by KS
UNITED STATES: Nasty Nature
This is like a broken record, but in a year that absolutely refuses to give anyone a break, Mother Nature is ravaging fire the Western portion of the US in extreme ways.
First, a fancy gender reveal is the likely source of the El Dorado fire in California. A pyrotechnic effect went awry, resulting in the nearby countryside catching fire, which spread quickly in the arid and windy conditions. As of this posting, over 10,000 acres have burned, and evacuation orders were issued for Oak Glen, Yucaipa Ridge, Mountain Home Village and Forest Falls. The people responsible will face extreme charges – and be forwarded a bill for the entire mess.
Meanwhile, Jenna Karvunidis, a blogger credited with starting the gender-reveal fad, commented that has is sick of the practice.
“Stop having these stupid parties. For the love of God, stop burning things down to tell everyone about your kid’s penis,” Karvunidis wrote on Facebook.
Then, picture this: one day at 100 degrees, the next at 99, and the next: 35 degrees? That happened in the Denver metropolitan area. Although Labor Day is considered the end of summer, that is one ceremonial, not meteorological. The true end of the season will occur on September 22, meaning that it has officially snowed in the summer.
Half a foot of snow fell in Mile High city, while other parts of the region got up to two feet.
RUSSIA: Chemical Poisoning Draws Concern
The allegation that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned by a Cold War-era nerve agent is “a matter of grave concern”, the head of the UN-backed Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said on Sept. 3.
Mr. Navalny, a prominent anti-corruption activist, remains in a coma two weeks after falling violently ill during a flight from the town of Tomsk, in Siberia, to Moscow. He was later airlifted to Berlin for treatment, after Russian authorities allowed him to be moved.
The German government reported on Sept. 2 that toxicology tests conducted by a special military laboratory revealed he had been poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent.
“Under the Chemical Weapons Convention, any poisoning of an individual through the use of a nerve agent is considered a use of chemical weapons. Such an allegation is a matter of grave concern,” said OPCW chief Fernando Arias in a statement responding to the announcement.
“States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention deem the use of chemical weapons by anyone under any circumstances as reprehensible and wholly contrary to the legal norms established by the international community.”
UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric was also asked about the German report during his regular press briefing on Wednesday, replying, “we’ve said and previously mentioned that, if warranted, the issue should be investigated by relevant authorities.”
Novichok is the name of a group of seven toxic chemical agents developed by the former Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s.
Two years ago, former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were victims of a chemical agent attack in Salisbury, England.
The United Kingdom alleged that Novichok was used in that incident. An OPCW investigating team later confirmed the UK’s findings, though the organization did not specifically name the substance used.
ASIA: Fraud Runners Extradited
Two members of a criminal network engaged in telephone and email fraud have been extradited from China to South Korea, as part of an ongoing operation coordinated by INTERPOL.
Operation First Light, first held in 2014, targets telecom fraud and other types of social engineering scams, as well as money laundering of the illicit proceeds. Launched in September 2019, some 37 countries and territories are participating in the latest edition to identify and locate illicit call centers engaged in the fraud scams.
Under the auspices of the operation, INTERPOL facilitated a bilateral meeting between its National Central Bureaus (NCBs) in China and South Korea in November 2019 where the countries shared intelligence on transnational telecom fraud.
Following the meeting, police in Suzhou, China dismantled a criminal network engaged in telephone scams targeting victims in South Korea and arrested seven South Korean nationals, three of whom were the subjects of INTERPOL Red Notices. Two were extradited back to South Korea in July following extensive coordination between the two NCBs, with the remaining extraditions impending.
“The current wave of Operation First Light has faced unexpected challenges due to the pandemic, but we were still able to achieve a successful outcome thanks to close cooperation between the NCBs in Beijing and Seoul and the use of Red Notices alerting to the wanted individuals,” said Duan Daqi, Head of NCB Beijing.
“This success demonstrates once again the strong determination of police in China and across the region to jointly fight against transnational crime, including telecom fraud,” added Mr Duan.
Organized by INTERPOL’s Financial Crime unit with support from regional policing bodies Europol and ASEANAPOL, the current wave of Operation First Light began in September 2019 and has been extended through March 2021 due to the COVID-19 crisis, to allow the participating countries sufficient time to exchange information, follow up on new intelligence and identify suspects.
In one such case, INTERPOL, Europol and the NCB in Budapest identified money transfers from a Hungarian-based company to three bank accounts in Hong Kong totaling some USD 8.6 million that were made as a result of BEC fraud. With the assistance of the INTERPOL Sub-Bureau in Hong Kong, the transfers were halted and the funds returned the same day.
More than EUR 4.2 million sent by a German-based company to a Hong Kong bank account as a result of another BEC scam was successfully recovered.
EUROPE: High Standard on Vaccines
On Set. 7, the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety debated the EU vaccines strategy, including the state of play on the Vaccines Advance Purchase Agreements, with Sandra Gallina, Deputy Director-General of the Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety.
The Chair underlined the need for transparency to achieve trust in future COVID-19 vaccines and regretted that more information on the Commission’s work related to the purchase agreements for COVID-19 vaccines had not been shared proactively by the Commission.
Gallina highlighted that a good vaccine must be efficient, safe, affordable, developed quickly and able to achieve EU market authorization. She particularly underlined that the EU is fully committed to a global approach where vaccines must be available to all including in low-income countries as we will not be safe until everybody is safe.
Several MEPs wanted to know from Gallina when vaccines will be available as well as who will be vaccinated first. Gallina said that the first vaccinations should start already towards the end of this year and a significant number of vaccines should become available in the first part of 2021. Vaccines would be distributed to member states based on population size.
The combined portfolio of the different vaccines will be enough to vaccinate all citizens that need or want to be vaccinated. However, she said it would be up to member states to decide who will receive the vaccination first which she admitted could lead to disparities across borders. She said prices for the vaccinations would be between 5-15 EUR per dose in order to assure affordability for all member states.
Some MEPs asked for confirmation that results of clinical trials would be made public. Gallina answered that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) would provide overall data of the clinical trials – albeit not all raw data. As a general point on this, she said that access to clinical trial data would improve once the clinical trial regulation enters into force late 2021.
Many MEPs raised the issue of liability for medical companies producing vaccines and underlined that there should be no exceptions from current rules.
Gallina stressed negotiations with companies had been difficult but underlined that those companies developing and manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines would indeed be liable according to current laws and if something goes wrong they could be taken to court. This also goes for compensation for hidden defects.
