Amid growing pressure on the Hollywood Foreign Press Association from studios, stars and large swaths of the film industry, NBC said Monday that will not air the Golden Globes in 2022, putting in doubt the viability of one of Hollywood’s oldest and most-watched award shows. In a statement, the network said it believes the press association — which is facing possible boycotts from Netflix, Warner Bros. and many Hollywood actors — is committed to reform. “However, change of this magnitude takes time and work, and we feel strongly that the HFPA needs time to do it right,” the network said. “As such, NBC will not air the 2022 Golden Globes. Assuming the organization executes on its plan, we are hopeful we will be in a position to air the show in January 2023.” The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, long a subject of ridicule from even its own telecast hosts, has come under fire following an investigative report in February by The Los Angeles Times that recounted the organization’s questionable record on diversity — including, presently, no Black members among its 87 voting members. The press association has pledged to thoroughly reform itself, and last week approved a plan to, among other things, diversity its membership. But that hasn’t stopped several studios from threatening to pull out of the Globes. Last week, Netflix and Amazon Studios both said they would cut ties with the HFPA if it didn’t swiftly enact more drastic reforms. “We don’t believe these proposed new policies — particularly around the size and speed of membership growth — will tackle the HFPA’s systemic diversity and inclusion challenges, or the lack of clear standards for how your members should operate,” Netflix co-chief executive Ted Sarandos wrote in a letter to the group. In a letter sent Sunday and shared with reporters Monday, WarnerMedia said it would cease holding screenings and other events for the HFPA until it made more substantial changes. “For far too long, demands for perks, special favors and unprofessional requests have been made to our teams and to others across the industry,” WarnerMedia executives said in a letter. “We regret that as an industry, we have complained, but largely tolerated this behavior until now.” The outcry against the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has gathered force over the last six weeks, as a film industry where racial and gender inequity long went unchecked has grown newly intolerant of the ways of the group, made up of mostly little-known journalists who profit considerably from the annual telecast. FILE – Scarlett Johansson arrives at the 77th annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., Jan. 5, 2020.Increasingly, Hollywood has abandoned the HFPA. A group of 100 entertainment publicity firms has also said they would urge their clients to skip HFPA functions. Mark Ruffalo, a winner this year, said he “cannot feel proud or happy about being a recipient of this award” any longer. Scarlett Johansson said HFPA press conferences for her “meant facing sexist questions and remarks by certain HFPA members that bordered on sexual harassment.” FILE – Actor Tom Cruise holds his Golden Globe award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture Drama for his role in “Magnolia” at the Golden Globe awards in Beverly Hills, Calif., January 2000.On Monday, Deadline Hollywood reported that Tom Cruise returned his three Globes to HFPA headquarters. (A publicist for Cruise didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.) The Hollywood Foreign Press Association didn’t immediately comment Monday on NBC’s announcement. Last week, it ratified plans to add at least 20 new members this year “with a specific focus on recruiting Black members” and with a goal of increasing membership 50% over the next 18 months. For some, that timeline wasn’t aggressive enough. In the next few months, several potential awards-contending films are set to premiere at film festivals and elsewhere. Tina Tchen, president and chief executive of Time’s Up, called the HFPA’s pledges “window-dressing platitudes.” “These measures ensure that the current membership of the HFPA will remain in the majority and that the next Golden Globe Awards will be decided with the same fundamental problems that have existed for years,” said Tchen. The Globes, produced by Dick Clark Productions, have suffered ratings drops in recent years but still rank among the most-watched award shows — usually third to the Oscars and the Grammys. The 78th Golden Globes, held February 28, attracted 6.9 million viewers, a 63% drop from the 2020 telecast, watched by 18.4 million.
