hacklink hack forum hacklink film izle hacklink marsbahisizmir escortsahabetpornJojobetcasibompadişahbetjojobetEsenyurt Escort

News

Tag: Bans

  • China bans exports of key high-tech materials, hitting back at US chip sanctions

    BANGKOK — China announced Tuesday it is banning exports to the United States of gallium, germanium, antimony and other key high-tech materials with potential military applications, as a general principle, lashing back at U.S. limits on semiconductor-related exports.

    The Chinese Commerce Ministry announced the move after the Washington expanded its list of Chinese companies subject to export controls on computer chip-making equipment, software and high-bandwidth memory chips. Such chips are needed for advanced applications.

    The ratcheting up of trade restrictions comes as President-elect Donald Trump has been threatening to sharply raise tariffs on imports from China and other countries, potentially intensifying simmering tensions over trade and technology.

    China said in July 2023 it would require exporters to apply for licenses to send to the U.S. the strategically important materials such as gallium and germanium. In August, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said it would restrict exports of antimony, which is used in a wide range of products from batteries to weapons, and impose tighter controls on exports of graphite.

    The limits announced by Beijing on Tuesday also include super-hard materials, which would include diamonds and other synthetic materials that are not compressible and extremely dense. They are used in many industrial areas such as cutting tools, disc brakes and protective coatings. The licensing requirements that China announced in August also covered smelting and separation technology and machinery and other items related to such super-hard materials.

    China is the biggest global source of gallium and germanium, which are produced in small amounts but are needed to make computer chips for mobile phones, cars and other products, as well as solar panels and military technology.

    After the U.S. side announced it was adding 140 companies to a so-called “entity list” subject to strict export controls. China’s Commerce Ministry protested and said it would act to protect China’s “rights and interests” Nearly all of the companies affected by Washington’s latest trade restrictions are based in China, though some are Chinese-owned businesses in Japan, South Korea and Singapore.

    Both governments say their respective export controls are needed for national security.

    China’s government has been frustrated by U.S. curbs on access to advanced processor chips and other technology on security grounds but had been cautious in retaliating, possibly to avoid disrupting China’s fledgling developers of chips, artificial intelligence and other technology.

    Various Chinese industry associations issued statements protesting the U.S. move to limit access to advanced chip-making technology.

    The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said it opposed using national security as a grounds for export controls, “abuse of export control measures, and the malicious blockade and suppression of China.”

    “Such behavior seriously violates the laws of the market economy and the principle of fair competition, undermines the international economic and trade order, disrupts the stability of the global industrial chain, and ultimately harms the interests of all countries,” it said in a statement.

    The China Semiconductor Industry Association issued a similar statement, adding that such restrictions were disrupting supply chains and inflating costs for American companies.

    “U.S. chip products are no longer safe and reliable. China’s related industries will have to be cautious in purchasing U.S. chips,” it said.

    The U.S. gets about half its supply of both gallium and germanium metals directly from China, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. China exported about 23 metric tons (25 tons) of gallium in 2022 and produces about 600 metric tons (660 tons) of germanium per year.

    ___

    AP researcher Yu Bing in Beijing contributed to this report.

    Source link

  • Women’s football league in London ‘bans’ Somali Muslim player over clothing | Islamophobia News

    Women’s football league in London ‘bans’ Somali Muslim player over clothing | Islamophobia News

    Former Somalia captain Iqra Ismail says a referee told her she must wear shorts to play in the Greater London Women’s Football League in the UK.

    Football’s governing body in England has said that women playing the sport across its competitions are allowed to wear clothing that follows their religious beliefs after former Somalia captain Iqra Ismail was prevented from playing a match for not wearing shorts.

    The Football Association (FA) said on Wednesday they were aware of the matter that arose two days earlier. Ismail revealed in an Instagram video that she was not allowed to come on as a substitute for the team United Dragons during a game in the Greater London Women’s Football League (GLWFL) on Sunday because she was wearing tracksuit bottoms.

