Month: May 2022

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Are Rights Abuses Tarnishing China’s Image in Africa?

An irate Chinese boss is screaming at his African workers as they take a lunch break, urging them to work harder or else the company won’t make any money. While intended to be funny, the new Egyptian TV commercial — since pulled for fear of offending Beijing — reveals widely-held African perceptions about the way Chinese companies on the continent treat their local staff.

Last month, a Rwandan court made a significant statement against the mistreatment of its citizens by sentencing mine manager Sun Shujun to 20 years in jail after a video of him whipping a tied-up worker went viral.

The case sparked outrage across the continent and even elicited a rare response from the Chinese Embassy in Kigali, which warned its citizens in Rwanda “to abide by local laws and regulations.”

The Rwandan incident is not the only example of recent Chinese rights abuses in Africa. A report last year by the U.K.-based Business and Human Rights Resource Center found 181 human rights allegations connected to Chinese investments in Africa between 2013 and 2020, with the highest number of incidents in Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Last year a Kenyan waiter was awarded more than $25,000 in damages after he was whipped by his Chinese restaurant boss. The abuse was captured on video and showed the boss laughing while the waiter begged for forgiveness. A Kenyan court found the man had also suffered “continuous sexual harassment, corporal punishment, verbal abuse and confinement” while working at the restaurant.

There have also been reports of Chinese employers mistreating locals who worked on a Chinese-built railway in Kenya documented in 2018 by The Standard newspaper. Separately, a Chinese trader was deported in a highly publicized case after using racial slurs against Kenyans, including calling the president “a monkey” in 2018.

Due to its massive mineral wealth and large number of Chinese-managed mines, the Democratic Republic of Congo is another country where rights abuses are regularly recorded. On Wednesday, a Congolese investigative journalist released a report detailing how small-scale Chinese cobalt miners are using child labor.

Josue Kashal, a lawyer from Congolese NGO Le Centre d’Aide Juridico-Judiciaire, represented a local mine worker earlier this year who was injured in an accident at China Molybdenum’s Kisanfu cobalt and copper mine. A landmark decision by the court ordered the mine to pay the worker’s hospital costs and lost wages.

“There are lots of violations of workers’ rights,” he told VOA, adding that local miners in DRC are paid small salaries and have shoddy protective equipment.

In Zimbabwe too, abuses by Chinese employers of local workers have been recorded, with one of the most egregious examples in 2020 when a Chinese employer, Zhang Xuen, shot and seriously injured two Zimbabwean workers after a wage dispute at a mine in the town of Gweru. Zhang was charged with attempted murder and the case is still pending.

The Chinese national was taken to court and the embassy in Harare said it was “highly concerned” about the shooting but stressed it was “an isolated incident.” The embassy statement continued, “any possible illegal acts and persons who violate the law should not be shielded.”

Shamiso Mtisi, deputy director of the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA), disagrees with the embassy’s statement saying the incident was isolated. He said there is a pattern of abuse by Chinese employers in Zimbabwe.

“ZELA is aware of several cases of abuse of Zimbabwean workers by Chinese employers, and this happens on a regular basis at some of the Chinese mining companies,” he told VOA. “I think the problem is they see themselves as superior.”

Mtisi said workers at Chinese-owned mines in the country are paid low wages and given poor personal protective equipment. However, he noted, it falls on the Zimbabwean government to uphold workplace standards and protect its nationals, and he says they are failing to do so because China is the country’s largest foreign investor.

“The challenge is the Chinese appear to be getting some protection either from government or some politicians, so they normally get away with it,” he said.

With Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s trademark Belt and Road Initiative, the Chinese are huge players on the continent. Rival superpower the United States is increasing vying for influence with African leaders who favor Beijing’s no-strings-attached approach, providing loans without judging countries’ human rights issues.

But the public raft of abuses by Chinese employers on the continent have prompted the Chinese government to respond.

The Chinese Embassy in Namibia published a guide this week for Chinese expats in the southern African country on its WeChat page informing them of best practices while working abroad and how to avoid transgressions.

It included advice on how to handle wage disputes with local workers, not brandishing firearms to threaten staff, not “intimidating or coercing” striking workers, and always handling such matters by involving local authorities instead of taking things into one’s own hands.

And it seems some Chinese citizens living on the continent are also worried about the behavior of their compatriots. An anonymous man blogging under the name “Africa Bob,” who says he’s a business owner in Rwanda, took to Weixin to express his disgust over the recent whipping case and Sun Shujun’s actions.

