In China’s Wuhan, the original epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, the city’s residents are returning to normal life, even as they continue to grapple with memories of the early outbreak, which struck fear in the city.It’s been almost seven months since the city recorded a locally transmitted case of the disease due to a strict city-wide lockdown and a mass testing event of almost all the city’s 11 million residents.Today, restaurants, shopping streets and bars are crowded, but locals are still experiencing the lasting impact of the lockdown on mental health and work.Reuters asked people throughout Wuhan to share images and videos they took during their outbreak, as well as their hopes for 2021, as the city approaches the one-year anniversary of the outbreak. City health officials released the first public notice of the then-unknown virus on Dec. 31, 2019.Like the city itself, most people are enduringly optimistic, even as they reflect on the city’s toughest year in recent memory.An Junming, Wuhan volunteerAn worked as a volunteer during the city’s strict 76-day lockdown, delivering food to people trapped in their homes.“At that time, I could only eat one meal a day, because there was indeed a lot of work to do, but there were very few people doing this, so I was very anxious.“I hope that the entire city will prosper in 2021.“It can be said that in 2020 there were no people on the streets of the whole Wuhan – only animals were active outside.”An Junming poses for a picture on a street, almost a year after the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, Dec. 15, 2020.Zhang Xinghao, lead singer Of Wuhan band Mad Rat“At that time, I couldn’t do anything at home. It was very boring, so I thought I needed to write some music and sing some songs to find some fun in my life.“It made me reflect on a lot of things, and it is the first time in my life that I have experienced such a disaster.“The epidemic must not be ignored. I see that the news about foreign countries has a lot of infections, so this must not be ignored. We should not think that we are very powerful. In fact, I think we humans are quite fragile.”Duan Ling, 36, businesswomanDuan’s husband, Fang Yushun, caught COVID-19 in February while working as a surgeon.“I had my birthday on the day he was hospitalized during the epidemic, and he spent a day editing and sent a video to me. So I felt very moved.“We have experienced a lot of things in the year 2020, and I want to say goodbye to the 2020. But in the new year, I wish we could have a baby.”Lai Yun, 38, Japanese restaurant owner“At this time, every one of us in Wuhan feels like time flies very fast. Like closing the city only feels like yesterday.”Lai said he cherished memories of his children putting on performances in the family living room.“I think the inspiration that COVID-19 gives us is that a healthy body is more important than anything else.”Student Wu Mengjing, 22, right, poses with her friend on a street, almost a year after the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, Dec. 16, 2020.Wu Mengjing, 22, design student“I think the Wuhan epidemic has affected too many people. Many companies went bankrupt and residents were unemployed. This has a great impact on the entire development of Wuhan.“I am very worried that there will be a second wave in Wuhan, because there were some recurrences of the epidemic in various parts of the country, and the number of college students in Wuhan is particularly large.”Jiang Honghua, 34, street food vendor“During the epidemic, our whole family is together, and this time like this is very rare, and I felt very happy,” said Jiang, sharing photos of her son and daughter playing.“I thought my year in 2020 was actually OK – I felt lucky that I could maintain the livelihood of the whole family. I hope in year 2021 I can have good business.”Liu Runlian, 58, street dancer“2021 is coming, and I don’t expect much from myself. But I want to live a peaceful life, and then I hope everyone is safe.”
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Month: December 2020
U.S. distribution of Moderna Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine began Saturday, with more than 3,700 sites scheduled to start receiving and administering shots as soon as Monday, vastly widening the rollout started last week by Pfizer Inc.Amid record coronavirus infections and deaths, Moderna has moved vaccine supplies from its manufacturing plants to warehouses operated by distributor McKesson Corp.Workers on Saturday were packing vaccines into containers and loading them onto trucks, U.S. Army Gen. Gustave Perna said during a news conference. Trucks will set out Sunday and shipments will start reaching health care providers as soon as Monday, he said.Doses of vaccine must travel with security guards, including U.S. Marshals, and will be stored in locked refrigerators. U.S. plans call for at-risk groups, such as elderly people in nursing homes and medical workers, to receive injections first.The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved an emergency use authorization for Moderna’s vaccine, the second COVID-19 vaccine to receive approval.Moderna said a panel of outside advisers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted Saturday to recommend its vaccine for use in people age 18 and older. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices panel voted 11-0 in favor of the vaccine.The shot developed by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech SE was authorized Dec. 11.Pharmaceutical services provider Catalent Inc.’s facility in Bloomington, Indiana, is filling and packaging vials with Moderna vaccine and handing them to McKesson. The company is shipping them from its facilities, including those in Louisville, Kentucky, and Memphis, Tennessee, which are close to air hubs for United Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx Corp.Pfizer organized its own distribution system. The U.S. government’s vaccine program, dubbed Operation Warp Speed, is in charge of logistics for Moderna’s distribution under Perna.Reduced number of dosesPerna apologized to U.S. governors for confusion on the vaccine’s availability after the U.S. government reduced the number of doses states would receive in the upcoming week.States including Oregon and Washington, which are ramping up to get front-line health care workers vaccinated as quickly as possible, said their allocation had dropped by as much as 40%.Perna said he made an error estimating the number of doses that would actually be cleared by regulators for shipment, which was fewer than the number of doses produced.A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said 7.9 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines would be delivered nationally this week.The Moderna delivery system will have some of the same players as Pfizer’s but will differ in ways.Transportation companies UPS and FedEx are giving priority to vaccines on planes and trucks that are moving holiday gifts and other cargo. Their drivers will handle the bulk of the last-mile Moderna vaccine deliveries. They are going directly to vaccination sites, unlike Pfizer’s, which was sent to large hubs and redistributed.“We added a lot of aircraft, a lot of temporary workers. (Vaccines) are a very small fraction of total volumes,” said Wes Wheeler, a UPS executive in charge of vaccine shipments.Moderna’s vaccine is available in quantities as small as 100 doses and can be stored for 30 days in standard-temperature refrigerators, while the inoculations from Pfizer come in boxes of 975 doses, must be shipped and stored at -70 Celsius, and can be held for only five days at standard refrigerator temperatures. Initial doses were given to health professionals.Programs by pharmacies Walgreens and CVS to distribute the Pfizer vaccine to long-term care facilities are expected to start Monday. A CDC advisory panel Sunday will consider which groups should get vaccinated next.Perna said the United States is on track to have enough doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines by the end of the year to inoculate 20 million people, as the government projected, but deliveries of those doses may continue into first week of January. Health care experts forecast it will take well into 2021 for a significant portion of Americans to be inoculated.Both vaccines were about 95% effective at preventing illness in clinical trials that found no serious safety issues.
