10-year-old died of suffocation while participating in a challenge on TikTok

January 23, 2021

A 10-year-old girl died of suffocation in Palermo (Sicily, southern Italy) while participating in a “headscarf game” challenge on the TikTok social network, media reported on Friday (January 22nd) (link in Italian). Antonella was participating in a “blackout challenge” on TikTok, in the bathroom of the family home. She had put a belt around her neck with the aim of staying breathless as long as possible, while checking in with her cell phone. It was her 5-year-old little sister who discovered her unconscious body on Wednesday evening. Taken immediately to the Palermo Children’s Hospital by her parents, she did not survive.

The Palermo public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation for “incitement to suicide”. The child’s cell phone has been seized by investigators, who will need to determine if Antonella was live with other participants, if someone invited her to participate in the challenge or if she was making this video for a friend or knowledge. In response to this tragedy, the platform issued a statement: “The safety of the TikTok community is our top priority, we are available to the appropriate authorities to assist in their investigation.”

The Italian Authority for the Protection of Personal Data said in a statement “block the social network” Chinese users whose age is not guaranteed, with immediate effect and until February 15. The registration of the girl on the network “was not refused by the company” despite the girl’s age, lower than the 13 years minimum provided by TikTok, underlines the independent authority.

lower than expected AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine deliveries in Europe

Patrick Lawson

January 23, 2021

While the controversy swells around the drop in delivery of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine, the British group AstraZeneca-Oxford indicated, Friday, January 22, that the deliveries of its vaccine in Europe, subject to its approval, will be less important than expected, due to a “drop in yield” at a manufacturing site.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced on January 12 that it had received a request for authorization for the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine against the coronavirus. The agency then indicated that it could render its decision on January 29. This vaccine is a “viral vector” vaccine, which takes as a carrier another virus (a chimpanzee adenovirus) transformed and adapted to fight Covid-19.

“While there is no expected timeframe for the start of our vaccine shipments, if we receive approval in Europe, initial volumes will be lower than originally forecast due to decreased yield at one site. of our European supply chain “, a spokesperson for AstraZeneca told AFP.

The European Commission had initially reserved up to 400 million doses of this vaccine. “We will deliver tens of millions of doses in February and March to the European Union, and we continue to increase production volumes”, added the spokesperson, without specifying the exact quantities.

AstraZeneca has “confirmed today at the Steering Committee meeting with Member States that there will be a change in its delivery schedule”, for his part, told AFP Stefan De Keersmaecker, spokesperson for the European Commission in charge of health. “We are trying to find out more”, he added.

The European Union and EMA are under pressure to speed up approval of new vaccines against the virus. The AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine has the advantage of being cheaper to produce than that of its rivals. It is also easier to store and transport, especially that from Pfizer / BioNTech which must be stored at very low temperatures (-70 ° C).

VIDEO. In Angers, a cyberattack paralyzes city services

Patrick Lawson

January 22, 2021

“I wouldn’t have believed that we would potentially have to reactivate the -1 fax“
Brut went to Angers where a cyber attack has paralyzed the websites and services of the town hall for several days. “We have more than the telephone and then, more data processing, well more Internet so we brought out the postal code of 1989 which will allow us to have all the communities of France, with their postal code to send us their mail“, explains Christelle, registrar.”Listen, the worst that could happen to us would be to no longer have electricity, that in addition we no longer have elevators, lights, etc.. “, considers the mayor of the city Christophe Béchu.

The attack took place on the night of Friday January 16 to Saturday January 17. First, it was the mayor’s personal account that was hacked and then, a larger attack targeted the IT and digital services of the town hall. The impact of the cyberattack goes beyond the simple framework of the town hall. For example, on Saturday, the library had to be closed because the database was no longer accessible due to the cyber attack.

Angers is not the first municipality to experience this kind of cyberattack. Vincennes, La Rochelle and Marseille experienced attacks in 2020. In France, it is ANSSI, the national information systems security agency, which fights against these attacks. So from Saturday morning, the town hall of Angers approached them. ANSSI carried out 50 operations in 2019 and 200 in 2020, which means that in a single year, the number of victims of cyber attacks has quadrupled.

App in the midlife crisis age – digital

Patrick Lawson

January 22, 2021

There has been a lot of mockery about the green warning messages of the Corona app. What should one do with the “low risk” message? Get tested, just to be on the safe side? The reports came too often for that. Do nothing at all? Then why the message? But now there has been a strange silence in the app for a few weeks. The green messages have disappeared. Because of an update that users were not informed about – which is why many wonder whether the app is still working.

