Des partenaires mondiaux rejoignent l’initiative d’inclusion numérique TECH4ALL de Huawei

SHENZHEN, Chine, 1er octobre 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Lors du sommet Huawei TECH4ALL, Huawei a appelé ses partenaires mondiaux à rejoindre l’initiative d’inclusion numérique TECH4ALL, qui vise à construire un monde plus inclusif et intelligent qui ne laisse personne de côté.

L’initiative TECH4ALL de Huawei se concentre sur quatre domaines : favoriser l’équité et la qualité dans l’éducation, préserver la nature grâce à la technologie, favoriser l’inclusion et l’accessibilité dans le domaine de la santé et utiliser les TIC pour stimuler le développement rural. Il se concentre sur les technologies numériques, l’activation des applications, et les compétences numériques, et travaille avec des partenaires mondiaux pour promouvoir et développer l’inclusion numérique afin d’aider à atteindre les objectifs de développement durable (ODD) des Nations Unies.

À l’heure actuelle, plus de 60 000 enseignants et étudiants bénéficient des projets TECH4ALL dans plus de 200 écoles à travers le monde. Les technologies numériques ont été déployées pour améliorer la gestion des ressources et l’efficacité de la conservation de la biodiversité dans 22 réserves naturelles à travers le monde. Les smartphones Huawei offrent 15 fonctionnalités d’accessibilité et sont utilisés par environ 10 millions d’utilisateurs chaque mois. La solution RuralStar de Huawei fournit des services Internet mobiles pour plus de 60 pays et régions, couvrant plus de 50 millions de personnes dans des zones reculées.

L’inclusion et l’équité ont été des points de discussion majeurs du sommet dans le domaine de l’éducation. Dans son allocution d’ouverture, Stefania Giannini, sous-directrice générale pour l’éducation à l’UNESCO, a évoqué les écoles ouvertes axées sur la technologie, un programme de partenariat de trois ans avec Huawei qui se déploie en Éthiopie, en Égypte et au Ghana.

« L’UNESCO et Huawei ont lancé conjointement ce projet en juillet 2020 », a déclaré Stefania Giannini. « Le projet explore les futurs modèles de scolarisation, contribuant ainsi à l’initiative mondiale de l’UNESCO sur l’avenir de l’éducation. »

Pour construire un système d’écoles ouvertes plus résistant aux crises, tous les pays doivent tenir compte des trois piliers de la nouvelle infrastructure d’un système d’apprentissage : la technologie, le contenu numérique et les compétences numériques des enseignants et des facilitateurs humains. Le Dr. Fengchun Miao, chef de l’Unité de la technologie et de l’intelligence artificielle dans l’éducation, de l’UNESCO, a examiné comment tirer parti de la puissance de la technologie dans le domaine de l’éducation.

La Fondation Vodafone a discuté de son programme Instant Network Schools, qui vise à apporter une éducation de haute qualité aux réfugiés et aux communautés d’accueil, avec des plans pour connecter 500 000 élèves réfugiés et leurs communautés d’ici 2025. Huawei est l’un des partenaires de l’expansion de la connectivité à davantage d’écoles en Afrique.

Oisín Walton, responsable du programme Vodafone Instant Network Schools, a déclaré : « Nous pensons que chaque garçon et chaque fille devrait avoir accès à une éducation de qualité, où qu’ils se trouvent et quelle que soit leur nationalité. »

Bram Over, responsable du programme DigiTruck de Close the Gap, a fait le point sur le programme DigiTruck. Les DigiTrucks sont des salles de classe mobiles vertes alimentées à l’énergie solaire converties à partir de conteneurs d’expédition. Ils sont équipés d’appareils TIC recyclés et dispensent une formation aux jeunes aux compétences numériques. Huawei a soutenu ce programme au Kenya et en France. Plus tard cette année, Huawei et Close the Gap mettront en place le projet en Éthiopie.

Ling Hui de la YouChange China Social Entrepreneur Foundation a présenté le programme Green Pepper pour les jeunes enseignants dans les villages ruraux de Chine. Le programme offre une année de formation en ligne aux enseignants et a touché près de 80 000 jeunes enseignants ruraux et 17 000 écoles jusqu’à présent.

