Australia | InsideOjodu

Australia bans TikTok on government devices

Hafeestonova — Tue, 04 Apr 2023 07:57:10 +0000

Australia said Tuesday it would ban TikTok on government devices, joining a growing list of Western nations cracking down on the Chinese-owned app due to national security fears.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the decision followed advice from the country’s intelligence agencies and would begin “as soon as practicable”.

Australia is the last member of the secretive Five Eyes security alliance to pursue a government TikTok ban, joining its allies the United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand.

France, the Netherlands and the European Commission have made similar moves.

Dreyfus said the government would approve some exemptions on a “case-by-case basis” with “appropriate security mitigations in place”.

Cyber security experts have warned that the app — which boasts more than one billion global users — could be used to hoover up data that is then shared with the Chinese government.

Surveys have estimated that as many as seven million Australians use the app — or about a quarter of the population.

In a security notice outlining the ban, the Attorney-General’s department said TikTok posed “significant security and privacy risks” stemming from the “extensive collection of user data”.

Fergus Ryan, an analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said stripping TikTok from government devices was a “no-brainer”.

“It’s been clear for years that TikTok user data is accessible in China,” Ryan told AFP.

“Banning the use of the app on government phones is a prudent decision given this fact.”

Ryan said Beijing would likely “perceive it as unfair treatment of and discrimination against a Chinese company”.

The security concerns are underpinned by a 2017 Chinese law that requires local firms to hand over personal data to the state if it is relevant to national security.

Beijing has denied these reforms pose a threat to ordinary users

China “has never and will not require companies or individuals to collect or provide data located in a foreign country, in a way that violates local law”, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in March.

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Australia to remove Chinese-made cameras from defence sites

Hafeestonova — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 09:39:14 +0000

Australia’s defence department will strip its buildings of Chinese-made security cameras to ensure they are “completely secure”, the government said on Thursday.

It follows similar moves in the United States and Britain, which have taken measures to stop government departments installing Chinese-made cameras at sensitive sites.

Both countries have expressed fears that Chinese companies could be forced to share intelligence collected by the cameras with Beijing’s security services.

At least 913 Chinese-made cameras have been installed across more than 250 Australian government buildings, according to official figures compiled by opposition politician James Paterson.

This includes offices and facilities belonging to the departments of defence, foreign affairs and finance, as well as the attorney-general’s department.

Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said officials would hunt down and remove all Chinese-made security cameras within its buildings.

“It’s a significant thing that’s been brought to our attention and we’re going to fix it,” he told national broadcaster ABC.

“It’s important that we go through this exercise and make sure that our facilities are completely secure.”

The government-funded national War Memorial — a sprawling 14-hectare (35 acres) complex in the capital Canberra — also confirmed it would remove a small number of Chinese-made cameras through an “abundance of caution”.

Other government agencies declined to comment, or referred back to Marles’ statements.

Paterson, a vocal critic of the Chinese government, had said Australian government buildings were “riddled” with “spyware”, and that every Chinese-made camera should be urgently ripped out.

The cameras were made by companies Hikvision and Dahua, which have been blacklisted in the United States for allegedly helping the Chinese government carry out a “campaign of repression”.

According to the US Department of Commerce, Hikvision and Dahua have been implicated in the “high-technology surveillance” of the Uyghur minority in the Xinjiang region.

The US banned the importation of surveillance equipment made by the two companies in November last year because it posed “an unacceptable risk to national security”.

In Britain, a group of 67 MPs and lords called for the government to ban Hikvision and Dahua in July last year, following reports their equipment had been used to track Uyghurs.

It was a Hikvision CCTV camera that caught former health secretary Matt Hancock kissing an aide in violation of Covid rules in June 2021, leading to his resignation.

Hikvision said it was “categorically false” to paint the company as “a threat to national security”.

“No respected technical institution or assessment has come to this conclusion,” the company told AFP in a statement.

“Our products are compliant with all applicable Australian laws and regulations and are subject to strict security requirements.”

Australia in 2018 was one of the first countries in the world to block Chinese telco Huawei from its 5G cellphone network.

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who made the decision, said it would help Australia “defend our own sovereignty”.

Similar Huawei bans are now in place in the US, Britain and Canada — which along with New Zealand and Australia form the secretive Five Eyes spying alliance.

Australia’s centre-left government has been trying to repair its relationship with China since coming to power in May last year.

China slapped hefty tariffs on key Australian exports in 2020 at the height of a bitter dispute with the former conservative government.

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Australia to remove British monarch from banknotes

Hafeestonova — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 11:41:17 +0000

Australia will erase the British monarch from its banknotes, replacing the late Queen Elizabeth II’s image on its $5 note with a design honouring Indigenous culture, the central bank said Thursday.

The decision to leave her successor King Charles III off the $5 note means no monarch would remain on Australia’s paper currency.The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) said it would consult Indigenous people on a new design that “honours the culture and history of the First Australians”.

