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World Health Day: Putting equity at the heart of COVID-19 recovery

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World Health Day: Putting equity at the heart of COVID-19 recovery

COVID-19 has affected us all, but some have fared worse than others simply because of the jobs they do and the insecurity of their living conditions and livelihoods.

People who have been hit the hardest are also among those least protected by national policies and systems, and the pandemic has brought their precarious situation into sharp focus.

“Why is it that some people have felt the effects of COVID-19 more acutely? Quite simply, the cards have been stacked against them in terms of jobs, housing, community, social support and health care. It’s time for everyone to be dealt a fair hand, and time for us to rebuild from the pandemic, setting our sights not merely on surviving but on thriving”, said Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe.

This World Health Day, WHO is calling on leaders to address health inequities and ensure that everyone has:

  • secure living and working conditions that enable them to live a healthy life and to thrive; and
  • access to quality health services when and where they need them, without experiencing financial hardship.

COVID-19’s long shadow

Our world was already unequal when COVID-19 hit.

Existing inequities have deepened, particularly for people experiencing multiple insecurities due to poverty, gender, ethnicity, education, occupation, migrant status, disability and discrimination, and new risks have emerged. For example:

  1. Deprivation is a risk factor for COVID-19 infection and early loss of life. We have seen that those most at risk of infection or testing positive include people at risk of poverty or social exclusion, living in deprived areas. For example, in Sweden, 30% of residents of a low-income area tested positive for COVID-19, compared to only 4.1% in high-income areas.
  2. Gender inequities. Globally, women make up 70% of the health and social care workforce, and they are more likely to be frontline health workers. Recent data from Germany, Italy and Spain show that confirmed COVID-19 cases among female health workers are two to three times higher than those observed among their male counterparts.
  3. Race and ethnicity. People in Black and minority ethnic groups have experienced a disproportionately high risk of serious infection and premature death during the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, 34.5% of critically ill COVID-19 patients in the United Kingdom were from a Black, Asian and minority ethnic background.
  4. People in detention and receiving care. New evidence is emerging of heightened risk for people in detention and being cared for in institutional settings. A particular risk factor for COVID-19 mortality is residency in a nursing home. Between 42% and 57% of COVID-19 deaths occurred in long-term care facilities for older people in Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy and Spain.

Drivers of health inequity holding people back in life and in health

Action is urgently needed in the health sector and across government to remove the barriers to a fairer and healthier life for all. A 2019 report by WHO/Europe pinpointed the five main drivers of health inequities in the WHO European Region:

  • Health systems: barriers to access, poor quality, financial hardship caused by out-of-pocket payments
  • Financial security: poverty and not being able to make ends meet
  • Living conditions: lack of decent housing, food, fuel; living in underdeveloped, unsafe neighbourhoods
  • Social and human capital: isolation, powerlessness and lack of education and training opportunities
  • Employment and work: lack of decent work and poor working conditions.

Putting equity at the heart of recovery

Governments and communities can work together to tackle the root causes of inequities and put inclusiveness and equity at the heart of all recovery responses to create a fairer, healthier world.

84% of Europeans believe that reducing inequities should be at the top of their government’s agenda.

When the right policies are implemented, results can be achieved very quickly.

Resetting our world

Inequities in health are not only unfair – they are preventable. Giving both girls and boys an equal, good start in life and promoting health across the life course is essential for the well-being and resilience of today’s society and for future generations.

The European Programme of Work, WHO’s vision to ensure healthy lives and well-being for everyone in the European Region, is shaped around the goals of leaving no one behind and reinforcing the capacities of health authorities. Monitoring and strengthening equity in health and health systems will therefore be a core element of WHO’s work over the next 10 years.

Iraqi Cardinal Calls for Religion, State Separation One Month After Papal Visit

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Iraqi Cardinal Calls for Religion, State Separation One Month After Papal Visit
Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako of Baghdad celebrates a liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican in this Feb. 4, 2013, file photo. (Photo: CNS/Paul Haring)

By Elise Ann Allen

ROME (Crux) — One month after Pope Francis’s historic visit to Iraq, one of the country’s top Catholic prelates has outlined his vision for the country going forward, making the bold suggestion of enforcing a stricter separation between religion and the state.

