Other Security News
COVID-19 Pandemic News

Other Security News

• Targeting Hizballah Financial Facilitator's Abuse of the Business Sector US Dept. of State 19 May 2022 -- Hizballah continues to exploit the private sector and commercial activity to fund its illicit and destabilizing activities.
• Treasury Targets Hizballah Financial Network's Abuse of the Business Sector US Treasury 19 May 2022 -- Today, the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Ahmad Jalal Reda Abdallah, a Lebanese businessman and Hizballah financial facilitator, as well as five of his associates and eight of his companies in Lebanon and Iraq. This action illuminates Hizballah's modus operandi of using the cover of seemingly legitimate businesses to generate revenue and leverage commercial investments across a multitude of sectors to secretly fund Hizballah and its terrorist activities. It also demonstrates how Hizballah goes to great lengths to establish companies with opaque ownership structure in order to conceal their involvement in these businesses, and also their involvement in criminal activities such as altering of medication labels for black market pharmaceutical sales.
• Department of Justice Announces New Policy for Charging Cases under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act US Dept. of Justice 19 May 2022 -- The Department of Justice today announced the revision of its policy regarding charging violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).
• France Records First Suspected Monkeypox Case - Reports Sputnik 19 May 2022 -- The first suspected case of monkeypox had been detected in France, national broadcaster BFMTV reported on Thursday, citing a document from the national health agency.

COVID-19 Pandemic News

• WHO validates 11th vaccine for COVID-19 WHO 19 May 2022

China

• 5 universities in a Beijing college town put under lockdown after 11 students infected by COVID-19 Global Times 19 May 2022 -- Five universities in the Liangxiang college town in Beijing's Fangshan district will be under strict lockdown, district officials said on Thursday, after 11 cases of COVID-19 infections were reported at one of the universities in the latest wave of the outbreak.
• WHO authorizes China's CanSinoBIO COVID-19 vaccine Global Times 19 May 2022 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) issued an emergency use listing for CONVIDECIA, a vaccine produced by Chinese manufacturer CanSino Biologics, making it the third Chinese vaccine validated by the WHO for the prevention of COVID-19.
• Top medical expert calls for the inclusion of makeshift hospitals' operation system into city's security system Global Times 19 May 2022 -- "Shanghai's medical system has responded well to the outbreak," Chen Erzhen, deputy head of the Ruijin Hospital in Shanghai and the head of Shanghai's central quarantine treatment team, said during an academic webinar on Medical Treatment and Emergency Management under COVID-19, noting that a complete set of emergency coordination mechanisms of the makeshift hospitals should be included in the city's security system.
• Beijing reports 50 new confirmed local COVID-19 cases People's Daily 19 May 2022 -- Beijing reported 50 new confirmed locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and five local asymptomatic cases on Wednesday, the Beijing municipal health commission said Thursday.
• Four districts in Beijing to continue 3-day nucleic acid screening People's Daily 19 May 2022 -- Four districts, Xicheng, Haidian, Fengtai and Fangshan, require residents to take nucleic acid tests for three consecutive days from Thursday to Saturday, while the other districts will conduct regular nucleic acid tests for residents as previous regulations required.
• Chinese mainland reports 191 new local confirmed COVID-19 cases People's Daily 19 May 2022 -- The Chinese mainland on Wednesday recorded 191 locally-transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which 82 were in Shanghai, according to the National Health Commission's report Thursday.
• China adjusts pre-departure testing for overseas travelers Global Times 19 May 2022 -- China has adjusted its pre-departure requirement for overseas travelers as announcements from multiple Chinese embassies, including the Chinese Embassy in the US, show that some previously required pre-departure tests have been removed, including nucleic acid testing one or two weeks prior to boarding, mandatory health monitoring and IgM antibody testing.
• Hong Kong to distribute 170,000 RAT kits following sewage COVID-19 detection People's Daily 19 May 2022 -- The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said Wednesday that it will distribute about 170,000 sets of the COVID-19 rapid antigen test (RAT) kits to people in some areas of the city as part of a follow-up on recent detection of the COVID-19 virus in sewage samples.
• Shanghai reports 82 confirmed, 637 asymptomatic local COVID-19 cases People's Daily 19 May 2022 -- China's Shanghai reported 82 confirmed locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 637 local asymptomatic cases on Wednesday, the municipal health commission said Thursday.
• Beijing reports 49 new local COVID-19 infections People's Daily 19 May 2022 -- Beijing reported 49 new locally transmitted COVID-19 infections between 3 p.m. Tuesday and 3 p.m. Wednesday, Liu Xiaofeng, deputy head of the Beijing municipal disease prevention and control center, told a press briefing on Wednesday.