“In this matter, Mr. Sun from China is indeed doing something wrong. We are now in another country, and the first thing we should do is abide by local laws and regulations,” he wrote. But he continued by writing, “the sentence is really too high.”

“Africa Bob” then wrote a list of good behavior tips for Chinese nationals living on the continent, urging his compatriots not to be racist.

“There are so many outstanding people in Africa … There are many excellent people, how can you arbitrarily say that Africans are not diligent?” he said. “I hope that one day we (Chinese) can be respected in Africa … and this requires the efforts of every Chinese in Africa.”

Source: Voice of America

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65 officers equipped with skills in Scene of Crime management

A total of 65 Police officers (5 female and 60 male) have been quipped with skills in Scene of Crime management following a successful three-month training at Police Training School in Kibuli.

These were passed out today, Friday 6th May by the Director Human Resource Directorate, AIGP Geoffrey Golooba who represented the Inspector General of Police.

AIGP Golooba acknowledged that the training is part of the wider carrier development plan aimed at building capacity in professional forensic practitioners.

Mubiru pleaded with the graduands to be trustworthy to themselves, respect their uniform and understand the forensics principle of “Nothing but the truth.”

Source: Uganda Police Force

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US Added 428,000 Jobs in April Despite Surging Inflation

America's employers added 428,000 jobs in April, extending a streak of solid hiring that has defied punishing inflation, chronic supply shortages, the Russian war against Ukraine and much higher borrowing costs.

Friday's jobs report from the Labor Department showed that last month's hiring kept the unemployment rate at 3.6%, just above the lowest level in a half-century.

The economy's hiring gains have been strikingly consistent in the face of the worst inflation in four decades. Employers have added at least 400,000 jobs for 12 straight months.

At the same time, the April job growth, along with steady wage gains, will help fuel consumer spending and likely keep the Federal Reserve on track to raise borrowing rates sharply to try to slow inflation. Early trading Friday in the stock market reflected concern that the strength of the job market will keep wages and inflation high and lead to increasingly heavy borrowing costs for consumers and businesses. Higher loan rates could, in turn, weigh down corporate profits.

"With labor market conditions still this strong — including very rapid wage growth — we doubt that the Fed is going to abandon its hawkish plans," said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics.

The latest employment figures contained a few cautionary notes about the job market. The government revised down its estimate of job gains for February and March by a combined 39,000. And the number of people in the labor force declined in April by 363,000, the first drop since September. Their exit slightly reduced the proportion of Americans who are either working or looking for work from 62.4% to 62.2%.

Still, at a time when worker shortages have left many companies desperate to hire, employers kept handing out pay raises last month. Hourly wages rose 0.3% from March and 5.5% from a year ago.

Across industries last month, hiring was widespread. Factories added 55,000 jobs, the most since last July. Warehouses and transportation companies added 52,000, restaurants and bars 44,000, health care 41,000, finance 35,000, retailers 29,000 and hotels 22,000. Construction companies, which have been slowed by shortages of labor and supplies, added just 2,000.

Yet it's unclear how long the jobs boom will continue. The Fed this week raised its key rate by a half-percentage point — its most aggressive move since 2000 — and signaled further large rate hikes to come. As the Fed's rate hikes take effect, they will make it increasingly expensive to spend and hire.

In addition, the vast economic aid that the government had been supplying to households has expired. And Russia's invasion of Ukraine has helped accelerate inflation and clouded the economic outlook. Some economists warn of a growing risk of recession.

For now, the resilience of the job market is particularly striking when set against the backdrop of galloping price increases and rising borrowing costs. This week, the Labor Department provided further evidence that the job market is still booming. It reported that only 1.38 million Americans were collecting traditional unemployment benefits, the fewest since 1970. And it said that employers posted a record-high 11.5 million job openings in March and that layoffs remained well below pre-pandemic levels.

What's more, the economy now has, on average, two available jobs for every unemployed person. That's the highest such proportion on record.

And in yet another sign that workers are enjoying unusual leverage in the job market, a record 4.5 million people quit their jobs in March, evidently confident that they could find a better opportunity elsewhere.

Still, the nation remains 1.2 million jobs short of the number it had in February 2020, just before the pandemic tore through the economy.

Chronic shortages of goods, supplies and workers have contributed to skyrocketing price increases — the highest inflation rate in 40 years. Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late February dramatically worsened the financial landscape, sending global oil and gas prices skyward and severely clouding the national and global economic picture.

In the meantime, with many industries slowed by labor shortages, companies have been jacking up wages to try to attract job applicants and retain their existing employees. Even so, pay raises haven't kept pace with the spike in consumer prices.

