The UN labour agency, ILO, says it is becoming increasingly concerned about working conditions in Iraq, where temperatures have soared to 50 degrees Celsius in recent weeks.
In a call for action to protect workers, ILO Country Coordinator in Iraq Maha Kattaa has urged that measures be put in place to reduce the risks for those working under extreme heat.
According to the recent Labour Force Survey, one in four workers in Iraq is employed either in construction or agriculture – already considered among the most hazardous sectors in the world.
A 2019 report by the UN agency highlighted that the “rise in global temperatures caused by climate change will make heat stress more common” – threatening progress towards decent work.
Meanwhile, as conditions deteriorate the security, health and well-being of workers will likely suffer.
Protecting casual workers
Ms. Kattaa said that while workers in some parts of Iraq have been given time off because of the heat, measures must be taken to protect those in informal, temporary, seasonal or day labour who cannot afford to miss a day of work.
This could include providing appropriate clothing; access to drinking water and shaded areas; and being encouraged to work during cooler hours with appropriate break times.
It also involves ensuring that legislation related to occupational safety and health is being enforced through labour inspections – especially in sectors that face the greatest risks.
Modernizing work health and safety
Iraq has ratified a number of ILO Conventions that focus on the need to protect workers throughout different sectors.
Most recently, this was done through the ratification of the Safety and Health in Agriculture Convention, 2001 (No. 184), which re-affirms the country’s commitment to decent work and international labour standards.
Ms. Kattaa reiterated that the ILO is committed to supporting its partners in the development of occupational safety and health and labour inspection policies.
These will contribute to modernizing existing systems and improving conditions for workers and their employers.
While these efforts are not specific to heat stress at work, they will help ensure a more and better working environment for all workers in Iraq, Ms. Kattaa said.
“The safety and health of workers are the responsibility of everyone,” she said.
“We all have a role to play – even if small – to ensure that working conditions are decent and safe and that our environment is protected from further degradation”.
The European Commission has approved a €358 million Romanian scheme (approximately RON 1.7 billion) to support companies in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.
The scheme was approved under the State aid Temporary Framework. The measure will be open to micro, small and medium-sized companies affected by the coronavirus pandemic and active in sectors, such as manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, and accommodation. Under the scheme, the aid will take the form of direct grants. The measure aims at helping companies finance investments in tangible and intangible assets to overcome the investment gap accumulated in the economy due to the coronavirus crisis. The measure is expected to benefit about 1,000 companies.
The Commission found that the Romanian scheme is in line with the conditions set out in the Temporary Framework. In particular: the aid (i) will not exceed 1% of the total budget of the scheme per beneficiary; (ii) will benefit investments in tangible and intangible assets but not financial investments; (iii) will not exceed the maximum aid intensities, set out in the Temporary Framework; and (iv) will be granted no later than 31 December 2022.
The Commission concluded that the measure is necessary, appropriate and proportionate to facilitate the development of certain economic activities, which are of importance for a sustainable recovery of the economy, in line with Article 107(3)(c) TFEU and the conditions set out in the Temporary Framework. On this basis, the Commission approved the measure under EU State aid rules.
More information on the Temporary Framework and other actions taken by the Commission to address the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic can be found here. The non-confidential version of the decision will be made available under the case number SA.103503 in the State aid register on the Commission’s competition website once any confidentiality issues have been resolved.
Tehran, represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri in these talks, still refuses to meet directly with U.S. special envoy Robert Malley in these talks.
PARIS, FRANCE, August 8, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — The latest round of Iran nuclear talks in Vienna began on Thursday with skepticism from both sides.European Union states have refused to send senior officials and already signs indicate the rift separating Tehran and Washington has only expanded since the previous talks in Vienna, according to European Union diplomats talking with Bloomberg.
EU officials familiar with the ongoing talks have told the media that considering the Iranian regime’s continuous violations of its nuclear commitments in recent months, there are at least two nuclear-related issues added to the already difficult list of six or seven obstacles.
