UK

Alleged Ticketmaster hack breaches half-a-billion customer details

The collective has also been behind other high-profile data breaches

HACKERS ALSO DEMANDED A RANSOM FOR THE DATA NOT TO BE RELEASED

TICKETMASTER

LOLA CHRISTINA ALAO

Ticketmaster is investigating a hacker collective's claim that it obtained the personal details of more than half-a-billion customers – which would be the largest security breach ever.

Shiny Hunters has claimed on the dark web it had the personal details of 560 million Ticketmaster customers available for a one-time sale of $500,000 (£393,000). Names, addresses, emails, phone numbers and the last four digits and expiration date of credit cards are what it claimed are for sale.

It also demanded a ransom for the data not to be released. 

Prof Matthew Warren, an expert in cybersecurity, told the BBC the advice was never to pay a ransom for stolen data, as it could increase the risk of future attacks.

“Once the data has been stolen from the organisation, there is nothing that the organisation can do to protect the data. If the organisation had encrypted the data, then if the data had been stolen, it would have been unusable by the hacker,” he said.

The collective has also been behind other high-profile data breaches, resulting in the loss of millions of dollars to the companies involved.

In 2021, the group sold a database of stolen information from 70 million customers of US telecoms firm AT&T.

In September last year, almost 200,000 Pizza Hut customers in Australia had their data breached.

It comes after BreachForums was recently relaunched, a site on the dark web where other hackers buy and sell stolen material. 

Though the domain was shut down by the FBI in March 2023, leading to the arrest of its administrator Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, the site reappeared. 

Users of the forums often exaggerate the scale of their hacking to attract attention from other hackers.

"If Ticketmaster has had a breach of this scale, it is important they inform customers but it is important to also consider that sometimes criminal hackers make false or inflated claims about data breaches – so people should not be overly concerned until a breach is confirmed," security researcher Kevin Beaumont told the BBC.

In 2020, Ticketmaster admitted it hacked into one of its competitor sites, and agreed to pay a $10m (£7.9m) fine.

While in November, a cyber attack created problems selling tickets for Taylor Swift's Era's tour.

Australia's Department of Home Affairs says it is "working with Ticketmaster to understand the incident". The FBI is also understood to be offering its services.

The American website Ticketmaster, one of the largest online ticket sales platforms in the world, has yet to confirm whether it has experienced a security breach.

The Standard has contacted Ticketmaster and owner Live Nation for comment and is awaiting a response.

 UK

Union activists attack government’s ‘dehumanising’ rhetoric

By John Pring on 30th May 2024

Disabled union activists have attacked the government’s demonisation of disabled people and its “disgraceful discriminatory language”, at a conference that began less than a day after prime minister Rishi Sunak finally announced the date of the general election.

A series of five emergency motions approved by delegates at the TUC Disabled Workers’ Conference in Liverpool condemned the Conservative government’s repeated attacks on disabled people’s rights, particularly through its social security reforms.

There were also calls for the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) to be enshrined into UK law.

One of the motions said Sunak and his government’s actions effectively “declare war on disabled people”.

Austin Harney, a delegate from the PCS union, which represents many Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) staff, attacked DWP for issuing “disgraceful benefit sanctions on disabled claimants”.

He called for unions to pressure a Labour government “to get rid of these sanctions once and for all”, and he accused the government of committing “what you could call corporate manslaughter or political murder” because of the impact of its DWP policies on disabled people.

He said: “It’s also terrible how this war on disabled people is not being taken very, very seriously and it’s time for all of us trade unions to stand together to do something about this.”

Kevin Daws, from the University and College Union, said he was “angry that the government are demonising disabled people and treating them as undeserving citizens”.

Criticising Sunak’s claim that there was a “sick note culture”, he said: “The level of statutory sick pay is so low that people go to work when they are sick because they have no choice, as we witnessed during the Covid pandemic.”

And Falyn Waterman, from USDAW, told fellow delegates: “Rishi talks about a sick note culture, tells us that we as a country can’t afford to have this many people sick, when he and his government are responsible for making us sicker and making us poorer and poorer.”

Moving the “war on disabled people” motion, Unite’s Sadia Mirza (pictured) told the conference: “We all know that real change comes from the top and will only come once the [UNCRPD] is enshrined into UK law.

“Disabled people are not outcasts. We are an important minority and deserve our basic rights.”

She said the government’s failure to send a minister to Geneva in March to defend its disability rights record in front of the UN’s committee on the rights of disabled people “showed the lack of priority towards the rights of disabled people”.

Lee Starr-Elliott, a delegate from the Communication Workers Union, moved an emergency motion that condemned the government’s “systematic violations of disabled people’s rights”, as demonstrated by the UN committee.

He was one of the union activists who joined the delegation of disabled people who were in Geneva in March to hear a civil servant defend the government’s record.

