8.4 C
Brussels
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
Home Blog Page 1192

UN chief calls for ‘new social contract’ as part of post-pandemic recovery

By
officialinstitutions
-
0
UN chief calls for ‘new social contract’ as part of post-pandemic recovery

António Guterres was among leaders addressing a Special Meeting of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to investigate the links between structural racism, inequality and sustainable development, with a focus on pandemic response. 

‘New social contract’ 

The UN chief said the global crisis “represents a damning indictment of systematic prejudice and discrimination”, with COVID-19 mortality rates up to three times higher for some marginalized groups. 

“As we strive to recover from the pandemic and build a better world, we need to forge a new social contract based on inclusivity and sustainability.  That means investing in social cohesion,” the Secretary-General said.

“All groups need to see that their individual identities are respected, while feeling that they belong as valued members of society as a whole.” 

The ECOSOC meeting, held online, comes ahead of the annual High Level Political Forum in June which will review global progress towards reducing inequalities and promoting peace, justice and strong institutions, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Solidarity and cooperation 

Council President Munir Akram underscored the need for action, recalling commitments made by world leaders during the UN’s 75th anniversary last year. 

“Solidarity and cooperation among countries, societies, communities, and individual citizens is the only possible way to eliminating racism, xenophobia and discrimination for all,” he said. 

This year also marks the 20th anniversary of a landmark UN Conference on racism, held in Durban, South Africa, and the country’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa, spoke of how COVID-19 has exposed “fault lines” both within and between countries. 

“The pandemic has deepened poverty, inequality and other forms of social injustice around the world,” he said in a pre-recorded message.  “Africans and people of African descent, Asians and people of Asian descent, Roma and the Sinti are among those particularly affected.” 


Address the threat, achieve the dream 

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, outlined several proposals for the international community to recommit to uphold fundamental principles of human rights.  

They include addressing historic inequalities and injustices as part of pandemic recovery, increasing representation of people of African descent in global institutions, and building a global alliance against rising Islamophobia, antisemitism, and racial violence. 

“Extremism and systemic racial discrimination and exclusion are threatening the very political, legal and moral foundations of several States,” he warned. “We must collectively address the threat posed by racial and other forms of inequalities.” 

The son of slain civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. acknowledged the difficulty of achieving sustainable development against the backdrop of the pandemic, though he underscored the critical role of solidarity.  

“To me, the 17 Sustainable Goals are essential challenges that we absolutely must meet, if we want to create the beloved worldwide community that my father spoke about so often,” Martin Luther King III said in a pre-recorded message. 

“We have got to work together to create a global ethos to end poverty and discrimination, homelessness, pollution, pandemics, disease and violence.” 

UN offers science-based blueprint to tackle climate crisis, biodiversity loss and pollution

By
officialinstitutions
-
0
UN offers science-based blueprint to tackle climate crisis, biodiversity loss and pollution

“For too long, we have been waging a senseless and suicidal war on nature. The result is three interlinked environmental crises”, Secretary-General António Guterres told a virtual press briefing on the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report, Making Peace with Nature. 

Pointing to climate disruption, biodiversity loss and pollution, which “threaten our viability as a species”, he detailed their cause as “unsustainable production and consumption”. 

“Human well-being lies in protecting the health of the planet”, said Mr. Guterres. 

Linking challenges 

According to the UNEP report, the world can tackle the climate, biodiversity and pollution crises together, but the UN chief said that these interlinked crises require “urgent action from the whole of society”. 

Noting that some two-thirds of global CO2 emissions are linked to households, he underscored that “people’s choices matter”.  

He explained that “we are overexploiting and degrading the environment on land and sea. The atmosphere and the oceans have become dumping grounds for our waste. And governments are still paying more to exploit nature than to protect it”. 

Trio of emergencies 

The report shows that the global economy has grown nearly fivefold in the past five decades, but at massive cost to the environment. 