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California hospitals are battling to find beds for patients amid fears the explosion of coronavirus cases will exhaust staffing resources.As of Saturday, nearly 17,400 people were hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infections — more than double the previous peak reached in July — and a state model that uses current data to forecast future trends shows the number could reach 75,000 by mid-January.More than 3,600 confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients were in intensive care units. All of Southern California and the 12-county San Joaquin Valley to the north have exhausted their regular intensive care unit capacity, and some hospitals have begun using surge space, meaning space converted for intensive care. Overall, the state’s ICU capacity was just 2% Saturday.The enormous crush of cases in the last six weeks has California’s death toll spiraling ever higher. Another 272 fatalities were reported Saturday and in the last week nearly 1,600 people died.In hard-hit Los Angeles County, Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer implored people to stay home as much as possible, not mingle with others outside their household and wear a mask and social distance when around others.”Places where people from different households gather and do not follow safety directives contributes to unnecessary COVID-19 spread that results in hospitalizations and deaths that could have been avoided,” she said. “Following the safety measures saves lives and is our only way to protect essential workers and our hospitals.”LA County health officials announced Saturday they had modified their health orders to comply with recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings calling for places of worship to be allowed to have outdoor and indoor services, with appropriate health safety precautions.On Saturday night, Apple Inc. announced that it is temporarily closing all 53 of its stores in California because of the coronavirus outbreak. Under the stay-at-home order in effect for nearly the entire state, retail stores are limited to 20% capacity.Clinicians evaluate a patient in a triage tent set up outside Providence St. Mary Medical Center amid a surge in COVID-19 patients in Southern California on Dec. 18, 2020, in Apple Valley, Calif.As businesses struggle during what should be a very busy holiday shopping season, many hospitals are preparing for the possibility of rationing care. A document recently circulated among doctors at the four hospitals run by Los Angeles County calls for them to shift strategy: Instead of trying everything to save a life, their goal during the crisis is to save as many patients as possible. That means those less likely to survive won’t get the same kind of care offered in normal times.”Some compromise of standard of care is unavoidable; it is not that an entity, system, or locale chooses to limit resources, it is that the resources are clearly not available to provide care in a regular manner,” the document obtained by the Los Angeles Times reads.The county’s Health Services director, Dr. Christina Ghaly, said the guidelines were not in place as of Friday night but that they were essential to develop given that the surge has arrived and “the worst is yet to come.”Many hospitals have implemented emergency procedures to stretch staff and space.Corona Regional Medical Center southeast of Los Angeles has converted an old emergency room to help handle nearly double the usual number of ICU patients. It’s using space in two disaster tents to triage ER patients because the emergency room is filled with patients who need to be hospitalized.In hard-hit Fresno County in central California, a new 50-bed alternate care site opened Friday near the community Regional Medical Center. The beds for COVID-19-negative patients will free up space in area hospitals, where just 13 of about 150 ICU beds were available Friday, said Dan Lynch, the county’s emergency medical services director.Lynch said he expects they will have to use the Fresno Convention Center, which can accommodate up to 250 patients, given current demand.Fresno and three neighboring counties also have taken the unprecedented step of sending paramedics on emergency calls to evaluate people. They won’t be taken to the emergency room if they could go to an urgent care facility or wait a few days to talk to their doctors, Lynch said.Some hospitals have canceled non-essential elective surgeries, such as hip replacements, that might require beds that may soon be needed for COVID-19 patients. Others are increasing staff hours or moving patients to free up space.
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Graffiti, part of New York’s history for more than 50 years, is flourishing during the coronavirus pandemic, a sign of decadence for some, but vitality for others.As dusk becomes nightfall, graffiti artist Saynosleep takes a quick look around and then gets to work on a luxury store closed since it was looted in June during protests over George Floyd’s death.”If you’re not painting right now, I don’t know what you’re doing,” the 40-year-old said, adding an expletive. “There has never been a time like this.”The facades of hundreds of stores that have shut because of the pandemic are “an invitation” to artists, Marie Flageul, curator at New York’s Museum of Street Art (MoSA) said.Walls, bridges, sidewalks and subway cars — 34 of which have been painted since the beginning of the month — are canvases.”It’s a big surge, a renaissance of graffiti,” said Saynosleep, who uses a different pseudonym for his legal artwork.Graffiti was first accepted by the art world in the 1980s when it moved into galleries.Expressive street art then captured the imagination of the general public in the 2000s when it went from illegal to legal spaces.FILE – In this Feb. 22, 2006, photo, the 7 Train passes by the 5 Pointz Building in Long Island City, Queens, New York.But since March, it is the raw, illegal type of graffiti that has spread in a disorderly fashion.”Everybody wants to express themselves,” said Saynosleep, who said he has seen a woman in her 60s drawing graffiti. “People are bored. They need something to do.”The growth of the Black Lives Matter movement following Floyd’s killing in the custody of a Minnesota police officer in May has accelerated the trend, with protesters scribbling racial justice slogans and demands on buildings.In a year when socializing has virtually stopped and streets no longer throng with activity, graffiti is artists’ way of saying: “‘It feels like New York is dead and you don’t see us, but we are still here,'” Flageul said.The creative impulses are not to everyone’s taste, however. New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the graffiti was “another sign of decay,” along with an increase in homicides and shootings in New York City.He indirectly blamed Mayor Bill de Blasio for supposedly taking a lax attitude toward it.Critics were also angry that the city government, because of budgetary constraints, cut its graffiti removal program that had cleaned almost 15,000 sites in 2019.”I think it’s horrible,” said Darcy Weber, who has recently settled in New York. “Some say it’s art, but did they get permission for that? No, so it’s vandalism.”FILE – In this Aug. 1, 2018, photo, artist Lynne Yun’s mural project on a corrugated metal shed is seen near One World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan in New York.For some, graffiti reminds them of the dark days of the 1970s and ’80s when New York was broke and crime was rife.”From the beginning of the shutdown, I’ve been seen by police and I kept going, multiple times,” without being arrested Saynosleep said.A spokesperson for the New York Police Department told Agence France-Presse the force is “fully aware of the importance of addressing graffiti-related crime,” and said such incidents were down 17% from last year.Flageul, who is also a spokesperson for the 5Pointz graffiti collective, says it’s “a bit of a cliche” to say that more graffiti means New York is regressing.Brooklyn President Eric Adams, who wants to become New York’s mayor next year, says tags spray-painted onto public and private property “is quickly destroying our borough’s landscape.””It costs home and business owners hundreds of thousands of dollars and tremendous efforts to erase it,” he added, drawing a distinction between “vandalism” and “amazing street murals.”Ken Lovett, an adviser to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman, noted that cleaning graffiti from trains is draining resources when the MTA is facing “the worst financial crisis” in its history.New Jersey resident Emile Fu says he’s not too bothered.”There’s other things to be concerned about,” she told AFP.Bryce Graham, who lives in the Chelsea neighborhood, said the graffiti would shock him in somewhere like Ottawa “where everything is super clean.””But here in New York, it’s a … mix of what is clean and what is dirty,” he said.
