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Air Seychelles back to Jo’burg tomorrow – Travel restrictions lifted

Seychelles has revised its advisory that restricted travel from seven southern African countries, introduced on November 27, to curb the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 as it is now widespread around the world and has also been detected in the small island nation.

From January 6, travellers from South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe are able to travel to Seychelles again.

The Public Health Commissioner, Jude Gedeon, told a press conference on Thursday that the travel restriction to those countries was imposed to curtail the entry of Omicron “but now that laboratory tests have shown that we already have the variant, there is no point in keeping the countries on the restricted list.”

Air Seychelles will restart its flights to Johannesburg on January 7 and continue flying once a week, an Air Seychelles spokesperson confirmed to SNA.

Meanwhile, Gedeon has expressed concern over the rapid increase in positive cases of COVID-19 in just over a week but no new restriction measures have been put in place.

He said that the total number of active cases in Seychelles is 2,481, with an increase of 2,180 cases since December 30, when the country had 621 active cases. However, the number of deaths as a result of the virus has not increased, which remains at 134 since the start of the pandemic.

“We have seen during the festive period, parties were taking place, people were mixing households and this is what has caused this surge that we are facing now,” he said.

Gedeon said that with the current spike in active cases, the record of active cases in a day, which was 629 in May last year, has been broken and is now 692.

“The current trend is more acute than the previous surge that we had early last year around May when the highest registered number of active cases was 3,046. It appears that we can have a higher number of active cases based on the current trend that we are seeing,” he warned.

No new health measures were announced but Gedeon said that group sports will not be allowed to take place because of the close contact between players. He also added that Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education officials will meet to decide on school calendars. Public schools are scheduled to open in around 10 days.

Meanwhile, Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, is continuing its vaccination efforts and people who have taken two doses of a COVID vaccine are being encouraged by the health authorities to have a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine being offered at the moment.

Source: Seychelles News Agency

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WHO Says New Coronavirus Variant in France Not a Threat – Yet

The World Health Organization says a new coronavirus variant recently detected in France is nothing to be concerned about right now.

Scientists at the IHU Mediterranee Infection Foundation in the city of Marseille say they discovered the new B.1.640.2 variant in December in 12 patients living near Marseille, with the first patient testing positive after traveling to the central African nation of Cameroon.

The researchers said they have identified 46 mutations in the new variant, which they labeled “IHU” after the institute, that could make it more resistant to vaccines and more infectious than the original coronavirus. The French team revealed the findings of a study in the online health sciences outlet medRxiv, which publishes studies that have not been peer-reviewed or published in an academic journal.

Abdi Mahmud, a COVID-19 incident manager with the World Health Organization, told reporters in Geneva earlier this week that, while the IHU variant is “on our radar,” it remains confined in Marseille and has not been labeled a “variant of concern” by the U.N. health agency.

Meanwhile, an international team of health care advocates and experts is calling for 22 billion doses of mRNA vaccine to be administered around the world this year to stop the spread of the highly contagious omicron variant. The team is urging the production of an additional 15 billion doses of mRNA vaccine, more than double the projected 7 billion doses.

The report says mRNA vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna have demonstrated the best protection against several variants by providing cross-immunity through so-called T-cells, an arm of the human immune system that kills virus-infected cells and keeps them from replicating and spreading.

The report was a collaboration among scientists at Harvard Medical School, Columbia University, New York University and the University of Saskatchewan and the advocacy groups PrEP4All and Partners in Health.

Source: Voice of America

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Australia Detains Serbian Tennis Star Djokovic Over COVID-19 Visa Breaches

World tennis No.1 Novak Djokovic has had his visa canceled by Australian authorities and is facing deportation. He had received a COVID-19 vaccination exemption to defend his title at the Australian Open but has reportedly failed to provide proper evidence to border officials.

The Serbian is the defending Australian Open champion, and a nine-time winner of the event, but the government said Thursday he’s no longer welcome.