He told fellow delegates that it was “no surprise” to see the government and mainstream media ignore the UN’s subsequent report or even challenge it, but he added: “What was even more concerning was the lack of trade union support for disabled activists who have fought to highlight the abuses and hold government to account.”

He said: “The election is a golden opportunity for the TUC and its affiliates to lead Labour forward and ensure the UN’s recommendations are carried out and going forward we have a joined up collective approach to making Deaf and disabled people feel a valued part of society… now is not the time to be silent.”

Natasha Hirst, the first disabled activist to be president of the National Union of Journalists, said the government’s rhetoric on disabled people had been “designed to dehumanise us and to shift public opinion towards the narrative that tells us that our lives are worth less, that we are a drain and a burden and that we are evading playing our part in society”.

Hirst was another of the union activists who joined the Geneva delegation in March.

She was critical of the mainstream media for its lack of coverage of the UN report and the government’s benefit reforms, and she moved an emergency motion that attacked the “inaccurate negative and unethical coverage of disability issues” by the media.

She told the conference: “Policy changes to social security have made it impossible for most people to understand and access the support that they are entitled to unless they have an expert advocate by their side.

“The inequalities and injustices that we experience as disabled people are a direct result of political choices and these are choices that are made by people who have never experienced oppression, who have never experienced the sharp end of our social security system, an incredibly demoralizing experience to go through.”

She added: “The government is not being held to account or shamed for its failures, and it empowers them to continue with their agenda.”

All five of the emergency motions were overwhelmingly passed by the conference.

Picture by Natasha Hirst Photography

Disabled union activists warn Labour: If you break your promises, we will come for you

By John Pring on 30th May 2024

Disabled trade unionists have warned that they will hold Labour to account on the promises it makes to improve the rights of disabled workers, if the party wins power at July’s general election.

They have also called for activists to exert pressure on Labour during the election campaign to persuade it to expand its existing pledges on disability employment.

And they called on the party to include in its general election manifesto all the measures in the Disability Employment Charter, which aims to address the widespread disadvantage disabled people face in their working lives.

The charter was founded by organisations including Disability Rights UK, the public services union UNISON and the Disability@Work group of academics, who have played a significant role in raising evidenced concerns about the Conservative government’s policies on disability employment.

Lola Oyewusi, a UNISON delegate, told the TUC Disabled Workers’ Conference in Liverpool: “To win for disabled workers is very paramount to the success of a Labour government.

“If Labour does not deliver for disabled workers, we will definitely hold them to account.”

And she warned Vicky Foxcroft, Labour’s shadow minister for disabled people, who had spoken at the conference the previous day, that – if she becomes minister for disabled people – “we will surely make sure she delivers”.

Anong the policies described by Foxcroft in her speech – many of which are in the charter – was a pledge to force larger employers to report on their disability pay gaps; reform of the Access to Work scheme; action to make it easier for disabled workers to secure reasonable adjustments; and reform of the government’s much-criticised Disability Confident scheme.

Lee Starr-Elliott, a delegate from the Communication Workers Union, told the conference: “It is now imperative that we rid ourselves of the Tories.

“However, it’s just as important that the Labour party is held to account and do not repeat or continue the mistakes that the current government are making.”

He added: “Attacks on Deaf and disabled people and workers must be stopped, and we need a Labour party that embraces and works with disabled people and groups to make the change for the better.

“Access to Work, disability benefits and many other programmes must be fixed, and the rights of disabled people and workers must be strengthened, especially in employment, where we are seeing the biggest number of attacks from both the employer and the DWP.

“Labour must also be held to account and commit to being a leading figure in disability issues, both nationally and internally.”

Philip Blundell, a Unite delegate, called on the Labour party to stand with the union movement.

But he added: “Don’t do it and you’re part of the enemy and we will come for you.”

He told delegates: “Go back to your workplaces, ask people to vote Labour, then we’ll hold them to account.

“And if they don’t bring in, within the first 100 days, what they said they were going to do, we will hold them to account. We will march.”

Alison Gaughan, from the University and College Union, told fellow delegates: “I want to see the back of the Tories as much as anybody.

“However, I’m sceptical about how much will change when Labour come to power.

“I welcome the promises that we’ve heard from Labour. I hope they will come to pass, but I’m not holding my breath.”

She added: “We know that we live in a system where if the needs of disabled people come up against the interests of capital, capital will win.

“We shouldn’t forget that the Labour party has committed to the same economic rules as the Tories adhere to.

“Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has repeatedly emphasised her commitment to so-called fiscal responsibility, and she cosies up to business leaders.

“The TUC must hold Labour to all their promises on disability, and more.

“We want full equality for disabled people and a full commitment to the Disability Employment Charter and the UNCRPD*.”

Ian Thomas, from the PCS union, pointed out that only two of the unions represented at the conference had signed up to the charter themselves, despite 187 organisations backing it.

