20 Nov

TikTok Asks US Court to Intervene as Trump Order to Shut Down Operations Looms

first_imgThe popular video-sharing app TikTok, its future in limbo since President Donald Trump tried to shut it down earlier this fall, is asking a federal court to intervene.TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, has until Thursday to sell off its US operations under an executive order that Trump signed in August.- Advertisement – Trump in September gave his tentative blessing to a ByteDance proposal meant to resolve US national security concerns by placing TikTok under the oversight of American companies Oracle and Walmart, each of which would also have a financial stake in the company. But TikTok said this week it’s received “no clarity” from the US government about whether its proposals have been accepted.The deal has been under a national-security review by the interagency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, which is led by the Treasury Department. The department “remains focused” on resolving the alleged national security risks posed by TikTok, a Treasury spokeswoman said in a statement Wednesday evening.“With the November 12 CFIUS deadline imminent and without an extension in hand, we have no choice but to file a petition in court to defend our rights and those of our more than 1,500 employees in the US,” TikTok said in a written statement Tuesday.- Advertisement – TikTok is now looking to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review Trump’s divestment order and the government’s national-security review.Which is the best TV under Rs. 25,000? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below. – Advertisement – Trump has cited concerns that the Chinese government could spy on TikTok users if the app remains under Chinese ownership. TikTok has denied it’s a security threat but said it’s still trying to work with the administration to resolve its concerns.The legal challenge is “a protection to ensure these discussions can take place,” the company said.The Trump administration had earlier sought to ban the app from smartphone app stores and deprive it of vital technical services, but federal judges have so far blocked those actions.- Advertisement –last_img read more

20 Nov

Morgan Stanley sees the S&P 500 rising 9% next year with the ‘average’ stock doing even better

first_img– Advertisement – (This story is for CNBC Pro subscribers only).The stock market is on track for a solid gain by the end of 2021, but smart stock pickers have a prime opportunity to bring in an even larger haul, according to Morgan Stanley.Morgan Stanley strategists, led by chief investment officer Mike Wilson, set their S&P 500 target for the end of 2021 at 3,900, a roughly 9% increase from current levels. The firm said in a note on Monday that it also expects the average stock to outperform the index over that time period. The headquarters of Morgan Stanley in New York.Shannon Stapleton | Reuters – Advertisement – – Advertisement –last_img read more

20 Nov

Biden Plans to Move Fast With a ‘Climate Administration.’ Here’s How.

first_imgTransition team members have been instructed to identify policies that can improve pollution levels in Black and Latino communities. And one of Mr. Biden’s early executive orders is expected to require that every federal agency, department and program prepare to address climate change.“We have to re-establish American leadership globally on climate change, and re-establishing global leadership is going to require getting our house in order domestically,” said Ernest Moniz, a former energy secretary and adviser to Mr. Biden’s campaign. WASHINGTON — President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., eager to elevate climate change throughout his administration, is already drafting orders to reduce planet-warming pollution and seeking nominees who will embed climate policy not only in environmental agencies but in departments from Defense to Treasury to Transportation.Top candidates for senior cabinet posts, such as Michèle Flournoy for defense secretary and Lael Brainard for Treasury, have long supported aggressive policies to curb climate change. Mr. Biden’s inner circle routinely asks “is the person climate-ambitious?” of candidates even for lower profile positions like the White House budget and regulatory offices, according to a person advising the transition.- Advertisement –last_img read more

18 Nov

Egypt reports three more H5N1 deaths

first_imgDec 31, 2007 (CIDRAP News) – Egyptian officials announced two new deaths from H5N1 avian influenza in women from the Nile Delta, along with what appears to be a third death involving a 50-year-old woman whose infection was previously confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO).Egypt’s state news agency reported that a 25-year-old woman from the city of Mansoura in Dakahlia governorate died in a local hospital 3 days after she was admitted to a smaller hospital with a high fever and breathing difficulties, Reuters reported yesterday.Egypt’s health ministry said it suspected the woman had handled sick domestic birds, according to Reuters.Health ministry spokesman Abdel Rahman Shahin said in a statement released to Egypt’s state news agency today that a 36-year-old woman from Menufia governorate died in a hospital where she was admitted on Dec 29 with a high fever and difficulty breathing, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) report.Shahin said the woman had been exposed to infected poultry and that her family and other contacts were undergoing testing for the disease, the AFP report said.The 50-year-old woman, who is from Domiatt governorate, also died today from an H5N1 infection, according to a report from Kuwait News Agency. The report contained few other details about her illness and death, though it appears she is likely one of two H5N1 case-patients mentioned in a Dec 28 WHO statement. The WHO statement said she was hospitalized on Dec 24 and was in critical condition.The latest fatality reports push the number of deaths in Egypt from the H5N1 virus over the past week to four. If the new cases and deaths are confirmed by the WHO, Egypt will have 43 case-patients and 19 fatalities from the virus.The women’s deaths represent a continued recent H5N1 spike in Egypt. Also on Dec 28 the WHO confirmed a H5N1 infection in a 22-year-old woman from Menofia governorate who was hospitalized on Dec 26 and was reported to be recovering.Another Egyptian woman, a 25-year old from Bany Suwef governorate, died from an H5N1 infection Dec 25, according to previous reports. Her illness and death were Egypt’s first in about 6 months.John Jabbour, a WHO official in Egypt, told Reuters yesterday that the new cases were not surprising.”Since July we’ve had no human cases and many things calmed down, so people returned to dealing with live birds as usual,” he said. “Since the virus is there, we expect to have human cases.”Egypt has the world’s third highest number of H5N1 cases, and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has said the virus is considered endemic among Egyptian poultry.See also:Dec 28 WHO statementlast_img read more

