Friday, March 14

Types of News: Brief

News briefs are shorter stories about current events. It’s the who-what-when-and-where. “Just the facts, ma’am.” Please see our writers guidelines.

Biden Aims To Secure U.S.-Based Critical Minerals
24Feb By Jacob DavenportNo Comments
Climate Action, ESG, Sustainable Finance, Globalization, Global Disintegration, Types of News: Brief

Biden Aims To Secure U.S.-Based Critical Minerals

Feb. 24, 2022--U.S. President Joe Biden met with corporate executives, labor leaders, and California Governor Newsom on Tuesday to announce a commitment to reduce America’s dependency from other nations for critical minerals like lithium and graphite. It is part of Biden's review of U.S. supply chains, which started with an executive order in 2021. The goal, according to the White House statement, is to reduce dependency on China. While moving toward self-sufficiency, the White House is focused on creating sustainable jobs within this industry while benefiting communities. The private sector is taking action. Corporate leaders discussed their plans to extract, collect and recycle critical minerals. Industry Advances Along that line, this Spring, Berkshire Hathaway Energy Renewable...
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International Community Responds to Russia’s Breach of Ukraine’s Borders
23Feb By Patti MohrNo Comments
Diplomacy, International Law, Legal Battles, Sanctions, Types of News: Brief

International Community Responds to Russia’s Breach of Ukraine’s Borders

February 23, 2022—The international community rallied support for Ukraine and joined the United States in issuing new sanctions against Russia. It comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into rebel-held regions of eastern Ukraine after recognizing them as independent states. Today, leaders from Poland and Lithuania stood by the side of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a news conference as he asked for an "immediate and harsh" response by the international community. And respond, they did. The European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia and Canada announced new sanctions against Russia. This follows yesterday's announcement by U.S. President Joe Biden about the "first tranche of sanctions." In some cases, like those in the United Kingdo...
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UK Moves One Step Closer To Trans-Pacific Trade Deal
23Feb By Jacob DavenportNo Comments
Global Trade, Types of News: Brief

UK Moves One Step Closer To Trans-Pacific Trade Deal

February 23, 2022—Since beginning negotiations to join one of the world’s largest trade agreements last Summer, the United Kingdom reached a major milestone this month. Signing new trade deals is a significant goal for Britain's post-Brexit strategy. After eight months of talks, the United Kingdom is moving to the final stages of joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. That's because a CPTPP Accession committee approved moving Britain into the second phase of negotiations. The Japanese government, which is chairing the Accession Committee for the UK, confirmed that step on Feb. 18. 'Largest Free Trading Club' UK's Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan commented on the significance of joining the trade deal. "CPTPP is one of the large...
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US, Japan And South Korea Issue Statement For ‘Free And Open Indo-Pacific’
14Feb By Jacob DavenportNo Comments
Diplomacy, Foreign Aid, International Development, International Law, Legal Battles, Sanctions, Types of News: Brief

US, Japan And South Korea Issue Statement For ‘Free And Open Indo-Pacific’

Leaders Condemn Missile Launches By DPRK February 14, 2022--Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii on Saturday, the top diplomats for the United States, Japan, and South Korea released a joint statement promising to collaborate on an Indo-Pacific strategy. The statement comes after North Korea (DPRK) launched nine ballistic missiles in the month of January, challenging the Biden Administration. U.S. Strategy for the Indo-Pacific In response to that and other diplomatic challenges, namely by China, President Joe Biden released a new strategy this month for the Indo-Pacific region. The strategy suggests the United States is stepping up its diplomacy, foreign assistance and participation in regional organizations to counter China's growing influence in the East and South China Seas. U.S....
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Hundreds Of NGOs Pressure Olympics Sponsors For Action
8Feb By Ramsha ZubairiNo Comments
Diplomacy, Domestic Politics, Human rights, Organizations, IMF, WTO, G7, Types of News: Brief

Hundreds Of NGOs Pressure Olympics Sponsors For Action

Photo by Chinese-Australian Artist Badiucao for the Human Rights Watch February 8, 2022—As Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 commenced on February 4 in China, more than 240 non-governmental organizations from around the world joined hands to demand answers from the corporate sponsors of the games. "It’s not possible for the Olympic Games to be a ‘force for good,’ as the International Olympic Committee claims, while the host government is committing grave crimes in violation of international law," said Sophie Richardson, a director at Human Rights Watch, in a news release. According to the HRW, human rights advocates have documented scores of abuses by China since the Olympic committee selected Beijing for the 2022 Winter Games. These include: Arbitrary detention, torture, and forced...
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EU Backs Lithuania Against China Trade Restrictions
2Feb By Patti MohrNo Comments
Diplomacy, Global Trade, International Law, Legal Battles, Types of News: Brief

