Other Security News
COVID-19 Pandemic News

Other Security News

• Trial Opens of IS Suspect Accused of Kidnap, Murder of Americans VOA 30 Mar 2022 -- Opening arguments in the trial of a member of the notorious Islamic State kidnap and murder cell known by its hostages as "The Beatles" started Wednesday in a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia.
• Readout of Secretary Mayorkas's Meeting with Home Minister Andrews of Australia DHS 30 Mar 2022
• Russian State-Sponsored Hacking Poses 'Very Real' Threat, FBI Official Tells Members Of Congress RFE/RL 30 Mar 2022 -- State-sponsored hacking by Russia presents a threat to American national security, a top FBI official told lawmakers on March 29.
• Biden Administration Split on Imposing Sanctions Against Kaspersky Lab - Reports Sputnik 30 Mar 2022 -- Biden administration officials are split on whether to impose sanctions on the Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab as part of the United States' response to Russia's special operation in Ukraine, Wall Street Journal reported.
• Notice on the Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities The White House 30 Mar 2022
• A Message to the Congress on the Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities The White House 30 Mar 2022
• Executive Order on measures to ensure technological independence and security of critical information infrastructure President of Russia 30 Mar 2022 -- The President signed the Executive Order On Measures to Ensure the Technological Independence and Security of Critical Information Infrastructure in the Russian Federation.
• White House logs show unexplained gap in Trump Jan. 6 call record Press TV 30 Mar 2022 -- White House records from 6 January 2021 show an unexplained gap of more than seven hours in the record of former President Donald Trump's communications, the Washington Post and CBS reported on Tuesday.

COVID-19 Pandemic News

• Weekly operational update on COVID-19 - 30 March 2022
• A third of the world remains totally unvaccinated against COVID: Tedros UN News 30 Mar 2022 -- A third of the world's population has yet to receive a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine, including a shocking 83 per cent of all Africans, said the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday.
• COVID-19: Education risks becoming 'greatest divider' UN News 30 Mar 2022 -- Now entering its third year, the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to hold back some 405 million school children worldwide from a full return to the classroom, according to a new report released on Wednesday by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).

United States

• Biden Introduces COVID.gov, Urges Congress to Approve Additional Funding VOA 30 Mar 2022 -- U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday introduced his administration's new website, COVID.gov, designed to be a clearinghouse for the latest pandemic information, as well as a means of providing access to vaccines, tests, treatments and masks on a single site.
• Remarks by President Biden on the Status of the Country's Fight Against COVID-19 The White House 30 Mar 2022
• Health officials say U.S. running out of money to fight COVID-19 People's Daily 30 Mar 2022 -- Health officials lamented on Tuesday that the United States is "running out of money" to fight COVID-19, as more than 80 million cases have so far been reported nationwide.
• FDA authorizes second COVID-19 booster doses for vulnerable groups People's Daily 30 Mar 2022 -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday authorized a second booster dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or the Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for older people and certain immunocompromised individuals.
• Omicron subvariant BA.2 becomes dominant strain in U.S.: CDC People's Daily 30 Mar 2022 -- The BA.2 sub-lineage of the Omicron variant has become the dominant strain in the United States, according to new data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday.
• U.S. CDC recommends additional COVID-19 boosters for vulnerable groups People's Daily 30 Mar 2022 -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday recommended certain immunocompromised individuals and people over the age of 50 to get another mRNA COVID-19 booster at least 4 months after receiving an initial booster dose.
• U.S. COVID-19 cases surpass 80 mln: Johns Hopkins University People's Daily 30 Mar 2022 -- The total number of COVID-19 cases in the United States topped 80 million on Tuesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

China

• COVID-hit Jilin urged to fix loopholes in anti-epidemic work Global Times 30 Mar 2022 -- With public attention focused on surging COVID-19 infections in China's largest metropolis Shanghai, some public health experts have called for greater efforts in fixing severe loopholes in local anti-epidemic work in Northeast China's Jilin Province particularly after a number of workers were reportedly infected during the construction of local Fangcang makeshift hospitals and local residents are faced with a food shortage amid an Omicron flare-up.
• Shanghai goes full throttle to stem COVID-19 resurgence People's Daily 30 Mar 2022 -- China's economic hub Shanghai is conducting a new round of screening using both nucleic acid and antigen testing to contain the latest resurgence in COVID-19 infections, a municipal health official told a press conference on Wednesday.
• China acts swiftly to contain COVID-19 resurgence People's Daily 30 Mar 2022 -- Decisive, swift and tailored measures are being implemented across China to contain the latest novel coronavirus flare-ups.
• HKSAR chief executive urges active vaccination against COVID-19 People's Daily 30 Mar 2022 -- Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam Tuesday called on unvaccinated Hong Kong residents, especially children and the elderly, to get jabs against COVID-19.
• Chinese mainland reports 1,565 new local COVID-19 cases People's Daily 30 Mar 2022 -- The Chinese mainland on Tuesday reported 1,565 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, the National Health Commission's Wednesday report showed.

India

• India's Active caseload declines to 14,704; less than 15,000 after 707 days India PIB 30 Mar 2022 -- In a significant development, following a continuous downward trend, India's Active Caseload today (14,704) has declined to less than 15,000 mark after 707 days. Active cases now constitute 0.03% of the country's total Positive Cases. The caseload on 21st April 2020 was 14,759 Active Cases.
• COVID - 19 Vaccination Update - Day 439 India PIB 30 Mar 2022 -- India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has crossed 184 Crore landmark milestone (1,84,03,50,372) today. More than 19 lakh (19,24,770) Vaccine Doses have been administered till 7 pm today. More than 1.59 Crore (1,59,51,459) vaccine doses have been administered to 12-14 years age group so far. More than 2.30 Crore (2,30,03,879) Precaution Doses for the identified categories of beneficiaries (HCWs, FLWs and Over 60 years) for COVID vaccination have been administered so far. The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late tonight.
• Update on COVID-19 Vaccine Availability in States/UTs India PIB 30 Mar 2022 -- The Union Government is committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of COVID-19 vaccination throughout the country. The nationwide COVID 19 vaccination started on 16th January 2021. The new phase of universalization of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from 21st June 2021. The vaccination drive has been ramped up through availability of more vaccines, advance visibility of vaccine availability to States and UTs for enabling better planning by them, and streamlining the vaccine supply chain.
• COVID-19 UPDATE India PIB 30 Mar 2022

Iran

• COVID-19 kills 49 more Iranians over past 24 hours IRNA 30 Mar 2022 -- The number of deaths from the coronavirus pandemic in Iran increased to 140,158 with 49 more Iranians killed by the deadly disease over the past 24 hours, Iran's Health Ministry announced on Wednesday.

Taiwan

• Taiwan adds 56 local COVID-19 cases, 13 linked to Keelung cluster CNA 30 Mar 2022 -- Taiwan on Wednesday reported 56 new domestically-transmitted COVID-19 infections, including 13 linked to a cluster in Keelung City, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
• Mass COVID-19 testing in Keelung planned as domestic cases spike CNA 30 Mar 2022 -- Mass testing for COVID-19 is expected to be conducted imminently in Keelung City over a week-long period, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) Wednesday, as new cases in the city continue to climb.

Other Countries

• Amnesty: Failure to Fairly Distribute COVID Vaccines Cost African Lives VOA 30 Mar 2022 -- Rights group Amnesty International has issued a scathing report on the failure of global drug companies and Western governments to quickly provide COVID vaccines to millions of people in Africa. In its annual report, Amnesty says tens of thousands of deaths could have been prevented if companies put people before profits and if governments were less nationalistic.