If China dominates 5G and 6G, no defense system can protect America

 Americans of both parties recognize that the Chinese Communist Party threatens the free world with its multifaceted game of economic, military, diplomatic and cultural technologies. To counter this, the U.S. must move decisively to resolve its radio spectrum deficit by projecting tech diplomacy, a new category of statecraft integrating technological expertise, innovative strategies and policy tools.  

As the former undersecretary of the Department of State from 2019 to 2021 and commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), we believe in securing the technological high ground by starting with 5G — the backbone of current and future innovation. 

The U.S. State Department and FCC are not mere participants but architects of global policy change. The Department of State created the Clean Network Alliance of Democracies, now encompassing 60 nations, two-thirds of the world’s GDP, more than 200 telecom providers, and dozens of industry-leading companies rooted in the Trust Doctrine to advance human freedom. 

The Clean Network’s commitment to trust means integrity, accountability and transparency. It ensures that members’ 5G rollout honors rule of law and human rights — the opposite of the Chinese Communist Party’s ambition to use technology to strengthen the authoritarian state. Former U.S. national security adviser H.R. McMaster credited the Clean Network as the first government-led initiative to prove that China’s economic warfare was beatable because it exposed its biggest weakness: lack of trust. 

This mission to advance freedom through the innovation and adoption of trusted technology now continues through the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue University. The institute drives global tech security strategy through its congressionally chartered Global Tech Security Commission, aiming to secure strategic U.S. technologies like 5G and 6G against authoritarian threats. 

Mobile wireless technologies like 5G can bring more Americans and communities across the digital divide and power new industries like autonomous vehicles, advanced manufacturing and robotics. However, trusted technology like 5G require radio spectrum to work. This starts with spectrum frequency allocation, the lifeblood of wireless networks. 

Unfortunately, the U.S. faces a serious spectrum deficit of licensed midband spectrum, the “goldilocks” of spectrum that provides both coverage and capacity. U.S. inaction in recent years has enabled China to leapfrog America in spectrum leadership. China has amassed four times as much licensed midband spectrum as the U.S., and America now ranks 13th of 15 leading nations in licensed midband spectrum. Over the next five years, other countries, including China, will surpass the U.S. in licensed mid-band spectrum for 5G and 6G. 

This imbalance poses critical strategic challenges for national security and its global competitiveness. If the Chinese government and its autocratic allies dominate 5G and 6G with superior spectrum infrastructure, there is no defense system or mitigation measure that can protect the Americans or U.S. interests. 

America need not take a backseat to China on spectrum. From 2017-2020, the U.S. unleashed 6,000 MHz of licensed spectrum to market. But America has been falling behind since then. The Biden administration’s just released and much-anticipated National Spectrum Strategy does not commit to freeing up a single megahertz of spectrum.  

The U.S. is becoming an isolated spectrum island with lack of licensed spectrum to compete on the critical wireless technologies of the future. Spectrum leadership matters — it is part and parcel of America’s geopolitical leadership. Right now, both are slipping away, as we explained a recent Center for Strategic and International Studies and Krach Institute event. 

This is a clarion call for strategic action. It’s time to do the hard work of identifying additional midband spectrum primed for licensed use like the 4 GHz and the upper end of 7 GHz. 

Earlier, the State Department and FCC worked hand in glove with federal partners to recover U.S. government-held spectrum for the benefit of the American people through commercial use. Unfortunately, this process broke down and lapsed into the FCC’s expiration of spectrum auction authority last year. 

It’s time to get back on course. The right approach to spectrum allocation will restore America’s spectrum pipeline, its national security, and its global technological leadership. 

We must move decisively to win this global contest. We cannot get stuck in the “paralysis by analysis” that often occurs in the federal government. The first step must come from Congress to reauthorize the FCC’s auction authority and refill the pipeline of licensed spectrum.  

Lawmakers must get spectrum strategy back on track. There’s no time to waste. 

