Oct22021 TechmanNo Comments

Twitter Appeals French Court Ruling on Anti-Hate Speech

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Twitter has appealed a French court decision that ordered it to give activists full access to all of its relevant documents on efforts to fight hate speech, lawyers and a judicial source said on Saturday.   In July, a French court ordered Twitter to grant six French anti-discrimination groups full access to all documents relating to the company's efforts to combat hate speech since May 2020. The ruling applied to Twitter's global operation, not just France.   Twitter has appealed the decision and a hearing has been set for December 9, 2021, a judicial source told AFP, confirming information released by the groups' lawyers.   Twitter and its lawyers declined to comment.   The July order said that Twitter must hand over "all administrative, contractual, technical or commercial documents" detailing…
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Oct22021 DmediaNo Comments

Why Climate Change Is Making it Harder to Chase Fall Foliage

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Droughts that cause leaves to turn brown and wither before they can reach peak color. Heat waves prompting leaves to fall before autumn even arrives. Extreme weather events like hurricanes that strip trees of their leaves altogether. For a cheery autumnal activity, leaf peeping is facing some serious threats from the era of climate change. Leaf peeping, the practice of traveling to watch nature display its fall colors, is a beloved annual activity in many corners of the country, especially New England and New York. But recent seasons have been disrupted by weather conditions there and elsewhere, and the trend is likely to continue as the planet warms, said arborists, conservationists and ecologists. Typically, by the end of September, leaves cascade into warmer hues throughout the U.S. This year, many…
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Oct22021 TechmanNo Comments

How China’s Ban on Cryptocurrency Will Ripple Overseas

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Since China’s government declared all cryptocurrency transactions illegal last week and banned citizens from working for crypto-related companies, the price of bitcoin went up despite being shut out of one of its biggest markets. Experts say large-scale Chinese miners of cryptocurrency — the likes of Bitcoin and Ethereum — will take their high-powered, electricity-guzzling servers offshore. Exchanges of the digital money and the numerous Chinese startups linked to the trade also are expected to rebase offshore after dropping domestic customers from their rosters. The shift highlights how virtual currencies can evade government regulation. “The exchanges have been pushing offshore anyways, and with the exchange business you need cloud infrastructure, you need developers, you need management to move things in the right direction, and so whether that is sitting in Taipei,…
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Oct22021 DmediaNo Comments

Fact-Checking Biden’s Claim US Is World’s ‘Arsenal of Vaccines’

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At the virtual COVID-19 summit on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly last week, U.S. President Joe Biden announced an additional donation of 500 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine to low-income and lower-middle-income countries, bringing total U.S. pledged donations to 1.1 billion shots. "I made — and I'm keeping — the promise that America will become the arsenal of vaccines as we were the arsenal of democracy during World War II," Biden said at the summit. Here are some facts and context surrounding that claim. How many doses has the U.S. pledged and shipped? Of the 1.1 billion doses the U.S. has promised, nearly 172 million have been shipped to more than 100 countries, according to the State Department. Most are distributed via COVAX, the global vaccine-sharing initiative…
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Oct22021 DmediaNo Comments

US Tops 700,000 COVID Deaths

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The United States has surpassed 700,000 deaths from COVID-19, the highest of any country. The U.S. recorded 700,258 deaths Friday evening, according to data from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. Brazil has the second-highest number of deaths, with 597,255. India has 448,339; Mexico, 277,507; and Russia, 204,424, according to Johns Hopkins. Globally, nearly 4.8 million people have died from COVID-19. U.S. health officials say cases have been declining across the United States in recent weeks. However, while the latest wave of COVID-19 has peaked across the country as a whole, some states, especially in the North, are seeing case numbers rise. In other developments in the U.S., California became the first state to announce a vaccine mandate for schoolchildren once the Food and Drug Administration formally approves COVID-19 vaccines…
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Oct22021 TechmanNo Comments

China’s Tech Titans Funding Beijing’s Effort to Close Income Gap

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During the three-day World Internet Conference held in Wuzhen, China, this week, the country's biggest tech tycoons rushed to show their support for Beijing's "common prosperity" initiative. Their enthusiasm for the initiative comes amid a yearlong crackdown on the country's tech industry, where several high-profile companies have faced investigations and fines. Formerly high-flying celebrity CEOs are now keeping a low profile. Daniel Zhang, CEO at e-commerce giant Alibaba group, said his company's donation of $15 billion to the initiative over the next five years represented its willingness to help China achieve its goal of prosperity for all. Zhou Hongyi, billionaire entrepreneur and chairman and CEO of the country's largest Internet security firm, Qihoo 360, said his company will donate an as yet undisclosed sum to the initiative and step up…
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Oct12021 DmediaNo Comments

