Tag Archives: Finland

Did WHO official just admit Vaccine Passports were a scam?!

Did a WHO official just admit that vaccine passports were a scam?! Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!

Claim : WHO Official Admits Vaccine Passports Were A Scam!

People are sharing an article (archive) by The Expose (formerly The Daily Expose), which claimed that a WHO (World Health Organization) official just admitted that vaccine passports were a scam!

Here is an excerpt of the long and (intentionally?) confusing article. Feel free to skip to the next section for the facts!

WHO Official Admits Vaccine Passports May Have Been a Scam

Testifying in a lawsuit, WHO’s leading vaccine expert said she advised against COVID vaccine passports as the vaccines did not stop transmission and gave a false sense of security. The World Health Organization’s Dr. Hanna Nohynek testified in court that she advised her government that vaccine passports were not needed but was ignored, despite explaining that the COVID vaccines did not stop virus transmission and the passports gave a false sense of security.

The stunning revelations came to light in a Helsinki courtroom where Finnish citizen Mika Vauhkala is suing after he was denied entry to a café for not having a vaccine passport.

Dr. Nohynek is chief physician at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare and serves as the WHO’s chair of Strategic Group of Experts on immunization. Testifying yesterday, she stated that the Finnish Institute for Health knew by the summer of 2021 that the COVID-19 vaccines did not stop virus transmission

But Dr. Nohynek testified yesterday that her institute advised the Finnish government in late 2021 that COVID passports no longer made sense, yet certificates continued to be required. Finnish journalist Ike Novikoff reported the news yesterday after leaving the Helsinki courtroom where Dr. Nohynek spoke.

Dr. Nohynek’s admission that the government ignored scientific advice to terminate vaccine passports proved shocking as she is widely embraced in global medical circles. Besides chairing the WHO’s strategic advisory group on immunizations, Dr. Nohynek is one of Finland’s top vaccine advisors and serves on the boards of Vaccines Together and the International Vaccine Institute.

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Truth : WHO Official Did Not Admit Vaccine Passports Were A Scam!

This is yet another example of fake news created / promoted by The Expose, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : Dr. Hanna Nohynek Is Not WHO Official

Let me start by pointing out that Dr. Hanna Nohynek is not a WHO official. She is the Chief Physician and Deputy Head of the Infectious Diseases Control and Vaccines Unit of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare.

Dr. Hanna Nohynek is also the chairperson of the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE), but that does not make her a WHO official.

SAGE comprises of 15 members, who serve in their personal capacity, and are not WHO employees or officials. Neither do they represent the WHO, or speak on its behalf. The SAGE team only advises the WHO on overall global policies and strategies on vaccines and immunisation.

Fact #2 : Dr. Hanna Nohynek Did Not Call Vaccine Passports A Scam

As far as we can tell – Dr. Hanna Nohynek did not call COVID-19 vaccine passports a scam. There is no transcript of her testimony in court that I can find yet. Certainly, no one has provided a transcript of what she testified in court.

These claims appear to be based on a video by Ike Novikoff (archive) telling us what Dr. Nohynek testified in court, and this was what he said:

[She] testified that the Finnish Institute of Health was aware already latest by the summer of 2021 and possibly earlier that the COVID-19 vaccines do not stop the transmission or prevent infection fully.

She also testified that the Institute advised the Finnish government by the end of the year 2021, that there was no basis to continue the COVID Pass. The government continued anyway, demanding the COVID Pass of its citizens. She said that the COVID Pass gave a false feeling of security.

As you can see, even Ike Novikoff never said that Dr. Hanna Nohynek called the vaccine passports a scam. If what Ike Novikoff reported was accurate, she only said that because the COVID-19 vaccines cannot fully stop the transmission or infections, the COVID Pass was no longer useful.

I should point out that it also clearly shows that the Finnish government exercised its sovereignty, and controversially its independence of experts like Dr. Nohynek, when it decided to continue with its COVID Pass.

However, I must point out that this is merely based on reporting by Ike Novikoff. Dr. Hanna Nohynek’s alleged testimonial in court has yet to be confirmed or verified.

Fact #3 : Dr. Hanna Nohynek Did Not Call Vaccines Ineffective

According to Mikko Korhonen (archive), a Finnish commentator who heard what she said on the court audio recordings, Dr. Hanna Nohynek did not call the COVID-19 vaccines ineffective.

She stated that they had around 50% efficacy against infections, and 90% efficacy against severe disease.

Because you obviously can’t check the story, why spread lies? She definitely didn’t call the vaccines ineffective. Take this from someone who can actually understand what she says on the court audio recordings. She said they had around 50 % efficacy (infection), 90 % (severe).

This would accurately reflect the COVID-19 vaccines’ efficacy against the Delta variant that was spreading globally at that time. So this isn’t “shocking” news by any means.

Obviously, the COVID-19 vaccines were effective in preventing hospitalisation and death from severe disease.

Fact #4 : COVID-19 Vaccines Did Reduce Transmission

The COVID-19 vaccines were primarily designed to prevent death and hospitalisation from SARS-CoV-2 infections. Blocking transmission was not even an end point in any of the COVID-19 vaccine trials – it would be a nice bonus, but the key thing was to prevent deaths and severe disease.

In the end, the COVID-19 vaccines did reduce transmission, albeit not completely. For example, Israeli researchers (here and here) showed that the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine was reducing transmission of the coronavirus.

Whether it is 75 or 90 percent reduction doesn’t matter – it is a big drop in transmission.

It means that not only is the individual vaccinated protected, the inoculation also provides protection to his or her surroundings

– Michal Linial, Professor of Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics, Hebrew University

Of course, new COVID-19 variants eroded the vaccines’ protection against infections and transmission. But the COVID-19 vaccines continue to provide protection against infection and transmission.

Fact #5 : The Expose Is Known For Fake News

Like Real Raw News and The People’s Voice, The Daily Expose is a website that capitalises on making shocking but fake or misleading stories to generate page views and money. It was later rebranded as The Expose.

Founded in November 2020 by Jonathan Allen-Walker – a welder from Lincolnshire, The Expose / Daily Expose is infamous for publishing COVID-19 and vaccine misinformation.

Its articles have been regularly debunked as fake news or misinformation, so you should NEVER share anything from Daily Expose / The Expose. Here are some of its stories that I personally debunked earlier:

Everything posted by The Expose / Daily Expose must be considered fake news, until proven otherwise.

Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out, and please SUPPORT our work!

Don’t forget to protect yourself, and your family, by vaccinating against COVID-19!

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Did WHO Admit Vaccine Passports Were A Scam?!

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Did the WHO just admit that vaccine passports were a scam?! Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!

Claim : WHO Admits Vaccine Passports Were A Scam!

People are sharing an article (archive) by The People’s Voice (formerly NewsPunch), which claimed that the WHO (World Health Organization) just admitted that vaccine passports were a scam!

Here is an excerpt of the long and (intentionally?) confusing article. Feel free to skip to the next section for the facts!

World Health Organization Admits Vaccine Passports Were a Scam

The World Health Organization (WHO) has admitted that vaccine passports were a massive scam designed to erode the sovereignty of countries and strip away the freedoms of citizens worldwide.

Dr. Hanna Nohynek, chairwoman of the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE), made the startling revelation during an April 11 testimony in a Helsinki courtroom. She also serves as the chief physician in the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare’s (THL) Department of Health Security.

Infowars.com reports: According to the expert, she advised the Finnish government that COVID-19 vaccine passports were unnecessary. Nohynek argued that the injections only gave a false sense of security and did not stop transmission, adding that the THL knew the latter by the summer of 2021.

However, the government simply turned a deaf ear to her advice and ignored her recommendation to terminate vaccine passports – something she found “shocking.”

Nohynek’s testimony came as a result of Finnish citizen Mika Vauhkala’s lawsuit. The plaintiff filed the case after he was denied breakfast at a cafe in the Finnish capital in December 2021. Vauhkala was refused entry to the establishment for not having a vaccine passport, even though he was healthy.

In a website discussing his case, Vauhkala explained that he filed the lawsuit “to defend basic rights.” He continued: “The constitution of Finland guarantees that any citizen should not be discriminated against based on health conditions among other things.”

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Truth : WHO Did Not Admit Vaccine Passports Were A Scam!

This is yet another example of fake news created / promoted by The People’s Voice, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : WHO Did Not Admit Vaccine Passports Were A Scam

Let me start by quickly pointing out that the WHO (World Health Organization) never admitted or said that vaccine passports were “a scam designed to erode the sovereignty of countries and strip away the freedoms of citizens worldwide“.

If that actually happened, it would have been reported worldwide. Yet, no legitimate media reported on such a shocking admission. That’s because it never happened.

Unsurprisingly, The People’s Voice article did not provide any actual evidence that the WHO admitted that vaccine passports were a scam.

Fact #2 : Dr. Hanna Nohynek Is Not WHO Official

While the The People’s Voice article suggested that Dr. Hanna Nohynek was a WHO official, that’s not accurate.

Dr. Hanna Nohynek is the Chief Physician and Deputy Head of the Infectious Diseases Control and Vaccines Unit of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare.

Dr. Hanna Nohynek is also the chairperson of the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE), but she is not a WHO official.

Fact #3 : Dr. Hanna Nohynek Did Not Call Vaccine Passports A Scam

These claims appear to be based on a video by Ike Novikoff (archive) telling us what Dr. Nohynek testified in court, and this was what he said:

However, I must point out that this is merely based on reporting by Ike Novikoff. Dr. Hanna Nohynek’s alleged testimonial in court has yet to be confirmed or verified.