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Even as new infections slip to the lowest levels in three months, on Saturday, India crossed the 10 million mark of total infections since the pandemic began, second behind the U.S. mark of 17 million, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.India’s falling infections, down from its record of about 100,000 new cases daily to about 25,000 cases reported Saturday, give health experts some reason to hope. India has suffered more than 145,000 deaths, Johns Hopkins says.”If we can sustain our declining trend for the next two to three months, we should be able to start the vaccination program and start moving away from the pandemic,” Dr. Randeep Guleria, a government health expert, told The Associated Press.Some of the world’s biggest vaccine makers are located in India, and there are five vaccines in clinical trials. Two vaccines, by Oxford University-AstraZeneca and India’s Bharat Biotech, are nearing authorization for emergency use. The South Asian nation with a population of 1.3 billion people hopes to vaccinate 250 million people by July.As India’s cases are waning, Canada was approaching 500,000 cases Saturday, an increase of 25% since two weeks ago, when the North American country surpassed 400,000 cases.”COVID-19 is spreading among people of all ages, with high infection rates across all age groups,” Canada’s chief medical officer Theresa Tam said.Cases surging in CanadaCanada is to receive 500,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in January, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. And about 168,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine should arrive soon. It is expected to receive emergency-use approval by Canadian health officials soon.However, Minister of Public Services and Procurement Anita Anand said there will not be enough shots for every Canadian who wants one until September.Santa ‘good to go’One person who won’t have to wait for his shot is Santa Claus, thanks to Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert.”I took care of that for you because I was worried that you’d all be upset,” he said Saturday during a CNN and “Sesame Street” coronavirus town hall for families, after worried youngsters asked whether Santa could safely enter homes on Dec. 25.”I took a trip up there to the North Pole; I went there, and I vaccinated Santa Claus myself. I measured his level of immunity, and he is good to go,” Fauci said.”He can come down the chimney, he can leave the presents … you have nothing to worry about,” he said.US general apologizesGen. Gustave Perna, the U.S. Army general in charge of distributing COVID-19 vaccine across the U.S., apologized Saturday to the governors of more than a dozen states that will be getting fewer doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine than they expected.”I want to take personal responsibility for the miscommunication,” he told reporters during a telephone briefing. “I know that’s not done much these days. But I am responsible. … This is a Herculean effort, and we are not perfect.”Perna said he mistakenly cited the number of doses he believed would be ready, not understanding the difference between manufactured doses and those ready to be released.Between the Pfizer vaccine and the Moderna Inc. vaccine, Perna said the government is expecting to deliver 20 million doses to the states by the first week of January.Moderna and its partners have started distributing its vaccine, the second approved for emergency use in the country. Trucks will begin shipping the vaccine to more than 3,700 U.S. locations on Sunday, Perna said Saturday during the virtual news conference.Perna said the Moderna vaccine will reach health care workers as early as Monday, but that the delivery of some of the first 20 million doses of vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer Inc. could be delayed until the first week of January.Nearly 76 million people around the world contracted the coronavirus as of midday Saturday, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.The U.S. tops the list as the country with the most cases, with 17.6 million; India is second, with more than 10 million, followed by Brazil, with 7.1 million, according to Johns Hopkins.Zeng Yixin, vice minister of China’s National Health Commission, said Saturday the country would focus on vaccinating high-risk groups over the next several months before beginning to vaccinate the general public.”During the winter and spring seasons, carrying out novel coronavirus vaccination work among some key population groups is of great significance to epidemic prevention,” Zeng, who also is director of State Council’s vaccine R&D working group, said.The World Health Organization (WHO) said it has gained access to 2 billion doses of several coronavirus vaccines.WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said access to the vaccines ensures that some 190 countries will be able to inoculate their populations “during the first half of next year.”
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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 committee hearing in Washington, July 30, 2020.”The full extent of the cyberhack [sic] is still unknown but we already know it is unprecedented in scale & scope,” the acting chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Republican Marco Rubio, tweeted Friday. “The methods used to carry out the cyberhack are consistent with Russian cyber operations,” Rubio added, warning that once officials can attribute the intrusion with complete certainty, “America must retaliate, and not just with sanctions.” The full extent of the cyberhack is still unknown but we already know it is unprecedented in scale & scope, in all likelihood ongoing & at a level of sophistication only a few nation-states are capable of.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) FILE – Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., addresses the news media in Alexandria, Va., Nov. 3, 2020.”An incident of this magnitude and lasting impact requires an engaged and public response by the U.S. government,” Senator Mark Warner said in a statement issued Friday. “It is extremely troubling that the president does not appear to be acknowledging, much less acting upon, the gravity of this situation.” Indications of a cyber intrusion first went public earlier this month when the private cybersecurity firm FireEye announced its systems had been penetrated and that sensitive information had been stolen. The hack was later traced to updates for network management software from a Texas-based company called SolarWinds, which the hackers exploited to get into the networks of at least 18,000 users. In an updated alert issued Friday, the cybersecurity unit of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned the hackers had been exploiting the SolarWinds software update going back to at least March. The SolarWinds logo is seen outside its headquarters in Austin, Texas, Dec. 18, 2020.But the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) further warned the problem was not contained to SolarWinds. “CISA has evidence of initial access vectors other than the SolarWinds Orion platform,” the alert warned, saying the agency is investigating instances in which other platforms were used to access critical networks. “This threat poses a grave risk to the federal government and state, local, tribal and territorial governments, as well as critical infrastructure entities and other private sector organizations,” CISA said. “This is a patient, well-resourced and focused adversary that has sustained long duration activity on victim networks.” Research by tech giant Microsoft, made public Thursday, indicated the hackers precisely targeted at least 40 organizations. The vast majority were in the United States, but companies in Canada, Mexico, Britain, Belgium, Israel and the United Arab Emirates were also attacked. FILE – Microsoft President Brad Smith speaks during a Reuters Newsmaker event in New York, Sept. 13, 2019.”This is not ‘espionage as usual,’ even in the digital age,” Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote on the company’s blog. “This is not just an attack on specific targets, but on the trust and reliability of the world’s critical infrastructure.” Former U.S. government officials also worried about the impact of the hack. “The scope of it is large but exactly how large remains to be seen, and exactly how severe remains to be seen,” Michael Daniel, who served as a special assistant to former U.S. President Barack Obama on cyber issues, told VOA’s Russian Service. “The damage could be very, very significant to U.S. national security and to our economic security,” he said. Yet despite the warnings from current and former government officials, and private security firms, as of late Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump had yet to comment on the breach. Instead, Trump’s Twitter feed was full of unsubstantiated allegations of election fraud, praise for the distribution of coronavirus vaccines and threats to veto the $740 billion defense spending bill, which drew the ire of some key lawmakers. I will Veto the Defense Bill, which will make China very unhappy. They love it. Must have Section 230 termination, protect our National Monuments and allow for removal of military from far away, and very unappreciative, lands. Thank you! https://t.co/9rI08S5ofO
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 17, 2020″This year’s National Defense Authorization Act provides critical tools and authorities to help defend against and disrupt malicious cyber activity and effectively hunt for threats and vulnerabilities on the federal cyber network,” the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee said in a joint statement late Friday. “The NDAA is always ‘must-pass’ legislation,” Republican Jim Inhofe and Democrat Jack Reed added. “But this cyber incident makes it even more urgent that the bill become law without further delay.” NEW: Senate Armed Services Committee statement on #SolarWindsHack
“significant, sophisticated, and ongoing cybersecurity intrusion against the United States… has the hallmarks of a #Russia|n intelligence operation” per @JimInhofe@SenJackReedpic.twitter.com/2d5KqPrECR
— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) December 17, 2020Already, officials have determined that the hackers gained access to systems for the departments of Energy, Treasury and Commerce, though the Energy Department said networks related to nuclear security appeared to have been spared. “At this point, the investigation has found that the malware has been isolated to business networks only and has not impacted the mission essential national security functions of the department,” spokeswoman Shaylyn Hynes said in a statement Thursday. DOE UPDATE ON CYBER INCIDENT RELATED TO SOLAR WINDS COMPROMISE pic.twitter.com/l9X1AH4VJw
— DOE Press Staff (@EnergyPress) December 17, 2020U.S. President-elect Joe Biden called the cybersecurity breach “a matter of great concern.” “I want to be clear: My administration will make cybersecurity a top priority at every level of government — and we will make dealing with this breach a top priority from the moment we take office,” he said in a statement Thursday, shortly after the latest CISA alert was issued. “Our adversaries should know that, as president, I will not stand idly by in the face of cyber assaults on our nation,” he added. Biden is set to be inaugurated as the 46th U.S. president on January 20. Russian Service’s Danila Galperovich contributed to this report.