Dans son discours d’ouverture présentant la piste de l’environnement, la Directrice générale de l’UICN, le Dr Grethel Aguilar, a abordé une série de questions environnementales, soulignant que la technologie peut être utilisée pour atténuer l’impact croissant de l’humanité sur la planète.

Le Dr Aguilar a déclaré : « La technologie numérique peut être une partie importante de la solution et nous aider à résoudre les défis mondiaux si elle est utilisée correctement et intelligemment. »

En tant qu’animateur de la table ronde, le directeur associé du Programme des aires protégées de l’UICN, James Hardcastle, a souligné que nous devons donner à davantage de personnes les moyens d’utiliser les technologies pour la conservation de la nature et a fait référence à l’initiative Tech4Nature, un partenariat UICN-Huawei qui vise à développer des technologies spécifiques à des scénarios pour sauvegarder les écosystèmes naturels dans 300 sites protégés d’ici 2023.

Actuellement, le projet se déroule en Thaïlande, en Espagne, sur l’île Maurice, en Suisse et en Chine. Le président d’Ecomode, Nadeem Nazurally, a développé le projet sur l’île Maurice, qui vise à protéger et à restaurer le récif corallien de la nation insulaire africaine qui disparaît rapidement en utilisant une surveillance vidéo en temps réel alimentée par l’IA, qui peut être transmise à des experts, locaux et mondiaux.

Poursuivant sur la voie environnementale, Chrissy Durkin, directrice de l’expansion internationale de Rainforest Connection, a présenté le système Nature Guardian, qui utilise des technologies acoustiques pour surveiller les espèces menacées et alerter les gardes forestiers des menaces telles que l’exploitation forestière illégale et les coups de feu. Bernardo Reyes Ortíz, président de Forest Ethics au Chili, a expliqué comment la plate-forme Guardian soutenue par le cloud Huawei fournit une bouée de sauvetage au renard de Darwin en voie de disparition, dont moins de 1 000 existeraient.

Les technologies de surveillance intelligentes et en réseau sont un outil crucial pour la conservation de la nature. Le Dr Steph Wray, président de la Mammal Society au Royaume-Uni, explique comment des solutions acoustiques ont été déployées en Angleterre pour protéger l’écureuil roux de plus en plus rare, qui est menacé par l’écureuil gris envahissant et beaucoup plus peuplé.

Tang Yanfei, directeur exécutif de l’Institut de recherche du parc national de Hainan, a expliqué comment la surveillance acoustique est essentielle pour améliorer la conservation du gibbon de Hainan en danger critique d’extinction, en vue de doubler sa population en 15 ans.

Les partenariats sont le carburant qui alimente le progrès dans les domaines de l’environnement et de l’éducation de TECH4ALL, ainsi que dans les deux autres domaines de l’initiative : la santé et le développement.

« Si vous voulez marcher vite, marchez seul. Si vous voulez marcher loin, marchez ensemble », a déclaré Tao Jingwen dans son discours d’ouverture « Nous pensons que davantage de partenaires travailleront avec nous pour faire progresser le plan d’action TECH4ALL à l’avenir. Rejoignez-nous pour un monde plus inclusif et intelligent où personne n’est laissé pour compte. »

Regardez l’enregistrement complet du sommet à l’adresse https://www.huawei.com/en/tech4all/news-and-events/events/hc2021-t4a-summit

En savoir plus sur les projets et les histoires TECH4ALL https://www.huawei.com/en/tech4all

Zoom Announces Termination of Merger Agreement with Five9

SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 30, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) today announced that Zoom and Five9 have mutually terminated the merger agreement executed by the parties on July 16, 2021.

At Five9’s special meeting of stockholders held on September 30, 2021, Five9 did not obtain the requisite stockholder support for the merger agreement. As a result, Zoom and Five9 each had the ability to terminate the merger agreement.

“While we were excited about the benefits this transaction would bring to both Zoom and Five9 stakeholders, including the long-term potential for both sets of shareholders, financial discipline is foundational to our strategy,” said Eric S. Yuan, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Zoom. “The contact center market remains a strategic priority for Zoom, and we are confident in our ability to capture its growth potential. At Zoomtopia, we announced the Zoom Video Engagement Center, our cloud-based contact center solution, which will launch in early 2022. Video Engagement Center will be a flexible, easy-to-use solution that connects businesses and their customers. We are building this new solution with the same scalability and trusted architecture that has made Zoom the platform of choice for businesses around the world. We also plan to maintain our valued existing contact center partnerships with companies like Five9, Genesys, NICE inContact, Talkdesk, and Twilio. We remain focused on driving long-term value creation for Zoom shareholders and delivering happiness to our customers through our broad-based communications platform including unified communications, developer, and events solutions.”