So you can only give the all-clear in parts. No, the Corona warning app is not dead, it is just evolving. However, this development is quite a botch.

The app has now reached its prime midlife crisis age. Her youth were radiant: when the federal government presented her in the spring, she breathed a start-up spirit. Then not much happened. The weather was fine, the number of infections low. Only now and then did a green message pass, like a ghost from another horrific reality. Today this reality is everyday life. But the app is still essentially the same as it was in the spring.

People could be reached directly with information via the app

It could long ago show up-to-date information on the course of the pandemic and official regulations. For example, if the test result is positive, it could enable users to record their symptoms and provide them with information on how to now behave. Doctors report that many patients are still poorly aware of the pandemic. Regulations are constantly changing. It’s easy to lose track. The app could be an information center. Then people would open and use them more often. That would be good news for the health authorities.

Instead, since the update, many people have been wondering whether they should uninstall the app, whether something else is going on. Didn’t anyone at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), where project management takes place, really think about the fact that the suddenly strangely silent app could irritate people? What does the responsible team spend their days, weeks and months with? It may have something to do with the fact that the RKI applied for 68 new IT positions, but the Bundestag only approved four. There may be a lack of pressure from the federal government. Instead, there is an absurd sham debate. The overly strict data protection must go, it is said above all from the Union. The app is not reaching its full potential.

Much can be improved in the application

What if such voices prevail? Will a light soon come on at the health department if I go out with the dog after 9 p.m.? Someone recently shared a chat history with their mother on Twitter. She had sent him an online article with the title “Merz wants to locate users of the Corona warning app”. “I’ve now deleted the app,” she writes.

The woman can be reassured. You cannot simply extend “data protection” from the app. The app would have to be fundamentally redesigned if one wanted to store the data centrally at an authority. Technically, that would be complete nonsense. The fact that the cell phones directly exchange anonymized data with one another and issue warnings without unnecessary detours via an authority has clearly established itself internationally as the best solution. Much could be improved on the app. Wanting to tear down data protection as an alleged hurdle, on the other hand, is only populist.

health regulations strengthened in France

Patrick Lawson

January 22, 2021

Thursday January 21, the authorities announced a tightening of health rules. Objective: to better trace any contact cases and strengthen barrier actions, in order to better fight against the spread of the more contagious variants of the coronavirus. Social distancing is now extended to two meters, down from one meter so far.

Reinforced controls for foreign travelers

Regarding masks, only surgical and fabric masks of category 1 are now authorized. It will therefore be necessary to forget the “homemade” masks and those of category 2, considered as less filtering. Finally, at the borders, from Sunday January 24, most travelers wishing to return to France will have to present a negative PCR test of less than 72 hours, including citizens from the European Union.

The JT

The other subjects of the news

raped by her grandfather for years, she testifies on her YouTube channel

Patrick Lawson

January 22, 2021

Iélena, 27, tells her story in “Special Envoy” of January 21, 2021, following an interview with the one who was, in 1986, the first incest victim to testify openly on French television, Eva Thomas.

After the publication of Camille Kouchner’s book and the shock caused by the Duhamel affair, Iélena posted, like thousands of other victims, a tweet accompanied by the hashtag #MetooInceste: “I was dead inside. Resilience. is a long journey. Raped for years by my grandfather, I testify on my YouTube channel. This #MetooIncest is essential. “

Iélena hopes that this movement will finally allow the recurring question of the victim’s “consent” to no longer be asked. She wants the law to change, and a child can no longer be considered “consenting” to sex with an adult. “Maybe with this hashtag, politicians will suggest an age threshold, 15 years or 13 years, below which an adult is not allowed to have sexual relations with a minor. That would be an age threshold. And that, in France, we do not have. In 2021, it is absurd that we are still there. “

This chain is for her “an outlet, but also a way of rebuilding herself and explaining to others that it exists”

The young woman created her YouTube channel five years ago, to testify to the incest she suffered as a child and teenager from her maternal grandfather. It is for her “an outlet. But also a way of [s]e rebuild, and a way of explaining to others, to those who have suffered it as well as to those who have not suffered it, that it exists, and that something must be done to make it stop “.

Because, she explains, you never really get out of it. At 27 years old, Iélena did “nothing stable, no accommodation, no work, very complicated romantic relationships”, no married life because “no trust in the other”. “There will always be something broken. It’s like when you break a bone: O.-K., it mends itself… but there will always be the crack.”

