tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53442588579938174172024-03-13T16:03:34.728+07:00Cempaka Information (Business) TechnologyInteresting News, Links or other Subjects related to Information Technology and Business.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2363125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344258857993817417.post-58958244610507918062022-10-27T02:47:00.011+07:002022-10-27T02:48:30.312+07:00Australia admits cyber defences 'inadequate' as medical hack hits millions<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20221026-australia-admits-cyber-defences-inadequate-as-medical-hack-hits-millions" target="_blank">France24 – AFP</a>, 26 October 2022</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: center;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYrhFO9ch8SPC_luHztCGP-cJ1KXz-ODhnbR0xBz3SJc_0cjG-lQKwy1VXpZ3Jx5jad_j77anV6Fg0RH6XOL-an58YWmbak8JtyB0LvZiK1jNmNp_A-iIYbaYVSk8LRI9ivzDUaCurZNowpW5epNPBrmyZX230oVbrAM-DDAu9Lcbz8vP1aABRh1oa/s1000/Ff-HJw7akAAe6Nc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1000" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYrhFO9ch8SPC_luHztCGP-cJ1KXz-ODhnbR0xBz3SJc_0cjG-lQKwy1VXpZ3Jx5jad_j77anV6Fg0RH6XOL-an58YWmbak8JtyB0LvZiK1jNmNp_A-iIYbaYVSk8LRI9ivzDUaCurZNowpW5epNPBrmyZX230oVbrAM-DDAu9Lcbz8vP1aABRh1oa/w400-h253/Ff-HJw7akAAe6Nc.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Hackers have accessed millions of medical records at Medibank, one of Australia's <br />largest private insurers SAEED KHAN AFP/File</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Sydney (AFP) – Hackers accessed millions of medical
records at one of Australia's largest private health insurers, the company said
Wednesday, prompting the government to admit the nation's cyber safeguards were
"inadequate".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This was the latest in a series of hacks targeting
millions of people that have brought Australian companies' lax approach to
cyber security into sharp relief.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Medibank chief executive David Koczkar said
information about each of the company's 3.9 million policy holders -- some 15
percent of Australia's population -- had been compromised.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Our investigation has now established that this
criminal has accessed all our private health insurance customers' personal data
and significant amounts of their health claims data," he said in a
statement to the Australian stock exchange.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"This is a terrible crime. This is a crime
designed to cause maximum harm to the most vulnerable members of our
community."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The cyber attack was revealed last week, but it was
not known until now how many people were impacted.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The hackers have previously threatened to leak the
data, starting with 1,000 famous Australians, unless Medibank pays a ransom.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Medibank on Wednesday also confirmed it was not
insured against cyber attacks, estimating the hack could cost the company as
much as Au$35 million (US$22 million).</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Medibank hack followed an attack on telecom
company Optus last month that exposed the personal information of some nine
million Australians -- almost a third of the population.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Optus attack was one of the largest data breaches
in Australian history.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><b>'Inadequate'<o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Australia's Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has
previously accused companies of stockpiling sensitive customer data they did
not need.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Firms currently face paltry fines -- Au$2.2 million --
for failing to protect customer data.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Dreyfus last week said these fines would be ratcheted
up to Au$50 million.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Unfortunately, significant privacy breaches in
recent weeks have shown existing safeguards are inadequate," he said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"It's not enough for a penalty for a major data
breach to be seen as the cost of doing business."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil on Tuesday said the
fallout from the Medibank hack was "potentially irreparable".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"One of the reasons why the government is so
worried about this is because of the nature of the data," she told
Australia's parliament.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"When it comes to the personal health information
of Australians, the damage here is potentially irreparable."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="font-family: arial;">O'Neil has previously described hacking as a "dog
act" -- an Australian phrase reserved for something especially shameful or
despicable.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344258857993817417.post-91436943903346896932022-09-27T01:47:00.000+07:002022-09-27T01:47:19.039+07:00Apple to make iPhone 14 in India in shift away from China<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://uk.news.yahoo.com/apple-iphone-14-india-shift-140358646.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, September 2022</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh38jKS8ZEyZXD2mcQyE60n5m8J6k2icJlM9AVyyevE-Zhx6jFjaWM3diORMgUxkMV-gt67BN6FMVbN2-XqobOfBIL-LeEsWWJCTYcubDAYL4SAfVPNvQko4-VPurTPYPUId8vvD5OH7iGyrKBCjvMF3L7GSbwSVn39t2l26s4lTN5xiQdBpaefSj0S/s768/489a6b7a28078f7a0fee0f400eb371c1.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="768" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh38jKS8ZEyZXD2mcQyE60n5m8J6k2icJlM9AVyyevE-Zhx6jFjaWM3diORMgUxkMV-gt67BN6FMVbN2-XqobOfBIL-LeEsWWJCTYcubDAYL4SAfVPNvQko4-VPurTPYPUId8vvD5OH7iGyrKBCjvMF3L7GSbwSVn39t2l26s4lTN5xiQdBpaefSj0S/w400-h266/489a6b7a28078f7a0fee0f400eb371c1.webp" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Apple will manufacture its new flagship smartphone in
India, the US tech giant said Monday, as it seeks to diversify production away
from a dependence on China.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The iPhone supply chain is based mainly in China but
the country's zero-Covid policies and tensions with the United States have hurt
production, analysts say.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"We're excited to be manufacturing iPhone 14 in
India," Apple said in a brief statement.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The California-based firm already makes older iPhone
models in India via Taiwanese manufacturers such as Foxconn, which has a
factory in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The latest announcement comes just weeks after Apple
launched new smartphones. The tech behemoth is commencing production of the
iPhone 14 in India much earlier than it did for previous models, Canalys
analyst Sanyam Chaurasia said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Over the last couple of years, it has been
increasingly diversifying its supply chain to India," Chaurasia told AFP.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">About 7.5 million iPhones -- around three percent of
Apple's global production -- were made in India last year, the analyst added.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"We expect that the local production of iPhones
could reach more than 11 million this year," he said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Apple's announcement will be a boost to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's "Make in India" strategy under which he has urged
foreign businesses to manufacture goods in the South Asian nation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344258857993817417.post-2799975502846323172022-07-03T04:38:00.006+07:002022-07-03T04:38:32.676+07:00Elon Musk breaks Twitter silence with photo with Pope<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220702-elon-musk-breaks-twitter-silence-with-photo-with-pope" target="_blank">France24 –AFP</a>, 2 July 2022</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEhFxB-_GPoP4ZGqAFdprD7CVdY26cvzwMLLFEcxyG7eTAT_3HyWOc3LDz4lpF61n-LNwqCdumpKhk-Hr7pDc5kE1FP99YT1mkqbuCjX8HdgNjKfMcvHjK--MlR9sRRJ7jYLGAeboVk-VEBSLOgoEO1y3NKhiDkA5VIrWlh30T1LRRKCk1obccHvhR/s1024/0f9051d5f6e4a3d553b6b42ddcc648afad6e75e9.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEhFxB-_GPoP4ZGqAFdprD7CVdY26cvzwMLLFEcxyG7eTAT_3HyWOc3LDz4lpF61n-LNwqCdumpKhk-Hr7pDc5kE1FP99YT1mkqbuCjX8HdgNjKfMcvHjK--MlR9sRRJ7jYLGAeboVk-VEBSLOgoEO1y3NKhiDkA5VIrWlh30T1LRRKCk1obccHvhR/w400-h225/0f9051d5f6e4a3d553b6b42ddcc648afad6e75e9.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">The location and details of the meeting were not specified Handout <br />ELON MUSK'S TWITTER ACCOUNT/AFP</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Rome (AFP) – American billionaire Elon Musk on
Saturday broke his silence on the Twitter social media site, which he plans to
buy, posting a picture of himself with Pope Francis.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Honored to meet @Pontifex yesterday," Musk
tweeted next to a photograph of him and four of his children with the
Argentinian-born pontiff.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The location and details of the meeting were not
specified by the Tesla and SpaceX boss, while the Vatican did not comment on
his private audience with Pope Francis.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Last week Musk said that his $44-billion move to take
over Twitter remained held up by "very significant" questions about
the number of fake users on the social network.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The richest man in the world added then that there
were also questions about Twitter's debt and whether shareholders will vote for
the deal.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344258857993817417.post-34983215251458210562022-06-24T04:14:00.002+07:002022-06-24T04:14:54.502+07:00Google agrees to pay for beefed-up Wikipedia service<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/google-agrees-pay-wikipedia-content-132355270.html">Yahoo – AFP</a>, June 22, 2022</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyflPOSjexdGQeD5fcQ0VUYamwEOueeINiCd-pY8Q6QW6es2NT7oG16HYCt3hFTl8gL7YUEIQcFYvJjfxzKAtRs_Guxy8LQ_-xjDAWYHJjCxk4bcdB2d8F9YoMo4u_wuWlXCCW5xxeedyWksWT30KPQfe5JzGVutkEjHXnomGu5qrRJtPQF3W9uXJ0/s705/1cb34f172d55a271ae9f8b2ad251858b.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyflPOSjexdGQeD5fcQ0VUYamwEOueeINiCd-pY8Q6QW6es2NT7oG16HYCt3hFTl8gL7YUEIQcFYvJjfxzKAtRs_Guxy8LQ_-xjDAWYHJjCxk4bcdB2d8F9YoMo4u_wuWlXCCW5xxeedyWksWT30KPQfe5JzGVutkEjHXnomGu5qrRJtPQF3W9uXJ0/w400-h266/1cb34f172d55a271ae9f8b2ad251858b.webp" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Google has agreed to pay for ramped-up Wikipedia
services, part of a growing trend for the US tech giant to strike commercial
deals with other web companies.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Wikimedia Foundation, the charity that oversees
the online encyclopedia, said Google was the first paying customer for its
commercial venture Wikimedia Enterprise, which it launched last year.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Internet Archive, a non-profit that runs a site
called the Wayback Machine that saves snapshots of websites and is used to fix
Wikipedia links, will be offered the commercial services for free.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"We're thrilled to be working with them both as
our longtime partners," said Wikimedia's Lane Becker in a statement on
Tuesday.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Wikipedia, one of the world's most visited websites,
is free to use, updated by volunteers and relies on donations to keep afloat.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The new commercial venture will not change that
arrangement for individual users, the foundation said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Google uses material from the site for its
"knowledge panel" -- a sidebar that accompanies the main search
results.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The source of the information is not always shown, a
practice that had sparked complaints from Wikimedia.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The foundation said its new product gave customers a
"feed of real-time content updates on Wikimedia projects" beyond what
is available to the public.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The product was "designed to make it easier for
these entities to package and share Wikimedia content", it said in a
statement.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Google has previously given money to Wikipedia through
donations and grants but the new deal puts their relationship on a more formal
commercial footing.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"We have long supported the Wikimedia Foundation
in pursuit of our shared goals of expanding knowledge and information access
for people everywhere," said Google's Tim Palmer.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The foundation's statement did not reveal the value of
the Google contract.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Google has long had a troubled relationship with other
websites -- it even attempted to create a rival to Wikipedia called Knol,
though the venture failed.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But the company has changed tack in recent years and