About Zoom
Zoom is for you. We help you express ideas, connect to others, and build toward a future limited only by your imagination. Our frictionless communications platform is the only one that started with video as its foundation, and we have set the standard for innovation ever since. That is why we are an intuitive, scalable, and secure choice for individuals, small businesses, and large enterprises alike. Founded in 2011, Zoom is publicly traded (NASDAQ: ZM) and headquartered in San Jose, California. Visit zoom.com and follow @zoom.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains express and implied “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding Zoom’s strategic priorities, market opportunity, product launches, the expected benefits of new products, growth strategy, partnerships and expected benefits from the same, and business aspirations to support organizations and people on multiple fronts as they look to reimagine work, communications and collaboration. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “project,” “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “can,” “predict,” “potential,” “target,” “explore,” “continue,” or the negative of these terms, and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. By their nature, these statements are subject to numerous uncertainties and risks, including factors beyond our control, that could cause actual results, performance or achievement to differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the statements, including: declines in new customers and hosts, renewals or upgrades, difficulties in evaluating our prospects and future results of operations given our limited operating history, competition from other providers of communications platforms, continued uncertainty regarding the extent and duration of the impact of COVID-19 and the responses of government and private industry thereto, including the potential effect on our user growth rate once the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic tapers, particularly as a vaccine becomes widely available, and users return to work or school or are otherwise no longer subject to shelter-in-place mandates, as well as the impact of COVID-19 on the overall economic environment, any or all of which will have an impact on demand for remote work solutions for businesses as well as overall distributed, face-to-face interactions and collaboration using Zoom, delays or outages in services from our co-located data centers, and failures in internet infrastructure or interference with broadband access which could cause current or potential users to believe that our systems are unreliable. Additional risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements are included under the caption “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in our most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended July 31, 2021. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statements are made and are based on information available to Zoom at the time those statements are made and/or management’s good faith belief as of that time with respect to future events. Zoom assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, except as required by law.

Press Relations
Colleen Rodriguez
Global Public Relations Lead for Zoom
press@zoom.us

Investor Relations
Tom McCallum
Head of Investor Relations for Zoom
investors@zoom.us

INVNT GROUP® And PepsiCo Innovate Through StrategiAc Partnership At Global Fair In Dubai

INVNT GROUP Develops and Builds Three Immersive Brand Experiences

New York, NY, Sept. 30, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — [INVNT GROUP] and PepsiCo have strategically partnered to design and build three one-of-a-kind, interactive, and educational pavilions opening October 1st , 2021. Each pavilion is designed around core sub-themes of Mobility, Sustainability, and Opportunity.

PepsiCo’s global brands including Aquafina®, Gatorade®, Pepsi® and Lay’s® headline the landmark pavilions; designed with the power of connectivity and sustainable futures in mind. 

Each pavilion has taken acute dedication, creativity, and labor – logging 6,032 hours for the Aquafina The Drop pavilion, 5,815 hours for the Gatorade The Bolt pavilion, and 5,943 hours for the Pepsi & Lay’s The Plus pavilion. Through advanced modular methodologies, INVNT GROUP in partnership with it’s on the ground fabrication partner in Dubai, Bespoke Modular Systems, has designed and engineered the pavilions with eco-conscious materials and considerations.

Scott Cullather, President & CEO, INVNT GROUP notes, “We’ve been working collaboratively with PepsiCo since 2006 on many of their largest activations and brand engagements across the portfolio. We are thrilled to continue that partnership through our purposeful work. The entire world will be present at this magnificent event, and we look forward to entertaining, educating, inspiring, and delighting.”

Jamal Wick, Managing Director, Bespoke Modular Systems added, “We are thrilled to support INVNT GROUP in bringing to life their designs for these iconic pavilions and can’t wait for the world to experience them firsthand this October.”

