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The newest goal of China’s tech regulation blitz: algorithms

The latest target of China's tech regulation blitz: algorithms

Computer code is seen on a screen above a Chinese flag in this July 12, 2017 illustration photo.

Thomas White | Reuters

BEIJING — Chinese authorities are planning to restrict how companies use algorithms to sell products to consumers, a move analysts said likely runs counter to business interests and sets a precedent for other countries.

China’s largest tech companies from e-commerce giant Alibaba to TikTok-owner ByteDance have built their multibillion dollar businesses on algorithms that serve up content a customer is more likely to spend money or time on, based on previous viewing records.

The increasingly powerful cybersecurity regulator on Friday released sweeping draft rules for regulating use of these so-called recommendation algorithms. The proposal is open for comment until Sept. 26, with no specified implementation date so far.

The groundbreaking rules could set up a clash between China’s technology giants — which have been subject to increasing regulation over the past 10 months — and Beijing, which has sought to rein in their power.

And China’s algorithm rules will be closely watched by other countries and technology firms around the world for how it might affect business models and innovation, analysts said.

“Companies are going to have a lot to say about this because this has the potential to restructure business models,” Kendra Schaefer, Beijing-based partner at Trivium China consultancy, told CNBC.

The rules have also thrown up questions about how enforcement will happen and how intrusive regulators might have to be to actually get companies to comply with these rules.

What the draft says

Here are some of the key points in the draft rules:

  • Companies must not set up algorithms that push users to become addicted or spend large amounts of money.
  • Service providers need to notify users in a clear way about the algorithmic recommendation services they provide.
  • Users need to have a way to switch off algorithmic recommendation services. Users should also have a way to choose, revise, or delete user tags used for the recommendation algorithm. 
  • When algorithms are used to market goods or provide services to consumers, the company behind it must not use the algorithm to carry out “unreasonable” differentiation in terms of prices or trading conditions.
  • Any violations of the rules could land companies with fines between 5,000 yuan and 30,000 yuan ($773 and $4,637).

These proposed rules come as the Chinese government has ramped up its regulation on homegrown technology giants in the last year, primarily in the name of cracking down on monopolistic practices and increasing data protection.

On Wednesday, a new data security law took effect. A personal data privacy law is set to take effect on Nov. 1.

What enforcement might look like

Recommendation algorithms are formed of code that is fed specific information about users to help provide more tailored results. If you’re on an e-commerce site, some of items you see on the homepage are likely there because of your browsing or shopping habits.

But the algorithm’s code is not something that is made public and that could make enforcement difficult. At the very least, it could require regulators to inspect companies’ code behind the algorithms.

“You can’t carry out algorithmic regulation without looking at the code,” Trivium China’s Schaefer said.

Authorities are to carry out algorithm “security assessments” and inspection of the recommendation services, according to the draft rules. Companies must cooperate and provide any necessary technical or data support.

That would give regulators in China enormous power.

But it also throws up some challenges.

“First of all you need the technical capacity to do this. … You also need the bureaucratic process to do it. All that has to be sorted and it has not been yet,” Schaefer said.

This intrusiveness could set up a clash between China’s technology giants and regulators.

“I’m sure there are issues with privacy rights with companies … that [the code] is proprietary information,” Schaefer added.

None of the Chinese tech companies contacted by CNBC had immediate comment on the draft rules, with two indicating it’s too early in the process to assess them. The cybersecurity regulator did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment on the extent of implementation or impact on innovation.

Business model changes?

Many of China’s technology giants aren’t making money off of their algorithms directly. Instead, they’re used to direct consumers to products. For example, you may be watching videos on an app and then get recommended similar content. A company would monetize that via advertising or even getting you to buy things.

The latest rules could have the potential to force companies to change their business models, but it’s unclear as to what extent.

“The jury is still out on the implications for operations and profits,” said Ziyang Fan, head of digital trade at the World Economic Forum.

“It depends on a number of factors, such as the level of enforcement, and market reactions — how many users would choose to ‘turn off’ [the] recommendation algorithm if that’ll lead to a suboptimal user experience, such as getting cat videos pushes when you are a dog person?” he said in an email.

“If we see a significant drop in indicators such as DAUs [daily active users] and retention rates, then the implications for profits could also be significant,” he said, noting that social media companies may see the impact more, while online shopping and ride-hailing “probably less so.”

Where the rest of the world stands

As the intersection between tech and daily life grows, countries and regions around the world are increasingly looking at ways to regulate technologies and the companies that sell them.

That’s resulted in different approaches, so far. In the area of algorithms, China is specifically focused on the technology’s recommendation feature, while the U.S. and European Union are discussing broader laws around artificial intelligence.

Earlier this year, the European Union issued a draft law called the Artificial Intelligence Act with the purpose of facilitating “the development of a single market for lawful, safe and trustworthy AI applications” and pushing innovation in the space.

The law has “specific requirements that aim to minimise the risk of algorithmic discrimination.”

But there are a number of differences with China’s algorithm rules.

WEF’s Fan said the EU follows a “risk-based approach” while China’s rules “do not differentiate risk levels and apply to all use of algorithm recommendation technology.” That can cover a broad range of industries from food delivery to education.

And China’s rules “target algorithms directly at the user and product level,” such as the ability for users to switch off the algorithm, as stated in the proposed rules, Fan added.

Read more about China from CNBC Pro

Once enacted, China’s law on algorithms will be closely watched around the world as authorities try to figure out how to regulate technology in the future.

“This is going to set a global example,” Schaefer said. “Tech companies overseas are going to see how Chinese tech companies do or do not profit given these restrictions on algorithms. If they change business models, if they can succeed despite regulation on algorithmic process, there is very little excuse for … foreign governments not to do the same.”

“If they fail and they are not as profitable and shareholders are disappointed, then that is bad, too,” she said. “That bolsters the argument you can’t implement algorithmic regulation without detrimental effects to innovation.”