Keith Krach served as U.S. undersecretary of State. He is chairman of the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue and serves as co-chair of the Global Tech Security Commission. Brendan Carr is a commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission. 

https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/4479232-if-china-dominates-5g-and-6g-no-defense-system-can-protect-america/

Hacker forum post claims UnitedHealth paid $22 mln ransom in bid to recover data

 A post on a hacker forum popular with cybercriminals has claimed UnitedHealth Group paid $22 million in a bid to recover access to data and systems encrypted by the "Blackcat" ransomware gang, according to two researchers.

Neither UnitedHealth nor the hackers involved have commented on the alleged ransom payment, but a cryptocurrency tracing firm partially corroborated the claim on Monday.

It is not uncommon for large companies that have been victimized by ransomware gangs to decide to pay the hackers to regain control of their networks, especially in instances where a significant disruption to customers and partners occurred.

The forum post, dated Sunday, said a partner of Blackcat was responsible for the intrusion into UnitedHealth. The message, allegedly from the partner, included a link showing that someone had moved about 350 bitcoins, now worth about $23 million as the value of the cryptocurrency rises, from one digital currency wallet to another.

The owner or owners of the respective wallets is not publicly available, but blockchain analysis firm TRM Labs said the destination of the funds was "associated with AlphV," also known as Blackcat, noting it had seen that address used to collect ransom payments from other AlphV victims.

Asked whether it had paid the ransom, UnitedHealth said only that it was "focused on the investigation and the recovery."

Blackcat has not responded to repeated messages from Reuters sent over several days. Reuters could not immediately determine how to reach the purported partner hacker group or to access the cybercrime forum where the post was made, although it was able to view screenshots taken independently by two researchers, including Recorded Future's Dmitry Smilyanets.

The break-in at UnitedHealth's Change Healthcare unit, which has sparked disruption across the United States, has been the object of online intrigue. Blackcat claimed last week that it had stolen millions of sensitive records in the hack, only to quickly delete its post without explanation.

Meanwhile, the pain has continued to spread across the U.S. medical system as Change Healthcare's billing services remain paralyzed. The American Medical Association on Monday asked the Biden administration to make emergency funds available to physicians hurt by the outage.

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/UNITEDHEALTH-GROUP-INC-14750/news/Hacker-forum-post-claims-UnitedHealth-paid-22-mln-ransom-in-bid-to-recover-data-46089155/

US FDA approves Eyenovia's eye drug, Formosa Pharma says

 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had approved Eyenovia's eye drops to reduce inflammation and pain in patients who have undergone eye surgery, Taiwan-based Formosa Pharmaceuticals said on Monday.

Eyenovia acquired U.S. commercial rights of the drug last August from Formosa.

The treatment, which contains potent topical steroid clobetasol propionate, is typically used to treat skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis.

The steroid has so far not been used to treat eye diseases.

Eyenovia is working to launch the product mid-year, and seeks to capture a significant share of an estimated $1.3 billion annual market opportunity, Eyenovia CEO Michael Rowe said.

Formosa did not provide details on the pricing or the brand name for the eye drops, while Eyenovia did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comments. The U.S. FDA's approval came in following data from two late-stage studies conducted by Formosa in patients who had undergone cataract surgery.

In both studies, the drops - known as APP13007 - were administered twice a day for two weeks and helped reduce post-surgical eye inflammation and pain.

Canada-based Bausch + Lomb's Lotemax, used thrice a day, is also approved by the U.S. health regulator to treat inflammation and pain after eye surgery.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/1-us-fda-approves-eyenovias-232110737.html

US urges court to preserve Obamacare mandate to cover cancer screenings, HIV drugs

 President Joe Biden's administration on Monday urged a U.S. appeals court to preserve a federal mandate that requires health insurers to cover preventive care services including HIV-preventing medication and cancer screenings at no extra cost to patients.

