Tuesday, November 26

World

Opinion: Nobel Prize for the WFP is an appeal for greater cooperation
10Oct By No Comments
World

Opinion: Nobel Prize for the WFP is an appeal for greater cooperation

  This year's Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). A surprising choice, some might think, amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. After all, the World Health Organization (WHO) was nominated — as were US President Donald Trump, the climate activist Greta Thunberg and some 300 other candidates. But the Nobel Committee was right to honor the work of the WFP and thus highlight the problem of global food shortages. Last year, more than 690 million people — the equivalent of almost 9% of the world's population — suffered from hunger. The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the global food crisis. In spring this year, WFP director David Beasley warned that the world faced famines "of biblical proportions." In response to the situation, the ...
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Israel: Ultra-Orthodox communities top coronavirus hot spots
10Oct By No Comments
World

Israel: Ultra-Orthodox communities top coronavirus hot spots

  The media outlets in Israel are busy these days, producing reports on sometimes harsh police measures against anti-government protesters and stories about Israeli officials defying their own lockdown rules. But as happened during the first lockdown, Israel's ultra-Orthodox — or Haredi — communities and their mass gatherings have also come under a lot of media scrutiny, with negative headlines dominating. Since the first lockdown in March-April, Moshe Morgenstern has volunteered as a health coordinator in the municipality of Bnei Brak in addition to his main work as a lawyer. Every morning, Moshe receives the total number of infections for this largely ultra-Orthodox city adjacent to Tel Aviv. "Today we have — wait, wow, it doesn't look good — we have 883 new cases. Every day...
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Pakistan bans TikTok for failing to filter ‘immoral’ content
10Oct By No Comments
Entertainment, World

Pakistan bans TikTok for failing to filter ‘immoral’ content

Pakistan on Friday banned video-sharing platform TikTok in the country after a "number of complaints from different segments of the society against immoral/indecent content on the video-sharing application," the Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said in a statement. The telecom regulator said it had issued warnings to TikTok to moderate unlawful content, but the social media company failed to comply with its instructions. Arslan Khalid, an advisor to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, backed the PTA's warning to TikTok in June to filter its "obscene content." He claimed that the "exploitation, objectification (and) sexualization of young girls on TikTok" was causing pain to parents. On Friday, the telecom authority said that it was ready to review its decision "subject to a satisfactor...
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North Korea holds anniversary military parade, South Korea says
10Oct By No Comments
World

North Korea holds anniversary military parade, South Korea says

  North Korea held a large military parade early on Saturday to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of its ruling Workers' Party, South Korea's military has said. North Korean state media has not shown any signs of a parade, but images were picked up by South Korean intelligence. It was unclear whether the early morning activity was a large parade or a practice. The anniversary is often used to showcase military power. "There was a sign that North Korea conducted a military parade this morning at Kim Il Sung Square, mobilizing large scale equipment and personnel," South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. Read more: Fake news on both sides of the inter-Korean border is the norm "South Korea and US intelligence authorities are closely monitoring developmen...
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Hong Kong police arrest nine over Taiwan escape plot
10Oct By No Comments
World

Hong Kong police arrest nine over Taiwan escape plot

  Hong Kong police arrested nine people accused of helping pro-democracy activists flee the former British colony for Taiwan, they announced on Friday. The group allegedly supplied a 'getaway' speedboat as 12 anti-Beijing demonstrators attempted to escape, fearing prosecution by authorities there. "Their roles include ownership of the boat, financial backing, providing accommodation before the trop, transportation to the pier and arranging their lives after arriving in Taiwan," a police spokesperson was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency. Police also seized the equivalent of €53,000 ($63,000) in Hong Kong currency, computers, mobile phones, and financial documents relating to the boat journey. China's coastguard picked up the 12 activists in late August, although Hong Ko...
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SA faces Argentina-like debt crisis warns Mboweni
10Oct By No Comments
Asia-pacific

