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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40006202

U.N. pushed for moratorium on uses of artificial intelligence that infringe on human rights

The rapid evolution of artificial-intelligence-based technologies and their adoption by businesses and governments have outpaced efforts to hold them to human rights standards, Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights, warned Wednesday.

She called for a moratorium on artificial intelligence systems that could put human rights at risk – at least until stronger safeguards are in place internationally.

“We cannot afford to continue playing catch-up regarding AI – allowing its use with limited or no boundaries or oversight, and dealing with the almost inevitable human rights consequences after the fact,” she said in a statement.

The remarks came alongside the publication of a report by the U.N. Human Rights Council analyzing the human rights risks posed by a range of AI-powered technologies – including profiling, automated decision-making and machine learning. The consequences of unfettered proliferation of such technologies could be “catastrophic,” Bachelet said.

The report also pointed out that data sets used by AI can have historical racial and ethnic biases embedded, which can perpetuate, or enhance, discrimination.

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Many AI tools seek to predict outcomes, assess risk and provide insights into patterns of behavior on an individual or societal scale. The report raised warnings of a “digital welfare dystopia” in which data-matching could automate decisions about welfare benefits entitlements, loan access or home visits from child-care services – with human rights implications.

Technologies used by law enforcement, including national security and border management officials, are particularly fraught. AI systems can mine criminal arrest records, crime statistics, social media posts and travel records to profile people and identify sites of increased criminal or even terrorist activity, triggering criminal interventions, “even though AI assessments by themselves should not be seen as a basis for reasonable suspicion,” the report argues.

Bachelet did not call for an outright ban on facial recognition technology – using human features including face, fingerprint, iris and voice to identify individuals – but urged a moratorium on the use of real-time remote biometric recognition until rights provisions can be agreed upon.

The report did not call out any countries by name, but AI technologies in some places around the world have raised human rights flags in recent years, according to experts.

China has come under sharp criticism for mass surveillance, using AI technology with few checks – particularly in the Xinjiang region, where the Chinese Communist Party has for decades systematically sought to oppress and assimilate members of the Uyghur ethnic minority group.

Chinese tech giant Huawei tested AI systems, using facial recognition technology, that would send automated “Uyghur alarms” to police once a camera detected a member of the minority group, The Post reported last year. Huawei responded that the language used to describe the capability had been “completely unacceptable,” yet the company had advertised ethnicity-tracking efforts.

Technology can allow authorities to systematically identify and track individuals in public spaces, affecting the right to freedom of expression, of peaceful assembly and of movement, Bachelet said.

Fear of such surveillance affected protesters in Myanmar this year, Reuters reported. In March, Human Rights Watch criticized the Myanmar military junta’s usage of a public camera system, provided by Huawei, that used facial and license plate recognition to alert the government of individuals on a “wanted list.”

Human Rights Watch last year denounced a system in Buenos Aires that published personal data including photos of child suspects with open arrest warrants. The information was used by a facial recognition software operating in some city subway stations, the organization said.

Bachelet’s statement echoed growing global concerns. Portland, Oregon, last September passed a broad ban on facial recognition technology, including uses by local police. The European Commission in April proposed a ban the use of AI for tracking individuals and ranking their behavior. Amnesty International launched the “Ban the Scan” initiative to ban the use of facial recognition by New York City government agencies.

“The power of AI to serve people is undeniable, but so is AI’s ability to feed human rights violations at an enormous scale with virtually no visibility,” Bachelet said, calling for greater transparency, systematic assessment and monitoring of the effects of AI. “Action is needed now to put human rights guardrails on the use of AI, for the good of all of us.”

Published : September 16, 2021

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40006169

UK to offer booster COVID-19 vaccines to over-50s

Booster COVID-19 vaccine rollout will start in Britain next week.

The country’s vaccine advisory body said a third dose should not be given until six months after a person has received a second shot.

Booster COVID-19 jabs will be offered to people aged 50 and over, those in care homes, and frontline health and social care workers, the British government announced Tuesday.

Britain’s vaccine advisory body, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said a third dose should not be given until six months after a person has received a second shot.

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“I can confirm I’ve accepted the JCVI’s advice and the NHS (National Health Service) is preparing to offer booster doses from next week,” British Health Secretary Sajid Javid told the House of Commons, lower house of the British parliament.

