OSLO — Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soreide said the ministry has summoned the Chinese Ambassador over China’s alleged IT attack on the Norwegian Parliament. The Storting [Norwegian Parliament] on March 10, disclosed that its email systems had been compromised. The breach exploited security vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Exchange software, a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. “All cyber operations leave different forms of traces, and then it is, among other things, our security services that make assessments of that and compile that information,” the statement said, citing Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soreide. “And on the basis of this information,…
Author: zenger.news
NEW DELHI — The Indian government has said that private firms are not allowed to access the Crime and Criminals Tracking Network System (CCTNS) and other government databases for conducting background checks on employees. The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs said private firms are not allowed access to government databases through a written reply to a series of questions in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian parliament. “The companies who want to pay also cannot avail access to Crime and Criminals Tracking Network System and get any information through its data,” the Ministry of Home Affairs said. Ajay Kumar…
It’s not how you start, inevitably it’s how you finish. Truer words couldn’t be spoken when discussing Titus Gardner’s journey. Gardner nearly slipped through the cracks that so many inner-city youths fall through. Given his backstory, he seemed destined to become a statistic instead of a vice president of a Fortune 1000 company. But as faith would have it, he humbled himself, got the help he needed to heal from his tumultuous youth and is destined for greatness. As a teenager, he lost both parents to HIV/AIDS, he fell into the street life and became a weight-pushing (moving large amounts)…
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has once again blocked access to the Chinese video-sharing app TikTok for its failure to take down “inappropriate content.” “In the light of relevant provisions of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has blocked access to TikTok App and website in the country,” the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said in a tweet. “The action has been taken due to the continuous presence of inappropriate content on the platform and its failure to take such content down,” the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority tweeted on July 21. The Pakistan government and courts have banned the Chinese-owned app multiple times over inappropriate…
NEW DELHI — A probe launched into India’s first death due to bird flu has revealed that the close contacts of the deceased boy are not showing any symptoms of the infection. The report was submitted by India’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) after an investigation into the case. India reported its first death due to bird flu on July 12. The 11-year-old deceased boy succumbed to H5N1 at All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) in Delhi, where he was undergoing treatment. Bird flu is caused by a type of influenza virus that rarely infects humans. Almost all cases…
A push by Senate Democrats to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level for the first time since it was effectively prohibited 84 years ago has little chance of succeeding, but cracks a door open for reform amid changing public opinion, experts told Zenger. Senate Majority Leader Chuck E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), along with Sen. Cory A. Booker (D-N.J.) and Sen. Ron L. Wyden (D-Ore.) released draft legislation on July 14 to remove cannabis from the list of federally controlled substances and instead allow each state to decide its legality. Proponents say they remain optimistic of it passing despite strong opposition from…
ADELAIDE, Australia — There has been no “serious” expansion of a Covid-19 cluster in South Australia so far after more exposure sites were identified, the state government said. The current tally is 12 positive cases after a further six were revealed on the afternoon of July 21. “(There was) no serious escalation whatsoever from the briefing this morning,” said Premier Steven Marshall. Five of the cases are linked to the Tenafeate Creek winery at Yattalunga, north of Adelaide, and a sixth, a child under five, is linked to The Greek restaurant in the city where a number of infected people dined on the…
MELBOURNE, Australia — Struggling event groups and freelancers in the southeastern Australian state, Victoria, fear lingering Covid-19 restrictions from the ongoing lockdown in the state will continue to wreak havoc on the industry. As many events started to get back up and running again, the fifth lockdown was announced last week and then extended for a week until July 27. Even if Victoria comes out of lockdown next week, restrictions impacting events will likely remain in place for several weeks. “It is a pretty desperate situation,” said Simon Thewlis, the co-founder of Save Victorian Events group. “In Victoria, our industry has effectively been shut for the last eight…
CANBERRA, Australia — Deciding when and when not to intervene in civil situations is a process riddled with fallibility, but new research has found it’s more nuanced than thought. A former Kiwi officer spent more than 800 hours shadowing officers in South Australia and New Zealand, examining how and why they decide to interact with the public. Ross Hendy, a researcher with Australia’s Monash University, was still a serving New Zealand officer when he carried out his research, joining officers on foot patrols and ride-along in two major cities, anonymized in his study. He’s found officers engage in a process he calls “suspicious,”…
CANBERRA, Australia — A woman from the Australian state of Victoria who was under the recommended age to get the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine has died from its extremely rare blood clotting condition. The Therapeutic Goods Administration said it was notified this week the 48-year-old woman suffered confirmed thrombocytopenia syndrome and died after receiving her first dose. A 44-year-old man from Tasmania suffered the same fate. “We extend our sincere condolences to their families and loved ones,” the national medicine’s regulator wrote in its weekly safety report. The Victorian woman’s case was reported as probable thrombocytopenia syndrome last week. The two new confirmed…