Other Security News
COVID-19 Pandemic News

Other Security News

• Australia Has Become Target of 'Sophisticated' Cyber Attack by a 'State-Based Actor' - PM Morrison Sputnik 18 Jun 2020 -- The Australian PM, during a press conference, said that the actor behind the cyber attack is "state-based", judging from the "scale and nature of the targeting". However, he did not name the country Canberra believes is responsible.
• Message to the Senate of the United States on the Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Relating to International Civil Aviation The White House 18 Jun 2020
• Message to the Senate of the United States on the Protocol Supplementary to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft The White House 18 Jun 2020
• Department of State Offers Rewards for Information to Bring Colombian Drug Traffickers to Justice US Dept. of State 18 Jun 2020 -- Today, the U.S. Department of State announced rewards up to $10 million each for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Seuxis Hernandez-Solarte, aka "Jesus Santrich," and Luciano Marin Arango, aka "Ivan Marquez." Both are former senior leaders of the FARC who dropped out of the peace process and have a long history of involvement in drug trafficking activities, which resulted in their criminal indictments.

COVID-19 Pandemic News

• Coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) situation report - 150 WHO 18 Jun 2020
• WHO Aiming for 2 Billion Doses of COVID Vaccine by End of 2021 VOA 18 Jun 2020 -- The World Health Organization's (WHO) chief scientist said Thursday the agency hopes there will be about two billion doses of a vaccine against COVID-19 by the end of next year that would be reserved for "priority populations."
• Can Lab-Grown Antibodies Cure COVID-19? VOA 18 Jun 2020 -- Doctors are seeking to grow some of the body's most potent disease-fighting weapons in a test tube and deploy them against COVID-19.

United States

• State Officials Announce Latest COVID-19 Facts California Department of Public Health 18 Jun 2020
• Rush Transcript: Governor Cuomo to America: 'Wake Up' to Danger of White House Pandemic Response, 'Their Guidance, Their Doctrine, is an Undeniable Mistake.' New York State 18 Jun 2020
• Remarks by President Trump During a Roundtable with Governors on the Reopening of America's Small Businesses The White House 18 Jun 2020
• Remarks by Vice President Pence to Employees at Casadei Steel Inc. on Opening Up America Again | Sterling Heights, MI The White House 18 Jun 2020
• Several U.S. states hit record highs for COVID-19 cases Global Times 18 Jun 2020 -- A host of U.S. states have seen sharp climb of COVID-19 cases in recent days, raising fears of a new wave.
• US coronavirus cases rise to record levels; Trump in denial ahead of campaign rally Press TV 18 Jun 2020 -- Days before US President Donald Trump's first campaign rally in over three months, multiple US states, including Oklahoma, have reported record number of new cases of coronavirus infection, but Trump keeps denying health concerns and instead accuses the media of "trying to Covid Shame" his election rally.