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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 federal government is leaving it to Switzerland’s 26 cantons — or states — to decide whether to close skiing facilities.But Berset cautioned they should “think carefully” about their decision “because hospitals are full and putting a lot of people on snow slopes can lead to an increase in accidents and we need to be very careful.”The Swiss health minister’s cautionary stance is a reversal from earlier this month. As other European nations announced plans to close their ski facilities for at least the first several weeks of the season, he said Swiss resorts would be allowed to stay open if they put in place safety measures such as masks, proper hygiene, social distancing and limited capacity for bars and restaurants.At the time, he said he realized the stance could raise regional tensions, but said “We are a sovereign country and can decide ourselves what the facts are on our territory.”The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Switzerland has risen over the past two weeks from 43 cases per 100,000 people on December 3 to 50 cases per 100,000 people on Thursday.
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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 payment platforms backed by Alibaba. It then announced new draft rules targeting monopolistic practices on the country’s digital platforms. FILE – Signs of Alibaba Group and Ant Group are seen during the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, China, Nov. 23, 2020.Analysts who spoke to VOA said these moves reflect the Chinese government’s rising concern over financial technology and e-commerce companies that are using unfair competitive practices to undermine traditional payments and financial service companies. There is also a concern that the companies could pose a systemic risk to the economy. First fine On Monday, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group, a unit of Tencent Holdings, and an affiliate of express delivery company SF Holding were fined $75,000 (500,000 RMB) each for breaching China’s anti-monopoly law. SAMR said in a statement that the online economy has become increasingly controlled by a few companies. “Complaints about platform monopoly have been on the rise, indicating competition risks and problems in the online economy,” it said. FILE – Zhang Mao, minister of China’s State Administration for Market Regulation, attends a news conference on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress in Beijing, China, March 11, 2019.This marks the first fine towards the country’s internet giants since the enforcement of the anti-monopoly law in 2008. Lu Suiqi, an associate professor of finance at Peking University, says the government has been turning a blind eye to monopoly issues for the past decade, because developing the digital economy was an important part of China’s industrial policy. “Now these companies have become too strong, they have been using inappropriate means to drive their competitors out of the market,” Lu said. “They have grasped an excessively high market share and there’s a lack of healthy competition, which is bad for the overall economy.” Some 70% of the top 30 Apps in China belong to either Alibaba or Tencent. The two companies are each believed to oversee a payment and financial tractions ecosystem with a market value around $1.5 trillion (10 trillion RMB). Li Chengdong, founder of the Beijing-based Dolphin think tank, says that the explosive growth of internet firms has made governments around the world vigilant. In the United States earlier this month, attorney generals from 48 states sued Google and Facebook, accusing them of illegally conspiring to shut out smaller rivals. Analysts say there is a similar dynamic happening in China. Facebook’s Antitrust Fight in US Could Mean More Consumer Choice Worldwide The FTC and state attorneys general lawsuits contend that the social networking giant abused its monopoly power. 38 States Sue Google Over Antitrust Complaints It is the third major lawsuit against the tech giant since October “It’s very common in China for big internet giants to crack down on small- and medium-size start-ups,” he said, adding only more strict regulation and enforcement can put the economy back on track. Rebalancing away from technology? Meanwhile, experts recommend China needs to rebalance its economy between e-commerce and brick and mortar stores to achieve more sustainable growth. Tomson Tang, vice chairman of China Electronic Commerce Association, says China’s e-commerce has developed rapidly over the past 20 years in terms of users and the value of transactions, at the cost of hundreds and thousands of brick and mortar stores. “The policy and regulations couldn’t catch up with the speed at which e-commerce develops. That include systematic problems on issues around monopoly, which is bad for the real economy,” he told VOA. However, he said the digital economy is a key element for China to maintain overall economic momentum down the road. The government needs to use regulations to make sure that market opportunities created should be open to all participants and cannot be monopolized by a few large companies. Beijing’s antitrust watchdogs last month announced draft rules targeting monopolistic practices on the country’s digital platforms, which analysts say will have negative implications for major internet companies with dominant positions across segments. Paul Triolo, a China digital economy fellow at the Washington-based think tank New America, says although the tech giants must comply with the tightening regulations, they might succeed in bargaining with authorities on how the regulations are implemented. Tang predicts that in the next two to three years, China will establish a national digital economy bureau to oversee all internet companies. “Without such an authority to supervise, coordinate and enforce regulations, it would be difficult to grasp the financial data and structures of these internet giants, thus impact the implementation of the new anti-monopoly law,” he said.
