China has approved a fourth coronavirus vaccine for emergency use, officials said on Monday.

The Associated Press reports that the latest vaccine was developed by the head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Gao Fu. The Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Microbiology said in a statement that the protein subunit vaccine had been approved by regulators for emergency use last week.

A protein subunit vaccine is similar to other vaccines in that it teaches the body’s immune system to recognize the spike proteins that are found on the surface of viruses, the AP noted. However, instead of using RNA like other widely used vaccines do, scientists instead grow versions of the protein in cells before purifying it and assembling it into a vaccine.

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This latest vaccine was developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences along with Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd., according to the news service. Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials were completed in October, while last phase trials on the vaccine are taking place in Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Indonesia, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Unlike other vaccines, such as those from Pfizer and Moderna, the vaccine is reportedly administered in three doses, with each dose administered a month apart. It can be stored at normal refrigerator temperatures.

According to the AP, there is currently no publicly available data on the vaccine and its clinical trial data. A spokesperson for Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical told the news service that data would not be shared at this time but information would be provided to health authorities.

The news service notes five vaccines have been approved for use in China, with the new vaccine becoming the fourth authorized for emergency use. 

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Sri Lanka’s government said on Tuesday that a proposed ban on burqas will require time to consider after an official called the garment a “sign of religious extremism.”

Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said at a weekly press conference that the potential ban on the one-piece garb worn by some Muslim women requires additional examination because it’s a crucial decision, according to The Associated Press.  

“It will be done in consultation,” he said. “So, it requires time.”

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Rambukwella’s comments came three days after Minister of Public Security Sarath Weerasekara announced his plan to obtain approval from the Cabinet of Ministers to ban burqas. 

“The burqa has a direct impact on national security,” he said, pledging to “definitely ban it.”

Weerasekara also called for the closure of 1,000 Islamic schools, saying the madrassas have not followed national education policy.

Some leaders have called out the proposed ban, including Pakistan’s ambassador to Sri Lanka, Saad Khattak, who said it would “only serve as injury to the feelings of ordinary Sri Lankan Muslims and Muslims across the globe.”

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The United Nations’ special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Ahmed Shaheed, also labeled the proposal as incompatible with international law and the rights of free religious expression, the AP noted.

Roughly 9 percent of Sri Lanka’s population is Muslim

It previously restricted burqas following the Easter Sunday bomb attacks in 2019 that resulted in more than 260 deaths. Two Muslim groups that had announced loyalty to ISIS took responsibility for the strikes on churches and hotels. 

If approved, Sri Lanka would follow Switzerland, which voted to ban full-face coverings, including burqas, earlier this month, and Denmark, which prohibited full-face coverings in 2018.

Apple filed a lawsuit on Thursday against a former employee that accuses him of leaking trade secrets to an unnamed media contact during his employment. 

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The tech giant is taking on Simon Lancaster, who worked at Apple for 11 years before departing in 2019, in a suit filed in federal court in San Jose, Calif., alleging he committed trade secret misappropriation and breached his contract. The lawsuit was first reported by Apple Insider.  

In the lawsuit, Apple asserts that Lancaster, who worked as an advanced materials lead and product design architect, “abused his position and trust within the company to systematically disseminate Apple’s sensitive trade secret information in an effort to obtain personal benefits.”

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Apple cites an internal investigation of Apple-owned devices, which it said determined the media contact requested specific Apple trade secret documents that Lancaster allegedly worked to retrieve and provide to the source through the devices or in person.

The trade secrets revolved around “unreleased Apple hardware products, unannounced feature changes to existing hardware products, and future product announcements, all of which Apple guards closely,” according to the lawsuit.

The company alleges that Lancaster provided the trade secrets in exchange for “favorable” media coverage of a startup that he invested in and for information about an Apple hardware product that “‘could mean trouble’” for his startup.

Lancaster first started talking to the media contact, whose outlet also is unnamed, in 2018 and kept up communication over the next year. Apple claims “it is likely” Lancaster’s “misuse of Apple’s trade secrets continues to this day” as portions of the trade secret relate to his current employment.

In November 2019, Lancaster left his position to become the head of consumer products at material design company Arris Composites.

On his last day at Apple, the company asserts Lancaster downloaded “a substantial number of confidential Apple documents” onto his personal computer about an hour and a half before his employment ended.  