Queen Elizabeth’s death on September 8 last year was marked by public mourning in Australia but some Indigenous groups also protested against the destructive impact of colonial Britain, calling for the abolition of the monarchy.

Australia is a constitutional monarchy, a democracy with Charles III as its head of state. A referendum proposing a switch to a republic was narrowly defeated in 1999.

The central bank said its decision was supported by the centre-left Labor government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who favours an eventual move to an Australian republic.

The new banknote would take “a number of years” to be designed and printed, it said, with the existing $5 note remaining legal tender even after the new design is in people’s hands

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Breaking News: Nigeria draw Australia, Ireland, Canada at FIFA Women’s W’Cup

Hafeestonova — Sat, 22 Oct 2022 09:20:14 +0000

Nigeria will face Australia, Ireland and Canada in the group phase of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup following the draw which took place in Auckland on Saturday.

Holders and four-time champions the United States will face the Netherlands while Megan Rapinoe’s United States will also meet debutants Vietnam and a play-off winner at the finals in Australia and New Zealand.

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Australia announces ‘second phase’ of Russia sanctions over Ukraine assault

Hafeestonova — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 10:35:03 +0000

Australia hit Russia with a “second phase” of sanctions on Thursday over its assault on Ukraine, the first salvo in an expected battery of new international measures to punish Moscow.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison condemned Russia’s “illegal invasion” as he announced sanctions against 25 individuals, four entities involved in developing and selling military gear, and restrictions on four financial institutions.

“Vladimir Putin has fabricated a feeble pretext on which to invade. Russia’s disinformation and propaganda has convinced no one,” Morrison said.

He flagged further waves of sanctions would be imposed “as we identify those responsible for these egregious acts”, including against 300 members of the Russian parliament.

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COVID-19: Australia approves second vaccine for children

Hafeestonova — Thu, 17 Feb 2022 10:44:54 +0000

Australia’s medical regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), said on Thursday that it has provisionally approved the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for use in individuals aged six years and older.

The decision follows the provisional approvals granted by the TGA to Moderna for the use of the vaccine, SPIKEVAX, in individuals aged 12 years and older in September 2021.

“As for other age groups, the use of this vaccine in children aged six to 11 years should be administered as two doses at least 28 days apart,” the TGA said in a statement.

It said a lower dose of 0.25 mL (50 micrograms) will be given to children six to11 years, compared to the 0.5 mL (100 micrograms) dose used for those 12 years and older.

SPIKEVAX now joins Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine as the recommended vaccine for Australian children.

Australia on Thursday reported more than 25,000 new COVID-19 cases and more than 60 deaths, including 39 in Queensland, 14 in New South Wales, and nine in Victoria.

According to the department of health data, there were 2,738 cases being treated in hospitals on Wednesday including 223 in intensive care.

In recent days, Australia’s parliament has been hit by a coronavirus outbreak.

Pat Conroy, the opposition Labor party’s international development spokesperson, became the fourth member of parliament in 24 hours to test positive for COVID-19.

“On Wednesday afternoon, in Canberra for Parliament, I took a PCR test on advice from parliamentary officials, this test has come back positive for COVID.I am double vaxxed with a booster and will follow the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) health directions, please stay safe,” Conroy wrote on social media.

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France blast US for snubbing it nuclear submarine deal with U.K and Australia

Hafeestonova — Thu, 16 Sep 2021 14:30:01 +0000

France has angrily reacted after being left out of an agreement between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia to give Australia nuclear-powered submarines.

On Wednesday, September 15, U.S. President Biden joined British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in announcing the creation of an enhanced trilateral security partnership, called “AUKUS”, which involves sharing highly sensitive nuclear submarine technology with Australia.

The White House said “As the first initiative under AUKUS, recognizing our common tradition as maritime democracies, we commit to a shared ambition to support Australia in acquiring nuclear-powered submarines for the Royal Australian Navy. Today, we embark on a trilateral effort of 18 months to seek an optimal pathway to deliver this capability. We will leverage expertise from the United States and the United Kingdom, building on the two countries’ submarine programs to bring an Australian capability into service at the earliest achievable date.”

The announcement of the partnership is widely perceived as a challenge to China’s authority in the region and the Chinese embassy quickly responded to the news.

“Exchanges and cooperation between countries should help expand mutual understanding and trust,” Countries should do more things that are conducive to solidarity and cooperation among countries and regional peace and stability. Meanwhile, they should not build exclusionary blocs targeting or harming the interests of third parties. In particular, they should shake off their Cold-War mentality and ideological prejudice.” the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. said in a statement

But France blasted the US and UK for not involving it in the deal.

In a statement issued by French Minister Of Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian and Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly, the country said the decision announced on Wednesday “is contrary to the letter and spirit of the cooperation that prevailed between France and Australia, based on a relationship of political trust as well as on the development of a very high-level defence industrial and technological base in Australia.”