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Shifting to Governing, Taliban Will Title Supreme Afghan Chief

Shifting to Governing, Taliban Will Name Supreme Afghan Leader

On the second full day with no US troops on Afghan soil, the Taliban moved on Wednesday to form a new Islamic government and prepared to appoint the movement’s leading religious figure, Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada, as the country’s highest authority, said Taliban officials.

The Taliban are faced with a daunting challenge that switched from insurrection to government after two decades of insurgents fighting international and Afghan armed forces, planting roadside bombs and planning mass bombings that killed the lives of people in densely populated urban centers.

Now, with Taliban rule fully restored 20 years after being overthrown by the US-led invasion in 2001, the group is faced with the responsibility of ruling a country of around 40 million people for over 40 years War was devastated.

There are hundreds of thousands displaced in the country and much of the population lives in crushing poverty, all amid a punishing drought and Covid-19 pandemic. Food supplies distributed by the United Nations are likely to be depleted in much of Afghanistan by the end of September, said Ramiz Alakbarov, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Afghanistan.

The economy is in free fall after the US freeze $ 9.4 billion in Afghan currency reserves, part of a liquidity pipeline that long made a fragile, US-backed government dependent on foreign aid. International lenders, including the International Monetary Fund, have also cut funds, driving inflation higher and undermining the weak Afghani currency.

Electricity service, spotty and unreliable at the best of times, is failing, local residents say. Fear keeps many people at home instead of working and shopping outside. A shortage of food and other essentials has been reported in a country that imports much of its food, fuel and electricity. A third of Afghans had already dealt with what the United Nations called “crisis levels of food insecurity”.

Taliban officials did not indicate when the new governance would be announced. But the group was under heavy pressure to fill a political vacuum created by the rapid collapse of the U.S.-backed administration of former President Ashraf Ghani, who like many other officials fled the country when Taliban forces broke out on Sept. .August invaded.

Sheikh Haibatullah, a pragmatic but passionate religious scholar from Kandahar, is supposed to take on a theocratic role similar to that of the supreme Iranian leader, according to official reports. His son was trained as a suicide bomber and blew himself up in an attack in Helmand province when he was 23, the Taliban say.

Taliban officials, including Sheikh Haibatullah, met in Kandahar, according to Taliban officials. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a respected Taliban co-founder and one of its current deputies, was expected to be put in charge of day-to-day affairs as head of government, officials said.

Mr. Baradar had a similar role during the Taliban’s early years in exile, directing the movement’s operations until his arrest by Pakistan in 2010.

After three years in a Pakistani prison and several others under house arrest, Mr. Baradar was released in 2019 and then headed the Taliban delegation that negotiated the troop withdrawal agreement with the Trump administration in February 2020.

Other key government positions are expected to be held by Sirajuddin Haqqani, another deputy and influential leader of operations within the movement, and Mawlawi Muhammad Yaqoub, the son of Taliban founder Mullah Muhammad Omar, who led the group until his death in 2013.

Mr. Haqqani, 48, who helped direct the Taliban’s military operations, is also a leader of the brutal Haqqani Network, a mafia-like wing of the Taliban mainly based in Pakistan’s lawless tribal areas along the Afghan border. The network was responsible for hostage-taking, attacks on US forces, complex suicide bombings and targeted assassinations.

Political developments on Wednesday gave the Taliban, whose members celebrated with gunfire and fireworks, a real boost after the last planeload of US troops and equipment left Kabul airport shortly before midnight on Monday. On Tuesday, leading Taliban leaders led journalists on a triumphant tour of the looted airport, just hours after it was occupied by US troops.

Now the Taliban are fighting for international aid and diplomatic recognition. The relationship between the United States and the former insurgents is entering a tense new phase in which each side depends on decisive decisions made by their long-standing adversary.

Updated

9/2/2021, 12:24 p.m. ET

The Taliban cooperated in the US military’s evacuation efforts, but that does not mean further cooperations will follow, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III told reporters at the Pentagon on Tuesday. “I wouldn’t make logical leaps on broader topics,” he said. “It’s hard to predict where this will lead.”

General Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the Taliban were “a ruthless group,” but when asked if the two sides could work together against a common enemy, the Islamic State of Khorasan, he said: “It is possible.”

A primary question is how much, if any, US economic aid will it provide and how it will ensure that aid goes to needy Afghans and not to the Taliban government.

The Taliban are also fighting stubborn opposition forces led by leaders of the National Resistance Front in Panjshir Province and other regions in northern Afghanistan, where anti-Taliban sentiment has always been strong. There were competing claims on Wednesday, with Taliban supporters saying their fighters had made progress and resistance leaders said they had repulsed a Taliban attack.

Panjshir, a stronghold of former Northern Alliance commanders, was one of the few areas in Afghanistan not under the control of the Taliban when the group ruled the country from 1996 to 2001.

The Taliban’s transition to governance is based on years of patient building of a so-called shadow government at the provincial, district and even village levels. In the Taliban-controlled areas, many Afghans learned to rely on this shadow government for basic services such as litigation rather than turning to a deeply corrupt national government that could not or would not serve remote areas.

After a military evacuation that flown more than 123,000 people out of Afghanistan in 18 days, most of them Afghans, 100 to 200 Americans will remain in the country, President Biden said Tuesday. Some stayed voluntarily. Others were unable to reach Kabul airport.

Tens of thousands of Afghans who have helped the US or its international partners also remain stranded, according to estimates by US officials. Many are permanent residents of the United States traveling in Afghanistan when the government and military collapsed at breakneck speed and the Taliban took control on August 15.

Understanding the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan

Map 1 of 6

Who are the Taliban? The Taliban emerged in 1994 amid the unrest following the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1989. They used brutal public punishments, including flogging, amputation and mass executions, to enforce their rules. Here is more about their genesis and track record as rulers.

Who are the Taliban leaders? These are the top leaders of the Taliban, men who for years have been on the run, in hiding, in prison and dodging American drones. Little is known about them or how they plan to rule, including whether they will be as tolerant as they say they are. A spokesman told the Times that the group wanted to forget their past but had some restrictions.