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Day: May 10, 2021
A Russia-linked cyberattack targeting the largest U.S. fuel pipeline system is a “criminal act, obviously,” President Joe Biden said Monday.“The agencies across the government have acted quickly to mitigate any impact on our fuel supply,” the president said at the White House at the start of remarks about his economic agenda.Biden, responding to a reporter’s question after he concluded his prepared statement about whether there is any evidence of involvement of Russia’s government, replied: “I’m going to be meeting with President (Vladimir) Putin. And so far, there is no evidence based on — from our intelligence people that Russia is involved.”Biden added, however, with evidence that the ransomware actors are based in Russia, the government in Moscow has “some responsibility to deal with this.”Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., asks a question during a House Natural Resources Committee hearing, July 28, 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington.A member of the House Armed Services Committee, Arizona Democrat Ruben Gallego, said, “The Russian government cannot give refuge to these cyber terrorists without repercussions.”Colonial Pipeline, headquartered in the state of Georgia, proactively shut down its operations on Friday after ransomware hackers broke into some of its networks, according to U.S. officials.“Colonial is currently working with its private cybersecurity consultants to assess potential damage and to determine when it is safe to bring the pipeline back online,” homeland security adviser and deputy national security adviser Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall told reporters during a briefing prior to the president’s remarks.“While this situation remains fluid and continues to evolve, the Colonial operations team is executing a plan that involves an incremental process that will facilitate a return to service in a phased approach,” the company said in a FILE – The J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building is pictured in Washington, Nov. 30, 2017.“The FBI confirms that the Darkside ransomware is responsible for the compromise of the Colonial Pipeline network,” said the Federal Bureau of Investigation in a statement midday Monday. “We continue to work with the company and our government partners on the investigation.”The FBI has previously advised against paying ransomware. White House officials on Monday said it was up to companies to make that decision and declined to say whether Colonial Pipeline had made a payment to the hackers.”Typically, that is a private sector decision, and the administration has not offered further advice at this time,” deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies Anne Neuberger told White House reporters. “Given the rise in ransomware, that is one area we are definitely looking at now to say what should be the government’s approach.”Some lawmakers have been calling for stronger protections of critical U.S. energy infrastructure and that has been mentioned as a priority by the Biden administration, which last month launched a new public-private initiative to enhance cybersecurity in the electricity sector.“And we’ll follow that with similar initiatives and natural gas pipelines, water and other sectors,” said Biden on Monday.The emergency declaration, issued by the Transportation Department, effective through at least June 8, calls for increasing alternative transportation routes in the United States for oil and gas and eased driver regulations for overtime hours and minimum sleep for carrying fuel in 17 states across southern and eastern states, as well as the District of Columbia.“We are closely monitoring the ongoing situation involving Colonial Pipeline,” Suzanne Lemieux, operations security and emergency response policy manager for the American Petroleum Institute, told VOA.“Cybersecurity is a top priority for our industry, and our members are engaged on a continuous basis with government agencies, including the Transportation Security Administration, Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the Department of Energy in order to mitigate risk and fully understand the evolving threat landscape,” she added. Concerning speculation that there are links between the hackers and the Russian government, “we can assume anything we want to, which is part of the gamesmanship in cyberwar,” said Justin Pelletier, director of Rochester Institute of Technology’s Global Cybersecurity Institute Cyber Range and Training Center.“I think a better question to ask is who we can cross off the list. There are many beneficiaries of cyber sell-sword (mercenary) activity and probably everyone can think of several organizations that would like to see an America in decline,” Pelletier told VOA.According to Bryson Bort, senior fellow for cybersecurity and emerging threats at the nonprofit R Street public policy research organization, the malicious code used by Darkside “actively checks that the Russian language package isn’t loaded on a host before it ransoms the computer. Clearly, there is a reason the gang is doing that. Is it just to avoid local enforcement?”Bort, an adviser to the Army Cyber Institute, told VOA it is an open question whether Russian intelligence is using the cybercriminals as a proxy.“Considering this was the fourth U.S. company hit in the energy sector in the last six months by this group, it sure looks like a targeted attack to me,” he said.
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As graduation approaches for university and college students in the United States, students are preparing for one of the most important milestones of their lives. But this year, COVID-19 has taken the pomp out of this year’s celebrations. Yanet Chernet explains, narrated by Kathleen Struck.
