Other Security News
COVID-19 Pandemic News

Other Security News

• US Accusations Against Russian Intel of Cyberattacks Due to Pre-Election Situation - MFA Sputnik 20 Oct 2020 -- On Monday, the US Department of Justice indicted six Russians, allegedly linked to state agency GRU, in relation to hacking attacks conducted in the US, Ukraine, South Korea and France in the past few years.
• Russian Embassy Says Hacking Accusations Coming From US Have 'Nothing to Do With Reality' Sputnik 20 Oct 2020 -- The Russian Embassy in Washington has refuted US claims of alleged Russian involvement in a major cyber attack targeting officials and various large-scale events, with an embassy representative telling Sputnik that Russia has no intention to engage in destabilizing operations.
• U.S. indicts six Russian military intelligence officers for cyberattacks People's Daily 20 Oct 2020 -- The United States on Monday announced an indictment of six Russian military intelligence officers relating to several cyberattacks worldwide.
• DHS Launches New Center for Countering Human Trafficking DHS 20 Oct 2020 -- U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Acting Secretary Chad Wolf announced Thursday the opening of the DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking, the U.S. government's first-ever integrated law enforcement operations center directly supporting federal criminal investigations, victim assistance efforts, intelligence analysis, and outreach and training activities related to human trafficking and forced labor.
• Victims of Terror Attacks Reject US Deal to Delist Sudan VOA 20 Oct 2020 -- One of the attorneys representing victims of the 1998 terror attacks on U.S. embassies in East Africa and their families says the majority of his clients reject the deal that would result in President Donald Trump removing Sudan from the U.S. State Sponsors of Terrorism list.
• Trump: US to Remove Sudan from Terror List VOA 20 Oct 2020 -- U.S. President Donald Trump says the United States will remove Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism after the country follows through on an agreement to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to U.S. terror victims and families.
• US to remove Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism Press TV 20 Oct 2020 -- The US president says he plans to remove Sudan from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism now that the African country has agreed to pay $335 million to US victims of terrorism.
• Former Top French Official Hopes Teacher's Beheading Will Mark 'Turning Point' VOA 20 Oct 2020 -- The report was explosive. Sixteen years ago, one of France's top education officials, Jean-Pierre Obin, sounded what he hoped would be a wake-up call about the "Islamization of French public schools."
• Mexico to Extradite Drug Lord to US VOA 20 Oct 2020 -- The Mexican government is set to extradite to the United States Jaime González Durán, one of the founders of the Los Zetas drug cartel.
• Al Qaeda-Trained Jihadist Who Recruited Other Inmates to Join ISIS Sentenced to 300 Months US Dept. of Justice 20 Oct 2020 -- Mohammed Ibrahim Ahmed was in Federal Custody Serving a Sentence for Terrorism Violations at the Time of his Current Plot to Recruit Terrorists
• Army Medicine Europe maintains robust COVID testing and reporting process Army News 20 Oct 2020 -- Army Medicine Europe maintains a robust COVID testing and reporting process, ensuring the health and safety of the entire military community across the European theater. At the same time, Army health officials maintain open lines of communication with host nation public health officials responsible for tracking COVID cases.

COVID-19 Pandemic News

• Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) - Weekly Epidemiological Update WHO 20 Oct 2020
• UNICEF to stockpile syringes for COVID-19 vaccination People's Daily 20 Oct 2020 -- The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has begun laying the groundwork for COVID-19 vaccination by purchasing and pre-positioning syringes and other necessary equipment, said the fund on Monday.
• 184 countries and economies have joined COVAX: WHO chief People's Daily 20 Oct 2020 -- A total of 184 countries and economies have now joined COVAX, an international initiative co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners to ensure effective and equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines, the WHO chief announced on Monday.
• Latest on Worldwide Spread of Coronavirus SPA 20 Oct 2020 -- France reported a massive jump in people hospitalized with COVID-19 and Ireland announced some of Europe's toughest restrictions, according to Reuters.
• One in six children living in extreme poverty, with figure set to rise during pandemic UN News 20 Oct 2020 -- An estimated one in six children - or 356 million globally - were living in extreme poverty before the COVID-19 pandemic began, and this is set to worsen significantly, according to a new World Bank Group and UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) analysis released on Tuesday.
• Emergency Food Needs Surge as COVID-19 Continues to Spread VOA 20 Oct 2020 -- The World Food Program reports food insecurity is increasing worldwide because of the devastating socio-economic impact of COVID-19, with tens of millions of people on the verge of famine.