Taliban officials have repeatedly publicly assured that Afghans with proper passports and visas will be allowed to leave the country, regardless of their role during the 20-year US mission in Afghanistan.

About 6,000 Americans, the vast majority of them dual Afghan citizens, were evacuated after Aug. 14, Foreign Secretary Antony J. Blinken said Tuesday. In early spring, the American embassy in Kabul began warning Americans to leave Afghanistan as soon as possible, referring to the rapidly deteriorating security situation.

Mr. Blinken described “extraordinary efforts to give Americans every opportunity to leave the country.” He said diplomats made 55,000 calls and sent 33,000 emails to US citizens in Afghanistan, and in some cases took them to Kabul airport.

Mr Biden said Tuesday that the US government had alerted Americans 19 times since March to leave Afghanistan.

The president and his national security team have pledged to continue working to evict Americans and vulnerable Afghans who want to leave Afghanistan.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Tuesday that Kabul airport would be reopened to air traffic within a few days. But with the airport’s future uncertain, some Afghans are crawling around neighboring borders. Hundreds gather every day in Torkham, a major border crossing with Pakistan, in hopes that Pakistani officials will let them through.

The United Nations Refugee Agency recently warned that up to half a million Afghans could flee by the end of the year and urged countries in the region to keep their borders open to refugees.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, estimates that around 3.5 million people have been displaced by violence in Afghanistan – half a million since May alone. The majority of them are women and children.

On the Afghan side of the Pakistani border near Torkham, about 140 miles east of Kabul, some families have been huddled together with their belongings in recent days and decided to flee from the rule of the Taliban. There are also workers from neighboring Afghan provinces who, in the face of increasing money and food shortages, want to move over to earn a living.

Pakistan has announced that it will not accept any further refugees from Afghanistan. Border officials reportedly only allow Pakistani nationals and the few Afghans who have visas to cross.

While Afghan refugees living in Pakistan commuted back and forth for decades without being asked, Pakistan has made access more difficult in recent years and has erected a 2,600-kilometer border fence.

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UK’s Blue Prism turns into newest goal of U.S. non-public fairness

UK’s Blue Prism becomes latest target of U.S. private equity

Employees walk past FTSE AIM share price information displayed on a lighted rotating cube in the atrium of the London Stock Exchange Group’s offices in London, UK

Simon Dawson | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Robotics firm Blue Prism is the latest in a series of UK firms to attract the attention of U.S. private equity firms, but a high profile shareholder has urged it not to sell.

Blue Prism’s shares rose Wednesday after confirming they had started talks with TPG Capital and Vista Equity Partners. However, she stressed: “There can be no certainty that an offer will be made, nor on the terms on which an offer would be made.”

It comes after supermarket chain Morrisons, infrastructure giant John Laing, and aerospace company Cobham have been exposed to transatlantic private equity approaches in recent months.

Blue Prism, one of the largest tech companies in the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market, uses robotic process automation (RPA) software to hire digital workers to perform back office tasks for businesses.

In a letter to Blue Prism’s management team on Tuesday seen by CNBC, shareholder Coast Capital, a notable activist investor who is reluctant to sell its U.S. operations by FirstGroup, expressed concerns about the company’s valuation.

Coast Capital currently considers Blue Prism to be undervalued and it would be a mistake to approve an acquisition at its share price.

“As you know, Blue Prism PLC’s business value is currently valued at about three times its appointment revenue – a 80-90% discount over the company’s competitors including UiPath, Appian, WorkFusion, Automation Anywhere, etc.,” the letter from Coast Capital said.

“If a buyer were to pay a premium of 100%, the share price would still be considerably lower than its intrinsic value and well below the value that the share was still trading in January 2021.”

James Rasteh, CEO of Coast Capital, said Blue Prism was facing a number of problems – such as product gaps in its portfolio, its position on the London Junior Stock Exchange, and its geographic distance from many key customers – but which could be overcome . He said Coast worked with industry experts to develop an operational improvement plan to drive sales growth and increase Blue Prism’s stock value.

“In addition, we note that the Blue Prism PLC team (including management and board) has developed and maintained the world’s leading unattended automation software product with an extremely valuable customer base of more than 2,000 large corporations,” said Rasteh.

“Even in the worst of times today, the company has an enviable reputation as a best-in-class performer, keeping it at the forefront of its fast-growing and highly profitable industry. Now is not the time to throw in the towel!”

Blue Prism declined to comment. TPG Capital and Vista Equity Partners were not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

“Reverse Activism”

Where coastal capital is public urged management change at FirstGroup, Rasteh told CNBC in an email Thursday that the company’s engagement with Blue Prism was “the opposite of activism” and claimed it plans to work with management to implement the operational changes needed .

Coast Capital has a stake of almost 3% in Blue Prism. According to data from Refinitiv Eikon, Jupiter Fund Management, which declined to comment, is the largest shareholder with 7.49%.

The company’s stock rose up to 39% on Wednesday but remains in the red around 30% for the year.

“The CEO, Jason Kingdon, is clearly a visionary in the UK’s high-tech industry and does not have long enough time to influence the workforce changes and operational improvements that can and will transform Blue Prism,” said Rasteh.

Kingdon was an early investor in Blue Prism and became Chairman and CEO in April 2020.

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Ramstein Air Base Turns into Non permanent Refuge for Afghans

Ramstein Air Base Becomes Temporary Refuge for Afghans

AIRSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany – As the working day at the US air force base in southwest Germany came to an end, “The Star-Spangled Banner” sounded from loudspeakers set up in the huge system.

Minutes later the loudspeakers turned up again, this time to the Arabic rhythm, and called on the Muslims for late afternoon prayer.

The recording is just one of the remarkable changes that have taken place at the sprawling Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany in the past two weeks. Teams from the U.S. military, State Department, Department of Homeland Security, and other agencies have rushed to greet, house, screen, and dispatch thousands of people – U.S. citizens and Afghans – to the United States.