Fact #4 : Dr. Hanna Nohynek Did Not Call Vaccines Ineffective

According to Mikko Korhonen (archive), a Finnish commentator who heard what she said on the court audio recordings, Dr. Hanna Nohynek did not call the COVID-19 vaccines ineffective.

She stated that they had around 50% efficacy against infections, and 90% efficacy against severe disease.

This would accurately reflect the COVID-19 vaccines’ efficacy against the Delta variant that was spreading globally at that time. So this isn’t “shocking” news by any means.

Obviously, the COVID-19 vaccines were effective in preventing hospitalisation and death from severe disease.

Fact #5 : Vaccine Passports Do Not Infringe On Sovereignty

Claims that vaccine passports infringe on national sovereignty is also nonsensical, as vaccine passports were created by national or regional governments, like the EU Digital COVID Certificate.

Such COVID-19 vaccine passports were not initiated or implemented by the WHO. Instead, it is up to each individual country, to determine whether to implement such vaccine passports. That’s the very definition of national sovereignty.

Fact #6 : The People’s Voice Is Known For Fake News

The People’s Voice is the current name for NewsPunch, which possibly changed its name because its brand has been so thoroughly discredited after posting numerous shocking but fake stories.

Founded as Your News Wire in 2014, it was rebranded as NewsPunch in November 2018, before becoming The People’s Voice. A 2017 BuzzFeed report identified NewsPunch as the second-largest source of popular fake news on Facebook that year.

Its articles have been regularly debunked as fake news, so you should never share anything from NewsPunch / The People’s Voice. Here are some of its fake stories that I fact checked earlier:

Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out, and please SUPPORT our work!

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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WEF Ordered Russian Ban On Owning Foreign Property?!

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Did the WEF order governments in Europe to ban Russians from owning foreign property?!

Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!

Claim : WEF Ordered Russian Ban On Owning Foreign Property!

People are sharing an article (archive) by The People’s Voice (formerly NewsPunch), which claimed that the WEF order governments in Europe to ban Russians from owning foreign property!

Here is an excerpt from the article, which is long and (intentionally?) rambling. Feel free to skip to the next section for the facts!

WEF Orders Govt’s To Ban ALL Russians From Owning Property

The World Economic Forum has ordered government’s in Europe to completely ban all Russians from purchasing or owning properties outside of Russia.

The WEF-controlled nation of Finland has become the first EU nation to implement the WEF’s new policy by completely banning Russian citizens from owning real estate in the country.

According to Young Global Leader and Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen, the Finnish government has formed a cross-administrative working group tasked with assessing the possibility of a complete ban on real estate acquisition by Russians and preparing the final legislation.

Hakkanen said earlier that he expected the changes to cover not only the sales of property but also rentals. The working group is expected to devise the legislation by March 31, 2024. Moscow has not yet commented on this development.

Finnish authorities have blocked four property sales to Russians on security grounds so far. Three occurred in October 2023, and one more involving a “partially Russian-owned company” earlier in January. According to media reports, Helsinki has also been considering confiscating real estate already owned by Russians.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called these plans “another confirmation of the Russophobic nature of the policy of the current Finnish authorities, who disregard the rule of law.” She warned that such actions will not go unanswered.

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WEF Did Not Order Russian Ban On Owning Foreign Property!

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created / promoted by The People’s Voice, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : WEF Did Not Order Russian Ban On Owning Foreign Property

Let me start by pointing out that the World Economic Forum (WEF) did not order any foreign government to ban all Russians from purchasing or owning foreign property outside of Russia.

There is also no such WEF policy, new or old, of “completely banning Russian citizens from owning real estate” in countries outside of Russia. The People’s Voice article certainly offered no evidence to back up its “fact checked” claim.

The World Economic Forum is a non-governmental organisation (NGO), and has no power over governments. It can lobby governments, but it cannot decide on their policies, or order them to do anything.

Fact #2 : Finland Is Still Working On Russian Property Ban

The People’s Voice article claimed that Finland is the first EU nation to implement the WEF policy of banning Russian citizens from owning foreign real estate. That’s simply not true.

In fact, it undermined its own claim by quoting Finland Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen, who said that the Finnish government was “assessing the possibility of a complete ban on real estate acquisition by Russians“, and that the working group is expected to “devise the legislation by March 31, 2024“.

To be clear – Finland has not implemented any such ban on ownership or purchase of property by Russian citizens.

Even when the legislation is finalised, it has to be voted on by the Parliament of Finland, and can only be implemented if it passes with a majority vote.

Fact #3 : Finland Property Restrictions Started In 2020

Finland’s decision to restrict Russian ownership and/or rental of real estate did not begin with the recent World Economic Forum‘s 2024 annual meeting.

Finland actually started restricting foreign property ownership in 2020, for non-EU citizens. Since then, any non-EU citizen who wishes to purchase real estate in Finland must obtain a special licence from the Ministry of Defence.

But after Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Finland further tightened control of its real estate, with legislative amendments that give authorities broader powers to cancel real estate transactions that are necessary to protect national security.

Finland used existing legislation to block three real estate deals with Russian buyers on 10 January 2024.

Fact #3 : Finland Property Restrictions Extend Beyond Russians

What The People’s Voice article does not tell you is that Finland requires permits for the sale of real estate to “persons and companies outside the EU and the EEA (European Economic Area).

In other words – Finland isn’t just targeting Russian citizens. Its restrictions on real estate transactions extend to other foreigners and foreign corporations as well, since 2020.

On 4 November 2022, the Finland Ministry of Defence announced the creation of a special group to explore additional restrictions on real estate transactions for citizens of countries outside the EEA, including their complete ban.

Fact #5 : Russian Property To Be Confiscated For Non-Payment

The People’s Voice article also does not tell you that Finland has proposed making it easier to confiscate property owned by Russian citizens, because many have not been paying their fees and taxes.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the European Union imposed banking and payment sanctions that have made it difficult for Russian citizens to make payments on their real estate in Finland. In particular, unpaid maintenance fees and other expenses have led to problems in Finnish condominiums.

We cannot remain in this kind of everlasting stalemate in these cases just because we cannot get a certain notification delivered through official channels.

– Finnish Justice Minister Leena Meri

Currently, Russian property owners in Finland cannot be legally ousted for unpaid bills unless an official notification threatening confiscation can be physically delivered to them. The amended rules would allow electronic notifications to suffice.

Fact #6 : The People’s Voice Is Known For Publishing Fake News

The People’s Voice is the current name for NewsPunch, which possibly changed its name because its brand has been so thoroughly discredited after posting numerous shocking but fake stories.

Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out, and please SUPPORT our work!

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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
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Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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WithSecure Signs Partnership Agreement With LGMS!

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Finland’s WithSecure Corporation just signed a partnership agreement with LGMS Berhad to develop cybersecurity solutions for the SME market in Malaysia!

WithSecure Signs Partnership Agreement With LGMS

On Wednesday, 1 November 2023, Finland’s WithSecure Corporation (formerly known as F-Secure Business) signed a partnership agreement with LGMS Berhad (LGMS) to develop cybersecurity solutions for the SME market in Malaysia!

The partnership agreement was signed by LGMS Executive Chairman Fong Choong Fook and WithSecure Corporation CEO Juhani Hintikka, who flew in from Finland to emphasise its importance while demonstrating support for the progress of Malaysia’s Digital Economy.

The signing was witnessed by Malaysia Deputy Communications and Digital Minister Teo Nie Ching, together with His Excellency Sami Leino, Ambassador of Finland to Malaysia and Brunei.

The Deputy Minister said that the partnership was ‘timely’, and represents a ‘significant leap’ towards a secured Digital Economy, and more so ahead of the National Cybersecurity Bill the Unity Government is set to unveil in early-2024.

This partnership is also aligned with the government’s ‘Ekonomi Madani’ vision of attracting significant foreign direct investments and generating avenues for technological advancements and innovations.

It serves to demonstrate how collaborative efforts can facilitate a robust, secure and prosperous digital ecosystem, thereby solidifying Malaysia’s position as a preferred destination for global tech investments.

The partnership agreement today between LGMS and WithSecure embodies a philosophy of attracting significant foreign direct investments and generating avenues for technological advancements and innovations.

– Malaysia Deputy Communications and Digital Minister Teo Nie Ching

WithSecure CEO Juhani Hintikka expressed his ‘deepest appreciation’ to the Deputy Minister for endorsing this partnership, stating, “Your presence significantly amplifies the resonance of this initiative, showcasing a unified front in our endeavour to foster a secure and prosperous Digital Economy for Malaysia and also the region.”

WithSecure – LGMS Partnership Agreement Details

WithSecure is today a leading international cybersecurity group which had also invested significantly in Malaysia and in nurturing local talent. Besides its headquarters in Helsinki, Finland, WithSecure houses its intelligence, customer support, business operations and shared services in Kuala Lumpur for its Asia-Pacific operations.

LGMS Berhad, meanwhile, has been recognised as Cybersecurity Malaysia’s ‘Company of the Year’ with Fong himself being acknowledged as ‘Cybersecurity Professional of the Year’.

Fong said that, within today’s Digital Economy, cyberthreats and ransomware attacks have become more sophisticated and rampant and potential damages to SMEs, who often lack the necessary IT expertise and resources, can be catastrophic.

Most SMEs today are just one cyber attack away from a devastating setback or even closure. Recognising that most SMEs might not possess advanced IT know-how, our collaboration with WithSecure aims to deliver cybersecurity solutions that are not only robust but also intuitive and user-friendly.

The purpose is to empower our SME community to navigate the digital landscape confidently and securely.