Aquafina: The Drop

The glistening Aquafina pavilion features 41,000 strategically placed recyclable aluminum cans on its exterior, creating a striking yet fluid water-drop structure. Visitors will be transported through The Drop pavilion as if within a water drop, while engaging with eye-opening statistics and ways to eradicate water inequity experienced by so many, globally.

It also delivers a high-tech experience with “Aquatar”: the 3D water encyclopedia that shares facts on the human body’s relationship to water. Aquatar was created with Unreal Engine, the world’s most open and advanced real-time 3D creation tool for cutting-edge content, interactive experiences, and immersive virtual worlds. Upon engaging, guests are transformed into water and water particles are displayed on a larger-than-life curved projection wall – all in real time.

Gatorade: The Bolt

Gatorade delves into to the science of physical performance and active lifestyles. The Bolt pavilion features multiple educational and shareable moments, starting with a retrospective of the Gatorade legacy and its relationship to some of the greatest athletes and sports moments of all time.

Visitors will get a look at the Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI Lab), which boasts years of research focused on performance of the human body and its unending capabilities. Gatorade approaches personal hydration through innovation, with the GX™ Sweat Patch. Created to sync with your mobile device, the patch tracks performance vitals through perspiration, and offers bespoke recommendations for powering active lifestyles.

The Bolt pavilion also features an experiential moment where visitors can put their agility to the test against other visitors, through the Gatorade React Board.

Pepsi & Lay’s: The Plus

Bringing two of the world’s biggest brands under one roof, visitors can crunch and fizz through The Plus pavilion. Designed to engage all the senses through a kaleidoscope of bold flavors and rich colors, the pavilion creates a moment of joy and discovery.

Lay’s immersive pods allow visitors to bask in the renewing power of the spring season. Visitors can step into a striking cherry blossom display that is enhanced by scents of some of the most inventive Lay’s flavors from around the world.

Pepsi Black draws visitors into a multi-media world activated by cutting edge technology. Unity, the world’s leading platform for creating and operating interactive, real-time 3D (RT3D) content, powers interactive stations like the Pepsi Black “Pledge Wall” – a giant 5m x 4m LED curved wall where guests can enter a pledge and send their pledge into the fizzing world of Pepsi. The wall will hold all visitor’s pledges over the 6 months duration of the global conference. The number of pledges will keep accumulating and eventually the activation will cycle through thousands of pledges.

“PepsiCo will bring its unique sense of fun, ensuring that every guest makes the most of this iconic world gathering. The Bolt, The Drop, and The Plus are perfectly aligned with subthemes of Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability and will showcase how PepsiCo will lead the world towards a fun and sustainable future,” said PepsiCo’s AMESA Chief Marketing Officer, Mustafa Shamseldin.

The pavilions will be open from 1 October 2021 through March 2022.

######

ABOUT INVNT GROUP

[INVNT GROUP] was established with a vision to provide consistent, meaningful, well-articulated BrandStory across all platforms. With offices in New York, Dubai, London, Singapore, San Francisco, Sydney, Stockholm, Detroit, and Washington D.C.; headed up by President and CEO, Scott Cullather, [INVNT GROUP], THE GLOBAL BRANDSTORY PROJECT™ represents a growing portfolio of complementary disciplines designed to help forward-thinking organizations everywhere, impact the audiences that matter, anywhere. The GROUP consists of modern brand strategy firm, Folk Hero; creative-led culture consultancy, Meaning; branded content studio and content marketing agency, HEVĒ; collegiate events and experiences, INVNT Higher Ed, and INVNT, the founding live brandstory telling agency. For more information about [INVNT GROUP], visit: www.invntgroup.com.

ABOUT PEPSICO

PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than US$70 billion in net revenue in 2020, driven by a complementary food and beverage portfolio that includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker, and Tropicana. PepsiCo’s product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including 23 brands that generate more than US$1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.

Guiding PepsiCo is the vision to Be the Global Leader in Convenient Foods and Beverages by Winning with Purpose. “Winning with Purpose” reflects our ambition to win sustainably in the marketplace and embed purpose into all aspects of the business.  For more information, visit www.pepsico.com.