After Kabul fell to the Taliban on August 15, the United States began flying thousands of people out of Kabul every day. Many were taken to US military facilities in Qatar or Kuwait. But at the end of this week these bases could no longer safely support. Ramstein, which served as an important transit point for troops and equipment in Germany during the 20-year war in Afghanistan, was called up for another assignment.

When the first arrivals touched down on Aug. 20, Brig. Gen. General Joshua Olson, commandant of the 86th Airlift Wing, told reporters the base could accommodate 5,000 evacuees. Two weeks later, it is home to almost three times as many.

“When we got to Ramstein, I just felt like I was finally safe,” said Hassan, a young Afghan who had worked as an interpreter for US special forces in Helmand province and who was on an evacuation flight last week. For security reasons he did not want to give his last name because he had left his family behind in Kabul.

After months of hiding and traveling unsuccessfully to Kabul airport to snag a flight, Hassan said that he shares a tent with several dozen other people at a U.S. air base and has nothing to do but soccer He didn’t mind playing volleyball or waiting for the next meal.

“I’m just glad I’m here,” he said.

Many of the troops and officials involved in the Ramstein evacuation mission had spent time in Afghanistan themselves believing they were part of an effort to help the country build a better, more democratic future. For them, it is more than just a job to make the Afghans in Ramstein feel good and to get them to the USA as soon as possible. It’s personal.

“We all know someone who was left behind,” said Elizabeth Horst, who spent a year in Afghanistan in 2008-09 and was sent from the US Embassy in Berlin to lead the civilian side of the Ramstein evacuation operation. “Being part of it helps,” she says.

Your working day begins with an inter-agency meeting, in which around three dozen people crowd around a conference table and keep each other informed. Victories are highlighted – for example, an unaccompanied toddler reunited with parents – as are challenges such as the number of people still missing luggage.

Updated

Sept. 1, 2021, 8:56 p.m. ET

The focus of the evacuation mission is on getting US citizens and their families home and Afghans to safety while maintaining the security of the air base and US borders. This means that all arrivals will have a health screening before they meet with U.S. border officials, who will perform biometric checks on all passengers.

“Nobody who has not been cleared gets on a plane,” said Ms. Horst. By Wednesday, about 11,700 people had flown to the US or other safe location. So far, none of the evacuees has been refused entry to the United States, she said.

Not everything went smoothly. After recruiting grassroots staff and volunteers to set up camp beds in the tents, many of the arriving Afghans said they prefer to sleep on blankets on the floor, as they did in Afghanistan. Others did not know how to use the long rows of portable toilets that are cleaned six times a day.

“Hygiene is an ongoing battle,” said Lt. Col. Simon Ritchie of the 86th Medical Group, who is responsible for the initial screening of all newcomers. Before the biometric screening, the temperature is measured and examined for diseases and injuries.

Colonel Ritchie said he saw gunshot wounds and broken bones, people who needed medication for diabetes or blood pressure, and a lot of diarrhea and dehydration, especially in the children. Sometimes he notices a young child who is so stressed and overwhelmed that he and a parent pull them aside and send them into a dark, quiet tent.

“All you need is a good nap,” he said. A special seating area was set up so that a sick person’s family could wait for the patient to return to them, in order to maintain one of the primary goals of the evacuation of keeping families together – and reuniting those who were separated.

Understanding the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan

Map 1 of 6

Who are the Taliban? The Taliban emerged in 1994 amid the unrest following the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1989. They used brutal public punishments, including flogging, amputation and mass executions, to enforce their rules. Here is more about their genesis and track record as rulers.

Who are the Taliban leaders? These are the top leaders of the Taliban, men who for years have been on the run, in hiding, in prison and dodging American drones. Little is known about them or how they plan to rule, including whether they will be as tolerant as they say they are. A spokesman told the Times that the group wanted to forget their past but had some restrictions.

Many of the families number more than a dozen members and others have grown on the base since landing. Captain Danielle Holland, an Air Force gynecologist, said she sent three mothers in labor to a nearby army hospital, but three other babies came so quickly that they were born in the ambulance tent set up at the base.

“Pretty much every woman of childbearing age is either pregnant, breastfeeding, or both,” said Captain Holland, adding that an Afghan mother told her that the tented birth was the most comfortable of her eight births. “These women are very stoic,” she said.

The team not only met the evacuees’ immediate needs by providing them with two meals a day and unlimited access to drinking water, but also to ensure they know where they are and where they are going.

Physically tired, many worry about family members still in Afghanistan who they couldn’t reach – the tents have no power outlets to charge cell phones or access to communications – and were stressed about the uncertainty of their future, said Captain Mir M. Ali, an imam in Ramstein.

In addition to providing tents that can serve as mosques and organizing the regular call to prayer, Captain Ali spoke to the evacuees. “I remind them that their situation has improved with every step they have taken.

The diplomat Mrs. Horst now hopes to reunite the people with the luggage that many had to leave behind on the way – like in Qatar. Many do not want to continue their new lives in the United States without the few belongings they could stuff into plastic bags or blankets tied in bundles from Afghanistan.

“Luggage is important to people,” says Ms. Horst. “It keeps her last bit of home.”

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WHO says it’s monitoring a brand new Covid variant known as ‘mu’

WHO says it is monitoring a new Covid variant called 'mu'

World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks during a bilateral meeting with Swiss Interior and Health Minister Alain Berset on the sidelines of the opening of the 74th World Health Assembly at the WHO headquarters, in Geneva, Switzerland May 24, 2021.

Laurent Gillieron | Reuters

The World Health Organization is monitoring a new coronavirus variant called “mu,” which the agency says has mutations that have the potential to evade immunity provided by a previous Covid-19 infection or vaccination.

Mu — also known by scientists as B.1.621 — was added to the WHO’s list of variants “of interest” on Aug. 30, the international health organization said in its weekly Covid epidemiological report published late Tuesday.

