Other Security News
COVID-19 Pandemic News

Other Security News

• Prosecutors Shift Focus to Possible Seditious Conspiracy in Capitol Insurrection Probe VOA 26 Mar 2021 -- Since launching a wide-ranging investigation into the U.S. Capitol riot nearly three months ago, federal prosecutors have charged nearly 400 participants in the bloody insurrection with a variety of charges.
• Reports: Russian-Backed Hackers Target German Lawmakers RFE/RL 26 Mar 2021 -- Suspected Russian state-backed hackers with a history of running disinformation campaigns against NATO have targeted dozens of German lawmakers, German media reported on March 26.
• California Woman Sentenced to 15 Months for Threatening to Bomb Catholic Prep School US Dept. of Justice 26 Mar 2021 -- The Justice Department announced today that Sonia Tabizada, 36, of San Jacinto, California, was sentenced to 15 months and 13 days for intentionally obstructing persons in the enjoyment of their free exercise of religious beliefs by threatening to bomb the Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School in Washington, D.C.

COVID-19 Pandemic News

• International equitable vaccine effort ships 32 million shots to 61 countries UN News 26 Mar 2021 -- "COVAX works" the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday, informing journalists that the UN-backed vaccine initiative has distributed more than 32 million vaccines to 61 countries in just one month.
• 100 million more children fail basic reading skills because of COVID-19 UN News 26 Mar 2021 -- A new study released on Friday by the UN cultural agency, reveals that more than 100 million more children than expected, are falling behind the minimum proficiency level in reading, due to COVID-related school closures.
• Johns Hopkins Records 125.5M Global Coronavirus Infections VOA 26 Mar 2021 -- The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Friday there are more 125.5 million global COVID-19 infections.
• Treating COVID-19 One Year In: Better, but No Breakthrough VOA 26 Mar 2021 -- One year into the COVID-19 pandemic, doctors are still searching for a breakthrough therapy.

United States

• Entire Force May Be Vaccinated for COVID-19 by Early Summer DoD News 26 Mar 2021 -- Defense Department officials have said the department will be ready to offer COVID-19 vaccinations to all eligible beneficiaries by May 1, in keeping with a White House announcement that on that date, all Americans will be able to get vaccinated if they want to.
• Rush Transcript: Governor Cuomo Announces Partnership with SOMOS Community Care to Vaccinate Underserved New Yorkers for COVID-19 at Community Medical Practices New York State 26 Mar 2021
• Biden announces new goal of 200 mln vaccine doses in 100 days People's Daily 26 Mar 2021 -- U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Thursday a new goal of administering 200 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Americans in his first 100 days in office.
• US Vaccination Effort Quickens as COVID Cases Rise Again VOA 26 Mar 2021 -- As cases of the coronavirus continue to rise in the United States, officials are racing to open up vaccine eligibility in the hope of staving off another wave of the pandemic.
• Fauci: Idea COVID-19 Originated in Lab, Just Another Theory VOA 26 Mar 2021 -- Top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said Friday the former U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) director's belief that the virus that causes COVID-19 escaped from a lab is his opinion, and not one shared by a majority of public health care experts.
• Press Briefing by White House COVID-19 Response Team and Public Health Officials The White House 26 Mar 2021

China

• Beijing starts COVID-19 vaccine inoculation for expats Global Times 26 Mar 2021 -- China's capital city of Beijing has started COVID-19 inoculation for expatriates living in the city, the city's authorities announced on Friday. The city is now the second in China to include foreign nationals in its inoculation plan after Shanghai, which announced its plans on Tuesday night.
• China's donation of COVID-19 vaccine arrives in Mauritania Global Times 26 Mar 2021 -- Mauritania received on Wednesday the Chinese government's donation of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine and medical ventilators.
• China, Turkey reject politicization of COVID-19 vaccine cooperation Global Times 26 Mar 2021 -- China and Turkey on Thursday agreed to oppose the attempt by some countries to politicize the COVID-19 vaccine cooperation, while pledging to continue their cooperation in fighting the pandemic.
• Supply chain tests vaccine speed for China and the US, as US short of everything from needles to bottles Global Times 26 Mar 2021 -- With the massive rollout of coronavirus vaccine, China and the US are in a race to scale up production to secure enough doses as quickly as possible. While supplies of key vaccine components, chemical ingredients and raw materials do not seem to pose a challenge for China, the US could run into hurdles in accessing the complex mRNA raw materials such as antiviral agents, industry observers noted.
• Chinese mainland reports no new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases People's Daily 26 Mar 2021 -- The Chinese mainland reported no new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the National Health Commission said on Friday.
• 13 COVID-19 patients discharged from hospitals on Chinese mainland People's Daily 26 Mar 2021 -- Thursday saw 13 COVID-19 patients discharged from hospitals following recovery on the Chinese mainland, the National Health Commission said Friday.
• Chinese mainland reports 11 new imported COVID-19 cases People's Daily 26 Mar 2021 -- Eleven new imported COVID-19 cases were reported Thursday on the Chinese mainland, bringing the total number of imported cases to 5,243.
• China approves clinical trials for CanSino's inhaled COVID-19 vaccine People's Daily 26 Mar 2021 -- China's drug authority has approved clinical tests for an inhaled COVID-19 vaccine co-developed by domestic company CanSino Biologics, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported on Tuesday.
• Chinese military provides COVID-19 vaccines to militaries of African countries PLA Daily 26 Mar 2021 -- With the approval of the Central Military Commission and at the request of the militaries of the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Tunisia, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has delivered COVID-19 vaccines to the militaries of the three countries respectively on March 25.