is increasingly making deals, particularly with media companies.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">French regulators and Google ended a years-long
dispute on Tuesday by agreeing a framework for the US firm to pay news outlets
for content.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Google said it had already made deals with hundreds of
news outlets across Europe, Agence France-Presse among them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344258857993817417.post-91605924070122501112022-06-18T03:00:00.001+07:002022-06-18T03:00:47.029+07:00RIP Internet Explorer: South Korean engineer's browser 'grave' goes viral<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.rfi.fr/en/rip-internet-explorer-south-korean-engineer-s-browser-grave-goes-viral" target="_blank">Rfi.fr – AFP</a>, 17 June 2022</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: center;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMHiOEGpEca31PZdRGo36bKXfOVm-ybqdmIcbuNPPq78TSt7_vgdkRTXGCVZoYTU7PVJ2enuyyGEwAFiwd8UIfMW56_hGgb39_CjXpuIz10oFZhhjSSrOVsVIKAe16a-Kwgd63R1kTCXqJx7l-j_oN8HVMrXIVqGbjX-GJDPzkJ212H_7lXHhx9BPW/s1024/ca2dc5f85d964f53e0886074314d304c2f7f5463.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMHiOEGpEca31PZdRGo36bKXfOVm-ybqdmIcbuNPPq78TSt7_vgdkRTXGCVZoYTU7PVJ2enuyyGEwAFiwd8UIfMW56_hGgb39_CjXpuIz10oFZhhjSSrOVsVIKAe16a-Kwgd63R1kTCXqJx7l-j_oN8HVMrXIVqGbjX-GJDPzkJ212H_7lXHhx9BPW/w400-h225/ca2dc5f85d964f53e0886074314d304c2f7f5463.webp" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">South Korea, which has some of the world's fastest average internet speeds, <br />remained bizarrely wedded to Microsoft's Internet Explorer Kiyoung Jung <br />Courtesy of Kiyoung Jung/AFP</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US">Seoul (AFP) – A South Korean engineer who built a
grave for Internet Explorer -- photos of which quickly went viral -- told AFP
Friday that the now-defunct web browser had made his life a misery.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">South Korea, which has some of the world's fastest
average internet speeds, remained bizarrely wedded to Microsoft's Internet
Explorer, which was retired by the company earlier this week after 27 years.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In honour of the browser's "death", a
gravestone marked with its signature "e" logo was set up on the
rooftop of a cafe in South Korea's southern city of Gyeongju by engineer
Kiyoung Jung, 38.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"He was a good tool to use to download other
browsers," the gravestone's inscription reads.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Images of Jung's joke tombstone quickly spread online,
with users of social media site Reddit upvoting it tens of thousands of times.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Once dominant globally, Internet Explorer was widely
reviled in recent years due to its slowness and glitches.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But in South Korea, it was mandatory for online
banking and shopping until about 2014, as all such online activities required
sites to use ActiveX -- a plugin created by Microsoft.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It remained the default browser for many Seoul
government sites until very recently, local reports said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The websites of the Korea Water Resources Corporation
and the Korea Expressway Corporation only functioned properly in IE until at
least June 10, according to a report by the Maeil Economic Daily.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><b>'Suffering' for IE</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">As a software engineer and web developer, Jung told
AFP he constantly "suffered" at work because of compatibility issues
involving the now-defunct browser.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"In South Korea, when you are doing web
development work, the expectation was always that it should look good in
Internet Explorer, rather than Chrome," he said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Websites that look good in other browsers, such as
Safari or Chrome, can look very wrong in IE, which often forced him to spend
many extra hours working to ensure compatibility.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Jung said that he was "overjoyed" by IE's
retirement.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But he also said he felt genuinely nostalgic and
emotional about the browser's demise, as he remembers its heyday -- one of the
reasons he was inspired to erect the grave stone.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He quoted Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki:
"People are often relieved that machines don't have souls, but we as human
beings actually give our hearts to them," Jung told AFP, explaining his
feelings for IE.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He said he was pleased by the response to his joke
grave and that he and his brother -- who owns the cafe -- plan to leave the
monument on the rooftop in Gyeongju indefinitely.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="font-family: arial;">"It's been very exciting to make others
laugh," he said.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344258857993817417.post-83298199852037383712022-06-15T03:09:00.002+07:002022-06-15T03:09:24.010+07:00Apple allows other payment methods in dating apps: ACM<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/06/apple-allows-other-payment-methods-in-dating-apps-acm/" target="_blank">DutchNews</a>, June 13, 2022</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyYDOr2F3GE8P29ITxiQW6SWpPnsmYtbhpGkEhmft4PcsZiRmY6migdJe8ywBkg_bS_gCqJ6QkJojNbaSJpa754vdyS-7hRwsic5CnU_yNuNWAPWnD81cJNdPtPm6jK8gYIuTDj6I5HUJhKhoXQwqEngeMfo-czaEwRWWTnnmBkXGj9QXhtNReMRUO/s560/Depositphotos_536876680_S-560x374.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="374" data-original-width="560" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyYDOr2F3GE8P29ITxiQW6SWpPnsmYtbhpGkEhmft4PcsZiRmY6migdJe8ywBkg_bS_gCqJ6QkJojNbaSJpa754vdyS-7hRwsic5CnU_yNuNWAPWnD81cJNdPtPm6jK8gYIuTDj6I5HUJhKhoXQwqEngeMfo-czaEwRWWTnnmBkXGj9QXhtNReMRUO/w400-h268/Depositphotos_536876680_S-560x374.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Photo: Depositphotos.com</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The Dutch consumer and markets association ACM says
Apple has now changed its unfair conditions, and will allow different methods
of <a href="https://www.acm.nl/en/publications/acm-apple-changes-unfair-conditions-allows-alternative-payments-methods-dating-apps" target="_blank">payment in Dutch dating apps</a>, thereby meeting official requirements. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Apple
earlier failed to meet the agency’s requirement that it accept alternative
payment systems by the March deadline and has been ordered to pay a € 50
million fine. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The ACM <a href="https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/01/dutch-regulator-fines-apple-e5m-in-dispute-over-dating-app-payment-rules/" target="_blank">told Apple last August</a> it had to adjust its conditions
for inclusion in the Dutch App Store so that dating app providers can use
payment systems other than Apple’s own. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Apple then came up with <a href="https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/02/dutch-markets-authority-adds-e5m-to-apples-dating-app-payment-penalty/" target="_blank">alternativeconditions</a> stating that dating app providers must develop a completely new app
if they want to be able to use an alternative payment system. This too was
inadequate, the ACM said, in February. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">‘We want everyone to be able to reap the
benefits of the digital economy,’ ACM chairman Martijn Snoep said on Monday.
‘In the digital economy, powerful companies have a special responsibility to
keep the market fair and open. Apple avoided that responsibility, and abused
its dominant position vis-à-vis dating-app providers.’ </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The dispute about the fine is still ongoing.</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344258857993817417.post-72910937454738795452022-06-08T02:23:00.003+07:002022-06-08T02:23:16.997+07:00EU agrees single charger standard, in blow to Apple<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/eu-agrees-single-charger-standard-122526887.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, Alex PIGMAN, June 7, 2022</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvDP-_WcRLuDotT6bA9RCdqgcs5jbFhZ2QQHLk6b6GLbiBb9oQUMtAAIb_rXnNJFVc5LMHEUWhwxc_WNCbhwjFdpYKzFmu0swpeiytH8ySZO5Bi5g1jdIPThfmAM_NXLZa3Jzc98plWP7DHL5HhGZNo8E9g-6-RRVipb0J8bBIQvZTG5A9_uDc1ywT/s705/74690f338b814d6e852539b0846202d1.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvDP-_WcRLuDotT6bA9RCdqgcs5jbFhZ2QQHLk6b6GLbiBb9oQUMtAAIb_rXnNJFVc5LMHEUWhwxc_WNCbhwjFdpYKzFmu0swpeiytH8ySZO5Bi5g1jdIPThfmAM_NXLZa3Jzc98plWP7DHL5HhGZNo8E9g-6-RRVipb0J8bBIQvZTG5A9_uDc1ywT/w400-h266/74690f338b814d6e852539b0846202d1.webp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">European officials on Tuesday agreed the text of a
proposed EU law imposing a standard charger for smartphones, tablets and
laptops sold in the bloc, in a blow to Apple.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">EU member states and MEPs believe a standard cable for
all devices will cut back on electronic waste, but iPhone juggernaut Apple
argues a one-size-fits-all charger would slow innovation and create more
pollution.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">For most portable devices the requirement for charging
via a USB Type-C port will come into effect from late 2024, negotiators said,
while laptops will be given more time.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The USB-C rule will also stretch to digital cameras,
headphones, headsets, portable speakers and E-readers, they said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Lawmakers agreed on the common charger based on a
proposal that was made by the EU executive -- the European Commission -- in
September, but came more than a decade after the European Parliament first
pushed for it.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The decision will be formally ratified by European
Parliament and among EU member states later this year before entering into
effect.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"We have been able to do it in nine months, that
means that we can ... move fast when there is a political will," the EU
internal market commissioner Thierry Breton said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"We are able to say to the lobbies, 'sorry, but
here it is Europe and we're working for our people'," he said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The 27-nation union is home to 450 million people,
some of the world's richest consumers, and the imposition of the USB-C as
standard could affect the entire global market.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"This is a rule which will apply to
everyone," said MEP Alex Agius Saliba, who led the negotiations for the
European Parliament.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"If Apple ... or anyone wants to market their
product, sell their products within our internal market, they have to abide by
our rules and their device has to be USB-C," he said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The rules will also give shoppers the option to opt
out of receiving a new charging cable when purchasing an electronic device.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><b>'Planning ahead'</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And in order to prepare for the future, the law has
provisions to set a standard on wireless charging.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This was "not to end up ... legislating for a
technology which is basically dying out, so we are also planning ahead,"
Saliba said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Apple, which already uses USB-C connectors on some of
its iPads and laptop computers, has insisted any legislation to force a
universal charger for all mobiles in the European Union is unwarranted.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"The proposal is vastly disproportionate to any
perceived problem," the company said in its response to the commission
when the law was being drafted.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Imposing a charger standard, it argued, would stifle
innovation and "reduce European consumer choice by removing more
affordable older models from the market".</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Consumers currently have to decide between phones
served by three main chargers: "Lightning" for Apple handsets, the
micro-USB widely used on most other mobile phones and the newer USB-C that is
increasingly coming into use.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">That range is already greatly simplified from 2009,
when dozens of different types of chargers were bundled with mobile phones,
creating piles of electronic garbage when users changed brands.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In making its proposal last year, the EU said the
current situation remained wasteful and that European consumers spent
approximately 2.4 billion euros ($2.8 billion) annually on standalone chargers
they bought separately.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The European Commission had long defended a voluntary
agreement it made with the device industry that was set in place in 2009 and