"These are preventive services provisions that are critical and life-saving to millions of Americans," Daniel Aguilar, a lawyer for the government, told a three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals during arguments in the administration's appeal.

The administration is asking the 5th Circuit to overturn a federal judge's ruling that, if allowed to take full effect, would strike down the mandate that insurers cover a wide range of services chosen by a federal task force without co-pays. The mandate is part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA), often called Obamacare because it was championed by then-President Barack Obama.

The judges during the arguments did not clearly signal how they would rule.

The PrEP drugs approved in the United States to prevent HIV infection, which can cause AIDS, are made by Gilead Sciences and by ViiV Healthcare, a joint venture of GSK, Pfizer and Shionogi.

A group of businesses led by Texas-based Christian wellness center operator Braidwood Management in 2020 sued over the mandate. While they brought their case because they objected on religious grounds to covering HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), they argued that the entire mandate violated the U.S. Constitution because it gave too much power to a task force chosen by a mid-level U.S. health official, rather than appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor in Fort Worth in March 2023 agreed and blocked enforcement of the preventive care mandate nationwide.

Jonathan Mitchell, a lawyer for Braidwood, argued that the 5th Circuit should uphold that conclusion.

"The individuals who wield these powers to impose compulsory preventive care coverage mandates on private insurers hold sufficient authority to make them into officers of the United States," Mitchell said.

The Biden administration has argued that U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, who was confirmed by the Senate, can retroactively "ratify" the task force's decisions. Becerra issued a memo in 2022 doing so, but Mitchell argued that the Obamacare law did not allow it.

Aguilar also told the judges on Monday that even if the court agrees with O'Connor's conclusions, it should narrow his order to give the plaintiffs what they wanted while preserving as much of Obamacare as possible - an approach he likened to using a "scalpel" instead of a "sledgehammer."

"Plaintiffs don't have a particular reason to object to somebody in Wisconsin receiving lung cancer screening without cost sharing," Aguilar said.

O'Connor's ruling does not apply to services the task force recommended before the ACA was enacted, including breast cancer screening.

Two members of the 5th Circuit panel, Circuit Judges Don Willett and Cory Wilson, were appointed by Republican former President Donald Trump, and the third, Circuit Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez, was appointed by Biden, a Democrat.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-court-weigh-obamacare-mandate-110635986.html

GSK's new HIV drug formula could support longer dosing intervals

 GSK said on Monday a new formulation of its HIV prevention and treatment drug could potentially be administered at least every four months, an improvement from the previous requirement of dosing every two months.

Data on the ultra-long-acting cabotegravir was presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections by GSK's HIV-focused unit, ViiV Healthcare, which plans to conduct large-scale clinical trials later this year.

The drug is among a dozen significant product releases that GSK anticipates in the coming years. The company has shifted its HIV focus to long-acting treatments and prevention therapies, amid a series of upcoming patent expiries, litigations and declining revenue from current bestsellers.

"This new formulation of cabotegravir with a higher concentration and at least double the half-life puts us on the path toward delivering dosing every four months for HIV treatment and PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis)," said Kimberly Smith, head of Research and Development at ViiV, in a statement.

GSK is also targeting to bring the first ultra-long-acting medicine for the prevention of HIV in 2026, followed by an ultra-long-acting HIV treatment medicine in 2027.

Pfizer and Shionogi hold minority stakes in GSK's ViiV Healthcare business.

Strong sales of medicines for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, drove GSK's growth last year, contributing about 21% of total revenue.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/gsks-hiv-drug-formula-could-184500162.html

Trian blames 'poor oversight' for Disney's problems in its push for board seats

 Billionaire U.S. investor Nelson Peltz on Monday said media and entertainment company Walt Disney had gambled away a "winning hand" and blamed "poor oversight" from its board, which he wants to be elected to next month.

In a 133-page-long presentation, the founder of Trian Fund Management argued that Disney was slow to adapt to industry changes including streaming, made errors in its acquisition strategy and bungled succession planning, leaving a "leadership void."