The resolution of these technical matters said to be possible within 72 hours, is most likely conditioned on ground-breaking political decision-making by the U.S. and the mullahs’ regime.
State-run media in Iran are also skeptical about the current talks and the entire deal in general. The “Jahan-e Sanat” described the latest round of Vienna talks as both “encouraging” & “concerning.””
— MEK
All the while, diplomats talking to various media outlets say they see no meaningful readiness in Tehran or Washington to budge, or at least budge first.
Tehran, represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani in these talks, still refuses to meet directly with U.S. special envoy Robert Malley in these talks.
EU diplomats are saying the Iranian regime’s escalating stockpile of 60 percent enriched uranium, a level that inspectors of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, describe as all but indistinguishable from the 90 percent weapons grade.
This has only added to the long slate of complications before any deal.
Another key issue remains Tehran’s ongoing persistence on the IAEA dropping its probe into decades-old nuclear activities and outstanding questions about enriched uranium found at three undisclosed sites in Iran.
There are reports circulating in the media that the Iranian regime team has relented on previous conditions that the U.S. list its terrorist-designation of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and bring an end to the resulting sanctions.
However, the regime’s official news agency, IRNA, has denied such a development, adding to the ambiguities. What is certain is the fact that Tehran continues to insist on Washington guaranteeing the U.S. will never nix the nuclear agreement in the future.
The Biden administration has made it clear in the past that this demand from the mullahs is a non-starter.
The mullahs’ regime is taking advantage of this elongated process of talks-no talks to further develop its nuclear weapons program and ballistic missiles as means to deliver a payload.
Mohammad Mohaddessin, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), reiterates the proven fact that Tehran will only respond to a policy of firmness and decisive measures.
“Iran’s regime will not relinquish nuclear weapons. Its officials talk of bomb production. Negotiations give Tehran the time needed. If the world doesn’t want nuclear terrorists they must show firmness, reactivate United Nations Security Council resolutions, and wide-ranging sanctions/inspections,” Mr. Mohaddessin said in a tweet.
“20 years ago, the NCRI unveiled Iran’s Natanz and Arak sites. Instead of sanctions and punishment, the West chose talks and major concessions. Big mistake! If a firm policy was adopted Tehran would never be so close to the bomb. The world should not repeat the same mistakes,” he explained.
State-run media in Iran are also skeptical about the current talks and the entire deal in general. The “Jahan-e Sanat” newspaper described the latest round of Vienna talks as both “encouraging” and “concerning.”
Encouraging for the indications that reaching a deal apparently remains possible and concerning due to conditions it describes as “strange and complicated” before Tehran in these negotiations.
“If we don’t understand the status quo as necessary, it can be an end to any revival of the 2015 nuclear deal and result in harsh consequences,” the article adds, especially since the “Western party resorts to threats and even new sanctions!”
The “Sharq” daily does not rule out a nuclear agreement but considers hopes of conclusions in these talks as “dismal,” adding “it is doubtful that these Vienna talks can open the knots of the nuclear talks and one cannot be too hopeful in these negotiations.”
Former regime officials are describing the new Borrell proposal as a “lever to impose pressure” and voice doubts that the U.S. and Europe will be willing any new concessions to the Iranian regime.
Not only will they refuse to lift sanctions off the IRGC or end its terrorist designation, but non-nuclear sanctions will also remain intact, they add.
All the while, concerns are escalating in Tehran over the possibility of further economic pressures if the mullahs’ regime refuses the West’s demands for a nuclear deal.
Diplomats involved in the process believe politics may block the two sides from agreeing to the current proposal put forward on July 20 by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
The Biden administration is already facing stiff bipartisan opposition to a nuclear deal with the mullahs’ regime as an untrustworthy party known as the world’s leading state sponsor.
Former FM claims Tehran is capable of making nuclear weapons, but no decision made yet Kamal Kharrazi told Al-Jazeera: “Iran is able to produce a nuclear bomb.”
