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House Republicans Introduce Bill to Block Tracking Religious Accommodations to COVID Vaccine + More
House Republicans Introduce Bill to Block Tracking Religious Accommodations to COVID Vaccine
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., introduced a bill Tuesday that would prevent the federal government from tracking information on individuals who receive a religious exemption to the coronavirus vaccine.
The bill comes after the Pretrial Services Agency (PSA) for the District of Columbia — a federal entity — announced a system recording “personal religious information” of employees with “religious accommodation requests for religious exemption from the federally mandated vaccination requirement.”
“As if overreaching government vaccine mandates aren’t bad enough, it is highly inappropriate for federal dollars to be used to collect information about someone’s religious beliefs. The only way to prevent this information from being abused is to prevent its collection in the first place, and I thank Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, for joining me in this effort,” he added.
OSHA Scraps Its Vaccine Mandate for Large Employers After the Supreme Court Dealt the Requirement a Mortal Blow
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced on Tuesday that it will stop requiring large employers to have their employees get vaccinated or test for COVID-19.
As of Wednesday, the emergency temporary standard will be withdrawn, according to court documents seen by Insider.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration’s previously implemented vaccine mandate for large companies, saying it could not be enforced while challenges from multiple Republican-run states worked their way through the court system.
A New York Judge Rules That the State’s Mask Mandate Is Unconstitutional and Can’t Be Enforced
A New York State judge ruled on Monday that the state’s mask mandate had been enacted unlawfully and is now void, according to court documents.
Gov. Kathy Hochul had renewed a mask mandate at all indoor public places throughout the state — including in schools and nursing homes and on public transit — in December, amid a winter virus surge, and said it would last a month. The state Health Department then extended the mandate an additional two weeks, to expire on Feb. 1.
In his six-page decision, State Supreme Court Justice Thomas Rademacher wrote that Ms. Hochul and state health officials lacked the authority to enact the mask mandate without the approval of state lawmakers, and that it violated the state constitution.
NY Schools Told to Keep Masks After Judge Overturns Mandate
New York state education officials told school administrators to continue enforcing the state’s mask mandate for students and teachers Tuesday despite a judge’s ruling overturning it, causing confusion as some districts rushed to make masks optional.
The Education Department said the state had filed notice that it would appeal Monday’s ruling by a judge on Long Island, a step that could keep the rule in place at least until its planned expiration Feb. 1.
But in some districts, administrators immediately made masking optional for students and staff.
California State Senator Proposes Removal of ‘Belief’ Exemption for School COVID Shots
California State Senator Richard Pan announced on Monday the Keep Schools Open and Safe Act, which would remove the personal belief exemption for school COVID vaccine shots, according to a press release.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced in October that he would add the COVID vaccine to the list of required vaccinations needed to go to school in person, according to a news release, but only with the FDA‘s full approval for all age ranges after this initial period of emergency approval, according to The Pew Charitable Trusts.
When asked whether the bill’s implementation is based on the FDA’s full approval of COVID vaccines, Pan said, “currently the bill is silent on that issue,” NBC Los Angeles reported.
Pritzker Vetoes Proposal to Pay COVID Sick Leave to All School Employees, Says Only Fully Vaccinated Should Be Compensated
Gov. J.B. Pritzker vetoed legislation Monday that would have guaranteed COVID-19-related sick leave for school employees, while signaling support for a “compromise” plan that would limit compensation to only those who are fully vaccinated.
Pritzker and leaders with the state’s two largest teachers unions have been huddling for weeks, with the unions urging Pritzker to sign the School Employee Benefit and Wage Protection bill after it passed with strong bipartisan support in October.
Officials with Pritzker’s office said the “joint initiative,” if passed, would provide paid administrative leave for every employee of a public school district who is “fully vaccinated or has received the required doses to become fully vaccinated within five weeks” of the passage of the law.
Seven Virginia School Boards File Lawsuit Against Glenn Youngkin’s Mask Order
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is facing a new legal challenge from seven school boards over his executive order allowing parents to opt out of school mask mandates.
