Virtual ribbon cutting ceremony to open the new WHO European Centre for Preparedness for Humanitarian and Health Emergencies in Istanbul. WHO Regional Director for Europe Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge and Turkey’s Minister of Health, Dr Fahrettin Koca.
On 10 September 2020, the WHO European Centre for Preparedness for Humanitarian and Health Emergencies was formally inaugurated at a colourful ribbon-cutting ceremony, led online by Dr Fahrettin Koca, Minister of Health of Turkey, in Istanbul, and Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, in Copenhagen. Also participating in the ceremony were Dr Dorit Nitzan, WHO/Europe’s Regional Emergency Director, and dignitaries and senior officials from WHO/Europe, the WHO Country Office in Turkey, the United Nations family and the Government of Turkey. Dr Irshad Shaikh, WHO Representative to Turkey (ad interim), moderated the ceremony from the new premises in Istanbul.
“We are opening this centre at a time when the world is facing an unprecedented pandemic. But in the face of this challenge, the birth of this new GDO [geographically dispersed office] also serves as a symbol of equally significant human endurance and hope that together, with global and regional solidarity, we can and we will prevail and defeat this virus,” said Dr Kluge.
“Turkey is a country at significant risk of earthquakes and other natural disasters, and one that has made strong disaster management and community resilience its mission, which gives special significance to its hosting of this GDO on emergency preparedness,” he added. Dr Kluge thanked His Excellency President Erdogan and the Minister of Health, Dr Koca, for their leadership and support.
“Our relations with WHO, our closest partner in the field of health, continue to develop in a more layered and multifaceted way than ever before. This new office will operate in areas such as response to humanitarian crises in the European Region, prevention of and response to emergencies, risk management and capacity-building, especially for COVID-19, which affects the whole world,” said Dr Koca at the opening.
WHO European centre on humanitarian and health emergencies
This newest addition to the WHO/Europe family is the 6th GDO in the Region. Hosted by the Government of Turkey, this GDO in Istanbul will serve as the regional centre of excellence for emergency preparedness and provide technical expertise to improve capacity-building and operationalize selected International Health Regulations (2005) core capacity areas.
Working together with governments and other partners, including academic and research institutions across the Region, the centre will also seek to strengthen intergovernmental partnerships and community resilience, and facilitate institutionalization of state-of-the-art evidence and best practices within and between Member States. This will be achieved through trainings, simulations and conducting applied research in the area of health emergencies and disaster risk management, aligned with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015–2030).
“Turkey’s diverse expertise and hands-on experience responding to acute and protracted health emergencies, coupled with her spirit of global solidarity, will be invaluable in driving forward this centre’s work, together with Turkish experts assigned to it by the Ministry of Health,” concluded Dr Shaikh.
1 billion people live in overcrowded settlements with inadequate housing.
Action is needed now to provide low-income families & vulnerable populations with affordable housing and easy access to water, sanitation & other basic services.#WorldHabitatDaypic.twitter.com/CmP4gRyOfA
“Access to clean water and sanitation, along with social distancing, are key responses to the pandemic. Yet in slums it has proved difficult to implement these measures”, said Mr. Guterres.
“This means an increased risk of infection, not only within slums, but in whole cities, many of which are largely serviced by low-income informal sector workers living in informal settlements”, he said.
Globally, more than a billion people live in overcrowded settlements with inadequate housing, and the number is expected to reach 1.6 billion by 2030.
To meet that demand, more than 96,000 housing units will need to be completed every day – and they must be part of the green transition, said the Secretary-General, urging greater partnerships, pro-poor policies, and regulations needed to improve housing in cities.
“As we strive to overcome the pandemic, address the fragilities and inequalities it has exposed, and combat climate change, now is the time to harness the transformative potential of urbanization for the benefit of people and planet,” he added.
Marked annually on the first Monday of October, World Habitat Day focuses attention on the state of the world’s towns and cities, and the right to adequate shelter. This year’s observance highlights the centrality of housing as a driver for sustainable urban development.
The World Day was established by the UN General Assembly in 1985.
‘Frontline defence’ against COVID-19
According to the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), with urban areas accounting for 95 per cent of all confirmed COVID-19 cases, housing is now widely recognised as a frontline defence against the disease, with residents across the world being told to stay at home and wash their hands.
However, these simple measures are “impossible” for over a billion people, Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director of UN-Habitat, said in a separate message.
“We have seen hospitals overflowing, jobs disappearing, schools closed and movement restricted. But we can, and we will recover, and use our experiences to build back better and greener,” she added.
Noting that towns and cities moved quickly to provide emergency housing solutions and shelter for the homeless, quarantine spaces, truck in water and postponed evictions, Ms. Sharif urged that these achievements must not be reversed, once the pandemic is over.
“These temporary measures need to lead to long term policy changes,” she said.