In a written reflection on Pope Francis’s historic March 5-8 visit, Chaldean Patriarch Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako called the papal trip “an ideal opportunity that all Iraqis must take advantage of to return, with all their confessions and religions, to themselves and their patriotism.”

This, he said, involves “turning the page from the past and opening a new page for reconciliation,” strengthening a sense of national fraternity, respecting differences, fighting for peace, rebuilding the country’s crumbling institutions and allowing displaced people to return to their homes.

Speaking on the importance of human fraternity as the basis of a peaceful coexistence, Cardinal Sako insisted that “Iraqis, in principle and by constitution, are citizens with equal rights and duties, and citizenship cannot be limited to religion, creed, region, race, or number.”

“Citizenship is a universal right for everyone,” he said, adding, “We must discover new horizons for our fellow citizens, so that everyone feels that Iraq is their home.”

In this regard, Cardinal Sako suggested that perhaps now is the time “to separate religion from the state and build a civil state, as the Christians West has done for a long time, and as the state of Sudan is doing in these days!”

On March 25 the Sudanese government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), a powerful rebel group from the country’s southern Nuba Mountains, signed a document paving the way for a final peace agreement by guaranteeing freedom of worship to all, while ensuring the separation of religion and the state in a country long ruled by sharia law.

Iraq, though not formally an Islamic state, is a predominantly Shiite Muslim country which for decades has been plagued by sectarianism, including at the national level. These sectarian divisions are not enshrined in Iraq’s constitution; however, they are rooted in practice.

Christians in the country are a small minority, and they, like other minorities, have often faced discrimination, prejudice, and violent persecution, often describing their status as being one of “second-class citizens.”

In his statement, Cardinal Sako stressed that creating a civil or secular state “is not hostile to religion, but rather respects all religions, and does not include religion in politics.”

“I think this is the guarantee of coexistence, ‘religion is about God and the nation is about everyone,’” he said, adding that it would be “A civil status which guarantees freedom of religion and worship for all Iraqis equally and protects the human rights contained in all international treaties.”

Focusing on Pope Francis’s call to human fraternity, Cardinal Sako said this sense of brotherhood amid diversity is “the goal of all societies and religions, and it should be a key point to reject extremism and hatred.”

Adopting an attitude of fraternity, he said, will allow Iraq “to build trust amongst us so that we can move forward together as brothers and sisters with tolerance, love, and respect for diversity, and build a more peaceful, fairer, and more dignified world.”

Cardinal Sako recalled the gestures Pope Francis made during his trip to reach out to different religious communities, including his March 6 meeting with Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani, one of the most influential authorities in Shia Islam, and his meeting with interreligious leaders on the Plain of Ur.

By meeting with representatives from different religious communities, the pope demonstrated that “human beings are children of God, brothers and sisters, with one another,” Cardinal Sako said, adding, “Faith is a guarantee of their diversity, their freedom, and their rights.”

“There is no problem in for every individual following their religion and traditions, as long as they respect the religion of the other brother; not treating him as an unbeliever, or betraying him, or excluding him, or eliminating him,” he said. “This diversity comes from God’s will.”

Cardinal Sako said some in the country misinterpreted Pope Francis’s remarks as calling for individual faith traditions to be dissolved in order to establish one single religion.

“That’s not true at all,” he said, insisting that “Fraternity does not mean dissolving religions identity into a single religion, but it is an invitation to each person to persevere in their own religion and their own convictions, while opening up and respecting the religion of their brother.”

“Brotherhood and diversity are the strength of our survival and our progress, we must live them in concrete daily practice,” he said, and offered several examples, including decision by Iraqi Prime Minister to declare March 6 — the day on which Pope Francis met with Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani — as a national day of tolerance.

“We must not despair in the face of some obstacles, extremist currents or misconceptions, or give up in the face of division, but we must persevere in strengthening brotherhood and respect for diversity and work so that all can enjoy good and justice and live with joy and happiness as God wills,” Cardinal Sako said.

He then offered four concrete proposals going forward, the first of which was to establish education and teaching programs aimed at building fraternal ties and strengthening their national identity of Iraqis.

Cardinal Sako also proposed organizing awareness events and campaigns through seminars, conferences, and television programs which illustrate Iraq’s diverse culture while showing what different communities have in common.