saw a big reduction in cables, but Apple refused to abide by it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344258857993817417.post-90843942797612540142022-04-10T03:24:00.001+07:002022-04-10T03:24:30.819+07:00Pink Floyd release first new song since 1994 for Ukraine<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/pink-floyd-release-first-song-192601226.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, April 7, 2022</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: center;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2JSNLlivPz1ZoXCI4bIn-yjDUsIozjb2vCXpsXE24YvFudOR4kRqoaI2ldDEq5ArrdI7nNIgPfBjcEUZTDku-3iyzFvYsT9rAN9qlkW34gZ27YizGSdRlpLAOr6kE3wTN47Uc1UeD5s7OdMgoYczyPWZS4sy9bpaypqhGEN0EEpE6vZU2nhN82laIZQ/s705/e90357f4889c91007918acc8c526ddf2.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2JSNLlivPz1ZoXCI4bIn-yjDUsIozjb2vCXpsXE24YvFudOR4kRqoaI2ldDEq5ArrdI7nNIgPfBjcEUZTDku-3iyzFvYsT9rAN9qlkW34gZ27YizGSdRlpLAOr6kE3wTN47Uc1UeD5s7OdMgoYczyPWZS4sy9bpaypqhGEN0EEpE6vZU2nhN82laIZQ/w400-h266/e90357f4889c91007918acc8c526ddf2.webp" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">David Gilmour: 'We, like so many, have been feeling the fury and the frustration of this vile <br />act of an independent, peaceful democratic country being invaded and having its people <br />murdered by one of the world's major powers' (AFP/JOHN D MCHUGH) (JOHN D MCHUGH)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US">Pink Floyd have written their first new song in almost
30 years to support Ukrainians, the band announced on Thursday.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Hey, Hey, Rise-Up!" will be released on
Friday, and be used to raise funds for humanitarian causes linked to the war.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It samples Andriy Khlyvnyuk, from one of Ukraine's
biggest bands BoomBox, singing in Sofiyskaya Square in Kyiv in a clip that went
viral.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Khlyvnyukh abandoned a world tour to return to Ukraine
and help defend his country.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"We, like so many, have been feeling the fury and
the frustration of this vile act of an independent, peaceful democratic country
being invaded and having its people murdered by one of the world's major
powers," Pink Floyd said on their official Twitter feed.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In a press release, band leader David Gilmour said he
had been moved by Khlyvnyuk's video: "It was a powerful moment that made
me want to put it to music."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He was able to speak with Khlyvnyuk from his hospital
bed in Kyiv, where the singer was recovering after being hit by shrapnel in a
mortar attack, the record company said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"I played him a little bit of the song down the
phone line and he gave me his blessing. We both hope to do something together
in person in the future," Gilmour said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The image accompanying the song is of a sunflower, and
was inspired by a viral video showing a Ukrainian woman insulting two armed
Russian soldiers.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In it, she tells the soldiers: "Take these seeds
and put them in your pockets. That way sunflowers will grow when you all rest
here."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It is the first original music from Pink Floyd since
1994's "The Division Bell".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Gilmour tweeted his opposition to the war soon after
Russia's invasion, saying: "Putin must go".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The band has also pulled their music from Russian and
Belarusian streaming sites in protest at the invasion.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="275" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jUfVmtAvfdg" title="YouTube video player" width="450"></iframe></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344258857993817417.post-66704564530667887252022-03-31T03:08:00.000+07:002022-03-31T03:08:05.104+07:00Facebook puts Zeewolde data centre plan on hold after protests<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/03/facebook-puts-zeewolde-data-centre-plan-on-hold-after-protests/" target="_blank">DutchNews</a>, March 30, 2022</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx51C15kJJB7XbZSaXyrmFYQqIAyzvbz8uU7PGw43V2RwaDoiwlfaGswUVrnphfjpHEsRE8JX2U2c3lc9MxbrAx_4CBFMW_uz-mWFYlh_shJfW1ycx7CJP_u7-CTZ85e-Ls_RMtPSoPtbtP9HtsUTr-nN2DaUsvU4pUYgu0HirfT4DObVapj_LYvSf/s560/3200x1800a-560x315.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="560" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx51C15kJJB7XbZSaXyrmFYQqIAyzvbz8uU7PGw43V2RwaDoiwlfaGswUVrnphfjpHEsRE8JX2U2c3lc9MxbrAx_4CBFMW_uz-mWFYlh_shJfW1ycx7CJP_u7-CTZ85e-Ls_RMtPSoPtbtP9HtsUTr-nN2DaUsvU4pUYgu0HirfT4DObVapj_LYvSf/w400-h225/3200x1800a-560x315.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">An artist’s impression of the site. Illustration: Gemeente Zeewolde</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Facebook parent company Meta has agreed to stop work on
setting up a massive data centre near the Flevoland town of Zeewolde, much to
the delight of locals.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A majority of MPs on Tuesday urged ministers to stop the
construction and one hour later, Meta said it was putting the project on hold. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The dispute over the local council’s green light for the massive data centre
took a new twist earlier this month when a political party opposing the project
won an absolute majority in the local election. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">‘I never expected things would
move so quickly,’ said Tom Zonneveld, leader of Leefbaar Zeewolde, after the
Meta announcement. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Zeewolde council had voted to amend the zoning plan at the
end of December, clearing the way for the data centre to be built. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">However,
part of the land is owned by national government which which still had to give its
approval for the project. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The data centre, or hyperscale, is controversial for
several reasons, not least of which that it is being build on agricultural
ground. There is also concern about the massive amount of energy needed to
power the centre – the equivalent of a small city of 460,000 people.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344258857993817417.post-87677302406559358502022-03-22T03:46:00.003+07:002022-03-22T03:46:56.191+07:00ASML says chip makers face a two year shortage of key machinery<p><span style="font-family: arial;">DutchNews, March 21, 2022 </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiC9F_-tilI4fl7qaWvmBm2loFG_YDBmTd5PzKzkUbyZAdvUhJa6r3V2pDftTJaXVPPAvtoaRfWHrD_9pGRbweni7R0HlWqwQUFoTWYOo9kItOOi-S91nX-i2xXLR865jeXMy5RWjGBhqnsCZZ2B2MeNM5121oSwh-N6D2wJzB4e-w7EntZgLKyufnS=s560" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="373" data-original-width="560" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiC9F_-tilI4fl7qaWvmBm2loFG_YDBmTd5PzKzkUbyZAdvUhJa6r3V2pDftTJaXVPPAvtoaRfWHrD_9pGRbweni7R0HlWqwQUFoTWYOo9kItOOi-S91nX-i2xXLR865jeXMy5RWjGBhqnsCZZ2B2MeNM5121oSwh-N6D2wJzB4e-w7EntZgLKyufnS=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">An ASML cleanroom where a euv machine is being assembled. Photo: ASML </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Semiconductor makers face a two-year
shortage of critical equipment because Dutch chip machinery maker ASML is
unable to meet demand fast enough, the company’s chief executive Peter Wennink
has told the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/763c9e15-44ab-43bc-b3e9-0d03bf27e841" target="_blank">Financial Times</a>. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">ASML, based in Veldhoven, is a key player in the
global chip industry, producing machines which Intel, Samsung and TSMC all use
to make advanced semiconductors. The company also has a monopoly in the field
of EUV, or extreme ultra violet, based lithography machines.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">‘Next year and the
year after there will be shortages,’ Wennink told the paper. ‘We’re going to
ship more machines this year than last year and . . . more machines next year
than this year. But it will not be enough if we look at the demand curve. We
really need to step up our capacity significantly more than 50%. That will take
time.’ </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The FT said Wennink’s comments come as the semiconductor industry is
speeding up investment in new production to meet a global shortage of chips,
and that analysts expect the market to double to $1 tn by 2030.</span></div><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344258857993817417.post-41304423261206936542021-11-19T03:45:00.008+07:002021-11-19T03:45:49.755+07:00Google agrees 5-year deal to pay AFP for online content: executives<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Yahoo – AFP, Céline LE PRIOUX, Jules BONNARD, 17
November 2021</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyPIfye9ZwP56sGnDmgb0cSB4Qc3JgNCHpKz1n4LSUuWZ8onj_BIqDsjwfmL4zDawWit_l_oXBDpN6Hdvi7DepLuUClGteOKVQ2Y5Q-N22aUuARTqZhibdmGQrRI00ocWyaqGEJoW6UkE/s768/b8dadc1d44dbb63bf052678b5c751797.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="768" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyPIfye9ZwP56sGnDmgb0cSB4Qc3JgNCHpKz1n4LSUuWZ8onj_BIqDsjwfmL4zDawWit_l_oXBDpN6Hdvi7DepLuUClGteOKVQ2Y5Q-N22aUuARTqZhibdmGQrRI00ocWyaqGEJoW6UkE/w400-h266/b8dadc1d44dbb63bf052678b5c751797.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Under the agreement with Google, AFP will also offer fact-checking training on<br />several continents (AFP/Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Google and Agence France-Presse on Wednesday said they
had signed a "pioneering" five-year deal under which the world’s
biggest internet search company will pay an undisclosed sum for content in
Europe.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The agreement, following 18 months of negotiations, is
the first by a news agency under the 2019 European directive on so-called
neighbouring rights, at the heart of multiple disputes between web giants and
the media over payment for use of online news and other content.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"This is an agreement that covers the whole of
the EU, in all of AFP's languages, including in countries that have not enacted
the directive," said AFP CEO Fabrice Fries, describing the deal as
"pioneering" and the "culmination of a long struggle".</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">AFP produces and distributes multimedia content to its
clients in six languages around the world.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">After initially being reluctant to pay French
newspapers for the use of their content, Google finally signed a three-year
framework agreement with some of the nation’s press in early 2021, but was
fined 500 million euros ($566 million) by the competition authority in mid-July
for having failed to negotiate "in good faith".</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Google has appealed, and is continuing talks to reach
a new agreement.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">'Common ground'</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">AFP has fought for news agencies to be fully eligible
to benefit from neighbouring rights agreements, Fries said. Wednesday's deal
"will contribute to the production of quality information and the
development of innovation within the agency", he added.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNLMyI8Gdh1ZdxJIJ7e_MR3oCNbPxCitASzATXC0OzsQcb2UnRHDfCkDEbq20h21yL5smTM0uIyNqERCpQj5WfGvnXcD-4TXKVOgCX0c-pY0dC_umaMkL4NQ5kvR7qMRwz8YQmOYTN7D4/s768/667e1e36289e5b5fca4678819f48db44.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="497" data-original-width="768" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNLMyI8Gdh1ZdxJIJ7e_MR3oCNbPxCitASzATXC0OzsQcb2UnRHDfCkDEbq20h21yL5smTM0uIyNqERCpQj5WfGvnXcD-4TXKVOgCX0c-pY0dC_umaMkL4NQ5kvR7qMRwz8YQmOYTN7D4/w400-h259/667e1e36289e5b5fca4678819f48db44.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US">Google's Sebastien Missoffe (left) and Fabrice Fries
reach what the AFP CEO <br /></span>described as a 'pioneering' agreement for the search
giant to pay for the <br />news agency's content (AFP/Thomas COEX)</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">"This agreement with Agence France-Presse
demonstrates our willingness to find common ground with publishers and press
agencies in France on the topic of neighbouring rights," said Sebastien
Missoffe, Google's general manager in France. The pact "paves the way for
even closer collaboration", he added.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Under the agreement AFP will also offer fact-checking
training on several continents, details of which will be announced soon, the
companies said in a statement.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Global tech giants -- mostly American -- have run into
a wide range of disputes with Brussels and EU member states, over taxation,
abuse of their dominant market power, privacy issues and of making money from
journalistic content without sharing the revenue.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">To tackle this the EU directive created the form of
copyright called neighbouring rights that would allow outlets to demand
compensation for use of their content.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Facebook announced several agreements in October,
including one that provides for two years' remuneration to French news media