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In much of Africa, including Zimbabwe, women struggling to have children often face stigma and ridicule. To help overcome the problem, two Zimbabwean doctors in 2017 re-opened the country’s only in vitro fertilization clinic.Since the clinic re-opened in 2017, several years after its previous owner retired, IVF Zimbabwe says it has helped about 120 women have babies through in vitro fertilization.Dr. Sydney Farayi, who runs the clinic with Dr. Tinovimba Mhlanga, said some couples struggle to have children and turn to the wrong sources for help.”The most hindering obstacle people from seeking assistance is lack of knowledge…. Imagine how many people have stayed together for one year and still failing to conceive, but do not know where to go and get assistance. People are not sure where to go. Normally people will turn to go to traditional, faith healers which are cheap or easy to get but without any good outcomes from there,” said Farayi.Dr. Sydney Farayi, who runs IVF Zimbabwe clinic in Harare with Dr. Tinovimba Mhlanga, says some couples turn to the wrong sources for help from traditional, faith healers. (Columbus Mavhunga/VOA)Farayi said he and Mhlanga are happy when they help couples reach their goal.“The value is really seen in the happiness and joy which we are bringing to sub-fertile couples in terms of assisting them to conceive and having a baby. The joy is real and it’s something which is touching, personally affecting also us, as individuals and clinicians, so basically assisting couples to conceive is helping marriages to continue, the unions to continue and also bringing livelihoods to people’s lives,” said the doctor.One of those who have benefitted from IVF Zimbabwe is a 30-year-old woman who is expecting to deliver next month. Her first marriage collapsed after seven years of failing to conceive. As she narrates her ordeal with in-laws and community, she does not want to be identified.“The blame would always come to us women. Maybe there is something that you did. Or maybe you didn’t grow well. To be honest it was a lot of negativity coming from the backstab,” she said.The United Nations’ World Health Organization says failure to conceive in Africa is largely blamed on women, although half of all infertility cases can be traced back to men.Dr. Nancy Kidula – from the WHO’s regional office for Africa – said infertility problems are common and can be overcome. Via a messaging application, Kidula said in Africa, many governments are more focused on health problems like epidemics, infectious diseases and malnutrition.“Therefore, infertility will turn to fall quite low on the priority list. Fertility treatment is also very expensive to the extent that even insurance companies are reluctant to fund fertility management,” she said.Patients at IVF Zimbabwe say they pay around $4,000 for treatment – a huge sum for the average person in Zimbabwe.But to clients ready to welcome their first child after a long wait, the investment is worth it.
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A probe from the U.S. space agency NASA is scheduled later Monday to fire its thrusters and leave the orbit of the asteroid Bennu, beginning a two-year journey back to Earth, complete with samples from the asteroid’s surface.The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) is scheduled to fire its thrusters for about seven minutes, taking it out of the asteroid’s orbit and setting it on a homeward course.OSIRIS-REx first rendezvoused with the asteroid in 2018. Last October, the craft dropped to Bennu’s surface, sunk its “sampling head” 48.8 centimeters into the asteroid and simultaneously fired a pressurized charge of nitrogen gas to churn up surface material and drive it into its the collection chamber.After gathering what NASA believes to be about 60 grams of material, the probe lifted off and continued to orbit the asteroid.NASA said Monday’s departure sequence is the mission’s most significant maneuver since it arrived at Bennu in 2018. The spacecraft’s thrusters must change its velocity by 958 kilometers per hour to set it on a path to intersect Earth, expected in September 2023.The space agency said there is no direct path back to Earth for the probe, as it must travel to where the planet will be in the future. The course will require it to orbit twice around the sun, covering 2.3 billion kilometers before it will catch up with Earth.Last year, the Japanese Haybusa2 spacecraft successfully returned to Earth with samples it collected from the surface of the Ryugu asteroid.