That's why the Fed, which most economists say was much too slow to recognize the inflation threat, is now raising rates aggressively. Its goal is a notoriously difficult one: a so-called soft landing.

Source: Voice of America

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No Pandemic Funds Approved as US Set to Co-host Global COVID-19 Summit

With the coronavirus killing an estimated 15 million people worldwide, including nearly 1 million in the United States, the Biden administration, despite a lack of funding for domestic and international pandemic response, is set to mobilize a global effort to end the acute phase of COVID-19.

The move comes as the World Health Organization announced that the COVID-19 pandemic directly or indirectly caused 14.9 million deaths worldwide from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2021.

The U.S. will co-host the second Global COVID-19 Summit on May 12, following the first in September 2021. The virtual summit will mark a shift from a crisis management strategy to the more sustainable approach of building resilient public health systems.

"The virus — after omicron particularly — has shown us that we have to evolve our strategy," a senior administration official told VOA. The goal, the official said, is to reduce transmission, deaths and hospitalizations rather than eradicate the virus.

The summit will focus on "supporting locally led solutions" toward global goals, which include getting shots into arms, enhancing access to tests and treatments, and generating sustainable financing for future pandemic preparedness.

"We cannot have just one solution, which might fit all of these different situations," Dr. Thierno Baldé of the World Health Organization's Africa regional office told VOA. "The reality is to try to understand that, and therefore to have the most appropriate solution constructed commonly, with different countries, with different partners."

To galvanize international support, the U.S. will co-host the event together with CARICOM (Caribbean Community) chair Belize; Group of Seven president Germany; Group of 20 President Indonesia, and African Union chair Senegal.

No pandemic funding

The U.S. has not released details of any new pledges it will bring to the summit table. The administration's request for $22.5 billion in additional COVID-19 response money, including $5 billion for global pandemic funding, has been stuck for weeks largely because of Republican lawmakers who insist they won't pass it unless the administration brings back Title 42. The Trump-era order allows authorities at the Mexican border to turn away migrants during a pandemic emergency.

The lack of funding jeopardizes the administration's global pandemic response, including Global Vax, an international initiative launched in December to turn vaccines into vaccinations in 11 African countries, and which is set to run out of money in September. It could also undermine the administration's ability to galvanize other countries' commitments, particularly at an event that has been designed with a "step up to speak up" approach, meaning that countries can secure a speaking role only if they bring either financial pledges or policy commitments to support summit goals.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told VOA the summit would highlight to Congress the need for more funding so that the U.S. "can continue to be the arsenal of vaccines for the world." She noted that even without the additional funding, the U.S. remains the largest contributor to the global fight against the pandemic.

Lack of global coordination

The first two years of the pandemic were marked by rich countries stockpiling more doses than they needed for boosters and protection against new variants, which threatened supplies to lower-income countries, where vaccination rates were low.

Now, with 2 billion doses of vaccine being produced each month, the problem is not a lack of supply but slowing demand and poor delivery capacity — problems that activists argue also stem from lack of coordination.

"If we'd had a coordinated global plan to end the pandemic, we wouldn't now be in the situation where there's quite a lot of vaccine doses but not enough money to actually distribute them in countries that need them," Tom Hart told VOA. Hart is president of the ONE Campaign, an advocacy organization that fights preventable disease.

Beyond vaccines, the summit will also seek to improve access to testing and treatment, including by scaling up production and diversifying local and regional manufacturing capacity. Current efforts to achieve that include technology transfer agreements and the so-called TRIPS (Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) waiver proposal by South Africa and India at the World Trade Organization that called for intellectual property waivers on COVID-19 therapeutics and diagnostics. While the proposal is supported by more than 100 member countries, negotiations have been gridlocked for months.

Test to treat

Meanwhile, the Biden administration has recently rolled out a national "test to treat" program that tests people for COVID-19 and immediately treats them with the Pfizer antiviral drug Paxlovid if results are positive. It now aims to introduce similar pilot projects in other countries.

"The exact model may be different because the health systems are different," the administration official said, noting that additional hurdles need to be addressed, including securing supplies of the generic drugs nirmatrelvir and ritonavir, which make up Paxlovid — a drug that is prohibitively expensive for lower- to middle-income countries.

Dr. Krishna Udayakumar, founding director of the Duke Global Health Innovation Center, told VOA that it would be up to Pfizer, Merck and other companies that already have antivirals on the market to work with countries and existing multilateral systems to get these "test to treat" pilot projects in place so when the money and the supply ramp up, countries can scale up quickly.