He also announced that the booster program, made up of Pfizer and Moderna doses, would start next week for people aged over 50, who received their second dose six months ago, to protect against the virus “for the long-term”.

People walk past a rapid COVID-19 testing center in London, Britain, Aug. 30, 2021.

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JCVI Chair Wei Shen Lim told a press conference that a recurrent booster every six months may not be needed but it is too early to say. He added that the booster advice is just for this winter and younger people may not need a booster, but the JCVI will advise on that at a later date.

England’s deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam warned of a “bumpy” winter despite the vaccines having been “incredibly successful”.

“We know that this winter could quite possibly be bumpy at times and we know that other respiratory viruses such as flu and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) are highly likely to make their returns,” said Van-Tam.

More than 89 percent of people aged 16 and over in Britain have had their first dose of vaccine and about 81 percent have received both doses, the latest figures showed.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines.

A man walks across London Bridge in London, Britain, Aug. 30, 2021.

Published : September 15, 2021

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https://www.nationthailand.com/blogs/international/40006168

LatAm forests key to environmental sustainability, food security: FAO

“Forests have a strategic role to play in the future resilience of food systems. Sustainable forest products allow for increased social, economic and environmental benefits,” he said in a statement issued from the FAOs regional office for Latin America and the Caribbean in Santiago, Chile, as part of conclusions from the 32nd Session of the Latin American and Caribbean Forestry Commission (LACFC).

Forests in Latin America and the Caribbean are key to environmental sustainability and food security, said a UN official on Monday.

Julio Berdegue, regional representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), highlighted the importance of forests in improving people’s livelihoods, counteracting the impacts of climate change and halting biodiversity loss.

“Forests have a strategic role to play in the future resilience of food systems. Sustainable forest products allow for increased social, economic and environmental benefits,” he said in a statement issued from the FAO’s regional office for Latin America and the Caribbean in Santiago, Chile, as part of conclusions from the 32nd Session of the Latin American and Caribbean Forestry Commission (LACFC).

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According to the FAO, forests provide ecosystem services that are crucial for agriculture, such as regulating river flow, protecting the soil and replenishing groundwater.

South America lost 2.6 million hectares of forest each year from 2010 to 2020, the second highest rate in the world, after Africa, according to FAO data.

The LACFC also underlined the importance of access to land and resources, and forest investment, and how these can improve the wellbeing of women, youth and indigenous communities.

The 32nd LACFC Session took place on Sept. 6-10, with Jamaica serving as host country, and was attended by more than 100 experts.

Published : September 15, 2021

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40006163

Putin, Raisi agree to strengthen Russian-Iranian ties

Putin and Raisi exchanged views on the current situation regarding the Iran nuclear deal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi, agreed on Tuesday to deepen mutually beneficial relations in various fields between the two countries.

During a phone conversation, the two leaders noted the successful development of trade and economic ties and well-established cooperation in the fight against COVID-19, the Kremlin said.

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Putin and Raisi exchanged views on the current situation regarding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal.

They also discussed issues of working within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Published : September 15, 2021

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40006160

Only 2 pct of worlds COVID-19 vaccines administered in Africa: WHO

COVAX has also faced several challenges which, according to the WHO, were triggered by manufacturers prioritizing bilateral deals and many high-income countries tying up the global supply of vaccines.

Less than 3.5 percent of Africans have been vaccinated against COVID-19, which is far short of the official target of 60 percent.

Africa has been “left behind by the rest of the world” as only two percent of the more than 5.7 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses administered globally have been administered there, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday, warning the world against vaccine inequity.

The WHO’s aim is to vaccinate at least 40 percent of the population of every country by the end of this year and 70 percent by the middle of next year. However, only two countries in Africa have reached the 40-percent target, the lowest of any region, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at an online press briefing.

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“That’s not because African countries don’t have the capacity or experience to roll out COVID-19 vaccines. It’s because they have been left behind by the rest of the world,” he said.

Last year, the WHO and its partners launched COVAX, the global initiative to ensure fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. To date, it has delivered more than 260 million vaccine doses to 141 countries. However, COVAX has also faced several challenges which, according to the WHO, were triggered by manufacturers prioritizing bilateral deals and many high-income countries tying up the global supply of vaccines.

Photo taken on Sept. 8, 2021 shows a tag about trees planted at a memorial garden dedicated to those who lost their lives due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Cape Town, South Africa.