Despite a pandemic-induced decline in emissions, global warming is on track to increase by 3°C this century and while pollution-related diseases are prematurely killing some nine million people annually, over a million plant and animal species risk extinction.  

Mr. Guterres made several points, including that women represent 80 per cent of those displaced by climate disruption; polluted water kills a further 1.8 million, predominantly children; and 1.3 billion people remain poor and some 700 million hungry. 

“The only answer is sustainable development that elevates the well-being of people and the planet”, he said, drawing attention to possible actions for governments, including putting a price on carbon, shifting subsidies from fossil fuels to nature-friendly solutions and agreeing to “not support the kind of agriculture that destroys or pollutes nature”. 

‘The bottom line’ 

While noting that far-reaching change involves recasting how we invest in nature, the report presents a strong case to integrate nature’s value into policies, decisions and economic systems that, among other things, foster innovative sustainable technologies. 

“The bottom line is that we need to transform how we view and value nature”, said the Secretary-General. “The rewards will be immense. With a new consciousness, we can direct investment into policies and activities that protect and restore nature”. 

ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== UN offers science-based blueprint to tackle climate crisis, biodiversity loss and pollution

SDGs and the environment 

The report examines linkages and explains how science and policymaking can advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 and a carbon neutral world by 2050, all while bending the curve on biodiversity loss and curbing pollution.  

While the authors stress that ending environmental decline is essential to advancing the SDGs on poverty alleviation, food and water security, and good health for all, Mr. Guterres flagged the need for “urgency and ambition” to address how we produce our food and manage our water, land and oceans.  

“Developing countries need more assistance. Only then can we protect and restore nature and get back on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030”, he said, adding that the report shows that “we have the knowledge and ability to meet these challenges”.  

As an example, Making Peace with Nature outlined that sustainable agriculture and fishing, allied with diet changes and less food waste, can help end global hunger and poverty, improve nutrition and health, and spare more land and ocean for nature.  

“It’s time we learned to see nature as an ally that will help us achieve the Sustainable Development Goals”, upheld the Secretary-General. 

An auspicious year 

This year, beginning with next week’s UN Environment Assembly, a number of key international environmental conferences – including on climate change, chemicals, biodiversity, desertification and oceans – can help to propel us on the path to sustainability, the UN chief said.  


“One key moment occurs tomorrow, when we welcome the United States of America back into the Paris Agreement on climate change”, he highlighted, noting that the move “strengthens global action”. 

“President Biden’s commitment to net zero emissions means that countries producing two-thirds of global carbon pollution are pursuing the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. But we need to make this coalition truly global and transformative”, he added. 

If adopted by every country around the world, a global coalition for carbon neutrality by 2050 can still prevent the worst impacts of climate change. 

“But there can be no delay. We are running out of time to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C and build resilience to the impacts to come”, he asserted. 

Adopting a vision 

The report spotlighted the importance of changing mindsets to find political and technical solutions that equal the environmental crises. 

“The path to a sustainable economy exists – driven by renewable energy, sustainable food systems and nature-based solutions. It leads to an inclusive world at peace with nature”, said Mr. Guterres, emphasizing that “this is the vision we must all adopt”. 

The UN chief encouraged everyone to use the report to “re-evaluate and reset our relationship with nature”. 

Making Peace with Nature draws on global assessments, including those from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), UNEP reports and new findings on the emergence of zoonotic diseases, such as COVID-19. 


ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== UN offers science-based blueprint to tackle climate crisis, biodiversity loss and pollution
ICS/Craig Nisbet

The Seychelles moved in March 2020 to protect 30 per cent of its marine environment.

‘Sulwe’: A New Netflix Animated Musical Based on Lupita Nyong’o’s Best-Selling Book

By
Hoai-Tran Bui
-
0
‘Sulwe’: A New Netflix Animated Musical Based on Lupita Nyong’o’s Best-Selling Book

Netflix is turning Lupita Nyong’o‘s best-selling book Sulwe into an animated musical film. Published in 2019, the children’s book follows a young girl with “skin the color of midnight” who is visited by a shooting star and embarks on a magical journey to learn about the nature of true beauty.