    The 24-year-old Muslim player, who is also a coach, added that she has been playing in the GLWFL for five years wearing similar clothing.

    “Every year, they have made it more and more difficult for women like me to play now they have drawn the line and banned me from playing until I compromise my beliefs,” Ismail said in the video.

    The London-based player, who is also a refugee advocate, said the referee for the game told her he had been asked “strictly” not to allow such clothing.

    “If we don’t wear shorts, we cannot play – that’s what I was told. So of course I stood by my principles and was not allowed to kick a ball.”

    Ismail, who is an advocate for Muslim women in sport, said such actions make it difficult for women like her to participate.

    “At this level the priority should be making football accessible and the Greater London Women’s Football League have done the exact opposite,” she went on to say in the video message.

    She added that the incident moved her to tears, leaving her feeling frustrated and isolated.

    “They ask me why football lacks diversity and why it’s difficult to find women who look like me in the competitive game – things like this are the reason.

    “My responsibility is to advocate for women like me so these things can’t happen.”

    Following the incident, the FA said it had communicated with all local football governing bodies on clothing earlier in the year.

    “We proactively wrote to all county FAs and match officials across the women’s grassroots game earlier this year to confirm that women and girls should be allowed to wear clothing that ensures their faith or religious beliefs are not compromised,” a spokesperson from the FA said.

    The FA said they were aware of the matter and were in contact with the Middlesex FA to ensure it gets resolved quickly.

    The GLWFL said in a statement it was their understanding that players were required to wear shorts on top of clothing that covered their legs.

    “However, we have since been made aware that shorts on top of tracksuits or tights are not required… we will be providing this updated guidance to all our match officials and members,” the league wrote on X on Tuesday.

     



    Source link

  • Kuwait bans ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’ video game, likely over it featuring Saddam Hussein in 1990s

    Kuwait bans ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’ video game, likely over it featuring Saddam Hussein in 1990s

    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The tiny Mideast nation of Kuwait has banned the release of the video game “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6,” which features the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and is set in part in the 1990s Gulf War.

    Kuwait has not publicly acknowledged banning the game, which is a tentpole product for the Microsoft-owned developer Activision and is set to be released on Friday worldwide. However, it comes as Kuwait still wrestles with the aftermath of the invasion and as video game makers more broadly deal with addressing historical and cultural issues in their work.

    The video game, a first-person shooter, follows CIA operators fighting at times in the United States and also in the Middle East. Game-play trailers for the game show burning oilfields, a painful reminder for Kuwaitis who saw Iraqis set fire to the fields, causing vast ecological and economic damage. Iraqi troops damaged or set fire to over 700 wells.

    There also are images of Saddam and Iraq’s old three-star flag in the footage released by developers ahead of the game’s launch. The game’s multiplayer section, a popular feature of the series, includes what appears to be a desert shootout in Kuwait called Scud after the Soviet missiles Saddam fired in the war. Another is called Babylon, after the ancient city in Iraq.

    Activision acknowledged in a statement that the game “has not been approved for release in Kuwait,” but did not elaborate.

    “All pre-orders in Kuwait will be cancelled and refunded to the original point of purchase,” the company said. “We remain hopeful that local authorities will reconsider, and allow players in Kuwait to enjoy this all-new experience in the Black Ops series.”

    Kuwait’s Media Ministry did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press over the decision.

    “Call of Duty,” which first began in 2003 as a first-person shooter set in World War II, has expanded into an empire worth billions of dollars now owned by Microsoft. But it also has been controversial as its gameplay entered the realm of geopolitics. China and Russia both banned chapters in the franchise. In 2009, an entry in the gaming franchise allowed players to take part in a militant attack at a Russian airport, killing civilians.

    But there have been other games recently that won praise for their handling of the Mideast. Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed: Mirage” published last year won praise for its portrayal of Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age in the 9th century.