He was detained at Melbourne airport Wednesday for several hours before border force officials announced that he had not met immigration regulations and would be deported.

Djokovic’s father had claimed his son was being held “captive.”

Serbian President Aleksander Vucic said he was a victim of “harassment.”

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is standing firm, though.

“On the issue of Mr. Djokovic, rules are rules and there are no special cases,” Morrison said. “That is the policy of the government, and it has been our government’s strong border protection policies and particularly in relation to the pandemic that has ensured that Australia has had one of the lowest death rates from COVID anywhere in the world. Entry with a visa requires double vaccination or a medical exemption. I am advised that such an exemption was not in place and as a result he is subject to the same rule as anyone else.”

With his visa revoked, Djokovic is now an “unlawful non-citizen” in Australia and is being held in immigration detention, where his movements are restricted after he was driven from Melbourne airport by government officials. It is also unclear whether Djokovic is allowed to communicate with his advisers, which is standard practice according to Australian law.

His lawyers are challenging the deportation order in Australia’s Federal Circuit Court.

The 34-year-old tennis star has not publicly confirmed his COVID-19 vaccination status.

He flew to Australia after being granted a controversial medical exemption. Tennis authorities said he had not received any special treatment, but many Australians, who have lived under some of the world’s toughest coronavirus restrictions, believed Djokovic had abused the system.

Australia’s states and territories Thursday reported more than 70,000 new COVID-19 cases. A total of 612,000 infections have been diagnosed in Australia since the pandemic began, according to official figures, 2,289 people have died.

More than 90% of the eligible population have been fully vaccinated.

To curb the spread of the virus, the Northern Territory imposed lockdown restrictions Thursday on unvaccinated residents, who must adhere to stay-home orders until next Monday.

Source: Voice of America

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Customertimes annonce le lancement de DFG152 sur Salesforce AppExchange, la première place de marché mondiale du cloud d’entreprise 

Les clients Customertimes peuvent désormais bénéficier d’une puissante solution cloud de conformité juridique 

NEW-YORK, 5 janvier 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Customertimes a annoncé aujourd’hui le lancement de DFG152 sur Salesforce AppExchange, pour aider les entreprises à se conformer aux lois sur la protection des données au niveau des États et des pays. Solution Lightning Ready entièrement intégrée à Salesforce et à l’API REST, DFG152 élimine toute conjecture des processus de dépersonnalisation de données et de localisation.

Construit sur la plate-forme Salesforce, l’outil CT Vision de Customertimes est actuellement disponible sur AppExchange à l’adresse suivante : https://appexchange.salesforce.com/appxListingDetail?listingId=a0N3u00000OO32sEAD.

DFG152

DFG152 permet de se mettre en conformité avec la loi FZ-152 portant sur la protection des données personnelles. Entièrement intégré à l’application CT Mobile, il prend en charge toutes les solutions cloud basées sur la plateforme Salesforce et fonctionne sans modifier la logique métier Salesforce existante. DFG152 utilise un proxy inverse pour localiser ou dépersonnaliser des données à partir d’objets standards et personnalisés pour toute instance ou page de destination Salesforce, et il ne nécessite aucun matériel ni logiciel supplémentaire.

Commentaires sur l’actualité

  • « La conformité en matière de résidence des données personnelles continue d’être une préoccupation importante pour nos clients », a déclaré Alex Patsko, PDG de CT Software. « Après des années à fournir des solutions de mise en conformité en matière de données personnelles à des clients professionnels leaders du marché, nous sommes ravis de nous adresser désormais à une communauté AppExchange plus large afin que tous les clients Salesforce à travers le monde puissent mettre leur CRM en conformité avec les lois nationales et locales. »
  • « DFG152 de Customertimes est un ajout précieux à AppExchange, car il permet de se mettre en conformité avec les lois sur la protection des données personnelles sur les marchés d’Europe de l’Est, » a déclaré Woodson Martin, directeur général de Salesforce AppExchange. « AppExchange est en constante évolution pour permettre à ses partenaires de créer des solutions de pointe et ainsi stimuler la réussite des clients. »

À propos de Salesforce AppExchange

Salesforce AppExchange, la première place de marché mondiale du cloud d’entreprise, permet aux entreprises de vendre, entretenir, commercialiser et se développer de façon totalement innovante.  Avec plus de 6 000 solutions, 9 millions d’installations clients et 117 000 évaluations par des pairs, il s’agit de la source la plus complète de technologies cloud, mobiles, sociales, IdO, analytiques et d’intelligence artificielle pour les entreprises.