EU Backs Lithuania Against China Trade Restrictions

EU Commissioner meets with the Lithuanian president. Lithuania's Recognition of Taiwan is at the Center of the Trade Spat February 2, 2022--The European Union opened a dispute in the World Trade Organization against China in defense of EU-member Lithuania. The request for dispute consultations alleges that China restricted trade with Lithuania in violation of international rules governing trade. According to the EU, the trade restrictions are "novel, numerous, recurrent, and persisting" and "show a targeted prohibition or restriction" against Lithuanian goods and services. Furthermore, the complaint says, trade restrictions impact supply chains throughout the EU. Finally, the EU claims the restrictions violate the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT). 'No Othe...
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Military Forces Prepare For The Worst In And Around Ukraine
25Jan By Patti MohrNo Comments
Diplomacy, Types of News: Brief

Military Forces Prepare For The Worst In And Around Ukraine

Negotiations Between Russia And the West Continue Even As Military Forces Prepare For Conflict January 25, 2022--Negotiations between Russia and the United States, Europe, and the NATO Alliance quickly slipped from fair to bad to worse last week, and yet diplomatic talks continue. Ukraine is at the center of attention. At issue is its territorial integrity as well as its future military allegiance and alliance. Ukraine is a former Soviet state about one and a half the size of the state of California. It borders seven countries: Russia, Belarus, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova. Boundaries, NATO & Tensions For years, if not decades, it's been caught between a geopolitical struggle between Russia and the West. But tensions in that struggle have never been w...
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House Committee Passes Bill On Digital Privacy Research
21Jan By Jacob DavenportNo Comments
Big Tech, Digital Economy, Types of News: Brief

House Committee Passes Bill On Digital Privacy Research

January 21, 2022--The House Science, Space and Technology Committee conducted a full committee markup of digital privacy legislation on Wednesday. H.R. 847, the "Promoting Digital Privacy Technologies Act," would prompt the National Science Foundation to sponsor research on privacy-enhancing technologies and promote responsible data use. Reps. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., and Anthony Gonzalez, R-Ohio, sponsored the bipartisan bill. The committee considered three amendments. The first two amendments were proposed by Rep. Stevens. The first amendment supported research for Privacy and Enhancing Technologies (PETS) whereas the second amendment suggested technical corrections to the definition of PETS and shifted the focus to mitigating privacy risks. The third and final amendment propo...
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Status of the World’s Vaccination Levels
15Jan By Patti MohrNo Comments
Global Economics, Organizations, IMF, WTO, G7, Types of News: Brief, Types of News: Infographic

Status of the World’s Vaccination Levels

Vaccination Status Varies Widely By Country January 15, 2022--With the recent toss up over tennis great Novak Djokovic's vaccination status in the land down under, it is worth looking at the wider story of the vaccine distributions around the world. In terms of global health and economic recovery from the 2020-2022 pandemic, there is no issue more relevant than vaccine distribution. Even though the current makeup of vaccines are not strong enough to prevent infection with the Omicron variant, as the World Health Organization acknowledged this week, anecdotal evidence suggests they still prevent worst-case scenarios for the people who catch it. The maps below show which countries are on track for achieving mass vaccination and which are not. In the first picture, the depiction show...
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World Health Organization Recommends New COVID-19 Vaccines
12Jan By Patti MohrNo Comments
Globalization, Global Disintegration, Organizations, IMF, WTO, G7, Types of News: Brief

World Health Organization Recommends New COVID-19 Vaccines

Omicron Variant Marks A New Cycle In Vaccine Manufacturing To ensure vaccines intended to prevent COVID-19 work, manufacturers should update the compositions of the current vaccine, according to a 16-member technical advisory group for the World Health Organization. The recommendation comes as the Omicron variant of COVID-19 sweeps through communities around the world. In a statement issued yesterday, the technical advisory group encouraged vaccine developers to study immune responses for their vaccines against the new variants of concern. To date, there are five known variants of concern:  Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Omicron. "While the Omicron variant is spreading rapidly across the world, the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 is expected to continue and Omicron is unlikely to be the la...
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