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After more than a year in shutdown brought on by the pandemic, eight Smithsonian Museum facilities in and around Washington are reopening this month. VOA’s Julie Taboh has more. Camera: Mike Burke Produced by: Julie Taboh / Mike Burke
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The global shortage of semiconductors, or microchips — the “brains” in all electronic devices, has heightened the geopolitical significance of Taiwan and its chip-making sector. The island is home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC).Many describe Taiwan’s strength in microchips as its “silicon shield,” which can protect it against Chinese aggression.But others suspect the sector, coveted by China, may also trigger China to accelerate its efforts to take advantage of Taiwan’s tech prowess.‘Not let war happen’When asked to explain the shield, TSMC chairman Mark Liu told CBS News’ “60 Minutes” program last week that it means “the world all needs Taiwan’s high-tech industry support. So, they will not let the war happen in this region because it goes against interest of every country in the world.”While refusing to comment on whether the industry will keep Taiwan safe, Liu added that he hoped no war would occur in Taiwan. It is widely believed that any war fought in Taiwan could disrupt the global supply chains of microchips.More than 1 trillion chips are currently being produced annually. Industry watchers, including the National Bank of Canada estimated earlier that TSMC alone accounts for one-fifth of the world’s chip production and up to 90% of the supply of the most advanced chips.In an “extremely hypothetical scenario,” such a disruption in Taiwan’s chip production could cause $490 billion in annual losses for electronic device makers worldwide, according to estimates by the U.S.-based Semiconductor Industry Association last month.All shut downAmerican tech giants including Apple, major European auto makers and even Chinese companies would have to halt production in the event of a TSMC collapse, said Frank Huang, chairman of Taiwan’s third-largest chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp.That, he said, will make China think twice about using force against Taiwan, the self-ruled island Beijing views as a renegade province.“China likes [to]… threat [threaten] Taiwan. But realistically without Taiwan, they cannot move either. Their semiconductors also shut down. So, the problem is: can you take over Taiwan without [triggering] impact [on] semiconductors? That is not [going to] happen,” Huang told VOA.The term “silicon shield” was first coined by Craig Addison in late 2000, who argued in his book “Silicon Shield: Taiwan’s Protection Against Chinese Attack” that the island’s rise as the key supplier for the world’s digital economy would serve as “a deterrent against possible Chinese aggression.”FILE – A leaflet that asks employees to protect the company’s confidentiality is seen at a reception in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), in Hsinchu, Taiwan, Aug. 31, 2018.The debate over such a deterrent has heated up now that the pandemic has seriously disrupted most supply chains. The U.S. has also placed restrictions on exports of chips and chip-making equipment using U.S. design and technology to China — a development that some observers also fear may end up provoking China to increase aggression toward Taiwan.But Darson Chiu, a research fellow at the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) in Taipei, disagreed, saying that he believes the world will stand behind Taiwan.“The world’s superpowers will view TSMC as a key driver behind the future global economic revival, which belongs to no one but the world. Hence the world will not tolerate China’s use of force to control TSMC,” Chiu told VOA over the phone.Double layer of protectionThe island’s dominance in chip-making has fueled the debate over its silicon shield, but the U.S. is more concerned that the shield may “have holes in it” and the technology is being used by China’s military, according to Alexander Neill, a former Shangri-La Dialogue senior fellow for Asia Pacific security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.An earlier Washington Post report alleged that a Chinese firm had used TSMC chips in the Chinese military’s development of hypersonic missiles. But the company denied the charges.The U.S. is also concerned about vulnerabilities caused by TSMC production being concentrated in Taiwan. The island’s water and electric supply shortages could disrupt production.“What the United States wants to do is to help TSMC diversify its production base so that there’s a double layer of protection. So, if the first shield is being penetrated, the second [reinforcement] shield is to nurture the chip production base in friends and ally countries including the United States,” Neill told VOA over the phone.Surging demandTSMC has planned to invest $100 billion in the next three years on new production facilities including a state-of-the-art wafer fabrication plant in the U.S. state of Arizona and expansions of its Nanjing, China-based fab to produce 28 nanometer chips for auto makers.The move aims to increase TSMC’s capacity, which is currently working at full capacity, to meet surging demand and support future growth in the global economy, TIER’s Chiu said.In a stock exchange filing last month, TSMC said it “is entering a period of higher growth as the multiyear megatrends of 5G and HPC (high performance computer) are expected to fuel strong demand for our semiconductor technologies in the next several years. In addition, the Covid-19 pandemic also accelerates digitalization in every aspect.”But Powerchip’s Huang questions if overseas wafer fabs will be as cost effective as those based in Taiwan. He said that many fabs in the U.S. and Germany have proved to be too expensive to sustain.Expansion in ChinaFor years, China’s attempts to manufacture chips have failed since China lacks access to the intellectual property required for the process.Hence, TSMC’s expansion plan in its Nanjing plant is welcomed by many in China despite worries that the survival of homegrown chipmakers may be threatened by the Taiwanese chipmaker, according to Song Hong, assistant general director at the Institute of World Economics and Politics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.“28nm chips aren’t high-end. But mid- to low-end chips are in higher demand. So, I think this shows TSMC’s optimism in China’s future demand. It is in our hope to bolster homegrown chipmakers, but we also welcome competition,” Song told VOA.Song, however, shrugged off the geopolitical implications of Taiwan’s silicon shield, saying that China views Taiwanese issues as domestic affairs and will not be deterred from its goals by U.S. action. (This article originated in VOA’s Mandarin service.)
