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
“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.
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.”
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.”
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)
“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.
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Election season is in full swing, with only eight days until the election and millions of people participating in early voting nationwide, this is a great time to talk to your kids about politics. That doesn’t just mean who you plan to vote for, but what politics really are, how it affects people’s lives, and what it means to bring home an ‘I Voted’ sticker. This list of 2020 Election Reading Books for Kids, released by the NYPL, will help educate your kids about some of the most important issues in the upcoming election.
Jennifer Keelan was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth and grew up battling life’s limitations one by one. However, after discovering that she had a voice to create change for those with disabilities, she helped pressure Congress into passing the Americans with Disabilities Act.
A Pakistani-American Muslim girl is faced with trying to stay true to her culture all while blending in at school. When a local mosque becomes vandalized she struggles with what to do next? Does she hide a side of her to become more American?
Back in April 1916, Nell Richardson and Alice Burke made their way to NYC to spread a message to all Americans: Votes for Women! In the time of the women’s suffrage movement, this duo was not going to be stopped by anything. One hundred years later, their story is shared with us in a picture book from when they took that trip.
Efrén’s Amá and Apá work very hard to provide for the family and to make sure that Efrén and his siblings are well taken care of. Efrén is American-born and his parents are undocumented which makes him worry about what could possibly happen. One day, his worries come true and his Amá is deported across the border to Tijuana, Mexico.
On Zoe Washington’s twelfth birthday, a letter arrives from her father in prison whom she has never met. She contemplates what to write as her father expresses his innocence. Keeping this a secret, Zoe is determined to uncover the truth.
Mia Tang has a lot of secrets. (1) Mia lives in a motel where she helps manage the front desk while her parents who are immigrants clean the rooms. (2) Her parents hide immigrants at the hotel in the empty rooms which also must be kept secret from the motel owner. (3) She wants to be a writer but her mother wants her to focus on math. Mia juggles a lot and it will take a lot out of her to get through the year and go for her dreams.
Gaby starts to volunteer at a local animal shelter where she falls in love with a cat she would like to adopt and give a home. However, Gaby’s mom is deported back to Honduras and Gaby is not sure what to do, especially because she is left without a true place that feels like home. Although Gaby is dealing with a lot, she still wants to give the cat at the shelter a home — even though she is also looking for one herself.
Regina’s Umpqua tribe is legally terminated and has to relocate from Oregon to Los Angeles. During this journey, she tries to gain a deeper understanding of her identity as an Indian and find her grounding in a new environment.
This picture book illustrates the concept of gender identity to readers of all ages. The book covers the full spectrum of varied gender identity to children, explaining that someone can identify with one gender, multiple genders, or neither. This book helps children understand that gender is not binary and any type of gender expression and identity is okay!
This moving book tells the story of a boy and his father. One day, the boy’s father leaves, leaving him only with his mother. He misses his dad deeply and writes him a letter, in return he receives a letter from his father outlining his hopes and dreams for his son, as well as his love for him, even when he cannot be there physically.
The statements by French President Emmanuel Macron regarding Islam indicate his extreme misunderstanding of Islam, and religion in general, Famous Arab writer and analyst, Kamal al-Halbawi told Trend.
According to Halbawi, France’s previous stance on the wearing of the Islamic headscarf also points to extreme contradiction and double stance on freedom and equality in the country.
“The current position of France’s president won’t harm the image of either Islam or the Prophet of Islam. Muslims of the world need to live a real Islam in order to truly be a nation of Islam and be a bright inspirer of humanity, as it is said in the Koran, and as Prophet Muhammad said,” said Halbawi.
He also stressed that Muslims should turn away from overt expressions of ignorance.
“The Secretary-General is very encouraged by Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide’s announcement of Japan’s commitment to get to net zero emissions by 2050, which is a very significant positive development, and hereby expresses his appreciation for Prime Minister Suga’s leadership,” said the statement released by UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.
The statement said Mr. Guterres now looked forward to Japan, the world’s third largest economy, announcing concrete policy measures, along with an ambitiously revised NDC, in time for the 26th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26), due to be held in Glasgow in November 2021.
