COMMENTARY: Living a crisis with hope, to prepare for a changed world
May 15, 2020, at 07:52 pm
The Covid-19 pandemic around the world is now a “perfect storm”. It challenges our ways of living, working and celebrating. The impact in Myanmar until now has been slower in coming, but that may only mean it will last longer.
COVID-19 cases in Belarus rise to 27,730
May 15, 2020, at 07:21 pm
Minsk/Xinhua/UNI: Belarus reported 958 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Friday, taking its total to 27,730.
COVID-19 cases in Japan rise by 50 to reach 16,253
May 15, 2020, at 07:15 pm
Tokyo/Xinhua/UNI: The confirmed COVID-19 cases in Japan increased by 50 to reach 16,253, according to the latest figures from the health ministry and local authorities on Friday.
Turkey rescues 30 illegal immigrants off Aegean coast
May 15, 2020, at 07:04 pm
Istanbul/Xinhua/UNI: The Turkish coast guard rescued 30 illegal immigrants off Turkey's Aegean coast, local media reported on Friday.
Covid-19 to escalate hunger, malnutrition in Africa: WHO
May 15, 2020, at 06:56 pm
Geneva/UNI: The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed its apprehensions that the Covid-19 pandemic is likely to severely impact food security in many African nations as agricultural activities have become a casualty of the pandemic.
Peace in Yemen may be ‘within close reach’, UN envoy tells Security Council
May 15, 2020, at 04:52 pm
New York/IBNS: UN Special Envoy for war-weary Yemen, Martin Griffiths, told the Security Council on Thursday, that he believed an end to the fighting “is within close reach”, but cautioning that he had come “yet again to express hope, instead of to report success”.
Deadly gas leak in India, grim wake-up call for global chemical industry: UN rights expert
May 15, 2020, at 04:39 pm
New York/IBNS: Last week’s deadly toxic gas leak at a Korean-owned polymer plant in south-eastern India, is a grim wake up call for the chemical industry to acknowledge and fulfil its responsibility to respect human rights, the UN independent expert who monitors the issue, said on Thursday.
-1589470428.jpg "Falun Gong practitioners in Vienna highlight their plight inflicted by China")
Falun Gong practitioners in Vienna highlight their plight inflicted by China
May 14, 2020, at 09:04 pm
Vienna: Practitioners of Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, gathered on Wednesday in Austria's capital city Vienna to mark World Falun Dafa Day and also highlighted how they were targeted by Chinese.
COVID-19: Britain may take harder stance against China
May 14, 2020, at 08:29 pm
London: The British government's mollifying stance on China is likely to harden in the coming months once the immediate concerns regarding the COVID-19 outbreak are dealt with, media reports said.
South Sudan: Coronavirus cases confirmed inside UN civilian protection site
May 14, 2020, at 03:43 pm
New York/IBNS: The South Sudanese Government has confirmed that two cases of COVID-19 have been identified inside a Protection of Civilians (PoC) site in the capital, Juba, although the world’s youngest nation has been relatively unscathed by the pandemic, with 74 cases recorded so far.
Take ‘all appropriate public health measures’ to protect detainees from coronavirus, UN urges
May 14, 2020, at 03:37 pm
New York/IBNS: UN agency chiefs on Wednesday highlighted the heightened vulnerability to COVID-19 of detainees, and others in confinement, urging Governments to take “all appropriate public health measures” to keep them safe from the deadly disease.
Hong Kong urged to drop prosecutions of leading activists, not to silence peaceful protest
May 14, 2020, at 03:34 pm
New York/IBNS: Independent UN human rights experts urged Hong Kong authorities on Wednesday to immediately drop the criminal prosecution of 15 pro-democracy activists who participated in peaceful protests across the Special Administrative Region of China last year.
Covid-19: Kuwait records 11,028 cases, 82 deaths
May 13, 2020, at 06:39 pm
Kuwait City/Xinhua: Kuwait on Wednesday reported 751 new cases of COVID-19 and seven more deaths, raising the tally of infections in the country to 11,028 and the death toll to 82, Kuwaiti Health Ministry said in a statement.
Amid COVID-19 scare, Chinese police clash with protesters in Hong Kong
May 13, 2020, at 05:47 pm
Beijing/Hong Kong: China seems to be using their trick of moving into Hong Kong even as the world is busy combating COVID-19.
New Zealand ends nationwide state of emergency as moving to COVID-19 alert level 2
May 13, 2020, at 04:36 pm
Moscow/Sputnik/UNI: The authorities of New Zealand have canceled the nationwide state of emergency, as the country is due to move from the COVID-19 alert level 3 to level 2 amid the decrease in the number of cases, Civil Defence Minister Peeni Henare said in a statement on Wednesday.