– LGMS Executive Chairman Fong Choong Fook

This localised cybersecurity approach underscores WithSecure’s understanding of the region’s unique digital ecosystem and our commitment to crafting solutions that align with local business needs. It embodies WithSecure’s ethos of merging global cybersecurity expertise with local insights to foster a safer digital realm.

– WithSecure Corporation CEO Juhani Hintikka

One product of this partnership is the ‘Made in Malaysia’ StarSentry solution – a plug-and-play model that is more than just a ‘shield’ for SMEs but offers a proactive approach to threat prevention.

This solution is also aligned with broader sustainability goal and embraces the ESG framework of safeguarding critical infrastructures, nurturing a secure digital community and reinforcing stringent governance standards, demonstrating an unwavering commitment to responsible, transparent business operations.

Pre-orders for the solution can already be made.

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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How WithSecure Offensive Security Drives Business Resilience!

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Find out how WithSecure harnesses the power of offensive security to drive business resilience and enhance protection for its clients!

WithSecure Drives Business Resilience Through Offensive Security!

WithSecure (formerly known as ‘F-Secure Business’) is harnessing the power of offensive security in its co-security and co-monitoring products and services. This revolutionary approach is designed to anticipate and mitigate cyber threats by understanding them from an attacker’s perspective.

During the SPHERE security conference 2023, WithSecure’s Chief Product Officer, Antti Koskela, shed light on their game-changing offering called ‘attack surface management.’ This managed service offers a comprehensive view of vulnerabilities in a company’s cloud-based estate.

As a result, WithSecure’s focus on the digital perimeter empowers businesses to reduce their overall attack surface, enhancing their cybersecurity posture in the ever-evolving threat landscape.

How WithSecure Offensive Security Drives Business Resilience!

WithSecure also introduced three groundbreaking services that amplify their commitment to ‘outcome-based security’ and ‘co-security’. This groundbreaking development was revealed by WithSecure Executive Vice President (Solutions) Scott Reininga, also at the SPHERE security conference 2023.

Reininga underscored WithSecure’s unparalleled expertise in offensive security, revealing that they are the home of one of the world’s most proficient offensive security teams. This team, a fusion of penetration testers (pentesters), red, blue and purple teamers, has profound knowledge of adversary tactics, tradecraft, and techniques.

Penetration testing is a cybersecurity practice that aims to discover vulnerabilities in a system by simulating controlled attacks. Their goal is not to cause damage but to pinpoint weaknesses for rectification. This proactive method, which can involve exploiting software vulnerabilities or simulating social engineering tactics, is key in any comprehensive cybersecurity strategy, offering a practical evaluation of potential risks rather than a theoretical one.

Our relentless pursuit of research and system testing allows us to uncover system vulnerabilities proactively. This crucial data is the building block of our products that are proactive, minimally disruptive, and crafted from the perspective of an attacker.

– Scott Reininga, WithSecure Executive Vice President (Solutions)

These insights were unveiled by Reininga during his recent product launch event titled ‘Co-security and co-managed services for partners’. He was joined on stage by WithSecure Vice President (Offering and Customer Experience) Niko Isotalo.

Expanding on WithSecure’s strategic approach, Isotalo said that the company’s outcome-based security framework model “connects Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and board members, offering clarity about the interplay between security outcomes and business objectives.”

This alignment clarifies the indispensable role of security in the core business framework to board members.

– Niko Isotalo, WithSecure Vice President (Offering and Customer Experience)

Reininga and Isotalo unveiled the three new offerings during their joint session. The first, termed “co-monitoring,” is a partnership model. WithSecure validates the genuineness of security incidents before alerting the duty manager, effectively curbing false alarms.

WithSecure collaborates with clients to supervise their digital ecosystems, particularly during periods when they are stretched thin on resources. This service, providing support beyond standard working hours, can also deliver round-the-clock monitoring if necessary.

Isotalo further introduced the second service, incident readiness software, recognising that many organisations lack comprehensive incident readiness plans.

Our software simplifies the creation, testing, and updating of such plans, which serve as essential shields against cyber threats.

Focusing on the urgency of immediate incident response, Reininga introduced the third service, an incident response retainer.

Our incident response retainer provides unlimited incident response within the critical initial 72 hours of an event. We eliminate the need for negotiation about budget and resource allocation.

We engage consultants rapidly, supported by our globally lauded 24/7 incident response team and top-tier threat intelligence unit, guaranteeing our customers industry-leading service level agreements (SLAs).

By integrating offensive security acumen, co-monitoring capabilities, incident readiness software, and swift incident response, WithSecure empowers organisations to effectively safeguard their digital assets and curtail the impact of potential breaches.

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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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WithSecure Takes Offensive Security Approach To Cloud Threats!

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WithSecure is harnessing the power of the offensive security approach in tackling evolving cloud threats!

WithSecure Takes Offensive Security Approach For Cloud Threats!

In a shifting cybersecurity landscape, WithSecure (formerly known as ‘F-Secure Business’) is harnessing the power of offensive security in its co-security and co-monitoring products and services. This revolutionary approach is designed to anticipate and mitigate cyber threats by understanding them from an attacker’s perspective.

During the recent SPHERE security conference 2023 in Helsinki, Finland, WithSecure’s Chief Product Officer, Antti Koskela, shed light on this approach.

We’ve done identity assessments for many cloud-based companies, unveiling weaknesses in their cloud platforms.

Our offensive security approach is about understanding the attack surface of a cloud-based estate. We focus on the digital perimeter, which is crucial to reducing the overall attack surface.

Koskela went on to explain that WithSecure has distilled this insight into an innovative managed service offering called ‘attack surface management’. This service provides a comprehensive view of a company’s vulnerabilities, including IP addresses, port vulnerabilities, exposed APIs and web services, identity matters, patching levels and more.

With more open architecture, control over your attack surface becomes paramount. ‘Zero trust’ alone isn’t the answer as human errors happen. Our holistic approach helps mitigate this.

WithSecure’s product suite integrates various cloud-native solutions to deliver protection based on specific client requirements. This collaborative process, termed ‘co-security’, is driven by the security and business outcomes defined by the clients. Koskela emphasised the tripartite focus of their solution:

It’s about process, people, and technology. We collaborate to secure the outcomes, letting company directors steer the course of business.

Our WithSecure Elements platform is the cornerstone of our technology, built collaboratively with our clients.

Koskela acknowledged the evolution of the IT industry, from client-server in the ‘90s to hosted services in the 2000s, cloud computing in the 2010s and cloud-native in the 2020s. He underscored the need for a new security approach to match the evolving business environments:

The cloud offers agility, speed, cost-efficiency. But with new technologies come new security considerations.

WithSecure has been proactive, creating solutions for every technological shift – be it firewalling and endpoint protection during the hosted services era, or data security and VPNs for the cloud computing era.

And now, with the rise of cloud-native tech, we’re helping clients to understand and secure their digital perimeter through our offensive security approach.

WithSecure Chief Product Officer, Antti Koskela (left), and APAC Regional Director Yong Meng Hong (right)

WithSecure Elements Picking Up In APAC

Since its mid-2021 debut, WithSecure’s Elements platform has gained considerable momentum here in Malaysia and the broader Asia-Pacific region. This comprehensive cybersecurity platform has made its mark by providing organisations with a unified solution to their security needs.

Elements equips enterprises with the insight, adaptability, and technology to tackle evolving threats and changing business environments.

Offering unified endpoint protection across devices, clouds and servers, Elements consolidates everything from vulnerability management and collaboration protection to detection and response into one easy-to-navigate security console.

– WithSecure Asia-Pacific Regional Director Yong Meng Hong

Yong further emphasised that the cloud-based Elements platform provides real-time visibility across an entire IT infrastructure, simplifying how enterprises manage their cybersecurity.

Flexible licensing options, including fixed-term subscriptions and usage-based billing, ensure that organizations can tailor their cybersecurity services according to their specific needs.

Elements offers centralised management capabilities, giving IT managers a comprehensive overview of their enterprise’s IT infrastructure, enhancing their reassurance and control.

Today, WithSecure is globally recognised, trusted by a myriad of enterprises to safeguard against cyber threats, while also protecting tens of millions of consumers through over two hundred service providers and telecommunications partners.

For organisations looking to navigate the cloud’s security challenges, WithSecure’s offensive security approach could be just the safeguard they need.

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Avanade + Accenture: 2023 Microsoft Global SI Partner of the Year!

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Avanade and Accenture have just been named 2023 Microsoft Global SI Partner of the Year, for the 18th time!

Avanade + Accenture: 2023 Microsoft Global SI Partner of the Year!

Avanade and Accenture have been named 2023 Microsoft Global SI Partner of the Year. This is the 18^th time that Avanade and Accenture received the Global SI Partner of the Year recognition from Microsoft.

In total, Avanade and Accenture received close to 120 Partner of the Year awards across various technology and country categories throughout their history, for helping clients transform their employee and customer experiences by creating and delivering leading-edge solutions using Microsoft solutions.

Both companies were also recognised with 17 other awards including Malaysia Partner of the Year and Singapore Partner of the Year.

