Danish mpox vaccine maker to supply additional 2 mn doses in 2024
Danish drugmaker Bavarian Nordic, on Thursday pledged to supply a further two million doses of its mpox vaccine by the end of the year.
The announcement comes on the heels of the arrival of the first vaccines to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) — the epicentre of the epidemic.
“In response to the current outbreak and the strong demand from governments and organizations… the company has prioritized the production” of its vaccine, Bavarian Nordic said in a press release.
Bavarian Nordic has also said it is ready to produce up to 11 million doses of its vaccine, the only one currently licensed in Europe and the United States, by 2025.
According to the latest Congolese Public Health Institute figures, there have been nearly 22,000 cases and 716 deaths linked to the virus recorded since January.
At the end of last month mpox was recorded as present in 14 African countries.
So far, 796 cases have been logged in Burundi, 162 in Congo-Brazzaville and 45 in the Central African Republic, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Some 3.6 million vaccines in total for African countries have been secured, according to the CDC, and first batches are being distributed.
Some 265,000 doses have been flown into Kinshasa in recent days. These vaccines are to be distributed throughout the country, in preparation for a vaccination campaign due to start next month.
Mpox is caused by a virus transmitted to humans by infected animals but can also be passed from human to human through close physical contact. It causes fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions, and can in some cases be deadly.
While the two million additional doses announced by the laboratory “appears to be sufficient to meet the anticipated short- to medium-term demand” the Danish drugmaker “continues to explore additional levers that could further expand the capacity,” the company said.
This includes looking at transferring “manufacturing to other companies either in Africa or other parts of the world.”
The vaccine is intended for adults only.
As a result of the priority given to the mpox vaccine, Bavarian Nordic will postpone certain other orders that were due to be fulfilled in 2024 to 2025, the company said without providing further detail.
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Biden sports Trump hat in show of 9/11 anniversary ‘unity’
US President Joe Biden donned one of his predecessor and adversary Donald Trump’s signature red hats on Wednesday in a move the White House said was a show of “unity” on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The veteran Democrat was dared to put on the cap as he attended commemorative events with Vice President Kamala Harris — Trump’s opponent in the November presidential election — at the Pennsylvania site where Flight 93 crashed.
“At the Shanksville Fire Station, President Joe Biden spoke about the country’s bipartisan unity after 9/11 and said we needed to get back to that,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates posted on X.
“As a gesture, he gave a hat to a Trump supporter who then said that in the same spirit, (Biden) should put on his Trump cap. He briefly wore it.”
Biden, 81, who was replaced by Harris on the Democratic ticket after withdrawing from the race in July, has repeatedly characterized Trump as an existential threat to US democracy.
Video and still images of the president in the hat, bearing the slogan “Trump 2024,” quickly went viral.
Several commenters noted that the episode came the day after a prime-time televised presidential debate between Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, in which the Republican told his opponent: “Biden hates you.”
The Trump campaign’s War Room rapid reaction account quipped that Biden had put the cap on because “Kamala did so bad in last night’s debate.”
In reality, Trump is considered by neutral observers to have had a poor night, coming across as defensive, unprepared, and obsessed with the past and personal grievances.
Across three national polls conducted since the showdown on ABC, an average of 57 percent of viewers said Harris turned in the better debate performance, while only 34 percent said Trump came out on top.
Earlier on Wednesday, Harris and Trump shook hands at New York’s 9/11 memorial.
Wearing commemorative blue ribbons, they watched with other assembled dignitaries, including Biden, as the names of the almost 3,000 victims of the attacks on the Twin Towers were read out.
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NATO should down Russian drones in Baltics: Lithuania
Lithuania’s defence minister said Wednesday that NATO aircraft based in the Baltic states should shoot down Russian drones that drift into their airspace after Russian drone crashed in Latvia last week.
Warplanes from other NATO members have patrolled their skies over the Baltic states since they joined the military alliance in 2004 as the three former Soviet republics do not have the necessary aircraft.
NATO aircraft “must not only patrol but also, if necessary, if possible destroy the drones,” Defence Minister Laurynas Kasciunas told reporters in Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
He added the decision-making process should be shortened to make this possible.
His comments follow a Russian drone crashing in Latvia on Saturday. Latvia’s armed forces said it was an Iranian-design Shahed drone equipped with explosives.
On Tuesday, Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics said his country was discussing the problem of Russian drones with its allies.