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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 deal.Nakorn said most of the doses would head abroad.”Thailand will secure only 26 million doses. We may ask for more, but it will not be a big part, so maybe more than half of that [200 million] can be exported,” he told VOA.”It’s in the letter of intent that we made together with Siam Bioscience, AstraZeneca, SCG and Ministry of Public Health that it will be distributed within the ASEAN region,” he added, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.In a brief statement to VOA, AstraZeneca’s Thailand office confirmed the broad outlines of its plans.”The Ministry of Public Health, SCG, Siam Bioscience and AstraZeneca share the focus on broad, equitable and timely access to an effective COVID-19 vaccine in Thailand and Southeast Asia region. AstraZeneca has been working with Siam Bioscience through technology transfer to expand AZD1222’s global manufacturing capacity,” it said.AstraZeneca’s vaccine, developed in collaboration with Britain’s Oxford University, is still pending approval in Britain. Officials there say regulators could reach a decision by early January.In the mixNakorn said AstraZeneca has already started sharing the technology Siam Bioscience will need to make its vaccine and that production could begin in the second quarter of next year. If all goes well, he said, inoculations could start by the middle of the year.Because those taking AstraZeneca’s vaccine will need two doses each, the 26 million jabs Thailand has reserved will be enough for 13 million people, about a fifth of the country’s population. How the rest of the doses are rolled out across Southeast Asia, a region of over 650 million people, will be up to the British firm, said Nakorn.A few other ASEAN countries besides Thailand have already announced plans to source vaccine from AstraZeneca, but it’s not clear how many of their doses will be arriving via Siam Bioscience.AstraZeneca’s Thailand office refused VOA’s request for an interview.COVID-19’s toll on the region has been mixed.Despite reporting the first case outside of China, in mid-January, Thailand has managed to keep a lid on the pandemic, thanks to tight border controls, with only 4,281 cases and 60 deaths recorded to date. Laos, Cambodia and tiny Brunei have all reported well under 1,000 cases each.Others have fared much worse.The Philippines and Indonesia have recorded over 450,000 and 640,000 cases, respectively, the most in Southeast Asia. Malaysia and Myanmar are in the midst of their worst waves of infection yet, with well over 1,000 new cases a day.Countries in the region are not waiting for the AstraZeneca-Siam Bioscience pact for deliverance, though.Some of them have announced plans or deals to source from a combination of suppliers including U.S. pharmaceutical leaders Moderna and Pfizer, whose COVID-19 vaccines have already been approved by Washington. A few say they plan to pad their stocks with vaccines from China and Russia as well.Six ASEAN members have also signed up to COVAX, a global plan co-led by the World Health Organization for rich countries to help buy doses of COVID-19 vaccine for the poorest.Pros and consStill, AstraZeneca’s plans to turn Thailand into a regional production hub is a boon for the country’s neighbors, said Khor Swee Kheng, a global health specialist and independent consultant to the WHO based in Malaysia.With this deal, “Southeast Asia has greater assurance of vaccine supplies in a global race that is currently dominated by rich countries.” he said.”Two, production facilities that are physically nearer to Southeast Asian countries will aid in logistics. Three, this arrangement can be leveraged for further Southeast Asian collaboration in regional vaccine manufacturing and stockpiling.”AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine also has the advantage of holding on to its potency for at least six months in a standard refrigerator. That compares with about one month for Moderna’s offering and only a few days for Pfizer’s. For most of its time, Pfizer’s vaccine must be stored at an ultra-cold minus 70 Celsius.As countries shop for vaccines, Khor said that gives AZD1222 an edge in tropical countries and those with limited cold storage facilities, though he added that governments will also be weighing safety, efficacy, availability and price.Farming out production also raises its own hurdles.”Regulatory approval for the vaccine produced by Siam Bioscience depends on a few variables,” said Khor.“One, how much of the production process is done in Thailand in Siam Bioscience facilities versus AstraZeneca facilities? Two, how much technology transfer and patent transfers have occurred between AstraZeneca and Siam Bioscience? This information is not yet available publicly.”If Siam Bioscience takes on much of the burden, regulatory bodies may insist on approval of not only AstraZeneca’s work but separately of its Thai partner’s contributions as well.
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U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to get 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 up to seven hours in ambulances for beds.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 10 MB480p | 14 MB540p | 18 MB720p | 33 MB1080p | 70 MBOriginal | 85 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioFrench President Emmanuel Macron has joined the list of world leaders who has tested positive for the coronavirus. Macron has left Elysée Palace and is temporarily working at an official residence in Versailles.Dr. Hans Kluge, the regional director of the World Health Organization’s European office, has urged people to stay home during the holidays. He said in a statement that it is “not worth the risk” of contracting the virus.Kluge also said the pandemic has created a “growing mental health crisis in Europe.” He added, “From anxieties around virus transmission, the psychological impact of lockdowns and self-isolation, to the effects of unemployment, financial worries and social exclusion – the mental health impact of the pandemic will be long term and far reaching.”There are more than 75 million global COVID-19 cases, according to John Hopkins University.The United States has 17.2 million cases, followed by India with almost 10 million and Brazil with 7.1 million cases.
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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 the living conditions of the countries of origin of those migrants.” FILE – Antonio Vitorino, Director General of the International Organization for Migration, attends a news conference in Brussels, Belgium, Oct. 29, 2019.He said virus-related lockdowns, travel restrictions and border closures have also stranded about 3 million migrants all over the world. The IOM estimates there are 272 million migrants globally. A little less than half are women. The United Nations considers a migrant to be anyone who changes their country, regardless of the reason. But most move to seek economic improvement. According to IOM data, India has the largest number of migrants living abroad — 17.5 million — followed by Mexico (11.8 million) and China (10.7 million). The United States remains the top destination country, home to more than 50 million migrants. FILE – Migrant laborers returning to the city for work undergo COVID-19 tests in New Delhi, India, Aug. 18, 2020.Migrants are often thought of as being undocumented workers, but the vast majority legally reside in destination countries and work in all fields, from unskilled labor to highly specialized sectors.COVID-19 has particularly affected migrants working in the informal economy — many have lost jobs or work permits. They do not have the resources to manage financially through long lockdowns and quarantine periods. If they catch the virus, they often lack access to public health care or are afraid to use it if they are undocumented. Others have found themselves on the front lines of the virus response, as factory or grocery store employees, truck drivers, or health care workers. As some countries begin approving the first COVID-19 vaccines, Vitorino said the migrant community must not be excluded from receiving them. “It is the responsibility of governments to guarantee that all that are present in their territory, whether nationals or non-nationals, migrants irrespective of their legal status, have access to vaccines,” he said. “Because in practical terms, the pandemic has shown us that nobody is safe till everyone is safe.” Sadly, the pandemic has not stopped traffickers and other criminals seeking to exploit migrants. FILE – Migrants wait on board the German charity Sea-Watch 4 rescue ship before being transferred to GNV Allegra, where they will be in quarantine as part of anti-coronavirus measures, at sea near the Sicilian city of Palermo, Italy, Sept. 2, 2020.“There are four times more arrivals in Italy this year through the Mediterranean, one of the most dangerous routes, than last year,” Vitorino said of those who try to cross on boats and rafts. “Or if you look to the Gulf of Aden, there are 130,000 people who are crossing the Gulf both ways to reach the (Arab) Gulf countries, and they did not stop because of the pandemic.” More than 3,100 migrants have died trying to reach destination countries this year. Drowning is the most common cause. Vitorino said that migration is a natural human phenomenon that must be done in safe, dignified and regular ways. “It has always existed, and it will go on existing in our world,” he said.