Dynamics 365 Sales & Marketing Partner of the Year
Low Code Application Development Partner of the Year
Automotive, Mobility and Transportation Partner of the Year
Customer Experience Partner of the Year
Malaysia Country Partner of the Year
Singapore Country Partner of the Year
Germany Country Partner of the Year
Greece Country Partner of the Year
France Country Partner of the Year
Portugal Country Partner of the Year
UK Country Partner of the Year
Denmark: Azure Core: Cloud Infrastructure Partner of The Year
Finland: GSI Growth Champion Partner of The Year
Asia Pacific: Azure Data & AI Partner of the Year
Asia Pacific: Azure Infrastructure Partner of the Year
Singapore: Financial Services Industry Partner of The Year
Japan: Energy and Resources Partner of the Year

The companies were also named finalists in the following five categories: Retail & Consumer Goods Partner of the Year; Dynamics 365 Finance Partner of the Year; Dynamics 365 Services Partner of the Year; Security Compliance Partner of the Year; Business Intelligence Partner of the Year

The unique partnership between Avanade, Accenture and Microsoft truly enables us to do what matters for our clients – building more resilience in a world of continuous change, empowering employees to embrace new ways of working, strengthening customer experience and now, guiding them on their journey to an ‘AI-first’ world.

Being recognized as Microsoft’s Global SI Partner of The Year for the 18th time is a remarkable achievement that is only possible because of our people all over the world who, every day, bring unrivalled expertise, experience and insights to help our clients solve their toughest business challenges.

– Avanade CEO Pam Maynard

Avanade + Accenture Collaborates With Microsoft On AI

Avanade, Accenture and Microsoft recently announced an expansion of their close collaboration to help organizations adopt the disruptive power of generative AI, accelerated by the cloud, to fundamentally transform their businesses.

By tapping into the new Accenture Center for Advanced AI, with its deep focus on generative AI and large language models, and the new Avanade AI Organizational Readiness Framework, the companies can help their clients take advantage of generative AI for safe and responsible innovation at scale.

Over the past year, we’ve expanded our partnership with Microsoft by helping more clients transform their organizations through the adoption of data and AI, cloud, metaverse, sustainability and other technologies.

Together with Avanade, we take great pride in helping clients accelerate change to achieve new growth and value, and we look forward to an exciting journey forward with Microsoft.

– Chris Howarth, Senior Managing Director and Accenture Microsoft Business Group Lead

Combined, Avanade and Accenture now have more than 65,000 professionals dedicated to delivering Microsoft technologies.

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Did Western Ambassadors Evacuate Before Turkey Earthquake?!

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Did Western countries collude to strike Turkey with an earthquake, and evacuated their embassies and ambassadors before it happened?!

Take a look at the viral claims, and find out what the facts really are!

Claim : Western Ambassadors Evacuated Before Turkey Earthquake!

Conspiracy theorists are claiming that Western countries colluded to strike Turkey with an earthquake, and evacuated their embassies and ambassadors before it happened!

UPDATED: List of the countries with leading ambassadors that left Turkey 24 hrs before the earthquakes struck.

1. USA
2 Canada
3. Britain
4. Germany
5. Belgium
6. Italy
7. Holland
8. France
9. Denmark
10. Australia

Coincidence? 👀

The earthquake was caused by a DEW (Direct Energy Weapon) that beamed onto the fault lines. 2 anomalies suggest that the earthquake was man-made. 1) Quakes of such magnitude are usually deep – around 30km deep. These were shallow, about 10 km.

2) There were 2 high magnitude quakes one after another – 7.8 and 7.5 on the Richter scale. Very unusual. There were hardly any other aftershocks between or after the second quake. Turkey has been trying to leave NATO, and has also been blocking Finland’s and Sweden’s entry into NATO. The quakes were a warning to Turkey to behave or else.

Another anomaly was that 15-20 minutes before the first quake, all the underground gas and oil pipelines in that region were shut off.

Show less

Even David “Avocado” Wolfe got in on this conspiracy theory :

List of countries that pulled their ambassadors out of Turkey 24 hours before the earthquake.

✓Canada
✓USA
✓Britain
✓Germany
✓Belgium
✓Italy
✓Holland
✓France

Nothing suspicious here
-Black Conspiracy Reality

No Evidence Western Ambassadors Evacuated Before Turkey Earthquake!

This is just FAKE NEWS created by conspiracy theorists to capitalise on the massive earthquake that devastated Turkey and Syria on February 6, 2023.

Fact #1 : No Evidence Western Ambassadors Evacuated Before Earthquake

While conspiracy theorists confidently rattle off the list of eight countries, they did not actually provide any evidence that those countries evacuated their ambassadors.

There is no evidence, whether from credible media reports, or even social media posts, that any ambassador fled Turkey just before the earthquake hit.

Fact #2 : Six Of The Embassies Refuted The Claim

Reuters reached out to all eight embassies in Turkey about these claims that they were evacuated before the earthquake, and six responded.

Representatives of the embassies of Canada, Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherland, and France, told Reuters by email that the allegations are false. The US and Belgian embassies in Turkey have yet to respond.

Fact #3 : Western Ambassadors Seen In Turkey After Earthquake

Several Western ambassadors were seen in photos taken soon after the massive earthquake hit Turkey (here, here, here, here, here, and here).

Fact #4 : Embassies Temporarily Closed Over Terror Threats

The viral claims are sometimes linked to an article by Arab News, which point to the closure of Western embassies three days before the earthquake hit Turkey and Syria.

However, anyone who bothered to read the article would realise that those countries temporarily closed their embassies or issued travel warnings, following a series of far-right protests in Europe, which included several incidents of burning copies of the Quran.

That decision to temporarily close the embassies came right after Turkish police arrested 15 Daesh suspects who were accused of targeting consulates and non-Muslim houses of worship.

The closure of the embassies had nothing to do with the earthquake that came three days later. There is also no evidence that any ambassador or embassy employee was evacuated from Turkey over these security threats.

I should also point out that the US embassy in Turkey did not close over these perceived terror threats.

Fact #5 : Directed Energy Weapons Did Not Cause Earthquake

There is no evidence that Western countries used Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) to cause the earthquake on February 6, 2023.

Directed Energy Weapons is a “catch-all” term referring to weapons that use energy, instead of projectiles, like laser, microwave, particle beams, and sound beams.

While it sounds impressive, directed energy weapons are nowhere near powerful enough to cause earthquakes. Their power also decreases exponentially with range, so they can only be used at relatively close ranges.

Fact #6 : Only Turkey + Iran Claim To Have Directed Energy Weapons

Quite a number of countries are developing directed energy weapons, including China, the United States, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

However, only Turkey and Iran claim to have actually deployed such weapons, with Turkey claiming the first use of directed energy weapons in combat, when it used its ALKA directed-energy weapon to shoot down a Wing Loong II UAV in Libya in August 2019.

The ALKA directed energy weapon has a peak power output of 50 kW, and is designed to destroy drones using its laser at up to 500 m distance, and electromagnetic systems at up to 1 km distance.

Fact #7 : There Were Over 2,100 Aftershocks

The claim that there were “hardly any other aftershocks” is nonsense. A total of 2,109 aftershocks were recorded from 6 to 12 February. By 20 February, over 6,000 aftershocks were recorded.

On top of that, over 320 of those aftershocks had a magnitude of 4.0, with 25 of them recorded within six hours of the main tremor.

Fact #8 : Turkey Is Not Trying To Leave NATO

The claim that Turkey is trying to leave NATO is nonsense.

On January 23, 2023, a Turkish politician called Ethem Sancak said that Turkey might leave NATO in 5-6 months over provocative actions by other NATO members.

However, two days later, a spokesperson for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, Omer Celik, refuted the claim:

We face such things in every election (calls for ending Turkey’s membership of NATO). These are not the things that we will worry about. Those who call for terminating Turkey’s membership of NATO do not talk sense.

This is out of the question. We are one of the founding countries of NATO. They have no right to say such things. What they say would be a luxury for NATO.

I should point out that leaving NATO would automatically open the door for Finland and Sweden to be accepted as a member state, as Turkey is the only country objecting to their ascension.

That is one of the many reasons why Turkey won’t be leaving NATO quite so soon, even if they are thinking about it – Turkey would lose its veto leverage over Finland and Sweden.

Fact #9 : Gas + Oil Pipelines Shut Down After Earthquake

The claim that gas and oil pipelines were shut down 15-20 minutes before the earthquake struck is false. Oil and gas pipelines were shut down after the earthquake, not before.

If they were shut down before the earthquake, that would imply that the Turkish government was in cahoots with the dastardly Western governments using directed energy weapons to punish them for wanting to leave NATO which would deprive Turkey of its ability to blackmail Finland and Sweden.

Can you now see how idiotic such a conspiracy theory sounds, when you lay out the trail of nonsense in the open?

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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Are Nazis From Japan Fighting For Ukraine?!

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Are Nazis from Japan fighting for Ukraine against Russia?!

Take a look at the viral photos, and find out what the facts really are!

Claim : Nazis From Japan Are Fighting For Ukraine Against Russia!

The Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛) and pro-CCP netizens are sharing photos of what they suggest are Nazis from Japan in Ukraine, helping to fight against Russia!

Japanese Nazis are fighting in Ukraine

Team Japanese in Ukraine

Anarchy is alive and in Ukraine

Note : I placed the misleading overlay to prevent the photos from being further abused.

Truth : Nazis From Japan Are Not Fighting For Ukraine Against Russia!

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created and propagated by the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛), and pro-CCP netizens, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : Photos Are Unrelated

After investigating the viral screenshot, I was able to confirm that they consist of two sets of photos that are unrelated.

The first set of photos, which show four soldiers in Ukraine, was posted by @rattionyade on February 10, 2023.

The second photo is completely unrelated to the first set of photos, and was posted by @xenovampiro (as well as other people) on February 12, 2023.

Fact #2 : Rising Sun Flag Is Not Japanese Nazi Flag

The Rising Sun flag is not the Japanese version of Germany’s Nazi flag. This is actually the Imperial Japanese Navy ensign called Jyūrokujō-Kyokujitsu-ki (十六条旭日旗) that was adopted on May 15, 1870 – over 150 years ago!