Tehran, represented by Depuy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri in these talks, still refuses to meet directly with U.S. special envoy Robert Malley in these talks.
State-run media in Iran are also skeptical about the current talks and the entire deal in general. The “Jahan-e Sanat” described the latest round of Vienna talks as both “encouraging” & “concerning.”” — MEK
PARIS, FRANCE, August 8, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — The latest round of Iran nuclear talks in Vienna began on Thursday with skepticism from both sides.European Union states have refused to send senior officials and already signs indicate the rift separating Tehran and Washington has only expanded since the previous talks in Vienna, according to European Union diplomats talking with Bloomberg.
EU officials familiar with the ongoing talks have told the media that considering the Iranian regime’s continuous violations of its nuclear commitments in recent months, there are at least two nuclear-related issues added to the already difficult list of six or seven obstacles.
The resolution of these technical matters said to be possible within 72 hours, is most likely conditioned on ground-breaking political decision-making by the U.S. and the mullahs’ regime.
All the while, diplomats talking to various media outlets say they see no meaningful readiness in Tehran or Washington to budge, or at least budge first.
Tehran, represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani in these talks, still refuses to meet directly with U.S. special envoy Robert Malley in these talks.
EU diplomats are saying the Iranian regime’s escalating stockpile of 60 percent enriched uranium, a level that inspectors of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, describe as all but indistinguishable from the 90 percent weapons grade.
This has only added to the long slate of complications before any deal.
Another key issue remains Tehran’s ongoing persistence on the IAEA dropping its probe into decades-old nuclear activities and outstanding questions about enriched uranium found at three undisclosed sites in Iran.
There are reports circulating in the media that the Iranian regime team has relented on previous conditions that the U.S. list its terrorist-designation of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and bring an end to the resulting sanctions.
However, the regime’s official news agency, IRNA, has denied such a development, adding to the ambiguities. What is certain is the fact that Tehran continues to insist on Washington guaranteeing the U.S. will never nix the nuclear agreement in the future.
The Biden administration has made it clear in the past that this demand from the mullahs is a non-starter.
The mullahs’ regime is taking advantage of this elongated process of talks-no talks to further develop its nuclear weapons program and ballistic missiles as means to deliver a payload.
Mohammad Mohaddessin, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), reiterates the proven fact that Tehran will only respond to a policy of firmness and decisive measures.
“Iran’s regime will not relinquish nuclear weapons. Its officials talk of bomb production. Negotiations give Tehran the time needed. If the world doesn’t want nuclear terrorists they must show firmness, reactivate United Nations Security Council resolutions, and wide-ranging sanctions/inspections,” Mr. Mohaddessin said in a tweet.
“20 years ago, the NCRI unveiled Iran’s Natanz and Arak sites. Instead of sanctions and punishment, the West chose talks and major concessions. Big mistake! If a firm policy was adopted Tehran would never be so close to the bomb. The world should not repeat the same mistakes,” he explained.
State-run media in Iran are also skeptical about the current talks and the entire deal in general. The “Jahan-e Sanat” newspaper described the latest round of Vienna talks as both “encouraging” and “concerning.”
Encouraging for the indications that reaching a deal apparently remains possible and concerning due to conditions it describes as “strange and complicated” before Tehran in these negotiations.
“If we don’t understand the status quo as necessary, it can be an end to any revival of the 2015 nuclear deal and result in harsh consequences,” the article adds, especially since the “Western party resorts to threats and even new sanctions!”
The “Sharq” daily does not rule out a nuclear agreement but considers hopes of conclusions in these talks as “dismal,” adding “it is doubtful that these Vienna talks can open the knots of the nuclear talks and one cannot be too hopeful in these negotiations.”
Former regime officials are describing the new Borrell proposal as a “lever to impose pressure” and voice doubts that the U.S. and Europe will be willing any new concessions to the Iranian regime.
Not only will they refuse to lift sanctions off the IRGC or end its terrorist designation, but non-nuclear sanctions will also remain intact, they add.
