Daily Archives: March 17, 2023

WHO Sees COVID Posing Similar Threat to Flu This Year

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The COVID-19 pandemic could settle down this year to a point where it poses a threat similar to flu, the World Health Organization said Friday. The WHO voiced confidence that it will be able to declare an end to the emergency sometime in 2023, saying it was increasingly hopeful about the pandemic phase of the virus coming to a close. Last weekend marked three years since the U.N. health agency first described the situation as a pandemic — though WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insists countries should have jolted into …

US Experts Urge More Efforts to Thwart China’s Acquisition of US Military Technology 

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U.S. former officials and experts are urging greater efforts to thwart Chinese espionage, which many believe has enabled Beijing to develop a range of advanced weaponry on the back of stolen American technology. James Anderson, a former acting undersecretary of defense for policy, said China stole U.S. military technology for developing its J-20 fighter jet and has benefited immensely. “They have profited greatly from their thievery over the years,” he said. “They’ve put it to good use, and they’ve come up with an advanced fifth-generation fighter,” noting that it’s “hard …

Unidentified Illness Kills Five in Tanzania, Sparks Ebola Fears

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Health officials in Tanzania are investigating an illness that killed five people in the country’s northwest with Ebola-like symptoms, raising fears that it could be the deadly virus.  Tanzania’s Ministry of Health late Thursday issued a statement saying seven people in northwest Kagera region showed symptoms such as fever, vomiting, bleeding and kidney failure. The ministry sent audio comments by Chief Medical Officer Tumaini Nagu to media. She said rapid response teams at the regional and council level have been sent to probe the unknown disease to understand and analyze …

Cholera Kills 8 in Cyclone-Hit Mozambique, Sickens Hundreds

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Mozambique’s health minister said Friday a cholera outbreak in the area hit by Cyclone Freddy killed eight people this week and hospitalized 250 – part of 600 sickened since the record storm made landfall in February. Health Minister Armindo Tiago told state-run Radio Mozambique the cholera victims were in the port city of Quelimane, capital of Zambezia province, the area most affected by the cyclone. Tigao said cholera prevention is focused on 133 centers in the city that are sheltering up to 50,000 people displaced by flooding. He added that …

New Zealand to Ban TikTok on Devices Linked to Parliament

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New Zealand said on Friday it would ban TikTok on devices with access to the country’s parliamentary network due to cybersecurity concerns, becoming the latest nation to limit the use of the video-sharing app on government-related devices. Concerns have mounted globally about the potential for the Chinese government to access users’ location and contact data through ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company. The depth of those concerns was underscored this week when the Biden administration demanded that TikTok’s Chinese owners divest their stakes or the app could face a U.S. ban. …

Nations Crack Down on TikTok

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The Biden administration has demanded that TikTok’s Chinese owners divest their stakes in the popular video app or face a possible U.S. ban, the company told Reuters this week. The move follows the introduction of a new U.S. legislation that would allow the White House to ban TikTok or other foreign-based technologies if they pose a national security risk. Other countries and entities have also elected to ban the app. TikTok is owned by China-based ByteDance, the world’s most valuable start-up. Numerous countries have raised concerns over its proximity to …

What Really Helped Michelle Yeoh Win an Oscar

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As tough as action film star Michelle Yeoh is, it still might have been hard for her to clinch the best actress Oscar and become the first Asian woman to win the coveted award in its 95-year history—if everything hadn’t fallen into place. Besides her hard work and talent, Yeoh’s history-making win Sunday is a culmination of many forces, according to film experts and critics. First, Hong Kong’s film industry made her a well-known star in Asia long before Hollywood noticed her. “I think her Hong Kong experience definitely is …

Water Experts Look to Change Attitudes, Policies

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Lack of access to clean drinking water is being exacerbated by climate change. In fact, less than 1% of the world’s water is fresh and accessible, according to Melissa Ho, senior vice president of freshwater and food at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). “Although we see water all around the planet, we do not necessarily realize what a precious and finite resource it is,” she said. Ho cited that statistic during “This is Climate: Water,” a Washington Post event that featured leaders at the forefront of water crisis initiatives discussing …

White House Voices Support for Bipartisan Push to Ban TikTok

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Time may be running out in the U.S. for Chinese-owned entertainment platform TikTok, with the White House on Thursday supporting proposed legislation that would effectively ban the app over concerns about the safety of the data of the 100 million Americans who use the trendy video platform. “The bottom line is that when it comes to potential threats to our national security, when it comes to the safety of Americans, when it comes to privacy, we’re going to speak out, and we’re going to be very clear about that, and …