    Source link

  • Facebook owner Meta bans Russia state media outlets over “foreign interference”

    Facebook owner Meta bans Russia state media outlets over “foreign interference”

    LONDON — Meta said it’s banning Russia state media organization from its social media platforms, alleging that the outlets used deceptive tactics to amplify Moscow’s propaganda. The announcement drew a rebuke from the Kremlin on Tuesday.

    The company, which owns Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, said late Monday that it will roll out the ban over the next few days in an escalation of its efforts to counter Russia’s covert influence operations.

    “After careful consideration, we expanded our ongoing enforcement against Russian state media outlets: Rossiya Segodnya, RT and other related entities are now banned from our apps globally for foreign interference activity,” Meta said in a prepared statement.

    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov lashed out, saying that “such selective actions against Russian media are unacceptable,” and that “Meta with these actions are discrediting themselves.”

    “We have an extremely negative attitude towards this. And this, of course, complicates the prospects for normalizing our relations with Meta,” Peskov told reporters during his daily conference call.

    RT was formerly known as Russia Today. Rossiya Segodnya is the parent company behind state news agency RIA Novosti and news brands like Sputnik.

    “It’s cute how there’s a competition in the West — who can try to spank RT the hardest, in order to make themselves look better,” RT said in a release.

    Rossiya Segodnya did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

    Meta’s actions comes days after the United States announced new sanctions on RT, accusing the Kremlin news outlet of being a key part of Russia’s war machine and its efforts to undermine its democratic adversaries.

    U.S. officials alleged last week that RT was working hand-in-hand with the Russian military and running fundraising campaigns to pay for sniper rifles, body armor and other equipment for soldiers fighting in Ukraine. They also said RT websites masqueraded as legitimate news sites but were used to spread disinformation and propaganda in Europe, Africa, South America and elsewhere.

    Earlier this month, the Biden administration seized Kremlin-run websites and charged two RT employees of covertly providing millions of dollars in funding to a Tennessee-based content creation company to publish English-language social media videos pushing pro-Kremlin messages.

    Moscow has rejected the allegations.

    Meta had already taken steps to limit Moscow’s online reach. Since 2020 it has been labeling posts and content from state media. Two years later, it blocked state media from running ads and putting their content lower in people’s feeds, and the company, along with other other social media sites like YouTube and TikTok, blocked RT’s channels for European users. Also in 2022 Meta also took down a sprawling Russia-based disinformation network spreading Kremlin talking points about the invasion of Ukraine.

    Meta and Facebook “already blocked RT in Europe two years ago, now they’re censoring information flow to the rest of the world,” RT said in its statement.

    Moscow has fought back, designating Meta as an extremist group in March 2022, shortly after sending troops into Ukraine, and blocking Facebook and Instagram. Both platforms — as well as Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, which is also blocked — were popular with Russians before the invasion and the subsequent crackdown on independent media and other forms of critical speech. The social media platforms are now only accessible through virtual private networks.

    ___

    Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia contributed to this report.

    Source link

  • Georgia school shooting highlights fears about classroom cellphone bans

    Georgia school shooting highlights fears about classroom cellphone bans

    Huddling for safety in classrooms as gunfire rang out, students at Apalachee High School texted or called their parents to let them know what was happening and send what they thought could be their final messages. One student texted her mother to say she loved her, adding, “I’m sorry I’m not the best daughter.”

    The Georgia school shooting that left four dead and nine injured last week was every parent’s worst nightmare, and one that highlights potential downsides to efforts among states, school districts and federal lawmakers to ban or restrict access to cellphones in classrooms.

    The moves to restrict phone use in schools have been driven by concerns about the impact screentime has on children’s mental health and complaints from teachers that cellphones have become a constant distraction in the classroom. But those opposed to the bans say they cut off a lifeline parents have to make sure their children are safe during school shootings or other emergencies.

