News Archives - Page 47 of 81

Argentine Senate Has Agreed to Legalize Abortion

30Dec

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Argentina, News

Argentine Senate Has Agreed to Legalize Abortion

After 12 hours of debate, the Argentine Senate has agreed to legalize abortion during the first thirteen weeks of pregnancy. The lower house had already agreed, and that has settled the matter for the legislators. The country has long struggled with the legalization of abortion and has now taken the plunge by declaring no particular need for artificially terminating the pregnancy until the fourteenth week. Outside the parliament building, numerous people argued for legalization. Next year it will be 100 years ago in Argentina that it was first laid down in law that abortion was not punishable under certain conditions. Abortion is subject to conditions in almost all of South America. Only in Argentina, Guyana, Uruguay and French Guiana are abortion possible without necessary re...

Croatia Hit By Severe Earthquake: The Situation is Very Serious

29Dec

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Croatia, News

Croatia Hit By Severe Earthquake: The Situation is Very Serious

Croatia has been hit hard by a major earthquake. Global news agencies are broadcasting a quake with a magnitude fluctuating from 6.2 to 6.4. The shaking is said to have been felt in Northern Italy and Southern Germany. The Croatian Red Cross rumours on Twitter that there is a "very serious situation".

German Health Workers Obtain An Overdose of Corona Vaccine

28Dec

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Germany, Europe, News

German Health Workers Obtain An Overdose of Corona Vaccine

The German corona vaccination campaign has been overshadowed by an incident in the north of the country. There, eight employees of a retirement home were given an overdose of the vaccine. According to Vorpommern-Rügen district authorities, health workers in the city of Stralsund were given five times the recommended dose of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine on Sunday. Four of them were taken to the hospital for comment after developing flu-like signs. "I deeply regret the incident. This separate case is due to individual errors. I hope that everyone involved will not experience serious side effects," district chief Stefan Kerth said in a statement. The incident comes as some German districts have said they will not use the corona vaccines from Pfizer and BioNTech that were disseminat...

China is Halting Air Traffic With the United Kingdom Due to Mutation

24Dec

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

China, News, UK

China is Halting Air Traffic With the United Kingdom Due to Mutation

China is shutting down air traffic with the United Kingdom altogether. The Chinese authorities have decided to do so because a new variant of the coronavirus is circulating in the United Kingdom. According to British scientists, this is probably a lot more contagious than previous mutations. No flights are permitted in either direction until further notice. Travel restrictions already applied in China. For example, foreigners were no longer allowed to fly from British airports to China. Chinese nationals were allowed to do that until now, but not anymore. The Chinese Foreign Ministry points to the "exceptional nature of the virus mutation and its potential consequences" to justify the decision. Many other countries took the same conclusion at the beginning of this week, with the...

23Dec

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, News, US

US Cryptocurrency Law Removes Anonymity

A US proposal to regulate crypto coins also appears to end the anonymous use of virtual wallets. Not everyone is happy with that. The proposal, from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), mainly identifies who invests and trades in crypto coins such as bitcoin, ethereum, ripple and other variants. The set-up is partly similar to the Know Your Customer principle that real banks have been using for several years. Cryptocurrency exchanges, places where you can buy and sell virtual coins, have to identify their customers to some extent when they transfer more than three thousand dollars worth of crypto coins in a transaction or send for more than ten thousand dollars in a day. Exchanges must also keep track of those transactions. Such transactions are already entirely t...

France Will Approve Corona Vaccine for Saturday

22Dec

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

France, Europe, News

France Will Approve Corona Vaccine for Saturday

France will approve the corona vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech before Boxing Day (Saturday). Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Tuesday that the French medicine watchdog is working on it. Veran said earlier that France would start vaccinating people against the coronavirus on Sunday. People with poor health are the first to be vaccinated. The health minister also said on Tuesday that there is as yet no evidence that the new mutation of the coronavirus is circulating in France. He did not want to rule that out on Monday.

iPhones Journalists Affected By Sophisticated Malware

21Dec

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Technology, News

iPhones Journalists Affected By Sophisticated Malware

Dozens of journalists' iPhones have been affected by malware that allows nation-states to listen in. It would be Pegasus spyware. That writes CitizenLab, a research group linked to the University of Toronto. The spyware would reach the phones through an exploit of the NSO Group, an Israeli espionage company. This is a similar exploit to the one that hit WhatsApp last year. According to Citizenlab, 36 personal phones have been affected, belonging to journalists at Al-Jazeera and Britain's Al Araby TV. The attacks are said to come from several NSO customers from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The investigation came at the request of one of the victims, an Al Jazeera reporter who suspected his phone had been hacked. In their technical report, the researchers explain tha...

Hackers Target German Weapons Manufacturers

18Dec

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Germany, News, Technology

Hackers Target German Weapons Manufacturers

Hackers have been trying to steal data from major German weapon manufacturers in recent months. The German television channels BR and ARD report based on their own research that it concerns the hacker group Lazarus, which works in the service of North Korea. Two of the affected companies are Rheinmetall and Renk AG. They do not want to confirm the hacking attempts against the German media. They do say that there is a good defence system should hackers gain access to their network and systems. The German Information Technology Security Service (BSI) says Lazarus is trying to obtain important information through cyber espionage. "Germany does not share weapons or information with North Korea, and the North Koreans are trying to get the right knowledge by stealing data. to be able...

17Dec

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Technology, News

Google Broke the Deal With Facebook

Google has gone beyond its scope in a far-reaching collaboration deal with Facebook. Ten American states have come up with that accusation, including Texas. They took Google to court on Wednesday for alleged abuse of power with its advertising services. As far as the collaboration with Facebook is concerned, this is a deal from 2018, which allows Facebook advertisers to also place advertisements within the Google network. In itself that is not a special deal, Google entered into similar partnerships with other parties. But what the indictment never made publicly known is that Facebook would have received preferential treatment. Google and Facebook contradict the claims. The states have not accused Facebook of misconduct in the complaint. Google has been under more and more fire...

European Commission Call: Start Vaccination in the EU at the Same Time

16Dec

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Europe, News

European Commission Call: Start Vaccination in the EU at the Same Time

The countries of the European Union should simultaneously start vaccinating their populations against the coronavirus, the European Commission believes. "Let's start on the same day, as we have come through this pandemic with one accord," said Chairman Ursula von der Leyen. There is finally good news, Von der Leyen noted with delight in the European Parliament. "Within a week, the first vaccine will be approved, so that the vaccination can start immediately.". " The good news about the upcoming Pfizer vaccine approval doesn't mean the end of the corona crisis is already in sight, von der Leyen warned. "But we have the prospect to do something about it again, and we have hope."