The variant contains genetic mutations that indicate natural immunity, current vaccines or monoclonal antibody treatments may not work as well against it as they do against the original ancestral virus, the WHO said. The mu strain needs further study to confirm whether it will prove to be more contagious, more deadly or more resistant to current vaccines and treatments.

Mu “has a constellation of mutations that indicate potential properties of immune escape,” the WHO wrote in its report Tuesday.

“Preliminary data presented to the Virus Evolution Working Group show a reduction in neutralization capacity of convalescent and vaccine sera similar to that seen for the Beta variant, but this needs to be confirmed by further studies,” it added.

The agency is monitoring four variants “of concern,” including delta, which was first detected in India and is the most prevalent variant currently circulating in the U.S.; alpha, first detected in the U.K.; beta, first detected in South Africa, and gamma, first detected in Brazil. A variant of concern is generally defined as a mutated strain that’s either more contagious, more deadly or more resistant to current vaccines and treatments.

It’s also keeping a close watch on four other variants of interest — including lambda, first identified in Peru — that have caused outbreaks in multiple countries and have genetic changes that could make them more dangerous than other strains.

Delta was a variant of interest until the WHO reclassified it in early May after preliminary studies found it could spread more easily than other versions of the virus. That variant has since been blamed for a number of large outbreaks around the world, including in the United States.

The new variant, mu, was first identified in Colombia but has since been confirmed in at least 39 countries, according to the WHO. Although the global prevalence of the variant among sequenced cases has declined and is currently below 0.1%, its prevalence in Colombia and Ecuador has consistently increased, the agency warned.

The WHO said more studies are required to understand the clinical characteristics of the new variant.

“The epidemiology of the Mu variant in South America, particularly with the co-circulation of the Delta variant, will be monitored for changes,” the agency said.

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Piers Morgan Cleared for Criticizing Meghan After Oprah Interview

Piers Morgan Cleared for Criticizing Meghan After Oprah Interview

LONDON – British television personality Piers Morgan was acquitted on Wednesday by the UK regulator of criticizing Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, following her bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Mr Morgan has been investigated by Ofcom, which received a record number of complaints in March after criticizing Meghan.

In a 97-page judgment setting out the decision, Ofcom said that “Mr. Morgan had the right to say that he did not believe the claims of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and held and expressed strong views that rigorously challenged their portrayals.

In an interview aired in March, Meghan – a biracial former actress from the United States, famous for her role in the legal drama “Suits” and her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018 – told Ms. Winfrey this when she was with her first child was pregnant, an unnamed member of the royal household voiced concerns about how dark the baby’s skin would be. Meghan also said palace officials turned down her requests for mental health treatment when she said she was suicidal.

In response to ITV’s “Good Morning Britain” on Meghan’s claims, Mr. Morgan, who previously hosted the daytime show, said he did not believe the Duchess. More than 50,000 complaints about his criticism have been filed with the UK media regulator, including one from Meghan herself.

Mr. Morgan stormed off the set of the show and later resigned after his co-host Alex Beresford admonished him for his persistent criticism of Meghan. Ofcom announced the next day that it had opened an investigation into Mr. Morgan’s comments under its “Damage and Libel Rules”.

On Wednesday, Mr Morgan expressed his delight on Twitter at the decision to acquit him, saying it was a “resounding victory for freedom of expression and a resounding defeat for Princess Pinocchios”.

In an opinion piece he wrote in response to Ofcom’s decision to work for The Daily Mail, Mr Morgan wrote: “Make no mistake, this is a turning point in the fight for freedom of expression. If Ofcom had decided against me, it would have signaled the end of any British television journalist’s right to air any honest opinion lest it anger Meghan Markle.

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Google reportedly vegetation to make use of personal chips in Chromebooks from 2023

Google reportedly plants to use own chips in Chromebooks from 2023

Sundar Pichai, Senior Vice President, Chrome at Google Inc., holds up a new Chromebook Pixel as he speaks during an introductory event in San Francisco, Calif., On Thursday, February 21, 2013. Google Inc., owner of the world’s most popular search engine, introduced a touchscreen version of the Chromebook laptop, increasing its challenge to Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc. for hardware.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Google is nearing the introduction of its own central processing units, or CPUs, for its Chromebook laptops, according to a Wednesday report by Nikkei Asia quoting people familiar with the matter.

According to reports, the U.S. tech giant plans to start using its CPUs in Chromebooks and tablets that run on the company’s Chrome operating system from around 2023. Google didn’t immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.

CPUs can be thought of as the brains of a computer as they perform all of the main tasks of a machine. Google currently uses CPUs from Intel and AMD to power its Chromebooks. Google’s new chips are reportedly based on blueprints from Arm, the British chip designer at SoftBank, whose chip architectures power 90% of the world’s smartphones.

At the beginning of the month, Google announced that it would build its own smartphone processor called the Google Tensor. The chip will power the new Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro devices, which will go on sale in the fall.

Read the full Nikkei Asia review here.

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India’s Economic system, Slammed by Covid-19, Wants Its Misplaced Development

India’s Economy, Slammed by Covid-19, Needs Its Lost Growth

NEW DELHI – Coronavirus continues to weigh on India’s battered economy, putting growing pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to encourage an emerging recovery and get the country back to work.

The coronavirus, which struck in two waves, has killed hundreds of thousands of people and brought cities to a standstill at times. Infections and deaths have decreased and the country is back to work. On paper, economists predict that growth could skyrocket in the second half of the year.

However, it can take years for the damage to be repaired. According to India Ratings, a rating agency, economic performance from April to June this year was 9.2 percent lower than in the same period in 2019.

The coronavirus has essentially robbed India of the momentum it needed to create jobs for its young and rapidly growing workforce. It has also exacerbated longer-term problems that are already holding back growth, such as high debt, lack of competitiveness with other countries, and political missteps.