On Monday, the school boards in Fairfax, Richmond, Prince William and Arlington counties and the cities of Alexandria, Hampton and Falls Church filed a lawsuit in Arlington Country Circuit Court seeking to block Youngkin’s order. Collectively, they represent more than 350,000 students.
Home Births in England May Be Denied if Midwives Without COVID Jab Lose Jobs
Hospital bosses fear that pregnant women could be denied a home birth or water birth in the event of an exodus of midwives triggered by compulsory COVID vaccination for NHS staff.
There are concerns that mothers-to-be could also be unable to have their baby at their local hospital as already understaffed maternity units in England struggle to cope with the loss of up to 2,000 midwives.
Hospital chiefs have described preparing to scale back the care they offer to expectant mothers from Apr. 1, the deadline for frontline staff to be double-vaccinated or lose their jobs.
Mandatory COVID Shots Could Deepen German Nurse Shortage, Say Care Companies
As Germany gears up to make COVID-19 vaccination compulsory in the healthcare sector, the industry fears that resistance among some workers will exacerbate staffing shortages and leave many families reliant on carers in the lurch.
Around 90% of medical staff in Germany are vaccinated, compared to about 70% in the general population, but that still leaves hundreds of thousands not vaccinated.
No One Knows What the Metaverse Is and That’s What’s Driving All the Hype
The day after Microsoft announced its intent to buy gaming powerhouse Activision Blizzard, the company released a statement saying the deal would “accelerate the growth in Microsoft’s gaming business across mobile, PC, console and cloud and will provide building blocks for the metaverse.”
Every week, it seems, another company is planting its flag in the metaverse, scrambling to figure out how to make money in this next digital frontier.
Whether the metaverse is something long-forgotten in a year or our new way of being remains to be seen. Skeptics, like Phil Libin, founder and former CEO of Evernote, the note-taking app, and now co-founder and CEO of mmhmm, point to the seismic changes now taking place in the wake of the pandemic as issues that need more attention than outfitting avatars in the metaverse with designer clothes or spending real money on virtual real estate.
“We should be making actual reality better. We shouldn’t be spending time making a different reality,” he says.
Optimizing Machines Is Perilous. Consider ‘Creatively Adequate’ Artificial Intelligence.
Everywhere, artificial intelligence (AI) is breaking. And everywhere, it’s breaking us. The breaking ensues whenever AI encounters ambiguity or volatility. And in our hazy, unstable world, that’s all the time: Either the data can be interpreted another way or it’s obsolesced by new events.
At which point, AI finds itself looking at life through errant eyes, seeing left as right or now as yesterday. Yet because AI lacks self-awareness, it doesn’t realize that its worldview has cracked. So, on it whirs, unwittingly transmitting the fracture to all the things plugged into it. Cars are crashed. Insults are hurled. Allies are auto-targeted.
We’ve been forced into metric assessments at school, standard flow patterns at work and regularized sets at hospitals, gyms and social-media hangouts. In the process, we’ve lost large chunks of the independence, creativity and daring that our biology evolved to keep us resilient, making us more anxious, angry and burned out.
All California Schoolchildren Must Be Vaccinated Against COVID Under New Bill + More
All California Schoolchildren Must Be Vaccinated Against COVID Under New Bill
A California lawmaker known for tightening restrictions on school vaccine laws will propose a bill Monday to close a loophole in the state’s requirement that children receive COVID-19 shots.
State Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) will announce Monday morning a bill to add COVID-19 vaccines to California’s list of required inoculations for attending K-12 schools, a move that would override Gov. Gavin Newsom’s scaled-back mandate from last year.
California currently requires students at all public and private schools to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. However, that mandate, which was announced by Newsom in October, does not take effect until after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration fully approves the shot for children ages 12 and older.
Pan’s bill will go much further than Newsom’s mandate, starting with requiring all students from kindergarten through 12th grade to be vaccinated against COVID-19 beginning Jan. 1.