He said: “If we all… go back to our own unions and say, ‘Why haven’t you signed it yet?’ that action alone would really boost the visible sign that we as trade unions are signed up to the Disability Employment Charter, that we want to see a workplace where disability employment rights are recognised by the employers that we are negotiating with.”

Dougie Johnstone, a delegate from the bakers’ union BFAWU, told the conference that although he was looking forward to “getting rid” of the Conservatives, he also had “some concerns” about the Labour party.

He pleaded with Labour to ignore the “nice headlines you’ll get in the Tory rags” and “be the party that says, ‘I will stand up for everyone.’”

The motion was passed with only a handful of abstentions.

*UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Anger and frustration after unions refuse to back disabled people’s manifesto

By John Pring on 30th May 2024

Disabled union delegates have been accused of failing to support the disability movement after refusing to back a motion at their annual conference that called on political parties, and the TUC, to support a manifesto drawn up by disabled people’s organisations.

Opposition to the Disabled People’s Manifesto appears to have started with the refusal of the influential National Education Union (NEU) and the NASUWT teachers’ union to support its demands on inclusive education.

The manifesto, put together by DPO Forum England and supported by 40 disabled people’s organisations (DPOs), calls for a “right for every Disabled and Deaf student to get appropriate support to attend and remain in a fully inclusive mainstream education setting”.

It also lays out a “radical reform programme” across the areas of representation and voice, rights, independence, and inclusion, which is aimed at tackling “disablist policy making and systemic oppression and injustice”.

Despite DPOs expecting a motion supporting the manifesto to be approved, it was opposed by NEU, NASUWT and even the TUC disabled workers’ committee, the body elected annually by disabled delegates to the conference, and which advises the TUC on disability policy.

The committee told the conference in a statement that it supported the “vast majority” of the manifesto, but that the document “does not call out the resourcing and funding crisis facing schools when it comes to the delivery of SEND*”.

It also said it was concerned that the manifesto’s wording was “still subject to change” and that it did not want to commit the TUC and its affiliated unions to “a manifesto that could be altered”.

There was frustration and anger from disabled activists this week at the actions of union delegates at the conference in Liverpool.

Simone Aspis, a lifelong campaigner for inclusive education, and a former policy and campaigns coordinator for The Alliance for Inclusive Education, but speaking on behalf of her consultancy Changing Perspectives, said she was “angry” and “very disappointed” by the unions’ actions and their failure to support the manifesto.

She said: “Ever since I have been involved with the disabled people’s movement, I have never really felt that unions have really supported disabled people in terms of advocating for their rights.”

But Aspis, who attended a segregated special school herself, said she would not have expected the unions that represent school teaching staff to vote any other way “because they are worried about their workers losing their jobs in segregated provision” and have a “vested interest” which should be examined.

She added: “It will take some very brave union to actually say, ‘This is where we want to go and some workers will lose their jobs, but we really want an inclusive society.’”

Bob Ellard, a member of the national steering group of Disabled People Against Cuts, said: “Solidarity of the left with disabled people only seems to apply when organisations want something from us, but not when we ask them to do something for us.

“Again and again over years, disabled people have been let down by people who style themselves fighters for social justice.

“Are we surprised by this? No, we’re used to it.”

And Professor Peter Beresford, co-chair of Shaping Our Lives, said: “There isn’t a public service which hasn’t been damaged and subverted by the privatising and small state politics of at least the last 15 years.

“We know that well-thought-through and well-resourced inclusive education is in the best interest of all school students, properly implemented.

“We know that successive Conservative administrations have shown no commitment to the diversity of children’s educational needs and have done little to support truly inclusive education, more often the opposite.

“But knowing this does not mean that we lose sight of the principles of inclusive education or our long-term commitment to them.

“There is now real hope for ideological change in the UK; now is the time to recommit ourselves to disabled people-led inclusive education, not to weaken our support for it.”

Jonathan Bellshaw, a member of the disabled workers’ committee and a Communication Workers Union delegate, had spoken against the manifesto at the conference.

He told the conference that “we have to be very careful when we say let’s use mainstream for SEND”, and he told delegates that when he had been a school governor there was a disabled pupil “who was not suitable for mainstream school”.

Among his other concerns was that the manifesto’s two-week timeframe for dealing with requests for reasonable adjustments was not realistic because, he said, Brexit meant it now takes more than two weeks to obtain specialist chairs from Europe.

Kat Downs, from NASUWT, questioned the demand for accessible housing in the manifesto, because she said it wasn’t clear who would decide whether housing was accessible, and she did not trust “the government and the planning laws”.

She said that, as an autistic teacher, she supported “the right for anybody to choose where they want to be educated”.

She said: “Class sizes right now, in some schools, are way in excess of 30, 34, 35.

“If I was an autistic person sat in one of those classrooms right now, I would not be maintaining mainstream education.”

