'Unseen' News and Views
15 November 2019 — At a time when extremism and fanaticism are too often unleashed, when “the venom of hatred” continues to poison a part of humanity, “tolerance has never been more vital a virtue”, the United Nations cultural agency’s chief has said in her message on the International Day for Tolerance. (*).
Judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday [14 November 2019] authorized an investigation into alleged crimes against humanity, namely deportation, which have forced between 600,000 and one million Rohingya refugees out of Myanmar, into neighboring Bangladesh since 2016. (*).
.
Since the beginning of the year, the UN Migration Agency has carried out over one million health consultations for displaced and conflict-affected Yemenis and migrants struggling to reach the help they need, the organization announced on Friday [15 November 2019]. (*)
13 November 2019 (UN Environment)* — Over the past few months, a series of air pollution episodes have set new records across Asia. Earlier this summer, hundreds of people were evacuated, and schools had to be closed due to poor air quality in many parts of Indonesia, during a crisis that made the skies over the region turn red. More recently, air quality levels have worsened in India creating public outcry with dire consequences for large swaths of society.
The spikes, especially in fine particulate matter (PM2.5), have caused closure of schools, declaration of health emergency by the state government, demonstrations by civil society and alarming media coverage.
It is not true, but I believe it!
14 November 2019 (Wall Street International)* — “Ciao, how are you?” “So so, we keep going” is the answer. An Italian will never say “I am fine” or “Things are fantastic”. In Italy, people tend to be afraid of causing jealousy and envy so understate all success. According to a widespread belief, envy is at the base of “malocchio”, the evil eye, from the combination of “mal”, bad, and “occhio”, eye. The evil eye is a form of curse, transmitted through the gaze, hence the name, many cultures believe causes injury or bad luck to the person it is directed.
With more than half the world now at risk from mosquito-transmitted dengue fever, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN has taken the lead on a global effort to eradicate the disease – and many others – by measuring the impact of releasing millions of sterilized pests across several continents, it announced on Thursday [14 November 2019]. (*).
7 November 2019 (International Work Group for indigenous Affairs – IGWIA)* — “We will surrender our lives but not our land, hills and forests,” says representatives of Datobeda village, Jharkhand, India
These are the words of representatives of Datobeda village, Jharkhand, India, who have been leading the resistance to a limestone mine on their ancestral land and today live in fear of arrest.
Surendranath Tudu, Pandu Sardar, Sonu Sardar and Netramohan Sardar have been falsely accused by the mining company of a number of crimes including kidnapping, assault and extortion.
New information on child labour, forced labour and human trafficking in global supply chains is revealed in a report compiled by the ILO, OECD, IOM and UNICEF – members of the Alliance 8.7 partnership on child labour, forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking. (*)
The Earth is living, and also creates life. Over 4 billion years the Earth has evolved a rich biodiversity — an abundance of different living organisms and ecosystems — that can meet all our needs and sustain life.
Through biodiversity and the living functions of the biosphere, the Earth regulates temperature and climate, and has created the conditions for our species to evolve.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 