In March, the Medicines Patent Pool, a United Nations-backed organization, signed agreements with 35 manufacturers in 12 countries to produce nirmatrelvir and ritonavir, but these are unlikely to be on the market until 2023. Udayakumar said the U.S. was working to make an affordable generic version of Paxlovid available within several months.

The Global COVID-19 Summit aims to secure pledges to help close the gap of about $15 billion in funding that the WHO says the world needs. While those pledges will be made, advocates are pessimistic.

"It's not clear whether that's being coordinated, whether one country or one region will have more than it needs and another region will go without," Hart said. "That's the problem with no coordination and no global plan."

Source: Voice of America

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Triggerise and Elton John AIDS Foundation Partner to Expand Mental Health Care for Youth in Kenya

The new partnership will make mental health screenings and services accessible to thousands of young people in Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Triggerise is pleased to announce a new partnership with Elton John AIDS Foundation to empower young people in Kenya to take control of their mental and physical health. The $1 million grant from Elton John AIDS Foundation will ensure all Triggerise associated clinics in Mombasa, Kenya provide mental health screening and services, ranging from individual and group counselling to trauma-based care, over the next three years. These crucial mental health offerings will be fully integrated with Triggerise’s pre-existing sexual and reproductive health services (SRH) for young people between the ages of 15 and 24.

The partnership is also ensuring pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), and antiretroviral therapy (ART) services are a part of Triggerise’s established offerings in Mombasa, as seamless access to SRH is crucial for this age group. Triggerise will, for the first time, work across both its existing private sector network of clinics and expand its platform coverage to include public sector clinics providing HIV services, as it is essential to support young people who test positive for HIV throughout their care journey. They will then be enrolled onto Triggerise’s mobile-powered platform, connecting them to appropriate services at no cost. The platform will anonymously track their HIV care journey with the goal of keeping them on treatment and accessing services. The Triggerise platform also allows for youth feedback on service experience so improvements can be made to meet young people’s ever-evolving needs.

“We are honoured to partner on this important initiative with Elton John AIDS Foundation,” said Richard Matikanya, Chief Operating Officer of Triggerise. “The timing of this investment is particularly exciting, as the growing mental health burden among young people in their diversity – particularly those living with HIV – has largely been overlooked. Our partnership will allow us to contribute to the evidence base on how to ensure that young people have access to mental health services that respond to their needs on their terms.”

“The Elton John AIDS Foundation is very excited to have the opportunity to partner with the innovative team at Triggerise to expand its existing programme for young people to include services to support their mental health,” said Anne Aslett, Chief Executive Officer of Elton John AIDS Foundation. “We know that mental health and physical health are syndemic and therefore critical to address simultaneously.”

“Triggerise’s easy-to-use youth centric platform has the potential to reach underserved, and often discriminated against young people, many of whom are LGBTQ+,” says Dr. Lindsay Hayden, who leads the young people portfolio at Elton John AIDS Foundation. “We’re eager to empower them with the information, support and services they need to live holistically healthy lives.”

About The Elton John AIDS Foundation:

The Elton John AIDS Foundation was established in 1992 and is one of the leading independent AIDS organisations in the world. The Foundation’s mission is simple: an end to the AIDS epidemic. The Elton John AIDS Foundation is committed to overcome the stigma, discrimination and neglect that keeps us from ending AIDS. With the mobilisation of our network of generous supporters and partners, we fund local experts across four continents to challenge discrimination, prevent infections and provide treatment as well as influencing governments to end AIDS. www.eltonjohnaidsfoundation.org

About Triggerise:

We use data-driven insights to positively disrupt delivery of health and wellness services. By fusing tech and behavioural economics, we motivate people to adopt and maintain positive behaviours.

Let’s connect for change. Find us here: www.triggerise.org

Media Contact: Mary Pavlu, mary.pavlu@eltonjohnaidsfoundation.org

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Cellebrite to Showcase Advanced Access as a Service at the Techno Security & Digital Forensics Conference

The availability of Cellebrite’s advanced access capability as a cloud-based service is intended to enable a broader base of law enforcement agencies to benefit from the most cutting-edge technology

PETAH TIKVA, Israel and TYSONS CORNER, Va., May 05, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cellebrite DI Ltd. (NASDAQ: CLBT), a global leader in Digital Intelligence (DI) solutions for the public and private sectors, today announced the upcoming release of the SaaS-based version of Cellebrite Premium. Cellebrite Premium is an industry leading advanced access solution, providing unlock and extract capabilities for most iOS as well as the leading Android devices. The new offering, which is part of Cellebrite’s industry-leading DI suite of Solutions, will be previewed at the upcoming Techno Security & Digital Forensics Conference in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, from May 9th to May 12th, 2022.