The goal of this would be to foster respect for differences, he said, adding, “what unites us is much more than what divides us.”

Another suggestion Cardinal Sako made was to build a national center including various classrooms and a library specialized in interreligious dialogue, which he said can help in “dismantling the phenomenon of fanaticism and preventing young people from adhering to it.”

He also asked that the Iraqi penal code obliging holy places to be protected and punishing offenses against religions and their symbols be implemented.

“We are sure that humanity will advance thanks to the many people of goodwill who give themselves without restrictions, even in a time of difficulty and uncertainty, to spread the culture of brotherhood and respect for the common good,” he said. “Let’s stick to the signs of hope.”

New WHO report sheds light on promotion of unsuitable baby foods in Poland

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Opportunity for improvement as new WHO report sheds light on promotion of unsuitable baby foods in Poland

Opportunity for improvement

Inappropriate promotion of commercial baby foods can undermine parents’ confidence in home-produced foods and breastfeeding, as well as encourage dietary habits that may lead to obesity and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).

A new WHO/Europe report, “Improving the nutritional quality of commercial foods for infants and young children in Poland”, concludes that inappropriate promotion is a widespread practice, echoing other recent reports coming from many countries of the WHO European Region.

“Good nutrition in infancy and early childhood is the foundation of good health and development later in life. Exclusive breastfeeding for the child’s first 6 months, and establishing healthy nutritional habits early on, can protect children from both overweight and obesity – conditions that are associated with cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer and other NCDs in adulthood,” said Dr Nino Berdzuli, Director of the Division of Country Health Programmes at WHO/Europe.

It has long been recognized that the promotion of commercial foods such as breastmilk substitutes undermines breastfeeding and optimal nutrition for infants and young children. “Yet there is now growing evidence that inappropriate promotion of commercial baby and toddler foods is widespread in several countries of the WHO European Region and may be harmful for health,” Dr Berdzuli continued.

Promotion against WHO guidelines

According to the latest WHO/Europe report for Poland, many commercial baby foods marketed in the country are inappropriately promoted and are not nutritionally suitable. For example, 43% of baby food products are marketed as being suitable for infants under the age of 6 months. Promoting such products contradicts WHO nutrition guidelines that recommend infants be exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of life.

Even though such products are legal under European Union law – which permits complementary foods to be marketed as suitable for babies from 4 months – they are in violation of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and the global WHO Guidance on Ending the Inappropriate Promotion of Foods for Infants and Young Children.

In 2010, the World Health Assembly called on Member States to end the inappropriate promotion of foods for infants and young children. The WHO Guidance was agreed in 2016 to help countries take action on this issue. Nonetheless, many manufacturers and distributors choose to ignore these recommendations.

Too much sugar, too little protein

The study, conducted by the WHO European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCD Office) and the Institute of Mother and Child in Poland, found that, overall, over half (58%) of the products promoted for babies and toddlers in Poland provide more than 30% of calories from sugars. In addition, around a quarter of products contain added sugar or another sweetening agent, such as concentrated fruit juice.

According to the criteria proposed by WHO, certain categories of products with high levels of sugars should not be marketed as suitable for infants or children under 3 years of age.

The study also indicates that around 40% of baby food products promoted in the country provide too few calories per 100 g to meet infants’ needs, while some meat-, poultry- or fish-based ready-to-eat foods do not provide enough protein to meet WHO’s proposed minimum requirements.

Babies deserve good nutrition

“The nationwide study conducted by the Institute of Mother and Child shows that 70–98% of infants receive baby food products intended for infants and young children. The quantitative and qualitative composition of baby food for the youngest children should meet their nutritional needs,” said Dr Tomasz Maciejewski, Director of the Institute of Mother and Child. “The conclusions from the project with WHO indicate the need for health-promoting reformulation of these products.”

“The study should be taken as an opportunity for improvement – every day, parents and caregivers in Poland are facing an array of commercial products that are telling a misleading story. These products are being promoted as healthy food, but in fact such products risk undermining the optimal nutrition, and thus long-term health, of babies and toddlers,” said Dr Paloma Cuchí, Head of the WHO Country Office in Poland.

The findings presented in the WHO report add to earlier evidence that inappropriate promotion is a widespread practice in other countries of the Region. Policy-makers can bring much-needed change to the sector by implementing the following WHO-recommended practices.