Netflix announced that its next animated musical feature will be Sulwe, based on Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o’s #1 New York Times bestselling book of the same name. Nyong’o will produce the film, which does not yet have a director, writer, or composer attached.
“The story of Sulwe is one that is very close to my heart,” Nyong’o said in a statement accompanying the announcement. “Growing up, I was uncomfortable in my dark skin. I rarely saw anyone who looked like me in the aspirational pages of books and magazines, or even on TV. It was a long journey for me to arrive at self-love. Sulwe is a mirror for dark-skinned children to see themselves, a window for those who may not be familiar with colorism, to have understanding and empathy, and an invitation for all who feel different and unseen to recognize their innate beauty and value. I am thrilled that the book is being adapted into an animated musical that we hope inspires children all around the world to celebrate their uniqueness.”

The book, illustrated by Vashti Harrison and published in 2019 by Simon & Schuster, was a treatise on self-love and turns the story of a young dark-skinned girl’s journey of self-discovery into a magical, cosmic quest.

Here is the logline for the film, per Netflix:

Sulwe has skin the color of midnight. She is darker than everyone she knows. All she wants is to be beautiful and bright. One night, Sulwe is visited by a shooting star sent by the Night, and embarks on a magical journey where she learns the eye-opening story of the sisters Night and Day. Sulwe is a story about colorism, self-esteem, and learning that true beauty comes from within.

Netflix has come out of the gate running with its animated titles, first earning critical and awards attention with its inaugural Oscar-nominated feature Klaus, before quickly following up with Kris Pearn’s solid The Willoughbys and Glen Keane’s directorial debut Over the Moon. It’s got a buzzy slate ahead: high-profile directors like Richard Linklater, Henry Selick, and Guillermo del Toro have projects lined up with the streamer, while beloved properties like Chicken Run and Redwall are in the works.

While Netflix’s last animated musical, Over the Moon, was mostly just okay, Nyong’o is an immense talent whose involvement in any capacity is exciting. She’s won an Oscar and written a best-selling book, which is more than most people can claim.

Watch Nyong’o read Sulwe on Netflix’s Bookmarks, a live-action series that features prominent Black celebrities and artists reading children’s books from Black authors, below:

                        <strong>Cool Posts From Around the Web:</strong>




                        <!-- /post -->

First Person: ‘The world is in your hands and begins at your door’.

By
officialinstitutions
-
0
First Person: ‘The world is in your hands and begins at your door’.

Mr. Don, the UK’s leading garden writer and broadcaster, is an advocate for the Food and Agriculture Organization of The United Nations (FAO) for the International Year of Plant Health (extended into 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), an initiative aimed at demonstrating the ways in which protecting plant health can help end hunger, reduce poverty, protect the environment, and boost economic development.

Monty Don, British horticulture expert and FAO Goodwill Ambassador to promote the International Year of Plant Health., by Marsha Arnold

“I would define the term ‘plant health’ in two ways. Firstly, the way in which plants’ health is related to the environment in which they are growing. The biggest mistake that gardeners make is to try and force a plant to grow where it doesn’t want to grow, and not understanding what a plant needs in order to be healthy. Rosemary, for example, is adapted to the rocky sun-baked hillsides of the Mediterranean, whilst a Hosta likes shade, rich food, and lots of water.

The second definition involves the ways that plants boost human health, whether it’s physical health, or mental health. The last year and the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly highlighted the importance of mental health, and the positive role that gardens can play: tens of thousands of people around the world have reported that horticulture has provided them with a close connection with nature, with the seasons, with the weather and with their own internal mindset. We might be living in the midst of an unpredictable, scary, chaotic world at the moment, but gardening and plants remain constant.