18 Nov

Case cluster found in Salmonella outbreak

first_imgJun 16, 2008 (CIDRAP News) –The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that a localized cluster of nine cases has emerged in the nationwide Salmonella outbreak linked to tomatoes, giving officials a solid lead in their hunt for the source of contaminated produce that has so far sickened 277 people in 28 states.In a conference call with news reporters today, David Acheson, the FDA’s associate commissioner of foods, declined to name the geographic region or where the people consumed the tainted tomatoes. “I’m hopeful that this is our most fruitful lead to date,” he said.The illnesses are linked to an unusual strain, Salmonella enterica serotype Saintpaul. In early June the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned consumers not to eat raw red plum, red Roma, or red round tomatoes, or products that contain any of those varieties, unless the growing areas are on a list posted on the agency’s Web site.Based on interviews with 202 people, illness onset dates ranged from Apr 10 to Jun 5. At least 43 people were hospitalized, according to an update today from the CDC. Though no deaths have officially been linked to the outbreak, a Texas man in his sixties who died of cancer was infected with the outbreak strain, which may have contributed to his death, the CDC has said.Acheson said the identification of the case cluster is helpful because it allows investigators to better trace the source of the tomatoes, from foodservice facilities to distributors and possibly to the farm. “The weakest link is individual patient recall,” he said. “But with a cluster you have invoices and other records to look at.”FDA officials said they were prohibited from naming the region and where the people who were part of the cluster may have eaten. However, Tim Hadac, a spokesman with the Chicago Department of Public Health, said nine people got sick with Salmonella infections after eating at a Chicago restaurant in mid May, according to a Jun 13 Bloomberg News report. Hadac told Bloomberg that the restaurant has multiple locations around Chicago but isn’t part of a national chain. It’s unclear if the cluster the FDA identified is the same as the Chicago one.Ian Williams, chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) OutbreakNet team, told reporters that the agency still considers the outbreak ongoing.Officials said they have not ruled out tomatoes from southern Florida and Mexico as the possible source of the contaminated tomatoes. Both were harvesting tomatoes and were major suppliers to the US market in early April when the S Saintpaul infections started occurring.However, the FDA has cleared tomatoes from northern Florida growing regions because they are just now being harvested and weren’t available at the start of the outbreak. Acheson said some retailers are selling those tomatoes and are posting certificates from the state of Florida verifying that they are from northern Florida. He said growing regions in central and southern Florida are no longer harvesting tomatoes.Florida intensified its tomato testing program after the outbreak was announced, Acheson said. Though all samples so far have been negative, testing did not begin until after the central and southern Florida tomato harvests had ended, he said.The FDA has stepped up sampling on tomatoes entering the United States from all regions of Mexico, Atcheson said, but he added that the FDA doesn’t have the authority to stop shipments without evidence that tomatoes from a certain growing region are the source of the outbreak. If the contaminated tomatoes are from Mexico, he said, there is a chance that the products are still entering the United States.Tomatoes from the Baja region of Mexico, however, have been cleared, because the area did not begin harvesting tomatoes until after infections began, FDA officials said.Federal food safety officials are communicating with their counterparts in Mexico to determine if any Mexicans have had illnesses that match the outbreak strain, he said.See also:Jun 16 CDC press releaseJun 13 CIDRAP News story “Congress voices frustration as Salmonella toll rises”last_img read more

18 Nov

Adriano Palman, KUH: We strongly oppose the newly created category “Camp resting place – Robinson accommodation”