The solution aims to allow law enforcement agencies to benefit from flexible licensing options and reduce ongoing hardware and maintenance costs. In addition, the SaaS-based version of Premium aims to provide agencies immediate access to the most up-to-date capabilities, allowing more law enforcement organizations to decentralize device access and data collection efforts as they work to expedite digital investigations and reduce case backlogs.

Ronnen Armon, Cellebrite’s Chief Products & Technologies Officer, commented: “Law enforcement agencies of all sizes should have access to solutions that can help them combat continuously growing digital evidence challenges. We are committed to addressing our customer needs in the face of the ever-growing quantity, variety, and complexity of digital evidence, and enabling a flexible consumption of our most advanced capability is our latest innovation to achieve this goal. We look forward to continuing to partner with our customers to enable them to protect and save lives, accelerate justice, and preserve privacy in communities around the world.”

For more information on Cellebrite Premium, please visit https://cellebrite.com/en/premium/

About Cellebrite
Cellebrite’s (NASDAQ: CLBT) mission is to enable its customers to protect and save lives, accelerate justice, and preserve privacy in communities around the world. We are a global leader in Digital Intelligence solutions for the public and private sectors, empowering organizations in mastering the complexities of legally sanctioned digital investigations by streamlining intelligence processes. Trusted by thousands of leading agencies and companies worldwide, Cellebrite’s Digital Intelligence platform and solutions transform how customers collect, review, analyze and manage data in legally sanctioned investigations. To learn more visit us at www.cellebrite.com, https://investors.cellebrite.com, or follow us on Twitter at @Cellebrite.

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This document includes “forward looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as “forecast,” “intend,” “seek,” “target,” “anticipate,” “will,” “appear,” “approximate,” “foresee,” “might,” “possible,” “potential,” “believe,” “could,” “predict,” “should,” “could,” “continue,” “expect,” “estimate,” “may,” “plan,” “outlook,” “future” and “project” and other similar expressions that predict, project or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. Such forward looking statements include estimated financial information. Such forward looking statements with respect to revenues, earnings, performance, strategies, prospects, and other aspects of Cellebrite’s business are based on current expectations that are subject to risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those indicated by such forward looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: Cellebrite’s ability to keep pace with technological advances and evolving industry standards; Cellebrite’s material dependence on the acceptance of its solutions by law enforcement and government agencies; real or perceived errors, failures, defects or bugs in Cellebrite’s DI solutions; Cellebrite’s failure to maintain the productivity of sales and marketing personnel, including relating to hiring, integrating and retaining personnel; uncertainties regarding the impact of macroeconomic and/or global conditions, including COVID-19 and military actions involving Russia and Ukraine; intense competition in all of Cellebrite’s markets; the inadvertent or deliberate misuse of Cellebrite’s solutions; political and reputational factors related to Cellebrite’s business or operations; risks relating to estimates of market opportunity and forecasts of market growth; Cellebrite’s ability to properly manage its growth; risks associated with Cellebrite’s credit facilities and liquidity; Cellebrite’s reliance on third-party suppliers for certain components, products, or services; challenges associated with large transactions and long sales cycle; risks that Cellebrite’s customers may fail to honor contractual or payment obligations; risks associated with a significant amount of Cellebrite’s business coming from government customers around the world; risks related to Cellebrite’s intellectual property; security vulnerabilities or defects, including cyber-attacks, information technology system breaches, failures or disruptions; the mishandling or perceived mishandling of sensitive or confidential information; the complex and changing regulatory environments relating to Cellebrite’s operations and solutions; the regulatory constraints to which we are subject; risks associated with different corporate governance requirements applicable to Israeli companies and risks associated with being a foreign private issuer and an emerging growth company; market volatility in the price of Cellebrite’s shares; changing tax laws and regulations; risks associated with joint, ventures, partnerships and strategic initiatives; risks associated with Cellebrite’s significant international operations; risks associated with Cellebrite’s failure to comply with anti-corruption, trade compliance, anti-money-laundering and economic sanctions laws and regulations; risks relating to the adequacy of Cellebrite’s existing systems, processes, policies, procedures, internal controls and personnel for Cellebrite’s current and future operations and reporting needs; and other factors, risks and uncertainties set forth in the section titled “Risk Factors” in Cellebrite’s annual report on form 20-F filed with the SEC on March 29, 2022 and in other documents filed by Cellebrite with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), which are available free of charge at www.sec.gov. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward looking statements, which speak only as of the date made, in this communication or elsewhere. Cellebrite undertakes no obligation to update its forward looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, should circumstances change, except as otherwise required by securities and other applicable laws.