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The United States is expanding its rollout of the newly approved COVID-19 vaccine to hundreds of distribution centers where thousands of health care workers are expected to be vaccinated. More from VOA’s Mariama Diallo.
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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 inside a vocational training center in Artux, in western China’s Xinjiang region, Dec. 3, 2018. Critics say China uses some of these facilities as detention camps for forced labor.China has repeatedly denied forcing anyone into what it has called vocational training centers and has also said Xinjiang is under threat from Islamist militants. Still, sensitivities have prompted caution among Chinese internet firms that often self-censor to avoid running afoul of a government that strictly controls online speech and that last month published draft rules to police livestreaming. Report’s findingsU.S.-based IPVM in a report published Wednesday said software capable of identifying Uighurs appears in Alibaba’s Cloud Shield content moderation service for websites. Alibaba describes Cloud Shield as a system that “detects and recognizes text, pictures, videos and voices containing pornography, politics, violent terrorism, advertisements and spam, and provides verification, marking, custom configuration and other capabilities.” An archived record of the technology shows it can perform such tasks as “glasses inspection,” “smile detection,” whether the subject is “ethnic” and, specifically, “Is it Uighur?” Consequently, if a Uighur livestreams a video on a website signed up to Cloud Shield, the software can detect that the user is Uighur and flag the video for review or removal, IPVM researcher Charles Rollet told Reuters. IPVM said mention of Uighurs in the software disappeared near the time it published its report. Alibaba’s responseAlibaba in a statement said it was dismayed that Alibaba Cloud developed facial recognition software that includes ethnicity as an attribute for tagging video imagery, and that it never intended the software to be used in this manner. The feature was trial technology not intended for customers. Alibaba did not mention Uighurs in its statement. “We have eliminated any ethnic tag in our product offering,” an Alibaba spokeswoman told Reuters. Alibaba is listed on both the New York and Hong Kong stock exchanges. It is the biggest cloud computing vendor in China and the fourth biggest worldwide, showed data from researcher Canalys. Earlier this month, U.S. lawmakers sent letters to Intel Corp. and Nvidia Corp. following reports of their computer chips being used in the surveillance of Uighurs.
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A U.S. panel endorsed emergency use of a second COVID-19 vaccine Thursday.A committee of independent expert advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted, after seven hours of discussion, to recommend the use of a vaccine developed by U.S. drug manufacturer Moderna, one week after federal regulators authorized the first vaccine for emergency use. “The evidence that has been studied in great detail on this vaccine highly outweighs any of the issues we’ve seen,” Dr. Hayley Gans, Stanford University Medical Center, said Thursday. FILE – Biotechnology company Moderna protocol files for COVID-19 vaccinations are kept at the Research Centers of America in Hollywood, Florida, Aug. 13, 2020.The news comes as the United States has recorded nearly 310,000 deaths from the virus, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. There are more than 17 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, in the U.S. FDA authorization of emergency use of the vaccine could come as soon as Friday. Once approved, Moderna would then begin shipping nearly 6 million doses, with the first planned for health workers and nursing home residents. Last week, after the advisers endorsed the use of the first vaccine, the FDA authorized it for emergency use a day later. That vaccine, developed by U.S. drugmaker Pfizer and German partner BioNTech, is being distributed throughout the U.S. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine’s distribution was threatened Wednesday and Thursday in Northeastern U.S. states by the region’s first major snowstorm, which forecasters said might leave more than 30 centimeters (12 inches) of snow on parts of New England before heading out to sea later Thursday. A massive inoculation program with an initial round of 2.9 million doses began Monday at U.S. hospitals and in long-term care facilities, as cases continued to surge across the U.S. Staff members receive the COVID-19 vaccine at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, N.J., Dec. 17, 2020.Thousands of people are dying daily, while intensive medical care units across the country are approaching capacity, threatening to overwhelm health care systems. Both vaccines were about 95% effective in clinical trials, but Moderna’s requires less onerous cold storage requirements than the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, making it a better choice for rural and remote areas. Moderna, however, reported more frequent side effects from its 30,000-person trial than those reported by Pfizer. These were mainly short-term reactions, such as hives, rashes and itching, officials said. FDA staffers did not mention any significant safety concerns about the Moderna vaccine in documents released Tuesday in preparation for the meeting. General Gustave Perna, chief operating officer of the federal government’s Operation Warp Speed vaccine project, told reporters Monday the U.S. plans to transport 6 million doses of Moderna’s vaccine if it is approved. Operation Warp Speed scientific leader Moncef Slaoui said Monday that 20 million people in the U.S. would be vaccinated with either vaccine this month. Slaoui estimated that 100 million people, about one-third of the U.S. population, could be inoculated by the end of the first quarter of 2021.
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Lawmakers in the lower house of Spain’s parliament approved a bill Thursday, amid ongoing protests, that would allow people to lawfully end their lives if they suffer from serious or incurable diseases.The bill, which is awaiting Senate approval, passed 198-138, in the face of staunch opposition from the conservative People’s Party, its supporters and religious groups.FILE – Santiago Abascal, leader of far-right party Vox, speaks at parliament in Madrid, Spain, Oct. 22, 2020.Many of the protesters who gathered outside parliament Thursday held banners that read “Government of death.”“The euthanasia law is a defeat for civilization and a victory for the culture of death, for those who believe that some lives are more worthy than others,” far-right Vox leader Santiago Abascal said in a video on social media.But Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa told lawmakers the society “cannotFILE – Spain’s Health Minister Salvador Illa speaks at Hospital Clinic in Barcelona, Spain, Feb. 12, 2020.remain impassive when faced with the intolerable pain that many people suffer.”Euthanasia is the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma.The practice is illegal in most countries but has received favorable consideration in the European Union. If passed by the Senate, Spain would become the fourth European country after Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium to allow people to legally end their lives because of medical conditions.Without any amendments, the law could go into effect as early as next spring.After that point, patients who choose to die because of a medical condition are required to demand euthanasia or ask to be assisted to commit suicide four separate times.The first two requests must be in writing and submitted two weeks apart, while the fourth just before the procedure takes place. All these requests have to be approved by an oversight board with jurisdiction over the patient’s location.Only Spanish citizens or residents of adult age can request to end their lives. The law does, however, give doctors the chance to deny requests based on their personal beliefs.