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According to John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who also attended the briefing, less than 3.5 percent of Africans have been vaccinated against COVID-19, which is far short of the official target of 60 percent.

“This leaves people at high risk of disease and death, exposed to a deadly virus against which many other people around the world enjoy protection,” Tedros said.

“The longer vaccine inequity persists, the more the virus will keep circulating and changing, the longer the social and economic disruption will continue, and the higher the chances that more variants will emerge that render vaccines less effective,” he warned.

The WHO, the African Union and COVAX have been calling on vaccine manufacturers to prioritize the COVAX program and urging countries to fulfill their dose-sharing pledges and facilitate the sharing of vaccine technology and intellectual property.

In August, the WHO also called for a global moratorium on booster vaccine doses at least until the end of September to prioritize vaccinating the most at-risk people around the world who are yet to receive their first dose. As vaccine inequity continues to persist, it then called for an extension of the moratorium until at least the end of the year to enable every country to vaccinate at least 40 percent of their populations. 

A medical worker takes a swab sample for COVID-19 test in Rabat, Morocco, on Sept. 13, 2021.

Published : September 15, 2021

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40006159

Lack of equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines is public health tragedy: Bill Gates

“We face the very real risk that in the future, wealthy countries and communities will begin treating COVID-19 as yet another disease of poverty. We cant put the pandemic behind us until everyone, regardless of where they live, has access to vaccines,” Bill Gates said.

The lack of equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines is a public health tragedy though the fast development and deployment of COVID-19 vaccines help avert some of the worst-case scenarios in regards to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, according to philanthropist Bill Gates.

“We face the very real risk that in the future, wealthy countries and communities will begin treating COVID-19 as yet another disease of poverty. We can’t put the pandemic behind us until everyone, regardless of where they live, has access to vaccines,” Bill Gates, co-chair of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said on Monday.

More than 80 percent of all COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in high- and upper-middle-income countries to date, with some securing two to three times the number needed so they can cover boosters, according to the latest annual Goalkeepers Report by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

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By contrast, less than 1 percent of COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in low-income countries.

Further, COVID-19 vaccine access has been strongly correlated with the locations where there is vaccine research and development and manufacturing capability. Though Africa is home to 17 percent of the world’s population, for example, it has less than 1 percent of the world’s vaccine manufacturing capabilities, according to a release by the foundation.

A South Sudanese woman receives AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at Juba Teaching Hospital in Juba, capital of South Sudan, April 7, 2021.

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The report calls for the world to invest in research and development, infrastructure, and innovation in places closer to the people who stand to benefit.

“We must invest in local partners to strengthen the capacity of researchers and manufacturers in lower-income countries to create the vaccines and medicines they need,” said Mark Suzman, chief executive officer with the foundation.

The report shows that disparities caused by COVID-19 remain stark, and those who have been hardest hit by the pandemic will be the slowest to recover.

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed as much as 31 million people into extreme poverty in the world within 2020 compared to 2019, said the release. And while 90 percent of advanced economies will regain pre-pandemic per capita income levels by 2022, only a third of low- and middle-income economies are expected to do so.

However, the world stepped up to avert some of the worst-case scenarios on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, according to the report.

New analysis from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington shows that the decline in global vaccine coverage due to the COVID-19 pandemic was only half of what was anticipated a year ago, said the release.

To ensure a truly equitable recovery from the pandemic, the world needs long-term investments in health and economies like the ones that led to the rapid development of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the report.

This year’s report is co-authored by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, co-chairs of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is one of the largest charitable foundations in the world. 

Photo taken on March 5, 2021 shows AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccines from COVAX vaccine sharing program being unloaded from a plane at Entebbe International Airport, Uganda.

Published : September 15, 2021

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40006158

COVID-19 lockdown extended in Australian capital amid battle against 3rd wave

The COVID-19 lockdown in Australias capital city Canberra has been extended until Oct. 15 as the country continues to battle the third wave of infections.

The COVID-19 lockdown in Australia’s capital city has been extended by a month as the country continues to battle the third wave of infections.

Andrew Barr, chief minister of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), said on Tuesday that Canberra will remain in lockdown until Oct. 15.

Restrictions were due to end on Friday after 36 days in lockdown but Barr said the risk to the community remained high.

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On Tuesday morning, Australia reported 1,595 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19.