All the while, concerns are escalating in Tehran over the possibility of further economic pressures if the mullahs’ regime refuses the West’s demands for a nuclear deal.
Diplomats involved in the process believe politics may block the two sides from agreeing to the current proposal put forward on July 20 by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
The Biden administration is already facing stiff bipartisan opposition to a nuclear deal with the mullahs’ regime as an untrustworthy party known as the world’s leading state sponsor.
Former FM claims Tehran is capable of making nuclear weapons, but no decision made yet Kamal Kharrazi told Al-Jazeera: “Iran is able to produce a nuclear bomb.”
The UN sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA, is leading efforts to protect women and girls’ rights to give birth safely and live without gender-based violence, according to a statement issued on Monday.
“UNFPA is committed to meeting the critical health and protection needs of women and girls,” said Kunle Adeniyi, UNFPA representative in Sri Lanka.
“Our focus is to strengthen sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence response services to reduce the long-term repercussions of the current crisis.”
Appealing for at $10.7 million, UNFPA hopes to coordinate interventions with other UN agencies as well as international and local partners to provide more than two million women and girls in Sri Lanka with better sexual and reproductive healthcare.
Sri Lanka is currently experiencing its worse socio-economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948.
Amidst debilitating power shortages and a lack of critical resources, the country’s once robust healthcare system is now teetering on the edge of collapse.
The decline has severely impacted sexual and reproductive health services, including maternal healthcare and access to contraception.
“The current economic crisis in Sri Lanka has far-reaching consequences for women and girls’ health, rights and dignity,” said UNFPA Executive Director Natalia Kanem.
Specifically, access to key services for survivors of gender-based violence has been compromised.
Women’s unique needs
A UN survey in May indicated that women and girls are increasingly more vulnerable to violence as access to healthcare, police, shelter, and hotlines, is declining.
And the UN agency estimates that 60,000 pregnant Sri Lankan women may require surgical interventions over the next six months.
UNFPA is committed to ensuring that Sri Lanka has the resources to care for these mothers.
“Right now, UNFPA’s priority is to respond to their unique needs and safeguard their access to lifesaving healthcare and protection services,” said the UNFPA chief.
Taking action
As part of its appeal, UNFPA plans to distribute medicines, equipment and supplies – including for emergency and obstetric care and the clinical management of rape and domestic violence – to meet the priority reproductive health needs of 1.2 million people.
It will also provide more than 37,000 women with cash and voucher assistance for reproductive health and protection services; ensure that 500,000 women receive information on warning signs during pregnancy; and strengthen the capacity of 1,250 midwives.
Moreover, the UN agency aims to support 10 shelters to expand services for survivors of gender-based violence and provide 286,000 women and girls with information on gender-based violence prevention along with available services and support.
UNFPA elaborated that it would also support 12,500 women with livelihood programming to reduce the risks of gender-based violence; provide 4,000 adolescent girls with menstrual hygiene supplies; and lead and coordinate the strengthening of prevention, protection and referral systems for survivors of gender-based violence.
UNFPA’s response is part of the Humanitarian Needs and Priorities Plan launched by the UN in Sri Lanka calling for $47 million to support 1.7 million people between June and September.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas was the first EU leader to address the European Parliament in the “This is Europe” series of debates, on 9 March.
Opening the debate, Parliament President Roberta Metsola said: “We need to re-assess the European Union’s role in this new world. We need to boost our investment in defence and innovative technologies. This is the time for us to take decisive steps to ensure the security of all Europeans. The time to build a real security and defence union and reduce our dependencies on the Kremlin.”
In the wake of the invasion of Ukraine and as prime minister of a country sharing a nearly 300km border with Russia, Kallas called for increased EU defence, decreased energy dependence and emphasised the importance of the Nato alliance.
She also talked about the importance of the future of Ukraine: “It is in our interest that Ukraine becomes more stable, more prosperous and is solidly founded on the rule of law. (…) But it’s not only in our interest to give Ukraine a membership perspective, it is also our moral duty to do so. Ukraine is not just fighting for Ukraine, it’s also fighting for Europe.”