Economists are particularly concerned about the slow vaccination rate and the possibility of a third wave of the coronavirus that could prove disastrous for any economic recovery.

“Vaccination progress is slow,” said Priyanka Kishore, director of India and Southeast Asia at Oxford Economics, in a research briefing last week that only 11 percent of the population are fully vaccinated. The company reduced its growth rate for 2021 from 9.1 percent to 8.8 percent.

Even 8.8 percent growth would be a strong number in better times. Compared to the previous year, India’s economy grew by 20.1 percent from April to June, according to estimates by the Department of Statistics and Program Implementation on Tuesday evening.

But these comparisons benefit from comparing it to India’s dismal performance last year. The economy contracted 7.3 percent last year when the government shut down the economy to stop a first wave of the coronavirus. That led to huge job losses, which are among the biggest hurdles to growth today, experts say.

Real household incomes have continued to fall this year, said Mahesh Vyas, executive director of the Center for Monitoring the Indian Economy. “Until that is fixed,” he said, “the Indian economy cannot recover.”

At least 3.2 million Indians lost stable, well-paid jobs in July alone, Mr. Vyas estimated. Small traders and day laborers suffered greater job losses than others during the lockdowns despite being able to return to work after the restrictions were lifted, Mr Vyas said in a report earlier this month.

Updated

Aug. 31, 2021, 7:36 p.m. ET

“Salary jobs aren’t that elastic,” he said. “It’s difficult to get back a lost job.”

About 10 million people have lost such jobs since the pandemic began, Mr Vyas said.

Mr Modi’s administration this month sought to revitalize the economy by selling nearly $ 81 billion worth of stakes in state-owned assets such as airports, train stations and stadiums. Economists, however, largely see politics as a step towards generating money in the short term. It remains to be seen whether it will lead to more investment, they say.

“The whole idea is for the government to borrow this money from the domestic market,” said Devendra Kumar Pant, chief economist at India Ratings. “But what happens if this project goes to a local player and he has to take out loans in the home market? Your domestic credit demand will not change. “

Dr. Pant added that the question of the willingness of private actors to preserve these assets over the long term and how monetization policies would ultimately affect prices for consumers.

Understand US vaccination and mask requirements

    • Vaccination rules. On August 23, the Food and Drug Administration fully approved Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine for people aged 16 and over, paving the way for increased mandates in both the public and private sectors. Private companies are increasingly demanding vaccines for employees. Such mandates are legally permissible and have been confirmed in legal challenges.
    • Mask rules. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in July recommended that all Americans, regardless of vaccination status, wear masks in public places indoors in areas with outbreaks, reversing the guidelines offered in May. See where the CDC guidelines would apply and where states have implemented their own mask guidelines. The battle over masks is controversial in some states, with some local leaders defying state bans.
    • College and Universities. More than 400 colleges and universities require a vaccination against Covid-19. Almost all of them are in states that voted for President Biden.
    • schools. Both California and New York City have introduced vaccine mandates for educational staff. A survey published in August found that many American parents of school-age children are opposed to mandatory vaccines for students but are more supportive of masking requirements for students, teachers, and staff who do not have a vaccination.
    • Hospitals and medical centers. Many hospitals and large health systems require their employees to receive a Covid-19 vaccine, due to rising case numbers due to the Delta variant and persistently low vaccination rates in their communities, even within their workforce.
    • New York City. Proof of vaccination is required by workers and customers for indoor dining, gyms, performances, and other indoor situations, though enforcement doesn’t begin until September 13th. Teachers and other educational workers in the city’s vast school system are required to have at least one vaccine dose by September 27, without the option of weekly testing. City hospital staff must also be vaccinated or have weekly tests. Similar rules apply to employees in New York State.
    • At the federal level. The Pentagon announced that it would make coronavirus vaccinations compulsory for the country’s 1.3 million active soldiers “by mid-September at the latest. President Biden announced that all civil federal employees would need to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or undergo regular tests, social distancing, mask requirements and travel restrictions.

“In India, things are more likely to get worse than better,” he said, adding that the costs for users of highways and other infrastructure could increase.

During the second wave in May, Mr. Modi defied the demands of many epidemiologists, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to reinstate a statewide lockdown.

The 2021 lockdowns were nowhere near as severe as the nationwide curbs last year that pushed millions of people from cities to rural areas, often on foot, because trains and other transportation had been shut down.

During the second wave, core infrastructure projects across the country employing millions of local migrant workers were exempted from restrictions. More than 25,000 miles of Indian highway projects as well as rail and urban subway improvements continued.

On Tuesday, Dr. Pant, India’s growth estimates of 20.1 percent for the period April to June are nothing more than an “illusion”. In roughly the same period last year, growth shrank by a record 24 percent so much that even double-digit growth this year would leave the economy where it was two years ago.

Economists say India will have to spend money, or even large, to realize the full potential of its huge low-skilled workforce. “There is a need for very basic primary health facilities, primary services to provide food for children,” said Mr. Vyas. “All of these are very labor intensive jobs, and these are mostly government services.”

One of the reasons Indian governments typically haven’t spent in these areas, Vyas said, is because it was viewed as “not a sexy thing”. Another is the “dogmatic fixation” of governments on keeping budget deficits under control, he said. The government simply cannot rely on the private sector alone to create jobs, Vyas said.

The “only solution,” he said, is for the government to spend and stimulate private investment. “You have a demotivated private sector because there is not enough demand. That is holding India back. “

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World News

Biden addresses finish of the U.S. conflict in Afghanistan

Biden addresses end of the U.S. war in Afghanistan

U.S. President Joe Biden gives a speech at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, United States, on Jan.

Kevin Lemarque | Reuters

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden will address the U.S. public on Tuesday to mark the end of America’s long war in Afghanistan after the military completed an evacuation mission that brought tens of thousands of people to safety from the Taliban, albeit deadly were when terrorists killed several US soldiers and many Afghan civilians.