China

• Capital screens for COVID-19 Global Times 18 Jun 2020 -- To screen close contacts of the market, the municipal government is knocking on doors as well as using big data, artificial intelligence and cloud computing, and conducting large-scale nucleic acid tests.
• Beijing outbreak under control, number of new cases would dwindle: chief epidemiologist Global Times 18 Jun 2020 -- The chief epidemiologist of the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that Beijing's latest COVID-19 outbreak has already been brought under control, but warned that new cases will emerge in the next two days, but the number would dwindle.
• Beijing centers rush to recruit staff to take samples, clear backlog Global Times 18 Jun 2020 -- Amid surging demand for COVID-19 nucleic acid tests in Beijing, test centers in the capital are recruiting sample takers and biolab personnel to get more tests done more quickly.
• Beijing imposes new measures to prevent virus spreading to other cities Global Times 18 Jun 2020 -- Imposing restrictions on leaving Beijing does not mean the city is being sealed off, said an official from Beijing's public security bureau, noting that the current measures aim to stop the virus from spreading to other parts of China.
• Health authority sends experts to Beijing to curb recent COVID-19 outbreak Global Times 18 Jun 2020 -- China's National Health Commission (NHC) has dispatched experts with experience in fighting the coronavirus in Wuhan to guide Beijing's battle against COVID-19, as the outbreak flared up in the capital. 158 new cases were reported in seven days in Beijing as of Thursday.
• Beijing's Ditan Hospital suspends outpatient and emergency treatment Global Times 18 Jun 2020 -- To better focus on treating COVID-19 patients, Beijing Ditan Hospital in Chaoyang district will stop all outpatient and emergency treatment from Thursday, the hospital announced on Wednesday night.
• All passengers departing Beijing should take nucleic acid tests: airports Global Times 18 Jun 2020 -- Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA) said on Thursday that passengers leaving Beijing must bring with them a negative nucleic acid test certificate issued within seven days of departure, per the requirements of Beijing authorities.
• Beijing tightens control of personnel flow to curb COVID-19 infections People's Daily 18 Jun 2020 -- Beijing has published a slew of measures to tighten the control of personnel flow after new clusters of COVID-19 infections emerged, according to a press conference Thursday.
• China's Hubei reports no new COVID-19 cases People's Daily 18 Jun 2020 -- No new confirmed, asymptomatic or suspected COVID-19 cases were reported in central China's Hubei Province on Wednesday, the provincial health commission said Thursday.
• China's Hebei reports 2 new confirmed COVID-19 cases People's Daily 18 Jun 2020 -- North China's Hebei Province reported two new confirmed domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases and three new asymptomatic cases on Wednesday, the provincial health commission said Thursday.
• Chinese mainland reports 28 new confirmed COVID-19 cases People's Daily 18 Jun 2020 -- Chinese health authority said Thursday that it received reports of 28 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland Wednesday, of which 24 were domestically transmitted and four were imported.
• Shanghai reports 2 new imported COVID-19 cases People's Daily 18 Jun 2020 -- Shanghai reported two new imported COVID-19 cases and no increase in locally transmitted cases on Wednesday, the municipal health commission said Thursday.
• Chinese mainland reports 28 new confirmed COVID-19 cases People's Daily 18 Jun 2020 -- Chinese health authority said Thursday that it received reports of 28 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland Wednesday, of which 24 were domestically transmitted and four were imported.
• Beijing reports 21 new COVID-19 cases People's Daily 18 Jun 2020 -- Beijing reported 21 new confirmed domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases and three new asymptomatic cases on Wednesday, the municipal health commission said Thursday.
• Chinese mainland reports 4 new imported COVID-19 cases People's Daily 18 Jun 2020 -- The Chinese mainland reported four new imported COVID-19 cases Wednesday, bringing the total number of imported cases to 1,860, the National Health Commission said Thursday.
• Beijing battles to contain COVID-19 cluster infections People's Daily 18 Jun 2020 -- Beijing has upgraded its emergency response to COVID-19 from Level III to Level II, the second-highest of the four-tier system, as the city is battling to contain new clusters of COVID-19.
• Chinese Epidemiologists Find Seafood Link Between COVID-19 Outbreaks in Beijing, Wuhan Sputnik 18 Jun 2020 -- An epidemiological investigation of a new COVID-19 cluster at the Xinfadi wholesale food centre in Beijing has provided new insights into the Wuhan outbreak, Wu Zunyou, the chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Thursday.

Europe

• Europe's Longtime Powers Unite Behind EU's COVID-19 Rescue Package VOA 18 Jun 2020 -- When European Union leaders meet virtually for a summit Friday, a familiar duo will again grab the spotlight.
• Some 400 workers test positive for coronavirus at German slaughterhouse Global Times 18 Jun 2020 -- Some 400 out of 500 employees have tested positive for the novel coronavirus at a slaughterhouse of the Toennies Group in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) since the beginning of this week and the results of another 400 tests are pending, German media ARD reported on Wednesday.