Extract from “Incest: Eva’s fight”, a testimony broadcast in “Correspondent” January 21, 2021.

> Replays of France Télévisions news magazines are available on the Franceinfo website and its mobile application (iOS & Android), “Magazines” section.

Porsche acceleration in the darkest year – Corriere.it

Patrick Lawson

January 22, 2021

it was tough, but in the end it wasn’t even that bad. This is the message that comes from Pietro Innocenti, CEO of Porsche Italy, who last January 20 took stock, in the traditional press conference at the beginning of the year, of the situation weighing 2020 and illustrating the prospects for 2021. For the year last the consoling (world) balance: despite the upheaval of the pandemic, of the crisis that envelops the entire globe and in the face of a global automotive market that is down by 19% compared to 2019, Porsche AG falls by only 3%. And also in Italy, where the slowdown is close to 28% (with sales under one million and 400 thousand pieces), the Italian branch limits the damage and makes a minus 13% on 2019.

And, despite this double-digit retreat, Porsche Italia still scores the second best performance ever with 5,815 vehicles sold. Not only that, but Innocenti points out that last year Porsche Italia achieved a correct profitability both for the activities of the branch and for the network. And if you ask the CEO of Porsche Italia how these results were achieved, the answer that is quite obvious, but not obvious (especially when it comes to brands that are part of the luxury universe): We have pushed on those activities that have allowed us to be active even when the pandemic has stopped the country. On the one hand, as Porsche Italia, we have exploited as much as we could the launches of new products to stimulate demand and we invented new experiences such as test drives with pace cars. In other words, to offer maximum safety, they had the car entrusted to those who were testing their next Porsche in front of another driven by one of our employees. We have developed the telematic channel to open up new opportunities both for our customers who can look for their car ready for delivery throughout the national territory and for our dealers. It has been a success and we have also conquered new porschisti.

And speaking of dealers, the network has also responded well by becoming proactive and moving to meet customers and not waiting for them in the showrooms.. In other words, those experimental activities that we had started before the pandemic with the problems born with Covid-19 we had to adopt immediately. And now these experiences that have allowed us to overcome the difficulties have become a heritage that will accompany us even when the crisis is overcome. In addition, the CityLife concept store in Milan should certainly be mentioned. A place where the world of Porsche meets in a friendly and nice way and many have come to visit us. In 2020 Porsche in Italy saw above all suvs (62% of the total are Macan and Cayenne), but in the Peninsula the 911 is still very popular, which has won 21% of sales (globally it represents 11%). For the Italians they are also falling in love with hybrid or electric Porsches. Evidently such a gt regardless of the noise it makes. In other words, if petrol engines represent 70% of Porsches sold in the Peninsula, the remaining 30% are electrified.

And this while the eco-friendly range is expanding and the full electric version of the Macan is expected. And Porsche is focusing its attention on electric cars for 2021. On the one hand there is the Taycan, the all-electric super sedan that is now also offered with rear-wheel drive only and with a price starting from 86,471 euros, which, again according to Innocenti, it could go from 5% of last year’s sales to 10% in 2021. On the other hand, there are the initiatives that aim, in collaboration with other operators, to implement the electric charging infrastructure in Italy. The agreement between Porsche Italia, Q8 and Enel X for the creation of 20 super-fast recharging points on major road arteries is framed in this direction. The particularity of these refueling columns (from 300 kW) which, despite being public, will have a space reserved for Porsche customers who will be able to recharge (22 minutes for 80% of the battery capacity, with a price of 0.79 euros per kW) their Taycan without wasting time, by booking the stall through the dedicated app. In addition to the agreement for the supply of Alpiq wallboxes with a special power line to recharge your Porsche “on tap” in the garage and at the 11 kW charging points scattered in the places frequented by porschisti. In addition, other charging points are being built in the Porsche centers of the Peninsula which will rise to 30 from the current 15 by next June. In total, therefore, Porsche has invested and is investing 85 million euros in Italy in the two-year period 2020/2021 and in this the amount also includes the funds allocated to the Nard track and the nascent Porsche Experience Center which will open in May in the perimeter of the Franciacorta racetrack. Not to be forgotten, in this overview of the Italian Porsche world, motorsport with the Porsche Cup and its virtual version (Esports Carrera Cup) as well as attention to veterans. Italy, on the other hand, boasts one of the most important vintage Porsche parks in the world.