Ressources supplémentaires

Salesforce, AppExchange et autres sont des marques commerciales de salesforce.com, inc.

À propos de Customertimes

Customertimes Corp. est une société internationale de conseil et de génie logiciel qui se consacre à rendre les meilleures technologies informatiques accessibles aux clients. Avec plus de 4 000 projets achevés et plus de 1 600 experts hautement qualifiés, ses solutions sont conçues pour aider les clients à réaliser une véritable transformation commerciale et à maximiser leurs investissements technologiques. Précurseur en matière de services-conseils et de mise en œuvre de solutions Salesforce en Europe de l’Est et récompensée pour ses développements de produits, Customertimes Corp. est actuellement basée à New York, avec des antennes régionales à Londres, à Paris, à Toronto, à Kiev, à Minsk, à Riga et à Moscou. Pour en savoir plus, consultez le site www.customertimes.com.

Contact pour les médias :
Meriel Sikora
Customertimes
212-520-0059
meriel.sikora@customertimes.com

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Conagen Successfully Develops Antioxidant Kaempferol by Precision Fermentation

Bedford, Mass., Jan. 05, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Conagen, the Massachusetts-based biotechnology innovator, announced the successful development of antioxidant kaempferol produced by state-of-the-art, proprietary, precision fermentation. As a biotechnology company specializing in developing commercially valuable molecules for its partners and clients, Conagen’s kaempferol enables brands in nutrition, beauty, and personal care products to adopt a more natural position by formulating with clean and sustainable kaempferol.Recognized as one of nature’s most potent antioxidants, kaempferol is a flavonoid with health-promoting properties found in tea, fruits, and vegetables, especially rich in green leafy vegetables such as spinach and kale.

Rising consumer awareness towards chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes drives the kaempferol market demand. The global kaempferol market may exceed $6.5 billion by 2025, according to a recent research report by Global Market Insights, Inc.

“We’re bringing to market a pure and natural kaempferol at affordable prices that were not possible or available until now,” said Casey Lippmeier, Ph.D. vice president of innovation at Conagen. “Conagen’s scalable, precision fermentation for producing flavonoids like kaempferol is more efficient and sustainable than what can be achieved with the chemically-synthesized or botanically-sourced molecule.”

Flavonoids are polyphenolic compounds commonly found in plants and are a significant part of the human diet. They are biosynthesized by plants and fungi as secondary metabolites and comprise a diverse group of phytonutrients.

Plants protect themselves and their fruits against biological intruders such as fungi and bacteria by using phenolic phytochemicals, including flavonoids. Accordingly, kaempferol provides powerful anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, and immune system benefits to humans.

Dietary kaempferol in multiple studies has demonstrated a wide range of promising beneficial activities, primarily as an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, for reducing the risk of chronic diseases, especially cancer.

Prolonged oxidative stress leads to premature aging and can trigger many degenerative diseases and cancer. Kaempferol’s powerful antioxidant property can help the body’s defense against free radicals that promote cancer development.

Conagen derived kaempferol from its molecular platform for flavonoid antioxidants, including the previously announced molecules: DHQ, also known as Taxifolin, p-coumaric acid, hydroxytyrosol, and rosmarinic acid. The development of natural kaempferol is good news for Conagen’s commercialization partner, Blue California, as kaempferol will expand its offerings of specialty ingredient solutions.