She addressed Russian citizens directly, assuring them that the EU is not acting against them and that sanctions are intended to isolate President Vladimir Putin and his government. “We continue to hope for a stable and democratic Russia that is respectful of its neighbours and is governed by a rule of law.”
Political group leaders
Reacting to Kallas’s speech, MEPs called for more action to help Ukraine in its struggle, including providing more weapons. and reducing the EU’s reliance on Russian oil and gas. They also discussed the need to support Ukrainian refugees and defend European values.
Now that summer is in full swing in North America, people have been asking one of our favorite GMO questions again. Let’s clear up a point of confusion: there are no commercially available GMO watermelons!
Like all living things, the crops we eat have chromosomes inside the nucleus of their cells. This is where their genetic information is stored. Different organisms have different numbers of chromosomes and different numbers of copies of those chromosomes. For example, most humans are diploid creatures. We generally have two copies of 23 chromosomes for a total of 46.
Seedless watermelons are triploid, which means they have three copies of their chromosomes rather than two. This renders them sterile, which of course means no seeds to pick out. These watermelons are created by crossing a common diploid watermelon (two copies of each chromosome, just like most humans) with a tetraploid watermelon (which has four copies). Each plant passes on half its genetic information, so the prodigy ends up with three pairs of chromosomes and no viable seeds. Interestingly, our typical (Cavendish) bananas are seedless for the same reason: they are just triploid plantains!
Since some of you have asked, it should be noted that cube-shaped watermelons are also not genetically modified. Those are just grown in a cube-shaped container. Hybrid fruits such as tangelos and mandarinquats are also not GMOs—they are created with traditional crossbreeding methods.
MEPs backed Mario Draghi’s call to reform the EU to guarantee sustainable economic growth, during a “This is Europe” debate in Strasbourg on 3 May.
“The EU is facing another ‘whatever it takes’ moment,” Parliament President Roberta Metsola said when introducing Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi. She noted that he had steered the EU out of a crisis when he was President of the European Central Bank. “I have no doubt that we can rely on your experience again as the EU faces another existential crisis.”
Prime Minister Draghi said the combination of the current crises in Europe – the war in Ukraine, the increase in energy prices and refugee arrivals – “forces us to speed up the integration process”. “We must show the citizens of Europe that we are capable of leading a Europe that lives up to its values, its history and its role in the world.” He added: “We must move beyond using the principle of unanimity (…) and move towards decisions taken by a qualified majority”, for a “Europe capable of making decisions in a timely manner.”
On the Russian aggression against Ukraine, he said: “The priority is to reach a ceasefire as soon as possible.” “We want Ukraine in the EU,” he said. “We must also proceed as quickly as possible.”
Draghi also proposed increasing coordination among national defence systems, strengthening the way the EU manages migration, as well as curbing bills and fuel prices and supporting wages to help families.
Reacting to the speech, MEPs commended Italy’s leadership and commitment to the EU, especially during the pandemic. They stressed that EU cooperation and solidarity is needed more than ever in the light of Russian aggression and other crises Europe is facing, be it climate change or helping refugees. MEPs highlighted the importance of energy transition and independence as key to the EU’s long-term success as well as a measure to help Ukraine. You can watch political group leaders’ speeches here.
Bishop Rolando Alvarez, from the northern Nicaraguan Diocese of Matagalpa, had criticised the government’s closing of five Catholic radio stations, and then the police moved in.
They stopped him and six Catholic priests from leaving their residence and going to the nearby Cathedral to celebrate Mass.
Police officers have set up barriers, preventing people from freely coming or going.
Bishop Alvarez and 12 other people have been stuck in his residence since Thursday.
“They told us that we are under house arrest,” said Bishop Alvarez during a Mass on Saturday which he broadcast on social networks from his house in Matagalpa.
Nicaraguan authorities, who take their orders from President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, have little tolerance for any voice of criticism or dissention. More than 150 opposition leaders are under lock and key.