for the use of their content, as well as for their participation in Facebook
News, which Facebook will deploy in France in January 2022.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In France and Denmark, media groups joined forces to
negotiate with tech giants, while in Spain Google announced on November 3 that
it would reopen its Google News service in early 2022.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In Australia, a law has been passed to oblige tech
giants to pay the media for using their content.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344258857993817417.post-68414664154091477722021-07-05T02:17:00.004+07:002021-07-05T02:17:36.832+07:00Global tax deal backed by 130 nations<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/global-tax-deal-backed-130-172003269.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, Jürgen HECKER, July 1, 2021</span><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3HrQE6u2_l_zlNZtb35ToZi4Lr5EWRrDGetUmwwucspvc-em8pOqYMcmqaPPZx7uU3RVyBP1Vs3tmMeSh9-9UHVbsrrRncC4vkWcRC9BWNve8-d6h9rnRfN4LS4z_j4y4Dr5BHqpu7_M/s704/6e755c59060a7c9889828ba03aebe967.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="704" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3HrQE6u2_l_zlNZtb35ToZi4Lr5EWRrDGetUmwwucspvc-em8pOqYMcmqaPPZx7uU3RVyBP1Vs3tmMeSh9-9UHVbsrrRncC4vkWcRC9BWNve8-d6h9rnRfN4LS4z_j4y4Dr5BHqpu7_M/w400-h270/6e755c59060a7c9889828ba03aebe967.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">US digital giants are the main targets of the new tax</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A total of 130 countries have agreed a global tax
reform ensuring that multinationals pay their fair share wherever they operate,
the OECD said on Thursday, but some EU states refused to sign up.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development said in a statement that global companies, including US behemoths
Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple would be taxed at a rate of at least 15
percent once the deal is implemented.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The new tax regime will add some $150 billion to
government coffers globally once it comes into force, which the OECD said it
hoped would be in 2023.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"The framework updates key elements of the
century-old international tax system, which is no longer fit for purpose in a
globalised and digitalised 21st century economy," the OECD said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The formal agreement follows an endorsement by the G7
group of wealthy nations last month, and negotiations now move to a meeting of
the G20 group of developed and emerging economies on July 9-10 in Venice,
Italy.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">US President Joe Biden said the latest deal "puts
us in striking distance of full global agreement to halt the race to the bottom
for corporate taxes."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Germany, another backer of the tax reform, hailed it
as a "colossal step towards tax justice", and France said it was
"the most important tax agreement in a century".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">British finance minister Rishi Sunak, whose country
holds the G7 presidency, said "the fact that 130 countries across the
world, including all of the G20, are now on board, marks a further step in our
mission to reform global tax".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><b>'In everyone's interest'</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But EU low-tax countries Ireland and Hungary declined
to sign up to the agreement reached in the OECD framework, the organisation
said, highlighting lingering divisions on global taxation.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Both countries are part of a group of EU nations also
including Luxembourg and Poland that have relied on low tax rates to attract
multinationals and build their economies.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Ireland, the EU home to tech giants Facebook, Google
and Apple, has a corporate tax rate of just 12.5 percent.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has warned that
the new rules could see Ireland lose 20 percent of its corporate revenue.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">On Thursday, Donohoe said Ireland still "broadly
supports" the deal, but not the 15-percent tax floor.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivbyrtTpWwTi9CYx64IntQdZQ-Qg6q1rRdCSbAasolGPwtzH1L6-RBJ0aqKQwJJ1yVgqoc1vGlqthTvhomkjgNFxXFR9uSI1nqVlYW_EuS9ee7AkS-cs1EWK1UQfk9AhYkyxsX2aL5cu0/s705/646668b7b780fbf9d9f20bd9e1fec2c0.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivbyrtTpWwTi9CYx64IntQdZQ-Qg6q1rRdCSbAasolGPwtzH1L6-RBJ0aqKQwJJ1yVgqoc1vGlqthTvhomkjgNFxXFR9uSI1nqVlYW_EuS9ee7AkS-cs1EWK1UQfk9AhYkyxsX2aL5cu0/w400-h266/646668b7b780fbf9d9f20bd9e1fec2c0.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The tax plan got a much-needed boost from Joe Bidens's administration</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"There is much to finalise before a comprehensive
agreement is reached", he said, adding that Ireland would
"constructively engage" in further discussions.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Also expressing concerns is Switzerland -- known for
its banking secrecy laws -- which said it would support the measures despite
"major reservations" and that it hoped the interests of "small,
innovative countries" be taken into account.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">An agreement for the implementation of the plan is
planned for October.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Nine of the 139 participants in the talks have so far
not signed on to the agreement.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But China, whose position was being closely watched as
it offers tax incentives to key sectors, endorsed the agreement.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"It is in everyone's interest that we reach a
final agreement among all Inclusive Framework Members as scheduled later this
year," said OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"This package does not eliminate tax competition,
as it should not, but it does set multilaterally agreed limitations on
it," Cormann said, adding that "it also accommodates the various
interests across the negotiating table, including those of small economies and
developing jurisdictions".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><b>'More equitable' global economy</b></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Finance chiefs have characterised a minimum tax as
necessary to stem competition between countries over who can offer
multinationals the lowest rate.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">For Biden, a global tax agreement will help maintain
US competitiveness since he has proposed hiking domestic corporate taxes to pay
for an infrastructure and jobs programme with a price tag of around $2
trillion.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Biden -- whose tax plans face a potentially uphill
battle in Congress -- hailed an "important step in moving the global
economy forward to be more equitable for workers and middle class families in
the United States and around the world."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He noted that those nations who signed up make up more
than 90 percent of the world's economy.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The OECD's statement said the package "will
provide much-needed support to governments needing to raise necessary
revenues" to fix their budgets and invest in measures to back the
post-Covid recovery.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Oxfam, a charity, meanwhile said that the deal fell
short of a tax level needed to give poorer countries a sufficient share of
additional tax revenue.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Calling the deal "skewed-to-the-rich and
completely unfair", Oxfam said that signatories had missed a "once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to build a profoundly more equal world".</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344258857993817417.post-6548788605810088902021-05-28T04:13:00.003+07:002021-05-28T04:13:30.155+07:00Facebook reverses course, won't ban lab virus theory<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/facebook-reverses-course-wont-ban-153441867.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, Rob Lever, May 27, 2021</span><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Facebook has reversed its policy banning posts
suggesting Covid-19 emerged from a laboratory amid renewed debate over the
origins of the virus, raising fresh questions about social media's role in
policing misinformation.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The latest move by Facebook, announced late Wednesday
on its website, highlights the challenge for the world's largest social network
of rooting out false and potentially harmful content while remaining open for
discourse.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"In light of ongoing investigations into the
origin of Covid-19 and in consultation with public health experts, we will no
longer remove the claim that Covid-19 is man-made or manufactured from our
apps," the statement said.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"We're continuing to work with health experts to
keep pace with the evolving nature of the pandemic and regularly update our
policies as new facts and trends emerge."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The new statement updates guidance from Facebook in
February when it said it would remove false or debunked claims about the novel
coronavirus which created a global pandemic killing more than three million.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The move followed President Joe Biden's directive to
US intelligence agencies to investigate competing theories on how the virus
first emerged -- through animal contact at a market in Wuhan, China, or through
accidental release from a research laboratory in the same city.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Biden's order signals an escalation in mounting
controversy over the origins of the virus.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The natural origin hypothesis holds that it emerged in
bats then passed to humans, likely via an intermediary species.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This theory was widely accepted at the start of the
pandemic, but as time has worn on, scientists have not found a virus in either
bats or another animal that matches the genetic signature of SARS-CoV-2.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The lab-leak theory, meanwhile, is gaining increasing
traction in the United States, where it was initially fueled by former
president Donald Trump and his aides and dismissed by many as a political
talking point.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A recent Wall Street Journal report, citing US intelligence
findings, said three researchers from China's Wuhan Institute of Virology
became sick in November 2019, a month before Beijing disclosed the existence of
a mysterious pneumonia outbreak.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Pushback from the right</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Facebook's move, which could impact what some three
billion users of its family of apps see, highlights the controversy over social
media's aggressive efforts to root out misinformation on topics where facts may
be evolving.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The reversal may be "another exhibit for the
possibility that there will be a swing back against the more heavy-handed
moderation," tweeted Evelyn Douek, a Harvard University lecturer and
researcher of online speech regulation.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"When the pandemic started, there were many
arguments that 'what platforms are doing for health misinfo, they should do for
all misinfo all the time.' It was over-simplified then, and strikes me as
untenable now."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Facebook uses independent third-party fact checkers,
including AFP, to debunk misinformation. Although the origins of the virus
remain unproven, the lab leak theory has been subject to fact-checking.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">One fact checking organization, PolitiFact, reported
last September that public health authorities had "repeatedly said the
coronavirus was not derived from a lab" but earlier this month revised its
guidance, noting: "that assertion is now more widely disputed," and
saying it would continue to review the matter.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The abrupt Facebook reversal prompted angry responses
from conservatives and Trump supporters.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Wow! But they did suppress the story for a year,
defaming Trump and Republicans for a 'conspiracy theory' blacklisting
conservative press and banning us," tweeted Kelly Sadler, a blogger and
former Trump aide.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But Rebekah Tromble, director of Institute for Data,
Democracy & Politics at George Washington University, said Facebook
"is doing the right thing" by updating its guidance.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Information changes over time, and responsible
organizations -- social media outlets and fact-checkers alike -- make decisions
based on the best information available but remain open and willing to change
their evaluations as new information arises," Tromble told AFP.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Facebook will undoubtedly receive blowback for