Kevin Daws, from the University and College Union, had led support for the motion, and told delegates that the document “reaffirms our commitment to the social model of disability” and is “a manifesto for change, a manifesto which provides a new deal for Deaf and disabled people”.

He said: “The manifesto is a call to arms, it’s saying that we as disabled people are proud.

“We’ve had enough of the warm words. We demand a change. And the manifesto is a tool with which to engage with us.”

Austin Harney, a delegate from the PCS union, seconded the motion, and told the conference that it was important to “build alliances” with disabled people’s organisations by supporting the manifesto.

In response to concerns raised by NEU and NASUWT, Daws told delegates: “We should remember that having segregated schools for people with special educational needs is actually based on a medical model of disability and is designed to isolate those people, exclude them from mainstream education.”

And he pointed to government evidence that found that greater inclusion in mainstream settings “can improve the academic achievement for children and young people with special educational needs”.

He said the manifesto “actually includes a demand to commit an extra three billion pounds per year for education support to fund SEND; in other words, properly-funded special educational needs within mainstream schools”.

And he reminded Bellshaw that the demand for a response to reasonable adjustment requests within two weeks was current TUC policy, and had been approved by the disabled workers’ conference in 2022.

The manifesto has been put together by the country’s leading disabled people’s organisations, and disabled activists had hoped that backing from the TUC Disabled Workers’ Conference would help pressure the Labour party ahead of July’s general election.

But opposition from NEU – whose delegates wore “disability pride” tee-shirts to the conference – NASUWT and other unions, meant a motion supporting the manifesto was defeated by 67 votes to 52, with 20 abstentions.

A spokesperson for DPO Forum England said: “We are disappointed the motion in support of our manifesto did not go through.

“However, we are grateful and proud that 52 representatives voted for it.

“We will build on this support, recognising a huge need for DPOs and the unions to work together to create spaces for solidarity among disabled people.

“We know there are fundamental disagreements and we urge the unions to work with us to create opportunities where campaigners for inclusion can be at the table, explain their vision and be heard.”

*Special educational needs and disabilities

Picture: Delegates voting against the motion

 

Media watchdog files ICC case over journalists’ deaths in Gaza

AFP

May 27, 2024

The ICC said in January it was probing potential crimes against journalists since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas - Copyright AFP/File CARL DE SOUZA

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Monday it had filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court over Palestinian journalists killed or injured in Gaza.

RSF said it was asking the ICC’s prosecutor to investigate alleged war crimes committed by the Israeli army against at least nine Palestinian reporters since December 15.

The ICC said in January it was probing potential crimes against journalists since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza, which has cost the lives of more than 100 reporters.

RSF said it had “reasonable grounds for thinking that some of these journalists were deliberately killed and that the others were the victims of deliberate IDF (Israel Defence Force) attacks against civilians.”

This specific complaint — the third the RSF has made — concerns eight Palestinian journalists killed between December 20 and May 20, and one other who sustained injuries.

“All concerned journalists were killed (or injured) in the course of their work,” RSF said in a statement.

Antoine Bernard, RSF advocacy and assistance director, said: “Those who kill journalists are attacking the public’s right to information, which is even more essential in times of conflict.”

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan last week asked the court to issue arrest warrants for top Israeli and Hamas leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for alleged war crimes and crimes and humanity.

Israel has strongly denied the allegation and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said that to draw a parallel between Hamas and Israeli leaders was “despicable”.

– ‘Deadliest period for journalists’ –


The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists says at least 107 journalists and media workers have been killed during the Gaza war, the “deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992”.

The RSF complaint includes the case of two Palestinian journalists killed in January while working for Al Jazeera.

Hamza Wael Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuria, who also worked as a video stringer for AFP and other news organisations, were killed while they were “on their way to carry out their duty” for the channel in the Gaza Strip, the network said.

The Israeli army told AFP at the time it had “struck a terrorist who operated an aircraft that posed a threat to IDF troops”.

It added it was “aware of the reports that during the strike, two other suspects who were in the same vehicle as the terrorist were also hit”.

The Gaza war broke out after Hamas’s October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Militants also took 252 hostages, 121 of whom remain in Gaza, including 37 the army says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 35,984 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to data from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

OpenAI’s Johansson gaffe pushes voice cloning into spotlight


AFP
May 27, 2024

Scarlett Johansson voiced an AI in the film 'Her', a movie liked by Sam Altman - Copyright AFP/File ANGELA WEISS
Joseph BOYLE

OpenAI was forced to apologise to actor Scarlett Johansson last week for using her voice –- or something very similar –- on its latest chatbot, throwing the spotlight on to voice-cloning tech.

Although OpenAI denied the voice they used was Johansson’s, their case was not helped by CEO Sam Altman flagging the new model with a one-word message on social media — “Her”.

Johansson voiced an AI character in the film “Her”, which Altman has previously said is his favourite film about the technology.