Police accuse Bishop Alvarez of using media and social networks to incite acts of violence and destabilise the country, and say they are preparing formal charges.
He is appealing to authorities to stop this harassment, requesting that religious freedom be respected.
Physically prevented from going to the Cathedral on Thursday, the 55-year-old Bishop knelt on the sidewalk to give the Eucharistic blessing, saying: “We celebrate the Blessed Sacrament in the street, because Jesus Christ is the Lord of Nicaragua.”
The European Union says this police action is arbitrary and yet another violation of human rights as well as religious freedom.
Mediation efforts
The Church has been trying to act as mediator by seeking dialogue to resolve Nicaragua’s worsening crisis, which started with widespread anti-government protests in 2018, which were crushed.
76-year-old Daniel Ortega was again re-elected last November, after opposition candidates were barred from participating and jailed.
In March, the Government declared the then-Apostolic Nuncio to Nicaragua, Archbishop Waldemar Stanisław Sommertag, persona non grata and expelled him.
Nicaragua then recalled their Ambassador to the Vatican.
LUGANO, SWITERZLAND, August 8, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — In an evolutionary process, which now seems unstoppable, Aleo Christopher has managed to put an important further step in the growth of the iSwiss finance company. The consolidation of the Swiss headquarters, which was rewarded by insiders and the specialized press, resulted in the opening of the Dubai offices.In what seems to many the new center of the world, also from the point of view of innovative finance for companies, the entrepreneur Aleo Christopher has taken the first steps towards a further expansion of his proposal.
A possible new market is Nigeria, thanks to the first contact of absolute value. The meeting venue is the iSwiss Dubai headquarters, where iSwiss CEO Aleo Christopher had the pleasure of hosting the black gold magnate, Awwal Garba CEO of Magma Petroleum Investment Limited, the main Nigerian oil company. The choice of this country is not accidental for iSwiss, Nigeria is, at present, among the emerging African economies certainly the most shining.
The Nigerian market is strongly interested in everything new finance, from crypto to blockchain to all the typical and exclusive services of the DeFi sector.
The numbers demonstrate this, with Nigeria among the major countries for the use of cryptocurrency, surpassed only by the United States of America. A country therefore ready to take a step forward, guided by the experience and expertise of Christopher Aleo and iSwiss, in an interesting sector such as that of Decentralized Finance, also open to small and medium-sized enterprises and no longer the exclusive prerogative of large companies. multinationals.
Once again, the change starts from the bottom and iSwiss and its soul, Christopher Aleo, can think about directing and guiding it.
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p class=”contact c1″ dir=”auto”>Aleo Christopher iSwiss Group A.G. email us here
The Central Bank of Zimbabwe has announced that it will start minting gold coins in the month of July. The decision is aimed at curbing record inflation, which has led to a severe devaluation of the local currency. Central bank governor John Mangudya said in a statement that the coins went on sale on July 25. They can be purchased by paying in local currency, US dollars and other foreign currencies. Their price is adjusted to the international price of gold and production costs, reports Reuters. The “Mosi-oa-tunya” coin is named after Victoria Falls, which is its name in the local Lozi language. It can be exchanged for currency and traded inside and outside the country, reports the central bank. The gold coin will contain one troy ounce of gold and can be purchased from gold refiner Fidelity Gold Refinery, local gold jewelry manufacturer Aurex and local banks. Gold coins are typically used by investors to hedge against inflation and in times of war. Zimbabwe raised its key interest rate from 80% to a record 200% and indicated it plans to recognize the US dollar as legal tender within five years.
The growing reawakens the population’s memories of the economic chaos during President Robert Mugabe’s nearly four-decade rule. Annual inflation, which hit 192% in June, has hampered current President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s attempt to revive the economy. Zimbabwe last switched to using foreign currencies in 2009 when the Zimbabwean dollar lost its value. The government accepted payment in local currency again in 2019, but now the country is once again facing a familiar problem.
