The head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday that the number of coronavirus deaths worldwide last week was the lowest reported in the pandemic since March 2020, marking what could be a turning point in the years-long global outbreak.
At a press briefing in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the world has never been in a better position to stop COVID-19.
“We are not there yet, but the end is in sight,” he said, comparing the effort to that made by a marathon runner nearing the finish line. “Now is the worst time to stop running,” he said. “Now is the time to run harder and make sure we cross the line and reap all the rewards of our hard work.”
In its weekly report on the pandemic, the U.N. health agency said deaths fell by 22% in the past week, at just over 11,000 reported worldwide. There were 3.1 million new cases, a drop of 28%, continuing a weeks-long decline in the disease in every part of the world.
Still, the WHO warned that relaxed COVID testing and surveillance in many countries means that many cases are going unnoticed. The agency issued a set of policy briefs for governments to strengthen their efforts against the coronavirus ahead of the expected winter surge of COVID-19, warning that new variants could yet undo the progress made to date.
“If we don’t take this opportunity now, we run the risk of more variants, more deaths, more disruption, and more uncertainty,” Tedros said.
The WHO reported that the omicron subvariant BA.5 continues to dominate globally and comprised nearly 90% of virus samples shared with the world’s biggest public database. In recent weeks, regulatory authorities in Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere have cleared tweaked vaccines that target both the original coronavirus and later variants including BA.5.
Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead on COVID-19, said the organization expected future waves of the disease, but was hopeful those would not cause many deaths.
Meanwhile in China, residents of a city in the country’s far western Xinjiang region have said they are experiencing hunger, forced quarantines and dwindling supplies of medicine and daily necessities after more than 40 days in a lockdown prompted by COVID-19.
Hundreds of posts from Ghulja riveted users of Chinese social media last week, with residents sharing videos of empty refrigerators, feverish children and people shouting from their windows.
On Monday, local police announced the arrests of six people for “spreading rumors” about the lockdown, including posts about a dead child and an alleged suicide, which they said “incited opposition” and “disrupted social order.”
Leaked directives from government offices show that workers are being ordered to avoid negative information and spread “positive energy” instead. One directed state media to film “smiling seniors” and “children having fun” in neighborhoods emerging from the lockdown.
The government has ordered mass testing and district lockdowns in cities across China in recent weeks, from Sanya on tropical Hainan island to southwest Chengdu, to the northern port city of Dalian.
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Belarusian journalist Dzyanis Ivashyn has been sentenced to 13 years and one month in prison on a high treason charge.
The Hrodna regional court in the country’s west also ruled on September 14 that Ivashyn must pay a fine and compensation to nine unspecified victims.
Ivashyn’s trial started in mid-August behind closed doors.
Ivashyn was arrested in March last year by the Belarusian KGB and charged with high treason, though his colleagues say the arrest was connected with his publications about former Ukrainian Berkut members employed by the Belarusian police.
The arrest came amid a crackdown on independent journalists, opposition politicians, and rights activists following unprecedented mass protests challenging the results of an August 2020 presidential poll that announced authoritarian ruler Alexander Lukashenko as the winner.
Rights activists and opposition politicians say the poll was rigged to extend Lukashenko’s rule.
Thousands have been detained during countrywide protests and there have been credible reports of torture and ill-treatment by security forces. Several people have died during the crackdown.
Many of Belarus’s opposition leaders have been arrested or forced to leave the country, while Lukashenko has refused to negotiate with the opposition.
Belarusian human rights organizations have recognized Ivashyn as a political prisoner.
The United States, the European Union, and several other countries have refused to acknowledge Lukashenko as the winner of the vote and imposed several rounds of sanctions on him and his regime, citing election fraud and the police crackdown.
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Запровадження Туреччиною візового режиму для громадян Туркменистану торкнеться сотень тисяч туркменських мігрантів і тисяч жителів країни, які намагаються виїхати туди на заробітки
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Журналіст також має виплатити штраф і компенсації на загальну суму в понад 9 тисяч доларів
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As Russia faces further isolation from the West after its invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will meet in Uzbekistan, a gathering that should indicate the strength of the cooperation between the two countries. Marcus Harton narrates this report from the VOA Moscow Bureau.
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Законопроєкт, який передбачатиме кримінальну відповідальність за російський паспорт, готовий
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За словами Пургайле, в Латвії встановлено 6 людей, які підпадають під санкції, та 35 компаній, які опосередковано підконтрольні підсанкційним особам
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Britain’s late Queen Elizabeth II is taken from Buckingham Palace to London’s Westminster Hall where she will lie in state at parliament. King Charles III walks behind the carriage carrying the queen’s coffin. His sons, William and Harry, and his siblings, Anne, Andrew and Edward join him. Large crowds are seen along the route, with tens of thousands of people travel to Westminster to pay their respects.