this decision, as will fact-checkers. But that blowback will come from the same
people and groups that have always been critical."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Facebook in a separate statement said it was stepping
up its efforts to curb misinformation by limiting the reach of users who "repeatedly"
share false content.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Until now, Facebook had only taken this action on
individual posts, but now will clamp down on the users who are the largest
spreaders of false content.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><b>Related Articles:</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><b><a href="https://cempaka-health.blogspot.com/2020/12/chinese-citizen-journalist-jailed-for.html">Chinese citizen journalist jailed for Wuhan virus reporting</a></b></span></p><div><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://audio.kryon.com/en/corona.mp3" target="_blank">"Corona 1", Reykjavik, Iceland, Mar, 2020 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)</a> - </b></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b>(>13.46 Min - Reference to the Global Coronavirus crisis)</b></div></span></div><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344258857993817417.post-59046734004356098322021-05-07T03:38:00.010+07:002021-05-07T03:40:23.595+07:00Microsoft pledges to store European cloud data in Europe<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/microsoft-pledges-store-european-cloud-080151889.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, May 6, 2021</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: center;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAD4wp1f_HnoA6aVHpXxiBPTpyq-PZIQHBHScJBt7elg2pKm0tcEwARJF3eMdBpkZz7JVwG8DidCY5cYY907TNFXikJwqyxftkiPN2KXtPtGmmvSwWNJWsoIWiFAntg5J6U9FSiyTQkns/s705/8e8d361006199c613a96439badf1ea36.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="705" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAD4wp1f_HnoA6aVHpXxiBPTpyq-PZIQHBHScJBt7elg2pKm0tcEwARJF3eMdBpkZz7JVwG8DidCY5cYY907TNFXikJwqyxftkiPN2KXtPtGmmvSwWNJWsoIWiFAntg5J6U9FSiyTQkns/w400-h266/8e8d361006199c613a96439badf1ea36.webp" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-align: left;">Microsoft's European clients have long been concerned over the legal status <br />of data they store with US companies in the cloud and the extent to which <br />they could be scrutinised by US authorities.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US">US tech giant Microsoft on Thursday pledged to store
all European cloud-based client data in Europe amid unease on the continent
over the reach of US legislation on personal data collection.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Microsoft's European clients have long been concerned
over the legal status of data they store with US companies in the cloud and the
extent to which they could be scrutinised by US authorities.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Those worries came to a head last July when the
European Court of Justice struck down the EU-US Privacy Shield, a framework
allowing firms to transfer personal data to the United States in compliance
with Brussels' General Data Protection Regulation.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The court found the mechanism did not adequately
protect EU data from US authorities over which Europe has neither control nor
right of redress.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In a blog post on Thursday, Microsoft president Brad
Smith said: "If you are a commercial or public sector customer in the EU,
we will go beyond our existing data storage commitments and enable you to
process and store all your data in the EU.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"In other words, we will not need to move your
data outside the EU."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="font-family: arial;">He said the commitment -- dubbed the EU Data Boundary
for the Microsoft Cloud -- would apply across all of Microsoft's core cloud
services -– Azure, Microsoft 365, and Dynamics 365 and would take effect by the
end of next year.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344258857993817417.post-44917791212119935792021-05-05T03:37:00.006+07:002021-05-05T03:37:34.530+07:00Bill and Melinda Gates announce divorce after 27 years<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210503-bill-and-melinda-gates-announce-divorce-after-27-years" target="_blank">France24 – AFP</a>, 3 May 2021</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPuzmhjU2tsxYpCGPFwTz3o9r-eeH_Jv2s-eV99Z_ILJxQiNchWGo22xFz5-Dn1qEIni9_AdV1yHGN_6K17bmmIkU3_K494Ja3PxoSszQWNcLCtABC9FcYv_HKKeEGTAjRo_Oi5fEO114/s980/1d77b1ea1f9a0bf204c8b0d35c8c698bd8827ea3.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="551" data-original-width="980" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPuzmhjU2tsxYpCGPFwTz3o9r-eeH_Jv2s-eV99Z_ILJxQiNchWGo22xFz5-Dn1qEIni9_AdV1yHGN_6K17bmmIkU3_K494Ja3PxoSszQWNcLCtABC9FcYv_HKKeEGTAjRo_Oi5fEO114/w400-h225/1d77b1ea1f9a0bf204c8b0d35c8c698bd8827ea3.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Bill and Melinda Gates, pictured here in 2018, said they intend to keep <br />working together on their charitable foundation Ludovic MARIN AFP/File</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Washington (AFP) - Microsoft founder Bill Gates and
his wife and fellow philanthropist Melinda announced on Monday they are
divorcing after a 27-year marriage.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The announcement from one of the world's wealthiest
couples, with an estimated net worth of some $130 billion, was made in a joint
statement on Twitter.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"After a great deal of thought and a lot of work
on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage," they
said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The statement said they would continue their joint
work on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the massive charity which
funds programs in global health, gender equality, education and other causes.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"We continue to share a belief in that mission
and will continue our work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe
we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The announcement comes two years after the divorce of
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, another of the world's wealthiest people, and his
wife MacKenzie.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Bill Gates, 65, was a geeky teenager when he started
what would become the world's most valuable company, and was for a time the
world's richest man and most prominent philanthropist.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">He stepped down as Microsoft chief executive in 2008
to devote more time to philanthropy and later left the board, keeping only the
title of "founder and technology advisor."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Melinda Gates, 56, married her husband in 1994 when
she was working at the tech firm. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They have
three children together.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344258857993817417.post-11745866192757360052021-04-24T19:26:00.002+07:002021-04-24T19:26:54.472+07:00A Multinode Quantum Network explained<p style="text-align: center;"> <iframe width="450" height="275" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DRGT5ZgGrEc" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344258857993817417.post-59391544103114099962021-01-28T03:41:00.009+07:002021-01-28T03:41:57.484+07:00YouTube Shorts eyes TikTok competition with 3.5 bn daily views in India<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://sg.news.yahoo.com/youtube-shorts-eyes-tiktok-competition-233037503.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, 27 January 2021</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi39kLyMdUhAKM0WtpUU41e5bcrGRPO_Eh5x9XbYjY_5jlGCQOUV-dV91DbKA0ro0CoBp2q6YeAZ4kyc-HnrHTIwNU_1bJF4thu7HO_8mV92qtBF-rPkPGs7svJ93AW5Ne_dmFZVXgoVUs/s768/29339ca37990cf83ddef4586152e27a0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="768" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi39kLyMdUhAKM0WtpUU41e5bcrGRPO_Eh5x9XbYjY_5jlGCQOUV-dV91DbKA0ro0CoBp2q6YeAZ4kyc-HnrHTIwNU_1bJF4thu7HO_8mV92qtBF-rPkPGs7svJ93AW5Ne_dmFZVXgoVUs/w400-h266/29339ca37990cf83ddef4586152e27a0.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">YouTube Shorts are a new feature on the video-sharing site meant to<br />compete with TikTok</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">YouTube Shorts -- the video-sharing website's quick
clips meant to compete with TikTok -- are racking up 3.5 billion views a day
during beta testing in India, the platform's head said Tuesday.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Susan Wojcikci explained the feature in a note laying
out her 2021 priorities.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"So far, videos in our new Shorts player - which
helps people around the world watch short videos on YouTube - are receiving an
impressive 3.5 billion daily views!" she said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"We’re looking forward to expanding Shorts to
more markets this year."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, unveiled Shorts in
mid-September, describing the videos as "a new way to express yourself in
15 seconds or less."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The feature, directly integrated into the existing
YouTube interface, is currently only available in India as part of development
work.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The new format is seen as a way for Google to compete
with Gen Z-favorite TikTok, which currently has 700 million users worldwide.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Former president Donald Trump had threatened to ban
TikTok -- owned by Chinese group ByteDance -- from the United States when he
accused the company, without formal proof, of spying on behalf of Beijing.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Facebook-owned Instagram responded to TikTok's
popularity with their own short video format called Reels last August.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And in November, Snapchat launched Spotlight, a public
feed of content produced by users.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344258857993817417.post-62233941155133962492020-12-31T05:27:00.007+07:002020-12-31T05:38:10.658+07:00Facebook to close Irish units at center of tax dispute<p><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.rfi.fr/en/business-and-tech/20201230-facebook-to-close-irish-units-at-center-of-tax-dispute" target="_blank">Rfi.fr – AFP</a>, 30 December 2020</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7t65tExtapGRKEo4EM_V7fPxLfkNsDNZn0caNKlqVDh38mS8tgbhfaU-_V7UgAqIbDiNYO2iI6e519NDJ8_cR8nDuWq7YNrqAYHdTn_ASw27vQf69eUwbdR6Vukn2FRPyVzoJ6JQqr2Y/s768/6d455862febf285dbdeb53944a27780b19356b57.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="768" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7t65tExtapGRKEo4EM_V7fPxLfkNsDNZn0caNKlqVDh38mS8tgbhfaU-_V7UgAqIbDiNYO2iI6e519NDJ8_cR8nDuWq7YNrqAYHdTn_ASw27vQf69eUwbdR6Vukn2FRPyVzoJ6JQqr2Y/w400-h266/6d455862febf285dbdeb53944a27780b19356b57.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Facebook said its Irish subsidiary at the heart of a dispute on shifting profits<br /> to avoid taxes has been closed, with the assets brought back to the California <br />giant DENIS CHARLET AFP/File</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US">Washington (AFP) - Facebook confirmed Wednesday it was
closing its Irish subsidiaries at the center of a dispute on profit shifting to
avoid taxes in the United States.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The California tech giant acknowledged the winding
down of Facebook Ireland Holdings Unlimited Company amid a dispute with US tax
authorities, which claimed the company owed billions in taxes by improperly
shifting profits offshore.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A Facebook spokesperson said the move was "part
of a change that best aligns with our operating structure" and that the
holdings of the three subsidiaries were "distributed to its US parent
company."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The closing was previously reported by the Times of
London and other media.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Facebook has disputed the claims from US tax
authorities seeking some $9 billion for allegedly undervaluing intellectual
property assets used by the social network.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But it noted that these assets were repatriated in
July in a move which "best aligns corporate structure with where we expect
to have most of our activities and people."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Facebook says it has paid more than $11 billion
globally in income tax over the past three years and that its effective tax
rate over the last five years exceeds 20 percent.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The news comes amid stalled negotiations on a new
global tax treaty which would allocate profits of multinational firms including
tech giants and efforts by some countries to unilaterally impose digital taxes
based on revenues.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In November, some 75 major tech players, including
Google and Facebook, backed a French initiative committing them to making a