Fauci Calls Merck COVID Pill Data ‘Impressive’

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Members of the White House COVID-19 Response Team said Friday that recent trials showing the effectiveness of the U.S. drug company Merck's experimental new COVID-19 pill were certainly good news, but they stressed that vaccines would remain the best way to end the pandemic.    During the response team's virtual briefing, top U.S. infectious-disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said early data from the studies on the Merck COVID-19 pill were "impressive," including a 50% reduction in hospitalizations and deaths. White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said the U.S. government had already arranged to buy 1.7 million doses of the pill, with an option for more if needed. If approved for emergency use, the Merck pill would be the first COVID-19 treatment that could be taken orally and not through injection…
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Oct12021 DmediaNo Comments

European-Japanese Probe BepiColombo to Fly by Mercury on Friday

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A joint mission of the European and Japanese space agencies, the spacecraft BepiColombo is set to make a close, initial flyby of Mercury on Friday as part of a seven-year mission to put two probes in orbit around the solar system's closest planet to the sun.  In a statement on its website, the European Space Agency explains the spacecraft, launched in 2018, will swoop by Mercury on Friday at an altitude of about 200 kilometers (124.3 miles), capturing imagery and data that will give scientists preliminary information on the planet they hope to explore in depth when the mission puts two probes into orbit there in 2025.  The ESA says the British-built spacecraft will make use of the gravitational swing of nine planetary flybys — one at Earth, two at…
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Oct12021 DmediaNo Comments

US, Africa to Work Together on Climate Change

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The U.S. government says it wants to partner with African countries to combat climate change. A U.S. climate envoy, who is in South Africa to prepare for a key conference next month, said the fight must be an international one. "These kinds of damages do not limit themselves to one country," said Jonathan Pershing, U.S. deputy special presidential envoy for climate change. "You can't say I have got a problem and nobody else does. But neither would any country be immune. You don't have to be a landlocked country or an island country or coastal country. We are all in this together.  "That brings me to why I have come to Africa. It's the fastest growing continent, it's a continent in many ways it represents the future, what it chooses…
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Oct12021 DmediaNo Comments

Nigerian Author Helps Children Stay Informed with Coronavirus Book

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As COVID-19 has spread in Nigeria, Africa's most populated country, so have myths about the virus, especially among children. A Nigerian author has written a children's book to help them understand the pandemic and ways to avoid being infected. A team of educators arrives at a government school in Abuja. Equipped with books, face masks and sanitizers, they're here to educate schoolchildren about the coronavirus pandemic and personal hygiene. The initiative is the brainchild of team leader Raquel Kasham Daniel, a Nigerian author and founder of the nonprofit Beyond the Classroom Foundation. She started the foundation 11 years ago to help make education accessible to vulnerable children. But she said when COVID-19 hit Nigeria last year, she had to focus on teaching children how to stay safe or reduce their…
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Oct12021 TechmanNo Comments

Lithuania Urges Users to Ditch Chinese Smartphone Over ‘Built-In Censorship Tool’ 

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A popular Chinese-manufactured phone has a built-in censorship tool that can blacklist search terms on the web, according to research by the Lithuanian government, which is urging owners of the phones to replace them.  The Lithuanian Ministry of Defense analyzed three popular Chinese-made phones currently sold in Europe: the Xiaomi Mi 10T 5G; the Huawei P40 5G; the OnePlus 8T 5G. It reported finding a censorship tool built into the Xiaomi phone that can block certain search terms, including "Long live Taiwan’s independence,” "Free Tibet," "Democratic Movement," and "Voice of America.”    “It is very, very worrying that there is a built-in censorship tool and of keywords, which filters or could filter your search on the web,” Lithuanian Vice Defense Minister Margiris Abukevicius told VOA.   Xiaomi    Xiaomi is…
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Oct12021 DmediaNo Comments

Australia to Reopen Borders After 18 Months Of COVID-19 Isolation

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Australia will reopen its international borders in November to allow vaccinated travelers into the country for the first time in 18 months. Australia banned most foreign nationals in March of last year and required its citizens to seek official permission to leave the country. Now it is preparing to reopen to the world. Under a government plan, international passengers will be able to quarantine at home for seven days rather than the current 14-day mandatory period in hotel isolation. There will be no travel restrictions for fully vaccinated Australians entering or leaving the country, although major airlines have warned they are not yet ready for a swift increase in flights. The government is also working toward quarantine-free travel with other countries, including New Zealand. Passengers who are not vaccinated, or…
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Sep302021 DmediaNo Comments