New South Wales (NSW), Australia’s most populous state with Sydney as the capital city, reported 1,127 new cases and two deaths.

“There have been 186 COVID-19 related deaths in NSW since June 16, 2021,” said the statement from NSW Health.

Photo taken on Sept. 14, 2021 shows an empty street in front of the Old Parliament House in Canberra, Australia.

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Victoria, the second-most populous state with Melbourne as the capital city, reported a further 445 new local cases.

There were 22 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the ACT, only two of which were in quarantine for their entire infectious period.

It takes the number of active cases in the national’s capital to 252.

Photo taken on Sept. 14, 2021 shows a thoroughfare in Canberra, Australia.

The ongoing COVID-19 infections in the surrounding NSW area is one of the reasons for the extended lockdown in ACT, according to Barr.

“New South Wales has been problematic for the nation throughout this process,” Barr said.

“Given we are a jurisdiction sitting wholly within that state, and we are seeing incursion of the virus outside of the Greater Sydney area.”

It takes the number of active cases in the national’s capital to 252.

The ongoing COVID-19 infections in the surrounding NSW area is one of the reasons for the extended lockdown in ACT, according to Barr.

“New South Wales has been problematic for the nation throughout this process,” Barr said.

“Given we are a jurisdiction sitting wholly within that state, and we are seeing incursion of the virus outside of the Greater Sydney area.”

A man walks on a street in Canberra, Australia, Sept. 14, 2021.

Published : September 15, 2021

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40006155

Asean sees slightly fewer new Covid cases, more deaths

The number of Covid-19 cases in Southeast Asia crossed 11.12 million, with 64,297 new cases reported on Tuesday, lower than Monday’s tally of 67,017.

But there were an 1,382 deaths, increasing from Monday’s 1,341 and taking total coronavirus deaths in Asean to 245,468.

Singapore reported 837 new cases on Tuesday, bringing cumulative cases in the city-state to 73,130 patients and a total 58 deaths.

The Public Health Ministry announced that its vaccine expert team is researching the possibility of using a non-mRNA vaccine as a booster shot. The ministry currently recommends that those over 60 years get a booster shot after they have received two doses of Covid-19 vaccine within 6-9 months.

Meanwhile, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen posted on his Facebook page that he and his wife received their third shots of Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday.

He said almost 780,000 people in Cambodia have already had their third jab, while the overall vaccination rate in the country is at 71 per cent. Hun Sen insisted that all citizens would eventually get a booster shot.

Cambodia reported 657 new cases and nine deaths on Tuesday, bringing cumulative cases there to 100,790 patients and a total 2,058 deaths.

Published : September 15, 2021

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40006154

Vladimir Putin self-isolates after covid exposure but has not tested positive, Kremlin says

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he will self-isolate after individuals close to him tested positive for the coronavirus.

The news came from the Kremlin in a transcript of a call between Putin and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, where Putin said he will attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, planned later this week in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe, virtually instead of in person.

The Kremlin also said Putin is “absolutely healthy” and has so far not tested positive for the coronavirus. The Russian president was vaccinated against the coronavirus in March with his country’s own Sputnik V.

Putin met in person with Syrian President Bashar Assad at the Kremlin on Monday. Assad said he and his wife had and recovered from covid-19 in March.

Published : September 15, 2021

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40006153

British government to start booster shots for vulnerable populations next week

LONDON – The British government on Tuesday announced a Plan A and a Plan B for getting through the challenging autumn and winter months in the face of a stubborn pandemic driven by the highly contagious delta variant.

The hope is that Plan A will be enough. As part of it, the government will offer free booster shots to 30 million people to protect front-line health workers, those older than 50 and any other medically vulnerable people.

However, if the virus begins to spread exponentially and threatens to overwhelm hospitals during flu season, Plan B might be required. In that case, the government said, it was prepared to reinstate restrictive measures, including mandatory mask-wearing in crowded spaces and the use of vaccine passports to allow people to go to large events and nightclubs.

The news that booster shots are coming follows an announcement Monday night that the government would offer vaccines to all children ages 12 to 15.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the booster program would begin next week in England, with the rest of the country expected to quickly follow suit.

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Speaking in the House of Commons, Javid said some of the emergency powers Parliament introduced in 2020 as Britain went into the first of its pandemic-induced lockdowns would be repealed. But others would be kept as part of Plan B.