Biden’s speech, scheduled for 2:45 p.m. ET, will take place just 11 days before the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that sparked the US intervention in Afghanistan.

On Monday at 3:29 p.m. ET, one minute before midnight, the last C-17 cargo plane carrying US forces left Afghanistan in Kabul, effectively ending America’s 20-year military campaign in the country.

The Taliban, which was ousted by the US shortly after the 9/11 attacks, now control almost the entire country.

The withdrawal of US forces came after a whopping 17-day humanitarian evacuation of 123,000 people desperate to flee Taliban rule. Of the total evacuees flown from Kabul, 6,000 were US citizens.

Marine Corps General Frank McKenzie, the four-star commander of U.S. Central Command, said there had not been any Americans on board the last five flights from Kabul.

“We couldn’t get Americans out, this operation probably ended about 12 hours before we moved out. We’ll continue the operations and would have been ready to get them until the last minute, but none of them made it to the airport,” said McKenzie on Monday via video conference call in Qatar.

McKenzie, who oversees the U.S. military mission in the area, added that there were no evacuees at the airfield when the last C-17 took off. All US soldiers and Afghan troops who helped defend the airport were also blown from the air along with their families on Monday, the general said.

Foreign Secretary Antony Blinken said in a speech on Monday evening that fewer than 200 Americans are still seeking evacuation.

“Our commitment to you and all Americans in Afghanistan and around the world continues. The protection and well-being of Americans abroad remains the most important and long-lasting mission of the State Department,” said the country’s top diplomat on Monday.

“A new chapter of American engagement in Afghanistan has begun. It is one in which we will lead with our diplomacy. The military mission has ended. A new diplomatic mission has begun,” said Blinken.

Blinken added that the US has suspended its diplomatic presence in Kabul and will move those operations to Doha, Qatar.

“Time to End America’s Longest War”

U.S. Marines from 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, RCT 2nd Battalion 8th Marines Echo Co. take cover when a 500 pound bomb explodes on a site after the Marines hosted two days on July 3, 2009 in Main Poshteh, Afghanistan Have taken fire out of position.

Joe Raedle | Getty Images News | Getty Images

During an April speech at the White House, Biden called for US combat troops to be withdrawn from Afghanistan by September 11th.

The removal of approximately 3,000 American soldiers coincides with the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that sparked America’s entry into long wars in the Middle East and Central Asia.

“It is time to end America’s longest war. It is time for the American troops to come home, ”Biden said in his televised address in April from the Treaty Room of the White House, where former President George W. Bush announced military action against al-Qaeda and the Taliban in October 2001.

“I am now the fourth American president to head an American troop presence in Afghanistan. Two Republicans. Two Democrats. I will not hand this responsibility over to a fifth,” said Biden, adding that the US mission will be solely devoted to providing assistance would go to Afghanistan and in support of diplomacy.

During his address, the president cited the military service of his own son – Beau Biden, who served in Iraq for a year and later died of cancer in 2015. He is the first president in 40 years to have a child serve in the US military and in a war zone.

The president said the US achieved its goals a decade ago when it killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda – the terrorist group that started the 9/11 attacks. Since then, the US’s reasons for staying in Afghanistan have become unclear as the terrorist threat has spread across the globe, Biden said.

“Given the terrorist threat that now rises in many places, it makes little sense to me and our leaders to deploy and concentrate thousands of troops in just one country, which costs billions each year,” said Biden. “We cannot continue the cycle of expanding or expanding our military presence in Afghanistan in order to create ideal conditions for withdrawal and expect a different outcome.”

U.S. Marines from Charlie 1/1 of the 15th MEU (Marine Expeditionary Unit) fill sandbags around their light mortar position at the front of a U.S. Marine Corps base, near a cardboard sign reminding everyone that Taliban forces are everywhere and anywhere in the south could be Afghanistan December 1st, 2001.

Jim Hollander | Reuters

Biden added that his decision to withdraw from Afghanistan was coordinated with allies and coalition partners.

NATO secretary Jens Stoltenberg said from the headquarters of the alliance in Brussels that the withdrawal would be “orderly, coordinated and deliberate.”

“We went to Afghanistan together, we adjusted our stance together and we all agree that we should leave together,” said Stoltenberg.

The NATO mission in Afghanistan was launched after the alliance left after the 9/11 attacks.

The US and NATO launched their military campaign in the center of Afghanistan and the Pentagon in October 2001, weeks after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Since then, around 2,500 US soldiers have died in the conflict, which also killed more than 100,000 Afghan soldiers, police officers and civilians. The wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria have cost US taxpayers more than $ 1.57 trillion since September 11, 2001, according to a Department of Defense report.

Now the Taliban are back in power.

Breathtaking Taliban advances

Taliban fighters sit over a vehicle on a street in Laghman province on August 15, 2021.

AFP | Getty Images

Shortly after his April address, Biden updated the schedule for the Pentagon’s massive task of removing soldiers and equipment from Afghanistan for August 31.

As the US and coalition forces accelerated their retreat, the Taliban made rapid strides on the battlefield, despite being vastly outnumbered by the Afghan military. In one weekend, the Taliban quickly captured five provincial capitals in Afghanistan, three in one day alone.

The Taliban occupied Bagram Air Force Base on August 15, a development that came less than two months after the US military handed over the once steadfast air base to the Afghan National Security and Defense Force.

In 2012, at its peak, Bagram looked through more than 100,000 U.S. soldiers. It was the largest US military facility in Afghanistan.

As the Taliban approached the capital, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country and western nations rushed to evacuate embassies amid a deteriorating security situation.

On August 15, the Taliban invaded Kabul and captured the presidential palace, marking the collapse of the US-NATO-backed Afghan government.

After the Taliban came to power, Biden defended his decision to withdraw US forces.

“I stand completely behind my decision. After 20 years I have learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw the US armed forces,” Biden told the Taliban one day after the fall of Afghanistan.

