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Catch-up, ‘get ahead and stay ahead’ of coronavirus, urges UN health agency chief

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Catch-up, ‘get ahead and stay ahead’ of coronavirus, urges UN health agency chief

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization (WHO), informed journalists that “intensive care units are filling up to capacity in some places, particularly in Europe and North America”. 

Meanwhile over the weekend, numerous world leaders re-evaluated their situation, the UN health agency chief noted, and “took action to limit the spread of the virus”.

No one wants lockdowns

He conceded that many across the world are experiencing mental and physical “pandemic fatigue” but underscored the need to stand strong.

“No one wants more so-called lockdowns”, he acknowledged, urging leaders to “balance the disruption to lives and livelihoods with the need to protect health workers and health systems as intensive care fills up”.

He spoke emphatically about the stress and trauma health workers face on the frontlines, facing a fresh wave of patients and underscored the need to protect them.

“The best way to do that is for all of us to take every precaution we can to reduce the risk of transmission, for ourselves and others”, said the UN official. 

Pandemic: ‘Everyone’s business’

Battling the pandemic is “everyone’s business”, Tedros asserted, adding that “we all have to play our part”.

To keep our children in school, businesses open and lives and livelihoods preserved, he stressed that “trade-offs, compromises and sacrifices” must be made.

That translates to, among other things, people staying at home, maintaining physical distance and wearing masks while governments must break transmission chains, test, isolate and care for cases, in addition to contact tracing and supporting quarantines.

“With these measures, you can catch-up to this virus, you can get ahead of this virus, and you can stay ahead of this virus”, the WHO chief maintained. “We say this because we have seen many places around the world get ahead and stay ahead of the virus”.

No magic solutions

Underscoring the need for hard work from leaders at all levels of societies, health workers, contact tracers and individuals, the UN health official attested that when leaders act “quickly and deliberately”, COVID-19 can be stemmed.

“Science continues to tell us the truth about this virus…how to contain it, suppress it and stop it from returning, and how to save lives among those it reaches”, he spelled out, noting that many countries and cities that have successfully “followed the science”.

Stop the politicization of COVID-19 — WHO chief

Keep politics out of it

Political divisions; blatant disrespect for science and health professionals; and spreading deliberate confusion, have caused cases and deaths to mount, according to the WHO chief. 

“This is why I have said repeatedly: Stop the politicization of COVID-19”, he warned. “A pandemic is not a political football. Wishful thinking or deliberate diversion will not prevent transmissions or save lives”.

What will save lives however is “science, solutions and solidarity”, Tedros stressed.

EU consumers should enjoy a “right to repair” and enhanced product safety | News | European Parliament

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EU consumers should enjoy a “right to repair” and enhanced product safety | News | European Parliament

, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20201024IPR90101/

WTO members give green light for EU sanctions against US over Boeing aid

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WTO members give green light for EU sanctions against US over Boeing aid

GENEVA: World Trade Organization (WTO) members gave the green light on Monday for Brussels to slap tariffs on US$4 billion (RM16.7 billion) in US imports annually in retaliation for illegal American aid to plane maker Boeing.

A WTO arbitrator had ruled on Oct 13 that the retaliatory sanctions were warranted, but the move needed to be approved by the organisation’s 164 member states before the European Union (EU) could go ahead.

During a meeting in Geneva on Monday, “WTO members approved the European Union’s request for authorisation to impose retaliatory measures against the United States for its failure to comply with the WTO ruling regarding US government subsidies for Boeing,” a WTO official said.

According to a list of targets seen by AFP, Brussels is expected to impose tariffs on a long line of imports, including aircraft made in the United States, along with tractors, sweet potatoes, peanuts, frozen orange juice, tobacco, ketchup and Pacific salmon.

Monday’s decision was the latest development in a 16-year saga between Washington and Brussels over support for their leading aircraft manufacturers. It mirrors WTO’s move a year ago to authorise a record US$7.5 billion in US sanctions against European goods.

Meanwhile, the United States on Monday told the WTO that it regretted the EU‘s decision to pursue retaliatory tariffs for Boeing subsidies, adding it favoured a “negotiated resolution” with the bloc over its subsidies to rival planemaker Airbus.