  • Prevent the marketing of fruit drinks and juices, sweetened milk, confectionery, and sweet snacks as suitable for infants and young children up to 36 months.
  • Limit the total sugar content of dry, savoury snack foods to ≤ 15% of energy.
  • Prohibit added sugars and other sweetening agents (including syrups, honey, fruit juice, fruit juice concentrate and non-sugar sweeteners) in all commercial baby foods.
  • Limit the use of puréed fruit, particularly in savoury foods, to ≤ 5% of total weight.
  • Improve product labelling of sugar and total fruit contents, with a flag to highlight high sugar content on front-of-pack labels.

Guterres highlights power of sport for inclusive, sustainable future, marking International Day

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Guterres highlights power of sport for inclusive, sustainable future, marking International Day

In a message commemorating International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted the power of sport to bring people together, promote healthy lifestyles, and contribute to inclusive and sustainable development. 

“Those involved in sport also have responsibilities: to reduce its environmental footprint; to meet international labour standards; to fight discrimination and prejudice of all kinds; to reject corruption; and to ensure that major global events such as the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which bring the world together, leave a positive legacy”, Mr. Guterres said. 

Helping a safe, sustainable recovery 

The UN chief also noted that while the COVID-19 pandemic brought new challenges to the sector, sport can contribute to a “safe and sustainable recovery”. 

“Workers, fans and athletes have felt the pain of absence, of lost revenue and of dreams deferred”, Mr. Guterres noted. 

“But many competitions and leagues have found new ways to create opportunities for community and joy despite the crisis … as vaccines spread hope and spectators begin to return to arenas, the world of sport has crucial contributions to make in forging a safe and sustainable recovery”, he said. 

The Secretary-General added that the UN looks forward to continuing to work with sportspeople and organizations around the world to advance climate action and to promote peace, human rights and sustainable development.  

“We will play and cheer again when everyone is safe from the pandemic.” 

The International Day 

The International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, commemorated annually on 6 April, was established by the United Nations General Assembly in August 2013, to highlight the importance of sport for promoting peaceful societies and healthy lifestyles. 

This year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the International Day was marked mainly through online and social media events, around the theme of recovery from the pandemic, and the need to build back better for a more resilient and equitable world. 

US lawmakers urge USTR Tai to seek removal of UK, EU whiskey tariffs

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Business

WASHINGTON :Some 50 members of Congress on Monday urged U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to seek removal of 25per cent tariffs on American Whiskey imposed by the European Union and Britain in retaliation for U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum.

The bipartisan group of House of Representatives members, led by Democrat John Yarmuth and Republican Andy Barr, both of Kentucky, warned that these tariffs, first imposed in June 2018 and scheduled to double to 50per cent on June 1, are damaging an American export success story.

“Since the tariffs were imposed, our American Whiskey exports to the EU have declined by 37per cent and to the UK by 53per cent,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter..

The lawmakers said they hoped that recent agreements to suspend separate whiskey tariffs related to a dispute over government subsidies given to plane makers Boeing Co and Airbus SE would lead to “prompt removal of all tariffs on U.S., EU and UK wine and distilled spirits.”

Professor Nein: Economist threatens EU recovery fund

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Professor Nein: Economist threatens EU recovery fund

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Bernd Lucke has got Germany to halt ratification of the EU’s €750 billion coronavirus recovery fund, sending chills through European capitals. But he insists he’s doing the European Union a favor.

“I didn’t set off any bombs,” the German economics professor and former Euroskeptic MEP said in an interview with POLITICO. “The bombshell is that the European Council developed a completely new finaencial instrument that is contrary to the European treaties.”

Late last month. Lucke spearheaded a complaint to Germany’s Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe against the debt-financed recovery fund. The court promptly issued an injunction preventing President Frank-Walter Steinmeier from signing off on legislation amounting to Berlin’s consent to set up the fund, while judges decide whether to accept the complaint for full examination.

All EU member states must pass similar legislation before the European Commission can borrow on the markets to establish the fund. A hold-up from any country is a cause for concern in Brussels and around the bloc. But the flagship fund is unthinkable without Germany — so it would be effectively dead if the court in Karlsruhe triggers a long delay or rejects its funding mechanism outright.