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The U.S. will protect gay and transgender people against sex discrimination in health care, the Biden administration announced Monday, reversing a Trump-era policy that sought to narrow the scope of legal rights in sensitive situations involving medical care. The action by the Department of Health and Human Services affirms that federal laws forbidding sex discrimination in health care also protect gay and transgender people. The Trump administration had defined “sex” to mean gender assigned at birth, thereby excluding transgender people from the law’s umbrella of protection. “Fear of discrimination can lead individuals to forgo care, which can have serious negative health consequences,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “Everyone — including LGBTQ people — should be able to access health care, free from discrimination or interference, period.” Becerra said the Biden administration policy will bring HHS into line with a landmark Supreme Court decision last year in a workplace discrimination case, which established that federal laws against sex discrimination on the job also protect gay and transgender people. Despite that ruling, the Trump administration proceeded to try to narrow the legal protections against health care discrimination, issuing rules that narrowly defined “sex” as biological gender. A federal judge had blocked those rules from taking effect, although Trump administration officials argued that as a legal matter health care discrimination was a separate issue from the employment case the Supreme Court decided. Monday’s action means that the HHS Office for Civil Rights will again investigate complaints of sex discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Hospitals, clinics and other medical providers can face government sanctions for violations of the law. The Biden administration action essentially restores policy established during the Obama years. The Affordable Care Act included a prohibition on sex discrimination in health care and the Obama administration had interpreted that to apply to gay and transgender people as well. It relied on a broad understanding of sex shaped by a person’s inner sense of being male, female, neither or a combination. Behind the dispute over rights for transgender people in particular is a medically recognized condition called “gender dysphoria” — discomfort or distress caused by a discrepancy between the gender that a person identifies as and the gender assigned at birth. Consequences can include severe depression. Treatment can range from gender confirmation surgery and hormones to people changing their outward appearance by adopting a different hairstyle or clothing. Medical groups and civil rights organizations generally support broader legal protections for gay and transgender people, while social and religious conservatives sought to narrow their scope.
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China on Monday named five foreign-born players for critical World Cup qualifiers starting later this month as the world’s most populous country steps up its controversial naturalization policy.China, who have big ambitions but are perennial underachievers ranked 77th in the world, began drafting in players born overseas in 2019 in a quick fix to reach the Qatar 2022 World Cup.Coach Li Tie has picked a 26-man squad that includes a trio of offensive players originally from Brazil — Elkeson, Fernando Henrique and Alan Carvalho.Also included is their Guangzhou FC teammate Tyias Browning, the former Everton central defender who was born in Liverpool and played for England youth teams.The fifth naturalized player is Nico Yennaris, the former Arsenal midfielder and another to have played for England youth teams before switching to China.In their previous World Cup qualifier, a 2-1 defeat to Syria under former coach Marcello Lippi in November 2019, only Elkeson and Yennaris featured.Some Chinese media, pundits and former internationals have questioned the move to bring in foreign players.China’s hopes of reaching the World Cup are in the balance but Li is boosted by the return of star forward Wu Lei, after he failed to make recent training squads because he was with his Spanish club Espanyol.Under former Everton player Li — who took over when Lippi quit following the Syria defeat — China are second in Asian qualifying Group A, eight points behind leaders Syria.Only the team that finishes top is guaranteed to reach the next stage of qualifying.The rest of the matches in Group A are set to take place in China from May 30 until June 15, with the hosts facing Guam, Maldives, Philippines and Syria.