This included contingency measures such as legally mandating face masks – a remark that prompted one Conservative lawmaker to cry out “No!” – and pressing people to work from home. Javid also said that although plans to introduce vaccine passports in October for large gatherings have been paused, “we will be holding that power in reserve.”

At news conferences from 10 Downing Street on Monday and Tuesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his scientific advisers stressed that the pandemic was ongoing and that the coming months would be about “living with the virus” and “getting through the winter.”

Johnson said it was vital to get the remaining vaccine holdouts – about 5 million people – to come forward to get vaccinated.

The first booster shots will be offered at mass vaccination sites and will start with those in nursing homes and those over 80 before proceeding down through the age groups, health experts said.

Britain is the ninth country, including the United States, to announce a booster campaign. But its decision-making has been closely watched, since Britain has been conducting some of the most extensive studies on coronavirus boosters.

The government has been reviewing data from those studies as it devised its policy, though the findings have yet to be made public.

The booster will be given to those whose second dose of the two-dose regimen was at least six months ago. Britain will offer a full dose of the Pfizer vaccine or a half-dose of the Moderna vaccine as a booster. In the United States, the question of whether Moderna boosters should be given as full or half doses has delayed authorization.

Britain’s homegrown vaccine developed by Oxford researchers, in partnership with the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, will not be used here as a booster.

British health experts, citing ongoing studies about side effects and efficacy, said the messenger RNA vaccines – Pfizer and Moderna – appear a better option for a booster than the AstraZeneca shot.

“We all want a normal winter life,” said Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam, but he cautioned that the world was still in an active phase of the pandemic and that the cold months could be “bumpy at times,” especially if this winter produces a bad flu season.

Other respiratory viruses are “highly likely to make their return,” he added, so the “aim of the game, the mantra if you like, is to stay on top of things.”

The World Health Organization has said that wealthy nations with large supplies of coronavirus vaccines should hold off on giving booster doses until more countries in the developing world can access first doses.

Medical experts advising the British government said offering boosters for those older than 50 – as opposed to the entire population – was a reasonable “middle way.”

Van-Tam said Britain’s vaccination program has helped stop 24 million covid-19 cases and averted 112,000 deaths. He also stressed that this was a “bespoke” booster campaign and was intended for this winter only.

Wei Shen Lim, a leader of the Joint Committee on Vaccines and Immunization, said evidence shows that vaccine efficacy especially wanes over time among people older than 50. He gave the example of a vaccine that was 90% effective in the weeks after a second dose at stopping symptomatic covid-19 but only 80% effective after six months.

That 10% decrease in protection might not sound like much for an individual, but at a broader population level, it could mean many thousands more hospitalized.

Infection rates in Britain are about 10 times as high today as a year ago. But deaths have plummeted as more than 80% of those older than 16 are protected by vaccines. The country is recording more than 100 coronavirus deaths a day, far lower than in January, when there were more than 1,200 coronavirus deaths a day.

On Monday, health officials confirmed that all children ages 12 to 15 will be offered a single dose of a coronavirus vaccine in England, discounting earlier advice that the shots were of only “marginal” medical benefit to youths.

Britain has lagged behind other wealthy countries, including the United States, which have been immunizing those 12 and older through most of the summer.

Just 10 days ago, Britain’s top vaccine task force recommended against vaccinating 12- to 15-year-olds, saying the shots were safe and effective but not really worth it for children and young teens, who rarely suffer from severe covid-19 but would risk very rare serious side effects from the vaccine.

The British chief medical officers said Monday that the risks to children were not only medical and that a vaccine would help protect them from the “massive impact” of missing classes, caused when teachers or students who test positive must isolate at home for 10 days or when schools – as they have in the past – are closed to in-person learning.

Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, said at a news conference that there was “extremely powerful evidence that disruption in education . . . has been extraordinarily difficult for children.”

Whitty stressed that the recommendation to offer vaccination was based only on what was best for the children and was not an attempt to protect parents, teachers or the wider society from infection.

The decision for England to begin giving single doses of the Pfizer vaccine at school – which is about 50% effective in protecting against symptomatic covid-19 – was confirmed by Nadhim Zahawi, the vaccines minister, to lawmakers Monday night.

As in the case of booster shots, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are likely to follow in coming days.

Both children and parents will be asked to give consent, following a law established in the 1980s that gives competent young people a final say.

Published : September 15, 2021