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Other Security News
COVID-19 Pandemic News

Other Security News

• Prosecutors Expect at Least 100 More Arrests in US Capitol Attack VOA 12 Mar 2021 -- U.S. prosecutors say they expect at least 100 more people to be charged in connection with the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, bringing to more than 400 the number of people potentially facing prosecution in the attack.
• Background Press Call by Senior Administration Officials on the Administration's Response to the Microsoft and SolarWinds Intrusions The White House 12 Mar 2021
• Daughter of Prolific Mexican Cartel Leader Pleads Guilty to Criminal Violation of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act US Dept. of Justice 12 Mar 2021 -- A dual U.S.-Mexican citizen pleaded guilty today to willfully engaging in financial dealings with Mexican companies that had been identified as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

COVID-19 Pandemic News

• Wealthy Nations Accused of Blocking Access of Lower-income Nations to COVID-19 Vaccines VOA 12 Mar 2021 -- The United States and other wealthy countries are standing in the way of low- and middle-income countries seeking better access to COVID-19 vaccines, health-equity advocates say.
• UN launches new campaign to support global vaccine equity call People's Daily 12 Mar 2021 -- The United Nations on Thursday launched a new global campaign, Only Together, to support its call for fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines around the world.
• WHO backs AstraZeneca COVID vaccine amid clotting concerns; green lights Johnson & Johnson shots UN News 12 Mar 2021 -- The UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that it was aware of blood clot concerns linked to "a specific batch" of AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, but maintained that to date, no-one has died from any coronavirus vaccine.
• WHO Endorses AstraZeneca's COVID-19 Vaccine Following Suspensions VOA 12 Mar 2021 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday approved Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, while also firmly endorsing AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine as some countries continued to suspend its use.
• UN: Pandemic Blocked Access to Birth Control in 115 Low- and Medium-Income Countries VOA 12 Mar 2021 -- The UNFPA reported that almost 12 million women in 115 low- and medium-income countries were unable to gain access to contraception services for an average of 3.6 months during the past year due to the pandemic, resulting in 1.4 million unintended pregnancies.

United States

• Fact Sheet: Quad Summit The White House 12 Mar 2021
• The 'Quad' Aims to Increase Vaccine Production to 1 Billion Doses for Southeast Asia VOA 12 Mar 2021 -- U.S. President Joe Biden and the prime ministers of Japan, India, and Australia met virtually Friday for a summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, where they discussed strategies to counter China's rising influence in the Indo-Pacific region, including an offer to match Beijing's ambitious vaccine diplomacy.
• Biden Directs States to Make Vaccine Available to All Adults by May 1 VOA 12 Mar 2021 -- U.S. President Joe Biden is directing the 50 states, as well as territories and tribal governments, to make all adults eligible for the coronavirus vaccine by the start of May, he told the country Thursday evening.
• Press Briefing by White House COVID-19 Response Team and Public Health Officials The White House 12 Mar 2021
• NYS COVID-19 hospitalizations down to 4,735, positivity rate 2.77 pct: governor People's Daily 12 Mar 2021 -- COVID-19 hospitalizations in New York state went down to 4,735 on Wednesday, compared with 4,798 one day earlier, tweeted Governor Andrew Cuomo on Thursday.
• More U.S. states lift COVID-19 restrictions despite warnings against growing variants infections People's Daily 12 Mar 2021 -- More U.S. states are on track to drop their mask mandates and fully reopen their economies despite warnings from officials and health experts to tread carefully until more people are vaccinated against COVID-19.
• W.Va. Guard marks one year of COVID-19 response Army News 12 Mar 2021 -- March 13 marks the one-year anniversary of Gov. Jim Justice mobilizing the West Virginia National Guard to help respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, making it the longest continuous activation of Guard personnel in state history.
• National Guard committed to COVID response Army News 12 Mar 2021 -- Risks are part of the job description for pararescue jumpers. But, as Chief Master Sgt. Seth Zweben recalled, the leap into the unknown to deliver COVID-19 virus test kits to 3,500 mostly positive passengers stranded on a cruise ship in March 2020 gave some PJs pause.
• Guam National Guard fights for normalcy after a year of COVID-19 Army News 12 Mar 2021 -- On July 21, 1944, American military forces stormed the beaches of Guam and reclaimed the island after a brutal three-year Japanese occupation. The day, which would eventually return the freedoms and normalcy to the people, would go on to be celebrated as Guam's Liberation Day.

China

• Chinese mainland reports no new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases People's Daily 12 Mar 2021 -- The Chinese mainland reported no new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the National Health Commission said Friday.
• Chinese mainland reports 9 new imported COVID-19 cases People's Daily 12 Mar 2021 -- Nine new imported COVID-19 cases were reported Thursday on the Chinese mainland, bringing the total number of imported cases to 5,124.