SA faces Argentina-like debt crisis warns Mboweni

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni delivers his 2018 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement in parliament. Image: Flickr South Africa is heading Argentina’s way on the fiscal front if “serious measures” are not taken to rein in spending,bring down its debt and “to close the mouth of the hippopotamus,” Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has warned. Speaking during a Stellenbosch University webinar marking the centenary of the institution’s economics department Friday, Mboweni stressed that tough decisions lay ahead for South Africa, otherwise the country would “head Argentina’s way” in a few years. The stark warning Mboweni comes ahead of his Medium-Term Budget Speech, set for October 21, which will map out the country’s expenditure plans for the next three years. South Africa’s finance minister s...
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Steenhuisen: Stop farm attacks or risk ‘civil war of sorts’
10Oct By No Comments
Asia-pacific

Steenhuisen: Stop farm attacks or risk ‘civil war of sorts’

Crowds gather at Senekal Magistrate Court as two appear for the murder of 22-year-old farmer Brendin Horner. Image: Twitter@SABreakingNews Farm manager Brendin Horner’s brutal torture and murder may come to mark a tipping point for South Africa, says the DA leader John Steenhuisen. “It could strengthen radical groupings on the left and right, further polarizing and racialising our society, risking a rural civil war of sorts.” Or, he says, it could strengthen the centre, spurring South Africans from all communities to come together against this attack on our farming community and food security and more broadly against lawlessness. POLITICAL OPPORTUNISM The EFF, Steenhuisen says, has been quick to use the issue of farm murders to incite violence. On Wednesday, EFF leader Julius Malema t...
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Economic progress should go hand in hand with social development- King says
10Oct By No Comments
Asia-pacific

Economic progress should go hand in hand with social development- King says

As Morocco steps up measures to help the economy recover from the coronavirus repercussions, special attention is also given to generalize social development notably health coverage, family allowances, pensions and unemployment protection insurance, said King Mohammed VI. In a speech on the occasion of the opening of the Parliament’s fall session this Friday, the King stressed that measures to help the economy recover should be completed by social protection measures. The King recalled the need for extending universal compulsory health coverage for an additional 22 million individuals by end of 2022, at the latest. This should include the cost of medication, drugs, hospitalization and treatment. He also urged for ensuring universal access to family allowances for approximately seven mil...
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Mellon foundation pledges $250m to ‘reimagine’ US monuments
5Oct By No Comments
World

Mellon foundation pledges $250m to ‘reimagine’ US monuments

Image captionA city employee inspects the decapitated statue of Christopher Columbus in Boston One of America's largest philanthropic organisations has announced a project to "reimagine" public monuments around the country. The Andrew W Mellon Foundation said it would spend $250m (£193m) over five years to build monuments, add context to existing ones and relocate others. The project aims to "celebrate and affirm America's diverse histories". It comes amid fierce public debate about monuments in the US, sparked by the Black Lives Matter movement. The charity said its pledge was the result of "years of discussion, research and intellectual exploration." The stories behind the statues targeted in protests Columbus and Confederate statues torn down in US Mellon has already spent $25m...
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US announces nearly $152 million humanitarian assistance for Sahel
5Oct By No Comments
Asia-pacific

US announces nearly $152 million humanitarian assistance for Sahel

The United States announced last week nearly $152 million in humanitarian assistance to respond to the humanitarian crisis in the Sahel region countries of Niger, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, and Mali. US Special Envoy to the Sahel Peter Pham announced the aid following a trip to West Africa, where he visited Mauritania and Niger. “More than $2.5 million people in the Sahel region are displaced, $3.3 million are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection services, and the United States is proud to be the largest donor of humanitarian assistance to the region,” Pham said during a conference call announcing the aid, hosted by the Wilson Center Africa Program. Pham added that the assistance will not go to the Malian military officers who recently took power in a coup, but stopped short...
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