“Otherwise, poverty and inequalities will be further exacerbated, and millions of people are at risk of losing their homes, once temporary bans on evictions are lifted, or when the lack of the stable income results in missed rent or mortgage payments.”
The European Parliament is to discuss today, October 5, the ongoing anti-corruption protests in Bulgaria demanding the resignation of the Bulgarian government and prosecutor general Ivan Geshev, BNR’s correspondent in Brussels Angelina Piskova reported.
The debates are related to a vote on a resolution for Bulgaria, which is expected to take place on Thursday. The document states that in Bulgaria there is a significant deterioration of the principles of the rule of law, democracy and fundamental civil rights. Concerns have also been expressed about media freedom, the working conditions of journalists over the past 10 years.
Before the debates, Prof. Velislav Minekov from the so-called “Toxic Trio” which is the organizer of the protests, together with other Bulgarian citizens, will be heard before the European Parliament.
The United States Has Repatriated 27 Americans from Syria and Iraq Including Ten Charged with Terrorism-Related Offenses for Their Support to ISIS
Washington, DC – With the recent transfer of custody of four defendants, the United States has successfully repatriated all Americans held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against whom criminal charges have been lodged for offenses relating to their support for ISIS. The Department of Justice will review the facts and circumstances relating to any future detainees and, where warranted, bring additional charges against others.
“With this week’s repatriations, the United States has brought back every American supporter of ISIS known to be held by the Syrian Democratic Forces against whom we have charges,” said John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. “The Department of Justice has worked tirelessly over the years to prevent individuals from leaving America to fight for ISIS and other terrorist groups in Syria and to investigate, repatriate and charge people who willingly left to support these organizations. This was our moral responsibility to the American people and to the people of the countries to which these terrorists traveled. The Department has also supported the efforts of other responsible nations to do the same, including by sharing evidence and know-how. We will continue to do so for any country that takes responsibility for their citizens who left to take up arms in support of ISIS’s reign of hate and intolerance.”
“Preventing terrorism remains the FBI’s top priority. Through the hard work and dedication of countless men and women across the FBI and the U.S. government, nearly a dozen citizens have been repatriated from Iraq and Syria over the past several years to face the American justice system,” said John Brown, FBI Executive Assistant Director for National Security. “This announcement should serve as a warning to those who travel, or attempt to travel, to join and fight with ISIS. We remain vigilant in our efforts to prevent terrorism as well as hold terrorists, and those who provide support to terrorist organizations, accountable for their actions. We will continue to work closely with our U.S. government and international partners to present a united front against global terrorism.”
“The United States continues to lead by example by working with the Syrian Democratic Forces to repatriate American citizens accused of supporting ISIS and, where appropriate, prosecuting their alleged crimes in American courts,” said Ambassador Nathan Sales, State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism. “We call on other nations, particularly in Western Europe, to take responsibility for their citizens, and we thank the FBI and the Department of Justice for their continued commitment to keeping alleged terrorists off of the battlefield.”
The Recently Repatriated
Emraan Ali and Jihad Ali: On Sept. 30, 2020, Emraan Ali and Jihad Ali made their initial appearance in the Southern District of Florida. Emraan Ali is charged in a complaint with providing and attempting to provide material support to ISIS. Jihad Ali is charged in a complaint with conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS. According to the criminal complaints, in March 2015, Emraan Ali traveled to Syria with his family, including his son, Jihad Ali, to join ISIS. Both Emraan Ali and Jihad Ali received military and religious training and served as fighters in support of the terrorist organization. Emraan and Jihad Ali finally surrendered to the SDF near Baghuz in March 2019, during the last sustained ISIS battles to maintain territory in Syria.
Abdelhamid Al-Madioum: On Sept. 16, 2020, Abdelhamid Al-Madioum, made his initial appearance in the District of Minnesota on an indictment charging him with providing material support to ISIS. According to the allegations in the indictment and a law enforcement affidavit, from July 8, 2015, through March 15, 2019, Al-Madioum knowingly provided material support and resources, including personnel (namely himself) and services to ISIS. On June 23, 2015, Al-Madioum, a native of Morocco and naturalized U.S. citizen, and his family traveled from St. Louis Park, Minnesota, to Casablanca, Morocco, to visit their extended family. On July 8, 2015, Al-Madioum left Morocco and traveled to Istanbul, Turkey, and then on to Iraq and Syria, where he joined ISIS. In March of 2019, Al-Madioum was captured and detained by the SDF.
Lirim Sylejmani: On Sept. 16, 2020, an indictment was unsealed in the federal district court of the District of Columbia charging Lirim Sylejmani, a Kosovo-born naturalized U.S. citizen, with conspiring to provide, providing, and attempting to provide material support to ISIS, and receiving training from ISIS. According to the allegations in the indictment, from November 2015 through February 2019, Sylejmani conspired to provide and provided material support and resources, including personnel and services, to ISIS in Syria and received military training from the terrorist organization. The defendant was captured by the SDF in 2019 and has spoken to a number of media outlets about his time with ISIS.