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Серед втраченого у РФ – 5 танків, 11 артсистем, 3 бронемашини тощо
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«Бог є мир. Він завжди веде нас шляхом миру, і ніколи шляхом війни», – сказав понтифік
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Виступаючи зі своєю щорічною промовою 14 вересня в Страсбурзі, фон дер Ляєн сказала, що солідарність Євросоюзу з Україною є «непохитною», а також анонсувала сьоголнішній візит до Києва
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Йдеться про арешт 49 ділянок землі на Київщині
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Але власне наступ на двох напрямках – північному та південному – було запропоновано українськими військовими
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U.S. senators expressed empathy with Twitter’s former security chief during a hearing on Tuesday as he outlined serious concerns about the influential social media platform.
“It doesn’t matter who has keys if you don’t have any locks on the doors. And this kind of vulnerability is not in the abstract. It’s not far-fetched to say an employee in the company could take over the accounts of all of the senators in this room,” said Peiter “Mudge” Zatko in testimony before the Senate’s Judiciary Committee.
“Given the real harm to users and national security, I determined it was necessary to take on the personal and professional risk to myself and to my family of becoming a whistleblower.”
Zatko, appearing under subpoena, added he was not making the disclosures “out of spite or to harm Twitter.”
Zatko, who made a number of revelations previously in an 84-page complaint to the Securities and Exchange Commission and other U.S. government regulatory agencies, said that executive incentives compel Twitter executives to prioritize profits over security.
“There was a culture of not reporting bad results up, only reporting good results up,” Zatko told the senators.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat, noted that according to Zatko, “the door to that vault is wide open and that vault contains a lot more information about you than you can imagine.”
Several senators, from both the Democratic and Republican parties, expressed concern that Twitter’s vulnerabilities could constitute a national security threat.
“This data is a gold mine of information that could be used against America’s interest. Twitter has a responsibility to ensure that the data is protected and doesn’t fall into the hands of foreign powers,” said Chuck Grassley, the ranking Republican senator on the committee.
“Your testimony today has legitimized what most of us feel is a process out of control, that the regulatory environment is insufficient to the task,” said Senator Lindsey Graham a Republican. “It’s time to up our game in this country.”
Graham said he is working with Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, to create a regulatory system that would have “teeth,” similar to what has been enacted in Europe.
“I’m not reaching any conclusions, but clearly what we’re doing right now is not working,” said Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat on the committee, who raised the possibility of creating a new government agency to regulate tech companies and protect consumers.
One senator, Mazie Hirono, a Democrat, appeared exasperated that Twitter has not been held to account even though it has paid a $150 million fine for violating a consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission on protecting users’ data.
“Do people need to go to prison?” she asked Zatko.
“I think holding people accountable is a good start,” he replied.
Zatko, a former high-profile computer hacker who became head of cybersecurity research at a Defense Department research and development agency known as DARPA and subsequently worked at Google before joining Twitter in 2020, also testified there were suspected foreign agents working inside Twitter — from China, India and Nigeria — and that there was no way to track their access to company databases, including those containing users’ personal information.
Zatko said when he raised his concern with another Twitter executive about a particular suspected foreign agent inside the company that person replied: “Well, since we already have one, what does it matter if we have more?”
Twitter’s hiring process is independent of any foreign influence and access to data is managed through measures including background checks, access controls, and monitoring and detection systems and processes, according to a Twitter company spokesman.
“Today’s hearing only confirms that Mr. Zatko’s allegations are riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies,” a Twitter company spokesperson, who declined to be publicly identified, responded to VOA and did not elaborate.
Twitter Chief Executive Officer Parag Agrawal declined to voluntarily appear before the committee on Tuesday. Durbin and Grassley told reporters they will discuss issuing a subpoena to compel the executive to appear.
Zatko “continues to believe that through this public disclosure process, real world harm for Twitter users may be avoided and our country’s national security better protected,” said his attorney, Alexis Ronickher, in a statement following the hearing.
Following Zatko’s testimony, Twitter announced that its shareholders have approved a $44 billion takeover offer from Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk. But since making the bid, the billionaire has terminated the agreement, accusing Twitter of misrepresenting the number of authentic users. Twitter has countersued, and the matter is scheduled to be heard in Delaware’s chancery court next month.
A judge in the state of Delaware ruled last week that Zatko’s claims can be included in Musk’s case against Twitter.
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Armenia and Azerbaijan reported nearly 100 troop deaths Tuesday in their worst fighting since a 2020 war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The last wave of fighting over Azerbaijan’s tense Armenian-populated enclave ended in a fragile truce brokered by Russia.
But on Tuesday, the defense ministry in Baku said, “50 Azerbaijani servicemen died as a result of Armenia’s large-scale provocation,” while Armenia earlier reported the deaths of at least 49 of its soldiers.