The Imperial Japanese Navy used it until the end of World War 2 in 1945. However, it was readopted and has been used by the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force on all its ships since June 30, 1954.

Fact #3 : Japanese Nazi Flag Photo Was From 2014

The photo showing men carrying Japanese Rising Sun and Nazi Germany flags was not taken recently, or even in Ukraine.

It is unknown who took this photo, but it was possibly a photographer from the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, as the photo was posted by Asahi Shimbun editorial board member Itaru Tominaga (@tanutinn) on Twitter on August 2, 2015, with the description:

東京での日本の国家主義者のデモンストレーション。
彼らは安倍首相と彼の保守的な政治を支持している。

Japanese nationalist demonstration in Tokyo. They are supporting PM Abe and his conservative administration.

On further investigation, I found out that Tominaga deleted the tweet because it was misleading when he posted it – it was taken almost a year ago, on April 20, 2014 – the 125th anniversary of the birth of Adolf Hitler.

On that day, about 40 Japanese protestors marched through the busy entertainment area of the Ikebukuro district of Tokyo, bellowing racist chants about South Korea and China. While the Asahi Shimbun article is no longer available online, you can download a copy here.

In short – this viral photo was taken in Tokyo, Japan, on 20 April 2014, and had nothing to do with Ukraine or the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Fact #4 : Ukraine Has Foreign Volunteer Battalions Since 2014

Informal volunteer military groups were formed in spring 2014, from local militias and paramilitary groups, in response to the Russian military intervention in Ukraine.

The Ukraine Ministry of Defence later formed 32 volunteer battalions called “Territorial Defence Battalions”, and the Ukrainian parliament voted on 6 October 2014 to allow foreign fighters to join the military. In December 2014, President Petro Poroshenko promising Ukrainian citizenship to foreign fighters who signed up to fight.

Ironically, volunteers from Russia formed the largest group of foreign fighters in Ukraine! Even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, about 3,000 Russian citizens signed up to fight for Ukraine.

Fact #5 : Volunteers From 60 Countries Now Fighting For Ukraine

In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the Ukrainian government established the International Legion of Territorial Defence of Ukraine.

By 6 March 2022, more than 20,000 volunteers from 52 countries signed up to fight for Ukraine against the Russian invasion. So it would not be surprising to find volunteers from Japan fighting for Ukraine.

@rattionyade, who posted the viral photo on the left, appears to be one of the Japanese volunteers fighting for Ukraine, as he often posts about his life in Ukraine.

Back in November 2022, it was revealed that volunteers from 60 countries are now fighting for Ukraine. Here are some of the units that were formed from those volunteers:

Canadian Brigade : Ukrainian-Canadian volunteers, including former servicemen from Canada
Norman Brigade : veterans from Canada, the United Kingdom, United States, Denmark, Norway, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, France, South Africa, and Poland.
Freedom of Russia Legion : former servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces, as well as other Russian and Belarusian volunteers.
Russian Volunteer Corps : formed from Russian volunteers who have been fighting for Ukraine since 2014.
Dzhokhar Dudayev Battalion : Mostly Chechen volunteers who fought in the First Chechen War and Second Chechen War against Russia.
Pahonia Regiment : Belarusian volunteers

Fact #6 : Russia Also Has Foreign Volunteer Forces

Foreigners have also signed up to fight on the Russian side, either as members of the Russian diaspora, for ideological reasons, or as mercenaries hired by the Russian government.

Serbian foreign fighters : International Brigade, Seventh Brigade, Serbian-Hussar Regiment, Ural Unit, First Slavic Unit, Batman Unit, Rezanj Unit, Jovan Šević Detachment
Spanish foreign fighters : Carlos Palomino International Brigade, DKO (Volunteer Communist Unit), Interunit
White nationalists, neo-Nazis, fascists and Christian extremists from Europe and North America : Continental Unity, Orthodox Dawn Battalion, Legion of Saint Istvan.
Syrian Arab Army : 25th Special Mission Forces Division

Fact #7 : This Is Just Chinese Propaganda

This appears to be yet another example of Chinese propaganda created by the infamous Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛), or pro-CCP netizens.

Here is just the latest dozen the other wumao articles and videos that I looked at so far:

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Fact Check : Babo The Amazing Blind Figure Skater!

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Does a viral dance video show Babo, a blind figure skater who lost his eyesight and mother in a fire many years ago?!

Take a look at the viral video, and find out what the facts really are!

Claim : Babo Becomes A Figure Skater After Becoming Blind!

A video has gone viral on WhatsApp, and social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, showing a pair of male and female dancers, together with these descriptions:

👆This is not one of the ice skating videos.

It’s one of the most amazing performance in the history of skating, which brought tears to the 10,000 spectators present.

Babo, the male dancer, has been blind since childhood. In a fire accident, his mother held him tightly in her arms and jumped from the 7th floor. His mother died, the little Babo became blind due to hemorrhage in his eyes and survived multiple bone fracture.

His mother was an ice skater and Babo inherited that gene. Although he couldn’t see anything, he still pursued his passion enthusiastically.

Here he is doing the famous tango “La Cumparsita” with his partner at the World Figure Skating Championships in Helsinki!👆

His ears could measure the surrounding sound and distance like a bat. His female dancing partner is equally amazing. She danced with him so elegantly giving the sense of orientation and movements to her partner as if through telepathy so that even the most difficult synchronised movements kept perfect rhythm.👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

这是场被称为美国精神的惊艳表演，男舞者Babo从小双目失明，因家中一场大火。母亲为了保护他，把他紧紧抱在怀里从7楼跳下，导致母亲丧生，小babo双目失明。

女舞者非常了不起，长期陪他跳舞及带领他，有谁想到在他身上有22处骨折，凭着惊人毅力，他练就比正常人还要优异的动作，令人叹为观止。

This is a stunning performance known as the American spirit. The male dancer Babo was blind in both eyes due to a fire in his home. In order to protect him, his mother hugged him tightly and jumped from the 7th floor, resulting in the death of his mother and the blindness of little Babo.

The female dancer is amazing. She danced with him and led him for a long time. Who would have thought that he had 22 fractures on his body. With amazing perseverance, he practiced better movements than normal people, which is amazing.

Show less

https://www.techarp.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Babo-blind-dancer-video.mp4?_=1

Truth : That Is Not Babo, And He Is Not A Blind Figure Skater!

This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS circulating on WhatsApp and social media platforms, and here are there reasons why, and what we know about the video…

Fact #1 : Video Was Recorded In 2017

While many people think that this is a recent video, the video was actually recorded at the 2017 International Skating Union (ISU) World Figure Skating Championship, that was held in Helsinki, Finland.

The original video is very long – lasting almost 4 hours. The video clip that went viral on WhatsApp and social media, was edited from this video, starting at the 02:03:28 mark.

Fact #2 : Video Shows Russian Ice Dancers

The video does not show a blind American dancer called Babo, and his female partner. It shows Russian ice dancers Ivan Bukin, and Alexandra Stepanova.

While Ivan Bukin (born Ivan Andreyevich Bukin on 16 September 1993) closed his eyes for a moment before they started skating, he is not blind.

Just in case you are wondering – Alexandra Stepanova (born Alexandra Nikolayevna Stepanova on 19 August 1995) is also not blind.

Fact #3 : Ivan Bukin’s Mother Did Not Die In A Fire

Ivan Bukin is the son of 1988 Olympic ice dancing champion Andrei Bukin, and ice dancer Elena Vasiuk.

Elena Vasiuk did not die in a fire when Ivan Bukin was a child. No one jumped from the 7th floor of any building in a fire, at least not in his family!

In July 2018, Bukin mentioned that both of his parents came to watch him dance to a new Tango Romantica dance routine. So we know that his parents are still alive and well in 2018.

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WHO Convenes Emergency Meeting On Monkeypox Outbreak!

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The WHO has convened an emergency meeting on the monkeypox outbreak that has spread to 56 countries!

Here is what you need to know…

WHO Convenes Emergency Meeting On Monkeypox Outbreak!

On 23 June 2022, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus convened an emergency committee meeting under Article 48 of the International Health Regulations to discuss the current monkeypox outbreak.

Chaired by Dr. Jean-Marie Okwo-Bele and Dr. Nicola Low, this emergency WHO meeting on monkeypox is only open to members and advisors of the Emergency Committee.

The findings of this emergency meeting would be conveyed to the Director-General of WHO, on whether the outbreak should be classified as a public health emergency of international concern, and also on potential recommendations on how to address it.

This meeting comes as an NGO called World Health Network (unrelated to WHO) issued a press release describing the current monkeypox outbreak as a “pandemic”, urging “immediate and effective action” from country and global health authorities.

This led to a bit of confusion, as their names and acronyms were similar (WHO vs WHN). To be clear, WHO has not declared a monkeypox pandemic.

Read more : What You Must Know About Monkeypox!

Over 4,000 Monkeypox Cases Confirmed In 56 Countries!

Discovered in 1958, the first human infection was only reported in 1970, and there were only like 400 cases from 1970 to 1986.

Monkeypox became more common over time, with 2000 cases per year reported between 2011 and 2014, and several outbreaks in the US (2003 and 2021), UK (2018 and 2021), and Singapore (2019)..

However, nothing has come close to the 2022 monkeypox outbreak which has now affected at least 56 countries outside of endemic African countries, with over 4,000 cases!