"fair tax contribution" in countries where they operate.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><b>Related Article:</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://cempaka-putih.blogspot.com/2020/01/google-to-stop-using-double-irish-dutch.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Google to stop using ‘double Irish, Dutch sandwich’ tax dodge: Reuters</span></a></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344258857993817417.post-39146013076098662282020-12-30T06:06:00.003+07:002020-12-30T06:06:33.554+07:00Chinese citizen journalist jailed for Wuhan virus reporting<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://sg.news.yahoo.com/chinese-citizen-journalist-jailed-four-053326085.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, 28 December 2020</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjubROOljjr92WCDVV4gmeEM2zAZW5Z94dpPR8PvfYu_-vujYADskQqeVFmKgXd_5kCB54AJWsCqkud9IYYzD08aU6PN6xwdWETF3IiLdDKh7k11gcTtTubaNIHmJlC7oHXZ8eFQO77qI1z/s768/78f412d92f986c4c360d9db9d1ef076c.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="768" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjubROOljjr92WCDVV4gmeEM2zAZW5Z94dpPR8PvfYu_-vujYADskQqeVFmKgXd_5kCB54AJWsCqkud9IYYzD08aU6PN6xwdWETF3IiLdDKh7k11gcTtTubaNIHmJlC7oHXZ8eFQO77qI1z/w400-h266/78f412d92f986c4c360d9db9d1ef076c.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Authoroties said former Chinese lawyer and citizen journalist <br />Zhang Zhan had spread "False remarks" online.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span lang="EN-US"></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" lang="EN-US">A Chinese citizen journalist was jailed for four years
Monday for her reporting from Wuhan as the Covid-19 outbreak began, her lawyer
said, almost a year after details of an "unknown viral pneumonia"
surfaced in the central China city.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer who arrived at court in a
wheelchair, was sentenced at a brief hearing in a Shanghai court for allegedly
"picking quarrels and provoking trouble" during her reporting in the
chaotic initial stages of the outbreak.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Her live reports and essays were shared on social
media platforms in February, grabbing the attention of authorities, who have
punished eight virus whistleblowers so far as they curb criticism of the
government's response to the outbreak.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Beijing has congratulated itself for
"extraordinary" success in controlling the virus inside its borders,
with an economy on the rebound while much of the rest of the world stutters
through painful lockdowns and surging caseloads a year on from the start of the
pandemic in Wuhan.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Controlling the information flow during an
unprecedented global health crisis has been pivotal in allowing China's
communist authorities to reframe the narrative in their favour, with President
Xi Jinping being garlanded for his leadership by the country's ruling party.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But that has come at a serious cost to anyone who has
picked holes in the official storyline.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The court said Zhang Zhan had spread "false
remarks" online, according to one of her lawyers Zhang Keke, but the
prosecution did not fully divulge its evidence in court.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"We had no way of understanding what exactly
Zhang Zhan was accused of doing," he added, describing it as "a
speedy, rushed hearing."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In return the defendant "didn't respond [to
questions]... She refused to answer when the judge asked her to confirm her
identity."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The defendant's mother sobbed loudly as the verdict
was read out, Ren Quanniu, another member of Zhang's defence team, told
reporters who were barred from entering the court.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Concerns are mounting over the health of 37-year-old
Zhang, who began a hunger strike in June and has been force-fed via a nasal
tube.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Her legal team said her health was in decline and she
suffered from headaches, dizziness and stomach pain, and that she had appeared
in court in a wheelchair.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"She said when I visited her (last week): 'If
they give me a heavy sentence then I will refuse food until the very end.'...
She thinks she will die in prison," Ren said before the trial.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"It's an extreme method of protesting against
this society and this environment."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">China's communist authorities have a history of
putting dissidents on trial in opaque courts between Christmas and New Year in
an effort to minimise Western scrutiny.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><b>Example made</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The sentencing comes just weeks before an
international team of World Health Organization experts is expected to arrive
in China to investigate the origins of Covid-19.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Zhang was critical of the early response in Wuhan,
writing in a February essay that the government "didn't give people enough
information, then simply locked down the city".</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"This is a great violation of human rights,"
she wrote.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Rights groups and embassies have also drawn attention
to her case, although diplomats from several countries were denied requests to
monitor the hearing.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Zhang Zhan's case raises serious concerns about
media freedom in China," the British embassy in Beijing said, urging
"China to release all those detained for their reporting."</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Authorities "want to use her case as an example to
scare off other dissidents from raising questions about the pandemic situation
in Wuhan earlier this year", added Leo Lan, research and advocacy
consultant at the Chinese Human Rights Defenders NGO.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A United Nations official following the trial also expressed
"deep concern" about the verdict.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"We raised her case with the authorities
throughout 2020 as an example of the excessive clampdown on freedom of
expression linked to #COVID19 & continue to call for her release," the
office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a
tweet.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Zhang is the first of a group of four citizen
journalists detained by authorities after reporting from Wuhan to face trial.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Previous attempts by AFP to contact the other three --
Chen Qiushi, Fang Bin and Li Zehua -- were unsuccessful.</span> </p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Related Article:</span></b></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://audio.kryon.com/en/corona.mp3" target="_blank">"Corona 1", Reykjavik, Iceland, Mar, 2020 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)</a> - </b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">(>13.46 Min - Reference to the Global Coronavirus crisis)</b></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344258857993817417.post-2276101090487963202020-10-27T03:07:00.002+07:002020-10-27T03:07:33.686+07:00Private psychotherapy notes leaked in major Finnish hack<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/private-psychotherapy-notes-leaked-in-major-finnish-hack/ar-BB1ap17R" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, 26 October 2020</span></p><p><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The confidential treatment records of tens of
thousands of psychotherapy patients in Finland have been hacked and some leaked
online, in what the interior minister said Monday was "a shocking
act."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEf6KazvirNq25fo9lSegAelEMTIbaQQXLyvxMhsNy-Qytlo0oiAmXDYO8EURAB-yV6WysUHsFXzOX29nQ7-7GsTXI36sMqYO7LK5PgPnlRtmesqnRSIe_X8LfmjROBmklRzfaH7P_Uwc/s768/BB1apiRm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="768" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEf6KazvirNq25fo9lSegAelEMTIbaQQXLyvxMhsNy-Qytlo0oiAmXDYO8EURAB-yV6WysUHsFXzOX29nQ7-7GsTXI36sMqYO7LK5PgPnlRtmesqnRSIe_X8LfmjROBmklRzfaH7P_Uwc/w400-h266/BB1apiRm.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Many victims of the hack reported receiving emails with a demand for 200 euros <br />($236) in bitcoin to prevent the contents of their discussions with therapists <br />being made public. (Nicolas Asfouri)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Distressed patients flooded victim support services
over the weekend as Finnish police revealed hackers accessed records belonging
to private company Vastaamo, which runs 25 therapy centres across Finland.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Thousands have filed police complaints over the
breach, they added.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Many patients reported receiving emails with a demand
for 200 euros ($236) in bitcoin to prevent the contents of their discussions
with therapists being made public.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"The Vastaamo data breach is a shocking act which
hits all of us deep down," Interior Minister Maria Ohisalo wrote on her
website on Monday.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Finland must be a country where "help for mental
health issues is available and it can be accessed without fear."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Ministers met for crisis talks this weekend, with
further emergency discussions tabled for the coming week over the unprecedented
data breach.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"We are investigating an aggravated security
breach and aggravated extortion, among other charges," Robin Lardot, the
director of Finland's National Bureau of Investigation, told a news conference
at the weekend.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Lardot added that they believed the number of patients
whose records had been compromised numbered in the tens of thousands.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">On Monday evening, Vastaamo said it had fired its CEO,
Ville Tapio, after an internal enquiry discovered that he had concealed a March
2019 data breach from the board and the firm's parent company.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The firm admitted flaws in the security of its customer
data, "which allowed criminals to break into the database up until March
2019," Vastaamo said in a statement.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The company's owner, PTK Midco Oy, on Monday launched
court proceedings "in relation to its May 2019 purchase of Vastaamo,"
the statement added.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><b>'Justifiably worried'</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Security experts reported that a 10-gigabyte data file
containing private notes between at least 2,000 patients and their therapists
had appeared on websites on the so-called dark web.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The hack, which targeted some of society's most
vulnerable including children, has caused widespread shock in the Nordic
country of 5.5 million, with ministers gathering on Sunday to discuss how to
support the patients whose sensitive data had been leaked.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"It is absolutely clear that people are
justifiably worried not only about their own security and health but that of
their close ones, too," Ohisalo told reporters late on Sunday.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">On Monday, authorities launched a website for victims
of the cyberattack, offering advice and telling them not to pay the ransom
demand.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Do not communicate with the extortionist, the
data have most likely already been leaked elsewhere," the "Data Leak
Help" site said.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Mental health and victim support charities reported
being overwhelmed with calls from distressed people fearing that their intimate
conversations with their therapists would be publicly released.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Nothing 'to be ashamed of'</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">One of the recipients of a blackmail threat, the
former MP Kirsi Piha, tweeted a screenshot of the ransom message along with a
defiant reply to the hackers.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Up yours! Seeking help is never something to be
ashamed of," Piha wrote.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"I've seen a lot, but I haven't seen this,"
Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at data security firm F-Secure said in a
statement.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"I don't think there's a crime in our criminal
history which would have more victims than this one."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Hypponen, an internationally renowned cybersecurity
specialist, said the perpetrator used the alias "ransom_man", and
said he was only aware of one other patient blackmail case, where a cosmetic
surgery clinic in Florida had a smaller amount of data stolen in 2019.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">On Monday, Finland's social care regulator said in a
statement it was investigating Vastaamo's practices, including how well