This is not the first time Lucke has led a charge against European economic integration. After leaving Angela Merkel’s CDU party, he co-founded the Euroskeptic Alternative for Germany (AfD) in 2013, before making an inglorious departure after it lurched to the far right.

He is also no stranger to high-profile cases at the German Constitutional Court. Last year, an alliance he leads won a big victory when the court ruled the European Central Bank’s 2015 bond-buying program would be illegal under German law unless the ECB could prove the purchases are justified.

Lucke argues EU leaders should have seen a legal challenge to the recovery fund coming and acted accordingly: “First, they should have refused to give their consent because it is against the treaties, and second, they should have remembered that in Germany lawsuits before the Constitutional Court are to be expected.”

The European Commission insists it is “convinced of the legality” of the financing mechanism for the recovery fund. A Commission spokesperson said the “EU objective remains to ensure the completion of the ratification process in all member states by the end of the second quarter of this year.”

But the future of the fund now rests with the judges in Karlsruhe, as they examine the complaint filed by Lucke and some 2,280 fellow German citizens. The first key moment will likely come within a few weeks, when the court decides whether to admit the complaint. If they decide to do so, that could delay Germany’s approval of the fund for a year or longer.

A German government spokesperson expressed cautious optimism that the court will take its decision “very swiftly,” given that the judges are “probably aware of the dimension” of the lawsuit.

‘Not a bogeyman’

At its core, the complaint is about the so-called Own Resources Decision, which raises the ceilings on the amount of money the EU can ask for from its member countries. This would effectively provide financial guarantees from EU members to allow the European Commission to borrow money on the international financial markets to establish the recovery fund.

Lucke says this means pooling the debt risk, because under the proposed system all EU countries would be jointly liable for the money that the EU spends via the fund — effectively creating so-called eurobonds and turning the EU into a debt union. As the EU is meant to present balanced budgets, such a move would be against the bloc’s treaties, he says.

“I would like to note: Mrs. Merkel was always against eurobonds. I am not a bogeyman, but I am Mrs. Merkel’s faithful Eckart,” Lucke said, referring to a fairytale character in German literature seen as an honest, incorruptible and reliable companion.

“I am watching to make sure that nothing happens that she has always considered wrong,” Lucke said. “One is not a bogeyman, I hope, if one stands up for the rule of law in the EU.”

Merkel has long opposed the idea of eurobonds but said last year the recovery fund was necessary as a one-off measure to deal with the historic challenge of the coronavirus crisis. She disputes that the funding mechanism amounts to the creation of eurobonds.

“I fear that this is yet another attempt to dupe the public by saying ‘one-off’ and ‘exceptionally,’ but actually paving the way for a permanent fiscal union,” Lucke said. “Once you’ve opened this door, you can’t close it again.”

The legal action puts Lucke in a position similar to one he was in a decade ago, when he quit the CDU in protest at Merkel’s financial rescue policies for countries like Greece.

In 2013, he founded the AfD to campaign for abolishing the EU’s common currency, the euro. Yet as one of the party’s three leaders, he was unable to stop far-right elements gaining influence. When the AfD took a decisive far-right turn amid the 2015 refugee crisis, he quit his own party.

Lucke founded a new party, the Liberal-Conservative Reformists, which is now languishing in political insignificance. He stayed on in the European Parliament, where he had been elected as an MEP for the AfD in 2014, until failing to get reelected in 2019.

That year, Lucke said he was quitting politics and returning to his job at the Hamburg university, where police intervened after protesting students interrupted one of his lectures, shouting “Nazi pig” and “get lost.”

Lucke rejects any association with the far right. “I have always, as AfD leader and in the time since, distanced myself from any form of right-wing extremism. I am an active protestant Christian, and I would never engage in xenophobic or right-wing extremist activities or tolerate them; that is out of the question,” he said.

However, when it comes to his opposition to the financial mechanism behind the recovery fund, Lucke finds himself allied with his former party: The AfD was the only party to vote against the Own Resources Decision in the Bundestag last month. (Leftist party Die Linke abstained.)

“They are not comrades-in-arms,” he said, stressing he made sure none of the 40 main complainants in his Bündnis Bürgerwille (Will of the Citizens Alliance), which launched the lawsuit, had any ties to the party. “There is no common ground, no agreements and no joint action with the AfD.”