The US speech, seen by Reuters, came at a meeting of the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) which gave its formal clearance for the EU to impose tariffs on US$4 billion of US goods.

“The United States strongly favours a negotiated resolution of its dispute with the EU over the massive launch aid subsidies it provided to Airbus. The United States has recently provided proposals for a reasonable settlement that would provide a level playing field,” the US delegation said. – AFP, Reuters

Africa climate change report reveals heat rising north and south, Sahel getting wetter

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Africa climate change report reveals heat rising north and south, Sahel getting wetter

“In recent months we have seen devastating floods, an invasion of desert locusts and now face the looming spectre of drought because of a La Niña event. The human and economic toll has been aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in a statement. 

Filling the gap 

The report aims to fill a gap in reliable and timely climate information for Africa, which translates into a lack of climate-related development planning, said Vera Songwe, Under-Secretary-General, and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). 

Africa has been warming progressively since the start of the last century, and in the next five years, northern and southern Africa are set to get drier and hotter, while the Sahel region of Western Africa will get wetter, WMO’s Regional Strategic Office Director, Filipe Lucio, told a press conference.  

“Overall, Africa needs to take action. Action is needed today in terms of adaptation, but also is needed tomorrow in terms of mitigation”, Lucio said.  

The agricultural sector is key to building climate resistance, since it is the dominant employer and it relies on the use of water and energy – both heavily implicated in climate change, he said.  

Northern and southern areas under threat of aridity and desertification would benefit from reforestation, which helps to prevent water runoff and creates vegetation which supports the hydrological cycle. 

Policy recommendations 

Policy changes are also recommended in transport, energy, infrastructure and industry. Financing has improved with the establishment of a UN-backed Green Climate Fund but there are still limitations in terms of the continent’s ability to tap into such funds, he added.  

Climate change has contributed to a jump in food insecurity, mosquito-borne disease and mass displacement in the past decade, and the rise in sea levels has led to unusual weather patterns such as Tropical Cyclone Idai, which hit Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe in 2019.  

ICRC/Anette Selmer-Andresen

One year after Cyclone Idai, people in the Beira district of Mozambique are still struggling to get back on their feet.

It showed the need for communities to learn about the risks and for impact-based warnings about the appropriate actions to take. 

Cautionary tale 

A day after the cyclone made landfall, it appeared to have dissipated and people thought the worst was over. But then disaster struck when flooding followed, overwhelming Mozambique’s major port city of Beira, Lucio said.  

“People were asked to find refuge in appropriate places but the city of Beira was never built to withstand a category-5 tropical cyclone. So that means the building codes need to be changed, but the building codes cannot be changed using what tropical cyclones used to be like in the past.  

“They need to have forward looking analysis to anticipate the trends into the future and start designing infrastructure and other systems taking into account the changing nature of these tropical cyclones.”  

Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity: European Union calls for G20 to address the excess capacity

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Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity: European Union calls for G20 to address the excess capacity

Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity: European Union calls for G20 to address the excess capacity – EU Politics Today – EIN Presswire

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Asian bishops’ solidarity with jailed Indian Jesuit – Vatican News

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Asian bishops’ solidarity with jailed Indian Jesuit - Vatican News

By Vatican News staff writer

The Catholic Church in Asia has expressed its closeness and solidarity with arrested Indian Jesuit priest Father Stan Swamy and all who support the rights of indigenous and marginalized people, UCANEWS reported.   

“It is with great shock and agony the FABC heard of the arrest of the 83-year-old Father Swamy and his incarceration and we are surprised at the charges brought against him,” said UCANEWS citing a statement by Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon, the president of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences (FABC). 

“The arrest and cold-hearted incarceration of Father Swamy reminds us of the treatment meted out to Mahatma Gandhi when he stood up for the rights of the Indian people,” the cardinal said in his appeal on Monday.

He said Father Swamy was following Gandhi’s non-violent path to realize his dream: “The arrest is symptomatic of the treatment meted out to indigenous people in various parts of Asia.”