“The Secretary-General has no doubt that Japan has all the necessary technological, financial and engineering tools to get to net zero emissions by 2050. He is confident that Japan will also assist developing countries to reach that same objective, including through technological assistance and its public and private financing for renewable energy”, the statement said.
President Xi promised to revise China’s NDCs accordingly and called on all countries to meet their commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement, which sought to keep a global temperature rise this century well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The European Union has also pledged to be carbon neutral by 2050.
The United States has not made a similar commitment, and after signalling in 2017 that it would withdraw from the Paris Agreement, it could formally leave the pact as soon as the day after next week’s presidential election.
Monday’s general strike, called by the opposition, went ahead after President Lukdashenko defied a midnight ultimatum to surrender power.
Three months have gone by since the disputed election in which Lukashenko, who has been in power for 26 years, declared a landslide victory in the former Soviet republic despite the claim by the opposition and by Western countries that the vote was rigged.
Mass demonstrations have been taking place since then and around 15,000 people have been arrested during a crackdown on the protests and nearly all opposition leaders have fled or been jailed.
In Monday’s national strike factory workers chanted slogans and students took to the streets. After having detai .ned over 520 protesters on Sunday, tv footage showed riot police throwing stun grenades and more people men and women, old and young – being arrested and taken away in police vans.
The past was the 11th straight weekend of huge demonstrations in the capital Minsk and in other major cities.
The strike has been called by exiled opposition candidate, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya who has urged Belarusians to block roads, shut down workplaces, stop using government shops and services and withdraw all money from their bank accounts.
If sustained, analysts say, it could open a new phase in the crisis, testing whether the opposition has the mass support it needs to bring enterprises across the country of 9.5 million people to a halt.
Just last week Tsikhanouskaya received the European Parliament’s prestigious Sakharov Award for Human Rights for “the courage, resilience and determination of the Belarusian opposition”.
Pope Francis has said he is following the situation in Belarus and he has appealed for dialogue, for the rejection of violence and for the respect for justice and rights in the country. (Source: reuters and other news agencies)
Hungaryʼs government on Monday filed an action with the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) seeking the annulment of certain provisions in the Mobility Package on the grounds they are discriminatory and run counter to EU climate objectives, state news wire MTI reports, citing a joint statement by the Innovation and Technology Ministry and the Justice Ministry.
Image by frantic00 / Shutterstock.com
The contested provisions impose a disproportionate financial and administrative burden on European haulers and are also impossible to enforce, the ministries said.
The ministries noted that the European Parliament and the European Council had approved the Mobility Package in July in the face of vocal opposition by Hungary and other member states.
The ministries said the Hungarian government had taken a stand against the provisions in all available forums since the drafting of the package started three years earlier.
The declared goals of the new regulations are to protect the interests of truck drivers, while improving their social and work conditions, but the Hungarian government is of the view that the new provisions address existing problems poorly and further worsen the situation of those affected rather than resolving issues, the ministries said.
The provisions run contrary to the principle of free movement of labor, goods, and services; and they restrict the operation of the unified market and national markets with protectionist measures, they added.
The ministries said the provisions give haulers from outside of the EU an advantage, which hurts member states economically and can cause a deterioration in traffic safety conditions for EU citizens.
The governmentʼs CJEU action seeks to exempt haulers from the EU directive on posted workers, to exempt accompanied combined transport from new rules on combined transport, to scrap the prohibition on sleeping in cabs because of the insufficient number of safe rest stops, to roll back the deadline for installing smart tachographs to the originally planned 2034, and to eliminate a rule requiring lorry drivers to return to their base of operations every eight weeks.
In a post on Facebook, Justice Minister Judit Varga said the new rules “undermine the EUʼs internal market and deliberately strengthen the undue competitive advantage of Western European Member States”.
She said that Hungary had been joined by Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, and Romania, in consistently opposing the regulations.
“As we did in the case of the Posting of Workers Directive in 2018, we are taking strong action against EU legislation and we call on the Court of Justice of the European Union to annul legislation that is contrary to the principles enshrined in the EU Treaties and contrary to the freedom to provide services,” she said.
.jpg?w=696&resize=696,0&ssl=1 "Arab analyst: Macron's anti-Islamic statements point to extreme misunderstanding of religion")