Universal basic income the right prescription for Latin America & Caribbean – UN report
May 13, 2020, at 01:01 pm
New York/IBNS: A new report by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) unveiled on Tuesday, proposes that governments ensure immediate temporary cash transfers to help millions of people struggling to meet basic needs, as the massive fallout from COVID-19 ripples across the region’s economies.
UN chief appeals to ‘common humanity’ across all faiths, in tackling the coronavirus
May 13, 2020, at 12:59 pm
New York/IBNS: Our shared vulnerability to the coronavirus pandemic reveals “our common humanity”, the UN chief said on Tuesday during an online meeting with religious leaders on the important role they can play, in limiting the damage caused by COVID-19.
Political will ‘fundamental’ to realizing a more just and prosperous Iraq: UN envoy
May 13, 2020, at 12:49 pm
New York/IBNS: Despite compounding crises that include the COVID-19 pandemic and plummeting oil revenues, a more prosperous and inclusive Iraq can be achieved provided the political will is there, the top UN official in the country told the Security Council during a virtual meeting held on Tuesday.
Chad’s storytellers take COVID prevention messages off the grid
May 13, 2020, at 12:41 pm
New York/IBNS: Traditional storytellers in Chad, known as troubadours, are taking life-saving messages to remote communities in the Sahelian country, as the Government steps up its efforts with the support of the UN to counter the COVID-19 pandemic.
South Korea's employment reduces 476,000 in April over COVID-19
May 13, 2020, at 10:31 am
Seoul/Xinhua/UNI: South Korea's employment reduced 476,000 in April from a year earlier as companies encouraged employees to go on an unpaid leave or be laid off amid the COVID-19 outbreak, statistical office data showed Wednesday.
Belgium registers 53,779 COVID-19 cases, death toll at 8,761
May 12, 2020, at 06:52 pm
Brussels/Xinhua: Belgium has recorded 330 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, pushing the total to 53,779 since the beginning of the pandemic, according to a statement by the public health institute Sciensano released Tuesday.
Indonesian govt slams abuse of its fishermen on Chinese boats leaving three dead
May 12, 2020, at 05:33 pm
Jakarta: The Indonesian government has condemned the 'inhuman' treatment given to its nationals by a Chinese fishing company that allegedly kept Indonesian fishermen as virtual slaves, media reports said. The incident reportedly left three Indonesian citizens dead.
Tedros highlights complex challenges posed by COVID-19 resurgence, following easing of lockdowns
May 12, 2020, at 02:52 pm
New York/IBNS: The resurgence of COVID-19 cases in South Korea, China and Germany following the lifting of stay-at-home restrictions demonstrates the complexity of easing these measures, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.
UN officials call for release of detained Palestinian children amid pandemic
May 12, 2020, at 01:32 pm
New York/IBNS: Three senior United Nations officials in the Middle East are calling for the release of Palestinian children from Israeli-run prisons and detentions centres, saying they are at particular risk of COVID-19 infection.
No guarantee of COVID-19 vaccine: British PM
May 12, 2020, at 01:01 pm
London/UNI: A COVID-19 vaccine is by no means guaranteed, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said.
UN peacekeepers killed in improvised explosive attack in Mali
May 12, 2020, at 12:10 pm
New York/IBNS: Three UN peacekeepers from Chad were killed in northern Mali on Sunday when their convoy hit a roadside bomb near Aguelhok, in the restive Kidal region. The improvised device also seriously injured four others who are now receiving medical care, the UN Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) said in a statement.
Egypt reports 346 new COVID-19 cases as tally nears 10,000
May 12, 2020, at 12:08 pm
Cairo/Xinhua/UNI: Egypt on Monday reported 346 new COVID-19 infections, as the tally of coronavirus infections in the country nears 10,000.
COVID-19 tally in Russian armed forces rises to 1,689
May 12, 2020, at 12:04 pm
Moscow/Sputnik/UNI: A total of 1,689 Russian servicemen, as well as 1,224 students of military academies, have tested positive for COVID-19 since the onset of the epidemic, the Defense Ministry said on Monday.
Amid COVID-19 outbreak, China starts trial of digital currency
May 11, 2020, at 04:11 pm
Beijing/IBNS: Amid financial meltdown globally due to COVID-19 outbreak, China's central bank—People's Bank of China (PBoC)— recently introduced the trial of a homegrown digital currency across four cities, media reports said.
Singapore reports 876 new COVID-19 cases
May 11, 2020, at 04:07 pm
Singapore/Xinhua/UNI: Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 876 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 23,336.