United States

• Air Force update for COVID-19 US Air Force 20 Oct 2020
• U.S. Reportedly Threw Out 45 Faulty Russian Ventilators Without Using Them RFE/RL 20 Oct 2020 -- The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has reportedly thrown away the 45 ventilators delivered by Russia at the height of the coronavirus pandemic without ever using them.
• U.S. federal gov't made "terrible blunder" at beginning of COVID-19: NYS governor People's Daily 20 Oct 2020 -- The federal government didn't live up to its obligation during the fight against COVID-19, for only one-third of the Americans have been tested in the past seven months as the pandemic raged on, said New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday.
• Rush Transcript: Governor Cuomo Announces Travel Advisory Requiring 14-Day Quarantine New York State 20 Oct 2020
• U.S. COVID-19 deaths top 220,000: Johns Hopkins University People's Daily 20 Oct 2020 -- New York state reported 33,366 fatalities, at the top of the U.S. state-level death toll list.
• Trump calls Fauci 'disaster' as COVID-19 cases soar ahead of election Press TV 20 Oct 2020 -- With just two weeks remaining for his re-election campaign and with yet another peak in the coronavirus cases in the US, President Donald Trump has once again attacked top health expert Anthony Fauci, calling him a "disaster."
• Hard Times Ahead: COVID-19 Hospitalizations Soar in Over 30 US States as Virus Spreads Sputnik 20 Oct 2020 -- COVID-19 hospitalizations are increasing in many US states, according to a CNBC analysis of data collected by the COVID Tracking Project.
• Racial Minorities in US Dying From COVID at Higher Rates Than Whites VOA 20 Oct 2020 -- Hispanics, Blacks and Asian Americans in the U.S. have been dying at disproportionately higher rates from the coronavirus compared to white Americans, government health experts reported Tuesday.
• State Officials Announce Latest COVID-19 Facts California Department of Public Health 20 Oct 2020

China

• Qingdao confirms 'object-to-human' virus passage Global Times 20 Oct 2020 -- It has been found that the novel coronavirus can pass from objects to humans, and exist in cold chain conditions for a long time, the Qingdao government in East China's Shandong Province announced Tuesday, as it revealed the spread route of the virus in the latest local outbreak from imported frozen food products.
• Coronavirus can pass from objects to humans and exist in cold-chain conditions for long periods: Qingdao official Global Times 20 Oct 2020 -- The coronavirus is able to pass from objects to humans and exist in cold-chain conditions for a long time, said officials in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province, noting that the discovery adds pressure on the city's efforts to prevent imported cases.
• China follows WHO rules in COVID-19 vaccine's emergency use Global Times 20 Oct 2020 -- Only people with high exposure to COVID-19 have received vaccines for emergency use in China without showing a serious adverse effect, and the emergency use strictly follows the review procedure in China as well as WHO rules, and has been reported to the WHO for ratification, a Chinese official said on Tuesday, refuting media reports that China has made its COVID-19 vaccines available to the general public.
• Cities in Zhejiang abide by rules in emergency use of COVID-19 vaccines Global Times 20 Oct 2020 -- After some cities in eastern China, where many export-driven businesses are located, showed growing demand for coronavirus vaccination, China's top regulators on drug development and epidemic prevention refuted Western media reports that China has expanded its vaccination program and has rolled out experimental vaccines to the general public, as they are still only for emergency use.
• Another Chinese city launches emergency COVID-19 vaccine use campaign Global Times 20 Oct 2020 -- Shaoxing in East China's Zhejiang Province on Tuesday launched a voluntarily emergency COVID-19 vaccine use campaign to its residents following two cities in the same province - Jiaxing and Yiwu - launching a similar campaign.
• Beijing reports one confirmed COVID-19 case who previously tested positive for viral antibodies Global Times 20 Oct 2020 -- Beijing reported one confirmed imported case of COVID-19 on Monday who had tested negative multiple times and at the same time also tested positive for novel coronavirus antibodies.
• Chinese mainland reports 19 new COVID-19 cases, all from overseas People's Daily 20 Oct 2020 -- The Chinese mainland on Monday registered 19 new COVID-19 cases, all from overseas, the National Health Commission announced on Tuesday.
• Chinese mainland reports no new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases People's Daily 20 Oct 2020 -- No new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases were reported Monday across the Chinese mainland, the National Health Commission said Tuesday.