“We are raising the issue with our NATO partners about protocols for interception of drones, calling for the allied air fighters to be used immediately after such a drone has been seen approaching our borders,” Rinkevics said.
Baltic officials also urged NATO to step up plans to deploy ground-based air defences along the bloc’s eastern border.
NATO countries lack sufficient ground-based air defence systems, but agreed last year to short-term deployments to dissuade Russia.
In April, the Netherlands deployed Patriot missile systems for exercises in Lithuania, but the Baltic countries want air defence systems deployed on a permanent basis in the region.
At the beginning of September, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Warsaw should have the right to down Russian missiles threatening its territory in Ukrainian airspace.
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US embassy says Baghdad airport blast was ‘attack’ on diplomatic compound
The US embassy said Wednesday that a blast at Baghdad airport late the previous night was an attack on a US diplomatic compound that caused no casualties.
The attack came just hours before Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, flew in for a three-day visit, his first foreign trip since taking office in July.
“There was an attack at the Baghdad Diplomatic Services Compound, a US diplomatic facility,” the embassy said in a statement. “Fortunately, there are no reported casualties, and we are assessing the damage and its cause.”
Iraq’s Joint Operations Command had earlier reported an explosion inside an area of the airport occupied by international coalition advisers.
“Iraqi security forces were unable… to determine the origin of the explosion, which has not been claimed,” the command’s spokesman, Major General Tahseen Al Khafaji, said in a statement.
A senior military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that “two Katyusha-type rockets” had caused the explosion.
“One fell on the wall of the Iraqi anti-terrorist forces compound. The second was inside the base hosting the international anti-jihadist coalition led by Washington.”
US military and civilian facilities in Iraq have come under repeated attack, both by Sunni Muslim extremists and by Shiite armed groups backed by Iran.
The Baghdad airport diplomatic compound was previously targeted in January 2022.
Bases used by US troops came under a barrage of rocket and drone attacks by Iran-backed elements of Iraq’s armed forces last winter, triggering retaliatory US air strikes in both Iraq and neighbouring Syria.
The Iraqi government responded by opening talks with the US administration on the withdrawal of the remaining US-led troops deployed against the Islamic State jihadist group.
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Trump says it was his ‘best debate ever,’ accuses moderators of bias
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said his Tuesday showdown with Democrat Kamala Harris was his “best debate ever,” and accused the ABC network moderators of working against him.
“I thought that was my best Debate, EVER, especially since it was THREE ON ONE!” Trump posted on social media.
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Biden says ‘working’ on authorizing long-range missiles for Ukraine
President Joe Biden said Tuesday he was “working” on the possibility of authorizing Ukraine to use long-range, US-made missiles against Russia, after Western powers said Iran was delivering missiles to Moscow.
“We’re working that out right now,” Biden told reporters as he left the White House for New York, after being asked if he would lift restrictions on the use of long-range weapons by Ukraine.
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Ukrainian drone strike kills woman near Moscow, Russia says
A wave of Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia overnight killed a woman near Moscow, Russian officials said on Tuesday, the first time someone has been killed in a Ukrainian attack near the capital since Russia’s military offensive began in 2022.
The attacks came as the Russian army claimed to have made sweeping territorial gains in Ukraine, capturing a town and three villages in three separate areas of the eastern front.
Russia’s defence ministry said it had downed 144 Ukrainian drones from a barrage that also disrupted air traffic at Moscow’s airports.
A 46-year-old woman was killed and three other people hospitalised in a drone strike on the town of Ramenskoye, about 23 kilometres (14 miles) from Moscow, local governor Andrey Vorobyov said.
In Ramenskoye, AFP reporters saw extensive damage to the 10th, 11th and 12th floors of a 17-storey apartment block in which the woman was reported to have been killed.
A resident who lived on the 13th floor with his family told AFP the strike sent plumes of smoke into his apartment.
“It became hard to breathe. It was scary, of course. We opened the windows so we could at least breathe because the smoke was coming from somewhere,” said Dmitry, a 52-year-old sales manager.
Lyubov Sbrodova, a resident of a neighbouring apartment block, told AFP hostilities were getting closer to the Russian capital.
Ukraine launched a cross-border attack into Russia’s Kursk region last month.
“It started in Kursk and has already reached us,” the 33-year-old said.
“Our authorities are not doing absolutely everything to keep our people safe,” she added.