The environmental cost of food

For humans to be healthy, we need to eat and to have access to fresh, seasonal, locally produced fruit and vegetables. In wealthy western and northern Europe, we have twenty-four-hour, year-round access to fruit and vegetables from all over the world.
For me this is not healthy, because it means huge transportation costs, and large-scale interventionist and artificial out-of-season growth. So, for example, you can eat strawberries in February, but they will have to be grown in a polytunnel in a warmer country and produced in such a way that they won’t actually taste good.

There are many ways that we can eat local fruits and vegetables. We can grow our own, whether in allotments, back gardens, window boxes or rooftop gardens, and we can try to buy locally whenever possible. If we all do this, it will lead to improved health benefits for us, and environmental benefits for the planet.

© FAO-Magnum Photos/Alex Webb

In countries like Mexico markets are dominated by fresh seasonal produce, unlike in many wealthy western and northern Europe countries.

Healthy soil means healthy plants

Soil is amazing. There are more living organisms in the first six inches of the soil than there are stars in the known universe. And we know less about what’s happening just a foot below the ground than we do the deepest part of the sea.

If you have healthy soil, you will have healthy plants. The relationship between the bacteria in the soil and the nutrients that the plants take up is completely intertwined. Not just the main nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, but the micro-nutrients and minerals which people increasingly realise are so important to our health.

However, our agricultural practices since the Second World War have practically ignored soil health. Over the last seventy or eighty years, we have treated soil as an inert medium that we can use rather like a factory floor, raising plants short of any obvious nutritional quality.

A new generation of activists

But now there is a new generation of farmers all over the world who realise that, by looking after the soil, you no longer have to spend a fortune on artificial fertilisers, you get much healthier plants, and your crops are just as good.

My message to this generation, to all of the young people who are concerned about sustainability and the future of the planet, is that the world is in your hands and the world begins at your door. 

By far the best way that we can tackle the bigger issues of plant health, sustainability and climate action, is to learn how to connect to our own immediate world, how to love, treasure and care for it. So, I would say, it’s the old, old story: think global, act local.”

Monty Don was interviewed by the UN Regional Information Centre for Western Europe.

Epic Games extends legal fight against Apple to the European Union

By
Newsdesk
-
0
Epic Games extends legal fight against Apple to the European Union

Epic Games has filed another antitrust complaint against Apple, this time in the European Union.

Filed with the European Commission, Epic has accused the iPhone maker of enforcing a “series of carefully designed anti-competitive restrictions” that have harmed competition when it comes to app distribution and payment processes.

“Apple uses its control of the iOS ecosystem to benefit itself while blocking competitors and its conduct is an abuse of a dominant position and in breach of EU competition law,” Epic Games said in an announcement.

In the announcement, Epic Games said Apple’s decision to block Fortnite — a popular game created by the games developer — from the iOS platform has harmed the company. It added that Apple has since launched its own gaming distribution service, Apple Arcade, while allegedly barring Epic Games from the doing the same.

“Consumers have the right to install apps from sources of their choosing and developers have the right to compete in a fair marketplace. We will not stand idly by and allow Apple to use its platform dominance to control what should be a level digital playing field,” Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney said.

“It’s bad for consumers, who are paying inflated prices due to the complete lack of competition among stores and in-app payment processing. And it’s bad for developers, whose very livelihoods often hinge on Apple’s complete discretion as to who to allow on the iOS platform, and on which terms.”

Prior to this latest complaint, Epic Games already had legal processes underway in Australia, the US, and the UK that specifically targeted Apple’s app distribution and payment processes.

Much like the legal stoushes in those jurisdictions, Epic Games said it is not seeking damages from Apple in its EU complaint. Instead, it has asked the European Commission to “address Apple’s anti-competitive conduct by imposing timely and effective remedies”.

The standoff between Epic Games and Apple commenced six months ago, when Apple and Google blocked Fortnite from their app stores after Epic Games implemented an in-app payment system within the game to circumvent paying the 30% commission fee of those stores.