Right from the start, AI voice cloning has proved problematic.

Last year, British firm Elevenlabs went viral for all the wrong reasons when it released its voice-cloning software.

Internet pranksters immediately began pushing out deepfaked celebrities — Harry Potter star Emma Watson was shown reading Hitler’s Mein Kampf.

Law enforcement warned that AI clones could be used to extort money from loved ones over the phone.

The technology has developed rapidly in the past year becoming far more realistic and nuanced.

Danish entrepreneur Victor Riparbelli, CEO of British AI firm Synthesia, told AFP it was largely down to a program called Tortoise that was released two years ago.

The program’s developers threw thousands of hours of voice data into their model in an unstructured way and discovered it not only learnt what to say but how to say it.

“That was a pretty big paradigm shift,” Riparbelli said on the sidelines of last week’s VivaTech conference in Paris.

Tortoise was an open source program and Elevenlabs was the first to go to market using it.

OpenAI uses similar systems though they do not release any details.

– ‘Not very good’ –

Much of the controversy around voice cloning has focused on concerns over people misusing the software.

But the claim against OpenAI is unusual because it is the company itself accused of playing fast and loose.

“It was very unfortunate that OpenAI did that — really not very good,” Katya Laine, CEO of TALKR.ai, told AFP at VivaTech.

“If they actually cloned her voice without her knowing then I think that’s very very bad,” said Riparbelli.

The two entrepreneurs are among hundreds harnessing AI voice programs for uses that they argue will make companies more efficient.

Laine’s firm provides virtual voice assistants — essentially AI customer service agents.

She said her firm’s system could now resolve 25 to 30 percent of calls without any human involvement.

Synthesia specialises in video avatars, which Riparbelli said allowed any office worker to turn text or slides into a video performed by a realistic AI.

Both Riparbelli and Laine allow their clients to use their own avatars, off-the-shelf products or those supplied by the likes of OpenAI and Elevenlabs.

Riparbelli said Synthesia used actors whose likenesses and voices were licensed for two years with an option to renew after the initial period.

The problems arise if actors’ voices are used without their consent.

– ‘Odd precedent’ –

The fiasco overshadowed a developer conference in Paris last week when OpenAI was showing off a suite of new tools.

In front of a big screen in an auditorium, Romain Huet, OpenAI’s Head of Developer Experience, breezily chatted into his phone.

Seconds later, his short voice sample had been processed and could be heard commentating over a generated video — in five languages.

The demonstration showed how quickly the field is moving, but the headlines had already been written.

The Washington Post asked in a newsletter “How dumb is OpenAI?”, other commentators were suggesting wunderkind Altman was nothing more than a huckster.

Nonetheless, Riparbelli was open to OpenAI’s argument that they had used another actor who just sounded liked Johansson.

“If it’s not her but someone who sounds a lot like her… where do you draw that line,” Riparbelli asked.

“If they’re not allowed to use someone who sounds a lot like her, then it sets a very odd precedent.”

Rights court takes climate crisis hearing to Brazilian Amazon

By AFP
May 27, 2024

Brazil has been hard-hit by extreme weather events attributed to climate change, the most recent of which are the historic floods in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul that have left nearly 170 people dead and dozens missing - Copyright AFP Anselmo Cunha

Academics, activists and Indigenous people gathered Monday in the Brazilian Amazon to weigh in on a key legal question: What responsibility do states have in the face of climate emergencies?

The matter is one before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which was invited to Brazil to hold public hearings in a case that has drawn input from around the world.

The Brazilian Amazon, home to the world’s largest rainforest, is a “region of indisputable importance” when facing the effects of climate change, said the president of the Costa Rica-based court, Nancy Hernandez Lopez, at the opening of the session.

The case was brought in January 2023 by Chile and Colombia, who have asked the court for an advisory opinion on a country’s duties when “responding to the climate emergency under the framework of international human rights law.”

“We ask the court to consider states’ obligations to Indigenous peoples,” said Junior Anderson Guarani Kaiowa, from Brazil’s second-largest Indigenous community.

He said the region where his people live in Mato Grosso do Sul “is threatened by desertification, with no forest, no water, and no animals,” he said.

“In Guarani Kaiowa cosmology, the river and the forests maintain the balance of global warming. Pray that rivers contaminated with pesticides do not dry up later.”

The hearings are taking place from Monday to Wednesday in Manaus, the capital of Brazil’s Amazonas state.

The first hearings in the case took place in Barbados in April, before they moved to Brasilia last week.

Hernandez Lopez said the court had received more than 260 written contributions from civil society organizations around the world, “the largest participation in the history” of the court.

The advisory opinion is expected by the end of the year, a court source told AFP.

At the hearing in Brasilia, teenagers and activists from several South American countries warned that climate change affects young people “differently” with consequences for health, education, nutrition and hobbies.