Google Accused of ‘Constant Surveillance,’ Deceptive Methods to Maintain Access to User Data
Washington D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine sued Google on Monday over allegations that the company uses “constant surveillance” and deploys deceptive methods to gain access to users’ location data.
The lawsuit alleges that since 2014, Google has deceived users about how their locations are tracked and made misleading promises about how privacy is protected through its account services. Similar lawsuits are expected to be filed Monday in Texas, Washington state, and Indiana, according to Racine’s office.
The complaint alleges that while consumers are made to believe that changing their account and device settings can keep Google from accessing location data, the company can still access that information from other Google apps, WiFi and Bluetooth scans, or through the users’ IP address.
New Orleans Residents Prepare for School Vaccine Mandate for Kids as Young as 5
In New Orleans, parents of children ages 5 and older are preparing for public schools to require the coronavirus vaccine beginning early next month, weeks ahead of the city’s Mardi Gras celebrations.
New Orleans will be one of the first cities to enforce the vaccine requirement for young school children when the mandate takes effect Feb. 1.
The mandate, which does allow for exemptions for religious or philosophical reasons, is being met with trepidation by some parents who aren’t ready to get their young children vaccinated against the coronavirus, or do not want their child to receive the vaccine at all, while others welcome the news as a public health measure that could slow the spread of the disease.
Why California’s Largest School District Is No Longer Allowing Cloth Masks
California’s largest public school system is no longer allowing its students to wear cloth masks and requiring that they wear coverings with a good fit and a nose wire.
The change comes as both state and national health officials have been increasingly citing the boosted protection offered by some masks, such as KN95s and N95s, compared with others.
The updated rules on the district’s website specify that students must wear “well-fitting, non-cloth masks with a nose wire,” even while outdoors, and all employees are “required to wear surgical grade masks or higher.”
Virginia School Board Votes to Take Legal Action Against Glenn Youngkin’s Mask Order
The Richmond School Board has voted to take legal action against Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin‘s executive order on mask-wearing in public schools.
The order was among several issued by the Republican governor on his first day in office, allowing parents to decide whether to send children to school in masks.
The mask-optional mandate is due to take effect on Monday, but many school superintendents and parents have vowed to fight it.
Vaccine Mandates: ‘I Lost My Job for Being Unvaccinated’
Danielle Thornton was in the school pick-up line waiting for her children when she learned she would face a life-changing choice: get the COVID-19 vaccine or lose her job of almost nine years at the bank Citigroup.
She and her husband had watched for months as bosses across the U.S. introduced vaccine mandates, knowing the family might face this moment. Then, in the form of an email on her phone, it arrived.
Danielle is one of thousands of people across America opting to lose their job rather than get the COVID-19 jabs.
Crowds at ‘Defeat the Mandates’ March Demand End to COVID Vaccine Mandates Nationwide
The peaceful protest started around noon at the Washington Monument and headed first to the Lincoln Memorial, where it remained while a series of speakers took to the steps to share their experiences of the past year and their reasons to call for an end to the vaccine mandates.
Between 30,000 and 35,000 people attended the protest, demanding an end to vaccine mandates and passports and a call for reasonable debate and the power of informed consent.
March organizer Will Witt, an author and political commentator for nonprofit PragerU, said, “This march is about the mandate, and this march is about the Draconian measures that we’re seeing all across this country right now, especially in places like D.C., New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco.”
Vaccine Passport Protests in Europe Draw Thousands of People
Thousands of people gathered in European capitals Saturday to protest vaccine passports and other requirements governments have imposed in hopes of ending the coronavirus pandemic.
Demonstrations took place in Athens, Helsinki, London, Paris and Stockholm.
Marches in Paris drew hundreds of demonstrators protesting the introduction from Monday of a new COVID-19 pass. It will severely restrict the lives of those who refuse to get vaccinated by banning them from domestic flights, sports events, bars, cinemas and other leisure venues. French media reported that demonstrators also marched by the hundreds in other cities.