first_imgMINT proposed changes Rulebook on classification and categorization of objects which would enable the so-called Robinson accommodation in family farms and households.Regarding the proposal to amend the Ordinance on the classification and categorization of facilities, according to which it is planned to provide Robinson accommodation in family farms and households, the Croatian Camping Association – KUH strongly opposes the newly created category “Camp resting place – Robinson accommodation, they point out in their statement, all with the intention of protecting the dignity of the camping itself and the desire to avoid abuse of the term and the institution of “camps”.”Camping rest area” has no connection with Robinson accommodation in terms of concept and logic, nor are these two concepts connected anywhere in Europe, points out Adriano Palman from KUH and adds that the camping rest area was introduced in regulations as a counterpart to German “Stellplatz” and Italian “Aree di sosta”. “, And implies only shorter accommodation of guests with their own mobile camping equipment. “This segment, in order to prevent abuse, needs to be further regulated rather than liberalized.Palman emphasizes.Given the existing experiences that are very often diametrically different ways of interpreting regulations and issuing permits for different types of facilities, it is necessary to unify and further regulate (standardize) procedures and interpretations around the issuance of permits. “The proposed new rulebook poses a real danger that any green area, meadow or bay, will turn into a facility that contains the word “Camp” in its name, which will also negatively affect the perception of HR camping abroad and in the country, and potentially lead to camping. a situation from about 20 years ago when it was unfortunately understood by the public as an “unwanted form of accommodation”. The development of Robinson accommodation facilities should be linked to the name “Robinson accommodation”, and not to abuse the term and institution of the camp. It must be a special category or special topic, regulated by a separate rulebook and not related to the institution of “camps”. ” Palman points outIn addition, in order to protect the image of the entire camping sector, manage the desired development, avoid unwanted phenomena and protect the space, KUH proposes to immediately launch additional initiatives:1. Introduction of the obligation that the categorization of all objects of the “camp” typology is performed exclusively by the Ministry of Tourism (both for hotels and camps), and not by local state administration offices.2. Revise and unify 3 different ordinances within which the same facilities of “camps” are always categorized.3. According to the principle of practice in the EU, and in order to avoid unfair competition and circumvent positive legal regulations, introduce additional regulations for camping resorts.Today, the Croatian camping product is very developed, covering as much as 25% of Croatian tourism and is the second highest quality in Europe, and in recent decades hundreds of millions of kunas have been invested in the development of camps. It is true that the camping sector has made great efforts to create a positive image of camping both abroad, and especially within the Republic of Croatia, where camps, which today in the context of quality accommodation are often called “outdoor hotels”, were unknown and often presented in a negative context. These efforts have resulted in camping today being understood in Croatia as a good and positive tourist product, and with the entry of new trends such as glamping, certainly an excellent tourist product.In the segment of Robinson accommodation, Palman emphasizes that it is not a “camping” product, and based on their development experience, propose the introduction of minimum control mechanisms to avoid natural events and uncontrolled development processes, and call on the Ministry of Tourism to take into account the following views:LGUs must manage this process (it is necessary to define the methodology, eg possible tools are spatial plan, standardization of required permits, defining the minimum plot area – etc. which ultimately allows management desired development).Enable development only outside the settlement (with the option to, for example, count in the quotas of maximum capacities / beds of the tourist zone outside the settlement; development is by no means possible within the settlement.Robinson accommodation must remain reserved for areas in the immediate vicinity (to define, eg 2 km) it is not possible to meet the requirements for categorization as a real camp (infrastructure connections, construction…).Categorization must be performed by the Ministry (as for hotels and camps), and not by local state administration offices.last_img read more

18 Nov

This summer, as many as 115 tourists used Uber in Croatia

first_imgUber, which has been present on the entire Dalmatian coast in Croatia since this season with its services UberX, UberVAN, UberSELECT and UberBOAT, presented its results for the summer season.The figures show that Uber has significantly contributed to the development of Croatian tourism, which is confirmed by the fact that as many as 115 thousand tourists used Uber in Croatia. As many as 91 percent of them are existing Uber users in their countries, which is a confirmation that foreign tourists expect Uber as part of the tourist offer in Croatia.Among tourists who used Uber during their stay in Croatia, more than 25 percent of them come from the UK, followed by tourists from the US (17,37%), France (8,55%) and Australia (6,63%). ). More than 62 percent of the total number of Uber users come from abroad, and almost 38 percent of users are from Croatia. “We are glad that after a very intense and working summer we have results that show that Uber is an important item in the tourist offer in Croatia. This year, we expanded Uber’s service throughout Dalmatia, ie we enabled the use of the Uber application from Novalja all the way to Dubrovnik, but we did not stop there. We also launched Uber in Rijeka, and with the UberBOAT service we have enabled numerous tourists to travel from the mainland to our islands in a much simpler way,” pointed out Davor Tremac, Uber’s general manager for Southeast Europe.The world premiere of the UberBOAT service in Croatia has aroused great interest from foreign tourists and the media, including as many as 45 percent of users from the United States, 20 percent from European Union countries and the same number from other countries such as South America, South Africa and China.As many as 82 percent of respondents would recommend UberBOAT and plan to use the service in the future. Almost 60 percent of respondents said that flexibility is the main reason why they decided on UberBOAT, and as many as 65 percent of respondents chose UberBOAT because it is an innovative service that brings diversity and quality to the Croatian tourist offer.Today, we are a world-famous destination that attracts tourists from all over the world, and when they see Uber, they trust the service and certainly raise our reputation. Because apart from being a banner, they don’t have to have money with them because it is paid via mobile phone, and therefore simple and practical, and most importantly, they have trust and security in Uber because they use it at home. If we care about guests, and we should because we live off tourism, then that can only be a plus for us.Also, guests who travel outside their countries, and thus come to Croatia, are foreigners and do not know the language or destination. Uber in this case is something they know because they use it in their country and therefore there is a sense of trust and high quality service. Also, everything is transparent and they do not have to have money with them, especially kuna (currency exchange process)last_img read more