Brazil has been hard-hit by extreme weather events attributed to climate change, the most recent of which are the historic floods in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul that have left nearly 170 people dead and dozens missing.

Pharma firm urged to share new ‘game-changer’ HIV drug

AFP
May 30, 2024

Pharma firm Gilead has been called on to allow for generic versions of its new HIV drug - Copyright AFP Rajesh JANTILAL
Daniel Lawler

More than 300 politicians, health experts and celebrities on Thursday called for US pharmaceutical giant Gilead to allow cheap, generic versions of a promising new HIV drug to be produced so it can reach people in developing countries most affected by the deadly disease.

The drug Lenacapavir could be a “real game-changer” in the fight against HIV, according to an open letter to Gilead CEO Daniel O’Day signed by a range of former world leaders, AIDS groups, activists, actors and others.

Lenacapavir, which was approved for use in the United States and the European Union in 2022, only needs to be injected twice a year, making it particularly suited for people normally “excluded from high quality healthcare,” the open letter said.

“We urge Gilead to ensure that people in the Global South living with or at risk of HIV can access this groundbreaking medicine at the same time as people in the Global North can,” it added.

The signatories urged Gilead to licence the drug on the United Nations-backed Medicines Patent Pool, which would allow for cheaper generic versions to be manufactured.

Two thirds of the 39 million people living with HIV were in Africa in 2022, according to the World Health Organization. Africa also accounted for 380,000 of the 630,000 AIDS-related deaths across the world that year, the WHO figures showed.

– ‘Horror and shame’ –

The letter said the “world now recalls with horror and shame that it took 10 years and 12 million lives lost before generic versions” of the first antiretroviral drugs became available worldwide.

“This innovation could help end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 – but only if all who would benefit from it can access it.”

Because it only requires two shots a year, the drug could be particularly important for those who face stigma getting treated for HIV, including young women, LGBTQ people, sex workers and people who inject drugs, the letter said.

Among the signatories were former heads of state including Liberian ex-president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Milawi’s Joyce Banda.

UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima and other humanitarian figures also signed on, as did actors including Gillian Anderson, Stephen Fry, Sharon Stone and Alan Cummings.

Another signatory Francoise Barre-Sinoussi — the French scientist who co-discovered the HIV virus — lamented “that inequality, not science, is the greatest barrier to fighting AIDS”.

On behalf of the scientists who paved the way for such new medicine, “I implore Gilead to erase much of that inequality and make a monumental step towards ending the AIDS pandemic,” she said in a statement.

Lenacapavir, sold under the brand name Sunlenca, has been shown to reduce “viral load in patients with infections that are resistant to other treatments,” according to the European Medicines Agency.

Cannabis terpenes may relieve chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain

By Dr. Tim Sandle
May 29, 2024

Germany will now have some of the most liberal cannabis laws in Europe - Copyright AFP/File John MACDOUGALL

A new study from University of Arizona Health Sciences finds that Cannabis sativa terpenes are as effective as morphine at reducing chronic neuropathic pain. Furthermore, the results indicated that a combination of the two analgesics further enhanced pain relief without leading to negative side effects.

While prior studies have shown that the Cannabis sativa plant along with its two primary cannabinoids – tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol – can be effective in managing chronic pain, the results were considered to be generally moderate. In addition, these earlier studies had flagged concern with unwanted psychoactive side effects.

In contrast, terpenes, the compounds that give plants their aroma and taste. These compounds offer an alternative path to pain relief without adverse side effects. Cannabis is unique in that it contains up to 150 terpenes with multiple terpenes acting as the dominant species.

Discussing the research, lead scientist John Streicher says: “A question that we’ve been very interested in is could terpenes be used to manage chronic pain?…What we found is that terpenes are really good at relieving a specific type of chronic pain with side effects that are low and manageable.”

Streicher tested five terpenes that are found in moderate to high levels in Cannabis: alpha-humulene, beta-caryophyllene, beta-pinene, geraniol and linalool. It had earlier been established that four of those terpenes mimicked the effects of cannabinoids, including a reduction in the sensation of pain, in animal models of acute pain.

For the new research, the scientists used a mouse model of chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain, a type of chronic pain that occurs when highly toxic chemotherapy medications cause nerve damage that results in pain.

The terpenes were tested individually and then compared with morphine. It was found that each terpene was successful in reducing the sensation of pain at levels near to or above the peak effect of morphine.

Furthermore, when the terpenes were combined with morphine, the pain-relieving effects of all five terpene/morphine combinations were significantly increased.

Unlike opioids, none of the terpenes had reward liability, making them a low risk for addiction. Some of the terpenes also did not cause aversive behaviours.

The research appears in the journal Pain, titled “Terpenes from Cannabis sativa induce antinociception in a mouse model of chronic neuropathic pain via activation of adenosine A2A receptors.”