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Apple said in a statement to The Hill that Lancaster’s alleged actions undermined the work of  “tens of thousands of Apple employees.”

“Tens of thousands of Apple employees work tirelessly every day on new products, services and features in the hopes of delighting our customers and empowering them to change the world,” the company said.

“Stealing ideas and confidential information undermines their efforts, hurting Apple and our customers,” the statement continued. “We take very seriously this individual’s deliberate theft of our trade secrets, violation of our ethics and our policies, all for personal gain. We will do all we can to protect the innovations we hold so dear.”

Treasury Secretary Janet YellenJanet Louise YellenThe Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Facebook – Biden to hit road, tout COVID-19 relief law Treasury Secretary says economy can have ‘near full employment’ next year Democrats urge IRS to help unemployment recipients use tax break MORE is working with other countries on an agreement to update corporate tax rules to establish a global minimum tax as the Biden administration considers raising taxes on businesses in order to finance spending priorities.

The Washington Post reported Monday that the effort could be one of Yellen’s biggest accomplishments if an agreement is reached and could be critical to any push from Biden to raise taxes to offset the cost of future spending proposals.

Yellen is participating in ongoing negotiations at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) about how to update global tax rules to reflect the digital economy. One pillar of the group’s work is focused on a nonbinding global minimum tax.

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The work comes as the Biden administration is looking at including tax increases in its next major legislative package, which could be an infrastructure bill. During Biden’s presidential campaign, he proposed increasing the U.S. corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 28 percent.

Republican lawmakers have raised concerns that such an increase could impact U.S. competitiveness and cause American companies to move overseas, since countries have generally been cutting their corporate tax rates in recent years. President TrumpDonald TrumpThe Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Facebook – Biden to hit road, tout COVID-19 relief law Oregon senator takes center stage in Democratic filibuster debate Juan Williams: Trump’s jealous rants can’t hide his failures MORE‘s 2017 tax law lowered the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent.

Yellen has responded to concerns about increasing corporate taxes by expressing her desire for the OECD to reach an agreement. She said during her confirmation hearing in January that she wants to work with the OECD to prevent a “race to the bottom” on corporate taxation.

In response to a written question following the hearing, Yellen said that “the Biden-Harris Administration will pursue a comprehensive multinational agreement to update global tax rules in ways that establish effective minimum taxation rules, prevent global profit-shifting, and ensure that corporations pay their fair share.”

“We will pursue in a manner that will maintain competitiveness and diminish the incentives that American companies now have to offshore activities,” she added.

The Post reported that it could be challenging for any OECD agreement on a global minimum tax to be implemented because of its nonbinding nature. The newspaper also reported that any agreement would likely need to be approved by Congress, which could be difficult depending on the specifics of the deal.

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A group of top Republican senators are pushing for details about the beefed-up security around the Capitol complex, arguing police have failed to justify the enhanced measures following the Jan. 6 riot.

Five GOP senators, who each hold top committee spots, sent a letter on Friday to Yogananda Pittman, acting chief of the Capitol Police, saying they were “concerned” about recent security moves.

“Capitol Police has repeatedly failed to provide specific, credible threat intelligence to adequately justify the current Capitol security posture, which remains disproportionate to the available intelligence,” the senators wrote, pointing to the presence of the National Guard and perimeter fencing.