Water Cannon, Tear Gas at COVID Protests in Brussels
Police fired water cannons and thick clouds of tear gas Sunday in Brussels to disperse people protesting COVID-19 vaccinations and government restrictions that aim to curb the fast-spreading Omicron variant.
Police said the protest in the Belgian capital drew an estimated 50,000 people, some traveling from France, Germany and other countries to take part.
Brussels police said 70 people were detained and three officers and 12 demonstrators required hospital treatment.
Djokovic Could Play in France Under Latest Vaccine Rules
Top-ranked player Novak Djokovic could be allowed to defend his French Open title under the latest COVID-19 rules adopted by the French government, even if he is still not vaccinated when the clay-court Grand Slam starts in May.
Djokovic was deported from Australia and barred from playing in the Australian Open this month for not meeting the country’s strict COVID-19 vaccination rules.
Under the law that took effect on Monday, anyone who has proof they tested positive within the previous six months is exempt from having to show a vaccine pass. That suggests Djokovic could play in the French Open in May and June, the next Grand Slam tournament, because he has said he tested positive in mid-December.
American Athletes Were Reportedly Told to Use Burner Phones in Beijing Due to a ‘Unique Opportunity for Cybercrime’ at the Winter Olympics
Olympic athletes on Team USA have been told to use temporary “burner” phones while in Beijing due to cyber security and surveillance risks, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee reportedly notified Team USA in December that “every device, communication, transaction and online activity may be monitored. Your device(s) may also be compromised with malicious software, which could negatively impact future use.”
Beijing is allowing athletes access to YouTube and Facebook, sites that are normally blocked by China’s “Great Firewall.” Even still, teams from the U.S., Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands and Canada have been briefed on the risks of connecting to public WiFi networks, Bloomberg reported last week.
Meta Has Built an Artificial Intelligence Supercomputer It Says Will Be World’s Fastest by End of 2022
Social media conglomerate Meta is the latest tech company to build an “AI supercomputer” — a high-speed computer designed specifically to train machine learning systems. The company says its new AI Research SuperCluster, or RSC, is already among the fastest machines of its type and, when complete in mid-2022, will be the world’s fastest.
RSC will be used to train a range of systems across Meta’s businesses: from content moderation algorithms used to detect hate speech on Facebook and Instagram to augmented reality features that will one day be available in the company’s future AR hardware.
And, yes, Meta says RSC will be used to design experiences for the metaverse — the company’s insistent branding for an interconnected series of virtual spaces, from offices to online arenas.
U.S. Judge Blocks Biden Federal Employee COVID Vaccine Mandate + More
U.S. Judge Blocks Biden Federal Employee COVID Vaccine Mandate
A judge in Texas ruled on Friday that President Joe Biden could not require federal employees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus and blocked the U.S. government from disciplining employees who failed to comply.
Biden issued an order requiring about 3.5 million workers to get vaccinated by Nov. 22 barring religious or medical accommodation — or else face discipline or firing.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown said the question was whether Biden could “require millions of federal employees to undergo a medical procedure as a condition of their employment. That, under the current state of the law as just recently expressed by the Supreme Court, is a bridge too far.”
The judge’s ruling is the latest in a series of court decisions to go against government vaccine requirements.
U.S. ‘Walking Towards Authoritarianism’ by Not Reining in Big Tech
In recent years, concerns over digital data mining and violations of online privacy have become an increasing concern within both the public and political spheres.
Governments have been found to questionably employ data collection raising concerns over the increased surveillance it can afford governments, and the impact the practice may have on the democratic process and the broader geopolitics spectrum.
These concerns are meticulously explored in Privacy is Power: Why And How You Should Take Back Control of Your Data, by the philosopher Carissa Véliz. The book exposes the ethics of how corporations and governments exploit data, and how users can obtain greater protection.
At Least 25 Federal Agencies Are Tracking Religious Exemption Requests
The Epoch Times via Technocracy News reported:
At least 25 federal agencies have implemented a system to track religious exemption requests for mandated vaccines, according to a review of Federal Register notices by The Epoch Times.
The agencies include the departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, the Treasury, the Social Security Administration and the Federal Election Commission.