Google to invest $2 bn in Malaysia: government

AFP
May 29, 2024


Google's investment comes after Microsoft said it would pump billions into Malaysia and other countries in Southeast Asia -

 Copyright AFP PAU BARRENA

M JEGATHESAN

Google will invest $2 billion in Malaysia to house the firm’s first data centre in the country, the government said Thursday, making it the latest tech titan to pump cash into the region in search of growth opportunities.

The government said the cash would support 26,500 jobs across various sectors in Malaysia, including healthcare, education, and finance, and comes days after Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim targeted at least $107 billion in investments for the semiconductor industry.

Anwar said in April that he planned to build Southeast Asia’s largest integrated circuit design park, while offering incentives including tax breaks and subsidies to attract global tech companies and investors.

Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer of Google and its parent firm Alphabet, said: “Google’s first data centre and Google Cloud region is our largest planned investment so far in Malaysia — a place Google has been proud to call home for 13 years.

“This investment builds on our partnership with the Malaysian government to advance its ‘Cloud First Policy’, including best-in-class cybersecurity standards.”

Investment, Trade, and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the cash “will significantly advance” Malaysia’s digital ambitions outlined in a 2030 masterplan.

He added that the data centre and cloud region “will empower our manufacturing and service-based industries to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and other advanced technologies to move up the global value chain”.

Earlier this month Microsoft said it would spend $2.2 billion on AI and cloud computing in Malaysia, with boss Satya Nadella pledging to invest billions in Thailand and Indonesia during a tour of the region.

And Amazon said it would spend US$9 billion in Singapore over the next four years to expand its cloud computing capabilities in the city.

The facility announced on Thursday will be located at a business park west of the capital Kuala Lumpur and will power Google’s popular digital services such as Search, Maps, and Workspace.

“When operational, Malaysia will join the 11 countries where Google has built and currently operates data centres to serve users around the world,” the statement said.

The Google Cloud region “will deliver high-performance and low-latency cloud infrastructure, analytics, and AI services to large enterprises, startups, and public sector organisations”, it added.

A key player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch.

Research by global consulting firm Kearney showed AI was poised to contribute $1 trillion to Southeast Asia’s gross domestic product by 2030, with Malaysia predicted to see more than a tenth of that.

“Now that many of these American tech giants are diversifying their investment risks away from China, Malaysia with its traditional involvement in high-tech industry is in a good position to welcome the relocation of their operations,” said Oh Ei Sun, an analyst with the Pacific Research Center of Malaysia.

PEOPLES CAPITALI$M
Nobel winner Yunus brings ‘social business’ mantra to Olympics

AFP
May 29, 2024

Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus sees the Paris Olympics as a means to promote his social business agenda - Copyright AFP Munir UZ ZAMAN

Since the early days of Paris’s bid for the 2024 Olympics, the city has been receiving advice from a prestigious counsel: Nobel peace prize winner and social business guru Mohammed Yunus.

Yunus pioneered microcredit in his native Bangladesh from the 1970s, helping lift millions out of poverty by providing traders with small loans to help them start businesses.

His role in Paris as an advisor and ambassador for socially responsible business is a departure from his usual work — and is all the more surprising given the reputation of the Olympics for embracing mega-projects and corporate sponsors.

The 84-year-old admits to not even being a sports fan, but he agreed to come on board after accepting a dinner invitation from Paris’s Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo in 2016 as she and her team were bidding to host the Games.

“I said to them the simplest thing you can do, before you make any decisions about allocating funds, is ask ‘does this item have any social purpose?'” Yunus said.

“If it doesn’t, not a penny should be allocated,” he added.

He says he quickly saw an opportunity to use the power of the Olympics to spread his message about the importance of embracing new ways of doing business, focusing on solving humanity’s problems rather than making profits.

“The moment Paris does something, it becomes globally interesting,” he said. “There is public awareness about Paris, the respect they have, their history and how they are known for creativity.”

– A different village –

Yunus says his ideas fell on fertile ground in the mayor’s office and the organising committee, with the city’s vision for the 33rd Summer Games being an event with a lower budget and environmental impact compared with previous editions.

Only two news sports venues have been built, in addition to the athletes’ village.

Having visited the village built for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro — a high-rise complex outside the city, with poor public transport links — Yunus knew the pitfalls.

“I saw all these tall buildings, one after another, and I thought ‘that’s not the right way to do it’,” he said.

By contrast, the Paris 2024 village is around 40 low-rise blocs on a brownfield site in one of the poorest parts of northern Paris, with new metro lines, schools and parks part of the redevelopment plan.

Around a third of the 2,800 apartments are set to be converted into social housing once the Olympics and Paralympics wrap up in September.

Yunus also urged organisers to consider adding “social businesses will be given priority” to their public tenders for services such as catering.