Russia

• Russia Sends Venezuela 2.5Mln Influenza Vaccines Sputnik 19 May 2022 -- Moscow has delivered 2.5 million influenza vaccines, produced at a Nicaragua-based Russian biopharmaceutical plant, to Venezuela, Russian Ambassador in Caracas Sergey Melik-Bagdasarov said on Thursday.

India

• India's Cumulative COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage exceeds 191.79 Cr India PIB 19 May 2022 -- India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 191.79 Cr (1,91,79,96,905) as per provisional reports till 7 am today. This has been achieved through 2,40,71,663 sessions.
• COVID - 19 Vaccination Update - Day 489 India PIB 19 May 2022 -- India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has crossed 191.91 Crore (1,91,94,26,104) today. More than more than 13 lakh (13,07,905) Vaccine Doses have been administered till 7 pm today. 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 19 May 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 19 May 2022

Iran

• Iran registers 9 new COVID-19 deaths in 24 hours IRNA 19 May 2022 -- Iran's Ministry of Health on Thursday put the daily coronavirus deaths at 9 which take the country's total fatalities from the respiratory disease to 141,253 since the pandemic began.

Taiwan

• Epidemic Prevention in DPRK KCNA 19 May 2022 -- The Medical Oxygen Factory of the DPRK carries out the disinfection work thoroughly with nothing short of perfection as the state epidemic prevention system went over to a maximum emergency epidemic prevention system. -0-
• Rodong Sinmun Calls for Overcoming Public Health Crisis KCNA 19 May 2022 -- Rodong Sinmun on Thursday editorially calls upon all the officials, Party members and working people to thoroughly implement the decisions of the Political Bureau meeting of the Party Central Committee with high political awareness and great self-consciousness and thus make a positive contribution to winning in the ongoing epidemic prevention campaign.
• Medicine Supply in DPRK KCNA 19 May 2022 -- Service personnel of the military medical field out in the supply of medicines creditably carry out their revolutionary tasks at the front line of the epidemic prevention campaign, mindful of their mission and duty as defenders of the people. -0-
• Measures for Guaranteeing Pyongyangites' Living Taken KCNA 19 May 2022 -- The Pyongyang City People's Committee in the DPRK exerts primary efforts to solving the problems arising in ensuring the life of the citizens in tight closure as the state epidemic prevention was switched over to the maximum emergency epidemic prevention system.
• Code of Conduct for Preventing Natural Disaster Issued in DPRK KCNA 19 May 2022 -- The State Emergency Disaster Committee of the DPRK issued a new code of conduct to cope with natural disasters, true to the intention of the Party to establish a state crisis management system in an orderly way.
• Emergency Epidemic Prevention Campaign Intensified in DPRK KCNA 19 May 2022 -- The emergency epidemic prevention campaign is getting further intensified in the DPRK amid the voluntary unity of all the people in thinking and action.
• Spread of Epidemic and Result of Treatment Informed KCNA 19 May 2022 -- According to information of the state emergency epidemic prevention headquarters, over 262 270 persons with fever, some 213 280 recoveries and 1 death were reported from 18:00 of May 17 to 18:00 of May 18 throughout the country.
• Taiwan's daily COVID-19 cases top 90,000; total number exceeds 1 million CNA 19 May 2022 -- Taiwan recorded 90,378 new COVID-19 infections and 59 deaths from the disease on Thursday, topping 90,000 daily cases for the first time and bringing the total number of domestic cases to over 1 million since the start of the pandemic, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
• COVID-19 outbreak in 'mass spread' stage, to peak in late May: MOHW CNA 19 May 2022 -- Taiwan's COVID-19 outbreak has entered the "mass community spread" stage and is likely to reach a peak number of infections in late May, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW).
• Taiwan COVID-19 News Brief: May 19 CNA 19 May 2022 -- Taiwan reported 90,378 new COVID-19 cases and 59 deaths on Thursday, while also surpassing 1 million total cases since the start of the pandemic, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

North Korea

• Schools close as pandemic rages in North Korea Radio Free Asia 19 May 2022 -- As COVID-19 cases dramatically increase in North Korea's military academies and secondary schools, the government has ordered students to begin remote learning, a daunting proposal in a land where most homes lack consistent supplies of electricity, much less online capabilities, sources in the country told RFA.

NATO

Other Countries