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The lawsuits against Alphabet Inc.’s Google continue to pile up. On December 17, 38 states filed a joint antitrust complaint that accuses the tech giant of expanding its search monopoly through smart speakers, televisions and cars, according to Reuters. It is the third major lawsuit against the company. The states are seeking to attach their suit with a federal suit announced by the Justice Department in October, according to the Colorado attorney general’s office. The federal case alleges Google made deals with phone makers, including Apple and Samsung, to make Google the default search engine. It alleges it is also using its Android operating system to pressure device makers to preload Google search apps and other Google products. On December 16, another case was filed by another group of states led by Texas. That case alleges Google is harming competitors by engaging in “false, deceptive or misleading acts” with its Google Ads product. In the latest case, the states allege Google is seeking to use exclusionary agreements to dominate search and search advertising over a new set of devices like smart speakers, which Google produces. Accusations against GoogleAccording to CNET, Google accounts for about 90% of U.S. search traffic. That generates “almost all” of the company’s $160 billion in annual sales. The company has long been accused of shutting out competitors by using its dominance to promote its own products. The new lawsuit alleges Google is doing the same with newer devices like voice assistants. “Google is preventing competitors in the voice assistant market from reaching consumers through connected cars, which stand to be a significant way the internet is accessed in the near future,” said Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, according to Reuters. Google has yet to comment on the lawsuit. Big Tech has come under increasing attack from both Democrats and Republicans. In addition to the Google cases, Facebook Inc. is also facing antitrust lawsuits. Reuters said the suits were the “biggest antitrust cases in a generation.”
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U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration and President-elect Joe Biden both voiced new alarm Thursday about a wide intrusion into computer systems around the world that officials suspect was carried out by Russia.The cybersecurity unit of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the hack “poses a grave risk to the federal government and state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, as well as critical infrastructure entities and other private sector organizations.”The assessment by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency was the most pointed yet since news of the intrusion first emerged last weekend. Both the U.S. Treasury and Commerce departments were among the agencies whose secure data and emails were penetrated by the hack.US Says Recent Hacking Campaign Hit Government NetworksThe hackers are believed to be working for RussiaThe cybersecurity unit warned that removing the malware inserted in the network software will be “highly complex and challenging.”Biden, set to become the 46th U.S. president after his January 20 inauguration, said, “There’s a lot we don’t yet know, but what we do know is a matter of great concern.”Biden said he had “instructed my team to learn as much as we can about this breach” and praised career government civil servants “who are working around-the-clock to respond to this attack.”He vowed that after he assumes power, “my administration will make cybersecurity a top priority at every level of government, and we will make dealing with this breach a top priority from the moment we take office.”Biden said he would strengthen the government’s cybersecurity partnerships with the private sector.“But a good defense isn’t enough,” he said. “We need to disrupt and deter our adversaries from undertaking significant cyberattacks in the first place.”“We will do that by, among other things, imposing substantial costs on those responsible for such malicious attacks, including in coordination with our allies and partners,” Biden said. “Our adversaries should know that, as president, I will not stand idly by in the face of cyber assaults on our nation.”
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People in the Northern Hemisphere are in for a once-in-a-millennium treat on December 21 — the winter solstice and the longest night of the year — when Jupiter and Saturn will meet in a “great conjunction,” the closest they will be seen in the sky together for nearly 800 years.Astronomers use the term “conjunction” to describe any time two celestial bodies appear to meet in the sky, as viewed from Earth. But when Saturn and Jupiter, the two largest planets in the solar system, appear to meet in the sky, they call it a “great” conjunction.Astronomers say the two planets regularly appear to pass each other in the solar system from Earth’s perspective, with their positions being aligned in the sky about once every 20 years.What makes this year’s great conjunction so significant is that the two planets have not passed this close to one another in 400 years, and it has been nearly 800 years since the alignment occurred at night, as it will this year, allowing nearly everyone around the world to witness it.Astronomers recommend finding an unobstructed view of the western sky about an hour after sunset. Jupiter will appear first and then Saturn; Jupiter will look like a bright star, and Saturn will be slightly fainter and will appear slightly above and to the left of Jupiter. Astronomers say the conjunction will be bright enough to be seen in cities.The conjunction will be the climax, but astronomers say observers do not have to wait until then. The two planets will be clearly visible in the west through December 25, though they will reverse positions in the sky after December 21, with the brighter Jupiter to the left.
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In Tanzania, female circumcision, also known as female genital mutilation, is still practiced among some ethnic groups as a rite of passage into womanhood. Many girls are forced or coerced into it by their family to avoid being shunned, and end up scarred for life. To bridge the gap between health and tradition, health care nonprofit Amref has been promoting an alternative rite of passage for girls. Charles Kombe reports from Tanga, Tanzania.Camera: Rajabu Hassan
Video editor: Jon Spier
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California expects to receive a little over two million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in December, which would be enough to vaccinate half of the state’s health care workers. Angelina Bagdasaryan has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.
Camera: Vazgen Varzhabetyan
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World Health Organization regional officials said Thursday China will welcome an international team of WHO experts to investigate the origins of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.At a news conference in Manila, WHO Regional Emergencies Director Dr. Babatunde Olowokure told reporters the agency has been in contact with China and is discussing places they will visit. The WHO announced Wednesday it was sending a team of researchers to China in the first week of January to study what led to the global pandemic that has so far killed more than 1.6 million people out of a total of more than 74.2 million cases.In an interview with the Associated Press news agency earlier this week, a member of the WHO team traveling to China, German biologist Fabian Leendertz, said the visit will likely start in the city of Wuhan where COVID-19 was first detected late last year. Most researchers believe the infection originated in bats.China has previously opposed calls for an international inquiry into the origins of the ailment, saying such calls are anti-China, but has been open to a WHO-led investigation. The United States, which has accused China of having hidden the outbreak’s extent, has called for a “transparent” WHO-led probe and criticized its terms, which allowed Chinese scientists to do the first phase of preliminary research.Chinese state media have suggested the coronavirus existed abroad before it was discovered in Wuhan, citing its presence on imported frozen food packaging and scientific papers claiming it had been circulating in Europe last year.