Australian State Blames Illegal Parties For COVID-19 Surge

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COVID-19 infections have hit a new record in the Australian state of Victoria. Authorities blame rule-breakers for the latest surge in cases. More than 1,400 new daily locally acquired cases of COVID-19 were reported in Victoria Thursday. Five more people have died. The numbers have soared despite some of Australia’s strictest stay-at-home orders. Melbourne, the Victorian state capital, has become the third-most locked-down city in the world according to the city’s mayor. Residents have endured more than 235 days of lockdown since the pandemic began. Household visits are banned. Victorian authorities have said illegal gatherings and house parties over a public holiday long weekend the last weekend in September were behind the sharp rise in COVID-19 infections in the state. Officials also said many people had ignored lockdown directives to…
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Sep302021 DmediaNo Comments

US Opioid Overdose Deaths Soar

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In the shadows of Washington's government office buildings, Gary Hayes searches for another dose of heroin, chasing a high that will last only a few hours before he wants more. "It's hard to stop using when you are living on the streets and there's no treatment help," Hayes told VOA. The 28-year-old Black man, who lives in a homeless tent encampment in the nation's capital, has struggled with substance abuse disorder for a decade. "I overdosed twice in the last year, but I know several people who died," Hayes said, reflecting on the deadly opioid epidemic playing out during another health tragedy, the coronavirus pandemic. More than 93,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2020, the highest number on record, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statistics…
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Sep292021 TechmanNo Comments

YouTube Will Ban All Content Containing What it Calls Vaccine Misinformation

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YouTube will ban any video that claims vaccines are ineffective or dangerous, including those that question vaccines for measles and chickenpox, the company announced Wednesday.   “Specifically, content that falsely alleges that approved vaccines are dangerous and cause chronic health effects, claims that vaccines do not reduce transmission or contraction of disease, or contains misinformation on the substances contained in vaccines will be removed,” the Google-owned company said in a blog post announcing the new enforcement measures. The company said “vaccines in particular have been a source of fierce debate over the years, despite consistent guidance from health authorities about their effectiveness.”   “Today, we're expanding our medical misinformation policies on YouTube with new guidelines on currently administered vaccines that are approved and confirmed to be safe and effective by…
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Sep292021 DmediaNo Comments

Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, 22 More Species Extinct

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The U.S National Fish and Wildlife Service Wednesday is expected to announce the extinction of 23 species, including the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, an elusive bird long-sought after by bird watchers throughout the southeast United States.   The New York Times reports the list of extinctions includes 11 birds, eight freshwater mussels, two fish, a bat and a plant. Many of them were likely extinct, or almost so, by the time the Endangered Species Act passed in 1973.   The measure is intended to provide special protection for rare species on the brink of extinction. U.S. officials have determined no amount of conservation would have been able to save these particular species. Fish and Wildlife Species Classification Specialist Bridget Fahey told the Times, “Each of these 23 species represents a permanent loss…
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Sep292021 DmediaNo Comments

Massive North Sea Wind Farm Could Power Denmark, Neighbors

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Weeks before a high-profile climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Danish officials are talking up an ambitious program to develop the world's largest offshore wind energy complex, with the potential to provide enough green energy to power not just Denmark, but some of its neighbors as well.  The complex, to sit on and around an artificial North Sea island about 80 km off Denmark's coast, would span an area up to the size of 64 soccer fields and support thermal storage facilities, HVDC converters, a heliport, and a research and visitor center. Energy Island Envisioned by Denmark "You can have hundreds of wind turbines around this island," said Dan Jorgensen, Denmark's climate and energy minister, during a visit to Washington this month. His government calculates that the energy island could yield…
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Sep292021 DmediaNo Comments

Pakistani University Manufactures Stents for Heart Patients

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According to the Pakistani government, over 45,000 angioplasty operations are conducted in Pakistan each year; an operation in which a small mesh tube is inserted into a blocked artery to allow blood to flow through it. Up until recently Pakistan had to import these medical devices, but now they're being manufactured in country. VOA's Asim Ali Rana files this report narrated by Bezhan Hamdard. Camera: Wajid Hussain Shah  Produced by: Asim Ali Rana    ...
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