Sedition charges

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), the federal unit that is charged with anti-terrorism activities, arrested Father Swamy on 8 Ocober at Bagaicha, a Jesuit social action centre for indigenous rights in the outskirts of Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand state. 

The agency charged the elderly priest with sedition and for his links with an outlawed Maoist group, which was behind the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence case in Maharashtra state.  Father Swamy refutes the allegations saying he has never been to Bhima Koregaon.

The day after his arrest, a special NIA court in Mumbai, Maharashtra state, remanded him in judicial custody until 23 October.   A bail plea on health grounds for the ailing priest was rejected by the court on 23 October, extending his remand by another two weeks until 5 November.  The frail and ailing priest suffers from Parkinson’s disease and hearing loss.

Indigenous rights

As part of his social activism, Father Swamy has been working to secure the release of young tribal activists fighting for their ancestral land rights and against forced displacement.  They have been arrested and jailed as undertrials, accused of being members of Maoist groups engaged in violence in Jharkhand.

According to the Asian bishops’ president, the Asian market economy and its promoters have treated indigenous communities with a colonial mentality, making them environmental refugees.  Yet, it is the indigenous communities who protect nature and restore it to the world. 

Cardinal Bo urged the relevant authorities to acknowledge the role indigenous people play in the welfare of the world and release their people and those who support them, such as Father Swamy.

The cardinal hoped the country’s “leaders will show sagacity and magnanimity in appreciating the services of Father Swamy and other indigenous people’s leaders, releasing them as free citizens of India.”  (Source: UCANEWS)

Regions request support from the EU and demand to have a voice in Brussels, with “Sign it Europe”

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“The initiative was started by the Seklers of Transylvania, though it concerns not only them but many other national regions of the EU”, says their website.

The minority regions of the European Union feel forgotten by the executive authorities. Aid from European funds overlooks these territories, whose linguistic, cultural, ethnic, and religious differences contribute to the diversity of the community. The Sign It Europe initiative aims to get the support needed for Brussels to support these regions financially.

The success and strength of the European Union is based on the union of its territories, including their different national, ethnic, cultural, religious or linguistic characteristics. While in the case of the major countries these differences are taken into account, the surrounding regions, which do not have administrative powers, are forgotten by the institutions on a daily basis.

The EU must ensure the proper economic development of these regions, preventing their economic backwardness, maintaining their development, and preserving the conditions for economic, social, and territorial cohesion. To this end, it must provide all territories with the same opportunities to access its funds, as well as caring for and preserving the specific characteristics of each people, maintaining the development of the EU and its cultural diversity.

PROTECT THE THOUSAND-YEAR-OLD MINORITY NATIONS OF THE EU!

www.signiteurope.com

The Sign It Europe initiative was created with the aim of helping European minority regions to access EU funds, preserving Europe’s ethnic diversity, and to establish a specific funding system for territorial development policy that is direct, exclusive and accessible to regional territories. A campaign of signatures with which to demonstrate in Brussels, the EU’s headquarters, the importance of this issue.

“The initiative is not about protecting minorities. We Europeans are a group of communities of people and nations living in different countries. We represent the majorities that make up each country, which has been able to maintain themselves over time. Now is the time to join the regional territories to have influence in Europe, it is the time to act. Our voices have to be heard in Brussels,” said the organization’s sources.

This campaign, which has a deadline of 7 November 2020, will enable the EU to actively contribute to supporting cultural and linguistic diversity, providing the necessary financial support to the different territories, for the full development of their own language, culture, folklore, and identity within their own country.

“By signing our Citizens’ Initiative you will help European nations to build and preserve the different cultures that make them up. If we succeed in reaching the required signature from EU countries, the European Commission will take the appropriate steps to implement this support. Together, with everyone’s support, we will achieve the conservation and preservation of the essence of Europe and all its territories,” they have said.

Visit www.signiteurope.com to sign the petition.

ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== Regions request support from the EU and demand to have a voice in Brussels, with "Sign it Europe"
Regions request support from the EU and demand to have a voice in Brussels, with "Sign it Europe" 2

2020 Election Reading Books for Kids by the NYPL

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2020 Election Reading Books for Kids by the NYPL