ABOUT BESPOKE MODULAR SOLUTIONS

Bespoke Modular Solutions (BMS) provides a new level of modular and prefabricated turnkey solutions to innovational real estate developers, hoteliers, and private residential projects to name a few. We offer a complete end-to-end solution, from a team of international experts that understand the region’s cultural and geographical sensitivities. Our designers and engineers have worked for the most renowned European companies in modular construction and in hotel operations.

Our company values live by building a better future for our next generation and children. We therefore are proud to say that we are pioneers in the region in off-site construction in an eco- friendly environment, with sustainable materials and in a time reduced manner. For more information, visit: www.bespoke-modular-solutions.com.

Attachment

Jhonathan Mendez de Leon
[INVNT GROUP]®
3478192089
jmendezdeleon@invnt.com

Casio lance la deuxième G-SHOCK signée Kanoa Igarashi

TOKYO, 1er octobre 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Casio Computer Co., Ltd. a annoncé aujourd’hui le dernier ajout à la ligne de montres pour sports extrêmes G-LIDE, qui fait partie de la marque de montres antichocs G-SHOCK. La nouvelle GBX-100KI est le deuxième modèle signé par le surfeur professionnel Kanoa Igarashi.

Igarashi a commencé à surfer à l’âge de trois ans. Depuis, il a remporté plusieurs grandes compétitions de surf et est actuellement un surfeur professionnel de classe mondiale qui participe au circuit de championnat de la World Surf League (WSL), au sommet du sport.

Le deuxième modèle signé Kanoa Igarashi est basé sur la GBX-100, qui est équipée des fonctions Mobile Link en plus d’un graphique de marée utile pour les surfeurs. La nouvelle GBX-100KI est une montre d’édition spéciale dont le design et les couleurs ont été créés sous la supervision d’Igarashi. La montre entièrement noire est ornée de textures et de teintes différentes pour chaque partie, y compris la lunette, le bracelet et l’écran LCD, exprimant ainsi la vision cool et unique du monde d’Igarashi. La lunette et le verre présentent un graphique d’Igarashi lui-même en train de chevaucher une énorme vague. Le cadran, le fond du boîtier et l’extrémité du bracelet portent la signature d’Igarashi. Le côté de l’attache du bracelet porte le numéro 50, qui est le numéro d’Igarashi sur le circuit de championnat de la WSL.

La GBX-100KI est également équipée des fonctions Mobile Link qui s’appuient sur un smartphone. Grâce à l’application smartphone dédiée, l’utilisateur peut sélectionner un lieu parmi environ 3 300 lieux prédéfinis dans le monde entier et envoyer les informations à la montre, notamment les données de marée, les heures de coucher et de lever du soleil et d’autres données essentielles pour les surfeurs. Outre l’affichage des graphiques de marées et des données lunaires, la montre est dotée de diverses fonctions utiles à l’entraînement quotidien, telles que la distance parcourue, l’heure et le rythme. Le large cadran de la montre utilise un écran LCD à mémoire en pixels (MIP) à fort contraste pour une visibilité optimale.

Kanoa Igarashi

https://world.g-shock.com/asia-mea/en/team/kanoa_igarashi/

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Casio to Release Second Kanoa Igarashi Signature G-SHOCK

TOKYO, Oct. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Casio Computer Co., Ltd., announced today the latest addition to the G-LIDE line of watches for extreme sports, which are part of the G-SHOCK brand of shock-resistant watches. The new GBX-100KI is the second signature model endorsed by pro surfer Kanoa Igarashi.

GBX-100KI

Igarashi started surfing at the age of three. Since then, he has gone on to win a number of major surfing competitions and is currently a world-class professional surfer competing on the World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour at the top of the sport.

The second Kanoa Igarashi signature model is based on the GBX-100, which is equipped with Mobile Link functions in addition to a useful tide graph for surfers. The new GBX-100KI is a special-edition watch with a design and color theme created under Igarashi’s supervision. The all-black watch is adorned with different textures and shades for each part including the bezel, band, and LCD, expressing Igarashi’s cool and unique worldview. The bezel and glass feature a graphic of Igarashi himself tube riding a massive wave. The dial, case back, and band tip feature Igarashi’s signature. The band’s lug side showcases the number 50, which is Igarashi’s number on the WSL Championship Tour.