Lucke insists he is not against the idea of an EU recovery fund per se, or even economic solidarity within the bloc.

He has proposed an alternative model, whereby each country would borrow money individually on the markets to pay into the recovery fund. Under that plan, countries could still receive more money than they had paid in — with Germany for example contributing more than Spain — but they would each be responsible for paying back their own share.

That plan would not be nearly as attractive to EU members such as southern European countries, which have been hit particularly hard economically by the pandemic and expect to receive large sums from the EU fund. They would face higher borrowing costs than the European Commission, which could borrow more cheaply thanks to the support of Germany above all.

“I would offer you a bet,” Lucke said, predicting that if the German Constitutional Court accepts the lawsuit, “the heads of state and government will get together very quickly and do exactly what I said. Right now, of course, they are trying to put pressure on the court and give the impression that the future of Europe depends on Karlsruhe rejecting our application. But that is wrong.”

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EU-China ties takes ‘sharp turn’ for worse

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EU-China ties takes 'sharp turn' for worse

Brussels [Belgium], April 5 (ANI): Relations between the European Union and China have taken a “sharp turn for the worse”, due to tit-for-tat sanctions imposed by Beijing and Brussels.

Brussels had announced sanctions last week against officials involved in China’s gross human rights violations against its ethnic Uyghur minority in its northwest Xinjiang region. Beijing retaliated with its own sanctions on 10 EU individuals and four entities, including five members of the European Parliament, or MEPs.

According to Voice of America (VOA), while US-China relations have declined in recent years, the European countries have enjoyed a much softer ride. After years of negotiations, Beijing and Brussels finally struck a deal aimed at liberalizing trade between them in the last days of December.

“The breakthrough was made possible by last-minute concessions from Chinese President Xi Jinping and pushes from German officials. The deal, which remains subject to approval by the European Parliament, would ensure that European investors have better access to the fast-growing Chinese market and can compete on a more level playing field in that country,” VOA reported.

“It is the EU’s first sanctions against China on human rights issues since the Tiananmen Square incident in 1989,” said Grzegorz Stec, an expert at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Germany, one of the four entities sanctioned by China.

Stec told VOA that the EU has imposed sanctions on China for other reasons, including a move against two Chinese people for cyberattacks last year. But this time, he said, “the EU made it clear that it was due to the human rights issue. China clearly regards this issue as China’s internal affair, and China’s countermeasures are unprecedented.”Among the individuals being sanctioned by China are five MEPs, Raphael Glucksmann, a French MEP and longtime French human rights advocate, said he sees the Chinese action, which includes a ban on visits to the country, as a recognition of his advocacy for Uyghur rights. After his election in 2019, Glucksmann was widely quoted as saying his goal was to become “the voice of the voiceless people.””Fortunately, we have worked hard to raise the public’s attention to this issue, which is why they (China) are angry with me,” Glucksmann told VOA.

China’s investment agreement with Europe is in tatters as major parties in the European Parliament are considering withholding support to the trade deal after Beijing imposed sanctions on EU officials.

China has been rebuked globally for cracking down on Uyghur Muslims by sending them to mass detention camps, interfering in their religious activities and sending members of the community to undergo some form of forcible re-education or indoctrination.

Beijing, on the other hand, has vehemently denied that it is engaged in human rights abuses against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang while reports from journalists, NGOs and former detainees have surfaced, highlighting the Chinese Communist Party’s brutal crackdown on the ethnic community, according to a report. (ANI)

Top EU Officials Head to Turkey for a Reset

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Top EU Officials Head to Turkey for a Reset

… ease the latest tensions, European Council president Charles Michel and European … Tayyip Erdogan Tuesday.
The EU wants to continue a 2016 … Turkey’s continuing talks with EU member Greece. The talks … group is calling on the European Union not to ignore human …

COVID-19 lays bare social inequality says UN chief, as COVAX doses top 36 million

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COVID-19 lays bare social inequality says UN chief, as COVAX doses top 36 million

Highlighting the inequalities and injustices that have been apparent throughout the pandemic, Secretary-General António Guterres said in his message for the day to be marked on Wednesday, that the vast majority of vaccine doses administered so far, have been confined to “a few wealthy countries” or those producing the shots cleared for distribution.