This sparked Epic’s original US lawsuit that was brought against Apple and Google, which accused the tech giants of conducting anti-competitive and monopolistic practices.

“Apple has become what it once railed against: The behemoth seeking to control markets, block competition, and stifle innovation. Apple is bigger, more powerful, more entrenched, and more pernicious than the monopolists of yesteryear. At a market cap of nearly $2 trillion, Apple’s size and reach far exceeds that of any technology monopolist in history,” Epic said in the originating claim.

Apple then countersued Epic Games in September, accusing the game developer of attempting to pay nothing for the value it derived from being in the App Store by implementing its own in-app payment system.

The iPhone maker also raised another lawsuit accusing Epic of charging others for access to Apple’s intellectual property and technologies through the in-app payment system, as well as for preparing a “smear campaign” against the company. This lawsuit, however, was quickly thrown out by the US court.

In the months that followed, Epic Games raised its Australian and UK lawsuits against Apple. In both instances, Epic said it was extending the battle to make digital platforms fairer for consumers and developers.

Buddhist Times News – Buddhism, bollywood, business can expand people-to-people engagement between India, Singapore: Goyal

By
Shyamal Sinha
-
0
Buddhist Times News – Buddhism, bollywood, business can expand people-to-people engagement between India, Singapore: Goyal

Buddhism, bollywood, business can expand people-to-people engagement between India, Singapore: Goyal

                            <p class="post-meta">
                               <span class="date"><i class="icon-calendar"/> Feb 18, 2021</span>
                               <span class="meta-user"><i class="icon-user"/> <a href="https://www.buddhisttimes.news/author/shyamal/" title="Posts by Shyamal Sinha" rel="author" rel="nofollow">Shyamal Sinha</a></span>
                               <span class="meta-cat"><i class="icon-book"/> <a href="https://www.buddhisttimes.news/category/breakingnews/" rel="category tag" rel="nofollow">BREAKING NEWS</a>, <a href="https://www.buddhisttimes.news/category/topnews/" rel="category tag" rel="nofollow">TOP NEWS</a></span>
                                 <span class="meta-comment last-meta"><span>Comments Off<span class="screen-reader-text"> on Buddhism, bollywood, business can expand people-to-people engagement between India, Singapore: Goyal</span></span></span>
                                 </p>
                           <hr class="none"/>
By  –   Shyamal Sinha

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said three ‘Bs’ – Buddhism, Bollywood and Business – can help expand people to people engagement and strengthen economic ties between India and Singapore.

The minister said that it is a partnership that will help us become Aatmanirbhar& also give opportunities for us to expand our global footprint.

Shri Goyal urged businesses to look at ways how we can expand the engagement and encourage India’s youth to use more innovative technologies. He said India & Singapore are working together in cyber security & disaster relief, and Education and skill development can be taken up as pillars where we can work together and learn from Singapore’s experience. E-Commerce, Fintech, smart manufacturing, healthcare are significant areas where India offers a large market. He said that our working together in these areas can truly transform India’s own effort to give the best to our people.

Shri Goyal quoted Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi as saying that “Singapore is our spring board to the ASEAN region”. Shri Goyal expressed the belief that the new regional order that will emerge, will rest on the strong shoulders of Singapore & India. He said that through budget 2021-22 and various other measures, Prime Minister has been trying to prepare the country to engage with the world from a position of strength, in the next decade. Similarly, the Singapore budget also this year has focused a lot on transformation and innovation. He expressed happiness that Singapore and the GIFT city which is our first operational smart city, have tied up with the Singapore exchange to boost international investment in India.

He said education and skill development can be taken up as pillars where both the sides can work together and learn from Singapore’s experience.

‘I look at expanding the Singapore-India ties resting on a greater degree of people-to-people engagement and I think that can rest on 3 ‘Bs’. The 3 ‘Bs’ that I think can expand our people to people engagement are – Budhism, Bollywood and Business,’ he said while addressing India-Singapore CEO Forum .