    “The fact of the matter is parents and families cannot rely on schools to effectively communicate with us in times of emergency, and this has happened time and again,” said Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union, an education advocacy group. “There’s a whole host of reasons why parents are deeply concerned about whether or not they’re going to get timely information about whether or not their kids are safe.”

    Nationally, 77% of U.S. schools say they prohibit cellphones at school for non-academic use, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. But that number is misleading. It does not mean students are following those bans or all those schools are enforcing them.

    The restrictions have been trumpeted by both Republican and Democratic governors who rarely agree on other issues.

    In Arkansas, GOP Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders launched a program for school districts to apply for grants to purchase pouches for students to keep their phones in during the school day. In California, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has urged school districts to restrict cellphone use and is weighing whether to sign legislation that would require schools to enact restrictions.

    “I’d hate to see another school shooting be the reason that we bring TVs into the classroom and then disrupt our children’s education,” Newsom said Friday. “Because, in essence, that’s what a cellphone is equivalent to — bringing a TV into the classroom and disrupting the ability to get quality academic time.”

    But for many students caught in the Apalachee shooting, having access to their phones was the only way they could communicate with loved ones during moments they feared could be their last.

    “I love you. I love you so much. Ma I love you,” Junior Julie Sandoval texted her mother. “I’m sorry I’m not the best daughter. I love you.”

    Nearby, Sandoval said, another student was on the phone telling their mother, “They’re shooting up the school! They’re shooting up the school!”

    But advocates of school phone restrictions warn that allowing access to phones during shootings or other emergencies could put students in even more danger.

    “What’s even more important to me is their safety,” said Kim Whitman, co-founder of the Phone-Free Schools Movement, a group that advocates for schools to adopt policies keeping cellphones off and away from students. “If my child was on the phone with me and they missed guidance from the teacher because they were distracted by their phone and they weren’t safe, that’s a worse scenario in my mind.”

    Whitman said she understands the concerns about keeping parents informed and that’s why a key part for any phone-free school is being proactive in communicating about emergencies.

    Balancing safety and parents’ concerns guided a cellphone ban at Grand Island Senior High, the largest high school in Nebraska, which rolled out a new policy in January that requires students to keep phones out of sight and in their bags or pockets, silenced or off during school hours.

    “One of the essential questions that parents asked us was, ‘What if Sally or Johnny doesn’t have their phone if, God forbid, an active shooting happens or there is some sort of crisis in the building?’” said Jeff Gilbertson, the school’s then-principal who now runs leadership training at the state Board of Education.

    But the school does lockdown training to remind students of the dangers that phones can cause during emergencies.

    “We coach our kids to keep phones silenced. You don’t want to be talking on the phone when we’re in lockdown, because that would reveal your location to an active shooter,” he said.

    Students in other school shootings have used cellphones to alert authorities or their parents. During the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 21 people, a fourth-grader begged for help in a series of 911 calls. Students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, sent parents and posted chilling videos during the 2018 shooting that killed 17 people.

    The Apalachee school shooting was a painful reminder for Brandi Scire of why she got a cellphone for her daughter, now a high school sophomore in Broward County, Florida. Both her children went to schools nearby Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School during that mass shooting.

    Scire’s son’s school was on lockdown and thought it was a drill until she texted him on his phone. Scire purchased a cellphone for her daughter the following year because of that.

    Broward County schools now require students to keep their phones stored away and in airplane mode, but Scire has told her daughter to keep her phone on and with her.

    “It’s not about me texting my daughter during regular school or anything like that,” Scire said. “It’s a safety measure and I’m sorry, I cannot let that go.”

    ___

    This story was updated to correct that the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, happened in 2022, not 2020.

    ___

    Associated Press writers Jeff Amy in Winder, Georgia, Sophie Austin in Sacramento, California, and Jocelyn Gecker in San Francisco contributed to this report.

    Source link