GBX-100KI

The GBX-100KI is also equipped with Mobile Link functions that pair with a smartphone. With the dedicated smartphone app, the user can select a location from approximately 3,300 preset locations worldwide and send the information to the watch, including tide data, sunset/sunrise times, and other essential data for surfers. In addition to displaying tide graphs and moon data, the watch comes with a variety of functions that are useful in daily training, such as distance traveled, time, and pace. The wide watch face uses a high contrast Memory in Pixel (MIP) LCD for optimum visibility.

Kanoa Igarashi signature / Special packaging

Kanoa Igarashi
https://world.g-shock.com/asia-mea/en/team/kanoa_igarashi/

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Fauci Calls Merck COVID Pill Data ‘Impressive’

Members of the White House COVID-19 Response Team said Friday that recent trials showing the effectiveness of the U.S. drug company Merck’s experimental new COVID-19 pill were certainly good news, but they stressed that vaccines would remain the best way to end the pandemic.

During the response team’s virtual briefing, top U.S. infectious-disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said early data from the studies on the Merck COVID-19 pill were “impressive,” including a 50% reduction in hospitalizations and deaths.

White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said the U.S. government had already arranged to buy 1.7 million doses of the pill, with an option for more if needed.

If approved for emergency use, the Merck pill would be the first COVID-19 treatment that could be taken orally and not through injection or intravenous drip. Fauci said he would not predict when the pill might be approved as both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention evaluate the medication.

Vaccinations still seen as best choice

But, Zients said, while the pill is very good news, vaccinations are still the best way out of the pandemic, and the response team spent the bulk of its briefing presenting statistics to encourage the unvaccinated 70 million U.S. residents to take the shot.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said new data from her agency demonstrated the vaccination’s value at preventing serious illness. The data, collected in August during the peak of the surge of infections caused by the delta variant of the virus, showed that areas where 55% or less of the total population was vaccinated had more than twice the infection rates of areas with greater vaccine coverage. Hospitalization and death rates also were significantly higher where vaccination rates were lower.

Fauci presented statistics compiled over the past 30 days at hospitals in King County in Washington state, information he said also demonstrated the vaccine’s effectiveness against the delta variant. That data showed that unvaccinated people were eight times more likely to test positive for COVID-19, 41 times more likely to be hospitalized from it and 57% more likely to die from it.

Noting the recent overall decline in new cases and hospitalizations in the past few weeks, Fauci said people should not interpret that decline to mean they now did not need to be vaccinated. He said the best way to prevent resurgences of the disease and end the pandemic was to get vaccinated.

Source: Voice of America

US Tops 700,000 COVID Deaths

The United States has surpassed 700,000 deaths from COVID-19, the highest of any country.

The U.S. recorded 700,258 deaths Friday evening, according to data from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

Brazil has the second-highest number of deaths, with 597,255. India has 448,339; Mexico, 277,507; and Russia, 204,424, according to Johns Hopkins. Globally, nearly 4.8 million people have died from COVID-19.

U.S. health officials say cases have been declining across the United States in recent weeks. However, while the latest wave of COVID-19 has peaked across the country as a whole, some states, especially in the North, are seeing case numbers rise.

In other developments in the U.S., California became the first state to announce a vaccine mandate for schoolchildren once the Food and Drug Administration formally approves COVID-19 vaccines for younger age groups.

Currently, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been fully approved for people age 16 and older and cleared for emergency use in children ages 12-15.

Once the vaccine is fully approved for the younger age group, California will mandate it for students in seventh through 12th grades.

After it is approved for anyone 5 and older, the state will mandate the vaccine for children in kindergarten through sixth grade.

Students will be granted exemptions for religious and medical reasons.

In Washington, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh tested positive for COVID-19, despite having been vaccinated. The court said the 54-year-old justice had no symptoms.

The positive test forced Kavanaugh to miss Friday’s ceremonial swearing in for Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was appointed to the court last year by former President Donald Trump. Her ceremony was delayed because of the pandemic.

In other court news, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor denied an emergency appeal from a group of New York City schoolteachers seeking to block the city’s vaccine mandate for school staff.

The ruling means the vaccine mandate can go forward. Under its rules, the city’s school employees had until 5 p.m. Friday to get at least their first vaccine shot.

Source: Voice of America