“This launch further demonstrates our talent for delivering innovative compounds which are ideal for dietary supplements and ‘clean-label’ ingredients for functional foods, beverages, and cosmetics,” said Lippmeier. “Our vision for promoting health and wellness is to continuously leverage our precision fermentation capabilities for high-quality phenolic and flavonoid phytonutrients, thus confirming our position as a leader in the development of strains and processes for making clean-label ingredients and nutraceuticals.”

Blue California has a long-standing partnership with biotechnology innovator Conagen. Conagen focuses on developing sustainable, nature-based ingredients that improve existing options in the market or represent completely novel ingredient solutions.

About Conagen

Conagen is a product-focused, synthetic biology R&D company with large-scale contract manufacturing capabilities. Our scientists and engineers use the latest synthetic biology tools to develop high-quality, sustainable, nature-based products by precision fermentation and enzymatic bioconversion. We focus on the bioproduction of high-value ingredients for food, nutrition, flavors and fragrances, pharmaceutical, and renewable materials industries. www.conagen.com

About Blue California

Blue California is a vertically integrated technology company providing innovative ingredient solutions to global partners. With more than 20 years of innovation success, our ingredients are used in commercial products and applications in nutrition, personal care, healthy aging and wellness, functional food and beverage, and beauty. www.bluecal-ingredients.com

Attachment

Ana Arakelian, Head of Public Relations and Communications
Conagen
+1.781.271.1588
ana.arakelian@conagen.com
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Harris acquires i2 product portfolio from IBM

OTTAWA, Ontario and CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom, Jan. 04, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Harris, a global vertical market software provider, has acquired the i2 intelligence analysis product portfolio of IBM, including the i2 Analyst’s Notebook, i2 Enterprise Insight Analysis (EIA) and i2 iBase platforms. The acquisition positions Harris to further deliver mission-critical applications for national defense, state & local law enforcement, maritime security as well as evidence management.

i2’s advanced analytics and intelligence analysis tools, such as the industry leading i2 Analyst’s Notebook, help analysts transform data into decisions in near-real-time, uncover hidden connections with visual displays, and turn overwhelming and disparate data—regardless of the source—into actionable intelligence.

The i2 product portfolio, i2 executives and their global teams will form a new Harris business unit, i2 Group, which will operate independently and autonomously. Jean Soucy, Harris Group President stated: “The acquisition of i2 is important to Harris because not only is it a proven business with an excellent international team of experts, but it also provides Harris with a feature-rich intelligence platform widely deployed by an influential customer base”, adding, “We look forward to working with our partners and customers to expand i2’s capabilities in this highly innovative space.”

“Resilience and collaboration have never been more critical for organizations as they confront the increasing complexity of intelligence analysis. We’re committed to addressing those needs by offering the most complete end-to-end intelligence analysis portfolio on the market” said Jamie Caffrey, Program Director at i2 Group. “The convergence of data and processes is transforming the industry. By integrating i2 into their existing networks, customers will be able to better leverage their data and will be empowered to unlock valuable insights that can translate into business success.”

As part of publicly traded Constellation Software Inc. (TSX: CSU), Harris’ financial strength, software industry expertise, and public safety focus were important factors in finding a forever home to execute i2 Group’s long-term growth strategies.

Visit www.i2group.com to learn more about i2 solutions.

For further information contact:

Jean Soucy
Group President
Phone: +1 581-205-9821
Email: JSoucy@harriscomputer.com

Steve Hammond
Portfolio Leader
Phone: +44 787-486-2811
Email: SHammond@harriscomputer.com

About N. Harris Computer Corporation (Harris)

Harris acquires vertical market software businesses, manages them well, and builds them for the future. Through acquisitions, Harris has grown extensively from its roots in the utilities, local government, education, and healthcare verticals to operate over 170 businesses globally across more than 20 industries. We are a part of Constellation Software Inc. (TSX: CSU), one of the world’s most active acquirers of VMS businesses.

About Constellation Software Inc.
Constellation Software acquires, manages and builds vertical market software businesses.