patients were kept informed of the breach.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Meanwhile, the head of the state digital services
agency DVV, Kimmo Rousku, said that the cyberattack could have been avoided if
Vastaamo had used better encryption.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">DVV published a checklist on Monday for firms to make
sure their digital security is in order.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"Management needs to wake up," Rousku told
public broadcaster Yle.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A phone line offering legal advice had also been set
up, the country's consumer authority announced.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344258857993817417.post-55757943496864326772020-09-18T03:36:00.002+07:002020-09-18T03:36:50.982+07:00EncroChat messages reveal at least ten cases of ‘bent coppers’ leaking info <p><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/09/encrochat-messages-reveal-at-least-ten-cases-of-bent-coppers-leaking-info/" target="_blank">DutchNews</a>, September 17, 2020 </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdIw9k7friCGUp75Jr0zDrKVDo9Iba5MR5SFzqxud7-MWup4-Opgj1kddFyBM3T77iqJhgsopb37O1HXRlSvgXJ4HOgOUMzY2n79BKZvB_ZsXNeQLsUGZTn32Owrlsi3lE14y4HLiqWv4/s560/Police-with-radio-560x374.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Photo: Depositphotos.com" border="0" data-original-height="374" data-original-width="560" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdIw9k7friCGUp75Jr0zDrKVDo9Iba5MR5SFzqxud7-MWup4-Opgj1kddFyBM3T77iqJhgsopb37O1HXRlSvgXJ4HOgOUMzY2n79BKZvB_ZsXNeQLsUGZTn32Owrlsi3lE14y4HLiqWv4/w400-h268/Police-with-radio-560x374.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The
<a href="https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/07/hundreds-arrested-tonnes-of-drugs-seized-as-police-intercept-crime-gang-messages/" target="_blank">investigation</a> into millions of messages between criminals via encrypted service
provider EncroChat has also yielded proof of police corruption and a special
team has been tasked with the prosecution of the officers involved, <a href="https://www.politie.nl/nieuws/2020/september/16/nieuw-rechercheteam-voor-corruptieonderzoeken-encrochat.html" target="_blank">police havesaid</a>. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Officials have not yet said how many police officers are involved and at
what level, but at least two have been arrested following the EncroChat
operation. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Sources cited by the <a href="https://www.telegraaf.nl/nieuws/1151344252/geheim-telefoonverkeer-legt-ernstige-corruptie-bij-politie-bloot" target="_blank">Telegraaf</a></span><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><span style="font-family: arial;">say 10 serious cases involving the leak of information to criminals are
currently being investigated. The search also yielded information about a
network of lawyers, real estate brokers and notaries whose services helped
criminals launder money, they said. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Police did confirm information had been
leaked to criminals but would not say more for operational reasons.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">The sheer volume of messages – over 20
million – that have to be followed up must be dealt with meticulously to avoid
false claims of corruption, police said. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">However, the first signs are serious
enough to warrant a special team, police chief Henk van Essen said. ‘</span><span style="font-family: arial;">We have
started a number of prosecutions and more will follow. The information on drug
deals and money laundering as well as the corruption in the force have been
given the highest priority.’ </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Van Essen said that there have always been ‘bent
coppers’ but the fact that their number is increasing is worrying. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">‘A policeman
can become corrupt through blackmail but can also simply be bought,’ Van Essen
said. ‘Information is a goldmine for criminals. It can be anything from
information on current investigations and people to addresses and cars. They
are always on the lookout for people with access to this type of information,
not only in the force but in companies as well.’ </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Software to flag up suspicious
search behaviour by officers will be introduced next year, Van Essen said. ‘But
we don’t want to check each and every email or app. We want a system built on
trust but we must be realistic. There is corruption and we want to stamp it
out. And an operation like EncroChat shows that no one is beyond the reach of
the law.’</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Realted Article</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://cempaka-putih.blogspot.com/2017/03/dutch-detectives-unravel-36-million.html" target="_blank">Dutch detectives unravel 3.6 million encrypted emailssent by criminals</a></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b></b></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344258857993817417.post-25646461346618095222020-09-03T02:22:00.000+07:002020-09-03T02:22:05.101+07:005G can be rolled out, but more research is necessary, says health council <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/09/5g-can-be-rolled-out-but-more-research-is-necessary-says-health-council/" target="_blank">DutchNews</a>, September 2, 2020 </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcIv_pE-tii2b4Z8GBi0HFfDBZTINtZoiKpNxSZfpBwirEw1dFpU-WUbqd8eRs1w8FZBP2kDt43RPIuh66U7WrlxCv5mrfT6CdX3V4NDzL8h6pURyiZaGTNXlW27pc2jBHZiIT5ZKw-js/s1600/5G-antenna-560x379.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="379" data-original-width="560" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcIv_pE-tii2b4Z8GBi0HFfDBZTINtZoiKpNxSZfpBwirEw1dFpU-WUbqd8eRs1w8FZBP2kDt43RPIuh66U7WrlxCv5mrfT6CdX3V4NDzL8h6pURyiZaGTNXlW27pc2jBHZiIT5ZKw-js/s400/5G-antenna-560x379.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo: Depositphotos.com</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The roll-out of 5G telecoms services in the Netherlands is
safe, but some aspects remain unclear and require further research, the Dutch
health council Gezondheidsraad said on Wednesday. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">‘It has not been proven and
it is not likely that exposure to 5G systems can damage health, even though the
science cannot rule this out entirely,’ the council said on its <a href="https://www.gezondheidsraad.nl/documenten/adviezen/2020/09/02/5g-en-gezondheid" target="_blank">website</a>. ‘The
health council is advising that exposure be monitored and that more research is
done.’ </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The council had been asked to look into the health aspects of 5G
telecommunications by MPs following a spate of arson attacks on telecom masts. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The report focuses on the theoretical impact on health because 5G is so new
there is little concrete information. And this means that actual exposure to 5G
needs to be monitored as more networks come online. ‘The commission cannot
answer the question if exposure to 5G will actually lead to risks to health,’
the report said. ‘Therefore the focus has been on the potential to cause
damage.’ </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Recommendations </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The commission makes two main recommendations.
Firstly, officials should set up an epidemiological research project into the
relationship between exposure to the 5G frequencies being used and cancer,
reduced fertility in men, risks to pregnancy and birth defects. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Netherlands
is already taking part in an international research project into 5G and health,
and these results can be a part of the Dutch study, the researchers said. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At
the same time, the council recommends officials postpone the use of the higher
end of the frequency spectrum, namely 26GHz, because relatively little research
has been done on the impact of this frequency range on health. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are
currently no concrete plans in the Netherlands to use this frequency. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Reactions </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Telecoms company KPN said it welcomed the report which reconfirmed that the
current frequencies for mobile communications via 3G, 4G and 5G can be used. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, the anti 5G campaign group Stichting Stop5GNL, which tried earlier to
have the roll-out stopped in court, said that the recommendations are
contradictory. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">‘You cannot put something in the market which has not been
properly researched,’ spokeswoman Martine Vriens told <a href="https://nos.nl/artikel/2346418-gezondheidsraad-uitrol-5g-kan-doorgaan-wel-meer-onderzoek-nodig.html" target="_blank">broadcaster NOS</a>.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344258857993817417.post-21567335217881679362020-08-31T04:23:00.000+07:002020-08-31T04:23:07.656+07:00Virus lockdowns give major boost to e-commerce<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://uk.news.yahoo.com/virus-lockdowns-major-boost-e-083900202.html" target="_blank">Yahoo – AFP</a>, Corentin DAUTREPPE, 30 August 2020</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVeceKHTiFOM9WQ7G1bA4lciXa4IuyZfalKOY_HcgGTRKr-NWclbmsExFAFqG1pHp_rxPPGbY2jb2NBPlRRoRERoevkQRraBQM2eMPInQLaxQ9kv3VDnxhG2yh_hlWmzpjmJd3jVF0m10/s1600/41d61db9aac1c281806bd309ce02c7ff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="514" data-original-width="768" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVeceKHTiFOM9WQ7G1bA4lciXa4IuyZfalKOY_HcgGTRKr-NWclbmsExFAFqG1pHp_rxPPGbY2jb2NBPlRRoRERoevkQRraBQM2eMPInQLaxQ9kv3VDnxhG2yh_hlWmzpjmJd3jVF0m10/s400/41d61db9aac1c281806bd309ce02c7ff.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">In the Covid economy, there are winners and losers -- e-commerce giants such as <br />Amazon, show rising profits and sales but traditional retail outlets have been <br />shedding jobs by the thousand</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While large traditional retailers announce big lay-offs because of the pandemic, sometimes shedding thousands of staff, coronavirus lockdowns have in contrast given e-commerce a major boost.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Recent data shows a shift to shopping online -- according to Kantar consulting group, international e-commerce grew 41 percent in only three months compared with 22 percent growth for 2020 as a whole to date, as the pandemic "transformed" retail habits.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The trend was brought into sharp relief on August 18, when British high street mainstay Marks & Spencer announced it was culling 7,000 staff.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hours later, in contrast, online behemoth Amazon said it was hiring 3,500 in the United States.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The M&S slimdown is only one part of the picture in the UK, with 2,500 more job losses announced at department store Debenhams, which in April entered administration for the second time in a year. Hundreds more jobs are also to be lost at other well known British high street chains.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By contrast, Britain's largest supermarket chain Tesco placed a sizeable feather in its online cap by saying it was creating 16,000 permanent jobs to deal with strong growth in its online activities.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"It is very clear that the digitisation of commerce, (even) if in place for a long time, is accelerating enormously," said Herve Gilg, managing director and distribution specialist at Alvarez & Marsal corporate transformation services.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The benefits are being reaped by those companies which were already carrying out a sizeable chunk of their activities online.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That troupe is led by Amazon, which doubled its net profits in the second half of this virus-challenged year.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Following was Germany's fashion and lifestyle e-commerce heavyweight Zalando, which saw its active customer base rise 20 percent in first half 2020 to 34 million.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">US giant Walmart, although not an online "pure player", has also shifted in that direction to benefit from the upswing in virtual commerce in the US and its second-quarter results soared past estimates on an e-sales jump of 97 percent.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMsi8Uu2uDIYWAhYBgnTsbz27JPv5RfsjgD0lSXrGLatkYNSDcDEH74m1DKpABCPY-KhKcHKfaFpuvSpX0INr4pmiYF4TRTIxUBc46EfX1cJlpgTstmEbGYJH4LJvHcXzA2W6igxCZwZo/s1600/c61f40577baf79b66b75d8cda358d01e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="768" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMsi8Uu2uDIYWAhYBgnTsbz27JPv5RfsjgD0lSXrGLatkYNSDcDEH74m1DKpABCPY-KhKcHKfaFpuvSpX0INr4pmiYF4TRTIxUBc46EfX1cJlpgTstmEbGYJH4LJvHcXzA2W6igxCZwZo/s400/c61f40577baf79b66b75d8cda358d01e.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Walmart saw
