroon with NGOs and girls asking the government to either subsidize sanitary pads or provide them for free, as they already do with condoms. At least 300 school children are gathered at the government school in the southwestern town of Buea on the occasion of this year’s World Menstrual Health Day. Fifteen-year-old Carine Ndzelen tells them in Lamnso, a language spoken in Cameroon, that young girls and women continue to suffer from stigma during their menstrual periods, and it’s considered taboo …


Tanzanian Muslims Fear Missing Hajj Due to Vaccination Delay

Saudi Arabia is requiring all pilgrims for the scaled-back, annual Hajj in July to be vaccinated against COVID-19. In Tanzania, where vaccinations have not yet begun, Muslims hoping to go to Mecca are urging authorities to start jabbing.Omar Aboubakar, like many other Muslims in Tanzania, wants to make the pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. It’s an integral part of the Muslim faith, but for now only those immunized against COVID-19 can take part in this year’s Hajj.Aboubakar is worried because vaccinations in Tanzania have yet to be approved.“The time remaining is limited but still, we haven’t given up,” he …


Facebook Won’t Remove Posts Claiming COVID-19 is Human-made

Facebook says it will no longer remove claims that COVID-19 is human-made or manufactured “in light of ongoing investigations into the origin of COVID-19 and in consultation with public health experts.”There is rising pressure worldwide to investigate the origins of the pandemic, including the possibility that it came from a lab. Since the pandemic began, Facebook has been changing what it allows on the topic and what it bans. In February, it announced a host of new claims it would be prohibiting — including that COVID-19 was created in a …


Tanker’s Impossible Voyage Signals New Sanction Evasion Ploy

The Cyprus-flagged oil tanker Berlina was drifting near the Caribbean island of Dominica earlier this year when tracking technology showed it stopping in its tracks and in two minutes turning around 180 degrees.It was an amazingly quick pivot since the 274-meter ship needs roughly 10 times that amount of time to perform such a maneuver.Even more intriguing: Around the same time the Berlina was pinging its location at sea, it was physically spotted loading crude oil in nearby Venezuela despite U.S. sanctions against such trading.Meanwhile, nine other ships, some connected …