January 22, 2021 (change January 22, 2021 | 11:27)

Surprise, dealers are satisfied with how 2020 went – Corriere.it

Patrick Lawson

January 22, 2021

During the bewildered and unfortunate 2020, many entrepreneurs have had bad times. And not just on the Automotive planet. In our four-wheeled world, complaints have been a constant and many Italian “operators” who have tried to keep their companies alive, gritting their teeth, have however (and rightly) grumbled throughout the year (even during the short incentive season). And when, at the beginning of this 2021, we try to take stock of the previous twelve months, it turns out that the actors of the automotive market (which closed 2020 with a drop of 27.7% less than in 2019) dealers and used dealers do not see it as entirely tragic. In short, there is a surprise! This news comes from a research carried out by BCA which interviewed Italian dealers (who sell new cars) and traders (who sell used cars). BCA, which is the largest B2B used car seller in Europe and a company listed on the London Stock Exchange, is aimed in practice at those who supply the “raw material” (ie used cars) and at its customers: traders or those who sell used cars.

The request was, of course, to evaluate 2020. The response from the new car sales networks was almost unexpected because 72% of dealers said they were satisfied or partially satisfied with the 2020 trend. For traders, however, 2020 was satisfactory or partially satisfactory for 48%: not the majority, but a good percentage. For those who sell cars, 2020 was the time to start a new way of being on the market, to review business processes and to evolve their business on the web: this was the response of 90% of those interviewed. And this confirms what we wrote during the past year: digital evolution was and a necessary step for “networks” to face the new challenges. And on this vision we have had several times the comfort of the opinion of Professor (teaches at the Venetian C Foscari) Leonardo Buzzavo who has repeatedly indicated in the modification of business processes, in the opening of the concessionaires to the telematic option (and not only as a channel of sales) the essential conditions for a positive exit from the crisis triggered by the pandemic.

As for the “traders”, they have raised a problem in the prices of used cars that have risen due to the shortage of second-hand cars. The decline in the new market immediately reverberated on used vehicles: fewer exchanges, fewer pieces to sell and a consequent increase in prices. And to ensure a sufficient flow of used cars, many traders search for vehicles using telematic channels and online auctions (which is BCA’s core business). However, the BCA survey did not stop at the evaluation of the (near) past, but wanted to probe the opinions and suggestions for the future, or what awaits the actors of the car market in 2021. For those who sell ” new ”the year just started will be good for over 70% of the interviewees (for traders the optimists stop at 57%, but there is a 33% who maintains that predictions cannot be made). The operators, however, report some headaches for the future on how to manage used electric or hybrid cars. Everyone agrees on the “electric” turn that the market has taken and will continue to take, but many dealers report difficulties in selling hybrid or electric cars received in exchange.

January 22, 2021 (change January 22, 2021 | 11:38)

Trump’s Facebook lock is being scrutinized – digitally

Patrick Lawson

January 22, 2021

January 22, 2021, 9:06 am

Social media censorship:Facebooks has Trump ban checked

Donald Trump’s Facebook ban is set to be reviewed by the Facebook Oversight Board within the next 90 days.
(Photo: AP)

Facebook is submitting the decision to ban Donald Trump from the platform to its own appellate body. Even Mark Zuckerberg cannot override his decisions.

Facebook leaves the former US president’s permanent ban Examine Donald Trump from a panel set up to deal with disputes between the online network and its users. Decisions of the Facebook Oversight Board (FOB) are binding on the company and cannot be overruled by founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Ex-US President Trump had incited his supporters with repeated unsubstantiated claims about alleged election fraud. Even when this on January 6th after a Trump speech in Washington D.C. stormed the Capitol, he continued to show sympathy for the mob. Facebook had therefore thrown Trump off the platform after the storm on the Capitol. “We believe that our decision was necessary and right,” said Facebook’s political chief Nick Clegg on Thursday when he announced that the case would go to the FOB.

Facebook had formed the FOB in response to public pressure in order to create an independent counterweight to decisions about content on the platform. On the one hand, users should be able to call in the committee in the event of what they consider to be an unjustified deletion of content. On the other hand, Facebook itself can call it with various questions about dealing with advertising, groups or pages. Last year, the first members of the body were introduced, including the former Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt and the former Guardian– Editor-in-Chief Alan Rusbridger.

Both Donald Trump and Facebook will have the opportunity to share their views in front of the FOB. The committee has a maximum of 90 days to come to a decision.