Those Previously Repatriated From Syria and Iraq
Prior press releases relating to the six other defendants who were repatriated from Syria and Iraq are included below. For the latest updates on the cases, please check PACER or contact the relevant U.S. Attorney’s office.
Samantha Marie Elhassani – Northern District of Indiana:
Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA) members tuned into the fall trade show’s final virtual panel on Friday, a practical discussion about how to keep activism front and center at bookstores—even as the Covid-19 crisis limits physical interaction and community events.
Annie Carl, the owner of The Neverending Bookshop in Edmonds, Wash., spoke about how activism begins with a bookstore’s selection. During the national quarantine in March, she reconfigured her store’s offerings after realizing her shelves had been dominated by white male authors. “I started putting my money where my ethics and morals are,” she said. “Bringing in titles by people of color, LGBTQ+, and disabled voices. I would say right now my shop, including the kids section, is 95% not white dude.”
Bookstores can also partner with local activists and express solidarity during key moments of national protest. King’s Books in Tacoma, Wash. is currently closed to the public, but is offering online orders and curbside pickup during quarantine. Nevertheless, owner sweet pea Flaherty said his store has promoted local activists and Black booksellers in the region by “amplifying voices” through social media and online campaigns.
The bookstore fully closed on June 12 to support the Black Lives Matters’s movement’s call for a statewide general strike. In addition, bookstore patrons can purchase books on a special online wishlist and donate books by people of color to young readers in the community. Teenage Tacoma-based activists called Seeds of Peace Scholars sanitize and hand-deliver and distribute these books to Little Free Libraries around the city. “This is a fully student-led thing,” he said, “but a lot of our customers have jumped in with order after order.”
Sho Roberts, the owner of Maggie Mae’s Kids Bookshop in Gresham, Ore., stressed that children’s bookstores can also play an important role. “We donate a lot of books,” said Roberts, as part of her effort to share diverse books with all readers. Her bookstore occasionally hosts free book days, and makes sure everyone has access to reading materials. “So that way, people who might not be able to always afford a book will still be able to have something to read, and for their kids to read,” she said.
Any kind of activism will always earn what Annie Carl called “pushback” from some customers. When she radically reconfigured her bookshelves to reflect a spirit of feminism and activism, one former patron expressed displeasure at the changes and angrily hurled two books at the owner. “I’m sure he’s found another used bookstore to cater to his particular brand of reading,” Carl said. “And I am totally cool with that. I had to be okay with losing those dollars, I had to be okay with the idea that I was losing customers. But I was also gaining customers.”
“We haven’t had much political pushback at all,” said King’s Books owner Flaherty. “We’re a very political bookstore, but we don’t endorse candidates and we don’t talk about politics at the store. The books kind of talk for us. If someone wants to talk politics at the counter with us, we don’t engage in that.” His bookstore, however, hosts civil conversations around 11 now-virtual book clubs that push boundaries and encourage greater inclusivity, including Feminist Utopia Book Club, the Banned Book Club, and the Queerest Book Club Ever.
The panelists agreed that bookstores need to be inclusive and responsive to all kinds of customers, even when faced with pushback. At Maggie Mae’s Kids Bookshop, Roberts faced her most dramatic community pushback when the bookstore hosted its first Drag Queen Story Hour events for kids. Employees received phone calls, emails, social media comments, and in-store visits from people complaining about the event.
Roberts trained her employees to answer critics with an even-handed response. “It’s not political, it’s humanity. We want to help others,” she said, sharing language her team used in these tricky situations. “You don’t have to shop here. You can feel angry and your feelings are valid, but that doesn’t change our values,” she said.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held an anticipated phone call Saturday as the two sides race to secure a post-Brexit trade deal.
Von der Leyen tweeted: “Good phone call with Boris Johnson about the state of play in the [EU-UK] negotiations,
“While progress had been made, significant gaps remain. We agreed that it’s important to find an agreement as strong basis for a strategic relationship.”
Johnson had previously called for an agreement by Oct. 15 — less than two weeks away.
According to a joint statement released after the call, Johnson and von der Leyen “agreed on the importance of finding an agreement, if at all possible, as a strong basis for a strategic EU-UK relationship in future,
“They endorsed the assessment of both Chief Negotiators that progress had been made in recent weeks but that significant gaps remained, notably but not only in the areas of fisheries, the level playing field, and governance.”
The statement added that the two had “instructed their Chief Negotiators to work intensively in order to try to bridge those gaps.”
“They agreed to speak on a regular basis on this issue.”
This article has been adapted from its original source.