Country	Confirmed Cases	Suspected Cases	Total
Spain	918	100	1,018
United Kingdom	793	–	793
Germany	676	–	676
France	330	–	330
Portugal	328	–	328
Canada	223	45	268
United States	173	–	173
Netherlands	167	–	167
Italy	85	–	85
Belgium	77	1	78
Switzerland	52	–	52
Ireland	28	–	28
Ghana	18	–	18
Brazil	11	6	17
Israel	16	–	16
Australia	13	–	13
Denmark	13	–	13
Sweden	13	–	13
UAE	13	–	13
Austria	12	–	12
Poland	12	–	12
Mexico	9	–	9
Slovenia	9	–	9
Hungary	7	–	7
Czech Republic	6	–	6
Uganda	–	6	6
Romania	5	–	5
Argentina	4	–	4
Finland	4	–	4
Malta	4	–	4
Norway	4	–	4
Somalia	–	4	4
Chile	3	–	3
Colombia	3	–	3
Greece	3	–	3
Iceland	3	–	3
Bulgaria	2	–	2
Latvia	2	–	2
Morocco	1	1	2
Bahamas	–	1	1
Cayman Islands	–	1	1
Fiji	–	1	1
Georgia	1	–	1
Gibraltar	1	–	1
Haiti	–	1	1
Libya	–	1	1
Lebanon	1	–	1
Luxembourg	1	–	1
Serbia	1	–	1
Singapore	1	–	1
South Africa	1	–	1
South Korea	1	–	1
Uruguay	–	1	1
Venezuela	1	–	1
Zambia	–	1	1
TOTAL	4,049	170	4,219

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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Over 560 Monkeypox Cases Confirmed In 25 Countries!

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Over 560 monkeypox cases have now been confirmed in at least 25 countries outside of Africa!

Find out if the monkeypox outbreak could become a new pandemic we have to worry about!

Over 560 Monkeypox Cases Confirmed In 25 Countries!

People are now worried about the rapid spread of monkeypox globally. although the WHO has said that it is unlikely to become a pandemic like COVID-19.

Discovered in 1958, the first human infection was only reported in 1970, and there were only like 400 cases from 1970 to 1986.

Monkeypox became more common over time, with 2000 cases per year reported between 2011 and 2014, and several outbreaks in the US (2003 and 2021), UK (2018 and 2021), and Singapore (2019)..

However, nothing has come close to the 2022 monkeypox outbreak which has now affected at least 25 countries outside of Africa, with over 560 cases!

Country	Confirmed Cases	Suspected Cases	Total
United Kingdom	179	–	179
Spain	120	–	120
Portugal	96	–	96
Canada	26	37	63
Germany	33	–	33
Netherlands	26	–	26
France	17	–	17
United States	15	–	15
Italy	14	–	14
Belgium	9	–	9
Czech Republic	5	–	5
Switzerland	4	–	4
UAE	4	–	4
Sweden	3	–	3
Ireland	2	1	3
Argentina	2	–	2
Australia	2	–	2
Denmark	2	–	2
Israel	2	–	2
Slovenia	2	–	2
Austria	1	–	1
Finland	1	–	1
Malta	1	–	1
Mexico	1	–	1
Thailand	1	–	1
TOTAL	568	56	617

Monkeypox Cases May Increase, But Unlikely To Become Pandemic

On 30 May 2022, the World Health Organisation’s top monkeypox expert, Dr. Rosamund Lewis, gave a public briefing on the 2022 monkeypox outbreak.

Here is a summary of the key points Dr. Lewis shared in that public session :

She does not expect the monkeypox outbreak to turn into another pandemic like COVID-19.
There are still many unknowns about this outbreak, including how exactly it is spreading.
The suspension of mass smallpox immunisation decades ago may have resulted in increased transmission.
Vast majority of current cases seen in gay, bisexual or men who have sex with men.
There is a higher proportion of people with fewer visible lesions that are more concentrated in the genital region, and sometimes nearly impossible to see. This is a danger because they are infectious even though their lesions are not visible.
There is a window of opportunity to shut down the outbreak so it does not become endemic in new areas.

Fortunately, the 2022 monkeypox outbreak appears to be of the less virulent West African strain, because there is no proven treatment.

The smallpox vaccine can offer up to 85% protection against monkeypox, and certain antiviral treatments can be attempted.

But otherwise – hospitals can only offer supportive treatment as the patient isolates for 2-4 weeks until the disease resolves.

Read more : What You Must Know About Monkeypox!

Monkeypox primarily spreads through close contact, but can spread through respiratory droplets. However, it is far less contagious and is not airborne like COVID-19.

Infected people are also not considered contagious until they start showing symptoms, which limits transmission. This is unlike COVID-19 which is often spread by people who are asymptomatic.

The best way to describe its ability to infect people would be to understand its R0 (Reproduction Number, pronounced as R naught) – how many people an infected person is expected to pass the disease along to.

The ancestral COVID-19 virus has an R0 of between 2 to 3, which increased to 8 with the Omicron variant. That’s really contagious – every infected person will (on average) transmit the virus to 8 other people.

On the other hand, past outbreaks of monkeypox had an R0 of less than one. That means even though there may be clusters of several cases, even outbreaks, the cases die out on their own.

Virus	R0
Measles	12 to 18
Omicron COVID-19	8
Smallpox	5 to 7
Ancestral COVID-19	2 to 3
H1N1 (2009)	1.5 to 2.5
Monkeypox	<1

Monkeypox fortunately does not spread very efficiently between humans. Generally, you need to have skin-to-skin contact with an infected person, or come into contact with his/her bodily fluids, to get infected.

The people most at risk would be close contacts of the infected person, like family members or healthcare workers taking care of them.

Transmission is really happening from close physical contact, skin-to-skin contact. It’s quite different from COVID in that sense.
– Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO Infectious Disease Epidemiologist

It’s not as highly transmissible as something like smallpox, or measles, or certainly not Covid. It does not spread easily from person to person, the risk to the general public is low.
– Anne Rimoin, infectious disease epidemiologist at University of California.

That is why it is very unlikely to become a pandemic, although if it spreads to susceptible rodent populations, it could become endemic in those areas.

There is also the fact that the monkeypox is so closely related to the smallpox virus, the smallpox vaccine offers 85% protection against monkeypox infections.

In fact, one smallpox vaccine – JYNNEOS – was approved in the United States to serve as protection against monkeypox. Even though there is no public access to this vaccine, that can quickly change.

Several countries, including the United States, have strategic reserves of smallpox vaccines, which can be deployed in a monkeypox outbreak.

Countries have also started purchasing smallpox vaccines :

19 May 2022 : Spain’s Ministry of Health announced that it was in the process of purchasing thousands of doses of smallpox vaccines
24 May 2022 : CDC announced that the US is in the process of releasing some JYNNEOS smallpox vaccine doses for people who are “high risk”.
25 May 2022 : the German government announced that it was buying 40,000 doses of the JYNNEOS smallpox vaccine from Bavarian Nordic.
26 May 2022 : the UK Health Security Agency announced that it purchased 20,000 doses of the JYNNEOS smallpox vaccine from Bavarian Nordic.

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Monkeypox Outbreak In 20 Countries : Is It A New Pandemic?

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The Monkeypox outbreak has been confirmed in at least 20 countries outside of Africa!

Find out what Monkeypox is all about, and whether it is a new pandemic we have to worry about!

Monkeypox Outbreak : Is It A Pandemic Risk?

People are now worried about the rapid spread of monkeypox globally.

Discovered in 1958, the first human infection was only reported in 1970, and there were only like 400 cases from 1970 to 1986.

However, it became more common over time, with 2000 cases per year reported between 2011 and 2014.

There were also several outbreaks in the US (2003 and 2021), UK (2018 and 2021), and Singapore (2019), but nothing matched the latest 2022 outbreak.

As of 25 May 2022, there were 230 confirmed cases in at least 20 countries outside of Africa, and suspected cases in two other countries.

Country	Confirmed Cases	Suspected Cases	Total
Argentina	–	1	1
Australia	2	–	2
Austria	1	–	1
Belgium	6	1	7
Canada	15	1	16
Czech Republic	1	–	1
Denmark	2	–	2
Finland	1	–	1
France	5	–	5
Germany	5	–	5
Israel	1	–	1
Italy	6	2	8
Morocco	–	3	3
Netherlands	6	–	6
Portugal	49	–	49
Slovenia	1	–	1
Spain	51	43	94
Sweden	1	–	1
Switzerland	2	–	2
UAE	1	–	1
United Kingdom	71	–	71
United States	2	6	8
TOTAL	230	56	286

Monkeypox Outbreak : More Deadly, Unlikely To Cause A Pandemic

Monkeypox is more deadly than COVID-19, with mortality as high as 10% depending on the strain :

West African strain : 1% to 3%
Central African strain : 10%

Fortunately, the 2022 monkeypox outbreak appears to be of the less virulent West African strain, because there is no proven treatment.

The smallpox vaccine can offer up to 85% protection against monkeypox, and certain antiviral treatments can be attempted.

But otherwise – hospitals can only offer supportive treatment as the patient isolates for 2-4 weeks until the disease resolves.

Read more : What You Must Know About Monkeypox!

Monkeypox primarily spreads through close contact, but can spread through respiratory droplets. However, it is far less contagious and is not airborne like COVID-19.

Infected people are also not considered contagious until they start showing symptoms, which limits transmission. This is unlike COVID-19 which is often spread by people who are asymptomatic.

On the other hand, past outbreaks of monkeypox had an R0 of less than one. That means even though there may be clusters of several cases, even outbreaks, the cases die out on their own.

Virus	R0
Measles	12 to 18
Omicron COVID-19	8
Smallpox	5 to 7
Ancestral COVID-19	2 to 3
H1N1 (2009)	1.5 to 2.5
Monkeypox	<1

The people most at risk would be close contacts of the infected person, like family members or healthcare workers taking care of them.