“The American choice to exclude a European ally and partner such as France from a structuring partnership with Australia, at a time when we are facing unprecedented challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, whether in terms of our values or in terms of respect for multilateralism based on the rule of law, shows a lack of coherence that France can only note and regret,” the statement continued.

The statement went on to call the announcement “regrettable.”

“The regrettable decision that has just been announced regarding the FSP program only reinforces the need to make the issue of European strategic autonomy loud and clear,” the joint statement said. “There is no other credible way to defend our interests and our values in the world, including in the Indo-Pacific.”

France added that it is the “only European nation present in the Indo-Pacific with nearly two million citizens and more than 7,000 military personnel.”

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Finland ranks as the world’s happiest country for 4th year in a row

Hafeestonova — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 08:27:24 +0000

Finland has been ranked as the happiest country in the world for the fourth year in a row despite the COVID-19 pandemic, according to this year’s World Happiness Report.

The World Happiness Report, which was launched in 2012, is an annual survey conducted by the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network. The survey ranks global happiness in countries around the world.

The happiness index included surveys on how countries have dealt with the coronavirus pandemic that has shaken the world for more than a year.

On this year’s report, Iceland came in second, followed by Denmark, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.

See the World’s 20 Happiest Countries.

Finland

Iceland

Denmark

Switzerland

Netherlands

Sweden

Germany

Norway

New Zealand

Austria

Israel

Australia

Ireland

United States

Canada

Czech Republic

Belgium

United Kingdom

China

France

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Google set to pay Publishers for news content

Alice Babalola — Thu, 25 Jun 2020 11:27:20 +0000

Google will pay partnered media publishers in three countries and offer some users free access to paywalled news sites, the tech giant said Thursday.

The announcement comes after legal battles in France and Australia over Google’s refusal to pay news organizations for content.

In a blog post the firm said they would launch “a licensing program to pay publishers for high-quality content for a new news experience” due to launch later this year.

Brad Bender, Google’s vice-president of product management, said they had been in discussions with partnered publishers — including the Spiegel Group in Germany, Schwartz media in Australia and Brazil’s Diarios Associados — for several months, “with more to come.”

“Google will also offer to pay for free access for users to read paywalled articles on a publisher’s site,” the statement said, without offering any further details.

Bender said the program will help publishers “monetize their content through an enhanced storytelling experience.”

He added it would build on the 2018 Google News Initiative, a $300 million project that aimed to tackle disinformation online and help news sites grow financially.

It comes after growing calls for internet tech titans, notably Google, to pay for content.

A number of European and global publications — including AFP — have called on the European Union to adopt laws requiring internet companies to pay for the material they produce.

In April, France’s competition regulator said the firm must start paying media groups for displaying their content, ordering it to begin negotiations after refusing for months to comply with Europe’s new digital copyright law.

And earlier this month, Google rejected an Australian ruling that it pay hundreds of millions of dollars per year in compensation to local news media under a government-imposed revenue-sharing deal.

Source: Channels (Agency report)

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US charges against Wikileaks’ founder Julian Assange ‘political’

James Ma — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 19:47:56 +0000

Lawyers for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told a London court Thursday that he should not be extradited to the United States to face spying charges because the offences he is accused of being political in nature.

U.S. authorities accuse Assange of scheming with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to break a password for a government computer and leak hundreds of thousands of classified documents.

Assange’s attorney, Edward Fitzgerald, said the 48-year-old Australian is protected by a 2007 extradition treaty between Britain and the U.S.

“We say that there is in the treaty a ban on being extradited for a political offence and that these offences as framed, and indeed in substance, are political offences,” Fitzgerald said at a court hearing.

Assange spent almost seven years holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to avoid a rape investigation in Sweden. He was arrested by British police in April after Ecuador withdrew his asylum status and jailed for jumping bail when he sought shelter inside the embassy in 2012.

Assange remains in custody at London’s Belmarsh Prison while he fights extradition. Fitzgerald said Assange’s defence team would call up to 21 witnesses at the full extradition hearing next year.

He said the evidence being submitted would cover the case of Manning, medical evidence, Assange’s prison conditions and ongoing Spanish legal proceedings relating to the alleged “bugging of the conversations with his lawyers in the Ecuadorian Embassy.”

Fitzgerald reiterated complaints that Assange’s lawyers were having “great problems” seeing him in prison.

Last month more than 60 doctors wrote to the British government expressing concerns about Assange’s health and his fitness to stand trial.

Assange appeared at Thursday’s case management hearing by video link from prison. He spoke to confirm his name and date of birth, then sat with his head bowed, occasionally closing his eyes during the 45-minute proceedings.

The full extradition hearing is scheduled to begin Feb. 24 and could take four weeks.

Swedish authorities dropped the rape probe last month, citing the many years that have elapsed since the accusation was made over nine years ago.

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