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A senior female air force officer whose childhood idol was iconic Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong will become Australia’s first space commander. Air Vice-Marshal Catherine Roberts will oversee the space activities across Australia’s armed forces. Experts have said the army, navy and air force have relied on space-based technologies and communication, and centralized coordination was sensible. There is growing international competition for supremacy in space. The United States has a military arm called the U.S. Space Force while China and Russia both set up similar units in 2015. But officials in Canberra have been keen to stress that Australia has no plans to further “militarize space” nor would it seek to build technologies to attack enemy satellites. A dedicated space command brings Australia into line with Canada, France, India and Japan. Senior officers have said part of its job would be to establish if satellites used by Australia were under threat or being subjected to accidental interference or natural events. Air Vice-Marshal Catherine Roberts is a trained engineer, who has served with the Royal Australian Air Force for 35 years. She will take up her position as space commander next year. In an official RAAF video, she explained how she was inspired by the Apollo 11 moon landing in July 1969. “Today I wanted to take the opportunity to talk about role models and how important it is for each one of us to pave the way for the next generation as we head into a rapidly accelerating future. The first person I remember ever having a material impact on my ambition was Neil Armstrong. In 1969 as a three-year old I watched on in awe as Lieutenant Armstrong descended the ladder of the lunar lander and uttered the first words ever spoken on the moon. It was an incredible moment for humanity and millions of aspiring engineers that were probably created at that moment. I was no different,” Roberts said.Last year, the civilian Australian Space Agency officially opened its new headquarters in the city of Adelaide. It is responsible for developing the nation’s multi-billion-dollar commercial space industry. The government believes it will generate 20,000 jobs in Australia by 2030. Prime minister Scott Morrison has previously estimated the global space economy could be worth more than US$780 billion by 2040, and that Australia needed to be in a position to take advantage of the opportunities. Analysts have said that as the cost and intricacies of exploiting space have fallen, more countries and businesses are developing and launching the type of surveillance and navigation technology that could have military capabilities. To this end, experts have said there needs to be close cooperation between the civilian-run Australian Space Agency and the planned new military “space command” division that will be led by Air Vice-Marshal Roberts.
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The White House was working closely with top U.S. fuel pipeline operator Colonial Pipeline on Sunday to help it recover from a ransomware attack that forced the company to shut a critical fuel network supplying populous eastern states. The attack is one of the most disruptive digital ransom schemes reported and has prompted calls from American lawmakers to strengthen protections for critical U.S. energy infrastructure from hacking attacks. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the pipeline fix was a top priority for the Biden administration and Washington was working to avoid more severe fuel supply disruptions by helping Colonial restart as quickly as possible its more than 5,500-mile (8,850 km) pipeline network from Texas to New Jersey. “It’s an all hands on deck effort right now,” Raimondo said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” program. “We are working closely with the company, state and local officials, to make sure that they get back up to normal operations as quickly as possible and there aren’t disruptions in supply.” Colonial said on Sunday its main fuel lines remain offline but some smaller lines between terminals and delivery points are now operational. Neither Raimondo nor the company gave an estimate for a full restart date and Colonial declined further comment on Sunday. U.S. gasoline futures jumped more than 3% to $2.217 a gallon, the highest since May 2018, as trading opened for the week and market participants reacted to the closure. Colonial transports roughly 2.5 million barrels per day of gasoline and other fuels from refiners on the Gulf Coast to consumers in the mid-Atlantic and southeastern United States. Its extensive pipeline network serves major U.S. airports, including Atlanta’s Hartsfield Jackson Airport, the world’s busiest by passenger traffic. A Charlotte Douglas International Airport spokesperson said the airport had supply on-hand and was “monitoring the situation closely,” adding that the complex is supplied by another major pipeline as well as Colonial. Retail fuel experts including the American Automobile Association said an outage lasting several days could have significant impacts on regional fuel supplies, particularly in the southeastern United States. During previous Colonial outages, retail prices in southeastern states have risen substantially. Offices of governors in several of the U.S. states most vulnerable to fuel shortages – including Tennessee, Georgia and Maryland – were not immediately available for comment. Cybercriminals suspectedWhile the U.S. government investigation is in the early stages, a former U.S. official and three industry sources said the hackers are suspected to be a professional cybercriminal group called DarkSide. DarkSide is one of many ransomware gangs extorting victims while avoiding targets in post-Soviet states. The groups gain access to private networks, encrypt files using software, and often also steal data. They demand payment to decrypt