“All the big companies which are used to winning these tenders read that line and talk to each other and ask: What is a social business? Are we one? Will we get a priority?” he said.

“And the smart CEO will say, ‘Okay, since we’re not a social business, why don’t we have a partnership with one?’. So at least you are bringing them into the picture.”

– Corporate domination –

Ultimately, the catering contract to provide 40,000 meals a day was won by Sodexo, a listed French multinational with annual sales of more than 12 billion euros ($13 billion).

Elsewhere, the usual roster of global blue-chip sponsors will use the Games for promotional purposes, from Japanese carmaker Toyota and global steel maker ArcelorMittal to French luxury empire LVMH.

Most of the construction work was performed by France’s largest building companies — Bouygues Construction, Eiffage and Vinci.

But around the fringes, a desire to use the Games to nurture small, socially minded companies can be glimpsed, even if they have benefited from only a fraction of the nearly 9-billion-euro budget.

A Paris-based plastic recycling business called Le Pave won a contract to provide 11,000 seats at new Olympic venues, one of around 500 “social businesses” to win tenders.

Others included a business that converts building waste into topsoil, which was used at the athletes’ village. Laundry services there will be provided by a consortium of nine small local entrepreneurs.

On the Games building sites, contractors were also required to use long-term unemployed people for at least 10 percent of their workforce.

Yunus does not seek credit for any of these initiatives, but he is convinced that by putting his ideas and reputation at the service of the Games, he is helping to encourage change.

He has begun advising Milan-Cortina, the Italian host of the 2026 Winter Olympics.

“They whisper in my ears, ‘we want to do better than Paris’,” he said.

Pitzer.edudwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/proudhon/dana.html

Proudhon and his "Bank of the People" - Anarchy Archives

M. Proudhon is about five feet eight inches high, of rather clumsy person. His hair is light, his complexion fresh, his eyes blue and keen, and ...

Exxon plays hardball against climate NGOs. Will investors care?


By AFP
May 28, 2024

ExxonMobil's aggressive posture towards climate activists has drawn criticism from Norway's sovereign wealth fund and others - Copyright AFP/File JADE GAO
John BIERS

ExxonMobil investors will have a chance to weigh in at Wednesday’s annual meeting on the company’s hardball approach to the latest shareholder challenge from environmentalists over climate change.

The US oil giant, which unapologetically favors petroleum investment despite its negative climate impacts, has adopted a more aggressive posture towards activists at this year’s virtual meeting compared with years past.

ExxonMobil has sued two shareholder groups, NGO Follow This and activist fund Arjuna Capital, which sought an investor vote on a measure to limit emissions.

Its suit, which includes seeking legal fees, has drawn criticism from shareholders like Norway’s sovereign wealth fund and California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS).

A large number of votes against ExxonMobil board nominees would signify shareholder disgust with the company’s tactics.

CalPERS called climate change “a serious threat to long-term investment returns,” while arguing that ExxonMobil’s litigious tactics could have “devastating” consequences for corporate governance.

“If ExxonMobil succeeds in silencing voices and upending the rules of shareholder democracy, what other subjects will the leaders of any company make off limits? Worker safety? Excessive executive compensation?”

CalPERS said it would vote against all 12 board nominees “to send a message that our voices will not be silenced.”

The move comes after Arjuna and Follow This demanded a shareholder vote in December on a plan directing ExxonMobil to accelerate emission reductions, requiring targets and timetables to lower “Scope 3” emissions.

The category of emissions includes those created by consumers using a company’s product, such as the CO2 released by the burning of oil and gas produced by a fossil fuel company.

ExxonMobil argued that the proposal was the same as one rejected by nearly 90 percent of company shareholders at the 2023 meeting.

Such proposals are “expensive and time-consuming to address,” said ExxonMobil, adding that the proposal “does not seek to improve ExxonMobil’s economic performance or create shareholder value,” according to the suit.

“Defendants’ overarching objective is to force ExxonMobil to change the nature of its ordinary business or to go out of business entirely,” said the lawsuit.

Soon after ExxonMobil filed the suit in federal court in Texas in January, Arjuna and Follow This withdrew the proposal.

However, ExxonMobil has persevered with the litigation, asking a federal judge to declare that the measure can be omitted from the company’s proxy statement.

US District Judge Mark Pittman last week approved a motion to dismiss the case against Netherlands-based Follow This, ruling that the court lacks personal jurisdiction over the group. But Pittman permitted the suit to go forward against Arjuna.

In a May 27 letter to ExxonMobil, Arjuna managing partner Natasha Lamb rejected the oil giant’s characterization, saying her firm’s focus on climate change “is consistent with, and indeed necessary for, securing future financial success.”

Lamb pledged to refrain from further climate proposals at ExxonMobil, adding, “I expect that Exxon will now, albeit belatedly, do what justice and a respect for the rights of shareholders require and withdraw its lawsuit.”