“Within countries, illness and death from COVID-19 has been higher among people and communities that contend with poverty, unfavourable living and working conditions, discrimination and social exclusion”, said Mr. Guterres.

Countries forced to ‘watch and wait’

Thanks to the COVAX initiative, the UN backed international effort to provide equitable vaccines across the world, more countries are receiving doses, “but most people in low and middle income countries still must watch and wait”, the UN chief added.

“Such inequities are immoral, and they are dangerous for our health, our economies and our societies.”

86 countries reached

To date, COVAX has shipped more than 36 million doses to 86 countries, the UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told correspondents at UN Headquarters on Monday.

Algeria received more than 36,000 doses over the weekend from COVAX, he said, helping to accelerate the vaccination campaign already underway there.  

“The UN Resident Coordinator, Eric Overvest, said the new doses will help ensure that no one is left behind”, Mr. Dujarric added. “Our teams on the ground have helped to train healthcare workers, sensitize people on vaccines, and supported the cold chain. 

And in Laos, the country has vaccinated more than 4,000, including frontline healthcare workers, with doses received from COVAX, Mr. Dujarric told reporters.

The UN team, led by the Resident Coordinator Sara Sekkenes Tollefsen, is supporting the country’s vaccination campaign, which began on Friday.  

More than 130 million cases

As of 5 April, the World Health Organization (WHO) is reporting that there have been nearly 131,021,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including more than 2,850,520 deaths.

Up to the end of 31 March, there had been 547,727,346 vaccine doses administered worldwide.

Vaccines for all

“As we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, we must implement policies and allocate resources so all can enjoy the same health outcomes”, said Mr. Guterres.

That will involve reaching the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, he added, “and it means delivering universal health coverage so everyone, everywhere, can thrive.”

Coin found in Jerusalem’s Old City may contributed to Temple tax in Herod’s time

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Coin found in Jerusalem's Old City may contributed to Temple tax in Herod's time
(Photo: Naftali Hilger, The Tower of David Museum.)

Archeologists in Jerusalem’s Old City have discovered a box of artifacts, including a rare silver that pilgrims might have used to pay the Temple tax during King Herod’s reign, a period of biblical significance.


The artifacts’ box was rediscovered during a major conservation project to restore the stones of the “Phasael” tower of the Jerusalem citadel’s $40 million renewal project, the Tower of David Museum said, according to The Times of Israel.

“We know from the Gospels that Jesus visited Jerusalem … and we know that He talked to the money changers. So here we have the evidence, the archaeological evidence to the historical sources,” Eilat Lieber, the museum’s director, told CBN News.

The coin bears the image of Melqart, the chief god of the Phoenician city of Tyre, now located in southern Lebanon imprinted on one side and with an eagle on the other.

“The Tower of David is one of the most important structures in Israel, both in terms of its history and location,” said Yotam Carmel, head of the conservation project, in a press release.

“The last conservation project at the Tower of David was carried out in the 1980s. Since then, the citadel has been in desperate need of conservation.”

In 37 BC, Herod became King of Judea and began some of the most ambitious building projects in the ancient world, including the Second Temple’s reconstruction.

He transformed the city of Jerusalem so much that Pliny the Elder wrote Jerusalem was “by far the most distinguished city not in Judea only, but of the whole Orient,” CBN reported.

“You can see how the past, the present, and the future are actually here at the Tower of David,” said Lieber.

“During the work for the future of the citadel, we found the evidence from the past. And we can actually, know more about our identity.

Christians can see how the sources, the Gospels, are coming alive here in Jerusalem.”

This tax has its origin in the Bible’s Book of Exodus, which commands the people of Israel, both rich and poor, to make a half-shekel donation in the service of “the tent of meeting” – community worship, according to the museum.

“When the Temple was being constructed, every Jew was commanded to make an obligatory donation of a half-shekel towards the building.

“When construction was completed, the Jews continued to pay the tax for the upkeep of the Temple, and they paid this tax with Tyrian shekels,” said the museum.

(Photo: Tal Rogovski / Tower of David Museum)Tyre coin uncovered during renewal project, which will be displayed at the Tower of David Museum next year.
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