Europe

• Spain Becomes COVID-19 Hotspot Again - But Why? VOA 20 Oct 2020 -- Spain this week will become the first European country to report one million coronavirus cases since the pandemic started.
• Imperial College London Recruiting Healthy Volunteers to Infect with COVID-19 VOA 20 Oct 2020 -- The British government is supporting human trials for a potential COVID-19 vaccine in which healthy human subjects will be infected with the virus to accelerate the process.
• British Finance Chief Defends Government's COVID-19 Strategy VOA 20 Oct 2020 -- Britain's finance minister Tuesday defended the government's localized three-tiered approach to fighting the spread of COVID-19 in the country, saying another national lockdown would carry too heavy a cost.
• 168,000 more deaths recorded in EU from March 2 to June 28: Eurostat People's Daily 20 Oct 2020 -- A total of 168,000 additional deaths were recorded in the European Union (EU) from March 2 to June 28 this year, when the COVID-19 pandemic was rampant in the continent, according to a Eurostat report released on Monday.
• Nicola Sturgeon asserts leadership over local Covid-19 restrictions in Scotland Press TV 20 Oct 2020 -- Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has said she has the "final say" on coronavirus-related restrictions in different parts of Scotland, thereby asserting a more robust leadership than the one found south of the border in England.
• Bulgarian President To Be Quarantined Following Coronavirus Exposure RFE/RL 20 Oct 2020 -- Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has left an official trip to Estonia and faces quarantine at home after it was determined he was recently exposed to the coronavirus.
• Bulgaria makes masks obligatory in public as new COVID-19 cases surge SPA 20 Oct 2020 -- Bulgaria will make wearing protective masks obligatory in all outdoor spaces from Thursday, as coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours hit a new record, its health minister said on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

Russia

• Sputnik V Production in Russia May Increase Five-Fold From October to December - Russian Minister Sputnik 20 Oct 2020 -- The number of doses of the Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 produced each month in Russia may increase five-fold from October to December, the Russian minister of industry and trade, Denis Manturov, said on Tuesday.

India

• India crosses Significant Milestones India PIB 20 Oct 2020 -- India has leaped across several significant milestones in its fight against COVID.

Iran

• Iran joins initiative for COVID-19 vaccine share: official People's Daily 20 Oct 2020 -- Iran has joined the COVAX initiative, which aims at working with vaccine manufacturers to provide world safe and effective vaccines, Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education announced on Monday.
• Official: COVID-19 kills 322 more in Iran IRNA 20 Oct 2020 -- Iran's Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said on Tuesday that some 322 more Iranians have died from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) over the past 24 hours bringing the total deaths to 31,034.
• Airlines to sell only 60 percent of seats to contain pandemic: Minister IRNA 20 Oct 2020 -- Iranian Minister of Road and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami said Iranian airlines are obliged to limit tickets for 60% of available seats as of October 22 in accordance with health protocols to contain COVID19 pandemic, adding that new ticket fees will be announced soon.
• Iran to begin testing indigenous COVID-19 vaccine on humans in Nov. Press TV 20 Oct 2020 -- Iran's health minister says the country is to begin trialing an indigenously-produced COVID-19 vaccine on humans around early November.

Saudi Arabia

• Health Ministry: 385 New COVID-19 Cases Confirmed, Raising the Toll to nearly 343,000, in Saudi Arabia SPA 20 Oct 2020 -- The Ministry of Health announced in a statement here today that 385 new confirmed cases of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) have been reported, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, bringing the total number to 342,968, including 8,481 active cases undergoing treatment.

Taiwan

• Taiwan records three new COVID-19 cases from Philippines CNA 20 Oct 2020 -- Two Philippine nationals and a Taiwanese national who recently traveled from the Philippines to Taiwan have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the number of total cases in Taiwan to 543, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Tuesday.

Canada

• Canada-U.S. border closure agreement to extend for another month People's Daily 20 Oct 2020 -- Canada announced on Monday that the Canada-U.S. border closure agreement will be extended for another month to Nov. 21.
• Canada hits milestone of 200,000 COVID-19 cases People's Daily 20 Oct 2020 -- Canada hit a milestone on Monday with 200,039 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 9,772 deaths, according to CTV.

NATO

• NATO delivers ventilators to Albania - 20 October 2020 NATO 20 Oct 2020 -- The Albanian Ministry of Defence received 60 ventilators from the NATO stockpile in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on Saturday, 17 October. The donation was coordinated by NATO's Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC). Later this week the ventilators will be handed over to the Albanian Ministry of Health for distribution to hospitals.

Other Countries

• Indonesia to provide COVID-19 vaccine to 9.1 mln people at 1st phase: official People's Daily 20 Oct 2020 -- Indonesia will at the first phase provide the COVID-19 vaccine to 9.1 million people between November and December 2020, the Health Ministry's Disease Control and Prevention Director General Achmad Yurianto said on Monday.
• Algeria Reports 223 New Cases of COVID-19 SPA 20 Oct 2020 -- Algeria reported today 223 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), bringing the total number of infections to 54,839.
• Mauritania reports 13 new Coronavirus cases SPA 20 Oct 2020 -- Mauritania reported today 13 new confirmed cases of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).
• Argentina Now Has 1 Million Confirmed COVID-19 Cases VOA 20 Oct 2020 -- Argentina is now the world's fifth country with more than one million confirmed COVID-19 cases.
• Honduras Ex-President Receives Experimental Russian COVID Vaccine VOA 20 Oct 2020 -- Former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya is taking part in Phase 3 trials of a potential coronavirus vaccine.