Azerbaijan accused Armenia of violating the cease-fire after a night of clashes that renewed fears of another all-out conflict between the historic foes.
Russia said it had reached a cease-fire between the warring parties that brought several hours of relative calm, but Azerbaijan later accused Armenian forces of “intensely” violating the agreement.
“Despite the declaration of a cease-fire since 9 (Moscow time, 0600 GMT), Armenia is intensively violating the cease-fire along the border by using artillery and other heavy weapons,” Baku’s military said.
Armenia appealed to world leaders for help after the fighting broke out, accusing Azerbaijan of trying to advance on its territory.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the leaders of both countries Tuesday, with his spokesman saying Washington would “push for an immediate halt to fighting and a peace settlement” between the neighbors.
French President Emmanuel Macron called his Azerbaijan counterpart Ilham Aliyev on Tuesday to express “great concern” and urge a “return to respecting the cease-fire.”
He also called for intensified negotiations and offered to contribute along with the European Union, the Elysee said.
The Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had earlier spoken with Macron, as well as calling Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Blinken to demand a response to “Azerbaijan’s aggressive acts.”
Tuesday’s escalation came as Yerevan’s closest ally Moscow, which deployed thousands of peacekeepers in the region after the 2020 war, is distracted by its six-month-old invasion of Ukraine.
Armenia’s defense ministry said clashes had subsided after the cease-fire but that the situation on the border was still “extremely tense.”
The defense ministry in Yerevan said the clashes started early Tuesday, with Armenian territory coming under fire from artillery, mortars and drones in the direction of the cities of Goris, Sotk and Jermuk.
“The enemy is trying to advance” into Armenian territory, it said in a statement.
Azerbaijan, however, accused Armenia of “large-scale subversive acts” near the districts of Dashkesan, Kelbajar and Lachin, and said its armed forces were taking “limited and targeted steps, neutralizing Armenian firing positions.”
Baku’s long-standing political and military sponsor Turkey blamed Armenia and urged it instead to “focus on peace negotiations.”
Iran, which shares a border with both countries, urged “restraint” and a “peaceful resolution” to the fighting.
The EU and the United Nations expressed concerns over the escalation and called for an end to the fighting.
Before the cease-fire was announced, Armenia’s security council asked for military help from Moscow, which is obligated under a treaty to defend Armenia in the event of foreign invasion.
Armenian political analyst Tatul Hakobyan said the escalation in fighting was a consequence of the “deadlock” in Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks.
“Azerbaijan wants to force Armenia to recognize Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan,” he told AFP. “The war in Ukraine has changed the balance of forces in the region and Russia, which is a guarantor of peace in the region, is in a very bad shape.
“In this situation, Azerbaijan wants to get concessions from Armenia as soon as possible,” he added.
Last week, Armenia accused Azerbaijan of killing one of its soldiers in a border shootout.
In August, Azerbaijan said it had lost a soldier and the Karabakh army said two of its troops had been killed and more than a dozen wounded.
The neighbors fought two wars — in the 1990s and in 2020 — over the region.
The six weeks of brutal fighting in autumn 2020 ended with a Russian-brokered cease-fire.
Under the deal, Armenia ceded swathes of territory it had controlled for decades, and Moscow deployed about 2,000 Russian peacekeepers to oversee the fragile truce.
During EU-mediated talks in Brussels in May and April, Aliyev and Pashinyan agreed to “advance discussions” on a future peace treaty.
Ethnic Armenian separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The ensuing conflict claimed around 30,000 lives.
your ad hereПредставник Білого дому сказав, що американська зброя відіграла «важливу роль» у спроможності України завдати удару військам РФ
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Акціонери Twitter схвалили угоду з продажу компанії мільярдеру Ілону Маску. Збори тривали сім хвилин. Про це повідомляє Bloomberg.
Рада директорів Twitter закликала інвесторів вважати угоду дійсною. Сума операції складає 44 мільярди доларів.
Про те, що Маск збирається купити Twitter, стало відомо наприкінці квітня. Очікувалося, що купівля завершиться до кінця 2022 року. У травні бізнесмен призупинив угоду до отримання від соцмережі реальної статистики щодо фейкових акаунтів. Компанія оцінює їхню частку менш як у п’ять відсотків, але, за словами мільярдера, не надала подробиць, що підтверджують розрахунки.
Після цього Маск та Twitter подали один до одного судові позови. Корпорація наполягає на завершенні угоди, а мільярдер – на її розірванні. Судове засідання призначене на 17 жовтня.
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Вперше Євросоюз запровадив санкції проти колишніх українських чиновників у березні 2014 року
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The coffin of Queen Elizabeth is flown to London from the Scottish capital of Edinburgh after lying in St. Giles’ Cathedral. In London, her coffin will be driven to Buckingham Palace, her official home.
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