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The letter was signed by Sens. James InhofeJames (Jim) Mountain InhofeOvernight Defense: Top GOP senators demand answers on extended Guard deployment, Capitol fencing | Guard costs estimated at 1M | House panel to take up 2002 war authorization repeal Top GOP senators: Capitol Police failing to justify beefed-up security National Guard mission at Capitol expected to cost 1 million MORE (Okla.), Richard ShelbyRichard Craig ShelbyOvernight Defense: Top GOP senators demand answers on extended Guard deployment, Capitol fencing | Guard costs estimated at 1M | House panel to take up 2002 war authorization repeal Top GOP senators: Capitol Police failing to justify beefed-up security Senate GOP faces retirement brain drain MORE (Ala.), Marco RubioMarco Antonio RubioOvernight Defense: Top GOP senators demand answers on extended Guard deployment, Capitol fencing | Guard costs estimated at 1M | House panel to take up 2002 war authorization repeal On The Money: Biden celebrates relief bill with Democratic leaders | Democrats debate fast-track for infrastructure package Hillicon Valley: Google slams Microsoft for ‘naked corporate opportunism’ | Sanders invites Bezos to testify at inequality hearing | AFL-CIO hits Rubio over union endorsement MORE (Fla.), Rob PortmanRobert (Rob) Jones PortmanOvernight Defense: Top GOP senators demand answers on extended Guard deployment, Capitol fencing | Guard costs estimated at 1M | House panel to take up 2002 war authorization repeal Top GOP senators: Capitol Police failing to justify beefed-up security The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by the National Shooting Sports Foundation – Biden: Back to ‘normal’ still means ‘beat the virus’ MORE (Ohio) and Roy BluntRoy Dean BluntOvernight Defense: Top GOP senators demand answers on extended Guard deployment, Capitol fencing | Guard costs estimated at 1M | House panel to take up 2002 war authorization repeal Top GOP senators: Capitol Police failing to justify beefed-up security Geraldo Rivera won’t run for Ohio Senate seat MORE (Mo.), the top Republicans on the Armed Services, Appropriations, Intelligence, Homeland Security and Rules committees, respectively.

The letter is the latest in growing scrutiny from lawmakers about the increased security around the Capitol. The Pentagon announced this week it would extend the presence of nearly 2,300 National Guardsmen at the Capitol through May 23, roughly half of the 5,100 currently stationed there. The deployment was initially expected to end this week. 

Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellPentagon takes heat for extending Guard’s time at Capitol Fundraising spat points to Trump-GOP fissures Top GOP senators: Capitol Police failing to justify beefed-up security MORE (Ky.) also railed against the National Guard presence and the fencing, saying it was “overdone.”

“I’m extremely uncomfortable with the fact that my constituents can’t come to the Capitol. With all this razor wire around the complex it reminds me of my last visit to Kabul,” he told reporters Wednesday.

The Capitol Police and top security officials have previously indicated that they are worried the Capitol could be targeted when President BidenJoe BidenPentagon takes heat for extending Guard’s time at Capitol Booker to try to make child tax credit expansion permanent Sullivan says tariffs will not take center stage in talks with China MORE gives a joint address, something that hasn’t yet been scheduled.

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Pittman has also indicated that the Capitol’s security needs to be revamped after Jan. 6, when a pro-Trump mob was able to breach the building. Police have suggested having “permanent fencing, and the availability of ready, back-up forces in close proximity to the Capitol.”

The GOP senators said it was “entirely unclear” why the current fencing remains, adding it “sends a terrible message to American citizens, as well as to our allies and adversaries, and it is not a long-term security solution.”

They also said there has been a “lack of evidence” from the Capitol Police for the department’s request that the National Guard continue to maintain a presence around the complex through late May.

The GOP senators are requesting a meeting with Pittman and included several questions in their letter that they want answers to by March 19, including what intelligence the Capitol Police had ahead of Jan. 6, the justification for current fencing, what changes have been made within Capitol Police and if surveillance could replace the National Guard troops.

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“We strongly believe that the future of a secure and open Capitol complex lies with internal reform, creative thinking, and improvements made by the Capitol Police, in conjunction with other federal and local civilian law enforcement agencies,” they added.

Raw Women’s Champion Asuka is returning to action.

WWE has announced that Asuka will return to the ring as she faces Shayna Baszler on Raw tonight. Asuka vs. Baszler appears to be a non-title match.

This will be the first time Asuka has wrestled since teaming with Charlotte Flair in a loss against Baszler & Nia Jax on Raw three weeks ago. Dave Meltzer reported in last week’s edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Asuka suffered a concussion when she was kicked by Baszler in that tag team match. Asuka also lost a tooth when Baszler kicked her.

Charlotte cut a promo on Raw two weeks ago declaring that she wants to challenge for Asuka’s Raw Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 37.

Baszler & Jax are defending their WWE Women’s Tag Team titles against SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks & Bianca Belair at this Sunday’s Fastlane pay-per-view. Ahead of the PPV, Banks will defend her SmackDown Women’s Championship against Jax on Friday’s SmackDown.

Two title matches have been announced for tonight’s Raw. The Hurt Business (Shelton Benjamin & Cedric Alexander) will defend their Raw Tag Team titles against The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods), while United States Champion Riddle will defend his title against Mustafa Ali.