Europe

• EU Backs Off Sparking Vaccine War VOA 26 Mar 2021 -- The European Union's heads of state and government decided at a virtual summit Thursday to withhold explicit approval for a ban on vaccine exports proposed by the bloc's president, Ursula von der Leyen, opting instead to preserve "global supply chains" and avoid sparking a vaccine war.
• EU Leaders Tell AstraZeneca: Deliver Promised Vaccine Before Exporting Elsewhere VOA 26 Mar 2021 -- European Union (EU) leaders have told the British-Swedish makers of the AstraZeneca vaccine they must honor their contract with the EU and deliver promised vaccine before exporting doses to other parts of the world.

Russia

• Kremlin: Russia Never Politicises Issue of Vaccination Against COVID-19 Sputnik 26 Mar 2021 -- Russia has never politicised the issue of the COVID-19 vaccination, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

India

• More than 5.5 cr vaccine doses administered across the country India PIB 26 Mar 2021 -- India's vaccination drive gains further momentum as over 5.5 cr (5,55,04,440) vaccine doses have been administered through 9,01,887 sessions, as per the provisional report till 7 am today.
• COVID19 Vaccination-Day 70 India PIB 26 Mar 2021 -- The cumulative number of COVID19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 5.69 Crore today.
• Centre rushes high level Central multi-disciplinary teams to Chhattisgarh and Chandigarh to assist the State/UT Government in COVID-19 Control and Containment measures India PIB 26 Mar 2021 -- Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has rushed two High Level multidisciplinary teams to Chhattisgarh & Chandigarh in view of surge in number of COVID-19 cases being reported from the State and UT.

Saudi Arabia

• 510 New Confirmed Covid-19 Cases, 372 Recoveries Reported in Saudi Arabia SPA 26 Mar 2021 -- The Ministry of Health announced, in a statement here today, that 510 new confirmed cases of the novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) have been reported in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, bringing the total number to 387,292, including 4,452 active cases.

Taiwan

• Taiwan reports one new imported case of COVID-19 CNA 26 Mar 2021 -- Taiwan on Friday reported one new imported case of COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 1,013 since the pandemic began, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

Other Countries

• S. Africa on track with vaccination campaign: minister People's Daily 26 Mar 2021 -- South Africa is on track with its national vaccination campaign, a senior official said on Thursday.
• WHO, EU launch project to strengthen COVID-19 response in Botswana People's Daily 26 Mar 2021 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Union (EU) on Thursday launched a European Commission Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) funding project to strengthen COVID-19 and public health emergency response in Botswana.
• Sinovac Doses Arrive in Cambodia to Little Public Fanfare, Some Doubts Radio Free Asia 26 Mar 2021 -- The latest batch of China's controversial coronavirus vaccination arrived in Cambodia Friday as the country confirmed its eighth death from COVID-19, the disease the virus causes, and continues to grapple with its worst outbreak since the start of the pandemic.
• UAE Reports 2128 New Covid-19 Cases SPA 26 Mar 2021 -- United Arab Emirates reported, during the last 24 hours, 2128 new cases of the Novel Coronavirus.
• Antigua and Barbuda Becomes 57th Country to Register Russia's Sputnik V Vaccine, RDIF Says Sputnik 26 Mar 2021 -- With the massive rollout of coronavirus vaccine, China and the US are in a race to scale up production to secure enough doses as quickly as possible. While supplies of key vaccine components, chemical ingredients and raw materials do not seem to pose a challenge for China, the US could run into hurdles in accessing the complex mRNA raw materials such as antiviral agents, industry observers noted.
• Kenya Reimposes COVID-19 Restrictions VOA 26 Mar 2021 -- Kenya reimposed COVID-19 restrictions after the country's positivity rate this week jumped to 22 percent, a 20 percent increase since January.