the files and increasingly ask for additional money not to publish stolen content. In the Colonial attack, the hackers took more than 100 gigabytes of data, according to a person familiar with the incident. As the FBI and other government agencies worked with private companies to respond, the cloud computing system the hackers used to collect the stolen data was taken offline Saturday, the person said. Colonial’s data did not appear to have been transferred from that system anywhere else, potentially limiting the hackers’ leverage to extort or further embarrass the company. Cybersecurity firm FireEye is among those dealing with the attack, industry sources said. FireEye declined to comment. Colonial said it was working with a “leading, third-party cybersecurity firm,” but did not name the firm. Messages left with the DarkSide hackers were not immediately returned. The group’s dark website, where hackers regularly post data about victims, made no reference to Colonial Pipeline. Colonial declined to comment on whether DarkSide hackers were involved in the attack, when the breach occurred or what ransom they demanded. Biden briefed on hack President Joe Biden was briefed on the cyberattack on Saturday morning, the White House said, adding that the government was working to try to help the company restore operations and prevent supply disruptions. U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana who sits on the Energy Committee, said lawmakers are prepared to work more with privately held critical infrastructure companies to guard against cyberattacks. “The implication for this, for our national security, cannot be overstated. And I promise you, this is something that Republicans and Democrats can work together on,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Another fuel pipeline serving the same regions carries a third of what Colonial does. Any prolonged outage would require tankers to transport fuels from the U.S. Gulf Coast to East Coast ports. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is issuing a temporary hours of service exemption to truckers transporting refined products to 17 southern and east coast states including Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey and New York. Complicating the fallback plans, according to one industry source familiar with the federal response, was that the ranks of fuel-truck drivers for the main road transportation companies, which could pick up some of the pipeline volume, are down by 25% or more because of coronavirus infections. Oil refining companies contacted by Reuters over the weekend said their operations had not yet been impacted. Some were working to find alternative transport for customers. The privately held, Georgia-based company is owned by CDPQ Colonial Partners L.P., IFM (US) Colonial Pipeline 2 LLC, KKR-Keats Pipeline Investors L.P., Koch Capital Investments Company LLC and Shell Midstream Operating LLC.
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Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Monday that he has never “put the Olympics first”, the same day an opinion poll showed nearly 60% of people in Japan want the Olympics cancelled less than three months before they begin. Japan has extended a state of emergency in Tokyo until the end of May and is struggling to contain a surge in COVID-19 cases, raising further questions about whether the Games should go on. Its vaccination rate is the lowest among wealthy nations. International Olympic officials, Tokyo planners and Suga himself have insisted the Games will go on in “a safe and secure” way. Foreign spectators have been barred and planners issued an elaborate playbook of rules last month aimed at preventing coronavirus infections. But a public opinion survey, conducted from May 7-9 by the Yomiuri Shimbun daily, showed 59% wanted the Games cancelled as opposed to 39% who said they should be held. “Postponement” was not offered as an option. Another poll conducted at the weekend by TBS News found 65% wanted the Games cancelled or postponed again, with 37% voting to scrap the event altogether and 28% calling for another delay. More than 300,000 people have signed a petition to cancel the Games in roughly five days since it was launched. Asked in a parliamentary committee meeting whether the Games will continue even if COVID-19 infections spike, Suga replied: “I’ve never put Olympics first”. “My priority has been to protect the lives and health of the Japanese population. We must first prevent the spread of the virus,” he added. He repeated that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has the final say on the fate of the Games and that the government’s role is to take steps so they can be held safely. Several test events with foreign athletes have been successfully held, most recently on Sunday. Arrangements are being made for IOC head Thomas Bach, who had been widely expected to visit Japan in mid-May, to visit in June, with the lifting the state of emergency a prerequisite, media reports said. Tokyo 2020 president Seiko Hashimoto said last week that it would be “difficult” for Bach to visit in the middle of a state of emergency. An official in western Okayama prefecture said on Monday they were considering keeping the Olympic torch relay off public roads when it passes through next week. Though other prefectures have taken similar steps, they were under states of emergency or other restrictions at the time. Top Olympic official John Coates said on Saturday that while Japanese sentiment about the Games “was a concern” he could foresee no scenario under which the sporting extravaganza would not go ahead. But on Sunday, Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka said that even though she has waited her whole life to take part in the Olympics, the risks of holding the Tokyo Games should be carefully discussed. The Games are set to open on July 23 and run until Aug 8.
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