Around a dozen residents of the building could be seen nearby, waiting to be allowed back in after firefighters put out a fire sparked by the drone strike.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had launched a criminal probe into what it called a “terrorist act”.
The Kremlin condemned the strike, which it said showed the need for Russia to continue its offensive in Ukraine.
“We must continue the military operation in order to protect ourselves from such displays of this regime,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a daily call.
The latest wave of drones came as Moscow claimed sweeping gains in eastern Ukraine, more than 30 months into its military offensive, and as Kyiv’s forces pressed their incursion into the Kursk region.
The Russian defence ministry said on Tuesday it had captured the town of Krasnogorivka, as well as three villages in different parts of Ukraine’s eastern region of Donetsk.
Krasnogorivka, which had a population before the conflict of 16,000, is located in an area where the front line had remained relatively unchanged for weeks.
Kyiv launched its Kursk offensive on August 6, aiming to force Russia to redeploy troops pressing forward in the east of Ukraine.
But Moscow has appeared to intensify its attacks there.
Russia has also kept up aerial attacks on Ukrainian cities further from the front line in recent weeks, including on key energy infrastructure.
Three Russian drones were shot down above Ukraine’s Sumy region overnight, the regional military administration said early on Tuesday.
Air defences were also activated around the capital, Kyiv.
Ukraine has targeted Moscow and the surrounding region several times with drones since the start of Russia’s Ukraine offensive in February 2022.
But Tuesday’s attack was the first time someone had died.
A resident of a building near the strike in Ramenskoye told AFP she was sleeping when the drone hit.
“We were asleep, of course. Suddenly my husband and I heard a rumble. We ran out onto the balcony. (We saw) smoke, and people running with their children,” Natalia Inshutina, 48, told AFP.
“Why are we having to live in fear now? When will it end?” she asked.
As a result of the attack, four airports servicing Moscow — including major hubs Domodedovo and Sheremetyevo — cancelled or delayed flights on Tuesday morning, according to state media.
Russia’s defence ministry said it had downed 144 Ukrainian drones in nine regions, including 20 over the Moscow region.
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James Earl Jones, voice of Darth Vader, dead at 93: representatives
James Earl Jones, the actor whose rich baritone provided the voice for “Star Wars” villain Darth Vader, has died, his representatives said Monday. He was 93.
Jones, who also voiced King Mustapha in Disney’s animated feature “The Lion King” had a prolific and varied career over six decades.
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US calls for ‘thorough’ probe into killing of American in West Bank
The United States wants Israel to conduct a “thorough” investigation into the killing of a Turkish-American citizen in the West Bank last week, the State Department said on Monday.
“We have urged a swift, thorough and transparent investigation, and are urgently working to get more information as possible as it relates to the circumstances of her death,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told journalists.
Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, was “shot in the head” while participating in a demonstration in Beita in the West Bank on Friday, the United Nations rights office has said.
The Israeli military said its forces “responded with fire toward a main instigator of violent activity who hurled rocks at the forces and posed a threat to them” during the protest.
Eygi was a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a pro-Palestinian organization, and was in Beita on Friday for a weekly demonstration against Israeli settlements, according to ISM.
The group on Saturday dismissed claims that ISM activists threw rocks at Israeli forces as “false” and said the demonstration was peaceful.
In recent years, pro-Palestinian demonstrators have frequently held weekly protests against the Eviatar settlement outpost overlooking Beita, which is backed by far-right Israeli ministers.
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Reasons to Go for Mobile Threat Defense
Mobile phones have evolved into an extension of who we are in the current digital era. We use them for everything, including financial management and email monitoring. But there’s also a higher risk associated with this greater dependency. The mobile threat defense (MTD) is useful in this situation. Let’s examine five strong arguments for why MTD implementation is essential for people and businesses.
1. Protecting Your Digital Life
A wealth of personal data is stored on our devices. These gadgets include a plethora of sensitive information, ranging from texts and images to bank account information and business communications. This information is susceptible to hackers who are always coming up with new ways to get past our digital defenses if it isn’t properly protected.
Mobile Threat Defense offers a way to protect private and work related data from being accessed by third parties. It employs some of the most advanced ways of detecting threats that may affect your data and eradicating them before they can cause harm. With such a protective orientation, one can be safe and have a personal space in the rapidly integrating society and the Net.