Contacts

Media
Renee Soto
+1 212-433-4606
cellebrite@reevemark.com

Investors
Anat Earon-Heilborn
VP Investor Relations
+972 73 394 8440
investors@cellebrite.com

 

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Pluribus Networks and Tech Data announce partnership in Asia Pacific & Japan

Partnership aims to accelerate customers’ digital & network transformation journeys leveraging the unique Pluribus Unified Cloud Fabric solution

SINGAPORE and SANTA CLARA, CA, USA, May 04, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Tech Data, a TD SYNNEX Company, and Pluribus Networks have today announced a new partnership which will leverage Pluribus Networks’ unique vision of Unified Cloud Networking and their Unified Cloud Fabric™ solution to accelerate the digital and network transformation journey for customers across the Asia Pacific & Japan region.

“With Asia Pacific region’s data center market slated to grow at a CAGR of 6.3 percent during 2022 – 2027 with investments of USD94 billion by 20271, this partnership with Pluribus Networks is timely and perfectly complements our rich data center infrastructure solutions portfolio,” shared Anand Chakravarthy, Head of Business Development for Networking, Tech Data Asia Pacific & Japan. “We are excited to introduce Pluribus Networks’ Unified Cloud Fabric solution and Netvisor ONE networking operating system, which we predict will be game-changers for our data center infrastructure customers and partners.”

“We are delighted to welcome Tech Data to the Pluribus Partners First Program as a distributor and to tap into Tech Data’s vast reach across the Asia Pacific & Japan region’s Channel Partner Community, while also complementing their existing solutions portfolio,” said Nitin Acharekar, Head of APAC Sales, Pluribus Networks. “Both companies are aligned in our vision of incubating and growing disruptive technologies, as well as simplifying the go-to-market for all channel partners in the region.”

The benefits of this new partnership include:

  • Faster time-to-market & enriched datacenter infrastructure offerings for all channel partners
  • Easy access to Pluribus Networks’ uniquely differentiated network solutions
  • Value-added services such as pre and post-sales support to partners and customers

The Pluribus Unified Cloud Fabric solution is a next generation data center fabric that unifies and automates networking and distributed security across switches and servers, overlay and underlay networks and distributed cloud data centers. Based on the principles of open networking, the SDN automated fabric reduces network operations tasks by orders of magnitude, strengthens data center security with microsegmentation and enables pervasive network visibility, all at the lowest total cost of ownership.

To learn more about the Unified Cloud Fabric please visit https://pluribusnetworks.com/products/unified-cloud-fabric/

To learn more about Tech Data’s Modern Data Center offerings, please visit:

https://asia.techdata.com/solutions/data-center-solutions/

1Ariston Advisory & Intelligence, APAC Data Center Market – Industry Outlook & Forecast 2022-  2027, January 2022

About Tech Data

Tech Data, a TD SYNNEX (NYSE: SNX) company, is a leading global distributor and solutions aggregator for the IT ecosystem. We’re an innovative partner helping more than 150,000 customers in 100+ countries to maximize the value of technology investments, demonstrate business outcomes and unlock growth opportunities. Headquartered in Clearwater, Florida, and Fremont, California, TD SYNNEX’ 22,000 co-workers are dedicated to uniting compelling IT products, services and solutions from 1,500+ best-in-class technology vendors. Our edge-to-cloud portfolio is anchored in some of the highest-growth technology segments including cloud, cybersecurity, big data/analytics, IoT, mobility and everything as a service. TD SYNNEX is committed to serving customers and communities, and we believe we can have a positive impact on our people and our planet, intentionally acting as a respected corporate citizen. We aspire to be a diverse and inclusive employer of choice for talent across the IT ecosystem. For more information, visit www.TDSYNNEX.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

About Pluribus Networks

Pluribus Networks, the Unified Cloud Networking company, delivers solutions based on the principles of open networking and distributed, controllerless SDN automation. The Linux-based Netvisor® ONE operating system and the Unified Cloud Fabric™ software have been purpose built to deliver radically automated and simplified cloud networking along with superior economics by leveraging white box switches from open networking partners as well as Pluribus’ own Freedom™ Series of switches. The Unified Cloud Fabric is optimized to deliver a modern cloud network fabric across distributed clouds and data center sites with rich services, automated operations, intrinsic security and visibility and no single point of failure. Pluribus is deployed by hundreds of customers, including more than 100 tier one mobile network operators, in mission critical networks around the globe. Visit Pluribus Networks to learn more.