Europe

• EU approves Janssen's vaccine, yet challenges remain to reach vaccination goal People's Daily 12 Mar 2021 -- The European Union (EU) authorized the use of a COVID-19 vaccine produced by Johnson &Johnson on Thursday afternoon, only hours after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) reached a positive conclusion on its safety and efficacy.
• EU extends COVID-19 vaccine export authorization mechanism until June People's Daily 12 Mar 2021 -- The transparency and authorization mechanism for exports of COVID-19 vaccines out of the European Union (EU) has been extended until the end of June, announced the European Commission on Thursday.
• Germany in Third COVID-19 Wave VOA 12 Mar 2021 -- German health officials Friday warned the country is facing a third wave of coronavirus infections, and the so-called British variant of the virus may be responsible.
• UK probing new COVID-19 variant People's Daily 12 Mar 2021 -- Public Health England (PHE) said on Thursday that it has designated a new COVID-19 variant identified in Britain as a Variant Under Investigation (VUI).
• UK patients' waiting times hit record high in January amid COVID pandemic peak People's Daily 12 Mar 2021 -- The number of people waiting for medical treatment in England reached a record high in January during the country's second COVID peak, official figures showed Thursday.
• Serbia Shuts Nonessential Shops To Fight Coronavirus Surge RFE/RL 12 Mar 2021 -- Serbian authorities have ordered all nonessential shops, as well as bars and restaurants to close this weekend amid a surge in coronavirus infections in the Balkan country.
• Bulgaria Suspends AstraZeneca Vaccine Rollout Amid Safety Concerns RFE/RL 12 Mar 2021 -- Bulgaria has temporarily halted inoculations with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine amid growing concerns over its safety.

India

• Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu continue to reportan upsurge in Daily New Cases India PIB 12 Mar 2021 -- Some States in the country have been reporting very high number of daily new COVID cases. Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu continue to report a surge in the COVID daily cases. They cumulatively account for 85.6% of the new cases reported in the past 24 hours.
• COVID19 Vaccination-Day 56 India PIB 12 Mar 2021 -- The cumulative number of COVID19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 2.80 Crore today.

Iran

• COVID-19 claims 53 lives in past 24 hours in Iran: Official IRNA 12 Mar 2021 -- Some 53 more Iranians have died from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) over the past 24 hours bringing the total deaths to 61,069, Iran's Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said on Friday.
• Cuban-Iran COVID-19 vaccine arrives in Tehran for Phase 3 clinical trial People's Daily 12 Mar 2021 -- A shipment with 100,000 doses of the Soberana 02 COVID-19 vaccine jointly developped by Cuba's Finlay Institute and the Pasteur Institute of Iran arrived in Tehran on Thursday for the Phase 3 clinical trials, state TV reported.
• Iran receives COVID-19 vaccines developed with Cuba; Israeli, Hungarian, Czech PMs discuss vaccine cooperation People's Daily 12 Mar 2021 -- Iran on Thursday received a shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine it jointly developed with Cuba for the Phase 3 clinical trials. Meanwhile, the prime ministers of Israel, Hungary and Czech Republic discussed vaccine cooperation.
• Iran receives 1st consignment of Cuba-made COVID-19 vaccines Press TV 12 Mar 2021 -- Iran has received the first shipment of Cuba's coronavirus vaccine, developed in cooperation between Tehran and Havana in spite of the unilateral US sanctions imposed on both countries.

South Korea

• South Korea Reports 488 New Coronavirus Cases SPA 12 Mar 2021 -- South Korea reported today 488 COVID-19 cases, including 467 local infections, raising the total caseload to 94,686, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), Yonhap News Agency reported.

Saudi Arabia

• 360 New Confirmed Covid-19 Cases, 367 Recoveries Reported, in Saudi Arabia SPA 12 Mar 2021 -- The Ministry of Health announced, in a statement here today, that 360 new confirmed cases of the novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) have been reported, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, bringing the total number to 381,708, including 2,935 active cases undergoing treatment.

Taiwan

• Taiwan confirms 6 new imported COVID-16 cases from 4 nations CNA 12 Mar 2021 -- Taiwan on Friday confirmed six new imported cases of COVID-19 -- three from the Philippines and one each from the United States, France and the United Kingdom -- according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
• Local testing on AstraZeneca vaccines likely complete by March 17: CECC CNA 12 Mar 2021 -- Testing on the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses that Taiwan received last week is expected to be completed by March 17, after which the vaccines could start being administered in a matter of days, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Friday.

North Korea

• UN Rights Official Warns of Starvation, Poverty in North Korea From Long COVID-19 Lockdown Radio Free Asia 12 Mar 2021 -- North Koreans are starving to death, with children and elderly resorting to begging in the streets or risking execution by breaking laws to obtain food from China, a new report by the UN Special Rapporteur on North Korean Human Rights says, calling for the country to face international justice for mistreating its population.

Other Countries

• WHO says COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Africa on course People's Daily 12 Mar 2021 -- The deployment of COVID-19 vaccine in Africa has accelerated as the continent's caseload hit nearly 4 million, a World Health Organization (WHO) official said on Thursday.
• Africa's confirmed COVID-19 cases pass 4 mln mark: Africa CDC People's Daily 12 Mar 2021 -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa has reached 4,005,204 as of Friday morning, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.
• Ethiopia reports 1,332 new COVID-19 cases People's Daily 12 Mar 2021 -- Ethiopia registered 1,332 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 171,210 as of Thursday evening, the country's Ministry of Health said.
• Belarus registers coronavirus variant first discovered in Britain People's Daily 12 Mar 2021 -- The coronavirus variant first discovered in Britain was registered in Belarus, the press service of the Belarusian Health Ministry said on Thursday.
• UAE Reports 2,250 New Cases of Covid-19 SPA 12 Mar 2021 -- The United Arab Emirates recorded, during the past 24 hours, 2,250 cases of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19), 9 deaths, and 1,736 recoveries.
• Egypt Reports 639 New Cases of Covid-19 SPA 12 Mar 2021 -- Egypt reported, during the past 24 hours, 639 new cases of the novel Coronavirus (Covid-19), and 41 deaths due to its complications.
• How the Philippines Finally Got its COVID-19 Caseload Under Control VOA 12 Mar 2021 -- The Philippines has gotten a measure of control over its once-runaway COVID-19 outbreak through strict lockdowns and a year of school closures, coupled with widespread use of face protectors, experts and citizens on the ground say.