He added that in the post-COVID period, ‘I would like to invite all of you and experience Buddhism, enjoy bollywood and engage in business in India’.

The minister also suggested two areas for enhancing cooperation and that includes ways to promote women entrepreneurship.

‘Can we look at that engagement being taken forward to help us understand what Singapore does to promote women entrepreneurs and whether we can pull out a leaf or two from your own experiences.

Source  —  PTI 

                            <hr class="none"/>

I am Muslim, religion is in the heart not looks – Hajia 4 Reall on ‘haram’ photos (VIDEO)

By
Newsdesk
-
0
I am Muslim, religion is in the heart not looks - Hajia 4 Reall on 'haram' photos (VIDEO)

                        <!-- block open -->












<p class="hyphenate ">Commenting on being a Muslim and how she reconciles her lifestyle that comes with racy photos sometimes, Hajia 4 Reall said: "<em>I think religion is all about the heart, it's not how you appear, it's about who you are inside</em>".</p>


                        <!-- block open -->













    <a name="image_ec0d6914-9e68-4d4e-9bf1-c151009875bc"/>


<div class="image" data-item-uuid="e1652eda-1a14-4480-b9dd-44f48f7a181a">
    <div class="imageCaptionWrapper">
    <div class="imageWrapper" data-uuid-photo="ec0d6914-9e68-4d4e-9bf1-c151009875bc">









                <picture class="loaderBlock">

                    <source data-original="//ocdn.eu/pulscms-transforms/1/erKk9kpTURBXy80MzEyZTgyMWMwZjI2YWJkNDE3NGI1NTRiNTdiYWQyMy5qcGeSlQLNAxQAwsOVAgDNAvjCw4GhMAU" type="image/webp">

                </source></picture>



                <figcaption itemprop="caption" class="caption  hide ">
                    <span>
                        Hajia 4 Real Photo Credit Instagram 
                    </span>
                </figcaption>















    </div>          
    </div>
</div>


                        <!-- block open -->












<p class="hyphenate ">"<em>I am a Muslim, yes I pray</em>" Hajia 4 Real who has now ventured into music, told <a href="https://www.pulse.com.gh/authors/david-mawuli" id="764b9a34-5d4c-431c-a10a-c91b6decb4b2" rel="nofollow">Pulse.com.gh's David Mawuli</a> and when asked about how exposing herself in photos and videos is against her religion she said, " <em>religion is not about how you appear</em>".</p>


                        <!-- block open -->

<p class="hyphenate ">In the video below, Hajia 4 Reall concluded that "<em>it is the relationship between you and your God</em>".</p>


                        <!-- block open -->


                        <!-- block open -->












<p class="hyphenate ">The entrepreneur, born Mona Faiz Montrage, has dropped her second single titled "Fine Girl' after <a href="https://www.pulse.com.gh/entertainment/celebrities/hajia-4-reall-talks-about-her-life-and-new-song-video/vnj0pfz" id="150c4e24-0b55-434f-a5f8-ced1baeab2e1" rel="nofollow">her debut 'Badder Than' track that went viral</a> as she shocked fans with her idea of venturing into music.</p>


                        <!-- block open -->












<p class="hyphenate ">Watch the video below for Hajia 4 Reall's latest which has been receiving good attention and airplay.</p>


                        <!-- block open -->


<!-- sonda -->

China Passes US as European Union’s Largest Trading Partner Amid Historic Investment Agreement

By
Morgan Artyukhina
-
0
China Passes US as European Union's Largest Trading Partner Amid Historic Investment Agreement

According to data from European Union statistics agency Eurostat, the People’s Republic of China surpassed the United States as the EU’s largest trading partner last year, with more than $710 billion in goods exchanged.

“In the year 2020, China was the main partner for the EU. This result was due to an increase of imports (5.6 per cent) and exports (2.2 per cent). At the same time, trade with the United States recorded a significant drop in both imports (-13.2 per cent) and exports (-8.2 per cent),” Eurostat said in a report released on Tuesday. The data doesn’t include China’s trade with the United Kingdom, which departed the EU last year.