India

• Updates on COVID-19 India PIB 18 Jun 2020

Pakistan

• COVID-19 Deaths, Patients Grossly Under-Reported in Pakistan VOA 18 Jun 2020 -- When Saifullah Khan's friend and his father in Quetta got sick after going to a funeral in Chaman, a town bordering Afghanistan, he asked them to get tested for the new coronavirus. His friend refused.

Iran

• COVID-19 kills 87 more Iranians over past 24 hours: Official IRNA 18 Jun 2020 -- Iran's Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said on Thursday that some 87 more Iranians have died of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) over the past 24 hours.

Saudi Arabia

• Spokesperson of Health Ministry: 4,757 New COVID-19 Cases Reported in Saudi Arabia SPA 18 Jun 2020 -- Assistant Minister of Health and Spokesperson of the Health Ministry Dr. Mohammed Al-Abdulaali said today that 4,757 new confirmed cases of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) have been reported in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, bringing the total number to 145,991 cases, including 50,937 active cases receiving necessary medical care. Of these, there are 1,877 critical cases, while the health condition of the rest is stable.

Taiwan

• Taiwan reports one new COVID-19 case, bringing total to 446 CNA 18 Jun 2020 -- A man who returned from Bangladesh last week has been diagnosed with COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases in Taiwan to 446, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Thursday.
• Taiwan to donate COVID-19 rapid antibody test kits to Honduras CNA 18 Jun 2020 -- The Taiwan government is to donate a batch of 10,000 rapid COVID-19 antibody test kits to Honduras to help the Central American ally's ongoing fight against the pandemic, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official said Thursday.

New Zealand

• Border Bungle Sees COVID-19 Detected Again in New Zealand VOA 18 Jun 2020 -- Ten days ago Jacinda Ardern said her South Pacific country of 5 million people had managed to "crush the virus" through some of the strictest lockdown measures in the world.
• New Zealand Confirms Third New Coronavirus Case VOA 18 Jun 2020 -- New Zealand on Thursday reported its third confirmed coronavirus case this week, a development that has prompted the government to further restrict its quarantine rules for those entering the country after it had declared local transmission of the virus eradicated.

Other Countries

• UK calls for drastic action in Yemen as coronavirus infections reach one million UK FCO 18 Jun 2020 -- UK Minister for the Middle East expresses deep concern at rapidly rising number of coronavirus infections in Yemen amid ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis.
• Protesters Demand Guatemala Ease Coronavirus Lockdown Rules VOA 18 Jun 2020 -- Scores of demonstrators in Guatemala are demanding President Alejandro Giammattei ease coronavirus lockdown restrictions, even as the death toll in the Central American nation tops 400.
• Maldives parliament staffer tests positive for COVID-19 People's Daily 18 Jun 2020 -- The Maldives parliament building has been temporarily closed after a staffer tested positive for COVID-19, local media reported here Wednesday.
• Palestinian health minister warns against dramatic increase of COVID-19 cases Press TV 18 Jun 2020 -- Palestinian health minister has warned against an exponential increase in the confirmed cases of coronavirus infections across the Israeli-occupied territories as the Palestinian Authority is struggling to cope with the pandemic with its limited resources and weak healthcare system besides the Tel Aviv regime's restrictions.
• Former Kazakh President Nazarbaev Tests Positive For COVID-19 RFE/RL 18 Jun 2020 -- Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev, who continues to control the Central Asian country after his sudden resignation last year, has tested positive for the coronavirus.
• Bangladesh COVID-19 Cases Cross 100,000 Mark SPA 18 Jun 2020 -- Bangladesh today exceeded 100,000 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases as 3803 more people tested positive overnight, National News Agency of Bangladesh reported.
• South African President Announces Reopening of Businesses Under Strict Guidelines VOA 18 Jun 2020 -- South Africa will soon begin reopening full-service restaurants and casinos under strict conditions after nearly three months of being under lockdown restriction to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
• Honduras President Hospitalized with Pneumonia After Testing Positive for COVID-19 VOA 18 Jun 2020 -- The president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, is said to be in good condition after being admitted to a military hospital for pneumonia on Wednesday, a day after revealing he and his wife had tested positive for COVID-19.