Trian is pushing for two seats on Disney's board and said Peltz and former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo are the right candidates to bring fresh blood to the boardroom.

The fight for the seats is one of the most closely watched corporate battles this year with Trian, a prominent activist investor, facing off against one of the most iconic U.S. companies, valued at $205 billion.

Peltz and Rasulo have promised to fix the process of finding a successor to Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger, who was recruited out of retirement in 2022 to replace his fired predecessor. The pair have also vowed to evaluate Disney's organizational structure to improve accountability and efficiency and plan to address costs, especially at Disney's legacy media business.

At the same time a smaller activist, Blackwells Capital, is also in the race for seats, asking investors to elect three nominees to help supervise and guide Iger better. Disney investors can vote up until the company's annual meeting on April 3.

The fight is shaping up as one of the most costly in corporate history. Disney estimated it will have to spend $40 million to fend off the two activist rivals.

Large paychecks have been a Disney hallmark for years, Trian said, writing that executives received $1 billion over the last decade despite poor performance.

Over the past decade, Disney's shares have gained about 60%, while the S&P 500 has nearly tripled, according to LSEG.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trian-blames-poor-oversight-disneys-221656318.html

Israel carries out biggest Ramallah raid in years

 Israeli forces raided the Palestinian administrative capital of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank overnight, killing a 16-year-old in a refugee camp during their biggest such operation into the city in years, Palestinian sources said on Monday.

The Israeli military said security forces had conducted a counter-terrorism operation in the camp during which a riot broke out, with rocks and petrol bombs thrown at soldiers, who responded with live fire.

In a separate West Bank raid, Israeli forces killed a 10-year-old boy and in the village of Burin, south of Nablus, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. Citing medical sources, it said the boy had been shot in the head by Israeli soldiers.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Violence has surged across the West Bank in parallel to the Gaza war, with at least 400 Palestinians killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers and settlers, and Israel regularly raiding Palestinian areas across the territory it occupied in 1967.

Witnesses in Ramallah said the Israeli forces had driven dozens of military vehicles into the city, the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority (PA) led by President Mahmoud Abbas which exercises limited self-rule over parts of the West Bank.

The Palestinian health ministry said Israeli forces shot and killed 16-year-old Mustafa Abu Shalbak while raiding Am'ari refugee camp.

WAFA reported confrontations broke out as Israeli forces stormed the camp, "during which live bullets were fired at Palestinian youths", wounding Abu Shalbak in the neck and chest.

The Israeli military said security forces had conducted a six hour-long operation in the camp, apprehending two wanted suspects, questioning others and seizing "inciting material spread by Hamas".

"During the operation, a violent riot developed, in which suspects hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails at Israeli security forces, who responded with live fire. A hit was identified," it said.

An Israeli border police officer was lightly injured during the exchanges.

'UNBEARABLE HELL'

The Palestinian foreign ministry said Israeli occupation authorities were making lives of Palestinians in the West Bank "an unbearable hell" with actions including raids, detentions, and movement restrictions, warning of "serious risks" of plunging the West Bank into "violence and anarchy".

Israeli forces also tore up a main road by the Nur Shams refugee camp in the Tulkarm area of the West Bank, witnesses said.

"Every time they enter the camp they destroy more than the previous time," said Ibrahim Hamarsheh, a resident of the camp who heads the Tulkarm branch of the Palestinian Prisoners Club, which advocates for Palestinians in Israeli jails.

He said Israeli forces had also bulldozed roads in the camp.

WAFA also reported that Israeli forces had stormed the city of Nablus, and blew up the home of a man previously accused by Israel of carrying out an attack in which a British-Israeli mother and her two daughters were killed in April in the West Bank.

The man, Moaz al-Masri, was killed by Israeli forces in Nablus last May.

Israeli forces detained at least 55 Palestinians in raids across the West Bank overnight, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/israel-carries-biggest-ramallah-raid-093009889.html