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative group, earlier this week found that 19 agencies were either considering or have already implemented the tracking system. The group warned that the system may be a test pilot plan to monitor all federal workers.
Restaurant Owners Sue Minneapolis and Mayor Jacob Frey Over Vaccine Mandate
A group of businesses has sued the city of Minneapolis and Mayor Jacob Frey over the new rule that patrons must show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to enter restaurants, bars and other indoor venues
The lawsuit filed late Thursday at Hennepin County District Court included the owners of a number of downtown establishments, including the Smack Shack, Gay ’90s, Sneaky Pete’s and Bunkers Music Bar and Grill. They want a judge to stop the city from enforcing the new requirement.
Maine Committee Nixes Bid to Stop COVID Vaccine Mandates
A committee of the Maine Legislature has voted against a proposal that would have prohibited the state from enacting COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
The Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee voted the proposal down by party lines on Thursday. Democrats, who have a majority in the Legislature, opposed the move, which was proposed by Republican Rep. Tracy Quint, of Hodgdon.
Proponents of the bill said it would allow for more time to study the possibility of reproductive harm from the vaccines. Health authorities have said there is no evidence of such a problem.
D.C. Won’t Require COVID Vaccination Proof for Entertainers but Will Impose Restriction for Their Patrons
The Washington D.C. city government will not require entertainers to show proof of coronavirus vaccination when performing at venues within the district, even though the patrons in the same venues will be required to do so.
A spokesperson for the Washington D.C. Department of Health confirmed to Fox News that entertainers, including musicians, bands, comedians, etc. are not required to show proof of the coronavirus vaccination when performing at venues within the district, which includes indoor venues.
Employees at these entertainment venues are also not required to show their vaccine records.
In a tweet on Dec. 22, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that people ages 12 and older must receive at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine to enter certain establishments, including restaurants, bars, nightclubs, gyms, and other businesses beginning on Jan. 15.
Mask Mandate Bans in Schools Have Been Blocked in 4 States, Could West Virginia Be Next?
Nearly a dozen Republican-controlled states have moved to prohibit school districts from setting mask mandates, but only three have successfully won their case in court.
While cases continue to be litigated in Iowa, Montana and Oklahoma, four other states have been blocked from enforcing such bans on constitutional grounds.
On Wednesday, the West Virginia House Education Committee voted 18-6 to approve House Bill 4071, which would prohibit educational institutions and elected or appointed officials from imposing a mask mandate on students or school employees, even in the case of a COVID outbreak.
It would also prohibit required COVID testing of symptomatic students and staff, as well as mandatory quarantine or isolation unless there is a positive COVID test.
Virginia Governor Seeks Dismissal of Suit Over School Masks
Gov. Glenn Youngkin has asked the Supreme Court of Virginia to dismiss a lawsuit challenging his executive order allowing parents to opt-out of mandates requiring children to wear masks in school.
A filing late Thursday from the office of Attorney General Jason Miyares cites a state law that says parents have a “fundamental right to make decisions concerning the upbringing, education, and care” of their children. Miyares also argues that Youngkin’s order falls well within the broad authority given to the governor to address the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some Governments Have Launched Plans to Fine the Unvaccinated. Experts Caution Against the Approach.
More governments are offering people a stark choice: Get vaccinated or pay up.
European countries, in particular, have tightened restrictions on unvaccinated residents in an effort to vaccinate holdouts and curb the spread of the fast-moving Omicron variant.
Rights groups such as Amnesty International have decried these policies as discriminatory and counterproductive, and scientists and public health experts warn that a punitive approach could backfire.
COVID: 5-Day Lockdown for 2,700 People in Hong Kong Residential Building Over Omicron Outbreak
Hong Kong Free Press reported:
Hong Kong’s health authorities announced that all people living in a Kwai Chung residential building will be subject to a five-day lockdown after at least 20 COVID-19 cases were detected there.
Around 2,700 residents of Yat Kwai House in Kwai Chung Estate will be kept under home quarantine and undergo daily compulsory testing from 6 p.m. on Friday until next Wednesday, Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan told reporters on Friday night.