Transmission is really happening from close physical contact, skin-to-skin contact. It’s quite different from COVID in that sense.
– Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO Infectious Disease Epidemiologist

That is why it is very unlikely to become a pandemic, even though it is really abnormal for so many outbreaks to occur simultaneously.

There is also the fact that the monkeypox is so closely related to the smallpox virus, the smallpox vaccine offers 85% protection against monkeypox infections.

Several countries, including the United States, have strategic reserves of smallpox vaccines, which can be deployed in a monkeypox outbreak.

We have already worked to secure sufficient supply of effective treatments and vaccines to prevent those exposed from contracting monkeypox and treating people who’ve been affected.
– Dr. Raj Panjabi, White House Pandemic Office.

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Did NATO Promise Russia Never To Expand East?!

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Did NATO break their promise to Russia, never to expand a single inch east?

Take a look at the claim, and find out what the facts really are!

Claim : NATO Promised Not To Expand A Single Inch East!

Did NATO promise Russia not to expand a single inch east, into former Warsaw Pact countries like Poland, or former Soviet Union countries like Ukraine?!

Did NATO break that promise? That is what Russian President Vladimir Putin has been claiming since 2007, and is the basis for why he chose to attack Ukraine.

People have also been sharing a video of Putin making those claims, to justify the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Truth : NATO Never Promised Not To Expand A Single Inch East!

This is an old Vladimir Putin fabrication that he keeps repeating to justify his military actions, even though it is complete nonsense, and has been debunked many times.

Fact #1 : Warsaw Pact + Soviet Union Dissolved In 1991

For context, I need to point out that both the Warsaw Pact military alliance, and the Soviet Union, were dissolved way back in 1991.

From 1989 to 1991, Communist governments in Eastern Europe were falling like ninepins, getting overthrown by public discontent.

On 25 February 1991, the remaining Warsaw Pact countries met in Hungary and agreed to disband the military alliance.

The Warsaw Pact alliance was formally dissolved on 1 July 1991 by Czechoslovak President Václav Havel in Prague.

That was followed by the dissolution of the Soviet Union (USSR) on 8 December 1991, when the presidents of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus signed the Belavezha Accords.

Fact #2 : Vladimir Putin First Made That Claim In 2007

The dissolution of both Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union happened in 1991, but Russian President Vladimir Putin only started making this claim in 2007.

In his February 2007 speech to the 43rd Munich Security Conference, he claimed that the West violated their “guarantees” :

And we have the right to ask: against whom is this [NATO] expansion intended? And what happened to the assurances our Western partners made after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact?

… I would like to quote the speech of NATO General Secretary Mr. Woerner in Brussels on 17 May 1990. He said at the time that: ‘the fact that we are ready not to place a NATO army outside of German territory gives the Soviet Union a firm security guarantee.” Where are these guarantees?

Fact #3 : Annexation Of Crimea Was Based On That Claim

Putin then used the same false claim to justify Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea :

… they [Western leaders] have lied to us many times, made decisions behind our backs, placed before us an accomplished fact.

This happened with NATO’s expansion to the east, as well as the deployment of military infrastructure at our borders.

Fact #4 : NATO Never Promised Not To Expand Eastwards

Now that you have some context, here’s the clincher – NATO never promised Russia, or the former Soviet Union, not to expand eastwards.

Despite Putin’s claims, no Western leader ever made such guarantees to either Russia, or the former Soviet Union.

Fact #5 : NATO Only Agreed To Restrictions On Former GDR

In 1990, six countries – East and West Germany, the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain and France – held discussions on the reunification of Germany.

The Germans, Americans, British and French agreed that there would be “no deployment of non-German NATO forces on the territory of the former GDR (East Germany)“.

That agreement was incorporated in Article 5 of the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany, that was signed on 12 September 1990 by the six countries :

Until Soviet forces had completed their withdrawal from the former GDR, only German territorial defense units not integrated into NATO would be deployed in that territory.
There would be no increase in the numbers of troops or equipment of U.S., British and French forces stationed in Berlin.
Once Soviet forces had withdrawn, German forces assigned to NATO could be deployed in the former GDR, but foreign forces and nuclear weapons systems would not be deployed there.

Fact #6 : USSR Did Not Raise Question Of NATO Expansion

The Soviet Union did not raise any questions about the potential expansion of NATO to the east, because no one at that time thought that was a serious possibility.

Fact #7 : Gorbachev Confirmed NATO Kept Its Promise

Mikhail Gorbachev, the General Secretary of the Soviet Union at that time, confirmed in a 2014 interview that NATO expansion was never discussed, or brought up in those years.

He also stressed that any promise not to “move one inch further east” was made in reference to the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany), and that promise was kept.

RBTH : One of the key issues that has arisen in connection with the events in Ukraine is NATO expansion into the East. Do you get the feeling that your Western partners lied to you when they were developing their future plans in Eastern Europe? Why didn’t you insist that the promises made to you – particularly U.S. Secretary of State James Baker’s promise that NATO would not expand into the East – be legally encoded? I will quote Baker: “NATO will not move one inch further east.”

Gorbachev : The topic of “NATO expansion” was not discussed at all, and it wasn’t brought up in those years. I say this with full responsibility. Not a single Eastern European country raised the issue, not even after the Warsaw Pact ceased to exist in 1991. Western leaders didn’t bring it up, either.

Another issue we brought up was discussed: making sure that NATO’s military structures would not advance and that additional armed forces from the alliance would not be deployed on the territory of the then-GDR after German reunification. Baker’s statement, mentioned in your question, was made in that context. Kohl and [German Vice Chancellor Hans-Dietrich] Genscher talked about it.

It has been observed all these years. So don’t portray Gorbachev and the then-Soviet authorities as naïve people who were wrapped around the West’s finger. If there was naïveté, it was later, when the issue arose. Russia at first did not object.

Mikhail Gorbachev (left) with Helmut Kohl (right)

Fact #8 : Boris Yeltsin Was Not Against NATO Expansion

The first President of the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin, was quite clear that NATO’s expansion was not a security threat to Russia.

In August 1993, he told Polish President Lech Wałęsa that :

Russia does not oppose Poland’s membership in NATO and does not perceive its membership in NATO as a threat to Russia.

Then in September 1993, he wrote a letter to then US President Bill Clinton, stating that :

Any possible integration of east European countries into NATO will not automatically lead to the alliance somehow turning against Russia.

Boris Yeltsin (left) and Bill Clinton (right)

Fact #9 : Those Countries Chose To Join NATO

Those former Warsaw Pact and Soviet Union countries chose to join NATO, instead of the Russian-led CTSO (Collective Security Treaty Organisation).

They were not coerced into joining NATO, and the move was widely popular with their citizens.

Macedonia : 94% voters supported joining NATO
Hungary : 85% voters supported joining NATO
Georgia : 77% voters supported joining NATO
Slovenia : 66% voters supported joining NATO

Fact #10 : Russian Aggression Increased Support For NATO

Russian aggression in recent years have had the counterproductive effect of increasing support for NATO in once-neutral countries.

For example, Finland has assiduously tried to remain neutral, but as Russia ratcheted up threats on Ukraine, Prime Minister Sanna Marin said that there is a real possibility Finland will join NATO.

Sweden also saw a surge in support for NATO membership, after Russian annexation of Crimea, and the threats against Ukraine.

Finland Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto (left), NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (middle), Sweden Minister of Foreign Affairs Ann Linde (right)

Fact #11 : Vladimir Putin Once Wanted Russia To Join NATO

Interestingly, both Mikhail Gorbachev and Vladimir Putin floated the idea of Russian joining NATO.

While negotiating the reunification of Germany in 1990, Gorbachev told US Secretary of State James Baker :

You say that NATO is not directed against us, that it is simply a security structure that is adapting to new realities … therefore, we propose to join NATO.”

Vladimir Putin himself publicly revealed on Russian television, that he floated the possibility of Russia joining NATO, when US President Bill Clinton visited Moscow in 2000 – watch 2:24 of this video.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen from 2009 to 2014 also confirmed that Putin made many statements suggesting that he was favourable to the idea of Russian joining NATO, to which he said :

Once Russia can show it is upholding democracy and human rights, NATO can seriously consider its membership.

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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Did China Give These AWESOME Olympics 2022 Gifts?!

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Did China give Olympics 2022 athletes AWESOME gifts like Samsung gadgets, and a personalised necklace?

Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!

Updated @ 2022-02-12 : Added the actual price of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 Olympic Edition, and other updates.
Originally posted @ 2022-02-07

Claim : China Gave Olympics 2022 Athletes These AWESOME Gifts!

This video and message are going viral on WhatsApp, claiming to show the awesome gifts that China gave Olympic Games 2022 athletes.

A total of 2,925 athletes participated in the Winter Olympics. The country has prepared a gift bag for every athlete, which contains the latest Samsung mobile phone worth $7999, sports headphones, a unique Winter Olympics necklace and ring, and a small quilt that is close to the body.

Foreign athletes are happy when they open the gift bag. Shout out Mamma Mia, resounding throughout the sports village. The cost of the Samsung phone is no more than $3k (marketing & profits accounting for more than half the listed price).

Product placement to the 3,000 Olympian influencers will cost about $9m. Compare that with a 30-second advert slot during the Superbowl for $6m a pop. If they give a Huawei the Western press would be terrified. 🌿

Truth : China Did NOT Give Olympics 2022 Athletes Those Awesome Gifts!