Jason Loo
Tech Data Asia Pacific & Japan
jason.loo@techdata.com

Andy Meltzer
Guyer Group for Pluribus Networks
andy.meltzer@guyergroup.com
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Préparez-vous à devenir viral avec vos créations sonores originales grâce à la nouvelle fonctionnalité #OGSounds de Lomotif

La nouvelle fonctionnalité Original Sound de l’application mondiale de partage de vidéos courtes, Lomotif, permet aux utilisateurs de créer des clips audio originaux et de créer du contenu en remixant également les Original Sounds d’autres utilisateurs

NEW YORK, 5 mai 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Lomotif, une plateforme mondiale de partage de courtes vidéos qui offre une création facile et intuitive, a lancé sa nouvelle fonctionnalité Original Sound à travers sa campagne « #OGSounds – Go viral with your original sound ». Cette nouvelle fonctionnalité Original Sound de Lomotif permettra aux utilisateurs de créer des clips audio originaux et de créer du contenu vidéo en remixant également les Original Sounds (sons originaux) d’autres utilisateurs.

Lomotif est l’endroit où les créateurs de tous les jours peuvent libérer et développer leur potentiel créatif, avec un large éventail d’outils créatifs faciles à utiliser, une variété de chaînes thématiques attrayantes et une communauté active de créateurs de tous les jours partageant les mêmes idées, qui permet aux utilisateurs de s’inspirer mutuellement de leur créativité. En amplifiant la nouvelle fonctionnalité Original Sound de l’application, le défi #OGSounds donne à la communauté de Lomotif l’occasion d’expérimenter la création audio et la collaboration musicale.

Lomotif_Logo

Pour encourager l’exploration et faire appel au côté créatif des utilisateurs, la création Original Sounds ne se limite pas au chant ou aux chansons autoproduites – des sons de l’océan à la poésie parlée, en passant par le miaulement d’un chat – les Original Sounds peuvent être créés par des créateurs du quotifien avec des sons du quotidien. Les utilisateurs peuvent créer leurs propres Original Sounds, d’une durée maximale de 30 secondes, en enregistrant simplement un Lomotif et en le publiant. Si aucun clip musical n’est sélectionné pendant le processus de création à partir du vaste catalogue de musique de Lomotif, un Original Sound est immédiatement créé et attribué à l’utilisateur. D’autres créateurs partageant les mêmes idées peuvent ensuite collaborer en remixant leurs propres Lomotifs à partir de ces Original Sounds créés.

À propos de cette nouvelle fonctionnalité, Paul Yang, PDG de Lomotif, a déclaré : « En tant que foyer pour les créateurs du quotidien avec des utilisateurs internationaux dévoués de pays allant de l’Asie à l’Amérique latine, et de l’Afrique de l’Ouest aux États-Unis, Lomotif a créé cette fonctionnalité Original Sound comme un nouveau moyen pour nos utilisateurs de nourrir leur créativité et de susciter l’inspiration par une collaboration facile. Notre communauté Lomotif partage des contenus vidéo courts et authentiques qui permettent aux autres de s’exprimer librement. Donner à nos utilisateurs la possibilité de créer et d’être accrédités en tant que créateurs d’Original Sounds était une étape naturelle de notre évolution. Nous sommes ravis d’avoir mis en place cette nouvelle fonctionnalité qui va améliorer l’expérience Lomotif et donner plus de pouvoir à nos créateurs. Nous sommes impatients d’assister à la prochaine création de #OGSounds ! »

Découvrez dès aujourd’hui la fonctionnalité Original Sound sur Lomotif. Téléchargez l’application sur https://lomotif.app.link/LomotifOGSounds

À propos de Lomotif

Lomotif est une plateforme de réseau social mondiale de partage de vidéos qui démocratise la création de vidéos. Lomotif, qui accueille les créateurs du quotidien depuis 2014, est l’une des plateformes de réseau social de partage de vidéos à la croissance la plus rapide, avec une communauté sociale de base composée d’utilisateurs dévoués de pays allant de l’Asie à l’Amérique latine, et de l’Afrique de l’Ouest aux États-Unis. Lomotif compte parmi ses partenaires officiels des entreprises comme LiveXLive, Snapchat et Universal Music Group (UMG). Lomotif est détenu majoritairement par ZVV Media Partners, LLC, une coentreprise de ZASH Global Media and Entertainment Corporation et Vinco Ventures, Inc (NASDAQ : BBIG). Téléchargez l’application Lomotif dans les magasins Apple et Google ou visitez le site www.lomotif.com.

