While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Nov 23, 2024
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A child in California has become the first in the US to test positive for bird flu.
PHOTO: REUTERS
US reports first bird-flu case in a child
A child in California has become the first in the United States to test positive for bird flu infection, authorities said on Nov 22, as health officials offered checks and preventive treatment to exposed contacts at the child’s day-care centre.
The child, from Alameda County in the San Francisco Bay area, had mild symptoms and was said to be recovering at home following treatment with flu antivirals, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).
As a precaution, close family members of the child were tested, with all results coming back negative.
Local officials have also contacted caregivers and families at the day-care facility, where the child showed mild symptoms before testing positive.
Chinese hackers preparing for conflict, says US cyber official
Chinese hackers are positioning themselves in US critical infrastructure IT networks for a potential clash with the United States, a top American cybersecurity official said on Nov 22.
Ms Morgan Adamski, executive director of US Cyber Command, said Chinese-linked cyber operations are aimed at gaining an advantage in case of a major conflict with the US.
Officials have warned that China-linked hackers have compromised IT networks and taken steps to carrying out disruptive attacks in the event of a conflict.
Ukraine to step up air defence development after missile ‘test’
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Nov 22 that Ukraine was working on developing new types of air defence to counter “new risks” following Russia’s deployment of a new medium-range missile in the 33-month war.
Mr Zelensky, in his nightly video address, said testing a new weapon for purposes of terror in another country was an “international crime” and issued a new call for a world-wide “serious response” to keep Russia from expanding the war.
He was speaking a day after Russia fired a new intermediate-range weapon - called Oreshnik (hazel tree) - into Ukraine for the first time. Ukraine said the missile reached a top speed of more than 13,000kmh and took about 15 minutes to reach its target from its launch.
Americans say you need a $364,000 salary to be ‘successful’
The price of success? About US$270,000 (S$364,000) a year.
That is the annual salary it takes to be considered financially successful, according to a survey released on Nov 22 by financial services company Empower. The hurdle for net worth is US$5.3 million, according to respondents.
Those numbers are well beyond the reach of most Americans.
New Ultimate Championship will be athletics ‘gamechanger’
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said on Nov 22 the new Ultimate Championship team event, officially unveiled by the sport’s governing body, would be a “gamechanger” for track and field.
The inaugural event will be held in Budapest on Sept 11-13, 2026, and it will be staged every two years to fulfil World Athletics’ ambition of holding a global championship every year.
The federation said the event would provide “a spectacular conclusion to the summer athletics season, in the years where there is no World Athletics Championships”.