“American troops cannot and should not fight in a war and die in a war that the Afghan armed forces are unwilling to wage for themselves,” Biden said. “We gave them every chance to determine their own future. We couldn’t give them the will to fight for that future,” he added.

Biden ordered thousands of US soldiers to be sent to Kabul to help evacuate US embassy personnel and secure the perimeter of Hamid Karzai International Airport.

Thousands of Afghans rushed to the airport tarmac to flee Taliban rule.

Western forces carried out an immense humanitarian evacuation mission of Afghan nationals and civilians from third countries, a logistical masterpiece that spanned the globe and was pushed to its limits with looming security threats.

On August 26, an ISIS-affiliated suicide bomber detonated an explosive outside the gates of the airport, killing 13 US soldiers and more than 100 Afghans.

The last US casualties

U.S. Soldiers assigned to Joint Task Force-Crisis Response are pallbearers for soldiers killed in operations at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Aug. 27. US soldiers support the State Department in a non-combatant evacuation in Afghanistan.

1st Lt. Mark Andries | U.S. Marine Corps photo

The Pentagon on Saturday released the names of the 13 US soldiers who were killed in the suicide attack on Kabul airport. The attack, which is being investigated, killed 11 Marines, one Marine and one Army soldier.

On Sunday, the President and First Lady Jill Biden traveled to Dover Air Force Base to meet privately with the families of the fallen before watching the graceful handover of American flag-draped coffins from a C-17 military cargo plane to a vehicle .

A dignified transfer is a solemn process in which the remains of fallen soldiers are transported from an airplane to a waiting vehicle. It is carried out for every U.S. soldier killed in action.

The ceremony marked the first time Biden had participated in a worthy transfer since taking office.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley also attended the dignified transfer, along with chiefs of service for the US Marine Corps, the Army and the Navy.

The remains of the soldiers were flown from Kabul to Kuwait and then to Germany before arriving in Dover.

The fallen include:

Marine Corps Staff Sgt.Din T. Hoover, 31, from Salt Lake City, Utah

Marine Corps Sgt.Johanny Rosariopichardo, 25, from Lawrence, Massachusetts

Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 23, from Sacramento, California

Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22, from Indio, California

Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan W. Page, 23, of Omaha, Nebraska

Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, 22, of Logansport, Indiana

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, 20, from Rio Bravo, Texas

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, 20, from St. Charles, Missouri

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, 20, of Jackson, Wyoming

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, 20, from Rancho Cucamonga, California

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, 20, of Norco, California

Navy Hospitalman Maxton W. Soviak, 22, from Berlin Heights, Ohio

Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss, 23, of Corryton, Tennessee

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An Experimental H.I.V. Vaccine Fails in Africa

An Experimental H.I.V. Vaccine Fails in Africa

An advanced H.I.V. vaccine trial in Africa has been shut down after data showed the shots offered only limited protection against the virus, researchers announced on Tuesday.

The vaccine, made by Johnson & Johnson, is one in a long line found to offer little defense against H.I.V., one of medicine’s most intractable adversaries. One candidate vaccine even increased the risk of infection.

Another trial was halted last year in South Africa after a different experimental vaccine failed to offer sufficient protection. Some 1.5 million people were infected with H.I.V. worldwide in 2020, and 38 million are living with the infection.

Scientists were dismayed by the most recent failure.

“I should be used to it by now, but you’re never used to it — you still put your heart and soul into it,” said Glenda Gray, the principal investigator of the trial and chair of the South African Medical Research Council. Dr. Gray has been working to develop an H.I.V. vaccine for more than 15 years.

Entirely new approaches may be needed. This month, Moderna announced that it would test a vaccine based on the mRNA platform used to devise the company’s coronavirus vaccine.

The trial, called Imbokodo, tested an experimental vaccine in 2,600 young women deemed at high risk of H.I.V. infection in five sub-Saharan African countries. Women and girls accounted for almost two-thirds of new H.I.V. infections in the region last year.

The trial was funded by Johnson & Johnson, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health.

The vaccine relied on an adenovirus called Ad26, modified to carry fragments of four H.I.V. subtypes into the body in hopes of provoking an immune response that might defend against infection.

Mitchell Warren, executive director of AVAC, an advocacy group that lobbies for AIDS prevention and treatment, said the cancellation of the trial was a “reality check” amid excitement about new vaccine technologies.

“It’s a grand reminder that H.I.V. is a pathogen unlike any other in its complexity,” he said. “We know the platform worked, but what do we put in it? Because this virus is infecting the exact same immune system that we’re trying to boost with a vaccine.”

Participants in the Imbokodo trial, which began in 2017, were given two initial shots and two boosters over the course of a year. Researchers tracked the numbers of new infections in the placebo and vaccine groups from the seventh month (one month after the third vaccination) through the 24th month.

Over two years, 63 of 1,109 participants who received the placebo were infected with H.I.V., compared with 51 of 1,079 participants who received the vaccine — giving the vaccine an efficacy rate of 25 percent.

Earlier studies, including one carried out in Thailand, had indicated that the kind of antibodies this vaccine provoked might be sufficient to offer good protection from H.I.V. for at least an initial period of time.

“But in South Africa, the higher rates of H.I.V. incidence means you need something much more potent,” Dr. Gray said. “The kind of immune responses that were induced were just not enough to stop the high attack rates we see in Africa.”

When the disappointing data showed a low efficacy rate, guidelines set up before the trial dictated it should be shut down. A vaccine that offered only 25 percent protection risked giving women a “false sense of security,” Dr. Gray said.

But a parallel trial that uses a different iteration of this vaccine will continue, Johnson & Johnson said. It is being tested on men who have sex with men and transgender people, in eight countries including Poland, Brazil and the United States.

That study, called Mosaico, is testing the vaccine against different subtypes of H.I.V. in different populations, and could produce different efficacy results.

Dr. Gray said that the lesson from the failed trial lies in figuring out why it worked for the 25 percent of people who were protected and not for the others, and then trying to translate those clues into a recipe for a future vaccine.