This is yet another example of pro-China fake news circulating on WhatsApp, and here are the reasons why…

Fact #1 : Video Was Taken By Petra Nieminen

The video was misappropriated by the fake news creator, probably because it has the comment – Beijing 2022 gifts for athletes.

This video was actually taken by Petra Nieminen, a hockey player from Finland, who was showing off the free gifts she received since arriving in Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Fact #2 : Gifts Not Prepared, Nor Given By China

The gifts Petra showed in the video were neither prepared, nor sponsored, by China – the host country for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Samsung is the worldwide sponsor of the Olympic Games, and it was they who gave the athletes the Galaxy Z Flip 3 Olympic Edition smartphone, and Galaxy Buds2 wireless earphones.

Incidentally, Samsung will also be giving them to athletes at the upcoming Paralympic Games!

The personalised necklace with the ring was given to the athletes by Lumoava – the official Olympic partner of the Finnish team.

Fact #3 : No Evidence Athletes Shouted Mamma Mia

There is no known report of any athlete shouting Mamma Mia on getting their gifts. It is also a silly claim since it’s an Italian expression.

Fact #4 : The Gifts Do Not Cost So Much

The fake news creator made up the value of these gifts, falsely claiming that the Samsung smartphone cost $7,999.

It’s likely a mistranslation from the original Chinese post, because the Galaxy Z Flip Olympic Edition smartphone costs ¥7,999 (about US$1,259 / £929 / RM5,269), while the Galaxy Buds2 cost US$149.

The personalised Lumoava Brilliance Pendant 4 necklace, which is engraved with the words “Olympic Team Finland Beijing 2022” costs €124 or about US$142.

Fact #5 : Lumoava Necklace Limited To Finnish Athletes

From what I understand, the Lumoava necklace was made specially for Finnish athletes, and was not given to athletes from other countries.

Teams from different countries received different gifts from their partners. For example, Team USA received gear from Skims, while Team Canada received special Lululemon gear.

Fact #6 : China Can Spy On Athletes Without HUAWEI Smartphones

The fake message mocked Western media for fearing HUAWEI smartphones. The truth is – China can spy on Olympic athletes without giving them HUAWEI smartphones.

All participants in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics are required to install and use the My 2022 app, which ostensibly is used to keep everyone connected and informed about services, food, transportation, etc.

The problem is one cybersecurity researcher, Jonathan Scott, recently reverse-engineered the app, and found that it was capable of recording and sending audio to servers based in China.

It appears that Chinese netizens / 50 Cent Army are creating such fake news to cover up negative news reports of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Since arriving in Beijing, Olympic athletes from Germany, Belgium and Russia have complained about nightmarish conditions in their quarantine hotels – bad food, poor to no Internet connectivity, no access to training equipment, or even the ability to communicate with their own teams.

Whatever their reasons may be, there is no excuse for creating and spreading fake news. Help us fight their fake news by sharing this fact check!

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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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Should Malaysia Stop Giving Booster Dose To Save Lives?

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Should Malaysia stop giving the COVID-19 booster dose to SAVE LIVES?

Take a look at the viral advice, and find out what the FACTS really are!

Claim : Malaysia Must Stop Giving COVID-19 Booster Dose To Save Lives!

This message, in English and Chinese versions, has gone viral on WhatsApp for several days now.

It claims that Malaysia is REQUIRED to immediately stop giving the COVID-19 booster dose to “prevent MILLIONS of deaths from vaccination”.

Shock! Horror! Outrage!

Note : You can just skip to the next section for the facts…

🇺🇲🇲🇾🇺🇳🇸🇪🇸🇯🇫🇮

😯😯😯😯😯😯😯😯

The Malaysian government is required to immediately stop the third dose of covid19 vaccination program to prevent millions of deaths from vaccination with covid19. The main reasons are as follows:

1) The FDA team (US Food and Drug Administration) rejected/disapproved of the Pfizer brand for the third dose of vaccination for people aged 16-65, because the Pfizer brand’s Covid19 injection vaccine and dose-2 vaccine are chronic liver diseases or even The cause of myocarditis caused death after injection of Pfizer brand covid19 vaccine (Misleading article link removed)

2) Sweden, Norway, and Finland have completely stopped vaccinating the modern vaccine brand of covid19 vaccine, because many boys and teenagers suffer from chronic diseases such as liver swelling and even myocarditis after being injected with the modern brand covid19 vaccine. This vaccine is the cause of death and the cause of chronic permanent diseases , Such as: paralysis, blindness, deafness, silence, cancer, brain damage, including non-educational diseases and Alzheimer’s disease (https://www.bmj.com/content/375/bmj.n2477)

Translation and commentary by Norman Midi (November 14, 2021)

(Please share with everyone)

马来西亚政府被要求立即停止第三剂量 covid19 疫苗接种计划，以防止数百万人死于用 covid19 接种疫苗，主要原因如下：
1） FDA小组（美国食品和药物管理局）拒绝/不赞成辉瑞品牌对16-65岁人群进行第三次剂量疫苗接种，因为辉瑞品牌的Covid19注射疫苗和剂量-2疫苗是肝肿慢性疾病甚至心肌炎的原因，在注射辉瑞品牌covid19疫苗后导致死亡（Misleading article link removed)
2）瑞典、挪威、芬兰已完全停止接种covid19疫苗品牌现代疫苗，因为许多男孩和青少年在注射现代品牌covid19疫苗后患有肝肿甚至心肌炎的慢性疾病，该疫苗是死亡原因以及慢性永久性疾病的原因，例如：瘫痪、失明、耳聋、静音、癌症、脑损伤，包括非教育性疾病以及阿尔茨海默氏症（https://www.bmj.com/content/375/bmj.n2477）诺曼·米迪的翻译和评论（2021年11月14日）

Show less

Truth : Malaysia Must KEEP Giving COVID-19 Booster Dose To Save Lives!

This is yet another piece of FAKE NEWS by anti-vaccination supporters, who are trying to scare people into NOT protecting themselves or their families against COVID-19.

Let me show you why they are misleading you with misinformation, and putting everyone’s lives at risk.

Fact #1 : FDA Did NOT Reject Booster Dose Over Myocarditis Risk

I actually wrote an article debunking the Gateway Pundit’s false claims that the FDA rejected the Pfizer booster dose over myocarditis risk.

Here is a short summary of the facts :

The Gateway Pundit is a well-known fake news website.
The risk of getting myocarditis is 850X higher with a COVID-19 infection, than with the adult dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
The FDA advisory panel voted to recommend the booster dose for frontliners, the elderly and people with co-morbidities.
The FDA advisory panel voted not to recommend the booster dose for younger adults because the original 2 doses were STILL EFFECTIVE against COVID-19.
The FDA ultimately approved the Pfizer booster dose for adults.

Fact #2 : Sweden, Norway, Finland Did NOT Stop Using Moderna Vaccine

The claim that Sweden, Norway and Finland have completely stopped using the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is FALSE.

Sweden

Sweden temporarily suspended the use of the Moderna vaccine for all people under 30, and decide later whether to resume using the Moderna vaccine.
Sweden is offering the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine instead, to replace the Moderna vaccine.

Norway

Norway recommended that people under 18 should be offered the Pfizer vaccine, instead of the Moderna vaccine, even if they already received a first dose of the Moderna vaccine.
They also recommended that men under the age of 30 should consider taking the Pfizer vaccine, instead of the Moderna vaccine.
Norway continues to offer the Moderna vaccine to those who want it, even if they are under 18 or males under 30.
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health which made those recommendations pointed that :
a) “the side effect is rare and the absolute risk is still low”, and that
b) “those who are to be vaccinated in the future can in any case choose the type of vaccine they want, both as the first and second dose”.

Finland

Finland suspended the use of the Moderna vaccine only in men and boys under 30 years old.
Males under the age of 30 will be offered the Pfizer COMIRNATY vaccine instead.
Finland continues to offers the Moderna Spikevax vaccine to everyone aged 12 and over, except for males under the age of 30.

Fact #3 : Moderna + Pfizer Vaccines Are mRNA Vaccines

I should point out that both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines use mRNA technology to train our immune system to fight against COVID-19.

The very fact that all three Nordic countries mentioned in the fake news – Sweden, Norway and Finland – opted to switch from the Moderna to the Pfizer vaccine shows that the mRNA technology itself is not the issue.

https://youtu.be/rgfNxtp3yX0

Fact #4 : Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Does Not Cause Chronic Disease

Like other COVID-19 vaccines, the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is really just a self-defence class for our immune system.

The vaccine itself does NOT float around in the body or get integrated into our DNA or cells. It teaches our immune system to identify the real SARS-CoV-2 virus, and learn how to make antibodies against it.

Therefore, it does NOT cause the chronic diseases listed in the fake news – paralysis, blindness, silence (what???), cancer, brain damage, non-educational diseases (what???) and Alzheimer’s disease.

In rare cases, it has been shown to cause myocarditis / pericarditis in young men, but that is NOT a chronic disease.

Fact #5 : Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Not Used In Malaysia

Malaysia granted conditional approval for the Moderna Spikevax vaccine on 5 August 2021.

However, as of 23 November 2021, the COVID-19 National Immunisation Programme (PICK) still does NOT use the Moderna Spikevax vaccine.

Therefore, the false claims that the Moderna vaccine is dangerous are completely IRRELEVANT.

Now that you know the truth, please help to stop the spread of fake news – SHARE this fact check with your family and friends!

Antivaxxers are NOT interested in the truth or fakes. They certainly do NOT care if your family or friends die from COVID-19.

Help us fight their misinformation, and help protect your family – get them vaccinated against COVID-19!

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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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