Furthermore, MTD is intended to recognize and neutralize newly developing risks in addition to safeguarding against established ones. This ability to adapt is essential in a world where cyberthreats are ever-changing. You may use your mobile device with confidence since MTD offers a strong security for your digital assets by remaining one step ahead of possible attackers.
2. Safeguarding Business Operations
Smartphones and tablets are gradually becoming indispensable means in the contemporary work environment. Employees use mobile devices to retrieve and input business information as well as communicate with customers and or complete numerous official tasks. However, such flexibility has its own disadvantageous features. Lack of security in mobile devices can be a gateway through which hackers try to access the business’ networks.
Mobile Threat Defense offers a total set of measures to counter the challenge. It has a layered protection approach that targets to protect the gadget, the networks that it connects and the applications which run on it. Confidential data belonging to the company is shielded at all possible edges, be it in transit across the networks or in storage on the device.
Moreover, MTD solutions frequently provide management tools that let IT departments impose security guidelines on all business devices. This centralized control aids in keeping the organization’s security posture constant. Additionally, it facilitates prompt reaction to any dangers, lowering the possibility of data breaches and guaranteeing business continuity in the event of cyberattacks.
3. Combating the Rise of Mobile Malware
Mobile malware threat is incrementing day by day with the increment in the usage of mobile devices. As smartphones and tablets attract more and more attention due to the fact they are a treasure trove of individuals’ financial and personal information, they have become more and more popular targets. The dangers are numerous and dangerous: Malware that collects your information in the background, Malware that encrypts your device.
To combat these dangers unique to mobile devices, Mobile Threat Defense was created. To find dangerous apps—even ones that could elude regular app store security checks—it employs sophisticated detection techniques. MTD solutions provide protection against the most recent malware strains and attack strategies by continuously updating their threat databases.
However, MTD offers active protection in addition to detection. When a danger is detected, MTD may respond right away by shutting down the malicious application, separating compromised files, notifying the user, and offering corrective measures. This quick action is essential to stopping malware from spreading and reducing any harm to your device and data.
4. Ensuring Secure Connectivity
We often connect to different Wi-Fi networks at cafés, airports, hotels, and other public locations in our increasingly mobile environment. These networks are convenient, but there are serious security hazards associated with them as well. Cybercriminals may use insecure or hacked Wi-Fi networks as a breeding ground to collect data or initiate attacks on devices linked to them.
Securing these connections requires the use of Mobile Threat Defense. It actively keeps an eye on network traffic, spotting unusual activity that might point to a danger. Man-in-the-middle attacks, data interceptions, and connections to known hostile services are a few examples of this. Through real-time threat detection, MTD can stop your device from connecting to risky networks or alert you to possible dangers.
Also, many of MTD systems offer the VPN (Virtual Private Network) capabilities. It generates a protective tunnel in public Wi-Fi networks, being able to encrypt all the information that you send and receive between your device and the web while being active. This encryption affords the protection of your personal data from the view of other people by making it impossible for the interceptor to decipher it, even if he/she is a cybercriminal.
5. Compliance and Regulatory Requirements
Safeguarding confidential information is not just a recommended practice but also mandated by law in several sectors. Healthcare firms need to follow HIPAA regulations, banking institutions PCI-DSS, and businesses managing the data of EU people GDPR. Mobile device security is frequently subject to stringent restrictions under these laws, particularly when the devices are being used to access or store sensitive data.
Solutions for mobile threat defense might be extremely important in fulfilling these compliance standards. They offer the monitoring tools and security measures required to safeguard private information on mobile devices. This includes functions like remote data wiping from misplaced or stolen devices, secure communication routes, and data encryption.
Moreover, MTD systems frequently provide extensive reporting and recording capabilities. During audits, these features enable firms to show off their compliance efforts. MTD assists companies in demonstrating that they are taking a required precautions to secure sensitive data on a mobile devices by offering comprehensive records of security events, and policy enforcements, as well as threat mitigations. By doing this, the company not only complies with regulations but also gains the trust of partners and consumers who commit their data to it.
Conclusion
In our mobile-first society, mobile threat defense is a need, not a luxury. MTD provides a complete answer to the intricate security problems of the mobile era, including everything from safeguarding personal information to guaranteeing business continuity, preventing sophisticated malware to securing network connections, and adhering to legal requirements to fostering confidence. Protecting our digital lives and company operations will require putting in place strong Mobile Threat Defense as we continue to rely more and more on our mobile devices.
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