Vidéo : https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1808682/Remixing_OG_Sound___Watermark___English.mp4

Vidéo : https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1808681/Creating_OG_Sound___Watermark___English.mp4

Logo : https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1809440/Lomotif_Logo.jpg

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COVID Caused 14.9 Million Excess Deaths Globally: WHO

The World Health Organization says the COVID-19 pandemic directly or indirectly caused 14.9 million deaths worldwide from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2021.

The number is called excess mortality and represents the number of people who died versus the number that probably would have died without the pandemic.

“These sobering data not only point to the impact of the pandemic but also to the need for all countries to invest in more resilient health systems that can sustain essential health services during crises, including stronger health information systems,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general said in a press release.

“WHO is committed to working with all countries to strengthen their health information systems to generate better data for better decisions and better outcomes.”

WHO said 84% of the deaths were “concentrated in South-East Asia, Europe, and the Americas.”

The death toll for men was higher than for women by 57% to 43% WHO said. It was also higher for older people, it added.

Source: Voice of America

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Beijing Residents Brace for COVID-19 Lockdown

Unlike Shanghai, Beijing has yet to require that all its residents remain at home to contain the spread of COVID-19. Nevertheless, many people in its Chaoyang district and elsewhere are preparing for that possibility.

On Wednesday, city officials closed 60 subway stations, more than 10% of Beijing's vast system. They did not say when service would be resumed, according to ABC News.

Beijing, a city of 21 million people, has been on high alert for the spread of COVID-19, as restaurants and bars pivot to takeout, gyms close and schools suspend classes indefinitely, according to CNBC.

People who live in "controlled" areas, neighborhoods where cases have been discovered, have been told to stay in the city, and all residents must test for the virus three times throughout the week, according to ABC.

Chinese authorities reported 5,489 cases nationwide on Wednesday, of which 4,982 were in Shanghai, which has been under a draconian lockdown for weeks.

Beijing reported 46 symptomatic cases and five asymptomatic on Wednesday. The city's total since April 22, what it considers the start of its omicron outbreak, is 544.

Mr. Zhang, a Beijing resident, said he had bought extra food and water, even though he doesn't think Beijing will be locked down like Shanghai. He asked that VOA not use his full name because he was afraid of attracting official attention.

"I have six bags of rice, two bags of noodles, and several boxes of water, instant noodles and (nutritionally dense) biscuits, and I haven't stocked up too much," Zhang told VOA Mandarin in a phone interview last week. He said he bought his groceries online because the supermarket was crowded.

Ms. Yao, who lives in the Chaoyang district, told VOA Mandarin that she had been stocking up on necessities since the beginning of this year, after the Ministry of Commerce recommended that everyone do so. She asked that VOA Mandarin not use her full name because she wanted to avoid official retribution.

"I have always maintained a good habit of reserving food. So I have a lot of rice, noodles and oil at home," she said, adding that she figured her family would be fine even if Beijing locked down for a month.

And while Beijing has not yet closed the city, citizens' lives have been disrupted.

On April 28, the Beijing Chaoyang District Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital issued a notice that the outpatient and emergency departments of the hospital would suspend the admission of patients.

On the same day, Chaoyang Hospital, one of the largest hospitals in Beijing, announced on its official Weibo account that its emergency department would also suspend the admission of patients. Weibo is China's equivalent of Twitter.

Angry Chinese netizens left more than 800 messages under the official WeChat account "Beijing Headline."

"Why do you stop the emergency room as soon as there is a new COVID case, and how many people will be killed due to the secondary disaster caused by the COVID?" a netizen asked in a Weibo post.

Some Beijing residents said they were not worried about a Shanghai-like lockdown.

"Basically, I'm not afraid," said Mr. Wang, who asked VOA Mandarin to not use his full name so he could avoid attracting authorities' attention. "The party, government and military are here, and the people are here."

However, Wang told VOA Mandarin, in mid-October last year, after one person in his apartment building was diagnosed as positive, about 600 people from more than 200 families were forced into isolation at several hotels in the Changping district for 21 days.

Wang and his wife were not allowed to share a room at their hotel.

What particularly puzzled and annoyed Wang was that on the last day of the mandatory hotel quarantine, in addition to routine nasal and oral swabs during testing, authorities added anal swabs to the regimen.

Source: Voice of America