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The French government says President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.”The president tested positive for COVID-19 today,” a statement from the presidency said Thursday. It said Macron had been tested after the “onset of the first symptoms.”The government said Macron will self-isolate for seven days, in accordance with national regulations, and will continue to work and carry out his activities remotely.The French president adds to the list of heads of state and government around the world who have contracted COVID-19, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and U.S. President Donald Trump.The World Health Organization announced Wednesday it was sending a team of researchers to China in the first week of January to investigate the origins of the novel coronavirus that led to the global pandemic that has so far killed more than 1.6 million people out of a total of 74.2 million total cases.The 10-member team will examine medical data and test samples to determine how the virus that causes COVID-19 jumped from animals to humans, and where it originated. Most researchers believe the virus, which was first detected in late 2019 in the central city of Wuhan, originated in bats.People wearing protective masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus use a pedestrian crosswalk at the Ginza shopping street Dec. 17, 2020, in Tokyo.Trump has accused the Chinese government of covering up information about the pandemic.Meanwhile, the formal approval process for a second COVID-19 vaccine in the United States begins Thursday.The Food and Drug Administration’s vaccines advisory committee will review data on a vaccine developed jointly by Massachusetts-based drugmaker Moderna and the National Institutes of Health. FDA regulators earlier this week confirmed Moderna’s claims of the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness.If the advisory panel approves the Moderna vaccine, the FDA could grant emergency use authorization as early as Friday, meaning nearly 6 million doses could be distributed across the U.S. beginning next week. The Moderna-NIH vaccine will add to the 2.9 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine shipped out this week that began the inoculation effort in the U.S., starting with frontline health care workers and nursing home residents.The White House announced Wednesday that Vice President Mike Pence will receive the vaccine on Friday. President-elect Joe Biden will be vaccinated sometime next week, according to the transition team. The 78-year-old Biden is at high risk of contracting the virus due to his age.The FDA said Wednesday that pharmacists could draw extra doses of the Pfizer vaccine if there is any extra solution leftover in the vials. The vials are supposed to hold enough of the vaccine for five doses, but pharmacists have found there was enough for an additional sixth or even seventh dose. A spokesperson said in a statement the FDA was working with Pfizer to determine “the best path forward.”At least one health care worker in the Northwest Pacific state of Alaska suffered an allergic reaction just minutes after being inoculated with the Pfizer vaccine on Tuesday, the first such case of an adverse reaction in the United States. The New York Times is reporting that a second health care worker at the same hospital in Alaska also suffered an allergic reaction within minutes of being inoculated. Two health care workers in Britain also suffered allergic reactions after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.Vaccines normally produce various side effects, such as fever, fatigue, headache or pain at the injection site, but officials say such effects are common and disappear within a day or two. The report on the Moderna-NIH vaccine submitted to the FDA revealed that four volunteers in the late-stage clinical trial developed Bell’s palsy, a condition that involves temporary paralysis or weakness in the facial muscles. Three of those participants had received the two-dose vaccine, while the other one was given a placebo.The Inter-American Development Bank pledged $1 billion Wednesday to help Central American and Caribbean nations fight the coronavirus pandemic.The IDB will devote the money to purchasing vaccines, strengthening national institutions distributing the shots, and building immunization capacity.The pledge is in addition to $1.2 billion the bank already mobilized in the region to pay for testing and treatment.Wednesday’s announcement comes as Latin America reports surges in COVID-19 cases and deaths. According to the Reuters news agency, roughly 33% of the world’s COVID-19 deaths were recorded in Latin America, though the region only accounts for 9% of the global population.
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The U.S. government confirmed on Wednesday that a recent hacking campaign affected its networks and said the attack was “significant and ongoing.”Hackers believed to be working for Russia have been monitoring internal email traffic at the U.S. Treasury and Commerce departments, Reuters reported earlier this week, citing people who said they feared the hacks uncovered so far may be the tip of the iceberg.”This is a developing situation, and while we continue to work to understand the full extent of this campaign, we know this compromise has affected networks within the federal government,” said a joint statement issued by the FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).Technology company SolarWinds Corp., which was the key stepping-stone used by the hackers, said up to 18,000 of its customers had downloaded a compromised software update that allowed hackers to spy unnoticed on businesses and agencies for almost nine months.”Over the course of the past several days, the FBI, CISA, and ODNI have become aware of a significant and ongoing cybersecurity campaign,” the joint statement said.”The FBI is investigating and gathering intelligence in order to attribute, pursue, and disrupt the responsible threat actors,” the statement said.The FBI, CISA and ODNI have formed a Cyber Unified Coordination Group to coordinate the U.S. government’s response, it said.White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien cut short a European trip on Tuesday and returned to Washington to deal with the attack.
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Ten states on Wednesday brought a lawsuit against Google, accusing the search giant of “anti-competitive conduct” in the online advertising industry, including a deal to manipulate sales with rival Facebook.Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the suit, which was filed in a federal court in Texas, saying Google is using its “monopolistic power” to control pricing of online advertisements, fixing the market in its favor and eliminating competition.”This Goliath of a company is using its power to manipulate the market, destroy competition, and harm you, the consumer,” Paxton said in the video posted on Twitter.Google, which is based in Mountain View, California, called Paxton’s claims “meritless” and said the price of online advertising has fallen over the past decade.”These are the hallmarks of a highly competitive industry,” the company said in a statement. “We will strongly defend ourselves from (Paxton’s) baseless claims in court.”Paxton led a bipartisan coalition of 50 U.S. states and territories that announced in September 2019 they were investigating Google’s business practices, citing “potential monopolistic behavior.”Now Texas is bringing the suit along with other Republican attorneys general from Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and Utah.The complaint targets the heart of Google’s business – the digital ads that generate nearly all of its revenue, as well as all the money that its corporate parent, Alphabet Inc., depends on to help finance a range of far-flung technology projects.As more marketers have increased their spending online, those digital ads have turned Google into a moneymaking machine. Through the first nine months of this year, Google’s ad sales totaled nearly $101 billion, accounting for 86% of its total revenue.And now the states contend Google intends to use its alleged stranglehold on digital ads to choke off other avenues of potential competition and innovation. The company struck an illegal deal with Facebook, a major competitor for ads, to manipulate advertising auction, according to the complaint. Facebook declined to comment.”Google has an appetite for total dominance, and its latest ambition is to transform the free and open architecture of the internet,” the suit alleges.’Ad tech’ marketplaceIn the “ad tech” marketplace that brings together Google and a huge universe of online advertisers and publishers, the company controls access to the advertisers that put ads on its dominant search platform. Google also runs the auction process for advertisers to get ads onto a publisher’s site. Nine of Google’s products in search, video, mobile, email, mapping and other areas are estimated to have over a billion users each, providing the company a trove of users’ data that it can deploy in the advertising process.Google officials say the company shares the majority of its “ad tech” revenue with publishers, such as newspaper websites. An official recently rejected even the assertion that Google is dominant, saying that market dominance suggests abuse, which is foreign to the company.The state’s suit comes after the U.S. Justice Department sued Google in October for abusing its dominance in online search and advertising – the government’s most significant attempt to buttress competition since its historic case against Microsoft two decades ago.Separately, the FBI is investigating whether Paxton, a close ally of President Donald Trump, broke the law in using his office to help a wealthy donor who is also under federal investigation. This fall, eight of the attorney general’s top deputies accused him of bribery, abuse of office and other crimes in the service of an Austin real estate developer who employs a woman with whom Paxton is said to have had an extramarital affair.All eight of Paxton’s accusers have since been fired or resigned, including the deputy attorney general who had been leading the office’s probe of Google. The court complaint list attorneys with private firms in Houston, Chicago and Washington, D.C., as the lead lawyers on the case.Paxton announced the lawsuit the week after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his legal push to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election, a case that prompted widespread speculation that the attorney general is angling for a preemptive pardon from Trump.
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