e-sales put rockets behind its second-quarter results<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>E-presence 'indispensable'</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In France, the United Kingdom, Spain and China, the average market share of e-commerce went from 8.8 percent of value (in 2019) to 12.4 percent in second quarter 2020, said Kantar.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It added that in China, online shopping already amounts to "a quarter of expenditure on mass consumer products."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The trend was already under way before Covid-19 began to batter the global economy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But the brutal falloff in out-of-home spending has had "a major knock-on effect for non-food commerce dependent on physical sale points", Gilg said.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The unprecedented development has "made all retail actors understand or else confirm that it is indispensable to have an online presence and to be as competitive as possible there," says Stephane Charveriat, senior associate director with the Boston Consulting Group </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">(BCG).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhptoiI-pn5FoLVw8b7APqwoJg4_zTSCuhh0jXILTdnbi4qpJF50SEtC4efrPFyf_2Z41kSs_3lbiZGqHp6Tw9hQAf9P8bed4dgUJjTSGNS-V8BtaENnWdGFadbf4iup1jpdZyWAe28Xqs/s1600/3eb48679aeb56fa83821b9ee5d7a811f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="490" data-original-width="768" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhptoiI-pn5FoLVw8b7APqwoJg4_zTSCuhh0jXILTdnbi4qpJF50SEtC4efrPFyf_2Z41kSs_3lbiZGqHp6Tw9hQAf9P8bed4dgUJjTSGNS-V8BtaENnWdGFadbf4iup1jpdZyWAe28Xqs/s400/3eb48679aeb56fa83821b9ee5d7a811f.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">In a world
of retail clicks and mortar -- a physical presence still counts, not</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> least for
tourists wanting to show off their purchases in the real world<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>'Significant investments'</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That has meant evolution, which "requires significant means and investments," observes Charveriat. But that need comes at a time when company coffers are relatively bare and money placed aside for online purposes is cash which does not therefore flow to the physical business.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">France's CDCF trade council asked the government in the summer for a "tax credit or accelerated super-amortisation mechanism to support digital investment."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Thursday responded that "several hundred million euros" would be made available in the form of subsidies and public investment bank support "to help firms digitise" in a bid to compete with the likes of Amazon.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Clearly, it is a sizeable challenge to confront large platforms," says Charveriat. He says French firms must define an internet strategy, be it in the form of alliances with others, in order to compete in the digital marketplace with existing big hitters.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Still, Gilg says the existing physical presence of distribution brands can be a major asset in that regard, for example, catering to visiting international tourists who may want to experience what a brand has to offer on-site when post-Covid tourism does eventually take off again.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Apple has shown very effectively how a shop can act as a stage" to show off its wares, Gilg said, adding that while commercial clicks have their value, retail mortar can provide physical brand "authenticity."</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344258857993817417.post-17080782681141261962020-08-26T02:52:00.001+07:002020-08-26T02:52:33.581+07:00Amsterdam universities signed deal with controversial tech giant Huawei<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/08/amsterdam-universities-signed-deal-with-controversial-tech-giant-huawei/" target="_blank">DutchNews</a>, August 25, 2020</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYpCs6qsHIk_LEJ4F8HSgcmw-9gokTAGb81LaOKcpI3n3oBkNFtsIeoJEH8RP-CFj2bcX3nSvrhWynC6A4Rpc1Hq3S4v7Cnilc3auKJDjXQ96lbFhhrTBn9biL3eqj-dMT_2NdbIGGXqq3/s1600/man-using-mobile-phone-560x374.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="374" data-original-width="560" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYpCs6qsHIk_LEJ4F8HSgcmw-9gokTAGb81LaOKcpI3n3oBkNFtsIeoJEH8RP-CFj2bcX3nSvrhWynC6A4Rpc1Hq3S4v7Cnilc3auKJDjXQ96lbFhhrTBn9biL3eqj-dMT_2NdbIGGXqq3/s400/man-using-mobile-phone-560x374.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Photo: Depositphotos.com </span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Amsterdam universities UvA and VU have entered into a close
collaboration with controversial Chinese tech company Huawei despite government
warnings, the <a href="https://fd.nl/ondernemen/1355018/amsterdamse-universiteiten-werken-samen-met-omstreden-techgigant-huawei" target="_blank">Financieele Dagblad</a> reported on Tuesday. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The tech giant, which is
widely suspected of spying for the Chinese state, is increasingly unwelcome in
most European countries and the universities’ move has divided opinion, the
paper said. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The deal, signed on May 15, comprises a €3.5m payment to both
universities which will reportedly be used to finance a lab for the development
of artificial intelligence, employing around 100 people. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Researchers at the lab
will be specifically tasked with developing technology for a search machine for
Huawei, which has been banned from using Google on its mobile phones. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The
agreement comes despite Dutch government warnings about universities working
with Chinese partners because it could result in an ‘unwanted exchange of
knowledge’, potentially causing national security issues and damage to economic
interests. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Surprisingly, however, intelligence and security services AIVD and
NCTV, which met with university representatives on January 30 to discuss the
move, did not register any objections to the deal. In addition, both the
education ministry and the economic affairs ministry signalled support, the FD
said, albeit among warnings of ‘great potential risks’. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The education ministry
even confirmed to the paper it had ‘facilitated’ the meeting between the
security services and university representatives on its premises. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The AIVD told
the paper the meeting was an ‘awareness presentation’ but did not want to
comment any further. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Independent </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The boards of both universities have dismissed
worries about possible Chinese state intervention, saying the work for Huawei
‘has nothing to do with the network equipment which is causing public
discussion’. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A spokesman for the two universities told the paper that a
‘thorough check’ had been carried out to ensure that scientists can publish
their findings independently and that sensitive information will not be shared.
The security services had been happy with the guarantees put in place to
prevent potential knowledge theft, he said. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">However, the <a href="https://fd.nl/ondernemen/1355018/amsterdamse-universiteiten-werken-samen-met-omstreden-techgigant-huawei" target="_blank">Rathenau Institute</a>, an
independent government tech advisory body, has said that in AI research the
boundaries between military and civil technology have become blurred. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It calls
for clear government guidelines for universities to establish if a cooperation
with ‘a company such as Huawei’ is acceptable or not. Last year Oxford
university severed its ties with Huawei following a public outcry about the
cooperation. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Dutch government has also come under considerable pressure,
<a href="https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/06/we-are-not-making-threats-us-ambassador-to-nl-reconfirms-position-on-huawei/" target="_blank">particularly from the US,</a> to keep Huawei out of the Netherlands 5G network
development plans.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344258857993817417.post-69555281967407525992020-08-20T03:18:00.001+07:002020-08-20T03:18:40.759+07:00Beyond batteries: Scientists build methanol-powered beetle bot<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20200819-beyond-batteries-scientists-build-methanol-powered-beetle-bot" target="_blank">France24 – AFP</a>, 19 August 2020</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ7JNu-AVLDTR5kSAdA9c0s0iISnr6M9QMQOxoqAgdmVMbpCitJkpSlTNzGfb5U-GWIhRBmpC7HVRtWDlKQ1m0VLX-yEn2YhPgwq80NoXrBBkwMCNSPGByDIFIIpt4a998JFIYadwZVz4/s1600/0b275934c4be0beedcd17acca2a0e892b646a544.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="551" data-original-width="980" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ7JNu-AVLDTR5kSAdA9c0s0iISnr6M9QMQOxoqAgdmVMbpCitJkpSlTNzGfb5U-GWIhRBmpC7HVRtWDlKQ1m0VLX-yEn2YhPgwq80NoXrBBkwMCNSPGByDIFIIpt4a998JFIYadwZVz4/s400/0b275934c4be0beedcd17acca2a0e892b646a544.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">A team at the University of Southern California has built an 88-milligram "RoBeetle" <br />that runs on methanol and uses an artificial muscle system to crawl, climb, and carry <br />loads on its back for up to two hours Xiufeng YANG Xiufeng Yang, University of <br />Southern California/AFP</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Washington (AFP) - Scientists have long envisioned
building tiny robots capable of navigating environments that are inaccessible
or too dangerous for humans -- but finding ways to keep them powered and moving
has been impossible to achieve.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A team at the University of Southern California has
now made a breakthrough, building an 88-milligram (one three hundredth of an
ounce) "RoBeetle" that runs on methanol and uses an artificial muscle
system to crawl, climb and carry loads on its back for up to two hours.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">It is just 15 millimeters (.6 inches) in length,
making it "one of the lightest and smallest autonomous robots ever
created," its inventor Xiufeng Yang told AFP.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"We wanted to create a robot that has a weight
and size comparable to real insects," added Yang, who was lead author of a
paper describing the work in Science Robotics on Wednesday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The problem is that most robots need motors that are
themselves bulky and require electricity, which in turn makes batteries
necessary.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The smallest batteries available weigh 10-20 times
more than a tiger beetle, a 50 milligram insect the team used as their
reference point.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">To overcome this, Yang and his colleagues engineered
an artificial muscle system based on liquid fuel -- in this case methanol,
which stores about 10 times more energy than a battery of the same mass.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The "muscles" are made from nickel-titanium
alloy wires -- also known as Nitinol -- which contracts in length when heated,
unlike most metals that expand.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The wire was coated in a platinum powder that acts as
a catalyst for the combustion of methanol vapor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">As the vapor from RoBeetle's fuel tank burns on the
platinum powder, the wire contracts, and an array of microvalves shut to stop
more combustion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The wire then cools and expands, which once more opens
the valves, and the process repeats itself until all the fuel is spent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The expanding and contracting artificial muscles are
connected to the RoBeetles' front legs through a transmission mechanism, which
allows it to crawl.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The team tested their robot on a variety of flat and
inclined surfaces made from materials that were both smooth, like glass, and
rough, like mattress pads.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">RoBeetle could carry a load of up to 2.6 times its own
weight on its back and run for two hours on a full tank, said Yang.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">By contrast, "the smallest battery-powered
crawling robot weighs one gram and operates about 12 minutes."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In the future, microbots may be used for a variety of
applications like infrastructure inspection or search-and-rescue missions after
natural disasters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">They might also assist in tasks like artificial
pollination or environmental monitoring.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Roboticists Ryan Truby and Shuguang Li, of MIT and
Harvard respectively, wrote in an accompanying commentary that RoBeetle was
"an exciting microrobotics milestone," but added there were also
opportunities for improvement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">For example, the robot is limited to continuous
forward motion, and taking electronics out of the equation reduces its capacity
to carry out sophisticated tasks.</span></div>
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