Residents will be required to stay in their homes, even after completing their daily testing.
Ireland Drops Most COVID Restrictions in Wake of ‘Omicron Storm’
Ireland is to scrap almost all its COVID-19 restrictions on Saturday after coming through the storm of the Omicron variant that led to a massive surge in infections, Prime Minister Micheal Martin said in a national address.
But following advice from public health officials, the government decided that bars and restaurants will no longer need to close at 8 p.m., a restriction put in place late last year when the Omicron wave struck, or to ask customers for proof of vaccination.
Indoor and outdoor venues are also set to return to full capacity, paving the way for full crowds at next month’s Six Nations rugby championship.
Senate Committee Passes Tech Antitrust Bill That’s Making Apple and Google Lose Their Minds
Legislative efforts to rein in Big Tech’s alleged anti-competitive, self-preferential business practices took a big step forward on Thursday as a bipartisan group of lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted overwhelmingly (16-6) in favor of advancing new antitrust legislation.
If passed into law, the bill would make it illegal for tech’s largest internet companies to unfairly favor their own products and services on their platforms.
Google Denies Facebook Collusion Claims in New Court Filing and Blog Post
Google has filed a motion to dismiss the antitrust complaint filed last week, which alleges it colluded with Facebook to manipulate programmatic ad markets.
Originally filed in November, the antitrust suit has been led by Texas attorney general Ken Paxton of Texas and has gradually revealed more allegations through a series of revised complaints.
The complaint filed last week provided particularly specific details about Google’s alleged collusion with Facebook, including a project nicknamed “Jedi Blue” that the suit says intended to limit ad header bidding practices.
IRS Will Require Facial Recognition Scans to Access Your Taxes Online + More
IRS Will Require Facial Recognition Scans to Access Your Taxes Online
Online tax filers in the United States will soon be required to submit a selfie to a third-party identity verification company using facial recognition tech in order to file their taxes or make IRS payments online.
Starting this summer, users with an IRS.gov account will no longer be able to log in with a simple username and password. Instead, they will need to provide a government identification document, a selfie, and copies of their bills to Virginian-based identity verification firm ID.me to confirm their identity.
In a statement to Gizmodo, an IRS spokesperson said users can still receive basic information from the IRS website without logging in, but added they would need to sign in through ID.me to make and view payments, access tax records, view or create payment plans, manage communications preference, or view tax professional authorizations.
Austrian Lawmakers Pass Europe’s Strictest COVID Vaccine Mandate
Austria’s parliament has approved the European Union’s strictest COVID-19 vaccine mandate, making it compulsory for the country’s residents over the age of 18 to get the shot.
The law goes into effect Feb. 1, however Austrian officials will only begin conducting checks to see if the mandate is being adhered to from Mar. 15. Starting then, those without a vaccine certificate or an exemption could be fined as much as $685 (600 euro).
According to the Austrian Health Ministry’s website, pregnant people and those who cannot be vaccinated without endangering their health are exempt from the law. People who are recovering from a COVID-19 infection are also exempt for 180 days from the date they received their first positive PCR COVID-19 test.
GOP and Democratic Governors Reinstate COVID Emergency Orders to Combat Omicron Surge
As COVID-19 cases surge across the nation, Republican and Democratic governors alike are issuing new or reinstated emergency health orders in an effort to slow the spread of the Omicron variant and alleviate the strain on hospitals.
Officials from Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, Kansas and California have all announced executive measures — some of which are renewals of emergency orders that are expiring or have been lifted — since the start of the month.
Instead of ordering lockdowns and business closures, which devastated the economy at the beginning of the pandemic, the fresh round of orders is designed to free up resources so state and local agencies can prepare for the onslaught of cases and potentially overwhelmed hospitals.
Security Scanners Across Europe Tied to China Government, Military
At some of the world’s most sensitive spots, authorities have installed security screening devices made by a single Chinese company with deep ties to China’s military and the highest levels of the ruling Communist Party.