By contrast, US trade with the EU was just €555 billion ($672 billion), a 10% decline from 2019.

Nick Marro, global trade lead at the Economist Intelligence Unit, told the South China Morning Post that demand for luxury goods in the Chinese economy, which closed down and opened up again much sooner than other countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic, helped keep European exports afloat while much of the rest of the planet remained in lockdown. However, the change is likely temporary.

“[The] expansion in total EU-China trade volumes more reflects strong growth in EU imports from China in 2020, rather than European exports benefiting strongly from China’s economic recovery,” Marro told the Hong Kong-based paper. “As a result, the overall structure of the EU’s trade relations are still more or less unchanged, and the importance of the US as a trade partner hasn’t meaningfully diminished. We’ll likely see a stronger revival in transatlantic trade flows as the pandemic comes under control in both markets, including as both sides jump-start their post-crisis recoveries.”

However, with the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) finalized last December after years of negotiations, that claim is cast into doubt. The deal will remove barriers to EU companies investing on the Chinese mainland, opening the door for the automobile and electronics industries, among others.

For the moment, the boom in EU-China trade has had an unexpected effect: the dramatic growth in shipping rates. According to the Financial Times, shipping costs have quadrupled since October thanks to a shortage in shipping containers as cargo ships sit idle in European and American ports. Even with new orders for containers, the price hike is likely to last well into 2021 due to the cargo backlog.

In the final months of 2020, the Chinese economy shattered its previous export records as it became the global factory for medical equipment for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic while itself being almost totally free of the virus. However, for 2021, economists have set big goals: Fitch Ratings has predicted a colossal 8% economic growth for China this year, which isn’t even the largest estimate out there.

A report by the Center for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), a UK-based think tank, predicted China would pass the US as the world’s largest economy by 2028.

Article – Coronavirus: a timeline of EU action in 2021

By
European Parliament
-
0

Check out our timeline to find out how the EU is tackling the impact of the coronavirus pandemic in 2021.

Discover what action the EU is taking in 2021 for the roll-out of vaccines and treatment, to boost the economy, employment, society, travel and transport and to help its partners worldwide to fight Covid-19.

You can also check out our 2020 coronavirus timeline.

Source : © European Union, 2021 – EP

Using EU funds to address fundamental rights migration challenges

By
European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
-
0

FRA presented areas where EU funding could help address fundamental rights challenges in the field of asylum, borders and immigration. This could support Member States om their the implementation of EU law safeguards as they prepare their multiannual programmes under the new migration and security funds.

FRA gave the presentation during a European Commission workshop on 10 February. FRA highlighted issues relating to child protection, the integration of migrants and refugees, fundamental rights monitoring at borders and the implementation of EU law safeguards when setting up new large-scale information technology systems.

1...1,1911,1921,193...1,548Page 1,192 of 1,548

© FRVS+MPCP 2022. The European Times® News is registered as an EU Trademark. All rights reserved. The European Times® and the logo of The European Times® are EU trademarks registered by FRVS+MPCP.

MADRID

Members/Partners of

GNS Press - The European Times

Google News

  

About Us

Popular Category

DISCLAIMER OPINIONS: The opinions of the authors or reproduced in the articles are the ones of those stating them and it is their own responsibility. Should you find any incorrections you can always contact the newsdesk to seek a correction or right of replay.

DISCLAIMER TRANSLATIONS: All articles in this site are published in English. The translated versions are done through an automated process known as neural translations. If in doubt, always refer to the original article. Thank you for understanding.

DISCLAIMER PHOTOS: We mostly used photos images that are readily available online, from free sources, or from the people promoting the news. If by any chance it happens that we have used one of your copyrighted photos, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will take it down without question. We do not make profits as this is a not for profit project to give voice to the voiceless while giving them a platform to be informed also of general news, and it is completely free.

Editor Picks