The World Economic Forum in Davos. Europe’s largest ports. Airports from Amsterdam to Athens. NATO’s borders with Russia. All depend on equipment manufactured by Nuctech, which has quickly become the world’s leading company, by revenue, for cargo and vehicle scanners.
A growing number of Western security officials and policymakers fear that China could exploit Nuctech equipment to sabotage key transit points or get illicit access to government, industrial or personal data from the items that pass through its devices.
Scoop: White House Eyes Vaccine Mandate for Migrants
The White House is considering requiring migrants aged 5 and older to receive a coronavirus vaccination as a condition for crossing the U.S.-Mexico border to await court hearings, Axios has learned.
The Biden administration has been offering the COVID-19 vaccine to people in immigration detention centers or shelters but hasn’t yet offered it to other migrants who’ve crossed the border — much less required it.
If the proposal is green-lighted, contractors would begin providing vaccines to migrants attempting to cross the border illegally — or through legal ports of entry — before they’re allowed into the U.S.
AirTag Stalking: New Apple Device Involved in Suspicious Tracking Incidents Across the Country
A handful of unsettling, individual stories are pointing to a larger problem with a relatively new Apple product called the AirTag.
Released in April 2021, the AirTag is a quarter-sized device that Apple describes on its website as “a super-easy way to keep track of your stuff.”
But AirTags have made headlines recently for another reason: Police departments across the country are warning their communities that criminal suspects may be using the devices to track other people — or their vehicles — in a trend dubbed “AirTag stalking.”
Coronavirus: Artificial Intelligence-Based X-Rays May Replace PCR Tests for Detecting COVID Infection
Scottish researchers have developed new Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology based X-rays that can likely replace currently used PCR tests for detecting COVID-19 infections.
The technology developed by experts at the University of the West of Scotland (UWS), is capable of accurately diagnosing COVID-19 in just a few minutes — far more quickly than a PCR test, which typically takes around 2 hours — and with 98% accuracy.
China Residents Rebel Against COVID Lockdown, Take to the Streets in Video
Residents in northwest China succeeded in ending their month-long lockdown after a rare neighborhood protest forced a change in policy.
Now deleted footage that emerged on China’s main social media service, Weibo, showed dozens of people demonstrating inside a residential area in Xi’an’s Yanta district in Shaanxi province.
The indefinite lockdown was causing distress and affecting their livelihoods, the neighbors shouted. The protesters appeared to come to blows after police officers arrived to manage the crowd, with a number of residents apparently pinned to the ground.
Australia Wouldn’t Let Novak Djokovic in, but Backpackers Are Accepted With Open Arms
Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday announced Australia will refund visa fees for vaccinated backpackers who arrive within the next three months.
The country — whose tight, pandemic border policies locked out its citizens, and more recently, one of tennis’s biggest stars — is encouraging backpackers to visit.
And it’s doing so because it wants to reduce labor shortages that have been made worse by COVID-19.
The Senate Will Get Its Best Shot at Regulating Big Tech, and Apple, Google and Amazon Are Already Playing Defense
One of lawmakers’ best shots at passing transformative antitrust legislation on Big Tech will be within reach on Thursday.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to deliberate on the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, which some experts consider to have the most realistic chance of becoming law out of a broad slate of reforms, while creating major change in the industry. The committee schedule also lists a markup of the Open App Markets Act, another bipartisan competition bill.
Both bills would prevent certain dominant tech platforms from favoring their own products or services over others that rely on their marketplaces to do business.
Meta Researchers Build an Artificial Intelligence That Learns Equally Well From Visual, Written or Spoken Materials
Meta (AKA Facebook) researchers are working on something a little more versatile: an artificial intelligence (AI) that can learn capably on its own whether it does so in spoken, written, or visual materials.
The idea for Facebook/Meta’s latest research, the catchily named data2vec, was to build an AI framework that would learn in a more abstract way, meaning that starting from scratch, you could give it books to read or images to scan or speech to sound out, and after a bit of training it would learn any of those things.